Long Time, No Blog

Hello, all!

Earlier today, my friend Laura commented on a couple of my old blogs, which brought me back here. I found myself reading some of my old posts and remembering why I loved blogging.

From 2009 to 2011, I blogged fairly regularly-- mostly during my time in France, but recorded deep within the pages of this blog is my own personal history. The thoughts, emotions, memories, rants, and dreams of a girl that had a lot to say and wasn't afraid to share. This blog was both my private story and my public outlet, and I realize that this was an important part of my life, for much longer than I acknowledge now.

I stopped blogging rather abruptly, and sometimes I think about why I made that decision. I didn't really explain it on here-- I posted once in January of 2012, but beyond that, I made the fatal blog mistake of disappearing. I'm still around on the internet-- my tumblr is pretty active, but it isn't a personal blog so much as a collection of things I like.

The thing about this blog is that it became a bit of a chore after a while-- it began to feel like something I HAD to do, rather than something I wanted to do. It became a far-too-public forum for me to feel comfortable sharing some of the experiences that I had previously written about without even thinking twice. As I get older, I become more aware that the internet is a very public thing and in most cases, there are things that really ought to be kept private. There are things that are difficult to share, and not knowing who reads my blog made me feel vulnerable.

Furthermore, this blog ceased to be about "Aly en France". It became a personal blog, for my own benefit (and the benefit of anybody that cared to read what I have to share), and the transition struck me as awkward. 

It may be time to start blogging again. My distance from France does not mean that is no longer part of my identity or my lifestyle.

With that in mind, here's to a new year-- and maybe a new blog. As my tumblr states: my heart is in France, and I am here. Life is ongoing, and I may be ready to share it again.

-Aly

Forgotten Posts

Hello!

So, I spent three hours in the library today. I love the library so I really don't mind much, but I did use the time productively. I published a few posts from months (or years... hello there, post from 2009) ago that I had forgotten about. Thank goodness that blogger saves them automatically, but still, I had forgotten about them, these small moments of time where something was going on and I just had to blog about it, but when it came down to it, nothing was actually said.

All of these posts ended up where they would have been had I actually published them on time, but you won't know where they are so.... here's a list!

1. Five days before I left for France, I wrote this post. I was going to write something else, probably talk about my week, but as I looked at it today, I realized that I really didn't need to say more. Read it here.
2. On May 1st of 2010, I had a lot to talk about, mostly reflections on April, where I didn't post much. I started to think about what life would be like when I got home, but I never finished writing. I finished the post today, but didn't finish up where I had left off because I have long since forgotten what I had to say. Read it here.
3. In December, there was a lot going on in my life, and I had one particular conversation that stuck out to me. For some reason, I preserved it in a poem in a blog post that was never published. It's vaguely poetic, and talks about forgiveness. Read it here.

Well, that's it that I remember immediately! (Ha. Ha. sorry, unintended pun.)

OH WAIT. I forgot about the MAlly Chat blog! I wrote a few posts on there while I was in France, if you never saw those.
1. Jan. 2010: A letter-in-blog-form I wrote to Molly at the beginning of 2010. Read here.
2. Jan. 2010: A post I wrote about my fail with buses and frolicking. Read here.
3. Jan. 2010: I ranted about how things seemed to be swallowed by the room I stayed in for the first four/five months I was in France. Read here.
4. April 2010: Talking about growing up & change. Read here.
5. May 2010: Part of my birthday present to Molly, a blog post. Read here.
6. May 2010: A ridiculous post about the smelliness of cheese, for no apparent reason. ... Yeah. Read here... xD

While I was at the library I realized that I never mind spending hours at the library. I have always loved the library, probably because the children's section in the library I went to as a child was ridiculously epic (it had a GIANT TREE on the inside. I mean, come on, guys. A tree. Though I don't remember if it was just a painting, a fabric tree, or a real TREE.). I remember having storytime in this little trailer, sitting in a circle and listening to stories.

It may just be because I love books. There was this used bookstore in that same tiny town in Florida that my mom would take my brother and I. It smelled wonderful in there. (I love the smell of used/old books.) I'd sit between the aisles and pick through the paperbacks, finding Goosebumps books or whatever it is that I was reading. I don't really know, but I just remember that store on the corner in the older part of town, where I could get lost in books.

I went back to that store a while ago; it has moved, but it still smells the same.

...

I completely lost where I was going with that.

Anyway, read those old posts and marvel at the productiveness of the library.

(I also added the tag NaBloPoMo, so it should be easier to find all the NaBloPoMo posts from August/September and this month! Yay.)

-Aly

2010 Reflection

Hello, all!

Well, I've been putting this off for long enough now (would you believe me if I said I meant to write this on the 22nd? But then I went on vacation and had no time?... Because seriously, that's what happened.), but I think it's time for me to do an end-of-the-year-and-beginning-of-another blog post. (On a vaguely but not entirely unrelated note, it would be rather sad if one year ended and another one didn't begin? Oh, wait... 2012, right? ;) )

Anyway!

It's been a while since I've been around here (again). I don't know if I'm entirely sorry about that, but I have my reasons for my absence (we won't get in to those, though).

I've been asking my friends a set of questions, and I blame Molly entirely. She asked me three questions, which got me to thinking about other questions, and so now I have this whole long list of things that I feel like sharing, and things I am curious about for everybody else.

1. Do you have any REGRETS from 2010?
2. Any REFLECTIONS on your year? (i.e. How have you changed?)
3. What are your RESOLUTIONS for this year? If you don't have any, what are your GOALS, either short-term or long-term (these can be ongoing goals, so it doesn't have to be new, necessarily). How do you expect you'll be different in the next year?
4. What are you looking forward to most about this upcoming year?
5. What are your top moments/memories from 2010? (Also, why, if you are willing to share.)

So... five (more or less) questions.

REGRETS:
This is always a tough question for me, because like it or not, it's over; there is no way to change it, and I think there is value to be found in making mistakes. Making blunders, big or small, is enlightening. But, truthfully, I have regrets from this year-- things I *facepalm* about now, because I know the decision I made was wrong. However, at that moment I suppose I thought it was the best decision I could make, thus... not really.

REFLECTIONS:
I'll admit, this question is a tough one to answer. It's hard to look at yourself objectively.
So... this past year. It was the best of my life, but also the hardest. I achieved my dream, but not without difficulties and weakness. I found strength, and surprised myself with how weak I could be sometimes. I allowed myself to cry more, and found ways to smile. I had opportunities and I took them, but didn't stop to think about the consequences. Foolish, I know, but at the same, wonderful.
I guess most of all, this past year made me grow. I feel older now, more self-sufficient and mature than I did last January. Last year, I was honest-to-goodness terrified about so many things, but too afraid to admit the weakness, afraid that it would make that emotion of helplessness real. I found out that it was real, but I confronted it... eventually. This year allowed me to do that. To trust and rely on myself, and to trust the people around me.

RESOLUTIONS:
1. Write more. ~1000 words a week of non-academic writing (blogging, noveling, etc). For sanity and creativity.
2. Find balance in my life. In friends, family, school, and all other endeavors... because I am terrible at focusing, a professional procrastinator, and AWFUL at time management.
3. Figure out what my next "big goal" is... to replace France. I want to work towards something important; something that will fuel my endeavors. I want to find another dream, something that I can accomplish but not arbitrary.
4. Have an adventure. Sure, it's vague, but I want another adventure. A time to travel on my own (or with friends) and learn about other places and things. I want the discovery and excitement, and honestly, my wanderlust is far too strong NOT to have an adventure.
5. Complete the senior year bucket list. Just because. Even if it's incomplete, I want to try my hardest to do everything on the list.

I hope that at the end of this year, I'll find a different layer of strength in myself. I hope that I can refine my definition of myself and better understand the world around me. I want to feel comfortable being honest with myself and at ease in my skin.

WHAT I'M MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO:
...GRADUATIONNNNNNNNN!
Also, senior trips.
And starting college.
Just more fun experiences and life lessons, I guess.

TOP MOMENTS/MEMORIES OF 2010:
I could just name places here, but I'll go specific.
-Carnavale in Nice
-The French Grand Canyon with Dad
-My first trip to Bordeaux, when Any and I attempted (and failed) to make macarons, and ended up with "macaboules" instead.
-My trip to Toulouse, seeing Carcassonne and being completely enchanted by the beauty and deterioration of a castle.
-The days I spent in Tours, wandering through the streets by myself with only my thoughts and camera for company
-My second trip to Bordeaux, running through the streets with Jeveta at night, attempting to capture the cows. Feeling ridiculous and laughing so hard that I couldn't stop smiling, and then the disappointment of my battery dying, leaving me with only my eyes to capture the memories.
-Receiving mail from unexpected people. Packages (notably FOOD!)and postcards from family and friends, small pieces of delight that I never expected and always cherished.
-Bus rides with Corentin, Nadia, and Camille, trying not to laugh when people fell over and stumbled as the bus lurched forward.
-Playing Hide and Seek in a French marche.
-The lazy days spent at Charlotte's house when we would watch Disney movies and the Coup du Monde, blast music, and have waterfights or wander.
-The surprise parties my Frenchies hosted for me.
-Coming out of the airport and seeing Molly and Matt waiting for me, and having Grant come tackle us all as we stood there hugging.
-Going to Harry Potter Theme Park and then running into Yasmina and Chandler at Universal
-ROFLCOPTOUR!
-The Wilmington Trip with cross-country, spending a weekend with some of my favorite people, and the crazy antics with the other Senior Girls :)
-NaNoWriMo... the write-ins, meeting new friends (and connecting with existing friends!), writing a novel I loved and feeling the exhilaration of "winning" again.
-The return of the movie night.
-Repeating the tradition of caroling with Kat, Molly, and Tori, and unexpectedly seeing Coach Wow again.
-Spending Christmas Eve skiing while it snowed
-Finally seeing Wicked <3

Errrrrhm, I have far too many moments of this past year. It was magical.
So... tell me about 2010! And 2011!

Bonne Annee!
<3,
-Aly

Novel Number Two

Hello, everybody!

It's DECEMBER again, which means that I haven't blogged in a few months!

Ha, not really (though it's true). December means that National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is over. Another novel, DONE. [Last year's blogpost about NaNo]

Well "done", as in it has 50,000 words. But this one... it's not FINISHED. I want it to be, and I won't neglect it this time. So, I've written two novels. Even though neither of them are finished, and I dislike the first one quite a bit, I feel accomplished. This year, I wrote a story that's been bouncing around in my head for a while, rather than a story I forced myself to write. It's a different feeling, and the journey to 50k was much more pleasant this time around. Despite everything else going on this month (COLLEGE APPLICATIONS, yikes!), I managed to complete the challenge once again, and I'm proud of that.

I'm not as surprised at finishing this year, having already done it. Not to say that the feeling is less than it was, but I suppose nothing is quite the same each time you do it. Like running a race for the first time... the emotions at the end are much more overwhelming than every subsequent time. It's not a bad transition, but it's an interesting contrast. I wrote a novel this month, sure, but it's only halfway complete. The story I want to tell is still lurking around the edges, building slowly. Too slowly sometimes. Hitting 50k wasn't surprising, it was expected. It was something I realized I could do, and something I needed to do for myself.

So... this year in comparison to last year.
1. This year, I was a LOT more active on the forums! I connected with people on the Elsewhere forums and those of my Home Region.
2. I attended (most) write-ins. I even helped set up a few, and dragged people into them with me, rather than people dragging ME into them! :D
3. I joined a Skype group of Nerdfighters (from the Nerdfighting & NaNoWriMo group on the Ning). These strangers, that live all over the world, word-warred with me all the time, and were a great support group. I feel like some of them are becoming really good friends of mine. A small group of us are going to collaborate on the Project for Awesome. I also met another nerdfighter in real life, and got to know a few of my own friends better.
4. The novel I wrote was fantasy, rather than realistic fiction. Last year, I tried out a completely new genre and kind of story, but this year, I stuck with the kind of story that I love to write.
5. I knew what my weaknesses were and tried to work on them. I'm TERRIBLE at dialogue, so this year, I tried to focus on making the dialogue stronger than last year.
6. My characters are largely unnamed. Last year, I found names easily, but this year... the characters exist independently of names, until I have the time to dedicate to finding the perfect names.
7. I did not have to write 5,000 words on the last day! I knew how to pace myself better, and even though I fell behind (I didn't write for five days), I was able to recover from that much quicker. I knew how to get my word count up and how to keep it moving.
8. My characters were better-developed this year. They have flaws, voices, and complicated histories. They aren't just right yet, but they're a lot closer than the characters from last year. They're more intriguing, and more independent than my characters from last year.
9. I loved my story. It was fun to write, and I honestly ENJOYED it. It wasn't an emotional test for me, because I was inventing something, rather than drawing entirely from my own emotions. The story was one that... moved, rather than staying stationary. (That probably doesn't make sense unless you're a writer.)
10. (Because this has to be an even number!) There are scenes in my novel this year that I LOVE. Words that I am proud of. The story I've written (so far) is one that I want to continue. I want to edit it and make it better, but more than anything, I truly want to finish it this time.

I've been collecting writing links and advice for the past month (unintentionally!), so I may write up a blog post sharing those soon. I may also share an excerpt from my novel, because I'm excited about it!

Once again, for the people that have helped me along this ride-- on the internet or in real life (text message or anything), THANK YOU SO MUCH! I honestly couldn't have done it without you.

<3,
-Aly

Scones!

Salut!

Alors, aujourd’hui, je vais ecrire en français un petit peu :) J’espere que ça te derange pas trop! (Inquietez pas, je vais ecrire apres en anglais pour ceux qui savez pas le français.)

J’ai lavé ma voiture aujourd’hui! Ca prends beaucoup de temps, malheursement, alors je n’ai pas beaucoup fait à partir de ça. En fin, j’ai rien accompli aujourd’hui sauf faire le menage. Apres diner, j’ai fait la cuisine—j’ai fait les scones de myrtille avec un glaçage de citron. Ca m’a fait beaucoup de plaisir, parce que je vais les manger pour petit dejeuner demain matin! Ils sont très bons—mon frère m’a dit ça et il dit jamais les choses gentils au sujet de la cuisine que je fais! xD Mon premier cours de l’ecole à l’universite est demain matin, à 8h. Je ne suis pas pret!

En fin, j’ai dit au revoir à Via et maintenant, je vais au lit! :D

*****

Okay, In ENGLISH now! :D I just wanted to practice my French, since the only time I write in French is when I talk to my French friends… unfortunately, that’s never frequently enough, due to my busy schedule and the 6 hour time difference. Anway, I hope that didn’t annoy you too much, and any of you that speak French, feel free to correct me ;)

Today, I ended up washing my car, though I didn’t originally plan to. That took up most of the day, so I really didn’t do much else! I didn’t end up accomplishing anything today except a few chores. After dinner, I baked—I made blueberry scones with lemon icing, which are DELICIOUS, and a smoothie with leftover blueberries, some raspberries, strawberries, and cranberry juice. The scones will DEFINITELY be my breakfast tomorrow, and even my brother (who never compliments my cooking!) said they were good! xD

My first class at the community college is tomorrow morning at 8, so I have to get up reallyyyy early :( Luckily, I’ll have scones to look forward to as breakfast, instead of cereal! I’m not ready for this at all, so I really hope I’ll survive—I guess I’ll talk about it tomorrow?

After all that, I went over to Via’s to say goodbye, but didn’t cry. I’m still trying not to think about the fact that so many of my friends are so far away. GAHH MY LIFE IS BORING!

I’m going to bed now :)

BONSOIR/GOODNIGHT!

-Aly

P.S. What would you say if I make EVERY blog post from this month a food-title? I think I’ll make it my Thing.

NaBloPoMo

Hello, everybody!

So, I’ve been back from France for a month-and-several-days, and time is still passing far too quickly. I’ve got less than a week until school starts again, and to be honest, I’m not at ALL ready. I still haven’t come to terms with the fact that this is my last year of high school, though I’ve been worrying excessively about colleges since about April.

In other news, I’ve been REALLY busy lately, which is why I haven’t yet finished the last two blog posts from France. Sorry about that. Part of the reason is that finishing those posts feels like saying goodbye to that time in my life. I’m still holding on to the memories and the people I met there, my friends and “dreamland”.

Since I’m not that great at blogging or keeping up with this blog, I’ve decided that I’m dedicating this month to be my National Blog Posting Month, which is rather like NaNoWriMo, except it’s basically any time you like. I’ll be blogging daily until September 19th, even if it’s a small post. During this time, expect the last couple blog posts about France, and a few other big posts with excessive pictures. However, it’ll all depend on my schedule—cross-country season is nearly here for good (not just pre-season), and I’ll be busy with college applications, classes, and volunteering soon enough. With a bit MORE luck, I’ll be able to keep up with my French by tutoring others in French, since they cut the AP French program. Basically, if you know anybody that wants to learn French or is struggling with French, let me know, and I’ll see if I can help! ;)

(In reference to the “volunteering” thing—I’m applying to volunteer at the public library! I turned in the application yesterday, before settling in for an hour and some of working on school stuff. I love libraries :D)

Last night was Orientation (at least I didn’t have to go to REAL orientation in the silly clothes I wore to the “What Not To Wear skit” for Freshman orientation in the morning. The Freshman are probably embarrassed about the seniors xD), so I got to “meet” my teachers, though I more-or-less know them all. I’m really excited for my English class, because I have it with Molly, Matt, and Duncan… though I feel sorry for my teacher.

My dual enrollment classes begin Monday. With luck, I’ll be able to change my study hall to be a study hall with French… so that I can speak in French for an hour of my day!

In a strange way, I’m excited for this year. I just know it’ll be hard and crazy, though I think I can handle it. Don’t hold me to that one, though, because I’m probably going to spaz out in a few weeks!

-Aly

Dreamland

Hello again!

I’ve put this off for a few days now, but it’s about time that I sit down and actually write this blog, so here it goes.

I’ve been here for five months now, and in that time, quite a bit has changed. The most obvious is, of course, language-wise, but I’ve also gained many amazing friends and experiences.

Some things haven’t quite been what I expected them to be, but some, such as the relationships I’ve built, have been so much more important to me than I expected. I’ve spent these last two months (ever since the last vacation) in my own personal version of heaven, so busy with my French friends that I didn’t have time to miss home. And now, I’ve moved in with my friend Charlotte—I finally get to experience a “host family” with somebody my age, which is quite fun.

I could get all sappy here, but the video I posted on the 21st shows it pretty well—all that video was taken in a span of four days, and it’s kind of a present for the Frenchies, with whom I’ve passed so many good days lately.

OH! In other news, I only have 2 days of school left. And then I’m off to Bordeaux again, and the final few weeks in June, I’ll spend with Charlotte (B.) and my other friends. I’m so not ready for this to end, it’s just TOO GOOD.

♥,
-Aly

Trips to McDonalds/Quick: 12
(*hides in shame*)

MAY FIRST

Hello!

Happy May, you guys!

I've heard from many of you that you've already received the post cards I sent-- to those of you that haven't gotten them, they SHOULD be there soon! If you have given me your address, I've either already sent or am about to send you mail.

April was a good month, the midway point and the next step closer to finishing up my time here. Like all the other months, it was good (with some bad).

In April I loved:

1. Travelling-- I finally EXPLORED France. I saw Bordeaux and Toulouse, and Carcassonne, as well as many other small villages with history.
   
2. Meeting new people & getting to know my French friends better-- this last month has been AMAZING in that aspect! Good-bye and good riddance, awkward stage of friendship! You guys at home, I've said it before, and I'll say it again with complete convinction... the Frenchies are fantastic, and I love them to bits.
   
3. Renewing my "France crush"-- Once again, the love for France is back... thanks to the experiences I've had this month, and a renewing of the vision of France I get when I see all the beauty and history here. Except now, I recognize it's faults. And that's perfectly fine.
4. Fluency-- After four months of living here, I've finally heard it from just about everyone: "You speak French really well!", and at last, I believe them. I had a conversation with Charlotte about this the other day, and basically, I can no longer say that I'm NOT fluent. This makes me ridiculously happy. I'M BILINGUAL?!
5. Just to round out this list, April was amazing because... I'm nearly finished. I'm sad and excited about this, with how things have been going, but I think about it... four months. It's been nearly a year since I started this blog, since I truly began planning this trip. Four far-too-fast and all-too-slow months. I'll be home soon-- I'm excited for the new possibilities and about tackling the next adventure. And I'm really, really impatient to see all my friends and family at home, because I miss them so much.

Things that weren't so great in April:

1. Saying goodbye to new places & people.
2. Communication problems.
3. Train Strikes.
4. Freaking. School.
   

I mean, that's really nothing, and I really don't mind those that much because saying goodbye to people and places is rough, but I WILL find a way to go back and see them in the future, the communication problems have been resolved, the train strike was annoying but it did allow me to spend more time with people that I find to be amazing, and school meant more time with friends in Frejus! :D

In other news, I have far too many things to deal with at home. Home being the US, of course. Real life is calling me back, responsibilities and plans for things that are Actually Quite Important.

AP French won't exist next year, so far as I've heard. This means that my French education is basically over, and I'll have to start taking lower levels of French than I'm capable of. It aggravates me to no end, that I've worked (as have the other students that want to take the class, even if there are just 5 of us) for YEARS to be able to take AP French. The AP French teacher was my FIRST French teacher, ever, and I just think it would be really cool to end my years of French class (that is, if I don't take it in college) with the same teacher I began learning French with.

Anyway, MAY. I'll let you know how it goes.
Lots to do! BYE.
-Aly

French Sickie

Hello, everybody!

I've been here in Fréjus for ONE MONTH! I've been in France for a bit longer, but still. I've made it through one month, and I'm beginning to think that the time here will be passing too quickly. This scares me-- I feel like there's so much more to learn, to see, and to experience. I've got to learn, though my vocabulary, pronounciation, and general knowledge is improving as I spend more time surrounded by French culture and words. This isn't a long-overdue update, but I'm working on those! (After I finish the Week One post, I probably won't be worrying about going back and filling in all the mundane details of my life.)

At any rate, right now I'm sick (I have a cold), so I haven't done anything interesting this weekend. I didn't have the time/energy/willpower to run at all this past week at the beautiful Ville Aurelienne. One of my friends has said that he might run with me some Saturday though, so that's awesome because I don't have a running buddy here. This next Saturday marks the beginning of Winter Holidays here, which last for a couple weeks (I think). I don't have any plans, but hopefully I can find something other than reading and/or watching movies to entertain myself.

(I've been reading Harry Potter books; my friend Charlotte H. gave me the second, fifth, and sixth Harry Potter books in French, for which I will love her forever because HARRYPOTTEREEP! I read the first chapter of the second book yesterday.... and then watched the first two movies.)

Being sick in a foreign country is particularly unpleasant, as all the things you do when you're sick may not work so well or be quite the same, since you're elsewhere. The medicine isn't the same, and I've been sucking on Ricola/Coldeeze that Dad left me (again) because I've been hacking all over the place. I may head over to the Pharmacie down the street (if Nathalie and Olivier don't think I'll collapse or suddenly catch pneumonia along the way...) and hunt for some meds that Mom looked up that are the French equivalents of familiar things (like Motrin, except not really).

(I've been taking this stuff called Doliprane, which is similar to Tylenol-- you dissolve it in water and drink it; not yummy. It's supposed to get rid of my fever, not that I know my exact temperature because 1) Celsius???? and 2) I refuse to use their thermometer... but I generally know when I have a fever.)

My friends here are quite awesome; they use MSN, rather than AIM, so I spend a lot of time on there now, even though I haven't used that email address in years. My expressions don't translate well into French, but they seem to understand some of them ("happydance, anyone? no? Okay, errr... danse de bonheur? oui? YAY!!!!!").

I love to go downtown-- I always walk the same way, because I don't know which way is faster and the path I take is the one that Laure showed me when I went to see Avatar in French with her and her friend Anais. I ran at Base Nature a couple weeks ago, and decided that it'll work in when I'm in desperate need of running, but it's like the beginning of the Wendy's course (flat, field; when it's not marsh-like, it's probably dusty). But Fréjus is qute a nice place, if a bit sleepy. I'm looking forward to summer, because there seems to be NOTHING to do here in the winter!

I just wanted to let you all know that I'm doing well; I'm speaking in French to my friends at school more, and actually participating in some classes (such as some of my 9-hours-of-French-classes, where I'll read out loud a bit of a poem or story excerpt). I'll be attempting to make Toll House Cookies at some point (I have to save some for my English teacher, actually, haha), and things are more-or-less settling down at Chez Chasson now (11 year old boy = never true calm), and MY FRENCH IS IMPROVING (or so I've been told by quite a few people, though I believe that Corentin may say otherwise based on the amount of correcting he does... xD).

Hope all you North Carolinians are enjoying your SNOW (!!!), and that everybody is well & happy :)
-Aly

Day Ten: Fire Dancers

Jan. 1, 2010

Hello!

I still owe you, my dedicated readers (=P), the rest of the posts leading up to this week.

I’ll start where I left off from the last post; refresh your memory if you need to.

This evening (except it was still 2009 at that point), Dad and I headed over to the Roqui’s for dinner. We have been corresponding with the Roquis since sometime last January. I was supposed to live with them originally, but that didn’t work out as planned. At any rate, they have been tremendously helpful with getting me here to France, particularly with paperwork for both my enrollment in the lycée and to get me the visa to come here.

Dinner was moules (mussels) frites, and appetizers! Jean-Pierre, my friend Angela’s father, said it’s a tradition, though I don’t know if he meant a FRENCH tradition or a family tradition. The frites are eaten dipped in mustard (which in this case was mayonnaise and mustard? Uhh. It came like that in the jar.), which I tried and enjoyed. (I swear it’s better than it sounds…)

Dessert was buche de noël in ice cream form, which I have to say is a completely acceptable way to eat a Yule Log. I had three slices :D

George and Therese(I probably spelled their names wrong) were there, too (my dad’s friend Pierre’s parents; Angela’s mother, Elise, is Pierre’s sister. Got all that? It’s not really that important other than to explain how we know them.); it was nice to see them again. They remember us (or at least my dad) from when we met them during their stay in North Carolina a few years ago. (Though that may have been quite a while ago, like my sixth grade year.)

Dinner was an interesting affair—I think Angela, Alaina (her younger sister), and I were all being awkward and not talking, but our parents were talking. There was a constant mix of English and French, which is always interesting.

After we finished eating, we started watching the French review-of-the-year show (that’s what I think it was), which seemed to consists of things that a group of people sitting around the table thought were funny, if not particularly important. This shows seem quite popular, though, because I swear the Chassons were watching the same type of show the night before.

Finally, after a few pictures with George and Therese, Dad and I headed down to Saint Raphaël-plage to see the annual fireworks spectacle (show). We went expecting something like Fourth of July fireworks… loud, colorful explosions, and not much else.

It was a bit wet and chilly, if my memory serves me correctly, which made waiting a bit uncomfortable, but when the show began and we had a pretty good view, I definitely wasn’t complaining.

I’ll let you see what you can from the pictures, because it was just really awesome and different.

This was the beginning; dude crouched on a rail looking out over the dark water.

Anyway, those aren’t very clear pictures. I’m trying to decide the best way to put more pictures up at least so that you can see pictures I DON’T include on the blog. Not sure how to go about this in a safe way. Let me know what you think (about the idea and any ideas!).

Dad and I decided that was definitely a satisfactory way to bring in the New Year, though technically it ended before the New Year began. Everybody was yelling “BONNE ANNÉE! DEUX MILLE DIX!” (“HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2010!”)… there wasn’t a BIG GRAND FINALE (unlike American fireworks where there must ALWAYS be a Grand Finale). It was cool though. That was much more interesting than watching the ball drop on television. xD

The next morning we slept in until noon, skipped breakfast, and began our quest for Pizza, which ended up taking quite a bit of time as nothing was open. Hence, after we didn’t actually have pizza (we had very large salads. yum.), we immediately had to go to the Bruzzone’s for tea at 2:00 (14h).

I haven’t mentioned the Bruzzones on here before, except in brief passing as the OTHER Nathalie (Rick-with-the-blog’s friends in Fréjus). Nathalie B. works for “Vous Accueil”, which is an organization that welcomes newcomers to the town and provides information. [If I understood that correctly.] She is the one that received Rick’s email and did a lot to help find me another solution of someplace to live before I came here. She doesn’t actually know Nathalie Chasson, but it is partially thanks to Nathalie Bruzzone that we found me a place to stay here.

They invited us for tea so that we could actually meet them: Nathalie, her husband Laurent, and their daughters Fanny (14) and Laure (17; she’s 13 days older than me), and Aurlien, Laure’s boyfriend and Jerome, Laurent’s friend, joined us. Tea actually meant tea for my dad, but I just had fruit juice. With tea, we ate Galette des Rois, which is what you might know as King Cake. It isn’t the same though; king cake to me meant what we eat every year in French class, but this is quite different. (The ones we have in NC are the “Louisiana Style” King Cakes, which are cinnamon rolls with frosting and sugar.)

(click through to source of picture, since I didn’t actually have a picture; there's a recipe, too, except it's in metric measurements.)

At a later date, I'll post a recipe for Galette des Rois in American measurements; I've asked Nathalie (Chasson) for it, and I'll translate & convert it for you :)

Apparently there’s two types of King Cake, one for Northern France, and another in Southern France. The kind pictured above is typical in Northern France, and it’s particularly delicious served warm. As is typical for king cakes, there is a small baby Jesus inside; when you find it, you get to wear a fake King crown (and be “King” for a day! WHOO!).

The nice thing about my dad’s networking while trying to find me a place to stay is that I now have met more French people that are incredibly kind and welcoming, and want me to have a really great experience here.

(Dinner was that elusive Pizza from this really great Pizza place that was decorated with Pirate-y-ness in Saint Raphaël. I consider that a great success in Pizza-Questing.)

-Aly

Day Nine: “This is strange…”

Dec. 31, 2009

Bonsoir! (because it’s currently 6:15pm here.)

We’re going back quite a while now, because we’re finally reaching the END OF DECEMBER.

So, the first thing we did on (errr… *has to check what day of the week that was*…) THURSDAY! was go to Carrefour to shop for school supplies.

Since we hadn’t actually gone to a grocery store (I use this term loosely, since Carrefour is really a supermarché) in France before to actually BUY things, we were all “well, this is strange…”

“This is strange…”

1. Pillows- So, you know how pillows are usually rectangular? I’m talking about the pillow that you sleep on every night; I’m willing to bet that it’s rectangular, right? Well, not here! Europeans have SQUARE pillows. They’re a bit bigger than our pillows, I guess, but they’re square, which just seems incredibly strange. I mean, in a world of small spaces (cars, apartments, etc.), there are these huge square pillows. (Insert “this is strange…”)
   
2. Shopping Carts- The first thing you do when you enter a store to go grocery shopping is take a cart.You leave it to the workers to haul the shopping carts from the pens into the store, and you expect that there will always be shopping carts or baskets right inside the door for your convenience. In France, this is not the case (as we discovered after we got inside and realized we would like a cart). The carts are in pens outside the door, but they’re all chained together. The locks holding the carts together have slots on them to put money in; once you pay, you can take the cart. (We found out later that it’s a token-type thing and not actual money, though I suppose you have to pay for the token? Not sure how that works.) When you return the cart, you lock it back into the other carts and you get your money/token/thingy back.
   
3. Fruit- In American grocery stores, fruit is nicely labeled how much for a pound (or a bag, or whatever… since I only ever buy fattie club foods, I’m not exactly certain xD). At the cash register, the cashier weighs your fruit, and you pay for it. Here, you  weigh your own fruit… actually, there’s this guy who has a little stand in the fruit section. He just stands there, really… until somebody comes up with their bag of fruit, which they place on the scales (there’s four). He prints off a sticker that says how much your bag of fruit costs, and sticks it on the bag; after, you are free to continue your shopping. [I wonder what it says in his job description… must be good with stickers; VERY STRENUOUS work environment? xD  I think I would’ve enjoyed that job, once upon a time.]
   
4. Grocery Bags- Personally, I think this is good, and we should have expected it; especially with our philosophy on plastic bags. In France, they don’t HAVE plastic (or paper) grocery bags at supermarkets. You can’t just go to the checkout and shove all your purchases in a conveniently-located bag to take it home in. You have to bring your own bag (which is some variety of cloth), and you load it yourself, and you’d better be quick about it, too! (We learned this the hard way, when I had to shove everything into my purse and Dad had to carry a stack of things that were too big for my purse out to the car.)

While we were at Carrefour (not the supermarket, but the centre commercial that is attached), we decided we needed lunch (before we actually bought anything); seeing a sign outside a small “sandwicherie” (everything seems to be  [word]-erie here, but that’s just a gross generalization) advertising “THE AMERICAN”, we decided to try it.

“The American” was supposed to be a sandwich with cheese and some sort of “American” sauce… being Barbeque sauce. We thought it would be, y’know… barbeque, like pulled pork or chicken or something.

When it arrived it looked something like this:

(There were more “frites” on there, though.)

So “The American” sandwich, as perceived by the French:

Onions (underneath the cheese), “Hamburger Cheese” because they refuse to call it American cheese (I discovered this later), hamburger patties (cut in half so that they fit on the baguette), a little bit of lettuce, fries, ketchup, and barbeque sauce… all on a baguette. Although we are Americans, we ate the fries first. Maybe the French people could eat the American like it (apparently) should be, frites and all. Because seriously, I’m fairly certain I’ve never laughed that much at a sandwich before.

ANYWAY, after our shopping adventure, we headed over to Fréjus-Centre to explore more, since the last time we explored downtown, we only saw the Cathedral.

This time we saw the Roman Arena and wandered around downtown; even though stores near the beach are closed, centreville was still fascinating.

Unfortunately, the arena is being restored or renovated or something of the sort so we couldn’t actually go inside. :(

[Uhh, there would be pictures here but I can’t seem to find them on my computer. Help me out here, Dad!]

(Conclusion: more trips to Fréjus will be necessary in the future. Or to France. As if I didn’t think that would be necessary before.)

I love how modern businesses operate under ancient roofs (fine, the roofs probably aren’t ancient, but the buildings are! ESPECIALLY in comparison to the US!). You can walk down these tiny cobblestone streets that probably haven’t changed much since they were laid, but you can see cars and people in modern clothing walking around as though they don’t know they’re walking on FREAKING history! :O

*nerd moment*

Seriously, though. Walking on history.

(Uhh, I forgot to mention; there seems to be “gangs of girls” here. There are these girls here that walk around in what look like gangs; all scowling, wearing look-alike outfits in all black, and just generally looking intimidating. I think Dad was frightened by them; then again, I was a bit scared intimidated, too!)

Andddd that concludes Day Nine, because I think I’ll shove dinner that night with the Roquis into Day Ten, even though it technically wasn’t. Sorry for the picture-less post! I’ll add pictures once I find ‘em! :)

Hope you’re having a great Monday!

-Aly

Day Five: M’O

27 Dec. 2009

Bonjour!

This was after we got out of the Musée; as always, it was windy.

Sorry for the delay in posting! I think I’ve figured out a more efficient way to do this and add pictures (Windows Live Writer)! (Granted, it was my mom’s suggestion via Skype. And it does work, because my last post was written on Live Writer. It was much easier than putting in pictures and dragging them up and down the post on Blogger. IT EVEN LETS ME ADD ACCENTS! xD

[Sorry, I’m a bit overly enthusiastic about it. It’s making my life easier, so hopefully posts won’t take me hours to write anymore…]

Medusa!

Anyway, dad and I finally made it INSIDE Musée D’Orsay (vraiment this time!) [Vraiment = truly but I think they use it for “really”, too.] The line was already long, despite the fact that when we arrived it was only 10:30 (it opens at 9:30). To waste time (and since we hadn’t eaten yet), we had “brunch”" yet again. [More crepes and FINALLY some hot chocolate with WHIPPED CREAM. Except it’s more expensive that way, and it’s called something different. Chocolat vinneois, I think; I forgot to write down what it was.)

By the time we were finished with brunch, the lines had passed the boundaries and people were squished together as the line wrapped around lampposts and past people selling more hot chestnuts. (They’re everywhere! As are the people selling miniature Eiffel Towers.) We waited in line for thirty minutes (maybe more), but at last, we made it INSIDE the Musée!

We wandered through all the open exhibits—many are closed or moved because they’re renovating. We saw the Impressionists, Post-impressionists, and a few other styles that I couldn’t name but Dad probably could. HA, NEVERMIND. He just handed me the map/guide.

*Ahem* (I’m about to quote the map.)

“From November 2009 to Marche 2011, the museum will be carrying out major renovation work on its museographic areas, leading to the closure of level 5.
During this period, your visit will begin on level 0, where you will view the large realist paintings of Courbet and the first works of Manet, Monet, and Cézanne together with impressionists and postimpressionists, sculpture collections (Carpeaux, Daumier…), as well as paintings from the 180s and 60s (Ingres, Delacroix, Degas…).
This continues on to level 2 with the masterpieces of French and Belgian Art Nouveau, foreign schools of painting, symbolism (Homer, Burne-Jones…), and naturalism (Gervex, Lhermitte…).
Lastly, there are two temporary exhibitions showing: ‘James Ensor’ and ‘Art Nouveau Revival’. To keep informed of what’s happening in the museum during the renovation work, go to www.musee-orsay.fr.”

(*whew*. Good thing that was in English.)

I’m glad we gave ourselves time to look through everything! We were there from 11:30ish to 2:45. I discovered an artist I had never heard of but I liked—Armand Guillaumin.

Those are two of Guillaumin’s pieces behind me. Pretty, right?!

The Van Gogh, Monet, and Degas exhibits seemed to be the most popular (you should recognize those names. Well, maybe not Degas, but the first two… If you don’t recognize the first two, then we have a bit of a problem!). The temporary exhibit about James Ensor was quite popular—he was a Belgian painter, and he was really quite egotistical! He painted 112 self-portraits, if that gives you any idea… in one of them, he was Jesus! xD (oh, artists…)

The painting behind me is Van Gogh’s Portrait de l’artiste.

We don’t remember what this painting is called (Le Bal?), or the artist that painted it. But it was REALLY detailed.

Dad actually knows some of the famous paintings that I didn’t recognize, but he took pictures of me in front of them anyway.

Notice how awkward I look.

We thought this was cool. Don’t remember the artist or title, of course.

One of the statues. Some of the statues were really funny… naked boys frolicking. *is slightly immature* xD

I thought this statue was cool (artist: Degas); the skirt she’s wearing and the ribbon on her ponytail are real fabric.

I had to take a break after seeing everything on the ground floor; I was inspired and exhausted, so I sat down in the statue gallery to relax. I really liked the Impressionist/postimpressionism; I like the softness of the paintings. Some of the more “fantastic” pieces were particularly interesting (like the Medusa painting near the beginning of this post; the artist that painted that had these great colorful pieces!) I wrote some and people-watched, which I feel is a fine way to spend time in an art gallery.

(I also attempted to take a picture of the really awesome clock.)

I failed, but Dad succeeded. So that’s the awesome clock! :D

I think we both started getting really exhausted towards the end; we breezed through the 2nd level. We did stop to take a good look at a couple things.

Like this; it made us laugh. Actually, I still find it rather funny.

I’ll let you interpret this one for yourself. There are twelve naked men in this picture. (This was right next to the painting pictured above. )

The Art Nouveau Revival and Naturalism exhibits weren’t that exciting, but I did learn that Art Nouveau Revival has some elements of eroticism… which was not so subtle in some pieces like a table that hade a not-very-clothed mannequin as the base. [Note for the confused: Art Nouveau Revival is the style associated with the 1960s—the often psychedelic patterns and colors, I guess. The cover of the Beatles’ album Revolver is an example of the style.](You just learned something, didn’t you?)

This was in the Naturalism exhibition. That is, indeed, a toilet. Shaped like a fly. Gotta love art… xD

Having seen everything we wanted to see and glanced through the exhibits we weren’t so interested in, we finally left Musée d’Orsay and headed over to Père Lachaise Cemetary (of course getting there was far too complicated). Late lunch was from a Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant because we like Vietnamese food and Dad is on a perpetual search for the PERFECT spring rolls. (No, really; we had these great spring rolls at a Vietnamese restaurant in San Jose with family friends back when I was a sixth grader and he still hasn’t found spring rolls that are just right.) [And it was delicious, but the porc (pork) spring rolls > crevette (shrimp) spring rolls> poulet (chicken) spring rolls.]

The Père Lachaise Cemetary is the most-visted cemetary in Paris; Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Pissarro, Oscar Wilde, and lots of other famous people are buried there. The tombs are really intricate and pretty; it’s hilly there, so you see all these moss-covered tombs, some with flowers, but many looking forgotten, with cobblestone lanes surrounded by bare trees… it’s really beautiful.

We had just entered; I’m not very good at looking solemn.

This captures the atmosphere of it quite well. Isn’t it beautiful, though?

Dad in front of Jim Morrison’s grave, looking properly sad.

Oscar Wilde’s tomb. It’s covered in kisses. Lipstick apparently stains stone…

Chopin’s tomb is also quite popular to see.

Edith Piaf’s tomb; I’m not very good at looking sad so I’ll not put that picture of me trying-and-failing to look sad. So yeah. Happy at a tomb…

QUICK! Distraction!

We think this is Pissarro’s tomb; it’s so very gaudy, and Pissarro’s tomb was supposed to be around here but we forgot whose tomb we were looking for. xD

Okay, so that’s enough about the cemetery. That’s all we did then; dinner was McDonalds (fail, I know) because that was the ONLY THING open on our street that looked edible (surprisingly) and was cheap. On the bright side, we didn’t get food poisoning! :)

That is all. Hope you had an equally marvelous day!

-Aly

P.S. Today’s Day Six. Again with the late posting. But we haven’t done much today, since we’re currently on the train to Saint Raphaël.

(ACTUALLY, since I couldn’t get on the internet to post this last night, today is DAY SEVEN. We’re currently in Fréjus and we met my host family last night :D)

Day Four: English with French Subtitles

26 Dec. 2009

Hey!

…Right, so this is the post I should have written a day ago! :)

[I’ll write it as though today was still the 26th! Don’t get confused about the verb tenses, then. I HAVE WARNED YOU.]

As I mentioned previously, we were planning on going to the flea markets, Musée D’Orsay, and the Eiffel Tower today. {See? That’s where you act like I posted this on the 26th. ONWARDS.} You should have guessed by now, but Dad and I are not very good at planning, so we did not actually accomplish all of that.

However, we did make it to the flea markets! We went to “Les Puces de Paris: Saint Ouen” (“The Fleas of Paris: Saint Ouen”), which is supposedly the largest flea market in Paris. It includes a huge antiques and furniture marché (I keep typing marché instead of market, so I give up. Marché, marché, marché) and countless (really. 1, 2, 3…57…) clothing booths.

In this case, I’m grouping anything that isn’t furniture and/or antiques in with “clothing”, so interpret that loosely. There were booths with chaussures (shoes) and other accessories like wallets, purses, small trinkets, prints, small sculptures, post cards, typical tourist-y junk, and lots of booths with leather jackets.

Unfortunately, I don’t know enough about clothing and such to say if anything was authentic, or if it was stolen (not even kidding). The fakes (of which there were many) were fairly well-done—for example, we saw no less than four stalls selling “Converse” shoes in all sorts of designs and colors, and the tread and boxes and everything looked pretty real to me (and I have a pair).

They had boots for as little as 10€ (YAY EURO SYMBOL! Finally found the Alt control. Geez…); some were cute but nothing was particularly unique, so I didn’t buy anything (I may regret that later, I kinda lovelovelove boots and I’ve been wearing mine nearly every day). [Whoa, that was very ADD.] Anyway, I didn’t buy much.

{Notice the careful wording. “not much” = ONE THING. JUST. ONE.}

The furniture/antiques market was ASTOUNDING, though! I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many antiques in such great condition! Some were insanely old, too (then again, Europe in general is old). Everything we saw was veryyyy expensive, but much of it was high-quality, if you ever happen to want a quite-expensive-in-Euros antique something. xD

[Sorry I don’t have any pictures of ANY of that! We really didn’t take any!]

After we got bored of that, we began our search for a cell phone for me. Fnac.com (except they just call it "Fnac”, and that’s pronounced “F-nack”. As in the letter F, nack.)We finally found one (a cell phone, that is) for as-cheap-as-possible. It’s really simple; a tiny Samsung flip phone. We tracked down Mobiho (that’s the name of a cell phone company, just so you know.) SIM cards (that wasn’t easy, I tell you!) so I can call the US for 0,19€/min, but incoming calls are FREE so YOU COULD CALL ME.

(I have a calling card to call my family, but we don’t think it’ll work. SADNESS!)

Unfortunately, the SIM card is only 8€ of calls for now, and each SIM card has its own number attached, so my number will change every time I have to get a new SIM card. I know, confusing and problematic.

Fnac is what you would get if you combined Barnes and Noble and Best Buy and then translated it into French. So, not only did we find my cell phone there, but I bought Harry Potter et le prisonnier d’Azkaban to read. It’ll take me months, but it’s my favorite of the Harry Potter series so I’m looking forward to reading it in my favorite language. And we got an alarm clock—the buttons are all in English, which makes little sense. Not that I’m complaining!

After we dropped off all of our “loot”, we headed over to the Musée d’Orsay, but decided not to go in since we didn’t have enough time to fully appreciate the art. BUT WE ACTUALLY MADE IT THERE THIS TIME, so we did better! Rawr!

At last, we walked/ran/rode a bus for two blocks over to the Eiffel Tower. It’s basically required that you take far too many pictures there, but here’s some of the far-too-many pictures that WE took! (and when I say “we”, I mean “Dad” because I’m too lazy to take my pictures off my camera right now.)

See? I DO HAVE MY OWN CAMERA!

I like this picture because it looks purple. xD

Slightly idiotic expressions are my trademark.

Dunno why there’s dustiness in this one.

You can tell by my expression that this is take 4. Also, it was very cold. xD

The lights were flashing on the tower so you can actually see us well!

As expected, the lines at La Tour Eiffel were long and by the time we got to the first floor (we walked because it was cheaper and we thought it would be more interesting), it was already dark. Then again, it gets dark early here.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the views! (We didn’t get any higher than the 2nd level because we figured that once you get that high, there’s really not much else to see but a further-away view of the same things.)

Montmartre.

Sacre Coeur. Blurry; I think my picture was less blurry but this camera has a better zoom.

The lights turned on while we were on top of the 2nd floor :)

See? Same, just higher.

I confess, I don’t know what this is, but I like the blur. I think it looks cool. xD

La Seine

Once we returned to the ground, it was dinnertime, so we took the bus over to Odeon, where we found a tiny Italian place, and had escargots. That shouldn’t need translation: SNAILS! Yum. They weren’t as good as last time, but still good :D

After we were happily full, we went to see Pas si simple because the lines at the theaters playing Avatar were too long. It was still in English, but it had French subtitles, which definitely weren’t exact. (The title itself is an example of this—pas si simple is literally “not that simple” in French, but the title of the movie was actually It’s complicated.) The French seemed to enjoy the French references… “it’s so very… FRENCH!” xD

{It’s funny; but it had a lot of filler but the cast was well-cast which probably helped it a lot.}

So, that was day four!

Hopefully that made up for my lack-of-post due to Skyping my twin! :)

-Aly