An Offering

Apparently my host family already expects a gift from me. We haven't even met, and they want me to give them something thoughtful, a memento from home. I see it as more of a peace offering. Here I am, going to live with and probably annoy you for the next four months. Here's a cheap gewgaw for all of your troubles. An even exchange if I've ever seen one.

So, for the past couple of weeks, my family and I have been brainstorming ideas for this offering of sorts. Below is a list of some of the things we though of and whey they are a bad ideas.
Sorting through all the knickknackery: Michigan edition.

• Better Made Potato Chips - A Detroit original, everyone here loves a good Better Made potato chip (this may or may not be correlated with Detroit's routine ranking on the fattest city in America list). The French, on the other hand, probably don't appreciate the finer sides of deep fried potato wafers. Also, the long tip would likely crush every single chip to a fine dust. Potato dust. NO.
• Vernor's Ginger Ale (with straws) - Another great Detroit product, Vernor's is objectively the best ginger ale in the world. With more ginger flavor than a ginger root, it's makes other "ale's" seem like club soda. Unfortunately, lugging any reasonable quantity of this tasty beverage could get pretty heavy and cumbersome. Vernor's*. NO.
• A bottle of Chateau Grand Traverse - Northern Michigan (northern lower Michigan that is, no body actually goes to the upper peninsula, its a myth) is a pretty awesome outdoor paradise. There are lots of trees and lakes, wild life like whoa (except for wolverines, that remains a mystery), and awe-inspiring landscapes. There are also a few wineries. Take some Michigan wine to the heart of the Loire valley? Wine. NO.
• Snuggie - This one doesn't have any ties to Michigan (that I know of), but it is a pretty good summary of America's best qualities. They could eat some potato chips and drink ginger ale and wine all without getting tangled up in a pesky blanket or leaving the couch! Slanket. NO.
• Sander's Hot Fudge - I've never met a Sander's hot fudge sundae I didn't like. This stuff is seriously good. I happen to be partial to the bittersweet version, but there are a milk , Swiss, and dark chocolate varieties as well. It makes me a little nervous giving the French a jar of chocolate fudge topping (what with their famous chocolatiers and proximity to Switzerland and Belgium), but I'm sure they will appreciate the gesture either way. Also, should they not like it, I'll eat it. Sanders. YES!
• Michigan Maple Syrup - I remember, fondly I might add, driving to grade school in the late winter/early spring and seeing empty milk cartons hanging from trees. Every year, I asked my dad to plant a sugar maple so we could collect sap and make our own syrup (not any maple tree will do, only sugar maples or black maples). Every year, he would say that it would be years before the tree matured to produce sap so I should probably forget it. I still don't have my maple tree which leaves a bitter taste in my mouth (not a pleasantly sweet one like that of delicious homemade maple syrup). Since I can't take homemade maple syrup, Michigan maple syrup is the next best choice. I don't know whether or not maple syrup is a big thing in France, so it seems like a good idea. Syrup, maple. YES!
  

So Sander's hot fudge and maple syrup it is. I guess I'll be the condiment kid. But I'm okay with that.

* Want to learn more about Vernor's Ginger Ale and its facinating history? Check out this book!

The Host with the Most

Studying abroad in Angers offers the opportunity to live with a host family. While there, the people who offer their house to me will likely be one of the most important relationships I will have. What kind of people want strange college-aged students from foreign countries intruding on their lives for months on end? Crazies.

I'm going to change their names until I get a chance to ask if they are comfortable with me writing about them on the Interweb. For now, I will affectionately refer to them as 'those people.'

Recently, I have been checking my e-mail like a mad man waiting for a correspondence from Professor McDowell, the program director in Angers. He was supposed to send an e-mail with specific information regarding my host family about 8 days ago. Unfortunately, that hasn't come yet. I have, however, received information on 'those people' through back channels and some Interweb sleuthing (a friend of a friend lived with them last year). It all appears to be good news.

I will be living with two middle aged doctors whose children have since moved out of the house and whose grandchildren visit frequently. In fact, one of their sons (potentially their only son, I'm not sure) is a major politician in Angers and has his own Wikipedia page (he's pretty important). I'm pretty excited about playing with the grandchildren which will help improve my French skills.

Furthermore, I guess these people host multiple students at the same time. I will share the entire third floor of their house with (potentially) two other foreign students. More specifics will come when I get there (or when I get that e-mail, but I'm not holding my breath). I hope to meet someone from a European country who sort of knows his way around the place. In a perfect world, I'll make a life time friend and have a place to visit on future European adventures. Still, this could be a fun experience or a terrible one. I'm leaning towards fun for now, but I'll keep you posted.

The second floor suite (the French don't count the ground level as a numbered floor, so I'll really be on the second floor which is equivalent to the American third floor) is equipped with a refrigerator and microwave. Also, I hear the misses is a good cook, so I look forward to our weekly meals. Maybe I can get on her good side and she'll teach me some traditional French cooking.

More positives: The house is about a five minute walk from the university and a number of other important destinations (e.g. train station, supermarkets, etc.). Mme. may or may not do my laundry for 6 euro (a bargain considering laundromats can be expensive).

I think I'm going to like it there. Either way, you'll hear about it, especially if I feel passionately about the situation. And if they really are crazies, you'll be the first to know (with or without their permission).

What's in a name?

It seems I am rapidly approaching a decision that may or may not affect my promising future and, therefore, the world (egocentrism- my ego is the center of your world). My name. Let's review:

Some two decades or so ago, the two people solely responsibly for my fragile life decided to give me the name of my father (hi, Dad!). To avoid any additional confusion in the house (two young children, two working professionals, and a not-so-obedient puppy), I adopted my initials as my unofficial name. Well, my parents chose to address me by my initials, which makes me wonder why they didn't just name me D.J. or DeeJay and save a lot of wasted uncertainty on government/identification forms, banking statements, and the mail (ohh what disappointment when a letter addressed to you is really a bill for Dad). Perhaps no one will ever know why, but it happened.

So here we are, twenty years into my life and every time I meet someone, the comedian inside them so cleverly says, "You should be a dj and then you could be 'D.J. the DJ'." "Yes," I respond, "that would be a great idea."

And yet, nearing the end of college and entering the professional world obliges me to accept Dennis as my name, at least between the hours of nine and five. Unfortunately, I am not accustomed to responding to Dennis (unless, of course, it is accompanied by my middle and last names in a deep, angry voice from my own namesake-- hi, Dad!).

Herein lies the connection to France, and thus the reason you are reading this. In France, I will call myself Dennis (je m'appellerai Dennis), and accustom myself to this foreign name. This decision, while seemingly straightforward, came only after all other options were eliminated.

Option 1: D.J. - The translation/pronunciation is unnatural at best.

Option 2: Jacques - Yes, I though of adopting the old middle/high school French name. This seemed wholly irresponsible and uselessly confusing.

Yes, Dennis was the only (logical) choice. New language. New Name. New me? I doubt that last one, but only time will tell...

GOAL(s)!!!!!!!!!!!

Please read the title of this post thus (this is not a grammatical error - 'thusly' is not a word, so those of you that use it should quit it already -- this message brought to you by Thomas).

Imagine, if you will, that you are a college student bound to study abroad in the near future. Imagine now that you are having a casual discussion with virtually anyone and this opportunity happens to come up during your conversation. Do you hear it? That is the sound of unsolicited advice. It just comes out of no where, before you have the chance to change topics or run away.

"Make sure to make a list of goals and reasons for going to Europe." This one isn't so bad, and I suppose quantifying my goals might prove to be a worthwhile exercise. Here is my list:

• Speak French - Oddly enough, I chose to study in France to improve my speaking skills. After around 8 years of French language classes, it is time to prove my (mediocre) French. As far as I can tell, there are only two ways to do this. Option one: buy Rosetta Stone. The problem here is that the kiosk in the mall that sells the CIA-approved product is located one floor above Abercrombie&Fitch , so standing there long enough to finish a transaction might likely sustain brain damage from the (per)fume. Option two: go to France. Okay. I choose that one.


• Food - In the past 8 months or so, I have really gotten into the food world. TopChef is probably to blame here, but the intrigue goes much further than a reality show. I read the Food and Dining section of the New York Times weekly, mostly obsessing over the new restaurant review. I check a number of food blogs and news sources daily (if not hourly). In fact, this summer, I foolishly thought about abandoning academia and enrolling in culinary school. I now understand that being a chef is terribly hard work. It is so much easier to eat good food rather than make it in a professional setting. And so in France, I want to do a lot of just that. Restaurants. There is a Michelin one star restaurant conveniently located right in Angers (more on this later). Bakeries. I understand there are a lot of them. Cafes. It is France, after all. Home cooking. I am living with a host family that will hopefully teach me some secrets.


• Live my life (hey... 'cause I'm a paper chaser) - Studying abroad will offer true independence. This will be an opportunity to prove that I can live on my own. I will actually have to cook for myself (no dining halls), manage money in the real world (no flex points/domer dollars), and do laundry (no mom just three hours away, willing to drive down on consecutive weekends to pick up and deliver my laundry - in my defense, they were football weekends and I had a lot of tests that week), among other things.


• Travel - There are a lot of great places to go in Europe, and I fully intend to hit as many as I can (Paris, Prague, Belgium, London, Scotland, Croatia, and others). While in Europe, I will try to find a balance between traveling and staying and Angers (or at least France). I really want to take advantage of French immersion and the opportunity to truly experience the culture.

So there they are, all written down and official-like. Here's hoping some of them work out.

Angers Management

Welcome to my blog! If you are reading this, I would imagine that you know me and the purpose of this literary feat. If you don't know me, then you are a total creeper.

The purpose of this blog is for you, the reader, to live vicariously through my study abroad experience in France. If all goes according to plan, I will post approximately biweekly updates on my excursions in Europe, daily life in Angers, cultural oddities and discrepancies, and whatever else suits my fancy (Note: In this context, biweekly is a synonym for semiweekly. Interestingly enough, biweekly can mean either twice a week OR once every two weeks. Semiweekly, on the other hand, only means twice a week. Go figure.).

Yes. It is my intention to keep you, dear reader, updated on the goings on in my life. What is to come will be a completely objective account of every opinion I choose to share. Thus a problem arises. Full disclosure: I'm bound to forget or embellish or just flat out lie about certain events. But hey, if James Frey can do it, then I can too. Where appropriate, I will include photographic evidence and make every effort to include the truth as I remember it.

And so it begins. Traveling western Europe under the guise of a college education. Allons-y.