Hey all. So, here we are, the home stretch. I have really been feeling mixed emotions these past few days concerning going home. I'm completely stressed with schoolwork, but aside from that, I've realized just how far I've really come here in France. Granted, I can't speak fluently and don't really feel integrated with the French, I can say that I have done a lot more than I expected. There is something truly amazing about being out of your comfort zone for the first time in one's life. I'm not just talking about the first semester away at college, although at the time, it felt like that was as bad as it would ever get. Boy, was that a walk in the park comparing to this.
I spent this past weekend in Compiègne after a pretty jam packed week of schoolwork. Friday, Zuzana and I went to Paris to shop. We both decided that we needed retail therapy and decided to take the day off. Well, looking at my receipts, I guess I really needed it (haha). It's nice that Zuzy and I were able to take the day to walk around, shop, get some coffee (STARBUCKS OF COURSE) and talk about how much we've changed since we arrived here. After that, we met up with Anna and her brother who was visiting from Finland for a late lunch.
The rest of the weekend was spent in Compiègne. My friend Luca from Italy had a lunch at his apartment to celebrate his birthday. Delicious Italian food, yum. Gotta love authentic cuisine from every corner of the world. I am so spoiled. My Mexican friend is cooking tomorrow night, yes! Saturday night I fell down the stairs in my apartment and limped out to a party. Sunday, feeling like a granny, I hung around all day and Hansen came over to work on our dreaded philosophy project. We've definitely built it up a lot, my poor roommate has heard me complain about it for 3 months, and she keeps asking me if I've had the presentation yet. That's how you know you've been worrying too much about something! Well, I'm also blogging about it so I guess it's pretty obvious that we're scared. It'll all be over on Wednesday by lunchtime (wake up time for you guys), so I'll let you know the outcome.
Last night, during one of my procrastination pauses, I looked through my written journal and found a list of things that I have realized or have paid more attention to since I've been here. They're pretty interesting and all correspond to different experiences that I've had here, so I figured I'd share:
-French is really hard
-This is a once in a lifetime kind of thing
-Time heals everything
-It's probably better to sleep on it than to act on it
-I'm blessed
-Food shopping is hard
-Love is an amazing thing
-Give the best of yourself, get the best of others (sometimes exhausting, but worth it...so do it!)
-Weather and cleanliness, or lack there of, can really affect my mood
-I'm really proud to be an American
-I made the right choice
-Time goes by fast, even faster when you don't want it to go by
-You can make a home for yourself anywhere. Whether or not it's better than your real home is debatable
-It's possible to feel distance
-If you let things in, they will come in
-People impact every experience (doesn't matter what you do, it's who you're with)
-You can't judge a book by its over, really
-I miss iced coffee or any coffee that is larger than the size of a shot for that matter
Just some things to think about. I know when I think about some of these things, it helps me make sense of what's going on!
Miss and love,
Amanda
Monday, May 30, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Here, there & everywhere
Hi all. So yeah, there's really no excuse for me not writing for this long of a time. On the other hand, a lot has gone on in the past month and a half, so I'm going to go easy on myself.
So the last time I wrote, it was right after Kelsey came! After that lovely week, it was back to reality. School is really hard and stressful. It's easy to get discouraged and flustered by the end of the week here, and I already have the tendency to do that as is. It was a hard two and a half weeks to get through, and I think that that had to do with the fact that I knew my parents were coming, so I got even more excited.
My parents arrived on the 21st and we had a great voyage to Swizterland, Amsterdam, and Paris. My Dad then had to leave us on the 1st, when my Mom and I continued on to London, Barcelona, then Compiègne and Paris again. A great time was had by all, but I would be lying if I said I felt like I when on vacation after all was done. I am still exhausted, and I bet my mom will tell you the same thing!
My Mom left on the 9th of May after spending Mother's Day in Paris. Such a dramatic exit, Mom. I left her at the airport and was in a very off mood for about two days after that. It was probably the fact that I was exhausted, sad, and still in shock that I had seen my family in the first place. It was really nice to see my family, and at that point when my Mom left me, we said "see you in 5 weeks" and that felt nice.
Then, I went back to reality, once again. This past week, I did so much work for my classes. A few conflicts arose, like uh, I don't know, the fact that my professor changed my final to the day after I leave. Note, he changed the date after three months of it being on the syllabus. Now, I am uncertain that I will be accommodated, but I have decided that I will not change my plane ticket. Whatsoever. I'm also getting anxiety about my upcoming presentations, but when those are done, I have a nice week left here in Compiègne to hang out with friends and get ready to go home.
This past weekend, I went to Lyon to visit Caitlin. She is currently living there doing an internship. I was weary about going at first, because I was still so tired, but I had such a great time. I went there Thursday night, and then spent the day in Starbucks doing my research project while Cait worked. I was there for 5.5 hours, wrote 10 pages, and was asked "parlez-vous anglais" 3 times by tourists during that time period. I don't know if there is a sign on my forehead that says "AMERICAN" or what, maybe it was the fact that I was sitting in a Starbucks, but I ended up having my own tourism desk where I helped people look up things on my computer. Haha. After that fun time (note: any time spent in Starbucks is a fun time), I walked around Lyon, did some shopping and then met up with Cait. Later that night, we went to drinks and dinner with her FRENCH boyfriend and his friend. It was a really nice time, and it was nice to see how nice of a life Cait has made for herself there. After dinner, we met up with the other URI chicka, Raena, and other French girls.
Saturday, we went to Geneva. It was definitely a good idea to do a day trip and see another city/country for 24E round trip. Only thing, it rained. So, we saw the sights, ate lunch, and passed some time in stores. Geneva is a very pretty city, I'm sure a lot prettier without rain, but definitely a one-dayer. Cait and I were glad that we didn't spend more than the day there.
After that, we went back to Lyon and had dinner, drinks and dancing with Raena and another girl from UTC that had come down to visit, Maria. The four of us had a great time, some laughs, and ended the night at a place called "Boston Club," modeled after a typical irish bar, very similar to Mulcahy's, which wasn't anything but amazing. So funny.
Today, I made my way back, slowly but surely. I missed my train from Paris to Compiègne by 3 minutes, so I had to wait for 2 hours. But, I got some more work done and planned some things, so it was productive.
Next weekend, I'm going to the Baie de Somme, on the beach on the northern coast with Esperanto (exchange student group). I missed the first one, so I'm excited to go to this one. It's a great way for everyone to get to travel together and it's really well planned. Plus, I'll be putting my feet in the sand, something I haven't done in a while! Well, I have to go get so much work done; I have a presentation on images of technology in cinema tomorrow, which I have yet to start. PLUS, I want to finish all of my work before the weekend. Keep your fingers crossed!
Hope all is well with you!
Love,
Amanda
So the last time I wrote, it was right after Kelsey came! After that lovely week, it was back to reality. School is really hard and stressful. It's easy to get discouraged and flustered by the end of the week here, and I already have the tendency to do that as is. It was a hard two and a half weeks to get through, and I think that that had to do with the fact that I knew my parents were coming, so I got even more excited.
My parents arrived on the 21st and we had a great voyage to Swizterland, Amsterdam, and Paris. My Dad then had to leave us on the 1st, when my Mom and I continued on to London, Barcelona, then Compiègne and Paris again. A great time was had by all, but I would be lying if I said I felt like I when on vacation after all was done. I am still exhausted, and I bet my mom will tell you the same thing!
 |
| Luzern, Switzerland |
My Mom left on the 9th of May after spending Mother's Day in Paris. Such a dramatic exit, Mom. I left her at the airport and was in a very off mood for about two days after that. It was probably the fact that I was exhausted, sad, and still in shock that I had seen my family in the first place. It was really nice to see my family, and at that point when my Mom left me, we said "see you in 5 weeks" and that felt nice.
Then, I went back to reality, once again. This past week, I did so much work for my classes. A few conflicts arose, like uh, I don't know, the fact that my professor changed my final to the day after I leave. Note, he changed the date after three months of it being on the syllabus. Now, I am uncertain that I will be accommodated, but I have decided that I will not change my plane ticket. Whatsoever. I'm also getting anxiety about my upcoming presentations, but when those are done, I have a nice week left here in Compiègne to hang out with friends and get ready to go home.
This past weekend, I went to Lyon to visit Caitlin. She is currently living there doing an internship. I was weary about going at first, because I was still so tired, but I had such a great time. I went there Thursday night, and then spent the day in Starbucks doing my research project while Cait worked. I was there for 5.5 hours, wrote 10 pages, and was asked "parlez-vous anglais" 3 times by tourists during that time period. I don't know if there is a sign on my forehead that says "AMERICAN" or what, maybe it was the fact that I was sitting in a Starbucks, but I ended up having my own tourism desk where I helped people look up things on my computer. Haha. After that fun time (note: any time spent in Starbucks is a fun time), I walked around Lyon, did some shopping and then met up with Cait. Later that night, we went to drinks and dinner with her FRENCH boyfriend and his friend. It was a really nice time, and it was nice to see how nice of a life Cait has made for herself there. After dinner, we met up with the other URI chicka, Raena, and other French girls.
Saturday, we went to Geneva. It was definitely a good idea to do a day trip and see another city/country for 24E round trip. Only thing, it rained. So, we saw the sights, ate lunch, and passed some time in stores. Geneva is a very pretty city, I'm sure a lot prettier without rain, but definitely a one-dayer. Cait and I were glad that we didn't spend more than the day there.
 |
| Cait and I! |
 |
| Le jet d'eau à Genève |
After that, we went back to Lyon and had dinner, drinks and dancing with Raena and another girl from UTC that had come down to visit, Maria. The four of us had a great time, some laughs, and ended the night at a place called "Boston Club," modeled after a typical irish bar, very similar to Mulcahy's, which wasn't anything but amazing. So funny.
Today, I made my way back, slowly but surely. I missed my train from Paris to Compiègne by 3 minutes, so I had to wait for 2 hours. But, I got some more work done and planned some things, so it was productive.
Next weekend, I'm going to the Baie de Somme, on the beach on the northern coast with Esperanto (exchange student group). I missed the first one, so I'm excited to go to this one. It's a great way for everyone to get to travel together and it's really well planned. Plus, I'll be putting my feet in the sand, something I haven't done in a while! Well, I have to go get so much work done; I have a presentation on images of technology in cinema tomorrow, which I have yet to start. PLUS, I want to finish all of my work before the weekend. Keep your fingers crossed!
Hope all is well with you!
Love,
Amanda
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