rest and relaxation :)

Last Thursday, I went to the Mayor’s office in the 6^th ‘neighborhood’ for a reception for American students. The US consul to Lyon was there, and there were also a lot of French and American students. It was really fun, lots of hors d’oeuvre and wine. And it was nice to meet some people who were also from the US. Everyone was so into their conversations with people that we stayed until the French people were literally kicking us out of the building, turning off lights to make us leave, etc. I’m looking forward to meeting up with some of those people again.

Mayor's office

The food! :D i thought it was funny how patriotic the decorations were haha

Some of the food :D

US consul to Lyon, Mark Schapiro

This last weekend, I housesat for some American missionaries from the French church I’ve been going to, and actually, they’re the ones that got me in contact with my roommate. So, I headed out to Rochetaillée-sur-Saône. I had to take a metro, switch to another metro line, and then take a bus about 40 minutes north of Lyon. It was a long journey, but it is so beautiful out there!

by the saône. and YES those ARE birds near me, my ornithophobia is not quite so bad here. french birds are not as scary ;)

I stayed there from Friday night until Tuesday morning, but bussed back into the city when needed. The weather here in Lyon is still amazing, so on one of the days that I was out there, some friends came out, and we went and relaxed by the riverside. It was definitely a nice and relaxing weekend with lots of time in the sun, reading, and catching up with TV shows! And I guess taking care of their dog, who woke me up many, many times during the night... which scared me so badly! Because I kept waking up to someone trying to open my door, so I resorted to trying to stop him from coming up the stairs by putting a chair in the stairs...

group picture by the river

a pic i took on the way to Rochetaillée-sur-Saône :)

On Saturday, I finally got to call my mom and talked to her for a long time! The missionaries had a phone with free calls to the US, so I made good use of that by calling my mom and a good friend of mine :)

view from the room i was staying :) the river is just behind those trees you see in the left corner

In Lyon, there’s a film festival that’s going on this week, and every year, a prize is given out to someone for his or her contribution to the film industry. This year, the award is being given out to Gerard Depardieu. If you don’t know who he is, he’s one of the most famous actors in France! And probably one of the like five I know. But most of the French films I’ve watched, especially the ones in French class, star him! (Jean de Florette, Cyrano de Bergerac, Asterix, Paris, Je T’aime, etc.) He also acted in some English films, Man in the Iron Mask, 102 Dalmatians, The Holiday) My friends and I were pretty excited about that and went to see if we could find tickets for the event. But after waiting in line for like 15 minutes, we were told that they were no more tickets :( Bummer. Oh well, hopefully I’ll run into him in Paris or the Cannes Film Festival (which I REALLY wanna go to! :P)

these signs are everywhere! gerard depardieu's face on the left

an expensive bagel with speculoos (imagine a spread that tastes like graham crackers! yum!!)

AND, in case you haven’t heard, my parents are coming to visit me for Christmas!!! :D I’m SO excited and seriously cannot wait! :) But it’s a bit bittersweet because my siblings won’t be able to come along :( It’ll be the first time we’re not together as a family for Christmas.  =\

Picture from the mini golfing during the trip to Beaujolais last time

the university restaurant was gross this day :( at least it was only 3€...