Off Day

Some days you wake up and everything goes your way. You feel like you're seeing things for the first time, you have a spring in your step, and the sun is shining. Today is not that kind of day for me. I'm going to blame it on the weather. This morning, when everything was covered in a thick layer of fog, Robin said "I love these days when it starts out cold and grey and turns out to be beautiful later." I agreed, obviously, because who doesn't love those days? But it's now quarter to two and the fog is still here! On top of that, it's bitter cold. Hope wind-burned faces are in this spring...

But yes, my off day. I have only really had to teach one class so far today, and it was a complete failure. No one was listening, I was even bored with the topic...I let them go early when I realized it was sort of a lost cause.

Oh well though, right? I mean, everyone is allowed a day like this once in a while! Looking forward to a fun (and maybe relaxing?) weekend!

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Got this email from Target in my inbox this morning, and it really made me long for a hot, sunny summer. I guess I'm looking forward to a good old American summer after I get home from this crazy European thing I'm doing. Look at those beautiful healthy Americans, flouncing around in their cute Target clothes! And oh! Wedge sandals! And oh! Mix-and-match bikinis! I love the moments in early spring when you realize your coat is open and the sun is shining, and suddenly winter is over. Unfortunately then sometimes you have icy cold pouring rain the next day and you realize it's only early February and you shouldn't have gotten your hopes up.

We've been doing lots lately! Friday was Robin's birthday, so after a mini-party in Laval, we caught the last train to Rennes for a night on the town. It was a good time with the group, even though we didn't get into the club we wanted to. The bars were PACKED, and there were tons of people hanging out in the street. We met a really nice cab driver who chauffeured us to McDonald's. By the time our 7:30 am train arrived at the station, we were really ready to head home and go to bed. I can't believe we actually spent the whole night out. There are a few reasons why I would never really do this at home:

1. My friends aren't really "club people"

2. Everyone has a car

3. There aren't any bigger cities easily accessible by train

So, while it was a really fun time wandering the city, I think we'll wait until the weather is warmer to try it again. Always fun, though, to get dressed up and celebrate!

I also made a rainbow cake to go with a yummy pancake dinner.
It was beautiful and pretty delicious! Yes, those are party hats. (Thanks, mom!) 

Here's a sneaky picture of a woman with a dog in her purse on the bus.

I ate a really delicious grapefruit with sugar on top for breakfast this morning. Unfortunately I spilled juice all over my bed. Typical. Good thing tomorrow is clean sheets day! If Laura and I keep spilling juice in bed they'll probably refuse to wash our sheets soon....

This coming weekend we're celebrating Valentine's Day with a little party in my room! Really looking forward to it! We're making this classy recipe; feel free to try it if you're bored and sober any time this week. Let me know how it turns out!

Quick Rant: Bus travel

Hey, we take this bus to go to the big Carrefour

As much as I enjoy taking public transportation, sometimes I get annoyed with the bus system in Laval. Yes, there are lots of buses and lots of lines and stops, so it's pretty convenient in that way. If I'm looking for a bus on a weekday, I usually don't have to look very far or wait very long.

BUT. In a slightly silly move (how could this have been a good idea?), I just looked up the actual distance from Pierre de Coubertin (where we live) to my high school. It's only 2.7 km (1.7 mi). Whether I take the bus or walk there, it takes me close to 40 minutes to make that journey. FORTY MINUTES!!! That's ridiculous.

It's more than twice that distance from my house to Pick N Save on National (our grocery store), and that takes me, what, 4 or 5 minutes in the car? Even if I get stopped at a couple red lights!

It just hit me that perhaps it's not the bus system's fault. Perhaps it's the roads themselves that I should be ranting about! Maybe there's no efficient way of getting from point A to point B here! Ahh!

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For those of you hoping for a real blog post, sorry. Things are going just fine, although some of my students (and teachers???) seem intent on breaking my spirit this week. Had a delightful weekend in Nantes leading up to my immigration medical exam thingie, which went fine. We have lots of fun plans for the coming weeks, and I'm eagerly anticipating Winter Break at the end of the month (Disneyland Paris!!). Perhaps more pictures in the coming days :)

Oh, also: it has come to my attention that people don't think Laval is a great place to live. In Nantes, some of our new friends, upon hearing where we live, felt compelled to apologize! I don't really get this, as the only real faults I've found here are the inefficient bus system (obviously) and maybe the fact that it's pretty small. But it could be worse, as I have been told by several assistant friends. So this isn't gay Paree, big deal. It's nice here (apart from all the rain).

Have a great day and a wonderful Super Bowl weekend (Go Pack Go!!!)