Brush with the Law

The paperwork is so complicated here; I knew that I was going to fuck something up. Well I did, and it didn't turn out too badly, aside from nearly giving me a heart attack.

There is a lot of compulsory red tape that goes along with owning a car here, including immediate updating of the license plates. I didn't read all my paperwork carefully, or I missed something because it was all in French, and put off getting new plates. I also managed to not sign and ship the form that solidified my insurance. So, my temporary insurance expired without my knowing.

Totally ignorant of my errors, we left to go to the bank the other day, when a French police officer tapped on our window. I didn't think we had done anything wrong, so I handed him all my expired papers with a stupid smile. Then he said the phrase I never thought would be spoken to me. "Ma'am, please step out of the vehicle."

After he explained that I would be fined 200 Euros for the license plate and 300 for the insurance, I started to plead ignorance. I convinced him to let us drive that afternoon to sign for the insurance and pick up new plates. While he remained firm, he told me I would be off the hook if I did what I was supposed to and then parked the car at the police station before eight. So I did, and everything is OK. God knows I couldn't have afforded to those fines!

American Idiot

My most recent lesson plan has involved Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkle, which doesn't resonate with all my students here. There are definatly some that know about American folk music, but most of them tell me it just sounds old. So, when I had a few extra minutes, I gave in to the requests and played Green Day. The first album/song I found was "American Idiot" which I thought was funny. Most of the students missed the irony, but seemed to appreciate the music anyway. The kids from that class told the other students, and today I had some kids who missed yesterday ask to make up the class and sit in today. I guess I'm doing something right.

The Mother Land

Ben and I spent a fair amout of time outside on our trip to Germany. We drove through and climbed some of the Alps, saw rain and snow in the Black Forest, camped in a gorgeous river valley, and hiked everywhere we could. Some of my favorite hikes were around old castle ruins, but we also walked around in the urban centers of Heidleburg, Mannheim, Rothenburg, Munich, and several small towns.

I'm learning the difference between baroque, rococo, renaissance, and modern castles, as well as details about Roman and Gothic archetecture thanks to my boyfriend's Art History minor. Some of the buildings we saw were recently re-done and had changed a lot since World War II bombings. It was also really interesting to visit Dachau, the first concentration camp. It was eerie to walk around the grounds, and the exhibit was expectedly sad and disturbing.

I was curious to visit the camp, and I think it would have been wrong to skip it, but it provided a huge contrast to the rest of our trip. We ended up seeing lots of typically German things (beer halls, the Alps, Christmas shops, and castles) throughout the southern regions, and marks from WWII are still everywhere.

All in all, Germany is a pretty incredible country, especially Bavaria. I think I appreciate beer more, now that I've been to the Hofbrauhaus. We also bought some good wine and saw the acres of vineyards. The general attitude of most of the places we visited was home-y and more at ease than much of France.

Both Ben and I have a lot of German blood in our families, so we had a running joke about being back in the homeland. (I think I threw one of our hosts through a loop with the French liscence plate, American passport, and my German name.) We also seemed to fit in better physically than we do in France, and much better than we did in Spain and Egypt. Fashion didn't seem to be such a high priority, and there were lots more blond heads and blue eyes. As long as I didn't open my mouth (my German accent is terrible), I fit right in.

Creepiest Halloween Ever

In stark contrast to four years of Halloween in Madison, WI, Ben and I spent the holiday in a place with a spookier history. We drove all day through Germany's "Castle Road" and hiked around old castle ruins. We made camp after sunset at a campground located about 50 yards from a 1100 year old church, complete with a graveyard. We spent the evening walking around downtown Rothenburg, a fortified city that we learned later has a long history of public executions in it's main square. To top off the night, the drive back to the tent was horribly foggy; I couldn't see 15 feet in front of the car. We tucked ourselves in for a freezing (literally) night, and hoped that the spirits wouldn't disturb us.

I cut my own hair yesterday.

It's true. I splurged on some hair product and discount sissors, and saved myself about 30 euros. It's not too bad, and my curls hide any major slips. I still have to wait a week for my first paycheck, and since we're leaving for Germany soon (aka: spending lots of money on gas); I thought I could make better use of my bucks.

La Vie Bohème

If someone told me a year ago about my life now, I would not have believed that I would end up in this small corner of France. I wake up three times a week and drive an hour through beautiful countryside with fields, pastures, and rivers, that somehow manages to simultaneously support blooming wildflowers and changing leaves.

At the end of the day, I come home to my cozy flat, which my landlady called The Nest. We're on the top floor and the ceiling follows the contour of the roof, so you have to stoop if you walk anywhere beyond the middle of the room.

The apartment is unfurnished, but we've been eating our dinners on a cardboard box that serves as a table. Never underestimate the versitility of a cardboard box; they can be bedside tables, bookshelves, cutting boards, you name it. We finally bought a coffee table when we realized how odd it was to wipe off the cardboard surface when we spilled jelly or dressing on it.

Even though we didn't have much of a dining room, Ben and I still managed to make pretty elaborate dinners. God knows how we both manoeuvre around the kitchen to grill our food, make our fresh salads and homemmade dressings, and gather the wine, bread and cheese (yes, those stereotypes of the French are true). It was a glorious day when we bought a toaster oven and baked apple turnovers for desert.Since we've had the oven we've made successful cookies and other apple cinnamon desserts, and it hasn't seemed to matter that our kitchen is pretty illequipped.

We have guests this weekend, and since the only soft surface is our matress (we slept our first night on the floor in a pile of clothes and that was NOT comfortable), we turned it sideways and slept all four of us together. Good thing we were already close friends.

Tranquilité, finallement

I finally have a moment of peace to post an update. Things have been very chaotic, and wow is it nice to catch my breath and settle down. I think I have slept in 18 different beds in the last three months (at least 2 nights in each and never more than 3 weeks), but I am happy to say that I signed my first apartment lease and bought my first mattress in the last few days.

My housing experience isn't the only source of "firsts" this week. Ben and I bought a car; we both learned stick shift; we had the hood flip up while on the highway, and we've naivigated through the French and Spanish highway system, all this week, all for the first time. I also went through training and began my job teaching English at a French High School.

After I finish signing and distributing the forest of paperwork required by the French government, my status here will be official, and I won't have to worry about logistics any longer. I have become an expert at this kind of worrying whether it's for trivial details like looking for the nearest bank, or for basic necessities, like finding someplace (other than the '89 VW Golf) to sleep. But with a functioning bank account, telephone, and vehicle, and a very comfortabe and charming place to live, my anxieties are subsiding and I'm starting to really appreciate my surroundings.

(That is to say that France is an absolutely beautiful country, with lots of green rolling hills, old landmarks, and a bakery on every corner.)