nerd blog post #45
It's 1130pm. I have to leave this land at 330am to get to Milan. But since I likely won't be able to blog while there, blogging one last time in Paris is a must. I would also like to apologize if I have been tardy with e-mail answering.. I'm borrowing a compy and I'm on vacay. The office is closed. Life will be back to normal soon.
And so, on Monday after blogging, I went to go and meet Cynthia and RtC. I walked there, which took about an hour. On my way, I saw a couple of really cool streets and ended up at a dead end gate. But wait! It was no dead end! It was the Luxembourg Gardens. I walked through - very pretty, and encountered by accident.
I met my peeps, and RtC wanted me to see the Abbey Bookstore. It's a famous English bookstore that has been open 20 years. I was proudly toting my L'Arche Toronto (shout-out Jean V) bag and the owner asked if I was from TO. Turns out he's Torontonian, and the bookstore is a Canadian bookstore! He offered us coffee and we chatted. He told me that the original Abbey bookstore was on Harbord St (near UofT) and he closed it down in 1994. A really nice man, and always fun to meet a fellow TOian. Also, his collection of Canadian works was nice to see... The three or four books U of Rennes has is just pitiful..
Then we went to Notre Dame, and inside this time. It was amazing. You know, there are some things that I have seen and done that are unbloggable. The inside of this cathedral is one of them. And that's all I have to say about that. Just come and visit me!
We wandered around for awhile, and then made an epic walk back to this land. On the way, we think we spotted some Banksy art, who is this (in)famous graffitti artist (shout out MR). We all met Viktor for dindins. We ate in the caf, first-year stylez. I love caf food. When I was a TA at Queen's, I told my students that their marks would soar if they used their caf guest passes on me. Not too many took the bait.. But seri. Caf food rules. After that, the four of us hung out for a long time at RtC's. We enjoyed such activities as practicing their clown tricks, playing King's Cup, sipping wine, and eating cookies. It was a lot of fun. Oh, and skyping friends back home.
Tuesday morning was spent doing some Milan prep. I don't want to get into the annoyance of it all.. But I will say the following:
-We fly out of an airport 80 kms out of Paris at 830am.
-We have to get on a shuttle bus in the furthest possible place from here at 530am.
-The metro starts running at 5am.
-This all means that I have to take the night bus (vomit comet, as I like to call it) and leave here at 330am.
-I'ma be sleepy.
On Tuesday, after clown school, RtC and I went to Pere Lachaise, a giant and beautiful graveyard. I saw Moliere and Wilde's graves. Tradition is to put lipstick on and kiss Oscar Wilde's tombstone. It was abcolutely covered in kisses. I only had Vaseline and decided to opt out.
In the evening, we met up with Cynthia and a German clown who's name is Michael and was a theatre critic in Munchen before coming to be a clown. He's SO silly, just like all of them. His best trick is the flower-squirter. We tried to go bowling but the lanes were all booked. Instead, we had a beer. Michael is a very nice and interesting man. I think he and RtC will be good clown buddies. Later, Viktor and another Canadian girl came to join us in the bowling. But since we weren't bowling, we all went home.
Today, I met the clowns after school and .. oh! I forgot to say that last Friday I went into the school and looked around. Very cool, and great to see where they're studying. So, yes. When at the school today, I was introduced to a Milanese clown, and he told me where to go in Milan, and said the neighbourhood I'll be in is a great one. Then had a micmic lunch with RtC and then saw a play. It was a solo clown/mime show. Unlike anything I have ever seen. Possibly the best thing I have ever seen. This guy was amazing.. I just wrote a paragraph about the show.. But deleted it. It's unbloggable. I was blown away.
After that, Viktor, RtC, a British clown and I walked around. Then the other boyz left and RtC and I had a coffee and then a delish crepe. It's cold in Paris right now. I hope Italy is as warm as Il Fornello. 30 points if you catch the double meaning.
And so, my friends, life is good. Paris is wonderful, and though I'm excited about the next few days, I'ma miss it here. I feel like I live here... This week has been the best in France so far.
Love to you all,
Hincks.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Chapter 40: Traitors and Boats
nerd blog post #45
Saturday, RtC and I went to check out a market. It was really nice, but nothing can compare to Marche Day in Rennes.. From there, we walked to Montmartre, and up the millions of stairs to the cathedral Sacree Coeur. From the hill, I saw a great view of Paris. I could see the Louvre, stretching out endlessly, and the Centre Pompidou with all of it's crazy-modern pipage. The sun was setting over the city, and it was beautiful. Musicians were playing outside the cathedral, and tourists were snapping pics like it was their j-o-b.
We went inside the church. There was a mass going on and I felt sort of strange about that, but was assured that that's how it goes. The people at church were roped separately from those viewing the church, and we walked around the edges, behind the altar and sacristy, and back around the other side. Candles were everywhere, and nuns were singing beautifully.. It was striking that the tourists far outnumbered the congregation, and I wondered how long it has been that way for.
Behind the church is a neighbourhood which was home and/or inspiration to many artists (Picasso, Jarry, van Gogh...) and feels set apart from the rest of the city because of its unique location on top of the hill. It is so far the coolest part of Paris I've seen. Unfortunately, on a Saturday night, it's packed with tourists. And I realize that I didn't help that..
Yesterday was turn-back-your-clock day, which meant an extra hour of day! Hooray. (side note: did Canada turn back, too? Briass didn't think so.. Will they be at work an hour early?) I decided to walk across Paris. From this land, which is the southern most part, I walked all the way to the other side of Montmartre. I don't know how many kms it is, but it took about four hours. I stopped along the way to look in neat stores, enjoy neighbourhoods, watch street performers, and pick RtC up from his workplace at a bakery. I also received a surprise phone call from Doctor, who was visiting a good Queen's friend, Paul, in Oxford! A highlight, for sure. I know Doctor doesn't collect points, so I will be allocating the 26 to his dear mother. Congrats!
Montmartre on Sunday afternoon was equally nice, and we walked through and behind it and ended up eating at a Chinese restaurant. All non-French food places here seem to be called "traiteurs," a word I juuuust looked up now. And so, the restaurants all announce what kind of traitor they are. Greek traitors, Chinese traitors, Indian traitors... But my dictionnaire tells me it means cateror. So I guess I won't turn them in.
This morning I made a picnic lunch that I will take on the road when I go to meet Cynthia and later, RtC. He's at clown school today. They're working on face painting. Tigers are especially hard. I'd like to go into the Notre Dame today, and there's supposed to be a cemetary that's cool, so maybe that as well. I'm looking forward to seeing Cynthia, who arrived in town yesterday.
So far, this trip to Paris has cost peanuts.. I make picnics, find free exhibits, and walk a lot. The only thing I would really like to do that costs, is take a boat trip down the Seine. I'll check out the prices today, but think that will be my little Paris treat. (As if the rest of the trip hasn't been a giant treat, but you know!)
Bronco installed skype, so I also talked to her this morning. Really great to see her face. She asked if I'd blog about it, and I said yes. She also asked if she'd be awarded points. How many would you like? ALL OF THEM. Foul, Bronco. That's impossible. You receive 34. And 36 to Liass for looking so great in a morning bath robe! Having those two but a skype call away is unbelievable.
Yesterday marked two months since leaving Canada. The passage of time is a funny thing, but I won't get into it as I know you all know what I mean by it feeling both long and short at the same time... I will say, though, that after two months without a visit to Kimberley, it seems about time I go home for a week-end before returning here. I know many of you have gone much longer, but this is now the longest I've ever been away from home... Points to the parentals for tugging on these homestrings. And yes, I'd like curry for dindins.
Enjoy your Monday.
Love to you all,
Hincks.
Saturday, RtC and I went to check out a market. It was really nice, but nothing can compare to Marche Day in Rennes.. From there, we walked to Montmartre, and up the millions of stairs to the cathedral Sacree Coeur. From the hill, I saw a great view of Paris. I could see the Louvre, stretching out endlessly, and the Centre Pompidou with all of it's crazy-modern pipage. The sun was setting over the city, and it was beautiful. Musicians were playing outside the cathedral, and tourists were snapping pics like it was their j-o-b.
We went inside the church. There was a mass going on and I felt sort of strange about that, but was assured that that's how it goes. The people at church were roped separately from those viewing the church, and we walked around the edges, behind the altar and sacristy, and back around the other side. Candles were everywhere, and nuns were singing beautifully.. It was striking that the tourists far outnumbered the congregation, and I wondered how long it has been that way for.
Behind the church is a neighbourhood which was home and/or inspiration to many artists (Picasso, Jarry, van Gogh...) and feels set apart from the rest of the city because of its unique location on top of the hill. It is so far the coolest part of Paris I've seen. Unfortunately, on a Saturday night, it's packed with tourists. And I realize that I didn't help that..
Yesterday was turn-back-your-clock day, which meant an extra hour of day! Hooray. (side note: did Canada turn back, too? Briass didn't think so.. Will they be at work an hour early?) I decided to walk across Paris. From this land, which is the southern most part, I walked all the way to the other side of Montmartre. I don't know how many kms it is, but it took about four hours. I stopped along the way to look in neat stores, enjoy neighbourhoods, watch street performers, and pick RtC up from his workplace at a bakery. I also received a surprise phone call from Doctor, who was visiting a good Queen's friend, Paul, in Oxford! A highlight, for sure. I know Doctor doesn't collect points, so I will be allocating the 26 to his dear mother. Congrats!
Montmartre on Sunday afternoon was equally nice, and we walked through and behind it and ended up eating at a Chinese restaurant. All non-French food places here seem to be called "traiteurs," a word I juuuust looked up now. And so, the restaurants all announce what kind of traitor they are. Greek traitors, Chinese traitors, Indian traitors... But my dictionnaire tells me it means cateror. So I guess I won't turn them in.
This morning I made a picnic lunch that I will take on the road when I go to meet Cynthia and later, RtC. He's at clown school today. They're working on face painting. Tigers are especially hard. I'd like to go into the Notre Dame today, and there's supposed to be a cemetary that's cool, so maybe that as well. I'm looking forward to seeing Cynthia, who arrived in town yesterday.
So far, this trip to Paris has cost peanuts.. I make picnics, find free exhibits, and walk a lot. The only thing I would really like to do that costs, is take a boat trip down the Seine. I'll check out the prices today, but think that will be my little Paris treat. (As if the rest of the trip hasn't been a giant treat, but you know!)
Bronco installed skype, so I also talked to her this morning. Really great to see her face. She asked if I'd blog about it, and I said yes. She also asked if she'd be awarded points. How many would you like? ALL OF THEM. Foul, Bronco. That's impossible. You receive 34. And 36 to Liass for looking so great in a morning bath robe! Having those two but a skype call away is unbelievable.
Yesterday marked two months since leaving Canada. The passage of time is a funny thing, but I won't get into it as I know you all know what I mean by it feeling both long and short at the same time... I will say, though, that after two months without a visit to Kimberley, it seems about time I go home for a week-end before returning here. I know many of you have gone much longer, but this is now the longest I've ever been away from home... Points to the parentals for tugging on these homestrings. And yes, I'd like curry for dindins.
Enjoy your Monday.
Love to you all,
Hincks.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Chapter 39: Downtown Clowntown
nerd blog post #44
I don't even know how to nerd blog today. Paris rules.
I took the train and sat beside a guy who was watching a movie the whoooole time. He didn't want to chat at all. And I was too excited to sleep. So I read L'Etranger almost the whole way. Except to ask my train buddy questions about his movie, that he didn't really feel like answering. I kind of forget why I loved that book so much when I read it before. This time around, I'm finding it super depressing..
RtC picked me up at the train station, and we came to his land (which is also Viktor's land) to drop stuff off before he took me to a play! This is the first play I've seen in France, and it was so good to be back in a theatre, and not just on a tour of the Opera in Rennes... Come to think of it, this was the first play I've seen in French. It was unbloggably good. The two leads are grads of clown college, and they moved in an unbelievable way. The whole thing was just so good. Starting to explain it would not even be fair. The play was in a giant complex called the Cartoucherie (bulletland!) and was kind of like the Distillery District (shout-out Murph) in that it was set apart from the rest of the city, not easily accessible, and you have to walk through gates to get in. Okay, so it didn't look like the Distillery District at all.. But there are soooome similarities. It houses five theatres. Anyways, very cool.
Friday morning the clowns went to school. This week: tricycles. When I went to meet them after school (after I had a wonderfully solo morning, but never really solo - met new friends along the way) they were all riding around on very small trikes. Viktor was particularily good, as his knees went up past his shoulders as he manoevred the toddler-mobile. Good work, clowns. All the while, they were being SO silly.
From clown college, RtC and I slowly made our way to the Louvre, stopping for a micmic lunch in a park, walking along the river, having a cafe.. Sounds kind of romantic now that I write it, but I am NOT romantic. So there.
Next we went to the Louvre. It's free for young peeps on Fridays from 6-10pm. Great deal. I love deals. The Louvre is ... enormous. And, for the first time being there, not really enormous in the good way. The paintings were so big, the halls so wide, the tourists so touristy and the exhibits endless. I need to go back now that I know what to expect.. I found myself just kind of wandering blindly, not able to focus on the art, but just feeling really overwhelmed. I did see two things. They are as follows:
1. La femme d'alger, a series of paintings by Picasso that are on loan for a bit there. Really cool. He did fifteen before he was satisfied, and they were all done within a couple of months.
2. The Mona Lisa. (SLS will kill me for this maybe, because I once said that I thought Starry Night looked like a grade 1 finger painting, and said I could have done it, too.) BUT I will be so bold as to say that I DON'T GET IT. She's ugly and has no eyebrows. And it's pretty small but on a giant wall. Not super impressed... RtC said that it's her ambiguity that makes it a good painting. Thanks, clown.
I'm glad I went to the Louvre, and I'm glad I know when the free times are, because I'll go back. And I think the next time I'll get much more out of it. Which will be great.
Then back to the clown's land. Dindins, skype with the parentals, and then to a clown party. It was a really good party, and reminded me of the parties from home. It's a different genre than what has been going down in Rennes. I hit the d-floor and met a lot of new clowns. Wow. SO silly. It was kind of hard to dance because their shoes are SO big and take up SO much room on the d-floor... Those clowns.. Just SO silly.
As usual, Viktor and I did Queen's talk and laughed a lot.. Great day. Great night. Great vacay.
Today, RtC and I are going to Montmartre (first time for me), and then to the Moulin Rouge. I want to see if they're accepting applications. Juuuuuuust kidding. But if Lil Kim isn't there, I'ma ask for my money back. Actually, we won't enter at all, because I'm a nice girl. But I want to look at it. AND I just heard it was 100Euros to see a show there! Not a deal. I love deals.
I am purring in Paris. Sending love to you all and I hope you're enjoying your week-ends.
Signing off,
Hincks.
I don't even know how to nerd blog today. Paris rules.
I took the train and sat beside a guy who was watching a movie the whoooole time. He didn't want to chat at all. And I was too excited to sleep. So I read L'Etranger almost the whole way. Except to ask my train buddy questions about his movie, that he didn't really feel like answering. I kind of forget why I loved that book so much when I read it before. This time around, I'm finding it super depressing..
RtC picked me up at the train station, and we came to his land (which is also Viktor's land) to drop stuff off before he took me to a play! This is the first play I've seen in France, and it was so good to be back in a theatre, and not just on a tour of the Opera in Rennes... Come to think of it, this was the first play I've seen in French. It was unbloggably good. The two leads are grads of clown college, and they moved in an unbelievable way. The whole thing was just so good. Starting to explain it would not even be fair. The play was in a giant complex called the Cartoucherie (bulletland!) and was kind of like the Distillery District (shout-out Murph) in that it was set apart from the rest of the city, not easily accessible, and you have to walk through gates to get in. Okay, so it didn't look like the Distillery District at all.. But there are soooome similarities. It houses five theatres. Anyways, very cool.
Friday morning the clowns went to school. This week: tricycles. When I went to meet them after school (after I had a wonderfully solo morning, but never really solo - met new friends along the way) they were all riding around on very small trikes. Viktor was particularily good, as his knees went up past his shoulders as he manoevred the toddler-mobile. Good work, clowns. All the while, they were being SO silly.
From clown college, RtC and I slowly made our way to the Louvre, stopping for a micmic lunch in a park, walking along the river, having a cafe.. Sounds kind of romantic now that I write it, but I am NOT romantic. So there.
Next we went to the Louvre. It's free for young peeps on Fridays from 6-10pm. Great deal. I love deals. The Louvre is ... enormous. And, for the first time being there, not really enormous in the good way. The paintings were so big, the halls so wide, the tourists so touristy and the exhibits endless. I need to go back now that I know what to expect.. I found myself just kind of wandering blindly, not able to focus on the art, but just feeling really overwhelmed. I did see two things. They are as follows:
1. La femme d'alger, a series of paintings by Picasso that are on loan for a bit there. Really cool. He did fifteen before he was satisfied, and they were all done within a couple of months.
2. The Mona Lisa. (SLS will kill me for this maybe, because I once said that I thought Starry Night looked like a grade 1 finger painting, and said I could have done it, too.) BUT I will be so bold as to say that I DON'T GET IT. She's ugly and has no eyebrows. And it's pretty small but on a giant wall. Not super impressed... RtC said that it's her ambiguity that makes it a good painting. Thanks, clown.
I'm glad I went to the Louvre, and I'm glad I know when the free times are, because I'll go back. And I think the next time I'll get much more out of it. Which will be great.
Then back to the clown's land. Dindins, skype with the parentals, and then to a clown party. It was a really good party, and reminded me of the parties from home. It's a different genre than what has been going down in Rennes. I hit the d-floor and met a lot of new clowns. Wow. SO silly. It was kind of hard to dance because their shoes are SO big and take up SO much room on the d-floor... Those clowns.. Just SO silly.
As usual, Viktor and I did Queen's talk and laughed a lot.. Great day. Great night. Great vacay.
Today, RtC and I are going to Montmartre (first time for me), and then to the Moulin Rouge. I want to see if they're accepting applications. Juuuuuuust kidding. But if Lil Kim isn't there, I'ma ask for my money back. Actually, we won't enter at all, because I'm a nice girl. But I want to look at it. AND I just heard it was 100Euros to see a show there! Not a deal. I love deals.
I am purring in Paris. Sending love to you all and I hope you're enjoying your week-ends.
Signing off,
Hincks.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Chapter 39: Fest-Noz
nerd blog post #44
Holler, players.
Yesterday, after blogging, I went to see a man about a bike. Victor and I met in a shady alleyway (where else?) and I test-rode the beaut. And bought it. I forget it's name, but it's blue with wide handlebars, no gears, and a thing on the back for books. I bargained him down by 5Euros. I love deals. I need to pump the tires a bit, and raise the seat. Otherwise, she rolls like a royce.
After that, I went to the theatre club. There were at least twenty people there, all anxious to do theatre. Most of them are English students and most have acted before. The familiar smell of the drama ego was in the air. I was nervous about leading the group at first because everyone was talking over one another, and the room was chaotic. But in the end, it worked out just fine. We mostly talked about what they wanted to get out of it, what language we would speak in, and whether or not we would put on a play.. In the end, the following was decided:
1. For this semester, due to people's class schedules, there would be two two-hour groups, with the option of staying all four hours.
2. Also this semester, it will be more of a theatre workshop. We'll do exercises, scene work, etc. in both French and English.
3. In 2009, if there's a solid group of people who are committed, I'll choose a play and we'll use all four hours to rehearse, and then perform it at the end of the term for an audience.
People seemed happy enough with that.
We ended a little bit early, and I met two of my students (friends) to go to this traditional Breton dance called Fest-Noz. This is danced to accordion and violin, or guitar and clarinet, or a Capella singers, depending on the dance. The music has a bit of an Irish sound to it.. The dances are either in pairs, or in a large circle, where everyone is either holding hands, or holding PINKY fingers. The dance originates from Breton people having to stomp on the earth of their fields to flatten it, because of something to do with being close to the ocean.. And so Fest-Noz is danced either barefoot or in wooden clogs, and has a lot of stomping and shuffling in it. Only small arm swings. It was neat to see so many young people who know this traditional dance, and who wanted to participate. I loved it and got right in, and learned about ten new dances. Each song goes specifically with a dance. The two girls I was with are dating, and so they danced the pairs dances together. I would be a wallflower until, like circa 1894, some gentleman would approach, bow, and then ask me to dance. That's what all the single women and men were doing. But sometimes, I got tired of waiting (something I'm not good at) and would just go ask someone. He'd say yes, we'd get to the d-floor, and I'd confess that I had no idea what I was doing.. "Hey, wanna dance?" .. "Okay." .. "Great. Now show me how. I've never done this before in my life." ..
Brittany continues to surprise me with its culture and history. Fest-Noz was one of the most enjoyable things I've done since arriving here. I really loved it. I talked to the guy running it and got some dates for further Fest-Noz. I can't wait.
This morning, I packed my bags and then brought everything to campus. I taught two classes, now have office (blogging) hours, teach one more class, and then go straight to the train station! I'm really pumped.
And so, dear readers, this will be the last nerd blog post for 1.5 weeks as I will be on vacation.
Juuuuust kidding! Obvi bringing my mini lappy486 with me wherever I go! Stay tuned.
Love to you all.
Hincks.
PS - I just saw this on my desk. It's a poem I read to my first years this week. Try and read it without stumbling.. Ahem.
Enjoy your day, my friends!
Holler, players.
Yesterday, after blogging, I went to see a man about a bike. Victor and I met in a shady alleyway (where else?) and I test-rode the beaut. And bought it. I forget it's name, but it's blue with wide handlebars, no gears, and a thing on the back for books. I bargained him down by 5Euros. I love deals. I need to pump the tires a bit, and raise the seat. Otherwise, she rolls like a royce.
After that, I went to the theatre club. There were at least twenty people there, all anxious to do theatre. Most of them are English students and most have acted before. The familiar smell of the drama ego was in the air. I was nervous about leading the group at first because everyone was talking over one another, and the room was chaotic. But in the end, it worked out just fine. We mostly talked about what they wanted to get out of it, what language we would speak in, and whether or not we would put on a play.. In the end, the following was decided:
1. For this semester, due to people's class schedules, there would be two two-hour groups, with the option of staying all four hours.
2. Also this semester, it will be more of a theatre workshop. We'll do exercises, scene work, etc. in both French and English.
3. In 2009, if there's a solid group of people who are committed, I'll choose a play and we'll use all four hours to rehearse, and then perform it at the end of the term for an audience.
People seemed happy enough with that.
We ended a little bit early, and I met two of my students (friends) to go to this traditional Breton dance called Fest-Noz. This is danced to accordion and violin, or guitar and clarinet, or a Capella singers, depending on the dance. The music has a bit of an Irish sound to it.. The dances are either in pairs, or in a large circle, where everyone is either holding hands, or holding PINKY fingers. The dance originates from Breton people having to stomp on the earth of their fields to flatten it, because of something to do with being close to the ocean.. And so Fest-Noz is danced either barefoot or in wooden clogs, and has a lot of stomping and shuffling in it. Only small arm swings. It was neat to see so many young people who know this traditional dance, and who wanted to participate. I loved it and got right in, and learned about ten new dances. Each song goes specifically with a dance. The two girls I was with are dating, and so they danced the pairs dances together. I would be a wallflower until, like circa 1894, some gentleman would approach, bow, and then ask me to dance. That's what all the single women and men were doing. But sometimes, I got tired of waiting (something I'm not good at) and would just go ask someone. He'd say yes, we'd get to the d-floor, and I'd confess that I had no idea what I was doing.. "Hey, wanna dance?" .. "Okay." .. "Great. Now show me how. I've never done this before in my life." ..
Brittany continues to surprise me with its culture and history. Fest-Noz was one of the most enjoyable things I've done since arriving here. I really loved it. I talked to the guy running it and got some dates for further Fest-Noz. I can't wait.
This morning, I packed my bags and then brought everything to campus. I taught two classes, now have office (blogging) hours, teach one more class, and then go straight to the train station! I'm really pumped.
And so, dear readers, this will be the last nerd blog post for 1.5 weeks as I will be on vacation.
Juuuuust kidding! Obvi bringing my mini lappy486 with me wherever I go! Stay tuned.
Love to you all.
Hincks.
PS - I just saw this on my desk. It's a poem I read to my first years this week. Try and read it without stumbling.. Ahem.
SO YOU THINK FRENCH IS HARD!
I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough
Others may stumble, but not you,
On hiccough, thorough, tough, and through.
Well done!
And now you wish perhaps
To learn of less familiar traps?
Beware of heard, a dreadful word
That looks like beard and sounds like bird.
And dead - it's said like bed, not bead -
For goodness' sake don't call it deed.
Watch out for meat and great and threat
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt.)
A moth is not a moth in mother,
Nor both is not a broth in brother.
And here is not a match for there
Nor dear and fear for bear and pear.
And then there's dose and rose and lose,
Just look them up - goose and choose.
And cork and work and card and ward
And front and font and word and sword,
And do and go, and wart and cart -
Come come! I've hardly made a start!
A tricky language? Man alive!
I mastered it when I was five.
I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough
Others may stumble, but not you,
On hiccough, thorough, tough, and through.
Well done!
And now you wish perhaps
To learn of less familiar traps?
Beware of heard, a dreadful word
That looks like beard and sounds like bird.
And dead - it's said like bed, not bead -
For goodness' sake don't call it deed.
Watch out for meat and great and threat
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt.)
A moth is not a moth in mother,
Nor both is not a broth in brother.
And here is not a match for there
Nor dear and fear for bear and pear.
And then there's dose and rose and lose,
Just look them up - goose and choose.
And cork and work and card and ward
And front and font and word and sword,
And do and go, and wart and cart -
Come come! I've hardly made a start!
A tricky language? Man alive!
I mastered it when I was five.
Enjoy your day, my friends!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Chapter 38: I am Job.
nerd blog post #44
Salve! Io ho due fratelli. Il non ho sorelle. Il mio nome e'Emily. Quanto? Mi puo' aiutare? Trenta..
Oh hey, you guys.. You scared me! I was just practicing my language of the week. It's going okay. I have learned a bunch of new phrases, and am excited to try them out next week. Italian words seem to be a melange of English and French ones, so that's easier for me...
Today's title is not a shout-out to the Old Testament or the Ketuvim. But 45 points if you thought of great literature before the actual shout-out to the hit Hollywood film, Mrs. Doubtfire, starring that funny guy who I forget..
Yesterday afternoon was quite productive. I went to the prof's class - theatre and cinema - and did an improvised scene to demonstrate camera angles.. Weird.
Then I went to the department to check my pigeon and hole and got talking to this prof mom.. I have decided not to work at a bar because it would cut into my drinking time. Juuuust kidding! But my week-end time.. And it would mean staying here over the break and stuff like that. And so for extra money, I am thinking of other alternatives. Like .... babysitting! So I told this woman that I love kids and would babysit hers. She said she's dying for a bilingual babysitter, and said that other profs in the department are as well. A lot of the profs in the department are a combo couple of French and American/British.. So they want their kids to be well-exposed to both. She told me which other profs have kids, and I sent out an e-mail advertising my fine skillz of Lego and hair braiding. It sounds like a good second little jobby for me.
After the pigeon hole talk, I went to NESS (the English club) because I had received a message on my cellie about the theatre night they have asked me to lead. So I stop in, and they confirm that they have a high interest, and have booked a hall on campus for Wednesday nights. Great, I say. I'm happy to be a part of this.. What time is it at? From 6pm - 10pm. FOUR HOURS!? That's a lot. That's a long time for me to lead a group. And they want it in French. And so, tonight is the first one. I have zero idea what to expect.
After that shocking news, I went to the prefacture, which was to be the last leg of my work visa battle. And it was successful! I now have permission to stay here until the last day of August, 2009. I'm glad I have it - it's been an ongoing thing..
Returning home, I made moules again. This time, I wanted to try a different recipe that I made up... Curry moules. No?? Yes. They were delicious and we ate them with couscous. Then more cookies. They worked out. We doubled the recipe and it made hundreds... Enough for my class today, Cynthia's class, our roomies, department secretary Fabien, and Hossoen. Those are our friends that we wanted to bake for. Now, no more baking for awhile.. I don't really like it that much, although last night I was in a particularly good mood, and we had fun.
This morning was another last class for my first years.. I took the cookies, and was surprised to see that four or five others had brought treats! Breton cake, candies, chocolates, and more cookies! This class is made up of about twenty women, all very young.. I was intimidated on my first day.. I like boys. But they turned out to be an awesome group, and now we're all friends. They promised to continue to come to O'connells on Mondays, and today's "party" was really nice.
After classes, I swung by Hossoen's kebab stand to give him the cookies for him and his family. I also said goodbye for a bit, since I leave tomorrow for Paris and won't be back until the following Monday. He told me that the university his wife is a prof at is definitely looking for another prof right now, and that I can go in with her to check it out when I get back. This would be a few hours a week, and good money as it's a private university. I'd have to make sure the hours don't conflict, but it sounds like a great thing to check out.
And so, the lonely girl fishing in the canal has found lot's of things to fill her time in Rennes. I am very happy here. Often, the only thing missing at the end of the day is to laugh very hard with a good friend.. Or explain something in so few words to someone who knows me very well.... These are remedied by your e-mails, nerd blog comments, skype calls, and phone calls. So thank-you. I didn't know that I could be both very happy and very homesick at the same time. I thought they were independent feelings.. Most days, though, I feel a lot of both of them.. But anyways, this is getting silly. Ice-queen4life.
Signing off,
Hincks.
Salve! Io ho due fratelli. Il non ho sorelle. Il mio nome e'Emily. Quanto? Mi puo' aiutare? Trenta..
Oh hey, you guys.. You scared me! I was just practicing my language of the week. It's going okay. I have learned a bunch of new phrases, and am excited to try them out next week. Italian words seem to be a melange of English and French ones, so that's easier for me...
Today's title is not a shout-out to the Old Testament or the Ketuvim. But 45 points if you thought of great literature before the actual shout-out to the hit Hollywood film, Mrs. Doubtfire, starring that funny guy who I forget..
Yesterday afternoon was quite productive. I went to the prof's class - theatre and cinema - and did an improvised scene to demonstrate camera angles.. Weird.
Then I went to the department to check my pigeon and hole and got talking to this prof mom.. I have decided not to work at a bar because it would cut into my drinking time. Juuuust kidding! But my week-end time.. And it would mean staying here over the break and stuff like that. And so for extra money, I am thinking of other alternatives. Like .... babysitting! So I told this woman that I love kids and would babysit hers. She said she's dying for a bilingual babysitter, and said that other profs in the department are as well. A lot of the profs in the department are a combo couple of French and American/British.. So they want their kids to be well-exposed to both. She told me which other profs have kids, and I sent out an e-mail advertising my fine skillz of Lego and hair braiding. It sounds like a good second little jobby for me.
After the pigeon hole talk, I went to NESS (the English club) because I had received a message on my cellie about the theatre night they have asked me to lead. So I stop in, and they confirm that they have a high interest, and have booked a hall on campus for Wednesday nights. Great, I say. I'm happy to be a part of this.. What time is it at? From 6pm - 10pm. FOUR HOURS!? That's a lot. That's a long time for me to lead a group. And they want it in French. And so, tonight is the first one. I have zero idea what to expect.
After that shocking news, I went to the prefacture, which was to be the last leg of my work visa battle. And it was successful! I now have permission to stay here until the last day of August, 2009. I'm glad I have it - it's been an ongoing thing..
Returning home, I made moules again. This time, I wanted to try a different recipe that I made up... Curry moules. No?? Yes. They were delicious and we ate them with couscous. Then more cookies. They worked out. We doubled the recipe and it made hundreds... Enough for my class today, Cynthia's class, our roomies, department secretary Fabien, and Hossoen. Those are our friends that we wanted to bake for. Now, no more baking for awhile.. I don't really like it that much, although last night I was in a particularly good mood, and we had fun.
This morning was another last class for my first years.. I took the cookies, and was surprised to see that four or five others had brought treats! Breton cake, candies, chocolates, and more cookies! This class is made up of about twenty women, all very young.. I was intimidated on my first day.. I like boys. But they turned out to be an awesome group, and now we're all friends. They promised to continue to come to O'connells on Mondays, and today's "party" was really nice.
After classes, I swung by Hossoen's kebab stand to give him the cookies for him and his family. I also said goodbye for a bit, since I leave tomorrow for Paris and won't be back until the following Monday. He told me that the university his wife is a prof at is definitely looking for another prof right now, and that I can go in with her to check it out when I get back. This would be a few hours a week, and good money as it's a private university. I'd have to make sure the hours don't conflict, but it sounds like a great thing to check out.
And so, the lonely girl fishing in the canal has found lot's of things to fill her time in Rennes. I am very happy here. Often, the only thing missing at the end of the day is to laugh very hard with a good friend.. Or explain something in so few words to someone who knows me very well.... These are remedied by your e-mails, nerd blog comments, skype calls, and phone calls. So thank-you. I didn't know that I could be both very happy and very homesick at the same time. I thought they were independent feelings.. Most days, though, I feel a lot of both of them.. But anyways, this is getting silly. Ice-queen4life.
Signing off,
Hincks.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Chapter 37: GN/BN
nerd blog post #42
It has been awhile, dear subscribers. Since the last post, things have been a bit of a gentle roller coaster. Gentle because nothing too crazy has happened, roller coaster because it has been filled with bad news and good news.. And so, this nerd blog post will outline all BN and GN. Notice how they come in packs... Ahem..
***A string of GN
GN: The mussels and fries were a success! I was pumped. The sauce was good.. Made with a bunch of things, including sour cream and wine. We ate like kings. And they're cheap. I think about visitors that come, and what I'll make. This is on the list.
GN: Then Cynthia and I went dancing. It was great. The DJ was better than usual, and we avoided the shark tank like pros.
GN: Upon my return, I talked to SLS on his b-day. He downloaded Skype and I got to chat with all of Westview Haus in Kingston! It was actually kind of overwhelming to see them all for the first time since I left - and all at once. But really good.
GN: I then Skyped with four Queen's Drama friends who were gathered for a pre-game at DC's place. That was also fun.
***A string of BN
BN: When I woke up the next morning, Stefano had e-mailed me, telling me that he'd be away when we were in Milan, and canceling our couch surfing plans.. So back to square 1 with that. It's been my priority the past few days, but still no luck on that front.. I remain optimistic.
BN: Cynthia and I tried to make cookies. Tripled the recipe. Due to a language barrier ingredient confusion, they did not work out. At all. This was annoying for multiple reasons. The ones I will mention, so I'm not mean on nerd blog, is the waste of ingredients. Both the money and the food. So wasteful. The other is that I wanted to bake cookies for my students, and I hate baking. So it was a waste of time. Anyways, that sent Cynthia and I into crusty moods, and we decided the only remedy was a kebab for dindins.
BN: Hossoen wasn't there, so we thought we'd try a new kebab stand. The new one we tried didn't have veggie option (I'm not that into pounds of pork) and so I got a fish one. It was average, and since I don't eat out that much, I was disappointed that we had missed Hossoen.
***Back to GN
GN: We returned to the apartment and made a delicious batch of cookies! I prepared them for school the next day.
GN: My roommate came back at night with our mail. I had received a lovely card from Christina and Jim in Kingston! They requested points for multiple reasons. The committee reviewed their arguments, and they receive 18 points for each of the five points mentioned. Thank-you both.
GN: I went to bed happy, despite the BN of the day.
**The trend now turns to BN/GN
BN: I somehow reaaalllly messed up Monday morning. Completely forgot my schedule. I was chilling at home, eating cereal, when I received a t-bomb from a student, wondering where I was.. I had somehow mixed up the days and thought I was starting at 1030, and not 915. Completely rattled, I zoomed to school and was half an hour late.. The class is only an hour. Brutal.
GN: My students are wonderful. They all waited for me outside the classroom, and accepted my peace offering of cookies.
BN: Internet wasn't working in my office so I was unable to nerd blog! That's BN for alllll of us.
GN: The next class was the last one for the first years, before they switch instructors. They are who the cookies were really for. It was sad to say goodbye.. They're a great group. But we had a wonderful class. I taught them about Jeopardy (shout-out, Doc) and had created a Jeopardy-like game. Answering in the form of a question was hilarious for me. And the whole thing was pretty funny. I (obvi) had an entire category entitled "Oh Canada" and it was horribly answered across the board.. Some favourites? .. What is Canada's national animal? "Who is an caribou!" No. "That is a maple leaf?" Umm.. also no. Etc. Good fun.
BN: I noticed on the way home that the leaves are falling off of the trees. I don't want to say that I hate Winter, but I'd be lying if I said anything else. I just really, really like Summer. So Fall is equally horrible. The leaves are the first sign of what's coming. "What about the beautiful colours!?" They don't really make up for it for me.. That's like running a race and getting a participation ribbon. Doesn't really cut it. Anyways.. That's not really so much BN as it is life...
GN: re: weather. No snow in Rennes.
**The trend now turns to GN/GN
GN: So.. Random meeting. Last Christmas, my family went to Cuba. While there, I met a plethora of folks. One was a couple from TO. I'm now f-book friends with them, but haven't seen them since. So the other day, the woman f-books me and tells me that her little brother is also in Rennes! So obviously we befriend each other over f-book immediately, and yesterday afternoon we met for a coffee. Brock is taking a year off of university just to live here. He works at H&M part-time and then just chills in Rennes. He's really awesome. He seems to have a big circle of friends here. I'ma join them. It was great to talk to someone from TO. Best part: He lived on Isabella last year! I was 135 Isabella, he was at 105. A block apart. Too weird? Not for me.. This stuff happens all the time and I can't be weirded out anymore.. Of course he lived on my three-block street! Where else would he have lived?
GN: I taught that new course yesterday evening. It's really cool. A creative writing workshop for advanced students. It's led by a French lady who's an English prof, and I'm there as the English peep. So they bring in their writing, and first I correct the English, and then we talk about it creatively. Which is fun. The writing is in English, but most of the discussion is in French.. At the end of the class, the prof suggested that I write, too, but in French. I cringe at the idea of writing in French.. Unlike how most French students work, my talking is best, despite years of French in school. I think my writing might be pretty rusty in French, as I'm completely out of practice. So .. I said yes. And will now be under the scrutiny of an entire class when I bring my homework in next time. But I think it's probably good for me.
GN: Cynthia continues to impress me with delicious Mexican meals. This morning we had a Mexican breakie. Corn tortilla with a fried egg, salsa and cheese on top. The salsa is home-made, and sooo spicy and good. I'm glad I eat Mexican sometimes here. French food is unreal, but has no spice. I miss the kick sometimes..
GN: Dario is our new couch surfing buddy. JUST received an e-mail from him. He lives in Milan's entertainment district. Cynthia and I get our own room, which is great (often you have to share with the host..) and he's providing blankets. Hopefully this works out! (Loret - thanks for the concern! And yes, I'll do a lot of number taking.. And leave my parents' number with my roommates here.. We'll be careful.)
Today is my day off. I was asked to do some acting for a class at 2pm, so I'll go to campus in a bit. Then I have to return to the Prefacture (that awful land) to hand in more documents for my work visa. If all works out, this will be the last time I worry about it, which would be wonderful. Not too sure what the rest of the day holds..
Love to Canada.
Hincks.
It has been awhile, dear subscribers. Since the last post, things have been a bit of a gentle roller coaster. Gentle because nothing too crazy has happened, roller coaster because it has been filled with bad news and good news.. And so, this nerd blog post will outline all BN and GN. Notice how they come in packs... Ahem..
***A string of GN
GN: The mussels and fries were a success! I was pumped. The sauce was good.. Made with a bunch of things, including sour cream and wine. We ate like kings. And they're cheap. I think about visitors that come, and what I'll make. This is on the list.
GN: Then Cynthia and I went dancing. It was great. The DJ was better than usual, and we avoided the shark tank like pros.
GN: Upon my return, I talked to SLS on his b-day. He downloaded Skype and I got to chat with all of Westview Haus in Kingston! It was actually kind of overwhelming to see them all for the first time since I left - and all at once. But really good.
GN: I then Skyped with four Queen's Drama friends who were gathered for a pre-game at DC's place. That was also fun.
***A string of BN
BN: When I woke up the next morning, Stefano had e-mailed me, telling me that he'd be away when we were in Milan, and canceling our couch surfing plans.. So back to square 1 with that. It's been my priority the past few days, but still no luck on that front.. I remain optimistic.
BN: Cynthia and I tried to make cookies. Tripled the recipe. Due to a language barrier ingredient confusion, they did not work out. At all. This was annoying for multiple reasons. The ones I will mention, so I'm not mean on nerd blog, is the waste of ingredients. Both the money and the food. So wasteful. The other is that I wanted to bake cookies for my students, and I hate baking. So it was a waste of time. Anyways, that sent Cynthia and I into crusty moods, and we decided the only remedy was a kebab for dindins.
BN: Hossoen wasn't there, so we thought we'd try a new kebab stand. The new one we tried didn't have veggie option (I'm not that into pounds of pork) and so I got a fish one. It was average, and since I don't eat out that much, I was disappointed that we had missed Hossoen.
***Back to GN
GN: We returned to the apartment and made a delicious batch of cookies! I prepared them for school the next day.
GN: My roommate came back at night with our mail. I had received a lovely card from Christina and Jim in Kingston! They requested points for multiple reasons. The committee reviewed their arguments, and they receive 18 points for each of the five points mentioned. Thank-you both.
GN: I went to bed happy, despite the BN of the day.
**The trend now turns to BN/GN
BN: I somehow reaaalllly messed up Monday morning. Completely forgot my schedule. I was chilling at home, eating cereal, when I received a t-bomb from a student, wondering where I was.. I had somehow mixed up the days and thought I was starting at 1030, and not 915. Completely rattled, I zoomed to school and was half an hour late.. The class is only an hour. Brutal.
GN: My students are wonderful. They all waited for me outside the classroom, and accepted my peace offering of cookies.
BN: Internet wasn't working in my office so I was unable to nerd blog! That's BN for alllll of us.
GN: The next class was the last one for the first years, before they switch instructors. They are who the cookies were really for. It was sad to say goodbye.. They're a great group. But we had a wonderful class. I taught them about Jeopardy (shout-out, Doc) and had created a Jeopardy-like game. Answering in the form of a question was hilarious for me. And the whole thing was pretty funny. I (obvi) had an entire category entitled "Oh Canada" and it was horribly answered across the board.. Some favourites? .. What is Canada's national animal? "Who is an caribou!" No. "That is a maple leaf?" Umm.. also no. Etc. Good fun.
BN: I noticed on the way home that the leaves are falling off of the trees. I don't want to say that I hate Winter, but I'd be lying if I said anything else. I just really, really like Summer. So Fall is equally horrible. The leaves are the first sign of what's coming. "What about the beautiful colours!?" They don't really make up for it for me.. That's like running a race and getting a participation ribbon. Doesn't really cut it. Anyways.. That's not really so much BN as it is life...
GN: re: weather. No snow in Rennes.
**The trend now turns to GN/GN
GN: So.. Random meeting. Last Christmas, my family went to Cuba. While there, I met a plethora of folks. One was a couple from TO. I'm now f-book friends with them, but haven't seen them since. So the other day, the woman f-books me and tells me that her little brother is also in Rennes! So obviously we befriend each other over f-book immediately, and yesterday afternoon we met for a coffee. Brock is taking a year off of university just to live here. He works at H&M part-time and then just chills in Rennes. He's really awesome. He seems to have a big circle of friends here. I'ma join them. It was great to talk to someone from TO. Best part: He lived on Isabella last year! I was 135 Isabella, he was at 105. A block apart. Too weird? Not for me.. This stuff happens all the time and I can't be weirded out anymore.. Of course he lived on my three-block street! Where else would he have lived?
GN: I taught that new course yesterday evening. It's really cool. A creative writing workshop for advanced students. It's led by a French lady who's an English prof, and I'm there as the English peep. So they bring in their writing, and first I correct the English, and then we talk about it creatively. Which is fun. The writing is in English, but most of the discussion is in French.. At the end of the class, the prof suggested that I write, too, but in French. I cringe at the idea of writing in French.. Unlike how most French students work, my talking is best, despite years of French in school. I think my writing might be pretty rusty in French, as I'm completely out of practice. So .. I said yes. And will now be under the scrutiny of an entire class when I bring my homework in next time. But I think it's probably good for me.
GN: Cynthia continues to impress me with delicious Mexican meals. This morning we had a Mexican breakie. Corn tortilla with a fried egg, salsa and cheese on top. The salsa is home-made, and sooo spicy and good. I'm glad I eat Mexican sometimes here. French food is unreal, but has no spice. I miss the kick sometimes..
GN: Dario is our new couch surfing buddy. JUST received an e-mail from him. He lives in Milan's entertainment district. Cynthia and I get our own room, which is great (often you have to share with the host..) and he's providing blankets. Hopefully this works out! (Loret - thanks for the concern! And yes, I'll do a lot of number taking.. And leave my parents' number with my roommates here.. We'll be careful.)
Today is my day off. I was asked to do some acting for a class at 2pm, so I'll go to campus in a bit. Then I have to return to the Prefacture (that awful land) to hand in more documents for my work visa. If all works out, this will be the last time I worry about it, which would be wonderful. Not too sure what the rest of the day holds..
Love to Canada.
Hincks.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Chapter 36: Surfing USA
nerd blog post #40
Cynthia arrived home Thursday evening with a baguette and delicious cheese. We nibbled on that and I decided not to go to Merrill's, or the concert, and just stayed in. It was good.
Friday was a great day. Andorra and I went for a one and a half hour walk - to the bus depot to get the schedule for bookland, to Hossoen's to say hello, and up and down the cobblestones streets of Rennes. Andorra is a good companion, but a bit of a wiener. Apparently, when she was a pup, she fell down a flight of stairs, and now her medical record says she's a bit depressed... Doggie depression. What this means, for Andorra, is that she's kind of scared of everything. Other dogs, crowds, and ambulances. While crossing a major street (at a green light), the sirens of an ambulance fast approaching came on, and Andorra hit the deck. In the middle of the intersection. "Allez, Andorra!" Nope. The ambulance had to stop while I peeled the dog off of the road, her legs jetting to the sides of her body, and her face in the tar. Oh, Andorra!
Last night I went over to Merrill's house where she was having a little wine party with a bunch of peeps we work with. I sipped wine and ate pistachios. It was good. I also cut two people's hair. I think I should start charging.
This morning, Cynthia, Andorra and I went to the market and we bought mussels for tonight. This might be a disastrous project, but I'm excited to try it out. Hossoen's recipe seems foolproof, but I have been known to burn some pretty "easy" meals, so we'll see.
In the afternoon, we went to that bookland. It's forty minutes away by bus, and costs under $5 for a return trip. Besherel is a town of 700 peeps. We had two hours to see it. That's about 1.75 too many. The town has one grocery store, one bakery, one corner store, one restaurant, and about a dozen bookstores. And that's it. It was beautiful, as all French towns seem to be... The bookstores were really neat - thousands of used books, musty smells, old shopkeepers. It felt like a scene from a movie. I wanted to purchase Albert Camus' L'Etranger (The Stranger or The Outsider, in English) and the man gave it to me for free! What a deal. That is one of my favourite books. After browsing every, single store, we had a coffee and a treat in a cute little cafe, attached to a bookstore. The lady told us about the festivals that happen there every year. It was a really nice afternoon.
After moules et frites, we're going dancing. Standart.
The exciting news of the week is that I've firmed up my plans for my week off, which starts after classes on Thursday. We had originally planned to go to England and then to Krakow, but it didn't work out.. But instead......
Cynthia and I found really cheap tickets to fly from Paris to Milan, and are going for three nights, from the 30th to the 1st of November. Where are we staying? Weellllll.... My parents have an American friend who has an Italian wife who has a brother in Milan. I thought that would be perfect. After not hearing back for a couple of days, and in fear that flights would continue to rise, we booked. I thought that the only way it wouldn't work out was if the family was out of town. So we gambled. Turns out, they're out of town. Spend money on a hotel? No way. How about a hostel? Nuh uh. Join couch surfers of the world unite1000? Sure!
Couch surfing is something I've wanted to sign up for for a long time. It's right up my alley. It combines some of my favourite things, including strangers, travelers, foreigners, sharing, and sleepy ovaries. It's an international network where people sign up to host and be hosted. It's based on trust, and costs nothing. So now that I'm a member, if someone wants to stay in Rennes, they can check out my profile and request to stay with me. I can say yes or no, depending on my availability and comfort level. All messages are monitored for safety, and people review other hosts. Obviously there's a level of sketchiness, but I think it sounds awesome. And so, I signed up, e-mailed Stefano, and got a reply within hours. We're staying all three nights with him - he's a young filmmaker who lives downtown and seems really nice. He gave us directions from the airport to his place and will meet us and give us a key. From there, he may decide to show us around, or he may just leave us to hang. On the Friday, Cynthia and I are planning a day trip to Venice. I worry that some of you will think that this is not a wise way to travel.. But couch surfing has existed for awhile, and has a really high success rate. I also feel more comfortable having a friend with me. Plus, I love adventures.
I have exactly eleven days to learn Italian. I'm not discouraged. I took a book out of the library, and have been looking online. I (and this is a personal preference..) have decided not to be an English-speaking tourist in a foreign land. I'm pumped to learn as much as I can and get along just fine in Italian. I'm optimistic about it, as always. We'll see how it goes... This means that my other new languages ride the back burner for a couple of weeks, which I think is okay.
The rest of the week will be spent in Paris. I'll leave Thursday afternoon, and have a full week there. I look forward to, this time, seeing some museums (from the inside!) and walking around a lot. They say you can walk across Paris in a day. RtC and I would like to try. Viktor - you in!?
That's it for today. Love to you all.
Peace,
Hincks.
Important side note:
Today is Steven L. Schadinger's birthday. 60 points for being born today. An additional 15 for it being on the 18th, just like mine! His birthday party is themed, "Nerd Blog," and everyone has to dress up as a chapter from my nerd blog. He and Mane Man are going as a pair - Sammys and 'Pagne. Whitelow will be Thelma, and Wray is going to be THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER. Have fun, boyz! And happy birthday, SLS.
Cynthia arrived home Thursday evening with a baguette and delicious cheese. We nibbled on that and I decided not to go to Merrill's, or the concert, and just stayed in. It was good.
Friday was a great day. Andorra and I went for a one and a half hour walk - to the bus depot to get the schedule for bookland, to Hossoen's to say hello, and up and down the cobblestones streets of Rennes. Andorra is a good companion, but a bit of a wiener. Apparently, when she was a pup, she fell down a flight of stairs, and now her medical record says she's a bit depressed... Doggie depression. What this means, for Andorra, is that she's kind of scared of everything. Other dogs, crowds, and ambulances. While crossing a major street (at a green light), the sirens of an ambulance fast approaching came on, and Andorra hit the deck. In the middle of the intersection. "Allez, Andorra!" Nope. The ambulance had to stop while I peeled the dog off of the road, her legs jetting to the sides of her body, and her face in the tar. Oh, Andorra!
Last night I went over to Merrill's house where she was having a little wine party with a bunch of peeps we work with. I sipped wine and ate pistachios. It was good. I also cut two people's hair. I think I should start charging.
This morning, Cynthia, Andorra and I went to the market and we bought mussels for tonight. This might be a disastrous project, but I'm excited to try it out. Hossoen's recipe seems foolproof, but I have been known to burn some pretty "easy" meals, so we'll see.
In the afternoon, we went to that bookland. It's forty minutes away by bus, and costs under $5 for a return trip. Besherel is a town of 700 peeps. We had two hours to see it. That's about 1.75 too many. The town has one grocery store, one bakery, one corner store, one restaurant, and about a dozen bookstores. And that's it. It was beautiful, as all French towns seem to be... The bookstores were really neat - thousands of used books, musty smells, old shopkeepers. It felt like a scene from a movie. I wanted to purchase Albert Camus' L'Etranger (The Stranger or The Outsider, in English) and the man gave it to me for free! What a deal. That is one of my favourite books. After browsing every, single store, we had a coffee and a treat in a cute little cafe, attached to a bookstore. The lady told us about the festivals that happen there every year. It was a really nice afternoon.
After moules et frites, we're going dancing. Standart.
The exciting news of the week is that I've firmed up my plans for my week off, which starts after classes on Thursday. We had originally planned to go to England and then to Krakow, but it didn't work out.. But instead......
Cynthia and I found really cheap tickets to fly from Paris to Milan, and are going for three nights, from the 30th to the 1st of November. Where are we staying? Weellllll.... My parents have an American friend who has an Italian wife who has a brother in Milan. I thought that would be perfect. After not hearing back for a couple of days, and in fear that flights would continue to rise, we booked. I thought that the only way it wouldn't work out was if the family was out of town. So we gambled. Turns out, they're out of town. Spend money on a hotel? No way. How about a hostel? Nuh uh. Join couch surfers of the world unite1000? Sure!
Couch surfing is something I've wanted to sign up for for a long time. It's right up my alley. It combines some of my favourite things, including strangers, travelers, foreigners, sharing, and sleepy ovaries. It's an international network where people sign up to host and be hosted. It's based on trust, and costs nothing. So now that I'm a member, if someone wants to stay in Rennes, they can check out my profile and request to stay with me. I can say yes or no, depending on my availability and comfort level. All messages are monitored for safety, and people review other hosts. Obviously there's a level of sketchiness, but I think it sounds awesome. And so, I signed up, e-mailed Stefano, and got a reply within hours. We're staying all three nights with him - he's a young filmmaker who lives downtown and seems really nice. He gave us directions from the airport to his place and will meet us and give us a key. From there, he may decide to show us around, or he may just leave us to hang. On the Friday, Cynthia and I are planning a day trip to Venice. I worry that some of you will think that this is not a wise way to travel.. But couch surfing has existed for awhile, and has a really high success rate. I also feel more comfortable having a friend with me. Plus, I love adventures.
I have exactly eleven days to learn Italian. I'm not discouraged. I took a book out of the library, and have been looking online. I (and this is a personal preference..) have decided not to be an English-speaking tourist in a foreign land. I'm pumped to learn as much as I can and get along just fine in Italian. I'm optimistic about it, as always. We'll see how it goes... This means that my other new languages ride the back burner for a couple of weeks, which I think is okay.
The rest of the week will be spent in Paris. I'll leave Thursday afternoon, and have a full week there. I look forward to, this time, seeing some museums (from the inside!) and walking around a lot. They say you can walk across Paris in a day. RtC and I would like to try. Viktor - you in!?
That's it for today. Love to you all.
Peace,
Hincks.
Important side note:
Today is Steven L. Schadinger's birthday. 60 points for being born today. An additional 15 for it being on the 18th, just like mine! His birthday party is themed, "Nerd Blog," and everyone has to dress up as a chapter from my nerd blog. He and Mane Man are going as a pair - Sammys and 'Pagne. Whitelow will be Thelma, and Wray is going to be THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER. Have fun, boyz! And happy birthday, SLS.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Chapter 35: Alternatives
nerd blog post #39
I was thinking of one alternative in particular when I named this nerd blog post. As I start to think about the last twenty-four hours, I realize there have been many.
I visit Hossoen yesterday afternoon and spent a long while there. We chatted about Iran (his homeland), his family, and this and that. He showed me a picture of himself when he came to France at the age of twenty. I busted out my wallet, too, but my photos are all fairly new.. I love my visits there. We usually sit outside and people-watch, and sip his very strong espresso. He's come to like the games I suggest, like, "What's his occupation?" where you guess someone's job, and fun and games like that.
A famous dish here in Brittany is "moules et frites." Mussels and fries. I haven't had them yet because m et t restaurants are kind of pricey.. But they're very cheap at the market and I asked Hossoen how to make them. He gave me a recipe that he knows that calls for a specific type of expensive wine, that he loves.
Alternative #1: I'ma use the cheap wine that I buy.
I was glad to learn that he takes three weeks off in the summer to go and visit his family. Otherwise, he works seven days a week from 11am to 1am... Such a long day. He rarely sees his wife and sons (except for the one who works there). He says that back home, they own property on the ocean.. I told him I'd like to visit, and he said sure. Nice.
In the evening, a prof invited us over for a pot. It was the five lecteurs from the English department, plus two of her PhD students, who are profs as well. So eight women. Her apartment is a lovely one - decorated with art from Ethiopia, where her sister lives. She fed us delicious food, and we drank champagne. We were there for three hours or so, and had a great time talking about the students, the department, our experiences in France... She's a really nice, young prof from France and I want to be her friend. I'ma invite her out for coffee.
Alternative #2: A beer.
I had a four-way skype conference call last night between Doc in England, and DC and Schac in TO. What technology! It was fun..
Le Super is RIP. I e-mailed Bernard to ask for a refund on his sketchy bike a week ago. No reply. Today I e-mailed him again, asking for the photos of the bike that were online so I could re-sell it. I hope to hear from him. Meanwhile, I'm meeting another man this week-end to look at another bike. This one is entitled Peugot.
Alternative #3: Since Cynthia and I have somewhat opposing schedules, I can usually ride hers. I like hers. It's like the one that nasty neighbour in the Wizard of Oz rides. Straight back, wide handles.. It makes me feel like a woman, and I like that. The one I'm looking at this week-end is similar. I hope it works out.
At work, the director of the department called me in and confirmed that I would be taking on another class this semester, that starts on Monday. Creative writing for mature students, offered at the Faulkner Institute. I don't really know what it will entail, but it sounds pretty cool. The downside is that it conflicts with one of my German classes. As teaching is my contractual priority, I can't say no, which left me in a pickle with German.
The following went down like this:
1. I went to my prof and asked if I could just do one of the two hour classes. She said no, that it would put me too far behind.
2. I asked her if I could go and just listen, so I was exposed to the language. That I didn't have to participate.. She said likely not, as the other students would wonder what I was doing there.
3. I asked her what she suggested I do. She gave me a copy of the cd for the course, that goes along with my workbook, and said I could do the whole course alone at home.
4. She also said there was room in the Baby Class. I already completed the term work for that class, and do not want to join it, but might go to get exposure if need be. Faulkner that.
Alternative #4: I take the course solo, and hopefully she'll let me sit in the class just to hear it. I put an ad up in the German department, asking for a German/English or German/French language swap. I'm also looking online to see if there's an advertisement for one...
This German business has been a royal pain.
Alternative #5: Move to Germany, where I'm allowed to speak German whenever I want.
It's sunny in my room right now. When it's sunny at this hour, the light pours in, and it's very nice. It's so sunny today that I'm wearing my giant sunglasses (or, as Raffi the Dad likes to call them, face-eaters) inside.
Tonight, Cynthia invited me to go with her and her Mexican man to a concert. Then Merrill invited me over for dindins. A tough choice. With a week of vacation around the corner, I opted for the biggest money-saving option, and will enjoy a delicious feast. She's a good cook. It also means I leave the concert as a two-wheel party.
I don't know what this week-end has in store.. I heard of a town, not too far away, that is filled with bookstores.. Streets and streets of them.. I can take a bus there for a couple of Euros, and might go check it out.
Hmm.. I think that's it for today, my friends. Hope you're all well.
Signing off,
Hincks.
Alternative #6: The Hinckster
I was thinking of one alternative in particular when I named this nerd blog post. As I start to think about the last twenty-four hours, I realize there have been many.
I visit Hossoen yesterday afternoon and spent a long while there. We chatted about Iran (his homeland), his family, and this and that. He showed me a picture of himself when he came to France at the age of twenty. I busted out my wallet, too, but my photos are all fairly new.. I love my visits there. We usually sit outside and people-watch, and sip his very strong espresso. He's come to like the games I suggest, like, "What's his occupation?" where you guess someone's job, and fun and games like that.
A famous dish here in Brittany is "moules et frites." Mussels and fries. I haven't had them yet because m et t restaurants are kind of pricey.. But they're very cheap at the market and I asked Hossoen how to make them. He gave me a recipe that he knows that calls for a specific type of expensive wine, that he loves.
Alternative #1: I'ma use the cheap wine that I buy.
I was glad to learn that he takes three weeks off in the summer to go and visit his family. Otherwise, he works seven days a week from 11am to 1am... Such a long day. He rarely sees his wife and sons (except for the one who works there). He says that back home, they own property on the ocean.. I told him I'd like to visit, and he said sure. Nice.
In the evening, a prof invited us over for a pot. It was the five lecteurs from the English department, plus two of her PhD students, who are profs as well. So eight women. Her apartment is a lovely one - decorated with art from Ethiopia, where her sister lives. She fed us delicious food, and we drank champagne. We were there for three hours or so, and had a great time talking about the students, the department, our experiences in France... She's a really nice, young prof from France and I want to be her friend. I'ma invite her out for coffee.
Alternative #2: A beer.
I had a four-way skype conference call last night between Doc in England, and DC and Schac in TO. What technology! It was fun..
Le Super is RIP. I e-mailed Bernard to ask for a refund on his sketchy bike a week ago. No reply. Today I e-mailed him again, asking for the photos of the bike that were online so I could re-sell it. I hope to hear from him. Meanwhile, I'm meeting another man this week-end to look at another bike. This one is entitled Peugot.
Alternative #3: Since Cynthia and I have somewhat opposing schedules, I can usually ride hers. I like hers. It's like the one that nasty neighbour in the Wizard of Oz rides. Straight back, wide handles.. It makes me feel like a woman, and I like that. The one I'm looking at this week-end is similar. I hope it works out.
At work, the director of the department called me in and confirmed that I would be taking on another class this semester, that starts on Monday. Creative writing for mature students, offered at the Faulkner Institute. I don't really know what it will entail, but it sounds pretty cool. The downside is that it conflicts with one of my German classes. As teaching is my contractual priority, I can't say no, which left me in a pickle with German.
The following went down like this:
1. I went to my prof and asked if I could just do one of the two hour classes. She said no, that it would put me too far behind.
2. I asked her if I could go and just listen, so I was exposed to the language. That I didn't have to participate.. She said likely not, as the other students would wonder what I was doing there.
3. I asked her what she suggested I do. She gave me a copy of the cd for the course, that goes along with my workbook, and said I could do the whole course alone at home.
4. She also said there was room in the Baby Class. I already completed the term work for that class, and do not want to join it, but might go to get exposure if need be. Faulkner that.
Alternative #4: I take the course solo, and hopefully she'll let me sit in the class just to hear it. I put an ad up in the German department, asking for a German/English or German/French language swap. I'm also looking online to see if there's an advertisement for one...
This German business has been a royal pain.
Alternative #5: Move to Germany, where I'm allowed to speak German whenever I want.
It's sunny in my room right now. When it's sunny at this hour, the light pours in, and it's very nice. It's so sunny today that I'm wearing my giant sunglasses (or, as Raffi the Dad likes to call them, face-eaters) inside.
Tonight, Cynthia invited me to go with her and her Mexican man to a concert. Then Merrill invited me over for dindins. A tough choice. With a week of vacation around the corner, I opted for the biggest money-saving option, and will enjoy a delicious feast. She's a good cook. It also means I leave the concert as a two-wheel party.
I don't know what this week-end has in store.. I heard of a town, not too far away, that is filled with bookstores.. Streets and streets of them.. I can take a bus there for a couple of Euros, and might go check it out.
Hmm.. I think that's it for today, my friends. Hope you're all well.
Signing off,
Hincks.
Alternative #6: The Hinckster
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Chapter 34: Baking Powder and SLS
nerd blog post #39
Monday night at O'Connells is growing and growing. A good trick to include everyone in your life, without stressing yourself out, is to continually invite them to a land where you'll always be on a regular basis. So upper year students want hang outside of class? Come to O'Connells every Monday at 8pm! Random friends in the town? Same thing! How about a random American in my German class who lives with a Torontonian? Suuuure! So Monday night was packed with a variety of people from different pockets of Rennes life. And was very fun.
Owen the bartender wasn't working that night, but came just to hang. He brought his French gf who does publicity for the Theatre National de Bretagne, which is situated in Rennes. The program for this season had been printed that day, and she was excited to talk about it. They invited me over to their place sometime, and we exchanged digits.
I also received a surprise Happy T-Giving phone call from Mane Man - very exciting (many points)! And while I'm on the subject of T-Giving, I would like to remind M.Deeks that I did mention the 295 feast of 2006 a few blogs ago.. How could I forget such a wonderful week-end!
Anyways, Monday night at O'Connells is now rivaling Saturday morning's market.. It's just so fun. But a different genre entirely.
Yesterday was one of the less productive days I've had.. I stayed in all day, except to mail a letter and walk Andorra twice. I love that dog. And it's always good French practice because other peeps want to talk about/to the dog. There's a nice old man who's often walking his dog, too, and we have nice chats.
In the evening, Merrill and Marianne came over for dindins. We made roley poleys and they were, of course, delish. We had ice-cream and fried bananas for desert. I like our dinner parties. We do them two or three times a week and it's a good way to eat a delicious meal and have chats. Plus, not all of us like the same activities all of the time, but we all like eating! RtC bought Cynthia a nice French desert cookbook for her birthday, so everyone leafed through it and talked about it. I'm not that into talking about baking pastries, so I did the dishes.
Cynthia met a Mexican on Saturday night, and he came over for a visit. I told him, in Spanish, that I have a horse. And hello, mister. Then I left them to visit and talk about home.
This morning I taught two classes. One of them is a first year class where I had them give speeches about something they're passionate about. They were really cute, and so varied. After class, some girls wanted a photo with me. It was a reminder that next week is our last class together before they switch to a "real" prof, and I have his group. I'll miss them.. Five of my classes will stay the same, but the two first year ones will switch up. After mastering all of their names, and becoming really comfortable around each other, it will be strange to start again with a new group. Good thing we have Mondays to keep in touch.
This afternoon is cool and rainy. The perfect way to spend time in my favourite kebab stand with my first friend from Rennes..
Tonight, the five lecteurs from the English department were invited over to a prof's house for dinner. It should be nice! She offered that we can sleep over, so I thought that maybe she lives out of town.. But she doesn't, so I think I'll pas on the slumber party and sleep in my own bed.
I thought SLS, my Winter visitor, would be known to my Queen's friends, but perhaps the "Leonard" is not as well known as I thought.. Steven Leonard Schadinger will be here from December 26th until January 11th. His big brother, a good friend and no doubt a valued nerd blog subscriber, will join him, but I think has plans to spend a chunk of time with a French girl he met in TO last year. Steve has been my brother from another mother since 1st year at Queen's, and I am very excited about the visit. Our plans are up in the air right now, but will be adventurous for sure. Steve's claim to fame is to have memorized every nerd blog post, word for word! See him shine as the lead in the upcoming Queen's Drama major, Drums in the Night.
That's it for now. Hope this finds you all well!
With love,
Hincks.
Monday night at O'Connells is growing and growing. A good trick to include everyone in your life, without stressing yourself out, is to continually invite them to a land where you'll always be on a regular basis. So upper year students want hang outside of class? Come to O'Connells every Monday at 8pm! Random friends in the town? Same thing! How about a random American in my German class who lives with a Torontonian? Suuuure! So Monday night was packed with a variety of people from different pockets of Rennes life. And was very fun.
Owen the bartender wasn't working that night, but came just to hang. He brought his French gf who does publicity for the Theatre National de Bretagne, which is situated in Rennes. The program for this season had been printed that day, and she was excited to talk about it. They invited me over to their place sometime, and we exchanged digits.
I also received a surprise Happy T-Giving phone call from Mane Man - very exciting (many points)! And while I'm on the subject of T-Giving, I would like to remind M.Deeks that I did mention the 295 feast of 2006 a few blogs ago.. How could I forget such a wonderful week-end!
Anyways, Monday night at O'Connells is now rivaling Saturday morning's market.. It's just so fun. But a different genre entirely.
Yesterday was one of the less productive days I've had.. I stayed in all day, except to mail a letter and walk Andorra twice. I love that dog. And it's always good French practice because other peeps want to talk about/to the dog. There's a nice old man who's often walking his dog, too, and we have nice chats.
In the evening, Merrill and Marianne came over for dindins. We made roley poleys and they were, of course, delish. We had ice-cream and fried bananas for desert. I like our dinner parties. We do them two or three times a week and it's a good way to eat a delicious meal and have chats. Plus, not all of us like the same activities all of the time, but we all like eating! RtC bought Cynthia a nice French desert cookbook for her birthday, so everyone leafed through it and talked about it. I'm not that into talking about baking pastries, so I did the dishes.
Cynthia met a Mexican on Saturday night, and he came over for a visit. I told him, in Spanish, that I have a horse. And hello, mister. Then I left them to visit and talk about home.
This morning I taught two classes. One of them is a first year class where I had them give speeches about something they're passionate about. They were really cute, and so varied. After class, some girls wanted a photo with me. It was a reminder that next week is our last class together before they switch to a "real" prof, and I have his group. I'll miss them.. Five of my classes will stay the same, but the two first year ones will switch up. After mastering all of their names, and becoming really comfortable around each other, it will be strange to start again with a new group. Good thing we have Mondays to keep in touch.
This afternoon is cool and rainy. The perfect way to spend time in my favourite kebab stand with my first friend from Rennes..
Tonight, the five lecteurs from the English department were invited over to a prof's house for dinner. It should be nice! She offered that we can sleep over, so I thought that maybe she lives out of town.. But she doesn't, so I think I'll pas on the slumber party and sleep in my own bed.
I thought SLS, my Winter visitor, would be known to my Queen's friends, but perhaps the "Leonard" is not as well known as I thought.. Steven Leonard Schadinger will be here from December 26th until January 11th. His big brother, a good friend and no doubt a valued nerd blog subscriber, will join him, but I think has plans to spend a chunk of time with a French girl he met in TO last year. Steve has been my brother from another mother since 1st year at Queen's, and I am very excited about the visit. Our plans are up in the air right now, but will be adventurous for sure. Steve's claim to fame is to have memorized every nerd blog post, word for word! See him shine as the lead in the upcoming Queen's Drama major, Drums in the Night.
That's it for now. Hope this finds you all well!
With love,
Hincks.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
T-GIVING FOTOS
so far from a chapter.
Oh hey you guys. Thanks for popping by. I hope the turkey lefty ovaries are delicious. As you chow down, here are some pictures from my week-end. No doubt you've all read and re-read yesterday's nerd blog post, so I won't explain much.
Ahem.
The bathroom surprise cake.
Dancing. Roomies Nicolas, Alexandre, and Cynthia, and visitor RtC.
Oh hey you guys. Thanks for popping by. I hope the turkey lefty ovaries are delicious. As you chow down, here are some pictures from my week-end. No doubt you've all read and re-read yesterday's nerd blog post, so I won't explain much.
Ahem.
A Photo Essay
By Emily Hyland Hincks
By Emily Hyland Hincks
Part I Birfday Fun
The bathroom surprise cake.
Dancing. Roomies Nicolas, Alexandre, and Cynthia, and visitor RtC.Part II:
Mont Saint-Michel, Ma Belle
From the car.
From within the walls.
Also from within.
Okay, now we're always within.
Looking over the edge. 
And far away...
Rooftops.
This is how you pour hot oil on your enemies!
Not within the walls. A picnic lunch.
Part III:
Pilgrims At M S-M
Riding horses.
Walking across quicksand.
Confessing.
Part IV:
Saint-Malo Fo Sho
A classic girl/girl beach shot.
A classic boy/girl beach shot.
Roomies Alexandre and Nicolas.
The view from chez Nicolas.
Part III:
Andorra the Explorra
She loves M S-M.
She loves swimming.
She loves clowns.
She loves running.
She loves surfing USA and France.
The End.
Love to you all. Hope this finds you well!
Signing off,
Hincks.
Mont Saint-Michel, Ma Belle
From the car.
From within the walls.
Also from within.
Okay, now we're always within.
Looking over the edge. 
And far away...
Rooftops.
This is how you pour hot oil on your enemies!
Not within the walls. A picnic lunch.Part III:
Pilgrims At M S-M
Riding horses.
Walking across quicksand.
Confessing.Part IV:
Saint-Malo Fo Sho
A classic girl/girl beach shot.
A classic boy/girl beach shot.
Roomies Alexandre and Nicolas.
The view from chez Nicolas.Part III:
Andorra the Explorra
She loves M S-M.
She loves swimming.
She loves clowns.
She loves running.
She loves surfing USA and France.The End.
Love to you all. Hope this finds you well!
Signing off,
Hincks.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Chapter 33: Double Saints? No Complaints.
nerd blog post #36
Late last night I skyped with my family. There were seven of them about to sit down at 99 Kimberley for a big feast of gobble-gobble, as my dad would say. I though yesterday would be hard, not being at home, but it was one of the best days I have had in France so far, and I felt very thankful.
After blogging yesterday, Cynthia, RtC and I made a picnic lunch of sammys and apples and treats. Then we headed to Mont Saint-Michel with Alexandre, one of the roommates. The other, Nicolas, is the one who studies in Saint-Malo, and since he was staying there for the week last night, just planned to meet us there. The drive was fun - I love car rides, and it was neat to see the countryside. It's only an hour away.. I thought of dear Riverdale Farm as we passed by the cows and sheep along the way.
Approaching Mont Saint-Michel was really unbelievable. A giant monastery on top of a rocky hill, it was unlike anything I have ever seen. All around it (though this changes depending on the tide) was quicksand, and it looked almost like a desert. Further around it were grassy fields with sheep grazing. The sheep from that region are special because the grass is salty from the tide rolling over it, making their meat salty. The quicksand can be dangerous, and tourists are only allowed to walk on it with a guide. Many people have died trying to get their alone. They say the tide moves faster than a galloping horse, and only those who really know the area should try and be adventurous.
Alexandre's grandmother used to work in the village, and we parked for free. M S-M is the second most visited spot in France (the first is the Eiffel Tower) and on this warm(ish) Sunday afternoon, it was very busy. Below the monastery, but still within the walls, the little village is full of restaurants and tourist shops. There are hundreds of stairs that lead up to where the actual monastery is. We avoided the busy road, and took little back stairs up. It was really cool to see the backyards and little homes of the habitants of the village.
Mont Saint-Michel has been a monastery since the 8th century, and still functions as one today. It is also where some of the France's most notorious criminals were kept prisoner, because of how fortified the place is, both architecturally and geographically. It's considered important because it is said to be near the place where the archangel Michael fought the devil, and apparently this was the place where he commanded someone to build a church. Because of this, it has always been a place of pilgrimage. Among the many tourists were also hundreds of pilgrims who had walked for hours across the sand to get here. They also had horses. Near the monastary were priests who were hearing confessions from these pilgrims. It was a strange thing to see the mix of tourists and pilgrims..
We didn't go into the actual monastary itself as we'd have to pay and didn't have all day, but I'd like to sometime.
We had our picnic lunch by the car, and then headed to Saint-Michel, about thirty minutes away. There, we saw Nicolas apartment, which has a beautiful ocean view. Then we went to Sanchez, a spot famous for its ice-cream. It was delicious.
Then we hit the beach. I swam, and though it was very cold, I stayed in for quite awhile. The tide was high, but way out there were some rocks sticking out of the water, and I climbed on them. I forgot to mention that Andorra came with us for the day, and she had a blast at the beach and joined me in the water. We were there for a couple of hours, climbing over rocks and running with Andorra on the beach. The sun was setting and it was cool, so the beach was basically all ours, which was a nice change from the busy M S-M, and the beach as I had seen it with Cynthia a few weeks ago.
Returning to Nicolas, they started cooking us a feast, and it was one of the best meals I have ever had. It was sort of like a fondue, but called a raclette, named after the cheese it uses. It's a meal that comes from the southern mountain ranges in France. There's the big raclette contraption that has little individual frying pans underneath a grill. The cheese goes in there and starts melting. On the grill, you put the meat. On your plate, you cut up potatoes, then add the grilled meat, then cover it all with the melted cheese. Rinse and repeat. If it weren't for the tastiness of the raclette cheese, this meal wouldn't be half as good. But it was amazing. There were also good olives and bread. For desert, they had this mousse cake for Cynthia.
They eat around 9pm here, so we didn't end up getting home until midnight. Full and happy, I wished my family bon appetite, and went to bed shortly after.
This morning, I got up before 5am to walk RtC to the train station, as he had clown school at 9am in Paris. Today is balloon animals part 2.
I went back to bed for a couple of hours, got up to teach, and received an exciting e-mee about a special guest who has booked a ticket to visit on December 26th. SLS, the silent nerd blog subscriber, was awarded a whopping 250 points!
The rest of you are probably not working today.. I wore red yesterday and am again today for Thanksgiving. "Oh, hello! What a great top! Why red?" ... "Well, in Canada....." That's the plan, anyways. I am thinking of you all especially this week-end. I would have had dark meat and cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes and jelly salad. But I'm still thankful, and it still feels a bit like Thanksgiving to me.
Happy Thanksgiving, and look out for a photo essay in the near future.
With love,
Hincks.
Late last night I skyped with my family. There were seven of them about to sit down at 99 Kimberley for a big feast of gobble-gobble, as my dad would say. I though yesterday would be hard, not being at home, but it was one of the best days I have had in France so far, and I felt very thankful.
After blogging yesterday, Cynthia, RtC and I made a picnic lunch of sammys and apples and treats. Then we headed to Mont Saint-Michel with Alexandre, one of the roommates. The other, Nicolas, is the one who studies in Saint-Malo, and since he was staying there for the week last night, just planned to meet us there. The drive was fun - I love car rides, and it was neat to see the countryside. It's only an hour away.. I thought of dear Riverdale Farm as we passed by the cows and sheep along the way.
Approaching Mont Saint-Michel was really unbelievable. A giant monastery on top of a rocky hill, it was unlike anything I have ever seen. All around it (though this changes depending on the tide) was quicksand, and it looked almost like a desert. Further around it were grassy fields with sheep grazing. The sheep from that region are special because the grass is salty from the tide rolling over it, making their meat salty. The quicksand can be dangerous, and tourists are only allowed to walk on it with a guide. Many people have died trying to get their alone. They say the tide moves faster than a galloping horse, and only those who really know the area should try and be adventurous.
Alexandre's grandmother used to work in the village, and we parked for free. M S-M is the second most visited spot in France (the first is the Eiffel Tower) and on this warm(ish) Sunday afternoon, it was very busy. Below the monastery, but still within the walls, the little village is full of restaurants and tourist shops. There are hundreds of stairs that lead up to where the actual monastery is. We avoided the busy road, and took little back stairs up. It was really cool to see the backyards and little homes of the habitants of the village.
Mont Saint-Michel has been a monastery since the 8th century, and still functions as one today. It is also where some of the France's most notorious criminals were kept prisoner, because of how fortified the place is, both architecturally and geographically. It's considered important because it is said to be near the place where the archangel Michael fought the devil, and apparently this was the place where he commanded someone to build a church. Because of this, it has always been a place of pilgrimage. Among the many tourists were also hundreds of pilgrims who had walked for hours across the sand to get here. They also had horses. Near the monastary were priests who were hearing confessions from these pilgrims. It was a strange thing to see the mix of tourists and pilgrims..
We didn't go into the actual monastary itself as we'd have to pay and didn't have all day, but I'd like to sometime.
We had our picnic lunch by the car, and then headed to Saint-Michel, about thirty minutes away. There, we saw Nicolas apartment, which has a beautiful ocean view. Then we went to Sanchez, a spot famous for its ice-cream. It was delicious.
Then we hit the beach. I swam, and though it was very cold, I stayed in for quite awhile. The tide was high, but way out there were some rocks sticking out of the water, and I climbed on them. I forgot to mention that Andorra came with us for the day, and she had a blast at the beach and joined me in the water. We were there for a couple of hours, climbing over rocks and running with Andorra on the beach. The sun was setting and it was cool, so the beach was basically all ours, which was a nice change from the busy M S-M, and the beach as I had seen it with Cynthia a few weeks ago.
Returning to Nicolas, they started cooking us a feast, and it was one of the best meals I have ever had. It was sort of like a fondue, but called a raclette, named after the cheese it uses. It's a meal that comes from the southern mountain ranges in France. There's the big raclette contraption that has little individual frying pans underneath a grill. The cheese goes in there and starts melting. On the grill, you put the meat. On your plate, you cut up potatoes, then add the grilled meat, then cover it all with the melted cheese. Rinse and repeat. If it weren't for the tastiness of the raclette cheese, this meal wouldn't be half as good. But it was amazing. There were also good olives and bread. For desert, they had this mousse cake for Cynthia.
They eat around 9pm here, so we didn't end up getting home until midnight. Full and happy, I wished my family bon appetite, and went to bed shortly after.
This morning, I got up before 5am to walk RtC to the train station, as he had clown school at 9am in Paris. Today is balloon animals part 2.
I went back to bed for a couple of hours, got up to teach, and received an exciting e-mee about a special guest who has booked a ticket to visit on December 26th. SLS, the silent nerd blog subscriber, was awarded a whopping 250 points!
The rest of you are probably not working today.. I wore red yesterday and am again today for Thanksgiving. "Oh, hello! What a great top! Why red?" ... "Well, in Canada....." That's the plan, anyways. I am thinking of you all especially this week-end. I would have had dark meat and cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes and jelly salad. But I'm still thankful, and it still feels a bit like Thanksgiving to me.
Happy Thanksgiving, and look out for a photo essay in the near future.
With love,
Hincks.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Chapter 32: Queen of Kitchen
nerd blog post #35
That giant store that Alexandre took us to was crazybig, and Cynthia and I got lost in the free sushi samples, international isle (whaddup Canadian maple syrup) and the many, many types of cereal. I just bought bananas and apples and cereal, though.
That evening, we went to Marianne's for dindins. Merrill was there, too, and it was delicious. Those two are really good cooks. I have already received several notes, inquiring as to whether that's the reason for today's title. It's not.
I bailed on the Italian housewarming party, and went to bed relatively early.
RtC ended up getting to Rennes in the early afternoon, so I went to Emanuelle's bookstore for another German book, and then hung out with Hossoen. We had coffee and sat outside for an hour or so. Then I quickly looked at the market before heading home to make sammys with Cynthia.
Then we met up with the other lecteurs and headed to the train and bus station. The plan was to take a train back here from Mont Saint-Michel, but to take a bus there. This is due to a whack schedule. Anyways, turns out we misunderstood the schedule even more than we thought, and weren't able to go yesterday at all. This ended up being fine as RtC was to roll in around the same time as the bus was to leave.. So tricky business.
Instead, we went downtown and had a beer and hung out.
Then came the delicious feast. Cynthia made guacamole unlike any I have ever tasted. I made a Roley Poley, which is an invented and delicious staple in my new French life. I also made bruschetta, but didn't know how and just guessed. It was the last thing to be eaten.. We also had all sorts of delicious cheese. We stood around in the kitchen nibbling away with our two roommates. We decided not to invite the others that I mentioned before, but to just enjoy the little kitchen, Andorra the dog, and great food. Just before midnight, we came into our rooms to get ready, and the boyz said they would come out with us, too. We have a great relationship with them, but have never gone out with them before, so it was nice.
Right at midnight, Cynthia was going to the bathroom. How it works here is that there is a room with the toilet, and then there is this other room with the sink and shower. So while she was in the toilet, the rest of us piled into the other part with the cake that I had made. There were candles and we were in the dark, and it seemed like the perfect way to surprise her, since she always washes her hands after. Now that I'm writing this, it seems kind of weird.. It was my idea. Anyways, I think she thought it was nice.
The cake, however, looked horrible. I had this idea in my head of a beautiful cake with chocolate icing and Smarties that spell something nice out. And everyone would be like, "Ooohhh! What a great cake! Where did you buy it?" And I'd be like, "Ohhh... Nothing. Just made it..."
Nope. This cake looked baaad. The chocolate "icing" was chunky and the Smarties wouldn't stick so I just sprinkled them around. Alexandre, who is kind of like me, teased me enormously about the cake, saying he would make his own birthday cake, and then re-telling this disaster story (that I didn't blog about) about when I destroyed a pot by burning couscous. Oopsies. While walking to the bar, he was still going on about my disaster cake, and called me Queen of Kitchen. I died.
We went to Barbie and Kenland, and then to a night bar, and the five of us danced like crazy and had a great time. The boy roomies left earlier than we did, and after the night bar, we re-located, free of charge, to the prison night box. We didn't stay too long, but it was fun to see, and to show RtC.
Best part: The boy roomies want to hang with us today. We're leaving in half an hour to go to Mont Saint-Michel and Saint-Malo! I'ma go swimming in the ocean again.
I have to make sammys for our trip, but wanted to quickly nerd blog before what will be an exciting day and birthday for Cynthia.
Love to Canada.
Hincks.
That giant store that Alexandre took us to was crazybig, and Cynthia and I got lost in the free sushi samples, international isle (whaddup Canadian maple syrup) and the many, many types of cereal. I just bought bananas and apples and cereal, though.
That evening, we went to Marianne's for dindins. Merrill was there, too, and it was delicious. Those two are really good cooks. I have already received several notes, inquiring as to whether that's the reason for today's title. It's not.
I bailed on the Italian housewarming party, and went to bed relatively early.
RtC ended up getting to Rennes in the early afternoon, so I went to Emanuelle's bookstore for another German book, and then hung out with Hossoen. We had coffee and sat outside for an hour or so. Then I quickly looked at the market before heading home to make sammys with Cynthia.
Then we met up with the other lecteurs and headed to the train and bus station. The plan was to take a train back here from Mont Saint-Michel, but to take a bus there. This is due to a whack schedule. Anyways, turns out we misunderstood the schedule even more than we thought, and weren't able to go yesterday at all. This ended up being fine as RtC was to roll in around the same time as the bus was to leave.. So tricky business.
Instead, we went downtown and had a beer and hung out.
Then came the delicious feast. Cynthia made guacamole unlike any I have ever tasted. I made a Roley Poley, which is an invented and delicious staple in my new French life. I also made bruschetta, but didn't know how and just guessed. It was the last thing to be eaten.. We also had all sorts of delicious cheese. We stood around in the kitchen nibbling away with our two roommates. We decided not to invite the others that I mentioned before, but to just enjoy the little kitchen, Andorra the dog, and great food. Just before midnight, we came into our rooms to get ready, and the boyz said they would come out with us, too. We have a great relationship with them, but have never gone out with them before, so it was nice.
Right at midnight, Cynthia was going to the bathroom. How it works here is that there is a room with the toilet, and then there is this other room with the sink and shower. So while she was in the toilet, the rest of us piled into the other part with the cake that I had made. There were candles and we were in the dark, and it seemed like the perfect way to surprise her, since she always washes her hands after. Now that I'm writing this, it seems kind of weird.. It was my idea. Anyways, I think she thought it was nice.
The cake, however, looked horrible. I had this idea in my head of a beautiful cake with chocolate icing and Smarties that spell something nice out. And everyone would be like, "Ooohhh! What a great cake! Where did you buy it?" And I'd be like, "Ohhh... Nothing. Just made it..."
Nope. This cake looked baaad. The chocolate "icing" was chunky and the Smarties wouldn't stick so I just sprinkled them around. Alexandre, who is kind of like me, teased me enormously about the cake, saying he would make his own birthday cake, and then re-telling this disaster story (that I didn't blog about) about when I destroyed a pot by burning couscous. Oopsies. While walking to the bar, he was still going on about my disaster cake, and called me Queen of Kitchen. I died.
We went to Barbie and Kenland, and then to a night bar, and the five of us danced like crazy and had a great time. The boy roomies left earlier than we did, and after the night bar, we re-located, free of charge, to the prison night box. We didn't stay too long, but it was fun to see, and to show RtC.
Best part: The boy roomies want to hang with us today. We're leaving in half an hour to go to Mont Saint-Michel and Saint-Malo! I'ma go swimming in the ocean again.
I have to make sammys for our trip, but wanted to quickly nerd blog before what will be an exciting day and birthday for Cynthia.
Love to Canada.
Hincks.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Chapter 31: Do Not Pass Go
nerd blog post #34
After a great snooze last night, Cynthia and I made delicious crab and shrimp sammys and had them with wine. Then we got fancy and made our way to Merrill's place. From there, the three of us and Marianne (American lecteur) went to O'Connells to meet the American exchange students I had met on Monday. Most notable is Gabe: a rugby playing, opera performer who I'm trying to set up with Cynthia. What a dreamboat. He had fasted that day (shout-out Schac) and wasn't around too long, but we got digits.
I saw a friend, Axel, there. Axel is from Mauritius (home of the dodo!) and came here at 18 to study. Mauritius is an island in the Indian ocean that has been colonized by both France and England, and he speaks the two fluently. I met him there a couple of weeks ago, and as he works and studies at the university, we've combined forces a little bit for the Monday Happy Night. He does some party planning in Rennes, and invited us to go with him to Delicatessen (Delicat, for the cool kids). Delicat is a night box that usually costs about $20 cover (obvi would never pay) so we jumped at the chance to join his crew. En route, I bumped into eight first-year students who turned on their heels to join us. Bypassing the line like rockstars, we went in. The Delicat is an underground club (by underground, I mean it is literally under the ground) that was an old prison. I went there before, in my first week here. I can't really explain how cool this place is. It's like a cave, but they've put shards of mirror all over the place. They have awesome lights on the dance floor and play stellar music. (Stellar for me, Westview House would cringe..) Axel introduced me to the owner, and several of the bartenders, and now we're all best friends since I enjoyed free drinks.
Best part: I talked to the owner about Cynthia's birthday on Saturday, and asked if we could go. He gave me his pager number (1999 called. They want their technology back) and said to let him know how many people and we could bypass the line.
And so, DC, thanks for asking the plans for Cynthia's birthday (12 points). They are as follows:
Tomorrow morning, Raffi the Clown (RtC) rolls into town and we'll check out the market. It's been two weeks since my last market day and I miss it. In the afternoon, we're taking a bus (I still need to work that out) to Mont Saint-Michel. M S-M is a coastal town on a tidal island, meaning that it is only accessible by foot part of the time. On top of a huge rocky hill is a beautiful abbey, dating back hundreds and hundreds of years. The geography and architecture make it famous and touristy. It's about fifty km from here. Cynthia and I have been itching to go, and I think it's a cool thing to do on a birthday week-end.
Back in Rennes, we will snooze, and then we're having people over around 10pm. At first, I thought it would be a small jam, because we don't know that many people here. But then I realized that I don't really like small jams, and started invited lots of peeps. Our roommates will come, as well as Axel and gang, Gabe (love is in the air!), the other lecteurs, and some other random people we have met along the way. We'll head to Delicat latron to dance.
This morning I got up early (she teaches all day) and the cake is in the oven. I tried to find balloons, but couldn't. French peeps don't seem to care about decorations that much. What a shame.. On Sunday, which is her actual birthday, we'll probably be tired, and so a low-key, but delicious breakie feast is in order.
When she gets home, we're going with Alexandre (roomie) to a grocery store out of town that is supposed to be big and good. One of the British lecteurs invited us to her new place where some Italians are throwing a housewarming party.. I might go, but also might stay in. I'm a bit tired and RtC gets here kind of early, so I might rest up.
Also of note, is that the fish had babies. There are eight little neon babies and they are so small and cute. We now have almost fifty fish. We also have two more gerbils, bringing the number up to five. Andorra has been away all week, but gets back tonight. Thank goodness..
Some of you, especially friends who have had the great pleasure of having sleepy ovaries with me, know that I dream like a kid. I remember dreams every night, and often more than one. I have refrained from making the nerd blog a dream diary (lame) but last night's was interesting. Yesterday was Doctor's birthday and last night I had a dream that I was throwing him a party and no one showed up. In the dream, I checked f-book and there was an invite from one of his new friends to a party, and everyone had gone to that one instead. I woke up feeling sad that I wasn't going to be there for friends birthdays this year, and realized how much I'd miss planning parties.. There are some big ones coming up this month, and Doc's yesterday, and being here makes me feel really helpless. Raffi the Dad also celebrates a big one in February... So if any of you want some transatlantic birthday party help, I will be more than willing, and will also award you 40 points for inclusion.
Also, thanks to those who supported my desire to celebrate Thanksgiving instead of, or as well as, the birthday. I don't know if even a giant turkey shared with French and American friends would come close to a sweltering dindins at 99 Kimberley. I'll be thankful sans bird this year. Plus, I don't think a feast of that nature is in the budget this week-end. But think of me as you eat sweet potatoes - I love those.
Enjoy the last day of work/school before the long week-end!
Signing off,
Hincks.
After a great snooze last night, Cynthia and I made delicious crab and shrimp sammys and had them with wine. Then we got fancy and made our way to Merrill's place. From there, the three of us and Marianne (American lecteur) went to O'Connells to meet the American exchange students I had met on Monday. Most notable is Gabe: a rugby playing, opera performer who I'm trying to set up with Cynthia. What a dreamboat. He had fasted that day (shout-out Schac) and wasn't around too long, but we got digits.
I saw a friend, Axel, there. Axel is from Mauritius (home of the dodo!) and came here at 18 to study. Mauritius is an island in the Indian ocean that has been colonized by both France and England, and he speaks the two fluently. I met him there a couple of weeks ago, and as he works and studies at the university, we've combined forces a little bit for the Monday Happy Night. He does some party planning in Rennes, and invited us to go with him to Delicatessen (Delicat, for the cool kids). Delicat is a night box that usually costs about $20 cover (obvi would never pay) so we jumped at the chance to join his crew. En route, I bumped into eight first-year students who turned on their heels to join us. Bypassing the line like rockstars, we went in. The Delicat is an underground club (by underground, I mean it is literally under the ground) that was an old prison. I went there before, in my first week here. I can't really explain how cool this place is. It's like a cave, but they've put shards of mirror all over the place. They have awesome lights on the dance floor and play stellar music. (Stellar for me, Westview House would cringe..) Axel introduced me to the owner, and several of the bartenders, and now we're all best friends since I enjoyed free drinks.
Best part: I talked to the owner about Cynthia's birthday on Saturday, and asked if we could go. He gave me his pager number (1999 called. They want their technology back) and said to let him know how many people and we could bypass the line.
And so, DC, thanks for asking the plans for Cynthia's birthday (12 points). They are as follows:
Tomorrow morning, Raffi the Clown (RtC) rolls into town and we'll check out the market. It's been two weeks since my last market day and I miss it. In the afternoon, we're taking a bus (I still need to work that out) to Mont Saint-Michel. M S-M is a coastal town on a tidal island, meaning that it is only accessible by foot part of the time. On top of a huge rocky hill is a beautiful abbey, dating back hundreds and hundreds of years. The geography and architecture make it famous and touristy. It's about fifty km from here. Cynthia and I have been itching to go, and I think it's a cool thing to do on a birthday week-end.
Back in Rennes, we will snooze, and then we're having people over around 10pm. At first, I thought it would be a small jam, because we don't know that many people here. But then I realized that I don't really like small jams, and started invited lots of peeps. Our roommates will come, as well as Axel and gang, Gabe (love is in the air!), the other lecteurs, and some other random people we have met along the way. We'll head to Delicat latron to dance.
This morning I got up early (she teaches all day) and the cake is in the oven. I tried to find balloons, but couldn't. French peeps don't seem to care about decorations that much. What a shame.. On Sunday, which is her actual birthday, we'll probably be tired, and so a low-key, but delicious breakie feast is in order.
When she gets home, we're going with Alexandre (roomie) to a grocery store out of town that is supposed to be big and good. One of the British lecteurs invited us to her new place where some Italians are throwing a housewarming party.. I might go, but also might stay in. I'm a bit tired and RtC gets here kind of early, so I might rest up.
Also of note, is that the fish had babies. There are eight little neon babies and they are so small and cute. We now have almost fifty fish. We also have two more gerbils, bringing the number up to five. Andorra has been away all week, but gets back tonight. Thank goodness..
Some of you, especially friends who have had the great pleasure of having sleepy ovaries with me, know that I dream like a kid. I remember dreams every night, and often more than one. I have refrained from making the nerd blog a dream diary (lame) but last night's was interesting. Yesterday was Doctor's birthday and last night I had a dream that I was throwing him a party and no one showed up. In the dream, I checked f-book and there was an invite from one of his new friends to a party, and everyone had gone to that one instead. I woke up feeling sad that I wasn't going to be there for friends birthdays this year, and realized how much I'd miss planning parties.. There are some big ones coming up this month, and Doc's yesterday, and being here makes me feel really helpless. Raffi the Dad also celebrates a big one in February... So if any of you want some transatlantic birthday party help, I will be more than willing, and will also award you 40 points for inclusion.
Also, thanks to those who supported my desire to celebrate Thanksgiving instead of, or as well as, the birthday. I don't know if even a giant turkey shared with French and American friends would come close to a sweltering dindins at 99 Kimberley. I'll be thankful sans bird this year. Plus, I don't think a feast of that nature is in the budget this week-end. But think of me as you eat sweet potatoes - I love those.
Enjoy the last day of work/school before the long week-end!
Signing off,
Hincks.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Chapter 30: Brokeback Mountain Bike
nerd blog post #33
Yesterday, Cynthia and I did ride our bikes to that giant and cheap land. We did not buy spices, though. I forget why. The bike ride was a good one. We live just South of the downtown core (though everything is walking distance) and this giant land was South of us. It was about a 25 minute ride, and is almost out of Rennes. It was cool to see that part of the city. This land was like Walmart - it sold everything and had isles wide enough for two cars. I didn't like it very much, but it was cheap. All we bought were peanuts and some bread. On the ride home, Le Super didn't feel very super at all... It felt weird..
We made delicious salads with all the fixins.
This morning I got up early to go check out Le Super and see what was up. The tires were deflated (I pumped them yesterday with my new pump) and when I rode, the back tire seemed to slide out. I didn't feel safe on it at all, and decided to take the metro. Bad bike, Bernard! I'm upset about Le Super. But I e-mailed Bernard and told him I want to give it back, and then began the search for a new bike.
side note: When buying my pump, I told the helper man at the store that I needed a 'ronfleur' for my bike. He didn't seem to understand. "A ronfleur," I repeated. The tires are deflated, and I need to blow them up. "Ohhh! Un gonfleur!" A ronfleur is a snorer. Oopsies!
During my office hour today, I started working on my German homework for Monday, and realized that it's too hard... I just don't have the basics to keep up. So I dropped out.
Juuust kidding. Instead, I went to Emanuelle at the bookstore and asked him for the Baby Class workbook. I refuse to go to Baby Class, but will start at the beginning and do the exercises there, and I think that will be an asset to my real class. If I get stuck, Hossoen has agreed to help me. He spent time in Germany. Returning to campus with my Baby Class workbook, I started that homework. I did the first four weeks of the work this afternoon, and when I looked at my Grown Up homework, it seemed more doable. Hinckster is not going to Baby Class.
I'ma take a snooze now, until dindins. We're having shrimp sammys. A fave. I met some Americans on Monday who are on exchange here from a university in New York State. They invited me out tonight and I'll go with Cynthia and Merrill. They always go to the same place, though, and we love to dance on Thursdays, so will promptly ditch them at 1am when the night bars open. Then we'll shake what our mothers gave us. Right, Mama?
I'm thinking a lot about Thanksgiving this week, and how much I wish I could be home this week-end. I think this will hit me harder than Christmas, as I said before that it's my favourite holiday. There has only been one other Thanksgiving that I wasn't home, which was when I was in a show in third year. But it ended up being amazing because the cast and crew cooked up a storm and Deeks and I had a wonderful bonding week-end! My favourite memory of that week-end is when she and I forced everyone around the table to, one by one, announce what they were thankful for. That is a game that few enjoyed. We thought it was hilarious. Here, no one is even Canadian to miss it with me, and all of my friends are so new.. I had planned to cook a turkey, but Sunday is Cynthia's birthday, and I think I should try and place more importance on that, than on a faraway country's harvest time!
Okay, folks. Snooze time.
Signing off,
Hincks.
Yesterday, Cynthia and I did ride our bikes to that giant and cheap land. We did not buy spices, though. I forget why. The bike ride was a good one. We live just South of the downtown core (though everything is walking distance) and this giant land was South of us. It was about a 25 minute ride, and is almost out of Rennes. It was cool to see that part of the city. This land was like Walmart - it sold everything and had isles wide enough for two cars. I didn't like it very much, but it was cheap. All we bought were peanuts and some bread. On the ride home, Le Super didn't feel very super at all... It felt weird..
We made delicious salads with all the fixins.
This morning I got up early to go check out Le Super and see what was up. The tires were deflated (I pumped them yesterday with my new pump) and when I rode, the back tire seemed to slide out. I didn't feel safe on it at all, and decided to take the metro. Bad bike, Bernard! I'm upset about Le Super. But I e-mailed Bernard and told him I want to give it back, and then began the search for a new bike.
side note: When buying my pump, I told the helper man at the store that I needed a 'ronfleur' for my bike. He didn't seem to understand. "A ronfleur," I repeated. The tires are deflated, and I need to blow them up. "Ohhh! Un gonfleur!" A ronfleur is a snorer. Oopsies!
During my office hour today, I started working on my German homework for Monday, and realized that it's too hard... I just don't have the basics to keep up. So I dropped out.
Juuust kidding. Instead, I went to Emanuelle at the bookstore and asked him for the Baby Class workbook. I refuse to go to Baby Class, but will start at the beginning and do the exercises there, and I think that will be an asset to my real class. If I get stuck, Hossoen has agreed to help me. He spent time in Germany. Returning to campus with my Baby Class workbook, I started that homework. I did the first four weeks of the work this afternoon, and when I looked at my Grown Up homework, it seemed more doable. Hinckster is not going to Baby Class.
I'ma take a snooze now, until dindins. We're having shrimp sammys. A fave. I met some Americans on Monday who are on exchange here from a university in New York State. They invited me out tonight and I'll go with Cynthia and Merrill. They always go to the same place, though, and we love to dance on Thursdays, so will promptly ditch them at 1am when the night bars open. Then we'll shake what our mothers gave us. Right, Mama?
I'm thinking a lot about Thanksgiving this week, and how much I wish I could be home this week-end. I think this will hit me harder than Christmas, as I said before that it's my favourite holiday. There has only been one other Thanksgiving that I wasn't home, which was when I was in a show in third year. But it ended up being amazing because the cast and crew cooked up a storm and Deeks and I had a wonderful bonding week-end! My favourite memory of that week-end is when she and I forced everyone around the table to, one by one, announce what they were thankful for. That is a game that few enjoyed. We thought it was hilarious. Here, no one is even Canadian to miss it with me, and all of my friends are so new.. I had planned to cook a turkey, but Sunday is Cynthia's birthday, and I think I should try and place more importance on that, than on a faraway country's harvest time!
Okay, folks. Snooze time.
Signing off,
Hincks.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Chapter 29: The Happiest Hour
nerd blog post #32
German was okay. I'm learning more every class, and it's really good for my French. After class, this guy who sits in the back came up to me and told me that he'd heard I was from Toronto, and said he lives with a girl from Toronto! She goes to university in the States and is here on exchange. I was pumped. I haven't met any Canadians in Rennes at all, and gave him my contact info to pass along. She added me to facebook, and I saw that we have one friend in common. I looked, and it was this teen I took my CPR course with in the Spring! Small world.. Anyways, she graduated from high school (Havergal) when I graduated from my undergrad, so is quite a bit younger. But I like young peeps, and look forward to meeting her.
I was really tired in the evening, and did not feel much like going to the Irish Pub. But I rallied back for the students, and made my way to O'Connells. I was so happy with the turn out! There must have been close to 50 students there, all mingling and talking in English (sometimes..) and meeting each other. The manager, Owen, who's my buddy now, gave me a stamp and said that anyone in the group could enjoy Happy Hour (1/2 price pints) for the whole night. Normally it ends at 10pm. Stamping hands is really fun. I have about thirty first-year students in all, and almost half of them came out. It was such a hit that we decided to do it every Monday, and Owen said we can have half the bar to ourselves, and get the Happy Night every week. Best part was that I got free beer all night! What a deal. I had one of the classes today, and they were all buzzing about it. I think it will only continue to get bigger. Because of how much fun it was, I'm thinking about talking to Owen about doing one for 2nd and 3rd year students on Wednesdays.. It was nice to socialize with my students outside of the classroom, and in a social setting, their English is more relaxed. I think it's a way better environment to learn in.
The best part of the night (possibly better than free beer) was meeting one of my student's bfs, who's deaf. I have a deaf cousin and know American Sign Language, though it's pretty rusty now.. My cousin was born in Papua New Guinea, and there, the language for the deaf (and her first language) is called Cued Speech, which focuses more on phonetics, as opposed to ASL's visual representations of words. Anyways, I guess I thought that ASL would be the same in France, just maybe with different word placement. But actually, it's completely different! The word for Canada is even different. Here, it refers to suspenders, because of the stereotype of lumberjacks. (Nice.) In Canada, the sign refers to wearing a coat, because of the cold. Even the alphabet is slightly different.. It was really cool chatting (silently!) with him and exploring the differences of the languages. He said it's very hard for deaf people in France, and that he has always wanted to move to Canada because he has heard that they're treated as equals. I don't know much about that at all.. He gave me the number for a centre for the hearing impaired here in Rennes, and I'm thinking about going and seeing if I can volunteer there or something.. I'm still searching for a L'Arche-type activity to fill that crazy passion Quebec gave me all those years ago..
Yesterday I had big plans to get a bike pump, but instead stayed in almost all day, doing not much at all! I talked to some people online (points to you) and wrote my grandparents, and did laundry.. I also started planning my week off trip with Cynthia, which was really exciting! I don't want to post the plans yet, because they may change, but we'll be booking stuff this week.
We had Merrill and Marianne (the American lecteurs who have cooked for us) over for dindins. We made a delicious Mexican feast of flautas (kind of like taquitos, but better than the Sevs sells), with homemade salsa and guac, and this delicious sour-cream rice. Cynthia is the pro chef, and I'm the little helper. I like cutting garlic. I have realized, living with her, that Mexican food is not a genre I have ever eaten much.. Aside from Taco Bell at the mall at age 12 (shout-out SJC), I haven't had much experience with it at all. The way she makes it is unbelievable - spicy and flavourful.. I love it.
Last night was the Quiz Night for NESS (that English club). Again, I felt like chilling, but had told students I'd go. So I went. Luckily, not many of them were there, so I was able to just say hello and not stay too long. It's very hot there, and I got too stuffy. My dad and I have the same problem of overheating.. It's horrible. I'll think of him this week-end - Thanksgiving around the Hincks table is always far too stuffy. And we always have an old person there who's cold so my dad and I suffer with the windows shut.. Blast. Anyways, I didn't stick around long.. But I was there long enough for the president of NESS (a student) to tell me that they have lot's of people interested in the theatre group I mentioned awhile ago.. Anyways, that will be one night a week, and I'll lead it. I think it will be fun.
Today, I taught two classes in the morning and then went to get a bike pump. My mom asked yesterday if I still saw my first friends, Pascal and Hossoen. I do. Hossoen more than Pascal, because he's closer to here and we're better friends. I saw Hossoen today, and we sat outside and chatted for an hour. He wants me to meet the rest of his family and have dinner at his place. He also thinks that the private university where his wife teaches is looking to hire a prof, and she'd like to talk to me about that. So that could be good, too. Though I am feeling quite busy, there's still a bunch of down time, and I'm happy to have it fill up!
This afternoon, Cynthia and I are riding our bikes to Carrefour, a giant and cheap department store. We need spices to make zucchini bread. Obvi not my idea, but she found a recipe online and I'm happy to help make it.
This week-end will be great. It's Cynthia's birthday on Sunday and Raffi the Clown is coming to check out Rennes. I'm looking forward to it.
For 75 points:
Is there an expression in English that describes how a child looks like their parent? I know we have the apple not falling far from the tree one, but that's more personality. Is there one that deals just with the physical appearance? Ponder as you wander..
With love,
Hincks.
German was okay. I'm learning more every class, and it's really good for my French. After class, this guy who sits in the back came up to me and told me that he'd heard I was from Toronto, and said he lives with a girl from Toronto! She goes to university in the States and is here on exchange. I was pumped. I haven't met any Canadians in Rennes at all, and gave him my contact info to pass along. She added me to facebook, and I saw that we have one friend in common. I looked, and it was this teen I took my CPR course with in the Spring! Small world.. Anyways, she graduated from high school (Havergal) when I graduated from my undergrad, so is quite a bit younger. But I like young peeps, and look forward to meeting her.
I was really tired in the evening, and did not feel much like going to the Irish Pub. But I rallied back for the students, and made my way to O'Connells. I was so happy with the turn out! There must have been close to 50 students there, all mingling and talking in English (sometimes..) and meeting each other. The manager, Owen, who's my buddy now, gave me a stamp and said that anyone in the group could enjoy Happy Hour (1/2 price pints) for the whole night. Normally it ends at 10pm. Stamping hands is really fun. I have about thirty first-year students in all, and almost half of them came out. It was such a hit that we decided to do it every Monday, and Owen said we can have half the bar to ourselves, and get the Happy Night every week. Best part was that I got free beer all night! What a deal. I had one of the classes today, and they were all buzzing about it. I think it will only continue to get bigger. Because of how much fun it was, I'm thinking about talking to Owen about doing one for 2nd and 3rd year students on Wednesdays.. It was nice to socialize with my students outside of the classroom, and in a social setting, their English is more relaxed. I think it's a way better environment to learn in.
The best part of the night (possibly better than free beer) was meeting one of my student's bfs, who's deaf. I have a deaf cousin and know American Sign Language, though it's pretty rusty now.. My cousin was born in Papua New Guinea, and there, the language for the deaf (and her first language) is called Cued Speech, which focuses more on phonetics, as opposed to ASL's visual representations of words. Anyways, I guess I thought that ASL would be the same in France, just maybe with different word placement. But actually, it's completely different! The word for Canada is even different. Here, it refers to suspenders, because of the stereotype of lumberjacks. (Nice.) In Canada, the sign refers to wearing a coat, because of the cold. Even the alphabet is slightly different.. It was really cool chatting (silently!) with him and exploring the differences of the languages. He said it's very hard for deaf people in France, and that he has always wanted to move to Canada because he has heard that they're treated as equals. I don't know much about that at all.. He gave me the number for a centre for the hearing impaired here in Rennes, and I'm thinking about going and seeing if I can volunteer there or something.. I'm still searching for a L'Arche-type activity to fill that crazy passion Quebec gave me all those years ago..
Yesterday I had big plans to get a bike pump, but instead stayed in almost all day, doing not much at all! I talked to some people online (points to you) and wrote my grandparents, and did laundry.. I also started planning my week off trip with Cynthia, which was really exciting! I don't want to post the plans yet, because they may change, but we'll be booking stuff this week.
We had Merrill and Marianne (the American lecteurs who have cooked for us) over for dindins. We made a delicious Mexican feast of flautas (kind of like taquitos, but better than the Sevs sells), with homemade salsa and guac, and this delicious sour-cream rice. Cynthia is the pro chef, and I'm the little helper. I like cutting garlic. I have realized, living with her, that Mexican food is not a genre I have ever eaten much.. Aside from Taco Bell at the mall at age 12 (shout-out SJC), I haven't had much experience with it at all. The way she makes it is unbelievable - spicy and flavourful.. I love it.
Last night was the Quiz Night for NESS (that English club). Again, I felt like chilling, but had told students I'd go. So I went. Luckily, not many of them were there, so I was able to just say hello and not stay too long. It's very hot there, and I got too stuffy. My dad and I have the same problem of overheating.. It's horrible. I'll think of him this week-end - Thanksgiving around the Hincks table is always far too stuffy. And we always have an old person there who's cold so my dad and I suffer with the windows shut.. Blast. Anyways, I didn't stick around long.. But I was there long enough for the president of NESS (a student) to tell me that they have lot's of people interested in the theatre group I mentioned awhile ago.. Anyways, that will be one night a week, and I'll lead it. I think it will be fun.
Today, I taught two classes in the morning and then went to get a bike pump. My mom asked yesterday if I still saw my first friends, Pascal and Hossoen. I do. Hossoen more than Pascal, because he's closer to here and we're better friends. I saw Hossoen today, and we sat outside and chatted for an hour. He wants me to meet the rest of his family and have dinner at his place. He also thinks that the private university where his wife teaches is looking to hire a prof, and she'd like to talk to me about that. So that could be good, too. Though I am feeling quite busy, there's still a bunch of down time, and I'm happy to have it fill up!
This afternoon, Cynthia and I are riding our bikes to Carrefour, a giant and cheap department store. We need spices to make zucchini bread. Obvi not my idea, but she found a recipe online and I'm happy to help make it.
This week-end will be great. It's Cynthia's birthday on Sunday and Raffi the Clown is coming to check out Rennes. I'm looking forward to it.
For 75 points:
Is there an expression in English that describes how a child looks like their parent? I know we have the apple not falling far from the tree one, but that's more personality. Is there one that deals just with the physical appearance? Ponder as you wander..
With love,
Hincks.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
PARISIAN PREVIDENCE.
obv this is not a chapter.
Just a little proof and evidence of my week-end trip. Enjoy.
ahem.
Just a little proof and evidence of my week-end trip. Enjoy.
ahem.
A Photo Essay
by Emily Hyland Hincks
by Emily Hyland Hincks
Part I: A Toast to the Hoast with the Moast
Part of Viktor's land.
The JDUC (student building) of Viktor's land.
Viktor's clown skool.
Viktor's clown friends. So silly!
Enjoying wine by the Eiffel Tower.
Part II: The Sights
I still dig boats.
I called it the CN Tower all week-end by accident...
TO4Life.
Encore.
The Louvre.
Cynthia and I (and a thousand others) at Notre Dame.
Part III: Oh, Thaaaat's Why!
This is artsy because my flash is off so the lights are blurry.
This is artsy because it's taken from inside the metro.
This is artsy because of the archway.
This is artsy because he's a stranger, the ads
are B&W, and I'm on a moving sidewalk.
The End.
Part of Viktor's land.
The JDUC (student building) of Viktor's land.
Viktor's clown skool.
Viktor's clown friends. So silly!
Enjoying wine by the Eiffel Tower.Part II: The Sights
I still dig boats.
I called it the CN Tower all week-end by accident...TO4Life.
Encore.
The Louvre.
Cynthia and I (and a thousand others) at Notre Dame.Part III: Oh, Thaaaat's Why!
This is artsy because my flash is off so the lights are blurry.
This is artsy because it's taken from inside the metro.
This is artsy because of the archway.
This is artsy because he's a stranger, the adsare B&W, and I'm on a moving sidewalk.
The End.
Being in Paris made me very excited about visitors.. Save your pennies, polish your party shoes, and get over here!
25 points to anyone who comments on how artsy my artsy photos are. Hope you're all keeping good tally.. The race is tight for a Klondike bar upon my return! The top 10 subscribers are only apart by 3 points each.. Wowsers.
Love to Canada,
Hincks.
25 points to anyone who comments on how artsy my artsy photos are. Hope you're all keeping good tally.. The race is tight for a Klondike bar upon my return! The top 10 subscribers are only apart by 3 points each.. Wowsers.
Love to Canada,
Hincks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)