All Good Things Must Come To An End...

Hello all,

I write this with the heaviest heart I have experienced in the longest time! Today is the day where I have to leave France, and as I sit waiting 8 hours for my flight to Norway, it is hard for me to hold back the tears! My experience in this country has been nothing short of outstanding. I would not take back a single second. On the way to the airport this morning, I even requested my teacher to change his mind and extend the trip to a year. Yeah, let's just say that didn't go over too well hahaha. With all of the amazing sites, great experiences, new friends, stronger relationships, inside jokes, crazy encounters, late nights, sleep deprivation, class time, ping pong games, music, incredible culture, and many other things, I can't think of a better way to spend a summer. So, just to keep you all updated, this is what the past couple of days have entailed:

Ping-pong breaks during school.

Thursday, July 25th was my last full day in La Rochelle. After a fun morning of class and beating Austwelve and Adame in pingpong, we went out for our last lunch in Vieux Port. I also got to spend dinner with my host mom and her boyfriend, and after that we walked around La Rochelle at night for the last time. On Friday morning, we all parted ways from our host families and climbed on the bus. This was so horribly sad for me, because I grew very close to my host mom during the four weeks that I lived with her. She did 6 bisous with me (the french cheek kiss for saying hello and goodbye, but the normal number is 2) and made me promise that I would Skype her often. Getting on that bus and driving away from La Rochelle and all of my memories there was a very disheartening experience.

Last day in La Rochelle!

But, while I was sad to leave La Rochelle, I am so amazingly happy that I got to spend time with the people I grew so close to all while traversing one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Every minute of every day, I was surrounded by great people from all around the world (even Germany!), which made the France experience even better. Thank you all for being awesome! (For those who requested to be in the blog: here you go David, Simon, Austin, and Cec, now you are officially in the blog! Sorry I didn't make a homage to me and Austwelve's friendship, like you all wanted! haha). I also made friends with a few locals of La Rochelle, which made it even harder to leave. I credit all of them and my host mom for helping me excel in my French speaking skills. I couldn't have gotten better without their patience and help!

At the top of the Eiffel Tour with Piero, Ceciley, and Liz.

Friday afternoon we arrived in Paris and said our goodbyes to the other schools that were traveling with us. I don't like so many goodbyes! After that, we arrived back at our hotel and basically had free time until Monday in Paris. We chose to spend as much time as possible with our friends that we met in Paris previous to going to La Rochelle. We attended an apartment warming party, had dinners together, and even climbed to the very top of the Eiffel Tower on our last night. Paris is so ridiculously gorgeous, especially in the dark with all of the amazing lights. We even got to see the Tower shimmer, which happens every so often. As we discovered the tower, I was able to talk with my good Parisian friend Piero. It was really awesome to be able to speak with him for the whole night, because I realized how much I love the french language. He had been helping me with my speaking ever since I met him, which has been about 5 weeks now. I cannot even begin to describe how much he has helped me improve! And I have been teaching him english at the same time! Also, it was really humorous for me because at one point, I was speaking with him in french and then turned to talk to my other friends in english, when two girls approached me and asked me a question in english. I had to ask Piero the question for them in french, and as I turned back to the girls to respond to them, I accidentally responded in french. My mind has become wired to think in the beautiful french language, and I can't get enough of it. Overall, I cannot put into words how magical my last weekend in Paris was. It was the perfect ending to my France trip.

Gorgeous last night in Paris.

So, as I sit here in the airport waiting for my flight, I have mixed emotions. I am ridiculously sad to leave France and all of the people I met behind, but I cannot contain my excitement to go to Norway and meet up with my amazing college friend Marin. Our travels around Europe are just about to start, and its unbelievable to me that it came so fast. This is the summer of a life time, and I constantly stop and wonder how I became so blessed. About 20 times in the past 3 days, I have stopped my friends and just said "Can we just stop and look at our lives right now." God is good. Let the excitement and blessings continue!

Next stop, Norway!

Bisous, tout le monde :)

La Vie de La Rochelle

Bonjour tout le monde!

Wow, I just realized that I haven't blogged for two weeks! My time here has gone by so ridiculously fast and I am trying to fit in as much as possible, so I haven't made much time to update my blog. So, here is a brief overview of my last two weeks.

Life in France literally could not be any better (except for the addition of air conditioning, due to the fact that it will soon be in the 90's every day, hello beach!). I seriously cannot remember a day where I have been bored or thought about wanting to leave. I think La Rochelle completes me somehow. There are no words to explain how amazing life here is, but I will try my best.

Everyday, I walk 10 minutes to school and then have class for four hours. We take a 30 minute break in the middle, when we go down to the caf or go out in the courtyard and play ping pong. By doing that, we met two German brothers taking French classes at Soup de Co this summer too, Simon and David.  I am now in a ping pong bracket with them and two other guys and I intend on crushing all of them (thanks Highland for the practice this year :) )! Also, Simon and David have been coming out with us whenever we go to the beach or downtown, so it has been awesome to get to know another culture through them. In addition to that, it has been really interesting taking classes at Soup de Co, because I get to meet other students from all over the world. So far, I have conversed with students from Germany, China, Libya, and of course France and America. Having friends from different places is really exciting, and everyone is always opening invitations to come visit their home countries. Looks like I have a lot more traveling to do!

Ceciley, Simon, and I!

Life with my host family is awesome. They take me to festivals, movies, restaurants, and many other places. I have spent quite a bit of time with them, which is somewhat unusual for the American kids here. But I am happy that they want to include me in their everyday life! It's really fun! Also, like I said before, I speak 100% French with them and this has helped me immensely. I have found that I can now speak for hours in French, and I have even had political, economical, and educational based conversations with them and others in La Rochelle. When I came to France the first time, I was terrified to use my French speaking skills (or lack there of). But now, I will talk to literally anyone. For example, everyday I take the same walking route to school. Therefore, I see the same man everyday because he works at a student apartment building by my house and he is always working outside. After passing him everyday for two weeks and exchanging "bonjours" each morning, I decided I wanted to know his name because it made me think of what I have talked about in my Overflow group at Hosanna Highland in Mankato (For those of you who don't know what this is, it is the campus church that I am a member of at school. The Overflow group teaches us that it is important to live as Christ-Like as possible, and one of the means of doing so is spreading God's love by just showing others that you care. Therefore, we are encouraged to reach out to the people we meet, even if it means just saying hello.) So, Friday morning, I approached him and told him that because I see him every morning I would like to know his name. He was pleasantly surprised and told me that his name is Frédéric. It seemed like it made his day. I now plan on talking with Frédéric every morning and I am excited to see what that reveals! In addition to that, I am comfortable speaking with whoever talks to me here. La Rochelle is a very safe city, so I have no problem getting to know the locals. Currently, I have great friends at our favorite Kebab place named Hedi and Mourad. I also became besties with my cab driver, Djamen. Last night I even taught him how to say "I am going to go to the train station" in english because he has a lot of english-speaking clients!

At a town festival with my host mom.

In addition to going to school, hanging out at the beach, shopping, spending time with my host family, and conversing with the locals, I also have the privilege of going on weekend excursions with Soup de Co and the other American students. Last weekend, we took a bus to the region of Cognac, where Hennessy Cognac is made. We took a boat tour of Cognac and also got to visit the Hennessy distillery, which ended with a tasting. It was surprisingly really good! This weekend we took a 2 hour bus ride to Nantes, a city north of La Rochelle. There, we visited Les Machines De L'Ile where they are making a large mechanical tree house. Also, we rode a three story carousel and saw a large electronic elephant. Afterwards, we toured the Chateaux de la duc du Bretagne. It has been really fun to explore places all over France, but it makes me appreciate La Rochelle even more. I cannot wait to return home every weekend because I just love it so much. Someday, I would be extremely content to live here permanently.

Chateaux de la duc du Bretagne in Nantes, France.

Hennessy distillery in Cognac

For those of you who are my Facebook friends, you probably got annoyed with all of the Francofolie pictures I uploaded in the past week! :) So, I guess I should probably explain exactly what that is for those of you who saw it all over the newsfeed. To start simple: Francofolies is the bee's knees (Mary reference). It is a massive music festival that is held in La Rochelle for 5 days every year in July. It attracts 150,000 people to La Rochelle, so the city was extremely busy. Venders set up tents in the streets, entertainers were constantly doing things around the port, and music was ALWAYS playing. The atmosphere of La Rochelle during the Fracofolies was completely different than the normal atmosphere, but it was extremely fun. Each night, there were 4 or 5 bands that play at the main stage (which you have to pay for). Most of the artists were French bands, along with some British groups sprinkled around. We payed to go to two nights of the Francofolies and it was extremely worth it. While I didn't return home until 4am both times and I had school at 8:30am the next day, I wouldn't take back a thing. Even though I didn't know any of the artists, I loved all of the music. It was so fascinating to hear French music and I am now hooked on a couple of groups. What was really interesting though, was that a lot of the French groups only sang in english. Apparently that is a thing here! It was hilarious to hear the French fans sing along to these songs in horrible english, trying to formulate what words were being sung. I am positive that 90% of the audience had no idea what any of the lyrics meant, but they were loving it. Also, the second night we attended the main stage, it was Bastille day in France (their version of the Fourth of July). Therefore, the concert took a pause and we got to see fireworks over the port. It was gorgeous. I have decided that I have to come back to Francofolies, it isn't an option.

Francofolies main stage!

Second night of Francofolies!

So, overall, I hope this has given an insight to what my life has been like for the past three weeks in La Rochelle. As of today, I only have 6 days left here, which makes me extremely sad. On Friday, I will return back to Paris, stay there for three nights, and then I am on my way to Norway to see my wonderfully amazing friend Marin :) So, while leaving France is something I do not want to do at all, I have a light at the end of the tunnel because I get to travel around Europe with a best friend of mine! So, I will try to update my blog more often than I have in the past three weeks, but I will be extremely busy!

Bisous,  à bientôt!

Home Away From Home

 Coucou mes amies!

I hope all is well in the land of free! The 4th of July was this past week, which marked the first time that I was out of the country for America's best summer celebration. While I missed celebrating our Independence Day, I am currently in the most beautiful place I have ever been, so I can't complain.

La Rochelle from the Ferris Wheel

As of today, I have been in La Rochelle for one week. This past Saturday I began my journey in this gorgeous sea port city in Western France. So, for all of you wondering what my life is like here, I will fill you in. I live with my host mom, Sergine, and her two cats (One of which, named Venus, I am not very fond of. He bites me often.). Sergine also has a boyfriend, Dominique, who comes over on the weekends. He teaches me how to mix drinks and gives me good traveling tips. Sergine is an awesome cook! Everyday, we have breakfast and dinner together, but on the weekends we have every meal together. Lunch and dinner consist of four courses: apéritifs (drinks and snacks), the main course (usually a meat or pasta of some sort), bread and cheese, and then desert. After every meal I am completely stuffed. Everything I have tried I have liked quite a bit, even mussels! Not only are the meals extremely tasty, but they are also a great opportunity for me to improve my speaking skills and learn more about the French culture. We literally sit down together for 2 or 3 hours every single meal and talk. My host mom doesn't speak any English, so we communicate with what I know. This may seem crazy to most people, but I actually am really happy that she doesn't speak English. It forces me to speak French as much as possible throughout the day, and I learn a lot more this way!

Having apéritifs with my host mom, Sergine!

We live in an adorable little house that is a ten minute walk from my school. I attend Soup du Co, which is a private French business university in La Rochelle. There, I have class from 8:30am-12:30pm Monday through Friday. I am in an advanced French conversation course with eight other students. It is extremely challenging, but I can sense myself improving quite a bit! After class, we go to the cafeteria for lunch and have an extremely cheap meal for 4 euros (yay for student discounts!). From then on we have the rest of the day to enjoy La Rochelle. We have bus passes so we literally can go wherever we want (I seriously love public transportation). So far, our routine has either been shopping, going to the beach, or studying at a cafe in Vieux Port (the downtown area of La Rochelle). Yes we study; this study abroad trip isn't all fun and games! I currently have two papers to write, one test every week, one large exam, one presentation, and weekly journals to write, oh la la! (the French form of my goodness!) But, the French way of life is so relaxed. I have not felt stressed at all here, even with all of the work I have to do. I choose to enjoy myself rather than worry about the future. If I were in the states, I would be stressing out to the max. But, I have decided to live like the French culture and minimize my worrying as much as possible! It's awesome!!!

Vieux Port

In addition to school during the week, we also go on weekend excursions. Just today we took a one hour boat ride to Ile d'AIX, an island off the coast of France. We toured a compound there from WWI and hung out on the beach for hours. The water is beautiful here and the sun is strong (which is why I have been applying SPF 50 about 6 times per day). We will have an excursion for every weekend we are in La Rochelle.

Monument on our way to Ile d'AIX.

Overall, I can honestly say that this has been the best experience of my life so far. I cannot imagine a better place to call my home for the next three weeks and I know I will miss it immensely when I have to leave. The culture, sights, atmosphere, and people in La Rochelle are like no other. I wish you could all experience this amazing city alongside me!

The port at night!

À bientôt!

Uphill Both Ways

Hey everyone!

Sorry I haven't blogged for awhile; being in Paris has been crazy busy! The time has flown by and there is so much to tell! I am currently in Mont St. Michel, a town in Northwestern France. Previous to today, we spent 10 days in Paris, during which I fell in love with the city. Everything about it is just so amazing to me. The people, culture, food, sights, ways of life; I can't get enough. Paris has definitely claimed a special place in my heart.

First of all, the pace of life here is radically different than America. I like it a lot. During the day, everyone is extremely busy and seems to be on a mission, which is just like most Americans. Occupations are important to them because they are always on the go, but the French work to live, not live to work. At night, they spend hours eating dinner with the ones they love. Meal times are treated as leisure social activities, not a speedy necessity. People take the time to talk with one another and enjoy each other's company. It is not uncommon for the French to be hanging out at restaurants or bars for hours any night of the week.

Having a leisurely hot chocolate stop outside the Louvre.

Also, I like the French form of parties a lot better than America's. In France, a party consists of a group of friends around a large table, slowly drinking and laughing. This intimate setting is great for relaxation and getting to know others on a deeper level. I have been experiencing this with some new french friends we made in our hotel. On multiple occasions, we all sat around, enjoying drinks and food together while teaching each other about our respective cultures and trying to communicate in both languages. The French really love learning and practicing their English, so our new friends really enjoyed asking us questions and trying out new phrases, even though I just spoke with them in French!

One of our little French nights!

Thirdly, I have learned why the French are so skinny. They walk uphill EVERYWHERE. Seriously, it seems as though we have found every single hill in Paris and climbed it. One morning we went to Sacre Coeur, a very large church on top of the highest hill in Paris. We walked uphill to the church, saw the gorgeous view, and then decided to climb the 300 steps up to the church tower. While this was a tiring task, the experience was incredible. Another day, we went to the region of Champagne where champagne was invented. We took a tour of a distillery and finished with a tasting, but after the tasting we decided to climb the tour in the building to see over the whole town of Champagne. It was 230 steps up to the top, and climbing this long spiral staircase after a champagne tasting was interesting! Also, between going upstairs everyday on the metro to climbing up from the catacombs from underneath the streets of Paris, we never fail to find the uphill route both ways.

At the top of Sacre Coeur, the best view of Paris.

Finally, I have seriously fallen in love with the French language. I can't get enough. Everyday I try to speak as much of it as possible. I get SO much gratification from using the knowledge I have gained over the past 7 years of French classes. It is especially awesome when someone talks to me in English and looks shocked when I respond to them in French. When we hang out with our friends from the hotel, we literally sit for hours in the room or at a restaurant with a French-English dictionary on the table and talk. This has increased my language skill immensely! They guys even tell me that I understand too much of their French! :) Some of my friends here joke that they don't even remember that I can speak English.

Tomorrow is the day that I will finally move in with my host family in La Rochelle. I seriously cannot wait! I am excited to see what this experience will bring me and how my French skills will progress. I will try to blog about my new home soon. But until then, à bientôt!




P.S. Here is a little itinerary for the past week and a half:

Monday:
La Conciergerie (An old palace in Paris that also doubled as a jail that Marie Antoinette was held in before her beheading.)
St. Chapelle (A church connected to La Conciergerie. Home of some of the most beautiful stain glass depicting some famous biblical stories.)
Notre Dame (One of the most famous catholic churches in Paris.)
Eiffel Tower

Tuesday: 
St. Madeleine (Catholic church in Paris)
Another church I cannot remember the name of!
L'Opera House of Paris
L'Arc de Triomphe

Wednesday:
Sacre Coeur (Church on the top of the highest hill in Paris)
Montmartre (Artists neighborhood by Sacre Coeur)
Salvador Dahli Museum
Père Lachaise (Large Cemetery in Paris that holds the graves of Oliver Wilde, Moliere, La Fontaine, and many other famous French people.)

Thursday:
Catacombs underneath the streets of Paris

Friday:
Fontainebleau Castle
Volovicante Castle
Fete de La Musique (The national music festival day in France where concerts are preformed all over the country.)

Saturday:
Basilica of St. Denis

Sunday:
Le Louvre (Museum and former palace in Paris that houses the Mona Lisa, among many other famous items.)
Love Lock Bridge
Boat ride on La Seine River

Monday:
Cluney Museum
Champagne Distillery Tour and Tasting in Champagne, France

Tuesday:
Palace of Versailles

Wednesday:
Museum I can't remember the name of!
Jewish Quarters
Victor Hugo's House
Musée Carnavalet

Thursday:
Basilica
The house and gardens of Claude Monet
Basilica in Lisieux

Friday:
Bayeux Tapestry
Arromanche (DDay Beaches)
American Cemetery

Les Leçons de Paris

So tonight marks my second full day in Paris and it feels like it has been two weeks!  We have crammed SO much into each day, and added with the time change, jet lag, beginning information, etc., it has been extremely eventful. While I cannot convey everything that has happened in text form, I have decided to point out what this experience has taught me so far.

1. Iceland is properly named. Walking onto the tarmac was a shock to the system!

2. Airports aren't as scary as I used to believe. After navigating Iceland's airport along with the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, I am feeling pretty good about my future traveling in August.

3. The birds in Paris are WAY too comfortable around humans. I do not like this.

4. While I am having a ton of fun, I actually have to do work here. This is not a vacation; it is more like various educational field trips of which I have to study and take a cumulative, overarching exam at the end. I knew this ahead of time, but it is now settling in as I grasp pamphlet after packet, trying to soak in as much knowledge about the landscapes we are visiting.

5. I am actually a lot more comfortable now with my French speaking ability than I was when I came to France in high school. Previously, I was extremely nervous to speak in French and very little did I take the chance to do so. But, even on the very first night I arrived, I began speaking French with Parisians. While I am at a loss for words many times and fail to conjugate things correctly, I am learning to become more confident with my knowledge. Also, I have found it really frustrating when I speak with Parisians in French and they just talk to me in English. Even when I continue to speak with them in French, most of them have none of it. Hopefully this changes when I am in La Rochelle!

6. The metro brings emotions of highs and lows. First off, we completely conquered the system within the very first day. In the afternoon, we ventured out on our own to visit the Eiffel Tower and so we had to figure out the metro right away. It was awesome! But, the metro is also somewhat bad at the same time. After instances of attempted robbery, a stolen wallet, a missing NaviGo pass, a near fist fight, and the feeling of warm bodies squished up against each other (none of which but the warm bodies actually happened to me personally, don't worry mom and dad!), the metro isn't necessarily our best friend. But it is convenient!

7. I really like Poutine (a Canadian dish made of gravy, fries, and chicken). Tonight we went to a Canadian bar in the middle of Paris called "The Moose" for a friend's birthday, and I decided to try the Poutine because of the influence of my Canadian (but kind've really Minnesotan) friend at Mankato. It was awesome. 

So, as one can tell, my experiences here have been really eye-opening and fun! I can't wait to continue to work on my speaking skills and experience the city in depth. Also, I will try to blog as much as possible, but my days are so busy here that it is hard to find the time. Hopefully I will be able to update again soon. But, until then, bisous! :)

And We're Off!

As many people may already know, I have been given the opportunity to study abroad this summer in France with MSU's French program. This will give me 9 credits towards my French minor, and many amazing experiences that will last for a lifetime! The program includes two weeks in Paris and four weeks in La Rochelle, a western sea-port city in France where I will be taking classes at the university there and staying with a host family. In addition, I have decided to travel around Europe for two weeks afterwards with my college roommate Marin, who will be studying abroad in Norway, and her high school friend Louise.

Because so many things will be happening in the span of my 8 week trip, I have decided to blog about my experiences. This way, I will be able to look back on my trip and see my growth as a student and as a global citizen (that's right all you Honors cronies, I went there!). In addition, I am required to journal for a scholarship I was blessed with, so I will be updating the blog at least once a week. Feel free to creep on my entries or ignore my posts! :)

Today is the last day I will touch American soil for 8 weeks! My flight leaves at 7:30pm, and after a connection in Iceland, I will be in France! FYI: I will not have my phone overseas. I am leaving it at my house (Even though my dad threatened to use it while I am gone in order to text all of my friends, therefore leaving me friendless when I come back!). My means of communication will be this blog, the lovely Facebook, and email. I will check them periodically, so I will be able to stay in touch!  I am extremely excited to start this journey and cannot wait to see what the future has in store. À bientôt! :)