Geneviève and Christophe got back from Istanbul and had discovered what they told me was the MOST AMAZING IDEA EVER and that they were going to take it, start making it in France, and become kazillionairs. They say they can't tell me about it, but that we'll eat it for dinner tonight and I will revel in the glory that is this ridiculously inventive idea. They even mention that I might steal the idea and make my own living the the US of A with magical food product.
You know what we had for dinner tonight?
Baked potatoes.
Something about putting other foodstuffs inside of a potato was an amazing and never before thought of idea. I go "we totally do this in America" and they got all depressed.
END!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
No parents + these kids = BAD IDEA.
That's what I thought coming in to this long weekend, and it is what I think coming out of it. We have not had any serious problems (thank god) but Ben can just be such a freaking jerk, and when there is no one with ANY authority (even the little his parents have) in the house, he takes over in his horribly egotistical ways and just crushes the spirit and life force of everyone around him.
Ok, it isn't as bad as all that, but let me just say I am damn happy that the parentals are coming home today.
I miss home. I love here, but I miss home.
I will miss here. I will love home, but I will miss here.
I had a good discussion about the lameness of Ben and Camille sometimes with all four of their grandparents. It was quite gratifying. Then it suddenly changed into a "this is why immigrants suck" talk and I got all firey on them.
Now that the going home time is coming closer and closer I'm getting all unstable again like I did last summer. Am I doing enough here? Am I making the right choice about next year? In any case I can't change anything now even if I wanted to so I am trying to be at peace with my choices. Hampshire will be excellent for me, I just need to trust myself.
I can't wait to talk to my family tonight.
That's what I thought coming in to this long weekend, and it is what I think coming out of it. We have not had any serious problems (thank god) but Ben can just be such a freaking jerk, and when there is no one with ANY authority (even the little his parents have) in the house, he takes over in his horribly egotistical ways and just crushes the spirit and life force of everyone around him.
Ok, it isn't as bad as all that, but let me just say I am damn happy that the parentals are coming home today.
I miss home. I love here, but I miss home.
I will miss here. I will love home, but I will miss here.
I had a good discussion about the lameness of Ben and Camille sometimes with all four of their grandparents. It was quite gratifying. Then it suddenly changed into a "this is why immigrants suck" talk and I got all firey on them.
Now that the going home time is coming closer and closer I'm getting all unstable again like I did last summer. Am I doing enough here? Am I making the right choice about next year? In any case I can't change anything now even if I wanted to so I am trying to be at peace with my choices. Hampshire will be excellent for me, I just need to trust myself.
I can't wait to talk to my family tonight.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
I have been in france for 8 months.
Why am I not completely fluent yet? I don't know. But it's pissing me off.
Things I've been obsessing over lately:
It is finally warm again here.
Re the requests on my last blog. er... french teachers are scary. I will get picture the last week of class (the last week in may) but I can't guarantee that every teacher will cooperate. There might be some incognito missions going down soon. Operation teacher photograph. I need a better name.
Sometimes deciding between two very awkward situations is difficult. Sometimes I really like it too.
I really dislike how everyone lives so far away from each other in france... or at least in small town france. Now that I think about it small town america is probably exactly the same, except for 16 year olds can drive. This is very inconvenient
Why am I not completely fluent yet? I don't know. But it's pissing me off.
Things I've been obsessing over lately:
- Regina Spektor. Amazing. Just freaking amazing. Download, listen, bask in the glory (or wonder why on earth you just followed my directions... she is definitely a love or hate artist)
- Ouverture-facile.com This is a riddle game that is punching me in the face. It requires a little bit of computer skill, but really, just a little. Once you start you will be hard pressed to stop. (I'm on level 30 in english and 7 in french)
- La Bieirie's poulet-curry paninis. Tasty as heck. I wish they were spicy though... mmm... spicy.
- The fact that I am really not going to be able to narrow down the course selection that I have to 4 classes for next semester. Really really not.
It is finally warm again here.
Re the requests on my last blog. er... french teachers are scary. I will get picture the last week of class (the last week in may) but I can't guarantee that every teacher will cooperate. There might be some incognito missions going down soon. Operation teacher photograph. I need a better name.
Sometimes deciding between two very awkward situations is difficult. Sometimes I really like it too.
I really dislike how everyone lives so far away from each other in france... or at least in small town france. Now that I think about it small town america is probably exactly the same, except for 16 year olds can drive. This is very inconvenient
Friday, April 13, 2007
Bloggin' on the dock of the bay...
Ok, I'm not on the dock of the bay, but how awesome would it be if I were? 'Very' is the response I'm looking for, although it would be even better if it weren't pouring rain right now.
I'm sorry if you ended up holding your breath between the last miniblog and this one like I told you to. As fiona so kindly pointed out, if you had done that, you'd probably be dead right now.
Today was the carnival at school. You know how we dress up and get all silly for Halloween in america? Well here, Halloween is nothing at all, but the school's carnival... woah mama! It is crazy. There was one kid who dressed up as my scary pirate history teacher (who I swear I will get a picture of before I leave. My life just won't be worth living if I don't,) and had his class later on in the day. He, as i would say to you if you spoke french, a peté son cable, which pretty much means that he exploded and told him to leave the class right now. I thought the kid was actually pretty nice about it because he didn't color black in between all of his teeth like I would have. Then again, tact is not always my strong suit. And now I'm thinking back to the numerous awkward conversations between me and Mr. K in class... hmm.
Christophe and I had a series of intense discussions in the last couple days concerning religous freedom and laïcité, which is lack of religion in governmental institutions or separation of church and state. I have to say, I love the guy, but we can get in to HEATED discussions. A basic summary, if you're interested, is that in France it is illegal to show anything having to do with religious convictions at school, including the head scarf that many muslim girls wear. However, people get away with everything except the scarf including crucifixes and star of david jewelry, religious symbols drawn on backpacks. We basically got started on this because in my opinion, he (along with the large majority of the french population) seems to feel aggressed (<-- my spell check is telling me this isn't a word, but in my head it totally is and I feel like using it) by anything that is different from the "French" standard. I was trying to explain my view that what other people wear, or put up in their windows or their car dashboard or anything like that, doesn't concern him at all. It got really hardcore -- we were outside until 10:30 on a school night discussing, outside, and it got cold. He even brought it up the next day during Will and Grace (another sore spot between us, even though it is a lot better than before) and we went back at it. I'm having a really hard time putting all of the things we talked about back in to English, so if you want to know specifics, ask me questions via comment/email.
We had our last session of class therapy today. I'm just happy it is over. 'Nuff said.
French presidential elections are coming up soon! I don't really like any of the candidates, but I think 1e tour is going to be Bayrou Sarko, and Sarko will win. I could be really really wrong though, I have no clue.
er... I don't have much else to say, except for that Will and Grace is no longer on TV and that makes me cry on the inside because I have no more TV shows that I like.
Love
Kendra
I'm sorry if you ended up holding your breath between the last miniblog and this one like I told you to. As fiona so kindly pointed out, if you had done that, you'd probably be dead right now.
Today was the carnival at school. You know how we dress up and get all silly for Halloween in america? Well here, Halloween is nothing at all, but the school's carnival... woah mama! It is crazy. There was one kid who dressed up as my scary pirate history teacher (who I swear I will get a picture of before I leave. My life just won't be worth living if I don't,) and had his class later on in the day. He, as i would say to you if you spoke french, a peté son cable, which pretty much means that he exploded and told him to leave the class right now. I thought the kid was actually pretty nice about it because he didn't color black in between all of his teeth like I would have. Then again, tact is not always my strong suit. And now I'm thinking back to the numerous awkward conversations between me and Mr. K in class... hmm.
Christophe and I had a series of intense discussions in the last couple days concerning religous freedom and laïcité, which is lack of religion in governmental institutions or separation of church and state. I have to say, I love the guy, but we can get in to HEATED discussions. A basic summary, if you're interested, is that in France it is illegal to show anything having to do with religious convictions at school, including the head scarf that many muslim girls wear. However, people get away with everything except the scarf including crucifixes and star of david jewelry, religious symbols drawn on backpacks. We basically got started on this because in my opinion, he (along with the large majority of the french population) seems to feel aggressed (<-- my spell check is telling me this isn't a word, but in my head it totally is and I feel like using it) by anything that is different from the "French" standard. I was trying to explain my view that what other people wear, or put up in their windows or their car dashboard or anything like that, doesn't concern him at all. It got really hardcore -- we were outside until 10:30 on a school night discussing, outside, and it got cold. He even brought it up the next day during Will and Grace (another sore spot between us, even though it is a lot better than before) and we went back at it. I'm having a really hard time putting all of the things we talked about back in to English, so if you want to know specifics, ask me questions via comment/email.
We had our last session of class therapy today. I'm just happy it is over. 'Nuff said.
French presidential elections are coming up soon! I don't really like any of the candidates, but I think 1e tour is going to be Bayrou Sarko, and Sarko will win. I could be really really wrong though, I have no clue.
er... I don't have much else to say, except for that Will and Grace is no longer on TV and that makes me cry on the inside because I have no more TV shows that I like.
Love
Kendra
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Be warned... I exaggerate sometimes, but it makes for a better story.
First of all and most importantly, play this game... SO addictive.
Actually, (as Midori would say) the most important thing that has happened since the last time I wrote has to be our sessions with the psy(cologue) in class. They have been, er, eventful to say the least. So there is the Natacha girl right? Apparently, without my knowledge, she has a MAJOR problem with me and decided that I am the fault of all of the problems in the whole class (even though she pretty much is) and that after I leave everything will be bouquets of roses and everyone will love each other and that basically I am a monster and the bane of her existence. She even went so far as to say all that but with words that were much less strong. Basically at this point our 'moderator' told us we have to have a "non-aggression" pact and that we are to pretend as though we don't know each other. This would be a lot easier on my part if people would stop putting us in the same groups and she'd stop being such a douche and giving me the stare down of death. Thing is, even her friends were trying to tell her that she was going too far at the last session in her "burn kendra at the stake" crusade, but she just wouldn't shut up. I had such a crazy urge to punch her in the face or to run out of the room crying last time, but luckily for me I didn't. What was hilarious, though, was when I was telling all of this to Geneviève, she says to me "why did you punch her? Even if you got suspended for 3 days, you wouldn't care! You're leaving at the end of the year"
The reason why I didn't punch her is because if I'd have done that, she would be right. I am a problem starter, and that it would give her MAJOR ammo. If I can keep my cool and throw word daggers at her, then I win. Problem is, this is WAAAAAY easier to do in English than in French. When I'm pissed off or frustrated or want to cry (this situation was all three) I have a much harder time speaking coherent French. OOOh I forgot. the thing she said that stung the most was when she refused to talk about it because "I wouldn't be able to understand so it'd be pointless" FOSIHJGOIJSFEIOJESGIOJGESJIO Of course I can freakin understand her. And if this weren't a public blog, at this point I would spout off explitives. Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl with anger.
OK! Next item...
I love my group of friends. They're seriously what I've been looking for all year.
I had a weirdo nightmare last night where I was shocked away when someone shot a gun. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I do remember that I heard the gunshot. It might have been something falling or I might have made it up, but I remember that it totally freaked me out.
The hand has their copies of HP7 reserved, do you?
There is an american guy from Wisconsin (but originally from Chicago) here with a friend of mine for about a week. I surprise myself at how much gangsta' culture I know. It is either really exciting or really depressing depending on how you look at it.
I can't believe I'm only here for about 2.5 months before I leave. Cuh Ray Zee!
Lost is getting weirder and weird, but with no end in sight.
I'm pretty freaking excited about Hampshire classes next year, if you didn't get that already from my last blog.
I really like comments. Please leave me comments. Please? You can do it anonymously and it takes like 0.3 seconds. And it makes me super happy. kthx.
love kendra
Actually, (as Midori would say) the most important thing that has happened since the last time I wrote has to be our sessions with the psy(cologue) in class. They have been, er, eventful to say the least. So there is the Natacha girl right? Apparently, without my knowledge, she has a MAJOR problem with me and decided that I am the fault of all of the problems in the whole class (even though she pretty much is) and that after I leave everything will be bouquets of roses and everyone will love each other and that basically I am a monster and the bane of her existence. She even went so far as to say all that but with words that were much less strong. Basically at this point our 'moderator' told us we have to have a "non-aggression" pact and that we are to pretend as though we don't know each other. This would be a lot easier on my part if people would stop putting us in the same groups and she'd stop being such a douche and giving me the stare down of death. Thing is, even her friends were trying to tell her that she was going too far at the last session in her "burn kendra at the stake" crusade, but she just wouldn't shut up. I had such a crazy urge to punch her in the face or to run out of the room crying last time, but luckily for me I didn't. What was hilarious, though, was when I was telling all of this to Geneviève, she says to me "why did you punch her? Even if you got suspended for 3 days, you wouldn't care! You're leaving at the end of the year"
The reason why I didn't punch her is because if I'd have done that, she would be right. I am a problem starter, and that it would give her MAJOR ammo. If I can keep my cool and throw word daggers at her, then I win. Problem is, this is WAAAAAY easier to do in English than in French. When I'm pissed off or frustrated or want to cry (this situation was all three) I have a much harder time speaking coherent French. OOOh I forgot. the thing she said that stung the most was when she refused to talk about it because "I wouldn't be able to understand so it'd be pointless" FOSIHJGOIJSFEIOJESGIOJGESJIO Of course I can freakin understand her. And if this weren't a public blog, at this point I would spout off explitives. Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl with anger.
OK! Next item...
I love my group of friends. They're seriously what I've been looking for all year.
I had a weirdo nightmare last night where I was shocked away when someone shot a gun. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I do remember that I heard the gunshot. It might have been something falling or I might have made it up, but I remember that it totally freaked me out.
The hand has their copies of HP7 reserved, do you?
There is an american guy from Wisconsin (but originally from Chicago) here with a friend of mine for about a week. I surprise myself at how much gangsta' culture I know. It is either really exciting or really depressing depending on how you look at it.
I can't believe I'm only here for about 2.5 months before I leave. Cuh Ray Zee!
Lost is getting weirder and weird, but with no end in sight.
I'm pretty freaking excited about Hampshire classes next year, if you didn't get that already from my last blog.
I really like comments. Please leave me comments. Please? You can do it anonymously and it takes like 0.3 seconds. And it makes me super happy. kthx.
love kendra
Sunday, April 01, 2007
I know this blog is kinda linked to the Hampshire site for all of the prospies to read. THEREFORE! This is a magical entry devoted to Hampshire and how freaking excited I am about next year!
First of all, a little letter I wrote to Hampshire;
Dear Hampshire College,
Thank you for giving me a HC grant again. I kinda love you more than any other college in the world for that. Also for the fact that you're letting me study pretty much anything I want next year and not forcing me into science classes. And giving me the NSS Scholarship. I'm not sure why I got it but I'm super happy I did.
Love, your admirer,
Kendra
I didn't really write that letter to the admissions office or anything, but I am pretty stoked (yes Darren, stoked) to slice just a little bit more off of that colossal tuition.
Fall '07 Classes were posted yesterday and at this point I'm deciding between 10 tutorials, 17 100 level classes, and 9 200 level classes, not to mention a class I want to take off campus. I really can only take 4 classes per semester. And I can audit like 8ish at the beginning of the semester. Fun. This is a tiny problem... I have no clue how to narrow it down. The one class I would like to take more than anything (too bad it's only for Div2 students) is called "Little Course of Horrors: The Psychology of Terror and Humor in Theater"
HOW AMAZING IS THIS SCHOOL?!?!! ('really really' is the answer I'm looking for.)
So all you prospective students who stumble across my blog... go to Hampshire. Better yet, apply, get in, defer for a year, go live somewhere amazing for a year, go, be just all around cool.
What else... Yeah, I'm pretty much spazzing with excitement about next year.
And I can't wait to sing again. I don't get to much here.
First of all, a little letter I wrote to Hampshire;
Dear Hampshire College,
Thank you for giving me a HC grant again. I kinda love you more than any other college in the world for that. Also for the fact that you're letting me study pretty much anything I want next year and not forcing me into science classes. And giving me the NSS Scholarship. I'm not sure why I got it but I'm super happy I did.
Love, your admirer,
Kendra
I didn't really write that letter to the admissions office or anything, but I am pretty stoked (yes Darren, stoked) to slice just a little bit more off of that colossal tuition.
Fall '07 Classes were posted yesterday and at this point I'm deciding between 10 tutorials, 17 100 level classes, and 9 200 level classes, not to mention a class I want to take off campus. I really can only take 4 classes per semester. And I can audit like 8ish at the beginning of the semester. Fun. This is a tiny problem... I have no clue how to narrow it down. The one class I would like to take more than anything (too bad it's only for Div2 students) is called "Little Course of Horrors: The Psychology of Terror and Humor in Theater"
HOW AMAZING IS THIS SCHOOL?!?!! ('really really' is the answer I'm looking for.)
So all you prospective students who stumble across my blog... go to Hampshire. Better yet, apply, get in, defer for a year, go live somewhere amazing for a year, go, be just all around cool.
What else... Yeah, I'm pretty much spazzing with excitement about next year.
And I can't wait to sing again. I don't get to much here.
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