Crunch Time!

Sorry it's been so long!! I don't know why every blog has to start with an apology, but really I am sorry.

Sadly, after returning from England my world has consisted of school, school, and more school. FUN!

I also had a little bout of the flu mixed in there which really didn't help things, but thanks to Dr. Daddy it got cleared up pretty quickly! Let me just say, being sick in a foreign country is not cool. Being sick in French is not cool. Looking down at your thermometer, seeing that it says 38 degrees and knowing that means that you have a fever and not hypothermia is not cool. Although rather amusing sometimes. Ugh, it really was a pain to have to speak French when I was feeling so utterly crappy. And trying to ask for things like gatorade and ritz crackers in french is not an easy feat either! (try it with a 102 degree fever and it gets to be even more fun)

Anyways, enough of my sickness.

I also had my first Thanksgiving not in the US... you know what it consisted of?? 6 hours of class, 2 papers due, and a presentation! My first Thanksgiving where I had any responsibilities other than stuffing my face. Sigh. It was weird. My host family asked me what religious holiday Thanksgiving is. haha. It was weird to explain to them, but it really is just a nice holiday of family, friends, food, and fanks (I mean thanks, but with all the f's I couldn't resist). I think every country should have a Thanksgiving! Who doesn't like to eat and be grateful that you have all this wonderful food to eat?! Anyways, since my 6 hours of class unfortunately take place in the afternoons and at night on thursdays (I'm done at 8:30 but get home around 9:15/30 because that's how long it takes to get back from school. bleh) I didn't do any celebrating on Thanksgiving day. :( On friday though, when I finished with class, I made myself some Stovetop stuffing and jellied cranberry sauce with a chicken breast and sat down to have my own little "Thanksgiving" lunch and watch an episode of Glee. Not too shabby I guess. (chicken was my turkey substitute as it is much more common here). The stuffing and cranberry sauce were bought at a little american grocery store around the corner from one of my schools, appropriately called Thanksgiving! They sell a lot of American must-haves like pancake mix, syrup, oreos, and of course, Thanksgiving fixins. All of it is pretty pricey since it's imported, but it's nice to know that those comforts are out there! They even were taking orders for homemade pies and whole turkeys for the big day! They also have a restaurant upstairs that I want to try sometime. It's open on the weekends and does brunch--either traditional american or CAJUN! I want a little taste of New Orleans back in my life! I'll have to give it a try and tell y'all how it is!

Now, what has been going on lately is me pretty much drowning in schoolwork. The deal is that here in France they don't give you work little by little with one or two big things (like midterms and finals in the US) instead... you do nothing for 2 months and then EVERYTHING is due at once. Now when you're not well informed of this as an American and you don't know the system, this results in major major crunch time that is a little bit less than fun. I know many of you have seen my rather distressed facebook statuses or even gotten a distressed phone call. Know that I am doing okay and keeping my head above water, but just barely. I mean, keep in mind that I am under all the pressure that my American friends in US Universities are right now, but I have to do it all in a foreign language as well as in a foreign system where sometimes the methodology just throws you for a loop! Typical finals stress is all that's going on.

For example, this week I have an essay and make-up test (from when I was sick) due monday, a 5 page paper for anthropology due wednesday, a 6-7 page paper for women's studies due thursday, and another essay due friday. (I was supposed to have another test on thursday but it got moved to after break!! WOO!) But thankfully the finish line is in sight!!! And what is waiting at the finish line, you may ask?

A winter vacation with Robert in Paris, France!! Who could ask for a better Christmas present than that?!?! Robert gets here December 16 (less than two weeks from today!) and is staying until January 8, so we are going to get lots of tourist-ing in! Hopefully he will get to know and love this city as much as I do! Maybe we'll even do a joint blog update to tell y'all of our adventures! haha.

I hope that everyone is handling the end of the semester reasonably well. (I'm trying to keep sane somehow, so encouraging love notes are appreciated!) I want you all to know that I am very thankful for each and every one of you who love and support me from so far away! I love the feedback that I get on the blog and every little note warms my heart and keeps me going! Big shoutout to Kristen McCurdy who sent me the sweetest and most thoughtful care package I have ever received. Thank you too to everyone who is reading France Revisited! My boss keeps emailing me to tell me that I have "fans" who leave me comments! I love that my family are also my fans!

Well, I bid you adieu for a while, while I try to finish up this semester! Hopefully I'll have lots of adventures to tell you about next time! Happy Holidays and Lots of LOVE!