Ma vie française

Les Derniers Jours

2011-07-09T00:47:00.000-07:00

So I have today and tomorrow left in France. I know that this phrase is overused, but man time goes by so quickly. Beneath the stress of packing up my life again to rejoin the other half in the United States, I have had a beautiful last month, but as the title of this blog says, my last days have really been enjoyable.

So at the end of June, I moved out of my Groupe Scolaire appartment in not-so-urban Villeurbanne. My wonderful friend, Mathéa, gave me the keys to her new apartment which is in the center of Lyon and I have been living there since the start of July. It is about 50 times better than where I was. The facades that surround me look like this:

I took this picture from my bedroom window. These facades are like doll houses! It really gives you the feeling you I am in Paris.

This is my building. If you can see the little green square sign, it is a few floors about that.

The street, rue du President Edouard Herriot, is also known for its good shopping, which is not healthy, especially because it is currently "Les Soldes" in France right now (massive sales take the nation). Let's just say I have done some shopping ces derniers jours.

Apart from living the good life on rue Edourd Herriot, I took, want seems to become a tradition now, a last trip to Switzerland to say goodbye to my good friend Mathéa. I say that it seems to be a tradition because last time I was in Lyon, I did the same thing before I left. She took me to Montreux, Switzerland, which was SO beautiful. Montreux lies on the shores of the massive Lake Geneva. With the water, the palm trees, fancy hotels and warm, but cloudy weather, I actually felt like I was in Hawaii. Here is a picture to give you a idea:

Also, currently in Montreux is the annual Jazz Festival, which has been a huge celebration since 1966. I am so lucky I had the chance to go. The festival lasts for a couple weeks and music takes over the Montreux coast of the lake. There are small groups, local groups and even super well known artists that play. Mathéa, me and another friend got tickets to see the big gig of the night which was Paolo Nutini. I didn't know his name at all, but then I heard his song, "New Shoes" and realized that I did know at least one song! His concert was so much fun. His voice is super sexy and his songs were upbeat and fun to dance to. I am very thankful.

Because the festival is known world-wide and a huge celebration, the posters each year are done by well-known artists and are absolutely beautiful! Here are a few of my favorites that I saw them selling as collector items.

This year's poster Artist: Francis Baudevin

Poster 1984 Artist: Niki de St. Phalle

Poster 1969 Artist: E Wondergem

Poster 1986 Artist: Keith Haring and Andy Warhol

Poster 1991

Poster 1983 Artist: Keith Haring

Poster 1976 Artist: Milton Glaser

For the day and a half that remains, I will be saying my last goodbyes, eating at my favorite cafes and restaurants (i.e.: ZONE VERTE and A CHACUN SA TASSE) and taking my last walks over the bridges. I am pleased to say that I am not too sad to leave. I am sad because I will be leaving my boyfriend, but I have the confidence that we will see each other again, and if that is the case, then I will definitely be coming back to France.

I can't be finished with my blog yet, because I still have a few things that I want to add. Let's hope i don't forget.

But in the mean time, I leave Monday morning for the U.S! So wish me a Bon Voyage! =)

The time I went to a beautiful French beach

2011-06-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

The first weekend in June Lyon turned cold and rainy, so Romain, me, two other frenchies and a Uraguan escaped on roadtrip to the south of France, near the border of Spain: the region of the Pays Basque. Let me tell you, it was a real vacation. We spent everyday at the beach, splashing in the water and sun bathing underneath the flawless sky. It was perfect.

The city where we spent most of our time is called Biarritz. It is a pretty expensive city, but it exuded a resort feeling, which really made us feel like we were on vacation. Just before the sand of the seashore lied a casino - where Romain and I played the slot machines, and of course lost money - and behind the casino was a large strip of cute and original boutiques. Just walking around made us feel like we had money.

Apart from the beach, I adored the Pay Basque houses. Each one had its own personality. Many looked a bit spanish in style, some tuscan and others simply white, but with a colorful trim. However, each home had its own name written on the front of the house for everyone to see, which really differed them all from eachother! It was very cute. These names were not the names of the family either, they definitely had a different meaning and were something that the family must of created themselves.

Also, I cannot forget how intrigued I was by the French "autoroutes" - freeways. Because popular transportation in France is for the most part by metro in the city or by train across the country, it was a very special thing to me to be able to take a roadtrip and see the country's freeways. In order to use the autoroute, you must pay. It is a similar concept to toll roads in the states, but from what I learned, the only way you get across the autoroutes is if you pay, and it is quite expensive. It is like paying an extra full tank of gas! However, by paying to use the autoroutes, this keeps their freeways extremely clean and completely free of billoards and advertisemets. The only signs you see on the roads are of course the typical city signs that tell how many kilometers to the next city and also these extremely cool and stylized signs for cities with pictures of their landmarks, cultural association or popular destinations. These stylized signs were my favorite thing. I tried to take pictures, but of course it was impossible as we drove 110KM/H past the signs, and unfortunately I can't find any images on the internet. Well, for the most part the signs were all two-toned, mustard yellow and milk chocolate brown (lol very specific I know). But this two toned simplicity was awesome because even though every city's sign was completely different depending on what the city has to offer, all the signs were all looked more or less the same in style, uniting them all as what I am going to call "french autoroute city signs" lol

So over the 5 days spent at the beach, I definitely got a tan, perhaps a teensy bit sunburned, but it was all so worth it. Hopefully the tans stays with me until I get home! Here are some pictures below that our friend Bruno took from the trip.

The crew, minus Bruno who took the picture

Biarritz and its casino on the right

When I saw this scene on the beach, it immediately reminded me of a painting by Edouard Manet, so I took the picture. Well, if you look below, I have posted the painting by Manet.. lol it isn't that similar I suppose. But what caught my eye, other than the umbrella, the people on the beach and the fact that it takes place in France, was the color of the ocean. The Antlantic Ocean off the shores of France has a very pretty seafoam/aqua color that differs from the Pacific in California. When I saw the ocean with my own eyes, the color was so similar to painting of the ocean by Manet that I could really relate. It was one of those moments when a painting became so real to me because I felt like I saw with my owns eyes exactly what Manet saw with his.

Boulogne sur la Mer - Edouard Manet

Emmanuelle and me

Romain and me

Again, the crew

Beautiful sunset

If you are interested in a good French artist, Sebastian Tellier, his music video, "Roche," was filmed where we were in Biarritz. Faites voir ici:

Quatre Mois Plus Tard

2011-05-31T01:20:00.000-07:00

As I was shuffling through the crap on my shelf that I have accumulated over my past 8 months, I found the CD of pictures that Romain made for me for Valentine's Day, and then the memories leashed out. I want to share some pictures that are on the CD. The pictures are from our trip to Paris, Disneyland Paris and a couple other moments, so that dates them to about 4-5 months ago. Mind you, these are pictures taken from an iPhone, so the quality is far from fabulous, but it's the memories that are important to me.

Sleeping Beauty's castle in Disneyland Paris is much more spectacular than the castle in Anaheim. It is much taller and looks more royal. Although, I must say that Disneyland Paris lacks the magic that is at Anaheim's Disneyland. We still had a blast, though. That just means I must take Romain to Disneyland back home =)

During the Lyon "Fête des Lumières" in December, the city's huge Parc Tête d'Or had an installation of fire. It was beautiful, magical and mysterious. In the pitch dark, you could see the firey gardens from a distance and you weren't sure what you were about to see. There were large rings of fire floating on the lake, firey lamps that lit up the paths, firey lamps hanging from the trees and other cool little gadgets that were all energized by the heat of fire. In this picture I am sitting in an iron-made chair that is warmed naturally by the oil lamps that you can see hanging on the right.

Not much explanation needed for the Eiffle Tower, but there it is, just on the other side of the Seine.

The sailboat pond just in front of the Louvre. It was cute to watch all the little kids using sticks to push the sailboats around so that they would catch the wind.

I look silly here, but I was really excited because this carousel was really pretty. It is pretty small, but I was fascinated by the lights. If you don't know, France LOVES carousels. They are everywhere.

The Notre Dame tried to get in our picture.

There are not many pictures, which is dommage (a bummer), but I am still glad that I have these memories to share. Something that I really should have invested in this year is a camera, but oh well, next time.

Dream

2011-05-25T14:36:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a dream that I was already back home. In the dream I had just arrived and I was meeting up with friends and family that I hadn't seen in a while. However, it felt like I had been home the whole time and I couldn't even remember France. I could not conjure one imagine of France. It was like it never happened.

In the dream I was extremely sad. Here I have been, talking about how excited I am to go home, when I know when I return home, I am going to miss France more than ever. When I woke up in my bed, still in the tiny Groupe Scolaire apartment where I live in Lyon, it was such a relief. I know that my next 6 weeks that remain here are going to fly by. I must soak in every positive charge of Lyon. France has given me so much. It has given me love. It has given me friendship. It has given me confidence. It has given me a second home.

I will not take France for granted. I hope that there will never arrive a time in my life when I can no longer imagine France. This place has become too important to me.

The Tree of Life

2011-05-24T14:51:00.001-07:00

How does writing my opinion on a movie relate to my experience in France? Well, one of the perks about being in France during the Cannes Film Festival is that movies that premiere at the festival come out in theater before those in America. For this reason, Terrance Malik's new film, The Tree of Life, came out in theaters today and I got to see it. I don't believe it comes out until the 27th in the states.

So, I would like to write a few words about The Tree of Life. I am no film critic, but I just got back from seeing this movie about one hour ago and I can't stop thinking about it. I won't lie, at the end of the film I wasn't sure if I loved it or hated it. In fact, there were many at the Cannes Film Festival who booed it at the end. Do not let the "booing" alarm you, however, the film did end up winning the Palme d'Or. If you decide to see it, I warn you to prepare yourself for a long and complex, yet beautiful and emotional film.

It always irritates me when I walk out of a movie and think, "I just don't get it. I mean, I am a college-educated adult, I should understand," and this is what happened to me at the end of The Tree of Life. What you must understand though is that you cannot walk into the theater expecting a story that you will easily be able to summarize in the end because this was my mistake. This is not just a fictional story of comedy, romance or drama, this is simply a story of life. Many reviews I read called it an "impression," which I very much agree with; an impression of life in which every human being will be able to relate to. It is this relation that really affected me emotionally and what I believe made the movie such a success. We all have experienced love, struggle, hatred, camaraderie, curiosity and even moments in life when must make the choice between good and evil, and these emotions or experiences are exactly what the movie reminds us about. Besides pondering upon themes or the purpose of the story, this movie is just beautifully created. The cinematography, the photography, editing and music will easily please the eyes and ears.

I only wanted to add a few words of thought about the film, but if you would like an in depth review of The Tree of Life, watch that of Richard Roeper. He gives an excellent explanation of the film.

Avignon

2011-05-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

A week ago my friend Devan and I took a weekend trip to the city of Avignon. If this name rings a bell, you might know it from the title of one of the most famous Picasso works, "Les Desmoiselles d'Avignon."

Although Avignon did not carry any characteristic of brothels or prostitution, like in Picasso's painting, it was a cute city with an interesting history. It was not too large, and it was a nice quiet getaway in comparison to Lyon, but it still had its considerable amount of tourists.

In the 13th and 14th century Avignon had great importance for it's presence of Popes during the Catholic Schism. They lived in the "Palais des Popes" which is one of the city's main touristic attractions. Connected to the Palais is the famous bridge "Le Point d'Avignon." It is famous because it is actually only half of a bridge. It once connected to the island of Villeneuve-les-Avignon, which lies just on the other side of the Rhone (the same Rhone river that passes through Lyon), but apparently after several floods in the 1600's, it could not stand.

What I found fascinating about the city was that the medieval fortress walls, which once protected the city, were still in tact and beautifully preserved around the entire city center.

Devan and I arrived on the most perfect day : La Nuit des Musées - the night of museums. All museums in the city were free! =) Chez Le Musée Angladon, there was an exhibition on the photographs of Bonnard, Degas and Vuillard . This show was really interesting because these three artists are hardly known for photography, but known rather for their paintings during the post-impressionist period. I remember when studying the works of Degas that he was very much interested in photography and therefore painted in such a way that a camera would capture the scene that he was recreating, but I never imagined seeing an exhibition completely dedicated to his photographs. It was a wonderful idea for an exhibition and it showed the artistic and amicable relations among these three artists.

One of my favorite memories of Avignon was the wonderful smell and taste of lavender everywhere. Yes, I say taste because since the Provencal area in France (including Avignon) is known for their lavender fields, there were so many delicious treats of this aroma - lavender ice cream, lavender cookies, lavender candy, lavender pastis, lavender liqueur, lavender honey, lavender oil, etc... there were also your variety of lavender soaps, perfumes, lotions and cosmetics - I was quiet obsessed.

I was really pleased that I took this trip to Avignon. Because I don't have the largest salary, I hesitate to travel around France in fear of spending too much money, but I find it really important to take advantage of my French residency and visit as many cities as possible while I am here. I see France as a second home to me, who knows, someday I might have duel citizenship ;) and I must know more about the country outside from the knowledge gained from only visiting one or two cities.

Amsterdam: My Long Lost Home

2011-05-06T06:22:00.000-07:00

This past week I visited Amsterdam. It had been a travel long waiting to happen and I am so happy that I had the opportunity to go. My original desire to go was sparked by the fact that my paternal ancestors migrated from the Netherlands to America back in the late 1800s and I wanted to visit their homeland. Now, my name "Venema" actually comes from the Northern Netherlands in Friesland, but why not visit Amsterdam, the capital that is full of culture, history and and awesome art scene. It turns out I love the place, and want to move there someday.

I honestly did not have any vision or idea of Amsterdam before arrival, so my first impression, set by the amazing "crooked" houses and beautiful canals, was off to a good start. The people were so nice, charming and genuine. We rented bikes in order to get around the city. It was really the best choice of transportation. It allowed us to really see the city, it's nooks and crannies. Of course we visited the central part of the city where you find downside of the city's reputation: sex shops/museums, red light district, coffeshops aka: weed zones and loads and loads of tourists, but to be honest, it was a good laugh, but not that impressive. We found this quarter in Jordaan called "9 straatjes," which we soon adopted as our area. There were adorable little boutiques everywhere, cool vintage stores, awesome art galleries, delicious real coffee shops and calm streets - a nice getaway from the touristy chaos in the center.

The Anne Frank House was so powerful and a must-see if you visit Amsterdam. If you are not familiar with the Anne Frank story, she was a young Jewish girl who was in hiding with her family in a house in Amsterdam for 2 years during the Holocaust. She kept a diary about her feelings, emotions and everyday life while in hiding, which was found after her death, and then published. I wasn't sure what to expect from the Anne Frank House, but the curators did an excellent job. The simplicity in design and the quotes from her diary throughout the house made the important story very easy for all ages to understand as well as very powerful. It was as if Anne was there, narrating her story and you just couldn't imagine how scary it was for her and her family during this war. At the end of the tour through the house, they have incorporated an installation on contemporary discrimination, which is an excellent ending that ties what has happened in the past to current events of today. There is a quote from Anne's father, Otto Frank, that I really like and find very important.

"To build up your future, you must know your past." - Otto Frank

The Van Gogh museum was something very special as well. I don't think I have ever seen a museum dedicated to one artist like this before, and I was impressed. The curators did a fabulous job explaining their goal to place Van Gogh's works in context and then following through. They have grouped his art in chronological order to show how he developed as an artist, but what I loved was that they included so many other artists and their works that inspired Van Gogh and that really helped him shape himself as an artist. To see a Jean-François Millet or a Japanese woodblock print right next to a piece of Van Gogh's by which he was inspired just made him so real to me. It might sound silly to say that, but I have studied all these artists in writing and in printed pictures, and it is like they are entertainment celebrities of today, but even more important. Though I will never see Van Gogh for obvious reasons, it was like I really got to know him throughout this exhibition, and that is direct evidence as to why I believe that the curators did an excellent job.

Okay, enough talky. Here are some not-so-excellent pictures and links to things I liked.

Great coffee: http://www.coffeecompany.nl/
Adorable girly boutique + cupcakes: http://www.thedarling.nl/
Good vintage shop: http://www.episode-online.eu/
Another good vintage shop: http://www.zipperstore.nl/
Great art gallery, which had a beautiful solo exhibition of the artist Ryan Mcginley: http://www.gabrielrolt.com/
Amazing Thai food: http://www.thai-bird.nl/

PICTURES!!

Pas Adieu, See You Soon.

2011-04-28T01:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my best friend in Lyon left, Jess Mullen. I will say I did not cry when she left, although it did affect my entire day.

You see, when I was booking my flight home just a week ago, I decided that I would stop in Boston first, and that is where Jess lives. It just so worked out that I didn't have enough money to buy a flight to the west coast just yet, so Boston it was. Jess and I have been making wonderful plans (or more so, she is making wonderful plans) for when I come to visit 3 days in July. Thank goodness, because if this was not the case, my tears would have been all over Lyon yesterday.

After you part ways with someone from a place where you have made memories over certain period of time, in the case of Jess and I, 7 months, then you are bound to shuffle through all the good times just as the other is parting; this is why things got a tad bit emotional for me yesterday. I began to think, "Crap, everything that I have lived through my past 7 months is going to really change. I mean, Jess and I hung out everyday." If I start sharing memories with you, it is going to sound like she past away and I will never see her again, but thank God, that is not the case, so I am going to try to avoid that. haha. How about instead, I just share some pictures. Unfortunately, we didn't take as many pictures as we should have, =( but here is what I have. I added other pictures, a part from ones with us, that summarize our friendship or just things that made us laugh. You may not understand why I posted some of the pictures, but she will understand and hopefully will get some amusement out of them.

Croquants au chocolat - à l'écorce d'orange confite

2011-04-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

This is a more expensive recipe to make, but that means that it has expensive taste as well! I was very satisfied with these croquants. They are a sweet sweet dessert, but it is not an overload! With the mixture of chocolate, orange and honey, there is not a focus on one flavor - you can really taste all the different flavors. The texture was a bit crunchy, hence the french name "croquant," but as they melt a little in your hand, they are a but chewy as well. This really is the most different dessert I have ever made, but I felt like such a fancy baker succeeding. =)

Croquants au chocolat - á l'écorce d'orange confit

Remember, these recipes are coming from a French dessert book entitled, "Biscuits et Petits Gateaux." All the ingredients are easily found in France, so it is possible that if you are somewhere else, you can have difficulty finding ingredients. Also, I am translating the directions from French to English, so I apologize for awkward statements

Preparation: 30 minutes // Refrigeration: 1 hour // Cook time: 8-10 minutes

Ingredients:

200 grams of dark chocolate
100 grams of candied orange peel
50 grams (little bit more than 2 tablespoons) of honey
15 cl of creme fraiche épaisse (this is a french ingredient that may be hard to find in the states. I have heard that Trader Joes sells it. Otherwise try sour cream, it is the best match in flavor and texture.)
150 grams (2/3 cup) of sugar
60 grams (1/2 cup) of flour
oil for the baking sheet

Making the caramel:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). Oil two baking sheets. Cut up 100 grams of candied orange peels. In a medium sized sauce pan, add 50 grams of honey, 150 grams of sugar and 15 cl of créme fraiche and bring to a boil. Continue to stir the mixture at a high heat for about 5 to 8 minutes. To verify that the caramel is ready, drop a small bit of the caramel into a cup of cold water : it should form into a molded ball. This part actually took me a long time to complete. I was stirring for almost 20 minutes!! I think this was because I didn't keep the heat high enough. Also, the ball of caramel won't necessarily form itself, touch it and if it is sticky enough to hold together, it should be ready. If you get a nicely formed ball of caramel, congratulations!

Forming the croquants:

Add the chopped orange peels to the caramel mix as well as 60 grams of flour. Mix rapidly and then remove the pan from the stove. With the help of 2 teaspoons (small spoons, not necessarily the measuring spoons) spoon out a nice bit of the mixture and drop it onto the oiled baking sheet. Leave enough space between each croquant. Slip the baking sheet into the oven and cook them for 8 to 10 minutes.

Melting the chocolate:

While the second batch is in the oven, and the others are cooling, melt the chocolate. The best way to melt the chocolate is in a small sauce pan placed in a larger sauce pan of boiling water. Break up the 200 grams of chocolate into the small pan and the water will melt the chocolate without burning it.

Topping the croquants:

After the chocolate is nicely melted, take a spatula or a knife and spread the chocolate onto the tops of the croquants. Place them on something flat that will fit in the refrigerator and let them cool for about an hour.

What has happened to manners, respect and civility?

2011-04-14T05:41:00.000-07:00

France is a beautiful country, and I will always love this country - let's just get that straight - however, there are a few issues here that I have discovered from personal experience that really just limit the possibilities of me ever giving France another chance as a place to live in.

There is a lack of manners in this country. There is a lack of respect, and to some extent there is a lack of civility. The list of examples that I am about to share with you could be argued that they would also happen in America, although I believe that many would agree with me that these things that happen in France are occurrences and are actually a fact of living here, they are not just things that could happen by chance every once in a while.

It is funny because when people think of France, at least this is what I was taught, they think of a sophisticated bourgeois group of people sitting around drinking wine, eating expensive cheese and talking about art and literature. Well, this is now the type of people that I think of. I think of people who push you over in a rush to get out of or onto the metro. I think of men who will not offer their seat to a pregnant woman or 80 year old woman. I think of people who will bump into you and not say a word, let alone an "excuse me." I think of lousy customer service. I think of people who don't stand up for another person who might've been treated less than human. I think of the fright that I have when I walk past a group of guys that very well could holler at me and not leave me alone. Or how about that fact that I can't even look at someone an smile without giving the invitation of 1) sex or 2) a fight. I know not every person who is French would be an example for each of these scenarios, I mean I have a french boyfriend who is wonderful, but in the past 7 months of being a French resident, I have witnessed or been the victim of each of these examples multiple times. It really is a shame that these things happen, but I think it is important to share these facts with people

Last night, something happened to me that scared me to death. I went to the cinema at the Institute Lumière for the opening night of a tribute to the American film director, Stanley Kubrick. They were showing the film, "The Shining," and it has been a plan for a while for me to go with my boyfriend and his friend. I, unfortunately, did not buy my ticket in time so I had to wait in a long line with the hopes that I could get a seat on the steps inside the theater. There were about 100 people in line and I was in the middle. After about 40 minutes of waiting, a guy and his friend walk up to where I am in line and place there bags on the outside of the retractable barrier. I thought to myself, "what the heck are these guys doing?" Anyway, about after 10-15 minutes, one of the guys comes back, moves the barrier outwards and then places himself in line right next to me. Nobody said a word! I wanted to immediately say something, but I was not comfortable enough in my French to say anything. It is so French of people to just ignore a situation like this and not stand up for themselves. I kept thinking over and over in my head, "what can I say, what can I say?" As I was mustering up my anger and courage to say something, the guy takes off his earphones and starts blasting his music in line. This is also something that people do here. It is extremely annoying and disrespectful to other's surroundings. This just got me even more irritated. Then the guy's friend decides to come back and the two of them, again, push out the barrier to make room for the second guy to cut it line. I was fed up and thought, you know what, I am going to stand up for myself and not let these guys take my place. I said to them, "Excuse me, you were not in front of me," and at that point, the guy next to me pushed me, with enough force that I fell back into the man behind me. This guy began yelling and cussing me out, saying words that I didn't understand, and I was so scared. Who knows what he could have done at that point!! I have seen guys this man's age with knives before on the metro. Once a man on the metro sliced another man's neck because the man was not comfortable with the fact that the other guy brought a ferret onto the metro! I mean, all I was thinking was this guy could stab me! The people around me really didn't do much. I was surrounded by a middle aged man, two young adult men and then two other young adults, a guy and a girl. They gasped when the man pushed me, but that was about it. The middle aged man let me pass in front of him, but even after that I could hear the man yelling and still cussing me out behind me. I texted my boyfriend who was in the theater during all this and let him know what happened and that I was really scared. I started crying, crying hard. The two guys in front of me comforted me, said "Don't cry, he won't touch you. Here, go in front of us," but still I was really scared. Romain, my boyfriend, came out and was livid, wanted to know who did that to me. But I didn't want to make a scene because I didn't want him to get hurt. Romain told the people who worked there what happened and asked for security, but the theater had no security!!! What public event doesn't have security!?

To wrap it up, the man who harassed me successfully got into the theater, but was a nuisance. He made such a disruption that when someone told him to "shhh," that set him off again. The theater had to pause the movie and turn the house lights on. Everyone in the theater was standing and yelling at this guy. The guy tried to attack another man about four rows down until a few spectators grabbed that man and dragged him out. Romain called the police, but they were already on there way. At the end of the movie, the theater told us that there was security now placed outside and that the police took the man away. After he was finally gone, I felt a little better.

But what is wrong with people!? I mean, sure, this could potentially happen in America, but you got to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, you know what I mean? If someone cuts in front of you in line back home, people will say something, not just one person, but people! Why was I the only one to stand up for myself? And then what is wrong with the man that would make such a fit about me addressing that he cut in line to actually push a 23 year old girl!! It was like he wanted to fight me!!! In that scenario, that man had no manners, no respect and did not know how to act civil. I am not saying that this will happen to everyone who comes to France, but you do need to be careful. You must be careful at who you look at here. You must look careful at what you say to people here and you must be cautious of the distance that you keep from people because the likelihood of them snapping or harassing you is a lot higher.

Lyon Summer Nights

2011-04-05T23:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, it isn't Summer yet, but the 80 degree weather and the long days sure makes it feel so.

I am falling in love with Lyon again.. this is not good. Maybe it is good because when I leave, I most likely will leave France on good terms, but otherwise, it is going to make it really hard! Last night I was walking across one of our awesome bridges that stretches across the Sôan River. The river was so still and all the lights from the surrounding buildings reflected off of it like a mirror - one of the heart dropping beautiful scenes in Lyon. Then I looked up and the sky was navy blue, still a bit of sunlight deep down in the horizon, and the very bottom sliver of the moon was shining, right between the Fouvrière and Lyon's fake Eiffel Tower (hehe). It was SO pretty!!!! And it was so warm! I just wanted to lay right there and stare at the sky like that for hours.

A few days before, on Sunday evening, Romain and I took a bike ride at dusk along the Rhone river. The weather was so warm and you could already see the stars in the sky. After about 15 minutes of riding, we actually were chased away by lightening and pouring rain, but it just felt so magical! There is just something about warm, late evenings, the stars and rain that gives me comfort and happiness.

It is a bummer because Lyon and I are rekindling our love for each other and now I have to search for flights home. And let me tell you, it is a vicious search because flights are just insanely expensive in July, and I WILL FIND A REASONABLE PRICE!!!! Furthermore, today I was informed that there will be a month of concerts played outside below the beautiful Fouvrière and two of my favorite bands, Beirut and Cocoon, will be playing, but a week after I need to leave!!! Bahhh! Why?? This makes it so difficult to choose a flight day. However, I think that I will sacrifice and just skip the concerts because I need to get back home and get a job versus spend more money.

You see, Lyon seems to have so much promise for these upcoming months/summer nights! I'm really pleased that I will be staying until the beginning of July. I'm looking forward to picnics, relaxing in the park, riding bikes along the quai du Rhone and stargazing!

Shortbread au chocolat

2011-04-05T02:29:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but when I see the word "shortbread" I think of a buttery, hard and crunchy type of cookie. If you have the same idea as I do, then I will tell you now, this recipe is not what you think it will be. But don't be alarmed, this "shortbread" is delicious! I actually think that it is more of what the British believe to be shortbread. The texture resembles more to a cake, but not as compact and moist, and it's a bit crumbly. The chocolate in this shortbread was actually pretty subtle, well at least to the richness of the chocolate in my last recipe. I have made 4 recipes from this book so far, and my boyfriend says that this is his favorite so far. Again, the picture that I have might not be the most attractive, but mmmm they were good.

Recipe: Shortbread au chocolat

Preparation: 20 minutes // Baking: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 egg
100 grams (7 tablespoons) of unsalted butter
70 grams (5 tablespoons) of salted butter
170 grams (3/4 cup + 1/8 cup) brown sugar (this is NOT molasses brown sugar like we are used to in the states, it is like raw sugar)
340 grams (3 cups + a little bit more) of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

Preparation of ingredients:

Preheat the oven to 355 degrees F (180 degrees C). Sift 340 grams of flour into a mixing bowl to eliminate all the clumps. Add 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, 170 grams of brown sugar and mix. Cut 100 grams of unsalted butter and 70 grams of salted butter into little cubes and place them on a plate to the side.

Making the dough:

Add the pre-cut butter cubes and 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder to the flour mix. With your fingers mix all the ingredients together so that it the dough is nicely blended and becomes crumbly. Now, butter a cookie sheet.

Molding the shortbread:

Remove and save 1/4 of the dough and put it to the side. Add 1 egg to the remaining dough and mix together until it is well compacted. Move the dough onto the cookie sheet and pat it out, forcing it to form into the shape of a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Take the crumbly dough that was saved and cover the top, pressing down the dry dough into the wet dough.

Cooking the shortbread:

With a knife, cut the raw dough into rectangles or squares of your choice of size and dimensions. Put it in the oven and allow it to bake for 30 minutes. After it is finished, let it cool down a bit and then they are ready!

** petit warning **

The flour in France is different than the flour in America. I know this from experience with attempting American treats in France with their ingredients. Flour in France tends to make things a lot fluffier. Please, however, don't hesitate to use the flour that you know best - I am still interested if those across the seas can make these French recipes. This is just to warn you in case your shortbread comes out differently than you expected, in that case, it is probably not you.

The Irony of a Bright Gloomy Day

2011-04-01T06:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was such a gloomy day. A thick gray blanket of clouds covered the sky and it poured rain for most of the day, however, I have not seen so many beautiful colors as illuminate as they were yesterday. It was as if the gray backdrop was exactly what was extracting their vibrancy. I wish so badly that I had a camera, but unfortunately I don't, so the only pictures I took are from a blackberry. Also, you might not be so impressed with these photos, but take more word, the colors really were beautiful and really stood out. Plus, I saw these plants just on one street on my walk to pay my rent, there were so many more plants and represented colors all over Lyon - pinks, purples, more shades of yellow, more shades of green and reds!

I LOVE the yellow tree in the back. There are many of these pretty yellow flowered trees all over Lyon right now.

Sablés chocolat-caramel

2011-03-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

For my birthday, the parents that I babysit for bought me a dessert recipe book because they knew I love to bake and try new recipes. The exciting thing is that because this is a French recipe book the desserts are different than anything I have ever made before, and plus I get to learn new french vocabulary as used in cooking! =) My plan is to post the recipe that I use, show pictures of how the dessert turns out and then give you a bit of my personal experience with making the dessert and my final opinion on the outcome.

This is the book I am using:

The first recipe that I made from this book is called Sablés chocolat - caramel. And below are pictures of how they turned out. I am taking pictures with an iPhone and am not a great photographer, so the pictures might not be pretty, but this is really how they looked. It is always so disappointing when you make a recipe and it looks nothing as fancy as the picture that the book gives you. I am translating the recipe from French to English, so if I phrased things oddly, I apologize. I did my best

These sablés were delicious! =) They are a bit rich because there is a lot of sugar!! But rich is good ;) My boyfriend suggested that we put salt in the caramel mix, which I think is a great idea. The recipe does not call for salt, and we did not try it, but you can try it if you wish.

Recipe: Sablés chocolat - caramel.

Preparation: 40 minutes // Cooling: 2 hours // Baking: 30 minutes // Drying: 1 hour

Ingredients:

200 grams dark chocolate
1 egg
3 tablespoons liquid crème fraîche (unfortunately this is a french ingredient. The American equivelent is sour cream, or try heavy whipping cream. The recipe calls for liquid form, but try either one.)
180 grams (12 1/2 tablespoons) butter
150 grams (just a teensy bit more than 3/4 cup) white sugar
150 grams (1 1/2 cups) flour

Preparing the dough:

Sift 150 grams of flour in a large mixing bowl. Cut 100 grams of butter into little cubes and add them to the flour. Mix with fingers until the dough becomes crumbly. Add 50 grams of sugar and 1 egg. Work the dough quickly in order to well blend all the ingredients. Once the dough is well blended, roll it into a large ball and allow it 2 hours in the refrieragtor so that it becomes nicely compacted.

Finishing the dough:

Preheat the oven to 390 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out the dough onto a flat surface with a rolling pin, then with your hands pat out the dough so that it forms into a rectangle about 40 x 15 cm and 5 to 5 mm thick. If the dough is pretty tough to work, just let it sit out in room temperature for some time. Put the dough onto a cookie sheet and poke it many times with a fork so the dough can ventilate. Bake for 15 minutes. Cut 80 grams of butter into little cubes. Melt, at high heat, 100 grams of sugar with the 3 tablespoons of creme fraiche (sour cream or heavy cream).

Preparing the caramel:

When the sugar and cream begins to boil, add the butter cubes one at a time. Continue to stir without stopping. I found it best to lower the heat once the liquid starts to boil. If it heats too fast, it can burn. Continue to heat and stir the liquid for about 10-12 minutes. If you have a sugar thermometer, the temperature must reach 125 degrees C (257 degrees F). When ready, pour the caramel onto the cooked dough and spread as best as you can to fill the edges. Allow it to cool down and harden in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Layering the chocolate (you can begin this when the cooling hour is almost finished):

Break 200 grams of dark chocolate into small pieces and put them into a small pot. In a larger pot, boil water and sit the small pot of chocolate into the boiling water. This is the best way to melt the chocolate, then it will not burn. Once the chocolate is well melted, spread it onto the stop of the caramel layer and smooth it out as if you are icing the top of a cake. Allow it to dry. I put mine back into the refrigerator so that it would cool and dry quicker. Finally, after the chocolate has dried, you can cut the rectangle into squares with a knife, your preferred size.

Bring on the Cheese

2011-03-27T09:55:00.000-07:00

I don't want to apologize for not blogging since (how long has it been?) January, so I'm not going to, however, I will give you an explanation, or at least what I think is an explanation other than just pure laziness.

I wrote most of my blogs before because it was like I was on the search for something - maybe on the search for adventure, maybe on the search for a complaint or maybe on the search for just something new. Well I did find something new quite a long time ago, but I just never really blogged about it or shall I say him? Yes, my something new is a boy. And this is where it gets cheesy. He just takes all my attention. ;) baaah cheesy.

When I learned that I would be coming to France last year I saw it as my after college opportunity to soul-search, immerse myself in another culture, find new adventures and experience my first job as a post college student. In my mother's eyes, however, she was convinced that my ambition was to find a French guy, fall in love blah blah blah, live the movie-script ending and stay in France with lover boy for the rest of my life. I had many arguments with my mother over her absurd accusation, but I suppose that she wasn't too far off from what actually happened. I still have 3 months left of my employment here in France, and though I have accomplished everything that I wanted, my adventure is not over and this time of my life will be unforgettable.

Now, why did my mother's accusation become something close to reality? Back in October I went to a Halloween party where a met a boy. In fact, if you refer back to my blog post from October 30th, you will see that I wrote about a charming French boy who dedicated a song to me.. well, that is the boy. After we met that night, we really hit it off. Of course, his impeccable taste in music and cute style was a strong attraction for me, but I soon learned that he was the sweetest guy that I had ever met. We have been together for almost 5 months now and he has made my time in France amazing. Now that I have met my French boy, it is not my plan to stay in France and live out that stereotypical Frenchy romantic life, but I am excited to see where there future of Romain and I lies.

Romain was who went with me when I went to Disneyland Paris - which was a BLAST - and I do actually apologize for not blogging about that. See, I wanted to use pictures, and I just never got around to uploading them to my computer, so I forget about it. But I will say that it was so much fun! And although it wasn't as AMAZING and MAGICAL as Disneyland in Anaheim, the park was similar enough that I felt a bit at home =)

My upcoming blogs will be blogs about french dessert recipes that I have been trying. YAY! So far it has been a success, AND I do have pictures, so hopefully the posts will be up soon.

I Got Out!! Imagine That!!

2011-01-30T13:44:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day for me. I did absolutely nothing the entire day, which was quite nice, until 7:00 at night when my friend, Jess, and I decided we would get out for some human interaction.

We both live in Villeurbanne aka: the ghetto quarter of Lyon and since we don't have much money, we really don't get out that often. Tonight we decided to go out to the ol' faithful Vieux Lyon, considering it had been over one month since we paid it a visit. We ran into a few other Americans and had good laughs and great talks all night. As Jess and I were walking to the metro, naturally we passed the Basilique de Fourvrière, and we both were refreshed with the fact that, yes in fact, we do live in Lyon - a beautiful city with a history that lasts longer than the life of our own country. I stood there just about 150 feet below the cathedral in awe. Do understand, since I never get out, I rarely ever see it.. this is a terrible shame.. Anyway, I had to RUB my eyes to make sure that what I was looking at was real and not a dream.

The pictures do not justify its beauty, but please look at these pictures below to understand what I am talking about. The first picture is obviously a night picture and is the setting in which I saw the cathedral tonight. The second picture I like because the dark and light contrasts show you its defining features in the architecture which make is sooo preettty. =)

I'm sure that you people who read my blog have seen this cathedral a few times, but as you know, it doesn't matter how many times I see it.. It is amazing everytime. France will always be something special to me for exact reasons like this. This is not the first and not the last time that I will say this, but you will just never find architecture like this in America.. it just won't happen. Ever.

1 person living in 2 countries.

2011-01-21T04:26:00.000-08:00

You know what is really stressful? Living your life in two countries at the same time.

Upon my arrival in France, it would have been ideal to completely forget about my burdens in America, so then I could just handle my burdens in France.. but it doesn't work like that. I don't even think America knows that I am not there right now.. maybe the consulat in Los Angeles knows, but who else? I also don't think they know that I have a social security number in a different country.. isn't that weird?? So as long as they know, I am still in America!!

Over the past 4 months here, my life in America and my life here in France have just gotten harder and harder. While I am juggling finances in France now, I am also continuing to pay bills in America. This was given that I would have to do this, but a new bill has been thrown upon me: school loans. AHHH, 6 month grace period is not nearly long enough. You are probably asking, why don't you just defer your loans if you can't pay them right now? Well you know, I'm trying! But I was informed way too late about a bill and did not have time to apply for deferment. *sigh* stressful. Upon bills, I have to think about saving money to get back to the United States. For some reason, one way flights to the U.S in July are double the price of round trip flights right now.. pas compris.

So saving/managing money in France for my life in America while living in France at the same time is not the easiest thing. Before coming here, I said that I don't know when I am coming home because honestly, I considered it possible that I would renew my contract for another year.. but now, I am confident to say that I will be home in the next 6 months. My life spread across two countries is just too cluttered to alloz it to last another year and a half.

Reprend le Role du Touriste.

2011-01-16T08:40:00.000-08:00

So I have realized that I am taking for granted the time that I have here in France. I wanted to come here and try to live the life as a French resident. You know, be "French," whatever that means. I wanted to just stay in my own city and experience life in the city. I didn't want to travel around as a tourist. It was almost as if I had convinced myself that I would be able to assume a French character, as if I was temporarily not myself. But to be French would be to not appreciate the country and the culture from the perspective of an outsider. To most places in the world, France is a beautiful, cultivated and rich land with lots of history. It is a country with a lasting reputation of creativity, arts, love, intelligence. This is the France that I fell in love with when I took my first French class in 2008.

So today it hit me. I am not going to ever assume a French character and I am okay with that. But with the few months that remain I need to resume my role as a tourist. As a tourist I will be able to file away the problems that I have had with French administration and government run organizations. I can once again appreciate the wonderful that France is.

But how will I do this? I don't have amazing funds, but I will try to make it work - even if hitchhiking is a way of transportation!! ;) The following places are where I want to visit before I go home.

The region of Normandy

The artist Claude Monet was especially inspired by this area of France and painted many Normandy landscapes. I would love to see what his eyes saw
I would also love to see Mont St. Michel. As you see in the picture below, it is absolutely beautiful, but one of the reasons why it is famous is due to the ocean's extremely high tide and very low tide that has formed it into the tidal island that it is today. Super cool! =) If you don't get off of the land before the tide rises, you could be stuck there until the tide goes back down!

Nantes

As many of you may know, I already posted a few months ago why I want to go to Nantes. The song from Beruit, titled "Nantes" is my inspiration to go.
Also, Nantes is located in the Brittany region, which unfortunately I don't know too much about, but would like to discover. Apparently Brittany used to be a small province within itself and had a duke and dutchess!! I really love seeing France's medieval parts =) It is definitely something you would NEVER find on the North American continent, that is why it's so cool.
I also remember when studying the art of Paul Gauguin that he spent a lot of his career in Brittany, so naturally, again I am interested in seeing another area that inspired an amazing artist.

Corsica

Corsica is an island south of France located in the Mediterranean Sea. All I have heard are great things about Corsica. My friend, Mathéa, always tells me how beautiful it is. Some of you might know that I love her name and hope to name one of my future children Mathéa, and the name comes from Corsica, so obviously I have to go ;)

Versailles

The Chateau of Versailles was the palace of the three kings Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI. I have actually already been to the chateau in 2005, but the one thing that I wanted to see there was under construction, and that is the Hall of Mirrors.

Paris

I have obviously been here a few times, but I feel like you can never get enough of it. I wish to one day go here by myself so I could spend an entire day at one museum, but I'm not sure if I can do that hehe. Good news is that I am going to Paris in three weeks AND Disneyland Paris at that!!! I absolutely cannot wait for this. I dream about it. hehe.

If I succeed to visit all these places, I will be completely satisfied. =) I know that sometimes I complain about being in France, but I mean, when I talk about these beautiful historical French cities and post these amazing pictures, it does make me realize that I am going to miss this place when I go home - and this is good because then I will always be able to view France from the perspective of an outsider. I will continue to remember it with that perfect image of beauty, history and love.

She Wears Ribbons in Her Hair

2011-01-15T04:49:00.000-08:00

I must first show you the adorable Christmas present that I received from my sister - the packaging has everything to do with this post.

Yes, it is sideways, but I couldn't figure out how to rotate a picture on blogger. lol Anyway, I was so happy to receive a present that wasn't just placed in a package, but actually wrapped! It was as if I were opening the gift at home.. I loved the wrapping paper, the fact that she wrote "To: Mallory ♥Melissa" and the ribbon. When I saw the ribbon I thought, "YAY! =) It's red and silky! This is a perfect hair accessory!" hehe =)

Well yesterday I finally decided to use my new hair accessory. I was asked 4 times, "What is that in your hair?" This question was asked by 3 Frenchies and one British. When the last one expressed his confusion as to why I had a ribbon in my hair, I then asked him, "Is it not normal to wear ribbons in your hair in France or something? You are the 4th person to ask me this!" And he said, "Yea, girls don't do that here."

Well, you know what France? It is absolutely normal and ADORABLE to wear ribbons in your hair!!!

Here is proof:

The late 70's band, The Cars, have a song "Just What I Needed" where they sing about a girl that wears ribbons in her hair.

Also, her are many pictures.

Adorable little girl.

Random grown girl who knows that wearing ribbons is totally cute and makes you feel super girly!

Audrey Hepburn.. really I shouldn't even show any more pictures.. Audrey is all we need. If Audrey does it, you should do it. She is the epitome of beauty and class. However, I will continue anyway.

Kelly Osbourne .. I think. ;)

They are even in the arts! You see, Roy Lichtenstein understood the ribbon.

I don't need to justify the ribbon, though, it justifies itself ;) It's feminine, it's youthful and it's playful.. If your girls don't wear ribbons, they should! =)

And Melissa, thank you so much for my new hair accessory. I will definitely wear it again.

"Talk to the Snail"

2011-01-12T01:44:00.000-08:00

My best friend, that you should all know by now, Melissa Hernandez, is currently reading the book posted below, and she can't stop talking to me about it. I am now persuaded to read this book because, as an American living in France, I think it will do me good.

You see, I feel like France is defeating me and I am about to surrender just to return back to the United States. Unfortunately this is not a battle that I can just forfeit because I am on contract so I gotta tough it out. You are probably asking, but why Mal? Why is France so hard for you? Well, let me tell you, France administration is AWFUL! There are endless amounts of paperwork, they only believe in postal mail, internet isn't preferred here yet, and they are never satisfied with what you send as your paperwork THUS anything and everything with the administration TAKES FOREVER. Have I mentioned that customer service does not exist? Oh, and I am not talking about just in restaurants, it's everywhere. Right now the gas company is my enemy. If you call them about a complaint, don't expect to hear, "Good day, ma'am, how can we make your customer experience better?" no.. you will just get a lady/man who is extremely rude and blunt with you who will refuse to help your problem, even if the problem is their fault. The French language is still very difficult for me and I hate the fact that a store/any establishment closes whenever they want, for no reason at all. The French do what they want, and that is the end of it.

The titles of the chapters in this book seem to address exactly what I am complaining about. Take a look. My favorites, the chapters that I find personal to my experience, are numbers: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

1 Thou shalt be wrong (if you’re not French) – Why every Frenchman is Monsieur Right.
2 Thou shalt not work – Why long weekends are good for the French economy.
3 Thou shalt eat – Just because it smells of pig’s droppings doesn’t mean it’ll taste like them.
4 Thou shalt be ill – Getting the best out of the French national drug habit.
5 Thou shalt speak French– Fun ways to mispronounce words and offend people.
6 Thou shalt not sing (in tune, anyway) – A French artiste says, ‘pretentious, moi?’
7 Thou shalt not know – Don’t mention the war, nuclear power, tax or structural surveys.
8 Thou shalt not love thy neighbour – Oui, I am smoking into your dinner, et alors?
9 Thou shalt not be served – Garçon? Waiter? Bonjour? Oh, forget it.
10 Thou shalt be polite (and simultaneously rude) – Bonjour Madame, vous êtes une idiote.
11 Thou shalt say ‘I Love You’ – The perils of French-style amour.

I want to buy this book now, but you know, it will take me sometime because France is really expensive and likes to surprise you with unexpected bills, so I currently don't have the money. Let me say though, I don't hate France okay. I still admire the French culture, it is actually quite amusing and I love that they still hold their reputation as an artistic and romantic country. Also, if I could speak the language with perfect conjugations, perfect liaisons and perfect idioms then I would love the language and agree that it is the prettiest language that exists. I am just happy to have figured out that I like France as a place to read about, a place to see in movies and a place to visit a few times in a lifetime. I will always hold France close to my heart, however, I was not born French, but American, therefore I just cannot accept French culture as my own.

The Oh-So-Ignorant and Foolish Élève.

2011-01-07T02:55:00.000-08:00

"Élève," pronounced eh-lev, is the french name for a student whether he/she is in elementary school, middle school or high school.

Today I want to call out one of my élèves from CM2 - 5th or 6th grade. As I was walking past a group of my CM2 kids, they all greeted me with a nice and loud, "HELLO!" I love when my kids say "hello" to me because I feel like it validates me as their English teacher and it gives me a little dose of assurance that they like the fact that I am there to teach them English. Well, after this group told me hello, one student said, after I had passed of course, "On dit bonjour là, on n'est pas en Angleterre!" Translated: We say "bonjour" here, we are not in England."

I of course just walked on and brushed the snide comment off of my shoulder, but I have to admit that I was a teensy bit offended and you know what I have to say to that!?! Number one: RUDE. Number two: What an ignorant and foolish child that 11 year old is. He has been learning English since the age of 6, maybe even 5.

What makes me so mad about the kids who don't want to participate in English class is that they don't realize how lucky they are!! I would be in such better shape intellectually and better fit for a job - I am sure - if I had the chance to learn a second language when I was a child. NO. In California they don't care about that. It was an option, just an OPTION, to take a second language when I was in high school! And there was no way that the educational system was going to pay for native speakers of the language to come teach at their schools and live in their country in order to better the quality of the language courses. In fact, my university, UCLA, actually tried to eliminate the language department this past year!

I think that my plan for the next time I teach these classes in which there are rude/disruptive kids, I am first going to ask the class, "Who wants to learn English today?" Those who don't raise their hands, I'm kicking them out!!!!!!!! No really, I am. I am going to say, "okay good. you can sit with the teacher and work on something else while I teach the smart kids English, something that will better them in the future. I don't want to waste my time on someone who doesn't want to try."

UGH! And you know what?! I'M NOT EVEN ENGLISH!!!!!! I HATE when kids confuse England with America.

What is _______ like in France?

2011-01-02T05:15:00.000-08:00

As you all know, the month of December has now passed and we are now in the year 2011. This means I have now experienced two special holidays in a different country, something I have never done before. Many people asked me, "What is Christmas like in France?" or "What is New Years like in France?" My answer is that well, it really isn't that different. Sure there are small little traditions that may differ from my home in America, but at the end of the day, France celebrates these holidays just like we do. The only thing that I found really different was that I didn't have my family, and that made the holidays seem just about non-existent. Besides that though, I am sure you all want to know the little traditions that the French have for these holidays, so I will share.

Christmas music:

This is about non-existent in France. The French will argue this one with me and say, "NOn NOn NOn... we have "Petit Papa Noel!" But see, that is the point.. THAT IS THE ONLY SONG THEY HAVE! and it is AWFUL! So in order to lift my December holiday spirits this year, I wasn't able to turn to Sunny 102.3 and hear Jingle Bell Rock, but my dear Melissa Hernandez sent me a wonderful list of all the Christmas classics, and I did get to stroll down the streets, listening to Jingle Bell Rock, with a smile on my face.

Christmas decorations:

Yes, the French do put Christmas trees in their houses/apartments, but ALL the trees are soooo tiny and usually deformed haha. I assume this is because the French, in Lyon at least, typically don't have houses with large windows to show of their gorgeous large evergreens, and it isn't necessarily an easy task to maneuver a large and pretty tree up the tiny elevators to French apartments.

As far as Christmas lights go.. some people do participate, but you aren't going to find a neighborhood where all the houses have participated in some sort of Christmas light competition or synchronized tradition so that people can drive around and admire the beautiful Christmas decorated houses.

Christmas dinner:

So the big grocery advertisements during Christmas time in France are "foie gras" and salmon. The French eat these two items as appetizers on bread with butter or lemon juice. Foi Gras is probably one of the most disgusting things you can ever eat. It is a spread made from the liver of either a goose or duck that has been force fed.. do you understand what this means? Poor birdies had food shoved down their throats over and over again to get fat. I found on wikipidea that in 2004, California prohibited the act of force feeding birds for the purpose of enlarging the bird's liver beyond normal size, as well as the sale of products that are a result of this process. Crazy, huh? AND I ate this crap!!! I assure you though, only once, cause I refused after.

As a main dish, they usually eat some sort of fancy meat. I have never been one to really appreciate meat, and to be honest, I really don't care, but the meat I had on Christmas was AMAZING. I don't know what it was, but apparently it was really expensive. 4 of us ate, and I think the meat we all ate cost about 80 or 90 EURO total.. wow.

My Christmas day was pretty much awful.. I mean, I don't want to be ungrateful because my good friend Mathéa invited me over for Christmas dinner at her momma's house in Swizterland, but the thing is that I spent maybe a total of 4 waking hours with them. Half of my Christmas Eve and 3/4 of my Christmas day were spent in a train station. All trains to Lyon kept getting canceled and there was one point where I seriously thought that I was going to have to sleep in the freezing cold train station. I was crying, I was shivering, it was not fun. But once I finally got to Lyon, I got to call/skype my family and see everyone, and that was really nice =)

New Years in France.

Throughout my life on New Years day, I always wondered during different hours of the day which countries have already reached the new year.. hehe and this year, I was in a different country. It was totally weird. I called my mom when it was midnight here and it was only 3 o'clock in the afternoon in California... still 2010. Hehe just a weird idea. I had a very nice New Years though. I was treated to a ballet at the Lyon Opera and then came home to make Mexican food!! mmmmm! =)

French New Years traditions:

Eat a Gallete des Rois. This is a puffed pastry cake-like thing with marzipan in the middle!!! MMM! = Almond paste. So when you buy one of these pastries, it comes with a paper king's crown because inside the dessert is a surprise and whoever finds the surprise become the king of the night! lol and guess what... I FOUND THE SURPRISE!!!! too bad it was a creepy ceramic virgin Mary haha.. but I became the queen, and that's all that matters ;)

Unfortunately France doesn't have New York city, meaning there is no giant shiny ball that drops to the new year, so that was a little disappointing, but no big.. That is one of those things I think we take for granted in the U.S.. I mean, its super cool to be able to turn on the T.V and count down to the new year with millions of other people!! haha and when you don't have it, it sort of lowers the excitement of a new years celebration.

Now that all the holidays are over, I am a bit relieved. It was a fun experience, but I wouldn't choose to celebrate these holidays away from home again. New experiences like these are necessary so that we can appreciate what we have and also so that we can celebrate with our traditions on an even greater scale next time we are home! hehe =)

I hope you all have a great year! This is the year I come back home!

Layers and Layers to a Dress with Cardigan.

2010-12-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

I wasn't going to address the fact that I SUCK at blogging right now, but I will. I admit it, I am terrible. And I am sorry that I have been so boring for whoever reads my blog and I am also sorry for never giving you any updates on my Thanksgiving.

Real quick recap:

Thanksgiving was a huge success. 13 showed and the turkey was EXCELLENT. Everyone was so thankful ;) including me. I was so happy that I was actually able to have a real Thanksgiving with people I care about and people who could actually appreciate it. I now understand why my grandmother is always so exhausted after making a Thanksgiving dinner.. IT IS TOUGH WORK!!!!! The irony of my Thanksgiving was that the package I was waiting on that carried all the essentials for my dinner arrived the next morning, AT 9:00 AM!!!! Awful. haha But I managed, and managed very well.

That is me in the back, leaning over the oven, with the striped shirt. hehehe

One week later, when my darling Melissa Hernandez came to visit (SMILES!), we cooked a Thanksgiving Part II, with the stuff from the package, and again, IT WAS SO GOOD!!! She brought cranberry sauce, which was the icing on the cake for a perfect Thanksgiving meal... ;)

Now, the reason I wanted to write this blog in the first place. In one week's time, Lyon has gone from -5 degrees (Celsius) last weekend to 18 degrees today and tomorrow 1 degree. WHAT IS THAT?!!?!?!?!?!!?!?!??!! That can't be good for my health!! Last week I was wearing layers and layers and today, I'm not kidding, I wore a dress with a cardigan and that's it and I was totally comfortable!

Besides my shock by the drastic change in temperature, I did enjoy 3 days that the snowed lasted. One of the days, I went sledding ;) There aren't really any hills in Lyon, but we created and managed. ;)

Tonight is La Fête des Lumières!!!!! SOOO EXCITING!! =) Watch a clip from the event last year =) (which I was also at, remember!) Its not the best video, but you get an idea of what is called "THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS!" (does anyone else think of Adam Sandler's Hanauka song? lol)

Thanksgiving Continues.

2010-11-25T04:06:00.000-08:00

My classes are going well, although I still never work haha. No complaints. I love my days! They are so relaxing, and I am so happy. My lessons from last week and till today have still been on Thanksgiving, and they have all gone really well.. It is special to be able to share your maternal language with another, but to share your culture, I find it even more special. =) I'm pretty sure this is simultaneously my most anticipated Thanksgiving ever and the saddest Thanksgiving ever. With teaching about Thanksgiving a week before it actually happens and then celebrating the meal a few days after the actual holiday, the anticipation has been drawn out over a period of like 10 days! Usually the day just pops up around the corner and the excitement lasts for that one day and then its gone.

I'm SUPER excited for this Thanksgiving though because my good friend Jess and I are hosting a traditional Thanksgiving dinner this Sunday. My lovely parents have sent me a package with the essentials and today we special ordered the 6 kilo (13.2 lbs) turkey!! OH LA LA =). We are super lucky that we got the turkey because A) Thanksgiving is obviously not celebrated on any other continent than North America, so they don't have easily accessible whole turkeys like we do at home and B) It is a little late in the week, so we are lucky that the nice man at Carrefour placed the order for us. It's costing us 40 euros, which is mad expensive, but it will be worth it =)

I am very sad about this Thanksgiving at the same time as being so excited for it because I am not home with my family. And you know, last year I wasn't home either, but the thing is that I didn't celebrate Thanksgiving at all last year, so it wasn't really a big deal, cause it just didn't exist. But this year, with teaching all my students about the holiday and hosting the dinner myself, I have had too much time to think about it and it makes me really sad that I don't get to spend this special time at home with my family. It is okay though, it is times like these when you REALLY appreciate what you have and hopefully the next time I have Thanksgiving at home it won't just be another holiday to pop up and go away so quickly, but I'll be able to soak in the family tradition and really be thankful for my family and the my blessings in my life.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FAMILY, FRIENDS and my home AMERICA.

The French might think we eat too much and consume too large of portions, but it is the holidays!!!!! I don't care!! hehe To all of you: EAT EAT EAT and be MERRY ;)

Bringing Thanksgiving to France

2010-11-19T03:41:00.000-08:00

I taught the story of Thanksgiving to my children at school today. I love Thanksgiving.. it is such a great holiday, I mean it is a day to recognize all that you are thankful for and just eat eat and eat amazing food!! I was so proud to share this with the kids. hehe. And what was pretty impressive is that I taught the whole lesson IN FRENCH.. not easy lol.

Next week I should be receiving a package from my family, a special Thanksgiving package!! =) yayyy!!! I am going to attempt to make a Thanksgiving dinner for all my friends, so my family sent me everything I need! Can't wait! hehe =)

Lastly, I saw this french movie a couple days ago that was AMAZING! It is called "No et Moi," and here is the trailer. It is not a sad movie, but at the end I wanted to cry just because the story was soooooo good, and I get really touched when people are selfless and just want to help others.. I was so impressed by everything in the movie.. The story, the actors, the cinematography, the music.. *sigh* so good. Watch =) There are english subtitles.

Some Snapshots

2010-11-16T03:48:00.000-08:00

Over the past week, I took some pictures with my new handy blackberry phone. Take a look.

Perhaps some of you have already seen the Nov 2 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle, but I find it SUPPPPERRRRR COOOL that I had it mailed to me all the way to France! =) My friend James mailed me a World Series Champs t-shirt, accompanied with this newspaper.. this is awesome. A piece of Giants history, love it =)

I had to take a picture of this because it is classic romantic French. Whenever I see "je t'aime" written/painted on any surface in France, I get all giddy inside.

Now THIS is hilarious. You tell me what you think of when you see a sign that says "ATOMIC PRICES." Naturally, I think of a bomb, an explosive, something enormous, and so when you call prices "atomic" doesn't that mean that they are large, hence expensive prices? Hmm.. I hope you are following my logic here, because I certainly can not follow Pimkie's logic.. See, what Pimkie is trying to do is advertise their huge sale ( hint: -50% on the left. )

Lastly, my favorite. Whenever I look at a calendar, I always turn to my birthday month, March, to see what the picture looks like, yanno, to see if I like it or not. I couldn't believe that this calendar had the most perfect quote for the month of March... my moto for life. If you know me pretty well, then you understand that I hate planning for the future and I always say that I take life as it comes. If you can read french, then you know that the words on this calendar say "Take life as it comes." I didn't buy the calendar, because I already have one for the 2011 year, but I thought is was picture worthy.

10 little indians

2010-11-12T03:01:00.000-08:00

Today at the school, the teachers wanted me to teach numbers. They suggested that I bring some sort of song to help the kids learn. Well, the other day another teacher used this one song called, "Ten Little Indians," and it was perfect because the song is very simple, so then I decided to use it. I imediately regretted teaching the kids this song, because I find it a little racist, no? You tell me. haha

eleven eleven.

2010-11-11T14:54:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day, but let me be honest, do I really expect anything less on the best date of the year!? November 11th -> 11/11

You see, I have an obsession with the number eleven, but even more so when it appears in double. This is à cause de my youthly, yet perpetuating obsession with the song "Konstantine" by Something Corporate.

Anyway, why was today amazing?

1) I spent the day with someone very special.
2) The weather was fabulous, so we had lunch in the Parc Tête d'Or.
3) The park had a wondeful surprise: La Fête des Feuilles. It is a public exposition - art meeting nature - in the middle of the park. There were objects constructed out of the very branches and leaves that surrounded them. It was absolutely beautiful, especially with all the different colors of fall. Just the idea of using natural materials in their natural setting like that really created a serenity that I have never experienced with any other sort of piece of art. Below is a photo of a butterfly, completely made from sticks and leaves. I'm sorry that the blackberry-taken photo does not do it justice =|

4) After the park, we went to the Contemporary Art Museum of Lyon. There was much to see, but my favorite exhibition was of the artist and dancer, Trisha Brown. Trisha is an American choreographer and can be described as "experimental." The quote that the curators used for this exhibition was perfect - she said, "So that the audience does not know whether I have stopped dancing." See Trisha finds her inspiration in natural human gestures and daily activities then turns them into a fluid dance piece. If one's daily motions are a dance piece, then like Trisha said, who knows if she has stopped dancing or not. Another reason I love that is because I find dancing as a resource for my happiness, and if I never stop dancing, then I never cease to be happy. =)

After the museum, the whether turned cold and rainy, but no complaints =) it was a great day!

J'adore ma vie

2010-11-02T02:36:00.000-07:00

This past weekend has been absolutely amazing. First of all, it was Halloween weekend and I had the opportunity to dress up twice!! hehe which I did not expect at all. AAANND Melissa came to visit me!!! =D

Even though Melissa's stay was WAY TOO SHORT, I was so happy to have her here and we had a blast!! One day we just stayed in bed all day watching all the episodes from this season's Modern Family (obviously lol), including the awesome Halloween episode twice, making that 5 times that I have now watched that episode.. it is NOT embarrassing, okay!? That night was Halloween and we dressed up as matching black cats. It was quite simple because all we had to do was layer every black piece of clothing we owned (to stay warm of course), put on kitty ears, draw whiskers on our faces et voilà! I'll post pictures when I get them uploaded. The next day Mellie and I went on an amazing shopping spree together, which I don't regret at all because I don't think I have had so much fun shopping before hehe =) Then I took here to one of the most amazing views of Lyon from the Fouvriere Cathedral. After that, I showed her one of my favorite things about Lyon, which are the Roman ruins. Hopefull you all remember me talking about these specfic places in Lyon before, but I will also post pictures later with the Halloween pictures. At night she got to meet some of my closest friends from Lyon and we all just had a great night on the town. I'm sad she left this morning, but she'll be coming back. I mean, NO ONE can just come to Lyon once.

A friend of mine said last night that it takes a special person to not like Lyon, and I couldn't agree more.. so you know what that means? I need some more visitors!! Lyon is a beautiful and I will even say magical place and I know everyone would love it.

I just cannot get over how blessed I am. My life is so awesome and I am so happy.

Proud to be an American

2010-10-30T04:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some reasons that confirm my pride as an American:

1) So you know the strikes and riots that I spoke of? Well, the government had a vote and decided to raise the retirement age. So yea, all those strikes and the vandalism to the cities was for NOTHING. But you see what the problem is here? The people don't have a say. Maybe there wouldn't be such fight if the people got to vote and decide themselves on legislative propositions. Now, I don't understand the French government completely, so maybe I have something wrong here.. but regardless, I would not want to live in a country who has to riot in order to get what they want.

2) I went to a Halloween party last night and every person I told that I was from California couldn't believe it. Being from California is like being a movie star. haha I had to actually show my California license to someone because he thought I was lying.

3) When cute French guys admire your American charm, they dedicate songs to you such as the one below.

Depuis Une Semaine

2010-10-28T06:18:00.000-07:00

Since one week ago when I posted, I have done a few exciting things worth sharing. So starting last Friday, I'm on "vacation." haha Yes, I know, you are probably thinking, already!? What? The holiday is called "Toussaint" it is a national school holiday, so no one has to go to school, meaning, I don't work. This was the same vacation I had last year when Meg came to visit me and we went to Italy =) (Best time of my life). The universities get one week off, but primary (the level I teach) gets two weeks off. Too much time for me considering I don't have much to do anyway haha.

This weekend, however, Mathéa and Gaby invited me out to their town by Geneva, Switzerland. I went here last year also. If you remember reading about that trip, I LOVED IT. And again, this time I loved it. The girls took me to visit Annecy, France which is a beautiful city on the edge of "the cleanest lake in all of Europe," says Mathéa. And yes, the lake was completely clear - amazing. Here are some pictures from Annecy, including a couple "hispter" style pictures haha because they look super hip, and I like hip. ;)

Classic view of Anney.

Super hip. hah. But really, this is an application on my iPhone, isn't it great!? This particular lens, if you can call it that on the iPhone, really saturates the colors in the buildings quite nicely.

This photo is taken from the "Pont des Amours," the bridge of lovers. I understand why that is the name of the bridge because the view is very romantic with the canal, the canoes and the trees. This particular lens was perfect for this shot too! I didn't know I was using the lens, but it really accentuated out the beautiful yellows and oranges of the autumn leaves. =) Looks all vintage.

Annecy was one day, but another day Mathéa and I went to Geneva to visit the United Nations Headquarters, one of four, I believe, in the whole world. The largest headquarters is in New York, then there are 3 others: Geneva, Switzerland, Vienna, Austria and Nairobi, Kenya. At first I was really confused why one would want to visit the United Nations, but it was actually very cool! The area where the headquarters lays is considered "international territory," a bit trippy, right? So we were technically no longer is Switzerland when we were in the building. Here are some pictures:

This is an amazing sculpture outside of the building. One leg of the chairs is blown off, symbolizing the tragedies of many victims who died or were severely injured in the countries where they used to have landmines. These countries would use children to run out into the fields to check for mines - sort of like Russian roulette. So terrible =( This installation was created to encourage all landmine countries to sign the Mine Ban Treaty and to honor the victims.

This is also in front of the headquarters. Where is the America flag? hehe It is pretty much impossible to find, but I can tell you, it is ONE of the red and white striped flags towards the back end. The picture would have to be enlarged on order to MAYYYBBEE see it.

This is an AMAZING piece of work by the Spanish artist Miquel Barceló. It is a sculptural installation that weighs like 4 tons and hangs off of the ceiling in one of the meeting rooms. Barceló used plaster to construct the dripping effects off of the ceiling and then he blasted several colors onto the ceiling. I believe that the concept of all the colors is to symbolize the many different thoughts and ideas of all nations, and how in the end they come together as one compromising and functional unit. The colors change depending on where you stand in the room.

This is an example of one of the meeting rooms. 6 different languages are available for translation in the meeting: English, Chinese, Russian, French, Spanish and Arabic.

Finally, when I got back from my weekend in Geneva, or wherever I was on the border of France and Switzerland, I had a package waiting for me: an AWESOME Giants t-shirt from the Postseason games. Thank ya thank ya James! I am SOOOOOOO excited to see that the Giants made it to the World Series!! And they won their first game last night... oohh la la, keep it up Giants!!! =) I wish I was there.

Gaga Won't Even Come to France.

2010-10-21T00:02:00.000-07:00

Nice job French rioters.. only thinking about yourself and not the others around you.

Now all the poor little monster fans who bought tickets to Lady Gaga's show in Paris and Bercy, France, cannot enjoy the voice of the talented young pop star due to "logistical problems" that arose from the insane barbaric behavior of young strikers all over the country this past week.

Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images (www.mtv.com)

I don't blame Gaga.. She doesn't even have to blame it on "logistical problems," I would still respect her if she just said that the people in France are too disrespectful for her tastes. Maybe this is the type of punishment that France needs since their own President won't step in and do anything about it.

Anyway, the dates are postponed to later this winter, and everyone who had tickets to this weekend's shows have to either turn in their tickets for a refund or exchange them for the later dates.

I saw an ad for Gaga's show a couple weeks ago and seriously concidered buying tickets. . . HAH. good thing I didn't.

October 19, 2010 in Lyon

2010-10-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

I know that I already wrote about the riots that occurred yesterday, but I wanted to accompany my words with photos. I found these photos on another person's blog, so I do not take credit for them, but they do a good job capturing the mess, so I here you go:

This is Place Bellecour, our "Downtown." You can see the beautiful Fouvriere Cathedral above the cloudy mess of smoke. It is a shame that people can't even respect the beauty of their own city to put it up in smoke like this.

"Riot Police," but as far as I am concerned, they don't help much. It is ridiculous that something like this is even possible to occur. Remember, the instigators were high school students. I just think that the law in America would not let this kind of behavior pass.

I have actually used this public telephone to call home before.

An example of one of the many cars/objects that were caught on fire. The rioters also broke windows of shops and stole things. It just doesn't make sense why it is necessary to act so barbarous.

Latest News in Lyon: Riots.

2010-10-19T06:57:00.000-07:00

So remember how I was talking about France workers going on strike, and I find it really inconvenient? Well, these strikes have turned violent, and frankly I find it extrememly irresponsible, juvenile and dispresectful to one another. I don't care if that is the point of a social movement or not, IT IS RIDUCULOUS and they need to find another, more respectful way to protest.

French high schoolers have decided that they want to strike against the retirement age as well because it will one day affect them. Well I just think that they don't want to go to school and want an excuse to act immature. Their "strikes" have turned violent. They don't go to school, instead they chant down the streets, use trashcans to block the entrance to their schools and have began to vandalise the city i.e.: smashing car windows and setting cars and streets on fire. This behavior is absolutely unexcusable.

Apart from the vandalism from the highschoolers. In Marseille, the garbage men have quit picking up trash.. So now, for a week or more, the streets of Marseille have been piling up with trash. THAT IS UNSANITARY! And just plain disgusting. Someone is going to have to pick it up someday, so pull up your big boy pants Frenchies AND PICK UP YOUR TRASH!!!

Claudia, my housemate, went to her university today to go to class, but it was blocked off too, just like the high schools. There are people who want to learn and be educated - these people PAY for their education - don't deprive them because of some childish social movement, goodness gracious.

And lastly, my friend Mathéa told me today to not go down town because the riots in the streets are comparable to Baghdad.

Everything that I have spoken of, I have not witnessed with my eye, but I have heard about it from my friends and read it in the newspapers. All I have to say is thank God I have been blessed with an apartment in Villeurbanne. People might choose not to live there because it is not the nicest area aesthetically and it is small, but if it manages to avoid riots like those that are happening in the center, I 'm happy.

I wouldn't call it a "homesickness."

2010-10-16T06:57:00.000-07:00

Even in a beautiful, cultural city like Lyon, France, one can get lonely.

To be honest, I haven't really even been busy yet. Last week I went into a few classes to "observe" and then this week I had teacher training, if you will, but that is all that I have done. This next week I will go into my classes to teach (I think), but remember, I only work 12 hours a week and plus the 2 hours a day with the monsters (the little boys I babysit) it only equals about 20 hours a week.. the rest of the time I daydream or just walk around the city with my new friend, Jess. I have been pretty lonely.

I have now received 2 cards in the mail from my grandparents and a care package from my friend Clark (details below). Being assured that there are people back in the states that love me and think about me sort of makes me miss home a bit. =| And I'm gonna be honest, it kills me that I really haven't talked to my family at all since I have been here. A few emails back and forth and a 5 minute conversation on the phone DON'T count, considering it has been 26 days since I arrived. A couple days ago I went down to "SFR" to set up the account for a fixed télé and home wifi, but because it is France and people like to take forever, I still won't have these luxuries until Nov 1. So until then, I still have to make daily stops to MacDo to get wifi. Someone told me last night that with GMAIL, you can make telephone calls for free to the U.S. Well, I downloaded and installed the program that allows these calls and right when I was SOOO EXCITED to click "call" and wake my parents up at 6:30AM, the button didn't work... and it still wont work. what the heck!!!! How much does it take for a daughter to just make a telephone call to her family!?

Anyway, in addition to missing my family, I have been following the success of my dear San Francisco Giants =) and since they have made it to the playoffs I'm REALLY just missing California. I wish I could be there so I can cheer on the Giants, in their presence, to the World Series!

DETAILS ABOUT CLARKS CARE PACKAGE:

In the package that Clark sent me hehehehhehee =) He was able to put aside his Dodger pride for a moment and buy me a "Beat LA" Giants t-shirt! Even though we killed them long ago and it wouldn't be so useful for this season anymore ;) I can surely sport it next year! He knew that I really wanted a "Beat LA" shirt, so it was so nice of him to remember and get me one =) And you better believe I have been wearing it to bed the last two nights in a row. haha.

Something called "Les Grèves"

2010-10-14T01:24:00.000-07:00

Assurance to all of you in the United States:

I WILL NEVER MOVE TO FRANCE PERMANENTLY.

Mark my words, okay!! Or at least repeat them to me if I ever express desire to move to France. See, the French people like to strike (word for srtike: grève.) I am sure that I brought up the greves in my blog posts from last year, but currently it has become the bane of my existence.

Since I arrived in Lyon, 3 weeks and 2 days ago, I have been trying to get my french bank account up and running. I did open the account, but it is not yet "validated" because the post office has not verified my address. Since everyone has been on strike I think that this is affecting how long it is taking for the post to verify my address... In addition to this irritation, I am even more upset because I realized that you must have a french bank card to get a phone contract - I want a phone contract because it is a lot cheaper... France likes the "pay as you go" concept, but the thing is that texts alone cost so much, so I find myself recharging my stupid phone every week and it's expensive!!!.. Anyway, I need this card really bad RIGHT NOW and the bank has it, but they wont give it to me because the post office is taking to long.. I blame everything on their stupid stikes.. The post office isn't the only number of people striking though, it is everyone - schools, transportation - everything that I am involved with pretty much. Sarkozy (the french prez) and his crew have been trying to raise the retirement age, by 3 years for goodness sakes, and the french won't deal with it, soooooooo LETS STRIKE EVERYONE and make everyone else's lives AWFUL.

To lift my spirits a bit, and maybe yours too, check out these adorable pants and jacket that I want. All the frenchie girls wear these pants and I must have them.

My inspiration is Inspector Gadget.

Children are consuming my life!

2010-10-08T03:58:00.000-07:00

Above is a picture of a sign in the park right in front of my apartment. I was passing through the park one day, read the sign to myself, registered that it says, "Thank you for respecting this green space," and then I immediately turned my head to find a man peeing in a bush.. Oh the irony.

I now present to you the little monsters that I babysit. haha.. actually they haven't been too bad ;) Baptiste is on the left and Quentin on the right. We actually had a bit of fun this day. We played with playdough and pretended that we were our own Patisserie (bakery). The boys were very impressed with the playdough macaroons that I made.. you can see them in the picture below Quentin. They now ask me every day to make "plein de macaroons" - a lot. lol

I have now visited the children in all the classes that I will be teaching. It is great because they are all so fascinated by me since I come from halfway around the world haha. I have teacher training next week though, so I won't go back to the classes until the week after. If any of you have some ideas for games/activities that will help me teach the kids English, please share in the comment section =). I would greatly appreciate it. Today in one of the classes, the teacher had the kids do little skits to show me the English they already know. This is how the skit went:

Kid #1: Hello!
Kid #2: Hello!
Kid #2: Please. (Kid #1 hands over a water bottle and Kid #2 pretends to drink.)
Kid #2: Sank you.. baaaiii!!!!!!!

haha. This one kid said, "sleeve," in place of "please." All the kids laughed at him, but little did they know, the boy just said another English word that none of them knew! haha It was very cute though.

One last thing.. I had the chance to visit my former hostmom, Anne!! =) It was surreal to be back in her house!!! But so great!! Gosh I am so lucky to have had the chance to come to France and even luckier to get to return. Anne told me that out of all the students she has ever housed, I am the only one that came back.. I really do love my life. I am very blessed.

"I would love to be in the streets of Nantes, listening to the song Nantes."

2010-10-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine shared with me that he would like to be in the streets of Nantes, France, listening to the song "Nantes," by an amazing band called Beirut.

Since he told me this, I have wished the same.. so I do plan on traveling up to Nantes one of these days while listening to the song. What reminded me of this, however, was this man playing the accordian on the metro that I was on today. This is actually quiet popular. They obviously do it for money and have their small children walk around asking people for donations, but I don't mind, the music is beautiful, and they are so talented to play an accordian!! Those things are difficult. Anyway, when I heard the beautiful tunes that the accordian played, I thought of it as my personal Beirut show, right there on the metro in Lyon.

Have a listen to the song "Nantes," it is great!

For those who are wondering how school is moving along, I went to my second school today to meet the teachers. This school is just around the corner and much smaller, so I won't spend nearly as much time here as I will the other. The teachers again we VERY nice. One teacher offered to meet me later in the day to show me where I can find the "MLIS" - the library of books and images. This place is awesome!!! Here I can find children's books in english =) so then I can bring to class to read/show to the kids. This is perfect because I was worried since I brought no books from home - this should be a huge help. En plus, there is a floor of images and paintings!! They also hold mini exhibitions - very cool. The teacher who took me said that I am welcome to take the images out to bring to the schools.

A couple short highlights that I just wanted to share:

* I bought a fresh baguette from a boulangerie today to make a sandwich with, and oh my gosh, it was the best baguette I have ever had. I am getting a fresh one everyday! They are only 0.85 centimes, so I find it worth it. It was warm, fluffy, soft and a bit sweet. =)

* I have now spent two days talking to French adults at the schools now for about 2 hours each day and it seriously just puts a smile on my face.. Even though my progression with the language is slow, each day I understand more, and after my conversations, I litteraly walk away with a smile and walking with a slight bounce. haha

* Lastly, The San Francisco Giants are the NL WEST CHAMPIONS!!!!! WOOO HOOOO!!!!!!! Off to the playoffs. I see that Tim Lincecum is pitching the next game against the Braves =) exciting! I wish I could go! Best luck to my favorite team back home!! =) Let this be our year!!

SF GIANTS FOR THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!

David Guetta welcomes me to France

2010-10-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

I am sure you all already know this song, but I didn't hear it until I arrived in France and it has become THE song that will always remind me of this time of my life.. I think that higher forces planned it like this because I automatically associate David Guetta with France anyway, and of course Mr. Guetta would not reveal a song like this to me until I was in his own country. ha.

Let me give you a little update on how my work life in France is going so far. So I am working in two primary schools, one of which I visited today and another that I will visit tomorrow. Today I met the staff of teachers that I will be working with and they were all very nice =) Tomorrow I will do the same at the other school. Thursday and Friday will be the days that I meet the children. Next week I have orientation and so the week after will be when I actually begin teaching I believe. Today I started babysitting...

.......

those ellipses are to interpret my sighs and loss for words.

So the littlest one, Baptiste (age 3) WAS A HANDFUL!!!!!! It is so hard because I don't know how to properly tell him to behave in French.. Of course I can use English with him and he understands that I am mad, but otherwise I don't know what to do. He would not listen to me when I would tell him to stop, then he would run from me and throw himself on the floor.. my goodness, I was so embarrassed because I am sure people were looking at me in public and thinking, "Straighten that kid out!" I am so glad I don't have kids of my own yet.. after only 2 hours of babysitting him, I was already tired... actually exhausted. I give true props to single moms. I do not know how they do it.

I wish I had a camera to take pictures and post them for you =( That is one of the reasons I posted the David Guetta video, it is just more interesting to look at something. When I get paid, I am going to buy a camera and take many pictures for your little eyes to see! =)

A Guido Frenchie? ..yes.

2010-10-01T06:19:00.000-07:00

I would like to address the cilché of going to France and falling in love.

I believe it is false.

Of course, I did not come here with the notion that I would fall in love, however, the liklihood of that happening seems slim to none - at least with a Frenchman. I have been to France twice now and up until this point, no Frenchmen have caught my eye. I was on the phone with my friend Melissa and we were actually discussing this subject. In Toulon and here in Lyon, we both do not see attractive men!! These are the faults we find in Frenchmen:

1) They are tiny (skinny and short) and feminine. I mean, usually I am into skinny guys, but their pointy shoes, skinny jeans and scarves are not very flattering or attractive to the female eye.

2) There is this awful track suit trend. What guy wears a tracksuit? Well, 1) Jay from modern family or 2) ghetto French dudes.

3) The existence of the Guido Frenchmen (I give Melissa credit for coining the guido term for the French). They put obscene amounts of gel in their hair, wear diamonds in their ears and chains around their necks. Many of these guidofrancais wear the tracksuits too.

Are we in the wrong parts of France to find this clichéd love? Or is it just too good to be true.

Highlights on my rainy day.

2010-09-30T06:19:00.000-07:00

It is a rainy day in Lyon and I don't have much to do, alors naturally, I come to MacDo for some wifi thievery. =)

The day is still young, but I thought I would tell you a couple of highlights so far.

1) On my walk to MacDo I saw some graffiti on a wall, which some might find ugly according to its monochrome scribble, but it read "Jusqu'au la mort, et même après. Je t'aime." The fact that it is written in French alone makes it pretty, but in English it means, "Until death, and even after. I love you." My heart became warm and I smiled. I can't wait till I find that one person who is searching for the same thing I am searching for. (Sorry for the mushiness. =| Now on to more uplifting highlights)

2) Modern Family. If any of you don't know what Modern Family is, it is a television program on ABC, Wednesday nights I believe. Anyway, one season has already passed, but the new season started last night. YOU MUST WATCH IT. It is by far the best show I have ever seen (well, with the OC as an exception hehe.) I had to download the lastest episode on iTunes because websites that stream the show do not work outside of the U.S. I immediately watched the episode, in MacDo of course, and it was one of the best episodes I have seen. Haha. I was cracking up OUT LOUD in McDonalds and everyone was staring at me.. love it. This show reminds me so much of my relationship with my family - so dear family, WATCH IT!! ;)

Address.

2010-09-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

It has taken me long enough to get my France address, but here it is:

Mallory Venema
132 Rue Anatole France
Villeurbanne, 69100, France.

If you want to send me mail, care packages, postcards from the states, I will gladly accept! ;) hehe And if you want anything mailed to you as well, just let me know. I love browsing postcards. You can just comment on this post or write me on facebook to tell me your request and address!

P.S.
MacDo.. aka: McDonalds has free wifi in France. I totally forgot! hehe =) Also, their food is better here - It doesn't make me sick... In conclusion, many of my blogposts might come from McDonalds.

In France.. McDonalds sells macaroons.
love it.

Toulon, France... but more importantly, Melissa Hernandez.

2010-09-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

I have had the wonderful opportunity of visiting my dear friend, Melissa Hernandez, in the south of France this weekend! =D I took the train from Lyon to Toulon Saturday afternoon (it took only a little over 2 hours) and met Melissa at the train station. She was so cute - she was paying for something at a cash register, when I snuck up behind her to tickle her and when she saw me, she shed tears of excitement! =) teehee, I guess I have that effect on people ;) Naw, really though, it was SOOO exciting and so refreshing to see her beautiful face. Two weeks without seeing her after 9 months of seeing her everyday was killer.

Melissa has taken me around her Marine city of Toulon - which sits on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, where we explored the tiny streets, le marché en plein air (open air market), seaport souvenir shops and any other thing that is very "french." Below are some pictures that we took today while adventuring out in Toulon.

Beautiful, classic French apartments that lay just above the public shops.

THE HIGHLIGHT of Melissa's day. Haha. We were walking around the marché, when we saw this classy old french man, walking around with his cane, fedora and none other but a GOLD DOLLAR SIGN necklace. haha. I take full credit for the very very sneaky work that this picture took to take.

Here lies the Toulon marine base on the Mediterranean Sea - apparently it is the largest military base in France.

Melissa and I enjoyed our first crêpe together in France =) It was SPECTACULAR. And I dedicate my pose in this picture to my friend, Clark Barbieri. ;) Be proud.. and jealous.

Et voila, an up close of the crêpe. Inside were fried bananas, chocolate and kirsch. Mmmm..

Melissa lookin' good with her captain's hat.

And this is more proof that Toulon is a large port city.. with all the striped baby sailor clothes. Very cute.

To end our day we went to the cinemas and saw the American film, The Town. The movie was in French.. unfortunately.. and with no subtitles. Melissa and I understood the gist of the movie and we both concluded that it was probably a really good movie.. BUUUUUT we couldn't understand it. haha. When we came home, we googled the synopsis, and we did, however, understand the movie, but I would like to see it again.. in English of course. Fun fact for everyone, Jeremy Renner - Jem, the supporting actor - grew up in Modesto, CA and I know his half brother!!

Anyway, tomorrow is my last day with Melissa, sadly =( but we are going to the beach, so that should be fun.

À plus tard, mes petites canards.

;) (French equivalent to "See you later alligator.")

My Saving Grace.. BD en bulles.

2010-09-23T04:29:00.000-07:00

So I arrived in Lyon 2 days ago, and why is it only NOW that I am making a post? Well, it is because I do not have internet at my apartment. BAAHh, it is the WORST!! Anyway, thank goodness that I am already familiar with Lyon and I knew of this internet cafe from my last trip here. My friend Sam and I would come here all the time, and it is still as hip as I remember- the japanese-looking cartoon drawings on the wall, the smell of croque-monsieur and coffee, and the same heavy-set, yet stylish, short-haired girl at the counter to take my euros.

Things have been okay so far. I got to see my friend Mathea, which was probably my highlight of yesterday. It is really hard because I don't really have anyone to hang with yet, and because I still suck at French, I don't really talk to anyone. My housemate, Claudia, is really sweet and she speaks English, but I don't see her often because she goes to school in the daytime. Fortunately, this weekend I am going to visit my lovely Melissa in Toulon =) I can't wait!! Also, things should get better after next week, I am going to start babysitting these two adorable boys, ages 6 and 3, and then school will start.

Until I can get internet again,
Mallory. =)

Another Adventure?

2010-09-15T18:15:00.000-07:00

So, as you see, I never began my French cooking adventure.. I mean, I began it, but failed miserably and just gave up. Bla. That is besides the point, however, I can't believe I have not shared this yet.. I am moving back to Lyon, France!! And when I say I am moving back.. I mean, I am leaving in 5 days. Holy moly.

Some background info:

*In Januray I applied to be a Teaching Assistance for the English language. This is a job, NOT another study abroad program, and it is through the National Ministry of Education in France.
*In April or so, I was notified that I was put on a waitlist, which really bummed me out. =(
*One month later, the program pulled me off the waitlist and placed me in my number ONE choice city, the great Lyon. =)

Over the past months I have not prepared at all.. of course, what do you expect of someone who got her degree in Procrastination? lol I did, however, have an AMAZING summer. I spent it in the beautiful Palos Verdes, CA with the the lovely Melissa Hernandez (check her blog out too:http://melissagoesfrench.blogspot.com/). My summer was filled with beaches, sunsets, best friends, Disneyland, weddings, stargazing and concerts. Possibly the best summer ever.

Anyway, now it is crunch time for France. I will be teaching in Villeurbanne (a community just outside the center of Lyon) and I am placed at two different elementary schools. The age group of kids that I will be teaching is ages 8-11. Age 8 is when Frenchies begin to learn English, so lets hope they are eager and enthusiastic! I have no experience in teaching at all, so this is definitely going to be a new kind of adventure for me! I embark this Monday, September 20.. so I will be sure to fill you all in on all things worthy once I am there.

Wish me luck! =) and a Bon Voyage.

Une Cuisinier Francaise

2010-03-12T10:41:00.000-08:00

C'est moi!

I have decided to come back to blogging about my french life! I initially started my blog to document my experiences while studying in Lyon, France, which I did, but YOU GUYS, my french life did not stop there! I love france, I love the language, the culture, the art and the food! When I came back to the states, I started my winter quarter back at UCLA with 2 french courses so I can continue learning the language. Now the quarter is over and it was a sucess =) Next quarter I am taking another french course so I can continue to master this beautiful language.

Well, my new adventure, or project, whatever you want to call it, is to begin documenting my French food experiments. My lovely roommate, Melissa, brought home a cook book called "Barefoot in Paris" and the moment I opened in and read the first page, I started freaking out. Every recipe in that book brings me back to my time in France, so it is a MUST that I attempt to make all the recipies in that book! =) Okay, I guess you can kind of say that I am a little inspired by the blogging success of Julie in the movie, Julie and Julia, but I am not execting her publishing success, more so the success that Julie had at accomplishing all those amazing recipies! =) I am not much of a cook, but I have been sincerely trying to accomplish the skill while I am in college so I will be well-experienced later in life.. you know what I mean! ;)

Even though I just discovered this book, I am started now. Cheese puffs. I have all the ingredients and it doesn't take long to make! My next blog will be the outcome.

Thanks! =)
Bonne chance, Mallory.

Les Dernieres Jours

2009-12-19T14:40:00.000-08:00

This last week in France has been crazy.

Stressful.

Emotional.

Memorable.

Magical.

Beautiful.

Etc...

All week I was stressing because I had finals and a big paper to write, but it all ended with the best. After class on Friday our test ended so quickly and right after, Herve (our "sexy" prof haha) was ready to say goodbye and everyone started to leave... I all of a sudden got really sad and started balling haha. It was the saddest thing to give everyone a hug goodbye. When you spend nearly every day with these people for 4 months, it is heartbreaking to walk away, never knowing if you will see eachother again. =(

But for the positive... Friday morning, when I left the house to go to school, everything was covered in snow!! Of course I have been to the snow many times in my life, but to actually wake up and experience the whole snow overnight thing was just amazing!! I walked to the bus stop, and I kid you not, I was giggling and skipping. I was just so excited!! haha It was seriously the best thing that could have happened on the last day..

Today, Sam, Katie and me (aww the 3 of us.. it was just like in the begining) went out to have our last lunch at the St. James. We shared stories, played our last games of "Perfect Match" and frolicked in the snow!! =) Like I said, it could have not ended any better than having Lyon covered in snow!! AH! I loved it! =)

Also, tonight I had my last dinner with my family. =,( I am was so blessed to have lived with them. They were so nice, so generous, so hospitable.. just the best family that I could have had. I was able to have such an awesome experience thanks to them! I really don't want to leave =( I cried 3 times today already haha.. But it isn't sooo bad, because I know that I am going to come back next year ;)

THIS WAS THE BEST 4 MONTHS OF MY LIFE!

I LOVE FRANCE.

I LOVE FRENCH.

I LOVE ALL MY FRIENDS THAT I MADE HERE.

VOUS ALLEZ ME MANQUER.

VIVE LA FRANCE.

and since you soon.

Le dernier voyage a Paris

2009-12-14T12:43:00.000-08:00

I spent this weekend in Paris with my host family and it was great! =)

It was cool because since my host mom is from Paris, I was able to enjoy it differently than the average touriste. I actually did NO touristy things (well almost). The first day we hung out with my mom's friend Judith. She had private invitations to some boutiques around Paris and I got to go with her and Anne! =) It was so awesome! This boutique sale we went to was filled with about 60 different designers who were selling their couture clothes, accessories and home decor. It was such a cool experience. And I bought some Christmas presents here for a couple of people back home, so be as excited as I was please!! haha.

Ew.. (this is for Anne haha) um.. this day for lunch, everyone (expect me) ate the head of a pig.. and when I say head, I don't mean it was just meat from the head, I mean the HEAD was on the table. The most disgusting display of "food" I have ever seen. Look:

Yea.. anyway.. That is Nicolas (Judith's husband) who thought that it was funny that I was grossed out by this haha. Because I am "in France" I had to try this "French specialty," but after the first bite, I denied the rest haha. Judith's daughter was hilarious, she kept looking and the pieces she was eating (i: the eye and the meat around the jaw and teeth EEWW!!!) and she was saying "Oh, c'est beau ca!" translation: Oh, this is beautiful! Haha she probably said it 10 times, no joke.

Sunday I woke up and it was snowing in Paris! =) It didn't last long, but it was the perfect moment! I then hung out with Anne, Jean-Marc and Zoe (all my family) and we went to le Sacre-Coeur and walked around Montmartre.

Anne also took me to the Galerie Lafayette because the huge Paris mall has special decorations for Christmas time.. The showcase windows were absolutely fabulous! Look:

OH!! And I went to the best second-hand thrift store I have ever been to in my life!! I'm a bit low on the cash, so I didn't buy anything, but it is a MUST that when I come back to Paris, I visit this thrift store! It is on la rue des Martyrs. Dont Forget! ;)

I'm so glad that I got to go to Paris one more time before I go home. I go home in 6 days now. These passed four months have past by way too quickly.

As they say, Je t'aime, Paris!

My weekend in Geneve, Switzerland.

2009-12-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

December 4, 5 and 6 2009. Geneve, Switzerland and the French border.

This weekend was one of the best weekends of my life, seriously. I have two friends (french friends) named Mathéa and Gaby who I have been very happy to meet while my stay here in France. They both live next to Genève and invited me and my friend Meg over to their houses for the weekend. It was absolutely beautiful! Mathéa took me and Meg to Genève Saturday where we saw the beautiful Alpes over Lake Léman and the Geneve L'Escalade festival =)

Mathea, me and Meg

Sunday morning was magical. First Meg and I took a walk in the open countryside of France with Mathea's momma (sweetest little thing) and we were sounded by open fields of grass and snowy Alpes. One of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. It was like a dream. When we came back, we drank homemade swiss hot choclate (by Coki, Mathea's mom) in front of the fire and sang French songs =) Mathea and her mom are so talented. At first they sang a song called, "Dis, quand reviendras-tu?" harmonizing with her mom playing the guitar; it made me cry, one because it was so pretty but also because at that moment I really realized how much I was going to miss France. Please listen to the video below. It is of Meg, Gaby, Coki and Mathea singing a famous French song called "Tous les garçons et les filles." This was worth the whole weekend to me.

I love France too much.

2009-12-06T17:05:00.000-08:00

All I wanted from my experience in France were 2 things: Become fluent, and figure out what I wanted to do with my life...

Well I have got more or less than that. I am not fluent, unfortuneately, and I still don't know what to do with my life. However, I have made some real awesome friends, I have had the opportunity to see more of Europe than I thought that I would have ever seen. It has been an experience of a life time that I do not want to end. I only have 2 weeks left from today til I will be home in California, and don't get me wrong, I am excited to come home (I wanna see my family and friends), but I am so terribly sad to leave.

If I have any idea what my next step is after school, I would like to return to France and teach English in the elementary schools here. I am not finished with this place. Il faut que je doive revenir a la France. Mega emphasis. I will be fluent someday. C'est "Le Fabuleux Destin de Mallory Venema."

London Bridge is falling down... but I never saw it.

2009-11-29T12:50:00.000-08:00

In 2005, I left a piece of my heart in London, so this past weekend I went to go get it back! =)

Who went? Me, Sam, Mathea, Gabi and Lily. (The 3 girls are our wonderful and adorable french friends)

When did we go? Thursday night, Friday, Saturday, got home Sunday morning.

Where did we stay? Hottananny's Hostel.. haha. This hostel had some crazy Rasta party to welcome us at 12:30AM friday morning and continued to keep up this reputation every night. Louie, our 23 year old French British "man in charge," was legit. We shared a room with a Polish family and their 27 year old son tried so hard to hit on me Mathea and Gabi.. haha eww..

What did our trip consist of? Well, Friday Sam and I went to Oxford because he had an interview with Dr. Parkin aka: really legit "man in charge" who is going ot admit Sam into Oxford for Grad school.. also, I wanted to see the real Hogwarts.. Many of you may be thinking, WHAT?! The Real Hogwarts!?! Yes, its true. Many scenes in Harry Potter were filmed at Oxford.
The dining hall was used in the first film, but due to the director's misunderstanding that students eat 3 times a day in the hall, they had to build their own set, but it was still modeled after this dining hall!! =) Also, Lewis Carrol, writer of Alice in Wonderland, attended this school and some of the scenes he wrote were also indspired by things at Oxford, aka: I saw the gold Queen's heads on top on poles in the fireplace (in the dining room).

Also, this large courtyard was used for some outside scenes on the Hogwarts school campus. Other scenes were filmed here too, but I don't have pictures of them (ie: the wall with writing that the Chamber of Secrets has been open, etc..)

Saturday, Sam and I attempted to go to Stonehenge, =( but it didn't happen. As you all know, my money situation is not the greatest, so a 50 pound train ticket was no agreeable with me. Instead we went to the AWESOME free museums =) The National Gallery and the British Museum.
I saw for the second time =) one of my fav. paintings.

Jan Van Eyck's Arnolfini Wedding Portrait.. also Bronzino's An Allegory with Venus and Cupid. =) At the British Museum we saw the oh-so-controversial and very famous Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon, along with the Rosetta Stone which is the only artifact that has ever helped us crack Heiroglyphics.

Apart from our museum trips, we hung out with the other 3 girls and went to Camden Town. Camden Town has this awesome cheap market with so many awesome clothes, shoes, accesories, you name it.. I LOVED it naturally, however, it made me depressed because I couldn't buy anything. boo =(

I think that it is very necessary to add pictures from out TUBE trips. =) Enjoy the following:

AKA: Everything I saw in the TUBE that got me really excited. ;)

I also rode a Double Decker red bus at 5AM... I felt like I was on the Knight Bus in the Prisonser of Azkaban .. ;)

And p.s.. France has style.. classy style.. but LONDON knows where the FASHION is at, let me just tell ya. geesh.

les choses qui vont me manquer

2009-11-24T15:26:00.000-08:00

I have 26 more days in France, and it feels like I got here 2 weeks ago. =(

I'm begining to make note of the things that I am going to miss here. The following are just a few that have stood out recently:

1) The little song "da Da DA da" at the begning of SNCF announcements. SNCF is the company name for the French train stations and at every train station in France, this lady comes over the announcement giving details about arriving and departing trains. The announcement is introduced with a little song and it is SO ANNOYING.. however, I am truly going to miss it once I am gone =(

2) Lyon is absolutely beautiful at night. The reflection of the buildings and lights off of Le Rhone is breathtaking. I have also taken for granted the gorgeous Fourvriere Cathedral... I see it everyday and treat it as if it just sits up on the hill acting as the water tower in Oakdale.. =(

3) The luxury of walking into a beautifully displayed patisserie and getting greeted with "Messieurs, Mesdames, Bonjour!" by the same lady every time... then proceeding to buy an absolutely declicious maracroon or tarte.

However, I will NOT EVER miss the French Arabs and their disgusting ways of "picking up".. I will punch the next Arab that says to me, "Bonsoir fille."

My Eclipse experience.

2009-11-21T01:38:00.000-08:00

I finished reading the book Eclipse last night. =) Um.. this is what I think about it:
I almost cried like 3 times haha Only because I love Edward Cullen so much and I wish that he would ask me to marry him! I hate Jacob Black. haha. Okay, hate is a strong word, but in real life, if I knew the guy, I would tell him that he did this to himself and should have not gotten in between Bella and Edward's relationship!! UGH! haha Althouh, because I haven't yet read all the books, I don't know if Jacob "imprinted" Bella or not, so I don't know how much he could have helped being destined with her.. But still, even if that is the case, I still choose Team Edward. Some may think that I choose him just because of my ridiculous infatuation with Robert Pattinson, but no really, Edward's character is perfect and second he happens to be played by Robert... haha jk. ;) I also do not like Bella Swan, I cannot believe that that girl just thought that she could cheat on a perfect man like Edward!! Wow! stupid girl. I don't understand how Stephenie Meyer just decided to have Bella love Jake back. I feel like she wrote Bella's character as never loving Jacob romantically, and then all of a sudden, she did.. it was a bit weird. I guess it made for a better book, I don't know.

All I DO know, is that I am going to get Breaking Dawn today so I can figure out what Robert Pattinson is going to do at the end of this story haha.

ECLIPSE MOVIE:
So, this movie was directed my a different director that New Moon. Its weird that they are changing directors for every movie, because they are all going to be so different than each other.. but maybe this is a good thing. (I hope) Anyway, the director is David Slade. He hasn't directed much, mostly music videos and 2 other films than Eclipse. If any of you have seen Hard Candy, he directed that. I liked that movie, but it was a bit weird and twisted. Apparently he is going to bring a real dark edge to this third Twilight. I really hope its great! It comes out June 30, 2010. SO SOON!! Im so stoked!

New Moon :: Tentation

2009-11-19T13:05:00.000-08:00

I want to blog about New Moon before it is released all over the world.

Last night, November 18, I had the opportunity to see New Moon. =D Two days before the states, so naturally, I want to proclaim this haha. Because I saw it in France, it had French subtitles, and was called Tentation (meaning "temptation") but that did not interfere at all with the movie being more than satisfying. =)

I absolutely loved New Moon. Because there was a new director, it is so different! But different in a good way. I felt like the level of fantasy was raised, which was cool because Twilight didn't have any element of fantasy to it. . . however I'm still not sure how I feel about that that because I think the reason I liked Twilight so much was because it was real, or seemed real to me at least. I want to go see it again though, and maybe I will change my mind lol. I think that Kristen Stewart did such a better job acting this time. I just feel like I could relate with her when she was without Edward. Her depression, emptiness and thought that Edward was never coming back was so convincing.. I loved the scenes where she would scream in her bed. Someone told me that they hated that part because they thought it was a little extreme, but I disagree, I feel like that would really happen in real life. I pretty much almost cried like 3 times in the movie haha I didn't, but I almost did...

I am pleased to see that there were also some really cheesy parts in the movie that made the crowd laugh.. What would Twilight be without really cheesy quotes? haha So.. Jasper Hale.. poor guy. There is a quote at the end of the movie that was just ridiculous haha Bella is asking the Cullens if they will agree to make her a vampire, and Jasper says something like "Yes, so I won't always want to kill you..." my goodness.. really script writer? It might not be that funny quoted, but you should have seen the actors face when he said it.. lol. Also, poor Mike Newton.. the actor gained like 25 lbs and looked like a creepy 40 yr old man haha Plus his character his super cheesy anyway, so I just felt like the actor got the short end of the stick for this movie. =| bummer.

Just a few more comments: I absolutely love the soundtrack. love love love it. Every song. Kristen Stewart actually looked pretty in this movie. Angela looked really good too. I don't think I like how the vampires look more like vampires ... the make-up was a but different, which wasn't bad, but the contacts were a more extreme yellow and I just feel like it was too noticeable if they are supposed to be in the real world... and they all looked older to me =| I hope they can keep them all from aging by the Breaking Dawn movie. Umm.. I am not a fan of Jacob Black p.s. Yea, his body is nice, and it looks like he would be very nice to hug lol BUT I just don't like how he thinks that he can just step in between the love of Edward and Bella.. but that is the book, not the movie, so that is the end of that. I just love Edward Cullen.. I want my own Edward Cullen. =|

Enjoy the movie U.S. =)

La France, la gastronomique capital du monde.

2009-11-17T11:35:00.000-08:00

The subject of this blog addresses France as the capital of the art and science of food (gastronomy). If you did not know this as a fact, you know now. In addition, apparently Lyon is the gastronomic capital of France (according to many references on my google search engine), however I would have to disagree with this because then wouldn't that make Lyon the gastonomic capital of the entire world? and I will tell you that I have not had "the best" food here in Lyon... that was in Italy. ;) yea yea.

I am discussing this issue because France has really got there act together when it comes to cheese (fromage in french) and I haven't even discussed the wonderful chesses (besides the Raclette) that I have had here. To be honest, I can't even describe them all because there are so many! But believe me when I tell you that I am not even that big of a chesse fan in America, but here I am!

So different kinds of cheeses are produced all over this country and the names for the cheeses are taken after the region from where they come.. Some of you may have already known this, but Brie is a region as well as Camambert, Roquefort and Beaufort. I once tried Chevre (goat cheese) that had raisins in it... and another Chevre with chuncks of pepper, my goodness, it was the best flavored cheese of my life!! Chevre with honey is amazing as well!! mmmm.. There is this restaurant in Lyon called "l'epicerie" that sells specialty "tartines," which are basically pieces of toast (good toast from homemade bread, not like a loaf of wonder bread put in the toaster), and they put different cheeses, meats etc.. but the one that is my favorite is the tartine with melted chevre and honey.. SO AMAZING!!

The best part though is that my host mom made fondue last night, and to any of you who ever tried the fondue at the Nutcraker in Oakdale will know what Im talking about... her fondue was the best fondue that I have ever had. . . It beat the Nutcracker.. It had the same delicious strong flavor, but it wasn't as heavy as the Nutcraker and you could tell that it was made with real cheese and not processed Velveeta lol. It was so good!

I wish I could take some of the cheeses over to the states for my dad to try, cause he loooooves cheese, but I don't think I can do that unfortunately. =|

Fun Fact:
When the surrealist painter Salvador Dali came to New York for the first time he described it as being "A gothic Roquefort!" Here is a picture of Roquefort cheese:

Its a blue cheese, that apparently reminds Salvador Dali of New York lol I don't know why.. maybe because the gothic adjective denotes the tall and complex buildings in NY and the strong moldy cheese denotes diversity and strong personalities? lol I dont know. But I thought it was a fun fact.

Passion Pit in Lyon

2009-11-11T15:48:00.000-08:00

This is me with Passion Pit's set list that I stole from the stage tonight and got told, "This is my stage love, can you please get off.." haha why do I always get kicked out/off of things haha

Anyway.. Passion Pit (awesome band from Massechusettes) came to Lyon tonight =D It was so much fun! They played such an awesome show! I have never seen so many Americans in one spot in France before though haha The band that opened was called the Kissaway Trail, they were really good too.. check them out!

I love a crowd that gets down boogey.

(Paris, Rome, Florence pics coming soon. Im sorrrry.. Im lazy.)

p.s. Not only was today a holiday for America, but France celebrates it too. No school or work for peeps today. It is called Armistice Day.. celebration for the day the world war II ended.. cool huh? Its like a worldly holiday. ;) i

Best week of my life in a nutshell.

2009-11-09T11:32:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I haven't written in 2 weeks! Man do I have a trip to write about.

I must pick up from where I left off. Last thing that I wrote about were our problems with trains and meg's baggage, but after such terrible things, we had the most successful trip of my life. I had told you, however, that we were leacing Monday for Florence.. weellll, Meg and I were only slightly irresponsible and missed that train haha yea, I know, how could we have done that?! Well, we were determined to go somewhere because we had stayed in Lyon for 3 nights already, so we went to the train station and begged the nice French later to get us somewhere, she said that it was impossible again to go anywhere, but after talking to her for about 20 minutes, she agreed to fit us on a full train to Paris that was leaving in 20 minutes... of coures, we took it. So that Monday, when we were supposed to go to Florence, we went to Paris. Then we made a reservation for an over night train to Rome Wednesday night.

When we got to Paris, it was 8:30, we had no idea what to do or where to go so we romed around for a while until we found an internet cafe where we could google hostels. We found one that Katie had recomended and then we went on search for it. Oh my dear, the search was awful. I think Meg and I walked around Paris for probably 2 miles until we finally found the hostel, by this time is was past midnight. We had some issues getting in because obviously at last minutes, the hostel was booked, but our dear friend at the counter hooked us up and gave us a private room for the price of a 4 person dorm room.. YES! Meg and I spent our first day in Paris on a free tour of the city where we saw everthing and got to climb the Eiffel Tower at night! The next day we went to the Louvre where I got to see my favorite sculpture (Nike of Samothrace) and the Musee d'Orsay where I got to see works by two of my favorite painters (Edouard Manet and Vincent Van Gogh) aaaaammmaazing!

Wednesday night we took an overnight train to Rome where I had the worst sleep that I have ever had in my entire 21 years of living.. seriously. The cabins fit 6 people and the beds are stacked on top of eachother like a bunk bed with 3 beds would be. I was on the bottom and the bed or whatever you want to call it, sunk it diagonally so I was like falling into a crevice. It was freezing, the pillow was about square foot and I hated it... lol but we arrive in Rome at 10 AM and didn't even know that we were in for the biggest treat of our lives! =] Meagan's mommy was the sweetest thing ever and bought us two nights at a hotel in Rome so we would havent to search, pay or stay in some crummy place for two more nights. That day Meg and I walked all over Rome! It was shockingly small enough to be able to walk everywhere!! But I guess that makes sense because when the Romans were buidling awesome monuments like the Coleseum and Pantheon, they pretty much walked everywhere too, so they kept everything close ;) I cannot even explain in words how amazing it was to see Rome. Everywhere you turn there is history and beauty.. my goodness, it was incredible. Seriously, when I saw the Coleseum at a distance all lit up (it was the first time) I like freaked out and ran towards it haha. I could not shut up about how pretty and surreal it was. The next day we woke up early and went to the Vatican. =] You know Renaissance painting everywhere! =D Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel and Raphel's "School of Athens".. unreal. There was also this Dadism/Surrealism exposition at a museum in Rome that I went into a saw Marcel Duchamps famous toilet ("Fountain") haha which was prettty cool!

The next morning we left for Florence (730AM) so we arrive there around 9AM where we imediately settled in and set off for the Florence Cathedral. The church was so pretty! I would have never imagined it to be that pretty in real life! It was so colorful with marble and the designs were far more elaborate that it ever looked in pictures! The facade reminded us a lot of "Its a Small World" ride at Disneyland lol. Anyway, we walk to the very top of Brunelleshci's dome! AH! =] so cool and look out over Tuscany Florence (beautiful) Then we went off to the Galleria dell'Academia. . . do you know what is there? The giant, the perfect, the beautiful white marble sculpture of David.. now that was a dream. Seriously. I walked around the corner and there he was alluminated under this globed ceiling, it was so great! Then that night, since it was Halloween, we went to this club called "Space Electronica" and hahaha my goodness, this was that icing to our cake.. Space club was so legit.. they were playing awesome music, there were hundreds of people there dressed up for Halloween, there were like 3 levels and Meg and I met some hottie Australians.. lol it was just a lot of fun. We left the next morning, sadly, but very pleased with our trip.

I know that was kind of long, but I still didn't include all details. I do find it very important, however, to note some of the best things we found in Italy.

1) Best Lasagna
2) Best Tiramisu
3) Best Gelato times 5
4) Best Capuccinos and Lattes
5) Not best pizzza =( unfortunate
6) Best Club
7) Best leather gloves (which I bought in Florence.. so classy.)
8) Best water

hmm.. and I actually think there is more.. but this blog is already days long. Pictures will appear in a seperate blog! Yay!

I LOVE ITALY!

Des problèmes.

2009-10-24T03:41:00.000-07:00

Hey!

So between yesterday and today, there have been a few obstacles, but things are coming together slowly lol.

It began with trying to find Meagan at the airport. I went to the airport at 2:00Pm, expecting to see her at 2:20 just after her flight came in, however, I didn't know which gate she was coming in from and so I ran around the airport for about an hour and a half trying to find her. I started to freak out because I didn't know if I would ever find her and I didn't know if she remembered to take my cell phone number with her so she could contact me, so I pretty much just prayed that somehow she would call me.. and thank God, she did =] After I found Meg, I learned that the airport had lost her baggage, and boy has that created a huge bump in our road =[ It is really frustrating because the airport told her that they would get the bags to her last night, but here we are the next day at noon and we still don't know where her bags are. Thank goodness that we actually didn't leave for Italy today because she would have not had ANYthing, one pair of everything she was wearing and that was it.

Other than the continuing problem with the baggage, we have had problems with our traveling plans as well. As hinted above, we were supposed to leave for Florence, italy today, but we waited till last minute to reserve a seat on the train and it was impossible to book due to the France holiday "Tous Saintes" right now.. ugh!! So we looked for trains on Sunday as well, but it still was impossible. Today we woke up really early and went to the train station to be able to ride up to Paris today and then maybe Monday leave from Paris to Italy, but that didn't work either, thanks to the holiday. The very very nice man at the train station, however was such a great help, I excercised my french ;) and he gave us all our travel options. We ended up booking a train to Florence Monday night, arriving there Tuesday morning, so this is very good!!! Now the only problem is that we are still trying to find a way to Paris (just so meg can see the city while she is here) but we cant do ANYTHING until her stupid luggage gets here! I am so iritated with the airport because she has called them like 5 times and they can't give her any information other than "its coming".... but when AIRfrance when!?! You are holding us up!

lol.. sorry I'm irritated. I hope nonr of you ever have to experience an airport losing your bags.

Well, wish us luck to our potential destinations! =] If we are stuck in Lyon til Monday, that is not bad because it means we save money and Meg gets to explore Lyon, HOWEVER, I want to see Paris and Italy!! lol

Until next time, Ciao...
Mallory

[Dommage.] mais une semaine en Italy.

2009-10-22T14:38:00.001-07:00

I just realized that after next week, I am going to be completely broke.

hmm...

Despite that.. I shall enjoy every bit of my Italy trip with Meagan. =] This is a dream come true for me =] Pray for us that we will be safe and have the most successful trip!

Until November 2 =]

LOVE, MALLORY. (its in color hehehe)

Vous voyez.. En Europe..

2009-10-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

I think that one of my favorite things about being in France is that other AMAZING countries are right next door! =]

You see, in Europe, it is still expensive to travel, but extremely less expensive from the states and extremely quicker! I love it! =] So I am taking advantage of my wonderful stay in France and travel to the following places in the last two months I have here:

Italy (Florence and Rome): Next week.
Paris: Next Week, and hopefully again before Im outta here.
Chamonix/Mont Blanc/Geneva: Weekend of Nov 20. (tentative)
London/Oxford: Nov 26-30 =]

Amazing, right? I would love to go to Amsterdam, but that is just a bit more expensive than I was hoping for.. but its okay, because look at those other amazing places Im going!! Yippee!! =]

Stay tuned for pictures from the previously mentioned cities!

And I would like to welcome my lovely friend Meagan to France in less than 2 days! =D

Les Raclettes et les amis.

2009-10-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

After 8 weeks or so of being in France, I have finally made some French friends!! woo! haha And thanks to my friend Sam! So Mathea, one of my new friends, met Sam in Berkeley when she was studying there this past year, but she lives in Lyon now and she contacted him when she heard that he was studying in Lyon. She invited me and Sam over for dinner and I met 4 other really nice girls also! It was so much fun and of course I had the benefit of practicing my french! Always a plus.

So Mathea made us something called "raclettes," which is like a French speciality or something and it goes a little something like this:

You melt a lot cheese and pour it on potatoes and meats (like salami, ham ect "charcuterie").

Amazing right?! haha It was seriously so tasty!

So anyway, I have been planning to go to London ever since I got here and these girls want to come with for the trip!! I am really excited cause they are really fun!

Un week-end à Lyon - l'art et amis.

2009-10-18T13:30:00.000-07:00

Hey friends,

I stayed in Lyon this weekend and it was pretty exciting! I had the opportunity of doing a couple things that I haven't done yet so that is really good.

Katie's family (aunt, uncle and cousin) came to visit her this week, so after school on friday we had lunch with them and then took a walk up to the Fourviere to show them the gorgeous view of Lyon. If I haven't talked about the Fourviere before, it is a 19th century cathedral located up on the hill "fourviere," and you can pretty much spot it from any point in the city. Here is a picture of it off the internet.

I had never been inside the cathedral, but this time around I got the chance and it was great! It is so beautiful inside! There are these two gold and colored mosaics on each side of the walls inside and they were so angelical. The ceiling vaults were so elaborate; I was speeechless. However, when I see then sistine chapel next week in Rome, I am reeeeaaally going to be speechless. I have to prepare myself, I might have a heart attack. lol Here is a picture of the inside of the cathedral.

Saturday I hung out with my friend Sam most of the day. We went to the Musee des Beaux-Arts, which made me really really happy! I had been wanting to go every weekend since I have been here and I am so happy I finally got someone to go with me that enjoys art too! =] There is an awesome exposition there right now featuring major artists from the 20th century! Picasso, Matisse, Bacon, Dufy AKA: movements such as Cubism and Fauvism and other avant-garde and post-world war II depictions. The exposition is amazing! They have over 180 works or something like that! I saw this one painting by Maria Helent Viera da Silva, called "Le Desastre" that I fell in love with. I found this picture of it online, so its hard to see and hard to appreciate. It is a war painting. And the lines that she created are so powerful. From a distance (my friend sam pointed this out) it looks like a shattered glass, and he is right!! You can just feel the sharp lines jabbing you and almost hear the cries from the crowd. LOOK:

Anyway.. I loved it. I need to go back though because we didn't have enough time to really look at the entire exhibit, let alone the whole museum. We then met Katie's family again at a "match au foot" - soccer game - but Lyon lost, so that was a bummer. I saw Clint Eastwood though. Apparetly he is into French football.

Today, Sunday, I hung out with Sam again and we went his friend Mathea's house and watched the UCLA/CAL football game on the internet. It was an unfortunate game for UCLA, but Sam goes to CAL and Mathea once went to Berekly as well, so it was a good game for them.

So tomorrow begins another week of school, but I am really excited because this Friday Meagan is coming!! It is so nice to have someone from home visit! I wish my family could!

Classe au Musée Gallo-Romaines

2009-10-16T09:56:00.000-07:00

Allô!

Thursday was my first day in Art History class here in Lyon. We all met at Place Bellecour and took the funiculaire up the hill to the Musee Gallo-Romain for a little tour and education. =]

In the B.C years and a bit after, the Romans took over this area in France and there are still ruins left in Lyon since then (so awesome right!!!!! eeh =]) This museum is dedicated to roman excavations found here in Lyon. There are columns, mosaics, sarcophogi, peices from the ampitheatres and collesium ect. Located next to the museum are two ampitheatres (one smaller than the other, called an "odean") Here are pictures of them:

This is a picture from the top of the theatre looking down. The flat wood platform is where they would perform plays and the broken columns behind used to extend all the way up with a backdrop, forming a wall, but over the thousands of years, they have been broken.

This is a side picture of the seats of the theatre.

Here is our class sitting on the steps of the theatre. Our professor is in the red coat. She is a pretty hip lady. lol. I like her.

We are so stinkin' lucky to be sitting on these steps. It is amazing to come to a country that has seen so much more history than ours in the states. I can't believe this has been here since 15 B.C. It is absolutely unreal. I love it! =]

Le Lac des Cygnes

2009-10-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

Swan Lake ballet in France. =]

I bought tickets today. Katie, Veronica and I are going November 30. It is going to be amazing! I can't wait!

P.s-
Lyon is freezing right now. Winds at like 15 mph .. ice cold winds. I don't like it.

Cluses, France.

2009-10-13T14:37:00.000-07:00

Bonjour a tous!

Sorry I havent written in a really long time. I get lazy with this thing. So this past weekend was really great and very eventful. Katie and I traveled to a small town called Cluses. It is on the border of Switzerland and France. Very pretty because it is in the mountains and the elevation was so high the the mountains cut through the clouds and it was beautiful! =] We had an interesting weekend but it was awesome so let me try to recap for you:

We left for Cluses on a train, not knowing where we were going to sleep. haha We like to take risks as such in France. We had written down addresses for some places just in case, so we pretty much trusted that we would find a place. Well, we did. As soon as we exited the train station there was a small hotel across the street and we stayed there. Lol. The place has placed such an awesome memory in our minds. I wish I could describe this place. So the owner, or at least I think he was the owner, was a little overweight, he wore tight pants, had the most sassy strut, had an eyebrow ring with pink neon balls on it and his name was David. Not David how we Americans pronounce it, but like the French... "Daaawwwwwveed." ;) haha this guy. Anywho, with David's strut was also techno music in the background as David showed us to our room, it was unforgettable.

The next day we didnt know what to do because Cluses is so dang small with nothing to do, so we took a random train to whatever city. This led us to Annemasse. Ehh... Annemasse was not impressive. We walked the city and ended up at H&M haha something we do in Lyon everyday. After Annemasse, our home train stopped in a place called La Roche sur Foro and we had to stay there for 2 hours. So to pass the time.. we walked around. But fortunately, this place was very cute!! The buildings were adorable, the view of the mountains was gorgeous, there was this church with cool looking stained glass windows ect.. so we enjoyed the time there. The ride on the train was so pleasant. Seeing the French border was just really pretty and serene. Very different from Lyon where it is very "city-like." Yea, Lyon still has its ancient ruins and has it's historic and quaint aspects, but it is still very urban compared to the countryside towns.

So that night was the concert for Coeur de Pirate - the whole reason we went to Cluses in the first place. We enjoyed a jar of Jalopenos before the concert for dinner ;) and then got a free ride to the concert by this really nice lady. The concert was absolutely amazing. Beatrice, the singer/pianist for the band is so talented and she is the cutest little thing ever! Katie and I reallllly enjoyed ourselves! =] We loved it! After the show, we met Beatrice and we talked to her. Apparently she is coming to SF in the spring, which is a huge deal because she is French/Canadian and never tours in the US, but this will be her first time there! So we are going to be friends with her and show her around lol. I know that the trip might have not sounded as interesting as I would have liked for it to sound, but lets just say that I left our details about the game perfect match, free rides, sugar daddies and underaged french boys. haha

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Pretty church. As we walked by we could hear the organ inside. =]

Mountains in La Roche sur Foro

Before the concert with the jalopenos.

Beatrice busting out her talents.

Beatrice singing her cute little heart away.

This last picture is of all the cool things we got in Cluses. Like peanut butter!!!!! You dont understand how rare it is in France! It was a miracle that we found it! Jalopenos... a free Coeur de Pirate poster, her autograph on our tickets, free ice cream from David, tortilla chips and nasty guacomole haha. We loved it.

Un cri pour l'aide

2009-10-06T11:53:00.000-07:00

Salut ma famille et mes amis.

Here we are again, becoming sad because I still suck at French. I don't know, I guess because I have already been here for 6 weeks and I only have about 10 more weeks to go, my lack of progress in the language is worrying me. I just wish that it wasn't so hard for me. Let me tell you, my kids will be put through a second language at a very young age. Actually, I hope that I will be able to speak french and english to my kids so they will learn both and maybe learn a third language early. It is probably one of the most frustrating things in my life to not be able to communicate with someone because of a language barrier. I feel like after a year and a half of learning french I should be awesome, but I am not even close. I often find myself saying english phrases incorrectly in my mind with a horrible accent to try to understand the trouble that I put the French people through when I try to speak french to them. =[

p.s. Katie is back from Munich!! =] yay! Let the fun begin again! haha
p.s.s. Her trip was absolutely crazy! Poor girl had to sleep on a horse race track with an airplane blanket in 30 degree weather! =[
p.s.s.s. hahaha since I am writing all these "p.s's" it is reminding me of a movie I saw the other day called "Mary and Max." If it is playing in the U.S I suggest you see it!! It is really good!

D'accord.. Bonne journee!
-Mallory

4 Octobre, 2009

2009-10-05T01:57:00.000-07:00

Salut tout la mode...

I had my worst day in Lyon thus far. Yesterday was a really sad and depressing day. It all started in the morning when I went to wash my bedsheets. We arent supposed to use the dryer here because it doesnt take out moisture or something like that so we hang dry everything. Well when the sheets were done in the washing machine, I went to grab a rack for drying and it was fine until like 20 seconds later. I heard a crash and saw that the ironing board, which was behind the rack, fell and hit the washing machine door and broke the door right off the hinge. My host family was out of town for the day and so I had to wait until night until I could tell my host-mom what had really happened. So while this was on my mind all day, I just hung out in Lyon, which wasn't very fun. My friends, well Katie, went out of town this weekend to Munich for Oktoberfest, so I was all alone.

I really hope that today goes better. I have just a few hours until class and once class starts, the day goes by quickly...

P.S- I miss my sister a lot.. I haven't even talked to here, like on the phone, since I left in August. Its really sad.

-Mallory

Trop "faire du shopping" aujourd'hui.

2009-10-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

Bonjour friends and family!

So I know I don't write as often now, but I think that it is because I don't do anything that new and exciting everyday so it isn't worth documenting, you know? However, today was an extreme shopping day. I had planned to not spend over 10 Euros...it turned into a mess.. But very necessary!

First, today I was supposed to buy a ticket to London because Drea and I were going to leave for London tomorrow after school and return Monday night.. It turns out that the awesome price of just 74 euros is only if you book the seat like two weeks in advance =[ so the day before was going to be 133 euros... NO MERCI =] Anyway, we found a roundtrip ticket in november to London for just 55 euros.. AMAZING.. GENIAL!!! So I think we were going to go then..

So in saddness of not being able to go to London =`( I placed this energy into shopping.. Oh la la. But like I said, it was very necessary and I got some awesome practical wear for Lyon winters and fancy days! =] I bought the jacket. "THE" jacket.. the leather jacket that I said I would buy! I don't know what Lyon is trying to do to me, but all these super cute stores have been having like 40-50% off everything! ahh.. So I found an awesome leather jacket (a bit fake, but I wasnt picky) for just 29 euro!! YAY!!! The best price ever! All the others I have found have been anywhere from 90-200 euros.. Also, I bought 3 pairs of the cutest shoes (boots) ever and two sweaters, a hat, glasses and some cool rings. I know it sounds like a lot.. And it is.. lol. BUT it was all for a good price considering the amount I bought. AND its very very important that I look stylish and french in this tres chic city! ;)

All my friends are going to Munich for Oktober fest this weekend =[ so Im sad, but I really dont care about beer and festivals as such so I wasn't okay with paying the money for the trip. I hope they all have the time of there lives though! I will find something to do here in Lyon! =]

OH! And how could I forget!!! So we all have been dying because it has been over a month since we have had mexican food. We went on an extreme search for Mexican food in Lyon, but it was No WHERE to be found. However, we did find a place called "El Sombrero." It was such a special evening indeed. The food was not like authentic California taco truck haha but considering it was France and it had been so long since my last burrito, it was awesome!!
LOOK! My first chip in such a long time! It was heavenly!

The burrito..

It was so cute.. the waitress gave us sombreros to feel "at home" I suppose.

Too much fun.

Until next time,
Mallory

Vienne, France.

2009-09-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Katie, Drea and I took a quick day trip to a small town called "Vienne." It is an ancient Roman town about 40 minutes (on train) outside of Lyon. It was really cute! Quaint and historic; I loved it.

This is me in front of le temple romain d'auguste et livie:

It was literally in the middle of a bunch of stores and restaurants. I guess they just built around it.

This little kid climbed in and was walking around freely enjoying himself.. He got up on the temple platform and I was SO stinking mad because I wanted to do that! But there was an Access Forbidden sign so I was too scared... but, dont worry.. I climbed in ;)

There were two other sites, some ruins and an old Roman theatre, where they still hold concerts!! Here is a picture of Katie, Drea and I at the ruins.

I absolutely love that I can just train it over to an awesome acient city like this. Unbelieveable. I am so blessed.

Franglais.

2009-09-23T10:11:00.001-07:00

I love when I see French translations into English. haha.

So I often go to this store called "Monoprix." I think it is a semi-equivalent to Target, but obviously not as awesome as Target. The floorplan of the store is actually very bizzare. The bottom floor is a grocery store, the next floor is a mix of lingerie, woman's clothes and make-up, the floor above that is a cafe and then the last floor at the top is pharmacie items, a bookstore, men's clothes and anything else that you can think of. Haha. I love it because you first walk into the woman's level but as you ascend, you get a mixed smell of groceries and woman's perfume.

Anyway, the highlight of my trip to monoprix the other day was finding a section of shirts, totes and misc. items with English phrases on them. Read these and if you have an opinion on what they mean, let me know, because I am quite confused:

1) Let it Dream
2) Peace Process Needs You
3) Im a Love Result (haha, really?)
4) Trust in Peace
5) Wake up, the World is Burning. (Raising awarness for global warning? I am not sure. lol.)

S0, let us make it clear that I am not making fun because God knows that I suck at French and I probably say things that the French think "Woa, what the heck is this girl saying!?" haha but I thought that it would be fun to share these phrases with all those English speakers who read my blogs.

I hope you enjoyed reading. ;)

Leather jackets? Le dernier cri?

2009-09-19T14:03:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

So I have not confirmed to myself just yet that I am sick, but I have had a terrible stomach ache all day today and I pray that I do not get sick when I am in a different country.. ugghh.. Everyone keeps talking about la grippe (the flu) and I don't want it!

Also, can everyone keep their eyes open for a super trendy black leather jacket that is not too expensive? I'm on the lookout and I promise you that I will be buying one when I am here, but all the ones I have seen are like 109-140 euros and Ms. Mallory does not have that kind of money to spend on a jacket. But I tell you... black leather jackets are le dernier cri. ;)

Okay thanks!!
Loves,
Mallory

jeudi le 17 septembre

2009-09-17T08:36:00.001-07:00

Hey!

I know that it has been a few days since I have written a post, so sorry about that. This week just has not been the greatest. I have pretty much been late to class everyday, which is obviously not good and on top of that everyday has been pretty much a fail at school.

Yesterday was the worst day ever. I dont want to give you a play by play, but I will tell you a few of the tragedies. I dropped my iPhone from two flights of stairs, which is now permanently broken. I went to a soccer game for Lyon which was so awesome, but we were an hour late. At least we won. And the best part, I lost my wallet. When I got home I had an email from one of the ladies that I met on Sunday at the bike marathon and she had said that this guy called her telling her that he found my wallet. I had left her phone number in my wallet so when the guy found it he searched it and called her number. Seriously, thank God for that one, because what a blessing to have my wallet found by an honest person. Today I called the guy and picked it up. Everything was in it, and I know my mom is freaking out as she is reading this right now, but mom, I promise that everything is good! haha I went to the guys apartment with one of my friends (a guy) and the man who found my wallet was very nice. lol Dont worry.

Now, everything seems to be back in order. Tomorrow is vendredi =] yay (Friday) and hopefully it will be great!

A plus tard.
bonne journee.

VMA Awards 2009

2009-09-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

So, being in France, I haven't seen the VMA awards, but I have read everyone's facebook status's about Kanye West stealing Taylor Swift's limelight. I agree that Kanye is a jerk and that he seriously think's that he is God's gift. He has done so many stupid things on television in these past years which is really unfortunate because he does create some good music.

But aside from his jerkiness. I would like to argue with Kanye and tell him that Beyonce's "Single Ladies" song is THE NUMBER ONE MOST ANNOYING SONG I HAVE EVER HEARD.

I cannot stand that song. And I am so happy that she didn't win.

wow.

HA.

Beaucoup de choses à partager.

2009-09-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

Bonjour mes amis!

So I have quite a bit to share with you because the last few days were filled with great adventures!! I have a few pictures so with the help of these, hopefully I can keep this post as short and to the point as possible (No one wants to read a novel on these things).

Alors.

Two nights ago (Friday 11 September):

I already shared with you this day, it was the day I bought that awesome outfit with the torn pants, but this is a photo from that night. Nothing too exciting other than I like it because it is a cute picture of me and Katie. We are on the bus and really excited about it!

Last night. (Saturday 12 September)

I went to this concert in a park, which was free, and it was so much fun!
This band was awesome! They had so much energy and they sang in English, which was a plus! They were a good band to dance to! =] It was super funny because their lyrics were RIDICULOUS and I doubt that over half of the people at the concert didn't even know what they were saying because most everyone doesn't speak English here. haha good times.

This band, Madame Olga, was insane. haha French rock is classic. This guy's name is Sof. I dug him. lol Check them out on myspace to see what I am talking about. They had some crazy cool sound effects with their performance which made ir pretty epic.

Today, my friend Mike and I volunteered to help with the Lyon Bicycle Marathon. We got up extremely early and helped set up a food pit stop for all the contestants. We were there from about 7AM-3PM helping passing out food and drinks. I had a really good time. It was a great opporunity to network, meet some really great people from Lyon and of course practice my french!! =]

Here are some of the bikers.

This is Soginal (?) I can't spell her name.. But we became good friends throughout the day. She was one funny lady. =] I like her. "Voulez-vous du chocolat fondu?!" "Je vais faire un petit sandwich du chocolat!!" Haha There were chocolate bars for the particapants, but the sun melted them, so she was yelling out to everyone if they wanted "Chocolate Fondu." haha

After the marathon, a few of our new friends (Soginal, Pierre and Louisette) took Mike and me to look around the Hotel de Ville area. We went to this flee market where I bought 4 Disney movies in french, Harry Potter 1, 4 and 5 in french and a Babar book in french of course ALL for only 7.50 Euro. Such an awesome deal/day! Then they took us to probably one of the coolest cafe's that I have been to. The interior was just really chic and the ambiance was way chill. I liked it a lot.

Well that was pretty much the end of my fantastic day.. I mean, there were other really exciting things, but too small to add to the blog. I hope that you all had a fantastic day today as well! And until my next post,

Bonne Journée! (which I learned the true significance today!! woop woop!)

autographed,
-Mallory Venema

Comme une mère française

2009-09-12T06:52:00.000-07:00

So my host mom, Zoe, Maria and Odille all went out of town this weekend (Not all together, but separate plans.). I am home alone, and it is not so bad. Today, I have been very productive and not even half of the day is out yet. I am calling myself today a "French housemom." =]

So my friend Katie stayed the night last night and when we woke up, I made breakfast for the two of us! I don't know if I have told you some of my favorite things about France yet, but I absolutely love that we sit at the table every time we eat and I also love that water is served in bottles. Anyway, of course, when I made breakfast, we sat at the table with our toast, jelly and coffee. It was the cutest thing and I loved it. After we ate breakfast, I cleaned my room to look pristine and then I have been doing laundry all day. I just got back from the grocery store, which let me tell you, I handled like a french pro! =] When the lady told me the total, "Dix-sept euros dix-huit," I was like "oui, voila. Vignt euros dix-huit. Merci! Bonne journée" So great! =] Now I am eating a delicious salad for lunch at the table with my carafe of water. I wanted to travel into town today to find a nice flee market or farmers market, but I didn't get the chance to.

Yesterday, I bought the greatest outfit at H&M. I don't have a picture to put up of the outfit yet, but just imagine this, black spandex that have horizontal tears running up the leg. YES! haha If any of you watched this last season of SYTYCD, you know what I am talking about when I say that they are like the hot pink pants that Melissa wore for Sonya's contemporary dance. LOVE IT. If I get a picture soon, its going up on this same post, so look out!! =]

I hope you all have a wonderful day today!!
Passez un bon week-end alll of you! =]
-Mallory

Tôt le matin blog

2009-09-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

Bonjour! Bon matin!

So, this is an early morning blog. It cannot be long, because really, I need to get ready for school, but what I have to say deserved it's own post.

So recently I was put into a situation that is a little bit out of my control.

A: Because only God is in control and who am I to think I can control anything?
and
B. There is no B.

Haha, anyway. I don't want to go too much in detail, or in detail at all about this, but I will say in short that I feel like I'm in high school right now. So there is this guy that I think is cute and I don't know him that well yet, but from what I do know about him, he is a really good guy. He actually does not know that I feel about him in this way, because to be honest, we haven't really known each other for that long. But I'm a little worried because I think that one of my friends might like him too. (So high school, right?) haha

So that is short. I would like to tell more, but I have to get ready for school and also, I don't think it is smart to post this all over my blog. But I did want all my "followers" to know how I am doing in my "love life" (haha) since I am in France, yanno. ;)

I would like to ask for prayer for this situation, please, so I do not handle it in the wrong way and also that God's will will be done. If you have advice, please comment.

Thank you for you time and cares. =]

avec l'amour,
Mallory

Conjugasion

2009-09-10T13:25:00.000-07:00

I am assuming that the majority of you know what it means to "conjugate" verbs. For those who do not, when learning a language the meat of the class is learning verbs and how to use them in different tenses (ie: present tense, past tense, future tense, imperative etc...). Well right now in class we are reviewing past tense congugations, which should be simple because it is review, but now that I am progressing further into the language, the verbs are getting more difficult to conjugate because there are more verbs to learn and a lot of them are what we call "irregular". I went to a bookstore today to search for a good grammar and conjugation book, but I didn't want to spend any money, so I didn't buy one. Plus it is hard to find a book for English students learning French because of course, we are in France, so all the books are for French students to learn other languages. Thank goodness I waited though, because when I got home, I talked to Maria (the Brazilian student) about finding a conjugation book and she told me that she had one here that she didn't need to use anymore so she let me borrow it. So sweet, right?! =] So yay for smart decisions on not spending money!

Speaking of not spending money. I said that I would update you a few days ago on how well I would budget myself this week.. and I am proud to tell you that I did not spend over 4 euros each day this week!!! Maybe even less!! This is great news! Better than the first week here when I was spending 40 here 50 there. I am going to try to keep spending less than 4 each day.. but I know that tomorrow in Karaoke night so maybe I will spend a little more, but lets hope not.

I'm sorry that I do not have too many exciting things to share with you today. I didn't do much, but it was a pretty productive day as far as homework goes. Perhaps tomorrow will come pictures and karaoke stories! =]

until then, have a great day!
-Mallory

Deuxieme blog pour le jour

2009-09-09T11:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I know that I already posted today, but as you all know today's date is 09/09/09 and this deserves some celebration.

Now, on 9/9/99 (10 years ago), Britney Spears had her first live performance on the MTV Video Music Awards. Britney has a special place in my heart, ESPECIALLY Brit from the 90's, so I wanted to post the performance to celebrate her past 10 years of fame! GO BRITNEY! =]

Qu'est-ce que vous pensez?

2009-09-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

So, what do you think?
Should I cut bangs or leave them to grow?
Please give your opinion. I will be looking for comments. Thanks.

Now that that business is taken care of.

BONJOUR! =]

Things went better today than I thought. I was scared to have the "future talk" with the officials, but it went well. The only future we talked about was the ideas that we have for our research project. I told Chris, the "official" lol, that I was interested in researching the history of the architecture in Lyon, and from that he told me some other good ideas that would direct my research into something more fun and interesting. He told me that Lyon started a movement called "mettre en valeur" (I believe) and it was to perserve the historical architecture and other sites here in Lyon. Apparently people invested money into this project that pursued renovation to the historical city. I don't know much about it yet, of course, but I think that this would be something interesting to look into. I find it great that Lyon recognizes the importance of the art in the city and wants to keep preserve it as it is the story of their city. I also find that beauty is a lot more important here than in the United States. And I don't mean physical beauty, I am talking about the beauty in art and the enviornment. So, we will see how that goes. The only difficult part is going to be doing the research IN FRENCH and writing the paper IN FRENCH. eek.

One last thing... I swore off of Nutella. haha Quick huh? I threw up last night and I think it is because I ate like half a jar of that stuff. ICK!

Okay.. well have a beautiful day! And don't forget to advise me on cutting my bangs or not!

Thanks! Ciao!
Mallory

Nutella

2009-09-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

Bonjour!

My obsession at the moment: Nutella.

Most of your probably know what Nutella is, but for those who do not, it is a chocolate/hazelnut spread that is very popular in France. Often times people put it on bread or crepes, but I just like to spoon it! Haha Below is a picture of my friends (Katie and Geo) and me with Nutella mustaches. ;)

This is how much we love it. I think it is best seen on my white face.

Today our class had a meeting with our program advisors/directors and they told us that beginging tomorrow, we are going to have to discuss our future plans in life and ideas for our research project. Now anyone who knows me knows that "future plans" does not settle well in my stomache.. ugh.. I hate talking "future." For the research project, I am a bit nervous, but I think that it is pretty open to any ideas so naturally I am going to go towards art in Lyon, right? So, I have mentioned a bit about the beautiful buildings in Lyon and I think I want to research the evolution/adaption of style for the different monumental buildings in Lyon. This city has so much history to unveil and I think it might be fun to research it, of course, through the art! =] How ironic that I am an Art History major.

One other thing. I am not sure if I mentioned it before, but there is another female student that lives here. She was in Spain for the last week and a half, so I had not met her yet, but tonight she came home. Her name is Maria. She is very nice. She speaks better French than I do, and she doesn't speak any English at all. I think that this is going to be difficult for me to communicate with her, but I pray pray pray that it WONT be lol and that hopefully I can use this opportunity to speak more French more frequently. (Because God knows that I speak English to my friends in the program... not good, I know, not good.)

Okay, well I have homework and sleep to catch up on. Have a good night! And watch out for that Nutella!!

A demain,
Mallory

Disney chansons

2009-09-07T11:59:00.000-07:00

Salut!

Today was filled with Disney songs!!

In class, my friends (Geo and Katie) and I were trying to remember the words to great Disney songs. We were especially working on "Colors of the Wind," which we got through most of it, but of course I had to YouTube it when I got home.

Donc, regardez:

Court et Gentil

2009-09-06T12:05:00.000-07:00

Short and sweet.

I have eaten too much ice cream/tarts/chocolate/bread and cheese. This must stop.

Tomorrow I am going swimming/tanning at the pool by the river.

I will not spend any money for two days. (I'll let you know how that goes ;) ..) At least over 10 Euros.

Wanna see some pictures?

Flies are ginormous here.

Pretty view.

Katie and I get this excited when we see eachother!

Ice cream and a playground at midnight! YES!! =]

Après une semaine

2009-09-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

Allô tous!

So I have been in France for a complete week now. It has been filled with baguettes, lots of cheese, delicious tarts, new friends and of course, French. I am really enjoying it, as you can read in my past blogs, but the only thing that is making me sad is that I am not yet fluent. Not even close. Now, I know that you are all thinking, "You have only been there one week! Of course you are not going to be fluent yet," but I tell you that it is still very hard for me to understand when I am spoken to in French and when I try (try) to speak it. I am getting really frustrated. =[ I just want to be able to convey everything I am thinking and feeling without taking minutes just to think of what vocabulary word I know best, or without having to say half of my sentence in English. =[ I feel really bad for Anne, my house mom, because she will say something to me and I wont understand her at first and she will have to repeat it a couple times and say it slow. I feel like I am mentally challenged or something. (I'm really sorry Anne, you might be reading this, but it is my chance to tell you that I feel really bad and I hope hope hope that I will be able to communicate with you in French much easier in the future! =[ ) I also feel bad for my "little sister" Zoe. I want to talk to her a lot and learn about her, but again, it is not easy for me because of the language barrier.

Okay, I'm done with my complaints...

So today some friends and I bought some food and took in to the park with the zoo and had a picnic! It was a lot of fun, and very filling (you know, baguettes and cheese) The cheeses we had were absolutely amazing!! There was brie, ash cheese (?), pepper cheese and this sweet raisin cheese. The names should probably be much classier than that haha but seriously, they were the best cheeses I have ever had in my life. haha. Here is a picture of some of us at the picnic, minus one because she was taking the picture:

In the picture from the left is Alexandria, Me, David and Etta. Behind the camera is Veronica.

Tonight I think that a bunch of us are either going to someone's birthday party that is in the Immersion program at Lyon or explore some more in Vieux Lyon, I don't know. I just really enjoy hanging out with my new friends lol.

Some FABULOUS news apart from my times in France is that my baby girl (dog) Sadie has given birth successfully to 5 pups!!! =] YAY!!! I am so happy for her! From what I have heard, the process went well and they are all healthy! Gosh, I am so sad I missed it. =[

OK... well, I must go now.
Until then, Au Revoir!

Mallory

Hier soir et aujourd'hui

2009-09-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

Désolée Désolée. (Sorry Sorry)

I didn't write yesterday because I was out too late, but I am getting complaints! haha (mom, aunt Lisa?) I will fill you all in, don't worry.

2 Septembre 2009

After school we spent most of the day in Bellecour, running errands and such. My new friend Katie and I, who shares a lot in common with me, went into H&M and of course were dying because we wanted to buy everything haha. There was this one dress that stood out to me, I loved it and wanted it so bad. It wasn't that much money and since we had planned to "go out" that night, so I bought it for the occasion. Katie found the same dress in a different color and bought that one haha we were twins. But we liked it.

We went out to dinner in Vieux Lyon at this super cute restaurant that had seating outside on the cobblestone streets. So French, right? I love it. =] After dinner, more friends met up with us and we hung out really late, too late in Vieux Lyon. But here are some pictures from that.

This was at dinner.

This picture was taken from my seat at dinner. I just wanted to take a picture of the angles of the street and buildings. The guy leaning against the wall is smoking. I thought he added a nice touch to the photo!

I know that this picture is a bit blurry, but you can tell we are having fun =] This is me, Drea, and Katie in fron of the cathredral in Vieux Lyon.

I posed with this guy because he and a bunch of friends had "Free Hugs" signs.

From left to right: Andrew, Mike, Drea, Katie and Me. Again blurry. But we are having fun =] Look at mine and Katie's dresses! haha love her.

3 Septembre 2009

I did not do much today. We had class of course early in the morning, which I had to rush for! Not fun. I napped. I ate dinner. And then I wrote this blog, so that is about it. The weather was really great today! =] Overcast, just the right temperature. Not too warm, not cold. Similar to San Francisco weather in the Fall. My favorite =]

We have end of the week exams for class and tomorrow is my first one. I am so nervous. =[ The hardest thing for me with the French language right now is understanding the native speakers, and I am pretty sure we have to listen to native speakers and write down what they say. AHH!! Its almost impossible for me =[ Ils parelent trop vite. (They speak too fast.) Anyway, wish me luck. I will let you know how it goes.

À bientôt,

Mademoiselle Mallory.

Comble de la joie

2009-09-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

I am overcome with joy, my friends!

All I really have to say for today is that school was very long, our professor was pretty cute for an older man ;) and it is raining.. hard. Thundering and lightening. I love it =] I have my window open and I think that I am going to sleep with it open!

Beacoup de choses excitant pour le futur! (Many exciting things for the future):

1. New Moon premieire is a possibility in Europe.. if not though, it comes out Nov 18 in France, 2 days before the USA, so I will see it before all of you! MwAhahahahaaaaa. =]

2. Robert Pattinson made the cover of a French magazine called "Premiere" for the september issue. =] He looks good, as always.

3. Coeur de Pirate, an excellent young singer whom I adore is on tour in France during October. My friend Katie and I are going to see her! woo!!! I am going to see a French music sensation in France!! C'est incroyable! Love it love it! P.S - You should check out her music (www.myspace.com/coeurdepirate)

and

4. I am on my way to fluency! maybe... haha

Okay.. that is all. Bonne nuit, au revoir, A demain! =]

-Mallory

Comme une étudiante française

2009-08-31T11:00:00.000-07:00

Salut!

I woke up at 7:00 this morning, had my pain grille du beurre (toast and butter) and coffee. I met my friend Veronica at the bus and we rode to the school together! School started at 9:45AM, but it is different almost everyday. We arrived very early to the school so we walked to a cafe where we had cafe dans une petite tasse (espresso, french style!!) and it was very good! =] hehe I liked the whole idea of the outside cafe with the espresso and the french waiter! =] And it is true!! We had to ask for the check without him assuming we were done and I totally understood what he said for the total. haha Funny, I get excited over things like that.

I added some pictures to this post, but they added in the opposite order that I wanted them to, so sorry about that. The pictures are of the students (moi of course) in the classroom, the group in front of the school, La Rhone (which is one of the rivers that runs through Lyon), and a picture of the Bellecour (shopping area. It is the picture with the flower boquet).

Today was such a long day... so long! We met at 9:45 for a meeting first, at 12:00 we had lunch and then at 1:45 we came back for class. Class was fun! It is so great to get back into the grove of learning French! I love the language, gosh! haha Class was not too difficult either, so that was great!!! The only downside is that is was 4 hours!!!!! And the room was as hot as a sauna!! I was like sweating the whole time haha. I am so pleased with our Professor. He is very nice, he has a sense of humor and he articulates his words so it is easier to understand him. I also love the students in the group! We have already became good friends!

Tomorrow the plan is to go see Harry Potter after class. This will be my 5th time seeing it in the last 2 months haha but this time it will be in French!!! Come on now, I CANNOT pass that up! ;)

A demain, ('Til Tomorrow)
-Mallory

Look at the pictures below! =]

Le jour dernière devant l'école

2009-08-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

Bonjour Bonjour Bonjour!!

Today was my last free day before school. Tomorrow school starts! I am happy though because I currently suck at French, reaaallly bad, and I want to learn something! haha My "house-mom" Anne is so nice, she speaks English to me right now so we can communicate haha but she said, "starting tomorrow, NOUS PARLERON EN FRANçAIS !!!"

Today Anne took me around the city to show me where I take my bus to school, the school itself and le Grand Parc. The bus is not far, so that is good, and the school is absolutly beautiful! In Le Grand Parc there is a zoo, a free zoo, which is pretty cool. I saw giraffes, flamingos, monkeys, and some other creatures I didn't know lol. I had an ice cream bar, like a haagndaz or dove bar with a chocolate shell and vanilla ice cream in the middle, but it was way better here!! The vanilla ice cream was so tasty! Better than in the states.

Well, currently I do not have too much to say, but wish me luck at school tomorrow!! eeek!!

Au Revoir,
Mallory

Le deuxième jour

2009-08-29T12:06:00.000-07:00

Bonjour a tous!

Last night, my first night in Lyon, was very fun. It is great because I met all the people in my programe (19 of us) and they were all very nice. About 8 of us went into what is called "Vieux Lyon" last night. It means "Old Lyon." It was so pretty! Cobble-stone streets and beautiful cathedrals. We hung out on this strip where there were shops, pubs ect. Many young people were there, so it was "poppin" haha. We had to take a couple trains and the metro system to get there, which by the way is so modern! The train looks like a super futuristic monorail tram at Disneyland!

I didn't want to leave my new friends to meet my new family because I was so comfortable speaking English with my friends. I practically had an anxiety attack this morning before we met the families because I was so scared to not understand the French. My family actually was not there to pick me up though. Anne, my "house mom's" name, is friends with another one of the ladies, Sylvie, that is housing a student, and so Sylvie picked up me and another girl. It was nice going with another girl from the programe because we were equally uncomfortable and it made the situation better lol. Let me tell you though, French is so hard!!! I feel like I am a baby and I can't convey anything that I want to say. I better get improve quickly!!

I had the chance to go to Bellecour this afternoon. It is a big shopping area. There were so many people there!! It was like walking the streets in Union Sqaure in San Francisco. Crazy! I had to buy some things that were essential and I ended spending lots of money =[ It sucks because my money is dissapearing, but it is not because I am being a "tourist" and buying lots of souvenirs. Listen to this. This morning my friend let me use her plug converter so I could dry my hair, and it blew up!! Huge *POW* It was pretty scary. So the blow killed my dryer and I had to buy a French one. Apparently the voltage was too high. For those who may not understand why I am talking about this converter, Europe does not have the same plug/voltage as the US, so you have to bring a converter for the US plugs. In addition to the blow dryer, I of course had to buy a converter for my other electronics.

When I arrived from Bellecour, my family was home! Anne, Jean-Marc and Zoe. They are extremely nice and very flexible. I feel comfortable already! Great right?! Still, the language is super hard though. The picture at the top of the page is of the house I live in. It is so cute inside! The French know how to decorate for sure! =] I would love to post more pictures from last night and today, but I do not have a USB cord yet, so I cannot. I will hopefully be able to do that later.

Well, I still have jet-lag, so I am super tired. Extremely tired. Im going to bed.

À bientôt

Mallory

Je suis arrivée

2009-08-28T07:35:00.000-07:00

Bonjour à tous!

I have arrived in Lyon, as my title says =] yay! I am here to study the French laugage and culture at the Universite de Lyon 2. It is for a semester, so I will not be back until December 20.

Getting here was one of the most stressful experiences, however. Of course I had to wait until the last minute to pack (seriously, like midnight before I left) because I procrastinate with everything, so my parents and I could not leave for the airport until morning. We woke up at 5AM to leave, giving us 4 hours to get to the SFO airport, but two accidents on the road and a really slow Bart train later, I missed my 11:00 flight. Ridiculous! There was a flight leaving at 11:55, but 20 people were on the stand-by list, therefore my chances to get on that flight were slim to none. Thanks to the Lord, I was the last one called for stand-by and made the flight! =]

It has been such a long trip, tiring and stressful, but I am so glad I made it! I talked to the taxi driver (in french) on the way to the Centre International de Sejour de Lyon =] That was a good start! Wish me luck with my French studies here! I must must must (dois dois dois) be fluent when I come back in December! I am about to go to our orientation meeting, so I have to close out. Exciting news for tomorrow: I get to meet my host family! Anne, Jean-Marc and Zoe Bernard.

Ill post again soon!
-Mallory