IT’S CHRISTMAS BREAK!!!!!!!! WOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!
Since I last updated a whole bunch has happened. I spent the weekend after Thanksgiving watching copious amounts of tv and preparing for my medical school interview. The following week I went to my classes on Monday through Thursday, and I was anxiously awaiting my return to the states! I don’t recall anything special that happened in classes that week, but I am still entirely enjoying working as an assistant. I think it’s incredibly fun! Whether I’m going over an article with my students, teaching them about American culture, or just chatting, I love it! I think it’s really interesting to listen to them speak and hear the differences amongst how they formulate sentences in English. They make me reflect and think about how I formulate sentences in French. It’s also very interesting to just see the how different each group of students is from the next. Each class I work with definitely has it’s own distinct vibe and demeanor. I have classes that I absolutely adore going to and those that are more of a challenge. However, those that are a challenge make me appreciate the good ones even more.
Well eventually Thursday rolls around and I put the finishing touches into packing my suitcases for the upcoming whirlwind trip to the U.S. of A. Friday morning I wake up at 6am, get ready, and leave to catch my 7:15 train. This 20-minute train took me to the nearby city of Le Mans. From there I had to catch another train to Paris that lasts just over an hour. Upon arriving in Paris I had to take the metro to another of the large Paris train stations. From Paris nord I took the RER train to Charles de Gaulle airport. By the time I arrive at CDG and approach the check-in counter it’s about 11:15. My plane was scheduled to leave at 1pm. It’s a good thing that check-in and going through the security only took about 15-20 minutes total. I ended up having plenty of time before my plane left.
On my plane I met and talked to two very lovely people. It was the first time I ever spoke to anyone on a plane and it turned out to be a great experience. My plane arrived in Philadelphia, and I decided that is probably my favorite airport ever! First of all, the security guards checking us in after going through customs were probably the happiest people I have ever met. They were so dang friendly I couldn’t handle it! They all asked where we were going and we just super nice. I don’t know if it’s just American hospitality that I had forgotten about or what. Secondly, this airport rocks because it’s like you’re in a fricken mall! Seriously, the food court is huge, there are store everywhere, and there was a stage with a lady singing CHRISTMAS MUSIC! This was just the best welcome back to the states I could have asked for! Anywho, I caught my connection to Chicago and arrived at O’Hare at 7:30pm CST, or 2:30am France time. I was pretty tired at this point. But the traveling continues! My mom, and Olivia arrived, and we drove our butts back to Madison.
It was like I had never left Madison when we pulled onto John Nolen Dr. I love that city! Ashley and Maria met us at the hotel, and we did a little bit of catching up but then hit the sack to try and get some much-needed sleep. Not much sleeping was done thanks to mom and Ashley’s symphony of snoring. The next morning arrived all to soon and then we were off to the mall! Much shopping was done, and the obligatory new suitcase was purchased (obligatory, since the Parisian subway had destroyed my last one). Saturday night a group of 10 of us met at Olive Garden for some tasty pasta! It was amazing seeing everyone again, but a terribly rude waitress and the 7:30 Packer game encouraged us to peace out pretty quickly. We divided into the appropriate hotel and alcohol searching groups then all reconvened again at Eric’s house where we cheered the Packers to their win! After the game the bars were calling! It wouldn’t be a visit to Madison without a stop at the Red Shed for some long island ice teas. Then, since there has been a serious lack of dancing in my French life, we went to Whiskey River where we danced until bar close.
Sunday morning was a little rough, but we managed to get up and check out by 11. Yanks and chocolate malts were then had at Mickey’s to fill up that empty, upset stomach. Afterwards, Ashley and I, despite our extreme fatigue, did an epic Target shopping adventure. I purchased some of the American things I had intended to bring back to France. Then we pulled into the nearby McDonald’s parking lot where we usurped their wifi to book our motel for the next 3 nights.
We didn’t have many requirements for this motel, other than it had Internet and it was cheap. Well, we went with the cheapest option we found at 33$ a night. We knew this meant it would potentially be sketchy, and that assumption was accurate. We pulled into the parking lot to see one other nice car amongst a bunch junkers. Certain that some seriously shady drug deals were going down in these cars we kept our eyes peeled for anyone who could attack us at a moments notice. Checking in was a disaster as the office was closed and the manager had to drive down from his home. He was then clueless as to what he had to do and then informed us that they don’t actually have any double rooms available and that we would have to take a room with a king bed instead. We were tired and I didn’t want to deal with finding something else so I said that was fine. The room actually turned out to be fine and it was reeeeeeeeeeal warm. Ashley really appreciated that! hahaha.
Monday morning Ashley gave me a practice interview then we went to Walmart. I had to buy the last of my many American supplies. After that shopping adventure we returned to the motel to nap and watch some movies. Then I prepared everything for my interview and went to bed early.
Tuesday—my judgment day—had arrived. I got my suit on and Ashley dropped me off at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. I was 1 in 20 interviewees that day, and it’s definitely intimidating to be in a room with 19 other people who are trying for the same thing that you are. Myself and one other girl ended up being exceptions to the normal schedule because we didn’t have our one-on-one interviews with faculty members until 2:00. Ugh! That was frustrating because that was the last thing I had to do and everyone else could relax but I still had the most important part to go. I didn’t let it bother me too much, as I knew there was nothing I could do about it and that it wouldn’t change the way that I would answer any of the questions.
At 1:45 my heart really started pounding. At 2:00 I was escorted to the room where I would have my interview with a Dr. Ashley Anderson. Right from the get go I could tell that he was a serious, pretty intense guy. But he helped me to relax by saying that he was just trying to learn that I wasn’t a robot and that he just wanted to learn about my character. He really only asked me 3 questions: What got me interested in medicine? Why do I want to be a physician? What do I believe is the reason why students who start and fail-out of medical school fail? Other than that we pretty much just had a normal conversation that flowed from one subject to the next. Then after about 20 minutes of that he asked me if I had any questions for him. I asked him, in brief, the following 3 questions: How have the students adapted to the transition of the medical school to the school of medicine and public health? Have students, particularly with regard to financial aid, been affected by any of the legislative or UW-partnership changes imposed last year? Finally, what did he identify as being the schools strongest asset and weakest feature? He liked all of my questions and throughout the interview he was very reassuring, saying extremely nice things. He told me that in his comments he was going to write that I would make an excellent medical student. He also told me that I could leave the interview feeling confident. I was very happy to have such a great review from someone who is such cynic (he even called himself a cynic to me!). However, I know that my application still has to be re-reviewed by the review board and that there are a ton of other extremely qualified candidates. Let’s just say I will be keeping all of my fingers and toes crossed for the next 6 weeks!
That night my dad arrived and we got some dinner before returning to the motel that my father described as “a real cream puff.” I packed up my American goodies in my new suitcase, which I had a feeling was a bit too heavy. Then we hit the sack for an early bedtime. Wednesday morning we traveled to Chicago, and sure enough my suitcase was a good 67.5 pounds. The lady at the counter put a “heavy” sticker on my tag, but said nothing. Score one for me!
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| Only the bare necessities! |
With a stop in Philly at my favorite airport I traveled back to Paris. From there I took the same ridiculous amounts of metros and trains back to my apartment in Sablé. I managed to make it back in time for lunch in the cafeteria. Then I proceeded to sleep from 1:30-5.
Sleeping. A lot of sleeping was done that weekend. My body had never fully adjusted to American time, but for some reason it really struggled to adjust back to France time.
I spent the past week mostly talking about Christmas in America. I thought it would be the most fun to show students videos and talk about them. So I started talking about Christmas decorations and how some families get really into it. To illustrate this I showed them this. The most common response was “it’s beautiful!” I loved hearing their varying opinions about this spectacle. Most of them thought it was cool, and there were a couple who thought it was “trop” – meaning “too much.” From there I taught them a couple Christmas songs. Everyone knows Jingle Bells so I decided to go with the classic Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, and Deck the Halls. Some students got really into it and proceeded to join along and sing. Most of them also really enjoyed learning the story of Rudolph since it was something they had never before heard. In addition to these discussions I also gave away my American candies, and sugar cookie cutouts that I had made on Tuesday. My favorite part of this was watching several students eat the Reeses peanut butter cups only to discover after a couple of chews that they are wrapped in paper. Their facial expressions were the best, and I had a good chuckle to myself. All in all it was a really fun week for me!
Now, it is Christmas vacation for me until January 8th! I have commenced my epic tour of Eastern Europe! I am currently on the train heading to Amsterdam, where I will meet the lovely Katie Reshel! I am super excited for this vacation, and I know it will be interesting living out of a suitcase for the next 3 weeks. I look forward for all the adventures and awkward moments to come in countries where I don’t all speak the language!
