One year ago...

On this day one year ago it was snowing! I remember it like it was yesterday and yet I'm amazed at how fast the time has flown. As they say, Time flies when you are having fun :)

I keep wondering when it's going to start snowing this year. Although it's cold, it's nowhere near cold enough to snow yet. I wonder if we'll have a white Christmas... I surely hope so!!

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)

How I got myself an impromptu interview

On Geneva, How I got myself an impromptu interview, and Random Ramblings


Being a lovely day and all and not needing to work I decided I needed to go somewhere. I actually originally had this crazy idea to go to Chamonix-Mont Blanc. Why? Because I'm obsessed with snow and it's melting away - fast. And just because I can. However, I checked out their webcams and it was already patchy and not lush and COMPLETELY covered in white. Plus, it's not exactly that close to me and I would feel like it would be one big huge rush if I tried to get there and back in one day. Plus I wouldn't be going skiing so what's the point? So I changed my mind.

So last night at midnight I was hastily looking at the giant 1.3 metre map on my wall of my region trying to decide where to go. It had to be reasonably close (as I only had one day and wanted to be back before 6pm, and I didn't want to spend too much on the train tickets) and somewhere easily accessible by train of course. Everywhere that I COULD go I'd already been to before and everywhere else was just too small. I always check out the population size thanks to Wikipedia and anything smaller than about 30,000 is just not worth the effort. I mean, I may as well stay at home! Unless it's really well-known or something.

Then I suddenly remembered! That's right! I needed a new hard disk. I somehow managed to fill mine up with all the photos and videos I've taken and movies I've downloaded (shhhh). I brought with me a 2Tb HD from Australia... I know it sounds excessive but it was already over half full when I brought it over (because I'd copied all the files from my computer as well as my former HD). Yes, I'm a geek and I'd never know when I'd need something from the past (and it's happened many times already) and it's not as if I can tell someone to go through my computer to find some obscure file. It'd never happen. I'm too private about my files and besides, they'd never find it anyway since I would've forgotten which folder I put it in!

I know I'm getting off the topic but anyway, the other day when I was with my friend I mentioned this to him and he said to go to Geneva! Why? Because computer stuff is cheaper in Switzerland. Hurray! Something that is cheaper over there compared to France. I actually compared prices on fnac.fr and fnac.ch and he was right. He also gave me the tip to go to Interdiscount which is cheaper than Fnac.

I went to both just so I could compare prices (not because I didn't believe him but for my own research purposes for future use) and yes, Interdiscount was cheaper for the same products. But both stores sold the same and yet different brands/models as well so it just depends on what you want, really.

So anyway I get back home, keen to try out my new external HD (which is the same brand and similar model to my current one) and clear out my computer and existing HD only to find out I had to reformat it to a Mac version. No problem. But then I had all sorts of problems copying data from the old HD to the new one and realised the problem lay with the old one and not the new one! And after furiously Googling what the heck the problem was (it would only copy a little and then stop and tell me there was a disk error - quelle horreur !) I suspect that I have a virus. Yes yes, everyone says that Macs don't get viruses. But I'm reminded of a week or so ago when I clicked on a search result for Google and that warning page come up (I think you might have seen it before?) that says not to go to that page but I was being stubborn and determined to go there anyway and I think that I may have caught a virus that way. I don't know. Maybe I don't have one? But things are certainly slow and weird. My computer seems to be fine except it's slow to start up and Safari seems to be crashing a lot more than usual. My external HD has problems too and right now I can't do much with my files since my computer's HD is full as well. Anyway I won't bore you anymore... Ugh. What a nightmare! (If you don't hear from me for a while you'll know why).

So where was I? Oh yes, a gloriously sunny day. Nice and warm. Well it would have been if it wasn't so windy. Almost every time I go to Geneva it seems to be windy. I was feeling rather happy because of the lovely blue skies and sunshine though. It was just that I still had to wear long johns and boots and a big coat and gloves :P

Well I should have known it'd turn out to be an interesting day when this happened on the train platform. A random guy sitting next to me on the bench asked if he could borrow my mobile phone since his was (I assume) out of credit. Now whenever a male stranger talks to me, my defences will automatically go up at the start. It's just a natural instinct to keep myself safe. It doesn't matter who they are, what they look like, how old they are, etc. It just happens without me even thinking about it. If a guy tries to talk to me, my first thought is, "What does he want from me?"

So because I must've had this frozen stupid blank look on my face, he assumed I didn't understand him and tried speaking to me in his (very bad) English. That's when I relaxed and smiled and said that I do speak French. So he repeated again if he could borrow my phone because he wanted to call his mother. Automatically I start jumping to (negative) conclusions and have images of him raking up a big phone bill. I don't know why I did that but anyway, I just asked if she's in France and he said yes and then I said OK. Afterall, I'm not a total bitch ;)

So he calls his mother and tells her to call him back on his phone. I was nice of him not to have the entire conversation on my phone, I suppose, so he was decent and honest afterall. He then asked if I was going to Geneva ("You are go to Geneva?") and while he was dialling on my phone, he started to tell me he used to have that exact same phone and we both had a laugh about it because my phone is so old. I kid you not, it's more than 6 years old (but it looks like new because I keep it in a case so it's in excellent condition). I had this weird feeling that he wanted to keep talking to me but obviously he couldn't since he obviously had something really important to talk about with his mother, and then soon after the train came...

Given it was about noon I was surprised the train was so full. I hate full trains because it means I can't get a window seat! I'm lucky if I can get a seat at all. So I found a seat and sat down and as soon as I did so, the guy sitting on the window seat got up (to look for the toilet I assume). Then, soon after, the guy I was previously talking to asked if he could sit next to me (in the now empty spot). I got this weird feeling that perhaps he had actively sought me out because there was no way he could have known whereabouts in the train I ended up as there were people everywhere. I mean, the train is pretty big too!

Because I had all these weird thoughts going around in my head I didn't answer him immediately and the lady sitting opposite me answered my behalf LOL. She said that the seat was already taken. So then the guy left, obviously disappointed. Now I was in two minds. If I had continued a conversation with him, I suppose it would've been nice but then I wasn't that disappointed either that it didn't happen. It's just one of those things! Hmm...

I actually saw him again when I walked through customs (douane) and saw that he had been stopped and so were a bunch of other random people (mostly men with backpacks). I was tempted to go and say Hi again but I didn't. Don't get me wrong, I didn't find him attractive in that way and nor was I 'interested' in him. I just think random encounters like that are so rare (for me) and I felt that our conversation could've gone somewhere... or something. I dunno... perhaps it wasn't to be.

Once upon a time when I was younger and watched romantic comedy movies I used to think that all the scenarios in which people met up were bullshit. Seriously. I mean does that kind of stuff really happen in real life? But during the last few years of my life I have experienced a lot of things which I think would make interesting storylines in movies and I have also spoken to other people with interesting stories about how they met certain people in their life... I have definitely changed my tune. I now believe that the scriptwriters who write those films often base it on (their own) real life events.

But, onto more adventures!

I decided to check out some new parts of town that I hadn't seem before. Actually make that the old parts (haha), meaning the old town (vieille ville). I just walked and walked until a sign caught my eye. It was pink and white and gold (so rather eye catching) and it said to find the entrance of the office around the other side of the building (in a small narrow-ish lane). So I did. I thought to myself... hmm... this could be a nice company to work for! Do I dare go in? I never planned to do anything job-hunting related today so I didn't have anything on me like my CV or a business card (not that I have any business cards)...

I knew there was someone or something telling me I had to go in there and talk to these people but I was as nervous as all heck. The butterflies in my stomach were going nuts. Actually, I already had butterflies in my stomach from some mild period pain (sorry for TMI) so now I had a whole farm full of butterflies in there! I paced up and down that small narrow lane for about 10 minutes. I looked at my reflection in a window to make sure I was decently presented (luckily I was). Finally, I just thought I'd do it. It was actually kind of below street level and when I went in it wasn't quite what I expected at all.

There was only one person there (the rest were out at lunch or in other sites/with clients) and I started to say what I had already memorised and practised in my head (which is what I always do when I need to say something in French and it's important)... « Je m'appelle _______ . Je suis _______ et je suis à la recherche du travail dans le domaine de ______ . Est-ce que vous êtes actuellement .... » and she interrupted me with a "Do you speak English?" and I said something like, "Yes... even better."

Turns out she was Swedish and didn't speak any French at all. She said her boss was out of town, in London, but he'd be back tomorrow. I got both of their business cards and was about to leave when... right at the entrance/exit I ran into a colleague of hers. Without even hesitating, I introduced myself and told him what I was doing there. He asked me if I had a CV on me and I said No but I could get it online and show/tell him whatever he wanted to know about me... So he invited me to sit down and we looked at my stuff on his computer and that's how I managed to get myself an impromptu interview. :)

Turns out he's Australian too. He said he'd speak to the boss and will get back to me. To be honest, even if no job comes out of this I'm still happy that I had the guts to do what I did. It was a real ego and confidence boost too when he told me he was impressed that I was being so pro-active and asked me how many other companies I had approached in this way! Ha. (answer: zero). I think he's onto something there though...

Then I continued my aimless wandering and self-designed discovery tour and came across this really interesting looking temple/mosque thing (Russian Church). I asked the only person there what it was. In French of course until he interrupted me and asked if I spoke English. Turns out he was English! He was with his baby and was really nice and even suggested some other areas nearby that I should have a look at.  When I said I didn't have a map on me (which is so not like me) he even got out his iPhone to show me. He asked me where I was from and I said, "Guess" and he guessed Australian (based on my accent) and told me that my accent wasn't that strong. I jokingly said that I've probably lost it.. hahaha.

Then, I found myself at the top of a hill with a gorgeous view looking back down to where I'd come from. I asked an old man if he could take a photo for/of me. The same old spiel I've said 100 times before.. "Pouvez-vous prendre une photo de moi, s'il vous plaît ?" (and then thrusting my camera into their hand and pointing to the shiny silver button where they should click, or press/appuyez in French). I know it's not the most elegant way of saying it ("Can you take a photo of me, please?") but it's such a habit now I never bothered to learn another better way of saying it until he gave me the idea... To confirm what I wanted, he said something that ended with "...photographier ?" That's it!, I thought. That's a verb! OMG why didn't I think of that before? OK, next time I'm going to ask, "Pourriez-vous" (afterall, "could" is more polite, so "Could you") "...me photographier, s'il vous plaît ?" ("...photograph me, please?)"

I noticed that there were trees sprouting gorgeous white cherry blossoms! Spring is certainly in the air. Seeing those trees made my heart fill with joy.

Overall I felt it was a very successful day. And I feel/felt happy. I just love talking to strangers, especially nice ones!. It may sound strange but it's something I've always loved doing and today I had several random encounters with strangers...

Image: Wild World Wiki

It's snowing! YAY

OMG it's snowing. I can't believe it. For the first time I couldn't see this coming (from reading weather forecasts). I hope it continues :)

---

edited:

soon after, the snow was mixed with a bit of rain
and then it was just raining (lightly)
and then there was nothing
and then eventually the rain dissolved all the snow
and then it was back to normal again :(

I went to the snow and didn't go skiing!

or... Looking forward to a great weekend Part 2

My weekend started off great! OK OK that was sarcasm. As I was walking towards the bus stop (to catch the bus to take me to the train station) the weight of the backpack on my back made my right ankle give way and then I fell and landed on my left knee with a big thud.

2 days later now it's a lovely shade of dark purple after being every colour of the rainbow yesterday - purple, green, yellow, blue and brown.

Luckily it wasn't grazed so there was no blood but it's pretty bruised and sore. That's not my problem though. Without realising it, I somehow injured my LEFT ankle. The ankle that 'collapsed' on me, the right one, now has no pain whatsoever but there is a mild sprain type pain on my left one. Dammit.

My friend set his alarm for 5:20am to go to work so I've been awake pretty much since then as I find it hard to get back to sleep once I'm awake.

Apart from my injury the weekend was nice however it was nothing like the first time I came to visit... I kept making comparisons in my head and I think he was thinking the same thing. At one point he even apologised to me because it wasn't like last time!!

Almost 4 months later...

• We'd become different people... I remember how much more happier and excited I was last time. I wish I was that 'innocent' again but after recent events...
• Last time was the first time we'd met so we had plenty of things to discover about each other. This time we still had things to discover/talk about but it was a much deeper level of understanding now that we knew each other a little better.
• Last time he was speaking much slower to me but this time he was speaking at normal speed and I understood 99%! I have definitely improved in French, I think. Yay :D
• Both of us have each had a birthday since then.
• Last time it was autumn and sunny and 17-18° during the day. This time it was winter and grey and 5° or less during the day (and raining on Sunday/yesterday).
• Last time he had a normal mobile phone (which he still uses) and no internet. This time he had a fancy Samsung smartphone and the internet.
• Last time his dog was a tiny puppy and now, 4 months later had grown into a big dog (but still cute). She'd also recently been de-sexed a few days ago and was sporting some bandages.
• Last time he had a really really short buzz haircut and this time his hair had grown...
• Last time he wasn't working so he was more relaxed and energetic and this time he works as a carpenter building houses, 45 hours a week, rain hail or shine and so understandably, is exhausted.
• Last time I came I noticed the sink piled up with dirty dishes and the rubbish bin overflowing but not so this time!

The first day I arrived (Saturday 19 Feb) I mentioned the snow and how I really wanted to go skiing. I was over the moon and touched that he offered to take me to the skifields to check it all out. However we couldn't/didn't go skiing for various reasons:

• My injury (as mentioned above)
• We arrived there a bit too late (almost 3pm). It's better to get there in the morning he said, before the crowds arrive. We just didn't have enough time.
• He didn't want to go skiing.
• Being a Saturday it was crowded, yet at the same time there wasn't that much snow...

I was a tad disappointed but I still enjoyed myself immensely. It was like a dream come true to FINALLY see the skifields. Way back in May/June when I found out I was accepted into this teaching programme, and I found out where my school/town was situated... and started telling people.. everyone said to me "Oh you can go skiing in winter." It was something I thought about a lot and looked forward to and now almost a year later it still hasn't happened yet but seeing the skifield (station de ski) was exciting enough in itself.

It took about 1.5 hours to drive there. We actually passed through several little skifields along the way and all of them had these cute little wooden chalets (which my friend helps build too) with heart and reindeer cut-outs in them. OMG it was just too cute! Almost like being in a toy town.

It was really hard to find a parking spot but when we did it was a perfect spot. It was right near a free and clean public toilet (after 1.5 hours of driving through many many winding roads (virages) and cold weather one has 'needs') , and a frozen, snow-covered lake. It was beautiful.

We walked to the main part of 'town' and had a hot chocolate and cake together in a little café. We hadn't had lunch yet so then we went into a boulangerie to have a warm baguette/sandwich which was yummo. Actually we wanted to get a crêpe in the café but they don't serve them on Saturdays. France has various weird arbitrary 'rules' like that which drive me up the wall!

After that we crossed the border into Switzerland and checked out (quickly) a Swiss ski resort too. Then we continued into Switzerland and checked out Montreux before returning home just before it got pitch black. It was really a perfect (and seemingly long) day and we were both exhausted afterwards and went to bed at around 9-9:30pm. We were supposed to go to his friend's place for a soirée but his friend decided to invite someone else over instead (!!) and we both decided we were too tired anyway. We stopped by a supermarket on the way back so we had pasta for dinner.

I have a confession... It's been so long since I shared a 'normal life' with someone that I really crave it. Even something simple like that, like going to the supermarket, buying groceries and then coming home to cook them really made me happy. I had a similar experience when I was in Germany over Christmas. I miss cooking and eating with someone. I had a very nice apartment in Sydney but I was always eating alone... I can imagine all my friends complaining about their 'boring' lives and comparing it to my 'exciting' one but I guess I have the grass is greener syndrome. Sometimes I just want a normal life. I want to cook in my own kitchen in my own home. I want someone to talk to and eat with when I get home. Haven't had that for 3 years.

Sunday (yesterday) it was drizzly and grey and my friend said he didn't feel like doing anything so we spent the morning and noon just talking. At one point I asked him what he wanted to do in the near future and he delivered a 40 minute monologue to me about his life and thoughts and he even started crying, he was that emotional. He thinks really deeply and is really spiritual. He's so passionate and emotional about the things he talks about...

We're only one year apart in age so I guess we're at similar points in our lives. He told me that he got into a prestigious engineering school (grande école) after high school and his parents paid for that (40,000 euros a year!!) and then the previous few years he was travelling and the only reason he was working now was to pay them back. Not that they asked for it, he just wanted to be a 'good' son.  He said he can't wait to travel again to some unknown remote destination like Mongolia... But then on the other hand he did admit to thinking about being coupled up with a kid...

Finally, at around 3pm I decided to go out, and check out a brilliant (temporary) art exhibition and just went for a walk around the town. It's really small and I've already seen it all last time but it was still nice... It's still breathtakingly beautiful and always will be to me.

That night we had take-away pizza (from a pizzeria nearby). It was yum. Something about buying pizzas in France though... they don't cut them for you! Weird.

Then I continued my interrogation...

The first time I met him he told me he was good friends with his ex. This time though, I found out the truth. I felt that we knew each other well enough for me to ask him... I asked if I could ask HOW and WHY he and his ex broke up. I know it's an intrusive question but he could have chosen not to answer. However, he told me the entire story and my heart was breaking for him as he told it to me...

If you've been reading my blog for some time you'll know I'm very very interested in relationships. How they form, how they end, what is a 'good' one etc etc...

So he tells me he'd been with his girlfriend for 2.5 years and had spent 8 months travelling together. That is 24/7 for 8 months. Enough to take a toll on ANY relationship I guess. He told me they were camping and sleeping in a tent in a desert in Jordan. It was a huge tent with various different compartments or 'rooms'.

One moment he was sleeping next to his girlfriend, then the next morning he discovered she was sleeping next to one of the Jordanian tour leaders who chatted her up (dragué). I know that my jaw literally and very visably dropped at that point. I was beyond shocked as he continued the story... then as he continued I finally began to understand him better. He said later she came to him crying because she was pregnant (with twins!) and then she ended up having an abortion and right now she's with a jerk (a cretin). But he admits he is not a saint and perhaps is not the easiest person to get along with...

It had occurred to me up until that point that he was rather content with his life but no, that's not the case. I guess everyone puts up a façade about their life... He gets companionship from his dog but I wondered why he didn't seem interested in being in a relationship.

A year later, I could still see the hurt in his eyes, and in his words as he recounted me this story... Then I'm reminded of one of my friends who told me she hadn't been on a date in 4 years... I have heard of other similar stories too. That you are hurt so badly by a break-up you never want to try again.

Then there are stupid people like me, who do try again and get hurt... and neither one is better than the other I think. I don't know how to make this desire to be in a relationship go away. But I actually wish that all my single friends could find someone. Nothing would make me happier than to see them happy. No matter what people say, I know the truth. I think anyone who says they prefer to be alone forever is lying.

Something I've noticed with single people vs couples is that single people have far more things to talk about. Whenever I'm with a single friend they tell me EVERYTHING about their lives and I tend to do the same. However, because coupled up people have their partner to talk to every day they don't tell me nearly as much personal stuff as I do to them. But when you spend so much time alone your thoughts just get bottled up so when you're with a friend they get 'unleashed'...

It was definitely another weekend of reflection for me.

Only one more week (this week) of classes then school holidays (vacances scolaires) !

Tonight I spent 3 hours chatting to my good friend Y which was really nice. I find I go through periods where I just love being alone but then I realise I am so much happier when I have someone to talk to. I was saying that I don't know what to do for my school holidays. I have not planned anything and I'm really trying to save money so I can't travel as much as I used to. After spending some time talking to my other friend over the weekend about job searching, Y suggested I should spend this holiday time to look for a job and get my CV out there etc which I think is definitely the sensible thing to do.

Tonight I impressed people with the big colourful bruise on my knee, too! ;)









More pictures here.

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!

20°C in Chamonix and random stuff

It was yet another beautiful day yesterday so I decided to go for a walk... Then I realised that it had been so long since I'd done any proper exercise that I decided to jog for a bit. It had also been a while since I took photos in my vicinity so I did all 3. It was so unbelievably warm I was sweating like crazy with only 2 layers of clothes (thin long sleeve top and thin sweater) and jeans on. It was t-shirt weather!

Then last night I heard it was 19° in Chamonix and today it's 20° :( which means... no snow...


Overall I'm in quite a good mood because the weather is just gorgeous. Like I said before, it is sunny almost every day in my town and it's pretty consistent and very rarely windy or rainy. For that reason I actually prefer it over the weather in Sydney. The weather in Australia is so inconsistent you'd be lucky to get 2 days in a row with the same weather!

Last night I watched 2 back-to-back episodes of the Simpsons and then normally I go back to my room to veg, surf the net, organise my photos, or prepare for the following day. But last night I decided to stay and watch... Top Chef (France) !! Now I have never seen the US version and we don't get it in Australia but it's very similar to Masterchef. It was hard to stay focused because it went for over 2 hours but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have never watched tv for that long since I came to France (7:30-11pm!) The creative/artistic techniques they used just blew me away.

This is so bizarre.. but all of a sudden, I am popular? When I first came here I was crying in my room because I knew nobody and had nobody to talk to or do stuff with and now people are actively seeking me out in person, or through notes or text messages to talk to me, to show me something, to tell me something or to ask me something or to simply hang out with me! I can't believe it :) I'm specifically talking about my 4 closest friends - M, K, Y and the Italian assistant C but it's just the general vibe I get... It's such a nice feeling because when I was in high school or university I was NEVER popular and it was always ME who had to go in search of others...


What else?

I've been told that some teachers are going to strike on Thursday due to some reform where the  government is cost cutting and people will lose shifts/jobs etc...

We had Chinese food in the school cantine today in honour of Chinese New Year! Unfortunately it wasn't that great but I'm still happy as the whole canteen was decked out in beautiful colourful decorations and the staff made a real effort.

--

Edited 7 March

Check out this comedy sketch about Top Chef:

Un merveilleux weekend

A marvelous weekend

Since last Friday a chain reaction of events happened... I talked to a friend (M) who told me all sorts of things about herself and the people in this school and this town. I also told her about some problems I was having with this other friend of mine (K) who is of course 'related' to her through 6 degrees of separation. Actually it's even less than 6. She is friends with his sister!

This past Thursday night, I spent 2 hours talking to a friend here at the school (Y) and I casually mentioned K and he tells me it's his brother's friend/former classmate. I swear everyone in this entire town is linked somehow.

I get along really really well with him and we can talk about pretty much any subject under the sun. Apart from M, he's another dear friend to me as he actually told me he wanted to show me a job ad he found for me, as well as some photos from Time or National Geographic, and told me that even though they are beautiful, I could take better pictures than that.

After that I then spent an hour talking to the Italian assistant. I feel like I'm getting closer and closer to all the people I know here* and then when I think that one day I'm going to have to leave this town leaves me with a horrible feeling inside.

This past Friday night, I hung out with M again and we both had a blast! There are actually a lot of things to do even if you live in a small town - but you need a car. There are so many other towns/cities nearby to drive to within one hour and she showed me a few in one night.

I was aching, dying for some Asian food so she took me to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet (buffet à volonté) and it was awesome! We also went to an Asian supermarket (épicerie) for me to stock up on supplies... I can't believe I was so excited to see something that I an fined easily all over Sydney. The shop owner also wished us a Happy Chinese New Year (something I almost forgot about, and along with Australia Day, I did not celebrate this year) :(

She took me to this shopping mall (centre commercial) that was opened until 10:30pm! Unbelievable. There were also restaurants there and a big cinema complex. The funny thing was, she was so excited to show me this and then I told her that they are a dime a dozen in Sydney and much much bigger too. At times like this I feel like France is 30 years behind Australia!!

We'd invited the Italian assistant but she decided not to come (because she wanted to go out with someone else) and she really missed out. She even told me she regretted not coming after I showed her the photos I took and told her all about our wonderful girls night out...

So that night I told M about my continuing problems with K and she gave me a whole lot of advice.. we even did a role play in the car where I was me, and she was K, and it had us both in stitches!

The next day (Saturday 5 Feb) I was due to meet K and I had no idea what was in store.. The day started off badly because I thought we were meeting around lunchtime and then we didn't meet up until 5pm. Whilst waiting I managed to watch 2 movies that I recently downloaded so that was good.. I like watching movies to 'escape' from my everyday life.

I assumed by 5pm it would be practically dark but it wasn't and K took me to visit this big, beautiful Fort, which coincidentally I'd passed with M the night before, and even asked her what it was (because it was all lit up when nothing else was).

I never mentioned that I'd passed it the night before and I didn't even get a chance to tell K that I'd like to go and see it and he took me there. Talk about a strange and wonderful coincidence!! Unfortunately we got there too late or on the wrong day or wrong entrance or something (I'm not sure what) so we couldn't actually go inside... It was getting dark and very cold though so we'll have to revisit it another day.

That was just the start of our adventures though.

That night, K was going to take me to a restaurant located literally in the middle of nowhere. He thought he knew how to get there but we got lost. Let me try to paint a picture of it all.

It was almost 9pm by then (our reservation was for 8:30pm) and when I haven't eaten for that long I tend to get very very light-headed. Then, due to all the winding roads (virages) I was getting super nauseous. I should add that it was also pitch black with no street lights whatsoever, no other cars to be seen, we were in the woods, and we were at an altitude of 1200m. There was snow all over the side of the roads that had never melted (because we were so high up). My ears even started to hurt a bit due to the change in altitude. I joked that I was Little Red Riding Hood and he was the Wolf and about to take me into the woods and eat/kill me...

Suffice to say, I was not feeling the greatest. And we were lost. With zero phone reception. A part of me in the inside wanted to scream and cry at the same time. I very very very nauseated. We just kept going and going and eventually we got one tiny bar of phone reception and K called his dad for directions and later called the restaurant as well. I was already thinking about what the heck we're gonna eat/drink if we can't find it as we were in the middle of nowhere!!

When we stopped (to try and get reception) I got out of the car for a split second (it was freezing) and looked up at the sky and I don't think I had ever seen anything like it in my entire life. The sky was FILLED with stars! Because we were so high up and so far from civilisation the beautiful cloudless sky was dark, and the stars were so bright and there were SO MANY of them. There was hardly any space between each of the stars. I was blown away and mesmerised and temporarily forgot how hungry I was...

Luckily. Thankfully. Finally. We found it. Yay! Well, K found it. I did nothing except close my eyes wishing that the horrible nauseating OMG-please-don't-throw-up feeling would go away.

Once we got to the restaurant, all was fine. Despite it being 9pm, noone had started eating! These Frenchies sure eat dinner late (but not as late as the Spanish do, as I keep getting told). I kept eyeing the bread and wishing the waitress would hurry up and bring it to us. When she did, we both chowed down like two hungry dogs (or wolves? ;) ) K decided to order the speciality which was the frogs' legs (cuisses de grenouilles) and they were really delicious. Lots of tiny little bones though. Covered in garlic, butter and some kind of green herb (not sure which one). It was served with cheesey baked potato (gratin dauphinois ? gee those French names escape me now) and grilled tomatoes. We were totally stuffed and including wine, it cost only 30 euros altogether.

I decided it was totally worth the wait and getting lost etc etc. Walking back to the car I looked at the sky again and it was one of those moments in my life where I'm so utterly breathtaken I could cry....

The next day (ie today, Sunday, 6 Feb) I thought it would be fun to have a picnic. This weekend has displayed gorgeous delicious sunny warm weather. Today it was 16° and felt like summer to me. No coat, hat, scarf or gloves. So so nice and warm. Totally windless.

Well I thought we wouldn't make it to Carrefour in time (it closes at 12:30pm on a Sunday) but we did and it seemed like the whole town was there. I bumped into someone at the school shopping with her husband and kids. I wanted to buy a baguette or croissant or some bread thing but there was nothing left! K decided we should just go to McDonalds so we did. I said I was not in the mood to bump into anyone from the school again (I like to keep my private life and my work life separate thank you very much, but it's impossible in a small town!) so we went though the drive-through. It doesn't sound like a big deal but having something like that in France, in a small town, is a huge deal. It's like something that's... so... erm... futuristic and cool! haha

It was my idea to have the picnic but it was K's idea about where we should go. I was completely blown away by where he took me. I've seen quite a bit of my town and surrounding areas but I had never been to this spot before. It's just one of those places that all the locals know but I would have no idea if noone told me. And the weather was gorgeous. And it seemed like everyone else thought the same thing too as the tiny carpark there was full.

We were at an altitude of 1000m and could see the entire Alps region and all the mountains - Mont Blanc, Chamonix and more. There was also snow there that had never melted and it was the best feeling for me, being able to see and be in the snow and yet be deliciously warm in the 16° sun. It looked like a dreamy painting with wispy clouds as well.

So we had our McDonalds picnic there and enjoyed a lovely sunny afternoon together... That conversation I had rehearsed in the car with M? Well I never ended up having it because I didn't need to! Everything ended up being perfect.

It was a perfect weekend. I couldn't have asked for anything more. Je suis très contente. I am so thankful for all the (few) wonderful close friends I've made here.



Sorry, a bit off topic...

* When I was in primary school, all my friends were female (well most). Then in high school, I had a few male friends but I still mainly hung around females only and then in my early 20s I hung out with my boyfriend or other male friends. I had both female and male friends but probably a bit more of the latter. Then I reverted to females again and avoided males for a few years and now, I have more male friends again although I get along equally well with both, it just depends on the person.

It's really interesting when you talk about the same topic/issue with a female, and then with a male. The ideas and advice shared are totally different. I admit it's quite hard to be friends with French females. Especially single ones. I don't know why that is. It's easier to be friends with married ones with kids but those that are still single tend to be quite bitchy and competitive. I know I am generalising but that's what I feel. I felt the same thing in university where I studied a course that was 75% female.

I went to a co-educational high school and so did my sister but I have plenty of friends who went to single sex schools. Teaching in a co-ed school now, and observing the teenagers... I still stand by my opinion that this is a better way to go. I still can't understand what's the point of trying to segregate the sexes when we live in a co-ed world? I see how easily the boys and girls mingle here (and I assume it's the same everywhere in France)... I remember reading somewhere that 'boys night out' and 'girls night out' are less common here and from my experiences I would tend to agree. The sexes just mingle harmoniously and you don't go to a party to find all the women in the kitchen and the men slacking off. In fact, from what I've seen and experienced, the men are just as competent (if not more) as the women and will quite happily help out. I think this is getting a bit too long and way off the topic of my wonderful weekend, so I will write more about my thoughts on this topic in a later blogpost.

Please let it snow

All my lovely new skigear (jacket, pants, socks, gloves, goggles) has been sitting in the wardrobe unworn for months! ARGH. It's just not snowing even though it's been the perfect temperature for it (around -3 to 3°C). It's been too dry. So dry my nails keep breaking, I'm constantly thirsty and I get static electricity with everything I touch! It's the worst when it's this cold yet not snowing.

I'd like to send a message to Mother Nature and the Snow Gods above.... PLEASE let it snow soon. I am DYING to go skiing!!! You have no idea how much. C'mon, snow, please !! :)


(picture from here)

PS thanks to the lovely people who have subscribed to my Facebook fanpage and my Google Friend connect thingo. I will try to get some more photos up when I get a chance (between sorting out my private life and my career!!)

Insomnia... This week and random thoughts

Started writing this at 1:30am this morning but then my laptop cut out because I ran out of battery...

Some things of note that happened to me this past week...

After a nice weekend in Geneva with the other assistant in my school, I had a shit Monday which is technically my day off. However, I can never relax if I stay in my room due to the location near the road (and also where the school buses pick up and drop off the kids).

The kids mock me when I tell them off (because, I have an accent, which is oh-so-hilarious you know (roll eyes)) and don't respect me. I'm sick of it.

On Tuesday, The cleaning lady (who is always super nice to me) told me to take away their 'carnet de correspondance' if they didn't listen to me.

I'm still not even entirely sure what it's about as it's something that only exists in France (I think) but basically it's a small book that keeps a record of each time they are late to class, or have to leave early, when they have a day off sick, or when they need to go to the nurses, etc. They also write in it from time to time and then the parents look at it to see if they've done anything 'naughty' which also goes in there.

What happens to Christmas trees once Christmas is over?

Ever wonder what happens to all the Christmas trees (that decorate the streets of France in every city) after Christmas is over? Watch this video and find out! (it's in French though ;) )

Qu'est-ce qui arrive aux sapins de Noël après Noël ? Regardez ce vidéo et vous vous renseignerez !



Speaking of Christmas, I noticed that the lights and decorations are starting to come down now :( Some lights are still illuminated but some are not. Makes me sad to see it all come down but I guess we all have to wait another year for it to happen again!

And onto other news. I cannot believe how accurate the weather forecast is. Every time it told me it would snow in my town, it did. Over the past 2 weeks or so it has been unseasonally warm averaging about 10-13° in the day time but there was a sudden change this morning when it became cold again and as exactly as I had read in the weather forecast (météo) it started snowing this afternoon! This is the first time it has snowed since around Christmas/late December. I also feel like it's colder in my town than surrounding towns as there are always (c)lumps of snow in various places around my school, the town and the station. It has never completed melted. There has been snow in my town since 25 November. Just when it had 99.9% melted here, it started to snow again.

Thinking about the snow and the weather makes me think about the cyclical nature of the seasons, the year and life. It makes one contemplate how fast time really goes!

A White Christmas in Paris I

View Paris Christmas 2010 trip in a larger map


A LONG diary entry about my time in Paris over Christmas (Part I)


22 December, 2010 (Wednesday)

... I was waiting for train which came one hour late, at Karlsruhe station (freezing my butt off since I was technically waiting outdoors even though there was a roof).

The train then stopped in Strasbourg (with technical difficulties) for 30 mins.

Then, the train must have been going slower than normal (with snow on the tracks) because it arrived TWO HOURS after the ETA. Luckily I didn't have another train to catch or anyone to meet or anything else to do...

I arrived in the Gare de l'Est (East Station) which I'd never been to before and was immediately struck by how dirty the underground métro looked and how freezing it was (it appears that none of the trains and stations are not heated, and there I was in Sydney complaining about our non-heated trains. At least it's not 2° in Sydney in winter). I eventually managed to find my line and my train. Once I got out of the station I felt like a little girl again. I had my small-medium backpack and my Zuca so it's not as if I had a whole lot of bags to carry but they were both rather heavy and... it was pouring rain... and.... what is that I see? White flakes? OMG it's snowing and raining AT THE SAME TIME. Never in my life had I seen snow and rain simultaneously. I had to juggle my backpack, my Zuca trolleycase and the umbrella. Oh, and I should mention it was windy as well so my umbrella was being blown left, right and centre, and as it was about completely dark it was very hard to read street signs. I had to find my street. I find rather 'lost' for a moment there yet I was so excited I still managed to take some photos (much to the amusement/amazement/horror? of passers-by).

Here's a handy tip when travelling: 

Every time you see a map somewhere on the street, take a photo of it. That way you can refer back to it later. It's so handy! I mean you probably already have a map on you but in case you don't... In every Paris métro there are maps for the nearby streets (ie a zoomed-in kind of map) to help you find where you're going. I take a photo of this so that when I'm on the street level I can actually look at it and refer back to it! And with my camera I can store literally thousands of maps (and timetables and whatnot) so I don't need to physically carry all these heavy pieces of paper and books and stuff.

Luckily it was not a long walk to the apartment... I was lucky enough to be lent an apartment for 2 nights. In Paris!! During Christmas!! I thought I was sharing it with someone else but she wasn't there so I had the whole place to myself! It was a 1 bedroom apartment and quite possibly the smallest apartment I had ever seen in my entire life. Not that I was complaining. I was just intrigued that so much could fit into such a tiny space! You could not fit more than 1 person in either the bathroom or kitchen they were that small. I would call the interior design "eclectic" with bits and pieces of different styles.

I was so exhausted I just went to Monoprix (a supermarket) nearby and bought something to eat and looked at and sorted through my photos. I was too tired to even cook anything (despite having a full kitchen complete with coffee maker machine, toaster and blender even!) so I just bought a baguette and some instant soup and some fruit. How sad is that?! I tend to splurge on certain things and then scrimp on others and this was a time for scrimping hahaha. Despite my tiredness I recall going to bed quite late. Can't remember what I did. I could not get the internet nor the tv to work... I slept on a pull-out sofa bed which was comfortable and zonked out.


23 December, 2010 (Thursday)

I had big plans! I had decided to fulfil my dreams and my obsession with macarons and go on a "macaron marathon" around Paris. As well as that I wanted to soak in the Christmassyness of it all...

First of all though, I needed a map of the city! I had planned to get one at the Gare de l'Est when I arrived but somehow I immediately ended up in the métro underground as soon as I got off my platform (perhaps I went the wrong way I don't know. My brain was frozen from that 1 hour wait in Karlsruhe). It would be easier for me to get it at Gare du Nord instead so that was my first stop.




The night before, I'd bought a carnet of 10 tickets from one of the ticket machines. 1 ticket costs 1,70€ and a carnet costs 12,00€ so obviously you save... 5 euros! Some random guy tried to sell me one of his tickets (that he'd obviously bought as part of a carnet) for the regular price. Pfft... Not all tourists are stupid, dumb ass! Besides, I wanted the carnet and not a single ticket.

Well it worked out perfectly because the first night I used 1 ticket, then the second day (this day) I used 5, and the 3rd day (24 Dec) I used 4.

I'd been in the Gare du Nord the first time I visited Paris and remembered it was huge (as are all of the Grandes Lignes (main lines) stations in Paris). I made my way from the métro to the main lines part ASAP to find a info counter to get a map. I got 2 in fact. One to use (and write/draw/highlight on/destroy) and one to keep as a souvenir in pristine condition) - there's another tip for ya! The guy didn't seem too helpful or friendly despite the fact I was speaking in French - Parisians pfft! ;)

After 3 months of eating nothing but French and Western cuisine with the occasional Kebab, I was DYING for some Asian food! I thought I'd go to Chinatown to get some Chinese or Vietnamese. The guy at the info counter told me to go to the Place d'Italie station. So that's what I did. I basically went back to the same platform and got back on the same train/line and headed down south.

However, somebody was out to foil my plans. Or... for once in my travelling life I hadn't pre-planned anything and I was kinda lost. I mean I found some restaurants but they were not open. WTF? During lunch time? Then, it was really really windy and snowing and raining too remember... It was kinda hard to be walking great distances outside and I was starving (after eating nothing but bits of leftover baguette from last night for breakfast). So I made my way to the closest place I could find. An El Cheapo place (Gourmet Tang's) that was packed with people. However, in this case, packed doesn't necessarily mean good. I mean it wasn't super bad but it wasn't great. But for the price 4,50€ I shouldn't complain. I ordered a bun which is my all-time fave Vietnamese dish made with vermicelli noodles and spring rolls, and a dollop of fish sauce and alfalfa sprouts. It was OK but I was not that pleased with my choice of eating establishment. But I got over it.




I was too fascinated by the snow. THE SNOW. It had snowed in my town just before I left but when I was in Germany (just before) there was none. All along I had wished that it would not snow in Paris before I got there, but after. Not before so it wouldn't foil my plans and after because I wanted a white Christmas! I was overjoyed because I got my wish pretty much. Although I arrived in Paris 2 hours later than planned it didn't really ruin my plans.

I could not believe it.

The whole time I was in Paris, I could not believe it. I seriously felt like the luckiest girl alive. I was in Paris. The city most people dream about going to. It was (almost) Christmas AND it was snowing. It's the kind of thing people wish to experience but almost never do because you cannot control Mother Nature. Apparently it doesn't even snow all that often in Paris.

Everyone seemed kinda stressed what with last minute gift buying and all. There were few people outside due to the extreme weather however I was loving it all. OK maybe not the wind and the rain, but I was just loving the snow and praying it would stick around (literally).

I had planned to go to at least one Christmas market (Marché de Noël) in Paris but I didn't realise that I'd find lots of them simply by doing what I was going to do anyway. I saw some markets right near the métro entrance, and then I saw a big shopping centre (centre commercial) and decided to go in (to warm up and to have a look around since I love to window shop). I wandered in and got lost for a while before deciding I better get on with my "macaron marathon".










I took the métro to Saint-Sulpice station, where, according to my map were 3 macaron places nearby. I had already researched on the internet and found the addresses of all the places I wanted to go to and purposely chosen those close to each other (to save time obviously).

Around there I'd find Pierre Hermé, and a bit further north, Ladurée (website plays music), and a bit further south-east, Dalloyau.

The macaron review is in another blog post so I'll just mention where I went without talking about the macarons themselves here.

Before I got started though, I first had a look at the

1. Christmas markets at Saint Sulpice








2. Pierre Hermé

The story is tiny! There was a queue outside but that didn't deter me. I queued up and it moved reasonably quickly. I don't know why they make it difficult to choose the flavours. It would be good if you could look at a board or something before it was your turn to be served to save time. Almost every flavour I wanted was sold out. There were people stocking up for Christmas I guess.




3. Jardin du Luxembourg

I like to try to see/do as much as I can without wasting time backtracking across Paris on the métro... I would be passing by the Jardin du Luxembourg and what perfect time to visit one of the most famous scenes in the learning-French video/book series, French in Action! As well as that, I'd pass by Rue de Vaugirard where the fictitious family of Mireille lived. Apparently their house number doesn't exist so I didn't waste time going in search of it, but I just looked at the road and then wandered into the park. I have heard everyone rave about this park. I never saw it during my last visit to Paris so I was keen to check it out.







Let me remind you it was not the kind of day where one says, "I know! Let's go to the park today." It was practically EMPTY. There were a few strollers (as in people strolling and not the things that babies sit in. The French word for this is flaneur, I believe.) and tourists around but not many. I asked a nice American family (from Los Angeles) to take a photo for me because I was so happy to be in this park and it was snowing furiously now (although the ground wasn't completely white everywhere yet, there were patches of concrete and grass seen still).




So with them gone, I was left alone and let me tell you it's quite difficult to take photos of yourself and then all you ever see is your big fat head and none of your body...

So there I was trying to take another photo of myself in a picturesque location (comme d'habitude/as usual) when I saw another young photographer alone. We both kind of eyed each other with an expression of curiosity like, "What are you doing here?!"




I asked if he could take a full length shot of/for me and he agreed. We got talking immediately and I even took out my SLR camera. Up until that point I had only been using my compact camera (yes I have two) because it's just so much easier to be able to slip it into my coat pocket. It's actually kind of hard to take photos with gloves on but then as soon as I took my gloves off my fingers would freeze...

So we walked, and talked, and took photos. I told him I wanted to see the pond thing (bassin) where Marie-Laure (the 10-year old sister of the protagonist, Mireille, from French in Action) played with the toy boats. It was so funny and weird to see snow everywhere and hardly anybody around when the FIA series was obviously shot during summer.




The guy told me he's a law student in London and he came to Paris to escape the bad weather there. We both had a good laugh about that considering the extreme weather we were experiencing at that time!

I told him I'm from Australia but currently living in France and teaching English. I told him I was on a "macaron marathon" and he kind of rolled his eyes at me saying he couldn't understand why girls were obsessed with these things. He told me he was staying with friends in a huge apartment in Montmartre (which he couldn't pronounce because of the 'r' which was kind of funny).

After each snapping a few photos near the bassin (pond) we headed towards my next macaron stop.




He wanted to use his iphone to help us get there. The strangest thing happens to me whenever I'm with other people. I seem to lose all sense of direction yet when I'm alone I can find any place I need to go easily with just a map (no fancy phone/gadget for me! I'm 'old school'). When I am with someone it's as if I can just 'let go' and relax and let them take care of it... so he laughed when I had no idea where I was now and which direction we should head in.

4. Dalloyau

The window displays were jaw-droppingly gorgeous. They even have a nice tea room upstairs which we wanted to go to, but unfortunately it was closed for a party or something. So I just bought 3 macarons and left.




5. Some restaurant/café I forgot the name of (I think it was Café le Rostand)

We then went to a nearby restaurant to get a drink (and to sit down and warm up) and chat. After that, I had to get to the third macaron place before dark and he had to meet some friends so we exchanged email addresses and then walked back to where I started from, Saint-Sulpice métro. Along the way the wind and rain were just going like crazy. Most people were walking very quickly to get out of the weather and get inside but we were both like crazy people taking photos and laughing the whole way. I was a little bit paranoid of the rain getting inside my camera (but it was fine) and the wind kept blowing my umbrella inside out. At the back of my head I felt kind of insane to be stopping every 5 seconds to take photos in that weather (and hoping I wouldn't get sick being in it) but I knew this kind of thing does not happen often. Like seriously, who gets an invitation to have an apartment in Paris all to themselves (for FREE) during the busiest time of year (Christmas), and have it be snowing? ME. I had to make the most of it. I'm sure most Parisians were whinging and complaining about the 'horrible' weather but I was LOVING it! :D








We passed by the Saint-Sulpice Christmas markets (my second time now since I'd already seen them after Pierre Hermé) and then bid farewell to each other and parted ways. I am sure he was dying to find somewhere warm and dry again to go to. Me on the otherhand was off to the mothership, Ladurée!


6. Saint Germain Christmas markets







Les Deux Magots (which also features in FIA)




Stay tuned for Part II tomorrow!

View all the pics on Facebook here

Christmas Holiday Fun in France (and Germany)

I've been travelling for a week straight now and had the most wonderful time!! So many great experiences and memories... The best was I got to experience snow in Paris. And during Christmas too. How many people can say they've done that?! When I get a moment to collect my thoughts (and photos!) I'll do a post on the places I visited...

Meanwhile, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and will have a wonderful 2011.

Bonne Année tout le monde !


(image of German Christmas market from: here)

The Snow, Christmas, and random thoughts

I'm off on holidays as of tomorrow! Fingers crossed the snow doesn't foil my plans. I'll be travelling around parts of Germany and France and am very excited. I'll also be going to Paris for my third time :)

The Snow still continues to fascinate me. Thursday night (16 December) had the biggest snowfall since the start of the month. It's been so cold here that the snow from the last big snowfall hadn't even completely melted yet! (I didn't see any snow in Lyon last weekend but there are still bits and pieces here). One time I looked out the window and just stared and stared until I was lost in my thoughts (about the snow!)... I love how it glistens in the light as if it were made of crystals. I laugh inside my head when I look up at the sky and think that the snowflakes look like dandruff flakes. Well, heck, they were both white and unevenly shaped and sized! Haha. It's just such a magical and wonderful thing for me to see but I appreciate that it causes huge amounts of havoc for people who have to do any kind of travel anywhere (ie everybody) on roads, on trains, or on planes. :( Worst is when people are stranded in below freezing temperatures... It's all too sad.

One of my friends just posted this shocking (but sort of funny) video:



Christmas... I've been quite ambivalent about Christmas for many years now. I generally feel that Christmas is only fun if you're a child or you have children. Since it's been many years or will be many years before either of those things will happen to me... well...

Also, my family are not Christians so we don't ever have a 'proper' Christmas and being in Australia, all our Christmases are in summer so.... Also I feel that in Australia it's just all about the presents. All about stressing about shopping for presents and people getting upset because there are no car spaces in the carparks etc etc. Stupid petty little things... all for what? To buy presents?! ARGH.

Christmas 2006 was the last Christmas that I had a long term partner to celebrate with. I can't help but feel sad and lonely that this is my 4th Christmas without someone special to spend Christmas with :(  This is a confession that I long for my own home, my own big kitchen (to bake Christmas goodies), a loving and supportive partner (and stable relationship) and kids! It seems like almost everyone I know has those things (or at least one of those things) and like a carrot danging in front of an animal, those things never seem to be within my reach. *sigh* One day...

Since I spend a lot of time by myself I tend to think a lot. I have noticed that those who write the most statuses on Facebook are people who are single and/or are living by themselves (or work alone at home) or are young stay-at-home parents. It makes sense because these are the people who have no adult conversation! I think most people take having someone to talk to when you get home from work for granted. But like anything in life, you take everything for granted until you lose it.

I find myself comparing myself to my friends a lot. Not in a competition sense, but just for interest's sake. I have friends who had kids at a very very young age and I have friends who are older than me and still single... so we're all at different stages of life but I do get a sense that those of us without long term relationships and kids somewhat feel left out. Or maybe not.

I find it hard to be around couples as I hate being 'the third wheel' and I admit I feel some jealousy (not in a nasty way but just in a sad, wistful way) when I see them being lovey dovey towards one another or doing really simple things like holding each others' belongings while the other goes to the toilet. In fact, when I was with my mother's or sister's partner and they offered to these simple things for me I was very humbled, shocked and thankful. I was/am just sooooooo used to doing everything myself!

But what is it with couples anyway? Once your friend gets herself a boyfriend you never see nor hear from her again. Usually the only people who call me up to do something with me are single people... I do have a few friends in long-term relationships who still go out and do stuff but the majority of couples I know seem to just stay at home every night and every weekend (with the tv and/or pet for entertainment). It's as if once you find a partner you don't need a social life anymore... Of course I'm talking about those without children yet as I realise that once you have kids your free time goes out the window (well yay for me in that respect because I have all the me-me-me time in the world right now and I do cherish it because one day that'll end for sure ;) )

Although I shouldn't really criticize or judge as I used to be EXACTLY like this. In my younger years. But I have learnt my lesson. You need to continue to socialise and make contacts, if not for making friends but for connections for work and for anything. You never know when you'll need help from other people and you can't rely on your partner or your family 100% of the time.

Another topic that is constantly on my mind is city living vs suburban/small town living.

• I'm a big city girl. I've always been one, always will.
• First, I want clarify... in Australia we have very few cities and they are all biggish. Then within each city we have hundreds and hundreds of suburbs.
• In France they have a different 'system' where you have thousands and thousands of little cities dotted throughout the whole country.
• So even if you live in a small town you only need to drive 10-30 minutes and you'll be in another bigger town. But if you were in Australia you'd be in the SAME town the whole time. Hope that makes sense?

I live in a town of around 10,000 people which is TINY to me, but it's decent-sized for France. In fact, after having visited various towns of various population sizes my idea of what is 'big' or 'small' has shifted dramatically. I now consider pop. 50,000 a medium sized town and pop. 100,000 a large town. I say this because in a town of  50,000 you can find most things you need but not all and 100,000 you can pretty much find anything you need and the train station is a decent size with many lines/connections.

Now I'll back to my life in Sydney. I grew up in the suburbs (like 99.9% of people in Sydney). It must be every parents' dream to buy a big house with big backyard for their kids in a nice, safe, suburb. I say this from experience with people that I know... Also with the huge immigrant population in Sydney I think that for them, having a large piece of land is almost impossible in their crowded home countries so it's the ultimate goal to have a big house/piece of land.

I grew up in a very nice suburb. It is very safe and full of friendly, helpful people. 10 minutes to the beach, 10 minutes to other bigger suburbs and 25 minutes to the CBD (central business district). It is very 'leafy' as they call it, full of trees and nature.

However, around my teenage years I got very very frustrated because I was forced to rely on the bus system to get anywhere (that made me get my driver's licence quick smart)..

Then it got far worse in my university years. The city is only 25 minutes away by car, but by bus in peak hour, it often took about 1.5 hours!!! I hated the commute. It was a nightmare as people who lived much further away got there quicker than me (because they had the train and I didn't). I had absolutely zero social life during my university years because of the bus that stopped running at about 7pm and only went to/from the city once an hour during weekends. Driving was not even considered as parking is hideously expensive.

I hated living in the suburbs then. Absolutely hated it. I dreamed of living in the city but I didn't make enough money from my part-time retail job to do so (rent in Sydney is amazingly expensive - so expensive it's calculated weekly and not monthly to not give people heart attacks ;) ).

I eventually got a car in 2001, started a relationship in the beginning of 2003 and moved out of home to live with my then-boyfriend in the beginning of 2006 and my life changed forever from then on...

A year later we both moved to Shanghai. 'A big change' is an understatement. I admit I didn't want to go at first. I had been there before (for a 1 week holiday) and couldn't imagine living there...

But it was living there that shifted my perspective on life and the world forever. I knew myself a lot better, and I changed my views on so many things in life... for the better I believe (and hope).

I was fascinated by how people could work so hard, live in such squalor and yet never complain. All these poor people living and working amongst those earning literally 10-100x more than they do.

Every time I have a 'hard' moment I think back and say to myself to get a grip and stop whinging. I have had such an easy, comfortable life that I took everything for granted. It wasn't till I saw how others lived that I finally began to appreciate all that my parents gave me. The fact that they were always telling me, "When I was your age, I had nothing... When I was your age, we didn't have cars, we had to walk 5km to go to school... we never had a washing machine... I only got one pair of shoes a year... I remember the first time I tried chocolate I savoured it as it was such a rare treat..." etc etc. I have to admit none of that meant anything to me till I saw it all with my own eyes and was old and mature enough to understand it.

Living in Shanghai almost made me realise just how much I LOVEd living in a big city. Although I'd always lived in a big city (Sydney) I never really lived IN the city. I just loved how the public transport was so good and it's walkable everywhere, I really appreciated everything the city had to offer and I didn't miss having a car at all because I never needed one! Taxis were also cheap and plentiful.

When I came back to Sydney a year later (after having broken up with my then-partner) I missed Shanghai dreadfully. I moved to another suburb in Sydney but this more like a city it's so big. I loved my suburb/city to death! It was so easy having everything I could possibly need within 10 minutes walking distance. There were also events and festivals. There was the bus, train and ferry. One of the biggest shopping malls in Sydney. A huge park. Sites of interest and more!

From living in those 2 places I made a mental checklist of my ideal city:

• pop. 100,000+
• excellent public transport infrastructure (both within the city and to other cities)
• easily walkable
• big park
• water feature (river, lake, beach, etc) and nature
• decent variety of shops and supermarkets
• decent variety of restaurants with cuisines from around the world
• puts on events, festivals and street parades

If I have all those things I'm as happy as a clam! Unfortunately the city I live in now doesn't fit all the criteria but most of them. My main gripe with my city is that there's not a lot of shops so I'm forced to do most of my shopping online (I mean for clothes and household items that are not common/everyday things). There is a beautiful river which I bushwalked around 4 times when I first arrived (it's too cold now) and the autumn leaves colours were so beautiful. I miss the lack of a big park though. There seems to be some sort of big city park and carousel in all the French towns I've seen over a certain size.

Now, this is one thing which really shits me about people who choose to live in suburbs/smaller towns. They like their peace and quiet and space but still need to go to the city to buy supplies so this crowds the city up with loads and loads of cars. I was shocked at the hideous traffic jams I saw on a Sunday morning (!!) in Lyon last weekend. The people who live in the city walk or take public transport everywhere and they must get the shits at all the cars. I know I would. In fact, I LOVE the rues piétonnes (pedestrian-only roads). I get sick to death of seeing cars when I'm in a walkable city. Every time I am exploring a new city I wish ALL the roads in the inner city were rues pietons! And I wish every city on earth was walkable!!

(related post)

Those were some random thoughts I wanted to get off my chest so there they are!


HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE!




(pictures from here and here)