Week two back in Montpellier marked the beginning of classes... Which I can't say that I was all that excited for. Not only was I nervous about my classes (just being unsure about how much work to expect, and being worried about maybe being the only foreign student), but after one semester at UPV, I have a good sense of how things work (or don't, as the case might be) and I don't really like it. (I promise that I'm not feeling quite so pessimistic anymore).

So, classes:

1. French Lit, "Arts and Ideas." The prof for the lecture seems entertaining, although he wants us to do a lot of reading, which I'm hoping is more of a recommendation than an actual necessity. The discussion part, "Poetry and Painting of the 19th Century," seems really interesting, although I'm still not sure how I feel about the fact that there are a total of 5 students in the class. Could be awesome, could be awful. I do, however, get to do a presentation on the Symbolist Movement, though, which is pretty awesome.

2. Art History, "French Painting of the 15th Century." Prof is not only nice, but she's Organized. Holy crap. We're spending the entire class on Hours and Psalm books which I feel might get a bit old, but could be interesting. I'm pretty scared, though, because it's a L3-level class which is basically the last class before students go for their Master's, so... Yeah, I feel like everyone's way ahead of me, although the only grades are a 20-minute presentation and an hour-long exam, which seems totally do-able.

3. French Civilization. I'm not even sure exactly what the class is about, but I love this prof (and she likes me) so it doesn't even matter. The class is mostly brand-new-to-Montpellier American students, though, which is a little odd. I mean, I know that's where we were a few months ago, but it really does seem like a big difference. I guess that just means that we've made a lot of progress.

4. Art History (Modern Art). Yes, more art history, although this is modern art which is... Well, good for me, I'm sure. It's for American students as well, but it's taught more like a French class, aka a 3-hour lecture. Luckily, next week we're going to the museum. Also, it's not taught on campus which is awesome because I'd rather not go there more than necessary, but not-so-awesome because I'm not sure if I'll even be able to find it alone. Hm...

So, classes took up most of my time and energy this week, but there was still room for some adventures and fun. First of all, on Thursday I decided to go and try out a taekwondo class, because I'm looking for something to get involved with. It was pretty intense, but a good class. I did manage to get a blood-blister about 20 minutes in, though, which was unfortunate. Nothing that a pair of scissors, a bandaid and some tape couldn't fix, though. They seemed nice, although I'm not sure if it's the most convenient way to make French friends, though. I haven't yet decided if I'm going back or not. There was also an adventure concerning... Brownies. Two, in fact.

Specimen A: Brownies in a wok. It seemed like such a good idea...












... Until it wasn't.













What's another not-so-great idea?
Specimen B: Microwave brownies. While Specimen A was practically charcoal, Specimen B was more of a pudding-like substance. Was damned tasty, though. [Thanks to Sophie for modeling the not-quite brownies]

I've decided that the pursuit of the perfect not-made-in-the-oven brownies will be my goal this semester. I shall succeed!!




Post-brunch photo. Damn, we're cute! [Photo courtesy of the wonderful and talented Mlle. Carrie Morgan who declined to have her picture taken]










And now, to enjoy my remaining hours of freedom before the week begins anew... (Only a three-day weekend? What is this?!)

So, finally, a non-special-edition blog post!

My first week back to Montpellier was one half the "relaxing/catching up on sleep/hanging out with my girls" part of my winter vacation and the other half the "classes are about to start/why is my schedule such a mess/how do I fill these requirements/what am I doing this summer/why is my brand-new violin broken" part. Needless to say, the former was somewhat more enjoyable than the latter, but everything is more or less worked out, now.

Highlights: Catching up with my friends who I hadn't seen for a month, meeting the 5 girls who are new to the program, discovering the wonders of Book and Bar, finally breaking down and buying kitchen utensils (including the infamous purple wok), having a really good interview for the summer internship outside of Paris that I'm hoping to get, going out for tea with Brian, and going to the first Irish jam session at FitzPatrick's in nearly 2 months!
Welcome to Fitzy's, and the Friday night jam! There's usually about that many of us taking over the corner, with one little table with 5 pints of Guinness on it... And one Apple Frost. Mm-mm.








That's me! (I'm usually the only girl there). Brian's in the green shirt next to me.
[Photos courtesy of the lovely Sealia with her awesome brand-spanking-new camera]








The not-so-highlights of the week contained my violin breaking (No one will understand this, but I'll tell the story anyways--So, there was something wrong with the nut that held the tailgut in place, so whenever the strings were tightened and I started playing, it would pop off and the strings would go everywhere and the bridge would fall off. So, this could have just been fixed with a bit of super glue, but the problem is that when there's no pressure on the bridge, there's less pressure on the soundpost, so then it fell over which is decidedly not easy to fix...) which ended in me taking it to a luthier which was aggravating seeing as I had had the violin for ONE WEEK. Argh. I was not pleased. Other than that, there was just a fair bit of stress concerning my class schedule and general unhappiness at the prospect of returning to UPV (I must say, as much as I love this city, this school is driving me crazy), but what'cha gonna do?

Travel log: An American leaving America
(Don't worry, this one won't give you ulcers)

9:00 am EST--Gotta say, it's never fun to begin what you know is going to be a very, very long day.

11:00 am--Time for the farewell stroll around town. Tah, Newfane, see you in a few months. Be good while I'm away, okay?

12:00 pm--And they're headed off to Boston! It entertains me that my mother and sister seem to be stressing more about their own post-dropping-Emily-off plans than I'm worrying about mine. Hm.

2:30 pm--Hey Logan, did you miss me? Checked my two bags, the bigger of which weighed in at 50.5 pounds. Man, I know how to push the limits.

3:30 pm--Said a minimally tearful goodbye, and then went through security, for which there was no line. It felt way too easy. The lady who looked at my passport, though, mentioned that a really, really cute boy had just gone through security and that I should go and look for him. I was amused. Unfortunately, said cute boy could not be located.

4:30 pm--And, boarding...

5:15 pm--BYE AMERICA!

6:00 pm--And hello Montreal. We're even ahead of schedule. Wait, that happens? Seriously?

6:45 pm--Had to do a bit of wandering, but eventually found my gate for the next leg of the journey and... Had time to kill? Weird.

8:30 pm--Boarding the flight to Paris. You know, I'm actually cautiously optimistic about all of this. Things seem to be going well.

6:40 am France time--All of a sudden I'm terribly exhausted but can't sleep, really sad to be leaving home and pretty pissed that I get to spent 5 hours hanging out in Charles de Gaulle waiting for my train. Joy. :(

8:15 am--You know the worst thing about being sick while traveling? Well, one of the worst things? That when the altitude changes, not only did my ears hurt like bloody hell, but I could feel the pressure in my sinuses, which gave me the unpleasant sensation that my head was going to explode. Not so fun.

9:00 am--Immigration was quick and easy, and bag-finding wasn't too bad, especially considering that all I had to do was say "merde, c'est la mienne!" and someone would grab it off the belt and hand it to me.

9:30 am--Walked halfway across CDG to get to the train station. God, my hands hurt from dragging that thing around (of course, it wasn't until later that I remembered my gloves). I had been hoping to maybe exchange my 13:00 ticket for something earlier, but no such luck. Looks like I have some time to kill.

11:00 am--SO. BORED. (And cold, too)

1:00 pm--Finally on the bloody train! Last leg of the journey, nearly there...

5:00 pm--MONTPELLIER! It was so weird getting off that train and all of a sudden, after being in unfamiliar places for so many hours, to be back in my city. It didn't feel real, actually. They say that a place doesn't really become home until you return to it. Think that that might be true. I ended up walking from the train station back home (maybe 3/4ths of a mile) which was pretty damn nasty. It's uphill, too. Dear God, did 13 rue de Cannau look good!

So, I still need to do some settling in (aka, unpack and get groceries, details, details) but overall things feel good. I'm glad that I have a whole week to get back into the swing of things before classes start up again. Oh, and I met my new housemate, Haruko, who seems really sweet and we're going out to lunch tomorrow. Also, she's as fascinated by microwave cooking as I am--that's a good sign. And now, after 31 (very nearly) consecutive hours of being awake... I'm going to bed.

Vacation Part Deux:

So, arguably one of the best (and busiest!) vacations I've had in quite some time. Spent New Year's in NYC which was fun and got to see the Philharmonic Orchestra (partly exciting because of the music, partly... because I got to wear my new dress). The rest of the vacation was a happy blur, containing: going to the Renewal concert, seeing my mother's side of the family, going dancing in Greenfield for the first time in nearly 5 months, visiting friends, going to see Crooked Still, choosing a violin, making a really snazzy apron and just generally stressing out about where on Earth my vacation was going and why it was going there so bloody fast (okay, that part isn't so happy). Time flies when you're having fun. So, many thanks to everyone who made my short visit home a blast :)

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!)