My 20th Birthday; Plans and Sentiments

January 8th, 2011

Chantepie, France

Tomorrow is my 20^th birthday and I have so many plans. Tonight we are going to the pub with all of the internationals and then out for my favorite activity, dancing, afterward. Then, girl’s night at Susan’s place! I have a party for the French Epiphany holiday tomorrow, though I am not entirely sure what that entails or why we are celebrating it. However, it involves cake! My host, Raymonde, is making me pasta for my birthday, too, because that’s my favorite meal by far! I can't wait for all of these adventures and things just keep becoming more and more interesting around here!

However, there is a homesick sentiment that is setting in slowly. I spent New Year's alone and exhausted from my two days of travelling and now I will be without my family and close friends on my birthday. I am clinging to the fact that I am where I have dreamed of being for years and there are so many good things to come! I am living the dream, despite the tears welling up in my eyes when I think about how far away my mom and dad are. This is what I wanted, what I chose, and I shall live with the ups and downs as I learn to cope with all the changes that are coming my way. C'est la vie. The good thing is, this is a great chance to make new friends and an excuse to get everyone together and get to know each other as the semester begins. A bunch of crazy international students overflowing with passion and excitement? No classes yet, just laughter, travel and fun? Happy 20^th birthday, Bethany; you are right where you’re supposed to be!

Letters to Home, Part 2

Friday, December 31^st, 2010

9 am, France

Christian,

Wow, this was a long flight! We’re now descending into Paris and my heart is jumping. (I’m not sure if it’s the joy or the terror, but it’s leaping regardless.) I think of you and your fever every time someone asks for the Celsius conversion of the temperature.

You: “What does that mean?”

Me: “I don’t know, maybe like 45 C?”

You: “Oh, dear God, I’m dying.”

My breakfast this morning woke me from a dreaming slumber with the smell of warm croissants. Bienvenue à Paris! That definitely helped my mind become accustomed to the idea that I was far from home but in my new, second home. I hope to eat a lot of croissants on this trip!

We ended up watching “Dinner for Schmucks” last night and it was hysterical; although, I may have been the only one cracking up. It’s really hard to say, really, because I was wearing headphones. That would not be the first time that that had happened, though! You know how I can be.

I was just thinking about things that I want to do outside of school this semester and I made a little list:

·         Eat a crepe
·         Find a favorite café in Rennes
·         See Italy
·         Visit the south of France (again)
·         Swim in the Mediterranean (again)
·         Get lost in a library
·         Take the metro to a place of which I’ve never heard
·         Paint in a castle
·         Watch a sunset over the Atlantic
·         Try an unknown and unidentifiable food

I can't wait to get started!

Always, Bethany

Letters to Home

Thursday, December 30^th, 2010

6 pm, Somewhere Over Canada

My dearest Christian,

Voila! Je suis en route à Paris. (I am on my way to Paris.) This will be an interesting and amazing journey over the next few months and I am excited to begin it. I will really miss you and everyone back home! I hope that your new adventures in America will keep you guessing, challenged and constantly on your toes. Life happens unexpectedly and that’s the joy of it!

So far, the journey has been very long. There are people from all over the world sitting around me and speaking their languages. They are being served different meals according to their lifestyles, like kosher, vegetarian etc. Even the simplest thing as food fascinates me! I am sitting with two lovely Muslim women who are chattering on in what I learned was the language of Bulgaria, though I understood not a word. I love it though! These people are so wonderful and so interesting.

On my first flight, from Denver to Dallas, I sat with two women and we completely hit it off right away. We talker for the entire flight! Cathy, my new 50 year old friend, is a single mom from Tennessee. She also had a bit of a layover in Dallas so we went out to lunch together and talked about everything. It was fabulous. I hope that I can make friends that fast in France!

Always and Forever,

Bethany

Step One: Speed Bumps

Getting to France is truly more complicated than I first thought, though I suppose it is part of the whole experience to have to deal with international red tape and administration. To put it simply and without a lot of the drama that I experienced, I had an appointment and flights to LA (in order to visit the French Consulate to obtain my Long Stay Visa) before Campus France had finished processing my Campus France stuff. Thus, I was on the phone with the French Consulate for two weeks trying to get it fixed and expedited so that I could go to LA and apply for my Visa. As it turned out, it worked out at the very last second as in I ran from the plane in LA to the international terminal, rented the internet, printed the confirmation receipts and then took a $60 taxi to the consulate. I was almost an hour late for my appointment but they let me in and everything went a little more smoothly from there, thank God. Lesson learned? Give the international offices as much time as possible and you won’t have quite as many problems. When the problems come, as they will, don’t be afraid to ask for help and make a few phone calls. Above all, reassure yourself that if you can make if through the trouble, the trip will become so much more meaningful; a reward, if you will.