Time has passed quickly, a month has gone by and we're another month into the season of Winter. Those 815 lectures are going to be more unforgiving now that the mornings are as black as night when we wake.
The Toussaint holidays have passed without much note, apart from a friend's 21st celebrations, new friends made, old friends reconciled, and of course more euros frittered away on alcohol.
On Wednesday I will have been in France for nine weeks, and the time has flown - and I seem to have done very little work - which I bet will have to change in the coming weeks as I face a CIREFE exam on Wednesday evening *sigh*, the subject of which is yet unknown.
It seems strange that I have already passed the halfway mark in my time here in France, and I have only but just over six weeks left until I fly home for Christmas. Time, which in advance seems to stretch beyond horizons, passes as if it were a fleeting glimpse. It's probably related to my perception of time, which errs on the side of being lacking.
One hope is that France as a country returns to normal from now on. Strikes are slightly amusing at best, heinously inconvenient at their worst. Even the students take to the streets and , in our case, blockaded our University for an entire week. So for a few unlucky few, including myself, that blew our chances of getting our learning agreement faxed back home. So we missed out on our Erasmus Grant money , and have had to wait two weeks until now - and now hopefully tomorrow I will manage to get it signed :D hooray.
Is it sad that I've started to think of meals I would die for when I get home? Bangers and mash with onion gravy is top of my list. Christmas is really not that far away.
L
Monday, 1 November 2010
Saturday, 18 September 2010
Twelve
Had an eventful past couple of days. Night out Erasmus style on Thursday with the girls which obviously involved plenty of mischief. Spying on fellow residents from across the courtyard.... Heckling..... eagerly anticipating the next moves of the couple across the way, who were blatantly exhibitionist. It's easy to close your shutter, and they even had curtains! Even funnier the next morning, when, hungover as we were, we fell about when we noticed them in the English department. Not through being mean, just that they had no idea that we saw them the night before.
Bar Cactus was ram-packed full of French and Erasmus students alike, a free for all with cheap drinks and sometimes vaguely cheap moves. With no space to move inside, and barely space to move outside in the smoking area, our options were limited. And involved leaving at 2am in the morning, to wait for the night bus. As we'd missed the last metro, this was our next inexpensive option, as taxis are obviously not student friendly!
On walking the 1km to Place de Republique from Bar Cactus, we found ourselves confronted with plenty of drunk students. Hundreds in fact. Who'd all had the same idea - grab the night bus home. Weary and slightly intoxicated, we sat and waited for the bus, in the vague hope that we could somehow get on it.
Alas, the bus was full in the blink of an eye, with still plenty of people left on the pavement. Stupidly, in a drunk student's mind, walking home won't take that long, or isn't too far.
It was alright for the others, who were in flat shoes. I, in heels, had another hurdle to face. We didn't realise it was three miles back to halls.
On the way back we ran into , well , I say ran into, a French guy who seemed to be with friends, the latter of whom disappeared suddenly. He, Florian, fell into step with Sarah and I, who somehow held a conversation with him in French for the rest of the walk back to Villejean, around half an hour. Charming and somewhat attractive, although very drunk, he was a right laugh and fun to talk to, lightened the mood of our walk back.
He'll forever be remembered for dancing down the street chanting "Ooh ah, Eric Cantona!"
Probably not the best thing to be proclaiming at 3am in the centre of Rennes, but we got away with it.
He also couldn't seem to make up his mind upon which Premiership Team was his favourite.... "Liverpool!.... No, Chelsea!...... No, Arsenal!..... Ah Yes, Manchester United! Wayne Rooney!"
He bade us farewell, surprisingly a three to four minute walk away from where we're living, in true French style, a kiss on both cheeks. Lucky it was dark.
Hopefully we'll see him again someday.
Went to see "Twelve" this evening with my flatmate. A brilliant film, with excellent narration, a real atmosphere and tragic storyline. Definitely not for the faint-hearted. Also, 50 Cent plays a drug dealer, who gets his kit off at one point. Hint, go and see it. Chace Crawford - a stunning performance as "White Mike"
Trying to do my translations, Version, and Theme, is dull as dishwater. Almost enough to send someone to sleep. On which note, I may oblige,
'Night.
Bar Cactus was ram-packed full of French and Erasmus students alike, a free for all with cheap drinks and sometimes vaguely cheap moves. With no space to move inside, and barely space to move outside in the smoking area, our options were limited. And involved leaving at 2am in the morning, to wait for the night bus. As we'd missed the last metro, this was our next inexpensive option, as taxis are obviously not student friendly!
On walking the 1km to Place de Republique from Bar Cactus, we found ourselves confronted with plenty of drunk students. Hundreds in fact. Who'd all had the same idea - grab the night bus home. Weary and slightly intoxicated, we sat and waited for the bus, in the vague hope that we could somehow get on it.
Alas, the bus was full in the blink of an eye, with still plenty of people left on the pavement. Stupidly, in a drunk student's mind, walking home won't take that long, or isn't too far.
It was alright for the others, who were in flat shoes. I, in heels, had another hurdle to face. We didn't realise it was three miles back to halls.
On the way back we ran into , well , I say ran into, a French guy who seemed to be with friends, the latter of whom disappeared suddenly. He, Florian, fell into step with Sarah and I, who somehow held a conversation with him in French for the rest of the walk back to Villejean, around half an hour. Charming and somewhat attractive, although very drunk, he was a right laugh and fun to talk to, lightened the mood of our walk back.
He'll forever be remembered for dancing down the street chanting "Ooh ah, Eric Cantona!"
Probably not the best thing to be proclaiming at 3am in the centre of Rennes, but we got away with it.
He also couldn't seem to make up his mind upon which Premiership Team was his favourite.... "Liverpool!.... No, Chelsea!...... No, Arsenal!..... Ah Yes, Manchester United! Wayne Rooney!"
He bade us farewell, surprisingly a three to four minute walk away from where we're living, in true French style, a kiss on both cheeks. Lucky it was dark.
Hopefully we'll see him again someday.
Went to see "Twelve" this evening with my flatmate. A brilliant film, with excellent narration, a real atmosphere and tragic storyline. Definitely not for the faint-hearted. Also, 50 Cent plays a drug dealer, who gets his kit off at one point. Hint, go and see it. Chace Crawford - a stunning performance as "White Mike"
Trying to do my translations, Version, and Theme, is dull as dishwater. Almost enough to send someone to sleep. On which note, I may oblige,
'Night.
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
Cheval? But surely, that's a horse?
Another day assumed to pan out as a quiet one, with an outcome of quite the opposite. Major upheaval in how we have to construct and carry out our modules/courses over here - presuming that LEA modules (Applied foreign languages) would be perfectly suitable for Joint Honours students, we selected a majority of our modules from this department, only to find out that we were shooting way above our weight with such choices, according to "Lessie our bezzie"
So it was back to the drawing board. Eventually the outcome was another English module.... (maybe a bit of a cheat, but if the module co-ordinator back home approves, who am I to argue) and it's literature, which is gonna be hard for me anyway. This along with a few carefully selected German modules, some of them Licence 3 ( French third year) puts me just above the required total of ECTS credits. A long day for sure. With drama, as always.
Today is my fourth day without a cigarette, and I thought I'd be doing worse than I am. Although trying to give up such a habit in a country which is reknown for its smokers is no mean feat. Everytime I enter or exit a building on campus I have to make my way through a crowd of smokers, engulfed in a haze of smoke. And have to stop myself doing my Subway style "longest inhalation ever". Not easy!
Outside waiting for "Lessie our Bezzie", we encountered an Erasmus letter - the details of which are irrelevant, bar the fact that it mentioned something about "a cheval" - by horse. Which when put into the context, had nothing to do with what the letter was supposed to be about. Typical Brits that we are, a Monty Python discussion ensued, with several "Fetchez la Vache!" and Patsy impressions, to leave us silent laughing, to the confusion of surrounding French students, and most of all Lessie when she opened the door.
Tomorrow I have my first Licence 3 German module, should be interesting as I haven't spoken or read German much at all since June. I also have Version Francais a Anglais Traduction. Translating from English to French, supposedly a menace for the English student. Odd that I find the other version much more difficult. We shall see!
A bientot, and Mash Potato!
Lauz.
So it was back to the drawing board. Eventually the outcome was another English module.... (maybe a bit of a cheat, but if the module co-ordinator back home approves, who am I to argue) and it's literature, which is gonna be hard for me anyway. This along with a few carefully selected German modules, some of them Licence 3 ( French third year) puts me just above the required total of ECTS credits. A long day for sure. With drama, as always.
Today is my fourth day without a cigarette, and I thought I'd be doing worse than I am. Although trying to give up such a habit in a country which is reknown for its smokers is no mean feat. Everytime I enter or exit a building on campus I have to make my way through a crowd of smokers, engulfed in a haze of smoke. And have to stop myself doing my Subway style "longest inhalation ever". Not easy!
Outside waiting for "Lessie our Bezzie", we encountered an Erasmus letter - the details of which are irrelevant, bar the fact that it mentioned something about "a cheval" - by horse. Which when put into the context, had nothing to do with what the letter was supposed to be about. Typical Brits that we are, a Monty Python discussion ensued, with several "Fetchez la Vache!" and Patsy impressions, to leave us silent laughing, to the confusion of surrounding French students, and most of all Lessie when she opened the door.
Tomorrow I have my first Licence 3 German module, should be interesting as I haven't spoken or read German much at all since June. I also have Version Francais a Anglais Traduction. Translating from English to French, supposedly a menace for the English student. Odd that I find the other version much more difficult. We shall see!
A bientot, and Mash Potato!
Lauz.
Monday, 13 September 2010
Bienvenue à Rennes
So, I've been in Rennes for a week, and I can hardly describe my time here so far as boring. Every day brings new surprises or challenges - how to get insurance for your halls for something not required back home. Like insurance against flooding. In a flat - a few storeys up. From a company who don't send you documents.
University restaurants where guys get up in the middle of lunch hour and strip on tables, people walk around in bin bags and tape their course mates to chairs.
Living in Halls of Residence over here is a bit of a different lifestyle to at home. At the weekends it's solely international students, as the French students make their way back home to their families. Don't blame them when there's no oven nor freezer to use. Makes food shopping somewhat interesting - forces you to be creative with your culinary skills, or in my case, somewhat lack of them. I'm learning - managed to make a turkey stir fry - chicken was only sold in large packs, and beef was about ten euros a piece - and it was actually really good! Good start :)
The atmosphere can be quite surreal - the silence at the weekend is sometimes eerie but the myriad of noises - rustling leaves, distant traffic... makes it all seem more peaceful.
Of a morning, walking down to the campus Villejean to meet up with friends before classes at the metro station, sometimes our friend crazy lady can be found. Generally rooting around in bins, shouting at people... and always wearing her famous red slippers.
More updates to come soon...
University restaurants where guys get up in the middle of lunch hour and strip on tables, people walk around in bin bags and tape their course mates to chairs.
Living in Halls of Residence over here is a bit of a different lifestyle to at home. At the weekends it's solely international students, as the French students make their way back home to their families. Don't blame them when there's no oven nor freezer to use. Makes food shopping somewhat interesting - forces you to be creative with your culinary skills, or in my case, somewhat lack of them. I'm learning - managed to make a turkey stir fry - chicken was only sold in large packs, and beef was about ten euros a piece - and it was actually really good! Good start :)
The atmosphere can be quite surreal - the silence at the weekend is sometimes eerie but the myriad of noises - rustling leaves, distant traffic... makes it all seem more peaceful.
Of a morning, walking down to the campus Villejean to meet up with friends before classes at the metro station, sometimes our friend crazy lady can be found. Generally rooting around in bins, shouting at people... and always wearing her famous red slippers.
More updates to come soon...
Saturday, 3 April 2010
2010
Riiight. So much has changed since I last was on here. Single now - with complications. As per!
Back home for easter, trying to finish (and start) assignments - and earning some cash to go back to uni with.
Excited about Hellfest in France in June - Alice Cooper, Deftones, Fear Factory, Stone Sour, Motorhead, Twisted Sister!!! And more of course :) http://www.hellfest.fr
Went to Bloodstock this summer which was awesome, and Rammstein in Feb at the MEN was absolutely incredible.
Work was horrendous today - it being the easter holidays, and easter saturday of all days - what else should I expect? But I did win a prize for doing a 200 pound till hour alone yesterday :)
Following Football - majorly gutted about United losing to Chelsea, but Plymouth beat Doncaster in the 90th minute so happy times! Fingers crossed they stay up as I have a bet on with my mate that Wolves will go down/ stay up and Plymouth will stay up. Basically, If Plymouth go down and Wolves stay up, I lose the bet, but if any other outcomes happen then I win :D
That's all for now
x
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Unusual?
Msn video can be pretty ordinary sometimes. But their U-z00 link is actually pretty cool. Among the things I stumbled across this morning, was a dog living with a leopard.... bit odd considering th dog was tiny and could very easily be eaten by the leopard. All the same, see below :)
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-GB&vid=baa78b92-f03b-437f-9fa7-7d03040d03e4
On the other hand, shopping today should be a blast :) very excited. Not so excited about impending exam tomorrow. Ah well. And also I'm not too thrilled that there's nothing much to see at the cinema apart from 17 Again which everyone is raving about. Zac Efron is nothing special people, get over it already.
Lauz
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-GB&vid=baa78b92-f03b-437f-9fa7-7d03040d03e4
On the other hand, shopping today should be a blast :) very excited. Not so excited about impending exam tomorrow. Ah well. And also I'm not too thrilled that there's nothing much to see at the cinema apart from 17 Again which everyone is raving about. Zac Efron is nothing special people, get over it already.
Lauz
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
The past, The present, The future
I was rudely awakaned by something this morning. My phone alarm. Yeah ok I was meant to get up - but still it was rude. I can't actually remember much as it appears I went straight back to sleep again - only to be woken up by my phone ringing - my boyfriend. I was meant to go and get him for breakfast at 8... and it was half past. I'd managed to fall asleep sitting up in m y bed, propped up on one elbow. If that's possible!!!
Crazy. My dad's coming up to see me today - incredibly exciting. I get my old laptop back as I've been using my mum's for ages but to be honest, I'd rather keep this one til the end of uni as it's got all my work on it.... Hmmph.
When I was creating this blog, I wondered what sort of witty stuff I would include. Considering my friend's version is brilliant and very original, I was stuck for ideas. Sure I'll put some current issues that interest me on here at some point - at the moment I'm trying to discover what I want to achieve. An outlet for my daily ongoings is one thing I'd like to do . Generally that should be entertaining enough - as right now all the sort of bad luck that you could get seems to be the pigeon crapping on my new shirt, if you see what I mean?
I suppose I could put my tattoo art up here - I started up a freewebs ages ago but it sort of subsided after a while due to all my uni work...
Be prepared to see some at some point :)
Either that or a link to a site that has.
I'm going to have to look for two overseas jobs this summer, as my degree states that in my third year I have to spend seven months abroad, and the time has to be divided equally between France and Germany. I can't do a teaching assistanceship because they last 6 or 7 months, and the other options are unavailable too. The only options I have are going to university or getting a job. Obviously the job prospect is much more interesting - problem is how to get one? According to plenty of people I know, and the obvious, due to the current economical climate finding a job is incredibly difficult. Let's hope they make an exception for me. Atl least I've got a whole year to do it O.O
After uni, I'm still considering my job options. Maybe working for the UN or Foreign Office would be good. Or perhaps international business or fashion. Who knows. By the way things are looking at the moment I need to get a degree first. Haha
Lauz
Crazy. My dad's coming up to see me today - incredibly exciting. I get my old laptop back as I've been using my mum's for ages but to be honest, I'd rather keep this one til the end of uni as it's got all my work on it.... Hmmph.
When I was creating this blog, I wondered what sort of witty stuff I would include. Considering my friend's version is brilliant and very original, I was stuck for ideas. Sure I'll put some current issues that interest me on here at some point - at the moment I'm trying to discover what I want to achieve. An outlet for my daily ongoings is one thing I'd like to do . Generally that should be entertaining enough - as right now all the sort of bad luck that you could get seems to be the pigeon crapping on my new shirt, if you see what I mean?
I suppose I could put my tattoo art up here - I started up a freewebs ages ago but it sort of subsided after a while due to all my uni work...
Be prepared to see some at some point :)
Either that or a link to a site that has.
I'm going to have to look for two overseas jobs this summer, as my degree states that in my third year I have to spend seven months abroad, and the time has to be divided equally between France and Germany. I can't do a teaching assistanceship because they last 6 or 7 months, and the other options are unavailable too. The only options I have are going to university or getting a job. Obviously the job prospect is much more interesting - problem is how to get one? According to plenty of people I know, and the obvious, due to the current economical climate finding a job is incredibly difficult. Let's hope they make an exception for me. Atl least I've got a whole year to do it O.O
After uni, I'm still considering my job options. Maybe working for the UN or Foreign Office would be good. Or perhaps international business or fashion. Who knows. By the way things are looking at the moment I need to get a degree first. Haha
Lauz
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