Today I got out of bed past 11 o'clock!
Ambre and her mom and I went to Bayeux, a town about half an hour away. It seems to be fairly developped for tourists. It has a huge cathedral and the architecture is mostly different than in Edmonton.
There's a famous tapestry in Bayeux - called the Bayeux Tapestry - and a small museum accompanies it. The tapestry itself is about 70 metres long and tells he story of William the Conqueror. Basically this king dies, battles happen, and William eventually becomes the ruler of England in about the year 1070. The tapestry was well-made and also tells of medieval life, and even references Aesop's fables, which were well-known at the time. The museum part talks about William, medieval stuff and the tapestry thoughout the last millenium. There was a 16 minute film as well. The gift shop seemed pretty good but I didn't buy anything. I also learned that the french version of William is Guillaume.
The town of Bayeux is pretty nice. It has cobblestone streets and a bit of greenery too. There were statues or ornamentation on many buildings. I saw one of those waterwheel things, which was charming.
I watched the film about the tapestry in English and the narrator's english accent was a bit unusual for me. There was this other family there speaking english, but they had an accent I didn't recognise. I wondered if my north amercian accent would have sounded weird ot them.
It seems that in the streets here, pedestrians and vehicles intertwine more. I think it would take some getting used to if I was driving. Maybe it's also because the older streets are narrower, and the street versus the sidewalk isn't as defined. This doesn't all apply to main roads in cities as much though.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Weekend and commentary
Just to document this past weekend: It Ambre's mom's friend's birthday. There was a little get-together with the lady's family and friends, kids and adults. We went bowling and my score was about 26! But you only got two balls and in Canada I seem to usually get three... maybe that's in five pin. Then we played laser tag. It was pretty cold - I don't know if the laser tag building - it was more like an add-on and not a permanent building - was insolated. I felt a bit like I was in a war scene, and I didn't feel like I had very good instincts for hiding and strategic positioning. It was fun, but 20 minutes at a time was enough. We were on two teams, and there were about sixteen people in total. Afterwards, everyone went to a separate room to eat. The food was mostly what we would consider hors d'hoeuvres in Canada. Afterwards, Ambre, two younger boys and I played laser tag again. Ambre's mom said that for parties in France, everyone brings something to eat. That must take some of the load off of the host or hostess.
Ambre and her mom go to the movie theatre more often than I do in Canada. They don't buy popcorn and pop every time though. In Canada I see maybe five movies a year. In a week and a half in France, I have already seen two movies. I Love You Phillip Morris isn't great, but it's typical Jim Carrey. Sherlock Holmes is pretty good but sort of dark. In most movies here, the original dialogue has been "dubbed out" so the movie's in french, but in many cases the title isn't translated. Maybe it helps market a movie internationally if the title is the same everywhere.
Sometimes it seems like, compared to France, the food in Canada is either healthy or unhealthy, not as much in between. At least that's sort of my impression. In France, my experience has been that the two mix a bit more. For example, we eat a lot of yaourts, which are sort of between a yogurt and a pudding. I think they might be worse for me than I think, but they taste good so oh well. In Canada, I sometimes eat way too much candy, and here I don't have access to much, so when I get back I don't know if I'll eat more or less candy.
The Olympics are fun to watch. I mostly see taped stuff since Vancouver is 9 hours behind. I'm not sure if they'll show hockey or curling on TV here, since I don't think France has teams. If need be, I'll find somewhere to watch those games on the internet. I seem to be out of the "region" that can watch broadband video on CTV, but I'm sure there are other sites.
That's all for now!
Ambre and her mom go to the movie theatre more often than I do in Canada. They don't buy popcorn and pop every time though. In Canada I see maybe five movies a year. In a week and a half in France, I have already seen two movies. I Love You Phillip Morris isn't great, but it's typical Jim Carrey. Sherlock Holmes is pretty good but sort of dark. In most movies here, the original dialogue has been "dubbed out" so the movie's in french, but in many cases the title isn't translated. Maybe it helps market a movie internationally if the title is the same everywhere.
Sometimes it seems like, compared to France, the food in Canada is either healthy or unhealthy, not as much in between. At least that's sort of my impression. In France, my experience has been that the two mix a bit more. For example, we eat a lot of yaourts, which are sort of between a yogurt and a pudding. I think they might be worse for me than I think, but they taste good so oh well. In Canada, I sometimes eat way too much candy, and here I don't have access to much, so when I get back I don't know if I'll eat more or less candy.
The Olympics are fun to watch. I mostly see taped stuff since Vancouver is 9 hours behind. I'm not sure if they'll show hockey or curling on TV here, since I don't think France has teams. If need be, I'll find somewhere to watch those games on the internet. I seem to be out of the "region" that can watch broadband video on CTV, but I'm sure there are other sites.
That's all for now!
Friday, February 12, 2010
First impressions of french school
In France, students write their French diploma exam in grade 11, and it has a written and oral part, and perhaps other parts. The my class' french teacher was administering those exams all week, so we didn't have any french classes this week. My class is like in junior high in that, generally, the same kids go to all the same classes together, and our schedule is not the same every day. But the number of classes you have each day does change. For example, on Thursdays we have school until 5:30, but Fridays end at 3:30. The days are longer than in Canada but they don't feel that long to me, perhaps because the end time changes, but also because there aren't clocks everywhere. Also, there is are two 15 minute breaks in the day. The classes last an hour instead of an hour and a half, so they feel short. For my class, there aren't options other than languages, and you take 3. Everyone has to take English, and I'm taking German and Latin. There is Phys. Ed. once a week, for two hours on Friday afternoons. Compared to my schedule in Canada, this is the equivalent of me taking another language instead of band, this extra social studies course instead of religion, and another language on top of that. There are about 1.5 hours more of school per week, but more holidays than in Canada.
After everything about the French schools being really strict...they aren't so much. They do seem more exclusively academic in terms of courses, at least at this school. But the teachers seem less strict when it comes to security during exams. Kids talk in class as much as they do in Canada. Hovewer, my experience in Canada is: the kids talk, the teacher tells them to be quiet, they are quiet, then they are loud again. In France it seems like it's more of an ongoing, slightly less loud talk.
The self - or cafeteria- makes you scan a card and go through a twirly thing to get in. Then you can get an apetiser, up to three pieces of bread, a yaourt - sort of like yogurt but more tasty and probably less healthy than in Canada, and common at meals-, a main course, a dessert and a fruit. It's so good! The food in France has generally been really good! The first day at the self, the apetizer was a springroll and this indian pastry thing, and the main course had Indian chicken...the self is a bit more like a restaurant than a cafeteria, but it's still wholesome food that keeps you going.
I have met Ambre's friends. They are sometimes calm, but sometimes really social, energetic and playful. They're really nice. Sometimes they seem quite different than a lot of my Canadian friends, and sometimes it seems like we're all the same fundamentality, so it'll be interesting to see who I am friends with at the end of the exchange.
Ambre's parents both live in the suburbs but it takes them each 15 to get us to school. During spares, I'll be able to go into the town and do whatever. We also walk to the conservatory - that's the most highly reputed place to take music lessons, and the teachers play in the symphony orchestra. I'm in a choir on Wednesday afternoons, when school is let out early. It's a high school treble choir and I think they do mostly opera. There are about 20 people in it and at least some of them take voice. The conductor apparently lived in Alberta and he said he knew of my conductor in Edmonton...small world!
Yesterday it had snowed about 10 cm and the buses weren't running! While walking to the conservatory after school for Ambre's viola lesson, we stopped at a bakery and I got a croissant with almonds and icing sugar. It was SO good! I really like French food, even day-to-day. I sort of keep wondering if I could bring some home...
Today-Friday- we didn't go to school because of the snow. It was nice to have free time, although I sort of do everyday now. I don't have activities after school, except on Wednesdays in the fairly early afternoon. I think of supper as a reference point. In Canada, supper is at 6, so I have 2 hours beforehand and 4 hours after. In France supper is at 8, so it's 4 hours before and 2 hours after. Supper seems more calm here, but mostly because nobody is running off to activities. It's sort of nice to have supper at 8, but it's also nice to have a lot of time afterwards.
I just got back from visiting Ambre's relatives. I met Ambre's aunt and uncle, her other aunt, her other uncle, her gradma and her four cousins. "La bise" isn't as weird as I thought but I was a bit surprised when I got it from some of her relatives who I had just met. But in France a hug is considered a lot more intimate than "la bise". Ambre's mom's six siblings all live in Normandy, except one who lives in Brittany, so it's a lot easier to all get together than for my family!
After everything about the French schools being really strict...they aren't so much. They do seem more exclusively academic in terms of courses, at least at this school. But the teachers seem less strict when it comes to security during exams. Kids talk in class as much as they do in Canada. Hovewer, my experience in Canada is: the kids talk, the teacher tells them to be quiet, they are quiet, then they are loud again. In France it seems like it's more of an ongoing, slightly less loud talk.
The self - or cafeteria- makes you scan a card and go through a twirly thing to get in. Then you can get an apetiser, up to three pieces of bread, a yaourt - sort of like yogurt but more tasty and probably less healthy than in Canada, and common at meals-, a main course, a dessert and a fruit. It's so good! The food in France has generally been really good! The first day at the self, the apetizer was a springroll and this indian pastry thing, and the main course had Indian chicken...the self is a bit more like a restaurant than a cafeteria, but it's still wholesome food that keeps you going.
I have met Ambre's friends. They are sometimes calm, but sometimes really social, energetic and playful. They're really nice. Sometimes they seem quite different than a lot of my Canadian friends, and sometimes it seems like we're all the same fundamentality, so it'll be interesting to see who I am friends with at the end of the exchange.
Ambre's parents both live in the suburbs but it takes them each 15 to get us to school. During spares, I'll be able to go into the town and do whatever. We also walk to the conservatory - that's the most highly reputed place to take music lessons, and the teachers play in the symphony orchestra. I'm in a choir on Wednesday afternoons, when school is let out early. It's a high school treble choir and I think they do mostly opera. There are about 20 people in it and at least some of them take voice. The conductor apparently lived in Alberta and he said he knew of my conductor in Edmonton...small world!
Yesterday it had snowed about 10 cm and the buses weren't running! While walking to the conservatory after school for Ambre's viola lesson, we stopped at a bakery and I got a croissant with almonds and icing sugar. It was SO good! I really like French food, even day-to-day. I sort of keep wondering if I could bring some home...
Today-Friday- we didn't go to school because of the snow. It was nice to have free time, although I sort of do everyday now. I don't have activities after school, except on Wednesdays in the fairly early afternoon. I think of supper as a reference point. In Canada, supper is at 6, so I have 2 hours beforehand and 4 hours after. In France supper is at 8, so it's 4 hours before and 2 hours after. Supper seems more calm here, but mostly because nobody is running off to activities. It's sort of nice to have supper at 8, but it's also nice to have a lot of time afterwards.
I just got back from visiting Ambre's relatives. I met Ambre's aunt and uncle, her other aunt, her other uncle, her gradma and her four cousins. "La bise" isn't as weird as I thought but I was a bit surprised when I got it from some of her relatives who I had just met. But in France a hug is considered a lot more intimate than "la bise". Ambre's mom's six siblings all live in Normandy, except one who lives in Brittany, so it's a lot easier to all get together than for my family!
First impressions of french life
I got to Ambre's dad's house. It's in a suburb of Caen called St. Contest. There was a sign the said Place des canadiens. Her dad told me that there are a lot of streets named after military things, because of all the WWII stuff that happened there.
The house has quite a modern design compared to my parents', but it's about half open concept. One of the walls on the main floor is made up of windows. My room is blue with a sort of gabled window. Looking out, the scenery looks pretty european. The houses are kind of cute and there's this sort of half-decayed stone wall with moss on it in a neighbour's yard...it's pretty charming. The climat is more humid but not as much as I would have thought. When it rains it rains pretty lightly. I thought my skin might feel different, and it doesn't much. My eyes, which are usually dry, feel a bit better, but sometimes feel more tired than usual. I wonder if air pressure is a factor?
We had a late lunch. They brought out some goat cheese hors d'hoeuvres things, bread, olives and other things. It was nice but seemed like a small lunch. Then they brought out some meat, potatoes and carrot things. The meat is served well done, medium or bloody! I was still a bit confused about how french meals worked.
Ambre's mom came over for dinner. I would be spending that night at Ambre's dad's; then 15 days at her mom's, since there was one week left of school before the holidays.
The house has quite a modern design compared to my parents', but it's about half open concept. One of the walls on the main floor is made up of windows. My room is blue with a sort of gabled window. Looking out, the scenery looks pretty european. The houses are kind of cute and there's this sort of half-decayed stone wall with moss on it in a neighbour's yard...it's pretty charming. The climat is more humid but not as much as I would have thought. When it rains it rains pretty lightly. I thought my skin might feel different, and it doesn't much. My eyes, which are usually dry, feel a bit better, but sometimes feel more tired than usual. I wonder if air pressure is a factor?
We had a late lunch. They brought out some goat cheese hors d'hoeuvres things, bread, olives and other things. It was nice but seemed like a small lunch. Then they brought out some meat, potatoes and carrot things. The meat is served well done, medium or bloody! I was still a bit confused about how french meals worked.
Ambre's mom came over for dinner. I would be spending that night at Ambre's dad's; then 15 days at her mom's, since there was one week left of school before the holidays.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Paris
On February fourth I go to the Edmonton Airport at 7 am. I only forgot...my oboe! I got through security and saw... Monsieur Bérubé! But it turns out our chaperone was his old teacher or vice principal or something...small world. We got to Calgary and met up with the 57 kids from there. There were eight of us from Edmonton - that is, flying out of Edmonton - but almost 30 from Victoria and 25 from Vancouver, then I guess 15 from other places. There were 6 people alone from Canmore and Banff, too of whom know my cousin...small world. Then we all went to Toronto and had dinner. I had poutine and an Iced Capp to be Canadian. The Edmonton kids were small enough to be our own little group instead of splitting up - it sort of stayed that way for the time we were together in Paris.
The plane ride wasn't bad, and we got to Paris near 10 am local time. There were people with light blue OSEF rainjackets waiting for us - they were friendly and welcoming. We put our luggage in trucks depending on what method of transportation we were taking to get to our host families, and then we got on one of three tour buses.
We went to Sacre-Coeur first. The church was really nice and it is on the top of a hill. But there were people trying to weave tourists bracelets and then charge them lots. Two wanted to weave me one but I said no a lot of times and they seemed surprised I was talking french and kind of stopped bothering me. But someone :) ended up paying 30 euros!
Then I think we went to Flunch. It's sort of like a fastfood place only more healthy and better food. In France it seems like you have smaller portions of many foods instead of bigger portions of a few foods like in Canada. It was a bit confusing but I survived.
Then we went to Notre Dame and that was cool. The OSEF sightseeing approach is "be back in an hour". As opposed to choir tour with ECC :). Then we went back to the hotel and got assigned rooms. My roommate happened to be the niece of a lady my parents know from Calgary that was at this dinner thing the day I left...small world! The dinner was a bit confusing. It was this sort of interesting salad bar and bread and some meat and desserts. Then I sat down at the wrong place. I wasn't sure I would be full but I wasn't hungry after. I went to bed by about 9 pm after being mostly awake for 29 hours. I didn't really feel the jet lag much but I think it was underminingly there - I didn't feel like I was completely there near the end.
The next day we got up earlier than scheduled and went to the Louvre for an hour. I had ham as part of my breakfast, which was surprisingly good. This way of sightseeing - being governed by deadlines instead of interest - makes for people who are less braindead at the end of the day, but perhaps more physically tired. One hour in the Louvre isn't very much...but we saw the "Monna Lisa" so it's all good! Then we went to the Champs-Elysées and under the Arc de Triomphe for an hour. They have quite the goldplated McDonald's M! And quite the dice...don't ask.
Then we had lunch at a different Flunch that had a bathroom sign with an arrow pointing at a customer. And then it was to the Eiffel Tower. We only went up to the second floor but it was still really cool. It was cold, windy and perhaps rainy though. They sell pasta in the shape of Eiffel towers! It seemed to be faster to take the stairs down than the elevator, so we did. We then went on a boat ride on the river Seine. It was really cool and intriguing but relaxing at the same time. Since a big part of the historic part of Paris is on an island surrounded by the Seine, there are many bridges connecting the island to the mainland. So we went under a lot of decorative bridges, some of then with statues or gold on them!
Paris is a bit like a whole city of Whyte Ave. It's pretty intense. There also seemed to be streets where all of the shops had the same theme, for example wedding stores. The buildings all looked older with periodical character. The ones in Caen do too even though they were mostly rebuilt after WWII, so maybe I don't mean periodical. In Paris, keeping in mind that in Europe the ground floor is floor zero, they buildings usually only have balconies on the second and fifth floors, the reason being that people would put their children on the fifth, live on the second and the rest were for servants or rented or something. It would be cool to have and apartment like that!
The next day I got up at 8 - some people had to get up at 5:15 to catch a bus to catch a train. Then Ambre and her dad picked me up and had coffee and a pain au chocolat, which people actually have for breakfast, at the hotel restaurant. Two and a half hours later we arrived in Caen!
The plane ride wasn't bad, and we got to Paris near 10 am local time. There were people with light blue OSEF rainjackets waiting for us - they were friendly and welcoming. We put our luggage in trucks depending on what method of transportation we were taking to get to our host families, and then we got on one of three tour buses.
We went to Sacre-Coeur first. The church was really nice and it is on the top of a hill. But there were people trying to weave tourists bracelets and then charge them lots. Two wanted to weave me one but I said no a lot of times and they seemed surprised I was talking french and kind of stopped bothering me. But someone :) ended up paying 30 euros!
Then I think we went to Flunch. It's sort of like a fastfood place only more healthy and better food. In France it seems like you have smaller portions of many foods instead of bigger portions of a few foods like in Canada. It was a bit confusing but I survived.
Then we went to Notre Dame and that was cool. The OSEF sightseeing approach is "be back in an hour". As opposed to choir tour with ECC :). Then we went back to the hotel and got assigned rooms. My roommate happened to be the niece of a lady my parents know from Calgary that was at this dinner thing the day I left...small world! The dinner was a bit confusing. It was this sort of interesting salad bar and bread and some meat and desserts. Then I sat down at the wrong place. I wasn't sure I would be full but I wasn't hungry after. I went to bed by about 9 pm after being mostly awake for 29 hours. I didn't really feel the jet lag much but I think it was underminingly there - I didn't feel like I was completely there near the end.
The next day we got up earlier than scheduled and went to the Louvre for an hour. I had ham as part of my breakfast, which was surprisingly good. This way of sightseeing - being governed by deadlines instead of interest - makes for people who are less braindead at the end of the day, but perhaps more physically tired. One hour in the Louvre isn't very much...but we saw the "Monna Lisa" so it's all good! Then we went to the Champs-Elysées and under the Arc de Triomphe for an hour. They have quite the goldplated McDonald's M! And quite the dice...don't ask.
Then we had lunch at a different Flunch that had a bathroom sign with an arrow pointing at a customer. And then it was to the Eiffel Tower. We only went up to the second floor but it was still really cool. It was cold, windy and perhaps rainy though. They sell pasta in the shape of Eiffel towers! It seemed to be faster to take the stairs down than the elevator, so we did. We then went on a boat ride on the river Seine. It was really cool and intriguing but relaxing at the same time. Since a big part of the historic part of Paris is on an island surrounded by the Seine, there are many bridges connecting the island to the mainland. So we went under a lot of decorative bridges, some of then with statues or gold on them!
Paris is a bit like a whole city of Whyte Ave. It's pretty intense. There also seemed to be streets where all of the shops had the same theme, for example wedding stores. The buildings all looked older with periodical character. The ones in Caen do too even though they were mostly rebuilt after WWII, so maybe I don't mean periodical. In Paris, keeping in mind that in Europe the ground floor is floor zero, they buildings usually only have balconies on the second and fifth floors, the reason being that people would put their children on the fifth, live on the second and the rest were for servants or rented or something. It would be cool to have and apartment like that!
The next day I got up at 8 - some people had to get up at 5:15 to catch a bus to catch a train. Then Ambre and her dad picked me up and had coffee and a pain au chocolat, which people actually have for breakfast, at the hotel restaurant. Two and a half hours later we arrived in Caen!
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