Halloween Night at the hostel!

What a night!!!

Its halloween so automatically it seems that people have to act like complete idiots!!!! People were buying drinks at the bar and would not pay.... and would get agressive when asked to pay for their drink. It got so bad that Milen (my work buddy) had to close the bar one hour earlier and kick everyone out!!! And all these people are grown ups.. not teens trying to be little stupid rebels.. and they are also locals and people that come ALL the time!!! I dont know.. its silly!!!

Then I was working at night... so i was sleeping there... and it was just awful. First of all every half hour someone was coming in or going out. Normally its dead quiet and i can have a good night sleep. And of course everyone was coming in DRUNK... TRASHED.... pretty much thinking that they owned the place, asking to use the closedf kitchen, to get more beer, drinks.. etc. NO! just go to bed you drunk idiot... idiot.

Then a bunch of people ring the bell, so I answer and some dude that is not sleeping in comes into the hostel. I tell him to get out because he is not sleeping here. His answer, GIVE ME A BEER AND ILL LEAVE. It was like 4 30 so the bar was way closed. I told him.. sorry the bar is closed I cant give you a beer and you need to leave. He says well im not leaving until you give me a beer. So i say. HEY look at the bar. Its ALL closed, the lights are turned off.. clearly that means you cant have a beer. So he says well you let all these people in why are they allowed to go in. UMM because they are staying in the hostel. Oh well i want to stay here drink and sleep here. Sorry the hostel is full. Well ill sleep on the floor. Yeah you will sleep on the floor... OUTSIDE. NOW COME ON GET OUT. No I want a beer. GET OUT NOW before I call the police. Yeah you wanna call the police well here heres my phone call the police. In my head im thinking.. SHIT.. i dont even have the police number.. So at this point i start getting really pissed... I tell him. GET OUT JUST GET OUT! stop being an idiot and get out of my hostel. Ohh your getting angry.. why are you getting angry.. euh cuz Its 4 30 am... you want something i cant give you and even if i could i wouldnt give it to you and you wont leave.. and i want to sleep. So he says why dont we go talk about this outside and let these people go to bed... stupid guy... really? So i say alright. As soon as he is outside i close the door and lock it up. What a d-bag!!! ahaha... the rest of the people in the hostel were holding the door so he could not open it. Anyways.. then my heart was pounding all night long and each time the bell rang i thought it might be him again. So pretty much I didnt sleep at alllll because really everyone was coming in all night. Some people actually came in at 6 30.... so now im pooped. and i cant wait to get to bed. Me and my spanish friends are going to a theme park that is NOT euro-Disney. Then i am taking them to the canadian beer so they can have poutine and watch a hockey game!!!!

The weather is nice. So nicceeee.. no snow a tiny bit of rain and just lovely weather.

PHIL YOUR HOUSE IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mado the pics of the kids dressed are so cute!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope everyone is ok!!!

bisous to all!!!

Rain vs. Snow

Heya MATES!
Look at me.. 2 blogs in just about one week.. how good am i... :)
So for the past few days I have been debating with myself the topic of rain vs. Snow- Which one do I prefer. Let me tell you that its not at all that easy of a decision as both sides have fairly good arguments.
It has been raining quite a bit since I got back from my 3 week vacation with mimi and it is also somewhat cold. I hear the people from Valdor yelling right now saying Yeah well at least you don't have to shovel your driveway this morning.... and nope I don't.... but the weather is just so different here. The rain is just SO COLD. SOOOO COLD!!!! and if I remember what It was like in december 2 years ago, its about to get colder. There normally isint a lot of snow but this is where I began to wonder if I would like better snow or rain.

I LOVE walking in the rain. I think it is totally relaxing and very amusing.... but wet... no matter what happens you're wet. If its warm and windy.. you're wet.... if its cold.. well you're wet and most likely pissed off because well.. really no one likes to be wet and cold its just not fun.

When it snows........ well thats a totally different story. When it snows most likely its gonna be cold..... when its windy and snowy ah man thats a drag!! such a drag!! I hate it.. I HATE IT... !!! when you step outside and the first breath of fresh air that you inhale just hurts because its so cold..... or sitting down in a car that is not yet heated up... AHHHHHH AWFULLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just want to get inside as soon as possible... BUT at least you are not wet... damp maybe... but not wet. Walking outside(especially at night) when its not too cold and its snowing big, huge beautiful snowflakes... is just AMAZING. You bundle up with a scarf, a hat, mittens and a good jacket and there is nothing better. And once again you don't get wet. Wow how amazing it is. However... well when it snows then you have to shovel.. which means having to wake up early to dig out your car.. or in sisters case.. waking up at 3 :45 am to go find a parking that is not inside the mall parking lot... SNOWSTORMS... well... not that I would know as i do not have a car.. but I can just imagine that it SUX!

So really the decision is kind of hard...... because I hate the cold... and I hate being wet.. especially with cold freezing rain.....

Well after debating with myself for a while... I came to the conclusion that I enjoy better snow. I rather walk in the snow then get wet in the rain. Im sure if i had a car I would probably think otherwise, but for now this is my decision. I hate all the rain in Paris and i dont think i would mind a nice little snowfall.

But with this said, I was thinking of coming home early as I am very broke, but when I saw the pictures that my aunt sent me of all the snow, I decided I would tough it out and skip the cold quebec winter this year. I deserve it... haha! So i will put on my raincoat and enjoy the cold cold rain and light snowfall of Paris!! :)
Hope everyone is ok!!
Phil i wanna se pictures of your house when its all done!!!!!
Bisous to all!!!
Gen

Alright Alright! Part DEUX!

Ok.... all my german kids are all served and getting ready to go back to Germany...
So yeah Athens.... I enjoyed it even though it was freaky at night and not what I expected. I dont think i was as disappointed as Mylene because she had been wanting to go there for so long... I guess her expectations were higher than mine. Our hostel was an absolute dump though. It was located right in the center which is the only positive thing. It was a 10 minute walk from the main square... which had a HUGE flea market and a lot of restaurants. You could also get a nice view of the Parthenon!
The window from our hostel would not close and our room was infested with mosquitos. The first night I could barley sleep because I was getting picked all night long. I had huge bites. My sister had quite a bit herself. The last night we did not sleep AT ALL... we tried... but I was so itchy that I turned on the light to find out that my sister was also wide awake.. so we decided to just stay up as we had to wake up at 5:30 anyways to catch our ferry to Santorini. The only good thing was the friendly staff!!!! The walls were falling apart abd the shower was moldy! MMmmMm Lovely!!
Santorini was living in a dream. It was BEAUTIFUL! It was everything I expected from greek islands and even MORE! The white typical greek houses with the flowers and the blue doors.
Our hostel consisted of 2 bedrooms with beds in each room a kitchen, a tv, an amazing bathroom. The hostel in itself had a pool a bar, the possibility to watch DVD's in your room, and a 2 minute walk from the beach.. and all that for 12 euro per person per night. It was a joke!!!!! IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!
We rented 4 wheelers and rode around the island, we spent time at the beach, we hiked up an active volcano, we swam in a hot spring, we rode on a boat, saw the most beautiful sunset ever, we relaxed, we tanned, we ate amazing food... I drank a pina colda on the beach... really?? how truly truly amazing!!!! Exactly what we needed to end our vacation. The staff at the hostel was phenomenal... helped make the experience even better!!!!!!!!! The only bad thing about Greece in general is there's a lot of stray dogs.. and that just breaks MY HEART!! it was so sad. Each time we saw one mimi and I were telling each other... no wait... he belongs to this person... oh he is just waiting here because his owner is over there.. you know... the kind of thing to make us feel better... because wow did we feel bad.
I would recommend this to EVERYONE! EVVEEERRYOOONNNEEE!! it is so relaxing and so good!! I would definitely.. and WILL definitely go back!!
Im sure that the majority of you who are reading this blog have access to facebook.. so if you are curious I posted a whole bunch of pictures for every place I visited. GO TAKE THE LOOOOOK!
So all in all it was an amazing adventure.. another one that i will remember for as long as i live.
It was great to see my sister and I was really sad to see her go!!!! Luckily my friend gilles was there to keep me company!!!!
SO GO GO!! GO LOOK AT MY PICTURES!!
Hope all is well.....
and i will TRY to keep this more up to date.. just like i keep promising but never do....
Much love to all
Hope everyone is well!!
Hope the snow hold up back in canada!! haha!!
Here it is cold.. but still no snow...!!! Hopefully there wont be ANY!! I WANT A WARM WINTER!!!

Alright Alright!

So.... just when I was about to GIVE UP this blog because I am so far behind and just the thought of catching up gives me a head ache ..... my aunty Madeleine told me not to as she enjoys reading it. She told me it didn't matter if I didn't write a lot or if I just post some pictures... so I figured.. alright ALRIGHT!!!!

It is currently 7:15 am and I am at work. For those of you who don't know I am still working at the Peace and Love and could NOT be happier. I work 3 night shifts a week from 2 am to 9 am... I work 2 bar shifts from 6pm to 2 am and 1 day shift from 9 am to 6 pm. It is so much fun. Not only is it a cool place to hang out but to work. I enjoy Meeting people fom all around the world. Lately there seem to be a lot of Australians, Canadians and Americans which is fun. I have developped an interests for Australia and Australians because I cant believe just how laid back an fun they ALL are and they have a pretty cool (sexy) accent. Maybe a future trip? I think so. I mean I already have my Travel book to Australia. Maybe in a year or so once I get back to Montreal and start working again.
Anyways, I think that if it weren't for this hostel I would probably be out of Paris by now. Paris is really beautiful... amazingly beautiful but its too big and too busy for me. I can't get use to this lifestyle, actually I don't want to be part of this lifestyle. Definitely don't want to become a Parisian! haha! If I ever told anyone that my dream was to go to Paris, marry a french guy and live in Paris for the rest of my life... well... that is no longer true... But either way it is still the best experience of my life and I am happy!

I have a new roomate! His name is Phil and he is from Philadelphia... whats up with me and Philly huh? He was staying at the hostel and was looking for a roomate and since Joey was leaving soon I told him WHY NOT! He is very cool. Super friendly and helpful! I was lucky to have such wonderful roomates. He just got his french citizenship so i guess he is now French also. He lived in Singapore for a while which I think is pretty amazing. He is also a very good cook! Yay!!! :)

I just came back from a 3 week Euro-trip with my sister. GOD WAS IT SO NICE TO SEE HER!
We started off in Brugge, Belgium (2 nights), Brussels, Belgium (1 night), Cologne, Germany (2 nights), Munich Germany (2 night), Krakow Poland (3 nights), Athens, Greece (3 nights) and then Santorini Greece (4 nights) IT WAS AMAZING!!
First of all Brugge... THUMBS UP! I would recommend it to ANYONE! Its gorgeous!! A little Medieval town with cobblestone steets and brick houses, amazing architecture topped off with lovely canals!! So so soooo cute!!!! One problem though IT HAS TOO MANY CHOCOLATE STORES! They are EVERWHERE!!! Loved it loved it LOVED IT!
Brussels... was... not at all interesting. Alot of people visiting the hostel had told me theres wasnt much to see... which I now understand. I am glad that I went because its the capital of Europe... but I wouldnt go again... So MOM.. you didn't miss much by only seeing the train station. Other than the peeing family (Boy, Girl and now dog (which we didnt see)) there really wasnt anything else. The waffles were out of this world amazing but not good enough to make me wanna go back.
Cologne. I Loved it. Mylene didn't enjoy it as much as I did but I thought it was nice. Friendly little german village. Not much too see but interesting nonetheless. A big cathedral is pretty much the only thing to see and it was a 3 min walk from our hostel so that was perfect. I enjoyed it and would go again. i dont know if I would recommend it to anyone but I liked it.

Munich STRIKES AGAIN! AMAZING!!! Granted it WAS oktoberfest.... but still!!! So we were staying at this really fancy hotel which was a 10 min walk to the site. It was BEYOND my expectations. It was SO HUGE! I was expecting little white tents holding about 100 people. Not MASSIVE cabins holding up to 10 000 people. The atmosphere in those tents was beyond words. People standing up on the tables, singing, Prosting their beers holding each other. Perfect. Thinking about it still gives me goosebumps. We met up with some peopl that were staying at my hostel the night before we left for our trip. One of the guys, Ben was able to get 2 people in a tent with him (because he knew someone who worked there) and instead of choosing his friends because he was with other people, he chose me and my sister. I am still thankful for that. It was so generous of him. So we got in the tent and there we also met up with a friend, Bernhard, who we met last time we were in Munich. It was all so much fun!!! I actually had pains on my hand from hold that 1L of beer...... or the 6L of beer I had that night.... ouch... The thing with Oktoberfest is if you dont go early, you dont get in a tent. You can try and sneak in somehow but still its difficult and really I dont want to start drinking at 7 am.. but if you are not there by that time you probably wont get the chance to get in.... and if you are in a tent and you are not drinking, they kick you out and if you are too drunk then they kick you out... haha so really we were lucky to get in in the afternoon. It was AMAZING! I want to go back every year!!! Also to see Bernhard. He was so nice!! It was great tos ee him again!! We had kept in touch for about 2 years since our last trip. So it was nice, he even let us stay at his house for our last night. Wonderful, wonderful guy! Thanks again Bernhard!
Krakow Poland was also a lot of fun.... I had been looking forward to that for a very long time. Auchwitz is really what I wanted to see. And it was so... interesting. I had been reading about it for so long that it was great to be able to see it with my own eyes. It is hard to describe how I felt once I was in there but it was a great experience. Walking into the different buildings, gas chambers, the museum containing all the hair that was shaved off from the people, all the suitcases, the hair brushes, the shoes..... ahhh... it was something.
The hostel we were staying was was what made krakow so amazing. It was a small apt that was turned into a hostel. There was a tiny living room where mingling was so easy. The people staying there at the same time were so much fun!!!!! I had the best time. If peace and love is my fav hostel, Mosquito is definitely my second favorite hostel!!! I would definitely go there again. The food is also VERY amazing!.. mmmm pierogies... oh wow. And it was also so cheap!! Wow it was cheap! We ate at fancy restaurants for nothing almost!!!! Krakow is also very nice. Very old. Very friendly place.. it felt home-y.... really it did! Iw ould go back to Poland in a heartbeat!
Athens was good yet still disappointing. The ancient greek-y stuff were beautiful but the rest of the city was quite ghettoish actually. Mimi and I went for a walk and we did not feel comfortable at all! We were afraid!!!! The parthenon is impressive though despite being under construction. Very very impressive. All of the columns is really what I think off when I think of ancient greece.
Oups will finish this later.. i have tomake hot chocolate for my group of german kids....

Mom and Dad in Europe!

Hey gang!!!
Well after being away from home for 5 months it was such a treat to have my parents over for 10 days. It was a lot of fun and it sure was nice to see them. They got here on the 24 or 25.... hmm i'm not so sure and were here for 10 days. I got up bright and early to go pick them up at the airport... of course I left my apt late and their plane arrived early... luckily I got there with about 6 minutes to spare.... fiouuu. It was so weird for me to be greeting my parents at an airport in France. I dont know why.. its kind of hard to explain... but it was funny!!
Anyways walking from the airport to the metro station we talked about the usual "how was your trip" kinda deal and I guess my dad was not paying attention to where he was walking because he walked right into a metal sign.....ah man.... AH MAN! FUN-NY!!! well for me and my mom... maybe not so much for dad.... thinking about it right now... its still very funny!! haha!! After being in a plane for 6 hours and be super jet lagged... that'll wake you right up!! HAHA! ahhhh... good times....That night my parents entered MY world..... where this adventure all began; The Peace and Love Hostel. Right away they were greeted by my friend and work buddy Naima and by my other friends who were just hanging out. They got to see me work for a bit and see what I do when I work at the hostel. I think they enjoyed it, though there was no drinking Jenga for mom and dad. Afterwards we met up with my friend Gilles and we went out to supper at my favorite restaurant "Chez Papa". As always it was very good. Delicious i'd say.... Miiaaammm!! Dad had the duck which I never had before... but after trying it, it is now what I eat. SO GOOD!The next morning we got up bright and early and took the train to London. I will not write about it becaus I will write another log just about London. We spent one night, 2 days in London and it was great! I had been before but it was great to go back....!!When we got back from London we decided that we would try and go somewhere else. After debating and searching and wondering.... we decided we would go to Amsterdam. Yes Uncle Phil.... AMSTERDAM... the Heinenken experience AGAIN for moi!!! So we bought our tickets but had a few days to spare in between so we did the touristy stuff. I took my parents around the city showing them some of the things that again made me fall in love with Paris. We can say what we want about it but damn Paris is beautiful!!
Some days while I was working, my parents went off by themselves to explore. You know, theres just SO many I can go up the eiffel tower.... as much as it is beautiful.. 5 times is enough... i don't want to get bored of it!!!!
So after a few days of sight seeing we headed off to amsterdam, which i wont write about now but rather in a different blog (hopefully wont take a month).
All in all it was great! I think my parents had fun also. They got the chance to see Paris from a different view than last time. The weather was fantastic as opposed to last time they came, which was rainy and very cold. It was nice to share my Paris life with my parents and soon enough with my sister (2 days, wouhooo). I enjoyed showing my apt to my parents, showing them where I work and I loved introducing them to my friends.
It was definitely hard to say good -bye and I miss them soooo much!!!!!!!
It will be good to see my sister soon! We are going on vacation. Definitely going to Germany, Croatia, POland and Greece... possibly England of Belgium ( still not decided). It will be fun fun!!!
Eveything is going GREAT! Since I quit Friends hostel and began working more hours at the Peace and Love, its been fan-tas-tic! I love this place! I wake up in the morning and i am happy! I am EXCITED to go to work. Its deifnitely more positive. I work 3-4 shifts a week... sometimes even more. I started working the bar shifts also which is cool. I was nervous at first because ive never worked with alcohol before but so far so good. Its just a better atmosphere than friends hostel. Not only is it in a better location, but the people hang out at the bar.. so i get the chance to hang out with them. ITS GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Im not making as much money, but im 50x happier than I was!!!!
As for my apt, well my friend Joey is leaving at the end of the month. I got a new roomate for a few weeks. His name is Max he is from Germany, 24 years old and he is a med student... great guy. Unfortunately he is not staying for a long time because he will be moving in with his cousin and also the apt is 1h away from his school.. which well.. is not practical. I did however find another roomate for when Max leaves. His name is Phil and he is from Philadelphia. He was staying at the hostel and was looking for a roomate. He is staying with a friend until Max moves out, then he will move in with me. He is very cool also. It will be fun!
I downloaded a new program to look at pictures and it seems to have had a weird affect on being able to upload pictures so i cant upload any right now..... but hopefully i will fix the situation soon and post some pictures of london and amsterdam.
Much love to everyone!
I hope you are all doing good!
Phil- Your house is GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Big hug and kiss to everyone!
Gen

Bastille Day, July 14 2009

The scary evil eiffel tower!!



Ok.... So I am a little behind on my blog... so what? NOW i am really updating all of you.

So Bastille day was definitely a very interesting day!! I was working during the day so I arranged with a bunch of people to meet up after work and we would all go to the Eiffel tower together. I thought we would be maybe 4 or 5 but we ended up being around 20. It was so awesome. One of the kids at the hostel decided to make a whole bunch of pasta and charge 2 euros a plate for anyone who wanted to eat before the fireworks. It was a fantastic idea because it got all the group interacting and getting to know each other... by the time it was time to go all the people were friends.
Once we got to the trocadero, we all sat down in a circle. We got there pretty early so there was not a lot of people. We had about 3 hours to wait. People brought beers and some of them were even singing songs. It was very interesting because when you looked at our circle of kids.... there were SOOO many different nationalities Americans, mexicans, canadians, english, chinese, danish, finnish, spanish, french... and so on. We were cool. Actually, I think we were that annoying group that everyone thinks is way too loud and obnoxious but secretly wishes they could be part of :P People were even coming in to join our group. I was wearing my Montreal Canadians t-shirt that night, and some guy comes up to me and asks me if im canadian, turns out he was also canadian and was there alone and when he saw my shirt he wanted to join our group so he came to see me. All in all we had such an amazing time. It was so nice to be surrounded by all these awesome and interesting people. It was fantastic.
The fireworks were brilliant. They were just unbelievably beautiful. La Ronde's got nothing on this. Oh godddddd it was amazing. I will do what I can to post the video. I hope that it will work.
The firworks lasted for 30 mins. The only bad thing was that near the end, useless losers decided it would be funny to start pushing the crowd... so a bunch of people including me and the gang got pushed and we all nearly fell down. It just wasnt cool cuz then everyone was pushed onto others and a little girl who was on her dads shoulder was crying bloody murder and it was just not a nice atmosphere. People just dont have anything to do. It was sooooo crowed that it took over one hour to get back in the metro... really it was awful. We though we would be smart and walk to another metro stop... but apparently a lot of other people thought they were smart too. What a big traffic jam. What a mess!!!
It definitely was a great experience. Bastille day is awesome!!! Not a lot of drunk people like on quebec day or canada day. Not that quebec day and canada day is bad, it was just different.



The Gang Fireworks!More Fireworks!

I QUIT!

So... after being miserable and unhappy at work.... I finally decided to QUIT the job!
I tried to handle it as long as I could... but after talking about it with a lot of people... i decided that it was just not worth it.....
whats the point of being miserable in Paris?? The goal of this trip was to have fun, to live a life changing experience and to travel.... so Far I havent done any of it. I have to say that I will truly miss working at a hostel because it is a lot of fun meeting people from all around the world.. but my health is a lot more important than that. And thus far, my health is not doing too good.... i am EXHAUSTED!
So on Saturday I was working at the Peace and Love and mme calls me on my cellphone and asked me where i am.. i tell her im at the peace and love (the day before she asked me if i was working at the peace and love and i told her yes) she begins to yell at me.. and yell and yell and yell... and I just didnt understand why because i told her..... i couldnt even get one word out because all she was doing was screaming... she says we will revise my contract on monday and if im not happy i can leave....
so on monday i was NOT in the mood to work. I had my arms crossed and i was not at all into it.... at one point she looks at me and says You know if you are not happy here and you dont want to work just give me your notice. So i told her it really upset me that she called me a liar especially since I told her the day before that I was working at the other hostel. Then she began to yell at me so much that I just exploded and started to yell back. I told her thats it.. im giving you three weeks then im out. August 21st is my last day. She looks at me and says no. You can not leave. Not in the middle of the high season you are NOT leaving. I told her Yes.. Yes I AM!! August 21st is my last... then she began mumbling saying she is gonna call the peace and love because they sent me to work with her and its not possible and i will never work at the peace and love again and blbalbala... then I told her... You know what madame.. i am giving you 3 weeks notice.. thats quite reasonable if you consider that your last 2 employees left you without even a days notice.... that shut her up good. Then she came back and told me she didnt understad my descision about why the 21st.. so i told her that my parents were coming and I wanted to go to London with them. haha she said.. OH.. so the real reason why you are leaving is because you want to go travelling not becaus eyou are not happy here... OH NOW I GET IT.. make sure when people ask you why you quit that you mention it is because of that and not because you are unhappy here.... I actually told her.. but I AM unhappy here... ah man!!
Then later on in the afternoon when i was counting my cash she began to yell at me again for im not too sure what and i argued back and she got so offended that she said, you know what how about you make tonight your last day of work.. so I said tonight?? pff sure fine with me tonight is my last night i am not coming back tomorrow.... 3 minutes later she was back asking me to stay until the 21st of august... ahha which in a way sux but at the same time I need the money.. so its good!!!
OH GOD IT FEELS GREAT!! To think that I have 12 more work days left.... TWELVE!!! THATS ALMOST JUST TWO HANDS COUNT!!!!!! and then 2 days later my parents are arriving.. this is just soooo fantastic!!!!!!!!!! YAY FOR MEE!!!
I called the boss of the peace and love after ( the son of the crazy woman).... and told him what happened and that she said I would never be able to work there ever again... but he told me.. pfff..... dont worry I am keeping you at the peace and love hostel!! So once I stop working at friends hostel I will be able to do 1 or 2 shifts at the peace and love.. just to say that I have a bit of money coming in.
I am not too sure what I want to do.. if i want to stay in Paris or go somewhere else... but I definitely think that NOT working at friends hostel will definitely be a positive change. I love the Peace and Love so much that maybe if I just work there one or two days... maybe everything will be awesome again!!! I am not sure.. I still havent planned it all out!! All i know is i am going to london with mom and dad then in september i am going travelling with my sister...... then... a suivre!!

Things have been better since my friend Joe got here. It is just nice to see a familiar face. It is also nice because we do a lot of fun things. We go to the champs elysees we go to the eiffel tower... we hang out at the sacre coeur... all these nice things that make it even more positive. And since we both work at the hostel... we know the same people who live there so we always end up with a big group going to all these places... its so much fun!!! Oh god its fun!!!!

Well I guess that is about it for now i am going to watch a movie
I just wanted to update you guys a little bit!
I hope everyone is well!!
Miss all of you!!
Gen

Oh Canada!

Ok..
so even though I have a lot to say about a lot of different things and pictures that I have STILL not uploaded, I really wanted to share something with you guys.

After working at the hostel for 4 months now I have come up with a very interesting conclusion that never EVER crossed my mind before. Canada is AWESOME!!!! French canadians....Canadians in general are really awesome people. Ive NEVER had a problem with Canadians. They are so laid back they are easy to talk to, super friendly and most of all never compain (as opposed to French people). Nothing is ever a problem. I have to switch rooms? No problem!!!!!!!!! Oh you want to give my bed away because you want to put 2 friends in the same room?? Yeah thats cool NOOO problem!!!!! ITS NEVER A PROBLEM!!! Canadians dont cause problems.. and are so helpful and friendly......

You know after having been in Paris for 4 months.. so much has changed. My view of Paris in general has changed. YES it DOES smell... YES it IS so bloody dirty.. YES french people ARE annoying, grumpy, angry, too much in a hurry all the time, stressed out and totally unhelpful, NO it IS not the most beautiful city in the world. (Ok yes.. central Paris is so incredibly gorgeous... but the rest NOPE)... I use to think the opposite. Ok maybe the fact that I have been working for 50 days straight might have an impact because all i do is work and sleep and get to do nothing... which in return is making me homesick but I definitely dont feel the same anymore. When people ask me how Canada is.... I have nothing but positive things to say. That Montreal is gorgeous that people are friendly and helpful. Then, when I start to compare my life in Paris and my life back home, I realise just how great my life is back home and how incredibly happy I am surrounded by everyone that I love. Right now, I feel like I am becoming someone I dont want to be. Granted I am exhausted, but I still feel like I have to be rude all the time to get around. If you want some service you almost have to be rude and I am not a rude person and I never want to be. I have to be rude to people in the street because they keep trying to talking to me and I just cant stand it. Some weird french guys come into the hostel all the time just to get coffee and just start to small talk and I just CANT STAND it and answer in just the rudest way possible... why?? I dont know!!!!! but I definitely dont like it and dont like who I am becoming. I think.. hopefully when I get to rest.. everything will be better. The only thing that helps me right now when I feel this way is walking to the eiffel tower. When I stare at that tower it just reminds me of WHY I am here and it sort of revives my love for the city.
I have to admit.. and IT IS HARD TO ADMIT.. but it breaks my heart to say that I am a little disappointed by Paris. It breaks my heart because for over a year I was soo excited to get here and was just waiting for the day to arrive and now that I am here it is not like I expected. I am working WAY too much to be able to enjoy myself. I have about 2 more months on my work contract and before she will make me sign another one I will tell her that I cant continue like this. I would want to work 3-4 days Maximum. The good news is I have saved up a lot of money!! Which I will be able to use when I get some time off to travel! I think having my mom and dad over in 1 month and going to travel with my sister in September will also help a little bit. i think the hardest part of it all is admitting it to myself. Do I think I made a mistake by coming here? No... not at all. In fact I think it is the best thing that could happen to me because I have never in my whole life ever been so proud to be canadian... i know it sounds lame and geeky and too patriotic but im so damn proud! Living away from home just made me realised how awesome canada is and how there isint another country that I would want to spend the rest of my life in (mixed in with a lot of travelling of course). The mentalities between the 2 are completely opposite and I relate more and enjoy more the canadian way than the French... well maybe not ALL the french but definitely the Parisians.
Is it going to make me come home earlier? I dont think so.. I think that if REALLY i cant handle it anymore I will just leave and travel. Do somzthing I truly enjoy and am happy in doing and most of all I can be myself.
Well... I just thought I would share this... which im sure my mom will be happy to hear that her baby is not moving away from home...
I hope that all is well with everyone!!!!!!!
Big hugs and kisses to alll!!!!!!!!
Gen

time goes by too fast

woww!!!! incredible!!!!
I have been working every single day since July 21 and my next day off is August 01!!!
I workkk soooo much that I am now living at work for the next week.... no wait thats cuz my roomates family is here from Denmark and because the apt is so small he qsked if i could leave for the week! My boss said i could stay at the hostel for free! SO i get to enjoy the hostel life for free! Its realllllly cooool! I enjoy it!! and i get to wake up 15 mins before work. Yesterday I got to the front desk with pillow marks on my face!!! haha
I have so much to write about a cmedy show I saw Called How to become a Parisian in One hour, about Bastille Day.. i took videos of the fireworks that I want to post, about work because a lot has happened in the last month including an employee stealing 1300 euros and leaving the country, about my new appreciation for Montreal, Quebec, Canada and Canadians in general and my experience in general. I have a lot of pictures to share also but unfortunately my hostel does not have internet so i am currently at an internet cafe and can not upload any pictures or videos the computer... also its costing a lot of money... so this will all have to wait until I get back to my home or until i go to a pleqce that has free wifi!
I guess I just wanted to let you all know that even though im a slacker im a slacker with a good reason! Working a month 7 days a week 10 hours a day.. drains the energey out of you quite a bit. When I get home all i wanna do is relax. But i promise that within the week I will share with you guys everything!!! ALL that has been happening!
I also want to tell my mom my dad and my sister that even though im far not a day goes by that I dont think about how much I miss you and about how excited i am to see all of you!!!!!! I love you sooo much!!!!!!
Damn i am being kicked out of the place1
I gotta run But i will see you all within the week
Muchhh loveeeeeeeee
Gen

Paris with CJ, Dan and Steve

It sure was nice to have CJ Dan and Steve-o over for a few days. It gave me the chance to do a bunch of touristy things I haven't done in a long time. Of course because I was doing the training at the Peace and Love, I only got to spend one entire day with them. The first night they got here I was training at the bar so they came to hang out at the bar. They played drinking Jenga, which is really cool because Cj's heard so much about the Peace and Love drinking jenga that he was pretty excited to FINALLY see what the whole fuss was about. Drinking jenga is just like a regular Jenga game except that on the pieces of wood, there are things to do. "All drink" "If you are a girl drink" "If you are from Canada drink" "USA drinks" "If you have dark hair drink" etc..... basically a game to get you good and drunk!! :) After my shift was over we went home and we all crammed into my small apt (That just reminds me I havent posted pictures of my new apt yet... I will do that soon). It is quite impressive that we were able to all fit into this small apt!! But we managed. The next morning was the touristy day. We went to the Arc de Triumph, Champs Elysees, Place de la Concorde, Louvre, Jardin des Tuileries, the 2 palaces, Trocadero, Eiffel Tower.. wow wow wowwwww!!! IT WAS SO MUCH FUN and the weather was sooo perfect!!! I would say it was a perfect day. It just reminded me how fantastic Paris is and it made me LOVE Paris all over again. Not that I didn't love it anymore but its refreshing to go back to all the beauty sites Paris has to offer!!!! :) I am glad I went with them!!! That night I did more bar training and the guys went out to other bars. The next day I was training for the day shift, the evening shift and the night shift.... So I basically spent from 1 pm to 9 am at the Peace and Love and I was not tired one bit just because it is so much fun. It is NEVER boring at the Peace and Love! EVER!
The guys went to see the catacombs and Versailles Castle. They seemed to have a good time. The next morning they came to see me at the Peace and Love at 6 right before walking to Gare du Nord to catch their train to Germany. NOW I was really sad to see them go because I don't even know when I will see them next. I will definitely have to go to New Jersey to see them when I get back!!! Them and all my other friends from the states!!

Here are a few pictures


Dan (left) CJ (middle) Steve-o (right) KICK ASS AMERICANS!

Peace and Love Crew..!!

The louvre.. because its just so beautiful!

And again...

and again....

Way awesome picture of us standing undre the eiffel tower!

Sometimes I forget that I am in France until I see a France flag. It always makes me feel warm inside when i see one of them!

Eiffel tower.. again.. because its just THAT beautiful!

Awesome picture of the Eiffel tower!

So I don't know what time the sun sets back home, but right now it is 22:34 and it is still light out. Its quite incredible.. a lot of fun except that I should go to bed because I work very early... but it is hard to go to bed when it is still light outside. I feel like I should be outside doing something!

oh... R.I.P Michael Jackson. I still can't believe it. Each time I think about it I still get goosebumps.. :(
Hope all is well!

Much love to everyone!!

Amsterdam

AMSTERDAM!!!!
I had so much fun!!! It felt so good to leave even if it was just for 3 days. Everyone is so stressed out and in a hurry in Paris that it felt good to be somewhere calm where everyone rides there bike like there is not one worry in the world!!!!
I got to Amsterdam on Thursday morning and was suppose to meet up with my friend CJ and his 2 friends, Steve and Dan, but finally their plane only arrived Friday morning, so I spent the day walking around. I visited the Amsterdam History Museum thinking it would be so interesting. BOY was I wrong. It was so boring that I was falling asleep while walking. It was more of an art museum than anything else. I thought it would be very interesting seeing as Amsterdam has so much WWII history. Wow, what a disappointment! I did a 3 floor exhibition in 30 mins. I then went back to my hostel to find out that I was alone in an 8 bed bedroom. I was a little bummed because I was hoping to meet people and hang out with them so I wouldn't be alone all night long. I ended up going to the little bar at my hostel and talking with a guy from Australia for a few hours and then a Canadian guy joined our conversation. It was a lot of fun. A lot of interesting conversations. We had a few beers.... ok a lot of beers... so much that I will skip ahead til the next morning..........
So I woke up on Friday morning around 11 am. I right away went to meet up with Cj and his friends. It sure was nice to see CJ again. I hadn't seen him since October. It was great great great! It was also VERY nice to meet his 2 friends, Dan and Steve. Like CJ, they are reallly awesome. People that are way too much fun to hang out with, just like every other American that I know. After dropping their things at their hostel, we went to the Heineken Experience. It was a lot different then the last time I went, 2 years ago with Mimi. It is such an interesting museum, very interactive and informative. We spent atleast 2 hours there just because there is SOOO much to see, to read, to do, to watch. After that we went to have some food and we hung out around town until it got dark and then we went to the red light district. The red light district.. is the red light district.. you walk the street once and you are done. There is not much more to do... unless you know.... and well NOPE... not for me... thanx butno thanx ;) We continued walking around Amsterdam then called it an early night because they were jet lagged.. and I was still a little hung over... ;)
The next day we went to the Amsterdam Dungeon. That is a sort of museum that explains the dark and horrible history of Amsterdam in a live, interactive show. IT IS SO AWESOME!!! They do a really good job scaring the crap out of you!! Wow! That lasted quite a while also. After that we did some more walking and CJ and I went to have lunch so we could catch up. It was nice to have some alone time with CJ!!! Talking about the time he came to visit me in Montreal, the time I visited him in the states, about hockey.. (Go Habs go). I unfortunately had to leave right after because I had a train to catch at 4:20. So I gathered my stuff and went to say bye to Dan and Steve. Although it was sad to say bye, it was nice to know that in a few days they would be coming to stay with me in Paris!!!
I was sooooo tired that I slept the ENTIRE train ride... I mean the ENTIRE!!!!!! When I got home my roomate was there so I got to tell him all about my trip. I am so lucky to have a roomate like Jesper! I wish I would have moved in with him before!!! I will be sad when he leaves at the end of July! :(
So here are a few pictures.



Alright so because this is my third time in Amsterdam, I did not take any scenary pictures because I pretty much saw it all, therefore the following 2 pictures were taken by CJ. This is at Vondel Park.

Another picture by CJ.

Me and 007 at the Heinken Museum!

So these are my boys Dan (left) Steve (Middle) and CJ (right) in front of the Heineken Museum! A LOT of fun!!!

F.Y.I.... I got my computer fixed. I went to a store called the FNAC which specializes in electronics and I was able to buy a new wire for my computer. It DID cost me 100 euros... but its an adapter that is good for ALL computers as it has different plugs that fit all types of computers .It also has a USB plug to charge my IPOD.... so.. I guess its not bad. Anyways its better than buying a new computer and it was very useful for my roomate as his wire was also messed up and because I had all the different plugs, I was able to find the plug to fit his computer.. saved him quite a bit of money!!! :)

The guy who works 5 days a week at my job decided that he would quit and not tell anyone.... so now I have to do the following 2 weeks non stop, until the new guys starts. Which is not that bad because next week my boss will not be there. She is going on vacation and leaving me the responsibility of doing all the planning for the rooms. It seems like she really trusts me now.... as opposed to before where she didnt want me to work one day alone. haha! I also started working at the Peace and Love hostel. Inititally I was working 1 day shit, 1 night shift at the bar and 2 sleeping shifts. But because the Peace and Love and the Friends hostel are hostels that belong to one family, the boss at the peace and love asked me if i could do him a favoir and help out his mother and do the following 2 weeks at Friends Hostel. Because I want to work at his hostel, the Peace and Love so bad... I kind of felt like I had no choice but to say yes. So I work the next 2 weeks and then I will go back to working atleast 1 or 2 shifts at the Peace and love hostel and 4 or 5 shifts at the friends hostel. It will be awesome. As long as I can do one shift at the Peace and Love hostel so I can stay on the pay role... hopefully one day they will ask me to do more when the situation at friends hostel is better. I am kind of excited about the following 2 weeks.... just because I will make so much money!!!! She doesn't really bother me all that much anymore because i'm meeting sooo many interesting people at this hostel that it makes up for her being a total bi^&h.... hehehe!!!

Apart from that all is well. Today it was 35 degrees in Paris. It was so warm.. so nice!! Too bad I was stuck inside working. People would come in the hostel and I thought they had just went for a swim. With their big backpacks... it has to be wayyy warm.

I hope that the weather is as nice back home as it is here. I hope that everyone is doing good!! I also hope that some of you are planning on coming to come and visit me!! :)

Love you!!!

Gen

Kaiserslautern

Hey gang!

So things are finally starting to happen. I have started to do a little bit of travelling and it is exciting!!

Last Wednesday after work, I got on Facebook and my friend Tyler was on the chat so we started talking. Tyler is in the US Army and is currently stationed in Germany for the next few years. Once we found out that we were going to be so close to one another (France, Germany) we said we would visit each other. So as we were talking, he told me he had a 4 day weekend pass and that if I wanted to come visit soon, I should this weekend because after that he is going away to Eastern Germany for some sort of Army training for an entire month. So i got off the computer went to buy my ticket and the  next morning I was off to Germany. The train ride took 2 hours and a half and I arrived in Kaiserslautern. Then I had to take a little train to Miesau which is where the military base is at.

It was really nice to see Tyler again and it was very exciting to hang out in a Military base. I had really no idea what to expect and wow it is interesting. As soon as you cross the main gate, its like you are in a different world. There are little shops here and there, a library, basketball and soccer fields, a barber etc its like you enter a new city but where people are all wearing army gears. EXCITING!

So for me to be able to stay there, I had to check in at the main gate. They kept my passport and in return they gave me a visitors pass. After 24 hours I had to check out (Very important, we were a few mins late and the guy at the gate gave us crap because of it.. he told Tyler if it happens again he could loose his sign in privilage for a month.... STRICT IN THE ARMY..hehe) Once I check out, I can check right back in.

So the first night we hung out in his room with a few of his friends. The room is HUGE! Again I didnt know what to expect, but its huge!!!!!! Bigger than my entire apt. Tyler is sharing a room with a guy named Fred but some people have this gigantic room all to themselves. It was well equipped with a flat screen tv, a play station, plenty of movies, their computers, so many pieces of furniture i couldnt count.... not too shabby!! ;)

The second day, Tyler was called in to work despite having a 4 day pass (bouuu) so I hung out with his roomate for a few hours. When he came back from work, we went to a little town called Landshul.. or something like that. It was very nice!!! There is a castle just at the top of the mountain looking down at the little town. It was gorgeous!!! and it was a lot of fun!! We walked around and had some good food and some good german beer. We didn't get the chance to visit much because by the time we got there it was rather late. We did have a lot of fun playing darts and baby foot at a really fun bar! (Canada wins at darts, but America wins at baby foot). We then tried to look for a bar that would be playing the Stanley cup game.. but no luck.. haha.. it was impossible!! All is all it was a very fun day!!

The third day, we visited Kaiserslautern. That was a lot of fun, not only because the weather was OH SO BEAUTIFUL, not only because I was with Tyler, but because I got the chance to eat a SOFT PRETZEL!!! YEAHHHH!!! After having Philly Pretzels and being SOOO addicted to them, I had been trying to find some for the last 2 months... GERMANY is where I had to be. Oh they were sooooo delicious.... they were all warm and very very tasty. No Philly Pretzel, but still EXCELLENT. So we walked around Kaiserslautern for a good 4 hours. We sat down right beside this old old church and had some yummy ice cream. Kaiserslautern is reallllly gorgeous there is so much to see! A lot of stores. I wish I had some pictures to post on this blog but unfortunately my computer is dead right now, because of the wire problem I have been having since I got here, so right now I am on a friends computer and I can not upload any pictures on this computer. So I guese you will have to wait! :) Actually.... I didnt even take any pictures of Kaiserslautern but I did take some of the Military base and landshul. Why didnt i take pictures of Kaiserslautern? I really have NOOO idea!! But I will be going back soon enough so I will take some then. So i will post the other ones soon, Once i figure out what to do with my bloody computer!!!

So I had a reallllllllllllly awesome time. Tyler is just so great!!!! And It felt good to leave Paris a little bit, but it was also nice to be back. When I got back to my apt , my roomate Jesper was there so I got the chance to talk to someone about my trip. Its really awesome to have such a wonderful roomate.

On Thursday I am going to meet up with my friend CJ in Amsterdam. He is going with 2 of his friends so I will go hang out with them for 3 days. Then they are coming to Paris for a few days. It will be fun to hang out with friends from back home in 2 different countries. hehe! The joys of Europe!

 Cj is a friend I met through my American friend Chris David. Chris came to visit me in Montreal and brought CJ with him. We got along so great and we met up again when I visited New Jersey a few months back. He is a CRAZY american so I can imagine it will be very interesting and a lot of fun especially if he is going to be there with his other American friends!I love Americans! They are absolutely wonderful and so much fun to hang out with :) I am very excited about going to Amsterdam. I really wanted to go back so this is the perfect opportunity. I bought my ticket today. My train leaves at 9am Thursday morning and I come back Saturday night because I work Sunday morning.

Well I guess this is all for now! Again sorry i dont have any pictures!

I hope that everyone is good!!!!!!!!

I will write back once I get back from Amsterdam!!

Love you all!

Miss you all!!

oh la la!

Well hello hello!!
Why is it that I STILL have not been writing regularly on my blog?? Gosh... so much has been happening!!!
I decided to move out of my apt because the living situation with my roomate was just not a positive one. When I first moved in, I told him that I would sometimes have visitors from back home sleeping at the apt (in my room)... he told me it was fine, that it was not a problem because the guy before use to have people over all the time. There was only ONE rule... don't be too noisy. So because i'm such a respectful person.. when my friend came over.. we didn't even say one word except for good night... the next morning he told me he didn't like it.... that he didn't want me to have people over anymore.. and blablabla...hmm... okay? well.. I already told some friends from Montreal that they could come stay with me for 2-3 days... they are my friends.. I don't want to send them in a hotel, I woud feel like a cheapo. Anyways... he was weird.... I don't want to be living in an apt with a 42 year old guy wearing speedos in the middle of the afternoon. NOOOO THANK YOU! So i talked to my friend Jesper and he was still looking for a roomate. WONDERFUL! So i told my roomate that i would be leaving because I didn't "like the neighborhood" which is true, but not THE reason why I moved out. He was really sad and told me to take my time. The next day, he told me all my stuff had to be out.... so much for taking my time haha. So now I am living with my friend Jesper. It is SO much better oh god I can't even begin to explain how much better it is. The apt in itself is soooooo cute!!! It is in a much better neighborhood and Jesper is so much fun to live with. He is more my age so we have a lot more to talk about a lot more in common. So we actually sit down and talk, watch movies together, yesterday we had lunch together with a few friends. SO MUCH BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!! It was definitely a good move and a much needed one. Everything is more positive now that I am living in my new apt. I haven't taken any pictures yet but as soon as I do, I will post them (hopefully it won't be in 2 weeks from now.... SLACKER GEN.. i'm such a slacker.. haha).

Last week, my friend Karen went to Turkey and left me her apt. So between moving out of my apt and moving into my new one, I spent 5 days at her house. So i moved alll my stuff out of my apt into Karen's, and then moved it all to my new apt. I am DONE with moving!! Luckily I had 2 helpers. My friend Antoine and Jahcub. These two guys have been staying at my hostel for the last month so we all became good friends. Jahcub is in Paris recording an album and Antoine is in Paris taking a course. They are really really fun people! The purpose of me staying at Karen's was to get travellers that didnt have hostel reservations to come stay at her house for 25 euro a night. When the hostel was fully booked and people would come in asking for a place, I would offer them to come stay with me at Karen's apt. Everyone enjoyed it and thought it was fantastic. Okay so my hostel is only 18 euros and it was 25 euro to stay at Karens house, but its also MUCH better to stay in a flat than in a hostel. Its a great experience for a tourist to see a real Paris flat and to actually sleep in it. The first night I had a bunch of people from Montreal to sleep there. It was great! I have been meeting SOOOO many people from Montreal lately! I will have a whole new circle of friends when I get back home!! hehe! Anyways, for every person that I brought over to Karen's, she gave me 5 euros. So i ended up making 25 euro, which is pretty sweet considering I didn't have to do much and I got to hang out with cool people.

My friend Sebastien from back home is in Paris right now. Yup he is sleeping on the couch as we speak right now. It was great to see him. It felt good to see someone I knew from back home. I took him to Peace and Love and he had a prety sweet time!!! He stayed with me for 3 nights, then he went to Amsterdam and now he is back for 3 more nights before going back home!!

Work is still ok. I am getting use to her, so her yelling doesn't bother me all that much anymore. I still get pretty tensed up when I see her walking through the door, but other than that its fine. Last week she yelled at me like she hasn't done since I first started working there because people were not out of their rooms by 9 am. Check out time is at 9 am and I tell the clients that when they first check in, I don't understand how she can hold me responsible if they aren't out of their by 9 am. My job is complete when I tell them they need to be out by 9am. She yelled at me (in front of the french canadians that ended up staying with me at Karens apt.) saying I was not doing my job and that it was my responsibility to make sure people leave their rooms by 9 am. So i asked her how she wants me to do that? I said do you want me to go knocking on everyones door at 9 am to tell them all to leave? OUh she didn't like that. So she started yelling some more that it was my responsibility to tell the cleaning guys to tell the people to leave by 9 am. So again I told her... the cleaning guys have been working here for 5 years, they know more than I do when check out time is, if they see someone has still not checked out, I think they are capable of telling them its past their check out time without ME having to tell them right? OH LALA!!! What did I say.. hahaha thats not the way you talk to your boss (thats NOT the way you talk to your employees).... you are not doing your job properly.... BLABLABLABLABLABAL so I said OK then next time I come in for work, i will leave the reception and go knock on all the doors and make sure everyone is gone before 9 ok? and then I walked away. Look at me, not taking crap from her!!! Yay for me!! haha

So in 3 weeks a friend of mine is coming to Europe. He is going to Amsterdam and Paris and he asked me if I wanted to go to Amsterdam with him so I began to think.. and YES I do want to go to amsterdam with him. End of June... it seems like a good time to start travelling. Even though I have been to Amsterdam twice, it will be nice to go back and with some friends too. So I am just waiting for him to give me the exact dates and I will book a hostel and it should be my first little travel destination. Okay originally I wanted to start off with a place I've never been too, but this is a good opportunity, so I will take it!! :) I will keep you guys more informed!!

Well that is about it for now. I have to start getting ready because I am going on a walking tour with my friend karen. She is training me so I can eventually start giving the tours. Make a little money on the side, meet fun people, learn about the history of Paris... WHY NOT!!!!

By the way, my new adress is

33 rue sainte-Marguerite
93500
Pantin, France
premiere etage, Face

... How sad that I don't have PARIS in my adress anymore. And how silly that instead of just putting an apt number you have to specify EXACTLY which apt is your.... so mine is on the first floor... and on the first floor there are 3 apts... one on the left, on the right and in front. Mine is in front.... so premiere etage, Face...... WHY NOT PUT APT NUMBERS!!!!!!!!! Save a lot of time and energy people!!!!
Well I hope that everyone is doing well!! I PROMISE now that I will write more regularly... but everything seems to be stable now.. hahaha
much love to everyone!

FInally!

Hey Gang!
I FINALLY got the internet to work. It was about time!

So I finished my 14 days non stop of work. I finished yesterday. It was about time because I was OUT of energy. OUT OF ENERGY! I did make a whole bunch of money so it was worth it, but wow I deifnitely need a few days to rest now. I would work, come home, have supper and then go to bed right away because I was so tired. Now I can relax and enjoy my time in Paris! :)
I think that I will try and see if I can handle working for her for 2 days a week. Because really, it is conveniant. With those 2 days, I make enough money to pay my rent and have 65 $ a week to spend.. and really... I NEVER spend 65$ a week. Also, i get 5 days off to do some travelling... I don't think I could ask for more.... well yeah.. I COULD ask for a better boss.....but.. oh well.... everything can't be perfect all the time!!! So I think that is the plan. Work 2 days a week, on sunday's she is not there so that will be a relaxing and fun day but then my second day she will be there.... so really it's only one day a week... it can't be THAT bad.. right.....??? oh god! haha!

So apart from that everything is going well. Meeting people, walking around, visiting, hanging out at the Peace and Love etc. Last week there was a guy named Joe from the states who was staying at my hostel and he was just SO AWESOME that we hung out together the entire time he was there. We went walking around to the louvre to the eiffel tower, Notre Dame, Arc de triumph...etc..... it was just so cool. He was so much fun. It was so hard to see him leave. I got so use to having him around the hostel just hanging out and talking to me when it was quiet. He made it a more fun place to work at. Hes a great person!!

Yesterday I had two canadian twins stay at my place because they didn't have a place to stay at. They came to my hostel and we didn't have a place, and I had just bought an air matress because I will be having visitors from back home pretty soon. So I told them they could stay with me. We had a GREAT time. We went to the Peace and Love and had a few drinks ( Not too much mom) to celebrate my last day of work. It wa sooooo much fun!! They are so funny!! They have been travelling for the last 8 months and have been everywhere!!!!! They were the type of people that make you feel comfortable right away. I felt like I had known them all my life!! They have a cousin who lives in Montreal so they go there once in a while, hopefully we will keep in touch and I will get the chance to see them again. There flight was landing in Montreal today and it made me a little bit jealous. It made me miss home and my family quite a bit. They were telling me how hard it was during Christmas time when they called home and all their family was having a great meal, all the family was reunited together and they were so far away eating a little sandwich and it made me realise that i will have to go through that exact same thing. It will be very very hard. Luckily I have some friends here so I won't be totally alone for christmas.

Last week, my friend Amelie from back home came to Paris. This is a girl I met in Paris two years ago when I came to visit. She was doing exactly what I am doing now. We kept in touch and saw each other once in a while back in Montreal. She came back to Europe for a few weeks and she stopped by Paris. It was great to see her. Me her and Gilles went to see the catacombs. Which is something I had always wanted to see but never got the chance too. It was awesome but definitely a little creepy. You walk in an underground tunnel with almost no lights.. and then you enter this room that is just covered with bones and skulls.... and it goes on for like a 10 minute walk. Its so freaky. Here are some pictures!














































Lovely right??

And these pictures I took when I went walking with Joe. I thought thes epictures were very gorgeous so I thought I would share them with you.... I didn't want to leave you guys with pictures of skulls and bones... ugh!















































Anyways.... I better not write anymore because I can imagine it would get boring reading this after a while.... but now that I have internet I will be able to update it more often!!
I hope that everyone is doing well!!
I really miss everyone!!!!
Mom Dad and Mimi.. I miss you guys sooo much!!!!! I always love hearing from you, so keep me posted!!!!! I love you so much!!!
Take it easy!!!

Gen

Ireland!!

Hey all!
Again sorry I havn't written in a long time. The handyman was able to fix the internet problem and was suppose to send me the password by e-mail but has not done so.. im still waiting. SOON I HOPE!!!!

Anyways not much has been going on. The regular walking around, visiting and meeting new people. Tonight I had a friend over for supper. His name is Alex and he is from Ireland but lives in Paris, so he's got the sweet accent going on. I cooked salmon, rice and a good salad. MMMM it was good. I haven't had salmon in such a long time and there is a fish market just across the street so I figure i'd cook that. Very easy to cook and very tasty!! We watched some Kevin Smith movies and then he left to go watch futbol with his friends! Damn soccer :)

I officially start work on Friday and am very excited. Im excited to establish a little routine and to start making some money. It will be good. I got a call from my boss yesterday asking if I could work the next 2 weeks including Sundays... (I guess i've matured). Therefore I work non stop for the next 2 weeks then I go back to working 2 days a week. And then I can start planning little trips here and there for my days off. I'm sooo excited to start planning! My friend Jackie let me borrow her Europe travelling book and I began looking at places that I would want to go.. man there are too many places.... I don't know how I will choose. I will definitely go To Berlin Germany and Rome Italy. But then if I go to Rome I also want to go to Florence ,Pisa and Naples.. which means I cant do that in only 5 days....ayyayyeee! SO many hard descisions ;)

So IRELAND....
I was talking with a girl who works at the Peace and Love Hostel, Karen and she was telling me that she knows someone who lives on a farm in Ireland who is always looking for people to help out around the farm. So I was thinking... FANTASTIC!!!!! I so want to do that!!! She even gives you a place to stay for free! I was thinking it could be interesting to do for a month or 2. And it would give me the chance to visit Ireland a little bit. How exciting! I was thinking maybe after my sister's visit. She is here end of September early October. SO right after that and come back to Paris for Christmas. I don't know what you all think.. but to me it sounds great!!!! I'm sure my aunt Madeleine will also think its a good idea that I spend some time in Ireland.. right Madeleine??? ;) Could you remind me again which part of Ireland I should visit?

So back to Paris... there is a rumor going on that the streets of Paris have dog crap everywhere. I hear it all the time and heard it alot back home too. Let me be the one to clarify this rumor. Whatever you heard about the dog crap is aboslutely and 100% TRUE!!! THERE IS DOG DOODOO EVERYWHERE!!!!! everywhere dog crap. ALSO, many of the small streets of Paris smell like urine.. well, where I live atleast and that is because everyone is always peeing in the streets.... well guys. I mean hey.. can you atleast hide if your gonna pee in the street. I was walking in the street and a guy was peeing on the sidewalk.. facing the street at 2 in the afternoon. Hey buddy.. if your gonna do that AT LEAST HIDE IN A CORNER!!!! so disrespectful.. and very nasty. hehe.. and while were on the topic of disrespectful... is it SO HARD to throw your trash in the garbage and not on the street?? I dont know.. but back home I didnt throw my junk in the streets.. i threw it in the garbage can. Paris is packed with trash cans but people choose to throw there junk on the ground. There is a can just 2-3 steps away.. but NO.. on the floor it goes. Now im not a very environmental.. save the earth kinda girl.. but its driving me up the wall. I was at the hostel and there is a garbage can beside the door.. instead of throwing his empty pack of cigs in the can (seriously RIGHT BESIDE THE DOOR) the dude opens the door and throws it on the sidewalk... I could not believe it. I guess back home we are taught not to pollute.... I don't know what happened here... (Sorry to any French people reading this.. but thats just the way I feel).
Hey that felt good. Don't let this negativity get to you though; Paris is still awesome and im still having an awesome time ;)
Hope everything is good for everyone! Hope the weather has been better than here. RAIN.... COLD..... I almost wore my scarf today.. just to give you an idea.
Anways take it easy!
Much love to everyone!!!

Sorry!

Hello everyone!!!

I am really sorry that I do not write as often as I would like too. The problem is that I still do not have the internet at my new place. The 60 year old man doing the renovations in my apt is the only guy who can fix the internet problem we are currently having and he has not been here since I moved in. Im hoping he is ok. 60 year old man doing hard renovations day after day.. you never know!! So for now I have to use my roomates computer but I feel bad about doing that so most of the time I just take my computer to a little cafe however I can not do that all the time. So you will have to bare with me for a while. As soon as it is fixed I will be able to keep regular updates.

Everything is still going fantastic. 2 nights ago I was out with some friends at around 11pm. We sat down close to a canal and had some food and they drank wine (stillllll not use to it.. but you will all be pleased to know that I now dont barff to the smell of wine, quite the improvement) and all of a sudden I looked up and at a distance I could see the eiffel tower. It was the first time I saw the eiffel tower at night since Ive been here.. and not only that, but it was flashing and somehow.. it finally got to me that I was in Paris.. It took 20 days... but I got it.. I sort of realized that I wasnt here for only a week or two.. but for a whole year... living a totally different experience than whatever I had experienced in Paris before. I looked beside me and all the people around me were people I didnt know a month ago. I dont know how to explain it really, but it was AWESOME!!!! :) Just everyday meeting new people living different things its so sweet!

There is one thing I still cant get use to.. even though the majority of you will say that its like back home.. but its NOT!!! its the whole give 2 kisses on the cheek business. Its all the time!!! you enter a room you leave a room, you meet someone in the street in a mall in a grocery store.. ITS ALL THE TIME... i dont remember being so kissy kissy back in Quebec. And some people get offended when I forget to kiss them before I leave.. twice I got the "you left without giving me kisses yesterday, your in France now thats how we do it here" hahaha.. it just feels so different! im going to come back home and be the most kissy kissy person ever! My family better get use to it!!... or maybe not.. i dont know...
Also.. EVERYDAY minimum twice a day I get the "ah I love your accent it is so cute!!! youre from Quebec.. keep talking to me.." or the "your french is funny!!!" and I even get it in English " ah your Canadian accent is sooo cute!!!!!" so no matter what I speak im either cute or funny.. which I guess is not SUCH a bad thing :P im even teaching my french friends some French Canadian and they get a kick out of it!!!!!!

So all in all I have been keeping busy, enjoying Paris as much as I can. I have a huge picnic planned for May 1st and i am looking forward to it!! it will be fun!!

As for my job.. i dont know if i REALLY want to get in the details... but all I can say is.. OH DEAR GOD HELP ME!!!! she is crazy... my boss is absolutely crazy!! you know.. I cant go from a sweet angel boss like Doratha to a crazy yelling-throwing stuff boss like her... I need an in between. I know no boss will EVER be like Doratha.. BUT COME ON... this cant be for real. For example;

There was a lady staying at the hostel who was sick, so sick she couldnt stand up without falling.. she was dizzy... puking.... basically needed to go to the hospital so I asked my boss if SOMEONE could accompany her to the hospital.. and i guess she thought I was asking if I could accomnpany her to the hospital (which is just across the street.... i know because she yelled at me so much when I asked where the hospital was) so she starts yelling, in French of course and saying..... WELL OF COURSE YOU WANT TO GO!! YOU ARE NOT A RECPTIONIST ANYMORE YOU ARE A NURSE...GOOO ON GOOOO so i told her... no im asking if SOMEONE can go with her..... WELL YOU WANT TO GO SO GO....GOOOOOOOOOOO (and boy was she screaming.. the sick lady even started crying) so I tell her.. No I dont want to go.. I want to know if someone can go with her... YOURE SO STUBBORN YOU.. WILL YOU JUST GOOO YOU WANT TO GO NURSE THEN GOOOOO.... so i said maybe we can call an ambulance... DO YOU REALLY THINK AN AMBULANCE WILL COME HERE JUST FOR THAT... COMEEE ONN JUSTT GOOOO then she threw some stuff on the counter.... I was so pissed... so i looked at her and said... fine im going but you better not be angry with me when I get back.... when I was walking towards the hospital I was telling myself.. NO WAY!!! NOOO WAYYY GEN!!!! just grab your stuff and leave NOW dont take this!!!! she is evillll.. EVILLLL!!!! when I got back I was so nervous... but at the same time I was happy that the lady was at the hospital because she really was not feeling good.. anyways she was calm when I got back... fiou
she yelled again after when I asked her a question.... I was trying to understand something and she was just yelling so I gave up trying to understand. DORATHA I MISS YOU SO MUCH!!!! no words can explain how much I miss you and I love you so much and you are the best boss in the whole entire world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So for now, until may 6... I am only working wednesdays.. there was a debate that I might also be getting Sundays.. but she told me she didnt feel I was too mature enough to be left alone and that all day I was doing things I wasnt suppose to be doing.. of course right after that she left for the entire afternoon leaving me ALL ALONE and when I asked her what I was doing wrong... she couldnt say anything... I found out later that she just doesnt want to fire the guy who is on Sundays because from may 6 to may 22 i am doing EVERYDAY.. and she didnt want to fire the SUnday guy so that he could work the Sundays so i wouldnt have to work 14 days non-stop...which you know is kind of nice of her.. but if there really was a day I would want to work.. it would be sunday because she is not there... but cant have it both ways I guess! Anyway, come May 22 I will be working 2 days a week (20 hours a week) which is pretty decent... as it will give me a few days to do some Euro-Travelling... work 2 days get 5 days off to go here and there!!! well thats assuming that I can handle her little fits, if not I will just look for something else. I mean I will not let her ruin my Paris experience. No way! If it is too much or if I am constantly under pressure I will find something else. FOR SURE come October I will look for something else.. something with more hours.. since it will be getting colder and I wont want to do AS much travelling.. and im pretty sure I will be needing some money...
but either way im sure it will all work out!! and hopefully no body will get hurt (possibly her).. hehe!!
Wow I wrote a lot.
I have to get ready because my friend Jesper is coming over and we are going to watch my new favorite show in the world, How I Met Your Mother.. ohhh gosh its swell :)
Hope everyone is doing good!!
Miss you!!
Love you!!

OUUPPPPSSSIIIIEE

hey gang!
I just realized that I forgot to put down the apt number... actually it is because I did not know that there was one... so.....

My address is ;
12 rue d'Aubervilliers #12
75019
Paris France
hopefully no one sent anything yet....

alright.. sorry about that!
So apart from that everything is going good! I had a MARVELOUS day walking around Paris. I will post pictures tomorrow.
I also start work tomorrow! Yay for me!! :)
Hope everyone is doing good!
Love you!

Supper with Tarik and Sebastien

BONJOUR!!! :)
So like I said before, on Tuesday April 14th I had a supper with some friends. A really good supper. The food was soooo delicious!! I took some pictures of the first course and the desserts.. but forgot to take pictures of the main course.. I guess I was too hungry.... but sebastien and I had beef with some delicious mushrooms and Tarik had some duck.... all in all.. it was good and well presented! Enjoy!



Tarik (on the left) and sebastien (on the right). So fun to be around. I had an amazing time with them. I tell you, the best food i've had in Paris, so far and the best time.

Alright people... for those of you who know me.... will be surprised... that is ME DRINKING SOME WINE!! I know right... shocking!! best tasting wine I ever had... I had about 4-5 sips.. then couldn't drink anymore... BUT I HAD 4-5 SIPS OF WINE!!! YAY FOR ME!

That is Tarik!! He is such a funny character!! haha so french and so funny!

Creme brulé au fois de gras and something something..

Chair de crab.. ou chair de homard.... hmmm can't remember

Salmon with vanilla and spices... that was mine... MIAM!

This was Tarik's dessert. Coffee, some apple stuff and the chocolate thing in the middle is filled with melted dark AND lots of melted white chocolate. I had that chocolate thing but in bigger. I didn't take a picture of it because it looked plain in the plate.

warm mixed fruits in some rhum.



Well I hope it made you hungry!!! :)

Later!!!