Blogs from Nantes, Pays-de-la-Loire, France, Europe - page 4

I do, I really do need to write a book. Perhaps I will call it, France, An Efficient Person's or Just a Normal Person's Survival Guide I do not understand how this country, this place called France, has yet to be kicked out of the EU or just implode. I hear Germany and Sweden are the two countries being ridden on. This place can really drive an American girl mad! In these past few days, little events have occured that I cannot stand to think about because I might go crazy. Here's just a little list to give you an idea of how inefficient and smug France is! 1. About a month ago, Lauren took her laptop to a computer repair shop to have the fan replaced. She was told, oh no problem, we just have ... read more

Hello everyone! Good news: my computer virus is gone, thanks to my friend Dan! Well I'm writing you from my bed because I haven't gone to work since last week! My students are on strike! They have blockaded the entrance to the school and refuse to enter until, well lets just say that they somehow coincidentally chose the week before Christmas vacation and probably won't enter until the next semester. I have to say, I think this whole striking thing for the students is ridiculous, but I'm getting an extra week of paid vacation! This past weekend while Lauren and April were at Disneyland, I hung out with some coworkers and my friend Rachel, who also had a Christmas party on Saturday night. It was good fun. Other than that it was a kinda uneventful weekend. ... read more

Tis the season once again! Well it's that time of year for a Christmas tree! Lemme tell you, it's not so easy in this country! Lauren and I went to Ikea, of course, to buy a live tree for 20 euros and then if you return it in January you get 19 euros store credit. Some deal they have to make fertilizer with them afterwards.... So we get there and we find our Denmark made trees all wrapped up in netting and some covered in mud. After we picked out the one we thought looked best, we were sad to learn that Ikea doesn't sell tree stands. Our friend Anthony that works there told us that it was no problem to find one in the "target like" stores, so we thought, ok we will get the ... read more

A very happy Thanksgiving day to all my friends and family! Well, this is my first time having to be in a school on Thanksgiving day, however, I've made the best of it. I just had fun with all my classes telling them about Thanksgiving and playing games and watching funny cartoons about Thanksgiving. I got some interesting answers from my students when I asked them why we celebrate Thanksgiving. One student said it's the day when Gabriel told Mary that Jesus was coming and another said it was during "the war" when they didn't have food, and then one said Thanksgiving is turkey. Simply just turkey. Oh it gave me all kinds of giggles. So I shared the legacy of the Pilgrims and Squanto. Yay for me sharing my history. Yesterday we did the majority ... read more

Hello everyone! It's a lovely and sunny fall day here in Nantes, I'm sorry to hear about the recent weather in Iowa...Don't worry, I keep reminding my southern contemporaries that Nantes is not cold at all compared to where I come from! Well, I'm not writing to report any major fun outings or adventures, however, I am writing to let you know that I have found 2 American things: my gym and a restaurant here called Burger House. All the machines in my gym are in English and they have all kinds of classes like "body attack" or "self defense" that were designed in the U.S., as well as pilates and yoga etc. It's really nice to go there and see the few French citizens that look and excerise like Americans. :) Today, Lauren, John and ... read more