I leave in three short weeks. A list of a few of the things I will miss dearly:

Babies that come in spring!

Making (and eating) scrumptious goat cheese.

Dancing with friends.

All the amazing English teachers I met.

Parades and celebrations.

More babies, how could I resist? (I named the white one at the top ZigZag and tried to buy him from Isabelle, but sadly she wasn't having it...).

Cute French kids who think I'm much cooler than I actually am.

Costume parties with strong punch.

Bike adventures to touristy sites.

Birthday cake made just for me.

Chers followers,

I've been negligent with my blogging, and for that I am sorry. But now that it's been so long, I don't really know where to start!

Last month I went to central Europe, and explored Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. It was my most favorite trip of my life! In part, I think, because it was my first truly solo trip- I met so many amazing people from all over the world. And the history is so rich, with the Nazi and Communist occupations. It was fascinating.

A highlight for me was when I was in Paris. Because of a police investigation of unattended luggage in Charles De Gaulle, I ended up missing my train back to Lure by about 13 minutes. So, I got a new ticket and sat down on a bench to wait the two hours until the next train. I was actually sending a text message and had a question about the usage of the subjunctive, so I decided to askthe man beside me if I had spelled the verb right. He was old, I thought maybe about 80, and he got out his glasses and read the whole text and told me it was perfect. Then he looked at me and said, You're not French are you? With that, we started talking - for more than an hour and a half! It turns out in 1943 he was 11, and his family was deported to Poland during WWII. We talked about everything under the sun: religion, politics, Hollywood, war, human nature, gender roles, children, etc. He even told me some jokes and we laughed and laughed. He asked me for my home address so that he can write me! He also told me that our meeting was fate, that there's a reason for everything. I had the most wonderful time and I felt truly honored to have met and talked with him.

I hosted a crepe party this past weekend, and it was incredible! We had little crepe makers and everything. We started with savory - I made a scrumptious white veggie sauce - and then moved on to dessert - Nutella, sugar, lemon juice, fruit, all the fixins. It was a success, even though I'm sure that if I had a smoke alarm in my apartment, it would have gone off several times.

Tonight I'm going to Belfort to attend a party! Eva and Tourist invited me, it's a big family party with all the people from Vouhenans. I think they're even putting my name on a cake for all the birthdays in March!

Also, I feel really connected with Ohio today - two days ago it was 55 and sunny. Today, I woke up to three inches of snow. Feels just like home!

I hope everyone is well. All my love.

Sam

Oh, also: HI HEATHER!

This is one of my most favorite flea market finds ever. Enjoy.

2009? My last post was in 2009? How could I do this to you? I'm sure you've been on the edge of your seat since LAST YEAR waiting for a blog post.

But seriously. Since I last wrote, I have flown to Denmark, then back to France, then to the USA, then back to France. And more than feeling tired, I am feeling very, very guilty about my carbon footprint. I'm still in the process of thinking of a way I can make it up to The Earth for all that carbon emitting I'm responsible for.

Anyway, in a few words, Copenhagen was unbelievable. To see Anna in and of itself was just wonderful. We got to catch up and I was very grateful to be at the conference with her because we had consistently challenging and stimulating conversations (she's doing a Masters in globalization and was thus very helpful and knowledgeable). I got shut out of the conference (as well as many other venues), welcomed to protests and rallies, and attended an alternative meeting area called Klimaforum. Copenhagen itself was buzzing and alive and every minute I felt grateful to be there during the summit. By the time I left, my brain was tired, I was exhausted, and honestly a bit disappointed with the negotiations. But that's a whole other can of worms. It was hard to say goodbye to Anna, but I know we'll meet again soon of course.

After one night in Paris, (HA! Anyone?) I hopped an Ohio-bound plane. After a long journey, I arrived safely in Columbus, overjoyed to see my mama waiting for me. After give or take a dozen Christmas cookies I was as content as could be. My two weeks at home were spent waitressing, hanging out with the family, running in freezing temperatures, shopping for presents, shopping for myself, eating, seeing old friends, and bedazzling my face. I can't express how happy I am I went home, and how happy I was to do absolutely nothing and just be in the same room with my family.

Now, I am back in France and very content to be here. After another long journey and a couple sleepless nights and sleep-filled days, I am almost back in the swing of life. Everyone is still excited to see me (bonus) and Claire and Becky are having a wine and cheese party tomorrow (double bonus). I taught my kids slang today and my favorite one was 'foxy lady,' though 'good vibes' came in for a close second. I also really enjoyed teaching them what 'Well, that was a bust' meant.

As for tonight, I am for all intents and purposes snowed in. Aside from the fact that I may miss my lunch with Isabelle et al, I welcome all the beautiful snow Mother Nature wants to throw down right now.

All my love,

Sam

Our beautiful tree that was up for a little over a week.

Us kids with our newest addition to help make trouble.

The family, version 2010.

The littlest additions to help make trouble.

Traditional Christmas tacos.

ALL of those went in my belly. And you think I'm joking.

Peacefully putting up the Christmas tree.

Anna on our 'Christmas Day' which was in part dedicated to sight seeing!

Le beau Copenhague!

Salut! Becky and I just got back today from Lyon for the Fete des Lumières (Festival of Lights) -- it was a bit of a whirlwind. Friday I was running around like crazy, all the way up until our train at 7pm. We got into Lyon at about 11:30 at night and walked right into a huge house party, hosted by the guy we were staying with. It was super crazy. In true Euro-20-something fashion, it went on until about 6 or 7am and we were wimps for turning in at 3am.

The next day I walked around the city with a fellow Kenyon alum. It was really nice to talk to someone who also spent four years in sleepy little Gambier. We found a cool thrift store, shared a Nutella crèpe and hot chocolate, and explored all the different parts of the city. Lyon is wonderful! I really liked the vibe there. Similar to Paris, but more manageable, it seemed.

Saturday night was filled with light! The light shows were amazing- artists and designers from all over the world collaborated to put on the different shows. I was mesmerized. I don't think the pictures do it justice, but hopefully it conveys a bit of how cool the show was. I was so tired from the night before that I went to bed 'early' again at 2am, and our train left at 9 this morning. We got back home this afternoon and I have school tomorrow.

I leave for Copenhagen in a week (Obama moved his visit to December 18, so I'll be there when he is. Hopefully he and I can hang out a little one on one, depending on his schedule). The Christmas spirit is really starting to kick in here in Franche Comté: lights, Christmas markets, sales, trees, all of it! Very excited and hopefully Claire and Becky and I will take cheesy pictures with the Santa and elf decorations soon. All the assistants are doing a Secret Santa exchange on Tuesday, so that'll be fun as well.

Joyeux fêtes, tout le monde!

Love,

Sam

Tonight was dinner at my apartment! It actually turned out very well: I borrowed a table and chairs from Diana and miraculously all seven people fit comfortably. It turned out to be a stimulating mix of German, French and English speaking. The Motown playlist I made was a big hit. The menu was as follows:

Appetizer: Baguette, pesto, tomato and melted goat cheese (from the farm, of course).

Salad: Pears, walnuts and a homemade dressing.

Entrée: Cream of broccoli soup, from scratch! With sautéed mushrooms, peppers and onions on the side.

Dessert: No bake cookies (the Germans and UK kids had never tasted them before!), vanilla ice cream, and clementines.

A photo of Diana, Carina, Fleur and me. Lots of other pictures were taken, but in all my hosting I myself didn't take many.

I worked at the farm today at 7:00 and I'm totally wiped. Lots of love.

À la prochaine,

Sam

Happy Thanksgiving!

This week went really quickly with lots of menial tasks. I found out I was required to fill out a request for absence form regarding Copenhagen, so I had to do a lot of French paperwork (huge surprise, I know). I'm also in the middle of applying for my French housing subsidy, which is also a lot of copies and papers and writing. Hopefully that will be sent out next week, too. After being in France and dealing with the French social system, I don't think I'll ever have a problem with impatience in the States ever again.

We had a German meal cooked for us by Corina and Diana on Tuesday. They made salad, some German pasta delicacy, and apple strudel! It was scrumptious. Next week I volunteered to have everyone over to my place. It'll be interesting to se how I manage to get seven girls seated and served in my little apartment. It'll be an adventure!

This is a photo of Corina, our gracious host!

And on Thursday, I was planning to go to Champagnole for Thanksgiving at Josh's with his housemates and some friends. No matter how hard I searched, I could not find a train that worked with my teaching schedule. I just mentioned to a teacher that if she knew of anyone driving south that day, they should let me know, and I could catch a train directly from Besançon instead of from Lure. But everyone had staff meetings that night and it seemed like there was no way I could possibly get to Champagnole. Then I got a call from Françoise, and her daughter was going that afternoon. She had even gone through the trouble to talk to the teacher whose class I was supposed to attend, and he said it was fine if I missed it! So I hopped in the car with her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend and headed to Besançon. I got to Champagnole and successfully navigated myself (without directions or phone numbers no less!) to Josh's lycée. He made PUMPKIN PIE and CHRISTMAS COOKIES. Can you believe it? We ate entirely too much, drank good wine, and laughed a lot. It was wonderful. We stayed up so late listening to Lorent play the guitar and hanging out.

Josh and his delicious pumpkin pie. I couldn't believe that he made it himself. Did you know that pumpkin pie doesn't have to be made with pumpkin, but any of the different types of squash? Tasted just the same!

This is the Thanksgiving crowd. It was the first Thanksgiving for Zoe and Anne, where were from England and Germany respectively. We went around the table and said what we were thankful for. I think it was a memorable holiday for them! (Also pictured are Lorent and Remy, two of their French friends in Champagnole). And below is a happy photo of Anne and Zoe.

So yes! Thanksgiving was great, and I even (against all odds) got back to Lure on time to teach my three classes on Friday afternoon. Next week is my second to last week at school before my three week Copenhagen / Paris / US break. Very excited! Hope everyone is doing well- has anyone seen snow yet??

Love,

Sam