Two years

Two years ago (well, from the day before yesterday) I stepped off a plane in Lyon, France, to spend 6 months studying abroad. I remember being mildly petrified. I definitely did not know that two years later I would be already settled into a job and a home in that same country. And while a lot has changed over those two years, there's one thing I can still say with pride: I have never thrown up outside of the US! Let's keep that record going, shall we?

Also, last night the (horrible) game show Money Drop used EXACTLY the same question that was used on another game show on the same channel (Les 12 Coups de Midi) two days earlier. I felt SO BETRAYED.

Tonight on What the Hell Did You Have For Dinner?

Living alone means no one judging me while I prepare dinner. This has resulted in several cooking catastrophes, including my repeated attempts to caramelize onions that usually just end up making me sick to my stomach. But recently I bought a (relatively cheap) stew/casserole thing specifically to make one dish, and this has brought out some kitchen creativity in me. A summery:

Friday night's poulet au cidre/chicken with cider: HUGE SUCCESS! Deliciousssssss
Sunday night's sushi: need to cook that rice better. Apparently not everything in that casserole ends up tasting like heaven.
Tonight (Tuesday night)'s...shallot/lardon/zucchini with homemade "breadcrumbs": surprisingly edible. Especially sandwiched between leftover sushi and 4 day old salad. Sadly, I now have enough dishes to wash to keep me occupied all night.

Still, these experiments give me hope. Hope that one day I will know how to cook more than just taking what I have and throwing it into a frying pan together.

And this is Caitlin, the American!

It's been a while since the last time I was introduced as "the American" in such blunt terms. But hey, these things happen. And there are worse places than at a huge birthday bash when you meet probably over 20 people over the course of one night. Because it helps explain your less-than-enthusiastic dancing to all those French songs from the 80s.

France painted in autumn

So this is the first time I've ever been in France during the fall. I've done winter, spring, summer...never fall. And let me tell you, if I thought France was beautiful before, it's nothing compared to what I think now. I've always liked fall, but it's never been a season that I would call the most beautiful. But when I mentioned to a teammate this weekend that I had never seen France in the fall, he replied, "well, this is it's most beautiful season, don't you agree?" And I do.

This season has possibly made such an impression on me because I've done so much traveling during it. I've spent at least 5 hours in transit to various places every weekend, with the highest total coming to around 15 hours in 3 days. So I've seen a lot of scenery. And it's like a gorgeous painting that never ends. It's helped by the fact that the French countryside about a 20 minute drive from most cities looks like it's still in the Middle Ages. On cloudy days it makes me feel like the Apocalypse happened.

Oh, and making out while standing in the Mediterranean with the sun shining down on you is possibly one of the most romantic things I've ever done. Minus, you know, making out underneath the Eiffel Tower.

What is the United States made of?

Just finished my first week of teaching! And now I'm on vacation, because this job is awesome. For the moment, I leave you with some of the best questions I was asked by the French kiddies this week:

What is the US made of? Like...brick? Or wood?
Could you not have taken a bus to get here?
Do you have candy in the US? What color is it?
And my personal favorite: Are there toilets in the US?

Back in France!

So I made it back to France. After way too much time in an embassy waiting room, packing stress, and annoying airport security, I landed safe and sound in Lyon almost 3 weeks ago. About a week and a half ago, I moved to Clermont-Ferrand for my orientation. Next Tuesday, I officially begin as an English language teacher (teaching assistant, technically, but I'm really going to be for realz teaching).

Here's a brief resume of the past 3 weeks:
I have played 2 ultimate tournaments and will play a 3rd next weekend.
I have a place to live! Which might be about 10 square meters. I move in this week, but meanwhile...
I live with French frisbee friends! Who are adorable and make me dinner and drive me places.
I eat McDonald's and ride trams and wish people would stop smoking on me.

Random rant fest

Okay, so I really just can't take this anymore and I need to let it out, so this medium is just gonna have to do. I don't know when this fad became so popular, but WHY is everyone suddenly freaking out about the misuse of the word "literally"??? Why is this suddenly a big deal? Why are people so offended by this particular word evolving a new usage? I don't think these same people wander around bitchslapping strangers for using hopefully in sentences like "hopefully she'll be here on Thursday", so why is "literally" so different? Are these Literally Nazis saying things like "From where are you?" to avoid ending sentences with prepositions? Are they using whom and who correctly? I'm sure a few of them are...but the vast majority have just gotten swept up in this truly weird fad that I cannot comprehend.

And then here's the other thing that really gets me: after some asshat crusader calls someone out on their misuse of "literally", the accused always seems to say "oh yeah, I know I use that word wrongly sometimes, it's a bad habit, hehehe". No one stands up to these pricks and says "hey, I'm sorry that you're a conceited bitch, but DEAL WITH IT". And frankly, that's what pisses me off the most. Because if you dare to correct someone's who/whom mistakes, you get "omg calm down no one cares about that stuff!" Well listen up, newest stupid fad to sweep the nation: NO ONE CARES ABOUT THAT STUFF. Unless it *literally* makes you incapable of understanding my sentence (see: mistakes likes 'eats, shoots and leaves'), GET OVER YOURSELF.

I feel better now.