In France, Cool Ranch Doritos are called Cool American instead.
At crosswalks, the button you push to let you walk across the street says "Appel."
Everyone knows we are Americans because we wear flip-flops everywhere ... no European wears them.
Elevators are TINY here. Or non-existent.
The first floor in any building is consider 0 floor; the second is the first, and so on. We walk up 3 flights of stairs to school every single day, to class, after class, and for breaks.
Basically every French person owns a dog. And lets them poop in the street. And takes them everywhere.
The Italian accent isn't really exaggerated. They really do talk like everything's a party, and say Mama Mia!, and add an "ah" sound to the end of everything.
Store hours are completely random. Sometimes they open at 9 and close at 5, and other times they close early or open late, and sometimes they don't open at all. Everything really IS closed on Sundays.
Right now as I'm typing this at the school, the security guard is just standing behind us, watching us chat and surf the web. Our rapid-fire English draws attention everywhere we go especially since Americans talk louder than any other nationality. I think he's just a creepy guard though. Glad there are a few of us here...
Bus drivers in France get breaks every 2 hours ... so no matter where we are, he has to stop and we all have to get out while he smokes or whatever for a half an hour.
No one eats dinner until really late. Restaurants don't even open until 7. It really bothered us at first, but then last night a group of us were out at a restaurant and I said, Wow we're eating dinner early, and it was 10 o'clock! Also, it's difficult to get the check. You have to specifically ask for it, and dinner is always a 2 hour affair, minimum.
The French don't have hand towels in hotels at all. No matter how nice they are.
In many places, there is only one public toilet for women and men to use together. Sometimes I'd run into American men in the toilets, they'd look up in shock and then say, I just can't get used to sharing bathrooms with women! It is weird, but not as weird as you think.
In Italy, they don't really have toilet seats. Their toilets look like ours, but without the seat part. I chose the hovering option, while some of my traveling companions covered it in toilet paper a few times and then sat down.
Last night I was chatting with a French student from the school here, and he was completely disbelieving that if he went to America people would LOVE his accent. He hates it, but I reassured him that he'd have many girls to choose from if he went to the United States...
Thursday, June 7, 2007
This is your body on travel
I wanted to write a little about health, feeling good, and what goes wrong while traveling. Clearly it's different for everyone, but I haven't even slowed down enough to consider how I've been feeling really ... so I wanted to take note of what's different and what's the same about how I feel while traveling for an extended period.
Several people in our group of OSU students took ill right after we got here, but not in the way I'd expected. I figured someone would get traveler's diarrhea or something, but no, I haven't heard any complaints about that. And all of us drink out of the faucet. No, two of the students have severe colds with a really bad cough. Both of them are my good friends, Hillary and Reddy, but I haven't gotten anything like it from them. Several of us also have severe allergy problems. I've taken an allergy pill almost every single day because sometimes it's hard to catch a breath and I'm always stuffy or sneezing. It's not a big deal overall. What's funny is when my friend Reddy went to the pharmacie here to get something for his cough: we discovered that most drugs are sold over the counter. He asked for something to help his cough and they gave him a cough syrup WITH CODEINE in it. He has it with him at all times now, and says in his Indian accent, "I love eet." Anyway, maybe it's the mold from all of the rain here in Dijon, but many of us cough, sneeze, and hack every day.
Just a few days ago, another few people got bad stomach cramps, which I think was from some food they ate. But overall, no one's been sick enough to stay home from school or miss out on anything due to stomach problems. Today was the first day that I felt nauseous and had to lay down, and we're already two weeks into the program. I already feel much better.
Overall, I've eaten a lot less since I arrived. Mostly it's due to the fact that the free meals are not terrific. I eat them, but I'm not excited about it. Right now, I can tell that I'm a bit hungry but I'm in no rush to go find something to eat. The foods are pretty bland. I eat a few sweet rolls with butter in the morning with some coffee, and then a vegetable and rice with some sort of meat or entree at lunch, and then a nice dinner or nothing. The free food that we can access if we don't use our meal cards at lunch is pretty much the worst thing ever: there were actual FEATHERS on the chicken pieces we got, and it's extremely dingy. So, I only ate there once. We've had some nice dinners, though: I loved eating at the creperie. I miss the following foods: potatoes, chips and salsa, guacamole, cheddar cheese, big breakfasts from First Watch and chicken. Nothing here has chicken in it. I've eaten jambon, or ham, at meals where I have meat. At any rate, I go hungry, but I don't really notice.
Due to the fact that I'm around 20 college students all the time, there is alcohol around constantly. Last night, I wanted to start working on my presentation, but my other partner and someone else had broken open some wine. Thus, I started drinking instead. It's very difficult to get through a day without imbibing whatsoever. Which leads me to dehydration. I've been dehydrated since I left Tulsa. To be perfectly gross, there hasn't been a single time I've peed since I got here that it hasn't been intensely yellow. We sweat all the time, because we're always walking or in the heat, we're always on the go and have to pay for water, and we just can't keep up with how much water our bodies need. I try to drink as much as I can, but it's not even near enough. However, dehydration comes in handy becasue you have to pay for a lot of touristy-area bathrooms. I may go to the bathroom twice a day. Just writing about this reminds me of how thirsty I am. But there are no water fountains ANYWHERE, and I'm at school with no hope of getting some more water until I get home, a 10 block walk.
My two main problems have been sleep deprivation and foot problems. Sleep deprivation for obvious reasons: I'm always on the go and can't say no to doing anything. I love to have fun with everyone and want to see everything and do everything, so I'm always exhausted. I got 45 minutes of sleep on the train home from Venice last Sunday night, then got up, went to school, and went all day long and hung out at night until 1 a.m. By Wednesday, I finally broke down and took a two-hour nap.
My feet are an issue becasue they are my main mode of transport. Now that I have to walk everywhere, I'm very tuned in to their behavior and moods. They are grumpy a lot of the time. After our trip to Switzerland, I had some severe cramps in my feet, which caused shooting pains every time I stepped down. By the time I'd walked to school and back, I'd have tears in my eyes. And I was very upset because I needed to get around and wanted to sightsee but my feet were just torn up. All of our feet are ugly to behold. They have blisters, they are black on the bottoms, and they are rough. But they are well-used. My feet were constantly swollen while we were in Venice, and are better now but not the best.
I've been a lot less anxious than I thought I would be. I've taken a few Xanax, such as for the night train, but overall, less than I thought I'd need. I've been so busy, I don't have time to be nervous ... and even when I do feel some anxiety coming on, I'm usually distracted by someone or something enough for it to pass. I like it this way.
Well, it's getting late and I don't know where anyone else is right now ... we're getting ready to part ways for the weekend. Lyon & Normandy here we come!
Love,
Jennie
Several people in our group of OSU students took ill right after we got here, but not in the way I'd expected. I figured someone would get traveler's diarrhea or something, but no, I haven't heard any complaints about that. And all of us drink out of the faucet. No, two of the students have severe colds with a really bad cough. Both of them are my good friends, Hillary and Reddy, but I haven't gotten anything like it from them. Several of us also have severe allergy problems. I've taken an allergy pill almost every single day because sometimes it's hard to catch a breath and I'm always stuffy or sneezing. It's not a big deal overall. What's funny is when my friend Reddy went to the pharmacie here to get something for his cough: we discovered that most drugs are sold over the counter. He asked for something to help his cough and they gave him a cough syrup WITH CODEINE in it. He has it with him at all times now, and says in his Indian accent, "I love eet." Anyway, maybe it's the mold from all of the rain here in Dijon, but many of us cough, sneeze, and hack every day.
Just a few days ago, another few people got bad stomach cramps, which I think was from some food they ate. But overall, no one's been sick enough to stay home from school or miss out on anything due to stomach problems. Today was the first day that I felt nauseous and had to lay down, and we're already two weeks into the program. I already feel much better.
Overall, I've eaten a lot less since I arrived. Mostly it's due to the fact that the free meals are not terrific. I eat them, but I'm not excited about it. Right now, I can tell that I'm a bit hungry but I'm in no rush to go find something to eat. The foods are pretty bland. I eat a few sweet rolls with butter in the morning with some coffee, and then a vegetable and rice with some sort of meat or entree at lunch, and then a nice dinner or nothing. The free food that we can access if we don't use our meal cards at lunch is pretty much the worst thing ever: there were actual FEATHERS on the chicken pieces we got, and it's extremely dingy. So, I only ate there once. We've had some nice dinners, though: I loved eating at the creperie. I miss the following foods: potatoes, chips and salsa, guacamole, cheddar cheese, big breakfasts from First Watch and chicken. Nothing here has chicken in it. I've eaten jambon, or ham, at meals where I have meat. At any rate, I go hungry, but I don't really notice.
Due to the fact that I'm around 20 college students all the time, there is alcohol around constantly. Last night, I wanted to start working on my presentation, but my other partner and someone else had broken open some wine. Thus, I started drinking instead. It's very difficult to get through a day without imbibing whatsoever. Which leads me to dehydration. I've been dehydrated since I left Tulsa. To be perfectly gross, there hasn't been a single time I've peed since I got here that it hasn't been intensely yellow. We sweat all the time, because we're always walking or in the heat, we're always on the go and have to pay for water, and we just can't keep up with how much water our bodies need. I try to drink as much as I can, but it's not even near enough. However, dehydration comes in handy becasue you have to pay for a lot of touristy-area bathrooms. I may go to the bathroom twice a day. Just writing about this reminds me of how thirsty I am. But there are no water fountains ANYWHERE, and I'm at school with no hope of getting some more water until I get home, a 10 block walk.
My two main problems have been sleep deprivation and foot problems. Sleep deprivation for obvious reasons: I'm always on the go and can't say no to doing anything. I love to have fun with everyone and want to see everything and do everything, so I'm always exhausted. I got 45 minutes of sleep on the train home from Venice last Sunday night, then got up, went to school, and went all day long and hung out at night until 1 a.m. By Wednesday, I finally broke down and took a two-hour nap.
My feet are an issue becasue they are my main mode of transport. Now that I have to walk everywhere, I'm very tuned in to their behavior and moods. They are grumpy a lot of the time. After our trip to Switzerland, I had some severe cramps in my feet, which caused shooting pains every time I stepped down. By the time I'd walked to school and back, I'd have tears in my eyes. And I was very upset because I needed to get around and wanted to sightsee but my feet were just torn up. All of our feet are ugly to behold. They have blisters, they are black on the bottoms, and they are rough. But they are well-used. My feet were constantly swollen while we were in Venice, and are better now but not the best.
I've been a lot less anxious than I thought I would be. I've taken a few Xanax, such as for the night train, but overall, less than I thought I'd need. I've been so busy, I don't have time to be nervous ... and even when I do feel some anxiety coming on, I'm usually distracted by someone or something enough for it to pass. I like it this way.
Well, it's getting late and I don't know where anyone else is right now ... we're getting ready to part ways for the weekend. Lyon & Normandy here we come!
Love,
Jennie
Since you've probably forgotten what I look like ...
I thought I'd refresh your memory! Yesterday we took a long, windy, but still beatufiul and entertaining, bus ride to the Abbey de Fontenay and to Auxois-en-Semur. Which meant only one thing: Scenario Pictures! My new BFF LOL Jen and I shouted phrases and made faces into my camera for at least 30 minutes ... here are some of the amusing results. Or at least amusing to us. :)
Before we left the school. All appears normal.
Decided to do the first thing that came to mind when we said various TV show names. This is titled, "Salute Your Shorts."
"American Idol"
I don't recall what this was all about. Try to think of something funny in which this picture would fit.
And, finally, what I feel was my finest acting moment: "Bad Hair Day." It was actually hard to get my hair back in order after that, but one must suffer for their art.
At any rate, we have a lot of fun. I will post more serious traveling pictures soon.
Love,
Jennie
Before we left the school. All appears normal.
Decided to do the first thing that came to mind when we said various TV show names. This is titled, "Salute Your Shorts."
"American Idol"
I don't recall what this was all about. Try to think of something funny in which this picture would fit.
And, finally, what I feel was my finest acting moment: "Bad Hair Day." It was actually hard to get my hair back in order after that, but one must suffer for their art.
At any rate, we have a lot of fun. I will post more serious traveling pictures soon.
Love,
Jennie
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