20 October 2012
Today was a really pleasant and relaxing day. I started the
day off by making a sandwich and buying some desserts and drinks at Monoprix
before meeting people for a picnic at a park here in Grenoble, Parc de l’Ile d’Amour!
After stocking up on my snacks, I met everyone downtown to catch a bus to this
park, which was an experience in itself. When the bus finally arrived fifteen
minutes late, we got on and the bus driver charged each of us three more euro
than he should have. We tried to reason with him, but he was an upset bus
driver that would have none of that, so we eventually gave up, tossed our extra
euro at him with a scowl, and head to the back of the bus to sit down. In a
matter of seconds, literally seconds, the bus arrived at the bus stop for the
park. We had to pay extra euro for a thirty second bus ride? And not only that,
but we discovered that there was a tram stop next to the bus stop, and we could
have taken the tram for free? What a
wonderful start to the day. J
After reorganizing and regrouping after throwing ourselves off of that bus, we
started our trek to find the park. And with that, we started round two of our “We’re
never going to find this park” adventure. We followed signs through a zigzag of
sidewalks, parking lots, and playgrounds, until we gave up and ended up asking
for directions at a fencing party. The people there couldn’t help but laugh; we
were completely lost. They were very friendly though and pointed us in the
right direction, so we retraced our steps, found the bridge the lovely French
folks told us about, and there we were at the park! We were so excited to
finally be here, and I am so glad that we did not give up looking for the park
after going through so many endeavors. This park was absolutely gorgeous! There
were lovely pebble walkways that weaved in between swooping willow trees, with
red, orange, and yellow leaves dancing in the autumn winds. There were dogs
running around, barking and playing fetch, children climbing on wooden jungle
gyms, other families enjoying quaint little picnics at their own picnic
benches, couples holding hands and walking through the park…what a peaceful
place to come and enjoy an afternoon! We also stumbled upon a bridge that
stretched across the Isère River, and we took a moment to enjoy the view and
take some really pleasant pictures of all of us on the bridge. We would have
spent more time on the bridge admiring the sights, but every time someone biked
across the bridge, the entire bridge wobbled. Needless to say, we walked (maybe
even ran just a little bit) off of the bridge after a few minutes. However, it
was still a nice moment of experiencing nature’s beauty nonetheless! J After enjoying such a
lovely afternoon full of delicious picnic food and divine sights and sounds of
nature, we all head our separate ways, and I went back home to take advantage
of some naptime and some study time. It wasn’t long, though, before Katie
messaged me and told me about a party she was going to later at night, and she
invited me along for a dinner beforehand, and then we’d head off to the party
together. We enjoyed a delicious crêpe dinner (both ham and cheese crêpes, and
sugar crêpes!), quickly bought a nice glass of wine, and caught a tram to go to
the party. We arrived at Ricardo’s apartment (Katie’s Brazilian friend), and
there were a lot of people there! There was Ricardo and his Brazilian roommate,
some Koreans from Katie’s class, and another Brazilian girl that showed up
later. It was yet another evening of everyone communicating mutually in French,
and it was so much fun! We all enjoyed a delicious spicy Korean chicken soup,
and it was too good. I practically pounded through my portion; it had been so
long since I enjoyed real spicy food. It tasted so, so good! I’ll need to find
the recipe somehow; I would make that dish every night for the rest of my life
if I could! After dinner, we all sat in the living room talking around a nice
bottle of wine, and the Koreans even taught us some phrases in Korean. Who
would have thought that I’d be here in France learning Korean? I sure didn’t
imagine that happening, but I am glad that it did! I’ve got to say, after spending
time with Tshi-hi outside of class, and now this lovely evening, I would really
like to visit Korea someday, I really would! They all seem like such pleasant
people with a really interesting culture! We ended the night by watching Korean
and Brazilian horror movies on YouTube, and around two in the morning I headed
back home, strolling quietly through the streets of Grenoble under a pleasant
drizzle of rain, thinking to myself how lucky and happy I am to be here and
experience so many wonderful moments!
