Friday, August 24, 2007

Quatre jours...

Dear friends,

The title above, "four days", is the amount of time left for my beloved and I to get our stuff together in preparation for our big adventure. Here's a checklist of things already obtained, and things that are still in the works:

  • Patrick's visa.

  • My driver's license. About time, I know.

  • Financial aid, including the teacher discount. Cha-ching!

  • Laptop, courtesy of Patrick's gracious mother.

  • Plane tickets. We leave at 10:57am on Tuesday for NY. Hopefully we can pop out, click some pictures, and get back in with no hassle.

  • Phone numbers and e-mail addresses. All of our friends who wish to keep contact can do so through the internet; one of my father's old co-workers is French, currently living near Paris, and will hopefully be able to aid us in our travels; my grandparents' number and location, if something were to happen; people in the ISEP program who can help us with a residence, etc.

  • Luggage. After a painfully feminine process, I selected all I needed for the trip to fit in a tiny carry-on and one big luggage. Patrick easily selected his outfits. We are scrutinizing every detail, such as measurements and weight, to fit the specifications of Ryanair's policies.

  • Money. Old banks being closed, new banks being opened and filled with greens to convert to euros.



I trust I haven't neglected anything. Besides a possible gathering on Saturday, arranged by Patrick's mother, the remainder of our time here will be strictly business, taking care of everything else. Everything must be close to perfect to ensure a smooth ride and an eventual settlement in our new home.

Perhaps a permanent home? Haha. We shall see. Take care.

Laura J. MARTIN

Monday, August 13, 2007

2 Weeks Left

I should be receiving my visa in the mail shortly. If I do not then I shall be unable to leave on the 28Th.

If all goes well then Laura and I shall be en route from Nashville to New York to Dublin on the 28Th. The final leg from Dublin to Nantes will not be until the 29Th due to the flight's duration. I am expecting the worst in Ireland because I booked our flight to France with Ryanair. It is basically a flying subway. You have to pay to have anything other than carry-on baggage! It makes sense though; the tickets were completely free. They make money solely through sneaky little fees.

I still need to get the following taken care of:

Birth Certificate translated
ISEP Insurance paid in full
Teacher Discount form sent to Tech
Obtain European adaptor for American electronics

There may be more, but nothing comes to mind at the moment.

Laura's last day at Kohl's is Wednesday. She is taking the test for her driver's license on Thursday. I am certain she will do just fine.

Hopefully if you are reading this and do not know Laura and I you bear in mind that we still are in the planning stages of this trip. I can assure you that in the weeks and months to come there will be some great stories.

Patrick A. SIZEMORE

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Atlanta Part Deux

Bonjour! This is Laura posting. Atlanta has turned out to become a business vacation, rather than just pure business. I've managed to capture our little journey around the city today.

We decided, as a quick pick-up to settle our rumbling stomaches, to stop by a Chik-a-Fila. The one we went to, however, was not like any ordinary Chik-a-Fila you'd find in Nashville, or even Tennessee. It was basically like a Waffle House version, called "The Dwarf House".




We sat down, ordered, and ate our food off of white plates. Interesting, no?


They had barstools and everything!

After being fully surprised and satisfied, Patrick and I took a ride on the interstate to locate the French Consulate he must visit in order to obtain his visa. Needless to say, we eventually found the place. Afterwards, while on the way back to the MLV, we saw a sign telling us to take a certain exit to visit the World of Coca-Cola factory. This intrigued us, remembering that our French companions Amandine and Steve had visited this place, so we ventured to take a look.


This place was pretty interesting, too.


Some countries had delicious flavors... and others didn't.

It was neat, and it came with a complimentary bottle of Coke, but was a little pricey. Nevertheless, we liked it. Right across the walkway was the Georgia Aquarium. Well, I'm a sucker for all types of animals, and at a half-price deal we decided to check it out.


Admiring the fish, bien sûr!


Interesting colors and movement.


Cutie little penguins.


I wish the whale sharks had been in this picture. Very graceful creatures.


I have several lovely videos of the sea lions, playing around and gliding about in their aquatic home, but sadly will need to be uploaded later. They require Quicktime to view, and this computer's local internet access doesn't accommodate the file size needed to upload the program. I couldn't help but be giddy to see these guys during their playtime, though.

Indeed, we've also enjoyed the company of our host and her dog Muffin, albeit not as much as we would've liked since we slept in late. She didn't seem to mind, though, and I plan to offer my assistance in her little restaurant while Patrick goes to his appointment. Either way, Patrick and I plan to leave as soon as his meeting is over with, and hope to return by late Friday night.

France itself is only 18 days away. It is mind-boggling, frightening, and exhilarating, all at the same time. There will be bumps along the way, whether they pertain to financial or cultural matters, but it will be one of the most exciting adventures that either of us have had the opportunity on which to embark. As such, I've decided that this will be the official blog of our travels, including stories and pictures/videos. Until then, à bientôt!

Laura J. MARTIN

Atlanta

Laura et moi sommes à Atlanta jusqu'à ce vendredi. Atlanta a eu le consulat français le plus proche ainsi j'ai dû venir ici afin d'accomplir mon application de visa. Les bonnes nouvelles sont que nous restons dans ce petite lit et petite déjeuner avons couru par un chef parisien appelé Eileen. Elle nous a aidés beaucoup.

Eileen dirige également une boulangerie le matin. Laura et moi vont aller l'aident demain en échange de viande sur nos os.

Nous avons peu d'argent, mais nous devrions aller bien. J'ai d'argent venir de Citibank et Tech. Laura a on venir de l'IRS pour son retour 2005. Matt aura 250 dollars de prêt pour moi sur le 15ème.

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Laura and I are in Atlanta until this Friday. Atlanta had the nearest French consulate so I had to come here in order to complete my visa application. The good news is that we are staying in this swanky little bed and breakfast ran by a Parisian chef named Eileen. She gave me a great deal on the room after I called her this morning and explained the purpose of my sojourn.

Eileen also runs a bakery in the morning. Laura and I are going to go help her tomorrow in exchange for some meat on our bones.

Money is tight, but it should all work out. I have a check coming from Citibank and Tech. Laura has one coming from the IRS for her 2005 return. Hopefully an amount still owed to me by a friend I helped last year will be repaid. Matt will have 250 dollars ready for me on the 15th.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Introduction

Bonjour!
Je m'appelle Patrick Sizemore et j'étudierai à l'étranger a l'Université de Nantes pendant cette année scolaire. Accompagnement de moi sera ma petite amie Laura MARTIN. Nous avons été ensemble pendant neuf mois, jusqu'ici.


J'étudie à Tennessee Tech University dans Cookeville, Tennessee où je poursuis un programme de degré trois avec des emphases dans l'histoire, le Français, les sciences politiques, et l'enseignement secondaire et les mineurs dans les sciences humaines et les sciences sociales.


Je dépense mes projets de planification de temps disponible pour approfondir et augmenter mon arrangement du monde autour de moi. En pratiquant de divers instruments musicaux, lisant autant que possible, et n'ayant pas peur pour prendre des risques, mon esprit reste vivant et ne cesse jamais l'interrogation.

Je suis un personne complex. (Stupéfiant comment une phrase de cinq mots peut même donner la signification de ce rapport..quoi qu'il en soit…) J'ai passé la grande majorité de ma vie apprenant comment s'entendre avec d'autres personnes, développant un sens de l'humour, acquérant de nouvelles qualifications physiques et mentales, et plus de toutes avec l'intention de changer certains aspects de me en ceux qui plus aisément seraient acceptés dans la culture américaine. (J'essaye d'enlever un changement que j'ai apposé à la présentation de mon intellect depuis beaucoup d'années. Plus d'information plus tard.) Ceci semblerait être suicide interne à certains, mais personnellement il a simplement intensifié ma conscience de qui les gens sont et de pourquoi ils restent de cette façon. Être vous-même est difficile.


Presque tout à fait, mon individu vrai est ceci
:


Je suis très ambitieux et concurrentiel. J'ai toujours estimé que s'il y avait une tâche d'être accomplie je devrais travailler assez dur que je pourrais être assez habile pour éclipser quiconque. Je ne fais pas toujours ceci, mais je me sens que je peux faire n'importe quoi si je travaille dur.


Je suis un personne intelligent. J'ai eu peur de ceci pendant ma vie entière. En mes années de la préadolescence j'étais très arrogant au sujet de mon intellect, mais avant de celui et puisque j'ai eu honte presque. (Ce qui définit l'intelligence?) Grandir dans le système d'éducation publique vous aliène si vous pensez différemment, apprenez plus rapidement, et exécutez mieux que d'autres étudiants sans beaucoup de travail.


Je serai tout à fait honnête. Je suis malade de devoir cacher le fait que pour quelque raison ma capacité d'apprendre est plus avancée que d'autres personnes. À ce jour on n'est pas quelque chose que je ne peux pas comprendre, bien que je suis finalement à l'âge où j'empathize avec les personnes qui m'ont toujours placé sur un piédestal ou sur une liste d'ennemis. Mes génétiques sont bénie dans les sujets mentaux. Très probablement, vous ne comprenez pas exactement ce que je dis. Je n'implique pas que je suis un sage ou quelque chose à cet effet. Tout ce que je dis est comment dur il a été d'être doué mentalement. J'ai la difficulté dans la compréhension pourquoi les gens apprécient certaines choses qui semblent tout à fait ineptes à moi. Les gens ont la difficulté dans la compréhension quand je finalement parle franchement. Si tout va bien mon temps en France me permettra de m'épanouir. Quand je reviens j'espoir pour être heureux avec un grand Q.I. (Une des parties les plus dures au sujet d'être une personne véritablement douée écoute ceux qui ne sont pas mais le souhait qu'ils pourraient être. Il te fait inconfortable, mais en même temps vous souhaitez ils pourraient réaliser qu'il n'est pas cela bon…)


Je ne peux pas traiter environ 95% de personnes. Je passe une bonne partie de mon temps en association avec d'autres en douleur atroce due aux matières étant discutées ou l'endroit un de ces personnes a décidé de la discuter. Tous les humains ont des problèmes, mais vous devez stopper être vous-même parfois si vous rendez quelqu'un inconfortable. (Si je joue un jeu de société avec un enfant de neuf ans qui a la lecture d'ennui je ne vais pas lire chaque phrase juste parce que je peux.)


Ma tête est dans les nuages, mais mon esprit est dans le bureau. Je choisis de rêver grand parce que si je ne vais jamais à la lune skydiving au moins est meilleur que se reposant dans un compartiment toute la journée. Toutes mes décisions sérieuses correspondent à une quantité impitoyable de planification et à une attention au détail. Aller en France pendant toute une année et voyager l'Europe? Ce sera amusement, allons-y… après que nous travaillions à avoir chaque dernier détail pris en compte.


Je suis un perfectionniste, mais je stoppe. Si je peux maintenir mon statu quo de la perfection alors que je suis un imparable force. Si les personnes avec qui je suis fonctionnement ne me permettent pas de réaliser mon travail parfaitement et en temps utile, je fais le moins possible. Avec l'âge ce trait devrait devenir plus positif parce que je peux déjà estimer qu'il part. Je le remplace par un désir de compenser en travaillant plus dur.


Je suis un introverti indépendant dans un monde indigent bavard. J'ai besoin RAREMENT de l'aide pour n'importe quoi. Si je fais on est parce que je suis dans l'université et n'ai pas le temps pour une carrière. Je ne demande pas l'argent à mes parents. Je ne passe pas des heures par nuit se plaignant au sujet des personnes ou de ma vie. Je pense que les gens qui ne peuvent pas manipuler des problèmes sont faibles. Je déteste le téléphone, mais j'aime des messages de téléphone portable. L'étude pour faire face à parler à d'autres pendant une période prolongée était probablement le défi le plus difficile à conquérir tout en grandissant.


Plus de poteaux à venir. Maintenant que vous avez une idée de qui je suis moi vous espérer de retour souvent pour des mises à jour.


Patrick A. SIZEMORE


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Here is an English version for non-French speakers.


My name is Patrick Sizemore and I shall be studying abroad at the Université de Nantes for the 2007-2008 academic year. Accompanying me will be my girlfriend Laura Martin. We have been together for nine months, so far.

Stateside I attend Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tennessee where I am pursuing a three degree program with majors in history, French, political science, and secondary education and minors in humanities and social sciences.

I spend my spare time planning projects to deepen and enhance my understanding of the world around me. Through practicing various musical instruments, reading as much as possible, and not being afraid to take risks, my mind stays alive and never stops questioning.

I am a complex person. (Amazing how a five word sentence can even convey the meaning of that statement..anyway...) I have spent the vast majority of my life learning how to get along with other people, developing a sense of humor, acquiring new physical and mental skills, and more all with the intent of changing certain aspects of myself to those which would be more readily accepted in American culture. (N.B. I am attempting to remove an alteration I have affixed to my intellect's presentation for many years. More further down the page.) This would seem to be internal suicide to some, but personally it has simply heightened my awareness of who people are and why they stay that way. Self-actualization is a very difficult thing to achieve, but it is something to which I strive.

The closest I can get to determining what my true self may be is this:

I am very ambitious and competitive. From a young age I have always felt that if there was a task to be completed I should work hard enough that I could be skilled enough to eclipse anybody. Not that I always do this, but I feel there is nothing I cannot do if I set my mind to it.

I am an intelligent person. I have been afraid of this for my entire life. In my pre-teen years I was very arrogant about my intellect, but before that and since I have been almost ashamed. (What is intelligence anyway?) Growing up in the public education system alienates you if you think differently, learn more quickly, and perform better than other students with very little effort.

I shall be quite honest. I am sick of having to hide the fact that for some reason my ability to learn is more advanced than other people. To this day it is not something I cannot comprehend, though I am finally at the age where I empathize with the people who have always placed me on a pedestal or on a list of enemies. I cannot dunk a basketball, but my genetics are blessed in mental matters. If you are reading this you may not understand exactly what I am saying. I am not implying that I am a savant or anything to that effect. All that I am relating is how hard it has been to be so far from average mentally. I have such a hard time understanding why people enjoy certain things which seem utterly inane to me. People have a hard time understanding where I am coming from when I finally open up to them and let them get inside my head. Hopefully my time in France will allow me to flourish. When I come back I hope to be proud of having a hefty intelligence quotient and not ashamed and easily influenced into dumbing myself down. (One of the hardest parts about being a truly gifted person is listening to those who are not but wish they could be. It makes you sick, but at the same time you wish they could realize it is not all it's cracked up to be...)

I cannot stand about 95% of people. I spend a good portion of my time in association with others in excruciating pain due to the topics being discussed or the place one of these people has decided to discuss it. All humans have flaws, but you have to quit being yourself sometimes if you are making somebody uncomfortable. (If I am playing a board game with a nine year old kid who has trouble reading I am not going to read every sentence just because I can. I will let him do it and wait for him to finish because he needs it more than I do.)

My head is in the clouds, but my mind is in the office. I choose to dream big because if I never go to the moon at least skydiving is better than sitting in a cubicle all day. All of my serious decisions correspond with a ruthless amount of planning and an incisive attention to detail. Go to France for a whole year and travel Europe? Sounds fun, let's go...after we work on getting every last detail taken care of.

I'm a perfectionist, but I am a quitter. If I can maintain my status quo of perfection then I am an unstoppable force. If the people with whom I am working do not allow me to do my job perfectly and in a timely fashion, I do as little as possible. With age this trait should become more positive because I can already feel that I am growing out of the quitting stage. I am replacing it with a desire to work even harder to compensate.

I am an independent introvert in a codependent extroverted world. I RARELY need help for anything. If I do it is because I am still in college and do not have time for a career. I do not ask my parents for money. I don't spend hours a night whining about people or my life. I think people who cannot handle problems are weak. I hate the phone, but text messages are a godsend. Learning to cope with talking to others for an extended period of time was probably the most difficult challenge to conquer while growing up.

More posts to come. Now that you have an idea of who I am I hope you check back often to see what new and exciting things have occurred.

Patrick A. Sizemore