Food! Almost one month left.

March is coming slowly to an end. My ticket home has been bought and I am almost completely finished with my application to Osaka, Japan. I have my occasional moment where I think, "Wow, I am so ready to go home!" or "I haven't done everything I want to do! I'm not ready to go home yet!" but I think I am ready. A part of my keeps wanting to cancel my Japan idea, but I've come too far and worked too hard. Why would I want to cancel it, you ask? Well, I think being homesick is mostly what it is. It happens, I just can't allow for myself to give in. Going to Japan is obligatory, just as was coming to France, going to college. It is a landmark in my brain that has been planted and will not move no matter how many other options I try to give myself. It's how I work.

Other than being kind of moody this last month (I find myself being a little more facetious and irritated lately only to pause after a moment and wonder to myself why I'm the one being a pain in the ass) and busily worrying about things getting done, I've been going on excursions.
1. Dijon and Beaune. Lovely cities that I greatly enjoyed.
2. "Tirer Les Bois". Went to a vineyard and hacked at the vines that had decided to grow around the wires.
3. Les Grottes de Chorange: absolutely magnificent.
Don't worry, I'll eventually post the photos to 1 and 3 on Facebook some day soon. I didn't take pictures of 2 considering that it was working.

To get to the main topic I'd like to talk about today other than a brief catching up, food is one of those cultural things that I find necessary to test out while in a new place. I'll be honest, eating is not my favorite time occupation. In fact, sometimes I feel disgusted at the fact that I need to eat in order to stay alive. I wish that I could eat whenever I wanted instead of inconveniently being bothered by tummy rumblies when I'm too busy(lazy) to go and feed myself. Other than that, I do enjoy tasting new foods and cuisines. France is big on gastronomy and the past six months have been full of tasting new things. What have I had here, you ask? Just so you know, I will pretty much taste anything.

- Lots of different kinds of cheese. I can't remember all of their names, but back in Angers every time I ate with my host family (three times a week) there was a new cheese to test out. Many different types of goat cheese, Parmesan, Beaufort, lots of different blue cheeses like Roquefort (supposedly the strongest cheese, but other people tell me any cheese can be super strong if you leave it in the fridge for like three weeks), and well ... lots of others. I've been to gastronomy fairs where there are literally like hundreds of booths of cheese, wine, meat, and other regional specialties ... but mostly cheese. I actually do not like cheese, but since there is like 360+ cheeses I don't see why I can't be bothered to at least taste every kind presented. I probably won't like it since I have yet to like a cheese, but you never know until you try, eh?

- Wine. So much wine. I hate wine too, but I am like a wine master. Red tastes like strong vomit, white tastes like normal vomit, sweet white tastes like perfume. I've tasted so much wine here that I am really positive that I do not like it. I did have some strawberry wine that was actually not too bad.

- Bread. The French love bread just as much as they love wine and cheese, don't you let anyone tell you otherwise. Baguettes galore. Brioche. Bread with praline in it, bread with sugar on it, bread with cinnamon in it, but mostly they like to eat plain bread.

- Flan. A delicious dessert made of the dreams of children. Love this shit. Go Google it if you don't know what it is.

- Omelette norvégienne (or apparently in English it goes by the super awesome name of Baked Alaska). They usually eat this during Christmas time. Basically it's deliciousness that they throw burning alcohol on which caramelizes the frosting or whatever is on top.

- Boudin Blanc (White Sausage). Made for Christmas. I've had it twice and neither times did I like it. It is literally a white sausage. I believe it is made of pig, but not the bloody parts. That's left up to what's next.

- Boudin Noir (Blood Sausage). Yeah, this is the stuff made of pig blood. You cut it up and weird coagulated blood kind of bobs out (if I shake the plate, it wiggles). The idea is disgusting, but I found it to be rather delicious.

- Escargot. I find escargot to be a delicate meal. You eat it daintily with adorable little forks and then you are still madly hungry afterwards. In most restaurant they only give you four to eight of them, which is kind of a sham because they are so delicious. They're not slimy, contrary to popular belief.

- Oysters. These kind of depend on the juices that have been added. My favorite is when the juice you slurp out after eating the delicious morsel tastes like vinegar. My least favorite part is when you accidentally swallow pieces of the shell ...

- Couscous and Semolina. A North African dish. They're little rice looking things that have no flavor until flavor is added.

- Foie Gras (duck/goose liver). This stuff is so good, I could eat a jar of it. With some bread of course. It's also really popular to find at gastronomy fairs because every region apparently makes it differently (but it pretty much tastes all the same). I had a conversation about chicken with my host parents where they mentioned that they only buy chicken from local farms where they know the chicken weren't treated horribly. I asked them about Foie Gras (go look up the process of how they make that, eh) and all they said to that was, "Well, Foie Gras is delicious." Okay then. No complaints here, but ...

- Okonomiyaki. My Japanese roommate back in Angers made this before we parted ways. It's a little difficult to explain so your best bet is to look it up. But it was delicious and is a specialty in Osaka, so I'm guessing I'll be having this again if I manage to make the cut for the Osaka abroad program.

- Quiche. I hate quiche. It is one of the few things that I will not taste over and over again. I don't like the super scrambled egg texture. When I have scrambled eggs at my house they have to made a certain way because I just don't like the super fluffy egg thing. It is weird in my mouth and actually makes me kind of gag.

- Horse meat. Eh. It's okay. Didn't particularly like or dislike it. It kind of has a weird texture.

- Boeuf Tartare (raw beef). Considering that the French don't seem to like to cook their food all the way, this isn't too weird, eh? It tastes like beef ... but cold. I have yet to catch salmonella from it.

- Croissants. Soooo sick of croissants. They were so magnificent at first but then I had too many of them.

- Pain au chocolate. Chocolate bread? Bread with chocolate in it. See Croissants.

- Moules frites (mussels and French fries). Mussels aren't really filling, but French fries are! Here's something cute about French fries ... they're called French fries because they originate from Belgium. While in Dijon we were at a Kebab place and the 'Belgian Sandwich' was just two pieces of bread with a bunch of fries between. Hi-layre-ee-uss.

- Kebab and Shawarma. A middle eastern cuisine. Extremely greasy but quite delicious. Meat is generally of questionable origin according to Urban Dictionary, but hey ... obviously I am not one to really care considering my track record on what I'll eat, eh?

- Rabbit. But dey so kewt DEY SO DELICIOUS. Probably the best, most perfect meat in existence.

- Crepes. CREPES. Okay. there are "dinner crepes" where you put things like meat, cheese, tomatos, eggs, et cetera in it ... not my favorite. Don't really dig those kinds of crepes. But chocolate crepes? Caramel, salted butter crepes? The stamp of delicious is required for this entry. [DELICIOUS]

- Fromage Blanc. That translates as White Cheese. It is like yogurt, but be careful where you buy it at or it actually tastes like cheese. It's a dessert item.

- Duck. Not exactly rabbit, but delicious all the same.

- Fish and Chips. I had this in London. Well, it's ... it's fish and chips (fries). Nothing too special.

- Beer. I've had a fair share of beer tasting as well, not as much as wine, but tasted all the same. Beer is questionable. It is not quite as off-putting to me as wine, but I don't exactly like it either. There was one beer I tasted that I kind of liked, but it was in an Irish pub somewhere in Angers that I cannot even remember the name of. Of course, in Dublin I had Guinness. I have yet to figure out if I like Guinness or not ...

- Cider. Depends on what kind it is. Though, I don't really like alcohol either way so there's that.

- Tartes. Apple tart, raspberry tart, strawberry tart. Nummy.

- Hot chocolate and coffee. I've noticed that both of these are a lot more bitter here in France than in the U.S. My first few weeks here I had to add sugar to my hot chocolate. I'm used to it now. Coffee, on the other hand, I have never liked in the first place but it is especially black here.

- Ominous specialty alcohols from the Alps with branches of a pine tree in them. I love drinking pine-sol (this is a joke, it was awful).

- Weird aperatif snacks. An aperatif is when everyone invited sits around and has a whole meal of small little snacks and generally some wine to go with it. Since I don't know the names of the things I've eaten during aperatifs I'll just have to describe them. Weird little pieces of bread with meat in it, weird spreads that taste like fish, salmon (salmon in France is not eaten as fresh as salmon in Alaska), and pretzel sticks.

- Macarons. Little delicious cake things.

- Chocolate. It is really good here. Kind of bitter but good. It doesn't taste like plastic how many chocolates in the U.S. taste.

- Mushroom meals from the caves. Gross. But that's my fault because I had a food poisoning experience the year before thanks to mushrooms (and my stupidity).

- Churros. Yum!

- Scones. I have had them before in Alaska, but I noticed that scones from Ireland taste different from scones from London. Cheers.

- English and Earl Grey Tea. Best tea ever. Well, there's still green tea, but ...

- Fondue. I actually am not a huge fan of fondue. I mean the traditional cheese and crouton fondue. I greatly prefer racklette.

- Racklette. Like fondue, a meal traditional to the Alps and Switzerland. You have a cheese melting thing and you melt the cheese and then you slide it onto some potatoes and meat. My favorite~

Well, that is all for now! I think this is long enough and I can't really think of any more, although I am sure that I have tasted other things.

Until next time~

One Month, Two Months.

Well, I have been in Grenoble for a little over a month now. As that means, I have a little less than two months left in France. As the days grow closer, and March is now in swing, I wonder if I have done everything I've wanted here. Have I accomplished what I came here for? What did I come here for? Meanwhile, I prepare myself for my Osaka, Japan application. Will I learn everything I want to while I am there as well? What kind of experiences did I have here that I want in Japan? Do I finally feel like I understand French culture?

I have so many questions for myself at this point in time. I've spent five months here, speaking French, eating French food, watching French television ... et cetera. I know that at this point I am definitely over my initial culture shock and have accepted this foreign culture. Some things are still a little weird and different, but that is all right. For the most part, speaking with Americans has become somewhat foreign to me now. While I read American news, Alaskan news, listen to what people have to say on Facebook ... I am out of the loop. When I return home, what will it be like? I've read a thing or two (and heard a thing or two) about reverse culture shock. I am not terribly worried about it, but I wonder from time to time.

Of course, as my departure nears, I fret about packing. I have simply bought too much stuff here. Coming from Angers to Grenoble was a nightmare. I had two suitcases filled to the brim, a backpack filled, a bigger sac/purse filled, a small bag filled, and a small purse filled. I only have two arms. I must begin to start sending things home in boxes, but unfortunately it is so expensive and I am super broke. So I am a little flustered over that, though I try not to think too hard about it. At least I have learned my lesson (though, Japan will be much easier since I will land in my designated city and go straight home instead of having to take a train to Paris ... blahblahblah). I can't bring myself to toss too much. I have kept a lot of newspapers, which definitely take up a lot of room, surprisingly. Though, some newspapers I have kept for specific reasons (the War on Mali, December 21 Apocalypse, American elections, and more).

I will be keeping this blog post short since I am mostly in a contemplative state of mind at this point. It has been a long time since I've made a blog post so thought I may as well, at least, write something small.

Grenoble - A new adventure!

Now that it has been a week and almost a half since my heart-wrenching departure from Angers, I have decided that I should sit my lazy ass down and write to this blog. First of all, Grenoble is quite different from Angers. It is awfully weird to uproot myself to a new city where practically everyone in API (the abroad program I'm in) upon meeting me thinks I am new to France and thus forth wants to explain things I already know. Before I start rambling, I find it best that I start from my departure.

Leaving Angers was very difficult. I really fell in love with the city, the people, the atmosphere. It is a city very much like Fairbanks. A city, but not a big city. My host parents were fantastic in Angers. They taught me so much about French culture and I enjoyed our conversations, dinners, and memories. Some friends had come to say goodbye to me at the train station, making it harder times infinity to not be full of emotions. Angers is a beautiful city where I have beautiful memories and met beautiful people. Even when it rained it was always vibrant with the colorful buildings, tram, and trees.

Once I arrived in Grenoble, everything was a bit weird and I was feeling less emotional up until I was sort of comfy in my new room. Unpacking brought up so many items I bought in Angers, Ireland, London, and Paris. I thought of how far I've come in four months ... in life, spirituality, language, open-mindedness ... everything. I wondered if I would have ever managed such progress in my life without going abroad. It surely would have taken years to reach that moment otherwise. Though, I've always taken life rather slow in order to inspect and enjoy every moment. I view life kind of as a tall mountain with different environments, mysteries, trees, rocky slopes, and what-have-you. Some people like to scramble up the mountain, some like to take their time, some enjoy launching themselves from the jagged rocks via bungee cords ... some get lost. Either way, I don't think any way is a bad way to go up the mountain as everyone has their different methods of life. I just prefer to go slow, discover as I make my way up at a nice pace. Crawl under weird rocks where mysteries lie as I ponder them just because I can. Before abroad I was kind of stuck in a rut, confused about who I was, what I had been, and where I was going to go. Now I'm back on track, but a different path that it is a little deviated from what had been. Not that I necessarily fully understand who I am, what I was, and where I'm going as I find that will always be a part of the journey, it just feels a little more right than before.

The first few days in Grenoble were mildly irritating. I am sure it was thanks to changing cities, altitudes, and general atmosphere. There was the occasional moment where I was very homesick for Angers. Eventually, once I was situated with classes I became less irritated. Since I've only been here for a week, I still occasionally feel a bit discontented, but have mostly gotten over it.

Grenoble is beautiful as the Alps surround the city. Their trams are kind of ugly compared to the trams in Angers and the buildings are quite as bright and colorful. I've learned that Grenoble prides itself as being the city where the French Revolution started, so there is a lot of monuments, statues, and historical buildings that reflect that bit of history. It has snowed more here than it did in Angers, but the snow is mushy and wet ... Alaskans from the interior will recognize that as being the break-up period around end of March-April. My host family is very kind here. I wouldn't say they are better or worse than my first host. They've all been lovely people so far, Muriel and Phillipe, Catherine and Charles (generally I avoid name dropping in my blogs - for future reference). I think about how sad it was to leave my first host family and then realize that I will have to do the same for my current host ... and then again with my host in Japan.

To finish up, here are some things about France! This round it's mostly differences between Angers and Grenoble.

1. In France, for cities that have trams, you have to have a transport card thing that you must 'validate' when you get on. If you don't and the tram police (I don't know what they're really called) get on and scan your card to find that you didn't validate - bam! - you get to pay a fine! Grenoble has four tram lines, a fifth one in the making, and the validation booths are at the tram stops while in Angers there is just one tram line and the validation booths are in the actual tram.

2. Angers is apparently more 'bourgeoisie' than Grenoble. Many people here have explained to me that Angers is where all of the pretty things are and the rich lived there. Grenoble is more industrial, which would make sense as to how they could have possibly been where the French Revolution began (I guess there's some controversy to this, but the people of Grenoble are quite persistent about it).

3. Angers is way cleaner than Grenoble (and Paris ... and Dublin on New Year's).

4. You can buy codeine over the counter in France.

5. It is not really that cold in Grenoble (the coldest it's been is -6 C/21 F).

Until next time~!

Here it comes ...

Now that it is my final days in Angers I figured that I should write perhaps my last blog post while I'm in this city. As my time to depart grows closer, my emotions have become a little mixed and sloshed about. I'll admit, it's difficult knowing that everyone else will rather be staying here in Angers or headed home while I'm still in France but being uprooted anyway. I rather hear cries of relief and sadness as people talk about their home countries, talking about seeing their family again ... and then those that are resting here in Angers comfortably for another few months. I'm doing neither of those.

Of course, it's not say that my course of action isn't exciting. It's absolutely the contraire, in fact. Apparently contraire is not an English word, even though we use it as an expression (what a crock). Back to topic - I'm very excited for Grenoble. It will be a new adventure and give me the ability to experience a different part of France while I'm here. I have no regrets with this decision.

As Saturday, my day of departure, creeps up on me, I find that I am watching friends leave while my brain isn't fully comprehending that I will be leaving soon as well. It's difficult to precisely explain my feelings at this point in time. It's been difficult to describe them for living here in France. Occasionally I feel a little sad from time to time, but I would never take back this adventure for the pros and everything I've done make everything worth it. Honestly, the sad parts are a part of the pro as well. Without the sad parts it wouldn't be a complete adventure, now would it?

Having my roommate leave before me was a little tough. Sad. We have done a lot of things together, going to England, Ireland ... spending time in Paris, having dinners. It will be fun to see her again when I go to Osaka. Until then!

I'm sure I've said it before, but going abroad was the best thing I've ever done. I can't explain how successful and good I feel about myself thanks to this decision. I worked hard for this and encourage others to give it a shot. Even for a semester. Or for anyone. Go out and explore the world! Open your mind and learn new things.

My host family, my roommates, the AHA director, the other students in AHA and CIDEF, my professors of CIDEF ... all of these people have been wonderful and I will miss all of them. I will also miss seeing the castle and cathedral almost every day as I make my way from Avrillé to Angers.

To end this entry, here are some things about France:

1. All of those "surveys" and things like that about France being the rudest country (rudest people) are full of BS. The French have been nothing but kind to me.

2. It is apparently okay to pick your nose in public. I've seen this happening several times and nobody seems to be bothered by it.

3. When you have crepes, first you eat a crêpe salée (dinner crêpe?) and then you eat a crêpe sucrée (dessert crêpe). You're supposed to anyway.

4. It is acceptable to not shower for two to three days. The French think that it is not good for your skin to shower every day (they're actually correct about this).

5. The French are much more thick-skinned than Americans. It will be sad to return to the United States and remember everyone takes everything personally. Bunch of babies.

What time is it? Adventure Time!

*This has nothing to do with the Cartoon Network telly emission: Adventure Time! Although, I do find it a humorous and cute show.

As it is now 2013 and we have only a year and four-ish months until our next Doomsday, I have finally returned from my eight day voyage. It was long and I am going to try my best to recount the events to the best of my tired and exhausted memory.

To begin, our airlines only allowed one baggage that fitted a rather depressingly small limit. In that case, I brought about three pairs of pants and shirts for eight days and was forced to wear them over again in order to fit the baggage requirement. Not only that, but I knew that I was going to be buying things in my destinations for the New Year's. Bringing sweaters was mandatory as I had been told that Ireland and the UK tend to have a lot of wind and is a bit chillier than France.

Friday, December 28, 2012
Paris was a little bit frustrating at first. It took me a long time to find Ayaka in the Louvre and I was a little bit confused from a long train ride and not being accustomed to big cities with millions of people. I ended up missing out on the Louvre since it was closing in only thirty minutes after I made it there. Most of the rooms were closed and I didn't want to rush through the little that was still open. Once I did manage to meet up with Ayaka we went through the metro in order to buy some food from a market and head to our hostel. Most people in Paris speak English, which was a bit strange for me considering that I have been speaking and hearing the people around me speak French for three months.

Saturday, December 29, 2012
Unfortunately, our hostel was booked that night so we had to book another. Though, first things first, we went to the Opera house of Paris. It was magnificent, the architecture and frescoes on the ceilings. Sculptured of the Greek Muses and gods ... the halls of gold ... it was beautiful. After a few hours in there it was to the Louvre. The metro is kind of expensive and really not my favorite way of getting around, so we tried walking. We had some Chinese food and walked through the extremely crowded area of Galerie Lafayette. It is apparently famous for its windows where little puppet shows are put on. People were shoulder to shoulder, and it was difficult to move at all. A kind of interesting experience, all in all. We didn't really get anything done except walk around Paris for hours and hours searching for the Louvre at that point. Unfortunately, by the time we found out that we had made a full circle back to Galerie Lafayette in three hours time, we took the metro to the Louvre. It was closed. I was very heartbroken, knowing that our next day was going to be spent at the Château de Versailles and we were not going to have any time to return. Going to the Louvre was my number one things to do in Paris. I am not sure when the next time I will ever be able to return to Paris, I imagine some day in the future, but it will most likely not be for a while. We were also not able to fit in seeing the Notre Dame de Paris, my second thing to see in Paris. So, I kind of missed out on the two most looked forwarded to things on my list. Afterwards we took pictures of L'Arc de Triomph and walked down Champs-Élysée where the marché de Noël was and began our search for our hotel. 
I was already finding that my luck was deciding to rest on the bad side for me, but it didn't really hit a low until we finally found our hotel, locked and the machine outside not accepting our online reservation. As it was practically midnight in Paris and we were finding ourselves without a place to sleep, we finally decided to just buy another room. My iPod touch would not open web browsers and it is impossible for me to shut it down thanks to the button breaking about a month ago, which we were kind of relying on for internet for finding places and whatnot. The hotel was a little sketch, but nothing bad happened.


Sunday, December 30, 2012
Last day in Paris. We headed to the Château de Versailles for almost the whole day. We found that there was a phenomenal line before entering. By phenomenal, I mean that we waiting for almost three hours in this line and it wrapped around about four times, nearly filling up the area in front of the château. Luckily, it was free for students and we were shoved around by other visitors. Other than that, it was a very beautiful castle. I had not been aware that it held certain paintings and statues - or the hall of mirrors. Unfortunately, I brought my boots with me because I had heard that Ireland would be a little chilly with the wind and it being close to the ocean. They have a heel, though I had thought it would be all right since it is meshed with the other part of the boot. Faulty logic on my part. My feet hurt so bad that on our way out we stopped by this small store in order to buy cheap flats so that my feet would stop crying. Finally, we ready to stay the night at the airport since we had an early flight. We met a Chinese girl who was studying in Italy while there and the three of us were kicked out around midnight. Apparently, Beauvais in Paris is one of the only airports in France that closes late at night. So we took a bus to nowhere, the Parisien busdriver being a little less than agreeable with us. Finally, another French person on the bus told us where to go since he and his girlfriend had also been kicked out of the airport. Once at the hotel, he helped us in and as we talked, we found out that he was also from Angers!

Monday, December 31, 2012
The flight was short and we were in Dublin early in the morning. We took a bus to downtown, finding that most signs were in Irish and English, which I thought was pretty cool. Once settled down in the hostel, we went on a tour around town, learning about the buildings and history of Dublin. We stopped by Guinness, but it was kind of expensive to enter so headed to the cathedral instead. Unlike France, you have to pay to enter the cathedrals in Ireland and UK, something that I think kind of defeats the whole purpose and idea of a cathedral or holy place meant for worship. It was a pretty cathedral, and about halfway through it we realized that the time was different by an hour. So we headed back to the hostel where we met one of the other girls staying in our room. She was from Sitka, the first other Alaskan I have met in Europe. Although Sitka is very different in weather and mentality from the interior, it was still nice to meet someone a little bit closer in understanding than other Americans. There was one other person, but we never saw her, just a pile of apples that sat on her bed. 
For the New Year's Eve night, we ended up walking around, a little lost in search of fireworks. They went off before we could find them and by the time we could see them they were done. Defeated and sad, Ayaka and I got into a little bit of a dispute and a long talk thanks to personality and probably cultural differences as well (and that our common language is not either of our maternal languages). After coming to some common ground and apologizing, we made up over some traditional Irish stew, Potato skins, Guinness, and Cider in a small pub to greet 2013. 
When we returned to the hostel, the mysterious apple bed was still uninhabited and the other Alaskan was gone. We heard fireworks at the new year (we celebrated a little early since we had a tour at five in the morning the next day) and to bed it was.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Starting the New Year off, we waited at a bus stop for our tours at five in the morning and looking at the streets. Beer bottles were broken everywhere, people still up from the festivities and Irish people telling us Happy New Year and 'Morning!' every time they walked by. A very kind bunch, really. I find their attitude similar to Alaskans. Smiling and saying hello to strangers, being a little joking and playful in humor; things like that. Anyway, once on the tour bus, we watched the sun of the New Year rise in Ireland. The grassy knolls, the small hedges, and the land of the Fae ... I really love Ireland. A land full of rich folklore and history and beautiful scenery. The tour lasted almost the entire day, making stops here and there for some better shots for photography. Ireland sure has some unbelievably adorable sheep. After that, we went shopping a little bit in Galway, Ireland where I bought myself a wool scarf/hoodie and some gifts for the family. Finally, we returned to Dublin and the mysterious apple bed had a human in it. Surprise!

Wednesday, January 2, 2013
First thing in the morning, we got on a ferry for an hour before landing in Wales. I took one sole picture of the dock saying, "Welcome to Wales," and we got on a train to London. Since we didn't arrive until a little later in the day, we headed to a pub for some fish and chips and some English mashed potato, sausage thing. I honestly wasn't really digging the second dish, but fish and chips were satisfactory. I definitely prefer Irish food and French food has to come out as number one. We found out hostel after taking the British metro (Underground, apparently, is the term - also, I guess Americans use the word Subway. Metro is French. Oops on my part more than once!), which is unbelievably expensive. We bought the Oyster card, an item that is for use with buses and the Underground for a much cheaper rate than if we were to buy tickets separately (five pounds for one ticket Underground). Our hostel was very nice and our room had eighteen girls in it. Had a long shower for once, and slept in a little.

Thursday, January 3, 2013
Our first full day in London. First things first were to head to Buckingham Palace where we did not see the guards with the poofy, tall black hats. It appeared as though we had come on the wrong day, but there were other guards who spoke with us and let us take pictures with them. We did watch some Cavalrymen from the other side of Buckingham palace, something that was neat and fancy too. Once that was finished we headed to Westminster Abbey and were highly (okay, I was highly) disappointed by the size of Big Ben. In case you are not aware of its size, it is about sixteen stories tall and is nearly the same height as the cathedral of Westminster Abbey just across from it. That sounds big, but considering how we see it in movies, I will have you know that it is greatly exaggerated in films. Probably just like the Statue of Liberty (I don't really know, I just read an article that said it is not as big as films make it out to be).
After being disappointed by the size of Big Ben, it was a little bit difficult for me to fully appreciate its beauty. It is a very beautiful building. The details and architecture is fantastic. But we moved on to Westminster Abbey where we were not allowed to take photos and paid eighteen pounds to get in (basically thirty dollars). It was gorgeous, and very saddening to not be able to take pictures. Tombs of the queens and kings of England were buried there, homages to famous writers like Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, and more; there was so much there. A mass happened while we were walking around so decided to participate in it. I have to admit that it is neat to say the only mass I have ever attended was in Westminster Abbey in London. A communion came after that, which we did not participate in. Neither of us are Christians or followers of Jesus, so it felt a little strange to be there. Otherwise, the building was beautiful with lots of history, including newer history such as being the place where Kate and William were married.
Continuing with our day in London, we had some tea and scones. I have come to really like tea, especially Earl Grey and Green Tea. English Tea is very good with no milk or sugar, I found. Earl Grey is accommodating either way. For a short while we walked the streets of London and stopped by a few book shops where I found some very interesting books on Mythology, Religion, and the like. I'm not sure if that's just the mode in the England or I've just been away from the United States for so long, but there were a lot more informative books on those subjects. It was much easier to find books on religion from a non-religious stand-point, though I have come to notice the America is a lot more religious than Europe.
Finally, we went on a boat tour that went under a few bridges and finally London Bridge. That lived up to expectations. Afterwards, we returned to our hostel to rest up before our final day of the voyage.

Friday, January 4, 2013
Our last day was spent in the British Museum. It was probably the best part of the entire voyage. I did enjoy the landscape of Ireland, but there was so much history in the museum. There were items from ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Aztec findings, Persia, ... just ... everywhere. There were ancient Roman vases, the Rosetta Stone, Cleopatra's body, mummies filling up entire rooms, ancient Akkadian written tablets, items from the Parthenon, Jade carvings from China, and more. It was impossible to take pictures of everything, so I tried my best to take pictures of the things that were especially amazing. It was one of the best four hours of my life.
After the Museum we walked around the streets again, searching for some places to shop. Unfortunately, everything is just so expensive in London that I didn't really buy much. I bought some gifts for my family, a few books, and I believe a few other nick nacks, but other than that, London was too expensive. I'm not sure how people can manage to live there.
Finally, we stayed the night in the airport, since that was allowed there. Ayaka slept while there, but I spoke with two other people who were staying the night. A girl from Italy who spoke five languages and a man originally from Turkey but had lived in London for ten or fifteen years. We spoke of religion and many other things. It was a meeting that I think I will never forget. The world is filled with unique and interesting people who have made wondrous voyages both physically, mentally, and spiritually.
We left London early in the morning, landing in Paris to grab a bite to eat and shop a little before returning to Angers.

Today, I reflect on my voyage and find that I have learned a lot from it. I wish that other people in this world will have the advantage and chance for such an experience. Open your mind. I have seen so many people be held back by religion, politics, and other ideas that keep their mind stuck on just their own values. Learn about other ideas. It doesn't mean change them, but learn about them and don't be so quick to judge. Stop thinking that other people are wrong. They just have different ideas.

May you have had a wonderful New Year's celebration to my readers and may you have a fantastic 2013. May you continue to learn many things in this world!

Until next time~

Survived the Apocalypse.

According to my French newspaper that is sitting in my bedroom, you can expect the next Apocalypse to be April 10, 2014. In case you were wanting to prepare for the inevitable. To be honest, I feel like 2014 is a little too soon for another grand Apocalypse scare. Need some years of peace and safety guaranteed, you know? Just kidding, anyway. I don't really believe in Doomsday prophecies. It's fun to joke mostly. I do find it interesting, the fact that we have Doomsday prophecies throughout all of history. In fact, I took a class about the Apocalypse and it was one of the most interesting classes I've ever taken. What is it with the human psyche that makes us want to create Doomsday prophecies? Anyway, December 21, 2012 is behind us and we have a new Doomsday to make jokes about.

Classes are over until January 7, and many AHA students have left back to the United States. About seven of us are left for the full semester. It was a little sad. I was just starting to get to know people, but it was great while it lasted. It was a bit melancholic for a Yule celebration. 

Christmas has passed. For Christmas Eve my host family and I went over to my host mom's sister's home. We ate seafood and watch the kids open their presents. It was really exciting, actually. As for Christmas day, her family came to my host stay's house and we proceeded to have a three to four hour lunch. It was actually very cozy. It was bizarre being so far away from home, not to mention the lack of snow. I pretty much just celebrate Yule on Christmas. It's a lot easier that way.

I'm not feeling too inspired to really write about anything else, unfortunately. I start my New Year's vacation in two days. I'll start off in Paris for three days before heading to Dublin, Ireland. After two or three days there we have a pitstop in Holyhead, Wales to take a bus to London. Finally, we return to Paris and then Angers just before classes start back up.

I hope that you had a Merry Christmas/Happy Yule and may you have a Happy New Year's too!

Holidays and English.

First off, it's been a while again since my last blog post. I've been more up than down since. I feel as though I'm steadying out instead of being on a roller coaster. So, since my last post Thanksgiving has happened, the Christmas season has commenced, and life is generally delicious at this point.

First off, here's a quick rundown of events! Thanksgiving was fantastic. In case anyone who reads this doesn't understand the whole point of Thanksgiving, no, it is not celebrated in France. But a Thanksgiving dinner was set up by the wonderful site director from AHA, and it was probably one of the best I've had. The meal itself was okay and not the same as what I'm used to. What really was important to me was having that piece of home and sharing a piece of my culture with my host family.
                 Meanwhile, there has been a fair for the past three weeks. This last weekend was the last of it. I went once with my Japanese roommate, Ayaka. It was magical. Experiencing a real autumn is something else for me. The trees are almost barren, orange leaves are on the ground, it is legitimately dark outside, the fair rides are colorful, there are churros, and it was late November. The only downfall was that the wind was blowing as if the world was about to end (18 days) and something smashed so hard into my face that I almost fell to the ground. I was practically sobbing out of surprise and confusion. My nose bruised up a little afterwards. It's doing all right now, but I will forever wonder what hit me.
                 This last weekend the Christmas market started in the centre ville. The lights were turned on and there's a giant Christmas tree looking all badass. To my surprise, the lights are LEDs and very bright and colorful. The experience of walking around the market and the lights and the strike that was happening right in front of the tram ... it was all very European. I ended up going out and having some delicious baked potatoes at a restaurant with some AHA buddies. First off, I'm not a drinker. I don't drink alcohol. I taste it and that's good enough. There's nothing wrong with tasting things. I really don't like not being in control of myself and I have had bad experienced with drunk people. But since it was a nice restaurant and I felt as though I was in nice company I had one Pina Colada. It was good, and I was a little tipsy afterwards. That's good enough for me and probably won't happen for another couple months. Getting drunk just isn't my thing.
                Other than that, I've just been going to classes and doing presentations with some exams here and there. Speaking with my host family, eating French food, learning about other cultures, speaking French, ... stuff like that.
                To wrap events off, I'd like to just say that I'm headed to Grenoble come February and then heading to Alaska at the end of April. I'll have give-or-take four or five months in Alaska then I'm off to Japan. Going abroad is the best decision I have ever made. I just want to go abroad forever.


Now I would like to talk about holidays and my take on them. Since it's the "Holiday Season". To be honest, I am kind of superficial when it comes to holidays. Thanksgiving is about turkey, watching Macy's Day Parade, orange colors, and pie with lots of whipped cream. Also, there is apparently this rule where you eat until your innards explode. I don't know, I never partake in that ritual. Christmas is about Santa, watching old Christmas cartoons, lots of decorations and lights, eating yule logs, presents, and magic. Halloween is about freezing to death, costumes that aren't practical in Alaska, getting candy that nobody even likes, me refusing to go into Haunted Houses, avoiding fake spiders everywhere for like a month, and freezing to death. Valentine's Day is about hearts, picking out the select few chocolates I like out of the huge 'assorted' box, figuring out what to do with said giant heart-shaped box, accepting flowers and trying not to be weird about it, and reading lots of whiny Facebook posts. St. Patrick's day is about breaking my pacifist oath and murdering anyone who dares pinch me because I give no fucks about this holiday (I apologize to my Irish heritage). Easter is about painting eggs even though I have not enjoyed this activity since I was like five, finding the eggs and hoping that I did not miss one, eating roast ham, and knowing that my dad is probably watching the Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston. July 4th is about America and American colored everything, which is one of my favorite things. I love having American colored cake. Strawberries with white and blue frosting. I hate BBQ, but everything else is fantastic. There are other holidays in the year, but those are the Big Six (was that six? I'm too lazy to count).
                  I probably sound a little pessimistic towards the end, but I'm not really. I love most of these holidays, and really ... the most important part to me is spending the time with friends, family, and such. Also, some little personal time to appreciate myself as a human being and renew my energies.
                 Anyway, I don't celebrate these holidays for Christianity. One, because I am not Christian, and I have not been since I was a sophomore in high school. Two, why should I not celebrate a commercialized holiday that originated as a Pagan holiday in the first place just because Christians wanted to have some good holiday fun too? Third, who cares why you celebrate a holiday? If you are having fun and having special time with your religion or your family or your friends ... that's all that matters, right? But since I've converted to Paganism, I have been inserting more 'religious' tones to my holidays.
                So in case you're behind, I am Pagan and have fully converted (this is fairly new, and it was not done on a whim, but after lots of research and epiphanies and the sort of things you have when you know you've found your religion).
                What is this Pagan thing, anyway? Well, I've always believed in energies in the Earth and the Universe and spirits after death and things like that. I just always incorporated it into whatever I considered myself at the time (Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Atheist, Agnostic, I have gone through religions). Finally, one day, I decided to look up Paganism (specifically Wiccan, I say I am Pagan because that has less negative connotation than Wiccan does - and Wiccan is like a branch of Pagan, err ... more like a branch off of Neo-Pagan, which is a branch off of Pagan. It's complicated), and found that it was my calling. Now, I'm not going to get all religious and preachy because I feel that religion is a very personal thing that should stay personal. These are my personal beliefs and I will keep them to myself unless asked.
                 Basically, I found what was right for me. I've always been kind of jealous of people who already were set in their beliefs whether it be Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Atheism, Agnosticism. People who already had a religion (or lack thereof) they loved and they said 'felt right'. I have gone from religion to religion searching for it and have always just kind of been in a limbo. I stuck with agnosticism for a while because it was the closest thing to feeling right. I always knew I wasn't fully satisfied. Now I understand. I don't think you have to have a religion to feel right. Everyone is different. The only preachy thing I can say is find what feels right, not what people tell you is right. Follow your heart. Or your stomach butterflies. Or your brain. Or whatever it is that helps you feel right.

Finally, I'll finish this up with some talk about English and Americans. This kind of post was inevitable. Since I have started my journey to multilingualism, I have come to notice that there are a lot of bullshit things English speakers spread around about our language. Just to clear this up, I heard these type of things from Americans back when I was in America. Also, I came to notice that people who said these things don't know another language.
                  One of the things I have heard is that English is the only language that has synonyms or words that have multiple meanings. I have heard it both ways, just the latter, and just the former. Most of the time I brushed it off, not really caring, but once I started to learn French I realized just how much bullshit that was. Then in one of my courses back at UAF someone said that as an example. It was so hard not to correct him, but I kept telling myself it wasn't worth it to lead the conversation astray. I slightly regret it now because he probably instilled that false knowledge into other people's brains. Just in case you believe that nonsense, I can easily tell you that is not even close to true. I shouldn't have to say why it's not true. I speak English, all right French, and just enough Japanese to understand easy conversation.
                  Second. This one I hear on the internet a lot and I have heard in the past, probably mostly when I was in high school. English is the hardest language to learn. No. No, I'm sorry. For one thing, you can't rank languages like that. I feel like languages are like instruments. None of them are necessarily harder or easier than the other. It depends on the person. Your first language will be easy because you were learning it since you were in the womb; probably, I honestly don't know if that really works. From observation and speaking with international students all of the time, almost all of them say English is easy because they learned it when they were eight when their brains were perfectly spongy enough for language learning. But then they didn't use it and forgot most if it. Shit happens. I am sure that most languages work like that, if not all. It gets harder as you get older, some people are more inclined towards language learning, blah blah blah.
                Third. English has no formal language. Yeah. Okay. I don't have the energy to tell you why this is wrong so here is a link you will have to copy and pasta. Perhaps it is not the language that is not formal, but some of the people who use it?

http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic55311.html

                 That's about the end of my English rant. I love the English language, I think it is wonderful and fantastic. But I also respect English and other languages enough to know that these misconceptions are not fair. The sad part is I feel as though these misconceptions would be eradicated if more Americans were to learn foreign languages. Yes. I think learning a foreign language as a child should be mandatory in American schools. I respect those who think it shouldn't be mandatory and understand why they think that. This is a hot topic, I think. However, our education system is awful and Globalization is inevitable. You can hide from it and deny it all you want, but it is not going away. Just like cell phones, computers, and fugly box cars, Globalization is happening and it is not stopping anytime soon. That is not the only reason I think Americans should learn a foreign language as a child. Learning foreign languages helps people understand their own culture. The more I learn about French and Japanese the more I learn about English and what it is like to be an American. Besides that, learning languages is good for your brain. "Oh, but that is too much! They already have to do English, Math, History, et cetera!" Yeah? So do all of the other kids on the planet and it is obligatory for them to learn another language. "But we're not like the rest of the world!" That is true. But I'm not saying let's adopt socialism and the one-child policy. I'm saying, 'let's educate our children'. America does not have to be a bilingual country to teach the children foreign languages. Give them a choice even! Make it interesting.
                Next. One of the things I will miss in France is how political-correctness does not exist. When you say "America/American" you are talking about people from the United States of America. No one cares about the 'technicality' of the term. White people are white, black people are black ... people are people. Though, I have come to notice there are a few things that are a little on the racist/sexist side. Both males and females have very high standards for looks, but girls generally aren't supposed to show much skin and if they do they are a slut, end of story (or they're American). There are a lot of Muslims here, and I have heard that there is some friction between them and this very Catholic country. I have yet to experience anything like that, though. All countries have their bad sides, I suppose.
               I think I will wrap this up with some things about France. I'll give you a list of 10:
1. Everything is closed on Sundays. A lot of things are closed on Mondays too.
2. Restaurants close from 2 PM - 7 PM. Every day.
3. There is no mesh on the windows, but there are apocalypse shutters (metal shutters that don't allow for any sunlight to filter through).
4. The kiss on the cheek thing is actually not a real kiss. You touch cheeks. It is called les bisous, and each area has a different amount. Angers apparently is four times, but I have only experienced two, one on each cheek.
5. Apparently you don't tip waiters in France.
6. French people really like eye contact, and if you catch them staring they will continue to stare until they slowly turn their head away. Staring is more acceptable here.
7. Personal bubbles are smaller here.
8. Everyone jay-walks and cars will generally stop to let you walk past (probably because they are scared to hit someone). Also, cars are so small here.
9. People are not rude, in fact, I find more Americans here to be rude than the French. Problem solved.
10. There is delicious food here.

That's all until next time!

Bisous!