In Edenbridge! Thank god; I don't think Christmas can really ever be called Christmas without snow. Even if it consists of the tiniest layer of the white stuff, which is currently installing itself over rooftops, trees and fences; Edenbridge looks pretty damn hot right now, if I do say so myself.
Home has been amazing since the minute I walked through the door! I'm half way through putting the decorations on the Christmas tree; a rather drawn-out process which is managing to last me a few days; it has to be perfect and I will be happy with nothing less than absolute perfection! Mum and I managed to put the lights up and on outside the house on one of the tree's; a pretty major effort if I do say so myself, and Mum also managed to get the chainsaw on the roots of the Christmas tree; I think it's fair to say that we were pretty close to cutting our legs off, and that I was worried about her cracking the tarmac on the drive; needless to say, the tree is up and in the living room now, and as I say, almost finished. The tree smells really good too; I love it.
Since I've been back I've managed to eat two M&S turkey sandwiches; the ones which Hannah and I have been craving for the past month, let alone the past few weeks. Nicest. Sandwiches. Ever. Everyone needs to go and have one. Or seven. I've also been eating lots of home food; literally melt-in-the-mouth stuff, it's delicious! Not that I'm saying I haven't eaten well over the past four months, because I most certainly have, but home food is always a favourite and I'm more than making up for missing out on it!
I've got plans to meet up with quite a few people, which means that my life is pretty jam packed right now! But I like it that way, and I love coming back and seeing everyone, so I'm pretty happy right now (",). I've already seen Soph, Dais, Mikey and Dan since I've been back, and today's supposedly an "off" day as it were (I'm currently waiting for Mum to get back from her half day at work; she's literally just pulled into the drive as I type actually!) before we go Christmas shopping (I need to start and finish it all in a day; not a problem, I hope!) and tomorrow the seeing-people starts again, with seeing Natatalie for lunch and going for drinks in the eve with Fi. On Friday I'm going to go and pick up Guy which I'm really excited about; I haven't seen him in 2 months (!) and then we're going to the pub for Ruari's 18th in the evening, before family on Saturday and then Mum and Dad's house party in the evening; exciting times!
All in all, Christmas has honestly never tasted, looked or smelt so good, and it hasn't even started yet! Bring on the next month of seeing family, friends, eating, shopping, and trying not to feel guilty about my complete and utter lack of work concerning that slightly important Dissertation I have to write...
Bisous! Jess xx
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Friday, 11 December 2009
Bahh ouais.
Bonjour à tous!
First things first: EXAMS ARE OVER!!! I would say “finally” but seeing as I only had three I think that’s going a bit too far :-P! They all went ok... harder than expected to say the least, but now just have to cross my fingers and wait until 18th January and see!
The Fête des Lumières (Festival of Light) was amazing; the city was totally lit up, and although you couldn’t really tell the difference from up high, on the ground level Lyon was absolutely incredible; I’ve got a million and one photos, only a few of which have been put up on Facebook. I went out three of the four nights and managed to see everything I wanted to, although there were around 70 spots around the city to go so I hardly saw everything!
I also did Secret Santa with about 8 of my English friends here; I got Hannah so that was easy enough ha-ha, although it was pretty hard keeping it from her! And Neil had me and got me some Ferrero Rocher’s, most of which seem to have disappeared with the help of Han, Steffi and Cryssy...
Tonight I’m going to go on the Ferris Wheel in Bellecour, and go out for my last French meal for a while in Vieux Lyon; I think the plan is to order one of those melting Camembert’s, MMMM so good Han and I’ve been saying we’ll have one all term, so it’s probably about time we actually got one ha-ha.
I haven’t even STARTED packing yet, which is turning into a slight problem; I really should start doing that soon! I’m catching the 5:15pm bus from Perrache (central Lyon) tomorrow so will have to leave halls around 4:50ish to be safe, and then will arrive in Gatwick at 20:15 English-time; any “Welcome-back-to-England!” texts will be greatly appreciated:-P.
All About Hannah:
It was recently pointed out to me by a very close friend that in my last blog, I neglected to mention a VIP concerning my year in Lyon: a certain Miss Hannah Victoria Buckley. Whilst this observation was, of course, made by hers truly (funnily enough,) she does bring a valid point that my readers would all like to know about how she is. To this I will answer that she is very well; she is currently uploading photos onto Facebook, and is looking forward to Camembert this evening and having a buffet ready and waiting for her when she gets home, where her family will be waiting for her in a line outside her house, waving.
I think that sums everything up lol... I’ll definitely blog again over Christmas, so the next time you read I’ll be in the UK; the land of turkey, The Times, Father Christmas and The X Factor. Life is good (“,)
Bisous! Jess xx
First things first: EXAMS ARE OVER!!! I would say “finally” but seeing as I only had three I think that’s going a bit too far :-P! They all went ok... harder than expected to say the least, but now just have to cross my fingers and wait until 18th January and see!
The Fête des Lumières (Festival of Light) was amazing; the city was totally lit up, and although you couldn’t really tell the difference from up high, on the ground level Lyon was absolutely incredible; I’ve got a million and one photos, only a few of which have been put up on Facebook. I went out three of the four nights and managed to see everything I wanted to, although there were around 70 spots around the city to go so I hardly saw everything!
I also did Secret Santa with about 8 of my English friends here; I got Hannah so that was easy enough ha-ha, although it was pretty hard keeping it from her! And Neil had me and got me some Ferrero Rocher’s, most of which seem to have disappeared with the help of Han, Steffi and Cryssy...
Tonight I’m going to go on the Ferris Wheel in Bellecour, and go out for my last French meal for a while in Vieux Lyon; I think the plan is to order one of those melting Camembert’s, MMMM so good Han and I’ve been saying we’ll have one all term, so it’s probably about time we actually got one ha-ha.
I haven’t even STARTED packing yet, which is turning into a slight problem; I really should start doing that soon! I’m catching the 5:15pm bus from Perrache (central Lyon) tomorrow so will have to leave halls around 4:50ish to be safe, and then will arrive in Gatwick at 20:15 English-time; any “Welcome-back-to-England!” texts will be greatly appreciated:-P.
All About Hannah:
It was recently pointed out to me by a very close friend that in my last blog, I neglected to mention a VIP concerning my year in Lyon: a certain Miss Hannah Victoria Buckley. Whilst this observation was, of course, made by hers truly (funnily enough,) she does bring a valid point that my readers would all like to know about how she is. To this I will answer that she is very well; she is currently uploading photos onto Facebook, and is looking forward to Camembert this evening and having a buffet ready and waiting for her when she gets home, where her family will be waiting for her in a line outside her house, waving.
I think that sums everything up lol... I’ll definitely blog again over Christmas, so the next time you read I’ll be in the UK; the land of turkey, The Times, Father Christmas and The X Factor. Life is good (“,)
Bisous! Jess xx
Monday, 7 December 2009
My thoughts:
Things I like about France:
1) Christmas Markets with all the mulled wine, stalls, christmas presents and christmas tree
2) Being able to get warm pain au chocolats whenever I want :-D
3) Laughing at funny French people's names such as "Gaylord"
4) That I am in France and therefore in another country than England which is exciting
5) The Festival of Lights and all of the fireworks/lights that seem to be everywhere right now
6) French food; Lyon is definitely the gastronomical capital of France (if not the world in my opinion) and I absolutely love it
7) The Parc de la Tete d'Or with the lake and the zoo and the GRASS :-D
8) Walking around and discovering new things
9) My Tecely card and the magic it brings :-P
10) When people come to visit
11) The bus which takes me to the airport... :-P
12) My little room with it's very own little en-suite :-D
13) Going on nights out with my English friends and having AMAZING nights out even if the clubs are sometimes a bit strange/hot/not normal
14) Going to the pub to watch football when an English team is playing a French one and supporting England to the max :-D
15) Talking to people when I'm out and about and trying to improve my Francais
16) Being able to tell people that I live in Lyon; who else has lived in a foreign country all by themselves at my age...not many lol
17) That I'm here and making the most of it :-)
Things I don't like about France:
1) French bank accounts; opening it the first time round was bloody difficult enough; recently the bank decided that I wasn't using my account REGULARLY enough (p*** off) so they decided to "momentarily block my bank card" (idiots) to which I had to walk along to the bank and demand they do something; they said I had to apply for a new card, which, as I reminded them last time took A WHOLE TWO MONTHS to come through before (lazy inefficient *******) so they ordered it (after I went down to speak to them personally to make sure they were working on it practically every day for at least three days in a row; only way to make sure ANYTHING got done) and NOW I can't upload my photo online so have to go back AGAIN tomorrow. Kill. Me. Now.
2) French Administration; as above. Plus the stupid Professor Quirrel-wannabee who seems to have made it her mission to ruin my life, after I supposedly (it was Steffi, but I was nearest the doorbell so she blamed me) rang the bell a million and one times at the Welcome Desk one time because no one came after the first three rings.
3) When I accidentally drop my laptop on the floor and manage to a) break the DVD drive (it won't open; slight problem when my dissertation is all about FILMS and CINEMA *sigh) b) bend the laptop charger c) break half of the USB points and d) break something internally which makes the laptop turn itself off randomly when I am trying to work/Facebook/MSN/get on the Internet (which in itself is a very rare occurrence.) Although this point is not really France's fault, it happened in France and I therefore blame the country as a whole :-P
4) When it rains (which happens alot) because the rain in France is fat (no joke) so you get wetter quicker, and it also makes a HORRIFIC noise when I try to get to sleep and therefore cannot get to sleep, adding to my already daily insomnia. Thank you France.
5) When the shops/banks are closed at stupid times and the 2 hours of the day that the Lyonnais have annoyingly decided to devote to eating lunch; the result is that they only work for about 4 hours a day and even then are not REALLY working; kissing each other as a greeting every day and as a way of parting must take at LEAST an hour of their time, the other is spent being bored/trying not to do work/sitting on their a****
6) The local tramps and prostitutes; half of which like to sit around naked (or at least with something you'd rather not see on show)
7) When French people pretend not to understand you when they know exactly what you just said because you just PRO-NOUN-CI-A-TED IT CO-RRECT-LY, for the sole reason that you are English and therefore not French and want to make it perfectly clear that they know this fact, and to make you feel stupid and insignificant. Anyone remember the War...
8) Strikes which seem to be a daily occurrence and making getting anywhere/doing anything even more impossible than it already was in the first place
9) The blinds by my windows which mean that when I wake up at 1pm and think it's 10am it feels wrong to get up; it is also the reason for my insomnia I believe, because the lack of light/not waking up to light confuses me and I therefore think it's acceptable to go back to sleep when I wake up at 10am (even though I check the clock and it says it's 10am lol)
Having just re-read what I've written I have moaned about France a bit more than I think I needed to lol... because all in all I am really happy to be here and I'm having an amazing time; to be honest there's probably thing's about England that I could complain about forever even though I love it, so I'm not too worried lol.
Other than that, all is good this side of the Channel :-) exams are coming up (I've got them on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; painful lol) but we're exchanging Secret Santa presents on Wednesday and I'm coming home for Christmas for a month on Saturday evening; should land at Gatwick at around quarter past 8 British time so can't wait for that and to see everyone back home again :-). I went out clubbing the other night which was funny but good, and I've been going out the past two evenings to see things for the Festival of Light, and am going out for that tomorrow evening for a couple of hours too, as a break from revision.
I really can't believe how fast time's gone; come Friday I'll have finished my first term in Lyon, and after that I'll only have one more to go, so I'll be half way through the Year Abroad, which seems crazy. Four months has gone by so quickly!
Will post another blog before I come home, but until then I will be found head down in a dictionary trying to get my head round this stuff/shouting at some useless French bank staff member/trying to do some French exams... Wish me luck!
Bisous! Jess xx
1) Christmas Markets with all the mulled wine, stalls, christmas presents and christmas tree
2) Being able to get warm pain au chocolats whenever I want :-D
3) Laughing at funny French people's names such as "Gaylord"
4) That I am in France and therefore in another country than England which is exciting
5) The Festival of Lights and all of the fireworks/lights that seem to be everywhere right now
6) French food; Lyon is definitely the gastronomical capital of France (if not the world in my opinion) and I absolutely love it
7) The Parc de la Tete d'Or with the lake and the zoo and the GRASS :-D
8) Walking around and discovering new things
9) My Tecely card and the magic it brings :-P
10) When people come to visit
11) The bus which takes me to the airport... :-P
12) My little room with it's very own little en-suite :-D
13) Going on nights out with my English friends and having AMAZING nights out even if the clubs are sometimes a bit strange/hot/not normal
14) Going to the pub to watch football when an English team is playing a French one and supporting England to the max :-D
15) Talking to people when I'm out and about and trying to improve my Francais
16) Being able to tell people that I live in Lyon; who else has lived in a foreign country all by themselves at my age...not many lol
17) That I'm here and making the most of it :-)
Things I don't like about France:
1) French bank accounts; opening it the first time round was bloody difficult enough; recently the bank decided that I wasn't using my account REGULARLY enough (p*** off) so they decided to "momentarily block my bank card" (idiots) to which I had to walk along to the bank and demand they do something; they said I had to apply for a new card, which, as I reminded them last time took A WHOLE TWO MONTHS to come through before (lazy inefficient *******) so they ordered it (after I went down to speak to them personally to make sure they were working on it practically every day for at least three days in a row; only way to make sure ANYTHING got done) and NOW I can't upload my photo online so have to go back AGAIN tomorrow. Kill. Me. Now.
2) French Administration; as above. Plus the stupid Professor Quirrel-wannabee who seems to have made it her mission to ruin my life, after I supposedly (it was Steffi, but I was nearest the doorbell so she blamed me) rang the bell a million and one times at the Welcome Desk one time because no one came after the first three rings.
3) When I accidentally drop my laptop on the floor and manage to a) break the DVD drive (it won't open; slight problem when my dissertation is all about FILMS and CINEMA *sigh) b) bend the laptop charger c) break half of the USB points and d) break something internally which makes the laptop turn itself off randomly when I am trying to work/Facebook/MSN/get on the Internet (which in itself is a very rare occurrence.) Although this point is not really France's fault, it happened in France and I therefore blame the country as a whole :-P
4) When it rains (which happens alot) because the rain in France is fat (no joke) so you get wetter quicker, and it also makes a HORRIFIC noise when I try to get to sleep and therefore cannot get to sleep, adding to my already daily insomnia. Thank you France.
5) When the shops/banks are closed at stupid times and the 2 hours of the day that the Lyonnais have annoyingly decided to devote to eating lunch; the result is that they only work for about 4 hours a day and even then are not REALLY working; kissing each other as a greeting every day and as a way of parting must take at LEAST an hour of their time, the other is spent being bored/trying not to do work/sitting on their a****
6) The local tramps and prostitutes; half of which like to sit around naked (or at least with something you'd rather not see on show)
7) When French people pretend not to understand you when they know exactly what you just said because you just PRO-NOUN-CI-A-TED IT CO-RRECT-LY, for the sole reason that you are English and therefore not French and want to make it perfectly clear that they know this fact, and to make you feel stupid and insignificant. Anyone remember the War...
8) Strikes which seem to be a daily occurrence and making getting anywhere/doing anything even more impossible than it already was in the first place
9) The blinds by my windows which mean that when I wake up at 1pm and think it's 10am it feels wrong to get up; it is also the reason for my insomnia I believe, because the lack of light/not waking up to light confuses me and I therefore think it's acceptable to go back to sleep when I wake up at 10am (even though I check the clock and it says it's 10am lol)
Having just re-read what I've written I have moaned about France a bit more than I think I needed to lol... because all in all I am really happy to be here and I'm having an amazing time; to be honest there's probably thing's about England that I could complain about forever even though I love it, so I'm not too worried lol.
Other than that, all is good this side of the Channel :-) exams are coming up (I've got them on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; painful lol) but we're exchanging Secret Santa presents on Wednesday and I'm coming home for Christmas for a month on Saturday evening; should land at Gatwick at around quarter past 8 British time so can't wait for that and to see everyone back home again :-). I went out clubbing the other night which was funny but good, and I've been going out the past two evenings to see things for the Festival of Light, and am going out for that tomorrow evening for a couple of hours too, as a break from revision.
I really can't believe how fast time's gone; come Friday I'll have finished my first term in Lyon, and after that I'll only have one more to go, so I'll be half way through the Year Abroad, which seems crazy. Four months has gone by so quickly!
Will post another blog before I come home, but until then I will be found head down in a dictionary trying to get my head round this stuff/shouting at some useless French bank staff member/trying to do some French exams... Wish me luck!
Bisous! Jess xx
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