Bonjour tout le monde, et bienvenue!
This blog currently exists as a record of something that hasn't happened yet- our semester as students at the University of Angers. Currently, we have a little less than 5 weeks before the great adventure officially begins. :-) ! :-O
So, in the meantime, here's an explanation for this blog and its existence.
I, Sharon Moore am the administrator of 'Les Trois Mousquetaires' since I registered it (the sense of power is intoxicating ;-) ), but Stacey Weidemann and Caitlin McKinney are co-authors. This is intended to be a group effort, so that our friends and family at home will be able to keep track of our escapades, and get different perspectives about our experience. It will also give us motivation to be observant and put memories in writing, as well as the opportunity to ponder and explore our time in France more deeply than we might otherwise. And fun- it will definitely be fun. When two opinionated English majors, and one opinionated ex-English major spend 4 1/2 months abroad together, 'fun', and literary efforts are sure to be simultaneous results. Also, it will ensure that none of us forget how to read and write English in our pursuit of French.
To avoid as much as possible the use of the royal 'we', we shall post separately, every man for himself. This means that there may be more than one post on the same event, and that could be a very good thing, since different people will bring away different observations and insights which they may want to highlight. [Of course, it could also be a very dull and infuriating thing, so we will attempt to be as unrepetive as possible. Promise.]
As you can imagine, now that we've nearly finished the horrifying paperwork that comes with applying to a foreign university, applying for a student visa, etc..., and are nearly at the moment of truth which comes when we step on the plane, there is a lot of preparation to be done.
Included in this process is:
1. The Great Dilemma: Everything we don't pack we have to live without for 5 months, BUT everything we do pack has to be lugged through airports all day. This problem is dealt with as follows:
a. Extended discussion and conversation. Ex. S: "How many suitcases are you bringing? I thought I'd bring two, but then I realized how heavy they'd be, so I thought I'd bring one, but then I realized how little I could fit into one suitcase, but then again..." Sh: "I don't know! I want to bring everything, and I don't want to bring anything! This is so hard!" (Prospective students moan and clutch heads.)
b. Extended contemplation: Prospective student sits in room, gazes around at possessions with mingled love and despair, moans, and clutches head. This process is occasionally interrupted by pacing, which is interrupted by pauses in which the student flips through potentially vital books, or sifts indecisively through her clothing, leaving it tumbled in an anxious heap. Process is repeated. Room is wrecked.
2. Mission 'Go Native': This is a top secret mission, and I shouldn't really be putting it on the blog, but I'm sure you can all be trusted to be discreet. Considering the deep love and respect the French have for your average American tourist, we've decided to avoid looking like American tourists as much as possible. In fact, we've decided to veer to the opposite extreme and look completely, unobjectionably French. You might think that this would be difficult and expensive, and it could be, but being lazy and broke, we are relying utterly on one powerful and volatile secret weapon- The Scarf. With The Scarf, that ubiquitous French accessory, we count on having an automatic ticket of entry into the very best society. No one will recognize us in our true identities as sloppy American college students. The Scarf also fits neatly into a suitcase, and will be a useful tool (we hope) for disguising the fact that, crushed by the Great Dilemma, we only brought three shirts to wear over and over again. And again. And again.
3. Exaggerated Nostalgia: We are leaving you all, dear ones (loud sniffling), for nearly half a year. Never again (at least, until the fall semester) will we walk the golden halls of MWSU, forever hallowed in our hearts by memories of friendship and blossoming academic interests. These trees, these bushes, this grass, these spittle-bedewed sidewalks, jeweled with the occasional cigarette and candy-wrapper, how many days must pass before they again burst upon our hungry eyes in all their glory! But seriously, we are a little nervous. Though we expect to be living life too fully to miss you all too much during our stay abroad, we can't help but worry that you will lead equally full lives and forget to miss us at all. This hurts, deeply, like a knife to the heart, and I hope it is a fear unfounded in truth. :-P When we come back, even if everything were the same (which is impossible), everything would be different. I don't know yet what will be changed in us in the course of the next semester- what will be lost and gained in our five month pilgrimage to Europe, what soul-searchings and transformations will result, but for myself, I do have a few lofty goals. I want to become completely confident in the use of indefinite articles and relative pronouns. It will be a perilous and difficult journey.
All that to say: Stacey, Sharon, and Caitlin are going to France. This is our blog. If you care about us at all, read it. If not... I don't even know what to say to that. Go read something else. Drown out the shrieks of your stifled conscience if you can. (And if you're at a loss for more thrilling reading material, permit me to recommend the sparkling humorous works of P.G. Wodehouse. They might well make you a better, nobler human being)
Signing off,
Sharon
This blog currently exists as a record of something that hasn't happened yet- our semester as students at the University of Angers. Currently, we have a little less than 5 weeks before the great adventure officially begins. :-) ! :-O
So, in the meantime, here's an explanation for this blog and its existence.
I, Sharon Moore am the administrator of 'Les Trois Mousquetaires' since I registered it (the sense of power is intoxicating ;-) ), but Stacey Weidemann and Caitlin McKinney are co-authors. This is intended to be a group effort, so that our friends and family at home will be able to keep track of our escapades, and get different perspectives about our experience. It will also give us motivation to be observant and put memories in writing, as well as the opportunity to ponder and explore our time in France more deeply than we might otherwise. And fun- it will definitely be fun. When two opinionated English majors, and one opinionated ex-English major spend 4 1/2 months abroad together, 'fun', and literary efforts are sure to be simultaneous results. Also, it will ensure that none of us forget how to read and write English in our pursuit of French.
To avoid as much as possible the use of the royal 'we', we shall post separately, every man for himself. This means that there may be more than one post on the same event, and that could be a very good thing, since different people will bring away different observations and insights which they may want to highlight. [Of course, it could also be a very dull and infuriating thing, so we will attempt to be as unrepetive as possible. Promise.]
As you can imagine, now that we've nearly finished the horrifying paperwork that comes with applying to a foreign university, applying for a student visa, etc..., and are nearly at the moment of truth which comes when we step on the plane, there is a lot of preparation to be done.
Included in this process is:
1. The Great Dilemma: Everything we don't pack we have to live without for 5 months, BUT everything we do pack has to be lugged through airports all day. This problem is dealt with as follows:
a. Extended discussion and conversation. Ex. S: "How many suitcases are you bringing? I thought I'd bring two, but then I realized how heavy they'd be, so I thought I'd bring one, but then I realized how little I could fit into one suitcase, but then again..." Sh: "I don't know! I want to bring everything, and I don't want to bring anything! This is so hard!" (Prospective students moan and clutch heads.)
b. Extended contemplation: Prospective student sits in room, gazes around at possessions with mingled love and despair, moans, and clutches head. This process is occasionally interrupted by pacing, which is interrupted by pauses in which the student flips through potentially vital books, or sifts indecisively through her clothing, leaving it tumbled in an anxious heap. Process is repeated. Room is wrecked.
2. Mission 'Go Native': This is a top secret mission, and I shouldn't really be putting it on the blog, but I'm sure you can all be trusted to be discreet. Considering the deep love and respect the French have for your average American tourist, we've decided to avoid looking like American tourists as much as possible. In fact, we've decided to veer to the opposite extreme and look completely, unobjectionably French. You might think that this would be difficult and expensive, and it could be, but being lazy and broke, we are relying utterly on one powerful and volatile secret weapon- The Scarf. With The Scarf, that ubiquitous French accessory, we count on having an automatic ticket of entry into the very best society. No one will recognize us in our true identities as sloppy American college students. The Scarf also fits neatly into a suitcase, and will be a useful tool (we hope) for disguising the fact that, crushed by the Great Dilemma, we only brought three shirts to wear over and over again. And again. And again.
3. Exaggerated Nostalgia: We are leaving you all, dear ones (loud sniffling), for nearly half a year. Never again (at least, until the fall semester) will we walk the golden halls of MWSU, forever hallowed in our hearts by memories of friendship and blossoming academic interests. These trees, these bushes, this grass, these spittle-bedewed sidewalks, jeweled with the occasional cigarette and candy-wrapper, how many days must pass before they again burst upon our hungry eyes in all their glory! But seriously, we are a little nervous. Though we expect to be living life too fully to miss you all too much during our stay abroad, we can't help but worry that you will lead equally full lives and forget to miss us at all. This hurts, deeply, like a knife to the heart, and I hope it is a fear unfounded in truth. :-P When we come back, even if everything were the same (which is impossible), everything would be different. I don't know yet what will be changed in us in the course of the next semester- what will be lost and gained in our five month pilgrimage to Europe, what soul-searchings and transformations will result, but for myself, I do have a few lofty goals. I want to become completely confident in the use of indefinite articles and relative pronouns. It will be a perilous and difficult journey.
All that to say: Stacey, Sharon, and Caitlin are going to France. This is our blog. If you care about us at all, read it. If not... I don't even know what to say to that. Go read something else. Drown out the shrieks of your stifled conscience if you can. (And if you're at a loss for more thrilling reading material, permit me to recommend the sparkling humorous works of P.G. Wodehouse. They might well make you a better, nobler human being)
Signing off,
Sharon
