Long Post . . .

So I've enjoyed being lazy for the past little bit and apologize for being slow to respond to emails . . . and by the way to everyone who feels the need to remind me constantly, I am aware that pigs flew on Saturday night. We were unable to locate a visual but we were able to at least listen to the game cast . . . and I think to thwart the bad luck I won't do that for tomorrow's game (of course the fact that it is from 3 to 5 in the morning my time and that I have class the next day doesn't have anything to do with it . . .).
The only major event of the past bit was Paris on Sunday, which is a city that I will get to know a lot better after this semester (at least three more weekends planned there . . . looking forward to each very much). We went to Cafe Fiore for breakfast (which had the best hot chocolate that I have ever tasted) and then the museum about medieval history and then to the Louvre, both of which were fun since I had taken art history last year. We took the train there and back in a day and I love trains so that was another exciting part of the day . . . the next time I go to Paris it will be with my family! In about two weeks! So I'm looking forward to showing them Dijon and exploring Paris and most of all just spending time with them. They're going to bring my cord for the camera so I will actually be able to post some real pictures after they arrive hopefully.
Alright, here go some general commentaries:
Alcohol:
Before I came to France, I could count the number of times alcohol had passed my lips on one hand. And I don't even know if those count given that they were all sips of different things with family. In France, wine is a part of the meal. I had so little experience with alcohol before now that even that very controlled consumption is still a bizarre concept to me, so I ask for about half of what everyone else is drinking. I do try everything and enjoy it. I get a little lightheaded with apperitifs because of the empty stomach thing, but as soon as that happens I stop until my head is right again and I try really hard not to talk because I'm afraid that I'm going to say something stupid. Which seems to be a pretty good policy so far. Maybe if I was with people that already knew me ridiculously well, then I would be able to relax and let myself go and not worry about saying stupid things, but until I get to that point with the other UNC students here I think that is what I will do, at dinner at least.
As aforementioned, we went to a couple of bars in Dijon and I don't think that I like them very much. They're so smoky and seating is more comfortable at home and they're loud and I'm too cheap to spend money on alcohol. Jim has also let us use an empty studio apartment that he's been renting to use as our own common space and as one would imagine, the fridge quickly filled with various forms of alcohol. While I'm in France and legal, I've been trying to experience something new to me that has defined the lives of not just college students but even books of the Bible and I think that I've done an okay job dipping my toes in. I guess the RA/blissfully-ignorant-kid in me is still startled to see people drinking straight from the bottle. I'm walking a fine line in that I don't think that occasional large-scale alcohol consumption (meaning more than my one or two drinks at dinner) is bad for other people, but it would be wrong for me to do because I don't like it or want it so it would be a waste of the resources God has provided us. Sort of like red meat (at least for me). We'll see how things go. People thus far have been very gracious to include me in evenings out even though they know that I don't drink much. I kind of wish that I had explored my limits and how my character changes, etc. with friends before I came to France so I don't have to do that with this set of people that I don't know so well. But it will be fine.
The French People:
This will be about as useful as writing about "the Amerian people" but here I go. I guess a more accurate title would be "the French people that Rachel has met".
I have yet to encounter any anti-American sentiment; everyone has been very kind and helpful to me so far. As far as I understand, the French actually really like the Americans. I talked with one of my host mother's friends, Jacqueline, and she said that she was still very grateful to America for involvement in WWII. She was great fun to talk to; she said that while she didn't like Bush because of the war in Iraq ("The French knew the Arabs; they knew that it would be a long war. Bush, he wouldn't have started the war if he knew the Arabs like we did."), she loved Clinton. I reminded her that Clinton had slept with someone who was not his wife and she responded with "all men do that." We started talking about stereotypes of different countries and what she thought of them . . . according to Jacqueline, she still hasn't forgiven the Germans for WWII and she like the British but thinks they think about themselves too much. I can't remember exactly, but I think she said that the Spanish and Italians talk very fast and are also egocentric . . . I do remember that she said that France is a wonderful place to live but even so the French complain all of the time.
At least in Dijon, most of the French people that I've met haven't been able to speak English. Which is great, because it means I am forced to practice more. The French also value their dogs and take them into stores. They are very honest and blunt and do not sugarcoat things. For example, Jacqueline asked me why I didn't wear make-up ("Do you think that you're beautiful enough without it?"). They like bread (which they have to buy every day because after 24 hours it is rock hard) and cheese and make good salads. They walk more than we do because the towns are more pedestrian friendly. They actually take public transportation. Suburbs do exist, but they are still connected to the public transportation network. They do the kiss-thing on the cheek but they don't actually touch lips to the cheek; they just touch cheeks and kiss the air. To my observation (and please remember that this is winter), everyone shaves and wears deodorant (except me)(just kidding). Any other questions?
The only French people that I've met that I didn't like so much were the creepy French guys that we met in one of the bars. To quote Natalie, the teaching assistant for our program who spent a year in France after college, "I didn't date when I was in France because I got the impression that French guys that you meet in bars wanted to meet you, start dating, and sleep with you all in one night. And I don't work that way." So yeah, planning to steer very clear of them. Of course, those were just the ones that I've watched. The ones that I've actually talked to have been very pleasant. My host brother helps me out with my French and with just living around the house all the time. And of course my host mother has been a wonderful resource. I really do feel like this is the most supportive study abroad experience possible. I have my host family, I have Jim, I have Natalie, I have all of Jim's extensive connections, I have the Burch Study Abroad program, I have the UNC Study Abroad Office, I have the other students, I have all of the fabulous people who keep in touch by writing emails or facebook messages or various other forms of communication. Life is great :).
Looking forward to a quiet day tomorrow with just a nice walk - maybe I'll tackle some of those applications that I should have tackled weeks ago? Or work on that homework thing?
One more thing before I sign out: http://www.soaw.org/new/. One of my fellow WRPC friends, Graymon Ward, stepped over the line at a protest against the School of the Americas (a combat training school for Latin American soldiers) and is therefore serving a month long federal prison sentence this spring. He's right in the center of the webpage, holding the first banner and wearing a gray suit. If you choose to watch the video, there are two shots of him (in the same outfit) and his mother while his mother is singing. So please pray for him and for our elected officials to have the courage to work for peace and for all of the troops that have served in past and present. Thank you.
Love,
Rachel