A couple weekends back, my two good friends, Emily and Diana, and I went to Saint Malo for a last 'hurrah' for their time in France. Instead of our usual couchsurfing/jumping on trains without paying for them/doing only activities that are free, we decided to splurge on a nice Airbnb apartment right on the beach and also a day trip to Mont Saint Michel since we were already in the area. The first day the weather was pretty bipolar, so Emily and I spent the day partially outdoors on the beach enjoying the weather and partially indoors hiding from the rain. After searching for a market that apparently didn't actually exist, we found ourselves in a wonderful cheese shop with a wonderful cheese man who was super stoked that we spoke french and actually cared enough about our cheese experience to ask him for advice. Once we asked him for strong cheeses, he gave us several cheeses to sample, then gave us a free little ball of goat cheese after explaining something about pollen and flowers and dirt and wine pairings, which was pretty lost on us. (We speak french, but not THAT well...) The next day we headed to Mont Saint Michel, which was pretty, but unfortunately we had some terribly windy and rainy weather, so we were more than happy to get back to our humble abode to curl up in sweatpants and play cards with a bottle of wine. The next day, the weather was incredible, so we went to eat 'the best ice cream in France', which did not disappoint, and stroll along the beach. Overall, it was a wonderful weekend, except when our host tried to claim our 200 euro deposit because of a couple small knife marks on their counter, which we accidentally took for a cutting board.
HA!yeah obviously...
The view from our apartment!
The most accurate thing I've seen in France
Taken recently after "the incident"
Bless you, cheese man.
The following week was filled with the other assistants "profiter"-ing from their last week in France, and me happily following suit. The weather was nice, so we enjoyed pique-nique-ing near the river and enjoying each other's company. For our last goodbye soiree, some of the assistants held a "progressive" a la Carlton College, where the whole group moved from apartment to apartment having aperos and snacks prepared by the host, before ending up at an apartment all together.
The following week was filled with the other assistants "profiter"-ing from their last week in France, and me happily following suit. The weather was nice, so we enjoyed pique-nique-ing near the river and enjoying each other's company. For our last goodbye soiree, some of the assistants held a "progressive" a la Carlton College, where the whole group moved from apartment to apartment having aperos and snacks prepared by the host, before ending up at an apartment all together.
Your classic bathroom tequilla timer
Face paint was involved
MIGNETTE. I just might miss this cat more than any person I've met this year.
After saying goodbye to the assistants who returned to the US of A, the assistants who stayed decided to go on a big bike trip to start off our two week vacation. First we stumbled onto the train with our klunky bikes en direction to nearby city, Tours. After consulting with their Maison de Tourisme about the best bike route (turns out there isn't one) and stopping at the local Carrefour for snacks, we were off on a 2.5 hour bike ride to Chenonceau. The route was of course beautiful, however we were more than happy to arrive at our destination to eat lunch.
After saying goodbye to the assistants who returned to the US of A, the assistants who stayed decided to go on a big bike trip to start off our two week vacation. First we stumbled onto the train with our klunky bikes en direction to nearby city, Tours. After consulting with their Maison de Tourisme about the best bike route (turns out there isn't one) and stopping at the local Carrefour for snacks, we were off on a 2.5 hour bike ride to Chenonceau. The route was of course beautiful, however we were more than happy to arrive at our destination to eat lunch.
This was not my idea, although I happily obliged
Clearly my favorite part of the castle. Incredible pots!
DISNEYLAND?! Nahhh, but yeah kinda.
The rest of the first week of vacation I volunteered at the local anglophone library for an intensive english workshop about America and English for 12-14 year olds. I was pretty amazed that the kids who were that young were able to withstand 3 hours a day of only English. My favorite parts of the workshop were playing charades with the words they had come up with ('poop' being their favorite...however I'm not sure how that's specific to America...) and playing with sidewalk chalk outside (an activity that the director had to check to make sure wasn't 'absolutement interdit' according to city rules...ugh France...).
Soon after, my friend Diane, who studied French with me at OWU came up from small town Milau to visit me in the thriving metropolis of Angers! Diane got the chance to see the Cointreau factory, troglodytes (houses that have been dug out of caves special to this region), and the local chateau. I was super happy to see Diane and reminisce about our days at OWU, and I think I'm correct in saying that the Angevin men were pretty happy to meet her as well.
The rest of the first week of vacation I volunteered at the local anglophone library for an intensive english workshop about America and English for 12-14 year olds. I was pretty amazed that the kids who were that young were able to withstand 3 hours a day of only English. My favorite parts of the workshop were playing charades with the words they had come up with ('poop' being their favorite...however I'm not sure how that's specific to America...) and playing with sidewalk chalk outside (an activity that the director had to check to make sure wasn't 'absolutement interdit' according to city rules...ugh France...).
Soon after, my friend Diane, who studied French with me at OWU came up from small town Milau to visit me in the thriving metropolis of Angers! Diane got the chance to see the Cointreau factory, troglodytes (houses that have been dug out of caves special to this region), and the local chateau. I was super happy to see Diane and reminisce about our days at OWU, and I think I'm correct in saying that the Angevin men were pretty happy to meet her as well.
This small child has nothing to do with anything, except that he is precious
CointreauVERSIAL!
SERIOUSLY French old couple found in the troglodytes
TROGLOLYFE
The rest of vacation has been pretty relaxed. I helped the mother of one of the kids in the workshop I volunteer with prepare for her interview in English, and was rewarded with a packet of madelines, which I immediately devoured. I also tried to bake lemon bread, and failed miserably. Geoff tried his hand at cooking, and was a bit more successful with "L'aligot", a mix of tomme de vache cheese, creme fraiche, and mashed potatoes; a specialty of the south of France.
The rest of vacation has been pretty relaxed. I helped the mother of one of the kids in the workshop I volunteer with prepare for her interview in English, and was rewarded with a packet of madelines, which I immediately devoured. I also tried to bake lemon bread, and failed miserably. Geoff tried his hand at cooking, and was a bit more successful with "L'aligot", a mix of tomme de vache cheese, creme fraiche, and mashed potatoes; a specialty of the south of France.
Oops.
After that, Diana and I took the Scotrail up to Fife, home of St. Andrew's university and our fantastic hosts. Since our host had class the first day we were there, he left us to discover Fife by ourselves, but not before letting Diana barrow his orangey/red St. Andrew's academic cloak thing, which he assured us was a normal thing to wear, and which, more importantly, would get us into the ancient cathedral for free. Although not completely true, I think Diana still enjoyed wearing it.
After our afternoon beach-side adventure, we went out with our hosts (sans cloak) to discover Fife nightlife, then left the next afternoon. Overall, it was a beautiful place filled with fun people. After that, Diana and I returned to Edinburgh only to spend six hours in a local Starbucks, then east some delicious (even if the entire staff was super awkward) vegetarian Indian food, grab a quick drink, then spend the night in the airport.
After that was a quick trip to Geneva to see my cousin, which will be continued in a later post!!
ming.
Despite what you're thinking, this IS how it's supposed to look (I asked)
That's it! Sorry for the absurd length.
ming.
That's it! Sorry for the absurd length.
ming.
Highlights of the last three weeks (in no particular order):
- Hockey sur glace : I went with a couple of assistants to see the Angers Ducs play against some other team in France for the "demi-finale". Thankfully I had already seen a French ice hockey game in Grenoble, so I knew not to get my hopes up for any climactic fist-fights or any spectacular enthusiasm from the "pom-pom girls". Though they ultimately lost, it was still a fun time.
- Cointreau tour : Cointreau is a liquor that (they say) is popular world-wide (never heard of it), and is made right here in Angers! It's made from two types of orange rinds and beet alcohol, and is primarily used in margaritas and other cocktails. The tour was informative, interesting, and the tasting session of a shot and two cocktails served as our happy hour that day.
- Learning to drive : My boyfriend offered to teach me how to drive his manual stick-shift car so I took him up on it one morning. Not until I got into the drivers seat did I realize that I didn't know ANY of the vocabulary related to automatic cars in English, much less in French, so it quickly evolved into me irrationally freaking out and screaming at him in English while the car was snailing alone in the abandoned parking lot. He was a good sport about the whole ordeal and he eventually calmed me down enough to make it all the way up to third gear.
- Battle of the bands : A couple weekends back, we went to a nearby campus to watch bands battle for a spot in an upcoming concert. On the roster included what appeared to be a band inspired completely by Green Day (eye liner and strange facial expressions included), a fur-coat-clad band (they eventually stripped down to silk lacy tank tops for "un moment de poésie féministe"), and finished with a French hand-banging scream-o band (not my fave).
- Prolonged contract: Despite what some of my profs believed, I succeeded in prolonging my contract! I was planning on staying in Angers for the month of May anyways since I had to pay rent for my apartment (and wait for my mom and our friends to arrive in this part of the world to travel to Turkey!) and I'm so glad to hear that I'll actually have something to occupy my time with, even though it's only 11 hours a week.
- Spring!: The weekend before last it was BEAUTIFUL weather. My friend and I went to the market and the boulangerie and then plopped ourselves down to enjoy a nice little picnic next to La Maine for a casual 2.5 hours (I even got a little sunburn on my nose). Although the good weather didn't really stick, I'm hopeful that it might come back soon.
ming.
- Hockey sur glace : I went with a couple of assistants to see the Angers Ducs play against some other team in France for the "demi-finale". Thankfully I had already seen a French ice hockey game in Grenoble, so I knew not to get my hopes up for any climactic fist-fights or any spectacular enthusiasm from the "pom-pom girls". Though they ultimately lost, it was still a fun time.
- Cointreau tour : Cointreau is a liquor that (they say) is popular world-wide (never heard of it), and is made right here in Angers! It's made from two types of orange rinds and beet alcohol, and is primarily used in margaritas and other cocktails. The tour was informative, interesting, and the tasting session of a shot and two cocktails served as our happy hour that day.
- Learning to drive : My boyfriend offered to teach me how to drive his manual stick-shift car so I took him up on it one morning. Not until I got into the drivers seat did I realize that I didn't know ANY of the vocabulary related to automatic cars in English, much less in French, so it quickly evolved into me irrationally freaking out and screaming at him in English while the car was snailing alone in the abandoned parking lot. He was a good sport about the whole ordeal and he eventually calmed me down enough to make it all the way up to third gear.
- Battle of the bands : A couple weekends back, we went to a nearby campus to watch bands battle for a spot in an upcoming concert. On the roster included what appeared to be a band inspired completely by Green Day (eye liner and strange facial expressions included), a fur-coat-clad band (they eventually stripped down to silk lacy tank tops for "un moment de poésie féministe"), and finished with a French hand-banging scream-o band (not my fave).
- Prolonged contract: Despite what some of my profs believed, I succeeded in prolonging my contract! I was planning on staying in Angers for the month of May anyways since I had to pay rent for my apartment (and wait for my mom and our friends to arrive in this part of the world to travel to Turkey!) and I'm so glad to hear that I'll actually have something to occupy my time with, even though it's only 11 hours a week.
- Spring!: The weekend before last it was BEAUTIFUL weather. My friend and I went to the market and the boulangerie and then plopped ourselves down to enjoy a nice little picnic next to La Maine for a casual 2.5 hours (I even got a little sunburn on my nose). Although the good weather didn't really stick, I'm hopeful that it might come back soon.
ming.
During the past two weeks I've been on vacation. My friend and fellow assistant, Diana, traveled with me to Scotland. Despite all the naysayer's comments for weeks leading up to the journey, we enjoyed wonderful rain-less 45 degree weather throughout the entire ten day stint spent there. The trip began with a 5 hour road trip to Beauvais to catch our plane to Edinburgh with two nice French ladies.
After arriving in Edinburgh, we quickly got on a bus to Glasgow, but not before realizing that the locals were basically incomprehensible and the currency system was even more unclear. The best we could do was to shove a handful of coins in the bus drivers face and say "take how much it costs". After settling into our hotel, we did some serious research on the best place to get a drink in the city, and eventually found ourselves at a pub called "Nice and Sleazy", which thankfully was inaccurately named. There, we started off our Scottish adventure right listening to some acoustic open mike musicians (some good, some bad) and whiskey (no good, all bad).
The next morning we accidentally woke up super early ready to take Glasgow by storm! We decided to walk to the Glasgow botanic gardens and the kelvinsgrove museum and finally gave into one of the cheap Indian food places we had been seeing all over the city. The rest of the day we spent going to various museums that our brochure guide told us were 'only a fifteen minute walk away!' Until by the end of the day we were a solid hour and a half walk from our hotel.
Day two in Glasgow we celebrated Diana's birthday by getting brunch at a cute tea place in the financial district (which we later found out turned into the RedLight District at night). She had pancakes drowning in a pool of chocolate, I had French toast with a heap of bacon on top. Both healthy choices.
Afterwards we worked off our fatty brunch by walking around student filled West End and Byres street to shop and look around. After that, we made our way to our Couchsurfing hosts place in Clydesbank, otherwise basically known as the murder/heroin capital of Glasgow (again, unbeknownst to us at the time). We took it easy the first night while watching "Paris, je t'aime" and petting their cat, Jack. The next morning we set off on a day trip to nearby city, Ayr, and had beautiful weather and nice beach views.
We said goodbye to our hosts the next morning and headed off on a short 1.5 hour bus ride to Edinburgh. Being that it was my 23rd birthday, we celebrated accordingly with gas station-quality tuna pasta and the most offensive-tasting bottle of 5£ rosé I have ever had the displeasure of ingesting. The hosts we were staying with in Edinburgh were funny and friendly, and had the coolest apartment complete with a fort in the living room.
The next day we saw the local market, which had an incredible smelling ENTIRE pig being roasted, which, unfortunately I could not indulge in since we had plans to get authentic Mexican food for the first time in Europe for lunch that day with some of Diana's friends visiting Scotland as well. After that, we climbed Arthur's Seat, but not before Diana gypsy swindled me (or maybe I gypsy swindled her) into wearing the most touristy Loch Ness monster hat on the face of the earth if she paid for it. The views from the top of the mountain really were amazing and spectacular, especially as the clouds came in from the distance. The next day we saw yet another market en route to the botanic gardens with many baked goods and ethnic foods, before stopping at "Oink", the restaurant with the entire pig being roasted at the market the day before, for me to satisfy my cravings for an "Oink" sandwich. (I would have ordered the larger "Grunter" had I not had too much respect for myself to mutter the sandwich's name).
After arriving in Edinburgh, we quickly got on a bus to Glasgow, but not before realizing that the locals were basically incomprehensible and the currency system was even more unclear. The best we could do was to shove a handful of coins in the bus drivers face and say "take how much it costs". After settling into our hotel, we did some serious research on the best place to get a drink in the city, and eventually found ourselves at a pub called "Nice and Sleazy", which thankfully was inaccurately named. There, we started off our Scottish adventure right listening to some acoustic open mike musicians (some good, some bad) and whiskey (no good, all bad).
The next morning we accidentally woke up super early ready to take Glasgow by storm! We decided to walk to the Glasgow botanic gardens and the kelvinsgrove museum and finally gave into one of the cheap Indian food places we had been seeing all over the city. The rest of the day we spent going to various museums that our brochure guide told us were 'only a fifteen minute walk away!' Until by the end of the day we were a solid hour and a half walk from our hotel.
Day two in Glasgow we celebrated Diana's birthday by getting brunch at a cute tea place in the financial district (which we later found out turned into the RedLight District at night). She had pancakes drowning in a pool of chocolate, I had French toast with a heap of bacon on top. Both healthy choices.
Afterwards we worked off our fatty brunch by walking around student filled West End and Byres street to shop and look around. After that, we made our way to our Couchsurfing hosts place in Clydesbank, otherwise basically known as the murder/heroin capital of Glasgow (again, unbeknownst to us at the time). We took it easy the first night while watching "Paris, je t'aime" and petting their cat, Jack. The next morning we set off on a day trip to nearby city, Ayr, and had beautiful weather and nice beach views.
We said goodbye to our hosts the next morning and headed off on a short 1.5 hour bus ride to Edinburgh. Being that it was my 23rd birthday, we celebrated accordingly with gas station-quality tuna pasta and the most offensive-tasting bottle of 5£ rosé I have ever had the displeasure of ingesting. The hosts we were staying with in Edinburgh were funny and friendly, and had the coolest apartment complete with a fort in the living room.
The next day we saw the local market, which had an incredible smelling ENTIRE pig being roasted, which, unfortunately I could not indulge in since we had plans to get authentic Mexican food for the first time in Europe for lunch that day with some of Diana's friends visiting Scotland as well. After that, we climbed Arthur's Seat, but not before Diana gypsy swindled me (or maybe I gypsy swindled her) into wearing the most touristy Loch Ness monster hat on the face of the earth if she paid for it. The views from the top of the mountain really were amazing and spectacular, especially as the clouds came in from the distance. The next day we saw yet another market en route to the botanic gardens with many baked goods and ethnic foods, before stopping at "Oink", the restaurant with the entire pig being roasted at the market the day before, for me to satisfy my cravings for an "Oink" sandwich. (I would have ordered the larger "Grunter" had I not had too much respect for myself to mutter the sandwich's name).
After that, Diana and I took the Scotrail up to Fife, home of St. Andrew's university and our fantastic hosts. Since our host had class the first day we were there, he left us to discover Fife by ourselves, but not before letting Diana barrow his orangey/red St. Andrew's academic cloak thing, which he assured us was a normal thing to wear, and which, more importantly, would get us into the ancient cathedral for free. Although not completely true, I think Diana still enjoyed wearing it.
After our afternoon beach-side adventure, we went out with our hosts (sans cloak) to discover Fife nightlife, then left the next afternoon. Overall, it was a beautiful place filled with fun people. After that, Diana and I returned to Edinburgh only to spend six hours in a local Starbucks, then east some delicious (even if the entire staff was super awkward) vegetarian Indian food, grab a quick drink, then spend the night in the airport.
After that was a quick trip to Geneva to see my cousin, which will be continued in a later post!!
ming.
04 May 2013
Goodbyes, hellos, another vacation.
A couple weekends back, my two good friends, Emily and Diana, and I went to Saint Malo for a last 'hurrah' for their time in France. Instead of our usual couchsurfing/jumping on trains without paying for them/doing only activities that are free, we decided to splurge on a nice Airbnb apartment right on the beach and also a day trip to Mont Saint Michel since we were already in the area. The first day the weather was pretty bipolar, so Emily and I spent the day partially outdoors on the beach enjoying the weather and partially indoors hiding from the rain. After searching for a market that apparently didn't actually exist, we found ourselves in a wonderful cheese shop with a wonderful cheese man who was super stoked that we spoke french and actually cared enough about our cheese experience to ask him for advice. Once we asked him for strong cheeses, he gave us several cheeses to sample, then gave us a free little ball of goat cheese after explaining something about pollen and flowers and dirt and wine pairings, which was pretty lost on us. (We speak french, but not THAT well...) The next day we headed to Mont Saint Michel, which was pretty, but unfortunately we had some terribly windy and rainy weather, so we were more than happy to get back to our humble abode to curl up in sweatpants and play cards with a bottle of wine. The next day, the weather was incredible, so we went to eat 'the best ice cream in France', which did not disappoint, and stroll along the beach. Overall, it was a wonderful weekend, except when our host tried to claim our 200 euro deposit because of a couple small knife marks on their counter, which we accidentally took for a cutting board.
HA!yeah obviously...
The view from our apartment!
The most accurate thing I've seen in France
Taken recently after "the incident"
Bless you, cheese man.
The following week was filled with the other assistants "profiter"-ing from their last week in France, and me happily following suit. The weather was nice, so we enjoyed pique-nique-ing near the river and enjoying each other's company. For our last goodbye soiree, some of the assistants held a "progressive" a la Carlton College, where the whole group moved from apartment to apartment having aperos and snacks prepared by the host, before ending up at an apartment all together.
The following week was filled with the other assistants "profiter"-ing from their last week in France, and me happily following suit. The weather was nice, so we enjoyed pique-nique-ing near the river and enjoying each other's company. For our last goodbye soiree, some of the assistants held a "progressive" a la Carlton College, where the whole group moved from apartment to apartment having aperos and snacks prepared by the host, before ending up at an apartment all together.
Your classic bathroom tequilla timer
Face paint was involved
MIGNETTE. I just might miss this cat more than any person I've met this year.
After saying goodbye to the assistants who returned to the US of A, the assistants who stayed decided to go on a big bike trip to start off our two week vacation. First we stumbled onto the train with our klunky bikes en direction to nearby city, Tours. After consulting with their Maison de Tourisme about the best bike route (turns out there isn't one) and stopping at the local Carrefour for snacks, we were off on a 2.5 hour bike ride to Chenonceau. The route was of course beautiful, however we were more than happy to arrive at our destination to eat lunch.
After saying goodbye to the assistants who returned to the US of A, the assistants who stayed decided to go on a big bike trip to start off our two week vacation. First we stumbled onto the train with our klunky bikes en direction to nearby city, Tours. After consulting with their Maison de Tourisme about the best bike route (turns out there isn't one) and stopping at the local Carrefour for snacks, we were off on a 2.5 hour bike ride to Chenonceau. The route was of course beautiful, however we were more than happy to arrive at our destination to eat lunch.
This was not my idea, although I happily obliged
Clearly my favorite part of the castle. Incredible pots!
DISNEYLAND?! Nahhh, but yeah kinda.
The rest of the first week of vacation I volunteered at the local anglophone library for an intensive english workshop about America and English for 12-14 year olds. I was pretty amazed that the kids who were that young were able to withstand 3 hours a day of only English. My favorite parts of the workshop were playing charades with the words they had come up with ('poop' being their favorite...however I'm not sure how that's specific to America...) and playing with sidewalk chalk outside (an activity that the director had to check to make sure wasn't 'absolutement interdit' according to city rules...ugh France...).
Soon after, my friend Diane, who studied French with me at OWU came up from small town Milau to visit me in the thriving metropolis of Angers! Diane got the chance to see the Cointreau factory, troglodytes (houses that have been dug out of caves special to this region), and the local chateau. I was super happy to see Diane and reminisce about our days at OWU, and I think I'm correct in saying that the Angevin men were pretty happy to meet her as well.
The rest of the first week of vacation I volunteered at the local anglophone library for an intensive english workshop about America and English for 12-14 year olds. I was pretty amazed that the kids who were that young were able to withstand 3 hours a day of only English. My favorite parts of the workshop were playing charades with the words they had come up with ('poop' being their favorite...however I'm not sure how that's specific to America...) and playing with sidewalk chalk outside (an activity that the director had to check to make sure wasn't 'absolutement interdit' according to city rules...ugh France...).
Soon after, my friend Diane, who studied French with me at OWU came up from small town Milau to visit me in the thriving metropolis of Angers! Diane got the chance to see the Cointreau factory, troglodytes (houses that have been dug out of caves special to this region), and the local chateau. I was super happy to see Diane and reminisce about our days at OWU, and I think I'm correct in saying that the Angevin men were pretty happy to meet her as well.
This small child has nothing to do with anything, except that he is precious
After that, Diana and I took the Scotrail up to Fife, home of St. Andrew's university and our fantastic hosts. Since our host had class the first day we were there, he left us to discover Fife by ourselves, but not before letting Diana barrow his orangey/red St. Andrew's academic cloak thing, which he assured us was a normal thing to wear, and which, more importantly, would get us into the ancient cathedral for free. Although not completely true, I think Diana still enjoyed wearing it.
After our afternoon beach-side adventure, we went out with our hosts (sans cloak) to discover Fife nightlife, then left the next afternoon. Overall, it was a beautiful place filled with fun people. After that, Diana and I returned to Edinburgh only to spend six hours in a local Starbucks, then east some delicious (even if the entire staff was super awkward) vegetarian Indian food, grab a quick drink, then spend the night in the airport.
After that was a quick trip to Geneva to see my cousin, which will be continued in a later post!!
ming.
CointreauVERSIAL!
SERIOUSLY French old couple found in the troglodytes
TROGLOLYFE
The rest of vacation has been pretty relaxed. I helped the mother of one of the kids in the workshop I volunteer with prepare for her interview in English, and was rewarded with a packet of madelines, which I immediately devoured. I also tried to bake lemon bread, and failed miserably. Geoff tried his hand at cooking, and was a bit more successful with "L'aligot", a mix of tomme de vache cheese, creme fraiche, and mashed potatoes; a specialty of the south of France.
The rest of vacation has been pretty relaxed. I helped the mother of one of the kids in the workshop I volunteer with prepare for her interview in English, and was rewarded with a packet of madelines, which I immediately devoured. I also tried to bake lemon bread, and failed miserably. Geoff tried his hand at cooking, and was a bit more successful with "L'aligot", a mix of tomme de vache cheese, creme fraiche, and mashed potatoes; a specialty of the south of France.
Oops.
Despite what you're thinking, this IS how it's supposed to look (I asked)
That's it! Sorry for the absurd length.
ming.
That's it! Sorry for the absurd length.
ming.
04 April 2013
highlights
Highlights of the last three weeks (in no particular order):
- Hockey sur glace : I went with a couple of assistants to see the Angers Ducs play against some other team in France for the "demi-finale". Thankfully I had already seen a French ice hockey game in Grenoble, so I knew not to get my hopes up for any climactic fist-fights or any spectacular enthusiasm from the "pom-pom girls". Though they ultimately lost, it was still a fun time.
- Cointreau tour : Cointreau is a liquor that (they say) is popular world-wide (never heard of it), and is made right here in Angers! It's made from two types of orange rinds and beet alcohol, and is primarily used in margaritas and other cocktails. The tour was informative, interesting, and the tasting session of a shot and two cocktails served as our happy hour that day.
- Learning to drive : My boyfriend offered to teach me how to drive his manual stick-shift car so I took him up on it one morning. Not until I got into the drivers seat did I realize that I didn't know ANY of the vocabulary related to automatic cars in English, much less in French, so it quickly evolved into me irrationally freaking out and screaming at him in English while the car was snailing alone in the abandoned parking lot. He was a good sport about the whole ordeal and he eventually calmed me down enough to make it all the way up to third gear.
- Battle of the bands : A couple weekends back, we went to a nearby campus to watch bands battle for a spot in an upcoming concert. On the roster included what appeared to be a band inspired completely by Green Day (eye liner and strange facial expressions included), a fur-coat-clad band (they eventually stripped down to silk lacy tank tops for "un moment de poésie féministe"), and finished with a French hand-banging scream-o band (not my fave).
- Prolonged contract: Despite what some of my profs believed, I succeeded in prolonging my contract! I was planning on staying in Angers for the month of May anyways since I had to pay rent for my apartment (and wait for my mom and our friends to arrive in this part of the world to travel to Turkey!) and I'm so glad to hear that I'll actually have something to occupy my time with, even though it's only 11 hours a week.
- Spring!: The weekend before last it was BEAUTIFUL weather. My friend and I went to the market and the boulangerie and then plopped ourselves down to enjoy a nice little picnic next to La Maine for a casual 2.5 hours (I even got a little sunburn on my nose). Although the good weather didn't really stick, I'm hopeful that it might come back soon.
ming.
- Hockey sur glace : I went with a couple of assistants to see the Angers Ducs play against some other team in France for the "demi-finale". Thankfully I had already seen a French ice hockey game in Grenoble, so I knew not to get my hopes up for any climactic fist-fights or any spectacular enthusiasm from the "pom-pom girls". Though they ultimately lost, it was still a fun time.
- Cointreau tour : Cointreau is a liquor that (they say) is popular world-wide (never heard of it), and is made right here in Angers! It's made from two types of orange rinds and beet alcohol, and is primarily used in margaritas and other cocktails. The tour was informative, interesting, and the tasting session of a shot and two cocktails served as our happy hour that day.
- Learning to drive : My boyfriend offered to teach me how to drive his manual stick-shift car so I took him up on it one morning. Not until I got into the drivers seat did I realize that I didn't know ANY of the vocabulary related to automatic cars in English, much less in French, so it quickly evolved into me irrationally freaking out and screaming at him in English while the car was snailing alone in the abandoned parking lot. He was a good sport about the whole ordeal and he eventually calmed me down enough to make it all the way up to third gear.
- Battle of the bands : A couple weekends back, we went to a nearby campus to watch bands battle for a spot in an upcoming concert. On the roster included what appeared to be a band inspired completely by Green Day (eye liner and strange facial expressions included), a fur-coat-clad band (they eventually stripped down to silk lacy tank tops for "un moment de poésie féministe"), and finished with a French hand-banging scream-o band (not my fave).
- Prolonged contract: Despite what some of my profs believed, I succeeded in prolonging my contract! I was planning on staying in Angers for the month of May anyways since I had to pay rent for my apartment (and wait for my mom and our friends to arrive in this part of the world to travel to Turkey!) and I'm so glad to hear that I'll actually have something to occupy my time with, even though it's only 11 hours a week.
- Spring!: The weekend before last it was BEAUTIFUL weather. My friend and I went to the market and the boulangerie and then plopped ourselves down to enjoy a nice little picnic next to La Maine for a casual 2.5 hours (I even got a little sunburn on my nose). Although the good weather didn't really stick, I'm hopeful that it might come back soon.
ming.
18 March 2013
Scotzerland part 1
During the past two weeks I've been on vacation. My friend and fellow assistant, Diana, traveled with me to Scotland. Despite all the naysayer's comments for weeks leading up to the journey, we enjoyed wonderful rain-less 45 degree weather throughout the entire ten day stint spent there. The trip began with a 5 hour road trip to Beauvais to catch our plane to Edinburgh with two nice French ladies.
After arriving in Edinburgh, we quickly got on a bus to Glasgow, but not before realizing that the locals were basically incomprehensible and the currency system was even more unclear. The best we could do was to shove a handful of coins in the bus drivers face and say "take how much it costs". After settling into our hotel, we did some serious research on the best place to get a drink in the city, and eventually found ourselves at a pub called "Nice and Sleazy", which thankfully was inaccurately named. There, we started off our Scottish adventure right listening to some acoustic open mike musicians (some good, some bad) and whiskey (no good, all bad).
The next morning we accidentally woke up super early ready to take Glasgow by storm! We decided to walk to the Glasgow botanic gardens and the kelvinsgrove museum and finally gave into one of the cheap Indian food places we had been seeing all over the city. The rest of the day we spent going to various museums that our brochure guide told us were 'only a fifteen minute walk away!' Until by the end of the day we were a solid hour and a half walk from our hotel.
Day two in Glasgow we celebrated Diana's birthday by getting brunch at a cute tea place in the financial district (which we later found out turned into the RedLight District at night). She had pancakes drowning in a pool of chocolate, I had French toast with a heap of bacon on top. Both healthy choices.
Afterwards we worked off our fatty brunch by walking around student filled West End and Byres street to shop and look around. After that, we made our way to our Couchsurfing hosts place in Clydesbank, otherwise basically known as the murder/heroin capital of Glasgow (again, unbeknownst to us at the time). We took it easy the first night while watching "Paris, je t'aime" and petting their cat, Jack. The next morning we set off on a day trip to nearby city, Ayr, and had beautiful weather and nice beach views.
We said goodbye to our hosts the next morning and headed off on a short 1.5 hour bus ride to Edinburgh. Being that it was my 23rd birthday, we celebrated accordingly with gas station-quality tuna pasta and the most offensive-tasting bottle of 5£ rosé I have ever had the displeasure of ingesting. The hosts we were staying with in Edinburgh were funny and friendly, and had the coolest apartment complete with a fort in the living room.
The next day we saw the local market, which had an incredible smelling ENTIRE pig being roasted, which, unfortunately I could not indulge in since we had plans to get authentic Mexican food for the first time in Europe for lunch that day with some of Diana's friends visiting Scotland as well. After that, we climbed Arthur's Seat, but not before Diana gypsy swindled me (or maybe I gypsy swindled her) into wearing the most touristy Loch Ness monster hat on the face of the earth if she paid for it. The views from the top of the mountain really were amazing and spectacular, especially as the clouds came in from the distance. The next day we saw yet another market en route to the botanic gardens with many baked goods and ethnic foods, before stopping at "Oink", the restaurant with the entire pig being roasted at the market the day before, for me to satisfy my cravings for an "Oink" sandwich. (I would have ordered the larger "Grunter" had I not had too much respect for myself to mutter the sandwich's name).
After arriving in Edinburgh, we quickly got on a bus to Glasgow, but not before realizing that the locals were basically incomprehensible and the currency system was even more unclear. The best we could do was to shove a handful of coins in the bus drivers face and say "take how much it costs". After settling into our hotel, we did some serious research on the best place to get a drink in the city, and eventually found ourselves at a pub called "Nice and Sleazy", which thankfully was inaccurately named. There, we started off our Scottish adventure right listening to some acoustic open mike musicians (some good, some bad) and whiskey (no good, all bad).
The next morning we accidentally woke up super early ready to take Glasgow by storm! We decided to walk to the Glasgow botanic gardens and the kelvinsgrove museum and finally gave into one of the cheap Indian food places we had been seeing all over the city. The rest of the day we spent going to various museums that our brochure guide told us were 'only a fifteen minute walk away!' Until by the end of the day we were a solid hour and a half walk from our hotel.
Day two in Glasgow we celebrated Diana's birthday by getting brunch at a cute tea place in the financial district (which we later found out turned into the RedLight District at night). She had pancakes drowning in a pool of chocolate, I had French toast with a heap of bacon on top. Both healthy choices.
Afterwards we worked off our fatty brunch by walking around student filled West End and Byres street to shop and look around. After that, we made our way to our Couchsurfing hosts place in Clydesbank, otherwise basically known as the murder/heroin capital of Glasgow (again, unbeknownst to us at the time). We took it easy the first night while watching "Paris, je t'aime" and petting their cat, Jack. The next morning we set off on a day trip to nearby city, Ayr, and had beautiful weather and nice beach views.
We said goodbye to our hosts the next morning and headed off on a short 1.5 hour bus ride to Edinburgh. Being that it was my 23rd birthday, we celebrated accordingly with gas station-quality tuna pasta and the most offensive-tasting bottle of 5£ rosé I have ever had the displeasure of ingesting. The hosts we were staying with in Edinburgh were funny and friendly, and had the coolest apartment complete with a fort in the living room.
The next day we saw the local market, which had an incredible smelling ENTIRE pig being roasted, which, unfortunately I could not indulge in since we had plans to get authentic Mexican food for the first time in Europe for lunch that day with some of Diana's friends visiting Scotland as well. After that, we climbed Arthur's Seat, but not before Diana gypsy swindled me (or maybe I gypsy swindled her) into wearing the most touristy Loch Ness monster hat on the face of the earth if she paid for it. The views from the top of the mountain really were amazing and spectacular, especially as the clouds came in from the distance. The next day we saw yet another market en route to the botanic gardens with many baked goods and ethnic foods, before stopping at "Oink", the restaurant with the entire pig being roasted at the market the day before, for me to satisfy my cravings for an "Oink" sandwich. (I would have ordered the larger "Grunter" had I not had too much respect for myself to mutter the sandwich's name).
After that, Diana and I took the Scotrail up to Fife, home of St. Andrew's university and our fantastic hosts. Since our host had class the first day we were there, he left us to discover Fife by ourselves, but not before letting Diana barrow his orangey/red St. Andrew's academic cloak thing, which he assured us was a normal thing to wear, and which, more importantly, would get us into the ancient cathedral for free. Although not completely true, I think Diana still enjoyed wearing it.
After our afternoon beach-side adventure, we went out with our hosts (sans cloak) to discover Fife nightlife, then left the next afternoon. Overall, it was a beautiful place filled with fun people. After that, Diana and I returned to Edinburgh only to spend six hours in a local Starbucks, then east some delicious (even if the entire staff was super awkward) vegetarian Indian food, grab a quick drink, then spend the night in the airport.
After that was a quick trip to Geneva to see my cousin, which will be continued in a later post!!
ming.
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