Life Goes On

Three days before my 21st birthday and I present to you another apologetic introduction for another late blog post which has actually been written in my mind for a while now but for which I hadn't found time to sit down and transfer to a medium that can be easily accessed by everybody else. The ends of events and periods in our life are always the busiest times as you suddenly realise that the finish line is fast approaching and yet you don't feel that you've done everything you wanted or needed to do. The title, meant to be the reasoning behind this delay, reflects my current pace of life which is rolling along faster than I would like as I try to profit as much as possible from a few weeks in Canada before running off to China for a month - A Russian Abroad part 3 if you will. From Bristol and Bologna to Canada and China (let's ignore Toulouse for the sake of example) maybe I should continue my traveling alphabetically so the next place I visit needs to begin with a D - an A-Z of A Russian Abroad...we'll see.

There are parts of culture that you really can only really experience by living with and going out with french students: the term 'fatigué' would normally be used as an adjective to describe someone who is tired. I can now never used that word without thinking of my flatmates using it more as an insult to describe someone who is a bit boring and a drag to hang out with - my flatmates would jokingly (I hope) ask me if I was 'fatiguée' that day... Going to a club for an end of year gala evening and seeing professors there with the students until five in the morning was a surreal experience. Don't they have a bedtime? And through exams, deadlines, and a flatmate's friend breaking up with his girlfriend I also discovered that red wine, bread and cheese really is the cure for everything.

Although I left Toulouse 2 weeks ago now and the last 9 months are a blur which could have easily been a dream, some last minutes thoughts have been lingering on my mind. I'm often asked if I feel english considering I've lived in England for most of my life or if I feel russian or canadian. I can definitely relate to english culture and the way of life but in the end of the day I still feel canadian and russian given my close attachments to my roots. However, as a good friend of mine said to me the other day 'sometimes I'd just rather spend my time with english people'. Fair enough. Is it the language, culture or way of talking to people that means that no matter how many interesting foreigners you might meet, at the end of the day, you sometimes just prefer to spend time with people from your own country where you've grown up? Yet even in Canada I find I miss english humour which is often lost on people here and I often have to repeat what I say, tweaking my accent so that people can understand me.

At the end of June I played in a concert just outside of Toulouse in a town called Mazères. I noticed that there were many older people wandering around the streets and then realised that in Toulouse I rarely see them. Toulouse seems to attract the younger generation - students, recent graduates and young families - which fuels the city's constant energy and then, when it gets too much, people leave to see out their twilight years in a peaceful, idyllic, french, countryside town.
Interestingly enough it was while doing research for my french essay about 'l'identité toulousaine' that I fell in love the city - about two weeks before I was due to leave. Quite a change from the indifference I felt towards it when I first arrived and was missing Italy. Talking to so many 'toulousains' meant I realised what a great city it is and the strong relationship people have with the history, culture and youthful dynamic of the city. Better late than never I suppose.

Anyway, life does go on. All good things must come to an end and now is the time to see if all the promises to visit and skype every week hold out. Canada has seen me doing yoga three times a week, cutting down trees, driving a tractor and swimming in the ocean every evening - a complete yet welcome contrast to intense, european city-life - and pre-departure reading about China is due to start any day now. What do I miss the most? Good italian coffee, long lunch breaks, fresh baguettes, italian ice-cream, french cheese and red wine (see above), italian hand gestures, La Garonne (the river in Toulouse), and french paperwork. (The last one is obviously a joke).

A big thank you to people who have read through my Erasmus experience with me - it's been an absolute pleasure.

Lots of love,

xxx 

Testing out my new camera

Spontaneous weekend to Florence and Bologna

Outdoor orchestra concert at Mazères

Two for the price of one.

I have come to realise that being one of the lucky ones who has two erasmus experiences over the course of one year means I get to learn two languages, about two cultures, experience two different cities/countries and meet completely different types of people. So no matter how tough leaving one experience might be, I get to do it all again.

My last few weeks in Italy were packed with doing as much as possible accompanied by the odd panic attacks about going to France. Living in a city for just a few months, I saw parts of the city that residents of many years had never bothered to seek out because I felt the pressure of a time limit to get to know the city so I tried to do as much as possible. This included the interactive museum of the history of Bologna, the museum of the history of pianos, the music museum, going for sushi one last time, visiting all the little places which I had thought looked nice but never actually tried and saying yes to every invitation, not wanting to miss out on seeing friends that I would soon need to leave or missing out on more time walking around the city. Among all this I was introduced to a new italian word - cicisbeo - is a word from the 18th and 19th century which basically describes a companion for a married woman who would escort her around town and to various social activities when the husband is otherwise engaged. Now I'm definitely not married but when I found myself on my own, I did often call on the same two italian guys to accompany around town. In my last week I also discovered that the best place to visit in one's first week of living in a new city - no matter how much you might want to fit in - is the Tourist Information Office. I wish I had gone there every fortnight or so to find out all the latest information and things going on in the city. 

Taking advantage of discounted erasmus activities, I went skiing for the first time (cross-country skiing at the age of 3 doesn't really count). The first couple hours involved people getting more frustrated with me taking my time to come to terms with the concept and the technique. After a lunch break I found my rhythm and was having an incredible time. Why hadn't I discovered it before? I blame my parents. I got on the bus at the end of the day full of adrenaline and excitement for how well the day had gone and woke up the next day thinking about doing it all again. How many people can say they have gone skiing for a day in the north of Italy and then the next day taken a plane to the south - Palermo, Sicily. (Yes, this is the seamless link onto my next paragraph).

I was lucky enough to be treated to flights to Palermo as a christmas present and so I went there for five days at the end of January with my friend Giuseppe who is Sicilian and was very keen to show me the city. I learnt that Italy is a country with 60% of Europe's churches and an unbelievable amount of very diverse history. I was also repeatedly told that Sicily is the most beautiful island in the world and that the fact is undebatable - I would have to say it's the second most beautiful after Vancouver Island in Canada... I can't be disloyal. I saw 2% of Palermo's 250 churches, I learnt about Serpotta - a renowned italian sculptor from the 17th and 18th centuries whose work is all over Palermo and who worked with stucco* - and I sampled the delights of le arancine and i cannoli and a brioche with ice cream inside. I saw one of the most beautiful cathedrals I have ever seen - in Monreale and decorated entirely with mosaics - and I learnt that though I think I understand and speak italian - sicilian is a complete different thing...definitely not italian that's for sure. The city is beautiful but it seems that some of the people don't respect or appreciate their city. It's sad to see and hear about people throwing rubbish out of their windows and stray dogs all over the city. It is difficult to know where to start to help improves thing, maybe the education in schools in order to target the younger generation?

I left Italy feeling sad for having to leave a place in which I'm so happy and a culture with which I have completely fallen in love, but with curiosity for the new city and the people I might meet.

After a 20 hour coach journey filled with butterflies and the odd tear, I arrived to Toulouse. I'm very lucky in that I was met at the station by another stagiaire and treated straight away to lunch at my boss's house. The first thing I did in the afternoon, having learnt from Bologna, was to go to the office with all the information of things going on for young people in the city. I picked up a pile of leaflets and booklets about things to do so at least I won't be bored. I had already had a room lined up with a french 

family who are very welcoming and arriving in a new country with home comforts already set up is very reassuring. My second day here my boss invited me to join her and a couple of her friends to visit a lovely medieval town about an outside of Toulouse called Cordes-sur-Ciel which is very charming and was tranquil without the throngs of tourists which come with high season. A pleasant start to life in a new place - which definitely beats staying at home and wondering how I am going to make friends.

Having gotten used to italian culture and habits, it will take time to readjust however, on the plus side, I at least understand everything that is said to me (the same can't be said for my arrival in Italy and I didn't understand anything) even if my attempts to express myself come out more in italian than in french.

A la prochaine fois,

xxx

*stucco - is a special technique used for sculpture in which it is applied wet and so the sculpture must work very quickly to ensure he finishes before it dries. The finish is more refined and smooth and very light in colour.

Typical bolognese food - an outing with a cicisbeo

Stunning trees in Palermo

Beautiful mosaics

Blending in so well - I came prepared

Arab influences on churches in Palermo

The new way to eat ice cream and add to the calorie count