Erin's Adventures In Europe

Just a little longer

2007-10-20T07:32:00.000-05:00

We finally have a date!! November 7th and 8th are our moving days. We are getting the keys on Wednesday which will allow us to do some cleaning and whatnot before moving in. It has been a long wait and though we would have liked to be moving in sooner, these dates will have to do. I am excited and impatient. This is going to be a big change for me but I am ready for it.
Everything is finally coming together. First getting my car(this week) and now getting our house. I can't wait to make it our home. The stress is slowly lifting. That is a good feeling because who needs stress...I know that Bernard and I sure don't. I bought a blender/food processor today! Youpi!
My mom arrives in 6days. It's going to be interesting as we are going to have to stay in Bernards little studio. 17m². Tight quarters, but it's really just for the night. And since mom and I are going away for 5 nights it won't be too bad. 2 days before we go and about 5 after. We will all survive!
Life is getting exciting...and it will be getting really busy come mid-November. :)

News

2007-10-15T22:00:00.000-05:00

Well, another 3 weeks has gone by and here I am, still sleeping on a couch waiting for our house. It's almost time....getting anxious.
So what has happened since the end of September. Bernard and I went back to La Chatre the last weekend of September. It was busy busy running around and all like usual....6hours of driving for 2 nights is not a lot. On the Saturday night it was his cousins 20th birthday party. (typical that both family and friends are invited) It was in a hall and there were about 60 people. I met some of the family which was interesting. It was a fun night.
Last weekend we went and looked at car, but that didn't work out. The guy was a little sketchy and his story about the car just didn't seem that good. On the Sunday we got up reasonably early and headed into the Vosges (mountains) to go hiking. We packed a little picnic and off we went. It was beautiful weather and the leaves have started changing. It made me happy because it reminded me of Thanksgiving, that I was missing back home.
Finally this past weekend we managed to find me a car. YIPEE!!!! I haven't got it yet, but we are hoping to get it at the end of next week. It's a VW Polo. I will try and post a picture once I get it. I am actually so excited and impatient to get it! And on Saturday we celebrated Liz's birthday (it's her couch that I'm sleeping on). Great party!
This week Bernard is in Lyon for training and we will be getting keys to the house next week. Unfortunately that doesn't mean we will be moving in right away as we have to wait on news from the movers...and what that means, is wait for them to give quotes and then Bernards work to decide which one is the cheapest and then see when they are available to move us....so complicated. It's been such a long frustrating process and both of us can't wait to just get in the house and be able to enjoy it and each other. It's been stressful and I think once we are in and settled we will both feel better.
My mom is coming in 11 days. Can't wait for that. Should be a great visit. We are doing going to take a cooking class....1 week. Should be lots of fun.
Well, I'm off.....can't wait to get my car!!!!!

Back to work

2007-09-24T03:55:00.000-05:00

Well, I started back to work last week....if you can consider working 8 hours really work. I don't have a lot of hours at the moment, thankfully I am on salary and not per hour. haha. After the toussaint holidays it looks like I will probably be working quite a bit more which will be nice. I am also working in another department this year which will add 2hours/week for me. I know it's not much, but it's something. And it's paid well. :)
I have met all the newbies(lecteurs/lectrices). It's been nice getting to know them, going out for drinks and whatnot. It's a fun crowd. On Friday I went to the pub to meet them for happy hour and ended up going home around 11h30. hehe. Fun night.
Also on Friday I took the bus out to Fessenhiem to see Bernard. Not a bad ride. We went and saw a house(EDF housing) that is more or less ours when they move out. For now it's a waiting game. It should be mid-October....I'm anxious to have a "home". It is a single floor, with a huge basement(not finished, they do not really have basements like we do in Canada). There are 2 bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, family room and dining room. It's spacious. It will need some cleaning and some rugs (in my eyes). Maybe some paint in some places. There is a big yard that will need some tidying also. It wouldn't be my first choice in homes if we were really looking, but it's subsidised housing and we don't have a lot of choice.....we are not made of money. Just nice to know that soon we are going to have a place.
This weekend we went out for Miriam (a newbie)'s birthday. We started out with a bar crawl and finished at the salle des coffres....fun times. It was a decent night, though we found out yesterday morning that there was a bad ending to it for Ross (newbie). He got mugged and held by knife. Scary scary.
Yesterday Bernard and I went for a hike. It was an organised one in Munster. There was also a little festival with people dressed in traditional clothing and doing some dances and food. Mmm. We did the hike, about 6.5km and then enjoyed a glass of wine with a plate of cheese. mmmm. It was so good. Great day with great weather. Have to take advantage of the nice days while we still have some.

Croatie

2007-09-13T03:27:00.000-05:00

I wrote most of this on the road, just putting online now.

25 août :
partie La Châtre 9h15 arrivée Chambéry 18h35
dormi à St Michel de Maurienne

The drive started out not so good. I thought we weren't going to make it to Croatia, but here I am 9 days later sitting on the coast of the Adriatic sea while Bernard is being the mechanic once again (yes, more car problems...now the question is, will we make it home).
Although we hade to stop VERY frequently due to an overheating motor on the a here(first stop being maybe 20 km from La Châtre), the ride wasnt too bad. We stopped in Chambéry for a little visit before heading a little further and to find a place to sleep. Great a few more problems on the way. A stop for dinner in a parking lot which we had originally planned to sleep in till the train went roaring past. Then to another parking lot for the night.

26 août

Mechanic time! First thing in the morning fine a café, enjoy a hot cocolate and use a real toilet (it had only been one day, but it was nice). Then it was to work for Bernie. Time to fix our problem and get us to Croatia. (So many of his friends didn't think the van was going to make it that far and we had to prove them wrong). I headed off to find a boulangerie. Lots of litres of water later we got on the road. A lot later than planned thanks to Jean-Paul (the van) but we headed out, thats what counts.

partie St Michel 11h30 arrivée Brescia(Italy) 21h10

The van works again!!! No mkore overheating. So happy. The drive was good. We stopped in Torino for lunch then just before Brescia for dinner. We were on the edge of a cornfield and got our our little gas stove to cook some pasta. We had quite the crowd watching us. Finally a little man on his ride-on lawn mower came over and what we understood of his Italian was to not leave garbage. So we finished quickly and went on our way. We headed across Brescia an slept on the otherside of town by yet another cornfield. PS. Italian drivers are crazy!

27 août :
partie Brescia 9h05 arrivée Rijeka(Croatia) 19h45

We got off to a good start. Finally a good day. Well as good as it gets with Italian signage. We ended up crossing at the wrong border to Slovenia and ended up further north than we wanted to be in Slovenia. To make matters worse, Slovenian signage is even worse. After asking a couple people we thought we were on the right route but 10km later, still no signs. We stop again and a little Slovenian family helped us by drawing and giving us a map. Once again the signs were bad or should I say the lack of signs, and we went off in the WRONG direction. I have to admit, we did see some nice countryside, but that was not what we wanted to do. Once in Rijeka we visited the town a little before finding a place to camp. We ended up on some mountain road barely big enough for one vehicle. We found ourselves having to pass another car. I was holding on for dear life hoping we wouldn't fall off the edge. We found a nice(fairly isolated), far from roads place to sleep, have dinner and wash up.

28 août

We wandered around Rijeka for a bit in the morning. Went to the market where to my great surprise, I found corn on the cob. It was no Niagara peaches n' cream but it was decent. Checked the internet and headed out. We stoppek in Bakar for lunch on our way to Krk Island. First stop on the island, Krk. We spent day there, visited the town and spent the afternoon on the beach. We got some groceries and headed south to Baska for the night. We set up for dinner in the bus area next to a parking lot (FREE unlike the parking, haha). Table, chairs, camping stove....the works. People kept passing. Some were nice and said hello or even "that is life!" Others just gave us looks like "what are you people doing". We were enjoyng our dinner with a view over the city and bay. A bus showed up in the parking. The driver started talking to us though we had NO common language. He knew about 1 English word, super and the spoke Croatian to us. He said our van was super then asked Bernard if he could take me with him on his bus to keep him company. It was quite comical and he was a sweet man, even when he said he would give Bernard money for me. haha! We went and walked around town and had a nic cream before finding somewhere to sleep. We found a little "road" if you can call it that and camped there.

29 août

Back into Baska for a hike, thinking it would just be a little on upto a church and back. On no! About 11km later we were back to town. The views were amazing! Crossed a couple of Italian men, actually, they passed us. Talk about being in shape. To quote one of them on what we could see from the mountain "bellisimo". Aftar, all hot and sweaty, too lazy to cook we grabbed a bite to eat and hit the beach. It was packed. Late afternoon we headed off with a sop at the beach in Punat(also on the island). We snuck into a campground to take a shower. Finally a shower!!! It was interesting to see the 3 towns....none of them were alike. Baska was very touristy.
Off the island we went heading south to Senj. A little background information first :
We are driving a 1982 (yest, I was born that year) VW Transporter. It is only a 4 speed. The fastest it has gone is probably 100km/h, maybe 110, and that is downhill. On average we are between 80 and 90km/h on flat ground. Don't even ask about the uphill.
So back to our drive to Senj. Driving along when all of a sudden we are being waved down by the police. Super, just super! Apparantly we were driving 88km/h in a 60 zone. Though the people infront of us were driving a lot faster, we got stopped. Don't really think we were driving that fast. Anyway, he asked for papers and said the ticket was 500 kuna (70€). Then he said the minimum ticket in Croatia is 300kuna and if we paid now it would be that much. Great...43€. We paid the money and were on our way. We had dinner along the road and then walked around town(Senj) before finding camp in a little "chemin" off the main road.

30 août

Morning tour in Senj before continuing south to Zadar. We got there mid afternoon and visited the city. The sea/wave organ was really neat. We went up the city tower and ate dinner(picnic) along the coast. That night we met Mirja (from couchsurfing) and got a delicious ice cream. Then we met a couple other CSers (one she knew-an Italian and Spanish) for drinks. It was a fun night. Bernard and I ended up sleeping very little that night as we stayed in the city. Croatia has a 0 tolerance for alcohol.

31 août

Early morning. Another little visit arond town before hitting the road, direction Sibenik & Krka National Park. A short visit to the old part of Sibenik and the cathedral which was really nice then to Krka. This was wonderful! After having lunch we took a boat up the river then walked into the park to find a magnificant waterfall...or shall I say multiple waterfalls. It was great. Nice hiking trail all around and then for a swim, even under the falls before a short storm. It poured for aout 15minutes, even hailed. On the road, AGAIN. (2 weeks including driving from central France = NOT ENOUGH) to Trogir where we visited the town by night and camped.

1 septembre

In the morning we toured the city and then were off to Salona, the ruins. It was so hot and there was no coverage. Had lunch halfway up one of the mountains where we saw where some of the forest fires took place. We headed into Split and had a beach afternoon. That evening we were going to see about paying in a camping just to use the showers but decided to just spend the night. Turned out bing a relaxing night (well needed....can't forget the nice hot shower we had.

2 septembre

Lazy morning at the camping beach, before another hot shower, packing and going into town. Grabbed lunch intown and visited the city. Not much open Sunday afternoons. We had a nice Croatian fish we bread and Croatian olive oil. Mmm delicious! A fairly relaxing day. Enjuoyed some music around town in the evening. Had our best camping spot along the Adriatic seat about 3 or 4 metres. GREAT! though we had more car problems that Bernard was going to look at the next morning.

3 septembre

That brings us to today! As I already metioned, the morning began with me tanning and Bernard looking at the van. We are currently in Bosnia on our way to Plitvice Lakes National Park. Still a ways to go and a lot of hills. You know what that means....overheating. So here I am writing in the mountains while Bernard tries to get us to our destination. Almost the end of our travels. Tomorrow the park, then direction France on Wednesday. It's la rentrée for us Monday.

** continue my writing now as I type

It was an interesting drive to seem of the "interier Croatia" and Bosnia. It was different than the coast. Houses don't seem to be finished and there are lots of abandoned ones. The towns looks sad compared to the coast. In Bosnia we visited one town and saw some traces from the war. Bullet holes in walls and even in a statue. That night we found a campsite of the main road not too far from the park. Nice stary sky when we headed to bed around 21h45....yes it's early.

4 septembre

Woke up to a huge storm. Rain and thunder, cold grey. Not good. The one thing that we had been waiting for the entire trip was the visit to this park. We had heard so many great things and seen so many amazing photos. We decided to lie in bed for awhile hoping it would clear up. Finally around 11 we decided to hit the road. It was not going to clear. Off we went....encountering yet again.....car problems. This time we decided to stop in a garage and have them look at it. Only one of the men spoke a little English and we mangaged to tell him the problem. They told us to wait about half an hour so we headed next door to the restaurant for lunch. Back to the garage where we ended up spending the entire afternoon. It was wet and cold. Not the best of days. I was very disappointed about the park, but it just means we will have to go back! The men in the garage were nice. They started working on the van around 2 and finished around 6. Normally they finish their day at 4, but for us stayed. We decided to drive a little further before finding a camp spot...this time NO van troubles. We stayed near the town of Delnice.

5 septembre

On the road again. A quick stop in Rijeka and then back on the road. We drove to Venice and spent a couple hours in the city before going north 20km to Treviso to meet a couple friends that live there. We had a delicious Italian dinner at their place and then tried some italian liquors. Alberto took Bernard and I out after for a quick visit of the city and then to bed. We camped out right infront of their house that night.

6 septembre

From Treviso to the France/Italy border. We drove about 500km. We decided not to take the tunnel that had cost us 42€ on the way there seeing as the van was in tip top shape. We drove up the mountain, zigging and zagging at about 30km/h. Luckily there was no one behind us. We camped out in the mountains at about 2100m, overlooking a lake. We were in bed even earlier this night. 21h30. It was getting chilly and there was lots of wind. The stars were amazing so we lied in the van with the curtains open looking at the stars. Saw a shooting star or two.

7 septembre

Last leg of the trip. We headed out around 8. It was too cold to stay in bed. The lake was beautiful. On the drive down the mountain we even saw frost on the grass in the shady areas. When we made it to the bottom the temperature was about 5°C, so I can only imagine the temperature overnight. Another 500km to do back to La Châtre. The drive was pretty easy. Saw lots of nice scenery along the way. Sad the trip was coming to an end.

Well folks, that is it!!! Great trip altogether!! Can't wait for the next one we have
Cheers

Oops....again

2007-09-10T15:14:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a long time again since I have written....guess I've gotten into a bad habit.
I've got back to France, gone on vacation and am now back in Mulhouse, so I guess quite a bit has happened.
When I got back to France I spent about 2 weeks in La Chatre. I did go with Bernard to his "stage" thing outside of Lyon for a couple days. It was long days for me as I had to leave the room when he did which meant around 8 am. I spent my days in Lyon bumming around. I guess it was better than sitting around La Chatre. Haha. In my eyes I have more or less mastered driving stick. I drove the car into Lyon a couple times by myself and didn't have any problems. Yeah me!
We headed on holidays on the 25th of August for 2 weeks (I am going to put that in another post, as I wrote most of it on the road) and then came back to Mulhouse on the 9th.
I am staying at a friends place right now. Bernard is on training in Fessenheim (about 30km from Mulhouse) for 3 weeks. After he will be transfered and we are assuming it will be mid October. As long as it is before my mom comes and we have a place to live I will be happy. hehe.
I haven't started work yet. This year is different from last year, because for the first few weeks in 06 I was working like mad and so far on my schedule, I only have 8 hours for next week and 6 for the following....I am taking on some lessons in another faculty. Just 2 a week but it will be good I think.
Alright, so my life at the moment is not that exciting....I did cut my hair....
signing off....

Too long....

2007-07-26T09:22:00.000-05:00

It has been well over since I posted...I know, I'm a slacker. I thought about writing on many occasions, but either got side tracked or was just plain lazy. So here I am now...

Where did I leave off....I hadn't even finished classes at work. I still had almost 2 weeks before I finished work and had to pack up and move out. Classes ended well for the most part. For those that bothered to come to class, they were lucky enough to enjoy some of my wonderful chocolate chip cookies!!! Some kids came just for that. :) I went to their end of year party the Thursday before I had to move out and it was a fun night. I didn't really expect to stay out for long, but I did. I think I got home that night at 5, or close to. It was mainly first years though there was a group of second years. It was a lot of fun.

The weekend before leaving I had a little shindig at my place. One last bang before heading off for the summer. We had a potluck and then some predrink before hitting up Salle. There were about 10 of us. Way too much food that I ended having to give bunches away and eating tons myself. Delicious food, great people and some booze! What more can you ask for??! Well, I know one thing that was missing at that night of fun....Bernie!!! We headed to the Salle for one last night on the town. Jenn and I always have a blast there.

I headed off to La Chatre on Saturday the 30th after doing the "Etat des lieux" with the landlord...wasn't that great...still trying to get that all worked out. Things didn't end so well there which is a pain, but with the help of my little Frenchman (I guess he isn't really little) we will get things worked out and get back what is ours.

I spent 2 weeks at Bernards before heading home. We had a party with friends and some family at this park. It is more or less private as it is owned by his work. We had a BBQ and drinks and lots of fun. We camped out there for the night. Great night with everyone dressed up in costumes of some sort.

We also headed to Auvergne, the mountains for a couple days to get away. We camped in some farmers field. It was a little adventure!! Good fun. Getting us ready for our trip at the end of the summer to Croatia. I can't wait for that....

So, home in Canada. It's been nice to see the family and some friends. Got to spend the weekend with my sister and her little family. I babysat little Paige for a night in Ottawa.

Not too much excitement is happening here. I will try and get back into the habit of writing on this silly thing again.
Cheers!!

Not much longer..

2007-06-18T15:58:00.001-05:00

The year is coming to an end...I can't believe that the year is almost over. It has flown by that is for sure. Another year passed. Lots of good times had, and some still to come.
Two weekends ago I went to Lyon with Jenn to see a friend of ours, Val. It was a fun weekend. Long train ride home, big surprise....an hour late. haha
After the weekend away I welcomed 2 "couchsurfers" to my place. They arrived on the Monday early afternoon. They headed off to Bale for the afternoon while I headed to work. That night we enjoyed a delicious dinner at my place and then headed to meet a couple local couchsurfers for drinks downtown. It was a nice enjoyable evening. Lots of good laughs! The next day I took my guests to Colmar. I really like this town. And right now with all the flowers out it's great. We did get stuck with a little rain so we ducked into a cafe/bar got some wine and a tarte flambée for Alison and Eric to try. Mmmm! Gave them the good pointer of "you don't HAVE to tip in France". hehe. They headed out on a night train to Nice that night. Nice to have some guests!
This past weekend Jenn and I went to Freiburg (Germany) for a night of clubbing with some friends. It was fun. Nice that we had someone drive and we didn't have to stay over night. It was a blast....though I've been seeing tooo many mullets....not so much in France, but in Germany and Switzerland.
Yesterday I went to "Art Basel". A huge art show, with galleries from all over the world. It was enormous. We were there for about 3 hours and still didn't get it all in. Saw some interesting things that is for sure!
This Thursday,June 21st is the "fete de la musique". It is a national celebration of music. Concerts in the streets and all. We will be making a night of it....starting with a little pre-drinking at Jenns. Should be a good night. Then Saturday one last party before the year is done. Next week I finish up my classes!!! Woohoo!!
I'm happy and sad at the same time....isn't that always how it is thought?!

I made it home

2007-05-29T06:46:00.001-05:00

I am finally home after what was usually an easy trip home from Bernards. NOT this time. I decided to take the train from Montlucon instead of Chateauroux this time. Cheaper and easier not going through Paris. We left on time, like planned, 14h30....my train was at 15h25. It's usually 45 minutes by car but not yesterday...we got to the train station at about 15h30....5 minutes too late. I missed my train. Wonderful. Just wonderful! Off to the guichet to see what good old SNCF can do for me. I am imagining that I am going to lose my ticket and have to buy a new one as it's a 12-25 ticket. The man was helpful and said he will authorise me to take a later train, leaving at 18h18 arriving around 3h30. Oh super, get home in the middle of the night. So, 2.5 hours to kill in a town not so wonderful. A little snack and drink, food for the train....which I almost missed again. We are really not good at being on time. Alright, only 4 trains. First one, TER, get off and get on another TER. Get off and wait of another train. Finally arrive Lyon around 22h00. I see on the screen there was a "retard" for my train...I am going to get home 40 minutes later than planned just super! (notice the sarcasm). So I called Bernard and talked for a bit when I noticed people were looking at the big screen with train times. I went and looked and saw that, NO it wasn't 40 minutes late, it was 4 hours. Holy cow.....what am I going to do in a train station till 3 in the morning. UGH! So off I went to the "Accueil" to wait in the long line of pissed off train riders. So I finally made it up to the counter and talked to a surprisingly nice SNCF man. He told me they would give me a hotel room for the night and I could take the first train at 6h35. Yes, I would have rather been in my own bed, but I was happy that for once they actually did something and I wasn't stuck in the train station, cold. I can't believe that SNCF actually put people up in a hotel. Hotel Campanile, just across the street, 95€ per night.
So I finally made it home to my place this morning around 11h15. Happy to be at my own place. :) What a trip....don't think I'll be forgetting that one.

Sometimes...

2007-05-24T13:45:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I just want to be taken care of. I guess I will always be the "baby". I miss having my mom, someone who always takes care of me when around.

Forever

2007-05-23T06:23:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been ages since I have written...2 months. What has happened in the last 2 months??
At the beginning of April I headed back to Canada for a visit for 3 weeks. Bernard came with me for 10 days. When we left France on April 5th it was beautiful sunny 20° weather. We had a lay over in Philadelphia (4hours) and went into the city and walked around. It actually snowed. haha. Finally made it to Canada after a slight delay...well 2 hours or so. The weather was quite a change. It was nice to see the family and for them to meet Bernard.
Bernard and I did the tourist thing, typical - Toronto, Niagara Falls, Niagara on the Lake, Maple Syrup farm etc. I had got tickets for an NBA game for his birthday so we went there too. It was a good game.
My sister had a baby girl one week late. Paige Taylor Fournier. She was born on April 10 @ 21h49. She is cute as a button and I cant wait to see her again.
I had a really nice visit with my family and got to see some friends which was really great! The 3 weeks went really quickly and now I am looking forward to my visit this summer.

Back in France.....I've been back for almost a month and not too much has been going on. We have had more or less nice weather since I've been back. There were a few crappy days, but I have managed to sun tan a bit. :) Myself, Jenn, Emma and David went to Bale(Basel) at the start of the month for a night out on the town. That was fun, though waiting for the 6am train was not as much. haha. We also went to the zoo there.
Last week Bernard made his way to Alsace for a long weekend. It was a beautiful weekend which made things better. We went to Frieburg Germany and did some biking. We went and visited a bit of the region with a prof I know and to a castle with some friends. Can't forget the "chapeau party" at Liz's place. That was fun too! It was a great weekend. I am now in La Chatre as I have a few days off I decided to drive back with Bernard. Going to see a few friends while I'm here. It has been quite some time so it will be nice.

Anyway, that's about all in my life for now. Going to Lyon in 2.5 weeks with Jenn to see a friend and the city. Then I have a few "couchsurfers" staying at my place. 5.5 weeks left of school. Time is going to fly by now and summer will be upon us. I can't wait. Starting to make some "travel plans". Yipee.
Well, signing off now, I'll try to keep up on this a little more now.

Snow...

2007-03-20T13:37:00.000-05:00

Well, tomorrow is the first day of spring and this morning to my surprise there was snow on the ground. Ok, not huge amounts, but it is still white, cold and wet.
Last week I was in La Châtre. I actually drove pretty much the entire way from Mulhouse. I have driven quite a few different cars and been getting some good practice. I even drove the "transporter"....hehe, I'm sure I look super small driving that.
On Thursday night we went to a "Marcel et son Orchestre" concert. There was a group of about 10 of us. Most of us got dressed up, as that is what the group does. It was pretty fun. Seeing as I was a last minute addition I did not have a wig like the others. So I got my hair done ridiculously in various pony tails sticking out every which way and then teased. Oh what a site to see...and then the make-up....even more ridiculous. It was a fun night. We went to the concert in the "transporter" and had a boat tied on the roof....apparently at their older concerts they would have an inflatable boat and have someone go crowd surfing in it. They wouldn't let us bring it in. It was a fun night.
I got back here on Sunday night. Taught a couple classes yesterday and I'm off today. Teaching 3 tomorrow...oh joy!
Lindsay is due in 2 weeks...I guess the baby could come any day now...I can't believe it. It's crazy how time has flown by. And in 16 days I'll be in Canada...with Bernard. I am super excited for the holidays. Should be good!!!
Well, I am going to go try and get somethings done...need to try and be somewhat productive today!! hehe Cheers

Back from the East

2007-03-12T13:32:00.000-05:00

Well, a little travel is always fun....but coming home sick isn't.
Got back from Prague on Saturday. Jenn and I flew out Monday afternoon spent the first night in Prague. We did a little tour of the city by night then headed south to Cesky Krumlov early the next morning. I was told that it was a great place to visit. It was a nice town, though we visited in the wrong season. Should return in the summer. We were going to stay 2 nights because we though we would want more time. But the castle was closed as was the theatre so we decided to head back to Prague. It's a very out outdoorsy place. Lots of hiking and I think it would be great once it warms up a little. We weren't the brightest and paid for the two nights right away. After deciding we were leaving the next day we had to argue for our money back. We learnt our lesson and paid night by night in Prague.
Back in Prague. We had a blast. Met lots of people. Did get to go out on the town a couple nights. It's very cheap there which is great. Beers cost maybe 1 euro in the bars/clubs, and that was for 500mL. Vodka was cheap too, as long as you didn't want juice with it. Haha! We went out both Wednesday and Thursday night. I woke Friday with a cold and a sore body. I didn't go out to the club on Friday with Jenn. I got to meet a really sweet French couple (Sylvain and Anais)earlier in the week and went out with them for dinner to a Czech restaurant. It was quite interesting that they were seating us at a table (not a very big one) that already had 4 people sitting at it (and they were not all together). We sit down and one group of two was just finishing up. They left and we were left with some Frenchies, sort of ironic. A mother and her son. It's wierd that they seat you with random people, but a neat and different experience. We had a nice evening. Once back at the hostel I met a Bulgarian artist. He was doing some body art on Anais and then on me. Sylvain who is also an artist drew a portrait of me. It was a really nice evening. Different from the rest of the week, but it is contacts like these that really mark you.
Saturday we did one last morning out in the city before taking off to the airport. Good trip!!!
Not a good return, although I thought getting some rest and sleep I would feel better, boy was I wrong. I was up sick Saturday night, not fun. Jenn came over yesterday to make me some soup. I lied around all day, and did my lesson planning. Unfortunately this morning when I woke up I really did not feel well at all. I had to call in sick to school. I hate doing that, though I think it was good as it forced me to go to the doctor as I had to get an "arret de travail" (doctors letter). Turns out I have tonsillitis, or something along the lines of it. I'm feeling better now. This "arret de travail" in mandatory when sick, and it only allows you to leave your home between certain hours. Mine were 14h00 to 17h00. Outside of those hours, there is a possibility that someone comes by your house to verify that you are there (and sick).
When I got home today I had a good email waiting. Bernard got a call today from a place he applied about an hour from here and he has an interview Wednesday morning. So tomorrow afternoon he will be headed here, arriving in the evening and spend the night here. Wednesday i will head back with hime to La Chatre as I am off till Monday.
Three and a half weeks till we are home!!!! Can't wait....counting down.
Well, dinner is ready......take care

I'm still alive...

2007-03-05T10:34:00.000-05:00

Well it has been ages since I posted. My life has not been overly busy, hence the lack of writing. The big reason is that I have been lazy.
So, the month of February. I worked 3 weeks. Classes went well. I had met a new prof at "jury", a meeting thing deciding on the whether students pass or not (French school system is wierd) in January. He invited me to dinner one night with some friends. Nice to meet his friends and hang out with new people. I also met someone off couchsurfing who just moved to Mulhouse. Went out for a drink one evening.
I finished classes on the 23rd for holidays. Yes, again! I headed to Bernards for 10 days. Always nice to see him. Met up with a couple friends at the Londons on the first Saturday. Bernard and I had a few drinks and were feeling "joyeux"(tipsy). Sunday we went for a small hike with friends, it was rainy. Then had them and another couple over for the "apero". Tuesday we went to Remi's for dinner. It was a nice evening. I miss having Remi around. He is a sweetheart and good friend. I got a cold while there which sucks. Met Bernard for lunch and went to the movies on Thrusday, saw a cute french film, Michou d'Auber and saw La Mome on Saturday. On Sunday we headed off to Paris, Bernard started his "stage" (training) on Monday. We decided to go up the Eiffel Tour as it was a nice day. Then we met Lindsay (Gresko) and Thomas for dinner. It was great to see her again. We will have to do it again. Still waiting to hear about the transfer...both positive. Off to Czech this afternoon....

Something to write home about.

2007-02-05T23:15:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been awhile since I wrote, no surprise there as I am not very on top of it of late. It's been two weeks now since I have written...lets start from the beginning and then get to what I am writing home about.
So, after Becca left I headed to La Chatre to Bernards place. It was a long journey....I decided I would take the night train to Paris and then arrive in Chateauroux aroun 11h00 to meet Bernard for lunch. Well, the train from Mulhouse was 3 hours late to Paris meaning I missed my correspondance, and had to wait another 2.5 hours in the Paris train station. Ugh....not impressed. It's even worse because I had debate whether or not to take the early morning train or the night train and I ended up arriving the same time I would have if I took the other train. Well, finally made it. I went to the highschool on Friday to meet Remi for lunch. Always enjoy that. Hung out with him for a bit and with Nicole then we went to Manolas for tea and cakes. We had a fairly relaxing weekend. The weather was nice while the snow melted away.
Bernard had his surgery on Tuesday so we spent a couple days at the clinic. This was for his nose, some sort of sinus problem I guess, not sure how to describe it. Arrived early Tuesday morning and left Wednesday morning. I went to Remi's place for lunch as he doesn't live too far from there. I miss him being around. Great friend, always fun to chat with and hang out with. Bernard was fairly groggy after the anesthesia, but we just chilled and I kept him company. The room was so hot that night making it not very nice for sleeping. I dont think either of us slept much, though for Bernard it may have been partically due to pain and for me partially due to his breathing as his nose was blocked. Oh well, I spent the next few days taking care of him as he couldn't do much let alone work. By the weekend he was good. Got the stitches and some sort of interieur "cast" taken out on Friday...I dont know, French medical terms.....And to end the week we had a nice dinner out at the Chinese restaurant.
Saturday I went to Bourges with Nicole and Manola. Did a little shopping, not much though. Had a nice girls day out!!
Get ready for the big news....Sunday we headed to Paris. We were going to leave early, though that didn't happen. We got on the highway and off we were....Bernard asked me to drive after a little bit.....this is a French car, station wagon, stick (manual) car. I've been learning, practicing so it was no big worry, especially on the highway. So we drive and we are starting to get into the city, still on the highways. Ok, ok Erin you are fine! Next thing you know I'm being told to exit the highway.....for those that don't know, my weak point was always starting.....haha, that first take off when you have to balance the accelerator and the clutch. Well, off we went down a boulevard in Paris.....stop light after stop light and I'm doing fine!!!! YEAH ME!!!! I drove through Paris....and I don't mean just the outskirts, but along the Seine past the musee d'Orsay, past les Invalides to a Parking looking out at the Eiffel Tower......almost at the parking....talking to Bernard....he comments on my clean driving with not really any mistakes.....next stop light red.....green means go.....oh no.....i stalled....horns start honking, I start to panic.....it takes Bernard telling me to restart the car...hehe....oops....like he said, "spoke too soon". Well, I did it! I drove in Paris with an manual car and really didn't make any big mistakes!!! I'm so happy and proud of myself. I think that is an accomplishment.
Well, now I am back in Mulhouse, back to work....counting down the weeks till the holidays....only 3 weeks! Horrible, I know. Then I will be counting down the days till I come home for vacation. Oh yea, guess I haven't mentioned. Got my ticket home and Bernard is coming!!!! Yipee! We fly in on the 5th of April. He will stay for 10 days and I for 3 weeks. It is so exciting!!! We are really looking forward to it.
Well, I think that is all the news here for now. I'm sure this is getting too long anyway, chat soon! Cheers

Finally....

2007-01-22T17:05:00.000-05:00

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.....

Always discovering...

2007-01-05T13:03:00.001-05:00

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!

Vive les vacances

2006-12-27T18:21:00.000-05:00

Les vacances....well, I am currently at Bernards place in La Châtre. I got here on Friday night with Jenn after a terribly long train ride. For some reason it seemed longer than usual and the train stations in Paris were crazy, not to mention the metro. Saturday we went to the city to a couple stores and I ended up buying jeans(which need to be hemmed) and a sweater. That night we went where else but the London's Club. Yea, not a lot of places to go to here in town, I like it. Sunday we headed to SuperBesse, the mountains, about 2.5hours south of here. The weather was nice and sunny once we got up there. There were lots of people for Christmas Eve(the big meal). We ate well, fois-gras(pan fried), turbo(fish), deer(cerf), cheese and bûche de noël. Oh I can't forget the wine. After dinner there was some dancing, though Jenn was tired and went to bed....mind you we didn't finish dinner till after midnight. The next day we slept in and woke up to a beautifully warm sunny Christmas day. We had a nice lunch before heading home. Wish we could have stayed up in the mountains because the weather was so much nicer up there....heading down we ran into fog...grey skies....blah.
Jenn headed back to Mulhouse yesterday and Bernard and I went to his sisters for the apéro. They got me a cute little bracelet. Really sweet of them. Today Bernard is working, and I'm being lazy around the house....actually now waiting for Bernard to get home...he should have been here 45minutes ago....his nieces and mom came by this afternoon, Melodie got an mp3 player but there computer is from the stoneage and doesnt have a USB plug so came over here to do some downloading and whatnot. Nice to have some company.
We leave for Spain on Saturday morning and get back on Tuesday afternoon. Next Wednesday we will go over to Manolas for raclette!!! Mmmmm. Although the night is going to be English, as Nicole(the new assistant at the highschool) and her boyfriend will be there, Bernard says we can't pass up a raclette. This is true.....you'd be crazy to do such a thing. Plus it will get him a little prepped for his English "stage" (training course) which starts on the 8th.
Well, I'm going to get going here. I'm getting a little hungry....and I need to get ready as we are going to a movie with the nieces tonight.
Take care everyone, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!
Finally, he's home!!!!

Quite some time..

2006-12-14T21:04:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been quite some time now since I have written. I thought I better get to it. Well, two weekends ago, December 1st I went to the zoo here in Mulhouse. Jenn had a friend visiting but she had to work so I went with her. It ended up being a lot colder that day than I had dressed for. I feel that happens to me every day here. If it's cold, I'm not dressed warm enough and if it's warm I'm over dressed. No happy medium. Other than the cold the zoo was quite amusing and reasonably priced (as last year I paid 16 euros for a zoo). Robin and I had a good laugh or some little monkeys. I'll just leave it at that...we spent some time trying to get a good photo. haha.
That Saturday we went to Strasbourg(even though I had just been there) for the day. Did a little bit of shopping though failed at finding Christmas gifts. It was a nice day, and that night Jenn, Robin and I headed out to the salles des coffres(our local club). It was quite a fun night. Not the usual whatsoever. It's funny because there was a group of 17year olds behind us in line. They were really nice and I did dance with them for a bit. hehe, funny night. Sunday of course was more or less a write off.
This past weekend I headed to Lille to see some old friends from highschool when I did my exchange in Douai France. I left here after classes Thursday evening and got up there around 00h15. I was exhausted from the long trip. Mathilde met me at the station and we went back to her place. I spent the first night at her place. We talked until the weee hours of the morning and then slept till noon. Didn't get dressed until about 16h. Corinne came over after work around 14h30 and we just hung out. We didn't leave the apartment till about 19h(I think) when we went out for dinner. That night I went to Corinnes place. The next morning Marie came to meet us. I hadn't seen those girls in over 4 years. We met up with Mathilde and went to the Christmas market and some shops in town. Then had a quiet evening with dinner infront of the tv and a movie. Sunday the 3 of us went to a market and went on the ferris wheel they had set up for Christmas. It was a fun weekend. I got back on Monday evening after a long trip. It was really great to see the girls. They haven't changed that much. Hehe. I hope that we will get to see each other again soon.
This week I have just been working. Have to finish up my marking and get that handed in. I seem to have lots of little things that need to get done. I went to a fashion show at the school, in one of the other departments last night after class with one of my students. Someone had bought a ticket and couldn't go, so he gave me his ticket and I went with the other guy. It was nice of him to give me the ticket. It was a bloody long day though....I started class at 8h30 and I didn't get home till about 19h45. Oh well. I have really enjoyed work this week. More than usual. I don't know why. Oh well.
I have to decide whether or not I am staying on next year. This decision has to be made before the break. It's hard having to make a decision for something that is 8 months away. I mean...I have only been here for not even 4 months....I understand that they need to recruit early....I remember the hell I went through to get my visa....NOT FUN!
I am looking forward to getting away for a bit for the break. I am heading to Bernards. Jenn is coming with me for Christmas. I couldn't imagine being all alone in Mulhouse for Christmas. Anyway, we are going to the mountains for Christmas Eve and spending the night. It is one of the vacation centres for EDF(where Bernard works). It should be fun. I've been told that they have snow there already!! YEAH! For New Years, Bernard and I will be going to San Sebastian Spain. Not sure if I have mentioned it or not. We will be heading down on the train, which will be a long journey, though I'm sure we will manage just fine. We will spend a couple days down there, hoping we will find something fun for new years eve. It will be nice to get away for a few days. We are looking forward to it.
This is getting lengthy, but I can't help it. I have the tendency of not writing forever and when i do I just keep going and going like the duracell bunny. You get nothing new nothing new and then BAM....you're reading for hours. It's like I sit here and try and find everything I can possibly say. haha. I'm sorry...I will try and get better. :)
Things are going well here. My classes are good the money is good. For the most part the students are nice(not that any are mean, just that some of them aren't overly nice). I am enjoying things here. Things are on the up and up.
It is really starting to feel like home. And yes mom, really like home. It's starting to get cold and the heat or should I say lack of heat is just like home. Not that it is frigid, there can be a slight chill. The worst part of the day is having to get out of my bed. That nice cozy feeling and then you have to climb out and the cold air is like a slap in the face. I can feel it just thinking about it....
This place is finally more like a home. It's good. I guess I should probably take some pictures and post them up. We do have a really nice place(minus the kitchen cupboards which I am not the biggest fan of). I will try and post a picture of the exterieur at the end of this. I don't have a picture of my room, and at the moment it is a disaster....hopefully I can take one this weekend. Good idea!!!
Alright, I know I'm starting to ramble on and you are probably all bored, if you even made it this far. Maybe you just skimmed through for the highlights....I was so kind to look back through and bold a few keywords....hope that helped. Anyway I miss you all. Take care
(picture doesn't want to work again)

Wonderful visit!!!

2006-11-30T18:05:00.000-05:00

Well, I was finally able to welcome Bernard to my place. It seems I am always at his, though it is true. Not like I really had much of a place last year and it is the first time he has been able to make it over to the East. That's what happens with a Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 job. He finally got here on Friday night, almost midnight...stupid mappy made him take a wrong turn and end up lost like 5 minutes from my house. Sitting around waiting is definitely not fun.
So Saturday we had to get up bright and early as the stupid guy was coming to work on the balcony, which is conveniently off my room. So....8h30 up we get. It was a beautifully warm day so we walked into town for the afternoon. I showed him a bit of the city and we went to the Christmas market and some of the shops. We ate some yummy Alsacian food..mmmm. That night we were having raclette at my place with a few friends. It was fun to go out and get all the food and to get all organised for it.
We enjoyed some nice rum punch and little bite size appetizers for the "apéro", before getting into the RACLETTE!!! (see photos in previous post) It was a very enjoyable evening with the beaujolais nouveau and some delicious cake and sparkling wine to top it all off.
Some of us decided we would head to Emma and Davids for schnapps before heading to "Les Salles des Coffres"(club). It was a super warm night out so we didn't take our coats. It was an interesting night that included Bernard finding a native headdress on the floor. He thought it would be fun to put it on, get up on the blocks and dance....he sure did it....even made it on the clubs site.
(photo does not want to upload....sorry)
Sunday we were both pretty exhausted from the late night clubbing that we didn't do too much. Ended up going to the Electricity museum not far from my house. Thay was about it. On Monday we headed up to Strasbourg. It was again a very nice, mild day. And on the way home we stopped in Colmar. It's no good that it gets dark so early. Anyway, I drove a little stick, and even on the highway! YEAH ME!!! I wasn't that bad.
Tuesday we headed off to Bale(Switzerland) as it's only 30 km from here. I drove. I didn't know that you don't have to stop at customs unless they tell you to stop, so I did anyway. Well, perfect...I ended up stalling the car twice infront of the guy and had him ask me if I really had a drivers licence. haha....how embarrassing. I made it into town and to the parking garage, though ended up having to take 3 tickets because I stalled the car and the bar went down. Oh Erin!!! Good for some laughs. We ate some good sausages for lunch and then had a nice apple strudle(thoug it was more pie like) with a great hot chocolate that had tons of whipped cream on top. Before heading back to Mulhouse we made a little detour to Freiburg. We really just checked out the Christmast market, ate Striebel(like funnel cake) and some other German food. It was a nice day and funny that we were actually in 3 countries.
Bernard left yesterday, Wednesday. I had class at 14h00 and that's when he went on his way. Sad to see him leave. We had a really good visit, though it was not long enough. Anyway, I'm going to leave it at this for now...bedtime for me.

Raclette

2006-11-30T17:59:00.000-05:00

Mmmmm....cheese and meat......

Good fun!!!! I love raclette!!!!!!

From left to right: Me, Bernard, Cynthia, David, Emma, Becca

Whatelse is new...

2006-11-22T15:06:00.000-05:00

Well, I am not very good at keeping this thing upto date this year. Ooops. I don't know why, it's not like I dont have any free time.
So, I started giving private english lessons about 2 weeks ago. The guy is the same age as me. He is a history teacher, though only a supply. It's nice to have a little bit of extra income, though I am going to try and save that all and not spend it.
This weekend Bernard is coming. I can't wait for him to get here....I am so impatient. He wont get here till late Friday night as he working that day and then driving down. Ican't wait to be able to discover a little bit of the area with him. He has never been to Alsace. Plus, the Christmas markets are beginning so that is very exciting. It's been about 3 weeks since we saw each other last. And then we probably wont see each other until my Christmas break. We are going to San Sebastian Spain for New Years Eve, 3 days. That should be lots of fun.
This Saturday Bernard and I decided to have a raclette....so I have invited a few friends over for dinner and some drinks. I think it will be an enjoyable evening. My roomie hasn't had raclette before and I'm always talkinng about it. For those of you don't know it's potatoes with melted cheese and meats (cold cuts). There is a machine, and each person has a little thing to melt their own cheese. Mmmmm....I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. I LOVE RACLETTE!!!
I am going to be going to Lille to see my friends from my highschool exchange in 2.5 weeks. That will be interesting because we have not seen each other in about 4 years. It will be a nice girls weekend.
I am debating different places to visit. Looking for another little vacation. I have 2 weeks off for Christmas, then 2 weeks of class and 2 weeks off. Then 3 weeks of class and 2 weeks off. Then 5 weeks of class and 2 weeks off. I may take an extra week off in April as I will be going home. My sister will have her baby. I have to decide soon so I can ask for that week off. I should think about that this weekend. I also have to really think about what I want to do next year. Claude mentioned to me today about deciding whether or not I will come back next year.
Well, I think I have made up for not writing in forever today. I will try and write more regularily, but no promises. :)

Good weekend away!!

2006-11-22T14:47:00.000-05:00

Well, this past weekend I went on a little adventure. I left Thursday night on a train to Paris at 1h30. I met Ashlie and Melissa(her roomate) in Paris to get on the bus to the airport. We were headed to Bratislava....Eurotrip. So we arrived there around noon on Friday. We got on a city bus and headed into the city....the outskirts of the city were a little sketchy, though we did see an IKEA and a huge mall.
We got to the city and headed straight to the hostel to drop off our stuff and then head out to see the city. We didn't have a lot of time to see it as we were headed to Vienna the following day. It was a nice city with lots of nice buildings and a castle. It would have been nice to see more,but time constraints. I tried some typical Slovakian food, and it was really good!!! Found that food was really cheap there, though converting from the Slovakian Crown to the euro was a pain. 35SKK to 1 euro. That evening we went to the store, TESCO(huge place) and bought some booze. I opted for vodka and split the bottle with Melissa. We got 2 litres of OJ with that and it cost us about 210SKK, about 6 euros($8.70CAD)....too many conversions there. haha.
We went back to the hostel and ended up playing a drinking game "I never". It was quite amusing and we all ended up getting pretty drunk. We were getting ready to go out when Melissa was sick. We got her all set up in bed with a bucket and bags beside her and Ashlie and I still went out. (is that mean?). We were going to go to a club though we decided not too....it cost 200SKK =5.50euros...so into town we went. We stopped to get our photo take with a statue, as they were everywhere in town. Some random Slovakian guy took our picture and ended up coming out for a drink with us at the Irish pub. After chatting for a bit he told us that he was looking for women to have sex with....well that sure was NOT us. We finished our drinks, paid and went on our way. He wanted to pay for ours, though we thought it was better for us to pay for his than have him expect something later. Some wierd people out there...
Saturday morning we got up bright and early to get the bus to Vienna. Dropped our stuff at the hostel and off we went. Had little time compared to what there is to see there. We got to see a lot though I think we could have spent another entire day atleast. We didn't do much that night as we were all pretty tired. On Sunday Ashlie and Melissa had to leave to catch a flight, leaving me all alone... :( Haha. I looked around the city a little more before heading back to Brat. I ended up sleeping in the airport that night as my flight was at 6am and it didn't seem worth it to me to get a hostel. It wasn't too bad. A very small airport.
I got home Monday morning. Quite tired, but satisfied with my trip.
Well, that is all the travels for now....need to find another one I think :)

Trick or Treaters

2006-11-03T06:14:00.000-05:00

Here are the cute little trick or treaters we got at the house on Halloween. It's not very common here in France to have kids come to the door. I had to take a picutre, and we gave the "Canadian" candy as Bernard didnt have any to give out. They got SweetTarts. They had like little cakes and everything that people had given them. It's like people find whatever they have in their house to give them. Heheh, quite funny!!

Almost the end

2006-11-03T05:52:00.000-05:00

Well, the holidays are coming to an end soon....that is no fun. I start back to work on Monday afternoon. I shouldn't complain as my hours are not too bad for the next few weeks. I am sure I will soon start complaining that I have too much free time. I found out that there are some French classes offered at the school and I am going to try and find out if I could sit in on these to improve my French a little. From what I know it's mostly grammer which is good.
I am at Bernards as I write, he is at work. It has been a good week. Saturday we went to the London's Club and I got to see a bunch of people which was nice. Sunday we went for a 16km hike with some friends and then to there place for dinner. Monday not too much, to Bernards sisters for the apéro, Tuesday to his parents for lunch and some friends for dinner(mmmm...raclette). Wednesday we went to Rémi's place. I finally got to meet his cute little family. So great to see him too. I miss having him at the school to chat with.
Today I'm not sure what I am going to do. I really should do some work for my classes...but Im lazy. I dont really have any desire to do so, though Im not really sure what I want to do. hehe
Well, my life is not very exciting at the moment, so I am going to stop here. I hope everyone is well. Talk soon

Another week closer...and an adventure awaits...

2006-10-21T15:47:00.000-05:00

Well, another week done...another week closer...
Holidays start in 6 days...Oh how I can't wait. Not that I hate work or I want to get away from work, but I want to see Bernard. I can't wait...It is going to be great! One whole week there. I can't wait. It sucks living so far away...especially knowing that we are so close and that we could see each other whenever we want, except that it's not that easy. Work interferes and the time it takes to get to one place or the other is definitely on my side. The countdown for this is now on...
In one month I will be headed out on a little "travel" adventure. Ashlie asked me the other day if I would be interested in going with her to Bratislava in November...sure...why not?! Like Ashlie has said, it will be like Eurotrip. We are going to go see Vienna while there also, because it is not too far. Just for a little weekend trip. It should be a blast. Haven't done too much travel of late...so here is the perfect opportunity.
Anywho, I'm not really in the writing mood so I'm going to stop here. Hope everyone is well. Cheers

Long one...

2006-10-15T11:28:00.000-05:00

Still no internet at home....grrr. It’s so annoying. We got the Freebox in the mail yesterday but the service is not ready. These people need to get it together. It’s been over 4 weeks since we ordered it and still nothing.
Well, the week is over and the weekend almost is too. Friday night we went out for Liz’s birthday. We went to O’Bryans and then to the Salle des Coffres again. It wasn’t as busy as last time but it was fun. I can’t believe what goes on in bars here sometimes. When you go in the bar you have to go down a flight of stairs. At the bottom there is the dance floor. So basically there is a chance that everyone looks at you when you walk in. Some people actually dance on the stairs..anyway, at one point during the night there were two guys dancing on the steps. They took their shirts off...then the DJ said something about them so of course we all look. Then he’s saying something else and they take their pants off. OMG. So there are these two dudes standing there in their underwear. One is even wearing tighty whities. So....the DJ says something else and the one guys turns around and moons us....OMG x 100000. Just when I thought they couldn’t go any further, the DJ says something else and guess what the guy pulls out....yea that is right....krazy. I can’t believe that. What kind of bar is this??? Haha.
On a good side of the bar...I saw this girl that I saw in the tram about two weeks ago. She looked so familiar and this time I was determined to ask her if she was from Canada. It turns out she is and I skated with her in Winnipeg in 1999-2000. That is crazy. So wierd.
Yesterday the landlord came over at like 8h30 (morning) and we didn’t get home till about 3. He had some repairs to do here and we had a few things to discuss. Hasn’t been the best landlord I have a had to deal with, and maybe that has something to do with the fact that he is a "French" landlord. Haha. Who knows. Landlords are always out there to save money.
I didn’t get up to too much yesterday, only left the house to go to the grocery store, but I managed to not take a nap. I didn’t want to take a nap because A) I thought I would either sleep all day or B) I would wake up grumpy. So, last night I really didn’t do much. Jenn came over for a bit and we just chilled and watched some TV. Today I haven’t done much. It is nicer out than yesterday. Yesterday it was so gray and dull. Atleast the sun is peaking through today. I am going to go use the internet for a bit and I am going to go round a friends place for a bit. I should try and do a little work though it sucks not having the internet when I want to get some stuff off it. Oh well, soon enough.
I am really enjoying my job here. For me to say that after 5 weeks is pretty good. The students are really nice and they make an effort. It was a huge step up from highschool. And I think that helps me in the world of prepping. I like knowing that they will try in my class and they are friendly etc. I can even say that I enjoy my job enough that I would already consider it a second year, although I doubt that will happen. There are a lot of other factors that will be playing in on what I do with my life next year.
I start holidays in 12 days!!! I will have one week off. These holidays are for Toussaint (All Saints). I will not be going on elaborate trip like I did last year. This year I will be going for a relaxing week at Bernards place. Kind of funny that this year I will actually be GOING to La Chatre for my holidays instead of trying to leave for them. Haha. Quite funny. I am annxious to go and to see Bernard. It has been 2 weeks now since I last saw him, and by the time we see each other it will have been almost 4 weeks. That is quite a long time, though definitely not the 3.5 months we did this summer. I will also get to see a couple other friends, including Remi, which I am really excited about. I miss having him around at the school. Always was great to talk with him. He is such a sweetheart.
After the holidays I will not be working as many hours. I am really going to have to try and find something else to keep me busy....because if I don’t, I know that I will crazy thinking about certain things...or a certain someone. I need to do some work on French, even though I have been told my french is getting really good (Yeah me!). There are just things that sometimes I question and so I need to do some refreshing as well as more written. I feel I have lost it a bit. Maybe I can take more time and start really cooking. We’ll see.
Anyway, I’m going to get going here. I hope everyone is well, wherever you may be. Keep in touch

I know, I know

2006-10-11T15:59:00.000-05:00

Well, I know that it has been FOREVER since I have written but A) I don't have the internet at home yet (still) and B)I have been lazy. So where to start....seeing as over a week has gone by, I don't know what I have done. Well, last week I had Thursday afternoon off. Seeing as we had gotten paid the previous week I decided to go out for the afternoon with Becca to the shops....oops!!! Ok, I didn't spend that much, but I am not like I used to be when it comes to shopping (though yes I am still not going to spend 70$ on a pair of jeans). I needed some clothes, especially dress pants seeing as some of mine don't seem to fit me anymore. It seems that I have lost some weight somewhere along the way since the end of May...and usually this would be a good thing for people(and it is for me in a sense, because I was getting a little chubby back there) but my clothes are starting to hang, and this is NOT a good thing.
On Friday I don't really remember what I did....obviously nothing too exciting. I think I started to tidy/organise my room. Saturday I just cleaned the apartment and my room. It was a nice day off and on....that night Jenn had a bunch of us over for some pre-drink and then we went to the club (Salle des Coffres). It was a fun night....the funniest part I think was when we went to the washroom and some chick came up to Becca to tell her that the ass of her pants had split. It was quite funny. We all(3 of us) piled into the toilet to try and fix the damage. It was pretty bad. The seam had split all the way to her crotch. I had a god laugh as we tried to safety pin them together. Late night again....we didn't get there till about 1h15 and left around 3h30. It was fun, though someone burnt me with a cigarette.
Sunday was a beautiful day!!! I had work to do and needed to wash my sheets. So I ended up sitting on the balcony all afternoon enjoying the sun and tried to work (while my stuff was drying). It was a good day.
My classes this week have been going really well, for the most part. That is a great thing. I had yesterday off so I rode around on my bike doing errands. I had to go get my stuff done for my "carte vitale" (health card) and then to pick up forms for housing aid(hope I can get some help) and some other errands. I love being able to ride around on my bike. Tomorrow I have the day off also, maybe I'll go for a more "pleasure" ride opposed to just riding to town and school. We'll see. I have a few things I want to do tomorrow.
I don't have too much planned for this weekend. Friday night we are going out to celebrate Liz's birthday. Saturday I would like to go to Bale (Basel) but they are calling for rain. Not very good. We'll see what happens.
The holidays are getting closer, just over 2 weeks....time seems to be flying by.....and then I will be heading to La Chatre. Should be good!!
I have been doing really good with my money which I'm excited about, even though I have done some shopping. I am trying to save for my ticket for April....it will be all good.
Well, I think that's all for now....wanted to add a photo, but its not working...grrr

Interesting train ride...

2006-10-02T01:29:00.000-05:00

Sunday October 1, 2006 16h48
Well, I’m on the train right now on my way home from Bernard’s. Our train is an hour late now due to the fact that someone on the train had a heart attack and died. That really screwed things up for me. (Sounds mean, but it’s true). I will miss my connexion in Paris and have to wait for the next train, which I pray I do not miss. Already I am supposed to get into Mulhouse at 22h40 and now won’t be there till about an hour later at the earliest. I don’t want to pay to take a cab home, the tram is good enough for me provided it is still running at the hour I arrive.
I had a good weekend in La Chatre. I arrived on Thursday night and Bernard picked me up from the station. We didn’t do anything that night as he had to work the next morning. On Friday I went to the high school to see people and join for lunch. I met the new assistant and she seems sweet. We did a bunch of things around town that she needed to do and then we went to Manolas for “gouter” at 16h00, and we brought the cakes from the shop. MMMMM….so good. That night Bernard and I picked up Nicole and we went to the London’s club. The night was pretty good. Stayed out fairly late. I think Nicole enjoyed herself. Saturday was such a lazy day, though I think well needed by both Bernard and I. We went and picked up some food from his parents around lunch and then we decided to watch some Simpsons, though both of us fell asleep. We ended up sleeping for a couple hours. That night we went to his sisters place, and I brought some candies for his nieces. Then we went to some friends of Bernards place as they just moved. We ended up staying there pretty late. It was alright, though not exactly what I would have chose to do that night. Their daughter is super cute. All his friends kids are adorable.
Today we didn’t do much as I needed to get a few things prepped for classes and I had to catch the train. Late as usual though I didn’t miss the train. Next time I am going to be prepared well in advance. Especially leaving Mulhouse. I am very bad at being late(except for classes).
I am in the train and there is this girl that keeps looking at me, maybe because I am on my laptop, I don’t know, but it is annoying.
Only 26 days till the holidays now. YIPEE!!!! I will be going to La Chatre for atleast part of them, though I don’t know what I will do for the second part. I have one week, well 9 days. And then 7 weeks of class till the next set of holidays. Haha….like I’m counting already.
Well, I am going to leave it at this for now, Cheers

Bike

2006-09-28T07:35:00.000-05:00

I'm going to get a bike from one of the teachers....then I can get to school even faster than on my two LITTLE feet!!!! Yipee!!!!

Busy busy

2006-09-26T17:39:00.001-05:00

Well, I am just sitting in my office before going home. I realised I should probably go do my photocopying for tomorrow morning so that I don't have to come in early to do it. That would be a smart idea. The week is almost over!!! Yipee! I have a long day tomorrow, 8 hours, though I think we will watch a movie in my last class. I really need to get myself a little more organised. I have 4 hours on Thursday morning and then I will be hopping on a train to Chateauroux. I will be in La Chatre for the weekend visiting Bernard. I am so excited!!!
My classes are going fairly well, though it is surprising how things can work great for one class but not the other ones. It is actually a little annoying. Haha. Oh well, each group makes the activity a little different so it is not completely repetitive. Some of the student are really nice and some are really keen to work. There are others who show no interest in class and I would rather them not be there. It's not like they talk or anything(and this is for a participation mark).
This past weekend we went to Colmar on Saturday. There were 6 of us. It is 30minutes north of here. It was a very pretty little city. They supposedly have great Christmas markets there so I will have to go back. We also went to another little town....name....I cant write...hehe
At night we went out to a bar for drinks and then a few of us decided to go to a club. Some people have said this club is crap, but we had a good time there. Jenn and I ended up staying until about 3:30 before walking home. It cost us 9euros to get in(this included 1 drink) + 2euros for coatcheck, and you still have to check your purse. I really dont like that here.
It was a pretty decent weekend. Finally we got out and did something. I am really looking forward to this weekend though and the 1 month countdown to the holidays will start. I can't believe we are going to be on holidays in 4.5 weeks.
Work has been a huge change from last year(atleast for now). I barely have any time to myself. By the time I get home all I do is eat dinner, relax and get ready for the next day, then bed. Pretty sad. haha. It's keeping me busy.
I have been up and down lately here. It's been hard a little especially with my roomate. It's not that we don't get along, but I just feel she is not very social. I don't know. It's not like at uni when I lived with people. I miss the fun times we had just being around the house. It's almost like I would prefer to live on my own. It's almost like living on my own I feel. I just miss having someone that cares about me around me whenever I want(if that makes sense).
I am going to meet the new assistant in La Chatre this Friday. I am also going to eat lunch with Remi at the school. Hope all goes well on my little trip.
Anyway, I better get photocopying...I don't want to be here all night.
Cheers

I'm still alive

2006-09-22T17:27:00.000-05:00

Well, I have not been very good at updating this. I still don't have internet at home, though I do now have it set up in my office with my laptop. It is 18h22 and I am finally done classes for the week. I worked 26 hours, which is very tiring when these kids are staring at you like they have no clue what you are saying and they are not saying a word. It's repetitive.
So I have only worked for 2 weeks now and it's going alright, though I am questioning how I am going to come up with enough lessons (2 hour classes) and keep the students interested. That is the biggest challenge. Doing something that interests the students. I am sure I will eventually figure it out. Hopefully that will happen sooner than later.
I went and got things sorted out for my Carte de Sejour(residence/work permit). My room is a disaster....need to get more organised. I need a bookshelf...that is what I really need to get things sorted. Maybe I will get to that this weekend. I am going to go to Colmar tomorrow which is a city not too far from here with some other English people. Yes, I know...they are English. I need to meet some Frenchies, though it's not that easy. I'm trying to work on it, but I have only been here for 2 weeks, in Mulhouse. Next weekend I will be going to see Bernard. I am leaving on Thursday after my classes on the train....yipee to long train rides(haha). Maybe I will do some work on the train....if I'm good. I can't wait to go. It will be a good weekend I hope. On Friday I will meet the new assistant in La Chatre and I will have lunch with Remi and maybe some other teachers. I am looking forward to seeing some friends that know me.
Things are different here, and maybe I am forgetting how things were at the beginning when I was in La Chatre, but I like to think of the good things. I am not used to living with someone I don't know and not hanging out with the person I live with. It's a change that I just have to get used to and maybe things will change over time. We will see.
I wanted to sign up for French classes but they are only offered on Saturday mornings and you have to sign up for 12 weeks. I can't do that....I would love to, but I know I would miss too many to make it worth my money. Shitty. I have to call a woman about tutoring her child in English. It will have to wait for a bit, but I don't see why not, I could make 20euros an hour.
I have a week holidays at the end of October(Toussaint) which will be a great break, and then after that my schedule is fairly light until Christmas. Yipee! I have tentative plans for the Toussaint holidays but they will be firmed up soon.
Anyway, I am going to go, I need to do a few things before heading home seeing as I have no internet at home. Take care, Chat soon

1 week down

2006-09-16T12:22:00.000-05:00

September 16, 2006 00h47
Well once again in my bed. I am going to head to bed but I thought I would write a quick blog because I want to go to use the internet tomorrow. Hopefully it will not be too long till we get it at home. I got Bernard to help me set it up the other night so I am really hoping it only takes about a week, but you never know here. I am going to try at the school on Monday so atleast I will have a little bit of something, though I really wish I had it this weekend because I need to prep for some lessons this weekend for Monday. I am feeling a little better tonight. I was feeling really crap last night. Sad and depressed and alone. Talking to my mom last night was great though. Nice to have some home. This morning I was still feeling down, but tonight I am feeling better. Bernard is such a sweetheart and really knows how to put a smile on my face.
Tonight I really needed to get out and Jennifer wanted to go to this thing for the 100th anniversary of the Dreyfus Affair, so I went with her and though I can’t say I really paid much attention as my mind was elsewhere for the most part, it was good to get out. Tomorrow I have some errands to run and I have to prep for my classes.
Today I had only 3 kids show up for my class from 16h00 - 18h00. That sucks….what usually takes 2 hours only took about 50 minutes. That made for a challenge. Oh well.
Anyway, I think I will crash now. Cheers

September 16, 2006 16h51
Well, I am just about to head out to use the net and run a few errands. I am feeling quite a bit better today. This morning I was still feeling a little down, but I am feeling good now. Things are going to all be alright. Tonight I think we are having the other lectrices over and then maybe heading out, we’ll see how the night goes though. I need to pick up some drink on my way back from town. I still need to get some things for my room as there is some stuff just scattered all over the floor, but it is coming together and will all be great. Anyway, talk to you all soon.

Finally an update

2006-09-14T11:34:00.000-05:00

Monday September 11th 1:21am
Well, as I have been sitting on my computer for quite some time now rearranging photos I thought that I would start typing a quick blog before my battery dies.
There is a storm right now so I get to see a bit of a lightening show. I should be sleeping now. I have a busy day tomorrow including grocery shopping first thing in the morning. It better not be raining.
I got to Mulhouse last, after a long journey from La Chatre. It wasn’t as long as it could have been as Bernard drove me to Riom (near Clermont Ferrand)…lucky for me I have a sweetie boyfriend.
Anyway, what I have been doing the past two weeks….
I arrived on the 29th of August and Bernard was waiting for me at the airport. I was so happy to see him. We went out for lunch and wanted to do a little walk in Paris but the weather was crappy and it was raining, so it ended up being a car tour. Can’t win’em all I guess.
We got back to La Chatre that night….I was exhausted. The next morning I was feeling a little sick and stayed in bed till about 14h30, then got my ass in gear to run a few errands. We were leaving the following day for holidays. Stopped in at the London’s Club (local bar I frequented often) said hello to Francky and Rod.
Thursday morning….off to the “Pays Basque”

Thursday September 14th 16h29
Well, my battery died and therefore I had to stop writing, plus I was tired.
I really need to get on the internet, I hate not having it at home. Hopefully we will have it soon enough.
Anyway, back to my holidays…We went to Capbreton in the Pays Basque. We stayed at an upscale camping place. There were brick bases and the tents over them with beds. I’ll try and post a picture.
We were there for a week. Our tent was about 5minutes walk to the beach. We just had to cross the parking lot and go over the dune. At night all you would hear was the waves. It was very relaxing.
I got a nice sunburn one day….not unlike me. I was sure to pile on the sun cream after that. We did go up a couple mountains. One day we went up the Rhune (spelling….I’m to lazy to verify) on a little train. It was 905metres high. Wild horses and sheep all over. We also went hiking around another. We found a neat little lake between them. We went to San Sebastian(Spain) for an evening as it wasn’t very far. We also saw Biarritz. It was a great week.
We went back to La Chatre on the Thursday. I got to see a few friends and went to the school to see all the teachers. Saturday I headed out to Mulhouse. Nice long train ride….Bernard drove me to Riom which is just outside Clermont Ferrand.

My arrival here was alright. Heather picked me up from the station and brought me here which was very nice and appreciated a lot. Sunday I didn’t get up to too much especially since most things aren’t open. I met with Claude(prof) on Monday and I started my classes on Tuesday. I have taught 3 of my own classes (2hours each) and 1 class at the Chemistry school for extra hours. I have one more at the Chem school tomorrow and more of my own. I have my schedule all the way till Christmas almost. I work a lot between now and the first of November but after that it’s fairly light. There is also someone that is looking for a English tutor so that would be good, make about 20 euros / hour. Who knows.

I am pretty exhausted right now. I have been feeling a little lonely here in Mulhouse. Sure there are other lectrices, but I just don’t feel like it is the same as it was with the other assistants last year. I don’t know. I just feel down and a little sad. I hope that will change soon.

Well, I miss everyone at home. I am going to go use the internet and hopefully post this message. As well, I need to go to the grocery store.
I’m off, cheers!

Arrived

2006-08-30T12:04:00.000-05:00

Well, I have made it. I tried posting yesterday but it wouldnt work. I arrived in Paris ontime yesterday at 10:00am and Bernard was there waiting for me. We spent a couple hours in Paris but it was raining. I didnt sleep much on the plane which was annoying. Oh well, I am in La Chatre now and tomorrow Bernard and I are headed to Capbreton along the Atlantic coast for vacation then to Mulhouse for me. Anyway I'll write soon.
Cheers

Arrived

2006-08-29T15:09:00.000-05:00

Well, just a quick message to say that I made it here alright. The flight was good and Bernard was waiting for me at the airport when I came out. So great to see him. We spent a couple hours in Paris although the weather was rainy, and now we are in La Chatre. I have a few things in town that I need to do. I will post again soon.
Cheers

The big day...

2006-08-28T07:50:00.000-05:00

Well, I had started writing on Friday but got side tracked and never ended up finishing.
Today is the day! I am leaving for France tonight. I have been excited for this day for quite sometime and I wake up feeling a little nervous. That is weird. I am going to miss my family, but I am so happy that I am going to see Bernard. It has been so long and I have missed him so much.
This week has gone by really quickly. I thought it was going to drag on because I was anxious to go to France, but I was wrong. I spent some time with the family, pizza and wings with my mom. Went out on Wednesday for dinner to the Olive Garden with Darcie and some customs girls and then to a bar in Fort Erie. It was fun to hang out with Darcie like old times. Thursday went to my grandmas for the night and friday golfed with my mom and dad. Got to see my sister and brother in law this weekend as well as the grandparents.

This weekend has been up and down, a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. I am so looking forward to being back in France and seeing Bernard, but the "leaving my family" bit sucks. It's not usually a big problem once I am there and settled (sure I have my moments) but we are all living our own lives and mine is just there. It will all work out.
I have some things to finish packing and I need to get myself all cleaned up. Of course I want to look atleast half decent when I get to see my Frenchman. :)
I better get my ass in gear, already 9h00 and I still have to visit a few people on my way to the airport today....talk about last minute. Hahah

What a weekend.....8 days....

2006-08-20T21:53:00.000-05:00

The weekend is over, though I don't have to go into work tomorrow. I finished work on Friday...what a great feeling. To end it off we had a staff party. After work ended I floated out of the office with the biggest smile on my face. My job was finally done! A few of us went out for dinner and then back to Sarah's. The pre-party began at her place, and the megaphone that we happened to "borrow" from CIC(work) made the evening that much more amusing. Sarah's apartment is on the 12th floor(top) and faces onto another apartment building. Some heckling may have been done to the other building as well as to those friends coming to the apartment. From there we went to Angelas place where the real party was to happen. There were lots of jello shooters (with whipcream) and lots of food. It was a really fun night with everyone there. The buggy races down the street were quite funny also, though the cops that drove by later questioning about them, probably would not have found that amusing. Sarah and I didn't stay out too late, but we had a great time! Definitely a great way to finish off a summer job.
Yesterday I met up with Randy to hang out and we went to Mossimos to grab some pizza and wings(mmm...so good). It was a nice chill afternoon/evening, though the waitress there was a little off. She was just a bizarre woman and needs to tone it down a few notches. Randy was up at the bar for something and the woman comes over to me and asks me what we were doing later on that night (can't people go out for dinner as just friends...come one). Then she told me that "Failure to Launch" had just come out and it's a great movie...."just a suggestion" she says. Thank you lady, but 1) we're not on a date 2) I have a boyfriend and 3) mind your own business.
I went to Darcies last night. She worked till 10 so I headed over there to meet up after for a little bit of pre-drink before going to the Palmwood(bar). She had a friend, someone from work, over whom I had never met. When I saw who it was I knew exactly who she was and thought things may have been a little wierd. She dated(past tense) Mike this summer. Anyway, it turned out that her and I got a long great!! She is a sweetheart and I really wish she would have been around last summer because I think she would have been fun. Anyway, back to the night. Bryce picked us up around midnight, along with Dustin. We headed to the bar where we ended up seeing everyone from Customs(where I worked last year). It was quite the night...could have probably done with one less drink, but that doesn't matter. I had a blast. Ran into Mike, and I think I made an idiot out of myself, but I think I was the bigger person and actually went and talked to him, though I didn't really need to do. After the bar closed, the three of us girls and a few guys went back to someones parents beach house. I was way to drunk and just sat around and then passed out on some bed. We didn't end up leaving there till about 6, as I saw someone leaving for his 6 am shift. Quite funny. We got a ride home and for some reason I took Darcies key and went in first. I thought she was following, and I went straight to my bed and passed out. Her dad came down in the morning and said she wasn't there. I was so confused because she came home with me....though she didn't end up getting out of the car and left and stayed somewhere else. Random....but she showed up not long after I got up...haha. Great night!

Well, there are only 8 days left until departure. It's unbelieveable how fast time has flown by this summer. I am really looking forward to going back to France. I am going to miss my family but I've got something good over in France. Also, I enjoy a slower paced more laid back environment. It's going to be a change for me living in the city and not having my small town life in La Chatre, though I am sure I will spend my share of time there :)
I'm off for now....the countdown continues...lots to do

Two different countdowns....4 days OR 2 weeks....

2006-08-14T12:42:00.000-05:00

Well, the weekend is over and the work countdown is really on.
4 days of work left....I can't wait to be done work.
2 weeks till I leave for France...I can't wait to go to France.
This weekend we had our company from Italy come. They arrived on Saturday night around 7pm and we had a nice BBQ with the family and Alberto and Roberta. They were super sweet and wonderful house guests and I look forward to seeing them again. They have invited me(and Bernard) to visit them in Treviso which is 30km from Venice. Saturday night was a great evening talking about travels and our lives like we have all known each other for years. It was a great experience and I look forward to the next one.
The countdown continues.......

Countdown is ON!

2006-08-11T11:02:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been quite some time since I have posted. Like my title says...the countdown is on....and it is 17 days till I fly to France and 18 till my arrival. I can't believe it. Where has the summer gone. I know some people will say I have been counting down since I got home....maybe I have :)
I don't know what I have been upto in the past couple weeks really other than work...last weekend was a long weekend and I met up with a couple friends(Marilyn and Rachael) for lunch. Nice to see old friends. I also got to go golfing with the folks on Monday. Nice relaxing weekend.
This weekend we are having company. I am hosting a cute little Italian couple. They are only staying for one night. It's like the couchsurfing deal, though it is the hospitality club. I can't wait to have people come and stay with my family and I. It will be fun.
My sister is coming tomorrow as Rich has to work in Niagara. It will be a pretty relaxing weekend I think. I am going to try and enjoy the weather and hopefully get ready for going back to France!!!
I am anxious to get to a less stressful place. I find that I have been so much more stressed here. France was a lot more laid back. Relaxing. I can't wait to get back to that and even more so to get back and see my wonderful boyfriend!!! Saying I miss him doesn't really reflect how much I do. I can't believe that it has been almost 3 months since I have been home...that is crazyness.
I finish work in a week, then I'll have 10 days to get alll ready and see family and friends before heading out for another year on a journey of a lifetime....I'm sure that this next year is going to be a lot different than my last one.
I'm off for now as I should do a little work.
Cheers

The good, the bad and the ugly.

2006-07-25T20:31:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been a couple weeks. I don't even know where to begin.
I have been working lots of hours the past few weeks. I worked 12 days straight and was pretty beat after it. I have got to see some of the kids around the school which I love. They are all just really sweet and I wish I got to spend more time with them. Last Tuesday there was a Much Video Dance Party for the students. It was pretty hilarious. I wish I would have had my camera. I saw a few of the girls and got to sign their tshirts. They are so sweet.
Other than the kids, work has been pretty shit lately. It's stressful. I don't remember the last time I had so much stress in my life. I do not like it and it does NOT like me. Work has really just been the worst possible especially today when my file just mysteriously disappeared off the computer. I just about lost it....ok, I think I did lose part of it. If I could count how many breakdowns I've had or how many times I have wanted to quit or how I feel like I have personally gone backwards instead of forwards.
This past weekend I went to Darcie's on Friday night! Oh how I miss last summer. It was super nice to see her. I got to see a few people from Customs which was nice after so long. I saw Mike, and I really have mixed feelings about seeing him. I just feel hurt that he has not made any effort to talk to me let alone see me. His friendship was important to me and I feel like it just got thrown in the garbage. I guess I am just disappointed. Only so much I can do though. I ended up getting quite drunk resulting in Saturday being spent on the couch. It worked out for the best as it was a drizzley rainy day out.
Sunday we had a wedding shower at my house for a family friend. It was nice to see all these people again. It's been almost 2 years since I saw a lot of them.
Thank goodness for telephones and internet....I have been able to talk to Bernard quite a bit. Well, almost everyday whether on the phone, email or msn. It's pretty great. He is just such a sweetheart and genuinely nice. I miss him!
I am going to get my visa on Thursday, or TRY and get my visa I should say as Becca, my roomie for next year said she had lots of trouble at the consulate in Chicago. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Who knows what I will do this weekend. I think getting together with Rachael which would be nice. Well, I should get to bed shortly as I have been exhausted every day.
Cheers

Ugh...but I love those Chinese Kids

2006-07-10T20:41:00.000-05:00

Well tomorrow will be day 9 of work. I have been working quite a bit of overtime this past week and a half and i'm not too happy about it all. That is going to change.
I did go to Toronto as a chaperone on Saturday. That was fun. I hung out with a ton of little Chinese kids. I was the only white person and the only female on a bus full of Chinese kids and their group leaders. Quite funny. The kids were adorable. I have never had so many pictures taken of myself in one day. Haha. They were really cute and friendly. One of the little boys "Sam" gave me a little give. So sweet. On the bus ride home I sat and talked to another boy, "Rich" aka Wong Hong Su (if I didn't make a mistake - and that is last name first). They were all super sweet though.

This is Sam!!!

All the girls I posed with individually!

One of the boys selling "Yo-Yo" strings out of his bag on the trip. Hahaha!

Anyway, on to other things. My countdown is still on....7weeks. Maybe some people think this is a bad thing that I am counting down like this, but I feel as there is not a huge reason for me to want to stay besides my family. It's sad to say that, but that is how I feel at the moment. I am looking forward to going back. I can't wait to see Bernard, though I love being able to talk on the phone with him. It's funny because I could talk to him for so long and not even notice the time go by. Like tonight, we talked for over an hour and neither of us realised. I miss him.

I am looking forward to the rest of the summer and I am planning to make the most of it. Enjoy it to the fullest and hang out with people here!! I want to enjoy all of them while I can because I know i will miss them when I'm gone.

Well, not much going on in my life here, so I'll sign off here. Cheers!

yep....

2006-07-02T21:18:00.000-05:00

Well, once a week seems pretty good for posting. I mean, it's not like my life is as exciting here at home as it was in Europe. I don't get upto as much here, which can be a good and a bad thing. The long weekend is over...3 days off now I need to get back to work.
I had a good weekend. Friday during the day I didnt get upto much but went out with a friend to the falls for a couple drinks. It was nice to get out and just chill instead of sitting at home thinking about the boyfriend. I miss him like crazy and can't wait to see him again. I am counting down the days and I know they are going to fly by.
Anyway, back to my weekend. On Saturday I headed up to my sisters in Oakville and we headed to Toronto for the Canada Day Jam, Country concert. It was in a park right along Lake Ontario and hotter than anything. We had our bikini tops on put our blanket down on the beach and enjoyed the afternoon. We got rained on later in the evening when Paul Brandt was playing but it was a good day. I came home today and didn't do too much. I did tan for a little bit because it was a beautiful day though toooo hot.
Well, that's all for now....

Fun times....old friends....new friends

2006-06-25T18:48:00.000-05:00

Well, the week went more or less well at work. A few little bumps but it's all good. Looking forward to having a 4 day work week this week. Still need to find something to do for the long weekend. We'll see what happens...hopefully find something fun!
Yesterday was Julie Wiens' wedding. I went with Rachael as her date because Shaun couldn't make it. I had a blast! We hung out with a few people from Crossley(highschool) all night. I hadn't seen some of those people in like 8 years. hahah!
I ended up getting pretty drunk, Randy was my drinking buddy as Rach couldn't drink. Hey, I had a designated driver. I had to have a time out during dinner because I had drank a little tooo much but after a few bottles of much needed water I was ready to go again. Back to drinking and back to dancing. It was so much fun!!! Rachael ended up driving me Randy and Andrew home. We all had a blast and I am looking forward to seeing them all again soon. Misha's mom was great!!! Had fun dancing with her!
Ready for a new week....I hope all goes smoothly at work this week.

Another weekend.....

2006-06-18T11:24:00.000-05:00

Well, the weekend is almost over....it was a busy one so far. Nice to keep busy and spend time with family. Friday night Lindsay and Rich came down for dinner and the weekend. Then yesterday we had a garage sale. It didn't go as well as mom had planned so it looks like she will be doing it again next weekend. It was an early morning and a long hot day. We went over to some friends after for a swim and to relax, ended up staying and having a little barbecue. It was fun to hang out there and we had some good laughs. Although I lost track of time and ended up getting home later than planned. I hate this stupid 6 hour time difference. J'en ai marre. Trying to figure out when to book my flight....it's looking like it will be on August 27th from Toronto and get in on the 28th in Paris. That's only 10weeks away. No, I'm not counting at all.... :) I dont know, it has just been a little hard in some ways since being home. For one, those so called friends that dont make an effort and just feeling like this isn't even home any more because of that. I know I will miss my family when I go back, but hey, they are like me...always travelling. Well, not Linds and Rich due to jobs but the folks.
Well, I'm off for now!! Cheers, take it easy everyone

Flying by...

2006-06-14T20:48:00.000-05:00

Well, this week seems to be flying by. Wednesday is already done. Youpi! I had a good weekend. After work on Friday I headed up to Toronto(Richmond Hill to be exact) to see Ashlie. Hadn't seen her in ages. I spent the weekend up there. It was a good weekend and nice to see friends. I got home on Sunday and got to go out for lunch with Rachael. Great to see her. Overall a great weekend. Still waiting to hear from a couple other friends that I would love to see......
Work is going well. It will start getting busier soon. People in France seem to already be receiving my mail which is great. That was really quick seeing as I mailed stuff late last Tuesday night. This weekend is fathers day, Sunday...we are celebrating on Friday night, Lindsay and Rich are coming down. It should be a fun night. I am really looking forward to it. Also on Saturday we are having a garage sale. Big fun. Hehe.
My dad has been working on my computer lately which I am grateful for. I hope that he can figure it out because I spent way to many hours on there trying. I just got fed up.
I have been doing great with my bike riding, I am definitely proud of myself. Lets see what I have to say in 1 month. Hopefully I will be in shape.
Well, I guess that is all for now. Still thinking about everyone over in France!!! Miss everyone.

Taking care of myself

2006-06-08T21:16:00.000-05:00

Well, things are going pretty well here. Still have not seen anyone which sounds really sad. I feel like it makes my life seem a little sad but oh well. I am not sad. I am fairly happy. I started work yesterday. The first tink I will enjoy my summer at CIC. I know it will get tedious and stressful but I will enjoy it. I am going to devote myself to this job and doing it well. The only downside to the job is being able to talk to a certain person in a certain country due to time change (damn you 6 hour difference).
I have also decided that this summer is going to be about me (ok, not in a selfish way and not only about me) . I am going to take care of myself(get in shape and make sure I feel good etc). I have finally got my ass in gear and started riding my bike though I think my next investment will be one of those gel seats for my bike. It's a little hard on the bum and I really should get a helmet before I have another biking accident (oops...wasn't going to mention that on here).
Well, I am starting to feel good. Not that I didn't before. I am happy. I feel relaxed, calm and comfortable with myself and my life.
Alright, enough. Cheers!

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY

2006-06-04T23:51:00.000-05:00

Well, you read it. I'm happy! It's nice to be home and see the family. I do really enjoy spending time with them so it is great to be able to. Thought it is a change and I do miss my life in France. It's funny, I have not seen a single friend since I have been home, and it has been 2 weeks. I don't know why but it really hasn't bothered me as much as it would have use to in the past. I have talked to Bernard the most out of anyone(not including the folks obviously) since being home and he is 6000km away(I am not complaining whatsoever, wish we could actally talk more, but the 6 hour time difference makes things difficult). I am so happy that we are able to keep in touch because I miss him tons and look forward to going back to France at the end of the summer . After talking to a few people here and comparing things a bit to Europe I realise that North Americans don't really have the "community" drive in them. I don't know, maybe it is just me but I feel that everyone seems to be so worried about themselves(either as one or as a couple) that they don't spend much time going out and being with friends(maybe this has more to do with couples though I don't think so). Why can't everyone hang out together, single people and couples and people not feel like a third wheel. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong or maybe I don't know how to explain this well but anyway, it's not that big of a deal.
Had a nice weekend in Oakville at my Lindsay & Rich's place. Nice to get away from Fenwick for a bit and get a change of scenery. Looking forward to starting work on Wednesday and getting busier not only with work but doing things and getting together with some friends.
Take it easy everyone

Photo of ME

2006-06-04T23:23:00.000-05:00

On of the last weeks in France....i like this photo. So Happy!

Back into the swing

2006-06-01T09:57:00.000-05:00

Well, I seem to be getting settled back into the swing of things here. It feels like I have been home for quite awhile though it really is only been 12 days. I'm sure that the summer is going to fly by once I get working. Speaking of work, we had a 2 day training up at Bark Lake which is near Haliburton (about 3 hours north of Hamitlon). It was a lot of fun. We left Tuesday morning and got back last night. I met lots of fun people that are going to be working at CIC(Columbia International College) also. Most of them I wont be directly working with as I have an office job but we had a blast. The bus ride was hot and long on the yellow school bus but it was beautiful up there. We got to go swimming and canoeing which was tons of fun. We had a campfire and roasted marshmallows as well as banana boats. I got tooooo maany mosquito bites though. I can't wait to start work which should be on Monday.
The weather has been hot the past few days. Monday it was 35 C or so, which was way too hot. It's cooled off a little but doesnt look like they are calling for anything under 20 which is nice to know. The weekend is almost here. Not sure what I will get up to. Might go visit some friends but who knows, may wait till next weekend. Well, not much going on in my exciting life here. Take it easy everyone.

almost a week...

2006-05-26T22:15:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been almost been a week since I have been home and things are more or less back to normal. Ok, back to the way I left them, more or less. I have not spoken to a lot of my friends nor seen a lot of them. It's not the same here. My friends are not close and everyone seems to have a busy life. I am actually looking forward to starting work next week. I am excited to get doing something. I miss my life in France. People here are always so rushed. It's like you cant take the extra time to enjoy your meal. I keep forgetting that things are open past 19h/19h30 and that stores are open during lunch hour. It's different. Food seems to taste more bland, not enough zip to it. I guess you get use to it. It's just a change. I love seeing my family but my life overseas is missed. I wish I could live there and only have to travel an hour to visit my family. That would be the perfect set up. I have talked to a Bernard and a couple other friends in France since being home. I wish it was easier to be in touch, but with different schedules and the time change it makes things difficult. Today I was in the car and all I wanted to do was send an SMS. Two problems, I didnt have a cell phone and they don't always work internationally. I should write an email instead but that will just make me miss more.
I am getting my haircut with my sister tomorrow. Maybe i'll post a picture of the new me after.
Alright, that is all for now. Not much more going on here. Ciao!

Good to grumpy

2006-05-21T11:23:00.000-05:00

Well, here I am in Canada at home. Sure there are things that are good. Though there are things that are crap. For example, I have a car - GREAT. I can't drive it for a couple reasons: dont have the piece of plastic saying I have my license and I need a battery that works - CRAP!
Yes I may be a little grumpy at the moment but I can't help it. There is no grocery store within walking distance to go and get what I want and I'm hungry.
Sure it is nice and peaceful here in Fenwick but I want to go to the store.

Arrivée au Canada

2006-05-21T08:33:00.000-05:00

Bon, je suis bien arrivée hier soir au Canada et je suis rentrée chez mes parents. Pour commencer, j'ai du mal avec le clavier anglais. En avion, avant d'arriver, j'ai regardé par la fenêtre. Les grands rues....les grands centres commercials.....et j'ai soupiré. Oui, il y a des choses qui m'ont beaucoup manqué en France(les horaires d'ouverture...etc) mais il y a des choses qui m'ont pas manqué de tout. Dans le parking, la première chose que j'ai remarqué était la taille des voitures, comment elles sont grandes.
Je suis contente de voir ma famille. Le dîner était délicieux, un grand STEAK (épais), salade, maïs en épis et pain à l'ail. Pour le dessert "cheesecake" gelé, goût du moka. Mon beau frère était là, mais pas ma soeur. On a bien rigolé à la table ensemble(comme toujours). C'était super d'avoir ça. J'adore la maison et surtout le terrain.
MAIS, la France me manque déjà. Ou, peut-être ce n'est que ma vie là-bas. La vie que j'ai vécu pendant les 8 derniers mois. De toute façon, ça me manque. Les gens me manquent. Vous savez qui vous êtes.
J'ai passé une année super. Je veux vous remercier encore pour ça, parce que c'est grâce à vous. Merci et à bientôt

The End...For now

2006-05-18T10:19:00.000-05:00

Bloody hell....pardon my language but I had written a post and the computer messed up...gone!

Well, I am sitting here in the staffroom for the last time. I am at the school for the last time to say some goodbyes and to do a last look over of my room and hand in my keys. I can't believe its the end. I am sad. Tonight and tomorrow are going to be the hardest. Going to Paris tonight, staying in a hotel near the airport. It will be lonely and sad I think.

This week has flown by as I thought it would. I spent quite a bit of time with Bernard and went to Tours with Lucy and Caitlin Tuesday night and then to Amboise on Wednesday. I finished packing up yesterday and met up with Stephanie for a drink and last rounds of darts at the London Club. Said goodbye to Franky and Rod. I had many good times at this bar. :) I also met up with Sophal to say goodbye then spent my last night with Bernard. Today I am heading into the city before taking the train to Paris. I will meet briefly with Lucy and Caitlin then meet with Bernard. I cant miss the bus. I dont have much to take with me as its in Bernards car now. Thankfully. I am not looking forward to the 2 hour train ride. I am sad and sitting alone lets my mind think to much and that will make me more sad. Carrying all my bags through Paris is going to suck. I have to take the metro then the RER (train) to the airport then take a navette(shuttle) to the hotel. Not going to be fun with all my bags. It is less than when i came, but it will still not be fun.

Well, the year has come to an end sooner than I would have liked. To all those over here that read this; thank you for everything. Thank you for making this year great for me. Thank you for welcoming me and making my stay enjoyable. You have each touched me in a different way and made this experience special and more than I could have asked for. I am grateful for everything thing and everyone of you. Thank you!!! I will miss you and I will be back to see you!!! :) Promise

Last week here...

2006-05-15T10:33:00.000-05:00

Well, where did I leave off. It was the end of the holidays. That Saturday night I was supposed to go out with Stephanie and she made me angry. She said 21h30 or 21h45 she would be ready to go out and then at 20h she sent me a text saying there was something on tv she wanted to watch till about 23h. The reason it made me really angry was that she changed her mind the friday night and didnt want to go out. If I would have known it was going to be like that I would have gone away for the weekend. Oh well! We went to Bourges on the Sunday. We saw some concerts outside in the street. It was a nice festival atmosphere. We took 2 trains and a bus to get there and were supposed to do the same home. Well, we got back to Chateauroux at 20h30 and there is normally a bus at 20h45. Waiting....waiting....waiting! NO BUS!!! We werent the only 2. There was some other dude there waiting. He wasn't going nearly as far as us, lucky for him. We didnt really know what to do so decided we would head to the outskirts of the city and try hitchhiking. On our way the guy told us he had a friend coming to pick him up and maybe he could give us a ride. He got there and had no seats in the back. We climbed in and lied down. He was going to advance us a bit to his town. Halfway he said he'd stop at his and get the seats then drive us to La Chatre. It was really sweet of him. It was quite the adventure. I dont really remember what I did during the week, but that Friday I met up with Bernard for lunch in the city and Lucy for a drink before heading to Tours to meet up with a friend(Gresko). We hadn't seen each other in a year, and it takes being in France for us to meet up. Quite funny. It was a nice night, finally got to meet Thomas. We went out for a drink at some patio(a huge square) as the weather was decent. Now I remember what I did all week. I spent the afternoons down by the river trying to tan a little as the weather was beautiful around 23-25°C. The Saturday I headed home and that night was the celebration for the birthday of Lise. We went to a bar/restaurant, had a huge meal, apps, entrée, cheese and dessert. I didnt dance, but had a good laugh at those that did.
On the Tuesday I headed out to Mulhouse. It was a long day of travel, in total about 10hours. Had to wait in Chateauroux after the bus then change stations in Paris. Claude, the prof from Mulhouse met me at the station. I stayed at his place till Friday. Him and his wife are very sweet. I had a nice stay and met some people(working there now and frenchies). It was a nice stay. Checked out a couple apartments, though still not sure.
I got back to La Chatre Friday. Met up with Bernard then went to the London's Club to meet Steffi and Laurent. The usual a few drinks and some darts. Saturday I went for a tour of the region with Manola. It was a fun day, although not the best weather. We did manage to avoid the rain for the most part. When we were at the Tabac (corner store) I was waiting for Manola by myself and some guy came over and started chatting with me. Wierdo! haha. We ended at her place where I helped her with some computer stuff and ate cake from the pastry shop. MMM. I headed to a restaurant with Bernard and some friends for dinner and then to the London to meet up with Stephanie. Slow start for me as I was tired but it was a fun last weekend there(at the London that is). I had taken a cream egg to Franky, the owner as he hadnt stopped talking about it. We had a nice night and some good chats. Played darts like usual, and got a sticker and coaster from the bar for souvenirs. Yesterday Bernard and I took care of his niece went to a garage sale type thing and for a hike. Then to some friends for cocktail hour which turned into dinner also. The weather is nice here, not sure why I am sitting inside on the computer but oh well, update. Heading to the city tomorrow to meet up with Lucy and Caitlin.
This week is going to fly by. I am heading to Paris on Friday as my flight is Saturday morning. This time Saturday I will be in Fenwick, I think...atleast in Canada. I'm off for now, Cheers!

Catch up time!

2006-04-29T11:42:00.001-05:00

Well, it's almost been 3 weeks since I have written. I guess I have been busy for the most part minus this past week. Well, where to begin?! I finished up classes on the 15th. Had one class that didn't show up because their teacher was away so why should one half of the class have to have class right?!! I was a little disappointed seeing as it was going to be my last class with them and I had brought some treats for them. Now I am stuck with them and I really dont need them (thanks dad ...just kidding). My last week here was good. One of the cooks from the cafeteria, my favorite one, is part of an association for amature brewers, and he gave me a couple bottles of their beer to try. It was really sweet of him. It's nice to see some people who are so genuinely nice.
My dad arrived here in La Châtre on the 15th. We did a little walk around town I showed him the school and where I live. We went to the grocery store to grab a bottle of wine to take to Sophals for dinner and also got ourselves a bottle to enjoy on the terrace of dads hotel room. It was a beautiful afternoon for it. Bernard picked us up and we all went to Sophal and Davids for dinner. It was a great night with wonderful Cambodian food (yes dad, i'll try not to forget to get recipes for mom).
Saturday morning dad and I headed to Chateauroux to pickup a rental car. It was quite the trek because the stupid rental place at the station was closed so we had to take a city bus all the way to the outskirts of the city. We got our car and off we went, headed to the coast! First stop La Rochelle and the Ile de Ré. We spent two nights there, toured the city and the island. Nice place, quite busy seeing as it was Easter weekend. From there we headed to a town called Saintes where there are some roman ruins then to Cognac. We were able to tour a couple of the (not sure what you call them) breweries??, as well as taste them. Not really my thing. From there we worked our way to Bordeaux. We did some wine tours of the "sauternes" wineries, which is a sweet wine. I enjoyed it. Interesting how it is made....let the grapes rot, after a 'mushroom' has eaten all the juice out of them. We met some really nice people visiting the cellars there. After we headed off to the coast again, this time at Arcachon. We had great weather for our entire stay which was nice too. In Arcachon they have the biggest sand dune in Europe which measure 110m high. Dad and I did venture up and climb it. Great at the top!! though we did not venture down the other side because we knew we would have to climb back up, hehe!
We headed from there to the cute town of Saint Emilion and also visited 2 wine cellars/caves. Then on to Bergerac(yes, there was a statue of Cyrano for all those french buffs out there) and then the to Perigueux and saw an beautiful castle, chateau d'Hautefort. We ended the week back in La Châtre last Sunday. And what better way to send dad off then a Satuday night out. With a little booze of course. We started the evening off with a few drinks here, enjoyed a bottle of red under the sun. Eventually made it to a restaurant for dinner, enjoyed some more red then off to a pub for a beer. It was a great night, and Im glad that I got to share it with my dad! I had a great time with him here! Thanks Dad!!!
For those who dont know, I have changed my flight home. I am flying home on the 20th now. A few things I need to do and a few people I want to see and spend time with before I head home.
This past week has been alrright..didnt get upto too much. Monday lunch with Stephaine, Bernards birthday Tuesday, a few people over for cocktails which turned into dinner, visited Sophal a couple times and out for a drinks with Stephanie Wednesday, then dinner on Thursday for her birthday and drinks with her and Bernard after to celebrate her bday. Other than that it has been quite quiet. I have been up and down. It's hard going from being constantly busy to doing nothing. Tonight I will meet up with Stephanie and tomorrow we are going to head to Bourges for the afternoon to check out Printemps de Bourges, a big festival. Though we would have preferred to go at night, its hard with public transport when you cant find someone to drive you(...another story). Oh well, we will manage to check out a bit of it, that's what matters.
School starts back here on Tuesday. It will be nice to see some life around here. I will probably move out of the school next weekend, which will kind of be a nice change though it's a pain to pack up all my crap.
Well, now that this is a novel, I really am sorry, ok, not really, I will stop here. That's what happens when I wait almost 3 weeks. Oh well, take care everyone, look forward to seeing you all when i get home!

Its getting sad

2006-04-11T04:02:00.000-05:00

Well, I can't believe it is almost that time. Where has the time gone?? It feels like just last week that I was arriving here. I am getting more sad with each day that passes. I have been having a blast here. I'M SO SAD TO LEAVE!!!!!
I have gotten chummy with some of the students here which has been really nice. Everyone is super friendly which most have been from the start, but we just know each other better now.
Friday night I went to the London with Steffi around 10. Yes we have known each other from the start but I wish that we had really started to go out more from the start. For the last 3 weeks we have gone out once in the weekend. Anyway, it wasnt as busy as usual, a bunch of students were out which was fun. One of them started hitting on Steffi. Chatted with a bunch of them alot of the night. Bernard and Laurent showed up later on, played some darts, nothing really to write home about. One of my students that I chat with fairly regularily ended up being sick as a dog. Its funny, these guys reminded me of those days when you would just drink anything as long as you were getting drunk and for the sole purpose of getting drunk. One was drinking some shot that consisted of 2parts tequilla and one part coffee liqueur. Sure there are times with my friends that we drink to get drunk, but I drink what I enjoy and doesnt taste horrible. Ok, so I havent tried this drink, but it does NOT sound good.
Saturday morning I headed to Chateauroux. I met up with Lucy and Neha and we headed out to Tours for a little shopping then to Poitiers for a little party. This time we did not forget to bring music for the room like the last couple times. We didnt end up arriving in Poitiers till about 20h30 which was a lot later than planned. Oh well! get the showers started and the bottle opened. I had told Neha I would NOT get drunk until she was seeing as 1) the last time we were there she was sober and 2) she had yet to be drunk in France and is leaving Saturday! So Kim came over around 22h30 or 23h00. We still had not left and still had the music playing. Finally the hotel man came and knocked on our door and told us to be quiet. OOPS! About 3 minutes later he knocked again and we told him we were leaving. We had some good laughs after. We had tasks/goals for the evening. We headed out stopped at one bar to meet up with a couple people before heading to the bar we wanted to go to. We made it to the Pilori and the girls started on their tasks. I decided not to. So after about 5 minutes of being there Neha had chatted up some guy and got us each a free demi pêche (beer with peach syrop for those that dont know). We did a little dancing on the dance floor (very small as it is more of a pub) and then Lucy got to work on her task. She got us each a free drink which was nice. This guy she was chatting to was quite old and a little creepy. Got another free demi pêche from someone, thanks to the girls. After awhile I hadnt seen Lucy so I went upstairs to find her. She was in the toilets. She sounded fine told me she'd be down in a minute so off I went back downstairs. Neha decided to reach over the bar and pull out the bar towel from under a bunch of glasses then run and hide. The barman tracked her down and told her it was the first and last time he was going to warn her. Off she went back chattin up people. I headed back upstairs because Lucy had not returned. I got her to let me in. She was sick as a dog. I pulled back her hair and chilled in there with her. Poor thing! Finally someone knocked on the door asking if everything was alright and I replied with a yes of course. Didn't just get asked once so Lucy got a little agitated and told him to F off. Finally Kim came to the door and we changed places. I went back downstairs until Kim came and got Neha and I and told us that we had to take Lucy home. So off we went. Outside, there was Lucy. We all started walking home though Neha was busy chatting up some guy. Kim ended up going ahead with Lucy and I hung back with Neha. Kim ended up back at the hotel with Lucy making sure she was alright while I stayed with Neha to keep an eye on her. I got to chat with a bunch of new SUPER friendly people, friends of the dude. It was definitely a great night, minus Lucy getting sick and us not making it to the club. Oh well!
Oh I forgot!!!! Last weekend I tried driving stick for the first time and I didnt even stall!!! YEAH ME!!! Bernard took me for a little tour of the region. Got to see a lot that I wouldn't have seen with out a car. On our way back we stopped at the grocery store (which was closed) and I tried driving around the lot! I was so nervous of making a fool of myself that I didnt really want to do it because I thought I would embarrass myself, but Bernard made me. Im glad that I did. I had a good teacher.
Yesterday morning I went to the primary school again with Denis. I sang a little bit with them and then told them a bit about Easter in Canada. Seeing as they dont have the Easter bunny and it is the "cloche" (bell) that returns from Rome that hides the easter eggs in the garden. hahah!
They were all really sweet and a bunch of them had brought there cameras to take pictures of me and pics with me and them. As well, they all asked me for autographs, so I signed all of their English notebooks. hehe! Lastly, they had prepared me a little book where everyone either brought a picture of themselves or drew one and each person wrote a little note. It was so sweet and I was soooo touched that I wanted to cry.
As I have seen a lot of my classes for the last time, and continue seeing others for the last, I usually bring in some sweets for them and for a couple classes they even get drinks. Today I had one class that really pissed me off a lot because they talked WAY TOO much but I liked them anyway. It took like 20 minutes to explain what we were going to do. I was so frusterated and a little angry that I told them I was pissed off. One kid dared to ask right at the start if they were getting treats. I said at the rate they were going it was a NO! Finally we got through what I wanted to do and it wasnt much. It probably was only about 10 or 15 minutes and it took like 35. We played a quick round of hangman but with sentences not words, and one boy writes "Do you want to sleep with me?" as his sentence. haha, nice! Mine was "Some people are so annoying". - aka some of them. Finally they were all really sweet and appreciated that I had brought in treats for them. Some took my email and I got a few of theirs. The bell rang and everyone started heading out saying thank you and some of even said "bisous". Then some of them decided to come in and give me the bises, it was led my one of my favourites! :)
Oh what a day. A few of the girls invited me to go out with the to have a drink (im going to assume coke) with them at 14h00, so I guess I better get my stuff together seeing as it is now 13h31.
This was quite a lengthy post....sorry guys! Hope you are all well

France...not the sugarcoated image you have

2006-04-05T06:49:00.000-05:00

Well, last night I was watching TV with Bernard, there was a show on called 'Le droit de savoir" (the right to know). Yesterdays show talked about the living conditions of some people here in France. It is really unbelievealbe how some people live here and it is not because they do not have a job. This is because of the French system. To think that they cannot get an apartment even when they are earning 1000€/month(about 1400$CAD) because in some places they require you to be making atleast double the rent. To think that these families are stuck living in moblie homes and trailers or paying extraordinary rent for an apartment that I would not even want to step foot in(two words: disgusting and mold). In some cities there are vacant apartments but these people can't move into them. They have to go through this tedious process to get an apartment that sometimes can take years. I made the comment to Bernard that 'France is not really the same as the image all of us foreigners have in our mind' and he was happy that it was me that said it and not him. He didnt want to be the one to say it thinking that I would say he's wrong. I always had the impression that France was such a great country, ok dont get me wrong I still think that it is a great country, but I guess I was naive in thinking that there were not situations to this extent here. Or not realising how bad it can be. It is not just romantic Paris and the Eiffel Tour, YES I knew that it wasnt just that but what I didnt realise was all the ins and outs of life here. We got talking about salaries also. It was surprising to hear how little the fonctionnaires (civil/public servants) makes in this country. I mean, I will be making almost as much as some of them next year and working half as much. Sure, they have job security and great benefits but to think about the amount these people are making, I would have thought it would be more as a fonctionnaire. Well, my rant on the french for the day...

Imagine!

2006-03-31T12:01:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been a busy week I guess. Tuesday I went into the city stayed at Caitlins. We met up with a friend of mine for a drink that night and just relaxed at her place after. On Wednesday we didnt get up to tooo much during the day, but that night we had a last party with all the assistants because Lauras contract ends today. It was fun like usual, lots of food and drinks! It was a fun evening and great that EVERYONE could make it out! Last night I went out with Bernard for drinks and dinner. This morning to my surprise I received a BEAUTIFUL bouquet of roses....28 of them! WOW!!!! Wasn't expecting that one, especially from someone that I dont know that well.....krazyness....imagine! hehe, oh well, they look nice in my room. Nice Bday week. Tonight I think I am going to head to some concert about 20 kms away with Bernard and Laurent. French group that I dont really know. Tomorrow afternoon I will head to Bourges with Manola and tomorrow night I think Stephanie and I are going to head once again to the London's Club meet up with friends...supposedly the barman is interested(so Bernard told me)! hehe Well, have a great weekend everyone!!!!

Oh yea...

2006-03-30T11:56:00.000-05:00

I totally forgot that last week there was a class of CE2's, which are kids around 8 or 9 years old, here from Tours. They were here for a couple days touring the region and whatnot. Last Tuesday night I went with them to this castle where people were dressed in clothing from the 19th century and then we went to this little house which was supposed to resemble that dating also the 19th century. Inside they somewhat re-enacted what happened those days though we got to be apart of it. The told little stories, played music, sang, danced and ate food. It was quite a fun evening! On the Wednesday I also joined them. They did a little tour of the region which was nice. It included going to the castle of St Chartier, and Sarzay as well as the Mare au Diable, the moulin d'Angibault and the church in Vic and passing again my the house of George Sand. I was really lucky to get to take part in all this especially free!! Lucky me!

Who woulda known...

2006-03-27T17:39:00.000-05:00

Well, I just learnt something new. We changed our clocks ahead here in France this past Sunday and back home in Canada, and Im assuming in Panama too, you dont change them ahead till next weekend. So wierd!
Anyway, it has been a week now, and not that much has been going on. I really have not been working all that much due to various other things including the famous french "greve" aka strike! Tomorrow, once again there will be strike and the debate of the moment is "do I get up for the classes or not". I dont really want to, and if I dont have classes tomorrow that means I worked a hard week of 2hours!
So this weekend a couple friends came Friday night to visit and celebrate a little for my 24th! Oh they are so great! Lucy and Rosy came around 7. I had made good old "tartiflette"(however it is spelt)! That was fucking delicious! They had picked up a bottle of vodka for the night as well as got me a cake, some candy, a little water gun and even a bottle of champagne that I managed to get all over upon opening. We enjoyed a nice dinner at my place had some drinks and headed over to a bar around the corner and then planned on going to "the amazone" the club in my town. We got to the bar around 23h30. I saw a few of my students there which was funny and another friend. We ended up hanging out with my friend Bernard and his friends. Lucy and Rosy had made me a little list of tasks I had to accomplish for my bday night out. It was quite funny I must say and I probably only did about half the things on it. Oops. That probably partly has to do with the fact that we did NOT go to the Amazone. We called for a cab to TWO different companies who both said NO. How horrible is that?! Anyway, he had a blast that night and ended it with some microwave popcorn.
Saturday night I met up with Stephanie and we went back to this same bar to see a concert. There were lots more students out Saturday then Friday. It was a pretty fun night. Hung out with Bernard a bit as well as Fabien. Late night once again.
Yesterday was a BEAUTIFUL day out. About 23°C! Sunny for the first half, a little overcast the second. I ended up heading down along the river with Bernard to enjoy the weather and make the most of the nice day we had. French rules dating....update, I am dating Bernard now. Well, I think that is all that is going on in my life....
Oh wait, today, for my bday the teachers all got together and bought me a nice book of the region and a pen. It was really sweet of them. And tonight I went to Manolas place for raclette! DELICIOUS! I ate way too much but it was great! I am going to be sad to leave here that is for sure, but I know I will come back and visit all the wonderful people I have met here!
Thats all now I think. Heading into the city tomorrow I think, for a couple days. Wednesday night we are having a little get together with all the assistants before Laura leaves as she finishes the end of March. I cant believe this year has just flown by. Anyway off for now....getting late, Cheers!

Fun classes!!!!

2006-03-20T11:25:00.000-05:00

Wow!!!!! Look at that title!!! hahah
Well, today my first class was fun. They were really sweet, actually worked and we talked about our next class (in 2 weeks). It will be my last class with them so we are going to have a little party. We will get some music and have some snacks and treats! It will be fun.
My second class, as far as I know it is the last time I will see them. I brought in some candies for them and some of the girls wrote me a little goodbye note which was really sweet! I gave them my email/msn address so for those who would like to keep in touch can. I am going to be sad to leave here. I feel it already :(
I am loving my life here right now. Things are going super well and I will be sad to leave, but hey, I'll just have to make a point to keep in touch with people and come back for a visit! YIPEE

Weekend fun!

2006-03-20T09:10:00.000-05:00

Well, Friday I hung out at Sophals for the afternoon because they were having their heating fixed seeing as it has been broken for about 2 weeks and she had class and David had to work. Friday night I headed into Chateauroux to meet up with some friends. Jerome met me at the station and we waited for Cecile and Romain to pick us up. We headed to some of thier friends for dinner. It was a delightful evening. Had a few beers, no green beer for paddys day though, and a delicious meal. I stayed at Rosys that night, as Lucy her and I were heading out to Poitiers the next morning. We headed out around 10h30. We couldnt go straight to the hotel because the streets were blocked off due to protests against the CPE. So we parked the car, grabbed some lunch, mmmm crepes, then headed to the hotel to drop all of our stuff off. We went out and did a little shopping, of course I spent more than planned, but oh well!
Saturday night we got ready in our room had a few drinks, met up with a friend Kim and headed out to dinner before going out. Once we made it to the pub Lucy and I managed to get some free shots from one of the bartenders by asking what he recommended. GREAT! Our drinks that we ordered came with glow sticks(well, they were like the skinny bracelet ones) in them. Rosy started playing around with it until she snapped it and the glow stuff went all over her and the mirror on the wall beside her. It was quite amusing! We stayed there until it closed around 2 and then decided we would check out a club, one that was free for females! We were waiting for a cab when we decided to test our luck hitchhiking. It worked!!! This girl stopped and was jsut going to give directions because it was actually very close. Then she said she would drive us. She told us she had never picked anyone up before and they only reason she did was because we were 3 girls. They were really sweeet, 2girls and one guy, and ended up coming to the club with us. It was quite fun though very expensive. We stayed there tearing up the dance floor till the early hours of the morning, getting back to the hotel around 5h30. It was quite the night!!
Sunday we got some pasteries and sat in a park and relaxed. It was a beautiful day out with the sun shining. We then took a little walk through town and ate and headed home. It was a great weekend! I also found out some great news which I will not post on here, if you really want to know you have to ask me!!! :) Take it easy

Lovely wake up....

2006-03-16T08:34:00.000-05:00

Well, I got quite the wake up this morning. Sure it was 10h20 but still. I did NOT enjoy hearing the fire alarm going(though just a test which I forgot to check the time on the poster in the staffroom). I did not really know what it was at first because it is a little different from those at home. I got up, went into the hall then realised what it was. I quickly threw on jeans a sweatshirt and shoes, forgetting about undergarments. I am glad I slept with my contacts in last night!
Yesterday I didnt get up to tooo much. The weather here is finally nice. The sun is shining and though it is only between about 8 and 10, me guessing, it is beautiful out. Its been like this for the past 4 or 5 days. I went to Lise's for dinner last night which was delicious and a fun time.
The students here are on strike AGAIN! Oh France, makes me laugh. I think I will head out into town for a bit. I may go sit in the park and read for a bit. It's a nice day out and I should profit from it. Going to Poitiers on Saturday with Lucy and Rosy. Should be a blast! Trying to figure out if I will go somewhere tomorrow or not. No class, thought some of the students I had on Friday mornings want to have class with me again so I am going to probably do a couple classes with them before I leave, for those who want to come, because I will not force anyone because I didnt always enjoy having the students that didnt want to be there.
Off for now!

Officially getting paid for almost nothing!

2006-03-14T04:58:00.000-05:00

Well, I can't believe how many classes of mine can get canceled in one week. Yea, you heard me....I feel like I dont work. Yesterday 2hours of mine got cancelled and today one of my hours is cancelled. I have worked a total of 4 hours this week and my week is now done. How am I going to go back to a 40 hour work week when I get home?? This year is almost like one long holiday. Haha!
Well, I started this post on Tuesday after I finished class, around 10h45, for the day and for the week. It was a good day. My first class was terminale (grade 12) and I was marking them on a practice oral exam. I had 3 students. That hour went well. The second hour I had my class of 2nde(grade 10). We were working on their Shakespear reciting. Fun times! I really like some of the kids in this class. I asked who was going on the England trip and told the others they were stuck with me and a couple of them said that is why they arent going. hehe!
I told them that after the holidays I was going home and someone asked me to mail a postcard. Hehe! I said I'd bring in my camera next class to take some photos and one of the boys said that he is going to try and remember to bring his in too. hehe! Someone also said they like listening to me speak french because of my accent. hahahaha!
In the afternoon I headed to Nohant, a town 10minutes from here, where there is the "George Sand" house. I went with a French teacher who was going to give a guided visit to a class of 6iemes(grade 6) that was from some other town. It was really neat to see, and a cute little town. I didnt take any photos so I will have to make a little trip back there. Next week I will be heading to some other thing with another class and the same teacher. I'll have more details later. All for now!

ME in Paris

2006-03-12T20:04:00.000-05:00

Pics from the couch surfing meeting Feb 25th! Goood times!!!

I smell like a cigarette

2006-03-10T21:13:00.000-05:00

Bon, la soirée était super! Although I smell like a cigarette and I DO NOT smoke. I really dont want to leave this place. I just got in from a GREAT night out in LA CHATRE!!!! Who woulda thought it! Each night is better than the previous, each weekend is better! I dont want to leave here! I had such a great night out with friends and instead of trying to leave during the weekends, I think I may try and go out with them. Sure I had a couple drinks, but that lets me relax and chat and enjoy. I saw some of my students out tonight. At first, I thought " oh man....this is going to be interesting" but there was one that invited me to play darts, and we chatted, he is super nice. We chatted(shoot the shit) which was nice. I met some new people hung out with friends! I had a great night, minus the cigarette smell. Oh well, GREAT NIGHT!!!!

Friday is here

2006-03-10T08:17:00.000-05:00

Oh how computers make me mad sometimes! I just had a post written and when I want to post it, it weny bye-bye!

Anyway, Friday is here! I dont know why I am saying it like it is such an exciting thing seeing as I started my weekend yesterday at 1030 am. Oh well! Yesterday afternoon I was sitting in the staffroom chilling, Rémi and I were looking through a recipe book that has been sitting on one of the tables for quite some time now. We were talking about typical french dishes and then Rémi started telling me about some pastry called a "religieuse". I had no clue what he was talking about, didnt know what it was and had never tried one. So at that he said we were going to get one and off we went. We hopped into his car headed into town to find a "religieuse". He treated me to a pastry and a couple candies. Seeing as yesterday was a fairly nice day (and the weather has been crap here for probably 2 weeks, I dont remember the last time I had seen a sunny day here - in my town) we sat out on a bench enjoyed our pastries and chatted. It was such a nice unexpected afternoon. Its people and gestures like this that make me truely not want to leave here. There is a difference between colleagues and friends.

Well, I didnt have any classes today. I am going out tonight with some friends but it is only 14h25 and I have all afternoon to do something. I dont know what to do with myself. I was going to go to see Stephanie, but she is not feeling well today. I think I may head out go for a walk (I should grab my camera). The sun is peaking through and its about 9 or 10° out. On my way home I'll grab a few groceries then watch Un Dos Tres...this is like my replacement tv show for everything I am missing back home. :) Ciao

N'importe quoi

2006-03-09T09:27:00.001-05:00

Well, on Saturday I was waiting at the bus stop in the rain. There is one of those little bus stop things to keep me from getting wet, but I sure didnt leave my place without my umbrella. I get to the bus stop, there is a girl there waiting and this woman. The woman says to me while wringing out her scarf that she is soaking wet. Then she says to me that she is going to do a "quick strip tease" aka change her clothes at the bus stop. She was halfway done ready to unbutton her blouse as the bus pulls up. She throws on her jacket to get on the bus. Well, as soon as she sits down on the bus, and in the very front seat so anyone looking in the front window can see her, she starts undressing to change her shirt. She stripped down right to her bra. Oh, what a woman....n'importe quoi!
I went into the city to meet up with some of the people that work here at my school. We were supposed to go out to dinner, about 10 of us. When I got to the city it was snowing. So that was the end of the plans we had. People couldnt drive into the city due to weather. So it ended up just being 4 of us. I met up with Lucile and then we went to Cecile Romain (her bf)'s place for "apperitif" and dinner. We didnt end up eating till 23h00 because we were having a couple drinks and snacks and got really chatting. After dinner we headed to a little bar to meet up with some of thier friends and have a drink. I had a really fun time! This Friday, tomorrow, we are going to go out to the bar/billiards that is just around the corner from my place. I am looking forward to going out with them again!
What else has happened this week...I got an email back from a girl I met at the olympics. It turns out I was not the only Canadian to get my wallet stolen in Torino. Her friend, as well as someone else they met there had theirs stolen. Oh well.
Yesterday the Photography Club had some photographer come in and show his work as well as talk about his techniques. I joined the group to see/hear him talk. We also go to go to the dark room and he showed us some of his techniques. It was really cool!!!
Not too much is going on here though...walking home from the grocery store last night after buying 3 pain au chocolats and 3 croissants I realised that I am really not ready to leave here. Yes, I know, I still have 5 weeks here, but I know they are going to fly by. It makes me kind of sad. I am finally just settled in completely and enjoying it completely. I am not ready to go.
Especially dont want to leave the pasteries! Hahaha!
Well, I am going to stop here, because I know if I continue its just going to be ramblings because I will be just looking for things to say. Not too much going on here that I can think of at the moment. Cheers!

Fell in Love in February

2006-03-03T08:18:00.000-05:00

Ok....here is who I fell in love with...wish he could come home with me in May! :)
Isnt he just soooo cute?!?

Sinus headaches are no fun

2006-03-03T05:55:00.000-05:00

Well, I caught a cold on the holidays and I havent been able to shake it. It's mostly been that I have to keep blowing my nose and I cough. So basically a sinus cold. I havent gone to the doctor yet, but I did go to the pharmacy and get something. It's gotten worse the past couple days with these headaches. They are right at the top of my nose and up into my eyebrows. Not very comfortable if you ask me.
Anyway, I thought I had class right now, so I got ready for class and waited for about 15 minutes in the class, but no one. Oh well, I figure its not the end of the world.
Starting next week I dont have Friday classes. That will go on for 4 weeks. Then starting the following week I will not have classes on Thursdays and that will continue for 3 weeks. Therefore during 3 weeks, I will only have classes on Monday and Tuesday. I will have 7 hours I think. Not too bad eh? 5 day weekend!! The only thing is, I really dont know what I will do with myself because I unfortunately money doesnt grow on trees and it costs money to travel.
I tried calling a doctor, but that didnt seem to work so well...I wish someone was here to do it for me! I think this doctor might not be around so Im going to head to the staff room to see if someone can suggest another one and/or call for me. hehe
Well, im off for now...

Home at last...

2006-02-27T07:31:00.000-05:00

Didnt think I could feel so relieved coming home to La Chatre, but I did! It was a long GREAT 2 weeks that started in London! I headed out here, spent a night in the city at Caitlins and then met up with Lucy to fly out from Poitiers. Found a place with the worst hot chocolate ever there. I finally met up with Luke and his friends around 9pm on the 11th at a restaurant after a long tiring travel day. I hate travel days, though it is part of the adventure. It was a pretty relaxing stay in London got to see some sights, though I had already been to London I had never seen the changing of the guards so I got to do that. I met up with Lucy one day and did a little walking around town. It was nice to be in an english speaking country and great to see Luke again.
From London I headed to Turin Italy to meet up with Ashlie and Hayley for a little Olympic Game fun. Fun is for sure! Fun is definitely what happened there! I got there the night of the 15th and met up with the girls, Vincenzo our couchsurfing host and his friend. We dropped my bags off at his work so we could go for a little tour of the city as well as sit down and have a drink. It was a nice relaxed evening. Vincenzo had bought us each a 1-day transport ticket which was really sweet of him. His apartement was nice as was the fresh sqeezed orange juice the next morning. We all headed to our next couchsurfers house that morning to drop of our stuff and Ashlie and I went out for a little city tour. There were so many people out and about there it was great. We stopped at a couple bars on the way to the bus stop to have a couple drinks before the game. We made our way home, put tatoos on painted our faces and headed to the game. Canada VS Germany! We finally made it to the game! We were in the 7th row behind the net and the funny thing was that 2 seats over were the canadians Ashlie and I had met on the tram earlier that day. It was unbelievable how many people were there, how many Canadians were there supporting! It was definitely a great experience, one of those that stories will never be enough to explain how amazing it really was. Here is my advice to people: "Never take the extra tube of face paint with you if you plan on having a drink or two....you'll end up all red...including your clothes". After the game we ended up in the beer tent, which we didnt know existed until we got there. So many Canadians so much red and white! Ron MeLean was at the game as well as Kelly (cant remember his last name) and I got them to sign my Canada Flag! Random moment of the night: running into someone you know....that's right, Brandon from Laurier. Ashlie and I had climbed up on the blocks to dance to the music and soon as I got up there and looked out in the crowd, I saw a familiar face! From the beer tent we went to a bar. It was a lot of fun, met a lot of fun crazy people throughout the night. It was so much fun until about 4am or so when I realized my wallet was gone. That was not fun, and thanks to a wonderful Canadian and a great American I got help cancelling my cards. It was quite the adventure with a cold ending seeing as we didnt wear our coats to the game (silly us).
Well, because of the wallet I made us miss our 8 am train and were not able to leave tilll the next morning at 8am. Hayley and I ended up getting our money back which was the best news of the trip by far. We took it really easy our day stuck in Turin and then headed to Annecy to do some skiing in the alps.
We got to Annecy with a few hours to spare before Guillaume was going to meet us. We hit up the laundry mat and got some food. Guillaume was super friendly and welcoming at his place about 45minutes from the city and about 20 from the ski hill where he works. We ended up spending 5 nights at his place and spent 4 amazing days skiing in the Alps. I had waiting to do that, and so glad I did. It was like heaven skiing there. The scenery was just amazing! We had some good wipe outs skiing, the all time best was when I bailed looked up to see where Hayley was and saw her bail, ski came off as well as the boot. The inside sock part was still on her foot though. It was quite funny to see ski and boot 10metres away from her sticking out of the snow. I had to ski down to get help because neither of us could get her boot back together. I have never seen so many one piece ski suits in my life. EVERYONE had them! Ok, not everybody but a good number of people. The all time best were the yellow ones and each time we saw one of those we yelled out "BANANA" because that is what they looked like. It was quite an amazing adventure. We were at the hills by 845 every day and skiied till around 5 then had some "vin chaud". Great experience and stayed with a great host!
From there I eventually made it to Paris after some frusterating money issues. I met up with Sabine and Florien for a couple days. Nice to see her after 3 years! Did a little tour of some things in Paris and saw a little play at a small theatre. I then went to Brunos to stay with him for a night and go to the Couch Surfing meeting. Oh was that fun! Met some more great people that is for sure! Had a nice debate about Canada and Quebec with a Quebecer. Cant wait till the meeting in March. Lets leave it at this: It was one definitely AMAZING holiday!!!!! Nothing can change that!

On my way out....

2006-02-10T06:56:00.000-05:00

Well, it's that time again! It's time for the holidays! I am headed to the city in an hour pretty much all packed up and then tomorrow to Poitiers to catch a plane to LONDON! I'll be staying there for 4 days with a friend before heading to TURIN, ITALY for the Olympics! Going to see a hockey game with a couple other Canadian assistants! Its going to be a blast! From there I will be headed back to the french side and go skiing in the Alps, which will no doubt be amazing! I am soooo excited for this holiday. Dont have much time to report in, though I should leave a word about last night.
Last night there was a party/dance for the 'internes' aka the students who board during the week. I wasnt planning on going, but when I was on the pay phone kids would walk by me to go to the toilets and telling me I should go in. I got off the phone and was about to go in, but they happened to be playin slow song so I waited a few, cause I feared Jonathon. I made it in and hung out with the 'surveillants' aka res people. Some of the girls kept harrassing me to dance, after refusing multiple times, I finally gave in and busted a move on the dance floor. I was really itching to do it, but seeing as they are my students and the res ppl were around I didnt think it was a good idea. The res ppl got a kick out of it and even took pictures! haha! Anyway, it was a fun evening for the most part. Glad I want to see what it was like. Very similar to our 'highschool dances' though only for the kids that stay at the school.
Well, I better get going here, clock is counting down. Need to do last minute packing and whatnot! May or may not post while away, more likely on the NOT side, but oh well, take care everyone and bonnes vacances!

Pics of Pancake day

2006-02-05T10:52:00.000-05:00

Pancakes&Maple syrup....some kids in my class

One week till holidays...well needed

2006-02-05T09:41:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I havent posted in awhile, over a week actually. I have been keeping busy and trying not to be just hanging around the school too much this week due to some of the happenings of Monday.
So Monday night is movie night with the boarding kids. I go every week usually because it gets me out of the school and my room and I get to see a movie for only 1.50€ which is really cheap (about 2.15CAD). This past week was a big one because it was being shown in VO(original version). So we saw, Mrs Henderson Presents.
I was not going to write about this on here because you never really know who is going to stumble upon this and I am not sure how I would feel if some certain people managed to find their way on here. Anyway, friday just made me a little more angry so I decided I am going to post it anyway.
So off we went to the movies...Jonathon starts talking to me on the walk there....Ugh! I tried to not talk to him, but he is persistant. Finally movie! On the walk home I managed to not walk with the guy, Yeah me! So I talked with Jéremy on the walk home briefly and he told me that Jonathon seems to really like me, even tries calling me, which he sure as hell does NOT have my right number which I am VERY happy about. Back at the school again, before the guys went upstairs to their rooms they all said goodbye to the girls and he waited to do the kisses. F**K (I have used that word a lot this week...sorry). There were 2 girls that saw this, two girls that I know fairly well and the "responsable" - woman in charge. So the girls laughed at me a little and made comments on the dude hitting on me. Then they went their way and I was going to the internet room so I went in the same direction as the responsable. She decided to say something to me about the kid. She said that he is a problematic student and that I should be careful. She also told me that he is a minor and so his parents could have some concerns. She told me that if I dont tell him now that he may get some ideas in his head which we all know I DONT WANT! She also said to me after saying that tell him you are just friends, or if not that we have to keep it outside of the school. I told her that I have NO intentions whatsoever on being with this kid, though I dont think I said it convincingly enough because I get this feeling she thinks I want to be with this kid....NO I dont! From the moment he started talking to me the first week at the movies something about him really bothered me. I have felt a little shitty about all this so I headed out of town for a couple days to visit friends.
Tuesday night I went to Chateauroux (aka Chateautrou) to Caitlins, then headed to Rosys for some Desperate Housewives. Her boyfriend is sending the episodes to her which is wonderful, so she invited us over. Yes, we watched episodes 1 & 2 and are waiting on the suite. Wednesday we headed to the zoo which was quite fun. This is for all you north americans, but you should have seen the best animal they had....**note sarcasm**....they had raccoons. Haha!! I thought that was quite funny.
I came back Thursday and one of the students, Sarah, of the 2 girls that saw the situation with Jonathon, saw me and made a comment. Ugh...I was annoyed and told her to shut up.
Ok, so friday...I was on my way to class when I saw the kid...I tried to walk past but it didnt work that way and the kisses were done. Sarah started laughing at me. Then I told her to be quiet and then she said she was going to tell him he cant do the kisses with me. That she did and from what she said he did not take it that well. Anyway, then in class instead of doing her work, the other girl that was there Monday night, Julie starts drawing on the board. Then she decides to write "Jonathon" on the board. I was so unimpressed. Of course the other kids start being curious and I think she knew I was not happy.

So later that day(end of the school day) I met up with Sophal. I had to grab something from my room to give to one of the teachers so I took her up and showed her my room and we had a snack. After, we went back downstairs, and it was parent teacher day, and the students go with the parents to see the teachers. Of course, in my hall way there has to be Jonathon, he said hello and Sophal and I continued walking with me cursing. This kid just frusterates me.

Friday night I didnt get upto too much, just relaxed. Saturday night I went to Issoudun for dinner and to see Brokeback Mountain with some friends/teachers. It was a fun girls night! Other than that, not much has been going on here.

One week till the holidays, 5 days = 3 days of class = 7 hours. After the holidays I will be changing some of my classes, or atleast that is the plan, and it will be finalized tomorrow. If all goes well, for 4 weeks in the month of March I will not have Friday classes. 2 of them are hopefully being changed till Monday afternoons and the other one, the students have there "BEP blanc" which is a practice for thier final exams at the end of the year and then they have "stage" (co-op i guess) for 3 weeks. Sweeet....long weekends for Erin. And, if some of my Thursday classes get cancelled....I would only work 2 days a week. I lead a difficult life!!!

The French make me laugh

2006-01-28T14:41:00.000-05:00

Well, I woke up this morning to about 4 - 6 inches of snow on the ground. That is right folks...hell has frozen over in France...ok well, a little over reacting, but they act like there is like 2 feet of snow.
I have mixed feelings about this snow today...only because I was supposed to be finally going to the "Amazone" (and it was Chippendales night) and due to the snow, my friends couldnt make it. That just sucks. Though the snow made me excited!!!
I went to the grocery store and ran into a few students who decided to throw snowballs at me. Luckily they are cute ones. hahah.
So the funny things about the french. One, in most parts of France they are not equipped with snow plows, so the resort to tractor type things which is quite amusing. Even to salt the roads they have a tractor type thing. Good for a laugh.
Alright, so some funny things I saw....skateboards with no wheels being used as snowboards, though not on hills, but rather just a slight incline, brooms and dust pans being used as shovels and last but not least bushes being used as the fort/wall you would build to have a snowball fight.
Gotta love it!

Funny thing I forgot

2006-01-27T19:35:00.000-05:00

So today, my first class was at 930 and I usually have 13 kids. To my surprise there wer only seven kids in class...I was thinking to myself as the kid told me this, stop lying to me, 6 kids cant be absent in one day, not remembering it snowed yesterday. I turn my head and look out the window...sure enough it is white outside. Finally I realize and burst out laughing. I realized that the students were absent because of the snow. The funny thing is...there was not even 5cm. Hahaha!!!! That was funny, anyway all for now.

Finally the weekend

2006-01-27T13:21:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess it is sort of like I have 2 weekends per week these days. Usually I only have Wednesday off, but right now until after the holidays I will have Thursdays off too. So yes, I work very few hours. You think that you would love it, but when alll your friends are working (and/or you live in the middle of nowhere) and there is not a whole lot to do, it gets quite boring. Yea sure I can say it is my fault for not trying to get involved in things, but oh well. I will probably not have another year like this for quite a long time unless I decide to do it again next year.
So on Tuesday I went into Chateauroux to see Caitlin. Planned on staying one night, though that turned into two. Tuesday night we didnt do a whole lot. Just chilled and chatted, had some great laughs..."you have to like me". Wednesday we had a girlie shopping day...I havent done that in a long time and I ended up spending more than planned, but I did finally find a pair of black boots that I have been trying to find forever. I also got a sleeping bag which will help in my travels! I finally after over a month saw some of the other assistants. I had not been into the city since before the holidays so hadnt seen any of them except Caitlin and Lucy because they came out to see me.
Again this weekend, tomorrow, the two of them are headed out to goood ole LA CHATRE!!!! It should be a fun evening as we are planning on heading to "the Amazone" my local night club which we have yet to visit.
Well, Im off for now, going to a teachers place for dinner!

Oh hell...

2006-01-24T05:38:00.000-05:00

pardon my language here, and in my last post for that matter.
So yesterday I went to the movies with the students. There are usually only about 5 students that go but this week there was about 30 so the woman that is responsable for the students asked if I would accompany her in being responsable. Sure, of course. The movie was Angel-A by Luc Besson. It was hard at times to follow because of the speed they spoke French but I got most of it. Anyway, dont need to tell you about the movie, but there was this one student I was chatting with, I thought nothing of it until we were walking home...I think he may have been hitting on me. Ahhhhh. This is NOT good. He asked me for my # which I never ended up giving him, he told me about his past girlfriends, asked me my age, and invited me to watch a movie with him and his buddies tomorrow(Wed). I think he thinks I am going to school here, which clearly I am not, but I am teaching. When saying goodbye he gave me the french kisses too.
This morning bright and early on my way to make a couple photocopies who do I run into in the halls??? Yea, that is right....Jonathon. He said he was looking for me. Great....then walked with me and asked for my # again. I gave it to him but I think that he must have typed it in his phone wrong because he said he was going to send a text so I had his #, but still havent got it 3 hours later. Oh well...

Weekend to Rouen & the beaches

2006-01-22T16:05:00.000-05:00

My weekend...I headed up to Rouen, in Normandy to see Ashlie, who I went to uni with and to Spain. One of the guys, Leo, that went to spain with us came up too and his friend, Sekou, came also. Sekou is this 280 lb black dude from Indiana. He arrived before Leo & me. Olivia(also went to Spain with us) picked up Sekou from the station as Ashlie couldnt be there at that time, and doesnt live right in the city. Ashlie picked me up from the train station around19h45 and we met up with Sekou and her other friends at a pub while we waited for Leo to arrive. Had myself a pint and was starting to feel it due to lack of food. Finally Leo got there and we got dinner at about 10pm. After we stopped by Olivias house, then headed to another pub. We had a few drinks and chilled. It was a fun time!!! The next day we were planning to go up to the D-Day beaches. It was a beautiful perfect day for it which was nice. We thought about renting a car, but didnt do it ahead of time so got up early and went to the place to see. We decided if we couldnt get a car or they were too expensive we would have just hopped on the train. We ended up getting a car, Sekou said he knew how to drive stick, and because the stupid Hertz people made us wait an hour, we got a super deal. They opened at 8 but the dude that does the paperwork didnt get there till about 915. So we ended up getting a rental for 2 days for 115€. That is pretty good and it was a huge car, really nice. So off we went....stall #1....stall #2 ......stall#50. Ok, so we stalled so many times and his gear changing was not that great. But, whatever I was happy he was driving. But hell, it got worse....he did not read signs, yes they are different but the roads are better marked here than back home if you ask me. And frankly how hard is it to follow signs. Anyway, it ended up being a lot of voices being raised about where to turn, when to turn etc. It was super frusterating because he didnt seem to listen or pay attention to the signs so we drove past things like 10times. It was frusterating. So we got to go to Juno Beach which was cool, along with a few others(Gold and Omaha). That night when we got home things got a little awkward. Everyone was frusterated and whatnot. The next day seeing as we ended up getting the car for 2days we wanted to go to Dieppe, but that didnt end up happening. Buddy refused to drive and then was being a huge asshole. I felt really bad for Leo becuase this is his friend and it put him in an awkward postion.
So, everyone was frusterated and had been up and down most of the day. After dinner we were talking and this guy has the nerve to say to me "are you manic depressive or something? Or are you bipolar?" I was like excuse me???? Who the f**k do you think you are asking someone that question. I asked why the hell he asks that and he says you've been up and down all day, you're so nice when you are happy. Im sorry buddy, you were f**king driving me (and all the other girls) up the f**king wall with your lack of attention put into looking at signs. Anyway, that was pretty much the weekend. He did not thank Ashlie for letting him stay at her place or anything. So yea, that is pretty much it. Good but that dude....someone I never really want to see again.
On the train from Rouen to Paris this dude sits beside me. He asks "Do the cops control(patrol) the trains. I said I dont know, the didnt last time I was on. Why, do you not have a ticket?" He says to me "I have some coke with me, and I dont have a ticket" Me: "ok" ...who tells a complete stranger that??? So anyway, the ticket controllers come around and he has no ticket. He gave them a fake declaration for identity because he was going to be charged for not having a ticket, which I think was about 60€. He told me it was a fake declaration, I asked for what and he told me his identity card, I think its the paper they get if they are waiting for a new one cause they lost thiers or something. Oh man, what a wierdo. Nothing like what I see in my little town.

Last time I do something nice....

2006-01-20T05:46:00.000-05:00

Bloody hell, I am not a happy person. I want to quit today!!! I didnt even say that after the first day and I thought it was hell. All I said then was that I was discouraged and that I didnt know if teaching was for me. Well, this morning I got up early and made pancakes for my 2 classes of students. I am now asking myself why I did this for them. I am so angry and frusterated and really am not sure if I want to come back after the holidays. Ok, well, I know that I will but today I dont feel I want to. These students lack respect. They lack listening skills. GOD, I can't believe how much these French kids talk and just dont care. I think I should make them write one page on why or why not they like English. haha
Next week I think Im going to make them hand stuff in.
Anyway, this is all for now, need to get going, headed to Rouen today to Ashlies.
Have a good weekend

Another class cancelled

2006-01-16T08:21:00.000-05:00

I sat in the staff room after lunch today relaxing with some of the teachers, including one of my favorites, Rémi, trying to remember what time my afternoon class is at on Mondays because I havent had it since well before the break for Christmas. Rémi told me that I have it at 2, funny that he knows. He headed off for class at 1330 and I did some photocopies for the class. I was chatting with some of the Enlgish teachers when I all of a sudden remembered that I dont have my afternoon class today. I cant seem to keep up with my cancelled classes over here. hehe! Last week I only ended up having 6 hours of class, including an extra hour going to the primary school with one of the teachers. This week I will have more which will be a nice change from having free time. I have 1hour today, 3 tomorrow, 1 Thursday plus 1hour at primary school and I will go to another class just to be introduced and on Friday I will have 3 hours. So I will end with about 9.5 of 10 hours. I figured out that I will work about 200 hours(if that) in the total of 7 months that I am here. Man, that is like 5 weeks work back home! If I average out what I am making per hour here it is amazing! 26 € /hour = about 38CAD/hour. Cant really complain about that, on top of that, I make out well not having to pay rent here. If only I saved money! haha, have to make the most of being able to travel while here, atleast I think so!
The one thing I hate in this school is that on more than half the computers I can't access my hotmail. I was in the "parloir" where the internet for the teachers is (we have it in the staff room too, but I cant access my email there) and a teacher came in and needed the computer to input marks, so here I am "banished" to the "teachers" computer in the library because there is a class in the library, where once again, I cannot access my email. So frusterating. I can't even access google.ca. Oh well, life goes on. I was in the middle of writing an email that I would like to finish, but it will have to wait.
For some reason my feet are really cold today.
This weekend I spent with my friend Sophal. The one from Cambodia. Her husband has been away since last Monday and will come home on Friday. I was at her place for the weekend which is not far from mine. We didnt get up to tooooo much, but it was definitely nice to spend the weekend with someone and to speak French the entire time. Thats what I want...speak French!
I know it has improved a lot since I have been here, but I feel as though I have reached a "plateau" as it was put by Rémi. It's frusterating because I just want it to be there. I dont want to have to think anymore when I speak French. I just want it to be there! Grrrr.
I have contemplated what I will do next year, as I still am not sure. I do know that in the summer I definitely need to find a job to make some cash for whatever I decide to do in the fall!
Alright, this is turning into a book, sorry! Hope all is well wherever you may be.

Thoughts

2006-01-13T18:30:00.000-05:00

Well, I have decided that I really like this town except one thing. This one thing is really big which is a problem. It is the fact that I don’t really have many friends in this town. That is the thing that is really hard to handle. Other than that I like ;y life here. To go along with the no friends thing I’d have to say it is the free time factor.
I am going to make a list of pointers and things of that such for if there is an assistant here next year or in the years to come, although a list of pointers can not help everyone. My opinion on this program that I am not going to post on the assistants site, is that it is not fit for everyone. Especially if you end up in a little town such as La Châtre it is even more specific of person I think. You have to be completely dedicated to this program I think, and you have to enjoy your own company. I am not going to say that it is always easy here by any means, it was really hard at the start for me, but you have to push through it, as I did, and you have to continue to look at the good side of everything. Once you get over that hump, you are all set. Sure I have my down days now but they are few and in an overall general sense all is great! The thing that could make this place better is friends, hehe! I will survive!
I was walking through the hallway today on my way back to my room when i saw one of ;y students. He is super cute and if he was older I’d have q crush on him. Hahaha. Ok, so anyway, he always uses “vous” with me and I try and tell him every time to use “tu”. I had a little chuckle about it. It just made me smile.
Well, I am headed out to meet up with my friend Sophal. I will spend the night there. Not too sure yet what we will do but it will be nice to get out my place for a night and to spend it with a friend.

Forgotten moments

2006-01-08T16:26:00.000-05:00

Oh man, sitting around this weekend I have realised I have forgotten some funny things from the trip. I noticed that I put something about the mullets in my title but forgot to elaborate. Oh well, here is a little something.
Everywhere we went in Spain we saw mullets. And I mean everywhere. You didnt just see the basic business in the front party in the back, but I mean some interesting mullets. I have a good picture somewhere that I will have to upload of one of the cops mullets. It was dark hair with a dyed blond streaks mullet. Now that is a good laugh. On our way into a store somewhere we saw the best one yet and unfortunately I did NOT have time to get out my camera to get a shot. It was a dreadlock mullet. That is right, his mullets was dreads. Hilarious!!!!!
We got some different channels at our place there too. German television as I already made a reference too, but English(Bristish) tv too. We saw some pretty great comedy shows. The first one had a good skit in it that had to do with lesbians and the one line was something like "muff eater" and the second was "fanny muncher". For all those north americans out there, in Britain, a fanny is NOT your bum, but the other side..... Another show we saw was "BUZZCOCKS"....yes, I may sound like I am 12 laughing at this, but it was pretty funny.
The nicknames....that is all that has to be said!!!!!! GREAT TRIP!!!!!!!
Thanks guys for the memories!!!!!!

Not a happy camper

2006-01-08T12:32:00.000-05:00

Grrrr....just doing laundry and if these f'n stains from the washing machine dont come out, I will be down 4 tshirts...yeah that is right 4 of my t's have this f'n grey stain from from the washer. I am soooo pissed right now. Atleast I realised before the dryer so hopefully tomorrow I can find some stain remover to get rid of these stains or I will be REALLY mad. One of my favorite tshirt is amongst these. I have not had much luck with laundry the last couple times. No more beige bras, just grey ones and now tshirts with grey stains. Grrrrr!

Next stop....Amsterdam then Brussels

2006-01-07T16:43:00.000-05:00

So after just making the train with about 1 minute to spare we realised that we cant walk all the way down to our (Darcie and Is) car of the train. So I went to check with the train man to see what was up. Have the train was staying in Brussels and the other half was continuing on to Amsterdam. So in Brussels we had to hop off and switch trains. We eventually made it to our hostel in Amsterdam. Seemed a little sketchy upon walking in but the rooms were decent and because we had reserved we saved 2€ per night! We got to our room after having to climb of the smallest and steepest staircase EVER. Found our beds and chilled. We met a couple Aussies in our room who we ended up spending the entire stay with. A dude from Alaska, Ryan, showed up in our room while we were still there (room of 16) and we all headed for food. Darcie and I were starving seeing as we had only had a fruit 2 go and 2 cookies on the train ride there. The 5 of us headed out for food (chips AKA fries) and did a little tour of the city for awhile then went back to the hostel to relaw a little before the night began. Darcie Luke and I went split from Josh & Ryan and went and got food. We ended up loosing the guys because they werent there when we got back so we headed back to the hostel where we eventually found Josh, alone. Ryan said he was going back the hostel but I guess he didnt make it there right away. We headed out yet again stopped at a few places and checked out the Red Light district. Darcie and I were trying to pick out who was a man, hahah! We actually got to see this guy pickpocketing people, not that it is a good thing, but it was krazy to see. People just walk past you saying quietly "coke, cocaine" trying to sell it to you. If you really look you see people actually dealing. It was really eye opening. I was there in October staying with Anna so never was really out much at night and definitely NEVER noticed any of that. It was krazy. Back to the hostel! We chilled in the common room there for awhile before bed. Finally Ryan made it back and we all just hung out chatted. Darcie and I wanted to play Monopoly, we had ever since we saw it when checking in. Unfortunately NO ONE wanted to play except us. Instead we drew pictures and sort of played a "pictionary" type of game.
The next day we slept in later than all the other days then headed to the Van Gogh museum. We got these amazing little mini pancakes for lunch which were great! Josh & Ryan didnt come to the musem with us. After on the way home we hit up the grocery store to get some food for dinner, or pre-dinner and snacks. I got MILK!!!! It was great! Not like the milk here in france. I actually drank 1/2 a litre of it!!!mmmmm! I was happy. We all just hung out in the room for awhile relaxing and I looked through some of Lukes pics from the UK which were awesome. Made me want to go travel there for sure. We went downstairs and chilled there for awhile with some other random people from the hostel. We headed out for awhile to walk around town and get some food seeing as we didnt officially eat dinner. Not too late of a night, but not that early of one. We chilled back at the hostel for a bit before going to bed.
The next morning we got up and headed out for a bit. Darcie want to get a few souvenirs and I would have like to find the GIANT wooden shoe, although we ran out of time for that. Once again, off and running. We almost missed our train, AGAIN! If it werent for the Aussies we would not have made it. As soon as we stepped on the train the buzzer rang and the doors closed. I really wish that we would have missed the train as did Darcie. Upon arrival to Brussels, we were NOT the happiest of people to be there. It was kind of disappointing. The only good things that we saw were was the "pissing" manequin and his collection of outfits! We stayed 2 nights and home for me then. Left Darcie in Brussels she got on one train and me on another.

All in all, this holiday was AMAZING! I didnt even miss Christmas that much. Hhehe

Darice & Erin do Europe....first stop Paris

2006-01-07T09:27:00.000-05:00

Ok, well maybe Europe is an exageration, but we did hit up 3 countries. So I met Darcie at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. I arrived a little before her flight and had to take the Navette (little bus) to her terminal. After wandering around I finally found her we went to the train station and hoped on the train to Paris. We got to the hostel and lucky for us there was still room!!!! We werent able to check in yet because it was lockout (which I absolutely HATE). We dropped off our bags headed out for some food and ate it at the hostel while catching up. We ended up taking a 2 hour nap because we were both exhausted and then heading out to dinner and the grocery store were we got some wine and hung out in the hostel. We met a few people there, a Mexican, Diego and an Argentinan, Joaquin(spelling), who are both studying in Grenoble drank some wine and played some game with them. It was called Pin & Pun(pronounced by them "peen" & "poon"). Darcie and I had a great laugh over that one. We didnt stay up too late because we were both tired. Friday we headed out to Notre Dame and when coming out of it it was snowing. It was shit weather. We headed towards the Louvre and grabbed some food along the way. We saw every kind of percipitation possible. Rain, snow, hai...no fun. When we were in the Louvre we saw a sign saying it was free for those under 26 after 1800. So we headed out of there to the Concorde and Champs Elysées. Because the weather was shit, the ground was just sluch. Our pants were soaked almost to our knees and our feet were wet. We stopped finally at a cafe and got hot chocolate. The waiters were all dressed in sailers outfits so we couldnt pass up the urge, Darcie used her french skills and asked them for a photo. It was great! We each got our picture taken with some of them. Hilarious! We went home to dry off before heading to the Louvre again. It was sooo uncomfortable with wet feet. I blow dryed my shoes, haha. After the Louvre we got dinner and met these 2 Texans, CJ & Wesley and invited them to stop by our hostel. We went back to our hostel to eat and ended up meeting a whole bunch of people drinking wine playing cards and chatting. We went to go out for a bit with a couple mexicans but for some reason never made it to a club and ended up back at the hostel. We hung out there for awhile and I met someone that is from my region which was awesome. Late night, but oh well.
New Years Eve day! We headed to the Eiffel tower after a late start and had to wait in a line for 1.5 hours jsut to walk the stairs. That is right folks....the STAIRS. The line for the elevator was about 3 hours and 3 times the price. Once we made it to the first floor we went skating. There is temporarily an ice rink on the first floor of the tower. I was pumped to go skating though we didnt stay on for long. I though I was going to do the "bambi" and have my legs slide out from underneath me. The skates were crap and had no edges, but oh well, what can you expect when it is free, donation if you want. We tried to go to musée d'Orsay but it was closed early. We stopped at the grocery store got the cheapest vodka possible, and some food for dinner then back to the hostel to rest and get ready to go out for the big New Years Eve in Paris!
We were going to head to the Eiffel tower with our water bottle and juice jug mixed with our vodka, to meet up with some people but in the metro we ran into some people we knew from the hostel and the Texans and they told us we had to go to Montmartre. So we made it there with a couple minutes to spare after running up the stairs to Sacré Coeur. Up at the top we were protected from these guys harrassing us (more Darcie than I, I just yelled at them in French or moreso franglais) by our new friends. Aussie, Jonathon and American, Brandon. Good old France and NOTHING organised people were lighting off fireworks everywhich way and they were even shooting into the crowd. It was craziness and one even almost hit one of the girls with us. After there we headed to the Champs Elysées. We were wandering around there and next thing you know the cops or french swat is making one of those lines with their little shields and all. So we started walking away from this area. Next thing you know a shit load of hoodlums were running towards us. We saw a metro stop but it was jam packed down there so we just got to the wall out of the way. Everyone was a little nervous, I think especially after what happened in Oct/Nov here. So we headed for the next metro stop and off we went. We ended up getting split into 2 groups and meeting back up at the hostel. It was definitely a great night. We chilled in the lobby for awhile before going to bed. It was a blast! Late night and didnt get up with the alarm the next morning. Off to a late start and running to catch the train. Thankfully for Brandon he was on the same train going to Brussels rather than Amsterdam and he helped us make it on time! Good times in good old Pareeee!

perception....wierd

2006-01-06T16:01:00.000-05:00

Tonight I was out walking around town. Thought about going to the movies, but Narnia is not really my cup of tea for movie choices and that was the choice. I decided to walk a little further in an area I have never really ventured down. On my way back down the street this car was driving up going pretty fast. My first thought was "as if someone is driving so fast in these tiny streets. Then I looked down the road and thought to myself "these roads arent really that tiny". I remember the day I arrived. Rue Nationale the main street was the same street I first drove in on when arriving. I remember thinking then "wow, this is the tiniest street ever". It's funny how your perception of something can change. I dont know why I am posting this but I just thought it was kind of funny/interesting. My perception has changed...and this just proved it!

A couple days to myself...

2006-01-06T15:55:00.000-05:00

The 27th I headed to Salamanca on my own. 3 of the 4 flew home that morning and Leo was staying in Madrid then heading to Barcelona. I got to Salamanca and arrived at the train station, stepped out and all of a sudden it hit me. I hadnt travelled like this in awhile. All I knew was the name of the hostel, with no idea where it was or where the tourist office was. I asked a woman in the station and she told me it was a 15minute walk. I decided to lock my pack in a locker and just take my small backpack. I didnt know how long I would be wandering for. Just arriving like that caught me off guard becuase I head been travelling differently the past while. I like it though! I made my way around and ended up checking into the hostel for 12€ a night, great deal. I went out and toured around town at night which was quite beautiful with all the lights on the buildings and churches. I ended up eating at Pizza Hut. I would love to go into some nice Spanish restaurant but sometimes when you are alone it is just easier to do the simple thing.
The next morning I met Paolo who was in my room. He is from Rome. We got chatting and he was headed to the cathedral also so we headed for a quick breakfast and to the cathedral. It was quite impressive. Paolo seemed to know so much it was great. We then decided to head to Avila which was about 3/4 of the way to Madrid. I took my stuff and went to put it in the locker. After messing up and spending 9€ I got my pack in. I was a little grump, but oh well. We were there and unfortunately, Paolo's guide books times needed an update and we missed the cathedral. Oh well, thats life. Cant have everything. So we headed up the wall which you can walk along the tops of. It was cool. We wandered around town periodically grabbing hot chocolate/coffee because it was chilly, and caught our trains around 9. I went onto Madrid and Paolo back to Salamanca. I just went straight to the airport took up camp on a bench and slept. My flight was at 715 checking closed at 645 and so it was not worth paying for a hostel and a cab in the morning. Back to France to meet Darcie......

Christmas!!!! Off to Cordoba

2006-01-06T15:25:00.000-05:00

We all headed off on a train north on Christmas day. The girls and I got off in Cordoba and the guys continued on to Madrid. We found a hotel, very nice and cheap then set out to wander around town. A lot of things werent open, which I kinda assumed would be the case, but me managed to see into part of the Mezquita (mosque) and see some of the other monuments in town. Later in the evening around 7 or so the streets just filled with people. It was awesome. We headed to get dinner late likee usual and ended up what seemed to be a decent place. Ashlie and I ordered something fairly simple...chicken. With horribly broken Spanish because no one in this town spoke engish, we asked if it was chicken brest. He replied yes and off he went. When he came back, I saw the sketchyist chicken ever. It looked like the little squares of beef you use in a stew. Oh well, we ate as much as we could and off we went. The next morning Ashlie and I got up to go to the Mezquita to arrive around 945 before it was supposed to open at 10 because we wanted to catch the train at 11. When we arrived the Mezquita was open (and free, not the 5€ that I read somewhere) so we headed straight in. There was a ceremony going on at the cathedral inside. This place was so incredible and once again, photos can not do it justice. I was super happy to be in there and happy to be able to hear the sound that came from that organ. It was just amazing. Off we ran back to the hotel got a cab instead of walking and booted it to the station. Only to our dismay was a) not at 11 and b) going to cost 75€ if we left before 1715. So we headed over in the rain to the bus station to see what they had to offer. There was a bus at 4 arriving at 845 which was only 1 hour and 15min later than the train and 30€ price difference we opted for the LONG bus ride. It wasnt bad and we eventually made it to the hostel in Madrid. Cat's Hoste after getting lost and the use of my brilliant Spanish skills haha, I got us directionsl! I didnt spend a lot of time here it was an awesome hostel and I would recommend it. Great security, clean and a great atmosphere. Enough of me selling this place to all you. We met back up with the guys and went to dinner and then a few of us had some drinks at the hostel. Olivia Leo and I decided to go out and check out the scene. Off we went walking in a direction the guy at the front desk suggested. We met some Austrian guys on the walk then some Spanish. We all talked about going to a club. I had a deja vu because we ended up in front of the club that I went to 3.5years ago when I was in Madrid. Club Joy! We didnt go there. The 3 of us and the two Austrian dudes headed on and ended up at some bar which I believe was called Dreams. We had a couple beers danced a little and then headed out. Well, actually we were kicked out as they were closing pouring our beers into "to-go cups" but real sturdy plastic, not like the throw away plastic ones. That was quite amusing that they were sending us out with drinks. Along the way we met two finish people. We were going to go to another bar but Olivia had to go home because she had to leave at 6 to catch her flight. It was 5am and I didnt think she would find her own way home so I said I would walk her home. For some stupid, pisse me off reason Leo decided she should take a cab home and for some reason I got shipped home in the cab too. I was not impressed at all! Actually I was quite pissed off. I thought I should be the good friend and offer to walk Olvia home not take a cab. She was fine enough to take a cab home alone. Oh well, Olivia made out with one of the Austrians so that was quite amusing!!! Comment of this day was definitely "paperbag princess" sorry, no explanation on this one. Good times.
After many talks on the highlights of the week and the song of the week, thanks to the all famous German music channel and Gülcan(or however it was spelt) here it is....LAST CHRISTMAS!!!! Heard that one way too many times. It was definitely an amazing week with lots of memories! Thanks guys

A day off...

2006-01-06T14:47:00.000-05:00

At the last minute I just decided I wasnt going to go to Morroco. Ashlie ended up going on her own(with a tour group). I was tired and exhausted and knew I still had about 12days left of travelling before going home. So I slept in and then headed to the mall with the other 4. The guys went to the movies and Olivia and I looked around the mall. We headed home and relaxed before having our Christmas Eve dinner. We tried to eat up everything that was left in the place and then started drinking. We had lots of booze to drink. There were 3 bottles of sangria, 1 btl of rum and a bottle of wine, plus Ashlies bottle of rye. We got off to a start with dinner and carried on into the drinking games. Those are always fun. Arthur went to bed earlier than the rest of us and eventually headed down to the beach at 3 in the morning ready to swim. Well, atleast Olivia and I were in our suits. Got in no more than the knees. It was funny though. It ended up being a late night but oh well, still need to do that every so often.

Granada....good bread

2006-01-06T14:01:00.000-05:00

Yet another drive ahead of us. Started off better than the previous but still late due to some late sleepers.....the drive didnt seem as bad as the day before. Less in and out, but more through the mountain roads. And the roads there are really nice. We ended up going to straight to the Alhambra (which I have been waiting to see for so long), grabbing some food and heading in. It was just amazing. The architecture was so impressive with arab buildings. It was really a site to see and I dont think all the pictures I took can even do it justice. It is just unbelieveable. The funniest thing ever. I was strolling through the Alhambra when I saw a familiar face. I stared for awhile not knowing if I actually knew the person. Well it turns out I wasnt crazy. I actually knew the guy. Scotty....I went to university with him and knew hime through Amber & Caitlin, sorry no last name. Anyway, thought that was kind of funny. After the Alhambra we headed into town. I wanted to stop in and see the cathedral. The 3 of us girls split up from the boys. Grabbed some bread at the grocery store before heading to the car where we would sit for the next 2.5 hours. Some interesting comments were made on how good this bread was. Some comparisons of how good it was. Quite the amusing day!

Seville

2006-01-06T13:17:00.000-05:00

Thursday we ended up renting a little car for 2 days to do a little touring. It turned out to be a great deal. The car and gas were only 160€ (32€ each). We all piled in and headed up the mountain (litteraly) we went, in and around the mountain halfway up. It was a great roadtrip! We finally made it to Seville after a late start due some NON early risers after 2.5hours in the car. We had lunch (McDs to cure a stomach after a night of drinking) and met up with Ashlies roomate Jorge who actually lives there. We went to the Royal Alcazar and in the part of the cathedral which was open. We were able to see the tomb of Christopher Columbus. When we were in the Alcazar we wasted a lot of time because Olivia wandered off out of the palace and over to the cathedral and around it. We had no clue where she was. The Plaza de Espana was amazing also. To end the night we went to a tapas bar, and some of us hada beer and we all had tapas. It was great!!!

Free booze at 10 am, WOOT!

2006-01-06T10:41:00.000-05:00

Wednesday we signed up for a FREE bacardi cortilla tour, although we had to go to the diamond factory after. 9am pickup and we headed off to the Bacardi place in Malaga. They sure rushed you through the museum part of it, but oh well, we sat down at 10:22 and had ourselves a nice bacardi breezer. When we finished that we grabbed a shot of 8 year old dark rum. We checked out the boutique which was unbelieveably cheap. I bought myself a set of 4 bacardi glasses which are nice glass with "beveled"(that ones for you Linds) writing on them. They were only 1€ each, though a pain in the ass to carry after. We all went in on splitting a bottle of rum. The diamond place was a bore, they were all about just selling which I sure wasnt interested while I was on my budget holiday. That afternoon we didnt get upto tooo much. We were going to go to Malaga but we didnt end up doing that becuase it was fairly late. We just went to Fuengirola checked our mail looked into getting tickets for the train and headed home. That night we cracked open the rum as well as one of the many bottles of wine we had. We played "kings" or "waterfalls" as Leo called it. We played it a couple nights earlier just Ashlie Leo and I after a failed attempt at playing asshole because of rule differences. Anyway, Leo, Ashlie and I were getting pretty loaded and decided to head out down to one of the pubs. The other 2 just want to bed. We went to Harp Bar. There were a lot of english speakers in there, as well as some others. Ended up talking to some Welsh guy and his "SKETCHY" mexican roomate as well as some english and a wierd hungarian(i think) girl. It was quite the amusing nights with the phrase of the night being "piss off" in a welsh accent. This night made for many laughs, that is all that needs to be said.

Gibralter for a day!

2006-01-06T10:17:00.000-05:00

Well, Tuesday....ahhhh Gibralter! We headed out on the bus to Marbella to catch another bus to La Linea from where you walk across to Gibralter. Of course we were late and did not make the direct bus. So instead, me being completely determined to get there wa headed to the tourist office to find out other options. The same old man was working at the tourist office when we arrived. He was super friend was again as he was the day before so I thought it would be nice to give him a little Canada pin. Then he asks me "can I give you a wet kiss". I look at Ashlie thinking, what the hell is that supposed to mean. Well, thankfully it just meant a kiss on the cheek. He told me that next time I should go back along. ahhhhh! Off we went to the bus station. From there we caught a bus to Algeciras then from there to La Linea. We crossed the border where once again, no questions asked for customs and no stamp givin and then had someone offering a tour of "the rock" which is ultimately the country. After discusing the pros and cons for about 10 minutes everyone finally said yes on dishing out the 22€ for the tour. We hopped into a little mini van all 5 of us and the guide and off we went headed up the rock. We stopped at various points and although it wasnt the most clear day, we still could see the coast of Africa. As we are on our tour our little guide was very informative. He was born and raised in Gibralter where there are about 30,000 inhabitants. He told us that the rock is "as hollow as swiss cheese", speaking about all the tunnels and caves that are in it. We did a tour of the caves which was awesome. There is even a concert hall inside which is pretty spectacular. The sound in there would be amazing. We headed up higher on the rock where we got to see "the monkeys". I even got my picture taken with one on my head. I fell in love with the monkeys. They were so cute. Saw a few of them fight and it was hilarious when one of them used Ashlie as a tree and jumped on her back. Ashlie Olivia and Leo were scared of the monkeys, haha, and got trapped up on the stairs because they were surrounded. Our tour guide decided to pull out his secret weapon (a toy snake) to scare them off, but they all ended up running up the stairs towards the 3 of them. They weere all screaming. It was pretty hilarious if you ask me. We walked through the Great Siege Tunnels which was dug in 50 weeks if Im not mistaken by men. On the way home we tried to catch the direct bus but didnt make it so again transfered through Algeciras. Great day. Loved those monkey.

Spain...where the mullet lives on

2006-01-06T09:56:00.000-05:00

Sunday morning I met up with Ashlie, Olivia and Arthur at the airport bright and early around 8am. We made our way to check in and got on the plane. It was a decent ride and the food (breakfast) was good! All the flight attendants were male which made up ladies happy! We got in around 11 am to Malaga and while waiting to get our luggage we saw some guy with the Canada flag on his backpack. We debated whether or not he was truely Canadian and called him a poser most definitely loud enough for him to hear. How embarrassing! Then we were arguing over who would ask him where he was from. Wow, that's so immature, but I was part of it. Eventually he said something to us. He was more so a mutt then a pure bred Canadian like myself, but I give him some credit that part of him is Canadian. Off we go to figure out where the hell we are going. We ended up hoping on a train headed to Fuengirola which was about 15km to our hotel. From there we just decided to take a cab, though we should have taken a bus and saved a little cash, but oh well that was easiest. The 4 of us made it to our hotel which was awesome and relaxed for a little while. We headed out to the grocery store to get some stuff for dinner. Arthur went to watch a football match and me and the girls just relaxed (I think). Leo, the 5th of our group was on a late flight and arrived around 1130pm, after getting a ride from some family he met during his travels (flight/mini bus to plane) who were staying at our hotel. That worked out nice for him.
The second day Ashlie and I got up reasonably early and headed to the welcome meeting for 10am. No one else got up, but oh well. After we headed into Marbella which is 16km further(opposite direction from Fuengirola). We figured out the buses and off we went. We wandered around town there, checked out the beach, a couple of us put our feet in (kinda chilly). We also went to Puerto Banus which is at the other end of Marbella. There are some amazing boats there from all over including Turks & Caicos. This was one of our less eventful days but still tons of fun!

The holidays begin...Mitsuko & Erin take on Paris

2006-01-06T09:36:00.000-05:00

So on December 16th, the day I finished classes for Christmas break I made my way to Paris to meet up with Mitsuko. It seems like forever ago, which I guess it kinda was.
My train was late getting into Paris that day and I was worried that Mitsy would be lost in the station looking for me. I had met some man on the train with whom I ended up exchanging numbers and I hurried onto the metro and made my way to the other train station. Well walking up from the metro my phone rings and it is Mitsuko. Thankfully her train was late too and she had just arrived. We checked into our hostel near La République where the only problem in our room was the fact that the window had to be propped shut with a chair. We had a shower and toilet in the room so that was good.
After relaxing for a bit we headed out to grab some dinner. We ended up at an italien restaurant (I know we are in France, but decent prices and good food) got dinner and some wine. After that we headed out walking towards the Opera. From there we headed down to the Concorde (obelix), up the Champs Elysees and then to the Eiffel tower. We hit up the grocery store on the way, grabbed some wine and snacks. It was a super nice night out. We sat down on the Champs Elysées eating chocolate and people watching. We were siting on the bench when these two guys passed. I smiled and they kept on walking. They turned and looked back so we smiled again. The continued walking for a couple minutes and then came back to us. They each took a picture on their camera phones with the two of us. It was quite amusing because we really had no clue what was going on.
The next day, we headed out to find a market in Paris. We hoped on the metro and took it to a stope where we believed there would be a market, got off and started walking in the direction of the "market". YIPEE!!!!! We found it! It was awesome. We discovered a nice little area of the city that neither of us had seen before. I bought some clementines which still had the leaves attatched for some reason or another and we continued walking. We met the most ignorent Canadian ever. An embarrassment really I thought. Mitsy and I were getting crepes at this little store/restaurant when we met this guy and a Mexican. The guys decides to order and not make an effore even though the french words were right infront of him. He was very demanding and rude that I forgot he was Canadian. I saw it from the French peoples point of view I think. I just think that when visiting another country it is nice to make atleast some effort, and maybe that is just me but, you can always find out how to ask if they speak your language instead of just assuming that they should speak it. We headed to another market and then through Luxembourg Gardens and stopped for a hot chocolate/coffee. We just got food at the grocery store for dinner and ate in our room while drinking some wine. We put it in a water bottle and took it to go as we made our way to a bar where we were meeting some people from couch surfing for a "meeting" (couchsurfing.com - if you are interested in knowing more). There were already lots of people there but it was really nice to meet people and chat over drinks. We went for a bite to eat after then Mitsy and I headed home. I had to be up at the crack of dawn the next morning to catch my flight to Spain. On my walk to the metro at 630am I crossed a lot of people just on their way home from the bars. Quite funny actually! Great weekend. I wish I could have spent more time with Mitsuko seeing as it had been 1.5 years, but oh well. We will see each other again soon!
That night, Saturday

Home at last

2006-01-06T09:30:00.000-05:00

One quick post before I start into all the various adventures that went on in europe this holiday break. I will break them down to make it easier for me, maybe for you guys too. Hope everyone had an amazing holiday like I did. I didnt even really miss "Christmas". I had a blast!!!! Just got home yesterday and have lots of stories!!! :D

Almost holidays!!!

2005-12-13T13:54:00.000-05:00

Well, I figured I better blog now before I head out on Friday. I had a great weekend! Friday afternoon I went to Florence's (the same one I went to dinner with the night before) place for a quick tea before she had to be back at school. She dropped me off in town and I headed to the grocery store. First off, for those who dont really know, French people stare a lot. Sometimes to the point where you feel awkward. While I was in the store I noticed some guy and he was looking at me. I looked at him and smiled while I was walking through the aisle. He was in line at the till. He kept staring so I headed off to another aisle away from the tills. I was looking at some stuff when this guy comes up to me and says "can I ask your name?". So sure, I reply "Erine(with a french accent)" Then he says something about be having really nice eyes. I asked him his name then stuck my hand out to shake his. Oh, look at that north american come out in me. That is something that is not really french. I felt like a bit of a tool after that. And then, I didnt know what to say so I say "Im Canadian and Im the assistant at the highschool". Then he apologizes, I have no idea why and then tells me a bit about him. All in all very funny yet awkward. Oh I forgot to mention I told him about my big debut in the paper. haha, I am such a loser. Oh well, off he went and I finished my shopping and headed to the till. He was just finishing checking out and he was with some chick. I had a smile on my face becuase I was giggling to myself about what happened. He smiled at me and it was pretty funny.
That night I did not do too much. I just chilled here. I was sitting on the internet around 7 getting ready to head out cook some dinner watch some tv etc. Guillaume, the teacher I mentioned way back in the day that kind of creeped me out a bit came into the computer room and then another teacher. We all chatted and it was nice. They left and a little bit later Guillaume came back to ask if I wanted to do something with him that night. NO THANKS! Sorry, that sounds really mean, but Im not interested. He ended up sitting here chatting with me for like 2 hours which was fine except he kept asking me to do something. Then he makes some comment on how he is attracted to me etc. I found out he is 31 years old. Nice guy, but something about him just, i dont know, seems off to me i guess.
Saturday I headed off to the big grand old city of Chateauroux! Hahah, for those of you that dont know this city its not that great of one. Anyway, it is great when you have friends there. We all headed over to Nadine, Karen and Emanuela's place for our Christmas Festivities!! It was a great night. The wine was flowing and the snacks were plentiful. There were 16 of us there and each person bought a gift under 5€. Everyone had to sing a song to get their gift. It was a lot of fun. Great night!
So far this week, I have not done much. Yesterday in the restuarant "pedagogique" (students make the food - like part of their schooling), which we the teachers go to every monday instead of the cafeteria, we had our "Christmas" lunch. Oh the typical French Christmas meal starts with fois-gras (however that may be spelt). Well, I took the big step and tried it. No thanks, I'll pass on that one next time. Other than that it was a great meal. Tonight in the canteen we had our Christmas dinner there which was good and we even got a can of pop which you never get. We only get water with meals. On Thursday at lunch there will be yet another Christmas meal! Woot!!!
Anyway, Friday I finish at 1230, I have 3 classes and in the last one the teacher and I decided we would do the class together and just watch a DVD. Easy!! hehe! After that I will catch the bus and head to Chateauroux then Paris to meet up with Mitsuko (my Japanese friend). Then Sunday off to Spain!!!! Let the holidays begin. Spending 7 nights in a resort hotel near Marbella (in the south) with some day trips to other cities and then upto Cordoba, Salamanca and Madrid I think. I cant wait. When I return from Spain on the 29th I will meet Darcie at the airport and we will spend a few days in Paris, including New Years and then head off to Amsterdam and Brussels. I am looking forward to the holdiays! I cant believe they are here already. Where has the time gone??
Well, enough from me here, take care and MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!

Pics

2005-12-13T13:50:00.000-05:00

"Only in a small town"

2005-12-09T08:40:00.000-05:00

Well, I just had my "interview" for the newspaper "L'Echo du Berry" (if Im not mistaken) on what I am doing here in La Châtre. I have to say Im sure that this doesnt happen to very many people especially those in big cities. He took my picture too so I will have to keep my eyes open for the issue with me in it. Luckily I believe it is a weekly paper so I wont have to check EVERY day. So we'll see how it turns out. I felt a little silly, I have never really had an interview for the paper. Been in it for skating enough when I was young though.
Well, this week has flown by. Tuesday I met up with Sophal and hung out for a little bit in the evening. I headed to Bellac on Wednesday morning, arriving there at 2. It was nice to get away for a bit and see some other places and other people. We didnt get upto anything overly exciting which was just fine with me. It was just chill. Yesterday I started heading back home with a stop in Limoges. Stayed there for a couple hours before catching the train to Chateauroux. I liked the city. There were several parks which I love to just sit around in them. Dont know about night life but has good potential! I got home around 1815 and watched friends before coming to get the key to internet, pick up a package I received(THANK YOU so much...you know who you are) and go to dinner. I ran into one of the english teachers. She and her husband are such sweethearts and have been very welcoming with me. Anyway, she invited me to her place right then for dinner instead of eating in the canteen. I didnt want to 'disrupt' (i dont know the good word to use here in english) her family etc( je n'ai pas voulu lui déranger). Well, we headed out, me with my package in hand to her car. She called her husband with my phone to let him know that me and another teacher were joining. To the grocery store we went where we ran through grabbing a few things. Her son is such a cutie. He is seven and loves Tim Burton. He is super creative loves to draw and create monsters. He gave me a picture that he drew and i promptly stuck it on my wall when i got home. We had a great evening just chatting and enjoying each others company along with some typical French wine! Great evening. Before heading out they brought me in a gift. Totally unnecessary and soo sweet. Her husband owns/runs the cinema town that I love going to. So they got me a book of Movies posters(adverts) from the 90s. It was very nice of them.
Well, that's about all. Life is great! Just going to chill here tonight, watch a little Star Ac, which I had completely forgot about and eat some salt & vinegar chips (mmm...cant wait...Ms Vickis (if i can spell correctly) woot). I am going to walk into town and get some wine I think and bread for dinner. Tomorrow if Im up Ill go to the market before heading to Chateauroux for our "christmas shindig" which should be great fun! Cant wait! Only one week left of classes before the holidays begin! Cant wait!!!!