27 octobre 2004
Ah, Pareee
Sitting in a touristy area of Paris, just met my friend Annie who is traveling for a couple weeks. I was so psyched because I found a café with free WiFi access when you buy something, but just found out that you only get a half hour each time you order something. So I just purchased the most expesive coca cola of my life, all to get another measly half hour of internet access. I should have just waited for a real internet cafe...
It's quite cold in Paris, colder than I expected. I was spoiled by the balmy Chicago weather. We may be on to Barcelona tomorrow night and hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in a couple more days of warmth before I settle into the cold winter in Grenoble.
Gotta go figure out where we're sleeping tonight.
P.S. Wedding Week was fun. Wish I had pictures to put up but wasn't swift enough to upload them from other people's cameras while in the states... Maybe someone will send me some soon.
It's quite cold in Paris, colder than I expected. I was spoiled by the balmy Chicago weather. We may be on to Barcelona tomorrow night and hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in a couple more days of warmth before I settle into the cold winter in Grenoble.
Gotta go figure out where we're sleeping tonight.
P.S. Wedding Week was fun. Wish I had pictures to put up but wasn't swift enough to upload them from other people's cameras while in the states... Maybe someone will send me some soon.
20 octobre 2004
rolling with the homies
Home again, home agin, jiggedy jig. Sitting in the den with Sara and Joel, enjoyijng some sibling bonding time. It's been a long time since we've all been together. Big plans tonight: ordering in noodles and watching the baseball playoffs. Some big Red Sox fans in the house.
19 octobre 2004
on the road again
Sitting in Charles De Gaulle airport waiting for my flight to Chicago. Felt a bit melancholy about leaving Grenoble, sort of strange to take a vacation after about a week of working... But it's going to be a great week in Chicago and when I get back I'll have a lot more time to explore my new home. I think I'm going to travel a bit with my friend Annie who I worked with in New York when I get back from the states. It's strange though. I feel like I don't deserve a vacation right now!
Last night was the first night in the new house. It's a bit empty without very much furniture or carpeting or food. But I feel happy to have a home. I don't have to carry my home on my back like a turtle anymore. Well, I won't after the vacation.
Last night was the first night in the new house. It's a bit empty without very much furniture or carpeting or food. But I feel happy to have a home. I don't have to carry my home on my back like a turtle anymore. Well, I won't after the vacation.
16 octobre 2004
moving day
We're moving today! Finally I can stop living out of my suitcase. Don't have any furniture least of all a bed, but I will sleep on the floor with pleasure if it's in my own room.
Haven't written about my teaching experiences yet. This was my first week and it's been sort of exhausting. I think they gave me the spazziest kids in Grenoble. I found myself yelling at the top of my lungs more than a few times this week--my education profs in the U.S. would not have been proud... I gave all the kids "American" names, something I thought they'd enjoy, but most of them just think I'm a little bit crazy. I have a lot of Mohammeds and Walids that became Matts and Wallys. I feel like I'm forcing them to assimilate to a culture they know nothing about. Hmm, sounds a bit concurrent with what's already going on in French classrooms across the land.
Haven't written about my teaching experiences yet. This was my first week and it's been sort of exhausting. I think they gave me the spazziest kids in Grenoble. I found myself yelling at the top of my lungs more than a few times this week--my education profs in the U.S. would not have been proud... I gave all the kids "American" names, something I thought they'd enjoy, but most of them just think I'm a little bit crazy. I have a lot of Mohammeds and Walids that became Matts and Wallys. I feel like I'm forcing them to assimilate to a culture they know nothing about. Hmm, sounds a bit concurrent with what's already going on in French classrooms across the land.
11 octobre 2004
bicycle built for...
Yesterday I went to a flea market and bought a bike. It's a real clunker of a thing, totally old school and needs a whole lot of work, but it looks like it's seen a lot of love in it's day. It's a "Revival" brand (and that's exactly what it needs), black, with mother of pearl handles and brake valves... The brakes only work if you squeeze them with all your might and there are pedal-activated lights that look like they haven't worked since 1982. But I love it, and it's going to be so fun to ride around town with my little baguettes.
10 octobre 2004
time passes slowly
Today is rainy and grey, and I had major diarrhea last night. But for some reason I am not unhappy. Just waiting for time to pass before I can move into my new house (!) next week. We signed on a random little house near the train station. I'm totally psyched because it's in a funky little offbeat area, but we can't move until next week. Yesterday I moved from the hostel to a hotel in the middle of town because "j'en ai eu mar" with the hostel life. Two weeks in a youth hostel can get pretty draining. The location is awful and only accessible by a bus that stops at 8:30 pm every night or a tram that you have to hike 500 meters to get to. So I'm going to split a hotel room with one of my future roomies, mawuena, until I can move next weekend.
The new hotel has a tv and I watched the French version of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" last night. It was very entertaining. That show has become quite an enterprise.
I start teaching tomorrow. Oh la la. That's going to be a trip.
The new hotel has a tv and I watched the French version of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" last night. It was very entertaining. That show has become quite an enterprise.
I start teaching tomorrow. Oh la la. That's going to be a trip.
07 octobre 2004
rien...
I'm still without housing; the gorgeous apartment fell through. So I think my the group of people I was going to live with will probably have to split up because half of us want to live in this house in a funky neighborhood and the other half are holding out for the posh centre-ville...
The other day I felt like a real french young person when one of the guys I befriended at my favorite internet cafe gave me the double-cheek kiss when I walked into the café. I also have a bit of a crush on him so it was doubly exciting. I'm in this internet café (neptune) every single day ; it feels like my home away from home, especially since I don't have a home...
Last night we had a sing-along at the youth hostel with my guitar; it was fun but i didn't get to bed till about 2 and had to wake up at 8 so am not feeling very good right now. Even though the hostel kids are fun, I think I may move to a friend's apartment for the weekend so I don't have to pay anymore and so I can be closer to the city.
The other day I felt like a real french young person when one of the guys I befriended at my favorite internet cafe gave me the double-cheek kiss when I walked into the café. I also have a bit of a crush on him so it was doubly exciting. I'm in this internet café (neptune) every single day ; it feels like my home away from home, especially since I don't have a home...
Last night we had a sing-along at the youth hostel with my guitar; it was fun but i didn't get to bed till about 2 and had to wake up at 8 so am not feeling very good right now. Even though the hostel kids are fun, I think I may move to a friend's apartment for the weekend so I don't have to pay anymore and so I can be closer to the city.
02 octobre 2004
creusez les doigts...
Salut!
First of all, please excuse the typos, i've still not gotten the hang of the french keyboards... they're all a little screwy...
So I'm in Grenoble, been here almost a week. It's an adorable city, and I can tell I'm going to love it--as soon as I find a place to live! There's very little housing right now because all the university students took the good places a couple of months ago... But after a couple of days of looking apartments in absolutely crap locations, we looked at this incredible huge place right in the center of town, and the proprieter was super cool and open to having young people live there; we told him we'd sign right away, but he's making us wait until tomorrow night because the place is also up for sale, and he has to wait and see if anyone at this housing fair takes it this weekend; but we're saying our prayers because it's an incredible place... more about it later because I don't want to jinx it....
First of all, please excuse the typos, i've still not gotten the hang of the french keyboards... they're all a little screwy...
So I'm in Grenoble, been here almost a week. It's an adorable city, and I can tell I'm going to love it--as soon as I find a place to live! There's very little housing right now because all the university students took the good places a couple of months ago... But after a couple of days of looking apartments in absolutely crap locations, we looked at this incredible huge place right in the center of town, and the proprieter was super cool and open to having young people live there; we told him we'd sign right away, but he's making us wait until tomorrow night because the place is also up for sale, and he has to wait and see if anyone at this housing fair takes it this weekend; but we're saying our prayers because it's an incredible place... more about it later because I don't want to jinx it....
