the year in review

The time has come for the review of the year. I usually do this on my livejournal, but since I deleted it, this year, it's going to be here.

Last year at this time, I was sitting in my apartment in China, freezing to death despite wearing a puffy coat, two layers of everything, and gloves. I was simultaneously thanking and cursing the winter for both sending the spiders in my apartment into hibernation and making everything absolutely freezing.

I can't say 2010 was a year of changes because I still don't feel as though much has changed. Perhaps outwardly, there was a lot of change, but inwardly, I feel basically the same as I always have, which annoys me to no end. At some point, you're supposed to change, right?

What did I do in 2010 that I haven't done before?

In 2010, I climbed the Great Wall in the snow in Beijing, saw Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an, ate way too much amazing food for Chinese new year, pet cats in Japan, visited 20 year old prisons in South Korea (literally everything was rebuilt in the 80s), sweated in the middle of February in Hong Kong, ate waffles and fries in Belgium, and had the best night ever in England.

One of my best friends got married to a guy I'd never met. I spent over 18 hours on planes to go to the wedding and spent entirely too much time collecting things for the outfit I wore (hair clip from Japan, dress from China, tights from Japan, shoes from America). I nearly kissed the ground when I finally got to the US. I spent 3 glorious weeks visiting friends and family, including two weeks in LA with my best friend where we spent lots of time watching Harry Potter and even making a Twilight parody for youtube.

My time in China was interesting and people constantly ask me about it and I always have to stop and think before I answer. I'm not the kind of person who can just spout the same answer every time without thinking. Granted, my answer is usually the same, but it takes a minute. China was... an experience, that's for sure. Am I glad I went? Of course. Would I go back? Well.... I don't know. To visit, yes, not necessarily to live. China is a very odd place that a lot of people don't understand at all, and when I read news reports about it or people just giving their opinions, it takes a lot of restraint not to correct them about some of the things they say. Chinese society and culture is so different than ours that simple assumptions are just wrong.

Of course, the most recent change in my life has been France. I applied for the TAPIF program in November of last year and spent the next five months anxiously waiting for the answer. I don't know when I decided I wanted to move to France, because if you'd have told me nine years ago when I first started learning French that I would be living in France, I would have said you were crazy. Then again, I never thought I'd end up majoring in French either, but when it came time to pick a college, the answer was obvious. Even a few years ago, I told my mom that it was crazy to think that I would go abroad alone. I guess I'm eating my words now.

April 6th, 2010 I woke up (being 12-15 hours ahead of the US in China) and went to my computer, convinced that the email from TAPIF would not be there, as I'd been checking incessantly since the first of the month, but lo and behold, I opened it up and there it was, congratulating me on being accepted to the Lille academie. People had been telling me for months I was a shoe-in, but doubt always grows, especially when you take a look at the people who had been rejected who had great qualifications.

France has not been nearly as hard as China, but I think it's comparatively speaking. If I hadn't gone to China, I'm sure I would have found France much harder than I have. China taught me patience and to significantly lower my expectations for time-lines and quality, which in turn makes the French bureaucracy seem breezily efficient. It probably helps that I haven't encountered the same problems as others have with their paperwork.

2010 was also the resurgence of my huge Harry Potter nerd-ness. God. It started in the summer when I watched all the movies and started rereading the series backwards (I got to book 3 before I had to leave for France). Then I found Mark Reads Harry Potter, the blog all about HP from the viewpoint of a first time reader which rekindled the lost flame that you only have once: the first time you read. I also finally watched A Very Potter Musical and Sequel, which just exploded everything. All of a sudden, I was as obsessed with Harry Potter as I was at age 18. This all culminated in the release of Deathly Hallows part 1 movie. I decided to do something crazy; I went to London and I stayed up all night on the street like a homeless person all for the chance to see the HP actors, and of course to bond over our mutual love of Harry Potter with total strangers. It was the best 19 hours of my life.

All in all, this year has been good. There have certainly been some low points, lower than normal too for some reason, but in general, I think I'll look back on this year with a smile.

As for resolutions. Clearly, I failed last years which was to write everyday, more specifically write everyday in a story-type blog. I failed about halfway into January with that one and the blog has since been deleted. I also went nearly 5 months without writing anything, so yeah. Epic fail on my part. I think this year I'll do something simpler. My 2011 resolutions are to 1) learn to make macarons (this requires me moving home first, or to America anyway), and 2) learn to cable knit so I can finally make my perfect Ravenclaw scarf. Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to do that before DH part 2 release. But those are my resolutions. Perfectly reasonable, right? I think so.

So Happy new year to you all reading this. I hope your year has been just as interesting and you've learned something from it. Joyeux nouvel an! Xin nian kuai le - 新年快乐! Next year is the year of the rabbit (my year!) so if you're a rabbit, be sure to wear your red underwear everyday for good luck ;] See you next year!

macarooooon

Just thought you all should know that someday - someday - I will learn to make macarons the right way.

That should totally be my New Years Resolution. the end.

funny how things change so quickly

I just did this thing on facebook that picked out my top 10 statuses for 2010 and I thought this was the perfect place to post it. You may notice a pattern when looking at it.

Looking back on this list of statuses (which I think are based on the number of 'likes'), the theme is clear: travel. That's what my life has been about these past 12 months. Oh, and if you're wondering about that last status that got cut off, I'm pretty sure it was something about the evil Hummer truck I had to drive upon arriving in the US after 24+ hours of no sleep (and not driving for an entire year). What a fun day that was.

Now that I reread these, especially the ones about the US, I just remember how utterly thrilled I was to be coming home from China. I can still remember the feeling of elation when I stepped off that first plane in LA, the swelling in my chest like a giant balloon of giddiness to be somewhere I belonged. God, it was such a relief. I won't say that I didn't enjoy China, because I did, but coming home was a much needed breath of fresh air. Granted, the reverse culture shock was... surreal to say the least. For a week afterward, I walked around thinking, "Why are there so many foreigners here? Oh wait, no, those are just normal people." It persisted past a week, but the first one was the worst. I walked into a grocery store, walked around the whole thing and walked right back out. I had no idea what to do or how to function in it. It was crazy. I never posted anything about it here, but it totally happened.

I could go on about the reverse culture shock because it's actually quite interesting, at least to me. I remember sitting in the airport in LA waiting for the next plane to Phoenix and realizing that everyone around me spoke English and that if I wanted, I could talk to any of them. I didn't know what to do with myself. It was a weird feeling. I also realized that I couldn't just say what I was thinking without consequence. I'd spent the past 11 months doing it in China and I literally had to stop myself from making off-handed comments about things I saw.

Anyway, the point is that my China experience was about a million times different than my France experience has been, and it's only been three months here so far, but I know that come April, I won't be clawing my eyes out to get back home. I'm not saying China was bad because I learned and did a hell of a lot of things I never thought I would or even dreamt of doing, it's just that it's so much harder than Europe is and you have to be so much stronger to go there. I'm sort of glad I went there first, though. It's made France a breeze, and all those people complaining on the forums ought to shut up and get a clue because it could be a million times worse.

It's Christmas Eve Eve and I should probably go to bed but I haven't been sleeping lately, so I'll stay up a little longer and contemplate how much easier France is. Happy holidays, all.

don't ever let them fuck with your dreams

Remember that maybe possibility of Amsterdam after Prague and Rome in February? Well, that's been scrapped and replaced with Toulouse and a My Chemical Romance concert!

With the concert ticket, it's about the same price as going to Amsterdam would have been anyway. I was debating for a while since I have seen MCR twice already, the last time being in 2008 on their "small venues" tour when they stopped in Tucson and I got to meet Frankie after the show.  But I haven't seen them in France and they have a new album and on the plus side, I was thinking of going to Toulouse anyway, so this is just one more reason to do it.

So there. The fully-formed (and paid for except for hostels)itinerary is as follows:

February 22: train to Paris, plane from Paris to Prague
February 26: plane from Prague to Rome
March 2: plane from Rome to Paris, train from Paris to Toulouse
March 4: train from Toulouse to Paris, train from Paris home

I will probably hate myself once this is over, if last years big vacation wasn't enough to teach me that. I've given myself plenty of leeway between the trains and the planes (6 hours should be enough, right?) in case anything goes wrong. Last year my flight was two hours late due to ice. Ugh.

But! I am SO EXCITE and I'm sure it will be fun.

would you care for a delicious Red Vine?

I'm sitting here, four days into Christmas break while the snow slowly melts outside my window, plopping sheets of ice from the roof onto my sill, and all I can think of is how utterly amazing doritos are. Yes, doritos, the chips. I've been messing around making a mashup video of A Very Potter Musical and it's made me desperately want doritos, so today at the store, I happened upon nacho cheese doritos (the best kind) and had to buy them.

They are amazing.

I didn't realize I was missing American food that much. I remember the first time I got American food in China, and that was only after two weeks of being there. It was like a breath of fresh air, a reminder that there was something other than rice and noodles in the world (not that I don't love Chinese food, because I do. I ate it for 10 months straight if that says anything and I still love it).

I've found that I do quite like French food, though. Before I came I was pretty ambivalent. I think I was under the impression that it was funny sauces and tiny portions like the French restaurants in America, but it's really quite good. Granted, I spend most of my time eating bread and cheese, but who says that's not French either? At the cantine for school, they make great meals and most of the time I have no idea what I'm eating, but I refuse to ask because God knows what it might turn out to be. It tastes good and that's what matters. The other day I had a coquille Saint Jacques that was delicious.

France has been under a deluge of snow lately which has consequently messed up all the trains and planes. Luckily (funny how it turns out to be lucky after all), I have no plans so nothing was ruined. Instead, I stuck around Arras with another assistant and we hit up the spectacle in the Place des Heros, which was a light show and fireworks show behind the belfry. "Regardez vos pieds. Oui, c'est moi! La place des Heros!" - It was a little odd, and I felt like I was back at Disneyland for Christmas, and it didn't help that half the soundtrack music was from Disney movies.

I have no big plans for the holidays. I'll be spending Christmas with Carole and her family, hopefully for a semi-traditional French Christmas. I do like to experience the "traditional" holidays of a country with real families. It makes the experience so much more interesting. Last year I spent Chinese New Year with a Chinese family, so I have to say I definitely know what happens (hint: they eat and watch TV, A LOT).

On another note, I finally got my act together and planned a real vacation. In February, I will be heading off to Prague and Rome for about a week, and maybe I might go to Amsterdam too if it fits in the budget. I got all the flights (3 of them) for about 170 euros, and if I were to go to Amsterdam, it would be an extra 70. A part of me says I should just go, but the other part asks why I even want to go to Amsterdam. Because everyone says I should? That's not really a good reason. I could save my money for somewhere I really want to go like Edinburgh or Germany.

Well, that's a problem for another day. I'm just going to enjoy two weeks of no commitments and all the chocolate I want.

and if you're interested, the video I was working on:

may all your Christmases be white

What I wouldn't give to be sitting in my parents' living room watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated 1960s version only) with a bowl of homemade chex mix right now. It's not that I'm homesick or missing home particularly, it's just that it's Christmas time and this is the second year I've gone without the comforts of home. I have all my favorite Christmas TV shows downloaded onto my computer (Mickey's Christmas Carol, the Grinch, the Santa Clause, etc) but it's not quite the same. Maybe next year I'll finally be able to start Christmas traditions over again.

On Friday, I headed off to Brugge (aka Bruges/Bruge) in Belgium for the ice sculpture festival. It was cold and they made us change trains? I just followed the other French people who were changing trains and nothing particularly bad or interesting happened.

Brugge is a quaint little town about 2 hours from where I live by train, probably extremely touristy in the spring and summertime. But this is winter so it's appeal was brought down a little by the grey, murky clouds and nipping chill at your fingertips. But it was cute and with a little editing, my pictures look very nice.

The actual Ice Scuplture festival was interesting. The theme was "Around the World" which basically means that the sculpture were all of landmarks, for instance America had the statue of Liberty, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis. France had the Arc de Triumphe, etc. The sculptures themselves were really cool, but I wish it had been a different theme seeing as I've already seen a lot of those in real life - the arc, the great wall of china, xi'an terracotta warriors, Japanese temples, Big Ben, etc.

But! There was an ice slide. The Great Wall of China was made into an ice slide that you could slide down, and of course I had to do it, whether or not I would look like an idiot doing it alone. But hey, such is the life of a lonesome traveler. I've learned to deal with it, and I still don't understand why some people just won't travel alone.

Christmas break is coming up in less than a week and I have absolutely no plans aside from eating too much chocolate. I guess what they say about New Year's is exactly right: where you start, you will end. Last year I spent New Years Eve watching Pride & Prejudice with Jesse and Lucy and trying to figure out Chinese monopoly. I remember eating McDonalds after unsatisfactory "Coffee Bar" food. If you ever go to China, do not eat at "coffee bars." Food is much better in the random, hole-in-the-wall places, cheaper too. Of course, that New Years was made up by the fact that I went to Beijing the next week. Maybe I'll go to Athens in January... There's a flight special! ;] I'm having far too much fun today planning out Christmas videos to show one of my classes. I'm thinking Pluto's Christmas Tree and Animals Singing Deck the Halls. :]

si on veut connaître les papillons

When I worked at a preschool the summer after my freshman year in college, there was this kid who, although he was already five years old, didn't have the best grasp of the English language. He used to say things like, "I go ride bikes now." - now, that sounds like a statement, yes? Wrong. It would be a question, so when you answered, "Yes," as in, "Yes, soon you will," it was really a "Yes, you can," or at least that's how he took it because it was a question to him.

The above story demonstrates perfectly how I feel every time some little kid talks to me in French. There's a terrifying moment where you say oui and hope it wasn't somehow a question that you weren't supposed to agree to. Of course, these kids mumble and half the time they're just telling you things for the hell of it, so the logical answer is oui and it always seems to appease them. But I just know that someday I'm not going to hear the entire sentence, say yes, and the kid will run off and do something they shouldn't. Maybe I should try to pay more attention or tell them to parler plus fort.

I also for the life of me can't figure out the deal with some of the teachers at my school. Some of them are subs, I get that, but some of them are there every day for the same teachers. I didn't even meet one teacher for three weeks before I started teaching with her, and she's been gone the past two weeks again. And one teacher never comes on Thursdays? I just don't understand what they're doing. Oh, sure I could ask, but imagine trying to formulate that question... "Pourquoi Mme ____ ne vient jamais à l'école? Elle travaille deux jours par semaine? Je ne comprends pas. Pourquoi son nom est à la porte quand elle n'est jamais là?" Yeah, that would not be awkward or intrusive at all.

Whatever. Some things are best left unknown.

Tomorrow I'm headed off to Bruges for the Ice Sculpture festival. Yay Belgium again! Maybe I'll get another gouffre (waffle ;]). I've been dreaming about them since Brussels the first time.

A Parisian Snow Day

Yesterday I ventured forth from the cozy (yet very cold) sanctity of my little town. I left Bill, my little snowbird I made a few days ago, perched on my windowsill and bundled up in entirely too many layers (did I say too many? I meant not enough), and headed off to Paris!

Bill says, "Tweet! It's cold."

Of course, I've been to Paris three times before so it's definitely not as special as it once was. But I was meeting a friend (who had never been) so I had the advantage, not to mention he can't speak a word of French.

We started at the Place de la Concorde and strolled up towards the Champs Elysee, through the Christmas market which is surprisingly similar to Arras' Christmas market. I'm starting to believe my referent that they're all the same. Halfway up, it started snowing. "Snow? In Paris?" you think, "that sounds awesome!" Well, not really. It immediately turns into slush as it hits the ground and at some point it turned from snow to snow/hail and took vicious pleasure in hitting you in the face.

Although, once we got to the Eiffel Tower (because somehow, you always end up there no matter what), it was back to thick flakes that made things seem a little bit more magical despite the freezing cold and the annoying African guys shaking their hangers full of crappy Eiffel Tower souvenirs.

We started out on the Palais Chaillot side and then wandered down over the bridge and underneath and over to the Ecole Militaire side where we proceeded to have an oddly-thrown snowball fight. Lastly, before escaping to warmth, we made a stop at Gerard Mulot, Paris' best pastry shop. I wish I could buy everything in it, however, I wish neither to be that poor nor that fat. I settled for my usual tart. Of course.

Paris in the snow is a beautiful idea but not a very practical reality. Perhaps, though, it's one of those things you must do since, after all, the Eiffel Tower is no longer the metal asparagus it once was, and Paris in the snow is beautiful too.