As usual, this blog thing is getting away from me, so here's a recap of the best parts of last six weeks or so, in chronological order:
Italy: I took a whirlwind 12-day train journey around Italy over the Toussaint (All Saint's Day) vacation with my friend Leslie. We started in rainy, confusing, gorgeous Venice where we stayed in a chilly, noisy hostel with a staff member who distinctly reminded us of Jack Sparrow. Next we got drenched staring at Juliet's Balcony in Verona, found Parma surprisingly pleasant after we missed a train and got stuck for two hours, and finally climbed to our comfy hostel in Manarola, Cinque Terre well after dark. After a good night's sleep, we strolled along mountainsides among olive groves and vineyards, stopping to gaze out across the smooth, blue sea below and to indulge in cups of gelato in four of the five tiny, colorful towns that make up Cinque Terre. Pisa underwhelmed us the next morning, though we took photos holding up the tower, just like all the other tourists. I fell in love with Florence visiting my old friend Michela in her beautiful city, wandering the streets, climbing to the city's best views, ogling David and taking hundreds of pictures of the Arno and The Ponte Vecchio. Siena gave us a day to rest with a particularly medieval view from the terrace of our charming, Rick Steves-recommended hotel. By the time we got to Rome we were exhausted, but not too tired to explore The Forum, make wishes in The Trevi Fountain, lie to The Mouth of Truth and injure our necks looking up at The Sistine Chapel. Throughout the journey, we indulged in entire pizzas, red wine, tiramisu, huge plates of pasta, cream-filled cannolis and daily helpings of gelato.
Mini frigos: Cheese and yogurt can only be bought in bulk, and our humble abodes here at Résidence Condorcet are without refrigeration, so all we English assistants have been forced to purchase mini frigos to keep our extra gruyère cold. Leslie, Claire and I went to Lille one rainy, windy Thursday afternoon to hunt down some frigos we'd found on Le Bon Coin (French Craig's List). We wound up wandering the streets and metros of Lille each carrying a mini refrigerator with a lot of personality: hot pink, electric blue or panda shaped. What better accessory could you ask for?
Zin Zin: At long last, my merry band of anglophones and I have started to make friends with the students here. Students mean parties, even engineering students. Finally, we've found the parties — once a month on Thursday night, in the lounge/bar of the dorm where we have dinner. Students dress up with safety vests, wigs, various flags, fur coats and sometimes jock straps. We made a handful of friends from Lebanon, India, Brazil, China and even France at the last Zin Zin and now they've become the hilight of our months — we talked about the last one for three days straight, and we're already anticipating the next one, two weeks away.
Jess's visit: For the first of what I hope will be many Yeosu reunions all around the world, Jess came down for the weekend to see my charming town. She brought cupcakes, which meant another joyful reunion for me. We strolled around the beginnings of Christmas Markets in Lille, snacked on sweets from the famous Meert pastry shop and pondered the translucent marble facade of Lille's most distinctive church. We spent an evening drinking wine in Becca's dorm room (though this one was different because we incorporated some soju), then Jess admitted she'd never seen Paris. We took off for a quick Parisian tour (Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame de Paris) on Sunday to remedy the situation. Whatever Douai's faults, I can't complain about being an hour away from The City of Light.
Lyon: One more exciting Yeosu reunion took place last weekend with Katie at the Arcade Fire concert in Lyon. Through the snow I traversed France back to my old stomping grounds in Rhône Alpes, the region where I studied in Grenoble. The train whisked me past quaint villages with prominent church steeples and snow covered fields with snow covered cows, who were all white anyway unlike our black, brown and patterned varieties in the US. In Lyon, I stayed with a nice girl I met at the French consulate in L.A. last summer. She lives and works in the best high school in Lyon, Lycée St. Just, a castle-like former monastery perched on a hill overlooking the old quarter. Katie and I visited Le Marché des Soies (silk market) where merchants from centuries old workshops draped the tables with acres of gorgeous scarves, ties and raw silk at the lowest prices of the year. My pink, green, gray and violet scarf was still 38 euro, but it was too warm and pretty to pass up. We munched on hot pink, sugary lyonnais croissants flavored with pralines and indulged in a fabulous raclette dinner prepared by Katie's host, Hana.
Now I'm back in Douai, shivering in intermittent snow and sub-zero (Celsius) temperatures but generally in better spirits. I have plenty to enjoy: weekend trips, Christmas markets, connections with teachers, improving French abilities, a warmer coat in the mail and another Zin Zin on the horizon.
