Spring Vacation Adventures

Bonjour! I'm running around Europe for this vacation so just a quick update: So far, I've :

--walked around Salzburg in the rain
--crossed three country lines in four hours!
--had Wiener schnitzel --enjoyed the special beer from Salzburg
--experienced a Mozart dinner concert featuring a five piece ensemble and two opera singers
 --went to Mass in the Salzburg cathedral
 --heard Palastina's Mass for Pope Marcelius with a surrounding choir (ancient surround sound)

 Catch up with you later!

Of bees, crickets, and leaving...

I don't know what to say. All this time that I've been here I never thought I could start to miss France even before I left it. Yesterday I said goodbye to some friends that I will probably never see again (like the adorable Africans!) I have loved and have been loved-and I've discovered that is the best thing and ranks far above all the places i've seen and things I've done.  I just wish I didn't have to be oceans away from the community over here.  As le prêtre told me, I have options: I can work in France, join the Dominicans or marry a Frenchman.  *blush* Indeed, I have met some of the sweetest, most charming people here in Nancy and I don't want to leave them-but I must.  Some of the sweetest things I have ever heard were said to me in farewell yesterday and that became the slowest walk home I have ever experienced.   I don't think my friends even know how comforting they have been to me in all my troubles and challenges-if it wasn't for them, I'm sure I would have lost the spirit to continue. I dread going home, but only because I dread leaving.  The more you travel, the more you begin to realize that it's the friends you make and the people that you meet, not the places, sticks and stones that you visit. I will end this post with another story: The bees were all busy in their hives, going about their daily work cheerfully. The littlest bee had planned a voyage to a certain rose patch to collect pollen, but a strong west wind blew her to quite another part of the garden.  This part was much wilder than the rest of the garden, but beautiful all the same. The littlest bee recognized it immediately from her other trips around the garden, so she was not frightened. There was a family of sparrows that she decided to visit. They were very generous to her, but when it came time for her to leave, she was put on the charge of the sparrows neighbors-the crickets-who were to take her home.  Mother cricket was very kind. She gave the littlest bee honeysuckle wine and mirabelle tea and told the littlest bee all about her big and wonderful family, showing her the waterspout drawings of her sons, singing the praises of each one in his turn. There seemed to be no end to her marvelous family.  Dare I add that the sons were searching for brides to share their cricket holes and the mother cricket was most anxious to assist them. It was during a story of the third son's intelligence and prowess that he had in a fight with a fire ant that the third son actually appeared in person.  He was tall-that is, for a cricket, and his accent wasn't at all how the littlest bee had imagined. But he was civil all the same asking about the hive and what work she did there.  When at last it was time to go, she knew that they would meet again.   And that not how it was at all. I happened to speak with this particular bee, and I can tell you quite frankly that she never was so pleased or confused in all her life.  For one thing, she offers this piece of advice--if you are working for a dragonfly, and that dragonfly's incredibly handsome son walks into the room right when you are in the middle of working and are covered in pollen dust...well, nothing prepares you for that. And I have not even begun to tell the stories that happen around the hive!

This week...

...is filled with fun and embarrassing things.

--working with a bunch of giggling toddlers trying to make them speak English when all they do is yell the few words they know in Spanish and Italian (as you might sense, I disagree with someone's pedagogy...)

--trying to lead a circle game and getting my hair stuck on one of their low-hanging-not-so-cute art projects

--having the directrice (no less) disentangle me from the aforesaid predicament

--going to the chrism Mass at the cathedral (the first chrism Mass I've ever been to in English or French), hearing the excellent homily on the new evangelization and seeing my friends

--keeping a smile on my face even though my computer is dead and gone for good (here's hoping the next one lasts a bit longer and that I can still get all my files off)

Things I will miss...
--la bise...but you all already know that :) I just can't believe how much I like it
--the French and their truly awesome selves...there really isn't a better way to put that
--speaking french with my roommate, dictionary in hand
--little kids speaking French and their amazement that I can understand them (even after they've been speaking to me only in french for two whole days)


Since life is incredibly busy with the Germans leaving, holy week, école maternelle and computer problems, I shall wish you a joyeux pâques :)

SNCF and opinions

Being abroad is all about changing your opinions.

Mine just did.

SNCF is the company that runs all the trains in France--and sometimes they can be your bitter enemy (actually, most of the time).  I once saw a guy getting slapped with a huge fine because his ticket had "traces of falsification," and even if he applied for a refund, let's face it, this is France, they're super slow about paperwork.

Dum-dah-dee-dum*

Today I purchased some complicated tickets, and let me tell you, the guys at the guichet were super helpful and nice.  Even though it took a long time to get the tickets, the guy who was helping me was patient and courteous and even gave me extra sleeves to hold all the tickets :)

France might be disorganized in some areas, but I think they make up for it with gentility.  Americans could learn from that.

*Anyone who has ever been in a train station in France knows that little jingle. Here's what I mean.

Les Misérables

I finally saw Les Mis--not what I expected, but it was a fun outing.  Did I love it or hate it?  Let's just say that I purchased a few songs from the second half of the film :P  The French people I was with were absolutely appalled at the American pronunciation of French names, and I think the constant singing got to us (in addition to the inaccuracies and botched ending).  Overall, I still had fun!

Other news:  I'm finally on vacation!  WOOT!  This one is going to be a whirlwind and ridiculously expensive--so stay tuned for some awesomeness.

Things are starting to wrap up over here, which is kind of scary and depressing--and I would totally be in deep depression if the sun hadn't finally decided to show his face this entire week!  Believe it or not, we had a sunny/snowy day yesterday... kind of like the scene in Les Mis where Javert gets his report back from Paris.  I didn't think snow and sun was a possibility.

Have a marvelous weekend!

A monumental moment

Friends, I have been living in France for five months.  And before we start breaking out the champagne and heating up the raclette machines, I just want to document what makes this day so monumental:

5 months is...

- the longest I've ever lived away from home

- the longest I've ever lived entirely by myself

- the longest I've ever lived in a foreign country

- the longest I've ever spent without seeing my parents or my brother (even my roommate noticed this one)

- the longest I've ever been completely self-sufficient (and before you get all high and mighty, remember that I'm only 22)

- the longest I've ever lived speaking another language as a primary means of communication

I could also say it's the longest I've ever gone without sunlight, but that would be ignoring the glorious weather we had today--I was almost dizzy with happiness when Mr. Sunshine finally decided to show his face!

I have friends from all over the world--something I wouldn't trade for all of Dixie.  I often surprise myself with how good my French is getting (ok, everyone has their days, even in English...) I sometimes tense up, thinking I have no idea what to say or how to say it and then come out with a new friend and an hour long conversation.

And then there are some things that can't be bought for time nor money...

À bientôt!

~Laura

People are so nice!

As I was making my way to Verdun this past weekend, so was an ice storm.

The train part of the ride went along quite smoothly, but when it came time for the bus, the driver flatly informed me (and the other passenger--yeah, there were only two of us) that we might not be able to make it to Verdun because of the verglas (black ice) that was all over the hilly country roads.

Getting stuck in Conflans is everyone's idea of a nightmare--there is NOTHING there.

Finally, he decided to make some calls to see if the autoroute was better.  Sweet man, he agreed to take us as long as we didn't mind going the long way.  At first the road didn't seem too bad, but as we got on the highway, the driver pointed out a truck that had turned over--which freaked us into buckling up.

Because the driver had to get back to Metz that evening (that's where he lived) he asked if he could leave us at the shopping center just outside of town.  Of course, this meant that I would be stuck out in the middle of the countryside without a car or any way to get into town.

The other girl who was with me graciously called a friend and asked if he could pick the both of us up--which he did, and they dropped me off even closer than the bus would have normally!

They could tell immediately by my accent that I wasn't French.

"Assistant?" Yeah... everyone here knows about the assistants and they were more than happy to help me out :)

People are so nice!