Student Blogs/Sarah in France
After a long and difficult exam season, I was finally able to kick back and relax for an extended holiday break. However when I say relax, I actually mean, “don’t stop moving for three weeks straight.” It was a jam-packed break that took me from the French Alps for Christmas, Rome for New Years Eve and Madrid for the celebration of the Three Wise Men.
Living in Europe during the month leading up to the holiday season was perfect for setting the mood to celebrate the holidays abroad. Here in Chambéry, there was a little Christmas Market in the town centre selling decorations, traditional Christmas treats and my personal favourite, Vin Chaud (hot wine). A visit to the Christmas Market proved to be the perfect study break for me as I was in the heart of exam period at that time.
Another highlight of the month was the Fête des Lumières (Festival of Lights) in Lyon. The city was filled with stunning installations lighting up the many beautiful churches and main square of Lyon. The Fête des Lumières is a huge event for Lyon, and this year was the most successful yet. Over one weekend the city's population tripled to over 3 million. With that many people around it wasn’t hard to stay warm.
I was fortunate enough to have some of my family visit me in France to celebrate Christmas this year. In total there was 13 of us staying in a chalet in the Jura region of the French Alps. It was a wonderful mix of my French Canadian, English Canadian and French family. This was my first Christmas outside of Canada and actually the first time I celebrated Christmas outside of my hometown. It was a week filled with delicious cheeses, wine, champagne and, of course, more cheese.
With my French family taking the lead, we celebrated Christmas with a long drawn out dinner of cheese fondue made from the regional cheese and had a special treat of some delicious sparkling wine from the Champagne region in France. It was certainly a different experience celebrating Christmas outside of Canada, but having my family with me to share in the experience made it even more special.
After spending the week in the Alps, I was off to Rome to celebrate New Year's Eve. It was my first time in Rome and I was completely overwhelmed by the beauty of the city. We spent a few days exploring the ancient ruins and extravagant museums, but I still feel as if I have only seen the tip of the iceberg that is Rome.
After spending some time celebrating around the Coliseum, I rang in 2014 with a free outdoor concert at the site of Circus Maximus, followed by a stunning display of fireworks coming from all different parts of the city. Traditionally in Italy, one is supposed to eat lentils on Jan. 1 in order to bring wealth in the coming year. However, with no luck finding any lentils, we settled for some gelato, which I can only hope means that 2014 will be just as great as 2013.
After Rome I decided to go to Madrid to visit a friend of mine from Chambéry who was home with his family for the holidays. I spent a week fully immersed in the Spanish culture and the Spanish language. Surprisingly, I was definitely picking up a little bit by the end. On Jan. 6 in Spain, as in France, there is the celebration of the coming of the Three Wise Men. This was a truly amazing experience because unlike Christmas, it was a holiday that I had never celebrated before in my life and in a culture that I had never spent a significant amount of time in.
On the night of the Jan. 5, we all watched the parade of the Three Wise Men in downtown Madrid, where hundreds of little children were restless with excitement when the Three Wise Men finally came in on their floats at the very end. It was very similar to the different Santa Claus parades you’ve probably seen in Canada.The next morning started out with presents under a tree which had all been magically delivered by the Three Wise Men the night before. After that, we began our lunch around 3:00 p.m. and it continued until 9:30 p.m. Plate after plate of delicious homemade Spanish food accompanied by the family of my friend all making their best effort to speak either French or English with me. Dessert consisted of the traditional cake known as Roscón in Spain.
In the cake there is a little figurine that has been hidden in the centre and whoever finds it then becomes the king of the party. This tradition is very similar to one that I saw when I returned to France. There, it’s a different type of cake, called the Galette de Rois, and whoever finds the little figurine is then the king of the party but they also have a charming paper crown to go with the title.
My experience over the holidays was so unique and will certainly not be one that I will ever forget. Now I am back in school again for semester two. It has been a easier start than last semester, now knowing a bit more about the French school system than I did five months ago. It is a tough system to master, but maybe by the end of my exchange I will finally getting the hang of it.