Going back to school: Afton-Lakeland and beyond

Well, I've been at Afton-Lakeland Elementary school for three weeks now and it has been wonderful but I'm starting to realize that it is the beginning of the end. I only have six school days left and then I don't get to see my first graders again!
I'm going to miss all of my first graders, even the naughty ones (though there aren't many of those). Over the past three weeks I've gotten to know their quirks, what they do best, what they need help with, and what makes them smile. If there is one thing that I will take away from this experience it is the knowledge that first graders are very good learners but they also need room for play and stories in their days. They learn so well through these two mediums and they have fun doing it. I have loved being a part of their classroom and their learning experience.
While I know that it will be sad to leave them, I can't wait to move on to new things- like warm weather! Honestly, it's March and it still feels like January! Sacramento, Tokyo, Nagasaki, here I come!

Pour conclure (to conclude)

Well, here I am back in Minnesota and it's a lovely negative 50 with the wind chill. Seriously, Minnesota? I feel like we're living in Greenland. I do love it though. I missed the snow and the cold just a little bit... Yes, I'm a real Minnesotan.
Being back in the United States so far has not been too much of a shock besides the transportation. I miss the tubes and the TGV very much. Everything here is so spread out and the houses seem huge. I also have gotten the chance to go back to St. Olaf which has been really great and interesting. First of all, it makes me feel a bit like an alum, coming back during class but not being in class. It really makes me appreciate my classes and being able to live in this picturesque community with all of my friends. I was looking at Emma's textbook for her Asian languages class and I was so jealous! It made me so glad that I have another year left at St. Olaf.
But back to Europe: France turned out to be a very mixed feeling sort of experience for me. Southern France (Lyon and Avignon) was much warmer in terms of temperature and the people there. Avignon actually felt a bit like Santa Fe. I just really enjoyed sitting outside, watching a few boys playing football (aka soccer) in the courtyard of the Palace of the Popes. Lyon had a similar laid-back sort of feeling. There was a really cool outdoor market that mom and I walked through and the view from the top of the hill was really spectacular.
Paris, on the other hand, was not as friendly. This, of course, seems to be true with most large cities, that they are not as friendly. I loved the Musée d’Orsay in Paris; it was my favorite place there. I got to see lots of impressionist and post-impressionist works. Also, mom and I went to lunch in the restaurant there and it was incredible, definitely the best meal of the trip.
As for wacky stories, mom already hinted at one. We did meet three twenty-something men on the train and they were pretty drunk and fairly friendly. One did a hand stand, his name may have been Pierre. I can’t remember. It was pretty weird, not gonna lie. The blond one spoke Croatian, though. That was pretty cool. Too bad mom told him in French that I spoke Croatian when she was trying to say that I wanted to speak Croatian. He started to say something to me but soon realized I had no idea what he was talking about. He was nice, though, less smarmy than hand stand guy and much more friendly than the third guy who didn’t speak English and basically opted out of the whole conversation.
There is so much more but this is so long already and I’m a bit tired. If I feel so inclined I may enter random stories onto the blog but I may not. Now that I’m back I can just tell you all about it!
Stay tuned for stories from Japan!

Nous sommes ici!!! Ensuite...

Hello all! We are in France and the keyboard here is very different so unfortunately this is going to be very short as well and mom is going to write something in a bit. As for me, this has been a very interesting trip so far. I am beginning to enjoy the language much more. I think that having some time to just listen was good and just now I'm feeling more comfortable speaking. Sadly we leave tomorrow basically (notez: Britney is on the radio right now. I find it unsettling tha keeping up with world news has been dificult while escaping Britney Spears and her life story is damn dear impossible). Anyway, I wish we had more time to establish ourselves in each of the towns. I like knowing an area/country and then finding little quirks about the area I'm in. Well, I think this is all for now. I'll be sure to write some kind of summary once I'm reunited with my English keyboard. Cheers!
Sarah xoxo


Oui, we are in Avignon, heading off to dinner at La Fourchette ( the fork) recommended by Kael's paretns. Sarah seems to tolerating me pretty well. Ask her about the 3 20-something guys on the train. The drunkest one kissed both our hands and did a handstand in the dining/bar car!
Salut! - Carol (la mère)

First night in Paris

Amazingly our hotel has free internet so I can write something more than a few sentances (though, to tell the truth, there's not a ton to report). Mom and I had some difficulty finding each other but since I figured we were both in good health I didn't get too worried. Mom was 'freaking out' but, obviously, we found each other. So, that day (yesterday) we went to an English restaurant where we had hot pies for dinner and hot pudding for dessert. Today we went for a walk in Regents Park and I showed mom where I stayed for the first two weeks of the trip. After that we walked around near Piccadily Circus and got lunch to go. After that we got on the Chunnel (which nearly killed my ears) and voila! We were in Paris. We have so far run into many nice French people and only one slightly rude French person, but I feel like they must get so tired of tourists, it's understandable.
It's strange suddenly being in France. The tubes... erm, Metro, I guess, are/is similar enough to those in London that I can figure it out but different enough that it's a bit confusing. It's cool to be surrounded by French but also pretty humbling. Basically I realized I can't speak French. Tant pis. (Too bad). Anyway, I think if I lived here for a while I could pick it up okay but just being here for a week I don't really see that happening... we'll see. It's odd, before this I felt like I knew more French but now I find myself wanting to respond to Mom and others in Japanese. Sadly, in Europe, there aren't a whole lot of Japanese speakers besides the Japanese tourists who I don't really approach. That would be a bit weird to say the least.
Well, I think that's all I'll write for now. I feel like I'm on a boat and I haven't even been on a boat today... I think I should go to sleep.

to be brief

Hello, internet access has been and probably will continue to be very limited now. Things are going well. Sad to leave but looking forward to home/France. :)

Made it back

Hello all, I don't have much time at all. Just so you know I made it back to London just fine and enjoyed a thrilling performance of Nicholas Nickleby today. It was so good, it made me so happy-sad! :)

Happy in Holland

Hello ho hum Holland!!! I love Holland. Can I just write that for this post? No, I think Mom might get a bit angry if that was all I wrote. Ok, well, Utrecht is wonderful. For those who don't know, I'm spending the weekend with my friend Anja Srienc. Today she, Tessa and I went around Utrecht mainly shopping and looking at Cathedrals. I couldn't resist buying a children's book (in Dutch, of course). It's one of the 'Jip and Jannika' books. Anyway, it's adorable and who knows, maybe I'll be able to read it someday. I was actually thinking that if I do get into the international school system Holland would be a wonderful place to teach. Utrecht is so adorable, too. The buildings are, of course, all old and cute. The canals are lovely and there are flower shops on the street even though it's January. The weather is warm compared to Minnesota (especially right now!), though it rains more than it does in London.
Yesterday we went to Amsterdam and that was really fun as well. We walked through the red light district, went to the Van Gogh museum, and had some Dutch fries with mayonaise. They were delicious. Oh, also, for Saturday night and yesterday Kelsey Dullinger was here too because she's studying in London for the term (actually not too far from where our next hotel will be). So, Saturday night Kelsey and I had a great time riding into town on the back of Marje and Anja's bikes. We then went to a church that had been converted into a bar after which we went to two clubs. The first one was called 'Stairway to Heaven' and they played rock music. There were some very interesting people head banging on stage so we only stayed there for half an hour or so. Then we went to another club where they were playing techno. I have to say, the Dutch aren't the craziest dancers. The two step seemed to be the dance of choice. We actually talked to a group of Dutch guys. One of them was really annoying but for the most part they were really nice and not creepy at all. I've actually found people in the Netherlands to be really nice and they all speak English really well which helps, of course. It will be interesting to see how France is.
Well, I think it's time to sign off for now. I hope you are all well! xoxo