I AM OFFICIALLY ON VACATION. And it is wonderful.
This morning I had to go into school for one class because they have been begging their teacher to meet me. It's a class of younger students and they just started learning English 5 months ago. We went over basic things today like name, birthday, family, pets, hobbies, etc. I was surprised at how much English they knew for only taken it for a very short amount of time. And they even brought in sweets to share with me! What a drastic difference than some of my older students.
After class, I picked up a few things I needed for my trip and then rewarded myself for getting through the past 8 weeks by going out to lunch. I went to the Galettoire, which is my new favorite creperie. Had my usual today: an egg, ham, and cheese galette with a side salad (that's the best part!), a butter and sugar crepe, and a small coffee to finish it off! It was amazing. And it was nice to sit and relax by myself for an hour or so.
While I was sitting there, I decided that I should probably go shopping to find a new outfit to wear for my birthday or just over the vacation in general. So after my wonderful lunch, I went straight to Zara to find something fun. I found a sweater, a tank top, a basic shirt, and a beautiful scarf. Happy Birthday to me!
Now, I am working on getting ready for my vacation. I am not sure how everything I want to bring will fit into my duffel bag but I will make it work. So here is my farewell for two weeks as I will be traveling around Europe, taking in some of the great cities. I will make sure to get lots of pictures and videos and post them as soon as I can when I get back.
Until then, blogging world! Au revoir et à bientôt! :)
Friday, February 25, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Bowling, Birthday Presents, and Pickled Onions
One week, one week, ONLY ONE MORE WEEK until vacation! It is a little discouraging that I am so exhausted for how relatively little I work but nonetheless, I cannot wait to get out of school for two weeks and travel to new places that I have been wanting to see. I will still have 6 more weeks with these kids when I get back but trust me when I say, this break will be good for all of us.
But when I am outside of school I am having plenty of fun, so here is how I have been spending my time. Thursday night, all of the residents along with Sister Sonia and Father Pierre-Antoine went bowling. We have community dinner/meetings once a month at the Aumonerie so we decided to change it up a bit. We had a quick dinner of pizza and salad and then drove over to the bowling alley. Girls played on one lane and the boys played on the other. It was fun to get out of the house and do something different for a community night!
But when I am outside of school I am having plenty of fun, so here is how I have been spending my time. Thursday night, all of the residents along with Sister Sonia and Father Pierre-Antoine went bowling. We have community dinner/meetings once a month at the Aumonerie so we decided to change it up a bit. We had a quick dinner of pizza and salad and then drove over to the bowling alley. Girls played on one lane and the boys played on the other. It was fun to get out of the house and do something different for a community night!
Community bowling
And then it turned into GLOW BOWLING
Marthe, Sister, and Nadege having fun
The guys
Marthe and Me
The girls
The winners: Elizabeth and Pierre
Nadege and Marthe: bowling superstars
Friday was a beautiful day, so I tried to spend a lot of time in centre-ville and outside. I got a haircut in the morning and then had lunch with Ashley and Whitney. When I got home, there was a surprised from my parents: my brithday present! It's always so exciting to get birthday presents in the mail! I was thinking about waiting to open it until I skyped with Mom and Dad but alas, I could not wait. I was so surprised when I opened the first present which was a video recorder! What a perfect gift right before I go on my vacation and do all of my traveling! The next one was a set of eye-shadow colors that is totally awesome. And of course, you can't go wrong with an iTunes gift card. Always needed.
Thanks Mom and Dad, you guys are the best! :)
So since it was such a gorgeous day, I immediately got out the video camera and started taking videos. Here is the first one. Look at the amazing quality! It's so awesome, did I mention how much I love it?!
After playing with my video camera and opening my windows as far as they could go to get all of the sun in, I went over to Margaux's that night for a typical French night of wine, cheese...and pickled onions. Now, I first tried pickled onions when I was in Belgium and fell completely in love with the taste. They are like onions, only better because they have so much flavor. They are normally found in the jars with small pickles called cornichons. But you can also buy a jar of just the onions which is exactly what I did! I also bought some Gouda cheese and sliced it into tiny squares. This is probably my most favorite snack food in France. The two together are absolutely amazing. Combine this palate with some wine and you have a feast! And of course, the good company of Margaux and Isabell made it even better!
Pickled Onions, Gouda, and Wine
Pretty Ladies
Isabell and Me
Artsy Margaux and her fancy new camera
The moon has been beautiful the last few nights
And now it's Saturday. Unfortunately the nice weather decided to go away for the weekend and we have been stuck with classic Normandy mist/rain that gets everywhere and there's no escaping. I had coffee with a fellow teacher and her family today which is always nice. I have no plans for the rest of the day other than to rest up, and play with my new recorder! I leave for my epic vacation a week from today and I couldn't be more excited! I am going to Paris for a few nights to hang out with Leah and Lindsay. From there I will go to Munich where I will spend my birthday, and hang out with friends old and new. Then it's onto Prague with a few other assistant friends. And last stop is in Berlin before heading back to France. I have a lot to get ready and a busy week ahead, better get started now. Or maybe after a cup of tea and a nap :)
Happy Saturday everyone!
C'est la belle vie!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Halfway There and The Sun is Shining
I have now passed the halfway point of my time in France. It seems hard to believe that this experience that I dreamed about for two years is coming to an end in just a few short months. I knew that my time here would go by fast but I didn't know it was going to be this fast.
Before I came here, many people told me that I would learn a lot about myself in my time in France. I think I expected these things to just come to me. Things like knowing what I want to do with my life, where I want to be in 10 years, and most importantly, will I want to live in France for another couple of years. But after I got here and started to get into the groove of my life abroad, I realized that nothing was going to just hit me and I'd know. It was going to be a process. And who knows what I would learn, but I so desperately wanted to learn something. It's scary graduating from college and not having a true sense of what you are meant to do. There is pressure to go right into something that has to do with what you have been studying but sometimes you aren't sure if that is what you really want in life. Applying for this program was not so much as an escape from the reality of finding what I want to do with my life but a time for a bit of relaxation after 17 straight years of school and reflection on what my future careers could be.
So after four months of relaxation and reflection in what I have been calling my "Eat, Pray, Love" year, here are 25 things I've learned about myself, about relationships with others and about life:
1. Sometimes you have to be selfish.
2. No one died from feeling awkward.
3. How much French you speak or don't speak on a daily basis is entirely up to you.
4. Many, many things get lost in translation.
5. Have fun, but be practical.
6. It's okay to be afraid of growing up.
7. Anxiety is something you can learn to control.
8. I really, really dislike the word "obsessed".
9. The small, unknown places and towns of foreign countries are often the true gems.
10. Imagine your life in someone else's shoes, it can be fun.
11. You know when you are a student and it's so weird to see a teacher outside of school? Being on the other side of that, it's weird for the teacher too.
12. French teenagers are much more forward than American teenagers.
13. Sometimes your students need to hear you speak French in your really bad accent so they understand you know how they feel speaking English.
14. Sometimes the feeling of being completely alone is magical.
15. No need to be jealous, everyone is having their own experiences so embrace yours.
16. Turn restlessness into productive creativity.
17. Competition is necessary for humans to survive but there's no need to take it too far.
18. Headphones break way too easily.
19. Write down your ideas right away before you forget them.
20. When the sun is shining, go outside!
21. Sometimes the things that you really dread and don't want to do, turn out not that bad. Possibly even enjoyable.
22. Spontaneity is fun and exhilarating.
23. I'm turning 23 in three weeks after spending a year trying to not be 22.
24. I have had some pretty epic adventures here whether it was traveling to new places, or exploring this amazing town I live in.
25. I have four more months of great adventures to come!
Voilà! And I leave you with a beautiful sunny February Day in France.
Before I came here, many people told me that I would learn a lot about myself in my time in France. I think I expected these things to just come to me. Things like knowing what I want to do with my life, where I want to be in 10 years, and most importantly, will I want to live in France for another couple of years. But after I got here and started to get into the groove of my life abroad, I realized that nothing was going to just hit me and I'd know. It was going to be a process. And who knows what I would learn, but I so desperately wanted to learn something. It's scary graduating from college and not having a true sense of what you are meant to do. There is pressure to go right into something that has to do with what you have been studying but sometimes you aren't sure if that is what you really want in life. Applying for this program was not so much as an escape from the reality of finding what I want to do with my life but a time for a bit of relaxation after 17 straight years of school and reflection on what my future careers could be.
So after four months of relaxation and reflection in what I have been calling my "Eat, Pray, Love" year, here are 25 things I've learned about myself, about relationships with others and about life:
1. Sometimes you have to be selfish.
2. No one died from feeling awkward.
3. How much French you speak or don't speak on a daily basis is entirely up to you.
4. Many, many things get lost in translation.
5. Have fun, but be practical.
6. It's okay to be afraid of growing up.
7. Anxiety is something you can learn to control.
8. I really, really dislike the word "obsessed".
9. The small, unknown places and towns of foreign countries are often the true gems.
10. Imagine your life in someone else's shoes, it can be fun.
11. You know when you are a student and it's so weird to see a teacher outside of school? Being on the other side of that, it's weird for the teacher too.
12. French teenagers are much more forward than American teenagers.
13. Sometimes your students need to hear you speak French in your really bad accent so they understand you know how they feel speaking English.
14. Sometimes the feeling of being completely alone is magical.
15. No need to be jealous, everyone is having their own experiences so embrace yours.
16. Turn restlessness into productive creativity.
17. Competition is necessary for humans to survive but there's no need to take it too far.
18. Headphones break way too easily.
19. Write down your ideas right away before you forget them.
20. When the sun is shining, go outside!
21. Sometimes the things that you really dread and don't want to do, turn out not that bad. Possibly even enjoyable.
22. Spontaneity is fun and exhilarating.
23. I'm turning 23 in three weeks after spending a year trying to not be 22.
24. I have had some pretty epic adventures here whether it was traveling to new places, or exploring this amazing town I live in.
25. I have four more months of great adventures to come!
Voilà! And I leave you with a beautiful sunny February Day in France.
C'est la belle vie! :)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Belgium
Wow, it's been two whole weeks since I've last updated. I think I was waiting to update until I had something big to update but now I realize that a lot of things have happened in the past two weeks. Here is my attempt to summarize it.
I will start with my classes: the bad ones are getting progressively worse and the good ones are becoming more and more fun. Not sure how that works, but my really awful classes are getting to be almost unbearable. I have to constantly tell the students to stop talking and we get very little done. But my good classes are getting more and more interested in the topics we are talking about and it's a lot of fun. Today was a good day because instead of class in the morning, all of the English classes were going to see this film at a nearby cinema. I met them there, and went up to a group of my oldest students and started talking with them. They were so shy and didn't really know what to talk about, so I finally started speaking in French and then they opened up a little bit. They are closer to my age than any of the other classes so it was fun to talk to them for a bit. The movie was "To Be or Not To Be", made in the 40s and in English (with French sub-titles of course). It was way better than actually going to class. And in my class this afternoon, we talked about French and American stereotypes. I also showed them a short clip of NCIS. That class is my favorite so it's very easy to talk with them.
But enough about that and on to the really fun part! This past weekend, I went on a last-minute adventure: Belgium!! I have been wanting to go, and even thought about going in 2008 when I was here so I was very happy the time had finally come! I met with my friend Leah, who is living in Paris doing a fashion internship, at the train station on Friday and we went into Brussels. She got an amazing deal on a hotel but of course, it was pretty far away.
We managed to figure out there was a train, similar to a metro that went from the stop in our little part of town, into the center of town. Of course, we didn't really know where that was. So we wandered around and got lunch on the outskirts, not knowing it was the outskirts, and finally asked someone who pointed us in the right direction. After about 3 hours in Belgium, we finally found the Grand Place and it was so worth it!
I will start with my classes: the bad ones are getting progressively worse and the good ones are becoming more and more fun. Not sure how that works, but my really awful classes are getting to be almost unbearable. I have to constantly tell the students to stop talking and we get very little done. But my good classes are getting more and more interested in the topics we are talking about and it's a lot of fun. Today was a good day because instead of class in the morning, all of the English classes were going to see this film at a nearby cinema. I met them there, and went up to a group of my oldest students and started talking with them. They were so shy and didn't really know what to talk about, so I finally started speaking in French and then they opened up a little bit. They are closer to my age than any of the other classes so it was fun to talk to them for a bit. The movie was "To Be or Not To Be", made in the 40s and in English (with French sub-titles of course). It was way better than actually going to class. And in my class this afternoon, we talked about French and American stereotypes. I also showed them a short clip of NCIS. That class is my favorite so it's very easy to talk with them.
But enough about that and on to the really fun part! This past weekend, I went on a last-minute adventure: Belgium!! I have been wanting to go, and even thought about going in 2008 when I was here so I was very happy the time had finally come! I met with my friend Leah, who is living in Paris doing a fashion internship, at the train station on Friday and we went into Brussels. She got an amazing deal on a hotel but of course, it was pretty far away.
Had to add this pic because it was so funny! Leah and I shared the bed while Lindsay took the bunk!
We managed to figure out there was a train, similar to a metro that went from the stop in our little part of town, into the center of town. Of course, we didn't really know where that was. So we wandered around and got lunch on the outskirts, not knowing it was the outskirts, and finally asked someone who pointed us in the right direction. After about 3 hours in Belgium, we finally found the Grand Place and it was so worth it!
Walking into the square
Such beautiful architecture
Me in the square
After walking around for a bit, we definitely need to get inside and get a drink; it was absolutely frigid outside. We picked this wonderful place, that was really really warm and got a seat right by the window. And of course, we ordered our first Belgian beer of the trip.
Raspberry beer...yummmm!
Leah and I with our Belgian beers
Leah's friend Lindsay met up with us at the bar because she got in later than we did. After hanging out for awhile, we decided that we needed dinner and we wanted to find a couple of bars that people had said were really cool. The square was lit up at night and absolutely awesome! And so was our dinner.... :)
Square at night
So beautiful
Dinner! Belgian Waffles!
We found one of the bars we had heard about and no wonder it's famous. It's three stories, huge, and absolutely packed with people at any given time of the day. It was hard to move around but we found a table and stayed there for the night. We tried all sorts of Belgian beers because the place, called the Delirium Bar, had over 50 beers just on tap! We even met some new friends! We had tons of fun and stayed out late. Which was fine at the time, but the next morning....
We had to get up early on Saturday because we wanted to visit Bruges. So many people had told me about what an amazing place this is so we decided it would be worth it to take a day trip there. We had some trials in the morning such as working off five hours of sleep, missing not one but TWO trains into Brussels and finally just getting a taxi, and then taking lots of time to buy tickets in the super crowded station. But once we made the hour long trek to Bruges, everything became worth it! the city was phenomenal with beautiful buildings and just a different feel than Brussels. It was a gorgeous day to see all of the scenery!
The clock tower
Bruges
Pretty
More of the canal
Lindsay and me
We walked around a lot in Bruges and of course participated in everything Belgian: bought more beer, had fries for lunch, and then got hot chocolate at a chocolaterie. It was a great little adventure and I'm so happy we were able to go!
That night when we got back to Brussels, we decided that we should probably eat an actual meal instead of the fries and waffles that we had been substituting as meals the last couple of days. We found a nice Italian restaurant for some yummy pasta and wine. Lidsay got the muscles which is another Belgian specialty and Leah and I both tried them. After dinner, we visited a really famous fountain in Brussels called Mannekin Pis. It's a fountain of a little boy peeing. There are many legends around the fountain but it's undoubtedly a treasured site of the city.
The little inappropriate statue
And even though we didn't really need it, we decided to share a chocolate waffle. There were so many choices, but we were still stuffed from dinner! I would have one of these every day if I could!
Waffle stand
The next morning was Sunday so we checked out of our hotel, made the train because we got the times right, and wandered around the city for a little while before our train back to Paris. We went to that first place again and got one last Belgian beer and some cheese plate to go with it. And with that, we were back to France, the land of chocolate croissants and wine. We had a little time before my train to Caen so we went to Starbucks naturally. Since I only can get my chai tea lattes when I am in Paris or in the states, I was a pretty happy camper.
So although it was short, it was an amazing little trip to Belgium. Really it was just what I needed. Our next big vacation is not until the end of this month and I was already getting a little restless in Caen. Anytime I can do more exploring, I'm happy. Time for me to end this super long post, hope you enjoyed it! Until next time!
C'est la belle vie!
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