Welll hello there you darling little Canadians, you! Long time no see, or hear, or anything... Unless your my mother, who tends to harass me every day (just kidding, love you mother dearest!). But it has been a long time for most of you, at least 6 weeks to be exact. Yes that's right, just in case you haven't already been counting down the days, hours, and minutes until I return to the homeland, that means I'm half way done this exchange! Crazy, I know. But it feels like I've been here forever... You know, raised on a bottle of wine and eating escargot since I could crawl around the garden kind of forever. And I'm practically fluent! You know, as long as I'm talking in my head and discussing the weather with myself... Other then that, my grasp of the language remains a tad fuzzy.
So, I guess I should update you in my delicious French lifestyle. Last mercredi (Wednesday) I spent the afternoon volunteering sorting donated food for the homeless. Sounds exciting, eh? Truthfully, it was! Do you have any idea how amusing French old people are!? Their just so cute, I can't help but trying to figure out how many I can smuggle home in my luggage! Besides the adorable old people, I also had a grand ol time improving my French vocab... After having spent three hours of my life having cans shoved in my face and being barked at by small French ladies, I can now guarantee you I will never forget the French word for beans (haricots, in case you're wondering). I'll admit, there was one terrible moment where, upon viewing a solid 4 boxes packed with rows upon rows of chocolate bars, I momentarily considered the best ways to become a French homeless person. But no worries, I quickly recovered once I remembered that my French family really has no problem supporting my chocolate addiction. And just so were clear, when I return home a few pounds heavier, it's because of my superior intellect, and not because I've made chocolate one of my main food groups.
Speaking of food groups, I realized today that I haven't hada single glass of milk in France. I quickly resolved that mystery once I realized its because in the south of France, they don't give the cow time to produce milk before they decide it's just too delicious to resist eating. So. Much. Red. Meat. Have a ever mentioned how much I love chicken? Because I do. It's reached the point where I've had dreams based on eating chicken. Another thing to add to my list of things to talk about if I ever see a physiologist. Unfortunately, that's not the worst of my odd dreams. I think I've been hitting up every topic from jersey shore style drama to saw-esque nightmares. Somedays, the whole crazy imagination thing does NOT work in my favour. I've also repeatedly woken up thinking I'm in other places... Not that wierd, until you consider that I've neverslept in some of them in reality. A few of my favourite ones lately have been a plane, the back of a pick up truck, and a bed I once saw in House & Home magazine. Mom blames it on the French cheese... I think I have to agree. Eating mold of varying ages before bed is probably not the healthiest thing.
This weekend, my cousin James came down from Paris. That was a blast and a half, spending the days strolling around Toulouse, visiting the French grandmothers, and trying escargot. Surprisingly, it was really delicious, once drowned in butter and spices. And honestly, after reading a menu translated into English, its not the weirdest thing the French eat. Pig feet, ears, tails; random concoctions of brains and other left over entrails. Sometimes French meals make me wonder if the chef didn't just have one of those " whatever's left in the back of the refrigerator" type days. But hey, to each his own, I mean, it's gotta be better for you then North American food, which, lets be serious, is basically chemicals deep fried and sugar coated.
No I don't know if this bit of news made it back to the land of the beaver and bacon yet, but there was a crazy guy shooting up Toulouse. Kind of terrifying knowing Theres a murderer on a scooter 20 minutes from your house. And everyone at school looked like those wierd hyperactive parity dog things for a few days at school... Every time they heard a scooter engine they prepared themselves to stop, drop and untietheirexpensiveleathershoessotheycouldrunfaster. But in all seriousness, the guy is now dead, and my deepest sympathies go out to the families of the deceased.
Other then that, I've just been dragging my way through school, which I detest. Honestly, 10 hour days with random two hour breaks in between just isn't my style. On the plus side, my sketchbook is filling up, and I'm running out of pencils. As for my Canada work... Well, for the sake of the health of any teachers reading this, we won't talk about that.
I'd also like to give a shout out to all you lovely people who have bought a print or helped out with my Kingdom Assignment. For all of you who are too busy having a life to have Facebook or check your email very often, it's a project I'm working on to raise money for suicide awareness. It's doing far better then I had even hoped to imagine. Thanks a ton to motheee...Maman for all her work back home. I'm kinda enjoy just being the talent and sitting back well most of the work gets done!
Also, a fatty congrats to my sister and her fabulous basketball team who played their championship and brought home a silver this past weekend! Couldn't be more proud! Enjoyed watching part of the game on Skype, even if it was upside down and I spent a fair amount of time staring at the wrong side of the court or my mothers hand!
Anyway, that's about it for now. Wish me luck, as this weekend I get to climb trees! Or walk in them! Or something! I couldn't tell you exactly what I'll be doing, as trying to follow 5 over-excited French people gesticulating wildly and all talking at once really isn't a practical way to try to understand anything. Anyway, if I pull off my flying squirrel act successfully, I'll let you know what exactly I got up to!
Love you and miss you all, my crazy Canadians! Especially you Tim Horton, I think that after this exchange I really will have no choice but to expose our love affair to the world!
Bisous bisous (darn you autocorrect, I was not trying to say bisons, I'd rather give my adoring fans kisses!) and much love,
Emma