Catching up - a lot!

Dear all,
Hurrah! An update! I will try to tell you all that has happened in the past week while also keeping it brief enough to be interesting. Please skim as this will be long!
So I left Thursday. I was rerouted, so I didn't end up flying with the girls that I thought I would fly with, but I did end up with another student in my program, Salem, which was fabulous. I think that I even slept a little bit, amidst reading The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, one of my favorite new books that I recommend to everyone. I hadn't been on a plane that big since flying to and fro from England (actually, I don't think that I've even left the country since England in 1997!) so it brought back some old memories. I always love looking out the window at the countryside - and that was especially fun flying over France.
We arrived in Charles de Gaulle, which looks a bit older than most airports that I've been in. My favorite part was the escalators in the tunnels - it made me think of the staircases in Harry Potter! Maybe they were J. K. Rowling's inspiration? My least favorite part was the airport not having my luggage :-(. Although the lady at the desk spoke English, it was great to have Salem, a French minor, by my side for language and moral support. The TA for our program, Natalie Halbach, welcomed us as we headed out of the airport and helped us navigate through I'm-not-entirely-sure-how-many subway stations until we got to the TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse - Major railstation connecting cities all around Europe) station for Dijon. I think that all of us slept for at least a little bit during the trip from Paris - I have fleeting impressions of lots of grafitti (I hope that is spelled right) around the city and later on fields with unidentified animals in them (either sheep or cattle - they were too far away to tell).
My host mother, Nathalie, met me at the train station and she is a very very very fashionable French lady, let me tell you. She doesn't speak any English, which is good because it forces me to practice and use my French. She's had other students before with even less French than I, so she has experience explaining things slowly with little words :). Her house is equally fashionable, after I find the cord that will let me upload my photos to my computer, I will post photos. I was feeling a bit intimidated (especially since all that I had to wear for an indefinite period of time was my shabby-but-comfortable airplane clothes) until the sixteen-year-old son Maxime came home. The first thing that he did (after greeting me in the French way, with a kiss on the cheek) was to put on MTV! So although I never watched it in the states, now I have seen "Pimp my ride", "Les stars petent les plombs" (I have thus far been unable to locate a translation - the show has something to do with a hidden camera), and "Parental Control" in French! I was surprised by the amount of English/American culture in the media here - especially in the advertisements. There was one ad for "Sims Deux" and a music video that used the Pink Floyd song "We don't need no education" to tell people that they don't need to know much to save the environment.
Nathalie has been really helpful and supportive - she has let me tag along on her errands around Dijon and went with me to research getting a cell phone. We went to get a map on the first day, which has proven invaluable during my wanderings about Dijon.
Now it is time for le diner - I'll write more about my musings later!
Love,
Rachel

I am here! And my things are too!

Dear all,
Sorry to be so long posting something - my bags were lost (I just found a tag inside one that said that it was inspected according to federal law - I've heard that since that law was passed that the amount of lost luggage has skyrocketed) and arrived approximately half an hour ago (hurrah hurrah hurrah)! Including my adaptor, which meant no computer access. But they are here now and I managed pretty well for five days with what was in my carry-ons. I will give a nice long post in a little bit to talk about everything that I've been up to - with pictures because my camera arrived here also (!) - but first I want to change and unpack a little bit. Oh how I long to change clothes!
Love,
Rachel

Bienvenue!

Dear all,
Welcome to this blog! This is my attempt to document my semester in France. I am just learning how to take and post digital photos so I hope that my early attempts amuse you. For the people who don't know, the gentleman in the picture is my adorable baby brother making his confused face (as he very oftend does).
If you're wondering about the title, "UNCBabushka" is my screen name. "UNC" because I attend the most amazing school on the planet and "Babushka" because it means both "scarf" and "Grandmother" in Russian. And I do so love to knit and I do exhibit many grandmotherly tendencies, particularly around my residents. Plus, all of my mom's family is from Eastern Europe so this is a slightly odd way to pay tribute to them.
Other ways to keep in touch besides this blog and instant messaging include my email address taylor.rachel.e (at) gmail.com, my skype account (taylor.rachel.e) (talking like phone but online - webcam component as well), and my snail mail address:
Rachel Taylor
Chez Nathalie Monnoyeur
4 Rue Mably
21000 Dijon
France
Departure for is this Thursday around 3ish. I have all of my clothes packed (and by all my clothes I really do mean ALL of my clothes - see photo) but I am still getting some of my "fun" things taken care of. Like purses. And books. And journals (thank you other-half-of-Team-Rachel). And knitting needles. And passport/visa. And laptop. All of those essentials.
My week will be wrapping up some loose ends - mailing some very late Christmas presents, going to Chapel Hill to endorse a check (glad that I got that memo the Friday BEFORE I went to France), lining up some summer stuff, reading, knitting, watching movies, cleaning my room, reviewing French, spending time with family, etc.
Maybe after I pick up a little more French this blog will be bilingual?
Love,
Rachel