Halfway to Nowhere

I have reached my halfway mark. I have been working for 6 months and I have 6 more months to go! Things are going well really well! I have an awesome group of friends and some great travel plans coming up. I am heading out to the mountains for the next week with he family which sounds awful but I think I am ready to embrace a week of isolation with he family( but I will let you know next week how it actually goes!).

What are we going to do next? This question has infiltrated my fellow au pairs' and my regular conversations.  Most of us saw this as a way to travel, attempt to learn a language, and live abroad. (Oh yes and take care of other people's children?) But most of all, as a way to put off being a part of the regular grown-up workforce.  I tried the desk job in DC and it wasn't a great fit. So what's next?

As you have deducted from the title of my blog, I have no idea.  I don't think I am done living abroad but I would like to find a way to incorporate living abroad with actually doing something related to what I want to do professionally. I have also started having he grad school conversation with people again and I know I can't keep outing that off. I have some undergrad classes I need to take before I can apply. And there is the GMAT and GRE to study for. Needless to say it is all just a bit overwhelming.

So that has become an important aspect of deciding what to do next. I have looked into some volunteer abroad programs for the fall. Another opportunity has arisen with the family. They might move to Paris this summer and would love for me to stay. So I am now considering because as you know I fell in love with Paris! So if I stay I have told myself that I will take the classes I need online in he fall and then study I. The spring and apply to start grad school in he stall of 2013.

That is a two year plan with a lit of the plan missing, like he jobs and a but of reality missing by if here is one hint I can guarantee is hat I am having a blast right now and the 2year plan I just laid out will change 10 more times (at least)!!!!

J'ai laissé mon cœur à Paris

So I don't actually know how to say this in French but Google (love) translated my title for me! It says "I left my heart in Paris." I will need to go back as often as possible until I can find it!

I am going to skip the complaining about the trip because whenever I say my complaints out loud, well, it just sounds silly (as my Dad reminded me yesterday). My life is not difficult; work brought me to Paris. (This is going to be my new life mantra..)

It snowed in Paris this weekend and quite hard. Mama C was shocked. It apparently rarely snows in the city and very rarely as hard as it was snowing. Lucky me, the snow followed me to Paris!

On Saturday evening, I was allowed out for the night to explore on my own.  The skies had cleared so I started walking. I had done a bit of research on places to go and things to see but really I just wanted to walk. I started at Notre Dame, which was gorgeous. I arrived just in time to see the beginning of Saturday night Mass (sorry Mom, I didn't stay). It was indeed a gorgeous church.

Joan of Arc 

"St. Joan of Arc (1421-1431) Born in Lomaine, burned
alive in Rouen as a heretic and a witch. The decision
to rehabilitate her reputation was made in this Cathedral. 

I thought this was an interesting fact! One of the few women we ever hear about in religious history!

Then I continued to weave through the streets of Paris. I didn't exactly know where I wanted to go end up but I stopped and got some Vin Chaud (hot wine) which has popped up as a (not so) tasty treat around Europe. It was disgusting and I did the unthinkable and threw away a glass of wine.

I continued to walk and look at the shops and every building I walked by made me fall in love with the city even more. It had a lively personality and the diversity was extremely apparent. It reminded me New York City in a lot of ways, only everyone speaks French, and the buildings are notably historical instead of tall!

This is one of the main government buildings. 

This is possibly a fact I should know or at least researched before departing to Paris but I didn't know where the Eiffel Tower was.  I also felt too silly asking. I figured it is tall and must be visible throughout the city. I will just stumble upon it! I was wrong. I eventually asked for a visitor's map at the metro and had of course been walking the wrong way!

I turned around and started the trek. Since it was a lovely 2-3 degress out (35 F) I figured I would walk there. I mean how far away could it really be...

About 2 hours later, I was getting closer. So close I could see more than the top of it! I got so excited I stopped and ate dinner! Now, I loved this city a lot, but sitting at a restaurant alone in Paris, is not a pleasant experience. I recommend grabbing to go because people stare with so much sadness when you sit alone. It is the most romantic city in the world for a reason, I guess.

Then I made it to the Eiffel Tower. There are so many things around the world that we see pictures of growing up and when you see the real thing it is a let down in a weird way. This was not one of them for me. I loved it! I thought it was absolutely gorgeous.

Sorry, I really LOVED it!

Just as I was leaving, I was thinking, I did think it sparkled more..and before my eyes it did! It was absolutely gorgeous! 

My Dad is completely right..my life is just not difficult..frustrating and exhausting perhaps, but not difficult! 

I woke up early on Sunday morning to catch free day at the Musee d'Orsay.  It is much more manageable with the time that I had free before we left. I loved this museum. The archeticture itself made it amazing not to mention the amazing artists who have their work on display.  Now a large portion of the Van Gogh and Monet collection is at some other museum somewhere in the world.  They had everything mixed up a bit which was really interesting. They combined much of their Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art (this makes me sound oh so smart..right?) since they were missing portions of each. 

I really did enjoy them being mixed together. It did make it interesting to wander through that section of the museum.  There was also a bit of the beginning of photography which I also really enjoyed. It was a great way to spend my Sunday morning! 

I then headed to Angelina's for some African hot chocolate, which absolutely amazing, and a lemon tart (that I just finished eating) and my 20th croissant (I am only being a little sarcastic).  

The museum with an awesome elephant and the line that I fortunately did not have to wait in.

This visit to Paris will be one of many in my lifetime. It has become my latest inspiration to continue to learn the language, which I can only guess will make my Parisian experience even better!

Three Months Down

I have created a life of constant change for myself. I feel like I haven't been in the same place for more than a year for going on SIX years now. While I was at good ol' Chappy for four years, each year required a move, and for the most part a new group of people. I have a few consistent friends from all four years, but between people graduating, moving off campus (which really did put them off the radar), different activities, classes, and a new Resident Advisor staff every year, I was constantly meeting new people and creating different core friends. I was always living in a different hall/apartment.

I think that this constant change is good. It keeps me on my toes. Meeting new people is always important and I never want that to stop! On the other hand, there are moments when I wish I could round up my friends and put them all in the same place.  We could recreate the idealistic college life we had and I could throw some high school and post-grad friends as well!  It would be an epic lifestyle! Unfortunately, I have adapting over the last 6 years to living away from my family and friends so while it is difficult at times to only be able to call/video chat, this is not something new to me.

I have found that you can't let yourself ponder what you don't have for too long or you just get depressed/lonely/etc. I have an amazing life in Switzerland and I am enjoying taking advantage of it all! The three month point is the big hump you need to get over. As an RA in college, this was when homesickness settled in for first-year students. You realize that the honeymoon is over, you are away from what you know, and this is now just life. This can be an AMAZING and/or SCARY revelation!

This brings me to the point of the post. I continue to move place to place and as I look into the future I can't imagine that I will find that city to settle down (whatever that means) in for a several more years! I do, however, miss things, people, and certain concepts. I didn't have a culture shock when I moved here. I was immediately surrounded by English and the food wasn't all that different. I have gotten used to not being able to communicate very well with people at restaurants and for the most part I have started to just speak English with hand motions in order to get my point across.

So here's a few things that I miss (obviously I miss you too!)

1. Shopping for and making my own food

2. Having privacy (the laundry room is accessed through my room...and we all know the laundry is never done!)

4. Being able to send people a text when something reminds me of them

5. Calling people while I walk to and from and sending texts with random moments from the day (However, I read a lot more now!)

6. Jamba Juice (I missed this in DC too)

7. Frozen Yogurt!

8. The warmth of the sun


And things that love about being here:

1. The free time to read

2. Walking outside and seeing snow capped mountains everyday

3. Learning French

4. That the hardest part of my day is getting 2 kids to brush their teeth

5. Being able to be in 4 different countries within 3-4 hours

6. Traveling!

7. Meeting new people from all over the world

8. Walking places

9. That a 50 degree rainy day is now good weather! (I am changing!)

This month is going to go by so quickly and so is my year here!

French - Rosetta Stone Style

When I was convincing myself that quitting my legit job in Washington DC to move across the world to take care of kids was a good idea, I told myself I had to learn French. It was a selling point. I need another language to go to GradSchool. I should just speak a second language and since Spanish classes went so well (7 years and I can bearly form sentences) I decided to start anew.

French. It is spoken around the world. I can do this. It will help me for life.

I convinced the host family to let me get Rosetta Stone instead of taking private lessons. Since Zurich is part of the German speaking portion of Switzerland, they teach French in German.  Learning a language you don't understand..nearly impossibly..at least for me. Private lessons are expensive!

Rosetta Stone means I can go at my own pace. It is interactive. I will learn to speak, write, listen, etc.

What have I learned so far?

1. It is difficult to motivate myself to just do it. 
2. Once I am working with the program it actually usually enjoyable...except when
3. I cannot make my mouth make the right sounds. I have literally tried to say car (luckily you can also just say "auto") which is voiture.  When it is broken down to 'voi' and 'ture', I get it right every time. No problems there. Then I combine the syllables and I fail miserably. 
4. The French don't pronounce 50% of the letters in every word. 
5. Words are masculine and feminine. Now, this is not new. While my Spanish isn't all that great (Meredith will tell you!), I do know the basics. The difference is that you change the adjective to match the word you are describing. Example: Les fluers sont petite. (The flowers are small.)  or Le chien son petit. (The dog is small.)  Not extremely complicated but there are 2 problems that arise with this:
1. Petit and Petite sound EXACTLY the same (I confirmed this information with the Mama C whose first language is French so I am not crazy)
2. Often times there is no real reason why a word is masculine or feminine.  Voiture (car) is feminine. So if you were looking at a car you would say "She is yellow." (Elle son jaune). 
3. This is fine and all but there is no reason why we shouldn't invent the work "it" inanimate objects.

Rosetta Stone does seem like a pretty good program. If you aren't saying a work properly you can listen to it slowly and say it your way and have them play both back for you. There is no translation involved which is key.  So I didn't learn that un chien is a dog because they told me it was a dog but because they said the word, showed it to me all with the picture of a dog. You have to discover what things are through pictures.  I think this is key to learning a language.  

With Spanish, the most intimidating this was speaking it because I knew my accent was awful (and I couldn't quite conjugate very well but that I blame 2 years of bad Spanish teachers for).  So I need to start speaking it at the house a bit soon and I have a few friends here who speak French so hopefully this will work! 

*** If you speak French please note that the above statements may often be wrong... I am just beginning!

Baby Watch 2010: Still no baby. We are getting very impatient.  By "we" I do mean everyone but Mama C looks like she is ready to pop now and is tired often.  She is sooooo done being pregnant so maybe Baby Gaga will realize this tonight and join us already!