Joyeux Noel!

1:12 PM

Christmas season is here! 

 Things that are similar in France as in Chicago:
       - The Christmas Market: One in each little French town, little huts much akin to those at Christkindlmarket. However, the things being sold in these markets are MUCH different. Although they do have the standard churros/crepes/waffles/sugary delights, they also have various devices which can only be described as "As seen on TV!" merchandise (read: microwavable pillows, flower stamps for manicures), which I find a little strange to be in a Christmas market....
       - Christmas music: There is a store that I have to ride my bike past everyday to and from my school that, I kid you not, transformed OVERNIGHT from a normal women's clothing store to a crazy everything Santa-themed store that blasts Christmas music. A little part of me gets homesick when the classic "I'll be Home for Christmas" blares at me on my way home from dealing with demon high school students all day.
       - Advent calendar: These little suckers popped up a little too early in the Christmas season for my liking (around the first week of November), but CLEARLY I had to purchase one for myself and my two good friends, Diana and Emily. They truly are exactly the same here as they are in the states -- same weird Christmas scene on the front, same Christmas-themed chocolate shapes, and same shitty waxy chocolate....JUST as I remembered! Diana and I have both lamented about how let down we were about the awful quality of chocolate. I guess I shouldn't have expected much from something that cost 1 euro though.....


10 days into this mess and not so secretly hating every minute of it


Things that are different in France:
        - No lights: Besides the lights that the city installs, there are no Christmas lights on people's houses! I guess it's an American thing....
        - Christmas music: I know, I know, I had this under "similar", but it is also very different and here's why; they play it on speakers on the main streets, and sometimes they play raggae. I don't get it.

 Anywho, I went to the opening ceremony of the Christmas market the weekend before last, and here is what I saw:

Whatever these things were supposed to be were literally terrified of my spikey phone case


Helllllll yeah holiday train!



I also got a bit into the Christmas spirit this past week by volunteering with the little kiddos at the Anglophone library in town. One particularly excited 6 year old came up to me and the woman running the workshop afterward and was so proud of herself when she so matter-of-factly told us that she knew Père Noel didn't exist because her mother told her. I, on the other hand, died a little inside. At least she waited until all the other kids were gone.

In other news, it storm hailed the other day, and from what it sounds like, this is the closest we will get to seeing snow in this area. It was terrifying.

How....what?
 I also had to go to Nantes in order to do a medical visit for my visa, and we stayed there for the day because we could.

The Christmas Market in Nantes.....once you've seen one, you've really seen them all
 In other other news, I spent a lazy Sunday at Diana's apartment napping, eating crunchy pasta, feeling nauseaus, and watching her make expertly handcrafted Christmas cards before giving it a go myself.
GUESS WHAT ITS GOING TO BE
The finished product! (Disclaimer: all the good ones are hers, the only one that is mine is the unfinished snowman)

I also had to go to the doctor here in Angers, and ran into this very unhappy French baby who wouldn't cease grunting.


 ming.

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10 December 2012

Joyeux Noel!

Christmas season is here! 

 Things that are similar in France as in Chicago:
       - The Christmas Market: One in each little French town, little huts much akin to those at Christkindlmarket. However, the things being sold in these markets are MUCH different. Although they do have the standard churros/crepes/waffles/sugary delights, they also have various devices which can only be described as "As seen on TV!" merchandise (read: microwavable pillows, flower stamps for manicures), which I find a little strange to be in a Christmas market....
       - Christmas music: There is a store that I have to ride my bike past everyday to and from my school that, I kid you not, transformed OVERNIGHT from a normal women's clothing store to a crazy everything Santa-themed store that blasts Christmas music. A little part of me gets homesick when the classic "I'll be Home for Christmas" blares at me on my way home from dealing with demon high school students all day.
       - Advent calendar: These little suckers popped up a little too early in the Christmas season for my liking (around the first week of November), but CLEARLY I had to purchase one for myself and my two good friends, Diana and Emily. They truly are exactly the same here as they are in the states -- same weird Christmas scene on the front, same Christmas-themed chocolate shapes, and same shitty waxy chocolate....JUST as I remembered! Diana and I have both lamented about how let down we were about the awful quality of chocolate. I guess I shouldn't have expected much from something that cost 1 euro though.....

10 days into this mess and not so secretly hating every minute of it


Things that are different in France:
        - No lights: Besides the lights that the city installs, there are no Christmas lights on people's houses! I guess it's an American thing....
        - Christmas music: I know, I know, I had this under "similar", but it is also very different and here's why; they play it on speakers on the main streets, and sometimes they play raggae. I don't get it.

 Anywho, I went to the opening ceremony of the Christmas market the weekend before last, and here is what I saw:

Whatever these things were supposed to be were literally terrified of my spikey phone case


Helllllll yeah holiday train!



I also got a bit into the Christmas spirit this past week by volunteering with the little kiddos at the Anglophone library in town. One particularly excited 6 year old came up to me and the woman running the workshop afterward and was so proud of herself when she so matter-of-factly told us that she knew Père Noel didn't exist because her mother told her. I, on the other hand, died a little inside. At least she waited until all the other kids were gone.

In other news, it storm hailed the other day, and from what it sounds like, this is the closest we will get to seeing snow in this area. It was terrifying.

How....what?
 I also had to go to Nantes in order to do a medical visit for my visa, and we stayed there for the day because we could.

The Christmas Market in Nantes.....once you've seen one, you've really seen them all
 In other other news, I spent a lazy Sunday at Diana's apartment napping, eating crunchy pasta, feeling nauseaus, and watching her make expertly handcrafted Christmas cards before giving it a go myself.
GUESS WHAT ITS GOING TO BE
The finished product! (Disclaimer: all the good ones are hers, the only one that is mine is the unfinished snowman)

I also had to go to the doctor here in Angers, and ran into this very unhappy French baby who wouldn't cease grunting.


 ming.
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