It turns out Bordeaux is really famous for wine: the title of this post has almost nothing to do with it, in keeping with the random

It’s probably going to take me five times longer to type this because my fingers have been corrupted by a week of only using French keyboards – that’s right folks, I haven’t used the internet on my computer for over a week- I know this for certain because my antivirus is throwing a hissy fit: “OH NO! I HAVEN’T UPDATED MY DEFINITIONS FOR OVER A WEEK”, antivirus can be quite the drama queen.

This is an example of my favorite kind of french books- the kind of french books intended to teach english to french people, more specifically those purporting to teach them how to speak "like an english speaker". These books are always hilarious, whether they're right about what english speakers would say, or not. This one is particularly awesome in that it claims, not to teach one english, but to make one's boss THINK one speaks english. I would have bought it if it hadn't been 12 euro. Or if I had remembered to bring 8 euro with me before leaving to go to E.Leclerc (=supermaket), where I found this book and where I was planing on purchasing body wash and fach wash (this actually worked out, just barely)

Anyway, last week was pretty uneventful: I went to a bunch of DEFLE (have I explained DEFLE here yet? DEFLE = the department of French for foreign non-french speakers) classes that I’m not actually going to end up taking (maybe), I ate like 4 McFlurrys (French McFlurrys, like most “mac do” (pronounced “mac doe”) fare, are different than American McFlurrys – basically they are soft serve with a candy topping and “nappage” (which is like chocolate syrup or caramel, you actually have to pay extra for this, but it’s totally worth it :) ), I developed a habit of over using smilies and lol because of incessant texting, I read three books (they were short, okay!), and I started making a habit of going out at night (mostly this involved a lot of sitting at this monument and talking).

"this monument"

The weekend the before that, I spent my time being a cultured bordelaise because it was the weekend of Patrimoine, which is the weekend during which cool stuff in europe that isn’t normally opened is opened. I went to the Musee d’Aquataine (Aquataine= the region of france in which Bordeaux is located, this is a historical museum about its past (no kidding, right?)) - this is actually always open, we just happened to go. Then we walked through the Grand Theatre, which isn’t, “grand” that is. It was very pretty and cool to see, but large it was not. Tristan and I had a conversation while sitting in the theatre in which we pretended to be pretentious 19^th century british bourgeois while we waited for Claire to catch up with us.  That night we ate at Ed Wood Café which is like the Corvette diner only in France – yep, I traveled half-way around the world to go to an American 50’s style restaurant, go ahead and judge me. We had yummy milkshakes, and laughed at all the French people who ate their hamburgers with their forks. Then on Sunday we went to a free classical music concert in the Jardin Public. I don’t have pictures of any of this, I don’t know why.

CAT!

Something I learned (or really was reminded of) in my “Bordeaux Art” DEFLE class (which would me more aptly named “random French vocabulary pertaining to Bordeaux- and by random I mean you probably don’t even know the English word for this stuff”) is how lucky I got when I picked the name of this blog. So, you know, “chateau” is a French word that generally means “castle”, or “really gigantic house”.  But it is also used to name vineyards, after the presumably grand house that is part of them, in this way, wines are called “Chateau insert_name_of_house_here”. And this is the origin of the slang Chateau Lapompe, to mean water (la pompe meaning the pump). I more or less new all of that when I choose to use it as a name, what I didn’t know is that naming vineyards this way is actually a custom specific to Bordeaux. So, you win, me, you win. On the other hand I haven’t actually heard anyone call water anything other than l’eau.

Look familiar? I found this in my 3rdish day in france, just before finding E.Leclerc. Until I stumbled upon it again, I believed it to be from Eureka, CA, which would have been really oddly specific- it turns out it just says Eurkea on it because it's, yah know, the state moto. It says Pessac Automobiles on the seal. So still random, but slightly less so.

The Suitcase is Half-Empty

In three days I will be sitting in a plane half-way across the country; in four days I will be arriving in Bordeaux. This is both terrifying and exciting. I've been waiting all summer for this day. A week ago, I wished that I could just GO. Now I feel more conflicted, I WANT to go, but I also want to stay home. I want to hang out in my comfy bed, with my pillows, my dog, and book to keep me company. At the same time I want to get up and DO something, have an adventure. But the adventure is coming too fast.
How am I going to get a taxi? What will I say to the taxi driver? What if they won't let me through customs? What if I can't remember a single word of French? How am I going to fit my life into my suitcase?
All the same, I know it will be okay. I will survive, and hopefully have a fantastic time. I haven't even started and still I feel that when it's over I will wish for more time. Then again, perhaps I will feel differently when I have started.

So far packing has gone better then expected, but I suspect that as the time to leave draws near, the temptation to over-pack will consume the rest of the space in my suitcase.

Optimists insist this suitcase is "half-empty"
Pessimists point out that sweatshirts, coats, and jackets are likely to make it more than "half-full"

Meanwhile, Zoee and I try to figure out how to fit her in the suitcase

Your FACE has nothing to do with studying abroad in France

Many of you (by which I mean the voices in my head who were all "If any ever reads this (which no one will because who would want to listen to you ramble? I know I don't) they're going to think you're crazy and maybe just a little bit stupid if you do that")  have pointed out that my background has absolutely nothing to do with France, traveling, or completely failing at life because despite the fact that you have taken french for the past 6 years it's quite possible that you are completely incapable of forming a coherent sentence in that language.
WOW, aren't you observant? ( "Why, yes. Yes, I am. Unlike you, apparently").
ACTUALLY, I NOTICED THAT. ("There's no need to yell.")
WHY MUST YOU ALWAYS CRITICIZE ME? ("Really, I'm inside your head, I can hear you just-")
-ANYWAY, I never promised that I was capable of stay on topic -- ("and if you had I wouldn't have believed you because I have to LIVE UP HERE!")
IN FACT, I haven't made a single promise, as this is my FIRST post. ("*rolls eyes* whatever, your going to fail anyway, and NOW anyone who reads this is CERTAIN to think you're insane" *exit*).
*weep*