tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11054655615760818942024-03-05T12:53:05.881+01:00Vive la FranceMy adventures abroadKate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-60403244880777373622013-05-17T14:23:00.000+02:002013-05-17T14:23:12.948+02:00Going Home
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(Day 131, Lyon)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So this is it. The End. I’m sitting in the Lyon
Saint-Exupery airport (a thousand hours before my flight, better safe than
sorry), and I’m on my way home. I honestly began my trek home at 6:45 this
morning when I left the apartment in Grenoble to take the train here, and it’s
not going to end until 5:30pm Boston time when I arrive. That’s 11:30pm French
time, so I’ll have been traveling for quite some time, but I’m excited. As I
was sitting in the train, I was watching the French countryside (literally)
pass by my window, and it hit me for real that I’m going to miss France and my
life here. I have always known that I would miss all of the food, I’m planning
on cramming as much as my stomach can handle into my mouth before I officially
leave France, but I’m going to miss my friends, the walk to the tram, the
mountains that surround the city, the Bubbles going up to the Bastille, the
crazily well trained dogs, watching movies at the theater with French
subtitles, opening the curtains every morning to the view out my window.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCTikRdRZkQV5e37xYTz9QUywmSGivVmray7ny6ri4eUpLpQ-ttB2_xYV_I_bv2FmMj1QfLNBAFXx7sE_r-Dyd4XaAO8UiouXXQAF6hIuiVf9pzDUZgorSVRF6qGw8AyfIeTUcJpzPURY/s1600/IMG_3914.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCTikRdRZkQV5e37xYTz9QUywmSGivVmray7ny6ri4eUpLpQ-ttB2_xYV_I_bv2FmMj1QfLNBAFXx7sE_r-Dyd4XaAO8UiouXXQAF6hIuiVf9pzDUZgorSVRF6qGw8AyfIeTUcJpzPURY/s320/IMG_3914.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">That’s not to say that I there aren’t things I’m looking to
get away from: having a room that looks uninhabited, feeling confined to one
room in the apartment, being completely understood by the people around me, not
wearing the same 5 pieces of clothing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWnCIGuKe3kZ0SMsvLGn2YlHmSbgoacWHkfcgaagyh5jAmU-iomTLG9ancFt5gJSr904u3fxQDvUjiOBdojZ4G6obkkrtxwdbxRThYviCt-iSv2_JdpVytZ-DuWvK39tpNvoe_mAfa2gM/s1600/20130517_095047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWnCIGuKe3kZ0SMsvLGn2YlHmSbgoacWHkfcgaagyh5jAmU-iomTLG9ancFt5gJSr904u3fxQDvUjiOBdojZ4G6obkkrtxwdbxRThYviCt-iSv2_JdpVytZ-DuWvK39tpNvoe_mAfa2gM/s320/20130517_095047.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So I enjoy employing hyperbole in my daily life. Sue me.
There are also things that I wish had been different. I wish I would have been
in classes with French students, or at least native French speakers, I could
have had even more time (and money) to travel to see my friend in Germany or go
to Eastern Europe, I would have gone and seen more movies in French, or I could
have tried foie gras and frog legs. Oh, wait. Not that last one. Quick turned
me off foie gras for the rest of my life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiecQdkuMkChJzo3s_sLa63bkyIwF2RRhbMkcHvFe6E6-0Yc5V_OqBkG_ut73NSkYnJG7a_DDgcihIZjwXZhrb6qpz5FUgmnxKUt7GohPRtP2rtz2Owd1T-lbaTNjDaJRQ4wJ7SIpI-Tow/s1600/quick-supreme-foie-gras.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiecQdkuMkChJzo3s_sLa63bkyIwF2RRhbMkcHvFe6E6-0Yc5V_OqBkG_ut73NSkYnJG7a_DDgcihIZjwXZhrb6qpz5FUgmnxKUt7GohPRtP2rtz2Owd1T-lbaTNjDaJRQ4wJ7SIpI-Tow/s320/quick-supreme-foie-gras.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Eww. But over all, this has been such a wonderful decision, and
not one I would ever take back. I’ve made amazing friends here from all over
the country, I was exposed to the beauty that is kinder chocolate, and I have
had an opportunity that not many people get the opportunity to do and live the
French life. Thank you so much to my family for making this possible, to my
friends for making this amazing, and to France for being so absolutely
fantastic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Au revoir et à bientôt.</span></span><br />
Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-65361661066582530872013-05-12T22:28:00.003+02:002013-05-12T22:28:16.951+02:00On the Horizon(Day 126, Grenoble)<br />
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I can see the end. It's a little too close for comfort, yet also too far. I have very mixed emotions about coming home. As can only be expected. I love France, I really do. I love the food, the culture, the style of life, the language. I'll miss my friends, the apartment, speaking French, the food. Honestly, the food is to die for. But I'm excited to go home too. I'm excited to see my dog, my house, my family, Dunkin' Donuts. I miss driving, my friends, and my school. I'm so excited for this summer, but I'm not ready to leave this all behind yet. I leave Friday morning: a train from Grenoble to Lyon, then a flight from Lyon to Paris, Paris to Boston. I'm excited about the traveling (I sincerely enjoy planes and trains), but I'm going to miss being so close to all these different cultures. Luckily I have my last two finals to keep me busy. Wednesday and Thursday morning. So fortunate, right? Also, I've found my second favorite flavor of macaron this week at Paul's in Grenoble (One Tribe, One Family), called Pomme d'Amour, Apple of Love, only behind all of the flavors at Laudree. I'm hoping to stuff as much French food as I can in my face in these 5(!!!) days I have left. I'm so sorry I have no new photos for you all, but I did overload it last time, so take a browse over the other pictures that I've posted throughout the semester and reminisce with me.Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-67356396703211134762013-04-28T18:42:00.001+02:002013-04-28T18:42:43.261+02:00How are we all?(Day 112, Grenoble)<br />
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I notice it's been a while again. I had a plan to bring my computer to Italy with me, but I decided I didn't want to lug it around on my back through Europe and left it in Grenoble. So I'm sorry I didn't post last week. As for the week before... I forgot. Oh man, while I've been counting the days I've been here for, I've also been counting how many are left. As that number has been shrinking and shrinking I've had significantly more to do here. From exams to traveling, I've been rather busy, but I'll do my best to recount the past... 20 days. (Procrastination as a way of life is not always the best choice, if I may so so hypocritically.)<br />
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So Switzerland and Easter, yeah? Let's check the handy calendar, shall we?<br />
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I seem to have had a test for my techniques class on the 9th, which sounds exciting. That wednesday we went to a local museum in Grenoble instead of actually having my language and culture class. Went to the crypts of Saint-Laurent which were really cool. We got a guided tour from the city center to and through the museum by a man who works for the university I'm studying at. I learned a lot about the history of Grenoble, which has been around for ever. Going to William & Mary and being from Boston I feel as if I've got a large knowledge of old America, but Europe really takes the cake. This city has been around since the Romans were in power. I know I've been to Rome and I understand the history of this area, but to be reminded of how old this place I've been living in for the past 112 days is wicked old is sort of mind-blowing. The crypt has graves dating back to the origins of the city as well which is so crazy! Okay, enough on that.</div>
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So that weekend we went to Orange, Nice and Éze. More ancient Rome in Orange. They have this great ancient Roman theater that has been pretty well preserved considering it's been around since the 1st century AD.</div>
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We only stopped in Orange on the way to Nice for lunch. Nice was AMAZING. It was so refreshing to be warm, for the first time in forever. We went to see a monastery on one of the hills around Nice and the Matisse museum. We also walked around the Old city which looks strikingly like Italy. A nice warm up for the week to come. Pictures of course, I got it.</div>
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Ancient, look what our theme seems to be.</div>
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On the way back, we stopped at Éze, a medieval city in the south of France. Once again very cool. It's on the top of a mountain and it is so very cool. I don't know if you can tell that I'm already running out of synonyms, haha.</div>
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I can't describe to you how nice it was to be near the water. It truly felt like summer. I'm very ready for summer. But doesn't it always get this way at this time of the year?</div>
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Let's get back to the schedule then. Movie night, we went to see a French film with my study abroad program. Then Italy! Nicole, Claire, Aubrey, and I went to Venice and Cinque Terre. Mostly because we wanted to go to Italy and I hadn't been to those two places! Venice was amazing. We saw the Basilica of St. Mark and tons of other churches around the city, the Rialto bridge, several museums including the Guggenheim, we took a gondala ride, and I celebrated my 21st birthday in Venice. We walked all over the city and rented an apartment in the city as opposed to staying in a hostel or hotel. We were right next to St. Mark's Basilica which made visiting things really convenient and was awesome. Venice isn't as big though as say Rome, so we only spent 4 days there before leaving on Monday for Cinque Terre. </div>
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Cinque Terre was so cool. It's comprised of these 5 small villages on the coast. You can hike from village to village, which we did (Physical activity! Me!), and each village is different from the other. with its own identity. I totally suggest visiting! We rented a room in Vernazza and had some of my favorite gelato ever in Italy, which is saying a lot, because I'm now an expert. This is a point where I would like to apologize to everyone. I bought you all souvenirs of gelato, but I ate them all... although I'm not particularly sorry, they were delicious.</div>
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Oops. Over exuberant about these Cinque Terre pictures. It was just so incredibly beautiful.</div>
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So that you guys caught up. Mentally speaking I'm 50/50 about coming home. I'm excited to use a real shower and wear clothes that feel clean again, but I'm going to miss being able to walk 4 seconds to a café and fabulous pastries and speak French first. I know that's weird and I revel in the moments when I get to speak to native English speakers, but I do enjoy speaking French with people. It's definitely the best way to improve your language skills and I'm going to miss actively improving it without having to seek it out. Mostly I've been sad about leaving Europe, until last Monday and the marathon bombings in Boston. My dad was running the marathon and I had been following his progress all afternoon online. For some reason he had passed the 40k mark and for an hour it never showed that he finished. I had been watching a movie on my computer and went to check Facebook before starting a new one when I read my newsfeed saying different variations of "Pray for Boston". Pray for Boston? I mean it's an awesome city and I'm the first to admit that, but what are we praying for? It was people who I know that go to Boston universities and who were from the area, but I got concerned when a girl I know from Canada updated her status. So I did what we all do now-a-days, I googled it. Suddenly my computer screen was filled with these news articles about bombs at the finish line from an hour previously. I couldn't read fast enough. I went back to the BAA website to check my dad's time but he still hadn't crossed and I kept reading. I didn't know what to do. I was freaking out in my room all the way in France and all I wanted were my parents. I called my mom, but she didn't pick up. I took this 3 ways: 1, something bad happened; 2, everything's fine and she didn't pick up her phone; 3, she took up her usual post of super-mom and was at the medical tent helping out as she would. So I called my dad. Instead of actually hearing his voicemail box I heard some automated voice breaking up over the line. This did not help my mental breakdown. Suddenly I got a Skype call from my cousin who reported that my parents were fine. My dad was fine but lost in the city because they're closing down all of the streets and my mom is in the city trying to find him. When I finally got to talk to my dad two hours later, they are calling me on Skype from the car, that's how scared I sounded on the voicemail I left my mom, haha. My dad's biggest complaint about the whole issue, I'm sure to calm me down, was that he was running too slowly for his liking. I told him that was probably forgiven seeing as his foot hurt and bombs went off. For the rest of the week, I was sort of out of it, and I still kind of am. You see these things on the news happening elsewhere, and you visit Ground Zero in New York, but it still is jarring to me that it would happen in my city. I wasn't even there, but I was floored. I know people who were there, I'm related to them! The best part though, was the response. I know my city wouldn't have responded in any other way. Even shutting down the city to track the suspects down was not unexpected. And I'm so proud of the people that were there and responded right away. I miss Boston and I'm so happy to go back to such a wonderful city in 19 days. Boston Strong.</div>
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Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-87434525184160852092013-04-08T22:50:00.002+02:002013-04-08T22:50:07.284+02:00Switzerland for Easter!(Day 92, Grenoble)<br />
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Here is my politically neutral post for you all!<br />
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Once upon a time, there was a student at Northeastern University named Brenda who was part of the co-op program. One semester she decided to take full advantage of this program and work on site at a hospital in Heidelberg, Germany.<br />
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There she got to meet many awesome people and make friendships that would last her a life time. One of her best friends while in Germany was a woman named Dagmar. After Dagmar and Brenda had both gotten married to their respective husbands, they both had their first child within a month of each other. Dagmar's daughter, Saskia, was born in March, while Brenda's, Kaitlin, was born in April. As the two girls got older the mothers thought they would be good pen pals. The two girls wrote to each other regularly with their mothers translating the letters to and from German for their daughters. One day, the two friends were finally able to see each other again when Brenda and her family traveled to Europe. The two families vacationed together in London, and an idea was hatched in each of the families heads. This idea came to fruition when Saskia came to live with Brenda and her family a few years later and study at the same school as Kaitlin. Ever since, Kaitlin and Saskia have been very good friends, so much so that for Kaitlin's 18th birthday, her parents gave her a trip to Germany to spend a week with Saskia and her family. </div>
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Another friend of Brenda's was a man named Gerold. The two of them didn't keep in touch as regularly as Dagmar and Brenda did. However, when Brenda was gifted a trip to Germany by her family for the Christmas of 2011, she thought to get in contact with Gerold and try to meet up with him and his family while she was in the area. Gerold had met a wonderful woman named Yolanda and the two of them and their children lived in Baden, Switzerland together.</div>
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When Kaitlin, Brenda's daughter, decided to study abroad in the French alps in the spring semester of 2013, Brenda thought to contact Gerold and his family to see if they would have Kaitlin over for a weekend. </div>
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Okay, this is starting to bug me, so it must be getting to you. Surprise! My full name is Kaitlin! And Brenda is my mom too. Typically, the Kaitlin thing is more surprising to people, so I thought I would just drop that in there for good measure. So yeah, for Easter weekend I took a train (well 3) to Baden to stay with the Möhrs for the weekend, and it was one of the best weekends I've had here in Europe. On the Friday, we went to Basel which is right on the boarder with both France and Germany. We did this cool scavenger hunt/walking tour of Basel using this program called Foxtrail. It was really cool and took us to parts of the city we probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. Saturday, the daughter of the family, Leana and I walked around Baden and I helped her with her homework. Yes this is worth mentioning, because I haven't gotten to be the big sister that helps with homework in forever (possibly ever, sorry Maggie) and it was so wonderful and refreshing. Sunday was Easter, and we went to Yolanda's sister's for Brunch. We did what I called an Egg fight. Explanation: so you know how for Easter you hard boil eggs and color them. In my house that's usually the last step. They're a sort of decoration for the few days around Easter and then they're thrown away. In Switzerland they eat them on Easter, but not before having some fun with them. </div>
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You hit eggs against other people at the table and whomever's egg doesn't crack after the encounter wins and moves on to the next person. This keeps going until there is one egg left and they are crowned the winner. Then you dig in and have some tasty eggs for Easter. We also hid chocolate eggs (and chocolate bunnies) around the house (it was snowing) which is something I haven't done for years (mostly because my most recent Easters have been in college). After brunch, we walked around Zurich and stopped at a very fancy cafe, Cafe Felix, where I got to have hot chocolate legally for the first time since lent finished.</div>
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(http://www.cafefelix.ch)</div>
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Sunday night we Skyped with my family. My whole family. My grandmother, uncles, aunt, cousins, parents, sister and exchange student. It was a lot for me to take in, I can only imagine what it was like for the Möhrs! Monday I trained it back to Grenoble. It was a fabulous weekend, and I'm excited for Leana who is going to stay with my aunt Denise's family this coming fall and study at the same school as my cousin. Hopefully the Möhrs will be able to come visit us all in the US!</div>
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Other than that, my week has been pretty relaxed. This Friday, however, my study abroad program is bringing us to the south of France to go to Nice. I'm wicked excited and the weather better be spectacular, because I'm ready for it to be spring now! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter, and if you don't celebrate Easter, I hope you at least got to eat some of the candy of the season!</div>
Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-16422109353968211342013-04-08T22:12:00.003+02:002013-04-08T22:12:56.357+02:00We're getting real.(Day 92, Grenoble)<br />
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Warning: What you are about to read is a blog post that directly correlates to my political and social opinions. Do not take this as me shoving my opinions down your throat. If you would rather skip this politically charged post, feel free! One thing I learned from 7 years in a right-leaning school is that it can be very difficult and uncomfortable when people are throwing their political and social views in your face, especially when you don't agree with them. It has guided me in my life to not hide my views, but be more open-minded and accepting of others' (I hope). As such, if you would rather not read this post, that's fine! I don't take any offense to it. In fact, I'll make a second post of happiness and travels for those that would rather not read this one. Donc, let's get this show on the road.<br />
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These past few months, in the US and France alike, people have been discussing the implications one's sexuality has in the rights given to them. In the US it's been about gay marriage, and in France it has been about gay marriage and adoption by gays. This is where things begin to diverge, because while America has had enthusiastic protests in favor of gay marriage, the French have been storming Paris, monthly it seems, protesting against marriage for all. This came as sort of a shock for myself and my American co-travelers here in France. On the first weekend we arrived in Grenoble, many families left to go to Paris and join in on the protests. While we know that us mostly liberal, college-aged girls were in favor of marriage equality, it came as a surprise to find out that the French, a stereotypically loved-up nation with stereotypically blasé citizens who, in theory, shouldn't care who you love were so emphatically against gay marriage. Further proof that stereotypes should not be the basis of your knowledge on anything! Do your research! I knew that France was a Catholic country, but even many of my Catholic friends back in America are for gay marriage. It was surprising to me that France wasn't jumping on the bandwagon, but then again, when have the French ever done what everyone else has?<br />
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I've been willing to accept this as a facet of the French people, keeping my mind open and understanding that not everyone sees things the way I do and I've been listening to their sides of the argument (through my friends). While it's not a topic I've discussed at the dinner table with my host family, who has not left me in Grenoble to protest in Paris, most of my friend's families have been very open about it with my friends. Many people aren't against the marriage equality, but rather giving gay people the right to adopt. They believe, as many do in the US, that the best way for kids to be raised is by a mother and a father, not two mothers or two fathers. I understand where they're coming from, as I've sincerely enjoyed my life with a mother and a father, but I also believe that it's not a necessity. Why should the gender of your partner determine whether or not you would make a good parent? I really don't see heterosexuality as a necessity in parenting, but that's just my opinion. The other day, however, my friend was chatting with her host mother about the issue. The two of them know they have different opinions on the issue, but her host mom was feeling like going in depth on the issue this day. I don't remember exactly what she said about it, but she started pulling out an extremely offensive argument in defense of her opinion against gay marriage. She was talking about how if the government was allowing anyone to get married based on the argument of "being in love", what if someone claims they are in love with their dog, should they be allowed to marry their dog?<br />
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Hold up. Did you just equate a human being to a dog? As I remember from many an attempt at a different answer to my inquiry, despite how much I love my dogs, according to the Roman Catholic, dogs to not, in fact, go to heaven. The reason for this being, they are not given free will and a soul and all the good stuff God gave to each and every human being. Just because they also happen to be gay does not mean that they suddenly lose all of these things. <b>Homosexuality does not negate the existence of a soul.</b> Being a dog does. So, in answer to your question, no maybe governments should think twice about allowing citizens to marry their dogs, but they should stand up for their citizens regardless of sexuality and grant everyone the same rights, including marriage. Furthermore, France, haven't you historically had problems with the ties between Church and state? I distinctly remember you having a rather turbulent end to the 18th century and debut of the 19th century as a cause of this.<br />
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(http://lefsummerschool.eu/theme-2013/)</div>
Yes, maybe your problems were because God has supposedly chosen the monarchs that had driven your nation to the ground, but still you went through the entire country taking the Church's goods and destroying Churches to install government buildings or hospitals or a metro station. Now you want to bring the religious argument into the debate and allow that to determine your laws? No. If you would like to have that option, then feel free to vote for a government more closely tied to the Church, by all means! However, while the church and the state are still not one and the same, you cannot use religious arguments as valid reasons behind laws. Unless you also take into account the beliefs of all citizens including Muslims, Jews, Hindus, etc. as well, your government is not required to make your religious beliefs law.<br />
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Don't think you're getting out of this easily, America. The same argument applies to you, even more so. While France has historically been a Catholic country, going so far as to being half of the Great Schism with the Avignon Papacy, an active member of the Crusades, and a prominent part of the Holy Roman Empire, we have none of that. We were a country founded on the idea of religious freedom, being a safe haven for people of any religious belief to practice it without persecution. Yes, sometimes that's been a challenge for us.<br />
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(http://unconfirmedbreakingnews.com/2013/01/breaking-news-1763/)</div>
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I'm talking about you Salem. The 17th century was not your highest point in upholding this belief that the pilgrims were (sort of) aiming for, especially considering the majority of you were descendants of if not pilgrims yourselves. However, we have a bigger population than France and a bigger religious diversity, even when just considering Christianity on its own. I think that means we are held to an even higher standard when it comes to the separation of Church and state. When our melting pot of a nation tries to use religion as an argument, they better double check that this is what every religion practiced in the US believes, because the government I voted for is not one run by religious leaders, rather people looking to bring about a better standard of life for the American people as a whole, including equality for all. Whether you are black or white, gay or straight, female or male, Christian or Islamic, you deserve to be treated equally under the law of the Unites States in my eyes. If this means two men want to get married to each other, they should be allowed to just based on the fact that a man is allowed to get married to a woman. That is reason enough for me. </div>
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I have so much more to say on politically charged topics with regards to France, but maybe I should leave that to another day. So, until then, equality for all always. </div>
<br />Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-45226677079515142772013-03-27T18:20:00.000+01:002013-03-27T18:20:00.952+01:00Oops, I did it again...(Day 80, Grenoble)<br />
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Sorry for being slow on the blogging! Sometimes I forget that this isn't my usual life and that I'm not going to be living in France forever and be a stone's throw away from the best food ever. I don't like that that's not the case either. I've got just under 2 months left, and I'm not going to think about this whole leaving thing. Moving on. While I've spoken about my assorted travels through Europe, I haven't spoken much about my travels through France. With my study abroad program, we go on the occasional excursion doing fun things around Grenoble and France.<br />
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Just in case you don't know where exactly I'm studying, or where any of these places are that I'm talking about, feel free to consult this hand map on which I have noted where I've been/am going. </div>
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So Grenoble is down in Southwestern France, wicked close to Italy and Switzerland. In our first excursion we took a really quick bus ride (an hour and a half or two hours). Unfortunately, it was cold and snowy and we were given a very strange tour around the city that was over two hours long (everyone knows the best tour is an hour and a half and no longer) and included hitting up a million passageways from street to street and a medieval clothing store. We did see two of their cathedrals, and we got to eat some pretty good food (I don't remember exactly what it was but I remember liking it). Apparently Lyon is the gastronomical capital of France. Just a fun fact. We did have to walk up a rather steep hill/mountain whatever to get to their big cathedral while it was snowing, which put a damper on our day. Luckily, we live so close to Lyon that it could be a very quick day trip, should we choose. So, pictures, I guess.</div>
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We also went to Dijon a few weekends ago. It was a much longer bus ride and we spent the night there. Dijon is the capital of the Burgundy region of France and was the home of the Dukes of Burgundy back in the day. It was a really cute city and definitely still has a bunch of its medieval architecture and that general feel about it. Honestly, that was the morning Erin left and I slept very well in Dijon! However the food there, is impeccable. Honestly, go for it (but I do say that about the entirety of France...). We also went to Beaune the next day to see the Hospice of Beaune, the first hospital in France, and we went to a wine tasting as well. It was a really cute, totally stereotypical French city. So pictures from both!</div>
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Look who I found in Dijon!!!</div>
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So that's where I've been so far! This weekend is Easter and I'm visiting family friends in Switzerland (woo traveling), and in a few weeks we're headed to Nice for 3 days. We're also in the process of planning our April vacation to Venice and Cinque Terre. While the Italian train system's website is not excited about the trip, we're definitely looking forward to it. I'm sorry that I don't have any hard hitting exposes on any hot topics! I'll work on it and find something that bothers me for next time!</div>
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Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-449210638310526192013-03-14T20:48:00.002+01:002013-03-15T22:55:07.334+01:00Long time, no blog!(Day 68, Grenoble)<br />
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Oh well hey there! It's been quite some time since I've updated this. In all honesty, I may have forgotten that I was doing this until my friend Erin complained I hadn't written about how amazing she is yet. That combined with the fact that it's Thursday and I have no classes comes out to a brand new blog post!<br />
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Last post I may have mentioned that I was going to Barcelona for my February break and then meeting up with a friend in Paris. (If I happened to have forgotten part of my itinerary last time, now you're all caught up.) We left Grenoble on Thursday February 21st and took the train to the Lyon airport where we then flew to Barcelona. Despite the trek across the airport from train station to the terminal for discount airlines, we made it there safe and sound. One thing we managed to not realize could be important was that neither myself, Claire, Nicole, nor Aubrey spoke any Spanish or Catalan. We walked out of the airport (no security or customs to go through which was disappointing for the 'fill the passport up with stamps' collection) and were trying to get into the city center to meet a friend of Aubrey's who is studying in Barcelona for the semester when we realized our French abilities were going to come into no use in Spain. We managed to take the Barcelona equivalent to the RER or the Commuter Rail into the city for dinner on La Rambla. Then we took another RER train to the mountain where our hostel was. That's right, I said mountain. We knew this when we booked the hostel, but the $10/night deal was just too good to pass up, we thought. The pleasant surprise: the 500 steps the hostel website had mentioned from the train station to the hostel was actually just 500 feet up a winding road. The ...interesting surprise: we were not the only species that planned on setting up residence there.<br />
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There were wild boar that lived on the mountain, as well as assorted wild cats and foxes. ... I was unaware that I would be reliving the assorted African safari's I went on daily during this trip. It wasn't bad, we only saw them a few times (once, one thought Claire and I smelled mighty tasty, but Texas arrived to save our souls), and the other animals didn't make that much of a fuss. Plus, we figured we'd be spending most of the time not at the hostel anyway. Unfortunately, Nicole and I are not the most raring to go people in the morning so it took us a while, and we were all living under the illusion that it was going to be like vacationing on the equator while we were there. Mother Nature had other plans, however, and on Day 2 we woke up to a beautiful snowy mountain.</div>
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(Photo credit: Nicole. Stole it, hope you don't mind!)</div>
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I legit thought I was back in the Alps. Why hadn't it occurred to any of us to look at the weather in Barcelona before traveling? I checked the weather in Paris!! Regardless of the ridiculous weather we had a bunch of fun. We went to the Picasso museum; found a favorite part of the city; Claire and Aubrey went to the FC Barcelona v. Seville game; we found an American diner which had delicious burgers and milkshakes where we watched the FCB v. Real Madrid game (sad); we saw, and put our feet in, the Mediterranean Sea; </div>
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we saw everything by Gaudi in the city like his three Domas and the Park Guell;</div>
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and we saw the main cathedral of Barcelona.</div>
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The thing that really took the cake for best part of the trip, though, was the Sagrada Familia. This is another major church in Barcelona, but tends the be the one people identify with the city. While that's unfortunate for the city's actual cathedral, I totally understand why. This thing looks absolutely crazy from the outside.</div>
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It has spider legs and looks like it should be the cathedral of Atlantis. It his seashells and lizards, cubic statues of Jesus and other religious figures, brightly colored latin worlds written willy-nilly every where. The major thing about the church is that's it's not even done yet! It's been under construction for over 100 years, been visited by 2 popes, and it's still missing major architectural pieces! Unlike Paris where you can buy one museum pass and get into every museum for a certain number of days, we had to pay to get in everywhere. Also unlike France, the churches were not free in Spain unless there was a mass going on, during which you couldn't access the majority of the church anyway. We used our student discount and after 16 euros (nearly $20) we were in and going up one of the towers. What you have to understand is how amazingly unique this church is. It has all of this crazy architecture on the outside, partially unfinished, partially under construction. And then you go inside...</div>
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...and your view on life changes. The entire interior of the church is white and every window (once it's done) is a beautiful rainbow of stained-glass. Churches shouldn't be built any other way. This is the perfect church. As crazy as you may be on the outside, God takes over on the inside and makes everything so beautiful. Throughout the day there is always sunlight streaming in from somewhere casting a rainbow onto the white of the church. I think the part that really got me was one of the confessionals.<br />
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With confession (as my Catholic education has taught me) you go in with a 'dirty' soul, confess to Christ via the priest, and then come out 'clean'. What could be cooler than coming out of the confessional with a clean soul and then this rainbow shining down on you as if God himself were there thanking you for confessing and wanting to be a better Christian. I stood there for a long time thinking about that, so don't mind me if none of this makes sense. I still can't imagine a better feeling than that. Oh man, my Catholic side is showing. </div>
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That was pretty much all we did in Barcelona. We also ate tapas and paella, but the entire time I was craving French food (particularly les carafes d'eau which are free and beautiful as opposed to the water in Barcelona which you always have to pay for), which is why it was handy I was about to spend 5 days in Paris with my best friend from William & Mary!</div>
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On Friday March 1st, I left the hostel at 7:00am, and hour and a half and 7<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">€</span>50 later I finally made it to the airport where I met a man from Chicago who was going to Paris for a vacation with his wife. I was spotted by my L.L. Bean backpack, très américain évidement. Then I waited in Charles de Gaulle for 3+ hours to see the wonderful, most amazing person in the world Erin! I love my friends here and my French life, and I'm totally not looking forward to leaving here, but I didn't realize how much I missed my ginger comerade until she walked through those automatic doors. We stayed in a hotel (an upgrade definitely needed after life with the boars) in the 11 arrondissement very close to where the Bastille was, which was perfect for us revolution lovers. Over the course of 5 days we saw EVERYTHING. On Friday, after a stroll and dinner along Boulevard Saint-Germain, we walked past both the Notre-Dame and the remains of the Bastille on our way back to our hotel. Day 2 was Notre-Dame for real, Sainte-Chapelle, Musée d'Orsay (where the hunt for Saint Sébastien began), and the Eiffel Tower. I also introduced Erin to Kinder chocolate that day which may or may not have been a very big mistake as I now may as well take some stock in the company as I'm bringing so much of it home for Erin. Day 3 we decided to do some furniture shopping for our future D.C. apartment at Versailles. We saw the palace, the gardens, the Grand Trianon, and the Petit Trianon before our legs gave out. We paused back at our hotel before hitting up the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe. I just want to pause here so we can all compare <i>the</i> Arc de Triomphe with that of Barcelona. I'll let you figure out which is which.</div>
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All I have to say is "Vive la France". After dinner we also went to see Les Misérables (my 5th time seeing it, sorry I'm not sorry). It really improves the movie when you come out and walk the streets where the real story took place. Honestly, I have so much patriotism for France after that movie, I cannot express to you how weird and wonderful it is. Day 3 we set ourselves up at the Louvre and worked from ancient Egypt all the way to 19th century France. It also took us 5 hours, but we found my favorite ever painting ever (after some serious stalking of every painting by David in the Louvre), "La mort de Marat" or"Marat assassiné".</div>
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Now I know I posted other paintings by Jacques-Louis David from the last time I went to the Louvre, but I literally found every single painting of his in that museum and it took us 5 hours to find the painting that added to the fire that was the Terror. I had almost lost hope, thinking that maybe it was in another museum somewhere across the world when I walked down a small set of stairs which opened up into another room (room 54, I do believe), lifted my head, looked to the right, and there it was. I gasped, loud enough that people in other rooms paused their contemplation and glanced my way, and went to stand in front of that painting for a while. No, really.</div>
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(Photo credit: Erin)</div>
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You may or may not have guessed that I have a thing for the French revolution and this painting gets me every single time. I just, LOOK AT IT! David, what a rascal. Time to get back on track I suppose. Post Louvre, we walked through the underground mall attached to the Louvre and then jetted back to our hotel for another siesta. We decided to be extra American on our final night in Paris and go to the Hard Rock for dinner with a stop over at Laduree on the Champs-Élysée for macaroons (if they're still there when you get the chance to go to Paris, get the Marie Antoinette flavor. Trust me.) to add a smidge of France to our meal. On our last day we treked it to l'Hôtel des Invalides to see Napoleon and then up to Sacre-Coeur because why not.</div>
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Not as cool as Sagrada Familia, but I'll take it. We then parted from Paris that night on a train to Grenoble. While I did drag Erin to my History of Contemporary France class, we did go out and about in Grenoble too. We even took the famous bubbles up to the Bastille. The bubbles are the fancy cable cars that lead from Centre-Ville up to the Bastille itself. Much better than walking, in my opinion, although I know that not many others would agree. The walk is pretty cool. I also took some of my first pictures of Grenoble. Now here is my reasoning. For the past 2 months, it has been cold, rainy, occasionally snowy, and very cloudy. Once or twice it has been nice, but I don't carry my camera with me all the time. I did, however, this time, so take a minute to appreciate the city I'm living and studying in. (I'll even add pictures from my hike up the mountain.)</div>
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(Photo credit: Nicole)</div>
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(Photo credit: Nicole)</div>
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(Photo credit: Nicole)</div>
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(Proof I exercised!)</div>
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After our bubble rides, we went to the Musée de Grenoble which is actually a pretty cool museum. They even have a Saint Sébastien painting, a painting by David, and a piece from Andy Warhol.</div>
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They also had some stuff that Erin and I had a tough time accepting was art. This piece, for example.</div>
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Now it is entirely possible I just don't get it. I am not an art student by any means, but it kind of looks like they just forgot what they wanted to do on this canvas and gave it to a museum anyway. But I digress. Thursday we had a final French dinner for Erin with savory crêpes and crème brûlée, and then she left by a 7:20 train on Friday morning.</div>
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It was an absolutely crazy two weeks, but totally worth it. Barcelona is an amazing city, and I could get lost in the corners of Paris and still be loving it. It was so, ridiculously nice to spend time with Erin too. My friends even noticed it here when we all went out for Indian food and crêpes that I was significantly more cheerful than usual. But I guess that's what William & Mary gives you. I mean, one Tribe, one family, right TJ?</div>
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(Photo credit: Erin)</div>
Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-55301229404987618822013-02-21T10:46:00.001+01:002013-02-21T10:46:28.044+01:00Barcelona!!!(Day 46, Grenoble)<br />
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Hello there. One fabulous perk of this semester is that we revert to our pre-college days of a week off in February and a week off in April, which, like the good old days, occurs on my birthday. This next week we have off and some friends and I are going to Barcelona! We're leaving later today because we don't have classes on Thursday (school, what's that?). Next Friday I'm meeting up with my friend from William & Mary in Paris until the Tuesday, and then we're headed back to Grenoble. Pretty much, I'm not going to be anywhere where I'm able to write up my weekly blog post. Don't fret, or think that I've been taken. I'm just living la vida loca... or however you say that in Catalan.Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-31769862726193886932013-02-17T13:24:00.003+01:002013-02-17T13:24:38.648+01:00Au ciné(Day 42, Grenoble)<br />
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One of my absolute favorite things in life, regardless of my location, is watching movies. On my computer, on TV, at the theater, DVDs, VHS, BlueRay, I love movies. I'm no expert in the art of cinema or anything, I never feel as if I could personally take over for my history of French cinema professor should he take ill. My taste in movies isn't even all that great. I love superhero movies, Disney, and romantic comedies, but I love watching movies. When we were younger my friends and other family members used to make fun of the fact that my family went to the movies so often, and that's not something that has died down in France. I've gone to the theater quite often. While, unfortunately, only one of the movies I watched was in France, it's tons of fun. I saw Django Unchained (with French subtitles), Le monde de nemo (Finding Nemo, in French), The Master (with French subtitles), Happiness Therapy (Silver Linings Playbook, with French subtitles), and Les Misérables (with French subtitles). I also had French Disney movie night with my friends yesterday where we watched Les indestructibles (The Incredibles, in French with French subtitles). It was tons of fun, but it was ridiculous. Usually when we watch movies with French subtitles we read along and critique the inaccurate translations. Les indestructibles was unacceptable. At this point we know enough French to sort of figure it out, but the characters were saying different things than the subtitles which was driving us nuts. Given they were speaking fast and the subtitles were a solid summary of what was being said, but it was psycho. It was totally messing with my head which was awful. Eventually we were just quoting the movie in English ("I am your <i>wife</i>! I am the greatest good you will<i> ever</i> have!). I definitely am going to be watching more movies in French. It makes me feel wicked snooty when I can argue with the translations.<br />
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In other news, my friends and I leave for Barcelona in 4 days! It better be as warm as the Inferno as well. I just want to thaw out, that's all. I'm not asking for too much, I think. I've missed feeling my toes. Also midterms are this week. They don't count for a grade and are just offered to American students to see where we are knowledge-wise, but it's going to be helpful. The only grade that counts for these classes is the final exams, so, for the first time, I want to take my midterms.<br />
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Don't tell anyone though.Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-71323768864621641832013-02-10T12:43:00.001+01:002013-02-10T12:43:18.222+01:00EXERCISE!!(Day 35, Grenoble)<br />
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Apologies for the silence. Not much has been happening over here. Yesterday my program went on an excursion to Lyon. It probably would have been wonderful had it not been cold and snowing, but it ended up just being a normal Saturday with a different backdrop. We took a bus from Grenoble to Lyon right into the center of the city to Place Bellecour. It's the center square of the city with a gigantic Ferris wheel and lots of shopping near by. We went on a tour of the city from there. Now maybe it's just my years of tour guiding experience, or maybe it was the awful weather, but it was a rather awful tour. We saw lots of small things and walked into allies and courtyards. At one point our guide brought us into a medieval store down an ally through a courtyard. It was the weirdest thing ever to see on a tour of the city. We ended up at the Cathédrale Saint-Jean in the city and then a few of us were dying of hunger and the need for bathroom so we peaced out. Lyon is apparently the gastronomical capital of France, and the pizza I had for lunch absolutely backed that up. I was so full for the rest of the day that dinner ended up being applesauce! We then hiked up to the Basilica in Lyon. The Basilica itself was closed, but we were able to go into the crypts and see a mass being held and a few very cool chapels.<br />
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Wait, I just remembered some earth shattering stuff that happened this week. On Tuesday it was surprisingly warm, so after classes ended at 3:30 my friend Nicole and I decided (honestly, I was coerced) to go up to the Bastille in Grenoble. It's across the river from my apartment and up a gigantic mountain, but Richard directed us to a 'faster' path up to the Bastille that included four billion stairs. It was a ton of fun walking up there and it took us a while because we stopped at every little platform to go adventuring. We did finally get to the top and decided we deserved a crêpe for our hard work. We decided to go back down the path we had used to come up when two thirds of the way down we encountered a locked door. We ended up having to go back up to the top of the mountain and then down the significantly longer path that lead out to the other side of the mountain. At this point it was also starting to get dark and by the time we got back to the river it had started to slightly rain. Nicole made me run to the nearest tram stop and then we went our separate ways. The point of this story, though, is that I did physical activity! And not just a once in a lifetime thing either, because I then climbed up to the Basilica 4 days later. Look at me, being all sportive. You guys probably wouldn't recognize me at this point!<br />
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Well one week until midterms, 11 days until Barcelona, and 20 days until Erin comes to visit in Paris!! Looking forward to what's to come!<br />
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<br />Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-4673746062403296202013-02-02T21:15:00.001+01:002013-02-02T21:15:36.930+01:00I now have holes in my body.(Day 27, Grenoble)<br />
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Alright, so I have no big social commentary for today or crazy thought that has been eating at my insides for months on end. I'm sure I can pull one out if you'd prefer! The big thing that happened this week...<br />
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... I finally got my ears pierced! I know this may not be exciting for some of you, but it should be known that I'm rather terrified of needles and I have an unacceptably low threshold for pain (like, I see something drop on the floor and cry out in pain). This has been a multi-year process but very worth it. How many people do you know who can say they got their ears pierced in France? It was quite the experience, let me tell you. I went with a couple of my friends to a Claire's on la Grande Rue in Grenoble. I figured tons of small children get their ears pierced at Claire's stores in the US, it must be acceptable to get them pierced at one in France. (And it was either that or a rather sketchy Body Piercing place on some side street. Seemed safer.) </div>
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So I'm sitting in the chair with my friends next to me trying to describe that it's fine and what will happen. NO. I need to never know what is going to happen to me. If it's a shot, surgery, or anything DON'T TELL ME. I'll just over think it, blow it up to unrealistically terrifying proportions, and die on the spot. While they're trying to 'calm me down', the very nice young woman is speaking to me in French while simultaneously training someone on how to do the ear piercing. I've pierced enough doll ears at work to know that trainees aren't always comfortable piercing. Now I'm adding the possibility that some unexperienced French woman is going to pierce my ears on to the pile of other things freaking me out. I sign my life away (in French) and then sit silently, simultaneously clutching the arm of the chair I'm sitting in and the Euro coins in my pocket. Honestly, the whole piercing thing wasn't so bad. It mostly just felt someone was stapling me. A beautiful wave of nausea kicked in immediately after however and didn't wear off until we were on the tram towards campus. Over all, everyone that knows how long this has taken is giving me nasty 'I told you so' looks through the computer, and everyone else should feel no regret skipping that whole paragraph. It was fine; it all happened in French; I'm still not 100% sure what I signed away to; and my ears are very sparkly.</div>
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I also haven't spoken much about the food here recently. From what I gather from my experiences, France loves food and gastronomy so much that they have a different food for each month. Januarys are for Galettes de Rois, these magical, beautiful pastries with this almond thing inside. I don't know, but it's great. There is a prize hidden inside and who ever gets the little token is the King and gets a precious gold crown. I won the one time we had one with my host family, which was wicked exciting!!</div>
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February, or at least February 6th is the month of crêpes, which is fine by me! Both of these foods are connected to assorted religious holidays: the galettes go with the Epiphany and the crêpes go with la Chandeleur/the presentation of Jesus at the temple. Therefore, I'm eating these foods for the rest of my life on religious grounds and so should everyone else. Even if it's not your religion, just eat the foods anyway. They are absolutely delicious!Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-54923521406822993702013-01-27T22:25:00.003+01:002013-01-27T22:25:25.865+01:00Stereotypes(Day 21, Grenoble)<br />
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I think it's safe to say that I have been very lucky in my life. Days before I left for France my parents were counting out all of the countries I've been to at the ripe old age of 20. (Including France, nine) Having taken my love of other cultures and traveling and focused it into an International Relations major, I'm think we can say that it's a fact that I love this big crazy world and figuring out how all of these puzzle pieces connect to make a global community. One thing that has bothered me for years, however, are the stereotypes that pop up everywhere.<br />
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I have never been one to believe stereotypes when it comes to other nations and cultures, I am the New England liberal that chose to go to school in the South. I firmly believe that everyone deserves to define themselves based on who they are, not on who they should be. So when I was leaving for France, all of my family members and friends were giving me their 'advice' on what I should 'watch out for', 'be wary of', and 'expect' once I got to France. This advice ranged from what types of toilets to expect to how to handle myself around French men to the inevitable fact that my French would be made fun of. Even before I left and have had a chance to spend time immersed in the French way, I was angry at people for believing and reporting these stereotypes to me. While advice is always appreciated, I wanted the opportunity to make up my own mind about what the French may or may not be like. I am also very aware of the American stereotype abroad and how not many in America are what the rest of the world thinks we are. Maybe it's the traveling or maybe it's the international students that I have gotten to share a living space with during my time at Montrose, but I had had enough of these stereotypes and I refuse to let them add a different lens to how I approach France and the French people.<br />
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First things first, I guess we should narrow down what stereotypes we are talking about. I've written enough papers and lab reports (I don't want to dwell on that last one for too long...) in my time to know that you always want to define your terms first so that the audience is on the same page as the author. So French stereotypes, watch this video and we'll get on the same page with that one.<br />
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You better have watched the whole video, because it's ridiculously accurate. Every piece of advice someone gave me re:France, was based on this video. Also, a lot of the French people I have met have asked me about what stereotypes I have of French people, and they always describe everything in this video.<br />
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But there are stereotypes of Americans too. There are the obvious ones, such as we're all obese, loud, dumb, rude, and all we eat tons of hamburgers a day. Everyone in America drives American made trucks and SUVs, and everyone is extremely selfish. Despite being the home of crazy rednecks and celebrities alike, we are a very conservative nation that doesn't swear, is uncomfortable with nudity, and also gets squeamish when discussing anything sexual. Then there are some I didn't realize, such as you can 'spot an American student' by their Sperrys, North Face backpacks, and water bottles they will inevitably have with them. Also we all wear jeans and college t-shirts or sweatshirts everyday....<br />
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...To be fair, I've only worn this twice including today and it's because it's Skype Sunday. I don't leave the house so I don't feel the need to get all fancy and put on a nice shirt. Also, it's really cold, as I may have mentioned once or twice and my sweatshirt is warm. It also creates a wonderful topic of conversation. Every exchange student my family has hosted has also expressed their concern within the first week in America that they are worried about getting fat while there. I think by understanding how we as a people are perceived abroad really displays how silly stereotypes can be. </div>
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I was part way through this post earlier today, when I stopped for lunch. It was Martine, Richard, Clémentine, myself, and a friend of Martine's. I don't remember how we got on the topic, but suddenly Martine was asking me to confirm her statement that America has a lot of obese people. I gave a very shaky head nod; I'm under no illusions that obesity is not present in the US, but 'a lot' is pushing it, in my un-researched opinion. This sent Martine off about a story of a woman she met in Boston (which I believe she went to Boston when she was a kid. She told me about how the water on the Cape is dangerous because once she was caught in a rip tide. My vocabulary nor want of dispute at the dinner table was up to the challenge of saying that I summered on the Cape for 12 years before my grandparents sold their house, and the first time I got caught in a rip-tide was when I was about 16 and on Nantucket. I have been in that water plenty enough to know that saying the water on the Cape is dangerous is not even close to an accurate statement. Although the sharks this past summer may wish to change my mind....) who was so obese it was sort of a monstrosity. That sincerely bothered me. I may not go around shoving my nationality down the international community's throats, but I am a proud American. To assume that we are all fat when you simultaneously complain that I never eat enough food is quite hypocritical of you. Just because you saw one very obese woman in America, or you encountered a French artist wearing a beret, or a Mexican wearing a poncho does not mean you can create a blanket statement for an entire community.</div>
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Sometimes, stereotypes are true. The French love eating their baguettes. I have been blatantly checked out here more times than you would ever see in the US. The French do discuss the finer qualities of cheeses and wine. They are significantly less embarrassed about the human body than Americans are (Martine often asks me questions as I'm walking from the sale de bain to ma chambre and am only wearing a towel). They also love their coffee and tea. Their showers are weird, and they conserve everything from water to electricity. However some stereotypes are very wrong. Not once has my family laughed at my French. Once or twice the occasional waiter or cashier will switch to very broken English after I say something in French, but, for the most part, they are happy to explain and are glad you are willing to try and speak their language. Most 'customer service centered' workers are very accommodating and are curious about where I'm from and what I'm doing in Grenoble. The young Frenchmen I have met are absolutely no different from American men except for the language they speak in and what they wear. Also, I have seen one beret while in French. I think it's quite similar to wearing a 'Newsies' type hat, and generally reserved for the older generation and steadily being phased out.</div>
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I guess the whole point of this post is just that I want people to stop relying on stereotypes as viable information. If you want to know what the French, the Spanish, the Indians, or the Russians are like, go there and find out. Don't rely on second hand information that isn't necessarily based on fact. Go learn about other cultures! Don't even take stereotypes on different parts of America as fact! Go see your own country, meet the people, eat their food, participate in their favorite past times and then figure it out. Mostly, I think what we need to remember most, is that everyone is different and one person does not define an entire community.</div>
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STOP RELYING ON STEREOTYPES!!!!</div>
Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-80959834439982664512013-01-27T21:20:00.005+01:002013-01-27T21:20:58.153+01:00Short Update Before the Big One(Day 21, Grenoble)<br />
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Hey team. So I've been working on a blog post all day that I've been wanting to write for a while, but it's taking a while so give me time. As some of you may know Sunday is Skype day, so should you ever want to chat, I'm on all day!<br />
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And a shout out to Erin, because she asked for one, and she's going to be here in 34 days! WOOOOT!!!!Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-65211018490231797122013-01-23T20:19:00.000+01:002013-01-23T20:19:23.167+01:00FON-DUE(Day 17, Grenoble)<br />
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I know this has been quite a bit of writing for me recently, but I needed to update everyone on this new/old/ridiculously cool technology France has got a hold of. Tonight's meal was cold cuts, pretty much of different types of ham and potatoes with cheese. But this wasn't any normal potatoes and cheese us Irish folk have lived by for centuries. This was potatoes with fondue cheese. This post is mostly a notice for all of us with fondue pots as part of our kitchen ensemble. WE'VE BEEN DOING IT WRONG! I walked into the kitchen chez Mondin and there was this magical contraption. It was like a round of cheese that was being melted by this heat lamp but it was attached to something. I obviously am having difficulties explaining it, but it was the coolest thing ever. Fresh fondue, well, as fresh as cheese can get at least. (And then there was strawberry yogurt for dessert.)<br />
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This has been an update from your friend across the pond. Ciao.Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-46518719703839938552013-01-22T21:08:00.004+01:002013-01-22T21:08:40.685+01:00Let's Talk about Food(Day 16, Grenoble)<br />
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Okay, so something I occasionally mention, but not nearly enough, is the food here. So totally underrated. HAHA JUST KIDDING! A common stereotype (or maybe it's just a fact now) is that the food en France is amazing. Backstory, you may or may not know that I am rather picky when it comes to food. Forever, I've always got chicken fingers (occasionally renamed chicken thumbs, chicken tenders, or chicken strips) at every restaurant under the sun. Sometimes I branch out and go for pasta, or something else crazy exotic like that. My mother can attest to this fact. Whenever she tries to get fancy and make something out of the ordinary, I pick and choose and eat, like, nothing on my plate (sorry mom).<br />
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Maybe it's the stereotype, and maybe it's the whole "eat everything on your plate or you'll be deported" line we were fed during orientation, but I am a member of the clean plate club every meal. I never know what the food is, and sometimes, I think it's okay that I don't understand what they're saying when they explain the meals to me. I have loved everything (except one meal this past week which was a mysterious vegetable encircled by ham, which was rather gross). Tonight, for instance, was some specialty of Lyon that was, once again, mysterious. Regardless, it was delicious! We also have dessert after every meal, which is why, when I come back from France as an unrecognizable five million pound blob that needs two extra plane seats, you should not be surprised. Dessert was like a magical apple that had exploded but was whole and was magic and I love it. Maybe I need to keep a food diary or something so I can remember all of this....Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-69534304727601366522013-01-20T13:40:00.001+01:002013-01-20T13:40:27.790+01:00WAIT!(Day 14, Grenoble)<br />
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WAIT A HOT SECOND! How could I forget the most important part of catching you all up yesterday? A bunch of my friends and I made it out to the Brûleurs de Loups game on Friday night! For those that haven't stalked Grenoble on Wikipedia, BDL is the Grenoble hockey team. As I can't watch my beloved Bruins from so far away, I have settled for Grenoble's team. While we left after the second period so that we could go out for the evening, BDL still won 6-1 against Caen! What a great warm-up for us Bruins fans last night.<br />
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The rink is located near the end of the A line on the tram, but still in Grenoble which is great. It's a pretty small rink, but it was full. The big cultural thing, though, is that these French hockey fans are not <i>real</i> hockey fans. While they know their sport and their team and they were decked out in their favorite player's jerseys, they were all sitting down and silent for the whole game (except for the band, which never once stopped singing, not even for a second). While my friends and I (mostly me) were shouting at the team and yelling our advise to the players, even when Caen scored and their one fan started using his air horn the Grenoble fans didn't really do anything about it. They would only react when there was a close call for a goal by BDL and when BDL actually scored. It was crazy! As someone who has been lucky enough to have been exposed to quality hockey in her life, both teams weren't as sharp as they could have been. It was a rather sloppy game, over all, but they did well and it was great to watch. With the sloppiness however, we fans were given multiple opportunities to yell at our team and encourage them to get their stuff together. My friend from Sudbury and I were the only ones doing any such thing, it was absolutely ridiculous. Regardless, BDL won, there's another game Tuesday night that we're going to, and all is good. À bientôt.Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-85127306570157640812013-01-19T18:35:00.001+01:002013-01-19T18:35:39.591+01:00Centre Universitaire d'Études Françaises(Day 13, Grenoble)<br />
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I guess it's time to talk about academics, I suppose I am <i>studying</i> abroad.... The university I am going to is called the Université Stendhal in Grenoble where I go to the Centre Universitaire d'Études Françaises, or CUEF as the cool kids call it. It's pretty much for all of the international students, comprised of quite a few Americans and a boatload of Chinese students. (Okay, they most likely flew here.) The way the program works is as follows:<br />
Monday: Take the placement test which includes an interview with a professor to assess your speaking skills and a written test to assess your listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and writing skills.<br />
Tuesday: Find out your level of French. There are 6 major levels. A1 and A2 are the very beginner levels, the "all I know about the French language is 'bon-jour'". B1.0-B1.9 are the intermediate low levels. B2.0-B2.7 are the intermediate high levels. C1 and C2 are the "I'm pretty much French, just hand me my citizenship card already" levels. Is the suspense killing you? It wasn't killing me, but, if you saw a recent Facebook status, you may know I accidentally did well. Now don't go thinking that I've got my French passport in the mail. I ended up in level B2.5 (in the B2 levels, there are only odd numbers except for B2.0), which blew my mind. As a result, I have officially become the API tutor, haha.<br />
Wednesday: Classes begin! Woot, haha. I now understand why people hate study abroad students, because I have significantly less class time than I do at school. Really, look at my schedule...<br />
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">I hit the jackpot. Also, that's not even my final schedule! I'm still deciding between the History of French Art class and the Contemporary French Literature class. I think I just won, haha. I am, however, considering joining a choral ensemble and volunteering at the American Corner here in Grenoble as well, so I could be very busy. My French class (the purple one, and technically the pink one too) is really good. This past week we read two articles expressing opposing views on gay marriage in France and were having a very complex discussion about the French's opinions and the Americans' opinions. It was great, and I could participate and keep up with what was going on in the class. The reason we were reading/discussing gay marriage is that it is a very big topic in France right now in regards to law making, etc. Regardless, I know what's going on, which is the best part!</span></div>
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My friends and I are also planning our February vacation! It's been FREEZING here. In between the sporadic snowing, the winds, and the generally cold temperature, all we want is to be somewhere really warm. Some of us are thinking of going to Barcelona, Spain. The best part, the flights there are only $40 in American dollars! Then at the very end, Erin from W&M is coming to meet me in Paris for her spring break! We'll spend a few days in Paris and then, on Tuesday, come down to Grenoble. I'm WICKED pumped about seeing Erin, less so about the Paris part. Can we all just take a moment to realize how expensive Paris is? Ugh, that is going to take up most of my vacation fund!! It's worth it to see Erin though, my person from home to come visit me. I'll just have to cut down on my Chocolat chauds, I suppose....</div>
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I think we're all caught up to date now. Classes have begun. I'm going to Barcelona in a month. Erin's coming to visit. Chocolat chaud is magic that should be replicated everywhere in the US. C'est tout!</div>
Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-29177426222128552582013-01-13T11:59:00.002+01:002013-01-13T11:59:31.866+01:00Last one, I swear<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Louvre</div>
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Venus de Milo</div>
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The Madonna and Child in Majesty Surrounded by Angels - Cimabue</div>
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The Coronation of Napoleon - David</div>
<br />Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-25693756092955861552013-01-13T11:47:00.002+01:002013-01-13T11:47:20.277+01:00Even more...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Notre-Dame</div>
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Main Altar in Notre-Dame</div>
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View of Paris from in Between the Towers of Notre-Dame</div>
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Main Altar in Sainte-Chapelle</div>
<br />Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-64225163315258957722013-01-13T11:42:00.002+01:002013-01-13T11:42:50.803+01:00And some more...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hall of Mirrors at Versailles</div>
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Musée d'Orsay</div>
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Thomas Jefferson along the Seine</div>
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Napoleon I's Tomb</div>
<br />Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-6970505630591041862013-01-13T11:39:00.000+01:002013-01-13T11:39:00.266+01:00Picture Time!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Le Tour Eiffel</div>
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Notre-Dame</div>
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Versailles</div>
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Chapel in Versailles</div>
<br />Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-69380502382737693952013-01-12T17:22:00.002+01:002013-01-12T17:22:52.185+01:00La télé(Day 6, Grenoble)<br />
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So last night, Richard asked if I had ever watched TV in French, which, of course I haven't. He then suggested I should, that's how I'll get better at French! So we all sat down and watched NCIS en français. It was a little difficult to follow, haha. I never realized how fast people speak in television shows in the United States. Props to the kids who can follow it when it's not their first language. It was definitely a challenge, but it was good too.<br />
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One major thing that's already got me about France, maybe Europe in general, is that they don't like to heat their homes. I guess in France utilities are really expensive. We don't use many lights in the house, you take really short showers or turn off the water in between shampooing/conditioning, etc., and houses don't use a lot of heat. This means that I'm generally wicked cold and I'm not sure if I'm actually clean, haha. Okay, so their 'shower' is un peu bizarre. It's a bathtub with one of those hand-held shower heads, but instead of being able to stand and shower, I have to sit down in the tub and wash myself that way, otherwise water will get allll over the bathroom. I ventured to use it this morning, and it was interesting. I think that's what I miss right now, a real shower. 125 days until I can take a real shower, haha!Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-85123911267390547322013-01-11T23:28:00.003+01:002013-01-11T23:28:48.925+01:00Lucy, I'm home!(Day 5, Grenoble)<br />
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Okay, so there is no one I know named Lucy here, but that's beside the point. I'm officially in Grenoble and it's fabulous, but Day 4 first, I guess.<br />
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Day 4, Paris. Despite the crazy fog, we climbed the Tour Eiffel all the way to the top. All 660+ stairs. Me. Kaitlin Fitzgerald, who climbed 420+ stairs the day before, climbed another 660+ the next day. If I didn't know myself any better, I would say I had exercised... but that can't be. There are pictures of the top of the Tour Eiffel on my Facebook, but that seems a little foolish as you couldn't see anything anyway. It was wicked cool and we took the elevator back down (that's more like it). Then a few of us (Me, Aubrey, MC, Ariel, Cate, and Meddie) went to go see the Catacombs, but they were closed! The very nice people there told us it would be reopened on the weekend, but we are in Grenoble this weekend so no catacombs for us. Instead we went to Ils de Saint-Louis and ate at this fabulous restaurant that we had heard about from Marie. She said it had the best glace (ice cream) in all of Paris, so we got that first. Then an hour later we decided we were actually hungry so we got lunch there too! Before we met back up with everyone at our hotel, we stopped in a little papeterie which is my new thing. 'Murica, you better work on your papeteries because they are now a necessary feature of my life. Keeping in mind that my favorite store was Staples, a papeteries is a little boutique that has pens, paper, folders, cards, wrapping paper, post cards, anything stationary or paper related is found there. I obvi had to make a purchase, and I got 5 (color-coded) folders for school that will be returning with me aux États-Unis.<br />
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We made it back to the hotel in one piece and then discovered there was a taxi strike. ... There are 12 of us with 2 big bags (or a hundred if you're me) and we had to get to the train station on the other side of Paris. So, of course, we took the bus, and all the Parisians loved us. haha Maybe not, but whatever. We rode first-class to Grenoble and it only took 3 hours on the wicked fast train. Richard, mon père d'accueil, picked me up à la gare, and we walked (Je suis désolé, Richard!) to their apartment which is in the city center. It is fabulous. It's on 3eme étage, or the 4th floor for the rest of us. It's very modern until you get to the furniture in the living room and the dining room which look like something that could easily be placed in the Governor's Palace in CW or in a less gold version of Versailles.<br />
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In the house is Martine, my host mom, Richard, my host father, and Clémentine, my host sister. Richard works in the local bureaucracy, as far as API has told me (I'm working up to the asking of questions, c'est un peu difficile), and Martine doesn't work anymore. Clémentine is 22 and goes to one of the 3 universities in Grenoble studying law. They all know very basic English, I think, but we only speak in French. That's absolutely fabulous for the whole "let's be fluent" thing I've wanted, but it's a little difficult on the "let's converse" front. On the first night, (Martine made pasta bolognese) we talked about movies, my travels to France/Grenoble, Gerard Depardieu, and I could participate and recount the conversation to y'all! I KNOW FRENCH, EVERYONE. ALERT THE PRESSES! Oh my Lord, that has been the best part of my trip. I can talk with them and we all know what's going on (mostly). I'm able to understand them pretty well and the speaking part is more difficult, but possible. I'm awesome, let's just soak that in for a little bit.<br />
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Okay, thanks. So<br />
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Day 5, Grenoble. So today was pretty easy. We met at the Office of Tourism in Grenoble, which is 2 blocks from the apartment and then Marie and Anna of API took us on a tour of Grenoble. Apparently Grenoble is known for their walnuts and Chartreuse, a very strong après-dîner alcohol that is apparently good with hot chocolate making it a Verte Chaud (obviously Grenoble knew I was coming). Then we broke for lunch (I got a kebab), and we took the tram to the campus. I'm going to CUEF, within the Université Stendhal (Centre Universitaire d'Études Françaises). Monday I have to take a placement test to find out what level of French I am, from B1.0-B1.7 to B2.0-B2.4 and then either Tuesday or Wednesday (I've been getting mixed messages) classes will start. I'm sort of nervous to figure out where I'm going with all of that, but I've officially taken up a "Que sera, sera" attitude about this whole thing. I'm going to learn French, it's going to be great, it doesn't matter what classes I take, what mistakes I make, it's all great anyway (and a little bit chilly, the Europeans don't believe in heating) and I'm already in love with this city. I'll write more this weekend, but, for now, I'm alive and it's great and I just want to smile all the time.<br />
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<br />Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-22961273874132959182013-01-10T00:07:00.003+01:002013-01-10T00:07:48.918+01:00Day 3, Paris<br />
Day 3.<br />
Woke up at 8:15 (solid!) and then we walked to Notre Dame. I totally didn't realize that our hotel was so close, but after, like, a 2 minute walk we were suddenly in front of Notre Dame. IT WAS AMAZING. The entirety of Mrs. McKinney's 9th grade history class came rushing back with the flying buttresses, rose windows, side chapels, tous les choses! I walked around the whole thing which was amazing, and I took pictures of, like, everything. Then I paused for a little bit and prayed (in French!) in front of the main altar. The entire time I was kneeling there all I could think about was all the people that had kneeled there (and all the signs reminding us that Notre Dame this is the 850th 'birthday') saying the "Notre Père" and it was just so... I can't even describe it. Cool? Mind-blowing? Nothing seems appropriate enough to describe it. After that we climbed about 420 stairs all the way to the top of Notre Dame. While we did pause at the spot in between the 2 towers, we did climb TO THE TOP. It was awesome. I saw all the gargoyles and chimeras possible. I also took video from in between the two towers so y'all can get a 360 view of paris from Notre Dame, haha. Then we walked a few blocks to Sainte-Chappelle, so amazing. It's this small, when compared to Notre Dame, church that was made, also in the Middle Ages but it was crazy well preserved! They have these magnificent stained glass windows that COVER the walls it's amazing. And there are two levels to the church, one for le peuple and the other for the king/queen and nobles, etc. The upper one, for the upper class, is amazing. I have tons of pictures of that as well, worry not.<br />
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Then we had some time to kill so we walked next door to the Conciergerie. This is, like, heaven for those that like the French Revolution. This is where they held the revolution tribunals for Marie-Antoinette and Robespierre. SO COOL. We saw Marie-Antoinette's cell and it was amazing. Also, the basement level had all of these histories of castles on one side and then, on the other, it had a giant lego Harry Potter castle, a Cinderella castle, castles in snow globes, the Disney castle. Why? I don't know, but I took tons of picture for my Harry Potter lovin' friends, haha.<br />
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Afterwards we went to the Louvre where we had a guided tour, in English, to see all the big stuff. We saw the Venus de Milo, Victory, the crowns of Louis XVI and Napoleon I, Fra Angelico, the Mona Lisa, Jacques-Louis David. I kept getting reeeeally distracted by everything there. We didn't stay for long, only for, like 2 hours before we were on information overload. BUT I saw all of the David paintings that inspired la Révolution, which was crazy. I never realized how huge they are. Like the "Coronation of Napoleon", my Montrosians, do you remember during common homerooms when we would pull out the monster screen for projections in the M&M or the Great Hall. It's taller and wider than that. How could one person work on that, without smudging??? Obvi, I'm no artist, but I'm confused. (also, as a reminder to myself, the Louvre was once a castle.)<br />
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Then some friends and I (Aubrey, Meddie, MC, Claire, Nicole, Cate, Kailey and Ariel) walked along the Champs-Élyssée and did some shopping. I mean, when in Rome. Then we metro'd it back to the hotel, went out to dinner again, and have been chilling ever since. It's so crazy and I love it here and when I'm not chilling with my friendz I'll update y'all about more like how I love this place and the food and the everything. AHHH I LOVE FRANCE.Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1105465561576081894.post-15535396798231814342013-01-09T23:08:00.002+01:002013-01-09T23:08:55.262+01:00And so it begins(Day 3, Paris, FR)<br />
AHHH!! Guess who's in France!! So I'm in Paris right now which is amazing. It totally hasn't hit me yet, but it probably will by the time I get to Grenoble and am sitting in classes next Tuesday, but let's not think about that right now.<br />
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So, day 1. I got to Charles de Gaulle airport fine and met my group at the airport, jumped a fence to get to the taxi (casual), and took a taxi to our hotel. It's this wicked cute little hotel in Paris right near la Rue Saint-Germain which is this pretty big street, wicked close to the Seine river, and it's awesome. I'm sharing a room with Niki who is from Rochester, Brianna from Oregon, and Aubrey from Sudbury. Niki, Aubrey, myself, and another person from our group, Van, decided to go adventuring and we ended up at this park near the Musée du Luxembourg. We were able to see the Eiffel Tower, which didn't look too far away. DECEPTIVE! We didn't pull out a map and went by the saying "You can see the Eiffel Tower from everywhere in Paris". Another lie. We wandered the city for an hour until we got there, haha. BUT WE MADE IT! We stood underneath and we're going to climb/elevator it tomorrow (Thursday/Day 4). Then we decided we should pull out a map to find our hotel. We sort of followed the Seine and spent another hour making it to a place close to the hotel until our feet gave out and we needed food. We went to this café called Néo Cafe and it was fabulous. I ate my first French crêpe! Nutelle bananne which was marvelous! Later that night we took a boat tour of the Seine from Pont Neuf to the Eiffel Tower and then all around Ils de la Cité and another island within the Seine. Then we all went to this restaurant called "Breakfast in America". It was a totally American diner, obviously, and we all got burgers or something of the sort, wicked French, right?<br />
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Day 2. We woke up at 7:15 (dead) and then went to Versailles which was AWESOME. It's way outside paris so we had to take the RER train which is pretty much the commuter rail in Boston. Then we went to the Musée d'Orsay which is where a bunch of Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Cezanne, etc. It was great! Then a few of us went to the Hôtel des Invalides which is also the Musée de l'Armée. That is where Napoleon's tomb is. It was crazy big for someone so, in theory, small. I guess that Napoleon Complex continues on in the after-life. We then ate une gallette des Rois, or French King Cake. It's this cute tradition for the Epiphany where everyone gets a slice of cake and there is a prize hidden in a slice. The person who gets the prize (for us it was a little Fleur de Lis) is the king. The cake was DELICIOUS, but then we went out to dinner with our API host, Marie. There are always a bunch of courses in France, even in restaurants. I had a pumpkin soup with cream as an entrée, so good; a doe filet for my main dish, heaven on earth; and this fancy chocolate thing for desert, it was a religious experience in my mouth.<br />
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Okay, so I'm chatting with my sister on Facebook right now and she's complaining that there's nothing on here so, as it is Day 3, and a LOT happened today so Day 3 deserves its own post. Enjoy reading the small portion of my time in France, haha.<br />
<br />Kate Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13789523777417902146noreply@blogger.com0