February!

Yeah sorry I'm such a slacker... So February.... I went to London the 6-9 and then I didn't do much else except watch the Olympics... After going to London I had a horrible cold because I thought it was a good idea to wear flats in the pouring rain. I mean come on! That was just stupid of me. 

I don't think I emphasized the addiction these kids have to the movie Frozen. It's not mild. It's baaaaad. It has gotten to the point where the songs are just permanently  playing in my head. 

For those of you who don't know what Frozen is or have not seen the movie... YOU ARE LUCKY. It's about these 2 sisters, one is cursed and freezes everything. The other is an adorkable ginger who falls in love with the first guy she meets. 

Elsa, the frozen one, she sets off an eternal winter after their parents died. So she builds this crazy ice palace in about 5 seconds, and that's the well known song "Let it go" 

Then Anna meets up with this guy Christoph and his reindeer Sven. The 3 pair up with a snowman Elsa somehow made with her powers when she built the ice palace. And his name is Olaf and he likes warm hugs and summer. The point is that Elsa actually almost kills Anna and then Anna ends up saving Elsa. And there's a lot of singing. But my personal favorite is Sven and Olaf. Sven doesn't talk much which is always a plus... 

Then Elsa goes crazy and "freezes" Anna's heart because she wants to live alone in her ice palace. And only an act of true love can save Anna from her heart completely freezing. I won't spoil the ending but the act of true love is a big plot twist. 

So London, 
In London I met up with some friends that I met in Edinburgh. It was a lot of fun, minus the rain the entire first day. We went to the British History Museum I think... I'm not 100% sure if that's the right name but anyway, it was pouring rain and I was wearing flats which on the plus side my outfit was adorable but on the negative side I was frozen to the core. Oh but we went to the Disney store and I got a stuffed Olaf. He's kind of my favorite thing ever now. 

The second day I saw Prince Charles! That was pretty epic, he was driving by and he waved. I was a little bummed it wasn't Harry or Will, but still pretty freaking cool if you ask me. We saw all the cool cheesy stuff like Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and all that fun stuff. We went to this massive toy store and they did all these cool magic tricks and stuff it was pretty sick. However I felt like a little old to be casually hanging out there, but whatever. It was worth it. Then we went to Hyde Park, which was my favorite part because I got to see the Peter Pan statue. Totally lived up to the expectations I had set for it. Fulfilled my childhood there it was awesome. 

That night we went out to an Indian restaurant which was good I guess, I haven't had much Indian food to compare it to but it was nice...? We went to a few bars which were cool, once was massive and seemed to never end, but they had Blue Moon there! I was so excited!  We went to a club after that, and it started raining again and we walked back in the rain. Once again I had the brilliant idea of wearing flats. The following week I was on my death bed with a cold from playing in the rain. 

That Saturday I was supposed to fly out and go to Geneva to meet up with the family in the alps, but I missed my flight. The train to the airport broke down and we were stuck for 45 minutes on the tracks and by the time I got to the airport, I could see my plane taking off as I got to security. So I just went back to the city spent the night alone, woke up early the next morning to catch the next flight. Oh yeah but there was like a solid 4 hours I was wondering around London because I had no idea where the heck I was when I was looking for the hotel I booked last minute. But I made it back to Lyon on that Sunday in one piece.

The only other exciting part of February was the Olympics, which I'm assuming you all watched. I will give you update though on my feelings about the Olympic games. 

1. GUS KENWORTHY. I cannot emphasize this enough, but he is just the most amazing athlete ever. He delayed his trip home to bring back 5 dogs from Sochi. Oh and he won a silver medal. And he is just the cutest thing ever. 

2. The Bode Scandal. Excuse me NBC, but who do you think you are? How dare you make Bode cry. There are only 3 athletes/celebrities I will stand by 100% no matter how stupid they are, Bode, Novak Djokovic and George Clooney, and making one of my boys cry is a big no no. I seriously considered dumping the 2 most consistent men in my life besides my father, Matt Lauer and Al Roker, because of the way NBC handled that situation. 

"The goal is to enjoy your life, to challenge yourself, to sometimes make stupid decisions, which are sometimes fun and sometimes idiotic and sometimes just a big, fat mistake that you regret. But the reason for it all is enjoyment; that's the reason for life."

http://www.slate.com/blogs/five_ring_circus/2014/02/17/bode_miller_christin_cooper_what_nbc_missed_about_bode_miller_by_focusing.html


If NBC does something like that again, I will not be as forgiving. 

3. The USA v Canada game. I won't get too into this because it still breaks my heart. And then the game for the Bronze medal was just a nightmare. I'm sorry... it's still too soon to discuss it. 

Anyway... I guess here are some pictures from February! 

January!

A lot happened in 2013, I graduated from university, I moved to France, I skied at USCSA Nationals in Sun Valley, Idaho, I went to Rome, I went to Cannes, I don't know about you, but the best part of 2013 was turning 22. (For those you don't get it, I was referencing the Taylor Swift song '22') 

So obviously I made a new year's resolution was to eat better, exercise more, all that cliche stuff. I think I went jogging a few times and then I remembered I hated jogging so that ended. 

Moving on,  so I turned 23 on January 10th. Woo hoo. It was a blast, Aude was gone so we kind of had a 2 day celebration. On Friday (the day of my birthday) Nico, the kids and I had a crepes party! And I was lucky enough to invite over 2 amazing friends, Colleen and Micayla. Post the crepes party, the 3 of us went out and met up with a bunch of the other aupairs. I'm so lucky because the girls here are so amazing and just overall great people. I'm so happy they are in my life now. Moving on from the cheesy quote that needed to be added... We went out to a few bars and then most of the girls wanted to go clubbing. I made it to about 1 am before I was so tired it was a struggle to hold my eyes open. 

Saturday the 11th, I had brunch with the family. They got me the cutest bracelet, a toiletries bag with the Statue of Liberty on it, and an amazing picture book of Lyon. Eleonore was soooooo excited about it all it was pretty funny. She wouldn't let me into the kitchen until the cake was completely finished. Oh and Hippo keeps asking about Micayla because he has a crush on her. 

The next weekend we went to the Alps!!! It was so much fun! It's gorgeous there. I knew it was going to be amazing but I was blown away. I may or may not have teared up a little bit when I went to the very very tippy top of the mountain. You'll never know the truth. 

It was pretty intense, I was with Hippo and Eleonore most of the time so I didn't really get to shred like I would have liked until Sunday afternoon. And it was warm that day so the snow kind of sucked. But it was breathtakingly beautiful. I'm still overwhelmed by it. And pictures do not do it justice. But here's a few 

Hippo and Eleonore were too small to go one of the POMA lifts so the ski patrol had to take them up the hill and the guy in the sled, he got stabbed in the leg with a pole. 

The next weekend we celebrated Hippolyte's birthday with all of his school friends. Oh and Eleonore got her adenoids taken out so I was home with her all week. Then she got sick, I think she missed a total of 2 weeks of school. Thursday and Friday of the week of the 25th, all of the next week, and then the first few days of the week of February 3rd. We watched the new Disney movie 'Frozen' 13 times in those days off of school. But Back to the birthday party... Mother, I'm so sorry I ever asked for a birthday party. They are horrible.  Well not horrible but having 10 4 year olds is intense.... Also, it's weird the French don't write thank you notes, but give rather expensive gifts. Just another thing I don't understand about this country. 

The last weekend in January/First of February the au pairs hit the town. We started at an Aussie themed bar. It was crazy. Their taste in music is horrible but totally worth it. One of the girls had the brilliant idea of having us all dress up. For those who don't know me well, I'm not a graceful person which means walking in heels is difficult.... But I did it anyway. Wore heels that is... It was a struggle. Lyon is mostly cobblestone streets so walking in heels is nearly impossible. Anyway, we ended up at bar that's a on boat which is always a good time. Also... it's Aussie themed. They really like Aussie themed things here. I don't understand .... 

Rachelle, one of the Canadians 

Things I don't understand about the French Part 2

1. When you buy a pizza here, no matter what you order on top of the pizza, they always throw on some random black olives. Just why? Why would you do that to someone who just ordered a cheese pizza? And it's not like there's 5 or 6... it's like 2 or 3. 

2. They think they are being sarcastic, but actually they are just being mean. 

3. THEIR COVERAGE OF THE OLYMPICS ..... I'm sorry but who won a gold medal? Oh a Canadian? But please tell me all about the French guy in the same sport who got 15th. Like come on dude! Don't even get me started about the USA-Canada hockey game. I had to watch it online in RUSSIAN. Because they decided to show ice dancing. Which in my opinion is laaaaaaaame. 


4. Americans Speaking in France:
When I speak English:
"Why are you in France?" French Person
"I'm here as an aupair to teach English." Me
"But why is your French so bad?" Person
"Because I mostly speak English here." Me
"Why?" Person
"Because I was hired to speak English..." Me
"Something offensive in French." Person
"Dude I can still understand you." Me

When I speak French: (translated)
"Where are you from? Australia?" Frenchie
"Non, the states." Me
"Oh." Frenchie

5. They assume everyone who speaks English is from the same place. I've been asked SO many times if I am from Australia. I say "y'all" quite often... I don't say "mate" at all. Unless I'm pretending to be Australian. Yes I regularly quote Chris Lilley, but it's not my fault that he's hilarious. (He's the guy from Summer Heights High for those who didn't know that) 

6. They ski in fur coats. That just doesn't seem logical to me. 

7. When you are at a bar and ask for a "vodka soda" most places would give you a drink of vodka and club soda with a lime. Not sprite or lemonade with vodka. 

8. When they ask "Where in the states are you from?" the only acceptable answer for the state of Michigan is to say "Detroit." But you can't say it normally, you have to pronounce it "Day-twa." That's when they get really excited and say "Ohhh! 8 Mile! Ohh Eminem!" Actually once, they asked me how big the state of Detroit was, and then asked if I've ever been shot, and if I carry a gun with me. Do I assume you have a creepy mustache, a striped shirt, and stupid beret? No, I don't. 

9. They claim everyone else is arrogant, fat, dumb, I don't even know I'm pretty sure they make up things... but god forbid the French do anything wrong. Not that I would ever correct them, but that's how I feel .... haha 

10. They casually brushed it off when they found out their president had a mistress. If you so much as look at a woman in the states and you are a political figure you are considered to be cheating. Like come on people! How is that not even a little bit scandalous? 

The UK part 1

AGetting to the UK was a struggle. 

First, RyanAir changed the location of the airport in London to one in BFE. 

Second, my flight was out of Grenoble. Which is about an hour away from Lyon by car. 

Third, the train to Grenoble was overbooked and I was stuck standing and it was really warm and thankfully I met this nice lady who helped me out. 

Fourth, once in Grenoble there was a train accident so we were stuck in the train for another 30 minutes, which made me miss the first airport shuttle. My flight was at 6:55 pm and I think I made it to the airport at 6:00. Thank god there wasn't a lot of people there. 

Fifth, once I'm finally on the plane we have a 45 minute delay due to weather. 

Sixth, finally at the stansted airport, and I make it to the hotel, I ordered myself some fish and chips, a massive cocktail and watched a Harry Potter Marathon. It was amazing. 

But once I got to my aunt and uncle's it was amazing. Then I decided to go to Bath, where I literally took a bath it rained so much. It was slightly horrible. Sorry I've been slacking, I promise to be better! 

The UK part 2.

My journey started on Boxing Day. The lovely holiday in Europe of the train workers to strike. I ended up having to take a bus to Liverpool. It took about 5 hours. It was rough. 

LIVERPOOL. 

First stop was at the home of The Beatles. If you had absolutely no idea who the Beatles were, I think you may get arrested there. I didn't get there until 8 pm and I instantly fell asleep. And then woke up at 5 am wired and ready to go. 

I went on the 3 hour can tour of the Beatles. It was awesome. I thought I knew quite a bit about The Beatles. Nope. However now I feel like an expert. It's so cool to see the city though, everyone there is so passionate about the Beatles. Especially those who lived in the 60s-70s. They act as if they were all close, personal friends with the Beatles. It's so funny but it makes it a lot more personal feeling. 

On the tour the guide would break down different lyrics in the songs and take you to those places or explain what they meant. There's a line in strawberry fields and he sings, "nothing to get hung about...." Apparently John Lennon would sneak into Strawberry Fields which is no a field with strawberries but it was an orphanage and he would do stupid things like climb the trees and the workers told his aunt Mimi who he lived with, that he can't sneak in anymore it's a liability thing, whatever.... So his aunt Mimi said, "John next time you go in there, they're gonna hang ya." 

The little smart ass John Lennon around when he was 11 replied to aunt saying, "but Mimi there's nothing to get hung about!" 

John Lennon had a horrible mother. Actually I'm sure she was a nice lady but within 5 years she was knocked up by 3 different guys. The eldest was John, his sister Victoria was given up for adoption, and the last one, the guy said he'd care for his mother and he's care for the baby she was carrying but he wouldn't care for John. It's said the day he moved into his Aunt Mimi's house was the day he considered losing his mother. 

Apparently aunt Mimi and uncle who's name I can't remember were the best. Mimi was a lot older than john's mother so it was almost like moving in with your grandparents. Because visiting your grandparents normally meant you'd Getto eat a lot of sweets and maybe a present or they will take you to do setting cool. John was only supposed to be there for a year or two until his mother got her act together. He stayed for the rest of his life, well until he had to move to London, but it's said even when he lived in NYC with Yoko, his real Home was aunt Mimi's house. 

He's about 14 there, standing in front of Mimi's house on his first day of high school. 

Obviously that's me looking like a boss in front of his house. It was so cool. 

My next destination was Manchester, however I had a few train issues and ended up in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire.

It's a very charming little town, it's pretty small, it makes Harbor Springs look like a city. Well the train was having issues, and we made it to the second stop on our way to Manchester. We were about a mile away from the train station in Holmes Chapel, and for the record the train station is a solid mile and a half from the town center, so with my massive backpack I made the trip to Holmes Chapel. The names was familiar to me hence why I actually considered the 2.5 mile walk into the town centre, it was in the One Direction movie! Not knowing ANYTHING about the town I walked in to find a single street with 4 hair dresser, a bank, a real estate agency, 2 card shops, 1 microbrewery, 1 inn/pub, 2 small grocery stores, an indian take-out restaurant that looked like it shut down, a bakery/ butcher, and a library. I'm not kidding when I say, that is the entire town. 

Oh and this massive church that was absolutely gorgeous. 

Next I went to MANCHESTER 

But only for like 15 hours. However I was able to see a little bit, I did an early morning bus tour of the city so I got to see the Picadilly Gardens, the university, the manchester United Stadium or something but I did the quick tour and they mean quick, we didn't really stop anywhere so I didn't take many pictures. 

However, the best part of stopping in Manchester was going to a secondhand store and finding a Carhartt sweatshirt that said in bright red letter, DETROIT so obviously I had to buy it... 

Next I went to visit a friend from high school, Miss Maddie Howard. 

WAKEFIELD/LEEDS/Not really sure what the name of the town was.... 

So Maddie and I had visual imaging together in grade ten! We weren't even that close but thankfully to social media, we were able to meet up. It. Was. So. Much. Fun. Granted, I was the only person there that didn't have a tattoo, but it was a riot. First of all her fiancee Kenni, every time one of their friends walked into their house, he would ask if they have ever seen a real American before and it was awkward for myself and the person he was asking but hilarious at the same time. We went to some bars it was awesome, I had an absolute blast. The last place we went too the band was horrible but we knew all the songs so it was still a good time even if they were murdering whatever band they were covering. 

FINALLY, EDINBURGH...

Well I got there on the 30th and it was raining and windy the entire time I was there. But that's what you get for going to the UK... 

I was not emotionally prepared to see what I saw that weekend. Mostly the fact that I saw so many guys in kilts it started to scar me. I got off the train and walked out of the station to watch the Torch Light Procession. It. Was. So. Cool. 

Around 35,000 people, 26 Up Helly Aa' Vikings and 6 pipe bands with over 100 pipers marched the streets of Edinburgh and up to the bonfire and spectacular Son et Lumière display on Calton Hill. 

http://youtu.be/7MBdd7_p-zE

I met some Aussies from my hostel. They are crazy party animals. I was shocked by the amount of alcohol was consumed by each person and the fact that they were functioning normal. Anyway, on New Year's Eve we went to the Hogmanay Street Party. I honestly had no idea what the street party was going to be like, but I was not disappointed. 

There were 80,000 people in attendance of the street party. It was crazyyy. They blocked off Prince's Street which is the main street in the city, then there were a bunch of concerts set up in a park near the street. There was also a ferris wheel and carnival rides. It was AWESOME. 

With the Aussies, we met some extremely stereotypical Americans and they made me embarrassed to be American. The one guy said he was a boxer and wouldn't be afraid to take on a kangaroo. Granted, they were pretty drunk, but when the first question was when they found out they were Australian, "do you guys say 'oh the shrimp on the barbie mate.'" I was a little embarrassed, mostly because I asked that too and they don't use the word shrimp they just say 'prawns...' so that was awkward. Then the one told us he could pole dance and I don't know if the video I have works so just bare with me.... if you can't see it, it's awesome if you can, I hope you aren't scarred for life. 

He was playing "My heart will go on"

Then I went back to see my aunt and uncle and came back to france :(