Je Peux Épeler Pâtisserie!

When I started to write this post I was very happy. Now, that is not the case. After I was finished writing this post for the first time, I changed the keyboard into French for some random reason and I accidentally closed the document without saving it. STUPID! I want to punch myself in the nose! What I wanted to say was that I was very happy. I was thinking God for the fact that I can speak French and for the fact that I am in France etc… I promise, it was much more poetic the first time! Now, you are stuck with me being all frustrated! I will try to be nicer.

Today I started my day with a baguette and a croissant; both were full of Nutella™! I only wanted to baguette, but Benedict approached me in the dining room and asked if I wanted a croissant as well. You know me! I never say no when it comes to food! When I got to school I had a bit of a stomach ache. Ben, qu’est qu’on va faire ?

After my class I met the mother and the grandfather of Phil Cristensten at the train station. Rachel was there as well. Before they arrived Rachel and I were speaking in French. When they arrived I had a bit of a hard time speaking in english. It wasn’t that big of a deal. After a few minutes I was an American again. It was a great day! We showed them le château de Guillaume le Conquérant and our beautiful university (the university is next to the château unfortunately)! After that we had lunch in a pâtisserie called Paul. It was a true French meal! After lunch we showed them the route back to their hotel and Rachel and I walked back to centre ville for some café.

At the café the waiter spoke with us and asked us for our names. Rachel was very happy because she was saying beforehand that she wanted to know his name. We see him all of the time! After a bit of conversation we exchanged phone numbers and he had to leave. Rachel, full of caffeine, decided that one day we will be good friends with the waiter and one night after the café is closed, we will dance on the tables while listening to music. I don’t know what the waiter put in her coffee, but I know that for some reason she was super excited!

After the café I went to the gym (the music in the locker room still isn’t working!) and then back home to get my laptop and return to the café to use the internet. I translated all of my posts from French to english and checked my e-mail. I am sorry; I didn’t have time for facebook. When I was finished with my blog I hurried home because I was late for dinner. I called Hélène to apologize. It wasn’t that big of a deal luckily! After dinner I watched a couple of shows with Hélène and Yves-Marie. That made me very happy because I could understand everything they were saying on the TV! My French is getting better with each day! One of these days I will be completely fluent!

Oo la la Désolé!

Français ! Français ! Français ! The last four days have been completely in French! That means that for four days I haven’t spoken a word of english! Of course, there have been a few words, but not one complete sentence and especially not one conversation! That makes me VERY happy!

Last night I went home to eat with my family. Louis-Henri was still there; therefore, I had to pay close attention to what he was saying! That isn’t easy at all! After dinner I watch “the Pursuit of Happiness” again because Yves wanted to watch it and I wanted to watch to improve my French. While watching the film, I didn’t my homework for Monday morning. After the film I went to bed early for the second time in several weeks! However, when I woke up this morning, I was still tired. Qu’est qu’on va faire ?

Today I had my writing course. Usually this is very boring, but for some sort of reason it wasn’t that bad. I sat next to my friend Sarah from Pennsylvania. I spoke French with here and she responded in French! When she started to say a few things in english, I told her that it was necessary that I speak French. She understood and agreed with me that if I want to truly speak French, I must make an effort! Those are the words of my life here in France! “IL FAUT FAIRE UN EFFORT !” After our writing class, Sarah walked with me while speaking French to our second class of the day. When we got there, our friend Marie was there, but she was very sick. She was suffering from allergies. La pauvre! She wasn’t in our first class, but she was there for the second one because we were supposed to have a test; however, the professor decided to do it tomorrow. I’m sorry Marie! After the second class, I ate with my friends Amanda and Helen (Amanda – USA and Helena – Finland).

At lunch Amanda was speaking english, but when I started to speak French, the girls did the same. It was the first day in several days that I had lunch completely in French! Merci Dieu ! After lunch we went to our third hour of writing. While walking I thanked Amanda and Helena for speaking French with me during Lunch. Like Sarah, they agreed with me that if I want to truly speak French, I must make an effort! Words of life!

After class I went to the gym where I saw a friend from Wisconsin. As usual, she started to speak english with me; however, I spoke back in French. She decided that that was a good idea and did the same. She was also in agreement with me that if I truly want to speak French, I must make an effort! She is SO right! After I worked out, I went into the locker room where there was American music playing on the radio. Nobody but me was in the room, so I found the speakers and unplugged them. It was so liberating!

After the gym I went home and watched TV. Yves came home soon after and I gave him a hard time as usual. He has really become like a little brother because he teases me all of the time! While we were eating I spilled my glass of water and never heard the end of it! Yves was full of jokes! I responded to him by saying, “and you’re perfect?” « SURE ! » he said. Then he went to his room and brought down a book called, « Mister Perfect ». In your dreams Yves !

Tomorrow I will meet the mother of my friend Phil Christensen at the train station ! Phil is the Community Leader that replaced me this semester and his mother is coming to Caen with her father to see the Château de Guillaume le Conquérant. That means that I will speaking english for a little while; however, after that, FRANÇAIS! I promise!

Oo la la!

Friday night I was invited to eat with two friends from church, Jérôme and Kemmuel. We ate at the university. The food wasn’t very good, but the conversations were all in French! Rachel and Linden were invited as well. While eating, Rachel saw a French guy eating alone next to us. She asked Jérôme if it was acceptable to speak to strangers. He told her no; however, she did it anyway. While Rachel was speaking with her new friend, Jérôme said to me, “Tell her that it’s normal to ask for a telephone number after you meet someone new!” I didn’t say anything because this guy interested her very much. I didn’t want to interrupt her. Go Rachel! Go Rachel ! Go Rachel ! It was extremely funny ! After dinner, we went to church for the réunion of students. There was a guy there with a guitar and a lot of students (for France)! We were about ten or fifteen!

After church, I went home to sleep and sleep in! When I got up, I went downstairs to have breakfast (it was already noon). When I got downstairs, Hélène reminded me that her son Louis-Henri would be coming today and she invited me to have lunch with them. I said “OUI” like usual and she thanked me for saying yes before she even told me what we would be eating. I didn’t care! I’ll eat anything (except for fish; but she already knows that)! When Louis-Henri arrived he spoke VERY fast! TOO fast! I could comprehend about every other word.
After lunch I went with Hélène, Benedict, and Louis-Henri to take Benedict to church and pick up Yves. After that, I ran around the hippodrome by the house and watched a rugby match on TV with Yves. After that, we ate. During dinner, Louis-Henri spoke very fast again and Yves was mad for some random reason. After dinner, Louis-Henri, Yves-Marie, Benedict, and I watched the film, “the Pursuit of Happiness”. It’s funny to hear Will Smith with French a voice-over!

Pfft!

Bienvenue chez McDo! If you can imagine this, I am sitting in the middle of a beautiful French downtown in a three story McDonalds™! The internet is free, so I came here today with my friends Julia and Marie. John Kitch, I just got through eating a BigMac™! I think I’m going to throw up!

Good news, the internet at the Lounge Café stopped working! STORY OF MY LIFE! I went there last Tuesday night with Rachel only to discover that the patron hadn’t paid the bill. When I went to pull up the Baylor homepage, I received a message giving me the option to pay the bill. I told the waitress and she got her boss to come and look at it. When he went to get his computer, the option to pay the bill did not come up for him. He therefore had to take my computer and pay the bill with his credit card. I now have all of his information and have to e-mail it to him. C’est la vie!

Before the adventure at the café I had another little pleasant adventure in the rain. Hélène told me that there would be a group of prayer and praise for college and career students at a local Catholic church at 20h45 Tuesday night. So, after dinner, I grabbed my coat and umbrella and walked from the apartment to Abbaye aux Hommes. On my way there, the wind almost knocked me over several times. It was crazy! When I finally saw the towers of the Abbaye I got very happy; however, when I actually got to the Abbaye, the lights were off and the doors were locked. I just laughed. I looked around the back to see if they had met somewhere else, but all of the lights were off. I called home to see if Hélène knew of any other place they might be, but I was unfortunately out of luck. I went ahead and walked to Saint Pierre to see if there might possibly be something going on there, but it was the same situation. No lights and all the doors were sealed. I’m sure there were cameras watching me walk all over the city in the rain like an idiot. I decided to go home and get my laptop to go to the Lounge Café to do some homework and that’s when I realized that their internet wasn’t working any longer. When I left the café I got all the way home (almost an entire mile away) and realized that I had left my laptop adapter at the café. I therefore walked all the way back to the café in the rain and luckily got my adapter right before they closed. I got quite a bit of exercise that day!

Earlier that night at dinner I got the opportunity to make fun of Yves as he grabbed an apple and asked his mother to peal it for him. I about died! I asked him how old he was just to verify and Hélène just laughed as she took the apple and PEELED IT! I told them that if I had asked my mother to peel an apple for me that she would have said, “the maid died!” I now make fun of Yves every time I think about the time he asked him mother to peel him an apple.

Wednesday night dinner was served at almost 21h00! It seems that Yves tried to call his dad to tell him that he would be getting another ride home from Rugby practice, but Yves-Marie did not have his cell phone. Yves came home, but Yves-Marie was still at the Rugby club waiting for him. They tried to call Yves-Marie to tell him that Yves was already at the house, but he still didn’t have his cell phone. We waited and waited, but the time just kept getting later and later. Hélène finally brought me some peanuts to keep me until we ate. Hélène finally decided that we were just going to have to eat without Yves-Marie. Benedict and Yves wanted to wait, but Hélène was too hungry. Finally Yves-Marie showed up, but was surprisingly not mad. Dad, you would have killed me! Before dinner, Hélène had given me a tin of cookies to apologize for the fact that I had to wonder all over town looking for a group that didn’t exist. It was funny.

Last night (Thursday) Linden and Rachel came over to the house for dinner again. Hélène invited them. Anne Caroline (the girl that ate with us this week) was there too. It was very fun and funny at the same time. There were times when things were said that only the family and I understood and then there were things said that only Linden, Rachel, and I understood. Linden just finally turned and spoke with Hélène for about an hour. Yves-Marie was getting very tired. We finally all decided to leave and said goodnight to the Groussiers.

We had been invited by some of the people in Andrew’s class to hang out with them for the night. We went and enjoyed their company for all of five minutes before they all started speaking english with us. (I’m sorry Grandma, I refuse to capitalize the word english any more!) Rachel and I were livid! We spoke French amongst the two of us even though everyone was speaking english. After a while everyone decided to go to some dance place, so we went along just to see. Two friends from Baylor came in to visit Andrew, so they got to experience a real French outing. Rachel and I were sitting around the table with the others at the dance place and all we heard were French accents speaking the english language. Finally Rachel just said, let’s go dance. We did, and we enjoyed ourselves (IN FRENCH!) When we were leaving, we said goodbye to all of the French people and one guy translated everything I was saying in French into english. If he only knew! If you are in the USA right now and you speak another language, I am very proud of you, but please DO NOT speak that language with any foreign people trying to learn english! It’s RUDE! I went ahead and walked Rachel to her house nearby and we spoke French the entire time! When we got to her house, we talked for at least another thirty minutes in French about how much we hate it when French people speak english with us. It was very ironic. We then talked about how were afraid that we would go back home and forget everything.
Last night I had another dream that I was back in the USA speaking english again. This morning I woke up in France! It must have been a nightmare! When I did wake up I was thinking things in French! I therefore decided that I would not be speaking english all day. It has worked so far. People are speaking english to me, but I’ve not responded in that language. As a matter of fact, I’m going to have to leave McDonalds™ soon because my friends are only speaking in english. I don’t think they understand that I want to throw things at them when they do that. I’m going to go to the gym! I hope I get the opportunity to write again soon! We’ll have to see! For now, I’ve had enough english.

Deux Jours!

I am writing to you from the beautiful Université de Caen! Oh how the cigarette butts contrast with the beige concrete buildings and graffiti! I’m on my lunch break, so I just found a plug and popped a squat in a building named, “Vissol”. It’s where most of my classes are held.

Sunday evening, I went to the cinema with Rachel and a friend of her French family named Xavier (za-vee-ay). Xavier is a high school senior that tutors the son of Rachel’s French family. We saw the film Paris (pair-ee with a French ‘r’). It was a very French film. What do I mean by that? It didn’t make a whole lot of since, and the end was left to the imagination. American films usually have some sort of happy ending or big moral, but French films are always ended with a bit of mystery. I actually like it. It takes some getting used to, but I like it.

Monday (yesterday) started off with a wonderful two hours of expressive writing. IT’S MY FAVORITE CLASS! Think again! After that class I had an hour of oral expression and then lunch. At lunch I got to eat with two of my French friends. One of them looks exactly like my hall director last semester in Penland (Hey Peter!). As a matter of fact, I walked into the cafeteria, looked across the room to see these two students, and though it was Peter. I almost ran to give him a hug and then remembered that I was in France. C’est la vie! After lunch I had another hour of expressive writing and then went to the gym. There I met a guy who always wears cloths with something about California. I’ve seen him in there several times and have always wanted to ask him about his California clothing. This time I finally just said, “Toujours Californie!” (Always California!) He laughed and then took a seat next to me to tell me about the time he studied at UCLA. I then said, “J’imagine que tu peux parler anglais!” (I imagine that you can speak English!) He told me that he could, but that I probably wouldn’t understand him. He also said that he wouldn’t speak English to me because he knows what it’s like to learn another language with people only speak your native language with you. It’s very frustrating!

After the gym I went home for dinner and saw that we had a guest. Some girl who is a friend of the Groussiers is visiting Caen and will be eating dinner with us every night this week. She’s studying to be a pharmacist here in France. She was very soft spoken, but very nice all the same. After dinner she joined the family and I in front of the television to watch a series called “Père et Maire” (Priest and Mayor). It was a good show and a good way for me to learn French! After the show it was bed time.

Every once in a while I walk by Yves room to go to the bathroom and I hear American praise and worship music playing. I burned him a CD of some Christian songs that he wanted and now it seems like the only music he listens to. He was very excited when I gave him the CD and now he wants more. They don’t have any good modern Christian music in France, so it’s very nice for him to hear Christian music that isn’t Gregorian chant or a hymnal.

Tonight after dinner I will be going to a prayer and worship group at one of the local Catholic churches. Hélène told me about it, so I figured I go and see what it’s like. Maybe I’ll meet some nice French Catholics! You never know!

PS: Some of you were asking what my address is here in Caen. I have been so bad about responding to messages and e-mails because of my internet issue, so here it is:

Chez M. Mme Groussier
24 Rue PAUL TOUTAIN
14000 Caen, FRANCE

La Reine!

Saturday. Happy day. HIGH SCHOOL DAY! ALERT THE MEDIA! As you may know, I am forced to go to a French café every day to use the internet! It’s horrible! I’m just kidding; forcing me into a French café is like trying to feed a Twinkie™ to a group of kids at a fat camp. It’s just not that hard! Today: pfft…(That’s the noise the French make when something isn’t worth discussing). Rachel and I met up at Saint Pierre for lunch and café. We landed in the same internet café, but this time it was plein (full) of high school students. If you’re a high school student, please know that the Lord loves you, but please understand that I would prefer that you stay home when I’m trying to enjoy my life in a French café! As we were enjoying our time in this café, a mob moved in to take up all of the places next to the outlets. The computer was dying and Rachel was crying over the amount of people present. We had to speak very loudly to hear one another, so they all knew that we were crazy Americans. At one point I said, “The prom queen will be coming through that door any minute now!” Five minutes later… (Insert the song “Dancing Queen”) the prom queen and her court arrived (flowers in hand)! I kid you not; a girl walked in with three friends all holding bouquets of flowers! I thought Rachel was going to throw a spoon at her head! She withheld her anger. Ok, maybe I was angrier than she was, but nonetheless, WE LEFT!

We went to Rachel’s house to use the internet, but for some reason my blog wouldn’t come up! That’s why today you get to read two blog posts! YAY! I then went home for dinner and then back out again with Rachel to make another effort. That makes number 1,234,354,987,368,21 and 1! Maybe I’ve exaggerated, but it feels like more than that even! We walked around and even sat down in a few cafés and bars before we decided on the right one. We ended up in the same café where we first met our old French friends who abandoned us the next night. We found a place in the middle of the room and waited! At one point an older couple sat in the empty chairs next to us. We were SO mad! We prayed that they would get a hot passion for one another and leave the room! THEY DID! YAY! But, then a group of smelly guys took their place. It was like beating a dead horse! Oh well! We left and went home for the night.

This morning (Sunday) Rachel was supposed to go on a trip to Honfleur, but missed the bus. I got a call at 9h35 saying, “Cole, I’ll see you at church.” I was happy to hear that I wouldn’t be there alone. Linden never goes and Jonathan went to Paris. I met Rachel at the tram stop and also ran into my English friend Carley and a French girl that we had met the other night at church. Her name is Pascal. We all walked to church together and enjoyed a VERY good sermon! After that, Rachel and I went to town to eat with Carley and our friend Magali. We then ended up back in the internet café where the Lord spoke!

After Magali and Carley left the café, two blond French girls walked in and took a seat. I told Rachel that she needed to potty and stop for a casual conversation. She’s such a good friend! I sat at my computer while Rachel went to town! I wasn’t exactly sure what they were talking about, but I do know that on their way out, they handed Rachel a phone number and told her to call them for a soirée! SCORE! Too be continued…! (PRAY THAT THIS SEQUAL ISN’T AS BAD AS THE LAST ONE!)

C’était en Français!

Right now I’m writing in French. You’re thinking, “What? This isn’t French, it’s English; I can read it!” But you’re wrong! Now, I am writing in French! Maybe by the time you read this I will have translated it into English, but for the moment, it’s French. Why am I writing in French for the first time? It’s because tonight I want to dream in French. Tonight for the first time in my life I want to have several French dreams. Also, I was in the process of speaking and thinking in French before I came back to the apartment tonight when I decided to write something for my blog. This isn’t an easy thing to do if I wish to continue in French so that I might dream in French. If I continue to think in French, I can’t write in English! What should I do? Write in French!

Today was very good for my health! I went to my grammar class (ok, not everything was good for my health) and then I went to the Lounge Café for coffee and use the internet. I went with my friend Amanda, Rachel, Andrew, and Marie. It was nice! We talked and discussed for several hours! After that I went to the gym and then back home for dinner; however, I didn’t eat. When I got home, no one was in the process of cooking anything. There was just Yves-Marie and Benedict. Yves-Marie was looking at photos of trains while Benedict was watching television. Hélène wasn’t there and Yves was at Rugby practice with his rugby team. I waited until 19h45 (7:45pm) and then I decided that I had to leave for church that would be starting at 20h00 (8:00pm). I said to Yves-Marie, “I have to leaved now.” And he said to me, “You’re not going to eat with us?” I said, “No, I can’t. It’s already 19h45 and church starts at 20h00.” He then said, “Oh, that’s sad! Have a good evening!” When I got to church I was crazy hungry! Too bad (as the French would say)!

At church Rachel was there for her first Friday service. After the service, we went to the basement for coffee like usual. After everyone had finished their café and snacks, my friends Jérôme and Kemuel washed the dishes. I went into the kitchen to speak with them. While talking with them I learned that when Francophones speak French they don’t have an accent, but when they speak English, I think, “OH MY! THEY’RE FRENCH!” C’est marrant ça ! (Sorry that doesn’t exactly translate!)

After the dishes were done, the guys decided to be a bit mean to the girls. Rachel lost her shoe while trying to kick a soccer ball and Kemuel decided to steal it for a game of “Keep Away”. It was very funny and very good for my French! Kemuel is probably one of the funniest people in the world! In the past I didn’t think that would ever be able to understand French and converse in French, but after tonight, I KNOW that it’s possible! THANK YOU GOD! It was midnight before we left!

After church our friend Magalie took Rachel and I into Centre Ville so that I could eat. We then met Linden at Saint Pière so that she could eat as well. We then decided not to speak in English for the rest of the night. After a night at church like this one, I didn’t want to adulterate it with English. While eating Rachel said to me, “Cole, cover your ears! I must say something in English!” I did and afterwards it was nothing but French. MAIS OUI! After Linden and I had eaten, we ran into our friends Marie and Julia (Julia from Norway). We decided to walk together to look for a place to hang out. We were out of luck because all of the places were closed. So, we said goodbye and now I’m back in the apartment typing in French! It’s 7:39pm (in Texas) and I am VERY tired! Good night!

Après-Midi

I’m back in the café that has internet. It’s called “The Lounge Café”. They’re very nice here! I just wish the café were free! Mom, send café money! I’m just kidding! It’s been a blessing to come here all the time. They play good music and have very comfortable seats! They even have pillows! I just want to throw them at someone when they walk in the door.

Yesterday I had a class called “Civilization”. We learned about women’s rights in France. In order to ensure that we fully understood what he was saying, the professor drew the female anatomy on the board as well as a condom. My friend Min from China didn’t quite understand, so I just leaned in and said in English “IT’S A CONDOM!” She speaks English, so she fully understood. She then went on to draw one in her notebook for her own reference. It was funny.

After class I went home for dinner. It was a fun dinner as I explained to the entire family my issues with meeting French people. They enjoyed the stories and were very nice to tell me that it wasn’t my fault, but that French people are just very hard to meet. Hélène and Yves-Marie move a lot because of his job, so they’re used to having to deal with this issue. They said that when they came to Caen, they had all of their neighbors over for a party and not one of them called them back or invited them to their place. That’s apparently how it is here in Normandy! Hélène said that she was tired of making an effort, but that since I’m young, I have a better chance. She’s right! Last night ended up proving that making an effort is worthwhile!

You might remember that a couple of weeks ago I was approached by a crazy French student exclaiming in English, “YOU ARE AMÉRICAIN!” That same student and his friends invited me over to their resident hall to hang out for the evening. Rachel was invited as well, so we went and spoke French for over three hours! Before that Rachel and I had gone out into town to find French people. We ended up in some random bar by the university where we sat AT the bar next to some old balding drunk man and ordered hot chocolate. It was quite the show! We were glad when some real French people called us! Because Rachel had class this morning at 8h20, she felt the need to leave at around 2h00. (WHO DOES THAT?) Right before she left she said to me, “I know you’re in Heaven and all, but what time to you think you’re going to head out?” I then responded, “I’m closing the place down!” I was right! The place was well closed when I left. Before I left, I was invited to have dinner with them next week some time. They want to get Rachel, Linden, and I together to cook for us! I have a feeling that if I’m persistent, I will finally have real friends in France! PRAY HARD!

After hanging out with the Francophones, I went home and crashed. When I tried to wake up this morning I ended up pushing the snooze button too many times and had to cut my daily twenty minutes of Nutell™ heaven in half. Oh well. I went to my grammar class and enjoyed three hours of pronominal verbs. (AHHH!) Now I’m back in the café talking to you! I hope things are going well in your domain! Keep me updated!

Je Reviens

I must apologize! I finally brought my laptop to the university to update you! Let me just say, this internet thing is going to be the death of me! There are now three brand-new stories to read! I’m sorry that it has to be this way!

Yesterday was interesting. As you may know (from reading the previous “brand-new” stories) I have been sick. My head feels like it’s going to explode. I finally went to see a doctor, and let me just say, things are NOT like they are in the United States! First of all, when I showed up, I looked for a place to sign in. That’s not how it works. You just sit in a room with all sorts of random other people and wait for the doctor to open the door and call in the next person. This means that you have to remember what order you came into the room. When it was FINALLY my turn, I was made to come in and explain my problems in French. This wasn’t too bad except for the fact that I was feeling like hammered doodoo and my throat was inflamed. This makes for a difficult French conversation. She gave me some prescriptions and filled my others then sent me on my merry way.

After the doctor I went home to lay down for a little bit. I couldn’t fall asleep, so I got up and got on the computer (NOT THE INTERNET! – sad face). I then had dinner with just Yves and Benedict while Yves-Marie and Hélène went to the cinema. We had some meet and CRÊPES WITH NUTELLA™!

After dinner I went out with Andrew to an apartment with some of his French friends from his business classes. It was semi-fun. Everyone spoke English, so it was like spitting in the wind for me to speak French; however, I ended up speaking French to them and they spoke English to me. One of his friends, Hervé (you might remember him from a previous post) tried to hook me up with this girl named Alexia. She was nice, but I don’t think it was a good situation to meet her. There was loud music and everyone was smoking. I finally went home and caught the last tram back to my tram stop (Quai de Juillet (kay de jwee-ay)). I was still feeling sick, so I fell right to sleep.

Today I have been feeling better, but I’m still a bit under the weather. Now I’m sitting in something called La Maison d’Étudiants (It’s like the SUB at Baylor). I’ve been having a conversation with a few friends (in English) discussing our experiences in France. We’ve been talking about how annoying it is to meet a French person and have them ask you “Do you like Bush? Which kinds of AMERICAN music to you listen to? Do you want Hillary or Obama to win? I want to go to the USA! I can speak English!” I want to launch those people to the moon when they start in with those comments! Now I’m going to lunch and maybe tonight I will hang out with some French people! On va voir!

Ego

Lego my ego! Today was definitely a day that stroked my ego! First of all, my professor came up to me in my culture class and said, “Because I noticed that you can speak French really well, I want to give you a supplementary article to read if you would like.” I was a bit embarrassed because she said this in front of the entire class, but I was SO enthralled! ME? SPEAK FRENCH? You’re kidding right? Surely she was hearing someone else speak! After that class, I went to the gym and had a nice workout. After working out I had a short conversation with the two ladies that work there. One of them goes to the same church as me here in Caen and so I had the opportunity to talk with her a bit. While I was talking with her the other lady said, “You speak French really well!” Like I said before, she must have been listening to someone else! I objected, but she just kept on insisting. She then said, “I also love your accent.” Now that’s nasty! American accents are not attractive! They sound like a Ford™ Tempo gasping for its last breath of carbon monoxide. But hey, whatever works! It is true that Americans like French accents, but I find it hard to believe that the inverse is true. Who knows, maybe my accent will find me a wife!

When I got home, Yves-Marie and Yves tried to help me figure out the problem with the internet. Yves-Marie tried to call the internet company and ended up handing the phone to me. I was a bit shocked, but was able to understand what the person on the other line was saying. I don’t know how that happened, but it did! ALERT THE MEDIA! After our nice little internet escapade with no positive result, I had the supreme opportunity to eat with just Yves! It was SO fun! After an hour or so of conversation I forgot that I was speaking French! This was ego booster number four. It didn’t matter what I said, he was all ears. He started talking about how much he wants to come to Baylor to study. I then told him that he would need to practice his English. We tried to practice a bit, but the conversation soon switched back into French. He is VERY timid and afraid to speak English in front of me. I basically told him “You’re gonna to have to buck it up cowboy! Ain’t nobody in Texas gonna speak French!” He wants to come and hangout with my American friends one day to try and hold a full conversation. After a short failed attempt at English, I showed him some American praise and worship songs. He was very pleased and told me that he wanted to copy them and blare them on his stereo. He’s not used to hearing that sort of music in the churches he attends. We then had a very nice conversation about dating and having a relationship with someone who wasn’t a Christian. As you may know, his girlfriend doesn’t believe in God, so things are going to be very interesting when they start to talk about his Catholic beliefs.

Had it not been for God’s blessings upon my ego, today would have been a terrible day. I am currently sick and came home after my morning class to take a three hour nap (missing my very boring grammar lecture). My ears, nose, and throat are inflamed like none other! It’s going around. It was bound to hit me! It always does! I found some pain and inflammation pills from Baylor, so maybe that will help! Tomorrow I will try to hit up the doctor’s office on campus!

Escaliers

Seventy-seven! That’s how many stairs I climb every time I come back to the apartment. I could take the elevator, but when I’m actually seventy-seven years old, I will be willing to give anything to be able to climb seventy-seven stairs every day!

Tonight I spoke with my family about the internet and Yves found a code for me to use. I’ve not received it from him yet, but we’ll see what happens! Today started off a bit slow, but eventually picked up and ended up being a very nice day. At the beginning of the day I was feeling down, but the Lord blessed me at lunch by allowing me to run into some of the French friends that I had met two weeks ago. One of the guy’s names is Démen and he was the one who approached me when I was getting food. He just came up to me and asked if I wanted to hang out sometime soon! YES! My words couldn’t come quick enough! I then asked him and the other two guys to sit with us and eat. They did! Praise the Lord! I hope that things start going somewhere!

After and my afternoon class I got my very first French haircut! I look so good! They lady started by shampooing my hair and messaging my scalp! AMAZING! She then took her time and gave me a very nice European look! I’ll add some photos as soon as I have the internet again. She then only charged me €15 (€3 less than the advertised price)! I’m going back there!

After my haircut I went to the gym and then home for dinner. We had meat! I was very pleased! I then discovered the secret behind the lack of meat in the past! Hélène revealed to me that they only eat meat for lunch! Who does that? Anyway, we had a nice dinner and I helped Yves with his English work. He had me read some story written in British English that would have made absolutely no since to me if I hadn’t taken years of English courses. I don’t know how he understood! After dinner I went to a bible study with my church. Can you say hide me under a rock? Four Americans: Andrew, Jonathan, Rachel, and myself, all speaking French (or making an attempt to do so). For some reason it just wasn’t working for us. At one point I tried to use the verb accueillir (to welcome: pronounced ah-keu-year) and ended up saying ah-quee-ear. You should have seen the looks on those people’s faces! They were perplexed! I tried to cover it up, but the damage was already done. Out of over seven years of learning the French language, one would assume that I would know that all words with the letters “q” and “u” make a “k” sound. Québec is pronounced kay-bec and accueillir is pronounced ah-keu-year. I’m an idiot! Oh well! Live and learn! That’s what they say!

After bible study we went to the Lounge Café and met our friend Guillaume. One of the first things he said when he saw me was, “HEY! I read your blog!” How did that happen? Guillaume, if you’re reading this blog right now, please grant me pardon for any faux-pas I might have committed in the past fifty-five posts! I promise you I’m getting better! We had a nice evening and enjoyed talking about French pop music and Religion! Nice combination!

Conversations Intentionnelles

The rest of yesterday wasn’t too bad. I went to the house of my friend from Norway. She and Marie were there with one of Marie’s friends from Mexico and a friend of Julia’s who is visiting from Norway. We had fun as we ate really good tacos and listened to some music. I got up and danced and they all thought it was insanely funny. They recorded it with the cameras on their phones and on their digital cameras. If you see me on the internet, please look the other way! After that we went to some club that was very boring. We just sat and talked. Julia and her friend from Norway (Cecelia) decided to leave and find a better place to dance. Marie, her friend (Eli), and I just stayed a while and talked. After that I went with them back to the university to get my things from Marie’s room and start my two mile walk back home. Here I am now. In my room without internet! Oh well! Tant pis as the French would say!

Today I went to church with Jonathan and Rachel. We rode the tram to church with our friend Carley from England. Church was very nice. One of the songs was called Emmanuel. It’s the same tune to a song called Emmanuel in the USA, but it was obviously in French. The reason I mention this song is because it has sort of been the theme of the past few days. Emmanuel means God with us. When Rachel and I met those three French girls, you might remember that one of them was named Emmanuel. Rachel pointed that out to me. I know that things have been tough, but I also know that God is with me. I don’t know what the heck He’s doing, but I know he is here! A friend of mine (JOHN KITCH!) recently reminded me of something I used to always say: If would be rude if God gave you a passion for something and never allowed it to be fruitful. That isn’t to say that God is rude by any stretch of the imagination, but that if God weren’t God, then He would give useless passions. God is God; therefore, His passions are always intentional. I hope that is understandable! In so many words, what I’m saying is that something good will happen! Just wait!

I’m in that café again with my friend Carley from England, my friend Dion from Jamaica, and Jonathan. We’re just here hanging out and enjoying the happy English music playing in the background. Because I have to come here for the internet, please understand that if I don’t post one day, it’s not because nothing happened, but because I am a bit restricted! I will write something every day in my temporary blog I have saved in word, but I won’t always get to post it right away. Some days I might have several posts from several days, so always look back to see if anything happened previously. I’m still a bit taken by the fact that the internet won’t work, so I will be having an intentional conversation with my family tonight at dinner. €23 per day is a lot to have to pay just to sleep in a room! Without the internet at the apartment I’m not able to call anyone from Skype at midnight in France. I guess I could walk down to Centre Ville and hope the café wifi is on at midnight, but that would be quite a bit of trouble! If you’re used to talking to me on Skype, please forgive me for never being online! I’ll do my best to fix things! I’m an American right? I’ll see what a little American complaining does, but I’m not guaranteeing much. You might receive another ranting blog post, but I’ll pray that the necessity isn’t such!

EN COLÈRE

Today I planned on going out to Cafés to meet people. Right now I am in a café and I am EN COLÈRE (MAD)! It is 19h18 (7:19pm) and I just discovered that the internet at my apartment has stopped working. The Grousiers came back to town about two hours ago, so I went to ask Yves if he knew what I should do. I kid you not, the kid told me that I would just have to wait a while and see what happens! I’m going to lose it! He basically told me, “too bad!” Just for the record, that is a common French response to any problems you may have! One can never expect things to be the way they are in Texas! And you can take that to the bank!

Today is NOT over; however, I am forced to post early because waiting might NOT solve the problem YVES! Let me just say that my anger is simply from the fact that I was born in the United States of America. Think about the last problem you had with technology or something pertaining to the general public. What was your reaction? Were you so enraged that you couldn’t see straight? (Some random French people are staring at me!) If you said no, consider this: you’re in your house in the middle of a burning hot summer and the air conditioner stops working. Are you mad yet? Some of you might be mad just thinking about that! If so, it’s probably because you’re an American. If you reading this and you’re from another country, please bare with me for a moment! In the United States we have everything we need any time we want it! Walmart™ is open all night; McDonalds™ will have your food ready within ten minutes or less; pizza companies advertise how quick they can bring you your pizza; and Starbucks™ would never build a location where they couldn’t have a drive-up window. In France drive-up windows are foreign. (These French people are still staring at me!) We are spoiled! When the internet doesn’t work, we call the internet company and they had better be there ASAP or we’re taking our business elsewhere! My family here in France has a dishwasher, but it hasn’t worked since well before I arrived. Do you know what their solution is? Wash the dishes in the sink! (Scary music…woman screaming!) They don’t even have a microwave! Mom, Dad and Carter would die! When there’s a problem, oh well! Have a cigarette! C’est la vie! (That’s life!) Your problems don’t exist in France (according to the French). Americans have a very real since of urgency when something goes wrong. When we “need” something and it isn’t there, we freak out! That’s what I did! After I spoke with Yves I sat in my room and yelled out English profanities for a solid fifteen minutes. He probably thought that I was having a case of Turrets Syndrome! (I’m going to throw a spoon at this French girl if she doesn’t stop staring at me! This may be where a riot is started Meredith!) I decided to go downstairs to call my friend and see if he knew where an internet café is located. When I got on the phone, I can assure you that my tone of voice made it very clear to the family how I was feeling! I hate speaking English in front of people when they can’t understand, but this time it was too bad! Sorry Yves! I just had to leave!

I took my computer and went into Centre Ville to buy a phone card and call my mom from a pay phone. Mom, I’m sorry if this upsets you, but when she answered, I started to cry a little bit. As a guy it’s hard to admit that, but in this case it might help you understand how I was feeling! For the past four weeks I have been able to keep in touch with my friends and family in the USA, but now I feel stuck! I was blessed to find this café that has internet access for free! Even though I’m so mad that I can’t see straight, I am still being watched over by God.

To go from the excitement of meeting new French people, to being treated like dirt by those French people, to not having the means to communicate with my loved ones, to being here in a café being stared at by random French people is hard! Like I said, this might be the point at which I start a riot! I’ve been here for over a month and I still don’t have a solid relationship with anyone in this country. Some of you think that I’ve been whining and that I should just shut up and enjoy the fact that I’m in France; however, this isn’t a vacation! I didn’t come here to see the country side or to climb the Eiffel Tower. I did those things five years ago. This time is for real. This time has to count. Every day is another chance to change my life. I will refuse to let these four and a half months be in vain. Today is the first day of the rest of this séjour. Today will either be a good day or a bad day. Should I discover that I’ve been wasting my time here, I will see you all again in June and will never look back! I pray that this doesn’t happen. I pray that something phenomenal will occur! I pray that when I come back to the States that you won’t recognize me because I’ve been so changed! I want to use French words on accident! Just now I accidentally spelled out June like Juin (June in French). I want that to happen all of the time! I want this language and culture to infiltrate my mind. I can eat a baguette with Nutella™ in the United States. I can only be stared at by a random group of French people in a French café in France! Something needs to happen!

Vendredi

Today I was Lazy with a capital “L”! My one Friday class was cancelled, so I slept until 15h30 (3:00pm)! I was VERY tired! When I finally got up I went to buy some bread to go with my Nutella™! Let’s take a moment! If you are in the United States right now, please understand that YOU CAN buy Nutella™ there! It is sold at Target™ and Walgreens™. As soon as you get finished reading this post, if it’s not too late, go to one of these stores and buy some! It will change your life! You must eat it on a baguette (French bread) or on a croissant! If you’re trying to lose weight, forget it! Nutella™ is where it’s at!

I would also like to take another moment to give you a bit of a cultural lesson:

Milk: In France milk comes in a box and can be stored in the pantry until you open it. Apparently it is ultra sterilized and has a lot of aluminum in it that keeps it fresh as long as it is kept sealed.

Toilets: In France every toilet is flushed by pushing a button! Crazy!

Central Heating and Air: What? Who’s ever heard of that? Not the French! In France there is no such thing as air conditioning, and heating comes from wall heaters that are placed in every room, bathroom, kitchen, and hallway. Talk about clutter!

Old: You name it, it’s old! Almost all of the buildings here were built over one hundred years ago!

Cars: I don’t worry about dying by being hit by a car. I worry about hurting the car should it run into me. Did you every play with matchbox cars or know of people that played with matchbox cars? In France matchbox cars aren’t toys; they’re actual cars!

Car lots: Think of what you would picture a car lot looking like in France. Is it similar to the United States? If so, you’re wrong. There is a car lot near the apartment that is completely inside! There’s a show room with a giant garage in the back for all of the cars. Above the garage there are very nice apartments. Talk about saving space!

Sales: It’s time to go to town! JC Penny’s is having a sale! Not in France! In France sales are only twice a year. When I got here they were having a sale for the end of winter. Now the prices are back to normal and won’t be reduced until August! Put your scissors away! There are no coupons in the paper this week!

Scissors: Haircuts here are asinine! For a guy to get his hair cut, he must pay €18! That’s $27.314! For no more hair than I have, I may as well use a knife!

Politics: Topic of discussion nine times out of ten! You’re from Texas?!?! Do you like George Bush? Do you want Obama or Hillary to win the election? Can you say rude? Not to French people! It’s ruder to ask a French person whether or not they have any siblings than it is to ask them for which political party they vote. Every time they ask me this question I want to say that it’s none of their business, but it’s truly just part of their culture!

After I bought my bread and had breakfast at lunch time, I went to the gym. I then went back home and had a sandwich for dinner. It wasn’t an American sandwich. It was a big sandwich with baguette, lettuce, gruyere cheese, ham, and butter. It was very good! I then went to church and enjoyed some very nice fellowship in French! On my way back to the tram from the church I walked with my friend Carlie from England. She speaks French very well, so we spoke French the entire time. When I got back home I finished off the baguette with some Nutella™.

Tomorrow I will be going back to the cafés to meet people again! Keep praying!

Gouttes de Pluie

Raindrops keep falling on my head. Just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed; nothing seems to fit. Those raindrops keep falling on my head; they keep falling.

Tonight I went out with Rachel to meet our new French friends at O’Donnell’s. We were very excited and I was very nervous! When we first got there we thought that we had been stood up because we couldn’t find our friends. When we decided to look outside, we finally found one of the girls. She welcomed us and introduced us to her other friends. She then took us inside and we sat at the back of the bar with tons of others. At one point it was just me sitting with eight French girls. It was crazy! I looked for my new friend Julia, but she didn’t come until later. When she finally came she was with her friend Tibo. At first I thought that Tibo might be her boyfriend, but it became obvious quickly that he and I don’t bat for the same team if you know what I mean. Tibo was probably more interested in me than he was in her.

After a while I asked, just for kicks and giggles, our friend Emmanuel if Julia and Tibo were dating. This turned out to be a riot. Everyone started laughing. Emmanuel told me that they were just friends and that Julia was single. She then asked me if I was seeing anyone in the United States. I told her that I wasn’t and then she asked me if I worked out. This was a bit weird, but I went ahead and responded. She then said to Julia, “Hey! Look at him! He works out!” This, again, was weird. I think this scared her away. For the rest of the night Julia spent her time running away from my presence. I didn’t even say anything!

I finally went into a room full of people where everyone was dancing. Rachel was there, so we decided to join in. We started jumping and swaying and singing. It was fun…for about ten minutes. We finally got too hot and went outside to chill down. I then asked Rachel why she thought Julia was being so distant. She just told me that it wasn’t worth my time and that I should just try to have fun no matter what. She was right, but we didn’t end up having fun after that. Linden had come earlier in the night, so the three of us walked around and tried to have conversations with these people in a very noisy environment. I went to talk to the other girls in the group we were with, but they seemed to be having a bad time. It was very discouraging. Out of all of them, Julia was the one with such a cold shoulder. She wouldn’t even look at me. I don’t know what her problem was, but (allow me to be slightly conceited) she missed out! If she wants to sit on a bar stool and ignore someone who hasn’t even done anything to her, may she be content in knowing that she ruined her own night. If she was playing hard to get, she lost! As we would say in the USA, bye-bye!

With all that being said, tomorrow is a new day! Cafés here I come! I’m never gonna stop the rain by complaining; because I’m free! Nothing’s worrying me!

Il Faut Faire un Effort!

Today I saw a little girl crying with all of her might. She was walking across campus with her mother, but not once did she try to break away. She was sad, but never did she let go of the hand that was protecting her. Not once did her mother try to scold her. They were simply walking hand in hand. This picture is very similar to my current walk with God through this country. If you read yesterday’s post, you know that I was crying out. You know that I felt as if I was headed to my demise; however, I never let go! I never allowed myself to be free of the one who guides me all along! Listen to what happened today!

All day I couldn’t stop thinking about what Hervé was saying to me last night! He kept encouraging me to put myself out there and make a real effort to meet the French people! In so many words he was saying, “You have to be intentional!” (Thank you Sharia Hays!) Today I had to be intentional. Today I had to step up and try to discover my purpose in France!

After my morning class I ate lunch with my friend Marie and my friend from Norway (Julia). For some reason Marie decided that our entire lunch conversation would be in French no matter how hard it may be. It was very successful! Not one English word polluted our conversation (Ok, maybe just one)! It was finally like a breath of fresh air! After lunch I decided to take Hervé’s advice and try to make an effort to meet French people. I went to the café on campus and ordered a café au lait. As I was sitting just waiting for something to happen, I wrote a prayer down in my notebook. At the end of the prayer I wrote, “I can’t leave this café without meeting someone!” I left the café without meeting someone, but refused to leave the vicinity until absolutely necessary. I therefore sat down on the steps in front of the café and waited once again. Eventually someone approached me and asked me for a lighter. I didn’t have one, but did end up meeting a guy named Julian. He was nice, but our conversation was very anticlimactic. I asked him what good things there were for students to do in Caen and he listed off everything I already knew. He also told me that if I wanted to meet French people that “Il faut faire un effort!” (It is necessary to make an effort). This was the same thing Hervé was telling me last night! As I said goodbye I thanked the Lord, but definitely asked him for another opportunity.

After my afternoon class I decided to go into town to a local café to try again. I ordered another café au lait, sat next to a couple of people that looked my age, and asked them if they were students. They said, “Non.” (No). I then asked them if they were citizens of Caen. They said, “Oui.” (Yes), and that was the end of the conversation. I began to write another prayer in my notebook, but this one wasn’t as nice. I was VERY angry! Then I remembered, “Il faut faire un effort!” (It is necessary to make an effort). I got up from my seat at the café, walked down the street, and into another café.

When I got to the next café I ordered another café au lait and sat next to two girls. I listened to them speaking in hopes that I would be able to interject at some point. I waited and waited and waited. Finally there was a pause. I said, “Are you students here?” They responded! We talked for about an hour! It was great! Then they had to leave. No phone number; no reunion; just, “maybe we’ll see each other again!” I was happy, but wasn’t satisfied. As I looked up at the wall I noticed an advertisement for singles night every Wednesday. I called Rachel to talk to her about my frustrations and told her that I had become so desperate that I would be going to singles’ night later on in the evening. She decided that she wanted to go as well, but that we wouldn’t go together.

As I made dinner and waited for singles’ night to start I became very nervous! I have not been this nervous in France yet! It was crazy! I finally ate and prepared to walk into Centre Ville. On my way I got a call from Rachel saying that singles’ night looked like a flop but that the café down the road seemed promising. I was a bit relived as I DID NOT want to have to recount a story about meeting someone at singles’ night! When I got to Rachel we decided that we didn’t want to wonder into the places alone. We looked at the café that she thought would be promising and scoped out some other places as well. We were lost! We didn’t know where to start! Finally I asked that we just stop and pray that God would show us where to go. After praying, Rachel recommended that we go to the bar next to campus. I agreed and we started walking in that direction. On our way there we stopped and decided that the bar next to campus would be too far for the effort. Just as we were standing in the middle of the road looking like lost puppies, I noticed a group of three girls walking in our direction. I then said to Rachel, “I have an idea!” When the girls got close enough I asked them if they knew of any good places for students to hang out. I also told them that we were new students and that we wanted to meet other students. One of the girls then said, “We are students!” Rachel became so overwhelmed she couldn’t find the words to say. Finally she said, “Can we come with you?” They were very much obliged! We then joined these three girls as the Café Latin and I ordered a decaffeinated café. I could not stand any more caffeine! I had well reached my limit for the day!

I ended up sitting across from a girl named Julia who talked to me the entire time! She is fluent in English, but chose only to speak in French! This made me VERY happy! Rachel talked with the other two girls while Julia and I went to town! After an hour and a half of great conversation, the two other girls decided that it was time to leave. Before leaving they invited Rachel and I to go out with them again tomorrow night! AMEN! When the waiter brought the bill, I did something VERY stupid! I could have died on the spot! I told the girls that they were an answer to prayer and that I would therefore pick up the tab; apparently this isn’t a popular thing to do in France! Julia explained to me that it is very traditional for girls to pay for themselves. I just about cried! My one chance to meet French girls and I pull out the southern hospitality! Mom, why didn’t you tell me that chivalry was only applicable to Texas women? Rachel said that it wasn’t as bad as I made it out to be and that they were just saying that because they didn’t want me to have to pay. I hope she’s right, because these were the first non-drunk group of French friends I’ve made! Please pray that something will become of these relationships and that tomorrow night will be a BIG blessing! PLEASE!

Les Larmes

Four months! Three months! Two months! One month! One week! One day! One hour! Happy New Year? Not so much! This is the clock inside of my head that consistently warns me that my time in France is VERY short! I have already been here for a month and have yet to solidify my life here. I have searched high and low for French people with whom I might experience life, but have yet to establish any sort of relationship. I feel as if I’m being impatient, but with only three months left, it’s like I’m drowning in an hourglass. The sand keeps on pouring; and when it’s done, it’s done! That’s it! No return! No regrets! Nothing! I must take what I have, pack it away, and go home. These experiences are great, but are they paramount? Why am I here? I spend hours each day talking with friends, laughing, joking, and learning; in English. In English I think, in English I speak, and in English I pray. If you would, for one minute, imagine yourself as a child. You are waiting in line at the greatest theme park in the world. It’s sort of hot outside, but your worries are gone. You’re ready to play! You’re ready for what seems to be the greatest experience you will ever have in your entire life! You and your family are only one family away from gaining entrance into the park. Thunder! Darkness! Rain!

For seven years I have dreamed of being in France and living amongst French people. Today I am in France, living amongst French people, but not is all as it seems. I am angry! I don’t want to go home, but I don’t want to be here. That is to say, I don’t want to be in this situation. I don’t want to be an English thinker, speaker, and prayer in France! I want to learn French! I-LOVE-FRANCE! But what is France to someone who lives in America while living in France? What is France to someone who only understands French when spoken to slowly? That isn’t France! That is French 1401 at Baylor University. Entry levels are necessary, but one would never teach a runner how to walk! One would never show an actor how to cry. Laisses-tomber! (Leave it alone!)

Today I woke up at 7h00 to get dressed and buy bred. When I went to the boulangerie I realized that I had left my money at home. I asked the lady if she took debit cards, but she told me no and pointed to an ATM across the street. I was already not in the mood to deal with a bad morning; however, when I got the ATM, my card wouldn’t work. Stupid me, I finally realized that I put the money in the small pocket of my jeans. I went back to the boulangerie and purchased the bread. It was hard. I think I made the lady mad for some reason. She had to have given me the hardest bread I have ever eaten! I get the feeling that she isn’t too fond of Americans. I’m sorry! It’s not my fault that my parents birthed me in the USA! Please allow me to denounce my nationality (or go home)! I was not happy!

When I went to school I gave a presentation on Religion in France amongst young people. It went very well as it sparked an hour conversation about religion. It was useful, but not truly French. International students speaking French does not qualify as a true French experience. I can hardly understand what any of the students are saying.

At lunch I ate with a group of girls from Wisconsin. They were very sweet, but they spoke English.

Tonight my friends from Baylor came over and Andrew made us all the most amazing hamburgers I have ever had in my entire life! They were paramount! Our conversations were in English. Later on, one of Andrew’s friends from school (French) came over. His name is Hervé and he speaks English very well! That made the conversations easy, but they were in English. Hervé spent last semester studying at Texas A&M University in College Station (Don’t get too excited Meredith). He was very encouraging about meeting French people. He told me (sometimes in French) that he felt the same way when he was in Texas. He understands how hard it is for foreigners to make friends in another country when they group together. He gave me some tips on how to meet other French people, and he got my phone number to call me some time in the future (that could be a long time from now). I will try to take his advice and see if I can’t make some lasting relationships within the next day or two. Please continue to pray!

Caen Encore!

Tout va bien! (Everything is alright!) I can imagine that some of you (mom) are about to kill me! I am sorry that I didn’t post on Sunday night like I promised! When I got home, I realized that I had let my friend Marie barrow my adapter; therefore, I could not use my computer. However, fear not! I am alive!
Paris was great! You might go ahead and read the posts before this one to see what all happened.

Today I woke up at 6h00 to go and purchase bread. Now that I am alone in the house, I have to buy the bread every morning if I want breakfast. When I got to the bakery, they were still closed! I was very mad as I thought that French people woke up at 4h00 to make bread! This isn’t so! I went back home, slept some more, and woke up at 7h09 to go back and buy the bread. They were open this time!

I made it to school on time for my very boring writing class. I seriously fell asleep with the professor looking straight at me! It was alright everyone else was doing the same. After class I had lunch with Marie (USA), Min (China), Min’s friend (China), Amanda (USA), Helena (Finland), and Helena’s friend (Finland). Everyone spoke English because it was easiest. English is making me sick! That’s not why I came here! Marie looked at me during lunch and said, “I am praying that you find someone here in France to marry because you truly love this country!” That was very thoughtful of her! She made me feel much better about speaking English for a few minutes.


After lunch we had an oral test. It wasn’t too bad (I don’t think). I then headed home and ran into one of my new French friends near the tram stop. He was very nice and came up to say hi. I was so excited to talk French again! I then went home to take a nap. I was SO tired from this morning’s writing class!

Tonight we had steak for dinner. By “we” I mean me, myself, and I. Because it was up to me to make dinner, I decided we would go for the protein for a change! The company wasn’t that interesting, but the food was good! I ended up opening a window and listening to the cars pass by as I ate. It was boring. I then went up to my room to do some homework and write this blog. Here I am. It’s now 00h09 (12:09am) and I must go to sleep so that I don’t fall asleep in class again! Goodnight!

Paris Encore! III

Today we woke up and went into Paris for food. Andrew, Jonathan, Marie, and I ate at a Gyro place while Linden and Rachel went to see the Eiffel Tower. I would have gone with them, but I’ve already seen it twice. After we ate, Andrew and I went to check out Saint Chappell while Jonathan and Marie went to the train station to head back early. Saint Chappell is one of the most beautiful churches in the world! It is even prettier than Notre Dame! We then left Saint Chappell in search for a restroom and luckily found one. We weren’t as luck as we thought! The men’s restroom didn’t have any toilet paper, so we snuck into the women’s restroom before anyone saw us! As soon as we got into our own stalls we noticed that the women’s restroom didn’t have any toilet paper either! We were about to leave, but a group of women came in at just the wrong time. We had to hide in our stalls until the left. Luckily they didn’t see or hear us! It was close! We then found a secret passage from the restroom to the plumbing room and decided to explore. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but we looked around anyway.

After our restroom escapade, we went to see La Tour de Saint Jacques and Hôtel de Ville. We took some photos and then decided to check out Place Pompidou. This is a modern art museum that has to be the most amazing museum I have ever seen in my life! Don't be surprised if some of the next photos are of the art exhibits here! Andrew and I spent three hours in there just wondering around. By the time I was done I just about fell asleep on the floor! When we finished at the museum, it was about time to leave to return to Caen. We found Rachel and Linen, ate dinner, and decided to sit outside of Pompidou to eat a baguette with Nutella™ before we needed to get on the Metro. We lost track of time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves before we realized it was time to leave! When we notice what time it was, we hurried to the Metro only to realize that our tickets weren’t working. We were panicked, but waited for a group of guys to come trough so that we could jump the turn stile. This is not legal, but we were desperate and there was no place near to purchase tickets. As we ran through the Metro I told everyone that no matter what, they aren’t to speak French. This is in case the Metro police find us and ask for our tickets. We were going to have to pull the stupid American card. When we finally made it to the train station, we got on the train with minutes to spare! We were very lucky!

Paris Encore! II

Today we woke up and went to a local “mall” that had a super market and bakery. There we ate breakfast for very cheap! I bought a jar of Nutella™, a litre of Orangina™, a croissante, and a baguette for all fewer than six Euros! You can bet that I ate every bit of it! It was amazing! After that we went into Paris and saw the Louvre! This was the second time for me to ever see the Louvre! I took a lot of photos! I tried to call the Baylor regents, but their phones were working! I was sad! After the Louvre, Andrew, Jonathan, Marie, and I all went to the Tullieries Garden for café while Linden and Rachel went to meet one of Rachel’s father’s friends. After that Marie and I went to find her some post cards and ended up going to Montmartre for her to get her portrait drawn by one of the artists.

After Montmartre we decided to divide into two groups for dinner. One group, the cheap group, went for pizza and Panini. The other group, the not very cheap group, went for a nice Parisian meal. I’m glad I saved my money! We then went back to the hotel in the middle of nowhere and called it a night.