Nice, Cannes and Paris vacation

Saturday - Cannes

I've had the most incredible and amazing weekend and that is only because of the kindness and generosity of some "strangers". It never ceases to amaze me how someone who doesn't even know you and who has never seen/met you before can be so nice to you, and would treat you as nice as your own family or long term friends would treat you.

Well I've been stressed with "this issue" (that is still ongoing so the stress is still ongoing too!) and anyway I decided to make a last minute decision to take a trip down south (as I stated earlier in this blog). I wrote an email to a friend of mine as I vaguely remembered that he told me he grew up down there. I thought maybe he could suggest some things for me to see or do, although I did not explicitly ask him this. I just wrote him a vague and short message thinking maybe he would be happy and/or excited for me, that's all.

What I did not expect was... He suggested that I could stay with his mother who lives in the hills of Cannes, in a beautiful town 10 minutes away. At the time of me writing to him I had already contacted quite a few Couchsurfers in Nice and Cannes about staying with them but had not received a positive reply yet so I was overjoyed that he said that and said "Yes! I would LOVE to stay with his mother!"

A few hours later I got a reply from him saying he had called his mother and that I could stay with her and she would love to host me. I also received a lovely email from her herself.

Now about this friend... He's French and I met him in Shanghai when we were both living there. I put a message up on a forum asking if anyone knew where I could buy such a such a product and he said that he had it and that he could give it to me since he didn't need it anymore. I thought that was very nice and we agreed to meet up. We only spent a few minutes with each other and then we never saw each other again! But, we managed to stay in contact over the last 3.5 years (!!) purely by email. I wouldn't exactly say it was a strong friendship but the fact that we're still friends and in contact says a lot I think... Anyway, he was the first French person I became friends with.

Then, around the time mid-last year (2010) when I was getting ready to move to France he contacted me asking me if he knew of anyone who could offer him a job in Australia as he was looking for a way to immigrate there. Since he's an engineer I put him in contact with my father and he went back and forth over several months weighing up all his options. In the end he thanked me but he said he decided to go with another company who said they could sponsor him but first he had to spend some time in Hong Kong. So he's currently still living in Hong Kong but he recently got his permanent visa for Australia and can move there after he marries his current partner so he can bring her over too.

I can't help but wonder if he was nice to me because I was nice to him and (tried to) help him out? It's funny how when you're nice to people without expecting anything in return, you eventually get it back. I really believe in karma and this is just one example, I think.

So, to say that I was tired when I arrived in Cannes was a complete understatement. I'd stayed up to almost 1am the night before stressing over this "issue" and then I had to get up at 6am to leave by 6:30am to catch my train. It was quite cold and I left a bit too late and basically had to run to the train station. It was still a bit dark when I left and the air going into my ears was really cold, giving me a splitting earache (which feels like someone put hot pokers in them) so by the time I arrived I was out of breath, sweating with a throbbing head/ears. I almost blacked out. "No worries!" I thought (in my Australian accent). I'll just sleep on the train. Easier said than done!

Seriously, I THINK EVIL THOUGHTS ABOUT PEOPLE WHO TALK LOUDLY AND NON-STOP ON LONG PLANE OR TRAIN JOURNEYS. Honestly, I just want to scream WOULD YOU PLEASE SHUT THE FUCK UP AND SIT THE FUCK DOWN?! God Damn it. Why do people have to keep getting up and walking up and down? What the heck is wrong with them? And a train is PUBLIC transport. It's not your own bloody private living room and the whole world does not want to hear your goddamn inane conversation at 100 decibels for hours and hours on end!

The first half of my 6 HOUR train ride was OK and I got some rest but the second half was just hell and I gave up.

Reminded me of Sydney...

Then, minutes before my train was due to arrive in Cannes (bad timing) I got:
1) an SMS from a guy in Nice who said he could meet up with me and show me the town.
2) a call from a woman regarding "the important issue".

Since I was then in a tunnel I couldn't respond to either of them and then I had to get off the train, and then my friend's mother (C) was there waiting for me, warmly welcoming me.

She was talking and asking me various things and telling me about Cannes and to be honest I was distracted as hell because I really wanted to respond to both of those people but I thought it'd be a bit rude since we'd just met for the first time and she was so welcoming and happy to see me, etc and talking at a million miles a minute... So I just forgot about it for while...

My first thought was when I arrived was.... I feel like I'm back home in Sydney! The weather, the sun, the sea, the plants/trees/flowers. It all seems so familiar. The only thing that's really different (as always) are the houses and the architecture. I couldn't have been luckier with an 18°C day, sunny and a light sea breeze.

As much as I wanted to explore and see the city I actually wanted and needed to sleep. My head felt like mush and I actually felt like I'd been on a plane and passed through different timezones or something! So she took me back to her house (about 10 minutes drive away) and we had lunch. Then I rested for a bit (actually I tried to but I was so hyped up and pumped up and soooooo excited to be there that I couldn't!). I told her I really needed to use the internet and a printer to sort out this "issue" and I felt soooooo bad that I had to bother her with that and I felt so annoyed that I couldn't enjoy my holiday in peace. The whole time I couldn't really relax because I needed to sort out this "issue" and that was the reason why I had to cut my holiday short and go to Paris.

We had some problems connecting my computer to the internet and couldn't figure out why and she said she'd call her son. We ended up talking to him (in Hong Kong) on Skype and it's funny because I have NEVER spoken to him on Skype before! I don't even know his account username. And the first time I ever talk to him on Skype is at his mother's place! I spoke to him in both French and English and he said that my French had really improved.

It's funny... I remember the very first email I ever wrote to him in French well. I said something about "votre photos" and he corrected me and said that I don't need to "vous" him and to call him "tu" and that because photos are plural I need to say "tes photos". I'll never forget that!  Ahh... How far I've come in my French! :D

We didn't get the problem solved but I managed to solve it myself sort of by accident by trying a few different things with the buttons on the LiveBox. Hurray! I could finally get online to email the person about "the issue".

C and I had some tea around 4-5pm and then I really had to go and get some rest before her soirée! I knew there was no way I could stay awake if I didn't.

I slept till just before the guests arrived, at 7pm. God that sleep was heavenly. You have no idea how much I love staying over at strangers'/friend's places when they give me my own nice big room, with a big bed, and nice fresh clean crisp sheets. OMG it's heavenly compared to when I'm living in a tiny tiny room with a single bed. Every time that has happened I seriously don't ever want to leave! Also I often sleep better at other people's houses because it's much quieter than where I am at the school.

So her friends came over and they were all lovely. A lot of the time when you're at a party with people you don't know they often don't bother to include you in their conversation but they really made an effort with me, even offering to speak to me in English (but I said I preferred to speak French).

We had a delicious seafood Paella for dinner followed by a frozen dessert from Picard. Since my friend's mother is divorced and lives alone and has a busy social life (like all single people I know!) she doesn't have much time to cook so the Paella was bought and pre-made by a shop but it didn't matter because it and the dessert were both still delicious.

Her friends had been out sailing all day so were understandably very tired and it finished relatively early at around 10-10:30pm.


Sunday - Nice

The next day we were off to Nice! It worked out perfectly because by going with them I didn't have to worry about transport (lots of time and money saved - yay!), I get to spend time with them AND do my own thing because 2 of her friends (a couple) who had also stayed overnight at her place and her were going to see the opera.

Unfortunately, because I forgot to reply to this guy's SMS he told me he had changed his plans and was now doing something with some friends. I was a bit disappointed but had no hard feelings. I had so much fun exploring and walking around everywhere until I was even more exhausted than I thought possible. It was warm and sunny. C, being so motherly towards me, told me to bring my coat in case it got coat and I was annoyed I was carrying my winter coat in a backpack all day long when all I wanted to do was to put in a t-shirt. I was sweating like crazy in my long-sleeve top! I kept thinking and feeling I was back home in Sydney. It was a weird yet happy feeling and made me more homesick than ever. However I was extremely content to be in the beautiful south of France and was in no hurry to go back home yet.

This picture reminds me of California or Hawaii

Pebbly beach

Another (bad) thing that reminded me of Sydney was... I found my allergies returning! Strange. Or maybe not so strange.  Because I noticed that the trees, plants and flowers were very similar to what we have in Sydney I also happened to notice my allergies starting to flare up (which I never got in the whole 6 months+ that I've been here!) Prior to that unfortunate event I actually thought that I would LOVE to live in Nice. In fact, I would die to live in Nice. It is gorgeous and and a good size. It has wonderful culture and restaurants. And of course the beach/sea. It's unfortunate that the beach is made of pebbles and not sand though.

One of the first things we did after we parked the car in the underground carpark was walk through a farmer's market. Now of course I'd been to markets before in various cities in France but for the first time... I don't know why... maybe because of the warmer weather... I could really smell everything. I could smell the olives, the tomatoes, the oranges, the strawberries... My nose was being assaulted by the most delicious of flavours and taste sensations I was probably almost salivating. It was just heavenly.

First time I noticed these funky tomatoes ("coeur de boeuf" / heart of beef)!

We walked through several gorgeous streets of Nice (you know the typically French ones with that are narrow and cobble-stoned) before settling down in a big restaurant (La Claire Fontaine) overlooking Place Rossetti, a fountain and an old church. It all looked so Italian. Even many street and building names were Italian!

This is what I ordered:

Farandale des Mais 
Assortiment de pissaladière, tourte de courgettes, beignets de courgettes et d'aubergine, farcis niçois, poivrons au four.

It was beautifully presented and totally yummo (and something I had never tried before!)

After hearing great things about this well-known glacerie (ice cream shop) I was dying to have some! I only very rarely eat ice cream and so when I do I wanna make sure it's GOOD. I was told they have 100 flavours including cactus! I wasn't game enough to try it though. I did however want to try about 20 different flavours... I opted for the pina colada flavour since it's a taste I really like.

Then they took me to the Place Masséna (photos below) and then went to the watch the opéra. Now, because I didn't manage to reply to that guy in time we couldn't meet up and I was a little bit disappointed but not overly. Afterall, I had MORE than enough things to do in the 4 hours that I had. In fact it would be a race against time to see everything since Nice is quite big and I was only going on foot.

I was actually still pretty tired but had to forget about that and just keep walking and walking and walking... I felt so stupid to be carrying around a big winter coat when I was sweating like crazy.

I passed through a gorgeous tropical looking park with a carousel.

I did a bit of research the night before and wanted to go to the Théâtre de la Photographie et de l'image because 1) I love photography and 2) it's free! Whenever I'm visiting a city I like to still keep costs down and do as many free things as possible and there is usually always some kind of museum or art gallery that is free. Plus it was such a beautiful day I did not want to spend it inside so it would've been a waste of time/money to go to a bigger museum/gallery.

I saw the photos of German August Sander and a cute collection of old cameras right in the lobby of the building. It was enough culture for me because I wanted to make the most of the great outdoors!

I kept walking and walking wanting to get back to the sea again not realising just how big Nice was and how the map I had on me was really crap. I'd taken the wrong map with me when I left the house that morning and this was a bus maps which didn't show clearly all the little roads. That's when I got a bit lost and a random elderly gentleman came up to me and offered to help me! That was the FIRST time anyone in France had offered to help me when I was lost. Sure lots of times if I asked someone to show me where something was on the map they were polite and helpful but this time it was different!

And let's not forget the two random people who offered to take my photo for me (with my camera). That has NEVER happened before either. (Then, later, when I left Cannes, a young man offered me his seat at the station and that has never happened before either).


It really is true that the people down south are more easygoing and friendly.

Park with lots of people playing Pétanque

Time and Tide wait for no man

(This post is sort of a continuation of and a bit of a repeat of this post here)

I'm just flooded with a whole mixture of emotions and thoughts right now...

Only 2 more weeks to go working at the school...

To say that I feel time is passing too quickly is an understatement. I actually felt that up until early January the time passed at a nice pace but after mid January it just went crazy and it was like I was on a runaway train...

Honestly, it only feels like yesterday that it was snowing and/or freezing but today, as I look up at the mountains surrounding my town it's as if I'm in that scene from The Wizard of Oz when the scene changes from black and white to colour. Only a few days ago I looked up at the mountains which were still a grey-brown colour as they have been all winter but now everything is turning green rapidly, starting from the bottom. It's quite interesting for me to see something like this, something I've never really witnessed before since I never lived near any mountains nor in a cold-ish place.

The other day I heard the familiar sound of a lawnmower right outside my window, and the familiar smell of freshly cut grass. The cherry blossoms that I love so much during springtime have not lasted long and now, with the wind, many have blown away already. I love all this colour and sun but there are some things I don't like too! The worst would have to be my springtime allergies which I seem unable to avoid no matter where in the world I am. Running nose, sneezing, itchy/watery eyes... Hopefully it won't last too much longer though.

The other thing which I was afraid of because I'd heard so much about from my sister who lived in Europe and various travel forums (people talking about hotels) is that.. Houses and buildings in Europe are extremely well designed for cold weather but are not at all well designed for hot weather. I already knew this and it was something I was NOT looking forward to. This afternoon it was sweltering in the classrooms being 29°C. And to think it's only early April!

As every day passes I feel sadder and sadder that I am leaving this school and my students, my 'kids'...

This afternoon I bumped into a staff member I hadn't talked to for ages and she seemed genuinely happy to see me. She also told me that my French had improved a lot since the last time we spoke (which made my day). She asked me about my photos (I showed her some on the internet) and as we got talking she suggested I should have an exhibition. To be honest it was something I had thought about before but I was not sure about how to organise it and I really didn't have the courage or confidence to do it so put it far far away at the back of my mind... I have taken thousands and thousands of photos of my school, my town and the area since I arrived. Then sooner than you know it, she was calling up the local art gallery and next thing I was (very nervously) speaking to one of the curators... He said he'd like to see my work and I may have an exhibition there in the near future!

The sad thing was though, that this lady said she wished she knew about my talent earlier and that I could've done a regular photo 'atelier' (workshop) with some of the students. It's times like that I realise how fast the time really went and that you should never put off doing anything in life because once the chance is gone, it's gone...  I guess I'm a little bit regretful I didn't think to organise something like that but I guess it also made me want to be more pro-active in all areas of my life so it was a good wake-up call.

Yesterday I went to the mairie (town hall) to enquire about who I should speak to about selling my photos since I've taken a lot I think could be used for advertising/marketing/publicity purposes. We'll see how that goes...

All in all I'm quite overcome with emotions at the moment. I've noticed that with this warmer weather, EVERYONE seems a lot happier, not just me. My students are more awake and attentive in class and these 8:30pm sunsets are wonderful.

Still, I constantly feel a very strong sense of longing for that snow. I just can't explain it. It's something I think about every single day. Why couldn't there have been more snow during Jan-Feb-March? The one thing I really regret that I didn't do during my time here was go skiing. The right opportunity just never came up.

When I spoke to a staff member last night he told me he lives near Chamonix and if you go up high there is still snow there but I want it to be snowing EVERYWHERE plus I want to go skiing too. I guess I'll just have to wait at least another 7 months :( I'm not upset about the waiting though. Afterall, I feel that time passes too quickly and I'm sure it'll be cold again before I know it.

To be honest, before I came to France I absolutely DESPISED cold weather. When I used to think of the most ideal place to live, I wanted to live in Hawaii. I went there once for a holiday and absolutely loved it.

1 VIENNA AUSTRIA
2 ZURICH SWITZERLAND
3 GENEVA SWITZERLAND
4 VANCOUVER CANADA
4 AUCKLAND NEW ZEALAND
6 DUSSELDORF GERMANY
7 FRANKFURT GERMANY
7 MUNICH GERMANY
9 BERN SWITZERLAND
10 SYDNEY AUSTRALIA

According to the Mercer HR report these are the top 10 most livable cities for 2010.  Out of all of them, Sydney is easily the warmest. I remember seeing those lists and always wondering why cold cities tended to do better than warmer ones. Who knows?

Anyway I used to have a huge FEAR of winter and cold weather and in November when everyone told me it would snow soon I couldn't believe it. I looked at the weather report online every day and on one hand I didn't want it to come (because to me it meant it would be freezing) but on the other hand I was excited to see it.

I remember it so clearly like it was yesterday... It was a Thursday night and I was having dinner in the school cantine with some of the surveillants (as usual).  It was pitch black outside (now it looks like 3pm when we are having dinner at 7pm) and I could not believe my eyes when the snowflakes fell down and they continued to do so right into the next day. Then the next morning I looked outside my window and it was a beautiful white fluffy wonderland, like a bubble bath. It was so surreal. That was one of the most beautiful and precious memories for me and something that I'll remember for the rest of my life. 

I remember the following weekend, the Saturday. It was the first time in ages I decided not to do any travelling because I was still getting over my cold and I spent an hour Skyping my father and an hour Skyping my sister and her boyfriend and I remember pointing my webcam out the window to show them. I was so proud of the fact that I had this beautiful snow right outside the window that I wanted to show the whole world!!

So after all these cold months honestly now I can say that I am NOT scared of winter or cold weather at all (except when it's windy. When it's windy it's hell). And the reason for that is because European buildings are so well heated it's always comfortable and let's face it you're not outside for that long anyway. Plus for me the snow is just a big big bonus and something to look forward to. Which is funny because most people I've spoken to tell me they hate(d) the snow and was so glad when it all melted.

I've been looking forward to warm weather for so long but didn't realise it would happen so quickly. It is wonderful right now where it's usually in the low-mid 20s. I am not really looking forward to the crowds of summer. One good thing about travelling in Europe during winter (except Christmas) is that there aren't that many crowds around.

This experience (of living in France, particularly in a small city, and teaching high school students) has had a profound effect on my outlook on life and on my opinion of myself.

I remember when I first came and how I was filled with wonder and joy of discovering all these new things but also with fear and sadness of the unfamiliarity of it all and leaving my former life and family/friends behind... I think about how far I've come in such a short time and how I've done things I never thought were possible.

I remember thinking my sister was out of her mind when she told me she did this Couchsurfing thing and now I've done it around 10 times and think nothing of it and have had the most wonderful experiences with some lovely, kind and hospitable people.

I've visited so many cities in such a short space of time. I've had so much free time to do what I wanted and having all these paid school holidays has been great.

I guess you never know how strong you can be unless you put yourself 'out there' and jump into the deep end and do something really really 'hard'. Although I think I give people and my friends an image that my life is all fun and games it truly wasn't and hasn't been (at least not all the time). I don't think most people can imagine what it's like to be so far away from home and have very very little contact with your family/friends or anything that is familiar.

I was also thrown into the deep end with the French language. I had only taken 6 months of classes prior to coming to France!! (it's all documented here on this blog if you've been following ;) ) I think that's a bloody huge achievement to go from that to talking and using it every day. Talking on the phone still makes me really nervous  (it does even in English because I hate talking on the phone to strangers) but I'm getting better with practice.

To be honest a large part of my motivation of wanting to come to France and do the Teaching Assistantship was because of my sister. She studied in Germany and I was in Sydney living a pretty ordinary life and I was regaled with stories of all her adventures and travels and even though she was a dirt poor student, she managed to send me sweet letters, postcards, and little gifts that wouldn't cost too much to send or buy.

I never did the study abroad thing when I was a university student and it's something I always regretted but I guess I've made up for it now. In a way I think the Teaching Assistantship is even better than being a student because you actually get paid to be there and you don't have much homework to do and you have just as many holidays and time to travel...

I actually felt like I'd won the lotto when I found out I got in (as I didn't want to get my hopes up and thought I only had a 50% chance) and to say it's been one of the most amazing experiences of my life is an understatement.

I'm truly sad to leave but I have other wonderful things to look forward to on the horizon...

If there is one important thing I've learnt in life it is: "Time and Tide wait for no man." If you REALLY want to do something, just do it. Today. Stop making excuses (of time or money). Just do it. Stop wasting time and complaining about how you can't do it. Find a way to make it happen if you REALLY want it badly enough. Honestly, I don't get paid much at all in this job but I'd rather have my experiences a million times over compared to more money or material things.  In the end when you're old and grey you'll only remember the happy, wonderful experiences and memories that you had in life. You won't remember the other stuff. 

Le temps passe trop vite !


(Image from here)

Setting the wheels in motion

Woah... it's all happening. My life is about to start a brand new chapter very soon. Meanwhile, I am so exhausted I can't even think. My brain and body are totally fried. I've had very little sleep all week because I've had insomnia thinking about all this 'stuff' and I've also been out every night which is so unlike me. Plus I've been in many long car rides on winding roads and after 6 months here, I still feel car sick every time...

• Wednesday night, got back at 8:30pm which isn't that late but considering I left at noon it was a freakin' long day.

• Thursday night, went and saw my new friend in town that I made through Couchsurfing (for the second time). Brought along one of my other friends, C, here at the school and the 3 of us had a great time/dinner. Got back at around 9:30pm.

• Friday night, one of my crazy friends M invited C and I to go out with her and her brother. The 4 of us had the best time! We had dinner in a gorgeous restaurant by a lake (at Aix les bains), and the waiters were all amazing with their service and smiles. The highlight for me were the glowsticks in our aperitifs and this hilarious dessert menu cover!! La sensualité de nos glaces. The sensuality of our ice cream. How 80s does that photo look? Is she supposed to be seductive?

Noone else found it as funny as I did. Probably because I was the only anglophone there! Another highlight for me was asking for ketchup for my fries. I am obsessed with ketchup but French people don't really use/like it so I'm always stuck using mustard (which I hate) or nothing. The waiter told me (jokingly) that I would change the taste of the food and make it worse but he still brought it to me with a smile (and not in the bottle but in a small glass shot-glass type container and with a spoon!). I'll also add that in this posh restaurant, the food wasn't even that expensive. And it was top notch.

After that we played 10 pin bowling which I really appreciated as I mentioned it's something I've been wanting to do for months. One of my other friends kept promising me he'd take me but he never did and M knew this, so she and her nice brother decided to take us there. C had never played it in her entire life (!!) so the 4 of us had a jolly fun time and then after that we went to the casino where I got stopped and wasn't allowed to enter :( because I didn't have any ID on me! It wasn't actually for age (France doesn't care too much about that) but because they need to verify you're not someone on a list for people who are banned from gambling! Oh well. I didn't mind. I don't particularly like gambling and poker/slot machines (machine à sous) anyway. The building was exquisite, opulent and gorgeous. There was also a charity auction going on and everyone coming in and out of there were dressed to the nines. Didn't get back till 1:30am.

• Saturday night, M suggested I should go out with her brother (again) and his friend from the Casino. She couldn't come though. I was a bit hesitant since I don't know him that well and had never met his friend. M tells me that this guy is really rich and will pay for everything and just go along and have fun... er... ok... so I did! I had no idea what he'd look like and how old he'd be. According to my guess, he was quite a bit older than us. Probably 45 or so. Oh well. I had a brief flashback to Le Divorce like what the heck am I getting myself into here? I'm going to have dinner with a rich, older man. OKOK it wasn't like that at all. Actually, it was NOTHING like that. For one thing, there was my friend's brother who was with us and it was just like 3 friends having dinner. Nothing more. I had a fun time teaching English to them and I actually believe that over the course of the evening they had improved! And yes, they both paid for me. Not that it was a super extravagant/expensive dinner anyway. But still, it was very nice of them. After that we went to a pub and they wanted to stay out later but I said I needed to get back since I had an early start on Sunday. Still, I got back at around midnight.

• Sunday. OK, so a few weeks back I met this guy through Shared Talk (a foreign language exchange website). From our very first chat we just got on like a house on fire. It's very rare that that happens but it happened for us. Then, he invited me to come over and check out his town. Even though he is on Couchsurfing as well, I still hesitated and cancelled because of some stupid articles I read about CS being dangerous and whatnot and then I got this stupid idea and re-read our chats over and over again and overanalysed EVERYTHING till I scared the crap out of myself for absolutely no reason to at all. Then I told myself I was being an idiot. So when he invited me the second time, I decided I HAD to go and put my fears aside. They were unfounded and it was just my imagination running away with me.

So, he picked me up at the station. Yes, what was I thinking? Getting into a car with a complete stranger? Well, first of all I have to say that the majority of people have a 'sixth sense' and if something doesn't feel right you can feel/sense it. I didn't feel there was anything scary or wrong about him or the situation at all. According to our chats I felt like I knew him quite well too. The first thing I did when I saw him was laugh because... he was wearing a beret and a blue/white striped shirt. He looked so ridiculously French and I asked if it was deliberate or not and he said no, and that he only bought the beret a week ago... in London!

So first thing we did was go to a pâtisserie to pick up something to eat, and then he drove me to this gorgeous look out place that we had already talked about during our very first chat! (there seems to be a lot of them in my (Rhône Alpes/Savoie/Haute Savoie) region).  Luckily it wasn't crowded at all even though it was a Sunday. The view looked down to Geneva and it was pretty impressive. We were at around 1200m altitude.

After that we went back to his place for me to drop off my bags and we were going to check out the Water Festival in Geneva (Fête de l'eau aux Bains des Pâquis). However, after my exhausting week I was too tired to go and said I just wanted to do nothing. Besides, it was really overcast and looked like it might rain. So we talked for a bit and then went out for a walk just around the local area which was exciting enough for me. And with all the flowers blooming for spring it was really beautiful. There was a beautiful park with an oriental style setting. After that we came back, talked some more and then went back out to pick up the 2 pizzas we'd ordered for dinner (by which time it really was raining). If there's one thing I've learnt about single people (including myself) is that they almost never cook. It is just such a pain (and washing up too) and it's expensive, and who the heck wants to eat alone all the time anyway?

We watched a DVD during/after dinner (the pizzas) and then stayed up till 1am and I had so much fun talking about life and random stuff I didn't want to go to sleep. We talked about so much stupid stuff, in both French and English.

That afternoon, he introduced me to a French herbal drug called Euphytose because I said I had been having some mild problems with insomnia because I was thinking too much about this 'matter' and then that night he introduced me to Limoncello, an Italian alcohol that tastes like Lemonade, and both times we joked that he was trying to drug me... Yes, I admit there was a tiny tiny part of my head that was still skeptical about WHY this person was being so nice to me???

He refused to let me help with or pay for anything. He was so unbelievably nice, just like all the other French people I had met on language learning websites or CouchSurfing and stayed with. Even more so. He said he wanted to show me "French gallantry" (and no, he wasn't charming in a fake, superficial way either. He told me he treats all his guests well). He even insisted that I sleep in his nice comfortable bed while he slept on the couch (which isn't long enough) despite me protesting about 10 times. There was nothing underhanded going on at all I'm pleased to say. He never acted inappropriately. I just feel so lucky to have met someone who would treat a 'stranger' so well.


On male-female platonic relationships

After recent events I've come to the conclusion that I really like being a single girl. It's so much fun. I can hang out with as many single men as I please and do whatever I want, really. And who doesn't like hanging out with someone who treats you so well? And not just one person, but several! Noone is going to get jealous or hurt (as long as no one develops feelings)... Plus, I'm still surprised that there are so many wonderful, kind, chivalrous men who do and pay for everything without even wanting anything in return. Yes, I was skeptical too but it's true, but they do exist. I have met many of them.

I guess this kinda explains some sentiments from women:

When a man is a gentleman to women (holds doors open, pulls our chair out, walks on the outside - like "whenamanloves" stated) women are either a) upset that he "doesn't think we can do it ourself" b) left in shock or c) think there is some ulterior motive.  They react like a, b and c because it's not common for men to be this way these days and if he does or says nice things to you then he "must be attracted to you in a romantic way" (he's not, if he is, he will tell you) or we're just simply blown away that this type of gentlemanly behavior actually still exists among some men. Or maybe we think they have some ulterior motive, maybe they just want to get in your pants? Well, that's not it either. Did you ever think that maybe their parents just raised them with high morals and values and they were taught to respect each other? Or if you react like "a" then you're probably just stuck in that "I'm the same as you, so don't treat me different" mentality.

I think most people have a funny idea about male-female relationships. Many people tell me they don't believe a platonic relationship is possible but I beg to differ. I have many male platonic friends and I don't have feelings for them or vice versa. If I did happen to have feelings and it wasn't reciprocated (or vice versa) I believe that that would be the end of the friendship and we'd have to stop hanging out otherwise it'd get too difficult and someone would be bound to get hurt.

Some people also have the idea that if you see a single male and single female hanging out there must be something going on between them. I think that is crap also!! I think the people who can't have an adult platonic relationship with a member of the opposite sex are just immature, frankly.

I don't particularly choose only males to hang out with but it just so happens that since I arrived in France and at this school I get along with them much better and easier than with females (even though all my good friends back home are female).


(picture from here).

I want a car and random thoughts

If I end up staying in Europe and getting a decent job, and if I don't end up living in a biggish city, the first thing I'm gonna do (after finding accommodation) is to buy a car! I wanted to buy one when I first arrived but then I told myself it would cost too much and be too much hassle, plus I didn't know how long I'd be staying. It was just too much work to find a car that I liked, in my price range as well since, annoyingly, I needed a car to be able to go and look at cars!!

Tonight I got invited to a soirée in another town not far from me. It's only about 15 minutes drive away. I could take the bus but it's still a hassle since I'd have to get myself to the train station, then wait for the bus, catch the bus. Of course if I had a car I could just drive myself home afterwards but since I don't and the last bus is at around 8:30pm  I'd have to stay the night (which these people (Couchsurfers) generously agreed to let me without me even having to ask), BUT then I start work at 8am tomorrow so I'd have to get up before 6am to make sure I got to class on time and I can't stand early mornings (particularly when they are still cold), so I decided not to go. :( And I'm upset because if I had a car I could've easily gone.

Oh well. Hopefully there'll be another time.

One of my friends here at the school invited me out for a girls' night out Friday night. Woohoo, can't wait!

Well, I've been speaking to someone from Shared Talk for only 8 days (which started because I was bored out of my brains here during the school holidays) and it's rare that from the very beginning we got along really well. We had so much in common, I couldn't believe it! He had travelled all over the world (which I find is rare for people I know around here as they just stay in Europe) and we had so much to talk about and this weekend he invited me over to spend some time with him and some friends (bonus: he only lives 30 minutes away by train). At first I was hesitant. I mean... we've only been speaking for 8 days, actually less than that since we obviously don't speak every single night. We've only known each other for 8 days but spoken around 5 times. I said sure, "I'd love to come over and meet you all but my last train is at..." (the usual story).... and he said, "Don't worry, you can stay over here."

Now, I have actually stayed with people I met through those language exchange websites before (but that was because I knew them fairly well. I'd talked to them for over a year!) Normally someone inviting me only after 8 days would've freaked me out and I would have had to decline, but luckily, he also does Couchsurfing and has a profile there so I checked out his comments to see that he's trustworthy. Since he doesn't live too far away he actually knows of my town (most French people don't as it's small and not well-known) and from the beginning would constantly make jokes about how it's the ugliest and worst city in France. Now I don't know if that's true or not... but when I tell people where I live and if they happen to know this town, they say that too (yes they are very blunt!! The French are not PC at all!!) It's a running joke and I just play along. Seriously, I'm not offended but I do NOT think it's the ugliest town in France by a longshot. Sure it's small and really boring but it's certainly not that ugly!

So anyway, that's THREE things I've been invited to in one week. This is all without me asking or hinting or anything. These people are just kind enough to invite me. 3 in one week, that's just too much!! ;)

Random but I've reached 100 contacts on LinkedIn (connecting me to almost 1.5 million people) - woohoo!

I can't believe how fast the time passes. I know it's a clichéd thing to say but still, it's true!

I have absolutely no hope of it snowing anymore. It's just getting too warm. There are only tiny patches/remnants of snow high up on the mountains that I see here and melting rapidly day by day. Gosh it seems like a lifetime ago where I saw my city covered in fluffy whiteness and felt like I was dreaming...

Ah yes.. the magical summer. I think a part of the reason why I've been a bit down lately is because everything just looks dead at the moment (I mean landscapes). There's no more beautiful snow, just dead trees and dead grass. In fact, the grass reminds me a lot of Australia. It's extremely dry and a yellowish shade. Often I've wanted to do something (a tourist attraction) whilst visiting a particular city but discovered it was closed due to the season being winter and everywhere I go people tell me to come back during summer because "It's beautiful during summer". So in my mind I imagine that EVERYWHERE in France and Europe just becomes super duper amazing during summer. Of course I know that that's not entirely true. For one thing I've already experienced huge mosquito bites and it wasn't even during summer, it was during autumn (and they don't have flyscreens, nor air con nor fans in houses in Europe!). However, I'm still very much looking forward to spring, and flowers, and colour... and the joy of feeling the sun on my bare skin!

On Saturday I went on a mini shopping spree and bought some spring-y clothes! Bit sick of wearing drab colours all the time and a big, heavy coat.  I bought a cheery nautical-print shirt and navy blue cardigan from Mango, a denim skirt and pair of black work pants (down to 6€!) from Pimkie, a white cardigan from H&M (down to 10€), and a professional-looking short-sleeved striped shirt from Zara (down to 7€!). I didn't actually know there was some special sale on (as I heard that France is only allowed to have sales twice a year) so I got lucky as most shops had some sort of sales rack.

I'm loving the fashions at the moment. I love the red/white/navy blue stripey nautical theme and even 'collected' clothes like that back home... In winter I hated the French fashions (too many drab colours and weird designs) but loved the shoes (boots) and now I love the spring/summer fashion range but hate the shoes! I can't win. The summer shoes are just not nice and not comfortable at all. I tried on lots and couldn't find anything much that I liked. Just as well. I remind myself I am supposed to be saving... oops!

I'm such a nomad at the moment. I wonder if I'll ever settle down. Perhaps I'm just immature. I do not look forward to having a mortgage and spending my weekends cleaning the house at all. I feel like I can't relate to a lot of my friends and co-workers because apart from work all they talk about is home stuff and child(ren) stuff (neither of which I have). I don't want to settle down. Or maybe I just don't want to settle ;)

Reasons why Couchsurfing is better than a hotel

Who was I kidding? Did I honestly think I could last 2.5 weeks without leaving my town? Impossible! (that's said with a French pronunciation, something like uhm-poss-eee-bluh)...

Well, I had a few criteria to fulfill with choosing the city that I would visit:
* It had to be not too far away (so it doesn't cost too much)
* I had to be able find free accommodation there (via Couchsurfing)
* There had to be an event there where I'd get to meet new people
* It had to somewhere I wanted to find out more about, to see if I'd like living there

I was quite happy that I accomplished all of this. I found a wonderful host through CS. So kind, generous, friendly and helpful. We first stopped by a café where he shouted me to a hot chocolate. Then we spent my first day walking around the town and since he's lived there nearly his whole life, pointed out sights of interest and told me little historical facts or stories about various things...

It's only a small town but he took me to a place that he said he hadn't been to in 3-4 years! It's funny how it works like that. Whenever you live in a place you never really see it all and take it for granted. After our long walk we worked up a big appetite and each had a delicious pizza at an Italian restaurant. It's not often that I go to restaurants so I really savour those rare experiences. And the Italian food in France is really really good!

As luck would have it, the weather has been gorgeous lately. Sure it's still cold in the mornings and evenings but during the day it's sunny as anything and in the low teens. We even saw one of those outdoor digital thermometer things which said 23° but somehow I think it was just a tad optimistic...

Due to my crazy sleep patterns I was feeling extremely tired after our walk around the town so I actually had a big long siesta and then that night we went together to a café not far away to a CS meeting and I met up with 4 other lovely people. It's so nice meeting new people and finding out facts about them. Even though all these people are strangers it's not nerve-wracking at all. I guess being and living alone has given me a lot of skills in networking and the art of making small talk. Not saying I'm the most outgoing or interesting person out there, but I do enjoy talking to random, different, new people.

What's good (for me) about all these meetings that I go to is that everyone there (I assume) is single. I think because of that we already have something in common and... I don't know how to explain it other than to say almost everyone I know is a part of a couple and when I hang out with couples I just feel 'weird' and different. I don't feel like I am 'less' than them but just TOO different, especially since most people I know have also been with their partner for 10+ years and forgotten what it's like to be single and they have no idea how to relate to me either...

Speaking of which... I can't believe I did it! 3 and a bit weeks later I really don't think of 'him' anymore and when I do, I get a bit angry (a good sign) and think that he was a loser anyway. I couldn't believe it. Something just happened during this trip where I stopped thinking about him and those few seconds that I did, I honestly wasn't upset at all.

I am honestly not thinking about having a relationship at all at this moment and definitely NOT looking to start anything. I feel so much happier having a whole bunch of normal friends than one close boyfriend who screws with my head and my emotions. But recently, I have had girl friends confide in me about their relationships and it just saddens me that they don't realise they are dating a jerk and can't get rid of him. I spend my time thinking and talking about relationships a lot. To my single girl friends, to my single male friends, to my coupled-up girl friends, to 'strangers'... although I'm not looking and actually quite happy to be single right now the topic still stays in my head.

Another good thing about this meeting was that everyone there was bilingual or even trilingual. Yay! Everyone spoke French and I could actually understand everything. Trust me, when I first arrived this was extremely hard to do... with multiple people talking simultaneously, noisy background, music playing etc... I always find it hard to understand people when there is background noise which is why I'm still not great with telephone conversations... But anyhoo, it's just great to spend time with like-minded people.

Well back to CS, I honestly didn't think I could top my amazing experience last time. But this time came pretty close. Since this guy travels a lot for work, his apartment is empty a lot of the time and he said I could come and use it during those times when he's not there, if I wanted to, and invited me back again and we could check out more sights during the warmer weather... maybe with the car next time 'round!


A handful of reasons why Couchsurfing is a million times better than a hotel:

1. It's free!
2. You get to meet a local.
3. You get to see how a local really lives, in a real apartment/house on a real street, not necessarily in a street full of hotels. I've been lucky many times though and gotten an apartment right in the heart of the city (like this time). Often, the apartment you get is even BETTER located than a hotel. Since most places aren't accompanied with photos though, it's always a lucky dip and kind of fun to see what kind of place you end up in.
4. The place you'll stay in will be a million times bigger than your tiny hotel room, no matter how small it is.
5. The place you'll stay in will have a fully equipped kitchen (if you feel like cooking).
6. The person who hosts you is interested in you, your culture, your job, your town, your country, etc,  and actually wants to talk to you. The staff at hotel reception couldn't give two hoots about you.
7. If you're lucky and if they have time, they'll even give you a free guided tour of their town.
8. You get a fuzzy feel-good feeling inside knowing that there are truly some nice, generous and wonderful people in this world.
9. If you're super lucky, you'll have a friend for life.

Well today I walked around the town some more by myself. I was absolutely sweating like crazy wearing my big down coat in the bright sunshine that I had to carry it the whole time. I'm absolutely exhausted and off to bed for an early night!

Random stuff about today

Random boring stuff about my day...

Had a few interesting adventures at the school this morning. Had to ask them to turn the school bell (which goes off more than 10 times a day) off because someone forgot to. Today's the last day where there are still staff around. Saw some students and teachers but have no idea what they were doing here because the school is closed.

Doing nothing much all day (yesterday) except sitting in front of the computer seems to make me not very sleepy so I stayed up till 2am... I went onto Skype to chat to this lawyer guy from Paris that I had spoken to once before... I told him I was looking for a job and he was so nice and encouraging (for a change). I'd read so much negative stuff online it was such a surprise to hear so much positivity and he actually gave me concrete examples of people at his work who were not European and who now work there full-time etc etc. What's interesting about him is... When I chat (type) to him online I notice that he uses HEAPS of words I do not know. I think I'm actually going to go through our chat and jot down all the new words (both proper words and slang) so I can learn them because when I chat to him I need to have wordreference.com opened at the same time to constantly look stuff up!

I thought about something else that I miss about my ex.. I realised that my French was improving heaps when I was with him, talking to each other, and reading his text messages. It's the constant input. It's why toddlers/children learn so quickly. Because they spend so much 1:1 time with their mother (or father or carer) who talks to them CONSTANTLY. It's something I miss heaps because we NEVER spoke English to each other. In fact, I found it cute, when he'd blurt out an English phrase once in a blue moon. As well as that, we listened to songs all the time when we were in the car (almost feels like most of our time together was spent in the car driving somewhere!) and he'd ask me if I understood the lyrics. If I said I didn't, he'd repeat it to me so that I'd get it. I could go on and on but it'll make me too sad. I really miss having someone to talk to constantly but it was just a bonus that I got to improve my French at the same time!

Anyway so around 1:30am I suddenly had this idea to look up people in my town on CouchSurfing. I have no idea why I did not think of this earlier?? I don't think I have looked it up since June 2010 when I first found out I was coming here. Why didn't I think of it before?!

So fed up with not having anyone to hang out with (all my friends seem to have disappeared on me now that it's school holidays)
• I clicked first on my own profile
• Then I clicked Show nearby Couches (100 K)

and that brings up everyone in your town, followed by everyone in the next closest town and so on and so forth. I can't remember how many people I messaged (maybe 5) but today I got 3 replies! So hopefully in the near future I'll get to meet up with them. Yay!

Today I decided to go to Geneva because I meant to go yesterday but couldn't get my CV finished in time. Being the first day of spring it was a lovely sunny day... nooooooo I'd love to say that but it was actually freezing! It was about 6° with strong winds and felt so cold. It didn't do much for my mood but the good thing is that I did manage to find the exact type of suit I wanted (for my upcoming job interviews of course :P ): black, with skirt AND pants and not hideously expensive and a decent fabric and in my size, etc. The blazer should ideally have a 'flap' at the back to aid movement.

I don't know how many shops I looked at but it was so hard to find a suit period. Now that spring's coming up all I saw were trendy colourful clothes in pastel colours and with flowers all over them! In Sydney I know exactly which shops to go to but here I have no idea... Eventually I went to one of my old favourites, Zara, and found one there. I was so lucky because it was the last one in my size. At first I found a nice 3-piece suit in H&M for a cheaper price but it was grey and I wanted black. I really wish female clothing stores would sell 'staples' sometimes instead of just weird trendy stuff like skirts and dresses with that horrible exposed metal industrial zipper (hate that!)

I tried to find shoes too (even though I already have the perfect pair at home back in Sydney) and it was an impossible task because my feet always fall out of shoes with no straps/buckles and I couldn't find any nice ones with straps/buckles that didn't look like something a kid or a granny would wear.

After walking around for 4 hours I am so tired. Found 2 employment agencies but I will have to go back later as I wasn't dressed for the part and I was not in a good mood to be 'selling' myself. Plus my hair was a great big mess from that wind.

I stumbled across, by accident, a big bookshop that has 2/3 of its books in English! Payot Librarie (a librarie is a bookshop in French, and a library in English is a bibliothèque). Gosh what a luxury to see English books in a bookstore. At first I didn't even go in because I thought Payot was a skincare brand (a quick Google image search shows me the logos are somewhat different) and the bookstore was for skincare related stuff.. but I went in and realised it was HUGE. 2 storeys and lots of nice books. With big Australian-style pricetags to match ;)  But hey, beggars can't be choosers.

Every time I get on a train (which feels like hundreds of times now) I notice things about the train, about the landscape outside the window, but also about the passengers and their rituals and so many thoughts go through my head so next time I'm gonna do a post on my SNCF adventures! (SNCF stands for: La Société nationale des chemins de fer français (the national French railway company)).


PS I uploaded some Grenoble pics onto my Facebook too if you want to take a peek.

Looking forward to a great weekend

Last weekend I was planning this coming weekend. I couldn't handle being alone again in the school, yet didn't want to spend too much on travelling. Last weekend I spent a fortune. Around 250 euros on the train tickets, the hotel, food, tourist attractions, souvenirs and whatnot.

I decided to go and visit my friend I met through CouchSurfing. It would be perfect. It's not too far away so the train ticket doesn't cost much and I get free accommodation and I get to see my friend again after almost 4 months. And after feeling sad for an entire week I really wanted to see my friend. I'm looking forward to it a lot.

If I haven't mentioned enough already I hate Fridays. I have half my entire week's classes on a Friday. I've gotten sick twice since I've been here and both times occured on a Friday. I am just mentally and physically exhausted by Friday lunchtimes. And then come Friday afternoon when the whole school becomes empty I'm left alone and feeling very sad and lonely and bored...

This afternoon, though, I had a "Sliding Doors" moment. I was walking to my last class of the day at 4:30pm. I can choose 2 ways of getting there. One is entirely outdoors and one goes through a passageway. They are both the same distance but I usually choose the second one when it's cold and it's been rather cold today (around 2° all day).

If I had chosen the other way it would have ended badly... For one thing, I would have walked all the way to the other side of the school for nothing because the teacher I work with would not have been there. I doubt he would have called me but even if he did I didn't have my phone on me.

I walked the second way and bumped into him. He told me the kids were having a class inside a big truck that drives around to various schools teaching kids about science. It was parked out the back somewhere and we had to walk through the gymnasium to get there. It was the FIRST time I had been inside the school gymnasium and it was much bigger than I thought (I had seen it from the outside already of course). There was a huge rock climbing wall!

Anyway, so we both went into the truck and checked out the little experiments inside (the kind you find in hands-on museums). I LOVE stuff like that! It was so cool. To think that was considered as 'teaching' when all I was doing was playing. So. Much. Fun. There were various experiments and the one I looked at was about skiing. I felt very sad on the inside that I still haven't experienced yet here in France. I'm kinda annoyed actually given I paid a fortune for travel insurance that covers me for skiing/winter sports too.

Anyway after the kids and the other teacher went home I got talking to the science teacher. She was about the same age as me and we got along well immediately. She said she had to get to the library before they closed so I went with her. By some strange coincidence someone had handed in a letter of mine that I dropped earlier today there and the librarian gave it to me. I would never have known about it otherwise as I almost never go to the school library (which the French call a CDI - Centre de documentation et d'information).

Since she lives in another town and would be staying overnight and since I have nothing to do during my horrible hated Friday nights we mutually decided to do something together. I was so happy and over the moon! OMG human contact. What a novelty ;)

We had dinner at a kebab restaurant in town that I'd been to before with my CouchSurfing friends (story no. 1). We talked about all sorts of stuff. About ourselves, our lives, about the truck.... She said she was really disappointed that the principal (at my school) didn't help much, nor did the town. It's quite hard for a school to get the truck as only half that apply that get it and it never goes to the same school twice. So not many people knew about it. I hope tomorrow when it's open to the public people go and check it out. Such a shame. It's the kind of thing you expect to pay money for but it's totally free and nobody knows about it :(

Anyway, it was so nice to have a conversation like that with her. I love meeting new people and talking with them 1:1 and finding more about them. It was like the kind of conversation I'd have with someone on a first date where you try to find as much information about them as possible...

I asked her about her boyfriend. I love hearing "how we met" stories. She's been with him for 4.5 years and tells me she thinks he's "The One". She was gushing about all the great things about him and I saw her eyes sparkle talking about him and how they got together. I love hearing these stories as it gives me hope...

After that she dropped me back at the school/internat and I invited her in for a cup of tea. I also showed her the rest of the place and we played table tennis. It was so much fun. I have not played that in about 4 years. I kind of wish I had a friend that would come and visit me (from Australia) so I could show them my school, the internat, my town, my new life... since noone has come I felt kinda excited to show it to her.

She reminded me of a young Jodie Foster. She said I was welcome to visit her in her town any time and we could hang out over a weekend.

She told me that she had spent a year in the US when she was 18, and then a year in Canada during her university years.

I know it may sound like a generalisation but I came to this conclusion a long time ago. Those French people who have been nicest to me are those who are open to new cultures, people and languages and who love travelling. Usually those who have lived abroad too. It's not just a French thing either. I find that people who enjoy travelling and learning foreign languages are just so much more OPEN to all the possibilities out there. Other people are just closed and have this, "my world/country/city/language/ culture/people are the best, why do I need to know about the other ones?"

The staff didn't allow her to stay in the internat on a Friday night so she had to go to a hotel. I asked her what it was like (expecting that it'd be nice) but the way she explained it... it was pretty hilarious. She was saying that she got the impression that the couple who ran it had never left this small town. They seemed like characters in a film or a book. And also the way she described the hotel too - the wallpaper, the smells.. oh it was all too funny. But the way she described the owners is exactly what I feel about a lot of people in this town, even some of the teachers.

It's really why I am dying to go and live in a bigger town. It doesn't have to be huge, but just bigger. I find that the people are far more open and welcoming. Well at least that's what I've experienced after visiting all the towns that I have...

So back to the "Sliding Doors" thing. If I had walked the other way, I would not have met the teacher, I would not have known where he was, I would not have known where my students where, I would not have known about the truck (I heard about it on Monday and Tuesday but thought it had already left), I would not have met this nice girl, I would not have gotten back my letter, I would not have had someone to have dinner with, and have great conversation and play table tennis with, etc etc...

I'm so glad I decided to walk that particular path!

I was feeling rather sad all day long but now I feel much happier. It always makes my day when I have 1:1 interaction with someone. It's one reason I realise I could never become a teacher. I can't stand big classes. Even 12 people is too big for me. I much prefer small groups of 4 or less. Also I can't stand teaching people who just don't want to learn. Because, when I was student I loved learning and I loved getting good grades. But there are those students who are the opposite and don't give a stuff and I hate being the one who has to force them to learn. I mean, I'm not their parent and I don't feel like doing the job of a parent either but I'll leave this topic for another post...

Anyway I feel much much better now. I always feel so much happier after having a conversation with someone, like yesterday morning when I spoke with a newish staff member (not a teacher). It's taken a while for us to get to that stage where we can talk freely with each other. She's close to my age, well maybe slightly younger (I assume) and is also single and I find that singles are usually more welcoming to making new friends so we have that in common too...

I'm trying very very very hard to forget my ex but still have my sad moments.. every little thing triggers a memory of him (songs, clothes, smells, food, places, objects). I'm sure it'll get easier in time. For now I can look forward to a great weekend ahead! Fingers crossed for nice weather.

Now all I need is for it to snow soon and I'll be back to my old, happy self :D

Bon weekend, everyone!