To Travel is To Live

After a couple relaxing days in Apt, Ali and I are off on a 20 day European adventure starting tomorrow morning! Yesterday, I picked Ali up from Avignon TGV and we have been enjoying the past two days soaking up the laid-back atmosphere of Provence life before our whirlwind of travels. With most of my administrative stuff taken care of now, it feels like it is time to leave and see new places. What new places, you may ask? Here's our itinerary: Avignon->Barcelona, Spain->Avignon->Marseille->Zadar, Croatia->Dubrovnik, Croatia->Split, Croatia->Zadar, Croatia->Marseille->Nice->Cinque Terre, Italy->Pisa, Italy->Milan, Italy->Athens, Greece->Santorini, Greece->Athens, Greece->Geneva, Switzerland->Avignon. We won't be back in Apt until May 9, so definitely no posts on here until then. Be looking for updates on Facebook and Instagram, will be posting when I can! Until then, imagine you are with me on the beaches in Santorini....

Yup... I'm really excited!

"It's a vacation!" - Weekend in Germany with Weiners, Glühwein, and Weihnachtsmarkt

Our long journey to Bavaria began very late Friday night, with an overnight train from Avignon. As I nor any of the girls had rode in overnight train, we did not know quite what to expect. The train itself had places where you could just sit in a reclining seat all night or you could opt for a bunk. We decided that we wanted to be able to sleep and chose the bunks. What we were greeted with were small compartments with three bunks stacked on each side. We had lots of fun climbing and playing in our own private compartment, and although the excitement and adrenaline of going to Germany kept me up a while, I did get some sleep on this overnight train.

Clearly, we were excited for Germany.

Awaking at 9am when our train arrived in Strasbourg, we enjoyed the beautiful decorations and architecture in Gare de Strasbourg while eating some pain au chocolats from Paul.

The train station was quite pretty, with interesting ceilings and sculptures.

My fav!

After a short train ride across the border, we arrived in Stuttgart. Once we found a map of the city and asked for some orientation of where we were in the city, we found the apartment we rented on airbnb with minimal trouble.* The host was very nice and showed us the room, kitchen and bathroom and even left towels for us to use. Not to mention, when showing us the changing uplighting behind the bed in the room, he said "I like to keep this light on because it reminds me of a disco!" Pretty cool dude.

Once we were all cleaned up, we headed back into the heart of Stuttgart and instantly found the massive Christmas world that is set up in the city. With over 250 vendors, Stuttgarter Weihnachtsmarkt** boasts one of the biggest and oldest Christmas markets in Germany. Meandering from booth to booth, I was entranced by the crafts, talents, and food of each and every owner. Even the booths themselves were a sight to see, with each of them being expertly decorated and full of Christmas cheer. Although the vendors do try to make the main focus of their booth be the product that they sell, in so many cases the ornate expression of holiday cheer, which is individually different from booth to booth, made a greater effect to the passing eye. Not just the market booths were carefully decorated but the many trees, nutcrackers, and other festive garb made this market breathtaking to view.

Christmas wonderland

Booths upon booths.

In the market stands themselves, you found an array of items to buy as gifts, from hand-painted ornaments to jewelry and little wooden toys to handmade lights. Each vendor was exquisitely proud of their craft, and willing to show you what they do, or even explain it to you. As none of us spoke German, sometimes this just ended with a bunch of nodding, but if they happened to speak English, they were more than happy to explain the best they could in another language. Although I still don't know any German, I do say that my experience in Germany was an extremely positive one, as all the people I met were extremely friendly and if they didn't know how to speak English, they would try to explain slowly with lots of hand motions and a smile. The German people made a great impression on me.

We spent three hours in the afternoon wandering the whole length of the market, mostly looking but with a bit of buying here and there. Along with shopping booths at the Christmas market, about half of the booths housed food and the German Christmas market staple: glühwein. Glühwein is pretty much the same thing as vin chaud, or mulled wine, but in my opinion is even better in Germany. They give you the wine in a collector's mug, which you pay a little extra for, but you can keep going back and refilling it, or even turn the mug back in and get the money you paid for it back! Definitely enjoyed many a glühwein throughout the day on Saturday.

Another reason I was excited to visit Germany was for the food it promised, and it sure did not disappoint! First, I enjoyed the most popular item being sold at the Christmas market: lebkuchenherz, or heart cookie necklaces. Seriously, we saw SO many stands selling these things, and although they are normally given as gifts, I had to enjoy one because... it's a vacation!

Mine said Princess in German - are you really that surprised?!

Next, we all split a bratwurst and sauerkraut. As I had never tried either, I was surprised at how much I liked them, they were both so tasty! Since I have been in France, I have had trouble getting enough protein, as meat is hard for me to come by (and hard to cook on my hot plate). Needless to say, I was so happy to have such delicious weiners this weekend.

To be exact: it was a Rote Wurst

Cabbage, a type of potatoe-dumpling-noodle and bacon. I'm in love.

After three hours of wandering, shopping and eating outside, we ducked in to a small cafe to warm up a bit. Not knowing exactly what I ordered (again, this German thing is hard, ok?!), I was surprised by a lovely hot lattino caramel, which was basically a hot caramel latte. Now many of you know that I don't really like coffee, but this was honestly one of the best coffee drinks I've ever had. I could have drank it every day!

By the time we left the cafe, the sun was down and all the lights within the city were turned on. Although we had explored the market during the day, it had a whole different look and feel at night, with the lights twinkling and street musicians playing christmas carols on their instruments of choice. In one of the biggest squares in town Schlossplatz, we found the beautiful courtyard of the Altes Schloss and Neues Schloss (Old and New Castle). Already beautiful on its own, this square right now is filled with a children's toyland for the holidays, complete with ice-skating rink and carnival rides along with more market vendors.

As hunger was calling again soon, I decided to have another German tradition: a butter bretzel. Basically a soft pretzel with butter in the middle.

Yummmm

... and I maybe had another Rote Wurst.

Just couldn't stay away!

Walking back through the market again with all the lights on made me full of true Christmas spirit. I was extremely lucky to be able to have gone to these markets, something that I have always wanted to experience. Under the twinkling lights, with great company and delicious food, I could not be more grateful of my quick trip to Germany,

Sunday morning, we awoke early for our short train to Strasbourg. Once arriving in the station, we were told that there were were Christmas market vendors for Strasbourg's market right outside the door to the station. With an hour to kill, and maybe feeling some withdrawals from Stuttgart's market, we went and enjoyed a quick glass of white glühwein, which is even better than the German red version I had drank the day before, along with bretzel and a quick wander through the market. After a long 5 hour train ride back to Avignon and a 2 hour bus back to Apt, I have made it home after another whirlwind weekend of travel. I am so thrilled to have been able to go to Germany - the country actually really surprised me, I really liked my visit there! I definitely want to go back again sometime in the future. So for now Germany, you're in - Auf Wiedersehen!***

*The only real trouble was the fact that it was lightly raining and we ended taking about 45 minutes to find the apartment. We were a little wet.  Oh, and the fact that we were trying to be more German and not cross roads during red lights, even if there were no cars around. Those darn Germans always follow the rules!
**Translation: Stuttgart Christmas Market.
***I really hope someone gets the Project Runway reference with that or all is lost.

"I like Facebook because I can spy on people."

Today was just another manic Monday but was a good day full of surprises. I taught class very early this morning and was genuinely surprised and happy that my students were not only awake but happy to participate in English! It must have helped that the topic of the lesson was social networks, which solicited some good discussion and debates, filled with memorable quotes like the title of this blog.

After class, I went to la loge to find that I had a surprise package from back home! Two of my best friends, Chris and Marissa, had decided to send me a package of Christmas goodies and letters. This really touched my heart, as I have been trying to get some holiday cheer going on around here lately and now there is plenty of it. I will have to hang up some of the coloring pages to get some Christmas spirit flowing in the apartment. Thanks so much guys and can't wait to see you soon for Christmas!

Pure happiness.

There were even letters inside!

Filled with candy canes, peanut butter m&ms, hello kitty stuff (floss, puzzle, stickers, plate/dish thing, christmas ornament and COLORING BOOK), peppermint hot chocolate mix, gold sparkle OPI nail polish and a CHOCOLATE ADVENT CALENDAR. Seriously guys, best surprise ever!

This afternoon was a new experience for me: it was my first day teaching English at a business! I was told that these would mostly be conversation classes, to get the business associates used to speaking to people and meeting people at conferences. Because of this, and because it was the first day, I decided to do introductions and talking about their lives. I figured that this would be a good place to start and came ready with sheets full of vocabulary and pictures to help with verbs they may not know. However, I was surprised to see that during my first lesson with the computer engineer and electrical engineer, they already knew all of this information and more! We got through my lesson in about 10 minutes and then I just had to wing the conversation for the next hour. At one point, I even asked them what they want to know in English, as it seemed like they had a good understanding of grammar but I wanted to know what topics interested them, and of course what could I teach them. They said that they want to know how to say things specific to their field, as that technical vocabulary is confusing to them. Of course! I had thought of this before, but as their boss told me to focus on conversational English, I didn't think to look any of this up. For next time though, I will definitely focus on a more advanced level of English - definitely the most advanced class I have had to teach here which should be a challenge. The two of them were incredibly nice though, which made our conversation for the hour to be quite enjoyable.

The second group I taught is the boss who hired me and his wife the receptionist. They are at a lower level, though the difference between their levels is going to be a challenge in itself. He can carry on a conversation with me, although pronunciation and tenses can always be improved, while his wife doesn't know any of the numbers past 10. Nonetheless, it was a good change of pace, as I feel like I had something to teach them and the second hour flew by quickly. After getting paid and trying to say goodbye to his dog*, Alain drove me back to the Cité Scolaire in Apt. Even though it is my job to teach him English, I feel like he knows that I want to learn some French - a few times during the lesson and during this car ride, he pointed out words that I probably wouldn't know in French. Although I would love to continually speak with him in French, I know that it is not what I am there for, but during our car rides it seems that he is trying to get me to practice too, which I could not be more thrilled about. We marveled at les illuminations d'Apt together and he told me the difference between illuminations and une fête de lumières. Either way, he likes the Christmas spirit too, and I cannot wait to give more English lessons next week.

*So me and this dog, we really hit it off last week. And this week whenever I tried to pet him, he barked and backed away! This is not the end though, we WILL be friends. It is my new goal.

Three Midnights in Paris

As today was Wednesday, it brought a short work day, which became even shorter due to one of my classes going to the film festival. After my one class this morning, which went brilliantly by the way, I ventured into town to get run some errands and even stopped to enjoy a warm drink at Bar l'Aptois. Today was a brisk day for the south of France, one could have even believed that winter was coming soon here, with the gusts of chilly wind freezing you to the bone. I guess le mistral might be here to stay.

This afternoon, Amy and I went into Avignon to finally get our new phone plan. Unfortunately, when we arrived they told us they only had one phone left. After talking it through, we decided that I would get my phone today, as Amy would be around this weekend to pick one up once it gets in. After getting this set up, we met up with another assistant Alison and had some nice warm drinks at a picturesque tartinerie. It was nice to catch up with another assistant, hearing about how her teaching is going as well as life in France. And, of course, nice to be inside enjoying a hot beverage on a cold day.

After a ride back to Apt that made me feel quite queasy (or maybe it was the bad escargot aux raisins that I ate...), I began setting my new phone up and called everyone from home! It was so nice to be able to just sit and have conversations with people from home on the phone, can't tell you how much joy it brought me to catch up with everyone. Thanks for talking to me Dad, Heather, Christa, Katelyn, and Marissa!* Another awesome thing this phone has brought me: 10Go of data. Also known as, fast internet, and a lot of it. I am feeling that the Wifi/internet problem at the apartment is soon to be solved.

With tomorrow fast approaching, I am both dreading and am extremely excited for it to come. As it is again my most busy day of the week with assisting, this stress is augmented by the fact that I have 20 minutes once my classes are over to run to apartment, drop off my teaching materials, grab my bag and get to the bus. I am leaving Apt for a weekend trip tomorrow!

And this is where I get excited. I am SO happy to share that this weekend I will be in Paris with one of my best friends from home, Katie, and two of her friends that she is studying in Spain with! I will be leaving tomorrow night and returning Sunday evening, just in time to teach early Monday morning. I have been to Paris twice before, but each time I go, I find something new and more beautiful about the city. I cannot wait to spend time with a great friend in an amazing city!

City of Lights

*If anyone wants to talk to me, I have to call you (otherwise, you will get some hefty fees). So let me know and I will give you a ring!

Marvelous Mardi

As the first day back from a long vacation, I dreaded getting out of bed this morning. The one thing making me feel the slightest bit better was the beautiful sun rising into the cloudless blue sky.* After seeing all the statuses from back in Michigan talking about the white-out conditions and the gross snow-rain combination that the mitten is known for, I happily jumped out of bed and got ready to face the day of assisting.

My first class today was my best class I have had yet here in France. I took 12 students for an entire hour and they were attentive, curious and gushing to participate. It was so nice that my lesson, which involved describing people, kept their attention and evoked conversations of new vocabulary. I first had them describe various celebrities, like Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, etc. They had to each say one sentence about the stars, and say something that hadn't been said before. That was not a problem though, as they had so many opinions of these people that they could've talked for hours! After, we played Who Am I, the game where you pick another person in the class and describe them as if you were them, while the whole class guesses who you are based on the description. This proved to be a good review of vocabulary and they had fun describing their friends.

After a successful lesson, I walked out into the crisp air to the loge, or the front gate, and found a package from my parents! Although life in France is amazing, care packages from home make this place even better, as they sent things that I can not find here, like my acne face wipes, Apple Cinnamon Cheerios (my favorite cereal), Buncha Crunch (my favorite candy), and Fantasy Bars made with love by my mother. AND, most importantly, they not only sent me pumpkin filling, but all the other necessary ingredients to make a pumpkin pie! Including pie pans and the recipe itself! As Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I have been a little blue that I will be missing it this year, I am so happy I can have a little piece of it here in France with me. However, we don't have an oven here at the apartment, so I am on the hunt for an oven to use and people to spend this Thanksgiving tradition with.**

EEK!

Even down to the spices pre-measured and mixed in a container, everything to make the delicious Thanksgiving dessert! I wonder where I get my organizational skills from...

Mom's famous Fantasy Bars (aka Seven Layer Bars, Crack Bars, etc)

Goodies! My parents are the best

Happy girl!

After lunch and basking in the sunshine a bit, I returned to class. Except, after waiting 5 minutes in front of my classroom, with neither the teacher or the class there, I was told by another English teacher I work with that they were at the cinema this hour. In Apt this week, there is a prestigious African film festival. As the school supports the town in its ventures, during this week, there are many classes going to see the films. I had already known one of my classes tomorrow was going to see one, but was unaware of this class. So I was free to go, but instead sat in on another class for the hour, where he worked me into the lesson talking about progress. Mostly, this just required me to answer questions about freedoms in America, and got into a heated debate about the right to bear arms. Never know quite what to expect during my days as an assistant, but today was definitely a good day, or as I am dubbing it, a marvelous mardi.

*I know I am constantly talking about the sunshine here, but I honestly don't think I will ever get sick of it! Or talking about it.
**FRENCH FRIENDS - Tradesies: I will give you an amazing, delicious, homemade pumpkin pie if you give me access to your oven and will put up with me as I exercise this Thanksgiving tradition. Deal?

To the home of chocolate and watches!

Wednesdays in Provence: it is really hard to explain what happens on a Wednesday here... because really, not that much happens at all. Schools close early, there are rarely any shops or restaurants open throughout the afternoon, buses run on a limited schedule - it is like a miniature "day of rest" in a region where life already moves at a slow pace.

Yesterday was just that - a miniature day of rest. Took care of a few things in town as well as more laundry and cleaning. I also started packing for the weekend trip I am taking (details forthcoming). In the evening, Amy arrived! Last night and today, we have been getting acquainted and have been sorting out some of the things that she needed to get done. It was helpful that I had done most of the stuff in the past week, so I knew where we needed to go most of the time - maybe I am getting to be more Apt-ois as the days go on! I am so happy to have someone to share my time with here, and traveling around Europe!

Another thing that happened today that made me feel like I truly live here: I received mail! And not just any mail, mail from the French government, from my French bank and even a thank you card from Molly and John back in the U.S. - three letters in one day! I was pretty happy.*

Three letters = three times the happiness

So speaking of happiness....I am SO happy to be able to explore a new country and city this weekend.... I will give a few clues to where I am going for the next 4 days... (if you already know, just play along until you reach the end)

I am going to the country that is famous for....

Chocolate.....

This specific type of cheese....

Watches (there is also a hint within this decoration on this watch)...

And the snowy peaks of one of the most renowned mountain ranges in the world...

 

 So where am I going you might ask?? If you haven't figured it out by now...

SWITZERLAND!

Specifically, Zurich which is beautifully pictured above. I'm pretty excited.

I leave tomorrow morning for a 6 hour train ride to Zurich, where I will be meeting up with my brother, Dan, and my sister-in-law Brenna to spend the weekend with them there. Dan will be there for the next two weeks on business and I am so happy that the stars aligned: that I am in France at the same time he is in Switzerland. I feel so blessed to be able to see family (especially family that recently moved across the country) and to explore a new city and country with them. I will be back in France Monday evening, full of stories, pictures and smiles to share, I am sure. Until then, I will bid adieu to this blog - its off to the land of Albert Einstein I go!**

*Mail makes me happy. That being said, I would love to receive other cards, postcards, letters, packages, etc. If you would like my address/want me to send a postcard your way, send me a message!

**Maybe I can soak up a bit of his intelligence while I am there.... Not making any promises.