I gotta say though getting here was definitely an adventure. Chicago airport looked like this: aka: Basically our flight crew was retarded. First in France they couldn't get the gangplank away from the plane so we were stuck for 20 minutes. THEN customs was a MESS AND when we were waiting for our bags they couldn't get the DOOR open on the plane to get our bags out so of course I miss my connection. United tells me the only way to fix this problem is to rebook. The computers right next to where i picked up my luggage are broken so they send me all the way across the airport with my gigantic bags to rebook at the united counter. At the united counter i found out that all flights to springfield had been cancelled (united periodically cancels flights to springfield to clear up their schedules) and that i would have to fly out the next day. Only problem was that there was a snowstorm/ice storm due to come in that night and I would probably be stuck there for 3 or 4 days. Needless to say the tears started flowing. Super-mom of course gets on the phone and works her mojo on a united representative in india and gets them to pay for a flight from chicago to springfield through another airline. How does she do it?!@#@!!! Needless to say I started a riot at the united counter when people heard... BUT there is a happy ending...I made it home back to my Joe and my family. My heart is in a good place right now :-) Joe had to leave again to pick up Hammoudi and spent Christmas with his family but I'm really happy he gets to see everyone he loves for christmas. I'll get him back soon. I'm a happy girl!
Monday 22 December 2008
Wednesday 17 December 2008
Funny series.....
Ummmm......
As my dear sister pointed out...that would be drumROLL....Thanks alot France for screwing up my spelling skills...
Monday 15 December 2008
Sunday 14 December 2008
Why I'm going to fail my exams...
So... While going over my notes for exams today I realized a few things.
A. I think politics is the most boring subject in the universe
B. I think my theater teacher is the most boring woman in the universe
C. History is so much more interesting in stick figures
C. I am going to fail my politics and theater exams
Here are a few examples of what I found in my notes INSTEAD of the history of theater and the transatlantic relations between the united states and europe: "An hour and a half is TOO LONG to sit in a history lecture" "Tragedy at Tour de Nesles - Princesses like to party with their lovers, someone gets pregnant - everyone is drawn and quartered" "A moving depiction of the crusades" "Collage of words I heard during this lecture""Callie Fenwick's mind, age 9" Pretty self explainatory "The soviet union and the united states had nuclear weapons..." "Did he just say Crise Financiere? Sounds Important...better write that down..." I live in France "Maybe I should have a picnic today?" "I am drinking a coke" In this play a woman marries a man because she is pregnant with another man's baby
A. I think politics is the most boring subject in the universe
B. I think my theater teacher is the most boring woman in the universe
C. History is so much more interesting in stick figures
C. I am going to fail my politics and theater exams
Here are a few examples of what I found in my notes INSTEAD of the history of theater and the transatlantic relations between the united states and europe: "An hour and a half is TOO LONG to sit in a history lecture" "Tragedy at Tour de Nesles - Princesses like to party with their lovers, someone gets pregnant - everyone is drawn and quartered" "A moving depiction of the crusades" "Collage of words I heard during this lecture""Callie Fenwick's mind, age 9" Pretty self explainatory "The soviet union and the united states had nuclear weapons..." "Did he just say Crise Financiere? Sounds Important...better write that down..." I live in France "Maybe I should have a picnic today?" "I am drinking a coke" In this play a woman marries a man because she is pregnant with another man's baby
Sunday 7 December 2008
Tuesday 2 December 2008
Oh i promised pictures didn't I?
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001207&l=9fc1b&id=1496160021
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001206&l=bafe3&id=1496160021
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001205&l=451b4&id=1496160021
I'll definitely update more on these trips when I get the chance, but basically I had an AMAZING weekend in Geneva, Switzerland and Annecy, France with one of my oldest friends from highschool! We had a great time hanging out and the scenery was AMAZING. That was last weekend, and then this weekend I spent some time with my Dad's cousins, Jenny and Kurt, who are stationed in Frankfurt, Germany. They were WONDERFUL and I had such a great time with them and their kids.
See? Didn't I tell you I've been busy?
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001206&l=bafe3&id=1496160021
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001205&l=451b4&id=1496160021
I'll definitely update more on these trips when I get the chance, but basically I had an AMAZING weekend in Geneva, Switzerland and Annecy, France with one of my oldest friends from highschool! We had a great time hanging out and the scenery was AMAZING. That was last weekend, and then this weekend I spent some time with my Dad's cousins, Jenny and Kurt, who are stationed in Frankfurt, Germany. They were WONDERFUL and I had such a great time with them and their kids.
See? Didn't I tell you I've been busy?
Monday 1 December 2008
IT'S DECEMBER!@@!!!!!!!@#@!#$!!!!
***Before anything else: I know, I know, I haven't blogged in like 2 weeks and I'm SORRY!!!! Will you believe me if I say that I was super busy? No? Well... I guess I don't have an excuse. At least you get to look forward to Switzerland and Germany pictures...sometime...in the next two weeks...maybe? I'll give you some links to look at the albums online. It's not cause I'm lazy. Honest! I really AM busier than I have EVER BEEN. You're lucky you're even getting this post out of me! Ok anyway...Here's the real post:
THANK YOU GOD ITS DECEMBER.
I think it's important though, to let you know that I am NOT taking this trip for granted. Here are two big things that I am thankful for this holiday season:
THANK YOU GOD ITS DECEMBER.
I think it's important though, to let you know that I am NOT taking this trip for granted. Here are two big things that I am thankful for this holiday season:
- Joe. After almost six years together we had to endure these last 3 months apart, and let me tell you it has been HARD. As difficult as it has been for me, I'm sure it was even worse for Joe. Now that it's almost over we can look back and say that it has been good for us, and it's made us stronger in SO MANY ways. I am thankful to Joe for making me a happy person, for being the one person I can't live without, for pushing me daily to improve my life and myself, and especially for sticking with me during this period of self discovery. It doesn't get any better than him. On that note I guess I have to thank Nan too! Thank you for Joe!
- I'm thankful that I'M LIVING IN PARIS. This has been an incredible opportunity and it's literally been handed to me on a silver platter. It's been challenging in so many ways but I believe that it has done some great things for me. I am more independent, I am more confident, I have seen a little bit of the world, and hell, I speak fluent French! All of this has been given to me by my parents and I am THANKFUL, Mom and Dad. All my stressing and complaining probably hasn't given you an appropriate picture of how this has been for me, but it's been WONDERFUL. I know how hard you guys have worked to get where you are in life. Nothing has been handed to you on a silver platter. I love you guys. Someday I will pay it forward.
Friday 14 November 2008
My Vacation to Norway by: Callie Fenwick
OK so I guess I'm feeling chipper enough now that I can tell you about my trip. I honestly tried yesterday but the creative juices just weren't flowing. Plus it was just one of those days where all my happy thoughts had drained out of me and were circling the drain... Every once in a while you just have to have one of those days, right?
SO. Norway. Get ready for a long ass post, folks.
So we get to the airport at like 6pm on Thursday night for an 8pm flight, which, of course, is delayed. Something about bad weather in Norway? Not a good sign... We check in and proceed through security to our waiting area. Of course, savvy traveler that I am, I decided to wear a sweater with a GIANT METAL BUCKLE on the side of it, so I have to have the public pat down. They take me behind the CLEAR PLASTIC WALL (really guys, if you're trying to be discreet there are better ways to do it) and a big black lady gives me a rub down. They send me on my merry way into the waiting room where my plan of action is to get dinner at one of the many pizza hut's I saw from the bus window as I passed the terminals and then head to take a pee. Well ya know what? The Norway terminal doesn't do pizza hut. I settle for a ham and cheese-spread sandwich and a coke.....................after which I move on to the next thing on my agenda. WELL, apparently in the Norway terminal not ONLY do you not get pizza hut, you don't get a TOILET. So I have to go BACK through security, pee, and return to greet the pat down lady with my giant metal buckle proudly displayed on my hip and a smile on my face.
ANYWAY we get into Oslo around midnight and start walking to our hostel. Norway has this weird, quiet air about it. The streets are practically empty, the restaurants are all closed up, and there isn't a car in sight. It was very eerie. To make matters worse, when we check into the hostel and stumble into our room at 12:30 we find that we are living with three middle aged men, who, of course, all smell like a butt. Not to mention my pillow and comforter REEK of man sweat. End day one.
The next four days were actually pretty cool. Besides the fact that it was thirty degrees and RAINING the whole time we were there, we actually experienced something that was new and unknown and I'm really proud of myself for doing that. We went to Bergen, Norway one day which was really cool. It's a little fishing town situated right in the middle of a bunch of fjords. We took the funicular up to the top of a mountain and got to see the whole view which was just AMAZING. Here's a picture: We also saw all of the viking history museums and one exhibit that showed these amazing viking ships that had been buried and perfectly preserved. Apparently when a viking ship was taken out of commission it was saved so that it could be used in the burial of an important person. In the 1900s in Norway 3 13th century viking ships were discovered buried in Oslo with most everything perfectly preserved. One of them was a viking queen, and she was buried with gold tapestries and beautifully carved sleighs and even peacocks and horses! The clay the ships were buried in preserved them PERFECTLY. I thought it was really, really cool.
So basically, the trip was cold and wet and kind of stressful for quite a few other reasons I don't care to mention, but overall it was a cultural success and I'm really proud of myself for pushing through it even though it was kind of hard.
OH yeah, and the last night we were there, one of the men moved out and this 80 year old Middle Eastern woman who spoke NO English moved in in his place. What happened to the concept of a YOUTH hostel?? ANYWAY...she started yelling at me in some language I did NOT understand. I thought she wanted the lights off so I turned them off, which just riled her up more so I turned the bathroom light on, which STILL didn't stop her so I went to her bed to see if she was ok, which just irritated her MORE, so of course I was left standing there with my arms raised saying "I DON'T SPEAK YOUR LANGUAGE!" Her reaction? She THREW HER SHOES AT ME. Excuse me, bitch? Having always been taught to respect my elders I politely gathered up her shoes and placed them by the side of her bed, gave her one last shrug, and went to sleep.
SO. Norway. Get ready for a long ass post, folks.
So we get to the airport at like 6pm on Thursday night for an 8pm flight, which, of course, is delayed. Something about bad weather in Norway? Not a good sign... We check in and proceed through security to our waiting area. Of course, savvy traveler that I am, I decided to wear a sweater with a GIANT METAL BUCKLE on the side of it, so I have to have the public pat down. They take me behind the CLEAR PLASTIC WALL (really guys, if you're trying to be discreet there are better ways to do it) and a big black lady gives me a rub down. They send me on my merry way into the waiting room where my plan of action is to get dinner at one of the many pizza hut's I saw from the bus window as I passed the terminals and then head to take a pee. Well ya know what? The Norway terminal doesn't do pizza hut. I settle for a ham and cheese-spread sandwich and a coke.....................after which I move on to the next thing on my agenda. WELL, apparently in the Norway terminal not ONLY do you not get pizza hut, you don't get a TOILET. So I have to go BACK through security, pee, and return to greet the pat down lady with my giant metal buckle proudly displayed on my hip and a smile on my face.
ANYWAY we get into Oslo around midnight and start walking to our hostel. Norway has this weird, quiet air about it. The streets are practically empty, the restaurants are all closed up, and there isn't a car in sight. It was very eerie. To make matters worse, when we check into the hostel and stumble into our room at 12:30 we find that we are living with three middle aged men, who, of course, all smell like a butt. Not to mention my pillow and comforter REEK of man sweat. End day one.
The next four days were actually pretty cool. Besides the fact that it was thirty degrees and RAINING the whole time we were there, we actually experienced something that was new and unknown and I'm really proud of myself for doing that. We went to Bergen, Norway one day which was really cool. It's a little fishing town situated right in the middle of a bunch of fjords. We took the funicular up to the top of a mountain and got to see the whole view which was just AMAZING. Here's a picture: We also saw all of the viking history museums and one exhibit that showed these amazing viking ships that had been buried and perfectly preserved. Apparently when a viking ship was taken out of commission it was saved so that it could be used in the burial of an important person. In the 1900s in Norway 3 13th century viking ships were discovered buried in Oslo with most everything perfectly preserved. One of them was a viking queen, and she was buried with gold tapestries and beautifully carved sleighs and even peacocks and horses! The clay the ships were buried in preserved them PERFECTLY. I thought it was really, really cool.
So basically, the trip was cold and wet and kind of stressful for quite a few other reasons I don't care to mention, but overall it was a cultural success and I'm really proud of myself for pushing through it even though it was kind of hard.
OH yeah, and the last night we were there, one of the men moved out and this 80 year old Middle Eastern woman who spoke NO English moved in in his place. What happened to the concept of a YOUTH hostel?? ANYWAY...she started yelling at me in some language I did NOT understand. I thought she wanted the lights off so I turned them off, which just riled her up more so I turned the bathroom light on, which STILL didn't stop her so I went to her bed to see if she was ok, which just irritated her MORE, so of course I was left standing there with my arms raised saying "I DON'T SPEAK YOUR LANGUAGE!" Her reaction? She THREW HER SHOES AT ME. Excuse me, bitch? Having always been taught to respect my elders I politely gathered up her shoes and placed them by the side of her bed, gave her one last shrug, and went to sleep.
Thursday 13 November 2008
Bad Week....
I've only got 8 minutes before I have to go to class (the second one because I slept through my alarm AGAIN) so I'm just going to post my little rant. I PROMISE you there will be a positively glowing report on Norway to follow, I just don't have time for uploading the pictures and turning my frown upside down. Believe it or not I'm actually a lot better today. I've been having some serious homesickness. I know...I only have a month and 4 days left. I KNOW I'm coming down the home stretch, but this week, a month has seemed like a lifetime and it's getting to me a lot. Norway was really stressful. We had to sleep in a hostel with awkward roommates, it rained the WHOLE time, it was freezing cold, and there were countless awkward interpersonal moments throughout the whole trip. I guess I kind of cracked on the way home. I didn't want to be coming home to Paris and more of Europe and more of my teeny tiny room and speaking French. I wanted to be coming home to a big hug from my family and a big kiss from my Joe. I needed to be warmed up and snuggled with. It just kind of broke my heart for a couple days. So basically, yes I'm fine, yes I appreciate this trip, but man am I homesick.
Wednesday 5 November 2008
Christmas on election night...
Elections...
Ok so I wasn't exactly THRILLED with the results of the presidential election, and that's no secret. The thing that I'm worried about is that we have a 70 percent democratic domination in Congress and now with the president. I don't know if it's gonna work out but here's my message: The best thing we can do to have a successful nation is stick together. The election is over, the results are in, and we have our new president. If he starts making a nation I don't approve of, then in 4 years I'll vote his butt out. For right now, Congratulations President Obama.
Sunday 2 November 2008
Saturday 1 November 2008
PS: Dear Family and Joey,
You CAN leave comments even if you don't have a Google ID. Just click the "comments" link at the bottom of the post, write your comment in the box, and click "Name/URL" underneath the comments box and type in your name. You don't have to put in a URL. I like to know what you think of my life here!!!!
Good morning!
So its actually 11am, which really isn't morning, but who's cares huh? It's about 5am ya'lls time so I'm just gonna go by that! I'm sitting here in my bed with a cup of instant coffee (You thought France was like the coffee capitol of the world right? Wrong...everyone here drinks INSTANT COFFEE...slackers...) and listening to the market below my window. I'm usually woken up every morning by the same little chants "3 kilos 3 kilos kilos! giroles 5 euros giroles 5 euros!" Giroles, I found out the other night at dinner, are little orange mushrooms that look like chanterelles. Very earthy but pretty good. They look like this:So anyway, it's a pretty nice lazy morning that I'm sharing with my coffee and my friends downstairs.
One of my girlfriends told me last night that the reason everyone says french women don't shave, is because they use this thing called "La Machine" to forcefully RIP all the hairs out of their legs. Looks like this: Apparently if you do it enough after a while you don't really have to shave anymore. It's THAT GOOD that if you walk to someone in France and say "La Machine?" They will know exactly what you're talking about. It's THE machine. Im gettin in on that! I'm not even lying. I think when I'm done with this post I'm gonna walk to the darty down the street and buy one. Is it really THE machine? I'll let you know.
France has been about 45 degrees and rainy. Not that great a combination, but since I no longer have a straightener, it doesn't really matter anymore. Callie Fenwick hasn't straightened her hair since September 3, 2008. It's kind of a big deal. As for the cold part, well, I just had to remedy that with another new coat. It really was a necessity purchase this time, cause I'm going to Norway for 5 days next weekend and I'm pretty sure it's going to be -1000 degrees in Oslo. That's viking territory, folks. We're headin to the fjords! (Please revisit monty python dead parrot skit to understand exactly why the fjords excite me....) Or maybe they excite me because they look like THIS: That cute new leather jacket just wasn't going to cut it.
So November is going to be my month of cultural experience. Here's the schedule.
Love, Callie
One of my girlfriends told me last night that the reason everyone says french women don't shave, is because they use this thing called "La Machine" to forcefully RIP all the hairs out of their legs. Looks like this: Apparently if you do it enough after a while you don't really have to shave anymore. It's THAT GOOD that if you walk to someone in France and say "La Machine?" They will know exactly what you're talking about. It's THE machine. Im gettin in on that! I'm not even lying. I think when I'm done with this post I'm gonna walk to the darty down the street and buy one. Is it really THE machine? I'll let you know.
France has been about 45 degrees and rainy. Not that great a combination, but since I no longer have a straightener, it doesn't really matter anymore. Callie Fenwick hasn't straightened her hair since September 3, 2008. It's kind of a big deal. As for the cold part, well, I just had to remedy that with another new coat. It really was a necessity purchase this time, cause I'm going to Norway for 5 days next weekend and I'm pretty sure it's going to be -1000 degrees in Oslo. That's viking territory, folks. We're headin to the fjords! (Please revisit monty python dead parrot skit to understand exactly why the fjords excite me....) Or maybe they excite me because they look like THIS: That cute new leather jacket just wasn't going to cut it.
So November is going to be my month of cultural experience. Here's the schedule.
- Next weekend: Oslo, Norway, the fjords, hopefully some small authentic viking town found somewhere outside of Oslo,
- Weekend after that: Gibbon comes to see me from Barcelona! More Paris sightseeing. Versailles
- Weekend after THAT: Geneva, Switzerland! Hopefully a photograph like Sound of Music family in the mountains
Love, Callie
- Weekend after THAT: Amsterdam, Holland to see my friend Pauline and spend "Sinterklaus" with her family. That's the Dutch Santa holiday. Apparently in Holland they don't have any REAL black people for the sinterklaas parade, so they have to make some fake ones.
- Weekend after the weekend after that: Going hoommmeee!!!!!
Sunday 26 October 2008
Provins...
My friend Anne and I were saying the first thought that went through our heads when we walked into Provins, a provincial french town from the 1200s, was : "There goes the baker with his tray like always..."
For all you out there who HAVEN'T watched Beauty and the Beast...well...you don't deserve to get it.
The town was so cool! I'm always amazed at how all those old buildings stood up to time. They looked brand new! We actually ate lunch at the one above. Here's another one:On a hill in the middle of the town is a tower where guards used to watch for invasions. Needless to say it had an AMAZING view! Here's pictures!There's no walmart around here folks! But really, it was beautiful. Inside the tower there were some dungeon prison cells which actually weren't that creepy looking. The windows were really teeny tiny, but we decided that if I had been imprisoned in the 1200s I probably could have escaped based on the fact that I am about 2 feet tall. Here's my attempt:
We find out moments later that the windows aren't the only small things in this tower! The stairwells were literally just wide enough that you could fit your shoulders through. Maybe it was their way of weeding out the fat, lazy soldiers from being able to work in the tower. Better hope no one was claustrophobic!This is Anne showing you just HOW small they were! And she's tiny! After making it through those teeny staircases we were STARVING! We went to lunch in that restaurant from above, and there I had another one of my famous experiences with french cuisine. What follows is some sort of ground, raw, cold patty made out of duck, with a savory duck broth JELLO on top. It was very, very strange. I ate it anyway just so as not to insult the chef, but I had to keep telling myself "Rare burger, rare burger, rare burger" Sometimes it didn't help and I kind of gagged myself, but for the most part it didn't taste that bad! Afterwards they redeemed themselves with this DELICIOUS chocolate cake. Anne thought she was gonna steal mine but I think you can see that I wasn't going to let that happen :-) Here are a few more random pictures...Overall a successful day! Definitely better than the studying I've been doing the rest of the weekend :-( Apparently here we are the only ones actually paying attention to the tour guide... I think she was leading us to the restaurant, which would make a lot of sense. One of me by an old wall... The fortified wall that surrounds the city...amazing that it's still in such great condition! These are my friends Theresa and Shelly inside the tower
For all you out there who HAVEN'T watched Beauty and the Beast...well...you don't deserve to get it.
The town was so cool! I'm always amazed at how all those old buildings stood up to time. They looked brand new! We actually ate lunch at the one above. Here's another one:On a hill in the middle of the town is a tower where guards used to watch for invasions. Needless to say it had an AMAZING view! Here's pictures!There's no walmart around here folks! But really, it was beautiful. Inside the tower there were some dungeon prison cells which actually weren't that creepy looking. The windows were really teeny tiny, but we decided that if I had been imprisoned in the 1200s I probably could have escaped based on the fact that I am about 2 feet tall. Here's my attempt:
We find out moments later that the windows aren't the only small things in this tower! The stairwells were literally just wide enough that you could fit your shoulders through. Maybe it was their way of weeding out the fat, lazy soldiers from being able to work in the tower. Better hope no one was claustrophobic!This is Anne showing you just HOW small they were! And she's tiny! After making it through those teeny staircases we were STARVING! We went to lunch in that restaurant from above, and there I had another one of my famous experiences with french cuisine. What follows is some sort of ground, raw, cold patty made out of duck, with a savory duck broth JELLO on top. It was very, very strange. I ate it anyway just so as not to insult the chef, but I had to keep telling myself "Rare burger, rare burger, rare burger" Sometimes it didn't help and I kind of gagged myself, but for the most part it didn't taste that bad! Afterwards they redeemed themselves with this DELICIOUS chocolate cake. Anne thought she was gonna steal mine but I think you can see that I wasn't going to let that happen :-) Here are a few more random pictures...Overall a successful day! Definitely better than the studying I've been doing the rest of the weekend :-( Apparently here we are the only ones actually paying attention to the tour guide... I think she was leading us to the restaurant, which would make a lot of sense. One of me by an old wall... The fortified wall that surrounds the city...amazing that it's still in such great condition! These are my friends Theresa and Shelly inside the tower
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