So it's been a bit more than a month since I last blogged (the gist of what the title says). At first, I was going to apologize for not letting you know what was going on. And then I realised that I have no reason to apologize. I have been living my life here in France and if you wanted to know what was going on, you could've e-mailed me, facebooked me, called me, skyped me or even written me a letter. I am sorry if that came off as a bit harsh-but it's really not. It's just the truth baby, just the truth.
I have been writing in my journal quite a bit. A lot of stuff has been going on lately, so I try to write as much as I can. I only write in french in my journal and I feel like my "expression écrite" has definitely "améliorait" (improved). I actually find it sometimes easier to write and type in french, than english. Which is definitely a sign of improvement.
Shortly after my last post, there was Halloween. Two of my really really really really good, great amazing friends, Marcela and Katie, went to Bordeaux for the extended weekend (November 1 is Toussainte (all saints day)). They invited me to come but I decided to stay in Angers. I kno
w some friends were gonna stay here and it'd be cheaper. So why not? Well....my halloween could have gone better. I mean, don't get me wrong. Halloweek was one hell of a week. Case in point~look at my facebook pictures. But the thursday of Halloweek I lost my iPod. And for whatever reason, I wasn't too worried about it. But then that Saturday (the night before actual Halloween), I lost my phone and my new camera I had just purchased. Not too cool. It could have been a lot worse though. My phone was completely out of credit (it was a pre-paid phone) and the camera I lost was smaller and not as nice as my other camera I brought. So I would have been devastated if I lost that one. Needless to say, I've had nicer Halloweens. But I did go to my first hockey game and had a blast and I was so happy that my British friend, Jenny, was back. It was an interesting time but all in all, looking back, it was quite a wonderful week :)
A couple weeks later, Matt Cullen, Jessica Ludwig and I went on another trip. We had a fall break in the middle of november (the anniversary of the end of World War I), so we decided to head to Bruxelles and Amsterdam! We took the train from Angers to Paris and spent our first night in Paris. This was pretty fun. Our hostel was relatively close to the Moulin Rouge, so we walked that strip which was neat haha. We left somewhat early for Bruxelles the next day. We took the bus from Paris to Bruxelles I believe. And shortly after we arrived in Bruxelles, I had an unexplicable attraction towards the city. I immediately fell in love with it. The hostel we stayed in was pretty nice too. We had lunch a little after we checked into the hostel and eventually met up with Katie, Becky, Melissa and Annie, who were staying in Bruxelles for their entire weekend. We had dinner at a restaurant that apparently it didn't have a name. We decided that it was such a great restaurant that it didn't need a name. People were lucky enough if they found it. Afterwards, we went to this jazz club/bar that was pretty nifty. Keep in mind that it was raining during a lot of this looking and walking. This didn't dampen my spirits one bit though. That's how strong my love for Bruxelles was.
So yes....we arrived at this 1930s jazz bar. To enter, you ring this bell and the door creaks open. Pretty bad-ass. We came in and each had a drink of some sort. The music was really classy (ya know, jazz-like and all) and we found out that it didn't close til like 5 or 7. A.m this was of course. So if we didn't find anything else that we fancied, we could always come back. However, everyone else wanted to go back to the hostel. So I ventured out into Bruxelles by myself. I had a map. And my umbrella. And my camera. That was pretty much it. And the best thing about this was, I felt completely comfortable and safe in this city. I think one of the reasons why I loved Bruxelles so much was because the people there speak SO many different languages. The two official languages are French and Dutch. But many people there speak Russian, Spanish, English, Arabic, German...it's magnificent. Being the capital of Europe, you would imagine that it would be quite the melting pot. But I found it pretty neat that 46% or something of the percent has foreign roots. I love that.
So yes...I ventured out on the streets of Bruxelles by myself. I'm pretty sure my parents would be thinking (more like saying out loud), "What are you thinking Vincent!?". But it was bliss. I loved it. I found a few bars and finally stayed at one where I met quite a few belges (Belgians). I finally left around 3 or 3:30 I think and went back to the hostel where I wanted to tell Matt and Jessica all about my night. But needless to say, they preferred to go back to sleep so I very easily fell asleep, on the top bunk, et je dormait comme un bébé (and slept like a baby) :)
The next day, after having pizza for lunch (we are committed to having pizza in every country we visit) and visiting the Palais de Justice we took the train to go to Amsterdam. We arrived in the evening and after a little bit of trouble, we found our hostel. After dropping off our bags and checking in, we had dinner I believe at a pretty nice restaurant and got some sort of pasta deal (of course :)). Shortly thereafter, we arrived in a café and hung out there for a bit. We eventually went to this Sports Bar/Restaurant. It was pretty fun. After some time, we ventured out into the Red Light District. What a scene this was. Pretty much being the most liberal country in Europe, we should not have been too surprised with the women in their offices/rooms dressed rather...hmmm...almost naked...giving you winks and blowing kisses towards you. It was a bit much though and somewhat bizarre. It didn't help that I barely got much sleep the night before and we were all not entirely sober. Going to a club was tempting but eventually we just went back to the hostel.
The next day, waking up in the afternoon to recover from the day before and to catch up on my sleep, we went to the Heineken museum, which was pretty interesting actually. We met some people from Chicago and had a pretty nice chat. After we were done with the Heineken museum, we went out once again and ventured out in the town. We did stop by the VanGogh musum but it was closed :/ We got some dinner and checked out some shops. We went back to that same sports bar/restaurant and after, we went to the clubs. I didn't necessarily think the club that Matt and Jessica were going into was as fun as one I could find haha. I did find a few that were pretty neat. English is widely spoken in Amsterdam even though their official language is Dutch. I eventually left the bars about 3 and headed back towards the hostel.
Matt and Jessica however, had to stay at their club til 5 when it closed because they lost their coat check numbers. I don't exactly remember what happened but I know that things got complicated because we only had one key haha. It was nice when we all fell asleep finally haha.
The next morning, we woke up later than expected and had to somewhat hurry to catch our bus that was going from Amsterdam to Paris. A 7 hour bus ride. It was sort of tough but we did get a break which was nice. The bus did make a stop at Bruxelles which was nice. I can't wait to go back there :)
We took the train shortly after we arrived in Paris, to get to Angers. It was quite the adventure. I enjoyed the trip for shure, but I think I enjoyed Bruxelles more. Kind of funny since it was just kind of a pit stop. Grand times :)
The week after was Thanksgiving! I had Thanksgiving dinner at Becky's house and she was there along with Melissa, Jaimee, Laura, Annie, Megan, Aurélian, Matt Cullen, and Anne. We had Turkey, stuffing, green beans, wine, cranberry sauce...all the Thanksgiving essentials. It was so great. A wonderful Thanksgiving. I eventually skyped with my family and my Mom met all of these wonderful friends haha. She even invited them to come to our house next year for Thanksgiving! ~ But we might need another table Mom!
Later that night, around 11 or so, I met up with Erica, Marsela, Matt Hutton and Erica's brother, Wes. Erica's family was visiting her for Thanksgiving week! We went to Le Bar Soleil, which was pretty amazingly fun. Lots of people, lots of fun music, and cheap drinks. Good times. We got
invited to this one guy's afterparty but he apparently disapparated, so we just went back to Erica and Wes's hotel, except for Marsela who went home. We just hung out and chat about the most random stuff that you only talk about when you've had a few drinks. Matt and I left around 5 I believe. This entire Thanksgiving day and night was pretty fun. Good times.
The entire week was pretty fun actually. It was really fun hanging out with Erica and Wes. We hung out pretty much every night and every night was worth it. So much fun. The Saturday after Thanksgiving, I had another Thanksgiving dinner/birthday celebration for Majo. At Amber's apartment, I enjoyed another Thanksgiving with Marsela, Matt Hutton, Yuriko, Majo, Amber, Natalia, Jocelyn, Cyril, Aurélian Beuzon, Bastien, and Erik. A lot of us (6 or 8 of us), shopped for all the Thanksgiving food and I still had some uncooked Green beans from the first Thanksgiving. We brought everything back, cooked it and had a grand time. We sang for Majo's birthday and presented her cake. She was turning "14" (actually 19 but it's a long story and an inside joke). Eventually, I left with Cyril and Jocelyn to go to a concert at James Joyce. But it was going to be delayed by an 1 1/2 hours so I walked back to Amber's apartment and hung out
there til we all left together. It was quite a night and quite a week.
It's funny that both major Holidays that I spend in France both have really good high points and some not so great points. Memorable times for shure. And now, a week after Thanksgiving, I am presented with mounds and mounds of french homework and studying to do, especially for next week. I have about 5 tests and a paper due, which all mean more meaningful since I'm leaving in Décembre-the trimester actually ends in January but some students (mostly American) are not coming back in Janvier. Donc, we're taking our finals in décembre. However, I had a wonderful night last night at K'lypso, watching my favorite Bartender and great friend, Rémi, performing his wonderful songs and covers. We danced and listened to everything from Irish songs to Rihanna, Pink Floyd to French. He is a very talented man and a wonderful friend.
This weekend coming up is my last one in Angers. Sure to be memorable. The one after that, I'm going to Lyon, to see the Festival of Lights and to see my friend Guillaume! Whom I have not seen in 2 1/2 years! Sure to be great~can't wait! J'ai hâte! The weekend after that I leave for Paris with Marcela, Katie Bayne, Victoria, and maybe Matt H., for our last weekend in France until Christmas. We're going shopping for gifts that still have to be purchased, doing what we do and going out later to celebrate Victoria's birthday. We're also going to hit up some museums, that we still have to see before we leave. Then we all leave Monday but on different flights.
I'm not sure if I'll write another blog until I come home. But I've skype with Kevin and Dad yesterday, Mom yesterday, Kate late last night, Jeff today and Lauren tonight. And I even facebooked chatted with Alexandra for the first time since I've been here I think. I'm looking forward to seeing all my friends and family back home. I am. But I need to focus on the here and now and love every moment here in France until I leave because it's been one of the best choices I have ever made and I love it so much here. I'm going to spend my time studying and doing well in my classes of course, but also spending my time with the close friends I have made here. I have made so many and I am so completely thankful for each and every one of them.
I am going to sign off now and do some homework and probably walk with a friend in a bit. Thanks for reading chaps - you've been great :)
Bisous,
Vince
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