I spent another day missing class because for some reason I decided to stay up until 6am. I was super lucky that I had packed for our trip to Paris in that time because I ended up waking up at 1215pm to be on the bus for Paris at 1pm. Obviously, busses didn't leave until closer to 2pm.
The distance from Nancy to Paris isn't too much, but with the speed limitations for busses and traffic, it took us a looooooong time to get there. When we did, we took a nice stroll through the Tuileries headed towards the louvre. It was nice to just hangout and take in the scenery. In the louvre, we were really only looking for 2 pieces: the Mona Lisa and the statue of Aphrodite. We got to see both! The Mona Lisa, as most say, was tiny and we didn't see it from up close. I appreciated it from afar, especially remembering many a conversation about the punctum in that painting during COMN 2314 tutorials with Gregg: basically the idea that no one really knows what she is smirking at, if she's a she at all, and how that makes the painting special (totally random information, sorry). Aprhodite was a very interesting sculpture to see, as most are, too. We didn't have much time to explore anything else that night and were to meet for the busses (who were late as usual) at Place de la Concorde. From there, as it got darker, we were able to see the Eiffel Tower and it's glitter in the night. Heading towards our hostel, we drove through the Champs Élysées and there were rows and rows of chairs set up for the Tour de France as well as a fashion show that would be taking place.
This is random but on the bus we were having a conversation about peeing in the shower (which I do and talk about openly) and everyone thought I was so strange. Édouard I guess overheard us and Jessica made a joke about how the French don't shower anyway... He didn't seem pleased about that one.
After we got settled into our rooms, we went on a Kebab hunt with Dr McCreary, who took us to a place he said he goes every time he's in Paris. We had a strange conversation about fresh bread compared to factory bread. I don't remember much of it now.
When we got back to the hostel, Jessica, Katrina, and I stayed up pretty late just chatting about who knows what. I really enjoyed spending time with those two.
Friday, 22 July 2011
Thursday, 21 July 2011
Shopping and Soiree Blanche
This was probably one of my favourite days/nights in Nancy.
After class, I ran away downtown to find something white for Nuit Blanche. I had gotten a shirt, but I wanted a white skirt as well so I'd be 100% decked in white. Luckily I found one.
Other than that, I basically spent the day preparing and headed to the other residence after dinner for drinking games with them and the Irish. I was particularly excited because I was drinking beer (I'm lame, you should know this by now). Christopher seemed a little upset that night and wasn't drinking or coming out with us. Him and I went outside and had a long chat about how he was fighting with his boy back home and were discussing self worth and how boys make things a million times harder in times where we're not sure of ourselves. It was a nice conversation and I think my insight about how I live my life/feel about myself help him to try and understand himself better. After that we decided to play Kings and it was a blast as usual. We had introduced the Little Man rule (where you have to knock him into your drink before drinking) and everyone was having a hard time keeping up with it.
While we were waiting for everyone to get assembled, we decided we needed to get a group picture with Clément, who (if I haven't mentioned in previous posts) was such a cocky bastard. Kayla had gotten a picture with him last year, so she wanted another for memory's sake. What I didn't know was that the previous summer, her and Clément had a bit of a fling going on. This information made that picture all the more entertatining.
As we were waiting in line to get into the club in Place Stan, Jessica went above and beyond our expectations and spent the whole time (probably half an hour) speaking in French. She was a little intoxicated and felt very inclined to maintain French conversation with everyone, no matter what. Most of the underagers were drinking that night too. So much so that India, a tiny Irish girl, was falling over way before we even got into the bar. I don't actually know if she made it through the whole night.
When we got inside, Stéphanie hooked us up with some free drinks because she knew the bartender and that was awesome. She got extra wasted that night and guys were all over her. That lady is a riot and I truly miss her antics every day. At one point in the night everyone was dancing on the couches and tables and I was just laughing. The tables were not sturdy at all and a few seconds after Kayla decide to get onto one, she fell right off. Luckily, I was there to catch her (no exaggeration).
I was a little peeved that night because one of the Russians was all over PH and (in case I haven't mentioned this yet) I had the biggest crush on him the whole time we were in Nancy. He was filming a lot of the night, but when he wasn't it was makeout fest with the Russian. My tears.
As we were getting ready to leave, there were a bunch of obnoxious guys at the front door who were being especially rude to us for no reason. One of them stole the flower right out of Katie's hair (he also ended up breaking a serving tray and running out of the club before he got caught). In retaliation of her stolen flower, Katie decided she was going to steal this giant candle from the club and carry it home in her tiny purse (said candle sits on the shelf above my closet in my mom's house). On the way home, we stopped at a pâtisserie who had a sort of walk-thru window open super late. We got pizza and it was delicious. We met these black French ladies who were just a riot and who were using their fabulous English skills on us, telling us how they travel often to the States.
Katie was really drunk so we took a little longer than everyone to get home. And in our drunkness, we decided to stop for Kebabs on the way home, too. We went into the Kebab shop and ordered our sandwiches and Katie just had to have a conversation with the guy behind the counter. He was Turkish and pretty amused (but also very annoyed) by Katie's antics. She was trying to order in French but was failing miserably due to her level of intoxication. As he was making our Kebabs, a few guys walked in and Katie decided to grab the Turkish guy's notepad and try to take their orders using his abbreviations for something things. She hadn't specified what she wanted on her sandwich so I think the guy made her the grossest one possible because she was being so annoying.
The night ended with an intoxicated Irish girl (Katie, obviously) spilling the beans on her love for Édouard.
After class, I ran away downtown to find something white for Nuit Blanche. I had gotten a shirt, but I wanted a white skirt as well so I'd be 100% decked in white. Luckily I found one.
Other than that, I basically spent the day preparing and headed to the other residence after dinner for drinking games with them and the Irish. I was particularly excited because I was drinking beer (I'm lame, you should know this by now). Christopher seemed a little upset that night and wasn't drinking or coming out with us. Him and I went outside and had a long chat about how he was fighting with his boy back home and were discussing self worth and how boys make things a million times harder in times where we're not sure of ourselves. It was a nice conversation and I think my insight about how I live my life/feel about myself help him to try and understand himself better. After that we decided to play Kings and it was a blast as usual. We had introduced the Little Man rule (where you have to knock him into your drink before drinking) and everyone was having a hard time keeping up with it.
While we were waiting for everyone to get assembled, we decided we needed to get a group picture with Clément, who (if I haven't mentioned in previous posts) was such a cocky bastard. Kayla had gotten a picture with him last year, so she wanted another for memory's sake. What I didn't know was that the previous summer, her and Clément had a bit of a fling going on. This information made that picture all the more entertatining.
As we were waiting in line to get into the club in Place Stan, Jessica went above and beyond our expectations and spent the whole time (probably half an hour) speaking in French. She was a little intoxicated and felt very inclined to maintain French conversation with everyone, no matter what. Most of the underagers were drinking that night too. So much so that India, a tiny Irish girl, was falling over way before we even got into the bar. I don't actually know if she made it through the whole night.
When we got inside, Stéphanie hooked us up with some free drinks because she knew the bartender and that was awesome. She got extra wasted that night and guys were all over her. That lady is a riot and I truly miss her antics every day. At one point in the night everyone was dancing on the couches and tables and I was just laughing. The tables were not sturdy at all and a few seconds after Kayla decide to get onto one, she fell right off. Luckily, I was there to catch her (no exaggeration).
I was a little peeved that night because one of the Russians was all over PH and (in case I haven't mentioned this yet) I had the biggest crush on him the whole time we were in Nancy. He was filming a lot of the night, but when he wasn't it was makeout fest with the Russian. My tears.
As we were getting ready to leave, there were a bunch of obnoxious guys at the front door who were being especially rude to us for no reason. One of them stole the flower right out of Katie's hair (he also ended up breaking a serving tray and running out of the club before he got caught). In retaliation of her stolen flower, Katie decided she was going to steal this giant candle from the club and carry it home in her tiny purse (said candle sits on the shelf above my closet in my mom's house). On the way home, we stopped at a pâtisserie who had a sort of walk-thru window open super late. We got pizza and it was delicious. We met these black French ladies who were just a riot and who were using their fabulous English skills on us, telling us how they travel often to the States.
Katie was really drunk so we took a little longer than everyone to get home. And in our drunkness, we decided to stop for Kebabs on the way home, too. We went into the Kebab shop and ordered our sandwiches and Katie just had to have a conversation with the guy behind the counter. He was Turkish and pretty amused (but also very annoyed) by Katie's antics. She was trying to order in French but was failing miserably due to her level of intoxication. As he was making our Kebabs, a few guys walked in and Katie decided to grab the Turkish guy's notepad and try to take their orders using his abbreviations for something things. She hadn't specified what she wanted on her sandwich so I think the guy made her the grossest one possible because she was being so annoying.
The night ended with an intoxicated Irish girl (Katie, obviously) spilling the beans on her love for Édouard.
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Double Class Tuesday
Double class Tuesday turned into single class Tuesday for me. Unfortunately, I woke up probably 15 minutes late and rather than heading to class I just decided to skip the morning. I went to lunch then headed to my afternoon classes. It was particularly interesting to see how my teachers treated me as I'd been the only person absent from morning classes. (There is again a note that tells me to look through my notebook to share about class, sorry.)
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Wednesday and Luxembourg
Again there is a note about class but no specifics. Sorry for not being able to update about that (not that I actually expect anyone to be reading this).
The exceptional thing about this Wednesday was that we got to take a little trip to Luxembourg. A beautiful, tiny country. When we arrived, we went on this really random nature walk (through intricate stairways and walkways) from the lowest point of Luxembourg to the highest. It was a little annoying, at first, but we took silly pictures and made the best of it. A lot of stairs were involved, though, which didn't help the situation. When we reached the highest point, we were given free time. There are a couple of things that really stand out in my memory when I remember our time in Luxembourg. There was alleyways and streets that were quaint and cute. My memory is hazy so I can't describe them here, but they were beautiful (I'll go through pictures later, maybe, to help me out). We were given free time for an hour or so and I spent it with the Americans. As we were walking through the downtown area, there was a flash mob of dancers walking around, dressed in solid colours. They would walk for a few minutes then freeze all at once for what felt like ages. I'd never experienced that so I thought it was really cool. I think the funniest thing about the day was that we found a Pizza Hut to have dinner at. It was especially exciting to be somewhere that was like a little piece of home, and food that seemed natural to us, rather than strange.
After dinner we stopped by a little souvenir shop so Christopher could grab a pack of cigarettes and I found a set of stamps for my dad. I don't really remember the ride home or what else we did but it was a pretty great day.
The exceptional thing about this Wednesday was that we got to take a little trip to Luxembourg. A beautiful, tiny country. When we arrived, we went on this really random nature walk (through intricate stairways and walkways) from the lowest point of Luxembourg to the highest. It was a little annoying, at first, but we took silly pictures and made the best of it. A lot of stairs were involved, though, which didn't help the situation. When we reached the highest point, we were given free time. There are a couple of things that really stand out in my memory when I remember our time in Luxembourg. There was alleyways and streets that were quaint and cute. My memory is hazy so I can't describe them here, but they were beautiful (I'll go through pictures later, maybe, to help me out). We were given free time for an hour or so and I spent it with the Americans. As we were walking through the downtown area, there was a flash mob of dancers walking around, dressed in solid colours. They would walk for a few minutes then freeze all at once for what felt like ages. I'd never experienced that so I thought it was really cool. I think the funniest thing about the day was that we found a Pizza Hut to have dinner at. It was especially exciting to be somewhere that was like a little piece of home, and food that seemed natural to us, rather than strange.
After dinner we stopped by a little souvenir shop so Christopher could grab a pack of cigarettes and I found a set of stamps for my dad. I don't really remember the ride home or what else we did but it was a pretty great day.
Monday, 18 July 2011
Monday and the movies
I'll edit this when I find my notebook from the trip because my note on this draft said to check my school notes to see what we did. From what I can vaguely recall, it was a regular school day and I didn't do much else. Before dinner, I probably went back to my room to lounge and check up on things going on at home.
This particular Monday was movie night and while my friends were all set on going, I wasn't too convinced. At dinner, though, after much scheming, I think it was the my American friends who convinced me to go. The movie theatre had giant comfy seats. We saw a film titled Yo Yo. It was a black and white, mostly silent 1965 comedy about a rich man in the 20s who falls in love with a beautiful young lady who works in the circus.
We decided to take a different route than everyone to head back to the dorms and, if I recall correctly, we managed to get lost.
This particular Monday was movie night and while my friends were all set on going, I wasn't too convinced. At dinner, though, after much scheming, I think it was the my American friends who convinced me to go. The movie theatre had giant comfy seats. We saw a film titled Yo Yo. It was a black and white, mostly silent 1965 comedy about a rich man in the 20s who falls in love with a beautiful young lady who works in the circus.
We decided to take a different route than everyone to head back to the dorms and, if I recall correctly, we managed to get lost.
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Sunday at Verdun
Our Sunday spent at Verdun was an especially moving for me. So much had been said about the history of France from the time we arrived in Nancy, but it felt like our time in Verdun was a more first hand experience.
In our calendars, we were expected to be ready for the busses for 9am but, as usual in France, we didn't end up leaving until 10am. Us North Americans were very frustrated because we are so used to punctuality in situations like that, but it still made for a great day.
We went into the Bois de Caures to the Poste de Commande de Driant. We had a tour guide explaining to us how Driant would command his soldiers from this station. It was quite interesting. Next we headed to the Fort Douaumont, which Wikipedia states to be the highest and largest of 19 defensive forts protecting Verdun in WWI. We explored and got to experience the barracks and places where canons were shot from. Our guide showed us the area where most of the firing was aimed towards, which is now covered in trees. From there we headed to the Abris à 4 Cheminées. Originally, this was created as a shelter for soldiers. Dark and dug 12m into a hill, soon after the war began it was a place of refuge for injured soldiers as well as a self proclaimed (almost) hospital wing. Here, volunteers from the Red Cross came to nurse wounded soldiers in almost pure darkness. The whole time we were in Bois des Caures, we were reminded of the mass amount of lives lost during the war and that the ground beneath of was made up of earth and dead bodies. Apparently people have been caught and banned from using metal detectors to find artifacts but still every year more and more pieces of soldier equipment or parts of skeletons are found and donated to museums.
From the Bois des Caures, we headed to the Nécropole Nationale and Ossuaire Douaumont. This was an exceptionally moving experience for me. I've never been one to care or be changed by learning about the history of war, but this definitely changed my perspective. As I mentioned, thousands of soldiers were killed during the war and their bodies were buried in a number of cemeteries. This Nécropole Nationale in Douaumont is notably the largest, from what we were told. In front of the Ossuaire, there is a cemetery with almost 20,000 graves, Catholics separate from Muslims. Crosses are placed above the graves of the Catholics, and more appropriate stones for the Muslims (I don't remember exactly what they were). What's interesting about the cemetery, to me at least, is the way it's set up. There is a temple on the premises in honour of Muslim soldiers, and all the stones above their graves are angled parallel to this temple whereas the crosses are parallel to the ossuary. I thought that was interesting. Anyway, the most haunting/moving part of the experience was the ossuary. Below the structure lies approx. 130,000 unidentified remains. From the outside, there are window allowing visitors to look into the catacombs. In one of the windows sat a skull, fully intact. Crazy. Inside the monument there were statues with quotes remembering those who were unidentified and laid in these catacombs, all the soldiers honoured. Along the hall laid partial-tombs, and along the walls the names of missing soldiers were etched in stone. I spent a lot of time reading the names and looking at their ages. Some of the stones had brothers' names side by side, some as young as 16. I still get chills when I think about that experience and the way it made me really think of the effects of war. I wanted to go into the catacombs to get the full experience, but unfortunately no one would come with me.
When we left the Ossuaire, we headed to a Ferme Auberge for dinner, it was basically a family owned farm restaurant where we were promised authentic French farm cuisine. We dined in the farm house, where different rooms were set up with sets of tables and a main room held the food. This night was an especially courageous night for most of us, as we decided to try a duck pie. Yes, that's right, duck meat.
In our calendars, we were expected to be ready for the busses for 9am but, as usual in France, we didn't end up leaving until 10am. Us North Americans were very frustrated because we are so used to punctuality in situations like that, but it still made for a great day.
We went into the Bois de Caures to the Poste de Commande de Driant. We had a tour guide explaining to us how Driant would command his soldiers from this station. It was quite interesting. Next we headed to the Fort Douaumont, which Wikipedia states to be the highest and largest of 19 defensive forts protecting Verdun in WWI. We explored and got to experience the barracks and places where canons were shot from. Our guide showed us the area where most of the firing was aimed towards, which is now covered in trees. From there we headed to the Abris à 4 Cheminées. Originally, this was created as a shelter for soldiers. Dark and dug 12m into a hill, soon after the war began it was a place of refuge for injured soldiers as well as a self proclaimed (almost) hospital wing. Here, volunteers from the Red Cross came to nurse wounded soldiers in almost pure darkness. The whole time we were in Bois des Caures, we were reminded of the mass amount of lives lost during the war and that the ground beneath of was made up of earth and dead bodies. Apparently people have been caught and banned from using metal detectors to find artifacts but still every year more and more pieces of soldier equipment or parts of skeletons are found and donated to museums.
From the Bois des Caures, we headed to the Nécropole Nationale and Ossuaire Douaumont. This was an exceptionally moving experience for me. I've never been one to care or be changed by learning about the history of war, but this definitely changed my perspective. As I mentioned, thousands of soldiers were killed during the war and their bodies were buried in a number of cemeteries. This Nécropole Nationale in Douaumont is notably the largest, from what we were told. In front of the Ossuaire, there is a cemetery with almost 20,000 graves, Catholics separate from Muslims. Crosses are placed above the graves of the Catholics, and more appropriate stones for the Muslims (I don't remember exactly what they were). What's interesting about the cemetery, to me at least, is the way it's set up. There is a temple on the premises in honour of Muslim soldiers, and all the stones above their graves are angled parallel to this temple whereas the crosses are parallel to the ossuary. I thought that was interesting. Anyway, the most haunting/moving part of the experience was the ossuary. Below the structure lies approx. 130,000 unidentified remains. From the outside, there are window allowing visitors to look into the catacombs. In one of the windows sat a skull, fully intact. Crazy. Inside the monument there were statues with quotes remembering those who were unidentified and laid in these catacombs, all the soldiers honoured. Along the hall laid partial-tombs, and along the walls the names of missing soldiers were etched in stone. I spent a lot of time reading the names and looking at their ages. Some of the stones had brothers' names side by side, some as young as 16. I still get chills when I think about that experience and the way it made me really think of the effects of war. I wanted to go into the catacombs to get the full experience, but unfortunately no one would come with me.
When we left the Ossuaire, we headed to a Ferme Auberge for dinner, it was basically a family owned farm restaurant where we were promised authentic French farm cuisine. We dined in the farm house, where different rooms were set up with sets of tables and a main room held the food. This night was an especially courageous night for most of us, as we decided to try a duck pie. Yes, that's right, duck meat.
Saturday, 16 July 2011
Shopping Day with the Irish
I spent the day going on a shopping trip with Katie and Laura to try and find an outfit for White Night. It was nice to spend some time with some girls I sincerely got along with. There isn't much to share about this day, other than the fact that we spent a lot of time going store to store and trying a million things on.
There were two stores in particular that stood out to me that day, and I got something from each. There was an H&M Accessories that really caught my attention. It was really interesting to see a piece of what I'm used to seeing inside an H&M store. I had been looking for a backpack I could use for classes so as no to lug around my giant Swiss Army bag and there I found a nice little drawstring bag that worked perfectly. I still use it today!
I was also very intrigued by the regular H&M store having a plus size section. I've always been a fan of H&M but being plus size has always made it difficult for me to shop there. I tried on so many things just for the sake of trying them on, and let me tell you! I was so excited to find things that existed in regular H&M sizes in my size too! I ended up buying a cute White polka dotted shirt for white night.
There were two stores in particular that stood out to me that day, and I got something from each. There was an H&M Accessories that really caught my attention. It was really interesting to see a piece of what I'm used to seeing inside an H&M store. I had been looking for a backpack I could use for classes so as no to lug around my giant Swiss Army bag and there I found a nice little drawstring bag that worked perfectly. I still use it today!
I was also very intrigued by the regular H&M store having a plus size section. I've always been a fan of H&M but being plus size has always made it difficult for me to shop there. I tried on so many things just for the sake of trying them on, and let me tell you! I was so excited to find things that existed in regular H&M sizes in my size too! I ended up buying a cute White polka dotted shirt for white night.
Friday, 15 July 2011
Fête Nationale fail and Discovering Nancy
Yesterday was the Fête Nationale, and although I now know there were activities planned and everyone had a blast, I was feeling especially homesick so I decided to take a day to myself. I slept in, showered, cleaned my room, Skyped home, etc.
Today was our day to discover Nancy, which means we had no class! :)
Although on our timetable it was written to meet at Monbois for 10am, we were told to be there for 9. So there we all were, at 9am, ready to go to the Musée des beaux arts. Of course, as assumed by French nature, no one was in a hurry to leave when we arrived. Students were still having breakfast and chatting, and half the group had not yet shown up. A few of us were weary of the time situation so we chose not to risk starting breakfast only to be told we had to leave just as we'd start eating. So no breakfast for us today.
Finally, around 10am, Stéphanie showed up and rounded us all up to head the the Musée. We were sectioned into groups, one French and one English, which would be the language our tours would be in. Each group had a tour guide and ours was not that great. She was dressed very casually, which was weird for us because generally when you go to a museum the employees tend to be well dressed in business attire. She showed us a couple of paintings (one of which was entitled with a line from an epic poem that I can't seem to remember). I was really upset by the fact that they weren't letting us explore the Musée by ourselves. Being confined to a group does not let you enjoy art, in my opinion.
After going through the paintings, they took us downstairs to where the vases were set up in big, well-lit glass cases. The inside walls were stone. They explained that when they started digging the basement for the expansion of the Musée they found these stone walls which are actually a part of the original fortifications of the city of Nancy. I thought that to be the most interesting part of the tour. It was so surreal to be touching walls dating back to the early 14th C (if I'm not mistaken). And finally we ended up at the cases of vases and I was beyond bored. I mean they were beautiful, don't get me wrong, but for our guide to explain the use of colour and materials from one era of art to another was something I would have much rather read in a history book or something. There were 3 vases that stood out to me, though. One was the colour blue that you can see all over my Piano Room at home (which is alternately named the Blue Room), it was beautiful. Another had designs of maple leaves (which really just made me feel like home) and the last was an etching of Tristan and Yseult (which was just stunning).
After the Musée, we were given the usual 2 hours for lunch at the Resto'U. I was mainly excited because instead of random concoctions of veggies or pasta, we got fries. Oh North America, how you've conditioned me to love fries!
After lunch we were off to do the Scavenger Hunt. Basically they took us all around Nancy to let us find the gems of the city for ourselves. It was interesting, but also very annoying. Most of us weren't into it at all. They showed us a house built in the early 1900s that was in the style of Art Nouveau. Apparently it's a sight that you cannot miss on the TGV out of Nancy. It was so out of the way of everything, and that's where the complaining began. We went to things we've seen a million times, but there are 2 that stand out in my memory (lol @ short term memory failing me). There was the monument dedicated to the independence of the US. On it there is a message saying "La ville de Nancy: À tous ses enfants morts pour la France au cours de son histoire". I don't know why that got to me. Among other things it just reminded me of the number of lives lost in wars everywhere, fighting for freedom. The other thing that stood out was the Porte de la Craffe. It's this big stone entryway to what Nancy used to be, dated back to 1336.
I think the best part of my day was befriending the Americans I'd not yet spoken to, and the Irish. We randomly had this in depth conversation about piercings and it just warmed my heart to be talking to people much like my friends at home.
After another few hours of aimlessly walking around, we met up at Place Stan for the réception à la mairie. Unfortunately for us, we were about an hour early. I spent this time with the Irish just talking about silly things and laughing. The best part was Katie's love for a certain someone and her comments about wanting to move to Canada to marry Vinny (for those of you who didn't go to elementary school with me, you won't know him). And then, minutes before the réception, Katie managed to break her shoe in the middle of Place Stan. Of course we all laughed, but the poor girl was forced to walk around barefoot. We asked around to see if there was a shoe store nearby, but no one gave us a definite answer. I volunteered to join Katie in her search, mostly because we got along very well and I preferred to stay with her than to deal with the others (as you can tell I was having an off day). We make each other laugh and she reminds me of my friends at home. Literally, within steps of leaving Place Stan we found a shoe store and she bought a cute little pair of flip flops with a flower on top, and we headed back to the group.
When we got back to the group, it was time to enter City Hall to go up to our réception. Basically we were taken to this beautiful room on the second floor of the building, up past a grand staircase, where were greeted by the Course Director as well as the Mayor of Nancy. He introduced himself to us and explained how important this program has been to the City of Nancy since its creation and how much its residents love the International students it brings. There was wine and juice and everyone was still chatting and getting to know one another. We took a series of group pictures, as well.
(I had made notes about other things to add to this post but as it's been over a year, it's a little hard for me to remember. At the end of each remaining post I'll leave a list in case my memory comes back to me.)
Getting home from dinner, I decided it was time to do laundry. (The entire time in Nancy I didn't do real laundry.) Basically I created a system of hand washing my pants, socks, and underwear (sorry for too much information) and hung them to dry along my closet doors, my bed frame, my desk, etc. Having a sink in my room made this exceptionally easy and a little less embarrassing than trying to figure out laundry by myself. I'm strange, I know.
At dinner, I had made plans with the Katie and Laura (two of the Irish) to go to the Lights show at Place Stan, I guess it's this great display of technology they present nightly (or every so often). We headed down to Place Stan and awaited something we weren't sure of. I can remember it clearly to this day. A spectacle of lights, all across the buildings around us, telling the story (through different lighting schemes and projected pictures) the history and important of Nancy. We tried to take pictures but there was no way you could capture something so amazing with a camera. It was truly an incredible experience.
(Notes I forgot: cute little shop, dinnnnerrrrrr)
Today was our day to discover Nancy, which means we had no class! :)
Although on our timetable it was written to meet at Monbois for 10am, we were told to be there for 9. So there we all were, at 9am, ready to go to the Musée des beaux arts. Of course, as assumed by French nature, no one was in a hurry to leave when we arrived. Students were still having breakfast and chatting, and half the group had not yet shown up. A few of us were weary of the time situation so we chose not to risk starting breakfast only to be told we had to leave just as we'd start eating. So no breakfast for us today.
Finally, around 10am, Stéphanie showed up and rounded us all up to head the the Musée. We were sectioned into groups, one French and one English, which would be the language our tours would be in. Each group had a tour guide and ours was not that great. She was dressed very casually, which was weird for us because generally when you go to a museum the employees tend to be well dressed in business attire. She showed us a couple of paintings (one of which was entitled with a line from an epic poem that I can't seem to remember). I was really upset by the fact that they weren't letting us explore the Musée by ourselves. Being confined to a group does not let you enjoy art, in my opinion.
After going through the paintings, they took us downstairs to where the vases were set up in big, well-lit glass cases. The inside walls were stone. They explained that when they started digging the basement for the expansion of the Musée they found these stone walls which are actually a part of the original fortifications of the city of Nancy. I thought that to be the most interesting part of the tour. It was so surreal to be touching walls dating back to the early 14th C (if I'm not mistaken). And finally we ended up at the cases of vases and I was beyond bored. I mean they were beautiful, don't get me wrong, but for our guide to explain the use of colour and materials from one era of art to another was something I would have much rather read in a history book or something. There were 3 vases that stood out to me, though. One was the colour blue that you can see all over my Piano Room at home (which is alternately named the Blue Room), it was beautiful. Another had designs of maple leaves (which really just made me feel like home) and the last was an etching of Tristan and Yseult (which was just stunning).
After the Musée, we were given the usual 2 hours for lunch at the Resto'U. I was mainly excited because instead of random concoctions of veggies or pasta, we got fries. Oh North America, how you've conditioned me to love fries!
After lunch we were off to do the Scavenger Hunt. Basically they took us all around Nancy to let us find the gems of the city for ourselves. It was interesting, but also very annoying. Most of us weren't into it at all. They showed us a house built in the early 1900s that was in the style of Art Nouveau. Apparently it's a sight that you cannot miss on the TGV out of Nancy. It was so out of the way of everything, and that's where the complaining began. We went to things we've seen a million times, but there are 2 that stand out in my memory (lol @ short term memory failing me). There was the monument dedicated to the independence of the US. On it there is a message saying "La ville de Nancy: À tous ses enfants morts pour la France au cours de son histoire". I don't know why that got to me. Among other things it just reminded me of the number of lives lost in wars everywhere, fighting for freedom. The other thing that stood out was the Porte de la Craffe. It's this big stone entryway to what Nancy used to be, dated back to 1336.
I think the best part of my day was befriending the Americans I'd not yet spoken to, and the Irish. We randomly had this in depth conversation about piercings and it just warmed my heart to be talking to people much like my friends at home.
After another few hours of aimlessly walking around, we met up at Place Stan for the réception à la mairie. Unfortunately for us, we were about an hour early. I spent this time with the Irish just talking about silly things and laughing. The best part was Katie's love for a certain someone and her comments about wanting to move to Canada to marry Vinny (for those of you who didn't go to elementary school with me, you won't know him). And then, minutes before the réception, Katie managed to break her shoe in the middle of Place Stan. Of course we all laughed, but the poor girl was forced to walk around barefoot. We asked around to see if there was a shoe store nearby, but no one gave us a definite answer. I volunteered to join Katie in her search, mostly because we got along very well and I preferred to stay with her than to deal with the others (as you can tell I was having an off day). We make each other laugh and she reminds me of my friends at home. Literally, within steps of leaving Place Stan we found a shoe store and she bought a cute little pair of flip flops with a flower on top, and we headed back to the group.
When we got back to the group, it was time to enter City Hall to go up to our réception. Basically we were taken to this beautiful room on the second floor of the building, up past a grand staircase, where were greeted by the Course Director as well as the Mayor of Nancy. He introduced himself to us and explained how important this program has been to the City of Nancy since its creation and how much its residents love the International students it brings. There was wine and juice and everyone was still chatting and getting to know one another. We took a series of group pictures, as well.
(I had made notes about other things to add to this post but as it's been over a year, it's a little hard for me to remember. At the end of each remaining post I'll leave a list in case my memory comes back to me.)
Getting home from dinner, I decided it was time to do laundry. (The entire time in Nancy I didn't do real laundry.) Basically I created a system of hand washing my pants, socks, and underwear (sorry for too much information) and hung them to dry along my closet doors, my bed frame, my desk, etc. Having a sink in my room made this exceptionally easy and a little less embarrassing than trying to figure out laundry by myself. I'm strange, I know.
At dinner, I had made plans with the Katie and Laura (two of the Irish) to go to the Lights show at Place Stan, I guess it's this great display of technology they present nightly (or every so often). We headed down to Place Stan and awaited something we weren't sure of. I can remember it clearly to this day. A spectacle of lights, all across the buildings around us, telling the story (through different lighting schemes and projected pictures) the history and important of Nancy. We tried to take pictures but there was no way you could capture something so amazing with a camera. It was truly an incredible experience.
(Notes I forgot: cute little shop, dinnnnerrrrrr)
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
La Veille de la Fête Nationale
It's been a long day so I'm going to summarize as best I can while I still have the energy to be up and on my computer.
Our Lit class was boring as usual. As much as I enjoy Gilles humour, I just feel like he likes to hear himself speak. He barely asks us questions to get us involved and he's a little arrogant. I may be misjudging him, but I don't really like the way he teaches. On the other hand, though, I'm really enjoying the material. I love lit and I love theatre so 17th C stuff is really interesting for my. Molière is my boy.
In Grammaire we didn't do much, just the same boring old exercises blah blah blah.
And Traduction was a hoot as usual. I simply LOVE Stéphanie!
This has been a lame post but I basically did nothing all day. Watched some movies and caught up with some TV online. I'm feeling a little homesick.
Our Lit class was boring as usual. As much as I enjoy Gilles humour, I just feel like he likes to hear himself speak. He barely asks us questions to get us involved and he's a little arrogant. I may be misjudging him, but I don't really like the way he teaches. On the other hand, though, I'm really enjoying the material. I love lit and I love theatre so 17th C stuff is really interesting for my. Molière is my boy.
In Grammaire we didn't do much, just the same boring old exercises blah blah blah.
And Traduction was a hoot as usual. I simply LOVE Stéphanie!
This has been a lame post but I basically did nothing all day. Watched some movies and caught up with some TV online. I'm feeling a little homesick.
Tuesday, 12 July 2011
Lazy Days
As much as I'd love to post about the great, interesting day I've had, that's not the case today.
Some how my body decided it didn't want to get out of bed for class today and boom! Here I am, at 16h45 hanging out at my computer only having been up for approx 2 hours. I managed to sleep in until about 15h (waking up for periods of time since 8h).
So I've managed to do just about nothing, and it looks like I won't be doing much more today. I feel a little bit sick so maybe it was for the best that I didn't amount to much today. I'm going to go ahead and catch up on school work and get myself back in good shape to continue my week!
Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday.
Some how my body decided it didn't want to get out of bed for class today and boom! Here I am, at 16h45 hanging out at my computer only having been up for approx 2 hours. I managed to sleep in until about 15h (waking up for periods of time since 8h).
So I've managed to do just about nothing, and it looks like I won't be doing much more today. I feel a little bit sick so maybe it was for the best that I didn't amount to much today. I'm going to go ahead and catch up on school work and get myself back in good shape to continue my week!
Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday.
Monday, 11 July 2011
Monday Monday Monday
I was trying to evoke a Rebecca Black mood with that title but clearly failed. Maybe I'll try again on Friday.
Today is obviously Monday. It's about 19h20 and I just finished transcribing my post for the weekend and writing something about Chris. Chris Alkerton was a friend from my teens who passed away a year ago today. It's surreal that it's been a year and that I didn't believe it for a second when I found out and now, a year later, I'm sitting in France thinking and writing about it.
I don't want to bring you down with my reminiscence of that friendship, so I'll tell you about my day!
I woke up extra late today and didn't have time to go for breakfast. So after struggling for more than 30 minutes to get up and ready, I grabbed a cookie on my way to class. I was able to stay awake in Gilles' classes, for once. We were analyzing the passage we ended last week with. He was really trying to show us how Corneille uses every word of every piece to show emotions as intensely as possible. It's crazy how Corneille was able to write such powerful pieces, using ever word, every syllable to evoke a deeper meaning.
Grammaire was fun and I had no problem staying awake. We went over the sentences we made over the weekend. I forgot to mention this in my last post, but near the end of our bus ride we kind of all found each other and got sentences out of each other for the challenge. It was funny to see the sentences people had made up in such an environment, caught off guard like I know I was.
Translation was the same as always. We continued to translate a news piece that we started last week and went through some proverbs. I can't think of them now and I'm too lazy to get my book.
I had lunch with Valentina (a Russian) Julia (one of the Canadians) and Chloe. I forgot to mention this in my last post as well: on the bus I overheard a conversation about going to see Harry Potter and that there is a cinema in Nancy that should be playing it in English with French subtitles. After lunch, we went on a hunt to find such a cinema but failed. There is a cinema playing it in French: Part 1 tomorrow evening at 20h and then Part 2 at 0h05. We were debating on whether or not we should do so, and so far no decision has been made. We can't decide if it's worth seeing it for the first time in French or not, though it would be quite the experience. Tonight was movie night but since I'm exhausted and am not really feeling going back out, I'm not sure what the decision is. I sure hope they don't forget to include me in the plan.
After lunch was the conférence about French Cinema with Pierre-Henri, who was Atyeh and my driver the day we got here. He's doing a Masters' in Cinema so he really knew what he was talking about. He talked to us about the nouvelle vague of writers and directors who wanted to take a more artistic take on cinematography rather than the classic French cinema that existed. Very interesting.
Now I'm just sitting in my dorm contemplating what time to shower haha. I think I'll watch Midnight in Paris (since that's the movie they went to see) and then do so.
Glad I'm finally caught up with time and I don't have to finish posts about the past anymore. At least for now.
À la prochaine.
Today is obviously Monday. It's about 19h20 and I just finished transcribing my post for the weekend and writing something about Chris. Chris Alkerton was a friend from my teens who passed away a year ago today. It's surreal that it's been a year and that I didn't believe it for a second when I found out and now, a year later, I'm sitting in France thinking and writing about it.
I don't want to bring you down with my reminiscence of that friendship, so I'll tell you about my day!
I woke up extra late today and didn't have time to go for breakfast. So after struggling for more than 30 minutes to get up and ready, I grabbed a cookie on my way to class. I was able to stay awake in Gilles' classes, for once. We were analyzing the passage we ended last week with. He was really trying to show us how Corneille uses every word of every piece to show emotions as intensely as possible. It's crazy how Corneille was able to write such powerful pieces, using ever word, every syllable to evoke a deeper meaning.
Grammaire was fun and I had no problem staying awake. We went over the sentences we made over the weekend. I forgot to mention this in my last post, but near the end of our bus ride we kind of all found each other and got sentences out of each other for the challenge. It was funny to see the sentences people had made up in such an environment, caught off guard like I know I was.
Translation was the same as always. We continued to translate a news piece that we started last week and went through some proverbs. I can't think of them now and I'm too lazy to get my book.
I had lunch with Valentina (a Russian) Julia (one of the Canadians) and Chloe. I forgot to mention this in my last post as well: on the bus I overheard a conversation about going to see Harry Potter and that there is a cinema in Nancy that should be playing it in English with French subtitles. After lunch, we went on a hunt to find such a cinema but failed. There is a cinema playing it in French: Part 1 tomorrow evening at 20h and then Part 2 at 0h05. We were debating on whether or not we should do so, and so far no decision has been made. We can't decide if it's worth seeing it for the first time in French or not, though it would be quite the experience. Tonight was movie night but since I'm exhausted and am not really feeling going back out, I'm not sure what the decision is. I sure hope they don't forget to include me in the plan.
After lunch was the conférence about French Cinema with Pierre-Henri, who was Atyeh and my driver the day we got here. He's doing a Masters' in Cinema so he really knew what he was talking about. He talked to us about the nouvelle vague of writers and directors who wanted to take a more artistic take on cinematography rather than the classic French cinema that existed. Very interesting.
Now I'm just sitting in my dorm contemplating what time to shower haha. I think I'll watch Midnight in Paris (since that's the movie they went to see) and then do so.
Glad I'm finally caught up with time and I don't have to finish posts about the past anymore. At least for now.
À la prochaine.
Sunday, 10 July 2011
Deauville
It's been a very very very long weekend, but here goes.
We left Nancy at about 0h45. I lost Tang before we boarded and I think she ended up on the other bus. I was going to sit with the Americans, but I ended up being the fifth person so I sat with the Romanian. I don't know his name, but he's very quiet. He keeps to himself and even when I try to make conversation, he keeps it short. Oh well. We stopped after an hour to get gas (which I think was a complete waste of time; you'd think the drivers would gas up before picking the group up). A few hours later, we stopped for 20 minutes - bathroom break and to stretch our legs. French busses are very small when it comes to leg space. I got lucky to get an aisle seat because I basically just sat the whole ride with my legs in the aisle. It was difficult to sleep, though, because of all the stops we made. After the first 20 minute stop, there were at least 3 more.
We got to Etretat around 10h. We walked through the streets of this little old village and ended up at the beach. And that's where the cliffs were. It was spectacular. I'll post my pictures soon. I can't even explain how breathtaking it was. After being on the beach a bit, we were headed to the top of one of the cliff. There was first a brick staircase, and then a sort of asphalt one to continue up. It was amazing. But the higher we got, the more scared I was to go back down. If you know me, I have an issue with stairs and heights. Let's just say I've had one too many accidents. Chloe, the Australian, caught up to me and basically told me that there was no way she'd let me NOT continue. She promised that she'd stay with me and go slowly if I needed so that I'd make it. I agreed. I will probably never go there again in my life, it was imperative that I made the most of the experience. While we were walking back down the stairs, Chloe and I talked music. She was telling me about some finnish celloists and had me listen to some. It was amazing. We talked a little about metal and how most people steer clear of it when really most metal musicians are musical geniuses. We talked a little about Linkin Park and the next thing I knew we were back at the beach. I was so thankful.
We headed back to the bus to make our way to Honfleur. I don't really know what it is about Honfleur that they expected us to get so excited about. It's just a town on the water. Exhausted, we all sat on the dock and ate lunch. And finally, after an hour at Honfleur, we made our final bus trip to Deauville. We crossed the Pont de Normandie on our way to Deauville: a cable-stayed bridge (as Wiki called it) over the Seine that links Le Havre and Honfleur.
We got to the hotel around 16h. We were given our room assignments and then regrouped in the lobby at 16h30 to be shown the way to town.
Between our hotel and the centreville of Deauville, there is a hippodrome (a horse track) much like the one in Fort Erie but completely outdoors. We walked along the outside edge of a hippodrome and all the way to the beach. From there we were free to explore the city. I decided to stay with Atyeh and the guys (Jonas and Patrick, the danes, and Andy the brit). Deauville is kind of shaped like a pinwheel in that there is a centre, and from there it goes in different directions. I'm not sure if that made sense.
The first thing we did was a find a sports bar. I guess a common thing to do in Europe for people who dislike beer is to mix it with lemonade. In the UK they call it Chandy, in France they call it panaché, if I'm not mistaken. Atyeh had one because she hates beer. We sat and chatted about drinking games for the most part and how they differ in different countries. Andy told us about the Dirty Pint. Basically there is the "dick" of the night (he explained how they play it with his soccer team and the person who had an open chance and missed or something of the sort had to drink the Dirty Pint). Everyone else in the group pools their money to buy half a pint of Guinness, and with the rest of the money they buy shots and add them to the drink. He said Bailey's is always included because when mixed with Guinness (and I think all beer) it curdles. And at the end of it, the "dick" of the night has to drink the pint in its entirety. He asked if we had anything like that in Canada, and the only thing we could think of was Kings. He also told us about anchor (which I'm not sure if we have in Canada or not). Anchor is played with teams, coins and a pitcher of beer. Every member of the team has to try to get their coin in the pitcher, and the team with the least coins in has to drink it. The reason it's called Anchor is that the whole team has to help to drink the pitcher, but the last person has to finish it off no matter how much beer is left. He said how it's always funny to see teams want to screw over their Anchor and each only take a sip, leaving their Anchor to basically drink the whole pitcher. Jonas and Patrick told us about a game they play during festivals in Denmark called Beer Bowling. I don't exactly remember, but it was something along the lines of this. Each team has 2 member and they sit on chairs beside each other but a little separated. Between them is a bottle half filled with water (to keep it standing) and each member has a cup of beer in their hand. The team they're playing against has to bowl a ball to get the water bottle down and once it's down, they team sitting has to drink. There was a little more to it but I don't remember.
After that little drink at the sports bar, we headed to dinner. I feel bad for not remember the restaurant's name, but it was a great place. We had some interesting conversations during dinner. We talked about certain delicacies that each of our countries has. Denmark has a pig skin dinner that is a big tradition. England has it's traditional roast dinner, equipped with Yorkshire puddings. Mmmmm. And for Canada... Well the only thing I could think of was French Canada and meat pies, poutine and beaver tails. We talked about a bunch of movies and Andy revealed his love for some romcoms, The Ugly Truth being the one that he mentioned. We talked about weirdly placed piercings and how MRIs are so strong that a machine can rip the piercing right out of your skin.
After dinner, we stopped for ice cream. I had cherry and mango sorbets. Mmm. We were going to go play pool, but the place we'd seen apparently only had one pool table so we search for somewhere to have drinks. We went to 2 different places that were very very over priced. Before we could find our sports bar from the afternoon, we decided we were tired and headed back to the hotel.
Bed time.
On Saturday morning we headed to Bayeux. The Tapisserie de Bayeux is a museum containing the hand woven tapestry that depicts Guillaume le conquérant (William the Conqueror)'s feat to conquer England. A 70 foot tapestry with impeccable detailing. It was amazing. Just outside its gift shop, there was a Canadian soldier in a glass case (obviously a mannequin) wearing his war uniform. It made us Canadians feel very patriotic.
Though we would have wished to go to Juno Beach (where the Canadians landed on June 6h 1944), we ended up at Omaha Beach, where the Americans landed. It was a beautiful beach, and a beautiful day. On the way in, we drove by the cemetery where fallen soldiers are buried. We were only given half and hour on the beach, so everyone took their shoes off, ran around in the sand and put their feet in the water. Then back to Deauville. We were given the option to get off the bus in centreville, but I was exhausted. As soon as we got back to the hotel, it was naptime for me. I woke up around dinner time and was planning to head out for a meal with the rest of our floor at the restaurant across the road. Apparently it was a small restaurant and they only had room for 6. So 6 of the 23 that we were snuck in and took a seat. I was still tired, and in a bit of a cranky mood, so I just headed back to the hotel, grabbed some snacks from the vending machine and went upstairs. Everyone was going out, but with the long day on the bus the next day I decided against joining. In hindsight, I probably should have gone.
On Sunday morning, we were told to be ready and at the busses for 9h30. Groggy and hungover, everyone made their way to the busses and were ready for 9h30. I guess in France people are never on time and we didn't leave until 10h.
Sunday was by far the longest day of the trip. It basically consisted on being on the bus, stopping to stretch, and getting back on the bus. We were mistaken when we didn't understand how the ride home would take longer than the ride there because apparently an even more scenic route existed. We were scheduled to arrive back in Nancy by 22h, but we didn't get in until almost 1h.
As soon as I got to my room I unpacked, took a mini shower (aka washed my hair in the sink), got my stuff together for tomorrow, Skyped Momma D and now I'm heading to bed. Talk about a long weekend.
We left Nancy at about 0h45. I lost Tang before we boarded and I think she ended up on the other bus. I was going to sit with the Americans, but I ended up being the fifth person so I sat with the Romanian. I don't know his name, but he's very quiet. He keeps to himself and even when I try to make conversation, he keeps it short. Oh well. We stopped after an hour to get gas (which I think was a complete waste of time; you'd think the drivers would gas up before picking the group up). A few hours later, we stopped for 20 minutes - bathroom break and to stretch our legs. French busses are very small when it comes to leg space. I got lucky to get an aisle seat because I basically just sat the whole ride with my legs in the aisle. It was difficult to sleep, though, because of all the stops we made. After the first 20 minute stop, there were at least 3 more.
We got to Etretat around 10h. We walked through the streets of this little old village and ended up at the beach. And that's where the cliffs were. It was spectacular. I'll post my pictures soon. I can't even explain how breathtaking it was. After being on the beach a bit, we were headed to the top of one of the cliff. There was first a brick staircase, and then a sort of asphalt one to continue up. It was amazing. But the higher we got, the more scared I was to go back down. If you know me, I have an issue with stairs and heights. Let's just say I've had one too many accidents. Chloe, the Australian, caught up to me and basically told me that there was no way she'd let me NOT continue. She promised that she'd stay with me and go slowly if I needed so that I'd make it. I agreed. I will probably never go there again in my life, it was imperative that I made the most of the experience. While we were walking back down the stairs, Chloe and I talked music. She was telling me about some finnish celloists and had me listen to some. It was amazing. We talked a little about metal and how most people steer clear of it when really most metal musicians are musical geniuses. We talked a little about Linkin Park and the next thing I knew we were back at the beach. I was so thankful.
We headed back to the bus to make our way to Honfleur. I don't really know what it is about Honfleur that they expected us to get so excited about. It's just a town on the water. Exhausted, we all sat on the dock and ate lunch. And finally, after an hour at Honfleur, we made our final bus trip to Deauville. We crossed the Pont de Normandie on our way to Deauville: a cable-stayed bridge (as Wiki called it) over the Seine that links Le Havre and Honfleur.
We got to the hotel around 16h. We were given our room assignments and then regrouped in the lobby at 16h30 to be shown the way to town.
Between our hotel and the centreville of Deauville, there is a hippodrome (a horse track) much like the one in Fort Erie but completely outdoors. We walked along the outside edge of a hippodrome and all the way to the beach. From there we were free to explore the city. I decided to stay with Atyeh and the guys (Jonas and Patrick, the danes, and Andy the brit). Deauville is kind of shaped like a pinwheel in that there is a centre, and from there it goes in different directions. I'm not sure if that made sense.
The first thing we did was a find a sports bar. I guess a common thing to do in Europe for people who dislike beer is to mix it with lemonade. In the UK they call it Chandy, in France they call it panaché, if I'm not mistaken. Atyeh had one because she hates beer. We sat and chatted about drinking games for the most part and how they differ in different countries. Andy told us about the Dirty Pint. Basically there is the "dick" of the night (he explained how they play it with his soccer team and the person who had an open chance and missed or something of the sort had to drink the Dirty Pint). Everyone else in the group pools their money to buy half a pint of Guinness, and with the rest of the money they buy shots and add them to the drink. He said Bailey's is always included because when mixed with Guinness (and I think all beer) it curdles. And at the end of it, the "dick" of the night has to drink the pint in its entirety. He asked if we had anything like that in Canada, and the only thing we could think of was Kings. He also told us about anchor (which I'm not sure if we have in Canada or not). Anchor is played with teams, coins and a pitcher of beer. Every member of the team has to try to get their coin in the pitcher, and the team with the least coins in has to drink it. The reason it's called Anchor is that the whole team has to help to drink the pitcher, but the last person has to finish it off no matter how much beer is left. He said how it's always funny to see teams want to screw over their Anchor and each only take a sip, leaving their Anchor to basically drink the whole pitcher. Jonas and Patrick told us about a game they play during festivals in Denmark called Beer Bowling. I don't exactly remember, but it was something along the lines of this. Each team has 2 member and they sit on chairs beside each other but a little separated. Between them is a bottle half filled with water (to keep it standing) and each member has a cup of beer in their hand. The team they're playing against has to bowl a ball to get the water bottle down and once it's down, they team sitting has to drink. There was a little more to it but I don't remember.
After that little drink at the sports bar, we headed to dinner. I feel bad for not remember the restaurant's name, but it was a great place. We had some interesting conversations during dinner. We talked about certain delicacies that each of our countries has. Denmark has a pig skin dinner that is a big tradition. England has it's traditional roast dinner, equipped with Yorkshire puddings. Mmmmm. And for Canada... Well the only thing I could think of was French Canada and meat pies, poutine and beaver tails. We talked about a bunch of movies and Andy revealed his love for some romcoms, The Ugly Truth being the one that he mentioned. We talked about weirdly placed piercings and how MRIs are so strong that a machine can rip the piercing right out of your skin.
After dinner, we stopped for ice cream. I had cherry and mango sorbets. Mmm. We were going to go play pool, but the place we'd seen apparently only had one pool table so we search for somewhere to have drinks. We went to 2 different places that were very very over priced. Before we could find our sports bar from the afternoon, we decided we were tired and headed back to the hotel.
Bed time.
On Saturday morning we headed to Bayeux. The Tapisserie de Bayeux is a museum containing the hand woven tapestry that depicts Guillaume le conquérant (William the Conqueror)'s feat to conquer England. A 70 foot tapestry with impeccable detailing. It was amazing. Just outside its gift shop, there was a Canadian soldier in a glass case (obviously a mannequin) wearing his war uniform. It made us Canadians feel very patriotic.
Though we would have wished to go to Juno Beach (where the Canadians landed on June 6h 1944), we ended up at Omaha Beach, where the Americans landed. It was a beautiful beach, and a beautiful day. On the way in, we drove by the cemetery where fallen soldiers are buried. We were only given half and hour on the beach, so everyone took their shoes off, ran around in the sand and put their feet in the water. Then back to Deauville. We were given the option to get off the bus in centreville, but I was exhausted. As soon as we got back to the hotel, it was naptime for me. I woke up around dinner time and was planning to head out for a meal with the rest of our floor at the restaurant across the road. Apparently it was a small restaurant and they only had room for 6. So 6 of the 23 that we were snuck in and took a seat. I was still tired, and in a bit of a cranky mood, so I just headed back to the hotel, grabbed some snacks from the vending machine and went upstairs. Everyone was going out, but with the long day on the bus the next day I decided against joining. In hindsight, I probably should have gone.
On Sunday morning, we were told to be ready and at the busses for 9h30. Groggy and hungover, everyone made their way to the busses and were ready for 9h30. I guess in France people are never on time and we didn't leave until 10h.
Sunday was by far the longest day of the trip. It basically consisted on being on the bus, stopping to stretch, and getting back on the bus. We were mistaken when we didn't understand how the ride home would take longer than the ride there because apparently an even more scenic route existed. We were scheduled to arrive back in Nancy by 22h, but we didn't get in until almost 1h.
As soon as I got to my room I unpacked, took a mini shower (aka washed my hair in the sink), got my stuff together for tomorrow, Skyped Momma D and now I'm heading to bed. Talk about a long weekend.
Thursday, 7 July 2011
Double Class Day Thursday
Today was a double day to make up for the fact that we'll be missing class. I didn't think it was going to be as full and exhausting as it ended up being, but alas I was wrong.
I had trouble sleeping last night and I can't figure out why. Anyway, that lead to me getting up half an hour later than I have been since Monday. I woke Atyeh when I got up, but she decided she needed more sleep. I guess they'd stayed out really late so she needed more sleep (in hindsight, I wish I'd done the same). I scurried to head to breakfast with Tang, and as soon as we got there, I had a strange feeling that I hadn't locked my door when we left our res. I was worried all of breakfast, and by the end of it I decided to head back to check just in case. I walked extra fast (which ended up being a bad idea) to go back to the Parc and it turns out that I had locked my door when we left the first time and this trip back was just a waste of energy. I quickly headed back to get to class in time. My body ended up aching all day from that extra fast unnecessary trip back to the Parc.
Although Gilles tries to engage us in our Lit class, today I just couldn't do it. I was so tired from my lack of sleep that I was really struggling to stay awake and attentive in his class. We finished off les stances du Cid and went into scenes III and IV, in which Chimène makes her appearance.
In Grammar, we basically spent the class doing exercises to help us with les expressions de la certitude.
And finally in Translation, we finished up the animal facebook text.
I had lunch with Tang and decided that I really needed to go to Centreville to find myself a phone charger. I got Tang to give me directions and I was off. I ended up at Place de Sébastien which is just a basic mall. I was so excited to see civilization of that sort aha. When I asked people where they thought I could find a phone charger, everyone said to check out the Monoprix (which is very similar to WalMart). I did so and found nothing. They had iPod chargers for wall, computer or car but nothing that would potentially fit my phone. There were a lot of cute iPod cases though (ahem so much Hello Kitty). I browsed Monoprix a bit longer before I headed out. Their school supply section reminded me almost of PaperChase (a stationary store in the UK) and it made me very happy. Donya already bought me a beauty of a pencil case from Paris that I brought with me. Had she not, I definitely would have bought one at Monoprix. After failing there, I wandered a bit until I found a cellphone store. I was searching the charger wall aimlessly when an employee asked to help me and bam! He found something! Unfortunately for me, it cost 27 euros. I definitely think it's worth it though because now I have a functioning phone. I stumbled upon a few movie theatres on my walk back to Nancy 2, so I'm hoping at least one of them will be showing Harry Potter (hopefully in English) next week. With the release date being earlier in France, I really would like to have the opportunity to see it as soon as I possibly can.
Going to Place de Sébastien may have been a poor choice, because I ended up being late for class. Lit again, with Gilles, was torturous the second time around. We were reading through the new excerpt Gilles had given us in the morning and I kept falling asleep. The worst thing about that class is that we all sit facing the prof, front row, so if I do happen to doze off he definitely notices.
In Grammar, Anne-Cécile gave us a challenge for our weekend excursion. For the verbes d'affirmation, she told us each to choose 5 and ask other kids from the class (throughout the weekend) the make sentences with those verbs. I'm not sure how well that's going to go down since I only really know 3 of the girls in our class.
After class, they asked us all to meet in the rez de chausée of Nancy 2 to take a group photo. What we didn't know is that the photo was being taken as we were all waiting around. Hopefully they didn't catch me at an awkward moment aha. Then, they separated us to explain the plan for the excursion to Normandie. Basically, we leave tonight around 0h30 (that's 12:30AM for those of you who don't understand 24 hour time) and arrive at our first destination (les falaises d'Etretat) around 9h. Then, we'll head to Honfleur for lunch, and then arrive at the hotel in Deauville around 16h. We'll have the evening to do whatever we please, and then regroup Saturday morning for our visit to the Tapisserie de Bayeux. There, we're going to the Tapisserie, having lunch, and then heading to Omaha Beach (which is where the Americans landed on June 6th 1944). Finally, on Sunday we'll leave Deauville around 10h, have lunch at Bagnoles-de-l'Orne, and get back to Nancy around 22h. Why it will take so long to get back is beyond me. I figure we'll take the scenic route.
After that, I found Jessica and Christopher who were talking to Dr McCreary (I don't know if that's the proper spellng). They're from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I'm sure I've mentioned them (well, the Americans as a whole) before. Jessica is one of the girls with whom we took the tour of Nancy the first day here, so I'd met her before. Atyeh and I met Christopher the first day as well, but we hadn't seen him since. He is an interesting guy. He is in love with French-Canadian culture and wants to study at l'Unversité de Laval. So, naturally, we talked about Québec and French Canada etc. We also had a nice conversation about Harry Potter at dinner that really made me happy. I can't wait to see the last movie. We also had an interesting conversation about the Confederate Americas (I guess that's in relation to racism and slavery, at least that's how the conversation panned out) and how a lot of Americans still believe in the Confederate way of life without being racist. It worked out to be the same way that I see religion. Though I don't practice religion, I don't condemn it either. I will gladly sit with someone religious and learn about why they have faith and how their Church works, but because I grew up without any religion forced upon me (for lack of better words) I find it hard to have faith in anything as concrete as religion teaches. I guess it's also because I grew up in a family of scientists. Not to say that I don't believe that some sort of higher power exists, but I think that since every religion to a sense believes in the same creator, putting a name on it or practicing a certain way kind of invalidates the others to an extent. I'm not blogging to talk about religion so I'm not going to go further into it, but that's my general consensus about it.
Now I'm home from dinner and getting ready to pack for our trip to Deauville. I'm hoping that everything will fit in my backpack, but we'll see. I'll post about the weekend when I'm back.
I had trouble sleeping last night and I can't figure out why. Anyway, that lead to me getting up half an hour later than I have been since Monday. I woke Atyeh when I got up, but she decided she needed more sleep. I guess they'd stayed out really late so she needed more sleep (in hindsight, I wish I'd done the same). I scurried to head to breakfast with Tang, and as soon as we got there, I had a strange feeling that I hadn't locked my door when we left our res. I was worried all of breakfast, and by the end of it I decided to head back to check just in case. I walked extra fast (which ended up being a bad idea) to go back to the Parc and it turns out that I had locked my door when we left the first time and this trip back was just a waste of energy. I quickly headed back to get to class in time. My body ended up aching all day from that extra fast unnecessary trip back to the Parc.
Although Gilles tries to engage us in our Lit class, today I just couldn't do it. I was so tired from my lack of sleep that I was really struggling to stay awake and attentive in his class. We finished off les stances du Cid and went into scenes III and IV, in which Chimène makes her appearance.
In Grammar, we basically spent the class doing exercises to help us with les expressions de la certitude.
And finally in Translation, we finished up the animal facebook text.
I had lunch with Tang and decided that I really needed to go to Centreville to find myself a phone charger. I got Tang to give me directions and I was off. I ended up at Place de Sébastien which is just a basic mall. I was so excited to see civilization of that sort aha. When I asked people where they thought I could find a phone charger, everyone said to check out the Monoprix (which is very similar to WalMart). I did so and found nothing. They had iPod chargers for wall, computer or car but nothing that would potentially fit my phone. There were a lot of cute iPod cases though (ahem so much Hello Kitty). I browsed Monoprix a bit longer before I headed out. Their school supply section reminded me almost of PaperChase (a stationary store in the UK) and it made me very happy. Donya already bought me a beauty of a pencil case from Paris that I brought with me. Had she not, I definitely would have bought one at Monoprix. After failing there, I wandered a bit until I found a cellphone store. I was searching the charger wall aimlessly when an employee asked to help me and bam! He found something! Unfortunately for me, it cost 27 euros. I definitely think it's worth it though because now I have a functioning phone. I stumbled upon a few movie theatres on my walk back to Nancy 2, so I'm hoping at least one of them will be showing Harry Potter (hopefully in English) next week. With the release date being earlier in France, I really would like to have the opportunity to see it as soon as I possibly can.
Going to Place de Sébastien may have been a poor choice, because I ended up being late for class. Lit again, with Gilles, was torturous the second time around. We were reading through the new excerpt Gilles had given us in the morning and I kept falling asleep. The worst thing about that class is that we all sit facing the prof, front row, so if I do happen to doze off he definitely notices.
In Grammar, Anne-Cécile gave us a challenge for our weekend excursion. For the verbes d'affirmation, she told us each to choose 5 and ask other kids from the class (throughout the weekend) the make sentences with those verbs. I'm not sure how well that's going to go down since I only really know 3 of the girls in our class.
After class, they asked us all to meet in the rez de chausée of Nancy 2 to take a group photo. What we didn't know is that the photo was being taken as we were all waiting around. Hopefully they didn't catch me at an awkward moment aha. Then, they separated us to explain the plan for the excursion to Normandie. Basically, we leave tonight around 0h30 (that's 12:30AM for those of you who don't understand 24 hour time) and arrive at our first destination (les falaises d'Etretat) around 9h. Then, we'll head to Honfleur for lunch, and then arrive at the hotel in Deauville around 16h. We'll have the evening to do whatever we please, and then regroup Saturday morning for our visit to the Tapisserie de Bayeux. There, we're going to the Tapisserie, having lunch, and then heading to Omaha Beach (which is where the Americans landed on June 6th 1944). Finally, on Sunday we'll leave Deauville around 10h, have lunch at Bagnoles-de-l'Orne, and get back to Nancy around 22h. Why it will take so long to get back is beyond me. I figure we'll take the scenic route.
After that, I found Jessica and Christopher who were talking to Dr McCreary (I don't know if that's the proper spellng). They're from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I'm sure I've mentioned them (well, the Americans as a whole) before. Jessica is one of the girls with whom we took the tour of Nancy the first day here, so I'd met her before. Atyeh and I met Christopher the first day as well, but we hadn't seen him since. He is an interesting guy. He is in love with French-Canadian culture and wants to study at l'Unversité de Laval. So, naturally, we talked about Québec and French Canada etc. We also had a nice conversation about Harry Potter at dinner that really made me happy. I can't wait to see the last movie. We also had an interesting conversation about the Confederate Americas (I guess that's in relation to racism and slavery, at least that's how the conversation panned out) and how a lot of Americans still believe in the Confederate way of life without being racist. It worked out to be the same way that I see religion. Though I don't practice religion, I don't condemn it either. I will gladly sit with someone religious and learn about why they have faith and how their Church works, but because I grew up without any religion forced upon me (for lack of better words) I find it hard to have faith in anything as concrete as religion teaches. I guess it's also because I grew up in a family of scientists. Not to say that I don't believe that some sort of higher power exists, but I think that since every religion to a sense believes in the same creator, putting a name on it or practicing a certain way kind of invalidates the others to an extent. I'm not blogging to talk about religion so I'm not going to go further into it, but that's my general consensus about it.
Now I'm home from dinner and getting ready to pack for our trip to Deauville. I'm hoping that everything will fit in my backpack, but we'll see. I'll post about the weekend when I'm back.
Wednesday, 6 July 2011
Wacky Wednesday?
Not very wacky of a day in my opinion. And not a lot really happened. At least nothing substantial worth writing about.
Second day of classes went pretty well (I'll stop numbering them as we go on with the month, but it's the first week so bare with me).
In lit we're looking at les Stances du Cid which is a soliloquy in Corneille's Le Cid where Rodrigue is torn between living a fulfilled life of love with Chimene or taking vengeance on Don Gormas (Chimene's father) for his own father's sake. We basically started a line by line, stanza by stanza analysis. The soliloquy starts with lines stating the torture Rodrigue is feeling before alluding to the fact that they are his feelings (does that make any sense?). Gilles asked us if we knew why Corneille wrote it like that. Like a pro, I answered saying that Corneille wants to show that Rodrigue's feelings of anguish are more important than his physical self. Heck yeah.
In Grammar, we continued to go over verbe tenses. We wrote out DR MRS VANDERTRAMP, and Anne-Cecile added passer to the list. For you anglophones reading this, DR MRS VANDERTRAMP is an acronym for the french verbes that are conjugated with the auxiliary être in verbe tenses that require an auxiliary. Anyway, the UVic girls and I were a bit surprised. Though I know that passer is conjugatd with être, I don't remember ever adding it to that acronym. Oh well. Now it can be DR MRS P VANDERTRAMP.
I decided to go to the English Translation course today instead of the Press/Economy/Politics. It was a lot better. I love the lady in charge of the class, Stéphanie. She's a riot, all the time. We translated a paragraph of a text about Animal Facebook. I don't have my note book out at the moment, but it was pretty hilarious. At the end of the class, we learned some French Proverbs. Avoir le coeur bien accroché to have a strong stomach. Passé l'arme à gauche means to kick the bucket aka die.
At lunch, Tang taught me about dorm rooms in China. She said they are approximately the size of the rooms we have here, but they house 4-6 people. I was shocked. They have two toilets/showers (which are no bigger than 2x2 metres each). There are 3 bunk beds, and 6 average sized desks. It's insane. I didn't believe her. As you probably know, China is immensely over populated and families are only allowed to have one kid. Tang told me it was an issue of over population, there are just too many students for there to be more comfortable living experiences. Even during their PhDs, students have to share their living quarters with another student.
After lunch, I went to the conférence: La France en chansons. It was the only conférence in English, but they had done it the day before in French. It was basically the history of the French working class through song. I was falling asleep and then all of a sudden I saw the words Sacré Charlemagne! on the PowerPoint. Oh my lord! I got so excited. I even sang along ahahaha. I posted it to Facebook too and tagged all the LaMarshians (at least the ones who came to mind). Haha we did that song for our Concert du Printemps in grade 2 and Dan Krantz was Charlemagne with a big long white beard. It was hilarious. I wonder if anyone has the video of it somewhere.
After that I came home and just hung out, spent some time by myself, some time Skyping. At 730pm was the Dîner du directeur. We went back to the courtyard at Cité U and were welcomed by some brass players. They only played one song. Once when they entered, once before Alain entered and once before each course of the meal. We socialized and socialized and some girls were really interested in the fact that I'm from the Falls. I told them it's not all it's cracked up to be haha. We were fed some kitsche lorraine and pâtes loirrains. It was delicious. Jessica, an American girl (who has a Bright Eyes tattoo and loves Conor .... ahem Lexi), came and hung out with us because she sprained her ankle the night before and all her friends had left her to go for dinner. After chatting about Bright Eyes and other music for a bit, they brought out the cheese. I don't remember all that was there, but there were maybe 15 different types (amongst the approx 365 here are in France) from different regions. It was interesting. Finally there was dessert but by the time that happened I was already headed home.
During the evening in the courtyard, Atyeh and I befriended the Iranian couples. They're very nice and invited us over for dinner next week. One of the couples has a daughter, Parnian, who is so cute. It was really cool to be able to use all three of my languages in one night. They were very impressed by my level of understanding and speaking in Farsi. Momma D would be proud.
I Skyped Sissy and now it's time to snooze. Weeeeoooooo goodnight.
Second day of classes went pretty well (I'll stop numbering them as we go on with the month, but it's the first week so bare with me).
In lit we're looking at les Stances du Cid which is a soliloquy in Corneille's Le Cid where Rodrigue is torn between living a fulfilled life of love with Chimene or taking vengeance on Don Gormas (Chimene's father) for his own father's sake. We basically started a line by line, stanza by stanza analysis. The soliloquy starts with lines stating the torture Rodrigue is feeling before alluding to the fact that they are his feelings (does that make any sense?). Gilles asked us if we knew why Corneille wrote it like that. Like a pro, I answered saying that Corneille wants to show that Rodrigue's feelings of anguish are more important than his physical self. Heck yeah.
In Grammar, we continued to go over verbe tenses. We wrote out DR MRS VANDERTRAMP, and Anne-Cecile added passer to the list. For you anglophones reading this, DR MRS VANDERTRAMP is an acronym for the french verbes that are conjugated with the auxiliary être in verbe tenses that require an auxiliary. Anyway, the UVic girls and I were a bit surprised. Though I know that passer is conjugatd with être, I don't remember ever adding it to that acronym. Oh well. Now it can be DR MRS P VANDERTRAMP.
I decided to go to the English Translation course today instead of the Press/Economy/Politics. It was a lot better. I love the lady in charge of the class, Stéphanie. She's a riot, all the time. We translated a paragraph of a text about Animal Facebook. I don't have my note book out at the moment, but it was pretty hilarious. At the end of the class, we learned some French Proverbs. Avoir le coeur bien accroché to have a strong stomach. Passé l'arme à gauche means to kick the bucket aka die.
At lunch, Tang taught me about dorm rooms in China. She said they are approximately the size of the rooms we have here, but they house 4-6 people. I was shocked. They have two toilets/showers (which are no bigger than 2x2 metres each). There are 3 bunk beds, and 6 average sized desks. It's insane. I didn't believe her. As you probably know, China is immensely over populated and families are only allowed to have one kid. Tang told me it was an issue of over population, there are just too many students for there to be more comfortable living experiences. Even during their PhDs, students have to share their living quarters with another student.
After lunch, I went to the conférence: La France en chansons. It was the only conférence in English, but they had done it the day before in French. It was basically the history of the French working class through song. I was falling asleep and then all of a sudden I saw the words Sacré Charlemagne! on the PowerPoint. Oh my lord! I got so excited. I even sang along ahahaha. I posted it to Facebook too and tagged all the LaMarshians (at least the ones who came to mind). Haha we did that song for our Concert du Printemps in grade 2 and Dan Krantz was Charlemagne with a big long white beard. It was hilarious. I wonder if anyone has the video of it somewhere.
After that I came home and just hung out, spent some time by myself, some time Skyping. At 730pm was the Dîner du directeur. We went back to the courtyard at Cité U and were welcomed by some brass players. They only played one song. Once when they entered, once before Alain entered and once before each course of the meal. We socialized and socialized and some girls were really interested in the fact that I'm from the Falls. I told them it's not all it's cracked up to be haha. We were fed some kitsche lorraine and pâtes loirrains. It was delicious. Jessica, an American girl (who has a Bright Eyes tattoo and loves Conor .... ahem Lexi), came and hung out with us because she sprained her ankle the night before and all her friends had left her to go for dinner. After chatting about Bright Eyes and other music for a bit, they brought out the cheese. I don't remember all that was there, but there were maybe 15 different types (amongst the approx 365 here are in France) from different regions. It was interesting. Finally there was dessert but by the time that happened I was already headed home.
During the evening in the courtyard, Atyeh and I befriended the Iranian couples. They're very nice and invited us over for dinner next week. One of the couples has a daughter, Parnian, who is so cute. It was really cool to be able to use all three of my languages in one night. They were very impressed by my level of understanding and speaking in Farsi. Momma D would be proud.
I Skyped Sissy and now it's time to snooze. Weeeeoooooo goodnight.
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
Tuesday Shmooseday
Last night was probably my worst night's sleep ever. Sleeping on plywood with cotton balls for a pillow is not my idea of a bed. I woke up with the worst body pains ever. And since I've had such pain since we arrived in Paris on Sunday, my morning ritual has become taking 2 Advil with my Claritin to make the walk to class bearable.
After being placed in our respective groups, we were told that a few of the kids from the group (no names were named) got wasted last night and were being noisy and disturbing other residents. Apparently in France you're not even allowed to bring alcohol onto campus. Needless to say, the director was pissed and said if it happened again, those involved would basically be sent home.
Ahem, after that little announcement we started our first day of classes. It went pretty well, in my opinion. I chose 17th C French Lit, Grammar and Press/Economie/Politics.
My lit class was actually really great. Our teacher, Gilles, directs a theatre company on the side of being a prof so he's really into what we're studying. The plan is to study some of Corneille, Molière and Racine's work, respectively. We started off with a background about theatre in the 17th century. Basically that theatre was first condemned by the Church, then used by the Church for propaganda, then moved to the streets. We learned about spectacle déambulatoire which basically means that in squares they would have more than one stage set up, and instead of the scene changing, spectators would go from one stage to another to get a chronologic show. Slowly but surely comedians (so actors, but comedy was big in those days so we referred to them uniquely as comedians) and their counterparts wanted to make money so they started enclosing their performance space and leaving only one point of entry, forcing people to pay upon arrival so as not to see the show for free. Eventually theatres were built in the U shape they are now. The boîte à l'italienne was created, and with that and Louis XIV's reign, theatre became really something for those who were wealthy enough to afford it. The room is set up so that the audience is on a downward slant at at the bottom, facing the stage, sat the King, making him the centre of attention. As we continued the lesson we talked about Molière and how modernly he is seen as a rebel because his plays mock people who are in power. This is a common misconception. In the 17th C, it was the Monarchs and the Aristocrats who held all the power, and Molière's pieces mock the Bourgeoisie, those who work to make money. Back then, Monarchs and Aristocrats hated the Bourgeois because they were Peasants who worked and made money and wanted the same kind of respect and place in society as the Aristocrats, but to have the respect and social status of the Aristocrats you had to be born into it and not work to gain it.
After lit was Grammar which was pretty straight up. We reviewed all the verb tenses just to get back into the swing of things. Chloe, the Australian, sat beside me (after lunch we talked and it turns out she was born in Northern Québec).
My next class was Press/Economy/Politics. By this point I was struggling. I wasn't tired but I felt sick, my head hurt, and I was going in and out of consciousness at one point. We were asked to read a newspaper clipping but I couldn't focus on it at all. The class is very politically driven, particularly because it is designed to teach us about French politics. It's not really my thing. I don't think I'll go back tomorrow.
Lunch time came around. We ate. No big deal.
After lunch was where we had the option of going to Theatre, Commercial French or Conference. Being me, I chose theatre. I was actually really excited because I haven't been part of something like that since highschool. The first exercise we did, after introducing ourselves, was what Gilles called the Bottle. I don't know if that's what it is in English, but I've seen it before. It's a trust exercise. Basically everyone stands in a circle excluding one person who stands in the centre. The put their feet together and when they are told to, they let themselves fall in any direction. The circle is then required to catch the person and gently push them in a different direction. Being a bigger girl, I really didn't want to partake. We couldn't do another activity until every person went. So I was the last person to go. Before anyone started, Gilles would ask if they were ready. Reflexively, I said no. It caused a laugh. For the first time in my life I let myself trust the people around me and when it was time to go (with a bit of hesitation) I let myself fall backwards. Everyone played their part and it went very smoothly. One of the scariest things I've ever experienced.
When that was done, we did a read-through of La Cantatrice Chauve by Ionesco. It was interesting enough, but it was very repetitive and I wasn't hooked. It's supposed to be nonsensical, and usually I like things like that (RE: pppeeeaaaccceee) but this just wasn't my thing.
We did some tongue twister exercises to finish the day.
After being placed in our respective groups, we were told that a few of the kids from the group (no names were named) got wasted last night and were being noisy and disturbing other residents. Apparently in France you're not even allowed to bring alcohol onto campus. Needless to say, the director was pissed and said if it happened again, those involved would basically be sent home.
Ahem, after that little announcement we started our first day of classes. It went pretty well, in my opinion. I chose 17th C French Lit, Grammar and Press/Economie/Politics.
My lit class was actually really great. Our teacher, Gilles, directs a theatre company on the side of being a prof so he's really into what we're studying. The plan is to study some of Corneille, Molière and Racine's work, respectively. We started off with a background about theatre in the 17th century. Basically that theatre was first condemned by the Church, then used by the Church for propaganda, then moved to the streets. We learned about spectacle déambulatoire which basically means that in squares they would have more than one stage set up, and instead of the scene changing, spectators would go from one stage to another to get a chronologic show. Slowly but surely comedians (so actors, but comedy was big in those days so we referred to them uniquely as comedians) and their counterparts wanted to make money so they started enclosing their performance space and leaving only one point of entry, forcing people to pay upon arrival so as not to see the show for free. Eventually theatres were built in the U shape they are now. The boîte à l'italienne was created, and with that and Louis XIV's reign, theatre became really something for those who were wealthy enough to afford it. The room is set up so that the audience is on a downward slant at at the bottom, facing the stage, sat the King, making him the centre of attention. As we continued the lesson we talked about Molière and how modernly he is seen as a rebel because his plays mock people who are in power. This is a common misconception. In the 17th C, it was the Monarchs and the Aristocrats who held all the power, and Molière's pieces mock the Bourgeoisie, those who work to make money. Back then, Monarchs and Aristocrats hated the Bourgeois because they were Peasants who worked and made money and wanted the same kind of respect and place in society as the Aristocrats, but to have the respect and social status of the Aristocrats you had to be born into it and not work to gain it.
After lit was Grammar which was pretty straight up. We reviewed all the verb tenses just to get back into the swing of things. Chloe, the Australian, sat beside me (after lunch we talked and it turns out she was born in Northern Québec).
My next class was Press/Economy/Politics. By this point I was struggling. I wasn't tired but I felt sick, my head hurt, and I was going in and out of consciousness at one point. We were asked to read a newspaper clipping but I couldn't focus on it at all. The class is very politically driven, particularly because it is designed to teach us about French politics. It's not really my thing. I don't think I'll go back tomorrow.
Lunch time came around. We ate. No big deal.
After lunch was where we had the option of going to Theatre, Commercial French or Conference. Being me, I chose theatre. I was actually really excited because I haven't been part of something like that since highschool. The first exercise we did, after introducing ourselves, was what Gilles called the Bottle. I don't know if that's what it is in English, but I've seen it before. It's a trust exercise. Basically everyone stands in a circle excluding one person who stands in the centre. The put their feet together and when they are told to, they let themselves fall in any direction. The circle is then required to catch the person and gently push them in a different direction. Being a bigger girl, I really didn't want to partake. We couldn't do another activity until every person went. So I was the last person to go. Before anyone started, Gilles would ask if they were ready. Reflexively, I said no. It caused a laugh. For the first time in my life I let myself trust the people around me and when it was time to go (with a bit of hesitation) I let myself fall backwards. Everyone played their part and it went very smoothly. One of the scariest things I've ever experienced.
When that was done, we did a read-through of La Cantatrice Chauve by Ionesco. It was interesting enough, but it was very repetitive and I wasn't hooked. It's supposed to be nonsensical, and usually I like things like that (RE: pppeeeaaaccceee) but this just wasn't my thing.
We did some tongue twister exercises to finish the day.
- Trois petites truites cuites, trois petites truites crus
- Poche platte, platte poche
- Je suis chez le cher Serge, si sage et si chaste
It was hell haha.
After that we came home. I've been feeling crappy all day, so I decided to stay home and not go to dinner or the movie. Instead I ate an apple and some cookies, Skyped with Sissy and lurked tumblr. The usual.
That's it for tonight. Bed time.
Monday, 4 July 2011
Day 1 at Nancy 2
It's monday. This morning I woke up first at 5 am, freezing. The temperature here is so odd compared to home. First of all, days are scorching with no safety from the sun. Our classes end around 330pm and so our walk home, up the Dreadful Hill as I call it, is at the hottest time of day. It's a shadeless walk. Torture. Humidity is something that kills me at home, but here that seems to not exist. At home, to be in the shade on a sunny day really just means getting the sun out of your eyes. Here, where there is shade it's cool. Anyways, what I was trying to get at is that in the morning it's cold, during the day it's scorching and come nightfall it cools down again. I woke up freezing but no position I curled into warmed me up, and I had the blanket they provided for us covering my entire body. It was horrible.
Not only that, but I was forced to get out of bed to blow my nose and get some water because my allergies get the worst of me, and the air here is very very dry. And then I had the issue of fearing not waking up on time, but I ended up getting up at 730am, which is VERY early for me.
First we headed to Cité Universitaire to have breakfast. There, they served us a piece of baguette, a chocolate croissant, a cup of orange juice and a choice of coffee, tea or hot chocolate. I chose coffee but I guess here they drink it black, so I decided to do so. It was disgusting aha.
After breakfast we headed to l'Université de Nancy where we sat in a decently sized lecture hall to take our placement test. It was like any other placement test I've taken. A listening activity (where we listened to a clip and answered multiple choice questions), a grammar activity (where we conjugated verbs or chose the proper use of pronouns), a reading activity (where we read a text and answered questions based on said text) and finally a written section (where we were given a picture and had to either explain it, or envision having attended the party it advertised and explaining it in letter form). After that we were given some free time (which we spent mostly hanging out on the grass near the building we'd just been in) and then as a group they showed us to the cafeteria-style establishment where we have lunch and dinner every day. I had chicken and fries and some fruit. It's a very nice place but with minimal seating area. It's only open during lunch and dinner hours, so I really wonder how packed it gets during the real school year.
After lunch we headed back to the building in which we took our placement tests. We were told before lunch that we would be introducing ourselves by nationality, so Atyeh and I found the other Canadians (who came from the University of Victoria in BC) and decided we were going to sing the anthem in English and French. In total there were presentations from students who came from 25 different countries (including Canada). Those countries being (excluding Canada): Brazil, Poland, Lebanon, Australia, Belgium, Grece, Turkey, Croatia, Iran, German, USA, Denmark, Romania, South Africa, Switzerland, Russia, Netherlands, Ireland, Bulgaria, Albania, Guinee, Taiwan, Sweden and China. Such a multicultural group. The total number of students is approximately 130, which is apparently much more than the program has ever experienced. I remember a few things from the presentation so I'll just put them here.
We were sitting in the hall and my Euros from yesterday were sitting down the aisle from us. Countries were getting called and I jokingly said "Watch, I bet they aren't even Euros, they're going to be from South Africa or something like that". Sure enough, South Africa got called and one of them got up. I laughed. The other turned out to be from the Netherlands. I don't really remember what everyone did to present themselves, but I wrote down the things I wanted to make sure I post about. The student here from Bulgaria showed us one of the longest words in any language ever: neprotvcokonstituzionstwowatelstwuwaite. That's the spelling in the English alphabet, but I can't for the world sound it out phonetically for you because he said it so quickly. From Taiwan, we learned that in Chinese (or Taiwanese I don't really remember), hello is Ni Hôa [knee-how]. Anais, the girl from switzerland, taught us that in the different parts of Switzerland they speak different languages but that commonly they speak Swiss-German. She said one of the hardest words to pronounce is khokhikheshli, which turns out to be something you find in the kitchen. She didn't specify what. There was a group from Ireland who taught us to say "My name is..." in Gaelic: is mise [eez-me-sha]. The german, who I see everywhere but still don't know his name, was a comedian. He presented himself then told us that Germany invaded France twice, started 2 World Wars and that we may know some famous Germans like Hitler but there are also others (he named them but I can't remember for the life of me). The guys from Denmark were pretty funny too. One of them was wearing a shirt that said "To Err is Human, To Arr is Pirate". I was definitely amused. Then they sang some danish song, horribly may I add. The group of English students had us all get out of our seats to do Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes. The Americans, from Pennsylvania, decided they were going to do the Souja Boy and I laughed the whole time. Then their 16 year old from California decided she was going to sing us a song. I don't know what it was, and although she was flat for a lot of it, she had a pretty decent voice, and a hell of a lot of courage. Ooh! And the Australians sang a song about Koalas not wanting to be called Bears, or something.
After introductions we were taken to the building where our classes will be, which was actually a lot closer than it looks on the map. On our way there, when they were telling us where we were going, the group of boys had somehow acquired beer and were having a brew. When we got to he the building at Nancy 2, the directors of the program explained how things would be working, and told us we could find what group we're put into by the end of the night in the doorway of our residences. Then we headed home to change and then to a little market, what they call a Proxy. I got toilet paper, Peach iced tea and some snacks, in case you were wondering. After that it was dinner time. We had um, veggies and meatballs if I remember correctly. After dinner, the group of boys asked Atyeh if she wanted to go for drinks at Place Stanislas. She asked if I wanted to join, but I really didn't want to have to carry my grocery bag around and I didn't want to spend money so I told her to go, and Tang and I headed home.
I ended up having to wait for Atyeh to get home before I could shower because I had lent her my shampoo and once again, when it was shower time, I wasn't able to access hot water. I think I just choose the worst times to shower. Who knows.
I think that's everything that went on today.
À plus tard!
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Travelling to Nancy (transferred from my Journal entry on July 3)
We've been on the plane long enough for the flight attendants to have fed us. I estimate less than an hour judging by a man a few seats away watching an episode of 24/7 that has not come to an end yet.
I'm going to start the body of this entry with the fact that I have the worst possible seat on this flight: 19H. Sure, I have all the leg room I could ask for but with no seat in front of me, I have no where to put anything. SockMonkey has been in my arms since take off and after 30 minutes of mild turbulence and freezing my butt off, I'm hanging in my Habs snuggie. My feet and knees were aching so it was nice to get up to get the snuggie out of my backpack.
I'm sitting next to a couple. They seem cute on a little cute vacation to France. Haven't lurked for rings, but maybe they're on their honeymoon? Who knows. As I mentioned having the worst seat and the man watching 24/7, I'd like to inform you that I have no access to a TV. It sucks. There's an empty seat between 24/7 and a sleeping man, but I'm scared to disturb to ask if I could squeeze in.
Sitting where I am, at the very front of Economy Class, I have a great view of First Class. It's an overseas/overnight flight, so there are sleeper seats. In the 4 closest seats to me, there are kids no younger than 15 but no older than 19. Turbulence again. It baffles me to see such young kids in First Class. I wonder what their parents do with their lives to be able to afford something so extravagant for 4 kids. Another perk about my seat? It doesn't recline fully. I wonder if those kids have randomly loaded parents (like the Upper East Siders of Gossip Girl), or if maybe they invented something or maybe made a very smart investment. Being me, I wonder if maybe they own a sports team or something. I wonder why these 4 kids are going to france. To stay with family? At a family villa? Or maybe just to be tourists. I guess I'll never know...
I see Jordan Staal on the 24/7 man's screen and it makes me thin of Ashleigh. I'm a baby so when I left my mom at the security entrance to the gates, I was teary eyed. I left all my family and friends for a month (knowing I'll be back in 4 weeks, of course). O wonder how Ashleigh felt though. Leaving everyone, everything and a way of life to start over half way around the world. Ashleigh, if you're reading this, I commend you immensely for your courage to start fresh in Canada. I'm so happy we are friends.
...
Woops. Now we're sitting at Charles de Gaulle/TGV Station. I literally was trying to think of something to write after that last paragraph and passed out with the pen in my hand in my notebook. Embarrassing.
The rest of the flight was okay, slept most of it. Now it's 3am home time and I'm so sleepy. This TGV Station is so big. there are so many people just hanging out waiting. We'll be here for about 3 hours until we depart for Lorraine TGV Station which is an hour and a bit on the train away and finally a half hour bus ride to Nancy.
The girl sitting across from us has a Galapagos Islands parch on her backpack but is reading an English book. I wonder where she's from. She looks young, with a flower pinning her bangs back. Every other person who walks by is speaking a different language, it's so weird to me how international this place really is. Which is weird because being from the Falls and living in Toronto you're think it wouldn't baffle me.
When we were printing our train tickets, we came across the Team Canada football champions coming from Vienna (I guess) heading into Paris. Made me think of CC's obsession with calling Jenn a meathead. They were the biggest meatheads, the biggest jars of meatsauce.
People here seem to stare a lot, it's a little unnerving. I guess that's what it's like being a foreigner anywhere, always being stared at. For the natives, I guess it kind of instills a sense of pride knowing that some random person (in this case me) spent thousands of dollars (literally) to spend some time in their home country. Are we that judgmental when people visit Canada? I guess it really depends on your background and life experiences, like my lil COMN classes have taught me so well. Our level and intensity (for lack of a better word) of experience is based directly and solely on who we are and what we have experienced in our lives. So in this case, I can say for me (though I do take an intense amount of pride in my country)that judgement doesn't exist. At least not as potently as it might for others. In my short life, I've done some pretty serious travellin and have experienced many different cultures. I feel like with that (or moreso of that) I'm more open to diversity in cultures and the exploration of new places.
I don't really know where that rant came from. I think I'm just desperately trying to pass the time. But the more I write, the less able I am to read my writing. (I'll upload the picture later) But who cares.
The train ride to Lorraine was interesting. First of all, apparently 3 people had been alloted to the same seat on the train. We all just decided to sit in the closes seats. The girl I sat with at first had a little puppy. It was so cute. When she got off, I spent the rest of my train ride eaves dropping on a couple of German guys, no older than me I don't think. I was getting so confused at first because they kept switching between German and English. They were street magicians, I'm guessing, because they were talking about card and ball tricks. When we got off at Lorraine, we had to board a shuttle bus to Nancy. We ended up meeting a group from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (I think that's correct). A little confusing given Indiana is a state on its own. They were very nice.
After about 30 minutes on the bus, we arrived at the Nancy TGV Station. Now you might be wondering why we didn't take the TGV directly to Nancy. That's because there is only a few services per day and they are very very long trips. Upon arrival, we met the Director and Assistant Director of the program and were taken by car to our Residences at Monbois, le Parc. Our driver Pierre Henrie (or PH), who is also one of the Student Advisors for the program, studies film at Nancy 2. If you've seen my Facebook, I'm sure you've seen my unpacked room. The residences are very dark and jail like. Single rooms with a sink, bed, commode, shelving unit and desk. Minimal lighting. The hallways echo, they're dark and quiet. The hallway lights are timed, they stay on long enough to find your room, let yourself in and then some. Edouard is the one who let us in. I'll stealthily take or find a picture of him for any LaMarshians reading this because he reminds me so much of Vinny. Upon arrival we met Tang (her english name is Charlotte, but there are other Charlottes in the program, so she made it easier for us by giving us her last name). She's from China and is majoring in French at her University. She's only been studying the language for 3 years but she speaks much much better than I do. Her french is much better than her English, though she learned English for years. I learned yesterday that different regions of China speak different dialects of Chinese. The girls we've met Hong Kong speak English very fluently, and with the dialect difference between Hong Kong and where Tang is from, they communicate with her in English.
That got me a little ahead of myself.
After meeting Tang, but before learning those tidbits about China, Atyeh and I decided we were going to explore the city to find a store. Edouard informed us that most places are closed on Sundays in France, but this particular store may be open. We ended up walking up and down some steep hills and ended up where we started. There, we ran into some of the Americans who were on their way to Place de Stanislas. After a strenuous walk, we got to one of the last standing corners of the original city of Nancy. In the middle ages, all French cities were surrounded by thick brick walls and this piece was dated at 1336. We headed to Place de Stanislas. Surrounded by white pillars, there was a parking lot and then a pathway heading to the square. It reminded me of a mix of Versailles and where Napoleon's tomb is in Paris. A beautiful square with little cafés in every direction. The gates of the square were still standing, black with golden figures of lions and birds. After that we walked a tonne more to a bunch of places I can't remember right now. Mostly because I was paying more attention to how hot it was and how I didn't have any water with me, and hadn't eaten since 7am.
We ended up back at our residences and by the time we got ourselves changed and ready to go, it was time for dinner. Our dinner was at the other residence, Monbois. At first it was a little bit awkward for everyone but we all slowly started to mingle. I met so many people from so many different places and I can't remember any of their names. I was scoping out the hunnies (as Jenn, Alesia and I call them) and found some Euros (which is weird saying here because well we ARE in Europe), and English guy and some Danes. At one point I ended up eavesdropping on a conversation the Englishman was having withe the Danes and he said something along the lines of "Give a girl a Bacardi Breezer and you're set to go", "The smart ones are always the sluttiest" and "I can't speak French very well but at least I have a great accent". Needless to say it was interesting. We met a Lebanese guy named Raja who really just wanted to ask us where the cups were, and offered to help Atyeh learn French.
Now I'm back in my room and it's time for bed. Until next time.
I'm going to start the body of this entry with the fact that I have the worst possible seat on this flight: 19H. Sure, I have all the leg room I could ask for but with no seat in front of me, I have no where to put anything. SockMonkey has been in my arms since take off and after 30 minutes of mild turbulence and freezing my butt off, I'm hanging in my Habs snuggie. My feet and knees were aching so it was nice to get up to get the snuggie out of my backpack.
I'm sitting next to a couple. They seem cute on a little cute vacation to France. Haven't lurked for rings, but maybe they're on their honeymoon? Who knows. As I mentioned having the worst seat and the man watching 24/7, I'd like to inform you that I have no access to a TV. It sucks. There's an empty seat between 24/7 and a sleeping man, but I'm scared to disturb to ask if I could squeeze in.
Sitting where I am, at the very front of Economy Class, I have a great view of First Class. It's an overseas/overnight flight, so there are sleeper seats. In the 4 closest seats to me, there are kids no younger than 15 but no older than 19. Turbulence again. It baffles me to see such young kids in First Class. I wonder what their parents do with their lives to be able to afford something so extravagant for 4 kids. Another perk about my seat? It doesn't recline fully. I wonder if those kids have randomly loaded parents (like the Upper East Siders of Gossip Girl), or if maybe they invented something or maybe made a very smart investment. Being me, I wonder if maybe they own a sports team or something. I wonder why these 4 kids are going to france. To stay with family? At a family villa? Or maybe just to be tourists. I guess I'll never know...
I see Jordan Staal on the 24/7 man's screen and it makes me thin of Ashleigh. I'm a baby so when I left my mom at the security entrance to the gates, I was teary eyed. I left all my family and friends for a month (knowing I'll be back in 4 weeks, of course). O wonder how Ashleigh felt though. Leaving everyone, everything and a way of life to start over half way around the world. Ashleigh, if you're reading this, I commend you immensely for your courage to start fresh in Canada. I'm so happy we are friends.
...
Woops. Now we're sitting at Charles de Gaulle/TGV Station. I literally was trying to think of something to write after that last paragraph and passed out with the pen in my hand in my notebook. Embarrassing.
The rest of the flight was okay, slept most of it. Now it's 3am home time and I'm so sleepy. This TGV Station is so big. there are so many people just hanging out waiting. We'll be here for about 3 hours until we depart for Lorraine TGV Station which is an hour and a bit on the train away and finally a half hour bus ride to Nancy.
The girl sitting across from us has a Galapagos Islands parch on her backpack but is reading an English book. I wonder where she's from. She looks young, with a flower pinning her bangs back. Every other person who walks by is speaking a different language, it's so weird to me how international this place really is. Which is weird because being from the Falls and living in Toronto you're think it wouldn't baffle me.
When we were printing our train tickets, we came across the Team Canada football champions coming from Vienna (I guess) heading into Paris. Made me think of CC's obsession with calling Jenn a meathead. They were the biggest meatheads, the biggest jars of meatsauce.
People here seem to stare a lot, it's a little unnerving. I guess that's what it's like being a foreigner anywhere, always being stared at. For the natives, I guess it kind of instills a sense of pride knowing that some random person (in this case me) spent thousands of dollars (literally) to spend some time in their home country. Are we that judgmental when people visit Canada? I guess it really depends on your background and life experiences, like my lil COMN classes have taught me so well. Our level and intensity (for lack of a better word) of experience is based directly and solely on who we are and what we have experienced in our lives. So in this case, I can say for me (though I do take an intense amount of pride in my country)that judgement doesn't exist. At least not as potently as it might for others. In my short life, I've done some pretty serious travellin and have experienced many different cultures. I feel like with that (or moreso of that) I'm more open to diversity in cultures and the exploration of new places.
I don't really know where that rant came from. I think I'm just desperately trying to pass the time. But the more I write, the less able I am to read my writing. (I'll upload the picture later) But who cares.
The train ride to Lorraine was interesting. First of all, apparently 3 people had been alloted to the same seat on the train. We all just decided to sit in the closes seats. The girl I sat with at first had a little puppy. It was so cute. When she got off, I spent the rest of my train ride eaves dropping on a couple of German guys, no older than me I don't think. I was getting so confused at first because they kept switching between German and English. They were street magicians, I'm guessing, because they were talking about card and ball tricks. When we got off at Lorraine, we had to board a shuttle bus to Nancy. We ended up meeting a group from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (I think that's correct). A little confusing given Indiana is a state on its own. They were very nice.
After about 30 minutes on the bus, we arrived at the Nancy TGV Station. Now you might be wondering why we didn't take the TGV directly to Nancy. That's because there is only a few services per day and they are very very long trips. Upon arrival, we met the Director and Assistant Director of the program and were taken by car to our Residences at Monbois, le Parc. Our driver Pierre Henrie (or PH), who is also one of the Student Advisors for the program, studies film at Nancy 2. If you've seen my Facebook, I'm sure you've seen my unpacked room. The residences are very dark and jail like. Single rooms with a sink, bed, commode, shelving unit and desk. Minimal lighting. The hallways echo, they're dark and quiet. The hallway lights are timed, they stay on long enough to find your room, let yourself in and then some. Edouard is the one who let us in. I'll stealthily take or find a picture of him for any LaMarshians reading this because he reminds me so much of Vinny. Upon arrival we met Tang (her english name is Charlotte, but there are other Charlottes in the program, so she made it easier for us by giving us her last name). She's from China and is majoring in French at her University. She's only been studying the language for 3 years but she speaks much much better than I do. Her french is much better than her English, though she learned English for years. I learned yesterday that different regions of China speak different dialects of Chinese. The girls we've met Hong Kong speak English very fluently, and with the dialect difference between Hong Kong and where Tang is from, they communicate with her in English.
That got me a little ahead of myself.
After meeting Tang, but before learning those tidbits about China, Atyeh and I decided we were going to explore the city to find a store. Edouard informed us that most places are closed on Sundays in France, but this particular store may be open. We ended up walking up and down some steep hills and ended up where we started. There, we ran into some of the Americans who were on their way to Place de Stanislas. After a strenuous walk, we got to one of the last standing corners of the original city of Nancy. In the middle ages, all French cities were surrounded by thick brick walls and this piece was dated at 1336. We headed to Place de Stanislas. Surrounded by white pillars, there was a parking lot and then a pathway heading to the square. It reminded me of a mix of Versailles and where Napoleon's tomb is in Paris. A beautiful square with little cafés in every direction. The gates of the square were still standing, black with golden figures of lions and birds. After that we walked a tonne more to a bunch of places I can't remember right now. Mostly because I was paying more attention to how hot it was and how I didn't have any water with me, and hadn't eaten since 7am.
We ended up back at our residences and by the time we got ourselves changed and ready to go, it was time for dinner. Our dinner was at the other residence, Monbois. At first it was a little bit awkward for everyone but we all slowly started to mingle. I met so many people from so many different places and I can't remember any of their names. I was scoping out the hunnies (as Jenn, Alesia and I call them) and found some Euros (which is weird saying here because well we ARE in Europe), and English guy and some Danes. At one point I ended up eavesdropping on a conversation the Englishman was having withe the Danes and he said something along the lines of "Give a girl a Bacardi Breezer and you're set to go", "The smart ones are always the sluttiest" and "I can't speak French very well but at least I have a great accent". Needless to say it was interesting. We met a Lebanese guy named Raja who really just wanted to ask us where the cups were, and offered to help Atyeh learn French.
Now I'm back in my room and it's time for bed. Until next time.
Saturday, 2 July 2011
Leaving Home
Bonjour mes amis! Reporting to you from the Pearson Int'l Airport (notice I didn't include Toronto because we all know it's really in Mississauga). It took me forever to figure out how to connect to the WiFi in the airport, but I finally figured it out. It configures best with Mozilla. But the best part of it is that it's free! My point of this post is that I want to do this every day for the duration of the trip to keep you all updated with my whereabouts and what's-its on this trip. I just made that word up. Whatever.
I'm sitting in the corner of a food area just outside the gate where I'll be boarding flight AC880 to Paris Charles De Gaulle. I can hear my mom, Tara, Yasemine and my aunt playing Bananagrams a few tables away. There's so much excitement in the airport, always brings my mood up when I travel. I hear a slew of languages as families are waiting with their loved ones until boarding time arrives. A man just sat down near me. He's by himself. Probably travelling for business. I met a girl in line for baggage drop-off who's heading to Dublin to do a 6 day horse tour of the hills in the area, I guess. She was probably 4 years older than I am and said it's her first time traveling alone. Weird. My first time traveling alone I was headed to Paris, like I am now, at 15.
I'm nervous to fly. I brought earplugs, sleeping pills, gum, a book and my iPod (well, Katie's old iPod woops) for the flight, though I'll probably just fall asleep on my own. SockMonkey came along for the trip and, with inspiration rooting from Stinky Goes to San Francisco, I'll be posting pictures of his adventures. We just took one: SockMonkey and his Canadian Passport.
The reason I even have my computer plugged in is that I'm trying to charge my phone a bit since I'll be travelling until late afternoon tomorrow, France time.
I'll write again when I figure out the WiFi connection at my Residence in Nancy.
I don't know many french sayings (which is actually kind of bad) but um, comme on dit en France, c'est la vie?!
For those of you who know me well, I'll use my usual sign-off for these posts.. well this one at least.
xoxo gossip diva~
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