Special Edition: American in America!

So, I've been home for just over a week now. I had been expecting the culture shock to be pretty intense, but haven't really noticed it at all. There are little things that keep surprising me, though, like having white eggs (the only ones I've seen in France are brown), the different shape of light switches, the different placement of toilet handles, thinking in dollars (which is a lot less painful than euro), and being able to make witty remarks to people I don't know without accidentally insulting them. I do miss my apartment, my friends and the warmer weather of Montpellier, but Vermont has its own perks, including (but not limited to) not needing to cook for myself, having a dryer, being able to talk with people, etc. Also, I'm sure that no one in their right mind will agree with me here, but... I had missed American men.

So, I got home on Monday evening, 24 hours later went to my friend Lise's annual Christmas-cookie-making-and-fondue-eating extravaganza which was awesome, and then two days later left for Sunday River, a mountain in Maine, to going skiing with the fam.

This is arguably the least attractive family photo ever to exist, but what can I say? Attractiveness isn't necessary when all that can be seen of you is your nose.

So, we went skiing on Friday and Saturday and headed back that evening. It might have only been two days, but dear God was I sore!! I feel like I pulled every muscle waist down. Ouch.

The exciting event of Sunday was my first contra in four months!!! I got there early to play in a jam session which was fun, and then danced the evening away. It was excellent--not only was the band, Nightingale, incredible, but there were a lot of great people there, as well. There was just a lot of love going around that evening, and it felt wonderful :)

(Photo stolen from Roger Katz, resident awesome photographer)

So, tomorrow I head off to NYC to visit family for New Year's (Seriously, 2010? It's going to take me at least 6 months to get used to writing that), which should be fun, and will be coming back on Sunday. Then, I need to figure out how to cram the following into 11 days:

- Choose a new violin
- Visit my music teacher
- Go to contra
- See Crooked Still
- Visit my Grandmother
- Go to an Irish jam session
- Go to a Renewal concert
- Meet up with 7 different friends, half of which don't live in VT

... And I had been worried about being bored while at home... HA!

GOIN' HOME--The EPIC travel log of an American trying to leave Montpellier.

4:30 am, France time--Maybe going to sleep at 2:00 am wasn't such a good idea after all. Pretty nervous about this whole trip, but have been reassured many times that everything will go just fine. Am determined to prove optimists wrong.

5:45 am--Why did it seem like such a good idea to pack so much and then walk to the train station? My hands hurt.

6:05 am--Hello Gare St. Roch, nice to see you again. Man I'm here early.

6:45 am--Waiting for my train... Thought that it would be a good idea to get here really early seeing as it's the only part of the trip that's under my control. Am now sort of wishing I had stayed in bed a little longer.

6:50 am--So, the train was supposed to be here by now, instead there's a flashing EN RETARD sign for an HOUR AND A HALF. Fuckfuckfuckfuck.

7:30 am--Waiting... And waiting... And... A fire alarm and everyone needs to evacuate the building? Great.

8:20 am--If the train isn't here now, I kill people.

8:25 am--Train's here, thank the gods.

(11:00 am--When I was supposed to arrive at Charles de Gaulle airport)

11:30 am--Wish the alternately screaming and giggling children would go away. They're stressed me out. At least the country is beautiful and snow-covered.

12:45 pm--So, not only are we running an hour and a half late, but the train is running slower than normal, too. FML.

1:00 pm--At the airport 2 hours later than originally expected and FORTY MINUTES BEFORE TAKEOFF!! AHHHHH! Mad dash to the terminal where I was told "pas de stress" and that it would be fine, as apparently everything was running late. Whew. Bags checked, go through security...

2:30 pm-- On the plane! Don't know how or why I made it, but I'm not going to complain.

3:00 pm--Au revoir, France!

9:45 am EST--And... the entertainment system is broken. It's gonna be a Loooong 7 hours. At least I got to chat with my neighbors.

4:00 pm--Hello, Montreal!

4:30 pm--Really, security and customs? Could this take ANY longer? I mean, I don't have another flight to catch or anything, so take your time...

5:25 pm--Just getting through customs... Hope it's not a problem that my flight was scheduled to leave FIVE MINUTES AGO. FUCK!

5:30 pm--Skidded to a halt at my gate just as they were calling my name, and just barely made it on the flight. God, that was close.

5:31 pm--Kid stole my window seat! Grr.

6:40 pm--I don't know how... But I made it! Hello, Boston!

9:45 pm--Home sweet home!

10:30 pm--Bed sweet bed! After 20 hours of travel and enough stress to give me a freaking ulcer, I think it's deserved. Also, I've decided that when I return to France in January, I'm getting myself a rowboat and ROWING back. It'll be easier, I think.

And thus ends the travel log, when Emily checks herself into a mental institution after the general trauma of travelling internationally.

Time for the most epic catch-up ever!

So, it's been an interesting few weeks. Long story short, the French university system works so that for the first three-fourths of the semester, there's nothing to do whatsoever, and then the last few weeks are hell. But, somehow I made it through the papers (including the one that I didn't learn was optional until the day I handed it in...), and actually just finished my third exam this evening! YAY!!! I had two exams yesterday, which ended up being 5 hours of exams straight which was good fun, and then another today. Being done still hasn't sunk in, though... I think that there's just too much residual stress and caffeine in my system to let me calm down and too much apprehension concerning packing, saying goodbye, traveling home for break... Yeah.

Anyways. What else have I been up to? Well, I've been to two more folk dances, which were a lot of fun. The first was just a really small one at UPV which I went to with Sara and was really nice. Then, two days later, we went to another dance, "Le Bal au Chausettes" (Dance of the Socks) where everyone was supposed to wear crazy socks, and there was even a competition. So, of course, I went out and bought myself a pair of striped knee-socks. It was a rather intense dance, in that it was packed and chaotic, but still fun, and I finally learned some more of the dances.
I wish that this had come out better... But there it is! It's a little hard to see, but the decorations included laundry lines with paper socks clothes-pinned on. So cute! Met a nice boy, too, by the name of Pierre :)

So, despite the fact that Thanksgiving doesn't really exist in France, we still celebrated! Twice, in fact. First, the whole group of us went out to dinner at a restaurant called l'Artichaut, and they actually made us Thanksgiving dinner! ... That is, French style. Two days later, we celebrated again, this time a little more family-style with a potluck! Looks amazing, huh? Tasted amazing, too. I must say, we're a pretty damn talented group of cooks! Let's see, there were yams, mac+cheese, turkey, peanut chicken, mashed potatoes, carrots, lemon meringue pie, apple crisp... God, I'm still full, three weeks later.

Last week, Sealia and I had our last cooking session of the semester, and made salmon, crackers (you have to pronounce it in a French accent, though), and chocolate mousse!
Cooking away...Mme Mousseron--she is SO CUTE!*Salivates*

So, Friday was the first night of Hanukkah, so me being a good little Jewish girl (/wanting an excuse to not be studious) decided to make my two favorite Jewish foods, latkes and noodle kugel! Never having made either I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out... But it ended up being great! :)Bon appetit!The makeshift Hanukiah that Sealia made out of tea candles. Yes, it was only the first night, but we figured why not celebrate all 8 nights in one? It made me really, super happy :) (Also, it just occurred to me that most of my photos seem to be of food, which makes me wonder why my pants still fit me...)

I MADE CREPES! Okay, can I now be officially French?

"EXAMS" is all I really need to say here...
Note the package of Prince cookies, mug and the Pyrex-liquid-measure-turned-teapot. What's that expression, necessity is the mother of invention? Yep, pretty much.
At some point very late on Monday night/Tuesday morning when I was just tired enough to start raking pictures. Glad that's over with!

So, that's me. I'll be spending the next 4 days cleaning, packing, and spending as much time as possible with my friends before heading home on Monday. I leave first thing in the morning (like 6:58 am or something) and will be home late that evening, after about 20 hours of travel. Wow, I can't believe I'll be home so soon. It'll be a bit weird, but I'm excited to be back home and if you're in the VT or MA area, give me a call!

(Oh, and most of the photos are courtesy of Sophie or Sealia--thanks!)