Destination Culturation

For finances sake...I stayed in Lille this past weekend. A lot of people actually went to Paris, but I realized that I still needed to do touristy/cultural things in Lille since I've been to Paris many times before. So on Friday I went out for Korean food with some other Erasmus/Exchange students (yeah so I guess that wasn't TOO European ha ha) and then on Saturday me and my Swedish friend Lovisa went to la grande fete du vin! It was about 5 metro stops away in a place in Lille by la grande palais. It was really extraordinary walking in there and seeing all 700 wine stands from all over France. Just in the two hours that Lovisa and I were in there I felt like I'd seen the entire country of France! We were even walking around with a map deciding which region we wanted to try next...I learned a lot about how they made the wine too, and since Lovisa is fluent in French it really forced me to speak it and learn the terms in their language. There was also a huge chocolate and cheese stand...Of course being Scandinavian, Lovisa and I both love chocolate. We bought A TON. No wine, just chocolate and cheese. My guilty pleasures!

So that was quite the experience...When we got back I went over to my Romanian friend Catalina's apartment and she and I went to la gala de la catho...which is basically like prom for Le Catho. I didn't know that, nor did I know that it was a date event, but it was fun being there with Catalina because she also is fluent in French so it forced me to speak the language even more! I guess I must look pretty American because people kept coming up to me and screaming "I LOVE AMERICAAA!" in my face...I'd reply in French, "Bon, mais je suis francaise," and really shock them!

Sunday morning Lovisa woke me up to go to the Wazemme market which was really interesting and exciting! It goes on every Sunday and there are food booths along with booths consisting of the most random things you could imagine...ranging from used clothes to used USB cords. We went into a cute little coffee shop and had cappucinos and then bought some chicken and potatoes which were both DELICIOUS.

So it was a very pleasant and relaxing weekend overall. I think I spoke more French than English, which is exactly what I wanted. At the wine festival people would start speaking in English to me and I'd stop them saying that I really wanted to speak in French. It seemed like they really liked hearing that!

So it's off to Amsterdam on Friday for the weekend. I'm going with some of my Canadian friends here in Valentine Charondierre so I'm really excited for that! Then la weekend prochain I am going to Paris on Saturday to stay with Tessa's boyfriend and go to the Paris vs. Bayonne Rugby game. Finally going to see a sporting event in France! I absolutely love this country. People ask if I miss the US and I miss the people but that's about it...I could probably stay here for an entire year if I didn't have a house back at Santa Clara to go and occupy.

But I guess all good things must come to an end eventually, right?