My Good Opinion

A quick summary of my year:




Photos / memories of the year:

HEY THERE.

First of all sorry I haven't updated in a while...
bad habit, I know ;). Now that I've apologised,
on to the latest gossip about my year abroad!

In December I journeyed back to England. On
Saturday the 18th December I took a train from
Nancy to Paris - simple, right? No. This being France,
my train was cancelled but LUCKILY I just happened
to be at the station 2 hours early and so managed to
catch an earlier train. This meant waiting 2 hours
longer in the very small & boring train station of
Bar-Le-Duc.. joyous (sarcasm). If I hadn't have
brought along a book, I would surely have
died of boredom. It really was that bad. Anyway
I managed to get to Paris just after 10pm, and
found my hotel. It looked a little shabby inside
my room but what the hey, I was only staying
for a night.. Only got 2 hours of sleep

On Sunday morning I was (understandably) tired but
I left the hotel quite early to get to the Gare du Nord,
from where my Eurostar left. The queues were
horrendous; they stopped half-way down a staircase,
next to a broken escalator. I had to drag my bag down
the escalator and then halfway up the stairs. Also an
old couple attempted to push into the line (not really
that old, maybe about 50) but the man was so rude.

I was one of the lucky people who managed to get on
to the Eurostar I'd originally booked but as soon as we
were onbord the train sat at the station for an hour and
a half. Because of snow on the lines, the Eurostar
journey took 3 hours longer than expected, meaning I
missed my connecting train from London. Fortunately
there was a later train to the station I wanted. After
a day of such hectic travelling I was sick of
trains and suitcases. All I wanted to do was rest
and sleep - and eat a decent meal!

Even after the stress of getting home, I had a
wonderful time in England. I came back to
Nancy in early January (all my trains were on
time for once) and sat some exams. I just recently
received the results - passed most of them and
overall achieved an average pass which is fantastic.
The exams themselves were long and boring.
Some were hard, some were easy and some
were just ridiculous. After exams we had a gap
of one week before term started so I went back to
England, to relax - though I also had to visit
Norwich. where I study, in order to find a house.

On the Wednesday of my holiday back home (the
19th January) I travelled to Norwich for some
house-hunting. I had several appointments to view
a few different houses to rent. My three
housemates-to-be had given me the all clear to
find a decent house and to sort out paying deposits
etc. The first viewing I had booked didn't go
well at all: I arrived at the house and waited
ten minutes but the landlord had still not
showed up. I rang him and, sounding as if he
was still in bed & enjoying his sleep, he replied
brusquely that the houses had been let.
Rude.

Luckily the second appointment was better
and I got to see some really nice houses. In
the end I chose one and settled the contract/
deposit issues. I returned home (after seeing
a few friends including my lovely housemate
from last year who let me stay -unplanned-
at her house for the night).

I got back to Nancy at the end of the week.
I was in a good mood but that was affected
by having to put a timetable together; everything
seemed to clash or be changing all the time.
I finally managed it and have now chosen
some decent-looking modules to take.
As soon as I'd decided on what to pick for
this semester, however, I came up against
an even worse problem...

My laptop, which I nicknamed 'Mr Bergstrom'
(the keen Simpsons viewers among you will
recognise the homage to Lisa's substitue
teacher) decided to give up and die. I had
-and still have- no idea what is wrong with
it, despite taking it to some technicians.
A man from 'LaboFNAC' (or the equivalent
of a department-store repairs team) came to
take a look and to try to retrieve up my data
but unfortunately it was inaccessible and
so I lost everything; photos, music, university
documents etc...

I at least have internet access; my uncle lent
me his old notebook computer that he no
longer uses. (I know why he doesn't use it
now too, the battery life is incredibly short
and it only lasts for a maximum of 40 minutes
when unplugged). Better than nothing I guess.

On to the good stuff..

Last weekend I got the chance to go on a trip
to Brussels with the local division of the ESN
(Erasmus Student Network). It was fantastic.
I tried flavoured beer, and 'specialty' beer from
a brewery [not a beer fan though so didn't
appeal to me much] and got to eat some
delicious Belgian chocolate.

Yesterday I went to the cinema to watch
Black Swan and despite it being well received
by critics, I thought it mediocre at best. The
themes in the film were interesting but the
gags used were old, the symbolism too obvious,
the 'subtle' references too obvious and some
of the thrilling /scary moments seemed
downright silly... definitely not one of
the best movies I've seen.

More soon,
Niz xxx
p.s. As always you can find me on twitter
at http://twitter.com/NizInFrance

Howdy!
For those of you who don't understand, the title
of this blog post is a play on words...

First we have the format and the word "Harry",
an important clue. This is because I've been to
see Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows 5 times
at the cinema... 4 in English and 1 in French.
Snape's dubbed voice made him lose all his
charm, his mystery & his allure... and Hermione
sounded positively middle-aged. That's why I
had to rewatch it in English today.

Peru. You might ask why I would mention
Peru; it's hardly close to France. Well...
Apparently the admin here at Nancy 2
think...wait for it...
that I am Peruvian. Yep, you read that correctly.
Despite them having my real nationality
(British) on file, they think I was born in Peru.
Rather odd.

HOLIDAYS ARE COMING! This is a good thing.
Rather sadly the Coca Cola Christmas advert
has changed, which isn't good at all.
I'll get to spend 2 weeks at home and then when
I get back I have exams left, right & centre...
I'm thinking about returning to England for a
few days (well, 10) between the end of my exams
and the beginning of class... but we'll see.

At the beginning of this month I went to the famed
Strasbourg Christmas market, with friends. It was
lovely enough but not quite as...dazzling as I'd
expected. (If you associated that word with
T---- a certain book series, get off my blog :P.)
The roasted chestnuts were delicious though.
Luckily they're to be found here in town too.

Meeting up with a friend tomorrow and then going
to the cinema (with another friend) - this time to watch
the latest Narnia film.

Not quite sure what to add so have a
merry Christmas!
Niz xxx
 

For some reason which NOBODY seems to know,
Harry Potter 7 (Part 1!) came out on the 24th Nov
here in France...
an entire week after every other country
(the UK, the US, Spain, Germany, Italy and even
Singapore!)

So I went to seeit on opening night dressed as a
witch, complete with hat and cape (aaand my tshirt
which quotes Draco Malfoy from A Very Potter Musical
on youtube; "My name is Draco Malfoy. I am a racist.
I despise gingers and mudbloods, I hate Gryffindor
House and my parents work for the man who killed
your parents. Friends?" -the actual end of the quote
is "Do you want to be my friend?" but it was long
enough already! On the back was "I want Hermione
Granger and a rocketship). Sooo thanks to my lovely
disguise I got a free ticket (woohoo).

Friday night (after Faim d'Échanges which I'll talk about
in a moment) I went to see it a second time. It was still
just as good (oh and this ticket was free too, a present
from the Faim d'Échanges people). I think it's really quite
loyal to the book (except obv. some tiny details) and
I loved it :D. So much so that I went to see it again...

Friday night was the little Faim d'Échanges meeting.
Well, I say little but I mean big. Massive even. It took
place in the Hotel de Ville (chandeliers everywhere)
overlooking Place Stanislas (the famous town square
built for a king) and it consisted of foreign students
being introduced to French families who would
then host a meal for them :D. Simple, right?
My "family" consisted of a man, woman and girl (Xavier,
Valérie and Zoé) [Zoé's brother Théo wasn't there].

On Saturday I met up with a friend, Emma, and we sat
in the small room near the reception of the Monbois
student accommodation building. We were writing for
NaNoWriMo (INTER-national novel writing month -
nanowrimo.org) for a couple of hours and then I went to
see HP7 for a third time. I noticed some details like
the fact that at Bill & Fleur's wedding there was one
(possibly 2 women?) woman wearing a sari.


Today (Sunday) I woke up early but still didn't really
do anything till lunchtime when I took the tram to go
and visit "my" French family (again, the Faim d'Échanges
program). Got there 10 minutes early. They have a nice
house full of lovely artsy stuff (and BOOKS, yay! Noticed
several incl. translations of Of Mice & Men, Agatha Christie
novels, Harlan Coben books & The Alchemist, woot).
They're all really nice people too. Zoé is studying law
and English so hopefully I'll get to chat to her in Eng
sometimes :).
[For the win: I wore cute a penguin tshirt. YAY]


Lunch was yummy; vegetable crumble and lots of
other little bits :). We spoke about a whole range of
subjects and I felt pretty comfortable there. After a
while we went to this little jewellery exposition thingy
for makers of individual jewellery. It was quite funky.
Then we went to Théo's workshop to see his
glasswork and I got to watch him making a couple
of creations (he makes rings, necklaces, keychains
and all sorts). It was great!

So I had a fun & brilliant day.
Later!
Niz xxx

What's been going on since I last updated, you ask!
Lots!

My parents came to visit with my aunt & uncle and now, thanks
to them, I have a fridge! THREE CHEERS. It's so useful.
Plus it was fab to see my family (1 month, 2 days till I'm back).

Apart from that I went to PARIS with the ESN (Erasmus Student
Network to you!) and it was simply amazing... possibly one of the
best trips of my life. Really this year is the bee's knees. Figuratively.

We saw the Bastille (what's left of where it was anyway!), the Place
des Vosges, the Sacre Coeur (in which I witnessed my very first
Catholic mass - booming, echoing priest voice!), the Moulin Rouge
(right next to a small bank and then next to that a Quick burger! LOL),
the Louvre museum (and the Mona Lisa!), Versailles palace and
of course the ever beautiful (only at night!) Eiffel Tower...
and lots more. Walked so much my feet huuuurt.

The ESN people were really kind and funny, and everyone
on the trip was pretty cool. We stayed in a youth hostel which
was literally (yes) 5m away from the Louvre, walking. So cool.
And I went on a boat trip down the Seine with 3 friends.
Despite the crazy wind and rain it was AMAZING. Paris
is gorgeous at night by the way.
(Ooh so is the Pont Des Arts, an ugly bridge with mesh
wiring where people have added padlocks with their
names written or etched in...couples mainly.)

So, since I've last "spoken" to you, I've had a couple
of tests in class (good but boring) and got a new, short
haircut...very chic and at the height of French fashion ;)
haha.

Also this year I'm doing NaNoWriMo again. It's the National
Novel Writing Month online competition with the goal of
writing 50,000 words in 30 days (November)...but I only have
15k and haven't written at all during/since Paris trip so I
might have to give this one up...!

There you are, that's all my news. How are you?
Till next time,
Niz xxx

p.s. I got sung to by a cool guitar-playing guy in a pub in Paris!
It was fab.

It's been over a week since I've updated (sorry!) but nothing
much has been happening. What has happened? I'll move
on to that now! (NOTE: blog posted on Oct 19th but I actually
should have posted it on the 12th so I'm backdating!)

First of all my new phone is working pretty well; I can use
the internet on it which leads to me using it in class ;).
Guilty as charged! I am paying attention to the profs too though.


Secondly, the French don't like my blood. Or rather, English
people's blood (ok so technically I'm not English but you
know what I mean).

They think all English people who lived there before 1996
have got the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease...it'sa brain disease
and yes there's a type of it which doesn't appear till a few
years later BUT you get it from eating meat and considering
my whole family is veggie... anyway, I've always been able
to give blood in England...

After researching a bit I did fing out that I can never give blood
in the US, Australia, France, Switzerland, Germany, Canada,
Singapore, Poland or the Czech Republic! Pah.

I tried to give blood at the Nocturnes Etudiants, some
student concerts but obviously was unsuccesful. Ah well,
guess I shall keep my blood to myself, huh?!

Yesterday went to see the American film Kaboom, sub'd
in French but I only learnt a rather impolite word which
is probably not much use in most situations O_o.

Tomorrow I have a mock exam and next week, on the 19th,
I have the real thing (grammar exam).

Right, chat later!

Niz xxx

Hello everyone,
am writing from my bed.
SORRY I didn't post this earlier, I posted the
French version and then forget about
translating (so yes, I'm posting on the 19th
October but back-dating the entry because then
you get a nice, orderly view of my life!).

Friday night (ok, read as if I wrote this on
the 4th October!) I went to Oktoberfest with
ESN Nancy. I wasn't sure if I'd wanted to go
seeing as I don't drink beer but my friends
managed to convince me - and I realised
it would be a good experience (rightly!).

Friday midnight was when everyone met
up at Place Carnot, Nancy, in front of a
bus (eventually there were 3, I was on
number 2). I was sat nect to a tall
French guy who'd been a member of
ESN the year before, and there were
also people I knew around me.
Unfortunately the toilet on the bus
(wait, wait, coach... it's 'bus' in French)
wasn't working BUT luckily nobody threw up.

We got to Munich (or München if you're German)
and the Oktoberfest tent at 6am. There were
small rides like in a theme park, which was
kinda awesome...especially as they played random
50s music and stuff :). I was totally envious of the
German girls & women wearing traditional dresses
called Dirndls. They looked so good! However in
the shops they (the dresses, not the women!) cost
around 90 Euros.

We walked around Munich a bit too, climbed up
the top of a church tower and saw a 360 degree
view of the city. I took 539 photos that day!

Near the end of the trip, Alan (an American) and I
got given the wrong directions by the German
police! Ridiculous. But we made it back to the coach.

I bought an awesome hat - it's a lion wearing a tiny
wizard hat, with a flower on the side. It reminds me
of Rumbleroar from A Very Potter Musical :D. Also
bought a tshirt with "Make Oktoberfest
Munchen crazy" on it, as well as another tshirt
with Oktoberfest 'ingredients' on it.

It was such a fab day and I think this is really going
to be one of the best years of my life. The only bad
thing about Oktoberfest was that I was ill. I almost
lost my voice but got it back after a few days. German
pharmacies seem to be much cheaper and better
than those in France. I bought throat sweets and
Pyralvex, which is like German Bonjela :D.

Right, I must go, I have class and all that.
See you later readers!
Niz xxx

Hi all, I'm writing from a computer room
at uni = annoying AZERTY keyboard as always.
I updated my French blog last night because
if I hadn't, I wouldn't have got round to it
till about October probably!

I've been having an amazing time recnetly but
as my memory is terrible, I keep forgetting
all the cool/awesome things that happen.
Sometimes I update my Twitter account more
often than this blog so be sure to check that
out - twitter.com/theveganone

On Thursday I went to a small shop in town and
bought a bike! It cost 25€, plus &à€ for the
lock, and was secondhand but still that's
pretty good, right? On Friday I went to Paris
by train and here my bike really saved me -
I ended up waking up at 5.45am and my train
was due to depart at 6.15am! Had to rush to
get everything ready and then sped down to
the station on the bike. Phew.

Arrived at Paris Est train station at 7.40
am-ish and had to wait till 10.40 for the
Eurostar to arrive, which brought with it
my sis, her bf, my 'other' sis and her bf.
Met them at the Gare du Nord which is
quite a lovely station really.

Paris is gorgeous and the architecture
is amazing. It was a bit odd being in
one of the most romantic cities along with
two couples but meh, it was all good. I
seriously want to go back to the shop Desgual,
they have some funky hippie/customised clothes XD.


Climbed the Eiffel Tower in the afternoon/eve,
waited for the sunset to see it alight and look
out over all of Paris in it's illuminated majesty.
To be honest the Eiffel Tower, to me, is kind of
an eyesore except for when it's lit up :).
Also went to the Hotel des Invalides which Napoleon
built for injured soldiers (all topgether now,
d'awwww). Saw the Louvre from outside but didn't
have enough time to go in and explore unfortunately.

Notre Dame Cathedral is also seriously beautiful,
and the detail of the carvings on the building is
incredible. There were sparrows seated just outside
and I fed them - they came and sat on my hand; at
one point I had 4 on my hand at once.

On Sunday I came back to Nancy in the early
afternoon. 3 friends - Pilar, Matu & Alan
were waiting for me :). They gave me a flower
which was nice till Pilar discovered an insect
inside it - she hates insects!

As I've said before, I received a letter from
Hayley last week and I started writing a reply
but unfortunately forgot to take it with me
to Paris so have had to continue it today!

My uncle gave his netbook/notebook pc to my sis
to give to me so I can use it for my classes and
all, which is super. The battery is quite worn
out though so I went to FNAC to buy a new one,
which should be ready in about a week hopefully :).
For 60€ it had better work well!

Yesterday received my bank card (yays! Also it has
a cool design on it of a cinema clapper in purple).
With my bank card I was finally able to go to the
Phone House (Carphone Warehouse to me & you) to
change my sim card. Bought a new one, contract one
this time - will cost me 40€ per month but with
that I get 2hrs calltime, unlimited texts and MMS,
unlimited internet and free calls between 9.30pm & 8am.
Not bad. (Only to France though so will keep other
sim for international texts if the need arises).
Sim won't start working till the 7th -or was it
the 17th- October though.

Within this deal? I got a phone for 50 cents -
a Sony Ericsson X10 Xperia Mini which is a small
Android phone (touch phone!) and is rather nifty.

So, 'tis almost October; I have a piece of
coursework to do before the October halfterm here
and I'm going to attempt to sign up today for the
ESN trip to Oktoberfest :D. But there are only 50
places left so I have to go today...trip is this
weekend, leaving at midnight on Friday.


Also handed in all the necessary documents to get
CAF allowance - like a housing aid for all students,
foreign or not. Hopefully it'll arrive soon :D.

Right, that's all I have to say for now (except that
sign language class was amazing). Also I've probably
forgotten some stuff since my memory is pretty bad.

Niz xxx

:)

Yesterday (Mon 21st) I wore a pink top, jeans,
pink/yellow gloves, a pink scarf and pink shoes
- and I had a pink icecream (strawberry) and my
phone's pink as well. Funny times.

Sooo today I had to go and print some documents
at uni (just homework and stuff) but helpfully for
me the printer in the one computer room I know
of wasn't working, sigh. Not a problem, I just
printed some stuff at the copy shop down the road.

Woke up at 8am...and my first class was at 8...
oops. I was hella tired though - and it was only
a lecture so not a seriously bad problem.

On another note, I've already finished a whole
pot of Speculoos sread - but it's damned
delicious. Mmmm.

Also sent a few postcards already (if I know you,
send me your address and I can post you some
thing too :D). Also got a letter from a friend back
in England, Hayley. She included some cool
little doodles with hilarious 'French' notes e.g.
"Le beret", "le cheese" and "le sexy frenchman"!
LOL.

Also my neighbour (Spanish girl, Pilar, from acros
the corrirdor) just brought me some cake - we're
celebrating a fake relationship haha.

Seen looots of funny things which reminds me -
shall be making a blog post here with photos
in it :D. Class is going well too...

That's all folks,
Niz xxx