Be sure in what you think you know

Misconception. A funny word, one that holds so much mystery and lies that often it can be hard to comprehend. I’ve found myself in the midst of this word the last few weeks and I know of others who have also been privy to it. The problem my friends? Snap judgements. 

The reason for being caught up in this word is that (long story short) I broke up with my boyfriend

about a month ago. It was for personal reasons and was surprisingly civil; there is no bad blood between us. This is exactly where misconception comes into play; many people are too quick to latch on to one negative thing that happened and to create stories about what happened in their own heads.

Now, most of you all know that I’m a live and let live kind of gal and I’m well aware that people make mistakes, and often times very stupid ones, lord knows I’ve made enough to last a lifetime and I surely know I’m not done yet. I certainly don’t judge people by the mistakes they have made, which personally I think is a big problem these days, but rather about how they present themselves to me.

To be honest, in my opinion one of the biggest misconceptions you’ll come across is that of the dumper and the dumpee. People have this notion; yes it is a notion, that the person who does the, excuse the insensitivity, dumping doesn’t feel sad. There’s this weird idea that once they’ve set someone free that they’re off jumping into bed with the next jolly Rodger. Wrong (at least for the majority of people). I have been on both ends of the spectrum and let me tell you that neither is less suckish than the other, it’s a different kind of pain. No matter whether you’re the one doing the dumping or the one getting dumped you’re still losing a very big part of your life. Believe it or not cutting (completely or partly)  someone who you once loved and still care deeply about out of your life is a big decision,  one that I struggled with for many weeks, and also one that I admit I should have dealt with sooner but to be frank what’s done is done and that’s that. 

It just irks me the way that some people think that the dumper feels nothing, bullshit. So today people I am sticking up for those who have been in a similar situation as myself, who have felt a lot of love for their significant other, who have decided that being in a relationship just isn’t right for now and those who have felt that they need time to themselves to learn and discover. It can be a very distraught time for both parties in very different ways. While hurting someone else for wanting time for yourself may seem selfish it is in fact one of the least selfish things you can do because staying in an unhappy situation will be more damaging in the long run. 

So friends, from now on if you’re somebody who has been the victim of assumption and rumours, ignore it, if somebody wants to spend their time worrying about your problems then you must be bloody important.

For those who are doing the assuming, I’ll ask you to stop and think for a minute, think about what might have happening in the weeks, days, months even minutes before whatever it is that’s got your knickers in a twist happened. Not everything is as clear as it seems.

And for everyone, remember that life’s too short to sweat the small stuff, we’re only young, let’s live and have fun, we will more than likely fall in love many a time before we’re done. And for Jesus sake mind your own god damn business

Let’s just remember that there are people like this in the world, though I won’t assume too much as assumption has been the main topic of discussion here, she might have had a good reason for electrocuting herself. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JBYeqntiUI

Fun.

Hello friends. So my blog has taken a backseat for the last few months, not because I didn’t want to write in it but rather because I was in final year of college. It was sometimes hard to find time to eat, let alone write for fun. There were times when I craved it after all we all know it is one of my greatest loves and it saddened me that I couldn’t give into it but other things were far more important. Now, now I can because you see people, I am in that ‘oh my god what am I going to do with my life?’ limbo stage and I can do whatever I bloody well like.

This weekend I volunteered at the Cat Laughs festival in Kilkenny, for those of you who do not know what that is it’s an annual comedy festival held in June and really cool people from all over come and perform. I had fun. I made new friends. I met some really class comedians. Here’s pictures of me with Al Porter and Karl Spain just because.

Having fun is important, it doesn’t matter how old or young you are everybody needs fun. I thrive on fun. I missed fun during the last few months; I was all about studying, reading (academically) and writing essays. I lost parts of myself, I found myself trapped in a wrath of responsibility and commitment and to be frank I hated it. Now, don’t get me wrong obviously we all have responsibilities in life, and I will have many more as my life goes on but I’m only 22. I’m reluctant to accept that this is what the rest of my life is about, that when you finish college and it’s working 9-5 Monday to Friday. That can’t be it, not for me anyway. I'll be damned if I enter a world of seriousness at such a young age. The world is my oyster.

 

(I Just had to) 

I like to have fun. The younger generation now thinks that fun comes in the form of technology and the internet, which I guess, is understandable because that’s all they’ve really known. For me, it’s completely different while it is true that fun can be got from playstations and the like, that's not all it s about. I have fun by talking to my friends, going for tea, hanging with my family, reading books and even hanging with people I’ve barely met. Meeting interesting people is fun. Experiencing new things is fun. I know I go on about the younger generation and their habits but if I’m being honest, I just don’t really get them, sometimes it feels like they come from another planet but that's a discussion for another day!

I prefer to be happy rather than sad, but as you all probably know it’s hard to be bouncy and on top of the world all the time! Actually, I don’t think I’d ever describe myself as bouncy; it’s not a right fit. Maybe enthusiastic might be a better word. Having adventures thrills me. I have sad days, but with every sad day comes many happy days, so it balances itself.

The key to my happiness and fun having? I’m real. I don’t pretend to be anything other than what I am. Isn’t that what life is supposed to be about? I don’t change according who I hang with, what would be the absolute point? I’m opinionated, and everyone knows it. If I have something to say I’ll say it. You only get one life to live, don’t bottle it up and follow the crowd. Live the life YOU want to live, not what other say you have to live cause then that won’t be fun.

The message of this post: Have fun, don’t be too serious, live your life, be real, go on adventures. As my mam would say; you’ll die and get rich anyway, I have no idea what it means but it seems to be promising so I’ll pass it on to you.

Good day my special readers, until next time. This has not been one of my best posts, and I've probably repeated a lot from my other uploads but sure as we say here in Ireland, it'll be grand. In the meantime here's a little number to keep ye all in good spirits.

The ups and downs and over and backs of living in France!

Once again I must apologise for the huge lapse between posts, but this time I have a legit reason other than just being lazy. My laptop broke while I was in Spain, and then there was the whole starting back in college bla, bla, bla, basically once again, life got in the way. But let's face it folks, when doesn't it? I'd rather be busy than have nothing to do!

Living abroad comes with both positive and negative things, naturally, but a lot of them are just downright inconvenient, so I said I'd compile a list of Pros and Cons about living in France for anyone who was contemplating spending any length of time there, or anywhere really.

N.B. These are not in any particular order, merely the order in which they entered my brain.

1. The Bread, but not just any 'ol sliced pan now, the BAGUETTE (from a boulangerie of course), it's like the God of bread. (Nom).
2.  The weather, I mean the sun is just somethin' else, a little advice to the newbies, invest in A LOT of fans, a cool abode, and (if possible) a portable shower. If you're from a hot country then this point is void. 
3. The beaches, the soft sand (avoid when windy cause then that shit gets annoying. And sticks to EVERYTHING) and the warm sea, (I have yet to brave the Irish waters since returning.) A little warning: Be prepared for people to just whip off clothing as they wish, they will never be described as a self-conscious nation. 
4. Bad words don't really sound like bad words. Merde, Putain. See? Completely innocent. (Except when shouted at you by druggie to whom you would not give money.. sort of needed that for food you see.)
5. Things are cheap; food, accommodation, cinema, alcohol. Makes me think like, Ireland, get your shit together. 
6. The markets. You find the most randomest crap here, I mean they sell ANYTHING. If you happen to find yourself thinking, oh, I'd love to buy a huge Peugeot sign, then hit one of those up. I'm not even joking, there was a market that sold this. It's great! 
7. Disneyland. Who doesn't love it? If you go to France for a prolonged amount of time and don't go, then you are crazy and you will need to get that checked. Go at Christmas time, it's out of this world. And so colourful. It's possible I may never grow up.
8. The architecture, everything's just so beautiful. Mr. Eiffle, you are some man. 
9. One of the best things? Meeting people from ALL over the world, I feel so cultured.

1. They don't like to share. Students in particular, just don't ask for notes, it's as if you asked if you could kill their favorite pet. 
2. If you are foreign, you will know you are foreign, you might as well write it upon your forehead.
3. The milk. What even is that? AVONMORE, people, AVONMORE! 
4. The tea. Just bring your own, That's all I'm saying. And then get family members to post more when you run out. Just another note: If you have a friend named Barry, your Mam will find it the most hilarious thing to send you Barry's tea. And you'll be all like... Okaaaaaaay. 
5. Opening hours. Reminder: THEY DONT OPEN ON SUNDAYS! And sometimes randomly close in the middle of the day. That's cool, it's not like I needed anything. 
6. Most of your family and friends are in a different country, and you can't annoy them with your strangeness everyday like you used to. 
7. Nightclubs are sleazy,
8. The train people LOVE strikes. And it always seems to happen when you really need to get somewhere.. 

That's all I've got for now, but no doubt there's plenty more to be noted! So if I think of any I'll be updatin', if you lovely folks think of any, leave a comment!! With all it's ups and downs I really do love France! And the language too, it's just so beautiful! So long my lovelies, I promise I'm getting better at this blogging malarky starting this month :D 

New country, New adventure.

As I ‘repose un peu dans ma chambre’, I’ve begun thinking about this whole year. I can hand on the heart say that I am, in some ways, a very different person than I was this time last year. There’s no doubting the fact that I’m a lot more cultured, as is everyone who partakes in a year abroad. Sometimes I think that maybe that’s even more important than academic education, don’t get me wrong now, of course academic education is important,(STAY IN SCHOOL KIDS) and everybody should attend school until they’re at the very least, 16.(as is the finishing age in many countries) But in saying that, through experience I’ve learned that you learn so much more about the world, and about different ways of life, by traveling, being well read and observing (you can learn a lot about a person just from the way they move).

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a whole… 9 months since I left Ireland (mental isn’t it?).  And only another month and half left of this adventure. Ah but sure, every day is an adventure, non? One thing I won’t miss, is lugging all that bloody luggage around, not that I did it that often but seven plane rides later you start to wonder why you even need that much stuff. Wait ‘til I tell ye about my journey to Barcelona! First of all, the lovely people of SNCF (the train company) decided to go on strike (lovely), I prayed to every god there is that my train wouldn’t be cancelled, mais what did I find? Yep. My train was cancelled, on I went up to the train station to sort out another way to get there without having to pay even more money, god bless the woman at the desk, I know she was being helpful, but she wasn’t really that helpful. This, friends, is what she told me to do: Get the bus to Nimes, get a train from Nimes to Montpellier, a train from Montpellier to Perpignan, and onwards to Barca. My face must have been the picture of ‘you must be jokin’ ‘, so I went ahead and asked her; are you sure there’s no other direct trains to Barcelona? Her response? ‘No. There’s none, I’m sorry. Good luck’.  Eeeeem. Okay. Did I follow this? I did not.. I researched it myself and did it my way.  (As ya do). Anyhow, I took the only two running trains that got me to Barcelona, ergo two hours late. The first train was fine, I just took a random seat an prayed nobody would make me move, but then, when I got to Perpignan the only connecting train to Barcelona was at 12h 13 which meant that I had a two hour wait, nevertheless I was plenty entertained with dissatisfied customers, one man was threatening  one of the information clerks, I was sorta like ‘chill dude, why not see the funny side in all of this?’..clearly he didn’t think it was rather quite funny. The train journey to Barcelona from Perpignan wasn’t as long as the one before, however because EVERYONE was on the train we didn’t have any seats, which meant we had to move all our luggage anytime anybody wanted to either use the toilets, go upstairs or leave the train. Bundle of laughs so it was. At one  particular stop this guy moved my suitcase but he pulled on the handle a tad too late and it broke, his face was nothing short than priceless, you’d swear he’d killed a man. I just laughed it off, I thought it was quite hilarious. He didn’t look at me for the rest of the journey. I was lucky that my host family met me at the station or I probably would have collapsed in exhaustion. They were so lovely, helping with my bags and whatnot! Such sweetie pies! I arrived on Saturday, that evening I got to see the host child in one of her dance performances, it was a contemporary interpretation of water and it’s different forms, it was interesting , I’d never seen anything like it before…I did enjoy it though! And do ya know what’s ironic? It started raining on our way there!  I’m enjoying Spain so far, there’s not a food I haven’t like, which is great because ya know me now, I does love me some food! The weather isn’t as hot as it was in Avignon (and there’s people back home being all like ‘yeah there’s a heatwave here this weekend’, I’ll tell ya what, ye come back to me when it’s 35 degrees without wind and I’ll say something ) which was great because it was near impossible to be motivated in that heat, all you want to do is sleep.

Anyway, the point of this whole post is really, I've learned so much more about people and the way the work in this one year than I probably have my whole life, it's amazing how living in an unfamiliar place opens up your eyes to the world around you (because if you didn't you'd probably get lost, because ya know, you don't know where you are). This year abroad has only heightened my wanderlust and I can't wait to finish university so I can discover bigger and better things!! 

En fait, I’ve ended one adventure and begun another, here’s to a great summer in Espana! But, I really do miss France and the people in it. Vive la France, vive la baguette!

In the next edition: Pros and Cons of living in France, for all of those who wish to possibly someday maybe in a lifetime move there.

Oh P.S. Look at my new room, how cool right? All those books...

Whirlwind!

So clearly, with the lapse between my blog posts, I've had a bit of a mental block when it comes to blog posts, it's really quite easy to run out of material when nothing remotely interesting happens in your life! It started to get frustrating because obviously you can't maintain a blog without a subject matter, it's like a door without a handle, it just doesn't work! Then one fateful night I was casually watching some mindless TV when and idea popped into my head, it really wasn't that great of an idea but in that particular moment I felt like an absolute genius! Out came my phone and onto Snapchat (it has quickly become, for many, the primary mode of communication! what is happening to the world?) I went, sending a post to each of my contacts asking for a word in hopes that it would spark into an idea! I got a few replies, some are trickier than others to write about but I've never been shy of a challenge!

The first word I've decided to go with is Whirlwind, now I could talk about whirlwinds in the technical sense of the word, but that wouldn't be really fun for anybody would it? But today my friends, we are gonna use it in the metaphorical sense! Metaphorical, what a lovely word, it makes plain old things so much more exciting, I think you can think of most things in a metaphorical way, door to my life, closet to my secrets, window to your soul, cereal to your.. okay, well I did say most. Anyway to get back on the right track, I think whirlwind is a good metaphor for life. Like a whirlwind, life is fast, deadly and thrilling, it's a labyrinth. I mean life is full of emotions, experiences, opportunities, good and bad! So much happens in such a short space of time it's almost too difficult to comprehend!

Proceed with caution, this post is gonna get a tad sappy in the following sentences..

There's been a couple of people who I know, or who I know of, that have been going through some tough times, and it really is heartbreaking to see! So for that reason alone this post is dedicated to anybody who might be feeling a little down at the moment, obviously I'm not going to be able to make the feelings stop or take away the situation, whatever it may be, but hopefully it'll make you see that it's not going to last forever and remind you that it's all part of the whirlwind that is life! It's strange to describe because being in a different country, or some cases a different continent, it's really challenging to give friends or family the support they need, or deserve for that matter, there's a certain separation from the situation and a lot of the time distance is a good thing, gives you the room to gain perspective on certain things, but when you want to be there for someone physically, it sort of becomes a hindrance more than anything else! It's okay though, I've figured that one can always perform ninja like actions to cheer someone up, just because you're not in the same zone doesn't mean you can't make a difference; send a letter, a post card, a cake, some flowers, whatever your heart desires!

So you might feel sad now, or maybe you feel happy, or angry, or frustrated, or whatever. So what? Who cares? Feel it all you want, there are people in this world (people I don't understand and would like to hit with a rubber hammer) who tell you it's not okay to process the negative feelings, and make you feel bad about feeling bad! WELL, SCREW YOU, is what I say! It's utterly ridiculous that these people exist, who even raised these people? These are the people who think everything should be the same, and my god how monotonous life would be if that were the case? Okay, obviously I'm not telling you to feel sad ALL the time, then life would be no fun whatsoever (and you always need fun), but it's not wrong to have negative feelings once in a while nor should you feel guilty about having them, that's just crazy talk, if anything it's normal that you feel like that sometimes, like I said, it's all part of the whirlwind of life. It's what makes life manageable, being able to release all these pent up emotions, it's like allowing your body to regenerate and breathe! So I say be free to cry, scream, shout, laugh, cackle, sing, what ever you're into, just do it! Although, if at all you can refrain from randomly bursting into any of these in public, especially cackling, please do so, people will think you've lost your marbles. If you have, in fact, lost your marbles, be my guest, create the biggest scene imaginable to man!

Too many people spend their lives being afraid to feel. Afraid that they'll be seen in a different way or that they'll no longer be the 'tough man', well I call it Bull. If anything, feeling makes you the toughest man, showing your emotions is brave, it takes a real person to do it. Now, I'm not one to make my feelings known to the entire universe but it doesn't mean I don't do it. You don't have to write it in the sky for it to matter, that's not what it's about, it's about opening up and ridding yourself of all the negativity so that you can move on to the next positive phase, like I said, life is zig-zag, up-down, over-back kind of thing, there's gonna be times when we want to cry, times when we want to laugh, times when we hate everyone and everything, and times when we just want to scream for the entire world and it's brother to hear, there's nothing simple about it, and that's just the way it is. We're never gonna be able to change it, so to be frank, we just gotta take what we have with both hands and dive straight in. Everybody will figure it out, everybody will learn how to live in different ways, nobody can tell you the way you live your life is wrong, that's just ridiculous, it's like saying that the way you have your hair is wrong, or the way you stack your cupboard is wrong, or the way you decorate your house is wrong. It's your right to do things how you want to do them, don't take the shite that people say about how you should live your life. Just do it your way. (I feel like this is becoming a common theme in my blog posts, but it's true so WHO CARES?)

In the famous words of Ronan Keating 'Life is a rollercoaster and you just gotta ride it'. Or rather, life is a whirlwind and you just gotta get sucked in and hang on the best you can, tomayto - tomato, it's the same concept! So go, be free, live the whirlwind that is life, eat cake, be lazy, go for a run, cry, smile, laugh, I dunno, do some stuff.. and if you see somebody else having a hard time, buy them a cookie, or give them a hug, sing them a song, just do something nice and you'll be all the better for it!

So now my lovelies, I'm sure you're sick of reading the word whirlwind at this stage, and you've probably never seen it used in the one place as much in your lives so I'll leave you in peace! Hasta luego mis amigos!  

Les Aventures Parisien!

I've been home 3 weeks already (how the time flies eh?). The weekend before coming home we went to Paris for two days. Which was nothing less than amazing to tell you the truth. It was a very productive weekend. While there I overcame two of my fears, that I've been wanting to overcome for many years now; I climbed the Eiffel Tower and went on my very first roller coaster (it wasn't very big but ya gotta start small right?). On Saturday we spent the day sightseeing (and eating) in Paris city. It involved plenty of walking and many a metro trip. It all started with a three hour odd train journey. Then we went for lunch with my housemate who also happened to be in Paris at the time, and we all know how much I appreciate food. Then we took a stroll along the Seine towards Notre Dame, there were some lovely stalls with various Parisien merchandise. I bought some really pretty paintings. Here's a picture of the Notre Dame (and some random people who happened to be lurking around):

Paris is really pretty at Christmas time. All the lights make it really magical! OH! and we found a love lock bridge...

Looking sad because I know I'm goin' to grow old with my cats..

After the Notre Dame we made our way back down along the Seine towards the Eiffel Tower (or so I thought). But after a few minutes of walking my friends started running and shouted to me that if I wanted my Christmas present I may start running towards the boat. Me, being the daft yolk that I am was thinking 'Why the bloody hell did they put my present on the boat? That must've been a bit hassleful'. I was oh so very wrong, my present was the boat itself. Well okay, obviously they didn't actually buy me the boat. That would be a bit ridiculous. But they got me a boat tour along the Seine, I couldn't stop smiling. I probably looked like a right oul eejit on the boat. I was mesmerized. The lights were reflected onto the water creating a beautiful hue to the river. Everything was lit up as the evening became close. It was everything I thought and more. It was the best Christmas present to date (no offence to the other present buyers...but come on, you understand right?), completely incredible and I am so lucky to have been afforded the opportunity. Sure I'll throw ya a couple of photo's so you can get an idea..

After the boat ride, we hopped off at the Louvre with the intention of seeing the Mona Lisa. We took some hilarious photos of us which seemed like we were holding the pyramid of the Louvre by our fingers. It was good craic! Then we entered the museum only to find that it had just closed. (but hey, it just gives us a reason to return to Paris doesn't it?). Instead we browsed the shops (which we could never afford as ya know, we're mere college students) and got a hot chocolate and a cinnamon roll. (NOM).

We then proceeded to walk along the Champs d'Elysees (which takes FOREVER) so that in the end we'd reach the Arc de Triomphe (which is pretty cool I guess). During which we went to THE BUSIEST McDonalds I have ever ever seen in my entire life. Worse than Dublin on Halloween, or Arthur's day...or any of those mad nights. It was ridiculous...there were people hovering around with their food waiting for people to leave so that they could take their seats. It. was. cray.

Despite what this picture might suggest I promise I did not lean on an occupied car, this is an illusion. 

         

Finally, we went to the Eiffel Tower, with the sole intention to get to the top. We decided we were goin' to be very active and take the stairs to the second floor from where we could take the lift to the very top. Now. At first I was being enthusiastic about taking the stairs, being adventurous and whatnot. But by the time I got to the third flight I was like SWEET JESUS WHY ARE THERE SO MANY STAIRS? I honest to god thought they were never goin' to end. I'd never been so grateful to reach the top of stairs in.my.life. I'm not even jokin' when I say the French love stairs. They're EVERYWHERE. Enough exercise for anyone. We had to pay extra to take the lift the rest of the way up but I thought, why stop now? Best go the whole way while I'm there. How many times will this opportunity come around again? The journey up in the lift was adventurous in itself. It lasted less than a minute but it was packed like a sardine can. There was myself, my friend, and my housemate (who is also my friend of course). I've always had a sort of fear of heights so when we could see ourselves getting higher and higher I started to think maybe it was a bad idea after all! And my housemate really wasn't any help at all. She decided this was the perfect time to declare she 'had a feeling we were gonna die' and that she 'thought the person operating the lift might be suicidal'. GREAT. THANKS. It was okay though, clearly we didn't die. obviously. I'm still here to tell the tale. It was ridiculously windy at the top of the tower. It'd blow ya away so it would. But in the end it was all worth it when we saw the view, it was breathtaking. And this was at night time. Paris by lights.

This was the exact moment I decided that this is what I'd be happy doing for the rest of my life. (obviously not standing on the top of the Eiffel Tower, that would be cold. and lonely. and dangerous. nope .not that.) What I mean is, travel. I would be completely content with visiting different places and the famous landmarks for the rest of my life. I've never been one to want a desk job. I'd get awfully bored. It's just not me. All I need now is a way to fund these dreams. Where there's a will there's a way.

You know the irony of it all? I nearly got killed by an umbrella after my adventure to the top of the tower. Imagine that headline 'Girl dies by umbrella after descending the Eiffel Tower' Ha! What a story that'd be!

Sunday was the day we went to Disneyland and also the day we returned home. If I could live in Disneyland I would (let's put aside how unbelievably expensive this would be and dream a little). I felt like a child all over again. It's magical. And it never gets old. I had been there before but it was like I was seeing it all for the first time again. There was a MASSIVE Christmas tree which was very colourful (and I love colours). Here: 

I was in awe of everything, I spent the whole time taking mental pictures that I could keep forever. It was like we had walked into another universe and entered a dreamlike adventure. I LOVED IT. We started in the Magic Kingdom Park, which had many different worlds included....there were Alice in Wonderland themed things, we did the maze which was quite hilarious because we kept getting lost (this attraction is aimed at like three year olds). We saw the Christmas Parade (unbelievably amazing!), visited Cinderellas castle, the Robinson's tree house. and Davy Jones cave. 

Then the time came, the moment I had been trying to put off for as long as possible...I was going to embark a roller coaster (Thunder Mountain)...I was determined to do it. It was the one thing I had been telling myself that I was definitely going to do while at Paris. I was the picture of utter ridiculousness. The waiting time was estimated at forty five minutes, which was a lot of time to freak oneself out. My friends were laughing at me, as one can imagine, I mean, there were youngsters queuing up. I think I spent a good half an hour just freaking out, I would have turned around and ran back but the absolute effort of moving through all the people was just overwhelming (that and I knew I'd be so mad at myself if I didn't do it). By the time we got to the front I was very very hungry and at that stage my fear had subsided and I just wanted to get on. And guess what? I loved it. I spent the whole time in stitches laughing (partly at myself for being so stupid and also because it's a hilarious ride). When I got off I just wanted to go again...here's the aftermath: 

Then we decided we'd go to Planet Hollywood for lunch (when in Disneyland and whatnot). However, when we got there I began to question if it was really worth it...we had to wait for forty five minutes before we were even seated, then they had to take our order and deliver it and what not. But when the food came, oh my god it was like heaven in my mouth, if I go to heaven I'm pretty sure that's what it would be like. I really should start a food appreciation page don't you think? I just think food is the best thing ever...it's also essential. jeez, I have problems. Anyway, after that we went to the Walt Disney Studios Park, which was also pretty cool, we were going to go on this new roller coaster ride but the waiting time was too long and we didn't have THAT much time left before we had to leave for our train to the airport. I'm not goin' to lie, I was kind of relieved, I think one roller coaster was enough for one day, baby steps, us oldies can't handle too much excitement in one day ya know? We did go on this special effects train which was awesome to say the least, it stopped at various movie sets at manifested fire (yes, real fire) and water. It was way cool. Again, I was mesmerized (this seems to be a common sentiment throughout the trip doesn't it?). The wait for that one wasn't too bad, but the wait never feels long in good company, we had some...interesting...conversations. We learned that our friend is glad he's not a camel. Good to know for future reference I guess. And there was this man doing weird things with his clothes to entertain his kids, but also provided some laughs for us. It was funny! After this amusement we went to get some hot chocolate (which came with a free travel mug, bonus methinks) while we waited to go see a short movie.( which was also cool, I'm not gonna bother explaining what happens cause I've already said 'cool' far too much in this post). 

Afterwards we did some shopping and got our train to the airport, and then boarded our flight to the lovely land of green! Despite there being a delay on our flight it was one of the best trips I've had to date, and what made it even better was seeing some members of my family at the airport. Being away from them for so long makes you appreciate them even more, and my Dad was wearing a Christmas Tie, brought me some taytos, and a can of club orange, what a man! 

I write this because I can.

Here I am again mes amis! So last time I posted was just before we went to Toulouse! Suppose I should fill you in on that oul adventure while I'm at it. I was very excited to go and see my friend for her birthday who I hadn't seen in I'd say almost five months, one would say that's a pretty long time to go without seeing one of your closest friends. Too long almost, and I wouldn't disagree with them either. We had booked a train for around 12pm, and we were all pretty much ready to go so on we went on our journey but unfortunately it was not as smooth sailing as we hoped it would be! You see folks, the problem with us is that we overestimate how close the train station actually is so when we realised that we were in fact running late we started to walk a bit faster (I thought it was grand but I have that attitude to everything so I'm not a very good person to rely on), we even ran some of the way (don't laugh, I actually did run). After finding the platform our train was stationed at we made our way there, and you can imagine the relief on our faces as we saw that the train hadn't left yet. Out of breath and tired already we made ourselves comfortable for the journey ahead. All was fine, we were glad we made it and chatting away until my friend noticed...THAT IT WASN'T THE RIGHT TRAIN! *facepalm* What did we do? Well we gathered our things, faster than we've ever gathered anything in our lives and ran off the train. Turns out the train we had boarded was in fact destined for Marseille...imagine if we had ended up there! Quite a bit far away from where we had intended to go. Being the person I am, I thought the situation we had landed ourselves in was nothing other than hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing! Come on, how common is it that three adults (technically) miss two trains in the space of a couple of weeks?!?! It's pretty darn funny. Anyway, one of the nice people who work at the train station confirmed that we could get the next train, which we did do. This day has certainly placed itself in the little box in my brain reserved for the funniest moments! I mean, nobody died, we still got to Toulouse. All good in the hood I say!

We spent a nice time in Toulouse, I stayed longer than the others. As the friend that we visited is Italian, it was no surprise that she also had plenty of Italian friends, which is great! Apart from the fact that we don't speak Italian, but we all had the common language of French (sometimes English) which was a lifesaver. Toulouse is a pretty big city, and I liked it as a place to visit but I'm not sure I'd quite like to live there but that didn't stop me having fun. The second night I stayed there I went to a 'retro' party, I wasn't exactly sure what this was so I just threw some random pieces of clothing on and away I went; leg warmers, converse, tights and a bright blue top. I didn't think it through because IT WAS BLOODY  COLD! Oh and I almost forgot to mention, on my travels I also met these too guys who knew my cousin, okay yeah that's not so strange right..but they're in the exact same course as her. Tis a small world, even in France! All in all a great weekend was had and I certainly wouldn't be opposed to going back again for another few days. But before that I've got many other planned adventures!

Since then I've not really been up to much else. I've had a lot of exams and whatnot to get done but I know you don't want to hear the sordid details of that. They've put up all the Christmas decorations over here now which has made the place extremely festive, I love it. Christmas has always been one of my favourite times of the year! The atmosphere is indescribable! I will admit, it's strange not being at home during this time of year, seeing all the photos on Facebook of the decorations in Kilkenny is a bit weird. Christmas is always a thing I associate with home and family, so not being there feels a bit odd, it's not bad, it's just different. It's nice to experience how it's celebrated in another culture, there is a Christmas market in on 'Place de l'horloge' and it is filled with so much goodness, from gingerbread to snowglobes, theres something for everyone! There was also an extremely random antiques market on 'Place Pie' yesterday, I had a gooch around and it was fantastic. That's one thing I love a lot about France, it's so wonderfully random and it provides endless entertainment. I mean, there was a price list from a butchers, who would want to buy that you might ask? Well I for one would certainly consider it for the simple reason that I could say I owned one! They had plenty vinyl records, which makes me want a record player just so I can buy them ALL (okay, only some). Then they had this box of postcards that were written like yonks ago. It's all so fantastically amazing and I will forever be in awe. I wish we had markets like that back home. Like, they just set up and many of them just lay the goods on the ground, no hesitation as to whether anyone would steal anything. The lot would be gone in a flash back home!

I have a week full of exams next week, which is going to be mad craic altogether! But I'll sit them in sheer anticipation of my trip to Paris (including DISNEYLAND) which will be a great end to an even greater semester. And this is where I shall bid you adieu my lovlies.Until next time, whenever that may be!

P.S. Here is a pun that I came across the other day, I kid you not I laughed for hours just at the mere thought of it. It's just so darn 'punny'!