Great Success

Today, I realized that I needed a haircut. After 3 months without a trim, my hair was perpetually unkempt. A friend and I decided to embark on an adventure to a haircutting school, where we were told the styles were "very French" and inexpensive. This turned out to be far more of an adventure than we could have possibly imagined.

Allow me to preface this story with a simple fact: we spent 3 hours at "Stefan's Hair University." None of this was a waiting period. We walking in, nervously told them in what few "hair" terms we knew that we wanted our hair washed, cut, and styled. So far so good. Washing our hair went as usual, then we talked for a bit about how we wanted our hair cut. Then things got weird. Our stylists called over their professor, followed by an audience of other students, to confirm their plan. They listed our hair type, daily styling routine, and what we wanted done. As they began to cut, the professor would stop by periodically (entourage included) to "fix" our hair and offer criticism. This didn't exactly raise our confidence levels. Luckily, I had decided to go with a simple trim, basic layers, and some angles. My friend was ready for some dramatic new bangs. I watched as the instructor asked her to stand before the class, as he instructed her stylist on how to properly cut bangs. Chaos ensued, then subsided when the professor returned to make the proper adjustments. We arrived at 12:30 pm. We left at 3:30. The whole process was incredibly inexpensive, especially considering how much we payed per hour. Both of us are very content with our new hair, though we're not sure we would submit ourselves to that process again.

"C'est pas moi qui décide."

**Article written for "La Une," Dickinson en France's monthly newsletter.

Ever since my arrival to france, I've been on a mission to sample as many french delicacies as possible. Independently, I have discovered french pastries, cheeses, wine, vegetables, fruit, and crepes. My host family has exposed me to rabbit, kidney, liver, duck, and countless sausages. Anywhere I turn, there is no shortage of delicious food. Even "malbouffe", such as master crumble and kebab, is better than their american counterparts.

One strange difference between American and French food relates to decision making. In America, you enter a sandwich shop, choose from various toppings, and the person behind the counter makes your sandwich. It's your sandwich, you decide how you want it. In the words of burger king "Have it your way". In a restaurant, people make all kinds of crazy requests. More cheese, undercooked, no onions, french fries instead of salad. In any case, the server will graciously bend to your will and make the change. On one hand, people are able to order the food that they want. Unfortunately, many customers take advantage of the system.

France does not abide by the same customer service policies. In a sandwich shop, your choices are pre-made. In a restaurant, options may be offered, but there is little to no flexibility. A specific request will earn you strange glances. If you explain in detail what you want, the server will nod and make a note, but no change will be made.

In my opinion, this cultural difference has evolved from the perception of the "expert." In America, "the customer is always right." In France, the chef is the culinary expert, and no customer is going to usurp that power. Luckily for me and my fellow consumers, the food is always amazing. I am content to leave the responsability of creating tasty food to the French experts.

*translated from French.

Marché Gras à Péchabou

Today, some friends and I tagged along on an optional Dickinson outing to an annual "gras" market outside Toulouse. The entire market is centered around duck in its many tasty forms. Each one of us was required to bring food to sell at a Dickinson "American specialties" stand. A friend and I made walnut brownies, but others brought pumpkin pie, muffins, cookies, cupcakes, and chocolate-covered pretzels. We had a lot of fun being integrated into the whole market experience - the locals were curious about our program, just as we wanted to learn more about fois gras. We roamed the stands, stopping frequently for free samples. Our favorite stand was probably the one with culinary students making free crêpes cooked in caramelized orange juice flambée with Grand Marnier, bananas, and pineapples. They managed to cook with flames, sugar, and fruit in suits, which makes them the James Bonds of culinary delight. Lunch was included in this excursion - we were told "cafeteria food." Except no - apparently they meant cooked duck, soup, fromage de chèvre, fois gras, duck paté, and fantastic bread. Soon after lunch, we packed up to leave - we had managed to sell most of our snacks, and eat the rest. Our program directors even let us keep the profits. Overall, a very exciting and fulfilling day.

Paris!

Paris was jam-packed with sightseeing as well. Luckily, I wrote down all of the funtivities for blogging purposes.

Wednesday, we took a train to Paris with Dickinson. We all had first-class seats in private compartment (think Harry Potter but more modern, complete with a snack trolley!). We stayed at a Citadine hotel, which was pretty sweet because each room comes with a kitchen. One of my roommates had lice, so we gave her a quarantine cot in the corner. The first night, we went to the famed Paris Opera house to see the ballet Pacquita. The inside of the Opera was beautiful, and the dancing was fantastic. After the ballet, we went out for Indian food.

Thursday, we visited the Centre Pompidou with Dickinson. This was a guided tour before the regular opening time, so we all felt pretty special. The Centre Pompidou is contemporary art museum constructed with all pipes (water, heat, electricity, air vents) exposed. We saw some feminist art, as well as more well-known people (Kandinsky, Picasso, etc). After the tour, a few friends and I split off to find crepes and Notre Dame. This was my second time visiting - it was as beautiful and tourist-ridden as ever. Soon, we met up with more friends for icecream (nutella flavored!). Next, we went to the Pantheon, an enormous building famous for its crypt. We saw the final resting place of Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Marie and Pierre Curie, Leon Gambetta, Jean Jaures, Louis Braille, Emile Zola, Voctor Hugo, Alexamdre Dumas, and Jean Moulin. After learning about these people for years in History and French classes, it was pretty cool to be there and say "Whoa! They're IN that CRYPT!" Soon, we moved on to the Luxembourg Garden, where we discovered fall at its finest. The sun was out, leaves were falling, and children were renting toy sailboats to play with in a fountain. Next, we went to the Salon de Chocolat - the world's largest chocolate convention. We spent the next several hours enjoying free samples, demonstrations, chocolate art, and a chocolate fashion show. By the time we left, we were ready to enter into a glorious chocolate coma. That night, we made dinner at the hotel: delicious salad and turkey breast. You readers will be surprised to learn

that I cooked! And the day wasn't over yet - after dinner we went out to explore the Eiffel Tower at night - so beautiful.

Friday, Dickinson took us to the Louvre. We saw tons of French art from the Middle Ages up

through the 18th century. The weather predicted rain for Saturday, so some friends and I hurried to catch a train to Versaille. This was by far the hilight of the trip, selon moi. We went through room after room of unbelievable wealth. There happened to be a Japan-inspired contemporary art exhibit on

display in several rooms, so that was a weird combination. Next, we began to explore the gardens, which stretch on for literally MILES. There are several man-made lakes, and countless mini-gardens and sculptures to explore. Seeing as we were on foot, our range was limited - though you can rent bikes, boats, and golf carts. We returned to the city that evening for a boat tour along the Seine and dinner with Dickinson.

Saturday morning, a couple friends and I went back to Notre Dame - we were DETERMINED to get up into the towers, which had been closed earlier in the week due to striking (oh, the French). After this, we grabbed lunch, where I

helped a lovely American couple order their food (success!). Next, we walked to the Musée d'Orsay, a beautiful museum which used to be a train station. Some of the more well-known pieces we saw were by Gauguin, Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Matisse, Cezanne, Renoir, Seurat, and Degas. There was also a scale model of the Opera and the "quartier de l'opera," as well as a bust of Beethoven by Bourdelle which read "Moi je suis Baccus qui pressure pour les hommes le nectar delicieux." That night, I a friend invited me out to dinner with her and her parents, who were also visiting the city. They took us to a wonderful restaurant across from the Louvre, and I had duck with kumquat sauce and millefeuille. So incredibly delicious.

Sunday morning, we woke up an hour early (I had some problems with daylight savings). Luckily, the the keeper of the hotel breakfast took pity on us and let us in early. Then, our train took us back to Toulouse. After ten days of travel, we were all thoroughly exhausted, but satisfied with the level of tourism we had achieved.

Barcelona!

The first of several long-awaited posts:

Last week, several Dickinson classmates and I took a trip to Barcelona. Not only did we plan this independent of Dickinson, but only 2 out of the 13 of us know Spanish. Quite the adventure. We took a 6 hour bus down Friday night, and made our way through the city to our hostel. For many of us, this would be our first hostel experience - none of us quite knew what to expect. At 10:30 pm (22h30), a dark and smelly staircase was the last thing we were hoping to see. Luckily, this gave way to a bright, colorful, and CLEAN lobby. We were greeted by the managers as well as other travelers, and given a brief tour of the amenities. Seven of us were placed in a ten-person room, so I had an Australian bunkmate named Steve, who we quickly learned was nocturnal and snored constantly. As it turns out, the Sant Jordi hostels are known for their cleanliness, free internet, snacks, and friendly party atmosphere. They plan outings almost every evening, so it was easy to meet people from all over the world. The strangest part of this was that EVERYONE was speaking English - shocking after months of constant French.

Saturday morning, we woke up early to explore the city. I spent most of the trip with the "crazy tourist" group, who had essentially planned every minute of every day before our arrival. This took us first to get breakfast (an omelette and tomatoes on bread?? new favorite snack), then to an open-air market. I bought a new purse, one more suitable for traveling in a foreign city. There was all kinds of cool merchandise to see, much of which we suspected was stolen. Some of the people we were with even attempted some Spanish with the locals. It was surprising how far we got with "hola" and "¿cuánto cuesta?" After the market, we bought metro passes (LOVE the Barcelona metro! so easy!) and headed to the Sagrada Familia. Going into this trip, I had no idea who Gaudi was, but I quickly learned. We stepped off the metro to this:

Reaction: WHAAATTT???????

I quickly learned that 1) this guy was a genious. A crazy genious. and 2) it's been under construction since 1882. and 3) it's projected to be the 8th wonder of the world. We ate lunch at a cafe closeby, seeing as we needed some time to take it all in. Then we saw the inside as well. PLEASE check out my album on facebook, or look up pictures of this place online - you will not be disappointed. That night, we went out for some traditional Spanish food - paella!

Sunday we woke up early (again) to check out La Rambla. In the morning, most things weren't open yet (though we did find a Spanish Dunkin Donuts!), but we grabbed some lunch and walked around by the waterfront. Then, we headed through the city to the chocolate museum (fun but small, not too interesting), stopping in local stores and taking pictures along the way. Next, we went to the Picasso museum, which was incredible. We saw plenty of pictures that we recignized, and I even took some pictures of several (which then turned out to be against the rules... whoops). The museum was also hosting an exhibit of Degas and his influence on Picasso - super interesting. To save money, we just ate dinner in the hostel that night, which gave us the opportunity to get to know some fellow travelers.

Monday, we visited the Parc Guell. This entire park was designed by Gaudi. It sits on a hill

overlooking the whole city AND the Mediterranean Sea. We visited a museum, ate a picnic lunch, and met up with the other half of our group (who we really didn't see much in Barcelona). Surrounded by the sun, music, palm trees, and art, we were in heaven. Late afternoon, we went to the beach. This was very cold, but one of our friends went swimming

briefly. For our last night out, we found a restaurant with drinks, appetizers, and the main course for cheap - and it was delicious. The waiter even brought us free post-dinner drinks.

Tuesday morning, I went with two friends to check out the "football" stadium. Sadly, we didn't have time to take the tour. We made it back just in time to pack up and hurry to our bus back to Toulouse. W returned home that night exhausted, with only nine hours until our rendez-vous for our Dickinson trip to Paris.

Opportunities galore...

Just a few exciting stories to relate from this week -

Sunday, I saw the opera La Boheme with friends. For those of you who don't know, this is the original Italian opera which inspired (the film and musical) Rent. We arrived just before the show to purchase student pricing tickets. The seats were very decent - back rows in the orchestra - which normally cost around 70 euros. We got them for 10 euros! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the opera - great acting and voices all around. I was very grateful for the subtitles, for I had neglected to read the synopsis beforehand. This was an experience - listening to the words in sung Italian, while reading the French translation. Thankfully, I understood almost everything!

Other news...

Dickinson administrators have enlisted me to translate the psychology course descriptions for l'Institut Catholique into English for the psych professors back in the US. This will be a great opportunity to win brownie points, while practicing my French and making bank.

Today after class, a friend and I went grocery shopping. We bought all the dinner necessities: pasta, veggies, cheese, sausage, cider, and baguettes. As we got to her house to drop everything off, a woman stopped us on the street and asked if we were students from the Dickinson Center. She then proceeded to offer us babysitting work! Even better- her children are adorable. Plus it will be nice to have some supplimental income. We exchanged information, so hopefully that works out in the near future.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Just changed my settings - you no longer need to sign in to post comments! So listen up everyone: I'm expecting a flood of comments, questions, and demands for French terms ASAP. Enjoy!

Love, Kim

Le Travail...

This morning I met with Dickinson administrators to discuss my work study opportunities. It was important to reflect on several things before accepting the position:

1. Why is this starting in October? I've been living here for 5 weeks?

2. What regular hours will I be offered? Any?

3. What kinds of responsibilities will I have?

I received answers to none of these questions. Looks like I'll be working a couple hours here and there, "as needed". Huzzah.

On the plus side, I spent the next two hours helping to prepare photo boards for the Dickinson Center's upcoming 25th anniversary party! And they offered me snacks! So not a bad situation after all.

Other news: on the way home after work, I turned down a street and discovered a car inFLAMES by the side of the road. The firefighters hadn't even arrived yet. Of all days to leave my camera at home! Here's what it looked like:

Long overdue....

Bonjour tout le monde!

The last week has been pretty eventful. Wednesday marked the commencement of my psychology classes at the Institut Catholique. I'm taking three courses: Developmental Psych, Clinical Psych and Psychopathology, and Social Psych. Clinical went pretty well - the professor read her notes (*gasp!* no powerpoint!?) out loud, but was always willing to speak slower or repeat the information. One complaint about the course material - France is obsessed with Freud. In America, psychologists don't really teach his material. My course here is based on the "Freudian" system of classification. Ugh. I really enjoyed my social and developmental classes - powerpoints! The students in the classes are very nice. It's perfectly normal to check each others' notes throughout class, and one girl let me download her files of the prerequisite first-year courses! The 3.5 hour classes are pretty grueling. I took roughly 8 pages of scrawled, abbreviation-ridden notes during each, which means I'll need to type them. I was SO relieved to finally start classes. Psychology is preferable to the intensive 6-hour French grammar, history, and culture orientation course.

This weekend, Dickinson took us on a trip into the countryside. Saturday morning, I was running late, so my host dad drove me to the bus (love). We drove three hours to Conques, a village which dates back to the Middle Ages (of course). Apparently, the majority of these villages were constructed when someone chose to build a church, and a community sprung up around it. We hiked up a mountain to see a chapel -

the view was incredible! - and ate a picnick lunch at the top. Afterwards, we viewed the church and it's tresor. Yes. There was treasure. Lots

of gold-plated and bejewled idols. Next, our journey continued to Cordes-Sur-Ciel. The bus dropped us off at the base of the city. We HIKED up through tiny streets into the centre-ville at the top of the mountain, and got settled in our hotel. Our chambre was incredible. Heated towel rack, flat-screen tv, trouser press, awesome shower, a sink which resembled the Parthanon, and oh yeah- a PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE FRENCH COUNTRYSIDE.

We ate dinner at the hotel Saturday night. Apéritif of violet liqueur, entrée of escargot tarte, plat principal of roast duck, and some tasty cake thing for dessert.

Sunday morning, we woke up to the best hotel breakfast of my life. Muesli, coffee, croissants, chocolate croissants, fresh fruit, yogurt, cheese, ham, and sausage. Soon, it was time to explore the city. Our history/art/French culture professor gave us a walking tour of the city, then set us free to shop and eat lunch. There were plenty of shops to explore: souvenirs, wine, even crossbows and foi gras. We found a restaurant for lunch, and divided up into two tables hoping for better service. Thirty minutes later, the other Dickinson table had received their food, and we had yet to see our server. This rendered me almost too cranky to enjoy the 40-person chorus seated across the room, who kept harmonizing French folk music. Eventually our table gave up, left, and found a lovely little shop for some ham and quiche.

After lunch, we loaded up the bus, and drove to a winery. We received a full guided tour by the owner. He showed us his pigeonnier (really old pigeon house), and garden featuring a fleur de lis topiary. He shared the funny story of, shortly after the end of the cold war, some Russian military leaders visited to learn how to make wine. His father was giving them a tour of the gardens, and appoligized that he only had the fleur de lis to show them, not the hammer and sickle. He explained the different processes for making red and white wine, and brought us into the storage and processing areas. This was followed, of course, by a wine tasting. Thanks, Dickinson College!

Other News:

Just a quick tidbit about class today. My clinical psych class is most definitely centered around Freud and psychoanalysis. Thanks, Professor. Now I know three-hours-worth of Freudian principles. 1 hour of lecture time dedicated to Freud comparing the human psyche to crystals. 1 hour dedicated to metapsychology, the basis of psychoanalysis. Basically, pseudoscience. This meant that a friend and I spent some quality post-class time in a pastry shop.

First Day of Classes!

Today was the commencement of courses at the Institut Catholique de Toulouse. This renders it appropriate for me to recount my experience, and perhaps add an analysis of French versus American university classes. This was supposed to be that post. But it's not. For reasons which will soon become clear.

I arrived at the ICT early this morning, and asked the receptionist (part of her job description is literally to give people directions) where my class was located. I found it, along with another Dickinson student. The door was locked (oh, France), but the arrival of other students confirmed that we were in the right place. The course selection functions differently here than at Dickinson. Students arrive at school with a set major, and within that major they are told which courses to take, with little room for electives. Unlike Dickinson, there is no battle to get "accepted" into certain courses. If you're a second-year psychology student, you receive your schedule, and that's it. This of course means that you take EVERY class with the same people, 3 years in a row. The group immediately recognized us as outsiders, and a couple girls started up conversations with us. 20 minutes later, there was still no professor to be found. The students decided en mass to leave. So we did, and returned an area where all the schedules and notices are posted. Our class had been cancelled! I spent the rest of the day attending a "welcome" persentation courtesy of the Director ("big boss" - a bishop!), then eating lunch in the cafeteria (scrumptious) with some new French friends - they even took us out for baklava after! Tomorrow I only have a Dickinson class scheduled, so hopefully Wednesday night I'll have some academic stories for this audience.

Highlights from this weekend:

Friday we received a tour of the ICT campus from another 3rd year student. It's a tiny place, but pretty nice. My only complaint is that not all the buildings have identifying marks that they belong to the college, and not all the classrooms have numbers? That should be interesting.

Saturday we explored some of Toulouse's "Journées de Patrimoine" - meaning that there were all kinds of events throughout the city. Most museums are open to the public and free, as well as churches and private homes that are otherwise closed to the public. Same goes for Sunday. I'll have the pictures up soon - we saw le Palais Niel, l'Hôtel du Barry, as well as several incredible churches.

Gagnant!

Tonight, some Dickinson people and I participated in a "France-Etats Unis" happy hour. This is basically an organisation which brings together people from both countries interested in making friends from another country, as well as practicing their French and English speaking skills.

Beforehand, a few of us met up for dinner at a tapas bar. Not only was dinner delicious, but at some point during dinner a woman came over and offered us free alcohol as part of a "51 Brand" promotion. Then she gave us free hats. We proceeded to wear the hats for the remainder of the night. Throughout all this, the bar kept playing songs from the movie "Blues Brothers." Good times all around.

The happy hour was excellent. I met adults from the area, mostly working Toulousains who wanted to speak English with us. This was fine, as we responded in French. I look forward to attending more of these events in the future.

http://www.franceusa.org/

Mecredi Soir

Tonight, I watched a bio of President Ronald Reagan with my host parents. Quote of the evening, courtesy of my host dad (translated from French):

"Ah! Ronald Reagan! If I was American, I would vote for him!"

Flight of the Français

The past week has featured quite a few points of interest...

Last Tuesday (sorry for not posting sooner!), Dickinson brought us on a

trip to a castle in the Pyrénées. We hiked for 30 minutes STRAIGHT UP the mountain, through fog, which was pretty cool. The picture below shows the mountain. Where the road enters on the far left is where we began, and hiked pretty much straight up to the top.

That tiny thing on the mountaintop is actually an enormous medieval castle. Below, you can see the village where we ate lunch! Lunch (no surprises here) was fantastic! They served us a quinoa salad, trout, and pasta, as well as an amazing apple tart dessert, coffee, and pitchers

of wine. The trout was served WHOLE, which was an adventure by itself. All courtesy of Dickinson!

After lunch, we went on a kayaking journey through the mountains! This featured beautiful scenery, ducks, and a couple mishaps. A friend accidently hit me in the face with an oar, my kayak partner and I got stuck in a tree, and a few other girls fell in. Our kayaking leaders were pretty amused by all this. Good times all around. Plus, I arrived home that night with a sweet black eye/battle wound to show the family. That day also happened to be a grève day, meaning everyone was on strike. The buses and metro weren't working, and people were protesting in the streets. Too bad we weren't around to fully experience it - though they're common enough, I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities. We arrived back in Toulouse that night, soaking wet and starving (a miracle after the amount of food we consumed at lunch!), and headed straight out for kabobs! SO AMAZING. For those of you who aren't familiar with the wonder of kabobs, it's basically an enormous hunk of meat, lamb?, usually displayed in shop windows spinning next to a heater. The cafe workers literally SHAVE off hunks of greasy meat and put them in a naan sandwich. Clearly, this is my new favorite food.

A la Campagne

Seeing as the rest of last week didn't feature anything particularly exciting (piano concert, Place au Jacobins, churches - check out the pictures I posted online!), I'll skip directly to this weekend! My family invited me to their country cottage for the weekend. Two hours of winding roads outside Toulouse, near Bergerac (as in Cyrano, for my fellow Francophiles), we made it. Their home is pretty sweet, located on its own hill, with an ENORMOUS pool and beautiful view. I spent the weekend swimming, dining, and immersing myself into their family culture. I learned that they love whiskey-coca, and that they can spend hours debating politics over food, and that everyone in their family is a fantastic cook. Saturday, I accompanied them into town to check out the weekly markey, which was very typique and fun. That night, a friend of theirs invited us to dinner in their BEAUTIFUL home. Legit, it was furnished somewhat like a hybrid of these two pictures. Dinner lasted three and a half hours, which was pretty cool.

Sunday, I went tomass with Madame (en francais!) which was thoroughly enjoyable. Afterwards, we had an interesting discussion about catholicism and religion in general. For lunch, we had crab, still in its shell. The family was asking me if I knew how to eat crab. I answered that I was more familiar with lobster. They were VERY impressed. Thanks, Cape Cod roots!

WAIT. I forgot to mention the hilight of my weekend! I flew in my host dad's plane!

That's all for now~~~ Please send your responses/questions/witticisms via email or facebook, and I'll be sure to respond or post them!

Choses Intéressants...

Today was important for several reasons:

1. I began choosing courses. For serious. Looks like i'll be taking the required "how to take a class in France" required by Dickinson, possibly a photography course, and a bunch of psych classes at the Institut Catholique de Toulouse (my family informed me that people call it the "le Catho" or something... weird). I'll be choosing either 2nd or 3rd year classes (scary!), plus it would appear that there's the opportunity to do some reseearch within the department.

2. Bonded with my host family today. Spent some time discussing current events and politics over a bottle of wine. C'est la vie.

3. My host family owns a PLANE. I now have a new goal going forward...

WE! (week-end)

Right now I’m feeling a bit flustered. I was just walking home from a café, and managed to get caught in a flash thunderstorm. This took me totally by surprise, because every day in Toulouse thus far has been gorgeous. So let’s see… I guess I need to catch up on everything since last week. Hmmm…

So let’s see… Friday was interesting. We had our first written assignment due, which I then had to read en class. During our lunch break (which is always two hours, by the way), Dickinson folks and I checked out a fantastic open-air market of second-hand stuff. I was pretty excited about this, because the quality of the items for sale was ridiculous. I saw countless stands featuring ornate antique furniture, china tea sets, and jewelry. I’ll definitely be returning to shop when it occurs next month.

After lunch, Professor Crema, who teaches us Toulouse history, brought us all to the Basilique Saint Sernin, which dates back to the middle ages. Getting there was my first time using the Toulouse metro system (so much walking…), which is GORGEOUS. Everything is clean and shiny, and there is a barrier between you and the train – glass doors open when the train arrives. Even the trains themselves are shiny. So strange. There’s a museum next door to the basilica, where Monsieur Crema explained why and how it was built. What I found pretty interesting was how the architecture of the basilica changed from the front to the back, because it took so long to build. Apparently, there were no sculptors when it began, only masons. But as the Middle Ages progressed, they began to learn, and their work became more and more intricate. But hey, for people who didn’t have decent systems of waste disposal, and mostly couldn’t read, they did an amazing job. Seriously – check out the pictures. I had some fun taking pictures with some statues in the museum. The inside of the basilica was epic – so enormous and beautiful. After we left, a couple friends and I made our way home, stopping in some cool shops along the way. There are lots of hippie-style boutiques featuring all kinds of clothing and accessories made in Nepal. And of course, we stopped in a bakery to buy some chocolate bon bons.

That night, the Dickinson crew and I met up in the Place St. Pierre, which we had been informed is the center of student nightlife. We made friends with the owner of a small pizza store, and enjoyed some delicious pizza and wine. A couple hours later, we progressed next door to the bar. We managed to meet a very international crowd that evening. Plenty of French, Italian and German folks. It was interesting to observe how an evening in Toulouse progresses. There were quite a few people who were clearly underage, but all the establishments we visited were perfectly enjoyable and fun. There are no laws against open containers, as far as I can tell, so we ended up down by the river, along with half the student population of Toulouse. Overall, it was a great night. I made it home around 2 or 2:30, and finally had a chance to skype with Mom and Jenny!

Wow. That was all one day. Moving on…

Saturday was slightly less eventful. I wandered around the city for a while, which just never gets old. Then, the Dickinson crowd met up to hang out in our favorite gardin, the Jardin des Plantes. Yes. We have a favorite garden. That night, we went out again, but mostly just hung out along the river like so many other people. It’s truly fantastic how many people are out at night here. Heading home, I decided not to make anyone walk me home, and managed to hail a taxi AND direct him to my house! 10 euros later, I was still proud of this accomplishment.

Sunday, I woke up relatively early, and watched mass on TV with my family. This was quite enjoyable, because the priest speaks so slowly. Then, I set out to find a market that I’d only heard about briefly. Somehow, this worked. And, it’s definitely my new favorite place. Every Sunday, Toulouse hosts markets throughout the city. There were stands of fromage, meat, pastries, fruits and veggies – basically anything a hungry person could desire. There were stands of books, music, videos, jewelry, clothing, and home goods. There were plenty of street performers; one woman in particular played roughly ten instruments and sang beautifully. My friends and I bought all kinds of delicious food (moi: brie, une baguette, sausage), and spent the remainder of the afternoon by the river eating and relaxing. When I arrived home, sweaty and exhausted, my host momma invited me to go swimming in her brother’s pool. Bien sur! Henri lives in a beautiful home just outside of Toulouse. He has a piscine naturel, a pool that uses no chemicals, just plants and nature to filter the pool. There are even little minnows and a koi that live in it! Yes, I swam with a koi. Apparently it’s pretty new and rare, so he’s been featured in magazines. That night, I watched “Catch me if you Can” en français with the family, which was pretty cool.

FINALEMENT!

This is a post born out of the truly awesome fact that I finally bonded today with my host sister and brother! YESSS! That's really all I have to say. They're totally nice, but I've been having trouble communicating with them during their fast-paced family conversations. Today though, I had a chance to talk to them individually. This allowed me to *ever so slowly* come up with the correct words for a legitimate conversation. I learned that My host sister will be attending the same university as me, and my host brother is equally disturbed by the number of underage children present in the bars of Toulouse. Oh, and tonight we had quiche. Which is delicious.

Not sure I've mentioned this before, but my host family eats dessert with every meal. Thomas James Vaccaro would fit in well.

That is all.

"Bonjour Madame"

Time for another update!

Yesterday was pretty eventful - at the Dickinson center, the morning featured a THREE HOUR LONG exam (written, oral, and listening) to see what the class needs to improve. Death. But, after that, we were released for two hours to explore the area and locate some nourriture. Some of the Dickinson peeps introduced me to Casino, which is the local supermarket chain. Pretty much like a French Stop and Shop or Giant, but less generic. Then, I joined up with three other friends and found a crêperie for lunch! Délicieux! After that, we met up with another professor for a guided tour of Toulouse center.

The professor started by showing us around the Jardin des Plantes, which is beautiful (of course). I went to find my camera and - au mon deiu! - I had left it at the crêperie! So that was terrible. Au revoir, camera. But the tour was pretty cool. The professor told us all about the history of the city, and how it is built in a circle filled with labyrinthine roads for better fortification. Also, he showed us most of the major squares and roads, so that we would never be totally lost! The man even quoted Bob Marley ("My feet is my only carriage..."), to explain that he hates cars and usually just walks everywhere. There's a seven story parking garage in the middle of the city. He brought us up to the top. From there, you can look down onto most of the city, and see church steeples as well as Les Pyrénées in the distance.

After the tour, I decided to walk to the other side of the city to relocate the camera. One forty-five minute walk later, and the place was closed. Good times. So, instead of meeting up with Dickinson people as planned, it was time to go home and shower. I had a lovely conversation with the host momma, who told me to let her know if I needed anything, because here "je suis comme ton mère secondaire." Love. As I was leaving, the host poppa said that I looked "tres élégante!" Double love.

That night, I met up with a bunch of Dickinson folks to check out the city some more. We ate some fantastic Italian food, drank some wine, and talked about how it still hasn't sunk in that WE LIVE HERE. One of the girls texted a friend from home to find a decent bar, which we located with the help of google maps. Basically, a fantastic night.

Today went pretty well. First day of class with another professor. She is determined to prepare us for taking classes in France. A pretty intense undertaking. Then, back to the crêperie to retrieve my camera. THEY HAD IT! For lunch, I picked up some samosas and picknicked with the Dickinson peeps. After that, more orientation to discuss the cultural differences between France and America. Hint: there are a lot. But that's a post for a later time.

Les Jours Suivant...

Ok, as promised:

LE VRAI CHATEAU

No offense to Mac Cerullo, but Sunday I had the opportunity to visit an actual chateau. A friend of my host family, an artist, lives there - she invited us to join her for lunch. We drove for about an hour outside of Toulouse in the campagne, with some wonderful scenic views of les Pyrénées. We ate le fois gras, and some delicious roasted vegetables and chicken. I also learned that it isn't unusual for adults to have four or five glasses of wine with lunch. Afterwards, the friend gave us a wonderful tour of the castle, its architecture, and the pieces of art throughout. Her mother had aquired some timeless pieces of furnature, and she was able to place the history of all the decor. Check out the album I posted to facebook - there was plently more that I didn't have the opportunity to capture. After the visit, we drove to see my host mother's brother and his family at their home near Toulouse. They were extremely friendly, plus they have three adorable sons and a dog. That night, after dinner, I finally met my host father and his daughter, who I believe is nineteen, plus their two little dogs. Also, I finally received the password to the internet! Huzzah!

LUNDI

This morning began with a brisk walk to the Dickinson Center for my first day of orientation! The center is located in a very nice part of the city, in a beautiful house. There are classrooms inside, a kitchen, areas for gathering, a tiny library, as well as offices for our professors and administrative staff. It was great finally seeing some Dickinson people, minus the awkwardness of only being able to speak French to one another. We received tons of information about Toulouse, living in France, and getting along with our host families. Then there was a pizza lunch in the garden, as well as more information as well as a little tour of the area. After all the programming, a few of us decided to explore the city in search of cell phones. We passed through a wonderful public garden, saw many stores and cafes, and eventually located our destination: Orange! Orange is an electronics company and telephone service provider for Europe. Like Verizon, only less evil. We quickly located the cheapest phones, which you only need to buy sim cards to operate. This cost 29 euros. After all the searching, we decided that the best course of action would be to find a cafe and have a beer. So we did. I absolutely love France.

I managed to find my way back home from the center of the city, and ate dinner with the family. I met their son, and a friend of their daughter too. We played a card game - President - which was essentially the same as the American version. And.... now I'm back in my room for the evening. Sweetness.

Oh: another tidbit. Shoutout to my family back home. Today I saw an advirtisement for Mad Men - written en Français.

Is it dead?

So I opened the fridge this morning for some milk and…. AAAHHHH!

Yes. That’s a leg. Bon matin!

Premier Jour

~written 8/28/10, not posted due to lack of internet access~

11:20 pm Toulouse time, 5:20 pm Boston time.

ARRIVAL

As far as host families go, I believe I won the lottery. The flight from Amsterdam to Toulouse was only 1.5 hours. I had been messaging a friend at the Amsterdam airport, discussing how fantastic it would be if my host mother was standing in the arrivals area with one of the signs limo drivers use to identify their clients. Madame de Maillard was waiting for me at the baggage claim, “KIM” sign in hand. Needless to say, she is awesome. We drove home (HOME!), and she gave me a full tour of the house. (Note: all books on French culture advise that you will probably not see the kitchen, private bathrooms, or bedrooms of your host family. Apparently, this family does not adhere to the stereotypes.)

MA SALLE A CHAMBRE

My room is in the basement of the home. I have a full-size bed (SCORE), a desk, and a spacious closet. I have my own bathroom too, which is pretty exciting. The French have a different setup for their bathrooms –Mine has a sink and a shower. The toilet is in a closet across the hall. There’s a cool little door that leads to the backyard just down the hall.

SETTLING IN

The afternoon began with lunch, which consisted of salad, cheese, melon, bread, and a delicious tarte à l’onion courtesy of Madame de Maillard. The only other person in the house right now is Madame de Maillard’s Maman. Both of them were very interested in learning about me, as well as sharing about themselves, their families, and France. After lunch, we drank du café with chocolate, and decided to faire le sieste, only confirming my belief that I belong here. I spent that time unpacking, reading a great information packet provided by Dickinson, and sleeping for 3 more hours. Dinner meant more salad, more melon, a kiwi (which I learned has more vitamin C than an orange), and zucchini which canard – duck!

After dinner, I watched a French TV show which appeared to be across between “American Idol” and “Who wants to be a Millionaire.” Then, Madame de Maillard offered to show me around the city. We walked around part of the center of the city. She pointed out historical landmarks, as well as her favorite shops and cafés. We ended up getting some sorbet, then headed home. As this exciting day comes to a close, jet lag is beginning to catch up with me – time to sleep. But tomorrow sounds promising. I’ll be meeting the rest of the family, and going to dinner at a chateau!

À demain!

Le Voyage

So I'm currently sitting in Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, waiting for my connecting flight to Toulouse. The transatlantic flight went smoothly - my bag just made the checked luggage weight limit, the family saw me to security at Logan, I made it onto the correct plane, found my lovely window seat, and bonded with my German seat mate. I saw a beautiful sunset, and an equally beautiful sunrise, within the span of 5 hours. The movie selection featured 3 homages to my friend Mer - a Gerard Butler film, a Ewan McGregor film, and an Ellen Page film. Once in Amsterdam, I braved through security check, and made another German friend at my gate. In less than 3 hours, I'll be touching down in Toulouse, and meeting my French momma for the first time! Looks like 3 hours of sleep will have to suffice for this exciting new day.

That's all for now... More posts to follow soon!

Le Commencement de Tout

"The beginning of everything."

As suggested by my family, I will be keeping a blog to document my experiences in France this semester. Please feel free to submit your own questions! Anything related to Toulouse, French culture, or my life is completely acceptable.

To start things off, I thought I'd provide some information about where I'll be staying...

Toulouse

Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France, after Paris, Lyon, and Marseille. It features many buildings made of brick, giving it the name "la ville rose" (the pink city), as well as museums and theaters. Toulouse is a central location for aviation, computer, and space research, as well as the birthplace of the Airbus company. It is also a popular college city, with roughly 100,000 residential students. I plan to attend the Institut Catholique de Toulouse this fall.

Family

I will be living with a host family for the duration of the semester. They seem like the perfect match - a spacious home near the center of the city, two dogs, and wireless internet! In addition, they have three children around my age, though they will all be living in other countries/continents for most of my visit. I have been corresponding with them via email, and seem to be a very welcoming family! Here is a picture that they sent me:

Dickinson en France

For my first month in school, I'll be taking an intensive French language class through Dickinson as my program-mates and I adjust to our surroundings. From there, we will choose classes at one of six local universities, to begin by late September. Our program also has several trips planned, of which I fully intend to take advantage. Here's the program site, the home of our program director and our Dickinson en France classes.

Planning

One thing I'm already beginning to recognize throughout this process is that I'm becoming a "planner." This has been necessary, because of my last-minute need for a new passport and visa. But I've been researching the area and local attractions, because I would like to arrive in the city with a working knowledge of local public transportation, as well as how to navigate around the city.

Packing has me totally confused. For my freshman year of college, I was allowed to bring whatever could fill a minivan, with the lingering possibility of having additional items shipped. Neither of these things will be possible in France. Plus, how can I pack for five months... to only fill one or two suitcases? Most sources say that the French dress well... how will they react to my pajamas and sweatpants? Should I bring rain boots, a winter coat, or even a backpack? I've been making countless lists: things to bring, things that need to be purchased, errands to run. Hopefully it will all begin to come together soon...

"L'aventure : un événement qui sort de l'ordinaire, sans être forcément extraordinaire."

- Jean-Paul Sartre

Adventure: an event that is unusual, but not necessarily extraordinary.