Last Post...

As this will be the last time that I post on this blog before going home (I might add a retrospection post or two later, but I doubt it), it's going to be all about things I am anticipating in the U.S. and probably not that interesting. Anyone who might be reading this, you have been warned.

The things that I'm focusing on right now are what I have to look forward to when I get back to the States. I will miss so many things in France, despite the difficulties I had in living here. Instead of concentrating on what I'm leaving behind, I'm only keeping in mind what is good about going back home.

PEANUT BUTTER. All day, every day.

My bed. Oh, god, my bed.... I have actually had dreams about my bed, which is weird if you think about it. Meta, I guess you could say.

iPhone. Really any kind of phone that allows you to talk more than one hour a month and doesn't insert "A3" every time you want to type the word "be". But since I'm getting an iPhone (ordering it this Thursday!) I'm specifically pumped about that.

My American friends. This list is definitely not in order of importance, because if so this would have been the top of the list. I miss everyone so much and can't wait to be back in contact ON THE SAME CONTINENT. And one of the things I love most about OU alum is that we just can't stop going back for visits, so I can expect to see most everyone again at some point next year.

Having a car. Being limited to buses and trains is, in a word, frustrating. Seeing as how I lived in a city with less-than-spectacular public transportation, my car was something that I very much wanted to have.

Being a student again. After nine months of working with screaming foreign children, it will be such a nice change of pace to be back in the realm of people around the same age as me (most younger than me now, which is a strange thought), and teaching people who are only a few years younger. Ok, some of them might be six years younger than me, but that's better than a 17 year age difference.

Stores that are open... wait for it.... LATER than 8 pm. No need to even describe why that's something that I missed.

Bartenders, cashiers, waiters, etc. who speak English as their native language. As much fun as it is to get to practice my French on a daily basis, it will be awesome to get to just order something without thinking twice about which words I need to choose or if it's really what I think it is.

Television. Sure, I watched all my favorite shows online here, but it's so nice to get to sit down on your couch and chill out to some Jersey Shore or Golden Girls every once in a while.

On a similar note... my Wii. Super Mario Galaxy, watch out, because I'm coming back with a vengeance.

Kaleb. He might be... ok, he is, very difficult, but he and Blake are undoubtedly my favorite people ever.


There are a number of other things that I'm overjoyed to have back in my life, but these are some of the ones that I think about pretty frequently. I will, of course, miss France. More than that, I will miss the people that I've become friends with here. But I have full confidence in the fact that one day I will see them all again, whether it's in the United States, France, England, Spain... somewhere, some day, we'll be back together.

Nearly the End !

Well, as usual, I waited a month before posting again.


Since my last post I went to Provence to visit one of my favorite cities, Nimes; Aix-en-Provence, where I stayed with my roommate here in Cognin, Magali, who is from Aix and still has an apartment there; and I spent a day in Isle sur la Sorgue, when I tried and failed to find the Fontaine de Vaucluse.

Nimes was fun, but the first night was kind of a strange experience. I stayed in the hostel as four years ago, but in a different room; and more importantly, I was alone this time around instead of being with my study abroad friends. It was disappointing, jarring, but still a beautiful city. Every city I've visited in Provence is beautiful and reminiscent of a day at the beach in the USA, and it reminds me of being back in Avignon on my study abroad again. My second day in Nimes was with Cat, my future roommate, and was a lot more fun. We saw the main sights, spent some time in the incredible park, and had a nice lunch (until the monster winds started breaking glasses and umbrellas where we were eating). It was nice to see someone from home, as it was in Avignon and Paris.

Then I spent some time in Aix with my roommate, which was great. I had never been there before, and it was a much more comfortable experience staying in a friend's apartment rather than in a hostel with 9 strangers in the same room. My second night we went out and had a great time dancing; that is to say, I tried to dance, and it was still fun.

The Isle sur la Sorgue was... interesting. I thought based on the train ticket that I bought that it would be easy to find the Fontaine de Vaucluse, the actual goal for my trip; not so. It was about 8 kilometers away, and considering all the stuff that I was carrying, it wasn't possible. Instead I just chilled out, read my new book, ate candy, drank pastis, and ate tons of candy. Perfect day, in other words.

A couple weeks ago I went to Torino, Italy, with my friend Melissa. Beautiful city, with the largest "place" --- like a city square, I guess --- in Europe. Great day spent with a great friend :)


Now I'm just trying to tie up my lessons with my kids and not have a nervous breakdown. I have a lot of things to finish before I make it home, and France is infamous for its unnecessary bureaucratic procedures. For good reason. I had to call my cell phone company as well as send a letter with copies of my plane ticket, acceptance letter from OU, and a typed letter explaining my situation. I get to do the same with my bank account, and probably my housing money as well. Need to buy a suitcase.. I've yet to receive my reimbursement for my bus passes, and have no money in my American bank account... lots of things to get in order before I can rest easy.

I have a little less than four weeks to enjoy my time, and that's what I intend to do. Wine, baguettes, crumbles, chocolate to be eaten. Mountains, hikes, lakes to be seen. People to say goodbye to, lessons to teach, pictures to be taken. Wish me luck.

Tour Through My City (part 3)

I wouldn't have expected making it to a third post on the same subject, but here I am.These are some of the more personal things, in the sense that I actually spent a decent amount of time in these places.

Here is our city's Monoprix, which is a French store found (so far as I know) only in cities. That is to say that they're never really all that large but they serve as one of the main and only chains of grocery stores to be found directly in bigger cities. Our city was not big, but it was definitely nice to have a store like this in the center. Having said that, let me mention one important fact. Monoprix is EXPENSIVE. I paid around 30 dollars for the cheapest towel they had, and it was tiny. I still go there sometimes to pick up one or two things that I need at the last minute, but it was not an economically sound place to buy the majority of my groceries.

 

Just next to the Monoprix is my bank. I guess I shouldn't blame my bank for the fact that I'm always broke, but to be honest I'm a little salty towards this institution. When I had to overdraft my account in December to pay for taxis getting to the airport for my flight back to the US, this bank (BNP Paribas) was a complete dick. Getting back to my room, I had three or four pieces of mail from them threatening to make it so that I could never open another account in France for as long as I lived if I ever overdrafted again. I'm tempted to call their bluff, but I think I'll err on the side of caution and just get money out of my American account when necessary (as I just did about an hour ago).

 

Here is my bakery. There are so many things I could say about this place, but let me just start with; don't ever think that your baker is hot. Once you do, you'll be walking through the city and thinking to yourself, "Hey, why don't I go get a baguette even though we already have one at home? Then I can see the hot baker." This is a trap. THIS WILL MAKE YOU GAIN A LOT OF WEIGHT. I can't even imagine how many crumbles, sandwiches, croissants, and pain chocolat aux amandes I bought here. Not to mention ATE. This is, hands-down, the place that I love-hated more than any other (let's be serious here. Mostly loved).

You want a dollar store in France? Too bad (tant pis). The best you can get is "C'est deux euros..." or as it translates into English: "It's two euros..." As you could probably guess, the name implies the concept; everything in the store costs two euros. One of my favorite places to go right after payday to buy something completely unnecessary and AWESOME.

Coming up is a look at some of the cafes I went to the most often. All of them were distinctly different from one another, and it was nice to get a mixture of the three (as well as some other randoms).

This cafe was pretty classy, and had mostly older clientele. I usually went here with Lusia to discuss future grad school plans, why my life was falling apart, how things were going with teaching, etc.

Bar L'Endroit (Bar the Place, if you translate literally) was my bar. It was here that I filled out my graduate school application forms, where I downloaded music and TV episodes when the University was closed or I wanted coffee while doing it, and where I heard some of the new music playing in France (which is to say American music that I hadn't heard yet). The bar owners were really nice, although sometimes the other people in the bar made it a bit obnoxious.

 

This was definitely the trendy cafe, where everyone was young and the coffees came in a billion different varieties. It had offerings much more similar to an American cafe, in comparison with the other spots. I came here with Marlene a few times, and always got one of the girly coffee drinks, even though I normally take my coffee super strong with some sugar and cream. I just couldn't resist the temptation of having something similar to a mocha, oh god I love mochas so much... but I digress.

Dear Tourism Office,

 I will forever be in your debt for the list you gave me of the free wifi spots in the city.

Love,
Jared

Speaking of looking for free internet, here is the park where I spent several desperate hours moving from one bench to the next hoping, in vain, that through some miraculous stroke of good luck I would stumble upon free internet. It's also a nice place to go eat one of the delicious crumbles I get on a pretty much weekly basis from my bakery...


There you have it. That's my city. Not the coolest place in the world, but it works.

Tour Through My City (part 2)

On to part 2 of the tour.

I pass this every day on the way to the city, and I'm still not entirely sure what it is. It's connected somehow to the chateau, and I think it's a palais de something, but the details are still fuzzy. I do know that I was convinced I needed to be here for a meeting my first week in France, so I nonchalantly walked through the gates, and got stopped immediately by a guard. That was one of the more difficult but humorous conversations I've had here, trying to explain why I just waltzed into a heavily guarded government property.

This is one of the offices that takes care of my paperwork and such; and it is another place where I can't help but hate everyone involved. French bureaucracy is known for being over-the-top, and I can attest to the fact that you have to fill out 4765 kazillion papers just to get reimbursed for a bus pass, and even then, you never will. 125 euros well spent, I guess? 

This is just before getting into the city, if you're walking from my house. Go left and pass the chateau, go right and pass the "carre curial." I headed to the right.

This is where the assistants ate dinner for Christmas, and hopefully where Jennifer and my roommate and I will be eating some time before the first one of us leaves. I didn't really eat out hardly at all, aside from the occasional kebab (god will I miss kebabs), but dinner in restaurants here is always an experience to remember. Imagine the best food you've ever had, double the amount, and multiply the pleasure by at least 12. That's a typical dinner at a French resto.

Here's the outside of the Carre Curial. This is where people typically go to bars and "clubs" in our city. I'm not a huge fan, but if my friends are all going then I do too. As a funny side note, I have stood guard twice while people peed in public here; once in the parking lot, and once in one of the little alleys.

This devil ATM let me withdraw far too much money while drunk. Shame on you, Banque Postale.

The center of Carre Curial. Carre means square, BTW.

Hated this place, but it was inexplicably popular. I'll never get it.

The club where the students (and, by extension, me) usually went. I wasn't allowed to enter at least four times, always for a very interesting reason. Some of these include: not old enough, not with a girl, and not dressed well enough. Touche, bouncer. Touche.

The bar where I spent most of my time, if I was going out in the city. An Irish bar where I'm pretty sure nobody involved was Irish. A great place to watch rugby or soccer games, but it could get intense.

This building was across from the Carre and it hosted a lot of events for the city. I went there to see the "Tour du Monde" where people introduced the country they were from, gave some information on the culture, and had a sampling of some traditional food.

These are pictures of the city's theater, the name of which you can find in the last photo here.

 A carousel and the statue of the elephants in the background.

 The Savoisien museum. I don't actually know if that's an English word, but whatever.

The statue of the elephants, Chambery's claim to fame. It's also a fountain, although I don't think any of the pictures really show the water coming out of the elephants' trunks.

Tour Through My City (part 1)

Because it's been a month since my last post and I'm on vacation AND I will be leaving fairly soon (two months left), I'm going to take you on a tour through my city. Some of my favorite spots, a few fond or funny memories, and our "landmark" buildings. The picture above is Cognin, the suburb of Chambery where I actually live. My house is just about 5 minutes from where I took this picture, maybe less.

Here are my house and my garden, respectively. Bear in mind that these were taken the day I moved in, in late January, and that the garden is actually beautiful and green and flowery now. We also have a couple tables so that we can eat in the garden when it's sunny; those pictures will be on my Facebook or Photobucket later.

Salon d'amis (living room / where friends can stay on the futon, which you can't see), bathroom, and kitchen. It's bigger than it looks from the pictures, but I didn't want to post eight million pictures.

Here's "la Mairie" of Cognin. It's where you go for administrative issues, I guess? Kind of like a county courthouse, if I understand correctly. In any case, it's a really pretty spot to sit down and chill for a bit.

These two pictures are the church in Cognin. In terms of French churches it's nothing special, but I find it impressive for some reason.

This is a view from "le Vieux Pont," the old bridge, near Cognin. It's another spot that is hidden from the city of Chambery but that I'm glad I get to see so often.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is where I lived before I moved into my house. The picture isn't great, but as you can see the building is under construction. When I walked into this "foyer," thinking that it would be a dorm much like those at OU, imagine how shocked I was to find myself in a shit building with no ceiling tiles, an internet connection that consisted of one broadband cord hanging from the ceiling that worked about 1/8 of the time, and most other residents being the exact opposite of students. Had Jennifer not found me a way out of there I would have already been back in the States for a couple months at this point, I'd imagine.

Brace yourselves for the next picture, Americans.

Yeah, they have ALDI's in France. And it was like ten feet from where I lived, and quite often the only place I could get to without taking several buses, so I came here pretty frequently. I wish I could take pictures of the inside, it's like a bizarro-world version of our ALDI, if you've ever been.

Now, on to the Univeristy, Jacob campus.

 Random field by the campus. I always want to run through it for some reason, but laziness always wins out over wanting to be 7 years old again.

 A view of the city from the campus. Kind of beautiful. Missing from this picture is the random bike gang of 9 year old kids who nearly ran me down as they peeled down the hill.

 The building where I used to steal the university's internet. Good times. If not for that high-speed connection I would have had to sit in cafes and fast food places for HOURS to get my Glee and SNL episodes to download to my iTunes.

It only seemed fitting to get a picture of myself in the building, considering that I may as well have been a student here. Thanks for the good times, Universite de Savoie.

Climbing Mountains? Yes, Please.

Yesterday I climbed to the top of a mountain range near my home to see a giant cross, and it was amazing. Now, I'm in agony, but it's a good pain. At least I was being active for once.

Climbing up the mountain was a definite struggle, especially when my little-girl vertigo kicked in. After a while all I could think was... is there another way to get to the top of this thing? Then I stopped being a baby and just kept walking. Seeing the countryside, surrounded by nature, in the middle of the Alps; I loved it. I realized how much I have missed being outdoors, in the sunshine, sweating my way through a hard hike.

Growing up, I spent a lot of time out in the woods taking long walks. Being from the middle of nowhere, in a rural area, it kind of comes with the territory. A large part of my childhood passed feeling more comfortable outdoors than in; as I grew up I lost that feeling of familiarity with nature but it's a great relief to get out and breathe fresh air.

On the way down from the cross (the top of the mountain) we stopped to look at an incredible waterfall. It was the coolest one I think I've ever seen, and the only thing that bothers me is that I couldn't take pictures capable of capturing how big and impressive it was.

I wanna do it again. Just as soon as my muscles stop hating me.

Post Vacation

I just took another two-week vacation from classes and had a blast!

My vacation started out with about seven straight days of pure laziness and sleeping an average of 12 hours a day. Working with little kids all the time is exhausting; don't judge. Then my travels started with a night in Paris with my friend Marlene (sorry, no accents on this keyboard) and her Parisian friends. It was great to go out for a night with people who are actually from the city, and definitely a unique experience.

I went to Krakow, Poland, where I drank vodka and got falling-down drunk. I ate pierogis and roamed a city accompanied by only a rubber duck named Nicolas and a bobble-head wine topper. It's hard to describe effectively how much fun I had in this incredible city, but suffice it to say I would love to go back. I suggest, if you ever find yourself in Krakow, checking out Wawel castle and the Salt Mines. Photos found on my photobucket : http://s1128.photobucket.com/home/jared_mccathren/index

Directly after Krakow was a few days back in Paris with a couple friends from OU, Krista and Emily. I would consider this hands-down my favorite trip this year. It was great spending time with people I've known since before coming here and who I could introduce to the city. We saw SOOO MANY THINGS in our few days there, including some sights that I had never seen before. Again, we were accompanied by my rubber duck, and the bobble-head decided to move on with Krista to live in Spain. Those pictures are also in the link above.

Now, back to work. Six weeks of teaching these little guys and then another two week break. After that, eight weeks of teaching and off to my next adventure (not that I have any idea what that will be).

Foyer No More

FINALLY OUT OF THE FOYER!!!

And they didn't even see all the stuff that I broke or stained. Even better.

Things get better every day here, with the exception of grad school. I had my interview with Dr. Kim from Northeastern Thursday, and I think it went really well. I'm actually pretty sure that if she gets to have a new grad student next year, that it's going to be me! Even if things don't work out and I don't get to go there, I am actually very proud of myself for being legitimately well-informed about the topic; and this is the most work I've ever put into something in my whole life, I think. So if things don't work out this time around with grad school, I have no intentions of giving up permanently--- I will just use my experience to make my applications stronger and go through the whole painful, expensive process again next year. It would have to be easier not living in France while doing it all.

Living in my house is so incredible! I have come to the conclusion that I really shouldn't live alone. Ever. It's so much better to have someone to talk to in the mornings, to cook and eat with on a regular basis, and even just to know that there's someone to share things with. I have to admit, I've been really fortunate in my living situations in the past couple years. It's fairly difficult  to find people that you can live with effectively, and I've had nothing but that kind of roommate for two years now.

I've been seriously considering making this blog partly about the food that I've been cooking. I will never again allow myself to live without a kitchen for longer than a week. It's not possible; I love cooking way too much. A life without a kitchen stocked with garlic, onions, olive oil, and spices is not a life worth living. Since moving into my house I've made pineapple and feta bruschetta, vegetable soup, taboule, and pasta sauce. I fully intend to keep the dishes coming, and will hopefully learn some recipes from my roommate (who is a much better cook than me).

I'm also going to try to update my photos soon. Keep an eye on the page if you're interested in seeing them, I am especially going to try putting more Paris pics up. My Photobucket page

hangover town

Partying hurts. I went out with all of the IMUS students last night, who were celebrating the end of exams and saying goodbye to the (many) people who are leaving to study abroad next semester. It was really fun but painful in so many different ways. Dancing, cartwheels, attempting to ride a bike for the first time in six years (with someone on the seat right behind me), and staying out til 5... ouch. I'm essentially bed-ridden today, so time to turn on a movie or try to watch TV online, because I'm officially useless. And suck at budgeting. Worth it, though!

Geneva, Guacamole, Grenoble, and Grad Schools

Like the alliteration I used in the title? I know you do.

The last couple weeks have been just what I hoped to get out of my experience here! Teaching, of course, is about the same as normal. I waver between confident and completely lost, depending on the day and class. My foyer is still dealing with the same issues as usual --- no heat in my room, my shower is a little messed up (my fault, actually), and still no money from the housing people here in my city. Aside from that, however, I've been spending my time in the best possible way.

I went to Geneva with some other assistants on the 12th, which happens to be very close to my city. Important note to interject here--- we woke up at 5 am. I hate waking up that early, but it wasn't too terrible with someone else getting up at the same time and joining me in my matinal misery. We went to CERN together, which is where you find the Large Hadron Collider --- you know, the thing that once it goes to max power might create a black hole that will suck up the entire universe. The tour was kind of like being thrown into a really advanced physics class about halfway through the semester, but still cool. After that we went to the UN, where the girls went on a tour; I chose instead to wander the city a bit and see what I could find. I went to a cathedral, where I got a great picture of the chandelier (my new hobby and photography focal point), and then went to a free museum. The museum had some decent artworks, and since I'm not too picky, I enjoyed it a lot. I like to do museums alone, so that I can spend time on the pieces I like and ignore the rest. Falafel for dinner, and then back to Chambery...

Friday night I hung out with Jennifer, my future roommate, one of Jennifer's classmates and his friends from home. We started the night watching the latest episode of Grey's Anatomy, with absolutely horrific French subtitles. Honestly, I don't know if they even deserve to be called "French subtitles." They were more like... someone typed all of the dialogue into Google translate and then posted the results. We made homemade guacamole and quesadillas (both delicious) and pounded a few tequila shots, as well as some red wine. The wine was not in shot form; I feel that that bears stating explicitly.

Yesterday, the 15th, was spent in Grenoble hanging out with a few assistant girls that I hadn't seen in months. I love that city, especially my favorite restau, Cafe Bootsy. My friend and I made a trip to the candy store --- excellent idea. I loved being able to casually pull candy out of my bag, like it was no big deal, while walking around the stores looking for a new coat. Hopefully the Grenoblians can come to Chambery soon to celebrate me moving into my new house!

Best news of the week, or at least the most important for me, was getting a response from one of my grad schools. I was shortlisted for Northeastern, which means that I will be interviewing with them in a little less than a month! This is stressing me out a bit, because none of my other schools have given any response whatsoever yet, but since Northeastern (which is in Boston) was my second choice school, I'm understandably excited. Now back to studying JDM materials and the articles written by Northeastern's professors... good thing I actually like the topic or this would suck.

Back Home?

I have been doing a terrible job of updating this blog! I'll make this one lengthy and informative to compensate for that fact.

After the last post, I did a couple really fun things in France before leaving for les vacances.

First, I went to Lyon with some of the other assistants for the Festival of Lights. It was beautiful, and crowded, and freezing cold: but the lights were incredible, I got to see a couple cool light shows, and the hot wine was delicious (as was the Indian dinner we ate on the second night). It was one of those weekends where it's nearly impossible to feel anything but grateful for the experience of living in this country, enjoying my time surrounded by beauty and new friends.

Just a day after returning to my city from Lyon, I went to a gala hosted by my friend and quasi-roommate Jennifer's university. It was a roaring 20's theme (with an open bar) and by a wide margin one of the most unique nights of my life. I found myself in the middle of hundreds of people around my age dressed in their flappers' dresses, feather boas, and top hats, all speaking French and enjoying the kind of party that is so uncommon in French high schools but taken fully for granted in the US. If my high school prom had featured a break-dance crew, a choir, and limitless drinks I would have certainly appreciated the experience much more. I got to spend time with a future roommate and got to know her a bit better, which was amazing. I talked with one of the girls I have met here who has an insatiable thirst for gory, disgusting movies (a shared interest). I also met a couple other people who I hope will become great friends --- and that is the main reason that this party was so incredible. It's very difficult to make new friends in any country: but add the language and cultural barriers and the fact that in a given day I spend the majority of my time with children, it's understandably frustrating to try to meet anyone on a personal level. With any luck I can cultivate these relationships and feel more at ease in France, and with my French speaking abilities.



A few days later (and after much frantic, last-minute packing) I found myself on a train headed to the airport. I had booked a room in a hotel for the night before my flight to try to prevent any chances of missing my flight; but, unfortunately, my hotel was about a 30 euro taxi ride from the airport. Round trip, that made about 75 euro in taxi fare... would have been better off paying twice as much for a hotel closer to the airport, but live and learn, right?

Once I had recovered from my jet lag, I started cooking up a storm. One of the things I most missed about being home was having a kitchen, so I took full advantage of that availability the second I was conscious enough to not kill myself in the process of cooking. Soon after, off to Athens for a typical two days spent with a couple of my best friends. The next day, I babysat my nephew Kaleb and we went to the movies. He is, as it turns out, almost as exhausting as a class full of 10 year old kids. Then Columbus to see Kristina. She's definitely a friend I can turn to when I get bad news, and she knows how to put my mind in a better place. So grateful for that!

Christmas, at home, with the family. Not much to say about that; with so many kids running around in one house, it was nice to leave as soon as we were done eating and opening presents.

My second week home started with Alex at her parents' home near Toledo. The best few consecutive days I've had in months, spent playing the Wii, eating Mexican, and mostly just hanging out with Alex and her mom. They are my new adoptive (adopted? both are true) family. I miss them already!

Skip to New Year's Eve. I love Athens on NYE!!! Getting dressed up, playing drinking games with champagne, and meeting new friends--- nothing better.

New Year's day passed in a blur of packing at the very last minute (notice a pattern there?), and then I was yet again on my to the airport.

Now I'm in my room, which is as usual cold because the heat is, as usual, not working, reflecting on the last few weeks. As with the previous year, my time in the States brought with it some incredible moments and some devastating shocks. It was a great experience, which I wouldn't change in the slightest even if I could, and I look forward to the new year to bring more of the same. To ask for nothing but wonderful experiences and great times would be regrettable; without the hardships it would be impossible to appreciate fully the moments in which I think to myself, "Things couldn't be any better than they are right now."

Another thing I realized coming back to my tiny, dirty room here: this is my home now, at least for the moment. I'm so appreciative of the fact that I have the opportunity to say that, and to finally realize the fact.