Boredom kills

I AM SO FUCKING BORED!!

When I get back from London I am going on a major search to not be bored.



I am going to try to take a French class in Anger or Le Mans.

I am also going to try to make some friends. How? I have no idea. If you see a short girl who is creeping you say hi, because it might be me!

There is a really helpful forum for assistants: so I will post sad, lonely messages on it and hope for replies.

I also plan to put up posters advertising private conversational classes in English.

Also, I was talking to a Swedish exchange student and he says that he plays Tennis 3 times a week with the school Phys. Ed teacher, who also happens to be his host family, so maybe I will ask him if I can join. Not that I play tennis. But I can learn!

Any other ideas to alleviate this crushing boredom would be MOST helpful!

Remember that I came from a city of 3 million people to a town of 13, 500. Heeeelp me!

The only thing saving me is that I will see a city soon...oh so close..yet oh so far..

Train Versus Plane

Contrary to Backpacker belief, I am a fan of the train, which is what I will be taking when I go to London.

Firstly, the train is MUCH friendlier on the environment. Truly, flying ruins the planet. Eurostar even automatically carbon neutralizes your trip.


Secondly, the train can be more expensive, but only marginally so once all other factors are added in. If you want a cheap flight the airport is going to be far away from the city. The buses to the city center are usually 10 euros, sometimes less sometimes more. That's an extra 20 euros at least to the cost of your flight. Also, on cheap airlines everything costs more.

Hungry? 3 Euros for a Coke and 6 Euros for a sandwich. Food in train stations are much cheaper then airports usually.

Thirdly, flying takes more time! Seriously it does. For instance, to fly to London I would have to get my ass to Paris, take a bus from Paris to an airport, be at the airport at least an hour before, fly for an hour, hope the plane is on time then take a bus to the city center. So the "1 hour" flight time to London really ends up being 6.

With the train I still have to take the train to Paris and then the train to London, but it drops me off right in the middle of the city. So it will still take me around 6 hours but I won't have to check in, get x-rayed, take a bus to the middle of nowhere.

Also if I lived in Paris it would be much shorter, its just that I have to get a stupid train from Sable to Paris to get on the train.

Fourth(ly?) there is more leg room on trains. Trains are lovely. There are windows, plenty of leg room and wide seats. You can even put your feet up if you get a 4 seater. Why would I be squished on an airplane for an hour when I can be comfortable for 2 hours?

Honestly I would rather spend an extra 20-50 euros on a train to save the planet and be more comfortable. Its such a short journey anyways. It would be different if the train ride was more then 5 hours though, in that case I would recommend flying, especially if you could get a cheap flight.

But for going to major cities, like from London to Paris or Paris to Amsterdam or even London to Amsterdam, you might as well train. It is so much less hassle and so much more enjoyable.

Fyi: Train From Paris to London is 2:15 min and Flying is 1 hour 15 min.

Fyi: London is one hour behind Paris so if you fly you arrive at the same time that you left. Neat, eh?

Fyi: Did I mention I'm retarded and my train from London-->Paris comes too late to catch a train back to Sable? I figure I might as well make the most of it and just sleep in Paris, spend the day wandering around and catch an evening train back to Sable.

Budget traveling in general

I get asked a lot how I afford to travel, since I don't work full-time, so I have decided to share a secret: I budget travel. Semi-hardcore budget travel. People, being soft and flaky, don't usually understand this concept.

So I will explain it.

Sleeping

Most Hardcore: Camping/sleeping in train stations or airports

You should do this if you are only staying in a place for one night or are catching an early flight. There is no shame in this. You are saving the price of 1 nights accommodation! It is a thing to be admired. Just sleep on a pair of rolled up socks or your backpack and drape a sweater over yourself. Also, by doing this you may be able to get a really cheap flight since the cheapest flights always leave before 7 am and there is usually not a cheap way to get to an airport that early. Killing 2 birds with one stone!

I have done this several times, most noteably in Morocco where I slept in the airport to catch my 6 am flight. Of course, my flight ended up being delayed for 10 hours, but that's a different story.

You can also take a night-bus/train and this saves on accommodation as well. This kind of sucks though if you can't sleep on buses. Try to take a Gravol or a sleeping pill, keep your cash close, bring ear plugs and an inflatable pillow and you should be fine. Trains are much better then buses for this since you are less squished. I did this when for the 12 hour journey from Tangier to Marrekesh and I was nervous the whole time that someone was going to rape or kill me but it turned out fine and everyone was very pleasant. I also went on a night bus from Seville to Madrid and it arrived at 6am. I had to wander in the dark to find my hostel and then ended up sleeping until noon anyways.

Semi-hardcore: Crashing on couches.

If possible, sleep at a friends. If this isn't possible, try couch surfing. I know lots of people who have done this and are still alive! If you don't feel comfortable sleeping on a random person's couch, find a guy or girl at a bar, seduce them and sleep at their place. Not only is this free, but it may also come with breakfast.

A little Hard-core: Sleeping in weird places in the Hostel
Sometimes if you ask hostels have places that you can sleep that are cheaper. Once in a hostel in Greece I slept on a rollaway cot in a bathroom that was much cheaper then the full rate.

Not-Even-A-Little Hardcore: Sleeping in the Hostel Dorm
For 10-40$ you can sleep in a hostel dorm. This is what most people do most of the time, but remember that there are other options! Seriously, even not sleeping in a hostel twice on your trip will save you around 40$ that can be spent on more valuable things, like museum admission.

Food

Traveling is a great time to go on a diet. You won't feel hungry because you will be to busy DOING things. No eating out of boredom when you travel! The cheapest things to eat are street meats, like Kebabs and Gelatos. Once for 30 days all I had was one Kebab and 1 Gelato every day and I lost 10 lbs! And I felt full and satisfied every day because, man those kebabs are filling.

Or try the baguette and nutella route. The first day go into a grocery store and buy a squirt bottle of Nutella. Every day buy a baguette for one euro and then just squirt some Nutella on it when you feel hungry. You can augment this diet buy buying bananas or apples whenever you run into a grocery store or market. I usually do this in Amsterdam because Nutella is an excellent food for munchies. You can get buy for a week on a budget of less than 5 euros a day for food with a little planning if you are a girl. I usually eat a LOT and I have no problem with this. Guys tend to eat more so it may be a few euros more.

If you feel that you won't be satisfied by these options just try to hit up the grocery store a lot. You can buy some great sandwiches in grocery stores for half the price you would pay in bakery.

The worst thing you can do for your budget is sit down to eat. The best thing you can do is buy stuff in the grocery store and cook it in the hostels kitchen. Pasta, couscous, bread, Carbs are definitely your friend when your traveling because they are cheap and fill you up!

Coffee

It is essential not to buy coffee out every day. This adds up REALLY fast. I have a lot of trouble with this since one of my favourite things to do is shop while drinking coffee. Instead, buy a small bottle of Nescafe Instance coffee with the red label. This tastes great, is portable and is only 2.15 euro. Just add a tablespoon to some boiling water and you can have morning coffee for a fraction of the price.

Alcohol
You MUST pre-drink. Or order beer at the bar, often in Europe beer is under 3 euros. Hard alcohol is always more expensive and not worth it. Often the beer is a specialty of that region so you are also being cultural. Remember, The more you drink beer the more you like it! This isn't that hard since if you are a student you are probably used to budgeting alcohol.


Attractions

Its hard to get around this, most attractions cost money. If you can try to get the youth rate. Lie and pretend that you are 17. It can't hurt to try. Sometimes you can save 10 euros by doing this. Or go to the tourism website and check out the Whats On section and it will always post things that are free to do in the city. For instance, for London I checked out www.visitlondon.com and now plan to go on free Halloween tours.

By watching where I sleep and what I eat I can travel to way more places for way cheaper. I have been known to search for hours for a diet coke that is a quarter cheaper though so it is definitely possible to go overboard. But I really think that with less money you will almost always have a more adventerous trip.

Nevertheless it is always hard to stick to the budget so it helps to save on the big things (flights, accommodation, food_ so if you go overboard on the smaller things (like shopping or souviners) it won't hurt you too much.

Why is everyone obessed with French Women

This is definitely the biggest myth I have encountered since coming to France. French women are NOT chic. At all.

They do not have glowing skin or perfectly arranged scarfs.

I think they could really use some foundation and highlights actually.

Its true that they look less sloppy then the average Canadian but nothing really special. They all just look very low-key.

I will report more when I come back from Paris (I'm staying for a day when I come back from London).

It just seems that they don't take fashion risks, and I don't know why this should be admired.

And their HAIR. Ugh. They don't dye it. They don't get extentions. They all stay within 2 shades of their natural colour and get it cut fairly short. I'm the only person with long hair here, just like Belgium!

This blog http://parisbreakfasts.blogspot.com/2009/10/paris-hair.html

idolizes French style and I don't know why. Check it out. These pictures just look like women who rolled out of bed and twisted an elastic into their hair. Any Canadian can do that too!

Although I appreciate that French women are very natural and seem to be very comfortable in their own skin, it doesn't mean that they are any better than Canadians who bleach their hair and apply pounds of bronzer.

London Tomorrow!

Wahoo! I'm going to London tomorrow since it is midterm holidays and there is nothing to do in my town.

I'm staying with Jane and Kat (thankyouverymuch!) who are from Toronto but working and studying in London respectively.

London is one of my favourite cities in Europe, probably THE favourite. I am a major anglophile. I love British history, British food (okay not really), pubs, shopping, everything!

I think the British girls have the best style anywhere. It is unique and trendy. They spend a lot of time and effort on their appearance and that is something that I respect. London is very inspiring, fashion-wise. You can people watch like nowhere else.

Of course, British girls are also known to dress scantily, binge drink and have babies at 16, but every culture has its highs and lows.

Re:budget,

I am going to TRY to stick to one, but I there is so much shopping I want to do!

We don't have Top Shop in Canada so I will have to buy, everything. Also Primark which has super cheap shit that falls apart in 2 days and is the reason I missed my train the last time I was in London, deserves a few hours of browsing.

http://www.flemishbeer.blogspot.com/2008/03/london-bridge-is-falling-down.html

Don't even get me started on the vintage stores.

Also, I need to pick up some Earl Grey tea at Fortnum and Mason , which is a super gourmet food shop that serves the royal family (and we all know what a royal whore I am).

In addition, Bravissimo, the best lingerie store on the planet because it has the rarest of gems: a wide selection affordable bras, swimsuits and t-shirts for well-endowed ladies.

Also I will visit museums and stuff.

Budgeting with a debit card

The French debit card is called A Carte Bleue, or a Blue Card in my world. This Blue Card apparently goes into overdraft, as I can spend money without having money in my account and it is definitely not a credit card, even though it says Visa on the card. It's kind of a hybrid I guess. I don't really understand it.

All I know is that I can finally spend money that I don't have again- like a true North American.

I cracked today and bought 11 euros worth of groceries today.

This morning I had so little food that I sauteed a clove of garlic, a bit of red onion, added 1/4 a cup of chickpeas, cracked an egg in the mix and dumped some leftover curry sauce on it.

Maybe I should start a cheap food blog??

I feel really great when I budget and save and force myself to eat what is actually in my fridge before buying new things. It is really hard to do that, unfortunately, once you are not forced to. Temptation is just too great.

So I am going to try really hard to live to a 20 euro a week food budget, not including 4 lunches a week that I eat at school. I think that's pretty hard since I love to cook and eat a lot of fresh vegetables. It would be easier with a big freezer so I could buy frozen veggies, but that isn't an option. Making coffee in the morning makes a huge difference! Coffee is 30 cents from the machine and I usually get at least 2 a day so it adds up to 7 euro a week, which is technically almost half my food budget. So a big difference indeed!

I think my normal food budget for school in Canada is more like 50$ a week, not included coffees, brunches, etc.,, so this is quite a change.

But I also think its important to start budgeting NOW when I am young so it becomes a habit and I won't go into debt later when it matters.

So on that note, I tried to purchase 11 euros of cheap, filling, healthy food that will last. Things like big cans of beans.

I only get 750 a month after taxes and I want to save some money so I'm not totally broke when I go home, and I also want to travel, so I'm going to try really hard to stick to this budget. One of my favourite blogs should help :http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com

True Stereotype #1: Butter

French people are obsessed with butter. It's not a stereotype. Its true.

I have never had butter before coming here. Butter is the enemy. It is fattening and dairy and will clog your arteries and make you a size 16. I like my toast dry anyways and I cook in a bit olive oil or rarely PAM spray or low-fat, trans-fat free margarine.

Yet, the French consume butter like there is no tomorrow and they are all skinnier then me!

So I decided...when in Rome..and bought myself a stick of butter today. Damn straight.




To add to this French experiment I also drank a glass of red wine for lunch. I ate lunch myself today since all the roommates are on vacation. But I drank wine. and ate butter. Very indulgent, non? But it was quite enjoyable. Why shouldn't I enjoy rich food when by myself? Enough with this puritan guilt!

We will see how this new indulgencies affect my figure, I'm quite (okay, extremely) nervous about this, but I also don't own a full length mirror and therefore won't notice if I go up a size! Its very liberating to live without a full length mirror, everyone should try it.

Another French Lunch

On Saturday a young English teacher offered to take me to Le Mans to change my money and check out the city. She also said that we would first have lunch at her house, in a small village between Sablé and Le Mans.

It is 30 min between Sablé and Le Mans and I think there are like, a dozen small villages. The French really have a different gauge for distances. They also think that it is possible for them to live 'deep in the countryside' when it only takes 10 hours to drive across a country, there is no room for 'deep in the countryside'.

Anyways there was a 10am train and an 12:45 train and she told me to take the early one so there would be time to eat lunch.

I did, and naturally lunch didn't start until 12:30 anyways.

She decided to whip up an apple pie first, and then we had to have an apertif, of course.

I decided on diet coke instead of alcohol.

She lives in a very modern house that is very environmentally friendly. I think the French are more aware of the environment since even people in tiny villages spend time and money and effort caring about the environment.

She had geo-thermal heating which is when the house is heated by wires going underneath the house. Her counter stove was also heated by induction which has something to do with iron and magnets doing the heating. Trés cool.

She had an adorable 7 month baby as well and a husband, who spent a year in England but barely said 2 words to me since "I was there to learn French".

We had crepes sauteed in butter and filled with lox, creme, lemon juice and swiss cheese. Yuuuuuuum.

Then we had the apple pie that she whipped up, with apples from her grandfathers garden.

Then coffee, which it seems always comes at the end of the meal.

All this took several hours so we set out for Le Mans around 3 pm.

The old part of town is from the 11/12th century! Lots of the usual cobblestones and cathedrals; I'll post pics later.

There is also great shopping with all the usual chain stores, and a lot of lingerie and shoe stores.

I also bought some used English paperbacks.

We didn't end up changing money though, since my Carte Bleue started working even though there is zero money in it...tres weird, but I will explain that another time.


There were no more trains left (it was about 7:30) so she insisted I go to her house for dinner even though I was still really full.

She made pasta with butter and swiss cheese. Simple and good, I am definitely making that a staple from now one.

Proud of my French skills!

Today I managed-entirely in French- to argue with the guy at Mcdonald's! He wanted to charge me an extra 2$ for a salad, when clearly it should only have been .20 cents. It took 10 min but I finally got him to lower the price. And he said that it was his fault!

Slam dunk bitches.

1 step closer to putting Bilingual on the resume.

Problems solved!

Yay so they finally turned on the heat AND the English Teacher gave me an electric radiator so my heating problem is solved.

As well, we got our washing machine fixed so I can now have clean clothes for the first time in 3 weeks! I have been hand-washing my clothes up till now and thanking g-d that cotton items are in, because you cant really hand-wash jeans. Hence I have been sticking to leggings and amap t-shirts or dresses. I also wore the same pair of jeans like 6 times, but don't tell anyone. Except I guess I just told everyone on my blog, but whatevs.

Our internet has almost arrived. Well, it arrived, but then I screwed it up by unplugging it, and apparently you cant unplug it because it disrupts the service. Which I don't really get. But the point is I screwed it up and now we have to wait another week for the internet and T.V

Also the money problem may be solved tomorrow since a teacher is taking me to Le Mans, a city near here, and apparently the post office there changes money. Not that I'm counting on it or anything. But I spoke to the administrative office (okay such a lie, another teacher did it for me) about delaying my rent and they agreed. I haven't spent any money at all this week until today, since I am in The Promised land also known as Mcdonalds. Oh, and I also ordered a book off amazon.fr. But...that's it! S

And I get paid soon, so yay! Money in Euros! Can't wait!

Teachers in Canada don't party like this...

On Tuesday there was a teachers party in the lounge for all the birthdays in Sept and Oct. It was kinda a pot luck affair where teachers brought their own dish. Since this is France, no one brought chips and dips. Instead there were mini quiches, cheese and grapes and thin crust feta and tomato pizza, and sparkling white wine.

Yes. You read right. Sparkling white wine. At 11:30 am. At school. In the Staff lounge.

Then a teacher brought out the guitar. I wasn't sure if I was at a school or +30 cafe at 8pm on a Friday.

Really though, it was super cute and I'm sure if teachers could party like that in Canada they would be less miserable and thus less apt to make their students miserable.

Drinking with my students

Okay so yesterday one of my favourite classes was canceled, but that turned out not to matter since they were all at the bar that I went to!

All the BST students, which as far as I can gather are vocational students 18+ had some sort of party at a bar last night. My Spanish roommate knew about it so we decided since we were bored as hell we might as well attend. There were probably like 50-75 students.

It was a trivia night so it was really fun. A student would play music and everyone would have to guess what Disney film or series it was from. They also asked questions, none of which I could translate. Fun France Fact: Disney songs are translated into French!

Gosh those French are really protectionist about their culture, eh?

I got to speak a lot of French which I loved since at school almost everyone speaks English to me if they can, or speaks way to fast in French if they can't. But me and the students spoke a melange of French and English and about topics that I would understand so I think it was great practice for me. I need to start making a bigger effort to speaking only in French because that's the only way I will improve.

I think my French is definitely better. Half the students can't understand anything I say in French so I def need to work on my accent, but other then that, if they speak slow with simply vocabulary we can kind of have a conversation!

I'm 3 weeks closer to putting Bilingual on my resume!

A student (a 21 year old semi-cute male) bought me and the English roommate a drink which was nice since I have 73 cents. Another student also gave me a beer from the Giraffe, which is a tall cylinder device, kind of like a mini, pretty, glass keg.

No Substitute teachers

I have mentioned this before, but in France there are no substitute teachers. Lucky children; it means that they just get a free period when a teacher is sick for up to 3 weeeks!

It also means that I am not necessary :( This happened today with one of my favourite classes, full of 21 year old boys who were learning how to interview for jobs in English ( not that they will ever use it though).

Sucks for me. 12 hours a week is not nearly enough, after the Halloweeen holidays I'm going to put up flyers around town advertisting my availability for English tutoring. Another teacher suggested I do this and I think it is a great idea. A way to fill my time and make some €.

A visit to Nantes

This weekend the roomies and I went to stay with the Brit Roommates grandmother. She lives in Nantes, a city about an hour away, and is pretty damn adorable.

The ticket from Sablé to Nantes is 20Euro return with my 12-25 reduction card, which I think is pretty steep for an hour’s ride.

For some reason my cell didn’t work when I texted the Brit, so me and Spanish roomate kind of showed up randomly. I really need to figure out EuroTexting thing because I think another one of my messages didn’t send and I don’t know why. (out of 3 Texts I’ve sent total!)

The grandmother used to be an English teacher so she speaks English, obviously. Her house is super cool I wish I took pictures. She has been painting since she retired, so about 15 years. I think most people in France retire at 60 (another post!) and she is really good. A lot of her paintings have boats and harbours in them and they decorate all her walls.

Her garden was huge and sprawling (another result of retirement I assume) and it was great to look at it from the kitchen while eating Nutella Crepes- a staple of French cuisine of course.

We got there about 12:30 on Saturday and spent a few hours shopping. Or rather, I separated from the boys and browsed all the stores I have been missing. I love Euro Chain Stores! Etam, Berksha, H&M, Pimkie are all so awesome and well-priced. Don’t even get me started on the amazing lingerie stores-Canada only has La Senza and Jacob lingerie and it can be hard finding good stuff. In Europe they have a bunch of competitors and everything is cheaper and more varied. Most of the chain stores, like Etam, have their own spin-off lingerie store. Like the creatively titled Etam Lingerie.

I didn’t buy anything because I don’t have any money, but I get almost the same satisfaction by browsing. Anyone else like that?

We ate lunch at a sandwhich shop, but they didn’t have anything vegetarian so I got a quiche, which turned out to be not-so vegetarian as it had ham in it. So I duitfully picked out the ham like the good little Jew-girl I am.

I was dying for a Kebab store, and as France is filled with Muslims you would think there would be more Kebab shops. About 10 min after the quiche I, of course, found 4 Kebab shops in a row.

The buses in Nantes were cool because they had a big electronic screen that told you when the next bus was due. It’s way better then huddling against a printed schedule like in Toronto.

We chilled at the Grandmothers house and I went on facebook FINALLY and watched the latest episdoes of The City (yay!). Then we ate the aforementioned crepes.

We went out to the boardwalk in Nantes where there are a row of really cool bars and clubs. French girls lived up to their au natural repuatation and narry a cleavage line was in sight, much to the dismay of the roommates.

British roommate especially noticed a difference in the way that British and French girls dressed, but that is a whole other post. Suffice it to say that British girls dress essentially in lingerie while out and French girls dress like they are going to a bank.

That night I slept in a HEATED room. The grandmother turned the radiator on to a ‘2’ and I cranked it up to a 5. For the first time I woke up comfortable without a freezing nose. Superb!

We made our way to the train station after a breakfast of a chocolate Crossaint and a massive mug of coffee, according to French standards judging my the grandmothers reaction when I told her to fill the mug to the top.

Then we got on the train to Sablé.

I love train rides on a sunny day, when you are all warm and comfortable with your ipod and a book and you would be fine if the train didn’t stop until dinner.

Foto's From France

Whew, I am liking the alliteration in the title!

Here are a bunch of pictures from my town in Sablé, so when you think of me (if you know me, otherwise its kinda creepy) you can think about me wandering in the park, or looking out at the boats in the harbour, or walking around with a baguette sticking out of my purse or doing any number of romantic French activities.

Euro-Less in France

Ok, its official. There is NO WHERE to change money within a 50 km radius.

No where. Zip. Zap. Zero.

In Anger they told me to go to the Post Office, as did all the banks in Sablé, as well as the smaller post office. So off I set for the Big Post Office in town.

Where they informed me that they could not change money.

Alrighty. Whatever. I will just starve. (okay I won't because I still have 15 Euro on my lunch card which should last until I get paid).

I can't even take more money out of the ATM because I don't have any left in there. Instead, I have Cash. Caaaaassssssh$$$. Supposedly accepted more places then Visa and Mastercard combined times 100/slash/ everywhere. Or not.

Not in France.

Never mind that it is the singularly most touristed country in the world.

This is why their economy is in the gutter. All these tourists want to spend, spend spend, but they are blocked by the lack of exchange places.

I guess I will just have to wait until I get to London, since I know London, being, ya know, a city in a developed country, will have a plethora of independent exhchange places.

Until then, me and my 73 euro cents will just have to last.

Freezing in France

Its COLD in France. I wake up every day and my nose is cold and red like that reindeer. My hands are chapped. I need to wear a sweatshirt to bed. I shiver. I complain.

I don't understand because I am Canadian and went to school in Ottawa where it is negative 40 celcius and it appears that I can't handle a mere 3 degrees.

I think it is because Canada, being the New World, has a valuable luxury I like to call "Heating". With this "Heating" Canadians are able to withstand extreme Winter temperatures with minimal discomfort. On the contrary, France, as it is still a developing country, has not fully grasped the concept of "Heating" and thus the French must endure the cold. They seem to have developed a superhuman resistance to the cold as they do not wear parkas, mittens, touques,thick construction worker socks, or have fluffy duvet covers. Rather they prance around in pea coats and silk scarves and heat their homes by resorting to the ancient "fire". Literally. Every French home I have been in so far has a fire place, that uses LOGS and FIRE. I have yet to spot electrical heating.

Thus, though Canada maybe be 30 degrees colder (literally), we also have efficient heating systems that have surpassed the outdated "fireplace" method of heating the home. So while it maybe be 3 degrees inside here, it FEELS like -3, all the time.

Everyone likes to make fun of the Canadian that can't withstand French cold, but my roomates grandmother told me she had met a Canadian who was also freezing in France because the cold here is 'wet cold' while the cold in Canada is "dry cold".

Hebrew Speaker!

As I was teaching a class last week the attendance monitor came in to pick up the attendance sheet.

I said "Hello" and the teacher said that he refuses to speak English. All of a sudden I hear Boker Tov

And my head whips around, but by then he's gone.

Thinking I was imagining things I asked the teacher if he just spoke Hebrew. She said he did!

Why on earth does an attendance monitor in the tiny town of Sablé speak Hebrew?

I stalked him for the next while and finally got a change to shout "Ata Medaberit Ivrit!" as he was running down the stairs. (You speak Hebrew!)

It was his turn to whip around confused and he responded "ken!" (Yes!)

Now every time we see each other I manage to spit out a phrase that mixes Hebrew and French. Its Frebrew!

Because I only know a bit of Hebrew and a bit of French, as soon as I started learning French my brain couldn't handle remembering both foreign languages at the same time so it completely shut hebrew out. Now I have trouble remembering even the simplest Hebrew words :(. I don't understand how some ppl switch between languages so easily, if I don't constantly work on it the language goes out the window.

So I really want to make sure I practice with the Hebrew attendance monitor, lest my Hebrew be as reduced as it was when I left Hebrew school and I forgot how to read and write within 6 months.

I learned that he went to school for 2 years in Jerusalem and that is where he learned Hebrew. He's also Jewish since he wished me a Shabbat Shalom. Other then that he is a mystery, but I promise to find out more!

Quel Age as tu!?

So said the entirely male class of 19-22 year olds.

Guess my age! I told them

The first guy said 19, and the rest said 25 or 26. I guess I should start buying La Prarie eye cream...


Um yea...I'm 21.

And the entire class erupted in twitters. "Elle" "Vente Et Un!"

Classes in Lycee-or French high school, are really weird and segregated. I haven't figured out the whole system, but I know that you can choose a stream to go into while still in high school. So I have several classes of ALL girls, which are usually the 'literature' or 'nursing' streams and then I have classes of ALL boys which are usually the 'science' or 'engineering' or, in this case' 'renewable energy' streams. Basically, students can major in high school.

This also means that they can major in vocational studies in high school which I guess requires them to stay until they are 18 or 21 or until they finish..It is kinda like having college combined with high school.

Hence how I ended up standing in front of a class which was full of all boys my age.

Um...yay? Finally...people my age in Sablé!

But there is no way I can command any kind of authority in a class like that, so I made an executive decision and took off my plaid cardigan.

Don't shower

That is what the note said that was slipped underneath my door last week. "Ne Pas Prend Douche, but baths are okay"

Why?

I assume it is because we have a mold issue and we shouldn't get the walls wet so they can fix them properly but they didn't tell us that.

Just 'Don't Shower." Alrighty then.

We got this on a Thursday and there is no way the French would ever work on a weekend (Friday is included because it is the day before the weekend) so that means they don't want us to shower until Monday, which is kind of retarded for like a million reasons.

Mostly because we don't want to smell.

You think they would be considerate and include an explanation or something, or at least give us the note on Sunday...

Either way, I showered because sliding the note under the door is a lil too passive aggressive pour moi.

Mission Impossiblé: Changing Money

That's right. It is impossible. Not even possible if I were Tom Cruise.

First I went to the bank in Sablé, a logical first place I think.

The bank told me to go to the post office. The post office told me to go to another post office.

At which point I decided it might be easier to just go to Anger, a bigger town about 25 min away. I have Mondays off, and I wanted to see the town anyways and I was sure they would have money exchange stores like every other civilized place in the world.

Of course, I should have known better.

Monday is apparently another weekend day for banks so they are closed. As they are open Sat. morning, I guess they need time to recover.

But whatever, since apparently banks don't change money anyways.

So I went to the tourism office to ask where I could change money, but that didn't open until 2pm on a Monday (again, as I guess 1.5 days and 2.5 hour lunches aren't enough).

When it opened they told me I could change money there, for a ridiculous exchange rate. I was almost tempted too, but then they told me they could not change 50$ or 100$ dollar bills. Well, they could, but they would have to send the bills to Paris to verify their legitimateness.

So was I staying there a few days to pick up the bills when they were returned?

FML.

In the end I fucked it all to hell and just took out money from the debit machine, even though changing money would have saved me a bit on exhange rates and bank fees.

So now I have some American and Canadian cash on me, that I guess I will change as soon as I have time to go to the post office and wait a week for the bills to return from Paris.

Mcdonalds, The Promised Land

Here I sit in the promised land.

It takes about an hour to walk here from my house, but as I had aboso-fukin-lutley nothing to do last night, it being a Sunday, I decided to make the journey.

When I entered it was like a jug of cold water had been splashed on my face.

There were people. Cell phones ringing, cash registers banging, and best of all, a giant sign that said " WIFI: GRATUIT ET ILLIMETE"

Which means that Mcdonalds, is now my haven. I don't care if I gain 15 lbs, I don't care that I have to walk an hour to get here, because Mcdonalds in France has free wifi!

Not only is there free wifi, but Mcdonalds here is super nice. It has booths and comfy chairs and a fast lane to order! And it accepts my credit card! AND it is open on a Sunday, when nothing else is. Et plus, it is open until 10:30 at night while everything else closes at 6.

So thank you Mcdonalds, I don't care if you are ruining the world and the bodies of young men and women everywhere, because you represent all that is good in the world: comfy chairs, credit cards and free wifi.

So many reasons to cry

Obviously I missed my 7:13 train and waited at the station for 2 hours until the next one. Upon reaching Nantes, I wanted to die.

I had been up since 6am, and it was 10, so I ordered a "Grand cafe" at Paul's. It was, maybe, 6 ounces. Smaller then a Starbucks short. Did you even know that there was a short? That's right, its so small that its not even on the menu.

Apparently, that is an extra large in France and costs 2 euro 20.

Then I had to take the tram to the place I was supposed to be. The only reason I KNEW where I was supposed to be was because the English teacher had written the location and directions on a piece of paper. Since I had no INTERNET I just had to trust them.

Of course they were wrong.

An hour later in the rain and about to burst into tears I arrived at orientation.

Which was, of course, entirely in French.

Then me and British roommmate had lunch with this American girl.

Me and her American friend, also known as The-Reason-Canadians-Hate-Americans had this conversation:

HIm: So, Victoria is near Toronto, right?
Me: Oh, yea of course, they are beside each other
Him: Oh cool
Me: haha that was a funny impression of an American
Him: What? Huh?
Me: Well you know, pretending that you think Victoria on the West Coast is beside Toronto, which is central.
Him: Oh, so they aren't beside each other?
Me: Wait. You're not joking?
Him: blank stare


That is basically like saying New York is beside San Fransisco.

SO Desperate for English

I was so desperate for English this weekend that I started watching What about Bob. That’s right. A 90s comedy found in the appt.
With the English roommate off to his grans for the weekend and no INTERNET and no books it is a prety desperate situation. I don’t think my French is even getting better because of it, im just getting more flustered. And possibly slightly insane. So thanks Bob, for lightening the load!
Tmrw is orientation which means I Have to be on the train at 7:13 am☹

French women don't get fat?

I walked to a random market today with my Spanish roomate and saw a bunch of French people. They were ugllly. No makeup, no botox, no fashion. It was really depressing. No colour either. All the women over 30 had no shape and really short hair. It was really awful. Whatever happened to the elegant French women? Why can’t these women put on a little blush and a smile? The men weren’t fat, but they were not nicely dressed at all. Everyone kind of looked inbred actually. I guess that makes sense since European people sometimes don't leave an area for generations. Even the children looked stern. Cheerful, chubby-cheeked children were definitely absent in this village market.

Lunch in the Countryside

That’s right. I am officially a bourgousie. Today I had lunch in a tiny village in the Loire countryside. An English Teacher, who has been extremely helpful, invited me for Saturday lunch. Since I had nothing else to do, and since French lunches are so much part of the culture, I accepted. She picked me up from my appt. in the school and drove the 7 km or so.

Then she pressed the button to open the gate and we stepped onto the property, which included a church. A church. On her lawn. The house isn’t a castle or anything, its just a normal size large house, but it used to be the ‘vicar’s’ property, ergo church.
We sat down for an apertif beside the roaring fire (I feel as though I am writing a 19th century romance novel) and she poured me white wine and blackberry liquer.

It was noon. I had only eaten a bowl of cornflakes (how very juxtaposed; american vs. french eating habits) After one glass I was plastered.
I chatted, or rather tried to chat, with her husband who doesn’t speak a word of english. Every other word I would ask the teacher “what’s the word for … again?”

Then we sat down for lunch where her husband poured me a glass of white wine. I had told her I was a vegitarian but ate fish, so the salad was shrimp salad. I politley left the shrimp on the plate and then explained that when I meant ‘fish” I meant…um…anything but shellfish. So she gave them to her cat.
The next course was french fries and salmon. They didn’t serve the fries with ketchup, but they were still soooo good. I (l) fries. Yum. Then, more white wine, and then cheese. For desert? She put 3 full cheese wheels on a platter and your suppose to cut yourself a piece. I’m still not really up on french etiquette. I don’t think ill ever be. With the cheese the husband poured some red wine and I sweat the cheese popped in my mouth. Yuuum. I must try that again instead of making myself nutella brie sandwiches.
After the cheese we had apple pie without the top part of the crust and rice pudding with whole milk.

I don’t think I’ve ever had whole milk in my life. I don’t know any urban young women who has ever tried whole milk. But, I’m in France, and apparantly French women don’t get fat (another post) so, I ate the whole milk. It was great.
Theeeeen we had coffee in the sitting room were we had the apertif. Really good, strong coffee with sugar cubes (not sweet n low packets)
By this time, like 3 hours had gone by. 3 hours for lunch! Not 10 min infront of a tv!
In her staircase was a statue of jesus, I assume left over from the Vicar. She told me to “go see it up close”, which I did. His blue eyes were really penetrating. I was scared. I ran back downstairs.
Then the teacher asked if I’d like to go for a walk in the nearby forest. Even though I felt like passing out since it was 4 pm and I was still jetlagged and realllllly needed a nap, I said sure.

So off we went, for what I would assume was a stroll.
2.5 hours and 9 km later we returned.
Now I understand why French women can eat cheese and stay slim.
In that time I saw a bunch of 14th century (14th!!!) mills and some 16th century limestone mill things where they burned limestone to use it as fertilizer for the fields.

People actually live in these houses, where if they were built in the 17th century they are considered not old.
Finally she drove me home; but not before giving me a bag of grapes, a slice of pie and a jar of tomato soup.

The First Day=Longest Day Ever

So I am in bed in France now writing this! It is 12:41 pm in France and 6:41 pm in Toronto. I have no idea at all what time it is. I was so disoriented today, I would see a store or a building and wonder why it was in front of me. I basically have blackout periods. Except I didn't have a fun night with facebook pictures.

Did I mention how retarded I am? I told the English Teacher I would meet her at the train station on Tues, but of course I meant Wed, I was just confused by the time difference, since I left on Tues but arrived on Wed. I'm pretty sure that means I lost a whole day, but since I can barely remembered what happened today I guess it's just as well. Anyways so I happened, luckily, to check my blackberry 2 min before takeoff and I got a frantic e-mail from her asking if I had been kidnapped. I replied saying that I would, in fact, be arriving today at 1pm and if she could meet me at the airport that would be great.

I managed to get on the train to Sable 2.5 hours after leaving the plane, which worked out perfectly since that was exactly when the train was!

But everything was 2Euro in the drink vending machines, and I think is ridiculous to spend 3.25CDN for an iced tea, so I reluctantly allowed myself to become parched.

So no one was there for me at the train station, which I kind of expected since I wasn't sure if she had got my email or if she had a class or anything, and I couldn't check my e-mail since my data plan on my blackberry was canceled, so after waiting half an hour I hauled my ass and my luggage the 10 min. to the school.

Since 1:30 pm today my French has already improved! When I got off the train I totally blanked on how to ask where a street was. The conversation I had with the teenager on the street went something like this:

"Bonjour. Ou est la Rue St. Denis?
Blank Stare
"Eh...Qu'est rue c'est?"
Blank Stare

but now I can have semi-French conversations with my roomies! Yay!

So long story short, everyone is glad I'm not kidnapped and they show me to my room where I am introduced to my roommates. For some reason I assumed I would have female roomates, but its true that she didn't specify the gender of the other assistants.

One "English Chap" is...shocker...from England and it turns out that he also went on exchange Leuven, Belgium, which is the same place I did. Small freakin world, eh. The second guy is a nice Spanish Lad who speaks very little English so we communicate in French. Or I try too.


The flat is big and basic, but it doesn't matter since we are moving in a week to a different flat on campus since there is a mold issue or something.

So the English Teacher proceeds to give me like...10 minuites to get settled and then takes me on a tour of the town-which doesn't take long as another teacher pointed out.

Its really cute! They have bakeries and all the essential stores, no shopping or anything. The town is on a river and they have a gorgeous jogging trail I plan to take advantage of 3-5 times a week. I'll put up pics soon.

The Teacher is suuuuper nice and is French but has an almost perfect British accent which is really disorienting. She is the one who called the English roomie "English Chap" which I think is just adorable, so that is what I am going to call him now.

She's so nice that she brought me linens and took me on a major tour as well as grocery shopping, and even bought me tomatoes and cucumbers from a farmers market, but I was so tired and hungry I just wanted to go home and sleeeeeeep.

So that is what I finally did after eating an awesome Baguette and Brie sandwich I made myself.

Then me and the roomies got a drink in the pub "downtown"(hahaha) and walked around.

It just majorly sucks that I can't even unpack since we are moving soon, I am really craving to be settled! But I have a busy week ahead since I start observing classes tommorow and I have to deal with the French Beaurocracy and banks, now known as Satan

Sorry if this post was long and rambling and boring, but sometimes I am too!

Oh I forget to mention my limp. I had decided, stupidly, to wear my new running/ballet flats, and I really had to break them in. I can't even walk anymore my blisters are so bad. I suffered until the train station in Sable where I dramatically whipped out my flipflops, probably to the derision of the entire Republique.

But now I'm kinda screwed for tomorrow because I really don't think they would approve of teaching in flipflops and I don't feel like suffering again.

I kept Duct Taping my heel like a hobo, it was really bad. And then it kept falling off. Honestly, Duct Tape is not what it used to be.

Fuck Air Transat

If I thought yesterday was packing drama…

I had to pay an extra TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIVE DOLLARS for baggage. My entire flight was only 239. Every extra kilogram you have you pay 15$.
So for ever 2.2 lbs, it will cost you FIFTEEN DOLLARS. I had 40.1 kilograms.


I’m 21. I have flown before. Many, Many times before. When you fly international, you are always allowed 2 pieces of baggage with a combined total of 50 kgs. Lets say I have flown (one-way) 25 times in my life and this has always been the case more or less.

APPARENTLY Air Transat decided to change the rules. When it said 23 kgs of baggage allowed, I thought they meant PER BAG. Who the fuck can carry 23 kgs of shit across the Atlantic? One pair of jeans wears 1 kilogram! I bottle of shampoo is another kilogram! A pair of running shoes 1.5 kgs. I probably bring 15 kgs to school everyday.

BULLLLSHIIIIIT.

So when the lady in blue eye shadow told me in a no nonsense voice that I would have to pay 285$, needless to say, I flipped my shit. But I’m still Canadian, so I flipped it more internally, by crying instead of being too rude. The lady said I could upgrade to first class, since it was 250$ anyways and you get a bigger baggage allowance, but then she called and it was full.

So I called my mommy who told me to pay it and that we would yell at them later; I fully plan to send them a strongly worded letter.


I mean I needed all that stuff, I’m leaving for 7 months and there was no where to put it since my mom had already left the airport.

I called the manager who had these awful fake french nails and got her name.

So I took out 2 kilograms and put it in my carry on and continued on to pay.

I was so pissed at the world at this point that I let my metal water bottle drag on the ground creating this awful screeching noise.

Then I just stared down the metal detector lady when she started speaking Philipino to her colleauge. Fuck man I want to hear English for the last half an hour that I’m Canada.

They drug tested my bag or whatever they do but I just stared them down not even trying to be nice so they would be nice to me.

Then I did my face in the airport makeup store ignoring the ladies who work there and talking super loudly on my phone with my friend.

And now I am on this stupid plane to Montreal where I see the lady gave me an exit row seat, which means I have miles of room. Except my legs are super short so I don’t even care.