Paris

Leigh and I arrived in Paris late on the night of Dec 24th. Christmas Day was pretty low key, but we still found the energy to see the Eiffel Tower and Arc d Triumph. We took Sunday off completely to rest after 8 days straight of traveling and touring. Today was a fun time because my roommate Sam and her boyfriend came to Paris to see Le Comedie Francaise and to do the Paris Free Tour with us. So far I think we've seen most of the central Paris area and Leigh and I saw Montmartre on our own too. Tomorrow we are planning to visit Versailles for the day and the following day we're hitting as many museums in Paris as possible. There's just so much to see!

I'm really enjoying this extended trip. Every day is like a gift where I get to see and do things that most young Americans only read about, watch shows on TV or look at photos on the Internet. I have been googling and planning these trips for so long that this is like one extended, massive gift receiving session to get to partake in so many things at once. For example, today I saw three palaces and tomorrow I will see one of the greatest palaces in all of Europe. On Wednesday I will see some of the greatest art the world has ever known, including some of my very favorite painters (the Impressionists, of course!). The combination of a small, yet diverse, land area with so many cultures and social movements in its past makes Europe a truly amazing place and it makes me just about the luckiest girl alive.

Being here also makes me appreciate my own culture more. I find myself missing certain American things, particularly social behaviors, food and cost of living. When I lived in the US I never felt particularly American or non-American or anything else, but after having lived here for a few months I have realized how very North American I really am. I love my country, but as I grow older I recognize and mourn the things we at which are failing. This time in France so far has been wonderful and I have learned a lot. The new sights, sounds, and flavors bring me so much joy to experience, but in a few months I will be more than ready to return to America, my home for better or for worse. I think it's safe to say that after this time in Europe I'll never be the same again.

Update from The Netherlands

Well, I am smack dab in the middle of my Christmas trip around Europe. Leigh and I flew to Geneva last Friday (12/18) then immediately took a train to Gryon where we slept in, threw snowballs at one another, poked around tiny villages and spent an awful lot of time drinking Swiss wine and eating smelly cheeses. It was fantastic and the perfect way for me to totally unwind before starting the more active portion of the holiday.

We spent a day in Geneva and slept at the airport the night before our flight to Amsterdam. I slept about 2 hours total and Leigh didn't sleep at all. We were pretty well prepared, though, with snacks and a sleeping bag to get us through the night.

After our flight to Amsterdam we somehow rallied enough to make it through a whole day of getting acquainted with the city. We even had enough energy to visit the Anne Frank House before dinner that evening. The next day was rainy and gross, so we visited the Van Gogh Museum and sampled the local street food (fried spongey donut, anyone? Hot dog? How about the best french fries you've ever tasted?), which was yummy. Today we took it easy and relaxed until about noon and then we went on a Free Tour, which lasted until nearly 17:00!

So far we're having a lot of fun discovering this old and interesting city. There's a nice vibe here where people are just friendly and logical without any attitude or false pretenses. It's kind of like a Euro version of Seattle. Leigh says she could live here, so could I, unfortunately I doubt either of us will have any job opportunities here.

Tomorrow we're going to Haarlem for the day, which I'm pretty excited about. We were planning to visit The Hague and Delft, but the train tickets were really starting to add up so we decided to go with a much closer community to visit for our day trip. Tomorrow we're also leaving for Paris at 19:00, so there's still more for us to do!

It doesn't feel much like Christmas right now, aside from the decorations everywhere in the cities we're visiting. I guess it feels a little more like late November when the decorations are out but your life is still so busy and ordinary that you haven't let yourself start getting excited about the holiday yet. Anyway, it's just strange being away from home this time of year so it doesn't really register. I'm still glad I decided to travel instead of going back the US. I keep reminding myself (and Leigh) that I have my whole life to do the traditional Christmas of visiting family, exchanging gifts, cooking, etc. This year I'm doing something different but starting next year most of the holidays for the rest of my life will the traditional and comfortable, so it's really not a big deal.

OK, rambling done, must go to bed or I'll never get up tomorrow.

Thank God It's Saturday

This week was kind of rough. For some reason I haven't been sleeping well and I've had a lot on my mind, plus I've managed to spend all of my days off running errands recently and never sleeping in or relaxing. Yesterday was particularly difficult because I wasn't meant to teach until 13:00 but I was asked to attend play rehearsal for the 4eme class at 8:00. It wound up being a 10 hour day of teaching and being at work and an even longer day because I had a few tasks after that.

Play rehearsal went pretty well. Not perfect, of course, because these are little kids and they can be difficult to work with and generally undisciplined, but pretty great. I remember when I was about their age our class did plays that were about 20 minutes long and usually involved more than half the class with nonspeaking roles, no lighting, no sound effects, and shitty costumes. Plus the subject matter was typically something silly and lighthearted. A lot of kids wind up playing roles like a carrot or a tooth or something at that age too.

The play we're putting together is totally different though. It's based on a book written for children about the Holocaust which my roommate adapted into a script (it's really brilliant) then figured out how to make an ensemble piece so the characters are played by multiple children, everyone speaks at some point, and even when a child isn't an actual character they make the stage look like a forest or something with various body positions. We've all worked really hard to get this thing put together and it opens on Monday morning! So exciting!

So yesterday I helped with rehearsal from 8:00 till about 11:00 and then had a break until my first class at 13:00. My last class didn't end until 18:00 and then I had a long bus ride home in traffic. When I got home I had exactly 45 minutes to eat dinner and suck down two cups of tea to gain a second wind before I had a job interview over the phone for a position in Anchorage.

To my surprise I was being interviewed by three people simultaneously on a three-way call, but of course one person did most of the talking. I think the interview went well but they were up front by saying they had a few others they were considering for the job and would let me know in a week. It would be so great to have something lined up for next fall, but I guess if it doesn't pan out I won't have lost anything. I'll still work in Washington this summer and head to Alaska in August to start looking for work while I get settled in my new home.

Today I'm hanging around the house in the morning to take care of a few things and then Leigh and I are going to check out a long hike on the Cap I keep hearing about. Supposedly it's pretty strenuous but the view is amazing. I'm pumped! I could really use the exercise and sunshine after this week and before tomorrow, which is going to be a forced lazy day because everything is closed.

The only other news is that I only have two more days of teaching before my holiday! We fly to Geneva on Friday morning. We'll be in Switzerland by 9:30 and to our chalet/hostel by about 14:00 even with delays. Europe is so cool.

Christmas in Paradise

Christmas time in clearly non-Christmasy places is a peculiar thing. I've never lived in Southern California, Florida, or Hawaii, so for me the time around Christmas has always included things like snowdrifts or, at the very least, a good deal of frost on the ground every morning (i.e. southwest Virginia). Now I live in the south of France, which is known for it's extremely mild to hot weather all year round. We're still averaging weather in the mid-60's every day and there are palm trees lining the streets.

Yes, palm trees. It still gets me.

But this is France, where Christian holidays reign and Catholic ideals are king even if nobody actually practices Catholicism anymore (and most French people I've met so far are completely uninterested in religion and faith- quelle bizarre!). So it's coming on Christmas and even the small city of Antibes is in the middle of transforming it's town square into a winter wonderland. Evergreen style trees have been brought in, a white picket fence was built and lights have been strung from the lamp posts. They have even made snow!

Did I mention it's still 60ish every day? Yeah, so the snow was made and then covered with a tarp and somehow refrigerated outdoors. This seems like an awful waste of resources to me and kind of silly. I mean, can't we just embrace the fact that we live in a warm climate and get creative about Christmas decorations? By this I mean, what's up with the fake snow??? I will admit, however, that the blue lights at night are kind of adorable against the palm trees, so that's a nice touch.

Wow, that was a long post about the weather. In other news, not much new stuff has been happening. I'm just sort of going through the motions until the Christmas holiday when I go traveling for two weeks. I've been spending my days off trying to make sense of the rest of my job-related paperwork so I can rest easy after the New Year and just enjoy the rest of my time in France. There is still so much I want to do while I'm here, but so far I have been working pretty hard on just getting settled and making sure my money will cover everything I need and want. It looks like everything is going to be fine, though working within the French system has forced me to rustle up more patience than I ever thought I could have.

With any luck after our fabulous Christmas trip Leigh and I will have enough time and good weather to take a trip to Cinque Terre. I guess we should call this Cinque Terre Take Two, since we have technically been there already but the rainy weather sent us home a bit early and we had a shitty time at the hostel there. This time we're planning to stay over in a different hostel just outside of Cinque Terre but about 30 minutes by train from the trail. It's a bit cheaper and more convenient to reach from France, so it should be a good experience. Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed for good weather and a little extra spending money after our crazy Christmas holiday!

I've also done some research on my plans for February. For a few months now I have been toying with the idea of spending one week of my two week February holiday attending a Christian retreat in Taize, France (kind of near Dijon). This week I finally figured out the best transportation to get there and did the budget and it's totally do-able! I'm so excited to get to do this. Also, since I'll only be away for a week, I can use the remainder of that holiday to take little trips around southern France and maybe try out the couch surfing thing. Plus this year Mardi Gras falls on my birthday, so I plan to attend the Carnivale in Nice at least that day.

Well, enough thinking too far ahead. I really should be focusing on preparing for the Christmas trip. It's going to be a blast but, aside from making reservations, I haven't done much of anything to get ready! Before I know it next Friday will come around and I'll be on a plane to Geneva!

Ah, les Alpes, sledding, wine, chocolate, old cities, and Christmas Markets galore! What more could a girl want?

5 more days at work till Christmas holiday!!!

It's Sunday again, which means everything is closed and I usually do quiet things at home like sleeping in, blogging, etc. Today Leigh and I actually got out of the house and did something though. For the first time since we moved away from that horrible studio, we went back to Cap d'Antibes to hike from the Port de la Salis up to the Chapelle La Garoupe to see a view of the city and region. Since buses don't run on Sudays here we walked about 1.5 miles just to the bottom of the trail, then uphill for about 20 minutes and then through a secret garden on the way back down. It was a really nice way to get some exercise and enjoy a sunny afternoon.

Aside from today being kind of nice, France is really starting to wear on me. I have been having some trouble with my bank account at HSBC and am finding the employees there very hard to work with. I ended up ordering a new debit card and PIN, hoping this would solve my problems. The PIN came in the mail, then the card, so I went to the ATM to activate the card and it ATE MY NEW CARD. This was strike three for HSBC, so tomorrow I'm going down to Societe Generale to open a shiny new account. I have to keep the old one open until I get paid for December, but in the mean time I can start using the new account for daily spending as soon as I get the card and stuff in the mail. I think this will be a good move because Soc Gen has free accounts for under 26ers and they give away free stuff all the time. Plus I've met the guy who is President and Founder of the NewEdge Group in the States, which is closely linked with SocGen, and he's a standup guy if that means anything for me on this side of the world.

This week has been kind of tough all the way around. I've had some trouble at work- nothing major, but enough to make me stressed and angry with a few of the teachers and so very ready for the Christmas holiday. In addition to this, the sister of a very good friend of mine died of cancer on Friday morning. Even though I didn't know the sister very well, I still cried quite a bit when I heard the news. I think it was a combination of my own stresses, being very tired, and knowing that my very dear friend has now suffered a terrible loss in addition to several other recent losses. Even though I never knew the sister particularly well, she was a very kind person and, from what I gather, a good friend to everyone who knew her.

So now I am looking forward to getting through the next week and a half of work, which includes 5 days of teaching and three shows of the play I have been helping the 4eme class put together. After that I can look forward to two whole weeks of holiday travel with my beloved, taking a real break from school, Antibes, school children, and temperamental teachers (being by far the worst stress of those listed here).

In the meantime I really need to start working on older entries on my website. I'm thinking I should definitely try to fill in the Alaska section since I've only been to four or so communities throughout the state. I started the website to give myself a project for my down time while I'm not working very many hours but so far I've just been writing about places I've visited since coming to Europe. I should really start putting some effort into the other projects I wanted to tackle this year like knitting, learning to bake French pastries and other yummy things, painting and, oh yeah, learning French (geeze, it's amazing how far I've gotten with the 12 verbs and 3 verb tenses I remember from high school).

Well, tomorrow starts another week. My goals include 1) opening a new bank account, 2) putting the final touches on my Christmas travel plans (i.e. making a Type A Personality Itinerary), 3) updating my website, 4) helping to get the school play ready to open next week.