After a mere four and a half months, I found myself back in Minnesota, with not even a day to recover before driving my sister to Florida, 24 hours of driving time of which I drove at least 19. Coming back I felt like I had never left - everything was the same, my semester in France only a dream. Yet I know I've changed - my plans for the future more solidified, and every time I open my mouth something strange comes out, I'm using French words like they're English, and random British expressions. I don't even understand me half the time.
So this was a good experience? Of course. I learnt a lot. Was it as fulfilling as Korea? Probably not; between the strike and my constant travel I didn't really integrate myself as I had there. On top of that my French was significantly better upon arrival than my Korean had been.
Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. This was the best four and a half months of my life. If nothing else, my wanderlust has been satiated for a little while anyway.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Suomi
As originally planned, Finland was not to be my final destination in Europe, but things have changed and tomorrow morning I'll be flying to Minneapolis from Helsinki via Reykjavik instead of spending a week in Scotland as I'd hoped.
As final destinations go, Finland is hardly the worst. Although the weather is the coolest I have encountered in quite some time, the especially late sunsets and my hostel's location on a small penninsula surrounded by cruise docks have made this quite a remarkable stay. Admittedly I've not been doing as much exploring as I usually do, I chalk that up to anxiety and timing. However I spent a good chunk of Wednesday and Thursday wandering around the capital, seeing what Helsinki has to offer, apparently quite inconspicuously; I had quite a few people coming up to me and asking things in Finnish. A few I could guess what they wanted, but some I just had no clue and had to try to get it across that I had no idea what they were saying- which they usually seemed to interpret as a negative response to their request! Weird. Even better were the English tourists asking me for directions, especially because I actually was able to give them!
Overall a lovely outing... I'm going to miss this random travelling but I'm afraid it's back to routine for me! At least until I get a well paid job with lots of holiday time, that is...
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
This city is trying to kill me...
Sunday afternoon I flew to London for the last time, after which I took a train up to Birmingham to spend just over a day with Sam. I left my two larger bags in storage at the airport, seeing as I would be back early Tuesday morning.Sam met me at the station, and we ended up going to the cinema to see Star Trek; it was much better in English than it had been in French... I guess I had missed a lot of the nuances.
Sam still had classes on Monday so I went into the city centre for my last time doing anything English - sometimes I'm convinced I actually studied in the UK and not France, as much time as I visited during the semester. Ah well. After hanging out for the day I had a 10pm train that was supposed to have arrived at the airport at 1am, with a few connections of course. Needless to say, this did not happen.
My train was half an hour late in arriving to Watford Junction, where I was supposed to have changed for Clapham Junction. However, I missed the connection which was unfortunately the last of the day, and the next wasn't until almost 6am; my flight for Helsinki was at 8 am. Since waiting wasn't really an option, it's a good thing I got to know the London area so well this semseter. I took the next train, bound for London Euston, figuring I'd try to get at least as far as Victoria, taking the first train to Gatwick in the morning. However, I arrived just after the last underground toward Victoria had left. I was a bit stumped, but finally I found a bus schedule and discovered the N73 headed for Victoria. I had to take out money and buy a coffee to get change for a bus ticket, but I made it into Victoria just before two. I remembered that the station closes between 1 and 5 from when I was waiting to see Wicked, but I saw a worker standing near the entrance and decided to ask him when the first train to the airport was. "Platform 19", he says, "leaves in 10 minutes." Turns out I had just made the last train of the night! I had no idea they ran this late... Probably would have changed things when I was rerouted to Toulouse. So I still managed to get to the airport by three, get my bags, argue about their weight, and get on my flight, and now I find myself in Finland!
When I got in yesterday afternoon I was beyond exhausted. I checked into my hostel and went for a walk around the area, eventually buying groceries and coming back. From what I've seen so far this is a gorgeous country, and I'm excited to spend the next two days exploring before finally heading home on Friday! I can't believe my time in Europe is almost over.
Sam still had classes on Monday so I went into the city centre for my last time doing anything English - sometimes I'm convinced I actually studied in the UK and not France, as much time as I visited during the semester. Ah well. After hanging out for the day I had a 10pm train that was supposed to have arrived at the airport at 1am, with a few connections of course. Needless to say, this did not happen.
My train was half an hour late in arriving to Watford Junction, where I was supposed to have changed for Clapham Junction. However, I missed the connection which was unfortunately the last of the day, and the next wasn't until almost 6am; my flight for Helsinki was at 8 am. Since waiting wasn't really an option, it's a good thing I got to know the London area so well this semseter. I took the next train, bound for London Euston, figuring I'd try to get at least as far as Victoria, taking the first train to Gatwick in the morning. However, I arrived just after the last underground toward Victoria had left. I was a bit stumped, but finally I found a bus schedule and discovered the N73 headed for Victoria. I had to take out money and buy a coffee to get change for a bus ticket, but I made it into Victoria just before two. I remembered that the station closes between 1 and 5 from when I was waiting to see Wicked, but I saw a worker standing near the entrance and decided to ask him when the first train to the airport was. "Platform 19", he says, "leaves in 10 minutes." Turns out I had just made the last train of the night! I had no idea they ran this late... Probably would have changed things when I was rerouted to Toulouse. So I still managed to get to the airport by three, get my bags, argue about their weight, and get on my flight, and now I find myself in Finland!
When I got in yesterday afternoon I was beyond exhausted. I checked into my hostel and went for a walk around the area, eventually buying groceries and coming back. From what I've seen so far this is a gorgeous country, and I'm excited to spend the next two days exploring before finally heading home on Friday! I can't believe my time in Europe is almost over.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
la côte
My last excursion in France meant I travelled four hours by train to Antibes, where I met my dad's cousin Terry. I had stayed with her in Biot for three weeks back in 2001, my only previous experience in France, so I felt it was only right I should see her again since I was so close.
I arrived Thursday afternoon, and after having a quick lunch at her home, she took me to Tourrettes-sur-Loup, a perched village overlooking the river known for its abundance of violets.
The town was very medieval, and quite gorgeous. We tried the local specialty of violet flavoured ice cream, which was surprisingly good - I've never really thought about flowers as flavours before, but I suppose it makes as much sense as fruits or things like vanilla!
Later that evening we went with her son Derek (who is about my age) to an Indian restaurant in Antibes. I'd never really had Indian food before, excepting anglicized and Japanese curries. I was pleasantly surprised by my tandoori lamb seasoned with creme and saffron - quite delicious.
This is quickly turning into an ode to food!
8 Mai is a holiday in France marking the end of World War II - known as V-E day back home. It's obviously much more important here, since even after it ended in Europe the US was still fighting in Japan, while France could finally celebrated its true liberation and the end of several years of struggle. I guess the closest equivalent in America is Memorial Day - the stores here closed early, and most people had the day off which they used to barbecue or go to the beach. We had to go to Valbonne to get groceries in the morning, since they would be closed by the time we got back in the evening. It also meant veteran's ceremonies as well, which we passed by whilst driving along the coast.
We had decided to spend the afternoon in Saint Tropez, which is generally considered the western end of the French Riviera (Menton being the eastern), so we took the coastal route to get there. This meant passing through Cannes, where they had begun setting up for the film
festival which begins next week. The setup was impressive, the red carpet was already out, and many of the movies being shown had posters around the town and on the fancy hotels where celebrities would be staying throughout the festival. I can't even begin to imagine how crowded it must get - even just for the beach holiday it was full of people.
As we got further west, we noticed a large number of police vehicles - turns out they were escorting coach buses of diplomats and veterans returning from a 8 Mai ceremony in Sainte Maxime. This caused a slight diversion in our route, where we noticed yet another anomaly - motorcycles. Dozens. Hundreds. Eventually we passed the reason: a Harley Davidson euro festival, some sort of rally I could only assume. The licence plates came from all over Europe, so I guess this was perhaps one of the big meetups, Europe's equivalent of Sturgis or Daytona bike week. Apparently there was to be some sort of Parade in the city centre on Saturday as well... Very interesting. This mass of cycles continued all the way to Saint Tropez, where many of the restaurants had Harley-themed banners and were full of bikers. We ended up stopping at a pizzeria for lunch and wandering around the city, climbing up to the citadel and getting a spectacular view of the city.
Friday evening was dinner and a movie, staying up too late but there wasn't a whole lot to do in the morning. My train was just before two, so we spent the morning in the village of Biot, touring the old city and the glass blower for which Biot is famous - they make a special kind of glass here that is infused with soda, so that the glass has small bubbles in it. Apparently many famous people have gotten their glass here; they even had a special colour that was commissioned by Jackie Kennedy.
We had lunch afterwards, and then Terry took me back to the station in Antibes. I have only one evening left in Montpellier, which of course will be consumed by packing and cleaning. I can't believe it's almost over!
I arrived Thursday afternoon, and after having a quick lunch at her home, she took me to Tourrettes-sur-Loup, a perched village overlooking the river known for its abundance of violets.The town was very medieval, and quite gorgeous. We tried the local specialty of violet flavoured ice cream, which was surprisingly good - I've never really thought about flowers as flavours before, but I suppose it makes as much sense as fruits or things like vanilla!
Later that evening we went with her son Derek (who is about my age) to an Indian restaurant in Antibes. I'd never really had Indian food before, excepting anglicized and Japanese curries. I was pleasantly surprised by my tandoori lamb seasoned with creme and saffron - quite delicious.
This is quickly turning into an ode to food!
8 Mai is a holiday in France marking the end of World War II - known as V-E day back home. It's obviously much more important here, since even after it ended in Europe the US was still fighting in Japan, while France could finally celebrated its true liberation and the end of several years of struggle. I guess the closest equivalent in America is Memorial Day - the stores here closed early, and most people had the day off which they used to barbecue or go to the beach. We had to go to Valbonne to get groceries in the morning, since they would be closed by the time we got back in the evening. It also meant veteran's ceremonies as well, which we passed by whilst driving along the coast.
We had decided to spend the afternoon in Saint Tropez, which is generally considered the western end of the French Riviera (Menton being the eastern), so we took the coastal route to get there. This meant passing through Cannes, where they had begun setting up for the film
festival which begins next week. The setup was impressive, the red carpet was already out, and many of the movies being shown had posters around the town and on the fancy hotels where celebrities would be staying throughout the festival. I can't even begin to imagine how crowded it must get - even just for the beach holiday it was full of people.As we got further west, we noticed a large number of police vehicles - turns out they were escorting coach buses of diplomats and veterans returning from a 8 Mai ceremony in Sainte Maxime. This caused a slight diversion in our route, where we noticed yet another anomaly - motorcycles. Dozens. Hundreds. Eventually we passed the reason: a Harley Davidson euro festival, some sort of rally I could only assume. The licence plates came from all over Europe, so I guess this was perhaps one of the big meetups, Europe's equivalent of Sturgis or Daytona bike week. Apparently there was to be some sort of Parade in the city centre on Saturday as well... Very interesting. This mass of cycles continued all the way to Saint Tropez, where many of the restaurants had Harley-themed banners and were full of bikers. We ended up stopping at a pizzeria for lunch and wandering around the city, climbing up to the citadel and getting a spectacular view of the city.
Friday evening was dinner and a movie, staying up too late but there wasn't a whole lot to do in the morning. My train was just before two, so we spent the morning in the village of Biot, touring the old city and the glass blower for which Biot is famous - they make a special kind of glass here that is infused with soda, so that the glass has small bubbles in it. Apparently many famous people have gotten their glass here; they even had a special colour that was commissioned by Jackie Kennedy.
We had lunch afterwards, and then Terry took me back to the station in Antibes. I have only one evening left in Montpellier, which of course will be consumed by packing and cleaning. I can't believe it's almost over!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
I think I have sand in my camera...
Yesterday I finally made it to the beach, and do I ever have the sunburn to show for it! I went with my friend Bridgette, with the intention of studying a little for our German test while sitting on the sand. I ended up playing in the water (which was absolutely freezing) while she was sunbathing, then sat to dry whilst looking over my textbook for a little while. We didn't end up staying very long, mostly out of boredom but also because the wind kept blowing sand everywhere - it was starting to get annoying.On the bus back to Montpellier from Pérols (where the beach we went to is located), we stopped off at a mall in Lattes, which was dominated by a Carrefour, a gigantic French store which is sort of like a super wal-mart or some such, except about three times as big, and actually worth going into. There aren't any in Montpellier itself so I wanted to check it out. We ended up getting granitas to cool off and wandering around in the lovely air conditioning for a while before heading back to do some real studying. It's too bad I only went to the beach once, but honestly I don't think my pasty white skin could take any more than that!
Friday, May 1, 2009
May Day
Today's a national holiday in France (fête du travail - labour day) which means absolutely nothing is open, the buses and trams aren't running, and of course there's a protest at the Comédie. Now, I'm hiding in my room trying to finish my last paper, but I know of this because people have come around knocking on all the doors in the dormitory handing out fliers and encouraging everyone to "venez nombreux" in support of whatever cause they were fighting for this time. I'm down with "fighting for your rights" and all, but it seems to me the more often you do so the less effective it probably becomes. What do I know, though. I'm just another frustrated foreign student who's simply hoping she can take her German test next week since she's leaving a few days later for good.
Can hardly believe that - 10 days until I depart France, 5 more and then I'm home. Time has flown by, but it hasn't seemed to accomplish much. Speaking of which...
Can hardly believe that - 10 days until I depart France, 5 more and then I'm home. Time has flown by, but it hasn't seemed to accomplish much. Speaking of which...
Monday, April 27, 2009
back in the saddle
Since Sam's spending her summer in Florida, I went up to Birmingham for one last weekend of mayhem in order to spend a little more time with her. Saw a few movies, ate some good food, went back to Cadbury World... We planned on hitting up a scifi convention but it was just too far from the city centre, such is life. Thus was my sixth trip into the UK this semester, my last real one, and probably a good thing the way the immigration people have started to get suspicious of me... Hehe. Spent Thursday night in Stansted airport before heading by train to Brum, staying in the coffee shop which was thankfully open 24 hours. Coming home was a Sunday night flight from Birmingham to Marseille, where I decided to splurge on a hotel near the airport since my train for Montpellier wasn't until eight this morning and I got in by 10... A good night's sleep is never unappreciated before class.
Except there was no class. Sometime over the weekend the strikers had come back and reblocked the campus; I waited for 20 minutes outside a barricaded classroom for a Prof who never showed up. I just got word my lit test for Wednesday was cancelled, so I'm writing another four page paper after all. And I have no idea what's going to happen with German, and if I should even bother getting up tomorrow... At least this is almost over. Being here with no class at least means I can see everything I missed in Montpellier whilst I was busy travelling everywhere else in Europe. So worth it, though.
Except there was no class. Sometime over the weekend the strikers had come back and reblocked the campus; I waited for 20 minutes outside a barricaded classroom for a Prof who never showed up. I just got word my lit test for Wednesday was cancelled, so I'm writing another four page paper after all. And I have no idea what's going to happen with German, and if I should even bother getting up tomorrow... At least this is almost over. Being here with no class at least means I can see everything I missed in Montpellier whilst I was busy travelling everywhere else in Europe. So worth it, though.
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