Hugs

To my dear loved ones,

So it has been a while since my last post because my computer has gone to computer heaven.

Things have been going well here overall aside from a few bumps in the road. After spending a fair amount of time and money decorating my not-so beautiful room, I found out that I will have to start paying a hefty sum for rent. I would be fine paying for it if it had a kitchen or at least an extra sink to wash my dishes. Finding hair on my plates and forks from washing my dishes in the bathroom sink is getting quite old. Not only that, but the hot water available for the shower is quite unpredictable and they turn off the heating on all holidays.

I bought an iphone with the hope of being able to contact you all with the skype app, but they forgot to mention while I was dishing out quite a lot of money that the 3G network in France is too slow for skype.

Regardless of these little nuances, that are primarily only annoying and inconvenient, my head is still high and I am enjoying the French life and the company of the people around me. Well, needless to say, my family will be happy to know that I am no longer considering staying in France longer than I have to. Don't get me wrong there are some things that I love here, but I definitely prefer home.

My french is starting to pick up and it is so nice not having to ask people to repeat themselves 5 times, maybe now only twice haha. It takes so much diligence and dedication and hopefully with my stubbornness I will conquer my second language.

For the past two weeks we had a vacation for All Saints. My friend Suzanne and I got all excited to go to Bordeaux to check out the shops, yet when we arrived at the train station bright and early we found out there were no trains or buses going due to the strikes. Well, we then decided to hop on the next train to wherever it would go. In one hour's time we were in Limoges, which is a city known for their gorgeous porcelain and dinnerware. It was a great change of scenery and it started our vacation on a good note.

Then, I was off to a small town called, Boulazac, which is 10 minutes from Perigueux. I stayed with one of my student's families. They were so sweet and welcoming. I was thrilled to be able to use a kitchen to make some desserts and meals; well, it was a nice change from my toaster oven :).

Later that week the family went off to Paris and my two friends, Suzanne, Katharina and I stayed to watch their dog. We had free range in the house and it was wonderful. We made dinners, sat by the fire and enjoyed the comforts of being in a home.

After discussing my living situation the family has kindly offered for me to rent a room from them. Their home is a little far by foot to my school, so I am going to try and find a family closer. I am here in France for two reasons, the main reason is to learn french and the second is to see if I like teaching. Thus far, I am learning french at a normal speed, and teaching is ok (well, it's good when the students show up. Oh yes, this morning I had only one class, but I found out, after waiting for them for 10 minutes, that they randomly decided to skip class and go to a morning movie at the cinema). I think living with a family will be amazing for my french and it will give me the opportunity to pick up on french household tips. For example, one thing I learned last week is that they like to put fresh vanilla sticks into their sugar jars to add extra flavor for their desserts. I also learned how to iron and fold well haha; the mom thought it was hilarious that I was insistent on learning her mad ironing skills.

Anyway, I will try to keep you updated more often.

I hope everyone had a great Halloween, I sure missed it. The Europeans just don't get the hang of it! :)

GO GIANTS! Speak to you all soon. Oh yes, I AM able to chat on skype through the instant message thing on my phone, so if any of you want to you can add me, holly.milligan.

Also, my new number is 0033635413629

Hugs (the french people are afraid of them haha, they think kissing on the face is less personal),
Holly