It's 1:45 in the morning and I can't sleep. All I can do is listen to remixes.
I'm moving into my apartment in 2 days and as I was walking to the bus this morning, I started realizing just how much I'm going to miss living in this little Lyonnais suburb. Here's what, to name only some:
Sleeping in a big bed (the one in the apartment is tiny)
Not having to buy groceries
The cows next door
My bus, whose drivers and passengers I've come to know and love (despite having to walk up and down that enormous hill each time I need to take it, which was quite good exercise anyway)
Not having to pay for internet
Not having to do anything, really
My dirty clothes suddenly being magically clean
Feeling totally safe at night
Didier, with his sly jokes and Santa Claus smile, genuinely interested in having really interesting conversations with me about politics, sports, and culture
Agnes, with her motherly tendencies, love of rap music (and willingness to dance around the living room to it with me), and ability to make all food taste amazing
And Elliot, my own personal rock star, with his Blink 182 music videos, atrociously adorable English speaking French accent, who is truly one of the most considerate people I've ever met, and mature beyond his years
I told Elliot that he has to come over and hang out with me at the apartment. We'll drink beer (I'll stomach it) and bob our heads to the beat.
I think though, that the real reason I can't sleep, has to do with me missing something else: home. I think, if I may take a moment to be introspective and analytical, that I may have been a little over confident in terms of this whole living in France for a year thing. What I mean is, it didn't even cross my mind that this experience would be at all hard for me; I'd already lived abroad before for a long period of time, I already knew what cultural differences were in store, and I even already knew how to speak French pretty well. But you know what... none of that matters. At all. I'm homesick. I miss my family, and I miss my friends. I miss Cafes Yumm and Roma, and Japanese food, and Gordos and Sienna, and the wide variety of restaurants that I took for granted. I miss being able to drive to Target to get basically everything I need. I miss driving. I miss actually having money to spend on everything I need. I miss relatively warm weather. I miss things being less complicated. I miss understanding most things. I miss convenience. I miss feeling completely comfortable. I miss beer pong. I miss Moonbeam. I miss having dance parties in basements.
I am really really happy to be studying abroad in Lyon, France this year. I am having a great time, and it's an incredible experience. But I'm coming to realize that that doesn't mean it's always easy to be here. And sometimes, I wish I could just teleport home. Just for a day. Just for an hour.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
My soon to be metro might be the end of me...
After basically lying in bed for 5 straight days, I decided to venture back into the world on Friday afternoon. I no longer had a fever, and was feeling almost entirely better minus the fact that I was still coughing up my lungs every 5 minutes-at this point, it's about every 15. I met Molly at our favorite ice creamery in Lyon: it's in Vieux Lyon and every one of their 40 some odd flavors is insanely delicious. My personal favorite is 'pear.' We ate our ice cream and discussed Halloween (Molly's going to be a tree, she wants me to be Elvis. If anyone has any ideas of a good Halloween costume, please let me know, I'm coming up dry).
Later that evening, we met up with Terra to go to a free capoeira exposition in Villeurbanne. For those of you who don't know, capoeira is a Brazilian martial arts dance. Terra is taking a capoeira class through school, but there is a capoeira studio here in Lyon (the one we were going to) that Julia, my host sister, actually belongs to. It's 200 euros for the year, which isn't bad, but too much for yours truly. However, throughout this past week, the studio was letting people get a taste of capoeira for free. I was under the impression that this was going to be a huge exposé, in a big gymnasium-type room, with capoeira performances and opportunities to try it out yourself, etc.
No. This is not what is was. It was a small studio room and it was just straight up a class. No watching, all participating. The instructor, a small, dreadlocked, tattooed Brazilian man who didn't seem to be fond of underwear had us start jogging around the room in a circle, and we were off. Molly and I did not know what we were in for... luckily there were a fair amount of people who had never done capoeira before either. I'm not going to describe everything we did, but we used every single muscle in our bodies, we did a lot of high, rounded kicks, spin moves, and cartwheels, all the while keeping the tribal dance moves going. Also, everything is done in pairs and Mr. Brazil would not let Molly and I be partners. This was scary at first, but ended up being a lot of fun because I got to meet (and laugh about our lack of skills with) tons of different people. The class lasted for an hour and a half, and at the end the instructor had us all sit in a circle while some of the regular capoeira students played music, and each of the newbies was paired up with an old timer to demonstrate what we learned during the class. I sucked, but it was all in good fun. All in all it was a great experience, though now I cannot even take a step without all of my muscles screaming out in pain.
Before I explain what happened on Saturday, I need to explain what "Le Petit Paumé" is. Le Petit Paumé is a very detailed guidebook of basically everything in Lyon: things to do, different types of stores to go to, cultural experiences to have, restaurants, bars and clubs, useful resources, everything. And each place/thing to do has a detailed description written by someone who's experienced it. It's basically the single most useful book to have if you are visiting or living in Lyon. There's a new one issued each year, and they're given out for free to anyone who wants one on a day in late October. Saturday was this day.
After eating at this Thai restaurant that we'd really been wanting to go to (no Thai ice tea which was sad, got Pad Thai, disappointingly small portion but still very tasty, though it didn't even compare to Thai Noodle or Sweet Basil, for those of you who know one or the other), Molly and I headed to Bellecour, where the Petit Paumés were getting handed out. Little did we know that a fairytale wonderland was in store for us. This year, Le Petit Paumé is fairytale themed, and thus, there were tons of people dressed as if from fairytales, mystical fairies on stilts parading around, a strange traveling circus type troupe singing songs (Molly and I loved these people and watched them for about 40 minutes), and more. There was also some weird stuff that didn't seem to fit, like a square of astroturf where little kids were throwing around rugby balls (I guess this was because of the rugby world cup, the championship of which took place last night. South Africa beat England), cones set up for kids to rollerblade around, and weird wooden air hockey-ish tables. But you know, when in Rome...
Saturday night, Elliot had a party at the house for his 16th birthday. 16 is a relatively big deal here because you become of age to legally drink beer. Molly and I were intrigued and curious to see how 16 year old Frenchies get down, so we tried to stealthily get in on the action. (We served some of the food, and offered my ipod to Elliot for the dance partay). In the end, we kinda just felt like creepers, and went to Molly's house, but it was fun for a while. Oh but, before the party started, Elliot was setting everything up and going through his music and after eating delicious tiramisu that Alix made (Alix is the eldest daughter, she's 24 and lives in Paris, but got here last Wednesday night to be here for Elliot's birthday weekend) and drinking tea, Agnes, Alix, Elliot, Molly and I had a mini dance party to Blink-182, Mika, and more in the living room. I really really love my French family.
Today, the family went to Agnès' dad's retirement home-ish place (I say ish because this was the nicest and least retirement home-like retirement home I've ever been to. It was more like a nice hotel where all of the guests happened to be old) in Croix Rousse for lunch and to celebrate Elliot's birthday as a family. Since I slept at Molly's last night, I just took the metro to Croix Rousse, since this was easier than coming all the way home first. This was my first time taking the C line (the metro that goes to Croix Rousse). Most (meaning all except the C line) of the metros here are entirely underground and move very fast. NOT THE C LINE. The C Line only has 4 stops, and since Croix Rousse is on a hill, the C line dares to go above ground. The C line metro is incredibly rickety and noisy, and travels very slowly up a hill (and down, I suppose, in the other direction). It reminded me of a very very subdued version of Disneyland's Matterhorn rollercoaster. Every time it stopped, I had the impression that we might start rolling backwards down the hill at any given moment. Basically I may very well fear for my life every time I go home.
Oh, right, I forgot to mention that I'm moving into my apartment in a week! Less even, 5 days! I'm really excited, especially after having been in Croix Rousse today, which really is such an awesome part of the city. But it's very bittersweet because I really love my family here, and I'm so sad to be leaving them.
Okay, back to the lunch. Agnes' father (I wrote about him in one of the emails already) is so hilarious. After lunch, which was so so so good (I tried lambchops for the first time and, while it makes me sad that I ate baby lambs, they were very tasty), we went back up to Robert's room and discussed his affinity for cigars (he smokes one a day) and armagnac (similar to cognac. Robert made it at the farm he used to live it at had some in the apartment. He INSISTED I try some; I did, and it felt like my entire head was on fire and about to explode. I'm not a big fan). I'm glad Robert lives in Croix Rousse (really really close to our apartment, actually), because I want to kick it with him; he is a hoot.
It was a relatively relaxing weekend. I didn't want to go out because I'd been sick, and it was actually quite nice to not go out at all for once.
The end!
Love, Meg
Later that evening, we met up with Terra to go to a free capoeira exposition in Villeurbanne. For those of you who don't know, capoeira is a Brazilian martial arts dance. Terra is taking a capoeira class through school, but there is a capoeira studio here in Lyon (the one we were going to) that Julia, my host sister, actually belongs to. It's 200 euros for the year, which isn't bad, but too much for yours truly. However, throughout this past week, the studio was letting people get a taste of capoeira for free. I was under the impression that this was going to be a huge exposé, in a big gymnasium-type room, with capoeira performances and opportunities to try it out yourself, etc.
No. This is not what is was. It was a small studio room and it was just straight up a class. No watching, all participating. The instructor, a small, dreadlocked, tattooed Brazilian man who didn't seem to be fond of underwear had us start jogging around the room in a circle, and we were off. Molly and I did not know what we were in for... luckily there were a fair amount of people who had never done capoeira before either. I'm not going to describe everything we did, but we used every single muscle in our bodies, we did a lot of high, rounded kicks, spin moves, and cartwheels, all the while keeping the tribal dance moves going. Also, everything is done in pairs and Mr. Brazil would not let Molly and I be partners. This was scary at first, but ended up being a lot of fun because I got to meet (and laugh about our lack of skills with) tons of different people. The class lasted for an hour and a half, and at the end the instructor had us all sit in a circle while some of the regular capoeira students played music, and each of the newbies was paired up with an old timer to demonstrate what we learned during the class. I sucked, but it was all in good fun. All in all it was a great experience, though now I cannot even take a step without all of my muscles screaming out in pain.
Before I explain what happened on Saturday, I need to explain what "Le Petit Paumé" is. Le Petit Paumé is a very detailed guidebook of basically everything in Lyon: things to do, different types of stores to go to, cultural experiences to have, restaurants, bars and clubs, useful resources, everything. And each place/thing to do has a detailed description written by someone who's experienced it. It's basically the single most useful book to have if you are visiting or living in Lyon. There's a new one issued each year, and they're given out for free to anyone who wants one on a day in late October. Saturday was this day.
After eating at this Thai restaurant that we'd really been wanting to go to (no Thai ice tea which was sad, got Pad Thai, disappointingly small portion but still very tasty, though it didn't even compare to Thai Noodle or Sweet Basil, for those of you who know one or the other), Molly and I headed to Bellecour, where the Petit Paumés were getting handed out. Little did we know that a fairytale wonderland was in store for us. This year, Le Petit Paumé is fairytale themed, and thus, there were tons of people dressed as if from fairytales, mystical fairies on stilts parading around, a strange traveling circus type troupe singing songs (Molly and I loved these people and watched them for about 40 minutes), and more. There was also some weird stuff that didn't seem to fit, like a square of astroturf where little kids were throwing around rugby balls (I guess this was because of the rugby world cup, the championship of which took place last night. South Africa beat England), cones set up for kids to rollerblade around, and weird wooden air hockey-ish tables. But you know, when in Rome...
Saturday night, Elliot had a party at the house for his 16th birthday. 16 is a relatively big deal here because you become of age to legally drink beer. Molly and I were intrigued and curious to see how 16 year old Frenchies get down, so we tried to stealthily get in on the action. (We served some of the food, and offered my ipod to Elliot for the dance partay). In the end, we kinda just felt like creepers, and went to Molly's house, but it was fun for a while. Oh but, before the party started, Elliot was setting everything up and going through his music and after eating delicious tiramisu that Alix made (Alix is the eldest daughter, she's 24 and lives in Paris, but got here last Wednesday night to be here for Elliot's birthday weekend) and drinking tea, Agnes, Alix, Elliot, Molly and I had a mini dance party to Blink-182, Mika, and more in the living room. I really really love my French family.
Today, the family went to Agnès' dad's retirement home-ish place (I say ish because this was the nicest and least retirement home-like retirement home I've ever been to. It was more like a nice hotel where all of the guests happened to be old) in Croix Rousse for lunch and to celebrate Elliot's birthday as a family. Since I slept at Molly's last night, I just took the metro to Croix Rousse, since this was easier than coming all the way home first. This was my first time taking the C line (the metro that goes to Croix Rousse). Most (meaning all except the C line) of the metros here are entirely underground and move very fast. NOT THE C LINE. The C Line only has 4 stops, and since Croix Rousse is on a hill, the C line dares to go above ground. The C line metro is incredibly rickety and noisy, and travels very slowly up a hill (and down, I suppose, in the other direction). It reminded me of a very very subdued version of Disneyland's Matterhorn rollercoaster. Every time it stopped, I had the impression that we might start rolling backwards down the hill at any given moment. Basically I may very well fear for my life every time I go home.
Oh, right, I forgot to mention that I'm moving into my apartment in a week! Less even, 5 days! I'm really excited, especially after having been in Croix Rousse today, which really is such an awesome part of the city. But it's very bittersweet because I really love my family here, and I'm so sad to be leaving them.
Okay, back to the lunch. Agnes' father (I wrote about him in one of the emails already) is so hilarious. After lunch, which was so so so good (I tried lambchops for the first time and, while it makes me sad that I ate baby lambs, they were very tasty), we went back up to Robert's room and discussed his affinity for cigars (he smokes one a day) and armagnac (similar to cognac. Robert made it at the farm he used to live it at had some in the apartment. He INSISTED I try some; I did, and it felt like my entire head was on fire and about to explode. I'm not a big fan). I'm glad Robert lives in Croix Rousse (really really close to our apartment, actually), because I want to kick it with him; he is a hoot.
It was a relatively relaxing weekend. I didn't want to go out because I'd been sick, and it was actually quite nice to not go out at all for once.
The end!
Love, Meg
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Chez Medecin
I have been sick with the flu for the past three days, so nothing very exciting has happened (except that I went to see a French doctor this morning who prescribed me more things than any American doctor has ever prescribed me in one visit for a common flu: tylenol-ish pills, pills that are supposed to help me get all the shit out of my lungs that's making me cough every 5 seconds, a nasal decongestant spray, pills to help me stop coughing at night so that I can sleep, and antibiotics that I should start taking in a couple days if things haven't improved. And I got my very own thermometer.)
So, I've decided to use this incredibly uneventful time to post some photos on here of the eventful experiences I've recently written about, in no particular order (as well as some pictures of the city in general. Also, almost all of these pictures are courtesy of Molls).
Lyon:
Top: The view from afar of the Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière
Bottom: The Basilique up close
Top: Cathédral St Jean in Vieux Lyon by day
Bottom: By night
Top: Inside the Croix Rousse (where I'll be living in a week and a half) metro.
Bottom: Pont de l'Université. I walk across this to go to school every day.
Friday night at Rachel's apartment, aka the cereal box game and dance party:
Okay basically, first picture: trying out the "frog" position. This one worked for Ruby really well. It did not work for me. Second picture: trying to figure out a new approach. Third picture: Utilizing "the lunge." This ended up being my standby and won me the game. Morgan and Rachel were fond of the "straddle," which is what Morgan is demonstrating here in the fourth picture.
Below on top: Cereal box game champions (Ruby was a fake champion, after she got eliminated like 3 rounds prior she was bossy (tee hee hee) and decided to re-enter). That little piece of cardboard I am holding was what we ultimately had to pick up (off the floor with our mouth only thing that can touch the floor are your feet. My hands were on my front foot).
Below top: Dimitra (the blonde bombshell-besides Molly, clearly) teaches us a traditional Greek dance. Bottom: We (especially Rubes) show Dimitra how we go dumb.
The French/All Blacks Rugby game at Place Terraux:
Last picture: The aftermath.
The Olympique Lyonnais vs. Glasgow Rangers football match:
On the left: our view of the field. It might seem far away but it was perfect.
Below: Me taking part in the typical Glasgowian Rangers fan pregame song and cheer.
Last picture: My favorite picture of Molly ever.
The night we went to the boat when Braden was here:
So, I've decided to use this incredibly uneventful time to post some photos on here of the eventful experiences I've recently written about, in no particular order (as well as some pictures of the city in general. Also, almost all of these pictures are courtesy of Molls).
Lyon:
Top: The view from afar of the Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière
Bottom: The Basilique up close
Top: Cathédral St Jean in Vieux Lyon by day
Bottom: By night
Top: Inside the Croix Rousse (where I'll be living in a week and a half) metro.
Bottom: Pont de l'Université. I walk across this to go to school every day.
Friday night at Rachel's apartment, aka the cereal box game and dance party:
Okay basically, first picture: trying out the "frog" position. This one worked for Ruby really well. It did not work for me. Second picture: trying to figure out a new approach. Third picture: Utilizing "the lunge." This ended up being my standby and won me the game. Morgan and Rachel were fond of the "straddle," which is what Morgan is demonstrating here in the fourth picture.
Below on top: Cereal box game champions (Ruby was a fake champion, after she got eliminated like 3 rounds prior she was bossy (tee hee hee) and decided to re-enter). That little piece of cardboard I am holding was what we ultimately had to pick up (off the floor with our mouth only thing that can touch the floor are your feet. My hands were on my front foot).
Below top: Dimitra (the blonde bombshell-besides Molly, clearly) teaches us a traditional Greek dance. Bottom: We (especially Rubes) show Dimitra how we go dumb.
The French/All Blacks Rugby game at Place Terraux:
Last picture: The aftermath.
The Olympique Lyonnais vs. Glasgow Rangers football match:
On the left: our view of the field. It might seem far away but it was perfect.
Below: Me taking part in the typical Glasgowian Rangers fan pregame song and cheer.
Last picture: My favorite picture of Molly ever.
The night we went to the boat when Braden was here:
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Around the world around the wirr-uld...
It has been a very multicultural past few days.
For those of you who don't know, my host sister Julia is in school for theater production. She doesn't act and never has, but she's part of a theater group and goes to a special school just for people who want to work in theater. She essentially does all the public relations and organizational background work for various productions that her theater group puts on. WELL, Julia's group had been working with a theater group from Burkina Faso, Africa on producing a play together for a while and this week they came here to do it! Wednesday evening, my whole family went to see it. It was a very interesting experience. I couldn't understand most of what was going on because everyone (French and Africans alike) spoke incredibly fast, and the Africans had an accent that was hard for me to comprehend. But it seemed to be mostly about French politics as related to genocide. And there was a lot of cool African dancing included. I enjoyed it.
Thursday night, Molly, Amanda and I met up with my friend Zé from my translation class. Zé is one of the most interesting people I have ever met. He is British, (here on exchange from England) but he was born in Cameroon as a result of his white mother being bored of her life in England, packing up her shit and moving to Africa, and falling in love with a polygamous African man. Here, in Lyon, he drums for two samba groups, is part of the kayaking club, and takes salsa dance lessons.
Zé proposed that we go to a salsa club, and we did. It was a lot of fun! Zé taught me some salsa moves. Then we met these two French girls named Laurie and Clemente. They are AWESOME. After hanging out at the salsa club for a while, they took us to a club called 'Road 66.' It was a cool place; there were people dancing, but also lots of places to just sit and drink and relax, which La Marquise (the boat) lacks. They also had pool tables! After dancing the night away (they played generic American hip hop and rap, as well as some electronic stuff), we played a game of pool: Me and Zé vs. Laurie and her boyfriend. Zé and I lost, but it was a lot of fun.
Last night (Friday), we all went to Rachel (a girl in our program)'s apartment to celebrate Clair (another girl in the program)'s birthday. I was actually incredibly exhausted for some reason, but went anyway. I'm very glad I did. We played charades. Then we played a game that involved picking up a cardboard cereal box off the floor without using any part of your arms and allowing ONLY your feet to touch the floor. You get three tries, and if you fail on all three, you're eliminated. After everyone takes their turn, the box gets cut in half, until eventually (if you make it that far) there's just a flat piece of cardboard on the ground. It is A LOT harder than it sounds. There ended up being three of us left at the very end (including yours truly) and we all succeeded in picking up the flat piece of cardboard so then we were all timed to determine the winner. I am happy to say that I won! I picked it up in 4.6 seconds. After that, we danced to 80s techno and Justin Timberlake. For some reason there was a really cool and really attractive girl from Greece there named Demitra, and after bringing sexy back, Demitra taught us all some traditional Greek dances. It felt really great to be be hanging out with friends, low key, playing games and dancing around, which is something I really miss from the States. It felt like home.
Tonight is the France/England semi-final Rugby World Cup game! This time it's being shown on the big screen in Place Bellecour. If France wins, it is about to be the fucking craziest night ever. It will mean that France will be in championship game. And if England wins, we'll just go party with all the Brits here that we know and love. It's a win win. I'm excited. I'll let you know how it goes.
Gros bisous à tous!
Meg
For those of you who don't know, my host sister Julia is in school for theater production. She doesn't act and never has, but she's part of a theater group and goes to a special school just for people who want to work in theater. She essentially does all the public relations and organizational background work for various productions that her theater group puts on. WELL, Julia's group had been working with a theater group from Burkina Faso, Africa on producing a play together for a while and this week they came here to do it! Wednesday evening, my whole family went to see it. It was a very interesting experience. I couldn't understand most of what was going on because everyone (French and Africans alike) spoke incredibly fast, and the Africans had an accent that was hard for me to comprehend. But it seemed to be mostly about French politics as related to genocide. And there was a lot of cool African dancing included. I enjoyed it.
Thursday night, Molly, Amanda and I met up with my friend Zé from my translation class. Zé is one of the most interesting people I have ever met. He is British, (here on exchange from England) but he was born in Cameroon as a result of his white mother being bored of her life in England, packing up her shit and moving to Africa, and falling in love with a polygamous African man. Here, in Lyon, he drums for two samba groups, is part of the kayaking club, and takes salsa dance lessons.
Zé proposed that we go to a salsa club, and we did. It was a lot of fun! Zé taught me some salsa moves. Then we met these two French girls named Laurie and Clemente. They are AWESOME. After hanging out at the salsa club for a while, they took us to a club called 'Road 66.' It was a cool place; there were people dancing, but also lots of places to just sit and drink and relax, which La Marquise (the boat) lacks. They also had pool tables! After dancing the night away (they played generic American hip hop and rap, as well as some electronic stuff), we played a game of pool: Me and Zé vs. Laurie and her boyfriend. Zé and I lost, but it was a lot of fun.
Last night (Friday), we all went to Rachel (a girl in our program)'s apartment to celebrate Clair (another girl in the program)'s birthday. I was actually incredibly exhausted for some reason, but went anyway. I'm very glad I did. We played charades. Then we played a game that involved picking up a cardboard cereal box off the floor without using any part of your arms and allowing ONLY your feet to touch the floor. You get three tries, and if you fail on all three, you're eliminated. After everyone takes their turn, the box gets cut in half, until eventually (if you make it that far) there's just a flat piece of cardboard on the ground. It is A LOT harder than it sounds. There ended up being three of us left at the very end (including yours truly) and we all succeeded in picking up the flat piece of cardboard so then we were all timed to determine the winner. I am happy to say that I won! I picked it up in 4.6 seconds. After that, we danced to 80s techno and Justin Timberlake. For some reason there was a really cool and really attractive girl from Greece there named Demitra, and after bringing sexy back, Demitra taught us all some traditional Greek dances. It felt really great to be be hanging out with friends, low key, playing games and dancing around, which is something I really miss from the States. It felt like home.
Tonight is the France/England semi-final Rugby World Cup game! This time it's being shown on the big screen in Place Bellecour. If France wins, it is about to be the fucking craziest night ever. It will mean that France will be in championship game. And if England wins, we'll just go party with all the Brits here that we know and love. It's a win win. I'm excited. I'll let you know how it goes.
Gros bisous à tous!
Meg
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Yaaaay Braden.
Alright here's the deal. I'm still a week behind in posting what's been going on in my life and I can't deal with it anymore. I am going to briefly summarize the epic extended weekend that was Braden's visit to Lyon. And then I'm going to be writing in the present. Here we go:
He got in on Wednesday. That night we had some drinks at James Joyce (Irish pub we frequent in Vieux Lyon, shows all the rugby games) and just chilled out.
Thursday we decided to show him the boat (Marquise, bien sûr) because we always go there and wanted to show him what was up. It ended up being awesome because it wasn't very crowded at all. Side note: on our walk to the boat we came across a lot of fun obstacles (bridges, children's play things (what are those things called, they're like wooden or plastic animals propped up on a giant spring and kids can sit on them and move around awkwardly? Well anyway, those), and staircases and had our way and photoshoots with them. Ruby, Braden and I all went back to my house at 6AM and we all slept in my bed (what else is new).
Friday, we woke up at 3PM. When nighttime rolled around we ended up in a park type area (not really a park, more like a small dirt square with benches and a statue) in the Hôtel de Ville (but near Croix Rousse-where I will be living in three weeks) area. Not at all shady (like Bellecour often is at night) and actually a really fun place to hang out. Lots of other (French) people our age were hanging out and drinking and having a merry old time. We met a handful of French people and it was a great. We ultimately met up with Flo and Nicolas and tried going to a few bars/pubs (we wanted to do something other than the boat) but nothing was that much fun so we ended up going back to their place, listening to Air, talking, kicking it. Nicolas is one of the most hilarious people I've ever met. He loves speaking in English, so he speaks to me in English and I speak to him in French. He thinks the word "awesome" is the best word in the entire world and practices saying it every 40 seconds (he has a lot of trouble pronouncing it correctly, aka "ah-some." He tends to say "aow-som.") He also, for reasons unbeknownst to me (and as far as I can tell anyone else) really likes saying "Legend... wait for it... dary." As in saying something is legendary. I had no idea what he was saying for a good 10 minutes, but I finally got it. Ruby, Braden and I taught him how to say and use "that's what's up."
Saturday we made an effort to wake up slightly earlier (1:00), despite getting home around 6AM again. Saturday was aow-som because France and New Zealand were to play each other in one of the Rugby World Cup semi-final games that night. Because this was such a huge game (a semi-final, we're in France, and the All Blacks are one of the best rugby teams in the world) it was broadcast on a giant screen in Place Terraux (the square adjacent to Hôtel de Ville). We went, and it was so much fun. I was actually cheering (loudly) for the All Blacks because they're basically the only rugby team I'm legitimately familiar with, and I was representing Kate's people... needless to say I was in the minority. I got a lot of stares. The thing is though, France won (they actually game up from behind in the last quarter (time wise) of the game) 20-18 and the city went NUTS. It was amazing to be out in the city with thousands of Frenchies celebrating their rugby team winning big.
After that we went to a place called Ninkasi (there are multiple Ninkasis in Lyon but each is actually pretty different, but in general it's), a brewery with a Northwest steez, then walked around looking for somewhere to eat and, I'm not gonna get into it, but we had the best possible experience anyone could ever have at... McDonalds.
Braden (sadly) left the next day. But it was a completely wonderful weekend, one that I won't soon forget.
Something I've become aware of from writing this post: apparently I love using parentheses.
Enormous amounts of love and French kisses to you and you and you.
<3 Mego
He got in on Wednesday. That night we had some drinks at James Joyce (Irish pub we frequent in Vieux Lyon, shows all the rugby games) and just chilled out.
Thursday we decided to show him the boat (Marquise, bien sûr) because we always go there and wanted to show him what was up. It ended up being awesome because it wasn't very crowded at all. Side note: on our walk to the boat we came across a lot of fun obstacles (bridges, children's play things (what are those things called, they're like wooden or plastic animals propped up on a giant spring and kids can sit on them and move around awkwardly? Well anyway, those), and staircases and had our way and photoshoots with them. Ruby, Braden and I all went back to my house at 6AM and we all slept in my bed (what else is new).
Friday, we woke up at 3PM. When nighttime rolled around we ended up in a park type area (not really a park, more like a small dirt square with benches and a statue) in the Hôtel de Ville (but near Croix Rousse-where I will be living in three weeks) area. Not at all shady (like Bellecour often is at night) and actually a really fun place to hang out. Lots of other (French) people our age were hanging out and drinking and having a merry old time. We met a handful of French people and it was a great. We ultimately met up with Flo and Nicolas and tried going to a few bars/pubs (we wanted to do something other than the boat) but nothing was that much fun so we ended up going back to their place, listening to Air, talking, kicking it. Nicolas is one of the most hilarious people I've ever met. He loves speaking in English, so he speaks to me in English and I speak to him in French. He thinks the word "awesome" is the best word in the entire world and practices saying it every 40 seconds (he has a lot of trouble pronouncing it correctly, aka "ah-some." He tends to say "aow-som.") He also, for reasons unbeknownst to me (and as far as I can tell anyone else) really likes saying "Legend... wait for it... dary." As in saying something is legendary. I had no idea what he was saying for a good 10 minutes, but I finally got it. Ruby, Braden and I taught him how to say and use "that's what's up."
Saturday we made an effort to wake up slightly earlier (1:00), despite getting home around 6AM again. Saturday was aow-som because France and New Zealand were to play each other in one of the Rugby World Cup semi-final games that night. Because this was such a huge game (a semi-final, we're in France, and the All Blacks are one of the best rugby teams in the world) it was broadcast on a giant screen in Place Terraux (the square adjacent to Hôtel de Ville). We went, and it was so much fun. I was actually cheering (loudly) for the All Blacks because they're basically the only rugby team I'm legitimately familiar with, and I was representing Kate's people... needless to say I was in the minority. I got a lot of stares. The thing is though, France won (they actually game up from behind in the last quarter (time wise) of the game) 20-18 and the city went NUTS. It was amazing to be out in the city with thousands of Frenchies celebrating their rugby team winning big.
After that we went to a place called Ninkasi (there are multiple Ninkasis in Lyon but each is actually pretty different, but in general it's), a brewery with a Northwest steez, then walked around looking for somewhere to eat and, I'm not gonna get into it, but we had the best possible experience anyone could ever have at... McDonalds.
Braden (sadly) left the next day. But it was a completely wonderful weekend, one that I won't soon forget.
Something I've become aware of from writing this post: apparently I love using parentheses.
Enormous amounts of love and French kisses to you and you and you.
<3 Mego
Monday, October 8, 2007
WE ARE THE PEOPLE!
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 was a very magical day:
Tara (Burrows, for those of you who know her) and I had our cognitive development class together from 2:00-4:00pm. As we were walking from the Fac. Catho (where that class is) to a pub to have a drink and do our homework for our Culture class (that we also have together), we walked past Place Bellecour (I may have already explained this, but Bellecour is the center of Lyon. I go there basically every day. All the buses and metros run to and from it, and both of the schools I'm taking classes at are right near it. Place (the equivalent to our word 'square' when referring to a place) Bellecour is the square right smack in the middle of Bellecour. There is a giant statue of Louis XIV on a horse. When meeting someone, we often say 'meet you at the horse's ass.' The point is, it's THE meeting place in Lyon and it's in the center of town). Surrounding the horse were numerous United Kingdom flags and men (some shirtless, others wearing blue shirts) drinking, chanting, singing, yelling, and did I mention drinking? loudly and belligerently. As crazy as Lyon is, this is not a normal occurrence.
Tara and I had both noticed this earlier in the day but at this point we decided to find out what was going on. We approached the men, with caution. I finally figured out (it wasn't easy) that they were speaking English. I asked one of them who they were and what was up.
"WHHR DAY GLOSGOFUHTBOL TIM!"
...
"What?"
After a couple more repeats it was discovered that they were all (seriously about 250 of them) supporters of the Glasgow Rangers football (soccer) team (they were to play Olympique Lyonnais-Lyon's soccer team-that night). First of all, Glasgow is the biggest city in Scotland, and I have been there, and I (completely honestly, swear to god) could not understand a single word the people from there said when they spoke. It is truly undecipherable. It's English... but it might as well be Swahili. I've got a friend here named Sarah, from Glasgow, and she says that she sometimes can't even understand her own father.
For some reason, though, I could make out most of what these guys were saying, after a few minutes. Maybe it's the fact that I'm surrounded by so many different languages and accents on a daily basis that my ears have been trained to hear different sounds. Anyway, about 10 different men immediately bombarded Tara and me with drinks.
"Com haf a beer!"
"Com haf a vudkuh!"
"Com haf suma this, I donnow wat it tis!"
Overwhelmed and bemused, we finally decided to side with the least crazy looking person we saw (these men were incredibly nice, but not in the least bit attractive. Most were fat and shirtless, some were puking, some had very little teeth... etc). This decent looking, clothed guy was named Thomas, and he turned out to be completely amazing.
A few vodka/orange juices later, w
e might as well have been Scottish, born and raised. We were singing, we were yelling, we were kicking around soccer balls. By this time, Molly, Ruby, Lydia and Libby had joined us. Everyone was telling us to come to the game with them.
"We don't have tickets!"
"I'm buying you tickets!" exclaimed Thomas.
After spending a couple hours with Thomas, here's what we found out:
He owns, OWNS, 4 clubs, 3 bars, and 3 tanning salons in Glasgow.
He is LOADED.
He is genuinely incredibly nice.
Here's me, Tara, and Thomas in a giant hug of love. It's too bad you can't see the rest of the
crazy Scotsmen.
Long story short, he ended up buying me, Tara, Lydia and Molly tickets to this game. And we ended up going. And it was incredible. We were, of course, sitting on the Glasgow side, and I think we had the best time possible. Scottish football fans are crazy and hilarious. They kept singing all these Rangers cheer songs, and one of them went like this:
"WE ARE THE PEOPLE! clap clap clap clap clap!" repeated over and over again. They insisted on buying us as much beer as we wanted and they are more passionate about football than anyone else I've ever met.
The Rangers ended up BEATING Lyon 3-0, which, of course, was a huge deal. I ended up leaving the game with a Glasgow Rangers scarf (Thomas took it from one of his friends, gave it to me, and told me to keep it), and a newfound appreciation for European football and all things Scottish.
Molly took a lot of pictures that should be up on Facebook relatively soon, but here's one from the game that Tara took of Molly and me (looking shitfaced).
Molly ended up getting to keep that flag. It's now hanging on the wall in her room.
GO RANGERS.
Love to you all!
Meg
Tara (Burrows, for those of you who know her) and I had our cognitive development class together from 2:00-4:00pm. As we were walking from the Fac. Catho (where that class is) to a pub to have a drink and do our homework for our Culture class (that we also have together), we walked past Place Bellecour (I may have already explained this, but Bellecour is the center of Lyon. I go there basically every day. All the buses and metros run to and from it, and both of the schools I'm taking classes at are right near it. Place (the equivalent to our word 'square' when referring to a place) Bellecour is the square right smack in the middle of Bellecour. There is a giant statue of Louis XIV on a horse. When meeting someone, we often say 'meet you at the horse's ass.' The point is, it's THE meeting place in Lyon and it's in the center of town). Surrounding the horse were numerous United Kingdom flags and men (some shirtless, others wearing blue shirts) drinking, chanting, singing, yelling, and did I mention drinking? loudly and belligerently. As crazy as Lyon is, this is not a normal occurrence.
Tara and I had both noticed this earlier in the day but at this point we decided to find out what was going on. We approached the men, with caution. I finally figured out (it wasn't easy) that they were speaking English. I asked one of them who they were and what was up.
"WHHR DAY GLOSGOFUHTBOL TIM!"
...
"What?"
After a couple more repeats it was discovered that they were all (seriously about 250 of them) supporters of the Glasgow Rangers football (soccer) team (they were to play Olympique Lyonnais-Lyon's soccer team-that night). First of all, Glasgow is the biggest city in Scotland, and I have been there, and I (completely honestly, swear to god) could not understand a single word the people from there said when they spoke. It is truly undecipherable. It's English... but it might as well be Swahili. I've got a friend here named Sarah, from Glasgow, and she says that she sometimes can't even understand her own father.
For some reason, though, I could make out most of what these guys were saying, after a few minutes. Maybe it's the fact that I'm surrounded by so many different languages and accents on a daily basis that my ears have been trained to hear different sounds. Anyway, about 10 different men immediately bombarded Tara and me with drinks.
"Com haf a beer!"
"Com haf a vudkuh!"
"Com haf suma this, I donnow wat it tis!"
Overwhelmed and bemused, we finally decided to side with the least crazy looking person we saw (these men were incredibly nice, but not in the least bit attractive. Most were fat and shirtless, some were puking, some had very little teeth... etc). This decent looking, clothed guy was named Thomas, and he turned out to be completely amazing.
A few vodka/orange juices later, w
e might as well have been Scottish, born and raised. We were singing, we were yelling, we were kicking around soccer balls. By this time, Molly, Ruby, Lydia and Libby had joined us. Everyone was telling us to come to the game with them."We don't have tickets!"
"I'm buying you tickets!" exclaimed Thomas.
After spending a couple hours with Thomas, here's what we found out:
He owns, OWNS, 4 clubs, 3 bars, and 3 tanning salons in Glasgow.
He is LOADED.
He is genuinely incredibly nice.
Here's me, Tara, and Thomas in a giant hug of love. It's too bad you can't see the rest of the
crazy Scotsmen.Long story short, he ended up buying me, Tara, Lydia and Molly tickets to this game. And we ended up going. And it was incredible. We were, of course, sitting on the Glasgow side, and I think we had the best time possible. Scottish football fans are crazy and hilarious. They kept singing all these Rangers cheer songs, and one of them went like this:
"WE ARE THE PEOPLE! clap clap clap clap clap!" repeated over and over again. They insisted on buying us as much beer as we wanted and they are more passionate about football than anyone else I've ever met.
The Rangers ended up BEATING Lyon 3-0, which, of course, was a huge deal. I ended up leaving the game with a Glasgow Rangers scarf (Thomas took it from one of his friends, gave it to me, and told me to keep it), and a newfound appreciation for European football and all things Scottish.
Molly took a lot of pictures that should be up on Facebook relatively soon, but here's one from the game that Tara took of Molly and me (looking shitfaced).
Molly ended up getting to keep that flag. It's now hanging on the wall in her room.GO RANGERS.
Love to you all!
Meg
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Yes my French mother loves rap music.
It's true. She does. And here's the story of how I found out...
Last Saturday, my family invited me to go with them to Annecy (a cute, small French town on the French/Swiss border. I'd actually gone to Annecy a couple times while I lived in Switzerland, and I was quite happy to be given an opportunity to go back).
Didier's parents live in Annecy, so we stayed with them. They are adorable, and after about 2 hours the mother told me that I has magnificent eyes and that I was a wonderful person. She also made many delicious, stereotypically French meals. I love her.
We got in just in time for dinner Saturday night, so we ended up just relaxing at the house, watching the rugby game (I believe it was Ireland/Italy but I can't be sure...) It was really nice to just spend a nice, relaxing evening with my French family. When I'm in town there always seems to be a kind of pressure to go out at night, which I love doing, but still... sometimes it's nice to just take it easy.
On Sunday, after eating a number of croissants and pain au chocolats, we (the grandparents not included) went to explore the town. Even though I had been there before, it was a while ago and I ended up seeing much more of the town this time around. First we walked along the lake. Even though the weather was rather dismal and dreary, it was still really pretty.
Here's my family (on the left) walking along the lake. There were also tons of boats, paddle and otherwise (as seen on the right), on the lake. It was a lovely walk. Didier and I talked about various laws in the US, mainly the drinking age and driving age, and how we think it's all set up much sillier in the US than in Europe. Elliot and I talked about Blink 182. Agnes and I talked about which places I like going to best when I go out at night, and Julia and I talked about theater in Lyon.
After walking around the lake, we went into town. The downtown area is neat because in the middle of town there's a river with houses literally IN it. Basically someone can walk out of their house and be in the water. I don't know, it looked really cool. There's also a small castle-ish looking building placed in the middle of the river, which I liked a lot:
It's common to have street markets in many places in France on Sundays, but apparently they're especially common in Annecy, and not just on Sundays. We walked around one for a while, tasting different cheeses and honeys, and trying on different hats and scarves.
Eventually we left town and took a 30 minute or so drive to a mountain top. In the car, Elliot was choosing the music. (Side note: on the way to Annecy we listened to a ton of: Ben Harper, Radiohead, AND that song Save Tonight by Eagle Eye Cherry, all played from Didier's ipod. I was very impressed). Elliot likes a lot of good music. He also likes some very loud rock that Agnes wasn't feeling. She asked him to change the music, and she then says, "Put some rap on!" An enormous smile spread across my face as I asked, "Agnes, you like rap??"
"Oh yes yes I love it, I think it's so funny! And I like the beats!" she exclaimed.
Elliot proceeded to play some French rap and Agnes proceeded to sing along, knowing almost every word. Here is a picture of her getting down.
She is fucking amazing. Also, at one point I noticed that she was wearing Diesel jeans. Man, I have such a hip French mom.
Anyway, after a very amusing car ride we made it to the mountain top. We went for a 2 hour hike where we were surrounded by views of the Alps and the French countryside. We also came across a lot of cows, which made me think of (and miss) my parents. Not the same as Swiss cows, of course, but pretty damn close. Here's a couple pictures of the view, but they don't really do it justice.
All in all, it was a very nice trip. I'm so happy I get to spend time with them like this, it really makes me feel like a part of the family. If only I could have hopped over to Switzerland to see everyone there! Oh well, next time.
Last Saturday, my family invited me to go with them to Annecy (a cute, small French town on the French/Swiss border. I'd actually gone to Annecy a couple times while I lived in Switzerland, and I was quite happy to be given an opportunity to go back).
Didier's parents live in Annecy, so we stayed with them. They are adorable, and after about 2 hours the mother told me that I has magnificent eyes and that I was a wonderful person. She also made many delicious, stereotypically French meals. I love her.
We got in just in time for dinner Saturday night, so we ended up just relaxing at the house, watching the rugby game (I believe it was Ireland/Italy but I can't be sure...) It was really nice to just spend a nice, relaxing evening with my French family. When I'm in town there always seems to be a kind of pressure to go out at night, which I love doing, but still... sometimes it's nice to just take it easy.
On Sunday, after eating a number of croissants and pain au chocolats, we (the grandparents not included) went to explore the town. Even though I had been there before, it was a while ago and I ended up seeing much more of the town this time around. First we walked along the lake. Even though the weather was rather dismal and dreary, it was still really pretty.
Here's my family (on the left) walking along the lake. There were also tons of boats, paddle and otherwise (as seen on the right), on the lake. It was a lovely walk. Didier and I talked about various laws in the US, mainly the drinking age and driving age, and how we think it's all set up much sillier in the US than in Europe. Elliot and I talked about Blink 182. Agnes and I talked about which places I like going to best when I go out at night, and Julia and I talked about theater in Lyon.
After walking around the lake, we went into town. The downtown area is neat because in the middle of town there's a river with houses literally IN it. Basically someone can walk out of their house and be in the water. I don't know, it looked really cool. There's also a small castle-ish looking building placed in the middle of the river, which I liked a lot:
It's common to have street markets in many places in France on Sundays, but apparently they're especially common in Annecy, and not just on Sundays. We walked around one for a while, tasting different cheeses and honeys, and trying on different hats and scarves.Eventually we left town and took a 30 minute or so drive to a mountain top. In the car, Elliot was choosing the music. (Side note: on the way to Annecy we listened to a ton of: Ben Harper, Radiohead, AND that song Save Tonight by Eagle Eye Cherry, all played from Didier's ipod. I was very impressed). Elliot likes a lot of good music. He also likes some very loud rock that Agnes wasn't feeling. She asked him to change the music, and she then says, "Put some rap on!" An enormous smile spread across my face as I asked, "Agnes, you like rap??"
"Oh yes yes I love it, I think it's so funny! And I like the beats!" she exclaimed.
Elliot proceeded to play some French rap and Agnes proceeded to sing along, knowing almost every word. Here is a picture of her getting down.
She is fucking amazing. Also, at one point I noticed that she was wearing Diesel jeans. Man, I have such a hip French mom.
Anyway, after a very amusing car ride we made it to the mountain top. We went for a 2 hour hike where we were surrounded by views of the Alps and the French countryside. We also came across a lot of cows, which made me think of (and miss) my parents. Not the same as Swiss cows, of course, but pretty damn close. Here's a couple pictures of the view, but they don't really do it justice.
All in all, it was a very nice trip. I'm so happy I get to spend time with them like this, it really makes me feel like a part of the family. If only I could have hopped over to Switzerland to see everyone there! Oh well, next time.
J'aime bien travailler, mais ça dépend des jours...
So, I'm more than a week behind in terms of posting everything I wanted to get on this thing. I guess that's what happens when one of your best friends comes to visit...
I wanted to write about what happened last Friday (so, 9 days ago). I've already talked to some of you about this, so bear with me.
So last Friday, we went out to the boat (which I finally found out the name of: Marquise) as usual. I ended up meeting up with Flo there and we danced and danced and danced, as usual. But then we (Molly, Ruby, and myself) ended up going back to Flo's apartment with him and his roommates. They actually have a really cool place near Hotel de Ville (a pretty central and very cool part of Lyon. Hotel de Ville means "city hall," and this part of town is where the Lyon City Hall is. Every town has a city hall but Lyon's is balling out of control. It's an incredibly beautiful, huge building with much historical art and architecture. There was actually a welcome reception for American exchange students in Hotel de Ville the night before, which was cool because we got to go inside; normally it is absolutely not open to the public). Anyway, we went over to their apartment.
The best part about this night was that everything we ended up doing that night at the apartment made me feel like I was kicking it at Thom's in Eugene, which I miss so much, and it made me really happy. Here's why it was like that:
We did what we all do best at Thom's, if you know what I mean.
We played video games, namely one that was very similar to Zelda.
We listened to countless songs that Thom has introduced me to, and that we listen to a lot at his house, and we did this without me even saying anything! For those of you who are familiar with the music, these guys played:
Hella Justice
Hella Daft Punk
Lucky Boy-DJ Mehdi
3 Wishes-Cuizinier
Ross Ross Ross-SebastiAn
Yo Relatives-DJ Assault
Travailler-TTC
It was amazing. The coolest part was that we were listening and singing along to all these French songs, that I listen to with Thom all the time, but this time I was listening to them with actual French people, who knew all the French lyrics and all that. I loved it.
But I will say this: in terms of the spleefs, Thom's still the best. :)
I wanted to write about what happened last Friday (so, 9 days ago). I've already talked to some of you about this, so bear with me.
So last Friday, we went out to the boat (which I finally found out the name of: Marquise) as usual. I ended up meeting up with Flo there and we danced and danced and danced, as usual. But then we (Molly, Ruby, and myself) ended up going back to Flo's apartment with him and his roommates. They actually have a really cool place near Hotel de Ville (a pretty central and very cool part of Lyon. Hotel de Ville means "city hall," and this part of town is where the Lyon City Hall is. Every town has a city hall but Lyon's is balling out of control. It's an incredibly beautiful, huge building with much historical art and architecture. There was actually a welcome reception for American exchange students in Hotel de Ville the night before, which was cool because we got to go inside; normally it is absolutely not open to the public). Anyway, we went over to their apartment.
The best part about this night was that everything we ended up doing that night at the apartment made me feel like I was kicking it at Thom's in Eugene, which I miss so much, and it made me really happy. Here's why it was like that:
We did what we all do best at Thom's, if you know what I mean.
We played video games, namely one that was very similar to Zelda.
We listened to countless songs that Thom has introduced me to, and that we listen to a lot at his house, and we did this without me even saying anything! For those of you who are familiar with the music, these guys played:
Hella Justice
Hella Daft Punk
Lucky Boy-DJ Mehdi
3 Wishes-Cuizinier
Ross Ross Ross-SebastiAn
Yo Relatives-DJ Assault
Travailler-TTC
It was amazing. The coolest part was that we were listening and singing along to all these French songs, that I listen to with Thom all the time, but this time I was listening to them with actual French people, who knew all the French lyrics and all that. I loved it.
But I will say this: in terms of the spleefs, Thom's still the best. :)
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
12 Euros? 12 EUROS??
So, I said in the last post that I love not having classes on Fridays, implying that I can go out and dance my pants off Thursday nights. Which is true, but last week Wednesday night was actually the big one.
During the day on Wednesday, my friend Nathan told me about how there was an Erasmus party that night and I should go. For those of you who haven't seen the movie L'Auberge Espangol, or just don't know, Erasmus is the program that basically everyone besides Americans uses for studying abroad. So, basically a big party for exchange students. A couple weeks before I'd gone with Nathan and Patrick to these UVA kids' apartment where tons of exchange students were kicking it and it was fun, and by Erasmus party I thought that's what Nathan was talking about this time around. Anyway, I convinced Molly and Amanda to come out with me and off we went...
I was eventually told that the party was actually at a night club. Hmm... okay... so Molly and Amanda and I took the metro where it was at. While we were waiting for the metro I heard these two British girls speaking English and I asked them if they were going to the Erasmus party. They said yes and asked if we had tickets. I said, "...tickets?" (This Erasmus party was proving to be 100% different from what I thought it was going to be). After talking to them more, I found out that yes, you needed a ticket to get in and it costs 12 euros.
...Fuck. Well, none of us wanted to pay 12 euros to get in anywhere, but at this point we were already on the metro on the way there, so I said we might as well just go check it out and see what's up.
We were waiting at the metro stop for Nathan and Patrick when a group of about 12 Erasmus students showed up. They were mostly Hungarian, Swedish, and German. We talked to them for a while and the leader of a pack (a boisterous Hungarian) kept trying to convince us to come with them to the party.
Me: We're waiting for some friends...
Hungarian: NO! Come vith us!
Me: Also, we don't have tickets...
Hungarian: NO! Vee vill pay for you!
Ho ho ho! Well, I figured we could not let this opportunity slip to get in for free. Also, I tried calling both Nathan and Pat multiple times, Nathan was completely wasted and I didn't even know whether or not they was en route, and I figured they'd call me if need be. So off we went!
Walking to the club was very strange. There were all these what seemed to be bouncers standing in the street on the way there that kept telling us to be quiet. When we finally got into the place, it was chaos. First of all, I don't think the Hungarian ended up paying for us because we were never handed any tickets. Second of all, they MADE you check your coat (and purse if you had one) which cost 2 euros. Well, somehow, I got past the guy who was checking tickets, but Molly and Amanda did not. He kept asking to see their tickets. In French, I did my absolute best to bullshit, saying how our friends payed for us and were already downstairs with the tickets, he let me in and they're with me, etc etc. Nothing was working. I desperately tried to figure out plan B. I ran downstairs into the club and found the Hungarian. I asked if I could borrow his and another guy's tickets to get my friends in. This was a bit of a to do, because once you get in you can get a free drink with your ticket... but I promised I'd give them back, and they conceded, so I ran back upstairs with the tickets and gave them to Molly and Amanda. The ticket checker saw me do this I guess, and said "No no no, that's gonna work..." I said, "Those are their tickets, our friends had them downstairs, please this has gotten so complicated...!" I was about to start pretending to cry when the guy smiled and said, "Alright alright, go on, have a good night." Success!
So, once we were all downstairs things started getting less stressful and more fun. The club was pretty cool. Big dance floor (often they're pretty small), big bar, biggish area with couches and stuff where you can just kick it, lots of cool things happening with lights and smoke machines, etc. Patrick and Nathan showed up and it was good to see them because I hadn't in about a week and a half. As more and more people got there the dance party realllly started. They played a lot of good music (Daft Punk and Justice of course, but also some Soulwax and Klaxons which made me very happy), and we danced and danced and danced. Also, I convinced the Hungarian to buy Molly and I a drink. After a while I decided to buy a drink myself. Now, usually when we got out we buy booze in the grocery store and drink before we go out because drinks at the club are just atrociously expensive. But, we hadn't done that tonight and I decided that I'd be willing to part with the 8 euros for a vodka/orange juice this one time. I didn't pay to get in, after all! After waiting about 20 minutes for the bartender to come my way, I gave him a 20, and with my drink got back 8 euros in return. TWELVE EUROS. MY DRINK COST 12 EUROS. That's the last time I buy a drink at Club Loft. Ugh.
Anyway, it was a very fun night all around. I met a bunch of new people, and danced the night away (as usual).
Much love to all! More to come soon.
During the day on Wednesday, my friend Nathan told me about how there was an Erasmus party that night and I should go. For those of you who haven't seen the movie L'Auberge Espangol, or just don't know, Erasmus is the program that basically everyone besides Americans uses for studying abroad. So, basically a big party for exchange students. A couple weeks before I'd gone with Nathan and Patrick to these UVA kids' apartment where tons of exchange students were kicking it and it was fun, and by Erasmus party I thought that's what Nathan was talking about this time around. Anyway, I convinced Molly and Amanda to come out with me and off we went...
I was eventually told that the party was actually at a night club. Hmm... okay... so Molly and Amanda and I took the metro where it was at. While we were waiting for the metro I heard these two British girls speaking English and I asked them if they were going to the Erasmus party. They said yes and asked if we had tickets. I said, "...tickets?" (This Erasmus party was proving to be 100% different from what I thought it was going to be). After talking to them more, I found out that yes, you needed a ticket to get in and it costs 12 euros.
...Fuck. Well, none of us wanted to pay 12 euros to get in anywhere, but at this point we were already on the metro on the way there, so I said we might as well just go check it out and see what's up.
We were waiting at the metro stop for Nathan and Patrick when a group of about 12 Erasmus students showed up. They were mostly Hungarian, Swedish, and German. We talked to them for a while and the leader of a pack (a boisterous Hungarian) kept trying to convince us to come with them to the party.
Me: We're waiting for some friends...
Hungarian: NO! Come vith us!
Me: Also, we don't have tickets...
Hungarian: NO! Vee vill pay for you!
Ho ho ho! Well, I figured we could not let this opportunity slip to get in for free. Also, I tried calling both Nathan and Pat multiple times, Nathan was completely wasted and I didn't even know whether or not they was en route, and I figured they'd call me if need be. So off we went!
Walking to the club was very strange. There were all these what seemed to be bouncers standing in the street on the way there that kept telling us to be quiet. When we finally got into the place, it was chaos. First of all, I don't think the Hungarian ended up paying for us because we were never handed any tickets. Second of all, they MADE you check your coat (and purse if you had one) which cost 2 euros. Well, somehow, I got past the guy who was checking tickets, but Molly and Amanda did not. He kept asking to see their tickets. In French, I did my absolute best to bullshit, saying how our friends payed for us and were already downstairs with the tickets, he let me in and they're with me, etc etc. Nothing was working. I desperately tried to figure out plan B. I ran downstairs into the club and found the Hungarian. I asked if I could borrow his and another guy's tickets to get my friends in. This was a bit of a to do, because once you get in you can get a free drink with your ticket... but I promised I'd give them back, and they conceded, so I ran back upstairs with the tickets and gave them to Molly and Amanda. The ticket checker saw me do this I guess, and said "No no no, that's gonna work..." I said, "Those are their tickets, our friends had them downstairs, please this has gotten so complicated...!" I was about to start pretending to cry when the guy smiled and said, "Alright alright, go on, have a good night." Success!
So, once we were all downstairs things started getting less stressful and more fun. The club was pretty cool. Big dance floor (often they're pretty small), big bar, biggish area with couches and stuff where you can just kick it, lots of cool things happening with lights and smoke machines, etc. Patrick and Nathan showed up and it was good to see them because I hadn't in about a week and a half. As more and more people got there the dance party realllly started. They played a lot of good music (Daft Punk and Justice of course, but also some Soulwax and Klaxons which made me very happy), and we danced and danced and danced. Also, I convinced the Hungarian to buy Molly and I a drink. After a while I decided to buy a drink myself. Now, usually when we got out we buy booze in the grocery store and drink before we go out because drinks at the club are just atrociously expensive. But, we hadn't done that tonight and I decided that I'd be willing to part with the 8 euros for a vodka/orange juice this one time. I didn't pay to get in, after all! After waiting about 20 minutes for the bartender to come my way, I gave him a 20, and with my drink got back 8 euros in return. TWELVE EUROS. MY DRINK COST 12 EUROS. That's the last time I buy a drink at Club Loft. Ugh.
Anyway, it was a very fun night all around. I met a bunch of new people, and danced the night away (as usual).
Much love to all! More to come soon.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Oh... wait... I have to go to school here too?
Bonjour à tous!
So, yes, as you can see, I've decided to bite the bullet and start a blog. While I do like the idea of sending out mass emails, I realize that a lot of people are intimidated by such epic novels and maybe don't get around to reading them. Plus, this just seems easier. Anyway, for those of you who didn't receive the first two installments (in the form of emails) of the saga that is my life in Lyon (and beyond), and are interested in what's going on in my life, I'd be more than happy to fill you in. That being said, this blog is going to start out rather randomly. But, I will say this: I love France (despite everything being way too expensive), I love my host family (though I'll be moving into an apartment with Ruby and my host sister at the start of November), I think I've consumed more wine and cheese in the past month than I'd done over the course of my entire life prior (and it's all delicious), and I cannot stop dancing ('when you see us in the club...').
So let's see. I think I last left off with the trip to Germany. Since being back in France for a week and a half, my life has revolved a lot around school, actually. Real school has legitimately started. I've talked about this with a few people already, but school here is frustrating because (since I'm doing direct exchange and taking classes with bona fide French students) class is basically a big struggle to understand what's going on, rather than really learning anything. I think things will get easier, but it's hard right now. It makes me appreciate classes at home a lot. The upside is all classes here only meet once a week, for an hour and a half, and I don't have any class on Fridays. And, I am taking a couple classes that I like. Here's the breakdown:
Monday: Littérature Classique du 19éme siecle, poésie en prose (Classical prose poetry literature of the 19th century). We're reading a prose poetry book called "Gaspard de la Nuit" by Aloysius Bertrand and it's boring. And I can barely understand the text. Apparently the French students can barely understand the text, so I don't know how the hell I'm supposed to get by. But the prof seems pretty nice and I think she's going to be rather lenient with exchange students (there are about 6 of us).
Tuesday: Dvlpt. Cognitif (Cognitive Development). I am strongly considering dropping this. French Psych classes are harder than I thought they'd be. And I'm taking one more class than I need at the moment, so... But, the prof is pretty fine. She's, I think, in her late 20s and she always looks really seductive when she talks.
Tuesday also: Littérature et cultures françaises (French lit and culture). This class is specifically for exchange students, which is really nice. Everyone is in the same boat! It also seems like it's going to be kind of fun. In the one class I've been to, we read through a text about a man's first impression of Lyon, and then talked about all the different venues for seeing theater in the city. One thing that's cheaper here than in the US: cultural experiences. You can see plays for around 6 euros! Cool.
Wednesday: Traduction Anglaise (English translation). This is actually a two part class, one part is a discussion style class, which is this one. The one I'm taking is actually specifically for English speaking students. Again, nice break from real French school! It's taught in English, by this very proper speaking English guy who is awesome. He's really nice, and funny too. We basically just translate French text into English. It might sound boring, but I actually really like it, and it's very helpful in learning more of the French language.
Wednesday also: Ethique da la vie affective (don't actually know how to translate this...). This class is hard because it's for legit Frenchies, but, the subject matter is awesome. It's basically a class about the ethics of love, sex, and relationships. We're gonna have different subjects each week. Among them: desire; homosexuality; why get married?; divorce; contraception, etc... I'm excited.
Thursday: Traduction Anglaise. This one's the lecture size class, for exchange and French students. It's taught by the French professor and he's just as cool as the English guy, if not cooler. It's the opposite of the discussion in that we translate English text to French (harder). Last class was really fun though, we looked at words in English that have multiple meanings. For example, the word spring: the season, things that make things bounce, a water source, etc. The prof kept acting out all the words, it was hilarious.
And that is all she wrote. I love not having class on Fridays. It allows me to do things like...
Well, I'll save that for next time.
I miss you all. Gros bisous!
So, yes, as you can see, I've decided to bite the bullet and start a blog. While I do like the idea of sending out mass emails, I realize that a lot of people are intimidated by such epic novels and maybe don't get around to reading them. Plus, this just seems easier. Anyway, for those of you who didn't receive the first two installments (in the form of emails) of the saga that is my life in Lyon (and beyond), and are interested in what's going on in my life, I'd be more than happy to fill you in. That being said, this blog is going to start out rather randomly. But, I will say this: I love France (despite everything being way too expensive), I love my host family (though I'll be moving into an apartment with Ruby and my host sister at the start of November), I think I've consumed more wine and cheese in the past month than I'd done over the course of my entire life prior (and it's all delicious), and I cannot stop dancing ('when you see us in the club...').
So let's see. I think I last left off with the trip to Germany. Since being back in France for a week and a half, my life has revolved a lot around school, actually. Real school has legitimately started. I've talked about this with a few people already, but school here is frustrating because (since I'm doing direct exchange and taking classes with bona fide French students) class is basically a big struggle to understand what's going on, rather than really learning anything. I think things will get easier, but it's hard right now. It makes me appreciate classes at home a lot. The upside is all classes here only meet once a week, for an hour and a half, and I don't have any class on Fridays. And, I am taking a couple classes that I like. Here's the breakdown:
Monday: Littérature Classique du 19éme siecle, poésie en prose (Classical prose poetry literature of the 19th century). We're reading a prose poetry book called "Gaspard de la Nuit" by Aloysius Bertrand and it's boring. And I can barely understand the text. Apparently the French students can barely understand the text, so I don't know how the hell I'm supposed to get by. But the prof seems pretty nice and I think she's going to be rather lenient with exchange students (there are about 6 of us).
Tuesday: Dvlpt. Cognitif (Cognitive Development). I am strongly considering dropping this. French Psych classes are harder than I thought they'd be. And I'm taking one more class than I need at the moment, so... But, the prof is pretty fine. She's, I think, in her late 20s and she always looks really seductive when she talks.
Tuesday also: Littérature et cultures françaises (French lit and culture). This class is specifically for exchange students, which is really nice. Everyone is in the same boat! It also seems like it's going to be kind of fun. In the one class I've been to, we read through a text about a man's first impression of Lyon, and then talked about all the different venues for seeing theater in the city. One thing that's cheaper here than in the US: cultural experiences. You can see plays for around 6 euros! Cool.
Wednesday: Traduction Anglaise (English translation). This is actually a two part class, one part is a discussion style class, which is this one. The one I'm taking is actually specifically for English speaking students. Again, nice break from real French school! It's taught in English, by this very proper speaking English guy who is awesome. He's really nice, and funny too. We basically just translate French text into English. It might sound boring, but I actually really like it, and it's very helpful in learning more of the French language.
Wednesday also: Ethique da la vie affective (don't actually know how to translate this...). This class is hard because it's for legit Frenchies, but, the subject matter is awesome. It's basically a class about the ethics of love, sex, and relationships. We're gonna have different subjects each week. Among them: desire; homosexuality; why get married?; divorce; contraception, etc... I'm excited.
Thursday: Traduction Anglaise. This one's the lecture size class, for exchange and French students. It's taught by the French professor and he's just as cool as the English guy, if not cooler. It's the opposite of the discussion in that we translate English text to French (harder). Last class was really fun though, we looked at words in English that have multiple meanings. For example, the word spring: the season, things that make things bounce, a water source, etc. The prof kept acting out all the words, it was hilarious.
And that is all she wrote. I love not having class on Fridays. It allows me to do things like...
Well, I'll save that for next time.
I miss you all. Gros bisous!
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