And now I'm back in Nantes, currently working on cleaning out my apartment and getting ready to say Au Revoir to the land of cheese and Edith Piaf. I'm about to have my last week of work, which I have to admit is going to consist of me not preparing lessons and just playing games with my students. But I think they actually learn more from my games, so that's ok right? I am really ready to come home; I miss my family, my friends, and my theatre. Though I really haven't had much to do with theatre here and only [View Full Entry]

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The final installment to the Spring 2009 saga....Amsterdam. April 16 It was nice to arrive in Amsterdam by train, the whole process of coming in and out of airports can be so tiring. Luckily the Amsterdam Central Train Station is a five minute walk from the downtown area and our hostel. We stepped out and realized immediately of the biggest danger in all of Europe: the BICYCLES of Amsterdam. I swear I have never seen so many bicycles in my life and they will run you over, no mercy. You have to constantly watch the lane you're in, listen for ringing [View Full Entry]

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And then my friends, we arrive in Brussels, Belgium. Capitol of Europe; home of fries and the waffle.... One of my favorite cities in Europe! April 13 Well I actually fell asleep sitting up on the plane ride over from Madrid, for the first time in my life. I normally have a horrible time falling asleep on public transportation, but I was so tired; I only remember take off and landing. We took a bus and a couple metros and found our hostel with little trouble. I was happy to see that the hostel was a little more suited for "youthful [View Full Entry]

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Hola amigos! So the story continues in Madrid, Spain. April 10 We arrived all safe and sound to the Madrid airport where we then hopped on the metro towards downtown. Madrid's metro system is the coolest of all the metros I've been on. It's only 2 euros to get to and from the airport and it's only 1 euro for every trip, where as Nantes, Brussels, Paris etc are at least 1 euro 30 cents. The Madrid metro is a lot newer and cleaner too. Anyways, we followed all the directions to our metro stop by the hostel, Plaza de Santo [View Full Entry]

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So the next several entries are a little late in coming, due to lack of time and internet access during my spring two week vacation... April 6 The start of the journey began with April and I meeting at the library in Nantes in order to return our overdue books and then grab a bite on our way to the train station. Our backpacks neatly packed for the one and only time on this trip, we took our big smiles and excitement on a train towards Beauvais, France. Along the train ride, we picked up our friend Dan who lives in [View Full Entry]

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Hello again! I was just sitting here in my apartment, Lauren and I just dabbling on the computers, and thought I would write you all once again. The main thing that's happened since the last real entry was Margaret's and Andy's visit. It was really great to have the three of us together in Paris after being separated for so long with all sorts of new aspects to our lives. We went all around Paris, they came back to Nantes with me to get a glimpse of my life and friends here, went back to Paris and they we had to [View Full Entry]

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Hey! Hope everyone is doing well! So Margaret and Andy are here and we've been doing all kinds of fun stuff that I've written about before so I won't repeat myself. However, I did want to show you a video my students made for my class. So, I put my class into groups and gave them a type of business. Then I said that they needed to design a philanthropic program for their company and design an advertisement in English and present it. It was showing how business and peace go together. Like the Product Red line started by Bono and [View Full Entry]

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Hello everyone, it has been quite awhile. I've obviously not been good about keeping you updated, but I've been away from my computer the majority of the time, keeping busy traveling etc with Nick. Many exciting things have happened over the past few weeks and this entry is going to be a long one, so I suggest getting a nice cup of coffee, perhaps some mixed nuts, or just plain cashews to help you get through all of this! So, let's start with the night before I left Nantes to meet Nick at the airport in Paris....The date was Feb. 9th. [View Full Entry]

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Hey everybody, hope all is well! Well I thought I would write a little note to say a temporary farewell as I embark on my 3rd vacation since beginning work! I will be getting up at 3:45 tomorrow morning to catch a 5:30 train to the airport in Paris to meet Nick! I cannot wait! We'll be in Paris for 3 nights, Munich for 4 nights, and Milan for 4 nights. So, I will be at the mercy of internet cafes since I decided not to take my laptop on this trip, it's too much of a burden to carry around. [View Full Entry]

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Hello to you all, I hope this day finds you in good spirits. I'm currently sitting once again in the teachers' lounge after being told five minutes ago that I would not be taking the students at 10, it's becoming a normal thing, so I figured I would write my blog and do some more trip planning! The end of January has come and gone, it was not very eventful, considering I was quite poor after buying tickets and tours for my upcoming vacations. Last Wednesday, the girls and I (that includes John of course) went out on the town since [View Full Entry]

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