Hikes

Yesterday I took a random hike out of town just to see what existed in the countryside in our area. It turned out to be a lot nicer than I expected and the walk itself was fairly pleasant. I discovered a Lake and was able to watch a sunset develop slowly the entire time I was walking. It was pretty neat and neatly pretty. By the time I got back it was dark out.

Here's a video:



The day before I went on a hike with my roommate to the river. It turned out to be a longer walk than we were expecting, 18 km but it wasn't that bad. When we arrived there was a security guy that was just kinda driving around and asked us if we had any family in the region. I think he at first thought we were homeless but then realized that we lived in Lebrija and then he didn't seemed as worried. He offer to give us a ride back to Lebrija if he saw us on the way back of his rounds.

Pictures of both hikes can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eatw

I have other pictures from Spain up now in this same location. Check them out if you wish! Tonight is the last night of the year. We are going downtown to scope out the scene. It should be a lot of fun. So I guess I won't write again until next year :P. I'm sure it will be soon enough ;).

Christmas in Lebrija

This Christmas I spent in Lebrija with Bijan and a Lebrijan family. It wasn't like that kind of Christmases that I am used to back home yet it was still very special in its own way. WE were picked up from the house at 10:30pm and brought to a nice and big garage. I have come to realize that the people in this region really enjoy parties in their garages so the was only a small surprise for me. The entire garage was set up with a long series of tables, food, drinks, and a big nativity scene in the corner. We got ourselves acquainted with 20 or so family members and chatted awhile before dinner started. At some point between 11 and midnight the dinner was finally ready. A beautiful display of tapas adorned the table in a fashion only suitable for a huge banquet. We said grace, well I think we did, it happened so quickly I couldn't tell and started eating. The selection consisted of jamon (of course), cheese, bread, olives, gambas, mariscos, and king crab to top it all off. We ate round after round tapas until it seemed unreasonable to try to continue.

After dinner we all enjoyed several round of Christmas carols. Even with reading the lyrics it was still a challenge to get the right rhythm. Some songs like 'Silent Night' and 'Little Drummer Boy' were still manageable. Keep in mind that this was all in Spanish. After the dinner and carols were finished the party really got started with more singing and dancing. It just wouldn't be Christmas without karaoke so we were brought to the challenge of singing more songs in a competition with microphones.

Later both Bijan and I were swept away into separate conversations about the are of Lebrijan Sherry making. This family has been making its own wine for a while now and I was able to taste some wine that started 150 years ago. One-Hundred-and-Fifty years! It was fascinating to learn about the process and you could tell that great pride and care was taken.

Afterwards I was swept away to another party that was taking place in another garage in town. Upon arriving I was almost immediately recruited to join the band that was singing in the middle of the garage. At first I was placed on the box drums yet after seeing that I clearly had no idea what I was doing I was official clapper instead. Yet my legendary clapping skills did not go unnoticed for nearly the entire area was in awe of my superb clapping skills. A nice thing about being a foreigner is that you have special abilities that you lack while living in your own country. Everything you do is regarded with curiosity and usually if you are even halfway good at something it is impressive enough because you are a foreigner.

Eventually it was time to go but before I could go there was own last thing that I was summon to do. I was brought over to a bucket, which happened to be next to the bathroom and a ladle was dunked into a murky unknown mixture. I was skeptical what was about to happen next but my fear seemed to come true when I was asked to taste the contents of the ladle. I hesitated just long enough to realize that what I was actually trying was olives. I tasted a few and approved of the sampling. Before I knew it an entire jar was filled and taped up and further taped up for me to take with me.

By the time I got home it was around six in the morning. It wasn't the kind of Christmas that I was used to but still unique in its own way.

Trip to Sevilla

I had a trip to Sevilla just a few days before Christmas. It was nice to just spend some time and explore the city some:



Later that evening there was a parade downtown that had a band marching through the streets. I followed them for awhile and just enjoyed seeing the crowd from the back of the parade:

Lebrijan Sunset

Cook-Off

Cook-Off Part 1


Cook-Off Part 2


Cook-Off Part 3

View from Our Roof

France Pictures

Last Night we had a dinner pary with some of Calvin's co-workers. It was really a great time. I don't how to explain it but Spanish people just have something about them that is so open that anyone that you spend time with it just seems like a part of the family or a long last friend.

One thing that I am certain of now is that at Spanish partys REQUIRE singing at some point during the occasion. WE sang a lot last night.

Anyway today is a beautiful day I need to get out and explore some. I added some pictures of the France portion of my trip which can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eatw/

If anyone knows of something that is like flickr but doesn't make you pay for showing more than 200 pictures let me know. I want to be able to cintinue to show my pictures whithout only having the most resent.

I will have some videos soon as well.

Hasta Luego!

Sunday Afternoon Splendor

Today was a great day. I spent the beginning of my day with my roommates just relaxing and having a coffee (tea for me) at a local bar. There is an ice skating rink in the central plaza. It is actually a sheet of plastic tiles yet it still seems to can skate on it pretty well. It is nice to have outdoor skating with palm-trees. Not quite the December that I am use to but still a nice mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar.

Later I rolled out with Calvin to head to a neighboring town. They were having a festivo in that town to celebrate that years harvest of wine. When we rolled in we could hear the music of a massive party echoing through the streets. Eventually we made it to the carnival area and for what tuned out to be a pretty large party considering how big the town was. More than a thousand people were there and we instantly knew that we were in for a fun Spanish experience.

We met up with some of Calvin’s friend and were instantly bombarded with drinks and homemade tapas. The afternoon was filled with Spanish songs and some round of ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ for good measure. If sing wasn’t enough we were able to experience some line-dancing Spanish style which can only be described as happiness in a circle.

Afterwards everything seemed to be settling down some so Cal and I decided to roll at and search for the 90 cent bus ride back to Lebrija. When trying to figure out when exactly the next bus would roll through we met up with some German friends from the celebration a got invited to a private party back with the friends we were hanging with earlier.

We strolled on over to a nice gathering in a garage where a bonfire was prepared in a bathtub just outside the garage door. After another wave of beers and snacks it was like we were back at home again. More singing and dancing ensued – it just wouldn’t be a party without it. Everyone was really nice and I was overwhelmed in a sea of Spanish again.

Eventually a guy was heading back to Lebrija and offered us a lift. We graciously excepted and went back home after a fantastic day hanging out and partying Spanish-Style. Right now it is 10:30 pm and we are waiting for dinner to finish cooking and relaxing to classical music. I’m starving but dinner will hopefully be ready by 11. A just ‘slightly’ late dinner. I might go out later but I’ll se how I feel after dinner.

Hasta Luego!

First night out in Lebrija

Last night was my first night out in Lebrija. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect but I think that there was no way that I could expect what happened that night. The night started off with a nice spaghetti dinner with my roommates at our so-called “usual” time of eating between 9 and 10 pm. I’m still taking some to adjust to eating at this hour but I think I will eventually get used to it. The dinner was really nice. We sat around the table and enjoyed music while munching to the soft glow of a small lamp on the kitchen table.

The guys were debating on which places to go out to and eventually seemed to come to a consensus on the plan of attack. We finished our beers at the house then got ready and took of for the town. The night was already busy with children playing in the streets at 11pm and various people going out to eat dinner. We made it to a pub downtown and got a round of beers for 1 Euro each. We were almost immediately swirled into the realm of an over-friendly drunk who was overjoyed to see four Americans in his home town bar. He was so happy that he would tell that we were his friends and give us high-fives and kisses to show his appreciation. We would do this at all costs and make sure that he would interrupt any conversation that was trying to take place. He even made sure that Bijan had beer spilled on his shirt within five seconds of having his first beer. Cheeky gent. He’s our ‘buddy’ Rich. We then left him in that area of the area and made our way towards the front.

We met some other Spanish women in the front and talked to them for awhile. One of the women, ‘Nat’ took our many no-thanks as a sign that we needed beers. After she got us a round of shots we eventually took off towards another bar. We left and with some of the women that were at first bar joined us. At the next bar we had some more drinks. Nat introduced me to some of her Brazilian friends yet, I was trying to pull away from the conversation a bit because I wanted to meet some more people and all the roommies where having a conversation outside.

I meet up with another girl ‘Ann’ who was a really nice girl and talked for awhile. I continued my way to make it to the table where my roommates where hanging out and met the people there. Eventually Nat made her way back to our table and sat down. This is when things got awkward. Nat was looking like she was Jonesing for something and to put an awkward story short she left looking heart-broken. I learned a few things in that moment and am now more prepared (maybe) prepared for a future situations that happens with similar awkwardness.

The night continued and it was more and more chill to hang out with everyone. A friend of Bijan, Anna, was super nice and help translate things at times consider that I was mostly clueless about a lot of the Spanish that was going on. Eventually I was considering bailing once Boone and Cavin were about to take off. Ann convinces me to stay and everyone would help me with some Spanish. I learned some Lebrijan, which seemed like all you do is slur Spanish and raise your voice a few levels. We sung Beatles songs and listen to some Spanish jokes that made no-sense to me whatsoever.

More and more round of drinks started rolling in and I’m glad I turned them down because of what followed. Bijan looked like he was on about the limits of what he could drink so I commandeered Anna’s drink because she was giving it all to Bijan anyway. Just when I thought it was over and we were taking off . This is when the endless rounds of shots started. At this point some of the Spanish friends took me under there wing and said they wanted to take me to the disco.

Well after a few drinks followed by a few shots going dancing seemed like the best idea. Fliffin’ like a Sultan I decided to go. It was 5am by this point yet in Spain people seem to stay up later than usual. So we rolled on over to La Palacio, Lebrija’s club and met up with some more friends there. I danced with a few Spanish girls who were all friends of my friend Carmen. There where very amused by my dancing by the end were trying to find any excuse possible not to dance. I was probably just to intense for them with my awesome American dance moves. They all enjoyed my presence yet it was probably a bit much for 6am in the morning after a long night of dancing.

Eventually the club closed and I piled in a car with the three girls and their boyfriends(?) seemed weary of this so the 2 of them piled in the car as well. I told them to go to the Blue Elephant Car wash and we had a fun time talking in the car, which I’m not sure what was actually accomplished but we had a fun time talking anyway.

They all invited back to the club the next night and I said that I might be back yet I still wasn’t sure if I would be. I got out of the car waved to them goodbye and they drove away. Soon realized that I was notwhere near home and that this must be the second Blue Elephant Carwash in town. There was a mechanic who was still there (probably just coming in since it was around 7am at this point) and I asked him where the other Carwash was in town. He told me it was a few kilometers in one directions so I started my trek home.

Eventually I made it back home and went to bed. This was probably one of the most fun nights out I have ever had. The people in Lebrija are super friendly and very inviting even and with some awkwardness. It looks like Spain is going to be a great place to live. I have to do now is find a job. Wish me luck!

New Beginning

OK so it is time to start the blog back up again. It has been a long time since I wrote anything yet there is a lot of new news. I delayed the plans for China for awhile in order to take a trip to Spain. I will be living outside of Sevilla in a town called Lebrija with my friend Bijan. I'm not sure for how long but I hope to find a job teaching English somewhere in Sevilla.

I just finished spending some time in France. I some some of my friends and it was a lot of fun yet a healing and learning experience as well. I was treated to many nice things and it was great to catch up with some people that I haven't seen for awhile.

I'm in Sevilla right now. I have to stay the night in a hostel because the last train that I need to catch leaves at 9:30. Last night I flew into a town outside of Barcelona called Reus. When I got to the airport there were no more buses running so I had to take a taxi. Luckily a found a girl from Colorado in the same situation so we took a taxi downtown and found a hostel. It was a nice place, more like a hotel and we split a room for 19 euros each.

Getting into Sevilla was semi-chaotic in the sense that I just barely made the bus and I just barely made the tram to get to the hostel. I was running with my 15kg backpack and my 10kg hand bag. Yet I'm not sure if that is worse than the 4 pairs of pants, 5 shirts, 2 sweaters and a winter-coat loaded with books... I was still wearing the gear that I need to bypass the weight restricts for flying in. Luckily I made it past the luggage checks at the airport.

It feels really good to finally be in the region. The Spanish people seem super friendly and appear to speak extra fast. It looks like it is going to be a lot of fun. Well that is the brief into to a new beginning for now. I'll update more as needed. I might even proofread after I finish yet that is still questionable. If anyone has anyone has suggestions in how I can improve their blog reading experience let me know at any time.

I wish everyone the Best!
-Erik

Finals

I just finished a final and I'm preparing for finals all week. I though I would post the paper I wrote here. It gives some perspectives bewteen France and the United States.

If you need some help with the French I prefer: Google Translate

It is a bit long but here it is:

Pendant mon interview avec Anne-Carole nous avons discuté plusieurs
de topiques. Les temps qui nous avons passé sont toujours amusant
puisque elle déjà s'est passé on peut de temps en Minnasota aux
États-Unis. Grâce à ses expériences là, elle pouvait connecté avec
moi sur plusieurs des niveaux entre les différences entre France et
les États-Unis. Vivant en France j'ai déjà eu des expériences et
perspectives et elle a eu des expériences parait.

Tout d'abord nous avons discuté la différences gastronomique entre les
États-Unis et France. J'ai a demandé elle quelle était un grande
différence entre les nourriture Française et la nourriture américain .
Elle a répondu que la nourriture française était fait avec plus de
passion. Quand les français font la cuisine ils le font avec plus de
coeur. En France les repas sont plus sérieux. À mon avis il y a une
certain sentiment avec les repas qui laisse le sens de romance. Elle
a ajouté que aux États-Unis les repas sont plus vite en général – pour
préparé et pour manger. D'habitude les américains mange leurs repas
très vite. Malheureusement un parti de la esprit est perdu en la
repas, par contre on a plus de temps de faire autres chose. C'est la
vie américain.

En France le concept de la dessert est plus important que dans les
États-Unis. Aux les restaurants en États-Unis, d'habitude on ne prend
pas du dessert. Aux États-Unis il y a des restaurants qui existe
spécifiquement pour les desserts. Par exemple il y a un restaurant
qui s'appelle "The Cheesecake Facory" aux États-Unis qui est très
célèbre. Une chose qui j'ai trouvé bizarre est qu'il n'y a pas
beaucoup de chances en France ou on peut manger du Cheesecake.
Anne-Carole m'a dit qu'elle ne l'a jamais goûter; j'etais étonné.

Elle m'a demandé mon perspective du temps. D'abord j'ai trouvé que ce
question était un peut bizarre. Mais après j'ai réalisé que mon
perspective du temps a eu changé. En France je pensait que la vie
était plus tranquille. Par contre la vie aux États-Unis était
toujours vite.

Au niveau de l'économie. Nous avons discuté les différence entre
France historiquement et actuellement, étant donné que France est dans
L'Union Européen. Historiquement, France a eu un pouvoir d'achat plus
faible mais actuellement elle a changé. Grâce à la faiblesse du
dollar et puissance du euro, le perspectif mondial pour acheter est
très bonne. Bien que la puissance d'euro, France est un pays du
tourisme et compte sur l'argent de touristes; c'est pourquoi
l'augmentation d'euro n'est pas favorable pour France.

Sur la sujet de nourriture il y a aussi un autre différence. Aux
États-Unis il y a une pléthore de nourriture que est pimente. J'ai
trouvé que la majorité de français sont ... faible dans leur capacité
pour manger des plats pimentes. J'ai expliqué que heureusement j'ai
habite avec une chinoise qui absolument adore la pimente. Donc, j'ai
toujours un ami pour partager mon accros pour un occasion de brûler la
langue grâce à une épice fort. Entant donné que les États-Unis est a
côte du Mexique le influence de la nourriture est plus fort.

On était d'accord avec la vie chez les États-Unis étant plus vite.
Quand elle m'a demandé qu'est-ce que la plus grande différence entre
les États-Unis et France j'ai répondu que, en fait, je trouvais que
France était plus tranquille. Dans une côte elle ne m'a pas compris;
après j'ai clarifié que les horaires pour les magasins était plus laxe
comme les États-Unis. À ce moment là, elle a compris et ajouté que
elle aime bien les horaires aux États-Unis, (presque) toujours
24/24.

Une amusant histoire apparus quand nous avons discuté mes premières
semaines en France. Un chose que j'ai réalisé quand je suis arrivé en
France c'est parfois le petite différences entre chose qui on pense
sont banal; sont vraiment diffèrent dans un autre pays. Par exemple,
j'ai raconté un histoire de le première fois que j'ai essayé d'ouvrir
la porte chez moi. C'était trop difficile que je me attendais . Pour
quelque raison le méchanisme pour le clé était un pue diffèrent que
comme aux États-Unis. Après 5, 8, 10 minutes de tâtonner j'ai
finalement ouvert la porte. Il y au des autres chose qui sont
diffèrent aussi. Comme les éclairage sont le contre haut c'est pour
entendre les lumières, mais mes habitudes américains était encore
fort dans le tête. C'est les petites chose comme ça qui fait le
plaisir de la vie en France.

Une topique que nous avons discuté était la travail en France et les
États-Unis. Aux États-Unis c'est plus facile pour trouvé un travail.
Anne-Carole a dit que pour elle, elle pouvait trouver du travail très
facilement. Inversement en France, sa pays maternelle, c'est plus
difficile. Un peut ironique, non? Je crois que cette différence es a
force de le mentalité américain du travail. Pour un américain, le
travail est toujours un priorité. Aux États-unis le gens toujours
veut travailler pour gagner d'argent. Le seul pays que j'ai pu pensé
qui était plus obsédé avec le travail était Japon. On a résumé la
différences entre la travail avec cette phrase: "Les États-Unis sont
plus facile mais la France est plus tranquille."

Les banques français n'est connaît pas le efficacité qui on peut
trouvé aux États-unis. Par exemple la première fois que j'étais au
banque en France, je devais attendre dans la que pour un journée.
Alors ce n'était pas une journée mais pour mois ça senti comme une
dixième des années. Aux États-Unis on peut aller au banque dans le
voiture. Anne-Carole pensait que ce était la meilleur idée pour la
banque. C'est plus facile plus efficace et toute les transactions se
passe avec des télécommunications et un tube qui transfère l'argent.
Très rigole! Les formes officiel en France sont presque absurde pas
seulement pour la banque mais beaucoup des choses. Nous préférions les
formes plus simples comme aux États-Unis.

Une topique nous n'avons pas résisté était la topique du soirées. Un
chose qui est diffèrent entre les États-Unis et la France est les
soirée d'étudiants. La question qui a apparu: Que-ce que c'est un
"grande" soirée? En France nous avons décidé que vingt personnes
serait un grande fête pour un maison. En revanche vingt personnes
dans une maisons pour un fête c'est juste normale chez les américains.
Cent personnes, ça est un grande fête. Elle a trouvé les fêtes
américains très géniale. Le RSVP n'est pas nécessaire. On peut entre
un maison seulement si on connaît quelqu'un qui connaît quelqu'un. Si
non, on peut faire reconnaissance très vite; après tout c'est une
soirée!

France est un pays d'élégance parfois très crue mais néanmoins plus
élégant que les États-Unis. Nous avons discuté de la importance de la
mode en France. Le mode est plus importante que aux États-Unis. En
France ça serait choquant de regarder quelqu'un qui est sortis le
maison avec non plus que des pyjamas. Pour les américains, pas de
problème!

Après nous avons continué notre discussion avec un autre grande
topique qui a grandi, la topique du taille. Aux États-Unis tout
c'est plus grande: les plats, les voitures, les ventres. Quand elle
était au restaurante américain elle était un peut choqué sur le
quantité de nourriture qui un plat fournit. C'est bonne de connaître
l'option de "doggy bag", en France le concept d'emporter le parti d'un
repas pour manger plus tard est tellement rare si inexistant. En plus
quand j'ai vu le frigo chez nous que quatre personnes partagent
j'étais un peu désespérée. Il était trop petit! Les voitures
Française étaient humoristique aussi, très mignons! Quand elle a
commandé une café elle a reçu un café pour trois à Minnesota. C'est la
vie.

Un chose qui je toujours luttais, le concept de la fermeture des
magasins pour déjeuner. Aux États-Unis l'heure de déjeuner c'est le
temps pour aller aux magasins si on a besoin de finir les courses pour
la journée. Je pense c'est presque une crime de faire des courses
pendant déjeuner en France.

Anne-Carole a demandé le question de comment mon opinion de France a
changé depuis je suis arrivé. C'était un difficile question pour
trouver un réponse mais après quelque temps la réponse a arrivé. J'ai
répondu que avant je suis arrivé en France j'ai pensé que peut-être
les français était trop arrogant. Mais, franchement ce n'était pas
(typiquement) la case. Les gens français sont très gentilles après un
conversation, un peu du vin, et un repas ensemble. On a découvru que
cette stéréotype a arrivé de la mentalité du les grande villes. Il y
a beaucoup des opinons de France qui arrive de Paris même avec New
York et Los Angles de l' États-Unis. Cependant, mais la plupart de la
culture d'un pays est lié à plus que seulement les grandes villes.
C'est regrettable que il n'y ont plus des personnes qui expérience la
vie à l'étrangère. Les opportunités sont vaste après l'aventure de
vivant dans un région et culture différente.

Une chose qui est un peu pareille entre France et les États-Unis est
les régions. En France il y a un différence entre le gens de sud et
nord, les parisiens et les marseillais. Comme les les États-Unis,
chaque état a sa propre culture. Il y a des traditions des chaque
région qui les autres régions jamais expérience. Un autre, raison pour
voyager, de découvrir la diversité de nos pays et du monde.

Il y a fois de parler de une topique qui, en mon avis, toujours on
expérience quand on parle de voyages et la vie étrange. C'est la
toilette. J'étais content quand j'ai trouvé un toilette "normale"
dans la salle du bains de mon maison. Mais j'ai aussi des expérience
avec les toilettes où il faut utiliser debout. Ce n'est pas une
problème aux États-Unis puisque (presque) tous les toilette son't
paraille.

On a parlé un peu sur la topique du sport. Nous avons trouvé que c'est
un pue triste que le football n'est pas très populaire aux
États-Unis. Il existe mais pas comme en France. Les sports plus
populaires sont les basketball, le baseball et le football américain.

Un autre chose qui est diffèrent est le sens du famille. La famille
en France est un peu plus importante. Nous étions d'accord que dans
les deux pays les amis étaient très importante.

Les français sont très fiers d'être français. La culture de la France
est quelque chose très importante. Aux États-Unis le économie c'est
plus important que le culture soi-même. La fier américain existe bien
sûr mais pas dans le même sens que les Français. La culture américain
est un grande mélange, même en France, mais la différence est lié à
vivant en France il faut adapté à la culture. Pourtant aux États-Unis
il faut adapté au le culture qui change chaque année. La culture
française est très riche les américains sont très riche; mais les deux
pays partage beaucoup dans l'esprit mondial.

Surtout, les discussions avec Anne-Carole était très intéressant.
Maintenant j'ai une meilleure perspective sur la France, les
États-Unis et les similarités et différences entre les deux pays. Je
vois l'avenir de les relations entre les pays seraient très forts.

South of France

So I came back from a trip in southern France. I'm way too tired to tell any of the funny stories that happened but the good news is that I just added 84 more photos to the mix. Enjoy!

Creativity

May it be a wonderful May for everyone! I realized that I haven't written anything here in awhile. Yet tonight I am not really sure what to write. It seems that writing about my daily life has lost a bit of the fun it used to have. I need to find a nice way to start making it creative.

Creativity is something that is really important in day to day life. It is what keeps life exciting and interesting. I think that one reason a lot of people get tired of working at their jobs is because it doesn't satisfy their craving for being creative. As long as it stays creative it stays fun. Creativity is a great way to develop self expression.

Not everyone is an artist but everyone can have a certain level of creativity. I have found that the days that I enjoy more are the days where I actively set aside a certain amount of time to brainstorm ideas. Being that I love to spend a lot of time thinking, brainstorming ideas is a good way to release some of that creative energy.

One of my current weakness is acting on some of those good days. I have really enjoyed fantasizing over ideas ever since I was a child. Usually this would just be using my imagination but some of these ideas actually had some plausibility for becoming a reality. That is really how life works. It starts with an idea and then you make it happen. It is like pretending you are a wizard, but the magic of creation is real, if you allow it to be.

The Past Week

Last weekend I had a picnic with some friends. It was a really nice day. The picnic was in a potluck style so there were plenty options to chose from.

On Wednesday I went skiing with the ladies of the house. It was nice because we didn't have to worry about catching a bus or anything. The day was great and the view was amazing. Every other day of the week it has been really rainy but for that day the weather was really really nice. Actually Mme J is really awesome at skiing, she does blacks, powder, backflips...well not the backflips but she still is pretty good. It was the third time skiing for my Chinese sidekick of silliness. Yet she had improved a lot this round. Mme J really the the trick to set her in line, well in wedge rather.

After the great day of skiing we went to the Town of Beaufort, home of some of the best cheese in France. We went to the cheese factory and did a mini self tour. After venturing through the cave we bought some cheese. The cheese itself was beautiful and strong, I guess that's where it gets its name from, Beaufort.

My roommate returned from a trip solo to Egypt. He said that he learned a lot from that trip and wouldn't want to travel alone again. He was really glad he was able to see the pyramids and the Nile. Yet he spent a little more than he wanted to. He even spent some time with a French couple that he met. It is nice to know that he got some French practice in.

It is crazy to see how fast time is passing here. Right now life is actually seeming to be a bit similar to being in the US. There is still a lot that I don't understand on a daily basis yet the overall foreigness is a lot less foreign. Time flies when you study grammar everyday; add in a bit of fun too!

Spring Weather and Music

We have been having a lot of spring weather recently. It will be really hot in the morning and then in the afternoon it will be raining. Today it started sleeting for awhile thankfully I was equipped with my umbrella. I was waiting for a very long time on buying an umbrella but when I was in Germany I noticed a deal that I could not pass, especially being umbrella-less, 2 euros. For the past few weeks this umbrella has been getting a lot of use.

For this addition of videos I have rounded up a few videos that have a sort of musical theme to them. I have always had a strong appreciation for music. It is something that has inspired me since I was a child. Anyway I feeling in a lazy mood to actually write more on the subject. So I will give you what you have been waiting for the videos, yay!


Beaujolais Parade


Folk Music


Jimmy Eat World


Lunch Line Music

Spring is Here

Sunny and hot, that is how yesterday was. It was actually a really beautiful day. I was going to go on a hike but then I changed plans and read at the library instead. I spent a fair amount of time outside as well. Today looks likes it is going to be another great day. All these nice days are reminding me of the nice weather we had on the first day of hiking on the Chartreuse mountain range. It was a great hike and a great way to celebrate my birthday. Here are some videos of the occasion:

Chartreuse Hike


Campfire Tonight


Wood Collection


Birthday Sunset


Chartreuse, Grand Som


Snowy Hike

Videos, Hiking, Thoughts

When taking a lot of the videos that I took over that past few months I was lacking a bit of foresight. Many of the videos I wound up taking sideways. I can find a program that can flip the video upright again yet it winds up more than doubling the file size and afterwards the film is in no standard dimensions. My from me it is more natural to hold the camera sideways as a result many of my films are sideways. Yet is still believe that the content is decent considering my super-amateur film making status. I'll really try to stop taking sideways films from now on because they are just silly to watch. My neck gets a bit sore after watching them and I imagine that others will have the same experience.

This next set of films was one that I specifically had you guys in mind when taking the shots. It is baking in the hiking category but it covers one of my favorite hikes in Chambery, which is the hike to the Croix du Nivolet. This is in general a pretty long hike and the first time I did it I was with my American super-hiking-master. It was foggy so we could see where we were going and didn't really know how long it would take to get there. Yet we eventually made it and it has been a classic ever since. It is hard to get the average person to do it because you have to be a bit hiking nuts to go all the way. Yet it is a really rewarding experience and an accomplishment for anyone who does it. I'm specifically thinking about the Elephants to the Croix and back route because it is something anyone in Chambery can put into perspective on how far you actually have to walk to do it.

So here I present The Croix du Nivolet (a sideways taken production):

Croix du Nivolet (part 1)


Croix du Nivolet (part 2)


Croix du Nivolet (part 3)


Croix du Nivolet (part 4)


There will be more videos to come in the future. I have already gotten one request on a video that I might make. I am interested in seeing what types of videos people would like to see. I can't promise on making it but knowing if anyone is interested in anything in particular, just let me know.

Cheers!

Snow!?

Every since spring arrived here in Chambery it seems that snow has arrived as well. I'm not sure how we could go for an entire winter without it hardly snowing at all in town. As soon as spring arrives, so does the snow. When the sun decides to come out it is actually pretty warm. It definitely feels like spring with the sun. I touched a bit on the subject yesterday (I think) yet I thought this would be a good lead in to my videos today. I decided I wanted to change my style of my blog a bit. I realized that bock after block of text can be a bit mundane so I want to see if I can try to have pictures and videos included in my posts. It should liven them up a bit and I'm always looking forward to trying new things.

The snow is not too heavy but it is more than we've seen in town all year:



So with all this snow in mind I thought I would show some videos of a ski trip I took back in January. It was a wonderful day of skiing so here is some footage to share a bit of the day with you:


Meribel-Mottaret


Ski Vista


Chairlift Party

Happy Easter!

I would just like to wish everybody a Happy Easter. I spent my Easter just relaxing and not doing much of anything. I was debating whether or not I wanted to add videos in chronological order but I decided I would just post the as I am inspired to do so.

Since I enjoy hiking so much I decided that the next video that I would share is one of the videos I took while I was on a hike just this month. The weather had been really strange here recently. Some days it has been really sunny and other days, like today, it has been snowing. It doesn't really snow too often in Chambery but now that spring has officially arrived it has started to snow.

That house is a bit chilly but luckily I have a heater in my room. It is enough to keep me toasty. Anyway with out further delay, here is the video:

YouTube

Hello everyone! I am introducing a new feature to my blog ... videos! Right now I just need to figure out all of the technical stuff. Hopefully I will be able to start sharing some videos of some of my adventures.

here is a video from back in September. I went to see a parasailing show with my parents when they came to visit me. Here are the videos:





Enjoy!

Concert and Theatre

On Tuesday night I went to a pop Rock concert in Chambery le Haut. Chambery is divided into a few regions that extend beyond the regions of the city itself. Each region is like its own city and has its own Mayor. Speaking of mayors last week new mayors were elected all across France. There has been a lot of political talk going on in the news and on the radio. I guess we will see how these newly elected majors turn out.

Anyway as I was saying I went to a concert. My Russian team leader had passes so we were able to roll in for free. When we arrived there it was a bit strange because there were a lot less people than I was expecting. As a matter of fact for the longest time I was the oldest person there. The majority of the crowd seemed to be around 15, 16, 17 and 18. It made me feel a bit old. It is strange look hang old with a bunch of high school age kids. I guess that's the way it goes.

The concert was divided into 3 groups. The first group by far was my favorite, the others were alright but the first group was awesome. I credit there awesomeness in the way they presented themselves. They rolled in like rockstars, preformed liked rockstars and seemed to have a good sense of performance. The violinist of the group was cool brought to a new level. He just new how to rock out on a violin like nothing I could imagine. By the end of the show his bow was a bit shredded but I guess that can only be expected when you rock out on a violin. By the time the night was done I was ready to fall fast asleep - That's what happen when I returned home.

...

Last night ma petite amie and I went to a theatre-dinner that was being held in town. They had there own stage constructed and it was kind of like eating in a barn that was upgraded to become a restaurant. The entire place was build up with wooden planks and there was various bags and baskets hanging from the ceiling. We arrived pretty late so when we got there there was no place to sit. We wound up siting on a raised area of the floor with some other folks. The good part is that it gave us front row seats. We had no table so I tried to take a crate that was in the center of the "barn" I was stopped by the the accordionist and he offered me his accordion instead. I politely refused and figured that we could manage without a table. Just afterwards an actor found a big pot which hea turned upside down and voila, we had a table.

The performance itself was pretty weird. Through out the show the band played in a kind of east-european style. The was a stand-up bas, and accordion, a xylophone-like instrument and I can't remember what the other guy was playing. Overall it was good music. The best way to describe show itself was a mix of random chaos. There were random acts of comedy mixed in with random acts of spectacle. Perhaps the most memorable moment was when a giant ibis flew in from back stage. It did some poses with a main actress and even stood up on her shoulders. It was spectacular to see but I was was thinking in the back of my mind that I hope that it doesn't go berserk all of a sudden and start attacking people. It seemed to have a slight temperament and the accordionist implored that the audience remain absolutely silent. We sat in awkward silence to see what happened next. Eventually the ibis hobbled off stage and fake chickens started tapping against the barn windows. Afterwards all was calm again... when not really calm but more random events ensued to further build on the oddity of the night.

There was even a rendition of "Barbie Girl" that turned a bit R rated in lines. I was a bit shocked because of the level of vulgarity considering the kids around but then again, it was all in English, and it is France after all. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this but the French culture is pretty vulgar. I think it is because they can curse and swear all they want and it still as a pretty sound too it. As a result the French language can really match the level that English can reach, the sounds are just not harsh enough.

Eventually dinner arrived. They prepared a big pot. And by big pot I mean to say HUGE pot of soup. After an explanation in Czech and French of the eating procedure we were able to eat. The soup was really tasty and there was homemade bread and homemade cheese to accompany it.

The night continued with more chaos and eventually we just got too tired after over 3 hours of randomness. We called it a night along with some other people and made it back home. In summary it was a random night well spent. It was nice to experience some French-style random humor.

Feverish Week

Tuesday afternoon I had a headache so I knew that something was up. It didn't go away for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. During dinner my appetite hit the rocks and my headache was getting progressively worse. I told ma petite amie and she insisted on taking my temperature. I was at 38.5 C (101.3 F.) From this point on my nights of sleep for the rest of the weren't too pretty.

For the first night I don't even think that a slept at all. I pretty much just laid there and listen to music, while sweating profusely, while flipping a cool cloth over and over on my head. I had to change my shirt ever hour because it was literally soaked (this became a nightly theme of mine).

One thing that was interesting about spending most of the week in my bedroom is that I had a lot of memories of pretty much my entire life. These memories started when I was in preschool and I had memories, consecutively, of every year since then. It was pretty weird; like a slow movie of my life that didn't seem to have any rhyme or reason to what memories I would experience. In retrospect I'm wondering if I was a bit delusional. I really didn't sleep that well at all and it might have started to make me a bit loopy.

On Thursday I decided that I needed to go to the doctor because Wednesday wasn't going so hot. I wasn't able to get an appointment until Friday. Fortunately the day was absolutely raging in a wave of spring weather so I spent a bit of time to enjoy outside. I didn't have the chills so that was a good.

When I went to find exactly where the doctor was. At first I was a bit confused because where the doctor was I was a but confused. All I could find was an apartment complex. Then I noticed that there was a little plaque that stated that the doctor was in the apartments complex on the second floor (1st floor by French standards). After finding the magic button to push to get the door open I entered this mysterious building to find the doctor.

On the second floor I wondered around for a bit looking for the doctors office. I found it a bit silly that I was looking at normal looking apartment doors for a doctors office. Yet finally I found the door after finding another magic button I entered. There was a hallway with several doors where 3 were labeled: restroom, doctors office, and waiting room. I could hear that the doctor was with someone is his office so I went for the waiting room. There was woman inside and I asked her if I needed to check in. She said no, so I waited.

Eventually I was able to see the doctor. After doing an explanation of symptoms: headache, fever, a slight "wiggly fingers gesture" in the throat, and just a little heaviness in the chest yet with not troubles breathing. After a few standard tests and a fever more questions I was givens some medications and sent home to rest for the weekend.

...

Right now I'm feeling a lot better my fever is basically gone. I hope that it is fully gone by tomorrow but there might be just a slight lingering, I'm not sure. Anyway that is the summary of my week. I'm going back to class tomorrow.

Fever

I don't really have the mindset to write what I consider a post but I realized that something is better than nothing. I have had a fever for the past 4-5 days now yet it is a lot better now. I see if I can update tomorrow but this week has been exhausting and filled with little amounts of sleep and a poor appetite. I was at the doctor on Friday. For now I am just resting. Tomorrow should be better.

Update, On Life

So I haven't written in my blog for a very long time. I finally am taking the time to do so. I feel that everyone has been anxiously waiting for some news so I need to finally write something. I'm thinking that this blog might touch on a more personal level than any other previous post that I have written yet then again I can't remember, I haven't written in a while...

I'd say the past month has been the most challenging over all the time that I have been here in France. Not just because the level of difficulty of studies not as well as several emotional ups and downs and a change in my philosophy on life. There are several reason for this and today I spent the day reflect on where I am right now.

On a slight side note, I ran into the President of our French Program today and we had a nice talk. He helped me realign some of my thoughts and it was good to talk to someone with a good level of international experience and wisdom.


1) Since my American amigo left life has been a bit different here. I feel in a way like I have lost a best friend and it hasn't been exactly easy. I was looking forward to the chances to meet new people but there is something about a good friend that people really need in life. Being American he was the only friend that I could relate to on an American level. Any inside joke and connection that had anything to do with American culture we could could joke about. It is the kind of thing that is impossible to share with foreign friends because it is impossible to connect on that level without being able to relate to the American life experience. On the other hand, I now have a more clear view point of what feels like to be a foreigner. My cultural background is more unique because I can no longer have a close friend that is American.

2) My mediation schedule has been more sporadic. I'm no longer sticking to the daily meditation because I stopped feeling like I was getting the same level of daily return as I used to feel. Yet since they meditations clear the mind up not doing them has lead me to start worrying about more things. I'm not sure if I can explain to you home much you chill out after meditating but problems DO NOT exist if your meditation time is truly effective.

3) I have been proud at the level of French that I have reached since I have been hear but I felt a strong urge to really boots my level of fluency. I wanted to enter the superior level of French class yet realized I have not yet achieved the level of proficiency that is required. In the superior level you have both French language class as well as classes in French at the University. I can understand a lot of French in the University Courses because I have already attended quite a few of them. The problem is that it was leaving me exhausted on a daily basis. The concentration level required was starting to burn me out. I discussed it with my professors and they all felt that I was not quite yet ready for the superior level. After swallowing a bit of my pride since I caused a fuss about going into the higher I decided to rest at the DEF level. Yet I still am searching on a way to further improve my French.

4) I started getting frustrated with being single for so long. One thing that is funny about human behavior is that we all have this sense to search and find another person. We are social creatures by nature yet on top of this finding a partner is crucial to the survival of our specials. As a result people have a strong urge to try to connect to another personal at an intimate level. For me I took a different approach of becoming friends with a bunch of girls and discovering a bit about female nature in each one of my friends. I have developed a strong appreciation for each of the individual qualities that each of my friends possesses. Yet the downside is it is like having way too many crushes at one time. It makes your head go a bit crazy. I have witnessed some changes in some of my friends that has been fascinating. I think for a lot of us' being here in France has been a way to really develop our character. I have noticed some of my friends to grow into more developed individuals intellectually and emotionally.

5) During the break I decided to take a new approach on life in general. I have had a grand history of being cautious and tending to wait things out. Yet I know that hesitating my way through life and waiting for things happens isn't really in my long term plans. I have read up a lot on personal development and philosophies on life, success and fulfillment. One thing that successful people have in common is that they don't really wait around for things to happen. They make things happen. So I started scheduling time to hang out with people instead of waiting for invites as I tend to due. The week was great at the end of the week is when my life became a lot more occupied...

6) In retrospect it was the natural flow events of what happened next. I am currently in a relationship with my roommate. We have always liked each other yet since I dropped resistances she was the natural flow. It has been an amazing time to really learn more about myself. Yet combined with studies and having 2 presentations and a project to work, on top of being sick, I have needed to readjust how to manage my time. This has been a really good change for me I just need to figure out how to manage my time now. I feel life my sense of responsibility has increased it is always nice to have someone directly help you develop.

Overall I have spent the last month laughing, crying, and living harder than I have done so in a long time. During the past month I have determined both why I want to return the the US and never feel the need to return again. I have seen the good in the bad and worst for the better. It has been a nice way to put myself back into life and rediscover the appreciation I have for life in general. France has definitely changed me and for the past few weeks it has blossomed into a different level.

Perhaps the biggest thing that I have relearned is the importance of experience. Experience is far more powerful than theory because the perspective is real. A person could have theories about the way things work but experience is way more valuable. With experiences is how an individual develops and grows.

I have pretty much covered the big points that have lead to the change in my life. For those of you that don't read up on the personal development community I would recommend doing so because it puts a really nice perspective on things. It is always good to have a different perspective because it keeps a dynamic a creative level of thinking. If you haven't looked into him yet Steve Pavlina covers a diverse and interesting assortment of subjects.

I hope that these series of digressions have somewhat been able to summarize my current life. I will see if I can start getting more regular blogs going again. I really find value in when people comment because feedback is crucial for getting value out of the time I spend to write an entry. It might help if I proofread as well... Also if anyone has any questions about life in France I would love to hear from you.

Vacation En Suisse

So I haven't written in awhile and I guessing that people are wondering what I have been up to. Well I just came back from a week long journey through Switzerland and Germany. I technically had classes during the week but it was the time that we could actually make the trip work so my Russian commando and Myself went for it.

We took off last Saturday around noon. Upon arriving to the train station it turned out that all the trains were delayed due to an accident that happened somewhere in the region. I'm hoping that everyone was alright. After waiting a few hours and just hanging out outside our train finally departed. We almost didn't make it trough customs because mein Russian freund didn't bring his passport for some reason. We missed our connection in Geneva so we had to catch another train. After realizing that we had 5 minutes to catch the next train it was a bit chaotic. Yet with our mad train catching skills we made it. Whoo!

We met up with our Swiss amigo in Zurich and he drove us back to his place which is near Konstanz Germany. The first night we spent chilling at a pub in the a local college town. It was really nice to just sit back, relax, and discuss future plans. The next day we went on a tour of the swiss country-side and where able to get an awesome view of the lake. We visited a neat town called Appenzell (If I remember correctly) and it really had a nice Swiss charm.

That evening we went to a water-park-spa that was in Germany. It was a lot of fun because it was like combining a water park and a hot tub all in one. Another thing that was cool is that you wore a wrist-band that had an electronic chip that controlled everything from the lockers to the tanning beds.

One thing about Switzerland is that it is really expensive. Maybe double than the prices in France at times, yikes! The good thing is that we had a place to stay covered so we didn't have to worry about any hotel expenses.

On Monday we took off towards Germany to visit our German amie. I took advantage of the ride over there to catchup on some sleep. When we arrived we had some tea and cake, yay tea party!, and then just took some time to relax. Afterwards we went up "The Eiffel Tower" of the region and had a 360 degree view of the area.

That evening we made a pizza. Afterwards another German friend arrived and all we played poker. Eventually we wound up drinking way to much German liquor but all of us managed to hang in there. It was pretty funny to say the least.

The next day we took a tour of the town, I can't remember the name of the town anymore, oh well. The town was groovy because it was in the same off a circle with a cross inside it. Each end of the cross had a clock tower, well one side was missing the clock tower because it was destroyed during world war II. Yet the town over-all was pretty spiffy to see.

That afternoon we went skating. It was really good because it was the first time that I think that I was actually starting to get the hang of stating. I have only stated a few times in my life but thing time if felt that I was maybe actually skating.

That evening we said goodbye and returned back to good old Switzerland. We had a good time in Germany filled with silly memories.

The next day we took off towards Zurich to take a tour of the city. In the cathedral we climbed to the very top tower. From that vantage point we were able to see a good chunk of Zurich. The city itself wasn't too interesting but it was still nice to see. We were able to see the upscaleness of chic Swiss culture.

That night we had a concert. Yet it wasn't just any old concert, it was a Jimmy Eat World concert. It was cool to see them in concert because they were one of my favorite bands a few years ago. It was nice to bring back the nostalgia of a band that I really liked. The crowd was a pretty good crowd and we all sang and danced along. It was the perfect way to end my last night in Switzerland.

The day after we said goodbye to our Swiss friend and took the train back towards Geneva. While on the train we decided that we wanted to see some more of Switzerland so we got off of the train at Bern. We took a tour of the city with the map that we commandeered from a hotel. The city contained everything from fancy stores to furry bears. Yep, that's right there were bears. it was kind of depressing in a way because the bears were in a kind o pit area and just passed their time either sleeping of begging for food. Yet they still had a kind of cuteness to them.

The next town that we stopped off in was Lausanne. The entire town was on a hillside that overlooked Lac Leman. It was nice to be able to speak in French again. Well we didn't really stop speaking French but it was funny trying to communicate in German and Swiss German for most of the week. Luckily we had a bona fide Swiss-German with of for the Duration of the break.

After taking the train to Geneva we were just about home free. I spent the train ride reading my dictionary because I didn't really bring anything else to read. Finally I made it back home and it was nice to be back. I'm going to be spending this catching up on thing and getting back into the French groove.

Yet for now, Good Night!

School Starts Tomorrow

Lets see some recent updates would be nice.

On Wednesday night I was back at movie night again. This time it was a japanese anime and I can't remember what it is called now. The movie itself was a bit strange but that can only be expected from watching animes. Afterwards "commodore Russia" and I went to Charly's. It turned out to be international night so people from all around the world were there. Apparently there was a wave a Tennesseeians that arrived here a few days ago so undoubtedly I will meet them at some point. I guess that Chambery has an exchange deal with Tennessee.

The following night I wound out being at a mini concert that was in a local bar. The music was pretty cool. It a had a nice folky sound to it that reminded me of living in a country town were life was just relaxed and full of good times.

...

Over the past week I have been trying out what it is like to been a an actually French college class. I have tried out courses such as 20th century Literature, Geography, History, and Heritage. They are a bit tough at times but I can still understand a lot of stuff that is going on in class. The next week I will try out a few more classes as well.

...

On Friday a new roommate arrived at our house. He is a guy from New Zealand and from what I can see so far he is a really chill and cool guy with a good sense of adventure. He already speaks a decent level of French so I can't talk in French and he will understand a lot of it. This is a good thing because I was afraid that I would only be able to communicate with him in English. I have too many opportunities speaking in English as it is. This doesn't really help with improving my French.

On Friday night I went to the cinema with my roommate. She has been asking me for awhile to go see a certain film with her so we finally went to go see it. It was a Chinese movie with an assassination plot spiced with a bit of tragic romance . The movie itself might be considered pornographic by some American standards. I was surprised that it was Chinese due to there censorship and the content in the movie. It seemed be fitting for French theaters. Something about romance-tragedies just reminds me of French films. When the film was done my roommate asked me if I like the film. I told her I was glad that it was finished, that was probably the best was to describe it.

...

Yesterday I took a little skiing trip at Motteret again. I was a bit disappointed, sad even, that everyone that I thought was going either didn't go or felt too sick to go. I wound up Skiing with a Italian friend and a met a few new people as well. The weather was a bit cold in the morning and we were basically skiing in the clouds so the visibility wasn't that great. Later it cleared up some where we could actually see where we were going. The snow was really nice because we spent pretty much most of the day skiing in demi-powder. It was the kind of choppy skied-over powder that is hard to ski on if you are not used to it. I loved it. Each round down the ski hill was another round of exercise. By the end of the day I was exhausted.

Well that's the news, tomorrow classes officially start for us so I will be glad to have some more French practice. Ciao.

Meribel Mottaret

I have decided that La Felcaz is no longer interesting. The reason...I discovered Meribel Mottaret! This is a ski area that is a part of Les 3 Vallees, which make up the largest ski area in the world. The entire resort being more massive than any ski area I have ever seen. The cost was great to, actually bordering ridiculous. It costs 15 euros for a the lift ticket and round trip bus ride. This is a deal provided through the University and an tremendous opportunity for the college crowd.

I spent the day with two of my Japanese amies. They were both snow boarders and pretty decent as it as well. We spent the entire day on blues, reds (like hard blues) and blacks. Actually I never saw I green run the entire time and I didn't see too many run signs in general. The crowd there was mostly average to advanced skiers and I didn't see a single pizza wedge all day.

The first run started off with a gondola ride that last for what seemed like a half hour but was maybe more like 15 minutes. It just kept on going and going. It had two get-off points but we stayed on until the very top. The view from the top was fatastibo! aka fantastic in Japanese or how I liked to think of it: fantasti-beau(fantastic-beatiful).

We had a lot of fun to say the least. It was the best groomed slopes that I have ever skied on in my life. For lunch we had a picnic at the top and I was even offered a Japanese sandwich: a rice ball wrapped in seaweed, oyshi (sp? tasty!). The day also included an improve snowball fight of US vs Japan. Of course the US won. I account it for their finesse and pure might in snowball-launching capabilities.

There was a break from skiing to sit back and enjoy some hot wine; something that has been growing on me each time I try it. By the time the day was done we were pretty tired and took some time to look around in the village at the base. Tonight I should sleep well with many dreams of skiing. Good Night!

B-Day Bowling Bash

Yesterday we celebrated the birthday of one of my Russian friends, well my only Russian friend perhaps I have mentioned him before... Anyway it was a really fun time the first round I rocked the game with 119 points, awesome! One thing that was funny about the bowling alley was that the lanes were smaller that what Americans have come to thing of a standard distance of a bowling lane. At least the shoes were just as sexy as one can find in the US. I even wore the socks that I wore my last night in the US. It was my friend Brian's birthday and we all went bowling then. I think the lucking bowling socks helped me out.

We also played some pool on mini pool tables and later played some mini-foosball . All the while enjoying beer from mini beer glasses! I guess the French aren't familiar of the 'proper' size for things, heh. Actually I was really easy to get used to, maybe I just grew since I've been here so things just seem smaller. Overall it was a really great time. There was much laughing, dancing, and victory poses as the night continued. It was a great way to celebrate a birthday of a great friend.

Hike!

On Sunday I noticed that there was an odd increase in air traffic over Chambery. I'm not sure if it is just that I haven't noticed it before or what, yet there were many planes flying in. I took a mini hike on Sunday to catch up on my hiking. It was a really nice day so the hike was great, good enough to want to go hiking the next day.

...

Yesterday I went hiking with my Japanese friend. It is actually a pretty funny story. I arranged for us to go hiking the night before but we really didn't know where yet. That morning I asked her where she wanted to go. Her response: "I want to go to the Cross!!" So I I told her that we would have to leave right away, I met up with her at her place. We took the bus to the Carrefour stop and bought some supplies need for the hike. The next stop was, well the cross, sort of. She asked me where we were going next and I replied, "the cross". She mildly freaked out by the distance and asked me if there was a bus. I said no and told her that she said she "wanted to hike to the cross" so that's what we were doing.

After having a good laugh at looking at what was ahead of us we had to make a choice. She is a real trooper so we decided to still go for it. It is funny the things that crash through with the language barrier at times and the best thing to do is just laugh. So we laughed our way along for a little while and eventually she became more and more tired. Yet she really enjoyed everything that she saw along the way. It is a really nice view of Chambery and the day seemed like it was more like april or may than January. I asked her how many times she has hiked. She said two times...in her life. Ha ha, so this made it round number three.

She has a very strong amount of energy in her so she wasn't completely backing down from the adventure. She tackled that mountain with the best of spirit a Tokyo girl could offer. We took a little break for a picnic at Lovettaz. The picnic was a great meal that consisted of bread, cheese, and chocolate! We were pretty hungry by then so it was all really good.

Eventually we pushed our way to make it to the waterfall. The waterfall was at its best due to the hot day and a lot of snow melt. It was a good enough destination to make the trip worth it and she was quite pleased with the journey, yet all around exhausted.

We made our way down the mountain to watch an amazing sunset to and amazingly beautiful day. We took the bust back from Carrefour and I said goodbye. After 6 hours of hiking she was ready to sleep and I was ready to eat a meal or two. It was a really nice day.

Semester Finished

Wednesday night was a friend of mine birthday party. My crazy-fun(ny) roomy and myself when over to enjoy some fantastic and flavorful food. The birthday boy cooked pretty much all of the food but I guess since he is looking to become a chef it was too unusual. One of the best parts is when we sung happy birthday. Everyone sang in their mother tongue so it was a big mix of words with emphasis in Chinese.

...

Yesterday I was skiing at La Felcaz for a great day of skiing with mes deux amis. It was a perfect day filled with powder and and trees and speed and jumps. A good mix of skiing and some awesome back trail adventures. We met up with some French peeps and they showed up a secret way to get a back-country experience while still remaining in the ski area. It was fresh powder all the way to the bottom and just plain spectacular. I wanted to go down a few more times but we were out of time and had to get back on the bus.

It was a near perfect day of skiing.

...

Today was a little sad because it was the last day of the semester. I had to say many goodbye and had to say goodbye to my close friend the night before; he's heading back for the States to finish his studies. There was a farewell party and I was able to eat some really good food. I tried some quiche that Mme P made and it was absolutely amazing. I'm not a huge quiche fan but this was just incredible. Afterwards I eventually made it make home and took a long nap. This week I went skiing 4 times, stayed up late, and still have been waking up before 7 each morning. This pretty much meant that I was exhausted and need more sleep. I look forward to have sleeping tonight.

I finally have my external hard drive so now I have room for pictures. I'll be adding a lot tonight.

Ciao.

Finals...Finished!

Finals are finally finished. The test themselves were the most challenging out of any of the test that we have had so far. It makes sense considering that they were the last tests of the semester. Next week I'll find out how I did. The way they do tests here is always weird. We just came back from Christmas break and take exams the first week back. Next week we have a last week of classes. After that, two weeks of vacation. I was in the mode to start learning some more French and surprise, two more weeks of vacation. Anyway, I think I'm taking a little trip with a little Russian friend of mine. Haha, he's not little at all but right now there is a little wait to get his visa re-instated.

Oh yea, I forgot to mention, My American bud is back again but he takes off again next week which will be sad. It was really good to have him back in Chambery. Yesterday a bunch of us went skiing. The weather in town was not that great so that meant that not too many people were in the mood for leaving to go skiing. That meant there were no crowds whatsoever on the mountain.

The snow was great. We were able to ski on 20cm or so of fresh powder and it overall a lot of fun for everyone. Since it was so powdery it didn't hurt whenever anyone fell. At the end of the day we were that last few on the chairlift. The clouds were finally starting to part and we watched an amazing first catches of sunset. It was a great view.

...

Last night I watched a movie with my groovy roomy. It was a funny film that poked fun about nightlife in LA. It touched subjects of partying, drinking, dating, drugging and other various other wild behaviors. It was pretty amusing all around yet sad in away because it showed so truths of some of the downsides of big city American nightlife. Well anyway, today the weather looks amazing so I must go out and do something.

Skiing and Studying

I went skiing a few days ago with my Russian compatriot, well that makes no sense but anyway we went skiing. We went the La Feclaz, which is a local little ski hill. It costs 14,5 euros for a round trip bus ticket and lift ticket. Not too bad. It was his first time ever skiing so he decided to try out snowboarding. He has had some practice with skateboarding so he wanted to try his luck with a snowboard.

Getting on the lift the first time it was a bit iffy but afterwards he rapidly started to get better and better. Overall considering that it was he first time he did pretty well. On one run he beat be to the bottom because I was too busy getting lost in the woods.

The day itself was absolutely marvelous; a perfectly sunny day and not too many people for most of the day. It was kind of a slow day skiing-wise, yet I still had fun. I'm used to now skiing better than most of my friends and always look back on the times I skied with Richard because we would both find the runs that we took fun and challenging. I'll have some more ski stories to come once there is more skiing.

...

One thing that is 'funny' about house is that we all try to avoid Mme J as much as possible. Her presence is overbearing much of the time and I think none of us are usually in the mood for such. On the other hand it is fun to get a good laugh when you are only a passive witness to her reproaches. I'm not really afraid of Mme J like I used to be it is just that hearing complaints in one form or another is never pleasant. I've also discovered that laughing is a fun option but then she just asks me why I'm laughing. I'm not sure how to say: "Your French-like dissatisfaction in many things makes me giggle."

The other day I made a odd observation that within about 10 minutes of Mme J leaving the house everyone was in the kitchen. I ran a quick poll to see if everyone was on the same page. We were all waiting in our rooms for Mme J to leave. Thankfully I was getting some studying done but my other roommates seemed to be fasting until it was safe to go into the kitchen. Anyway it is pretty funny at times.

Today I tried to get out of the kitchen before she arrived but was unsuccessful. The result was me helping her fiddle around with trying to fix the faucet and getting nowhere in the process. The faucet semi-broke over Christmas brake and ever since it has two streams of water. The main flow as well as a mini geyser that sprays you in the face every time you turn on the water. It is like have a squirt gun battle every time you do the dishes. Fun! It seems to get me every time.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! I a took a break from my blog for awhile but now I am back. Christmas was really nice because I was able to visit my grandparents. I had to take a few buses and trains to get there but I made it. The day I left the weather in Lyon was not that great and there were many delays. As a result I wound up missing my connecting flight to Helsinki. Yet on the way to Frankfurt I saw a very beautiful sunset. The plane was flying right next to the alps and all the mountains were snow white dressed in a gown of purple lighting. It was an amazing perspective of a sunset. Upon arriving at Frankfurt I was able to be put on a later flight to Finland but I wound up arriving at 2am in the morning.

I spent spent a lot of time at the airport just waiting for the bus to come. The sad thing is due to bad timing, my sleepiness, and not knowing that my watch was 7 minutes slow I arrived to the bus stop , I'd guess 30 seconds too late. The bus left at 3:40 am and when I got to the stop the clock on at the stop said 3:40. Overall I was pretty frustrated and was hoping that the bus was late. After standing in the cold for 20 minutes I decided to go back inside and wait for the next bus.

Eventually I made it to my grandparents and were very glad to see them. My night of sleeping was not exactly that great so I took some more time to sleep at their place. Afterwards there was much talking, laughing, and plenty of food eating. The weather itself was rainy. One would think that for being in Finland it would be snowing but it actually rained for most of the time that I was there.

We a a really big Christmas dinner on both Christmas eve and Christmas. One thing that I thought was really neat was that I was able to see some pictures that I have never seen before. They were pictures of the family and I was able to see some pictures of my great grandparents as well as my grandparents when they were kids. I also found it amusing to see some pictures of my dad when he was a kid.

Eventually it was time to part which was sad because I was only there for a few days. I left on the bus and headed back towards the airport. The during most of the plane rides back I just spent most of my time sleeping. It was another odd schedule where I had schedule where I need to leave early the next morning so a basically wound up pulling an all-nighter. Sleep was the only option. I made it back to Chambery and shared some stories with my roommate of my trip.

...

I have been spending most of my time while I have been back with my roommate. Over the break a few things in the house broke; we used each others support so we wouldn't crack under that "wrath" of Mme J. She can be a bit wild at times but she is always very caring at heart. Other friends have been out of town so I have spent the time with her. We have been having a really good time together and our communication ability with her is vastly improving. Her French is improving slowly as well but one problem is that I actually understand her now most people that speak French can't understand her because her grammar is terrible and she speaks Franglish more than actual French with outbursts of Chinese. I should really start correcting her more because it is rare to actually hear a proper sentence.

For example:
Key: English French Chinese

She parler avec me and others pas comprendre nàgè quand elle parler, language...quelquefoisfānù!

Keep in mind that even if there are two or three consecutive words that are the same language it might be following Chinese grammar rules so you still have to do some thinking. Her sentences are getting better but sometimes it's a little rough. Overall it is always amusing.

...

For New Year's Eve we had dinner at our place there were guests over as well so we totaled six people at our place. It was a French-Moroccan-American-Chinese kind of crowd. Madame J pretty much supplied most of the food but there was also some Finnish cake a chocolate to be enjoyed. The meal included and appetizer, a main dish, and about five rounds of desert. An excellent dinner to put it modestly. Perhaps exquisite would be a better term.

Our original plans for the evening went out the window due but the alternative wasn't too bad either. For the past few days there have been some general stomach troubles that have been going around the house. So midnight was almost spent in the bathroom, yet my roommate and I made it to the Chateau just as midnight arrived. There was a celebration song played in the bell tower. I was really surprised to see that there weren't that many people out. I'd say that maybe twenty people or so at the Chateau. It was a quaint little gathering yet it included a mini fireworks show as well as singing and dancing.

We later checked out what was going on at Les Elephants (THE meeting place in Chambery) and it was mostly drunk highschool kids getting wild with fireworks and dancing. We wanted to go scope out the clubs but neither of our stomachs were up for dancing. We decided to just return home and spent some time discussing the spirit(s) that live in the house. Apparently everyone in the house senses some sort of supernatural presence but we all agree that it isn't a bad one. It was neat because we shared some of the weird things that happen in the house which is something I have never discussed with anyone before. I guess it is actually a common topic in Chinese culture.

Now I ready for this new year. Undoubtedly it will be filled with many memories.