That's really how I feel about post-Toussaint. Classes canceled, or rescheduled, me running around like a chicken with my head cut off, not knowing where to go, wasting time doing my hair and makeup, getting woke up by a wrong number (hahaha I was surprised I even remembered to speak French), just ugh.
Now, I wouldn't call it a BAD week, but it wasn't the best either. And then this week we get Armistice Day off. Huh? We just got a week off. Kinda like a few years ago when we had 3 weeks for Christmas Break, came back, and that week we got MLK Day off. Totally pointless. Ah well, it's a day where I can just hang out in my room, or go to Kehl, or do something other than worry about if I'm taking enough notes.
Speaking of Kehl, I was there twice this weekend. Why? Because I can. Though my phone decides it wants to go INSANE texting me about this that and the other info about operating outside of France. Anyway, I think it's funny I've spent more time, effort, and money exploring Germany instead of France. Haha! Well, the spending habits I've had this semester haven't aided me exploring, at all. And this job I'm supposed to have is driving me nuts now. I REALLY would like to get started working...because I need some sort of income. I really do. And in France, unlike the US, being multilingual is VERY lucrative (especially when your native language is English), so I've found out. But, the French don't think they're the center of the universe either. ;)
I have a good friend, Amy, I've known online now for a few years, thanks to Cinema Bizarre (I meet more people, thanks to music, than through anything else), and she lives outside of Paris. I've been texting her a lot lately, which really makes me feel good, as it's nice knowing I have people here I can talk to. Another online friend had a sister who had an au pair from Dijon at one point, and she put me in touch with this girl, and her sister. So I'm trying to meet and talk to locals, even if they're not in Strasbourg. ;)
OH! Funniest thing ever! I'm out walking, not too far from the Ill River, and I kid you not, I pass a bar called "The Indiana." Wonder what people would say if I went in, showed them my ID, and was like "Non, je viens d'Indiana. Je ne ments pas!" (No, I come from Indiana, I'm not lying!) So when I passed this little fact by Tom, apparently there's one in Paris too? Talk about awesome! Hahaha! A little bit of home...
NOW, if they play bad country music, and everyone walks around like a bunch of hicks, then it'll REALLY be like home.
Ok anyway, bad stab at Indiana (I think most of you know how much I hate that place). But speaking of home, I was out walking a few nights ago (prolly close to a week ago) and I found/passed the US consulate here in Strasbourg. Now, I had known where it was, but it was one of those places I'd never really gone by and took it in. I was walking at night, sometime well after 8. So of course everything is closed, and it's progressing into night life traffic. I was trying to explore the area past L'Eglise St. Paul, just because aside from the bateau mouche I was on, I haven't been out that way (correction: one time I took the wrong train and ended up out by the European Parliament which is passed the church). Of course, there's the US Consulate, with the lights shining on the seal of the US, and the Stars and Stripes. I stopped and looked at the flag, and I can honestly say, for the first time in my life, I looked on that flag with pride. Not even in all the military-styled flag raising/lowering ceremonies I was in as a kid, or even the flag burning ceremony I saw once as a kid (yes for the record, there is a proper way to burn a flag. It's akin to a funeral or burial, and you can ONLY do it when the flag is absolutely tattered. It's a measure of respect, and it's almost as sacred as taking communion is to most Christians) did I ever look on the flag with any kind of affection as I did then.
Now, if you know me, you know how hugely critical I am of the States. And not because I hate my homeland, I don't, not at all really. I'm critical because in my opinion, America really COULD be the "great" country they lead the rest of the world to believe they are, taking care of their own, helping the world, and being an example of technological and social progress that we were, for quite a good time there. Yet, we roll around in filth and depravity. It frustrates me to no end. Anyway, before I digress any further, even with feelings like I just stated, I was still proud to look at that flag for a moment, and felt a sense of familiarity. Kind of like, no matter how far from home I am, no matter how far away my language, the familiarity, even the memories of my mom may be, I'm not THAT far away at all. Just like that flag was, it's not like bits and pieces of home haven't followed me here. And no, I don't mean the debt my dad caused me. I mean things like souvenirs of my mother, my Jared Padalecki cup, my beloved Princess blanket, Little Mari and the Tiger Toy, and The Giving Tree.
When I was a kid, I LOVED the American Girl Series (for you non-Americans who may be reading this check it <3). One of the characters, Kirsten (who I LOVED, and was the first doll I got), left Sweden for Minnesota in the 1850's. The beginning of the first book is her talking about being lonely, and not having her grandma with her. Her grandma told her something to the effect of, "Whenever you get lonely, look at the moon, and remember I'm looking at the very same moon you are." The first time I thought of that phrase, after getting to Strasbourg, I bawled my eyes out. But now, when I think of it, it's true. The same sun, and the same moon, shine everywhere in the world, at one time or another. Guess things like that do make the world seem (in a good way) like a smaller place. <3
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