Slightly overdue end-of-year report
Cut because it's ridiculously long.... I've been home for a little over three weeks now (and yet it feels so much longer), so I guess it's about time I wrote up on the sum of my experiences abroad. I've been putting this off for a while because people seem to be expecting a really profound and complex composition; if you are one of these people, you may be disappointed for I seem to be lacking these attributes at the moment.
To start off, I would like to thank the following people:
- Mom and Dad for always being there and for making the whole experience possible (*cough* $$)
- Michelle, Vicky, Olwen, Niamh and Seirian for giving me a lifetime of memories
- Vanja, Minela, Josip, and Marina for being the super nice people that they are
- Mr. Bertrand and Mr. Guichard for proving that not all French professors are sadistic, self-satisfied lunatics
What I learned:
- Being on your own for the first time is not as scary as it may sound
- I began learning how to manage money, how to make it last and not spend 3 months' worth of it in one day
- Forget Visa. A Canadian passport gets you anywhere and everywhere you want to go.
- The French aren't really all that bad. You just have to know how to deal with them.
- You do not need a fancy gym to stay in shape. A bar, a few plates, and an Alp to climb will do.
- Austrians have an even bigger superiority complex than the French and English combined, but damn, their food is good.
- The French and Italians can't make good cured meats to save themselves (Why must it always be so sickeningly salty? Why?)
- I have learned that the Serbs are not the only people who have a penchant for swearing incessantly and who lack the ability to form a queue in order to board a bus
Cheese: (yes, this deserves its own heading)
France's self-centeredness is best seen in its supermarkets, but particularly in the cheese aisle. French cheeses galore (of course, many of which--Brie, Camembert, French emmenthal--are available in lower-fat versions). But apart from their own cheeses, they import only a handful of Italian varieties (bocconchini, parmesan, asiago, and that's about it), and Greek feta. None of which are available in low-fat versions. And how exactly am I supposed to make burek with no low-fat feta and no ricotta or cottage cheese, thank you very much? And here's a mystery for you: mozarella is to be seen in pizzerias everywhere across the country, yet you cannot find it in the grocery stores, you can just get the fresh variety. There must be a black mozarella market somewhere.
The highlights:
- The friends and the traveling, ahopping, and concert-going in general.
- Going to Italy with Vicky.
- Going to Austria: the first time I planned a trip all by myself that I took all by myself. It's the most amazing feeling to know that you can go anywhere in the world and find your way around and have a great time, even if you've never been there before and you don't speak a word of the language (apart from some WWII vocabulary picked up in various history classes over the years, but I can't imagine that me saying Volksgemeinschaft and Judenfrei would go over too well with the locals).
- Surviving my first (and probably last) camping trip without complaining my fellow vacationers to death. But hey, if you're going to take one camping trip in your life, it might as well be to St. Tropez.
- Hosteling is so much fun. As long as you haven't seen the movie. Which I haven't and don't plan on doing so either.
- Belgrade has ATMs now!
- I now get to say that I'm a polyglot. Squee!
The lowlights:
- Gerbeaud's. Disappointed. So disappointed.
- The administration. Oh god the administration.
- The Wicked Witch of the East (or is it the West?) who works at the front office in the ARSH building of UPMF. The woman made me cry. She actually made me cry. And then I dropped my sunglasses into an icky French toilet.
- Having a nervous breakdown mid-1st semester over grades and grad school. It was generally a period of pessimism characterized by "I'm never going to be able to speak this language like the natives do, so I'm not even going to bother. Let's just get the year over and done with." But I snapped out of it.
- French women are so evilly (shut up, I hereby proclaim it a word) and disgustingly small and thin.
- The student strikes. Hah.
Things I miss about France:
- Being able to hop on a train or plane for a relatively small price and find yourself in a different country a few hours later
- The transportation system
- Having everything a stone's throw away, and not having to walk half an hour just to get fruit like I do here
- The scenery
- The breads and pastries (I cannot believe the piece of crap that Tim Hortons has the audacity to call a "croissant"; ditto for grocery stores and baguettes)
- The yogurt. It may be hard to believe, but the same Yoplait Basket yogurt that's available on both sides of the pond tastes infinitely better over there than it does here.
- The coffee!! Coffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffee......... And picturesque cafes on every corner where you can sit for hours and not get kicked out.
- Being able to go to a restaurant for dinner by yourself. There's no shame about that whatsoever in Europe. I would never dare to go to a Kelsey's or something by myself.
The most frequently asked question: Would I rather live here or there?
If France would start importing low-fat feta (and a few other things) and if you could get take-away coffee without having to go to the one Starbucks in Paris, and if I could have an oven in my appartment, then I would definitely live in France. I wouldn't mind Switzerland (the Francophone area) either. I could do Prague, too. But in my travels I've learned that I can adapt to any location and have a good time; there was never a time where I consciously felt like I was in a completely alien and foreign country. Wherever life takes me geographically, I'm sure I'll be as happy as a clam. But perhaps the reason for this is that Europeans are a lot more similar to one another than they think. I still haven't decided how I feel about the EU, by the way.
A photographic year in review - condensing one year into 30 images? Easier said than done.
The original graphic is bigger, but photobucket insists on shrinking it. So annoying.
1. Just arrived in Grenoble.
2. First trip anywhere - Lyon - two Canadian girls hopelessly unprepared for French fall weather.
3. Breathing in the fresh mountain air of the formidable Mont Blanc.
4. Gorgeous Annecy for the Retour des Alpages.
5. La dolce vita fiorentina.
6. Franz Ferdinand (the band, not the archduke) in concert.
7. Vicky's birthday bash at the London Pub.
8. Christmas party.
9. Synchronizing my watch to the Flower Clock in Geneva.
10. Getting a little lost while hiking in Autrans.
11. My first trip on my own - chilly Vienna.
12. Mozart kugeln galore in even chillier Salzburg.
13. In front of the Hungarian Parliament in Budapest.
14. Michelle's birthday party.
15. With Vicky and Niamh on a random night out.
16. Olwen's birthday.
17. Visiting the grand castles of the Loire valley.
18. Having fun at a fun fair.
19. A somber crowd for Niamh's last night - the beginning of the end.
20. Crazy hats for Seirian's last night.
21. Roughing it in St. Tropez.
22. The Red Hot Chili Peppers in Lyon.
23. Funky rooftops in Prague.
24. Back home - with my little cousin in Šid.
25. With Seirian in Nice for my 21st.
26. Luxurious Monaco.
27. Couldn't go without seeing Paris one more time.
28. Family portrait in Gap for the Tour de France.
29. Schleck on his way to a stage win on Alpe d'Huez.
30. With Mom and Dad in sunny Annecy.
To start off, I would like to thank the following people:
- Mom and Dad for always being there and for making the whole experience possible (*cough* $$)
- Michelle, Vicky, Olwen, Niamh and Seirian for giving me a lifetime of memories
- Vanja, Minela, Josip, and Marina for being the super nice people that they are
- Mr. Bertrand and Mr. Guichard for proving that not all French professors are sadistic, self-satisfied lunatics
What I learned:
- Being on your own for the first time is not as scary as it may sound
- I began learning how to manage money, how to make it last and not spend 3 months' worth of it in one day
- Forget Visa. A Canadian passport gets you anywhere and everywhere you want to go.
- The French aren't really all that bad. You just have to know how to deal with them.
- You do not need a fancy gym to stay in shape. A bar, a few plates, and an Alp to climb will do.
- Austrians have an even bigger superiority complex than the French and English combined, but damn, their food is good.
- The French and Italians can't make good cured meats to save themselves (Why must it always be so sickeningly salty? Why?)
- I have learned that the Serbs are not the only people who have a penchant for swearing incessantly and who lack the ability to form a queue in order to board a bus
Cheese: (yes, this deserves its own heading)
France's self-centeredness is best seen in its supermarkets, but particularly in the cheese aisle. French cheeses galore (of course, many of which--Brie, Camembert, French emmenthal--are available in lower-fat versions). But apart from their own cheeses, they import only a handful of Italian varieties (bocconchini, parmesan, asiago, and that's about it), and Greek feta. None of which are available in low-fat versions. And how exactly am I supposed to make burek with no low-fat feta and no ricotta or cottage cheese, thank you very much? And here's a mystery for you: mozarella is to be seen in pizzerias everywhere across the country, yet you cannot find it in the grocery stores, you can just get the fresh variety. There must be a black mozarella market somewhere.
The highlights:
- The friends and the traveling, ahopping, and concert-going in general.
- Going to Italy with Vicky.
- Going to Austria: the first time I planned a trip all by myself that I took all by myself. It's the most amazing feeling to know that you can go anywhere in the world and find your way around and have a great time, even if you've never been there before and you don't speak a word of the language (apart from some WWII vocabulary picked up in various history classes over the years, but I can't imagine that me saying Volksgemeinschaft and Judenfrei would go over too well with the locals).
- Surviving my first (and probably last) camping trip without complaining my fellow vacationers to death. But hey, if you're going to take one camping trip in your life, it might as well be to St. Tropez.
- Hosteling is so much fun. As long as you haven't seen the movie. Which I haven't and don't plan on doing so either.
- Belgrade has ATMs now!
- I now get to say that I'm a polyglot. Squee!
The lowlights:
- Gerbeaud's. Disappointed. So disappointed.
- The administration. Oh god the administration.
- The Wicked Witch of the East (or is it the West?) who works at the front office in the ARSH building of UPMF. The woman made me cry. She actually made me cry. And then I dropped my sunglasses into an icky French toilet.
- Having a nervous breakdown mid-1st semester over grades and grad school. It was generally a period of pessimism characterized by "I'm never going to be able to speak this language like the natives do, so I'm not even going to bother. Let's just get the year over and done with." But I snapped out of it.
- French women are so evilly (shut up, I hereby proclaim it a word) and disgustingly small and thin.
- The student strikes. Hah.
Things I miss about France:
- Being able to hop on a train or plane for a relatively small price and find yourself in a different country a few hours later
- The transportation system
- Having everything a stone's throw away, and not having to walk half an hour just to get fruit like I do here
- The scenery
- The breads and pastries (I cannot believe the piece of crap that Tim Hortons has the audacity to call a "croissant"; ditto for grocery stores and baguettes)
- The yogurt. It may be hard to believe, but the same Yoplait Basket yogurt that's available on both sides of the pond tastes infinitely better over there than it does here.
- The coffee!! Coffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffee......... And picturesque cafes on every corner where you can sit for hours and not get kicked out.
- Being able to go to a restaurant for dinner by yourself. There's no shame about that whatsoever in Europe. I would never dare to go to a Kelsey's or something by myself.
The most frequently asked question: Would I rather live here or there?
If France would start importing low-fat feta (and a few other things) and if you could get take-away coffee without having to go to the one Starbucks in Paris, and if I could have an oven in my appartment, then I would definitely live in France. I wouldn't mind Switzerland (the Francophone area) either. I could do Prague, too. But in my travels I've learned that I can adapt to any location and have a good time; there was never a time where I consciously felt like I was in a completely alien and foreign country. Wherever life takes me geographically, I'm sure I'll be as happy as a clam. But perhaps the reason for this is that Europeans are a lot more similar to one another than they think. I still haven't decided how I feel about the EU, by the way.
A photographic year in review - condensing one year into 30 images? Easier said than done.
The original graphic is bigger, but photobucket insists on shrinking it. So annoying.
1. Just arrived in Grenoble.
2. First trip anywhere - Lyon - two Canadian girls hopelessly unprepared for French fall weather.
3. Breathing in the fresh mountain air of the formidable Mont Blanc.
4. Gorgeous Annecy for the Retour des Alpages.
5. La dolce vita fiorentina.
6. Franz Ferdinand (the band, not the archduke) in concert.
7. Vicky's birthday bash at the London Pub.
8. Christmas party.
9. Synchronizing my watch to the Flower Clock in Geneva.
10. Getting a little lost while hiking in Autrans.
11. My first trip on my own - chilly Vienna.
12. Mozart kugeln galore in even chillier Salzburg.
13. In front of the Hungarian Parliament in Budapest.
14. Michelle's birthday party.
15. With Vicky and Niamh on a random night out.
16. Olwen's birthday.
17. Visiting the grand castles of the Loire valley.
18. Having fun at a fun fair.
19. A somber crowd for Niamh's last night - the beginning of the end.
20. Crazy hats for Seirian's last night.
21. Roughing it in St. Tropez.
22. The Red Hot Chili Peppers in Lyon.
23. Funky rooftops in Prague.
24. Back home - with my little cousin in Šid.
25. With Seirian in Nice for my 21st.
26. Luxurious Monaco.
27. Couldn't go without seeing Paris one more time.
28. Family portrait in Gap for the Tour de France.
29. Schleck on his way to a stage win on Alpe d'Huez.
30. With Mom and Dad in sunny Annecy.