Monday, January 22, 2007

Finally....

Well, it has been quite some time since I have written, and no it's not because my life has been uncontrolably busy. I just have not taken the time.
Anyway, I was walking home from downtown this afternoon when I saw there were buds on bushes and small trees and that some of them were even flowering. That is just crazy....nature is playing tricks on nature really. I am beginning to wonder what is going to happen come spring....
Well, on to my little life. What has been going on in the past 2 weeks you may wonder. Last weekend (12th-14th) Ashlie came to visit me. Jenn and I went to Strasbourg on the Friday shopping (the "soldes" have begun!) and then I met Ashlie at the station. On our way home from there we stopped in Colmar for a little tour before Mulhouse. That night we did not get upto much and nor did we on Saturday...though that night we had a little tartiflette for dinner and then a couple bottles of wine with Jenn. Discovered that on our "freebox" (tv, but not regular tv) we get a karaoke channel although my tv is a hunk of junk and the picture is not that clear we sang along to a few of the great songs. We headed to "Salle des Coffres", the local club around midnight to dance the night away. It was a blast of a night.
Right now there is quite a bit of change happening here in Mulhouse. For me atleast. Upon returning home from my Christmas vacation my roomate told me that she would be going home (2 weeks later) due to health reasons. Well, that 2 weeks later is tomorrow. I am going to find myself all alone in this great big apartment. :( And when I say big, I mean BIG! I am sad to see her go. It's going to be so quiet here, even though she was not the loudest of people. My bedroom is currently upstairs. I am going to be moving downstairs into Beccas room because it is easier, with the bathroom just across the hall, no stairs and no slanted ceiling for me to hit my head on. Plus there is a big desk and a big armoir, which is better than in my room...I am not sure at the moment whether I will be getting a new roomate or not...we will see.
I guess that is all the news for now, though I can't remember if I told everyone that I am staying on for a second year here at the IUT, so I will be here in Mulhouse atleast until the summer of 2008. If anyone wants to visit, you know where to find me, and for the moment I definitely have lots of space. Even with a roomie there is lots of space.
I am headed back to Bernards on Thursday for a week or so...hopefully this long distance business will be over soon.....

Friday, January 05, 2007

Always discovering...

Well, today I went to get my hair dyed. I was in desperate need of it as my highlights have been growing out more and more each day. Well, back home when you get your hair dyed/cut you just expect them to dry your hair no? (correct me if I'm wrong) Well, here NO! I knew this, but I figured the price would not be tooo painful, so dry away. Little do I know that this is costing not just an arm but an arm and a leg. That is right! The bloody "brushing" as they call it cost me more than the dye job itself. I was not overly impressed whatsoever. Looks like when I go to get it cut in a few weeks I will be saying NO to a brushing. The prices are already more compared to home. Well, now I know...just say NO!

Happy New Year!!!

Bernard and I headed to San Sebastian Spain on the 30th. We had a room reserved at a "pension" (guesthouse/hostel). We got there that evening and started ringing the bell, which according to my papers was correct. Oh wonderful, no answer. We tried ringing again and still no answer. I question whether they had gone under since I had booked, which was in mid-November. There was no signage whatsoever. Ok, one more try and then it will be the phone. Thank goodness someone answered. I tried my next to no good Spanish and it turns out it was some French guys (also staying at the place). They let us in as the manager had gone out for "coffee". We got in and waited around for about 30minutes just relaxing. Finally Juan Carlos returned. We got settled in our room and relaxed after an extremely long day of trains. We then headed out into the streets to find some tapas and wine. Right into the Spanish culture. It's crazy how you see every generation. From little kids playing football in the streets while their parents have a drink to old grandparents. It is quite impressive. We didn't stay out too late this night, saving it for New Years Eve. On the 31st we toured the city a bit. Walked along the beach in t-shirts enjoying the 22°C weather. We went up to the top of one of the mountains (small one that looked out over the bay/beach) by funicular. It was a great day. That night we didn't have anything planned for dinner and as almost all stores were closed we didnt get to buy much. We were told to help ourselves to what was in the kitchen so we decided we would have pasta, though it wouldn't have been the best of meals. Just as we were about to eat Juan Carlos comes in and tells us he is going to cook his dinner. Then asks us if we would like to have some "child turkey" as he put it. I believe they were cornish hens (though I could be wrong). "Sure why not". He then takes out a thing of camembert and a bottle of wine. He tells that we have to finish it all. Then he cooks up some skewers of duck. We ate like chapions! A dinner that started out as not so good turned into something great! We finished off a bottle and half of wine and then began some rum/vodka. We finished up around 22h00 and were going to get ready to have some drinks and go out when when the 2 french guys came in. We offered them a drink and then ended up in the kitchen with them and Juan Carlos till about 2h00 until heading out to the bars. Once in the streets Bernard and I ended up going our seperate way. We hit up about 4 bars or so, though they were all packed beyond belief. Once you got in you more or less just got pushed to the back and then made your way back to the front and out the door to the next one. It was nice as they would pour your drink into a plastic cup and off you went. I don't even know what time we got home though I'm sure it wasn't before 4h00. The next day we slept in and didn't end up doing much. It was rainy though. On the 2nd we headed home....another long day of train.
Wednesday we went to Manolas for raclette! Delicious as always!!!!! Great to see her.
Now that my holidays are almost over, I am not looking forward to going back to work. Though I really shouldn't complain as I am only back for 2 weeks before I have holidays again. :)
Alright, this is all for now, Cheers!