Life as Usual

The French verb naître means "to be born," and naissance means "birth."

So why, oh why, would I not realize that re-naissance on my quiz last week meant "re-birth," and not the period that followed the middle ages if the entire quiz focused on religion and not historical eras?


Life has been stiflingly slow as I am suffering one of my worst bouts of homework-writer's block. While I am still interested in all my subjects, and have faithfully been following my coursework, my motivation to not procrastinate and to finish all my work has almost completely disappeared. So, I remain locked in my room until my homework muse shows up.

Saturday night, while waiting for my muse, I faintly heard fireworks crackling outside. So I ran up to the roof to search the skyline. Unfortunately, there was a building perfectly blocking my view, so I watched the second half and finale of the show through the reflection of several windows of the apartment building across from mine. Not the most spectacular view, but still, it was a unique way of enjoying the fireworks.

For the past week, a brown finch-like little bird has been landing on my window sill and keeping me company. Sometimes he helps me to wake me up in the mornings. Other times, he just sits and primps himself while I read. Heidi says that it's like I am Cinderella, but as of yet, I have not seen any singing mice, and do not feel particularly inclined to make tiny hats and shirts for my new friend. I am very glad that he is so small and sweet, because my window has no screen, and he isn't afraid to sit right on the open frame. I don't want imagine my reaction if I were to wake up and see one of those evil-looking pigeons from Rome chilling just a few feet away.

Rain, Rain!

Monday was a beautiful sunny day. I didn't even have to wear a scarf to walk to class! Tuesday was just as beautiful, but it snowed the whole day. From Wednesday until the end of the week, it rained. The rain came pouring down as if it were Winnie the Pooh's blustery day. As I sat at my window, watching the little creek's water level rise, I wished that the storm would wash away the assignments written on my class syllabus the way it washed away the letters in his book. But, I was not so lucky as Pooh Bear, and I still had three papers to write.

Mid midterms season, most of my time is spent locked away in my room, writing and reading. Although I love both of those things, I don't think my head's come back right after my Italy trip. Bitten by the travel bug, school works is becoming increasingly more and more difficult to focus on. At least the two papers I have left to write are on my own topic choices, so it is definitely more motivating when I'm interested. Still, I am tired of my corner. See, my wireless card is only able to receive internet at the far corner of my room (luckily by the bed) and facing a certain angle at the kitchen table. The kitchen provides too many distractions, and I end up eating more than studying. So, I've barricaded myself in my cozy little corner, unable to move without losing all internet connection, typing away about the strange cases of both Jekyll and Hyde and The Yellow Wallpaper.

This evening, I went to Circus Nock, a charming 1-ring circus under a great big red and white striped tent. There were tigers, zebras, horses and llamas all ready to perform for Heidi's first circus. Like every good circus, there were too many jugglers, cotton candy by the pound, and the acrobats fell just enough to give you a scare. My favorite act was, as always, the tightrope walker, who could unicycle and toe-shoe across the highwire. Although the show was aimed for kids and there wasn't anything earth-shatteringly original, it was an enchanting distraction from homework for just a few hours, and was able to rival Wednesday's sunset thunder and lightning storm for the best part of my week.

I've Really Been There!

It has been brought to my attention that because most of my blog pictures are not of anybody, one could doubt that I actually visited any of these places I've been talking about. I don't deny that I would make up stories to tell you all, but in this case, everything so far has been true, and I have the proof! Enjoy this vain display of my travels!

At the Foro Romano

In windy Lyon

After climbing Giotto's Tower in Florence

Riding a giant seahorse in Vevey

The Traveling Gnomes at St. Peter's Square

Italian Holiday

It's funny the way things are never exactly the picture you paint in your imagination. I think a lot of people view seeing the differences between their imagined version and the real thing as disappointment, but I love it. I love making those comparisons and learning about what the world is really like. Sometimes I maintain that my imagined version is better than the real thing, but this was most definitely not the case with Rome. Granted, I had it in my mind that there would be less people in Italy, but I guess traveling during Spring Break isn't the most original idea. Still, it was amazing to be there in Florence and Rome, actually using the Italian I've learned, eating pizza, and browsing street vendor shops.

My favorite place in Rome was definitely Trevi Fountain, although the Spanish steps were magnificent at night! I loved the way you had to search for the fountain, as it was hidden down these little streets filled with tourist shops and gelaterias, then boum! The whole fountain is just spread out between the buildings with all of its waterfalls and lights and pure white statues. Although it was overcrowded with tourists,the fountain was beautiful enough to actually help me block out the other people. The Spanish steps were even harder to find, but we could see a beautiful night skyline of Rome from the top, and were entertained by a group of Italian high-school age kids with two guitars, stumbling their way through Red Hot Chile Peppers songs. The way the city has so much history woven through it, thousand-year old pillars just chillin' next to the metro line fascinated me. Plus, Heidi and I were only the 2nd people to enter the Colosseum, so it was actually much more haunting and impacting being there without the innumerable tour groups. Also, the week after Easter is free to enter almost all museums and attractions, so that was an unexpected and fantastic surprise.

Florence was quaint and intimate, much less polluted by cars and tourists than Rome, but I have to honestly say that I enjoyed myself in Rome a little bit more. I think my opinion might be a bit biased, though, because my welcome to the city was at all the image of Italy I had, and it was not the version I preferred. While searching for an ATM, there was a flash of lightening that filled the piazza with the most intense white light from lightening I've ever seen, and the thunder followed so quickly after and so loudly I thought for a moment that the small plaza was being bombed. So, as those WWII elementary school videos instructed me, I ducked, covered, and kissed my butt goodbye. Fortunately, there had not been a bombing and my duck and cover greatly entertained two homeless men. Then, the rain started, which was not a problem until I realized that Italian streets are prone to puddles, and my shoes were not waterproof. Then the rain turned into snow, and the snow into hail- all within the ten minutes it took me to get to the ATM and back. So, as much as the architecture and art and people of Firenze were lovely, I had cold, wet feet for the rest of my time there, despite my efforts of protecting my feet by stealing the hostel's trash bags and wrapping my feet in them.

So I returned home to Lausanne, ecstatic to be in my own bed, eating food other than bread, cheese and apples, and away from those consistently late Italian trains. Waiting for me in my email box was a message instructing me to call Cal Sate Long Beach Housing. I did, and learned that I was offered the position of Resident Coordinator back in the Halls! Yay! To explain the job, I will be staying at Long Beach one extra year to supervise, train, evaluate, determine, develop, assist, check in/out, and coordinate residents, Resident Assistants, and Student Assistants. There are a bunch of other verbs I could yank from the Coord. application to try to describe it, but roughly, it's a promotion in which I will be able to be an RA for the RA's and have more responsibilities.

So after this amazing week, it felt like there could be nothing wrong at all in the world. Then I realized that classes were starting back up, and I had an essay to write. So, at this very moment, I am not a traveler nor a coordinator in Long Beach. I am just an American student in Switzerland with a whole lot of homework to do.

Joyeuses Pâques

To start off celebrations for the Easter holiday, I attended a "Chasse des Oeufs" (Easter Egg hunt) this past Wednesday. Between my friend Nora and I, we found probably about 80% of all the eggs hidden in the woods of UNIL's campus. Unfortunately, this hunt had a rather unhelpful misnomer in that we were supposed to be looking for chocolate bunnies, and not eggs. As a result, no bunnies were found by our team. To console ourselves after our embarrassing loss and sad show of American athleticism in Bunny-finding (despite my previous experience with a runaway pet rabbit) Nora and I returned home, our pockets overflowing with eggs, and made homemade Italian-style hot chocolate. We gave our leftovers to an thankful and impressed Fang. We chocked up our day as a near complete success then, because if we can impress a Swiss with our chocolate-working skills, how bad could the world be?

In a sharing of cultures, I have introduced near to all guests in our apartment to a little game called Dutch Blitz. To my surprise, Nora knew the game, and even owned a deck of the cards herself. When I asked her how she came to discover the wonderful world of Blitz (in French: Bleetz), she told me about the coworker who introduced her to the game. Turns out, that worker is a girl I knew in Mrs. Loomis's 2nd grade class in Erie! It's a small world after all. . .

Spring break has started, so a pot of cheese fondue and a trip to Geneva were in order. I saw the famous jet d'eau and played checkers on a life-size checkerboard. It was fun being a tourist, and good practice because Heidi and I are headed for Italy tomorrow! For one week we will explore Florence and Rome. I still need to make my list of things to do for an "Audrey Hepburn Roman Holiday," but more urgently, I need to start making Easter Dinner. Hedi and I have elected to host a fêtes de Pâques for the Americans who are not able to go home for the weekend to visit their families for Easter like all the other European exchange students. An evening of bread, vegetables, nearly $20 ham sandwich slices and about $5 worth of (1600 grams) of chocolate fondue. Grocery store prices may be high for the healthy food, but my chocolate is only one step away from Free Dirt, which makes it a very happy, chocolate-y and snowy Easter. So, all in all, spring break has been and still promises to be a very fun-filled and a welcome break from classes.

Travelings

I crossed the border to France exactly one week ago. However, as beautiful as Lyon was, it didn't quite feel like I was in the France my high school textbooks always depicted. Nobody wore yellow cardigans tied over their shoulders, carrying baguettes as they roamed about the city streets quoting Apollinaire and MCSolaar. In fact, except for the (rather limited) presence of French flags, and the aggressiveness of the drivers, I felt almost as if I were back home in Switzerland. Unlike the stereotype, the people were very welcoming and tried to practice their English with Heidi and me, even when we insisted on speaking in French. So although I had a wonderful time, I must admit that I still don't feel like I've been to France. The best way I know to describe the feeling is the same as how you don't usually feel much older on your birthday.


If Chicago is the States' Windy City, then Lyon is France's. As Hedi and I climbed the hill to the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière, I was knocked off balance twice. We figured the best idea was to continue climbing until we reached the highest point, where we faced our backs to the wind and let ourselves fly, even if only for a second at a time. The news might be reporting about the unnatural Hurricane-force winds sweeping across Europe, but I still like to believe that it is always like that there. It gives the city a bit more spunk. The basilica was beautiful, of course, and looked like it could have been the setting for Cinderella's ball, but the wind was more more interactive.

Also interactive was the Museum of Food in Vevey, Switzerland, otherwise known as the world headquarters of Nestlé. While the museum focused mainly on chocolate (we are in Switzerland), there were many different and enlightening exhibits about health and the history of diet. I, however, preferred the room where I could run on a giant hamster wheel, then get off, press a button on the wall and be rewarded with chocolate. I may be a lab rat, but at least I am a happy one.


The next morning was Sunday, and for the first time, I was able to attend a church service. It was help in a lovely little church called "Chapelle de la Gare." The building reminded me of Friar Tuck's Church in Disney's Robin Hood. It was so nice singing worship song, and very refreshing not only to have new songs, but to have them in French. After church, there was a potluck, which in French is called a Canadian Picnic, and I with a few other American girls made friends with a kind Dutch couple. We discussed Russian theology (well, they discussed and I listened for the most part) over chicken, pasta salad and spice cake. Also at church, I accidentally brushed my leg against the radiator, so now I have three four-inch long red lines up the back of my calf. It kinda looks like Wolverine clawed me.


Although I wouldn't quite call it homesickness, I am definitely starting to feel a bit strange being here. Facebook has become my enemy, because in looking at it, I have to face the truth that my conceited side wants to deny: Life continues on without me. I'm not trying to sound all exhortative and preachy, and I don't want to be lame and cliché, but it is hard to constantly feel so distant. I love being here, and I don't regret my decision to come at all, but it would just be so much easier to have my home friends here with me to share everything. So, I've come to the conclusion that we have two choices: 1. I hop on that bus in France that had a sign that said "United States," or 2. All of you need to cease having fun right now. No really, just stop. Thanks.


See you in June, when fun may resume!

Nobody's a Cowboy. . .

A snowflake fell on my nose today. I haven't seen snow actually falling outside of Disneyland since I was ten or eleven years old, so it was fantastic to watch. The snowflakes were really small and they melted as soon as they hit the ground, but they tickled when they landed on my face and they danced on their way down.

Also, I am going to be in France in less than twelve hours, and I can't wait!

Nobody's a cowboy, but nobody knows.