Best time of the year
Door: Melanie
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Melanie
16 December 2011 | Frankrijk, Parijs
You can feel the magic in the air. You know it is everywhere. There is something about Christmas time. Something about Christmas time that makes you wish it was Christmas every day. This whole master keeps being very hard, with a lot of work, and everything is still in French but somehow it could not get my attitude that much down these days because Christmas is coming very soon. Especially the last two weeks have been very hard, with an amazing amount of work, but no matter how tired and exhausted I was I could still smile. Because let’s face it: Christmas is the best time of the year!
Even though I have still had some difficult moments since my last blog (despite the fact that I was so optimistic in that one…) I do feel that things are slowly getting better over here. I am slowly getting my confidence and motivation back. Fortunately, that made it possible for me to work very hard and I am fairly satisfied about that. Satisfied, because—I have to share this with you all—I managed to give a presentation in front of my whole class, in … FRENCH!!! It is not that big but it really made me feel good to have done that.
Another accomplishment of the past few weeks is that I am actually managing to bike back home ;). Many people might not know it but we are living kind of high :P. I have to bike uphill to get home and for a Dutch girl that is not really easy to do. So the first weeks it was very hard to make all the way home. But now, if the traffic lights are giving me a break (literally!), I finally manage to do it! Is it not amazing how stupid little things like that can actually make me feel better? ;)
Biking in Paris is a whole other experience than biking in Amsterdam by the way. Well, the whole traffic situation is totally different than in Amsterdam. People are so frustrated over here; I hear the sound of horns all-the-time. Nobody seems to respect each other and all they care about is to get to their destination as soon as possible. This is making my bike tours very interesting ;) and it actually made me buy a helmet and a famous yellow jacket in order to protect myself. Other than that I am even more careful in the traffic than I already was in Amsterdam of course :).
Well, a blog of Melanie would not be complete without information of another trip that we made because Phil and I love to travel ;). This month we got the chance to go to Toulouse for the graduation ceremony and gala of Philippe. It was very nice to see his school and the city in which he studied.
Unfortunately I did not have time to do much more other things besides my study. My hard work will be rewarded though because I will spend a great weekend with my youngest sister and her boyfriend who will arrive in Paris today. Then, at the end of the weekend, my ex-roommate (in the U.S.A.) from Mexico will visit me for two weeks and a half! I am very excited to see her again after two years. Furthermore, even though it was not planned, we will go to my family in the Netherlands for Christmas so I am even going home earlier than I thought!
So even though I am still going to have to work the following week (despite the fact that I am officially having a Christmas break), I am going to have a great time with lovely people around me.
Merry Christmas everybody! Enjoy it to the fullest!!
Even though I have still had some difficult moments since my last blog (despite the fact that I was so optimistic in that one…) I do feel that things are slowly getting better over here. I am slowly getting my confidence and motivation back. Fortunately, that made it possible for me to work very hard and I am fairly satisfied about that. Satisfied, because—I have to share this with you all—I managed to give a presentation in front of my whole class, in … FRENCH!!! It is not that big but it really made me feel good to have done that.
Another accomplishment of the past few weeks is that I am actually managing to bike back home ;). Many people might not know it but we are living kind of high :P. I have to bike uphill to get home and for a Dutch girl that is not really easy to do. So the first weeks it was very hard to make all the way home. But now, if the traffic lights are giving me a break (literally!), I finally manage to do it! Is it not amazing how stupid little things like that can actually make me feel better? ;)
Biking in Paris is a whole other experience than biking in Amsterdam by the way. Well, the whole traffic situation is totally different than in Amsterdam. People are so frustrated over here; I hear the sound of horns all-the-time. Nobody seems to respect each other and all they care about is to get to their destination as soon as possible. This is making my bike tours very interesting ;) and it actually made me buy a helmet and a famous yellow jacket in order to protect myself. Other than that I am even more careful in the traffic than I already was in Amsterdam of course :).
Well, a blog of Melanie would not be complete without information of another trip that we made because Phil and I love to travel ;). This month we got the chance to go to Toulouse for the graduation ceremony and gala of Philippe. It was very nice to see his school and the city in which he studied.
Unfortunately I did not have time to do much more other things besides my study. My hard work will be rewarded though because I will spend a great weekend with my youngest sister and her boyfriend who will arrive in Paris today. Then, at the end of the weekend, my ex-roommate (in the U.S.A.) from Mexico will visit me for two weeks and a half! I am very excited to see her again after two years. Furthermore, even though it was not planned, we will go to my family in the Netherlands for Christmas so I am even going home earlier than I thought!
So even though I am still going to have to work the following week (despite the fact that I am officially having a Christmas break), I am going to have a great time with lovely people around me.
Merry Christmas everybody! Enjoy it to the fullest!!
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16 December 2011 - 12:07
Laura:
Hi Mellie,
Heel fijn dat je in staat bent om jezelf beter te laten voelen op momenten dat het even niet mee zit. Ik blijf het tegen je zeggen, maar ik ben echt elke keer weer zo trots op je hoe je met de hele situatie omgaat :D. Het is niet niks wat je doet, dus het hoeft ook niet allemaal in 1x goed te gaan. Daar zal niemand je voor afstraffen, dus doe dat ook zelf niet. Maar goed, je hebt een heerlijk vooruitzicht!! Heel veel plezier de komende dagen en tot volgende week :D! Dat laatste is echt heerlijk om te zeggen :D!
Dikke kus van ons -
16 December 2011 - 12:45
Margit! :
Heee Mels!
Wat fijn om weer een blog van je te lezen!! Ook heel erg leuk dat je naar Nederland komt met kerst en we met jullie mogen ontbijten.. Nog veel leuker dat we je komen opzoeken met oud&nieuw!! Daar heb ik echt zin in!!! Maar eerst genieten met Ben, Bart en straks met Ise. Een dikke kus
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16 December 2011 - 13:18
Raach:
lieve Mel, een hele dikke kus van mij vanuit Chengdu. Ik werd weer blij van je blog en vond het heel fijn je vorige week weer op skype gesproken te hebben! Heel, heel erg veel plezier met alle aankomende bezoekjes. Geniet!! Echt doen he;)!! xxxx -
16 December 2011 - 14:29
Nihayra:
Hey Mel,
Je ziet er goed uit! Trouwens, Nicole is er ook rond kerst...Misschien kunnen we met z'n allen even ontmoeten. Ik zal dan gewoon ervoor zorgen dat ik in Amsterdam ben. Kuskus en geef het niet op! -
18 December 2011 - 18:21
Suzy:
Hi kindeke!!
Eigenlijk heb ik niks tot weinig toe te voegen aan Laura haar woorden...
Niet uit te drukken in woorden eigenlijk hoe verschrikkelijk trots ik op je ben!!!
Ik ben blij dat je met kerst even in ons midden bent, samen met Phil :)
Zal met volle teugen van jullie genieten!!!
Tot snel liefie!!
Dikke kus,
Suzy!
Love you the most!!! -
18 December 2011 - 22:05
Bernadette:
Lieve Mellie,
Ook ik ben nog steeds ontzettend trots op je (blijf het ook gewoon herhalen ;) en heb ontzettend genoten van onze (korte, maar zeer gezellige) trip naar Issy. En je hebt jezelf meer dan bewezen, dat weet ik na het horen van je Franse telefoongesprek 100% zeker!!! Onderschat jezelf niet, je kunt veel meer dan je denkt! En met vallen en opstaan bereik je het meest, dus als de dingen niet gaan zoals je gepland had is er niks aan de hand. Zolang je maar positief blijft!
Geniet de komende weken van Issy, jullie roadtrip ;) en natuurlijk je verjaardag!
Merry Christmas! Dikke kussssssss!
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24 December 2011 - 01:11
Bernadette:
Hmmm... Ik bedoel geniet van je best roommate ever Ise ;) -
24 December 2011 - 11:46
Soledad:
Thank you for your nice and interesting story. Go for it. I know you will fullfill your dream. Looking forward to see you here in The Netherlands. Belated Happy Birthday. Wish you all the best my sweet girl. God Bless! Hugs and kisses.
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15 Maart 2012 - 15:32
Ise:
I've read this already but didn't comment anything.
Here it is.
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