Communication Failure.

I think I may have told a woman at a bar that I was a lesbian yesterday evening. It was an accident, of course.
This woman kept telling me, in broken English, that I had lovely eyes, and that I must have lots and lots of boys who like me. It wasn't that clear, but I got the picture...more or less. She was also telling me to be really happy, and I wasn't feeling that. Anyway, I kept saying, "Thank you, but no, no boys; no boys for me," trying to communicate that, no, there are not a lot of guys who like me, but thank you for thinking so. Somewhere, something went wrong, because I think I communicated, 'no, I don't like boys, will you please dance with me?' Awkward dancing ensued. I was baffled until we left and I thought about it and realized: I told them I was a lesbian. I think they were lesbians.
It was all very, very awkward.

Yesterday was our last day in Honfleur. While the rest of our group headed out to spend the day at the beach in a nearby town called Deauville, I hung around Honfleur and went to lunch with my friend, Eric. We ate at a waterfront restaurant and ordered moules et frites: mussels and fries. We also enjoyed a bottle of Chardonnay, a much classier version of the week's earlier escapades, if you will. Then we grabbed some gelato and wandered through town one last time; it was really, really great.
Today we traveled to our house which is just outside of Paris. It's cramped and awkward and not an ideal situation, but we're in PARIS! Tomorrow we're visiting Versailles, and we'll hit the museums on Wednesday. Then we'll see the sites of the city on Thursday, and have most of Friday to explore as well. Three days hardly seems like enough time to see all of Paris, but I'll see what I can do. I'll conquer this city, no one worry ;)

Point du Hoc and Omaha Beach.

Last time I went to Europe, I visited Dachau, a concentration camp in Munich, a place of imprisonment. This time around, I visited Omaha Beach, a place of liberation. It didn't feel like that.
They paved the pathway to Omaha Beach. They brought order and peace and a path to the place where World War II began to end. There was no liberation at that beach today.
The waves quietly hammered away at the sand, but there was no military mission there today. The sun poked out from behind the clouds, then hid again, but I could only hear the sound of voices, not gunshots, today. Down the beach, umbrellas dotted the sand; this is where tourists come to remember, and to eat and tan.
They have an entire cemetery in Normandy, where the names of 10,000 dead are remembered individually on white stone crosses. They filled the fields with crosses, faceless names that stretched on for as far as I could see. World War II veterans paused by some crosses, tipped their hats, crossed their hearts. I wonder what they remember.
At Dachau, there is only one memorial to commemorate the loss of so many lives, a sign, a sculpture that says, "Never again."

Honfleur, Normandy

On Saturday, we made the move to Honfleur, a little harbor/marina in Normandy. We caught a train to Paris, and then a chartered bus to the town (much less stressful than a 6 car caravan, that's for sure!). It was a strangely relaxing travel day, until the "walk of shame." It was about a half mile walk through the town, pulling/carrying our luggage over cobblestone streets. So here's the picture: Blazing hot sun. 25 American students. Travel backpacks. Suitcases. Cobblestones. Complaints. I mean, give me a flag and call me a foreigner!
When we got to the house, my friends and I discovered that our bedroom is actually an attic, which means that we had to carry our bags three stories up a spiral staircase and then up a ladder. There is exactly one point in the room where I can stand at full height. I'm pretty sure I gave myself a mild concussion when I hit my head on a beam this morning.
My knowledge of French is not improving, but I have gotten really good at my single French phrase: "Bon jour! Je ne parle pas français..." Today, while poking around in a chocolate shop, a salesperson approached me. I whipped out my snappy phrase like an expert. Much to my dismay, she responded. I was so flustered that I stopped listening and didn't understand a word she said, although apparently she was telling me that, on the contrary, I seemed to speak very good French. I'll take that as a compliment, I suppose, but that's really the extent of my French speaking ability. I wish that I could just pick up the language on an immersion basis, like I did when I went to Germany, but it's hard to do without any knowledge of pronouns, conjugations, etc.
We'll be here for another week, so there's much more to come from Honfleur :) Tomorrow we're visiting the Bayeaux tapestries, Bastille Day is on July 14, and we're visiting the Normandy D-Day beaches sometime as well. It promises to be an eventful, exciting week!

Poulmarvezen.

Here's a quick rundown of what we have been up to in France.
After we arrived at Poulmarvezen, the farm in Brittany, we settled into a quick routine. Every morning we have our first class, Foundations of French Liberalism, from 9 to 11, with breakfast - fresh baked baguettes, fruit, yogurt, and French press - beforehand. From 11 to 1 p.m. we have a break, during which we eat lunch and relax. The second class, Social Darwinism, is from 1 to 3 p.m., and after class we have free time. At the farm, we were mostly relegated to chilling and sunbathing by the pool. However, I spent a good amount of time reading :)
On that note, my ultimate disappointment is that I can't download any books to my eReader while I'm here, because Barnes and Noble won't let me download them outside of the United States. I knew I couldn't use the wireless feature, but I thought I could still download an eBook to my computer and connect to my Nook from the laptop. I guess not. Apparently I'll be making a few books last for several weeks...
Unlike most people, I've actually enjoyed what we've been learning here. I thought I would fall asleep during class, but I love the philosophy behind the writers. In Foundations, we're working through Pascal's Pensees, and what he says about happiness (rather, the pursuit of it) has really struck me. I've been thinking and reflecting about it a lot. In Social Darwinism, we're reading Nietzsche, which is a little unnerving. Nietzsche's philosophy has frightening implications, as it turns out.
Basically, the last week has been really laid-back and relaxing for everyone as we've bonded and gotten to know one another. It's been interesting, but worthwhile.

More to come later, friends. Au revoir pour maintenant!

One at a time.

So many untold stories and I have only been in France for a week.
I guess I'll start at the beginning and try to catch myself up with subsequent blog posts over the next few days.
First things first: We arrived. And we waited.

The trip began at 4:30 a.m. at Portland International Airport (PDX and, if you didn't know, the 'X' is for 'international.' And there's a reason the code for Sea-Tac International Airport is SEA. Anyway, that was our conversation on the way to the airport...) and Alyssa and I were a little scared that our first flight was a on a propeller plane, but we ultimately arrived at Charles de Gaulle (CDG, which doesn't follow the 'X' pattern either, and I don't know why, because there's no dirty word spelled by CDX. I don't know) at 8:30 a.m. Paris time, which is 9 hours ahead of Seattle time.
Alyssa and I found Dr. Davis and the group without trouble, but it quickly found us: The three vans we had reserved to transport us from CDG to our farm in NW France didn't exist. So we waited. And waited. Gradually, they were able to rent us 6 vehicles. We left the airport at 2 p.m. Then, we made the mistake of following a GPS navigation system for directions, which led us straight into the heart of downtown Paris in rush hour traffic...and European drivers don't drive like Seattle drivers, friends. Imagine the worst driver you know, then multiply him or her by a thousand. Then put him or her on a motorcycle. That's how it was. Getting out of Paris took 2 hours.
But the driving trouble didn't end there! No, no, no ;) The 7 hour drive to our farm didn't end until 1 a.m., when we finally arrived. All in all, Alyssa and I were traveling for almost 40 hours. I have seen the worst that travel has to offer and emerged victorious.

Check back later for a post on the last week - a more detailed update about life in France, and my experience so far. I wish I could write to all of you individually, but hopefully keeping in touch via blog is good enough.

It's been a long time.

Well, it's been a long time since I blogged. I guess my confession should come as no surprise, then: I'm really bad at blogging. I guess I'm good at blogging when I actually do it, but I'm bad at getting to that point.
But no matter - here I am, blogging. And a lot has happened...so much so that I would rather just say "a lot has happened" and leave it at that.
Looking forward, then:
I quit my job on Sunday. I am unemployed.
In three days, I will board a plane and fly to France, where I will spend five weeks taking two political science classes from one of my SPU professors. More importantly, I'll be in France.
After those five weeks are up, I'll fly to Germany (just bought my plane ticket this morning!) to spend two weeks with my dear friend, Isi, whom I met when I participated in a German-American exchange in 2007. France will be wonderful, yes, but I'm stupid-excited to go back to Germany!
I will return to the U.S. on August 23, just in time to spend a few weeks recovering from a relaxing European vacation before launching into my position as editor-in-chief of The Falcon newspaper at SPU. Not a daunting task at all.
Then it's a year of school and Falcon-ing and writing and praying for the next step.
Basically, the next year is pretty well mapped out, but I don't have a clue what I'm going to do after that. Strangely enough, that's what I'm looking forward to.

Happier (3).

They tell me I will never make much money, as if money was somehow related to happiness.