Lets Talk about FOOD!

The dinner that Jocelyne cooked for me on my first night was magnificent! It was a traditional French family meal. We had Quiche, a tomato salad, a carrot salad, chicken and rice, two types of cheeses, french bread, and musk melon for dessert.

Today, I woke up around 8 and met up with Emily and we went grocery shopping. We've found that our apartments are incredibly close together which is amazing. I bought a lot of stuff (especially since I had to lug all of it up four flights of stairs WITHOUT an elevator!). The store was called "Carrefour" and it was very, very small, but they had everything I could possibly want and it was incredibly close to my apartment.

Here's some of what I purchased:

Most of the stuff I bought was typically french, but I did retain a little bit of America...

Then we went back to our apartments to put our food away and went off exploring!

We saw a lot of noteworthy things. The gigantic and notorious elephant water fountain, for example.

However, we were the most exited by a little sandwich/pastry shop were we had lunch! I had a bacon and egg sandwich, where bacon was actually Canadian Bacon. I also bought a box of macaroons which I saved for later.

It was incredibly fun to just wander around town. We found a coffee shop and a movie theater, but I don't think that many American movies will be shown there. Emily and I picked out a couple of movies there we would like to see and made plans to go and see them in the next couple of weeks.

Let the Shenanigans Continue! 

Lacey 

Jet Lag and Social Etiquette

I am suffering from some intensely severe Jet Lag. Emily and I went through some pretty hellacious shenanigans en route to Chambery. Here is some picture documentation of this fact. 

Emily and I before our plane and train rides from hell: 

  

 





and us after...

Some crazy stuff happened to our flights, but someone was looking out for us, because we systematically dodged every bullet. The only sad part was that neither of us were able to sleep on the plane. 

As I write this, I have been awake for more than 30 hours, but my exhaustion does not happen to currently be at the top of my worry list. 

Jocelyne met me at the train station with a sign right when I got off of my platform. I was really tired and felt horrendous, but I put on a shiny face and kissed her once on each cheek, as etiquette calls. 

She very kindly loaded my suitcases into her car and drove me to our apartment where we did our best to carry my fifty pound suitcase up four flights of stairs. At the top, she showed me around and to my room, and then we sat down in the kitchen for some seltzer water and a chat. 

Here is where the interesting part began. Jocelyne, while wonderful, speaks little to no English. Obviously, this is to be expected, as I am here to study and practice French. However, I was really blindsided by the fact that I couldn't ask her how to say something in French or that my descriptions of things didn't make since to her. 

For example, I asked her about a specific ATM that I needed, but I didn't know the word for ATM in French and apparently, it isn't just ATM! So, I tried to describe it in French and essentially said something like "a machine that dispenses money." It turns out that "laisse tombé" is my new favorite French phrase which means "nevermind," since, thus far, I haven't had the energy or the need to continue on when I cannot get my point across. 

When I felt a pause in conversation, I told Jocelyne that I was going to call my family and put all of my things away. As I was only able to take 50lbs worth of stuff, it was pretty easy to put all of my things away in a matter of minutes. Then I went out onto my balcony to look at the mountains while I called my family.

Since I arrived on a Sunday, when nothing is open, Jocelyne was nice enough to cook me dinner. However, this has lead me to the current dilemma which I am confronting now.

Jocelyne told me dinner would be served around 7 or 8, so I decided to wake up from my brief nap around 6:00. I heard Jocelyne rustling in the kitchen, so I went in to see what was going on. I was able to muster up enough cognitive functioning to hold a brief conversation, and she showed me a few other things around the house while some bread was baking. 

The dilemma here is, should I have stayed in the kitchen and chatted with her while she cooked, or give her privacy? In America, I would certainly sit in the kitchen and chat, but here, I'm not quite sure. It also seems that the language barrier is sort of hindering my ability to read any social cues she may be giving off (though, that may also be a combination of hunger and lack of sleep). 

After shuffling in and out of the kitchen and asking a few questions, I opted to sit at my desk and compose this post. Hopefully, I did enough to please her either way! 

On the whole, the apartment is quaint and cozy and Jocelyne is warm and welcoming. I have nothing to complain about, thus far. However, it has only been a few hours and I'm already beginning to feel overwhelmingly immersed in the language. I also don't think it has really hit me that I wont be back in Indiana any time soon. Stay tuned for more riveting tales about my crippling fears and... 

Let the Shenanigans Commence! 

Lacey 

Top 3 Things NOT to Do on Your Next International Flight

So… Today’s the day.

Well, at least as I write this post. Currently, I’m miles above Indiana cruising on my way to Philadelphia where I will have my first layover.

As I was mostly a hysterical mess on my final night in America, I have concocted a list of things NOT to do at the airport. Hopefully, you’re next trip goes swimmingly!  

1.)  Don’t pack that ten-pound woolen sweater you’ve worn twice. You really don’t need it!

In my final evening at home, I decided to venture onto the US Airways website to further educate myself on what TSA would be like, as I have not flown in many years. I entered into an assortment of hysterical fits when I realized I would be that my backpack was, in fact, not considered a personal item and I would need to consolidate. 

This lead to a lot of tears shed over sweaters and sneakers I was incredibly hesitant to part with.

When I met up with Emily (who had a carry on, a suitcase AND a purse, I realized that all my consolidating and worrying was for not. We both boarded the plane just fine. (No, she was not forcibly detained for over-packing, as I suppose I imagined she would.)

In the end, I could have had both my duffel bag and backpack as carry-ons, but didn’t. Luckily, by the end of the night, I found that leaving some stuff I didn’t really need behind was especially freeing! 

 (the lighting was simply horrid at my house, so here is an assortment of the horrid photos we captured before I left)

2.)  Stop freaking out and having hysterical fits.

Maybe this one’s just for me, but I weighed my suitcase about ten times before I was happy with what I had. With US Airways, I had one free checked bag, however, if that bag was between 51 – 75 lbs., it was going to cost me $90.00! I wasn’t about to spend my travel money on that!

When I approached the ticket counter for the woman to weigh my bag, I had resigned to pay the extra money. When I saw that my bag was 51lbs, I sighed and handed the woman my credit card. She rejected it saying, “Oh, its only one pound.”

All of my freaking out had been for not, but that was a wonderful omen to start me trip on!

3.) Do not eat at the freaking airport!

As I skipped past security (which was significantly less invasive and traumatizing than I thought it would be. In fact, it was neither invasive nor traumatizing), I decided I would stop for a little bite to eat.

Little did I know that when it came time to pay the cashier would ask me to remove two of my limbs as payment. My tuna salad sandwich and drink were $15.00! Then, I decided I couldn’t do without some Starbucks, which cost another $5.75! For a MEDIUM!

There is no magical paradise beyond security, only crappy sandwiches and Starbucks. Just eat at home.

And speaking of food… Don’t forget to bring a bunch with you, too!

On my last night in Indiana, my dad and I went to CVS and purchased a significant portion of the candy aisle.

The cliff bars are full of protein and will help keep me full on the long flight. My dainty little ears pop when I go over and hill in my car, so the Skittles and gum are meant to keep my brain from oozing out of my ears, and the pretzel M&M’s are there because I just freaking love those things!

Let the Shenanigans Commence!

Lacey

(NB: I’ll probably post this in Philadelphia, so while my flight there will have been essentially successful, Lord only knows what lies in store for me on my flight to Frankfurt, so check back later for that hellacious tale!)

This is it...

I’m actually starting to get nervous about moving.

 

Most people would say it was only natural, but I never thought such an emotion would afflict my being! I’ve only ever been dying to get out of here! I’ve needed to do some mental preparation in the days leading up to my flight, truly deciding what I need and don’t need and readying myself to leave my family. (Just an FYI,  I can fit a good portion of the items I have accumulated over twenty-one years into about 1.25 suitcases).

In these mental preparations, I’ve gained a little perspective and here’s what I’ve noticed. I’ve spent the majority of my life in a town with about 5,000 people in it. After I graduated from high school, I moved to a town with – wait for it – a whopping 25,000 people in it. So, currently, this is the “big city” for me.  

Two weeks ago, I would’ve said that there was no worse hell than existing in these two towns, and I would have been totally wrong. In my last couple of days in America, I’ve come to really appreciate these two places. This move is also piggy backing on the fact that I’m graduating from college at the end of this year, and moving to France is my first real step out of the proverbial nest. 

I guess, I’m mostly worried about leaving my leaving my family, friends, and what has been an extremely easy and comfortable life. I’m worried about moving in with two complete strangers who don’t speak my native language. I’m worried about culture shock and where I’ll buy bananas and how I’ll get to class. Where am I going to go to the movies or... get my Starbucks?!

But, as I sit awake at 6 am writing this blog post on the couch in my parent’s living room, I can tell that I’m mostly excited. As I reread what I’ve written, I remember that venturing out into the unknown and doing something I’ve never done before is the whole point of this trip. Breaking language barriers and figuring out public transportation and finding a tiny, side-street coffee shop only make up half of the fun of going somewhere new.

So, in conclusion, I suppose I’m less nervous then I thought! Tune in next time for when I single-handedly overcome the trials and tribulations of Indianapolis International Airport!

Let the shenanigans commence!

                                                                                                                        Lacey