I done got culture- or- Andy is back from Europe

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I got on a plane from Charles De Gaulle yesterday after crashing the night at the lovely and charming Anahita’s house. (Her daughter is adorable, and she isn’t giving me money to say so.)

After a 7 hour and change flight I spent more time waiting for my luggage than I did going through customs (Did you go to a farm? No. Do you have fruit? No. Have a nice day.) and walked out of the secure area to see my mom and Quietgirl, whereupon I promptly burst into tears.

Dad brought the car around and my brother joined us for Chinese at my favorite restaurant for lunch. Dinner was, by my request, roast chicken and macaroni and cheese.

And thus ended my two and a half months abroad.

I can’t say that it was “worth it” the way that you can say something like a movie ticket was. There was too much time involved, and too many good and bad things at the same time.

The good was really good. I got to see the Lacemaker, my favorite painting. I met dopers in Ireland, Amsterdam, and France and had marvelous times with all of them. Walked around Roman ruins in Nimes and Arles, spent a rain soaked day on one of the Aran Islands, and wandered around Strausborg for a beautiful night. Things like that. And I’m actually- and this is to my own amazement- functionally fluent in French.

Oh, and I have an entire list of things that I said by mistake in French, ranging from “normally in the US people don’t fuck their friends to say hello” (I meant to say kiss) to “I live near Maryland and virgins.” What does it say about the language when everything that you say wrong is sexual?

The loneliness was bad, though. It was really relentless- I missed Jennifer and a lot of other people in millions of little ways, and towards the end my letters sounded like I was about ready to jump in the Rhone river. France was quite racist at times, and all of the girls had problems with men harassing them. The loneliness was the worst though.

I’m never going to get the first time I saw my favorite painting, though.

I’m glad that I went, but it’s wonderful to be home all the same. I’m driving up to see Jen tomorrow, and when I went for a walk at dusk I could smell the salt on the wind.

2

Welcome home, andy! hugs

3

A definite welcome back!

Woo Hoo!

4

Ren, I’m going to send you an email with appropriate wines that we shall consume on my return to Dartmouh. (Do you like white or red better?)

When I’m not jet lagged to all hell I’ll write about French food. Now that was interesting.

5

Outside of LA, that is.

Welcome back to the States, andygirl. Be careful of reverse culture shock, now!

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How the hell did I miss this thread??

HI ANDY!!!

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What does it say about you when everything that you say wrong is sexual? :wink:

Glad you’re back, andy - hope to see you again one of these days!

8

Glad to see your home safe and sound andy.

Hope to run into again sometime :slight_smile:

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Ok, two points:

There is a buzz around this country, all I can make out is…“Boff, andygirl, donc, andygirl…boff”

Secondly, John now says you are the most interesting and intelligent college student he’s met to date from the great ole US of A.

I’m glad to hear your reuniting (?) went well. I’m sure it was very exciting for all involved!

10

Very nice of John to say that, but you must admit that the playing field isn’t that… well… let’s just say that last night as I was flipping through the channels I came across MTV’s “Spring Break” programming and became once again convinced of the worthlessness of higher education. :wink:

The reunion was surprisingly low key- everyone was content to help me fight jet lag in amusing ways. On the drive back home I snuggled with Jen and talked to my parents about how funny customs was.

(Hi, Dao! I’ll catch you on AIM when I get back to school, hopefully. We must have A Long Talk About Art.)

Oh, by the request of absolutely nobody at all (but this story will always make me think of Uke) I will tell a story about food.

The weekend before I left I went to Strausborg, which is part of the Rhineland. That would be the part on the border of France and Germany which has been disputed between the two countries for quite a long time. It is now a part of France geographically, although German culture and language thrives there and the place is quite the grand blend of the two.

Anyway, I went to an Alscacian restaurant that night. I ordered a fixed-price menu (and 25 cl of Reisling. Mmm… Reisling…), and the first course was salad.

When the salad was presented before me I stared at it for a few seconds, thinking “The menu did in fact say salad. There is theoretically vegetation under here somewhere.” It wasn’t visible- the thing was covered in cheese and sausage to an extent that there was no green in sight. And indeed, the little lettuce that was there was just a method of delivery for meat and cheese.

In short, they are a carnivorous bunch. Although I didn’t order it, the local specialty is sauerkraut. And the menu of the restaurant was hilarious. Sauerkraut…with five kinds of meat! Sauerkraut…with SEVEN kinds of meat! And then the house specialty sauerkraut, with NINE kinds of meat! (Four people could eat one serving of this and be full.)

So anyway, one was hard pressed to find veggies there. I didn’t mind, really.

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Hey Andy! Welcome back! Glad to see you weren’t gobbled up by the giant Frogs!

Perhaps we need a NE dopefest to celebrate your triumpant return.
…yummmmm, nine kinds of meat!

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welcome home andygirl.

ya know, you are going to have to post that list.

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[sub]Mmmmmmmmmmmmm…choucroute garni…[/sub]
Oh! Welcome home!

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Yay! andygirl’s[ back! Hooray!
(And the postcard I got was awesome! Thank you!)

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For your reading pleasure, I would like to present a list of the things that my group and I have said in the duration of our stay in France.

What we meant, and what we said.

I like to fish.
I like to sin.

I like your necklace.
I like your sodomy.

There aren’t many preservatives in the jam.
There aren’t many condoms in the jam.

(This one was said to a group of 13 year olds.)
I know (Name of soccer player)!
I know penis!

And here are the ones that I personally said…

I live near Maryland and Virginia.
I live near Maryland and virgins.

I’m excited to see the roman ruins.
The roman ruins turn me on.

Hi!
Bastard!

I missed my bus.
I long for my bus.

Normally in the US people don’t kiss their friends to say hello.
Normally in the US people don’t fuck their friends to say hello.

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Jr. Ranger II said to give you this:

BIG hug

:smiley:

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Salaud! Je t’embrasse avec plaisir. Aimes-toi pecher avec moi?

Ah, those naughty french! Rebienvenu, depuis tout!

Rouge-patron

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Well, of course the women have a problem with being harassed what with being fucked just to say hello. :smiley:

Welcome back.

p.s. I sympathize very much with you on the linguistic errors. Once in Korea back in the 1970s, I meant to ask for “Fuji film” but asked for pooji, not knowing that “Fuji” is the one foreign word starting with “f” that doesn’t change to “p.”

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Your linguistic errors are hilarious…I’m sure you gave the French good coctail party stories for years to come.

It sounds like you had a great time (despite the lonliness) and I can’t wait to hear more! Didja see the catacombs? Please tell me you saw them!

Welcome back!