Old People

OK here is the deal, Old people in Europe are way cooler than old people in America. That is a fact. I don't mean to be unpatriotic or anything like that, but after 2 months being overseas it has become increasingly apparent that this is one of those undeniable facts of life. It's like the fact that your first pet goldfish is going to die or that little boys are going to physically harm the little girl (or boy, I don't descriminate) that they like. Old people here are just cooler than th old people in the States. Hell, the old people in Europe are cooler than me. I was walking home last night after a long day of sightseeing and exploring to see people who were older than my parents just sitting down to dinner. Now in America this scene would be taking place at 6 30 maybe 7 if its a special occasion, but it was 11 30 here! The people here just know what it means to live life to its fullest. They refuse to become the old people who sit at home and watch TV, they go to dinner at 11 30 on a Saturday night and they take an hour and a half for their lunch break and SO WHAT if they have a couple glasses of wine with said lunch, this is France and they do what they want. That is why I love French old people, they can stay out later than me, and party harder than me all while being a little more than twice my age. I used to think I was "trés European" for eating diner after 8 every night. Now I realize that I was not at all, and with that I have a new goal; to be as cool as a french old person. I know it doesn't sound that lofty, but come on people, baby steps!

On French in France

Well folks get ready to be told someting obvious. Speaking a foreign language in another county is nothing at all like speaking a foreign language in class. Having been in France for long enough now to realize that what I thought was a vast knowledge of French is really just a couple of important phrases and tons of forgoten vocab words and conjugations. Luckily I have 4 hours of French a day to help with that(8 30 AM thank you very much). At the end of one month of four hours every day after having taken 2 semesters of French in the States, I will officially be at an "intermediate" level. Or at least what the French government calls intermediate. Let me explain what intermediate is. Basically you can carry on a brief conversation if it sticks to the topics of food, colors, basic directions and many other things children in Elementary school love discussing. What Im trying to say is that languages are hard. Luckily I have not encountered any of the French stereotypes, everyone has been really nice about the fact that I communicate like Im in kindergarden. All the French people speak to me in French about the states and love to ask really complicated questions about if I love Obama or if I really love Obama. I obviously cant communicate at this level quite yet so most of the conversation is them lauging at my accent and saying how nice it is and that I should keep trying. I never said they werent patronizing, but at least they are nice about it. Im trying to go easy on myself as well, the 13 year old French kid who is fluent in English can get you down in the dumps, but I just refuse to give up. I will continue to make a fool of myself in public places for as long as it takes. I have gotten much better at ordering in restaurants and bakeries... hey its all about baby steps.

BONJOUR GRENOBLE!!!

I know what your thinking (assuming that anyone is still reading), two posts in two days, Will, what have we done to deserve this honor. My answer is going to come in the form of something Jeane told me, that I have obviously lost my mind also I think it spawns from reading the blogs of all my friends and seeing how happy it makes me. I have just arrived in Grenoble and I FReAKING LOVE this city. This is going to get a little un-PC for a second (not too bad, no worries D-May). After being all over Europe and hearing all the beautiful things you would have seen if WWII had never happened or if communists hadnt taken over its nice to be in a place that seems largely untouched by either. Grenobe is breathtaking, the city is walled in by 3 different sections of the Alps, you can see mountains from literally everywhere. There is a river running through the city, amazingly fresh alpine water in every tap and the people are insanely friendly. I even have hopes for my French skills at this point, something Ive been worried about since arriving in Paris. Im finally starting to get used to the accent and Im getting braver with speaking to strangers. I tremble like a leaf and shrug when posed a question myself, but at least Im conversing... kinda. But I digress, the city itself is amazing, I think it is the perfect size to spen a month studying. For a visual, since I cannot uplad pictures think of Heidi and all that hilly goodness but then make it french with lots of pastries and a little bit more urban. Grenoble is considered a medium sized city and luckly Im right in the center of town. Perfect placement for exploring (not to mention that all French stores have massive sales the entire month of July). Honestly all Ive done today is wander around between bouts of laundry and unpacking, but I can tell already that I like this city and Im ready for a bomb month!

Backpacking = hard work!

OK so remember when I was telling all of you about my exciting summer trip back in that other life when I used to blog? Well Im in the midst of it now (ps please excuse any spelling/gramatical errors in this post French keyboards are more difficult than a statistics class). Which brings me to the fact that I am in France, and faced with a difficult conundrum. I am utterly exhausted from 6 weeks of carrying all my clothes and travel accoutrements all over Europe. I have seen so many castles and sights I dont even know which city any of it was in! Im sure after I have time to slow down and procezss the whole trip it will sort itself out but right now Im overwhelmed. The problem lies with the fact that I am in Paris and all I want to do is curl up into a little ball and not move for at least a day. The prospect of walking another step or taking another flight of stairs makes me want to do something violent, good thing I dont have the energy to be violent. I have to get ready for my program in the alps and PRONTO! as a matter of fact I leave in a little over 12 hours! Now bear with me because I know up to this point there has been no descernable... well, point to this post, but its my blog so I do what I want. Basically Im just trying to explain to you when, and if any of you ask me about Paris why I will just groan. I have been running all over the city, literally dragging myself out of bed and running errands. Buying things with the money I dont have because I spent it all on the amazing backpacking trip. BUT the ultimate point is that I am still loving every minute of it. Im exhausted, done for and there is constantly a smile on my face. What Im trying to say is backpacking is freaking hard and exhausting and you want to do nothing afterwards, but like most things in life (oh ho! bear with me as I wax a wee bit philosophical) if you keep pushing yourself you will reap the rewards and boy am I!