Obernai & La Route des Vins

Hey friends and fam! Just an update on what I've been up to.. things at school are okay. The English teachers are really nice and the students seem pretty cool too. I am in two different high schools, I really love one of them and the other one is just so-so.

My apartment is working out really well. I get along really well with my roommate and our building is so nice! They're still working on getting everything working since we're the first to move in, but so far so good.

Since I've already been here over two weeks, I obviously have found time for a few excursions. My roommate and other friend, Gina, both have Wednesdays off like I do. So we've decided to start up "wednesday excursions" like I did last year. This past Wednesday we checked out a town near Strasbourg called Obernai. It's a smaller town, but very quaint and extremely similar-looking to that little town in "beauty and the beast.." as most towns here are. I don't know if I ever mentioned that first scene from the movie but every time I visit small towns in this region I start singing that song.

Anyway, Obernai was cool, we just hung out, drank some beer and ate some French food! There wasn't much to see there, so we just walked around, checked out some shops and bakeries and then headed back to Strasbourg.

This past weekend, I was invited by my "french fam" to do another bike ride on the wine route. Last year we did the same thing, and I seriously almost threw up by the end I was so tired from it. It's about 30 miles, and it's really hilly and difficult. However, it's a beautiful view of the wine route and the Fall is the best time to see it! So I invited my roommate Kristen and we headed out into the vineyards. We stopped at a few towns, all which I had already been to a few times, including Ribeauvillé and Riquewihr. We had a nice lunch in Riquewihr, looked in some of the Christmas stores which have already opened (we decided we needed to go back with the car another time to haul all the stuff we wanted to buy!) and unfortunately we didn't drink any wine, but it didn't seem like that great of an idea considering I was struggling biking whilst sober. I think my favorite part about the towns was looking at all of the huge geraniums hanging in all of the windows! That's something you definitely don't see very often in the States. So anyway we had perfect weather, it wasn't too hot, and we had a really nice time.

Tomorrow for our "wednesday excursion" we're off to a place called Europa Park in Germany. It's like Epcot at Disney World only with roller coasters! More to come..

Strasbourg! My new home :)

Weds excusion to Obernai
A quick carousel ride seemed like a good idea after a few afternoon brews..
Ribeauvillé
my roomie, Kristen! love her.
the French fam, Gérard and Marie-Agnès
Storks bringing the black and white babies. at least they represent both races..

Geraniums!!
The Wine Route
Kristen and me on our bikes.. this shot could have been dangerous
Riquewirhr

Finally..

Finally back in France! I arrived yesterday morning, I flew into Zurich. I've been back staying with the family who I was with for a month or so last year. They're in Turckheim, about 40 minutes away from where my schools are this year. The biggest dilemma coming back this year is that I had no place to live once I started school! I have been searching online for almost 2 months now, and I barely got any responses. A few months ago I started talking to another english assistant, who is from Wisconsin. We got to talking and decided it'd be easier if we could help each other find a place, and it seems like we're going to get along really well. She finally got a response from an agency about a month ago, and that is the ONLY option that we had. So today we met up (her mom is here too) and went to look at the place, praying that we would like it. It's pretty expensive, so we were kind of unsure. Well we definitely lucked out, we decided to rent 2 studios in the same building for a few months, and in November we'll move into a 2 bedroom apartment in the same building. We cannot believe how lucky we are! The places are literally brand new, we're the first tenants. Everything is top of the line and we're the only 2 living there for now! They are completely furnished, even including towels, sheets, pillows.. hair dryers, everything. And my schools are only a 15 minute walk from the apartment. I never knew I could be so lucky! We're so excited :) We have 2 studios across the hall from each other and then there is a common kitchen and living room that we'll be sharing with the other tenants.. if there ever are any. Here are some pics of where we'll be moving on Saturday:

As for next year...

I've been home for two weeks now and trying to stay busy.  I went up to Canada with my Dad and sister, and also I started working again about 3 days after getting back from France.  I'm working at the same restaurant, Pizzazz, where I was working last year.  I miss France sometimes but it's good to be home with family and friends!  Also everything seems so easy to me.. before I was used to figuring out how to communicate and live in a new country, and now I'm back home where everything is nice and familiar.  It's a good feeling.  

I'm pretty sure everyone knows this already, but in case you don't, I have renewed my contract for next year!  I got my job back, but I am moving schools and cities.  I requested to work in a high school in Strasbourg (the big city north of Colmar).  Well my wish came true, and I will be teaching at a school RIGHT in the city center.  I talked to my old principal and a few other teachers and they all say that it is a great school and that I should have a good experience there.  I went to visit before I left and took a picture of the building.  This next year will be a whole new experience because the school is about 4 times the size of my school last year and I won't be teaching my little country bumpkins anymore.  But I'm sure it will be different in a good way! I already got my plane ticket.. so September 17th I'll be on my way back to France!

My new home in Strasbourg
     Lycée René Cassin, the new stomping grounds

Au Revoir Alsace

Since I stopped working like a month ago.. you're probably wonder what the hell I do all day?  Well I have been finding ways to keep busy, that's for sure.  Now that the weather is finally nice I've been enjoying the sunshine and trying to appreciate Alsace before I leave.  The place where I live is so cute I still can't get over it!  I never want to leave :( 

Lucky for me the family I was living with at the beginning are literally the nicest people ever.. and they have loaned me their son's car for a few weeks.  Trains and buses are fine but having a car makes life a lot easier.  My best friend here lives north of Colmar on the wine route, and I have always felt soo bad that he's constantly driving me around.  So for once I've been able to return the favor!  

Last week my friend Doug and I took a little day excursion to the Zoo in Mulhouse, about an hour away from Colmar.  It's a zoo and botanical garden, and since it was during the week there was barely anyone there.  My favorite part of the day was the "jackass penguin." See photo below.  

This weekend my two friends that live in Aix en Provence came up to visit.  I am pretty sure I showed them the entire region and beyond within a three day time period.  I was really glad they came though.  They're good company, and it was good for me to do the "tourist" thing before I leave here.  We started off going to Ribeauvillé, a town on the wine route.  We walked around and saw the town, and went to dinner, where the girls sampled the regions specialties.  The next morning we saw two more villages on the wine route, called Eguisheim and Kaysersberg.  Did a little wine sampling, and walked around the cutest towns I have seen thus far.  Alsace is literally fairy tale land.  Later that day we went up to Strasbourg, saw the cathedral, etc, and went to dinner with one of my friends that lives in Colmar.  Finally, yesterday, we started the day off in Freiburg, Germany, which is right across the border.  The girls had never been to Germany and all they wanted to do was eat some German food.  As you can see this entire weekend pretty much revolved around food.  After that we met up with my friend who lives on the wine route and went to dinner in another little village called Riquewihr.  The girls left this morning, and I headed back up to Bennwihr to my friend's place for a nice relaxing day by the pool :) This weekend the weather couldn't have been more beautiful.  

Phew!  Lots of moving this weekend, I am exhausted.  This week I am helping out at my old school because I need to keep busy!   I am coming home next Tuesday!!  Way too soon.  It will be good to see my friends and family though :) 

      Riquewihr

Meow.  Be nice kitty...
bahahahah

  Map of the wine route, pretty sure I've seen it all

Wine and beers in Ribeauvillé
Eguisheim.. my faveeee
   Katie and me posing for our senior pics

Yes, this is a real town where people live. 



Pinot Gris. Yummy.
And more drinks in Ribeauvillé with Katie and Pierre

Scotty Land!

Leprechaun Man tour guide


Aussie Friends
Edinburgh Castle
A Highlander!  I wanted to take him home. 


So many sheep everywhere...

Hiya! Ok so last little trip update... I need to really think about this one because it was already like 2 weeks ago.  But, after Dublin, I headed over to Edinburgh.  I was supposed to be staying with my friend Chandler the whole time I was there, but long story short, Chandler was actually in Canada.. So I hastily booked myself a hostel.  I arrived late at night, so the first night I just hung out at the hostel, and took some time to relax from my busy day in Dublin (my life is so hard).  

The next morning, I got up and ventured out to see the city, by way of a free walking tour.  I figured it was the best way to see the town and learn some things about the history too.  I had the best tour guide!  He was this tiny little English man that looked like a leprechaun.  He was hilarious though.  He told lots of stories about old legends of Edinburgh, and showed us pretty much all of the important tourist landmarks.  I also had much better luck with the weather on this part of the trip too.  I think my favorite story from the miniature man was this one: Way back in the day, before plumbing, people used to keep all of the human waste from their homes in a bucket.  Late at night, they would all dump the waste buckets out the window onto the streets below.  Unfortunately this was done at the same time as most people would be leaving the pubs, as well.  So of course before dumping a bucket of pooh out the window, they would call out just to warn everyone below.  Well after a few drinks to numb your senses, you hear someone yelling out from a window,  what do you do?  I would look up.  So this, my friends, is quite possibly why we now use the term "shit faced."    

Moving on from that, walking around Edinburgh, I took the advice of one of my friends who lived there, and just tried to appreciate the fact that it's one of the few truly medieval cities left. Also how can you not love a city where there are random men scattered around playing the bagpipes and wearing kilts?  

When I got back to the hostel, I hung out with the other girls that were staying in my dorm room.  I went out for dinner and drinks with some Australians, who seem to be taking over Europe one hostel at a time.  Lucky for us, our hostel had the outstanding offer of "buy one get one free" drinks.  This offer should be illegal.  

During the rest of the trip, I did a tour of the castle, and then climbed up this mountain-like thing called Arthur's Seat to get a beautiful view of the city.  The castle was pretty sweet, they have some museums, the crown jewels, and some other cool stuff that I don't really remember anymore.   I also did a bus tour, which took me up to Loch Ness and the Highlands.  The views were beautiful, but I do have to say, it was a long haul!  I was on a bus pretty much for 12 hours.  But if I was in Scotland, I felt like I should see more than just the big city.  I was, of course, by myself.. but I met another Columbian girl around my age that was traveling alone too.  So at least I had someone to hang out with and have a chat during the loong bus ride.  Scotland is very.. green.  I guess that's the only way to describe it.  That night of the bus tour, my friend Chandler finally came back to Edinburgh!  I got to stay with her for the last few days of the trip, see her university, and meet her friends.  Also it is always really nice to see old friends from home over here.  Especially Cha, who I have known since I was like 5.   

So I swore this would be the last trip of the year.  But I finished my job, and boredom is starting to settle in.  We'll see what comes up! In the meantime I have been working on a way to come back here next year.. doing the job hunt thing, reapplying for my current job, and also applying the the university in Strasbourg.  Cross your fingers for me! 

24 Hours in Dublin

Well my time here is almost up (for now..) and I decided to take one last big trip.  I've always wanted to go to Scotland and Ireland.  I have a friend who is going to school in Edinburgh, so I decided to take the opportunity to go there while I had it.  I was looking up flights, and saw that there was a really cheap flight to Dublin from Basel, Switzerland.  Basel is only about 40 min away from me.  I also found a cheap flight from Dublin to Edinburgh.  It turned out it was cheaper for me to stop in Dublin than to buy a plane ticket straight to Edinburgh!  So there you go, that's why I had only 24 hours in Dublin.  (side-note: I flew the discount airline RyanAir and ended up getting charged like 50 euros extra for my luggage, airport check-in, priority boarding, and who knows what else they slid in there.  I guess we know why the flights are so cheap..I definitely lost money flying with them. Live and learn!)

I got there in the afternoon, and as predicted it was raining.  The whole time I was there!  The first day I just kinda hung out, wandered around town, and did some shopping(seriously so weird how different the fashion there was.. French peeps are way cuter).  I also saw Trinity College, which was founded in the 1500's.  That night I stayed at a really cute bed and breakfast.  I was at first a little hesitant because I was by myself, but I met some nice people that I shared a room with, so things worked out well.  

The second day I was there, I was flying out around 8pm so I pretty much had the whole day.  I had to spend the time there wisely since it was limited.  I considered Christ's Church, perhaps some well-known museums.  But clearly I had other priorities, so I got up, ate a huge English breakfast (it had been way too long since I had some good bacon), and headed straight for the Guinness Brewery.  It was about 10 euros to get in, but it was well worth every penny.  I obvi just did the tour to get the free pint of Guinness at the end.  No but they really did a nice job with this museum, they take you through all the steps and how the beer is made, show old advertisements, etc. I also found out that the Guinness company was founded in 1789.  That's an old beer. 

After I drank my Guinness, I decided to hit up a museum, since all of the museums in Dublin are free.  I went to the Modern Art museum and hung out there for a few hours.  I was pretty much the only person there, so it was nice to have the place to myself to look around.  Afterwards I hung out in a really pretty park that's just right out front.  Sitting in the park and looking through my guidebook, I realized that I missed out on something very important!  The Jameson Distillery!  I am NOT at all a big whisky drinker, but since it is my brother and his girlfriend's drink of choice, I decided I had to at least stop there in their honor.  I was too cheap to do the tour, but I did spend some time looking around the gift shop, and taking the opportunity to stay out of the rain for a bit!  After that the day was about over, and it was time to head to Edinburgh!  More to come...

That little spot on my camera won't go away.. help 

Trinity College

Christ's Church cathedral from the 12th century

Simulated rainbow inside the art museum

cutest park ever

MMMMMM Guinness

inside the storehouse

freshest pint I've ever had