Thanksgiving...

I have just celebrated my first Thanksgiving with our English Bible study group + some (there turned out to be 15 of us - Americans, English, Irish, Indian and French)! Obviously, it was hosted by Krista and Jonathan (only people with a place big enough) Everyone brought some food and drink and Krista cooked up three chickens and made stuffing and we had mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes and Lauren's amazing green bean stew thing and ratatouille cheese and then... LOADS of cakes including the traditional Pumpkin Pie, Doug's chocolate cheesecake, Ian's Banoffie Pie and Jonathan's work Colleague, Johnan's eclairs!

Spot the non-American food in that lot!

Then we all went around and said what we were thankful for. That was really great and it really makes you stop and think how blessed your life is.

This year for me has been so incredibly blessed. I have had so many experiences, met some amazing people, learned how to speak French properly and met the most wonderful boyfriend. I really feel like God has done so much in my life this year and yes, there really is a lot to be thankful for. It was awesome to see what everyone else had to say and really share that time with some special people.

Afterwards we played a crazy charades game and just sat around chatting. A really good afternoon.

...and it feels like the Christmas season has really begun now. Lights and decorations are popping up all over town and yesterday, Sophie and I wandered around the Christmas market and drunk a Vin Chaud... it felt very festive. This reminds me that I only have 3 weeks left of this almost-year in Nancy... a year to be really thankful for :)

best days....

Just sat here babysitting on a friday night and waiting for the parents to come home so that I can go to bed and I started looking through my pictures... and I remembered this amazing day that JB and I spent together about a month ago. It was just one of those days that was realllly good :)
Sometimes when stress, and winter and missing people get a bit too much, (I'm sure you can all relate to some of these things) we can forget how many things we have to be thankful for, and all the amazing memories which often seem so far away.
So in amongst the cold and dark and exam preparation, a little memory of something that made me smile, a lot.

 

Yeah, it rained. A lot. But there's something amazing about torrential rain in the south of France... especially when you're with your amour....

froid.

So back in August. before I came back to France, I went shopping with my Mum and Grandma. Being generous souls, they took me out for lunch and bought me various trucs. Grandma, having visited me in the early days in Nancy (January time) never stops going on about how cold she found it and insisted on buying me a pair of (very warm) velvety legging things. Trying them on in the summer heat, it felt absurd to be purchasing such an article, but less than three months down the line, having been living in a freezing cloud for what seems like forever, (I've seen the sun once in the 2 weeks that I've been back and its hardly got above 5oc) these wonderful trousers are coming into their own - THANK YOU GRANDMA :)
So yes, it's been cold, and rather depressing, and we have our exams in 3 weeks - this is scary!!

However, a couple of weeks ago, the autumn colours were incredible...

(Photo's courtesy of fellow Au Pair, Miss Genvieve - merci! )

Another cheery thing here in the perpetual cloud is the kids - they are completely adorable, and right now I can hear them singing loads of nursery rhymes in English while having their shower - it's so gratifying that they are really enjoying learning English, and yet again, I am experiencing the feeling of foreboding at having to say goodbye to three children that I've really grown to love...

I also had a good weekend with the man and the family in law... think meeting your boyfriend's parents is stressful? Throw in the language dimension! ...but seriously, a really good time!

Hope you're all having a good week xxx

nursery rhymes...

This is my life that this morning (being another public holiday - this time for 11/11) I spent teaching my children nursery rhymes with the aid of youtube.

But I found this awesome site that does really cute videos...

Literally love this video for 'twinkle twinkle' !!

In other news, I'm off for a random 'tandom' conversation with a guy I don't know... (a prof at uni set it up) and then to the cinema to see 'The Help'!

Also, the BF is coming tonight... exciteddddddd :)

Have a good weekend :)

musings

Everyone's going on about problems with 'les immigres'... whether it's 'pour' or 'contre', you can't avoid the graffiti written all over the walls of the university, or the countless newspaper articles, the feeling of unrest about the subject...

But this led me to think, aren't I am immigrant, really? Or I would be if I stayed long enough. But no, because I come from privileged Great Britain, one day I will probably be an 'ex-pat'.

What actually is the difference?

novembre...deja!

An apology for those who like to keep up with my blog, I have been rather lacking in enthusiasm for it of late. It's hard when personal things come along and occupy your thoughts, you don't necessarily want to share them on a public blog. But all is well, France is still great, even though it is now November, my most hated month after January...And then I come to realise that it has been nearly a month since I've posted!

Since then, the family went away to Florida for a bit over two weeks leaving me to do as I pleased. Not missing much of uni as we also had an autumn break, I spent a week in the south with JB which was lovely. General being together, laughing about the little things that make being in a bilingual relationship so funny (including how it is practically impossible to be tactful or subtle in each other's languages -- although this is getting better -- and how wonderful it is that we can be blunt and slightly offensive, but it's just funny cos it's so charming!)

stereotypical scene: southern men, post-petanque chat!

Visiting Montpellier in the rain...

We flew to England from a city called Beziers... it was kind of a bizarre town...full of kebab shops, but hey, we love kebabs!! It was so warm and sunny, and we soaked up our last rays before the inevitable wet and cold of Bristol...

However: England was lovely, its just home. Great food courtesy of Mum (mostly) Erin and Lizzie, Grandma and PUBS! (How I miss pubs!) And of course it was amazing to see family and friends!

The Frenchman got to enjoy english food and beer and the lovely Bath (in the rain), beautiful Stourhead and Shaftsbury!

Stourhead

Shaftsbury

It was a great time away and I didn't really wanna come back to Nancy. But then when I did get back after a mission of a train journey, I remembered all the good things about being here and realised how much I will miss it - I have only 6 weeks left in Nancy, basically, ever. It would be a lot better for me to really 'profite' from my time here than to wish I wasn't so far away from a certain someone all the time... and so thats what I'm doing through God's grace :)

...more to come soon!

Bisous - Lucy :)