This blog will remain up as a log of my travels this past summer, but if you want current news, you should check out the blog at cafedetre.com.
So long, and thanks for all the fish.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
xkcd says: Steal This Comic
This special treat for anyone who decides to check out my journal today, a comic courtesy of Randall Munroe (of xkcd fame), includes the title-text: I spent more time trying to get an audible.com audio book playing than it took to listen to the book. I have lost every other piece of DRM-locked music I have paid for.
Don't forget to check out xkcd for the original posting of the "Steal This Comic" comic.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
A Brief Update
I'm going to be so busy in the coming weeks, I don't know when I'll be able to update my journal again, but so as not to be a complete jerk...
Tomorrow morning I head to Nara, where I'll spend the day and one night. The next day I head to Hiroshima and roam around town for a while. The 12th I arrive back in Tokyo at 7 in the morning, having taken a night bus to get here. The 12th and 13th in Tokyo, then it's off to Narita to prepare for my departure on the 14th.
The fourteenth is Thursday, I leave for school that Saturday, classes start on Monday.
Hope you are well.
Tomorrow morning I head to Nara, where I'll spend the day and one night. The next day I head to Hiroshima and roam around town for a while. The 12th I arrive back in Tokyo at 7 in the morning, having taken a night bus to get here. The 12th and 13th in Tokyo, then it's off to Narita to prepare for my departure on the 14th.
The fourteenth is Thursday, I leave for school that Saturday, classes start on Monday.
Hope you are well.
Monday, August 4, 2008
羊蹄やった！
My legs are so sore; even going downstairs to get a cup of coffee is an ordeal. The reason? Yesterday I went up and down Youteizan (aka: Ezo Fuji; Mount Yotei) in eight hours.
I left Australia House at about 8 45, hopped on my bike, and headed toward the mountain. I planned my route in advance, so I knew it shouldn't take more than an hour to get there by bicycle--down the street, hang a left on 631, a left on to 5, and a nearly immediate right and you're there. Except 631 is not labelled. I rode past it. For about two kilometers.
Two kilometers later, I figured this just wasn't going right and headed back to a turn that I'd suspected might be 631. To make sure, though, I wanted to ask someone, so I stopped at ビークル ("Be Cool", if I've correctly interpreted their desired name), a small ice cream shop. A kind couple in their forties or fifties (if memory serves me well) pulled out a map and sketched the route for me, verifying my initial thoughts.
Going down hills is fun, so the next portion of the trip was rather nice: the roads are relatively steep as you descend toward the river, so it's quite easy to go as fast as the cars on the same road. The downside of heading down to the river, though, is that, if you're crossing, you then have to go up the other side. Needless to say, I walked for a bit.
Once at the top of the worst of it, finding my way to route 5 and Hangetsuko (the Half-Moon Lake) were no problem. Once there I went to check out the lake before carrying on up the mountain. As you've probably surmised, the lake is semicircular in shape, filling half of what was once a volcanic crater, a caldera. The views are pleasant, but I was somewhat disappointed that there's no clear vantage point from the rim of the crater from which one can take in the whole lake. (At least, I didn't see any such look-out.)
I snacked on some of the nuts I'd brought with me and said konnichiwa (こんにちは) to a tour group as they passed by. From the top of the short walk down to the lake I cycled up to the parking lot at the start of the route. Stashing the bike in some bushes and snapping some shots of the route maps and entrance, I set off past the returning tour groups to climb the mountain.
I left Australia House at about 8 45, hopped on my bike, and headed toward the mountain. I planned my route in advance, so I knew it shouldn't take more than an hour to get there by bicycle--down the street, hang a left on 631, a left on to 5, and a nearly immediate right and you're there. Except 631 is not labelled. I rode past it. For about two kilometers.
Two kilometers later, I figured this just wasn't going right and headed back to a turn that I'd suspected might be 631. To make sure, though, I wanted to ask someone, so I stopped at ビークル ("Be Cool", if I've correctly interpreted their desired name), a small ice cream shop. A kind couple in their forties or fifties (if memory serves me well) pulled out a map and sketched the route for me, verifying my initial thoughts.
Going down hills is fun, so the next portion of the trip was rather nice: the roads are relatively steep as you descend toward the river, so it's quite easy to go as fast as the cars on the same road. The downside of heading down to the river, though, is that, if you're crossing, you then have to go up the other side. Needless to say, I walked for a bit.
Once at the top of the worst of it, finding my way to route 5 and Hangetsuko (the Half-Moon Lake) were no problem. Once there I went to check out the lake before carrying on up the mountain. As you've probably surmised, the lake is semicircular in shape, filling half of what was once a volcanic crater, a caldera. The views are pleasant, but I was somewhat disappointed that there's no clear vantage point from the rim of the crater from which one can take in the whole lake. (At least, I didn't see any such look-out.)
I snacked on some of the nuts I'd brought with me and said konnichiwa (こんにちは) to a tour group as they passed by. From the top of the short walk down to the lake I cycled up to the parking lot at the start of the route. Stashing the bike in some bushes and snapping some shots of the route maps and entrance, I set off past the returning tour groups to climb the mountain.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Finalizing Travel Plans
I've got about two days left with these blokes before I go, and the end-of-trip sadness is kicking in. In my posts about France, I mentioned the honeymoon period that one typically experiences when exploring a new region; I'm sad to say that I don't think I ever experienced this here. I think it's mostly because the SAS setup is much more business-like (SAS being a business and all): stay in a pension/minihotel with most of the guides from Nepal and walk to work each day, do whatever is asked of you, go back to Australia House and do your own thing.
Retranalysis (Yay! New words!)
Forced to stay at a place like SAS, I would try to spend less time on my computer doing my own thing and more time studying Japanese in the common area, where I can get to know the Nepali guys better and be a bit more sociable. This way, if they're going out or doing something interesting, I can at least be involved in that. (I mean, I could've theoretically learnt some Nepali, if not Japanese, during this trip, right?) Given the option, if I were to use a place like SAS just to be able to travel, I'd try to keep the stay down to a week, maybe two, as a transition period--this is what I should've done this time, because I could've moved to another host after a week or so and gotten more Japanese.
The ideal would be to plan ahead. I'm pretty notoriously laid-back, tending to tackle each problem as it arises rather than planning out all the minutiae in advance so as to facilitate everything. (This is one of those things where Ashley is good for me.) I like solving problems, but once I have the solution, I don't like losing a lot of time on implementation: I'd rather figure something else out. A useful skill though it is, it reduces the excitement once I'm involved in a long-term project, unless I can find new ways to improve efficiency and so forth.
That turned into a bit of personal exposition, but the reason I brought up planning (dooming us to that short schpiel) is that, with sufficient time, I would only ever choose to stay with a host family. The time that I was able to spend with Ashley and the travelling that I shall shortly do redeem this trip, but I could've benefitted much more from the experience had I chosen a family to visit rather than SAS. (Perhaps if I'd listened to someone's urgent requests that I message a particular host sooner, rather than later, I might've succeeded in this venture...)
予定
This evening I'll join the rest of the guys in Kutchan for the second day of the Kutchan Potato Festival (some photos forthcoming) and try to do some laundry (maybe?). Tomorrow I'll make an attempt at Youteizan in the morning and spend the day doing that, so that I can go canyoning the next day. After that I'll finish up my write-ups and stuff for the SAS site, jot down some notes on what else they can use for the project, and get packed. The morning of 6 August I'll leave for Sapporo, perhaps stopping in Otaru along the way to see the beach. I hope they'll let me exchange my rail pass on the 6th so I can leave early on the 7th for Akan National Park.
In Akan I'll try to see the Ainu museum and village, maybe try some Ainu food, go on a boat tour of Lake Akan and see some marimo, and head to Onneto, where there's an outdoor onsen (in which everyone wears bathing suits; told you so XP) that's supposed to be gorgeous. If I've time, I'll try to take a bus or hitch to Lake Mashu, which is supposed to be particularly gorgeous.
Sometime on the 8th I'll head to Nara where I'll spend most, if not all of the 9th. The 10th I'll go to Hiroshima, where there's a festival (is that the ride word in this context?) re the atomic bombings.
Though I'd like to do Kyoto if at all possible, I intend to spend the 11th, 12th, and 13th in Tokyo. The night of the 13th I'll spend at a hostel near Narita International Airport and head out in the morning, assuming that Ashley and her mum have no problems changing Ash's departure point.
I arrive at MCO the afternoon of the 14th and head to school on the 16th (classes starting the 18th).
Intense, eh?
Postscript
Should I buy the current TeeFury shirt? (It was designed by a friend.)
Retranalysis (Yay! New words!)
Forced to stay at a place like SAS, I would try to spend less time on my computer doing my own thing and more time studying Japanese in the common area, where I can get to know the Nepali guys better and be a bit more sociable. This way, if they're going out or doing something interesting, I can at least be involved in that. (I mean, I could've theoretically learnt some Nepali, if not Japanese, during this trip, right?) Given the option, if I were to use a place like SAS just to be able to travel, I'd try to keep the stay down to a week, maybe two, as a transition period--this is what I should've done this time, because I could've moved to another host after a week or so and gotten more Japanese.
The ideal would be to plan ahead. I'm pretty notoriously laid-back, tending to tackle each problem as it arises rather than planning out all the minutiae in advance so as to facilitate everything. (This is one of those things where Ashley is good for me.) I like solving problems, but once I have the solution, I don't like losing a lot of time on implementation: I'd rather figure something else out. A useful skill though it is, it reduces the excitement once I'm involved in a long-term project, unless I can find new ways to improve efficiency and so forth.
That turned into a bit of personal exposition, but the reason I brought up planning (dooming us to that short schpiel) is that, with sufficient time, I would only ever choose to stay with a host family. The time that I was able to spend with Ashley and the travelling that I shall shortly do redeem this trip, but I could've benefitted much more from the experience had I chosen a family to visit rather than SAS. (Perhaps if I'd listened to someone's urgent requests that I message a particular host sooner, rather than later, I might've succeeded in this venture...)
予定
This evening I'll join the rest of the guys in Kutchan for the second day of the Kutchan Potato Festival (some photos forthcoming) and try to do some laundry (maybe?). Tomorrow I'll make an attempt at Youteizan in the morning and spend the day doing that, so that I can go canyoning the next day. After that I'll finish up my write-ups and stuff for the SAS site, jot down some notes on what else they can use for the project, and get packed. The morning of 6 August I'll leave for Sapporo, perhaps stopping in Otaru along the way to see the beach. I hope they'll let me exchange my rail pass on the 6th so I can leave early on the 7th for Akan National Park.
In Akan I'll try to see the Ainu museum and village, maybe try some Ainu food, go on a boat tour of Lake Akan and see some marimo, and head to Onneto, where there's an outdoor onsen (in which everyone wears bathing suits; told you so XP) that's supposed to be gorgeous. If I've time, I'll try to take a bus or hitch to Lake Mashu, which is supposed to be particularly gorgeous.
Sometime on the 8th I'll head to Nara where I'll spend most, if not all of the 9th. The 10th I'll go to Hiroshima, where there's a festival (is that the ride word in this context?) re the atomic bombings.
Though I'd like to do Kyoto if at all possible, I intend to spend the 11th, 12th, and 13th in Tokyo. The night of the 13th I'll spend at a hostel near Narita International Airport and head out in the morning, assuming that Ashley and her mum have no problems changing Ash's departure point.
I arrive at MCO the afternoon of the 14th and head to school on the 16th (classes starting the 18th).
Intense, eh?
Postscript
Should I buy the current TeeFury shirt? (It was designed by a friend.)
Friday, August 1, 2008
A Mountain of Disappointment
Yeah...I did, well, nothing on my day-off, nothing of importance anyway. Most people who climb Youteizan do so early in the morning, so my small lie-in (probably only until seven, eight, or nine) made it a bit late to do anything about this hike of mine.
Or so I thought. Upon new recommendation, I shall be hiking up there today or tomorrow afternoon and...spending the night at the top! I can watch the sun rise (at about three in the morning) from a peaceful mountain top. Pretty sweet, eh?
"How are you able to do this with no more full days free?" you might ask.
"Why, by means of new assignment, old chap," I might respond. If you're old. If you're the snout of a wolf...
During my brief 休み （やすみ = yasumi; vacation), I spoke to Scott himself (for about the second time since I've been here) and discussed my intentions of climbing Mount Youtei. A short while later, he suggested that I help Alex and Chris, a couple of rafting guides from Oz, with their work on the SAS website. My new task for my last few days here is to find as much free stuff to do in the Kutchan-Hirafu-Niseko-Annapuri area as possible, do it, take photos, and write about it for the website. Scott wants their new website to be more than just a brochure-style web presence for his company (Scott Adventure Sports): he wants the site to contribute useful information for travellers in the area.
Today I was going to try to make it to Youteizan (羊蹄山) again, but it's a bit cloudy today and supposed to rain. As such, I'm going to try to go tomorrow afternoon. Right now I'm working on gathering reconnaissance on the area and writing up as much stuff as I can. If I run out of stuff to do for this, I'll head over to the SAS headquarters and continue to help out there, as I've been doing most of the time.
The Laundry Lists Begin!
Time for me to share one of those lists I threatened you with: the List of Tasks I Have Done at SAS...
[Speaking of laundry, I should probably do some of that today, if at all possible...]
That'll be all for the moment, but I might even post twice in one day! Or update my photos! Or something!
Yay! Something!
また
Or so I thought. Upon new recommendation, I shall be hiking up there today or tomorrow afternoon and...spending the night at the top! I can watch the sun rise (at about three in the morning) from a peaceful mountain top. Pretty sweet, eh?
"How are you able to do this with no more full days free?" you might ask.
"Why, by means of new assignment, old chap," I might respond. If you're old. If you're the snout of a wolf...
During my brief 休み （やすみ = yasumi; vacation), I spoke to Scott himself (for about the second time since I've been here) and discussed my intentions of climbing Mount Youtei. A short while later, he suggested that I help Alex and Chris, a couple of rafting guides from Oz, with their work on the SAS website. My new task for my last few days here is to find as much free stuff to do in the Kutchan-Hirafu-Niseko-Annapuri area as possible, do it, take photos, and write about it for the website. Scott wants their new website to be more than just a brochure-style web presence for his company (Scott Adventure Sports): he wants the site to contribute useful information for travellers in the area.
Today I was going to try to make it to Youteizan (羊蹄山) again, but it's a bit cloudy today and supposed to rain. As such, I'm going to try to go tomorrow afternoon. Right now I'm working on gathering reconnaissance on the area and writing up as much stuff as I can. If I run out of stuff to do for this, I'll head over to the SAS headquarters and continue to help out there, as I've been doing most of the time.
The Laundry Lists Begin!
Time for me to share one of those lists I threatened you with: the List of Tasks I Have Done at SAS...
- Applying silicon to rubber portions of dry suits (reducing the ease of tearing)
- Stitching up life jackets (patching slight tears in the fabric, not the straps)
- Sorting and placing wet suits and boots (as well as shoes for canyoning)
- Cleaning and vacuuming tents (they're nice yurts from the Colorado Yurt Company)
- Folding plastic seat covers (used for commercial buses during school trips)
- Opening/Closing windows, etc, according to rain, sun, and wind
- Aiding in the construction of: an awning for one of the doors, coffee tables, computer stations, small platforms, shelves, etc
- Laying some carpet, hanging curtains, and putting up (somewhat complex) bunk beds
- Creating duck tape (not "duct" tape) frames for photos and helping to decorate
- Going ducky (rafting for one or two people; the raft looks a bit like a banana boat) alone twice
- Chopping and stacking wood (about three days' worth of this task)
- Doing other stuff I've forgotten or repressed XD
[Speaking of laundry, I should probably do some of that today, if at all possible...]
That'll be all for the moment, but I might even post twice in one day! Or update my photos! Or something!
Yay! Something!
また
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
We Now Return to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming
You know, sometimes as I type those subjects (especially the clichés) I realise that I will probably end up reusing the title someday. Kinda disappointing, eh? To be so unoriginal...
Anywho, we got Ash's Japan Rail Pass sorted out and dropped off all their bags in a locker for the time being and set off to wander the station. As her mum sought out the post office, we wandered through some shops; rejoining her mum, we found some small, cute, cheap gifts for some of our friends back home, and there was much rejoicing.
Now, as this post has just started, you have no real sense of the hour, but let me assure you that, by this time, we were quite hungry. Our search began in the vicinity and took quite a meandering route, though perhaps for the best as we found an Italian restaurant. In Sapporo, Japan. I believe "Italian" food is reasonably popular in Japan, but I've got to say that the experience of eating that food must be akin to the Japanese eating "Chinese" food in the US--they've had something notably different called exactly the same thing...
After lunch it was time to head to the tracks, so we headed toward their train after picking up some snackish pastries from a patisserie of sorts. I won't bore you all with the details, but I will say that I was quite sad to see them go: I've had a lovely time with Ashley here and started missing her the moment she walked away from me.
I lingered for a bit, spying on them as they walked off down the hall, but as the crowd hid them from view I decided it time to move on into the city. Glancing at a map just long enough to have a general idea of a few sites worth seeing and how to get to at least one of them without getting horribly lost, I strode past the somewhat odd white statue at the end of the hall and past the necessarily attractive exterior of the station on my quest.
I always thought the idea of giant TVs on the side of buildings was a little strange, and never had I imagined that they would actually have sound, but immediately out of the station this was the first site to behold. Alright, not so much of a "site" as an obnoxious form of street advertising, but it was something different anyway. (Is this how those TV/sign things in New York are, too? ::has never been to NYC:: )
An older man walking in front of me dropped some piece of paper that I picked up and returned to him with a smile. There was a clear lack of foreigners in the streets, which I suppose shouldn't be surprising, but having stayed in Australia Town (the Kutchan-Hirafu-Niseko area) for the past few weeks, their absence stood out. Ran across a sign that indicated a somewhat more interesting site to see than the old Hokkaido Government Building: the old Hokkaido College of Agriculture (Agricultural University? some other title?) drill hall / clock tower thing.
For about two bucks they let you into the building to wander the...lovely museum inside. The museum is on a par with similarly priced venues (about 2 USD for entry) insofar as there isn't too much that's terribly exciting in there. Perhaps my lack of Japanese fluency colors my opinion, but the highlights of the visit were: paint chips analysed to show you the past colors of the building; a segment of road representative of...something; a small model of the old campus; a fully visible example (model?) of the inner workings of the bell-tower's clock; and the gift shop.
This is the bit where I get to give you invaluable marketing advice. Are you ready for it? This is pretty big... If you ever have something that's a tough sell, people just aren't that interested in it, make a chibi-fied character that represents it, and business will improve. This, by the way, is exemplified by the Clock Tower's Tokke and the Terebi Tower's Terebi-Tousan (though he's apparently an unofficial mascot). [As an aside, the Tokke charm in the picture costs about 4 USD in the gift shop O.o]
At Terebi Tower (actually called the Sapporo TV tower, or some similarly boring name), I grabbed a melon-vanilla swirl ice cream cone before setting off to wander Odori Kouen. Unfortunately, I'm easily sidetracked by the sound of music playing and wandered off down another street. In so doing I stumbled across some sort of street festival involving children's games (activities?) and music. I even managed to get a picture of some random Japanese band playing music (maybe the closest I come to a pet Japanese boy as a gift for my sister?).
They finished their set shortly after my arrival, but I was not discouraged--ever the optimistic traveller, I headed back to Odori Park. Somewhat aimlessly I wandered the length of the park, stumbling upon the Sapporo Beer Festival in the process. As 'twas the middle of the afternoon and I hadn't much time, though, I did not partake.
Speaking of not having a lot of time, I shortly thereafter headed back toward the station at a diagonal (well, as diagonal as you can get walking city blocks) and managed to pass via ye olde gov't building and snap some photos on the way. [I should be posting some Japan photos soon, and you might even get all of them as I've not been quite so prolific in my photography this trip.] Made it to the station and bought my ticket (from an automated machine that I figured out in Japanese! ...and then verified in English), and I was on my way back to Kutchan.
Once here (about six in the evening at this point), I set about the wonderful task of walking back to Bouken Kazoku. Oh...did I forget to mention? I left my bike there and got a ride with Ash and her mum to Kutchan Eki (eki = station; learn some Japanese already!). I could've waited for the Niseko bus at 19 18, but I don't like standing around for hours and wanted to have a good wander anyway, so I took in as much of Kutchan as I could on my way back, even stopping in the "100 yen CD store" (as Ashley affectionately calls it) and, of course, MaxValu (where I bought an orange ice thing to keep my mind off the fact that I was walking so bloody far).
Anyway, an hour's walk after arriving back in Niseko (though an hour and twenty-six minutes time-wise, what with the stops and all), I arrived at Bouken just as that Niseko bus that I decided not to take passed me by. Apparently that walk only takes about 8 minutes by bus u.u
A brief "hello, good evening, how are you?, no, I haven't eaten" with Otousan later, my bike rolled out of the parking lot and back up hill, complete with Ash's bag of cra--stuff she so kindly left for me to bring back to the States for her (that I nearly forgot but didn't thanks to Sylph-san...or was it Kaka-san...?).
That's the story of my jaunt in Sapporo...
Work Resumes
Yeah, I seem to be getting lazy with the multilingualism in this journal--maybe if it weren't so pesky to click the language bar to switch input styles I'd do more of it. [I'm pretty sure that excuse is entirely invalid, because there's some keystroke that'll switch them right away, but I'm too lazy to figure out what that is. Go figure.]
The past three days have been alright, never working too hard (you know me ^.~), and even afforded me the time to compile some lists and bios and stuff to share with you guys this week--stuff about tasks I've done at SAS, the Nepali guys and other staff I've been hanging out with, and so forth.
Past...Present...Future?
So now that I'm reformed, I've started... PLANNING! Yup, planning. I know. Let me repeat that again, more explicitly: Dave has been (relatively) organised and planning ahead!
What the heck am I talking about? Isn't this all just crazy talk? Well, no, not entirely. If you'll recall, creating this summer experience in the first place did require it's fair share of planning and legwork on campus last year. I've decided to get a Japan Rail Pass myself and worked out the details so that I can go to Akan National Park (at the very least I've got to see the Ainu Museum and some marimo) and travel to a few other must-see parts of Japan. I've also discovered that hitchhiking is relatively safe and easy in Japan (by web research, not experience), that I may actually be able to visit North Korea sometime in the future, and that there is a WWOOF program in China now.
Also of note, I intend to climb a mountain tomorrow.
...
...
...
(How's that for a cliffhanger?)
Anywho, we got Ash's Japan Rail Pass sorted out and dropped off all their bags in a locker for the time being and set off to wander the station. As her mum sought out the post office, we wandered through some shops; rejoining her mum, we found some small, cute, cheap gifts for some of our friends back home, and there was much rejoicing.
Now, as this post has just started, you have no real sense of the hour, but let me assure you that, by this time, we were quite hungry. Our search began in the vicinity and took quite a meandering route, though perhaps for the best as we found an Italian restaurant. In Sapporo, Japan. I believe "Italian" food is reasonably popular in Japan, but I've got to say that the experience of eating that food must be akin to the Japanese eating "Chinese" food in the US--they've had something notably different called exactly the same thing...
After lunch it was time to head to the tracks, so we headed toward their train after picking up some snackish pastries from a patisserie of sorts. I won't bore you all with the details, but I will say that I was quite sad to see them go: I've had a lovely time with Ashley here and started missing her the moment she walked away from me.
I lingered for a bit, spying on them as they walked off down the hall, but as the crowd hid them from view I decided it time to move on into the city. Glancing at a map just long enough to have a general idea of a few sites worth seeing and how to get to at least one of them without getting horribly lost, I strode past the somewhat odd white statue at the end of the hall and past the necessarily attractive exterior of the station on my quest.
I always thought the idea of giant TVs on the side of buildings was a little strange, and never had I imagined that they would actually have sound, but immediately out of the station this was the first site to behold. Alright, not so much of a "site" as an obnoxious form of street advertising, but it was something different anyway. (Is this how those TV/sign things in New York are, too? ::has never been to NYC:: )
An older man walking in front of me dropped some piece of paper that I picked up and returned to him with a smile. There was a clear lack of foreigners in the streets, which I suppose shouldn't be surprising, but having stayed in Australia Town (the Kutchan-Hirafu-Niseko area) for the past few weeks, their absence stood out. Ran across a sign that indicated a somewhat more interesting site to see than the old Hokkaido Government Building: the old Hokkaido College of Agriculture (Agricultural University? some other title?) drill hall / clock tower thing.
For about two bucks they let you into the building to wander the...lovely museum inside. The museum is on a par with similarly priced venues (about 2 USD for entry) insofar as there isn't too much that's terribly exciting in there. Perhaps my lack of Japanese fluency colors my opinion, but the highlights of the visit were: paint chips analysed to show you the past colors of the building; a segment of road representative of...something; a small model of the old campus; a fully visible example (model?) of the inner workings of the bell-tower's clock; and the gift shop.
This is the bit where I get to give you invaluable marketing advice. Are you ready for it? This is pretty big... If you ever have something that's a tough sell, people just aren't that interested in it, make a chibi-fied character that represents it, and business will improve. This, by the way, is exemplified by the Clock Tower's Tokke and the Terebi Tower's Terebi-Tousan (though he's apparently an unofficial mascot). [As an aside, the Tokke charm in the picture costs about 4 USD in the gift shop O.o]
At Terebi Tower (actually called the Sapporo TV tower, or some similarly boring name), I grabbed a melon-vanilla swirl ice cream cone before setting off to wander Odori Kouen. Unfortunately, I'm easily sidetracked by the sound of music playing and wandered off down another street. In so doing I stumbled across some sort of street festival involving children's games (activities?) and music. I even managed to get a picture of some random Japanese band playing music (maybe the closest I come to a pet Japanese boy as a gift for my sister?).
They finished their set shortly after my arrival, but I was not discouraged--ever the optimistic traveller, I headed back to Odori Park. Somewhat aimlessly I wandered the length of the park, stumbling upon the Sapporo Beer Festival in the process. As 'twas the middle of the afternoon and I hadn't much time, though, I did not partake.
Speaking of not having a lot of time, I shortly thereafter headed back toward the station at a diagonal (well, as diagonal as you can get walking city blocks) and managed to pass via ye olde gov't building and snap some photos on the way. [I should be posting some Japan photos soon, and you might even get all of them as I've not been quite so prolific in my photography this trip.] Made it to the station and bought my ticket (from an automated machine that I figured out in Japanese! ...and then verified in English), and I was on my way back to Kutchan.
Once here (about six in the evening at this point), I set about the wonderful task of walking back to Bouken Kazoku. Oh...did I forget to mention? I left my bike there and got a ride with Ash and her mum to Kutchan Eki (eki = station; learn some Japanese already!). I could've waited for the Niseko bus at 19 18, but I don't like standing around for hours and wanted to have a good wander anyway, so I took in as much of Kutchan as I could on my way back, even stopping in the "100 yen CD store" (as Ashley affectionately calls it) and, of course, MaxValu (where I bought an orange ice thing to keep my mind off the fact that I was walking so bloody far).
Anyway, an hour's walk after arriving back in Niseko (though an hour and twenty-six minutes time-wise, what with the stops and all), I arrived at Bouken just as that Niseko bus that I decided not to take passed me by. Apparently that walk only takes about 8 minutes by bus u.u
A brief "hello, good evening, how are you?, no, I haven't eaten" with Otousan later, my bike rolled out of the parking lot and back up hill, complete with Ash's bag of cra--stuff she so kindly left for me to bring back to the States for her (that I nearly forgot but didn't thanks to Sylph-san...or was it Kaka-san...?).
That's the story of my jaunt in Sapporo...
Work Resumes
Yeah, I seem to be getting lazy with the multilingualism in this journal--maybe if it weren't so pesky to click the language bar to switch input styles I'd do more of it. [I'm pretty sure that excuse is entirely invalid, because there's some keystroke that'll switch them right away, but I'm too lazy to figure out what that is. Go figure.]
The past three days have been alright, never working too hard (you know me ^.~), and even afforded me the time to compile some lists and bios and stuff to share with you guys this week--stuff about tasks I've done at SAS, the Nepali guys and other staff I've been hanging out with, and so forth.
Past...Present...Future?
So now that I'm reformed, I've started... PLANNING! Yup, planning. I know. Let me repeat that again, more explicitly: Dave has been (relatively) organised and planning ahead!
What the heck am I talking about? Isn't this all just crazy talk? Well, no, not entirely. If you'll recall, creating this summer experience in the first place did require it's fair share of planning and legwork on campus last year. I've decided to get a Japan Rail Pass myself and worked out the details so that I can go to Akan National Park (at the very least I've got to see the Ainu Museum and some marimo) and travel to a few other must-see parts of Japan. I've also discovered that hitchhiking is relatively safe and easy in Japan (by web research, not experience), that I may actually be able to visit North Korea sometime in the future, and that there is a WWOOF program in China now.
Also of note, I intend to climb a mountain tomorrow.
...
...
...
(How's that for a cliffhanger?)
Monday, July 28, 2008
And Then There Was One
Yesterday morning I was up at sparrow (read: 7am) to head over to Bouken Kazoku to meet Ashley and her mum. I made it there by about 8 30 and we were off to Sapporo by 9 40 (having arrived at the Kutchan station by 9). Yeah, that's right: Ashley left me yesterday u.u
I'm actually going to miss having an excuse to chat with her hosts, as they seem like they'd've been just about perfect for this experience: more farming, more Japanese, more culture, more familial bonding. Alas, 'twas not to be and shall not be in my remaining week here. I could theoretically head down there for the next ten days as a WWOOFer and try to get as much from the experience as possible, but I feel like that arrangement would be somewhat difficult, awkward, or otherwise odd. I've got a good deal of reading and writing to do for my studies, anyway, in order to earn my Ecology credit for these travels.
Anyway, the train to Sapporo was pleasant, and I got to see the Sea, unlike on the original trip to Kutchan. Once we got to Sapporo we got Ash's Japan Rail Pass sorted out and moved on to -- crap, I was sidetracked by planning for the rest of my trip; now I'm going to bed late, too. Still, I'll post this for now and update it (or post anew) tomorrow.
Sorry about that...
I'm actually going to miss having an excuse to chat with her hosts, as they seem like they'd've been just about perfect for this experience: more farming, more Japanese, more culture, more familial bonding. Alas, 'twas not to be and shall not be in my remaining week here. I could theoretically head down there for the next ten days as a WWOOFer and try to get as much from the experience as possible, but I feel like that arrangement would be somewhat difficult, awkward, or otherwise odd. I've got a good deal of reading and writing to do for my studies, anyway, in order to earn my Ecology credit for these travels.
Anyway, the train to Sapporo was pleasant, and I got to see the Sea, unlike on the original trip to Kutchan. Once we got to Sapporo we got Ash's Japan Rail Pass sorted out and moved on to -- crap, I was sidetracked by planning for the rest of my trip; now I'm going to bed late, too. Still, I'll post this for now and update it (or post anew) tomorrow.
Sorry about that...
Sunday, July 20, 2008
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
So yesterday I left out something of a mildly important nature: Tej said that I could stay longer if I wanted to. Basically, while I should probably try to go somewhere else for a couple of weeks, there's not any overwhelming pressure to do so ^^
This morning I spent most of my time sorting out one of the tents for customer reception. This involved a great deal of carpet-hauling, vacuuming, and so forth, but only took about 2 hours (I think?). I'm not actually sure what else I did this morning, so it may've been the whole time ::shrug::
About 11 45 I took my lunch break and didn't have to work again until 2. I'd gone back at about 1, but Sanjay told me to come back later and help Binod. We went out and bought some stuff at Homac, which is kinda like a Home Depot or Bricomarché, and stopped for a few minutes for me to say hi to Ashley on our way back to SAS. After installing the "carpet" we'd bought (plastic grass stuff as a door mat?), we made a prototype awning for the tents and tried it out.
I realise this is all incredibly boring, but at least I'm writing again ^^
I've even started taking photos, so I might get some up sometime soon.
Also, please comment with your thoughts as to whether I should stay here or go elsewhere.
^^
This morning I spent most of my time sorting out one of the tents for customer reception. This involved a great deal of carpet-hauling, vacuuming, and so forth, but only took about 2 hours (I think?). I'm not actually sure what else I did this morning, so it may've been the whole time ::shrug::
About 11 45 I took my lunch break and didn't have to work again until 2. I'd gone back at about 1, but Sanjay told me to come back later and help Binod. We went out and bought some stuff at Homac, which is kinda like a Home Depot or Bricomarché, and stopped for a few minutes for me to say hi to Ashley on our way back to SAS. After installing the "carpet" we'd bought (plastic grass stuff as a door mat?), we made a prototype awning for the tents and tried it out.
I realise this is all incredibly boring, but at least I'm writing again ^^
I've even started taking photos, so I might get some up sometime soon.
Also, please comment with your thoughts as to whether I should stay here or go elsewhere.
^^
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Success!
Managed to get myself out of bed on-time-ish this morning and will hopefully do so again tomorrow. We rode over to a small lot behind NAC & JoJo's (another rafting, etc, company and a cafe/bar/restaurant respectively) with a trailer and loaded up a bunch of logs to add to the wood-chopping. [I'm assuming, given the few times I've posted in Japan, that I haven't said too much about chopping wood.]
When there's not too much to do at SAS, the Nepali guys head over to another SAS property, the Forest Star Lodge, and cut and stack firewood for the coming winter. So far I've managed to hurt myself a few times: this morning I tripped and cut myself up a bit, and one of the previous times I chopped a piece of wood and, in pulling the axe out of the as-yet unfinished cut, got my finger pinched inbetween the two pieces of wood. Pinched doesn't quite describe the moment well enough, though--the grip was vicelike and it was a few moments (minutes to my perception?) until the others were able to spread the gap enough for me to get my finger out. The first day we went to cut wood, I didn't cut any at all, but we did move wood to the space upstairs by chucking it up to the balcony (where I was balanced on top of the stack to receive the wood).
Anyway, we got back to the office at about eleven and they sent me off to lunch. I had ramen and a mini pizza and some Diet Pepsi. Clearly I've picked up a lot of Japanese culture.
I got back at about 12 30, but we didn't have much to do until after one, at which point I helped with some de-/construction and cleaning until the end of the day.
Well...I've finally managed to post about my most recent day; yesterday I made some notes on previous days, so I guess the next update might be on time and include a bit more of life here in Niseko.
When there's not too much to do at SAS, the Nepali guys head over to another SAS property, the Forest Star Lodge, and cut and stack firewood for the coming winter. So far I've managed to hurt myself a few times: this morning I tripped and cut myself up a bit, and one of the previous times I chopped a piece of wood and, in pulling the axe out of the as-yet unfinished cut, got my finger pinched inbetween the two pieces of wood. Pinched doesn't quite describe the moment well enough, though--the grip was vicelike and it was a few moments (minutes to my perception?) until the others were able to spread the gap enough for me to get my finger out. The first day we went to cut wood, I didn't cut any at all, but we did move wood to the space upstairs by chucking it up to the balcony (where I was balanced on top of the stack to receive the wood).
Anyway, we got back to the office at about eleven and they sent me off to lunch. I had ramen and a mini pizza and some Diet Pepsi. Clearly I've picked up a lot of Japanese culture.
I got back at about 12 30, but we didn't have much to do until after one, at which point I helped with some de-/construction and cleaning until the end of the day.
Well...I've finally managed to post about my most recent day; yesterday I made some notes on previous days, so I guess the next update might be on time and include a bit more of life here in Niseko.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Good Reasons for Delays, I Assure You!
じゃあ、今日本練習ですよ。 授業から、たくさん忘れましたね。 だから、今日日記は日本語で書きます。
アシリーと自転車して、ご飯を食べたので、昨日は本当によかった。
今日あまりしなかった。七時十五分に遅れて、起きた。でも、八十二SASについた。今朝靴をより分けて、着替える部屋で写真をはった。昼ご飯はハムサンドを食べて、ペプシ･ダイエトを飲んだ。
Well, there should've been a lot more than that, but I spent most of my time studying otherwise this evening. I also did some laundry. Short version of today is that I don't feel like I did all that much.
Short version of yesterday is that it was amazing <3
(PS - I meant to click publish last night)
アシリーと自転車して、ご飯を食べたので、昨日は本当によかった。
今日あまりしなかった。七時十五分に遅れて、起きた。でも、八十二SASについた。今朝靴をより分けて、着替える部屋で写真をはった。昼ご飯はハムサンドを食べて、ペプシ･ダイエトを飲んだ。
Well, there should've been a lot more than that, but I spent most of my time studying otherwise this evening. I also did some laundry. Short version of today is that I don't feel like I did all that much.
Short version of yesterday is that it was amazing <3
(PS - I meant to click publish last night)
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Brief Interruption
Observe!
/shameless plug
(I'm tired and going to bed early, but I did start writing a post earlier, so you'll have a real entry within about 12 hours.)
/shameless plug
(I'm tired and going to bed early, but I did start writing a post earlier, so you'll have a real entry within about 12 hours.)
Saturday, July 12, 2008
First Impressions are Important
But first impressions are also just a starting point. I hope.
Met Tej Rana, my (Nepalese?) manager who seemed rather disappointed with my Japanese skills. Right now there's not a lot of work to do around here, so I was supposed to be an assistant guide for their "fun kayak", which seems to be a guided kayaking gig geared toward (high school?) students. Unfortunately, in order to deal with customers, my Japanese has to get a helluvalot better...maybe in a week I'll be able to do cool things like that? I hope so. I just know that I've got to keep these notes short and try not to use too much English--the more Japanese I study, the better my experience here. If we're happy with my performance at the end of my stay, I can stay on, though I'll have to live in an attic-space. Also, if my Japanese were better and I had a month, I could've trained to be a rafting guide! How awesome would that have been!? I'll have to try to make it back to SAS sometime in the future...
Anyway, this morning I went in and they scanned my passport and WWOOF card and all that jazz and set me up to start work. I helped them move a bunch of mountain bikes and then move carpet (to recarpet one of the rooms here) and folded a bunch of plastic seat covers for the bus. After that we had a bit of a lunch break. About one I walked back from Australia House (where I'm staying) to the SAS office to meet Tej. Our meeting involved the lovely discussion mentioned above, but I generally have a pretty good feeling about this place. The afternoon had me vacuuming for a couple of hours and--horror of horrors--cleaning their bathrooms!
I don't know if I mentioned it, but they had me clean the bathroom once in France, and thereafter never again. Apparently, I have no bathroom-cleaning skills. Still, they seemed okay with my job there, though the place wasn't very dirty to begin with.
I'm going to try to go to dinner with Ashley tonight, so I'll cut this short for now. Maybe another update this evening with the France finale included?
Later!
Met Tej Rana, my (Nepalese?) manager who seemed rather disappointed with my Japanese skills. Right now there's not a lot of work to do around here, so I was supposed to be an assistant guide for their "fun kayak", which seems to be a guided kayaking gig geared toward (high school?) students. Unfortunately, in order to deal with customers, my Japanese has to get a helluvalot better...maybe in a week I'll be able to do cool things like that? I hope so. I just know that I've got to keep these notes short and try not to use too much English--the more Japanese I study, the better my experience here. If we're happy with my performance at the end of my stay, I can stay on, though I'll have to live in an attic-space. Also, if my Japanese were better and I had a month, I could've trained to be a rafting guide! How awesome would that have been!? I'll have to try to make it back to SAS sometime in the future...
Anyway, this morning I went in and they scanned my passport and WWOOF card and all that jazz and set me up to start work. I helped them move a bunch of mountain bikes and then move carpet (to recarpet one of the rooms here) and folded a bunch of plastic seat covers for the bus. After that we had a bit of a lunch break. About one I walked back from Australia House (where I'm staying) to the SAS office to meet Tej. Our meeting involved the lovely discussion mentioned above, but I generally have a pretty good feeling about this place. The afternoon had me vacuuming for a couple of hours and--horror of horrors--cleaning their bathrooms!
I don't know if I mentioned it, but they had me clean the bathroom once in France, and thereafter never again. Apparently, I have no bathroom-cleaning skills. Still, they seemed okay with my job there, though the place wasn't very dirty to begin with.
I'm going to try to go to dinner with Ashley tonight, so I'll cut this short for now. Maybe another update this evening with the France finale included?
Later!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Japanese is not my Strongpoint...Yet
Well I'd hoped that I'd have time to finish off the description of my final days in Paris and to let you know when I was leaving for Japan, but apparently I ran out of time. I'll try to finish that stuff up this week; I'm sure you're all just ever-so-anxious to know how my trip went.
じゃあ、日本に行きます！
Me being me, I didn't finish my packing until eleven or so the night before my departure, despite the fact that doing so gave me just enough time for about four hours of sleep before heading to the airport. Got up and stumbled through the daze of waking up too early to make it to the airport a little later than intended, just after 5am.
Lucky for me, my baggage allowance is two checked bags up to 50 pounds each and one carry-on (and one "personal item"?). As such, my sleeping bag got stowed separately, because I wasn't allowed to have it loosely attached to my bag like it was. One fairly uneventful flight later, I arrive at Chicago (O'Hare) and find it to be one of the nicest airports I've been through, save the somewhat small waiting areas.
Boarding the flight to Japan, the gate doesn't seem all that crowded--in fact, it seems downright empty. Once on the plane and seated I discover that, well, this is the truth of the matter: the flight must've been half empty. It was at least that empty in my section, which means that I got a full center section of the Boeing 777-300 to myself: three seats to lie down on. Hence, one of the best flights I've had in many years was also the best sleep in an aircraft I've had as well.
At Narita (one of the Tokyo airports), I could've gotten online for about five bucks, but decided (for some reason) not to, so I spent a few hours hanging around waiting for my flight doing...well...nothing. I caught my flight to Sapporo (on which I think I was the only Westerner) and had another three seats to myself, so I managed to sleep a little more.
Arriving at the New Chitose Airport, I clear customs and collect my baggage without any problems and head to the Japan Rail line to get my ticket to Kutchan (where I'm staying) sorted out. Buy the ticket for about 25 bucks and draw some money from an ATM, and I'm on my way.
The train rides were boring, though notably cleaner than France.
That's also a bit of a lie. Not the cleanliness part, but the boring bit. You see, as I climbed onto the third train I was startled by the vision that appeared before me--my far too tired brain absolutely could not believe my eyes: Ashley was sitting on the train in front of me. Smiling like an idiot, I asked her what she was doing there, and she explained that she'd been to the airport to try to find me. I really don't deserve her, do I? ^^
Anyway, we arrived at the station only to find that my host wasn't there. I tried to call, but to no avail. We ended up taking a taxi to her place where I stayed the night as a guest before calling this morning to get a ride to my place. Turns out I should've checked my email at the airport--I would've known how to get to my place by taxi if I had.
Today I got moved in and slept a bunch and tomorrow I'll be meeting my "manager".
So far I'm most disappointed with my Japanese--I've a lot of studying to do!
Oyasumi!
じゃあ、日本に行きます！
Me being me, I didn't finish my packing until eleven or so the night before my departure, despite the fact that doing so gave me just enough time for about four hours of sleep before heading to the airport. Got up and stumbled through the daze of waking up too early to make it to the airport a little later than intended, just after 5am.
Lucky for me, my baggage allowance is two checked bags up to 50 pounds each and one carry-on (and one "personal item"?). As such, my sleeping bag got stowed separately, because I wasn't allowed to have it loosely attached to my bag like it was. One fairly uneventful flight later, I arrive at Chicago (O'Hare) and find it to be one of the nicest airports I've been through, save the somewhat small waiting areas.
Boarding the flight to Japan, the gate doesn't seem all that crowded--in fact, it seems downright empty. Once on the plane and seated I discover that, well, this is the truth of the matter: the flight must've been half empty. It was at least that empty in my section, which means that I got a full center section of the Boeing 777-300 to myself: three seats to lie down on. Hence, one of the best flights I've had in many years was also the best sleep in an aircraft I've had as well.
At Narita (one of the Tokyo airports), I could've gotten online for about five bucks, but decided (for some reason) not to, so I spent a few hours hanging around waiting for my flight doing...well...nothing. I caught my flight to Sapporo (on which I think I was the only Westerner) and had another three seats to myself, so I managed to sleep a little more.
Arriving at the New Chitose Airport, I clear customs and collect my baggage without any problems and head to the Japan Rail line to get my ticket to Kutchan (where I'm staying) sorted out. Buy the ticket for about 25 bucks and draw some money from an ATM, and I'm on my way.
The train rides were boring, though notably cleaner than France.
That's also a bit of a lie. Not the cleanliness part, but the boring bit. You see, as I climbed onto the third train I was startled by the vision that appeared before me--my far too tired brain absolutely could not believe my eyes: Ashley was sitting on the train in front of me. Smiling like an idiot, I asked her what she was doing there, and she explained that she'd been to the airport to try to find me. I really don't deserve her, do I? ^^
Anyway, we arrived at the station only to find that my host wasn't there. I tried to call, but to no avail. We ended up taking a taxi to her place where I stayed the night as a guest before calling this morning to get a ride to my place. Turns out I should've checked my email at the airport--I would've known how to get to my place by taxi if I had.
Today I got moved in and slept a bunch and tomorrow I'll be meeting my "manager".
So far I'm most disappointed with my Japanese--I've a lot of studying to do!
Oyasumi!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Paris! Then... Home!
Alright, so I've not been so good about this whole updating thing, even if the internet is now readily available, but I've a semi-legitimate excuse: I've been sick. A bit about that and life back at home after the fun and exciting bits (y'know, the stuff about Paris?).
Je Me Repose un Peu
So after my wandering Parisian adventure during La Fête de la Musique, I definitely wasn't going to spend all day wandering around museums. I crawled into bed at about seven that morning and finally slid out again about four thirty in the afternoon. Managed to type up that update about the previous night and get my photos onto my PC before rushing (late) to mass at Notre Dame.
A gorgeous cathedral in a large city with people from all over the world and great music has got to be mass the way God intended it. Mass in a setting like this, with so many people (happy to be there, I might add), really heightens the spiritual connexion, even if you are half-an-hour late. Normally I'm quite happy with private faith, but I'm definitely going back if I'm ever in Paris again.
After mass I tried to make it back in time for dinner but only made it back a little late. Happily, I had some bread and a sandwich and a small tart that I'd picked up on the way back. Bed sometime, getting ready to go out the next day.
Les Musées sont Fermées
Monday morning I get up at a reasonable hour and manage to get out of the building by 10 or so, heading over to the Museum d'Orsay and Rodin Museum for the day. Turns out the Museum d'Orsay is closed Mondays, so I start walking toward the Musée Rodin via the National Assembly. Got some photos of the National Assembly and carried on down a small-ish street toward the museum.
Down a side street, since this is Paris, I saw two random churches and decided to head over to investigate. Turns out the larger of the two is the Basilique de Clotilde (if I remember correctly) and in the middle of the second reading, so I stop in for Mass. If I remember correctly, on his way out, one of the priests thanked me for being there (I assume because I'm young and the Church isn't so popular with the youth?), and we had a little chat, which was nice. I hung around for a while, walked the Stations of the Cross and thought/prayed a while.
After a good hour or so in contemplation, I continued toward the Musée Rodin, only to pop in the smaller church on my way past. Just so happens that there's a group of musicians in the chapel, preparing for a concert, so there's no expression of surprise when this random guy shows up and watches for a while XD
Finally make it to the Rodin Museum and find out that it, too, is closed Mondays. Lovely.
Sacré-Cœur et Dali
Having been thoroughly disappointed with the museums (though understanding that they need days to do restoration and so forth), I hopped the Métro and shot across town to Montmartre. Wandered up to Sacré-Cœur, grabbing a cheese hotdog en route and managing to be duped by a street vendor (fun and shameful story; for more details, ask), and went for a wander about the basilica. I never quite realised before that visit that Sacré-Cœur was a continuous prayer center: people pray twenty-four hours a day for the Church and for the World and Humanity. Pretty cool, eh?
Anyway, I recalled that there was a pretty cool, if touristy, courtyard around the corner, where we ate escargot when I was here with the exchange program in high school, so I made my way over there. Artists set up on the street and tourists eating ice cream wandering around and dining in lovely outdoor restaurants set the backdrop for my discovery of a random piece of advertising which informed me that I could (within two minutes) find a Dali Exhibit.
Unable to resist such a surreal opportunity, I convinced them to accept my UGA student ID and let me in for massive savings! (Four eurobucks.) The exhibit was really something else: lots of sculpture and stuff you never knew Dali did mixed in with the traditional melting clocks and so forth. I've since decided that if I can take a course on Dali or otherwise discover more of his life and works, I'll jump at the opportunity.
At the moment, I don't much remember how I spent the evening, though I think I made it back in time for dinner.
I'll write about the last day tomorrow, but wanted to submit this before it sits open on my screen for another 24 hours.
Mata ne.
Je Me Repose un Peu
So after my wandering Parisian adventure during La Fête de la Musique, I definitely wasn't going to spend all day wandering around museums. I crawled into bed at about seven that morning and finally slid out again about four thirty in the afternoon. Managed to type up that update about the previous night and get my photos onto my PC before rushing (late) to mass at Notre Dame.
A gorgeous cathedral in a large city with people from all over the world and great music has got to be mass the way God intended it. Mass in a setting like this, with so many people (happy to be there, I might add), really heightens the spiritual connexion, even if you are half-an-hour late. Normally I'm quite happy with private faith, but I'm definitely going back if I'm ever in Paris again.
After mass I tried to make it back in time for dinner but only made it back a little late. Happily, I had some bread and a sandwich and a small tart that I'd picked up on the way back. Bed sometime, getting ready to go out the next day.
Les Musées sont Fermées
Monday morning I get up at a reasonable hour and manage to get out of the building by 10 or so, heading over to the Museum d'Orsay and Rodin Museum for the day. Turns out the Museum d'Orsay is closed Mondays, so I start walking toward the Musée Rodin via the National Assembly. Got some photos of the National Assembly and carried on down a small-ish street toward the museum.
Down a side street, since this is Paris, I saw two random churches and decided to head over to investigate. Turns out the larger of the two is the Basilique de Clotilde (if I remember correctly) and in the middle of the second reading, so I stop in for Mass. If I remember correctly, on his way out, one of the priests thanked me for being there (I assume because I'm young and the Church isn't so popular with the youth?), and we had a little chat, which was nice. I hung around for a while, walked the Stations of the Cross and thought/prayed a while.
After a good hour or so in contemplation, I continued toward the Musée Rodin, only to pop in the smaller church on my way past. Just so happens that there's a group of musicians in the chapel, preparing for a concert, so there's no expression of surprise when this random guy shows up and watches for a while XD
Finally make it to the Rodin Museum and find out that it, too, is closed Mondays. Lovely.
Sacré-Cœur et Dali
Having been thoroughly disappointed with the museums (though understanding that they need days to do restoration and so forth), I hopped the Métro and shot across town to Montmartre. Wandered up to Sacré-Cœur, grabbing a cheese hotdog en route and managing to be duped by a street vendor (fun and shameful story; for more details, ask), and went for a wander about the basilica. I never quite realised before that visit that Sacré-Cœur was a continuous prayer center: people pray twenty-four hours a day for the Church and for the World and Humanity. Pretty cool, eh?
Anyway, I recalled that there was a pretty cool, if touristy, courtyard around the corner, where we ate escargot when I was here with the exchange program in high school, so I made my way over there. Artists set up on the street and tourists eating ice cream wandering around and dining in lovely outdoor restaurants set the backdrop for my discovery of a random piece of advertising which informed me that I could (within two minutes) find a Dali Exhibit.
Unable to resist such a surreal opportunity, I convinced them to accept my UGA student ID and let me in for massive savings! (Four eurobucks.) The exhibit was really something else: lots of sculpture and stuff you never knew Dali did mixed in with the traditional melting clocks and so forth. I've since decided that if I can take a course on Dali or otherwise discover more of his life and works, I'll jump at the opportunity.
At the moment, I don't much remember how I spent the evening, though I think I made it back in time for dinner.
I'll write about the last day tomorrow, but wanted to submit this before it sits open on my screen for another 24 hours.
Mata ne.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Back in the States with a Story to Tell
But you won't be getting the rest of the story this instant. This evening I'll post a summary of the rest of my time in Paris and get the rest of my photos online, but I just wanted to give everyone a heads-up that I'm back in the US, alive and well.
A few notes:
*It's ridiculous that Crossing Jordan on A&E has "ass" bleeped out.
*I rediscovered (for the third or fourth time) the Geek Code, which heralds from the early nineties. It could use an update but's still worth perusing if you consider yourself a little nerdy or geeky (we can debate the semantics of those terms in comments or another post if you'd like).
*I should add a page of useful resources, but I've always found links pages a little sad and pathetic.
*solri (someone I follow on LiveJournal) posted an interesting piece discussing how modern perceptions of Muslims largely fit the old lot accorded to Catholics.
*For anyone who follows xkcd, this Authors@Google talk by Randall Monroe (our benevolent author of xkcd) will please you greatly.
*Those of you interested in Noam Chomsky because of his contributions to linguistics (or for any other reason) may enjoy Chomsky's Authors@Google talk.
*Also, if you missed Fox's spectacular screw-up wherein they reported on a (fairly obviously) bogus story about a thirteen-year-old buying hookers and an Xbox with his dad's credit card, check out this video on YouTube.
That's all for the moment; more things this evening, hopefully more interesting.
Ja ne.
A few notes:
*It's ridiculous that Crossing Jordan on A&E has "ass" bleeped out.
*I rediscovered (for the third or fourth time) the Geek Code, which heralds from the early nineties. It could use an update but's still worth perusing if you consider yourself a little nerdy or geeky (we can debate the semantics of those terms in comments or another post if you'd like).
*I should add a page of useful resources, but I've always found links pages a little sad and pathetic.
*solri (someone I follow on LiveJournal) posted an interesting piece discussing how modern perceptions of Muslims largely fit the old lot accorded to Catholics.
*For anyone who follows xkcd, this Authors@Google talk by Randall Monroe (our benevolent author of xkcd) will please you greatly.
*Those of you interested in Noam Chomsky because of his contributions to linguistics (or for any other reason) may enjoy Chomsky's Authors@Google talk.
*Also, if you missed Fox's spectacular screw-up wherein they reported on a (fairly obviously) bogus story about a thirteen-year-old buying hookers and an Xbox with his dad's credit card, check out this video on YouTube.
That's all for the moment; more things this evening, hopefully more interesting.
Ja ne.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Paris - The CIty of Lights (Fortunately...)
So, I arrived in Paris on Friday, and that went more or less smoothly. Getting of the train at Austerlitz, I got a couple of day passes for the weekend metro and headed to Villejuif (Louis Aragon), the closest metro station to my hotel/hostel (which is more than 30 bucks a night) in Vitry-sur-Seine.
Got off the metro in Villejuif and discovered that there were two exits from the station, which normally wouldn't be a problem, but I'm trying to follow some directions given to me by the host. Oh, wait, but you're missing an important detail there: I forgot to copy down directions, and my laptop had no battery left, leaving me in a bit of a pickle.
Fortunately a nice Chinese couple (of people?) running a cafe just outside the metro station let me plug in at their place and look up directions. The gentleman was also very helpful, walking around to consult one of those bulletin-board maps with me. And, of course, I bought a cup of coffee, too, because, well, I like coffee and they were very kind and helpful.
Too shy (still) to try a conversation in Chinese (though we did learn how to ask directions in class), all I did was throw out a "xiexie, nimen" on my way out the door. Headed down the road a bit to discover that it quickly merged with another, so I darted across and doubled back until I found the little alley to lead me home.
The little alley wasn't all that helpful, though, because there were four or five roads to follow on my way there, and I didn't copy down which way I was turning. Nor did the host tell me that I was supposed to walk behind an apartment complex and through a little gate in the alley to arrive at his place. Quickish resolution came in the form of a nice couple with a GPS in their car who'd been chatting with some friends in the street and a nice guy from the hood. The ten minute walk took 20 or 30, but at least I made it ^^
Fête de la Musique
Saturday I ended up heading out about 10am (I think) and took the metro to the Opera, where I wandered around and took some photos for a while. If anyone's heard of any reason a bunch of teenage girls would be hanging around this part of Paris yesterday, please let me know, because they were blocking sidewalk traffic in three gigantic clumps.
After that I decided to head to the Louvre for a while, though I can't remember just now whether or not I walked there. Picked up a pocket map of Paris in the genre of Practical Paris. Spent hours at the Louvre. I left when I realised I wasn't paying as much attention to each piece of art anymore. Considered having food there, but it was pretty pricey. Discovered that they were having a concert at 9 30 for the Fete de la Musique, but headed out at about 5 45 and didn't make it back.
Walked from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower, getting a little confused by my map from time to time but enjoying being in Paris anyway. Saw a sign somewhere along the way that said there'd be a young talent concert at Trocadero in the evening, so I kinda figured I'd wander over there. Grabbed a Sprite and some Fries under the Eiffel Tower and headed across to Trocadero.
The concert didn't really grab my interest right away, but some of the later groups got me moving. Discovered Asa and Minivan, which I intend to find out more about, and heard the John Merrick Experiment and others. Enjoyed being at a concert in front of the Eiffel Tower and watching people play in the fountain. Also grabbed an ice cream cone and a bottle of water before the night was over.
Speaking of the night being over, at about midnight is when the story takes a turn for the worse/more interesting. I started wandering around, looking to fill up my water bottle and thinking about getting out of there. So I headed over to the Trocadero metro station to get a train, because various signs had said that the metro would be open all night, or at least that lines 1, 2, 4, and 6 (and maybe another) would.
No such luck. The metro was already closed, so I headed back in the direction of the Tour Eiffel, hoping that one of the other metro stations along my way to the hotel would be open. Happily, my pocket map of Paris had Rue Dalou (the location of my hostel) in it, so I felt pretty secure in that choice.
Heard some pulsing techno, though, so I got sidetracked and headed towards the light. And lost some of my faith in humanity. As I tried to dance in this crowd, I noticed that swarms of guys my age and younger were harassing any female who dared to get near them in the crowd. These guys were not even grinding so much as humping any woman near them. I tried to stay in one place, more or less, so they couldn't swarm as much, but to no avail. I'd danced with a few small groups of guys and girls, groups of friends, without really being invited, but because I was keeping to myself this wasn't a problem. Every one of these groups was driven off by this mad crush of people. Eventually there was one guy who wouldn't take no for an answer from this girl, so I told him to leave her be (in French). When he and his friends started bothering me (in the trying-to-pick-a-fight variety of harassment), I decided it was time to leave.
Wandering in the direction of the Seine, remembering that my hotel was near-ish to the Seine, I found a small rave on the lawn near the bridge in front of Invalides. This was nifty and I danced (as only I can dance) for a little while before moving on.
My nifty map guided me down Boulevard des Invalides towards my hostel, and there were plenty of people on the streets still (at about 2 in the morning) so I felt fairly secure. Until I got to Rue Dalou--an alleyway in the city of Paris and not at all the street I was expecting. Apparently Villejuif is just beyond the perimeter, so my map didn't have the right street in it and, it turns out, I wasn't clever enough to notice sooner.
Tried the Pasteur and Sevres-Lecourbe metro stations, which both serve line six, and found them both closed. Found a little park with enough people around hanging out (presumably all night until the trains started up again?) to lie down but was disturbed when some prick kicked the slide I was lying on, laughing about it with his friends. Not wanting any trouble, I got up and moved on.
A little further down the road, tired as all hell, I found a bench that looked comfortable and safe enough to lie down on for a while and took a break. This lasted from about 3 20 until 5 20, with intermittent interuptions of people singing back and forth ("We're not tired!" "You-all are tired!") or police or ambulance passing by.
By 5 20 I was shivering too much to stay there (that whole core-temperature-drops-when-you-sleep thing), so I headed back toward the train station, hoping the metro lines would be open ridiculously early. Happily, it was, and after waiting around for a while I made it on the metro and got back safely to the hostel. After heading to the bathroom and getting some water, I managed to crawl into bed just before 7 am.
****
So that's my stay in Paris so far. Hope you enjoyed reading and hope I find out soon how late the metro stays open on a normal night.
Ja ne.
Got off the metro in Villejuif and discovered that there were two exits from the station, which normally wouldn't be a problem, but I'm trying to follow some directions given to me by the host. Oh, wait, but you're missing an important detail there: I forgot to copy down directions, and my laptop had no battery left, leaving me in a bit of a pickle.
Fortunately a nice Chinese couple (of people?) running a cafe just outside the metro station let me plug in at their place and look up directions. The gentleman was also very helpful, walking around to consult one of those bulletin-board maps with me. And, of course, I bought a cup of coffee, too, because, well, I like coffee and they were very kind and helpful.
Too shy (still) to try a conversation in Chinese (though we did learn how to ask directions in class), all I did was throw out a "xiexie, nimen" on my way out the door. Headed down the road a bit to discover that it quickly merged with another, so I darted across and doubled back until I found the little alley to lead me home.
The little alley wasn't all that helpful, though, because there were four or five roads to follow on my way there, and I didn't copy down which way I was turning. Nor did the host tell me that I was supposed to walk behind an apartment complex and through a little gate in the alley to arrive at his place. Quickish resolution came in the form of a nice couple with a GPS in their car who'd been chatting with some friends in the street and a nice guy from the hood. The ten minute walk took 20 or 30, but at least I made it ^^
Fête de la Musique
Saturday I ended up heading out about 10am (I think) and took the metro to the Opera, where I wandered around and took some photos for a while. If anyone's heard of any reason a bunch of teenage girls would be hanging around this part of Paris yesterday, please let me know, because they were blocking sidewalk traffic in three gigantic clumps.
After that I decided to head to the Louvre for a while, though I can't remember just now whether or not I walked there. Picked up a pocket map of Paris in the genre of Practical Paris. Spent hours at the Louvre. I left when I realised I wasn't paying as much attention to each piece of art anymore. Considered having food there, but it was pretty pricey. Discovered that they were having a concert at 9 30 for the Fete de la Musique, but headed out at about 5 45 and didn't make it back.
Walked from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower, getting a little confused by my map from time to time but enjoying being in Paris anyway. Saw a sign somewhere along the way that said there'd be a young talent concert at Trocadero in the evening, so I kinda figured I'd wander over there. Grabbed a Sprite and some Fries under the Eiffel Tower and headed across to Trocadero.
The concert didn't really grab my interest right away, but some of the later groups got me moving. Discovered Asa and Minivan, which I intend to find out more about, and heard the John Merrick Experiment and others. Enjoyed being at a concert in front of the Eiffel Tower and watching people play in the fountain. Also grabbed an ice cream cone and a bottle of water before the night was over.
Speaking of the night being over, at about midnight is when the story takes a turn for the worse/more interesting. I started wandering around, looking to fill up my water bottle and thinking about getting out of there. So I headed over to the Trocadero metro station to get a train, because various signs had said that the metro would be open all night, or at least that lines 1, 2, 4, and 6 (and maybe another) would.
No such luck. The metro was already closed, so I headed back in the direction of the Tour Eiffel, hoping that one of the other metro stations along my way to the hotel would be open. Happily, my pocket map of Paris had Rue Dalou (the location of my hostel) in it, so I felt pretty secure in that choice.
Heard some pulsing techno, though, so I got sidetracked and headed towards the light. And lost some of my faith in humanity. As I tried to dance in this crowd, I noticed that swarms of guys my age and younger were harassing any female who dared to get near them in the crowd. These guys were not even grinding so much as humping any woman near them. I tried to stay in one place, more or less, so they couldn't swarm as much, but to no avail. I'd danced with a few small groups of guys and girls, groups of friends, without really being invited, but because I was keeping to myself this wasn't a problem. Every one of these groups was driven off by this mad crush of people. Eventually there was one guy who wouldn't take no for an answer from this girl, so I told him to leave her be (in French). When he and his friends started bothering me (in the trying-to-pick-a-fight variety of harassment), I decided it was time to leave.
Wandering in the direction of the Seine, remembering that my hotel was near-ish to the Seine, I found a small rave on the lawn near the bridge in front of Invalides. This was nifty and I danced (as only I can dance) for a little while before moving on.
My nifty map guided me down Boulevard des Invalides towards my hostel, and there were plenty of people on the streets still (at about 2 in the morning) so I felt fairly secure. Until I got to Rue Dalou--an alleyway in the city of Paris and not at all the street I was expecting. Apparently Villejuif is just beyond the perimeter, so my map didn't have the right street in it and, it turns out, I wasn't clever enough to notice sooner.
Tried the Pasteur and Sevres-Lecourbe metro stations, which both serve line six, and found them both closed. Found a little park with enough people around hanging out (presumably all night until the trains started up again?) to lie down but was disturbed when some prick kicked the slide I was lying on, laughing about it with his friends. Not wanting any trouble, I got up and moved on.
A little further down the road, tired as all hell, I found a bench that looked comfortable and safe enough to lie down on for a while and took a break. This lasted from about 3 20 until 5 20, with intermittent interuptions of people singing back and forth ("We're not tired!" "You-all are tired!") or police or ambulance passing by.
By 5 20 I was shivering too much to stay there (that whole core-temperature-drops-when-you-sleep thing), so I headed back toward the train station, hoping the metro lines would be open ridiculously early. Happily, it was, and after waiting around for a while I made it on the metro and got back safely to the hostel. After heading to the bathroom and getting some water, I managed to crawl into bed just before 7 am.
****
So that's my stay in Paris so far. Hope you enjoyed reading and hope I find out soon how late the metro stays open on a normal night.
Ja ne.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Journey...Don't Stop Believing?
No photos added yesterday, because I didn't arrive in Paris until later than anticipated, but that's part of today's storytime, isn't it?
Quatre Heures en Voiture
Thursday morning I was supposed to get up at about 7 30 so I could join the neighbors to go somewhere for the day, but my alarm didn't work (for the first time since I made it; didn't I tell you I wrote a quick music alarm clock program?). Anyway, I got up at about nine and screamed through the house getting ready and completing the minor tasks for the day.
Like I said though, we spent about four hours in a car after that. Now that's supposed to shock you (almost) and make you feel sorry for me, but let's be realistic: why would you feel sorry for someone who's visiting France? We didn't even have to spend all four hours in the car, so, really, it's alright.
Along the way we stopped at Rocamadour, which is picturesque and pretty touristy, but touristy in the way Saint Augustine is touristy--because it's old and pretty, everyone wants to visit, so there are a ton of small hotels, etc. There are photos, too, even one of me!
After this coffee pitstop it was on the road again...until lunch anyway. Marie Louise (!) and Max made sandwiches for us all the night before--sausage or paté and tiny pickle--and they were pretty good, though the bread was a little dry. The countryside was pretty fantastic for our little picnic, even if we were on the side of the road: while Dordogne has some hills and valleys, the next region over is much hillier and rockier, making for some pretty amazing views which, combined with the stone houses and random castles throughout the region, created a pleasant drive, long though it may have been.
Le Viaduc de Millau
But of course there was a point to all this, and so the end of our journey brought us to the Viaduc de Millau. Near the middle of the A75, the Viaduc de Millau makes it a heck of a lot faster to get across the Valley of Tarn (if I'm remembering the name right, there...) and is thus great for this north-south autoroute popular with vacationers.
The bridge spans more than two kilometers and is taller than the Eiffel Tower, but still manages not to be an eyesore in this pretty little valley. I'd really like to add more about the bridge and the trip back, but I should go grab breakfast.
More to come!
Quatre Heures en Voiture
Thursday morning I was supposed to get up at about 7 30 so I could join the neighbors to go somewhere for the day, but my alarm didn't work (for the first time since I made it; didn't I tell you I wrote a quick music alarm clock program?). Anyway, I got up at about nine and screamed through the house getting ready and completing the minor tasks for the day.
Like I said though, we spent about four hours in a car after that. Now that's supposed to shock you (almost) and make you feel sorry for me, but let's be realistic: why would you feel sorry for someone who's visiting France? We didn't even have to spend all four hours in the car, so, really, it's alright.
Along the way we stopped at Rocamadour, which is picturesque and pretty touristy, but touristy in the way Saint Augustine is touristy--because it's old and pretty, everyone wants to visit, so there are a ton of small hotels, etc. There are photos, too, even one of me!
After this coffee pitstop it was on the road again...until lunch anyway. Marie Louise (!) and Max made sandwiches for us all the night before--sausage or paté and tiny pickle--and they were pretty good, though the bread was a little dry. The countryside was pretty fantastic for our little picnic, even if we were on the side of the road: while Dordogne has some hills and valleys, the next region over is much hillier and rockier, making for some pretty amazing views which, combined with the stone houses and random castles throughout the region, created a pleasant drive, long though it may have been.
Le Viaduc de Millau
But of course there was a point to all this, and so the end of our journey brought us to the Viaduc de Millau. Near the middle of the A75, the Viaduc de Millau makes it a heck of a lot faster to get across the Valley of Tarn (if I'm remembering the name right, there...) and is thus great for this north-south autoroute popular with vacationers.
The bridge spans more than two kilometers and is taller than the Eiffel Tower, but still manages not to be an eyesore in this pretty little valley. I'd really like to add more about the bridge and the trip back, but I should go grab breakfast.
More to come!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
No Continuity Whatsoever
So maybe I shouldn't seek out my dream job of being a script writer (except maybe for Doctor Who, or something with equally many convenient plot devices), but I should have time in the morning or when I arrive in Paris (!) tomorrow afternoon to write a decent post.
In the interim, go check out my photos! I've added about fifteen more, and will probably add 15 to 30 more each day for the next week or so. Also forthcoming, my comprehensive photo gallery, with everything I've taken over here (not just a select few).
Love.
In the interim, go check out my photos! I've added about fifteen more, and will probably add 15 to 30 more each day for the next week or so. Also forthcoming, my comprehensive photo gallery, with everything I've taken over here (not just a select few).
Love.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
::sigh:: Finally - A Decent Update
Alright, so I'm at the neighbors again, but I've got some time tonight and can actually write a bit.
Christian's headed out of town for a while, so it's actually just me at the house. I'm sure that's going to make it a little creepier walking back in the blackness of night, but I should survive. More interestingly, tomorrow I'm going to sit in a car for seven hours with the neighbors (3.5 hours each way) to go see a bridge--I think it's that really tall, really long one there's been a History (or similar) channel special on, but I haven't managed to catch the name so I don't really know.
Today I did some more epic weed-whacking (I think I made a mistake saying it wasn't too bad), but it wasn't too bad. The neighbors were happy, too, because part of the property was pretty close to theirs, and now it'll look all pretty when the real neighbors come back. (What? I didn't mention already that these people are house-sitting...I could've sworn I did...)
These Dutch aren't all that freaky-deaky, either--in fact, they're pretty cool. I must say, I had a few moments of cultural recognition during our conversation, noting a certain common heritage that must stem from historical commonalities: South Africa, colonialism, being (Northern, somewhat Germanic) European, etc.
They appreciated the bottle of wine that I bought them, too--they've been quite helpful and tolerant in letting me (ab)use the internet here, and generally too kind. That makes roughly five bottles of wine I've bought here, though I may have lost count. It's nice to be able to do things like buy wine to enjoy with your meals.
Alright, well I said something about making lists (and I misjudged the amount of time I've got, so I need to get going), so here's a whirlwind tour of everything that comes to mind just now. (If you'd like me to elaborate on a particular item, comment and I'll try to do so next time I get on.)
Food:
I've been eating all sorts of vegetables, something I never really do in the States. I now regularly eat salad and whatever vegetables are provided with my meal, though I may avoid some if I find the dish less than incredible. That said, all of the food here has been delicious; get with the program America!
In detail: cucumbers, duck, lamb, (Japanese) curry, couscous, ...
(Just got cut off--bed time for everyone over here. The list will be bigger, I promise!)
Christian's headed out of town for a while, so it's actually just me at the house. I'm sure that's going to make it a little creepier walking back in the blackness of night, but I should survive. More interestingly, tomorrow I'm going to sit in a car for seven hours with the neighbors (3.5 hours each way) to go see a bridge--I think it's that really tall, really long one there's been a History (or similar) channel special on, but I haven't managed to catch the name so I don't really know.
Today I did some more epic weed-whacking (I think I made a mistake saying it wasn't too bad), but it wasn't too bad. The neighbors were happy, too, because part of the property was pretty close to theirs, and now it'll look all pretty when the real neighbors come back. (What? I didn't mention already that these people are house-sitting...I could've sworn I did...)
These Dutch aren't all that freaky-deaky, either--in fact, they're pretty cool. I must say, I had a few moments of cultural recognition during our conversation, noting a certain common heritage that must stem from historical commonalities: South Africa, colonialism, being (Northern, somewhat Germanic) European, etc.
They appreciated the bottle of wine that I bought them, too--they've been quite helpful and tolerant in letting me (ab)use the internet here, and generally too kind. That makes roughly five bottles of wine I've bought here, though I may have lost count. It's nice to be able to do things like buy wine to enjoy with your meals.
Alright, well I said something about making lists (and I misjudged the amount of time I've got, so I need to get going), so here's a whirlwind tour of everything that comes to mind just now. (If you'd like me to elaborate on a particular item, comment and I'll try to do so next time I get on.)
Food:
I've been eating all sorts of vegetables, something I never really do in the States. I now regularly eat salad and whatever vegetables are provided with my meal, though I may avoid some if I find the dish less than incredible. That said, all of the food here has been delicious; get with the program America!
In detail: cucumbers, duck, lamb, (Japanese) curry, couscous, ...
(Just got cut off--bed time for everyone over here. The list will be bigger, I promise!)
Monday, June 16, 2008
Hierarchies of Thought
I've tried to explain to some of you before my hierarchy of thought, but xkcd has a beautifully succinct version in case I wasn't clear.
Stuff about France next time, sorry.
Stuff about France next time, sorry.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Stolen Moments
Not as romantic, nor as literal as it sounds: I'm using the internet at a friend's place at the moment, so I can't post everything I've been meaning to.
Super short summary--
*each day I remember some cool thing I've done that I haven't written about yet;
*my French is definitely getting better, though, as usual, I feel like I haven't worked hard enough;
*and I've been eating all sorts of vegetables I'd never've touched in the States.
That's it for now, sorry to disappoint.
Ja ne.
Super short summary--
*each day I remember some cool thing I've done that I haven't written about yet;
*my French is definitely getting better, though, as usual, I feel like I haven't worked hard enough;
*and I've been eating all sorts of vegetables I'd never've touched in the States.
That's it for now, sorry to disappoint.
Ja ne.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Good French Wine
Started typing this post multiple times and kept getting cut off. Here we go again!
Sorry I've been out of action for about a week, but we (thought we) didn't have internet access for a while there. Turns out that Freebox (the company they use for internet access) should stick to internet access and let people set up their own networks: wireless and this weird USB connexion Pascale uses to connect her computer weren't working, but as soon as I connected my laptop by USB, everything ran smoothly.
Anyway, here's what you missed...
Kelly s'en Va
Kelly was supposed to leave on Wednesday, but finally received an email from her host on Tuesday saying that he wouldn't be there and that she'd have to come Thursday. Fortunately, Christian took her to Le Buisson to change her ticket and (I don't think) they charged her anything for the exchange because she made it before the scheduled departure.
Of course we'd already planned a goodbye dinner, so Noriko prepared a Japanese dish and Jacques came by to say farewell to Kelly. Oh, and by "a Japanese dish" I meant curry prepared using a Japanese curry mix and (perhaps) cooking style.
Thursday morning Christian, Noriko, and I accompanied Kelly to the train station, where a bus picked her up. Hey, don't look at me--comprennez-vous les français?
Les Vélos Sont Dur
Apparently an uncle of Christian's is quite ill, so Friday evening Pascale and he went to Bordeaux (I believe) for the weekend, leaving Noriko and I to fend for ourselves in this strange land.
With the parents gone for the weekend, of course we had to have a party. By have a party, of course I mean plant strawberry plants in the garden like they'd asked us to, check on the animals, and take the bicycles for a spin.
About two o'clock we broke out the bikes, only to discover that the tires were flat on one and the seat too high on the other. Luckily, I'm a genius, so I solved those problems right away, and we were on our way.
The trip started out pretty well, being downhill and all that, but about a half kilometer into the ride we discovered that--lo and behold--France has hills, and fairly large ones at that, considering they have these things called valleys and whatnot. Also noteworthy at this point was the fact that we had to go another 9.5 km to get to Le Bugue.
The next two kilometers were uphill, followed by a short downhill stint, and a bit more uphill. After that it was pretty much downhill to the Bugue. I'm not gonna lie, rolling downhill for that long a period is pretty fantastic, especially in scenic Dordogne, not that I'm shamelessly plugging for the tourist bureau or anything.
Arriving at Le Bugue, we headed toward Intermarché, a run-of-the-mill super market, because Christian'd told us that we could find a wine-tasting-and-sales-type place there. We wandered around looking out of place for a while, trying to comprehend the massive variety of alcohol in the world, until one of the reps asked us if he could help. We tried five or six different wines from the region and got to practice our French. Half-an-hour (or some equally arbitrary amount of time less than two hours) later, we headed out with three bottles of wine and some little tin of some duck product that Noriko got for Christian and Pascale (I think). She bought one of the bottles of wine.
For those of you who're good at math, you've realised by now that I bought two bottles of wine, obviously with the best of intentions--no, seriously, one's a gift for Christian and Pascale, and I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to bring wine back to the States, so the other's for us to drink before I leave.
Those of you who're good at math and logic and can hang onto a thought for more than 10 seconds have realised something else: six kilometres downhill heading to the Bugue means six going UP on the way back. Ouch. And I mean that--my rear still hurts because of that accursed seat.
On the cool side of things, though, we found the opening to a small cave along the roadside, and I wandered in to explore a little, though I'd left my flashlight at the house, so I couldn't go too far. As a keepsake from this cool little moment, I've got a few photos and a couple of exemplary stones from the cave. w007 ^^
Ils Reviennent et Je Suis Malade
Last night, for no apparent reason, I started to feel ill, possibly because the pigeonnier is colder than I'd like and I road a bike 20 km or so. Or something like that.
Anyway, today I was feeling kinda under the weather, which is saying something since it rained most of the day again today, but I'm doing fine and will probably be ready to continue working tomorrow. Yet again I was unable to make it to Mass this week, but I have a feeling that He'll understand if I didn't want to hop on that bike for another 20km trip today.
This evening Pascale and Christian returned as I was asleep on one of the beds they use like sofas here. We had a nice dinner, and I came upstairs to write this. Should be writing again tomorrow, hopefully with some retrospective stuff about the first (more than) half of my trip and more character descriptions (if I can think of anything interesting to say). Time to watch Doctor Who...
Have a good one ^^
Sorry I've been out of action for about a week, but we (thought we) didn't have internet access for a while there. Turns out that Freebox (the company they use for internet access) should stick to internet access and let people set up their own networks: wireless and this weird USB connexion Pascale uses to connect her computer weren't working, but as soon as I connected my laptop by USB, everything ran smoothly.
Anyway, here's what you missed...
Kelly s'en Va
Kelly was supposed to leave on Wednesday, but finally received an email from her host on Tuesday saying that he wouldn't be there and that she'd have to come Thursday. Fortunately, Christian took her to Le Buisson to change her ticket and (I don't think) they charged her anything for the exchange because she made it before the scheduled departure.
Of course we'd already planned a goodbye dinner, so Noriko prepared a Japanese dish and Jacques came by to say farewell to Kelly. Oh, and by "a Japanese dish" I meant curry prepared using a Japanese curry mix and (perhaps) cooking style.
Thursday morning Christian, Noriko, and I accompanied Kelly to the train station, where a bus picked her up. Hey, don't look at me--comprennez-vous les français?
Les Vélos Sont Dur
Apparently an uncle of Christian's is quite ill, so Friday evening Pascale and he went to Bordeaux (I believe) for the weekend, leaving Noriko and I to fend for ourselves in this strange land.
With the parents gone for the weekend, of course we had to have a party. By have a party, of course I mean plant strawberry plants in the garden like they'd asked us to, check on the animals, and take the bicycles for a spin.
About two o'clock we broke out the bikes, only to discover that the tires were flat on one and the seat too high on the other. Luckily, I'm a genius, so I solved those problems right away, and we were on our way.
The trip started out pretty well, being downhill and all that, but about a half kilometer into the ride we discovered that--lo and behold--France has hills, and fairly large ones at that, considering they have these things called valleys and whatnot. Also noteworthy at this point was the fact that we had to go another 9.5 km to get to Le Bugue.
The next two kilometers were uphill, followed by a short downhill stint, and a bit more uphill. After that it was pretty much downhill to the Bugue. I'm not gonna lie, rolling downhill for that long a period is pretty fantastic, especially in scenic Dordogne, not that I'm shamelessly plugging for the tourist bureau or anything.
Arriving at Le Bugue, we headed toward Intermarché, a run-of-the-mill super market, because Christian'd told us that we could find a wine-tasting-and-sales-type place there. We wandered around looking out of place for a while, trying to comprehend the massive variety of alcohol in the world, until one of the reps asked us if he could help. We tried five or six different wines from the region and got to practice our French. Half-an-hour (or some equally arbitrary amount of time less than two hours) later, we headed out with three bottles of wine and some little tin of some duck product that Noriko got for Christian and Pascale (I think). She bought one of the bottles of wine.
For those of you who're good at math, you've realised by now that I bought two bottles of wine, obviously with the best of intentions--no, seriously, one's a gift for Christian and Pascale, and I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to bring wine back to the States, so the other's for us to drink before I leave.
Those of you who're good at math and logic and can hang onto a thought for more than 10 seconds have realised something else: six kilometres downhill heading to the Bugue means six going UP on the way back. Ouch. And I mean that--my rear still hurts because of that accursed seat.
On the cool side of things, though, we found the opening to a small cave along the roadside, and I wandered in to explore a little, though I'd left my flashlight at the house, so I couldn't go too far. As a keepsake from this cool little moment, I've got a few photos and a couple of exemplary stones from the cave. w007 ^^
Ils Reviennent et Je Suis Malade
Last night, for no apparent reason, I started to feel ill, possibly because the pigeonnier is colder than I'd like and I road a bike 20 km or so. Or something like that.
Anyway, today I was feeling kinda under the weather, which is saying something since it rained most of the day again today, but I'm doing fine and will probably be ready to continue working tomorrow. Yet again I was unable to make it to Mass this week, but I have a feeling that He'll understand if I didn't want to hop on that bike for another 20km trip today.
This evening Pascale and Christian returned as I was asleep on one of the beds they use like sofas here. We had a nice dinner, and I came upstairs to write this. Should be writing again tomorrow, hopefully with some retrospective stuff about the first (more than) half of my trip and more character descriptions (if I can think of anything interesting to say). Time to watch Doctor Who...
Have a good one ^^
Monday, June 2, 2008
No Church Again
...and this time I didn't even listen to the readings or read up on Islam or do anything spiritual to make up for it; I'll have to take some meditative-focus-type time during the week. (It's not so bad, but I am mildly superstitious that I have a bad week when I don't go to Mass.)
La Japonaise Arrive
Yesterday was fairly laid back, being a Sunday. I just managed to haul myself upstairs by noon, so we could go pick up our new arrival, Noriko, at Le Buisson. Considering the fact that I'm travelling to Japan soon and there's a tri-cultural mix about to occur, I was a little uneasy as to what would happen: would we all understand each other and get along well? would I be expected to speak Japanese at some point? would something cultural make the ride awkward for all of us?
Turns out I do take after my mother somewhat, because my worrying was entirely unfounded. Noriko arrived and everyone exchanged bisous--the traditional French cheek-kissing gesture you (probably) all know about--and introductions went briefly and well. An uneventful car-ride later, we'd had a brief chat and discovered that, in fact, Noriko has already been in France for eleven months babysitting in Paris.
Rien à Dire
Which is to say, that I have nothing to say, really. Kelly, Noriko, and I had a nice conversation yesterday after lunch and, all in all, we're getting along pretty well. I feel like I'm speaking enough French now and all that jazz, too, though there'd been a brief slump about a week after my arrival (maybe the end of that "honeymoon phase" Daniel wrote about in his journal).
Japanese accents are a little more interesting in French, and Noriko's keeps throwing me off--I either anticipate Japanese because of the sound quality or I just don't understand at first. This normally happens with short phrases that come out of the blue, fortunately, and not all the time, though I occasionally do a mental double-take when listening to her. The mélange, though, is feeding my linguistic curiosity, which I'd count as good (wouldn't you?).
Today was rainy so we didn't do too much work, though we de-mossed the well and did a little weeding. Kelly and Noriko painted some (new) chairs, and I did some research for Christian and Pascale regarding how they can improve their web-presence. Other than that, we basked in the sunlight during a pleasant conversation this afternoon and enjoyed a great lunch together, too.
Les Personnages - Christian
Christian's nearly sixty, but looks like he's closer to my dad's age. He grew up in Paris, learning to cook there--not only did he work at a few restaurants for his first jobs, but he actually attended a professional cooking school there, too. Sometime in that mispent youth of the late sixties--he and his friend Jacques talked to us about the classic free love generation outlook on youth--he took up photography and he seems to be pretty good at it. Friday his photo club met here at his house in the morning for coffee to plan an exhibition in Sainte-Alvère in August. You might've noticed that I mention him fairly frequently; he's usually our task-master around here, telling us what to do during the day and randomly taking us to the market or to nearby sights.
***
I'll try to post with a little more style later this week, but the main thing today was just to get some thoughts down and work on habit-forming (y'know, the good kind?).
A Bientot!
La Japonaise Arrive
Yesterday was fairly laid back, being a Sunday. I just managed to haul myself upstairs by noon, so we could go pick up our new arrival, Noriko, at Le Buisson. Considering the fact that I'm travelling to Japan soon and there's a tri-cultural mix about to occur, I was a little uneasy as to what would happen: would we all understand each other and get along well? would I be expected to speak Japanese at some point? would something cultural make the ride awkward for all of us?
Turns out I do take after my mother somewhat, because my worrying was entirely unfounded. Noriko arrived and everyone exchanged bisous--the traditional French cheek-kissing gesture you (probably) all know about--and introductions went briefly and well. An uneventful car-ride later, we'd had a brief chat and discovered that, in fact, Noriko has already been in France for eleven months babysitting in Paris.
Rien à Dire
Which is to say, that I have nothing to say, really. Kelly, Noriko, and I had a nice conversation yesterday after lunch and, all in all, we're getting along pretty well. I feel like I'm speaking enough French now and all that jazz, too, though there'd been a brief slump about a week after my arrival (maybe the end of that "honeymoon phase" Daniel wrote about in his journal).
Japanese accents are a little more interesting in French, and Noriko's keeps throwing me off--I either anticipate Japanese because of the sound quality or I just don't understand at first. This normally happens with short phrases that come out of the blue, fortunately, and not all the time, though I occasionally do a mental double-take when listening to her. The mélange, though, is feeding my linguistic curiosity, which I'd count as good (wouldn't you?).
Today was rainy so we didn't do too much work, though we de-mossed the well and did a little weeding. Kelly and Noriko painted some (new) chairs, and I did some research for Christian and Pascale regarding how they can improve their web-presence. Other than that, we basked in the sunlight during a pleasant conversation this afternoon and enjoyed a great lunch together, too.
Les Personnages - Christian
Christian's nearly sixty, but looks like he's closer to my dad's age. He grew up in Paris, learning to cook there--not only did he work at a few restaurants for his first jobs, but he actually attended a professional cooking school there, too. Sometime in that mispent youth of the late sixties--he and his friend Jacques talked to us about the classic free love generation outlook on youth--he took up photography and he seems to be pretty good at it. Friday his photo club met here at his house in the morning for coffee to plan an exhibition in Sainte-Alvère in August. You might've noticed that I mention him fairly frequently; he's usually our task-master around here, telling us what to do during the day and randomly taking us to the market or to nearby sights.
***
I'll try to post with a little more style later this week, but the main thing today was just to get some thoughts down and work on habit-forming (y'know, the good kind?).
A Bientot!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Cave Paintings, Fossil Destruction, and Historic Weed-Whacking
So it's been a while, but I've some stories to tell, which will hopefully improve the quality of content, if not style.
La Préhistoire
You know that ever since you first heard there were millenia-old cave paintings in some caves in southern France you've been itching to go to Lascaux or a similar site. Well, a couple of days ago Christian decided to take us to la Grotte de Rouffignac in the afternoon.
Me being me, I slept most of the ride there, but I woke up shortly before the hungry mouth of the cave came into view. We passed a couple of groups of elementary-school-aged kids on a field trip; a damn-sight better than Blue Springs or the old Sanford High School back home, I must say.
Unfortunately I don't have any photos to post, because (for preservation's sake) they wouldn't allow us to take photos in the cave. Fortunately, I do have a guide book for the Cave if you'd like to take a look sometime. (And, of course, I'm sure Google Image Search would work, too.)
Unlike most of the caves I've been in before (all two or three of them?), they use an electric train here to make sure we stay on track and don't touch anything. Despite my initial suspicions that this would diminish the experience (which turned out not to be entirely true, though it did feel a little more Disney than I would've liked), the train definitely serves its purpose and probably helps out a lot for the older visitors and for liability considerations--I mean, the path we took was a kilometer or two (can't remember the details, and not going to look them up).
Another cave created by water flow millions of years ago, this one lacks the classic stalactites and stalagmites (remember which is which, class?), but I missed the reason why. Most of the rock is fairly soft, calcite or sandstone or something like that, with bits of semi-rusted looking rock sticking out in odd clumps and nodules forming the other strata. The largest part of the cave was maybe 20 meters on each side with a mini waterfall dripping from the ceiling due to the recent rains--the water now is the highest it's been in at least 15 years or so, if I recall correctly.
Deeper in the caves we find some mammoths etched into the walls, then painted rhinoceroses, then more etchings, paintings on odd rock formations taking advantage of natural features to simulate depth and reality. After viewing on particular leg of the tunnel (for the benefit of J-Mac, Dave G, and others, that was originally typed [unintentionally] as "tunner"), we doubled back and descended to the most spectacular portion where the cieling was covered with more than sixty animal outlines, most of which could never bee seen at a single time when first painted (the cave was once much shallower than it is now). Surrounding us at this moment were the old hibernation nests of bears from millenia past, up at about eye-level because they excavated a portion of the room for the rail tracks and for the ability to see all the paintings.
I always feel something primeval in a cave--probably one of those deep-ingrained collective memories of humanity--the shelter, the mystery, the awe. Who wants to come with me next time, and we'll try to go spelunking?
Le Travail Continue
Apparently the upstairs bathroom hasn't been smelling too hot lately; I personally didn't notice a thing, but I don't have to use it all that often, and Pascale and Christian have a master bath up there too, so maybe that's what they were talking about. The result is that we've been digging up some old plumbing to fix the ventilation; translation: I took some rock-splitting tools to the rock forming the foundation for one of the buildings here, rock which's probably been there for millions of years. In fact, I know it's been here millions of years, though probably undersea at some point, because of the seashell fossils I found therein. Pity, but we wouldn't want a stinky house, would we?
After putting in a good few hours yesterday, Christian decided to take us to see some castles. The plural there is particularly important: Dordogne must've figured quite highly in the Hundred Years' War and several others because there are French and English castles scattered throughout the region. Specifically, the valley we visited had at least four or five castles dating from (I'm assuming) various periods.
The castles were closed to visitors when we went past, but they were still a sight to see. Almost more notable, however, was the friend's house that we visited. One of Christian's friends asked the mayor of the city for permission to build on the side of one of the rocky outcroppings on the valley wall. Thinking him crazy, the mayor gave him permission, resulting in a beautiful home I could never afford but will always want with a view thus far unrivaled by any other during my visit to the region.
On the way back we stopped in Sarlat, which was the most beautiful city in France during the Medieval period (according to Pascale) and is everything you'd expect from a French town as old as that: gorgeous historic buildings and streets leading every which way influenced by history, and influencing history, too. Throw in a little tourism and you've got the right idea. Gorgeous place, despite the tourism, which is fortunately pretty understated (at least in the areas we visited).
Heading out of town, one of my recurring thoughts struck me: how in the world does society sustain itself? Consider the number of customers it takes to support a business and think about how many of those you pass each day. It's really just incredible to me each time I think about it, especially when one considers cities that've been around for hundreds of years sustaining themselves like that.
Débroussaillage
Today's been fairly tame so far. I took a couple hour break mid-post before this section and had a little nap. This morning Pascale whacked some weeds while Kelly and I collected the fallen grass to dump with the rest of the weed compost. After that I got to have a go with the weed-eater, which ran more smoothly than the one back home, not for any really technical reason, but just because there was a convenient harness to help stabilize it and hold it up (it's old and it's heavy). As I was clearing the brush at the edge of the property, I found remnants of some old stone walls beneath all the mess; cool what history we can discover on a daily basis here.
***
Apparently Le Falgueyret, this small clump of houses a few minutes' drive from town used to be pretty populated. Obviously it was never a major city, but you can tell if you look at the buildings around here--and the foundations where there used to be buildings--that there was definitely a small community. I wish I could find some images of the place, but no luck so far.
***
I've written up some brief descriptions of some of the people here, like Christian who's standing right in front of me just now straightening up some papers, so I'll post some of those sometime soon, maybe tomorrow.
If anyone wants more up-to-the-minute reporting than this, I'll add a link to my Twitter feed on the navigation bar to your left. I should also be adding some entries that are either in French or do not directly apply to my travels so much as to philosophy and pondering life's deep questions, so feel free to skip those if they don't make sense (y'know, either because of the language, or the nonsense I'll be spouting). Also, feel free to comment and whatnot, give me feedback so I know which bits you enjoy reading and which bits not so much; the journal's still mine, but I'll see if I can be accomodating.
***
Also, I've heard that a bunch of people from Fiserv have been reading, so hello to all of you. Hello, and love, to my family and Ashley, of course. And bonjour, Madame (at least, Sam said you'd been reading). Let's see...am I forgetting anyone? Oh yeah, my friends and random passers-by: hello to you, too ^^ (I noticed some traffic coming from Daniel's journal and from Facebook, so I know you're out there ^.~)
Until next time, Peace.
La Préhistoire
You know that ever since you first heard there were millenia-old cave paintings in some caves in southern France you've been itching to go to Lascaux or a similar site. Well, a couple of days ago Christian decided to take us to la Grotte de Rouffignac in the afternoon.
Me being me, I slept most of the ride there, but I woke up shortly before the hungry mouth of the cave came into view. We passed a couple of groups of elementary-school-aged kids on a field trip; a damn-sight better than Blue Springs or the old Sanford High School back home, I must say.
Unfortunately I don't have any photos to post, because (for preservation's sake) they wouldn't allow us to take photos in the cave. Fortunately, I do have a guide book for the Cave if you'd like to take a look sometime. (And, of course, I'm sure Google Image Search would work, too.)
Unlike most of the caves I've been in before (all two or three of them?), they use an electric train here to make sure we stay on track and don't touch anything. Despite my initial suspicions that this would diminish the experience (which turned out not to be entirely true, though it did feel a little more Disney than I would've liked), the train definitely serves its purpose and probably helps out a lot for the older visitors and for liability considerations--I mean, the path we took was a kilometer or two (can't remember the details, and not going to look them up).
Another cave created by water flow millions of years ago, this one lacks the classic stalactites and stalagmites (remember which is which, class?), but I missed the reason why. Most of the rock is fairly soft, calcite or sandstone or something like that, with bits of semi-rusted looking rock sticking out in odd clumps and nodules forming the other strata. The largest part of the cave was maybe 20 meters on each side with a mini waterfall dripping from the ceiling due to the recent rains--the water now is the highest it's been in at least 15 years or so, if I recall correctly.
Deeper in the caves we find some mammoths etched into the walls, then painted rhinoceroses, then more etchings, paintings on odd rock formations taking advantage of natural features to simulate depth and reality. After viewing on particular leg of the tunnel (for the benefit of J-Mac, Dave G, and others, that was originally typed [unintentionally] as "tunner"), we doubled back and descended to the most spectacular portion where the cieling was covered with more than sixty animal outlines, most of which could never bee seen at a single time when first painted (the cave was once much shallower than it is now). Surrounding us at this moment were the old hibernation nests of bears from millenia past, up at about eye-level because they excavated a portion of the room for the rail tracks and for the ability to see all the paintings.
I always feel something primeval in a cave--probably one of those deep-ingrained collective memories of humanity--the shelter, the mystery, the awe. Who wants to come with me next time, and we'll try to go spelunking?
Le Travail Continue
Apparently the upstairs bathroom hasn't been smelling too hot lately; I personally didn't notice a thing, but I don't have to use it all that often, and Pascale and Christian have a master bath up there too, so maybe that's what they were talking about. The result is that we've been digging up some old plumbing to fix the ventilation; translation: I took some rock-splitting tools to the rock forming the foundation for one of the buildings here, rock which's probably been there for millions of years. In fact, I know it's been here millions of years, though probably undersea at some point, because of the seashell fossils I found therein. Pity, but we wouldn't want a stinky house, would we?
After putting in a good few hours yesterday, Christian decided to take us to see some castles. The plural there is particularly important: Dordogne must've figured quite highly in the Hundred Years' War and several others because there are French and English castles scattered throughout the region. Specifically, the valley we visited had at least four or five castles dating from (I'm assuming) various periods.
The castles were closed to visitors when we went past, but they were still a sight to see. Almost more notable, however, was the friend's house that we visited. One of Christian's friends asked the mayor of the city for permission to build on the side of one of the rocky outcroppings on the valley wall. Thinking him crazy, the mayor gave him permission, resulting in a beautiful home I could never afford but will always want with a view thus far unrivaled by any other during my visit to the region.
On the way back we stopped in Sarlat, which was the most beautiful city in France during the Medieval period (according to Pascale) and is everything you'd expect from a French town as old as that: gorgeous historic buildings and streets leading every which way influenced by history, and influencing history, too. Throw in a little tourism and you've got the right idea. Gorgeous place, despite the tourism, which is fortunately pretty understated (at least in the areas we visited).
Heading out of town, one of my recurring thoughts struck me: how in the world does society sustain itself? Consider the number of customers it takes to support a business and think about how many of those you pass each day. It's really just incredible to me each time I think about it, especially when one considers cities that've been around for hundreds of years sustaining themselves like that.
Débroussaillage
Today's been fairly tame so far. I took a couple hour break mid-post before this section and had a little nap. This morning Pascale whacked some weeds while Kelly and I collected the fallen grass to dump with the rest of the weed compost. After that I got to have a go with the weed-eater, which ran more smoothly than the one back home, not for any really technical reason, but just because there was a convenient harness to help stabilize it and hold it up (it's old and it's heavy). As I was clearing the brush at the edge of the property, I found remnants of some old stone walls beneath all the mess; cool what history we can discover on a daily basis here.
***
Apparently Le Falgueyret, this small clump of houses a few minutes' drive from town used to be pretty populated. Obviously it was never a major city, but you can tell if you look at the buildings around here--and the foundations where there used to be buildings--that there was definitely a small community. I wish I could find some images of the place, but no luck so far.
***
I've written up some brief descriptions of some of the people here, like Christian who's standing right in front of me just now straightening up some papers, so I'll post some of those sometime soon, maybe tomorrow.
If anyone wants more up-to-the-minute reporting than this, I'll add a link to my Twitter feed on the navigation bar to your left. I should also be adding some entries that are either in French or do not directly apply to my travels so much as to philosophy and pondering life's deep questions, so feel free to skip those if they don't make sense (y'know, either because of the language, or the nonsense I'll be spouting). Also, feel free to comment and whatnot, give me feedback so I know which bits you enjoy reading and which bits not so much; the journal's still mine, but I'll see if I can be accomodating.
***
Also, I've heard that a bunch of people from Fiserv have been reading, so hello to all of you. Hello, and love, to my family and Ashley, of course. And bonjour, Madame (at least, Sam said you'd been reading). Let's see...am I forgetting anyone? Oh yeah, my friends and random passers-by: hello to you, too ^^ (I noticed some traffic coming from Daniel's journal and from Facebook, so I know you're out there ^.~)
Until next time, Peace.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Four Day Gap -- Time Management Works!
Even on vacation I can't manage my (minimal) schedule; clearly I'm still trying to do too much.
Today we helped coat the garden in leaves so as to block out weeds and allow only the garden plants light. I don't know how well this'll work out, though, because of the presence of weeds throughout the leaves themselves--will they actually die out or will this just protect them and make them near impossible to destroy later?
We also painted those chairs again. The first time there were some grains of sand and so forth stuck to them by the end, so we (oddly enough) sanded them down a bit to repaint them. They'll get some finishing touches later this week, after which we await Christian's completion of a couple of nice outdoor tables (and some warmer evening weather) so we can eat outside ^^
Not too much else on the agenda today; I didn't end up going for a bike ride, but at least the tires are now inflated, so we can use them when we want. I'd tried to repair the pump, and succeeded with my twine-and-tape repairs, but the thing still wasn't sturdy enough to inflate the tires all that quickly. They were inflated by Kenny, the love (fiancé?) of Élodie (sp?) [who is in turn the daughter of Christian], when the two visited this weekend.
Also this weekend, we had twelve Canadians staying here. They're accents are nasally, and even my hosts had trouble understanding their French. That's pretty much all I've got to say about the Canadians.
Wasn't able to make it to church yesterday, so it rained. Alright, maybe the relationship between the two facts isn't causal, but it did in fact rain all day yesterday. All day. No lie. Chez Jacques, one of Christian's friends (whom he's known for 40 years or so?), the road was washed out and his tools (he's also doing some serious renovations) were drenched and caught in the torrential flood. Further evidence for the law that torrents will be the end of it all. (Don't get it? Ask someone under 25. Still don't get it? Google's easy, you lazy bum.)
I'm not sure I've anything else much to write about just now. Maybe the next post will even have those character descriptions.
TTFN!
Oh, PS, there're fresh photos uploaded to Google Web Albums as of this morning or yesterday or some otherwise recent time.
Today we helped coat the garden in leaves so as to block out weeds and allow only the garden plants light. I don't know how well this'll work out, though, because of the presence of weeds throughout the leaves themselves--will they actually die out or will this just protect them and make them near impossible to destroy later?
We also painted those chairs again. The first time there were some grains of sand and so forth stuck to them by the end, so we (oddly enough) sanded them down a bit to repaint them. They'll get some finishing touches later this week, after which we await Christian's completion of a couple of nice outdoor tables (and some warmer evening weather) so we can eat outside ^^
Not too much else on the agenda today; I didn't end up going for a bike ride, but at least the tires are now inflated, so we can use them when we want. I'd tried to repair the pump, and succeeded with my twine-and-tape repairs, but the thing still wasn't sturdy enough to inflate the tires all that quickly. They were inflated by Kenny, the love (fiancé?) of Élodie (sp?) [who is in turn the daughter of Christian], when the two visited this weekend.
Also this weekend, we had twelve Canadians staying here. They're accents are nasally, and even my hosts had trouble understanding their French. That's pretty much all I've got to say about the Canadians.
Wasn't able to make it to church yesterday, so it rained. Alright, maybe the relationship between the two facts isn't causal, but it did in fact rain all day yesterday. All day. No lie. Chez Jacques, one of Christian's friends (whom he's known for 40 years or so?), the road was washed out and his tools (he's also doing some serious renovations) were drenched and caught in the torrential flood. Further evidence for the law that torrents will be the end of it all. (Don't get it? Ask someone under 25. Still don't get it? Google's easy, you lazy bum.)
I'm not sure I've anything else much to write about just now. Maybe the next post will even have those character descriptions.
TTFN!
Oh, PS, there're fresh photos uploaded to Google Web Albums as of this morning or yesterday or some otherwise recent time.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Short, Sweet, Simple
Congratulations! Today's the shortest update you've had yet!
Today, as we seem to do most days, we did some weeding, though today we worked both in the garden and on the paths to the guest rooms. We also put up some solid wood fence posts with chicken wire between them to keep the--you guessed it--chickens out of the garden. Also, I helped Christian a bit with the small water fall he made for the pond. We did a couple of other small things, but nothing really noteworthy work-wise. After we were more or less done for the day we went to Sainte Alvère to stop by the cafe briefly, but we didn't run into anyone we know today.
Yesterday we did a ton of weeding around the pool and helped Christian haul some massive stones to the flower beds near the pond so we could add to them. We also loaded up the tractor with a ton of nice soil from the compost heap--Christian has the whole town of Sainte Alvère dump their yard waste in the lot across the street (which is down a slope, so it doesn't look like a mess) and takes his soil from there. In the evening we watched a classic French film, and I tried to work--really, I did!--but to no avail.
Tomorrow, if there's nothing too exciting to write about, I'll try to do some character development (or other exposition) for you, to let you know what it's like here more generally than my daily activities.
A Demain.
Today, as we seem to do most days, we did some weeding, though today we worked both in the garden and on the paths to the guest rooms. We also put up some solid wood fence posts with chicken wire between them to keep the--you guessed it--chickens out of the garden. Also, I helped Christian a bit with the small water fall he made for the pond. We did a couple of other small things, but nothing really noteworthy work-wise. After we were more or less done for the day we went to Sainte Alvère to stop by the cafe briefly, but we didn't run into anyone we know today.
Yesterday we did a ton of weeding around the pool and helped Christian haul some massive stones to the flower beds near the pond so we could add to them. We also loaded up the tractor with a ton of nice soil from the compost heap--Christian has the whole town of Sainte Alvère dump their yard waste in the lot across the street (which is down a slope, so it doesn't look like a mess) and takes his soil from there. In the evening we watched a classic French film, and I tried to work--really, I did!--but to no avail.
Tomorrow, if there's nothing too exciting to write about, I'll try to do some character development (or other exposition) for you, to let you know what it's like here more generally than my daily activities.
A Demain.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Two Asses and Two Americans
Before I get started today, a brief reminder that I have photos posted on Google (new ones should be posted within a few hours) and that you can find the link to this album in the navigation bar to the left. Alright, in the past I left of with...
Le Train en Retard
Arriving in Bordeaux, good fortune having allowed me to be awake upon arrival, I had roughly...negative four minutes before my next train left. I ran across to the appropriate platform, but was unsure if I had the right train or not. All the same, my few seconds of hesitation had already made it impossible to catch the train. The trains stay at each stop for no more than 10 or 15 minutes, and that's pushing it, so I've no idea how people avoid missing stops so successfully.
Fortunately my brain functions were sufficiently French to find out when the next train heading this way left and to get myself on that train. In the interim I managed to find an ATM and buy a phone card, both tasks I'd failed to accomplish in Paris because of my rush. Walking through the town, one notes the great abundance of cheap hotels and showgirl dives in in proximity to the train station--someone's making money on stalled voyagers.
Le Buisson - J'Attends
So we pull up to this tiny train station that's really more of a building next to the tracks, and I hop out because, hey, even if it doesn't look like much, it's got the right name. Jumping down onto the gravel, I make my way across to the building, empty except for a small pottery shop with someone working.
There's no one around. Two or three other people dismounted at Le Buisson, but their rides were already there or arrived within minutes. I wandered back and forth in front of the station, trying not to seem too strange to the people socializing in the cafe across the street at the end of the day. The phone card, with which I had no luck in Bordeaux, continues its refusal to cooperate, and I resort to my cell phone, however horrific that rate may be in Europe.
Pascale answers. She thought I was showing up tomorrow. Apparently my brain wasn't working all that well when I left my message from Bordeaux. (She later told me that, when she got that message, she thought my French wasn't all that great and that these would be an interesting six weeks.) "Someone" will come pick me up now.
La Belge
A tiny car--the kind you'd be hard pressed to find in the states, but which is at least as common as a cockroach in Europe--rocks up with an older guy and a girl my age inside. Christian, I discover his name to be, helps me load my bags in the car, and introduces me to Caley, the Belgian. We head through the dark, winding, wooded country roads at a speed that might not break your neck, but will certainly appear ready to do so on such roads as these.
We arrive. Getting out of the car in front of the lower level, Christian helps me move my stuff into one of the guest rooms here and we head upstairs to greet the others.
I'm tired. I'm understanding more than I realise, but I want to sleep. I don't want to talk. I give them a lot of blank stares in the kitchen. Pascale and one of their friends were waiting for us. I can't even handle (in a French-socially acceptable way) an introduction to this other woman.
Pascale saves me, "Tu es fatigué?" I think he's tired. He wants to sleep, n'est-ce pas? Fetching some sheets and leading me back downstairs, she has me move my stuff into the other, perhaps smaller, bedroom, lets me know what's going on, and leaves me to go to sleep.
Some parting words (in French, of course), "You can sleep as you want tomorrow, and work can wait two or three days if necessary, because of the jet lag and all that."
My first night in France, settled in at Le Falgueyret, I slept sixteen hours.
...
Trois Journées Cette Semaine
I'll never keep up with this journal if I can't keep it up to date. Fortunately it should be totally caught up by the end of the week, so long as I update it daily. For your sakes, I hope the entries get a little shorter, but this journal is also for me (I'd hate to have to start another--way too much effort): entries will be as long as they need to be to help me remember all this in the future. So there.
Sunday I went to Mass. Church is sad here. Kelly and I were the youngest people in there, but that fact doesn't really tell the whole story. France used to be almost entirely Catholic, but now (I get the impression that) it's mostly atheist, maybe agnostic. I don't really care so much what people believe, so long as they believe in something, but I know, based on my experiences with the Church in the States, that there is so much good that can come from a strong, vibrant Catholic (or otherwise religious) community.
The next youngest person in the mass must've been at least 50--everyone was gray-haired and probably had multiple grandchildren. Mass in many of the communities involves a roving priest, who says the Mass in a different town each week. Le Bugue, which is more populous than many of the small towns in the area, seems to have weekly masses, but in such a sad state: the 130 year-old stone church (picture your classical gorgeous European stone church, age it a bit, and you're probably there; I'll try to get a picture sometime) could've held a few hundred people but held no more than 50 (at the most) this Sunday.
Apparently, some priests in the past became personally wealthy by the Church, putting many of the French off the Church. What's really disappointing, though, is the lack of energy. I understand it may be difficult to keep up the effort after years in such a depressing scenario, but the priest that said our mass (Peace be with him) lacked all of the energy that would've helped attract a younger crowd. Moreover, after mass there was little mingling of the community, and the priest wasn't even present for what little did occur. All in all, pretty disheartening.
...
Y'know, I can't remember what else we did on Sunday, but I'll share a bit about Monday and today to bridge the gap. (I know you just want me to keep going!)
...
Today was fairly tame: we painted some metal chairs green (yesterday we painted them with some anti-rust product), cleared the yard a bit, and weeded some of the pathways most used by guests. Not too bad as far as a day's work goes. We managed to stop by the market at Le Bugue also, and I picked up some delicious-snack-whose-name-I've-forgotten for two Euros during our wanderings.
The highlight, if we can call it that, was when Christian left for Sainte Alvère (a small town the opposite direction of Le Bugue). Before he left he asked me to get the donkeys out of the field (apparently they can eat themselves to death), because they'd been out there too long. All by my onesies I managed to get them out of the field, without harnesses or anything, but just by calling out to them. In French, of course, because they're French donkeys.
...
The other bit to explain the title of today's post: turns out the Belgian Caley is in fact an American, Kelly. Christian thought I'd talk to her in English if I knew she was from the states. We watched "Doctor Who" together last night and spoke some English then, but that's the only time so far. It was hard not to say stuff in French that came to mind, too.
...
Now that's it for the day. Maybe some photos before I sleep. Tomorrow I'll be doing laundry, but I don't know what else.
Hope everything's going well the other side of the pond.
A +
Le Train en Retard
Arriving in Bordeaux, good fortune having allowed me to be awake upon arrival, I had roughly...negative four minutes before my next train left. I ran across to the appropriate platform, but was unsure if I had the right train or not. All the same, my few seconds of hesitation had already made it impossible to catch the train. The trains stay at each stop for no more than 10 or 15 minutes, and that's pushing it, so I've no idea how people avoid missing stops so successfully.
Fortunately my brain functions were sufficiently French to find out when the next train heading this way left and to get myself on that train. In the interim I managed to find an ATM and buy a phone card, both tasks I'd failed to accomplish in Paris because of my rush. Walking through the town, one notes the great abundance of cheap hotels and showgirl dives in in proximity to the train station--someone's making money on stalled voyagers.
Le Buisson - J'Attends
So we pull up to this tiny train station that's really more of a building next to the tracks, and I hop out because, hey, even if it doesn't look like much, it's got the right name. Jumping down onto the gravel, I make my way across to the building, empty except for a small pottery shop with someone working.
There's no one around. Two or three other people dismounted at Le Buisson, but their rides were already there or arrived within minutes. I wandered back and forth in front of the station, trying not to seem too strange to the people socializing in the cafe across the street at the end of the day. The phone card, with which I had no luck in Bordeaux, continues its refusal to cooperate, and I resort to my cell phone, however horrific that rate may be in Europe.
Pascale answers. She thought I was showing up tomorrow. Apparently my brain wasn't working all that well when I left my message from Bordeaux. (She later told me that, when she got that message, she thought my French wasn't all that great and that these would be an interesting six weeks.) "Someone" will come pick me up now.
La Belge
A tiny car--the kind you'd be hard pressed to find in the states, but which is at least as common as a cockroach in Europe--rocks up with an older guy and a girl my age inside. Christian, I discover his name to be, helps me load my bags in the car, and introduces me to Caley, the Belgian. We head through the dark, winding, wooded country roads at a speed that might not break your neck, but will certainly appear ready to do so on such roads as these.
We arrive. Getting out of the car in front of the lower level, Christian helps me move my stuff into one of the guest rooms here and we head upstairs to greet the others.
I'm tired. I'm understanding more than I realise, but I want to sleep. I don't want to talk. I give them a lot of blank stares in the kitchen. Pascale and one of their friends were waiting for us. I can't even handle (in a French-socially acceptable way) an introduction to this other woman.
Pascale saves me, "Tu es fatigué?" I think he's tired. He wants to sleep, n'est-ce pas? Fetching some sheets and leading me back downstairs, she has me move my stuff into the other, perhaps smaller, bedroom, lets me know what's going on, and leaves me to go to sleep.
Some parting words (in French, of course), "You can sleep as you want tomorrow, and work can wait two or three days if necessary, because of the jet lag and all that."
My first night in France, settled in at Le Falgueyret, I slept sixteen hours.
...
Trois Journées Cette Semaine
I'll never keep up with this journal if I can't keep it up to date. Fortunately it should be totally caught up by the end of the week, so long as I update it daily. For your sakes, I hope the entries get a little shorter, but this journal is also for me (I'd hate to have to start another--way too much effort): entries will be as long as they need to be to help me remember all this in the future. So there.
Sunday I went to Mass. Church is sad here. Kelly and I were the youngest people in there, but that fact doesn't really tell the whole story. France used to be almost entirely Catholic, but now (I get the impression that) it's mostly atheist, maybe agnostic. I don't really care so much what people believe, so long as they believe in something, but I know, based on my experiences with the Church in the States, that there is so much good that can come from a strong, vibrant Catholic (or otherwise religious) community.
The next youngest person in the mass must've been at least 50--everyone was gray-haired and probably had multiple grandchildren. Mass in many of the communities involves a roving priest, who says the Mass in a different town each week. Le Bugue, which is more populous than many of the small towns in the area, seems to have weekly masses, but in such a sad state: the 130 year-old stone church (picture your classical gorgeous European stone church, age it a bit, and you're probably there; I'll try to get a picture sometime) could've held a few hundred people but held no more than 50 (at the most) this Sunday.
Apparently, some priests in the past became personally wealthy by the Church, putting many of the French off the Church. What's really disappointing, though, is the lack of energy. I understand it may be difficult to keep up the effort after years in such a depressing scenario, but the priest that said our mass (Peace be with him) lacked all of the energy that would've helped attract a younger crowd. Moreover, after mass there was little mingling of the community, and the priest wasn't even present for what little did occur. All in all, pretty disheartening.
...
Y'know, I can't remember what else we did on Sunday, but I'll share a bit about Monday and today to bridge the gap. (I know you just want me to keep going!)
...
Today was fairly tame: we painted some metal chairs green (yesterday we painted them with some anti-rust product), cleared the yard a bit, and weeded some of the pathways most used by guests. Not too bad as far as a day's work goes. We managed to stop by the market at Le Bugue also, and I picked up some delicious-snack-whose-name-I've-forgotten for two Euros during our wanderings.
The highlight, if we can call it that, was when Christian left for Sainte Alvère (a small town the opposite direction of Le Bugue). Before he left he asked me to get the donkeys out of the field (apparently they can eat themselves to death), because they'd been out there too long. All by my onesies I managed to get them out of the field, without harnesses or anything, but just by calling out to them. In French, of course, because they're French donkeys.
...
The other bit to explain the title of today's post: turns out the Belgian Caley is in fact an American, Kelly. Christian thought I'd talk to her in English if I knew she was from the states. We watched "Doctor Who" together last night and spoke some English then, but that's the only time so far. It was hard not to say stuff in French that came to mind, too.
...
Now that's it for the day. Maybe some photos before I sleep. Tomorrow I'll be doing laundry, but I don't know what else.
Hope everything's going well the other side of the pond.
A +
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Je me trouve encore en France
A brief summary to begin.
Last summer a couple of my friends, namely Josh McLaurin and Daniel Jordan, discovered a wonderful little organisation known as WWOOF: World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. Following a study abroad trip to New Zealand, they passed some time in New Zealand and Australia with a couple of WWOOF hosts and came back with some wonderful stories and photos to share. These two gentlemen provided me the inspiration to travel this summer with WWOOF.
But enough of the name-dropping, what does WWOOF do? WWOOF seeks to connect organic farmers with volunteers, providing with membership access to the list of hosts to visit. With a variety of national organisations and a central site for the remainder of the hosts, one can travel the world with WWOOF. For 3 to 6 hours of help each day, WWOOFers receive room and boarding, which makes for some very affordable language immersion.
So here's the plan for me this summer: stay in France from 13 May through 25 June, spend a few days catching up with myself in Florida, and move on to Japan the 1st of July to spend a full six weeks there.
Le Voyage Commence
At about 4 00 in the morning, 12 May, I wake up to the unpleasantness of an alarm. The presence of Ashley, though, successfully countered the early morning attack, enough so that I was able to get up and get processed to arrive at the airport by 5 40 or so.
Everything went smoothly at the airport, as things usually do, we had our goodbyes--my family (less Mum, as she'd already left for South Africa), Ashley, and I--and I was off like a bolt. Such a hurry, of course, so that I could wait eight hours at Dulles in DC for my flight to Paris. The wait wasn't all that interesting, and neither was the subsequent flight.
Alors, J'Arrive à Paris
For a city as well known as Paris, the airport is inevitably pretty decent, but Charles De Gaulle was fantastic. No problems with customs or passport control: I don't know if French made the difference, but I simply said, "Bonjour," and they stamped my passport and sent me on my way. I picked up my bags, already tired at the start of my day (having arrived at seven in the morning), and sought the train station to figure out how the heck to get to Le Buisson from Paris.
I wasted a good deal of time contemplating the ticket machines and waiting in line to speak to real people at the train station, but eventually bought my ticket from Paris - Montparnasse to Le Buisson. Of course, I then had to get to Montparnasse, but the ticket machine for the Métro didn't like my Wachovia card (even though it accepts Visa), so I had to return to the line to buy my ticket from a sales rep (for whom my card worked perfectly).
[As an aside, I determined after the fact that my bank did the exchange at 1.55 USD per Euro--my but the dollar's gotten weak. Remember when it was that to the British pound? International fees weren't too bad, either.]
A nice British woman on the train with her kid(s?) gave me advice as to where to get off on the Métro to find Montparnasse (because there's no direct connexion from the aeroport). Changing stations at Châtlet--and having explained to me like a simpleton that my bag had to pass before me to get through the gates, because my brain was not yet functioning well in French and I was ever so tired--I found Montparnasse and waited again but managed not to have too many problems finding my train. On the train I kept falling asleep, and I was afraid I'd miss my stop, but I made it to Bordeaux for my connexion without any other problems.
...
Le Présent
On the less lit first floor, I sit at my computer, itching to get up and go to bed, writing for you. Still, I think you've probably had enough of my droning on and on for now, so I'll get to sleep and recount more for you tomorrow.
Bonne nuit!
Last summer a couple of my friends, namely Josh McLaurin and Daniel Jordan, discovered a wonderful little organisation known as WWOOF: World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. Following a study abroad trip to New Zealand, they passed some time in New Zealand and Australia with a couple of WWOOF hosts and came back with some wonderful stories and photos to share. These two gentlemen provided me the inspiration to travel this summer with WWOOF.
But enough of the name-dropping, what does WWOOF do? WWOOF seeks to connect organic farmers with volunteers, providing with membership access to the list of hosts to visit. With a variety of national organisations and a central site for the remainder of the hosts, one can travel the world with WWOOF. For 3 to 6 hours of help each day, WWOOFers receive room and boarding, which makes for some very affordable language immersion.
So here's the plan for me this summer: stay in France from 13 May through 25 June, spend a few days catching up with myself in Florida, and move on to Japan the 1st of July to spend a full six weeks there.
Le Voyage Commence
At about 4 00 in the morning, 12 May, I wake up to the unpleasantness of an alarm. The presence of Ashley, though, successfully countered the early morning attack, enough so that I was able to get up and get processed to arrive at the airport by 5 40 or so.
Everything went smoothly at the airport, as things usually do, we had our goodbyes--my family (less Mum, as she'd already left for South Africa), Ashley, and I--and I was off like a bolt. Such a hurry, of course, so that I could wait eight hours at Dulles in DC for my flight to Paris. The wait wasn't all that interesting, and neither was the subsequent flight.
Alors, J'Arrive à Paris
For a city as well known as Paris, the airport is inevitably pretty decent, but Charles De Gaulle was fantastic. No problems with customs or passport control: I don't know if French made the difference, but I simply said, "Bonjour," and they stamped my passport and sent me on my way. I picked up my bags, already tired at the start of my day (having arrived at seven in the morning), and sought the train station to figure out how the heck to get to Le Buisson from Paris.
I wasted a good deal of time contemplating the ticket machines and waiting in line to speak to real people at the train station, but eventually bought my ticket from Paris - Montparnasse to Le Buisson. Of course, I then had to get to Montparnasse, but the ticket machine for the Métro didn't like my Wachovia card (even though it accepts Visa), so I had to return to the line to buy my ticket from a sales rep (for whom my card worked perfectly).
[As an aside, I determined after the fact that my bank did the exchange at 1.55 USD per Euro--my but the dollar's gotten weak. Remember when it was that to the British pound? International fees weren't too bad, either.]
A nice British woman on the train with her kid(s?) gave me advice as to where to get off on the Métro to find Montparnasse (because there's no direct connexion from the aeroport). Changing stations at Châtlet--and having explained to me like a simpleton that my bag had to pass before me to get through the gates, because my brain was not yet functioning well in French and I was ever so tired--I found Montparnasse and waited again but managed not to have too many problems finding my train. On the train I kept falling asleep, and I was afraid I'd miss my stop, but I made it to Bordeaux for my connexion without any other problems.
...
Le Présent
On the less lit first floor, I sit at my computer, itching to get up and go to bed, writing for you. Still, I think you've probably had enough of my droning on and on for now, so I'll get to sleep and recount more for you tomorrow.
Bonne nuit!
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