Il fait trop chaud et je vais mourir (it is too hot and I'm going to die)

Wow today was hot. It's like 95 which isn't terrible, but there's no AC anywhere in France so it's just hot all the time. Literally, one of my favorite things that I brought from America was this little fan which is my second best friend, next to nutella of course. Tomorrow's high is 97 (today was 94) and then Friday could get up to 100!!! It's going to be burning up here. America is all about comfort so I really don't sweat much on 90+ degrees in Ohio because there's AC everywhere, but not in France. AC is so rare but the stairwell in the res hall is nice and cool since it's all stone and there's no sunlight.

So today we had class in the morning and then Ben and I had our stage this afternoon. We were in a class that was all about communication and how one presents themselves. The class was taught by this man who is also a clown, so he was very animated and relatively patient with Ben and I even though neither of us always knew what was going on. The professor was cool, but it was one of the most frustrating internships I've had yet. Fortunately, there is only one more on Thursday and then that's it! And on Thursday, we're having a mini-reception with different local foods and I can't wait!

Thursday it's only supposed to get up to 87 so fingers-crossed that I will make it until then!

This is our final week in Le Mans as well! We leave in one week from today! It's very sad but there's still so much that needs to get done before leaving. I can't believe how fast this has flown by.

Dorm, I mean Res Hall, Room Appreciation Post

Today was just class and then a lecture in a comic book shop, so nothing too exciting. So I would like to take this evening to show my dorm room since I have not posted any pictures of it.

Before cleaning my room (I really wanted to take authentic pictures). I have a bed and desk and windows with a view of the university restaurant. There's actually a surprising amount of storage under the bed and above the desk, but this is all the space I have. 

This is the full bathroom. Hence, how I could pee, shower, and brush my teeth and the same time if I wanted. I've only tried to do two of those things at once. 

The hallway of the res hall and stairwell. I'm on the second floor which means the third floor in America and two flights of stairs everyday which is actually not terrible at all. 

The view directly out of the side entrance and a building I pass while walking to the tram stop

Tram stop

Ciel all lit up at night (a building right down from the tram stop) and the kitchen in the dorm with Croque Madame's!!! (Like a grilled cheese with ham in the middle and an egg on top!)

If I could live in a French city, I think Bordeaux is my second choice (to Aix-en-Provence)

So today was our third and last day in Bordeaux which was fun because we got to sleep in! Yesterday, we went to the winery of Saint Emilion where we got a tour of the town and then had a picnic lunch before walking around the town to do some shopping. When we got back to downtown Bordeaux, we took a tour of the city which was very informative, but it was about an hour too long and the tour guide tried to take us down the smelliest alleys on purpose probably. Bordeaux is the dirtiest city I have ever been to, which didn't bother me, but some of the little streets and alleys do not smell good. After the tour we did a little, mini wine tasting at a wine bar and then went to dinner! The restaurant was called "Potato Head" and served whatever they were able to buy at the market that morning. For an appetizer, I ate fois gras and tuna in this incredible tomato-y broth which was absolutely delicious!

So then today, we slept in and then met at the market at 10 am. For lunch, Esther and I got fresh, raw oysters which we ate right on the river front with some bread and a small glass of wine. Have I ever mentioned how hard it is to be an exchange student? It was absolutely delicious and in addition, I got macaroons at the market. It was similar to the market in Le Mans, but there was less produce and more seafood and wine! This weekend was absolutely gorgeous weather-wise! We took the train back in early-afternoon and made it back in time to get pizza in Le Mans! This is the beginning the final week of the program which makes me so sad! But I've also resolved that I will not eat any more kebab for the rest of the trip - it's delicious and I highly recommend it (it's similar to a Greek gryo) but I absolutely can't eat another one on this trip.

Raw Oysters on the Waterfront

12 little Macaroons

Bordeaux is cool!! Cooler than Paris!

So today, class ended early so that we could pack and head out to Bordeaux! After a lunch of kebab, we jumped on the train where I slept for 3.5 of the 4 hours! For the next two nights while we're here, we are staying in a youth hostel which is super super cool. There are 6 of us (all from our group) staying in one of the rooms tomorrow, and then the two others from the group have their own room. When we "checked-in" they gave us a key and a set of sheets and that was it. The room is really big and the showers/bathrooms are really nice! We haven't spent a lot of time here so we haven't met too many people yet, but everyone here is very friendly and helpful! 

For dinner tonight, we walked around the city and eventually ended up at Chez Leon where I ate this delicious pesto pasta. We strolled around town for the rest of the evening and got to see the river all lit up at night. The city feels more like Montreal than Paris because it feels way more metropolitan (I don't think that's the correct word) than Paris. The architecture of the city looks like Paris, but it's much more diverse and there are a lot more different kinds of people there. I wish we had more than a weekend to spend here! Tomorrow though we're going to a wine tasting and then we'll have more time to explore the city! 

Update: I forgot shower shoes so even though the shower was very nice, that kind of worries me. 

Additionally there was a terrorist attack today in France! (Also in Kuwait and another country...) it was on the complete opposite side of the country though so it's not too big of a deal for us! But still scary that that happened for sure. I'm not 100% on what happened or why, but I'm sure details will continue to come out. 

La vie est difficile

So not much happened yesterday, so a post didn't seem necessary but mostly I was just exhausted because these days are so long and there's so much going on! We have classes/an internship everyday until 5, then other meetings or get-togethers, and then everyone's remembering that we only have one week left after this so everyone's trying to hang out every night, which is so much fun, but almost no time is left for homework/sleep. All I want to do is go sit in the park and read Jane Eyre on my iPad or go shopping downtown because France's semi-annual sales on everything started yesterday but there's not a ton of time so, in summary, it's really difficult to live in France for the summer and to have friends and fun all the time!

But actually I've been really tired these past two days and before I came here this summer, everyone was talking about how good the coffee is here but it just doesn't do it for me. Their caffé is a double espresso, which is super convenient and quick to drink, but I just don't feel awake after it. Tomorrow we leave for Bordeaux for the weekend which means a four hour train ride which means four hours to sleep/read which is the actual dream. And then on the way back on Sunday will be another four hours for napping!

Last night, one of the French students came over to the dorm with quiche and chocolate cake so we picnicked outside (because it was gorgeous!) and it was super delicious. Then today after class and the internship again, Esther and I went out with a couple friends who are originally from Le Mans but spent the last year in Akron teaching/taking classes. It was so much fun to hang out and talk with them! Then when we got back to the dorms, the French students were over and eating omelettes for dinner! So while everything is busy and I feel exhausted, everything is also super fun and I am having an absolute blast all the time.

The French Know American Culture but Not Vice-Versa

Not much happened again today, just more class and then we went out to dinner for James' birthday! But first we saw Jurassic World, which I had very low expectations for, but it was actually excellent. It was so suspenseful and while Chris Pratt did a good job, the dinosaurs were the true stars of the film. The movie was (fortunately) in English with French subtitles. And then after, we went to dinner where I ordered duck but actually had the most difficult time eating it, even though it was delicious. But the act of cutting up the pieces was just so difficult. I learned, however, that you when you "cheers" people, you look them in the eye, say "santé", and never EVER cross glasses. That's very important that that never happens, even though no one knows why.

All the French students know so many American TV shows and books and music and presidents and politics while all of us Americans have significantly less knowledge on those topics in French. We were able to talk "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "Pretty Little Liars" and the upcoming election, but I knew nothing about any French TV and the one French singer that I like (Stromae) turns out to be Belgian, not French. I feel so bad that I can't talk about French culture like we are able to talk about American culture, but at the same time it's so interesting to hear their opinion on American things.

Versailles (kinda)

So I thought that I posted yesterday but I guess it didn't send or I completely imagined typing it up and that actually never happened..... But either way not much happened yesterday! We went shopping in Milan before catching our flight back to Paris. When we got to the Paris Hyatt to check-in, the woman behind the counter told us we were "clients du jour" which meant that our room was upgraded to have a view of the Eiffel Tower! At the top of every hour after dark, the Eiffel Tower sparkles for 5 minutes, so we got to watch that multiple times which was awesome.

This morning, we ran around the train station in Paris trying to find this specific kind of ticket to get a train to Versailles. Eventually, we did arrive at the palace but we were 10 minutes late so we missed our private tour of the interior. For the next two hours, Esther and I searched desperately for wifi to try to contact anyone in the group inside the palace to try to find them. After about an hour, we decided to just walk around and look at the gardens until the rest of the group showed up. After another hour, they did show up so we were able to get lunch with and walk around the gardens with them.

The gardens look like something straight out of Pride & Prejudice, so when I got back to the dorm, I made myself a sandwich for dinner and watched the ultimate romantic movie of all time (the Keira Knightly version, of course). It was nice to just have the evening to relax and rest before this upcoming week and then Bordeaux this weekend! Additionally, I finished the book "The Hundred Foot Journey" on the multiple plane/train rides this weekend and I highly recommend it! It's about this Indian immigrant who starts his own restaurant in France and his family and mentors and it's a wonderful, easy read. He also uses a lot of similes with food, so I don't recommend reading it while hungry but I have been craving Indian food since I started the book. Definitely worth the read!

What I learned at the Expo Milano is

1) bring a stroller! You will cut all lines into the pavilions and everyone's super friendly about it

2) buy a "passport" at the gift shop at the enterance so you can have it stamped at all the different pavilions 

3) start at the back of the event and tower your way towards the enterance (just like a cedar point)!

4) wear tennis shoes. Specifically for the Brazil pavilion

You walk on that net of death

Today I realized my dream of the past two months - to attend the world's fair in Milan. The weather was absolutely perfect and today was so much fun! Getting to the expo was an adventure, but when we arrived and made it though security, it was spectacular! We ate Korean for lunch and then Dutch for dinner! 

Holland had my favorite pavilion because it wasn't a pavilion at all - they had all these food trucks and a DJ playing cool music that got everyone dancing. For dinner I got a beef stew sandwich (incredible) and then afterwards, some mini pancakes with nutella. South Korea and Morocco were my next favorites.

 

Holland enterance

Cool social criticism and TV-moving, story-telling robots in South Korea

The American Pavilion! Feat. President Obama! (Michelle was here literally three days ago) 

I took so many pictures today, so those will all be uploaded soon! But for now, those are just some.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (I can't believe we made it)

We left right from out internships. I took the bus to the tram, and then the tram to the train station. Esther and I took the train from Le Mans to Paris - Montparnesse where we were told we could catch a shuttle to the Beauvais Aiport by taking the metro. So we took the metro to this shuttle stop, got on a charter bus that drove us for two hours to the airport north of Paris. We got to the airport only 50 minutes before our flight left which ended up being just enough time, and then we flew to Milan. We then took a cab from the airport to the hotel. That's 7 different means of transportation (if I counted correctly). The only major transportation we missed were boat, horse and buggy, and bike. 

The timing for it all worked out absolutely perfectly though. We literally got off one thing and straight onto the other - it was impeccable. The only downside is that it was so well timed that there wasn't any opportunity to get food. So after checking into the hotel at 11:45 pm, we threw our stuff down and walked down the street to find a bar or some place that would be open. Fortunately we found a restaurant with a man behind the counter who didn't speak English or French, only Italian, but was very friendly and cooked us risotto at 12:30 pm while Stevie Wonder sang to us in the background. We didn't tip him because we weren't sure if we we're supposed to - does anyone know if we should've??? In France you don't tip, but also in France that restaurant would've been closed because it's late at night and inconvenient for the workers. 

The hotel were staying in is absolutely gorgeous! Our room is ginormous and the bathroom here is about the size of our dorm rooms in Le Mans - we don't know what to do with all this space. We have our own little terrace that overlooks the street and there are a couple folding chairs in the closet that we can set up outside! I feel so incompetent not being able to say colors or even count to 10 in Italian, but this weekend is an adventure! So far, the three Italian people we've encountered have been very friendly and helpful, but we were also paying them (cab, hotel, food...) so who knows. Tomorrow is the worlds fair!!! So we're eating breakfast in the free-wifi-having hotel and then figuring out how to get to the expo from there! I cannot wait to go!!

Mom, I have some new landscaping ideas

Today we got to visit a beautiful Château in the city of Angers today with some of the prettiest gardens! (I'll upload pictures later, but right now it's too late and I'm too tired to fight with my phone...). We also got to see this incredibly huge and useless tapestry that depicted the apocalypse. It was 7 meters wide and 150 meters long. Divided into 6 sections, each section took two years to make. It's way too big to be displayed in a cathedral and it's too expensive for anyone to own, due to all the labor that went into it, unless you were a Prince because then you would buy it purely to show that he had enough money to buy it. The tapestry was gorgeous and it was amazing to see that humans could make something as fine as it by hand.

For the rest of the afternoon, we walked around the city, visited the cathedral of Angers, and then walked around a museum that used to be a medieval hospital (?). To be completely honest, I zoned out while the professor was explaining what the museum was, but I do know that it was attached to the cloister of an abbey. And currently, there are different tapestries depicting the end of human kind that were made in the '60s.

This evening, I was planning on going to bed early and just taking it easy all night, but instead I found out about a dance performance happening in the old city. So we met up with some of our French friends and we watched African, modern, tango, and tap dancing. It was so interesting because it was so casual and informal whereas in America, even novice performances are treated like professional productions. It was also cool because not everyone was good at the dancing - one of the African dances looked more like a Zumba-style, follow-the-leader type that a rehearsed dance. But it was cool to just sit back and watch what the locals can do! Also all the French women are very chic and literally all of them can pull off boyfriend jeans which is incredible. We hung out with our friends for a little while after the show, and then we headed back because I need to pack tonight! Tomorrow, I leave for the weekend for Milan and the World's Fair!! I am so excited I can barely contain it!

French BBQ

These past two days have been so long and so exhausting which is why I was, unfortunately, not able to post last night!

Yesterday, we had class in a medieval abbey and then right after, we got lunch in a local cafe where I got a delicious cheese and ham omelette. Then Ben and I were off to our stage where we were in the negotiations class again! This time we were put on two different teams and each team had to negotiate with the other. My team ended up losing the negotiation, but it was the final culmination of the class! The students in the class (all three of them) invited Ben and I to a BBQ at one of the students' house later that evening. So later, Ben and I were picked up from the University and driven to Nicolas' house!

French barbecues are similar to American barbecues in some ways but also so different in some other ways. For example, it was outside and Nicolas cooked kabobs of chicken and beef on a little Weber Grill. He also cooked hot dogs, but they were longer and thinner and probably of higher quality than American hot dogs. And the French don't eat hot dogs with buns, they eat them with baguette. They split the part of the baguette in half on the side and put in their ketchup and hot dog. I couldn't believe that they ate baguette with the hot dogs - they literally eat baguette with everything. For dessert, Nicolas put a round of Camembert on the grill in it's little paper box, until the box caught fire. Then it was wrapped in tinfoil and placed back over the coals on the grill. The cheese became gooey and warm, it was excellent served on baguette. We left campus at 7:30 and returned at about 12:30, so we spent a while at his house, but it was so much fun. It was great to meet some new French people and experience a French BBQ! Time flew by so quickly.

And then today, in class this morning we prepared for our trip to Angers tomorrow, where we will visit the castle and town there. And since today is Wednesday, we had the afternoon free so I took a 2-hour nap and eventually cleaned my room and ran to the grocery store for food! While I was trying to find people for dinner, there was a guy in the hallway knocking on doors and talking about a party later that night for all the students in the dorms. A group of us from the floor ended up going, and it was so much fun! I spent most of the evening talking with three Chinese girls who have been in Le Mans for the past 5 months. All three of them were studying French, but at first we talked in English because they were also able to practice it. After they learned that I could speak some French, we talked in more of a mix of French and English. One of the girls could do magic tricks, which she showed me, and they also like to sing songs like "We Will Rock You" or "Call Me Maybe". They also liked Avril Lavigne and the Backstreet Boys. They were so nice and so much fun to talk to and spend the night with!

One of the absolute coolest parts about studying abroad is all the new people one has the opportunities to meet. If it wasn't for this program, I probably would never have had the opportunity to meet as many French people as I have or get the opportunity to speak French with some girls from China. This experience has been an absolute blast.

My Run-In with Terminator/Steampunk Jesus

Today wasn't all that exciting - it's hard coming off of a high off of something as cool as the 24 Heures and having to go to class the next day.

Today we continued with the Medieval Ages and history is just not my thing. Not that I'm especially bad at it, but I just don't really care about why the "Dark Ages" is not a historically accurate term.

We also visited the Cathedral in Le Mans, after a two-hour lunch which consisted of delicious Asian food. The cathedral was very beautiful inside and it was build over a period of about 400 years. I can't imagine spending that much time on a single project, or having to find multiple generations of contractors to make that happen. After that, we debriefed as a group about our last stage and mentally prepared ourselves for the next day of the stage tomorrow, but overall it was just a chill, in-class day. It was a long day and I was out of the dorm literally all day, which was nice, but it was also nice to have a quiet night!

The Cathedral in Le Mans and the gorgeous little chapel in the back of the Cathedral (it reminds me of Saint Chapelle in Paris)

Terminator Jesus

My only real complaint about the north of France is that it never really gets warm. Sometimes it does, but it's more similar to Ohio in the fall and spring. For example, the high today was 73 and cloudy, but it didn't get up to 73 until about 4 o'clock and for that one hour, it was warm. For the rest of the day, it was not. In Ohio, when the high is 73, you know it's going to be 73 for most of the day. But in France, 73 means low 60s in the morning (until noon) and then for most of the night as well. Ohio is more extreme for sure, but at least you know it will get warm! I'm sure it doesn't get severely cold here like it does in Ohio. Apparently, it barely drops below freezing here in the winter, but c'est la vie!

I am a Tire-Changing Pro

Historically, from my TimeHop, today has been a really good day for me. One year ago, today was my grad party. Two years ago I was in Spain on my France trip with a group from High School. And four years ago, I was at Glee Live the concertso this day has been a really good day for me in the past four years! (Five years ago was the first day of Summer Health so that's not very good, but the other three years were great!). But I am happy to say that today has lived up to the history of today.

So today was the end of the Le Mans race, at 3pm. We got there around noon, so we were able to sit and watch the race for a little bit before we got up and walked around. Unfortunately, I was never able to buy my Porsche hat from Porsche's team shop, but we did get to stop by the Ford/Ferrari tent with all of these super old Ford's including the Ford that won 24 Heures in 1968(?). Ford hasn't really competed in this race since then, until this year. This year they weren't trying to win, but they wanted to make the most eco-friendly car that could complete the course (just completing the race is a huge accomplishment). Next year however, they're competing to win!

We then stopped by Toyota's tent where I ran into a friend from Akron! He was an exchange student at Akron from Le Mans, and he was working in the Toyota tent. He was running the tire-changing competition in the tent, which I rocked. I learned how pit crews change tires and I was able to change one tire in 21 seconds, so I'm almost up to the speed I need to work in one of the pits.

Me changing the tire like a pro

Finding a spot to watch the end was kind of difficult, but we found a close enough spot to the finish line! Porsche came in 1, 2, and 5; Audi came in 3, 4. Audi, I think, won last year and they're just so consistent but Porsche was breaking records in trial runs. Additionally, Patrick did not come in any of those top places, but his car did finish! We saw his car go around in the victory lap where all the cars travel in order of their place after the race ended. I felt like I definitely had something to do with his win even though I might not have.

The Le Mans race is excellent, and if you're ever in France while it's going on, I highly recommend it! Especially if you're a car enthusiast, or if you just like a good competition.

Side note - Milan is on! Plane tickets are bought and hotel rooms are booked! So that is where I will be next weekend!!

24 Heures du Mans

Today was the start of the infamous, internationally-adored car race that lasts for twenty-four straight hours in my, new to me, town of Le Mans, France. There are many, many tourists in the town which is awesome so I can take pictures of everything and be less self-conscious because everyone's taking pictures of everything. Specifically, there are a lot of Dutch and British people, but also people from Germany, Denmark, and some from the USA! But mostly British people, who are very friendly to talk to! It's fun to talk to them because they are foreign, but we can still communicate with them so easily.

So the race started today at 3pm, We got to the course around 12 and bought student tickets so they were half the price of everyone else's tickets which was phenomenal. The six of us ended up sitting on the inside of the track on this hay-covered-grassy area and by 2:30, the area was mostly filled. This is mainly a mans sport, not to say that there aren't women there, but there was probably five men to every woman. Additionally, there was always a line for the men's restroom, causing guys to just pee in the trees or against walls. I guess it's a guy thing because I don't get it.

It was super awesome to see the cars! They are very, very fast so getting a good picture of a specific car (Patrick Dempsey's Porsche!! #77) took a lot of patience and timing. After just looking through my pictures, I did not get a good picture or video of him at all... But I am now very good at spotting his car! Gray and white, with a light blue hood. And while it is super cool that he is a professional race car driver, he is also competing in the slowest group of cars. So there are four different classes of cars - from Formula One to cars that could be on the street (fast cars, but still street legal). PD is competing in the slowest group. But it's cool because all four classes of cars compete at the same time for the same 24 hours, so a lot of passing of the slower cars occurs.

(Side note - Patrick Dempsey, actor famous for his role in "Grey's Anatomy" recently died on the show. Why? Because he's considering moving out to Le Mans and is currently in the process of looking at castles to buy.)

Along with the actual race, a lot of the cars have official shops and sample cars that you can look at. For example, Audi had a replica of their Formula One (I think?) car that was racing so anyone could go up and look at it. All the cars we saw had Michelin Tires. The Michelin man didn't hug us while he was walking in the parade so we're still a little upset from that, but also where's Goodyear?? Why is Akron not represented here?

Overall, the race is excellent. There is so much to do and it's actually so much fun to watch the cars go around. It's truly incredible. A lot of people don't consider car racing a sport, which is fair. And I agree, it's not an athletic sports but it's still a competition. And yes, you need to have a good driver of course, but more importantly, you need a great car! It's more of a competition between the engineers behind the car than necessarily the drivers (side note, there are three drivers per car, who each take about 40 minute shifts at a time). What they're able to build is incredible and I won't be attending any Nascar events any time soon, but I would go back to the Le Mans race.

I'm in for the night, but we're leaving tomorrow at noon to go back to watch the end of the race! I'm cheering for Porsche - I can't wait to see how it ends!

Today I Touched Patrick Dempsey

The original title of this post was going to be "My Afternoon As an MBA Student" but then something more more exciting happened to me.

But this afternoon, I was a French MBA student. It was the second day of our stage and so Ben and I sat in on a negotiations class. I had no idea that there was so much to learn about negotiations - in the 3 hour class I attended today, we only covered Plan B and bluffing. Incredible. But the professor was awesome because he taught the class in half-English and half-French. Before they can graduate, the French students need to pass an English language exam so they said it was helpful to have the class half-and-half but I don't think they meant it - I think they were just accommodating Ben and me but I wasn't going to complain.

After an adventure on the bus and tram, we returned to centre ville where we watched the Parade des Pilotes (the parade of drivers!!!). French parades don't throw out candy (except for Porsche), they throw out papers and lanyards and keychains. But mostly papers with the drivers faces on them.

Porsche Gummies

The 24 Heures du Mans is a car race that lasts for twenty-four hours. It starts at 3pm tomorrow here and will continue until 3pm Sunday. There are three drivers per team, and they switch driving shifts about every 40 minutes. I'm leaving my dorm around 10am tomorrow to get there super early to buy tickets but also to get seats because it will be packed around the start line. So this parade today was to officially commence the race, even though there have been festivities all week long. In this parade, there were all of the drivers of the teams and all sorts of super cool cars. This Maserati was one of my favorites.

At dinner this evening, we were sitting next to some friendly Brits so we asked them about the race. One of the men told us that it was his fifth time coming and its the absolute best. There's such camaraderie between all the competitors that there's just no other sporting event like it.

Which brings me to Patrick Dempsey. He is one of the drivers on a team so he was in the parade today, which everyone (specifically me) was so excited about. He was definitely one of the most popular, if not the most popular drivers in the parade. He got out of his car to take pictures some people, but when he passed us, he was back in his car. We had our hands out and he was waving so he reached out and for a full half second, WE WERE HOLDING HANDS WITH PATRICK DEMPSEY. I like to think that it helped that he knew we were American because 1) we were loud and 2) I was yelling "Patrick" without an accent. Today was magical and Patrick Dempsey is a very nice person. 

Normandy Beaches

So today, our group traveled to Omaha Beach in Normandy - where American troops landed on D-Day.

The professor was able to point out where the troops were out in the water while we actually stood on the beach. 

After standing on the beach, we visited the American Cemetery behind the beach which was hauntingly similar to Arlington, with all the cross-shaped headstones in perfect, white lines.

We then visited Pointe du Hoc which was just a couple miles farther down the road. Allied soldiers climbed up the cliff to reach the German Artillery that rested on top. There are craters all over the top of the cliff from where bombs exploded and some of the cement German bunkers are still there so you can walk though them. They're very tiny, dark, and a little creepy.

A picnic lunch was eaten outside of the WWII museum, and then we spent the next three hours in the building. The museum was dedicated to WWII and parts were told from the French perspective. I've never experienced any perspective other than American so that was interesting for me. The museum was on par with any museum in the National Mall. It was very well done and all the information on the walls was written in French, English, and German. My only complaint is that the exhibit didn't end victoriously - it ended somberly. It talked about victory in Europe and in the Pacific Theater but it wasn't celebratory or happy, it was somber in memoriam of all the lives that were lost. Today was very informative and I currently have so much WWII knowledge.

France is Dirty and It's Great

Since today is Wednesday, we only have class in the morning and then we have the afternoon off! So I did absolutely nothing this afternoon and rested literally all afternoon in my room, which I haven't gotten a chance to do yet - there's been very little down time.

Today in class we talked about World War II, in preparation for our trip to the beaches of Normandy tomorrow! It was interesting to learn about how the French are taught about WWII in comparison to us. For example, as Americans, we are taught that America swooped in halfway through the war and saved the day, essentially winning the war. I didn't realize/know that the Soviet Union was actually the country that won the war. Also, we barely talk about the Japanese-American concentration camps in America, if they're mentioned at all. In France, they mostly talk about the war in Europe, not so much the war in the Pacific Theater, and a lot about concentration camps, which makes sense since the war and concentration camps actually happened in their country.

Our two countries also have very different ways of showing our nationalism. For example, we demonstrated the pledge of allegiance to the French students who found our chant very strange. I never thought about it before, but one of the French students compared learning the pledge at such a young age (around the age of 5? Whenever kindergarten is) to being similar to brainwashing.

Yesterday, Ben and I were riding back from the internship and chatting with the guy who was driving us back. I told him that we were from Akron and the US to which he said "oh, the American Dream". I just replied, "yeah, kind of I guess? But not really". It was so weird to me that the French (possibly the rest of the world) has this conception of the "American Dream" that American's don't really have. I asked him if he's ever visited the US and he said he hadn't because it's too expensive. I don't know what the American Dream is or why other countries don't have the "French Dream" or the "South Korean Dream", I feel like I'm living in a dream right now, but is that because I'm France or because American supplied me with the opportunities and resources to be in France right now?

Finally, not everything in France is sterile and I love it. For example, at the market on Sunday, the woman who was selling bread touched the bread she was talking about and then handled money. No gloves. No hand sanitizer. Not everyone showers ever day. Not everyone smells good 100% of the time. It's so interesting to be in a culture for this time. Everything here is clean, don't get me wrong, but it's not as sterile as everything in America. I am all about it.

Fun side note- right now the cars for the 24 Hours Race are practicing and I can hear them on the track with my dorm room window open (even a little bit with my window closed).

Oh Man, Was Today Long or What

Oh wow so today was a long day. I didn't eat breakfast because I was on facebook and ran out of time and then I didn't eat lunch because I forgot papers in my room that I needed for the afternoon in the dorm (res hall) so I had to run across town to get those and bring them back. So let me preface with that.

First thing in the morning, our own French Ross Geller took us around the Archaeology Museum in Le Mans. I've never met or seen anyone who gets more excited about the mesolithic period. The museum had some interesting artifacts, but there's only so long I can be focused on artifacts from 50,000 BCE on an empty stomach.

The real adventure began, however, after lunch time because today was the first day for the internship, which I didn't realize/remember when I woke up. It was then quickly a whirlwind where I was whisked away in the car of a master's student, named Corentin (I think), to the business school in Le Mans. On the way there, I talked to the doctoral student, Fatima (from l'Université du Maine, the school at which we're living and studying) the woman who set up the internship and when we arrived at the school, she told the people there that I could understand pretty well if they spoke slowly (everything was in French). For the first hour and a half at the school, we, Ben (another French student from Akron) and I, got a tour of the school, it was quick because the school's not too big. Then the two students, myself, Ben, and Fatima sat and talked with a couple students from the school until the professor was done with whatever he was doing. We talked about Akron, the popular sports in Akron, what we do at Akron, what they do in Le Mans, where they're from, and how we like France this far. Then Ben and I sat in a conference room and observed as the professor went through progress checks with Corentin and another masters student, Maxime, because they were at a "Checkpoint". They are both in separate work placements and at the end of July, they will both be done with school after a final presentation. So this checkpoint was to make sure they were ready, or at least starting to prepare for this final presentation. I didn't understand much of their projects, but it was helpful to be able to listen and read what they were talking about projected onto the wall as they edited the word document for the presentation. Everyone at the school was so incredibly kind as Ben and I stumbled and tried so hard to answer their questions and ask some of our own. A lot of nodding and saying "oui" or "d'accord" occurred today because I understood only about half of everything that was said to me.

Maxime was so nice and drove us home, since he lives in centre ville, close to a tram stop for us to take the tram back to the university. When we talked, he spoke in English and I spoke in French. Neither of us spoke the other language especially well, but well enough for us to understand each other. Also, conversations go quicker when the French speak English and the Americans speak French because neither of us can use words that are too confusing and the other person can immediately understand it all. After he parked, we got out of the car and Maxime shook Ben's hand. I also went in for a handshake to which he said, "Non, in France we faire les bises". So we did, which wasn't awkward, but I felt awkward that I forgot that that's what they did. So today was a huge, slightly frustrating learning curve because it's not fun to not always be understood/able to understand others. I think I'm going to enjoy this internship and I'm sure my French will improve immensely, but until then, it's frustrating to not be understood or able to say exactly what I want to say because I don't have the perfect word for it. Language is surprisingly significant - who knew!

First Day of Class

This morning, at 8:15, I ordered a pain au chocolat  and a café at the local boulangerie. And then it was the first day of class. The first class was from 9-noon and it was just expectations and a little bit of group work, but nothing difficult. This is my first true humanities class that I've ever taken and I've realized that the humanities isn't for me. There's a lot of questions like "what is humanities?" or "what is multiculturalism and why can it be both syncreitc and anti-syncretic" and the answers can be interesting, but the articles that we read to find the answers are not. L'ingénierie c'est bon pour moi.

Then it was lunch time. For lunch, I went to the university's cafeteria and it was beautiful! All the French students talked about how the food wasn't good at all, and they're not wrong, compared to the rest of the food in France. But compared to American cafeteria food, it was beautiful and delicious. I got fish with rice, and then chocolate mousse in a puff pastry sort of thing? It was very good, but the best part of the meal was the conversation. I spoke in French while the French students spoke back to me in English so we both got to practice the other language! It was so interesting to have a conversation like that. And then for any American students who didn't speak French at the table, they could still understand half the conversation.

The second class, after lunch, was slightly less interesting. It was about Gaulish religion in France, from about the 1st-5th centuries BC. It was the professor's first time teaching in English (since not everyone spoke French in the class) so she was a little bit stressed which made it even more difficult for her to talk. A couple hours after class, there was a reception in one of the administrative buildings with the students and faculty/President of the university. They had cider and delicious snacks, like thinly sliced baguette with butter and either smoked salmon (there is smoked salmon everywhere here) or prosciutto. But the best part of today was dinner. A French student from Akron, Farah, made samosas for the rest of us American French students and we had some of the French students over to our dorm as well to eat! There were about 15 of us in this little kitchen/eating area but it was so much fun to be able to talk and share a meal with them! Michael is making dinner tomorrow and hopefully they'll be able to come again! I'm nervous that I'll have to cook a meal, but my plan is to make breakfast for dinner because that's really the only food I know how to cook. Hopefully it won't come to that, but I feel so lucky to have so many friends who can cook!

French People Live in Medieval Buildings

Market Day!!!! Today was the first time I went to the open-air market here and it was everything I hoped it would be and more. One part of the market had lots of plants and flowers along with some books, clothes, shoes, and purses. However the other part had produce, cheese, meats (raw and cooked), wine, olive oil, fish, fresh crêpes, bread, pastries, and much more I'm sure I'm forgetting. The first time I walked through, I was so overwhelmed by everything around me that was happening! I wasn't sure how the lines worked or how I got help to pick out what I wanted, so I ended up going to the stands with the least amount of people at them (which probably wasn't a good sign about the produce...) but at least I was able to figure out what I wanted and how to ask for it with a little less pressure. I ended up buying strawberries, nectarines, a pot of flowers, and a baguette that stuck out of my tote bag in true French fashion. The market was so exciting and interesting and I can't wait to head back next Sunday morning!

After the market, I went to a play in the Cité Plantagenêt (the old city) put on by a local community-type theater. I understood some of what happened in the play, but the most interesting part was the "theater". The play took place in the cellar of a medieval house. It was cave-like and completely paved with stones, off which the sound bounced very well so no matter where the voice was coming from in the room, it could be heard very clearly! We then got to walk around the city with one of the French students, Pauline, who showed us good places to eat and the old Roman wall that defines one side of the city. From July 4 through August 29, there is La Nuit des Chimères during which pictures and stories are projected onto this wall with multiple projectors - similar, I believe, to the shows that take place on Cinderella's castle before the fireworks in Disney World where animations are projected onto the castle. She also told me that a lot of students live in the apartments in this part of the city because they're cheap. That absolutely blew my mind to imagine living in a medieval building - we have nothing even remotely similar to that in America. In addition, the buildings have been so well maintained that they're still inhabitable after ~8000 years? That's absolutely incredible to me. It's another example of how the French live their daily lives right next to this immense history and don't even bat an eye. I cannot imagine living in an apartment in which a family was once concerned about catching the black plague.

To finish off the evening, I went to a restaurant in the Cité Plantagenêt with Esther for dinner because all stores are closed on Sunday and we both forgot to buy food for dinner earlier in the week. We ended up going to Aux Cocottes Sarthoises without knowing what a cocotte was. It turns out, its a meal that is served in a small type of cast-iron skillet. I wanted the cocotte du jour but the waiter said that they weren't serving that so under pressure, I just randomly picked one which, I believe, was veal with cooked rice and carrots in a butter-cream sauce. It was absolutely incredible and I sopped up every last bit of it with the bread on the table. If nothing else, the food in France, Le Mans specifically, is wonderful even if you don't know exactly what you're ordering.

The Eiffel Tower Is Ugly and I Do Not Like It

Bonsoir! So just real quick I want to just mention the meals I ate today because the food here is so incredible I don't give it enough credit.

Breakfast: a croissant with nutella and some grape juice in my room, then a pain au chocolat and a café (double espresso) outside the train station.
Lunch: a four cheese pizza (Camembert, Parmesan, bleu, et chèvre (goat)) with tomato sauce.
Dinner: Kebab (like a gyro, I think) with fries and a grape soda.

Today we spent the day in Paris! After taking the train from Le Mans, we arrived in Paris, bought our metro tickets, and took the metro the the Eiffel Tower. It's of course a very important landmark, of course, but as a structure, it's so ugly. It is not pleasing to the eye and originally, it was supposed to be only a support. It was supposed to be covered so I'm shocked that the French allowed it to stay, but now it is internationally adored. I find it overrated, but when in Paris, you can't not visit it. From the Eiffel Tower, we walked over to the Arc de Triomphe (my favorite monument in Paris) and then we started walking down the Champs-Elysées. We jumped on the metro and took it to Place de la Concorde, which is at the end of the Champs-Elysées. The Arc de Triomphe is the start of the street of shops, and Place de la Concorde is the end of it. When we crammed ourselves back onto the metro, there was a performer with a speaker and a microphone singing the song Les Champs-Elysées; he was surprisingly good! Eventually we made it over to Notre Dame, where we got ice cream after eating lunch, and then walked over to the Louvre. We didn't go inside Notre Dame or the Louvre, but we were able to walk around and take pictures of it all. Before heading back, we stopped at a local micro-brasserie who made their own beers. I had a glass of the lightest one, La Blanche, and it was really good! We then hopped on the train and headed back to Le Mans.

By coincidence, a group of us went straight to dinner after getting off the train where we met up with some of our American friends eating with some of the French students we'll be in class with and their friends! So we ate and spent the evening talking with them about the differences between the countries and the different stereotypes we had about each others countries. It was also interesting to ask them about French culture we learning in class, like what high schools are like in France, and here what an actual French student's perspective was. For example, French students don't move out of their parents' houses until they're about 25, so moving out at 18 seems so early to them. All the French students are so friendly and it's awesome that we both get to practice the other's language!

Tomorrow is the market in town, where there is local produce and meat, which I cannot wait for. Then we'll have a picnic with the American and French students and then possibly a get-together with the other students who are living in the dorm this summer. There are people from all over the world in this dorm, so I can't wait to get to know some of them!

I Think I Am Melting. Or at least I will lose all water weight that I have from sweating

There are no plastic grocery bags in France. There are also no shorts, except on tourists. I am trying so hard to not wear shorts but it is so hot. I sat in my jeans and my t-shirt today and just sweated. I felt like I sweated so much. And there's not much air conditioning here, except for a slight breeze or the mini-fan (a true blessing) in my room.

Today we actually got to meet the French students we'll be with for the rest of the program! They are all so nice and some don't say that they speak English well, but they totally do. Some of them are even English majors!

So this evening, I went to a restaurant called "Le Globe" for dinner which was a relatively nice restaurant. However, when I was turning the pages of my menu, I found a crushed fly on one of the pages in the menu. If I had been at an Applebee's or a Rockney's (not that I go to either of those places very often), I would've been disgusted. However, I just flicked the bug off of my menu, onto the ground and moved on. I think this rational is similar to the reasoning of summer camp. In the real world, showing only twice (maximum) a week and sleeping in your own sweat/bug spray every night is ok, where as at home it is not. I was so sweaty and gross and the French just live with bugs and open air and no screens, so finding a little bug was ok. However in America, everything is too clean and sanitary for finding a crushed fly stuck to the page of a menu to ever be ok. The restaurant was wonderful, by the way. I got the Poisson du Moment  (Fish of the Day) and I'm not sure what fish it was, but it was delicious.

Today was some walking and I am hot and tired but tomorrow, at 6:30 am, we are going to meet at the tram station to make our way to Paris for the day! I am very excited but I still need to shower (which is an adventure in itself) so I just won't really sleep tonight.

Also, the trip to Milan is on! I've found people to go with so now I just have to plan it!! Bonne nuit!

My First Day!!!

Bonsoir from Le Mans! I am currently sitting in a Case-sized dorm room, at my desk, on my computer plugged into the ethernet jack in the wall. I just showered the rest of Ohio off of me in the closet sized bathroom - it was minorly claustrophobic so I'll need to figure out a better way to shower. Fun fact - I could be sitting on the toilet, taking a shower, and brushing my teeth over the sink all at the same time. Europe is amazing.

Yesterday afternoon, I flew out of Akron-Canton to O'Hare where I changed my flights to be a direct flight between O'Hare to Paris. After the 8-hour flight and some sleep, I landed in Paris! My first priority was, of course, to find wifi so I could wake my parents up at 2:30 and tell them that I made it and then to text my friend, Esther, to try to meet up somewhere. After a lot of waiting and confusion, we decided to just meet up at the gate for the train. However, what I didn't realize is that the train was in terminal 2, while I was in terminal 1, on the completely opposite side of the airport. Fortunately, I was able to find a janitorial lady and ask her "Excuse-moi, où se trouve le gare SNCF" to which she replied (in Italian I think) "..... escalatios ..... grandisse ....." which I pretended to understand to be polite. After going up the escalator with all of my baggage instead of around it, then going back down to realize that I needed to take the shuttle, I dragged all of my belongings behind me and hauled them onto the shuttle that took me to Terminal 2! I met up with Esther, we got lunch, and eventually we got onto the train. An hour and half-long nap later, I was in Le Mans!

After getting settled in my room, I took the tram downtown with Esther to pick up water and snacks at the local Carrefour and then wandered around downtown. We passed so many cafes and restaurants and some local guys selling produce and fish and squids. For dinner, a student from Le Mans showed us this great little Italian place where I got a delicious Margarita Pizza (not especially French, but it was yummy). The highlight of the night however was walking into Old Le Mans where we sat on a rooftop terrace and ordered drinks while we talked and watched the sunset. I drank a delicious non-alcoholic (attn. Ellie) Bizet which came with an orange wedge on the side of the glass and a plastic lily stuck through the orange. I wish I would have taken a picture of the terrace, but I will definitely return there so I will snap a picture next time.

Being in Le Mans feels very natural and I am not feeling much of a culture shock at all. I was really well prepared for this trip, but also I haven't been faced with any real challenges yet. I am completely exhausted (I managed to stay up until midnight France time this evening, when I didn't think I'd make it past 5!!) and I don't really have any reflections or thoughts on the day, but I absolutely love it here and I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings (hint - it's my own Le Mans student ID!!). Hopefully tomorrow I'll have the focus to figure out how to upload pictures. Bonne nuit!