Merry Christmas

It's vacation! I hope everyone is thoroughly enjoying these two weeks, relaxing and eating good food and not stressing about junior year finals (or whatever else it is that you stress about). Sophomore year was so stressful for me that I can only imagine what my junior friends must be enduring, so I really hope you are taking this break to rejuvenate and spend time with family and friends and watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas on TV. Personally, I am doing alright at not stressing too much about school and trying instead to explore this beautiful country, but I do get depressed when I don't feel on top of things and even more depressed when I feel like my teachers are not impressed with me so I tried to make the last week of school count. I took notes for the entire 3 hours of economics on wednesday and I wrote a 3 page essay about an excerpt from a love letter by Denis Diderot (which I didn't turn in because she told us to turn it in on friday but we don't have french class on fridays so I was confused--but still, I did write it). Now that it is the second week of vacation I will start studying for the tests awaiting me when the holidays end, but I have successfully not thought about school since a man came into my history class on friday and said the buses weren't working because of snow so we could all go home.

That snow that showed up on friday kept on falling well into saturday and left us with 35 centimeters total. 35 centimeters is enough to leave our little village completely blocked off from the rest of the world. And it means that when the sun comes out on Sunday, the only thing to do after a big family lunch is have a giant snowball fight and go sledding and begin building a snowman (but stopping after you realize your hands are getting frostbite due to lack of gloves). I am definitely still digging this snow thing.

After the snow melted a bit, Alice and I hopped on the train for Paris. We got there tuesday at lunch time and spent a little while wandering the streets before we took the next train to her uncle's house which is just an hour outside the city. Then on wednesday, Disneyland!! A full day of waiting in lines (slightly less long than in Florida but still long) and riding roller coasters and eating gross mexican food and running around looking for mickey, who we never found. It was fun. And at the end, when the rain came, the lines shortened down to five minutes so we did our favorite rides again. It was fun. A good taste of the American lifestyle, but with crepe stands instead of dip'n'dots. We went back to the streets of Paris on thursday for a couple hours and then sprinted to catch our train home. Which apparently, every other citizen of Paris did as well. I was stuck standing in the entry way of the train with 32 other people for two and a half hours, and Alice was in a different compartment doing the same thing. That was maybe the low point of my vacation so far.

And then, finally, it was Christmas Eve. That's where the holidays start to become bittersweet. I have been having a great time, and I am so happy to be here. But there is a big part of me that wanted to be home. I miss the caroling and making christmas cookies and bonfires and stockings (no stockings in France) and waffles on christmas morning and party weekend in St. Petersburg and all of the holiday traditions in which I have participated every year since birth. And I'd been feeling this more and more in the week before the holidays and then as they began, but on Christmas Eve I really felt it. It's hard to be away from family so long. And it's hard to be without them at the time of year with so many traditions that you have never missed before. But it was also exciting to see how the holidays are celebrated here. Fun to compare cultural traditions.

Christmas Eve was giant family meal number one. It was dinner and we went over to Lucie and Romain (older host sister + husband)'s house. Romain's family all came over too so there were many people I didn't know which was a bit overwhelming. I helped out setting the table and serving appetizers in order to feel more comfortable and not just sit awkwardly with a bunch of strangers. Being a part of the production put me a little more at ease. The meal was incredible. First appetizers, little pieces of bread with toppings, and champagne. Then foie gras with jam and bread. I didn't love the foie gras, but that may be because I made the mistake of asking how it was and getting a very graphic answer. After the foie gras we had lobster with a special sauce and that I liked. The next course was coq au vin (rooster cooked in wine), belle peppers stuffed with rice, and gratin, a dish with lots potatoes and cheese and cream. The coq au vin was really delicious. Then came the cheese and salad. Then finally, dessert, the traditional buche de noel. We were still at the table at 11:30 at night. Part of the length, though, was due to a visit from Santa Clause in between the lobster and the coq au vin. He came in the front door and everyone sang a song to welcome him. He handed out two bags full of presents for the younger children and then everyone sang again and he left. It was a big production. I wish I knew the song! We got home at about 1:30 in the morning, and as I had been falling asleep since before the dessert came out, I pretty much collapsed in to bed on arrival.

And yesterday, Christmas! First all the siblings and their children came over for present unwrapping (the pile was demolished in about 15 minutes). Then we went over to the grandparents' house for a big lunch (foie gras again, salmon, vegetable puree and lamb chops, cheese and salad, and buche de noel) and more presents for the kids (that makes 3 rounds of present opening for the young ones). We stayed there all afternoon arguing over what movie to watch on TV and playing trivial pursuit. We also played a card game, and I participated but had no idea what was going on in the game. Apparently our team one, and apparently I helped, but I was really lost. We stayed for dinner and then returned back home. After skype-ing with my family for a little while, Alice and I watched 500 Days of Summer and one episode of Friends, and then finally fell asleep.

It was nice, Christmas. It's fun seeing everyone's reactions when they open up their presents and the food was really amazing. I did have a really good time. I miss home, I miss christmas in Florida and seeing all of my family and Florida friends, but it was nice. Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays to everyone back home, hope it was amazing. I would love to hear all about it!