L'avenir

So I was just thinking about writing this post and what I would call it when I realized what the word "avenir" (for those who don't know French, it means the future) is actually composed of: à + venir (and for the non-francophones, it's like saying "to come" like, what's to come.). 

Isn't that an awesome way to say the future?

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about mon avenir and what I hope to do/how I see my life being in a lot of different ways. Since this post is going to be dense, I'll add random pictures throughout to keep you entertained!

We actually did a bit of rock climbing at St. Malo :p I cut my thumb! The rocks were super slippery because they get covered by ocean water at high tide.

It started with how my house will be run since I was thrown into a new home with new rules and customs, some that I like and some that I don't.

Things I'll try to keep from my French life:

drinking espresso, not crappy watered-down Starbucks

eating breakfast every day...

using cloth napkins, not paper ones

conserving heat by sleeping with thick blankets and wearing slippers

conserving water by showering for less time (however, I won't be shutting off the water when I shampoo like I have to hear...ugh)

not using the dryer, but hang-drying my clothes

early to bed, early to rise (although some might say that 7:15 is not early...)

having music playing (jazz, foreign) while I eat/work in my house

composting 

recycling as much as possible

eating quality cheese/meats/bread

drinking herbal tea (loose leaf) before bed

decorating my house with things from all over the world in lots of earth tones

having dessert right after dinner with everyone at the table

making sure I have an adventure every day, even a little one (today I walked around town by myself for an hour or so and discovered a bunch of new things!)

drinking wine with big meals

Lord of the Rings moment...that's a FIREPLACE. And there were two in the same room!

Things I won't be keeping from my French life:

a regimented lifestyle

any sort of house rules in general that aren't very very important (although I know this may change as time goes on)

talking about politics

only watching the news/classical music/educational programming

the Sunday ritual of staying in the house all...day...long...

showering at night (aka NEVER being able to find a good time to exercise)

living with a bunch of people (this probably stems from the fact that I usually live with 2 other people, if any at all, and now I live with 4 or 5 others...)

What this all seems to boil down to is: conserving energy, eating/drinking well, having a tranquil and flexible routine, and doing relaxing things, often. 

Do I want kids? No. Not at this point. (They would completely ruin my plans...) In fact, I can't even imagine children having any sort of role in my life over the next ten years and that's perfectly fine since I want to adopt/foster parent anyway.

My latest plan with school is: finish my French major (check), get a social work minor and an English lit major, then do the MAT at Pitt (a 1-year masters degree in education). From there, I'm not 100% sure what will happen. I could find a job teaching in the USA and live incredibly meagerly to make an attempt to pay off a good chunk of my loans for a few years (and in the summers travel throughout the world volunteering/teaching English), I could move abroad and teach English as a second language right away, or I could move abroad and just...stay there. Forever.

I was talking to one of the program coordinators yesterday and she was telling me about the year she spent in Syria (before the war) teaching French. She wants to go abroad again but for now she's doing this because it was a good opportunity. Her degrees are in teaching French as a second language and teaching English, but since she's French she didn't really have any loans....

My life might end up being like that though; different jobs every few years that will eventually add up to something.

Yay for legalized gay marriage in France! Et vive La Bretagne!

The thing about living abroad (and Charlotte, the program coordinator, confirmed this for me) is that you don't really want to do it alone. It's lonely and less safe. I have a friend who wants to teach English abroad as well, so maybe we'll do that together. And there's always Darren, I know he's going to end up abroad at some point!

Things I love about living in Europe:

You can eat this for dinner and it's so cheap, so satisfying, so delicious. It's perfect. A lot of picnic dinners like this...that's what I see in my future.

A few more adjustments...

And here are updates to Email Series #2

This household is not perfect...the only household that is perfect for me are my parents' houses or when  I live on my own. I think I was in the honeymoon phase of culture shock when I wrote that. However, I don't hold it against them that it isn't the perfect household. I still reaaaalllly like it here and that's what matters, not the little things that I don't like.

I haven't been going out as much, to bars I mean, because my classes start too early and it's wayyy to expensive. I have discovered a love for mojitos though. Sugar and mint, that's literally all I taste in them. And you can make them last FOREVER by eating the mint leaves :p Oh, the college life...

Since sending the email on Jan 23, I've stuck to using the subject vous with Monique. So far she hasn't told me to use tu, which I'm supposed to wait for, so I guess I made the right decision? I use tu with my host dad though, so I still find it kind of bizarre.

Oh, and I still haven't gotten a haircut. My friend Amanda said she'd do it for me if I buy scissors, so she's been watching youtube tutorials and we'll see how it goes! I'm hoping to get that done by the end of next weekend...

And I was correct about the Nantes trip. It was VERY damp...aka freaking TEMPESTS. My friend's umbrella flipped inside-out and then broke...it was crazy. Also I forgot to mention in my other Nantes post that for dinner one night, my friends and I just bought bread, cheese, and meat (like cured ham or whatever) and had that for dinner. It was sooooo cheap (4 euro per person, unheard of!) and delicious.

Also I went to a fest-noz! (The Breton party thing, in case you forgot). I didn't dance; there were sooo many people and I didn't know the dances, but I'll also make a separate post about that because it was pretty interesting.

I still love Brittany just as much now as I did a few weeks ago! If not more...yesterday I had a crepe filled with honey. Literally filled so much that it was leaking honey out the sides...it was heaven.

Oh, and this is what I do to count my money when I'm going to pay for something. I still can't tell exactly which coin is which when they're all jumbled in my wallet so I just make a fool of myself and lay them all out, face up, on my hand.

Un weekend Nantais et la vie en France

Life in France is like nothing I've ever experienced before. It's pretty regimented for me since I live in a family with kids. Every day I get up and go downstairs for breakfast, which my host mom sets out. Like, she sets the table and has all the breakfast things out and I always have cereal and milk...and the cereal she buys has literally chunks of REAL chocolate in it.

Classes start tomorrow, so that's going to change things a tiny but but not too much. I'll just go to class, have lunch in the cafeteria place (the food is delicious) and then go to class/go home, eat dinner, and then do my little workshops for singing/cinema/photoshop (none of which have started yet).

But when I'm at home, the kids are usually doing their own thing so sometimes I stay downstairs and do work, sometimes I go to my room and sit on my computer, sometimes I sit in the living room with my mom and watch the news.

I've been going to bed pretty early because we start early...actually the days I have class (M,Tu,F) I start at 8:30. I also haven't started teaching english in schools yet but I'm really looking forward to it.

I like to go to bed early. Some nights I'm asleep by 10pm, and that is the BEST.

I have a core group of friends, if you haven't seen in pics or whatever, but it's Amanda, Tanya, and Kelsey. They're the girls I went to Nantes with this weekend.

The trip was really cool; we saw the castle of the last queen of Brittany (the region where I live...its called that because the celts from Britain came here), so it's really really old. We also bought souvenirs...of course the ones I bought are all food related. Little jars of jams, caramels, and a Breizh Cola class.

Breizh Cola is a type of coca cola that is made in this region. Breizh is a Breton word (the regional language of this area). I LOVE this region though, it has such a rich culture that isn't completely French. It started off as it's own nation, then eventually had to be added to France or else it would have been defeated.

But anyway, I eat a lot of galettes here. It's a regional thing. They're like crepes, except made with buckwheat flour.

Okay, so there's a joke in that. I'm not sure if I'll explain this well but...first of all, there are a lot of "phares" or lighhouses, in English, in Brittany. Since we're, ya know, completely surrounded by coast. Secondly, to be "à l'ouest" is an expression that's sort of like "not all there" sooo a little crazy. So basically it's the Breton's themselves laughing at their reputation for slight insanity...and we're also on the west coast, so that's another thing.

and the chateau

And that mote around it is real! Those pics are just from google by the way.

Some other things that are cool about Brittany is that prunes and kiwi are very plentiful and inexpensive cause they're grown here! As well as seafood.

And generally cheese in France is inexpensive, even the fancy kinds, because it's made here. Last night we didn't feel like spending so much money on dinner so we just bought bread, cheese, and meat and ate it in the hostel. It ended up being only 4 euro a person (whereas eating out can be between 9 and 12). So that was a bargain and it was delicious.

You'd like it here.

Because of all the cheap fruit and delicious food and food culture and relaxed-ness of my household. The decor in here is really global bc my host mom has been all around the world and she buys it there/people send her things. It's actually pretty cool.

And staying in a youth hostel is great because it's inexpensive...but it's not fancy, so if you ever do that don't have your expectations too high haha. Breakfast is included though. There's coffee, cereal, tartines (which is like...pretoasted bread, i don't know how to else to describe it cause that's what it is haha), orange juice, hot chocolate, bread, jam, butter, honey, tea, dried apricots, and prunes. All buffet style, so it's pretttty awesome.

Oh and yesterday I bought a watch! it was 29 euro, which is a STEAL in this country. It's white and I really like it and I feel european wearing it.

And also on Friday, our first day in Nantes, it rained allllll dayyyyy. All it every does is rain in this region because it's surrounded by coast...Nantes was way worse than Rennes though. Luckily my host mom insisted that I bring her rain jacket because my friend's umbrella literally broke because of the "tempests." It gets crazy windy and it's not uncommon to see people's umbrella's flip inside out. It's actually pretty funny! Luckily the castle we saw is a museum so we spend a good 3-4 hours in there. 

Saturday was BEAUTIFUL though. We went shopping, walked around, saw brass bands playing in the streets, saw a chalk artist, went to a huge beautiful garden, and then ate dinner/hung out in the hostel. That took up the whole day and it was really great!
That's all I can think of for now, but that's the gist of things I think...

Oh, and how a youth hostel works:

Check in is between say 8 and 10 and then later in the day, say from 3-7. Your breakfast is included, but you have to be out of the hostel by 10 and you can go back in around 3 or 4 ( so they can clean or something, I don't really know).

You get sheets to put on your bed that you use the whole time. Showers and toilets are separate out in the hallway. It's very basic but also very economical.

We got our own private room because there were 4 of us but you can end up in a room with random people you don't know also.

And also I had to participate in the blog for my program so here's the link! feel free to look through previous entries, that might give more info on what it's like here.

http://study-rennes-la.ciee.org/