Pot de Départ (Going Away Party)

So I decided about a month before my departure that I wanted to organize a final soirée to ensure that I could hang out with the whole team together one more time before I left. And at the time there were lots of Ultimate tournaments being planned and I was worried all of the weekends would be filled up if I waited too long to suggest something. But I had a minor logistics problem: the apartment I share with Stéph and Charly is plenty big for the three of us, but even the eight of us when I hosted the raclette was just at the limit of too many. I figured we would be between 12-20 if most of the people from the team showed up, and that would definitely be too many. Gaëtan helped me look into a couple of options (like the place where they held the annual team meeting/welcome party), but it didn’t look very promising. Then Marion offered to let us have the party at her apartment. Marion doesn’t play on the team, but she hangs out with us regularly (she’s come to the Brass’ with us often and I went ice-skating with her and Gaëtch once). Her apartment was perfect! It’s on the Citadelle-side of the city center, and a spacious apartment for one person. We had just enough room without having too much extra. 

For the theme, I wanted to do the foods and beverages I anticipate missing the most at home: cheese (eaten with baguette, of course), wine and beer.  That’s not a very original theme though, so I figured I’d make it a little harder and I told everyone they could only bring items whose name started with the same letter as his or her first name. For cheese it was the type (comté or mozzarella, for example), for wine it was the cépage (like Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay) and for beer it was the brand (such as Leffe or Guinness). It worked really well! Some people got creative too – Tété brought a tête de moine cheese (they didn’t put the accent on the label, so it looked like he had found a cheese with his exact first name), Joseph brought a fancy cut of ham as well (jambon in French), Jérémy and Florine brought me flowers in addition to their cheese and wine (jolies fleurs in French). I guess I should have thought more about the overlap in letters (John, Joseph, Jean-Guillaume and Jérémy made for four Js, Lucie, Lucas and I made 3 Ls, Franzi and Florian were stuck with very few F options for cheese and both brought Fourme d’Ambert). I couldn’t find a French L wine at all, but brought both Leffe and a German beer called LaTrappe to make up for it. Overall, people seemed to be really pleased with how the theme worked out though, and we had a great time!

 

The team surprised me with a few gifts: a beautiful silver watch with a black leather band, a funny “25” t-shirt (25 is the regional zip code, sort of like how people under 25 occasionally jokingly refer to Cincinnati as “the 5-1-3”), and a photobook with pictures of each of them with a note next to it. That last one was TéTé's idea (he's the guy next to me in the picture on the right), and then each team member wrote me a little note next to the pictures he printed out of each of them. I was really touched!

I wouldn't say was too rowdy, but some of us certainly didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning. And at one point Alex (the coach/captain) started trying on other people's clothing, which resulted in some pretty hilarious combinations. The party was a wonderful way to top off the 8 months I have spent with this very special group of people. I will miss them very very much!

Pont Battant (The Battant Bridge)

The last few months have been a really great time to be in the construction business in Besançon. I’ve already complained about them cutting down the beautiful plantanes on Quai Vieil Picard, turning Place Flore into a giant sand box and making my morning commute to Planoise a daily adventure. But the latest conflagration has been the destruction of Pont Battant, which I believe was built right after WWII. Although the actual bridge is not very old, the location has a right history. Based on geological findings, it’s fairly certain that there has been a bridge there since the days of Vesontio, the Roman town upon whose foundations the modern city of Besançon is built. Pont Battant is certainly the most well-known for the four main bridges which connect the boucle (the city center which is encircled by the River Doubs on three sides and the Citadelle on the fourth) to the other side of the river.

The bridge is important enough that they can’t just knock it down without first creating a temporary substitute. They have been working on said substitute, a passerelle (pedestrian bridge), for the last few weeks. The week before my departure they finished the installation of the passerelle, although when I passed on Tuesday afternoon (April 24) it was still not open. It was cool to see how they did it (using a crane placed on the existing bridge to lower the huge iron pylons they had welded together into the river and then welding them together once they were in place). Crossing the bridge is currently a big pain, not just because the walkway has been reduced to practically a single lane to leave the construction workers, cranes, etc the maximum amount of space, but because people frequently stop to watch the construction. Here are some pictures I took right before they installed the final section of the passerelle:

Anatomy of a French Ultimate Tournament

So you probably know that Ultimate Frisbee tournaments have occupied a fair few of my weekends over the past 5 years. And although the rules of the game are the same and the people are just as friendly, there are some elements of the tournaments here which are notably differnent from tournaments I've been to at home. There is one key difference I should note: at home I pretty much only participated in college-level Ultimate tournaments (except maybe the occasional 'hat tournament' -- referring to the hat from which players' names are drawn to pick the teams, rather than players registering for the tournament with a particular team). In any event, I'm pretty sure club-level tournaments operate the same way as college-level tournaments in the U.S., so that shouldn't affect the comparison I will draw below. Enough chatting, here are the differences:

1. Fields and game length
          Of course there are fields involved in American tournaments, I only mentioned this because I've noticed most tournaments (both indoor and outdoor) have only 1-2 fields. I don't think I've ever played in an American tournament with only 2 fields -- usually there are a minumum of 4 and at some of the bigger tournaments there are 12+. This means of course that only 2-4 teams can be playing at once, so there are fewer teams involved in the tournament and games are shorter. For example, at the N3 (national level 3, above regional level and below national level 2) tournament this weekend, there were 7 teams: Besançon, Strasbourg's first team, Strasbourg's second team, Metz, Nancy, Dijon and Voujeaucourt. Part of that is of course because there are only so many teams in the region and the other ones are in the lower (regional) level. But honestly we wouldn't have been able to host many more teams, because we only had 2 fields. Or games would have had to be shorter. They were already 45 minutes, which is half of the standard 90-minute game length in the US. I've never played in a game at home which had less than 60 minutes + a 15-minute "cap" (if the determined score to win hasn't yet been attained).



2. "Mixed" teams
          Technically all of the teams who played with this weekend were co-ed, but most teams only had 1-2 women (including ours, which had only Clémentine). This meant that often women were guarding men and vice-versa. Some women feel really strongly about this: either that it's unfair when men guard them or that it's an insult to their altheticism that they can only compete against other women. I go back and forth, because certain physical traits like height are extremely difficult to compensate for, particularly in Ultimate. This picture on the right illustrates this pretty effectively: Yves (known as Bob) is #25 and the girl in the white on his right is Clémentine, who also plays for Besançon. She's really quick, but so is Bob, and his arms are possibly twice as long as hers! On the other side of the argument, I will admit that I am often pleased when the other team chooses a guy to guard me -- it's sort of a point of pride. Anyway, in American Ultimate, the mixed teams often have a closer-to-even gender ratio and so the number of men and women on each team must always be equal. That couldn't be a rule in France because there aren't enough female players. This just makes for a different dynamic.


3. The buvette (buffet)
          The "Food bag" : a brown-paper grocery bag filled with (often unripe) bananas, a jar of peanut butter and some form of starch (usually a box of cereal or sliced bread). This is supposed to last for both days, and the food is usually gone by Saturday afternoon. I'm being a little harsh here, but the food bag passed out by the host team at American tournaments is usually something along these lines. In France, there's an uproar if the first croque monsieur sandwiches aren't ready by 11am. La buvette continued to be a novelty for me, even after I had attended half a dozen Ultimate tournaments. The spread was always impressive : coffee, bananas and apples, and breakfast tarts were often available beginning first thing in the morning, and lunch was usually cold sandwiches (but on fresh baguettes, with the local cheese, made by volunteers during the first games), croque monsieur sandwiches, many many kinds of pasta salad and savory "cakes." Then for dessert tarts, brownies, and little cakes or cookies, and to wash it all down: water, juice, soda, tea or beer. Can you imagine? Some tournaments had crepes too! I took pictures. They thought I was crazy, but I was impressed.


4. The post-game Spirit Circle
          The closest I have ever gotten to this in American matches is after the two teams give each other high-fives following the conclusion of a match, the captains might discuss any contested fouls or tense moments during the game. And usually we would cheer the name of the other team as a way of thanking them and maintaining good spirit. But in France (and in Europe in general, as far as I know), they have the "Spirit Circle." No Ouija board required. The two teams form a circle, seated or standing based on their fatigue, by alternating players. The losing team's captain or nominated speaker then proceeds to give a post-game talk, summarizing any good or bad points, and bringing up any issues or problems which occured during the game. Then the winning team's captain does the same thing. Sometimes these Circles last a really really long time. Usually they're pretty quick and uneventful, but when it gets down to debating the wording of a particular rule, they can last quite a while. I think it's an interesting idea, but I'm not sure I'll miss it when I go back to playing Ultimate in the U.S. because usually I think it takes much longer than necessary, and if there are real arguments then the Spirit Circle doesn't always resolve those either.


5. The Spirit-of-the-Game grading post-match and Spirit-of-the-Game award
          Not to be confused with the Spirit Circle, the Spirit-of-the-Game grading usually takes place immediately following the Circle. The two teams separate and fill out a score sheet giving the other team a grade based on five criteria including: understanding of the rules, absence of dangerous play and positive conduct both as a member of their own team and in interactions with the opposing team. These scores are out of 20 and 10 is considered "normal" (this apparently caused an issue in one of the first World Championships, not unlike the differences in scholastic grading, the Americans thought that 10/20 was a failing grade and apparently gave everyone unusually high marks). At the end of the tournament each team's cumulative Spirit scores are tallyed and the Spirit-of-the-Game award is given at the same time as the tournament champion is announced. The Friz'Bistonins were proud to have won the Spirit Award at 4 or 5 tournaments in a row while I was playing with them.


6. Round Robin rather than elimination-style
          Those of you who watch European soccer will understand this immediately, but for me, it took a little longer. All of the other Ultimate tournaments I have played in were the same format as the NCAA basketball championship: pool play leading to bracket play with elimination leading to a championship game. This isn't necessarily how it works in France though. For the regional tournaments leading up to the national tournament, each region has two rounds the phase aller and the phase retour, often with 3-4 weeks between them. At the phase aller every team in the region plays every other team, with the games spread out over Saturday and Sunday. Based on how many points each team scores, and how many points other teams score against them, the teams are ranked with a number value (for instance, +20 if a team scored 30 more points total than the combined number of points scored against them). Then at the phase retour, the teams do the same thing again. Whoever has the best record at the end, advances to the national level. I can see how this could be fairer, in that losing one game doesn't necessarily knock you out for the whole tournament. There are multiple divisions for each region (in ascending order): Regional 1, Regional 2, National 3, National 2, National 1. The names are sort of confusing, since the teams in National 3 still have to play against other N3 teams in their region before advancing the N3 national championship. But there you have it! During the indoor season, Besançon's first team won the N3 championship and was therefore bumped up to N2. The N2 teams who had the poorest performance in their tournament were bumped down to N3. In this way teams have to stay on top of their game to avoid descending the following year, and teams can rise one level per year if they really improve.

Back in the US of A, but Don't Worry, There Are Still A Few to Come

Well I left Besançon on Wednesday, April 25, on a train headed for Berlin. I spent a wonderful five days visiting my friend Lisa (full entry on that later), who is German and whom I met during an internship in Washington, D.C. two summers ago. Then, on Monday, April 30 I took a plane to D.C., via New York. It was a long flight (longer coming back, since you're going against the Earth's rotation). I got to spend an entire week visiting Claire which was amazing. It's crazy how although we hadn't seen each other in more than 9 months, we feel right back into our routine like the time hadn't passed at all. Jeremy even came up to visit on my last day there!

Now I'm back in Cincinnati, although I took a trip down to Vanderbilt to see Trey graduate, and the two of us will be headed to NYC this coming weekend to see one of his pieces performed in a music festival. I'm trying to get re-oriented to life at home (I only just unpacked on Sunday), and I am now applying for jobs. Law school applications are also on the to-do list (I'm hoping to start in the fall of 2013).

But despite all that, I hope to post the last few entries which I wrote on the various trains and planes I've taken in the last few weeks. So stay tuned!

My First Marathon

First of all, I would like to apologize to all of you faithful blog readers. I know it's been 2+ weeks since I've posted an entry and I'm really sorry about that. What with preparing for the marathon and wrapping things up here in Besançon, the last few weeks have just been really busy. Even if I don't get to all of them before I leave here on April 25th (one week from today, eek), I've been keeping track of my ideas as draft entries, and don't be surprised if there's a crescendo of blog posts right after I get back. I hope you agree they will be worth the wait!

Now, for those of you who haven't gotten the update, about my first marathon:

I went into this, my first marathon, with the general goal of finishing. However, it's always good to have a more precise time goal, and since the three half-marathons I have run were all around 1:45 (one hour, forty-five minutes), I figured four hours was a good estimate for what I could do for a marathon. I have been running since I got here in mid-September, but didn't register for the marathon until early January. I re-read my journal on the train ride to Annecy, and was reminded that I had trouble running for 30 minutes without stopping when I first got to Besançon! So the marathon represents significant progress over the last eight months!

Grace (a fellow French major and '11 Wake Forest grad, she is a primary school assistant in a small town called Issoudun in the Loire Valley) and I arrived in Annecy on Friday night and had planned on spending all Saturday exploring the town, but the weather turned out to be cold and rainy. We ventured out to get our race packets and numbers, looked into a few shops and ate lunch, but then spent the afternoon reading and napping in the hotel. It's a shame because Annecy is known for being gorgeous and a lovely vacation town, but I can attest that it's not great in bad weather.
Unforunately that bad weather carried through to Sunday morning, when I woke up at 7am for my 8:30 race (the picture on the right is pre-race in the hotel room). It turned out to be good running weather though, because I didn't get hot and the rain kept my body refreshed. The course started on a street where the lakefront meets the city (the picture on the left is of me waiting to start the race) and then continued along the eastern side of the lake all the way down to the bottom and back. It was along a bike trail (flat flat fat -- good for my first time), and since there were 3,514 people running the race there wasn't much room to slow down during the first 15km or so. All the better for me! The first 15 km or so went really well; I didn't feel like I was expending any huge effort and my legs felt good. I was hoping to find a buddy I could chat with during the race but I didn't find any candidates (no one else was talking or looked friendly enough). Running in a pack was a big motivater though, I had the impression we were any army headed off to war -- a very skinny army!

I hit the halfway point at 2 hours, 40 seconds and that was when I started getting tired thinking about doing the same thing all over again. It really got tough around the 30km mark and the last 10km were a huge test of my willpower. It was my thighs in particular which started to ache; they felt like blocks of cement I was dragging along. But I didn't walk once! I did stop for water at nearly every water break, and I think those and the small refreshments (orange slices, raisins, even tiny squares of gingerbread) made a huge difference. I had planned to take 5-minute walk breaks at each hour, but I couldn't at the first hour, no one else was walking at the second hour, and by the third I figured, heck, I'd just run the whole thing.

There were pacers running with giant flags on their backs, and I was running with or in front of the pacer for 4 hours up until the 30km mark, when I fell behind. I was always within sight distance though, and I would check my watch to see how far behind I was and it was always around 2-3 minutes. I figured my new goal would be to finish in under 4 hours, 15 minutes. The final km was around the park where we started and it was cool to have people encouraging us. The crowd wasn't quite as loud as I expected though, and I noticed that few people seemed to be enouraging the runners other than their friends when I cheered for Grace in the afternoon.

I rounded the final corner with about 50 meters to go before the finish (the red carpet and everything, that part was pretty cool), and saw the giant stopwatch. It read : 3 hours, 59 minutes, 37 seconds. My heart soared!! I had thought there was no chance I could meet my goal and when I saw those glowing red numbers I burst into a sprint with absolutely everything I had left. I crossed the finish line at 3:59.45, 15 seconds to spare on my goal time, and promptly burst into tears. The happiness at achieving my goal and my complete physical exhaustion were just too much. It was undoubtably one of the coolest moments of my life.

I pulled it together though and happily accepted my medal from one of the volunteers. I tried to keep walking, because I knew stopping would only make it worse. I actually didn't have the impulse to sit down -- my legs hurt too much. They had refreshments in a big tent immediately afterward: fruit, granola bars, water, chocolate, dried fruit and slices of gingerbread. I wasn't even hungry, but I ate because it seemed like a good idea. I was still really shaky and scatterbrained afterwards, but met up with Grace and we walked (slowly) back to the hotel so I could change into dry cothes before her race (she ran the half-marathon in the afternoon).

The train ride back that evening was pretty rough. More than anything, I was surprised by how much my feet and ankles hurt. It might be because my shoes were a little on the old side (I was afraid to buy new ones right before the race). Or it could just be that they've never run that far before and are just tired. I was still in a lot of pain Sunday night, and had a hard time falling asleep because of it. Monday was pretty rough too, I waddled more than walked and going down the stairs involved bracing myself against the banister. But by today (Wednesday, the third day after the race) I'm walking normally again and can go down the stairs without too much wincing.

Despite the pain, I don't think it will be my last marathon. The high when I finished was incredibly, particularly because I achieved my goal. I was on cloud nine! The next time though, I want to do one with a friend or close to home, so that my family and/or friends can come cheer me on. I was jealous of the other runners who had their own fan clubs! Dayton, Ohio Air Force Marathon on April 15??

Cheese! Round 2

Here are some more cheeses I've sampled recently. I'm going to keep the same format as my earlier cheese post, and here's the key:

1. Fromages au lait de vache (cows' milk cheeses)
2. Fromages au lait de chèvre (goats' milk cheeses)
3. Fromages au lait de brebis (ewes' milk cheeses)

Saint Félicien

Hello my new favorite cheese. I sampled this one with my host family last time I was in Dijon and I became totally hooked. I picked some up from the fromagerie in the covered market and my crush became full-on love. This creamy cow's milk cheese is from the Rhône-Alpes region (the one directly south of Franche-Comté, it's capital is Lyon). It's very similar to the Saint Marcellin cheese in taste and texture, but is softer and creamier and can be almost twice as large in diameter. The name comes from the town where the cheese was first produced and sold, Saint Félicien. Apparently the best Saint Félicien is sold between April and September (it's not uncommon for cheeses to have "seasons" like this, and some aren't sold at all during a certain time of year), but based on how good it was the last two times I tried it, it's hard to imagine it being any better. I guess I'm going to buy some again in mid-April to see if I can tell the difference... oh darn!

St. Albans

This poor cheese has the rough job of coming directly after the Saint Félicien, and unfortunately it was already not a favorite. Part of it could have been that I bought this cheese from the supermarket, rather than from a fromagerie. But it wasn't pre-packaged or anything, it had clearly been cut by the people at the cheese counter of the supermarket. Oh well. This cheese was more of a "runny cheese" than a soft or firm cheese, and I didn't find it's taste particularly remarkable. I did notice they sell it in one of the fromageries where I shop, so maybe I'll try theirs and give it a second chance. Unfortunately I couldn't find a picture of this cheese readily on the internet, but you'll have to trust me that it wasn't remarkable.

Cancoillotte: Absinthe

I brought this with me when I went over to Candice and Laurie's apartment to make dinner last night (we had champignons à la crème using the mushrooms that Séb gave me when Colin and I visited Chapelle -- they turned out great). Candice absolutely loves cancoillotte, and I would rather take a jar to share than have a full jar sitting around my refrigerator, if you know what I mean. This variety was delicious, but I can't say I could pin down the absinthe flavor precisely. It tasted sweeter than regular cancoillotte though. I think my favorite is still the au vin jaune variety, particular the au vin d'Arbois one I brought to my host family in Dijon last time I went. But I've seen at least a dozen other flavors, and unfortunately there's no way I'll have time to try them all now. I guess that leaves something for next time!

Cantal

This one was a big winner. For some reason I had it in my head that I didn't like Cantal, and I couldn't have been more wrong. I've seen it's taste described as similar to cheddar, but I found it more similar to comté, but with a little kick. In fact, I could go as far as to say that I preferred it to comté, but probably won't for fear of being exiled from Franche-Comté from my bisontin friends who read this blog. In any event, this cheese is from the département (like the county) of Cantal, in the Auvergne region (south-central France). It is one of the oldest cheeses in France, dating back to the time of the Gauls, and has been an AOC since 1956. The cows whose milk produces Cantal cheese are fed straw in the winter and grass in the summer; their milk from the straw-fed period is used to make Cantal cheese and their milk from the grass-fed period is used to make Salers cheese. There are three types of Cantal: jeune (aged 1-2 months), entre-deux or doré (aged 2-6 months) and vieux (aged 6+ months). I'm not sure which one mine was, but based on the flavor I would guess entre-deux. Apparently the vieux is rarely exported from the region because it's flavor is so strong and particular that it doesn't sell as well as the other types. 

CORRECTION: After checking my receipt from the fromagerie I can confirm that the Cantal I purchased was indeed the entre-deux variety. 

Saint Vernier

This one is a local cheese, made in Franche-Comté in Cléron, about 30 minutes south of Besançon by car and not far from Ornans. It's a cow's milk cheese made with pasteurized milk and has a distinctive but not-too-overwhelming flavor. I tend to prefer denser cheeses over runny ones (this one had a texture similar to Brie, which isn't my favorite), but I enjoyed it nevertheless. It was also aged with another local product, le vin de savagnin. Not my absolute favorite, but solid nonetheless.

Don't Take This Post Too Seriously

So with only one full month left until my departure, I've been reflecting a little on what I am going to miss once I take that train to Paris, and eventually a flight back to the States. It goes without saying that I will miss Colin, my Friz'Bisontin friends, my assistant friends, and the random assortment of other friendships I've made during the last seven months. And of course I will be happy to go home to my family and friends from Cincinnati and from Wake. But I thought it might be interesting for you (and a good reflection for me) to think about some of the more mundane and possibly less obvious parts of my life I will miss and which I will be glad to resume in the US of A. So, here is my (occasionally irreverent) list -- in no particular order:

Things I will miss about France in general, and Besançon in particular:

1. Boulangeries in general, choco-amande croissants and macarons
          I don't know where to begin here. I feel like I'm just now getting down all of the vocabulary for the boulangeries around my apartment. You would think it would be simple (baguette, croissant, etc) but actually lots of boulangeries use their own proprietary names for the varieties on a basic baguette. More than once I've gotten funny looks when I use another boulangerie's term when asking for what I think is the same variety. I usually get "Ooooh, you mean __________." Oh well. The bread is delicious and I am thankful every time I walk home to my apartment with a fresh baguette.


2. The prices being exactly as they read on the menu/price tag
          Why haven't we thought of this yet?! So simple, but so much easier on the customers! You don't have to try and do weird math in your head (7% tax * $3.99 for a sandwich yields *headache*). Maybe I'm just bad at mental math, but I don't see why we can't just adopt the system of including the tax in the listed price. It certainly makes things more expeditious at the cash register, because you can have your exact change ready.

3. Cheese
          Saint Félicien is the current obsession, add it to the list of: 18-month comté, Roquefort, morbier, cancoillotte au vin jaune, mimeolette....

4. Seeing the Citadelle lit up at night 
          In keeping with #3, this one is super cheesy. I am ashamed to admit I still haven't been inside the Citadelle (don't ask, it's a long story or really a long chain of excuses). I'm certainly going to go before I leave, but until then I can enjoy a great view of the lights from my bedroom window, or anytime we drive by on the way to Ultimate practice. There's also a great view from one of the streets in Battant -- if I remember I want to try and get a picture from there before I go.

5. Beer (worth drinking)
          Just to get things straight, I don't think of myself as a beer person. Sure, beer goes really well with certain foods, like a juicy burger, a German frankfurter or pretty much any Czech dish. But before these 7 months I wouldn't think of it as anything besides a compliment to food. Wrong! Welcome to the land of Belgian beer. With wine under control, the French don't feel badly about looking to their northern neighbors for some good beer (not that there aren't French beers, but I can't remember the last time I had one, or if I ever have, for that matter). Maredsous is the main beer on tap at the Brass' and the blonde (6) and brun (8) are, in the words of Brian Regan, "both favorites," depending on the evening.  

6. Getting Carte Avantages Jeunes discounts on practically everything (or under 25 discounts).
          This one is pretty trivial, but it does come in handy. At any given museum, movie theater, event or location which requires a ticket there is probably some discount if you're under 25. I guess this may be the case at home too, but I feel like it's more advertised here. Of course, this one will only be good for another year or and a half so for me, but I'm enjoying it while I can. 

7. Horse-back riding
          This one is quite sincere -- although the horses may not always be top, I have really enjoyed my weekly lessons at Les Ecuries de Chateau-Galland. It took me a while to get back into the rhythm again, but now that it's nearly time to go I realize just how wonderful that hour per week has been. And now I have a whole range of French equestrian vocabulary!  

8. Being able to journal on the train
          Not having a car does have some advantages... like always taking the train. And while the train can be (relatively) expensive and sometimes long, it does give me a chance to catch up on my journaling, which I never seem to have time to do otherwise. And it's a great way to see the countryside, which is often incredibly scenic.


9. Bref.
          A TV show (well actually a series of shorts) through Canal+, Colin introduced me to it a few months ago and I've become hooked. Each episode is only two and a half minutes long, which is good because the characters speak incredibly quickly and I often have to watch an episode multiple times before I understand all of the jokes. The first "season" just came out on DVD and I'm definitely going to get it before I leave!


Things I will be happy to go home to (in America in general, and Cincinnati in particular):

1. Stand-up showers
          I know these exist in France, but my apartment doesn't have one, and I am therefore going to be grateful to re-enter the land in which stand-up showers are a standard feature.

2. Clothes dryers
          Again, can I live without one? Yes. Will I be happy to have access to one again? You bet!

3. Certain goods and services not costing an arm and a leg (manicures, clothes)
          It's common knowledge that the cost of living is generally higher in Europe than in the United States, and that is definitely true for certain goods and services more than others. For example: clothes. I was shocked the other day when an Old Navy ad popped up in my Gmail -- it was advertising some kind of "Everything for $4" sale. I challenge you to find a single item of clothing in Europe you can purchase for 3 euros (in a store, the market in Planoise may be able to hook you up). And I'm not even a fan of Old Navy, because their clothes often fall apart quickly, but even for the "cheap" clothes here, you can't buy them at that price. Another example: manicures. Obviously this falls under the "extras" category, but I haven't seen a single salon advertising a manicure for less than 21 euros ($27). I probably have had a $27 manicure before, but I usually pay half of that for one at home. Needless to say I've been doing my own nails here...

I feel it's worth adding that, on the other hand, there are some things which are considered luxury goods at home which are infinitely less expensive here. Really good chocolate might be one example, wine and beer would be another. Food in general, although it's more expensive, it's possible to have a "gourmet" meal here for half the price it would cost you at home. For example, Saturday night Colin and I went out to a restaurant called Le Vin et L'Assiette. The idea is you pick your food and they bring you a glass of wine which corresponds with the dish, but don't tell you what it is until afterward. For the record, our guesses were totally wrong, but the food was amazing and the wine complimented it perfectly (although the proprietor might have thought of it the other way around). Our meal was the sort of thing Jean-Robert would charge an arm and a leg for, and although it certainly wasn't cheap, it was more accessible here than at home.

4. Not having to formulate and auto-correct my questions before entering a store or starting a conversation (and not having to worry about botching the tu/vous decision).
           The "tu" and "vous" distinction still gets me sometimes, especially with adults who are clearly older than I am, but who I meet in casual contexts (such as, when Magalie's friend was there when Colin and I were invited to dinner). Or, sometimes when I meet someone who is clearly my own age, but who is a complete stranger. I think I usually get it right, but I've certainly gotten it wrong at least a few times, because I recognize the slightly-shocked expression which rapidly morphs into the "oh wait she's not a native speaker, it's okay" expression. At which point I cringe on the inside, and add that situation to my archive upon which I can draw in the future.

5. And along with that... being able to pronounce the words "frog," "fennel," "noodle," and "socket." 
          What do all of these words have in common? In French, they all end in "-ouille." As in "grenouille," "fenouil," "nouille," "douille." I seem to have a kind of block when it comes to producing this particular sound, and despite the efforts of more than one native speaker, I have yet to successfully produce it on my own without significant repitition first. If anything, it has taught me greater empathy for non-English speakers trying to distinguish similar sounds: when the kindly native speaker attempts to demonstrate the two different sounds (the correct one and my failed attempt), I of course hear exactly the same sound twice. "Can't you tell, it's the difference between nouille and nouille?" Ah yes, it's all clear now...  

6. Spicy food, Thai food in particular
          If given the choice, I would probably pick French food as the single type of cuisine to eat for the rest of my life. Luckily I don't have to make that choice, and I'm excited to have access to spicy food again (an type of diversity definitely lacking in French cuisine).  

7. Being able to drive, especially on a summer night with the windows down 
          I hope I remember how, it's been 7 months!

8. Being in the same time zone, or a lot closer to the same time zone, as the majority of my friends and family
          This doesn't seem like such a problem at first, but for my friends who work long hours, this has made Skyping nearly impossible (it doesn't help Steph and Charly go to bed earlier than I do, and since our walls are very thin talking on Skype would certainly wake them up). And with domestic postage costing about 1/3 of the price of an international stamp from France, I will be motivated to recommence letter communication with Trey and Holly!