Pornic & Sainte Marie Sur Mer, FRANCE

Cou Cou everyone, I finally find myself in France. And it is lovely.

 The past few days I have spent with an English teacher from the high school where I'll be teaching, and her family. I was originally a little anxious about this, seeing as I had never stayed with a French family before... but it has been nothing but wonderful. We speak French about 95% of the time and I have regained a lot of confidence in my language skills- it's hard to retain vocabulary and grammar without any regular practice in the States. I have also had the opportunity to eat homecooked delicious french food- we have had pain au chocolat, quiche, crepes (with scallops and leeks YUM), mussels and duck. Oh la la Mmmmm.


I'm going to attempt putting some photos of the city on the blog now...  It's situated right on the ocean- I can almost see you over there America!! There is also a chateau that dates from the Middle Ages, the Duke who built it knew Joan of Arc- I think they were friends but I could have misunderstood that part... People just walk around this place like it's nothing. Mmm I love the history and oldness of everything over here!











I spent today wandering around taking pictures, and journaling on the beach (see photo below). Not bad huh. I resisted the urge to swim in the ocean, because I did not think it was in my best interest to get eaten by a shark alone in France before I even started work here.

A little anecdote for you: While I was walking an older French man who passed me started to sing in English something Sinatra like- then said "not bad enh?" in French when he finished. Hoooowwww did he know I spoke English when we did not speak to each other? It's not like I was wearing a shirt with the bald eagle on it and tossing my passport around like a baton. In face I was wearing a boring green shirt, jeans, and carrying my French purse. Bah.

Tomorrow I move in with a different teacher who lives closer to the high school. It will be easier to get some of my affairs in order from there- open my back account etc. I can't move into my housing now until next Monday... so unless they can find me somewhere else to stay, I will be coming back to Pornic to stay with this family again for the weekend. 

There is a big education strike tomorrow. Oh France. You and your revolutionary spirit.

I'm happy to be here.


Gros Bisous,
Steph

More Airport Thoughts

I take back everything nice I ever said about airports. 

This particular trip involved 3 planes…

 1: delayed. I had to run through JFK to make my flight to Barcelona… which was also delayed but they told us it wasn’t.

2: I have never ever been sick on an airplane. Guess there’s a first time for everything.

 3: Cancelled. After I sat through a 5 hour layover. They just never assigned a gate, and then removed it from the screen.  I had to collect all of my luggage, tell a million people I do not speak Spanish, and get a new ticket for the next day, hotel info, and transport to hotel. 

I was exhausted and still not feeling well, and alone… it all just put me over the edge. I have never had such troubles flying! The worst part is that I just got done reassuring all the men in my life who have told me countless times “be safe” “take care of yourself”,  I worry about you” how capable and great I was at getting myself around over here.

Lowlight of the day: having to just stop and cry when I couldn’t find the hotel shuttles in Parking G.  While carrying 130lbs of luggage.  After asking about 10 people for help and ending back up in the same spot looking at parking A-F. Why isn’t Parking G right next to Parking F?

Highlight of the day: The Spanish teenager that awkwardly came over to me while I was crying and just patted my shoulder a couple of times and offered me some water in broken English.

I hope I make it to Nantes tomorrow without any troubles. I have no idea how many hours it’s taken me to travel this time, but it’s been too many.  Hopefully I’ve had my share of bad luck and travel troubles, and that I’m in the clear for the next 8-10 months now!

Sorry for the negativity! I felt so much better once I got to the hotel and could get a shower and a nap. I will feel even better tomorrow when I get to France.

Love love love,

Steph

Airport Thoughts

Nothing like crying so hard when you go through security that the airport employees offer you tissues and then apologize profusely for having to go through your bags.

But I love airports. Love Love them. 

Did you know I wanted to be a flight attendant for awhile?

Gaahhh today was so emotional. But it gets to the point where you prepare and prepare and think so much about leaving, that you just need to pack those bags and get going.

I could finally take a deep breath and calm myself down once I made it to my gate.  Now #1 of 3 planes is delayed and I know I will be rushing rushing busy to get on that connector transatlantic flight. And I happen to be so puffy and red from crying that I am sure I look like Quasimodo. That hunchback from Notre Dame. Hmmm… Fitting.

But there’s so much excitement and possibility at airports; I find this place addicting and inspirational. It’s such a busy atmosphere with so much going on, and so much in store for each traveler. The possibilities- the places people are going, the people they will meet in those places, the foods they will taste… I feel like life is just waiting to show off all the neat things and interesting lessons travelers will find from their destinations. 

I am not someone who is comfortable with a stagnant lifestyle… so despite the fact that I have been emotional all week about this (is anyone surprised? I cry when I am scared, when my friends play pranks on me, when I see and/or say goodbye to people I haven’t seen in awhile, when I read good books or listen to good music… but), I think I’ll do ok with this big change. There’s going to be some initial discomfort, but I am confident in myself and the decision I’ve made. (I think). It’s hard to grow without stepping out of your comfort zone. 

Today was a hard day. I am getting a diet coke. Just one… no worries, I am not relapsing into my old ways.

I will post again as soon as I can to let you know I made it!  I love and miss you all!  

Bissous, Steph

Why Love France?

Sometimes people are confused just why I love France so much, and why I always want to be there.  So here’s a little something something I put together to let you know just what I am specifically excited about for the next couple months of my life, and some things I am not so excited about.

Things I love…

• Let’s get it out there right away: The Food, the Drinks, the Desserts, the Wine…The food is brilliant. I can’t wait to discover a local boulangerie for my everyday baguette, try many patisseries for macarons and bonbons, go to the market for fresh veggies and fruit, and pair a good stinky cheese with even better glass(es) of red wine.

• Being a Pedestrian. All the time. I won’t have a car in France. No big deal. I’ll have public transportation, hopefully a bike, and my own two legs. This will suffice. .. and will hopefully counterbalance my love of French food.

• Foreign Language I make mistakes. But I love love love this language. And I can’t wait to see just where my language skills will go after such a long period of time listening/speaking/writing it.  And the funny stories I will have from language miscommunications. These situations can breed awkward, and I tend to thrive in that. Bring it on.

• Teaching I know I belong somewhere in the education field, and I feel lucky that I have had a lot of different opportunities to see just where I want to fit in. I am excited and terrified to have a classroom of my own.

• Travel There is a Mediterranean cruise planned for October with my parents and my aunt. I’ll probably be in Spain at Christmastime. I want to get to Morocco to see my college roommate at some point. And my very first friend ever is planning on coming over to backpack. Top it all off with the possibility of working camp again this spring? Family, Boyfriend, Friends… the world is ours. I can’t wait to explore more of it with you

• A Slower-Paced Lifestyle They work a shorter work week, take longer lunch breaks, and close their shops up when they need to. Americans put so much value on ambition and convenience… which can be great. But I think that some days it’s harder for us to take a step back and enjoy everyday living.  

• New People + New Perspectives One of my favorite parts about study abroad was the class of kids I studied with. We had about 17 kids in class, representing about 9-10 different countries. Living in the Midwest, this is not something I get to experience often. I’m excited to learn more about France and will have most of my interactions with French people, but there is also a German language assistant and a Spanish language assistant placed at my school. And I’m sure multiple nationalities will be living at the “foyer” that I will be calling home

• Pretending to be Belle from Beauty & the Beast It’s too easy. Life over there is so picturesque. I just want to sit on a fountain while people sing a song about me, read a book, and have a sheep take a bite out of a page.  I can skip the whole locked up in a castle for a spell of time. 

Things I can handle but wish I didn’t have to…

• (The lack of) my American life + Time Difference  I will miss you, and you, and you… I have a lot of wonderful people to miss. This will not be easy. I know that. I love you. I know that the time difference makes it hard to keep in touch, but let’s try. And if you ever are wondering what life 6 hours into the future is like, chat me up…

• Dog Poop. Everywhere. The French are not the most responsible dog owners when it comes to picking up their pups’ messes. When I studied abroad I had one particularly terrible day. And on my way to my program director’s office to discuss said day, I stepped in Dog Poop for the first time that semester. He congratulated me and said that meant I had truly lived in France for a significant period of time.

• Greves (Strikes) True Story, I was once tear-gassed in France.  Because I was outside eating my lunch at the wrong place wrong time, and the middle schoolers were striking. While I love that the French really work for what they believe and act as an important part of their government processes, this can be very inconvenient. And make you cry. And they are very common.

• Neutral Colors Goodbye bright colored clothing and prints. I used to think I was so worldly and people would mistake me for European all the time. Nope. I am so… American.  I don’t need to be drawing any excess attention to myself so I try as hard as I can to dress like the French when over there. So I’ll be donning black, brown, beige, grey etc clothes for a good spell of time.

There are good and bad things about everywhere you can live. But since I try to live my life a little more on the optimistic side, I think my list of great things about France outweighs my negatives.  My lists could be far more extensive, but you get where I’m going. I love France.  I’m excited to live there, and maybe now it’s a little clearer why. I'm only 10 days away!

Bises, 

Steph