A new countdown begins...South Korea or Dubai?

Well it has been just over 3 years and despite some 'minor' traveling (Cayo Coco, Cuba for a wedding Feb 2009, Victoria in June 2009 and June 2010 for workshops, New York 2010 for a conference and Newfoundland 2010 for a wedding) I am just now starting to prepare my next extended adventure.

Well I should back up a bit first (or rather come back to the present)..... It is now Wednesday December 8th 2010 and in less than a week I will be defending my M.A. thesis. Nervous is a little bit of an understatement at this point.  However, I received some excellent advice from a friend this evening...her advice "give up shame for life" (in my mind shame/embarrassment (or rather the fear of) are intrinsically linked to nervousness...therefore advice = good and relevant to thesis defence!).  My friend came about this way of thinking when she decided to "give up shame for lent" (absolutely brilliant idea if you ask me!  Way better than giving up chocolate or liquor or in the case of Josh Hartnet in 40 days and 40 nights SEX  *!#@)...this has developed into a life mantra for my friend and from the sounds of it, things are starting to pay off.  So from here on out, I intend to give up shame for life (at least to the best of my abilities [however, I do see that a modicum of "shame" is probably ethically and morally necessary...meh....let's give it a whirl] ). So Defence here I come!  I defy you to make me nervous! (that's taking it too far isn't it?) 

Aside from the defence (and yes it is spelled with a 'c' when referring to a thesis defence), I am looking ahead to August 2011 with great excitement. I have decided to take a little break from my never-ending studies and teach overseas for a year. The next question is where to teach?  The original plan was to go to South Korea, however recent tensions have been weighing on my conscious (travel advisories have been posted by the Canadian government for South Korea "Tensions have increased significantly on the Korean peninsula since a multinational investigation team concluded in May 2010 that the North Korea was responsible for the recent sinking of a South Korean warship that resulted 46 fatalities. The shelling of a South Korean island by North Korea in November 2010 is likely to cause even greater inter-Korean tensions, which could escalate into other forms of confrontation at any time." http://www.voyage.gc.ca/countries_pays/report_rapport-eng.asp?id=153000).

My travel partner and I are not yet ruling out South Korea, however, we are keeping a close eye on the current political situation. The other location we are considering is Dubai. We have heard some excellent reviews from friends of friends who have worked in Dubai, so it is now officially on the very very short list!  Also, rumor has it the pay is marvelous and since the goal of this mission is, not only to see another part of the world, but also to start paying down some of those pesky student loans, Dubai sounds great!

I should mention that before I even get to Dubai I have to (or rather I should) finish all of my PhD course work....This is very doable, as long as I bend the system as much as I can!

So here is to the start of the countdown to my next little adventure! August is just around the corner!  First things first BRING ON THE DEFENCE!

The Honeymoon phase is over...

Well i've been home just over a month. Whoever said that going away was the hardest part had it all wrong. Coming home is proving to be somewhat of a challenge.
Tips for those returning from a long sejour:
1. YOUR OUT OF THE LOOP! You've been gone a year. To a large extent home never changes, but little things here and there do.
-friend dynamics can change
-you miss little references to things that have gone on in your absence
2. If they weren't there people don't want to hear about it!
People may say they want to hear about your travels, but the truth is they don't! It's not a mean thing, it's just that if they haven't lived it, they can't understand it. Some will try to but the "one time in france..." stories will lose their glamour pretty quickly!
3. Have you ever noticed that when your away you only ever hear the bad. Sensationalism at its finest! When you come home the same is true. At least for a while. Friends will want to fill you in on their woes. So be prepared to the shoulder that they have been waiting for, until you get back into the swing of things and get to see the good and bad as they unfold around you.
Reverse homesickness is a completely natural thing, and it will wear down with time, but be prepared for the fact that it will never completely go away! The places we travel are rarely changed by our presence, but we are forever changed by the people we meet and the places we see. To this day I still get reverse homesickness for Jasper, in the month of March, that sejour was in 2002! I can only imagine how much I'll crave France!

Last week in Nantes: Almost shot and tear gassed but hey gotta love the French!

Well the last week in Nantes was great. I had my cultural report to finish which kept me busy but I still managed to get out a bit with friends.
On the monday (may 7th) a couple friends came to visit, Nicoles from bordeaux arean, and Agathe and Nadine from Paris. We decided to head out and check out some Nantes night life. On our little promenade we heard some yelling etc. which was fairly normal considering the results from the elections had just been released and they had been adverstising a rally or protest in the area. On our lovely little walk down one of the many little alley ways Nantes has to offer, we heard some louder screaming followed by some lovely shots fired, about 8 in fact. The next thing we know we are caught right in the middle of a stampede!!
Luckily me, nor my friends managed to get shot by the little rubber bullets being fired by the riot police in the neighbourhood. We decided to make our way to the other side of town which seemed much more quiet and friendly. We went to cafe culte and indulged in one of their racks of shots - vodka caramel my favorite. The night was winding down and I thought we should head home for some rest. I had to meet up with my friend David who insisted I not walk home alone in the chaos of Nantes. Due to the riots the trams were not exactly running regularly, cars were being lit on fire etc. so I thought I would take him up on his offer. Behold on my way out of the bar towards the little walking passage I needed to cross to get to rue de la juiverie and the safety of John McByrne I come between a group of rioters and a full line of police in riot gear - who seemed rather eager or at least ready to launch some tear gas into the crowds. I sent my friends on their way on safe route home and ran my little heart out to the John. Of course when i get there and tell Davey boy and the rest of my adventures they decide that it would be fun to go and find some trouble (because of course Dave wanted me to get home safetly! And also it wasn't enough that Pete got tear gassed the night before!). Luckily for me, there was no more trouble to be found. The crowds had moved on to another part of town, which the boys in their drunken state (or hangover state) no longer had the patience to find. It was a marvelous adventure and just another example of the chaos that can be France. Awhh how I miss it!!!

3 weeks of vaca La Rochelle, Bordeaux, St Emilion, Paris, St Brevin, Majorca (font de sa cala, Palma etc...)

WELL....................

I have just done some marathon travelling...

My sister just left today after 2 fabulous weeks. We started off our vaca at my host families beach apartment at St Brevin. It was amazing! The next day we left for Paris. I put Nicole through Paris marathon style: We walked from the Latin Quarter to the Eiffel tower...then we walked around looking at the sites: Champs Elysee etc. Next day off to Versailles, then the louvre, Notre Dame etc. and the last day a last marathon trip to Pere lachaise cemetery to say hello to Jim and then a marathon trip of the Louvre before catching our train.

The next day we left for Majorca: All inclusive baby...

There was a group of people our age. We partied together all week. We met a nice couple who drove us around Majorca one day: Through the mountains etc. We also did a day trip to Palma. The weather was crappy the first couple of days but then we had sun, sun, sun!!!

Upon our return Nicole got to meet all the girls. We did a good old bar night at the John McByrne.

Nicole last night was spend at the beer gardens - My prof from Canada came down and the girls had a nice little night out with her and our Canadian prof. Me and Nic got to bed at 2:30 am after a little incident.

We slept through our 4am alarm, and thank you to Pam, managed to still catch the flight!!!!!

I LOVE YOU NICOLE, thank you for visiting me. The 2 weeks were fantastic. Also Priya thank you for visiting, and Elodie it was great seeing you again! My vaca was fabulous (except maybe for the quick sand incident!)

Quick update!

Well I just got back from a few days in Bordeaux...now anyone reading my blog might say but Tara you hated Bordeaux. I'm a strong believer in second chances, and in fact I loved Bordeaux so much that I stayed for 3 days this time. It helped a little that I got to do a private wine tasting at St Emilion - where I bought my 'wedding wine' for me, Christina and Meghan. I'm also enjoying my travels because my friend Priya came to visit me from Canada. The other day we had a picnic on the coast of the atlantic with Champagne, rilletes, cheese, baguette and some lovely french deserts! I also got to see my friend Elodie again, who lives in France but stayed in Canada for a year. She met up with us in Bordeaux for a day.
All in all everything here is good. Nicole will be here on Saturday and I only have one more week of classes after my holiday. My year is coming to an end. I'm going to miss this country so much, I know I can always come back but I'll never get this year back. The girls here have become like family, and I've met a lot of people that it will be really hard to say goodbye to. This year has been the best experience of my life to date. I know I have grown so much this year. I can't wait to come home and see everyone and share the stories and the pictures. Enough sob stories! I still have a month left.
I love you all, stay tuned - i'm sure i'll have lots of eventful stories after me and Nicole get back from Majorca!
xoxoxo
Tara

week from hell

Well this week has been fun! It's super stress time in the semester and of course I get sick! I have a million exams and papers due, and a million places to go for my cultural report. The good news is that after this week of hell I have my friend Priya coming for a week, and then my sister for 2 weeks. Me and Priya are going to check out some places here in France, me and Nicole are doing Paris (i'll be doing the touristy stuff for the 270000 time, but it's always cool to see other peoples reaction when they see the eiffel tower for the first time). Then me and Nicole have a week at an all inclusive resort in Majorque (Spain) booked! After Spain we will have one full day in Nantes together so I can show her the stuff aroud here. I can't wait to see her.
Some more good news to kick off my week: I got a house for next year in Waterloo. It's an 8 month lease which is awesome because I won't have to worry about subleting in the summer!
Now I just have to figure out whether or not i'm doing my course this summer, this will decide the date of my return to Canada!
Anyhow, i've got to go finish my laundry write a paper for history, do some reading responses for Philosophy and study for 2 exams before my 5pm class! Oh the life of a student!

Dublin for St.Pats

Well I know I still haven't given my detailed account of my trip to Germany (i'm at the crazy busy point of my semester), but I thought I would tell ya'll a little bit about Dublin on St Paddy's day weekend.

We arrived in Dublin on Friday morning and headed straight to Dublin castle to make an appearance on Canada AM. I bought a lovely green cowboy hat at the airport to wear for the occasion, and I also brought my Canada flag along with me! It was pretty cool, but it was cold and the other girls were hungry so we left before we got to say hi to our parents on the air!

after a nice little lunch we made our way to the Guiness Brewery to do a little tour. Because it was St Pats every floor (there are 5 floors) had beer samples and food! we got to try all the different brands of guiness and had salmon and cream cheese on Guiness bread! On the fourth floor we you could pour your own pint and drink it (you get a perfect pour gift certicate) and on the fifth floor you get yet another pint of guiness. There were three live bands playing throughout the building, it was quite great!

A few facts about guiness that I found interesting:

-The guiness book of world records from guiness the brewers. The book was created to help barmen settle disputes in their bars.

-The creator of guiness signed a 2000 year lease for the brewery in the 1700's, so we will be able to enjoy guiness for a very long time

-Guiness beer was actually created by accident, they accidentaly burnt the barley and thus created guiness beer!

next stop we went to dinner and called it an early night.

Saturday:

I got my st paddy's outfit on, and cracked my first beer at about 8:30ish am, we headed to the parade (which kind of sucked)then we went to some free outdoor concert and then off to get ready and pre drink for the night (not that it was really pre drinking since I had made sure to pack some travelers in my purse for the day!)

next off the pubs - we attended a sports bar to watch the rugby match. Later we went to Temple bar, and random other pubs. Lot's of live music and lots of drunk people in the streets!

At one bar I convinced a young gent in a leprechaun costume to lend me his costume for a couple of pics! He even helped my drunk ass get the costume on!

Sunday:

We went on a bus tour of the foothills. Which would normally be a great idea except for A) it was an am tour B)sitting on the top deck of a double decker bus going through the 'hills' of Ireland Hungover is NOT A GOOD IDEA!!!!! The tour was great, the sick feeling....not so much!

When we got back we went to another pub for din din, had a last couple of pints and then off to our hostel (the other nights we had the chance of staying at a friends house - THANK YOU KRISTEN!!!!!)

At the hostel the lovely people who worked the desk told us it was unecesary to book our cab the night before, that they would call for us at 4am when we needed to get one. At the said 4 am when we went to call the cab we were told that all cabs were friggin booked!!! Heart attack central....luckily we were able to hail one in the street and catch our flight back to Nantes in time.

All in all a very great weekend, one for the books!!!

Finally a little bit about Germany

Well my trip was amazing the brief recap is

Frankfurt, random street party dancing with strangers in costumes

Heidleberg - random castle and beautiful little town

Berlin - HELLOOOO THE WALL Friggin amazing

Muncih - beer beer and more beer ( I stole a couple of steins)

Dachau - very informative and moving

Neuchwanstein - Disney Castle - I want to be Cinderella and I wish I had a room dedicated to Tristan and Isolde

Salzburg - SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR AND the premier of Carmen (opera)

Vienna - Random sightseeing and Sissi museum

I will give actual details in my next entry - but for now here is the gist!

It's not about how many times you risk your life, it's about how many times you live to tell the story!

Ok, so I'm exagerating a little bit, but I feared for my life climbing up the side of one of Scotlands rolling hills. I have about a million nettles in my hand from grasping the bushes in fear!!!!! The second pic is the before climb picture, the bottom is the after with the nettle bushes. I was too scared to step to the ledge to give the full effect of the fear I experienced. Kate had to talk me up the hill. It was so friggin steep that you couldn't really sit. But now that i'm all calmed down it's not that big of a deal.

The top pic is of the castle that I didn't 'really' get to see, because I forgot to account for what time the damn thing closed. But that night me and my friend Pam went out for our last bedtime cigy, we were in our pj's : I was wearing pj pants, a T and sandals (yes the weather is fantabulous here). We walk up to the castle accross the draw bridge and the gigantic castle door starts opening up for us! LOL it was a guard asking, we just said we were looking around. He was really nice about it.

I hit up about 8-12 pubs during the weekend. I even met a girl from Milton who is in Scotland studying for her masters, who happens to know one of my friends from Waterloo (small world after all)

I got an authentic scotish pub T from Deacon Brodies, I went on a very corny dungeon tour. We met Carolyne Crawford from Tennessee, who joined us in Glasgow and accompanied us to Edinburgh.

Food wise I went for the whole cultural experience again:

Haggis, neeps and tatties

Black (blood) pudding

bangers and mash

Fish and chips

Stake and ale pie

etc.

I also tried some Scotish whiskey, some tenants ale and even bought some Whiskey flavoured condoms !!! I heard some live dropkick songs - got a random boy to sing some songs to us in a pub - fields of Atherny and a band at "the Scotsman" played the black velvet band.

All in all it was a great weekend, it felt like a little taste of home.

Next trip - Germany and Austria (Switzerland will come later)!!!! Sound of music tour here I come!!!!!

so.....

So long, farewell, auf weidersehen, goodnight!!!!

Change of plans!!!!!

England etc. is still happening. Amsterdam has been cut out for now. I got a seat sale to go to Scotland next weekend .01€ so it should be a blast. Had ourselves a little drunken French party the other night!!!!! drank a box of wine with the girls.....let's just say never assume some things are just cultural!!!!! lol.
I hope all is well at home, I love you all!
tonight I am going to a bar called "la maison" all the rooms in the bar are set up like normal rooms in a house, so if you end up with the bathroom, you sit either on the toilet or in the bathtub!!! Should be a blast!

ITS OFFICIAL - DUBLIN FOR ST PATRICKS DAY!!!

I'M SO EXCITED!!!! I just booked my ticket to go to Dublin Ireland for St. Patricks day (don't worry uncle John I'll take lots of pics). Probably like the most expensive plane ticket ever, but at least I have a free place to stay once i'm there.

More exciting news: IM GOING TO ENGLAND THE WEEKEND BEFORE I GO TO DUBLIN!!!!!!

Then more exciting news: before I go to England or Dublin IM GOING TO AUSTRIA, SWITZERLAND, AND GERMANY!!!!!!
I'm doing the sound of music tour in Austria!!!!!! I so want to dress up.

But before even doing all of that, this weekend i'm GOING TO DO A TOUR OF LES CHATEAUX DE LA LOIRE!!!!!

Then in 2 weeks I'M GOING TO AMSTERDAM!!!!!!!!!!
--I swear i'm just going to check out the museums...well after i hit up the cafe, if i can still remember that i wanted to go to a museum, or if i can still remember what a museum is


Anyhow, i'm done bragging. I hope everything is going well in canada!!!!
Love y'all

BACK IN FRANCE!!!!!

Me and the Girls - 01/02/07
Well I'm back. My vacation passed by so fast. I was so happy to see my girls again though. The only thing that sucks is our courses as usual. My 19th C. Lit prof is trying to screw me (figuratively).

I realized upon my return that I really love this country. I deffinetly can see myself back here one day.

School wise over the holidays I figured out that I am going to carry on with my masters!!!!!! and maybe even more...

I guess I'll just be one of those professional students.

More exciting news: I'M GOING TO DUBLIN FOR ST.PATRICKS DAY!

I can't wait, that will be one for the books. My next vaca will be in February though, and I think I'm going to Austria and Switzerland. I'm alos going to do a weekend tour of the Castles in my region.

Now I have to pack in as much travel as I can seeing as I have to be back for a summer course at the end of may.



Other random news, i'm sort of pissed today. I was supposed to teach this morning, I wake up early go to the school I work at and there are no students. It was a P.D. day so I came here to the university, now i'm just waisting time until my class.

I hope all is well at home (or in Alberta, or in B.C. etc.),

Tara

xoxoxo

HAPPY NEW YEARS

AND GOOD NIGHT!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Years and all that jazz

To everyone who may read this I just want to say that I hope you had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and I hope you have a magnificent New Years.
My Christmas was great. Quite traditional for the Hargrave family. I jumped in my parents bed at 6:30 in the morning to wake them up, put on a pot of coffee - Had some Bailey's in my coffee (GOOOOOD MORNING!) woke up Grumpy went out fed the dog and cat - had a smoke. Came in the house had coffee and Bailey's #2. Went down stairs to open presents - half way through presents grabbed bottle of champagne #1 - a ten year old bottle from France. Finished opening presents, finished bottle of champagne - went up stairs started making breakfast grabbed a beer, finished beer - breakfast ready bottle of champagne #2 - Played with my Marie Antoinette action figure with the ejecting head - checked out my new nano then beer, beer, beer - blur. People came over - Bobbie, Jay, Hayden, Grace, Jeremy, Jaime, Meighan, Phil - big turkey dinner more beer - Leshelle, Cameron blur, blur blur - was supposed to go out, it was 10pm but I was still in my pyjama's and was in no state to see people - so a few more beers and I fell asleep on the couch! It was quite the happy drunken Christmas as usual at the Hargrave house.
So here was my x-mas day, I hope you all had a great one too.
Happy Holidays, and to my Berlioz girls I'll see you very soon
Tara

Home for the Holidays

my title is deceiving - because this entry has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I am home right now. In fact it is a telling of my last week in Nantes.
Where shall I start....
1)my gnome Gnorm got stollen from me and I received ransom notes along with pics of him. Apparently he went to the north pole to help santa. The good news is he's back. In fact Christina is babysitting him for me, he will be going to Prague with her on thursday!
2)Me and the Berlioz team - went out on thursday night and did some christmas caroling at our host families houses. It was good times. Let's just say over the course of the night our singing got a little bolder as each fam had us in for cookies and wine!
--just a side note - when christmas caroling on public transit in france, remember that there are a few people who can speak english - therefore when you start singing your own rendition of the 12 days of christmas that is rather obscene - some people may understand you! Luckily the woman was hillarious and had just got back from a little trip to canada, she had been visiting her sister who is the newest Much Music VJ! She ended up singing with us on our bus ride.
3) My newest most efficient teaching strategy has become throwing chalk at students!! I could never get away with this in Canada, but I'm in France so meh!!! My little french students like dropping in random profanities while they are speaking in class so I just throw stuff at them. It is a highly effective method of handling the little buggers.
4)My last night in Nantes was great - me and the girls did our own little x-mas party with champagne etc. it was great. We also did our secret santa. I had a blast.
Now I have to go, because Jaime is summoning me on MSN - so demanding!
love ya'll
Tara