Christmas Away from Home

It is finished. The event that every exchange student kind of hmm’s about before his exchange, saying “hmm, I wonder what Christmas is going to be like away from my family, in a new country, with strangers?” Mine, in fact, turned out to be great.

Great may not be the correct word to use though, but this whole experience has been so semi surreal, aka it hasn’t felt exactly like Christmas, and since nothing bad happened, I ate to my hearts content and didn’t start balling when I talked to my parents, I will say it was great. I say it didn’t feel like Christmas because it really didn’t. Probably because what I view as Christmas, the tradition and celebration that my family and I celebrate and remember each year, is really the only Christmas I know. Sure I know that around December each year lots of people put up Christmas lights and buy lots of presents, which didn’t change when I came here. But the real festivities that let me know it’s Christmas, with my family and my mom’s food and my friends, didn’t come with me this year. The reason for Christmas, Christ’s birth, was still celebrated, but it didn’t feel like it was supposed to, as it didn’t feel like what I was used to. Welp, here’s to growing up.

Now, after my meager attempt at philosophical wanderings, onto the concrete, what I actually did for Christmas, or more specifically, the weekend surrounding Christmas.

Saturday night I went over to Paul’s house (this is the final time I’m explaining who he is, the Kiwi, from the church, who went on a rotary exchange 9 years ago) because his brother just came in, who is my age. We drank some good Trappist beer and talked for a while, and then in true French fashion, Paul, his brother John-O, Garth (Australian) and Danielle (Paul’s girlfriend) left to eat at around 9:30. We went to a pretty typical French restaurant where I had duck, mmm I love duck. We had a great time talking over the funny live French acoustic musician and inhaling loads of smoke. That in fact isn’t sarcastic, we did have a great time. I will probably be hanging out with Paul’s brother more over break, as he is my age and Paul will be working. He is really cool so it should work out pretty nicely.

Christmas eve I met up with Victor and his brother and sister while they were finishing up some last minute shopping. They are really nice, and we went to a café for a long time talking over vin chaud (also known as gluhwine or mulledwine) and spiced beer for Christmas. I made it home just in time to throw on my suit and speedily walk to the Church where we were attending mass. I walk by it all the time when I go to the closest metro, and I had never peeked inside, but the inside is beautifully designed with whitewashed walls and tall arches, so it was a good place to have Christmas eve mass. It was the “kids service” so the kids sang a lot of songs. I tried really hard to pay attention but it’s hard when there’s a large mass of stone blocking your view of the priest and there are tons of people around. I enjoyed it, but I prefer a little calmer service like at Discovery. I then proceeded to the apartment where I ate one of the biggest meals of my life. First though we drank champagne (Cristal to be exact, aka 150 Euro bottle) and opened presents. Crazy Europeans decided they would do that on Christmas eve, but I think it makes it lose some of the charm, not really having to wait and kind of just opening them all at once and eating. But the food was amazing. We had coquilles saint-jacques (seafood in shells, I don’t really know how to explain it), followed by chapon (basically a big, good, chicken) with stuffing, potatoes with I think walnuts or something of the sort, then a enormous amount of cheese of all types, topped off by an excessively rich raspberry cake that I had helped my host mom make earlier in the day. Coupled with all the wine I drank, saying I slept well would be an understatement.

For Christmas lunch we went over to my host grandparent’s apartment (who I forgot to mention ate with us on Christmas eve) to have probably the most filling meal of my life. My host mom is from the Alsace-Lorraine region of France (so basically Germany), and therefore she made the traditional alsacian dish of sauerkraut topped with sausages, salami, and smoked meat. All of this is put on a gigantic platter then brought out and put on a heating pad, so it stays nice and warm for seconds and thirds. Definitely one of my favorite dishes, ever. Along with the meal we drank amazing wine, starting with wine from Alsace (which is sweeter white wine) then moving along to a 1988 bottle from Bordeaux and a 1975 bottle from Bourgogne (the wine, as my host grandpa explained to me, was Napoleon’s favorite, and he never went anywhere without a bottle). Against all odds, the meal only got better, because the cheese we ate was Muenster (my hands down, favorite cheese, and no not “muenster” like you get at Safeway, but real honest to goodness Muenster) and the dessert was bûche de noël (a ice cream type log cake) and little éclairs, all washed down with lovely expresso. I honestly didn’t consider moving after we ate. Alas my resolve was not strong enough, as later in the evening I went to see James Bond with my host family. Afterwards we went to this fancy pants restaurant type place and grabbed a drink, where I had Bailey’s, yummy. And that was the end of Christmas.

Today I got up around 8 to get ready to go to Disneyland Paris/go look for my package. Turns out my package never found it’s way to the post office like the nice lady on the telephone said it would, so I still do not have my Christmas presents from my parents L. Although my day made up for the disappointment in the morning, as Disneyland Paris was extremely fun but extremely cold. It was for the birthday of my friend Guillaume’s girlfriend Marine (who is also my friend), another couple I didn’t really know, and Victor. As Victor woke up late then forgot his wallet, I was left as the 5th wheel for the first while which was not that fun. When Victor came things started looking up, and the day turned out to be a success, with lots of rides ridden and lots of laughs had. I’m really glad I went, as the smile on my face in the pictures attest to.


Merry Christmas to you all!!

Brent

I read an amazing editorial about Christmas last night in the Wall Street Journal, which you can find here http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=65000827 , read it. That’s a command.

4 Months Woot Woot

Well I made it 4 months, despite the best efforts of my school, and couldn’t be happier. I’m just so content right now to be here, especially since Christmas vacation started today.

This last week was great. On Wednesday I went out to coffee with Nikki (who did an exchange to France a few years ago and just graduated from the American University in Paris) which was just as fun as the last time we had coffee. Some more criticizing the French took place, more recollections from high school (as she went to FCHS), and just an all around great discussion. Thanks Nikki!

There was a concert at my school Thursday, and Victor was singing a Jack Johnson song accompanied by another friend Julian on the guitar, so at lunch we went to Julian’s apartment to eat and for them to practice. I found my new favorite thing to buy at a French supermarket, which I will use often if I ever live in Paris without a nice host mom to cook me dinner, which are 2 croque monsieurs (grilled ham and cheese sandwiches) that are ready to fry on a poêle (pan), for less than 2 euros! They were surprisingly good and filling, although the ham inside was a bit cold, but that says more about my lack of cooking abilities than anything else. Regardless, they were amazing. That night they played at the concert, which was really fun, as there were all types of music that were played, from their acoustic guitar stuff to jazz piano to “afrostralian” music with a djembe and dijoridoos (sp?). Afterwards about 5 of us went to a café, which was fun, although my coat then reeked of smoke, as French café filled with people=smoke chamber. But after we had a semi-Christmas dinner with my host mom’s aunt and uncle where we ate things that I don’t know the name of but were good. Being French, the dinner lasted for 2 hours, so I was a little bloated/tired by the end.

Last night as well was superb. Victor and I just chilled at one of his friend’s house Eva, who went to school with him before he switched schools. I ate way too much spaghetti as her brother served me a ridiculous amount because the noodles were all stuck together, but it was fun to just hang out at someone’s house without feeling awkward, and I learned lots of fun French slang, not all of which is appropriate.

Overall, I’m doing great, although through the coordinated efforts of the French postal service and myself, the package my parents sent bearing my 3 normal Christmas gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, was not delivered/picked up, so I will be receiving my presents hopefully Tuesday as a Boxing Day present.

Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve and it doesn’t feel like it at all. Maybe because we don’t have a tree up or anything representing Christmas at all, or maybe it’s because there’s no snow, or maybe just because my Grandma’s not at my house constantly baking mouthwatering goodness (well she is doing that, just not at my current residence).

But spend time with your families, eat to your hearts content, drink lots of sparkling apple cider, and be thankful for what God has given you, and what he gave us in the form of His Son. Enjoy this time; love and appreciate those around you, as you’ll never know how much they mean until they (or you) are gone.

Joyeux Noël,

Brent

 

Hey errrrbody.

If you want to see some pictures from 2 weekends ago/some artsy pictures i've taken/jacked with go here

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2000259&l=40446&id=1076310089

and here

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2000293&l=39c10&id=1076310089

enjoy! 

Best Week Ever

Okay, maybe that’s an overstatement, but I did have a pretty great week.

I got put in some new classes with the Premieres (Junior year) which I like a lot. I have two more hours of history/geography on Mondays with the teacher I really like, but last Monday we only ended up having one hour. This was because my teacher went to a union meeting about a strike that took place today during the second hour of class, which was ironic because we spent the first hour debating the pros/cons of striking. Oooh the French…

The weekdays went by without much drama or incident, which was relieving. Friday was a great end to the week, as me, Victor and Gabriel went to a pub, had a pint, and saw Casino Royale. In the last couple weeks I’ve really been feeling my spoken French improve a lot, as it becomes easier to speak with ease without concentrating on each word I want to say. I then went to a party for an hour or so at this guy’s apartment from my church, wasn’t too exciting and I was tired so I left.

A sound I’ve learned to detest woke me up Saturday morning to remind me that I had to play handball for two hours. My abs and legs still hurt. That night there was a White Elephant gift exchange with the church (well not exactly white elephant, as the gifts were between 10-15 Euros). As I’m accustomed to White Elephant=Useless gifts, I made the solid purchase of a Czech-French dictionary as my present, and started to feel bad for whoever was going to get my present as presents were unwrapped such as coffee cups, automatic wine openers, etc. But all turned out well in the end, as I was not stabbed or wounded for bringing said gift, and I came home with Martini, so I think I came out ahead in the end.

I finally stopped putting off visiting the Eiffel tower on Sunday. I took a nice walk and some fun artsy pictures. Also, there was this big market right below the tower that was selling produce from regions all over France, so I took advantage (profiter as the French say) of many free samples of wine, beer, and cheese. I parted with 2 bottles of wine headed for an extremely enjoyable home group, where we all pitched in and cooked scrumptious Jamie Oliver Risotto (I was on chopping mozzarella/celery duty, along with figuring out how to properly cut chicken and feeling like an inadequate human being) and had a predictably amazing conversation.

Today many (but unfortunately not all) French teachers were on strike, so I only had school from 10-12. After my 2 hours of math that felt more like 3, some friends and I ate and then went to a movie.

Life is good. Christmas vacation starts Saturday. Therefore 2 weeks of goodness (although I’m not going with Rick on the “supervacation” because his Rotary won’t let him). My math teacher was talking today about how we’re basically halfway through the school year, which makes me happy and sad because A) school gets annoying but B) I am just starting to really enjoy myself here. But nevertheless, 2 weeks of vacation, then a month and a half of school, then my first bus trip in France/Spain for a week. Lovely. Lovely. Lovely. I’m so glad I did this and so glad I didn’t get sent home. I’ve already experienced so much that many people never get to do, and still have many more adventures to come.

I love you all. Thanks so much for your support and prayers.

Bisous,

Brent

 

I <3 Paris

No matter how crazy/frustrating/tiring/annoying/long my weeks can be; the weekend seems to always save me. This one did just that.

Not that my week was necessarily awful, but the weekend was especially good so I will quickly recap for those of you who care.

My host mom took me to Montmartre Friday afternoon (=missing my math class) to grab lunch and then go to mass at Sacré Coeur. I had an extremely good quiche with goat cheese, after which we headed up the steps to the Basilica to go to Mass. It was the celebration of the Immaculate Conception, which I learned is more about Mary being born sinless than Jesus being conceived with the Holy Spirit, which I never really knew. I actually realized I could learn a lot of French by going to Mass, but that may be a sacrilegious reason for going. In any case, it was a great experience, but I still prefer churches where contact with other humans is important.

That night I went to an Australian guy from the church’s apartment to jam, as he’s a musician and has a cool little set-up in his apartment with guitar and drums. Then I went to the church’s actual service (which is once a month, as opposed to the home groups every week), which was fun and Christmas-y. After we went to an American style restaurant called Indiana where I will be taking my dad when he comes to visit because, although not up to Texas Roadhouse standards, it’s actually pretty good.

Saturday morning I started Handball for P.E., which everyone else in my class has been playing for the last 2 years at least and in which my only experience consists of a couple games in Mr. Wood’s P.E. class, so what I’m saying is I’m not exactly stellar and running hurts my feet.

My feet continued to be pained throughout the day as some of the other exchange students and I got together in Paris and walked basically forever. They are so fun, I love hanging out with them. We got some Starbucks (as is necessitated by the fact that it’s the Christmas season and the Holiday cups are out) and basically walked around. Walking around Paris becomes a lot less humdrum when there are likable people to talk to. That was really fun, and we’re going to try to do more stuff together and see each other more, as for the first 3 months after our welcome weekend we did absolutely nothing together.

Garth (Australian guy) was having a dinner get together esque thing at his house Saturday night, where I consumed amazing soup and cocktails, and met some really nice people. I was super tired coming home and fell asleep on the Métro, missing my stop, but luckily only by one, so I could walk easily back to my house.

This morning I went over to Leo (Brazilian exchange student)’s host family’s apartment to have lunch that he made. His host parents and host brothers are really nice. I got annihilated in a chess game against his little host brother and had my second cocktail in 24 hours made by a Brazilian. A friend of their family who hangs out with Leo every once in a while invited us to go to a Rugby match so we went and it was really fun. It was a pretty big game, with one of the best French clubs versus the best English club. The French team’s colors are pink and blue which I find somewhat humorous, but as no one could really tell a rugby player that he is effeminate for wearing pink, I guess it works out. Rugby is a really exciting sport to watch and the atmosphere in the stadium is awesome. I really enjoyed it.

Then, like all Sunday nights, I went to the home group. Jen and Justin (people whose house we have it at) recently had a baby so a lot of the time was spent ooing and awwwwing over the little creature. Again, like normal, loved the fellowship with friends.

I’m tired and done writing.

I promise next time I’ll try to spice it up a bit. This was probably extremely boring to read.

2 weeks till Christmas. Score.

Cheers,

Brent 

A Weekend Full of Splendor and Grace

Quick recap.

Fri. Champs-Elysées with Tina from American University in Paris. We went to a café with random people she didn’t even know, drank some wine, had good inter-exchange student conversation. Then came more exchange student fun. Brittney (who I hung out on the plane ride with) and Chelsea (who lives in Brittney’s city) were in Paris, so we walked along the Champs-Elysées, talked, saw the Eiffel Tower, and talked some more. I love nothing more than talking to other exchange students, and I had plenty of that this weekend.

Sat. Went to the District Conference for Rotary and saw all the other exchange students I met the first weekend I was here (and hadn’t seen since) which was awesome. Again, talking to exchange students=amazing. We just kind of hung out all day and had to make a little presentation about our view of life in France etc. to the Rotary people. Then after me, Leo (the Brazilian in Paris) and two other girls (Monica and Rebecca, in case anyone is wondering) went to the Champs-Elysées (aka my third time since last Friday), spent lots of time waiting in line at a supermarket for them to buy hair products, then stood in line some more to get some mediocre food at the French impersonation of McDonald’s “Quick” and had a great conversation. After they left I went to a party with some kids from my school at this apartment with a beautiful view of Paris on Montmartre. There was some dancing to be had, and it was pretty fun minus the fact that Victor couldn’t come so I felt semi-awkward. I was really tired so I took off at 11:30. When almost home, 2 girls ran up right behind me and started talking to me, and then asked me if I wanted break French cultural stereotypes (or something to that effect) and come to a party with kids from their school. Knowing that this was extremely random and would probably not happen again, and in light of the fact that I only live once, I decided to go. They told me to tell everyone I was one of the girl’s “correspondent” which worked for a while until I was talking to someone and they asked me where I went to school, and I said Claire (my “correspondent”)’s school, to which she responded “so my school?” Probably half the people at the party thought I was her correspondent, and half knew that they just randomly met me on the street. Everyone was really nice (and uber rich) and I got some of their phone numbers so maybe I’ll actually see them again. But, it was probably the most random thing to have happened to me thus far, and I enjoyed it immensely.

Sun. Brittney and Chelsea were still in town, so I went and met them at the big department stores Printemps and Galeries Lafayette. Chelsea was shopping with another girl, and Brittney’s not really the shopping type so her and I had an amazing time talking and creating a little fun for ourselves in Galeries Lafayette by taking random pictures with mannequins, trying to price obscenely overpriced objects, stealing Christmas stickers from behind the unmanned gift wrap counter, and overall just having a grand ol’ time. So Brittney, if you’re reading this, which you probably will, thanks, I had an amazing time. After they left I went over to Paul (the Kiwi)’s house where we were having home group, as the couple whose house we usually have it at was in the middle of having a baby. After our discussion we went and had sushi, which I guess is the first time I’ve had real sushi apart from eating random California rolls as appetizers at graduation parties. Needless to say, I need to start eating sushi more often.

So basically my weekend was amazing, which made it all the harder to get up for school this morning. But alas, that’s life, and as Tina was telling me, school is going to suck either way so I just need to deal with it, and that school isn’t going to be the thing I look back and remember when this year is over, it’s going to be the weekend’s like this one that I’ll keep forever.

Brent 

I Stay in Frankreich

So just a quick little update on my situation.

First of all thank you so much for anyone who prayed for me, thought about me, offered me encouragement, or helped me bash on the French during this past week and a half. I am so thankful to have people that care about me. I hope you all know how much you mean to me. Now, on to business.

So all went well at the little “conseil de classe” thing with all the teachers. Actually a lot of my teachers actually defended me (including my Philo teacher who was like “why are we grading him, he’s here to learn French”) and one of the class delegates who was in the meeting told me that the professors really didn’t have a problem with me and that the bad talk stuff going on probably just stemmed from rumors and misunderstandings. I guess they actually never even brought up throwing me out during the meeting so that’s good. I figure that means I have at least another trimester guaranteed in France! So I’m just going to keep working at school like I have been and hope that my teachers continue to see that even though my grades in Chemistry probably won’t improve substantially. So all goes well here in the land of Frenchys, except for the fact that I just failed my math test that I actually studied for, so that may not be the best start to the 2nd trimester, but alas, c’est la vie.

3 weeks until Christmas break. Yessssssss. And then the day after Christmas (granted I don’t have a major falling out with my host parents or rotary before then) I will be going on the greatest vacation of my life for two weeks with Rick and his dad. So something exciting to look forward to for little old me.

I love you all. Thanks again for your support!

Brent 

Super Days and Sick Days

Where to begin? Sorry I’ve been pretty unmotivated to write this, but here she goes.

I went and helped at this Food Bank type fundraiser thing on Saturday where we handed out grocery bags and asked people to fill them up with some food for homeless people. It was supposed to be with Rotary but I ended up doing it with a bunch of people from the Lions Club who were really nice so “tant mieux.” I think probably my most fluently spoken French phrase may be “vous souhaitez donner à la Banque Alimentaire?” as I said that probably over 500 times. I also got to see the not so nice side of some Parisians (well, I see that side a lot, but I guess this time it was just more face to face) as I tried to get them to spend maybe 2 or 3 Euros to help out hungry people. I could always tell the business-cash guys in their suits or the ladies with their fur coats were not going to take a bag, because you know, time is money, and who has time for poor people? There was also the one lady who was telling us how sick she is of seeing homeless people on the street. Somewhat ironically, the people that my mind told me were less fortunate by society’s standards were the ones most willing to give, like a lady with a cane who could barely grab the plastic bag we tried to give her because her hand was deformed. I guess it’s nothing to be surprised at, as Jesus didn’t have the greatest opinion of the arrogant rich either. “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

That night there was a big-ol Thanksgiving dinner with Vintage (the church I’ve been getting involved with), so in fact I didn’t miss Thanksgiving this year after all! My night was filled with scrumptious food, fun conversation, and tasty (but strong) wine. As my family doesn’t drink, I’ve never experienced Thanksgiving with wine. Everyone knows how tired turkey makes you, so add a good amount of wine in there and you can imagine how tired I was. I met a girl who goes to the American University in Paris who was an exchange student to France a few years ago, so she was amazing to talk to. There’s kind of just this subtle connection between Rotary exchange students that makes conversation so easy, because you’ve both experienced the same things and can understand each other’s stories. I met a bunch of other people from a bunch of different places, so I’m very pleased to have found (with my mother’s help of course) this little pocket of sanity in this city some like to call Paris.

“Lazy Sunday, wake up in the late afternoon” This phrase has come to describe my Sundays, wake up, eat a good lunch with the host family, kick it, then go to the home group at 6. The home group was relaxing, and that’s exactly what I needed. We prayed for a long time and as I had just been worrying so much about my school and everything I brought my heart rate down a pretty good amount and calmed me down. We also made frozen pizzas and I burnt my mouth, which I guess was the only downer of the night.

The thing I have found that I love about Paris, even though I complain sometimes, is how close it is to everything. As in yesterday, after school, I was still really worried, so I went to Montmartre, got myself some Crêpe, and sat on a bench below Sacré Coeur overlooking Paris. Then I went inside and just had some alone time between me and the big man. If any of you need to clear your mind, go to Sacré Coeur and pray inside. Although that may be varying in cost depending on how far away you live from Paris, I assure you it’s worth it.

I had been kind of getting sick all throughout the weekend, so yesterday was kind of bad just with coughing/running nose etc. For those of you who know me I don’t exactly get sick often, so I’m blaming it on the stress. But, I did get to stay home from school today at the suggestion of my host parents, so that in itself is worth being sick as I most likely would have spent a lot of today at school worrying. I watched Crash, which I really liked, read, fell asleep, had a crazy dream, and have just been kind of hanging out all day. This is up there in the relaxation factor with Sacré Coeur.

Whatever happens on Friday happens Friday and I’m just going to deal with things as they come. This week has been a nice lesson in trust. Trust is one of those funny things that seems so easy to do in theory but is so very hard in practice. Logically, me tearing up my insides worrying about what’s going to happen makes no sense, as by doing that I accomplish nothing. But we all like to be in control (me especially), so it’s hard for us to accept that things are out of our hands, even if the hands in which they are in are much more qualified to handle our situation. Basically it comes down to accepting that God has our best interests in mind, even though it may not seem like it at the time or it’s not exactly what we had in mind, which is one of the hardest things there is to accept. I’ve been repeating a quote over and over in my head, which I am going to leave with you.

Calm thyself, O my soul, so that the divine can act in thee!
Calm thyself, O my soul, so that God is able to repose in thee so that His peace may cover thee!
Søren Kierkegaard

Brent 

Uh…I Pretty Much Have No Idea What To Even Say To Begin To Explain This Week

I guess I’ll give the semi-quick overview. So Monday was good, I didn’t go to Math because I talked to my guidance counselor type guy and thought that he found a French class for me in place of math, so I asked him if I needed to go and he said no. So then Tuesday I get called into the real princpal’s office (basically the Dean of the school that half the students have neither seen nor talked to) and he tells me he doesn’t like how things are going. So he was mad because I didn’t go to math (which turns out was just a big misunderstanding) and about other stuff like how I’m “arrogant” in class etc. Basically just the most ridiculous crap (yes mom, I said it, that’s the only way to explain it) ever, since after my host mom talked to me a month and a half ago I’ve taken notes in all my classes, I never talk during class, and I try to do my homework. So they said they were going to review me with the teachers at this “conseil de classe” majing thingy which is next Friday and decide whether or not I can come back in January. So basically all this week I spent worrying about that, at some points wanting very much to just get sent home to make it all go away (these times were usually in the morning), or really wanting to stay (usually later in the day, like tonight, which I will get to later). So basically I believe I know what it feels like to have a period, but I’m going to go ahead and say my mood swings have been much worse than any period could bring. But I’m not sure, I’ve never experienced that. Anyways…so ya, if you guys could pray that God will just work everything out with this, because I really do want to stay and finish what I started, it’s just things need to be worked out at my school so that there’s an understanding between me and the teachers of what they expect of me etc. This week has definitely been a lesson in patience (while trying to explain myself without yelling to people who didn’t really care what I had to say) and trust (trusting that God’s going to work through whatever happens and me worrying about it is pointless). But anyways that’s the overview. I'm not really as worried as I was earlier this week, as one of my best friends is the class delegate so he's going to stick up for me, my rotary counselor is writing a letter, and this kid at lunch told me he'd go on a hunger strike if i got removed from school. Basically the hunger strike thing relieved my worries.

I actually had a good week apart from all that. On Wednesday I went out to coffee with a girl who goes to the American University in Paris and who was on a Rotary exchange a few years ago. We had a great talk. It’s always good to talk to a former exchange student because they know exactly what you’re going through and are a big help. So if you’re reading this Nikki, thanks. But she went to Kruse, Boltz, and Fort Collins High so it was fun to talk about old teachers and how much better American high school is than French high school. After that I met some Rotary girls who live North of Paris, and we walked around for a while (they were buying food for Thanksgiving) and it was fun to talk to them and see how similarly/differently our exchanges are going.

Yesterday, as you all know, was Thanksgiving. I guess I thought it would be a lot harder and that I would be a lot more homesick, but as no one celebrates it here and everything is decorated for Christmas, it didn’t really feel like I was missing anything until I told Victor about how I should be at my brother’s house, eating monkey bread, playing video games, and being with family. So all you people out there with your families, don’t take it for granted. Like Tyler said in his blog, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone, and I never realized how much my family meant to me until I came here.

This is getting long so I’ll cap her off with today’s events. After school was amazing. Victor, Guillaume, this girl Hélène and I went walking on the Champs Elysées, went and looked around Louis Vuitton and played with toy cars in the Disney Store. Then Victor and I went to visit one of his best friends from his former school, Eva, at her apartment. She was extremely nice and easy to talk to, so it was good to meet her because I’ll probably see her again as her and Victor are really good friends. If there’s one thing I am thankful for here (although there is not just one, but you know what I mean) it would be Victor. He is seriously one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. He is easy to talk to and puts up with my somewhat constant asking of how to say things in French. After Eva’s house we went and got Starbucks (oh man, the Christmas cups are out, and I got a Latte Praliné…uh-mazing) because I had been telling myself I was going to get a Holiday drink sometime as a treat, and I figured since I had an eventful week this was the time. So we got Starbucks (which reminded me of getting coffee with all my friends, and made me somewhat sad), and talked for probably 2 hours. I don’t know what it is, but there’s just people that are awkward to talk to and people that aren’t. Victor is in the “aren’t” section. We had a great discussion, then while getting on the Métro to go home, stopped and watched a performer play acoustic songs for probably about 45 minutes. There was a funny lady that kept dancing, and this guy who took the mic from him and freestyle rapped during “No Woman No Cry.” On the Métro Victor said that this was probably the best night he’s had in a couple months. I couldn’t agree more. So I’ll end with that.

Brent



(the pictures are from Thanksgiving 2 years ago, my my how time flies)

Thanksgiving for the Weekend Before A Thanksgiving I will be Missing

My weekend was super.

Friday: Hung out with Victor and Guillaume after school, which was actually the first Friday I’ve actually hung out with friends (Victor didn’t have Chinese and Guillaume wasn’t with his girlfriend), so it was nice. We went and saw Borat, which made me realize why I am an exchange student, to show French people that not all Americans are ignorant/stupid/narrowminded etc. It was fun to just hang out with them, it felt really comfortable to just be able to joke with them and talk about stuff. So…ya

Saturday: Woke up at 7:20, went to throw the shot put for 2 hours (I pretty much get worse every time I go), came home, ate lunch with my host brother’s girlfriend and parents. Then I took a nap, which is becoming one of my favorite pastimes here. Like some days after school I’ll just come home and read on my bed, then put the book down and pass out for a while. But Saturday’s nap was legitimate and felt really good. It is kind of like my Saturday reward for not being able to sleep in because of sport. But then later that night I went over to Paul’s house (Paul is in the bible study/home group thing, from New Zealand) to watch the All Blacks (no, not all black people, but the New Zealand national Rugby team) play France. He lives with 3 other French people, so it was funny to hear the English cheers for the All Blacks then the French cheers/sighs for the French team. I had never really watched a rugby game before so that was good, but I still think I prefer American football. Paul runs this bike tour company, and he offered to give me a key to one of the bikes they use so I can get it whenever I want and bike around. Score! I had always kind of had this urge to bike around Paris, because walking gets kind of annoying and you can’t get very far. So that makes me happy.

Sunday: Lazy Sunday…wake up in the late afternoon. Well actually my “sleeping in” lasted until 10:35 despite my best efforts, but I added to my overall sleep by taking another nap (this one semi-inadvertently) while reading Harry Potter. I forgot how good those books were. I’m reading the 6th one and am having to ration it so it lasts longer (although I’ll finish in the next day or so). Kind of just hung out all day, then went to the home group at around 5:30. I helped Paul (the kiwi) make fajitas, so we ate well, had some more good beer/orangina/ginger ale (not all together) and a great discussion. They are all the nicest people, and I met some new ones. A guy Garth is from Australia and is hilarious. He is a musician and he was looking for a drummer, and I told him I played but wasn’t exactly amazing, but we are going to jam sometime so that should be fun. And this other guy Gene (but his name isn’t spelt like that, it’s spelt weird like Nd…somethingsomething) who is French.

So in conclusion, the weekend was a success.

I’m going to miss you all this week at Thanksgiving, so make sure to send some love (or turkey/stuffing/cheesy potatoes/monkey bread)

Brent 

Cap, As in Re-Cap

So Sunday was basically amazing. Waking up at 11:35 is just something I feel God is calling me to do more, but I may be reading the signals wrong. Anyways, hung out, got invited by my host parents to go to some Napoleonic mansion outside Paris to look at old porcelain, which I declined. Hung out. Then I left at 5ish to what is probably going to be my beacon of light over these next 5.4ish weeks till Christmas Break (can you tell I’m counting down?).

And this thing is the table group (kind of home/discussion group) with people from the church I went to Friday. There was me and 5 other awesome people, and I was the youngest by probably 9 years as they are all in their late 20s, which is fine by me, balances out all the high schoolers I see daily. I guess when I got there on time Justin/Jen (the people whose house it was at) knew I wasn’t French because, welp, I was on time. I met this awesome guy named Paul who’s from New Zealand who did a Rotary Exchange almost 10 years ago to Switzerland, and now lives in Paris and started a bike tour company with another guy at the church. It was amazing to talk to him, share some stories, and get advice and encouragement. Thank you Rotary for sending so many freaking people every year on exchanges, so at least I’m not as alone as I feel sometimes. But anyways, we drank some wine, some pop, some beer, and talked while the food was being cooked. The three other guys there are so nice and easy to get along with, so I felt perfectly comfortable for one of the few times since I’ve been here. We then ate, and had bible study. It was amazing to just dig into the word again with other people and bounce ideas and thoughts off of each other and get extremely off topic. It reminded me of bible study with Adam, minus all my best friends. Overall it was a great night, and that will be every Sunday night so definitely something to look forward to during the week.

Today, went to school, read a crap load, and just watched the most intense Lost episode probably ever.

Brent 

The Week In Review

Monday and Tuesday sucked. Again, the exchange is a freaking roller coaster, and I knew it was going to be hard after leaving Tyler to go back to school, but I basically just sat through school wondering what I was doing in France.

But alas, you can’t stay homesick forever, so the rest of the week was better. Thanks to Tyler letting me borrow Lost Season 2 I have something to look forward to when I come home at night.

My visa fiasco ended Thursday, which was even better coupled by the fact that I missed a three hour session of Math to go to my medical visit. I also got a sweet X-ray of my lungs (I’ve always kind of wanted an X-ray, I guess I can die happy now)/

Last night was amazing, I went to the Vintage Church in Paris. All the people I met were obscenely friendly and funny, and it was great to have some fellowship again. They have worship once a month (which is what last night was), and then they have home groups every week. It was really just down to earth and nonchurchy in a way I really like, so I will definitely be going back. It was really funny because they meet in this church where they rent out a room, and across the hall the Young Protestants were meeting. It was very ironic from the standpoint of what an American thinks about when he hears Youth Group, but there was beer flowing, wine, people smoking, people dancing on a stage to YMCA (we got invited in to teach them the motions). This guy Justin and I agreed it took Young Life’s outreach to a whole new level, and that if a church in America rented out their church to a youth group and came back finding anything similar to that, they would freak out. Also, Justin made the astute observation that “a lot more of my high school friends would have come to youth group if they’d known there was free beer.”

After me and 3 other guys went and grabbed a beer at “L’academie de la Bière” where I managed to spend 6.80 Euro on a beer (that’s basically the price their beers start at). But I had a great time, and a great discussion with them, and was reassured that everything I’ve been feeling over the past 2.5 months has been normal. Thus, I had an amazing night of fellowship and fun, which I will definitely be taking part in again.

Brent 

Germany

Sorry for the lack of a blog update this week, I just thought I’d keep you all waiting and give you a big ol’ recap today.

This week was basically amazing. I now know that I took for granted what a good friend means and what a meaningful conversation is worth. After being basically alone for two months, and mostly just having friends that are mere acquaintances, a week of kicking it with someone I truly know was just what I needed. I started out the week kind of worrying about what we were going to do the whole week, but I realized that doing nothing with a best friend is a thousand times better than doing something alone. On Sunday we watched 10 episodes of the second season of 24 and a lot of our other leisure time was spent either trying to find something we could understand on TV or eating. But that was more than I could have asked for. Tyler had this practicum thing Monday through Thursday where he worked for this guy until four, so I just slept in and started and finished the 5th Harry Potter. Sometimes Tyler’s host brother Phillipp would come home early from work (who, by the way, is the funniest German ever) and we’d hang out. Phillipp is the coolest kid. He’s so easy to get along with and has basically the same sense of humor as Tyler and I, so it was really fun to have him there. We also went to a party with his friends and played poker with them twice, which was really fun because they are all so funny and very receptive to Tyler and I’s “Americanness.” On Wednesday I got to go a friend’s house who I honestly never thought I would see again. He was an exchange student in Fort Collins two years ago and hung out with us a lot. Turns out the world is small and he lives about 15 minutes from Tyler, so I ate some good food at his house and we had a good talk. Tyler and I also met him for Coffee in Göttingen (about 35 minutes away) and had a great time. It was so good to see him, and he gave me some good advice and observations about this great thing we call an exchange. I’m kind of too lazy to go into specific detail about what we did each day, and you probably don’t have enough patience to read all of it, so I thought I’d just write a little bit. Love you all, and, obviously, something went wrong on the train ride home, as one of my trains was an hour late…awesome, but it wasn’t that bad, I watched 4 episodes of LOST oh my gosh intensity at its finest.

Brent

*we are sad to part :( 

A Joyous Adventure, Joyous Beyond Words

In case you were not aware, Murphy’s Law is universal and the Europeans have adopted it.

But first, the good news. The train ride was pretty uneventful and actually fun. There was a really pretty sunset and I was in a booth thingy with 4 other really cool people (well, I only actually talked to two of them, after the other two got off) but they both live in Paris and talking was a good way to pass the time. We kind of had this weird conversation in French and English, as I started talking to this girl in French, and then there was a Lebanese guy who spoke French, but they both spoke good English, so we’d kind of randomly switch languages and it felt pretty good to be able to use both. Anyways, on to the good stuff.

So my ticket said that I had a direct route to Karlsruhe with no connections, and as on the way back my ticket shows a connection through Strasbourg I didn’t worry about any connections. So we get to the end of the train ride, and although I arrived on time, I arrived in the wrong city. I guess I was supposed to switch in Strasbourg (thanks for the heads up guys) so I was on a train that just went south for an hour and a half to some dumb French city called Mulhouse. Then, I proceeded to wait about an hour for the next train (I just thank God there was a next train) to take me back to Strasbourg (that’s another hour and a half mind you) so I could take the next train to Karlsruhe. I got to Strasbourg at about 1 o’clock, and as 1 AM isn’t exactly the prime takeoff time for trains, I had to wait around till 6:54 for the next train.

As the train man not so kindly informed me, the train station was closing, so I took my backpack and messenger bag and proceeded to embark on an excursion of Strasbourg in the middle of the night. Luckily Turkish restaurants close obscenely late, because I hadn’t eaten really anything since lunch. But alas, the Turkish restaurant wasn’t going to stay open until 6:54, so I had to leave, but the nice man working there let me know there was a Café (aka Bar) that was open till 4 AM. So I went there, grabbed some German beer, and watched the rest of Gangs of New York that I had yet to finish after starting on the train. Again, 4 AM is not 6:54 so I had to figure out what to do after they closed. It was actually a beautiful night, and feeling somewhat supercharged by the presence of my backpacking backpack, I proceeded to sleep for about an hour on the street. Well I guess I laid there for an hour, and probably slept for about half of that. I don’t really understand why it suddenly felt a lot colder when I woke up, but I felt that since the train station was open I should go there (although you can’t lay down at train stations) and try to get some warm sleep. I fell asleep kind of awkwardly on a bench (I’m extremely thankful I can fall asleep pretty much anywhere) until before I had to leave, so that helped the extreme boredom that was beginning to set in.

On the next train (where I am writing this now), the attendant lady tried to tell me that I needed to pay an extra 60 Euros because my train ticket wasn’t valid for the right connection from Karlsruhe to Goettingen (where Tyler is picking me up). Thanks so much to debate and my love of a good argument, I gently informed her (well as gently as can be after the extreme agitation I’ve been feeling about this whole ordeal) of what happened and that I didn’t feel I should have to pay since the reason I missed the right train was because of a screw up on the part of her company. My persuasion (or maybe my exceedingly good looks) succeeded, and she wrote a little note on the back of my ticket so I won’t have to pay when I switch. SCORE! Seriously, if I would have had to pay 60 extra Euros I would have freaked out. But as of right now, I’m watching the sunrise over the German country side and it is beautiful. So I’m content because of that, and also because I’ll be able to make a connection to Goettingen right after I get off this train, so that in total I’ll only be 3 hours late.


It’s Midnight and I’m here, in Hann. Meunden. I didn’t just get here, just haven’t had time yet to post this bad boy. Being reunited with one of my best friends is basically the best thing that could happen at this moment of time. I spent the last 5 minutes of the train ride barely able to control my joy and thus smiling uncontrollably without control. Today was amazing, although slightly uneventful. We walked around Hann. Meunden, which is beautiful and despite all joking, is the European garden of Eden. It’s fall so all the leaves are turning and it was actually really hot today. So Tyler showed me around and we took some pictures (those will come later, as I haven’t loaded them yet). I then took a nap which was supposed to last an hour, but ended up lasting 2 and a half, as either my alarm didn’t go off or I don’t know what. But after 19 hours of travel and maybe 3 hours of sleep, I think a little sleep was warranted. We ate some dinner and had an amazing conversation, then Phillipp (tyler’s host brother) got home from Volleyball and yet another great conversation ensued. I am loving life. More updates later.


Tchuss,

Brent


p.s sorry i tried to post this last night but blogger was down

2 Months + 1 day

Yesterday was 2 months.

Tomorrow I go to Germany.

Welp, that’s basically all that needs to be said.

Brent




















P.S That picture is not recent, my host family did not recently insert a pool in their apartment. Although that would be amazing 

“Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the
One who makes me who I am”

That verse in Philippians somewhat sums up a lot of what I’ve been thinking about and struggling with. Before that Paul says “I’ve learned the secret of being content in any and every situation,” and my biggest struggle here is trying to find that secret of just being content with where I am. I will expand on this with a few examples.

I’ve realized that not many people are content with where they are. This is represented by a lot of conversations I have with people here that go somewhat like this.
Frenchy-“So have you been to New York?”
Me- “I’ve never been to New York City, but I’ve been to New York state”
Frenchy-“There’s a New York State?”
Me-“Uh..ya, it’s pretty big actually”
Frenchy-“Oh well New York is probably the best place in America, I definitely want to move there someday”
My thoughts-“And everyone in New York thinks Paris is the greatest place on earth and probably wants to move there too, but then when you switched you would both realize that you were happier where you started, and living in a city so draped in legend isn’t so great after all”

I guess that just goes along with what I said in an earlier post, about this exchange being a Christmas present. I spent so much time over the past year thinking about and wishing I was in France, all the while neglecting the fact that I was in the present moment living a perfectly happy life in (what I think is) the greatest place in America, and could die at any moment, so me wasting my time on the future was just that, wasting time. We spend so much time looking for that next stage in life, the next best thing, that we forget that nothing in life is guaranteed, not tomorrow, and definitely not next year. I think in order to really end the habit of always living in the future is to practice living in the present in the smaller things in life. Eating a meal and cherishing it as maybe the last meal you’ll ever eat, savoring every bite and being thankful, instead of simply pounding it down to satiate hunger and simply moving on to the day’s next activity. Or, while reading, simply taking in each page, each sentence, without worrying about when the chapter ends or what page you’re on. Only when we’re content with the little aspects of our life can we move on to be content with the overall. I think Gandalf says it best in the Lord of the Rings, "…All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." Or Dumbledore in Harry Potter says it pretty well too, “It does not do to dwell on dreams, Harry, and forget to live.”

I said in my last post that I was a little homesick, which was true. Something random that my host mom said really made me think about that though. She was talking about how it gets annoying to always be cleaning, but then added a disclaimer that she wasn’t complaining, as so many people would give so much to have a nice apartment. Sometimes there are those things that people say that stick out in your mind, that they’ll probably never remember saying, but for some reason stick in your mind. I just started thinking that, although it is normal to miss home, I have absolutely nothing to complain about. At least I have a home to miss, a lot of people I see every day on the streets of Paris don’t even have that.

Last night I went to a big party that everyone in my class (the 30ish kids I spend most of the day with) and it was extremely fun. Being around them outside a school setting was relieving, as they are all so nice and fun to be around. There honestly isn’t one I dislike. There was a lot of dancing, which was really fun, as any song with English (in other words every song) I was expected to sing along to (although I knew less words than they did) because, well, I’m the American kid. But I was sitting there, and it suddenly popped into my head that I wouldn’t have rather been anywhere else. Just being with all these people that are so fun to be around, laughing, dancing, speaking French, being in France, and being in Paris on a beautiful night. I felt a little of what it was to be completely content in my circumstances, although I will admit it’s a lot easier to be content having fun than it is to be content going to high school. But you have to start somewhere!

So sorry if this is a little deeper than you may have expected, it’s just something I’ve been thinking about a lot and wanted to share it with you (plural).

Thanks for listening friends


Brent

P.S I am visiting Tyler in 3 days, although for these next three days I’m going to have to work on being content where I am, and not spend all my time thinking about vacation! 

I Seriously and Honestly Hate Titling These Things

So this week was okay I guess. Paying attention in school is tiring, as evidenced by the fact that I come home and basically fall asleep on my bed while reading most afternoons.

I went to the Sainte-Chapelle on Wednesday which was beautiful. It is the smallish church on Ile de la Cité (the same island as Notre Dame) with the room full of stained glass. It was used in the Middle Ages to hold a ridiculous amount of relics purchased by King Louis IX. I went on a tour with a really funny tour guide so I think that made really interesting, as she explained a lot of the architecture and the hidden meanings behind things. Highly recommended stop for those traveling to Paris, another recommended stop is…

202 Boulevard Malesherbes
Paris, France 75017

…where you can send me some goodies if you feel so led.

The rest of the week was just normal, didn’t do that much. I’m visiting Tyler in 5ish days, can’t wait, as I’m getting a wee bit homesick right about now. This weekend there is this big party that everyone in my class is going to on Saturday night, so that should be fun. I think I’m just gonna make up for all the parties I didn’t go to in high school and see how high I can get my BAC…or actually probably not. But that should be fun to hang out with everyone that I spend all day with outside of class. But tomorrow I have Sport in the morning, so I’ll be signing off right about now, as I’m going to go watch some Arrested Development (aka the greatest show on earth) that some heaven-sent person put on the internet. Thank you putter-of-arrested-development-on-the-internet man/woman, you shall be blessed in the after life.

Brent