Template Update

Posted by Aaron in Site Updates

I have updated my blog’s template, finally.  It’s not a custom made template, but it looks really cool in my opinion!  It’s better than the pre-loaded template that I had been using.  So all is well.  Please be advised that all blog posts are longer than what you see on the home screen.  If you want to read the rest of the blog post, you have to click the “Read More” button.

I am also working on creating a gallery where I can directly upload all of my photos.  The only thing is that it takes a long long time to upload all these photos since they are in their original high-definition format, so it might be a while before all of the photos are uploaded.  But I will get to work on that.  I love vacation periods!  It gives me time to relax and get work done!

Les vacances !

Posted by Aaron in Journal

So far, the vacation period has been fun!  The beginning of it was a bit rough since I had absolutely nothing to do.  But for the past three nights, I’ve had a sleepover with my friend from Hawaii, Renée.  Yes, she’s American even though she has a French name.  ;)  The first two nights, I spent the night at her house, and then she came to my house last night.

We went to see Paranormal Activity 3 last night.  It was a bit creepy.  It was better than the first one, but they’re not very scary.  They’re suspenseful, but not scary.  We also ate at a Chinese restaurant last night.  I couldn’t understand the waitress because she had a Chinese accent in French, and it’s difficult enough for me to understand people who have a French accent in French.  So I have no idea what I ordered, but it was good.

Tomorrow, I am supposed to go to Arcachon with my host family, if the weather is nice.  If the weather isn’t nice, I’m not sure exactly what the alternative plan is.  But I’ll find something to do.  I’m reading a novel (in English) called Freedom by Jonathan Franzen.  It’s an excellent story, and very easy to follow.  It’s a fairly big novel, which usually discourages me from giving books of that sort a second look, but I had heard many good things about it before I bought it and I read the first chapter at the bookstore before I bought it (something I always try to do before I buy a book to make sure that I won’t lose interest right away).  Whether I go to Arcachon or stay here in Bordeaux, I will pay my novel a due visit.

Long Overdue Hello!

Posted by Aaron in Journal

Hey everyone! Sorry that I haven’t been updating this blog AT ALL. Life is crazy here. I have taken a ton of pictures during my time here. I will try to upload some here and I’ll try to find some way to open up a gallery and post all of the photos. I’m sure it’ll be quite simple.

Speaking of the photos, I left the United States with two amazing cameras and their chargers. I forgot one highly important thing though: a transformer. There’s no way of charging the batteries of my cameras if I can’t plug the chargers into the wall! And I didn’t just need something that allow an American plug to be put into a European outlet, I needed something to convert the voltage too, otherwise my chargers would be fried. I knew right away as I arrived in France that I needed a transforme, so I made it a point to find and buy one here. Slowly, this task moved to the back of my mind and stayed there. A whole month passed and the task came back to mind, and then it slowly went back to the back of my mind. Finally one day when I was Skyping with my parents, my dad asked me if I had bought the transformer, and it made me really mad that I hadn’t!

A whole month had passed without me taking any pictures, and this is the beginning of my time in France!  The most memorable time of it.  So the next day, I went out and found one!  It was exceptionally expensive, but it was well worth it.  Now I can take as many photos as I want without having to worry about wasting my cameras’ battery life.

Last weekend, I went to a small town in Southwest France called Nérac.  There was an event there for all of the exchange students in this region of France.  Saturday evening, there was a “talent show” for all exchange students who played an instrument or did something that could entertain the audience.  Some people played the guitar while others sang, some displayed different rhythmic and synchronized claps, and I, of course, sang!  I sang a song in French called Les yeux ouverts.  It’s the French version of the song Dream a Little Dream of Me.  The song, in my opinion, sounds VERY romantic and classy in French.  While I was singing it, my voice cracked since I hadn’t cleared my throat before I started singing, so that was a bit embarrassing, but I kept singing!  I was really nervous, of course, but it was so awesome to finally have an audience to perform in front of.