Bonjour vingt-et-un!

Hi everyone!  My spring break has definitely been an adventure.  On Saturday, the 23rd of April, I got up before the sun and hopped on a train to Lyon, and watched the sun come up through the train window.  The train was delayed just before arriving at the station, so once I arrived I rushed to find the train across town to the airport.  Upon arriving at the airport, I rushed to find the EasyJet terminal, which was tricky because they were outside the main part of the airport, in a gigantic tent.  But when I went to check in, I was told check-in had closed 15 minutes before.  I went to talk to someone else about getting on the next flight to Bristol, which unfortunately was not until the next day.  So after waiting in several different lines, making several international calls to both my Aunt in Bristol and my Dad in Oklahoma where it was the middle of the night, waiting for the plane to finish boarding and take off so I could "officially" be counted as having missed the flight, and waiting for lunch break to end, I got a ticket to Bristol for the next day, which was Easter Sunday (or Pâques as they call it in France).  So all I had left to do was find a hotel room and figure out what to do while I was stuck, by myself, for 24 hours in Lyon, France.

Luckily, there was a hotel right across the street.  It wasn't the cheapest hotel, but it wasn't too outrageously expensive, plus it was clean, safe, and close.  So I booked a room, took a little nap (I had had a very long day, after all), and then set out to explore Lyon.  I took a train to downtown, the same one I had taken from the train station upon arrival in Lyon.  I wandered around and took some pictures.  Lyon, I found, is a true mix of the old and the new.  Not only do they have the traditional French architecture, but they have the glass skyscrapers of modern cities.

Lyon

The next day, I arrived at the airport very early.  Even so, I STILL almost missed my flight, due to long lines to get our passports stamped before we got on the plane.  But luckily I didn't, and finally I was on my way to Bristol!  When I arrived, it felt like such a relief to hear people speaking English, and read signs in English.  It was not a relief when the first thing that came down the luggage conveyor belt was a broken suitcase handle.  Luckily it wasn't mine, so I collected my entire suitcase and went through customs pretty quickly.  Then I was met by Auntie Molly and Uncle Peter, and my cousin Clare and her husband Richard, whom I hadn't met before.  It was wonderful to be with family!

The first thing we did, in our vacation (they were all on vacation too), was visit Bath.  The city Bath, England was named after the ancient Roman bathhouse that still exists there, in excellent condition.  I first heard about Bath in reading Jane Austen.  In her book Northanger Abbey, the main character, Catherine Morland, spends several weeks in Bath, and goes to The Pump Room regularly to socialize and meet Henry Tilney (<3).  Besides that, I've heard about it from my sister, who visited Bath a couple years ago, so it was really cool to see.

a view of the Bath, with the Bath Cathedral in the background

Richard, Clare, Uncle Peter, and me sitting by the bath

The Pump Room

After Bath, we packed up for several days and headed north toward the Lake District and Lake Windermere.  What a beautiful countryside!  Uncle Peter, Auntie Molly, Clare and Richard checked into the quaint b & b where they were staying, and because they were already full when I decided to go, I checked into the hostel where I stayed.  The hostel actually turned out to be really nice; it was an old manor house in the middle of nowhere, practically empty, and they served a full English breakfast. :)  Then we took a boat tour of the lake; it was beautiful!

This is Wray Castle as seen from Lake Windermere

Unfortunately I had a bad cold the whole time we were in the lake district; probably something I caught on the plane due to a low immune system from having some kind of bug for a couple days shortly before I left.  But I wasn't about to let that stop me; there was too much beautiful country to see.  We went to see Wray Castle; it's a newish castle that was built by a doctor as a "surprise present" for his wife, using her fortune.  When she saw it, she hated it and didn't spend one night in it.  Now it's been sold and is being turned into a hotel.  It doesn't sound like a very romantic honeymoon getaway to me.

Wray Castle

Beatrix Potter's House

We also went to see Beatrix Potter's House.  It had a lot of original furniture, and it was really cool to compare the house to her drawings and see where she got a lot of her inspiration.  Then on the way back to Bristol we stopped by Hardwick Hall, which is also known as Malfoy Manor.  That's right, it's the mansion that was seen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as the Malfoys' house.  Of course, it was really a much brighter place than it appeared in the movie.  It was really beautiful.

Harwick Hall (that's a coffee cup in my hand, just in case you wondered)

 Later, Clare, Uncle Peter, Auntie Molly and I went to Lacock Village.  It's an entire village that's owned by the National Trust, which is some kind of program in the UK that preserves old places for tourism.  We walked around the quaint old village, and looked in Lacock Abbey.  Some parts of Lacock Abbey were used as parts of Hogwarts in various Harry Potter movies.  It's very beautiful, and incredibly old.

A fluffy cat in front of a quaint cottage in Lacock village

A corridor in Lacock Abbey; Harry Potter fans might recognize this beautiful architecture

A room in Lacock Abbey; this beautifully arched ceiling was used in the Harry Potter films as well

Then on the first of May, we heard about the death of Osama Bin Laden.  Since I've been out of the country so long, I feel a little out of touch with things that are happening back home.  Of course, this made world-wide news, and it affects everyone, especially Americans traveling abroad (or so they say).  Honestly I haven't felt any less safe than usual, I haven't been attacked by a terrorist yet, and I'm not going to let any travel warnings stop my adventures.  But I will have to be careful and stay away from protests.


Later Clare's brother Carl came over, with his wife Caroline and their twin daughters Charlotte and Chloe.  It was so nice to meet all of them, and the girls are adorable!  We all went to the zoo together, and then we went out to TGI Friday's (the British version), where we ate dinner and then sang happy birthday to the twins, whose birthday is a little after mine, and to me.  So the waiters asked everyone in the restaurant to sing to Charlotte, Chloe, and Chloe, which was kind of funny, and then we ate cake.

The next day we went to a may fair.  It was cool to see how they celebrate May Day in England (even though we went on May 2nd; maybe the fair lasts a couple days?)  But we listened to the band, walked around some, and I got a Doctor Who action figure for 40 pence. :)

The May Fair

The Doctor (10th; my favorite!)

Then, May 3rd was my 21st birthday!  Clare cooked me the traditional pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream, a birthday tradition in my family.  Clare is an excellent cook, and she can make some very American-tasting pancakes!  Uncle Peter took me to old downtown Bristol, and we walked around, had some lunch, saw the University of Bristol, the Bristol Cathedral, and had some traditional cream tea.  Cream tea is afternoon tea with scones that have clotted cream and jam spread on them.  It's very good and very rich!  So I had an excellent birthday.

The next day, I got on a plane to Prague to meet Martin, a friend of my dad's.  I stayed with him and his wife and two daughters for three days, and visited Prague.   It was incredible!  By the way, I can't say it was awesome, because in Czech the word that sounds like "awsome" means "eight," and I was told that if I were to go into a bar and say "awesome" they would bring me eight beers.

The first night I was there, we went to see the Prague Castle.  It was closed, so we couldn't go in, but it was all lit up and very pretty, and I took a lot of pictures of it, and of the Cathedral which is sort of surrounded by the castle.

looking across the river in Prague at night

Prague Cathedral, inside the castle

Artwork on the cathedral

back view

The next day we saw the Praque Exhibition Grounds, which was very beautiful, and unfortunately the building had been partially burned down a few years earlier.  They were preparing for a marathon that was going to happen that weekend, after I was gone.  We also walked through a beautiful garden by the Prague Castle.  There were peacocks; it was quite lovely.  We ate lunch at a sushi bar where the sushi came on a conveyor belt and you could just grab whatever plate looked good from where you were sitting at your table.  It was delicious and entertaining!

Prague Exhibition Grounds

Gardens by the Castle

the ceiling just next to the gardens

at the gardens; under the arches you can see where the ceiling picture was taken

sushi lunch

Later, we went inside the castle.  We walked around the cathedral; it was very beautiful; lots of Gothic architecture.  We also went in a part of the castle where the horses came inside for indoor jousting.  It was very beautiful, and the balconies had some amazing views.

inside the cathedral

view from a castle window

the jousting hall

the king's chapel in the Castle

Also, we went to the Petrin lookout tower, which is sort-of Prague's version of the Eiffel Tower.  Basically, it's like the top of the Eiffel Tower built up on the top of a hill.  So, it's not the entire Eiffel Tower, but from the bottom of their river to the top of their tower it's as high as from the bottom of the Seine to the top of the Eiffel Tower.  

view of Prague Castle from the tower

View of St Charles Bridge from the tower

One evening, we went out with the whole family, including both daughters.  We climbed to the top of a clock tower to look out at the city at nightfall, and then we went down and watched the clock chime.  It was really a show because it was an astronomical clock and there were statues that moved, and it was really complicated.  The amazing thing is how old it is; it was first built in 1410!

the astronomical clock

view of Prague Castle at nightfall from the clock tower

The last day we did some touring in the morning, and also watched some French movies.  Then in the afternoon, I left on a plane for Paris.  I stayed in a Hostel in Paris (so I wasn't alone; I had people to hang out with some of the time).  Between the two walking tours I did and my wandering around alone, I saw Pont Neuf, L'Arc de Triumphe, The Bridge of Love (I forgot the traditional name for that one, but of course I remembered the romantic one lol), the Champs Elysees, The Eiffel Tower, and the Orangerie (impressionist museum, including The Waterlilies).  I had a great time!  Then I hopped on a train back to Clermont-Ferrand.  I arrived around 10, very tired, and very sore.  I collapsed in bed and managed to wake up for my 3pm class the next day. :) 

Pont Neuf

Bridge of Love

Les Champs Elysees

L'Arc de Triumphe

Cafe where Amelie was filmed

Sacre Coeur Cathedral

Moulin Rouge (I didn't go in)

La Tour Eiffel

The Water Lilies

So I have survived another marvelous adventure.  I have also survived 21 years of life.  I think those are both pretty cool.  So now that I've spent all day writing up this blog post and uploading pictures, I think I'll go take a walk before it gets dark.  Honestly, as amazing and incredible as this semester has been, it's also been very long.  Sometimes, the best part of an adventure is coming back home afterwards.

Correspondances (NOT by Baudelaire)

Dear everyone:
I always find that the beginning of a blog post is the most difficult part.  Therefore, I am going to pretend that this is a personal letter, and I am addressing each one of you directly.

Today is Wednesday, the 13th of April, and already my dorm room is turning into a small oven.  A toaster oven.  I miss air conditioning, and I also wish I could find summer clothes that fit.  It's funny how when it was cold, I spent so much time wishing it would warm up so I wouldn't get so miserably frozen every time I went outside, which was all the time, and now, even though it's not as hot as an Oklahoma summer, I just wish it would cool down.  Ah well, one can't always have what one wants.

Even though Wednesday is supposed to be my day for chasing down adventure, I'm not sure how much adventuring I'll get done today considering the amount of homework I have.  For example, on Monday I have to give a presentation on my assigned part of our book in literature class, and I need to catch up on the reading.  In general, I love reading.  The heroine of this book, however, is not the type of person I'm used to reading about.  In this story, a Belgian girl goes to work in a factory in Japan where she works, eats, sleeps, and socializes in the same factory.  There are lots and lots of rules, regulations, and restrictions that she has to follow, and she has to respect the strict hierarchy.  And she does.  I am used to reading about heroines who fight to break free from the rules and restrictions of society and hierarchy.  But then, I am American, after all, and "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" are some of the things most valued by our culture. The Heroine of this story, even though she does not (usually) openly rebel against her society (the company), she does rebel internally, imagining up things that would startle the other Japanese workers if they were true.  I suppose I may have to adopt her strategy in my literature class. 

But, my dear friend/parent/sibling/aunt/uncle/grandparent/cousin/insert-name-here, perhaps you grow tired of hearing my reflections of the culture.  That's ok, because I have much more to tell you about.  First of all, yesterday I received a reply from the OFII office.  That's the French Office of Immigration and Integration (I translated the name, so the abbreviation won't match up quite right).  I had to send them a form when I got here, along with photocopies of several pages of my passport.  So I have completed the first step of being immigrated and integrated!  Now, according to these dossiers, I have to complete:

• A radiology exam
• A general health exam
• Some kind of convocation in November? um... I'll be long gone
• pay a tax of 55 Euros

Interesting.  I wonder how much of that stuff I actually have to do.  Nevertheless, I should schedule a doctor visit.  It would be nice to have a doctor I can contact if I need something.  And speaking of medical stuff, I had my parents mail me a refill of a prescription, and it got here! Yay!  I was actually kind of nervous about it, because it was one of those that I can't run out of because it would be dangerous to stop, and I didn't want to have to go through the ridiculous French bureaucracy of having to get it refilled here.  Also, the USPS website said that to mail medications to France you have to have some kind of license from the French government, which meant more bureaucracy, but no one could figure out what that license was or how to get it, so my parents just mailed it anyway, and apparently they didn't know what they were talking about or customs wasn't very thorough (French bureaucracy at work) because it came through just fine.

But I have something more exciting to tell you: my spring break is coming up!  It starts exactly in 10 days, on April the 23rd, and goes for two weeks, until the 8th of May.  During the first part, I will go to England to see my Aunt and Uncle, and during the second part I will likely travel somewhere else (perhaps Prague) but I haven't solidified that part of the plan yet.  I hope to do so today.

My dear human being, I wish you could be here!  I wish you could see what I see, hear what I hear, taste what I taste, and... well, maybe not smell what I smell.  My friend Ashley and I decided that "stink" is France's middle name, for a variety of reasons.  But in any case, I wish you could share my experiences.  Learning the words, hearing the sounds: the uvular trills, the resonant nasals; the accordions on street corners, lazy afternoons in the park, the quiches and baguettes, trams and fountains, they fascinate me, and I wish you could share my fascination.  Come see me soon!

Sincerely,
Chloe

Bienvenue, printemps!

Hiya folks! It be wednesday, and I be writin' again.  Now I realize it's been far too long since my last blog entry, and there are definitely things I've forgotten.  But don't worry, I'll try to tell you the most important things.

First of all, my parents came to visit!  Yay!  It was so good to see them, considering we've been on opposite sides of the world for a couple months.  But unfortunately most of the pictures of when they were here were taken with their camera, so I won't be able to post many.  But you can always check facebook, and if you can't find me on facebook, remember: look up my email address.  My name doesn't always come up.

When my parents first arrived, I waited for their train on the platform and met them there.  I skipped class to do that.  I chose to do so first of all because I just really wanted to see them, and second of all because they don't speak any French, and I figured they would need help checking into the hotel, especially since I was the one who made the reservations.  So we met on the platform and walked over to their hotel, and spent the rest of that day (Tuesday) and all the next day (Wednesday, my day off) together.

Tuesday I showed them around Clermont-Ferrand, and Wednesday we took the train to Vichy, which is only two stops away.  It's a very small, old town, known for its natural springs, and for the fact that it was the headquarters of the new French government that sided with the Germans in WWII. 

Here, by the way, is a picture of a lovely, small lighthouse overlooking the river in Vichy.  I forgot the name of the river, but it's nice, isn't it?

Anyway, it started to get warm while they were here, and sometimes we went without our jackets!  Unfortunately though, it rained probably 50% of the time they were here, and I left my umbrella in Vichy.  But in the end it was ok because my older sister Haley left her umbrella in my backpack, so now I get to use it.  Ha! :D

Then my family left again and went to Prague.  They tell me it's really nice and I should see it; maybe I will over spring break if I can convince Ashley or someone to come with me.

And lately, it's been very nice out.  Spring has sprung!  So, last Wednesday, my activity was to go out into Jardin Lecoq, where French people like to lie around on the grass on nice days eating picnics and spooning and such.  Here is a picture of the garden:

Anyway, I did neither of these things, I actually sat in the garden and played "Les Champs Elysees" on my ukulele.  I recorded it too; here is the video if you want to see it.  Please disregard the mistakes; I didn't quite have all the chord changes down, and keep in mind I"m 100% self-taught :)




I hope that works... I'm not very good at html.  Anyway, besides what I've told you, the only other events I'm pondering are school related.  First of all, I'm still wondering how watching five minutes of a movie rendition of French Protestants being violently slaughtered helps us to understand French cultural history.  Also I'm wondering if it's just a French thing that my writing professor likes to read my mistakes to the entire class and ask everyone else what I did wrong, or that my literature professor considers students who are late because they couldn't find the classroom to be negligent students whose grades will be affected and says so to the entire class, and later (in context of a reading, of course) talks about how westerners like to defy authority, argue a lot, and yell, use big gestures, and open their mouths really wide when they argue.  As you can see, there are still some aspects of French culture I'm having a hard time getting used to.  But I wish everyone (not just some people) would realize I'm trying, and try not to put so much energy into criticizing my culture, which just makes it harder.  Granted, most people have been extremely kind to me, and the stereotype that French people in general don't like Americans is just simply not true; I would like to point that out so I don't proliferate any generalizations. 

But I suppose any study abroad experience has its ups and downs, and I think overall I've had more ups than downs.  So don't think I'm not glad to be here just because I'm having a hard time with my literature professor.  So anyway, that's all folks!  And by the way, I'd love to hear from you; it can get a little lonely here in this tiny little dorm room.

A Bientôt!

Les Vacances

Where to begin? This week has been pretty much jam-packed with adventures.  First of all, my vacation in Valence was fabulous, and so were the Dawsons, the very kind family who hosted me there.  I left on the train Monday late morning, and managed to accomplish everything beforehand that I needed to, including getting my new French bank card.  The train first ride was uneventful, and I changed trains once in Lyon.  The train station where I changed trains was actually pretty big, and I had some time to walk around and ended up buying a pair of sunglasses, which I really needed.  The second train was a bit longer, but finally I got there.  The train station in Valence was small, about the same as the one in Clermont-Ferrand, but not being familiar with it, I came out in the wrong place and had a hard time finding Mrs. Dawson.  But finally we found each other, and we took the bus to their house.

Later that night, the Dawsons hosted a Bible study.  It was, of course, completely in French, which was a stretch for me, and certainly I didn't catch everything.  But it was a good experience.  Then the next day, Mrs. Dawson, one of the daughters, and I, went to the open air market.  Valence has a different open air market each day of the week, but the main ones are on Tuesday mornings and Saturday afternoons.  After lunch, Mr. Dawson took me to see his work, which is the French version of Wycliffe.  For those of you who don't know, Wycliffe is an organization that works on Bible translation around the world.  I'm connected to Wycliffe in that my dad has done some work for them, and I did an internship for SIL (Summer Institute of Linguistics) in Dallas, which is closely connected to Wycliffe.  Then we went to a Christian book store, where I got a French Bible, and Mr. Dawson went back to work while I set out exploring the town.

The Rhone River

Valence cathedral

Valence is a lovely town right on the edge of the Rhone river.  It has an old cathedral, a gorgeous old town hall, a kiosk (gazebo) that's very old and pretty and so much more.  Basically, I spent the whole afternoon wandering around taking pictures, and I never ran out of things to see.  I won't be able to post all my pictures here, but if you want to see more, you can look at them on my Picassa album (which there is a link to it on the right).  I highly recommend that everyone look at all my pictures a lot, because I recently had to pay a whole five bucks to increase my storage space so I could hold all of them.  So everyone should look at my pictures to make those five American dollars worth while.  After wandering around town all afternoon, I, Mr. and Mrs. Dawson, and their two lovely daughters, went out to dinner and had traditional French ravioli.

Crussol

The next morning, which was my last day in Valence, Mrs. Dawson took me to Crussol, the ruins of a 15th century castle just outside of Valence.  It was a bit of a climb, but well worth it!  It was so beautiful!  We explored the castle for most of the morning, and then we went back for lunch.  After lunch, Mrs. Dawson took me to the nearby village of Chabeuil, which is a cute tiny old village.  We walked around a bit, took some pictures, and found the main cathedral, which was very lovely.

Then my train left around three.  My trip back home was uneventful, and I arrived quite tired.  Thursday I slept in, and then set out to find Notre Dame du Port, the oldest cathedral in Clermont-Ferrand.  And find it I did!  But you'll have to wait for pictures, because for some reason Picassa's not letting me upload any more right now.  Yesterday very little happened besides sleep and homework, and today I slept in, wrote a paper (in French of course), went shopping and came home with a new book (Mémoires d'une jeune fille rangée, it's for school), a baguette, more nutella, and wasabi peas.  And that brings us to now.

This week, my family will come visit me!  This means my parents and both sisters, Haley and Lauriana, will be coming.  They'll stay in Clermont-Ferrand for three days before going on to Prague where my dad has a conference.  I may end up skipping my class on Tuesday because it's the same time they'll be coming in on the train, not speaking any French and not knowing their way around.  So I'll have to get them checked into their hotel, and then we can have fun for three days!  Well, kind of two and a half, since I have classes on Thursday, but Wednesday is my day off, so that works out perfectly.  More later!

Open air market in Valence

The old kiosk

looking down from Crussol

a street in Chabeuil

Je suis ce que je suis et si je suis ce que je suis, qu'est-ce que je suis?

So now that everyone's enrolled, classes have gotten into full swing.  We have regular assignments, and most of my classes actually meet in the same room every time; not officially though, I'm beginning to wonder if very much here is official.  Anyway, I'm beginning to like my narration class quite a lot, even though we have at least one writing assignment every week.  For some reason, I've found I have a much easier time writing, and make far fewer mistakes, on the creative writing assignments than on the ones that are more like essays.  I'm not really sure why that would be.  And my oral expression class is still one of my least favorite classes, but we've had some interesting moments.  For example, this past week, we began the discussion part of the class talking about whether wealthy nations are obliged to give money to developing countries, and ended with a heated debate between a guy from the UK and a girl from Vietnam on whether it's okay for a country to go into another country and force them to have a democracy.  At first I was a little bit afraid someone's feelings would get hurt since there were people in the classroom from all over the world, but I suppose a debate is a good way to practice the structure of one's spoken French, which is half the point of the class anyway.

at the head of the trail!

Last weekend Ashley and I didn't end up doing anything much.  Unfortunately, due to extenuating circumstances, Ashley's ability to travel has been limited, at least for now (and there was much sadness and weepage throughout the land, and a whole bunch of frowning emoticons) :( :( :( :(  .  So, unfortunately, since my parents don't want me to travel alone, this limits my ability to travel as well.  Fortunately, though, we were able to have a fabulous local adventure on Wednesday.  We decided Tuesday night that we were going to make it up Puy de Dome (the local inactive volcano) no matter what it took.  So Wednesday morning we started asking around, trying to figure out how to get to Puy de Dome, because the base of the mountain is about 10 kilometers outside of town.  We thought it very strange that no one knew.  We eventually figured out that there are no buses or trams that run to the mountain, and once you get there, it's closed to vehicle traffic due to construction (they're building a tram up the mountain that won't open till 2012).  So finally, around 4 pm, we got the number of a taxi company and just told the driver to take us to the base of Puy de Dome.  It was an expensive ride, but honestly, I don't know how else we would have gotten there.  In the end, it was fabulous!  The entire trail was covered in snow, and it was so beautiful.  It wasn't too treacherous until we got farther up, to where there weren't as many trees and there was just a narrow trail with lots of switchbacks and every edge was a drop off.  Then, the packed-down, slippery snow was a little scarey, and as it started to get more and more foggy, and then dark, we decided we'd better head down rather than trying to make it all the way to the top.  But we got some fabulous pictures first!

 

looking at Puy de Dome from the base

And now, as my friends back at OU gear up for midterms, this coming week for me is my vacance d'hiver, or winter break, or in other words my first spring break!  At first, I had a bit of a problem figuring out what to do since Ashley will not be able to come with me, and my parents won't let me travel by myself.  But in the end we figured out that I can go stay with some friends of friends in Valence, which is just a bit south of here.  I'll be there until Wednesday, and after that I don't have plans yet.  It's possible I may travel somewhere else, but right now I'm not sure.  I got my 12-25 card the other day, which is a card for young people who travel in France by train, and it gives them up to 60% discounts on many train tickets.  So hopefully now that I have it I'll get to travel plenty!

So I'll get on a train for Valence tomorrow at 11 something, and before then I have to print out my ticket confirmation at the print shop which doesn't open until 10, pick up my French bank card at the bank which I don't know when that opens, and pick up a sandwich at the grocery store to eat on the train.  So I'd better stop writing now, so I can get as much done as possible tonight!
Ciao!