it appears to me the pen is overanalyzed again

I'm really not good at writing blog entries; I never know what spin to put on it. In that measure,

On Tuesday, I headed off to jolly old... Belgium, for a bit of chocolate, waffles, and beer. What I love most about Europe is that all it takes to go anywhere I want is to walk into a train station and buy a ticket. It's not like China, where my method involved carefully copied Chinese characters and train numbers on a paper slipped through the glass. It's also not like China in that in order to get to another country, it's only thirty minutes.

The entire trip can probably be summed up in this sentence: "Ow, my whole body hurts."

Of course, that's (almost) entirely in a good way. We did so much walking and climbing and staring and eating. We ate waffles topped with enough whipped cream and strawberries to reach the top of the Eiffel Tower. We were mistaken for English. We stared at paintings of slightly vulgar faces and men with bowler hats (thank you, Museum Magritte). We were asked directions and (hopefully) didn't get them lost, but who knows. The directions were in French.

We molested Jesus. Now, that's not as bad as it sounds. It's like in China when everyone touches the gold knobs on doors for good luck. Well, in the Grand'Place, there is a Jesus incarnation on a wall and he's rubbed gold where everyone has touched him, from head to toe. We thought it only fitting to follow the tradition.

We saw the Manneken Pis, which, let me tell you, is not quite what you expect. You walk around a corner to find this tiny little statue and you think, "that's it?" It's very small. I would like to think it's a sort of euphemism about men and the way they view themselves - you know, how they like to talk themselves up? But in the end, that's all it is.

Brussels is over and done, and it was enjoyed aside from the remnants of pain. I shall be updating my "travel places" tab from now on to reflect places I want to go/have already been.

high ho, high ho, it's off to... where?

The whole point of being a language assistant is to live in France, and therefore improve upon what I've supposedly been studying for the past 9 years of my life. But it's also the point that I'm in Europe, which is generally an awesome place to be if you ignore the constant strikes and weird men on the street who greet you with a curling smirk and wandering eyes.

Poking around on various (and by various I mean about twenty) travel websites, I think I may have finally found my cheap way to Prague. There's a flight (in February) from Paris to Prague one-way for about 45 euros. From there, I want to fly to Rome and then back to Paris. I think I could do it all for around 150 euros. It might sound expensive but it's three (very far from each other) places.

Attempting to plan the London trip is becoming very annoying. The best deal I think is to take a train there and back, for around 100 euros. Plus there's the extra hassle of the visa and no one having the same information so who knows if it even matters. However, I think I may just be dedicated enough to make it happen anyway. This is the only chance (well, unless I miraculously happen to live near New York next summer) to go to a Harry Potter premiere and (hopefully!) see Rupert Grint. It's on my Bucket List, you know, to meet him. Don't ask why. It just is. Idea! I should buy one of the HP books in French and bring it with me in the slight off-chance that I do get to meet someone. It's something for them to sign, you know? Whenever I meet people at concerts, I never have anything. It's an unfortunate pattern in my life. Oh, and let's hope the OFII medical visit is not scheduled for that week? Because that would be just awesome. /sarcasm.

As for the Toussaint holiday (which we are currently sitting on right now), some plans are slowly formulating to hit up Lille and Brussels. I did a little research on Brussels, and it seems the majority of things to do there are eat, which would be great if I had more money. Ah, the ever-lasting paradox. Things to do but no money to do them with.

Adios, amigos. Or, au revoir, a bientot!

the time has come, the walrus said

It's that time of year again... care package time!

Ever since my Freshman year of college (a whole six years ago. Oh god, how did I get to be so old?), my mother has always taken the time to send along a holiday package, generally one for each holiday excluding St. Patrick's Day (I guess she didn't want to encourage underage drinking?). I assumed the packages would stop once I graduated, but as I found out, the way to ensure that they don't is to move abroad!

Last year, the packages were like little pieces of home considering I would get American candy and things in English (I think it was the English I appreciated the most). Not to mention, China celebrates none of the same holidays as America. At least France is a little more up to date in the Christmas department. Halloween, not so much, though.

Yesterday I got home, though, to a note from the post office (with a very illegible address written on it) saying they had a package waiting for me. I couldn't go get it because it was too late by the time I even got the note. However, the knowledge that it was there was probably what kept me from digitally slapping this annoying person online. It's been a very annoying couple of days, none of which has to do with France or teaching.

Yesterday was my first official day teaching, and it went okay for the most part. I had prepared a few things but nothing extensive. I attempted to explain Halloween (in French because their English level is certainly not that high). I didn't go to work on Tuesday due to the many greves taking place, and I was supposed to make it up today, but my referente said not to bother since the teacher's couldn't fit me into the schedule. Oh well. Looks like the vacance is starting already and I have nothing to do.

I'll just enjoy my care package and dream of things like Chipotle. Oh god, don't let me do that. I started doing that in China like the 2nd month in and I had to endure 10 months of dreaming about it.

This care package includes a plush pumpkin (I swear I've collected enough of these plushes from the care packages to have my own display for every holiday), orange pop rocks, candy necklace, nerds, orange hot chocolate, a card, and the most adorable owl key chain (press his wing and his eyes become a flashlight and he hoots). He will be my NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month) buddy. I've just got to name him now.

I love my mother. She always makes things better.

there are many shades of black

Trip planning is such a huge hassle. Why can't I just hop on a train and let it take me wherever it's going? Oh, because then I'd have no idea what to do after I got there. That's why.

There are so many places I want to go to. Once you add in the costs, though, and the time spent on trains and planes, it all seems very much not worth it.

I'm attempting to plan a trip to London for November, a short, weekend jaunt, and it's possible, but only if I manage to get the visa stuff figured out and, well, some money would help. I may be going to the prefecture today to see what the deal about the visa de retour is. For all I know, they'll say I don't need one, which is in direct contradiction to what other ~official~ people have said. Why so confusing, France? I did go to the secu office today (social security) and apparently they're going to send me a provisoire card (temporary). I just tried to write 'provisory' in English. It didn't work.

I think maybe I'm getting cabin fever. I need to go somewhere for the holiday. Anywhere. I don't even care if it's just Lille. It needs to be somewhere.

even on dimanche, on fait de la greve

What did I do with my Sunday, you ask? Well, I spent the majority of it messing around on photoshop creating a comic for a friend. It's mostly about Harry Potter. Don't judge me.  I can't draw for my life (*chorus of Hermione Can't Draw plays in the background*) but I can use the computer, so it's simple but you can tell who is who.

Obviously we can see how well I'm integrating into French society! But do not judge my social habits based on this one day spent frowning at a drawing's eyebrows and wondering how I can make them look happy and devious and excited all at the same time.

Yesterday, I saw The Social Network... in French. I liked it, yes, but I really want to see it in English now. It's a talky, smart movie, which doesn't work so well when you can only get about half of the dialogue. Normally, I don't like Jesse Eisenberg (or the many others that are so similar to him: Michael Cera, and that other guy). They all play the same characters and I don't see how it's possible to like one better than another). But he seemed to do a good job here. At least he was playing a somewhat different character than normal. Even without the English dialogue, I felt really bad for his best friend. If you haven't seen it, I would recommend it.

As for the Toussaint holiday, I had plans but now they are fuzzy, and I'm still not sure what's going on. My friend is being flaky, which I hate. I suppose I will know soon enough. I should really go start a lesson plan or two.

une carte postale

It costs 87 centimes to send a postcard overseas. It's almost the same as the cost of a baguette in the boulangerie. I sent one today to my friend in China, and I sent one to the US a few weeks ago. It takes about a week for the card to get to America. As for China... well, last year my experience was that it took about a month either way (US to China). Two postcards down, only about 8 left to go.

I'm planning on going to Paris in a few weeks, just for a weekend. My friend is studying abroad in Wales this semester, so he's going to come down. That weekend also just happens to coincide with a NaNoWriMo meet&greet somewhere in Paris.

I shall buy a postcard in Paris and send it to someone!

the time has come for touristy things

Normally, I'm not one to do the traditionally "touristy" things. It took me nearly 9 months to go to the Xiangfan museum when I was in China, and it was free. But today, I did some of the more touristy things that there are to do in Arras.

Along with two other assistants who live in town, we went up to the Hôtel de Ville (which just happens to house the office de tourisme. It was amidst the (very large) saturday market - I can't wait to go when I have some actual money so I can buy things there. Apparently there's a Christmas market too, starting in November, which ought to be good fun. There were some other foreigners abound - mostly British and German. We even got shanghai'd by a couple of British mormons (I swear they are everywhere. The same thing happened to me in South Korea).

We bought a City Pass, which basically is a ticket for all the different things to do in town, including the belfry, les boves (which I'll explain in a minute), the art museum, and the cité musée. It was only 10euros with the help of my old student ID. The great thing about my Cat Card (UA student ID card) is that there is no date printed anywhere on it. It's becoming faded after six years, but hey, I've still got it, and it gets me discounts! We went up to the belfry, which offers a 360 degree view of the city of Arras, particularly cool on the market day when the market surrounds the entire thing.

Afterwards, we went a-wandering amongst the many vendors in the market. Actually, we went to find one of the girl's landlady who has a stall selling yarn. I occasionally knit, although I didn't last year at all, and I've bought some yarn to see what I can do. It's not as if I don't have a lot of free time.

We wasted a bit of time in the Furet de Nord bookstore, where I did see all of the Harry Potter series books. If you don't know, I have a 100 Things to do Before I Die list, and reading all the HP books in French is on this list. So far, I've only read the first in French. That's one of my goals to get through this year. I should start on that considering I'm bad at making time to actually read things.

As to touristy things, we also went to les boves, which are underground quarries under the city of Arras, once used to excavate limestone to build the churches and other buildings in town, starting in the 9th century. In WWI, the caves were used to house British soldiers, who then launched a surprise attack on the German line, who had no idea the caves were there. They also used them to cross into the no-man's land. In WWII, the residents of Arras used the caves to hide in during the bombings. Ingenious, isn't it?

I realize I've said nothing about actually teaching yet in this journal. But it's a travel journal, right? Plus, I'm not sure who's actually reading this (if anyone). I have gone to school and things have been slightly shocking and jarring in strange ways. Paperwork has been done and procrastinated and pushed around by various French government agencies, so we'll see how that all goes in the future.