Only Speak English? No Problem!

English truly is the universal language. Most people under the age the of 30 -I only met two who didn't know english- can speak fluent english and most with an American accent, I can count on one hand how many second language British english I have come across. When out in public with friends from other countries, we speak to the French and they can immediately tell it isn't our first language -obviously the accents- and then they switch to english. Not all the time, but most. I have watched a Brazilian, Colombian, Japanese, and Austrian speak to a Frenchman and switch to english. ALMOST EVERYONE* KNOWS IT. It's the automatic language people switch to when foreigners communicate with some difficulty. The french know instantly I speak english no matter how hard I try to conceal my accent -it's the R sound- and they'll switch, it's gotten to the point that I'll respond the first few sentences to english but then I'll go back to french because that's what I'm here for dammit. Among students also, english is used A LOT. American music is all over public radio, when I hear french music in public I get excited. 

In a lot of schools -I have learned- it's a requirement to start learning english at a young age. People have asked me why a majority of Americans don't know a second language -fluently- because we seem to be the only country like that. I tell them in America, it's not required from a young age to learn any language -generally-. In high school, yes you need to have at least two years in order to graduate, but that kind of learning will get you by being a polite tourist. We don't have the need to learn a second language because our country is so large and everyone in it speaks the same language. In the amount of time it'll take me to drive to Idaho this summer, I could drive from here in Amboise to Karlovac, Croatia which is still 35 miles shorter but still 4-5 countries away -depending on the route you take-. Point is: with that amount of distance my destination will still have the same culture, language, and laws -relatively speaking-. We don't have the necessity to speak a second language. Now, if you live in the states boarding Mexico, yea it's a smart idea to learn some spanish, and a lot people in the north east know french because of the Canadian influence. But as a population in general, Americans don't speak a second language. I know a lot of you at home might be reading this and want to argue some of these points but I'm speaking in general terms. If you plop a German in Tennessee he's pretty much going to be forced to speak english, and good luck to that guy because he might have some trouble with that southern accent they've got goin on. 

If you have fears of traveling to Europe because you don't speak the language of your destination I promise you, you will be fine. I knew a Japanese girl who went to Paris and she communicated to everyone with english because, like I said, everyone* knows it. Even in small towns that are tourist destinations most will know english, it will be a little more broken than the english you'll find in a major city but communication is still attainable. 

Yesterday I went to Loche, it has a castle and dungeon and other cool stuff. As I sat waiting for the return bus to the train station to get me home, a 60-something old lady sat down next to me and she just started talking to me. We talked about Loche, how beautiful it was, how she was waiting for her grand daughter to arrive, how she was going to take her to the castle the next day, how she loved Amboise, and she was funny. She was one of the nicest old ladies I've had the pleasure of speaking with. The best part about this to me: she was a stranger. She didn't ask where I was from or about my accent until the very end of the conversation, and she was so happy about everything. When her grand daughter arrived she left, it was a wonderful treat the universe plopped on me. It cashed in a few of those good karma points.

As for today, it has been raining since morning. I'm sitting on the glass terrace listening to the rain with my favorite kitty next to me, writing some postcards -I have sent over 100-, drinking some warm apple cider, while wearing my PJs. Things aren't so shabby <3

Mr. Zen. My favorite of the three cats.

Le Jardin. 

*= Generally speaking=most of the time

Open Unattended Gate = Fair Game

It's been a while. Apologies. So here's an update! A few weekends ago I visited my friend Megan in Paris again and she took me to Versailles, which was oh, so magnificent -not to mention the social history involved-.

Marie's got nuthin.

We did not go inside the palace because the gardens are always open to the public. Megan had warned me I would not be ready for how big the gardens were and also warned that we would not be able to see the grounds in one day. Pshaw I say!... She was right.

This is only one side of the palace and not even a quarter of the garden.

It was huge. I'm glad I wore the comfiest shoes that day. To escape from all the people who visited on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, we took one road that disappeared into the woods and walked all the way until it stopped.... on the other side of the property by the horse stables. On the way we found this...

This is a side gate to a palace solely for Miss High and Mighty Marie. If you notice the smaller structure on the right you'll notice it has a small gate... and it's open. Since there was no one around, no cameras, and Megan was my look out: I took that open gate as fair game, which is a mantra I have adopted over here. I entered that tiny gate and walked down stone steps below the earth, I didn't go very far because at the bottom it was flooded and smelled bad. Not to mention I had a slight fear an evil sorceress capturing my soul and locking it away in a jar forever. But I digress! 

Our road.

It was also here, in the woods of Versailles, that I heard nature call and I went to answer it! On my way off of the 'path' to make myself more discreet, I walked right into a batch of fresh Stinging Nettle. I only know what it was because when I was younger I had done a similar thing and ran to the house crying. This time, poor Megan was concerned as she couldn't see me and she could hear me yelling profanities.  So, with red bumps all over the tops of my feet we trekked on. 

                                                         And then we rowed a boat.

All in all, it was a really cool day. We were exhausted by the end and slept for a full 12 hours that night. So you don't think we are pansies, here is an aerial view of the palace. The entrance is where it says Versailles, we walked along the edge of the lake(?)/pond(?)/water, along and walked in the diagonal direction that lead straight to where the yellow meets the green (go pack) in the perfect V shape. That was REALLY far. And of course we had to walk our way back. Our legs I tell you....

 Versailles is a beautiful reminder of nature in the middle of a big city that can smell pretty gross sometimes.

How I Ended Up Sleeping On A Stranger's Couch In Amsterdam

Amsterdam.

love love love love love Amsterdam

It is the best city I have visited in Europe. I only have good things to say about it. It's clean, beautiful, the people are friendly, the police vans have built in coffee machines on the side, there are no homeless people, there is every flavor accent from every country, the scent of Mary Jane everywhere, and the crime rate is really, really low. What I like especially is how it felt like it had a Milwaukee beat to it: music, art, theatre, hippies, and the vibe of everyone helping each other out. It felt like a cooler version of home. Oh, and the city is so flat, biking is the main form of transportation. In one year 60,000 bikes are stolen which make it the biggest petty crime. There are so many bikes, people lock their bikes onto another bike because there isn't anymore room to lock it, they have their very own lane of traffic -stop light and crosswalks included!-. I will say however, the language is impossible to try and use. When Monica and I arrived at the metro station Sloterdijk, we looked at the the schedule to get downtown and could not pronounce a single word. At all. This is also applicable to street signs, just don't even try to say it, you'll kill it -and when you try to pronounce it to a local they will give you the 'what' face until you show them the word and their face lights up and they pronounce it completely unlike how it looks.... figures-. Let me start at the beginning:

My friend, Monica, and I arrived downtown Amsterdam, Thursday 23:30 and found our way to The Flying Pig hostel. Now the hostel is a world I had prepared myself for from all the things anyone had ever said, movies, and magazine articles but I was not fully prepared. If you have never been to a hostel it's like playing the Sims College Life game but add 80% more hot guys under 30, some frat and sorority people, more communal bunk bed rooms, a bar, and pillowie smoking room. We checked in and there was already a party going, music plays 24 hours and there is always something going on. After check in we went to the nearest "coffee shop" -which conveniently happened to be across the street- so I could look at a menu and order a "few things". Those things blew my mind away. We returned to The Flying Pig and looked for our bed, which turned out to be in a 16 bedded room made up of mostly guys with their shirts off. I wasn't prepared. Monica and I shared a full sized top bunk which gave me prime scoping space of the fabulous view below, but I didn't think about how much noise a lot of people make when they sleep in the same room. Man farts, snoring, choke snoring, sleep talking, scratching, whispering, and the door opening and closing all night from people going to and fro are a few examples. 

Friday morning Monica and I got up and ready and immediately went out to explore. The problem was, we had excellent plans for arrival and departure, but not for the actual stay so we didn't know where to go first. The nice lady behind the desk gave us a map and pointed us in a few directions. On the first day we visited Anne Franks house, the Sex Museum, and the Red Light District -along with lots of wandering around and exploration time-. Around 8pm we decided to go back to the hostel for a little nap so we could experience some night life but we accidentally slept the entire night into the next morning.... whoops.

Red Light District- so no ladies in these windows :(

Saturday, we went to the Heineken brewery tour, Gassard diamonds tour, ate warm waffles with Nutella on top, walked more of the Red Light District and we ran into a minor issue: we had no where to sleep. We made reservations at another hostel but realized it was too far away and there wasn't transport back to the train station early enough for us to get on the train we needed and all the other hostels in town where either booked or had a two night minimum stay. Ok, we are a little screwed. At the last minute I remembered 'Couch Surfing', its a website and app used by people all over the world who want a free place to stay. We looked in our area -there were hundreds of hosts- and I sent out four pleas and one responded with detailed directions -take tram 9 and get off at Nic Lublinksraat- and time. He had all positive reviews and had been doing it for three years. Perfect. Monica and I were a little nervous, for obvious women traveling reasons, but we both know people who have done it and say it's awesome. Upon intros we all hit it off, his apartment had Rastafarian music playing, he offered food and opened a beer for me right in front of my eyes. He was a cool dude. He had three friends come over -two frenchmen and a dutchman- and we talked until the wee hours of the morning. None of them did drugs, one was a jazz guitarist, one was a musicologist, and one was a pilot. So we slept on a guy's couch, in good faith, good company, and we will never see him again. That's really cool.

Around 5:45 Sunday we got up and made our way back home to Amboise. On this trip, we used every form of transportation offered: bus, metro, tram, city bus, train. I can now tell you how to use all of these in France and NL. I already miss Amsterdam <3 


Oh, btw ladies: the man to woman ratio is 4:1 and three of the four are REALLY HOT.
If you want to pass on a good pair of genes, just go to Amsterdam. You can line them up, pick one, and it's yours.
I got caught staring sometimes.... there were so many! Eye candy central. Another super bonus.

I Like Being Risky

I like France, it's a cool place. However, little things keep popping up that are odd and I'm not prepared for them. For instance, today for dinner there was a fish on my plate. Normal? Not quite. It was a fish with its tail and head cut off..... I had no idea what to do. Yes, I've cleaned fish my brothers and gutted them and what not, but I consider this different. After watching Jane I took the 'skin' off, cut it open, and pulled its little spine out in one go. Then with a chunk of butter she taught me to mush it all up, squeeze a lemon and lime on it, and put it on bread with its little tiny tiny bones and all. I think, in my entire life, that was the most atypical thing I've ever eaten -and I've eaten a lot of different things-. This is but one of the quirky little aspects I've witnessed and/or been apart of.

Another of the sort are the hours in which stores are open; every Sunday and most of Monday -if not the entirety of Monday- almost EVERY store and cafe/pub is closed. It's depressing a bit and I don't understand why.

One thing I have figured out -the hard way- is the game I like to call “Let's Get Risky.” Don't buy a train ticket, and see if you can get to and fro without someone catching you. It's very exciting! And if you do get caught you don't get in trouble, you just have to buy a ticket. I have saved A LOT of money getting on a train without a ticket and hoping someone doesn't ask to see my ticket, which has been 8 out of 10 times. So the odds have been in my favor. It's actually quite liberating making a train just on time and the only reason is because the universe spat some luck on you while you were literally running to the train, hopping on, and it departing in that instant. The only times I have ever run since I got here, have been to make the train as it leaves. It's such a good feeling, it's my version of an adrenaline rush over here.

There is one thing I'd like to address: PDA is normal for everyone. I remember my first day when I was still en route to my house and I had a pit stop at a train station, there were two young adults -14 or 15- completely making out for a solid 20 minutes. I was astonished at first but then I thought, they're young, every high schooler at that age is crazy hormonal and has the 'fuck the world' attitude so I understood. I thought I understood. I had yet to understand. Little by little, I noticed I was the only one walking around without a plus one... in Amboise, Paris, Blois, Tours, and everywhere else. There is nothing like being in France to make you realize how single you are; after passing by the 8^th couple making out in public I had been desensitized.

Also, there are many more interracial couples in France than I have ever seen in America, ever. A petite blond girl with a dark Arab, a ginger guy with an African lady, a latin midget with an Asian, and the list goes on. It made me realize how openly accepting everyone -at least in France and especially Paris- is. In America -in my experiences anyway- if someone mentions that so and so is dating a black guy/girl it's cuz 'they've got that jungle fever.' Or since someone is dating a latin person, it's because 'they like that extra spicy flavor.' Here, no one cares who you're dating. As long as you're A) not a douche bag B) dress everyday like you actually care C) are useful to society and D) an all around good person, you can date whomever you'd like. It's refreshing. Btw, the mixed babies are super cute, and with that little French voice a 6 year old can make me swoon if he's being polite.

I have developed a theory about quiche that is the same about my theory on pizza: “Every pizza is a personal pizza if you try hard enough.” Oh yea, quiche is. Awesome.

Funny French joke:

What did the Frenchman say when he stubbed his toe? “Oh! Le pain!”

It's ok to laugh and admit that was funny.  

French ladies from the 20s. You're welcome.

Chateau de Chambord

Every castle I've been to has been awesome, because what castle isn't cool? Who doesn't pretend they are wearing gowns, jewelry, and being escorted by men in pumpkin pants? Today, while exploring the 426 rooms, seeing 282 fireplaces, and climbing some of the 77 staircases I could't help but pretend I was Queen... or Francois 1st's love affair, that's fine too. Intended to be a hunting lodge, Francois was my age exactly in 1519 when he commenced construction of Chambord and reigned France for 32 years, but he only spent 72 days at the chateau.

One of the exterior staircases

The grounds cover 5,440 hectares -the same area as Inner Paris- and 800 of that is free and open to the public. 

Backside

Really cool clock

All in all, it was a free train ride, cheap bus fare, and easy walking transportation to arrive at this gate. Pretty cool.

Don't act like you don't want a bed on a stage in a room full of gold

The Feels.

Studying abroad is an experience I am glad to be acquaintanced with at this time. Whenever I see Orion in the sky, I say hello -or bon soir- and tonight as I paid my regards I couldn't help but think about how last year, this time, I never thought I would be in another country. I have said goodbye to two people, so far, that I have made deep connections with and that I will miss deeply; they touched me in a way that I felt I had known them for years and am sad they live on the opposite side of the world. On my walk home, after a night of sharing a bottle of wine by the river side -which has become the usual on a nice evening-, I was thinking about how lucky I am. 

Often, when I meet someone they ask me what I study and what I'm going to do after I graduate school and every time I have found my self floundering for a productive answer that makes me sound like I have my shit together. However, tonight when I admitted to two of my favorite people here that my answer to the question "what are you going to do after school?" is really "I don't know" one said, "that's what I love about America, you have so many options." That phrase made me realize that it's ok to not know what I'm going to do with my future. Don't worry Mama and Papa, I have a plan, but it's hard to explain to someone who's expecting and answer like doctor, lawyer, or race car driver. I read a quote from somewhere recently that went something like this "Life doesn't begin till 40, before then it's merely a test drive." People here know that I love to do theatre, it's just something that I'm going to do the rest of my life for fun but it can never be a career. I'm an unmarried 25 year old undergrad. I'm a spinster. At this point in my life still being in college, single, and sort of having a plan for after college is grounds for a judgement stare that people think they are hiding. I can see it, and I know I'm not following the path of a type A personality that has their life planned out with a nuclear family in 3 years but I know what I want. Happiness. I'm finding it everywhere. Here in France, at home with my dog, with my diploma I'll have next year, with my car that can drive me hundreds of miles, and with a spirit that isn't held down by what society expects of a mid 20's woman in her prime. 

When I arrived home, my lady's daughter and husband had surprised her with a visit. When I meet new people I am always nervous because I am not fluid with perfect French response, but when we sat down for dinner I couldn't be more comfortable. The son in law was engaging, charming, and curious about my thoughts. The daughter was accepting, informative, and loved helping me with my grammar. We sat at the dinner table for two hours discussing places to visit in France, politics, religion, America, cheese -today was the first time they had sharp cheddar cheese from Wisconsin. Yes fellow cheese heads, my dad sent me a package with that in there.... and a 40oz bag of M&Ms-, and life in general. Tonight was a major turning point for me, I had to answer questions I was absolutely not prepared for that I had to keep politically correct but yet still personal with a vocabulary and sentence structure that was understood by all parties. Let me tell you, I have never in my life applied conditionnel, conditionnel passe, subjontif, subjontif passe, present, passe compose, imparfait, and futur in one rolling conversation before. Yes, they understand I'm a student. Yes, I have an accent. Yes, they know I'm not a pro. But, it felt SO GOOD to communicate ALL THE FEELS with no pause. When I ever I said "I have a question" the son in law immediately would focus all his attention and say "Yes Mica please ask". I have never felt so comfortable with strangers and asking so many questions about France and life, after my questions they would ask so many about America and how I felt about certain things. I felt like I was apart of the family. 

After dinner we all sat around the computer laughing at Basset Hounds running photos. Tonight was exceptional, I have only been here for a month an 4 days and I know, for a fact, my oral response has improved 100%. I am very happy with where I am at this life check point. 

On a Train to Somewhere

Today, I got ready and went to the train station. I didn't have a specific location in mind because I've come to find out if you make plans to go somewhere they eventually change about 5 to 6 times, so, I just went and decided once I got there to get a ticket for the next train to Tours, France. I didn't know what there was to do in Tours but the population is more than double that of Amboise so I figured they would have more options. Upon arrival I found la Rue National which is the shopping street full of boutiques. It is here at Yves Rocher that I purchased my first French perfume. Delicious. There were signs for Chateau de Tours and when I found it I thought there had been a mistake. It wasn't a castle. It was a large building with one turret. I was incredibly disappointed, if it isn't at least a 2000 square foot building with grandiose design, servants quarters, and floors of marble or ivory I want nothing to do with it. Standards people. I have them. But it's ok, because I found this instead:

Saint-Gatien

Before I saw this striking building, I never realized how beautiful gothic architecture was. To say this was more beautiful than Notre Dame is like asking a parent to pick their favorite child, they both are both so different but their differences make them unique. The cool thing about cathedrals is they are always open to the public and are free, the house of God is always open to the lost sheep. That's another factor I find so interesting: these buildings are older than America and represent a history where religion was so influential to masses of people. Awestruck inside, I almost forgot I was in a church until a man knelt in one of the side chapels and started to pray. 

When we entered I thought three things. 1st: It's really, really cold in here. 2nd: Omg this place is so huge. 3rd: Where is the organ? I immediately set out to find the source of the sound that held me spell bound just inside the door. Usually, you will see the enormous pipes of an organ in the "back" of the church opposite the altar, generally where you enter and above your head. I kept turning around in one spot and couldn't see it, so I set out at a brisk walk closer and closer to the deep, deep rumble of music. Right around the corner, there she was, in her sublime glory. Once I laid eyes on her I couldn't move, she held me captive like a siren of the sea. I stood, mouth agape for I don't know how long looking at the organ while she sang her psalm of exaltation in a minor key. I know that's what did me in, the minor key. In the gothic church. With the rumbling of the lowest notes caressing my soul. 

But this cathedral was pretty cool. I got to be on a personal level with the gargoyles, explore the cloisters, and learn a few things. 

Even though it rained on and off all day, I consider it to be a success. Getting on a train to somewhere, ending up there, and exploring. I can't think of a better way to experience the unknown.