And Away I Go!

Bonjour tout le monde! Almost another week has gone by and I finally feel like I am use to the fact that I now live in France. This past week (as can be seen from the pics on my Facebook), I went to the Nice Carnival, had a wine tasting event with school, spent my nights singing with Erin and Sara, anddd read...oh and spoke some French along the way... :-)

Things I would like to point out in this week's "what grinds my gears" is as follows: I'm a big fan of ketchup, as stated in the previous blog, and I just don't feel like the ketchup here is up to par. It's a little too sweet and not a deep enough red. I mean if I want a really ketchupy fry, I can't say that I can do that here because it's just not the same. I mean the fries are excellent... obviously... and at this point in the game I would just really like to compliment the salty with a sweet, but not too sweet, dollop of ketchup.

In other food issues, I have already started ridiculously craving Mexican food (thank God me and Shan wen't to Moe's before I left). There is no Mexican restaurants to be found and I asked some of the French kids I met about it, and they said that Mexican food isn't popular because there's no Mexican influence around. We have our own flippin quesadilla maker at home; how the heck am I supposed to be without it for so long! They don't even have salsa and chips here! And the closest thing to salsa is like a hot sauce which is not hot and is put on their cheese sometimes (they would). By the way, the French do not eat hot, like hot sauce kind of hot, things at all and they think the most mild things are hot, which is hilarious to me (Kevin, you would probably want to kill yourself without your hot sauce for this long haha). I mean I'm not saying I eat hot peppers for breakfast, but seriously, they need to get over themselves.

The next thing I wanna discuss...with myself.... are these Euro coins. First off, thye have not just one cent coins, which are annoying on their own, but they also have TWO CENT COINS. Why? I do not know and I cannot stand it. Every time I am given one I just want to throw it back at them. Also, there are no one Euro bills but just 1 Euro coins and 2 Euro coins. So, when I think I'm out of money because there are no bills, I end up having 10 Euro in change. Now, some of you optimists might be thinking "well finding out you have 10 Euros instead of no money is pretty exciting." Um having your wallets be weighed down by 10 euros of change is just as bad as having no money.

Lastly, I'm having issues with this bonjour/bonsoir thing. Okay, so we say hello in English all the time to people that we pass. Yea, we do say hi, but when it's an adult or someone you really don't know too well (which is basically everyone here), you usually say hello, or at least I do. No one says good day at home unless they are weird or trying to be British. So, for those of you that don't know, bonjour literally means good day and the part where I run into trouble is when its night and I'm still on a bonjour kick. Clearly, one cannot say good day when it's night. And its not just me, my friends and I still constantly find ourselves saying bonjour instead of bonsoir and then getting a "bonsoir" back which makes us feel like reh-tards and cute little Americans. And this whole problem started just because we were always taught in school that bonjour means hello, and you don't think anything of it, and then after 10 years of it being engrained in your head you never think of it as good day but just as hello. I'm just saying It's annoying, and that's it.

Alright, so this week is AIFS trip to Florence, yayyy!! Being the awesome Italian girl I am I will be going knowing how to say the classic "yes," "no," "thank you," "hello," "goodbye," "wipe your mouth," "after a while," and my all time favorite, "like smoke in my eyes." Thanks gram. We'll be doing lots of cool things that I don't really know about since I missed the meeting today to try and sort out my classes for my next semester at WC, but I probably would have fallen asleep anyway sooo it's probably not totally horrible that I played hooky.

So that's enough griping for this blog, hope I didn't complain too much, even though I clearly just spent the past 4 paragraphs ranting, but lets get to the good stuff. The Nice Carnival was such a sight to see! The colors, symbolism and enthusiasm was enough on its on, so getting to wear a mask and feeling completely at ease with all of the crazy French parade-goers was a really awesome experience. At the parade, Erin, Sara and I decided we would start doing our dance moves at every place we visit, and after I tried persuading them to jump in front of a float with me and start dancing, I finally settled for a more low-key setting by some parade goers on the parade road. Once we started, we were immediately met with silly string from some onlookers, and we honestly deserved it because our dancing was not up to par, and I'm only accepting it because it was our first time and we needed to get our priorities in order. From now on, we will be more outlandish and end each dance with our famous dance moves. Next up, The Leaning Tower of Pisa.

This week we were also invited to go to a wine tasting event in the caf. I learned why people swivel their wine and smell it and what to look for in various rosy, white, and red wines. The event wasn't as intense as the wine class at the hill which had like a million wines...yes a million, but it was fun and we learned a lot more about testing and ordering wine, which is better than what I learned.

I also chose my seminar that starts in two weeks... Art History. And I'm going to be taking a French Cuisine class because I'm going to be honest when I say I am only a master of making eggs, betty crocker cakes, and crab dip (miss you hill girls!). I'm also hoping to take a drawing class because I am soo rusty, so I hope Sandrine (the AIFS coordinator) can find a time for me since the art history class and the drawing class collide.

Last night, Erin, Sara, and I spent the majority of our night singing disney songs, Anastasia, and Shake It...and The Prince of Egypt (Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston). We also read Texts From Last Night and cracked up for hours on end. P.S. that is what the fanny pack status is about so stop asking me who I am dating. Mom.

Sooo I'm trying to think of what else I did, and I guess I've just really adjusted to this new lifestyle to the point where I don't feel like there is anything else to really note. But if there is something you want to know about like what foods we're eating, what we do during class, or spare time, Cannes, let me know! Alright that's all for now. Thanks guys for reading! Ciaooo!!!

Life like a Cannoise

Hey everyone! Sorry the blog is kind of late. I actually really didn't even feel like attempting this one right now because I want to go outside and draw, but for the sanity of my mother, here goes.

So before I get into what I've been up to, I believe there are some cultural differences I need to bring to everyone's attention. The bubble of space that you like to keep to yourself because anyone who gets in that bubble would only succeed in making things awkward, yea they don't have that here. Waiting in lines, walking by, meeting someone, they are all up in the bubble, and I'm not a fan. I mean, I'm not like snooty about it, but I'm easily awkward, sooo I think someone should enlighten them on that fact. Secondly, the French have tried replacing the usage of ketchup with mustardy-mayo. It is not going to hOOppin. There is no substitute for fries and ketchup, so let it go. Lastly, CJ, I am sorry, but the hot chocolate in Cannes puts your microwave mess to SHAME. Bow your head and walk away. I never even considered myself a big hot chocolate fan, but I feel like its the hot chocolate you always wanna try in the Santa Claus (Becca I know you know), but never could for the shear reason that its a movie.

Alright so that's that. So this is the end of my second week in Cannes, and I have to say I feel like I've been here forever. I know that when people say that, it sounds like a bad thing, but that is not the case at all. My days are always filled with so many different activities that I just feel like I've done so much. Which is probably because I have. Donc, (French word meaning so, therefore, alas) here's the latest updates.

Last weekend was a busy one to say the least. I had my first discotheque experience, went to Monaco (where the famous Monte Carlo Casino is) and went to Eze (a medieval town located at the top of the mountains that overlook the Mediterranean). Last week, my friends Erin, Sara and I went to Morrison's Pub to have a drink and attempt to speak only French to anyone we met. After having a water bottle of wine (just go with it), I became confident enough to talk to anyone who approached me in French and by the end of the night, English was completely out of my head.


-At Morrison's-

We ended up meeting some nice boys and asked them what parts of the town they liked to hang out at, etc. So being the French gentlemen they were, they invited us and a bunch of our friends out the next night to show us the highlights. So Saturday night, six of us girls made the trek in our heels (RIP beautiful new high heels) to Morrison's to have a drink and make our way to the discotheque with our escorts. By 1:00 am we started wondering if we were ever leaving, and when I finally gained the courage to ask them why we were still at the pub, one of the guys look at me funny and was like, in French obviously, "the clubs don't even open until 1 or 2." Ohh. I told him that everything closes in the States at 2 and he just laughed with his "oh you Americans are adorable." Sooo by the time we were actually ready to leave, it was close to 2, and we walked another 15 minutes to la boite (the word discotheque is out...duh) and went to a place called Caliente, which was probably the cheesiest club name I ever heard, but it was actually pretty nice inside. They had private areas for people to sit and a big dance floor, etc. Soooo naturally we left at 5:00am. Oh geeze. Good thing we had to be up at 8 for Monaco...

Monaco was absolutely gorgeous, just as I remembered it from when I was there a few years ago on my last France excursion. We saw Grace Kelly's grave inside a church with all of her ancestors, and watched the changing of the guard. The guards there arn't like the English ones, they are more lax about their movements and they can move their heads to look around. This makes sense to me because how are you supposed to look at suspicious characters anyway without moving your head. Right. So, Erin, Sara, Paige and I walked around taking pictures and ate lunch (AIFS packed us a lunch which was so cute). We found a seagull that drooled and I swear that is not normal and I think that thing had rabies. And during this gross experience, I learned Sara despises birds (fun fact). After pictures and such, we went to the aquarium/ museum of Monaco, and then to the stupid, stupid casino. Outside Monte Carlo there were some of the most expensive cars I have ever seen. And I've been to both NYC and LA. People just get out of them and leave them for valet, and I dunno if that's normal, but I think they are just a little too over confident with their car's future. I mean ish would go down if they tried that in Philadelphia. So anyways, we went inside and I tried the slots and lost 10 euros. FML. And then I thought I lost another 20 euro just because I dropped it (Sara John don't judge me right now) but alas I just found it in my Hollister zipup (that Annie loves wearing oh so much :o) ) today in class! Sooo the album on my facebook is now a lie.


-Monaco-

After we finished up in Monaco, our bus took us to Eze. We took pictures at the top of the mountains and looked at all the medieval stones and settings. It was kind of cold up there too, so we went to a cafe for hot chocolate and I ended up trying a chocolate crepe instead, whiiich was probably one of the best decisions of my life. It melts in your mouth.


-Eze-

This past week in school, our little 7 person class has gotten closer and we all join together to mock our teacher Claude and its pretty fun. I mean learning about prepositions is really boring, but we get by. This week we also had our dinner out with AIFS at a local Italian restaurant, and the pizza was simply the best I ever had. Yes, it beat brothers. And saying that its good is saying a lot considering I don't even like pizza. Actually, its pretty interesting that since we live so close to Italy, I should mention that Nice (which is right by us) wasn't even a part of France until the mid 1800's, which says a lot considering how old France's history goes. Also, this week was the last one for the winter soldes (sales). Since Cannes is oh so popular in the spring with the festival, they have a lot of sales at this time to get rid of their winter lines. I bought a really pretty black and white dress, and two scarfs and some jewelry. I also went to buy dental floss (because I obviously flipped out when I saw that I ran out) and fun fact, the French don't floss. The woman had no idea what I was talking about when I told her about it, even when I used the actual French word, and after a while she finally understood (or so I thought) and she handed me what I thought was a little container of floss, but OH NO. It was tooth picks. I was so salt that whole night after brushing. My little French girl laughed at me later when i told her the story because she said they only even know what floss really is because they think its cute when American do it in their movies. My response to that... Gew.

Speaking of my French exchange girl Sixtine, this was her week to speak only English at our 2 hour meeting, and she was just too cute. She was completely afraid with how she would sound that she spoke only a few times and I had to revert back to French a lot. It actually was kind of cool to be on the other side for once, because I remember that I was the exact same way when I was 18. :-)

Last big thing that happened this week, SNOW. Snow is the "big news" as Claude said today when he showed us the newspaper. We got an inch of snow in Cannes on Thursday and it was probably the coolest snow ever because it was so compactable and clean. Erin, Sara, Paige and I made a snowman (un bon homme de neige) by the ocean and had a snowball fight with random people. The snowball fight was really cool because French people were getting out of the cars and just throwing snow at each other because snow hasn't seen Cannes in over 15 years! It was also really cool because we had Americans, Mexicans, French, and so many other cultures just laughing and throwing snow. There was no talking just smiling and hand motions and it was a really awesome experience and a great image of symbolism (Shannon you know how I like my symbolism).


-Us and Tut Tut-

So on that note, I will leave you. It's vendredi (Friiiiday!!!) and I got some fun I have to have tonight. We have a crepe soiree that AIFS is throwing us, and then we go to a bar that has specials for us since we are AIFS...and because we are awesome. This weekend is the Nice Carnival so I will soon update you with that experience and more.

As always, thanks so much for reading. I miss you all.

Peace and Blessings (we watched that youtube video wayyy to much). :o)

First Week Of Classes...Check!

Hey everyone (including my mom who I know is following this diligently...love you)! Anyway, the first week of classes is complete and its been really great so far. My days, as I said, begin at 8 a.m. which I could complain about, but since I don't know any better since I had to change my sleeping patterns anyway...I don't think I can officially gripe about it.

So now's the time where I have to actually think about what I did this week. First off, my first day of classes went splendid. My teacher's name is Claude (that's splendid enough on its own) and my roommate Paige and my friend Sara (one more friend Sara to add to the list (love you Sara and Sarah!)) and I are in the same class. Claude has a really great sense of humor and loves making fun of us when we mix up words and stutter, and of course I had to be the first student to find this out since my last name is Andrews. Thanks dad. On the first day, he wanted to see how well we could speak, so naturally, we had to introduce ourselves and say what our lives were basically like back in the states. Welt it came out that I am in fact a part of a creepy cat family with four cats and a fat, epileptic dog that resembles a hippo, which I feel really made me stand out...in a weird way. But, as everyone talked about their life back home, we realized that we all have weird quirks and all was well. There are only seven of us in my class, and that's usually how big all these classes are. In fact, on the first day, I thought that we were just taking a tour of the dorms, but oh wait, that was the whole campus. This place is so small and I thought it might drive me insane a little bit, but unlike when I lived in Tampa (hi Pam!), I never feel trapped because Cannes is right outside and there is always something to do.

Anyways, so how this school works is first you are placed into your class based on how you do on an exam with an oral, writing and questionnaire section. The good thing about that is unlike the SATS, (Roo, by the way, don't stress about them; you'll be fine) if you don't agree with your standings, you can prove yourself by moving up all the time. Since there are only 7 or so students, the teachers are always looking for ways to improve your French so you can move up to the next level...and there's like a million levels or something close to that... like 15... so people are always looking to move up. I got placed somewhere in Intermediate, which means I can relate ideas accordingly, but I lack fluidity and some vocabulary. They didn't actually tell me that's my problem; I'm just stating that's what I think. Yea. Sooo what am I learning. Welt, this week we just did a quick, quick review of the imparfait vs passe compose and had a test on it today. And we've already begun a review on the plus-que-parfait which is what we'll be doing for the first half of next week. (For all of you that have no idea what I just said there, no worries at all, that was merely for anyone who asked me what I do during class and now that I am sure they probably have no interest in what that means...that will most likely be the last time I have to answer that question. Mission Accomplished.)

Outside of the school world has obviously been more exciting. Erin, Sara and I are still searching for that perfect French cafe that we can call our own and be like, "ohh that's our place." And so far... it has not been going well. We've been in town everyday this week and keep running into the problem that the French eat dinner at flipping 8:00 at night. And not only that, but they close their restaurants until then. And not only even that...that! A lot of places close sometime between 12-4 unless they have a lot of staff because they have hours-long lunches. First off, Iron Hill should learn a little about this idea of closing because they are open even with 20 inches of snow on the ground. But more importantly, you may be asking yourself when are these places actually open. My answer to you is 5 am. And it's not that I've even seen the cafes open then, Im just assuming that they have to be open sometime. So, Erin, Sara and I are still on that mission. I'll let you know when we can actually get inside a cafe. Also, on a cultural note, I think the French need to have a little less ham in their diet. I mean I'm all for ham, but it's in everything. I have yet to see a turkey sandwich. I'll let you know when I see one though. Oh, and there is wayyy to much mayo on everything. They must have learned that from WaWa or something because I could choke on it all. (That may have been too gross for some people; I'm sorry if it was; it made me a little nauseous writing that too). Another random fact, the French have no word for AWKWARD, which is the story of my life (not as much so as Cat though) and I just think that that is awkward on its own because they cant let each other know when they are in an awkward situation.

On Wednesday night, we had our first night out in Cannes yayyyy!!! Actually, I feel like a nerd saying that since we've been here for a week, but we just never did for whatever reason. And we also had no plans for going out that night either except that I was in the Foyee talking to my new friend, Cannon, who is also in my class with Claude, and he convinced me to convince Erin and Sara to go out. Not to mention I was just minding my own business and eating my dinner when all of a sudden there was a discotheque going on around me in the Foyee. It kind of inspired me. So, Erin, Sara and I made the 25 minute trek to some exclusive bar with half of AIFS (the program I went to France with) and we definitely looked like Americans/ college Freshman who travel everywhere in packs. We had some French people wave to our stampede as they looked out the huge windows inside the cafes (I guess some people finally got around to eating dinner at 1030) which made me feel stupid because they were probably waving like, "aww look at the cute American herd being led by the British man,'' and honestly that wouldn't be a lie, because that is exactly what was going on. Everyone followed a British kid that goes to the college and has been here for 2 years and apparently knows what bars to go to. A few of us ended up going to a bar called Morrison's which is like a well known "Irish" Pub with only French men in it, and I'd say the highlight of the night was the YMCA and Erin's, Cannon's and my decision to do our signature dance moves at the eiffel tower when we get to Paris...whenever that trip is planned for because I definitely am not organized enough to know. The night was short lived because I hadn't even done my homework yet, so we got back around 1 and I really started hating that 18th century cobblestones that I had previously loved so much during the day because it started taking a toll on my high heels. Boo.

This week I also went to the museum with the 15th century tower (I have pictures of the scenery from there and around my college in the album Les Couleurs de Cannes if you wanna see what it looks like here) and I also found an artists' work that I will most definitely be following while I'm here. His name is Olivier Mériel and his photography is based on black and whites and the contrast of light. It's really awesome. And if you're interested, (http://olivier.meriel.free.fr/) you can look at his Site. Anyways, the museum itself wasn't Cannes based like I thought, but I'll post some pics of the more interesting things that I saw from around the world.

I also met my French girl that I will be meeting weekly with to help my French! Her name is Sixtine and she is 18-years-old and so adorable. She is really enthusiastic about learning English and she made me feel totally comfortable as I babbled along in French for two whole hours. I'm going to be honest, by an hour and a half, my brain started turning into mush and I felt like I would never be able to conjugate a verb again, but somehow I made it, and next time she will have to speak ALL. ENGLISH. haha SIXTINE!! :-) I invited her, of course, to the states so she could learn more English and she was really excited and I think it was a really good match for us since we are both bubbly and eager to learn.

Lastly, (finally) I will be going to Monaco this Saturday to explore, so I will be letting everyone know what adventures pop up there. Also, Sara, Erin and I are going to start planning our Spring Break in Greece, soooo I'll let you know how my lack of organization and decision-making hinders our making plans.

Thanks so much for reading my second blog. I hope it wasn't too much because I know I talk a lot. I miss everyone and of course I'm thinking of you guys all the time!

My First Week Abroad

Okay...so due to popular demand and unknown reasons as to why anyone would be remotely interested in reading this...here is my study abroad blog you can follow anytime you are procrastinating doing anything you are actually supposed to be doing.

So in about an hour it's been almost a week since I left...or maybe its a few hours considering the time difference, but who cares. Anyways, getting out of the g-val (as much as I love it on occasion) has been the best thing I have ever done. Every problem I had was left at home with all of my stuffy thoughts and I feel like I can finally focus on more important things... like French boys. No but actually, it really is liberating and I've been trying really hard to become more accustomed to the French culture and it's actually a lot different than everyone told me. First off, I do want everyone to know this. I know that everyone says that the French and American societies just don't get along and that either side is stupid and doesn't understand the other's side, but honestly, living here has just taught me how untrue all of that is. I mean I always wanted to believe it, and I'm sure you heard me time and again defending the French just because I love their language and whole persona, but I really have just been shown nothing but absolute kindness since I got here. Whether it be the French teachers who immediately offered me an open door for questions or a means of practicing my French, or the French motorcyclist who asked me and my friends for directions and rattled of random American cities in broken English when we told him we were from the US, I see only people trying to relate to people. In fact, today I was in a telephone store attempting to have a conversation about a minutes plan and as I walked out the door to leave, the man helping me actually left from inside and thanked me for trying to speak French... I guess I didn't speak it as well as I thought... but he was so appreciative that I didn't just go into his store and demand him to speak English, which apparently he says happens all the time. It's this kind of stuff that separates us from one another and I am so thrilled that I can make even a tiny difference in someone's way of thinking and I'm also glad to see I haven't been defending a culture I barely know for nothing.

Anyways, back to life abroad. My day starts out a lot like elementary school. Breakfast starts at 8 so naturally my roommate (Paige) and I wake up at 8. By 810 we are ready, which is actually really impressive if I do say so myself, and we have breakfast until 845. Breakfast for the French consists of yogurt, cereal, toast, bowls of cafe au lait, tea, or hot chocolate and croissants which taste amazing when you dip it into the hot chocolate. After our petit déjuner, we have class at 9, a "coffee break" at 1030 for 15 minutes, then back to class until lunch at 1200. We only take our main French class for the first month, so after lunch, which consists of a salad, soup, main course then fruit, we get free time for the rest of the day. Mostly, we've spent our time walking around Cannes which is still pretty chilly, but the sun lightens the Côte d'Azur more and more everyday. Cannes is so beautiful and different than anything I'm use to. Before this, I loved walking through Olde City in Philly just because I felt like I could see myself in the 18th century, which seemed almost ancient and romantic. But the 18th century here is relatively new. At the top of the mountains that overlook the bright city, there is a watch tower that we'll be climbing Thursday that dates back to 15th century. I could be off on some points because I was told this story in French, but the story of Cannes' settlement is really interesting (I can just see my friends thinking how dorky I am right now. Shannon if you were able to even read this far, congrats considering you haven't read anything since The Notebook senior year, but shut it.) Anyways, the people that originally settled Cannes thought that it was a bad place because as beautiful as it was, it had a lot of snakes which represented evil and its beauty was thought to be a temptation. The traveling people were going to leave, but a huge storm started causing some kind of tsunami wave that allowed the people to only have time enough to climb the palmiers (palm trees) and hang onto the branches to survive. It passed almost as soon as it began, and the people were saved from the palm tree branches and the snakes were washed away by the waves. The people thought it was blessing from God, and they settled in Cannes that day. Today, the palm is the symbol for the Cannes Film Festival, which is the second most filmed event behind the Olympics.

So that's your history lesson. Back to my life, again, I am really excited because the day I got here I saw an advertisement from a four-year-old girl (her mom obviously wrote it for her) asking for an American girl to meet with her, play with her, and speak in English so she could learn. They're offering to pay something (thank God because I'm flippin broke already) so I'm going to be calling her tomorrow. I'll let the whole two people reading this blog know how it goes. Also, tomorrow I start with my new French friend thing that I signed up for. It's where someone my age in town signs up to practice their English and gets paired with someone like me so that I can practice my French. One day we speak English, the next time we meet we speak French. We meet tomorrow at 430, so I'm definitely nervous about it, but I cannot wait to have full blown conversations in French. I mean every time I speak it, my face turns red and my heart bounds because its so nerve wracking, but the moment I finish my thought, it's like a huge weight has been lifted and its the best, most accomplishing feeling. My new friends Erin and Sara (yes I made friends) and I were talking about it and even the simplest things like asking if they have a shirt in another color or asking for more water is amazing. No exaggerations. And maybe I'm pathetic, but I love it.

These 10 years of studying and putting everything I have into learning a different language, a different way of life, is finally all coming together and I cannot wait until I can come back to the states with a completely new outlook on life. I can already feel myself changing and I recommend to everyone and anyone: get out of your crummy home town. Just pick up and leave it all. Because looking back on everything I have been spending all my time thinking about, stressing about, crying about means nothing. This is everything.

More to come as things happen. Thanks so much for reading. I miss and love everyone and I think of you all often. Bonsoir!