mais dit moi adieu demain

Oh, what's that?! Two blog entries in the space of a week?! Yes, I am feeling alright. An early finish to classes today so I thought I'd get cracking with my dissertation.... which brought me right here (well, I did delete Facebook, after all!)

I went for an interview yesterday with a family whose child I'll be babysitting (all the while speaking English) and I admit I was nervous! I didn't know whether my French would suffice (I've been here two months now, but these things are hard to judge) and if the little boy or family would like me at all. Normal, unecessary worries! It went better than I could've imagined, within the first minute we were playing with dinosaurs and by the end of the hour I was hugging my shoes (I do some strange things to make kids laugh!) Plus there were no problems with my French. It's finally a good feeling to feel comfortable in my French/German skills!

Yet another day where I was falling asleep in class, I've decided I really need to set a good sleeping pattern, sleep longer and drink more coffee. Also do more exercise, as all I seem to do is run around metro stations... time to dust those running trainers for the weekend!

April

I know I should make more of an effort with this blog, but time has honestly FLOWN by I didn't realise how long it had been since I last posted! Apologies to anyone who actually enjoys my ramblings...

It still doesn't seem like I am really here, living the 'metro boulot dodo' (metro, work, sleep) routine as my days are just jam packed with studying, travelling and trying to see my friends who are visiting from Germany, the south of France, etc (all Erasmus students!)

Last weekend, I went to visit a friend in Biarritz and it was amazing. Such a contrast from Paris, I asked him "where are all the people?" as we ate tapas on one of the main streets, late on a Friday night. Plus, anywhere that has a mix of the forest, sea and mountains (and only being 15 minutes away from Spain!) has got to be a winner in my book! I am a true believer that the good, fresh sea air helped get rid of my cold that was hanging around for the last month or so! Thank goodness!

Over the last few days, I played the tour guide (I don't know how, as I have no sense of direction whatsoever! Luckily maps are my friend!) to more friends visiting. I hadn't been inside Notre Dame before, so that was something new, however we couldn't climb to the top as we arrived there in the late afternoon. Let me just add in a quick note that two of us stopped for a quick (and cheap!) coffee at the very quaint Au Bougnat (26, rue Chanoinesse) which was just off one of the side streets nearby so we could relax and avoid the tourist crush! A very small shop though, so not good if you are in a huge group.

We also visited the Catacombs at Denfert-Rochereau, which host the bones of more than 6 million Parisians. Fascinating at first, but then I just felt very sad towards the end of the 45 minute walk underground. There were also some plaques on the walls in French, explaining that in the morning you should think you might not make it to the end of the day, and at the end of the day, you might not make it to the morning. I don't know if the sense behind it was supposed to be positive (a sort of 'Carpe Diem?!) but it just left me feeling very sad.

Well I better get back to uni work! I would say I am glad of the 2 week holiday I have coming up, but I know I have to do a lot of work during that period despite wanting to enjoy my time in England then..no rest for the wicked!

Earl Grey in a cup that makes you smile. What's better?

Not updated in a while due to being extremely busy with uni and life! Not a free moment after my classes in economics, technical translation as well as a bit of comparative law thrown in for fun! I am working on a project for my home university too and have had my friends visiting at weekends... In fact I have friends visiting most weekends in the future so I'm on tour guide duty for the next few months at least!

I've settled in well, apart from a disasterous/hilarious trip to the bank in which I burst into tears for a good 20 minutes, it was one of those moments where, after a difficult week and feeling a strange sort of culture shock, one small thing pushed me over the edge. Dreading the day I have to go back and they remember me as the crazy emotional English girl. Oh well, could be worse, as Paulo Coelho says "don't hide your sadness, it's bad for your health and you have the right to be sad".

Paris

I've finished up my 5 months in Germany and have arrived in Paris.

It's been quite an overwhelming experience, despite previously living here, the change from my small town in Germany to the big bad city is taking a bit of time to get used to. However, after arriving here on day 1, I found a flat on day 2 and moved in a couple of days later, I am getting there bit by bit with the mountain of red tape. Slowly does it.

I am quite happy here in my room in the 19th arrondissement and have explored the area, which feels a lot more 'real' than strolling down dream street (aka the Champs Elysées) and such. I think I wasn't prepared for the sheer size of the city and being thrown into classes from day 2, struggling with my pronunciation and confusing the locals with my French/German accent. It's been tricky and I started off feeling extremely out of my depth, wanting to run back to England even, but I have two weeks worth of holidays now so I'm preparing to sightsee, study and take it easy. Oh, well I might have to find a job as it's ridiculously expensive living here.

Customer service, what's that?

A little rant here, I forgot to mention whilst I was in Austria I had the worst customer service experience ever. Ignored, shouted at and insulted, I had to laugh and walk away otherwise I would've burst into tears after I asked a simple question about which train to take. After calmly asking her not to talk to me like a child she growled I was 'too sensitive'. Well, yes I am but that's not the point! I would never have dreamed of saying such things to anyone, let alone a customer I am supposed to be doing my best to help. In fact, they all seemed to go out of their way NOT to help me... Whatever happened to 'the customer is always right'?

What is the worst customer service you've experienced? And let's weigh it out with the best?

I remember when I was working in retail, an elderly woman was so happy with my job she gave me a hug and a kiss... the person next in the queue asked if they should do the same!

Innsbruck 2012

Back from my interpreting post at the first ever Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck! I was so lucky to have had this experience as interpreting opportunites often seem unattainable for us students! The past two weeks have been brilliant in every way; thrown in at the deep end with medical interpreting, getting to know a range of people from all backgrounds, ages with various experiences and fascinating stories, watching the best young athletes compete, learning Russian with my fellow interpreters, getting an insight into how the Games work from a behind-the-scenes perspective, exploring the wonderful city of Innsbruck and getting to grips with the dialect ;) and, cheesy as it might sound... the feeling of being part of history!

I am now back in Heidelberg and have had four exams. Only one more to go, a gruelling four hour German exam on Friday morning!

I can't believe January is nearly over, what have you been up to this month?

Beth.

out with the old, in with the new

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a good one wherever you are and all I wish for is health and happiness as well as lots of nice times with my family and friends and some good food as well!

Had a bit of a shock when I got a bill (which I couldn't understand, nice way to dent my German language confidence!) from the bank and then realised I am running extremely low on funds. Thank goodness for my student loan which will come in next week. I need it to actually pay rent, let alone do anything else! I can't believe that from this year student fees are doubling, or in some cases trebling...