From Right Here

Well people…vacation is so, so, over. I’m thinking that it would be impossible to go through life and not spend a few months living abroad again. If you’re thinking of a vacation, try going to a language school like I did - spend an extra few hundred dollars, go with a friend or by yourself, and meet tons of great people and get more out of your experience.

For all you Americans out there that are afraid to travel- there’s a whole other world that exists beyond our borders. I know it seems crazy, but it’s true. And people out there are not mean, and they like us…in fact, they’re obsessed. So go out there, and make some new friends.

I’m back in New York and I’ve found myself a job. Yes, even in the economy, people are still partying and drinking, new restaurants are opening every day, and there is still work out there for people who are not picky.

But I, dear friends, will no longer be blogging. I don’t want to blog about my life…I just want to live it. And I’m ready now, more than ever.

It was fun blogging about my experience abroad and I thank you so much for sharing it with me. I wish I could have shared a lot more, but right now…do a little digging and you will find a wealth of other blogs out there. Try www.wordpress.com or www.technorati.com - Look into the “tags” section and you will find blogs about anything and everything, and if I find some good ones, I will occasionally link to them here.

For now - try reading www.stillgoodnews.com - This is a site I have with a couple of friends where we find all the quirky, positive and hopeful news out there (Yes, there is still some good news out there!). It’s everything from - ‘re-using old subway cars as coral reefs’, to ‘why watching Law & Order makes you hungry.”

http://www.stillgoodnews.com/?p=122

If anyone would like to take over this site and write about your own adventure- please contact me at channon(’AT’ symbol)fromrighthere.com!

Thank you for reading!

www.cheriefm.fr

Oh CherieFM, Cherie FM…

Only you can play Phil Collins and George Micheal and Carla Bruni and James Blunt and Daniel Pewter and all those spanish guys that sing from the top of their lungs and you can TELL are sexy just from hearing it…only you, Cherie FM can make it all seem like it’s supposed to go together.

CherieFM - Love Songs from France. You may not be adored by all those techno-kids over here, but you got me-(but if you could stop playing that ONE Colbie Callait song over and over and over, I’d appreciate it).

From the article by Phillip Pullella www.thestar.com

You can say “Ce m’est egal” which means, “I don’t care”. Or you can say “Ce n’importe pas” which means “It doesn’t matter” or my favorite and which you say whenever someone says “Sorry” -

“C’est pas grave”

The pope was here a few days ago, and no one I know has even mentioned it. Ce n’importe pas. I suppose if we were in Paris, we might have had more long conversations. But like many countries, France is place where fewer and fewer people go to church. Once the “daughter” of Rome, France has a long history of staunch catholicism - remember that whole story about Joan of Arc? (you didn’t get it either, right?….why England owned France…HUH?I know it’s confusing - try this link - www.wikipedia.org).

Nowadays, I don’t know anyone that goes to church, and you can often visit beautiful, majestic cathedrals that are barely half full on Sunday mornings. But I can’t say that people here aren’t “spiritual”…many of the people I’ve met do believe in God, and the presence of religion is “partout” all around.

In Montpellier you’ll find many many choral groups and even a baptist church or two.

The church youth-groups are in full swing here, and I’ve seen many student groups singing songs in the park and gathering for spiritual picnics.

On a bizarre and rather scary note, you’ll also find a lot of young people from Utah and Nevada. They come over for a few months in large groups, learn french in master classes and then spend the remainder of their time standing on corners and talking to young french people, trying to turn them on to the Mormon faith or something…..

I thought I’d escaped the “Holy Rolling” when I left New York, but every morning on my way to the tram, I smile at the old men in their ties and suits handing out “Good News” pamphlets  - I smile and run….

For many people here, perhaps it’s not that people have lost Faith in God…it’s that they’ve lost faith in the Catholic Church. I even have a friend from Italy, who says people their are less and less apt to attend mass and are tired of the corruption that has plagued the Vatican both recently and in the past…oh…thousand years or so.

In France, one reason for their disillusion may be that Pope Benedict still refuses to recognize divorce and believes that any union created outside the church is “null and void”. Here in France, they use a different type of civil union called a “Pacte Civil de Solidarite” - which is used by homosexual and hetero-sexual couples alike. It’s far less complicated than a regular marriage license and it offers protection to couples who choose to live together without the exorbitant costs and rituals associated with regular marriages.

The french government tries to keep up with the times…and The Roman Catholic Church, under Pope Benedict (now 81 years old) isn’t even attempting. Maybe that’s one of the reasons, 700 people gathered along with la Fédération anarchiste to offer up a good old french “manifestation” aka PROTEST which the media ignored.

For that original article - go to the UK’s http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/499266

For the protest, try -