Maybe I'll write more often...

It appears I've taken a break from my journal in French so that means it's probably a good time to blog.

Lord I hope I get accepted to this bachelors program for next year... I met with an academic advisor today and it was helpful. If I am accepted I'll have the opportunity to learn two other languages while studying French. She told me that with the degree I'm going for it's hard to find opportunities in France but easier abroad, which is good for me! I want to start learning Chinese, we'll see where that takes me. There are so many opportunities for teaching languages in China. Otherwise Spanish is one of the languages I would study. I met a girl from Latin America who's getting a degree in translation here, we're going to exchange English/Spanish lessons. The first one is tomorrow, I'm excited!

If I don't get accepted though, I have a back up plan : be an au pair. To be continued.

After meeting that advisor I moved over to the Mission Emploi office. They have an awesome trove of how-to books for cover letters and resumes. I found a book of anti-cover letters mixed in there with the serious stuff, it's HILARIOUS. First point of business: make an awesome kick ass cover letter for babysitting jobs. I would love to babysit; kids are awesome and it would be a totally different experience from what I can get in a class room. Using the über-polite vocabulary expected by employers is fun, for example...

Dans l'attent, Monsieur, veuillez agréer l'expression de mes sentiments distingués.

In the mean time, Sir, please accept the expression of my distinguished sentiments.

heehee! So polite and so banal!!

When the Mission Emploi closed I went to the library and rooted around for Beginning Spanish books. Nuthin. So I studied for the upcoming French test to prove to the universe how awesome I am at French. I did verb drills and listened to music, it was fun! The library is all glass and metal, and surrounded by bamboo.

Now I'm home drinking caramel tea. I should start meditating again. Ok I'm out!

Back in School... looking for a Job!!!

Hello people! I hope you are doing good!! I've been back in school for three weeks now and it's been interesting. I've been going to the 2nd semester classes for the degree program I applied for- a degree in Linguistics and Modern French Literature. For the application they wanted my High School Diploma translated into french, I got that sucker almost TEN YEARS AGO! That took me back.

Based on the classes I've sat in on so far, I'm very encouraged; it will be challenging but not impossible. I've been sitting in on 6 classes total. Three are in a lecture hall and don't have homework: History of French Language, History of French Litterature, and History of Languages. I LOVE THESE CLASSES... they are so interesting and are exactly what I wanted to learn more about. The other three are smaller and do have assignements: Latin, French Poetry, and French Linguistics. These are more challenging; the course work is built on what was covered in the 1st semester. I honestly don't know if I'm going to continue attending them but I'll give it my best shot and just take it from there. It's a little bizzare taking classes knowing I won't be getting credit for them and that if I get accepted into this degree program I'll just have to take them again. But the point of going to them is to prepare myself should I get accepted. We'll see how it goes, if I do end up dropping out it's not the end of the world.

I've also been looking for a job, the need for which is becoming greater. I've applied so far to about 7 jobs, for babysitters or waitresses, but nothing's come through. It's been very frustrating, especially as my savings dwindle. All my failed attemps gave me a bad case of the blues for a minute, until I realised I was exagerating and kicked it. I sought out the Job Counseling service offered by the university, which was a very illuminating experience. Apparently by French standards the letters I'd been sending out were not polite enough. The counselor who will be helping me started using the polite wording employers expect. It was mesmorising- I understood what she was saying but realised I was incapable of forming sentences that way. It was a preety cool experience! So I'm going to go back there tomorrow and start reading the books they've got on how to write resumes and cover letters.

Other than that I've been watching Lost like a maniac. Happily, I'm almost done with the 5th season and then I'll have to wait like everyone else for the new episodes. AND I FOUND A NEW APPARTEMENT THANK THE LORD!!! I move in May 1st. It's $150 less than what I'm paying now and it's A LOT nicer: living room and kitchen, nice neighborhood, gas stove, big rooms. I sent my landlord a "three months notice" letter with no small amount of glee. My new roommate seems nice, his name is Vincent. We're looking for a third but haven't confirmed anyone yet.

Ok more later!

Back in Lyon!

Hi! I'm back! I returned to Lyon last Tuesday. The jet lag was bad, plus I didn't have any places to be in particular which didn't help my efforts to change time zones. As a result, I've been staying up until 2am most nights this week. But oh well, being a night owl was bad ass.

Tomorrow classes start and I've got a bit of work in front of me. It looks like I'll be taking around six classes this semseter, working, and hopefully playing the viola. I'm going to contact an Au Pair placement agency to see about the possibility of a summer job or placement for next year. I'm also going to canvas job placement agencies to see if I can find an office job starting ASAP or that would sponsor my visa. I have to finish my application to Lyon II for next year in Linguistics and French Litterature before the end of January. It would be my second bachelors which I'm not sure I need, but at least it would enable me to stay in France and study linguistics while I apply to Universites in the States.

Basically I'm advancing my plans to stay here for another year. I need to go to bed... I'll try and write more tomorrow to let you know how this very big monday went. And I have a TON of photos from Chicago which I'll cherry pick and post up here in a moe'. Thanks again for keeping tabs on me! À demain...

Christmas New Years

Hi just a quick word about stuff. I'm in Illinois now; being back in the states is nice. I still feel stressed out about not having a job but it feels good to reconnect with my community. I've been taking a lot of photos which I'll post after the new year- I'm staying at my Mother's who doesn't have internet in her house. I feel like I speak English differently since I've been living in France. I'm starting to miss France, speaking french, and am getting ready mentally to go back. Ok more later! Happy new year everyone!

Quotes from Candy Wrapers

My friend Olaya got me hooked on these chocolate Christmas candies which are awesome, and they look like this:

They are also wrapped in a paper with a quote, here are some of my favorites (I've eaten a couple... a few... here and there)

S'irriter d'un reproche, c'est reconnaître qu'on l'a mérité

To be irritated by criticism is to recognize that we deserved it

- Tacite

Qui s'excuse s'accuse

He who excuses himself accuses himself

-Stendhal

Parole. Si l'on ne disait que des choses utiles, il se ferait un grand silence dans le monde.

I promise, if everyone only said useful things, the world would become very quiet.
-Alvare Sanchez de Moncades

Une idée qui n'est pas dangereuse ne mérite pas d'être appelée une idée.

An idea that is not dangerous is unworth of being called an idea at all.
-Oscar Wilde

Qui parle sème : qui écoute récolte

He who speaks sows; he who listens harvests
- Pythagorean

Les vrais gourmands lisent en remuant les lèvres pour déguster les mots.

Real gourmets read with moving lips to better sense the words.
- Yvan Audouard

End of December

Hey! So... remember in my last post when I said I was going to stay in France for Christmas? Yea, I changed my mind, I'm coming back to Chicago for the holidays. I'm really looking forward to going home for a while- speaking the same language as everyone else and seeing my family and friends.

In the mean time, I've finished my classes! Woo! Now what am I going to do?! I'm at a juncture and the future is uncertain, it's a little stressful. On the other hand I've suddenly found the motivation to find a job. I feel like I'm being pulled in several directions at once: I want to play the viola and improve my ability to improvise, I want to go to classes at the University, I want to find a job because my savings are dwindling... It's not impossible for these goals to coexist. I sure as hell won't be taking ten classes THIS semester!

I would like to stay here for another year if possible, although I'm not sure if I'll feel the same way next fall. I should probably continue to live outside the states for as long as possible, mostly because this is probably the last time I'll uproot myself to become a foreigner. That rupture was not easy, and managing life in a foreign country is very challenging: you're misunderstood, ripped off, and isolated! Sounds like fun, right? On the other hand my french has improved, and I've gotten back into playing the viola.

So now I'm going to start looking around for employment, on the internet for starters and then around town. I'll keep you posted! Here are some recent photos:

Two of my roommates: Loïc and Yoann

A little bit of snow, from outside my window

Some decorations in downtown Lyon

Carol and I at the Belcour square

The Christmas market

Noverber = Done

Another month just kind of flew by... woa. Only three more weeks of school!!! I'm really looking forward to a more relaxed schedule. It looks like I'm going to stay in Lyon this Christmas, to save a bit of cash. I would have liked to have come home but there are some very important things I'm looking forward to getting done over the break. First on the list is applying for enrollment next year; the application is due before the end of January. The University of Lyon II offers a French Language and Modern French Literature program for undergraduates that I would love to do. It's a three year program, I might skip the first year. I'm going to talk to the head of the program this week to see what they recommend. The program is specifically designed for students who want to teach french... like me, only natives. It would definitely improve my french though. We'll see where all this leads.

A lot happened this month, which, you know, that's normal. We finally got internet in the house which is AWESOME... I hadn't realized how dependent I'd become on the internet until it was gone. I had the flu which was not cool, I was confined to my room for two days. Now I'm well again. While I was sick, I watched a lot of movies in French courtesy of my roommate Benoît. I really liked this one called REC, a blair-witch (cloverfield for the young-uns) inspired Spanish Zombie movie. It was so well done, I didn't know what I was watching when I started it and got sucked in. It was the basis for the American movie Quarantine, and the American version just copied the Spanish version play for play! Tsk. The week after that I was crazy busy with trying to catch up with homework and tests. I worked really hard and got everything taken care of.

Thanksgiving came and went too. I didn't do anything for the holiday... which sucked. I was nostalgic for a moment and missed everyone back home. Then I went to a Brazilian-themed bar party. That helped! I'm kind of isolated here all by myself, without a specific program to sheepard me around. I miss my community back in Chicago something fierce; I wish I could find a community here. It takes time... and I need to start putting in more effort to go out and meet people. I should join a club or something. Or maybe start hanging out at a bar, although I never was really skilled at that. Now that I'm more established here I can start looking around for like minded crazies.

I've been watching videos on the internet, especially the Daily Show. I also watch the evening news on TV 5, which is the French equivalent of BBC world news. Recently I started catching up on Le Chanson de Dimanche and Un Gars Une Fille on youTube. And because I was missing the Canadian Desk at my old job, I watched a Quebecois show about Montreal called Mange Ta Ville. It was really nice to hear a Quebecois accent, although I had some trouble understanding everything they said. I recommend the french stuff to anyone wishing to improve their french.

I've settled into my apartment, for better or for worse. I'm resigned now to stay here until the end of May. This year the French embassy changed the format of their student visas, which has delayed the Family Allocation Center in getting around to reimbursing me on my rent. I'm waiting on word from them by mail. Moving right now would likely create another administrative debacle with their office, and more importantly I would rather concentrate on other stuff. There will probably be more students moving out at the end of May, and thus I'd have more luck finding the perfect place. I feel home-ish here, which will have to do for now. The roommates are cool, except one of them pees with the door to the bathroom open but he's moving out at the end of January. There's no common room either, so most of the time everyone's in their own room alone. SIGH... I'm going to be so very glad when I move out!

I'm looking forward to job-hunting over the winter break. That and exploring Lyon, and MAYBE (probably) going on a short vacation somewhere close like Italy, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, or even France... that would be fun. Or Ireland! Also finishing the application for the program next year, practicing the viola, reading books, becoming a member of the local library, buying a web cam and a microphone/headset combination, figuring out my classes for next semester, maybe trying to use the electric portable oven, making tomato sauce, hanging out with my Brazilian friend, finding clubs to join in the city, watching movies... good stuff. Having Skype in my house has made this experience ten times better, I call my parents a lot. Call friends over winter break, that just got added to the list. Also sending packages back home to family and friends. And crocheting more hats.

Ok that's it for now! More... sooner.