Francophile in the West

I'm in the SeaTac airport, listening to the Kings of Leon whilst waiting for a flight to Portland that's been delayed. Thanks for the holiday gift of free WiFi, SeaTac; you're giving me something to do. So, what was the first thing I bought when I got back to the States? A grande green tea lemonade from Starbucks. Terrible and typically consumer-ish, I know, but it's been a long 36 hours from Paris to London to Seattle and soon to PDX. Looking forward to a heaping plate of Mom's homemade Chicken and Rice Casserole when I get home. Commence Opperation Gorge-Yourself-on-all-the-Delicious-Foodstuffs-that-don't-Exist-in-France. GO! Hot damn, it feels good to be back on American soil!

It's my last night in France, it's four days before Christmas, and I'm in Paris. Amazing . I checked out of my room this morning without any trouble, met up with Jessica Wilbourne (she's a student from Georgia who works with the Seattle-Nantes-Jacksonville Association; she's been decently involved in a lot of the city-organized activities that the UW kids have participated in) and her boyfriend Sebastian and had a late breakfast in downtown Nantes, then I headed to the train station and caught my train to Paris. It was sad leaving Nantes. As I was on the train (listening to Elliott Smith, Yann Tierson, and Damien Rice, appropriately enough), I was internalizing once again just what an incredible time I had there and how much I love that town. It's so familiar to me, like another home, and I really hope I get to go back and stay again for a while later in life. Checking into the hostel and everything here in Paris went just fine. I'm qutie surprised, but ...

Check out some of my favorite / most hilarious photos from France. Enjoy!! :) Best Sneaky Photo of a Frenchman "in the Wild" This cute old guy was digging for clams at La Baule. Best Quote from a French Children's Book This was in a book about potty training, found at FNAC. It reads, "Poop, it's good for nothing!" Personal Best "WTF" Pose This took place at Iain's flatwarming party. I was having fun. Not exactly sure what else to say, haha. Best French Dog EVER This prize goes hands-down to Poupette, affectionately called 'Poo-poo', the wonderful dog of Anne-Marie and Andre. Best French Protest This manifestation was seen on the final stretch of road leading to the Mont Saint Michel, the most visited tourist sight in the world. Silly Frogs and their mauvais protest placement! Best French Signage Found this one at the Picasso Museum in Antibes (near Nice) Best On-Campus Graffiti Photo courtesy of Mari Lindstrom ...

I haven't wanted to write anything recently because I don't feel that I could do the last four months justice with a quick wrap-up blog post. Classes are finished, grades are in, the majority of my American and non-French foreign friends have all returned home for the winter holidays, and I remain, almost alone, until Monday the 21st. Nantes has been a dream come true. In a way, I'm happy to leave now because I have had the four best months of my life, I have hundreds and thousands of memories that I can look back on and laugh at, smile about, or reflect on, and I have nothing that I regret about my time here, and nothing that I wish I would have done. I (fortunately) also have so much to look forward to when I return to the Northwest and to my family, friends, and school. At the same time, I don't want to leave - I've come to adore France and its people and its language beyond any way in which I thought I loved it before. It's so normal now to hear French and ...

Ahhhh, finals!! I had a full day of tests yesterday, starting at 9h and ending at 17h30 (with a three-hour break for lunch, luckily). Wow, that was a heck of a day! I had a reading comprehension test, a listening comprehension test, and a written expression test. The listening one was the absolute WORST!! Completely atrocious, I couldn't believe it. Luckily, the entire class of 60-odd people was ready to kill whoever created the test as well, so I wasn't alone. Why is listening comprehension always the hardest?? I can understand French juuuuuuuuuuust fine when I'm having a conversation or listening to a professor or something, but when they stress you out and give you a random news segment with little to no context and five minutes to fill out 20 answers, it sucks. Oy. Oh well, it's over, and all I have left is my oral exam tomorrow morning! Talking about a subject for 7 or 8 minutes and then answering questions for another 7? I can totally do that. This weekend was...

Well, folks, we've made it to (almost) the end... Today was the last day of classes! Holy crap!! I just can't believe how quickly this semester has gone by. Luckily, I have a couple of weeks left in France yet (and plenty of adventures on the to-do list before I go!). Last night was also the UW group's final dinner at Anne-Marie's. It makes me so sad to think that I won't be able to get in on more traditional French dinners with such wonderful people! Andre took the group to the Casino Supermarche down the street before dinner and gave us a brief lesson in wine, and everyone bought a bottle (or four, in Michael's case! Yikes.) to save for themselves, to use to celebrate the end of the semester, or to give to their families. I have yet to figure out exactly how I'll get my 10-euro 2007 Chablis home without it getting destroyed, but I'm plotting. I want to save it for a special occasion, to be determined in the future. A big group of us got together ...