The Post to Conquer all Posts

Hey everyone! It's been wayyyyyy too long since I last updated, but I promised myself that this blog would be something I wanted to write when I could find the time rather than an obligation. So hey, here's to keeping promises!

The past couple of weeks have been super-exciting. I didn't realize it's been THAT long since I'd last written, but humor me and mentally rewind:

Two weekends ago, I went to Lyon, France. G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S! Four of my friends from Angers/Notre Dame went with me, and a good time was had by all. We all couchsurfed with this guy named Boris and his three roommates--all college age too. Needless to say, it was a blast. Lyon is a capital of gastronomy, so we had to go to a couple awesome restaurants while we were here.

We saw the MOST BEAUTIFUL church I've seen anywhere in Europe up on the hill




We saw ancient ruins!


We went to a cinema and miniatures museum!


Yes, that's Indiana Jones' real hat and whip, and the bath is actually a tiny miniature! Who would have guessed?

and we just plain enjoyed the sights and scenery.




We also went to a really famous chocolate shop, Bernachon, which was worth every centime.





Then it was St. Patrick's Day! Which is a pretty big deal to Domers everywhere, going to the school of the Fighting Irish and all. French people...not so much, at least not older people. Hilary, my roommate, told my host mom "Happy St. Patrick's Day!" and she responded "You're the one who's Irish, not me!" Our host dad was clueless that May 17 was such an important day too. The importance of the date was not lost on local bars, however, and there were several St. Patty's Day parties being thrown. We went to see a U2 cover band at an awesome Irish pub here called James Joyce. I won a Guinness scarf that night which was pretty sweet too. Good thing I didn't have class the next morning!

St. Patrick's Day was the first time I felt kind of homesick though (a month and a half in...not bad, eh?). Most of you reading this have probably been to the annual Brosnihan St. Patty's Day party, and even though I missed it my freshmen year in college too, I still missed the off-key singing of Irish tunes, Grandpa's sandwiches, and of course the house being filled with family and friends. This was the first year without Grandpa's Irish cheer there (although I've heard Paul did an excellent job attempting to recreate his homemade bread and sandwiches). I was listening to my ipod on random, and the song "Danny Boy" came on and I practically burst into tears. It wasn't a bad thing, but it was good to reflect on how much has changed in my life the past year--good and bad.

At this point, you're probably thinking "wow, Claire, debbie downer conversation. I read your blog to live vicariously through your life in France." No worries, I return to the good stuff (and let's be honest, when you're studying abroad in France, it's hard not to have a lot of good stuff)!

This past weekend, Hilary and I traveled to Oslo, Norway. Yes, you read that correctly: Oslo, Norway. You're probably asking yourself why in God's name I chose to go to Oslo for a weekend. Funny, that's the same question I asked myself when I got there. It started out a couple months ago when two of my friends from Notre Dame who are studying in London this semester found 20 dollar roundtrip tickets to Oslo (thanks, RyanAir!). I did want to see them this semester and hey, a 20 dollar round trip ticket is a 20 dollar round trip ticket, right? Except when it's not. I learned a VERY valuable lesson on my trip to Oslo: look deeper than just the face value.

Last Friday morning, Hilary and I got up at 6:15 am, thought we'd miss the train, so RAN across town to the trainstation. We made our 6:45 am train to Paris (2 hours; 45 euro roundtrip). We then realized we didn't allot enough time to get to Porte Maillot, (a little spot in northern Paris where buses depart from) so we had to take a cab (7 euros apiece). We made the bus taking us to Paris Beauvais by less than a minute. That bus cost 14 euro each way and took an hour and fifteen minutes. We made it to the airport with 15 minutes until our flight LEFT. And the security at Beauvais is awful, awful, awful. Example: to search one person's bag, they shut down the entire line. Ahh, French efficiency! We barely made our coveted 20 dollar roundtrip ticket to Oslo (2 hours).

When our plane was descending beneath the clouds to land in Oslo, we saw something that shouldn't have shocked us in the least but did: snow. The entire plane, all at once, shouted something like "LA NEIGE! OH LA LA! LA NEIGE! Oh nonnnnn." How could this be? snow? in one of the northernmost countries in Europe? Craziness! I tried to cope with the reality that I was headed into the weather I purposefully tried to avoid by coming to France.
Unsuccessful coping.

When we landed, we found out we'd missed the bus headed back to Oslo and had to wait for another one. In the meantime, Hilary and I realized two things: 1) Norway is really, really, really, expensive and 2) Our money funds were terribly inadequate. We knew it was going to be pretty expensive (we both brought a backpack full of apples, crackers, etc.), but not thatttt expensive. Each of us had about 50 euro for the weekend, but 1 euro is 8 Kroner, and you can't buy ANYTHING with 8 Kroner (or in the words of Hilary: I have 8 Kroner...so that buys... a toothpick). We went to withdraw money and found that our debit cards were rejected, neither of us had a credit card, and it would take almost 50 euro roundtrip to get take the bus to and from Oslo (the airport is about 2 HOURS outside the city). I had visions of us becoming Norwegian beggars for the weekend. We knew we had a place to stay with a couchsurfing host, but we mentally prepared ourselves for doing nothing but walking around and eating only our apples the entire weekend.

We took the 2 hour bus trip to Oslo, and it was still cold and gray out. In my tourist guide, I discovered that Oslo is the size of Omaha: about half a million in the city proper, about 800,000 with the surrounding area. But it has 3 airports and Omaha only has one. Time to work on that, Omaha. By the time we got to the city, it was 4:30 pm (we had left Angers at 6:45 that morning, our wallets were significantly lighter, and both of us were exhausted.

We had about 5 euros left between us after buying bus tickets. I've never ever felt "moneyless" like that before in my life (and we even had some food with us and had a place to stay).
It's an awful feeling, and it was very, very humbling. Here we were, two girls studying abroad in France for the semester who decided on a whim to take a weekend trip to Oslo, and we were practically kroner-less. Even as I worried about how to get money, I felt that guilty/grateful feeling that I often feel for the things I have in my life. I do not in any way deserve the things I have--my family, the school I go to, the material pleasures I have. I live in one of the richest countries in the world with so many invaluable freedoms, I have received an excellent education, I'm about to receive a college degree, which 1% of the world receives, I have a great family with two parents who are still together, on and on and on. I felt guilty as I complained about our situation. There are too many who carry the same feeling of powerlessness that comes with not having money, but without a couchsurfer to stay with, apples in a backpack, and a back-up plan.

We passed a Western Union and we considered sending a desperate plea to our parents to wire us a bit of cash to get by for the weekend. We ended up going to an internet cafe and spending our last few kroners using skype to get ahold of Notre Dame Federal Credit Union. We were finally able to use our debit cards to withdraw small amounts and to use in stores.
We walked around for awhile and explored this little area that was called "the Greenwich village of Oslo" by our tour book. I don't think the people who wrote that have ever been to Greenwich village. The area, called Grunnerlokka, was a one-block area around a little park. It had some restaurants and bars there. Hilary and I went to a cute little place with paraphernalia from America everywhere, and naturally I found a Nebraska postcard!

The next day, we walked around some more, and we went to the Nobel Peace Prize museum, which was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I was surprised to find how much of the museum was about America, especially the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. and Obama--actually all of the museum except for one little room about the past winners. The museum was really moving, and I kept getting goosebumps throughout the entire tour. Personally, I feel that giving Obama the prize was premature at best. But the museum was a really uplifting reminder about how much one person can influence the world. It was also a stunning reminder of the responsibilities all of us have has Americans. What America does, the rest of the world takes note. It's time to pay attention to what we want them to take note of.




Plus they had awesome souvenirs in the gift shop!

Being a political science major and peace studies minor, I really loved learning about the politics and socio-economics of Norway. It went from being a poor country in the early 20th century to being one of the richest countries today. Norway has the highest concentration of millionaires per capita (1 in 85 people!), one of the highest literacy rates and an extremely well-educated citizenry (every person is required to know Norwegian, English, and another language, and I'm talking fluently and with no accent), a very extensive social welfare system, and Norway consistently ranks as one of the happiest countries in the world as well as having extremely high standards of living. A lot of its wealth comes from its tax structure and oil--high taxes on wealth and energy corporations. When oil was discovered in Norway, the government created taxes on it to fund Norway's Petroleum Fund. This is the fourth largest pension fund in the world, and the largest in Europe. The always-peaceful Norwegians literally put their money where their mouths are, too: the money is invested in socially and environmentally responsible corporations (an Ethical Council decides to exclude tobacco companies, corporations that produce landmines and clusterbombs, nuclear armaments, or for environmental or labor rights violations...no Walmarts or Phillip Morris for the Norwegians!). I've really got to hand it to the Norwegians, they have their cake and eat it too. But I think they would prefer some sort of smoked fish rather than cake. Or maybe caviar in a tube?

We finally met up with my friends Lauren and Cooper (plus their three friends Isaac, Dan, and Nicole). We saw more sights (an old fortress/castle) and made a cheap dinner at their hostel, then went to big sculpture garden the next morning.





The trip back was equally stressful, long, and expensive. I was glad to be home again in snow-free France.

Oslo: the cheap trip that wasn't. It was good seeing the city, not one of my favorite trips ever, and I probably won't be back (unless I win the peace prize...fingers crossed!), but it was good visiting Oslo, seeing my friends, and learning some valuable lessons.

Bisous,
Claire

Les Jeunes Verts and Becoming Ashamed of My Family's (Pathetic?) Genealogy

Not a whole lot happening this week, mostly because I'm sick.

I did go to a meeting of "Les Jeunes Verts" or "The Young Greens". Many of you know I'm active in the environmental cause in the US, and I wanted to see what the hot issues and political dialogue was like here in France. Politics in general are different in France since they have a multiparty, two-stage (or runoff) election system. The political parties are fairly diverse, and the Ecologie/Verts have done fairly well in elections at different levels in the French government (local, regional, etc.), and having the most success at the EU Parliamentary level.

The meeting of jeunes verts was held at a cafe in town, and there was free organic wine and appetizers (I think they should have just advertised that on their signs, they would have brought in more people...), and the students were really really interested in talking to me about the environmental movement in America. They were shocked at how much so-called special interest groups and lobbyists control our politics (for example, oil and gas companies spent $154 MILLION lobbying Congress in 2009).

In France, corporations cannot give to political candidates. People don't lobby as a career. This just seems like such a no-brainer to me. It's quite an insult in American politics today for a politician to "bought by special interest groups." Both Obama and McCain/Palin tried to portray themselves as being above such petty things, but the truth is that a major politician can't win an election without immense large-donor support--corporations that are investing in votes. This system has replaced the "one person, one vote" American ideal. The French system isn't perfect, but I think it's a much purer democracy than the American system. The parties don't have to water down their messages in order to get votes. I was really impressed by many of the platforms--clean energy, reducing consumption, public health, human rights, and democracy.

Oh, right, back to the meeting: We talked about nuclear power, the organic food movement, recycling, how it's hard for green party candidates in the US to gain momentum because of the bi-party system, and how the debate on climate change has been really skewed in the US. Les jeunes verts were preparing for the elections this Sunday, and one of the candidates came to talk. Overall, a really enlightening discussion (and hey, the organic wine was delicious too). It just made me realize how much we have to go in America, and how sad it is that most of this stuff never even gets mentioned in American elections.

Today, Chantal (my host mom) showed us a picture of her family's genealogy. She can trace her ancestors back to the early 1500s (!!!). I was stunned. I mean, I thought my family had done pretty well tracing our roots back to the early 1800s (I think?), and then things kind of get murky once you get to "the old country." We had a discussion about where my ancestors came from (Ireland, Germany, Luxembourg, Croatia/Czech Republic), and I was again surprised that both Alain and Chantal are only French. Chantal pointed out that almost all of her family had a "de" or a "de la" in their last name; it's a sign of French nobility.

I thought it didn't mean anything anymore, but when I talked to one of the neighbor boys and asked him if he knew my family, he shrugged and said, "they're bourge", which is short for "bourgeoisie." There is still a distinction in French society. I've been thinking about it a lot, about how there's nothing really like that in America. I'm not saying there aren't ways of showing you have wealth (cars! clothes! houses!), but no one looks at your last name and makes assumptions about you like that. You could be a big-shot millionaire (ok, excluding our dear friend Warren Buffett) in Omaha, but when you go to Texas, no one knows who you are. Even if you have the last name Rockefeller, it doesn't mean anything. Kind of cool if you ask me.

Oh, and I finally found cheap peanut butter here, which was actually quite a task. Peanut butter hasn't really caught on here--Nutella is HUGE but good ol PB not so much. In most of the grocery stores, the TINIEST container of peanut butter costs 4 or 5 euro. I went to an Asian supermarket and found a huge can(!) of peanut butter for 1.90 euro. Success has never tasted so sweet. and nutty.

I'm going to Lyon this weekend--it's in eastern France, at the foothills of the Alps. We're planning on going to a restaurant with a couple Michelin stars, too!

Ciao,
Claire

quote of the day: We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. -Native American proverb

More pictures of Paris, just for funsies:

I've Come to France to Discover My Love of...Falafel?

Salut!
It's been awhile since I last wrote, but here's what's been goin' down since the last post.

1) Last weekend I went to go see some French chateaux: Azay-Le Rideau, Chenonceau, and Chambord. They were all absolutely beautiful, and it's mind-blowing to me how people were able to build such ornate wonders without modern machinery.

2) I found a group called the Communaute de Chemin Neuf (or, "the community of the new way") here in Angers. It's a Catholic youth group type thing for college-age young adults. Last week, we sang some songs, watched a video about Islam (whether the Allah of Islam is the same as the God of Christianity, whether there is salvation for Muslims, etc), and talked about it in groups. We shared a meal and had tea afterwards. Everyone was really nice, and I got to practice my French for a good 4 hours. I continue to be amazed at the connection my Catholic faith brings. It's still kind of weird hearing "Saint Pierre" for St. Peter, and "Benoit le seize" for Benedict the XVI.

3) I went to Paris this weekend! Hilary and I couchsurfed with a really nice guy, Mathieu, in Montparnasse, right by the Pasteur Institute. It was cold but sunny, and we had a great time. He took us to a market today--you could buy pig's ears (!) and hooves to eat, and I also saw horse milk (!!)for sale at a Parisian grocery store. We did the usual tourist stuff (Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame etc.), hung around the Latin Quarter and got to see the magnificent paintings in the Musee D'Orsay for free, and got wayyy too excited about seeing the name of our school everywhere (Look! Notre Dame! Look! A sign for Notre Dame!).I was exhausted after coming home today, a sure sign of a good weekend, in my book.

4) I tried raw oysters, a French specialty, today. I've been trying new things a lot in France, and I was glad I tried the raw oysters, but let's just say I was equally glad to have a large glass of water and some bread nearby to get the slimy, salty feeling out of my mouth.

5) I've planned out a lot of my semester, as far as travelling goes. Next weekend is Lyon, France, after that, Oslo, then Normandy/Omaha beach, then Rome for Easter, then spring break (first Munich and Austria to visit my friend Niki, who stayed with my family for a month a couple years back, then Berlin, then Prague, then Istanbul, then Athens and the Greek Island Santorini). If anyone has advice for any of those places, send it my way!

6) My host mom, Chantal, held a French cooking class for us. We made a ham and cheese torte, a fish and gruyere tart, salad, and the most divine flourless chocolate cake (its only ingredients were butter, chocolate, cream, sugar, and eggs...I think any combination of those things would probably taste okay). My French mom and dad (Chantal and Alain) are on the left in the photo.

7) Angers has the most beautiful parks.I'm training for a half-marathon this summer, so I've been taking lots of runs around town. There's a place called Etang St. Nicholas, which is basically a big windy lake with waterfalls, flowers and plants, beautiful trees and cliffs, and a little zoo with kangaroos and llamas. Basically all that anyone needs to be happy, in my book.

8) In my quest to find cheap things to eat that are both filling and vegetarian, I have re-discovered my love of falafel. I knew kebab/falafel existed in France, but I had no idea how prevalent they were; THEY ARE EVERYWHERE! There are at least 15-20 in Angers, and they were on every other block in Paris. Almost everything is under 8 euro max, and you get quite a bit of food. I like to go to this place called Ali Baba here in Angers and get a hummus or falafel wrap for 3 euro. Delicious. Plus, the two Lebanese guys who work there talk to me and help me with my French. win-win!

9) I've finally found a French yoga studio. The classes are smaller than I'm used to, with only 4-8 people. The studio is kept a bit chilly, which is a shock coming from hot Bikram classes back in Omaha. Also, everyone wore socks, no one brought their own mat, and no one really had "yoga clothes"--one woman was in khakis and a button-up! It's an adjustment hearing the postures and body parts in French, but I enjoy it nonetheless. But it's still no One Tree Yoga in Omaha.

A bientot!