I took the kids to centre ville after lunch today. We met up with Danny and visited some shops so that the kids could use their Christmas money.
We shopped for about 2 hours with Danny before we had to start making our way out of town. We stopped at a shop on the way out of town for Antoine and Nicholas so that they could buy an electronic cigarette for their mom back in Avignon. It shouldn't have but this process took impossibly forever. The man that was ahead of us asked the most annoying, stupid questions any smoker would already know. And yes, he was buying everything for himself. The kids and I ended up waiting over a half an hour for this guy to just get the heck out.
We finally made our purchase and I headed toward home. I dropped the kids off and chatted with Céline and Didier for awhile before I scurried out the door. I was late in meeting Andréa. Like, forty minutes late. I know. I'm a horrible, horrible person. But if that guy at the eCig store wasn't so ridiculous, I would've been on time. I also got lost, but that's another boring story.
Andréa and I met at the park in Le Tholonet which is not much of a park at all. We ended up going to a tabac in Meyreuil that I pass all the time. This was an interesting experience for me. Tabacs are bars/tobacco dispensing/gambling facilities. You can buy lotto tickets here as well as bet on and watch races. It was so weird for me. I was one of two girls in a bar full of older men waiting for the results of a horse race. Andréa and I downed a beer before Krystle invited us over.
On our way to Krystle and Sebastien's, Andréa gave me a bit of info on his relationship history. His last girlfriend was asian, vietnamese in fact. I squealed in horror, agh...I know it shouldn't bother me, but it does. I can't help but feel like the only reason why he's attracted to me is because I'm asian. He tried to backtrack and explain that he's only been attracted to asian girls all his life, blah blah blah. I know there's nothing weird about that but I'm used to guys saying that I'm the only asian girl they've ever liked ;-) It's just like me only being attracted to white guys though. No different at all. I kind of sulked for a bit until I got over it. Bleh....
Krystle and I kind of did our own thing while Andréa and Sebastien bonded. They're both ethnically half italian and half spanish with french nationality.
It was time to go out and Krystle had said something along the lines of "It's going to be really difficult to get Sebastien to do anything." What she meant by that was that she didn't want him to come out and I thought she meant the complete opposite. I totally threw her under the bus by inviting her boyfriend out and insisting she wanted him there when in reality she didn't. They had a little spat before she left with Andréa and I.
Andréa dropped me off at my car and headed back to Marseille while Krystle and I met up with Danny, Mark, Loucas, and a guy I can't remember the name of. We drank at O'Shannons before seeing a band at the Scat Club and finishing off at Le Manoir. It was here that I decided I no longer wanted to party because while Krystle and I were dancing, a guy grabbed me--insisting that we dance together with me just backing away. The troubles didn't stop there though, at some point Krystle and I were completely encircled by douche bags who were trying to rub their dicks on our asses. Ew...I had had enough so I called it a night...
Friday, December 28, 2012
Mercredi, 26 Decembre 2012: Melinda, A Jack of All Trades
Wednesday was an exceptionally busy day for housework so I told Danny to take a day trip. He chose Marseille for this.
Céline, her sister, and I started the day off by cleaning the floors and dismantling all of the Christmas decorations. I then went upstairs to help fix a daybed so that Nicolas would have his own place to sleep. I did a ton of ironing as well, about three baskets full. It doesn't matter how much you like you iron, it's still exhausting.
Sometime mid-day I decided to clean the espresso machine like I normally do every other day. I took all of the usual pieces out and wiped them down. Didier was making coffee for the both of us when the machine made an odd noise and just stopped working. I'm not sure if one of the pieces didn't get put back in correctly or not but this was not normal. The pump was lodged all the way into the top of the machine and wouldn't budge. Didier and I took the entire thing apart. He worked on it with me for a good 30 minutes or so before he decided he was just going to buy a new one. I couldn't just let it go though so I kept working on it through dinner and preparations. Three hours later, I got the bright idea to plug the machine back in to see if it'd reset itself. What do you know??? It worked! Once the machine was plugged back in, it ran an "Antidiagnostic" and put itself back in place. It was good that we took the machine apart beforehand though, because if we left some of the pieces in, they would've broken off when the machine reset itself. Then he would really have to buy a replacement. Here's a picture during the process.
I was able to fully enjoy my dinner with that task complete. Tonight, we had boudins blanches and quenelles with linguini in a white wine sauce with raw oysters and steamed crab as an appetizer.
I ended the night having a music session with Antoine upstairs. He played his favorite songs on the electric guitar and I looked up the lyrics and sang along. We did this until half past midnight--with Andréa watching on Skype. Ha haha.
Céline, her sister, and I started the day off by cleaning the floors and dismantling all of the Christmas decorations. I then went upstairs to help fix a daybed so that Nicolas would have his own place to sleep. I did a ton of ironing as well, about three baskets full. It doesn't matter how much you like you iron, it's still exhausting.
Sometime mid-day I decided to clean the espresso machine like I normally do every other day. I took all of the usual pieces out and wiped them down. Didier was making coffee for the both of us when the machine made an odd noise and just stopped working. I'm not sure if one of the pieces didn't get put back in correctly or not but this was not normal. The pump was lodged all the way into the top of the machine and wouldn't budge. Didier and I took the entire thing apart. He worked on it with me for a good 30 minutes or so before he decided he was just going to buy a new one. I couldn't just let it go though so I kept working on it through dinner and preparations. Three hours later, I got the bright idea to plug the machine back in to see if it'd reset itself. What do you know??? It worked! Once the machine was plugged back in, it ran an "Antidiagnostic" and put itself back in place. It was good that we took the machine apart beforehand though, because if we left some of the pieces in, they would've broken off when the machine reset itself. Then he would really have to buy a replacement. Here's a picture during the process.
I was able to fully enjoy my dinner with that task complete. Tonight, we had boudins blanches and quenelles with linguini in a white wine sauce with raw oysters and steamed crab as an appetizer.
I ended the night having a music session with Antoine upstairs. He played his favorite songs on the electric guitar and I looked up the lyrics and sang along. We did this until half past midnight--with Andréa watching on Skype. Ha haha.
Mardi, 25 Decembre 2012: Joyeux Noel
I hadn't had a good night of sleep because I was sharing the same bed with Baptiste--he steals the covers. My room was still occupied by Bonne Maman. Céline woke us up at 9h30 and we all slowly made it out to the hallway. When we got to the hallway door, it was covered with curtains which is weird but I soon realized that the adults were hiding something in the living room. Didier asked if we were all ready. When we nodded, he opened the door and let us in. The room was magnificent! There were so many gifts under the tree. I had wondered if putting gifts under the tree was just an American tradition. The french keep the gifts hidden until the morning of so that there's no peeking ;-)
Everyone opened gifts for awhile. I was given presents as well even though I said they weren't necessary. Bonne Maman gave me this one-of-a-kind necklace she found in Paris. Céline gave me this face cream I've really been wanting that would've burned a hole in my pocket. I also got a perfume set from her. And Didier gave me a 50 euro holiday bonus with a really sweet message. I've never experienced a Christmas like this where I got to enjoy the suspense and surprise. My family is Buddhist and even though we celebrated Christmas, we didn't buy each other gifts. We always just got money that we saved--for the most part.
After I got myself together for the day and helped Céline put the finishing touches on the décor, I went to town to grab Danny.
He was invited to Christmas lunch which is a huge event here. I'm so happy that they invited him because I would've felt rude leaving them to be with him or vice versa. Danny got along great with every member of the family and extended family. It was such a change from Jacob who everyone really disliked. Everyone kept coming up to me to say that "Danny is très gentil!"
We all sat down for Christmas lunch which was a grand meal. Appetizers included green olives stuffed with almonds, peanuts, air-puffed corn chips, and a type of marinated seed that I still don't remember the name of. Escargot was served as a secondary appetizer. For the main course, we had this deliciously creamy fois gras, roasted chicken, etc...We had 3 different cheeses afterward and Café d'Or ice cream for dessert. Danny had been saying that he wanted to try escargot and fois gras. There's another instance of killing two birds with one stone, ha haha. He had been saying that he was a picky eater growing up but he loved it all!!!
I took Danny home after the meal so that I could nap. I was so exhausted after cleaning all of the pots, pans, dishes, and silverware for 14 people. I thought I was going to pass out driving.
I didn't really get much of a nap when I came back because the triplets returned from Christmas lunch at their father's house. The house was a bit mad. Andréa and I were skyping so he was able to see how crazy the kids can really get. The girls ended pushing me off of my own computer so that they could chat with him. Oy vey...It was nice to see his face at least, lol.
It was an early night for everyone...Tryptophan, too much food, hyperactive kids, and no sleep led to me passing out as soon as I hit the bed.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
After I got myself together for the day and helped Céline put the finishing touches on the décor, I went to town to grab Danny.
We all sat down for Christmas lunch which was a grand meal. Appetizers included green olives stuffed with almonds, peanuts, air-puffed corn chips, and a type of marinated seed that I still don't remember the name of. Escargot was served as a secondary appetizer. For the main course, we had this deliciously creamy fois gras, roasted chicken, etc...We had 3 different cheeses afterward and Café d'Or ice cream for dessert. Danny had been saying that he wanted to try escargot and fois gras. There's another instance of killing two birds with one stone, ha haha. He had been saying that he was a picky eater growing up but he loved it all!!!
I took Danny home after the meal so that I could nap. I was so exhausted after cleaning all of the pots, pans, dishes, and silverware for 14 people. I thought I was going to pass out driving.
It was an early night for everyone...Tryptophan, too much food, hyperactive kids, and no sleep led to me passing out as soon as I hit the bed.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
Lundi, 24 Decembre 2012: The Great Migration
The family and I had a big lunch before they left for Marseille around 16h00. It's a tradition to go to a grand mass in Marseille every Christmas Eve. I left for centre ville soon after. Danny and Andréa were meeting for the first time today. We strolled through the Christmas market together and drank some hot wine. I made Andréa practice his English skills with Danny. He hehe
When it was time for Andréa to leave I started cracking up because I didn't know how to tell Danny politely that I needed to see him off by myself. It's so weird because as I was thinking about this, Danny chimed in and said that he had to go look for a scarf for his mom. He told me later that he was looking for an excuse to leave because he knew I'd need alone time with Andréa. LOL!!! This is why he's such a good friend of mine. He can read my mind!!!
Andréa and I settled on a little spot by the parking garage and cuddled for a bit. Somehow we got on the subject of how I don't want children. The subject seemed to be pretty important to him so I kind of recoiled a bit. It's really too early to talk about this in great detail but I guess you need to know where each person stands right off the bat. When you get to our age range and you don't just date for fun, it's important to know about each others' core values.
I went back to Meyreuil afterward to grab the kids' gifts and some wrapping paper. Danny grabbed some wine from Monoprix while I was doing this. He spent 15 euro on TWO bottles!!! Not only did I forget to tell him where to find the food section at Monoprix where a liter of wine can be 2 euro but I also forgot to tell him that green labeled wines were preferred.
Danny and I headed to the Augustins apartment where I started wrapping all of the kids' gifts from Danny and I. He got them a ton of American candy and I got them books that I figured they'd like reading such as Vampire Diaries and Goosebumps--in french of course. Lydia and Maggie came over with some food and we ate a little bit before we watched Elf and the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I always forget how funny Elf is, but it's even more funny when you watch it with people who will laugh with you. I've missed these 3 a lot...It's sad that I don't come to town more often but I am just so damn exhausted after a day with the children. My favorite past-time nowadays is sleep. And after the movies were over, that's exactly what I went home to do.
When it was time for Andréa to leave I started cracking up because I didn't know how to tell Danny politely that I needed to see him off by myself. It's so weird because as I was thinking about this, Danny chimed in and said that he had to go look for a scarf for his mom. He told me later that he was looking for an excuse to leave because he knew I'd need alone time with Andréa. LOL!!! This is why he's such a good friend of mine. He can read my mind!!!
Andréa and I settled on a little spot by the parking garage and cuddled for a bit. Somehow we got on the subject of how I don't want children. The subject seemed to be pretty important to him so I kind of recoiled a bit. It's really too early to talk about this in great detail but I guess you need to know where each person stands right off the bat. When you get to our age range and you don't just date for fun, it's important to know about each others' core values.
I went back to Meyreuil afterward to grab the kids' gifts and some wrapping paper. Danny grabbed some wine from Monoprix while I was doing this. He spent 15 euro on TWO bottles!!! Not only did I forget to tell him where to find the food section at Monoprix where a liter of wine can be 2 euro but I also forgot to tell him that green labeled wines were preferred.
Danny and I headed to the Augustins apartment where I started wrapping all of the kids' gifts from Danny and I. He got them a ton of American candy and I got them books that I figured they'd like reading such as Vampire Diaries and Goosebumps--in french of course. Lydia and Maggie came over with some food and we ate a little bit before we watched Elf and the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I always forget how funny Elf is, but it's even more funny when you watch it with people who will laugh with you. I've missed these 3 a lot...It's sad that I don't come to town more often but I am just so damn exhausted after a day with the children. My favorite past-time nowadays is sleep. And after the movies were over, that's exactly what I went home to do.
Dimanche, 23 Decembre 2012: The Bon Voyage Home
The four of us got a good night worth of sleep so when Ori woke us up at 6h30, we were well-rested. He and Vlad had just finished their shift guarding the mansion. Ori took us to his favorite spot to watch the sunrise. They're such great hosts! They brought hot tea and everything. Though Ori is a photographer, we all took this opportunity to get some great shots. It was absolutely magical...We all sat there in silence as the sun rose.
I thought it'd be a good idea to make the guys breakfast to say thank you before we left. We made them baguette french toast, scrambled eggs, and yogurt with berries. I had had the intention on making smoothies but none of the blenders worked. We all ate, cleaned up, said our goodbyes and were on our way back west.
We had intended on stopping in Biot for glassblowing and Grasse to visit some perfumeries but we lost interest and just saw the towns in passing. We decided to stop Cannes for awhile so that we could at least say that we went there. I was so tired that I was just an absolute snail. We got some pictures at the Grand Auditorium where the festival is held, got some coffee, and walked by some really high-end stores. We made our way back to Aix soon after.
Danny, Kami, and I grabbed some pizza at my favorite spot before I went home to my family. The kids and even the dog were so happy to see me. It was really sweet but after about an hour of being with them, I was exhausted again. I napped for a bit before heading to Centre Ville to meet with Danny for dinner. I ended up not eating because I was feeling sick. And I was feeling sick because I was nervous to meet with Andrea afterward. Andrea and I met at the post office where we had met for the shoot the first time. We walked to O'Shannons and had a few drinks. Tried to get to know each other using Françlish, sometimes Spanglish. It was hilarious. I found out a lot more about him during this time, including how we came to meet. The story is that his associate Patrice had photographed me at the last shoot in La Penne sur Huveaune. Patrice went back to Andrea saying that he had found the perfect girl for him. Andrea feeling curious and suspicious of Patrice's claims decided to come to the next shoot to see if what he was saying was true. Andrea and I met at the Christmas shoot and that's where the story really begins. It's always strange for me to hear that someone knows about me before I know them, but this photography community is so small, it makes sense.
Andrea and I finished our drinks and walked around centre ville together to keep warm. We ended up walking all over the area for hours, just talking and getting to know each other. I walked him back to the parking garage at the end of the night and pulled him in for a kiss. I had been wanting to do this all night but I withheld until the very last moment. I didn't want to leave him after that but I know that "absence makes the heart grow fonder..."
I thought it'd be a good idea to make the guys breakfast to say thank you before we left. We made them baguette french toast, scrambled eggs, and yogurt with berries. I had had the intention on making smoothies but none of the blenders worked. We all ate, cleaned up, said our goodbyes and were on our way back west.
We had intended on stopping in Biot for glassblowing and Grasse to visit some perfumeries but we lost interest and just saw the towns in passing. We decided to stop Cannes for awhile so that we could at least say that we went there. I was so tired that I was just an absolute snail. We got some pictures at the Grand Auditorium where the festival is held, got some coffee, and walked by some really high-end stores. We made our way back to Aix soon after.
Danny, Kami, and I grabbed some pizza at my favorite spot before I went home to my family. The kids and even the dog were so happy to see me. It was really sweet but after about an hour of being with them, I was exhausted again. I napped for a bit before heading to Centre Ville to meet with Danny for dinner. I ended up not eating because I was feeling sick. And I was feeling sick because I was nervous to meet with Andrea afterward. Andrea and I met at the post office where we had met for the shoot the first time. We walked to O'Shannons and had a few drinks. Tried to get to know each other using Françlish, sometimes Spanglish. It was hilarious. I found out a lot more about him during this time, including how we came to meet. The story is that his associate Patrice had photographed me at the last shoot in La Penne sur Huveaune. Patrice went back to Andrea saying that he had found the perfect girl for him. Andrea feeling curious and suspicious of Patrice's claims decided to come to the next shoot to see if what he was saying was true. Andrea and I met at the Christmas shoot and that's where the story really begins. It's always strange for me to hear that someone knows about me before I know them, but this photography community is so small, it makes sense.
Andrea and I finished our drinks and walked around centre ville together to keep warm. We ended up walking all over the area for hours, just talking and getting to know each other. I walked him back to the parking garage at the end of the night and pulled him in for a kiss. I had been wanting to do this all night but I withheld until the very last moment. I didn't want to leave him after that but I know that "absence makes the heart grow fonder..."
Samedi, 22 Decembre 2012: A Day of Discovery
I woke up pretty early Saturday to the most surprising view! I knew that the guys lived on the side of the mountain overlooking the water but I wasn't expecting this from my bedroom!
I got ready for the day and went up to the main building to see if anyone was awake. Ori was up there hanging out. I had some coffee with him and admired the view some more while I was waiting for everyone else to get up there. Everyone was mesmerized by the view. We all stood together in front of the living room window while Ori watched us. He kind of laughed about it but hinted that everyone reacts the same way.
The four of us decided to go see the chateau first thing. We were hungry though and since the pizzeria we visited was closed for a private party, we stopped at this cute little Thai place. The food there was amazing!!! Except for the eggrolls that were filled with cheese, the rest of the dishes we had were authentic. All of the servers in the restaurant spoke English. It was sad to me though because even though I don't remember much, I wanted to practice my Thai. We settled for English when the girls obviously couldn't understand me. Ha haha
We were eating while some random donkeys strolled by. There was a cop that stopped them. He was so cute! I guess cops here do a lot more than they're paid to do. Cops in Indiana don't even help you shovel your car out.
We climbed the hill up to the chateau after our humongous lunch. It was a bit of a struggle so we stopped halfway at a scenic view. We met another American up there. His name was Anthony and we chatted with him for awhile. It turns out he's from San Francisco like Mark.
We continued on up to the chateau. We walked around all of the corridors which were filled with shops and quaint little cafés. We stopped at a beer garden to get some drinks and walked on.
Since Monaco was only 6 km away, we decided to go there afterward. Monaco is nice and all but other than the parks and the ocean, there wasn't really anything to see.
We stayed in Monaco for an hour or two before heading back to Nice. We got back just in time for the sunset and sat on the smooth rocky beach while the sun went down.
We went back to the villa afterward and tried to nap before we headed out for the night. I was woken up twice during the short hour that I was in bed. The first time because I was parked in front of a neighbor's gate, and the second time because I was parked in front of the other neighbor's door. The second woman was a SUPER BITCH!!! I got out of bed as soon as Oded told us there was a complaint. I was dressed in less than 10 seconds and running up the stairs to move the car. The neighbor was standing at the top of the stairs tapping her feet. I immediately said I was sorry and she just looks me up and down with her arms crossed and says "Can you explain to me HOW I can get in my house?" I didn't reply because I didn't have a non-bitchy reply and decided not to allow the situation to escalate. It's a good thing Mark was with me because he had the same reaction I did. I just kept walking to my car. She followed me and said "What? You have no answer? HA! Oh, and when you move your car, it would be good if you didn't hit the one behind you...." I just rolled my eyes and went on. Of course I'm not going to hit your car. I'm from America, and we have respect for others' personal property, unlike in France when there are hit and runs daily. I can't believe that woman thinks she can treat people that way. She's obviously someone that's used to people kissing her ass. Her husband was this mousy little bald man that huffed and puffed everytime she made a snobby comment. He obviously doesn't have any balls and didn't marry her because he loved her. C'est la vie ;-)
I moved the car to the end of the street and went back down to my room, fuming. I knew I wouldn't be able to nap after that so I got everyone out of bed to go back to downtown Nice for dinner. We stopped at the first Italian restaurant we could find and walked in. We sat down but then the waiter had us move to a table that already had people so that another family could sit down. It was weird at first but the guys we sat with were funny and tried to speak English with us. The resto became really packed as soon as we got settled. We understood why a few minutes later. There was an important football match on the TV. Lyon vs. Nice. We were in Nice at an Italian establishment. Of course these guys were die-hard fans. We were entertained throughout our entire dinner which was sooooo good!!!
We went out to a bar afterward and finished watching the game. Kami got this really gross pear liquor that made me kind of sick. It was so strong I thought I was going to pass out just from sniffing it. It was served in a whiskey snifter so the aroma was extremely pungent. All of the bar patrons cleared out after the match and the four of us were left sitting in an entire room by ourselves. We didn't really feel like partying hard so we went back to the villa around 23h00 and passed out.
I got ready for the day and went up to the main building to see if anyone was awake. Ori was up there hanging out. I had some coffee with him and admired the view some more while I was waiting for everyone else to get up there. Everyone was mesmerized by the view. We all stood together in front of the living room window while Ori watched us. He kind of laughed about it but hinted that everyone reacts the same way.
We were eating while some random donkeys strolled by. There was a cop that stopped them. He was so cute! I guess cops here do a lot more than they're paid to do. Cops in Indiana don't even help you shovel your car out.
We continued on up to the chateau. We walked around all of the corridors which were filled with shops and quaint little cafés. We stopped at a beer garden to get some drinks and walked on.
Since Monaco was only 6 km away, we decided to go there afterward. Monaco is nice and all but other than the parks and the ocean, there wasn't really anything to see.
We stayed in Monaco for an hour or two before heading back to Nice. We got back just in time for the sunset and sat on the smooth rocky beach while the sun went down.
We went back to the villa afterward and tried to nap before we headed out for the night. I was woken up twice during the short hour that I was in bed. The first time because I was parked in front of a neighbor's gate, and the second time because I was parked in front of the other neighbor's door. The second woman was a SUPER BITCH!!! I got out of bed as soon as Oded told us there was a complaint. I was dressed in less than 10 seconds and running up the stairs to move the car. The neighbor was standing at the top of the stairs tapping her feet. I immediately said I was sorry and she just looks me up and down with her arms crossed and says "Can you explain to me HOW I can get in my house?" I didn't reply because I didn't have a non-bitchy reply and decided not to allow the situation to escalate. It's a good thing Mark was with me because he had the same reaction I did. I just kept walking to my car. She followed me and said "What? You have no answer? HA! Oh, and when you move your car, it would be good if you didn't hit the one behind you...." I just rolled my eyes and went on. Of course I'm not going to hit your car. I'm from America, and we have respect for others' personal property, unlike in France when there are hit and runs daily. I can't believe that woman thinks she can treat people that way. She's obviously someone that's used to people kissing her ass. Her husband was this mousy little bald man that huffed and puffed everytime she made a snobby comment. He obviously doesn't have any balls and didn't marry her because he loved her. C'est la vie ;-)
I moved the car to the end of the street and went back down to my room, fuming. I knew I wouldn't be able to nap after that so I got everyone out of bed to go back to downtown Nice for dinner. We stopped at the first Italian restaurant we could find and walked in. We sat down but then the waiter had us move to a table that already had people so that another family could sit down. It was weird at first but the guys we sat with were funny and tried to speak English with us. The resto became really packed as soon as we got settled. We understood why a few minutes later. There was an important football match on the TV. Lyon vs. Nice. We were in Nice at an Italian establishment. Of course these guys were die-hard fans. We were entertained throughout our entire dinner which was sooooo good!!!
We went out to a bar afterward and finished watching the game. Kami got this really gross pear liquor that made me kind of sick. It was so strong I thought I was going to pass out just from sniffing it. It was served in a whiskey snifter so the aroma was extremely pungent. All of the bar patrons cleared out after the match and the four of us were left sitting in an entire room by ourselves. We didn't really feel like partying hard so we went back to the villa around 23h00 and passed out.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Vendredi, 21 Decembre 2012: A Weekend on the French Riviera
I spent most of Friday morning cleaning the house with Bonne Maman after I dropped Gregoire off. I caught up on some blog posts in the afternoon before packing for the weekend. I was so busy I didn't even get to eat even though Bonne Maman and Didier had made lunch for everyone. By the time 18h30 came around, it was time for me to pick everyone up. We were going to Nice for the weekend! I spontaneously decided on Nice at Krystle's party last weekend because she said it was super close. I immediately put up my CouchSurfing plans to see if anyone could host us. I got numerous offers within the day so the trip was solid.
After I grabbed Mark, Danny, and Kami, we stopped at a gas station to fill up. My card didn't work because the bank had not raised my spending limit yet so we drove around to a few stations to see if we could find a place where it would work. We ended up using someone else's card and were on our way about a half an hour later. Driving on A8 at night is so beautiful, all of the lights from all of the cities...
The drive to Nice was about 1.5 hours so we would have shown up right on time except I left our hosts' address on my smartphone which was in my backpack in the trunk. The lived in a pretty exclusive area on a mountain by the beach so there were a lot of tunnels, windy roads, and neighborhoods. We were lost for about an hour but we didn't mind at all. Not only was it hilarious because we had to turn around about a dozen times but it was absolutely beautiful!!! The roads in the tunnels sparkled--like not your usual graphite sparkle, but like quartz crystals. It reminded me of the bizarre sparkling of vampire skin in Twilight, ha haha. You could also see the water down below due to the moonlight, it was glimmering. The stars were also fully visible and you could see all of Nice's city lights along with them. A huge marker for us was a chateau on the very top of the mountain. It was lit up on all sides. Ori, one of our hosts, used this chateau to help us find him.
Ori had been waiting at the side of the road for a good while now. We finally found him and followed him back to the villa. This place was huge!!! It's three separate buildings descending down the side of the mountain. The first building has a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms. The second building is kind of like a dorm with 4 bedrooms and a bathroom. The third building where we stayed was exactly the same as the second. Ori and his roommates made an American dinner for us--the classic hamburgers with all of the dressings. We ate a bit and met the roommates that were home. So, the story is that all 6 of the guys are Israeli ex-military that were hired by an Israeli billionaire for home security. We are so lucky to have found these guys! I wouldn't have felt safer anywhere else. It turns out that they're a ton of fun too!!!
The 8 of us headed to downtown Nice to a packed bar. The guys were worried about everyone not being able to get in so we were supposed to pair off into 'couples.' Ha haha. We didn't really do that. I just walked up to the bouncer, smiled at him and said "Nous avons quatre." He just smiled and said "Go right ahead." Yes. In English. When we got inside we realized that everyone spoke english, even the bartenders and servers. When we got to the back room, the band was playing all American music. Vlad, one of the other CS hosts pulled me up on the tables to dance. It was such a good time!!! I wasn't even drunk but I was having a blast!!!
We followed Oded and his girlfriend to another bar but it was packed so we decided to go home and carry on the festivities somewhere safe before we got too smashed. We all stayed up and drank for awhile. We slowly went to bed, one-by-one. Danny, Mark, and Vlad went to bed around 5h30. I'd say everyone had a good time :-)
After I grabbed Mark, Danny, and Kami, we stopped at a gas station to fill up. My card didn't work because the bank had not raised my spending limit yet so we drove around to a few stations to see if we could find a place where it would work. We ended up using someone else's card and were on our way about a half an hour later. Driving on A8 at night is so beautiful, all of the lights from all of the cities...
The drive to Nice was about 1.5 hours so we would have shown up right on time except I left our hosts' address on my smartphone which was in my backpack in the trunk. The lived in a pretty exclusive area on a mountain by the beach so there were a lot of tunnels, windy roads, and neighborhoods. We were lost for about an hour but we didn't mind at all. Not only was it hilarious because we had to turn around about a dozen times but it was absolutely beautiful!!! The roads in the tunnels sparkled--like not your usual graphite sparkle, but like quartz crystals. It reminded me of the bizarre sparkling of vampire skin in Twilight, ha haha. You could also see the water down below due to the moonlight, it was glimmering. The stars were also fully visible and you could see all of Nice's city lights along with them. A huge marker for us was a chateau on the very top of the mountain. It was lit up on all sides. Ori, one of our hosts, used this chateau to help us find him.
Ori had been waiting at the side of the road for a good while now. We finally found him and followed him back to the villa. This place was huge!!! It's three separate buildings descending down the side of the mountain. The first building has a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms. The second building is kind of like a dorm with 4 bedrooms and a bathroom. The third building where we stayed was exactly the same as the second. Ori and his roommates made an American dinner for us--the classic hamburgers with all of the dressings. We ate a bit and met the roommates that were home. So, the story is that all 6 of the guys are Israeli ex-military that were hired by an Israeli billionaire for home security. We are so lucky to have found these guys! I wouldn't have felt safer anywhere else. It turns out that they're a ton of fun too!!!
The 8 of us headed to downtown Nice to a packed bar. The guys were worried about everyone not being able to get in so we were supposed to pair off into 'couples.' Ha haha. We didn't really do that. I just walked up to the bouncer, smiled at him and said "Nous avons quatre." He just smiled and said "Go right ahead." Yes. In English. When we got inside we realized that everyone spoke english, even the bartenders and servers. When we got to the back room, the band was playing all American music. Vlad, one of the other CS hosts pulled me up on the tables to dance. It was such a good time!!! I wasn't even drunk but I was having a blast!!!
We followed Oded and his girlfriend to another bar but it was packed so we decided to go home and carry on the festivities somewhere safe before we got too smashed. We all stayed up and drank for awhile. We slowly went to bed, one-by-one. Danny, Mark, and Vlad went to bed around 5h30. I'd say everyone had a good time :-)
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Jeudi, 20 Decembre 2012: Le Fin du Monde
I had my usual duties of the day and went to meet Danny at Crepes A GoGo for a mid-day snack. I had invited Kami as well. By the time I arrived, Kami and Danny had already met. Kami said "Danny was so easy to find!" Ha haha. You don't often see men in France with long blonde hair and a full red beard so that's understandable.
He had a banana and nutella crepe while I ordered my first savory crepe--with spinach. He enjoyed his thoroughly, but I couldn't finish mine. It was absolutely disgusting. That's the first thing I've eaten in France that I didn't like. Keep in mind, I've eaten raw beef and blood sausages and liked them. So, this was one super crappy crepe.
The three of us walked around centre ville for an hour or so, showing Danny around a bit. We stopped at the Christmas market and got some hot, mulled wine. I'm not sure if this was his first time or not but it was awesome, as usual.
When it was time for me to get back to work, I told Danny that if he was coming back with me that I'd have to put him to work. He didn't care, lol. Since guests would be arriving soon, Danny helped me put the finishing touches on the week worth of cleaning. Céline's mom is sleeping in my room so he helped me change the sheets. We ended up putting my sheets and duvet on Baptiste's bed since I was crashing with him. After we collected some wood for the fireplace, he and I cleaned out the freezer which had been sitting closed and unplugged since we moved into the new house. It was absolutely DISGUSTING!!! The sound it made was terrifying! Like opening tupperware but with a frightening smell escaping with the hiss. AHH!!! I'm so glad I didn't have to do it alone. I had already put it off for a day because I didn't have time to do it the day before. I started out by pouring vinegar all of the inside, then I sprinkled baking soda on top of that. We allowed that to work for a few minutes before I started wiping up the mold and mildew with paper towels. For the next cleaning stage, I threw boiling hot water over the entire surface, let that sit, then sopped it all up with an ugly towel that I also threw away. Next, I cleaned with Lysol and I finished with more boiling hot water. The freezer is now in pristine condition. Wow...I am one awesome au pair! ;-) This is definitely not in the job description but the family thanks me in so many ways. It was, in a way, my gift to them.
I dropped Danny off at his apartment right before I went to pick up the kids. They were pretty well-behaved for the most part. Except that they ate an entire box of cookies. Ew. As soon as Céline came home with Armelle (Bonne maman), I took off back towards centre ville. I'm able to use Danny's parking space while he's renting the apartment so I don't have to spend 20+ minutes looking for one, so that's a plus. He and I went to La Piazza Pappa, a nice italian chain restaurant on the Cours Mirabeau. I got my usual Fromage Blanc salad and a new pasta which I was not able to finish due to all of the cookies that the kids force fed me earlier. Danny got the chicken and pasta dish I ordered last time. I'd say he enjoyed his first sit-down restaurant experience in France.
Kami met up with us after dinner and we went to a hookah bar. The three of us sat together and talked about everything including the impending apocalypse. It was so beautiful inside and so relaxing but all of the hype over the end of the world made me ansty and I wanted to get home before midnight. I didn't get home 'in time' but the stars were absolutely gorgeous and so clear. I also had Armin van Buuren--my favorite DJ on the radio live with one of his A State of Trance episodes. It was so soothing. I stood outside during 'Le Fin du Monde' half-expecting to see fireballs. I was a bit disappointed when nothing happened, but at least I can say I survived the end of the world...again.
He had a banana and nutella crepe while I ordered my first savory crepe--with spinach. He enjoyed his thoroughly, but I couldn't finish mine. It was absolutely disgusting. That's the first thing I've eaten in France that I didn't like. Keep in mind, I've eaten raw beef and blood sausages and liked them. So, this was one super crappy crepe.
The three of us walked around centre ville for an hour or so, showing Danny around a bit. We stopped at the Christmas market and got some hot, mulled wine. I'm not sure if this was his first time or not but it was awesome, as usual.
When it was time for me to get back to work, I told Danny that if he was coming back with me that I'd have to put him to work. He didn't care, lol. Since guests would be arriving soon, Danny helped me put the finishing touches on the week worth of cleaning. Céline's mom is sleeping in my room so he helped me change the sheets. We ended up putting my sheets and duvet on Baptiste's bed since I was crashing with him. After we collected some wood for the fireplace, he and I cleaned out the freezer which had been sitting closed and unplugged since we moved into the new house. It was absolutely DISGUSTING!!! The sound it made was terrifying! Like opening tupperware but with a frightening smell escaping with the hiss. AHH!!! I'm so glad I didn't have to do it alone. I had already put it off for a day because I didn't have time to do it the day before. I started out by pouring vinegar all of the inside, then I sprinkled baking soda on top of that. We allowed that to work for a few minutes before I started wiping up the mold and mildew with paper towels. For the next cleaning stage, I threw boiling hot water over the entire surface, let that sit, then sopped it all up with an ugly towel that I also threw away. Next, I cleaned with Lysol and I finished with more boiling hot water. The freezer is now in pristine condition. Wow...I am one awesome au pair! ;-) This is definitely not in the job description but the family thanks me in so many ways. It was, in a way, my gift to them.
I dropped Danny off at his apartment right before I went to pick up the kids. They were pretty well-behaved for the most part. Except that they ate an entire box of cookies. Ew. As soon as Céline came home with Armelle (Bonne maman), I took off back towards centre ville. I'm able to use Danny's parking space while he's renting the apartment so I don't have to spend 20+ minutes looking for one, so that's a plus. He and I went to La Piazza Pappa, a nice italian chain restaurant on the Cours Mirabeau. I got my usual Fromage Blanc salad and a new pasta which I was not able to finish due to all of the cookies that the kids force fed me earlier. Danny got the chicken and pasta dish I ordered last time. I'd say he enjoyed his first sit-down restaurant experience in France.
Kami met up with us after dinner and we went to a hookah bar. The three of us sat together and talked about everything including the impending apocalypse. It was so beautiful inside and so relaxing but all of the hype over the end of the world made me ansty and I wanted to get home before midnight. I didn't get home 'in time' but the stars were absolutely gorgeous and so clear. I also had Armin van Buuren--my favorite DJ on the radio live with one of his A State of Trance episodes. It was so soothing. I stood outside during 'Le Fin du Monde' half-expecting to see fireballs. I was a bit disappointed when nothing happened, but at least I can say I survived the end of the world...again.
Monday, December 24, 2012
Mercredi, 19 Decembre 2012: My Second Visitor
I had spent the entire morning cleaning and catching up on my blog. By the time noon had rolled around, I was at the Gare Routiere waiting for Danny. Danny is a friend of mine from college. We were both in the pre-med and bio programs together at Ball State. Though we had had Botany together in the spring of 2009, we didn't become friends until the next semester when we had Genetics together. From then on, we became study buddies, and from there, we became good friends. He's now like a little brother to me. After I graduated, I made sure to visit with him whenever I was in Indiana. He's in the must-see category. And now, he's visiting me in France!
His bus arrived a bit late so I got some hot wine and sat on a bench to wait for him. During this time, I met multiple people randomly. It wasn't the usual passerby asking for directions. These people actually sat with me for a few minutes and spoke to me about...well, nothing important, but it was nice to not sit by myself. One man in particular stopped to ask for directions to the train station in french, when I accidentally replied in english he started asking questions about my origins, what I'm doing here, and whether I prefer Aix over Marseille. He was obviously in no rush to get to the train station, and of course he spoke in english. I find that when people find out you're an American, they either want to practice their english with you or are just mezmerized by your accent--which I totally hate by the way. All of the french people say that the American accent is sexy, but I think it's just awful!
Danny finally arrived in Aix but at an earlier bus stop just a minute away. I didn't know that area well so it took me a few minutes to find him, plus, nearly every street in Aix is a one-way street so if you don't know exactly where you're going, you have to turn around a million times and take a million different routes. I finally found him and we took off toward Meyreuil since he couldn't get into his apartment until 16h30. Danny had rented an apartment on airbnb.com because he couldn't find a couchsurfing host. I was asking my friends if they could host him and when he said that he would pay them 30 euro a day to stay with them, I decided to send him to this site instead. Not only is it cheaper but he would get his own space.
We stopped at a Paul's on the outskirts of Aix for lunch. We ate our sandwiches at an outside table. The sky was a bit cloudy but I love being outside regardless. I took Danny back to my host parents' home after I got their permission and he relaxed while I ironed some clothes. Danny had gotten food poisoning the night before he left, lol. Talk about a crazy start. He had spent time in the E.R. before having to fly out. That shows you to never eat sushi from a buffet. He tried to change his flight for a later date but it was deemed impossible or extremely expensive so he left as previously planned. Poor guy. He was given Lortabs for the flight.
Danny met my host dad and they seemed to get along well. I think everyone is skeptical of Danny because he looks like a lumberjack, yet he and I are such good friends. He looks very intimidating, but he's a total teddy bear. You should see him with my rabbit at home, lol.
The girls arrived home around 15h30 and they came with me while I dropped Danny off at his apartment. We then picked up Gregoire from the creche and Baptiste from soccer practice together. Once Céline got home, I left for centre ville to have dinner with Danny. Tonight, we got a pizza from Pizza Capri which totally lived up to its reputation. We ate the pizza at the famous King fountain on the Cours Mirabeau. I walked Danny back to his apartment and he slept his first night in France...
His bus arrived a bit late so I got some hot wine and sat on a bench to wait for him. During this time, I met multiple people randomly. It wasn't the usual passerby asking for directions. These people actually sat with me for a few minutes and spoke to me about...well, nothing important, but it was nice to not sit by myself. One man in particular stopped to ask for directions to the train station in french, when I accidentally replied in english he started asking questions about my origins, what I'm doing here, and whether I prefer Aix over Marseille. He was obviously in no rush to get to the train station, and of course he spoke in english. I find that when people find out you're an American, they either want to practice their english with you or are just mezmerized by your accent--which I totally hate by the way. All of the french people say that the American accent is sexy, but I think it's just awful!
Danny finally arrived in Aix but at an earlier bus stop just a minute away. I didn't know that area well so it took me a few minutes to find him, plus, nearly every street in Aix is a one-way street so if you don't know exactly where you're going, you have to turn around a million times and take a million different routes. I finally found him and we took off toward Meyreuil since he couldn't get into his apartment until 16h30. Danny had rented an apartment on airbnb.com because he couldn't find a couchsurfing host. I was asking my friends if they could host him and when he said that he would pay them 30 euro a day to stay with them, I decided to send him to this site instead. Not only is it cheaper but he would get his own space.
We stopped at a Paul's on the outskirts of Aix for lunch. We ate our sandwiches at an outside table. The sky was a bit cloudy but I love being outside regardless. I took Danny back to my host parents' home after I got their permission and he relaxed while I ironed some clothes. Danny had gotten food poisoning the night before he left, lol. Talk about a crazy start. He had spent time in the E.R. before having to fly out. That shows you to never eat sushi from a buffet. He tried to change his flight for a later date but it was deemed impossible or extremely expensive so he left as previously planned. Poor guy. He was given Lortabs for the flight.
Danny met my host dad and they seemed to get along well. I think everyone is skeptical of Danny because he looks like a lumberjack, yet he and I are such good friends. He looks very intimidating, but he's a total teddy bear. You should see him with my rabbit at home, lol.
The girls arrived home around 15h30 and they came with me while I dropped Danny off at his apartment. We then picked up Gregoire from the creche and Baptiste from soccer practice together. Once Céline got home, I left for centre ville to have dinner with Danny. Tonight, we got a pizza from Pizza Capri which totally lived up to its reputation. We ate the pizza at the famous King fountain on the Cours Mirabeau. I walked Danny back to his apartment and he slept his first night in France...
Friday, December 21, 2012
Mardi, 18 Decembre 2012: My Super Packed Day
I started my day out with dropping Gregoire off at the creche. I left immediately afterward for Marseille where I had another Christmas shoot with Steph and Ludovic at Steph's studio. I ended up getting lost in Marseille for about an hour because the street signs are so darn small. The guys came to rescue me and we shot for about 3 hours before I had to leave.
I had planned on meeting Andréa for a coffee in Marseille but I didn't have time after the shoot due to a doctor's appointment. Andréa is a photographer I had met at Sunday's shoot. He's 23, handsome, and shy. If you know me at all, you know I love shy guys. Aggressive guys just turn me off. I haven't known this guy long but I like him a lot. He's the first french guy I've been interested in since I've been here. But it's more than that. I feel butterflies...Like I said before, we met at the shoot on Sunday. He was one of the photographers and he's so damn good at it. He made me look amazing...Anyway, we were talking about the photos Sunday night and the more we spoke, the more interested I grew. The feeling was obviously mutual with things that were being said and we've been 'talking' ever since.
Since I didn't have time to meet up with Andréa in Marseille, he offered to come with me to my appointment in Aubagne just to see me for a minute. I ended up getting lost there too so it was good that I had him there to help me. We killed two birds with one stone. He waited patiently in the waiting room while I was being treated for my sore wrist.
I had gotten zero hours of sleep the previous night due to extreme pain in my right wrist. The pain wasn't caused by a fall or anything so I was worried. Serge is a friend of Didier's who is a chiropractor. Serge took a few minutes with my wrist, checking out my reflex arc. But then he ended up cracking my entire body including my neck. I thought it was odd that I came in for my wrist and he treated my entire body but when he explained it all, it made sense. Through his examination, Serge concluded that circulation in the lower half of my body is weak and that my wrist problem was stemming from something much deeper in a different part of my body. He told me things about my own body that I've never told anyone else, things that you can't generalize or make up. It's amazing! He also told me that though I'm a small person, I have belly fat because of my circulation issue. I've always wondered why I couldn't get abs no matter how hard I worked out! What a strange and amazing discovery! He says that with his treatment plan, that fat will melt right off. His recommendation is that I come back every 3 weeks. I'm a bit skeptical yes, but I'm open-minded so we will test this form of medicine and I will keep you all up to date!
After the appointment, Andréa and I took a drive around town to search for a café since I had over an hour to kill. I got to know a lot more about him and his personality during this time. I was feeling sick though because Serge had massaged my stomach and his treatment had released a lot of toxins in my body. Before you knew it, my time was up and I had to go back to Aix to pick up Gregoire. We passed each other kisses on the cheek and went our separate ways. Agh, I'm about to be smitten...I know it! You can't fake chemistry and you can't turn it off either. I hope that things will work out for us.
I picked Gregoire up from the creche right on time and headed back home, missing Léa's play. Céline suggested that I stay home since I wasn't feeling too well. And I will admit, it was a struggle for me to just sit still in the car and not puke. Mama knows best!
I went out that night with Sandra and her step-daughter who is just 4 years younger than us. Steph and Ludo invited me to Le Mistral where they were supposed to shoot that night and I invited the girls. Le Mistral is one of the better clubs in Aix. We all started out with a drink at an irish pub on the Cours Mirabeau before heading to the club. Strange though, the photographers were let in while the rest of us were left out. The bouncer said that entrance was by reservation only because it was a private party. Obviously this was bull so Sandra talked to another bouncer while none of us were around. He said that he couldn't let us in because the guy that was with us wasn't dressed properly, so she got rid of him but then we still couldn't get in. This was the first time I'd been turned down for any club but I could care less about being let in. It was packed and I like to be able to dance without being squished up against a bunch of idiots. I've been so spoiled in every city though, knowing the people that I know. My mild annoyance wasn't anything compared to everyone else's. They were all furious! Including the photogs so we left for bar street together. I honestly think that we weren't let in because Sandra turned down a guy who was hitting on her earlier. He was telling us he could get us into Le Mistral and we kind of just ignored him because he looked like a 12 year old dork. Well, he was let right into the club while we were left out on the cold street. That certainly taught me something. Ha haha.
We ended up at Manosque, one of the dance clubs on Rue de la Verrerie. Sandra and I were having a good time on the dance floor until I got hoarded by some guys. Sandra is obviously hotter than me and I was covered from head to toe with no special make-up on but the guys were seriously all over me and no one else. I was grabbed by three of them including this creepy little soccer player. Luckily, I was in a good mood and I had Sandra and Ludovic to protect me, ha haha. I'm not complaining about getting attention, but when I say no, I mean no and that doesn't mean you get to follow me around and try to persuade me otherwise.
I left at 3h00 and headed home to sleep. Just four hours before I had to get up with Gregoire. Somehow, I had more energy this morning...Maybe it was Serge's magic therapy!
I had planned on meeting Andréa for a coffee in Marseille but I didn't have time after the shoot due to a doctor's appointment. Andréa is a photographer I had met at Sunday's shoot. He's 23, handsome, and shy. If you know me at all, you know I love shy guys. Aggressive guys just turn me off. I haven't known this guy long but I like him a lot. He's the first french guy I've been interested in since I've been here. But it's more than that. I feel butterflies...Like I said before, we met at the shoot on Sunday. He was one of the photographers and he's so damn good at it. He made me look amazing...Anyway, we were talking about the photos Sunday night and the more we spoke, the more interested I grew. The feeling was obviously mutual with things that were being said and we've been 'talking' ever since.
Since I didn't have time to meet up with Andréa in Marseille, he offered to come with me to my appointment in Aubagne just to see me for a minute. I ended up getting lost there too so it was good that I had him there to help me. We killed two birds with one stone. He waited patiently in the waiting room while I was being treated for my sore wrist.
I had gotten zero hours of sleep the previous night due to extreme pain in my right wrist. The pain wasn't caused by a fall or anything so I was worried. Serge is a friend of Didier's who is a chiropractor. Serge took a few minutes with my wrist, checking out my reflex arc. But then he ended up cracking my entire body including my neck. I thought it was odd that I came in for my wrist and he treated my entire body but when he explained it all, it made sense. Through his examination, Serge concluded that circulation in the lower half of my body is weak and that my wrist problem was stemming from something much deeper in a different part of my body. He told me things about my own body that I've never told anyone else, things that you can't generalize or make up. It's amazing! He also told me that though I'm a small person, I have belly fat because of my circulation issue. I've always wondered why I couldn't get abs no matter how hard I worked out! What a strange and amazing discovery! He says that with his treatment plan, that fat will melt right off. His recommendation is that I come back every 3 weeks. I'm a bit skeptical yes, but I'm open-minded so we will test this form of medicine and I will keep you all up to date!
After the appointment, Andréa and I took a drive around town to search for a café since I had over an hour to kill. I got to know a lot more about him and his personality during this time. I was feeling sick though because Serge had massaged my stomach and his treatment had released a lot of toxins in my body. Before you knew it, my time was up and I had to go back to Aix to pick up Gregoire. We passed each other kisses on the cheek and went our separate ways. Agh, I'm about to be smitten...I know it! You can't fake chemistry and you can't turn it off either. I hope that things will work out for us.
I picked Gregoire up from the creche right on time and headed back home, missing Léa's play. Céline suggested that I stay home since I wasn't feeling too well. And I will admit, it was a struggle for me to just sit still in the car and not puke. Mama knows best!
I went out that night with Sandra and her step-daughter who is just 4 years younger than us. Steph and Ludo invited me to Le Mistral where they were supposed to shoot that night and I invited the girls. Le Mistral is one of the better clubs in Aix. We all started out with a drink at an irish pub on the Cours Mirabeau before heading to the club. Strange though, the photographers were let in while the rest of us were left out. The bouncer said that entrance was by reservation only because it was a private party. Obviously this was bull so Sandra talked to another bouncer while none of us were around. He said that he couldn't let us in because the guy that was with us wasn't dressed properly, so she got rid of him but then we still couldn't get in. This was the first time I'd been turned down for any club but I could care less about being let in. It was packed and I like to be able to dance without being squished up against a bunch of idiots. I've been so spoiled in every city though, knowing the people that I know. My mild annoyance wasn't anything compared to everyone else's. They were all furious! Including the photogs so we left for bar street together. I honestly think that we weren't let in because Sandra turned down a guy who was hitting on her earlier. He was telling us he could get us into Le Mistral and we kind of just ignored him because he looked like a 12 year old dork. Well, he was let right into the club while we were left out on the cold street. That certainly taught me something. Ha haha.
We ended up at Manosque, one of the dance clubs on Rue de la Verrerie. Sandra and I were having a good time on the dance floor until I got hoarded by some guys. Sandra is obviously hotter than me and I was covered from head to toe with no special make-up on but the guys were seriously all over me and no one else. I was grabbed by three of them including this creepy little soccer player. Luckily, I was in a good mood and I had Sandra and Ludovic to protect me, ha haha. I'm not complaining about getting attention, but when I say no, I mean no and that doesn't mean you get to follow me around and try to persuade me otherwise.
I left at 3h00 and headed home to sleep. Just four hours before I had to get up with Gregoire. Somehow, I had more energy this morning...Maybe it was Serge's magic therapy!
Lundi, 17 Decembre 2012: Facebook and Children
The beginning of this week has been pretty low-key except for the kids trying to defy authority once again. The triplets opened up Facebook accounts which is alright to me because the kids will learn how to use the internet safely with more practice and guidance. They will hopefully also learn more about the world and propriety through the news feed and sometimes relevant ads. The more friends they have on Facebook, the more informed they'll be about the world, or so you'd hope, but most of their friends won't care about world news. It's one way that I myself keep up to date though.
Anyway, the girls have been obnoxiously asking me for my computer and I let them go online for 10-20 minutes at a time. But honestly, I don't trust them with my computer after finding food and drink stains all over it. I did however leave them my computer one night because I was so tired and didn't feel like monitoring them while they looked up "something REALLY important." They ended up sitting on Facebook for hours while everyone else had been sleeping. Camille accidentally woke Didier up when she went to look for chocolates and their mother had a huge talk with them the next day. Not only did they abuse their trust with their mother, but they also upset me by leaving my computer on the floor, sideways with crap on top of it. They will never get to use my laptop ever again.
I'm trying to see if I can get them a 'community' computer so that they will have to take turns using it and learn to be respectful of each other and property. Still working on it. If you have any suggestions, please send them my way.
Anyway, the girls have been obnoxiously asking me for my computer and I let them go online for 10-20 minutes at a time. But honestly, I don't trust them with my computer after finding food and drink stains all over it. I did however leave them my computer one night because I was so tired and didn't feel like monitoring them while they looked up "something REALLY important." They ended up sitting on Facebook for hours while everyone else had been sleeping. Camille accidentally woke Didier up when she went to look for chocolates and their mother had a huge talk with them the next day. Not only did they abuse their trust with their mother, but they also upset me by leaving my computer on the floor, sideways with crap on top of it. They will never get to use my laptop ever again.
I'm trying to see if I can get them a 'community' computer so that they will have to take turns using it and learn to be respectful of each other and property. Still working on it. If you have any suggestions, please send them my way.
Samedi au Dimanche, 15-16 Decembre 2012: Shootings--In More Ways Than One
News of the Connecticut shooting crashed into everyone's lives the moment it happened. We were all overwhelmed with sadness, even my host parents. I was visibly upset with tears in my eyes. No circumstance will ever make the loss of innocent lives okay. I'm getting tired of reading all of these Facebook status updates about gun control. I happen to love shooting guns and I'm happy for the right to bear arms. But since everyone is demanding opinions, I believe that people who opt to buy firepower should have to go through psychological evaluation. I know that the Lanza kid took his mother's guns but she could've taken extra precaution to lock them up. Okay, that's really all I have to say. Everyone has their own opinion, and we will probably never fully agree on this issue. You have to remember that though guns were made to kill, people are actually the ones to commit the crime. Guns don't kill people. People kill people. It's a lack of respect for human life and the ability to get over stupid shit. The same day, a man in China stabbed 22 school children in a mad rampage. See what I mean?
I finished my somber weekend with a Christmas themed photo shoot. In France, shoots are called "les shootings." I wasn't able to find a holiday costume I liked so I came in a dress and my classic red, wool coat. When I was asked by the director of the shoot why I didn't come in a costume, I was honest and said I didn't want to look like a prostitute. Though I didn't dress like an elf or Mrs. Claus, my pictures came out pretty well, even festive and very in for the season. Check it out.
I finished my somber weekend with a Christmas themed photo shoot. In France, shoots are called "les shootings." I wasn't able to find a holiday costume I liked so I came in a dress and my classic red, wool coat. When I was asked by the director of the shoot why I didn't come in a costume, I was honest and said I didn't want to look like a prostitute. Though I didn't dress like an elf or Mrs. Claus, my pictures came out pretty well, even festive and very in for the season. Check it out.
Vendredi, 14 Decembre 2012: Ho, Ho, Ho, and a Bottle of Rum!!!
Gregoire didn't go to daycare Friday. He stayed home with me all day and stayed by my side. I was careful with what to feed him in order to not aggravate whatever was ailing him. He seemed better by the afternoon. I fed him water, a mild soup, and a little grilled cheese sandwich.
Tonight was Krystle and Sebastien's Christmas party. It was the usual group of Americans and Frenchies plus a few newbies including our professor. We didn't play Just Dance this time but there were glowsticks and those are always fun.
Though it was a good time, the party was kind of uneventful and Lauren was a bit too drunk so I drove her, her boyfriend, Mark, Loucas, and Oskar home in order to avoid any fiasco.
Tonight was Krystle and Sebastien's Christmas party. It was the usual group of Americans and Frenchies plus a few newbies including our professor. We didn't play Just Dance this time but there were glowsticks and those are always fun.
Though it was a good time, the party was kind of uneventful and Lauren was a bit too drunk so I drove her, her boyfriend, Mark, Loucas, and Oskar home in order to avoid any fiasco.
Jeudi, 13 Decembre 2012: Kid Puke is Worse Than A Drunk Person's
I had been growing suspicious as Gregoire began sniffling more and more. It was confirmed that night that he was sick when he puked all over his mom and I. He was sitting in his mom's lap while she was eating. He had been crying over nothing so she held him in order to get him to stop. I know that when Gregoire throws a fit over nothing that he's sick. Do you recall the week when I got no sleep because he kept screaming in the middle of the night? :-/
I watched the entire thing happen like it was in slow motion. Céline was getting ready to take another bite of her fish when Gregoire started gagging. It came out slow at first but then he started crying so it turned into projectile vomit. Céline ran with him to the bathroom. He refused to puke in the toilet so we let him puke on the floor. I knew that I was gonna clean it up but it didn't matter to me either way because I already had vomit on me.
I cleaned up the mess with some paper towels and mopped but Gregoire had a second wind of sickness. This time there was much more. It reminded me of a scene out of The Exorcist. Poor kid. You could tell he was so embarrassed.
The second time around, I grabbed the flour and sprinkled it over the vomit. A trick I learned back in elementary school when another kid threw up at the local grocery store. It definitely makes it much easier to clean up. Instead of sopping up a wet, smelly mess you're picking up solids. The process is much less torture if it's quicker to clean up. But like the title says, kid puke smells worse than a drunk person's because there's no alcohol to mask the smell.
Greg is sleeping with his mom tonight. Hopefully being with her through the night will give him some comfort and help him get better.
I watched the entire thing happen like it was in slow motion. Céline was getting ready to take another bite of her fish when Gregoire started gagging. It came out slow at first but then he started crying so it turned into projectile vomit. Céline ran with him to the bathroom. He refused to puke in the toilet so we let him puke on the floor. I knew that I was gonna clean it up but it didn't matter to me either way because I already had vomit on me.
I cleaned up the mess with some paper towels and mopped but Gregoire had a second wind of sickness. This time there was much more. It reminded me of a scene out of The Exorcist. Poor kid. You could tell he was so embarrassed.
The second time around, I grabbed the flour and sprinkled it over the vomit. A trick I learned back in elementary school when another kid threw up at the local grocery store. It definitely makes it much easier to clean up. Instead of sopping up a wet, smelly mess you're picking up solids. The process is much less torture if it's quicker to clean up. But like the title says, kid puke smells worse than a drunk person's because there's no alcohol to mask the smell.
Greg is sleeping with his mom tonight. Hopefully being with her through the night will give him some comfort and help him get better.
Mercredi, 12 Decembre 2012: Honey, You Are NOT A Diva...Stop Acting Like One
Wednesday was somewhat uneventful except for the bag fiasco. So, the kids don't have school on Wednesdays. They have lessons instead. Léa practices theater, Camille swims, and Baptiste plays soccer. Every Wednesday I pick Gregoire up from the daycare and then Baptiste from soccer in a nearby town. And EVERY Wednesday, Baptiste has all of the girls' bags with him. It's such a hassle, even for me but I normally have Gregoire with me. So on one hand I have a 2 year old kid that I need to keep safe while crossing the road and in the other hand I have 3 bags that belong to kids that aren't even with me. I would never expect a 10 year old to carry 6 bags to and from soccer practice just because his sisters refuse to do so themselves. Not only does he have to carry them but he has to keep track of all of this stuff that isn't even his.
We got home from practice and met the rest of the family who was already at the house. Camille noticed that her swimming equipment wasn't in the pile. We looked in the car, in each room, and Baptiste finally remembered that he didn't bring it home. The poor kid got a harsh tongue lashing from his mom for not being able to keep track of one bag out of six. Not only was his mom yelling at him, but Camille with her self-righteous attitude was calling him names and telling him how stupid he was. I was getting more and more furious by the second because it is NOT his responsibility to keep track of his sisters' things and get blamed for it when his hands are too full and something gets left behind!!! He has his own life to worry about.
I decided to take Baptiste out of the situation and offer to drive him back to the soccer field so we could look for the bag together. Baptiste did a once over on all of the grounds, checking the locker rooms, and places he hadn't even ventured. We looked for about 30 minutes in the blistering cold with the help of the coaches before Céline texted me saying that her ex-husband had it. Baptiste let out a great sigh of relief while I nearly lost it. This kid was so torn up over leaving his sister's swimming board behind when he didn't even have it in the first place. It's so wonderful that he cares so much but he needs to realize when it's right to take responsibility or not.
When we got into the car, I asked him why he always carried his sisters' bags to practice. He replied with 'They tell me that if I don't take the bags that they'll get left behind and won't be able to do their homework.' I was so incredibly irate at this point. I just don't understand why, if they're all the same age that they can't take care of their own bags. Where's the feeling of personal responsibility here? I highly doubt that either one of their parents taught them this. Céline and Anthony are such self-sufficient people, I know that they taught their kids well.
As soon as we got home Camille gave an insincere apology to Baptiste. While this was going on, I pulled Didier to the side, told him the whole story, and explained that this wasn't and should never be Baptiste's fault. Didier agreed with all of the points and was angry that Baptiste had to take the fall. He had a talk with the girls in a calm and cool manner. He asked them why Baptiste had their bags every Wednesday and they replied with 'because it's convenient.' That lit Didier up, he kept himself cool and collected but then the girls started arguing with him. I'm so thankful for Didier sometimes because though he can be harsh on the children every once in awhile, he always tells the truth. It's only for their benefit that he doesn't coddle them. The world is not kind to those who don't hold themselves accountable and these kids need to learn this now. They need to stop being lazy, blaming others, and start doing things for themselves...to BETTER themselves...I know that they're capable of this!!! I believe in them!!! They just need to believe in themselves...
Léa and Camille ended up crying and throwing huge tantrums because they always think they're right and Didier's always wrong but I totally backed him up. I was much more gentle when I talked to them but I made sure that they knew that he wasn't out of line and that they were, in fact, the ones in the wrong. Camille ended up writing a 7 page letter to Didier using multiple curse words and really not getting any valid point across. She ended up on a totally different subject. Camille can be such a drama queen sometimes, but you'll have that, pre-teen hormones. She read the letter aloud while crying. It was really quite ridiculous but I'm not going to tell anyone how to raise their kids. It's definitely not my place. I'm only here for sideline guidance.
After she felt like she got enough attention, we were all able to sit down to dinner, and that was the end of that. Thank the heavens because I couldn't have dealt with that huge fit for another minute...If you're going to argue about something, you'd better have evidence to back your claims up and stick to the subject. Oy vey...I hope she grows out of this. I know that both of her parents would want the same.
We got home from practice and met the rest of the family who was already at the house. Camille noticed that her swimming equipment wasn't in the pile. We looked in the car, in each room, and Baptiste finally remembered that he didn't bring it home. The poor kid got a harsh tongue lashing from his mom for not being able to keep track of one bag out of six. Not only was his mom yelling at him, but Camille with her self-righteous attitude was calling him names and telling him how stupid he was. I was getting more and more furious by the second because it is NOT his responsibility to keep track of his sisters' things and get blamed for it when his hands are too full and something gets left behind!!! He has his own life to worry about.
I decided to take Baptiste out of the situation and offer to drive him back to the soccer field so we could look for the bag together. Baptiste did a once over on all of the grounds, checking the locker rooms, and places he hadn't even ventured. We looked for about 30 minutes in the blistering cold with the help of the coaches before Céline texted me saying that her ex-husband had it. Baptiste let out a great sigh of relief while I nearly lost it. This kid was so torn up over leaving his sister's swimming board behind when he didn't even have it in the first place. It's so wonderful that he cares so much but he needs to realize when it's right to take responsibility or not.
When we got into the car, I asked him why he always carried his sisters' bags to practice. He replied with 'They tell me that if I don't take the bags that they'll get left behind and won't be able to do their homework.' I was so incredibly irate at this point. I just don't understand why, if they're all the same age that they can't take care of their own bags. Where's the feeling of personal responsibility here? I highly doubt that either one of their parents taught them this. Céline and Anthony are such self-sufficient people, I know that they taught their kids well.
As soon as we got home Camille gave an insincere apology to Baptiste. While this was going on, I pulled Didier to the side, told him the whole story, and explained that this wasn't and should never be Baptiste's fault. Didier agreed with all of the points and was angry that Baptiste had to take the fall. He had a talk with the girls in a calm and cool manner. He asked them why Baptiste had their bags every Wednesday and they replied with 'because it's convenient.' That lit Didier up, he kept himself cool and collected but then the girls started arguing with him. I'm so thankful for Didier sometimes because though he can be harsh on the children every once in awhile, he always tells the truth. It's only for their benefit that he doesn't coddle them. The world is not kind to those who don't hold themselves accountable and these kids need to learn this now. They need to stop being lazy, blaming others, and start doing things for themselves...to BETTER themselves...I know that they're capable of this!!! I believe in them!!! They just need to believe in themselves...
Léa and Camille ended up crying and throwing huge tantrums because they always think they're right and Didier's always wrong but I totally backed him up. I was much more gentle when I talked to them but I made sure that they knew that he wasn't out of line and that they were, in fact, the ones in the wrong. Camille ended up writing a 7 page letter to Didier using multiple curse words and really not getting any valid point across. She ended up on a totally different subject. Camille can be such a drama queen sometimes, but you'll have that, pre-teen hormones. She read the letter aloud while crying. It was really quite ridiculous but I'm not going to tell anyone how to raise their kids. It's definitely not my place. I'm only here for sideline guidance.
After she felt like she got enough attention, we were all able to sit down to dinner, and that was the end of that. Thank the heavens because I couldn't have dealt with that huge fit for another minute...If you're going to argue about something, you'd better have evidence to back your claims up and stick to the subject. Oy vey...I hope she grows out of this. I know that both of her parents would want the same.
Mardi, 11 Decembre 2012: Happy Birthday Kami!!!
Tuesday was a wonderful day. I went straight to the Augustins apartment after I dropped Gregoire off for Kami's surprise birthday breakfast. Danielle planned the entire thing, I only helped. I had the kids make Kami birthday cards the night before. I thought this would be a good addition to the surprise. She's the only one of my friends that actually knows all of the children personally.
Danielle and I made baguette french toast, a fruit plate, and mimosas for breakfast. I walked into Kami's room with a mimosa and a cheery exclamation of "Happy Birthday!" Though she looked like she knew something was going on, she still looked somewhat surprised. Danielle, Kami, Molly, and I all ate breakfast together. It was absolutely delicious!
I wasn't able to make it out to Kami's birthday dinner that night because Céline had asked me to watch Gregoire while she and Didier went shopping for bathroom tiles but she looks like she had a wonderful time and that's all that matters. I love this girl! Y'all need to meet her if you don't know her yet!
Danielle and I made baguette french toast, a fruit plate, and mimosas for breakfast. I walked into Kami's room with a mimosa and a cheery exclamation of "Happy Birthday!" Though she looked like she knew something was going on, she still looked somewhat surprised. Danielle, Kami, Molly, and I all ate breakfast together. It was absolutely delicious!
I wasn't able to make it out to Kami's birthday dinner that night because Céline had asked me to watch Gregoire while she and Didier went shopping for bathroom tiles but she looks like she had a wonderful time and that's all that matters. I love this girl! Y'all need to meet her if you don't know her yet!
Dimanche au Lundi, 9-10 Decembre 2012: I Love Children But I'm Never Having Any of My Own
All of Didier's family got together on Sunday for a farewell lunch. We went to a restaurant in the mall in Lyon which had many french classics on the menu. I sat at the kids' table because I was most comfortable there. Also at my table was Antoine, Nicholas, the triplets, and Didier's god-daughters who are so sweet and super cool! We had a few things in common like the TV show Charmed so we bonded a bit. The other table had Didier's parents, his 3 oldest children, their girlfriends and boyfriend, Céline and Didier, and their best friends who lived in the area. We had a three-course lunch which is traditional in most french gatherings. I had salmon topped with a cream sauce as my entrée and shared some tiramisu with the girls for dessert.
After the meal, I went out to the car to feed Google some leftovers of the choucroute. I took her for a quick walk around the parking lot afterward then Léa, Camille and I explored the mall. We spent the majority of our time in Claire's even though they weren't allowed to buy anything. They were drawn to the really silly, gawdy jewelry and had no interest in the classic pieces I was showing them so I got bored. I talked them into walking into L'Occitane with me to browse the testers. These girls have obviously never been in a bath and body store before because they were absolutely ridiculous--nearly dropping 3 bottles of body spray. I tried to show them the proper way to test the products and that just totally blew up in my face. I was showing Camille how to spray perfume on the test strips while Léa told me to turn around. Once I did, she sprayed perfume right in my face! My eyes were burning so bad and I was so angry that I just walked out of the store and didn't say a thing to either one of them. Léa obviously knew I was mad because she was apologizing profusely. I told her that her saying sorry doesn't change what she did and how immature it was. She also asked if I was mad at her and I said "Ah mais, tu as quel âge?" (You are how old?) and she replied with 'Well, I'm ten,' which I then answered with 'Yes, I'm mad. You should know better' and just kept on walking. The girls followed me all the way back of course and I ignored them for the rest of the night. I always wondered why these kids were never taken to town. Now I have my answer, first-hand. As much as they irritated me, they still need to go out. It's the best way for someone to learn how to behave in the public eye. And keeping them at home is not going to teach them anything. If I do one thing for the kids this year, I'm going to teach them how to behave like civilized people in a store. I don't even care about how much english they learn anymore but that was just plain embarrassing in L'Occitane. You don't have to be super strict with kids because that's just going to drive them crazy later, but they need to know the basics of proper human interaction.
Monday was also kind of a bad day with the children. They were absolutely horrible when I picked them up from school and when we got home, Céline had a talk with them about their grades because they're not doing too well. Camille who has the 'best' grades has an A in English and a D+ in math...It's absolutely horrible that they're doing so horribly. They all argued with their mom about how well they're doing and she told them that it's a bad idea for them to lie because she gets calls from their schools all the time. I don't even know how they even learned to lie. If my parents ever asked me anything, I almost always told them the truth even if I'd get in trouble. It'd be way worse if I lied and I found that out early on...Because they always find out! I was spanked for everything so I tried not to make life harder on myself, lol.
The discussion over grades turned into a huge scream fest, ick. Honestly, I'm so disappointed with the children because their lives are so easy compared to other children--especially compared to my own childhood. I was doing laundry and cooking by myself when I was their age. I always did my homework without my parents asking me to. But I knew and I understood that there would be consequences at school and then at home if I didn't do well. These kids don't really understand that, but the only consequence they suffer is a stern talking-to and maybe no TV. Times have certainly changed.
I try my best to help the children understand how important school work is but they're not getting the gist of it and keep telling me that these grades won't matter later. This may be true but it's important for them to learn how to motivate themselves and learn HOW to learn. Sorry for saying it like this but this shit is not gonna fly when they're older. I know that because I've already been through high school and college and known people that have failed. And it's not only failing at making the grade, but kind of failing at life in general. If you don't learn how to do the easy things well, then the hard stuff is just simply harder.
I at least try to help them get their homework done. I always ask them if they need help and they either say that they have none or quickly do the minimum and never review. I've tried getting their homework schedule but that never works out either. What else am I doing here if I'm not here to help them? Camille was bragging about how brilliant she was so I decided to put up 8 math problems on the dry erase board. Fractions, decimals, multiplication, you name it. She did them all within 10 minutes and of course, she got half of them wrong. So I told her, 'so you weren't telling the truth then.' She just chuckled and I walked out of the room. I probably rolled my eyes as well.
Mom put the kids in bed around 21h00 and they stayed up until about 23h00. I take that back. Baptiste was a good example and passed right out with Gregoire in the next bed. He at least understands that if he doesn't get any sleep then he'll be tired the next day. Camille stayed up and sang for the entire two hours--very badly I must add while Léa repeatedly told her to shut up. Camille's been obsessed with Adele ever since my Thanksgiving party where this little girl put on an impressive Adele show for us. I saw this an an opportunity for her to take on some more english so I gave her the lyrics to her favorite Adele songs. Not only has she lost them, but she didn't study them at all. She continues to sing "Rolling in the Deep" with "Dee duh dee duh deeeeEEEeeeiiii." It irritates me, being someone who was in choir from age 7 to 18 who learned the ins and outs of music. I just can't stand it when someone obsessively 'sings' a song they don't even know the words to. It's like Céline says "C'est null." I told Camille that she annoyed me, but she continues to NOT learn the lyrics to the song. It just doesn't sound pretty. Maybe this is just me being a control freak, but I just think that if you're going to do something, you might as well do it right...I think I might just be expecting too much but I can't talk myself out of it...
After the meal, I went out to the car to feed Google some leftovers of the choucroute. I took her for a quick walk around the parking lot afterward then Léa, Camille and I explored the mall. We spent the majority of our time in Claire's even though they weren't allowed to buy anything. They were drawn to the really silly, gawdy jewelry and had no interest in the classic pieces I was showing them so I got bored. I talked them into walking into L'Occitane with me to browse the testers. These girls have obviously never been in a bath and body store before because they were absolutely ridiculous--nearly dropping 3 bottles of body spray. I tried to show them the proper way to test the products and that just totally blew up in my face. I was showing Camille how to spray perfume on the test strips while Léa told me to turn around. Once I did, she sprayed perfume right in my face! My eyes were burning so bad and I was so angry that I just walked out of the store and didn't say a thing to either one of them. Léa obviously knew I was mad because she was apologizing profusely. I told her that her saying sorry doesn't change what she did and how immature it was. She also asked if I was mad at her and I said "Ah mais, tu as quel âge?" (You are how old?) and she replied with 'Well, I'm ten,' which I then answered with 'Yes, I'm mad. You should know better' and just kept on walking. The girls followed me all the way back of course and I ignored them for the rest of the night. I always wondered why these kids were never taken to town. Now I have my answer, first-hand. As much as they irritated me, they still need to go out. It's the best way for someone to learn how to behave in the public eye. And keeping them at home is not going to teach them anything. If I do one thing for the kids this year, I'm going to teach them how to behave like civilized people in a store. I don't even care about how much english they learn anymore but that was just plain embarrassing in L'Occitane. You don't have to be super strict with kids because that's just going to drive them crazy later, but they need to know the basics of proper human interaction.
Monday was also kind of a bad day with the children. They were absolutely horrible when I picked them up from school and when we got home, Céline had a talk with them about their grades because they're not doing too well. Camille who has the 'best' grades has an A in English and a D+ in math...It's absolutely horrible that they're doing so horribly. They all argued with their mom about how well they're doing and she told them that it's a bad idea for them to lie because she gets calls from their schools all the time. I don't even know how they even learned to lie. If my parents ever asked me anything, I almost always told them the truth even if I'd get in trouble. It'd be way worse if I lied and I found that out early on...Because they always find out! I was spanked for everything so I tried not to make life harder on myself, lol.
The discussion over grades turned into a huge scream fest, ick. Honestly, I'm so disappointed with the children because their lives are so easy compared to other children--especially compared to my own childhood. I was doing laundry and cooking by myself when I was their age. I always did my homework without my parents asking me to. But I knew and I understood that there would be consequences at school and then at home if I didn't do well. These kids don't really understand that, but the only consequence they suffer is a stern talking-to and maybe no TV. Times have certainly changed.
I try my best to help the children understand how important school work is but they're not getting the gist of it and keep telling me that these grades won't matter later. This may be true but it's important for them to learn how to motivate themselves and learn HOW to learn. Sorry for saying it like this but this shit is not gonna fly when they're older. I know that because I've already been through high school and college and known people that have failed. And it's not only failing at making the grade, but kind of failing at life in general. If you don't learn how to do the easy things well, then the hard stuff is just simply harder.
I at least try to help them get their homework done. I always ask them if they need help and they either say that they have none or quickly do the minimum and never review. I've tried getting their homework schedule but that never works out either. What else am I doing here if I'm not here to help them? Camille was bragging about how brilliant she was so I decided to put up 8 math problems on the dry erase board. Fractions, decimals, multiplication, you name it. She did them all within 10 minutes and of course, she got half of them wrong. So I told her, 'so you weren't telling the truth then.' She just chuckled and I walked out of the room. I probably rolled my eyes as well.
Mom put the kids in bed around 21h00 and they stayed up until about 23h00. I take that back. Baptiste was a good example and passed right out with Gregoire in the next bed. He at least understands that if he doesn't get any sleep then he'll be tired the next day. Camille stayed up and sang for the entire two hours--very badly I must add while Léa repeatedly told her to shut up. Camille's been obsessed with Adele ever since my Thanksgiving party where this little girl put on an impressive Adele show for us. I saw this an an opportunity for her to take on some more english so I gave her the lyrics to her favorite Adele songs. Not only has she lost them, but she didn't study them at all. She continues to sing "Rolling in the Deep" with "Dee duh dee duh deeeeEEEeeeiiii." It irritates me, being someone who was in choir from age 7 to 18 who learned the ins and outs of music. I just can't stand it when someone obsessively 'sings' a song they don't even know the words to. It's like Céline says "C'est null." I told Camille that she annoyed me, but she continues to NOT learn the lyrics to the song. It just doesn't sound pretty. Maybe this is just me being a control freak, but I just think that if you're going to do something, you might as well do it right...I think I might just be expecting too much but I can't talk myself out of it...
Friday, December 14, 2012
Dimanche au Samedi, 2-8 Decembre 2012: Christmas Spectacles
This week was filled with tons of fun stuff due to the upcoming holidays. If you thought that Christmas was a big deal in the states, you would think it was insane here. The displays here are magnificent! Though the French don't really do much decorating of their houses, the government takes care of the rest of the city. It's absolutely breath-taking! Other than the lights, there are also a lot of traditions and rituals such as La Crèche Provençale. It's wheat (Le Blé de la St. Barbe) that's grown for the manger where you place the Baby Jesus. Most homes in France have their very own nativity scene.
The kids had a lot of events this week. Since Céline had to work. I spent a lot of time with the kids at their schools. Camille had a Christmas market at her school where vendors sold food and other goods that are holiday-related. Léa and Baptiste had a concert at their school where I heard a lot of familiar songs--in french of course.
The family and I finished the week with a trip to Lyon. It was the Fête des Lumières. The Festival of Lights is a 3 day spectacle in Lyon featuring, you guessed it, lights! Didier, Antoine, Nicholas, and Gregoire all rode in one car while Céline, the triplets, Google, and I all rode in another. We did english lessons and review during the 2.5 hours it took us to drive there. The kids seem pretty ADD at times--although I don't believe in that. We'd teach them a word, it's origin, and literal translation so that it would make sense to them and they would forget the word itself 5 minutes later. We ended up going over the same 10 words the entire trip to Lyon. Ha haha. That must've been agonizing for them but english is the language of communication...We stayed at Didier's parents' house for the weekend. They were so excited to have us! They welcomed us all in with a Raclette dinner--one of my favorite meals. I met Didier's oldest 3 children Melanie, Jeremy, and Julien during dessert who seem to be super cool.
We all went out to the festival after dinner. To make things easier, Didier and Antoine were paired together while Céline had the girls and I was assigned Baptiste and Nicholas. We left Gregoire home because it was so cold out. Nicholas called my left arm and Baptiste claimed my right. They were so stinkin' cute! They were clutching on for dear life--on the metro, in the festival, where there were crowds, were there were no crowds. They just wanted to hold onto me. I especially liked them telling me every 15 minutes that they love me and making me lean down for kisses. Yeah, I know, they totally have kiddy crushes on me but they really love me too.
As for the festival itself, it was absolutely magnificent! Words cannot describe how beautiful it was. We saw two grand shows and dozens of minor (less intricate but not smaller) spectacles. I was completely mesmerized by the displays. I'm surprised my camera was able to take such good pictures. Pour vous qui n'avez jamais vu!
The kids had a lot of events this week. Since Céline had to work. I spent a lot of time with the kids at their schools. Camille had a Christmas market at her school where vendors sold food and other goods that are holiday-related. Léa and Baptiste had a concert at their school where I heard a lot of familiar songs--in french of course.
The family and I finished the week with a trip to Lyon. It was the Fête des Lumières. The Festival of Lights is a 3 day spectacle in Lyon featuring, you guessed it, lights! Didier, Antoine, Nicholas, and Gregoire all rode in one car while Céline, the triplets, Google, and I all rode in another. We did english lessons and review during the 2.5 hours it took us to drive there. The kids seem pretty ADD at times--although I don't believe in that. We'd teach them a word, it's origin, and literal translation so that it would make sense to them and they would forget the word itself 5 minutes later. We ended up going over the same 10 words the entire trip to Lyon. Ha haha. That must've been agonizing for them but english is the language of communication...We stayed at Didier's parents' house for the weekend. They were so excited to have us! They welcomed us all in with a Raclette dinner--one of my favorite meals. I met Didier's oldest 3 children Melanie, Jeremy, and Julien during dessert who seem to be super cool.
We all went out to the festival after dinner. To make things easier, Didier and Antoine were paired together while Céline had the girls and I was assigned Baptiste and Nicholas. We left Gregoire home because it was so cold out. Nicholas called my left arm and Baptiste claimed my right. They were so stinkin' cute! They were clutching on for dear life--on the metro, in the festival, where there were crowds, were there were no crowds. They just wanted to hold onto me. I especially liked them telling me every 15 minutes that they love me and making me lean down for kisses. Yeah, I know, they totally have kiddy crushes on me but they really love me too.
As for the festival itself, it was absolutely magnificent! Words cannot describe how beautiful it was. We saw two grand shows and dozens of minor (less intricate but not smaller) spectacles. I was completely mesmerized by the displays. I'm surprised my camera was able to take such good pictures. Pour vous qui n'avez jamais vu!
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