Overview

So, I'm going to try to be faithful to this blogging thing since I now have steady(expensive) access to the internet chez moi(at my place).
Recap: I've been here, in France, since Sept.16th, I've been in Les Sables since October 28th. In a lot of ways it seems like I've been here forever and I only have a few months let,other times it's like I've been here only a few days...So it goes.
We had a vacation for La Toussant and as French as it sounds, I feel like it wasn't long enough. Returning to work was hard,but more on that later...
For the break I went down to Bordeaux, my second home, and visited my boyfriend (NOTE: I didn't know said individual was for sure my boyfriend until he asked me if I had kissed the French I was dating, meaning him) I spent a glorious week doing nothing:reading, meeting friends, drinking coffee or wine or beer as the occasion called for it, it was lovely. Ended way too soon,but I'll be back down there for Christmas break.Then I went to Nantes (my third home? or maybe second since I go there more often) to visit Celine, ma OU Cousine. We have too much fun whenever we're together...which is about every 2 weeks(literally)without fail.
The thing is Les Sables is lovely, it's a good town for walking and such,but it's petite.There aren't many young adults from what the other 4 assistants and I have seen and yea...but it's all good. When(and if) I start studying for the GRE (or LSAT) it will be beneficial...
Anyway, so last weekend was crazy. I dressed up as an OU football player (complete with black stuff under the eye) and my #28 jersey.I did a)drink an obnoxious amount and mixture of things b)take a (really pretty Blue Sapphire)glass from a rock bar that we went to c)take some English guys chips (fries) that he offered d) a lot of other crazy,mostly legal things.
The problem is, I feel like I'm on the edge of being too old for these things...



Nah :)

Finally here...

So...I am finally here in Les Sables d'Olonne/Olonne-sur-Mer/Chateau d'Olonne...
En fait, I'm working in 2 towns and living in the 3rd. I think they all need to incorporate and have one name, but who I am to tell the French to be logical? Haha.
It was really hard the first day.
For a lot of reasons. One: I went from non stop contact with my lover for like a week and a half so I knew that saying good-bye would be hard.
But it wasn't as bad as I thought.
What was bad, was when I walked him out to his car ,said good bye without tears and then returned to my empty apartment and bawled like a baby. It was a healthy cry though. I needed it to cleanse all the crazy overwhelmed feelings that I had.
That night I cried a little more,but took solace in the fact that weeping may endure for a night,but joy comes in the morning.Everything looks better in the morning.Including the beautful little towns I happen to reside in now.
I went down to the beach and instantly began feeling the difference between the good Bordelais (people of Bordeaux) and the Sablaise. People who live by the beach or maybe any body of water generally seem to be happy. And I don't see why they shouldn't.
I live like 15 minutes from the beach and get to be kissed by the sun and sweet talked to by the waves. It's a pretty nice place to post up in post-undergrad. Another difference?
People here take their lunch hour SO seriously.
I went to an internet cafe and failed to notice they closed at 12h...and didn't open again until 15h00...that's a good 3 hours. Most shops however seem to be industrious and reopen at 14h or 14h30...
The ladies at my school, well the college, seem to be really sweet.
The lycee is kind of too perfect looking. It's new and wooden and smells like they just stopped painting...It's like a French Steppford Wives-esue type of school...I'm keeping a positive mindset about all of this though.
My apartment is spacious and really rather nice. (Not as homey as the flat in Bordeaux, but as Nick says "You can't repeat the past)
I'm excited to see what this time here will bring and hopefully the clarity because I should probably decide what's next.
But I don't have to right now.
Right now all I have to do is finish this cafe and go exploring Les Sables...
until next time...

Laissez-Faire

Bleh,
I can feel it starting already, the whole laissez-faire attitude upon me. More like me putting on a sweater I wasn't too fond of the first time and realising it's a great look.
My mom keeps trying to make me excited or concerned about packing and leaving to no avail.
She's worried about my housing situation. I probably should be, mais, c'est pas grave, it's not serious.
I called my contact person who acknowledged receiving my e-mails (2) but not responding back to them because she has to call someone else to see if they do in fact have room for me at the place they say they do... I couldn't help but laugh as she explained the situation. A pre-Spring 2008 Kayle would have been annoyed, and frustrated. This Kayle is cool with it.
I think I'm better, if only a little, prepared to deal with the uncertainty because I know the bag of tricks the French are dealing with and I'm cool with it.
P.S. One thing I am actually concerned about: the exchange rate! It's still a lot better than 1.60+ spring before last, but I'd still not to be an impoverished person for the first 6 weeks.

physically 6 days away from France, but like 9 days away from prepared :/

I'm starting to freak out un peu (a little).
I have 6 days until departure, but need like 9 days to get ready.
I just got back from Norman and some of the best 6 days of my life with best friends/sisters. It was beautiful, crazy, but now it gets real.
I leave for France in 6 days and it hit me hard this morning.
Anyway, there's a lot I need to do such as:
*buy a ticket from Paris to Bordeaux to see Cerulean
*figure out if my housing at the lycee (high school) is free like it's been rumored to be. (I've tried e-mailing like two times, I'm hoping waking up at 6am to call over there will prove more productive...I'm not going to hold my breath though.)
*figure out a decently cheap way to get to Florence, Italy to see a very good friend ( I hope this works out)
All that on top of cleaning up, packing and dealing emotionally with leaving...
I am so very excited to see Cerulean again, although I don't know what's to become of that, but I'm hopeful and not terribly concerned right now.

Some time in the near future I'll explain the long and winding road that brought me back to France, but for now, time for more planning and plotting.

So today is my last day at work, and that is a good thing indeed, because people were trying to make me tell them a/b themselves...
I have 25 days until I leave...and just a few days until i get 4 teeth knocked out my head.
One friend said it will diminish my ability to French kiss when I arrive in France "and that's a good thing ", he says. Then he makes a comment a/b me prancing around in bikinis when I arrive in Les Sables and I tried to feign modesty and said "no" He then asked if I had gotten fat. I gave him an emphatic "no" and then had to reflect, is getting fat the worst that could happen?
Nope!
But it's not for me!

Love and Happiness?

This summer is flying by.
I don't know where it's gone. I'm not complaining I'm just saying.

It's really weird but I've been thinking about marriage and such a lot. I say that I don't want to or am not terribly keen on it often,but in reality, it's a beautiful thing. I can only pray that one day I'll find someone who loves me at the same time that I love them and then we choose to live together forever.
However there are so many scary things about it.
This lady came in today, an older woman, and I said hi to her per usual. She was sending off a vintage golf bag to her grandson. It was her husband's. Her husband who has been deceased for a decade. She said sending the golf bag was still one of the hardest things she's ever had to do,even after 10 years of not having him around.
Her round, kind eyes teared up and I wanted to give her a hug,but didn't.
I didn't know what to say as the only heartbreak I've encountered was trite compared to losing the love of one's life, confirmed through their commitment and her continued love.
She took comfort in her 5 children and 15 grandchildren,but still missed the man that made them all possible.
It struck me how beautiful that type of commitment is, but also how colossally it would suck to live your whole life wondering if you would be loved, finally finding it/accepting it and then losing it.
Even watching How I Met Your Mother has me all pensive. Lily and Marshall?Too precious and wonderful.
I can only hope...

So much to think about.

Arrete Arrived

J-64
T-64
After months of waiting, I finally received my "Arrete de nomination" this is the document that tells the Consulate in Chi-town that I'm legit and brings me that much closer to going back.
I was so thankful to receive it today.
Last Friday, I had a really big hopeful feeling that I would receive it in the mail. Instead I received the bras that I ordered in the mail.
Something from France, however, did not come.
But today at work I come from the back room to see my mum in a cute yellow top and she looks regular.
She steps up to the counter and is like "I believe I have to mail to this to Nantes", she handed me my arrete and i nearly jumped over and hugged her. Instead I ran from behind the counter.
In retrospect, I feel like I'm in an abusive relationship with French government at times. Even though many and most administrators are slow I keep hoping they change. They don't.
But then they perform a small gesture, like they're trying to get better, and I rethink leaving them...
It's kind of a shame.

This little document makes it seem real.
I have schools that I'm assigned to and a city where I'm supposed to live. (a Beach city, that being said, not sure if I'll live there or not...on verra)
Now I get to plan on going to Chicago which I'm kind of stoked for and maybe NY, NY to visit that crazy Aussi.

This ish just got real.