La fin du chemin français (pour maintenant): Partie 1

Well, I’ve really dropped the ball on this last French post…sorry everyone. I still wanted to recap the last of my adventures and reflect on my whole experience this past year, because it is one I will never forget with people who made every second away from home not just bearable, but better in every way than I could have hoped.

I left you in Aix with a week left to go in Europe. That Friday was the APA group fin de l’année dinner where we all got dressed up and got together for one last meal à la français while watching the slideshow our advisers put together. It was great to see everyone all together, since so many of us had divided into smaller groups based on our traveling schedules or classes. It was even more bizarre to realize I hadn’t even met everyone in the group! Part of me is worried that I missed out on opportunities to meet people, but I can’t imagine spending my time with anyone other than the girls with whom I became such good friends.

At the end of the night, Emily, Roz, and Caitlin came back with Carly and I to hang out as a group one last time. Unfortunately, I had to pack for my trip to Paris the following morning to meet my extended family, so I didn’t hang out so much as run around frantically marking things off my list.

The following morning, I caught the train up to Paris and met my family just outside of Paris in what I guess you would call the suburbs of the city. Quick family note: my grandfather was French and migrated to the US after World War II, but his sister stayed in France where she started her family just as my grandpa did stateside. Having this personal connection is a large part of what motivated my French studies and made me want to go to France. The relatives I stayed with are technically my second- and third-cousins. I’d been to their home once before when I was fourteen and spent three weeks of the summer with them. The family sends and receives each other’s kids for a bit of time over the summer to help expose the other half to a new culture and practice their language skills. But I digress.

It had been years since I’d seen my French family, they were so welcoming to me, and it was so great to see them. Especially in France while speaking French! And understanding it! I went into the city to do some shopping with two of my cousins, Anne-Zoé and Alix, and eventually Alix and I split off to meet up with her friends. We picked up a few bottles of rosé and headed to the Seine where she and her friends talked and bickered over incredibly similar things as my American friends and I do: what other friends are up to, movies and television, politics (this was just before Hollande was elected!), etc. I didn’t catch entire conversations, but I was glad to generally keep up! After drinks, Alix and I went to her boyfriend’s house where he and another couple of friends were making dinner. We spent the night talking, drinking, and listening to music, and I was again comforted by the familiarity of simply spending a night having dinner with friends.

Alix and I woke up the next morning and went back to her parents’ house where the rest of the family was gathering for a big brunch. Some of the second-cousins (who are really more like aunts and uncles, since they’re my grandpa’s sister’s kids and the same ages as my aunts and uncles here) I had met on my previous trip, and it was entertaining to meet them again seven years later, more grown up and with a much better grasp on their language! I had a similar reaction to meeting my then-four-now-eleven and then-seven-now-fourteen year old third-cousins, but I was able to communicate and take part in the conversation.

It also made me miss home so incredibly much, not only because they were asking and were interested in how this side of the family is doing, but they also assured me of how proud my grandpa would be of me. He passed away over three years ago now, but I haven’t felt so close to him as I did then, hearing my French family talk about him and share stories of when he visited them. The family dynamic was also so similar to my own at home that it made me that much more homesick too.

Later in the afternoon, the family started to disperse and I took off as well to find Jackie and her good friend, Abby, who were on their six-week post-graduation trip of Europe. I found them at the hostel and we spent the next few days gallivanting around Paris hitting a number of the national monuments that I’d seen but not really experienced. We went inside Notre Dame and the Louvre on our first afternoon together, then headed to the Champs de mars for a picnic on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower.

The next day was spent just outside the city at Versailles and traipsing around the city again, as well as taking some much needed recovery and relaxation time in the hostel.

Once recovered, Jackie and I opted to trek up the street and huge hill to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur where we saw the lights of the city come on, sitting on the steps at the highest point in Paris. We sat talking for a long time about life and where it’s taking us over the Heinekens a man was walking around and selling out of the box. Jackie was about to depart for Barcelona, Italy, and a handful of other places having just started her travels in London and Paris, and I was preparing to go home to the states for an indefinite period of time after ten months abroad, and we were both nervously excited of what would come of our post graduate lives. Still, sitting and discussing it over a drink in one of the most glamorous cities in the world, having traveled around the world together, we decided that things are going to be okay. And that we would keep traveling, no matter what.

It was a sad goodbye the following morning, but I had to catch my train back to Aix for … GRADUATION! Since a few of us were finishing our undergraduate careers in France and missed our ceremony at our respective home campuses, some of the girls decided to send us off in the finest French style. Tessa delivered the most brilliant commencement address I’ve ever had the pleasure to hear, and then we were presented with diplomas (mine is a major in English and French, with a minor in “International Gnome Relations”) and a sunflower. We finished with another picnic in the park, everyone enjoying each other’s company and another sunny day in Aix.

I had planned to only write one post, but this seems like a good stopping point for now, and there’s a lot to tell about our trip to Amsterdam and Brussels, as well as my last week in Aix and some more goodbyes.

On another side note, to all of you who I met in Australia exactly one year ago, my thoughts are forever with you: in the form of daydreams, actual dreams, my obsessive search for plane tickets back to Sydney, and in every last techno-pop-y kind of song that I hear, as well as every other photo I see or outfit I wear, including the I-House soccer t-shirt I’m currently wearing. I can’t begin to tell you all how much I miss you and wish that our session had never ended.

To my family who has made coming home more than worth it and the idea of leaving again violently turn my stomach - no matter how badly I think I want to take off again - I love you and am so, so glad to be home.

Here and there,
Kiley

Did I really just have my last undergraduate course??

I’m sitting here typing furiously, my bags for tonight’s journey to the UK and Ireland packed and sitting by the door with a glass of kir (blackberry liquor and white wine, compliments of Caitlin!) by my side. A lot has gone on these last few weeks, and I can’t believe the time is winding down so quickly, but here goes! The last few weeks went a little something like this:

I went back to classes after saying goodbye to Jenn and Brooke in Paris, and I had one of those happy, wonderful revelations on the train on the way home. I really, really love France. My train flew past fields and mountains as I read, and I became distracted by the beautiful country that I’m fortunate enough to call home for, now, less than six more weeks. After such a good week playing host to some life-long friends, I felt on top of the world as I rode back toward my new will-be life-long friends.

We picnicked again that Sunday and prepared ourselves for the school week ahead, which proved to be much like the previous ones. This Wednesday, on my day off, Carly and I went to the beach in Marseille, and when we stepped off the metro, we were greeted by a number of boisterous, red-clad fans. Upon closer inspection, I realized they were all wearing Bayern-Munich jerseys and were chanting in German. Carly and I enjoyed our beach-time, but I was completely preoccupied by all the fans, knowing that Marseille’s team, OM, is huge and that I had either just missed a big game or that one would shortly be taking place. We got home that evening and I immediately checked OM’s website, only to find that they would be having a game that night in just a few hours. After some serious texting and Facebooking, Leah jumped on board and we were back off to Marseille!

We caught the bus to Marseille, then transferred to the metro, then tried nine (seriously, we counted) entrances and asked for directions before we found the proper entrance. Once, we were refused entry because it was a strictly German entrance. Because of the extreme fanaticism and hooligans, they literally don’t let the fans use the same entrances! Take that, American sports! Anyway, we got into the stadium twenty minutes into the game and it was still 0-0. The atmosphere was unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced. Fans were chanting and cheering (in French), and from our spot behind the goal, we got to be part of the rowdy fan section, consisting of at least 99% men. In French stadiums, I’ve learned now, there aren’t concession stands, real seating plans, or light-up score boards with funny cartoons and music. The fans go solely to watch the game.

OM ended up losing the game 2-0, but we got to hear the chants and see the hilarious (and completely offensive and outlandish) signs that the fans made and brought. It was everything I hoped European soccer would be and more! Leah and I snapped photos and took video, and I even got a scarf that said “OM vs. Munich” with the date and stadium name too! That was when I learned it was the quarter final of the Champions League. It was like I’d died and gone to heaven. I realized then, and writing about it now, how much I miss the sport. What a great European experience!

On Friday, a group of us from Expression Oral went to see our professor in his play, Magicien d’Oz. He played the “magicien" (wizard!) and was fantastic. I especially liked when the narrator introduced the play, which takes place in a faraway land, in a foreign country, a place called – Kansas. Overall, the show was beautifully done and the narrator’s French-accented rendition of “Somewhere over the Rainbow” (pronounced ran-bow!) was exceptionally beautiful.

On Saturday, Caitlin and I were invited to lunch with Roz at her host’s apartment, which overlooks the Rotonde. The apartment is beautifully furnished with hand-carved wood pieces and the refrigerator is decorated with magnets from all different countries, including the one Roz bought her host while we were in Sicily! Over the following three hours, I was served some of the best French food I’ve ever eaten and it was also where we were introduced to kir. Roz’s host began with a pâté-based dish (I believe it was bread wrapped around a type of pâté) as an entrée (appetizer) with kir as the aperitif (before dinner drink). It was insisted that we finish the entire plate and once we had, Roz’s host brought out bread and foie gras. As long as I didn’t think about it, it was absolutely delicious! And it was served on the most adorable little duck-shaped dish, complete with duck knife.

Next, the main course of rabbit stew was served. Roz had been wanting to try rabbit so as a treat, her host mom served us all this special French dish, along with cheesy, baked potatoes. I can’t even describe the taste other than to say it was absolutely delicious. I’ve asked my own host mom/conversation exchange mom for some of her recipes, but I have a feeling that no matter what I do, my French dishes just won’t turn out the same, but I’m determined to bring back a piece of this culture with me! Cheese was the next dish, in the traditional French fashion. We had Roquefort and Brie, which are two of my favorites.

A wonderfully heavy and rich cream cake was served for dessert, and we finished it off with the last of our red wine. Roz’s host was extraordinarily kind and welcoming, and I was so excited when she began talking about the next time we come over for lunch. Thank you, Roz, for such an incredibly, deliciously French experience!

It was back to work the next week as I prepared for an oral presentation for my Thursday theater class. I met with the program’s tutor on Wednesday, and I was so strongly reminded of IPFW’s Writing Center consultations that I was at first taken aback. Only when he took my pen and began writing on my paper (the biggest no-no imaginable in an IPFW Writing Center appointment!) that I realized how much I miss tutoring and the Writing Center in general. It was so odd to be a foreign, non-native speaker in a consultation. Unfortunately, the professor hadn’t written my name down, so the next day when I came into class (mostly) prepared to give my presentation, he gave me the option to present the following week, which I gladly accepted.

Highlight of the week had to be receiving not one, but TWO packages from BRoy and Annabel. You guys made my week and made traveling even more exciting, which I didn't know was possible. BRoy sent me my very own travel gnome named Raphael Poulain (from one of our favorite movies, Amelie!), and Annabel a travel journal with all kinds of themed pages. You guys are the best!

The next morning, at 5am, I met Caitlin and Brianne at the bus station, Raphael and travel journal tucked safely in my bag, and we were off to go spend our four-day Easter weekend in Croatia! We’d gotten Friday off of Methodologie and since Monday was a holiday, Brianne found really inexpensive flights to Zadar, Croatia and we decided to book and have a semi-spontaneous trip to Eastern-ish Europe. We arrived on Friday morning and took out a few hundred Kuna – Croatian currency – and were more than appreciative of the now favorable exchange rate. One American dollar will get you over five Kuna, so it was nice to have the exchange rate in our favor for once! We spent the weekend walking the pier at the sea, eating delicious Italian food (who knew Croatia was so close to Italy??), enjoying the sounds of the sea organ (a specially designed set of stairs with pipes carved out underneath so that the flowing water literally plays music), watching the solar-powered sun dial light up, and shopping. Like I said, LOVE that exchange rate.

On Easter morning, I went to Zadar cathedral for mass. One thing that has always fascinated me about Catholicism is the fact that the mass is the same absolutely everywhere. I think I picked up a few Croatian words during the hour, because I was able to tell where in the mass we were, as well as match up the words in the prayers, projected on a big white screen, to the English prayers. I walked back to Anna’s hostel in the rain to find that the other group who was staying in the hostel took the one car we were planning to take for the day. We’d hoped to see the lakes and national park (which are apparently THE thing to see in Croatia), but were instead stranded at the hostel for the day, in the same city we’d spent two days exploring where everything was closed for Easter Sunday. So, we read and had a quiet day inside until we became so bored that we decided to build our own blanket fort. Best idea ever? I think so!

We cooked Easter dinner that night and made friends with the new Canadian back-packer that arrived for the night. After drinks with him, we went to bed to get up and head back to Marseille the next morning. Once back in Aix, we went back through another typical school week. I arrived at the university on Thursday morning, after having met with the tutor again, fully ready to deliver my presentation, only to find out that the instructor was sick. I went home for a few hours and returned to the school where one of the program girls from my syntax class and I hoped to discuss our, um, less than astonishing midterm grades, only to find that she too had cancelled her class. One thing I absolutely do not appreciate about France is the infernal school system. As an American, it seems to be utterly disorganized and entirely frustrating. The French students don’t seem to have a problem with the last minute changes in schedule and tardiness of the professors, so maybe it’s another of those cultural differences, but boy does it aggravate me.

That weekend, a number of us went on the program trip to Pont du Gard, Arle, and Glanum, all small cities with ancient Greek and Roman history. We walked the ruins and landmarks, and I had my first experience eating bull in Arle! It’s got quite a game-y taste and is a little tough, but I’m glad to have sampled the local cuisine.

This week, our American adviser from IU hosted some of us for crêpe night, where she showed us how to whip up a few delicious French crêpes. I plan on bringing this knowledge back with me to the states for sure! Other exciting news includes finally giving my presentation this week. After all the waiting and nerve-wracking, I delivered the oral and received my grade back immediately – 15! This corresponds to a solid A in the American system, so I couldn’t be happier. That night, last night, I attended what I realized will be my last undergraduate university class ever. (I still have one online course to complete in order to graduate, but I won’t actually go to class for it, so I’ve been told that last night still counts as my last course!) It’s an odd feeling to be coming to the close of my degree, especially in another country so far away from where I started. I feel really good about it, though. All that stand between me and my degree are a few exams and an online British literature course, and I couldn't be happier!

I feel even better because I’m less than an hour away from arriving at the airport to take off for our two week break in the UK and Ireland! The basic itinerary is London, Liverpool, Edinburgh, and Dublin, so I’m super excited for all the fun things we have planned. I'll be back in thirteen days with plenty more tales to tell. Have a good end of term, all you Americans, and I'll catch you all in a few weeks!

Here and there,
Kiley