Bienvenue, 2011!

So it's a new year but not quite a new semester.  This coming week is my last week of Tufts classes, and the following week is my last week of classes at le Catho.  And then Tufts classes start the week after THAT, and my cours externes start the first and second week of February (for le Catho and Paris I/III, respectively).

So I don't have a week of complete break, but I come pretty damn close the last week of January.

Best Friend is here, now, for the semester, which is super super awesome!  The day she arrived I went to her apartment and it was like no time had passed. I spent the night and then the following day helped her and her mom shop for/carry apartment items and groceries at the giant centre commerciale Parly 2.  We left around 1pm, returned at about 9:45pm, cooked dinner, and then Best Friend and I went out to some bars/clubs.  I spent the night at her apartment again, and finally left on Sunday to have lunch with another friend and babysit (which is a whole other story...gotta love when a baby poops while you're in the middle of changing its diaper.  Poop was everywhere.  Up the kids back, on his shirt, on the towel, on the changing table, on me, on his hands, etc)

Another close friend of mine and Best Friend (whom we shall call Best Friend's Roommate or BFR) arrives tomorrow morning.  She is super awesome and was BFR for freshman and sophomore year.  She'll be living in an other banlieu completely across paris from me, so chances are we will converge at Best Friend's apartment very often to save the trek.  Tomorrow we'll be having dinner all together, which will be super awesome as the three of us haven't hung out for an extended period of time since this past spring!

Posts might will be sparse in the next 2 weeks as I finish reading/writing assignments before the end of term, but I'll try to post more as soon as I have time/something to post about.  Maybe I'll write a post when I figure out what classes I'm taking for the spring semester...So far I'm looking at another Tufts lit class, a lit class at Paris III, a History of Science class at Paris I, and then I'll need one more class to fill the 4th spot.

Sugar daddy

The main brand of sugar here is called "Daddy"... I realized the other day the humor in that...

Random little happy things!

So I haven't posted in a while, which is completely contrary to my goal when I created this blog.  However, I have been compiling little funny/happy/interesting things that I come across day to day, with the intent of posting them. So...here ve go!

In french, the word for paperclip is trombone...and paperclips look like trombones!!! This makes me chuckle every time I remember that.

I taught my host father the verb 'to bro out', and the usage of it. He then invited me to watch a rugby game that weekend at the house with some of his friends, and said we would 'bro out'.  Success.  Also, I taught him the word 'darty' and the phrase 'sorry for partying'.  He seemed genuinely interested. Love that man.

I made Thanksgiving dinner (sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pumpkin pie), as well as thanksgiving cards for everyone in the program, with Chrissy.  We drew little 'hand turkeys' on the back of cardstock and decorated them for each person.  On the other side we wrote notes to them, thanking them for what they each individually bring to the program.

I also made a pumpkin pie for my host family, and they loved it!  I made them the delicious potato/onion/cheese/sour cream/garlic soup that I made with Amelia, and they all seemed to agree that it was delicious!

At church, I saw in the hymnal that they have the 'other' tune for O Little Town of Bethlehem.  That is to say, they have the tune that most people in England recognize as the 'traditional' tune.  Its called "Forest Green" and is a folktune.  It's pretty, but I prefer the tune that I'm used to- I like the key it's in better.

First 'major' snow, where it actually stuck a bit! 

Snow/the house I tutor at (at the end of the road)

Looks like Christmas lights are universal! This is a display outside an apartment complex in Suresnes, the town I babysit in. 

I made some snowflakes for my window, to bring some winter/Christmas cheer!

In the past week or so, I've been listening to practically non-stop Christmas music (thankyou thankyou WROR for broadcasting online).  It has been so awesome to hear all the familiar songs, it makes me feel a little bit closer to home.  That and the fact that today was the second Sunday of Advent, and just like last Sunday, I went to church at the American Church of Paris, which was soooo awesome.  We sang familiar hymns, the sermon was really interesting, and everyone spoke in English!!! I might join the choir if I have time next semester, or at least try and join the Young Adult group to meet people and make friends.

I made a little Christmas tree for myself today while Chrissy and I watched The Sound of Music and made more decorations for the Tufts-in-Paris office.  It's hard to see in this picture, but it's a 3D tree...

Things are going wonderfully with the babysitting/tutoring- yesterday I had a 'breakthrough' with one of the boys I tutor! Usually, he is the least motivated student I have ever seen...truthfully.  He just doesn't seem to be interested at all in learning English. However, this time, I decided to give him a 'head start' and start the lesson that he was going to be learning next week in school.  It was about prepositional phrases like 'on the bed', 'in the closet', 'on the floor', etc...he suggested that we play a game where we'd pick objects in the room and guess them based on those phrases (and colors, etc...like I spy!). It was so much fun, and not before long we were laughing and having a great time!  We played for an entire half-hour, and his mom even commented that she was happy we found a way to make English more 'animated'.  I was really proud of him for coming up with the idea, and of myself for helping to bring him to that point where he could get excited about English.  I also tutored the older sister (my guess is she's the age of a high school freshman/sophomore ) and she was a fantastic student.  She asked questions whenever she didn't understand something, and tried really hard to make sure that she completely understood the concepts behind grammar rules, etc.  We even exchanged bbm (Blackberry messenger, like instant messager for blackberry owners) PINs so that she could ask me questions about english whenever she needed/wanted to (and vise versa-I'm still learning French!)

The snow has definitely helped pull me out of the mopey mood I had been in lately, and listening to Christmas music has contributed to that, as well.  I'm so looking forward to going home still...I wouldn't say I'm homesick necessarily, but I had been feeling very lonely here and I'm really really excited to see my best friends and my family.  My cousin (who I only see once every 1 or 2 years) is coming up to visit the weekend I get home!!! It's great cause we don't even talk that much, but we're practically best friends whenever we see each other; it's like no time has passed at all.  

Happy second Sunday of Advent, everyone!  Take the time today to do something nice for someone, even if that someone is yourself!

So overwhelmed.

So today has so far been a horrible day.
I got an essay back that I had worked super hard on, even had my host-dad help me proof read, only for the teacher to say, quite literally, that despite the fact that the writing was better, she was 'surprised' it was so bad...I really thought I had done well on that essay and it bothered me to do so poorly.

This teacher really doesn't like me.  I don't disrupt class at all, I contribute to discussions without talking too much, and I always do my homework. But she literally shuts down everything I say.  We were talking about the differences between the French and American university systems, and I commented on how even though American universities cost more, some of the more 'prestigious' schools have amazing financial aid (like going to Harvard or Brown or any of the other Ivies for free if your parents make under 60k/year), and she said 'no that's not really true, you can still only go if you're rich'.  It just bothers me because sometimes it feels like she just decided she wasn't going to like me from day 1, and that there's nothing I can do to get on her good side.  It also seems like I'm the only person she does this to consistently, and while I know that could be my own point of view, it's frustrating to feel.

And then I was planning on getting home as fast as possible so that I could take a nap and eat lunch, and I took the metro in the wrong direction and didn't realize it until 6 stops later.

And now I have to commute 45mins-1 hour to my babysitting job, in the rain, get back just in time for dinner, and then do homework for 3 hours, go to bed, and start the whole process over again.

I wish I had a break from work for winter break, but I don't. I have a 10 page essay due 2 days after I get back, a 2 page essay due the same day, and many other assignments that are just as long due in the weeks following.  I just want a break!

Thanksgiving

       I never quite realized how much I'd miss Thanksgiving!  The only other time I missed it, when I was at Bearwood in 2006, I don't think it bothered me as much.  Maybe that's because living in a boarding house, I was surrounded by people all the time and had less alone time to contemplate the fact that I was missing my favorite holiday.
      Yes, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  That's because Thanksgiving has a bit of a buildup, and then AS SOON AS Thanksgiving is over, it's the Christmas season!  So it's like a holiday that lasts an entire month!  I love how family-centric Thanksgiving is.  I love when my family used to go up to our cottage in New Hampshire and cook tasty food and eat it with my aunts and (sometimes) cousins.  I loved how more often than not, it would snow at least once during those New Hampshire trips.  I loved driving home through Boston two days later, listening to Christmas music and looking at all the lights of the city.

      This year, I'm stuck in a country where cranberries don't even exist (they aren't even imported here).  Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy to be abroad and to have this opportunity, but I hate hate hate that I'm missing Thanksgiving.  I just want to go to New Hampshire and have a snowball fight and take a walk down to the lake and watch Harry Potter DVDs.

      Tufts is taking us (plus two invitees each) out to 'Thanksgiving dinner' at some random restaurant on Thursday, but from what previous Tufts-in-Paris people have told me, it's the French take on turkey and potatoes...not a 'true' Thanksgiving meal.  I want cornbread!  Green bean casserole! Cranberry sauce! Pumpkin pie!
     I've decided to bake a pumpkin pie for my host family, so that they can taste the wonder.  I love pumpkin pie so much, instead of having cake on my birthday, I ask my mom to cook pumpkin pie (it's not too out of season- my birthday is December 21).
     A girl in our program is having a Thanksgiving dinner this coming Saturday, but I do not know if there will be turkey.  I hope so, but as long as there's cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie I'll be (relatively) satisfied.

It'll be hard trying to cram in all the Traditions that I don't want to miss out on, into the two weeks that I'm home. I want to go to New Hampshire when it's cold, go sledding (I hope it snows!!!), go into Boston at night (maybe for First Night), see my best friends, eat pie, drink legally (turning 21 yayy), go to New York City before Christmas, see the Christmas pageant at church, and have quality family time.

That on top of all the essays I'll be working on at that time...


Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

So much to do, so little time!

Life is crazy!  My main dilemma right now is how to balance
1. keeping up with friends from home
2. keeping up with my family
3. having a semblance of a social life here
4. earning money
and 5: MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF WORK

My two best friends...I guess I wasn't prepared for how much I'd notice the absence of their presence in my life this semester.

It's hard to condense a weeks worth of activity into a 10 minute phone call with the Boy...I miss getting breakfast/lunch at Dewick and having all the time in the world (or until our next class) to talk about our days/weeks/lives.  I miss grilling!  And how he brings me back down to earth when I get all worked up about something.  Phone calls/skype just can't replicate in-person face time.  I'm so glad I'll get to see him when I come home for Christmas, but then after that it's 5 more months until I'll see him in person and I'm not a fan of that.  I miss you!

And skyping with Best Friend....I miss our monday night dinners...skype just can't replace cooking with your best friend.  Or snuggle time at 3pm watching Law and Order/Fringe.  Or just walking around the Cambridgeside Galleria and getting chocolate-fruit kebabs.  Or 'studying' in Tisch or Eaton aka ordering food and listening to music...or going to Eaton at 4am to sing a 'carol' to the Boy and his study partner "Twinkle twinkle you're doing homework, while we were out getting hammered. It is such an unfair world, that you're stuck here without a girl, Twinkle twinkle you're doing homework, while we were out getting hammered"
I miss you!

So here's a look at why I haven't been keeping up my posting:
6-7 page essay due Tuesday DONE
6-7 page essay due Thursday DONE
8-10 page essay due Nov 24 DONE
2-3 page essay due Nov 24 DONE
Midterm Nov 25 DONE
Midterm Nov 30 DONE
Presentation Dec 2 DONE
6-8 page essay due Dec 9 DONE
Debate due Dec 9 DONE
Revised essay due Dec 9 DONE
8-10 page essay due Jan 5 DONE
2-3 page essay due Jan 5 DONE
6-8 page essay due Jan 11 DONE
4 2-page essays due Jan 11 DONE
Oral exam (language) Jan 13 DONE
Final exam (litterature) Jan 13 DONE
2 7-page essays due Jan 20 DONE

ARGHHH

I shouldn't even be posting now, I should be working! And that is what I'll do!

A tout!

Samhuinn post-finally!

I can't believe it has already been a week since I was in Edinburgh, it doesn't feel like it!

Samhuinn:

       SO we saw this amazing procession/performance/celebration in a square right off of the Royal Mile (a mile of street that starts at the castle and descends down the hill into the city).  Samhuinn is an ancient Celtic holiday that celebrates the changing of seasons from summer to winter.  There was the Winter King and his court who would soon defeat the Summer King and his court.  Here's some backstory about the festival.
      The performers were all in costume, naturally, but the style of costume is what mattered to me.  Amongst all the face paint, all of the masks, all of the fabric, nothing looked modern.  There wasn't a piece of plastic or polyester in sight. As I stood there, watching the Red Men dance or the Beasties play their drums, I couldn't help but imagine that had I been transported back in time hundreds of years, I would be witnessing the exact same procession.  The primal beat of the drums and the screeching and yelping of the people dressed as wolves (part of the Winter King's court) called to me somehow...I think it really drove home the point that this is a land of my ancestors, and that hundreds of years ago, my ancestors were probably celebrating in the same manner.
        I think, as a generic white American, it's hard to think of myself as having 'ancestors' of a specific culture, but  I'm only third-generation, and they had to come from somewhere!  My mother's mom was born in Scotland, her paternal grandparents were Jews from Eastern Europe (Belarus perhaps, all we know is that they immigrated from Minsk), my dad's maternal grandparents were from Sweden and his paternal grandparents were from Ireland (so he's lucky enough to be eligible for Irish citizenship).  Back to the point, I think that watching this festival (and spending the day searching for MacGregor paraphernalia) made me realize 'yes, Amy, you do have ancestors and they weren't just nameless/faceless/culture-less white people.  They were Celts, Vikings, and Hebrews who for hundreds of years were involved in their own culture and who's descendants decided to move to a country where the culture was just beginning to become established. But they had their own set of festivals, religion, dress, etc...

Back to Samhuinn:  This shit was unbelievable.  And there's one in the spring, called Bealltainn that I hope to go to as well.  Here are some photos: video trailer for Bealltainn , photos, more photos .