The Problem with Cheese

Wait, what?!

What could POSSIBLY be the problem with cheese? I know you’re confused. I mean, it’s simple… I like cheese, so do you! And so do most people. YAY, CHEESE!

(That was random. Please excuse.)

You know what my problem with cheese is?

THE SMELL.

There, I said it. I mean, I loveeee cheese, and rather unconditionally, too. Heck, I just ate an 1/8 of a wheel of Camembert (god, the French and their 325 varieties of cheese, though if they ask, it’s exactly 365 kinds of French cheese, “one for every day of the year!”… This is a lie.)… without bread. And it was pretty good. But then, I BREATHED.

SOUND THE ALARMS, you guys! LISTERINE NEEDED! And tic-tacs! In fact, ANYTHING BREATH-FRESHENING! You have a load of after-dinner mints? I’ll take the lot.

I always wonder… is the quality of cheese measured on the scent (the better the cheese, the worse the scent!), or should it be the other way around? The worse the scent, the worse the cheese…

The point is… cheese.

I’m going to go eat some of that French chocolate (actually, it’s not French, I think it’s Swiss… Lindt!) now. And then accidentally drown myself in toothpaste.

WHOO.

-Aly

P.S. Yeah, this was weird. You're welcome.

Growing Up

Hello!

Aly here, for the first time in a while. Missed me? (I hear that a lot these days, y'know.) It felt like a good time to write on this blog, so here I am.

I talked to Molly this morning before going to school (via Skype), and it was just awesome, despite the fact that she really should have been sleeping and I should have been eating breakfast. She already knows I miss her bunches, but conversations like that make me so glad I'm gone, and don't worry, I'll explain that statement (it's not because I'm missing drama).

The thing about being a foreign place for a long period of time, without your "security blanket", is that is forces you to re-define yourself. When you don't know anybody, not really, you have to figure out who you are all over again and show that to new people. I thought I had myself figured out, or as figured out as any teenager can... but yet, this experience has proven me wrong. The great thing about me being gone is that it's the same for Molly at home, just in a different way. Same surroundings, same people, same self, just the definition of self that comes once you're detached from your "twin", somebody that knows you just as well (if not better) than you know yourself.

I'd already done the religion thing, figuring out what I believe more precisely, and I'm very comfortable with what I believe now-- there's no questioning or uncertainty on my part. For Molly, this hasn't been the case. It's not my place to say, but the reason for her recent very religious posts are that she has finally figured it out for herself. Without me influencing, because that's one thing were we're opposite. The thing is, she's figured out so much more than that while I've been gone, and that conversation this morning showed me that. I've changed, too, but we're still twins and best friends, and I am really happy for her, that she's had the same opportunity to grow, even if the religion thing freaked me out at first.

The truth of the matter is that we're growing up, both of us. Separately and at the same time, but we're growing up in such a way that we'd both have to slap you if you said "growing apart". Oceans can separate us in distance, but at the same time, that's impossible.

It's been four months here (as of tomorrow), but I'm already so different from when I left. I'm different in ways that I LIKE. I feel older, in a good way-- more mature, more understanding. I feel less like a kid mentally; this experience has given me insights into myself and other people, and even my mother. I'm still learning and growing, but without coming here, I don't think it would be the same.

I've just come back from vacation. I'm kind of out of it. That vacation was amazing, and I spent a LOT of time thinking and reflecting, writing and contemplating my time here. What have I accomplished? Many things, but not enough of what I wanted. I'm anxious to start traveling again, to learn more and discover. To continue to prove to myself that I AM capable of all the things I doubt I can do. When I go home, I will be able to say this was the experience of a lifetime, because including the bad things, the timing wasn't wrong. No matter what N says, that I'm too young for this... I know-- for myself-- that the timing was perfect.

My time here will nearly be over in 2 months. The end of a dream, I would have said. In a way, it is. Can it be the end of a dream if I realized a dream I didn't know I had and lived another experience? If it exceeded expectations or disappointed, was it the same dream? I'm not the same person, not exactly... but yes, this is my dream; it's my reality, too.

♥
-Aly

P.S. Molly, talk to you soon!

Frolic!

HEY!

Well, hi there. Aly here. Y'know, the one in France. :)

Although I'm massively behind on posts for my personal blog, I figure MAlly Chat needs some love, too. I know it's MONDAY, but I for one have had one of those Good Days. The rare days that seem to never occur on a Monday where you have so much time to relax that you almost wish you wouldn't! (Uhm. Uhm. I don't feel guilty at all about not working on my blog because I just posted something. Okay, thanks. Go read it now?)

I'm going to exclude the boring school stuff and the running around in the morning in an attempt not to be late. If I haven't shared my horror stories... well, I haven't, except to a few people. (Molly?) I'll elaborate more on MY blog when I get around to writing about my first week of school (if I say it'll be done by Friday, I guess that's a good goal. I just have to COMMIT!), but basically: I FAIL AT BUSES.

So if we completely ignore my lack of time management skills in the morning (we're ignoring a lot of things and pretending today was perfect; don't burst my bubble), THE VERY FIRST THING IN MY DAY WAS GOOD!

Because I ACTUALLY made it onto the bus, and got to my school! Although it was barely on time... there's a rather unfortunate detour between downtown and my school that makes the bus ride long and had me running into the school. The usually-crowded enterance (think big, box, atrium.) was empty, and the black-clad students were walking casually to their classes. Pardon me, but school had just or was about-to-by-like-one-minute start, and they were just CASUALLY WALKING?! I, of course, scurried as though I were a squirrel with the best freaking acorn in the forest.

The only magical thing about this is that I didn't have to take out my schedule and check what classroom I was supposed to be in. I knew... likely because I hadn't actually gone to the class last week and therefore I was like AHHH I'M GOING TO BE SHOT BY THIS TEACHER BECAUSE I AM AWFUL. Yeah.

I SURVIVED, though! The teacher didn't seem to acknowledge my existence (this is good because then I don't have to introduce myself immediately and I'm not called out for being stupid), and my friends "bravo!"-ed my skill (except that was later). xD
I attempted to write notes in that class but the teacher talks REALLYFAST and was talking about things I don't understand. Unfortunately for me, I sat next to one of those kids that doesn't have "lights on in the attic", so my notes were like (this is practically verbatim):

" FRENCHWORD ... ... ... ... I LIKE TO RUN... ... ... ????????!... .... ... lalalala... ... EEEEEEEP! ... .... *daydreaming daydreaming daydreaming*... ~runnergirl~ erased mess ... ... ... wftisthismadness? SPARTAAAAAAAAAAA! :D ..."

(That suddenly seems a lot more fun. It wasn't, I assure you. An hour of not understanding anything will always be awful and make you feel stupid. I speak from many hours of experience.)

After that, I had two hours of French with my incredibly nice French professor (who speaks English really well, though ironically, this means he is simultaneously helping me improve my French and failing to help me...), during which I had to write dictées and talk to my buddy Touche. This, of course, is a pleasant experience for me.

AMERICAN STUDENTS: don't worry about your grammar. I do believe if you had to do dictées in English, you'd be fine. English isn't that hard, and the grammar is comparably straightforward.

Lunch is an hour long (WHOOHOO!), and after lunch, the other students in my class had a 2-hour-long test (actually, essay. I'd die) as preparation for their scarier-than-the-SAT-combined-with-death test. Since I don't have to take it, I got to go home!

OH I FORGOT. Lunch was awesome because FOR ONCE it was sunny and nice enough, so my group of friends ATE OUTSIDE. I guess they're the french Courtyard Kids, except they aren't considered to be stoners. xD ;)
There was still a bit of snow (uhm, millimeter) on a table in the shade, but I love the sunshine, so some of us moved out onto broken wood-and-concrete benches, which were rather wet. We talked about music (and why most of us hate High School Musical... Touche does, though, which is just bizarre) and random things. We laughed about our Converses, especially since Touche was stroking our shoes (now you get the nickname), and kicked him out of our circle because he was wearing skater shoes. xD

Touche and I ran around a bit after he found out I liked to dance; he and Zealander started dancing something that looked like the Shag, and I was reminded of painful memories. Short, fat boys with sweaty palms? Aghh. I tried to explain to them; Touche and Zealander understood but didn't translate so the others were left clueless about my dancing misfortunes.

The sunshine was so lovely after days of clouds, rain, and that teeeeeny bit of snow yesterday (is that what that is? huh...). Clear blue skies call me to frolic! The word for which (in French) is not nearly as awesome. Frolâtrer, anyone?

When I came back to the apartment, I got to rub it in Cacahu's face that I was home just as he was going back to school. Granted, I didn't actually do so, but he was all huffy about it, apparently. xD

Souhm, I spent my afternoon productively... reading blogs. And I just watched Ghost Rider (which still sucks massively) in French and learned more French words. :D I have to practice my rrrrrr. (like a Pirate!)

ALSO I HAVE A HANK SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD. Nerdfighters!

-Aly

FIM is OFFICIALLY AWESOME

Hihi!

Yesterday was awesome and I would write about it but I am BURSTING WITH JOY so I really can't focus on yesterday at the moment.

I AM TALKING TO ANGIE ON FIM (facebook instant messaging). RIGHT NOW. AS IN SHE IS IN FRANCE AND I AM IN MY HOUSE AND WE ARE SPEAKING OVER THE INTERNET.
AND IT IS AWESOME.
AND I AM JOYFUL.

But I seem to be unable to "penser en Francais" as Madame would like... ahhh! I AM TOO EXCITED!

Holy shigoodness, this has made my day like x 59,999 better.

*JOY!*

For Clarification:

I am massively in love with France. The culture, the language, the country. I've wanted to go to France since I can remember and THIS YEAR, I may have the chance to. You see, my dad is good friends with Pierre, who is French-Lebanese and has family in France. He knows of my desire to go to France as an exchange student, and is helping my dad and I plan my trip to France and live with Pierre's sister. This would mean that I could go to France without the restrictions of going through an exchange program, which would be cheaper and safer. We would know the family (sorta) and it would just generally be so much more awesome. Regretfully, Angie (Pierre's niece) and I are TERRIBLE at emailing each other, which is why the FIM conversation makes me so happy. Even though I'm not speaking in French.

-Aly