Paris Vlog Part 3

Here is part 3 of my Paris vlog. Sorry for the time it took to upload it, it has been a busy week.




If you can't view the above video you can watch it at this link: http://youtu.be/TX2nXbZlKCk 

My year in Moulins

So my year in Moulins is almost over. Tomorrow I'm going to London for the weekend, and next Thursday I will be on a plane back home.  Monday was my last day of work, and it feels a little surreal to be all done.

I have learned a lot this year. I have learned about how to be a teacher, about making lesson plans, and teaching a class. About not following the lesson plan because it turns out your students just aren't quite at that level yet.  I've learned a lot of French and some German. I've learned about what church life is like in France. I've learned that I'm Enochlophobic (fear of crowds), and that it effects my life a lot more than I give it credit for.

I've also had a lot of fun and made a lot of friends. I've been to Austria, German, Barcelona, Italy, Nice, Toulouse (just a few short weeks before the tragedy), Paris and soon London. I've made friends with people from Ireland, Nothern Ireland, England, Germany, Uruguay, Argentina, United States and Canada. I've had international potlucks and random shopping trips with friends. I've gone to French movies and listened to crazy french youtube videos.

I've connected with french Christians, and have heard their stories (many of them were first generation Christians!). God has taught me a lot and I feel as if my brain has been totally re-wired. I believe I'm a better Debbie than when I left Canada, and that's a good thing.

This has been an amazing year. One that I'll never forget. Although I wish I had had more money (I "lost" half of my paycheck every month to pay off student loans, and the other half had to pay for things like rent and food) to travel more, or do more in the places I travelled to, I just stop and think about how lucky I am to even have the chance to be in these places, to be anywhere near these sights.

Europe is beautiful, and I'll miss it. But I'm so excited to return to Canada. To once again have real garlic fingers and normal tasting skittles. To bite the head of goldfishes without having people ask me why I'd do that. I've realized I'm not such a fan of living in cities (probably due to my fear of crowds) and that the places I like most in the cities are the parks. Some of them have such beautiful parks.

So as I say goodbye to my year here in Moulins, and hello to life back in Canada, I want to thank everyone who has been so supportive of me. Who has prayed for me and encouraged me. I miss you all and can't wait to meet up again sometime.

Lots of love,

Debbie

P.S I will upload the last Paris vlog when I get back from London. And I'll upload the London vlogs too. Promise!

P.P.S I'm going to go to Urbana 12! I'm hoping to keep a blog up about that, so keep your eyes peeled!

Paris Part 2

So here is my second vlog for my Paris trip. It's the second half of day 2!




If you can't see the above video you can watch it here: http://youtu.be/7_YoteDsYnk

The third and final part will be uploaded soon!

Paris!

I had two weeks off for Easter, so I spent two days in Paris! I went alone, and it was my first solo trip. I rather enjoyed it, especially since I didn't have to accommodate anyone. I could do what I want, when I wanted. However I also didn't have someone drag me to see something that didn't interest me at first, but I turned out to love. So I might have missed out on some fun stuff. Oh well.  Enjoy Part 1. (There will be three parts).




If you can't see the embedded video, you can also view it at this link: http://youtu.be/JcS99lfqk28

If you would like to see more pictures just check out my facebook page. They should be there soon!

Moulins Tour Part II

Here is the second part of my Moulins tour, the sights! However there isn't actually that many sights. A couple of museums, which are often closed, and two cathedrals. So I'll show you around old Moulins and you can see one of the Cathedrals! Enjoy!




If you can't see the above video you can watch it here: http://youtu.be/z_fGINv_RcY


Also I didn't include this story in the video:

The Jacquemart family lives in the Jacquemart bell tower. Every fifteen minutes the family rings the bells. The kids ring it on 15 min and 45 min and the parents ring it on the hour and at half past the hour. They're not a real family, but rather a family of statues ... that move. I was told this story my first day here, while I was still really jet-legged, and I was told it in French. I was confused for a short while, wondering why the family lives in the tower, and how the kids feel about having to ring the bell so often, and what happens if they're late. Then I realized that it wasn't a real family.

Moulins Tour

Hey!

Gasp! Another update?  That's what happen when you are on holidays with no money.  This week I've decided to do a vlog.  So awesome! (That's video log for those who don't know).  So here it is!



For those who can't see the above video you can watch it at this link: http://youtu.be/mzkuxwQXuuE

Snow Days!

So it snowed in Moulins. However, when I say Snow Days, I don't mean days off of school. We had 2 days where it snowed. One day more than the other, neither day did the snow last for very long. The first snowfall lasted until the next night, and the second lasted until morning. But snow!!!  I have been told that there was a lot more snow last winter, but this winter ...

Yzeure Centre-ville

This is a picture taken in Yzeure, which is where I teach. The building in the background is actually the Lycée (High School). My school is off to the right of the photo and behind the stores. It's a lovely school really, but there is no where for the snow to stick because there is no grass, so you get a photo of town square.
One thing about this snow day was that I had been sick all weekend, and the whole day before, and I wasn't looking forward to going to school (I had a full, 9 - 5, day) and I woke up to snow. Instant mood brightener.

This picture has a story behind it. Back in 2009 when I went to Urbana, I ended up being stuck in Chicago due to weather problems. So I met up with two sisters from California and a girl from Malaysia and we took the subway to the train station and hoped a midnight bus to St. Louis. It was great, but it was snowing. The girls found it so cold! I didn't at all, I had just come from Canada. So I wrote <3 CANADA <3 along one of the government buildings on the way to the train station.

I felt like I just had to continue the tradition in France, so I did. This is the gate leading out of my apartment.

The second snow fall didn't amount to much. But a second day where it snowed?? I had to get a picture, so here are a bunch of snowflakes on my arm. :)

And this is the courtyard as seen from my window. Those gates are the very same ones from the picture above! Gasp!  I had written CANADA on the portion on the left side of the picture.

Christmas in Barcelona

So way back in December I went to Barcelona!  It was a great trip. I went with my new friend Kerry who was studying in Lyons on exchange from Waterloo. We had gone to Austria together in October and had a great time.









Spending Christmas in Barcelona was quite different than in Canada.  First of all it was around 20 degrees  the whole time we were there, and there were palm trees everywhere. I would say there was no snow, but honestly I haven't really had snow on Christmas day since I moved to Shelburne, so that wasn't so different.

The hostel we stayed in were great. We met some nice people, and they had a Christmas eve dinner for everyone.

We went to Guell Park, and saw Gaudi's other buildings (though didn't go in, things were a little pricey). Most of the trip, however, was spent shopping.  They had so many little shops selling things quite cheaply, and it was a lot of fun to just look around them and wander in the sun eating ice cream.

Guell Park's Lizar

A Griffin at Gaudi's Fountain
(Not Guell Park)

Christmas day we went to the beach and stopped for lunch in an Irish Pub (we are so international). I wished I had brought my bathing suit. Everyone told me it would be under 10 degrees there at Christmas, and I wouldn't be able to go swimming. But the water was definitely warm enough for me to go swimming, and I would have. Although I would have been the only one in the water. Although later in the day we saw some surfers.

Christmas night we went to see the Font Magica (Magic Fountain) and it was awesome! We went with our new friend Mrinelini. She was staying with us at the hostel, traveling abroad from India.  It was a lot of fun.

Sorry that I'm just posting about it now, but I had posted it, and the post was lost in cyberspace, and I hadn't been able to get a post to stick since. Until the last post. So now that I'm on Easter Vacation I'm finally getting around to posting it back up. Had to rewrite it though. :(

Testing...

Hey!

I have no clue if this will post or not.  The reason my blog hasn't been updated is because the blogs I've posted haven't posted. So I've written them, they just got lost in cyberspace somewhere.  If this works I'll try to repost my Spain entry soon. :)

Cheers!