Hi all!!!
Sorry I have not written in awhile. But I wanted to let everyone know that I posted and will be posting even more photos of my travels. The first album includes pictures from my 21st birthday and the "very French birthday dinner" I had, as my host mom so calls it. The 2nd has the Super Bowl party we had at a local bar called WooHoo for all the Americans to watch, as well as the wine tasting I went to put on by a girl in her late 20's who now lives in Aix but grew up and worked in the vineyards are California/Napa Valley area. I also posted an album with pictures of what I saw in Barcelona...which was beautiful!!!!!!!!!!! minus the rain Spain kept giving us (it rained everyday except one for the 8 days we were there. I will be posting pics from my travels to Madrid and Sevilla soon! enjoy!!!! the pictures don't do these places justice though. :) Spain is SUCH a beautiful country!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
French Alpes and other Updates
Hello Everyone!
I'm sorry I have not written in awhile...but it takes some motivation to recount everything I have done and write about it.
Travels:
Last weekend I went skiing in the Alps! It was AMAZING AND SOOOOO breathtaking. As you can see from my pictures, it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and am sure will ever go to. I went with an international student organization with my school and we stayed in Pelvoux, France for 2 nights and 2 days. I roomed with 5 other girls, who I feel really lucky to have found! I roomed with Aimee (from Louisiana), Caroline (South Africa), Melissa (Madison), Melissa (Germany), and Stine (Norway). A great group of girls who all get along really well. :) It was a very good deal and I got to share it with all my new friends from my school. When we got there after a 3 hour bus ride, it was dark and so we really couldn't appreciate the beauty of it all, but when I woke up, ughhh, there is just NOTHING like waking up and looking out the window and seeing those immense mountains and all the beautiful white snow. It's just so serene and awe-inspiring at the same time.
The first morning, we got up early and got fitted with our boots and skis and hit the slopes by 9:30am. At first, I was a little too confident, having skiied before, and fell not too much after I started down my first bunny-hill for a warm-up, I'm not afraid to say. :) But some of it came back to me for the most part. I felt a little more confident than some, who had never skiied before. I think one of my favorite parts had to have been experiencing it with my friend, Aimee, from Louisiana. She had never seen snow or cold in that capacity before, I was just so excited for her because, winter can be so beautiful someitmes. I was a little worried for her and how she'd handle the cold, but did fine and got some skiing in to boot. :) Soon after, we decided to take on the larger beginner hills. But don't be fooled, these "beginner" slopes were just as hard as the Black Diamonds in WI. I had NO idea what I was up for. Luckily, one of the girls who is best friends with the organization vice president, Laura from Nice, was kind enough to help me out. But I was still a little scared. The slopes are so steep, and it definitely didn't help to see 2-4 year olds go down the same vertical slopes I was with no difficulty or fear at all. ;) After that, we tried heading down to lunch to meet everyone in a restaurant that is half-way through the ski run perched on the mountain. It was beautiful to just sit there and stare out at the mountain and drink some cafe, while hearing everyone tell their stories about skiing. After that, I got in another run or 2 and then called it quits because my boots were cutting off my circulation due to not being fitted correctly...
After skiing, we all came back and went into the sauna, which was nice to get warmed up. We showered and then got ready for the dinner with the whole tour that was provided for us at a restaurant. It was SOOOO good! We ate warm German pototo salad and it was amazing to have potatoes again! lol. after that, we taste-tested the specialty liquor of the Alps, and it was disgusting lol. It is very popular, but I may as well have been eating an evergreen tree, because that's what it tasted like! Following dinner we all we laughing at eachother's stupid stories, lots about falling and stuff throughout the day. When we got back, we went into another girl's room and just talked with everyone and drank a little wine. It was a good night, except that one of the girls I was rooming with found out that her grandfather had passed away that day. That was hard because I know how hard it must be to lose someone like that when you're having fun and then all of a sudden, you find out soemthing like this. But we all talked to her and told her that he would've wanted her to have a good time and then leave the mourning to when she was able to be with her mom and family in England on Monday. Luckily, she seemed to be doing ok, as she had known about his condition for months by this time.
The next day, my legs were still pretty bruised from where the boots had cut off my circulation, lol, so Aimee and I decided to take it easy and just stay around the bottom of the slopes. At lunch time, we headed up the mountain to another restaurant on the slopes and ate lunch with everyone. It was gorgeous once again! And not even very cold! Then we came back down the mountain and sat and drank cafe with everyone and a new French friend who was a pro at skiing, Franc.
Not too soon after, it was time to start heading home. On the way back, I was able to take some pretty amazinggggggggg pictures from the bus window. I thought it was a beautiful place, but I truly had no idea until we were driving away from it and we could see it all in the back window of the bus! AHHH sooooo beautiful! LOVED it! A trip of a lifetime for sure!!! I can't wait to go back to the Alps some other time because it is just amazing, and a great time with friends.
Well, that is all for now. This week has been good. I'm finally getting better at taking notes/understanding things...but I just need to get better at speaking and improve my comprehension a bit more too. This is truly the best way to learn a language! You have to be immersed in it 24/7. It can be extremely draining at times and I often feel tired ALL the time, but on the same hand, I am also learning a lot and it gets more manageable everyday. I'm really glad that I have 5 more months here because I don't think that 3.5 more months here (like most other programs) would be enough time. I'm still adjusting and feel like I will be for awhile yet. So I'm glad I have this opportunity to stay a bit longer. Hopefully I will come back fairly fluent even!!! :/ In other news, I am excited because it is my 21st birthday tomorrow!!! I am excited, of course, but some part of me wishes that I could just go home for a bit and celebrate "the big one" with all my madison friends. But I am sure that my friends here will make me feel like I'm having a great time, too. Tonight is my birthday dinner with my host-mom and Leigh and tomorrow everyone on my program is taking a trip to Antibes (near Nice and Cannes) and Vence to see the Picasso museum (which, by the way, my host mom met Picasso when she was little...no big deal...this woman continually surprises me) and then I am coming back to go out to dinner with like 20 friends and go out afterwards. Should be a great Saturday! Can't wait to post pics from tomorrow and also my February vacation in Spain starting next Friday!!!!!! Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla, here we come!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm sorry I have not written in awhile...but it takes some motivation to recount everything I have done and write about it.
Travels:
Last weekend I went skiing in the Alps! It was AMAZING AND SOOOOO breathtaking. As you can see from my pictures, it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and am sure will ever go to. I went with an international student organization with my school and we stayed in Pelvoux, France for 2 nights and 2 days. I roomed with 5 other girls, who I feel really lucky to have found! I roomed with Aimee (from Louisiana), Caroline (South Africa), Melissa (Madison), Melissa (Germany), and Stine (Norway). A great group of girls who all get along really well. :) It was a very good deal and I got to share it with all my new friends from my school. When we got there after a 3 hour bus ride, it was dark and so we really couldn't appreciate the beauty of it all, but when I woke up, ughhh, there is just NOTHING like waking up and looking out the window and seeing those immense mountains and all the beautiful white snow. It's just so serene and awe-inspiring at the same time.
The first morning, we got up early and got fitted with our boots and skis and hit the slopes by 9:30am. At first, I was a little too confident, having skiied before, and fell not too much after I started down my first bunny-hill for a warm-up, I'm not afraid to say. :) But some of it came back to me for the most part. I felt a little more confident than some, who had never skiied before. I think one of my favorite parts had to have been experiencing it with my friend, Aimee, from Louisiana. She had never seen snow or cold in that capacity before, I was just so excited for her because, winter can be so beautiful someitmes. I was a little worried for her and how she'd handle the cold, but did fine and got some skiing in to boot. :) Soon after, we decided to take on the larger beginner hills. But don't be fooled, these "beginner" slopes were just as hard as the Black Diamonds in WI. I had NO idea what I was up for. Luckily, one of the girls who is best friends with the organization vice president, Laura from Nice, was kind enough to help me out. But I was still a little scared. The slopes are so steep, and it definitely didn't help to see 2-4 year olds go down the same vertical slopes I was with no difficulty or fear at all. ;) After that, we tried heading down to lunch to meet everyone in a restaurant that is half-way through the ski run perched on the mountain. It was beautiful to just sit there and stare out at the mountain and drink some cafe, while hearing everyone tell their stories about skiing. After that, I got in another run or 2 and then called it quits because my boots were cutting off my circulation due to not being fitted correctly...
After skiing, we all came back and went into the sauna, which was nice to get warmed up. We showered and then got ready for the dinner with the whole tour that was provided for us at a restaurant. It was SOOOO good! We ate warm German pototo salad and it was amazing to have potatoes again! lol. after that, we taste-tested the specialty liquor of the Alps, and it was disgusting lol. It is very popular, but I may as well have been eating an evergreen tree, because that's what it tasted like! Following dinner we all we laughing at eachother's stupid stories, lots about falling and stuff throughout the day. When we got back, we went into another girl's room and just talked with everyone and drank a little wine. It was a good night, except that one of the girls I was rooming with found out that her grandfather had passed away that day. That was hard because I know how hard it must be to lose someone like that when you're having fun and then all of a sudden, you find out soemthing like this. But we all talked to her and told her that he would've wanted her to have a good time and then leave the mourning to when she was able to be with her mom and family in England on Monday. Luckily, she seemed to be doing ok, as she had known about his condition for months by this time.
The next day, my legs were still pretty bruised from where the boots had cut off my circulation, lol, so Aimee and I decided to take it easy and just stay around the bottom of the slopes. At lunch time, we headed up the mountain to another restaurant on the slopes and ate lunch with everyone. It was gorgeous once again! And not even very cold! Then we came back down the mountain and sat and drank cafe with everyone and a new French friend who was a pro at skiing, Franc.
Not too soon after, it was time to start heading home. On the way back, I was able to take some pretty amazinggggggggg pictures from the bus window. I thought it was a beautiful place, but I truly had no idea until we were driving away from it and we could see it all in the back window of the bus! AHHH sooooo beautiful! LOVED it! A trip of a lifetime for sure!!! I can't wait to go back to the Alps some other time because it is just amazing, and a great time with friends.
Well, that is all for now. This week has been good. I'm finally getting better at taking notes/understanding things...but I just need to get better at speaking and improve my comprehension a bit more too. This is truly the best way to learn a language! You have to be immersed in it 24/7. It can be extremely draining at times and I often feel tired ALL the time, but on the same hand, I am also learning a lot and it gets more manageable everyday. I'm really glad that I have 5 more months here because I don't think that 3.5 more months here (like most other programs) would be enough time. I'm still adjusting and feel like I will be for awhile yet. So I'm glad I have this opportunity to stay a bit longer. Hopefully I will come back fairly fluent even!!! :/ In other news, I am excited because it is my 21st birthday tomorrow!!! I am excited, of course, but some part of me wishes that I could just go home for a bit and celebrate "the big one" with all my madison friends. But I am sure that my friends here will make me feel like I'm having a great time, too. Tonight is my birthday dinner with my host-mom and Leigh and tomorrow everyone on my program is taking a trip to Antibes (near Nice and Cannes) and Vence to see the Picasso museum (which, by the way, my host mom met Picasso when she was little...no big deal...this woman continually surprises me) and then I am coming back to go out to dinner with like 20 friends and go out afterwards. Should be a great Saturday! Can't wait to post pics from tomorrow and also my February vacation in Spain starting next Friday!!!!!! Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla, here we come!!!!!!!!!!!
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