Another fun-filled weekend here! PA was in town Friday, so we got to hang out. Saturday was Katherine day! She came around 10am to go to the market, and then we ran out to the library and did some shopping throughout the day. It's nice out again, so skirts were welcome! I also had my first galette saucisse and an AMAZING falafal sandwich from Le Mont liban, right across the place from my apartment! Mmm...
Caitlin joined us, and we headed over to Kelsey's for a little asisstants' party. Chatting and dancing with a finish at Le Delicatessen for more dancing :) Katherine left for home, and Caitlin stayed with me for Sunday. We ran errands, finally checked out the interior of the church that I see from my windows, and ate another falafal sandwich. The afternoon was spent in the grass at the park with a million other people because there is a music festival going on in town with two stages set up in the park as well. It was delightful!
Now it's a quiet Monday, still sunny! I'm doing laundry and preparing my lesson on line dances for my students this afternoon... The Cupid Shuffle and the Cha Cha Slide! It's all because I had a dream about teaching them dancing! I figure, it's the last week, so why not?!
Showing posts with label parties. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parties. Show all posts
Monday, April 18, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
My last month of working in France!
Friday was one of the sadder days of my French children teaching career--three students just cut my class! I was in my room at 11:30 and waited for twenty minutes before going to ask the teacher if I had the right hour. Apparently, she had sent three students to me and they decided to leave campus for an early lunch instead of working with me :( It was rather heart-breaking...
I had another class where the prof asked me to prepare them for presenting texts for their final oral exam. The problem is that no one explained to me how it works, so I couldn't really answer their questions! Ugh. Only eleven more workdays to go.
Friday evening I went to Vitré to hang out with the ever-cool Caitlin and Katherine. We ate spicy chili, made brownies and pumpkin bread, and danced. The next morning was when we ate the pumpkin bread... Then we had to catch the train to Rennes.
At 5, assistant Kelsey was hosting a party to exchange clothes and books and just mingle in general with other assistants. She made a delicious champagne, vodka, and pineapple juice punch, and I brought White Russian fixin's. The offical invite was from 5 to 7, but we all stayed until 11ish, dancing and eating up all the snacks available because we had all missed our dinner! The last group of me, Caitlin, Kelsey, and Kelsey's French boyfriend Steven went to my place for hookah, then us girls went to the nearby club Delicatessan to dance awhile. I think we only made it to 2:30am this time, but we also didn't spend money getting in or buying drinks at the club, so it worked out just fine.
This morning, Caitlin and I are relaxing over leftover spicy chili and fresh pico de gallo with tortilla chips. It's gonna be a lazy day because her next train home isn't until 7pm. So movies, books, chillin'... My abs and legs are soooo sore from the hours of dancing I've put my body through this weekend.
Also, I officially enrolled at George Washington University! Hooray! Come visit me in Washington, D.C. next year!
I had another class where the prof asked me to prepare them for presenting texts for their final oral exam. The problem is that no one explained to me how it works, so I couldn't really answer their questions! Ugh. Only eleven more workdays to go.
Friday evening I went to Vitré to hang out with the ever-cool Caitlin and Katherine. We ate spicy chili, made brownies and pumpkin bread, and danced. The next morning was when we ate the pumpkin bread... Then we had to catch the train to Rennes.
At 5, assistant Kelsey was hosting a party to exchange clothes and books and just mingle in general with other assistants. She made a delicious champagne, vodka, and pineapple juice punch, and I brought White Russian fixin's. The offical invite was from 5 to 7, but we all stayed until 11ish, dancing and eating up all the snacks available because we had all missed our dinner! The last group of me, Caitlin, Kelsey, and Kelsey's French boyfriend Steven went to my place for hookah, then us girls went to the nearby club Delicatessan to dance awhile. I think we only made it to 2:30am this time, but we also didn't spend money getting in or buying drinks at the club, so it worked out just fine.
This morning, Caitlin and I are relaxing over leftover spicy chili and fresh pico de gallo with tortilla chips. It's gonna be a lazy day because her next train home isn't until 7pm. So movies, books, chillin'... My abs and legs are soooo sore from the hours of dancing I've put my body through this weekend.
Also, I officially enrolled at George Washington University! Hooray! Come visit me in Washington, D.C. next year!
Friday, March 18, 2011
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!
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!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Rainy days
Rain returned to Rennes this week, but the spring-like temperatures between drizzles made it bearable!
My classes this week got to watch How I Met Your Mother episodes, so it was time for me to start reading War and Peace—impressive, no?And Paul Krugman's The Conscience of a Liberal, which my father will disown me for... :/ Ah well...
Tuesday I convinced Caitlin to come into Rennes for dinner and a bar outing. PA was working a party for CIREFE at Le Zing, so we had some drinks and mostly talked to his friend Noemie (who just returned from being an assistant in Ireland) and her friend Laura, mostly in French. Afterwards, PA, Caitlin and I went to a hookah bar :)
Wednesday I hung out and shopped with Caitlin, and Katherine joined us in the afternoon for chillin'...
Thursday night was Geek Night in a university gym. I went with Ewan and PA at 10, but had to take the last bus back to town at midnight. They played video games, and we all enjoyed mini golfing and the other little games that were set up. There was even Rock Band on stage, but the line was too long! Boo...
Friday was Wajd's birthday party... And it was all guys except me and Wajd's girlfriend Cynthia... Silly, drunk, 20-something French boys... *sigh* I went to bed at 3, but I heard a door slam! The neighbors downstairs had come to yell at the party and slammed the door... Then when people tried to leave the party a bit later, they found that the door was jammed shut. Yes, we were trapped in the apartment until around 11am the next morning when Ewan's friend came over and helped take off the doorknob from the outside! Phew!
Saturday I had Katherine over most of the day. We chatted in my apartment while it rained and hailed for a bit. We then ventured to Haricot Rouge for hot chocolate. I showed her this awesome store called Somewhere where I proceeded to spend over 100 euros (and earn a free duffel bag!). A bit more shopping filled the afternoon. We had a glass of wine and got pizza at Casa Pepe.
Sunday update soon!!!
Tuesday I convinced Caitlin to come into Rennes for dinner and a bar outing. PA was working a party for CIREFE at Le Zing, so we had some drinks and mostly talked to his friend Noemie (who just returned from being an assistant in Ireland) and her friend Laura, mostly in French. Afterwards, PA, Caitlin and I went to a hookah bar :)
Wednesday I hung out and shopped with Caitlin, and Katherine joined us in the afternoon for chillin'...
Thursday night was Geek Night in a university gym. I went with Ewan and PA at 10, but had to take the last bus back to town at midnight. They played video games, and we all enjoyed mini golfing and the other little games that were set up. There was even Rock Band on stage, but the line was too long! Boo...
Friday was Wajd's birthday party... And it was all guys except me and Wajd's girlfriend Cynthia... Silly, drunk, 20-something French boys... *sigh* I went to bed at 3, but I heard a door slam! The neighbors downstairs had come to yell at the party and slammed the door... Then when people tried to leave the party a bit later, they found that the door was jammed shut. Yes, we were trapped in the apartment until around 11am the next morning when Ewan's friend came over and helped take off the doorknob from the outside! Phew!
Saturday I had Katherine over most of the day. We chatted in my apartment while it rained and hailed for a bit. We then ventured to Haricot Rouge for hot chocolate. I showed her this awesome store called Somewhere where I proceeded to spend over 100 euros (and earn a free duffel bag!). A bit more shopping filled the afternoon. We had a glass of wine and got pizza at Casa Pepe.
Sunday update soon!!!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Parties and sleepiness
The weekend was rather whirlwind here for me!
Went from six hours of work on Friday direct to the train station to go to Vitre! Caitlin, Katherine, Amanda, David and I had a fun filled evening of coffee, Indian food, bar, microbrewery, club, and a McDonald's visit at 5am! Damn! We were also stalked the entire night by a Brazilian guy who came to speak English with us... Funny how "Americans," North and South, seem to band together to survive Europe.
Our brunch when we were up again around noon consisted of a delicious breakfast casserole that we all helped cook :) It was like being in college again! Haha!
Back in Rennes around 5pm, I napped, ate dinner, and headed to PA's for another party with his friends. I don't really know most of them, and I was exhausted, so I retired to sleep in his room for most of it--and let me tell you that the party lasted past 6am! French students can just keep going and going and going and going...
Sunday was another day of recovery! Luckily, my lessons were already planned for the week, so I could concentrate on sleeping and watching tv. Phew!
It was so good to get out! As Caitlin pointed out, there are only nine weeks of teaching left with two weeks of break the first week in March! That's only about 90-100 hours of work (what we normally did in the span of a week in college)... Oh, how life will change when I'm back in the States, hopefully in grad school!
PA's Fulbright interview is Wednesday! Wish him luck to get some grad school money! xD
:*
Went from six hours of work on Friday direct to the train station to go to Vitre! Caitlin, Katherine, Amanda, David and I had a fun filled evening of coffee, Indian food, bar, microbrewery, club, and a McDonald's visit at 5am! Damn! We were also stalked the entire night by a Brazilian guy who came to speak English with us... Funny how "Americans," North and South, seem to band together to survive Europe.
Our brunch when we were up again around noon consisted of a delicious breakfast casserole that we all helped cook :) It was like being in college again! Haha!
Back in Rennes around 5pm, I napped, ate dinner, and headed to PA's for another party with his friends. I don't really know most of them, and I was exhausted, so I retired to sleep in his room for most of it--and let me tell you that the party lasted past 6am! French students can just keep going and going and going and going...
Sunday was another day of recovery! Luckily, my lessons were already planned for the week, so I could concentrate on sleeping and watching tv. Phew!
It was so good to get out! As Caitlin pointed out, there are only nine weeks of teaching left with two weeks of break the first week in March! That's only about 90-100 hours of work (what we normally did in the span of a week in college)... Oh, how life will change when I'm back in the States, hopefully in grad school!
PA's Fulbright interview is Wednesday! Wish him luck to get some grad school money! xD
:*
Friday, February 4, 2011
Updates in this, the second month of 2011!
Another class cancelled without warning this morning, so I shall blog!
The week was pretty typical... Wajd and Philouse (PA's roommates) had a party Wednesday night of other dental school students. I just DJ'ed most of the night, but one girl actually had a convo with me! Hooray for friendliness!
For classes, I've been having the kids fill in the stories to blank comic strips. They're doing a great job--if a really funny one pops up, I'll take a picture for y'all!
I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping lately... I think that since the weather is warming up (it's spring-like here, so haha to you Chicagoans in the snow right now xD), people are going crazy! They're out partying on my square and singing "Who Let the Dogs Out?" under my window at 1am... :/ Boo... And I ALWAYS get woken up by the trash collecters at 6am! Ahhh!
So what else is up? I'm taking up running again, especially since the weather is nice enough to run in SHORTS in FEBRUARY! I'm so bad though! I used to run 4/5 days a week for 30 to 45min, and now I'm doing 2 days with just barely 30mins! Yoga is still going strong though! I'm trying to put my free time to healthy use.
I'm headed to Vitré this afternoon for Indian food, assistants, and partying :) Then, back to Rennes on Saturday for another party at PA's place for his friend that is finally coming back from her assistantship in Ireland. Pictures and stories to follow, I'm sure ;)
The week was pretty typical... Wajd and Philouse (PA's roommates) had a party Wednesday night of other dental school students. I just DJ'ed most of the night, but one girl actually had a convo with me! Hooray for friendliness!
For classes, I've been having the kids fill in the stories to blank comic strips. They're doing a great job--if a really funny one pops up, I'll take a picture for y'all!
I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping lately... I think that since the weather is warming up (it's spring-like here, so haha to you Chicagoans in the snow right now xD), people are going crazy! They're out partying on my square and singing "Who Let the Dogs Out?" under my window at 1am... :/ Boo... And I ALWAYS get woken up by the trash collecters at 6am! Ahhh!
So what else is up? I'm taking up running again, especially since the weather is nice enough to run in SHORTS in FEBRUARY! I'm so bad though! I used to run 4/5 days a week for 30 to 45min, and now I'm doing 2 days with just barely 30mins! Yoga is still going strong though! I'm trying to put my free time to healthy use.
I'm headed to Vitré this afternoon for Indian food, assistants, and partying :) Then, back to Rennes on Saturday for another party at PA's place for his friend that is finally coming back from her assistantship in Ireland. Pictures and stories to follow, I'm sure ;)
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Everybody's working for the weekend!
Nothing much happens around here except for the weekends, and this one was rather exciting! Friday I tidied up the apartment and made rum punch and jello shots with PA for a party at my place. Had a mix of Americans, French, Germans, a Brit, and an Australian. We hung out, danced, played the Apples to Apples game that PA translated into French. It was so chill and fun!
Saturday was busy again. Caitlin, Katherine, and I joined the visiting assistants from Fougères, Amanda and David, for lunch at a vegetarian restaurant. It was DELICIOUS! Tons of unidentified veggies and tofu with yummy flavors! They even gave us a free dessert :)
From there, we went directly to Le Haricot Rouge for lattes, hot chocolate, and cookies. We played War and talked American politics, which was so fun. We got to wandering the streets in the unusual sun after that, stopping in the 2euro store (I guess a bit classier than a $1 store at home). I discovered a scalp massager that looks like a whisk whose loops got cut at the ends—it feels soooo good!
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| Scalp massager! |
We split up around four. Caitlin and Katherine hung out at my place for awhile, but Caitlin had to catch a train back to Vitré to get laundry done. Katherine stuck around to go out for Indian food, which was AMAZING! Lamb buryani with actual spiciness! And samosas! I was in heaven ;)
So I spent tons of money on food Saturday, but the flavors and conversations that accompanied it were priceless!
Last night, there was a party in the apartment above me, so I managed to sleep from 11pm-3:30am and then again 5am-noon! I've got to plan some lessons and clean from the party, *sigh*
Other recent photos that I've just uploaded:
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| Katherine and my rotisserie chicken lunch! |
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| Part of Vitré's castle! |
Saturday, January 1, 2011
2011 it is!
Happy New Year, everyone!
Not gonna lie--2010 was a bit rough... Graduating from Furman was more sad and scary than exciting. Deciding what to do afterwards was hard, and then spending most of the summer on the other side of an ocean from Pierre-Antoine was not pleasant either :/ And, of course, you all know about the trials and tribulations of my time in France so far and about letting go of Copper at the very end of the year...
I don't want to sound like I'm complaining because I'm really not--I was so lucky to be able to finish school with honors, to find a job that let me live near PA, and to move to a foriegn country for a year. I guess I just mean to say that 2010 was an emotional roller coaster of these intense situations one after another: having to say goodbye to college friends and the college lifestyle, living at home again, starting over in a new place with new people in another language! I'm pretty sure these experiences were necessary for me to grow up some more, but I'm glad they're over.
The time between Christmas and New Years was so relaxing--nothing to do but hang out with PA and read and chill. I started to get that feeling of "everything is too perfect, so what's gonna happen now?" right before I got the news about Coppie :( I'm just glad he went peacefully with my parents there to comfort him.
New Year's Eve day was a bit rough after the news, but the party at PA's apartment was pretty fun. I knew a few of the people (we were about fifteen guys and four girls total), so it wasn't too awkward for me. The food included lots of little toasts with pate, cheese, salmon spread, pesto, etc. made by Adrien plus hummus, my artichoke dip, and little pastries from the oven. To drink, we had rum punch, gin bucket, and champagne for midnight. There was drinking, dancing, hookah, laughing--at midnight we had a champagne toast to "La Marseillaise" sung by the guys... and I had to sing "The Star Spangled Banner" all alone! It was fun when people spoke some English with me too. I was up until almost four am, but the party kept on until six or so! It was a good night to take my mind off of things for awhile. Here are a few silly pictures for you:
So now that it is 2011, I'm resolving to doing a bit of yoga everyday. Other than that (or perhaps linked to that), I just hope this year is more peaceful. Once Chinese New Year swings around, it will be the year of the Rabbit, which is usually a calm and lucky time. If I can just get into grad school with PA, things will be right on track. Fingers crossed!
Not gonna lie--2010 was a bit rough... Graduating from Furman was more sad and scary than exciting. Deciding what to do afterwards was hard, and then spending most of the summer on the other side of an ocean from Pierre-Antoine was not pleasant either :/ And, of course, you all know about the trials and tribulations of my time in France so far and about letting go of Copper at the very end of the year...
I don't want to sound like I'm complaining because I'm really not--I was so lucky to be able to finish school with honors, to find a job that let me live near PA, and to move to a foriegn country for a year. I guess I just mean to say that 2010 was an emotional roller coaster of these intense situations one after another: having to say goodbye to college friends and the college lifestyle, living at home again, starting over in a new place with new people in another language! I'm pretty sure these experiences were necessary for me to grow up some more, but I'm glad they're over.
The time between Christmas and New Years was so relaxing--nothing to do but hang out with PA and read and chill. I started to get that feeling of "everything is too perfect, so what's gonna happen now?" right before I got the news about Coppie :( I'm just glad he went peacefully with my parents there to comfort him.
New Year's Eve day was a bit rough after the news, but the party at PA's apartment was pretty fun. I knew a few of the people (we were about fifteen guys and four girls total), so it wasn't too awkward for me. The food included lots of little toasts with pate, cheese, salmon spread, pesto, etc. made by Adrien plus hummus, my artichoke dip, and little pastries from the oven. To drink, we had rum punch, gin bucket, and champagne for midnight. There was drinking, dancing, hookah, laughing--at midnight we had a champagne toast to "La Marseillaise" sung by the guys... and I had to sing "The Star Spangled Banner" all alone! It was fun when people spoke some English with me too. I was up until almost four am, but the party kept on until six or so! It was a good night to take my mind off of things for awhile. Here are a few silly pictures for you:
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| Singing "La Marseillaise" at midnight. A toast to France! |
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| Don't I look good in this hat? ;) |
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| Philouze taking a silly picture--PA is doing "The Crab," a dance they invented at the party, lol! |
So now that it is 2011, I'm resolving to doing a bit of yoga everyday. Other than that (or perhaps linked to that), I just hope this year is more peaceful. Once Chinese New Year swings around, it will be the year of the Rabbit, which is usually a calm and lucky time. If I can just get into grad school with PA, things will be right on track. Fingers crossed!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
In between parties...
Bonjour, everyone!
Nothing much is going on here, but I wanted to post to let you know I'm alive. The last few days have just been gray and rainy in Rennes, so I've been sleeping in, reading, playing on the computer, cleaning, and doing a bit of yoga. New Year's Resolution: Do a little yoga every day, even if it's just downward dog for five minutes!
Pierre-Antoine and Adrien are planning a New Year's Eve Party for 25 with little toast appetizers, frozen pastry ones, rum punch, gin bucket, mousse, and cakes. Last night was a punch-making and taste-testing session, which was pretty good for having bought cheap things. It is going to be six euros per person, so I guess the boys are controlling costs just fine. And Adrien even drew a sketch of how he wants to rearrange the furniture... In the end, I think that the boys' apartment cannot be made that classy, let's be honest! Ah, well!
So you'll have pictures and stories from that after the New Year! I hope everyone has tons of fun! Skype or email me your stories ;)
<3
L
Nothing much is going on here, but I wanted to post to let you know I'm alive. The last few days have just been gray and rainy in Rennes, so I've been sleeping in, reading, playing on the computer, cleaning, and doing a bit of yoga. New Year's Resolution: Do a little yoga every day, even if it's just downward dog for five minutes!
Pierre-Antoine and Adrien are planning a New Year's Eve Party for 25 with little toast appetizers, frozen pastry ones, rum punch, gin bucket, mousse, and cakes. Last night was a punch-making and taste-testing session, which was pretty good for having bought cheap things. It is going to be six euros per person, so I guess the boys are controlling costs just fine. And Adrien even drew a sketch of how he wants to rearrange the furniture... In the end, I think that the boys' apartment cannot be made that classy, let's be honest! Ah, well!
So you'll have pictures and stories from that after the New Year! I hope everyone has tons of fun! Skype or email me your stories ;)
<3
L
Sunday, November 28, 2010
A Wild Turkey Day
Double meaning in that title!
1) The only whole turkey we could find was an expensive, happy, free-range one for 70 euros (fed 10 people).
2) Last night was one of the wildest and silliest Thanksgivings that I've experienced.
The evening started out when Caitlin arrived, and we headed down to the food section of Galeries Lafayette for fancy foods. I couldn't find celery or sage at my usual grocery store, and Caitlin needed chutney and tobasco sauce from the store's extensive international aisle. We also found some flowers as a hostess gift because my mother trained me so well.
We chilled in my apartment for awhile, putting together my dressing and her spinach and apple salad before we went out the door. Dinner was supposed to start at 8, but the turkey, of course, took longer than expected, so the time was changed to 9. We got there around 8:45, so I could use the oven to back the dressing. In the end, we had nine Americans, one Canadian, and one Guatemalan to celebrate with. We had a long appetizer phase while the foods were being reheated, so dinner started at 10:30. Caitlin and I were the turkey carvers!
Now, the food!
-Appetizers: Bread, pâté, cheese, baked brie with fig jam.
-Main meal: Turkey, mashed potatos, gravy, stuffing and dressing, sweet potatos, brussel sprouts, spinach salad, cranberry sauce.
-Desserts: Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, apple pie, apple brownie goo (didn't cook properly), ice cream.
-Drinks: Ten bottles of wine for eleven people!
After dinner, we were stuffed, so we took a long break to chat, listen to music, drink wine, and play the game Cheers Guv'nah. Dessert was served around 1am. After that, everyone was either falling asleep, taking silly pictures, or doing dishes. I did some dancing and tipsy yoga in an effort to stretch my stomach out (didn't work... I still feel full at 12:20pm the next day). Caitlin and I were the second and third to leave around 2:30am. A good night, even though I felt so full that it hurt to breathe. In France, you have to take advantage of these American moments to get you through all the French times!
I forgot to take photos, but I'll steal some from others when they pop up!
1) The only whole turkey we could find was an expensive, happy, free-range one for 70 euros (fed 10 people).
2) Last night was one of the wildest and silliest Thanksgivings that I've experienced.
The evening started out when Caitlin arrived, and we headed down to the food section of Galeries Lafayette for fancy foods. I couldn't find celery or sage at my usual grocery store, and Caitlin needed chutney and tobasco sauce from the store's extensive international aisle. We also found some flowers as a hostess gift because my mother trained me so well.
We chilled in my apartment for awhile, putting together my dressing and her spinach and apple salad before we went out the door. Dinner was supposed to start at 8, but the turkey, of course, took longer than expected, so the time was changed to 9. We got there around 8:45, so I could use the oven to back the dressing. In the end, we had nine Americans, one Canadian, and one Guatemalan to celebrate with. We had a long appetizer phase while the foods were being reheated, so dinner started at 10:30. Caitlin and I were the turkey carvers!
Now, the food!
-Appetizers: Bread, pâté, cheese, baked brie with fig jam.
-Main meal: Turkey, mashed potatos, gravy, stuffing and dressing, sweet potatos, brussel sprouts, spinach salad, cranberry sauce.
-Desserts: Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, apple pie, apple brownie goo (didn't cook properly), ice cream.
-Drinks: Ten bottles of wine for eleven people!
After dinner, we were stuffed, so we took a long break to chat, listen to music, drink wine, and play the game Cheers Guv'nah. Dessert was served around 1am. After that, everyone was either falling asleep, taking silly pictures, or doing dishes. I did some dancing and tipsy yoga in an effort to stretch my stomach out (didn't work... I still feel full at 12:20pm the next day). Caitlin and I were the second and third to leave around 2:30am. A good night, even though I felt so full that it hurt to breathe. In France, you have to take advantage of these American moments to get you through all the French times!
I forgot to take photos, but I'll steal some from others when they pop up!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Caitlin is awesome!!!
Haha! So as you can imagine from the title of this post, Caitlin came in to visit from Vitre again! We had planned an evening of fun and dancing... but things did not work out exactly right...
But starting from the beginning: She arrived yesterday evening, and we ran to H&M to buy 80s-esque clothing in order to get free admission to an 80s themed party at a club last night. For some reason, a lot of French fashion is currently 80s revivial. I ended up with big bracelets, a lace skirt, and "reddish purple" leggings. We cooked and ate chili that tasted just like home. Then Caitlin napped and made an 80s playlist, while I cleaned up and chatted with PA.
I had planned a pregame party at 10, so Berit, Madeline, and Ellie showed up. We just chatted, smoked hookah, and played the drinking game Moose, which was super fun! It was like college parties... but with only 6 people :/
Around 1:30am we head to a club called Pyms, about a 15 minute walk from my apartment. In France, clubs are open from 11pm or 12am until 6-7am! So we arrive to a huge line! We get in it, feeling optimistic, and do move forward. But eventually we realized that instead of the line moving forward because people are going in, it is moving forward into a big mob that keeps pressing closer and closer. So we ended up trapped in the mob for about an hour with people pushing from all sides... They really need some velvet ropes because it was chaos!!! So we all gave up and pushed our way out feeling super angry that French people cannot manage to maintain an orderly line! Though, my mother does have an anecdote about this from our trip to Eurodisney, I had forgotten my love for straight lines until last night.
Caitlin and I were back at my place around 3, and we tried to watch a French movie but decided to sleep. And we slept until 2pm today! I don't know how, considering there was some demonstration marching through the Place a few times in the morning. We had kebabs for breakfast/lunch/snack, did some returns/window shopping, got to-go flavored lattes at Le Haricot Rouge (which was better than Starbucks!), hung out!
I also learned that there is a band that practices in the apartment above me! It's nice rock, and they sing in English (or at least I heard one English song in the stairway).
Caitlin just left to train back to Vitre, and I'm going to meet up with PA for dinner soon. The plan is to go to an international student party at a bar tonight with some assistants. Hopefully, it will turn out better than Pyms! And tomorrow I will go to a French wedding--PA's cousin. We'll miss the ceremony at the mayor's office but get to enjoy the dinner party afterwards.
Photos of fun to come! :*
But starting from the beginning: She arrived yesterday evening, and we ran to H&M to buy 80s-esque clothing in order to get free admission to an 80s themed party at a club last night. For some reason, a lot of French fashion is currently 80s revivial. I ended up with big bracelets, a lace skirt, and "reddish purple" leggings. We cooked and ate chili that tasted just like home. Then Caitlin napped and made an 80s playlist, while I cleaned up and chatted with PA.
I had planned a pregame party at 10, so Berit, Madeline, and Ellie showed up. We just chatted, smoked hookah, and played the drinking game Moose, which was super fun! It was like college parties... but with only 6 people :/
Around 1:30am we head to a club called Pyms, about a 15 minute walk from my apartment. In France, clubs are open from 11pm or 12am until 6-7am! So we arrive to a huge line! We get in it, feeling optimistic, and do move forward. But eventually we realized that instead of the line moving forward because people are going in, it is moving forward into a big mob that keeps pressing closer and closer. So we ended up trapped in the mob for about an hour with people pushing from all sides... They really need some velvet ropes because it was chaos!!! So we all gave up and pushed our way out feeling super angry that French people cannot manage to maintain an orderly line! Though, my mother does have an anecdote about this from our trip to Eurodisney, I had forgotten my love for straight lines until last night.
Caitlin and I were back at my place around 3, and we tried to watch a French movie but decided to sleep. And we slept until 2pm today! I don't know how, considering there was some demonstration marching through the Place a few times in the morning. We had kebabs for breakfast/lunch/snack, did some returns/window shopping, got to-go flavored lattes at Le Haricot Rouge (which was better than Starbucks!), hung out!
I also learned that there is a band that practices in the apartment above me! It's nice rock, and they sing in English (or at least I heard one English song in the stairway).
Caitlin just left to train back to Vitre, and I'm going to meet up with PA for dinner soon. The plan is to go to an international student party at a bar tonight with some assistants. Hopefully, it will turn out better than Pyms! And tomorrow I will go to a French wedding--PA's cousin. We'll miss the ceremony at the mayor's office but get to enjoy the dinner party afterwards.
Photos of fun to come! :*
Monday, November 1, 2010
Halloween
My Halloween party was a huge success!! Friends old and new from the US, France, Canada, Spain, UK, Austria, Germany, Italy, and Lithuania showed up! Not many did costumes, but I was a devil and PA the Phantom of the Opera.
To see photos, click here! The link is also in the photo albums sidebar on the right!
Happy Halloween to you all!
To see photos, click here! The link is also in the photo albums sidebar on the right!
Happy Halloween to you all!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Party Success!
My first apartment party was a success!!! To see photos, click here! We had a mix of French, Americans, and Brits hanging out. Very cool!
I added a link to my facebook photo album on the right of the page, so feel free to peruse my photos from time to time. Here's one to tempt you--the view from my window!
I also learned that I was in the Ouest France newspaper:
I added a link to my facebook photo album on the right of the page, so feel free to peruse my photos from time to time. Here's one to tempt you--the view from my window!
 |
| The church is St. Aubin, and the stalls are a used book market. |
I also learned that I was in the Ouest France newspaper:
 |
| Me in the bottom center! |
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tired and tired of strikes!
Last night, PA’s friend Antoni invited us to go out to his class party with him—hanging out with people in his master’s program. Apparently, in France, classes of undergrad and grad students have class mixers out at bars and clubs. So we went to… Melody Maker! It was my fourth time there, so I guess it’s becoming my regular spot!
I had good beer and chatted mostly with PA and Antoni. Random classmates of his kept coming by to introduce themselves, and I had to say I was American and not in the master. Sometimes they would speak a bit of English with me. PA and I ended up in a bunch of their photos, even though we’re not in the program, haha!
Sadly, it is getting cold again here after a warm, sunny weekend. I was shivering outside in my fleece jacket last night, and today has a chilly autumn breeze.
This morning, I left around 11 to bring some cleaning supplies over to my apartment. I tried to call the water and electric companies to put them under my name, but I couldn’t understand what the recorded or real voices were saying :/ I enlisted the help of my apartment agent who kindly took care of it for me. She really is nice and helpful except when she has to enforce the rules of the building owner. Anyway, I have water and electricity now!!!
I had to run into work at 3 today, but right before I left PA’s apartment after lunch, I got a phone call from Catherine. My school has gone on strike against the raising of the retirement age from 60 to 62! So from now until the end of the month, some teachers will not be in school. This means that a lot of students don’t bother to show up for class even for the teachers who aren’t on strike. I was advised to still make an appearance at the school every day so as to not be considered on strike as well.
For those wondering about the process of a school going on strike: In the teacher’s lounge was a poster proposing the strike followed by columns with dates (today, tomorrow, next week…). If a teacher wants to strike on a certain day, they put an X in the column—no names so that no one gets in trouble. Many teachers, however, do not go on strike because they don’t want to lose pay for the days they miss; instead they support the cause by handing out flyers or demonstrating during their free time. And yes, there are often demonstrations in the street and on the main squares! Buses, trains, and planes are being cut back (but luckily, not the automated metro that I use). It’s a lot of inconvenience.
So I still went to school at 3 and saw Julie and Laetitia. Only two boys showed up for Julie’s class, so I tested my Tennessee powerpoint on them and let them peruse some menus of Cracker Barrel and Mimi’s Café to learn about Southern cuisine. Then, we just chatted in French about the strike and asked if the students were organizing. For the last few minutes we played some charades using English to describe the person. It was really fun!
As far as moving in goes, Laetitia offered her car to help me move things to my apartment tomorrow! And I should get my beds and a small oven from Julie on Sunday or Monday. After work, I scrubbed every surface of the apartment, so it is clean and ready to be inhabited. I definitely need a table and some decorations still…
When PA finished classes, we ran to buy groceries for fajitas (seasoning mix provided by Ma’s care package). I also turned in the last of my grad school applications this evening, so now it is just a waiting game.
I’m sleepy, and I’m supposed to go to school tomorrow at 9:30. Let’s hope some students show up!
I had good beer and chatted mostly with PA and Antoni. Random classmates of his kept coming by to introduce themselves, and I had to say I was American and not in the master. Sometimes they would speak a bit of English with me. PA and I ended up in a bunch of their photos, even though we’re not in the program, haha!
Sadly, it is getting cold again here after a warm, sunny weekend. I was shivering outside in my fleece jacket last night, and today has a chilly autumn breeze.
This morning, I left around 11 to bring some cleaning supplies over to my apartment. I tried to call the water and electric companies to put them under my name, but I couldn’t understand what the recorded or real voices were saying :/ I enlisted the help of my apartment agent who kindly took care of it for me. She really is nice and helpful except when she has to enforce the rules of the building owner. Anyway, I have water and electricity now!!!
I had to run into work at 3 today, but right before I left PA’s apartment after lunch, I got a phone call from Catherine. My school has gone on strike against the raising of the retirement age from 60 to 62! So from now until the end of the month, some teachers will not be in school. This means that a lot of students don’t bother to show up for class even for the teachers who aren’t on strike. I was advised to still make an appearance at the school every day so as to not be considered on strike as well.
For those wondering about the process of a school going on strike: In the teacher’s lounge was a poster proposing the strike followed by columns with dates (today, tomorrow, next week…). If a teacher wants to strike on a certain day, they put an X in the column—no names so that no one gets in trouble. Many teachers, however, do not go on strike because they don’t want to lose pay for the days they miss; instead they support the cause by handing out flyers or demonstrating during their free time. And yes, there are often demonstrations in the street and on the main squares! Buses, trains, and planes are being cut back (but luckily, not the automated metro that I use). It’s a lot of inconvenience.
So I still went to school at 3 and saw Julie and Laetitia. Only two boys showed up for Julie’s class, so I tested my Tennessee powerpoint on them and let them peruse some menus of Cracker Barrel and Mimi’s Café to learn about Southern cuisine. Then, we just chatted in French about the strike and asked if the students were organizing. For the last few minutes we played some charades using English to describe the person. It was really fun!
As far as moving in goes, Laetitia offered her car to help me move things to my apartment tomorrow! And I should get my beds and a small oven from Julie on Sunday or Monday. After work, I scrubbed every surface of the apartment, so it is clean and ready to be inhabited. I definitely need a table and some decorations still…
When PA finished classes, we ran to buy groceries for fajitas (seasoning mix provided by Ma’s care package). I also turned in the last of my grad school applications this evening, so now it is just a waiting game.
I’m sleepy, and I’m supposed to go to school tomorrow at 9:30. Let’s hope some students show up!
Monday, September 20, 2010
A new blog!!!!!!!!
Another trip to France, another excuse for a blog! I figure that this will be the best way to keep everyone updated :)
For starters, I AM NOT IN PARIS! I am in Rennes, the capital of the Brittany region of northwest France. Wikipedia it for more info. It has England-ish weather, and I'm already so cold! Pierre-Antoine says it won't get cold enough to snow at least. I will be working as an English language assistant in a technical high school under nine English professors. I should be meeting with them all this week on Thursday to find out more details. I will do mostly oral classes and probably mini-lessons on American culture.
At the moment, I am living with PA and his two roommates, Wajd and Alexandre, both students at the dentistry school. PA is doing a masters program in American Studies and working for a study abroad program at his university helping foreign students learn French, so I spend a lot of time in the apartment watching dubbed sitcoms (Friends is on now) and running errands in the neighborhood--which by the way has a mall named Kennedy, as in JFK ;) When my job actually starts October 1st, I'm sure my life will be a lot less pathetic.
My main concern at the moment is finding an apartment, which is more difficult than I thought :/ My tutrice (the prof that I am working under) has been super helpful, which is overwhelming sometimes because she wants to get everything done at once. But things are coming together nicely, so I'm grateful. I'm looking at some on Wednesday with her.
There have been a few parties at the apartment, so I've been able to meet some other French students and friends of PA. All-French-lauguage parties can be super itimidating, let me tell you. Sometimes I will sit for half an hour and have no idea what anyone has said :/ But we played a game Thursday night and that helped break the ice a bit (when there weren't obscure French cultural references that went over my head). American music also helps because dancing is universal ;) And since three boys live here, there is a lot of video game playing; happily, I was told that I'm good at Mariokart "for a girl." (Though I'm pretty sure that saying was deemed un-PC after the 50s, I'll take it as a compliment.)
I also went to the hometown of PA the past two weekends, the cute medieval town of Vitré. His mom is super nice, and it's comforting to have a French family watching my back and helping me stock up on necessities for my apartment. It has been more difficult adjusting to this time abroad (as opposed to my Furman study abroad programs) since I'm not with a group of American/Furman students and profs who can sympathize with what I'm doing. Not that PA and my tutrice aren't super-helpful... it's just that they aren't experiencing the same things as me. But soon other assisstants will arrive, and we can have fun together!
Please, comment on the blog or email me with any questions, and I'll try to respond ASAP. I'm going to plan on doing an update at least every Sunday with maybe more posts in between. I'll also try to take some photos soon!
Bisous (kisses)!
L
For starters, I AM NOT IN PARIS! I am in Rennes, the capital of the Brittany region of northwest France. Wikipedia it for more info. It has England-ish weather, and I'm already so cold! Pierre-Antoine says it won't get cold enough to snow at least. I will be working as an English language assistant in a technical high school under nine English professors. I should be meeting with them all this week on Thursday to find out more details. I will do mostly oral classes and probably mini-lessons on American culture.
At the moment, I am living with PA and his two roommates, Wajd and Alexandre, both students at the dentistry school. PA is doing a masters program in American Studies and working for a study abroad program at his university helping foreign students learn French, so I spend a lot of time in the apartment watching dubbed sitcoms (Friends is on now) and running errands in the neighborhood--which by the way has a mall named Kennedy, as in JFK ;) When my job actually starts October 1st, I'm sure my life will be a lot less pathetic.
My main concern at the moment is finding an apartment, which is more difficult than I thought :/ My tutrice (the prof that I am working under) has been super helpful, which is overwhelming sometimes because she wants to get everything done at once. But things are coming together nicely, so I'm grateful. I'm looking at some on Wednesday with her.
There have been a few parties at the apartment, so I've been able to meet some other French students and friends of PA. All-French-lauguage parties can be super itimidating, let me tell you. Sometimes I will sit for half an hour and have no idea what anyone has said :/ But we played a game Thursday night and that helped break the ice a bit (when there weren't obscure French cultural references that went over my head). American music also helps because dancing is universal ;) And since three boys live here, there is a lot of video game playing; happily, I was told that I'm good at Mariokart "for a girl." (Though I'm pretty sure that saying was deemed un-PC after the 50s, I'll take it as a compliment.)
I also went to the hometown of PA the past two weekends, the cute medieval town of Vitré. His mom is super nice, and it's comforting to have a French family watching my back and helping me stock up on necessities for my apartment. It has been more difficult adjusting to this time abroad (as opposed to my Furman study abroad programs) since I'm not with a group of American/Furman students and profs who can sympathize with what I'm doing. Not that PA and my tutrice aren't super-helpful... it's just that they aren't experiencing the same things as me. But soon other assisstants will arrive, and we can have fun together!
Please, comment on the blog or email me with any questions, and I'll try to respond ASAP. I'm going to plan on doing an update at least every Sunday with maybe more posts in between. I'll also try to take some photos soon!
Bisous (kisses)!
L
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