Mon sejour a fini :(

Bonjour tout le monde!

Well, I'm back in the states...I got back Tuesday night, and I miss France already.

Kentucky is a bit boring, and I miss my friends. I did get to go to the movies yesterday with Keebee...that made me happy.

I think this will be my last post, but I do have some pictures I can post, and I may post them later.

I can't believe it's all over....

Hey! Sorry about not posting in so long :)

Bonjour tout le monde!

Je suis vraiment desolée que je n'ai pas écrit il y a longtemps.

I'm really sorry I haven't written in so long. I've been pretty busy, and I haven't found time to write. I've been having a great time. I've had a lot of new and interesting experiences. Just last weekend I got back from my spring break with my parents in Italy. I will be posting the pictures right after I finish writing this.

As my time left here grows shorter and shorter, I find myself wishing I could stay here longer, but I know I have to go back home soon. France has really grown on me, and not only that, I now have a boyfriend here in France. I know it was a stupid idea to start a relationship only 5 months before I had to go home, but I did it anyways, and it's been one of the best experiences in my life. I don't know if we'll be together after I return to the states, I will just have to wait and see, and live life one day at a time.

Right now I'm in the middle of my final exams. I'm also in the middle of trying to find a job in France for my last month and a half here. Right now I think I will be here till the end of June. This is not, of course, set in stone. I don't have my return ticket yet. I have my dorm till the end of June, so...I don't know. I really want to stay as long as I can. As the french say "Je veux profiter de mon temps que j'ai en France."

I feel that I have changed a lot while I've been over here. I am no longer the same shy girl who hid behind the college hoodies and a pony tail. But in a way I am the same, I'm still me. One can't really change all that much. As my mom said, "A tiger can't change his stripes." I will always be me, I will always be Shannon, no matter where I am, how I dress, or what language I'm speaking.

I hope to be able to return to France after I graduate. I want to teach English in France for a while. We'll see how that works out. I can't guarantee anything. I have to graduate from Bellarmine first.

My trip with my parents was amazing. Sorry I didn't explain a lot about that in this post. I just felt like reflecting. I guess I was in that kind of mood.

This probably will not be my last post. I will try to post and update you guys on how my job search in France is doing, and when I will be coming back to the states. I hope to see you all this summer before I start my classes for my senior year at the end of August. I miss you all!

Today I don't have class because it's a national holiday celebrating the end of WWII. I heard everything is closed, but my friend and I are going to try to go to the beach anyways. Who wants to waste such a beautiful day? It's 75 degrees and sunny, and I don't have exams today....I don't want to miss it!

So, all said and done, I would have to say that my experience in France was something I am really glad I had the opportunity to do. It truly was a once in a lifetime experience, and I would highly reccommend it to anyone wishing to study abroad. I have friends who didn't have as great of a time as I did. I'm not sure if it was the place I'm in, the friends I've made, or just the sunshine all year long, but I truly enjoyed this year. I wish my cousin Nolan best of luck next year. He's studying in France next year....I don't remember what city, but it's not too far from here he said.

Well, I will get going on posting all those pictures....

À bientôt!

I love and miss you all!

-Shannon

paris encore

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walking around rome

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Rome vatican

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Rome ruins

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I'm back from Rome!!!

All right, so I'm in the middle of uploading all of my pictures I took in Rome. I took a ton, so I'm sorry I had to split it up into multiple albums, and I'm sorry for the lack of real organization and/or labels...with over 200 pics, it's sorta hard for me to keep things organized. Here is a short list of what I did and/or saw in Rome:

-Colleseum
-The Vatican
-The Vatican museums
-the Pantheon
-saw random ruins...they all had names, but I can't remember them all...I just remembered that they looked cool
-ate tons of gelato...mmmmmm
-ate pizza
-lasagna :)

Then we were off to Paris for 2 days...where we did not much but sleep and wander the champs elysees....we were too lazy by then :P

The next 3 or 4 entries will all be pictures of my trip. As always just click on the picture, and it will take you to the photobucket album. Enjoy!

I love and miss you all!

xoxoxo

Shannon

ROMA!!!!!!

So, after a rather interesting day of travels...I finally made it to Rome. My flight from Paris to Rome was delayed and rerouted to the airport in Brussels, Belgium (which is a 3 hour bus ride away btw...) due to....FOG. So, after getting to Rome 6 hours later than expected...I am feeling rather drained....but hey...at least I got here...and the hostel is actually pretty nice. Free internet, breakfast in the morning, its actually clean. Cool stuff. So tomorrow Ill be seeing either the Vatican museum, or the colleseum...whatever we are in the mood for.

Once I get home Ill post pics...cant right now....not my computer. Cant write apostrophes either...silly Italian key board.

Gelato= freaking amazing greatness

I could totally go for trying more pizza though...we got some cheap stuff, and it was good...but I know theres better stuff here.

Well...Im gonna go. Ill talk to you all later!

I love and miss you all

bisous!

xoxoxo

I'm going to Rome!!!!

Hi Everyone!

So I have a break coming up the first week of March, and my friend Crystal and I decided to go to Rome. The flights were actually cheap that week, so we are really excited. We are going to end up paying 200 euros for flights and hostels, and then we have to pay for our own food and touristy things. I am so excited!!!! I've never been to Italy before. I promise to take lots of pictures.

Ugh...someone was knocking on my door at like 10 am....it's Saturday...I don't answer the door before noon damn it! So I pretended to be asleep. I have a feeling it was the new girl from Spain...I think I'm her only friend here so far. If she knocks on my door again I'll answer...it is now past noon.

On a different note, I finally found a good online French radio station. It's a mix of popular american music, and popular french music...I couldn't find one with just french....but all of the commercials and news flashes are in French...

I had a great week :) I am so happy right now!

I love and miss you all!

A bientot!

bisous!
xoxoxox

-Shannon

Hey! Long time no see!

So, sorry it's been about a month since my last post. It's just not a lot has been going on. I've been going to class like usual. I have all the same classes as last semester, so it just feels like a continuation of first semester....with some new kids.

I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do for my break the first week of March...Crystal and I were talking about going to Normandie...but we need to seriously get together and make plans. Valentine's day is coming up....or should I say "singles awareness day". I'm slightly depressed about that, but I'll be ok. I'll just buy myself some nice chocolate and watch a girly movie.

My roomie from the states showed me a clip from this musical that is going to be coming to Marseille in the end of May. I really want to go! It's called Cleopatre, and the music is so pretty! Here's a clip from the musical if you would like to see :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if9M-IFhySw

Well...I can't think of anything else to share, life is sorta boring at the moment. All I can say is at least it's not too stressful.

On a side note, I think all those headaches I've been having are migraines....I'm not sure if I should go to the doctor about it...I've been getting at least one a week for the past month. This week I've had one every day so far. It sucks.

Well, I'll talk to you all later!

I love you and miss you all!

Bisous!
xoxoxo

-Shannon

I'm freeeeee!

So, yesterday I had my last exam for the semester, and I'm pretty sure that I did ok on them all. Well, by ok I mean I think I passed them all. I got 2 of them back so far, both with passing grades....which if converted to american grades would be around B's or low A's....I'm feeling ok about that.

This weekend I think I'm going to go shopping for new jeans....mine no longer fit. I lost about 15-20 pounds since I left the states, and now I'm swimming in my jeans. That's what living in France will do to you I guess...I'm just lucky that right now everything is like 50% off due to after christmas season sales.

Well, next week my spring semester starts. There are a lot of new people, so I'm hoping to make some more friends.

I'll talk to you all later.

God! I'm having a hard time writing in English today....I'm not really sure why. I think it's because I've been practicing talking to people online in French so much for the last couple weeks that my brain is starting to switch to permanent french mode....ahhhh! it burns!!!!!

I love you and miss you all!

à bientôt!

bisous

xoxoxo

-Shannon

It's crunch time!

Bonjour tout le monde!

Well, the snow is all melted, and it's back up to 40 degrees Fahrenheit here in Aix. I've spent most of my weekend studying for my finals which are this week and the next week coming up. I haven't studied this much since I left the states. Most of this year has been review so far, along with a few things that I never knew before....random grammar rules, pronunciation, etc.

I don't have an exam tomorrow, but I do have exams I think every other day this week. I keep on getting confused on which classes have their exams when because of the half week of snow days we had last week. So I'm just going to be ready for an exam on the day of that class this week, and if the exam is next week, oh well, at least I studied.

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do after graduation. I would really love to go abroad again, but I didn't know if it was possible. Then I talked with my advisor, and she told me that she didn't know if I could go "study" abroad again, but I certainly could go teach English in a different country. That way I would get a certificate to teach English abroad. I am so excited. I would really love to go to a spanish speaking country for that because I want to improve my spanish. Next year I'll be taking spanish both semesters, so I'll probably be ok to spend a summer in a spanish speaking country. I also think it would be better for me to go to South America. I've already seen Spain, and living in Europe is so expensive. None of this is definite yet. I haven't made plans. My advisor was just giving me ideas of what I can do after graduation.

On a different note, completely out of the blue I learned how to roll my r's today. I was just sitting here studying and poof...I did it. I've been trying to do that for years because not only is it good for spanish, but now I'll be able to play those 16th notes on my flute with no problem.

Ok, I guess that's it for this random entry. I should get back to studying, even though I hate studying I know it's neccesary.

À bientôt!

Bisous!

xoxoxo

-Shannon

Ok, so I didn't go play in the snow today because it was 40 degrees today and everything was a big slushy mess. What I don't understand is why I still don't have school tomorrow. That's 3 days off for 6 inches of snow.

What can I say? France is weird, and it confuses me sometimes. Here are some pictures that I took yesterday at the dorms.

Isn't it pretty? and sort of spookily like Buffalo? I thought so....

Well, I'm going to go make a grilled cheese sandwich because I'm hungry.

I'll talk to you all later.

I miss you all!

Bisous!

-Shannon

Snow!!!!!! in Aix?

So, this is snow day number 2 for me. Yesterday it snowed 6 inches in Aix-en-Provence, and the french people didn't know what to do. They were all walking around with confused looks on their faces with their umbrellas. Who uses an umbrella in a snow storm anyways? That's completely pointless.

So, since I live in a rather hilly area, and they don't really have snowplows, I didn't have school yesterday, and I don't have it again today. I'm sort of glad that they didn't make me go to class. I wasn't looking forward to the 30-40 minute walk through the slushy snowy mess. The busses aren't running, and there's nothing open. I'm lucky I bought toilet paper the day before the storm :P

So, I will be living off of just noodles today because that's all I've got. But hey, at least I have food. I plan on going out again to play in the snow, so I'll post the pictures that I took yesterday, and hopefully some that I plan on taking today later on when I get back from the park.

It looks so white outside. There's steam in the air, and snow on everything, so even the air is white. The sky is white. It's so bizarre. Yesterday it looked so much like Buffalo outside it was scary. While everyone else was freaking out about the amount of snow, I was so excited to go play in it. Apparently they only get this much snow once every 10 years, so I was just so lucky enough to witness it I guess.

Ok, well, I'm going to go play in the snow now.

J'aime bien la neige! Je pense que je vais m'ammuser bien dans le parc aujourd'hui. Peut-être je ferai un homme de neige! Je ne sais pas encore.

Je vous souhaite une bonne journée! Vous me manque toujours!

À bientôt!

-Shannon

oh wait....you want a translation for that french? really? ok....

(I love the snow! I think that I am going to have fun in the park today. Maybe I will make a snowman. I don't know yet.

I wish you all a good day. I miss you always!

Talk to you soon!)

see? I can speak french and know what I'm saying :P

Happy New Year!!!!

Hi Everyone!

So, I just got back from my travels to both Dublin, Ireland and Barcelona, Spain. I had a great time. Just look at the previous two entries to see my pictures. In a way I am really glad to be back in France. I get to sleep in my own bed, take showers in my own shower, and not have to keep constantly switching languages. The hardest was when I was in Barcelona, because then it wasn't only between French and English, there was Spanish thrown in too.

I know, I've only taken one year of Spanish, but I know enough to be able to listen to some conversations and understand the basic concept. I can also ask simple questions and such. It was enough for me to survive in Barcelona for 4 days.

I had a great time, met some interesting people while staying in hostels the whole time, and I plan on going traveling again before I leave France in June. I think the next few places on my list are Germany and Italy. I don't know when I'll be going, or who I'm going with, or even if I'm going to those places, but there is where I want to go.

I would also like to go to Paris sometime, and maybe England again, but since I have already visited those places, I will not be too disappointed if I don't make it there.

I do wish I could have been home for Christmas because I feel that it is more of a family holiday. However, I did not mind being in Barcelona for New Year's. It was tons of fun. I went with my friend Crystal (who is from the states) and Haissam and Omar (who are Lebanese). So we constantly had guys with us, and we didn't get mugged like some people did. It's not safe to go to big cities like that alone.

All right, well I guess it's time for me to make a New Year's resolution. I've realized that I haven't been concentrating on making myself happy. I've been dwelling on the past and on what will never be. So my new year's resolution is to try to live in the moment. Enjoy life day by day, and take the good as it comes along with the bad and make the best of it.

Well, I'm gonna go do homework now I guess. My exams are coming up in about a week. Wish me luck!

I love and miss you all!

Bisous!

xoxoxox

-Shannon

New Year's in Barcelona!

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