Romantic adventures during my last Alsacian days...
Well... where to begin. And do I even have time to begin? I have so much floating around in my head... I was going to set aside a good couple hours to try and sort out my thoughts, sort out the events of the last week... but then gretchen was online and we had to sort out our budapest and italy itineraries. Looks like I'll be meeting her in munich tomorrow night and we'll be on the same night train to budapest. But back to Alsacian romance...
god, no, I don't have time to go into this right now. It's too complex, there's to many nuances, I can't make it a "quick" update. But suffice it to say, I have date tonight (hence the lack of time to sit in front of the computer and muse about my sudden love life). His name is Xavier, and he was my first true "french" kiss last thursday, after we went out for a good five hours of hookahs, conversation, worldy exchange, music talk, and dancing. Interested in the world, passionate about other cultures, a self-proclaimed cook of foods from around the world, he works in city planning here in stras and loves his job... trying to minimilize negative impacts on the environment during the building of roads, etc. He's travelled so many places, has friends in so many countries, has a life philosophy of open-mindedness and the importance of depth... he's a muscian of sorts, does electronic melanges and turntables, writes his own stuff and composes with his friend, a soulful singer. And he loves to dance, even if no one else is ("Who cares if no one's dancing? We can do what we want" Me: "Yeah, and it's not like we know anyone here" him: "and even if we did? what's stopping us?"). He even tried taking me to a gay bar (it ended up being closed), where often "the ambiance is better, people really know how to have fun"... (when ariana heard that, she was like "Oh my god, Melia, you need to marry this guy! He is totally your type!"). And the night ended with a romantic kiss in the petit france area, right by the canals...
BUT. There's also Romain. Who I met two days after at the mountain party. A totally unique, somewhat loner of a mountain man who says "putain" ("whore", their version of "fuck!") nearly every sentence, and yet who managed to charm me unexpectedly with all his various contradictery characteristics. Like his love of astrology, pointing out all the constellations when we were lying out on the edge of the Vosges, the first night... like the gentleness of his hands when we would cuddle up to keep warm on the windy mountain top... like the way he'd try and speak english and make all sorts of cute mistakes and then try and insert the word "fuck" like he would 'putain' and say things that didn't work at all... the fact that he makes log cabins for a living (really... think and loves his job more than anything... that his dream in life is to live out in the forest somewhere in a small log cabin, built by his own hands, by the edge of a lake, 20 minutes from the nearest village... the fact that he said he felt more comfortable with a chainsaw than with a pencil when it came to creativity... the fact that he swing danced for 8 years, even competing with various partners, until he got sick of being judged for something he would rather love to do just for fun... the fact that we danced in a colmar park, even though everyone was watching... his dry dry wit that gets you off guard but makes you crack up when you understand he's kidding... the fact that he took me out to a wonderful little alsacian restaurant and made me try foie gras while he described his dream cabin in english as best he could... the fact that he loves Yann Teirsen and the movie goodbye lenin because it's about the love between a mother and a son and reminds him of his relationship with his mom... that he put in the soundtrack to goodbye lenin when were driving through the winding streets leading to bonhomme and imagined the same "ideal place to listen to this song" as I did... that we cuddled for a good hour while listening to the entire Amelie soundtrack, sitting in his car in the darkness of midnight in the vosges, and he didn't try to kiss me, but was all about the curling up and tracing fingers until we nearly fell asleep... and the bus stop goodbye, with a final good wish on both our future lives...
Romain made quite the impression on me, even though I could never quite read him, could never quite tell what he was thinking... when I got back on tuesday, I immediately set down to making a mix of music I'll send him with copies of the pics I took with the little disposable camera... and me making a mix for someone usually means there pretty special...
And yet I'll be seeing Xavier again tonight. And, now back in Stras, I'm reminded that, as intriguing and different as Romain was, it was a really a quick peak into a whole different world that I'd never really be able to grasp. When he wrote me a text message, he wished me well in my travels and return to "the United States of America" and then said "je vais rester dans mon petit pays." "I'm going to stay in my little country." which I read as his little corner of the world. A simple, but passionate life that got me thinking about what's truly important in one's day to day.
Xavier -- I think -- is more on my wave length, in terms of life's direction and thoughts. I'm not upset I'll be seeing him again tonight, since we had quite a fun time last weekend. It's just a little weird, this sudden influx of people - unique, intriguing, life-loving individuals - that are somehow coming into my life just at the very end of my stay here. I leave for budapest tomorrow night. And I have a date tonight.
Part of me feels like maybe that's the reason WHY this is all suddenly happening. I don't have to worry, I don't have to be afraid, I know I'm just going to be leaving, so why not take a chance? It was me who suggested to Xavier that we try and get together after we spent the evening talking at a bar during one of Martina's and my last nights out two weeks ago. And it was me who randomly started talking to Romain at the party, when I didn't feel comfortable starting up conversation with almost anyone else there (I'll save mountain party details for another entry). And me who suggested I stay on with him instead of going back to stras with Anisa Monday evening.
All semester I felt almost no connection, no interest in anyone. Didn't check people out, didn't feel the pull to have someone, to go on dates... didn't meet anyone with whom I felt like I clicked. And then... I don't know. Perhaps the little crush on Gaspard turned on the switch and suddenly the pheramons started to flow. I've NEVER gone on dates before... seriously, I've dated friends, I've had crushes, but this is all very new. In any case, it's been an interesting, thought-provoking week... and now I really need to catch a tram back to chez moi so I can take a shower and get to our rendez-vous spot by 7:30 to figure out dinner plans.
*whew* Okay, so I guess I was able to kind of summarize things. I've had ample reflection time to write extensive accounts of various moments, various days this past week, but perhaps it's best I leave off here.
tomorrow, a new life begins. Again. Every week is something different it seems. I think I'll be ready for something steady and enduring when I return home... like a bed I can call my own for more than a few days at a time. But until then... keep the adventures coming!
god, no, I don't have time to go into this right now. It's too complex, there's to many nuances, I can't make it a "quick" update. But suffice it to say, I have date tonight (hence the lack of time to sit in front of the computer and muse about my sudden love life). His name is Xavier, and he was my first true "french" kiss last thursday, after we went out for a good five hours of hookahs, conversation, worldy exchange, music talk, and dancing. Interested in the world, passionate about other cultures, a self-proclaimed cook of foods from around the world, he works in city planning here in stras and loves his job... trying to minimilize negative impacts on the environment during the building of roads, etc. He's travelled so many places, has friends in so many countries, has a life philosophy of open-mindedness and the importance of depth... he's a muscian of sorts, does electronic melanges and turntables, writes his own stuff and composes with his friend, a soulful singer. And he loves to dance, even if no one else is ("Who cares if no one's dancing? We can do what we want" Me: "Yeah, and it's not like we know anyone here" him: "and even if we did? what's stopping us?"). He even tried taking me to a gay bar (it ended up being closed), where often "the ambiance is better, people really know how to have fun"... (when ariana heard that, she was like "Oh my god, Melia, you need to marry this guy! He is totally your type!"). And the night ended with a romantic kiss in the petit france area, right by the canals...
BUT. There's also Romain. Who I met two days after at the mountain party. A totally unique, somewhat loner of a mountain man who says "putain" ("whore", their version of "fuck!") nearly every sentence, and yet who managed to charm me unexpectedly with all his various contradictery characteristics. Like his love of astrology, pointing out all the constellations when we were lying out on the edge of the Vosges, the first night... like the gentleness of his hands when we would cuddle up to keep warm on the windy mountain top... like the way he'd try and speak english and make all sorts of cute mistakes and then try and insert the word "fuck" like he would 'putain' and say things that didn't work at all... the fact that he makes log cabins for a living (really... think and loves his job more than anything... that his dream in life is to live out in the forest somewhere in a small log cabin, built by his own hands, by the edge of a lake, 20 minutes from the nearest village... the fact that he said he felt more comfortable with a chainsaw than with a pencil when it came to creativity... the fact that he swing danced for 8 years, even competing with various partners, until he got sick of being judged for something he would rather love to do just for fun... the fact that we danced in a colmar park, even though everyone was watching... his dry dry wit that gets you off guard but makes you crack up when you understand he's kidding... the fact that he took me out to a wonderful little alsacian restaurant and made me try foie gras while he described his dream cabin in english as best he could... the fact that he loves Yann Teirsen and the movie goodbye lenin because it's about the love between a mother and a son and reminds him of his relationship with his mom... that he put in the soundtrack to goodbye lenin when were driving through the winding streets leading to bonhomme and imagined the same "ideal place to listen to this song" as I did... that we cuddled for a good hour while listening to the entire Amelie soundtrack, sitting in his car in the darkness of midnight in the vosges, and he didn't try to kiss me, but was all about the curling up and tracing fingers until we nearly fell asleep... and the bus stop goodbye, with a final good wish on both our future lives...
Romain made quite the impression on me, even though I could never quite read him, could never quite tell what he was thinking... when I got back on tuesday, I immediately set down to making a mix of music I'll send him with copies of the pics I took with the little disposable camera... and me making a mix for someone usually means there pretty special...
And yet I'll be seeing Xavier again tonight. And, now back in Stras, I'm reminded that, as intriguing and different as Romain was, it was a really a quick peak into a whole different world that I'd never really be able to grasp. When he wrote me a text message, he wished me well in my travels and return to "the United States of America" and then said "je vais rester dans mon petit pays." "I'm going to stay in my little country." which I read as his little corner of the world. A simple, but passionate life that got me thinking about what's truly important in one's day to day.
Xavier -- I think -- is more on my wave length, in terms of life's direction and thoughts. I'm not upset I'll be seeing him again tonight, since we had quite a fun time last weekend. It's just a little weird, this sudden influx of people - unique, intriguing, life-loving individuals - that are somehow coming into my life just at the very end of my stay here. I leave for budapest tomorrow night. And I have a date tonight.
Part of me feels like maybe that's the reason WHY this is all suddenly happening. I don't have to worry, I don't have to be afraid, I know I'm just going to be leaving, so why not take a chance? It was me who suggested to Xavier that we try and get together after we spent the evening talking at a bar during one of Martina's and my last nights out two weeks ago. And it was me who randomly started talking to Romain at the party, when I didn't feel comfortable starting up conversation with almost anyone else there (I'll save mountain party details for another entry). And me who suggested I stay on with him instead of going back to stras with Anisa Monday evening.
All semester I felt almost no connection, no interest in anyone. Didn't check people out, didn't feel the pull to have someone, to go on dates... didn't meet anyone with whom I felt like I clicked. And then... I don't know. Perhaps the little crush on Gaspard turned on the switch and suddenly the pheramons started to flow. I've NEVER gone on dates before... seriously, I've dated friends, I've had crushes, but this is all very new. In any case, it's been an interesting, thought-provoking week... and now I really need to catch a tram back to chez moi so I can take a shower and get to our rendez-vous spot by 7:30 to figure out dinner plans.
*whew* Okay, so I guess I was able to kind of summarize things. I've had ample reflection time to write extensive accounts of various moments, various days this past week, but perhaps it's best I leave off here.
tomorrow, a new life begins. Again. Every week is something different it seems. I think I'll be ready for something steady and enduring when I return home... like a bed I can call my own for more than a few days at a time. But until then... keep the adventures coming!
posted by Melia at 7:01 AM
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