"the days get longer and the nights smell green. i guess it's not surprising but it's spring and i should leave*..."

so the end is coming very very quickly...i spent my last weekend in france sleeping off my last night out in lille...friday i went out with olivier, adrien, fabien, sebastien and their friend anaïs...we hit mcewan's (of course) and finished up the night with a bit of dancing at the network cafe....for once, i didn't mind the techno crap they always play...we had a blast, and didn't make it home untill 5am....saturday i said goodbye to the frenchies and went home to get some rest...i've gotten everything packed at this point, but i have no idea how i'm going to actually get the suitcase on the bus/metro/train....it weighs a ton....i'm sure i'm over the airline's weight limit, but oh well...what are you going to do, eh?

today i had lunch with a teacher from the school at a very nice restaurant and i've been all over town buying last minute presents for friends...i should probably stop since i don't have much room in my suitcase left...

after several days of beautiful, but incredibly hot, weather we're back to the cold and rain...i'd like to think that france is crying at my departure :)...it's quite fitting, in fact...it was cold, gray and rainy when i got here and it's cold, gray and rainy when i leave...somehow it makes it easier to go...i think if it was still sunny and gorgeous i'd somehow get lost on the way to the airport and i'd just go live in jardin vauban for the rest of the summer....

there are lots of things i'm going to miss here:
- the friends i've made here, the frenchies and the other assistants....especially my partners in crime; miriam and carolyn
- the food: pain au chocolat, crunchy baguettes, yogurt (oh my god, it's just not the same at home), really good chocolate (see yogurt), the beer (a speciality in the north of france), the fries (see beer!!!), CHEESE!!!!!!
- speaking french all the time...at first it was intimidating and annoying...every social interaction required mental preparation...you run over the dialogue in your head a few times before you approach the lady at the counter....think of all possible vocabulary words you could need....but now i've gotten so used to it, i don't even notice when people switch between french and english...i just understand!!!!! how f-ing cool is that????
- sitting in cafés for hours at a time...i'll definately miss morel et fils
- giving bisous...really i think the french just like to kiss as many people as possible...but i must say it's quite nice that the first time you get to meet a cute boy, you get to kiss him!!!!
- the guapa bar (the best-worst bar in lille)...they play the same 15 songs every night, but at least you can dance to them and they're not techno
- mcewan's...because it's always full of cute boys and you always meet someone interesting in the co-ed bathroom...
- being unique...we assistants definately had it easy...everywhere i went i was known/introduced as "the american" or the "the texan"...it's definately an icebreaker and makes it really easy to meet people...plus, it's fun feeling exotic
- running into people you know on the street...it's hard not to feel at home when you see people you know all the time...
~the bakery next to eglise st. maurice who sells fresh pain au chocolate at 3 in the morning...
~h&m...i realize this isn't specific to france, but after unpacking, i've realized just how much euro i dropped there....

but of course there are some things i'm not going to miss;
- dog crap EVERYWHERE!!!! clean up after your dogs, people...
- giving bisous...yeah, it's also in the first list, but when you go to party, you have to kiss EVERYONE and it takes FOREVER...sometimes a handshake or just a nod is more effecient
- the weather...this texan is vitamin d deficient after eight months in the north...i need sun, tanktops and flip flops asap!!!!!
- hearing "hey, you're not french" or "you're not from around here, are you"...yeah, i know i said i liked being the "unique, exotic, american", but this pick-up line get's really old...
- everything being sooooo damn expensive...it will be nice to pay $6 for a decent meal and only $15 for a cd...
~the way people in france can't wait in line...it's one after the other, folks...same goes for exiting a metro/elevator...you let the people inside come out, then you go in....they prefer just to push their way on....
~the fact that everything not in french is dubbed....even the commercials....
~cellulite cream commercials everywhere...french women are cellulite obsessed....

i know there are many more things i'm going to miss, but i just can't think of them right now...i'm sure as soon as i've been home for a few days new things will pop up...

ok....so a last goodbye to everyone who's made this stay so enjoyable...it's sad to go, in fact, i'd really like to stay but hey i guess it's better to end it while it's still fun...i'll keep updating the blog for a little while longer, to let everyone know how adjusting to life back on the other side of the atlantic goes....

gros bisous!!!!!!


*-the world at large, modest mouse
~added on 6/1/05