A tribute

I started writing this on my last day in Rennes, but had to put it on hold due to the need to actually start packing, and illness when I got home. So while it may seem a bit weird and out of context to publish now, let's just say I'm giving thanks during this festive season to those who mean a lot to me blah blah blah....

So here we are. The end of the first semester. Half time.

But the weird thing is, while for me it's not the end, there was an undeniable air of finality enshrouding my last week in Rennes before Christmas. Why? Because so many people are not coming back after Christmas, and it marks the end of what has been a wonderful semester with some of the most amazing people I have ever met.

Indeed there were a few annoying little things that still had to be done that week - 5 of them to be exact, but these exams hardly caused me to lose sleep because they didn't count towards my degree and I merely had to pile 30 pages of such bullshit that the stench could be smelt from the other side of town. No, what mattered that week was saying goodbye to some incredible people.

It will be extremely strange being in Rennes without them next semester, but with a new bunch of Erasmus students. While I am naturally sceptical about the new students - they won't be able to replace the students who have just left - I know we students still at Rennes next semester need to keep an open mind, accept them into our community and teach them the ways of the Rennes (Hey, I'm Ollie. Here is la Rue de la Soif. You're good to go!)

But this blog post is not about the future. Today I want to just simply say thank you to the people who have made this past semester the life-changing experience it  has been - and yes, it has been life-changing! How? I'll save that for another post. This is not about me either. All I'm gonna say for now is that I'm sure I've returned to Wales a different man from the one who left three months ago.

How is it that these people have had such an impact on me? I guess it's because there's a certain state of mind here with exchange students. We are all here for an experience that is different from the norm. We are all 'yes' people. We dedicate our time not to study or bettering ourselves (that can wait for final year), but to hedonistic pursuits and to meeting people from all kinds of backgrounds. To seizing the day and looking forward to what the next one will bring. I hadn't been excited for anything for the past few years - so to regress to a childlike optimism and naiveté has, for me, been wonderful, and I couldn't have done it alone. Every day is now exciting - and I fucking love it!

Arsene, the legend who looks like Bilbo Baggins and teaches us French Culture, takes his favourite quote from 'The French' by Theodore Zeldin (1983) - "A shared experience is more than a bond. It is a joint discovery of unexpected possibilities". Notice the key word here - joint. No, I'm not talking about Amsterdam, I'm talking about the fact that this discovery of unexpected possibilities that I have definitely undergone would not have been possible alone. It has been shared with some phenomenal dudes, and I want to thank them all here, especially a few certain people. It's probably going to sound like an Oscar acceptance speech, but here goes:

Firstly, the Finnish: what a race! Raised in winter with a great taste in music (HEAVY!!!), speaking the weirdest and most awesome language that has no etymological relevance to anything, and they're just so damn cool! Really nice guys and girls, some of whom also have a bit of a 'fuck you' attitude. So thank you especially to Jaakko, Jenni, Besi, Antti and Iina! I'll be seeing most of you next semester (good luck Iina!).
But special thanks go to Jaana and Satu - our residential Fins, who have been a mahoosive part of my semester. They are both such one-of-a-kind people (contradicting myself there - they're each one-of-a-kind in their own right!) and I was blessed to be in such great company for three months. I can't wait to see them in Helsinki in January and from then on we'll see what the future brings, but I'll miss you guys so much. Rennes won't be the same without you! Satu, keep pulling those hilarious faces! Jaana, keep up the sarcasm! All the best back home!

Next it's the Belgians. These guys are CRAZY! They are proud of their beer and drink so much of it, and it's a lot stronger than the stuff we Brits are used to! Most of these guys are unfortunately not coming back, which will leave the nights out a lot quieter. I'll especially miss the Belgian tornado (Celine, Sarina and Catherine) who always make me laugh, my French partner Silke, and the ringleaders that are Thibault and Max. Check out Thibault's blog by the way. He's such a positive dude and there's some inspirational stuff on there! http://thibaultintheworld.blogspot.com Also massive thanks to Annelien and Mathias, who fortunately will be returning next semester.

This semester has been the first time I've met proper Irish people (Eire now, not British Ireland), and they're such a laugh! Katie, Caroline, Stella and Michelle - we've had the craic! Luckily, you guys aren't abandoning me so there'll be more to come next semester I'm sure! I also want you to know that I have just started drinking Guinness, and it won't be long before I book a Ryan Air flight to Dublin! (Yep, I'm totally sucking up aren't I!)



From the Irish girls to the Dutch girls - some of the first people I met at Rennes, and some of the kindest and most welcoming. Anouck, Carolijn, Marouschka and Tjitske - all the best back in your beautiful country, and yes - I shall return to Amsterdam soon for the native's perspective rather than the tourist's! You guys will be missed, and Cecile - you already were! (She left Rennes early, or as Cam and I call it - 'did a Chris').

Of course, I cannot forget the latinos! The Mexicans are just - wow. Such drinkers! You make Matt and I look like teetotallers! Thank you for pouring the tequilla down my throat and for your singing and constant fiestas! "Arriba, abajo, al centro y pa' dentro"! Laura and Jessica, the Ecuadorian girls, you're so sweet it's hilarious! And of course, Simon and Itzel - I love you guys! Thanks for everything this semester and we have another to look forward to once we've conquered Europe together! Simon keep being even weirder than I am. Itzel, I miss your voice and accent already!

I need to thank all the Appart'City dudes. Rob, the big badass baby balls Robert, the Cypriot giant! Thanks for always being such a laugh with your terrible 'dumb kid' jokes and for just being a crazy fool, and for God's sake tidy your room! I'm looking forward to another semester of your inhuman-sized dinners and strange handshakes! The Russian girls, Arina and Elina, thanks for both being so strange and so funny! Long may I continue to confuse your names! Lena, the first person I talked to in Rennes (on Facebook) thanks for being so kind and friendly! Your English is far better than you think it is by the way! Jessie, we survived French Language woohoo! See you next semester!

Neither can I forget my awesome classmates - you made the classes bearable, sometimes even mildly enjoyable! Thanks to my group mates for working so hard and so well. Sarah, Miri, Annelien, Jaakko, François, Seung Taek, Ly, Laura, Jessica, Barbara, Melissa, Antti, Aurel. Wow, I worked with such diverse groups! Well done to you all. I actually enjoyed our group meetings! And I look forward to working with more people next semester. To the French guys who left, bon courage pour vos voyages! Profitez-vous! Vous me manquez!

Finally, I need to thank the 'English'. Sheffield guys Fiona, Elissa and Musa you're really cool for a bunch of mathematicians! Matt, you're a fucking legend and I love our banter! Thanks for the great recommendations in music and comedy (I'm listening to Demians as I write this!), being the source of Britishness that may sometimes save me from insanity, and for the hangover KFC sessions! But please keep your trousers up next semester!

I put inverted commas around the word English because as part of my segmentation (marketing nerds be proud!), I'm putting my fellow Warwickers in this category, even though only one of them is actually English! Chris, those couple of weeks you were here were very enjoyable and it was a shame you had to 'do a Chris', but as long as you're (for some crazy reason) happier at Warwick than you are in France, that's all that matters!

But it turns out the other two have done a half-Chris, by chickening out of ESC Rennes to pursue work experience for a consulting firm in Paris, because apparently that's more useful than learning stuff they already know in French whilst being ostracised from a native French-speaking group. Tut tut..... But seriously guys congratulations on getting the internships! Life in Paris will be amazing, and you'll definitely get more use out of next semester than I will (but I will have a LOT more fun despite being poor mwahahaha!)

Frieddie, it was an absolute pleasure getting to know you this semester, and I can't wait to hang out with you more back in Warwick. We should get some of those sweets you love and throw them at the pretentious Swedes who suit up for every lecture, although I'm sure you will have thought of something much more evil! Thanks for everything!

Cam, I'm gonna embarrass the shit out of you right now! This guy has been my best friend throughout uni, being with me through the good times and the bad, and I'd like to think I did the same for him.(No? Awkward turtle....) We had some great times in Rennes, especially those quiet drinks in town where we'd discuss our plans for world domination etc. Dude, next semester will be my first at uni without you, and it will be weird. You're the Laurel to my Hardy. The Ant to my Dec. The random high-profile popstar to my David Guetta. The moves to my Jagger. The cigarettes to my Frenchman. You catch my drift.... Anyway dude, best of luck in Paris, and thanks for the free accommodation there. (By the way, I'm visiting!) We have plenty more antics ahead in Paris, Warwick, HK (Hong Kong), KL (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), NY (New York), NK (North Korea)....but you'll be missed in Rennes!

Okay! That's all the soppiness out of my system, but these guys needed a little thank you, because they have all contributed to making my time at Rennes so enjoyable. If I forgot anyone I apologise, but all the Rennes people I met should know they've been great! In fact, maybe you have someone you'd like to thank for making a positive impact on your life? Tell them! It's always nice to know you're appreciated. And is that not what the true spirit of Christmas is all about?

Okay maybe that was a little TOO cheesy, like a High School Musical raclette. My bad.
BRING ON SEMESTER II!!!

Rant/histrionic gratefulness over

Ollie

Yule Blog

MERRY CHRISTMAS! MERRY CHRISTMAS! YESSSSSS! Wonderful times! May you have amazing festivities! May glad tidings be brought unto you and your mum. Here's to a hopeful New Year where those who haven't yet found love do so, where great achievements are made in science and in life, the economy will no longer be fucked and there'll be increased prosperity, happiness, love, fertility, music that is free of 'doing it like dudes' and whatever the hell Nikki Minaj is on about, care for one another regardless of race, gender, religion, sexuality and music taste, working together as a world to beat AIDS and cancer..... WOOHOO IT'S CHRISTMAS!

Nah, just kidding. It's probably been, through no one's fault, one of the worst Christmases yet. I know what you're thinking - 'What's with the pessimism Ollie? Snow need to be like that!' Don't worry guys, I'm not saying it was all terrible. This isn't an Eastenders christmas episode! In fact if anything it just shows how awesome my Christmases have been for this one to not be on par with the others. I'll start from the beginning, shall I........

As you can see from my post on the 4th December - 'why I don't care much for Christmas this year', I didn't have high expectations anyway. I wasn't looking forward to coming home due to my boredom with the UK and my love of Erasmus life in Rennes. To reduce myself to using clichés, I was having the time of my life, and I know it will end in May, so I didn't feel like wasting two weeks doing nothing in Wales with my life under the control of my parents.

However, when I arrived home Monday evening, things started off wonderfully. My family were very welcoming, even my brothers with whom I haven't been that close lately. I actually went to the pub with them - I had never done that before, it was crazy! It was like we were friends! The following evening was also lovely, spent with some of my closest friends at Newport. Sometimes you're too busy to miss people, or you're having too much of a good time with one set of people to miss another. I think both were the case with me at Rennes, and I don't mind admitting that! You should enjoy the times with the people you're with, don't pine for those who aren't there! So arriving in Wales was surprisingly enjoyable, and it was lovely to see my family and friends.

But of course, good times don't last. Tuesday night I had to rush home from my friend's house because I felt a little weird. Turned out I spent the whole night in a bucket, emptying the stomach full of mixed grills, chips, chicken, Chinese food and other British cuisine that I had to ingest after three months of baguettes and croissants.

I was disappointed in myself. After the many times in France I felt sick this semester from drinking too much, devouring loads of kebabs or even eating blatantly gone-off chicken, and didn't throw up, my lad of a stomach was finally defeated, by what? Some chicken at Asda? This was stupid! And after being up all night getting rid of what felt like the stomach itself, my Wednesday was written off due to my epic fatigue. No Sherlock Holmes 2 for Ollie. (But apparently Orange Wednesdays is no longer 2 for 1, but the second ticket is half price instead of free. Woop-dee-fucking-doo! Go fuck yourselves, Orange).

Thursday came, and I wasn't feeling brilliant. But I still hadn't bought all my Christmas presents, so I went to Cardiff with a couple of friends and sorted that out. After supposedly throwing up due to some weird chicken on tuesday, what do I go and buy for lunch? Fried chicken. And the Idiot of the Year award goes to.........

Luckily, however, after my first date with the bucket, I didn't call her again. She called me a few times, mostly through the night on Friday and Sunday, but I didn't pick up. So the psycho bitch went for my family instead. First she went with my dad and my youngest brother on the Friday, and then after a gluttinous Christmas dinner, she got both brothers and my mum. Yes, it turned out I had brought home a stomach bug. Merry Christmas family!

So this bastard bug nearly ruined Christmas. It definitely took 2011 way down the league table of my top Christmases. There was no traditional Christmas Eve meal out (we were going to go to our favourite Indian restaurant, so that was definitely out of the question!), Boxing Day was ruined, with all of us too weak to do anything fun (dad and I were up the night before helping those who were ill) and right now we should have been in Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire, seeing our relatives, but we had to pull out of that too.

But I guess the most important thing was that we were all relatively healthy on Christmas Day (up until the night anyway) and so we exchanged presents with the usual glee, and had a delicious Christmas dinner that only my mum can whip up. What did I get from Santa? A lot of chocolate that I won't be able to eat until after Rennes part II is finished, but most importantly, really warm clothes - a super warm coat and fleece, as well as gloves with the latest technology to provide maximum warmth.

Why did I want these so badly? In a couple of weeks I will be in Helsinki, Finland, visiting my friends, as part of the Great European January Adventure. A week today I shall be flying to Rome to start the journey, and I hope to blog as much of it as I can. I am seriously excited! Is it fully-planned? Of course not! I can't even tell you guys exactly where we're going yet, because I don't know the exact dates and places, but I know it will involve more countries in three weeks than the rest of my life put together, and that alone is far more exciting than Christmas could ever be!

But Christmas, despite my lack of excitement, was very enjoyable with the family. We don't spend much time together, so it was really enjoyable to have that day to ourselves. Jake had bought Dad the DVD of Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame (his favourite Disney film. No surprises there, the francophone! I'm not jealous by the way.....)  so we sat and watched that, missing Michael McIntyre's Christmas Comedy Roadshow instead of Strictly Come up-your-arse Dancing. After watching that wonderful film, we put on Aladdin. God how I miss the Disney Renaissance! I was so lucky to grow up with those films rather than the rubbish kids these days have to watch. Disney, quit with the ugly computer animation and bring back the iconic drawings! I mean, come on! You can't beat this!

Anyway, I write this blog update feeling rather blessed. Yes it was a pretty poor Christmas by our usual standards (which just highlights how awesome it usually is) but it was enjoyable nonetheless, and I was with my family, who I hadn't seen in three and a half months, and it was like I had never left. Sure there were moments when they decided to take their frustration out on me for being a lazy bastard and not helping around the house (hmmm....guess they have a point there!) but after resisting the urge to burst out about how I didn't want to be there, it went rather well.

That's family for you. You have your ups and downs. There are times where you want to just hug and not let go, and times where you want to just hug and not let go until you've suffocated them. (Sorry, Gladiator was on the telly last night). But at the end of the day, they're the best thing you have. They will always be there for you, and we can't forget that. Plus, my family in particular are a right laugh. Mum and my brothers all have wit that far surpasses my own, so you can imagine the remarks that fly around and bounce off one another - makes for great banter!

Okay I'm going off point. Basically, I'm extremely fortunate to have such a wonderful family, and to have such great friends in Wales as well as all over the world. This week I need to make sure I spend as much time as possible with the Welsh lot before I depart for the GEJA.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had what you wanted, and most importantly, had a wonderful (stomach bug free) time with those you love.

Nadolig Llawen pawb! (That's Welsh. Yeah....)


Rant over

Ollie


P.S. Thought I'd add a piece of Christmas TV awesomeness for you. Why did I enjoy it so much? Because my family and I always have fun singing along to this song with bad impressions of Shane McGowan, and I actually had a go myself at it in Rennes before this was recorded (Michelle, you still have the video right?) Anyway here's the version by my favourite comedian Michael Mcintyre. Merry Christmas!

Good times!

All I can say about this week is: wow!

Okay - you know how I roll, that's not all I can say... I am sat chilled in my room, in the dark of winter at a mere 18h. There's a pile of unwashed dishes in the sink, the pungent smell of emmental cheese circulates the room like a wasp, ignoring the open window and choosing to keep me company instead, empty beer bottles are reigning over my table, my floordrobe is full of the clothes I've worn the past couple of days, next to an open folder that is nagging me about my five exams this week. But here I am, sat on my bed, writing this blog, with Foo Fighters' new album serenading me, without a care in the world. I can't think about pricing strategies when I'm stuck in my own thoughts - with such a bittersweet mix of elation and sadness.

With two exams, three nights out, and great progress in making 2012 awesome, this week has been very eventful. The exams were in French language and culture, and I am pleased to announce that I am not taking French language classes ever again! Considering how much work there was involved, the long wednesdays trying to stay awake (and failing) as you were in class long after the sun had gone to bed, and the many various assessments (presentation, oral exam, written midterm exam, written exam), I don't really feel I learned anything. Observe: 

That's right kids, I'm rocking this economics-style! Notice at A, this tends to be the first four years of learning french at school, where we learn all the essential phrases such as j'ai les yeux bleus ('I have blue eyes'  - because most French people are blind) and dans ma trousse il y a un baton de colle ('In my pencil case there is a glue stick' - because in French culture, the contents of one's stationery is an urgent issue), as well as how to greet, describe yourself, numbers, days of the week, family etc. 

The next three years (B) are when the learning curve is at its steepest, where we learn all the different verbs and how to conjugate them for different people (je suis, tu es, il est.....) as well as the different tenses (perfect, future, imperfect, conditional). I believe this is the part that really accelerates one's knowledge of a foreign language. 

Then we get to part C, and I wonder why the fuck I have to turn up to class every week. Once you start discussing stuff you'd talk about in your own language in a foreign language, such as current affairs, you know you have no more use for French class and you are ready to just go into the real world, get some Dutch courage at  la Rue de la Soif , and speak to some actual French people! 

TOP TIP: It's best to talk to the drunks. They speak slower. 

Having studied French to A Level, I am at part C on the marginal utility graph, and as you can see the learning curve here is almost as flat as Keira Knightley's chest. Every wednesday evening was torture, as I would try to listen to discussions I couldn't care less about, unlike the German girls of course, who DEFINITELY don't need any more classes, blitzing through their arguments. I would not be thinking of how to rearrange a French sentence to make it sound even more gay - but contemplating all the different things I'd rather be doing instead in those three hours on a Wednesday, like banging my head against a brick wall. 

And then came the final straw - we studied a painting. Yes, it was La Marianne, which is apparently a symbol of liberty and reason for France, but to me it was just a picture of a woman with her tits out luring a battalion of men (and that kid off Les Miserables) to their death using her bosom. I've never cared that much for art - I'm too proletariat for that! So when the professor set us an essay about different styles of art I conscientiously objected, which here means that no fucking way was I doing an essay about paintings! That was the last straw! I'm not putting up with that shit next term! So bye bye French language, it was nice (like a rapist with syphilis) knowing you.

That's right, I've chosen my classes for next semester, and I feel liberated. No more French language class! Instead I will use those 3 hours a week to teach myself French, and dedicate more time to integrating with the locals. If you want something done right, do it yourself! (Although with my cooking skills I should probably outsource that...). 

There are more reasons why 2012 should be awesome. I have found out this week that my internship applications have gone a lot better than I thought. As well as getting to the phone interview stage with Unilever for marketing, I have also got the phone interview for AB InBev, after passing all their tests. Maybe I could actually get something this summer!

But the best one, and the most surprising, is the company that I had been expecting to laugh in my face from the start. I had to switch the vacancy I was applying for at PriceWaterhouse Coopers as management consulting at London was full. They also asked me for my actual percentage marks at uni so far (which I had tried to hide by just showing the grades). Okay this was it. If the stupid attempt at a personality test that was as self-contradictory as Gollum wasn't enough to put them off me, surely my 44% in economics would do it (they didn't think my French Language marginal utility graph was relevant to elasticity of demand....).

But no! I got the text and email from them the next day saying I'm through to the next stage of the application process (whatever that is)! Okay, to be honest I'm probably the PwC equivalent of Jedward on the X Factor, long overstaying my welcome, but God was I chuffed! Why? Because the vacancy I switched to was even better than the one I initially applied for, but despite being HR Consulting, it was listed under Tax and not Consulting! Ah well, I didn't care - there are over 80% of vacancies still available for an internship in London while many vacancies are now full, and maybe, just maybe, I have a shred of a chance. 

So internships are going pretty well. While BT seem to be withdrawing the internship scheme altogether, I sent off my sixth application this week to keep more options open - Procter & Gamble. Yes, I'm aiming high, but why not! I'll use a market skimming strategy on the job market and go for less renowned companies if/when I fail the big ones. But it has given me confidence, knowing that kick-ass global companies are at least considering me. I realise I have spent more time on these applications than I actually have on my studies, so I really hope it pays off (literally - I don't want to work for free this summer!). 

But the biggest reason why next year should be awesome, is that it will start awesome. I, along with my dear friends Itzel and Simon (right), have bought Eurail tickets for 3 weeks' unlimited train travel through Europe in January. 

That's right guys - I am travelling Europe!!! With Latin Americans!!!

From January 3rd, the three of us aim to visit many different countries in Europe in what we are calling the GEJA (Great European January Adventure), and of course I will be blogging the whole thing! We haven't planned the exact destinations just yet, but a provisional list includes Italy, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and most importantly, Finland (to see our friends in their homeland). This is obviously ambitious, but we will try to see as much of Europe as we can before coming back to Rennes for a week of catch-up sleep before term starts in February.

That's all I can say about the GEJA for now, but I am seriously excited about this trip and I know there will be many unforgettable experiences to share. I could be potentially visiting twice as many countries in 3 weeks as I have visited in my whole life so far, so bring on 2012!

But of course let's not wish life away. My first semester at Rennes is about to start its last week, and what a semester it has been! I feel like a totally different man from the one who crossed the English Channel at the beginning of September, and while the city of Rennes itself is pretty cool, it is and has always been the people who have made my Erasmus exchange such an incredible experience. Unfortunately some of them are leaving already, and some will not be returning, including Frieddie, who has secured a placement with a consulting firm in Paris for the next semester. Congratulations Frieddie and good luck - you will be missed by many at the ESC! 

Cam is also hoping to be in Paris next semester, but I - I can't leave ESC just yet - I'm too happy here with such wonderful friends! So it's quite possible that while four Warwickers started at the ESC in September, after Christmas I will be the sole representative in Rennes. God help Warwick's reputation mwahahaha!!! 

But while I will be with those guys again back in England for final year, there are some people I may never see again. We needed a big night to see them off. That was why last night was quite possibly the best night of the semester, where the majority of my friends at Rennes came. We had pre-drinks in Appart City before heading to town and meeting more people. 

While doing a poor impression of the Pogues (the video will be up soon), dancing like an idiot, listening to Satu's and Michelle's beautiful renditions of various Christmas songs while eating a tuna baguette, bringing Employable Ollie out, and gasping as Rob jumped out of the window before remembering there was a balcony outside, I savoured every moment I was there with the group of many nationalities, the group that we had formed over three months of scaring ourselves in a new country. I am both proud and grateful to be part of such a large, fantastic, but unfortunately evanescent group, so thanks guys for making my time here so enjoyable! 

So I sit here in my dump of a room having done very little revision, probably about to severely underachieve in my exams this week, but I can't help but smile. I plan to finish this semester the same way as I have been living it for three months: good times with great people! For me, they're what Erasmus is about - not exams. 

Rant over

Ollie

P.S. As we all know, a picture paints a thousand words, so here's a few more pics of the party last night, taken by friends. 

Employable Ollie makes an appearance

Las chicas

How the Irish eat Carambar sweets

Caption totally unnecessary here

Silvy and the Russian-speakers

Our beloved Fins

Cypriot Santa

Tuuli having fun with the bf

Looking lovely ladies....

SUIT UP! 

Why I don't care much for Christmas this year.

Thought that title would grab your attention!

It's December. Apparently. It's not very cold outside, just pissing it down, and I'm currently stuck in McDonalds where they're not playing any Christmas songs at all. Slade, Wizzard, Band Aid, even Justin Bieber has been forsaken by the French McDonalds playlist, instead preferring to play the entire back catalogue of Coldplay and Black Eyed Peas.

But this doesn't bother me for four reasons. 1) I quite like both those artists. 2) Even if I didn't, I have Spotify on my Mac. 3) It could be worse - could be French music. 4) I don't want to listen to Christmas music.

That's right. You read that correctly. You do not need to get tested for dyslexia (and if you are dyslexic, sorry it was just a joke. Dog bless you...) Christmas music actually makes me feel depressed. Now before you start calling me Scrooge, let me explain myself. 

It's not that I don't like Christmas, but I think it's SERIOUSLY overhyped - like, even more than the X Factor!

The cheesy songs, the present-buying, the shops being open late (not in France though. Nothing's ever open comme d'habitude), the lights on the houses, the Christmas parties.... it's all worn off on me! It's all people pretending to be happy and have fun, but the reality is quite different. The lights are consuming a shit load of electricity, and with energy costs shooting up, this is BAD. My parents used to blame the high electricity bills on me and my brothers for playing on our PlayStation 2 all the time, totally ignoring the fact that our house was so heavily adorned with lights that it became a beacon that could be seen from space. 

But personally, all Christmas is symbolising for me is the end of this semester at Rennes, and the end of three happy months, with some fantastic people, many of whom will not be returning after Christmas, many of whom I will not be seeing again. I thought I would be excited about going back to the UK for Christmas, but I was there last weekend and was horribly bored by it. 

Have I outgrown my own country? I mean outgrowing children's things like Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, cartoons, religion...fair enough! But this is the country that has defined me. I've lived there for 21 years! But I know that during the two weeks in Wales, I will be reciting stories of life in France to indifferent ears over a pint in a little pub. I am happier here, with people from all over the world, seizing the day the way I want to.

Wales has not really been home for me since 2009 - it is merely a (rainy) holiday location. It is a second home that I go to for the intervals between each university term. And now I'm on an Erasmus placement, and am really enjoying this journey of self-discovery (oops, sorry! I should have warned you to have a bucket ready because that was really cheesy!) I'm not ready for it to end just yet. I don't want to say goodbye to my friends. I'm nowhere near fluent in French. Living in a foreign country scares me - and I love it!

Yes, OF COURSE I miss my family - and they are the only good thing about Christmas for me this year. I miss my parents and their unconditional support and awesomeness, and I want to see how my younger brothers are doing, tell them how proud I am of them (shit, I'm welling up in McDonalds - sorry about this!!! Okay - time to cheer us up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9f-6jygRJk, ah that's better!). I also am looking forward to seeing my welsh friends. But I know this is not directly to do with Christmas. It's just the people. I can catch up with them at other points of the year. I don't need Christmas for this. However, I am looking forward to my mum's Christmas dinner! But that's about it.

I don't need Christmas presents. Material goods don't matter to me anymore. Okay I know I just got a Mac, but that's because I needed a reliable computer! It's experiences that make you happy, I think, and Erasmus is giving me plenty of those. I don't need Christmas parties: I'm at university DUUUUH! There's a party every week, and it's a lot cheaper!

So Christmas does not really mean anything to me this year except an opportunity to see my family and friends, but it is also a death toll for what may have been the happiest time of my life. I know next semester will not be as good, as so many people will not have returned, and the novelty of Rennes will definitely have worn off. I've seen it before with Warwick. The first semester there was incredible, the second was much less so, and after two years I'm totally disillusioned with the place.

Sorry for the slightly depressing post. You may still think I'm a miserable Scrooge. But I will tell you this: I saw a video today that truly touched me, and made me think more of Christmas than any song about snowmen bringing the snow, and it was posted in September!

Maybe it is the beautiful piece of music that sounds slightly Christmasy, but I'm sure it's more to do with the message of the video. Even with the fall of the eurozone and the imminent double dip recession leaving us all broke, we can still make others happy. This is (get your bucket ready again) the real 'spirit of Christmas' for me, and it has inspired me.

This Christmas, don't think of yourself: just think of how you can make others' lives that little bit better. Me? I will start by not moaning about how I will miss Europe: it's out of my system now. I will be there for my family and friends this Christmas, give them my love. Scrooge has met his three ghosts, in the form of this video. 

So I'll say bye for now. Just do me a favour and enjoy this video that some genius created earlier this year. It says way more about happiness than books or any of that stuff about the economics of happiness ever could.

Merry Christmas! I hope you still enjoy it. 

Rant over

Ollie

Sin City and beyond

EPIC NOVEMBER UPDATE - Part 3 of 3

Part 3 of my bumper blog update sees me going to the Netherlands for a weekend trip kindly organised by the Well'Come team at ESC Rennes. For only 90€ we had return travel (11 hour coach journeys! We travelled through the night, most of us sleeping until Rob would wake us up) and stayed at a hostel for the weekend (and I doubt that many hostels are as nice as this one!) and what a weekend it was!

Okay where to start? Well the city itself - what a beautiful place! If you've been there you'll know what I'm talking about. Venice takes all the credit for having the canals through the city, but Amsterdam is an unsung hero in that department! The streets were unlike anything I had ever seen. The buildings were very tall terraced buildings of different dark colours but with large windows and a unique elegance. The waterways in the middle of the streets were home to some citizens who lived in barges, as well as playing host to a lovely boat trip, which we went on to see more of the city.

It is clearly a very tourist city - with many attractions, museums, coffee shops, restaurants and bars. As we wandered the streets that saturday morning, my eyes scanned the area, taking in the city. How amazing it was to be here! It had been over 2 years since I had started to make friends with people from all over the world, and not once, even then, had I been somewhere new. So far I had only seen France (repeatedly), Italy, Spain, and of course England and Wales - not even Scotland! Yet I don't feel like a British citizen anymore, but a global citizen. Learning about other countries and cultures has been an amazing experience for me, and I really really want to see more of the world. So to be here, in the first new country I had visited in years, meant a lot to me, so I was taking it all in.

Suddenly, as my eyes scanned the buildings near me, a mannequin in a shop window moved - scaring the crap out of me! I then realised it wasn't a mannequin, but a soliciting prostitute. I had thought they only came out at night! But I guess there was a big market at this time, what with morning glory and all that.....

We walked down more streets and more hookers were visible, scantily clad and strutting their stuff. Now I had never seen a hooker before (at least I don't think I have - any woman I've met could be one, but they don't tend to disclose that information), and they were different from what the media, films, and TV had portrayed them to be. They weren't all fat, overly made up, heavily smoking lowlife that one can't help but pity - but normal women, seemingly mostly in their 20s, just in their underwear at the windows. And dare I say this, but some of them were actually attractive - a few even looked like models! I was aghast! It seems hookers in Amsterdam are actually quite respectable, because they bring a lot of money to the country through sex tourism. But don't worry kids, none of us reached in our pocket for any fifty notes if you know what I mean... We didn't even go to a sex show! I know, boring eh?

And now you're thinking - what about the other thing? The other thing people can do in Amsterdam that is illegal elsewhere. Yep - speak Dutch. I only knew one phrase - dank u wel, meaning thank you. So I made sure to use that whenever I could, because I strongly believe I should at least make a bit of an effort in foreign countries rather than expect them to all know English - I mean of course we did expect them to know English, and Dutch people speak it really well, but at least I thanked them for it!

Oh you mean the other thing? Well now we all know that drugs are bad, okay kids? You don't do them. So I went to a coffee shop just to take a look. I had heard the stories of what weed could do to you. I had heard many stories of how people get freaked out in the middle of the day being in a city they don't know, trying to find a way back home to get some sleep, while their heads burst with creativity, thinking strange and scary things, and the constant need to throw up. This was what they call 'greening out', and I didn't want that to happen to me. I had heard that people also get paranoid, that they think their friends want to kill them or for example, that the taxi driver is going to lock the doors, kidnap them, and take them to his sex dungeon. So abstinence was better - I could still enjoy the city and its amazing culture when sober.

One of the highlights of the trip was the Anne Frank house. For four years I had studied the Nazi regime and had learned about the atrocities committed towards the Jews, but I had never actually been to any location where these acts had happened. It's a lot more real when you're there and can actually see the Secret Annex where Anne Frank and her family lived. Yes, it had been refurbished into a museum exhibition, but the building was still the same. We could still go through the secret entrance to the Annex that had been concealed by a bookcase. We could still see how tiny the rooms were, actual pages from the diary, the marks on the wall Otto Frank had made to show how his daughters grew over the 2 years they stayed there, the photos on the wall of Anne Frank's room and other personal touches that made the whole thing so real.

But the most upsetting part came at the end, where there was a large photo of Otto Frank revisiting the Annex in the 1960s, years later. Old and alone, the expression on his face said way more than five textbooks ever could. 6 million Jews. For children studying history in the UK it is merely a statistic. However, the hundreds of tourists that day alone who were looking at the photo of Otto Frank, and that expression on his face, were mourning the murder of one person’s family – stories like this must have happened countless times during the War, and it was this that helped me realize how serious and horrible the Holocaust really was. It was a real eye-opener, obviously not the most enjoyable thing to visit in Amsterdam, but I recommend everyone who visits that city see the Anne Frank house for the educational experience.

So that was Amsterdam: the city of sex, drugs and a Hard Rock café that Rob was so obsessed with finding so he could buy a T-shirt (not very rock n roll, but that’s about the closest thing I have, so it’ll have to do alright?!) It was a fantastic city with so much to do and see, and I’d love to go there again to check out what I missed out on this time.

Back In France

Okay so that’s basically it – November has been summarized for you in these three big blog posts (to think I was originally going to put this in one!) There’s nothing much else to report, apart from that I used my blog to get me 80% in an essay in French Culture, as I needed to talk about how much my stay at Rennes has been a cultural experience. Now I have reported already about some cultural experiences, repeating how lucky I am to have such a multicultural friendship group, the food I’ve tasted, places I’ve been to etc. So to answer this question, I merely had to go to this blog and take excerpts. Nice to see this blog is coming in handy – it’s not just for fun!!!

The only other thing that I guess I could report is my bad timing at parties, including an open bar last week in the midst of my stressful project week, as well as a tour of la Rue de la Soif the Saturday before. La Rue de la Soif is the nickname of Rue St Michel, where they have many ‘cheap’ student bars within close proximity. Well, I say student, but it seems to also accommodate punk-haired, black-clad weirdos who litter the street with their piss, let their dogs run wild and give me a chance to use most British people’s favourite French line: Je ne comprends pas. But anyway drinks there are at least affordable – you can get ‘pints’ there (500ml, not 568. Stupid metric system) for €3,50 (didn’t beat the £2.50 PINT of Carlsberg I had at Robbins Well last Friday though!), and after downing a few nice strong Belgian beers, the party was on!

The high prices for drinks doesn’t faze me too much though – they’re still cheaper in the supermarkets (bought 30 25cl bottles of 33 Export for under a fiver!) and I have CAF money – money that has been refunded by the French government to go towards my rent. Clearly this helps with my drinking, with my thirst. So I hereby coin a new term – it’s le CAF pour la Soif. Let’s see if that takes off!

For now, life is pretty good. The shit phase is over, along with classes. Only exams remain this semester, and I have a lovely new MacBook to help me prepare for them. I've also got the interview with Unilever for their marketing department! So chuffed, because I pulled an all-nighter two weeks ago in order to submit my application on time (while Itzel and Jaana shared a bottle of vodka behind me...) Only bad thing is the imminent departure of a fair few friends of mine, and Rennes won’t be the same without them next term – they’ll be sorely missed!

Whew, that didn’t half take forever! There’s November for you! Now let’s see what December brings….

Rant over

Ollie