I finally did it. I made the mistake of ordering something that I wasn’t entirely sure what it was. I went to a match in the Rugby World Cup last night with some of Bernard’s friends. The match was awesome it was the USA vs. Samoa. The US played terrible in the first half and was 22-3 at halftime. They came back in the second half but couldn’t come back all the way and lost 25-21.
Here are some pictures:
This now means that the US has not won a single game in the World Cup and their last match is against South Africa who has a very good team. Anyways, after the match we went out to get a bite to eat and I wasn’t really sure what I wanted so I ordered un tartare de boeuf. Now I wasn’t sure what a tartare was but boeuf is beef and one of the other guys I was with ordered it so I figured it must be good. In addition, une tarte is a dessert type pie thing so I figured it would be some beef in like a crust with seasoning.
I was completely wrong.
I received a ball of raw ground beef, with a raw egg in the middle of this mound of e-coli and mad cow disease. There was some seasoning on the sides. I had no idea what I was going to do. I couldn’t refuse the plate but then again was I really going to eat this ball of raw meat? Well I did, after dousing it with Tabasco sauce and Ketchup. The only bonus to the meal was the good wine and fries and salad that came with my tartare.
Other than that the night was awesome and all 5 guys that I went with were a blast. We didn’t get back until 3 o’clock in the morning so I was thankful that I didn’t have anything to do until noon today.
Short entry for now, I will write more later on when I have more time.
Love to all,
Jon Smart
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Comments
So I guess some people have been having trouble posting comments on my blog. I think I have fixed the problem and you should only have to do the following. just click on the link below the post that says 0 comments or 1 comment.. write what you want and then for identity choose anonymous and click post. then it should work.
Decisions, Decisions
It is official. Well almost official, after much deliberation and talking with Bernard and the director of the program here in Clermont I have decided that I am going to try and stay the whole year here in France. This means that I wont be coming home until the end of May. That almost doubles my time here in France and who knows by the time I leave here I just might be fluent. This means that I’ll also get two more vacations while I’m here and more time to see all of Europe. It also means that its going to cost more… but I think I’ll have enough money to last me while I am here and if not, well that’s what parents are for right? (just kidding mom and dad!)
In any sense, I’m excited about my decision to stay. Its going to allow me to take some more classes, finish the Pepiniere project, which I think I am the only one who is actually somewhat interested in the project and also allow me to possibly do SIP research while I am here in France. Other than that there isn’t really a whole lot of new news to add to this entry, simply letting everyone know I wont be back for a little while longer.
As a side note, this blog has quickly reached almost 10,000 words (I write my entries in Microsoft Word and then copy and paste them, no I didn’t count each word) which is quite impressive. If I keep up this rate I’ll have almost 90,000 words by the time its all said and done… I could make it a book! I might actually do that.. turn it into a book so that I could keep it with me.
O, one other thing! Today I am going to be going to see the USA play Samoa in the Rugby World Cup. I wasn’t planning on going because I couldn’t find a hotel room for the night but one of Bernard’s friends is going so he is going to take me in his car and drive back afterwards so there is no need for a hotel. I’m pretty pumped about going especially since it’s the Rugby World Cup.
Email me if you still can’t figure out the comments. jonrsmart@gmail.com
And also, if you would like to call me the number is +0336 42 07 06 98 all of my incoming calls are free so spend a little money and say hi!
Lastly, if you’d like to send a card or something in the mail. My address is listed below. Checks can be made to Jon Smart or Fund My Trip Abroad! Haha
Love to all and hope to hear from some of you soon.
Jon
In any sense, I’m excited about my decision to stay. Its going to allow me to take some more classes, finish the Pepiniere project, which I think I am the only one who is actually somewhat interested in the project and also allow me to possibly do SIP research while I am here in France. Other than that there isn’t really a whole lot of new news to add to this entry, simply letting everyone know I wont be back for a little while longer.
As a side note, this blog has quickly reached almost 10,000 words (I write my entries in Microsoft Word and then copy and paste them, no I didn’t count each word) which is quite impressive. If I keep up this rate I’ll have almost 90,000 words by the time its all said and done… I could make it a book! I might actually do that.. turn it into a book so that I could keep it with me.
O, one other thing! Today I am going to be going to see the USA play Samoa in the Rugby World Cup. I wasn’t planning on going because I couldn’t find a hotel room for the night but one of Bernard’s friends is going so he is going to take me in his car and drive back afterwards so there is no need for a hotel. I’m pretty pumped about going especially since it’s the Rugby World Cup.
Email me if you still can’t figure out the comments. jonrsmart@gmail.com
And also, if you would like to call me the number is +0336 42 07 06 98 all of my incoming calls are free so spend a little money and say hi!
Lastly, if you’d like to send a card or something in the mail. My address is listed below. Checks can be made to Jon Smart or Fund My Trip Abroad! Haha
Love to all and hope to hear from some of you soon.
Jon
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Where does the sun rise?
So Saturday, as I was sitting in the café posting my last entry the weather outside began to look a little crappy… dark skies, a brisk wind, the temperature started to fall and you could just smell rain. So the group of us that had accumulated as usual at Café Cozy decided to head out. Juli, Tessa, Caroline and myself headed to Champion (French Kroger’s) to pick up some stuff for dinner last night. Since Bernard was at a party with his girlfriend and told me he wasn’t coming home I decided to invite a few friends over for a meal and to watch rugby. It ended up being the four of us plus Olivier, who’s an actual French person who we are friends with, who ended up having dinner. We made some killer crêpes starting off with some ham, cheese and egg crepes, followed by some dessert crepes with Nutella. We also bought some munchies and Olivier brought a couple bottles of cider which just made the crepes that much better. After cooking up a storm we settled down to watch the rugby match which ended up being quite the blow out. Either way, it was a lot of fun and we enjoyed ourselves. After the match was over we watched French music videos for a while then everyone went their ways.
I’ve really started to give some thought to staying for 9 months, but the more I think about it the more I realize that it just would not be a good idea as far as my “K” career would go. If I stayed 9 months than I would most certainly have to overload one of the quarters my senior year which would end up having to be senior year spring… something that I want to try and avoid at all costs, if senioritis in college is half as bad as it was in high school I’m going to want the lightest class load that I can possible have. As much as I think I would like to stay for the year and possibly into the summer I think I’m going to have to go home for spring quarter and who knows maybe come back for the summer with an internship or something.
I watched 300 today for like the 20th time or something but its just such a good movie and being that it was crappy today it was a movie day for sure. Here’s a few quotes that I enjoy:
(Leonidas and his 300 are marching when they run into the Arcadians who are numbering much more than 300)
Daxos: We heard Sparta was on the warpath and we were eager to join forces.
Leonidas: If it is blood you seek, you are welcome to join us.
D: But you bring only this handful of soldiers, against Xerxes? I see I was wrong to expect Sparta’s commitment to at least much our own.
L: Doesn’t it? You. What is your job?
Arcadian Soldier: I’m a potter…sir.
L: And you, Arcadian. What’s your profession?
AS: Sculptor, sir.
L: Sculptor… And you?
AS: Blacksmith.
L: Spartans! What is your profession?
Spartan Soldiers: A ou A ou A ou
L : You see, old friend. I brought more soldiers than you did.
Xerxes: Consider the fate of your women.
Leonidas: Clearly you don’t know our women, I might as well have marched them up here judging on what I’ve seen so far.
Xerxes: Your Athenian rivals will kneel at your feet…if you will but kneel at mine.
Leonidas: You are generous…as you are divine…O king of kings. Such an offer only a madman would refuse. But the uh… idea of kneeling.. well its… You see slaughtering all those men of yours has uh, well its left a nasty cramp in my leg..so kneeling will be hard for me.
Leonidas: Men ready your breakfast, and eat hearty for tonight… we dine in hell.
That is all for today.. Much love and miss you all
Jon
I’ve really started to give some thought to staying for 9 months, but the more I think about it the more I realize that it just would not be a good idea as far as my “K” career would go. If I stayed 9 months than I would most certainly have to overload one of the quarters my senior year which would end up having to be senior year spring… something that I want to try and avoid at all costs, if senioritis in college is half as bad as it was in high school I’m going to want the lightest class load that I can possible have. As much as I think I would like to stay for the year and possibly into the summer I think I’m going to have to go home for spring quarter and who knows maybe come back for the summer with an internship or something.
I watched 300 today for like the 20th time or something but its just such a good movie and being that it was crappy today it was a movie day for sure. Here’s a few quotes that I enjoy:
(Leonidas and his 300 are marching when they run into the Arcadians who are numbering much more than 300)
Daxos: We heard Sparta was on the warpath and we were eager to join forces.
Leonidas: If it is blood you seek, you are welcome to join us.
D: But you bring only this handful of soldiers, against Xerxes? I see I was wrong to expect Sparta’s commitment to at least much our own.
L: Doesn’t it? You. What is your job?
Arcadian Soldier: I’m a potter…sir.
L: And you, Arcadian. What’s your profession?
AS: Sculptor, sir.
L: Sculptor… And you?
AS: Blacksmith.
L: Spartans! What is your profession?
Spartan Soldiers: A ou A ou A ou
L : You see, old friend. I brought more soldiers than you did.
Xerxes: Consider the fate of your women.
Leonidas: Clearly you don’t know our women, I might as well have marched them up here judging on what I’ve seen so far.
Xerxes: Your Athenian rivals will kneel at your feet…if you will but kneel at mine.
Leonidas: You are generous…as you are divine…O king of kings. Such an offer only a madman would refuse. But the uh… idea of kneeling.. well its… You see slaughtering all those men of yours has uh, well its left a nasty cramp in my leg..so kneeling will be hard for me.
Leonidas: Men ready your breakfast, and eat hearty for tonight… we dine in hell.
That is all for today.. Much love and miss you all
Jon
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Football (US Style), Rugby, Fun
So this week was a short week for school since our long weekend ended Tuesday we only had to be there Wednesday through Friday. Not only was this week a short week but it was a fairly easy week as far as class goes. Wednesday I didn’t have class until 5:15 although I did go out to lunch with the English professor and a few students to talk about the English conversation class. Thursday I didn’t have any class until 2 and Friday I only had class from 10-noon. It wasn’t a bad week at all a nice catch up week after a long weekend and right before we really get into the swing of things on
Monday. My schedule for this year isn’t too terrible, it goes as follows:
Monday: Class – 8:30-12; 3:15-5:45; 6:15-8:30
Tuesday: ICRP – 7:30-9:30pm
Wednesday: Class – 5:15-6:45
Thursday: Class – 12-1:30; 2-4 (Alternating w/ Friday); 5:15-6:45. ICRP – 7:30-9:30
Friday: Class – 10-12; 2-4 (Alternating with Thursday)
Thursday night was my first experience with my ICRP and to say the least it was an interesting time. I got out of class at 7 and practice started at 7:30. I didn’t know where the field was just a remote idea of the general area, and the street that it was on but however I had no address so I had no idea which way to go on the street. After looking at the bus map and deciding between what lines to take I headed to the bus stop and hopped on the bus. I took it to Jean Moulin, which I thought was the street I was getting off on but little to my knowledge this bus just happens to have two Jean Moulin stops… The first of which is 10 minutes from the second one and nowhere near where I needed to be. So after following the bus to the second stop I found Avenue Jean Moulin and then proceeded to attempt and find Rue Claude Guichard which is the street that the field was on. When I got to Jean Moulin I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was quite like the US, there was a 6 lane road with cars flying by, grocery stores and hardware stores and even a freeway in the near distance that went over the road I was walking on. This “US” like view stopped very quickly when I got on the rue Claude Guichard. I got to the street and ended up being directly in the middle of the road, and of course I couldn’t see the field from where I was standing. So my only chance was to take a complete guess and go left or right and walk the length of the road. I decided to go left… bad idea. As I’m walking down the street I realize that its not such a good area; rusted down cars on the road, garbage everywhere and just all in all run down. I end up walking past this one “apartment” building to find out that its an HLM like building. There are no apartments here just rooms with people living in them. This one room was on the ground level and their door was open so of course as I walked by I couldn’t help but see inside as I’m walking by. It was a single room no bigger than 12 x 20 that had 3 beds and a counter which appeared to be a sink… that was it. I kept walking on and ended up getting to the end of the street, no field. So, now I turned around and headed back in the same directed from whence I came. I did find the field after another 15 minute walk or so. I walk into the parking lot and get to see the most familiar scene I have come to know in my 20 years of life. A bunch of guys on a field with shorts and t-shirts playing catch with a football.
I asked the first guy I see where I could find the head coach and finally get to meet him. His name is Thomas Charcurcian. He is not only the head coach but also a player on the team. He explains to me that a lot of their players are first timers and since this is France, not too many of them are very good. He continued to tell me that they have two teams. An under 20 team and a team for everyone else. We talked for a few minutes about who I was and why I was here etc… and then practice had to start so they went off to do their warm-ups. I stayed back with 2 of the assistant coaches/players. We talked some more about what it was like to play football in a football state and how many guys were on the teams. And then we got to how many years I had played. I told them 11 years and they almost dropped to the floor… “You’re 20 years old and you’ve played 11 years of football?? I’m 31 and I’ve only played 3.”
After the warm-up the team came over and I was introduced to the team that I would be helping coach, the under-20 team. I assumed that I would be having someone with me on the first day to help me out with the language difficulty (I don’t know too many of the terms in French for coaching football) and especially since I had just shown up I didn’t expect to do a whole lot. There again, that’s what I get for assuming something. The team broke up into groups and quickly I found myself with 7 French kids and myself, most of whom have never strapped on shoulder pads before and I need to teach them how to be an offensive lineman. Thankfully it was only 45 minutes of individual work and it didn’t go too terribly, I know I made a ton of mistakes when I was speaking and probably sounded like a child but I got my points across and that’s all that really matters. This ICRP is really going to help me work on my verbal skills as I’m going to have to be speaking a lot of French all the time.
At the end of practice, Thomas addressed the team and was talking about things that they need to do and things like that. Then he started talking about how he wants to start a referee association because they don’t have any referees in the area to ref the games. They needed 10 people to volunteer and start the association; it was a 2 day class on a Saturday and Sunday. They quickly got 9 people and then no one else seemed like they could do it, everyone looked at me… I knew all the rules already I just had to learn them in French. So I agreed to become an official football referee in France.. maybe something that I can take back to the US with me. I ended up getting a ride back to my apartment because at 10:15 when practice was over the busses in the area are all stopped so now I think I only have to worry about getting there with the bus and then someone will take me home in their car.
Friday night was a fun night. France was playing another match in the Rugby World Cup so we decided to go out and watch the game. We went out to get a bite to eat before the match at our frequented café/bar Café Magma. We got their early and got a good seat right in front of the big screen that they put out on the patio just for the match. It was a great dinner with so-so wine but also a great dessert. The match was very cool and they place was completely full, in fact there was people standing in the square behind the patio just trying to watch the game. France won 24-3 which now means that they have a pretty good chance of finishing first in their pool. After the game we met up with Olivier and M.A. M.A. is a K student who was on study abroad last year when she met Olivier her current boyfriend. She decided to take a trip back to France to see Olivier and also to talk with us newcomers some of the ins and outs of study abroad. Last night was her last day here in France so after the match we went out to one of their favorite bars, called Les Frères Bretôgnes. It is a really cool bar that has an awesome feel. The tables inside are these big old wooden ones, like the kind you’d find in a tavern or something and in addition they tried to make the inside look like the outside, there is a “roof” over the bar and fake plants all sorts of cool things that make it a cool place to go. We stayed there for an hour or so and then decided to head back.
Here is some pictures from the weekend:
Today is going to be a relaxing day I believe dinner should be here in about 40 minutes or so and then I’ll probably head downtown to put this lengthy entry on the web. I also have some more pictures to put up so be sure to click on the pictures link on the right had side and check them out…
Also don’t forget to comment my blog!!!
Bonne Santé à Toute et à Tous !
Love to all,
Jon
Monday. My schedule for this year isn’t too terrible, it goes as follows:
Monday: Class – 8:30-12; 3:15-5:45; 6:15-8:30
Tuesday: ICRP – 7:30-9:30pm
Wednesday: Class – 5:15-6:45
Thursday: Class – 12-1:30; 2-4 (Alternating w/ Friday); 5:15-6:45. ICRP – 7:30-9:30
Friday: Class – 10-12; 2-4 (Alternating with Thursday)
Thursday night was my first experience with my ICRP and to say the least it was an interesting time. I got out of class at 7 and practice started at 7:30. I didn’t know where the field was just a remote idea of the general area, and the street that it was on but however I had no address so I had no idea which way to go on the street. After looking at the bus map and deciding between what lines to take I headed to the bus stop and hopped on the bus. I took it to Jean Moulin, which I thought was the street I was getting off on but little to my knowledge this bus just happens to have two Jean Moulin stops… The first of which is 10 minutes from the second one and nowhere near where I needed to be. So after following the bus to the second stop I found Avenue Jean Moulin and then proceeded to attempt and find Rue Claude Guichard which is the street that the field was on. When I got to Jean Moulin I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was quite like the US, there was a 6 lane road with cars flying by, grocery stores and hardware stores and even a freeway in the near distance that went over the road I was walking on. This “US” like view stopped very quickly when I got on the rue Claude Guichard. I got to the street and ended up being directly in the middle of the road, and of course I couldn’t see the field from where I was standing. So my only chance was to take a complete guess and go left or right and walk the length of the road. I decided to go left… bad idea. As I’m walking down the street I realize that its not such a good area; rusted down cars on the road, garbage everywhere and just all in all run down. I end up walking past this one “apartment” building to find out that its an HLM like building. There are no apartments here just rooms with people living in them. This one room was on the ground level and their door was open so of course as I walked by I couldn’t help but see inside as I’m walking by. It was a single room no bigger than 12 x 20 that had 3 beds and a counter which appeared to be a sink… that was it. I kept walking on and ended up getting to the end of the street, no field. So, now I turned around and headed back in the same directed from whence I came. I did find the field after another 15 minute walk or so. I walk into the parking lot and get to see the most familiar scene I have come to know in my 20 years of life. A bunch of guys on a field with shorts and t-shirts playing catch with a football.
I asked the first guy I see where I could find the head coach and finally get to meet him. His name is Thomas Charcurcian. He is not only the head coach but also a player on the team. He explains to me that a lot of their players are first timers and since this is France, not too many of them are very good. He continued to tell me that they have two teams. An under 20 team and a team for everyone else. We talked for a few minutes about who I was and why I was here etc… and then practice had to start so they went off to do their warm-ups. I stayed back with 2 of the assistant coaches/players. We talked some more about what it was like to play football in a football state and how many guys were on the teams. And then we got to how many years I had played. I told them 11 years and they almost dropped to the floor… “You’re 20 years old and you’ve played 11 years of football?? I’m 31 and I’ve only played 3.”
After the warm-up the team came over and I was introduced to the team that I would be helping coach, the under-20 team. I assumed that I would be having someone with me on the first day to help me out with the language difficulty (I don’t know too many of the terms in French for coaching football) and especially since I had just shown up I didn’t expect to do a whole lot. There again, that’s what I get for assuming something. The team broke up into groups and quickly I found myself with 7 French kids and myself, most of whom have never strapped on shoulder pads before and I need to teach them how to be an offensive lineman. Thankfully it was only 45 minutes of individual work and it didn’t go too terribly, I know I made a ton of mistakes when I was speaking and probably sounded like a child but I got my points across and that’s all that really matters. This ICRP is really going to help me work on my verbal skills as I’m going to have to be speaking a lot of French all the time.
At the end of practice, Thomas addressed the team and was talking about things that they need to do and things like that. Then he started talking about how he wants to start a referee association because they don’t have any referees in the area to ref the games. They needed 10 people to volunteer and start the association; it was a 2 day class on a Saturday and Sunday. They quickly got 9 people and then no one else seemed like they could do it, everyone looked at me… I knew all the rules already I just had to learn them in French. So I agreed to become an official football referee in France.. maybe something that I can take back to the US with me. I ended up getting a ride back to my apartment because at 10:15 when practice was over the busses in the area are all stopped so now I think I only have to worry about getting there with the bus and then someone will take me home in their car.
Friday night was a fun night. France was playing another match in the Rugby World Cup so we decided to go out and watch the game. We went out to get a bite to eat before the match at our frequented café/bar Café Magma. We got their early and got a good seat right in front of the big screen that they put out on the patio just for the match. It was a great dinner with so-so wine but also a great dessert. The match was very cool and they place was completely full, in fact there was people standing in the square behind the patio just trying to watch the game. France won 24-3 which now means that they have a pretty good chance of finishing first in their pool. After the game we met up with Olivier and M.A. M.A. is a K student who was on study abroad last year when she met Olivier her current boyfriend. She decided to take a trip back to France to see Olivier and also to talk with us newcomers some of the ins and outs of study abroad. Last night was her last day here in France so after the match we went out to one of their favorite bars, called Les Frères Bretôgnes. It is a really cool bar that has an awesome feel. The tables inside are these big old wooden ones, like the kind you’d find in a tavern or something and in addition they tried to make the inside look like the outside, there is a “roof” over the bar and fake plants all sorts of cool things that make it a cool place to go. We stayed there for an hour or so and then decided to head back.
Here is some pictures from the weekend:
Today is going to be a relaxing day I believe dinner should be here in about 40 minutes or so and then I’ll probably head downtown to put this lengthy entry on the web. I also have some more pictures to put up so be sure to click on the pictures link on the right had side and check them out…
Also don’t forget to comment my blog!!!
Bonne Santé à Toute et à Tous !
Love to all,
Jon
Friday, September 21, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Pictures!!
Pictures are finally up!!! Follow the link at the left or the one below...
http://picasaweb.google.com/jonrsmart
http://picasaweb.google.com/jonrsmart
Updates
So it's been well over a week since my last entry and well to say the least things have been a little crazy. School was nuts last week as we were in class approximately 8-10 hours a day each day last week. On top of that, normal classes are beginning to start so we have to meet with groups of real French people and do some real work, needless to say I haven't had a whole lot of time to write, however tonight, I have found some free time and plan on making this a fairly lengthy entry.
So onto the happenings of Clermont-Ferrand, like I said, last week was a busy week with lots of class and meetings. We finally were assigned our Pepiniere groups, which is the groups in which we will be working on a real life economics research project. There are 13 different topics of which we have to choose and then we have to research the feasibility of this project in the areas that the business person wants the project to be launched. The topic that we would really like to work on is a man who wants to start building environmentally friendly houses in the Clermont region. We all talked and felt like not only does our group have some background knowledge on the topic but it's the project that is the most feasible in the region. We won't find out until next week which project we have to work on but hopefully we will receive the one that we want.
As a side note, in the past week or so there has been a couple of us Americans who have had a bit of difficulty in dealing with the French students. A couple of the girls were basically exiled out of their groups for simply being American. In addition we tend to get heckled a bit at bars if we are speaking English around people who seem to be a bit younger than us. This is a rare occurrence however and like I said only seems to be a problem with those who seem to be a bit immature. The more apparent problem is in the classroom where we have to work in groups and if people are being exiled on the first day we can only imagine what it is going to be like in another month or so for some of us Americans. I can almost see where the French are coming from though. This business school is a select school for the French, it is a private school that families pay for, in addition, this pepiniere project is probably one of the biggest projects that they undertake at the school and it is a competition. So if I were French, and had an American who was not an economics student in Michigan and who didn't speak French all that well I might be a little upset if they were in my group. However, at the same token I would try to make them feel welcome and could go about the situation in a much nicer manner than some of the French people did last week.
Ok so enough of the rant on that, the rest of the week was pretty monotonous although we were all definitely starting to drag a little bit with the 10 hour days at school and all. Our professors took note of this and kindly let us out early both and Thursday and Friday. This was extremely nice and extremely needed and most of us just went home to relax.
Friday was an interesting day at the apartment. Bernard had some friends from New Zealand over and who planned on spending the weekend at his apartment. If I haven't said this before Bernard's apartment is small. There are 5 rooms in the apartment, two small bedrooms, a small living room, small dining room and a bathroom/closet. So, with having 4 New Zealenders over on top of his son Pierre, things were a bit crammed. I was extremely happy though, that being from New Zealand, they spoke English and I got to play the role of translator. Bernard and Pierre both speak very very good English but even still there are words that they don't understand or French phrases that they can't really translate into English. That is where I came in and I had to be the middle man in the conversation clearing up any miscues or anything like that. We had a great conversation and I found out that they are travelling Europe while attending every single All Blacks Rugby match in the world cup except for one. This is pretty amazing and pretty expensive because while they are at it they are going to do the whole sight seeing thing as well. I kind of wish I could have tagged along because they are going or have already gone to basically everywhere that I want to go. Anyways, while watching the rugby match I found out that New Zealand is actually a great place to go if you are looking for a job, especially for laborers. They are importing laborers from all over the world and are paying as much as they do if not more than what people get paid in the US. On top of that the cost of living is extremely low, even if you are on the other side of the world. I think I might try and land an internship with one of Bernard's friends over there who is the President of this conglomerate corporation in New Zealand.
So Friday night was spent with the New Zealanders watching rugby and talking and then about 11 oclock that night it was time to start packing. Saturday morning, bright and early at 5am, I took off for Toulouse, France. Toulouse is located in the south west of France about an hour from the Mediterranean and 2 hours from Spain. It was a 6 hour train ride to Toulouse where we met up with Cathy's friend's sister who lives there. (Cathy is from Kalamazoo). Her name was Lorenne and her along with her boyfriend Tony picked us up from the train station and took us to their apartment. They were awesome hosts and took us out to lunch after we got there and then showed us around downtown Toulouse. Toulouse is a beautiful city but is very different than Clermont. We noticed right away that it was definitely a more modern city and the houses and buildings look accordingly. Saturday was spent mostly sight seeing in Toulouse and then was followed by a wonderful dinner and conversation back at the apartment. Sunday we did more sightseeing in the morning and then Sunday night was pretty cool. That night, France was playing Namibia in a world cup match, in Toulouse. Now we did not have tickets; but what we did have was a big screen TV on the banks of the Garonne River. There must have been 8,000 people sitting on the side of this river watching the match on this giant TV. The bars in the area set up tents and there were vendors all over the place, it was absolutely amazing to see and be at. France won, and won big so everyone was very happy as we left.
Monday was an extremely cool day. Lorenne took us to Carcassonne which is about 45 minutes away by car. Carcassonne is an old medieval town which is still in tact and it was a very cool place to go. We walked around the castle and took a tour of the Basilique there. While I was there I also took a tour of the museum of torture which was an oddly cool thing to go to. The creativity and reasoning behind some of the torture methods is wild… I did take some pictures of some of the instruments they had there. Monday night was again basically a great dinner and conversation night especially because it started pouring rain on our way home from Carcassonne. Tuesday was spent packing up and getting to the train station at noon for our 6 hour ride back to Clermont. All in all it was a really great weekend and I look forward to possibly heading back to Toulouse for another trip before all is said and done.
Another thing that I have finally set in stone is what my ICRP is going to be. Joelle Carroll, one of the professors here at the ESC found me a position with this sports association, the head of which just so happens to the coach of the American Football team here in Clermont. So Thursday night I plan on going to practice to find out exactly what I am going to be doing while here.
Tomorrow starts regular school and here are the classes that I am going to be taking:
European Civilization
French Langauge and Culture
Economics
Pepiniere
English Conversation (I am going to be a Teaching Assistant for the class)
ICRP (Inter-Cultural Research Project) – American Football
Italian (Yes I am going to take Italian, which is taught in French)
I think that is enough for this entry, and I believe I have caught everyone up to speed. I am going to upload pictures tomorrow and hopefully have everything operational tomorrow evening!
Love to all,
Jon
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Updates...
So it's been a couple of days since I last wrote and well there isn't a ton to say. Thursday night we didn't do a whole lot in fact I was asleep by 9 o'clock… but it worked out nice because I got a really good night's rest. Friday, we didn't really have class during the day but we did still have to head to the school. We watched a presentation on the École de la deuxième chance or in English the second chance school. Which as most of you can probably already decipher it's a program for kids that dropped out of school and want to receive their diploma, kind of like GED programs in the states. That was an interesting presentation and it might be something that I'll get involved with while I am here. After that we had about a 4 hour break where we went downtown and bough our discount train cards so that we can get at least 25 and up to 50% off all of our train fairs.
Then came a short movie on the history of the roman cathedrals that are in the area, why they built them in the shapes they did and how they did so… it was kind of cool to see especially since there are two really beautiful cathedrals in Clermont that I'll post some pictures of soon. It's tough to get on the computer and go online because Bernard doesn't have an internet connection at his apartment and well we really haven't had a ton of time at night to do much of anything.
Last night was a lot of fun though. One of our professors reserved a big table at this bar for 20 of us and we went there to watch the opening match of the Rugby World Cup, France played Argentina. France lost, 17-12 but it was a really good match. Bernard told me this morning that the referees were terrible and obviously said that France should have won. (Sounds like a lot of us after a game…) After the game at the bar we went to this Australian Pub where we met a fellow group of Americans who are here studying from Oklahoma. I think we are going to try and maybe hang out as a group tonight, I am not sure.
The group of people that came here to Clermont is really good and it's starting to seem like we are splitting up into somewhat smaller groups more easily, this is definitely a good thing because we could never go out in a group of 17 and expect to find a seat anywhere. Today I plan on going downtown to use the internet and also go to the mall a buy a couple of rugby jerseys, next weekend we are going to try and find tickets to watch the All Blacks play in Lyon, which would be just awesome!!!
I think that is about all for today. I will try and keep everyone updated and make sure you leave a line on my blog and say hi!!
If you guys want to be more updated on my travels, I do have a blog that I'm keeping a more or less daily update on what's going on here in Clermont. The address is www.jonstripabroad.info
Love to all,
Jon
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
9-5-07
Bon. The first week of class is halfway through and things are still going well. We are all starting to figure out the best ways to get around town and feeling a little bit more comfortable with what we are doing. But, it is still tough these first couple of weeks because we are in class for so long that we don’t have a ton of time to do much. It’s rude if we don’t come home for dinner around 7ish and since we’ve been getting out of class around 6, that doesn’t leave a whole lot of time. Things will change once we get into regular classes because we will be on the same schedule as the rest of the school. My French is definitely improving already and I’m finding myself just speaking it more freely and that could be half of the cause but who knows, I’m learning new words every day and each day is an adventure of its own.
I’m a little tired today so I don’t know how much I’ll write but I think we do plan on going out for a little bit tonight so I think I will take a small nap after dinner. Other than that there isn’t really a whole lot to report, I mean right now we go to class and come home and that’s about it… unless we go out at night but then it makes for a long day the next day. However, tomorrow we are going to the Michelin museum and then on Friday we are all going to a bar as a class to watch the opening match of the rugby world cup, when France plays Argentina. That should be an interesting night.
Ok I’m done for tonight, I will write again tomorrow and who knows maybe something super interesting will happen.
Love to all
Jon
I’m a little tired today so I don’t know how much I’ll write but I think we do plan on going out for a little bit tonight so I think I will take a small nap after dinner. Other than that there isn’t really a whole lot to report, I mean right now we go to class and come home and that’s about it… unless we go out at night but then it makes for a long day the next day. However, tomorrow we are going to the Michelin museum and then on Friday we are all going to a bar as a class to watch the opening match of the rugby world cup, when France plays Argentina. That should be an interesting night.
Ok I’m done for tonight, I will write again tomorrow and who knows maybe something super interesting will happen.
Love to all
Jon
9-4-2007
Today was the second day at the university, and actually was the rest of the countries first day of school, so to say the least the busses and trams were extra busy this morning along with the town square after school was over. This morning class was kind of boring, more speaking French and going over basic grammar stuff we listened to a few songs and watched the news clips on the internet. We got an hour and a half for our lunch break so Coco, Cathy, Meghan and I went to this crêperie about 10 mins walking distance from the school. It was a pretty cool place and it was kind of in a cave. 8 euros got you a two course lunch and it was an excellent meal. After lunch we just watched a movie and then divided into groups and talked about the film. It was a movie that I have already seen and if anyone wants to get a taste of what its like to be a foreign student in another country you could rent it… it’s called l’Auberge espagnol.
After school, I went downtown with a couple others and we finally found our internet café which is Café Cozy. It has free internet and isn’t too hard to get to from my house. In addition I went to a couple of stores and found some notebooks and really cool pens that you can erase however they aren’t ball point they are ink pens, kind of the old fashion looking ones with the metal tips. Tomorrow we are meeting in small groups; the professor split us up according to ability so that she could better help us with the things that we are doing wrong. Because of this, I do not have to go into school until 11am tomorrow so I will get a good nights rest.
Things are getting pretty good around here, Bernard laid down the rules yesterday which were all pretty obvious and I should have no problem obeying them. He basically told me that as long as I let him know if I won’t be there for a meal then he has no problem when or where I go. In addition, he’ll take care of the laundry but any ironing or special care will need to be done by myself. I have my own set of keys and can come back whenever I please as long as I am careful not to make too much noise and wake him up.
Last night we went out for the first time since we’ve been here. We found a really cool bar by the cathedral which I think is going to become our first stop most nights out. It was a lot of fun last night and I decided to make a quick round and try different beers that are here. The best one of the night was a beer called Grimbergen, I believe it’s a German beer but it was fantastic. Tomorrow night Pierre (Bernard’s Son) is going to be partying with his friends because they just finished some exams so we might be heading out again tomorrow night.
I still need to start taking some pictures and I’ve been really terrible with it even though I have my camera pretty much the entire day. One of these days I will take a picture of downtown because at night it is super cool, there are all these fountains that light up to resemble the lava that is in the volcanoes that surround the region. In addition there is like spotlights on the top of the these poles that light up the entire square in different colors from green to red to yellow to blue. I think that for the most part we have a really good group and the few people I didn’t really know I’m having no trouble getting along with, so there are no worries and actually Bernard asked me today if I was thinking about changing my program to the 9 month term and stay more than just the 6 months. The thought has crossed my mind but I don’t know what I shall do… there are many reasons that are running through my head about whether or not to stay for the whole school year.
I think that this is good for today… email me or leave comments on the website!!!
Love to all,
Jon
After school, I went downtown with a couple others and we finally found our internet café which is Café Cozy. It has free internet and isn’t too hard to get to from my house. In addition I went to a couple of stores and found some notebooks and really cool pens that you can erase however they aren’t ball point they are ink pens, kind of the old fashion looking ones with the metal tips. Tomorrow we are meeting in small groups; the professor split us up according to ability so that she could better help us with the things that we are doing wrong. Because of this, I do not have to go into school until 11am tomorrow so I will get a good nights rest.
Things are getting pretty good around here, Bernard laid down the rules yesterday which were all pretty obvious and I should have no problem obeying them. He basically told me that as long as I let him know if I won’t be there for a meal then he has no problem when or where I go. In addition, he’ll take care of the laundry but any ironing or special care will need to be done by myself. I have my own set of keys and can come back whenever I please as long as I am careful not to make too much noise and wake him up.
Last night we went out for the first time since we’ve been here. We found a really cool bar by the cathedral which I think is going to become our first stop most nights out. It was a lot of fun last night and I decided to make a quick round and try different beers that are here. The best one of the night was a beer called Grimbergen, I believe it’s a German beer but it was fantastic. Tomorrow night Pierre (Bernard’s Son) is going to be partying with his friends because they just finished some exams so we might be heading out again tomorrow night.
I still need to start taking some pictures and I’ve been really terrible with it even though I have my camera pretty much the entire day. One of these days I will take a picture of downtown because at night it is super cool, there are all these fountains that light up to resemble the lava that is in the volcanoes that surround the region. In addition there is like spotlights on the top of the these poles that light up the entire square in different colors from green to red to yellow to blue. I think that for the most part we have a really good group and the few people I didn’t really know I’m having no trouble getting along with, so there are no worries and actually Bernard asked me today if I was thinking about changing my program to the 9 month term and stay more than just the 6 months. The thought has crossed my mind but I don’t know what I shall do… there are many reasons that are running through my head about whether or not to stay for the whole school year.
I think that this is good for today… email me or leave comments on the website!!!
Love to all,
Jon
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Day 4
So today was our first day of school, and boy what an interesting day. We took the bus this morning but we left way too early so we ended up getting to school about 45 minutes early, just like me to be the first one there but hey I felt better than rushing to walk in. We met the director of the program Monsieur Maurice Faure and he is a really nice man. We started off with a little bit of monetary issues and they gave us money for lunch and also bus passes for people like me who live a little bit outside of town. Tomorrow I guess we will be getting a bus pass. Then started the real fun, the first two weeks at school is going to be an intense French class which is going to split us up into two groups because there are a lot of different levels of French in our group of 17. I was put into the more advanced group along with I think only 6 others. It should be interesting to say the least. After class in the morning we went and had lunch at a traditional French restaurant. We had red wine and water to drink and 4 courses. We started with a salad with a vinaigrette dressing, and then came the main course which was for me pork in a mushroom gravy with potatoes, ratatouille, and green beans. After the main course came dessert which again for me was a citrus fruit tart which was excellent I must add and then coffee or tea as the final course. Of course throughout there was cheese and bread. At the restaurant it was all 17 of us plus our director and the main professors of the international program. I talked to Joule Caron who is the lady in charge of our ICRP or research project and she planted the idea that I am going to do my ICRP on something related to the Coupe Mondale de Rugby (the Rugby World Cup) which is taking place in france beginning this friday.
After lunch we went back to school for the second half of our French class. We gave two presentations today along with a grammar test and an essay so it was a long and trying day. But it went by fairly quick and we are goign to be heading out for our first night ont he town tonight so it should help out relieve the anxieties of the day.
After class we got a tour of the school which has 2 buildings, an old one and a new one. The school is nice and there is a lot of places that are open all the time 24 hours a day once we get a school ID.
We have a 4 day weekend coming up the 15-19 of september and most of us are thinking about heading to Munich for the first weekend of Oktoberfest for 3 days or so.
Alright, Bernard is calling me for dinner, so I shall write again later.
Love to all
Jon
After lunch we went back to school for the second half of our French class. We gave two presentations today along with a grammar test and an essay so it was a long and trying day. But it went by fairly quick and we are goign to be heading out for our first night ont he town tonight so it should help out relieve the anxieties of the day.
After class we got a tour of the school which has 2 buildings, an old one and a new one. The school is nice and there is a lot of places that are open all the time 24 hours a day once we get a school ID.
We have a 4 day weekend coming up the 15-19 of september and most of us are thinking about heading to Munich for the first weekend of Oktoberfest for 3 days or so.
Alright, Bernard is calling me for dinner, so I shall write again later.
Love to all
Jon
Day 3
Hmm Sunday in France, an interesting time I must say. This morning we woke up and headed to the flea market that is down the street. It was a pretty big flea market with a ton of different things, all used and all pretty cheap. I guess the market is every Sunday unless it is snowing or raining. We met up with a few of our fellow American friends which was nice, especially for some of the other people who have not seen another American since they've been here. We ended up leaving the flea market to try and get the others their cell phones only to find out that pretty much everything is closed on Sundays in Clermont. So we walked around downtown again and showed the people that hadn't been there yet the things that downtown has to offer. After that we decided to start heading back to begin the rest of our day. We came back and had dinner. Today it was sardines and chicken along with peas and corn. At about 1 o'clock one of Pierre's friends came over to help Pierre move into his apartment. His name was Hdaj, he is algerienne but since Algeria is a French colony he is a French citizen. He is an international referee for Rugby, and is also one of the top 10 refs in all of France. It was pretty cool he was a cool guy and Pierre seemed to open up and be a little more friendly when Hdaj arrived. Right now Pierre, Hdaj, and Bernard are in town moving Pierre into his apartment so we have a few hours to do what we would like. I think I might take the tram into town and check out the school that we will be attending tomorrow morning at 8h30.
Hdaj asked me if I was going to play any rugby while I was here and I kind of told him I might try haha. He seems to think that I would fit in quite well with Rugby especially after they had me show them clips of me playing football. I doubt it'll happen but you never know.
My French seems to be getting much better, and my ears are beginning to adjust to how fast they speak. I was decently involved in today's dinner conversation. Come to find out, Bernard is dating one of the other host mom's. Carmen's mom to be exact, so I have a feeling carmen and I will be spending lots of time together.
I know these updates are coming in spurts but I do not have internet at my house so it is going to be hard to be able to communicate often.
I think that is all, tomorrow is my first day of school so we shall see how that goes.
Love to all,
Jon
Hdaj asked me if I was going to play any rugby while I was here and I kind of told him I might try haha. He seems to think that I would fit in quite well with Rugby especially after they had me show them clips of me playing football. I doubt it'll happen but you never know.
My French seems to be getting much better, and my ears are beginning to adjust to how fast they speak. I was decently involved in today's dinner conversation. Come to find out, Bernard is dating one of the other host mom's. Carmen's mom to be exact, so I have a feeling carmen and I will be spending lots of time together.
I know these updates are coming in spurts but I do not have internet at my house so it is going to be hard to be able to communicate often.
I think that is all, tomorrow is my first day of school so we shall see how that goes.
Love to all,
Jon
Day 2
So today was quite interesting, to say the least.
I slept for an amazing 14 hours last night after being awake for almost 30. Bernard left at about 7:30 to go to a dinner and left us home alone our first night in his apartment. This meant that we basically went to sleep right away.
Before I get on with what we did today I'd like to take a minute and add to yesterday's information. After walking out of the airport, we found out that Clermont-Ferrand is the home to the first place in the world to get a hard topped road (Blacktop to be exact). Michelin's Global Headquarters is here in Clermont-Ferrand and if it is at all possible I'm going to try and do my internship there. In addition, the tram system that they have here is one of the only trams in the world to have rubber tires, rightfully so since Michelin is here and everything... Ok on to today...
This morning we got up and had breakfast which was coffee and come cereal. I finished unpacking and we watched some rugby. Bernard's son, Pierre came over for lunch and found out that he actually plays rugby on a few of the local teams and in addition Bernard referees rugby games and is also an avid rugby player himself.
After lunch, les tomatoes foursee (stuffed tomatoes - A hallowed out tomato with seasoned beef inside, it was actually really good!) we finished watching the rugby match on TV. At about 1 o'clock we headed back into town to take Pierre back to his apartment. After getting out of the car with Pierre Bernard left to go handle some work things. I thought Pierre was going to show us around Clermont and give us the quick tour or something but what we did was headed to an Orange store (cell phone store) where we found out that all the contracts are for 12 or 24 months and I'd have to get a prepaid card. So after exiting the store, we headed down the street and got to Pierre's apartment, he went up the stairs and told us he'd might see us tomorrow... So now, Courtney's and my first day in France and we find ourselves in the middle of Clermont Ferrand without any idea where stuff is by ourselves. We were kind of surprised at this but then we got the hang of it, we strolled around the downtown area and saw all kinds of shops and stores. Clermont is a really beautiful downtown area that has a ton of people just walking around. There was bands playing in the streets and all sorts of commotion. We ended up at the new mall in downtown Clermont where I found a Best Buy type store, a place that felt like home, the store was packed and I ended up finding a cell phone section of the store. So me believing that my phone was unlocked I just asked for a prepaid SIM card for my phone. We got it and it only cost 30 Euros.. about 38 dollars. We tried to activate it in my phone but it didn't work... it said that the phone was not unlocked. Now when I bought the phone it was supposed to be unlocked but that is not the time or the place for that. So I ended up having to buy a phone but because I had already purchased a SIM card and activated it I had to buy a phone that was Unlocked. This was a little bit more expensive than if I had just bought the phone and a prepaid card together. But at the end the result was the same, I have a phone and a Number that people can reach me at. Ill give it to you guys at the end.
After leaving the electronics store we decided to try and make our way back to the house... we still were not sure of how to get there because of all the one way streets and such. We were going to try and take the bus, but then we realized we don't know what stop to go to or how much it costs, then we were going to take the tram but realized that it doesn't go by the apartment so we decided to just suck it up and walk. After heading in the wrong direction for about 10 minutes, we finally got our bearings straight and made it home.. about 25 minutes later to find that no one else was at the apartment yet. Bernard did show up about 15 minutes after we got there so things are all good.. either way we got a great view of the whole city and now I sort of know how to get back and forth. The next obstacle will be whether or not I can find my way to school Monday morning.
I guess tomorrow morning there is a really cool farmer's market nearby that I think we are going to take a short walk and go see. Bernard is leaving again tonight for some dinner and then he is helping Pierre finish moving tomorrow morning so we will be on our own again! haha.
It looks like it is going to be a really good trip, Bernard is really nice and he speaks perfect English and is fluent in Russian as well.
Well I think that is it for today.. I'll take some pictures of Clermont sometime soon and get those taken care of.
Until next time,
Au Revoir!
Jon
Oh.. my number is 06.42.07.06.98.
I slept for an amazing 14 hours last night after being awake for almost 30. Bernard left at about 7:30 to go to a dinner and left us home alone our first night in his apartment. This meant that we basically went to sleep right away.
Before I get on with what we did today I'd like to take a minute and add to yesterday's information. After walking out of the airport, we found out that Clermont-Ferrand is the home to the first place in the world to get a hard topped road (Blacktop to be exact). Michelin's Global Headquarters is here in Clermont-Ferrand and if it is at all possible I'm going to try and do my internship there. In addition, the tram system that they have here is one of the only trams in the world to have rubber tires, rightfully so since Michelin is here and everything... Ok on to today...
This morning we got up and had breakfast which was coffee and come cereal. I finished unpacking and we watched some rugby. Bernard's son, Pierre came over for lunch and found out that he actually plays rugby on a few of the local teams and in addition Bernard referees rugby games and is also an avid rugby player himself.
After lunch, les tomatoes foursee (stuffed tomatoes - A hallowed out tomato with seasoned beef inside, it was actually really good!) we finished watching the rugby match on TV. At about 1 o'clock we headed back into town to take Pierre back to his apartment. After getting out of the car with Pierre Bernard left to go handle some work things. I thought Pierre was going to show us around Clermont and give us the quick tour or something but what we did was headed to an Orange store (cell phone store) where we found out that all the contracts are for 12 or 24 months and I'd have to get a prepaid card. So after exiting the store, we headed down the street and got to Pierre's apartment, he went up the stairs and told us he'd might see us tomorrow... So now, Courtney's and my first day in France and we find ourselves in the middle of Clermont Ferrand without any idea where stuff is by ourselves. We were kind of surprised at this but then we got the hang of it, we strolled around the downtown area and saw all kinds of shops and stores. Clermont is a really beautiful downtown area that has a ton of people just walking around. There was bands playing in the streets and all sorts of commotion. We ended up at the new mall in downtown Clermont where I found a Best Buy type store, a place that felt like home, the store was packed and I ended up finding a cell phone section of the store. So me believing that my phone was unlocked I just asked for a prepaid SIM card for my phone. We got it and it only cost 30 Euros.. about 38 dollars. We tried to activate it in my phone but it didn't work... it said that the phone was not unlocked. Now when I bought the phone it was supposed to be unlocked but that is not the time or the place for that. So I ended up having to buy a phone but because I had already purchased a SIM card and activated it I had to buy a phone that was Unlocked. This was a little bit more expensive than if I had just bought the phone and a prepaid card together. But at the end the result was the same, I have a phone and a Number that people can reach me at. Ill give it to you guys at the end.
After leaving the electronics store we decided to try and make our way back to the house... we still were not sure of how to get there because of all the one way streets and such. We were going to try and take the bus, but then we realized we don't know what stop to go to or how much it costs, then we were going to take the tram but realized that it doesn't go by the apartment so we decided to just suck it up and walk. After heading in the wrong direction for about 10 minutes, we finally got our bearings straight and made it home.. about 25 minutes later to find that no one else was at the apartment yet. Bernard did show up about 15 minutes after we got there so things are all good.. either way we got a great view of the whole city and now I sort of know how to get back and forth. The next obstacle will be whether or not I can find my way to school Monday morning.
I guess tomorrow morning there is a really cool farmer's market nearby that I think we are going to take a short walk and go see. Bernard is leaving again tonight for some dinner and then he is helping Pierre finish moving tomorrow morning so we will be on our own again! haha.
It looks like it is going to be a really good trip, Bernard is really nice and he speaks perfect English and is fluent in Russian as well.
Well I think that is it for today.. I'll take some pictures of Clermont sometime soon and get those taken care of.
Until next time,
Au Revoir!
Jon
Oh.. my number is 06.42.07.06.98.
The First Day
Well today was an interesting day. I boarded a plane in Detroit at Metro Airport at 12:45 pm on Thursday August 30th. Here it is today, 6:00 pm on Friday, which means that I have spent approximately 24 hours in either an airport or an airplane. Needless to say it was quite the adventure full of many surprises, wrong turns and luggage magically appearing! Ok so enough with the travels, my host father I guess you could call him is named Bernard. He is a single dad who's son went to med school and now works, Bernard informed me today that he is going to be coming over for dinner tomorrow so I will get to meet him. It was an interesting time today with all of the layovers and flight time, I went through a lot of different phases, I think we all did. I think we hit the W curve in one flight! It was like we were really excited to leave, then depressed once on the plane and realizing that we actually left, and then there was another period of excitement when we landed in Dublin... I mean we were in Europe, so that was exciting. Then finally there was the am I sure I want to do this phase which was pretty much the 6 hours in the airport in Paris. Then finally it was the nervous anticipation as we awaited our luggage and went through the exit door to get swept away by our host families!
Bernard is a professor in city, although not at the same university that we attend. In addition he is the treasurer of some large peace committee in the city (more details to come I'm sure) which he is actually attending a large dinner for tonight. He lives in a small apartment just outside the city, but there is a bus stop directly in front of his apartment so travelling around the town should be fairly simple.
I am waiting to get my SIM card, Bernard knows someone that works at a store in town so he is going to get me a good deal on one, as soon as I get the information my phone number I will let everyone know!
It should be exciting, these next 6 months are going to prove to have lots of challenges both emotionally and mentally but I think all in all it will be a great experience.
Until next time,
Jon
Bernard is a professor in city, although not at the same university that we attend. In addition he is the treasurer of some large peace committee in the city (more details to come I'm sure) which he is actually attending a large dinner for tonight. He lives in a small apartment just outside the city, but there is a bus stop directly in front of his apartment so travelling around the town should be fairly simple.
I am waiting to get my SIM card, Bernard knows someone that works at a store in town so he is going to get me a good deal on one, as soon as I get the information my phone number I will let everyone know!
It should be exciting, these next 6 months are going to prove to have lots of challenges both emotionally and mentally but I think all in all it will be a great experience.
Until next time,
Jon
First few days
Well today was an interesting day. I boarded a plane in Detroit at Metro Airport at 12:45 pm on Thursday August 30th. Here it is today, 6:00 pm on Friday, which means that I have spent approximately 24 hours in either an airport or an airplane. Needless to say it was quite the adventure full of many surprises, wrong turns and luggage magically appearing! Ok so enough with the travels, my host father I guess you could call him is named Bernard. He is a single dad who's son went to med school and now works, Bernard informed me today that he is going to be coming over for dinner tomorrow so I will get to meet him. It was an interesting time today with all of the layovers and flight time, I went through a lot of different phases, I think we all did. I think we hit the W curve in one flight! It was like we were really excited to leave, then depressed once on the plane and realizing that we actually left, and then there was another period of excitement when we landed in Dublin... I mean we were in Europe, so that was exciting. Then finally there was the am I sure I want to do this phase which was pretty much the 6 hours in the airport in Paris. Then finally it was the nervous anticipation as we awaited our luggage and went through the exit door to get swept away by our host families!
Bernard is a professor in city, although not at the same university that we attend. In addition he is the treasurer of some large peace committee in the city (more details to come I'm sure) which he is actually attending a large dinner for tonight. He lives in a small apartment just outside the city, but there is a bus stop directly in front of his apartment so travelling around the town should be fairly simple.
I am waiting to get my SIM card, Bernard knows someone that works at a store in town so he is going to get me a good deal on one, as soon as I get the information my phone number I will let everyone know!
It should be exciting, these next 6 months are going to prove to have lots of challenges both emotionally and mentally but I think all in all it will be a great experience.
Until next time,
Jon
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