Hiya! I've been enjoying life lots since I last posted! Let us begin with Pariiiiiiis! Not a massive fan, personally, and didn't have time to do much touristing BUT Vicky and I did spend over NINE HOURS in Disneyland! Again, not really a Disney person (clearly I have no interests?), but I have to say it was up there in the top 7 best days of my life!! Thank you again, Anne! Ooh, Anne...
We stayed in a 'hotel' in Montmartre and definitely made a friend for life in the form of the hotelier..... Naaat! As for the hotel room... I'll just tell you that we paid 50 squids each for a 2 night stay in central Paris and leave the rest to your imagination... And I still can't honestly say that I've been out in Paris as Vicky, Sam, Katie and I just ended up drinking and talking for the whole of Europe in our room on Friday night, if I'm honest. And on Saturday, Vicky and I met Satie/Kam (Sam and Katie? Could one of these possibly catch on??) in a strange place called Paramentiers (could well have just invented that name) to wish Kyle a happy birthday. But, sadly, Vauryn (Vicky and Lauryn) had to collect their zimmer frames from reception and shuffle home shortly after midnight. Eeheheheh...
For a more detailed/slightly more dramatic account of that weekend, read Satie's blogs cos I literally can't be arsed. Soz babz.
I can't really remember what happened last week, just that I was next-level tired after all the excitement of Disneyland on Saturday. Such a child. OH YEAH I attempted to eat an egg on a crepe at Pauline's for CREPE DAY (La Chandaleur) on Tuesday night and I managed to avoid getting egg poisoning again (sneeeeeeaky French eggs) because I am a hero. Crepe day was actually Wednesday, but that day Pauline getted off to sunny Glasgow to 'visit some friends' - suuuuuuuure ;) *cough*!
Thursday night was odd. Dej, Lauryn, Welshie and Welshie no. 2 decided to make celebrity guest appearances at 'Afterwork' which is an event which occurs in your life once a month at the Coop. de Mai (music venue in Clermont) on a Thursday from 6pm-midnight (yeah, seriously). People that go there favour standing in small groups, chatting, over dancing. This made me both sad in side and very confused. There's bare space, tall ceiling, a decent music level in your ear holes and friends... Why would you not be busting some movez girlfriend *click*?? It got pretty emotional.
And, I can safely say, me and Dej got PICKED UP. By a girl. Yay. Welcome, ladies, to Clermont-Ferrand, where all the fitties are either gay, taken or menstruate. Not the one. Her name was Meryl and she was a nutter. The Welshies went home to get a good night's sleep in preparation for being angry about the game the following night (Laura, give me love give me nothing but love) and Dej and I got a lift to Meryl's place which is like 5 mins from my place. Win. She basically got naked (Meryl, not Dej, don't panic) and her weird mate was there then 2 guys who they didn't know and who didn't actually know each other, incidently, just appeared out of nowhere and cotched with us for a bit then we went to a 'club' around the corner that we'd never seen before. And that was Thursday night.
On Friday evening we watched England v. Wales in a wee pub in Place de la Victoire next to the Cathedral. The French were yelling 'COME ON WALLS' which was silly. Where the f**k is Walls?? Beats me...
Saturday was Lyon day! Yaaaaay! Lyon was classsss :D And if the weather had been a guy, I'd probably have fancied it. I met Sam (of the famous Satie duo) at Lyon Part-Dieu and we spent four glorious hours soaking up its sexyness, its NICE, POLITE PEOPLE, its ENGLISH SHOP (I'm gonna take this opportunity to proudly inform you that, of all the British football teams, Arsenal was this shop's flag of choice. Don't even bother trying to argue that Arsenal's a French team cos that will not stop Lauryn and Lyon being best friends) and enjoying the weather. It. Was. Lush. I didn't wanna leave! Definitely spending a weekend there soon, even if I have to ride it solo like my mate Derulo. It comes a close second after Landan, for me, so far! Even without the nice weather, I think I would have fallen in love!
Saturday night was wellllllll funny! :) I brought Sam back to Clermont, determined that she wouldn't regret it, met up with QM's NEW ARRIVAL Dan (how exciting!) and we went to the Ladpad for a chilled out house-warming........ Only joking! People were ill, a cupboard fell off the wall (but, as Beardmore pointed out, it looks better without that cupboard anyway), Mike was NETWORKING/flashing and the whole thing demonstrated, beautifully, why the guys never bothered to furnish the place. Funny, funny night!
Sunday was lovely, too! Weather-wise and life-wise! Sam and I were out and about in the sunshine by precisely 12.08pm after THAT NIGHT. Ghandi and Mandela, powering through life. I wasn't lying to her when I said that you can see all of Clermont (may or may not have forgotten about Jardin Lecoq...) in around half an hour, so we had ages to chill before her train back to Paris.
After we said our farewells on the platform, I met Wales and then we retrieved Mike. Together, we spent the afternoon cotchin in the sun in Jardin Lecoq (again, sorry Sam. I'll nick someone else's pictures and we'll just pretend you saw it) and watched 'The King's Speech' with Deji and some Erasmuseses at the cinema in the evening. Lavly!!
lundi 7 février 2011
mardi 25 janvier 2011
Il faut que je get my revenge on BTS...
It's Tuesday again!
I got better last week, yippp! But not until Saturday. Gross. Thursday at school made up for Shit Tuesday. The twins brought in 'Inception' on DVD for me to borrow - "we are little angels" yes, yes you are, you disconcertingly sweet 17 year olds - and a guy from a Terminale class gave me a portrait of himself to keep as a 'memoir'. Okaaaaay, thanks mate...
Thursday night failed. Mike and I, still too ill to move, attempted to have a film/pizza night. This lasted for a steady half hour before we looked at each other and went 'nah' then crawled back into our beds. This was at around 7.45pm. Tragic doesn't even cut it. Friday night I was also in, but so was Emma aka the best ginger person in the world, so she gave me a cheeky call from Landan and made my life better.
DEJ (Rachael) came back from Glasgow on Saturday night, so the two of us celebrated by getting pissed with Frenchies :) We spoke lots and lots of French like we're meant to, recieved a bit of abuse from the locals and got drunk. Standard 'night out' in Clermont, then. Contrary to earlier expectations, Pauline, Dej and I were the last ones standing. Hell, we were the only 3 out of about 10 people who even made it out. Heros. Hmm... We did some drinkin' and we did some dancin'. More than one guy smelt my hair though. Eew. And creepy dancing/grinding girl (yes, girl. That throws a few gender stereotypes out la fenêtre) kept popping up to say hi. Cos tonight babeh, I wanna get FREAKY WITH YOU. The night ended with Pauline screaming "va te faire FOUTRE, SERIOUSEMENT" (google it English peopolz) at a guy who was being mean. Au fait, he was being a bit of a xenophobic prick, if I'm honest. Nothing we're not already used to, but ma petite Pauline is quite protective of her anglaises and Dej l'écossaise. The two of us then had a drunken discussion about life etc in the street (deep) before being sent home by a random guy who 'feared for our safety' on 'the STREETS of Clermont'.
Dear Clermont-Ferrand,
Why are you so weird? You're lucky we've been getting on a bit better, lately.
A fair amount of love, Lauryn.
Obviously no one was in any fit state to move anywhere the next day.
Monday was alreet, y'know? Bit boring by most people's standards, I'd say. Although, the annoying, bitchy (I'm gonna talk over the teacher for an hour to see how far I can push her then give her my best don't walk home alone tonight smile when she starts getting pissed off) girls in my Terminale STG class behaved accordingly and even produced a decent bit of work. Couldn't tell you how or why that happened, but it did! Also, the tables have turned in my life, for it is now me explaining 'il faut que' (in English, obv). Judge me if you will, but until I got to Franco and realised that no one ever uses the subjunctive with it anyway, I would physically flee from its presence! But anyway, we're good now. I felt powerful. Take that, Godard!!
Today (Tuesday) I decided to subject my students to the horrors of THE most boring article on the Royal Wedding I could POSSIBLY find, as my own personal form of punishment for last Tuesday. Muhahaha. However, it went down quite well with the first lesson (Terminale). I made things a bit more interesting for this class as they're not awful people, just a bunch of boring know-it-alls who sometimes go out of their way to try to prove that I'm an idiot who only listens to pop music and knows nothing of the world. Like this morning, for example. I was always under the impression that France hasn't had a monarchy for the past couple of hundred years, at least. I know this is their country, but I'm still completely sure I'm right on this one lol. Now, I'm not sure if this was just misinterpreted or if this guy was trying to catch me out (I strongly suspect the latter). I said, right, 'If there was a monarchy in France...' as in NOW, not as in 'if there had been'. The hand of El Presidente of the Priory of Know It All shot up... *snigger* 'Errr this is the case'. Me: *Shit* *Very confused* *Oh no...* *Fuck how is there a modern day French monarchy I know nothing about?* Errr.. Yeahyeah I know but... What I meeeean is.. If they were of the err the same err status as England's monarchy today...' I thought that was an ok-pretty decent save, considering how thrown I was! Could have been worse. I promtly got my embarrassed ass on Google and texted my Historian housemate in London to check haha. Bloody kids...
Had my first proper lesson with the second year BTS today. Was quite nervous before, as some of them are nearing the retirement age (not really but they are a fair bit older than me!), but it went really well! They've been on proper work experience for the past 2 months where they've actually had some responsabilities and have had to communicate with people on a professional level, so they are more mature than the first years by about 3 and a half miles.We attempted to discuss their work experience for about 20 mins (their English is appalling but, not to worry, Auntie Laurie will sort it out!) then did the article/debate thang which they got really into. They ended up arguing in French inbetween their points in 'English' in order to fully express themselves to one another, which was hilarious to listen to and also made me think that they cared :)
Ooooooooh BTS year 1 were notttttttt happy, though! Tehehehehehe! The article had the desired effect, so kudos to that Guardian journalist! They blatently knew what I was doing, and I knew they knew that I knew haha... It was one of those entertaining situations. It was actually torture for them as all of our classes have been really laid back so far and I've gone out of my way to make them different from their normal English classes, which I happen to know are heinously dull for BTS students. Not today, folks! But no one complained, they just looked sad and got on with it. Clearly the bollocking worked. I was laiden with dirty looks from the girls for the duration of the hour and around school, but that just made me happier :) I know I know I know I'm mean, but they were nearly the end of me last week, I swear!
Anyway, I'm very much looking forward to Paris! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and I'm looking forward to spending a weekend in a place where people expect foreigners to be. I imagine it will feel quite refreshing not to be glared at like I'm the lovechild of Margaret Thatcher and Hitler every time my dirty English accent is heard.
I got better last week, yippp! But not until Saturday. Gross. Thursday at school made up for Shit Tuesday. The twins brought in 'Inception' on DVD for me to borrow - "we are little angels" yes, yes you are, you disconcertingly sweet 17 year olds - and a guy from a Terminale class gave me a portrait of himself to keep as a 'memoir'. Okaaaaay, thanks mate...
Thursday night failed. Mike and I, still too ill to move, attempted to have a film/pizza night. This lasted for a steady half hour before we looked at each other and went 'nah' then crawled back into our beds. This was at around 7.45pm. Tragic doesn't even cut it. Friday night I was also in, but so was Emma aka the best ginger person in the world, so she gave me a cheeky call from Landan and made my life better.
DEJ (Rachael) came back from Glasgow on Saturday night, so the two of us celebrated by getting pissed with Frenchies :) We spoke lots and lots of French like we're meant to, recieved a bit of abuse from the locals and got drunk. Standard 'night out' in Clermont, then. Contrary to earlier expectations, Pauline, Dej and I were the last ones standing. Hell, we were the only 3 out of about 10 people who even made it out. Heros. Hmm... We did some drinkin' and we did some dancin'. More than one guy smelt my hair though. Eew. And creepy dancing/grinding girl (yes, girl. That throws a few gender stereotypes out la fenêtre) kept popping up to say hi. Cos tonight babeh, I wanna get FREAKY WITH YOU. The night ended with Pauline screaming "va te faire FOUTRE, SERIOUSEMENT" (google it English peopolz) at a guy who was being mean. Au fait, he was being a bit of a xenophobic prick, if I'm honest. Nothing we're not already used to, but ma petite Pauline is quite protective of her anglaises and Dej l'écossaise. The two of us then had a drunken discussion about life etc in the street (deep) before being sent home by a random guy who 'feared for our safety' on 'the STREETS of Clermont'.
Dear Clermont-Ferrand,
Why are you so weird? You're lucky we've been getting on a bit better, lately.
A fair amount of love, Lauryn.
Obviously no one was in any fit state to move anywhere the next day.
Monday was alreet, y'know? Bit boring by most people's standards, I'd say. Although, the annoying, bitchy (I'm gonna talk over the teacher for an hour to see how far I can push her then give her my best don't walk home alone tonight smile when she starts getting pissed off) girls in my Terminale STG class behaved accordingly and even produced a decent bit of work. Couldn't tell you how or why that happened, but it did! Also, the tables have turned in my life, for it is now me explaining 'il faut que' (in English, obv). Judge me if you will, but until I got to Franco and realised that no one ever uses the subjunctive with it anyway, I would physically flee from its presence! But anyway, we're good now. I felt powerful. Take that, Godard!!
Today (Tuesday) I decided to subject my students to the horrors of THE most boring article on the Royal Wedding I could POSSIBLY find, as my own personal form of punishment for last Tuesday. Muhahaha. However, it went down quite well with the first lesson (Terminale). I made things a bit more interesting for this class as they're not awful people, just a bunch of boring know-it-alls who sometimes go out of their way to try to prove that I'm an idiot who only listens to pop music and knows nothing of the world. Like this morning, for example. I was always under the impression that France hasn't had a monarchy for the past couple of hundred years, at least. I know this is their country, but I'm still completely sure I'm right on this one lol. Now, I'm not sure if this was just misinterpreted or if this guy was trying to catch me out (I strongly suspect the latter). I said, right, 'If there was a monarchy in France...' as in NOW, not as in 'if there had been'. The hand of El Presidente of the Priory of Know It All shot up... *snigger* 'Errr this is the case'. Me: *Shit* *Very confused* *Oh no...* *Fuck how is there a modern day French monarchy I know nothing about?* Errr.. Yeahyeah I know but... What I meeeean is.. If they were of the err the same err status as England's monarchy today...' I thought that was an ok-pretty decent save, considering how thrown I was! Could have been worse. I promtly got my embarrassed ass on Google and texted my Historian housemate in London to check haha. Bloody kids...
Had my first proper lesson with the second year BTS today. Was quite nervous before, as some of them are nearing the retirement age (not really but they are a fair bit older than me!), but it went really well! They've been on proper work experience for the past 2 months where they've actually had some responsabilities and have had to communicate with people on a professional level, so they are more mature than the first years by about 3 and a half miles.We attempted to discuss their work experience for about 20 mins (their English is appalling but, not to worry, Auntie Laurie will sort it out!) then did the article/debate thang which they got really into. They ended up arguing in French inbetween their points in 'English' in order to fully express themselves to one another, which was hilarious to listen to and also made me think that they cared :)
Ooooooooh BTS year 1 were notttttttt happy, though! Tehehehehehe! The article had the desired effect, so kudos to that Guardian journalist! They blatently knew what I was doing, and I knew they knew that I knew haha... It was one of those entertaining situations. It was actually torture for them as all of our classes have been really laid back so far and I've gone out of my way to make them different from their normal English classes, which I happen to know are heinously dull for BTS students. Not today, folks! But no one complained, they just looked sad and got on with it. Clearly the bollocking worked. I was laiden with dirty looks from the girls for the duration of the hour and around school, but that just made me happier :) I know I know I know I'm mean, but they were nearly the end of me last week, I swear!
Anyway, I'm very much looking forward to Paris! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and I'm looking forward to spending a weekend in a place where people expect foreigners to be. I imagine it will feel quite refreshing not to be glared at like I'm the lovechild of Margaret Thatcher and Hitler every time my dirty English accent is heard.
mercredi 19 janvier 2011
'T'a un rhume?' Yes, now leab me alone!!
Tuesday... Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday... Well!! (Before I begin, I should warn you that ths is just one massive vent about yesterday, so feel free to go back to whatever you were doing!)
Woke up with what felt of the flu. Perfect. Not a chance I was gonna miss another Tuesday of lessons, so I missioned on with life. By the time I got to the station, I thought I was gonna die! Not really, but you know when your limbs and everything from the chest upwards are causing you a lot of pain/don't work? I must have looked even more horrendous than the time I went straight to work at 8 after pulling an all-nighter for an essay, as several teachers yesterday informed me that there is an 'infermerie' and that I should 'go there if you need drugs' by an English teacher. Bless him!
Needless to say that I looked and felt shit throughout my first lesson. The boring one. I got snappy with some boys who managed to slip 'prick' and 'nigger' into their dialogue, which was already shit compared to the others. It was at this point that I took it upon myself to remind them that racism's not reeeeeally that funny (especially not when I'm ill) and managed to slip in a bitchy 'et votre anglais est pas assez bon pour utiliser ces grands mots, les garçons.' Harsh, but true. And it shut them up.
Joy of joys, I was then asked by my résponsable to cover this same class, but the whole class, as she had a meeting at another lycée. Luckily I had a few more lessons planned, and after having to take last Tuesday off I was more than happy to cover for her. And I was feeling a bit more perky after consuming 3 cups of lemon tea in an hour. So that lesson was fine, if a bit boring. I couldn't face lunch, so had some more lemon tea (I can feel myself growing worryingly dependent haha).
I was also forewarned that I might be needed to take the whole first year BTS class for 10-15 mins at the beginning of class in case my résponsable was late back from the meeting. The meeting ran over the full hour of the class.
'Désolée Lauryn! Ça s'est bien passé, le BTS?'
No.
I, all of the sudden, found myself stuck with a class of 26 BTS students (may I remind non-students that we're not supposed to be alone with more than 16/7 of any class) who are in their 20s but who, I now know, have a collective mental age of about 9. At a push. After half an hour, I realised that the teacher wasn't coming to take half the class. Shit. I had things I could have done with them, but nothing that these idiots could have even bothered to start in the last half hour. Oh, and did I mention how fucking ill I've felt since yesterday?! I'm pretty sure that, on a good day, I could have got in under control as I've done it before - I took that whole class in the first month I was here with no problem. So I know that I can do it, if absolutely essential. Just with warning from the beginning! But anyway, I was so physically and mentally drained by the afternoon that I decided that, if they couldn't be arsed to learn, then I couldn't be arsed to teach them. Fair exchange. I just didn't have the energy to even try and stop their crap. But when tables, chairs and shoes started to go awry, however, I moved 13 of the nicer ones to another room and gave them something to do. This is, like, one of the best lycées in the area, and these guys are in their 20s! They are not kids! And even if they were... Argh! I spent the remainder of the lesson running back and forth between the two rooms like a fucking nursery nurse to these people who are mainly OLDER than me, to make sure no one got hurt (literally).
So, did it go well, Lauryn?
Actually, no. No, it didn't.
However, I did recieve some fantastic support from the guy in charge of discipline and from my résponsable, afterwards. I got the impression that they were pretty much furious that this class have now started to play up with me as well. I know other teachers have problems with this particular class and I guess I was kind of their last chance. Fail, guys. Apparently fucking off the assistant was the final straw, so I identified them like criminals (lol) and am now resting peacefully in the knowledge that they unknowingly have an impending bollocking from the deputy head on its way over. And in two weeks (I've asked for certain pupils by name for next week as they never get to have a lesson with me as the school feel it is more productive to give me the shitty ones as they usually listen to/do their work in my classes and not with their actual teacher) when I take the shit ones, assuming I'm feeling much better by then, they will be getting a fucking bollocking from me, too. :)
Luckily I have a day off today, so am praying that I feel much better by school tomorrow. I have my favourite class in the morning woop! I think some of them are bringing in 'Inception' for me to watch in French (THEY'RE SO CUTE), so I have that class to look forward to! Then 2 more difficult ones then I'm going back to bed for the weekend. Being ill two weeks in a row has made everything seem so much more difficult! But next week is anudda week and at the end of it I'll be in Paris, hoping I don't get 'Taken' (don't watch that the week before you go to Paris. Cheers, Dej!) with loaads of people from my uni having a gooooood tiiiiiiime :):):):):)
If you actually just read all of that, I do apologise! I know some assistants who have it so much worse and all the time, and it's just a stupid cold lol so I feel bad for complaining about one not-so-good day... But fuck it, I still feel crap and had to let it out!
Lovelovelove x
Woke up with what felt of the flu. Perfect. Not a chance I was gonna miss another Tuesday of lessons, so I missioned on with life. By the time I got to the station, I thought I was gonna die! Not really, but you know when your limbs and everything from the chest upwards are causing you a lot of pain/don't work? I must have looked even more horrendous than the time I went straight to work at 8 after pulling an all-nighter for an essay, as several teachers yesterday informed me that there is an 'infermerie' and that I should 'go there if you need drugs' by an English teacher. Bless him!
Needless to say that I looked and felt shit throughout my first lesson. The boring one. I got snappy with some boys who managed to slip 'prick' and 'nigger' into their dialogue, which was already shit compared to the others. It was at this point that I took it upon myself to remind them that racism's not reeeeeally that funny (especially not when I'm ill) and managed to slip in a bitchy 'et votre anglais est pas assez bon pour utiliser ces grands mots, les garçons.' Harsh, but true. And it shut them up.
Joy of joys, I was then asked by my résponsable to cover this same class, but the whole class, as she had a meeting at another lycée. Luckily I had a few more lessons planned, and after having to take last Tuesday off I was more than happy to cover for her. And I was feeling a bit more perky after consuming 3 cups of lemon tea in an hour. So that lesson was fine, if a bit boring. I couldn't face lunch, so had some more lemon tea (I can feel myself growing worryingly dependent haha).
I was also forewarned that I might be needed to take the whole first year BTS class for 10-15 mins at the beginning of class in case my résponsable was late back from the meeting. The meeting ran over the full hour of the class.
'Désolée Lauryn! Ça s'est bien passé, le BTS?'
No.
I, all of the sudden, found myself stuck with a class of 26 BTS students (may I remind non-students that we're not supposed to be alone with more than 16/7 of any class) who are in their 20s but who, I now know, have a collective mental age of about 9. At a push. After half an hour, I realised that the teacher wasn't coming to take half the class. Shit. I had things I could have done with them, but nothing that these idiots could have even bothered to start in the last half hour. Oh, and did I mention how fucking ill I've felt since yesterday?! I'm pretty sure that, on a good day, I could have got in under control as I've done it before - I took that whole class in the first month I was here with no problem. So I know that I can do it, if absolutely essential. Just with warning from the beginning! But anyway, I was so physically and mentally drained by the afternoon that I decided that, if they couldn't be arsed to learn, then I couldn't be arsed to teach them. Fair exchange. I just didn't have the energy to even try and stop their crap. But when tables, chairs and shoes started to go awry, however, I moved 13 of the nicer ones to another room and gave them something to do. This is, like, one of the best lycées in the area, and these guys are in their 20s! They are not kids! And even if they were... Argh! I spent the remainder of the lesson running back and forth between the two rooms like a fucking nursery nurse to these people who are mainly OLDER than me, to make sure no one got hurt (literally).
So, did it go well, Lauryn?
Actually, no. No, it didn't.
However, I did recieve some fantastic support from the guy in charge of discipline and from my résponsable, afterwards. I got the impression that they were pretty much furious that this class have now started to play up with me as well. I know other teachers have problems with this particular class and I guess I was kind of their last chance. Fail, guys. Apparently fucking off the assistant was the final straw, so I identified them like criminals (lol) and am now resting peacefully in the knowledge that they unknowingly have an impending bollocking from the deputy head on its way over. And in two weeks (I've asked for certain pupils by name for next week as they never get to have a lesson with me as the school feel it is more productive to give me the shitty ones as they usually listen to/do their work in my classes and not with their actual teacher) when I take the shit ones, assuming I'm feeling much better by then, they will be getting a fucking bollocking from me, too. :)
Luckily I have a day off today, so am praying that I feel much better by school tomorrow. I have my favourite class in the morning woop! I think some of them are bringing in 'Inception' for me to watch in French (THEY'RE SO CUTE), so I have that class to look forward to! Then 2 more difficult ones then I'm going back to bed for the weekend. Being ill two weeks in a row has made everything seem so much more difficult! But next week is anudda week and at the end of it I'll be in Paris, hoping I don't get 'Taken' (don't watch that the week before you go to Paris. Cheers, Dej!) with loaads of people from my uni having a gooooood tiiiiiiime :):):):):)
If you actually just read all of that, I do apologise! I know some assistants who have it so much worse and all the time, and it's just a stupid cold lol so I feel bad for complaining about one not-so-good day... But fuck it, I still feel crap and had to let it out!
Lovelovelove x
lundi 17 janvier 2011
Not much to report, but this will probs turn into another essay, anyway... Enjoy!
Due to people pissing off to other parts of the country, Jemima (Mike), Laura (Bran) and I (Gordon Ramsay) found ourselves alone this weekend. Lonely? Nope. Free to do what we want with no other complaints (I am naming no names haha)? Yes! Excelleeeeeeent. We had a stupidly exciting Friday which consisted of buying postcards (???) and doing washing. We then went our seperate ways and, later, reconvened chez Gords for dinner and plans. To be fair, we probably left mine quite a bit after 1am, but we got to this alright bar with some horrendous karaoke occuring, sat down and bought some terrifyingly expensive cocktails only to have the lights come up 5 minutes later. Haha very unfortunate! We heard some guys behind us begin to prepare an English speech, so decided that the time to leave was imminent. We filed out onto the street, looked up and saw our mates hanging out in their new ladpad near Jaude. So we met up with them and went out to partay. Pretty funny night, however 'Girls' Night Out Take 1' = Fail!
Saturday was lovely! Laura and I went for a romantic lunch in Jaude (it's necessary to add that we were searching for 2 hours, no exaggeration, so lunch was more like dinner tbh) and it was sexy. Just the three of us in the eve and we FINALLY dragged ourselves to Atelier aka The Only Decent Bar/Club/Restaurant in Clermont (on the outskirts, but Clermont is miniscule so we could walk there from the centre in about half an hour)! It's so nice that you even get ID'd on the way in! We weren't expecting that at all so had 1/3 IDs between us. However, we pulled the English card and it worked in a flash! The club was pretty jazzy: very expensive, as expected, but full of respectable-looking people bopping to music from THIS century!! We have decided to go back on special occasions :) we also made a new friend called Arnaud who is from Clermont but just got back from working in Paris for a few years. He is a hairdresser and a pretty nice guy. Score. The night ended with a woman simply remarking 'quinze ans' as she watched Mike stumble out of the door :) hehehe...
Sunday didn't feel like Sunday as there were loooaaads of people around in Jaude and things were open! I think it was a combination of the sales and the weather being reasonably warm until 4ish. Wish it was like that every Sunday!
Lessons are same old same old, really. Sadly I had to take a day off sick last week which was infuriating as I had a day off the next day anyway. But when you're ill you're ill, what you gonna do? Was very scared about going back in on Thursday as I couldn't call the school, only email. Very unprofessional, but again, what can you do?! At least they recieved the email, and my résponsable didn't seem too worried about the 3 lessons I had to miss that day.
I bumped into the ENGLISH/IRISH pupil again this morning! For some reason unknown to man, this poor guy's family decided that Aubière (or somewhere near) would be a good place to move away from the troubles of N. Ireland and England. Aubière. REALLY? Luckily this guy's really good natured and seems to have taken it in his stride. He has been at another lycée for the past couple of years, but changed to Montdory in the middle of last term as the classes were more relevant. Another pupil introduced him to me on his first day. Definitely wasn't expecting that and I think it's nice for him to have an English person to bump into from time to time!
Anyway, an absolutely PETRIFYING amount of money has left my English account over the past couple of weeks due to rent, phone bills, train tickets, this weekend's antics, (my new ASM hoody...) etc, so I forsee a very quiet weekend at the end of this week! I'm not the only one on a budget, though. Hurry up, CAF! Less than two weeks until I go to Paris with Vicky and now Katie as well! Got a couple of other social calls to make while up there, so should be a great weekend!
Love to all! Hope everyone's enjoying life!
Saturday was lovely! Laura and I went for a romantic lunch in Jaude (it's necessary to add that we were searching for 2 hours, no exaggeration, so lunch was more like dinner tbh) and it was sexy. Just the three of us in the eve and we FINALLY dragged ourselves to Atelier aka The Only Decent Bar/Club/Restaurant in Clermont (on the outskirts, but Clermont is miniscule so we could walk there from the centre in about half an hour)! It's so nice that you even get ID'd on the way in! We weren't expecting that at all so had 1/3 IDs between us. However, we pulled the English card and it worked in a flash! The club was pretty jazzy: very expensive, as expected, but full of respectable-looking people bopping to music from THIS century!! We have decided to go back on special occasions :) we also made a new friend called Arnaud who is from Clermont but just got back from working in Paris for a few years. He is a hairdresser and a pretty nice guy. Score. The night ended with a woman simply remarking 'quinze ans' as she watched Mike stumble out of the door :) hehehe...
Sunday didn't feel like Sunday as there were loooaaads of people around in Jaude and things were open! I think it was a combination of the sales and the weather being reasonably warm until 4ish. Wish it was like that every Sunday!
Lessons are same old same old, really. Sadly I had to take a day off sick last week which was infuriating as I had a day off the next day anyway. But when you're ill you're ill, what you gonna do? Was very scared about going back in on Thursday as I couldn't call the school, only email. Very unprofessional, but again, what can you do?! At least they recieved the email, and my résponsable didn't seem too worried about the 3 lessons I had to miss that day.
I bumped into the ENGLISH/IRISH pupil again this morning! For some reason unknown to man, this poor guy's family decided that Aubière (or somewhere near) would be a good place to move away from the troubles of N. Ireland and England. Aubière. REALLY? Luckily this guy's really good natured and seems to have taken it in his stride. He has been at another lycée for the past couple of years, but changed to Montdory in the middle of last term as the classes were more relevant. Another pupil introduced him to me on his first day. Definitely wasn't expecting that and I think it's nice for him to have an English person to bump into from time to time!
Anyway, an absolutely PETRIFYING amount of money has left my English account over the past couple of weeks due to rent, phone bills, train tickets, this weekend's antics, (my new ASM hoody...) etc, so I forsee a very quiet weekend at the end of this week! I'm not the only one on a budget, though. Hurry up, CAF! Less than two weeks until I go to Paris with Vicky and now Katie as well! Got a couple of other social calls to make while up there, so should be a great weekend!
Love to all! Hope everyone's enjoying life!
lundi 10 janvier 2011
January so far!
Once again I am experiencing keen, keen times in my life so here's what's happened since Wednesday night!
Last Thursday was my first day back at school and it began at 8am with my favourite class, which was a nice start to the term! Shortly afterwards, there was a FIRE ALARM! It was well exciting! I think something exploded in the science building that the collège behind us use, cos there was bareeeee fire engines and a van for chemical and radioactive emergencies. DRAMA! Haha not really but, let's face it, it was probably the talk of the town. So that broke the morning up nicely. And, outside, while we were waiting, I saw some other English teachers and was priveleged enough to recieve my first cheeky kisses from HRH The Résponsable! It was truely an honour, and I think this means that she loves me, now. And that she missed me very, very much over the Christmas break.
However, my favourite Pierre (there are a few to choose from in the staffroom) was being a bit funny with me :( maybe he's like a cat, you know when you leave your cat for a week or so and they get pissed off and ignore you when you first get back? Maybe this is like that. Hopefully, if I make him coffee and find videos of Canadian Ice Hockey players/clips of 'Murdoch Mysteries' on YouTube for him, he will be my friend, again. I can only hope for that much...
In my second lesson, some of the guys brought a friend along! I teach this dude in another class so I know him already, he's a laugh and talks loads which is good. He had a free period and clearly just wanted to join in the BANTER that is my classes. What can I say? Fair play to the guy haha. A classic line from the same class which must be acknowledged and appreciated was -whilst describing a night out- '... then I go for fight with my bad boys and after I go back in party for drink and sleep'. Solid gold LAD material, right there!!!
Pauline's weekly soirée was beautiful! It was great to see and catch up with our crazy Frenchies! I kinda missed them, ya know?! I think we managed to track down some of the only French students in Clermont who don't hold back on a night out. Good work on our part, I think!
So, Thursday was good. Apart from waking up with a very conspicuous rash RIGHT on my forehead??? Not a good look. It did make Jemima laugh at breakfast, though, and when I woke up and saw it in the mirror for myself I have to admit I did a bit of a Hollywood mirror scream in my bathroom, which made me laugh a bit later, too. So I suppose that the rash did have some redeeming qualities in serving a vaguely happy purpose!
In other news, I am definitely going to Disneyland with Vicky in 3 weeks! SEHR excited. Haven't been to Paris in YEARS so we're gonna be proper tourists :) like, the kind that even annoy other tourists! We are already both tragic girls in our very early 20s who genuinely enjoy 'exhibitions' and 'walks' lolllll - Vicky's bringing her camera and I'm bringing my rucksack, so we will blatently look the part, if nothing else! If anyone's around Paris Friday 28th-Sunday 30th (aka Sam and co.), let us know and we'll make time for a goold old English piss-up! Sorry Marge :p
In more boring news, the electricity hasn't tripped in my studio, yet, but we do have no heating and no hot water. Cold shower at 5.30am = not ideal and very saddening. Also, Jemima aka The Fountain of All Knowledge, somehow knew my pin code (she's basically Buddha cotching in the body of a Warwick alumni student from the Dulwich area), so the French mobile thing was actually sorted! Cheers again, Mike! However, I am now experiencing problems trying to buy more credit for it online. Wank. And I can't pay my Orange bill online as there's a 'page error'. This is, perhaps, even less ideal than the cold water situation! My bloody loan's through on time and everything (I think..)
Anyway, this week I am MAKING my students choose between watching either a clip from the latest Haj Potter film or from 'Inception' and then creating their own scenarios to follow from this clip and performing them to the rest of the class. Everything I've seen so far has involved Ron dying (proof, at last, that the French are proper racist against gingers), so I'll let you know if anything more interesting is thought up!
Bye for now!
Last Thursday was my first day back at school and it began at 8am with my favourite class, which was a nice start to the term! Shortly afterwards, there was a FIRE ALARM! It was well exciting! I think something exploded in the science building that the collège behind us use, cos there was bareeeee fire engines and a van for chemical and radioactive emergencies. DRAMA! Haha not really but, let's face it, it was probably the talk of the town. So that broke the morning up nicely. And, outside, while we were waiting, I saw some other English teachers and was priveleged enough to recieve my first cheeky kisses from HRH The Résponsable! It was truely an honour, and I think this means that she loves me, now. And that she missed me very, very much over the Christmas break.
However, my favourite Pierre (there are a few to choose from in the staffroom) was being a bit funny with me :( maybe he's like a cat, you know when you leave your cat for a week or so and they get pissed off and ignore you when you first get back? Maybe this is like that. Hopefully, if I make him coffee and find videos of Canadian Ice Hockey players/clips of 'Murdoch Mysteries' on YouTube for him, he will be my friend, again. I can only hope for that much...
In my second lesson, some of the guys brought a friend along! I teach this dude in another class so I know him already, he's a laugh and talks loads which is good. He had a free period and clearly just wanted to join in the BANTER that is my classes. What can I say? Fair play to the guy haha. A classic line from the same class which must be acknowledged and appreciated was -whilst describing a night out- '... then I go for fight with my bad boys and after I go back in party for drink and sleep'. Solid gold LAD material, right there!!!
Pauline's weekly soirée was beautiful! It was great to see and catch up with our crazy Frenchies! I kinda missed them, ya know?! I think we managed to track down some of the only French students in Clermont who don't hold back on a night out. Good work on our part, I think!
So, Thursday was good. Apart from waking up with a very conspicuous rash RIGHT on my forehead??? Not a good look. It did make Jemima laugh at breakfast, though, and when I woke up and saw it in the mirror for myself I have to admit I did a bit of a Hollywood mirror scream in my bathroom, which made me laugh a bit later, too. So I suppose that the rash did have some redeeming qualities in serving a vaguely happy purpose!
In other news, I am definitely going to Disneyland with Vicky in 3 weeks! SEHR excited. Haven't been to Paris in YEARS so we're gonna be proper tourists :) like, the kind that even annoy other tourists! We are already both tragic girls in our very early 20s who genuinely enjoy 'exhibitions' and 'walks' lolllll - Vicky's bringing her camera and I'm bringing my rucksack, so we will blatently look the part, if nothing else! If anyone's around Paris Friday 28th-Sunday 30th (aka Sam and co.), let us know and we'll make time for a goold old English piss-up! Sorry Marge :p
In more boring news, the electricity hasn't tripped in my studio, yet, but we do have no heating and no hot water. Cold shower at 5.30am = not ideal and very saddening. Also, Jemima aka The Fountain of All Knowledge, somehow knew my pin code (she's basically Buddha cotching in the body of a Warwick alumni student from the Dulwich area), so the French mobile thing was actually sorted! Cheers again, Mike! However, I am now experiencing problems trying to buy more credit for it online. Wank. And I can't pay my Orange bill online as there's a 'page error'. This is, perhaps, even less ideal than the cold water situation! My bloody loan's through on time and everything (I think..)
Anyway, this week I am MAKING my students choose between watching either a clip from the latest Haj Potter film or from 'Inception' and then creating their own scenarios to follow from this clip and performing them to the rest of the class. Everything I've seen so far has involved Ron dying (proof, at last, that the French are proper racist against gingers), so I'll let you know if anything more interesting is thought up!
Bye for now!
mercredi 5 janvier 2011
I'm baaaaaack!
I know I seem like a massive keeno for posting a blog a mere 2 hours after my return to France, but I'm inexplicably excited to be back! This is both an interesting and positive turn in events :) it all started when the train got to Moulins (about an hour away from Clermont).
Anyway had quite a pleasant journey. Getting to the Eurostar was fine, the journey was quite nice cos this Chinese dude was sat opposite this French dude (sat next to me) and kicking him in his sleep the whole journey. I would have felt a bit sorry for the guy getting kicked but what can I say? He's French and was getting a bit pissed off so it made me giggle! Life's simple pleasures...
Yesterday I'd asked my uni mate Sam who's living and working up in old Gay (Smelly) Paris EXACTLY what to do on the Metro which scares the fuck out of me and she offered to come meet me at Gare du Nord and come with me to Bercy but nothing was set in stone. So it was a lovely surprise when she appeared out of NOWHERE (magic) in Paris :D I think I injured her with my suitcase more than once but appart from that we had a nice hour or so of chats before I got on my next train to Clermontymont.
Got back and pretty much bumped straight into two of my girlies who delightedly showed me their latest Carrefour canvas bags, decorated with Kiwis and Lemons. I had to point out that you know you're back in Clermont-Ferrand when you start getting a bit excited about new fruits on supermarket canvas bags...
When I got back earlier, the thought of teaching tomorrow and dealing with teachers asking EVERYTHING about London over Christmas/'Ohhhhhh Laureeeeeen I heard you couldn't make it in Monday and Tuesday' was already making me a bit sad inside, but the Welsh HERO that is Laura cleverly donated her lesson plan to my life :) excellent.
Also just turned on my French phone to discover that I have a pin code? Shit? Since when? And brought all my documents concerning said portable back to England so I'm basically gonna have to buy a new handset at the weekend. Good staaaaaaaaaaart.
Hope everyone's settling back in ok in France, Germany and Spain/Mexico and I'm looking forward to reading your blogs too! Much love xxxxxxxx
Anyway had quite a pleasant journey. Getting to the Eurostar was fine, the journey was quite nice cos this Chinese dude was sat opposite this French dude (sat next to me) and kicking him in his sleep the whole journey. I would have felt a bit sorry for the guy getting kicked but what can I say? He's French and was getting a bit pissed off so it made me giggle! Life's simple pleasures...
Yesterday I'd asked my uni mate Sam who's living and working up in old Gay (Smelly) Paris EXACTLY what to do on the Metro which scares the fuck out of me and she offered to come meet me at Gare du Nord and come with me to Bercy but nothing was set in stone. So it was a lovely surprise when she appeared out of NOWHERE (magic) in Paris :D I think I injured her with my suitcase more than once but appart from that we had a nice hour or so of chats before I got on my next train to Clermontymont.
Got back and pretty much bumped straight into two of my girlies who delightedly showed me their latest Carrefour canvas bags, decorated with Kiwis and Lemons. I had to point out that you know you're back in Clermont-Ferrand when you start getting a bit excited about new fruits on supermarket canvas bags...
When I got back earlier, the thought of teaching tomorrow and dealing with teachers asking EVERYTHING about London over Christmas/'Ohhhhhh Laureeeeeen I heard you couldn't make it in Monday and Tuesday' was already making me a bit sad inside, but the Welsh HERO that is Laura cleverly donated her lesson plan to my life :) excellent.
Also just turned on my French phone to discover that I have a pin code? Shit? Since when? And brought all my documents concerning said portable back to England so I'm basically gonna have to buy a new handset at the weekend. Good staaaaaaaaaaart.
Hope everyone's settling back in ok in France, Germany and Spain/Mexico and I'm looking forward to reading your blogs too! Much love xxxxxxxx
jeudi 16 décembre 2010
1 more sleep :)
Soooo I'm going home to England for two and a half weeks tomorrow :D yesssssss!! Here is a reflective blog entry for you concerning my time here so far...
Living in Thiers:
Living in Thiers was horrendous. I lived there from 29th September-1st November and it made me ever so sad. The countryside displeases me, as it is; but having to LIVE in the countryside up a MOUNTAIN surrounded by EVERGREENS and LIZARDS was just taking things too far, France, TOO FAR. There is nothing there (not even that many people) and there are cutlery shops, only. And that is the end of my reflection on Thiers.
Living in Clermont-Ferrand:
Clermont is like a bloody PALACE compared to Thiers, for obvious reasons. It is a 'city' (well, town), which is something! Although it is still surrounded on ALL SIDES by mountains and VOLCANOES and grassy hills which literally make me feel really trapped ahhhh, I live right in the 'city centre' (town centre) where there are buildings and people. This provides some comfort. The streets are covered in dog shit and most things are usually shut, but I suppose the same can probably be said for the rest of France, and the streets are quite cute so that makes up for the faeces a little bit. Place de Jaude (I live like a 5 min walk from here) looks genius now it's Christmas. Here's a cheeky photo (you have to imagine it covered in snow!):
Teaching:
Teaching has, on the whole, been quite enjoyable. I am very, very, very lucky to have been placed in a school with mainly bright students who generally have positive attitudes towards their work and towards my lessons. Of course, like everyone, we had a few teething problems at first, but I made sure that it was firmly established what I would and wouldn't put up with from them this year during the first few lessons and I've had next to no problems at all, since (touch wood this remains the case after Christmas!). It is, inevitably, still bizarre (for everyone!) being a teacher in a high-school environment to some pupils who are up to 3 years my senior. One guy in my BTS second year class, 23 years old, made it very clear in the one lesson I've had with them (they're on work experience until Jan) that he does not appreciate the fact that I'm still only 20 lol. Luckily for me, I didn't have to do anything cos the other guys kept telling him to shut up (in English) on my behalf :) excellent. Also, speaking of BTS pupils, here is one of the many reasons I love my first years/one for the assistants:
- 'Who has finished? Anyone?'
# 'Non... Ouais... Presque....... Ahouais, j'ai fini!'
- 'Alright, go on.'
*Silence*
- 'Qu'est-ce que tu fais?'
# 'Ah, c'est errrrrr, c'est juste un p'tit dessin de Noël. Je l'ai fait pour vous, Madame' (This guy is 21).
- 'Ok, merci. Et ton présentation?'
# 'Errr...'
The People:
My friends here are genius. I have a nice mix of English and French speaking friends who are all lovely. Sadly, since I've been here, it's been pointed out that I don't seem to like Spanish people very much hahaha constantly getting called up on that one. This is not the case, and I promise I'm not a massive racist against Spanish people.... It's just that the ones I know here are SOOOOOO BORING. And they complain CONSTANTLY about EVERYTHING despite claims of contentment. Literally like 'oh, I saw this and it was shit. I went there and it was shit. I hate these hours, I hate this, I hate that, this is getting on my nerves, that's annoying me... Oh, no, I love it here!' Uhhh make up your minds? When they start talking, I literally have to cover my ears. Needless to say, the few Spanish people I know here do piss me off and can be quite rude (one in particular, grrr...) but I'm sure if I went to Spain and met some more Spanish people they wouldn't all be like that!!! (I hope). Also, the Auvergnats are weeeiirrdd and the Thiernois are even weeeiirrdderr. I mean the general public. A lot of people are quite uptight and unfriendly, tbh, and no one looks you in the eye... Quite disconcerting! Also, it would seem that quite a lot of them don't like British or American people, as we've unfortunately come to discover on a few occasions! While I'm describing people here, I feel it's only fair to mention the beautiful specimens that live in my residence. Words cannot actually describe how perfect most of the guys look in there. I know I'm an actual pervert and I blame Kaly entirely for that, but seriously I have never seen so many beautiful, beautiful, beautiful (usually pretty naked) boys at once in such a confined area haha. It always cheers me up after work when they say hi! I guess that's one good thing about the Auvergne, there are fitties bloody everywhere! Now that is something I will miss in London (no offense, guys :p).
The Good Times:
There have been some hilarrrrrious days and nights, here. None that I remember in any great detail as we do all drink a lot to get through this haha, but I know there have been a few. For example, every night that my favourite American Matthew Perry aka Pez has come out with us, because everytime he does he is guaranteed to say something that will actually floor me with laughter. He's one of those guys with a very dry sense of humour who doesn't actually mean to be funny half the time, and just comes out with the most random things completely out of the blue. For example, talking about something completely unrelated and he will pop up with 'you two should be lesbians', or 'if you want it, that's ok', or 'I'd pay you to take it off' etc etc. I would like everyone in the world to meet and experience this guy as there is just no describing him in a blog! I also enjoy our Thursdays: I get back to Clermont at half 4ish and we go straight to a cafe next to the university for chats. Later in the evening, we go to our French friend's appartment for a weekly soirée where everyone gets absolutely hammered and the French students sing really badly, fall over and cut each other's hair and then we go out. And Sundays, when everyone's hungover or tired, we go for a cheeky hot chocolate and relfect upon the night's events (always brilliant).
Next Year:
Next year should be better as our surroundings seem much more familiar to us now and we've pretty much sussed out how things and people roll. It will also be better as we're only here for 2 months again before another two week holiday in February, so we won't be away from our friends and family for as long as this term. Speaking for myself, just under three months without seeing my family and friends has been too long. Two would have been ok, and I guess it'll seem quicker next time round, thank God! It's a shame that we couldn't start in January and finish in July, as I can imagine that the Auvergne is quite pretty when the weather's nice. I think a lot of the reason that everyone's so miserable here is that it is actually the grimmest place in the world in the autumn/winter. Grim grim grim. Does snow make it prettier? Nope, it just makes it grimmerrrrr lol and fucking freezing. I'm completely and utterly sure that I have never been this cold in my life! So that's never good, but hopefully by April we'll have at least one month living in a reasonable tclimate!
Anyway, those were my reflections. I'm gonna miss me friends a bit over the holiday as these are people that I literally spend every waking hour with, but.. I'll be honest, I don't think any of us are gonna miss Clermont as a place :p hehehe soooo glad to be coming back!!
See you all very soon! :D
Living in Thiers:
Living in Thiers was horrendous. I lived there from 29th September-1st November and it made me ever so sad. The countryside displeases me, as it is; but having to LIVE in the countryside up a MOUNTAIN surrounded by EVERGREENS and LIZARDS was just taking things too far, France, TOO FAR. There is nothing there (not even that many people) and there are cutlery shops, only. And that is the end of my reflection on Thiers.
Living in Clermont-Ferrand:
Clermont is like a bloody PALACE compared to Thiers, for obvious reasons. It is a 'city' (well, town), which is something! Although it is still surrounded on ALL SIDES by mountains and VOLCANOES and grassy hills which literally make me feel really trapped ahhhh, I live right in the 'city centre' (town centre) where there are buildings and people. This provides some comfort. The streets are covered in dog shit and most things are usually shut, but I suppose the same can probably be said for the rest of France, and the streets are quite cute so that makes up for the faeces a little bit. Place de Jaude (I live like a 5 min walk from here) looks genius now it's Christmas. Here's a cheeky photo (you have to imagine it covered in snow!):
Teaching:
Teaching has, on the whole, been quite enjoyable. I am very, very, very lucky to have been placed in a school with mainly bright students who generally have positive attitudes towards their work and towards my lessons. Of course, like everyone, we had a few teething problems at first, but I made sure that it was firmly established what I would and wouldn't put up with from them this year during the first few lessons and I've had next to no problems at all, since (touch wood this remains the case after Christmas!). It is, inevitably, still bizarre (for everyone!) being a teacher in a high-school environment to some pupils who are up to 3 years my senior. One guy in my BTS second year class, 23 years old, made it very clear in the one lesson I've had with them (they're on work experience until Jan) that he does not appreciate the fact that I'm still only 20 lol. Luckily for me, I didn't have to do anything cos the other guys kept telling him to shut up (in English) on my behalf :) excellent. Also, speaking of BTS pupils, here is one of the many reasons I love my first years/one for the assistants:
- 'Who has finished? Anyone?'
# 'Non... Ouais... Presque....... Ahouais, j'ai fini!'
- 'Alright, go on.'
*Silence*
- 'Qu'est-ce que tu fais?'
# 'Ah, c'est errrrrr, c'est juste un p'tit dessin de Noël. Je l'ai fait pour vous, Madame' (This guy is 21).
- 'Ok, merci. Et ton présentation?'
# 'Errr...'
The People:
My friends here are genius. I have a nice mix of English and French speaking friends who are all lovely. Sadly, since I've been here, it's been pointed out that I don't seem to like Spanish people very much hahaha constantly getting called up on that one. This is not the case, and I promise I'm not a massive racist against Spanish people.... It's just that the ones I know here are SOOOOOO BORING. And they complain CONSTANTLY about EVERYTHING despite claims of contentment. Literally like 'oh, I saw this and it was shit. I went there and it was shit. I hate these hours, I hate this, I hate that, this is getting on my nerves, that's annoying me... Oh, no, I love it here!' Uhhh make up your minds? When they start talking, I literally have to cover my ears. Needless to say, the few Spanish people I know here do piss me off and can be quite rude (one in particular, grrr...) but I'm sure if I went to Spain and met some more Spanish people they wouldn't all be like that!!! (I hope). Also, the Auvergnats are weeeiirrdd and the Thiernois are even weeeiirrdderr. I mean the general public. A lot of people are quite uptight and unfriendly, tbh, and no one looks you in the eye... Quite disconcerting! Also, it would seem that quite a lot of them don't like British or American people, as we've unfortunately come to discover on a few occasions! While I'm describing people here, I feel it's only fair to mention the beautiful specimens that live in my residence. Words cannot actually describe how perfect most of the guys look in there. I know I'm an actual pervert and I blame Kaly entirely for that, but seriously I have never seen so many beautiful, beautiful, beautiful (usually pretty naked) boys at once in such a confined area haha. It always cheers me up after work when they say hi! I guess that's one good thing about the Auvergne, there are fitties bloody everywhere! Now that is something I will miss in London (no offense, guys :p).
The Good Times:
There have been some hilarrrrrious days and nights, here. None that I remember in any great detail as we do all drink a lot to get through this haha, but I know there have been a few. For example, every night that my favourite American Matthew Perry aka Pez has come out with us, because everytime he does he is guaranteed to say something that will actually floor me with laughter. He's one of those guys with a very dry sense of humour who doesn't actually mean to be funny half the time, and just comes out with the most random things completely out of the blue. For example, talking about something completely unrelated and he will pop up with 'you two should be lesbians', or 'if you want it, that's ok', or 'I'd pay you to take it off' etc etc. I would like everyone in the world to meet and experience this guy as there is just no describing him in a blog! I also enjoy our Thursdays: I get back to Clermont at half 4ish and we go straight to a cafe next to the university for chats. Later in the evening, we go to our French friend's appartment for a weekly soirée where everyone gets absolutely hammered and the French students sing really badly, fall over and cut each other's hair and then we go out. And Sundays, when everyone's hungover or tired, we go for a cheeky hot chocolate and relfect upon the night's events (always brilliant).
Next Year:
Next year should be better as our surroundings seem much more familiar to us now and we've pretty much sussed out how things and people roll. It will also be better as we're only here for 2 months again before another two week holiday in February, so we won't be away from our friends and family for as long as this term. Speaking for myself, just under three months without seeing my family and friends has been too long. Two would have been ok, and I guess it'll seem quicker next time round, thank God! It's a shame that we couldn't start in January and finish in July, as I can imagine that the Auvergne is quite pretty when the weather's nice. I think a lot of the reason that everyone's so miserable here is that it is actually the grimmest place in the world in the autumn/winter. Grim grim grim. Does snow make it prettier? Nope, it just makes it grimmerrrrr lol and fucking freezing. I'm completely and utterly sure that I have never been this cold in my life! So that's never good, but hopefully by April we'll have at least one month living in a reasonable tclimate!
Anyway, those were my reflections. I'm gonna miss me friends a bit over the holiday as these are people that I literally spend every waking hour with, but.. I'll be honest, I don't think any of us are gonna miss Clermont as a place :p hehehe soooo glad to be coming back!!
See you all very soon! :D
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