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Published: October 11th 2011
Hello Everyone!
I am more than a month into my experience in France right now and I can truly say that I am loving my new life.
School is going pretty well, I can understand the teachers and am arriving at taking notes at the same time as listening which is very difficult for a non French student to accomplish!
I am starting to work hard and study, especially for my third year economics class which is pretty difficult. We even have to do an oral presentation in class sometime this semester which will be very frightening for us exchange people! I am determined to do well however!
I also have been doing a lot of trips during the weekends with a group called CUEF, which organizes activities for the exchange students. They are really well priced, and the man that is in charge of it is called Vincent and he is great because he explains all about the history and other interesting facts about where we are going, so we actually learn something that we wouldn’t have otherwise going alone.
Cote D’Azur
We left all together, a bus load of people from all over the
world Friday afternoon. On the way we stopped at a few towns to take pictures and go on bathroom breaks as it was a 5 hour bus ride to get to Nice. We arrived at nice at night, and had supper together at a restaurant that was paid for by the CUEF. Then we went out during the night to check out the city and go see the Mediterranean ocean! It felt we were in a tropical place as there were even palm trees and lots of flowers. I dipped my feet into the ocean and found that it was 10 times warmer than our pacific ocean in Canada!
The next day we set off early to see more of the city. There were flower markets and spice markets and even book markets as we made our way down to the beach. When we got there we saw tons of people (mostly old happy tan people) up and down the beach, enjoying the hot weather. We swam for an hour or so, enjoying the clear water that you could see all the way down to the water. The colour of the water was exactly how the French named it;
an Azur blue.
We then explored the old city which is entirely built out of stone and has lots of little alleyways to explore in. We then head up to the bastille where the castle for the principality of Nice used to stand before it got torn down during the revolution. The view from the top was amazing.
We met up the whole group in the afternoon and headed for the Kingdom of Monaco! I did not realize that it was its own country, one of the smallest in the world. As expected however it was very rich. All the houses were white and I saw the most porches, lexis, and other beautiful cars that Ive seen in one place in my life! When we got there we went to the Aqaurium that one of he late kings had built as he was interested in oceanography. It was nothing compared to the Vancouver Aquarium but it was nice seeing all the beautiful fish and sea animals.
We then went to the Palace of the King, where we all listened to an audio guide explaining all the riches we had before our eyes, and bien sur we were
not allowed to take pictures!
After we sat down to have a very expensive beer, and then went to another part of Monaco where the big casinos are. We did not go all the way inside as it cost more money than we had to get in, but we did get a look around at the place. Then we went walking around the streets of Monaco where we passed baby and children stores of Dior and Guchi. Imagine having the kind of money to spend on a child that will outgrow the clothes in a couple of months-very disgusting when you think about the poor people dying in Africa.. Anyways we found a cheaper place to get a drink around there.
We went back to Nice after that for supper at an average Italian restaurant with a bunch of other exchange students which was fun, and then I went to bed as I was pretty tired!
The next day I woke up early again to go back to the beach to
swim, can’t get enough of the water! We met up with the group at 11 and headed to a beautiful village named Eze which is in the
mountains, and is a tiny fortified city known for its perfumes. I had fun exploring the little spot, looking at the flowers and vines growing up the rocky walls, and imaging myself back in the fourteenth century. The perfumery was amazing as well, learning about the three parts to a perfume (head, body and soul) and the different types of perfume (flower, fruit, spice, aromatic, and a couple of others that I forget now. You could order your own creation for a mere 100 euros but I resisted the urge. :P
We then spent the lots couple hours before our depart at Caine, which has more sandier beaches than Nice and also the Place des Spectacles where the famous movie starts go on the red carpet. I spent the whole time in the water and sunbathing so I did not see much of the city itself.
We then had to leave the beautiful south of France and head back up north to the mountains! I was sad to leave, but knew that one day I would go back and visit the Mediterranean again.
Annecy
Annecy is a town just two hours away from Grenoble that is
reputated as being the Petit Venice de France because of its many canals and beautiful buildings. I went there last Saturday with the same organization CUEF. We went on this day especially because it was the Fete de la ville, and all the activities of the summer were at an end. This means that all the cows/goats that are up in the mountains grazing are brought down for the winter, and all the activities like honey making, cheese making, sausage making or finished for the year as well. There were tons of people there to buy the beautiful organic food, typical only of this region.
I bought a hat made out of pure wool, and spun in the town itself, and also some honey made of flowers for the region. Lastly a bought a bottle of fresh apple juice that we saw being pressed by big machines. There were singings yodelling, dancers performing some sort of stomping dance, and long instruments called the Cornes des Alpes that were playing as well. We saw hay making, yarn spinning, and even belt makers! Everything artisan and from the country was celebrated that day! The only set back to the day was that
it was raining, and there was a sea of umbrellas throughout the city which was pretty to watch. Finally after hours of walking we grew tired of the cold, and went to a restaurant to dry off. It was a very fun day, and I went home very happy after all my purchases. I finished the whole bottle of apple juice in just two days!
Thanksgiving
To celebrate this national holiday I decided to take matters into my own hands and organize a dinner for my international friends to get together and eat and be merry. I was very happy with the turn out and although we did not have turkey we did manage to have a feast! We had potatoes, rice, pasta, salad, bread, cheese, and even cake for dessert! And bien sur Wine!
We had a lot of fun, and I even got everyone to learn the song “the lord is good to me, and so I thank the lord..” and then we all said what we were thankful for.
It was nice teaching people a little about the Canadian culture, and everyone thanked them for hosting. I even was left with a lot of leftovers
in the end!
This week
This week well be a busy one for me as usual.
Wednesday (tomorrow) I have a seven hour day of courses, my biggest day!
10:30-12:30 European union which is an international student class so it just for speaking in French about different subjects and even debating sometimes. We are marked on participation and also presenting on different subjects using powerpoint. Mine is in November and will be on Turkey and if it should be invited into the EU or not.
1:50-4:50: My Geopolitics course which is interesting but very long
5:30-7:30 My French Contemporary society course which is again for international students and is all about the social problems of France
Then I am meeting my French Buddy Meava for dinner at her place to practise my French while she practises her english
Thursday
I babysit three children from 11:20-1:20 and prepare lunch for them. The rest of the day I have off to do homework.
Friday
MORE HOMEWORK! Lol
And then going to my Quebec friend Camille’s house for another dinner. (See it is great to have friends when you live by yourself because then you get invited to dinner
to have meals!)
Saturday/Sunday
I am going to a weekend in the mountains organized by Integre which is an organization that is for the international students and puts on numerous parties and low cost activities for them.
The price is only 40 euros so I think it is very well price, for a night in a cabin, and also food and transport up there. We leave early Saturday morning and get up there and hike all day. The night we are having a Karaoke party where we have to dress up in something that starts with a D. I thought of the Dhali Lama, so I hope that no one else thinks of that one! I have an orange dress and someone is lending me a bid orange scarf so I’ll make it work somehow!Sunday we are going on a big rope course in the trees which will be fun.
I am always happy to get out of my little room during the weekends and explore the surroundings.
Lastly we have a week vacation in a couple of weeks for the Toussaint and I am heading to Belgium for a couple of days to stay with
my friend Adeline. Then I think in November when it is cold a will settle down and stay in Grenoble during the weekends to do some snowboarding!
Anyways, that is all my news for now sorry it took a while in coming, but like you see I am staying busy.
Lots of Love from Grenoble,
Sincerely
Becca
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Sherry Sim
non-member comment
Rebecca, you are living the LIFE~ I am so glad you are having such a great experience over there...I too have travelled to Monaco, the Mediterranean and it is so beautiful there....make the most of your time over there and looks like you are!!! Have fun!