I thought that sleeping almost the entire eight-hour flight and an additional three hours on a train would make me less tired. Turns out I was wrong.
I landed in Paris at approximately 8 a.m. Jan. 25. Because I haven't yet found a place to live and I don't start classes until Feb. 18, I figured I would hop a train to Rennes to visit my French friends Émilien, Vincent, Charles and Simon.
I wobbled off the plane, picked up my luggage and trekked across the Charles de Gaulle Airport toward the train station. Buying my train ticket was the first task I had to accomplish in French, and I must say I did a pretty good job.
Émilien picked me up at the train station and we took a bus back to his house. His parents made us dinner, a wonderful spread of red wine, soup, pasta, fish and potatoes, followed by yogurt and fruit for dessert. Needless to say I was stuffed.
I headed right to bed after dinner, because I honestly could have fallen asleep at the table. My plan was to wake up around 9 a.m. the next day, shower and accompany Monsieur and Madame Valette on a walk in the city. Wrong again. Before I knew it, it was 1 p.m. and Émilien's mom was knocking on my door making sure I was still alive.
Despite the jet lag, I think one of the reasons I slept so well was because I was in two places at once. Confused? So was I, but allow me to explain.
I landed in Paris at approximately 8 a.m. Jan. 25. Because I haven't yet found a place to live and I don't start classes until Feb. 18, I figured I would hop a train to Rennes to visit my French friends Émilien, Vincent, Charles and Simon.
I wobbled off the plane, picked up my luggage and trekked across the Charles de Gaulle Airport toward the train station. Buying my train ticket was the first task I had to accomplish in French, and I must say I did a pretty good job.
Émilien picked me up at the train station and we took a bus back to his house. His parents made us dinner, a wonderful spread of red wine, soup, pasta, fish and potatoes, followed by yogurt and fruit for dessert. Needless to say I was stuffed.
I headed right to bed after dinner, because I honestly could have fallen asleep at the table. My plan was to wake up around 9 a.m. the next day, shower and accompany Monsieur and Madame Valette on a walk in the city. Wrong again. Before I knew it, it was 1 p.m. and Émilien's mom was knocking on my door making sure I was still alive.
Despite the jet lag, I think one of the reasons I slept so well was because I was in two places at once. Confused? So was I, but allow me to explain.
Dreaming in another country is such an amazing thing. Your body forgets where it is, but your mind tries to remember. Take last night for example.
During my 15-hour slumber, I woke up every once in a while thinking about the crazy dream I was having when I suddenly did not know where I was (I'm sure you've experienced a similar phenomenon as a child when you woke up at your friend's house after a long night of pillow talk). But this was on a much larger scale. I woke up realizing I was thousands of miles from home, not just down the street.
So I clearly didn't know where I was upon waking up, but my dreams seemed to know when I was asleep. One minute I'm dreaming that I was at my cousins' house in Union Grove, talking in English about being bitten on the foot by a snake (don't judge me, dreams are weird). The next minute, I'm dreaming about being in France and having a conversation in French with my friend Simon in the same room which I was actually sleeping. Strange, right?
It's obviously impossible to be in two places at once, but I think last night was the closest a person can get. And that's a pretty remarkable feeling. It's good to know that when I'm homesick, I can take a nap, and maybe I'll return home for a bit to see some old friends. But for now, I'm wide awake and taking in as much as I can.
During my 15-hour slumber, I woke up every once in a while thinking about the crazy dream I was having when I suddenly did not know where I was (I'm sure you've experienced a similar phenomenon as a child when you woke up at your friend's house after a long night of pillow talk). But this was on a much larger scale. I woke up realizing I was thousands of miles from home, not just down the street.
So I clearly didn't know where I was upon waking up, but my dreams seemed to know when I was asleep. One minute I'm dreaming that I was at my cousins' house in Union Grove, talking in English about being bitten on the foot by a snake (don't judge me, dreams are weird). The next minute, I'm dreaming about being in France and having a conversation in French with my friend Simon in the same room which I was actually sleeping. Strange, right?
It's obviously impossible to be in two places at once, but I think last night was the closest a person can get. And that's a pretty remarkable feeling. It's good to know that when I'm homesick, I can take a nap, and maybe I'll return home for a bit to see some old friends. But for now, I'm wide awake and taking in as much as I can.