This time yesterday, I was enjoying a drink on a patio in 20 some degree weather. Today it is cold and miserable. How appropriate. I was woken from of my deep sleep filled with pleasant dreams of bright blue skies and pink flamingos to a fierce downpour.
The south was fantastic. I felt as if I was transported into the carefree days of summer for 48 hours. I'd like to post some pictures of the Mediterranean (It's the second time I've seen it!) and what not, but I first have to find the cable for the camera that isn't even mine to begin with. We'll see what we can do...
Monday, October 27, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
I danced in the morning when the world had begun....
I am the Lord of the dance. Or I will be, this evening when I go Irish dancing (Side note: I'm typing with one hand as I dry my hair and my snail's pace is killing me). I'm hoping the festivities will measure up to a Cape Breton Square Dance. I alreay know the average age will be about 40 years younger...so that can't be bad. I also hope my enegy will hold up. It was a great feat to get out of bed this morning. Not even the annoying voices of the morning show were enough to get me up. I could have sworn that I was woken up with a voice saying "Win a free trip for two to Acadia". I guess I'm homesick, because they actually said, "Win a free trip for two to Ajadir". Not quite the same stellar location. I almost want to write to the radio station and complain, this morning they played the exact same song at the exact same time as yesterday. Granted, the radio station in question (the only one I can get clearly through my alarm clock) has a vast selection of about 5 songs. Still, changing it up a bit, say, one song per day, would that be so tough to manage?
Yesterday, during a sudden burst of house cleaning, I put up all my Hallowe'en decorations. I have a giant Frakenstein cut out, all cartoon-y and happy that I was going to put on my door, but I was afraid the neighbours might shun me more than they already do. I opted for Frankie on my living room wall and put a slightly more subdude hanging on my door. Hallowe'en is odd in France. It was artifically introduced as a Hallmark holiday like 5 or 6 years ago, it caught on for about 2 years and then died off again. You see the odd pumpkin or witch's broom, and there are a few costume parties (although the general theme is tradionally Hallowe'en gear; vampires, witches, monster, no so much the funny clever costumes I love). Anyways, I still like putting up decorations and eating candy, so if you are looking for a place to Trick-or-Treat, drop by chez moi.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Glück oder unglück ?
And here I am, ending my day just where I started it. Except this time instead of smelling coffee, it's an apple crisp, crisping right up.
I don't even know how to best write about my day. So here we go:
8:00 Leave house and go to do last minute photocopies, no problem.
8:12 Get on subway direction Préfecture, everything is perfect timing to get there for opening
8:14 The subway stops. It's not going anywhere. A helpful message is pumped through the car informing us it's not going anywhere.
8:24 The subway moves again. Horrah. It stops at the next station (one station before mine), the doors close, it pulls out and stops again. For another 10 minutes. boo.
I eventually arrive at the Préfecture, where there is a line out the door and around the corner filled with other first thing in the morning Monday go-getters like myself. Somehow, I managed to get to the front of it in time. Not quite sure how that happened. Everyone before me in line was told there were no openings until Jan 13th. One on Novemeber 4th surfaced for me. I took it and ran. She didn't even ask me for the paper they refused to give me an appointment over last time.
I had to rush back to the train station to get my train. Make it to the subway station, what luck, the subway is there. And it stays there. And is not moving, because now it's broken going the other direction. Great. Miss train. Run across town, catch next train.
Happily sitting in the train, have the beginnings of an asthma attack. (Perhaps stress related...) Puffer is most definitely in the box on the third shelf in the bathroom. People around me are starring at me. I consume about 25 ricolas hoping somehow they will make the coughing stop.
Late for work. Break the photocopier. Once I fix it, I run out of photocopying credits.
Miss train back home, which means I missed going to the gym. Get later train, back in town grab the subway back home only to hear the message "Effective immediately and until further notice there is no more service to the station you have to be at tomorrow morning at 8:30". Thanks jerkish subway. I'll just take my car. Oh wait, I don't have one. Jerk.
Get to my station only to be asked for my ticket which is at the bottom of my bag...but which one? (Bag, computer bag and gym bag). After pouring out half of my life onto the ground eventually find tiny little piece of paper necessary to get scary-looking Tranist official off my back.
Go to German class (am late, of course). The lights freakishly go out for no reason in the middle of class and we are left declining adjectives in the dark. The lights come back on and she announces the theme of the day...
Glück oder unglück ? (Good luck or bad luck?)
What a strange day!
I don't even know how to best write about my day. So here we go:
8:00 Leave house and go to do last minute photocopies, no problem.
8:12 Get on subway direction Préfecture, everything is perfect timing to get there for opening
8:14 The subway stops. It's not going anywhere. A helpful message is pumped through the car informing us it's not going anywhere.
8:24 The subway moves again. Horrah. It stops at the next station (one station before mine), the doors close, it pulls out and stops again. For another 10 minutes. boo.
I eventually arrive at the Préfecture, where there is a line out the door and around the corner filled with other first thing in the morning Monday go-getters like myself. Somehow, I managed to get to the front of it in time. Not quite sure how that happened. Everyone before me in line was told there were no openings until Jan 13th. One on Novemeber 4th surfaced for me. I took it and ran. She didn't even ask me for the paper they refused to give me an appointment over last time.
I had to rush back to the train station to get my train. Make it to the subway station, what luck, the subway is there. And it stays there. And is not moving, because now it's broken going the other direction. Great. Miss train. Run across town, catch next train.
Happily sitting in the train, have the beginnings of an asthma attack. (Perhaps stress related...) Puffer is most definitely in the box on the third shelf in the bathroom. People around me are starring at me. I consume about 25 ricolas hoping somehow they will make the coughing stop.
Late for work. Break the photocopier. Once I fix it, I run out of photocopying credits.
Miss train back home, which means I missed going to the gym. Get later train, back in town grab the subway back home only to hear the message "Effective immediately and until further notice there is no more service to the station you have to be at tomorrow morning at 8:30". Thanks jerkish subway. I'll just take my car. Oh wait, I don't have one. Jerk.
Get to my station only to be asked for my ticket which is at the bottom of my bag...but which one? (Bag, computer bag and gym bag). After pouring out half of my life onto the ground eventually find tiny little piece of paper necessary to get scary-looking Tranist official off my back.
Go to German class (am late, of course). The lights freakishly go out for no reason in the middle of class and we are left declining adjectives in the dark. The lights come back on and she announces the theme of the day...
Glück oder unglück ? (Good luck or bad luck?)
What a strange day!
A little blog entry before the craziness of the week catches up to me (and apparently before the sunrises! When does time change again?)
I had a good weekend. Saturday night, I had a meeting with some French friends. I remembered once again why I feel often so confused.
Friend 1: "I really think we should use the red seeing as how red really portrays the message we are trying to get across"
Friend 2: "I hear you. I ran into an old lady yesterday who was trying to make soup."
Friend 1: "That's very interesting that you bring that up because I bought a new shower curtain."
Friend 2: "It's so totally important to not forget that aspect of things which is why I'm going on holiday to Spain"
I guess the point of the matter is that despite the fact that I understood all the words, I had trouble with the thinking processes. Maybe one day, I'll get to throw in my own two cent...imes. I can only hope..
Before going to work this morning, I'm going to venture by everyone's favourite place. I'll give you a hint, it begins with a P and ends with a réfecture. One of the reasons for the bad mood at the end of last week, I stood in line during the only mutually convient slot of time I had in the next eight months and I got rejected....TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT! Not that I'm bitter. Really, I'm dealing with it quite while. But after all the games I went through to get my visa in the first place, I'm just a little sensitive is all. So I have bout 35 minutes this morning and here's to hoping I might actually get something done. Before my visa runs out. But whatever...
Alright, I must go now to line up in front of that gate. Lates.
I had a good weekend. Saturday night, I had a meeting with some French friends. I remembered once again why I feel often so confused.
Friend 1: "I really think we should use the red seeing as how red really portrays the message we are trying to get across"
Friend 2: "I hear you. I ran into an old lady yesterday who was trying to make soup."
Friend 1: "That's very interesting that you bring that up because I bought a new shower curtain."
Friend 2: "It's so totally important to not forget that aspect of things which is why I'm going on holiday to Spain"
I guess the point of the matter is that despite the fact that I understood all the words, I had trouble with the thinking processes. Maybe one day, I'll get to throw in my own two cent...imes. I can only hope..
Before going to work this morning, I'm going to venture by everyone's favourite place. I'll give you a hint, it begins with a P and ends with a réfecture. One of the reasons for the bad mood at the end of last week, I stood in line during the only mutually convient slot of time I had in the next eight months and I got rejected....TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT! Not that I'm bitter. Really, I'm dealing with it quite while. But after all the games I went through to get my visa in the first place, I'm just a little sensitive is all. So I have bout 35 minutes this morning and here's to hoping I might actually get something done. Before my visa runs out. But whatever...
Alright, I must go now to line up in front of that gate. Lates.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
I'm fed up.
I'm in a really bad mood. This past week has been spent fighting with 109372389752 different people to try and get anything done.
I'm sick of it.
Maybe I should go get some sleep....
I'm sick of it.
Maybe I should go get some sleep....
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Insomnia strikes again
so I'm doing what anyone else would do. I'm watching that minute hand on the clock slowly tick and mentally counting how many less minutes of sleep I'm getting tonight. Ok, that may be a lie. I'm actually making a cake. Well, muffins really. I got these cool silicon muffin cups for my birthday and haven't had a chance to use them so I thought the inagural muffin making should take place on a Tuesday night. They smell pretty good...coconut....and I figure, nothing like a warm muffin and some herbal tea to send me off to sleep.
One of the reasons I'm WIDE awake it because I have so many exciting things coming up. In a mere two weeks, I'm heading to Montpellier (circa this evening)! I haven't been to the South of France since maybe 2003? I've heard good things about the city and am looking forward to seeing it and meeting up with some people there. Two weeks following that is my trip northward to Stockholm and it is being rounded off in December by a trip home for the holidays (which has just been booked). Pair all of that off with some other fun things happening here in the city over the next little while and I'd just go so far as to say things are looking good!
One of the reasons I'm WIDE awake it because I have so many exciting things coming up. In a mere two weeks, I'm heading to Montpellier (circa this evening)! I haven't been to the South of France since maybe 2003? I've heard good things about the city and am looking forward to seeing it and meeting up with some people there. Two weeks following that is my trip northward to Stockholm and it is being rounded off in December by a trip home for the holidays (which has just been booked). Pair all of that off with some other fun things happening here in the city over the next little while and I'd just go so far as to say things are looking good!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Hello from Sunny (!!) Normandy
I'm in Normandy this weekend to enjoy the sun. Perhaps that wasn't the principle reason for my trip but it is quite enjoyable all the same.
In order to venture to this neck of the woods, Friday night, following work, I grabbed a train to Paris. Man, I admire all the people who live in Paris...there are TOO many people for me. Just after getting off the train I was overwhelmed by the crowds of people rushing every where. I had ample time to get to where I needed to be and yet I was filled with this sense of urgency and despite my best efforts began panicing, so much so, that I almost got on the Metro going the wrong way. Despite my little mishap, I got to the second train station with time to spare, so what did I do? Like everyone who lives outside of Paris and only rarely visits the capital, I went to Starbucks. I was weak. It's over priced. But their sweet nectar can sooth a homesick soul like it's nobody's buisness. I saw something funny at Starbucks and felt very alone, perhaps because I was chuckling to myself and all the fancy Parisians were looking at me "Oh la la she iz a littel craz-ee". Starbucks prides itself not only on selling espresso based beverages (although many French people go there for the petit cafes) but also on their American treats. Amongst the muffins, giant cookies, chesse cake and scones were....pancakes. In the refrigerator case. All lined up, just like cookies. Ready "to go". Typically American. I know I go to Starbucks to get my pancake fix. :)
Tuesday is a Federal Election in Canada. This is clearly big international news since no one I've talked to knew...heck, no one could even name the current Prime Minister of Canada. I mean he's such a looker and everything how could he go un noticed! One person claims to have heard the election mentioned as an after thought on the news one Thursday afternoon at about 3 pm. So maybe there is this giant international economic crisis going on, but who knows, Canada just might be hiding the answer and no one would ever know....
In order to venture to this neck of the woods, Friday night, following work, I grabbed a train to Paris. Man, I admire all the people who live in Paris...there are TOO many people for me. Just after getting off the train I was overwhelmed by the crowds of people rushing every where. I had ample time to get to where I needed to be and yet I was filled with this sense of urgency and despite my best efforts began panicing, so much so, that I almost got on the Metro going the wrong way. Despite my little mishap, I got to the second train station with time to spare, so what did I do? Like everyone who lives outside of Paris and only rarely visits the capital, I went to Starbucks. I was weak. It's over priced. But their sweet nectar can sooth a homesick soul like it's nobody's buisness. I saw something funny at Starbucks and felt very alone, perhaps because I was chuckling to myself and all the fancy Parisians were looking at me "Oh la la she iz a littel craz-ee". Starbucks prides itself not only on selling espresso based beverages (although many French people go there for the petit cafes) but also on their American treats. Amongst the muffins, giant cookies, chesse cake and scones were....pancakes. In the refrigerator case. All lined up, just like cookies. Ready "to go". Typically American. I know I go to Starbucks to get my pancake fix. :)
Tuesday is a Federal Election in Canada. This is clearly big international news since no one I've talked to knew...heck, no one could even name the current Prime Minister of Canada. I mean he's such a looker and everything how could he go un noticed! One person claims to have heard the election mentioned as an after thought on the news one Thursday afternoon at about 3 pm. So maybe there is this giant international economic crisis going on, but who knows, Canada just might be hiding the answer and no one would ever know....
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
It's Tuesday already? How did that happen?
I'm looking forward to tomorrow night. I'm putting on my dancing shoes and painting this town red thanks to a jive dance class/evening. I've been working on my moves all day. I just don't understand why everyone in the street was looking at me so funny!
I made my maple roast turkey from a few posts ago for dinner on Sunday. It was fab and will hopefully blow my dinner guests away this weekend. I also made a fantastic tiramisu for dessert which involved hand whipping eggs whites and was great for the workout alone. What's that? You'd like a copy of the recipe? Not a problem!
Tiramisu....Ch'ti
250 g Marscapone
2 egg yolks
2 Tbsp of sugar
Mix together.
Beat 3 egg whites until peaks form and gently stir the egg white into the first mixture.
Line a dish with one layer Speculoos cookies (or Gingersnaps), followed by a layer of the cream, followed by a layer of Speculoos followed by a layer of cream. Let it sit overnight. Enjoy.
Mmmm.....I'm going to need to do A LOT of dancing.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow night. I'm putting on my dancing shoes and painting this town red thanks to a jive dance class/evening. I've been working on my moves all day. I just don't understand why everyone in the street was looking at me so funny!
I made my maple roast turkey from a few posts ago for dinner on Sunday. It was fab and will hopefully blow my dinner guests away this weekend. I also made a fantastic tiramisu for dessert which involved hand whipping eggs whites and was great for the workout alone. What's that? You'd like a copy of the recipe? Not a problem!
Tiramisu....Ch'ti
250 g Marscapone
2 egg yolks
2 Tbsp of sugar
Mix together.
Beat 3 egg whites until peaks form and gently stir the egg white into the first mixture.
Line a dish with one layer Speculoos cookies (or Gingersnaps), followed by a layer of the cream, followed by a layer of Speculoos followed by a layer of cream. Let it sit overnight. Enjoy.
Mmmm.....I'm going to need to do A LOT of dancing.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
What a fantastic week - I was right to be excited about it on Monday. I finished it off by a great night out last night. I finally feel like I'm beginning to find my place in this city and it's a great feeling. I guess it's the longest I've been in one situation (city, apartment, job, etc) for quite a while and there is something to be said about a little bit of stability. :D
Alright, off to the gym and to find a cute outfit for next weekend's Thanksgiving celebrations.
Alright, off to the gym and to find a cute outfit for next weekend's Thanksgiving celebrations.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
And now it's October...
I've spent a lot of time on the subway/train/tram recently which gives me tons of time for people watching. What I've noticed is some very luscious locks. My attention was drawn yesterday to this gorgeous black hair, perfectly coloured, perfectly straightened with not even one tiny little fly away. I saw nicely manicured hands brushing the hair off the owner's face. I was so taken with the hair that I didn't pay any attention to its owner.
It was a guy. Guys are not supposed to have nicer hair than me.
In other news, I'm (still) TB free since '83! I had a medical appointment yeterday with the French goverment to prove my TB free status and I passed the test. Granted, I was quite concerned seeing as how I have done 3 TB tests in the past 2 years. I'm one step closer now to getting my Residency Permit which will be nice. When I first came I was exempted from getting one which was short term gain for long term pain. Soon it will be cleared up though. It's always fun going to these places though. You get a very serious looking letter (usually one day before you are expected to be there) with an address and a time and a very clear message "DO NOT BE LATE. LATENESS WILL NOT BE EXCUSED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE". This scares the beejesus out of a lot of people so yesterday for instance, for an appointment at 1:30 pm, everyone was there by 1:10 pm. The lateness message does not concern the people that work there. Around 1:45 pm they meander over to the door (oh, we are all huddled outside in the cold) and consider opening it. It's not like my time matters or anything.
Now, I just have to sit and wait for my next letter. It's kind of like being 007 or something, I'm ready to go at a moment's notice just awaiting my next mission.
Maybe I need some sleep :D
It was a guy. Guys are not supposed to have nicer hair than me.
In other news, I'm (still) TB free since '83! I had a medical appointment yeterday with the French goverment to prove my TB free status and I passed the test. Granted, I was quite concerned seeing as how I have done 3 TB tests in the past 2 years. I'm one step closer now to getting my Residency Permit which will be nice. When I first came I was exempted from getting one which was short term gain for long term pain. Soon it will be cleared up though. It's always fun going to these places though. You get a very serious looking letter (usually one day before you are expected to be there) with an address and a time and a very clear message "DO NOT BE LATE. LATENESS WILL NOT BE EXCUSED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE". This scares the beejesus out of a lot of people so yesterday for instance, for an appointment at 1:30 pm, everyone was there by 1:10 pm. The lateness message does not concern the people that work there. Around 1:45 pm they meander over to the door (oh, we are all huddled outside in the cold) and consider opening it. It's not like my time matters or anything.
Now, I just have to sit and wait for my next letter. It's kind of like being 007 or something, I'm ready to go at a moment's notice just awaiting my next mission.
Maybe I need some sleep :D
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