My 100th Post! Quel drame !

Quel drame ! What drama!

Saturday was chilly again, but Caitlin, Katherine and I braved the wind to go to the Place de Lices market around 9am. I mostly just wanted mini-muffins, and I got 16 to have two of each flavor! I also had to go to the central bank branch and get a bank check to pay for the Paris apartment in June. Oh, the joys of explaining myself in French to strangers...

We also ended up buying food for lunch, and I tried paella, rice with mussels, shrimp, calamari, chicken, steak, chorizo, and yummy spices. We sat in the Tchai House for awhile too, a tea house/café place with the only chai tea lattes in town. Caitlin and I napped in the afternoon while our third went on a rendez-vous with a male assistant ;) Apart from a quick stop at H&M for returns, we were in for the evening and made tacos with an El Paso kit that Ma sent me in the most recent package (eating the leftovers now, yum!).

After that, I decided that I wanted to go clubbing. Caitlin was easily swayed, so I prettied myself up and we went to Le Delicatessan, a club set in the old Prison Saint-Michel with stone vaulted rooms, around 12:45am. Tangent here: French clubs don't open until midnight, but they stay open until 5, 6 or 7am! In the US, it's more like 10pm opening and 2am closing! Ack! We went "early" because girls were free before 1:30, and we got waved through the line by the bouncer who spoke English with us and thought we were cool. He even knew where Tennessee was!

So at this point, the club was still rather empty inside, so we got (incredibly expensive) drinks and settled at a table to wait out the slow times. Two French guys from Normandy came up to talk to us--one was a baker whom I complemented on the deliciousness of French bread, and the other had actually worked in East Tennessee for awhile and had been to Knoxville! WHAT ARE THE ODDS?! Lol!

When the dance floor was fuller, we joined in and met some other people who wanted to speak Franglais with us! I suppose they heard us speaking American ;) I talked to another French guy who had worked in Chicago, so we reminiced a bit about the Windy City. It was a super fun night, and tons of people wanted to talk to us! I'm so happy we did it! We got home around 4am, and Katherine was sound asleep on the air mattress.

The next morning, Katherine got up early to go to the ice skating rink, and Caitlin and I joined her after a few more hours of sleep. Katherine is a skating pro, so she showed adept Caitlin some tricks while I wobbled around a few times near the wall. I think my last ice skate was Freshman year of college! People held my hand the whole time then... Sigh...

It was intense but a good excuse to get out of the apartment on a boring Sunday. The big crisis occured when we returned to my apartment and the electricity was out! I, of course, freaked out and called the electric company and my landlord, but then Caitlin found the breaker box downstairs and pushed a button that fixed everything! Hooray! Thanks to her for pulling me through all the troubled times in France! :D

Katherine left us for home and a skype date with her sister, and Caitlin is bumming here with me until her 7:15pm train. Phew! What a wonderful, exciting weekend for the occasion of my 100th post! Thanks for hanging in there, friends!

Only 20 Workdays left!

Golly gee whiz! As the title says, only 20 workdays left! I will be quite relieved because right now my schedule is a wreck... and it changes every other day :/ It's an odd mix of old and new groups, plus some teachers are (just now after five months) giving me assignments to work on with their classes... It's rather frustrating to have everything change so much in the home stretch--but it will all be done soon!

At least today I had my favorite group EVER!!! The prof gave me these girls for two hours straight to prepare for their final oral exam. They will have to present themselves, talk about their internships (since it's a professional school, they have work placement periods), and then present a document, all in about 15 minutes. Without warning, I had to help them write out blurbs about themselves and their work to turn in to their prof, and then I had to dash to a computer to print articles for practice document work!

Since all of that was boring--and we had two hours to kill--we also played some games :) The girls were pretty good at English and all very sweet. They're actually all going to be preschool teachers! And they actually asked me questions and tried to get to know me! I hope I keep working with them!

What else have I done this week...? Caitlin and Katherine were around on Wednesday, our day off, for H&M shopping, walking in the blooming park, and chillin' in a café with GIANT chocolate cookies. It was almost like being at Panera or ABC.

Thursday, of course, was St. Patty's Day, so I was at PA's apartment party that then bar-hopped for the evening... I was home around 1am so I could sleep for work the next day. It's still so awkward to be at French people parties. I always feel a bit paralyzed--though I understand what is going on around me, I can't move or speak fast enough to take part.

I'm also VERY angry with the New York Times for charging for online access. Jerks! I guess they need to make money somehow, but I'll just be a poor student who doesn't know what is going on in the world now!

PA just left for KFC-ing with friends and going home for the weekend. I'll be joined by Caitlin and Katherine tomorrow morning to go to the market and hang about. Fingers crossed for a nice day!

Brussels, Bruges, and Back to Work

Ah! Here is a quick catch-up on the last few days!!

Wednesday, I took the train into Brussels, Belgium, where Katherine and Caitlin were awaiting me at the station. We visited a brewery of sour gueuze (sp?) beer, ate fries and waffles, and saw Autoworld, a museum of old cars! We found an awesome cafe with the best chai tea lattes in Europe. Dinner was at an Irish pub that I've been to many times, including this past summer where I watched a World Cup game there, standing in the crowd for two hours!

Chocolate Mickey sculpture for Ma!

Note the grey skies of Wednesday...

 

The next day was a leisurely outing to Bruges under grey, drizzling skies. It was an hour train ride, then a long, slow stroll up to the center of town with lots of photo ops. We had tea/coffee, cupcakes, and chocolates at a tea shop. I made them stop to see the Michelangelo, the Jesus Blood, the canals, and my favorite chocolate shops. We also had a yummy pasta lunch and an afternoon Bruges Zot beer. Oh, and I managed to buy a necklace in a funky little shop. Back in Brussels, we ate more fries for dinner, then Caitlin and I got hookah and drinks before hitting the hostel.

Latte, chocolates, and a red velvet cupcake! Mmmm!

For Friday we just met at the chai tea cafe to hang out before our trains left. We all had different itineraries, so I ended up on one train with C and the next with K! And I was back in Rennes by 5:15pm to hang out with PA a bit.

Why I like travelling with C and K: We eat/drink/chill a lot. We can speak franglais. We can just be happy strolling.

Saturday to Sunday, I was in Vitré to hang out with Caitlin--make baked brie with fig jam and veggie soup and watch movies. It was a nice chill weekend :)

Started work up today, and my schedule was very messed up! Two of my classes were not even there... including my 8:30am one :/ For a class I did have, I did Two Truths and A Lie, and this girl wrote "I like scream" instead of "I like ice cream," lol!

Back to the grindstone... 23 days of work to go! Then family and friends visit! Hooray! And spring is arriving, so life is getting much happier around here :)

Grad schools

I just want to inform you all that I've been accepted to University of Denver (with a scholarship!) and George Washington University in DC! PA is also definitely in at GWU but still waiting on Denver's descision. We also need to hear from American University!

This is super exciting! And I'm just sitting alone in my apartment trying to celebrate with others via facebook and skype!!! AHHHHH!

Another one... SORRY!

I'm sorry, but I'm bored. And blogging makes me feel like I'm doing something useful.

First thought: I have become one of those metro people who can fiddle with their iPod or read or stare off into space and then magically know when to get off. It's like my body has memorized the distances/times between stops, and I don't have to watch for them anymore. Funny, eh?

Second: I'm anxiously checking my mail every 5 minutes for grad school letters!!! Being in Brussels without internet may kill me these next few days...

Third: KFC in Europe sucks. They focus more on sandwiches, so it's just like going to McDonalds. The one I got tonight was chicken, a hashbrown patty, cheese, lettuce, ketchup and mayo--so weird! They have buckets, but there are more options with strips and crispy wings than with bone-in pieces. And the sides are only French fries or corn on the cob (they had coleslaw in Prague), and there are NO BISCUITS!!! The travesty! Only Subway still tastes the same as home here.

Ok, fo shizzle I'm off to Brussels tomorrow. SLEEP! Trying to ignore the Mardi Gras partiers...

:*

Life stagnant

Ahhhh! I hate having nothing to do! The contrast with active vacation time in Prague--nonstop activites--and being back in my apartment is driving me crazy! Yesterday was nice: I got half of my chores done and got to watch some quality ER and the classic French comedic films Les Bronzés and Les Bronzés font du ski. But today I got up early to get laundry done and ended up with everything finished before lunch!

It's a lovely day outside, and there is some sort of Mardi Gras carvinal going on on Place de la Mairie with people all in costume. A marching band parade (like thirty people, not that big) has passed under my window twice! Ahh, wait--whistle blowing right now makes that three times!

Luckily, spring is arriving. It's just a bit chilly at 16 degrees C here, the nicest day of 2011 so far. Looks like Brussels will be a bit colder, but at least I'll be with friends :)

I would go out to celebrate Mardi Gras tonight, but I have a 6:10am train tomorrow morning! Oh, the joys of travel that make me wish to be home... and a home that makes me wish I was traveling!

More ER this evening? Most likely...

Winter in Prague

I have a lot to say this time!

Pierre-Antoine and I were in Prague from Tuesday to Friday! It was cold (and even snowed on us once), but if the sun was out and the wind stopped, it felt great!

We had a long travel day starting with a train at 6:10am to the airport; then we had to wait around for an afternoon flight to Prague which takes only an hour and a half by air (it really makes you think about how small Europe is). Once there, we had to take a bus to the metro--a bus we didn't pay for because we only had big 1000 CK bills from the ATM and the driver spoke no English!

The hostel was right off of the main Old Town Square, and the five minute walk from the metro to the hostel just took my breath away. All of the buildings in Prague are GORGEOUS! A mix of old and new, all decorated, many painted bright colors! Check out the photos to get a better idea.

Me on Old Town Square with a Starbucks in hand.

So that first evening, I got a Starbucks latte under the name of "Lopen" :) and we wandered around the main square and over to the famous Charles Bridge to get a view of Prague Castle. PA convinced me to eat KFC for dinner :/ It's really different in Europe: the only sides are fries and coleslaw, no biscuits, and the only chicken varieties are original and spicy. Ah, well... We capped off the night by finding a huge mall that had bars on the top floor and enjoyed a Pilsner.

The famous astronomical clock!

View to Charles Bridge and Prague Castle on the hill.

The next morning (Starbucks in hand!) we caught a free city tour from German/British Michael. He was pretty funny and took us to all the main sights in Old Town, New Town, and the Jewish Quarter. Look through the photo album to get all the stories with each picture. Lunch with the tour was at Bohemian Bagel where I actually got a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel! It must have been owned by Americans because the food was just like home! Here are some building pictures to give you an idea:

Near Prague Castle.

Jewish Quarter building detail.

On a main square in New Town.

Cubist architecture. We ate at the cafe here!

The tour lasted until after 2, so our plan to go to the zoo was too late... Instead, we walked up to the Castle, which is more a palace complex than a traditional castle. We didn't pay to go in but just admired the views from up top. We then went to the hostel to take a nap and prepare for the night's fun ;)

We had a delicious Indian meal before meeting the Bar Crawl group. The first bar was actually inside an old church and only half-finished. There we had a Power Hour of free drinks and hookah... and a lot of British teenagers on a trip together that become a nuisance as the night goes on. The second bar was M1 Lounge, which was AWESOME! The interior was stellar--like from a movie--and the music was awesome. I got this Tiramisu martini that was delicious and got to dance to American music! The annoying part was that there was only one toilet and three British girls locked themselves in it for half an hour. Two French Canadian girls and I were waiting, so we got the bouncer to open the bathroom door and kick them out! You would think that British teens could hold their alcohol...

The third bar was DEJAVU, which PA thought was funny. It was ok... we sat at the bar sipping White Russians for the most part. The last stop on a bar crawl is always a club, which was also cool. Happily, the Brits didn't make it this far, so the atmosphere was a lot nicer. We danced a bit, then headed out around 2:30. It was a fun night :)

The next day we did a tour out to Kutna Hora, again with Michael! About an hour's train ride took us to this town that used to be super rich from the silver mines there--producing one third of Europe's coins in Medieval/Renaissance times. The site to see is the bone ossuary--a blind monk was given the job of organizing old bones in a chapel, making pyramids, garlands, a crest, and a chandelier of them! Again, see the pics!

Inside the bone chapel!

And since it was a tour, we also got stories on Hussite War battles, the mines, the politics. The other site was St Barbra's Cathedral, which looked positively gloomy--Kutna Hora was the coldest day with grey skies and a bit of snow. Lunch was at a Czech pub at 3pm, so we were starving! Here we tried beef in a cream/cranberry/lemon sauce with bread dumplings (slices of bread coated in flour and egg and boiled). It was pretty good, but we sat at a table of Norweigians, a Dane, a Russian, and the German/English guide, so the conversation was odd...

I guess I haven't mentioned that I had developed a cold on this trip... After Kutna Hora, I was rather miserable. I just had to be lame go to sleep that night...

Our last morning, we did a communism tour, which showed us quite a few new sites and took us to a nuclear bunker where we could dress in authentic uniforms and drink a beer! That is where these amazing photos come from:

Afterwards, we just had time to eat lunch, walk around the Jewish Quarter once more for a few extra photos, and have dessert inside a Cubist cafe before we headed to the airport. It was altogether a satisfying trip, though I wish we had one more day to see the zoo! My sole recommendation: go to Prague when it's warmer...

We got to Rennes at midnight Friday and slept at my place. Saturday and Sunday were spent in Vitré because all of PA's family was in town. Had a delicious meal at Au Vieux Vitré and lots of laughs as a 'magician' kept stealing the kids' suckers ;)

Here in Rennes, I have two days to do laundry and get rested for Brussels! I'm meeting Caitlin and Katherine for Wed-Fri just for kicks--I can't wait to get some Bruges chocolates!

Another update after Brussels, I suppose. Until then, my friends!