One thing I’ve learned about the French is that they’re hard workers. There are only two things that the French could be doing when they’re not working—they’re either on vacation or on strike. Today was my first touch of that latter part of French culture—their unions. Grenoble has a very efficient public transportation system considering that it’s not a big city like Paris or New York: a network of trams and busses that run until about 1:30 in the morning. It’s a very efficient system and is the reason that my friends have all been able to get together here within 20 minutes notice. It also gets me to class on time without having to pay for any sort of transportation—our passes are paid for monthly by our study abroad program. The trams are all above ground with large windows and clean, rarely crowded cars. They’re fabulous, that is, until the tram-conductors go on strike.
Today we got snow! Last night I couldn’t sleep because I was awaiting the moment I would look out the window and see light. Alas, I woke up barely in time for my class to find a dreary rainy day. At about 6 or so tonight I learned of snow outside of the grocery store and I dropped my stuff and ran out like a little child on Christmas morning. Snow for me is one of the greatest feelings of nostalgia. When you grow up in Charlotte, NC, a snowfall can only mean the greatest of things—free holidays from school. Snow Days are days of mismatched layers, sledding on the golf course without our parent’s knowing, big bowls of chili from generous neighborhood parents, hot chocolate by a fire, attempted snowmen from 3 inches of snow, power outages that cause 50 neighbors to huddle in the closest friends’ house with central heating, and slumber parties on the floor with 10 or so of my favorite neighborhood boys and girls. Ahhhh snow. Too bad it only lasted for a little bit, but I don’t think anyone else that is here in Grenoble could understand just how much snow is a reminder of the best days of my life growing up. I looked like an idiot spinning around in it, but I just couldn’t stop giggling and smiling. It kind of made me miss home.
But not too much—snow means that I can go to a ski resort less than 30 minutes away and practice my snowboarding. Wahoo! I’m pretty sure I’m going to do that on Thursday afternoon after my classes are out. This weekend my friends and I are going on a 22 mile biked wine tour in Burgundy. Oh France, despite all of your strikes I love you. What a life I have right now…
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