tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621372255622414362024-03-13T11:02:58.327-07:00Ma Vie AngevinsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05236286870963236105noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-362137225562241436.post-40140549077770042252012-08-24T12:22:00.001-07:002012-08-24T12:22:10.871-07:00<br /><br /><span style="color: #741b47;">24/8/12</span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gjV46XjRscw/UDfOnIie_zI/AAAAAAAAAac/hY3XUPFE_kI/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gjV46XjRscw/UDfOnIie_zI/AAAAAAAAAac/hY3XUPFE_kI/s320/002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">My sweet Gunther :)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">It's so weird to think that I've almost been here for two months! I can't believe that in a week I'm going to be saying goodbye to all of the wonderful people that I've met here, and this beautiful city that now feels like my own. I know that I'll be glad to get back home and see all of the people that I have missed so much, but I'm definitely going to miss Angers.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">This was the last full week of school (for some reason we end on a Tuesday this term) and it was full of presentations and tests. I had to do a presentation in my oral practice class, and I did a comparison between Angers and Eugene. They're actually more similar than I had thought.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">Next Tuesday is the Fête National (big end of term party/talent show), which should be fun, but it's going to officially be the end of everything which is so weird. Last term it was really fun and I was glad that I had another month here when everyone else was saying goodbye. After the fête this time though, it's really going to be the end. That is so weird.</span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o6maxj2wNI0/UDfJ9AA8nCI/AAAAAAAAAZY/OadOayVT_E8/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o6maxj2wNI0/UDfJ9AA8nCI/AAAAAAAAAZY/OadOayVT_E8/s320/009.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Crêpes with Nutella, and hard cider!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I6TMshN9-hk/UDfK3z0LxnI/AAAAAAAAAZo/Tr4D3WCp4kE/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I6TMshN9-hk/UDfK3z0LxnI/AAAAAAAAAZo/Tr4D3WCp4kE/s320/011.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Sweet Paul et Hugo enjoying their crêpes</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GNQWHK_43jk/UDfKeHRTrCI/AAAAAAAAAZg/J_xjAqXUK1Q/s1600/010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GNQWHK_43jk/UDfKeHRTrCI/AAAAAAAAAZg/J_xjAqXUK1Q/s320/010.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Jacques, my host dad making Crêpes. You can't really tell <br />from this picture,but he looks just like Dustin Hoffman!<br /><br /><br /></span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tKFOzSpMFlo/UDfL1IYZjKI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/bNywa6jJZOg/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tKFOzSpMFlo/UDfL1IYZjKI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/bNywa6jJZOg/s320/013.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">On a happier note :) last night after dinner, my host parents brought out their mini crêpe maker to make dessert, and we sat around and talked and enjoyed this delicious part of French culture :)</span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">I'm so glad to still have another week to enjoy my friends, my host family, and delicious French food :)</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05236286870963236105noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-362137225562241436.post-81741748858657916482012-08-16T13:20:00.001-07:002012-08-16T13:20:11.897-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #741b47;">16/8/12</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">I thought it might be interesting to share some pictures of my host family's house. I posted a picture of the front of their house earlier, but here are some pictures of my little bedroom, and their gorgeous backyard. I want to take some pictures of the FOUR dogs that are staying here right now (one actually lives here), but that will have to be for another day.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">I also want to mention (particularly for my dad) that yes I go by the square that is in the picture on the homepage of my blog all the time. It's called "<i>La place Saint-Croix</i>" (Cross) and the statue is of Monseigneur Freppel (Bishop Freppel) who was important in the Catholic church. France is a very Catholic country, and<i> la place Saint-Croix</i> is just down the street from the Cathedral where my group went on our tour of the city, and where my site director, Sue and I went to church last week. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">The building in that picture is called "<i>La maison d'Adam</i>" (Adam's house, like Adam and Eve) or "<i>L'arbre de vie</i>" (tree of life). It was built around 1500, and is an example of what the early houses in Angers looked like.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y4oTce5uuIw/UC1OZ-gLN-I/AAAAAAAAAYQ/i1earZVD7zc/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y4oTce5uuIw/UC1OZ-gLN-I/AAAAAAAAAYQ/i1earZVD7zc/s320/001.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #741b47;">My room is called "the Yellow Room" (<i>La chambre jaune</i>) and comes complete with yellow towels for the bathroom. When I first got here the bedspread and pillow were yellow too, but they're in the wash now. There is also "the Blue Room" (<i>La chambre bleu</i>) et "the Red room" (<i>La chambre rouge</i>)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5xWLbNs7vSw/UC1PaBr7ufI/AAAAAAAAAYs/uk-ZjKss-i4/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5xWLbNs7vSw/UC1PaBr7ufI/AAAAAAAAAYs/uk-ZjKss-i4/s320/007.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #741b47;">My host family is very much into gardening, and their backyard is just gorgeous. This picture doesn't even do it justice. I'll try to get a better picture later. In case you were wondering, to the right is a dartboard that they bought for their sweet grandsons, Hugo et Paul who are living here for a month. They are from the south of France, and are eleven and eight. It's been fun to have them here, and to see my host parents as grandparents :)</span></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05236286870963236105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-362137225562241436.post-24994231630627448412012-08-16T12:45:00.003-07:002012-08-16T12:45:49.527-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #741b47;">16/8/12 (Happy Birthday, EJ! :)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">We finally got to go to London last weekend and it was so fun! A weekend is not (nearly) enough time, but we did get to see a lot of cool sights. Our little hostel was called "The Walrus Waterloo" and it was about a five minute walk from the metro, and from the London Eye! It was perfect. We literally turned the corner, and we had a perfect view of Big Ben!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">We wanted to see as much as possible, so we walked over to Big Ben, and then continued to Buckingham Palace, where we wanted to see the Changing of the Guard, but were too late. However, we had a perfect view of the men's speed walking competition :) That was probably the coolest part for me; getting to watch an Olympic event with beautiful Buckingham Palace as the backdrop.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Big Ben and me :)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JPUN30Ykq1s/UC1IyfSUVpI/AAAAAAAAAXc/qTpKdPStzfI/s1600/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JPUN30Ykq1s/UC1IyfSUVpI/AAAAAAAAAXc/qTpKdPStzfI/s320/006.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #741b47;">This was a display that we saw on the way to Buckingham Palace. It's all (or most) of the world flags, and the sign in front says "Peace" :)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">After watching the speed walkers for a while (the race takes forEVER!) we headed towards Westminster Abbey. On the way, we passed a park that had lawn chairs and concessions which I'm guessing was a viewing park. Apparently there are more all over London.</span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">After Westminster Abbey, we wanted to try to get in to Olympic park. We heard that it was about ten pounds to get in to the park to view the events on a big screen, and then sometimes people could get cheap tickets for random events. We took a twenty minute metro ride there, and as we were leaving the metro station, there was a policeman telling everyone that there was no more room to even get in to the park! Well, at least we got to see one event up close :)</span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">The weekend was over way too soon, and before we knew it, we were back in Angers. We decided that we have to go back and stay for at least a week :)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05236286870963236105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-362137225562241436.post-1938263030503222642012-08-02T13:34:00.001-07:002012-08-02T13:34:12.571-07:00<span style="color: #741b47;">2/8/12</span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;">If you had told me a year ago that I had the chance to go to Paris, but I had to get there by myself, and navigate my way to a hostel to meet up with my friends, I would have been terrified. Probably to the point where I wouldn't have gone.</span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">However, as I was preparing to leave for Paris on Monday, I was surprised to realize that I wasn't scared at all. I knew how to get to the train station in Angers, and how to figure out which train to take, I had my little pocket map of Paris in my purse (thanks Dad, for packing at the last minute. It was a life saver) and I knew that I had plenty of time from when I arrived in Paris, to when I was supposed to meet my friends (who had left early that morning to go to Euro Disney). In fact, the only thing that I felt, was excited!</span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">This whole month in Angers has been such a growing experience for me. I feel like I've gained so much more confidence, and proven to myself that I'm much more capable than I give myself credit for. At first, travelling from Portland to Amsterdam to Paris to Angers seemed so scary, and I was so nervous about it. But I did it. Then, figuring out the bus system, and how to find important things in Angers seemed like a big ordeal, but now it's almost as easy as finding my way around Eugene or Corvallis. So by the time I left Monday morning, Paris seemed like a piece of cake. I acknowledged that I would most likely get lost, but reminded myself that there are much worse things than being lost in such a beautiful city! And so, as I stepped off of the train, I took out my little map, found the general direction of the Eiffel Tower, and took off. </span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">I did get lost a few times, but because of it, I found a fantastic <i>boulangerie </i>where I bought the most delicious <i>pain au chocolat</i>, so I didn't complain. After walking for a while, I suddenly looked up, and saw the Eiffel Tower right in front of me! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;"> I couldn't get there soon enough. I was so excited to really feel like I was in Paris. Finally, after sprinting for the last mile or so, I was standing right in front of it. I found a place in the grass, got out the rest of my pastry and my book and just relaxed and read, with a perfect view. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;">In the evening, I met my friends and we went out for a little picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower while it was lit up in the dark. Starting at ten, on the hour, for five minutes, the Eiffel Tower lights up with sparkly lights. It's so pretty to see. This picture doesn't even begin to do it justice.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;">The next day, Tenzin and I went shopping in the part of Paris called Montmartre which is where the Moulin Rouge is. We had heard about a little store called Sympa, which had really good sales. However, after wandering around for several hours, we were thoroughly disappointed to find that it didn't live up to its reputation. It was still fun exploring a new part of town. </span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">That night was our friend Nambi's last night in Paris, so we all went out to dinner at a very popular cafe. It was loud and super busy, </span><span style="color: #741b47;">but had the best </span><span style="color: #741b47;">rosé that I've ever had. W</span><span style="color: #741b47;">e almost died laughing when we saw one of the waiters open and duck into what we thought was just a cabinet, but turned out to be the door to the downstairs storage room. We tried to get a picture, but he was too quick. </span><span style="color: #741b47;"> It was so fun to get to hangout with our group one more time :)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;"> On our last day in Paris, Tenzin, Christine and I went shopping on the </span><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Champs-Elysée, which was lovely. It was beautiful weather, and we knew we couldn't afford to buy anything, but it was so fun to just be there and explore. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Christine and me in front of the Arc de Triomphe</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">After a long afternoon of shopping, we went back to our hostel, and broke out some wine. It was a great trip, and we are so excited that in about a week we get to have another adventure in LONDON!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05236286870963236105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-362137225562241436.post-68884275085182637262012-07-22T09:33:00.003-07:002012-07-22T09:36:01.640-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #741b47; text-align: -webkit-auto;">22/7/12</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">I can't believe that I've almost been here for a month already! It's going by too fast! School is going well. We had to get into groups for a project where we had to interview French people about a cultural subject of our choice. My group chose education in France. It was scary going up to random people at first, but then we got the hang of it and became more confident, and it was actually pretty fun :) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">A group of girls and I are planning a weekend trip to London next month and we're so excited! We found a reasonably priced hostel that's pretty close to where the Olympics are going to be so it should be great. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">My host family had some family over this weekend, and I met them all, which was really fun. They have a bunch of grandkids, and some of them live in the south of France, and some others live in Ireland, and have the coolest accents :)(so I was able to speak English a little bit). Today they're going to have a big party with everyone, but the other day, a few of the Irish and French grandkids who are teenagers came over while their parents and my host parents went out to dinner. They were really fun, and wanted to know about the States, and I asked them about Ireland. We found some pre-Olympic show on TV, and it was fun to watch and talk about it, having three different countries represented :) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">We went on the last two excursions, to visit some Châteaux, and the one that I was most excited about: Normandy. They were both so interesting, and I felt like I could have spent all day at Normandy. We went to the museum first, and then to the American cemetery, which was really emotional, but so cool to see. Then we went to see some bunkers that the German army made and hid in above Omaha beach, and lastly, to the German cemetery.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">For Dad :)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Christine and me at the top of a Chateaux</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Fun flavors of lemonade at one of the gift shops</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Normandy</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">The American cemetery was really emotional</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">I found two soldiers from Oregon</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">The German cemetery was SO different from the American one</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">This coming week is the last of school for the first session. On Friday night everyone is getting together at the school for a party, and each country is supposed to sing/dance/act or do something that represents their culture. The American group hasn't come up with anything yet. Suggestions?</span><br />
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05236286870963236105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-362137225562241436.post-66698889418516557872012-07-15T12:52:00.001-07:002012-07-15T12:52:20.481-07:00<span style="color: #741b47;">16/7/12</span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;">This weekend was filled with so many fun activities and excursions! On Friday we got out of school at noon and went on an excursion to "Anjou Troglodytique" Which used to be an old underground town. It was pretty cool to see, although it would have been even better had it not been absolutely POURING rain. It consisted of a bunch of caves that used to function as living spaces for the whole town. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><i>Les filles</i> :)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="background-color: white;">After exploring for a while, and getting completely soaked, we left the little town for a visit to a winery. It was really cool to see how it was all made, and especially fun to get to go tasting after the tour!</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Laura and me in front of a huge barrel of wine.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Cheers!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="background-color: white;">After the winery, our last stop was to an underground (<i>sous-terre</i>) restaurant where we would be eating dinner. Apparently the restaurant is famous for its mushroom dishes (which are not my favorite, but I DID try them),so I instead indulged myself in the fabulous, right-out-of-the-oven pita rolls that they brought us. We also got two bottles of fantastic wine for our table. It was such a great experience!</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">At dinner underground!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">This also happened to be the day before Bastille day, which is when Angers does their big celebration with fireworks and huge sales. The bars are also open almost all night, so we had planned to watch the fireworks when we got back, and then go out. However, due to the rain, all that we could see of the fireworks were brief flashes of light, so we decided to go straight to our favorite bar and drink 2 euro beers instead :) It turned out to be a really fun night.</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05236286870963236105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-362137225562241436.post-54634538551789032022012-07-09T14:10:00.000-07:002012-07-09T14:10:26.344-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #741b47;">9/7/12</span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;">Yesterday we took a day trip to see Mont Saint Michel and to visit St. Malo. Mont Saint Michel is an old monastery in the middle of the ocean. It is famous partly because for a long time no one was able to invade it and take it over. It was so cool to see, but we didn't have time to take an official tour, which I would have liked to do, so we had to just walk around by ourselves. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Mont Saint Michel</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Tenzin, Jen and me at the top where it was super windy!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Organ in the hall where Mass is held</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Inside the church. I really wanted to stay for the Mass that was <br />about to start, but they made us leave.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Pretty courtyard with a garden</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">A little garden that I found while I was exploring</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">After we explored Mont Saint Michel, we met back at the buses to have a picnic lunch. My prepacked vegetarian lunch consisted of two apples, a bowl of carrot sticks, potato chips, two little cheese rounds, and a water bottle :)Being a vegetarian is foreign to a lot of French people, so they often think that the only things we eat are fruits and vegetables. I'll have to work on them :)</span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"> When we were done eating, we took a scenic ride to St. Malo, which is a little beach town in the region of Bretagne. When we got there it was sunny and perfect beach weather. We had several hours to walk around, and the first thing that we did was visit an old building that had been completely bombed in World War II. It was really cool. We walked all the way around, and got a beautiful view of the ocean.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eAgv8UL_Dqc/T_s5ZNi_70I/AAAAAAAAAHA/7XmHfXsBHM0/s1600/DSCF1083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eAgv8UL_Dqc/T_s5ZNi_70I/AAAAAAAAAHA/7XmHfXsBHM0/s320/DSCF1083.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">They built a wall to contain some ocean water to make a little<br />swimming pool. It was too cold for swimming, or else I would have<br />been all over it</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">When we were done looking around the top, we decided that we should take advantage of the fact that Bretagne is known for crepes ( I don't know how to do the accent on my computer yet, but there should be a little hat over the first e).</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">On the way to get our dessert, we passed this street sign which means<br />"Street of the cat who dances" :)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">My delicious crepe du Nutella</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">It was a really fun, but tiring day, and on the way back to school, most of us fell asleep. The next big event is on the 14th which is Bastille Day (French Independence day) where there are festivals and fireworks and everything is open until two or three in the morning(which is a big deal in France, because there's no such thing as 24 hour restaurants or stores here).</span></div>
</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05236286870963236105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-362137225562241436.post-33106512767804121102012-07-07T07:19:00.001-07:002012-07-07T07:19:12.190-07:00<span style="color: #741b47;">7/7/12</span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;">Our first (half) week of school is over and it was great. We took a placement test on Tuesday and I was placed in level 3. The first day of class was fun, and I really like (most) of my classmates, but I also thought it was too easy. I talked to my program director about moving up to level 4, and she said to wait a couple days and see how it goes, because sometimes the classes just start with reviewing and then move on.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;">I'm getting pretty good at taking the bus everywhere, and I found a little <i>boulangerie </i>during lunch time that I've been going to to get the most delicious, warm, crusty baguettes for lunch. There's a little grocery store next to it and I bought some little mini Babybel cheese to go with it. We get an hour and a half for lunch, so I've either been going to the boulangerie with friends and then walking around and exploring the city while we eat, or bringing a book and sitting on a bench and reading. It's been a lovely little break during the school day :)</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">My pretty school</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TNnFGjohrzI/T_g-sqHA6OI/AAAAAAAAAEE/ouXPQcFc0Bk/s1600/DSCF1039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TNnFGjohrzI/T_g-sqHA6OI/AAAAAAAAAEE/ouXPQcFc0Bk/s320/DSCF1039.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Waiting for the bus</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">Every day the schedule at school is different, so Tenzin and I don't always start or get done at the same time. Some days I start at 9 and go until 5, and others (like yesterday) I didn't start until 10, and was done around 3:30. Tenzin wasn't out until 5, so I said I'd wait for her, and my friend Laura and I went shopping until Tenzin was done.</span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">Our school day is broken into three sections: language/grammar classes, speaking classes, and listening classes. It's pretty much the same group together all day. In our speaking classes, we have a <i>Monitrice</i>(teacher's helper/student teacher) who is our age, and comes up with games and activities for us. She's really cute, but it's kind of weird to see her at a bar one night, and then have her teaching us the next day :)</span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">The listening classes are in a computer lab, and we wear little <i>casques </i>(headphones) and listen to recordings and answer questions about them. Sometimes they're pretty hard because the people talk super fast, and use slang that I haven't heard before. It's probably my least favorite class.</span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">The first night of school there was a party at a popular bar in town for all of the exchange students. The bar is nicknamed "the stock market bar" because it has a big screen that shows all of the drinks that are on sale and the prices are constantly changing. It was really fun to go and meet everyone in the program, and also to meet some new French people and practice speaking to them.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;">My little host family is so sweet, and very nice about helping me with my French. It's an older couple who are retired, and their 12 year old golden lab :) They make us breakfast and dinner everyday. I've been having cereal, yogurt, fruit, toast with Nutella for breakfast, and delicious five course dinners every night!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">My host family's cute little house</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">Yesterday was our first school excursion. We met at school and took an hour and a half bus ride to see an outdoor show called "Puy du Fou". It was kind of a play mixed with a light show, but much bigger, and for the finale they set off a ton of pretty fireworks. It was about French nationalism and kind of the history of their revolution and of Bastille day(their independence day). It was pretty cool to watch, but it went kind of long, and then we didn't even get back to Angers until about three in the morning. Tomorrow we have to meet at school at 6:45am to take a bus to see Mont. Saint Michel. I've seen pictures and it's so pretty, so I'm excited!</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Tenzin and I at Puy du Fou</span></td></tr>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05236286870963236105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-362137225562241436.post-27747687549842304502012-07-03T10:04:00.001-07:002012-07-03T14:52:48.928-07:00<br />
<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2/7/2012</span><br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What a crazy couple of days! After flying for 10 and a half hours, having a four hour layover in the Paris train station, and then two more hours, I finally made it to Angers! It is such a beautiful city, I love it already.</span><br />
<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My host parents came to pick me up with my housemate, Tenzin at the train station, and took me home to their cute little house about fifteen minutes away. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As usual, I was worried about what kind of host family and potential housemate I would get, but everything turned out so well. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They are the sweetest and most generous people. </span><br />
<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next day, Tenzin and I went to our orientation at school. All of the students in our program (about twenty people) were there and we did introductions. I knew a couple of the people from OSU already from having classes with them, so that was exciting. After the orientation we had a very....interesting lunch in the school cafeteria, and then our site director took us on a tour of the main city.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #a64d79;">We visited this pretty church on our tour</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #a64d79;">The church is called, Cathedral Saint-Maurice d'Angers. It's a hike to get up to, but you get a great view of </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #a64d79;">3/7/2012</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #a64d79;">Today we got up early and went to our school to take a placement test for the term. After listening to our director speak for about an hour about information that we pretty much already knew, we finally started the test.There were different parts, like listening, reading comprehension and grammar. The listening section was the worst. There was about a minute long recording of a person talking, and several multiple choice questions to answer. The hard part was that there were a lot of background noises on the recording to make it more "realistic" but it actually just made it so muffled that we could barely understand what was being said. It was crazy.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #a64d79;">After the test, Tenzin, our friend Laura and I went out to lunch. We found this cute little cafe in town and had baguette sandwiches and wine. It was a beautiful day, and it was really nice to just sit outside, sip wine and people watch.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #a64d79;">We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring downtown. When we came around a corner, I saw what has become the highlight of my trip (so far). I'm not really sure how to describe it without first giving a visual:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #a64d79;">This little marching band group marched through the town, and Tenzin, Laura and I followed them, fully amused, for a while. I hope that you all can see their little pantaloons and helmet-like hats. The lady blowing the whistle in the middle picture would yell something and they would all respond (I was laughing too hard to try to understand what they were saying). Sometimes they would play their instruments, and other times they would randomly march into one of the stores and harass the shoppers. They were all so into it, and seemed to be having so much fun, and it was probably one of the funniest things that I've ever seen. Some of our group went to a chateau today, but we decided to see it another time, and I'm pretty sure that this made our decision completely worth it :)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Tonight a bunch of us are going out, and I'm excited to see what the night life is like here! </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05236286870963236105noreply@blogger.com0