Un Garçon De L'Étranger

i was sort of randomly asked by one of my newer friends here if i wanted to over to normandy to visit the d-day beaches and sort of see around the area which was crucial to the ending of WWII. They were leaving the next morning and i had a couple of hours to decide…so of course I said yes. The crew was me, Amy, a girl from Cal Poly who i had previously only recognized, Karrin, a girl from Michigan, Alex a guy from Vancouver Island and Russ a guy from Toronto. We set of the next morning on a train to Caen where the Memorial Museum is located for WWII. All I can say about it is that it was absolutely exhausting. Both physically (walking for a few hours through the halls) and emotionally (reading countless stories of undeserved death and the gruesome war), and by the end I almost felt desensitized. They had lots of artifacts from the war and it was interesting to read about the other countries’ side of the war, since all I’ve really heard is the American side. We also walked around this big memorial park they have outside which was a nice change to the sad stories found inside.

Following this we taxied back to the train station and caught the train for Bayeux, where we would be staying the next two nights. Since originally only 4 of us were going, when we checked to see if our rooms were available at our hotel we found out (from an extremely rude and uncompensating woman) that there were only 2 doubles and no room for our 5th companion. We walked for a bit and found a really nice hotel that had a triple room and upon finding how large it was, decided we could all sleep there (and hopefully not get caught). So after dropping off our heavy bags (i was expecting rain and to have to have multiple items of clothing), we took to exploring the city…which turned out to be absolutely dead. It was ok though because we made our own fun walking around the little downtown, to the cathedral (which apparently is in size comparable to notre dame in paris), and around the little river that goes through the city. We also got some delicious pizza and met a man named Edwin from Harlem who hadn’t been back to the states in 8 years and is a carpenter here. Eventually we made it back to the hotel and found out that we LOST OUR KEY. We stayed relatively calm and thought about all the places we had been and made a search party and ended up finding it in the grass by the river where we must have been doing cartwheels. It was pretty frightening though because it was pretty late and we didn’t know what we would have done.

The next day was dedicated to going to the d-day beaches. we woke up sort of early and decided that renting a car was the best way to get there. after walking for what seemed like forever to the car rental place we got a car for 63 euros, so split among 5 people it wasn’t bad at all and ended up being really convenient. We first went to Arromanches beach which was a German site if I can remember correctly and walked along the beach there for a while and went up into the town and got some delicious pastries. We then drove to Omaha Beach which was one of the beaches the American troops stormed (the other was Utah Beach which we didn’t have time to do) and it was really strange to the see the beach so peaceful knowing how much happened 66 years ago and how many people were killed on the same sand we were casually strolling on. We walked through a bunker a bit higher up and then made our way to the American cemetery. It was made out really nice and looked really pretty there, especially on the day we were there while it was so sunny. However for some reason I didn’t like it. People were walking all through the crosses and stars of david and it seemed like they didn’t realize there were people beneath them. I sort of stayed away from the grave site because it was just strange to me. I don’t really know a good way to explain it, but it was still an interesting site to see. And not forgetting our Canadian friends we drove to Juno Beach, which is where the Canadian troops came in. Apparently Canada declared war on Germany 2 years before the U.S. which I found really interesting and apparently is a fact ignored by most Americans. It was getting close to our time to leave so we took some pictures with our car and headed back to the car rental place. It was really beautiful driving through the French countryside and we were all very thankful to be in a car and not having to worry about bus times and buses and etc.

We then went back to the city which was a bit more alive due to it being a Friday night and we got Kebabs and ate and walked around a bit more and ended up just sitting in a park and talking for the rest of the night. We also talked to some Brits from (i forget where) and one of them just started his own clothing/screen-printing company and he gave us some really insightful tips on what it is to be a good business-person. He was saying he never took any business classes in his life and just knew the industry really well from working tons of different jobs, but that what’s most important is your personality. You can be the most educated person in a company but still be at the bottom because you lack a personality that people want to be around. It was nothing new or profound but it was refreshing to hear it from someone older (and English). We made it back to the hotel earlier (no lost key) and went to sleep.

In the morning when we took off, our secret was found out, but we were only charged a bit more because the man thought there were only 4 of us in the hotel room. We then got some coffee and croissants and then explored the open market which had all sorts of food and souvenir-y things and cheap clothes and is probably where we saw the most people. We had a lot of time to kill so we got some really good hot-dogs and frites for lunch then went back to the river and sat in the sunshine for a while until we had to catch our train, it was nice to just relax after a long weekend. We then walked to the train station and made it back to Rouen and now we’re deciding what to do this chilly Saturday evening. Pictures will come soon, the girls took a whole bunch so I’ll put them up here when they get them up. 

(These posts are coming a bit late but they’re what i wrote for my school blog and i may as well share them. i have another post coming about england as well that’s really long for some reason but with lots of detail)

Study Ablog #1

Ah, finally out of the country. The process of making it to this point has not been easy, but I can tell it’s definitely going to be worth it. Getting a French Visa is probably the most difficult process, and I advise anyone who needs to get one in the future to start the process early, and not wait until the last minute. You have to register with this program called Campus France which basically makes it so you are able to study at a French university, but they have to accept your application which can take a while. I, being somewhat of a procrastinator, waited until the last minute, which added a lot of unnecessary stress to my summer. Thankfully, I received the email from Campus France 1 hour before my Visa appointment with the French Consulate in San Francisco, and had no problems after that. Then just came waiting to leave…Currently I am in Copenhagen, Denmark staying with my roommate of the last couple years and his family who is in Europe around the same time as me. And then also before heading to Rouen I am staying for a few days with a friend in Brighton, England, and staying a night in Paris. This is my first time in Europe and it’s definitely an interesting place. Here in Denmark, most people speak English thankfully, but it’s still strange having no idea what people are talking about 90% of the time. Also their currency, the Kroner, is largely coin based, which is frustrating because nobody likes carrying coins around. But other than that, it is a beautiful country with lots and lots of beautiful people walking around, and some really unique and interesting architecture that isn’t really prevalent in the states. Packing was also a challenge; I didn’t want to over-pack, but I didn’t want to pack too minimally either because I have heard that laundry can cost a lot of money, so I ended up with 2 suitcases. The airlines within Europe charge a lot of money for a bag being overweight, so it was a lot of paring down what I had, then paring it down some more. So far I haven’t had a problem, but I’ve only flown on United Airlines and not the European line. The flight wasn’t bad either, they accommodate you as best they can for being on a plane for 8 hours, and the flight attendants were the nicest I’ve ever had. (Before loading the plane I asked if any of them knew where any food was, and no one really knew, but then on the flight almost every one came up to me at separate times asking if I found food). Sorry this blog is so jumbled and all, I didn’t really know where to start or what to talk about, but hopefully in the future they will be a bit more focused and coherent. Alright, off to a Danish café, au revoir (I know, French, but all I have learned how to say in Danish is takk which means thank you). Update: made it through Brighton, London, and Oxford in England and absolutely loved it there. I’m currently with a friend with the UC Paris program in her flat in Paris, and I’m headed for Rouen tomorrow. More updates to come in a few weeks!

Settling In…

It’s so nice to be in a semi-permanent place. Travelling beforehand was loads of fun, but it gets stressful living out of a suitcases and by deadlines before you even make it to your final destination. The night before coming to Rouen I was in Paris and I couldn’t even enjoy it as much as I wanted to because of how stressed out I was about getting to Rouen the next day. There were supposed to be country-wide strikes and I had to take 2 metro rides, a train ride across the country, and a bus to the school and I didn’t think I had all of the documents I needed once I arrived so my mind was all over the place. Luckily I got on the trains/buses without too many problems besides trying to find a place for 2 suitcases and getting strange looks for getting on the bus and not paying.

But I finally made it to Rouen and getting everything I needed wasn’t much of a problem and they even let me into my room before turning stuff in which was nice since I had the suitcases and the rooms aren’t necessarily close to campus (8ish minute walk).

The next few days were full of visiting Rouen (the school is in a little city called Mont Saint Aignan which is about a 10 minute bus-ride from downtown), and going out and meeting people at night. Most of the kids from different countries tend to stick together, Spaniards with the Spaniards, Americans with Americans, Canadians with Canadians, etc, but there is definitely a lot of mixing that goes on, and you really do get to meet everyone. We also had a “cultural connection” seminar thing where you got together in a classroom with mostly 1^st year French students and we had to do a presentation with them about how globalization is affecting the world. We then presented in front of the class, and the winner of that had to present in front of 5 other classes and whoever won that was supposedly supposed to get a bottle of wine. My group got on really well and we made a skit that ended up winning the whole thing, except we’ve yet to receive any sort of bottle of anything, which is a bit frustrating. After that though all of the groups had a huge picnic in a park in Rouen and then went to a nightclub thing to celebrate and meet even more new people.

After the weekend was finally over I had my first bout of classes that seem like they take forever. My first one on Monday lasted from 9 in the morning until 4pm with 2 15 minute breaks and an hour lunch. Luckily the class is only 6 weeks long, but it still seems like a nightmare trying to sit in the same classroom for that long. My other class was 3 hours long which didn’t seem as bad in comparison but it’s still longer than anything at Cal Poly. And I only have 3 days of class (Monday Tuesday Wednesday) and half the time my Wednesday class doesn’t even seem to meet, so I’m not complaining too much.

That’s pretty much it for now; I have to figure out the laundry issue since the one in our dorm is being renovated. More updates soon. Possibly going to Versailles and more places up north tomorrow to visit the normandy beaches and do some exploring.

Hey everybody, i meant to post this a few days ago while in copenhagen, but i accidentally didn’t so hear you go, a few days later…

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Fiiiiinally made it to Europe! The flight was very long and I was seated next to two infants, but going from Chicago to Copenhagen they accommodated me well since it was an 8 hour flight. I then met up with justin’s family and we dropped our stuff off and began exploring the city.

First of all there are WAY too many attractive people here. I don’t know how you could fall for any one person because 2 seconds later theres a better one. Ok this i don’t really mean this but seriously it’s overwhelming. A lot of people to compete with I suppose. So far we have gone to christianshaven, climbed to the top of a cathedral, walked around a crowded street and ate and slept. I barely slept because I wasn’t accustomed to the time change and there were a couple chainsaw snorers, but I won’t name any names. Today we walked around Christian IV’s castle and found city bikes and have been doing some more exploring. I found free wifi at the black diamond library so I am taking advantage.

Ok more updates to come later, it’s weird being here with Justin and knowing I’m not coming back to the states, but will actually be living on this strange continent. Ok I’ll post a couple pictures. See ya

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edit, i’m currently in a village in southern england called Eastervillage staying with my friend Georgia who used to go to school in California. Today I think we’re just relaxing and then tomorrow we’re headed to Brighton and Saturday to London and Oxford. I’ll post some more pictures as soon as I can!