All the best conversations happen over good food...

Sunday is now two days away, but it was such a great day that I just have to write about it! I mean... nothing spectacular happened; I didn't go anywhere, but it was good nevertheless.
I woke up a little tired but went to church with my friend anyways and had a decent time. Afterwards I came back to my room to do a bit of homework and such. I also took advantage of the sunny day by going to a walk with my friend. Sounds pretty boring, but I thoroughly enjoyed my day.
In the evening, I went out for dinner with two friends. It was actually my first real dinner out at a French restaurant... I have been out for crepes but not actually dinner. 5 months later... haha. Anyways, one of the guys in our group wanted to talk to my friend and I about our faith and what we believe. We had a really great conversation over dinner where we got to chat about what each one of us personally believes and it was really fantastic.
But without further ado, the food that we ate! We decided to go for the "menu", meaning that you pay a certain sum and get an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert. All the food was very delicious!

Siobhain's appetizer... something with goat cheese.

My starter... kind of like veggie soup.

My main course: white fish, ratatouille, rice, and some green vegetable. Oh, and this little lobster dude.

Lobster friend (I didn't eat him)

Dessert: fromage blanc with raspberry sauce

Dessert!

Coffee to end the night

There is a lot written in the Bible about the importance of sharing meals together, and it was a theme that we discussed a lot this past summer at camp. I am starting to realize how important meals actually are and how they can be used to bring people together. At home, I am lucky enough to have a family that sits down to dinner all together each night, and I know how rare that can be. In France, meals are pretty long, much longer than at home, and I really enjoy that we can linger over our food and conversation.
Plus, who can turn down good food, good friends/family, and good fun? Not me!

Angers

I am afraid I have become a little behind in my posting. After two weeks of not writing in my journal nor on my blog, I have found that I have to really motivate myself to remember to write. I'm hoping that the next day or so is fairly uneventful so that I can catch up a bit.
I have heard that Canada entered into a deep-freeze these past two days. The same thing happened over here. The difference? It's -2 and every time I exit a warm building I feel like I am going to shiver to death, and I must sound like a squirrel from chattering so much. Why does it feel so cold? Maybe it's because we don't have huge parkas, ear bags (or hoods/toques/headbands for the more fashion conscious), ski pants, neck warmers, and furry boots over here. Or maybe it is because I am getting acclimatized to a more moderate temperature. Regardless, I don't know how I survived -20 in Peterborough last year. I just don't know.
On Saturday, despite the chill, it was a beautiful sunny day. Continuing our castle excursions, we decided to take a little day trip to Angers, the town I visited in November. I had already been there before so I knew what to see and do, which was nice. I also got a couple of pictures in the same spot I had them taken four years ago... which was fun!

Me in 2008

Me today in the same spot. Same coat too!

The castle was beautiful and we had fun exploring its wall, its residences, and its chapel.

We had a beautiful sunny day and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!
I also finished the Hunger Games trilogy... now I'm sad that it is over.
In the evening, it was our friend Sarah's 21st Birthday so we all went over to her place to eat some Galette des Roi before heading downtown. It was a great evening and a lot of Canadians were able to make it out!
I have been keeping up with my running in preparation for the Half-Marathon in Paris, which is about 7 weeks away. I'm so excited! Next steps are to book our train tickets and hotel/hostel. I have new running shoes and they feel fantastic!
More about Sunday later: church, rest, walking, eating out. A solid day. And Monday: teaching!

Clisson

Today, two friends and I took a short day trip to the beautiful little town of Clisson, to see a very old ruin of a castle. All in all it was a gorgeous day: sunny, blue skies, crumbling romantic castle, quaint little town, and great friends. Turns out Friday the 13th is just a silly superstition after all! (haha)
Here are some photos from the day. Enjoy!

Part of the castle

Cute town! Retirement worthy for sure... not that I'm thinking about that yet...

Large chimney

Beyond them is a very deep hole. Not for those afraid of heights...

Sitting in the ruins

Friends + castle

Castle sunset avec pidgeons!

just a reminder that the Hunger Games come to a theatre near you on March 21!

J'aime la France!

Well, today was full of lots of fun and unexpected things. We started off the day with our grammar class, which I think will be better than first semester. It sounds like we will actually be focusing a lot on grammar and we have a couple of neat presentations to do. Should be alright.
After grammar, my two friends and I hit the wifi common room to do some booking for reading week at the end of February. We are going to be traveling to Spain, so right now we have a flight to Barcelona and from Seville. We haven't finalized plans for in between, but we are hoping that they include lots of hiking and seeing the countryside, with obviously a bit of city touring. We have been to so many cities now that we are eager for a change, and the weather should be alright in Spain at the end of February, so outdoors here we come!
This afternoon we had the weirdest philosophy class of my life. Our prof came in and started miming, and then whispered that he lost his voice. Then he spent 45 minutes writing on the board... it was unbelievably slow but hilarious at the same time. We thought he would just dismiss us, but no. We were there all three hours! We took up our test from before the holidays with him writing on the board, then finished watching a film we began, then he discussed the film a bit, all the while still whispering. It was just... bizarre!
Then, this evening, Jody and I overcame our wariness and headed back to the Pentecostal church for what we thought was a student night. Instead, once a month they have a food-share program for students where you pay 2 euro and get a bunch of food. We didn't know, but we still met a lot of really nice people our age. It seemed like everyone knew we were coming... they saw us and all went "Oh, you're the Canadians??" But really, they were so nice. And we decided to do the food thing since it was so cheap, and we got SO MUCH food. It was much better than the other food-share. We didn't manage to make it in time for fresh food (apples, oranges, bananas, squash, leeks, etc etc etc) but we got a ton of other food. And then one of the girls drove us home, which was really nice. All in all we met some really nice people and I will probably go back. Plus, French speaking all evening!
Speaking of French, a bunch of us have made a decision to try to speak French between us as much as possible, since that is one way to improve. So all day today I basically was speaking/listening to French and I must say, my brain is quite tired!
Time to read some Hunger Games... or should I say Mockingjay (yes, I am on the third book already and 43% done. SO GOOD.)

First Days Back

Well, I have now officially been back in Nantes for almost a week, and I have also officially started back to school!
On Monday, I went back to my placement class and was fortunate enough to get to listen to the student`s oral presentations, and even mark some on my own (filming it for my teacher for later). It was pretty interesting. It is really difficult to mark them though, since I obviously have a high level of English speaking, but I tried to be fair. Plus, my marks aren't the final say; the teacher will watch their presentations and make his own decisions. I just hope I wasn't too hard on them!
Afterwards, I succeeded in downloading the last two Hunger Games novels by highjacking some McDonald's wifi, so you can imagine what I've been doing anytime I have free time... reading!
Yesterday, we had our first two classes: history and literature. They were both alright; I think I will get more out of literature this time around even though the prof is really difficult.
Last night a few of us went out to the movies to watch a French film called "Les Intouchables." I have been hearing people going on and on about it for quite a few months... apparently it is one of the highest earning French movies. I believe it passed "Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'Tis" which came out last time I was in France. Anyways, everyone was right: it was a fantastic movie! It was based on the relationship between a wealthy paraplegic man and the man he hires to care for him, who got the job just by chance. It was hilarious but also had a great message and was quite touching. If there is a dubbed or subtitled version that you can find, I highly recommend it! It was excellent.
Have a great Wednesday!

S-U-N-D-A-Y, minus the sun

Well, I had a great Sunday but as my ever-creative title alludes, there wasn't much sun. Which I really can't complain about, since the past two days have been very sunny. I went for a walk wearing a t-shirt and my rain jacket and was quite warm. Better than -15? Yep!
So, my Sunday! My friend Jody and I decided to try out a new church she found, since it was the New Year and we realized that we had really only seen one church. It was an evangelical pentecostal church, and the first of its kind I have ever been to. To be honest, the music was great but everything else was... different. I couldn't follow the sermon (but it was in French and speaking about a passage in the book of Numbers, sooo....) which was too bad. They also did a different prayer; the minister would start speaking and then randomly people would just jump in over top of each other so it was like a cross between chanting and praying and singing... when we walked in this was happening, and it felt a little strange. The thing that kept me concentrating though was the fact that this was just the way that these people worship, so I can appreciate that. Plus, after the service this couple introduced themselves to us and invited us over to their house anytime, and then introduced us to a TON of people our age, who invited us to a student bible study that they have on Thursdays. So even if we don't go back to the church, we will probably check out the Bible study. Sounds good, and a great way to connect with christian young adults in France! (I officially have to stop referring to myself as a youth... must face adult-hood).
After church, I headed over to my host family's for the rest of the day. We had lunch and I gave them some Christmas presents and they gave me a CD by a French artist so that I can start to get to know French music better. After, we went to my host father's parent's house just outside of Nantes to share in the "galette de roi" and some champagne. The galette de roi is a tradition that happens just after New Years. A galette is like a tart, and ours was apple. A small toy is hidden inside the tart by whoever made it so you don't know where it is. Someone cuts the tart in hiding, then the youngest person in the room hides under the table or in the corner and says who to give different pieces to, that way there is no chance for someone to know who has the little toy. Everyone eats their piece, and if you get the toy in yours than you become the "roi" or "reine" (king or queen) and have to wear a crown for the rest of the meal. It was very amusing.
The day ended off well with a reunited bible study, where we really only recounted our adventures from the past months but enjoyed the time together nonetheless.
Things are starting off well in 2012! Of course I miss my family, but it is nice to be back in France. Tomorrow I go back to my volunteering and I get to watch and mark presentations, so hopefully it goes well!

Hello, 2012!

Hi everyone!
I hope everyone had a nice holiday with their families. I know that I sure did! It was great to be home.
But now I am greeting you, once again, from France! I safely arrived in Nantes around noon. Both of my flights were great and quick. My first flight, which took 9 hours to get home, only took 7.5 hours to get to France. I also sat beside a really nice man who is Canadian but works as an interpreter in Paris. He studied teaching at the U of Ottawa but found that he really enjoyed interpreting. It was really interesting talking to him, because his job has taken him everywhere. He said that his most nerve-wracking work trip was to the Democratic Republic of Congo recently as an election observer. He said that he was relieved to leave after 6 days, which made me think of a friend of mine who spent a month there doing missions work. It sounds like a whole other world!
I also managed to catch a couple of hours of sleep on my first flight. My second flight was fairly easy to find and I didn't have to wait long for it. It wasn't full, and one woman wanted to change seats because she didn't want to be near the emergency exit so I switched with her and got a whole row to myself. I started reading the Hunger Games, which kept me very occupied on my travels.
Finally, I made it back. I mostly swapped stories and caught up with a friend, and did some grocery shopping. Oh, and took a 1 hour nap. I think I will be going to bed soon; I can feel my eye-lids drooping.
I am going to try to write one blog post each week on how my training for the Paris Half-Marathon is going. This will keep me accountable and also hopefully be interesting! I had been having some shoe problems before the break, but I have a new pair now so hopefully my runs will feel better. The race is Mar. 4, which gives me about 2 months left to train. I am very excited but nervous too, of course.
As a quick and random side note that has nothing to do with running: if you have never read any Stuart McLean books, I recommend that you do so immediately! I just read one my Mom got for Christmas and it was wonderful. His stories have great Canadian themes that make you think about and appreciate our country.
And with that, I turn my attention to the country I am currently in, France. Looking forward to another great semester!