Letters to Home, Part 4

January 1^st, 2011

Chantepie, France

My Dearest Mother,

My new home! Chantepie, France

I am so sorry that I haven’t been highly in contact. I can’t figure out whether or not I have access, limited or not, to the internet and things are very different here; it takes some getting used to. Today, Madame Deschamps is taking me to see my school and understand the bus system. I am very tired and have not yet completely adjusted to the time change. I fell asleep around 5 pm my first day, Friday, and slept until 3 am. Then, I couldn’t sleep and it was dark and quiet so I unpacked, got settled into my room as quietly as possible, and journaled. I just started my new book with which I am sure you are very familiar. H.G. Well’s Time Machine. The lofty language is intense after speaking only French, but I like it. The introduction was 30 pages long, so I really have only read that so far. I figure this way, I can keep my nightmare of forgetting English from coming true!

Understanding the metro system in Rennes, France

Madame Deschamps is very nice! She and a friend picked me up at the train station, la gare de Rennes, and drove me to the house. It’s fairly big for a French house and there are artifacts from all over the world that scatter the walls and surfaces. She’s a widow of 8 years and she lost her mother 7 years ago. We talked about it a bit and she said that the holidays are very hard for her. She’s probably 60 years I would guess; yes, you called it!

I still have not heard English spoken since I left Texas, but I met some tourists along the way and some sweet, older French people who helped me find my way. I suppose this immersion thing will happen faster than we counted on!

Apparently my Hungarian roommate is no longer coming because her father was diagnosed with cancer, so I will have the room to myself and a higher rent payment. She says that there may be more students coming and one of them might share my room, so I will see what happens!

It’s cold here, but no worse than Colorado except for the sea being so near that the air holds a denser and more chilling humidity level. Yesterday it was about 32 F and today it warmed up to 40 F. We watch the news everyday so I am learning to understand the relative temperatures in Celcius and to catch the weather descriptions in rapid French.

Happy New Year! Bonne année! I hope that you did something fun and are thoroughly enjoying yourself. It’s nice to write in English! At least my language skills are being challenged; I can understand most of what people say but it’s very difficult, especially since I’m still so jetlagged. They told me that I am doing very well and am responsive. I try to ask a lot of questions in order to comprehend the context and underlying meaning of their comments; French humor shall soon be mastered! It at least helps me to understand how my International students feel! Empathy is a powerful tool and emotion.

I miss you so much already and wish that you could see these beautiful and different things with me! Please tell everyone that I’m ok and share my stories because I cannot write to everyone.

Toujours/Always,

Bethy Ru

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