How I got to ride in first class

Hello, world!

I'm back from Germany after 5 days there and two in Paris. The story began with Adrienne and I staying with her friend Justin in Paris the night before our train left to Cologne because it was at 8:00 am and we couldn't get from Tours to Paris early enough to catch it that morning. So, we stayed at his place near the Arc de Triomphe. We were all ready to leave at 7 the next morning because the Gare du Nord is all the way across the city, and with morning rush hour on the metro, you just never know how long it could take. So, needless to say we were more than a little surprised when we woke up and realized it was 7:40. We sprung out of bed, put on our shoes, and we were off in a feeble attempt to make the approximately 40-minute journey in 20 minutes. I literally ran across Paris with my massive turtle backpack in my bright red Georgia sweatpants with a massive letter G on the leg. ACROSS PARIS. New low in life. Anyway, we made it through a metro line change and got there at 8:09, which is clearly record-breaking time for morning rush hour. Unfortunately, the one time the we wanted the train to be late, it wasn't, so we missed it by 8 minutes. The whole thing sort of felt like the Amazing Race, except the race completely kicked our asses. In sweatpants. For a little while we debated the risks of just getting on the next train to Cologne with our old tickets and playing the "we didn't know" foreign card because you always know someone in France who knows someone who's done it and gotten away with it, but finally decided that it probably wouldn't be in our best interest if we got arrested by the German police upon our arrival, so we had to buy all new tickets at €86 a piece (ugh) but, for some reason in Europe it is occasionally cheaper to buy first class tickets than second class, which is exactly what happened to us. So, though we had to splurge on new tickets, at least we got to do it in style!

We got to Germany that afternoon and explored Cologne a little bit by going to the cathedral, having our first German beers and our first German currywurst. We pretty much museum-ed it up for the whole trip. We went to the museum of Roman and Greek history (Cologne, though it is a very new city for Europe since most of it was destroyed during WWII, had some random Roman ruins scattered around, so that was pretty cool to see that mixed with all the new developments), the Ludwig museum, which had a whole bunch of Warhol and Picasso and other modern art (learned I am v. much NOT into modern art), and the museum of Chocolate, which was definitely our favorite museum of the trip! We also climbed the Cologne cathedral, which is the most visited Cathedral in all of Germany and a UNESCO World Heritage site. We saw the bridge across the Rhine (can't remember the name of it) that is completely full of locks similar to the Pont des Arts in Paris. I think the legend goes that you and your significant other are supposed to attach a lock to the bridge and that will make your love last or something like that. We went to Bonn for one day and did a walking tour and saw Beethoven's house. We went inside but weren't allowed to take pictures of it, unfortunately. I think that pretty much sums it up. Other than that we just hung out enjoying the break from French food (it can be pretty bland) and drinking Kölsch, the local beer. I learned that I actually did remember just enough German to order in restaurants, which made people think that I might actually understand them when they spoke to me until I would promptly respond with a blank stare. However the Germans were very friendly about speaking English unlike some other people, though I won't give any names (the French). All in all the Germans were very friendly and made us feel very welcome (again, sometimes unlike the French). Starting to think I'm in the wrong country. One person even asked me for directions in German! I must've looked like I fit in. Since I don't really know what I'm doing next year, I'm beginning to wonder if Germany is a possibility for the future. I'm thinking of going to Berlin and/or Munich at the end of next month (our next vacation and also the end of my contract) before I go see Lucy in Scotland and finally make my way back to America. Because, let's be honest, all Europeans want to learn English and if you are a native speaker, it's not too hard to find a job in Europe. Who knows!

Speaking of the end of my contract, I only have a mere 6 weeks left of teaching, which seems impossible. In less than two months I'll be going home to America. A couple of months ago I would've been really excited to be going home so soon, mostly because the weather was literally awful (greyest, coldest, longest winter of my life), but now that spring has sprung and people are starting to come outside again and France is beginning to look a little bit like it did when I studied abroad two summers ago, I'm sort of not ready to go. Is it possible to be nostalgic for something that hasn't ended yet? You know when you're wishing something would just end already and then the end comes and you're a little bit sad? That's what I'm experiencing right now. So I think the best thing I can do is just make the most of what's left of my time here, but I will be so glad to see all my friends and family from home. I may start a countdown.

Anyway, that's all for now. Auf Wiedersehen!

That bridge that I can't remember the name of and the Cologne Cathedral.

Germany To-Do List

1. Find other Holzhausen(s)
2. Take picture with said Holzhausen(s)
3. Eat bratwurst
4. Go to a beer garden
5. Get mistaken for a real German when people see my last name
6. Go see cathedrals
7. Visit museums
8. Celebrate my German heritage with German beer, chocolate, & sauerkraut

I think that about covers it. In case you missed it, I'm going back to the Mutterland (motherland) this week!! Adrienne and I will be going to Cologne, Germany (yes, that's Cologne like... cologne. Köln in German) for 5 days starting this weekend and I for one could not be more excited! I am starting to think though that I have a propensity for going to cities with odd names. For one, I live in Tours, which is just bizarre. And getting non-French speaking English speakers to not pronounce the s is near impossible. It led to a lot of confustion when I told people I was going to Tours (literally pronounced like tour in English). And now I'm going to the city that has men's body spray named after it. How bizarre. But, it's supposed to be a really cool town! It's the fourth-largest city in Germany and is known for its cathedral which took over 500 years to complete! Wowza. A lot of the city was destroyed during WWII. And it's known for its museums. That's pretty much all I know, not gonna lie! But alas, though I really wanted to go to Berlin or Munich, Cologne was the cheapest city that we could get to at €68 (or around $100 roundtrip) tickets from Paris. Oh, the advantages of living in Europe! Eastern and southern Germany will just have to go on the back burner for now. But hey, I definitely can't complain! I'm pretty excited to be going to Germany at all. And I finally get to bust out that whopping one semester of college German that I took!

In other news, I apologize to my oh-so devoted fans for neglecting my blog as of late. I have to say though the reason is - and I really do mean this in the least spoiled way possible - my life here has become very, very ordinary and I feel like I've run out of interesting things to write about. While I will always enjoy exploring new places and Paris will never, ever get old, when I'm just in Tours my life is quite run of the mill. Don't get me wrong - I'm having a great time, but after living here for nearly 6 months I've sort of gotten into an everyday routine not so different from any routine I've been in in America. I know it sounds really glamorous to live in France, but the truth is that while it is a great place, when you're living here as opposed to just traveling or studying abroad, it becomes just like anywhere else you've ever lived. You get your routine and everyday life is pretty much the same. This isn't to say that I'm not having a great time, but I can guarantee you that every minute is definitely not a new exciting, adventure.

However, since the French are incapable of going more than 7-8 weeks without vacation, I'm on break again which is why you probably all figured I'm going to Germany. We've got two weeks off effective this weekend until March 11. While the six weeks paid vacation I've gotten since I started in October might sound like a dream, it has brought me to the recent realization that in life you pretty much always either have time or money, very rarely both, and occasionally neither. I've definitely got more time than I do money right now, but like I said, I really can't complain! If there's one thing I've learned though, it's that an excess of spare time doesn't do you a whole lot of good if you don't have any money to spend occupying said time. Life lesson.


Well, I guess that's all, folks. Wish me bon voyage (or whatever it is the Germans say) and I will update you all with my new exciting German adventures very soon!

Bisous

Sprechen Sie Deutsch, baby?

Once upon a Thursday night, I was sitting in the laundromat around 9 o'clock minding my own business, folding my laundry when something at the window caught my attention. Let me rewind and say that there had been a couple of other people in there with me but they left no more than 5 minutes before the incident, and as I had become accustomed to doing my laundry after dark because of my work schedule, I wasn't worried that I was completely alone. After all, it was only 9 pm and what can go wrong that early, right? Also, I should say that this is the type of building that has an entirely glass front and therefore you can see everything that was going on inside but since it faces out onto a poorly lit courtyard, I could see almost nothing outside. Now I know what a goldfish feels like.

Anyway, I'm folding my laundry and something catches my attention and I turn towards the window. There is a man standing at the window dressed in all black with a scarf covering the bottom half of his face. I notice he has green eyes. Then I notice something else. This man is staring at me, jacking off. Yes, that is correct. Jacking. Off.

I bet that's not where you thought I was going with that, right? My immediate thought is "LOOK AWAY, LOOK AWAY!" My first reaction was to just start folding my laundry faster because in some twisted logic I thought that if I did that it would make him go away. Next thought: "MAKE IT STOP!" Finally, logic hit and I decided to grab my phone and fake-call the police. Why didn't I actually call, you ask? Simple answer: I don't know what it's called in French! Thankfully, the fake phone call scared him enough and he ran off. The whole incident couldn't have lasted more than 30 seconds but just like a car wreck or a really embarrassing incident, it happened in slow motion.

For whatever reason, I STILL, nearly two weeks later, have not been able to get through this story yet without laughing. I guess laughter always has been my coping mechanism for awkward situations. Alas, I made it home unscathed that night, but it's safe to say that I will be looking for a different laundromat and will only be doing my laundry between the hours of 9 am and noon from now on. Only in France, eh? If I had been able to think straight, I might've thought to make fun of how miniscule it was, but unfortunately I didn't think that quickly. Maybe next time (God forbid). After discussing this with several friends I have been told a few times now that my story "takes the cake," but I can assure you all, this is NOT the cake I want to take!


In other news, you all probably know that a major cold front has been sweeping across Europe and the weather here in Tours has been exceptionally cold for the past week or so. It's been subzero (celsius) for nearly a week now and isn't supposed to be above freezing before Friday. It snowed last Monday and though we only got about an inch or so, people freaked out just like they would've in Georgia. One difference though is that here they only cancel school if it's really, really bad. Otherwise, you go in if you can and if you can't, you can't. No punishment. But, since the buses pretty much completely stopped running at the first prediction of snow, that means empty classes since the students can't get to school and neither can many of the assistants (such as moi), school is basically cancelled. Last night it snowed another good 3 inches or so, which is just enough to make it look really pretty and cancel buses, but not so much that it's no longer fun. The perfect amount! Today Adrienne and I baked nutella cookies and I took advantage of the snow day and admired it from the comfort of my apartment, having her come to me. Maybe I'll get more adventurous tomorrow since it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. The low tonight is in the single digits Fahrenheit, so that's about -13 Celsius. Brr! Atlanta has not prepared me for weather like this! My jealousy for those of you in t-shirts and shorts back home knows no end. Though I now know that teachers look forward to snow days just as much as students do!

View out of my bedroom window this morning. Such a lovely view to wake up to!

The park from my window

Something that you've probably learned about the French from reading my blog is that they take a lot of vacations. I haven't gone more than 7 weeks here without at least a 10-day break. So, alas, though I've only been back from Christmas break for a month, we have another vacation starting in three weeks! This time, I'm getting a little more adventurous with my travel plans and going somewhere people can correctly pronounce my name. You guessed it - Germany! Adrienne and I will be going to Köln, the 4th-largest city in Germany, and possibly making day trips to Dusseldorf and Bonn. I am SO excited as I've always wanted to go back to the motherland. I bet they'll think I'm actually German. Boy, will they be surprised if they try to speak German to me! All I recall from German class is "Guten Tag" and "Danke Schoen." Should be interesting! Unfortunately, it definitely won't be any warmer in Germany, but it's going to be so worth it!

I've also made travel plans to visit Lucy in her hometown of Edinburgh at the end of my contract and I literally cannot wait! I've always wanted to see Scotland and can't think of a better tour guide & friend to go with!! After spending a few days there in the beginning of May it'll be back to the good 'ole US of A for me! I truly cannot believe how fast my time in France has gone. I've been living here for nearly 5 months now! I have less than 3 months left in my teaching contract, and before I know it I'll be going back home. I can't lie though, as much as I am enjoying my time and everyone I've met here, it really has made me appreciate my friends and family so much more. I love it here (despite the laundromat incident) and am so pleased with all the friends I've made, but I really think life is just too short to spend it away from the ones you love. Don't get me wrong, I'm having the time of my life, but I will be ready to come home in three months and see some old friendly faces. I had always looked at this job as my ticket out of Georgia, but the longer I'm here the more I miss it. I'm just going to make the most of the rest of my time here because, really, when am I ever going to live in Europe again? But I definitely look forward to being back in America.

In case you missed out on 1993 and didn't get the blog title:

Lost in Translation

Bonjour tout le monde!

This was my first week back at school after Christmas break. Though I have to say, I feel like my year abroad is turning into being more about what I do outside of school than what I do there, but c'est la vie! I mean, I don't hate it. In fact, I think that's really all I have to say about school this week. It happened. It was alright. Moving on.

This week (Wednesday to be exact) the SOLDES started. The soldes are a cultural experience, y'all. It's a month-long sale that only happens twice a year, once in July and once in January and I am here to experience it again! These are the only times sales happen in France and it is absolutely insane. Think black Friday crowds. Unfortunately, my bank account didn't like the soldes as much as my brain did, but it was still fun to (mostly) just window shop.

This weekend was the usual sortir-ing (going out) with les autres assistants, but this time for a petit joint birthday celebration! Next weekend is the grand celebration in Paris! This will my total Paris count to a total of 7, but let's be honest - Paris never gets old!

In other news, I thought it might be entertaining to list some of the funny things that the French have said since I got here. I realize I should've been keeping track of this since day one, but here are some highlights.

• By Pascale Catoire, the leader of all the English assistants in our Académie on our very first orientation day on our very first week in France: "If you go home, you will regret coming back" in reference to assistants going home for the Christmas holidays. She meant to say going back, as in going back home.
• On a bag of pretzels: "Bretzels"
• A student trying to say/spell hamburger: "Humberger" (what's scary is it's spelled the exact same way in French)
• On a storefront in Tours: "Jean's" and "Boot's"
• This one wasn't mine, but it's too good to pass up, one of Adrienne's students: "We eat a lot of coq in France." Was trying to say rooster.
• When I wished my students happy holidays before the Christmas break one replied: "I am good, thank you."
• When a student asked me what "grand" was in English and I replied "in what sense?" the student took "in what sense" as my answer. 
• Not really a translation thing, but funny nonetheless. While wearing a Michigan sweatshirt in a restaurant in Tours, the waitress asked me if that was where I was from and then said she had been somewhere in Michigan but couldn't remember the name of the city. After thinking for a few minutes she replied with great enthusiasm, "Milwauke!"
• When one of my students asked what Georgia was and I told them it was a state, "What is a state?" You know, like the United STATES of America. Ugh.
• In one of my classes a student was trying to say that she likes to FEED babies. Instead, she said, and this is a direct quote, "I like eating babies."
• Discussing the difference in pronunciation between "beaches" and "bitches" about half the class said they couldn't hear a difference. Ooooh, you're going to have problems if you ever go to an English-speaking country, kid!

But, to make this entirely fair, I should point out some of the stupid things I've said in French.

"Une tasse de vin, s'il vous plaît." A cup of wine, please. On my first night out on study abroad. Surprised France didn't kick me out for this crime against wine. 


That's all I can think of for now (though I've definitely said more silly things than that but surely I've just subconsciously blocked them out of my memory). Updates to follow!

Bonne Année

Bonjour tout le monde!

Spent a wonderful two weeks with my parents for the holidays. We met up in Paris on Christmas eve, spent a few days there, headed to London where we spent New Year's Eve, and then came back to Tours so I could give them a little taste of la vie touraine.

Tomorrow it's back to school for me. I would complain, but let's be real - we don't really have to work that hard!

In other news, I'm nearly halfway through my teaching contract. I can hardly believe that I've already been here for 4 months! It seems like just yesterday that I arrived fresh-faced and ready to take on la France. My contract runs out at the end of April, and though I had originally planned to do some hardcore traveling at the end, the recent realization that I have absolutely no money has hit hard. But, of course I will travel for as long as I can possibly afford to, which at this rate should be about a week or two. So that means that in about 4 months I'll be home in Georgia, or as one of my students so affectionately called it, the "bitch" state. She meant to say peach. I don't even know anymore. Grad school apps are in and I should find out about it around the time I go back home! While I am excited to go back, my feelings are a little mixed. Of course it will be good to see everyone again, but in a way I sort of feel like by going back to Georgia I'm resigning myself to never get out. I just dunno. But then again, I guess I've already broken the whole never getting out thing, because here I am, right? Though I did know going into this job that I was on a temporary contract. And while I originally thought that maybe I could eventually find a full-time real teaching (not teaching assistant) job here, the recent realization that you have to be a French citizen to teach here has that shattered. But, we'll see. My plan is to just play things by ear comme toujours (like always)!

Some photos from the holidays...

 Christmas display at the Galleries Lafayette in Paris. Think Harrod's or a really, really swanky Macy's.

Hmm, at second glance it sort of looks photoshopped, but I swear it's not! Paris (obvs) with my parents on Christmas eve.

Mom & Dad crossing Abbey Road.

Mom & I at the Tower of London.

Mom & Dad at the Château de Chenonceau near Tours. It's actually built directly on the river. Definitely the coolest château that I've ever been to!


Bonne année (happy new year) tout le monde!

Joyeux Noël

Tonight the Holzhausens depart from Atlanta on that midnight plane to Paris! I'll be meeting them at the airport in the morning and we'll spend a few days in Paris soaking up all of the Christmas festivities the city of lights has to offer. Then on Tuesday it's off to London via the Chunnel for post-Christmas goodness and New Year's Eve festivities. But in the meantime, I should recap the past week.

Last Saturday I set off for Bruges, Belgium, which is known not just for the movie "In Bruges," but for being one of the best-preserved medieval cities in all of Europe. It definitely lived up to that reputation, my friends. The whole place does not even look real. It's like stepping back in time. If you ever have the chance, heed the advice of the movie and get to Bruges.

And then I made it back to Tours earlier this week where I have mostly spent too much time sleeping since most people went home for the holidays last weekend, and a little bit of time finishing up last minute Christmas shopping.

In other news, my grad school applications are nearly all done! Which begs the question, where in the world will I be this time next year? As always I'm incapable of planning more than 6 months in advance so I have resigned myself to not only apply to grad schools all over America, but also to re-apply for this assistantship next year even though a major part of why I'm having such a good time over here are the other assistants who will all be gone next year. And, as much as I like Tours, the weather is killing me slowly and painfully. To the nice old man in the Belgian train station who told me he hoped it would be warmer & drier when I got back to Tours after maybe a half-hour of drizzle in Bruges, you've obviously never been here before. A small, naive part of me thought that once I got over here I would magically figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life. Well let me tell you, my friends, that has not happened. In fact, I think I'm more confused than ever. Uggggghhhh. All I want for Christmas is for someone to figure my life out for me. K thanks.

Joyeux Noël and à bientôt, mes amis!

In Bruges

Hello world,

Spent the weekend in Bordeaux a couple of weekends ago with Adrienne, Carys, and Lucy. Forgot how much I love the south of France. We managed to have a good time despite the fact that it rained the entire time. Which, unfortunately, is not unlike Tours. I'm just now realizing that I've been spoiled my whole life with Atlanta weather and have never had to really deal with gray, rainy winters until now. I can't handle it, I need sunlight. I'm like a plant. So, this weekend I am getting the heck out of Dodge!

Vacation starts tomorrow and I'm taking advantage of the time off and traveling a bit before my parents get here. First stop: Belgium. I'll be going to Bruges and Brussels for the Christmas markets in addition to waffles, chocolate, and beer, of course. I'll also spend a couple of days in Köln, Germany, which apparently has the best Christmas markets in all of Europe! Also excited to get back to my roots because, you know, I'm German. I'm ready to get my mulled wine on (again). Then it's off to Paris with my parents for Christmas and London for New Years, bringing it to a grand total of 4 countries in two weeks. Bring it on, Europe!

Les vacances commencent ENFIN!

For your viewing pleasure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoE9edjEDCI