Ain't Nobody Got Time For That

This post is inspired by the video alluded to in the title. Since Shuo showed it to me in class the other day, I haven't been able to get the song out of my head. Much to my personal chagrin, I have also started using the phrase in conversation regularly, which is really saying something because I don't spend a lot of time conversing in English here. I can't help it. I am a chronic catch-phrase stealer.

ANYWAY!

Speaking of time, I thought I would be real slick today and try to save myself some time on my commute to work by renting a bike through the VCub program. The route from school to Ema's house takes at least 45 minutes and requires three bus transfers, and that's if I leave class early. Ain't nobody got time for that. I did a little research and found that I could walk a few minutes up the road from school and take one bus which would take me directly to a bike rental station. These stations are all over the city, it wasn't raining for once, and since it was a pretty straight shot from the station to Ema's house, I figured this was a great option.

Wrong.

First of all, the bus stop that looked "just up the road"on the map was a solid mile away. Not that big of a deal, just further than I was expecting. The bus I needed to take was running a little late. Again, not that big of a deal because I didn't have any more transfers to make. I had even scoped out the VCub station the day before on my way home so I knew exactly where to go when I got off the bus.

Even though I was already a bit behind schedule, I was refortified by the discovery that renting a VCub bike is super easy. Put in your bank card, follow the prompts on the screen. They even have it in English if you want. The first half hour is free and it's 2€/hour after that if you get a 24 hour subscription. You can subscribe for longer amounts of time if you will be using a bike frequently and the longer your subscription, the lower the rates. What a deal! I chose my trusty steed from the lot, tossed my backpack in the basket, and headed off down the road.

People often refer to learning a skill that, once mastered, is impossible to forget by saying, "It's like riding a bike." Those people clearly never rode a VCub bike. I have been riding bikes since I was four years old and today I rued the day I gave up my training wheels. It was like trying to maneuver a yak with a mind of its own. Not only was the bike incredibly heavy and difficult to steer, but the last rider had left it in the highest gear, making it nearly impossible to initiate movement. Both of these things would have been manageable had the bike been outfitted with some decent brakes but alas, no luck there either. I nearly crashed into stationary objects on four (yes, FOUR) different occasions, banging my shins with the pedals and toppling off the seat before I figured out how to change the gear. If I hadn't been in such a rush, I might have been embarrassed, but ain't nobody got time for that.

On top of my abysmal bike handling skills, I had somehow managed to get myself turned around and off the very direct path I was supposed to take. I ended up riding around in a bunch of random neighborhoods and I was immediately grateful that I had spent so much time studying the bus routes in the area. It would have been a nice little tour but I was late and ain't nobody got time for that. After a few deviations, I got back to where I was supposed to be and was tearing down the road to Ema's house. Did I mention she was waiting for me to have lunch with her? She normally eats at 1:00 but she said she would try to wait so we could eat together. I was supposed to be there at 1:30. It was pushing 2.

I finally arrived at the VCub station near Ema's house and didn't even stop to read the screen to see if there were any special instructions for dropping off the bike. Ain't nobody got time for that! It was just after 2:00 when I showed up and Ema, displaying remarkable patience for a person of any age, had just started eating 10 minutes ago. Hell, I would have too if my lunch date were half an hour late. We spent the hour or so at the table, mostly because she wouldn't eat her green beans, but also because that's just what you do in France. It's certainly an adjustment from the 30-minute ushering children/stuff your face/lesson plan/no time to even use the bathroom lunch break that I used to have at work, but I think I'll adjust. And was anyone mad that I was late? Not in the least. The French, apparently, have all the time in the world.

Back in the Swing of Things

After such a wonderful break, the jury was still out on my feelings about coming back to Bordeaux. Obviously, I am having a grand old time here but it was so good, maybe too good, being home. I'm glad I planned my trip so tightly that I didn't really have time to think about it. I got back to my apartment on Sunday afternoon and on Monday morning, I was back in action. There's no time to be homesick when you have work to do!

And I have certainly been keeping busy as of late. Starting last Monday, I picked up another "student." Ema is three and a half and this is her first venture into English. Her parents speak some (not nearly as well as Alexis' parents) and they are all about this Baby-langues thing. They have read all the books and been to all the meetings and they are really exited about Ema learning to speak English from a real American. I'm not really a baby-sitter in their eyes; they're even in the house most times that I work with Ema. They are in this so that their kid learns English from a native speaker, and I am happy to be of service. 

It's nice that I have Ema two days a week, instead of just one like Alexis. It's also easier to make progress with her because she wasn't traumatized by English like Alexis was with his last sitter. I know it's the Baby-langues method to speak only English and have the children repeat after you all the time but when you're working with a kid under the age of five who is just getting comfortable with their command of French, it's hard to just stroll into their lives and flip the script on them. It's frustrating for me sometimes to operate in another language and I'm an adult who willingly volunteered for this! Overall, I think things are going well with both kids and I am enjoying myself for the time being. It helps that both sets of parents are so cool. They are really nice to me and make the effort to explain to their children what a great opportunity it is to have a native English speaker come and hang out with them every week. Plus, I'm getting paid to color and sing songs and hang out with little kids for a couple hours a week. Can't beat that!

I am also "working" as an English tutor for the director of my campus, Philippe. Mireille put me in touch with him when he asked if she knew anyone who could help him get back into his study of English. In exchange for my tutoring services, he's going to sign off on an extension of my visa until October. That buys me quite a bit of time to get my next move figured out. I don't know if that means I'll be taking more classes or what but it I'm not even worried about it. I don't have to leave the country in May! Yay!  Right now, we're doing one hour-and-a-half session a week but I think we're going to try to shoot for three hours a week. He has some pretty ambitious goals for himself so we're definitely gonna need more time. Fine by me: I'm trying to get a job as an English teacher in one of the schools around here so I need the experience and he'll be a great reference.

This morning, I got to miss class to go to the immigration office (OFII). A bunch of the Chinese kids from school were there, too, but they all had afternoon class that they had to go to afterward. Suckers! I don't know why I was concerned about this visit; I had heard nothing but nice things about it from students who had already been through the process. Official government procedures always made me anxious, though. Being deported would be the worst! Fortunately, it was no big deal at all. As per the usual, everyone was really friendly, they all spoke English when I needed it, and it was quite easy. I would have worn a different outfit had I known I was going to have to strip from the waist up for my chest x-ray but other than that, it was pretty seamless. Get an x-ray, answer some general health questions with the nurse, have your x-ray examined by the doctor, more health questions, and then boom. They put a little sticker in your passport and you're good to go. Can't kick me out now! I'm official!

The only thing I am not enjoying right now is this weather. It hadn't been too bad since I got back but today is just ridiculous. It started raining in the middle of the night and it hasn't stopped since. I suppose we're down to a light mist now but this morning, on my way to OFII, it was pouring AND windy. My umbrella even flipped inside out and evoked pity and concern from all the French ladies in the street at the time. "Oh là là, la pauvre." Yeah, thanks. Lot of help your comments are doing with my jacked up umbrella in the middle of a downpour. Oh yeah, and the high today was a whopping 39 degrees. Misery!!!! Needless to say, I am very much looking forward to springtime.

I'm till trying to find a better apartment and still looking for a more serious job. I have leads on both of these things but progress is slow and time is moving fast. Ugh! But I am confident I will work it out and that's pretty exciting in and of itself. I am also still planning to try out for that rugby team on Friday (last Friday, I spent the whole day in the house catching up on my sleep!) so hopefully that will get me closer to my goal of having more French friends. It's all coming together...

Don't worry about me. I got this living in France thing under control. 

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

This post brought to you from the train from Paris to Bordeaux! It’s much too early in the day to be napping and I would really like to expedite this circadian rhythm adjustment if possible. Since I accidentally left my book on the plane, I figured it was a good time to start catching up on my blogging.

I’m starting to get pretty good at this international travel thing. The most cost- and time-effective way that I have found to get from the US to Bordeaux is to take just about every mode of transportation you can. On my way home for the holidays, I took a tram to a train to a bus to a plane. It seems complicated but it’s really not that bad. The transfer in Paris was a bit tricky so here are some tips to help you navigate the city if you’re also connecting in Paris.

Paris has two airports (Charles de Gaulle Roissy and Orly) and six train stations (Gare du Nord, Gare de l'Est, Montparnasse, Austerlitz, Gare de Lyon and St-Lazare). It is extremely important that you know the difference between them, as you will end up somewhere completely different than where you want to be if you don’t pay attention. CDG is a good hour outside the city of Paris, which is also something to consider in your planning.

I managed to get on a train from the airport directly to Bordeaux when I first arrived, but the trains that travel from Bordeaux to CDG are scarce and more expensive. My outbound train got me to Montparnasse and I had to take a bus to CDG. You can also take the local RER train but the bus is really easy and they stow your bags for you! Look for Les Cars AirFrance, large motor coaches that shuttle you between the train stations and the airports. From Montparnasse, take the Rue de Commandante exit and go out to the right. You can’t miss the giant buses parked at the stands. I needed Ligne 4 to get me to CDG. You do not need a reservation for these buses and a round trip ticket will cost you 27€. If you’re going to CDG, look right in the traffic circle just as you leave the train station. You’ll get a quick view of the Eiffel Tower! It’s just as easy in reverse: Depending on what terminal you land in at CDG, look for signs directing you to the buses or ask someone “Ou est l’arret pour les Cars AirFrance?” and they will help you.

Train travel is definitely the best way to see France, and since most airports are waaaayyy outside of the city they claim to be in, it’s a lot easier to take the train if you don’t want to worry about making a million transfers. The French countryside is really quite charming: Rolling hills, vast expanses of land for farms and wineries, quaint villages scattered about. There are some factories and warehouses, too, but I just choose to pretend I don’t see them.

Here are some important tricks for taking the train in France.

1.     You don’t have to book your train ticket ahead of time but you probably should. If you have a specific time you need to be somewhere, you don’t want to risk your train being sold out. So far, I haven’t been on super full trains but it’s possible. You can get train tickets all over the place: There are SNCF ticket kiosks in the mall, you can go to the train station or get them online. Most trains that you’d take between major cities will be via TGV. The TGV is the high-speed rail system in France and it’s pretty stellar.

2.     If you get anything other than an e-ticket that you printed yourself, you must validate it in the little yellow boxes around the train station before you get on the train. I guess it puts some sort of time/location stamp on your ticket and this is somehow useful information to the train people. (Their systems confuse and amaze me. I know not what they do!)

3.     If you decide to change your ticket, it’s pretty easy to do, and probably won’t cost you an arm and a leg like changing a flight does. I got to the train station way earlier than I had planned and it only cost me 10€ to change my ticket to an earlier train, unlike the $262 that it cost me to cancel the Baltimore to Philly leg of my flight yesterday. (That’s another story for another day…) Go to any of the SNCF kiosks and it has a simple series of menus to guide you through the process of changing your ticket. You can pick whatever language you want, too, so don’t worry about not speaking French in this case.

4.     There is limited space for baggage storage on the train so if you’re traveling with a lot of stuff, you might have to stash it in an empty seat. I have found other travelers to be particularly sympathetic to people lugging a bunch of bags and have always had plenty of help getting my things on and off the train.

5.     There are assigned seats but once you’ve gotten your ticket checked, you can usually pick any empty seat if you don’t like where you are. Someone may come and try to claim it later but then you just move again.

France is really good at public transportation so once you’re in a city, it’s fairly easy to get around. Speaking just for Bordeaux, there is an extensive network of trams and buses to get you to every corner of the city. A one-trip ticket is 1,40€ and is valid for unlimited transfers on both tram and bus for one hour. If you’ll be around for at least a year, I recommend going to the TBC office in Quinconces and getting your own pass. If you’re under 28, it’s 17€/month for the year and you get unlimited access to all the trams and buses. It jumps up to 33€/month if you’re older than 28 but if you don’t have a car, it’s totally worth it.

I know it’s not the case in every city in France, but in Bordeaux, it’s really important that you always have a ticket for the tram and that you validate it when you get on. The contoleurs patrol often and will fine you 45€ if you don’t have a ticket. I have never seen them on the buses but they are on the trams often.

So there you have it. Getting between Bordeaux and Paris is pretty simple if you know a few key pieces of information. Don’t suffer through crazy layovers and expensive flights!

What It’s Worth

Today, a lesson in value.

For Christmas/my birthday, my parents bought me a plane ticket back to France. Flights are never cheap and especially at somewhat short notice during the holiday season, mine was no exception. Even at a whopping $1700, my flight left Baltimore at 6:00am on Saturday and still included a 12 hour layover in Philadelphia before heading out to Paris. Really, Travelocity? You couldn’t find any other flights to Philly that left after 6am? I was hoping I could just pretend like I was checking in at 4:30 in the morning, check my bags and get my boarding pass but just not get on the plane in Baltimore. I could then go back home for some more sleep and Jason and I would drive to Philly in the evening. Seriously, it’s only 80 minutes away. Apparently, this is some kind of “security risk” and the people at the ticket counter were appalled that I even asked such a question. Can’t blame a girl for trying.

After calling Travelocity and US Airways a million times and getting a million different answers, I had three options if I wasn’t keeping the flight:

1) Cancel the Baltimore to Philly leg for $262

2) Get a new flight out of Baltimore at a later time for $316

3) Show up at BWI late but before 7:45am, tell some sob story, and hope that they find it in their hearts to put me on the next flight out without charging me. If I get denied, the worst-case scenario is that they list me as a no show and my whole ticket (including my return this summer) gets cancelled, which means $1700 down the drain. Best-case scenario is no charge but still 10 hours in Philly.

None of these options were really working for me so I had made up my mind I was going to make that flight at 6am. I had left at 4:30 on the way home for the holidays so this will be pretty much the same thing. I invited a bunch of people out to Alexander’s for a Bon Voyage party and responsibly set the time from 5pm-10pm. This would keep me from getting too crazy and would leave plenty of time for me to go home and pack before heading to the airport. Sleep? Who needs it? Sleep when you’re dead!

I am having a hard time thinking of another instance where I felt more loved than I did that evening. Friends from every aspect of my life in Baltimore came out to wish me well: Girls from rugby, folks from school, Jason’s co-workers who have adopted me, the Butcher’s Hill gang… It was such a great mix of all the pieces of me and I can’t adequately explain how amazing it felt to have them all there together.

As you can imagine, it’s hard to walk away from all of that love, even though you have a flight to catch. We left the bar a little after 11 and hiked up the hill one last time. I had some laundry to do but it will come as no surprise that Jason and I passed out on the couch long before the rinse cycle even started. After two weeks of holiday partying, we were both exhausted. And while I wouldn’t say I was intoxicated, those couple drinks made me a little drowsy. At 2am, I woke up and realized I still had another load of laundry to run and hadn’t packed a thing. There was no way I was making that flight at 6am but I was still contemplating option 3. Could I make it by 7:30? What if it doesn’t work and I have to buy a whole new ticket? That’s insane. I looked around the house with leaden eyelids and was suddenly completely overwhelmed by all the things I still had to do. Being overwhelmed sure made me sleepy…

Suddenly it was 5am and painfully obvious I wasn’t making the flight. 7:30 wasn’t an option either. If I’m about to spend a bunch of money, I’m going with the option that is guaranteed to be the least expensive. I begrudgingly coughed up the 262 bones, and it hurt for a moment, until I realized I was literally buying myself an extra day with Jason. We peeled ourselves off the couch and cuddled up in bed. He held my hand as we slept and kept me warm on a rather chilly evening. We didn’t get up until noon and I still had four hours to hang out with him at home. He made me breakfast, we watched some TV and he helped me pack. It was such a simple day but it was beautiful in being so completely average. Normal and comfortable are a bit more difficult to come by as a stranger in a strange land.

As always, I was scrambling at the last second and didn’t have time to get all sentimental about the fact that it was my last night in that house. Jason moves out in February and while Alex might still live there, we would never spend the night there when we have so many other friends with spare bedrooms as opposed to floor space. Some of the most important events of my life took place there and it has been home for so long now... Maybe it’s best I was rushing out the door. I probably would have been an emotional wreck if I had the time to think about it.

The 80 minutes in the car on the way to Philadelphia were solemn. I felt like I wanted to have some jovial, meaningful conversation, but really all I could think of was how sad I was to be leaving him again. He asked if I thought we were making the right decision. It has been hard being away from him and especially now that we have just spent two amazing weeks together, it breaks my heart to say goodbye again. I have left behind my family, my friends, my country, and my career. And yet somehow, yes, I do think this is the right decision. I think that we will learn so much about ourselves and each other and the world that it is 100% worth the temporary discomfort of being apart, of being in a country where they speak a different language, of finding a new job.

Changing that flight was a difficult decision but I’d make it again in a heartbeat.

Those last few hours together and that moment at the airport when he dropped me off and just held me were worth way more than $262. I can only imagine what this journey together will be worth.

The Whirlwind Tour

As expected, the holiday break was a blur of activity from the moment I touched down in Rochester. I didn’t get home until after 1am on Christmas day and immediately passed out until it was time to go spend the holiday with the family. Grandpa Stich had pneumonia so he was in the hospital (See? I told you someone is always in the hospital in Christmas!!) but he was released a few days later with a clean bill of health. In an attempt to save myself from lugging back a million things to France, I got a lot of experiences for Christmas this year, which is fine by me. I’d rather go somewhere and do something than have more things that I don’t know what to do with anyway. And peanut butter, because you just can't get that in France.

For my birthday, I went out shopping with my mom and Stefanie, my brother’s girlfriend. Hooray for girly times! Jason had promised to come up for my birthday on the 26^th in spite of the epic blizzard that was dumping a foot of snow or more all over the mid-Atlantic, and by God, when that man makes a promise, he's going to keep it. It took him 10 hours to make a trip that normal takes 5.5 (probably less with Jason's lead foot) but he made it. (The LeBaron almost didn't and was in the shop for the next three days but it got him there in one piece!) I couldn't think of a better birthday gift than to be reunited with the love of my life. I think we just held each other for the rest of the night and it was beautiful.

Since the weather ruined any plans I had for going out, we pushed the birthday celebration to Thursday and headed over to the Tap and Mallet in downtown Rochester. The more I hang out in that city, the more I enjoy it. I spent the longest time there that I've ever spent anywhere and yet I still don't feel like I know it at all. It's because I was never an adult there. If you asked me to tell you a good place to eat or go out or get a good book in the city of Rochester, I couldn't tell you and that makes me a little sad, actually. I don't know if I could live there forever, but I am ever more intrigued by it every time I'm home.

I told my mother the only thing I wanted to do over the break was spend time with family and eat good food, so she got some people together at my aunt and uncle's house and we got take out from Dinosaur BBQ. I ate until I couldn't eat any more and then still tried to pack in some more pulled pork. It's hard to find good BBQ in France so I was making up for lost time. We watched Christmas Vacation (the only Christmas tradition we have managed to keep for as long as I can remember) and drank some beers and it was exactly what I had hoped it would be.

And speaking of quality times with quality people, it was awesome seeing a bunch of friends from home and even a few from college who happened to be in the area. I felt truly fortunate to have such quality individuals in my life, even after all these years. The great thing about great friends is that you will always be thrilled to see them, even if you haven't spoken or seen each other in ages. Hearing about the wildly different but incredibly inspiring paths all of my friends have taken since we were young gives me hope that maybe our generation isn't totally lost. There are some amazing people doing amazing things out there and I am lucky enough to call some of them my friends.

We spent a really nice weekend in Waynesboro with Jason's family: guitar lessons with his dad, shopping with his mom, a beautiful dinner at this killer tapas restaurant in Frederick with his sister and her boyfriend... After hearing horror stories of in-laws from my married friends (and, you know, society in general) I was terrified I would have a similar experience but mine has been completely the opposite. They have welcomed with open arms and made me feel like I've been there all along. "Of course you belong here. You're part of the family." Once again, luckiest girl in the world.

The last leg of the trip in Baltimore was the icing on the cake. Quality one-on-one time (*WINK!*) with my man? Check. Lazy day on the couch doing nothing? Check. Fabulous New Year's Eve party, complete with classy outfits, champagne, fireworks display viewed from the roofdeck, and a dance party? Check. Catching up with the old crews at Xpose and school? Check. Mani-pedi from Living Social I forgot I had? Check. Epic Bon Voyage party with everyone I have ever known and loved in Baltimore? Check and check.

Holy shit, did I just spend a holiday break doing exactly what I wanted to do and no one got hurt in the process? Christmas miracles really DO come true! Best holiday break ever.

Must have been on the nice list this year.