Oklahoma Strong

Today is the 1 year anniversary of the tornado that passed through (ripped apart is more accurate) Moore, Oklahoma.

Moore is not far from Norman, Oklahoma (where OU is). It's between Norman and Oklahoma City. Living in Oklahoma, tornadoes are part of the package. Growing up here, you sort of are accustomed to the sirens. 

We were in France for under a week when the tornado hit. My family lives in Tulsa, but Mel and some of the others had families in the area...not to mention all of our friends that were too close for comfort. Mel's family was really lucky because the tornado seemed to hit everyone around them. They had a broken window, but were unscathed besides that. It was definitely scary to be in that situation. Very helpless feeling. I know it took Melanny a while to hear from her family so we were all holding our breath for a bit. Big sigh of relief soon followed, but it was a long night to say the least. 

After getting back from France, I had to go with my mom to Norman so that we could get the rest of my stuff out of the little rent house I lived in. We passed through Moore  and were shocked by the damage. It was completely devastating to the community.

So sad to see huge chunks of land strewn with debris from what used to be someone's life. Everything was mixed together. We passed by a school that was hit. They had chairs out for the victims who died. 

Silver lining: one of the greatest things about living in Oklahoma is witnessing the compassion and love strangers show for one another in times of need. We can be very proud of that. The people of Oklahoma have huge hearts and will jump in to help when needed. When I was in NYC a couple years back, I visited a church that was right in front of Ground Zero. It was intact and didn't get damaged during 9/11. In fact, a lot of the medical groups set up temporary clinics there during the chaos. This is a church that old presidents used to go to when in NY. 

One of the first things you see when you walk in is a huge banner from the people of Oklahoma that was sent to show support for the people of NYC. Oklahoma has seen its fair share of bad days, but I love the way people help one another here.

If you hear tornado sirens, take cover people. Don't go out on the front porch and watch for the storm. 

Real World: Amiens

Happy "Amiensiversary" to my favorite travel companions: Shawnsy, MacDo, Mel & Mathieu 

It's hard to believe it, but it has been exactly 1 (ONE!!!!) year since we left the states for Real World:Amiens. May 15th, 2013. This time last year, I was cramming my suitcase full of last minute items I just knew I had to have with me. I would then head to the Tulsa airport, arrive in Chicago shortly after. From there I'd meet up with Shawn and Mel, get on a plane for Paris...and as you know, the rest is history. At the time, we had no idea what we were in store for. We just had images of bicycles, cute French schoolchildren, cathedrals, the Eiffel Tower & lots of baguettes swirling around in our pretty little heads. We knew we were in store for an adventure.

Boy, did we have an adventure or what? An adventure that would take some of us to France, Holland, Belgium, England, Portugal & Spain. I know we didn't speak as much french as we would have liked at times, but we made friendships and memories that will last a lifetime. Although we don't talk to each other often enough, I know I will always have a special relationship with each of you. I'll always count on MacDo to make me laugh. I'll always count on Mel to find us a group of guys and give us all fashion inspiration. I'll always count on Matt to lay down the law (& also warn us if there's wet, gross stuff in the food). I'll always count on Shawn to have "the ingredients" and to have deep, meaningful (slightly depressing in the best way possible) conversations at any given moment. We had such an amazing group with us. 

I would go back and do it again every year if I could. We had such a great experience filled with laughter, new friends, and just a hint of shameful moments at My Goodness.

:::Let's catch up with the cast:::

Since returning from France...

Shawn- Shawn had another year of school left to complete his undergraduate degree. Shawn was doing some student teaching. He just graduated, but I believe he will be starting a grad program in the fall. Other than being incredibly awesome as a hobby, Shawn has been playing music with his band and has grown his hair out. Yes, this is newsworthy because he looks like Monsieur Lantelme and it makes me happy. 

Mel- Mel graduated with me last May. Mel is from Costa Rica so spanish is her native language. She has been working as a spanish teacher at a private high school in Edmond. She has been buying shoes and jewelry of course. She is probably working out in heels as I type this. Mariah Carey isn't the only person who can do that. She's a talented girl. :)

Matt- Matt has been teaching at an elementary school (5th grade I believe??). I think he'd be such a cool teacher to have and I just know he's keeping those kids in line. Other than calling people by whatever he wants to call them (names mean nothing to this kid), I'm sure Matt has been cleaning his apartment. The last time I was there, it looked like it would take months to clean. I'm guessing he's finishing up with that, and enjoying his summer break. If I know Matt, he's also on the hunt for the perfect kebab (hold the wet stuff).

MacDo- McKenzie graduated back in December. Since then, she's been working as a sub. She just recently got a job as a 5th grade reading teacher in Moore! She's pretty awesome. Those kids are going to be lucky to have her. I want to pull a Billy Madison just so I can go back to 5th grade and have her as my teacher.

Me- I have been crazy busy. If you have been reading any of these posts, you're pretty caught up. I've been working full time at American Airlines. Will be moving to France in September to work as a teaching assistant. Have been subbing, babysitting and tutoring to make that extra money before I go.

Remember that one time?

-We were in Amiens Nord, and we were en force?

-Matt forgot to pack pants so he traipsed around Paris in gym shorts?

-Mel had that one guy that liked her?

-Mel had that other guy that liked her?

-Mel had that group of guys that liked her?

-MacDo slammed her head into the wall on our last night in Amiens?

-Mel insisted on putting sticky honey on the newly formed lump on MacDo's forehead?

-Matt got lost?

-Matt got so lost he didn't know he was lost?

-Shawn almost got shanked?

-We took jumping pictures in front of the cathedral?

-We got to see Paul throw them back at My Goodness? Followed quickly by a Bollywood dance lesson from him?

-Mel couldn't start the race off right with MacDo and Alex?

-Shawnsy was doing his laundry in the bathroom?

-Matt was stressed because I almost missed the train?

-We seriously considered playing music on the street for money?

-We danced to the Dirty Dancing soundtrack?

-Matt tried to talk to the cute French girl at Castillon?

-Shawn looked like a cast member of the Walking Dead on our last night in Amiens?

-Matt complained about how many pictures we were taking? 

-Kevin was our bodyguard in Paris?

-We drank red carrefour wine on the banks of the Seine?

-Mel decided to chase after a thief? (Clearly she thought she was Liam Neeson in that moment)

-Alex taught us Russian dance moves in an Irish pub?

-Mel said she was "almost ready"...

-We were street racing in David's car with techno music blasting?

-I almost stole Gizmo and brought him back to the states?

There are so many more. Feel free to add your own in the comments. Miss you all. Happy 1 year friends!

(Shawn??)

i can see clearly now

Well, technically I thought I already had good eyesight. Today I went to get my eyes checked. See the last post cleverly titled "Doctor Who?" I have been meaning to get my eyes checked for quite some time. Now was as good a time as any I guess. Turns out I have great vision, but it's not quite as crisp as I thought it was. That was pretty apparent after a few tests. My left eye is definitely the weaker eye. The doctor said I have astigmatism and I am a bit nearsighted in my left eye. I don't have the 20/20 vision I thought I did. BOO! Oh well, c'est la vie. She said that she recommends glasses because they will sharpen my vision and will take the strain off my eyes when I'm reading and working on the computer for long periods of time. I'm also supposed to wear my new goggles when I drive at night. That shouldn't be a problem in France. Silver lining? Yes. 

I was a bit worried that getting the glasses would just make my slightly imperfect vision get worse with time because my eyes would get lazy. Kind of silly, yes. She assured me that this would not happen, so I guess I just have to trust the doctor. Dang...glasses are expensive though. Wasn't expecting to actually have to get them. I went ahead and ordered a pair. Will post a pic soon. Definitely went for "nerdy chic" if that's such a thing. My hipster points just went up (actually down, maybe?) because I got prescription glasses and didn't buy them from Anthropologie. 

Here's to hoping my other doctor visits have a smaller price tag. ;)

Update: Picked these up on Monday. I like them. If you've got to have them, work em babies!

Doctor Who?!

What's that famous saying??

An apple a day keeps the doctor away? Yeah, unless you're moving to another country in the somewhat near future. 

When I found out I had been chosen for TAPIF (ok...way before knowing if I'm honest), I spent a ton of time online searching for blogs and any other sort of useful information that could potentially help with the big move. Several of the bloggers were talking about how they were going to try to get a lot of doctors visits over with before getting to France. I thought that might be a decent idea, plus I was long overdue for a few visits.

I mean, yes, I know there are doctors in France. That seems like a pretty simple concept. However, when you think about how you are already going to be going through a pretty intense transition (regardless of how well I may or may not speak the language), the idea of trying to describe your symptoms in a foreign language seems a bit daunting. I don't mind avoiding that for the first little chunk of time at least. 

A combination of the reasons above along with my own procrastination issues has led me to the same decision...it's time to go see the doc(s). At least I'll be going over to France with a clean bill of health and won't have to try to tackle the French medical system during my first few weeks (knock on wood, right?).

So, here goes:

1) time to get my eyes checked

2) dentist---make sure I don't need any fillings

3) full physical

4) get prescriptions sorted before going

5) make sure I'm up to date on immunizations

This is just a beginning list, but hopefully that's close to all of it. Eyes are getting checked next week, dentist next month, along with things here and there and in between. 

In other news, I'm going to be going to my visa appointment at the French Consulate in Houston on August 1st. Feels exciting to have an official date set for that. Hopefully I'll have my work contract by then.

We have a Facebook group for the Amiens region TAPIF 2014-2015 people going. It's exciting getting to see some of the people I'm probably going to be really close to next year. 

So far, our region has people from:

Texas, New Zealand, Vermont, New York, California, North Carolina, Spain, Oregon, Ohio, & Pennsylvania. 

Those are just the people who have found and joined the FB page though. So exciting. So far, I'm the only Okie in the group. Can't wait to make these new friends and get to know everyone. I've also started meeting some cool people who are going to be in France with TAPIF, but in a different region. 

Check out http://americainefille.wordpress.com

Jennifer is going to be in the Lille department, which isn't far from the department I'm in at all. We hardly know each other, but we've bonded via blog and are going to have some sort of tomfoolery in the future, I'm sure of it. She's got some really great info on her blog, which also offers another TAPIF perspective.

At the same time, I'm really starting to get a solid little group of friends at American. I have a lot of fun at work, so it's going to be something I miss for sure. I guess I'll just have to start convincing people to start putting those flight benefits to use. ;)

Exciting stuff!

bisous mes amis