My feelings exactly....

I think this little guy sums up exactly how I feel when I think about my time in France.

Some thoughts.....

Alright so I couldn't tell you how many times I came back to this post, editing it and re-writing it. I'm finding it really hard to write this post for some reason. So let's start with the basics. I'm back home in Canada now. It feels so good to be home. And by "feel" I mean emotionally, not physically. It's disgustingly hot here, thank the gods for AC, that's all I have to say. I'm really excited to be able to hang out with all my friends again--they're just as nuts as when I left them! LMAO I kid.....not really though. As much as I'm glad that I'm back with my old friends, I still miss my new friends. I talk to them, yes, but it's not the same. When you live in a residence together, you end up seeing each other everyday. You become close pretty quickly. And having to say goodbye to them is not an easy task, but unfortunately it has to be done.

If you're considering studying abroad--no matter what the country--do it. Do it now. This is your chance, don't let it pass you by. I couldn't tell you how many times I wanted to back out, tell my parents to forget it all and go on with my life. But I didn't. Thank God I didn't. Only those who have been on exchange know what it's like. It's incredibly difficult, almost impossible, to explain the experience to people who've never done it. It's an enriching experience that only a select few can say they've done and that many can say they wish they did. By going on exchange to a strange country, you're showing courage and perseverance. You're doing something that excites you and terrifies you at the same time. Embrace it. Face it head on and you'll see it was well worth it. You're going to gain a new view on numerous things. You'll appreciate your family and friends more (or less, depending on your situation....). You'll see your home country in a new light. You'll see that everyone in the world isn't as strange and exotic as you thought it was And you'll learn that the world isn't as big, bad and scary as you think it is.

When it comes down to it, I'm really glad I did what I did. I'm glad I didn't chicken out of the exchange program. I'm glad my parents allowed me to go on exchange. I'm glad I met the people I met. And I'm glad I got to travel to so many places. I'll never forget my 5 months abroad.

UK Adventures: London

Alright so I left you off with our adventures in Scotland. We took the cheapest route to London (thank you Megabus) and we arrived there 10 hours later (give or take). So then we had to find our hotel.......simple enough? Sure. If it wasn't the Jubilee weekend. We walked into the subway and HOLY BALLS BATMAN! There was a shart-load of people there. Lots of them were sporting various red, white and blue accoutrements and thing-a-ma-jiggers with union jacks on them. So there we were, 3 North Americans who had never been to London before trying to figure out how to work this Tube-thing. To buy an Oyster card or not to buy an Oyster card? We bought them, and they were shnazzy Jubilee ones too! So we managed to find the right track and of course it was packed with people.......some kid's backpack was smooshed into my back. So there I was trying to make sure my luggage was stolen or in anyone's way, already standing funny because of said luggage and then this damn kid and his family come on and oh sheesh yall I felt like one of those cartoon characters getting folded in a beach chair. My back was getting pushed out, causing my ass and upper bits to be pushed back which causes your legs (in a normal situation) to adjust accordingly. Well my legs couldn't so I grabbed onto one of those bars and hoped no one moved suddenly, otherwise we would've been like dominoes down there. So blah blah blah we made it to the hotel and decided that the rest of the day would be a chill day for us.

The next day we decided that before I would have to register for courses we would hit the British Museum. And guess what? It's freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!! Well unless you want to see something that isn't in the permanent collection, otherwise, it's FREEEEEEE!!!!!!! After that we went back to the hotel so that I could fight for a place in SOLAR. And here I was thinking that I'm registering as a 4th year, this is the first day of registration, how hard can it be? Let me tell you something, NOTHING GOOD comes from thinking/saying these words, nothing!!! I sat there clicking for an hour and a half until I finally got in. And since I don't want to start ranting, that's all I'm going to say about that......

But that night....ooooooooo the fun-ness that is public concerts! We made our way to Hyde Park to watch the big screens the BBC had set up for people to watch the Jubilee Concert.  Yaaayyyy!!! Free music!!!!!! The park was packed with people, like sardine packed, luckily the areas not directly under the screens were comfortably occupied--you had sprawl space is what I'm saying. We got there when Kylie Minogue was performing and we left after the fireworks. I have to say, that was probably one of my favourite parts--if not my favourite part--of our trip to London. There's something about being apart of a crowd, singing along/destroying a song, and cheering and clapping for the Queen. I don't think my American friends appreciated the occasion as much as I did, but I still think they enjoyed themselves.

The next day we went to Harrods to make ourselves feel poor--and that's all I'm saying about that else I become sad. We also hit the Victoria and Albert museum where they had a temporary exhibition on Ballgowns and you bet your balls that I went and paid for it!! Gaaaahhh! The only thing stopping me from stealing those dresses was the fact that they wouldn't fit me.

Welcome to London...

What else did we do? Get caught in a shit-storm of people. Herds, literally herds of people on or near Hyde park. Our bus was stuck in traffic (people traffic, not car traffic) for almost a half hour and by the time we hit the the actual intersection we still had to wait for the crowds to stop crossing the street when the cops were trying to stop them. Seriously people, if a cop is holding out his arms and blocking the other folks from crossing, what makes you think you can cross? Don't make me slap a bitch!! Eventually the bus let us off--not where we wanted to be mind you. It turns out we were left not too far from St James Park, and for those of you who don't know that's where Buckingham Palace is. ANNNNNNNNNNNDDD it just so happened that on that particular day there was going to be a shnazzy little fly-by by the British Army and we saw it. There were red, white and blue streaks in the air......but you couldn't look up at them for long cause it was raining.

Yep that's M&Ms world.

So to escape said rain we hightailed it to M&Ms world. We had seen some kids with bags from there and I'm 90% sure I said these words: "I need to go there", so we did. And I was scared for my life. There was so many people there it's not even funny. I was concerned that some kid hopped up on candied chocolate goodness would plough through me and I would end up over the railing and right on the M&Ms version of the Beatles walking over Abbey road. Luckily that didn't happen and we made it out of there in one piece. Also, and quite surprisingly, we made it out of there by some act of God with absolutely no chocolate. And then we caved and went to Regent street for some retail therapy. OK we didn't actually buy anything but still.....OOOOOOOO Hollister with your sexy shirtless male models standing and greeting people at your front doors and your suspiciously dark store. OOOOOO H&M with your not so terrible prices and tons of shoes.

On our last day we decided that we should probably do the tourist-y thing and see the sites. We hit the major ones: Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace (as much as you could see with it still being cleaned up from the celebrations),  the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey........and I think I got all of them on that list. And so our UK adventures were over. We headed back to France. I was really glad that I got to spend my last night in Vichy with 2 of my new friends. We spent that night packing, being silly and blaming Julie for things. It's fun to blame Julie. Car won't start? Julie! Weather sucks? Julie!!!!! Stocks down? JULIE!!!!!!!!! It's fun, you should try it.

To those who read my blog posts, I thank you. I hope I've been keeping you entertained these past few months and I hope to continue to entertain you all! To those who don't read my blog.....well there's no point in bitching at you because you'll never see it, ya bastards. So au revoir for now! The next post I write will be from Canada.

Heeeeeeeyyy Prince Harry ;)

Also, here's a picture of Prince Harry. OOOhh haaaaaiiiiiii Prince Harry. Didn't see you there in your sexy uniform and your cheeky smile! Please tell me you just read that last bit like the creepy old guy from Family Guy....that is all.

Adventures in the UK: Scotland

So now that our adventure/final vacation together is over I thought I should share the experience with you. The UK was lovely. As soon as I got there I loved it. It was love at first sight!

So let's start with the flight to Edinburgh. We flew out of Paris Beauvais, which is not in Paris btw. We flew in at around 11 pm and we had to navigate to our hostel via bus and our feet. We stayed at some hostel in Edinburgh for the night and in the morning we hopped on a bus to Inverness. Inverness was lovely--grey and gloomy--but lovely all the same. We counted churches on our walk through the city one day, and if I'm not mistaken, we got to 10 within the same area (how many churches do you people need??). On our last day in Inverness we bussed it over to Loch Ness. It has some of the most stunning views there. And no, no Loch Ness monster--Nessie was on vacation that day.

No that is not Nessie in the photo, that is in fact a boat. The more you know...

High Street in Edinburgh. Y'arr! Thar be sun in dis here picture!

Once we were back in Edinburgh I made my friends go with me on a ghost tour!! DUN DUN DUUUNNN! Nah, it wasn't that scary. If anything, I was more scared of the environment we were in then the ghosties themselves. Our fantastic tour-guide Ian so kindly told us that the water dripping from Edinburgh's Underground Vaults (which we were about to go into) were toxic. Lovely. He told us there were rats there. Awesome. People get attacked in the prison we were visiting. Beauty. Anything else? Oh ya, it was raining that night and there are lots of hills covered in cobblestone streets--which are totally not slippery when wet! Bring on the ghosties baby! Aaaaannnnnnnnnnnddd there were none. So we went home. haha kind of an uneventful story, eh? We ventured back to Greyfriar's cemetery that we had visited on the ghost tour, during the day of course. Our tour-guide told us that many characters from the "Harry Potter" series were inspired by names found in that cemetery. We tried finding them, especially Tom Riddle, but we just couldn't find them! So near the entrance we saw some people who looked like they worked there. Oh boy were they characters....they made many, jokes I guess is the word, with us--awkwardness ensued. But they were actually pretty funny. They were also tour-guides with the same company that Ian worked for, except they weren't working at that second so they offered to show us the graves. Along the way they kept making fun of each other--complete with some rather witty remarks about one of the guide's back that was ailing him. For those of you who were there to hear that joke....I think you know what I'm saying when I say "ZING!!". We saw the various graves and I can safely say that I indeed found Tom Riddle (minor spelling differences than what was on the grave but who cares...). Humour me whilst I say this, "I FOUND VOLDEMORT!" But anywho, after some wandering around Edinburgh, trying some whiskey (which I do not recommend), trying some haggis (not that bad actually, although now I think they make it with good meat and not the bits no one wants) we said "see you later" to our lovely German friend Florian and hopped on a bus to London.

VOLDEMORT!!!

Things I will miss about Vichy/ France

And now to the list of things that I will miss about Vichy/ France:

• Being able to walk in my p-jay-jays (pyjamas for you people not accustomed with my funny talk) over to a friend’s room and be like “hey, what are we doing tonight. I still have a bottle of wine that I need to finish”....unless parents or relatives read this then I said "Hey let's watch a Disney movie and go to bed at 9:30 with a glass of warm milk!".....*nervous laugh*
• Chilling by the river playing Uno...........with a bunch of cheaters!!!!!! It’s a conspiracy I tell you! Why must you give ME the “pick-up 2 cards”?!?!?
• Making fun of each other because of our accents. It’s “milk” not “melk”, “peacan” not “pecahn”, “process” not “prawcess”.....the list goes on people...
• Travelling adventures: Paris, London, Nimes, Venice, Edinburgh, Florence.....
• Cheap French wine.
• Mischievousness in general. And by mischievousness, I of course mean doing stupid things that aren't actually bad but could be perceived that way by the most prudish of people. Leaning over a Venetian canal however, is rather silly. I’m looking at you Julie. JULIE!!!!

Look at this kid leaning on over the canal! She so crazy!

• French cheese. Brie, Salers, St. Nectaire..... *drools*
• Being independent. I still will be to an extent at home, but it’s interesting to see how you adapt to being on your own having to fend for yourself. Which reminds me....
• My cooking concoctions. Hmmm I have some mushrooms.....some balsamic vinegar.....and tuna.........let’s see where this goes.
• Being able to eat nuts. Bye-bye nutella, peanut butter, cashews, peanuts, chocolate with nut warnings on them, nociollo gelato *tear* this list is too long!
• My friends. Yes people, I took it there. I took it to cheese-ville and I’m not coming back. I miss them already and it’s only been a few days. Some are going back to the States, others are hanging around Europe for a while....because they live there but, minor detail....
• I'll also miss seeing this poster everyday on the way to school at Spar (grocery store). Everytime I saw it I could not help but think "pain is here?! I don't want that!" but then I'd remember "pain" in french is "bread" in english.....good job Christina

  

  I think this is what French wrestlers say.

Leave a comment if I forgot anything!

Things I won't miss about Vichy/ France

My how time flies when you're having fun. 4 months of studying in Vichy, France are now over and soon I’ll be headed home. 2 weeks and I’m back in Canada. 2 weeks and I don't have to say “why is that French woman wearing a fur coat?! It’s 25 degrees out!?!?” (NB: I admit I paraphrased that, but it legit happened). In honour of the end of my semester abroad, I shall now present you with a list of things that I will not miss about Vichy and France:

• Dog poop
• God-damned dirt bikes and scooters (to hell with thee heathens!!!!!!!!)
• Drunk Frenchmen singing their national anthem at midnight
• Loud Frenchmen
• Smelly Frenchmen
• French work hours (35 hour work week?! Seriously?!?!)
• The damn SNCF jingle. I. HATE. YOU. You are too damn perky. When my dang train is late and I’m tired and I want to go home I don't want to hear: da-du-DA-DU. No! Shut up! Go be a jingle somewhere else!!!
• French people making fun of English people because they don't speak French. Hello? I’m right here, I know what you’re saying, stupid. And just for that, I’m going to make fun of you, IN ENGLISH! MUAHAHHAHAHA!!!! No but seriously bro, you have to make sure I don't speak the language first.
• European room heaters. They. Don't. Work. Got it? Good.
• Always washing in hot water. This kind of ties in with the previous point. They wash in hot water all the time, they don't even have an option to wash in cold water. The coldest they have is 30 degrees. Their heaters are radiators (from what I understand...don’t judge me! I’m not a handy woman I don’t know these things!), which means they use hot water. This means that in combination with washing in hot water, they are costing themselves a shart-load in heating costs. You’re wasting money and energy is what I’m saying.....
• French people telling me that because I’m Canadian I should speak English AND French. Uhm, how about no?
• Having to cook/clean for myself. Dear sweet Jesus how I miss my mother’s cooking! How I miss a dishwasher! How I miss an oven and more than one burner to cook with! Gaah!! People, heed my words! Don’t ever take your mother or your kitchen for granted! Don't do it!

The Final Stretch

How time flies. I've been here in France for almost 4 months now. I go home in roughly another month. I still remember how sad I was when I had to say bye to my parents as they left to go back to Canada. Now all I can think about is how I can't wait until they come and meet me in Italy. I only have one week left here in Vichy. Woah. It feels like yesterday when I kept thinking "it's only __ months til I go home". And now it's here. I've already written my exams. I've done my last presentations and papers. I've started packing and starting thinking about how I'll have to kiss Vichy goodbye in a few days.

I'm kind of dreading saying goodbye to all of my new friends. I've already said bye to one (shout out to Johanna!). You can't stop yourself from thinking "Are we actually going to keep in touch? Are we actually going to visit each other like we say we will? Will we still be friends 1, 3, 8 years from now?". I try not to think about these things but you can't avoid the questions. You also don't have the answers, which makes it more difficult to avoid the questions......damn them questions! So until I have to face these questions and concerns head on, I'm going to distract myself with mine and my friends' upcoming trip.

Oh Sheesh Y'all!! I'm crazy excited for this, so I'm going to try and tell you all about it without freaking the fudge out.

This is me, on the inside.

Nessie?

So my friends I decided that we NEED to go on one last trip with each other before we all head home. The UK? Uhm, yes please?!?! Some lovely Scottish or English men? Yes, with a side order of adorable accent please. First it's off to Scotland for a dose of Edinburgh and Inverness (Loch Ness is why we're going there FYI) and then it's down to London. I'm kinda excited, not gona lie. I want to go hunting for the Loch Ness monster, Nessie. I hear she's kind of a recluse, I'll lure her out.....with cookies. No one can say no to cookies, not even a damn water monster!

London. Oh God London is a week away from my grasp!! I'm sooooooooo excited. Not like you can tell though. We'll be there during the Queen's Jubilee. The whhhaaA? Her Jubilee stupid. It's been like forever since she became queen, so they're celebrating it, basically. Anywhos, I'm tired and have things to do, so I'll keep you posted.....by posting stuff. So ya. Ciaoness!