what it usually looks like out of my window....

what it looked like yesterday morning:



and by the end of the day in Narbonne:





Stephanie and her friend John were in town and we had previously decided to go to Montpellier on Saturday, the snowy day in question. So, did we cancel all our plans because of this terrible weather for the south of France? Of course not, we're stoic anglo-saxons! We went anyways, quite a silly decision knowing it would be freezing in Montpellier too (it was)and the trains were in uproar. Anyways, I got a travel book and recuperated some pyjamas I had left at a friend's house and we ate lunch at a lovely veggie restaurant, so not a totally wasted day.

I (L) Soldes

It's soldes time in France right now...that means sales! In France, there aren't sales all year round, every store having a sale whenever that store owner decides, any old time. Oh no, the French must be different. So, twice a year (I believe) it's sales time and every store (from pharmacies to bookstores to clothing and shoe stores) all over France has a sale, for about 3 weeks. I bought a coat on the first day which I quite love. It's Mexx, and I saved about $150 CAD by buying here in France, during the sales time. Today I bought a black string bikini (yay summer!) at Decathlon that was only 5 euros per piece! Allison had me over for dinner tonight in her v. cute and teensy apartment and this is what the table looked like:

Hotaru no haka

I was channel surfing tonight and I happened upon this film: Hotaru no haka or Grave of the Fireflies, 1989, by Isao Takahata. I can honestly say it's probably the most heart wrenching film I have ever seen. I missed the beginning...maybe as a whole film it's not so horrifying. It's a Japanese animated film about a 14 year old boy and his 4 year old sister in 1945 war torn Kobe. Their parents die and they must try to survive on their own. It did win awards and it was a beautiful and touching movie but if you watch it, be prepared to cry your eyes out. Apparently when it was first released in Japan, it was as a double feature with Tonari no Totoro,"because it was thought that this film was so depressing that a cheerful companion film was needed to lift the audience's spirits"

It's just too funny

Ok, found this through Darren Barefoot's site. He brought up the Slanket and it just makes me laugh so much I had to share this pic from their website. My question is, why is this man sporting an afro??

Girls Night In (& Out)

It started off calmly enough...and went crazy from there. Yes, those are the chocolate Christmas decorations we are wearing as jewelry.

In Cruzy

Last night was huge fun. There were 7 of us for dinner, all girls, and after dinner we broke out the whisky. So, about 3 bottles of wine, a nice dinner, a delicious chocolate cake, and the bottle of whisky later we headed out to Cote pub. Definitely 'happy' at that point, lots of laughing and singing along with the music. Met up with Louise and a friend of hers visiting but soon left there to go to a dancing place. It's not officially a nightclub but the closest thing we have to that in Narbonne within walking distance. Lots of dancing and silliness. Allison and I wanted to leave first around 2am and Stephanie had to come with me of course, since she was staying over. I have no idea how late the others stayed until. Aston got a nice drunken phone call, of course, then I ate a peanut butter sandwich and fell asleep. I wasn't too hungover this morning, just so tired. I made us all a nice brunch (the one meal we do better than the French, I was trying to convince Otalia- I think she almost agrees). Then Stephanie and I decided it would be fun to go for a hike together as she has a car and there are some nice trails near the countryside where she lives. So, I'm in Cruzy, the little village where she lives, about a half hour from Narbonne. I swiped the pictures from a real estate website. It actually looks a little less cheerful, being winter and all. No flowers. You can only take a car to get here so it was easier if I came back with her, then she only needs to drive me home tomorrow. She lives alone in a gigantic old house, housesitting for relatives dreaming to retire in the south of France. It's badly needing renovations and is absolutely HUGE. The place stunned me; it has amazing potential but half of the rooms are under construction. But, she's used to it now so it works for her. I have some funny pictures from dinner I will definitely post but not from Cruzy as I'm on Steph's computer and I haven't downloaded them off the camera yet. I hope everyone is having fun weekends. Love, Jessica

It's Friday night...;)

Yay! It's the weekend. I'm having people over for dinner tonight and Stephanie has promised to make a cake, v. exciting. Afterwards, we'll go to the Cote Pub, one of the few bars in Narbonne. I actually went to an internet cafe and printed out an application to UBC (aren't you thrilled, Mom?) and finally got up the guts to ask one of my teachers to write me a letter of reference. He agreed. So, things are coming along for my applications. I still feel like I don't have too much of a chance since I haven't got any volunteer experience in the BC school system and I'm missing one English class (I'll make it up this summer) but we'll see how it goes. If I take a year off to work, that wouldn't be the end of the world. I'll take some pictures tonight so you have some new ones to look at but in the meanwhile here is Huong, Melissa and I belting out some tune back in Van for my birthday last year. Melissa emailed me and told me she's planning on heading back there this weekend for her birthday party. Have fun, Melis! You know I care about your entertainment when I post embarrassing pictures of myself! PS-check out my long Magic Straight (all Korea friends understand) hair!

Photos of Christmas holidays trip

A view from the escalator of the Pompidou Centre at night


Aston has organized and posted the photos of our trip to Paris, Bordeaux, Narbonne, Carcassonne and Paris again on his flickr site. Check it out, he's even commented on lots of them.
Last day I had a good talk with my dad and he encouraged me to be present to where I am right now and to choose happiness. I actually woke up this morning feeling a lot more energetic and I'm feeling more optimistic I'll get back on track for the rest of my time here.

yay! yay! yay!

I wish I was there. Canada's junior team has defeated everyone and won the World Juniors. It was in Vancouver and I would have loved to watch it. Sounds like it was a great game.

A bit of a rough start to the new year...

It's been a bit tough settling back into the old routine after the Christmas holidays. I've been a little down...wishing my contract didn't go all the way til July. I've actually been thinking about leaving early. My classes have been going well though. We're learning the days of the week. I meant to do that ages ago, but I guess now is always a good time. The weather's the same as always..sunny but cold and windy. Yesterday was my brother's birthday. Happy Birthday Dylan!!! Have a great year and good luck at the new job. Anyway, I guess things will feel more normal again soon.

Happy new year! I'm back in Narbonne. Aston and I went to Paris for the weekend, so we were there for new years but really we were there so he could get his plane home to Van. So he is somewhere in the air over the Atlantic as we speak and I'm freezing in my drafty old apartment. Our time together was so good though, and we'll keep on going til I return in 6 months time.
In my French accent improvement news, I was mistaken for French, then German today til I finally explained I was English Canadian. It's good to know I'm not wasting my time here. You have to add the English bit as the Quebec accent is so well known, people don't believe you're really Canadian when you speak French without having that accent.