Come Wind, Come Rain

Song of the day: “Come wind, come rain” by Vashti Bunyan

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Last night, as I tossed and turned in bed, I decided I needed to start a new project. Something to give focus to my free time, to busy my idle hands and idle mind. There are hundreds of unfulfilled intentions floating around in my mind at any given moment, and seldom do I actually act upon them. But today was different. Spring is in the air, and I’m ready for new things!

Today, I took the first step in a photography project that I’ve been thinking about doing for quite some time: A 365 Day Portrait Project. It’s by no means a unique endeavor, but an interesting challenge nonetheless. If you’ve ever browsed around “Flickr” (or any other photo-sharing site) you have undoubtedly seen examples of this type of undertaking, some much better than others. For those of you unfamiliar, the concept is simple: take at least one picture of yourself every single day for 365 days, otherwise known as a year [minus February 29th]. It’s an interesting way to see yourself in new ways, document your life/surroundings, push your creative boundaries, and force yourself to take out your camera more often.

I’ve been waiting for the right moment to start, but I realized today that waiting was silly and senseless. What was I waiting for? A new beginning? A new month? A new year? A new setting? I’ve already had all of these things come and go within the past year, and yet I’ve failed to seize these opportunities to start my project. So today I said goodbye to waiting. The Ides of March is as good a time as any, right? Plus, I have been watching an inane amount of America’s Next Top Model with Victoria over the past week or so, and it’s been making me want to take pictures (and buy new clothes) like crazy.

Without further ado, here is numero uno:

Waiting? I'm over it

I haven’t decided whether or not I’ll be posting them here everyday, but they will definitely be available for viewing on my flickr photostream. Depends on how interesting they end up being I suppose!

In addition to my self-portraits, I’m going to try and take at least one photo of some other part of my day as well. A place I visit, someone I spend time with, something delicious I eat, and so on and so forth. My time in France is quickly disappearing, and I want to document it!

Today’s photo: MY NEW LIBRARY CARD!

Having fun, isn't hard, when you've got a library card!

Why it has taken me nearly six months to get my ass to the library, I have no idea. Ridiculous. I’ve had so much free time to read, yet I’ve only made it through three books since I got to France. Also, there are about 2350984608236 books I should/want to read. Leave it on the internet and reality television to turn my brain to mush. While I’m sure my t.v. addiction will not cease, I’m going to do my best to break up t.v. streaks with books from now on. I’m pumped to start checking out books and movies again! Today I found:

1. Fresh et Bio: a vegetarian/organic cook book with some delish looking recettes
2. Paris: a film by  Cederic Klapisch (director of L’Auberge Espagnole)
3. Une forme de vie and Acide sulfurique: two novels by Belgium author Amélie Nothomb, the first of which I’m already halfway done with, thanks to a lovely afternoon spent reading in the grass.

I was also lucky enough to end my day with a skype call from my dear friend, Sarah G. We caught up, of course, but more importantly, we made faces at each other. As it turns out, Sarah’s nose does a great mushroom impression.

q.t.p.2.t.

All in all, today was a good day. Bisous bisous! xoxoxo

Ready or not

As a twenty-two year old liberal arts graduate spending a year teaching abroad in France, of all places, a blog seems practically obligatory in this day and age. All the cool kids are doing it. I’m quite the twenty-first century cliché, I know. While I don’t expect anyone other than my mother to read this on a regular basis, a blog seems like a good way to cope with the current transitions in my life, organize my thoughts, and stay connected with those far away. If nothing else, it will exist as a souvenir to aid my less than perfect memory in recalling this time away.

My optimistic side hopes that I will have hilarious anecdotes and beautiful, serendipitous moments to share with everyone, while my cynical side worries that I will have to rely on my creative writing skills to come up with interesting falsehoods to keep you all reading. Reality may find me somewhere in between the two, forcing myself to shade real life events with more colorful details. We’ll see. My inner student sadistically mourns the loss of writing assignments, so blogging will also act as a friendly replacement for research papers and rédactions. I am doubtful that the things I write about will amount to the side-splitting hilarity of Lindsay Berg’s From Russia With Love, or the thoughtful insight of Clara’s Second Set of Baby Steps, but I do anticipate having things worth writing about! If not, I can always post a pretty picture to make up for it.

But enough about blogging. The more important thing here… I’M MOVING TO FRANCE! It has taken awhile to really set in thanks to the emotional rollercoaster of graduation, the move back home for the summer, a rather unfortunate job as a barista at a highly unsuccessful café in the ‘burbs, and some fun summer activities with friends to distract me. With the move creeping up so quickly, however, it is finally starting to hit me: I’m not packing the van and heading back to St. Olaf. I’m packing my suitcase and flying to France. This last summer has definitely had its highs and lows, and I’m feeling quite ready for it to be over. Peace out America, I’m heading to Franceland. Exchanging the red, white, and blue for the bleu, blanc, et rouge, trading out cold weather beanies for fashion-forward berets, and bracing myself for an abundance of cheese and wine. Though the two teeter back and forth constantly on a not so stable scale, excitement is outweighing anxiety at this point. In spite of the myriad of stresses of moving and my never-ending to-do list, life seems pretty great right now.

La vie en France seems like such a romantic idea, and having been there before, I’m well aware of its beauty and charm. There are countless things about Minnesota that will be dearly missed such as my family, friends, pets, and brown sugar to mention a few, but I am pumped beyond belief for what awaits overseas! While I was originally hoping for my teaching assignment to be in a larger city like Rennes, Lyon or Paris, I have fully embraced the idea of life in a smaller French town. I anticipate my life in Saint-Brieuc to be something like this:

Not really. But kind of. One can hope, right? Won’t know until I get there, I suppose. I would surely appreciate this kind of provincial life more than Belle ever did. With a population of approximately 46,000 (more than double that of Northfield!) it probably won’t be the quant village life of Belle I’m imagining, but it still seems quite charming. In all seriousness, though, as long as there is a boulangerie nearby with fresh baguettes, coastal views, and people to speak French with, I will be more than happy.

Time to return to the aforementioned to-do list. Next up: Garage sale.

Grosses bises (xoxo)