Talking sanwhiches - XMAS Eve France 2010

I went to Christmas mass for the first time (?) in my life, or at least the first one that I can remember. It was beautiful and I watched a 1000 year old church come alive. I went alone because my other friends were digging someone out of the snow.

And yes... there is still so much snow here I can't believe it!! There's a solid 6 inches here at the moment and it's -6 degrees in celsius well below freezing... and I have no idea what that temperature is in farenheit. Okay, so I looked it up and I learned TWO things 1) farenheit is actually spelled fahrenheit and 2) -6° degrees celsius = 20° degrees fahrenheit.

How I spend my time when I have nothing to do:

a) Read dictionaries
So I've been off work for a week. I've been in Chateau all by myself. What have I been doing to fill my time??? Well, you asked and as long as you promise to not make fun of me for it, I'll give you the scoop: I've been reading my dictionary for several hours everyday. So here's what's happening, I'll think of some new word I want to learn, and then ofcourse I want to know another word and another and another and so on. And then, ofcourse, I want to read the explanations about the grammar... And then sometimes the explanations are wrong (you can never trust a dictionary 100%). Sooo, on average I've spent two hours a day reading a dictionary, and on Xmas Eve 2010 I spent 4 straight hours reading my dictionary.

b) Read about psycho killers in French
There's this guy Dexter. I'm basically obsessed with him. He's a serial killer and he only kills bad people. He's a fictional character and the books have now been made into a successful American TV series. Strange thing is, the series is way more popular here in France than in the USA. Here though, Dexter is available on the free channels and back home (if I'm right) Dexter is only available on the pay channels.

c)Exercise
It's cold outside and the snow reminds me of this huge gaping hole in my heart because this is the first year in my entire life that I don't get to ski!!! (Yeah, I know, it's a rough life but someone's gotta live it right??) So, even though I miss my first love very much, I'm on the rebound with my secondary love running. It's so beautiful here... the countryside and farmlands, I just love the way the miles unfold one after the other after the other.

d) Watch the weather
So my Mom's flight comes in on Sunday (tomorrow!!!), and I've been vigilantly watching the news and weather reports for the latest info. I never miss a weather update. It's as if being glued to boob tube is somehow going to control weather her flight gets

e) Not reading Mange Prie Aime
So this paragraph goes out to my girl KELSEY JANES. Because we have this book club going and I'm supposed to be reading a very wonderful book and in a very lazy week I have made absolutely no progress... I've spent too much time reading Dexter...

f) Watching One Tree Hill
This is an American TV series. It's basically a soap opera with kids my age. And every single episode has a life lesson that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

g) Dreams with talking sandwhiches
I've had some strange vivid dreams lately, most likely because my imagination is going wild and I just have too much time on my hands. Last night, it was a dream about a talking sandwhich. And to be clear, it was a ham and cheese sandwhich on sliced wheat bread and no mayo. Try to decode that one!

Today is Christmas! Right now it is 2 AM and in a few hours I am taking a train into Paris. I will spend XMAS day in downtown Paris and go ice skating and then I will go to my hostel and bright and early Sunday morning (hopefully if flight isn't delayed !!) I will see my Mom for the first time in 3+ months!

I hope everyone back home is having a truly magical XMAS season this year. Being away from home during the holidays just makes me realize how important my family is to me. Everyone is in my thoughts!! I've even had a few dreams about seeing people once I get back home in summer. Well, I love you guys and wish you all the best in the coming 2011 year.

How American am I?

So, there we were, and the occasion called for a Christmas song. And I couldn't remember a single one. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way... what comes after that? Frosty the snowman... duh da duh da duh I don't know any words after the first line.

How about good old Rudolph? I almost got all the way through... but then I got stuck at the part "And how the reindeer loved him..." Just three lines short! (In case you're wondering and your mind is drawing a blank like mine was, the last three lines are "as they shouted out with glee, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, you'll go down in history!")

And so that was the day I learned I didn't know one single Christmas jingle by heart, and like everyone else, I had to go online to look up the lyrics.

Maybe I'm not so American after all?

P.S. It's been decided Meaghan is much more American than I am. She knows plenty of Christmas songs, all by heart.

A blizzard and spending my holidays in Chateau

Walking in a winter wonder land.... 6 inches of snow and counting !!
Some things about this country are really mystifying to me. Like why cancel school transportation but not classes? This is how many students I saw today:

Class 1: 5
Class 2: 2
Class 3: 1
Class 4: 2

It was a lot of fun and with all of the classes I just improvised and we didn't do what I had planned to do. Also, all the kids who did came were extra happy because I brought candy for all my classes (this is the last time I will see these groups before the holidays) and since hardly anyone showed up everyone got lots of candy.

But really, the idea of keeping school open when there are no students is completely new to me.

I built a snowman family last night. One is 8 feet tall. Me and Zynthia went down to the river and sang Christmas songs in Spanish because we didn't know any French christmas carols and we checked out all the Christmas sights here. It's already the weekend for me again. I never knew time could fly by so fast. Tonight is awesome because the only thing I am doing is reading my dictionary and practicing my pronunciation. And Saturday, I get to visit sweet sweet Paris again.

Middle of the week

Tonight I had the opportunity to go running/training with some seriously intense true-blood-down-to-the-core athletes. Every muscle in my body is so happy.

I can't get enough of life here. That is all for now :)

I can't speak English?

I am forgetting how to speak English??? Certain nouns are fading and I have to go online later to look them up. Or, even better, I can only remember the French word. Sometimes, I use the Britain words instead of whatever I used to use i.e. marks instead of grades... Sometimes the English words that come out of my mouth are such a jumbled up mess I can't even believe that I just said that.

Luckily, a friend from the USA came to visit for a few days and my English is back to normal, at least for now?

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

Two or three inches of snow overnight!!

Corena came to France for the weekend. We spent the majority of our time soaking up everything Paris has to offer. We took hundreds of pictures, we talked till dawn, got up before dawn, interrupted each other non-stop. It was sooo good to hang out with someone from back home!

I'm listening to Christmas music on the internet because for the first time in my life it isn't playing non-stop on the radio and inside every store. Ha, it used to be something that drove me crazy, something in the States you just can't get away from this time of the year... and here I have to seek it out! I'm currently really digging the Jingle Bell Rock, Dean Martin's version of Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!, and Brenda Lee's version of Rockin' around the Christmas tree!!!

Fausses Innocences

Fausses Innocences (2008)
Le jour où Mathilda Stembert vient déclarer la mort de son mari décédé accidentellement en Bulgarie, Roger Müller, bourgmestre d'une petite ville, ne peut ignorer qu'elle ment. Mais il aime profondément Mathilda depuis l'adolescence. Roger doit-il exiger une enquête sur ce décès ou, au contraire, accepter les dires de la femme qu'il aime en secret ?

All I can say is.... the French version of a lifetime movie! :)

In the first 5 minutes, Mathilda kills her husband. Throughout the course of the movie, Mathilda's other lover helps her to hide all the evidence. Later, it is revealed that Mathilda didn't kill her husband and he is in fact still alive. What actually happened: he left her. So, instead of admitting her husband left her, she made an elaborate lie about a tragic accident he had and told everyone he was dead. Well, he comes back to town. Alive. What to do? This time he is killed for real. After all, he was supposed to be dead anyway right? The end.

Germany

To celebrate turning 21 in France, I visited a friend in Karlsruhe, Germany for four days. I also spent one of those days in Heidelberg, Germany.

Highlights:

The word VERBOTEN: The first night was the most eventful! I definitely learned the definition of the word VERBOTEN (Forbidden). Basically, I ended up in a place that I wasn't supposed to be on accident... I will never forget that word for as long as I live... :)

No English: It was the first time in my life I went to a country that I didn't speak any of the language at all. Five years ago, I went to Italy and Italian is rather similar to French and Spanish - every where I went I could make accurate guesses about the signs because they resembled words in French in Spanish. But no Germany. Words are 20 characters long or longer sometimes! Nothing was translated into English. I needed to buy a bus ticket, but didn't know how because there were so many options and nothing was translated. Luckily, I was with a friend who spoke the language.

History, castles, and beautiful red roofs:
It was so interesting to learn history about a country that isn't as popular as other European countries... I found the 1989 fall of the USSR to be most interesting. In 1989, Russia agreed to step out of Germany and to allow Eastern Germany to unite with Western Germany. Also interesting, the difference between the economy of the West and the East. While Russia and communists controlled Eastern Germany, their economy suffered. Even now, the Eastern economy of Germany is still recovering.

A country known for engineering:
My friend was studying at an engineering university in Germany and at that school there are students from all over the world because Germany is the international version of Harvard when it comes to mechanics and engineering. It was interesting to learn about the contributions Germany has made to the field of mechanics and engineering.

Things I love about France

1. The people
The people here are so incredibly nice. I have made some really incredible new friends here in France, including both Americans and French. Thanks to them, I no longer get homesick! When I first came to France, I never thought this place could ever feel like home but all that has changed :)

2. Milk is unrefigerated
What an ingenious idea! When buying milk from the store, milk doesn't expire for two or three months. You buy it off the shelf and you can keep it in the cupboard until you open it. Once open, it has to be refigerated. But, just think about how much money would be saved in the U.S.A. if we didn't spend so much on the ridgerated transportation of milk and the rifdgeration of the product in stores!

3. People think I'm German
Some people think I look German and other people think that I have a German accent because of the way I pronounce my R's...

4. Living in the metaphorical middle of nowhere
Chateau Thierry has a whopping population of 15,000 people. It is a very quiet, tame little town. It is so quaint and in the heart of wine country. Hardly anybody speaks English. Never in my life have I lived somewhere so small, which has been an experience in and of itself on so many levels...

5. The view from my balcony
I love to start my mornings watching the sunrise sitting crosslegged drinking coffee on my balcony. I never used to be a morning person, but it's almost magical watching a blanket of fog slowly evaporate and revealing Chateau's treasures: the old castle, the little houses with red roofs, vallies of the most vibrant green I've ever seen...

6. Really green fields
There is something that is grown here that is really really green, the most vibrant green I have ever seen. Whether it is a type of grape or another type of agricultural product that is grown here... I have no idea, but whatever this plant is - it is grown in abundance here and the result is a very vibrant almost neon green that you just want to sink your teeth into it... Next thing I have to do, I have to ask someone what it is that is making these fields so beautiful. But the "problem" is I always have so many questions, that I never seem to have time to get them all answered :)

7. Teaching English
I have been given a lot of freedom in teaching English. Consequently, I have been able to choose a lot of the subject matter that I work with with my students and have researched so many interesting subjects... Never before have I ever learned so much about my own history or my own culture... Additionally, the students are just wonderful.

8. Walking everywhere
I love not driving. I am probably one of the worst drivers ever. It sure is nice being able to walk everywhere that I need to go!

9. Sitting down to eat
On one of my first here in France, I grabbed a granola bar because I was hungry. I was waiting for the train and pulled out my granola bar and started eating it. Wow, I got so many strange looks... I felt so out of place and like an alien. What was wrong with me? Did I have a booger hanging out of my nose? And then it dawned on me, people in France don't eat on the go. When people eat, they sit down at a table and really just savor every single bite. Personally, I think this is just awesome and it is a practice that I have adopted for every single time I'm hungry now.

In contrast, America is so Go Go Go that before I never would have thought twice about grabbing something at 7-11 and eating it on my way to wherever I was going next... It's funny to think that something as simple as sitting down and eating could be a culture shock... :)

10. Social 24/7
You'd think that living in a small town would leave me lonely, but I'm never alone. I'm either hanging out with the professors, my roommate, new friends or I am just out and about. It's amazing the variety of people I interact with, and I'm really starting to appreciate the rainbow of opinions and cultural perspectives I've been introduced to. Quote of the week? "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." Neale Donald Walsch

I sit on a piece of red furniture...

Life is good!

The other night the shower broke and flooded the whole floor.

Strikes are still happening.

Electricity has been off and on recently.

I'm figuring out paperwork....

And to top everything off, I figured out how to call a German cell phone. :)

American Memorial Church - American War History in Chateau - Thierry

There is so much history in France and right where I live! Scroll down for pictures!

Last week I visited the American Memorial Church. This is just one of several monuments dedicated to fallen American soldiers in Chateau Thierry. At the top of a hill, there is a massive monument that looks like something out of Ancient Greek/Roman Times. It is impressive with it's massive columns. It can be seen no matter where you are in Chateau Thierry. In addition to that, there is a cemetary that stretches as far as the eye can see with a pearly white cross for ever soldier who died in the Battle of Belleauwood. Then there is the military ceremony that takes place ever year on Memorial Day where marines from the USA pay hommage to the fallen soldiers at the American Monument. And then in the city center, in the center of a busy round about, there is an airplane model dedicated to Quentin Roosevelt whose plane was shot down. At the Hotel de Ville, there is a statue and inscriptions dedicated to the Americans. And that's not everything. I could go on... It seems everywhere you look, there is something dedicated to the memory of the Americans. But why? What did the Americans do that was so special way back when?

In the spring of 1918, the German Army launched a series of attacks on the Western Front, hoping to defeat the Allies before United States forces could be fully deployed. Germany wanted to gain as much ground as possible before the USA could intervene. In what later would become known as the Third Battle of the Aisne, the Germans began a bombardment of the Allied front lines with over 4,000 artillery pieces on May 27 1918. The offensive was launched against the French between Soissons and Reims. They positioned themselves along the north bank of the Marne river at Château-Thierry, 40 miles (64 km) of Paris. However, American troops were deployed and their efforts forced the Germans to keep moving and advance right towards Vaux and Belleau Wood.

What happened next was the Battle of Belleauwood. It lasted almost for the entire month of June and many lives were lost by the Americans and the Germans. U.S. forces suffered 9,777 casualties, included 1,811 killed. There qre no clear numbers on how many Germans died, estimates generally say around 9000 or so. 1600 Germans were taken prisoner. Marines are credited with fighting intelligently and strategically in this battle and the played a very huge role in the final outcome of the battle.

Finally on 26 June a report was sent out simply stating, "Woods now U.S. Marine Corps entirely," ending one of the bloodiest and most ferocious battles U.S. forces would fight in the war.

The Americans fought a battle they didn't have to fight. They could have just left France to fend for itself. This battle was none of the U.S.'s business. But the U.S. got involved anyway. But, because France helped the United States as the US was fighting for her Independence in the 18th century, the U.S. deployed troops because it was the neighborly thing to do.

The U.S.A. stopped the Germans from taking over France. Had the Germans been successful, who know what would have happened to France? Would France have become a territory of Germany? I really have no idea. But I guess the main point is a lot of Americans died and kept Germany out of France during the First World War. History is a crazy crazy thing! And if Sho Kosugi is reading this, please fill me in on your thoughts I would be so interested! I have barely touched the surface of some of the history... to get into any real depth this blog entry would have to be pages and pages long...


The American Memorial Church!


This was the first time I had ever been inside a church and saw stained glass depicting military scenes. These scenes are from the back of the church. The stained glass at the front of the church depicts scenes from the bible.


Biblical scenes at the front of the church.



Love one another,
Like I have loved you,
There is no greater love than to give one's life to one's friends.


On the back of each pew is a plaque commemorating the fallen soldiers.


Inscription in French at the American Memorial Church.


Inscription at the American Memorial Church.


Inscription at the American Memorial Church.



A snail! Un escargot :)

Drama of politics continue...

IMPORTANT UPDATE on Wednesday Oct 20: All over France, access to fuel has been severely limited. This is due to fuel blockades. Protesters have been blocking the entrance to fuel depots.

Today, Police cleared protestors blockading French some fuel depots on Wednesday as the government tried to face down strikes over its pensions reform.

http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20101020-police-break-fuel-blockade-france-strike

Access to fuel in Chateau Thierry at the moment is close to nil. It has been like this since Monday night. It is unclear when the next delivery of fuel to our town will be.

DISCLAIMER: The information here is only partial and is correct to the best of my knowledge.

Tomorrow I will be teaching alone again considering some of my fellow colleagues are going on strike again.

Because of the strikes, there is a nationwide fuel shortage. Some gas stations are completely shutdown at the moment. Here in Chateau Thierry, the buses for students will most likely not be running due to the fuel shortage. The funny thing is, just the other night an official for the government said "Don't worry people, there are reserves and this is no time to worry about a fuel shortage. At this time, that isn't even possible." What she said was in French, those words are my translation of what they said.

UPDATE: Many buses did NOT come to school today on Tuesday October 19 2010.

Today I sent postcards back home. But who knows when everyone back home will receive them, strikes have also affected the postal service.

Friday I go on vacation. I really want to travel and see France, but honestly I am somewhat afraid to. There is a high likelihood I could get stranded temporarily somewhere or that my train could get canceled. It's about a thirty three per cent chance I would be out of luck and stuck. It's not even clear if I will get a refund on train tickets if a train gets canceled. But maybe I will travel anyway!?

Protests have been ongoing. Check out these statistics from Saturday...

Protests have been ongoing. What is interesting is the numbers for the
numbers of protesters and the massive difference between the estimations...

Number of protesters in Lille:
Prefecture: 6500
CGT: 14000

Paris:
Prefecture: 50 000
CGT: 310 000

In all of France:
Prefecture: 825,000
CGT: 3,000,000

The Prefecture is the Paris police headquarters and the CGT is a
French labor union. The police grossly underestimate the numbers,
while the CGT exaggerates. It is incredibly fascinating.

The minimum retirement age is now 62 instead of 60. If people retire
at 67, they will receive their full pension. If people retire at 62,
they will receive a small fraction of their full pension. People are
protesting because they want the government to repeal this decision
and to come up with another solution to resolve the financial crisis
here in France.

From those I have talked to, people are protesting for two reasons A) so that the govrnment will repeal the retirement age reform and instead choose another solution to solve France's financial difficulties or B) if that can not be accomplished, people are protesting to influence the senate as they debate the 820 amendments of the reform.

There is a huge vote planned for Wednesday. If the strikes are massive tomorrow, it is possible the vote will be postponed.

Tomorrow marks yet another nationwide strike, the third this month. However it is predicted thqt fewer will participate because a lot of people have families to feed and people do not want to lose another day's wages at this point. At this point, some people feel it just isn't worth protesting if it won't accomplish anything and/or if hardly anyone else participates in the protests. But it looks very likely that the number of students present tomorrow will be close to zero. Last week, those absent ranged from 60 percent to 90 per cent.

Will the strikes last all week again? How many teachers will be on strike? How many students will not be in their seats, but instead outside the school blocking access to the school... yet again? How bad will the fuel shortage get? How badly will transportation be affected this time? And what is going to happen on Wednesday???

If anyone has any thoughts or more information on the subject, please e-mail me at cassiebow@gmail.com. I feel like all the information I have access to is so biased so more opinions and more information are very much welcome!

France on strike - France fait la grève

It is an interesting time to be in France considering the current politics. Tuesday October 12th marked an official nationwide strike. Strikes affected transportation, schools, postal services, and libraries and other services. Some schools were completely shut down. I showed up for work but the majority of the teachers were on strike. Most kids were absent.

On Wednesday workers returned to their work, but high schoolers did not. For the rest of the week attendance has been very low. Some classes are completely empty. Sometimes there are classes with just two or three students. If you have 10 people show up for class this week, it's a really good turn out. It's a ghost town inside.

But outside? The kids are in the streets protesting. The gates to Jules Verne are chained and people are let in through a smaller entrance once at a time to ensure that the protesters do not get in.

Around 30 percent of flights were canceled at France's busiest airport, Paris' Charles de Gaulle, while cancellations at the capital's second airport, Orly, reached 50 percent, according to aviation authorities. Most of the affected flights were short-haul domestic flights or inter-European flights, according to a civil aviation authority official.

The parliament's lower house approved the reform last month. The Senate has approved the article on raising the retirement age from 60 to 62, but is stil debating the overall reform. The bill also raises the age of eligibility for a full pension from 65 to 67.

That means the retirement age has officially increased, but the minute details are still up for debate. As it has been explained to me by the people here, the current proposed reform is just too black and white. The people have accepted that the retirement age will increase, but what about the smaller details? What about people who work under harsher conditions, people who may not be able to perform certain jobs physically. Perhaps there ought to be guidelines. Perhaps there ought to be different rules regarding retirement depending on the profession and the circumstances of the worker. One thing people do not want is a black and white reform.

France's Senate pushed back a planned vote on the retirement reform bill until next Wednesday to debate some 820 amendments floated by the Socialist-led opposition. It had been scheduled to vote Friday.


French version of Ikea.


Chariot! What an awesome word for shoppping cart.


The first week of October and people are already getting ready for Christmas.


Being stuck in traffic is awesome when you have a good view.


Church in Reims. The kings used to come to this church to get crowned.




Inscription at the church.


This church is about to be 800 years old...











View from the Magdalene Church.


Close up view of Magdalene church.


Place Vendome. A name that evokes thoughts of luxury, now surrounded by high end retail shops and five star hotels. Architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart designed the square in 1699. It is named after a hotel that used to be situated there. In the center of the square is la Colonne Vendome. Her construction was ordered by Napoleon and the giant green monument was dedicated to la bataille d’Austerlitz. La Bataille d’Austerlitz took place on December 2 1805. The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was Napoleon's greatest victory, where the French Empire effectively destroyed the Third Coalition.


Ministere de la Justice


The Ritz Hotel.


The Ritz Hotel. There are some benefits to exploring Paris with someone whos the area. I.e. taking you to really famous spots you had no idea were there.


Latin? I have no idea what this means. Picture taken while exploring Paris on a Saturday with a new French friend.


Lily Wood and the Prick! Feeling homesick? Not for long! They sang in French and English. Afterwards I even got to talk with the band. I can not believe they came out all the way to the proverbial middle of nowhere. Cost for an evening rocking out? 5 Euros.


Lily Wood and the Prick.


Lily Wood


éteindre,ateindre,attendre... I understand the meaning of these different words and yet somehow I still manage to pronounce them all exactly the same way.


Mediatheque.


Jean de la Fontaine Mediatheaque. I go here for Facebook access in awhile. On Tuesday, it was completely shut down due to the strike.


This is where I buy the majority of my groceries.


Me and Marianne :)


Dinner party! I cooked meat and nobody got sick! I put a little olive oil in the pan, waited for it to get really hot, added hamburger and added a pinch of salt here and there continuing to stir until it was all well thoroughly well cooked. I do not remeber why but there is a special cooking reason for why you wait for the olive oil to get really hot before adding the meat. Then I added store bought sauce and I had a sphagetti meat sauce! Not that impressive, but for a girl who doesn't know ANYTHING about cooking - I have to start somewhere!!

May 8 1945 in Reims, France...

So where I am living has a lot of history! I cannot get over how old everything is and how rich in history every little thing is... I live in Chateau Thierry. Reims is just a 30 minute drive from here. I visited Reims with my new French native friend, Marianne on Friday.

On May 7th 1945, the act of military surrender was signed in Reims France. The German Instrument of Surrender was the legal document that was signed by the Germans and the official representatives of Europe, or more specifically - by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) and the the Allied Expeditionary Force. The Allied Forces were the countries that opposed the Axis powers, namely Germany, Japan and Italy. This document signaled the armistrice that ended war in Europe. This day is known as V Day or Victory day throughout Europe. The document was signed in Reims, France on the 7th but was ratified in Germany the next day.

The document was signed at Rheims, France, at 02:41 hours on 7 May 1945. The signing took place in a red brick schoolhouse that served as the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). It was to take effect at 2301 hours Central European time on 8 May, 1945.

With the surrender of Germany procured, the focus went onto warring on Japan. Japan at the time just was not ready to give up. Desperate to make a big move that would force Japan to surrender forever, the United States released an atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima, Japan on August 6th, 1945. The bomb almost completely wiped out the city. Japan's surrender soon followed on September 2nd, 1945.

Getting aquainted with my new home.

France is awesome. I am working hard to improve my pronunciation. I have made several French professor friends that are my age and I am starting to hang out with them outside of class. Today was my first day of teaching. I was in charge of the whole class for a whole hour. I showed them pictures of my hometown (GO PORTLAND!) and then we played hangman using the words they were using to describe the pictures. I divided people up into teams and the first team that got 5 right answers won. It was a lot of fun! I am hoping that for the rest of the classes I can make the students more comfortable so that they can have some fun. I was using so much body language to describe what I was saying it was hilarious but it helped them a lot. A bientot :)


Only in France would a product advertisement feature a completely nude woman on the cover :)


Not a close up.


Me on my balcony :) why yes I could just daydream all day looking out...


So it is so funny because here in this tiny little town where no one speaks English they have signs that say STOP... I mean seriously it is pretty zickedly awesome. Apparently English came up with the best way for STOP. Apparently ARRETER just doesn't cut it...


I'm in Chateau Thierry trick!


Me in Chateau Thierry!


Cute street with a bunch of shops not accessable by car.


Another city view!


My lucky number.


Beautiful house covered in Ivy on Rue des Chesneaux. I walk past this cozy cottage everyday on my way to the city center.


City view of Chateau Thierry


Rue des Chesneaux, the street I work on.


My school.


My school.


Where I work and live. There are a total of 700 students and ninety nine percent are male.


A place I would like to visit someday!


It was too classic to not take this picture.


The castle has been turned into a park is completely avalable to the public.


The old castle!


City view.


Jean de la Fontaine


Jean de la Fontaine! This guy has been dead for a really long time. The funny thing is, the French class that I flunked a really long time ago and later aced was composed of a bunch of this guy's work. And it turns out that this guy lived in Chateau Thierry. He wrote children's stories with talking animals and moral lessons.


La Marne.


La Marne.


La Marne.


La Marne.


I think this is the church?


Rue de Soissons.


Like I have said before, it is impossible to get lost in this sleepy little town. Rue de Soissons. Uphill is home and downhill is the Marne. To be truthful, the only walking I really do is generqlly North and South. Poor Meaghan goes East and West all the time which makes it so much easier to get lost... But getting lost is and adventure and just means that you get to ask some nice French person for direcions meaning another opportuinity to practice French. Really, lost or not, it is just a win win situation.


Skatepark in Chateau Thierry! This one is for you Dylan! xoxoxoxoxo :) I hope you get a chance to see this, I think about you all the time and I will be sending you lots of pictures buddy :)


Walking around the Marne with the American Monument in the background.


Swans in real life, not just in a storybook fairytale!

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Un signe! C'était le première fois que j'ai vu un signe dans la vie réelle.


Une vue du pont par la Marne.


Walking along a really old sidewalk right along the edge of the Marne.


Me and Zynthia. We both live at the Lycée and she is the Spanish assistante here.