Keeping Up

10/17/08
2:53
As most of you know, I am currently working on my college applications since I didn’t get in to any of the schools that I had hopped to go to last year. Right now, I doing a balancing act between school, friends, college applications, teaching and teaching plans, an internship application for next spring, and day to day life in France.

It has been a struggle lately to keep everything in perspective, and keeping one step ahead of everything. I feel like I am constantly typing essays, notes, or a blog. I am excited to visit Europe next week, but I feel like I am drowning in my own work.

But! No worries! I am keeping up every step of the way, and not loosing sight of how lucky I am to be here right now. As I type, I am sitting in the most beautiful park in the world. The sun is out, it must be about 70 in the sun, there are a few puffy clouds, the sound of the fountain in the background is calming and relaxing.

Rennes: A Poem

10/14/08

Ahhh Rennes

The city that I call home, where I go to school, teach, and eat fresh croissants on a weekly basis

Your small market every Saturday could keep me eating from here to the moon

Your ancient buildings accented by your disgustingly sketchy allies

Your large student population that keeps the city alive

I feel luckly to walk your streets every day

Your intense Breton culture fills the air

Your traditional cidre warms the heart

Your Parc Thabor lightens the soul with its beautiful rose gardens

And disgustingly perfect manicured lawns and beds

You sketch me out, and you make me laugh

You are Rennes

Vacation

10/16/08
So, as some of you already know, I have a week vacation starting Saturday the 25th. A friend of mine and I worked for hours to plan a perfect trip. Only to discover, that there might be a chance that we wouldn’t get to do any of it because of limited space for Eurail Pass holders (which is what I am). Devistated, we quickly ran to the ticket both to see what we could salvage of our perfectly planned vacation. And for the most part, we were successful in getting what we wanted. Not exactly but close enough.

So the final itinerary is as follows, Munich→ Salzburg → Vienna → Nice, with a short 2 hour stop in Venice. I have my backpack, my tickets, hostel reservations are on there way, and wonderful people to travel with. And when I get back, I will share all of my wonderful stories from all my wonderful adventures, running around Europe.

Happy Birthday Patricia!

So last week or so, it was my host mothers birthday! So what do the French do when it is someone’s birthday, well they sing happy birthday of course, but they also have a small get together with some friends. And this is what commenced one evening in late September.

As the guest arrived, more and more French was being spoken, and it just seemed to spew out. There ended up being 4 of my mother’s friends, and then my brother and his girl friend; Eight in total, counting me and my mother. Once we all got settled, someone decided that grab and camera, and a 20 minutes photoshoot commenced.

Once that was all done, the meal was served. The spewing of French continued, and I continued to sit in bewilderment. Now, you must keep in mind, that when I am home I don’t have to worry about speaking French quickly or understand quickly because it’s just my mother and I. She will speak slowly when I don’t understand, and sometimes she will translate a word or two. BUT, when you get 7 fluent French speakers in a room, I just couldn’t handle it! By the end I was just drifting off, because my head hurt from trying to pick up on words that I knew, and trying to put the pieces together to figure out what was being said.

By the end of the night, I was exhausted. It was just amazing to see what the REAL French are like. How they interact with each other, and what they think of Americans. Overall a very successful night.

Pictures: The first one is of my brother, his girlfriend, me, and my mother (she is the one sitting down)
The second one is all of my mother's friends and me!