Happy Camper

Hey everyone!

First and foremost, Happy Thanksgiving! Too early for anyone to be up in the states (except maybe Rodg) but I hope everyone has an amazing Turkey Day.

Aaaannnd This is the first blog coming from inside my apartment! That's right, I finally have internet! Which makes me one happy camper, let me tell you. And it also means that I never, and I mean NEVER have to go back to McDonalds. Even happier camper! As the place is a little messy right now, I won't include pics, but as my mom can attest, the skype tour takes very little time.

Well, it's my first thanksgiving away from home and I have to admit, it's quite depressing. Especially since I have to work today. There's no cutting up celery, onion, or bread with Gram the night before while watching the Red Wings, no waking up at 10 am to the smells of turkey and dressing wafting up to my room, no Thanksgiving Day Parade w/ mom going in a sing-song voice, "I love a parade."  But I'm taking solace in listening to some songs about America and a little country too (sorry Mom) And if you're wondering, listening to country music when you're away from home will make you feel VERY American, so that's good. But in the words of Simon and Garfunkel, "Michigan seems like a dream to me now." I also made sure to buy some American food to celebrate. On my Thanksgiving menu: Cereal, pb&j, and Oreos. Quite a culinary feat, huh? But as my apt has no oven, I couldn't attempt to make a turkey. And really, I can't cook, so...yeah.

Lastly, I'd like to take this opportunity to say what I'm thankful for. Going on this adventure has been far from easy and there's been some stressful times. But my family particularly my mother have been so supportive and encouraging for the past two months or so. Also, I want to thank my friends for giving me endless encouragement by writing and posting on my facebook wall. Even though we're not all together at school anymore, your love and support has kept me going these past few months and given me things to laugh about when I was down and out. So, to Mom, Sarah, Gram, Dad, Rodger, Bwhite, Laura Summer (since that's your name now) Sowa, Tawney, Sarah Russell, Chels, and Millsy a deep and sincere thank you.

Yep, cheesy, I know but I can't help it. :) But Happy Thanksgiving and hopefully I can watch the Lions lose later b/c it's just not turkey day without the Lions losing.

Pics of chicken hunting and Grenoble

The chicken hunting team

The box was not very effective

Chickens are fast, man

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The trap

And the string

I can't believe this actually worked

And back to Grenoble and the bastille

The boules

Not a bad view

City

Back to Mouchy, a much longer, steeper hike than I remember

There was snow, SNOW in October

Lot and lots of snow

We'll be there soon!

Charlene in the snow

At the summit

Perfectly clear day

Can you see the Bastille??? It's really tiny

Les Belladone

Where I used to run!

We made it!

I'm cold!

Strikes, vacas, and McDonald's

Hey everyone,
I had hoped that I would have made this newest post in my new apartment, but since I don't have internet yet I'm coming to you from McDonalds. The only place that has free wifi. I hope I don't have to explain the irony of this. I moved out of Marie Agnes' house almost two weeks ago. It was a sad farewell, but oh well. Life goes on. The last day at her house however, was quite eventful. A group of the neighbor's chickens had been chilling in our back yard and their owners had come to get them. Obviously chasing after them w/ a net didn't work. So after an hour, everyone went back home and gave up. After youtubing a video on how to catch chickens w/ one of those cages propped up with a stick with food inside, we decided to try it. In case you ever wondered if that trick actually works, it does. We propped up a laundry basket w/ a stick and put some bread underneath and sure enough, those stupid fowls walked right up underneath the laundry basket. After pulling out the stick, which was attached to the string we had the thing trapped. We caught 4 chickens this way. Not bad for a days work. I have video of it and I'll try to get it up on here soon.

After moving in to my apartment and taking a few days to settle in, it was off to Grenoble with my friend from study abroad, Charlene. After arriving and seeing the breathtaking scenery, I realized just how lucky I was to fall into such a picturesque place to study abroad. Charlene and I met up with her friend, Amandine, who is a university student there. We hung out, went out for drinks, went hiking, and played this awesome french party game called "Time's Up." Overall, it was a great couple of days, and again, I'll try to get pictures up soon of the hiking.

Hope everyone is well.