a picture is worth a thousand words
I just realized that the faithful surfers of this blogspot, are people who most likely pray for me and I just wanted to thank you all. I'm working on budgeting a couple extra bucks to liven up your experience with photos. I really, really want to be able to post color and no-color "1000-word-boxes" for you. Yeah, I guess if you wanted me to shut up, you could just hand me a camera.

I really should have written days ago about the Finale of the Avant Garde Conference we had on Saturday. It started last spring in June: L'Eglise en Devenir or Emerging Church. June was fantastic with a multitude of deep thinkers and wise people to meet and so this fall was follow up with a day full of conference with Stuart Murray-Williams. One of the best communicator's I have heard on the subject, I thoroughly enjoyed and took notes on what he had to say regarding the Emerging church movement. A couple points that got me thinkin were: 1. this younger generation is different from the one previous in that generally it hasn't heard the story of Jesus. Previously, the story was at least known; now a days, one can't be sure. 2. Part A: this country where I am at, has a great divide between church and state. In fact, it seems that if any hairbrained religious thought isn't connected to "institution" it is considered a secte. Part B: This generation rejects "institution". Thus, a huge indicator of difference between the "modern age" and the current emerging generation.

Ok. Today I had my first random meeting of a french skater. I've met a couple others but this was a conversation that was struck up on the metro with a complete stranger. Fortunately he wasn't too strange to me since he had his longboard along for the ride. I noticed right off the bat that he seemed a cheerful person, whistling as he went- almost without a care in the world. Turns out he is from near Valence in the southeast of France and is currently a student in Paris. It was a pleasant conversation. It all started cuz I was carrying a large box with a disco ball in it and I was wearing my Dept sweatshirt- gives away the fact that I know skaters. "You gonna have a party? he asked. -Yup! Friday.

Today the hits this blog receives from the USA caught up with the hits from France: 430 each. This is measuring since June 5th 2003. Kinda cool. That is what that little blue button at the very bottom left corner tells you if you click on it.

So today I took the day for myself and God. I did some homework too. It refuses to be left out. I find myself counting down the weeks til vacation even more than before. 6 weeks of school and one week for the tests. I wish I could just keep up but I'm having to strain every last ounce of energy from my brain and body to follow and even with these efforts, I don't always arrive. Friday as our prof gathered our essaies from our trembling hands, and I finally surrendered mine to his red pen, he said, "Man, Liz! Your face is so red!" I told him that it was because I had put my last ounce of energy for the week onto that paper. I think he knows how hard it is to keep moving forward, but he hasn't backed down on the homework load. I feel more swamped than ever. But today- I have given my best effort to what I had to do, laughed at the second acte of L'Avare, and tried to rest up for next week, not to mention found a topic that interests me for my oral presentation. So I feel like I got something done this weekend.

This is the last week of October. At the end of the week, Audrey and I will throw a little party here in our apartment. I'm in charge of the decor and ambiance and Audrey is thinking about munchies. I hope people come. I really want it to just be a great occasion to hang out, meet others and feel the party. We all need that at times.

I've been dreaming about getting out of the big city. I grew up in the country with the cows, sheep, chickens and dogs. I now live in/near a large city. I like the big city- it is amazing; but everyonce in a while I starting looking for familiar nature scenes of the Pacific Northwest: crashing waves on the Oregon Coast, high speed winds that make the trees look like Dr. Seuss created them, my dad's tall Douglas Firs, green fields and winding roads that I know like the back of my hand.

My best bet is that these things can be found right here on continental Europe so I'm beginning to think about how I can go and find them this next year. They tell me Normandy is incredible, green and with much history, history that America left there 60 years ago. I have friends out in Brittany and I want to see Brest where it rains! Bordeaux wine country calls as do the spectacular castles of the Loire. Today I pray for the swells of the Basque Country. Billabong is trying to have a pro surf competition at Mundaka but they haven't had the waves they deemed worthy of a wealthy sum to ride.

For now, I have 8 weeks to work on my french and then I get to see those great Firs on the farm.

We have 7 weeks of school left. Our prof is tossing an exercise at us that causes me to tremble in my boots: résumés. We listen to a fairly long text twice, taking notes on the most important pieces and then we got 45 minutes to reformulate the text in 120 words. It is tough and scary and also a terrific measuring method of our progress. I'll find out how it went next week. For now I'm just glad that one more is done and that means one less until the end of school. I am also glad that I braved a Chocolate Torte in the kitchen this morning. I borrowed the recipe from Michelle and she left me with many helpful tips to make it turn out. For now, it looks good- the real test will come tonight when I share it with real french kids at the Lagny youth group. I think I shook just as much over the crust as I did over my resume yesterday.

Sometimes I feel like I have to scramble to keep up with the pace of life. School seems to be taking over. I am staring down the barrel of 2 months remaining to understand all that the prof is tossing at us and respond correctly on the final exams. After a very tiring last week and a wearying Monday, I headed out today, Tuesday, with a brave renovation to my spirit... only to have it squashed by the homework we came home with. Anyway, I gave myself a headstart and tried to finish some for Thursday.

Another writing project that is weighing on me is an update letter one month overdue. I will get to it as soon as I have an inspiration.

Well, I've officially survived the first 3 days of my 26th year. I got a bouquet of lovely flowers, several cards from people all around the world and a couple phone calls "en plus". Michelle came like Santa from the States loaded with wonderful treats that she and Randy packed so carefully from my mom and dad. It is nice to be relieved from a particular phonetics class, where I learned lots, but did not appreciate quite so much the pedigogy of the prof. Tomorrow marks the debut of week number 5 at the fall session at the Sorbonne. I'm pondering my blog. I am super tempted to spend the cash to bring a new and improving photo-world to you.

A new adventure that I have embarked on is to learn the dance called the balboa. The balboa is a fast little swing dance- an 8 count dance that really moves. I found a professor who is willing to teach me for an hour a week. Wednesday evening is the day. I had my first lesson yesterday and was overwhelmed, not only at the steps I was learning, but at the new french vocabulary too. I think I will be a pro at 1-8 before long! un...deux...trois - quatre;...cinq...six....sept - huit! (quick, quick, long... quick, quick, long....) We'll be perfecting my lindy, too as well as training for the fastest swing dance= the SHAG! imagine girls in pigtails and stripey socks, kicking up their heels from side to side : )

These guys are crazy! I would take to heart their training program. But they sure do remind me of the good ol' days when I was young and Mel and I used to race around the farm on bike and foot, chasing whatever we could imagine, and fleeing whatever evil we could invent. Those days are now one year farther ago... well, in France they are. My mom might remember the day a little differently and say it all happened the 6th of October 1977.

Theory
There is a scene from the movie The Matrix that we all love. Neo trains in a program where the world moves around him; his eye is caught by the beautiful creation dressed in red- but this is when that world stops, freezes and Neo is left to ponder in a never-ending "event" moment. We've all experienced those moments when the clock seemingly stops or time slows extraordinarily. I have to say that these types of times cross my path daily, now-a-days. The 2-minute RER ride from Noisiel to Noisy Champs, seemingly takes 10. And why? I'm convinced its a brain phenomenon. Too many deep or profound thoughs jam the brain-circuits. The interesting part is that the world around me is spinning just as fast as ever and it doesn't stop. I feel like I do. This fact contradicts the sensation of time slowing for both me and the world. In essense- I actually speed up and process at 3 or 4 times the speed of reality and upon concentration of that moment/event, time is tripled or quadrupled to match the experience.

I've been bombarded lately with the reality of disconnection from the world I knew in the US of A. I see the differences when I read emails with news, and when I realized I haven't heard from people in a while. I know I miss people and certain things very much but at the same time, I'm determined not to let this 'lack' over power my will power to keep moving forward here. I've taking the 'bull' of school "by the horns" and feel like I'm both winning and losing. I've plucked up courage to enter a bar/club to see a photography exhibition of a gal I met once, and wandered into a outdoor swing dance party and left with blisters on my feet.

Its the days of "limbo"; wanting and missing; tired yet driven.