If you could enter a room like they do in the movies, what song would be playing?

This is for sure the song I'd pick to walk into a room. I'd also like to be dancing like this when it happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHpZ8BhbQfo

Holidaze

Nothing like a long trip home to Grande Prairie mid-winter to provoke writer’s block. Don’t get me wrong, I was missing all you guys terribly but drawing creative inspiration in GP is like finding a redneck in Paris. And as great as it was to be my parents little girl for a few weeks over Christmas, I was equally reassured by my flight back to France and freedom. Now maybe I’m just getting old- but adjusting to the eight hour time differences in two weeks was not easy, in Canada I was so productive getting up at the early bird time of 3am and back to bed at 4pm. Upon my return to France, I was awake all night and sleeping all day. I finally realized there is something extremely gratifying at being awake when no one else is but it’s not exactly easy to live a day-to-day life on such a sleep schedule. The sleeping all day habit was not easy to kick either, school for the week had been canceled due to a skiff of snow that had fallen in Poitiers, the following week we were sent home early from school because snowfall had been predicted. Be it Canada or France, when school is canceled and it snows, there is nothing good to do but curl up in bed with movies and take a long nap. Winter in Poitiers is neither freezing nor balmy, but it is mostly miserable. I can very seriously recommend one thing if you’re spending winter in Europe- Boots. My feet have never been so cold. But one beautiful Sunday, Jess and I decided to get to know our city a little bit better and explore the wonders of Poitiers. With vacation in the 5-week prospectus, the 12hrs workweek was not hard to get through and like all my time in Europe, I’m finding that the second half of my year is disappearing even faster.

Bored? No? No, Bordeaux!

It finally dawned on me that I have just over 3 weeks left until I make the journey all the way back to the great white north more commonly known as home. This made me realize just hoe quickly my 8 months in France will actually pass, so I’ve been booking in as my trips as my credit card will allow. This passed weekend my friend Zara and I took a day trip to Bordeaux, wine capital of France. Yes, I bought a lot of wine. As much as I could carry home in my arms and every second I wished I was either stronger, or had some sort of pack animal like a nice donkey that would be able to help a damsel out. Et oui, maman- I found the wine you recommended/requested and bought in bulk. Now Bordeaux was not what I expected at all. Its bigger and dirtier than the posh wine capital should be. There is way more immigration and it’s not as safe and secure as good old Poitiers. But there is something wonderful and prestigious about Bordeaux, the beautiful apartments, the Churches and arches crossing over pedestrian streets, breathtaking clock towers and did I mention all of that wine?!?! It was a wonder I had Zara there with me to guide me. She had lived there for a year a few years ago and knew her way around including all the great restaurants, cafes and shopping streets. By the end of the day I was so tuckered from the adventure I feel asleep on the train home and went straight to bed upon my arrival in Poitiers. I love being able to make little day’s trip like this one so I can experience that rest of France. Now if ever you would ask if I would return to Bordeaux that would be a no. The city itself I wouldn’t but the vineyards and chateaux around it, I would love to take a wine tasting class for sure. I’m quite happy to have gone, Zara and I had a blast and it’s one more destination I can cross off my list!

Birthweek is the new Birthday.

To most of you, the idea of birthweek may be a tad selfish and or ridiculous. But to me, the idea that we only get one day a year to celebrate ourselves and our life is just as ridiculous. So I take one week out of the year around my birthday to give myself things, do things and experience things I love, think I will love or have loved doing and all the wonderful sensations I get to experience just because I was born . Last year's birthweek included a half marathon, 21 km for my 21st birthday, an expensive coffee with my own latte art heart drawn in it, recovery yoga, a new dress and a thursden soirée with my friends. This year's celebration was a tad more exuberant due to being in a more exuberant place. For example, this year's birthweek included but was not limited to: a new and wonderfully seductive perfume, which I never buy and never would think to buy any other week of the year. I have never bought perfume and it is a luxurious and also one of my favorite indulgences. I can never pass up the opportunity to spray a little bit of perfume on! Another item was stockings, black ones with a ton of flirtacious character. This birthweek also included two trips- one in the near future- to Stockholm where I will be visiting my friend Sarah and have the luxury of re living life in Grande Prairie but also where I will get to experience the wonders that are Stockholm. Paris was me second trip concluding birthweek. And it was absolutely wonderful! Two of my closest friends made the trip with me and tromped all the way around Paris's tourist circuit. This was the first time I had actually gone into the Louvre despite actually being outside of the Louvre more times than I have fingers. It also entailed a delicious lunch on the Champs Elysees as well as visiting l'Arc de Triomphe, a monument dedicated to soldiers lost in the war only a few days after Rememberance Day. All in all, I got to do everything I wanted for one week and it was perfect. I had coffee with friends, went for long runs, cooked dinners and hosted parties, walked in parks spent extra time helping out my teachers. Anything that made me feel good, I did. This is the one week where I get to stop and enjoy everything about my life and think about how to make it better and if that's ridiculous, so is life.

I've never been to England, but I kinda like the Beatles.

I've barely worked a total of 8 hours this month and already they are sending me off on 2 weeks of holidays. It was a toss up between sunny Spain and rainy England... and well somehow the rain won out. So one foggy Friday morning 3 girls piled into a car and headed down the road to the very north of France. Now to me, a 5 hour roadtrip is nothing, I wouldn't even think twice about it, but to two English girls- 5 hours can take you across britan. It wasn't the 5 hours in the car that got me though, it was the 6 hours on the ferry. I can sum up that experience in about one word: nausea. For an entire 6 hours all I could do to stop myself from getting sick was sleep and for a few days after I was still swaying as I walked down the street. It was a great feeling being in England, but not for the obvious reasons of seeing something new and being in a foreign country. What I liked most about it was being back in a family setting with breakfast and dinners, bickering and inside jokes. To be an adopted daughter for a couple weeks was the nicest thing that I could have asked for! Besides this, I was extremely lucky to be able to travel around, hitting up Birmingham where we did a massive amount of shopping and visited some of Jess's friends from her university, Chattnam where this posh little city has lovely boutique stores and and all girls college that has the nerve to refuse Madonna's daughter, Gloucester where I stayed for most of my holiday and is home to the city of a lovely cathedral that Harry Potter was filmed in, the tailor shop of Beatrix Potter, the old foundations of roman history and also a not very good but very fun to watch pro rugby team. London was a quick day trip that had my feet screaming and my body aching by the end of it, but was completely amazing as well. Even the Queen was in at Buckingham palace and I couldn't help but wonder where Prince William and Prince Harry were. After London, we headed to Bristol to visit some more of Jess's friends and had a wild night of partying where I got to show off my new dress. And all things came to a close when I headed to Westin for the night to stay with Lauren and her amazing family where we watched X-factor and had a wonderful dinner where I was questioned endlessly about Canada. I loved every minute of it. And there we are, my entire Toussaint vacation, something I'll never forget.

When life gives you lemons, opt for the wine.

Being in Poitiers has so far been one of the best experiences I've ever had. Everyone has asked me "Are you having fun?", "Yes, yes indeed I am." Some (KP) would argue I'm having too much fun and I need a little bit of stress in my life. Well as of right now, I couldn't disagree more. I work on average a max of 10 hrs a week. Say that again? Yes 10 hours. Most would wonder what I do with my time... well I write a lot, I reflect but mostly I spend a lot of time walking around Poitiers, meeting friends for coffee, shopping, laundry. Whichever. It's quite nice for your only stress to be a 30 minute lesson plan that has the sole goal of making people speak. Now one of my favorite things about France is my ability to be spontaneous. Just last weekend I had been driving around Poitiers with my girlfriends here looking for a place to go shopping, when out of the blue Jess says: " Hey! we should drive to Tours!" So that is exactly what we did. Up through the Loire Valley amongst all they greatest Chateaux, right into the city of Tours. We had a late lunch, spent our time wandering around the beautiful city of Tours and headed back to Poitiers for a night on the town. So far, this has been how my week repeats... I teach for a few hours Monday, Tuesday an Wednesday, spend Thursday hanging out with friends, going for runs, coffee, cleaning and drinks then pick a destination and head there. This past weekend, La Rochelle was picked from our hat. Lauren and I woke up Saturday morning, went for coffee and decided during coffee that we'd like to see the ocean. We picked up a bottle of wine and some peanuts and headed off to la gare. We got there just in time, there was a train leaving in 2 minutes for La Rochelle, so we sped to get our tickets and ran to the train. Needless to say La Rochelle is beautiful, even when it is getting cold in France. It was nice to be able to walk in the ocean, something I've never been able to do in Canada, and to see all the sailboats, kitesurfers and kayakers out at sunset. The best part of it, is there is always something going on in France- on this particular day was a jazz concert close to the marina where we spent a few hours sitting outside with our drinks enjoying life. There's nothing like having no cares in the world and being able to do exactly what it is you please. It's liberating to know you've always got control of your decisions, and right now I am infinitely thankful I've made the decision to come to France.