I am now the proud owner of two degrees! Friday morning was such a bittersweet moment. I was surprised by how moved I was by the speakers. This is what I wrote in a state of sleepless delirium : I … Continue reading
So I made the obligatory cheesy slideshow video of my entire time at Clemson.
Things have been insanely busy, so I promise to get around to updating soon.
I had a lovely last week in Nantes. I spent Christmas in England with Sophie: wonderful! I got a good week in Charleston, and then came back to Clemson.
Still getting settled with my insane schedule, but I’ve got some pretty interesting classes this year… my senior seminar with Mastroianni, survey of French literature, modern rhetoric, social and political philosophy, history of the modern middle east, and biology!
It’s nice to be back in Clemson even if the weather is crazy!
Last Sunday I was sat outside getting sunburnt on Folly Beach and sipping on a frozen margarita, today classes got cancelled thanks to hail, sleet, ice and… we will see if there is snow!
Yay!
The Christmas markets have arrived all over France !
On the very first day it opened, some of my friends, Jess, Angel, Alison, and Whitney and I went to visit the market, wander around, and see what it was all about.
They sell all sorts of interesting things!
Some hand made wooden jouets, or toys. Lovely tea pots in tea sets. Of course, santa hats, or Pere Noel!
They also have so many delicious foods! Dried and candied fruits, homemade sausages, ancient cheeses, and more!
You can also have a full meal here!
On our first night we just got the hot mulled wine. But you can also get tartiflette, roasted ham, bretzels, beingets, and more!
One of my favorites is this, the tete de chocolate. It is a thin layer of chocolate, and inside is filled with a sort of marshmallow-y mousse-y fluff, and it is closed in with a tiny waffle wafer. They come in all different flavors, peppermint and dark chocolate, honey and almond, strawberry and white chocolate… yummy!
Now, I go almost every weekend, just to wander around and get a cup of something warm and people watch.
I never really got around to taking a picture after I cleaned them up. Such a bummer too cause the candy pink brain on my left thumb was adorable!
But as always, click to enlarge.
Zombie nails, inspired by Hey Nice Nails! at http://heynicenails.com and I cannot find the original link 
Anyway, happy haunting ^_^
On our first weekend here, Julia, Jess, and I decided to go to the beach.
One of the closest to Nantes is La Baule-Escoblanc.
We got a cheap summer break deal and rode the train there.
It was really nice, but the water was ice cold, and there weren’t a lot of people hanging out. We ended up sleeping, reading, and getting crepes and gelato, but it was a nice day trip. I’d like to go back in the actual hot summer!
A terrible thing happened in London! I messed up my foot!
That’s right, so for my last few days I had to hobble around London, debating over which was more important, my health or site-seeing!
I tried to strike a delicate balance 
In any case, at least I made it to THE GLOBE!
That’s right, I got to go to Shakespeare’s own Globe Theater (okay so it’s not the exact same one, but it’s pretty darn close!)
I loved our tourguide. She was really funny and seemed to really enjoy her job, and kept making jokes about The Scottish Play, ahem. But the funniest part actually had nothing to do with any of the comedies of the bard, it was this:
When they were constructing The Globe, they asked for donations. Over a certain amount, and you got a stone with your name on it. Well John Cleese was there, and he saw the stones and he thought it would be funny if he bought one for him and Michael Palin – and he purposefully spelled Palin’s name wrong. So Cleese calls Palin up, and says “hey, I bought you a Shakespeare stone, you ought to go check out the Globe when it’s done.” Palin says “thanks, man, I’ll see what’s up later.” So the construction workers are finally finishing their job and they notice Cleese’s little prank so they decide to do their own – they made Cleese’s stone half the size of everyone else’s. Haha The other part of this story is that Palin never found out until one day a tourist met him on the street and said “I’m such a fan of your work, oh, by the way, hilarious what Cleese did to your stone over at The Globe.” Love it.
I also, of course, had my first Sunday Roast.
Well, it was actually a “Bank Holiday Monday” roast, but still, haha, a British tradition. Roasted meat, veggies, potatoes, and this thing called “Yorkshire Pudding.” Aight, then brits.
I also wandered around a large part of the city. I got to see one of the first city jails, the Clink.
I got to visit a Cathedral with an homage to Shakespeare, that also happened to be where Harvard was baptized.
I even went all the way down to Picadilly Circus, and I visited Empire Cinemas.
It was a wonderful trip, and I can’t wait to go back!
