It's Official

I really wanted to write this blog post yesterday but alas, it didn't happen. So while I am writing this on Saturday I'll only be talking about what I did on Thursday and Friday. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have time to recap you on the weekend!

Ok so Thursday: During our class at the Dickinson Center in the morning we did all of the paperwork to register for our respective French universities. We also talked about our host families and how that was going. Laura, one of our program coordinators/directors/I have no idea what her real job title is, handed out a sheet listing all of the things we should have talked about with our hosts by now and I had done all of them which made me feel good. In the afternoon we had another randonée urbaine with M. Créma. The tour was all about how the city got it's wealth. We visited the former residences of all of the rich merchants and they were absolutely beautiful. From the exterior these "hôtels" as they're called, look plain but once you walk through the gate in to the interior courtyard, they're really stunning. We also visited an incredible church, the Jacobins. Between the stained glass and the amazing vaulted ceiling, my inner art history nerd was dying. We also walked through the three gardens near the Dickinson Center, all of which would make for excellent picnic spots in the future. After the tour, a couple of us went to have crepes. I figured it was necessary for my first crepe in Toulouse to be nutella and banana and it did not disappoint. When I got home I spent time chatting with my host mom Catherine until dinner. She was asking me about sororities and fraternities at Dickinson because those don't exist in France. It was a really interesting conversation. After dinner I organized a little bit and went to bed really early because the next day...

Jardin des Plantes

Jardin Royal

Hôtel d'Ulmo

Hôtel d'Ulmo

Fondation Bemberg - Hôtel d'Assézat

Fondation Bemberg - Hôtel d'Assézat

Jacobins

Jacobins

Jacobins

Jacobins

Jacobins

I had to be up super early to visit le Mirail (pronounced me-rye), the university in Toulouse where I'll be taking my art history classes. The official name is the Université Toulouse II - Le Mirail. It took about 30 minutes to get there once I was on the bus. I have to take the bus to the metro to get there which really isn't as bad as it sounds. The worst part is waiting for the bus. It's not like I can just roll out of bed and be at Weiss in five minutes anymore. Once at the Mirail we split into two groups to go on a tour of the campus. We had to stop in each of the buildings because the schedule of classes is posted outside of each department and we needed that info to pick our classes. The campus isn't that big and it's not exactly pretty (trying to be nice and not say it's ugly) but it's fine. It's not where I'll be spending most of my time. After the tour we hung out for a bit in one of the buildings and then had lunch at the "caf." During the afternoon we played a scavenger hunt type game to make sure we knew our way around the campus, handed in our paperwork, got a tour of the offices for international students, got some free stuff (pens! yay!) and got our student ID cards. I felt so official (You were waiting for the title of the post to come in to play weren't you?) after getting my new card. It was sad replacing my Dickinson card in my wallet but it'll be back in it's proper spot next year. Once we were finished at the Mirail a few of us went to the Jardin des Plantes to hang out and relax after a busy morning. We had ice cream and sat in the grass which felt very French for some reason. I had dinner at a vegetarian restaurant with Caroline and then we met Sarah and Kathleen for drinks at an Irish pub. I unfortunately had to go home early because my stomach was killing me. I guess that's what I get for trying to be a vegetarian in France.

Mirail

Une Semaine

That's one week for all you non frenchies. It's also the amount of time that I've been in France. Isn't that crazy? I think it is. The past week has been such a roller coaster of emotions that I'm still recovering from it. Jetlag is still kicking my ass a bit. But time goes on and there are plenty of things to do and see in Toulouse!

Monday morning I walked with Jeremy to class (shout out Jeremy if you're reading this.. If not, awkward) which took about 30 minutes. When the weather is nice it's much nicer to walk to the Dickinson center than take the bus. It's also faster which is bizarre. We had our "Toulouse Colloquium" class in the morning and we discussed what our identity means to us and what it means to be a global citizen. While thinking about my identity, I realized that my entire personality comes from the fact that I have red hair and I'm from New York. It's weird but it makes sense. For lunch I walked with Emily (another shout out!) to meet a friend of a friend. We grabbed sandwiches and ate next to the Garonne. I hadn't seen the river yet and it was absolutely gorgeous. When I have some free time I definitely want to have more lunches there. After eating, we went back to the center where we were supposed to start picking out classes for the universities in Toulouse but the wifi failed so we were dismissed early. I was feeling really stressed and anxious when I got home after that. Luckily, Camille needed help writing an American resume so I got to be of use which was such a nice feeling after always feeling like the opposite. Instead of eating with my hosts I went in to the centre ville for tapas with Sarah, Caroline, and Alex (so many shout outs!) which was fantastic. It was so nice to eat outside.

La Garonne

Our dinner view

It was raining Tuesday morning so we took the bus instead of walking. I was having a panic attack because I thought we were going to be late because there was a ton of traffic in the city. It's so frustrating for me sometimes (and I know I've only been here a week) because I want to break my super type-a habits this year because sometimes I get sick of myself, but it's hard to get rid of my desire to always be early. Maybe it'll come with time. In class, we talked about the different levels of "interculturalité" and where we are on the spectrum. For me, I'm definitely at comparison, comparing everything here to everything at home. For lunch I walked around with Caroline, trying to explore the area where the center is and find new places to get food. In the afternoon we had our other class at the center. We learned about the proper ways to email and phone professors if we ever have questions. I also learned the difference between "bonjour" and "bonne journée." Bonjour is what you say to someone when you arrive while bonne journée is what you say when you leave. In my ten years of French I never learned that. After class I went with Sarah to buy her phone and then we stumbled across a really cute store with fun mugs, sunglass cases, journals, stuff like that. We also stumbled upon Flower's Café which I had heard about from everyone who has ever studied in Toulouse. We grabbed some desserts to go and ate them next to a fountain at Place du Capitole. The desserts with INCREDIBLE and so was the place where we sat. I came back home to find a huge package from Stephgirl with all my crap I left at home. Thanks mom!! It's nice to have my own pillow again. I hung around with Catherine while she made dinner chatting about our days. Somehow during our conversation the pot of boiling water on the stove fell over, spilling water everywhere. No idea how it happened. During dinner, we talked about the differences between American and French universities and how they affect finding a job afterwards. In France, as opposed to the US, you take classes for three years and only in your major. Maybe you'll take a language course but no general requirements or liberal arts. Thus, after graduation you can literally only work in your field. My host sister Camille is struggling with this right now.

Flower's

Tarte au citron

Me and Sarah!

Stephgirl rocks

Today I walked because it was a lovely fall-like morning. In class we talked about a project we're going to be doing this semester as a group as well as the difference between the implicit and the explicit in French and American culture. American culture is very explicit. We explain everything and talk everything out whereas in France, a lot is just understood without being directly said. This can make things complicated when the two cultures collide and I think we're all experiencing this in one way or another. During out lunch break, I walked to the big supermarket near the Dickinson center to get some stuff I needed (Folders and conditioner... Side note: In France, computer paper isn't 8.5 x 11 so NOTHING fits in my folders. Everything sticks out the top. Such a pain in the ass.) and then I grabbed lunch at the café next door. I came back to the center and did some homework before our afternoon outing. We had an hour lecture with M. Créma about the Roman history of Toulouse. This city is oooold. It's really interesting. After the lecture we went to the Musée Saint Raymond which actually shows the Roman history of the city. On the way we passed the Basilique St. Sernin which is so beautiful and I can't wait to go inside next week. After the museum, I went with Emily to have a drink and chat at a café and now I'm here talking to all of you! It's really strange not to be in New York on every anniversary of 9/11. Even when I'm at Dickinson it's weird because there isn't that same connection that we all felt that day 12 years ago at home. I'm feeling it again today in Toulouse and thinking about everyone in New York. Wish I could be with you guys today!

Basilique St. Sernin

Basilique St. Sernin

At the Musée Saint Raymond

Lovely view inside the museum

Fascinated by the beard

Augustus

And for Mr. Chris:

Rainy Weekend in Toulouse

It was a quiet weekend here in Toulouse. It stormed all night Friday and continued Saturday morning. I woke up on Saturday around 10 after FINALLY getting a good night of sleep. I felt much more like myself after sleeping a solid eight hours. I wanted to walk around the city and explore some more but since it was raining a bunch of us decided to go to the movies. We saw The World's End at a theater in town. The title in French is "Le dernier pub avant the fin de monde" which roughly translates to the last pub before the end of the world. It was funny but also bizarre, but nonetheless an entertaining way to spend a rainy Saturday. After the movie, we walked around the city for a bit. I stopped in to a chocolatier to buy some chocolate for my host family because one of their dogs died Saturday morning. Bianca, the dog, ate something weird last weekend and had been having problems all week. I felt so awful. It's weird because this was our first weekend in Toulouse but we didn't have anything scheduled. We weren't sure how much time we should spend away from our host families, so after that we went home. I wasn't sure what to do when I got home before dinner so I started researching places I want to visit. Stress. I also chatted with Catherine for a while about the house and their habits and stuff like that which was nice. We also discussed the differences between raising children in the US vs. France. For us, we're told "you can do it! or great job!" from such a young age whereas the French are much more critical. I had read about that before in my French classes but to hear her actually say it was interesting. For dinner we had leftovers from the night before and after dinner I sat with Catherine and Philippe eating cheese and drinking wine. My life sucks right? Philippe told me that he's the expert on cheese and wine in the family so whenever I have questions I should ask him. He taught me how the French eat their cheese with bread. It was lovely.

Rainy day 

The movie theater

View from the bus stop

Today, I woke up around 10 again after getting a decent night of sleep. At 11 I went with Catherine to a market in the city to buy stuff for lunch. It was incredible. There were vendors selling all types of food and I wanted to sample everything. We bought this amazing bread and some saucisse de Toulouse, a special type of sausage from the region. Afterwards, Catherine drove up to the top of a parking garage near the market to show me a panoramic view of the city. You can really see why Toulouse is called "la ville rose" from up there. We came back to the house for a few and then left to go out to the country to have lunch with memebers of the extended family. I met two uncles and an aunt. They were so nice and it was fun to be a part of the lively discussion around the table. As usual, there was a hefty amount of wine with lunch and honestly, I was a bit buzzed. We stayed there for a couple of hours just relaxing and taking in the view of the countryside. Cachou was running all over the place it was so adorable. Love that dog. We came back around 3 or 4 and everyone just lounged around the house. Philippe told me yesterday that Sunday is the day of rest and I definitely got that vibe this afternoon. I'm still nervous about getting enough sleep so I didn't nap, that way I could sleep tonight, but I did relax and watch an episode of the Sopranos on my computer. Before dinner I sat with Catherine and Camille and they showed me pictures of Bianca, their dog that passed away. Catherine also showed me a book of aerial photos of Toulouse which was really neat. Dinner was a delicious zucchini gratin with couscous. As well as lots of bread and wine. There is bread with every single meal here. It's heaven. During dinner the family was telling me about this famous french movie La folie des grandeurs. The way that they described it, it kind of sounded like Monty Python.. kind of. They showed me some clips on youtube after dinner and it looks absolutely hysterical. I need to watch it. I really love my host family. They remind me so much of my actual family, always joking and making fun of one another. I swear my host brother Simon is Ian's twin. It's freaky. It was definitely a great first weekend in Toulouse and I'm excited to start exploring the city even more this week.

Marché des Carmes

View from the parking garage

Saucisse de Toulouse

Tarte aux pêches

Cachou!

The countryside

The First Few Days

The past few days have been a whirlwind to say the least. I arrived in Toulouse on Wednesday morning and my host mom picked me up at the airport. All of my luggage arrived safely, I was really nervous for some reason about that. She greeted me with the french bisou (greeting somebody by kissing them on both cheeks) which was my first signal that I actually was in France. So crazy! After she picked me up we went to a little market near the house so that she could buy some groceries for lunch and dinner. It's funny, you know that distinct scent that fruit markets have? It's the same smell in France. For some reason that stuck out for me. After that we came back to house and I unpacked. The house is awesome, very modern, with an open floor plan and a big garden. My room is bigger than my room at home and has two big windows. The only problem is that it's super hot, definitely something I'm not used to. During the unpacking phase I stopped to have lunch with my hosts. It was delicious. Melon, salad, turkey, and potatoes. I continued unpacking for a little while and then my host mom Catherine drove me around the city to show me where certain things are located. She also explained the bus/metro situation and how I can get to the Dickinson center. We came back and then I went with my host sister Camille to her grandfather's house in the country. It was so beautiful. When you think about a French country house, you picture this. It was built in 1783 and overlooks the rolling hills of the French countryside. It was only 15 minutes from Toulouse which was incredible. We came back after a few hours and had dinner. I tried to sleep but it was really hard. Jet lag is the worst.

The next day I had to be at the Dickinson center at 9:00am. I woke up to take a shower and there was a GIANT green bug in my shower. Needless to say it was probably the fastest shower I have ever taken. After the bug fiasco, Catherine drove me to the center which was great. We had orientation pretty much all day. First we discussed program logistics, then we had lunch out in the garden of the center. Did I mention that the Dickinson center is in a beautiful, french mansion-type house? After that we went on a tour of the neighborhood and the center itself. Then we discussed opening our french bank accounts. After orientation, I went with a couple of people to buy French phones that way we can communicate with each other while we're here. We walked through the oldest part of the city and it was just so beautiful. Winding roads, old brick buildings, so pretty. I took the bus for the first time home (super easy) and then we had dinner. Catherine made the most delicious quiche. During dinner we were laughing about the differences between the English and French versions of Harry Potter. For example, in the French translation, Snape's name is Rogue and Hogwarts is called Poudlard. What is this nonsense? We also laughed about Disney movies and their songs. It was so funny to hear them sing songs from the Lion King in French. I tried to sleep after dinner, but alas, I was unsuccessful.

That brings us to today! Sorry that this blog post is dragging on and on. We had our first class this morning at the Dickinson center. I took the bus with Jeremy to the center and it took 40 minutes. Kind of a pain. I'll just be waking up early for classes I guess. In class we talked about the proper way to address certain situations that may arise during our time here and also how to email a French professor. After class we quickly grabbed lunch at a café and came back to the center for our first outing with Monsieur Crema. He's fantastic. He gives us lessons about the history of Toulouse and then we go on walking tours around the city with him. Today he oriented us to the city and showed us how to know where we are and different points of interest. It was great to finally explore the city on foot and I want to do more of that tomorrow. After the tour was over, I went to a café with Sarah and Caroline and had my first legal drink in Europe! A cold beer after a two hour walking tour in the heat has never tasted so good. We also got ice cream and explored the Jardin des plantes. It's basically the Central Park of Toulouse. I came back to the house, hung out with the family for a little while, showed them some photos of my family and the photos I took today, and now I'm here talking to all of you!

In other news, I'm super homesick. It sucks. I want to enjoy everything I'm doing but all I feel like doing is crying. I don't really know why I'm telling this to the world but I guess it's better to talk about it than stifle it. Every time I talk to Stephgirl I cry. I think I'm still really jet lagged and I haven't had a good night of sleep in almost a week. Hopefully in time I'll get over it and start to love being in France.

In case you were wondering, it's almost 9:00pm here and I haven't had dinner yet. Silly European ways of life.

My room

French countryside

The house in the country

Cachou! My host's dog

Toulouse

Toulouse

Toulouse

Don't Be Afraid, Just Be Excited

A wise friend (you know who you are) said this to me recently and I have adopted it as my motto for the year.

The past few days have been crazy. Saying goodbye to friends and family has been insanely difficult, especially saying goodbye to Stephgirl at airport security an hour ago (Miss you already mommy! Yeah I said mommy. No shame.) Packing was another fiasco these past couple of days. Somehow we managed to fit all of my crap into a giant suitcase, a huge skiing duffel bag, and my carry on suitcase. I will never be able to do it again in May. We did end up paying a teensy bit extra for having two bags and both of them being overweight.. But it's fine. 

The hardest part about my final days of summer though was controlling the swarm of butterflies living inside of my stomach. (Gross mental image? Sorry.) I have been anxious 24/7 for at least the past four days. I think it's because it's finally happening. That thing that I wrote about in all of my college applications, ya know study abroad, is actually here! I'm seriously going to France. And for an entire academic year no less! It's just so hard to wrap my head around. I don't think it's ever going to feel real. 

So as I sit here at JFK (Side note - I LOVE airports. They are literally my favorite places. And I love flying. If this makes me weird, well, suck it.) I just need to not be afraid and instead start getting excited. I need to forget my anxieties about speaking French all of the time, making mistakes, having awkward moments, and the rest of my list of nagging thoughts. Instead I need to get excited about flying on a 747 (Could I BE anymore excited?! Who gets my reference?), living in another country, becoming totally fluent in another language (What the what?! Anyone?), traveling around France and Europe, and everything else that comes with having a new adventure. I think I can do it. In fact, I know I can do it. Time for these butterflies to fly away. 

Pizza and Bagels

One week. That is the amount of time that I have left in America before moving away for two semesters. It's madness I tell you! (Anybody get that reference?) I have no idea where the time is going but it is definitely flying.. probably on a concorde. (Like my nerdy aviation joke? I know I'm cool.) There is still so much left to do this week and seeing as it's my last week of summer, finding the motivation to do it all has become a real challenge. Just a few things on my to do list for the week:

• Finish my required reading about the differences between French culture and American culture - It was interesting when I started and now it's sort of a drag.
• Finish season three of The Sopranos - I wanted to finish all of the seasons before I left but it's just not going to happen.
• Watch Gone With the Wind - I've had it on Netflix for like two months now and I just need to block out four hours and get it over with.
• Eat my last slice of New York pizza and my last New York bagel - So depressing I don't even want to think about it.
• Say goodbye to friends and family - Not as depressing as the previous bullet point... Just kidding... I think.
• PACK - No thanks bye.
• Watch everything left on my DVR - TV is important to me, ok? Sheesh.
• Run - Ugh.

I am definitely forgetting things and when I remember them I'll probably have some sort of panic attack.  I mean, no I won't because I never stress out about anything... I guess even though I'm not at school right now with everyone else (which is SO bizarre - miss you all so much!) I'm still the same old Kimmy. At least I'm being true to myself during my last week stateside, right?

The Departed

I apologize in advance for this post because it's definitely more of a reflection-type blog, which I said that I would try to avoid.. but I'm not in France yet so I don't really have any fun activities to talk about, so bear with me.

Last night as I was watching The Departed with the fam, I had a thought. In our high school yearbooks there was a section called Likes & Dislikes (I think that's what it was called anyway) and part of that section was to list your favorite quote. My quote was the opening line of The Departed: "I don't want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me." I was thinking about this quote again last night and I realized that my feelings about it have completely changed, especially when I think about my upcoming year. I'm going to France to purposefully be changed by my new environment. I want to be a product of Toulouse. In high school I think this quote made more sense to me because I was so involved in clubs and activities and felt like I was the one shaping the "world" around me. Although I'm still super involved in college, I think I've learned how to adapt and appreciate the situations around me more, rather than constantly wanting to change and shape them. Maybe it's because I'm surrounded by people from different backgrounds who bring different perspectives, rather than the same old high school crowd. I think this change in attitude will be an asset during my upcoming year, where I'll not only meet new people from the US but new people from around the world. It's interesting how a person can change in two years. Although in a year from now I'll probably be saying how it's amazing how much a person can change in less than a year.

Getting My Feet Wet

In exactly two weeks, I will be moving to France for nine months. Crazy! I really can't believe that I leave so soon. I remember thinking back in May that summer was going to be so long since I wasn't leaving until September. Boy was I wrong. This summer flew by and with only two weeks left in the US, I'm starting to freak out. Don't get me wrong, I am incredibly excited for this year and all that it will bring. Right now though, my nerves are overshadowing my excitement. I think it's because I'm marching into the unknown, armed with... nothing. (Anybody get that movie reference?) I'm exaggerating of course. I do have my nine years of learning French to help me. I just haven't spoken French in three months, which is a little nerve-wracking. Plus, I have traveled abroad before (Abbey Road Western Civ shout out!) which makes things easier. So then why am I nervous? As usual my perfectionism is probably getting the best of me. I want this year to be amazing and I'm nervous that my expectations will get the best of me. But I think that's why I want to go abroad for the year. I want to experience a different way of life. One where getting everything done precisely on time, exactly how I want it done isn't what is valued. I need to learn to go with the flow more and enjoy where I am when I'm there, instead of freaking out about the future and what's next on my to-do list. I hope I can find that way of life in France, and I really think that I can. Maybe I'll be able to drink some wine and eat some cheese along the way as well.

For those of you who don't know the practical information about my year in France, here it is: I will be in Toulouse, France from September until May as part of the Dickinson en France program run by, you guessed it, Dickinson. I will be taking classes at the Dickinson Center in Toulouse as well as at the Université Toulouse II - Le Mirail. All of my classes will be taught in French, even my Art History ones. I'll be living with a host family that has three kids around my age and two dogs. Since I'm staying for the year, I'll have an internship in the spring at either an art gallery or museum in Toulouse. There is probably more information that I'm forgetting but if you stick around I'm sure I'll give more info in upcoming posts.

This is my first ever foray into the world of blogging so please bear with me. I don't want this to be one of those abroad blogs where I list everything I do and tell you that it was AMAZING! or AWESOME! but I also don't want this to be a super cerebral blog where I'm constantly reflecting. Hopefully I'll find a happy medium so that both you and I don't get bored.. or confused. I'm not sure how often I'll post once I get to France but I'm hoping for multiple posts per week. I guess we shall wait and see. For now, welcome to my blog, sign up to get email alerts when I post, and if you can't read French or don't know how to work google translate, the title translates to "A redhead in Toulouse" which rhymes (kind of) in French. Happy reading!