The Nouveau Year!

ok...I KNOW it's been 3 holidays since I last wrote...and we are now pretty well into January...
I don't really have any excuses for not writing except I was swept up in daily living and also, m camera battery died and I felt I shouldn't write a blog without pictures...bad excuse...
I began the New Year in Montpellier with some of my closest friends here in France, dancing and drinking champagne! It was the perfect way to start out my new year...I have high hopes for this one:)
But I'll go back a little bit in time...
The Thankgiving dinner was a real success! There were about 20 people, French, Mexican, Canadian and American, who came and we had more than enough food. Virginie and Philipe seemed to be very worried about this strange turkey I was preparing, but it turned out really DE-LI-CIOUS! (as most things are when they have wine and butter in them) Philipe started the party out by making a large (and very strong) punch that he insisted everyone to drink with giant straws. This really got the festivities rolling. By the time the turkey came out everyone was feeling courageous and wanted to try it all. Most of the French guests were slightly confused what to do, and when the food came out you could see the puzzlement..no, was that worry?, on their faces. Seeing their looks of relief and contentment after the first bite was worth it and, in true French fashion, they wouldn't let me take their plates away...they continued to eat for 2 hours, while all the Americans and Canadians sat staring forlornly at the pumpkin pie which I wouldn't let them eat. During dessert one of the assistants boyfriends asked Philipe if he had anything strong to drink..."Mexican strong" and Philipe and our neighbor took this as a challenge to bring out the homemade "eau de vie" they had in storage. Let's just say...I'm not sure that the guests really remember much of what happened after that!

I spent most of December trying to find a new apartment, and managed to find one right as Christmas break started. I now live in Place Saint Aphrodise, in a small modified attic..i mean apartment. None of the walls are straight, and the ceiling isn't particularly high, but I've got two great windows, a little kitchen, a big bed and a quiet neighborhood...Life is sweet!

Christmas I spent in Haute Savoie, in the Alps, visiting Martine (my old host mom) and her family. She lives in Clermont-Ferrand now, but grew up in St. Julien next to Geneva. This is a beautiful region with glassy lakes, and lots of snow. I felt so energized being int he mountains! I almost didn't even miss Lake Tahoe....
Boris and I flew out of Bordeaux (I spent a few days there with a friend before we were set to leave). But it just so happened that the weather all over Europe that week was absolutely miserable. Snow, sleet, fog...We got to the airport and 30 minutes before our flight was set to leave it was CANCELLED!! No flights leaving until after Christmas... We were super bummed and I kept imagining us sitting alone in his apartment..cold and lonely on Christmas day...no Santa, no candy canes...The trains were all full too, but we finally managed to find a round about train route leaving the morning of Christmas Eve, and made it just in time for dinner!
The weather in Haute Savoie was gorgeous and I was set on sledding...no one had any sleds so finally Boris and I found some plastic bags, made a trail and launched ourselves down the hill outside Martine's sister's house.
Christmas was really nice. I brought the foie gras they wouldn't let me send to my family (sorry guys) and we ate it all! Then we had a fun dinner with all of Martine's family (5 brothers and sisters!) where you cook your own meet on heated stones. We had seafood, beef, pork, chicken...mmm it was wonderful. Boris and his cousin amused themselves by secretly taking funny pictures with Martine's camera so she'd think that she drank too much...The next day she discovered them, and kept looking through them completely baffled..."what is..what is this?!?! how did this picture of a miniature snowman get on my camera?!" I had to leave the room so I could die laughing...
Christmas was over, i came back to Beziers, and then began moving in my new apartment. New Years Eve I met up with my friend Jules in Montpellier and we had a little dinner party and then when out to some of our favorite bars with another Beziers assistant Becca, and Jules' roommates who were lots of fun.
It was such a fun holiday, and sort of hard to get back to school and teaching again come January 3rd. For my classes, I've been making my students write their New Years Resolutions as an English exercise. "I want to work more hard" "I will listening in class" " I will have my drivers exam" It's been pretty fun to find out what they want for the new year and I've been having fun with that.

On a final note, the week before last I went to Barcelona to meet Dad!! He made to Europe in one piece and is now reading voraciously in my living room (I think he already finished 3 books!)
Barcelona was amazing and I can't wait to go back. We took a double decker bus around the city one day and it was fun to see the different neighborhoods. The 6th is King's day when the Spanish open their Christmas presents so the streets were absolutely packed with people still on vacation. We could barely walk down the street. We ate some good tapas, drank some decent wine and explored the city a little. i got to practice my Spanish (which seems to be leaking out of my brain!) and we found some fun little pubs, because it's always nice to meet other English speakers in a sea of...non..english speakers....
We've got some fun plans for the next month so I'll try my best to keep you updated!!
ps. I still don't have pictures to post...ooops