UK!

Let me tell you... this past week has been one of the most eventful. I'm not even sure if I can keep track of it all lol.
Just a little update:
Finished up classes. Thank goodness.
Snowboarding last Wednesday.
Metro Thursday. Enjoyed the :french: dancing.
Villard de Lans- Friday and Saturday, snowboarding (FRESH POWDER EVERYWHERE!)
Fun Times Saturday night but early morning Sunday to come to the UK :)
Spending Christmas with SeraJane and her Mum.
Getting ready to enjoy some Christmas Festivities!!!


Wish I cold update more.. will try to soon!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

So.. I ended up going to Lyon after all for the Light Festival. My friend Jurek and I were chatting away on FB and we both decided how much of a waste of day it was, so Jurek proposed to get off our butts and head to Lyon. It sure was a pay off. I had a great time. All the way from the hitch hike there, to the guy feeding us at his restaurant, to getting lost on a bus, to trying to find everyone in a crowd of 1million, to the fireworks, vin chaud, shooters with a man dressed in a weird white bunny costume or something like that, to the actual lights, and the funny train ride home where I ended up sitting on the floor in between two hilarious french people that made me almost pee my pants!
Thankfully french classes ended last week, so Monday morning I didn't have to wake up early. Can't wait until this semester is over! Last week :)
I had theatre rehearsal Monday and Tuesday night, and while Monday night consisted of the "suspense" and we got the cops called because some girl walking by thought someone was being murdered in the building, to Tuesday night when I had to practicing singing in french for the first time in front of people. Man is it hard.
The productions are January 27, 2010 and I just pray I'm good to go by then! lol.
I did all my Christmas shopping this week at the "Marche de Noel" and enjoyed many yummy treats along the way. I can't wait to ship everything back home!
I didn't go snowboarding Thursday like planned, I decided to give my knee a rest for this weekend, but enjoyed a really good dinner with John with the best calzone I've ever eaten and then went to Crepe Night with some friends!
Fortunately for me, class was canceled on Friday morning, because I had yet to do my long overdue school work, so I went and got "mes forfaits" for this weekend snowboarding, and headed back over to the Marche de Noel. I even bought a little Christmas tree for my room, and one of those Christmas plants (I don't know what they're called, but they're pretty).
Laura's birthday was last night, and we celebrated with fajita's and vin (chaud aussi)! I retired early so I could wake up this morning for the wonderful, long and excellent day of snowboarding. Conditions were great! It started snowing about 12pm and hadn't stopped when we left. I have a feeling I'm getting some fresh powder tomorrow! I love living in the Alps :) I knew I chose Grenoble for a reason, and I think it chose me too.
Christmas is only two weeks away. I still haven't completely finalized plans for my holiday. More than anything I want to go home. I never realized how much I missed being with family and friends for the holiday's until I actually Couldn't be there.
It looks like I'll just being boarding quite a lot until about December 22nd. I'll head over to the UK and spend Christmas there and then fly into Paris on the 30th for New Years Eve. I have to figure out when I'm going to Morocco in January, and I'd really like to take another trip somewhere during our break. I've figured out I'm very "a la rache!" So whatever happens, happens! :)
Gotta get up early to hit up that fresh powder!

A bientot!

Snowboarding :)

So pretty much, I'm in heaven. The snow is falling all around on the mountain tops. I've been snowboarding 3 times within the last week! Last Saturday, Thursday and yesterday. And it's only December 6th! I have a feeling this is going to be a GOOD winter ;)- as long as my knee holds up for all of it! I've been taking it easy-ish. lol

I didn't make it to Lyon for the Light Festival last night. Instead I went a friend's for tartiflette and didn't get home until after midnight. I was already so tired, I crashed and didn't even hear my alarm this morning to get up to either a. Go to Lyon, or b. go snowboarding again. So now, I'm doing nothing. Relaxing. But I feel like it's a waste of day.... Maybe I'll head into town to the Christmas market.. hummm.

I really need to figure out what I'm doing for the Christmas break and Christmas itself. I'm going to have soo much free time. I have to go somewhere or do something... why do I keep procrastinating on this? Maybe I feel like something is going to come along that I don't wanna miss.
But I am heading to Paris for New Year's :)

French classes ended- now just waiting for the others to finish up!
Must start practicing for the play ;) And learning my lines (in french) and the songs (in french) This is going to be a sight to see. Wish my family could be here for it!

A bientot!

Mountains, My 21st Birthday, and Thanksgiving!

This week has definitely been a packed one.
I got a little homesick with everything happening.
My birthday and Thanksgiving were both in the same week- and it made me miss spending it with family and friends from back home. Despite the fact that I'm now 21 and can legally drink in the United States, (which it finally hit me yesterday as I was sitting at our American Thanksgiving dinner with friends), and this year means nothing here!

The mountain trip last weekend was a blast. Hiking, yummy vin chaud, huge party that lasted into the wee hours of the morn, and when you integrate different cultures together, you find out just how much fun it can be. I learned some new games, played cards, and really had a good time!!

Which fell over onto my birthday on Monday. I wasn't really feeling it. It was a dreary day, I had 3 classes, an expose to present, plus my theatre group that night (which I left early) because some friends threw a little soiree for me before we headed out to meet a huge group of friends at a pub. I sure did celebrate my "21st" though, way too much (although I heard it's never too much on your birthday)!!!



Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and if I were home, I wouldn't have had class at 8:30am this morning, and I would be eating delicious leftovers!
Thankfully, a whole bunch of us American's, a few Canadian's, an Aussie, a Japanese and a french got together to celebrate a good American style Thanksgiving lunch/dinner (where the common language was English!- although we did have a lot of french spoken throughout). We didn't have turkey- all we could get our hands on was rotisserie chicken, but we did have mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, rice, mac and cheese, sweet potato casserole, bread and some cinnamon apples and banana bread for dessert. Overall- I only missed having cranberry sauce and fried turkey. (I'm making myself really hungry right now).
Was going to go dancing last night, but by the time I got to that point, I had been out with some friends for about 2 hours already and I was cold and I swear, I can't get rid of this darn sickness. My throat has been killing me, again, but I refuse to go to the doctor again. If I go again, I'm telling them to take my tonsils out. So I just came back and went to sleep.
Tomorrow- first day of snowboarding!! Woot. Can't wait. I hope my knee holds up!

Finally Time!

It's finally come to that time. Mountains here I come- you better have snow!
It's the weekend before my birthday. I'm not out partying tonight because I am a procrastinator and haven't finished my expose (due Monday- my birthday- FML!). And since I'm going to be gone the next two days, hopefully having a blast, I had to stay in tonight and start/finish it. Yet, as I sit here writing this, I'm doing another bit of procrastinating. There's really only SO much you can say about how France was influenced by immigration! Maybe I should put somewhere in there of the "festivities" by the Algerians Thursday night? Although I'm not sure if anyone would get offended, especially when I call them uncivilized and barbaric. I knew Europeans were crazy over soccer (aka- football or, "le foot" (en francais)), but when I'm trying to have a nice dinner with friends and they are outside banging on the restaurant window, screaming, cars racing by honking their horns the whole way, knocking over trash bins and even setting them on fire, I'm not really sure if I care if anyone gets offended; you're putting a bad name for yourselves by doing things like that. And yes, I saw this all with my own eyes. All because Algeria is now in the world cup! hummm...
I heard last night consisted of riot patrol as well, but that was because it was the Wine Festival and people were drunk. Not that it matters either way. I stayed in, being a good girl and was going to start my expose, which didn't happen. I played guitar all night instead, went to bed early hoping to get up and work on it today. Negative. I woke up and my eye was beat red.
DOCTOR- oww la la. What an experience. I really should learn french medical terms. Good lordy how difficult it was to try to explain what the heck was going on. I had to keep apologizing for my lack of french vocabulary and terms of description for my "problem." How do you say, "The redness is falling onto my iris" in french." They finally understood after many attempts that my eye was dry, the redness like this occurred 2 weeks earlier but went away, and now it had "revenue." And I'm worried there is something wrong with it.
I was sent to an eye specialist, which became even more complicated, but finally got a prescription to clear it up. So I returned to the pharmacy, where the ladies should know me by name now (went in yesterday for more cold medicine), to get my prescription filled and found that all these times I had been getting medicine, if I had only gone to SMERRA first to get my "carte de fidélité" or something like that, I wouldn't have had to pay for any of this. Thanks FRANCE for all your red-tape.

I feel like a hermit. Sitting here alone on a Friday night, doing school work, while everyone else is out having fun. It's my own fault, I guess. Maybe this weekend will pay off, for more than one thing. ;)

Who knows how hiking will be tomorrow with this rhume, my bum knee, a sore ass, and a messed up eye. Did I mention that I'm not supposed to wear my contacts for 10 days...

I could go for a nice pint right about now. You know, in 3 days this would be legal for me back in the states- here, however, they don't give a rat's.. and that's what I love about this place!

A bientot!

It's Mid November deja!?

It's November 14th. I'm just now realizing that I'm in another country for a year. I've been here 2 months now and I hate how fast time flies by, especially when you're having fun!
This last week has been filled with FUN, not doing school work and lack of motivation to do so. I should really reevaluate some things lol.. maybe.
My birthday is in 9 days, and as normally I would be super syked for it... I haven't found that to be the case this year. I guess it may be a sign that I'm getting older, or that I've been going out so much since I've been here, I feel like it will just be another night out with friends and nothing special. We'll see I guess.
Plans for my life the next Month or so:
This weekend- Fun
Next week- Hell
Next weekend- Mountains
Next Monday- My Birthday! Plus a wonderful Expose I have to do (fml)
Following weekend- SNOWBOARDING!
December 8th- Lyon for the Festival of Lights! Snowboarding that weekend or possibly Germany?!!
December 12th weekend- Toulouse?
December 19th weekend- Netherlands?

Christmas- Probably Alone :( But I really want to rent a little Chalet on the mountains and curl up by a fire, with hot chocolate, a good book and snow falling outside. I've always wanted a truly white Christmas. Somewhere near some slopes where I can go snowboarding during the day, but enjoy the peacefulness of the night.
Whether I'm by myself, or with someone, I still want a Christmas just like this.

New Years- Paris?
Morocco- sometime in January

All subject to change apart from my birthday- can't really change that one even if I wanted. ;)

My thoughts have been puzzled lately. I've had a lot of things running through my head, my heart. It's like wind blowing through the trees in autumn, grabbing leaves as it swirls through. And then it stops, dropping the leaves to the ground for people to admire, or walk on. It's warm and I see the snow melting from the mountains, much like things melting from my mind. I smile thinking about how good it feels to have things finally doing that, after all this time, I feel free.



I continue to sit on my desk, window open, breeze filling my lungs, just looking out, taking in the quiet Saturday. It's overcast, but one of the most beautiful days I think we've had so far. The colors, the feeling. I just watched a cat prance for something under a bush, and it made me laugh. Today, I feel so at peace.
It was just until that moment when I thought about all the school work that I had to do- the peacefulness went away.



I'm not really sure that's possible with this view...
I love nature. I love the beauty you can find in nature. The beauty you can find in life. God is truly amazing.

Grenoble has captured me. I think I will stay here.

Right around the Corner

I woke up this morning to light shining through my window, wondering what that horrible noisy was. It was 6:45am and I forgot to turn off my phone alarm before going to sleep last night. Maybe that was due to being exhausted from the great soiree last night and having to give drunk people piggy back rides home? I fell back asleep, thankfully, since it had only been about 4.5 hours that I'd actually been asleep.
To my surprise when I looked out the window after waking up the second time, the mountains greeted me with beautiful scenery and complete snow covered tops. I realized that all the rain we'd been getting here lately, was all very much worth it.
Here I am now, writing this blog, drinking a cup of tea, and being completely mesmerized by the sight of such beauty.
It's true- winter is just a mountain top away here.
It's been about a week since I've been back from my Eastern European travels. Fortunately I got all my work done on time, I'm still not sure how.
I've enjoyed another Fondue night, a Salsa dancing night and a soiree with many friends in the last week. Not to mention the constant thought of snowboarding that's been on my mind! I bought a new pair of boots and pants the other day and in about two weeks the slopes should be open!
Classes are classes and I still dread waking up at 7:30 every morning, long Mondays and boring lectures.
I need to start thinking about what I'm going to do for Christmas, and avoid the fact that I won't be with my family this year. At least it's likely that I'll have a white Christmas!
My birthday is just 2 weeks away now, and I still have no idea what I'm going to do for it. It's not a far stretch to say that people will go out with me on a Monday here (that's what I love about Grenoble), but whether or not I want to torture myself having to wake up early the next morning is the question.
I guess I'll see where my tree takes me.

Eastern Europe Adventure Part 2-Istanbul!

Here I am at 12am on a Saturday night- Halloween, which happens to fall on a Saturday this year, sitting here, having just come from the same shisha bar we've been to each night since we've been here in Istanbul. I was just welcomed back to the hostel with a nice strong shot to celebrate my last night in Turkey. I keep thinking, if only I wasn't so relaxed to the point of fatigue from going to the Turkish baths today and we didn't have to wake up at the crack of dawn to catch our shuttle to the airport, I would still be out with the others enjoying the night. I keep thinking what my Halloween would be like back at VCU (would it be another "last Halloween," I would hope not- but rather something more enjoyable than writing this blog?). There's a little kitten staring at me, eyes slowly closing, and I can feel my eyes doing the same recalling the wonderful time I've had on this trip.
The boys are still enjoying themselves and the huge "fishbowl" we got tonight, and I'm still trying to figure out how I spent so much money. Btw.. I was just pourred another shot----whewwww!

We got here on Thursday morning around 9am, and immediately my predictions came true. I fell in love with this place. Thankfully the first day was clear, sunny, and all around great weather, because yesterday and today were just pissy. Thursday we took care of most of the sightseeing. Visted the Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque, etc. before finding the shisha bar we've grown so accustomed to. I'm not sure how, but we didn't manage to get any henna the whole time we were here- something I was really looking forward to. We woke up yesterday to rain and wished that it would stop by the time we were finished the free breakfast the Noble Hostel we're staying at offers. We're so fortunate we found this place. The nicest people who make it a point to learn your name and welcome you with open arms. Instead of going to the Asian side of Istanbul yesterday, we decided we would hit up the Grand Bazaar! I ended up getting separated from the boys, but it worked out to my advantage. I swear I was called beautiful over 100x's, offered more than 10 famous turkish apple tea's (4 of which I took!) and was asked out just as many times as the tea's I was offered. The unfortunate side of this story is that I spent waaayyyyyy too much money. Maybe it was worth it!? lol. People here though, are very genuine. I've found that this to be the most helpful, considerate, and nicest place I've been, whether I'm by myself or with others.
It was nice walking around alone though, being able to go at my own pace and go and do whatever I want. I realized that I would have LOVED to backpack Europe this summer by myself, but things happen for a reason. Hopefully soon!
I finally found a kebob how I wanted (the ones like they have in France- surprisingly not as good) and tried the corn on the cob that you get from the little stands and mosied around for a bit before heading back to find the boys and go to the shisha bar for a relaxing night. We met some really cool Spanish girls and some Aussi's, Danish, Swedish and Belgium's on this trip! It will be great to keep in contact with all of them who turned out to be completely awesome!
Since we changed our plans, today was the day for Asia. To our mistake, today was worse than yesterday. The wind was chilled, pounding us with rain and no matter which way we held our umbrella, we still got wet. After sucking it up, we finally decided to take the cold, wet boat ride over. It was so gross by the time we got over there, we got something small to eat, had a cup of tea and decided to head back to Europe! The entire 20 mintutes I was in Asia consisted of down pour rain, wet pants and food. Well.. at least I went to Asia!
I have to say that by far the best experience of my day was the Turkish baths. I spent a good 3 hours there, getting bathed, massaged, relaxing in the sauna and getting a pedicure. Let me clarify- when I say bathed, I literally mean bathed. I was exfoliated, scrubbed and massaged in an ancient traditional bathing room by a woman. There were about 20 other women in the saunaed room all getting washed and massaged, and it was the first time since... .. that I've felt completely comfortable with myself walking around natural with someone else around. I have to say that it was a complete soothing and relaxing experience that I wish I could do everyday.

So now, I am here. Dreading going back to the expose I left to do in Grenoble (due Monday)....
At least this vacation as been quite a thrill.
Prage- check
Budapest- check
Bucharest- check
Sofia- check
Istanbul- check! I will return to you!

So much traveling in so little time has left me a tired little girl.
Sleep and thanking God for the opportunity await me.

Eastern European Adventure Part 1

Currently, I'm sitting at the Sofia Guesthouse computer accessing the internet in Bulgaria. We got here at about 6:15am this morning and got off to a good start walking around the city and exploring. Sofia is definitely a bigger city than I expected and the stray dogs here have become quite an attraction. If I could, I would have already taken two in! I feel like Sofia is known for its Orthodox Churches. We went into at least 3 today, all absolutely beautiful and the paintings remarkable. It's amazing to think about how old buildings are in Europe. We went in to one church that was made just by cobble stones and stood in the middle of the "new city" in a metro station. Way to preserve ;)
I guess I should start from the beginning, huh?
This trip is titled: Eastern European Adventure! Kristi-John-Richie- and some of the way Elisabeth.
Because we have a massive fall break (unlike the 3 days in America)- the stretched 10 days was worth taking a long vacation.
Itinerary: Prague, Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia and Istanbul.
From the beginning:
The 20 hour bus ride from Grenoble to Prague seemed as though it only took 5 hours. We slept most of the night. Thankfully I got to see a little bit of Germany on the way, although we only stopped at the Frankfort bus station (which was an industrialized city- not what I would have expected), another small town, and a gas station, where some very nice men offered me some of their delicious looking food through the bus window. Of course I would never turn down food, but it was cold and I wasn't sure if they were just being nice because they saw me eying it or not!?
Around mid-day we arrived in Prague. I really like this city. We walked around the city center, saw quite a few sights before grabbing dinner and heading to Elisabeth's hostel. Did I mention this was on the other side of town!?
Thankfully they had some room open, otherwise I would have been sleeping in the streets. lol. Sir Toby's was the name and the staff was awesome.. even the next morning when Elisabeth thought she lost her passport, they were all extremely helpful!
So the next day we hit up the castle, the bridge, did some shopping and ate more before we left for Budapest on the night train.
Budapest has been so far my favorite city. Thankfully, I upgraded to the sleeper car (the 13+ hour ride would have not been comfortable sitting straight up the whole time- the seats aren't as comfy as the bus). We searched for about an hour to try to find an open hostel. 3 of which were already full (supposedly there was a national holiday the day before we arrived!) That would have been pretty awesome to experience, and we later discovered that they had a huge firework show at the Parliament building. The hostel that we finally found turned out to be amazing. Central Backpackers. The most welcoming staff I could have asked for, and so much that when we arrived, we were welcomed with a "welcoming shot," alcohol stilled by the owners grandmother! Who's going to pass that up, even at 11am? Really got to explore Budapest. There were some great sights, beautiful architecture, and tons of photos. I wish I could express everything that was going through my head in all of these cities. Thought after thought.. but in reality, I can't explain half of what I felt. The pictures will have to show what I saw, and you can make up how it would feel.
Bucharest was nothing of what I expected it to be. It was more run-down and grungy, and unfortunately we only had about 4 hours there, which didn't leave us a lot of time to seek out the beautiful parts of the city. So instead, we ate. lol.
I tell you something, if there's one thing I haven't missed out on, it's all the food I've eaten on this trip. I swear I've been on an entire dress size!
Eastern Europe is pretty reasonably priced. I like using the Euro- which is so much more than the dollar right now that I get more for my money.
So now, after the 9 hour train ride last night, I'm in Sofia.
Venturing off to Istanbul tomorrow (which I think will be my favorite city!)
As much as I love ruins, and century old buildings, I look forward to experiencing something outside of the western culture.
Can't wait to post the hundreds of photos I've taken thus far, and more to come!

<3 Kristi

Above the Clouds

(brief update before I start on the full adventure of this weekend- really enjoyed salsa dancing Thursday night- didn't get near enough sleep for the 8am I had Friday morning. Stayed in Friday night because I know I had a good weekend ahead of me!)Btw.. I bought a guitar!

8am- Departure for randonnée!
I was still so tired from the lack of sleep the last two days that I took a short nap on the bus going to our destination. The mountains glistened with dew, but my eyes were so tired I wasn't able to watch the sun hit the high mountains.
I didn't realize that we were staying in a building much like dorms. I had packed for an excursion much like we had done the last time- although this time it was much colder- with a sleeping bag, extra warm clothes, lots of packaged food, etc. At least we got to drop off our big packs before we headed up the mountain.
There were 3 groups.
Facile, Difficile, and Hard Core- well, of course you know me, I decided to go for the Hard Core and wheww let me tell you. It kicked my butt!
The mountains were gorgeous, the landscape amazing, and the fresh air- breath taking!
The 65 degree slope nearly the entire time, already tired legs, and over 2000 meters (6,500 feet) of hiking, and not to mention the unbelievably powerful wind that's so cold it causes everything to frost- let's just say it was definitely a challenge- and probably one of the coolest experiences of my life! Surprisingly, I didn't get cold at all. Maybe it was the fact that every ounce of blood in my body was circulating, my heart was racing and I had on 4 layers?
While descending the mountain- I literally felt like I was there at the beginning of the world. The sun rays beaming through the clouds, the windy river between the mountains, the air that tasted so fresh- It was the land before time.
And I wanted to take in every part of it.

Thank God that Alicia had an extra pair of gloves or else I would have died this weekend. Did I mention I left my brand new pair sitting right on the bench next to where my hiking bag was? Today Diana asked if I found them- I just laughed and said, "yes, I found them went I went back two days later to the tram stop, when it's cold outside and the gloves were brand new! I hope they at least ended up on the hands of someone who need them more than I." Although I doubt that was relevant for this weekend.
Anywho, I was so tired by the time we got back to our building that I literally didn't want to move. I actually fell asleep at the table during dinner and when I told everyone I was going to take a quick nap before the soiree, they had no idea my "quick" naps were 4 hours long! I didn't wake up until 2am to find a lot of people still awake dancing downstairs. My butt hurt so bad that there was no possibility of me groovin' so I went back to sleep about 25 min. later. If only I could get that good of sleep every night!

The next morning was great. I woke up around 9am and headed down for breakfast to find that absolutely no one was there! So instead of trying to go back to sleep, I started a fire and made a hot cup of tea. Man did tea do wonders this weekend!
So I curled up in a chair by the fire for sometime until finally, one by one, people started to venture in to enjoy le petit déjeuner.
Around 11:30am, those of us who signed up, set out for the Accro-Branche (rope course). So for an hour, I swung around in the trees like a monkey and climbed through rocks, wondering how in the world I was managing it with how much my muscles already hurt!? I lost a glove halfway through, but managed just fine, doing the more intense course as well!
It was such a cool experience, I think I would do it every day if I could!
The rest of the day consisted of sitting around the fire, drinking more tea, taking a little walk and then heading back to Grenoble.
Although we were only (technically) gone for 1.5 days, it felt like we had taken a week long trip, and I was very much ready to lay in bed and relax.
Unfortunately something I wasn't able to do with all the crap that needed to get done- still haven't finished by the way.
As commented:
[10:26:55 PM] Kristi Hall: gotta finish this stuff
[10:26:55 PM] Kristi Hall: need to finish the blog to get it off my mind
[10:26:59 PM] Kristi Hall: to finish my internship application
[10:27:03 PM] Kristi Hall: to start on my expose
[10:27:08 PM] Kristi Hall: to think about washing clothes
[10:27:11 PM] Kristi Hall: in order to pack
[10:27:20 PM] Kristi Hall: in order to finish my expose by the time I leave
[10:27:28 PM] Kristi Hall: and still have some time to sleep
[10:27:36 PM] Kristi Hall: and get things I need before I go
[10:27:45 PM] Kristi Hall: like the gloves I lost the day after I bought them
[10:28:13 PM] Kristi Hall: gahhhh

I leave for Prague on Wednesday- how I'm going to get everything done by then, I'm not sure. And it doesn't help that I think I'm getting sick. My throat is Killing me!

A party ain't a party till.....

This is just a quick little update.. nothing too extravagant.
Monday night was brilliant! I randomly met two really cool British girls while signing up for an InteGre rendez-vous this weekend to the mountains and ended up hanging out with them the rest of the evening. We met up with a friend of mine who took us to this this awesome swing dancing class/ thing.. anyway. Had a wonderful time. Went out for some hot chocolate afterward, since it's getting cold here now. It literally went from summer to winter, completely skipping fall in one weekend (the weekend I just so happened to be laying on the beach!) So I come back freezing, lol.
And then last night was definitely a good one. I decided to have another Fromage et Chocolat Fondue soiree. Loads of friends to celebrate the wonderful Tuesday night with. It's amazing how awesome people are and the variety that's in a group! After the deliciousness.. some of us headed out to Druid's Pub (mon pub prefere!) to listen to the live music, cheers and be sociable. :) The evening ended with me being welcomed to come play some music and sing one night and potentially do a set there. (side note: MUST GET GUITAR ASAP!)

I've been dragging today... but it's been really productive. Got everything set up to get my "carte de sejour." Class was class... and it's set- we have everything set up for Eastern Europe!!!

Departure: Next Wednesday. Prague, Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia and then Istanbul! Here I come!!

This weekend: What awesome french word starts with "S" that I could dress up as???
And you know who will be sliding down ropes from trees- me! (I don't know what it's called in english?) French: Accro-branche.
Anywho.. tonight is a night in, need a break and time to relax. Although I have to start doing exposes and apply for an internship... that doesn't give me much of a break does it?

A bientot!

Antibes et Nice

Friday afternoon, I headed toward the bus stop. While waiting for Priscilla and Fabi I thought about how great this weekend was going to be in Antibes. I was excited to head to another part of France and explore a little more of the french culture. I was still pretty tired from Thursday night. Although I didn't go out with the others, we still celebrated Rose's birthday until it was late and I had class at 8:00am Friday morning.
(side thought: I can't believe my 21st birthday is in less than 1 month and 1/2!)
After getting picked up by our "covoiturage" we were on our way to Antibes. What Fabi and I thought was only going to be a 2 hour car ride, turned out to be a 5 hour car ride! It got dark dark fast and the mountains faded around me. The stars were shining bright though the window and I thought they were brighter than I'd seen in a long time, but then realized this is probably because I haven't seen this many stars in over a month now. And as the curvy mountains roads took us from point A to point B, I felt them wrap around my imagination. I imagined flying off the mountain.. soaring into the sky, to the stars, to my dreams. These were some of the most dangerous mountains I've ever been on, and if it weren't for be being scared shitless I think I would have thrown up from car sickness. Tried to sleep the rest of the way and we finally arrived around 10 something p.m. where I met up with Amit. We just hung out Friday night and most of the day Saturday before I went off exploring Antibes. I walked around Antibes searching for the beach Amit showed me Friday night, stopped a few places to look around and eventually ended up at this beautiful place I searched for most deeply.
While sitting there, gazing out into the blue, here are a few things I wrote:
Waves crashing all around the rocks beneath my feet. Sun shining on a wall built no less than 200 years ago to stand as a fortress. Watching the boats rolling by, wishing I was cruising on the water with them, thinking about all the good times I had this summer with friends on the boat in Nashville. I keep trying to remember- I'm in France!- It still doesn't seem like it. And whatever happens here.. just happens. The water is a mucky blue- beautiful. I've only ever seen one other thing this color as beautiful. His eyes. Although I've been in France before, I've seen more of her beauty in the past month (that I didn't even know she had). Now sitting on the beach having just put my feet in the calm, cool water, soaking in the sun, enjoying the breeze and listening to the sound of the waves crash and the jet skis in the background. It's absolutely wonderful. There's a cute little boy playing naked on the shore and a couple screaming trying to get one another in the water. A pigeon is pecking beside me in the sand scavenging for food. I didn't think to bring my bathing suit with me out on my little walk, so I wish this was a nude beach, I wasn't to feel the rush of the waves. I feel at peace as the wind blows through my hair and I'm standing on the rocks looking out until the world folds down. Mountains in the distance and sounds of church bells ring in my ears. There's only one thing missing.. Thankfully there is a beautiful, faint rainbow, in the distance that's letting me know that there is something at the end!
I walked back to Amit's and we went to Cannes to spend a nice night eating dinner at a Japanese restaurant where I had some really good Shashimi, and then went to see Mary and Max. Retired after slept like a baby until the next day when I got up a little earlier than usual to go to Nice. Caught a ride with this guy who was heading there so I didn't have to wait another hour for the train. Explored Nice the rest of the day. Went to the Chateux at the top of the mountain, ate, and then changed into my bathing suit. How relaxing it was to lay out at the beach again! Unfortunately I didn't realize how much I loved sand until I was walking to the water and there were stones beneath my feet. Trying to avoid slipping and falling getting into the water was very difficult and I almost didn't succeed a few times lol!
I got a nice sorbet and listened to an orchestra in the vieux ville before heading towards the bus station to catch a train back to Antibes. I got to try Socca, with somewhat of a very soft, not all the way cooked, corn bread consistency, pretty tasty.
Unfortunately on the way back from Nice, I got lost trying to find the stop I was supposed to get off at (it totally wasn't even there!) and our covoiturage had to come find me- I felt pretty bad about it. The stars were even more beautiful on the way back. And from there, it's been back to the same routine with classes and school work. The weekends are what I live for. However, we always tend to find something extravagant to do during the week at some point! Speaking of tomorrow: another soiree- fromage et chocolat fondue, et alors a Druid's Pub pour la musique et beaucoup des boires! :)

Music playing in my ears

Just came back from a long run on this beautiful October night, which feels more like summer- trés "à l'arrache" - probably because I was looking in the mirror today and saw how much weight I've gained from cheese and bread! It felt good. Relaxing. I felt like I could run forever. I needed it.
Change of plans- Morocco decided to have a holiday this weekend. Meaning, the ferry that we were supposed to catch from Seville to Morocco would not be allowed in on Friday. Who knows why!? But the trip was moved, which messed up all of our plans and made us have to reschedule to another weekend.
So.. now I'm going to Antibes, for sand in my toes and a lot of fun! I heard that Antibes is gorgeous with wonderful beaches, so I'm really looking forward to a nice fun-filled, relaxing weekend.
The last few nights have been pretty awesome. I decided to throw a little soiree two nights ago with loads of fondue (fromage et chocolat)! It was excellent- man do I love cheese. Enjoyed everyone's company and will try to put the pictures up soon.
I've been pretty busy lately (classes and everything :)
But I still have time for having fun. Last night.. wheww last night was, well let's just say it was a Tuesday and we rolled deep with about 30 friends. Enough said.
One high point of the night- Someone decided to put "I will Survive" on as we were all socializing before going out, well... we all know what that song signifies, so I said, "if you're going to hear this song, you're going to hear it right! Put on the karaoke version!" I got up on the table and started singing my little heart out!
Fun times.
Well I'm off now- people on my hall keep knockin' on my door to come to the floor party in the kitchen, so instead of being just "l'americain" I will go socialize and attempt to rack my brain for french!

Getting Excited!

Things are starting to happen! :)
Next weekend I will be in Morocco. How exciting. Although I didn't get to go to October Fest this weekend (really sad about that) I still had a good weekend.
Thursday night consisted of meeting Nathalie (awesome girl) at the Hilite concert on campus. Interesting music, and she introduced me to some really cool people. But I ended up leaving kind of early because my knee was hurting from earlier that day from the trampo session for my snowboarding class.
Thank goodness we don't have classes on Friday's for a while anymore. I really looked forward to sleeping in on Friday and just being able to hang out without worrying about anything. Since I couldn't go to October Fest, I had thought about going to Lyon for the day on Friday, but I decided to save the money for Morocco and Eastern Europe.
Friday night we had a little soiree, that turned into going out to O'Callahan's.. another little Irish pub, that closed way too early, so we stopped at this other place that stayed open till 2am. Unfortunately, we had missed the last tram by then, so we had to walk by. NOT good on the knee that was already hurting, but I made only to have my knee killing me the next day.
Word from the wise: Don't don't a pain killer on an empty stomach!
So I spend the rest of the feeling terribly sick, staying in bed until it finally passed and I had thrown up all the liquid's I had drank thank morning.
Went out to see "Le petit Nicolas" last night, too cute!
And just came back, finished my book and went to sleep.

That book made me really think about things... I went to sleep feeling kind of low.. which probably made me dream the dream I had.
I've had this dream before...but this time it was a little different.

I'm running, and I'm running on some back roads in Suffolk. It's dusk. I can barely see. But nothing hurts when I'm running. It almost feels like I'm floating. But I feel my feet touch the road every time. I keep running. It keeps getting darker. I try to make it home before it gets pitch dark. But for some reason, I can't make myself run faster. I'm just at the same pace. I'm fighting, fighting, fighting and yet I just keep the floating steps at the same steady speed. I pass someone else running on the road. I could hear her thoughts and it scared me. I tried to run faster, but I couldn't. There was an emotion in her I couldn't figure out. It was almost angry. I tried to let her know everything was okay, but it didn't matter what I said, or thought. She could hear my thoughts too. Finally I passed her, but I kept hearing her think she's just up ahead, I can catch up. And then it was black. I couldn't see where I was running anymore. Trees were surrounding the road on both sides. I had to follow the road by how I could feel it under my feet, trying not to run off the road. I wasn't sure if I would make it, but when finally I escaped from the darkness, the night was lit by the moon. I kept running. I was close to home now. I knew were I was. I only had two more roads to go. It was starting to get lighter. The moon was shining more brightly. There were people walking on the road in front of me. There were thinking things that I couldn't hear. Too many thoughts. I kept running, still with the same steadiness. Where was I going? I thought I was going home. I was running toward home, wasn't I? At that moment, I realized I had been running towards home, but not the physical home I thought I was running too, that was the opposite way.
I could see it, there was the sign that read Box Elder Road, I then I knew I wasn't far from home.. I was practically there, and that's where my heart belonged.
I woke up.

Le fût et touts mon nouvelle amis!

I have a tandem partner. Her name is Elise. I signed up through this program at the university called Integre (integration). I speak english, she speaks french (and come to find out she speaks awesome english too! She studied in California in high school for a year). So we had been talking online and text, and last night she texts me and says, "hey! what are you doing tonight?" "Uh.. nothing at the moment, why?" I replied.
"Okay! We'll be there in 2 minutes to pick you up."
Non, non... j'ai besoin de prendre un douche!!
2 minutes later I get the phone call saying she was down stairs. I hurry down, having no idea where I'm going, but she took me (in a car!) with some friends to a soiree that turned out to be quite fun! This was the first time I met Elise. :)
Somewhere in the night, I tried to explain the game THUMPER in french... and I almost pee'd my pants laughing so hard. And come to find out, keg's are called "Le fût" and mini kegs are called "le petit fût."
They have something here that mixes beer with limonade and tequila all in a mini-keg. My how tasty it was.
I feel like I'm understanding more french! Although it's coming at a slow rate, it still feels good to see some improvement. Thank God for having switched classes, too.
I'm losing my tan... I see my complexion getting whiter each day and it makes me sad.
Still haven't found my flash drive... it's really starting to worry me now.

Not able to go to Octobre Fest anymore this weekend. Too expensive, too short notice, and we didn't think we would be able to hitch all the way from Italy in a matter of 1 day!
Another time....

Trampo session for my snowboarding class again today! Freakin' sweet little metal snowboard gadget just for jumping on the trampoline. Got to do some cool stuff. Unfortunately the pressure strains my knee a little so I have to be careful not to overdo it.

Can't wait for Morocco. I'm totally going camel riding!
And for Eastern Europe. Bought the plane tickets yesterday from Istanbul, Turkey back to Geneve, Italy. Should be a great adventure!!!
I'll post the itinerary later for that trip!

The one to Morocco is pretty simple. Take a bus to Seville, Spain. From Seville to Morocco we catch a ferry across the Mediterranean and stay there for a few days and then head back! Nice weekend trip :)

Btw.. I found out it was a star. There's no mountain where the light was coming from. lol.

Soiree ce soir? How do I make accents with my keyboard??!?

Better days

Finally, I was switched to the other class... although it may be a little more difficult, it's still a blessing. I wasn't sitting there wanting to melt away in my chair because I was so bored.
I feel like I'm able to understand french more, even if I still can't speak it well (good sign?) let's hope so.
It's been hard trying to plan everything for the trips we want to take, and it's going to add up. I'm already poor. But I guess I expected this. I must do it while I have the opportunity!! Morocco, Eastern Europe, etc. Who knows when I'll get the chance again.
There was an international coffee today. Met some really cool people. Got a few compliments on my french (even the french couldn't hear my american accent!) It wasn't until I didn't understand the next thing he said that he realized I didn't actually speak french! lol
quite embarrassing-
I have to do some homework that I'm avoiding... I'm not used to having homework every night. I feel like I'm back in middle school.

Today I realized something: It's not age that makes you wise, it's experience.

I'm looking out my window and see something blinking in the distance. I can't tell whether it's a star in the sky, or a very dim light flickering on top of the mountain... maybe I'll ponder that for a while trying to think of how scared I am to make a 5 min oral presentation tomorrow on a topic I haven't even decided yet. (Changes in ___ (our country)- Thought: From 1954-2008 African American influence on America?

Second realization: I never called the United States, America, until I moved here.
Now, I'm from America, or Les Etats Unis (which is the Unites States in french- but I use America more now).

Still freakin' out that I can't find my flash drive... maybe someone stole it?

Ready for the snow... to snowboard... for the cold. I've already lost half my tan...

I think it's a star.

La lune est brillant!

A demain :)

Extraordinary :-)

So sorry I haven't written in a while. I've been super busy with the start of classes and everything going on. I'll briefly inform everyone about last week. I am in the slow class for french and it's killing me. I wanted to be in the lower level, but that's only because I thought it was going to be similar to a 300 to 400 level in french, well come to find out, I'm in French 102 all over again and I'm about to die. (Trying to get switched out!- Let's hope it works!)
Have had a lot of fun this past week.
Finally got a phone (not sure if I've mentioned that yet?) but I got a blackberry for 1 Euro!!! How exciting!
Just in case anyone wants to call me from the U.S., my number is: +33 06 99 41 44 97
The +33 is the country code and the rest is my phone number (c'est bizzare, at least I think).
Posting some new pictures on my photobucket about our soirees and our "class exploration" around Grenoble. Lots of history and neat photos of cool things. lol. Make sure to check them out.
SO..... I don't feel like my french is improving at all. I don't know what to do.
I guess it's only been about 2 1/2 weeks I've been in Grenoble, I can't expect too much, but for some reason I felt like it would have improved more by now? We'll see where it goes... I guess it can only go up from here (*as long as I get into a class that challenges me).
So the highlight of my week by far was the hiking/camping expedition to the Alps!
I can't remember what the name of the mountain we climbed was, but it sure was an exciting two days!
I'll post pictures (tons) from that too!
We left at 9am on Sunday, took the tram, to a bus (where we missed the stop) so we walked back to where we were supposed to get off and then walked half way up the mountain via road until we stopped at this quaint little village. From there, we hitch hiked! I had my first hitch hiking experience and it was awesome!!! :)
We set off on your hiking adventure by mid-day and stopped where we were supposed to stay that night, only to find out that 20 others were staying there that night too... we mingled, had linner and set off again. 2 hours later and soaking wet from the rain, we arrived at our second refuge, again, only to find out that a large family and their friends were staying there! By that time, it was close to night fall and we wouldn't be able to get to the next stop, so we decided to ask if we could share the refuge. Thankfully they all had tents and let us sleep in the cabin that night after our night of much needed wine and cheese and most of the food we had left. It was spectacular!! We set off the next morning, hiked to another location and hitch hiked back down to Grenoble. Although so fatigued, I washed all my wet clothes from the rain and some others, and then went to a movie (District 9- en francais!) Not too shabby.

Anyway, I'm sure I'm missing some things that happened in this last week, and they'll come to me later! (Oh.. I didn't have internet for 2 days- something wrong with the network here) But I'll be sure to be better this week about updating!

This weekend: October Fest- Munich, Germany
Next weekend: Morocco
The following weekend: possibly another hiking/camping trip?
The last week and 1/2 of October: Fall Vacation- Eastern Europe adventure!!!

Then comes Novembre- where things should settle down a little more, well... snowboarding season begins ;)
Plus, that's when I get to see some very awesome people!!!!

Life is full of adventure as long as you seek it!

A bientot! Bis!

Nights In and the Bastille

Saturday night was just a nice night of staying in, playing some cards and a crap load of laughter. I think Luke laughed so hard that he couldn't breathe> come to think of it, we all did.. fighting over coins and falling to the floor. (We played a variation of spoons) which I then suggested to some other friends the next night. All in all, hilariousness!
Yesterday I went with Tatiana to grab lunch. A huge plate full of delicious Mussels and fries for just 5Euro. That's my kind of deal. The goal was to get organized, and get everything planned out for the week, all written down in my planner, but that failed when someone suggested to head up to the Bastille.
Such a great idea. It was a very nice day. A few drops of rain at the top of the mountain, but perfect weather otherwise. Not to mention I got a hell of a workout hiking back down the mountain. My legs were shaking by the time we made it to the bottom and I was exhausted.
I headed back with some of the group afterward and then went to Richy's for dinner with some other friends. A delicious meal was made in the common kitchen and we sat down and all ate together, pretty awesome I thought, knowing that never happened at VCU for me. We played every card game we could think of and dreaded having to wake up early this morning for our first day of classes.
Today turned out pretty well though. I got a lot taken care of. I still don't have a bank card, meaning I still don't have a phone. I also got placed in the second lowest level of french (GO ME!) because I got really nervous during our oral exam and froze half the time, thinking too much about what she was saying and what I was trying to say. As I watched her write A2 on the sheet, I couldn't help but become a little discouraged.
Didn't stop me for long though.
I haven't done much else today besides play on the computer. It's great to have internet. Even though I have no phone, I feel like I have some kind of connection to the rest of the world now.
Tomorrow is Officially our first day of our french class, at 8:30am... who wants to get up that early, really!?

More updates on how bad my french really is.. bientot!

Playing some Catch Up!

I officially have internet in my room now! YAY! :)
Although, I haven't been on it much since I've been trying to stay out and live it up before classes start on Monday.
I must update on the last few days. It's been pretty awesome, I must say.
Thursday was supposed to be the day to get things taken care of.. and only one that actually happened. I'm getting pretty fed up with the lunch breaks here being 2 hours long! Needless to say, I have a lot more to do when the week starts back up on Monday, along with the headache of french that's going to come my way! On another note, Thursday has been so far one of the coolest days yet. I only think this is because I got to dress really country (more explanation later). After some friends and I were coming back from le centre ville, we went to the Closing Ceremony for Welcome week and followed a really awesome band, listening to them play as the tunes rolled through the campus. The final stop landed in front of EVE (an on campus student organization, restaurant and bar) where were saw loads of people dressed in Old Western gear... I forgot I had seen the flyer about it! People here really go all out for it and I love it! You could never find so many participants like that in the U.S. So Richy and I decided to head back, put on some western gear and head back over to join the crowd. I saw a guy I had met earlier in the evening while signing up for an audition for a musical(yes, I'm going to audition for a french musical-wish me luck!) and talked with him in french for a bit after dancing to Cottin Eyed Joe in my short jean skirt, black tank with a white button up tee tied at the waist and my boots.. not to forget the awesome braided pigtails! Country!?
That night didn't stop here.. I followed the road back to Berlioz (my residence) and went to a soiree with a huge group of friends that ended up in the middle of a "football" field.. nice- and so much french!

That moves me to yesterday... the things that were supposed to be taken care of Thursday, still didn't get finished Friday.. But the evening was spectacular. We had a wonderful sit down dinner with dessert at Villa Borghese Ristorant at Place Claveyson. Mirion (our waitress) invited us out to the NOX club, and of course we were all for it! Before going to the NOX, we hit up my favorite little Irish pub again, went back to change for the second time (into dress attire) and then headed to the club. From there we danced the night away until 4:15am and then walked back to our residences. Woah, I bet I burned 1000 calories last night!

Today I woke up to go to the market, but when I got there, it was only food products, and as much as I love food.. I'm trying to stay away from eating too much of it! Man did I just want to buy all of the cheese though!
I walked around by myself all day, soaking up the culture and the hot sun shining over the mountains while I watched all the people walk around me.
I wish I had Oeli! I miss his so much. Everyone has dogs around here, and they take them wherever they go... today I saw a mini dachshund and I couldn't help the frown that came over my face. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera this weekend (due to a dead battery) but the memories are priceless. Images of pigeons pecking at my feet as I sit on a bench in a newly discovered area of Grenoble with the smell of fresh air and freshly baked bread is still burning in my mind.

It's only been a week and 2 days since I arrived here but it hasn't failed my expectations yet. It's been quite a saving grace.. but.

Just a few short little poems I've written in the past few days:
As days count down.. I feel my heart ache more Tears fall to the floor I pick myself off the ground. The mountains hiding my sorrow And surrounded by new faces I move along these new places But I will still see your face tomorrow.
: Today is a day I'm fighting hard.. To forget about the battle scars When the wind rolls by Please take my thoughts And take them anywhere I'm not.
: High mountains block the sun to shine.. Clouds roll in to chill my day It's hot out but still I hide To camouflage this dismay.

The beginnings..

Last night turned out to be grand! We all headed to town a little earlier this time.. we rolled deep with about 11 people and figured we must be able to find some where! We were supposed to go to that big international gathering, but when we couldn't find where exactly it was, we decided to just stop at the nearest place.
We stopped at this bar (don't know the name), stayed there for a while just talking and carrying on before we headed out to the Guinness pub again. I love that little Irish pub. They always have live music playing, it's always a fun time and last night I actually met some french people! :) Goal Met!
Today I went to some more orientation meetings, and then headed over to the sports center to sign up. You have to love the french system! You must have this before you can do this, but you won't get that until you have this and you won't have that before this day. Don't forget you need this, this and this. Make sure you go here for this and there for that, etc... blah blah blah. Fml. So I'm going to sign up for snowboarding tomorrow when I get my student card, scuba diving and maybe somethings else if it seems like I will have some time ;) They have EVERYTHING here you could think of.. from fencing to rock-climbing, from scuba diving to rugby, basketball to yoga, etc. You get the point. Think of it, I'm sure it's a sport here.
While I was in town later this day on some tour with InteGre, an organization to help out international students, I decided to depart from them, 1. because my feet were hurting from the new little shoes I bought. 2. because I had a lot of things I needed to do today; and just so happened on the way to the Tram to pass a guitar shop. I stopped in and played with some of the guitars for a while and it felt really good. It's been almost 3 weeks now and my calluses are slowly going away :(
I need money. I'm on zero after tomorrow and I still have to pay my social security and housing insurance. ehh.. too much to do.
Classes start Monday. My french is only improving slowly because I've been around a lot of english speaking people. The french have a way of keeping their distance although there is a group of people who always sit in front of my building that talk to me in French and it helps! They're really nice too!

Alright.. must meet friends at 7pm for dinner!

A bientot!

The end of the weekend and more

Still no internet access. I'm currently sitting in a building somewhere connecting to random WiFi so I can get on here.
It really does suck. I get internet on Thursday though.
So to tell about the rest of last weekend... Saturday night didn't turn out to what we were expecting it to. When a large group of friends and I went out well after 11pm, we found out that hard way that things close pretty early around here (with the exception of the disco tech the other night that didn't close until 4am) all of downtown, the bars, the restaurants all shut down starting at 12am. Some last until 1, and just a few other until 2am... so as we walked around trying to find a nice, cheap little bar to relax and enjoy conversation, we saw most places kicking people out, by this time is was past 12am. Walking around trying to find somewhere to go was pretty much the extent of our night. Because none of us know the city very well, it was hard to pin-point a place to go... so instead of walking back like the night before, we hopped on one of the last trams back to campus and just hung out there.. it turned into a pretty fun and interesting night with A LOT of laughter.
Sunday, I found out, is literally the day of rest. Nothing is open! I'm not used to that anymore...
So I got together with some of the group and while we were sitting on the grass debating what we should do since no where was open, I saw a nice little volleyball game going on in the distance. So I said my goodbyes and headed over there, hoping someone would feel bad for me sitting alone and ask me to join. Well... it worked. I heard some people talking english, so I asked them what "all of this" was about. Come to find out, the 100+ people out there playing games "football," rugby, volleyball, were all a part of the newly joined engineering school and were celebrating their collaboration of all the schools together. So one thing led to another and I ended up playing 3 solid games of volleyball with some students. It was quite interesting, because during the 3rd game we decided to switch up the teams and I somehow ended up on the team with all french people! We had a good game with a failed ending, but it was still quite fun even though I couldn't always understand what they were saying while in between turns (I got the gist, however).
We all parted our own ways and while I was heading back to my residence, some of the friends I had met while playing invited me to head to the Bastille with them that evening. I didn't have any plans so of course I tagged along, and I'm so glad I did. The view from the top of the mountain was amazing! And I really enjoyed riding the little bubble up to the top. We explored the old ruins from when Grenoble was liberated and took a 2.something kilometer hike up to the top. (I still haven't figured out this metric system yet!) While up there, met these 2 french guys who thankfully gave us a ride back down the mountain to save us from the pouring rain and fall of night! We all decided to grab some grub before heading back and had wonderful french conversation (I, of course, just sat and listened) while we ate. I hung out with the two guys in the dorm before I headed off to bed, since I had to wake up at 7:45 the next morning.
Which leads me to yesterday. We had our first day of orientation, all in french. But I do feel like it's growing on me. I still can't speak it very well.. but the more I hear it, the more I understand it. Which is good because classes start next Monday and that's going to be the true test! Btw.. I finally opened a bank account! On my own, by myself, with no help. Wheww... is all I have to say to that. Thankfully the banker was patient enough to deal with my lack of french and it turned out to be quite hysterical. In stead of getting frustrated when I kept telling her my address at my residence when the whole time she was just asking for my E-mail address, she busted out in laughter, joking with me as a friend would. The rest of the day just turned into nap time before I hung out with Christian at McDonald's to get on the internet for a quick bit.
Today as just been more orientation meetings and such.
It's been dreadfully dreary. Rainy and chilly. I'm wearing mt Suffolk sweatshirt today and I feel at home (thanks Rach!).
I'll be heading out tonight with some friends for an international social at a local pub downtown tonight! Should be awesome :)
More to come and pictures to upload when I get my internet on Thursday!!! (that's also the day I get to sign up for sports!- snowboarding, volleyball and gymnastics, here I come!)

Hope all is well back home.

<3
Kristi

First night out with new friends!

Woah! Last night was awesome!
Not only did I speak French the entire night, I had a blast doing it :)
I went with some new friends to this little pizzeria where I had "le pizza 4 fromage!"
It was good, but there was some sort of cheese that I would definitely not prefer on a pizza but just on bread. It didn't mix well with the other flavors. I feel like that's weird for me to say.. humm?
The nights have been beautiful and the crisp air is good for my allergies (not my cold though!) I walk everywhere here and if I continue the way I have been eating and all the walking I've been doing, I'm going to be a rail by the time I get back.
Last night showed just how much walking we do here. After the exciting Tram ride to the city center or MC2 stop where we met a lot of other students and where the Disco Tech was, we enjoyed a fun filled night of speaking french, dancing and mingling! I didn't realize how much I liked that kind of music until last night. It's so easy to dance to!!! (And Jessica, I even made sure to dance your dance, especially for you! I wish you were here with me!) Unfortunately there was this really drunk girl there that I wanted to punch in the face because she was all over the place and even stepped on my freakin' foot (and that really hurt, and it's still... hurting!- Ref. Ouch,Charlie bit my finger!)
So by this time is was.. I dunno, let's say 4am when they closed, so we had 3 options... wait around until 5:20AM for the first TRAM of the morning, call a taxi or start walking.... Well, I don't know how we came to choose the walking option, but 5 or so miles and an 1 hour and 1/2 later, we make it to our residences.. as we see the first TRAM passing us on the way. Over all, it was quite a fun night. Can't wait to see what happens tonight!!
Orientation starts Monday, I need a phone very badly, I need more money, and everything closes early here. I think my cold is finally starting to go away though.. I wonder if it was the 5 mile walk last night with just a tank top on that triggered the departure.. Something to ponder!?

A DEMAIN

Grenoble! Je suis arrive!!!!

Finally- I've made it to Grenoble.
I knew we were close when I started seeing gorgeous scenery and mountains surrounding our train. I tried to take some pictures but the train was going so fast it was hard to get a good one. Getting all of our luggage (Diana and me) in one Taxi was funny. I felt bad for the taxi driver who had to put all of it in there. When we got the residence office, the lady only spoke french. I should have guessed this, but I hadn't really prepared myself for it, so it was quite overwhelming. Since I've been in France, I've always had someone who spoke english/ french to translate if I didn't understand, but it was more difficult this time when neither Diane or myself are fluent. We got our keys and then started in the direction the lady had told us and found ourselves a few flights up in the wrong building! Thankfully some painters had helped us carry all of our luggage and they were nice enough to help bring them down too. I settled in my room 3 more flights later (no elevators) and was so exhausted already but knew that I needed to get so many things. IKEA wasn't too far away, so we ventured out and I spent 103.00 Euro on bedding, bathroom necessities, etc. and another 60.00 Euro on some groceries. Things are SOO expensive here! Luckily they provide us with a small fridge, so I was able to get milk, juice, etc.
Unfortunately this cold has yet to go away! It's killing me. I have to blow my nose every 5 minutes and I sound like I have a frog in my throat.
It didn't hold me back though. Last night Diana and I went exploring the city.
We went to the city center and moseyed around until we came to this little Irish Pub. So we went in to have a drink and ended up meeting the two awesome English men here on business, with no accomplishment of what we had intended for the night, to meet FRENCH people, our night ended in great conversation and good beer.
Unfortunately we didn't want to pay for a taxi, so we had to catch the tram back to the university around 12:30am and retired as soon as we got back.
What a busy but fantastic day!

Today has been a little more relaxed. Just went around campus and met Fabienne, the ISEP coordinator for Grenoble. I then went of a hunt for internet access all around my residence. Mean while, overheard some people walking past speaking english, so I decided that today was going to be the day that I made friends (french or not)! The two guys are from England and yes, just as I had heard, speak English. Instantaneous friendship! The rest of the day has just been going to IKEA again for some things I didn't get yesterday (toilet seat cover- I found this very important last night when I almost fell into my toilet trying to sit down and pee), some silverware and cups.
I've just been hanging out with these two guys most of the day and Diana while planning our adventures for tonight. I believe it consists of a DiscoTech!? Anytime there is dancing- You Know I'm There!

more to come...

2nd to Last and Last Night in Paris :(

Yesterday was quite an adventure.
We started the day off with an excellent boat ride on the Seine, seeing all of Paris by water, all of the monuments, taking pictures, etc. It was beautiful. We then went to the Eiffel Tower... I have to say that my experience this time at the Eiffel Tower was not as good as the last time. As you should know, I'm a very impatient person. Waiting in that long time does not suit me! On top of that, when we finally made it to the top to watch the beautiful sunset, there were too many freakin' people to see anything... so instead of me being able to watch a peaceful sunset like I did on L'arc de Triomphe the other day, I had to spend it with a lady smacking her stupid gum in my ear. Can we say "GRRRR!" So after, we sat in front of the lit tower to watch some awesome fire dancers. The two boys have been practicing for 4 years and were amazing. How spectacular it was to watch them with the Eiffel tower right in view.
Frog and the Princess turned out to be a great little student bar on Tuesday nights with cocktails and pints for only 5Euro. Surprisingly our bartender was from Arizona and she spoke english!! YAY. I found out the equivalent to Bud Light- Naturale Blonde! Just in case anyone else needed to know.
This place ended up being way too crowded and filled with a lot of younger students, so we left and went to Chez George! This place was awesome! It was a winery and had a bar in the cellar. It felt like I was almost in a cavern with the damp, mildewed air, but with the music, wine and friends to accompany, it turned into a cute, quaint choice of destination for a Tuesday night! After we left Chez George, we walked around the streets of Paris for a bit before we left to come home.

Today- Bar des Artists was our first stop. Jean-Mark and I met Frederique, Diana and Camille here to eat an authentic french meal. We had foie de gras (which I found out for the second time, I do NOT like) and fried goat cheese (amazing!) for a starter. I chose "poisson" (fish) for my meal when I should have chosen the steak, but I was told by a certain person (JM) lol, that it was on a kabob. So I went with the fish, which was good, but tasted just like something I would catch in a pond, and for 14Euro, I was hoping for something with a little more flavor. The dessert, however, hit the spot. Something like a wonderful lava chocolate cake with white chocolate sauce around it.. yummmm! Yves, met us for dessert and un cafe and then we all, besides JM, headed out to Mont Martre. Spent some time there, walking around and such. The boys left, and while I was waiting for Fred and Diana to go to the top and come back, I sat on a ledge of the church and wrote while the breeze filled my lungs with cool air and a man played violin in the background. I felt at peace.
I asked the girls to go to Le Louvre with me. It was the only big monument I hadn't been to while I was here this week and it was my last day in Paris. My last meal was an amazing Italian restaurant with Frederique, her parents and Diana.
And here I am, on my last day in Paris, with a stuffy nose and sore throat, but still enjoying every minute of this trip! It will not bring me down!
Long day tomorrow.
Leaving for Grenoble around 9:30am, arriving around 12:30pm and then trying to lug all of our suitcases to the university is going to be a sight to see. I'll try to take some pictures along the way!
Who knows how long all of this will take. Might call for a night out tomorrow ;)

More to come....

Eiffel Tower, Moulin Rouge, Montmartre!!! Day 4 of Paris Exploration :)

I walked so much today I was exhausted by the time we sat down for dinner in a quite little French Chinese restaurant in Jean-Mark's ville Reuil Malmaison. Did you know that General Tso's Chicken was actually not a real chinese dish. It's roots are uncertain but it's been discovered that it became popular only in the United States and Canada. I wish I had've known this before trying to order it here in France. JM and I had a really nice, long and relaxing dinner over wine, our meals, my sad attempts at french and deep thought.

We set out around 12 noon and headed to Montmartre, a beautiful history church at the top of the hill in Paris, seen from everywhere. But stopped by Moulin Rouge first to see the Red Windmill at work. Well of course you know it doesn't actually spin, but I got some great photos of that "part of town!"
In the church we saw this girl alone..she had been up in the tower with us and then we saw her again in the crypt, so of course, knowing me, I went up to her to ask her if she was by herself. Just my luck, she didn't speak english, even worse, she didn't speak french! Last resort, using the little spanish my roommate Sarah taught me to communite. (Not the correct spelling) "Me amamo Kristi!" etc. We were going to invite her to join us on our adventure through Paris, but being as we both spoke no spanish, we figured that might be a little confusing. So we said our goodbyes.

In Montmartre, I love the little cobblestone streets and small cafe's that bring character to this town. It's so different from the city of Paris that you could kind of consider it its own small village, says JM. And you can definitely see where he's coming from. We ate ice cream and laughed as a vendor told some girls who didn't know french that the flavors were "la voiture, la rue, les autoroutes" In english- "the car, the road, and the highways!" They all sound like great flavors to me! I think I'll have la rue!

It was such a beautiful day today. I wish I had worn a sun dress. The breeze felt wonderful and the air was soft and warm. Jean-Mark and I sat in front of the Eiffel Tower for about an hour, just soaking up the sun and the thought of being where we were. I played in the water and took pictures and just relaxed until it was time to meet JM's best friend. We walked around a little and the headed back home.

Over all- an amazing day!
2 days until Grenoble!

Versailles et Le Arc de Triomphe

Today was another day of exploration! So many pictures!

This morning, Jean-Mark, his mom and I went to the market. How I love Europe!
It was everything you see in the movies. There are vendors everywhere; fish, cheese, fruit meat- all fresh! There are vendors with clothes for so cheap. 5 Euro for a pair of really nice jeans, shirts, dresses, etc. Shoes, boots for 10 Euro, it's amazing. I wanted to buy so much but stopped myself because I knew it would be hard to carry everything to Grenoble. I hope they have these markets in Grenoble, and for that inexpensive price!
Jean-Mark's mom made some really good lasagna, but it's not like lasagna in the U.S... there were vegetables, onions, different meat, and of course cheese, but it tasted completely different. Of course I picked out the veggies and onions, but it was still very good.
We then went to pick up Diana and we all went to le Chateaux de Versailles! I didn't go the first time, so it was a new experience for me. Actually today was an entire new Parisian experience for me. Because after Versailles we went to a cute little Cafe on Le Champs Elysee and got a drink before going up Le Arc de Triomphe to watch the sunset. Paris is so beautiful at dusk.

More adventures tomorrow!

A little more of Paris

Such an amazing experience already, yesterday, I met Diana to get our train tickets from Paris to Grenoble. Getting there was quite the adventure. I got lost on the metro, because for some reason only the purple line went to St. Lazare.. I found out the long way. We went to the SNRF (or something like that) and had to use our french in order to get the ticket and our 12-25carte because the teller didn't speak english. But it was okay. We made it through. We walked around quite a bit and took the metro to the 5th district? to grab a drink and sit at an outdoor cafe to people-watch. We ended up at this little bakery and talked for a while as we enjoyed Parisian life. After Diana left, Jean-Mark came to pick me up and we went to Notre Dame and walked around Paris while waiting to have dinner with a couple of his friends. We ate at a restaurant that was delicious (I don't remember the name) and I enjoyed all the french surrounding me.
Next: THE OZ. This is a bar/ dance club and Sofie, Jean-Mark and myself heading to this wonderful place where we danced the night away until 4am!
Jean-Mark and I searched for an open McDonald's but unfortunately, they're not 24/7 like in the United States. So we went to the only open place= Gyro's et Frites and finally heading back and got home somewhere around 5am.
Today was a very lazy day other than having to wake up at 9:30am to go open a bank account and try to get a phone.
Once again, I wasn't able to get a phone because I didn't have something they needed from the bank, which I don't receive for another week or so... just my luck.
We came back and took a long nap and then sat around to watch the new 90210 en francais before heading over to Fred's new flat for her house warming party.
It's already been so much fun since I've been here.
I need to start speaking french more... but I bet that will come more when I get to Grenoble.
more updates as the days unfold!

Kristi

Mon Premier Jour en France!

Wow! Paris, you are truly awesome!

I made it here. Finally. After all this time and all of the troubles I went through, I'm here.
My first day here was pretty grand. After the unfortunate flight delay of my original flight that was supposed to have left at 2:55pm yesterday afternoon, I ended up being re-booked on another flight to Newark, NJ that left at 5:40pm. At least I got to spend a little extra time with my parents and my aunt and uncle. They were sad to see me go, but happy for the adventure I was about to set off on.
After landing in Newark, I waited until 9:25pm to hop on the plane to Paris. This whole mix up messed everything up. Jean-Mark was supposed to pick me up at the airport at my first flight's arrival time of 6:55am, but instead, once I arrived, I ended up having to take a taxi all the way to his work. I felt so bad intruding, but he was kind enough to take me back to his place on his lunch break.
Even though I slept some on the plane, I was completely exhausted, so I passed out for about 2 hours to catch up on the time difference. (I guess it hasn't kicked in yet, because it's 3 something AM and I'm still awake)!
Once I woke up, I took a shower, got ready and decided it was time to explore the city. Before I left, I met JM's dad on the way out and discovered that my french is VERY bad. Remember: all of this is on my own. JM was at work. I had no help and was trying to communicate completely in french, since JM's parents don't speak any english.
So I set out and head to la Defense. It's a HUGE mall that connects to the metro/train. Let's just put it this way. la Defense stresses me out. I went around in circles trying to find this one store called l'Orange, so I could purchase a phone. I finally found it... an hour or so later and then ended up having to wait another 45 min just to be seen in the store.
True story: When my name is called to be seen in the store, I'm praying she speaks english. "Bonjour!" "Bonjour...Anglais?" "Non, a very little." (Thinking in my head- Oh crap! This is Not going to be good!) So, I suck it up, take a deep breath and Go for it! Little did I know, she actually understood me! Hot dog! So we discuss a few more things, en francais, and then she tells me I have to have my bank account open before I can get the plan. FML. I just spent all this time for nothing!? The bank is already closed, I'd been waiting for quite a while and the errand day seemed pointless. So I go back to JM's and have dinner with him and his parents and then we venture out to the night life of Paris. This city has so much culture. It's been 4 years since I've been here, and it continues to show me something new. We walked along Les Champs Elysee and headed over to Le Arc de Triumph. We ended up at this bar where I had my first drink in Paris and toasted to my French Adventure! More walking along Les Champs Elysee and made our last stop JM's favorite bridge, where we sat and laughed and watched the Eiffel Tower as it glowed in the night. The wind was chilly and the air cold, but nothing could numb the blessings of being in this beautiful city, rich of architecture and adventure!
And now, here I am still awake, wondering what the next year of my life is going to be like. I'm not sure words could even describe how much it means to me to be over here. It's like a dream come true. A dream that will become a new chapter of my life.

Notes of the Day:
1. Limonade- isn't really Lemonade
2. Soldiers are still walking around with guns
3. La Defense- causes me to go crazy
4. MUST improve my french
5. Need to eat cheese ASAP!

Tomorrow awaits me and so does Paris!

Woot!


Kristi

8 Days Until Departure!!

It's getting close.
Only 8 days away until I officially leave for France.
I'll be flying into Paris, France on September 2, 2009 and staying with Jean-Mark for about a week before heading to Grenoble, France!

I have so much to do, so much packing, getting things organized, figuring out what the heck I'm going to pack and how I'm going to fit everything for a year into 2 suitcases.
I'm also worried about this whole language thing.. ehh.
At least I have my plane ticket, my visa and all my documentation I need for France taken care of..

On another note: I'm so ready for this new adventure.. this new chapter of my life. I'm ready to leave all the sour past memories behind and start something new!

I'm back on track ladies and gents and will be updating frequently now!!

Wish me luck and say some prayers for my travels.

Love,
Kristi

Going Away

Sorry it's been a while since I've updated. I've been super busy with life, figuring everything out, having fun and trying to get back to Nashville.
I had an amazing Going Away party.. since I will be in Nashville the rest of the summer and will be leaving for France as soon as I come home, the Going Away Party still happened.
I'm going to miss everyone for a year!
But life brings adventures and you've gotta take em!

Right now, I'm trying to figure out what to do about a car this summer. We'll see.
I'm trying to get to Nashville as soon as possible. lol

Things have changed so much, and everything seems to be so different in my life right now. Although it's weird having this realization and trying to figure out where I play in all of this, I see it as another stepping stone to where God wants me to be with my life.

Want to enjoy myself while I can!

What a Trip! Nashville, I love you!

Wow... Let me tell you. When I went to Nashville, I had no idea what it was going to be like. But I came back having one of the most amazing times ever!
Let me start from where I left off.
The last you heard was the day after I arrived to Nashville and I was terribly upset over Oeli. Well I was that upset for the first few days I was in Nashville. I wasn't sure if Oeli was going to make it or not, and it was tearing me up!
Good News: Oeli is alive and getting better. He was even chasing the laser light today :)
Now you are wondering when I came back home, I'm sure. And this is where the story begins ;)
Last Saturday I was so worried about Oeli, and my parents were pressuring me into coming home to take care of him, if, "I really loved him." Did I mention that I was 11 hrs away?
So I start on my adventure home Saturday morning... I made it about 35 min. before I start smelling something. Just so happens my steering wheel was blocking the light that showed me my car had overheated to the point of DISASTER! While I was sitting in a little service station's parking lot waiting for my engine to cool off, a really nice man named Rick stopped to help me out. Long story short. He lived in the area, knew someone who could look at my car for me on a Saturday. Waited for over an hour for the tow truck, in a church parking lot off some random exit, just to get it carried to Tommy's house. Ya'll should hear the "Stranded" song I wrote while I was waiting... so I stayed at Rick's with his son and wife while I was waiting to figure out what was wrong. He has a daughter who is my age and felt bad knowing if it were her, he would hope someone would help her out.
By this time, I knew I wouldn't be able to make it home that day, so I called Austin back up to make sure I could stay there another night. Little did I know that after Tommy took my thermostat out, I wouldn't make it but 15 miles down the road... almost at the interstate exit.
Cars sure are heavy when you have to push them out of the road all by yourself, going UP a hill.
So Tommy came to met me up again.. and I called AAA for the second time today for another tow. But this time my car wouldn't even start. Come to find out I blew a head gasket and who knows what else. So my car is still right outside of Nashville.
That day I went back to see exactly what I was going to do with my car and ended up hanging out with Heather and a few of her friends (Tommy's daughter).
Not only did I try to procrastinate coming back home after my car broke down.. but I was trying to think of it as God was telling me it wasn't my time to go home.
And I'm so glad everything worked out the way it did.
From Monday through last night... I had one of the best times of my life. I love the nightlife of Nashville, the people there, and random people you get to meet and things that happen.. Which is why I'll be staying there this summer.
After the $$ I have to pay for Oeli to live, and the $$ for my car... I am not going to have enough to backpack Europe this summer... it totally bums me out, but everything happens for a reason and I'm going to live it up the best I can. There are great people in Nashville that are going to rock my summer! Gotta find a job up there.. but I already have a wonderful place to stay. :)
So.. the going away party is still on.. its just for Nashville, then France and not just Europe now.
I don't know what this summer entails, but I have no doubts it's going to blow my mind!
The very expensive one way flight home was terribly agonizing knowing I was coming back to this not so fun, small little town...
One more week and I will be back in this little place called Nashville, Tennessee I have fallen in love with!

Will add pho-to's soon ;)