Let the Fun Continue...

The program I'm on in France allows U.S. citizens to participate twice, either in two consecutive years in the same Académie or two nonconsecutive years in either the same or different regions. Of course, for the second consecutive year, one normally gets placed towards the bottom of the queue for receiving an assignment (as the intention is to first give an opportunity to the people who applied for a first year over the people who are applying for a renewal), so it's not guaranteed. Which is why I'm applying to graduate schools (admittedly, though, not very hard... Minnesota and Florida State are the big ones for now) as a back-up plan.

However, I am applying for a second year in France. I know, I'm crazy, but there are several reasons:
1.) I like my job and I like where I'm at here in France. If I like the situation I'm in, why change it?
2.) Giving myself an extra year will allow me a bit more time to earn some cash and also to get some more experience working abroad, plus it'll also give me the chance to get the other test that many graduate schools in Physics want or require. It's a test that's only offered thrice a year, and, to be honest, it was impossible to get it done last year.
3.) Another year in France will give me more of a chance to improve my French, which desperately needs improvement.

But I'm not going to do the Germany-France two-step that I did last year. Simply put, the issue with the visas and residence permits arises again: I'd have to get an entry visa for Germany due to my stay in France, and that's a fun adventure requiring a trip to Paris or Atlanta (depending on where I'd be at the time). As much as I love Germany, it's probably not a good idea. Not to mention my passport is almost full, and I intend to do at least a bit of travelling this summer.

Speaking of this summer, I'm thinking of giving myself a self-birthday present with a trip out of the US. I'm thinking Canada, Mexico, or someplace in the Western Hemisphere this time, but definitely out of the US. But we'll see.

There and Back Again

It's been a long time since the last post, and a lot has happened in that timespan. Namely, I went to Paris, then back to the United States, and I finally came back to France ov
er the course of two weeks. And now it's back to work.

As most of you know, I went back to the US for the vacances de Noël (winter/Christmas vacation) because of the fun with my airplane ticket: it was cheaper to purchase a round-trip ticket to Germany and back from France back in May than it was to buy

a single one-way ticket. Accordingly, I decided that a quick return to the US wasn't a bad idea: I'd be able to drop some things off, grab any of the varying things I had forgotten in the US and realized would make my stay in France better. So, in all, it'd be a win-win.

So, on 16 December, I went up to Paris. After all, since I had to go to Charles de Gaulle Airport on the 19th and be there at an ungodly hour, why not arrive a few days in advance to do the sightseeing thing? And the stay in Paris was well worth it... I did most of the usual tourist activities, such as visiting Notre Dame, Sacré-Coeur, the Musée du Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée de Quai Branly, the Tour Eiffel, the Arc de Triomphe, La Défense... as expected, it was a lot of moving around, but it was also a lot of fun. The thing that made it even more fun was that most of the monuments offered free/reduced admission charges to young EU residents (of which I am one, and have been since July), the exception being the Louvre, and the cheap day-ticket available for under-25's on the weekends.

And, as they say, don't try to see all of the Louvre in one day: it won't end well. But don'

t just go straight for the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory: there are a lot of other things to see. But I still preferred the Musée d'Orsay due to it having more of the things I really liked and despite its "no photography" rule that seems to be a recent innovation (it wasn't there the last time I went to said museum...

After the fun in Paris, it was time to brave Charles de Gaulle Airport, the bane of many

travellers. Naturally, it's not in the city of Paris, but getting there involves either an expensive train ticket or a long bus ride. I chose the bus ride because the bus went right to the terminal I left from; surprisingly, though, the whole process of getting through the airport was straightforward with few long lines. Granted, the passport control officer gave me an entry stamp instead of an exit stamp, but it wasn't too grave at that point. However, the terminal in question (Terminal 1) seemed rather barren; not a lot of shops or cafés available, especially once one made it through security.

Then came the nine hour plane flight. Yes, nine hours... it was long, and me sleeping on planes is a rare feat. We finally arrived at Charlotte-Douglas Airport and, unlike my experiences clearing Customs in Toronto, the officers were actually rather friendly and polite even after getting randomly selected for extra screening (though, fortunately, no unpacking and repacking my luggage was involved). Definitely a plus. After the fun of that, rechecking my bag, and going back through security, it was time to get on airplane number 2 to Raleigh. Fortunately, the second flight was a bit shorter: 50 minutes rather than several hours. Once I got on the ground, I went out, found my father, grabbed my bags, and then we got in the car for the hour-and-a-half car ride back to Stedman.

Break was, unsurprisingly, rather calm and relaxing. I got my driver's license practically as soon as I got back, so I'm now able to torment the roads both in the US and in France (with a translation of my license, of course). But, otherwise, not much happened... lots of eating, video games, spending time with family, playing Magic the Gathering with my brother and my mother's friend, taking pictures, and working on graduate school applications. With only 12 days on the ground in the States, though, the time went by very quickly and, before we all knew it, it was time to go back to France.

So, on New Year's Eve, with my father and my evil brother, we took the three-hour trip to Charlotte again. This time, my flight plan was an hour-long flight to Atlanta, a five-hour layover, and then eight hours to Paris. This was a rather uneventful trip, if not particularly boring... the Atlanta airport at least had reasonably inexpensive places to eat, but not many. We got into Paris a bit ahead of schedule, but finding the RER station was rather confusing due to the fastest route there being blocked off for some unknown reason (while the RER to the city is expensive, quite frankly, I was tired and didn't want to have to deal with the bus again). From there, I then took the RER and Métro to the train station and, after even more waiting round, got on the train to Clermont-Ferrand, arriving there late on the first and deciding to crash pretty much immediately.

In all, the trip back to the States was a good idea despite not having much time on the ground there. I did get a lot of stuff to give out to my students and the teachers I work with, not to also mention some more stuff for show-and-tell (like a North Carolina flag). And now it's time to start planning the next trip... I'm thinking the UK. Or Turkey.