Hey family and friends!
I'm writing this post sitting at my gate in Heathrow airport about to board my plane to head back home to New Zealand after being overseas for just under 3 months, but man has it gone quickly!
It feels like just a couple of weeks ago that I was waving goodbye to my parents and boyfriend at the Auckland airport departure gate about to begin my overseas adventure - and now here I am 11 weeks later and it's time to go home. As amazing as my trip has been, I feel so excited to get back and see everyone and get started on the next chapter of my life! This will involve moving 5 hours away to a new town, a new house and a new job (fingers crossed). That move in itself will present a whole new adventure for me and I'm so excited.
Something else I can't wait for is studying at uni next year and being a student again. This is kind of funny to me because I literally can't count how many people said to me "If you take a gap year you'll enjoy the freedom too much and never want to go back to studying". I love learning and working towards a goal, so simply giving myself a year off as a break isn't going to change that. And while we're on the topic of gap years, let me just say I definitely recommend it to anyone who is finishing high school but hasn't decided if/what they want to study. Personally, I think it's semi pointless going to uni or tech just for the sake of going - take some time and figure out what you actually want to do before committing your time and money to a degree or course.
I know I just went on a bit of a tangent sorry, but I just wanted to say that I'm so glad that I didn't just follow the crowd and go straight into further study. I have learned so much and gained so much worldly knowledge which I'm sure will help me in the future. Europe has been unbelievably incredible and every day I experienced new things, but I have missed the simple parts of normal life like cooking myself a proper meal, and going out with friends.
So I know some people have been wondering more specifically what I was actually doing here, so just a brief run down- for the first two months I was in France doing voluntary English tutoring through a company called Geovisions, then I went on a crazy seven-countries-in-nine-days Contiki tour in western Europe, with a few days in London on either side.
See you soon New Zealand!!
Wednesday, 22 June 2016
Friday, 3 June 2016
Recap - 1 week left in France!
Oh my gosh, I can not believe how fast time has gone. I have just one week left in this beautiful country before moving on to the next exciting part of my trip. The last couple of months living here in France have been so amazing, but have gone so quickly! So I thought I would quickly try to recap a few of the experiences I've had here which didn't end up with their own blog post...
- SNOW!!!! I know that I've seen snow on the mountains before and gone skiing or sledding or whatever but I don't think I've ever actually seen it fall from the sky, so that was pretty cool - literally.
- The VIP section at local basketball games! This involved half time snacks and French champagne as well as a dinner after the game and opportunities to hear interviews with some of the players from our team, Etoile (and even get kissed on the cheek by them!) I also met the Mayor of Charleville one time and he was pretty cool and he even knew about New Zealand.
- French yoga classes... well twice. This was a good way to teach me that I actually didn't remember the names of all the body parts in French! Turns out it's pretty hard to relax and get in the 'zen-zone' when you're trying to sneakily copy the others in the class when you can't whip our google translate to check what on earth the teacher wants you to stretch and bend.
- Saturday morning markets with lots of local produce such as fresh fruit and veggies, deli, bread and of course, cheese. Great way to experience the community lifestyle here, bumping into friends, or friends of friends, or work colleagues, or neighbours at every stall!
- Getting lost in Paris by myself while trying to find a particular shopping mall - typical Sophie, right. I ended up walking around in not-very-comfortable-bad-shoe-choice-ankle-boots for around 6 hours with just a bottle of water and some chocolate. Let's just say thank god for the chocolate. I think I counted 8 blisters in total, not a bad effort shoes.
- English classes in French schools, both collège (middle school) and lycée (high school). These are actually so interesting to me seeing people trying to learn a language which comes naturally to me. It's compulsory here to study English, and another second language, at school which I think is super important as language learning is amazingly good for the brain and the heart and the soul (language nerd alert, sorry!) Also it was the first time I've sat in a classroom for about 7 months so that was fun too. Everyone here is so interested to learn about New Zealand!
Overall, France has so far been amazing and I think I made a really good life choice deciding to study French at high school, and actually following through with my dream of coming here. I'm also very excited to be coming home in about 3 weeks, so until then I hope you're all well and doing things that make you happy! Lots of love xxxx
- SNOW!!!! I know that I've seen snow on the mountains before and gone skiing or sledding or whatever but I don't think I've ever actually seen it fall from the sky, so that was pretty cool - literally.
- The VIP section at local basketball games! This involved half time snacks and French champagne as well as a dinner after the game and opportunities to hear interviews with some of the players from our team, Etoile (and even get kissed on the cheek by them!) I also met the Mayor of Charleville one time and he was pretty cool and he even knew about New Zealand.
- French yoga classes... well twice. This was a good way to teach me that I actually didn't remember the names of all the body parts in French! Turns out it's pretty hard to relax and get in the 'zen-zone' when you're trying to sneakily copy the others in the class when you can't whip our google translate to check what on earth the teacher wants you to stretch and bend.
- Saturday morning markets with lots of local produce such as fresh fruit and veggies, deli, bread and of course, cheese. Great way to experience the community lifestyle here, bumping into friends, or friends of friends, or work colleagues, or neighbours at every stall!
- Getting lost in Paris by myself while trying to find a particular shopping mall - typical Sophie, right. I ended up walking around in not-very-comfortable-bad-shoe-choice-ankle-boots for around 6 hours with just a bottle of water and some chocolate. Let's just say thank god for the chocolate. I think I counted 8 blisters in total, not a bad effort shoes.
- English classes in French schools, both collège (middle school) and lycée (high school). These are actually so interesting to me seeing people trying to learn a language which comes naturally to me. It's compulsory here to study English, and another second language, at school which I think is super important as language learning is amazingly good for the brain and the heart and the soul (language nerd alert, sorry!) Also it was the first time I've sat in a classroom for about 7 months so that was fun too. Everyone here is so interested to learn about New Zealand!
Overall, France has so far been amazing and I think I made a really good life choice deciding to study French at high school, and actually following through with my dream of coming here. I'm also very excited to be coming home in about 3 weeks, so until then I hope you're all well and doing things that make you happy! Lots of love xxxx
Saturday, 28 May 2016
My Attempts at Advice!
So there's this place. It's warm and cosy and comfortable and it's yours (no I'm not talking about your bed). It's a place where you could live quite contently forever and you'd never have to worry about being lost or hurt, because it's safe. It's familiar. This sounds like the best place ever, right?? Wrong.
This place I'm talking about is called 'your comfort zone'. And believe me there's so much beyond it, why, there's a whole wide world.
Everyone has a different comfort zone which is a different size with different boundaries - picture it like a house. Some people live in a small apartment alone with one bedroom and their cat. Others live in a home with a backyard with a swing set. Most of the time the size of their house depends on lots of things like their background and where they came from. I hope you're getting the picture here, what I'm trying to imply with my house metaphor is that not everyone's comfort zones are the same and they usually depend on someone's past and the things they've already experienced in life.
Me, for example, my comfort zone was probably like a little suburban house with some grass out the front with a bus stop to the city down the driveway. I was pretty set in routine - school, work, boyfriend, family - a normal teenage life. I liked to try new things, but I didn't really like to go places by myself. I never wanted to go to sport trials unless I had a friend already in the team to make sure the others wouldn't laugh at me. I hated standing and talking up the front of class unless it was group work and we could look like idiots together.
Occasionally I'd edge a toe or maybe even half my foot over the line between 'safety and risk', I'd stand up to someone at work when I wasn't getting treated fairly or I'd try a random new hairstyle for the day at school. Thrilling, I know.
But ever since I got on a plane to travel to the other side of the world by myself, I think I can say that I've at least begun exploring this new place, this wonderful and scary world which lies beyond the boundary of my comfort zone. Every day I try to challenge myself and push myself even further. But I'm not saying that I go climb a mountain everyday or anything. Sometimes I do just want to stay in bed and watch Harry Potter and that's absolutely fine, as long as I know that I'm not becoming stagnant or retreating back to get stuck in my safe place.
If you really know me or had seen the walls in my teenage bedroom, you'd know that I love quotes - so just google image 'comfort zone quotes' and you'll get hundreds of excellent cheesy ones (with cool mountainous backgrounds) which can motivate you if my own words haven't. But here's something which I think is so valuable to understand - your comfort zone will always be there waiting, but the rest of the world won't.
So I encourage you, whoever you may be, to take my advice and challenge yourself and do something that scares you! I'm not saying go skydiving or enrol yourself in the next theatre performance, but do something you normally wouldn't do or something you've been putting off because you're afraid. Post that really cute selfie you're proud of, even if you think it's going to get no likes. Talk to someone you think is too cool for you and make a new friend. Put on your shoes, pack a bag, and go explore!
I know this was a little different than my normal 'stories about travelling Europe' posts, but I was feeling inspired and wanted to pass on some kind of wisdom, if I can call it that. Have a wonderful day friends!
This place I'm talking about is called 'your comfort zone'. And believe me there's so much beyond it, why, there's a whole wide world.
Everyone has a different comfort zone which is a different size with different boundaries - picture it like a house. Some people live in a small apartment alone with one bedroom and their cat. Others live in a home with a backyard with a swing set. Most of the time the size of their house depends on lots of things like their background and where they came from. I hope you're getting the picture here, what I'm trying to imply with my house metaphor is that not everyone's comfort zones are the same and they usually depend on someone's past and the things they've already experienced in life.
Me, for example, my comfort zone was probably like a little suburban house with some grass out the front with a bus stop to the city down the driveway. I was pretty set in routine - school, work, boyfriend, family - a normal teenage life. I liked to try new things, but I didn't really like to go places by myself. I never wanted to go to sport trials unless I had a friend already in the team to make sure the others wouldn't laugh at me. I hated standing and talking up the front of class unless it was group work and we could look like idiots together.
Occasionally I'd edge a toe or maybe even half my foot over the line between 'safety and risk', I'd stand up to someone at work when I wasn't getting treated fairly or I'd try a random new hairstyle for the day at school. Thrilling, I know.
But ever since I got on a plane to travel to the other side of the world by myself, I think I can say that I've at least begun exploring this new place, this wonderful and scary world which lies beyond the boundary of my comfort zone. Every day I try to challenge myself and push myself even further. But I'm not saying that I go climb a mountain everyday or anything. Sometimes I do just want to stay in bed and watch Harry Potter and that's absolutely fine, as long as I know that I'm not becoming stagnant or retreating back to get stuck in my safe place.
If you really know me or had seen the walls in my teenage bedroom, you'd know that I love quotes - so just google image 'comfort zone quotes' and you'll get hundreds of excellent cheesy ones (with cool mountainous backgrounds) which can motivate you if my own words haven't. But here's something which I think is so valuable to understand - your comfort zone will always be there waiting, but the rest of the world won't.
So I encourage you, whoever you may be, to take my advice and challenge yourself and do something that scares you! I'm not saying go skydiving or enrol yourself in the next theatre performance, but do something you normally wouldn't do or something you've been putting off because you're afraid. Post that really cute selfie you're proud of, even if you think it's going to get no likes. Talk to someone you think is too cool for you and make a new friend. Put on your shoes, pack a bag, and go explore!
I know this was a little different than my normal 'stories about travelling Europe' posts, but I was feeling inspired and wanted to pass on some kind of wisdom, if I can call it that. Have a wonderful day friends!
Saturday, 21 May 2016
Going to Disneyland Paris (alone)!
Yep that's right, you heard it here first folks. I went to 'the happiest place on earth' with me, myself and I. Now ironically enough from someone who travelled to the other side of the world alone, I'm not the type of person who 'likes their own company' or particularly thrives off 'me time' - but it's one of those decisions I had to make, either go by yourself or not go at all. So I went, and it was magical.
I bought my ticket about a week ago, and it was a special '2 parks for the price of 1, which meant I got to experience not only Disneyland Park, but also Walt Disney Studio Park - which is where I found my favourite ride Crush's Coaster.
I'm not even that much of a Disney fan; I don't know the names of all the princesses, I don't have Frozen memorabilia, I've never ever seen most of the 'classics'. But I did grow up watching Disney Pixar films like Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, Toy Story etc. so it was cool to be able to relate to that side of it, and especially seeing my favourite characters come to life again in the parade - I'm telling you it really does make you feel like a kid again!
Overall I think the experience of going by myself was pretty good and no where near as boring as you think it will be. Plus I got to skip ahead in the lines so many times, when a family of 3 went on a ride with 4 seats for example. Also when you're by yourself you can literally just do as you please and not have to worry about making group decisions or holding up someone else when you want to look around the Toy Story merchandise for half an hour. Plus if you're feeling bored or lonely, there's thousands of other people there waiting in line for the Indiana Jones ride to be fixed - take it as an opportunity to talk to someone new from another country and start up a conversation!
Also just a money and time saving tip for anyone going to a theme park (or anywhere touristy) - take your own snacks and a big bottle of water! Every day in Paris when I would go out, I'd stop off at the supermarket before hopping on the metro and pick up some fruit, pastries or a sandwich for the day. These are great to snack on while you're waiting in line for rides or waiting for trains to arrive, so you save money by not having to buy overpriced-tourist-directed food, and you save time by not having to wait in a restaurant. Also, have a big breakfast and drink lots of water so that you don't have to spend a month's wage on lunch.
The only slightly annoying part is that the parks aren't really in Paris, well at least not central-Paris-which-you-can-a-metro-to-in-half-an-hour-Paris. I had to take two different metros, then the RER A to get out the region where the parks are and it cost me 1 hour and over 7 euros each way - which is kind of a lot for someone travelling on a budget!
Anyway, it was a fabulous day and I definitely recommend going if you happen to have a free day in Paris. I can't wait to check out the other Disneyland Parks around the world now. One thing which I really appreciated was how genuinely happy most of the cast members (what they call people who work at the parks) were and how much they got into the spirit to encourage all the visitors to have a fun day. I loved how at each ride they wore different costumes and adopted a personality to match the characters from the film the ride portrayed, especially at the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror - shout out to the guy making scary noises who made me jump a metre in the air when waiting for my ride!
So here are some photos from the day! More Paris posts to come soon :) also remember to sign up for email alerts when I post something new (it's that new thing on the right which I really hope actually works!) Bonne journée xx
I bought my ticket about a week ago, and it was a special '2 parks for the price of 1, which meant I got to experience not only Disneyland Park, but also Walt Disney Studio Park - which is where I found my favourite ride Crush's Coaster.
I'm not even that much of a Disney fan; I don't know the names of all the princesses, I don't have Frozen memorabilia, I've never ever seen most of the 'classics'. But I did grow up watching Disney Pixar films like Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, Toy Story etc. so it was cool to be able to relate to that side of it, and especially seeing my favourite characters come to life again in the parade - I'm telling you it really does make you feel like a kid again!
Overall I think the experience of going by myself was pretty good and no where near as boring as you think it will be. Plus I got to skip ahead in the lines so many times, when a family of 3 went on a ride with 4 seats for example. Also when you're by yourself you can literally just do as you please and not have to worry about making group decisions or holding up someone else when you want to look around the Toy Story merchandise for half an hour. Plus if you're feeling bored or lonely, there's thousands of other people there waiting in line for the Indiana Jones ride to be fixed - take it as an opportunity to talk to someone new from another country and start up a conversation!
Also just a money and time saving tip for anyone going to a theme park (or anywhere touristy) - take your own snacks and a big bottle of water! Every day in Paris when I would go out, I'd stop off at the supermarket before hopping on the metro and pick up some fruit, pastries or a sandwich for the day. These are great to snack on while you're waiting in line for rides or waiting for trains to arrive, so you save money by not having to buy overpriced-tourist-directed food, and you save time by not having to wait in a restaurant. Also, have a big breakfast and drink lots of water so that you don't have to spend a month's wage on lunch.
The only slightly annoying part is that the parks aren't really in Paris, well at least not central-Paris-which-you-can-a-metro-to-in-half-an-hour-Paris. I had to take two different metros, then the RER A to get out the region where the parks are and it cost me 1 hour and over 7 euros each way - which is kind of a lot for someone travelling on a budget!
Anyway, it was a fabulous day and I definitely recommend going if you happen to have a free day in Paris. I can't wait to check out the other Disneyland Parks around the world now. One thing which I really appreciated was how genuinely happy most of the cast members (what they call people who work at the parks) were and how much they got into the spirit to encourage all the visitors to have a fun day. I loved how at each ride they wore different costumes and adopted a personality to match the characters from the film the ride portrayed, especially at the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror - shout out to the guy making scary noises who made me jump a metre in the air when waiting for my ride!
So here are some photos from the day! More Paris posts to come soon :) also remember to sign up for email alerts when I post something new (it's that new thing on the right which I really hope actually works!) Bonne journée xx
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| Entrance to Walt Disney Studios |
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| I want these giant fairy lights!! |
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| The castle! |
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| Cinderella |
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| Frozen |
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| Toy Story |
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| Eyore from Winnie the Pooh |
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| The Lion King |
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| The Jungle Book |
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| Minnie and Mickey Mouse |
Wednesday, 18 May 2016
A new look?
Bonjour tout le monde!
You've probably noticed that my blog looks slightly different (and slightly less cool if I say so myself) but there is actually a reason behind this madness - I wanted to add an email subscription box, and the cool layout I had before wouldn't let me do it!! Or maybe it would but my own lack of technical ability wouldn't... I dunno but I hope it works!
I know how annoying it is to keep checking a website or blog in case there's something new and then there isn't and it was a waste of a solid few minutes! So, I added the little box you can see on the right just under my profile so that you can be up to date when I post. It redirects you to a slightly dodgy looking tab where you type in your email address and then you just have to verify it and voila! I hope this is actually useful and you do it, otherwise the cool designy template from before had to go for no reason, that is of course if anyone actually reads this. Even though it looks different, it's still going to be my same amazing posts!! The rest of which are just up there on the left too, so I think we're good! I really hope this all makes sense, tell me if it doesn't!
Anyway, back to the actual point of this blog... I'm currently in Paris! Woo! I have about three posts planned about my trip to Disneyland, my day at the zoo, oh and of course a great story about getting lost on my first day in Paris. But I've been doing so much everyday I haven't had time to piece all my thoughts together properly in a legible post, but they are coming I promise.
Hope you're all having an excellent day or night, depending on your hemisphere! À plus xxxx
You've probably noticed that my blog looks slightly different (and slightly less cool if I say so myself) but there is actually a reason behind this madness - I wanted to add an email subscription box, and the cool layout I had before wouldn't let me do it!! Or maybe it would but my own lack of technical ability wouldn't... I dunno but I hope it works!
I know how annoying it is to keep checking a website or blog in case there's something new and then there isn't and it was a waste of a solid few minutes! So, I added the little box you can see on the right just under my profile so that you can be up to date when I post. It redirects you to a slightly dodgy looking tab where you type in your email address and then you just have to verify it and voila! I hope this is actually useful and you do it, otherwise the cool designy template from before had to go for no reason, that is of course if anyone actually reads this. Even though it looks different, it's still going to be my same amazing posts!! The rest of which are just up there on the left too, so I think we're good! I really hope this all makes sense, tell me if it doesn't!
Anyway, back to the actual point of this blog... I'm currently in Paris! Woo! I have about three posts planned about my trip to Disneyland, my day at the zoo, oh and of course a great story about getting lost on my first day in Paris. But I've been doing so much everyday I haven't had time to piece all my thoughts together properly in a legible post, but they are coming I promise.
Hope you're all having an excellent day or night, depending on your hemisphere! À plus xxxx
Monday, 9 May 2016
A weekend away (1 month update)
So today marks 1 month since I arrived here in France, and 1 month left of my time in here in Charleville before I travel to London to begin my Contiki trip. Time has been going pretty quickly so I need to remember to make the most of every day (which I think is a very important thing to do anyway in everyday life)!
Thursday was a bank holiday so we took a trip to another town for the long weekend. We drove for around 4 hours to a little place called La Bresse which is a tiny village kind of near the France-Germany border. We stopped on the way in a town called Nancy, which I absolutely fell in love with. I'm definitely going to spend longer there next time I come to France, and I quite fancy the idea of a picnic under the trees in the park...
Anyway we spent Thursday to Sunday exploring the wilderness around this mountainous region, we collected herbs which then got turned into pesto, we walked to a swamp and rescued frogs from a drain, we walked and walked and just enjoyed nature - something us New Zealanders have the opportunity to do every day, but here in France is a little harder. We also took mini trips to other towns nearby, like Colmar in L'Alsace which had such interesting architecture and cute colourful buildings. The photos are below :)
Apart from that, just been continuing with tutoring English to my family and currently planning a little trip to Paris to visit some more of the touristy places which I might not get to see on my Contiki. Some places I hope to get to are the Paris Zoological Park, Palace of Versailles and Disneyland Paris - pretty much just try fit as much into my trip as possible, but we'll see what happens!
Missing my family and friends at home, but only 6 weeks until I see you all again!! À bientôt xx
Thursday was a bank holiday so we took a trip to another town for the long weekend. We drove for around 4 hours to a little place called La Bresse which is a tiny village kind of near the France-Germany border. We stopped on the way in a town called Nancy, which I absolutely fell in love with. I'm definitely going to spend longer there next time I come to France, and I quite fancy the idea of a picnic under the trees in the park...
Anyway we spent Thursday to Sunday exploring the wilderness around this mountainous region, we collected herbs which then got turned into pesto, we walked to a swamp and rescued frogs from a drain, we walked and walked and just enjoyed nature - something us New Zealanders have the opportunity to do every day, but here in France is a little harder. We also took mini trips to other towns nearby, like Colmar in L'Alsace which had such interesting architecture and cute colourful buildings. The photos are below :)
Apart from that, just been continuing with tutoring English to my family and currently planning a little trip to Paris to visit some more of the touristy places which I might not get to see on my Contiki. Some places I hope to get to are the Paris Zoological Park, Palace of Versailles and Disneyland Paris - pretty much just try fit as much into my trip as possible, but we'll see what happens!
Missing my family and friends at home, but only 6 weeks until I see you all again!! À bientôt xx
Friday, 29 April 2016
Exploring Charleville
Just a quick post today - I have lots of free time here as my volunteering tutoring sessions only take up the afternoon and my french classes are only twice a week and we mainly only go on outings during the weekend. So every day I go for a wander around my little town and explore the streets of North-Eastern France! (And yes I have been lost a few times but thanks google maps!)
I took some photos on today's walk to show you all how cute and French it is here! À plus xx
I took some photos on today's walk to show you all how cute and French it is here! À plus xx
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| Statue of Charles de Gonzague |
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| Cute little stalls selling crêpes, waffles and ice cream! |
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| The main street |
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| The museum of Arthur Rimbaud |
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| The Meuse River |
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| La Place Ducale, the centre of town |
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| Soon much yummy chocolate! |
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