in a holidaze ya know

Hello my balls of sunshine!!! I hope you are all fantastic and still in a semi Thanksgiving food coma! I realized I have yet to write about my time living out the movie Love Actually in real life, so here we go! I mean, if you're just laying on the couch, binge-watching Scandal, you should probably take a break eventually...right? Or if you're headed back to school, here's some cheer from overseas to put a smile on your face as you pull away from your own version of a cloud bed. Or here's something to distract you from the homework you've ignored all weekend. (no judgement). Whatever you need it for.

So we must preface this blog post by saying Love Actually is my all-time favorite movie. I can definitely recite it word for word, and I have strong opinions regarding the many different couples in the film. I mean my relationship with this movie can be described like by Jonah's with running or Mac's with horses: intense. (Hi Mac and Jonah!!! Miss you two!!!). Obviously, visiting London during Christmas time was a must for me. If you don't know what Love Actually is, go watch it. It's on Netflix (another great break from Scandal-binging). Then come back and finish this.

All I can say is London did NOT disappoint.

Obviously, Christmas is a magical time and I'm lucky enough to live on a continent where Christmas celebrations get started just after the middle of November. I had HIGH expectations for Christmas in London, obviously because of Love Actually. Even though I didn't run into Hugh Grant at 10 Downing Street, didn't find Alan Rickman slumming the streets with some slut named Mia, and didn't see a little ten year old boy breach airport security, the city was literally perfect. Since I'm running out of words, here's some pictures! My friend Lindsay is studying abroad for a year in London so she and two of her roommates showed me around their London--absolutely fantastic woof.

my fab Londoners!!!!

ain't the green but still decent I'd say

OH on the topic of the holidays: Thanksgiving. Even though Thanksgiving is looked over/most people don't even know what it is, my program was nice enough to give us Americans turkey and pie on the actual day. Honestly, it was perfect, even if the turkey was a little salty and the stuffing almost non-apparent. The pumpkin pie stole my heart 4 real (I mean the last time I had pumpkin pie was a year ago, so I don't have much to actually compare it to) and the gesture was actually so perfect. It did make me miss my family though (obviously), and skyping with them was hilarious. My grandma had my dad ask all her questions, even though I could clearly hear her, and a One Direction love life discussion spurred. Andrew didn't talk to me, just regressed to his eight-year-old self by sitting in the back and moving a lot while making strange faces. Overall very typical. Now that it's the holidays, I do find myself missing them more and more but for the weird things: I miss driving to run errands with my dad while singing along to the Rat Pack Christmas CD, especially their version of Baby, It's Cold Outside; I miss walking into the kitchen when my mom is baking holiday cookie boxes for the neighbors and stealing all the cookie dough scraps; and strangely enough, I miss finding Andrew in the kitchen after swim practice, looking like he's practicing for the World Eating Championships. (sorry that got long and cheesy, but the fam rocks).

Pie Appreciation Month 2013 was a success

I'm staying in Aix until winter break--exams are coming up and I actually have to study!! Strange, I know, studying on study abroad...it'll certainly be an interesting experience! But my winter break consists of going to Vienna with Lindsay (apparently they have one of the best Christmas markets in the world there!!!), Christmas with my wonderful French couple, and a trip back to Finland for a little family lovin with my aunt! I've said this before, but I literally cannot believe how lucky I am weeeeeee life is fantastic. Even if it DOES snow here and it DOES get cold--not quite what I signed up for, but that's okay with me. Still paradise.


Kisses from (a sometimes snowy) France!

I thought this was dandruff at first...deniallll

Sarah

We're gonna party all night!!!

Waaaaaazup guys!!! I know, it's been a while. Too long, I'd say. This blog post comes to you sponsored by the one and only HUMO HELL WEEK!!! WOOHOO!

We were good at being pretty and also good at "winning"

**If you know what humo is, you can skip this next part**

What's Humo, you ask? Well if you're asking, you probably either a) just met me or b) never met me. Humorology (Humo is the abbrev cause we hip over here) has been one of my favorite parts of college thus far. It is the largest student-run philanthropy at UW-Madison and basically frats and srats (ew that's a horrible abbrev) team up to create a 20-minute production to raise money for Camp One Heartland, a camp for kids with AIDS. Super philanthropic, super fun, yay life.

Humo hell week is the week before either auditions (which are this Saturday) or the two weeks before the show (which is in the spring). You basically devote your whole life to the show. Any interaction with people outside your cast is frowned upon and you get branded within your cast. Not really, but it is impossible to see anyone else. It sucks but also rocks at the same time. You also end up with the dances drilled into your head FOR ETERNITY. I can still do all the dances from my freshman year, and definitely all of them from last year.

**okay you can start reading again here**

My pal Ruska tweeted at me last night requesting a blog post, so Ruska, this one is for you, along with all the other humo addicts I've met ! I met Ruska through humo (duh) and it's humo hell week now (again, duh) so hopefully this distracts all of them from the fact they'll probably get a collective eight hours of sleep for the week or accidentally sleep until lunch every day of the week. Both bad (not speaking from experience, mom, I promise) but it's always FTK!

I don't have a pic of Ruska so this will work

Ruska specifically wanted to know about the nightlife here and yesterday I happened to indulge so this is perfect!!

The night started abnormally--I do not usually make dinner with my program director and six other kids in my program. But last night, we made moule frites chez Kelly! And it was really a fantastic job cooking on our part, even if the most helpful thing I did was wash moules and drink a borderline inappropriate amount of wine, which consequently led to me crying over how good this butter was. BUT IT WAS WARRANTED because I've had a lot of bad butter in my time (read: oxidized) and literally this butter was PURE fat and salt, with no other distracting flavors omg I really couldn't handle it. If your name is Sam, Wilson, or Olin, tell your mama that she taught me well and I impressed Kelly and now she wants to set me up with her friend who runs the cheese shop. I knew being a cheese taste tester would come in handy!!!!

boys working a good ratio comme d'habitude

yeah man I made that (ha)

Tears over butter...lol dairy state probz

OKAY ANYWAYS on to the actual nightlife. So I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but Aix is expensive as...idk, Versailles (okay no but I needed an analogy). Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING that's not wine is cringeworthily priced. I've gotten used to it, a little, but also I've found the "cheap" places to shop, eat, and obviously drink. When it's nice out, so the first couple months I was here along with the random days that come in November, I usually start off at this cute little wine shop that lines a plaza. That's followed by sitting in the plaza/standing in the streets with my friends for like four hours. If we feel up to it, we continue on to clubs, but usually on nights we could get in for free or, in my case, when someone else pays for me. If not, we find some other shenanigans to get into lawl idk but it's always a good time, always. When it's cold, we actually have to sit inside bars and that calls for meeting very interesting people, many who have had much more to drink than me.

I do probably have more to say, but I got a minimal amount of sleep last night and training for a stupid marathon is stupid tiring. Oh!! I am slowly coming to terms that I will not be able to eat all of my mama's fab cooking come next Thursday so that's sad. Luckily she's fantastic and sent me pumpkin bread mixes, but nothing beats Lindstrom originals. Woof. So when you eat your Thanksgiving, indulge a little extra for me !!! And to my lovely humo pals, GOOD LUCK, I LOVE YOU, and plz take embarrassing photos of each other come Saturday night (or earlier) and send them to me so I can laugh.

This was way longer than I expected!!! Hope it proved a good distraction!!!

xoxo,

Sarah

Oh, worth noting that TVs dream couple, Leighton Meester and Adam Brody (Blair Waldorf and Seth Cohen) got engaged so if that's not a reason to binge on Gossip Girl and the OC, I don't know what is.

yelling obv because I love humo and engagements

To Finlandia and Beeeeeeyond!

SO in France, they actually give you fall breaks (if you're a student at UW-Madison, you understand the complete agony of having no break until Thanksgiving. It's kind of like torture. If you're one of my friends that actually has a fall break, I don't like you). I took this opportunity to head way north, to Finland by way of Paris with a surprise stop in Estonia.

**WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG POST TO GIVE YOU AN IMPORTANT LESSON IN THE GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE**

I told many people that I was in Finland/going to Estonia and many of them responded with "where's that again?" so here's a map of Europe. Finland is circled, Estonia is directly south. I hope you all know where Paris is. If not, that's on the map too!

OKAY anyways, first up is Paris! Honestly I wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did. A lot of people told me they had such high expectations for the city that they ended up kind of hating it. I guess having low expectations as well as a sunny day to explore really worked in my advantage. After taking various French classes for eight years now, I've read a lot about the Paris monuments and whatnot. Actually seeing some of them in person actually took my breath away. I didn't stay long, only like 12 hours, but man I cannot wait to go back. 

my heart wut

feelin triumphant haha

someone give my friend Amy a dollar

Then I went to Finland! I think I caught the country at kind of an awkward time: it's not summer, it's not winter, so there wasn't much to do (no snow :( boo) but I enjoyed myself none the less. It was absolutely a blast to stay with my aunt: she's lived in Finland for 25ish years, so growing up, I saw her sporadically at best. Plus, my cousin (her son) just got married so I had many family stories to catch up on and pictures to see of her granddaughter. I spent the days wandering Helsinki, which is right along the sea and quite beautiful. It stole my heart for two reasons: one, it's easy to walk around and see everything and two: it has a lot of thrift stores!!! You never know how much you love thrift stores until you live in a city so bourgeois there's literally only one. I managed to find a fantastic nordic sweater, which I refuse to take off. Nothing beats wool sweaters in fall, even in France where I got weird looks on the train yesterday (haters gon hate I guess). Oh and Finns are known for having strong, strong, STRONG coffee so that didn't hurt their case either. 

what a view

that coffee almost gave me a heart attack

Saturday was a high holy day in Finland (All Saints' Day I think?) so the whole country was going to be shut down. Naturally, my aunt and I decided to jump ship (literally) and go to Estonia for the day! It's a two and a half hour boat ride from Helsinki to Tallinn, so away we went! Tallinn was one of the coolest places I've been to date: most of the landmark buildings were built in the 12/13th centuries, and parts of the original town wall are still in tact and snake through the city. The tallest building there was probably the tallest building in the world for a while! Like in the 1400s, but it's still tall now! In "tourist season" aka not when I was there, you can go up in the steeple and there's an awesome view of the city! I guess I may have to go back to Tallinn and Helsinki then...

"probably" the tallest building, at one point

sew many ancient churches

I'm back in France now, ready to tackle the rest of the semester! Weird that it's already November ah I have no idea how I feel about that. Can't time just slow the eff down so I can stay here forever? I was so happy to get back to Aix after my marathon day of traveling--I guess it really does feel like home here. It's not the same, but that's why I love it! I did miss a monumental event in Wisconsin though this weekend--necessary shoutout to my brother Andrew and the West cross country boys for getting second in state and to my basically brother Olin for winning the whole thing!!! Proud is an understatment :)

Okay that's all for now, I guess you'll hear from me next when I travel again--so the end of the month! I'm going to Nice and Monaco (for real this time) and London because why not?

xoxo,

did you know it gets cold on boats in November?

Sarah

TWO MONTHS WHAT

HOLYMACANDCHEESEIVEBEENINFRANCEFORTWOMONTHS how is this even possible????? your guess is as good as mine. Really, it is. LET'S SEE what's new, what can I tell you guys....

WELL I guess a huge thing is I decided to run a marathon in April. Am I crazy? Yes, for sure. I'm pretty sure France has made me crazier than before. Like, remember way back in August 2011 when the cross country season started without me (obviously because I was going to college) and I couldn't handle it so I legit went insane?? (Nikki, Simone, Dana, and Lydia had to hang out with me that day. so sorry again guys) ANYWAYS I think this is worse. I'm really excited, because it's a huge goal/hopefully accomplishment, but HAHA 26.2 miles is a really long way to run. Woof. Like I ran a half marathon this summer and thought I was going to DIE so why did I sign up for a marathon?? I have no idea. All I know is I WILL train more than I did for that half (which won't be hard, seeing as I didn't train at all). The exact date is April 6th, so yknow if you're in the area or something, come cheer your crazy girl on!!!

OH and last week was my french woman's birthday! And she told me she loved American cookies so I decided to make her some because I love baking and love giving good presents so this was the best of both worlds. So the biggest problem I had is brown sugar--you know, that delightfully sticky stuff that comes in bags, is completely different here/also impossible to find so to make cookies, I had to make my own brown sugar. In theory, it's really easy: just mix normal white sugar with molasses. HOWEVER in practice, that took like 40 minutes of my time and all my arm strength I have. And then on top of that, KitchenMaid mixers/electric beaters in general are also unheard of here so I had a lot of butter to mix using the arm I just killed making brown sugar. At least I got a semi workout in? The cookies turned out pretty yummy if I do say so myself but I could tell something was off--the flour? the butter? the vanilla? Idk but I know I'll be baking again to figure out the problem.

twenty minutes in and I was certain failure was in my future

BUT IT WASNT YALL HOMEMADE BROWN SUGAR 

I did not eat any of this nope

obv presented in a cheesehead...where do you think I'm from?

Uhhhhh other than that, I dunno. I'm off to Finland in a less than a week!!! And I'll be in Paris before then so come back when I get back for a blog post full of nordic adventures (IT MIGHT SNOW WHEN I'M THERE!!!! I know you're all groaning at my excitement over this but honestly it's been 70 degrees for far too long and I'm tired of being hot. Okay princess rant over you're right) So you'll all hear from me soon enough. Which is also next month. WHAT HOW IS IT ALMOST NOVEMBER.

BYE!!!

A crazy Sarah

The original crazy Sarah, now gone global

ROMA ROMA ROOOOOOMAAAA

YOU GUYS I'M OFFICIALLY A SUPER INTERNATIONAL TRAVELER!!!!!!! I made it to Rome and back in one piece, with nothing stolen or broken!!! I'm pretty proud of this fact. And Rome was awesome because I GOT TO PRETEND I WAS LIZZIE MCGUIRE FOR LIKE 72 HOURS which is every girl alive in 2003's dream, let's be real here.

So Sunday was my first full day in da city and I decided just to walk and see where my feet ended up. I knew I wanted to go to the Vatican (because remember, I have to get to seventeen countries somehow!!), so I decided to walk there just to see what was up. There were a million people around but I didn't think to much of that--in Rome, there's a million tourists and so many walking tours. These people seemed to be waiting for something, so I asked a guy what was going on. He looks at me like I'm stupid and proceeds to tell me that pope is out. OH OKAY, SUPER CAUSAL. THE POPE IS CHILLIN OUT WHEN I'M THERE. There were so many old people around me who started crying when he drove by and I just stood there, pretty dumbstruck. I wouldn't call myself religious by any means, but a) I was raised Catholic so it does resonate with me and b) this pope is a total badass so I appreciate that.

PAPA FRANCESO ay ya sew catholic (he is in there, I swear)

The best part about just walking through Rome is that you actually stumble upon old ruins basically everywhere, and always completely on accident. There's a ruin that I found on the way to dinner with my friend Sidney and there was this sign:

hahahah wtf Rome

CATZ BABY CATZ

So basically stray cats just come and hang out there so that's pretty random/cool. Wandering is also how I found the Trevi Fountain!!! I had a guidebook my french couple lent me, but I didn't want to have my nose in a book so I basically would just read it when I was eating for something to occupy myself with so people wouldn't harass me. Dude, the thing is huge. I don't know what I was expecting really, but shit. So intricate!!! Obv threw a coin in!!! Sadly, no Italian pop star came up to me because I was the twin of his singing partner, but a street vendor told me I looked beautiful so that's basically the same thing, right???

~*I could almost kiss the stars for shining so bright*~

There's only two things I didn't do that I probably should've: the Colosseum and the Sistine Chapel. I actually forgot that the Sistine Chapel was in Rome/the Vatican until dinner I had with friends from my hostel so that was pretty embarrassing. And I tried to go to the Colosseum, but it was so crowded and so many people and I just was not in the mood, you know? But it IS gorgeous lit up at night, and there a million less people around to bother you. Now I just have an excuse to go back to Rome in the spring!!! Not complaining, I for sure have way more I wish I could've done. My friend Sidney was at a bar AND SAW JORDAN TAYLOR. LIKE HE'S LIVING IN ROME. So naturally I have to come back to try and find him, as well as continue to grow intellectually or whatever.

proof I did see this beauty 

So that's a tiny lil glimpse of my time in Roma, the Eternal City!!!! I'm busy planning more trips because omg traveling is so fun and addicting and there's so many people to meet and to talk to!!! eee sorry. but I think I'll go to London in December and live my dream of Love Actually in real life, as well as something else! You guys will just have to wait and find out boom!!!

Until my next adventure!!

Sarah

I was unimpressed by the Spanish steps oops

I need to go on a rant

Can we talk about street harassment for a second? Because Jesus, it's gotten a tad bit out of control. Let's journey through my history of being harassed on da streetz.

So in high school, I was a runner (as you all know by now) and when it was hot out, I was allergic to shirts. NOT because I thought I had a rockin bod or because I was trying to seduce adolescent boys with my shirtless body (I didn't have many people I actually wanted to seduce anyways), but because running with a shirt on when it's 90 degrees and humid is straight up uncomfortable. Have you tried it? No thank you. It clings to you in all the wrong places and hurts your armpits and NO ONE likes it. This led to me and my friends getting honked at quite often on our runs--I still don't know what people try to accomplish with that. Yes, it's little, but still there.

Then I went to college and my love for heels and dresses flourished. Yes, I wear heels with dresses and skirts like most other college students. Sure, I'm tall. My natural height is not going to stop me from strapping on a pair of heels. As they say on Pinterest, if you men can't handle me at my tallest, then you for sure don't deserve to handle me at my shortest (that is what they say, right?). My love for heels, however, has drawn nasty comments from people as I have walked, with my friends (not alone so don't start that), from randoms on the street. One guy once told me that his "dick was as long as my legs" and that I would love the feeling of him in between my legs. ARE YOU SERIOUS? NO I WOULD NOT. GROSS. I do not dress for you, creepy men on the street, I dress for me. I like wearing heels and I like wearing dresses. Get over it. 

Now, I find myself in France. French men are known for being very fore-coming with what they want, which I guess is better than some of the mind games we've all been a part of in America. However, this has led to some also interesting situations here, as I've gotten chased down the street more than once by men who reallllllllly want to ask me to coffee. One guy went as far as running after me after I got away once, followed by him grabbing my phone to call himself so he could make sure he got my real number. (Don't worry, I blocked his number. We're not ever going to talk again). Yesterday, my friend Alexis and I were taking a mid-night snack of falafels and we decided to sit on a bench on the Cours Mirabeau to eat before continuing onto the next club. I'm not kidding you when I say we were legitimately swarmed by French boys. They all kept calling their friends over to look at us like we were zoo animals. Like I'm just trying to eat my falafel in peace here boys, go shave your crustaches plz for all of humanity's sake. 

Yes, all of these situations are frustrating for me. But what frustrates me even more is the reactions people have when I tell them. The year after I graduated my high school banned running without a shirt on. I can't remember what the official reason was, but to me, and my former teammates, it came off as "if anything happens to us, it's our fault for not wearing a shirt" which can easily be linked to victim blaming, which is a huge problem. After getting harassed in Madison, people would tell me to maybe not wear heels and a skirt. Well what if I want to? Why do I have to live in a world where I get harassed for wearing what I want? Why is that okay? And everyone in France tells me to be very careful because I'm a tall, blue-eyed blonde American and men will chase me down the street (which they have). But it's not like I'm doing anything out of the ordinary when I get chased down. The time the guy snatched my phone, I was literally eating a crepe and walking to class. Nothing weird. I wasn't wearing heels, a skirt, or even makeup. Just pants and a shirt like EVERYONE ELSE. Like I can be as careful as possible and I don't think much will change. SERIOUSLY how is that okay?!!!!

OKAY sorry that was longer than usual/super ranty but sometimes you just gotta get things off your chest you know? And isn't that why God invented blogs anyways? ANYWAYS I'm going to Rome next week so come back then--It's probable that I'll be mistaken as an Italian pop star and I'll have to perform in the Coliseum!! And that's gonna be good. Maybe me and my bff Gordo will also share our first kiss on the roof!1!!1!!! Idk I don't wanna jinx anything tho. Just talk to me in a week!!!

yup

au revoir guyzzz! until next week!!!!!!

Sarah

it's super obvious why i get harassed when I look like this

*cough cough* I'm sick

accurate

That's my feelings towards my body right now. You know sometimes you wake up and you feel like a million little people are jackhammering your brain apart? And so your brain starts to drip, liquid form, out your nose and you just want to cry for days? That's how I feel right now. And it is NOT fun because I have to read French and enjoy France and it's HARD when I can't even see straight because the jackhammers won't turn off.

Also, it's weird being sick without the comforts of home ie your parents there to make you soup and listen to you whine. And I don't know about yall but when I'm sick, I like my comfort sick food, which happens to be grilled cheese and tomato soup which also happens to be not a thing here. I like it because even when I can't taste, I know the taste so well it's like real eating. Yesterday was the birthday of my French guy's mama, so we went to her house for birthday festivities. They talked up how great her food was all week so naturally I was STOKED because I'm obsessed with food (in case you've somehow missed that). But when we got there yesterday, I couldn't taste anything!!! Seriously so sad. But they (my french couple) have been helping me out a lot by giving me cool natural French remedies for this! So that helps a ton. Not grilled cheese and tomato soup, but you gotta work with what you got, you know?

So in times like this, I gotta give a shoutout to the best people in the world--the people who have sent me letters recently which I've read a lot the past two days to cheer myself up. You guys rock and I'm so happy to have you my life yay!!!! Someone tell my grandma she made it on my blog!!! Also maybe explain what a blog is...?

My wonderful grandma

My fave man in the world

MONEDAWG

HUBEZZZZ

I'm off to dose up on my Emergen-C (don't worry, the costco size made the maiden voyage with me) and sleep my sickness away (hopefully). I just felt like checkin in with you guys. Call me, beep me, if ya wanna reach me! I'd loooooove to hear from you! Yes, you! It's easy to make my day, I promise.

With love,
A 50% Sarah (and Regina George)

One Month Checkup

IT'S WRIGLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT! And believe it or not, I've been peaced out of the state of Wisconsin, the country of America for one whole month. 31 days. Whammy. Well it was a month on Saturday, I just was too busy this weekend to actually post this. Sorry. ANYWAYS that's the longest time I've been gone from Spotted Cow and Babcock ice cream EVER. Time flies when you're having fun.

Since you all know what I've been up to in this last month, I'll update you and then we'll go twirling through my many thoughts and emotions that have hit me in a the last month.

Well turns out that I can run, and I just joined a track team! I'm trying to make french friends (for obvious reason) and I figured since running has given me some of my best friends in America, it can probably give me some of my best friends in France, right? Plus I'm trying to find a runner that has better hair than Wilson Hacker (so far I haven't had any luck at all but I guess that isn't surprising?). Oh and it may be too early to tell, as I've gone to two practices, but I'm pretty sure French runners are less awkward than American runners. Hallelujah amirite?

CAN IT BE DONE? dat hair! (Hi Wilson)

School has its days for sure. My first day of my sociology class, the professor talked about the sociology of the "American college"--ie the fact we all drink ourselves silly four days out of the week. I got to give all these French students my firsthand experience of watching my friends drink (cmon kiddos, I'm not 21, so I DEFINITELY don't drink in America. hahahahahahah) and the effects that pounding shots can have on them. Pretty cool. Plus I did it in mostly all french aka I think I'm getting better at this language? We'll see. There's no homework ever besides reading so my brain hurts most of the time--I hate reading for my classes that are English, so this whole "your grade is based off reading and four hour lectures" will certainly prove to be interesting.

Probably the hardest thing in the world is going a day without buying and kind of French pastry. Seriously I can name about twenty patisseries in a five minute radius of me no matter where I am in Aix. I can also tell you who has the best macarons, pain au chocolat, croissants, tartes, palmiers, brioches etc in the city. But since I'm trying to NOT gain the France fifteen (which I'm sure is a thing you never hear about), I have to practice self restraint. IT'S SO HARD YOU GUYS. Like harder than not eating spoonfuls of peanut butter at a time. And that is a STRUGGLE.

pistachio macarons are my kryponite omg srsly 

It's also hard to not gain the France fifteen with the kickass meals that Alex and Sebastian (my french couple if you haven't been keeping up) make. Seriously it's unreal and I'm unbelievably spoiled. One day, while I was reading, Alex just pops into my room with WARM CHOCOLATE CAKE. Like yeah okay I'm pretty sure you're an angel because that's always what I need when I have to read anything in French.

Why I'll gain the France fifteen: FRENCH FRENCH TOAST!!!

Now of course, there's the question I get all the time: do you miss Madison?  Duh I miss Madison that city is paradise. Like especially: the Capitol, the lakes, GAME DAYS, the farmer's market on Saturdays (esp spicy cheese bread), my house and my parents' baking (the brown sugar is different here and probably wouldn't make good brown sugar cookies aka I cry for days. At least they have pudding cake. Although nothing tops the Lindstrom kitchen pudding cake), Tim Hacker's bread, fried cheese curds (especially from Gates and Brovi omg drool), anything related to Shorewood, so my children and my blue headband girls and my coworkers, 270 Langdon Street, all my friends.

But with all that I miss from Madison, I'm finding cool equivalents/just cool things in Aix that fill the void. There's HUGE markets every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday that give me all I need in the world and more. There's a huge fountain that reminds me of the Capitol and while I will forever love anything my parents make, you can't get much better than french baking. And french bread (sorry Tim). And as for the lakes, the Mediterranean Sea is only a twenty minute bus ride away PLUS it's 682039 times clearer than the Madison lakes, so that makes everything better. So the only thing I haven't been able to find an equivalent to is a Badger game day, but that's not that surprising. I know they will always be there to welcome me back to Madison. And with the help from my friends here, I've started to make cool French friends, German friends, Norwegian friends, etc and life is starting to make more sense. You never realize how lucky you are to have so many wonderful friends until they're all across an ocean. Luv u all heheh cheesy moment sry.

Kay so now that I survived one month, I am seriously looking forward to what the next ten months bring me. Even the next month!!! In October, I'm going to both Rome to hang out with some friends there and obviously Finland to kick it with one of my coolest aunts. So don't go far, your favorite globe-trotting Madison girl will be back soon with more stories and adventures for you!

Miss all you suckers,

SARAH

the water brings out my shark yknow

what a WEEK

I FINISHED A WEEK OF CLASS AND I DIDN'T COMPLETELY DIE!!!!! That's the most important thing that has happened. None of them are particularly interesting/worth talking about, but I can tell my French will improve in all of them. Now on to entertaining things.

Okay so I figure now, three (?!) weeks into my little adventure, I have a very good handle on the other people in my program and their personalities. So I thought I'd introduce you to the most interesting ones (everyone has screen names, don't worry).

Probably most interesting in this little cast of characters is the married couple. That's right, there's a married couple on my program. The girl is the one actually in the program--her husband is just here because she is. Her husband is always prepared in the "I always have a knife on me" kind of way. He also resembles someone who is going on a safari. I personally didn't know there were safaris in southern France, but I guess I learn something new every day. And, in an exciting twist to the story, SHE'S PREGNANT. As in, in nine months there will be a baby clawing its way out of her. A BABY. SHE'S PREGNANT. IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. WITH SAFARI MAN'S BABY. And I thought my year would bring me challenges. Woof.

I don't necessarily talk to the married couple that much--they hang out a lot together, probably discussing the fact that they'll have a baby soon. However, in the limited interactions I've had, they've been very nice. The husband talks much more than the girl, at least for now. We're all witnessing her coming out of her shell WOO go married girl.

The person I probably talk to the most is the most fabulous man I've ever met. He is a die hard fan of Madonna and Princess Diana--he has a rotating selection of Lady Di photos that he uses as phone backgrounds. You can NEVER insult Madonna in front of him if you don't want your head torn off. The two of us are very similar in which we adore drama (I lived in a house of 50 girls last year--I had to like it or life would've been rough), macaroons, and wine. Needless to say, we get along great. We have a discussion together (side note: if you think discussions are awkward in America, just try one in France. French people don't like talking in front of others and therefore about half the two hour discussion is awkward silences. I would chime in but my knowledge of France post-Napoleon is very small. For now, at least) and I can already tell that it will be the highlight of my Friday. The TA loooooves asking us questions about Chicago to which we both kind of make up things because we don't actually know that much about the city, it's just easier than trying to explain what Wisconsin is.

Uhmmmm and that about does it for interesting people. The rest are your very stereotypical midwesterners. We talk about cheese and beer and how we miss Ian's pizza. The french cheese is phenom, but it makes a different kind of mac and cheese that's not suitable for pizza. The struggle is sometimes real. Oh and there's a guy from Edina which always makes me giggle because hahah Edina. cakeeaters4lyfe.

I'm still on a mission to find cool French friends--there was a massive fair today on le Cours Mirabeau of clubs and sports (unlike in America, they're not affiliated with the univerisities) and I found a track team that I'll probably join for shits and gigs because what's better than running in France? Okay, yeah, a lot of things are but at least there's pretty scenery and (hopefully) pretty men to look at...? There's also volunteer opportunities that consist of teaching English to tiny children and I mean after spending a summer surrounded by tiny children, I'm seriously feeling the void.

My life is slowly but surely coming together here weeee and I love life. If you want to send me a letter, which I highly recommend (you'll make my day and I'll have more pen pals than just my grandma), here's my address! I promise I'll send ya one back.

Sarah Lindstrom
APA
30, avenue Victor Hugo
13100 Aix-en-Provence
FRANCE

yay kewl thx friends talk to yall l8r!

switching goals

(Disclaimer: this has nothing to do with MK&A, I just really wanted to use that as a title for some reason)

Okay here we go.

Obviously, when I found out I was going to spend a whole year in the south of France, I started making a list of goals. They range from the obvious (become fluent in French) to lofty (find a husband) to the biggest, maybe the loftiest: visit 17 countries.

Why 17 do you ask?

Well, as it happens, one of my oldest friends and her family travel basically everywhere. Nineteen countries, to be exact. She's ridden elephants in Thailand, been to the desert in Jordan (and got some siqq sand art), lived in Nicaragua for a month and way more that I can't possibly remember right now. As for me and my family, we're too busy being athletic (or Andrew is at least)/cheering on athleticism/coaching "athletes" (aka the cutest 8 and unders the planet has seen) to have much time to go anywhere. Before coming here, as I've said, I've been to three countries, including the US and Canada. Norway is the lucky last one.

Like any good friend, I like finding ways I can top this girl. We're going to call her Melon (sorry bout it hahahh). Melon is too smart for me to get better grades--she was one of two girls to graduate from my high school with a 4.0, she's faster than me at running so that leaves not much I can go off of. I can swim better than her (most people can). I knew, for my pride, that I needed something more than just swimming (which I am not good at) to top Melon. So lo and behold, I decided one fateful day in December that I would visit more countries than her.

So do the math! She's been to 19 countries, I've been to three. Well four now including France. Therefore, throughout this year I have 16 more countries to go to! Turns out on Saturday, I'm going to Nice and Monaco with a girl on my program so then, in middle of September, I'll have only 15 more to go which when you think about it, isn't even that many. So many places I have to go! If you have a super cool place in Europe/Africa that you think I should go frolic through, lemme know! You know how to reach me.

I leave this blog post, not with an embarrassing picture of me, but of Melon. Holding a melon. (and a Coke, her signature drink lawl)

And because I couldn't resist, here's another one of Melon eating melon. Do you think that's considered cannibalism? 

mmm mmm I taste gud 

Until next time, when I will have another country under my belt,

Sarah

where in the world has Sarah been??

HI GUYS I'M BAAAAAAACK I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'VE SURVIVED SEW LONG WITHOUT A SUPER WITTY BLOG POST OF MINE!!! (important note: basically everything I say is sarcastic in case you somehow missed that)

OKAY ANYWAYS where do I even begin?! I've been to the Mediterranean twice now, and as a girl who grew up surrounded by the Madison lakes, I was legitimately shocked when I could see the rocks at the bottom of the sea and algae wasn't eating me alive. CLEAR WATER EXISTS and I'm still like a kid in a candy store about that.

clear water in Marseille wut

even clearer water in Cassis!!! 

I found this fabled clear water in two cities, Cassis and Marseille. One tiny, one HUGE. They always talk about how Marseille is the second biggest city in France, how it's a little Chicago (they got crime up the wazoo there), but I wasn't expecting it to actually be big. I think part of me is surprised that big things, even cities, exist in France because most everything is just so cute and tiny--from their coffee to their cars! Although god bless my french couple for having a coffee maker that makes HUGE (so for most of America, small) cups of coffee so I can wake up in the morning.

you know what they say about big cities 

Oh and it's rained at least a little the past three days!!! I was walking home from school on Friday and it just started downpouring which I loved because the dry climate is not good for my skin or my hair. Next time you complain about the humidity, which will probably be in about five minutes, keep me in mind. The whole city basically shut down--everyone didn't know what to do! It only rains like 20 days or something out of the year so I guess that's understandable but I couldn't help but eat my crepe and laugh. I'm done channeling my dad now.

nomin on a crepe in the rain because what else would I do

OH MAN and tomorrow, real school starts!!! Except not for me--I'm pretty sure I worked out my schedule to only have class Wednesday--Friday aka my weekend lasts til Tuesday aka I CAN TRAVEL SO MANY PLACES!!! Some of my first other countries I'm going to include Finland and Monaco--gotta get to 17 countries somehow, ya know? (hey skellz)

I think I'm done now. Love and miss you all guyz!!!

deuces from the Mediterranean,

pretty water calls for an ugly face obv

Sarah