Brittany is now IN Brittany!

First of all...an update on the bug bite...new medications did the trick, and she's doing fine. So, after a few days in Paris, without enough time to be a tourist, Britt took the metro (4 flights down...with two full, large suitcases!) to the train to get to Brest (final destination for 10 weeks, in the province of Brittany). WHEW! She had some difficulty with the train, and ended up taking a later one, which put her an hour behind, so she actually got to see the school where she'll be after it was closed -- didn't get to go inside.

Her "lodging" is questionable, at best. She has a small efficiency apartment (all to herself) which was in desperate need of cleaning. Everything, including bedding, dishes, floors, etc. was dirty. After some well-deserved self-pity, she got it together, got cleaning supplies, and spent a lot of Saturday making it livable. This is not what was supposed to be her welcome to this part of the trip; we have been in contact with people in charge, and her living situation might be adjusted. Until such time as that, she's made it livable, with the help of an English teacher -- another Catherine. (Interesting note -- the parents of her host family in Besancon were: father: Dominique and mother: Catie (maybe short for Catherine...two ladies who she's had help from now in Brest have been Dominique (it's a male or female name) and Catherine...interesting!).

We've spent many minutes on the PHONE these past two days, since she does not yet have access to internet, except at the homes of one of these new shepherds (they're "mom" age, according to what I've been told)...can't WAIT for the phone bills to roll in! It's worth the investment, though, for peace of mind. When I spoke with her about 4:00 today, she was doing well...had prepared her own dinner (ravioli with carbonara sauce and salad) and is planning to call tomorrow from Dominique's home, as she has phone service without charge to USA. Also in the plans for tomorrow (Sunday) is a visit to the nearby beach with Dominique and her daughter, and a possible meal at a creperie to experience regional cuisine.

The journey, trials, tribulations, drama, and adventure continue...

Now in Paris...

Hmmm...and I thought I"d be posting about Germany, but that's come and gone already, and we're on to the Paris part of the trip!

It's been a while...an eventful week, weekend and week beginning here. We didn't connect with Britt during the weekend; her internet connection in Paris is only in the lobby of the hotel/hostel place she's staying. Not so nice accomodations, from what I gather...two twin beds fill a room, and the bathroom is much like one in an RV, turns into the shower...and they're about an hour away from any of the good Paris stuff. However, she DID have a great time on the "batobus' tour (http://www.batobus.com/english/8escale.htm -- not sure if I put a link in the last post, so here it is). She stayed on the "bato" = "bateau" = boat part, because she said it was tough to try to figure out all the timings, and saw some great sights and got some great pictures (which she'll send when she has a decent internet connection, I guess). We hadn't heard from her, and it was almost midnight in Paris time, so I called her...caught her walking to the metro from the Eiffel Tower...she was tired, but happy to have seen some of what you think of when you think of France!

Still being kept very busy; seeing some of Paris, going to more classes, mostly about culture, what to expect as a teacher in the schools, etc. Supposedly, this part was to have been in English, but she said the lecturers are not abiding by that...oh well...guess she'll have to put all the past three weeks' immersion to good use! She still doesn't have details about what type of housing awaits her in her 10-week stay in Brest, but does know who will be meeting her train when she arrives Friday afternoon.

Britt is also experiencing health care in France; she got some sort of a bite on the back of her ankle; it's swollen, and possibly will cause her to see a doctor tomorrow. In France, the first line of health care is the pharmacy; seems as if the pharmacists are a sort of doctors who dispense advice and medications to help alleviate symptoms. She had a consult with a pharmacist, received antiseptics, cortisone cream (anti-itch) and probably something like Benedryl...didn't get much relief, or sympathy from the front desk when she reported it (at the recommendation of the program coordinator). All the front desk clerk did was look at it and say that the cleaning crew would be told to look for something that might have bitten her. I (foolishly) told Britt to ask for ice, and she reminded me that they don't HAVE ice in France.

Well, this is getting longer than I'd planned. I'll add more when we know the outcome of the bite injury. Until then...thanks for hanging in there...and, here's a link to the restaurant where the group is being taken for dinner on Thursday:

http://www.o-rebelle.fr/html_fr/contact.html

Have some photos again!

Well, Britt was in Germany today, to observe a Franco-German high school. She spent yesterday in a French high school, and said that was pretty neat. I haven't heard her take on the trip to Germany (trip to GERMANY!! HOW cool is that -- go to another COUNTRY to observe!!), but did get some more info on weekend activities.

The outing was to a small town with a saltworks; lots of little buildings, most of which weren't open to the public. Too boring for a 2 1/2 hour excursion, but then followed by a picnic and wine tasting. Those were much more enjoyable, evidently. Britt said they even have good-looking cows in France, so sent a couple of pictures of those -- one with her in the foreground, too. I've attached the photos -- kind of random, but keeping us involved in what's she's seeing. (the cows are waaaaaaaaaay in the background in the photo with her in the foreground) The one that's kind of dark is Britt in front of a huge wine barrel. They explored the town, including Louis Pasteur's home -- another WOW for me!

I've emailed her late today; guess she'll have a morning message, but probably won't get back to me until later in the day. I'm looking forward to coordinating another time to face-to-face chat via SKYPE on Saturday...Sunday won't work this week, because we're taking Ray to OSU...but that's another topic entirely, and I want to keep this blog about Britt's adventures.

Thanks for hanging in there with us...Britt ALWAYS ends her emails with "say hello to everyone for me" -- she's thinking of everyone, and sends her hellos to all of you! Next installment: all about Germany!

Another week has (almost) passed...

Well, it's been almost a week -- again -- and Britt's time with her host family is 2/3 over. She'll leave them on the 21st for several days in Paris. She still hasn't found out about her final lodging arrangements...enough to make her crazy, since knowing where you'll be staying is a key mind-settler, I'm sure! She's had a couple of neat experiences -- went to a site overlooking the entire city of Besancon, and said she didn't even take a picture, because it couldn't do it justice. Sounds beautiful! She's gone out with a couple of other students, but missed an outing today because her host family had prepared a lunch of her request (chicken and french fries), because the plans for the outing (to "Le Musée de Temps" meaning a museum about time--clocks, etc. I suppose) weren't clear, and lunch was at the same time. She's hoping to go on a different day, probably with someone else who didn't go today.

Haven't gotten any new photos yet. The classwork has been keeping her busy, along with classwork for Ursuline classes (she is taking two courses online, while in France, so that she can graduate with dual degrees in Education and History...it's a lot, but it's what needs to be done, and will eventually work in her favor -- theoretically and hopefully!!), so she is juggling a lot. Just like when she's at home, but in a different place, and mostly, in a different language. I believe a group of European students met with the group of American students, and one offered to help with the French...seems like a friend to have around!

Britt and I had a SKYPE chat this morning; she had said she'd like to chat "afternoonish" so I asked for clarification, but didn't find out until I got on the computer at 7:15 this morning that she meant about noon/1pm her time. Six hours difference makes it tricky...thought I'd missed her, then she called through and we had about 1/2 hour before the internet went goofy (in France, I believe, because I could do whatever I wanted here); she said it took her 15 minutes to reconnect and send an email explaining that she really did NOT just cut me off :>). A few emails later...she's in bed, I'm catching up on blog, and then I'm done for brain-involvement tonight!

New adventures...far distances...life-changes and life-changing experiences...do growing pains ever go away (for kids AND parents)????? I guess they will dull, some, but sometimes just thinking of it is overwhelming! More to come...sometime...thanks for being with us here!

Photos WITH Britt!

Okay...so I had this all done already this morning, and then when I checked it, pressed the wrong button and deleted it! I hope I remember what I'd written -- it was pretty good! :>)

The photos may be in reverse time order (don't want to sound all academic here and use the word "chronological"!) -- the one with the statue actually came on Thursday. Not sure who the statue is, but it's a cute picture, right? The one with the castle (chateau!) came yesterday -- the group of students were taken on a tour of castles in the Besancon area. I asked Britt if that one has a name, but haven't heard back yet.

So, she's got two more weeks with this host family and city, then Paris from 21-24 Sept. (see how European I'm being...that's how they do dates there, and I remember it, because now that I'm back in school, we do that in my French classes!). Anyhow...she's at something known as a CLA --"Centre Linguistique Appliquee" (Center for Applied Linguistics) a university setting, with lots of language equipment, in a seminar called "Language, Education and Culture Seminar". They meet from 8:30 a.m. through various ending times ranging from 3:30 to 5:30...so there are some pretty long days. (http://cla.univ-fcomte.fr/) The link/website is in French, but there ARE some pretty pictures for those not able to read the info! The bottom right corner has a link to info about the city of Besancon...Add to that long day the fact that they're immersed in French language (not using English at all, probably!) for that length of time -- it's pretty overwhelming, I'm sure! She'll be doing some similar program once in Paris, and then it's off to Brest for the remainder of the time (except for optional traveling, which I hope she does!). Once in Brest, she'll probably be able to use a lot of English, as the school (we think) is an English-immersion school for French high school students, and she'll be teaching in English. So, you are wonderin (and so is Britt!) WHY the brain-busting French immersion? Because that's part of the program. Uh-huh.

Well, hope you all have had a nice holiday weekend with an extra day to do what you needed or wanted to do...I'll post again when I have new information...or photos...thanks for following along! (I'm NOT going to spell check this, just so I don't lose it again...I'm on holiday and don't want to think too much :>)

Additional photos

Photos in email

Hi...received several photos from Britt today...all look very European! She's not in any of them, nor is the Akron mascot, Zippy, but she said that those will be coming soon. The program is through the University of Akron, and each student was given a small stuffed mascot, Zippy the Kangaroo (Akron Zips, I think), and are supposed to take photos of Zippy at different locations during their stay in France and wherever else they visit. I don't know what any of these are, just that they're from Besancon.
For some reason, they couldn't all load...I guess I'll wait until I have something with Britt in it to add any more, or try the other half in a different post.

Another SKYPE visit

Britt and I visited for about 45 minutes today. She's in class from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. (although I believe they get a nice, long lunch time...) then has dinner with her host family and is pretty tired by the time I can chat with her. We'll just email tomorrow. She mentioned possible plans to go to Switzerland over the weekend, and the CLA (I think!) has some sort of excursion planned which will take all day Sunday. When I asked her if she wanted to set a time for tomorrow or Friday, she said she might be going out somewhere with some of the other students...that's a good thing.

She brought Malley's chocolate (among some other things) for her host family, and the mother immediately hid it...then took it out after dinner today and tried NOT to share it, so they brought out some other French chocolate, which Britt says is just a bit better than Malley's. Oh well. It's late now, and I'm signing off for tonight...more some other day.

First SKYPE

Well, I had to hurry home from school today -- the six hours' difference makes it tough to coordinate a time that's not too early for me and not too late for Britt. She had emailed me that she'd SKYPE between 4 and 5 our time (whichis 10 and 11 p.m.)-- she's still feeling the jet lag, and even though she napped a bit today (that's SO Britt, to find a quick nap -- you go, girl!) she was still tired. Ray called home while I was saying goodbye to Britt, so I tried to put him on speakerphone, but they could barely hear each other. We'll have to set a weekend time.

SKYPE is a free download that allows chat and/or web chat at no cost. We both have webcams, so we acutally SAW each other while we were talking. I got to "meet" her host parents, and we chatted for a bit in French...until I tried to thank them for having our daughter, and the tears got in the way of my brain, and I begged off and returned to just chatting with Britt in English. At least I COULD chat with them a bit in French...my first overseas chat, my first conversation with French natives...it was a bit overwhelming for me. They seem very nice, and said the same about Britt.

I asked her about the food...not to her tastes, but she'll be okay. The school cafeteria had a choice of duck or rabbit for the meat today...neither of which she was willing to try today. At least the host mom made pasta with cheese and chicken for dinner. I'm sure she won't starve, but, you know...

She seems fine, but tired. She'll let me know when we can SKYPE again...she's in classes from 8-3 every day, getting a full immersion experience. Today's weather went from about 85 degrees to cold and rainy to the point of needing a sweater, I guess...something like that. I shared that it was beautiful and sunny here - 74 degrees at the time I was talking with Britt...and I don't think that made her feel any less homesick...if that's the word...not sure...she's doing a great job!

More when I have more news!