Hometown Heroes

Before I close out this blog (which, I promise, I'm getting ready to do soon-ish), I wanted to say thank you to a certain group of people.

That group of people is my Hometown Heroes.

Let me back up. It can be daunting to move to another continent by yourself. You know what makes that easier? Moving to another continent by yourself with the support of your #squad. Just because I did this by myself, doesn't mean I did it independently. I would never have been able to do this without my people "back home." (And by "back home," I mean in Texas, in Louisiana, and all over the States.)

So here's where I get to make my shout outs. Because guys? Guess what. I love ya.

My family: I remember the day that I told my parents and brothers (over Brandon's 17th birthday dinner at Hoffbrau) "I'm going to try to move to France next year." They didn't even bat an eye. We solved the one issue (what to do with Nolie*) within a few minutes over appetizers. They were just as supportive throughout the whole process. They never questioned my somewhat questionable decision of quitting my full-time job with benefits for a one-year penny-paying gig across the ocean without any certainty of regaining employment upon my return. They didn't blink when I moved in for three months before I left and seven months when I got back.** They lent me money at the end of the year so I could finish my travels. They not only supported me, but never stopped encouraging me that I had made a great decision. I could never thank them enough for this. I love y'all!

My best friends: I am convinced I have the best best friends in the world. I'm not kidding. I'm not just saying that. I am certain of it in my heart. The reasons might take an entire other blog, so I won't list them all here. I have somehow found all the good people, guys. Here's the thing: I left with the full knowledge that my close friendships would be intact when I returned. I have the kind of friends who still love me when I disappear for college, or grad school, or endless stretches of "can't come to the surface to breathe" non-stop teacher work. They understand and I am so thankful. They know I always come back. I knew that I would leave and our relationships would pick right up where we left off upon my return. (It didn't hurt that it was 2012-2013 and there was Skype, Facebook, email, and my FreeMobile phone plan.) But truly, they were so loving and so supportive and, just like I knew we would, we picked right up where we left off and kept going strong. I love y'all 5ever.

All of my friends and followers: I had SO much fun telling my stories on this blog. And the crazy part? Some people actually read it! Like you! You're reading this right now! Interacting with y'all, both on SYTYCF and on Facebook, made sharing so much more fun. It was an absolute joy to have you guys along for the ride and I hope that I sent a little joy back to you, too. I know this is two and a half years late, but thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking some of your precious time to read even a little of this blog. I am flattered and honored. (And, if you really did enjoy reading, stay tuned for my new blog, coming soon! Think less chronological, detailed, and temporary, more free-flowing, impressionistic, and long-term. It really is coming. I'm already writing. Expect it on an Internet near your summer 2016. Updated April 2016: New blog is now available! Come find me at www.katyontheroad.com.)

Basically, everyone I know was so supportive from the very beginning to the very end, and I feel so #blessed because of it.

announcement post on Facebook from April 4, 2012

(There was much rejoicing. Seriously, y'all were THE BEST part of getting to make that announcement. Also the mad sense of liberation. You know. It was all GREAT fun.)

Also, a HUGE special shout out to those of y'all who actually sent me things in France! From cards to packages, I appreciate the time, money, and effort that it takes to send something abroad. Y'all lit up my life (and decorated my room), and it made things so much easier to have a near-constant stream of love from home. Y'all are the BEST.

Now for the pictures. And the memories. On y va!

my very first package... from my parents! Deodorant and Reese's pumpkins are important, y'all. (And apparently other stuff, too, judging by the size of that package. I can't remember just now.)

from Amy & fam, Kara & fam, & Irene

from my parents... I still wear those white snowflake pajama leggings. (Only at home. You're welcome, world.)

again, parents

from Mattie & Matt

from Mattie & Matt... this was in the winter when I was sick as usual. Also Reese's! I still have those socks. :)

My friend Blake sent me this comic giving Harley Quinn's backstory. I love it and still read it. (Also? I'm a Batman girl, if you're curious.) Blake I miss you and I NEED TO CALL YOU. I am the worst and I'm sorry.

from Shannon & fam

a BIG shout out to Nakia, my only visitor from home! Granted, she was already in France visiting friends, but STILL it was so great to see her!

We went to Montpellier for the day.

... and she brought me my favorite gum!

(Also, I'll remind y'all that Irene did come and visit me in Narbonne, too! But Nakia was my only transatlantic visitor.)

French Aaron & Cristie

(ps: Cristie I'm still sorry I missed your wedding because of the whole living in France thing... but it looked beautiful!)

ALL OF THE SKYPES

And, of course, thank God for Skype. (I didn't have an iPhone at the time, so no FaceTime.) Also, my album for Skypes was called (just like above) "All of the Skypes," and I get the accompanying song "All of the Lights Skypes" in my head whenever I see it.

French Aaron

YES I WAS SKYPING MY BROKEN DOG. Don't worry about it. Also MeeMaw and my mom were there so there were people too. Chilllll.

But I also sent her a postcard. So maybe you can unchill about that. 

Whatever, it's fine. Don't worry about it.

This was actually with my family, but they were showing me the snow on Christmas day. (Yes, for those of you who may not know, it snowed in Fort Worth on Christmas for the first time during my lifetime on the year I happened to be spending Christmas near the Alps. Where it was, by the way, 50°, if you were curious. This? Right here? Is Katy Dubya luck.)

Kara & baby Jake!

This one makes me laugh. ALSO HE WAS SO TINY.

B & Nolie Mae

Vitaly and his ridiculous moustache

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Please notice my cabinet and wall, which were decorated exclusively with cards from you beautiful people. It made me very, very happy. 

♥

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So, to all of you who played ANY part in my year abroad, from home or from afar, just know that I am so thankful to and for you. It meant so much to me. It still does. You're all my heroes. And I love ya.

♥

*The answer? She stayed with them. I accidentally haven't gotten her back. It's okay, I think they like her better than me anyway.

**Holy cow. I just realized that was seven months just now when I counted on my fingers. Wow. That happened.

Blog, Interrupted.

Bonjour tout le monde! WELL. I have quite obviously dropped off the face of the planet. No worries, I am doing just fine. I'm back in Texas, and have spent the past month unpacking, working, interviewing, repacking, cruising the Caribbean, unpacking again, interviewing again, working again, and trying to fit in seeing all my family and friends I hadn't/haven't seen in 8-9 months! I have worked or interviewed every week day (except one) since I got home (well, that I wasn't on the cruise). It's been... busy. To say the least. I'm blessed. Happy to be home. And exhausted.

But I WILL be returning to finish my blog! I will be first blogging the Q&A, and then I'll be blogging my last few travel locations as well as some closing remarks on the year.

I'm sorry for the delay, thank you for your patience, and stay tuned!

The things I miss the most

Before I left in September, I wrote a list of things I would and wouldn't miss about home while away in France. I'm going to look at the list of things I thought I'd miss and see how accurate I was, as well as make a few additions I didn't expect.

After 7 months away, here are...

The Real Things I Miss

1) Mexican Food (aka TexMex): Yes. All the time. It will be the first thing I eat when I get home. I can't even tell you how much I miss it.

2) Being able to get almost anything at almost anytime: YES. So much. After 7 months, I STILL occasionally forget about making sure I have food on Saturday (as France is essentially closed on Sundays).

3) Target: Not really that much. But I will be excited to go in May!

4) Turning on the TV/radio and being able to understand every word: Not really. I don't even have a TV here, and the radio I kind of like in French. However, I mostly listen to Spotify or 8tracks now (Pandora doesn't work in Europe), sooo I listen to what I want to anyway.

5) The chance that you just might see a man riding a horse in the middle of your regular life: Not really, that was kind of a joke. Though that is always exciting. :)

6) Texas sunsets: Yes. I mean, not that bad... I do love the sunsets here too, but I will be happy to see huge, million-colored, epic Texas sunsets on a regular basis.

7) Peanut Butter: YES. I can get it here, but it takes like 45 minutes on the bus each way (even though it would take 10 minutes each way in a car), soooo I don't get it. And I miss it.

8) DFW Sports: Yes... who's taking me to a Rangers game this summer?!

9) Two words: Magnolia. Mae.: YES, yes, yes. I can't tell you how much I miss my dog. There is no experience that replicates or even close to replaces the relationship between a person and a dog. Occasionally I Facebook stalk my own dog because I miss her so much. Oh my gosh, I just admitted that on the Internet.

10) Big girl paychecks: YES! I don't even have a job next year, so who knows when I'll be getting big girl paychecks again. But I need them. Gotta pay them billllllz.

11) All of the family and friends that I love in Texas (and other places in the United States, namely Louisiana): YES. Obviously this is true. I have been able to keep in contact with a lot of my family and friends (thanks Facebook, FreeMobile, email, & Skype), so that's made things easier, as well as the knowledge that it's only 8 months. But I'll be really happy to be able to be with/see/talk to/text/call my family and friends easily. Soon!

New Additions: Things I Didn't I Realize I'd Miss

1) Baths: Ohhhhhhhh my gosh. I miss baths so. freaking. much. I'm glad to have a private shower in my room, but what I would do to have a bath a couple of nights a week. What a luxury that I never realized was a luxury.

2) A Kitchen: Okay, let's be real, I've never been a Top Chef. Since for the past few years I've mostly lived by myself, cooking hasn't really been that exciting to me. But after this entire time of not having a kitchen, I long for a kitchen. I dream of the day when I have a fridge, and a stove, and an oven. Maybe this is the turning point in my culinary life?! Only time will tell. But I'm really excited to eat something else besides kettle couscous, for the love.

3) My Car: The convenience, the freedom, the feeling of driving, my ol' (mostly) faithful car herself, the built-in personal time... I miss it all. I don't, however, miss traffic.

4) Washer & Dryer: I'm tired of having to devote a whole afternoon to laundry. Just over it. Can't wait to be able to do laundry in a normal way (not have to leave the house).

5) My clothes: I'm tired of looking at the same clothes over and over again. Seriously.

6) MY BED: I haven't slept in my actual bed since November 2011 when it went into storage. I miss it. So much.

7) Singing: I love to sing. It's therapeutic. It's what I do when I'm sad, mad, stressed, happy, excited... If I don't have time to sing (really sing - loudly - with abandon), I get all stressed and not myself. I really do miss my shower, car, clean-up-the-apartment singing sessions. I don't really have my own private spaces where I can sing out loud at the top of my lungs. On more than a couple occasions, I've found myself singing in the streets of Narbonne along with my iPod. Imagine the French people's reactions when that happens. WHOOPS.

8) Books: Okay, it's not that books don't exist here. It's just that a) I'm not really excited about reading in French. I feel like that's all I did from 2005-2010, and I'm kind of over it for a while (or possibly forever). b) I don't have a library card. c) I don't have much disposable income. d) Even if I did, Narbonne's not exactly a mecca for English books. I have managed to read some thanks to my Kindle, but only free books (except for Room by Emma Donoghue, which I read thanks to my BFF Amy's awesome birthday present to me). However, my Kindle died a month ago sooo that's the end even of that. Anyway, I hope I'll have the opportunity to do a ton of reading this summer!

9) People being able to pronounce my name correctly: I don't understand why people can't get it right. There are four sounds in my name (two syllables), all of which exist in French. It is NOT that difficult. I feel like I don't even exist in this country sometimes. Get it together, people.

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So that's there's the lowdown on what I really did end up missing. Aside from the obvious winner (people), the things I miss the most are the quotidian things, just regular ol' daily life stuff. It's funny how much you take for granted in your daily life. The things that you think are just normal and that you don't think about twice, that's the stuff you miss. I will have a new appreciation for all of these things once I return, and I hope to keep it. Can you imagine if you moved not only to an entirely different environment (aka a different continent), but also to, say, a developing country? How much do we take for granted in our everyday life? Especially as citizens of the developed world, where we have things so easy (and in the States, where we put more emphasis on daily convenience than anywhere else)? Are these things necessary for happiness? Could you/would you be happy, regardless of your environment?

These are the questions, my friends. These are the questions.

ps: I am and have been happy this year. Having free time, traveling, spending time with new interesting people... I have been in my element. The lack of these things does not ruin my life. I just, you know, miss 'em. :)

Day in the Snow

The day after Christmas, we set out to explore some of the area for a family day (with me playing the part of the adopted 5th child, of course). The main destination was Linderhof, one of the castles built by Ludwig II. I'd actually been to Linderhof in the summer of 2004, but the castle was under construction at that point so I had never been inside.

First stop: the beautiful Wieskirche, a famous Rococo church and pilgrimage destination

You can just barely see the organ (which we were lucky enough to catch being played) above.

On the way from Wieskirche to Linderhof, we drove through Oberammergau, the picturesque city where the Passion Play is performed every ten years. I'd love to see it someday!

On to Linderhof! 

I just love the architecture in Alpine regions!

Snow!

And in this picture, you can tell the snow is giving way a bit. Je n'ai pas l'habitude!

Linderhof was built by Ludwig II in the place where his father had a hunting home. Ludwig II was King of Bavaria from 1864-1886. He commissioned three extravagant castles (Linderhof, Neuschwanstein, and Herrenchiemsee) before his mysterious death in 1886. His story is pretty interesting, and you can't travel to Bavaria without seeing at least one of his castles!

Linderhof has really beautiful gardens, which we could obviously not see this day. I am glad that I got to see the beautiful gardens in the summer and then come back eight years later to visit the grounds in the snow and to get to tour the building! The whole family took a tour in English on my behalf, which was so sweet. Linderhof is a small castle, but it's beautiful. We particularly liked its Hall of Mirrors with vases displayed within the intricate gold-plated mirror frames and decorations.

In the summer, these fountains run, but not today! :)

December 2012

August 2004

We then headed to this adorable restaurant for some coffee (which translates to "hot chocolate" in Katy language).

Terrace seats, anyone?

my cheesecake, Irene's apple strudel, and my hot chocolate - delicious!

The Fam - I love this picture!

view from the window (seriously)

We headed to another church nearby, and got a peek of the sunset.

At yet another church, we got a peek of the moonrise!

This church was very different than the others we saw - clean, simple lines and very little embellishment. When the Baroque and Rococo styles became popular, many churches were redecorated to embody the new style, while this church refrained from renovation.

dusk, and the closing of a wonderful day!

Well, almost the closing. After our day of exploring, we headed to a restaurant in a neighboring village and ate together; I had pork roast, a dumpling, cabbage, and a beer, and it was all delicious! This was our last day with all seven of us together; I had such a wonderful time with the whole family for Christmas. I truly felt like I was part of the family. It's wonderful to feel cared for while you're so far away from home, especially during the holidays! I am (and will always be) so, so thankful for these days that I spent with Irene and her family celebrating, eating, drinking, and adventuring, Bavarian style!