On this episode of “My boyfriend’s in fucking Spokane and I’m still here in Lyon!”…
A serious person who blogs would probably start this entry with something like ‘The times, they are a’changing’ (would you be embarrassed of me if I had just done that seriously? But really, I’m not serious) or, if they were perhaps a bit more indie-rock ‘And we’ll all float on.’ But what about me? Where’s my fucking niche? What am I supposed to use to introduce this to all of you without sounding too sappy, cliché, general, or just plain stupid. So I'd like you all to just hum the Mission: Impossible theme and try not to think about Tom Cruise. I know that's what I do.
I just made that way more difficult than it should have been. But really, how can you describe a time where so many things are changing on every level of life? (note- if Quel est ton probleme? were a musical, then at this point it would burst into song with some upbeat but sentimental melody about goodbyes and hellos. Aren’t you glad we’re not a musical?) I feel like June is always sort of an upheaval time of year, and this year is definitely no exception. Many of my wonderful American Lyon friends, who were students on the program that I’ve been working with all year, have been doing what study-abroad students do at the end of the year and going back to the states. They’re all terribly happy to see their family and friends there, and I’m happy for them too, but it doesn’t make me happy to keep saying goodbye. The Dordogne trip was like one long goodbye. I’m also waiting for word on acceptance to a Masters program here in Lyon (and finding back-up plans to ensure a carte de séjour renewal), finishing the year at two jobs, moving, worrying about all of the above, and yes, as the title implies, dealing with the fact that, due to some sort of cruel joke by fate or something of the like, my beautiful French boyfriend is in Spokane, Washington until mid-September and I am here, still playing the Américaine in Lyon. I have told him that he’s taking over my Pacific Northwest life. He laughed. I was sorta serious.
But franchement, since I’ve been gone for so long you probably all have a lot of questions. I am now going to answer what I believe these questions might be. But since I’m not psychic, there is no guarantee that these actually are the questions that you were thinking about. No yelling if I miss your potential question!
Q- Gina, where the HELL have you been?
A- I’ve been around, yo. Remember how I have two jobs? And I started auditing classes this term. But really, I have been around, if by around you mean around France. Since the middle of April I’ve hit four separate provinces of France- Provence, Bretagne, Berry and Dordogne (and I’ve ambled through, but not stayed in, Aquitaine and the Loire). Life here just sort of took off, and I forgot to write about it. But I’ll recap the best moments. Maybe not the part about the accidentally-upside-down lemon tarte. Because I’m still bitter about that.
Q- So, umm, are you coming back to the states?
A- If you mean to visit, then yes, I’m coming back in July for about 3 weeks. If you mean to live full-time, then no. At least not right now. As I said, I’ve applied for another Masters program here, in the basic equivalent of Arts Management. I’m waiting to find out if I’m accepted (I hear if I’ve made it to the juries, or interviews, in a few weeks, and then find out the final word in the first week of July) and frantically finding back-up plans. I need to renew my carte de séjour, the little piece of paper that lets me be legal here, and the easiest way is to still be a student. Don’t get me wrong, this program is incredible and will train me for exactly what I want to do in life. I want with my entire heart and soul to be accepted. I’m also sitting on a job for next year- basically staying at Chevreul as their assistant again. I love that school so much, and the students, so this is very happy for me. Plus, I did just sign a new lease, so I have to stay now.
Q- Where are you even living right now?
A- I feel like I’m cheating on my current apartment. Two sets of keys, furtive exits from one to the other, bags of stuff being transported… No, I’m not having an apartment affair, I’m just slowly moving from one to another. Yes, I’m leaving my little place on Avenue Berthelot to move a scant 10 minutes away, near Saxe-Gambetta. After a terrifying and stressful search during which I thought I either wouldn’t find a new place or would have to sell my own limbs to pay for it, this place sort of tumbled into my lap. I could say that a little birdie told me about it, but that would be a lie unless by little birdie I meant Alex. I admit, I did get a bit pissy (but by far not my worst) with him about his un-helping nature in the apartment search (not that I ever asked him to help…) and one day just spat out “Don’t you know ANYONE who needs a roommate or who’s leaving their apartment?” I think it knocked something in him, because then he remembered that one of his friends had a roommate who was moving out. He called her from the café where we were sitting and we went right over. And that is how I met Julie and last week signed some stuff and wrote some big checks. There’s a lot in between and before, but I think it’s worth saving, because looking for and finding an apartment in France is quite the loop-de-doo. Julie’s away for the summer in Madrid doing an internship, so I’m alone with the internet and freebox (free calls to land lines in the US!) for a while. She also put MSN messenger and a webcam on my computer, so, guys? Sign up? I’ll tell you more about the new place later, when I realize that I never even told you much about the current place, but for now know that I love it and am going to be very happy there.
Q- Seen any good movies lately?
A- What a great question! Why yes, I have. I saw Marie Antoinette and The DaVinci Code before ANY of you did, because they had earlier release dates here (for the first time in like a millennium). I also saw Mission: Impossible 3, because how could I not? There was an Almodovar retrospective at the Institut Lumière, so I went to see Talk to her (again) and Pepi, Luci, Bom et otras chicas del menton, his first long-metrage which I had wanted to see forever. Crazy crazy crazy. There were times when all Maria and I could do was look at each other and wonder if this was really happening. One of the small theatres is also doing a Sofia Coppola retrospective which consists of a grand total of 2 movies, but I gave in and went to see Lost in Translation, because how could I not?
Q- What about concerts?
A- Shit yo, that’s even better than the movie question. After a few beautiful séances at the Auditorium with the Orchestre National de Lyon, I saw two nights of kick-ass concerts at the Printemps de Bourges, a HUGE music festival. The entire town explodes and people roll in from all over the place. Those of us lucky enough to have a boyfriend who’s from Bourges and whose father gets reduced- price tickets went to the two big nights of concerts (chosen quite randomly when Alex called and made me pick on the spot, and I pulled out the only concerts I could remember from the ONE time I looked at the program). We saw, amongst others, Katherine, The Artic Monkeys, Dionysus, Ken Boothe, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings (oh wow, old school soul/funk band that threw me into Blues Brothers mode) and Louise Attaque. It was my second time with the Louises, having seen them when I was all of 16 and studying in Saint Brieuc. The whole crowd jumped and sang along and was generally very excited. A few weeks later we went to see Skye, who’s best known as the former singer of Morcheeba. It was Alex’s birthday present, but he chose the concert without really knowing much about it. I looked it up and couldn’t believe that he had randomly picked a trip-hop concert without realizing that it was my favorite kind of music. Needless to say, it was an incredible evening. Her first solo album is beautiful (but expensive!) and that enough was alone, but then she started singing the old Morcheeba catalogue. This was something I never thought I’d see and I spent most of the night not believing that I was there. It was, well, perfect.
Q- And the eating? What about the eating?
A- Oh god, the eating. Where to even start. I’m going to start a weekly feature mostly destined for e where I’ll talk about eating or cooking. But for now let me say that over Easter weekend I had champagne, the good stuff, four times.
Q- What about this boyfriend? And why the heck is he in Spokane?
A- That, my friends, is a good question. I can’t confine my Alex to one answer, so once again I ask you to please wait so that I can give him the explanation he deserves after these 6 months. But before I go, because I’ve been waiting so long to say this, and because I never thought I’d say it- my boyfriend is a black belt in judo, niener niener niener!
I just made that way more difficult than it should have been. But really, how can you describe a time where so many things are changing on every level of life? (note- if Quel est ton probleme? were a musical, then at this point it would burst into song with some upbeat but sentimental melody about goodbyes and hellos. Aren’t you glad we’re not a musical?) I feel like June is always sort of an upheaval time of year, and this year is definitely no exception. Many of my wonderful American Lyon friends, who were students on the program that I’ve been working with all year, have been doing what study-abroad students do at the end of the year and going back to the states. They’re all terribly happy to see their family and friends there, and I’m happy for them too, but it doesn’t make me happy to keep saying goodbye. The Dordogne trip was like one long goodbye. I’m also waiting for word on acceptance to a Masters program here in Lyon (and finding back-up plans to ensure a carte de séjour renewal), finishing the year at two jobs, moving, worrying about all of the above, and yes, as the title implies, dealing with the fact that, due to some sort of cruel joke by fate or something of the like, my beautiful French boyfriend is in Spokane, Washington until mid-September and I am here, still playing the Américaine in Lyon. I have told him that he’s taking over my Pacific Northwest life. He laughed. I was sorta serious.
But franchement, since I’ve been gone for so long you probably all have a lot of questions. I am now going to answer what I believe these questions might be. But since I’m not psychic, there is no guarantee that these actually are the questions that you were thinking about. No yelling if I miss your potential question!
Q- Gina, where the HELL have you been?
A- I’ve been around, yo. Remember how I have two jobs? And I started auditing classes this term. But really, I have been around, if by around you mean around France. Since the middle of April I’ve hit four separate provinces of France- Provence, Bretagne, Berry and Dordogne (and I’ve ambled through, but not stayed in, Aquitaine and the Loire). Life here just sort of took off, and I forgot to write about it. But I’ll recap the best moments. Maybe not the part about the accidentally-upside-down lemon tarte. Because I’m still bitter about that.
Q- So, umm, are you coming back to the states?
A- If you mean to visit, then yes, I’m coming back in July for about 3 weeks. If you mean to live full-time, then no. At least not right now. As I said, I’ve applied for another Masters program here, in the basic equivalent of Arts Management. I’m waiting to find out if I’m accepted (I hear if I’ve made it to the juries, or interviews, in a few weeks, and then find out the final word in the first week of July) and frantically finding back-up plans. I need to renew my carte de séjour, the little piece of paper that lets me be legal here, and the easiest way is to still be a student. Don’t get me wrong, this program is incredible and will train me for exactly what I want to do in life. I want with my entire heart and soul to be accepted. I’m also sitting on a job for next year- basically staying at Chevreul as their assistant again. I love that school so much, and the students, so this is very happy for me. Plus, I did just sign a new lease, so I have to stay now.
Q- Where are you even living right now?
A- I feel like I’m cheating on my current apartment. Two sets of keys, furtive exits from one to the other, bags of stuff being transported… No, I’m not having an apartment affair, I’m just slowly moving from one to another. Yes, I’m leaving my little place on Avenue Berthelot to move a scant 10 minutes away, near Saxe-Gambetta. After a terrifying and stressful search during which I thought I either wouldn’t find a new place or would have to sell my own limbs to pay for it, this place sort of tumbled into my lap. I could say that a little birdie told me about it, but that would be a lie unless by little birdie I meant Alex. I admit, I did get a bit pissy (but by far not my worst) with him about his un-helping nature in the apartment search (not that I ever asked him to help…) and one day just spat out “Don’t you know ANYONE who needs a roommate or who’s leaving their apartment?” I think it knocked something in him, because then he remembered that one of his friends had a roommate who was moving out. He called her from the café where we were sitting and we went right over. And that is how I met Julie and last week signed some stuff and wrote some big checks. There’s a lot in between and before, but I think it’s worth saving, because looking for and finding an apartment in France is quite the loop-de-doo. Julie’s away for the summer in Madrid doing an internship, so I’m alone with the internet and freebox (free calls to land lines in the US!) for a while. She also put MSN messenger and a webcam on my computer, so, guys? Sign up? I’ll tell you more about the new place later, when I realize that I never even told you much about the current place, but for now know that I love it and am going to be very happy there.
Q- Seen any good movies lately?
A- What a great question! Why yes, I have. I saw Marie Antoinette and The DaVinci Code before ANY of you did, because they had earlier release dates here (for the first time in like a millennium). I also saw Mission: Impossible 3, because how could I not? There was an Almodovar retrospective at the Institut Lumière, so I went to see Talk to her (again) and Pepi, Luci, Bom et otras chicas del menton, his first long-metrage which I had wanted to see forever. Crazy crazy crazy. There were times when all Maria and I could do was look at each other and wonder if this was really happening. One of the small theatres is also doing a Sofia Coppola retrospective which consists of a grand total of 2 movies, but I gave in and went to see Lost in Translation, because how could I not?
Q- What about concerts?
A- Shit yo, that’s even better than the movie question. After a few beautiful séances at the Auditorium with the Orchestre National de Lyon, I saw two nights of kick-ass concerts at the Printemps de Bourges, a HUGE music festival. The entire town explodes and people roll in from all over the place. Those of us lucky enough to have a boyfriend who’s from Bourges and whose father gets reduced- price tickets went to the two big nights of concerts (chosen quite randomly when Alex called and made me pick on the spot, and I pulled out the only concerts I could remember from the ONE time I looked at the program). We saw, amongst others, Katherine, The Artic Monkeys, Dionysus, Ken Boothe, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings (oh wow, old school soul/funk band that threw me into Blues Brothers mode) and Louise Attaque. It was my second time with the Louises, having seen them when I was all of 16 and studying in Saint Brieuc. The whole crowd jumped and sang along and was generally very excited. A few weeks later we went to see Skye, who’s best known as the former singer of Morcheeba. It was Alex’s birthday present, but he chose the concert without really knowing much about it. I looked it up and couldn’t believe that he had randomly picked a trip-hop concert without realizing that it was my favorite kind of music. Needless to say, it was an incredible evening. Her first solo album is beautiful (but expensive!) and that enough was alone, but then she started singing the old Morcheeba catalogue. This was something I never thought I’d see and I spent most of the night not believing that I was there. It was, well, perfect.
Q- And the eating? What about the eating?
A- Oh god, the eating. Where to even start. I’m going to start a weekly feature mostly destined for e where I’ll talk about eating or cooking. But for now let me say that over Easter weekend I had champagne, the good stuff, four times.
Q- What about this boyfriend? And why the heck is he in Spokane?
A- That, my friends, is a good question. I can’t confine my Alex to one answer, so once again I ask you to please wait so that I can give him the explanation he deserves after these 6 months. But before I go, because I’ve been waiting so long to say this, and because I never thought I’d say it- my boyfriend is a black belt in judo, niener niener niener!
5 Comments:
loved chatting with you this morning! can't wait to do it in person!!! Yay!
I can't wait to see the new Sophia movie, and hear more about this adorable bf of yours. Damn you! You just have to tease! :)
Emily
"Q- What about concerts?"
I just came back from the Bang on a Can Marathon. I think I win. ha!
~Mike
...a black belt in judo? BAH! Big fat hairy deal! I have THREE blacks belts; granted, they're all in my closet, but still...
~le père des lauren
Spokane! That's only a four-ish hour drive from where I am right now! I even have relatives out that way!
G, I will have MSN in the near future, so we must chat all the time!
P.S. I'm jealous of you being the first one to live in Europe full-time. But we all knew it would happen.
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