Japan 日本

I attempted writing a blog post during the summer but instead decided not to. There really aren't any good reasons why, but for the most part I spent my summer being melancholic and unproductive. I don't know if it was that whole reverse culture shock thing, the weather being unbelievably hot for Alaska (85-100 F for weeks is not really normal for us), or financial issues regarding my trip to Japan ... or maybe all three ... but I did almost nothing. No job. Usually with no job I would take advantage of the free time and draw, write, or participate in one of my many hobbies but instead I just kind of moped around. I wrote a little bit. Drew a little bit. Did some research to my bestiary.

But I actually just listened to music and sat on my bed most of the summer. Dying of heat. Which is kind of what I'm doing now except I'm being productive about it. 

So I made it to Japan. I'm sitting on my weird cot-thing that is really uncomfortable to sleep on but I am guessing I'll get used to it. I live in a small apartment next to a bunch of traditional homes, which is slightly disappointing. There is an air conditioner in my room; although, everything is sticky and damp so when it is on I get kind of cold and cuddle in my blankets for a while ... then I turn the air conditioner off and it gets hot and sticky again.

My host family is great so far. They have twenty-five years of host experience and are pretty awesome. My host mom is really nice. She took me on a walk yesterday, showing me the way to the university. We stopped and got ice cream, something that was not cheap in France but Japan knows how to price ice cream. 2.50$ for a nice size ice cream cup? YES. A lot of things that count are expensive though ... like train tickets. Unfortunately I wore shoes that I haven't broken in yet and now have blisters on my first few days in Japan. 

Apparently a typhoon is happening today and tomorrow or within this next week. Right now it's raining pretty hard with lightning and thunder. Still hot and humid.

My plane trip was long ... 24 hours of transport and layovers, but mostly transport. I started in Fairbanks with a 52 min. trip to Anchorage with a two hour layover. From Anchorage I went to Los Angelos, which took about 4 or 5 hours ... stayed there for an hour and thirty minutes. Then for some bizarre reason it was to Seattle next for 3 hours and only stayed there for 50 minutes. Finally, my transit to Osaka took 10 hours.

I guess to end up this segment since I've only been here for two days, here are a few things:

1. Toilet has lots of strange buttons on it ...

2. Cars are super tiny. France has nothing on their tiny cars.

3. They drive on the other side of the road, which I had already been aware of but was weird actually experiencing it. Although I did get a little taste of it when I was in England and Ireland.

4. I have seen more people wear crocs here than in my entire life.

5. Lotus flowers are the coolest things ever.

And for now that is all! 

Back in the U.S.

Well, my time in France has come to an end and I am back in the United States. I am still getting over jet lag, although the lethargy has dwindled. I see Alaska with different eyes now, but I greatly miss France. Getting used to home and the food here will take me a while. I can taste sugar in practically everything.

My journey back home was kind of awful. I started on the train at eight in the morning on Friday in France and ended it around eight to nine in the morning Sunday France time (ten at night Saturday Alaska time). So basically two days of travelling ... not exactly desirable. I didn't mind all of the airports and airplanes, it was leaving Germany that was the worst. Flying Condor was a nightmare. They have a 6 kilo limit for each carry-on. Unfortunately, one of my carry-ons was 8 kilos so they forced me to pay 160 euros for it and store it under. I did not even have that much money in my bank account and was furious. A ten hour flight on a huge airplane (it had the three seats in the middle with two seats on each side of the three) forced me to put my backpack under just because it weighed two kilos extra. Unbelievable. Airlines have only shown me over and over again how greedy they are.

Anyway, I'd rather not bitch about airlines and unfortunately have little to say. Also, my writing gets a little sloppier than usual when I get frustrated. My last week in France was spent with another host family as mine went on vacation. I believe I already mentioned this in one of my previous blog postings. I went to a few villages up in the Brahman mountains in the Alps, which I greatly enjoyed.

Other than that, I have little else to say. Since I've been back I've been stuck to phone internet as there is no internet at my house (I am using internet in town that I live ten miles away from). I don't really like to type on my phone or use a lot of websites with it ... the screen is small and I am so used to having an 18-inch computer screen to look at. But for now, that is all!

Until next time~

What I want to be when I grow up

Considering that I am a senior in college, I should probably know what I want to do with my life, right?

No. 

I tell people that I will be teaching English abroad, which is something I wouldn't mind doing. It's not that it is something I don't want to do, it is just not what I would like to be doing as a career. I think it would be great to teach foreign students English, as I do love English and I do love other cultures. And if that doesn't work out I would like to go into the psychology field. These are things that I want to do that are realistic.

I know that people say, "follow your dreams!"

Sometimes I wonder, "what are my dreams? What is my ideal life?" Then I realize that my ideal life is not working, having no money problems with a relatively nice house, the chances to travel, a husband, kids, drawing or writing and learning all day long, being a philanthropist, and having a library in my house (that one is really important).

So okay. 

I am definitely a dreamer, but I also like to be realistic. I have to eventually work. I'd rather not be an actor, writer, or artist who scrimps by and has to have shitty jobs on the side as I wait for my big 'break-through' that may or may never come. Many people who know me know that I do a lot of art and I write a lot. People always suggest that I should do something with it. Do what? The 2D artist market is dying, and fast. Disney just let go a bunch of 2D artists. Then I'd have to find someone that likes my specific art-style. What many people do not understand about the fine arts is that it is extremely subjective. You get a job based on what other people like. Writing is similar. I love to write and draw, but I don't have to have a career in it to continue doing it ... or enjoy it. I'd love to work for Disney as a 2D artist or hit it big as an author, but I'm okay if that doesn't happen. It relies too heavily on chance! It doesn't matter what your degrees are, it matters about your skill and if others like it. I can still write and draw on the side.

Unfortunately, one thing that I have come to realize that I am very interested in is being a historian (ancient civilization dating back to ancient Mesopotamia, Babylon, Greece, Egypt, et cetera) or a folklorist or someone who does religion/mythology research and study. However, I don't know what it takes to be in that field. I don't know if I should have started out as a History major, or maybe it doesn't matter what your undergraduate degree is, but you have to go to graduate school. Can I even afford graduate school? I wonder if it is even too late to do that. Do those types of people even make a lot of money? This is something I would have to look into, but honestly, once I get my degree I would have to take a break and go teach English to foreigners anyway. Money is too important in this world.

The problem is that I am fickle and have many, many interests. 

The least I can do to achieve my ideal life is to have a job that's pay is efficient that I enjoy, even if it isn't the job I'd choose if there was a panel with all the options and I got a job based on that.

One of the biggest problems with teaching is that I am not a teacher type person. I've always had people suggest being a teacher. When I spent most of my life with music, people would suggest teaching music ... when people see my art they suggest teaching art ... when people know I like English ... et cetera. I have attempted to be a tutor. My patience level is too low and I don't know how to efficiently explain things. I understand how it works, why can't you? It isn't hard, why can't you do it right? How can you not understand the first time I explained it? 

This is why for the longest time I absolutely refused to become a teacher. I have always known that I will be a horrible teacher. I don't teach people. I would never recommend someone like me to be a teacher. In fact, if you have my mindset do not become a teacher, people don't want you teaching their kids.

So, uh ... why are you going to be a teacher then?

Why?

Because it is a problem that I am like that. I view it as a bad trait to not be able to teach people. Teachers tend to understand their subjects even more because of teaching. Also, I think my lack of teaching skills highlights my true lack of social skills. I have become much more patient in my life compared to even two years ago. The reason I want to teach now is because teaching is a form of learning, and I cannot say no to learning. I must learn to be more patient and I must learn to explain things more efficiently. I want to be able to share what I know with people. 

That is why. I don't think it would be a permanent job anyway because most programs that send people to teach English in foreign countries only do it for a set period of time (1-5 years generally). Honestly, I couldn't be a teacher forever. I could teach for a little while, but for the rest of my career? Nope. 

Also, it would be difficult to settle down if I just spent my life teaching abroad. I do wish to settle down in Alaska eventually.  

Either way, the future isn't set in stone, but currently that is my plan. 

Two weeks left and Stereotypes!

Two weeks from now I will most likely be sitting in the Seattle airport according to my travel itinerary. Many people ask me if I am happy to return home, which is a littler harder to answer than a simple yes or no would give. In ways I am very content to go home to Alaska, as I've been away for almost seven months. I miss my family, my home ... on the other hand, I have spent seven months in France. I love France. I have made many memories here, met many lovely people, and most of all ... I have experienced so much more in my life than I ever would have if I had not gone abroad. I enjoy speaking French every day, even though my English gets awkward sometimes because of it, but learning French has helped me understand my maternal language more than before. From my friends I've even managed to learn little phrases and words in other languages like Chinese, Korean, and Arabic. I mean, just a little, but I don't know if I would have ever learned how to say "hello", "goodbye", "thank you", or other small vocabulary words/phrases otherwise. I even learned how to spell my name in Arabic, my name's origin language.

I have learned so much about other cultures. There was so much I didn't know about China and Korea before now, or Saudi Arabia, or Germany, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Japan, Mali, Haiti, the list goes on. I've been able to ask people questions of their country and hear answers from their point of view instead of seeing how America sees them. It has been absolutely wonderful.

Right now, I am still waiting for an answer on whether or not I am fully accepted into the Osaka program in Japan. I was accepted by the abroad office at UAF, but am still waiting for the OGU program to accept me. I've been a little worried considering that I don't know whether or not my letter with all of the hardcopy information made it to them in time ... and I guess that they are very strict about when they receive it. If it was late then I suppose it is a no-go for me, though it's been almost a month. I imagine if the answer was no, they would have told me already? I don't know. I am too worried about heading back home than that at this moment.

I have been severely burned out by classes. Apathy has me in a tight grip and I can't seem to make myself motivated or care by any means. I feel as though I easily get burned out, one of the big reasons I went abroad in the first place was because of burnout. Perhaps I have an easy burnout personality? Either way, I only have one week left of classes.

Since I am at a strange part of my voyage, I do not know whether my next update will be right before I leave France or once I'm in Alaska. Perhaps this is my last French blog ... or not. It probably depends on how I feel within the next two weeks. However, to end this, I would like to go through a few French stereotypes I think are prevalent amongst Americans. Allow for me to state firsthand that there will be generalizations made because that is the whole point of a stereotype. Of course there are 'exceptions' and not 'everyone is like that'. I know that.

1. The French are rude.

Correction: Parisians are rude.
But really.
I see why people may find the French to be a bit rude. Their culture isn't as warm as American culture when it comes to strangers on the street (but if you are climbing or doing something recreational, you not saying bonjour is considered rude ... my host parents asked me why I never said bonjour while we would go out and climb and I was confused because if you smile at strangers on the street it freaks them out so ... yeah). However, I find that to be the end of their rudeness. Their privacy bubbles are a lot smaller than what Americans are used to, and that might contribute to Americans thinking them rude. Once you break the stranger barrier, they are very hospitable and nice people. Even before sometimes.

2. The French hate Americans.

I think that Americans think that everyone hates them or that everyone loves them. The truth of the matter is, I have not yet met one French person who hates America. Considering that they love our television, our clothing, our celebrities, our news, our everything ... I cannot say that they hate us. At all. I was told before I left Alaska to always say that I am Alaskan and not American because they are nicer to you if you do that. While that is true, I find that saying I'm American has given me nice receptions as well. So, no, the French don't hate us.

3. French women don't shave their armpits.

Well, now that it is spring and women are wearing less clothing ... yeah, no. Women shave their armpits here. However, when I asked my host mom about it, she said that in the winter there is little to no need to shave there. She said that shaving armpits is a newer thing, so I suppose the stereotype came from somewhere and it just is dying out now.

4. Bicycles everywhere.

Yes. Girls in skirts and heels even ride bicycles. It may be because the French drive like maniacs or because getting a license costs over 1000€.

5. The French are always on strike, having demonstrations ...

Yes ... yes. It is extremely inconvenient.

6. They always eat frog legs, escargot, and have a baguette under their arms.

Frog legs are hard to find and they are super expensive, and out of my two host families neither knew how to make them. The few French people that are around my age when they asked about stereotypes and I told them about escargot ... they got squeamish and cried "noooooooooon!". I saw people with baguettes a lot more frequently in Angers than in Grenoble, but every dinner there is a baguette ...

7. The French don't bathe often and dowse themselves in perfume.

...
I was told that it is normal for French people not to shower for three days because it is not good for your skin (they are right in a way), though my host mom in Angers at least showered every morning because I always heard the shower running and when I went down to eat breakfast her hair was wet. The French do wear a lot of perfume, but I think it is for another reason ...

8. France is filthy. It smells bad and there is garbage everywhere.

Sometimes when I turn down a street I smell this awful, awful smell and it is always the same smell and has happened in every French city I have ever been in. I am always thankful when someone walks by dowsed in perfume/cologne. Someone suggested it could be the sewage system, but something needs to be done about it. And I hate to admit it, but yes, France is dirty. It is like people don't know how to throw shit away. I've been told it is a lot better than it used to be, but compared to Alaska, London, and Ireland ... yeah. It is the biggest downfall of France, I think.

9. Wine and Cheese.

Yeahhh ... some families have both for every lunch and dinner.

10. They smoke. A lot.

My second-hand smoke inhalation has quadrupled since I've come to France.

11. They are 'chic' and sophisticated fashion junkies.











12. They all wear berets.

They will deny it, but my observation skills note that I see at least three people per day wearing one.

13. They are romantic.

Yeah, I'd say they are at least more publicly romantic than Americans are.

14.  Mustaches and striped shirts.

This apparently comes from a specific region in France, and the only time I've ever seen someone wear that costume was at a tasting fair thing ... because they were representing their region. It is from the region of Breton. As for mustaches, I'd say the French men I've seen that are my age tend to be a little scruffy, but not full out mustaches really.

15. They are artistic.

Yeah, but just as much as everyone else, I think.

And since that is all of my known French stereotypes at the moment, there you have it! Despite its negatives, France is still lovely and wonderful.

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~!