Back from an amazing weekend.
It wasn't the type of film festival with stars, but some professionals (director of photography, music composers, etc...) talked with us.
Having a problem with the photos. But I will work on them later.
So, we left school early on Friday. About 1:30ish. My main cinema teacher drove me and three other students. It was funny, because to get to the hotel (which was directly in centre ville by the way :D ), we walked through a busy mall. My teacher had taken our bags for us and was walking through the mall with all sorts of luggage.
The hotel was really nice. There were 11 students. Two to a room, except for me. I bunked with my friends Chloe and Margot.
Our other cinema teacher was our supervisor, and she stayed at the hotel too.
It was an "Ibis" hotel.
The first day, we watched "The Young and Innocent" by Alfred Hitchcock. It was pretty good. That was for the high school students only. After the movie, we had someone discuss it with us, and we took notes about it. Music, story, symbols... that type of thing.
Then we were let loose to find dinner. My friends, Chloe, Alban, Margot, and I bought some sandwiches. Afterwards, at 8:30, we returned to the Corum theater, but we were in the room "Opera Berlioz". It was amazing! It's a huge opera house, and I've never seen a room that large before.
It was the opening of the festival, and there was a lot of people. I'm stupid for not using my camera that day, because the directors of the film were there. It was an Italian film, called "Il Divo." When the directors walked in, everyone cheered. I should have written their names, because I can't remember anymore.
The next day we watched "North by Northwest" by Hitchcock. And talked with Jean-Louis Bompoint: director of photography (if anyone has seen the Nspresso commercial with George Clooney, Bompoint worked on it), and Laurent Lafran: who works with sound.
They had a lot to say, and it was interesting to listen to.
At 9:30pm, it was back to the Berlizo room to watch "Psycho" by Hitchcock. Really good, I know you've all seen it before.
I was expecting the girl to be murdered in the shower, because it's such a famous scene, but when the "mother" jumped out and attacked the police officer, me and the theater jumped 10 feet in the air. The violence is cheesy, but it was the surprises and the jumping out, and the scary music that got me.
On Sunday Gilles Tinayre, a music composer talked with us. He discussed music in movies, then concentrated on the music we heard in "North by Northwest".
During lunch I had lots of fun with my class. We went on the roof of the theater and everyone goofed around. We took funny jumping photos, and photos of our shadows, and I found it really amusing.
Afterwards, we finished our trip with the projection of "Shadow of a Doubt" also by Hitchcock. It was good as well, and I came home at about 4:30.
All in all, a great festival. Had lots of fun.
I noticed that my french is improving too. During "Il Divo", the subtitles were french, while the language was italian. I got along just fine with the french subtitles. Well, I always fond political and mafia movies confusing, but you get the idea. I'm really glad I'm learning so much.
Everything else is going well
Miss you!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Wohoo!
There is an orange alert for rain today, so I have no school! Apparently this happens every year. There is flooding, and once some students had to sleep overnight in my school's library.
I do like school a lot, but I had the opportunity to sleep in this morning.
You may have noticed I posted a post underneath this one, titled "Did you know?". That was mom's idea, and I think it's a good one. So basically, every time I update the blog, I'll also add a little thing that I've learned about France.
I forgot to mention Alia in previous posts. She is a little baby. Almost one month old. She is the daughter of a niece or something, and it sounds like she will be staying here permanently. She is a cute kid, and fortunately, she is friendly and doesn't cry too much during the night. I'll post a pic one of these days.
I got my photos form school on Monday. I'm planning on scanning the class photo and putting it up here, because I think it looks nice, and it will allow you guys to see people in my class.
Last week I took 7 buses in one day. It was pretty crazy. Here is the rundown:
2 to get to school earlier than usual.
1 to get to the movie theater with my cinema class (we have to take public buses)
1 to get back to school.
3 to get home. It was wednesday, so it was my usual 3.
Speaking of cinema, I head to Montpellier the day after tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it. I know it will be really interesting, and I'll be sure to bring my camera.
It'll also be nice to take a little break and spend the weekend with some of the friends I made.
Noemie and I have been getting along really well. We help each other out with homework. We joke around. We hang out. And Desperate Housewives is called "la programme de Noemie et Katy" around the house.
So, that's all I can really think of right now.
Miss you guys!
I do like school a lot, but I had the opportunity to sleep in this morning.
You may have noticed I posted a post underneath this one, titled "Did you know?". That was mom's idea, and I think it's a good one. So basically, every time I update the blog, I'll also add a little thing that I've learned about France.
I forgot to mention Alia in previous posts. She is a little baby. Almost one month old. She is the daughter of a niece or something, and it sounds like she will be staying here permanently. She is a cute kid, and fortunately, she is friendly and doesn't cry too much during the night. I'll post a pic one of these days.
I got my photos form school on Monday. I'm planning on scanning the class photo and putting it up here, because I think it looks nice, and it will allow you guys to see people in my class.
Last week I took 7 buses in one day. It was pretty crazy. Here is the rundown:
2 to get to school earlier than usual.
1 to get to the movie theater with my cinema class (we have to take public buses)
1 to get back to school.
3 to get home. It was wednesday, so it was my usual 3.
Speaking of cinema, I head to Montpellier the day after tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it. I know it will be really interesting, and I'll be sure to bring my camera.
It'll also be nice to take a little break and spend the weekend with some of the friends I made.
Noemie and I have been getting along really well. We help each other out with homework. We joke around. We hang out. And Desperate Housewives is called "la programme de Noemie et Katy" around the house.
So, that's all I can really think of right now.
Miss you guys!
Did you know?
That two words the French use a lot, are not French at all. They are Spanish and Italian:
"Si", instead of "oui", and "Ciao" instead of "aurevoir".
"Si", instead of "oui", and "Ciao" instead of "aurevoir".
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Some pics
Now that my laptop has internet, I can upload some photos. I don't have very many so far, but here is me with Marion (gray tee shirt) and her friends Marine and Claire.
Just a warning- the photos are pretty big when you click on them.
Just a warning- the photos are pretty big when you click on them.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Some little things...
The other day I went for a walk by myself in Bouillargues, the village where I live, to get a bus pass. It was sooooo nice. We live at the entrance of the village, so I had only been in the centre a couple of times. Going by myself was good. It gave me a chance to look around, (and buy myself a pain au chocolat). The village is nice and quiet. There is a small park too. It has tress, and a "mairie" that sits on the end. It also has these lanterns that make it very "Murdoch like". And for those of you who know me and my little obssesion well, it is now one of my favorite spots.
Mrs. Lauretta knows a woman who's granddaughter is Canadian. The grandaughter's name is Marie Claude. She was born in Quebec, and lives there now, but she has also lived in Newfoundland, PEI, and good ol' Alberta.
Marie Claude was visting her grandma here in Nimes so we had invited her for dinner. She was super nice! She asked if I wanted to talk in english, because she has been speaking it for 10 years, but I said it was alright. I noticed something too. When I talked ot other EF students, I was just enjoying the fact that I was speaking my language again, but talking to Marie Claude in french made me concentrate more on Canada. It was so great to talk about it. Talking about Canada is like a security blanket for me.
Because she lived in english speaking provinces, she knows exactly how I feel being immersed into a different language. She was saying how sometimes its good to have a break and that it was good I had brought my english movies with me, and all sorts of things. She really understands, and it was really great. Because she was Canadian, it also felt like we were long time friends and already had inside jokes.
Mrs; Lauretta said that she hoped we liked salmon, Marie Claude answered that we were Canadians so we had better.
Also, the Laurettas mentioned how we would try to eat earlier from now on. 7:30 (some nights we don't eat until 8:30 or 10), Marie Claude and I smiled, and mentioned that it was funny, because we eat 5:30 or 6 in our country. The Laurettas were schocked that people would eat that early.
So anyway, I was really happy to meet her. She is going back to Montreal today I believe, but she gave me a bunch of contact information.
Everything else is going okay.
Miss you all
Katy
Mrs. Lauretta knows a woman who's granddaughter is Canadian. The grandaughter's name is Marie Claude. She was born in Quebec, and lives there now, but she has also lived in Newfoundland, PEI, and good ol' Alberta.
Marie Claude was visting her grandma here in Nimes so we had invited her for dinner. She was super nice! She asked if I wanted to talk in english, because she has been speaking it for 10 years, but I said it was alright. I noticed something too. When I talked ot other EF students, I was just enjoying the fact that I was speaking my language again, but talking to Marie Claude in french made me concentrate more on Canada. It was so great to talk about it. Talking about Canada is like a security blanket for me.
Because she lived in english speaking provinces, she knows exactly how I feel being immersed into a different language. She was saying how sometimes its good to have a break and that it was good I had brought my english movies with me, and all sorts of things. She really understands, and it was really great. Because she was Canadian, it also felt like we were long time friends and already had inside jokes.
Mrs; Lauretta said that she hoped we liked salmon, Marie Claude answered that we were Canadians so we had better.
Also, the Laurettas mentioned how we would try to eat earlier from now on. 7:30 (some nights we don't eat until 8:30 or 10), Marie Claude and I smiled, and mentioned that it was funny, because we eat 5:30 or 6 in our country. The Laurettas were schocked that people would eat that early.
So anyway, I was really happy to meet her. She is going back to Montreal today I believe, but she gave me a bunch of contact information.
Everything else is going okay.
Miss you all
Katy
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Funny Day
So, I've been doing dance in gym, and today it was all about lifting other people. Not something I'm crazy about, but it was kind of funny. I am taller and have long legs, so I was the one to lift my partner. (It's not over the head lifting, or anything serious like that).
We also did all this to some Katie Melua songs. I thought of you Mom.
The people I eat with at lunch are kind of goth. They're aren't like let's-go-smoke-and-hurt-people, kind of goths. They just dress in black and like to play nerdy games like Dungeons and Dragons. Anyway, they've been the nicest to me, so I hang out with them. (They are in my class too.)
There is this one room, it's like a Game Club. It's their room to use, because they are the club, so I eat in there with them. They haven't been playing much games so far, but they're starting to now. I usually watch, that way I can learn how the games are played.
My history and cinema teacher is, I guess, in charge of the club. He came in today and ate and talked, and watched one of the games called "Jungle Speed". It was beyond weird to be around a teacher during lunch, but it was good. He must be in there to supervise a lot, because the others were chatting and discussing all sorts of things.
I had his class right after lunch, and I was much more relaxed. I'm usually pretty tense during classes.
So yeah, strange, but not bad.
I realized that I've been dropping some words for new ones.
For example, not a lot of people here say 'bonjour', and that's only during the day anyway. I said it quite a bit, but now I usually say 'salut', just like everyone else.
Same thing with 'okay'. People do say it, but not a lot. So I'm using 'd'accord'. Sometimes if I'm feeling homesick, I do go back to 'okay', because they understand what it means and I'm speaking at least one word of english.
The other day I helped Noèmie with her english homework. She appreciated it, and I loved being able to use my language.
Hopefully she gets more homework soon. :D
That's it for now.
We also did all this to some Katie Melua songs. I thought of you Mom.
The people I eat with at lunch are kind of goth. They're aren't like let's-go-smoke-and-hurt-people, kind of goths. They just dress in black and like to play nerdy games like Dungeons and Dragons. Anyway, they've been the nicest to me, so I hang out with them. (They are in my class too.)
There is this one room, it's like a Game Club. It's their room to use, because they are the club, so I eat in there with them. They haven't been playing much games so far, but they're starting to now. I usually watch, that way I can learn how the games are played.
My history and cinema teacher is, I guess, in charge of the club. He came in today and ate and talked, and watched one of the games called "Jungle Speed". It was beyond weird to be around a teacher during lunch, but it was good. He must be in there to supervise a lot, because the others were chatting and discussing all sorts of things.
I had his class right after lunch, and I was much more relaxed. I'm usually pretty tense during classes.
So yeah, strange, but not bad.
I realized that I've been dropping some words for new ones.
For example, not a lot of people here say 'bonjour', and that's only during the day anyway. I said it quite a bit, but now I usually say 'salut', just like everyone else.
Same thing with 'okay'. People do say it, but not a lot. So I'm using 'd'accord'. Sometimes if I'm feeling homesick, I do go back to 'okay', because they understand what it means and I'm speaking at least one word of english.
The other day I helped Noèmie with her english homework. She appreciated it, and I loved being able to use my language.
Hopefully she gets more homework soon. :D
That's it for now.
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