Category — travel/culture/language

I’ve gotten a lot of people searching for marriage leave applications and how to write them because I once make a joke post about a Marriage Application for potential suitors. I believe that in India they have to write marriage leave applications to get off the work, and that it is a common formality entitled such. I did some research on forums and things, and found most Americans to be somewhat confused by exactly what people from India are looking for.

I too am still confused, because I do not live there and do not know for sure, but I believe it would be the same as in America when you are asking for some time off.

A short, direct, and polite email or letter. Below is an example. I’ve given in to the subconscious desire of humanity for me to write about this now:

Template for Writing a Marriage Leave Application

Dear (Sir or whomever you are writing to),

I would like to apply for leave from 25 June through 12 July 2008 (put correct dates in here). This would be long term leave for my marriage. My wedding date is 2 July.

Thank you very much for considering my request.

(Your Name Here)

The old Tour de France, in its 95th year in this fine year of 2008, is as full of beautiful French glory as ever. The picturesque countrysides, the pictures.

Take a look at these 2008 Tour de France photos that will make you say “oh la la!”. Yeah.

My favorites are Didi the devil spectator, the one in the rain, and the picture from St. Malo, which is a beautiful ramparted city.

I hope that I will be in France in 5 years for the 100th Tour de France. If I’m not a spectator, mark my words, I will be a racing cyclist!

I have always loved how environmentally conscious the French were in quirky ways. When I studied abroad, there was a penguin stalking me. The penguin was always telling me to take shorter showers, or to “Let’s act for tomorrow, every day“. For you francophones:

“Agir pour demain, tous les jours » qui sera dès ce printemps l’expression grand public de notre démarche dans les magasins en est aussi la preuve”.

And now the “City of Lights Turns Off Their Lights“. This short article explains Paris’ energy saving light plan- switching standard incandescent lights with metal iodide lights on a lot of their monuments.

The monuments’ lights are (and have been turning) turned off after either 12 or 1am to save even more energy. They also took the total lights illuminating the monuments from over 2000 to about 1100- almost half!

I hope other countries follow suite!

Yay for Paris, city of lights, that could now be called the “City of Energy-Saving Lights”.

J’adore le pingouin!

As you continue to enjoy your freedom weekend, think about other places than the United States. Why? All too often I hear kids asking why can’t the French learn English, and other ignorant comments like that. America would not be free without the help of other parts of the world. That said, it’s a kind of random transition into these exotic countries and the topic at hand, but such is this handle of reality.

Go ahead and salivate over The Top 10 Exotic Fruits and check out 10 More Exotic Fruits to Try and at the very least enjoy the pictures. These fruits are weird-looking.

I loved reading them and seeing pictures of some of the odder looking fruits I’ve ever seen. I have had the pleasure of trying Starfruit and I have also had some mangosteen juices. Someone very close to me is a part of Xango and can not stop talking about how it has helped her life. Well, guess what, it just so happens that I just started taking the juice. And I’m going to keep a diary!

Remember people- eat your fruits and veggies, and learn another language!

“Wazzup”

I am happy for that little guy, and happy to say that I am a good, well-rounded person who is by no means boring enough to be described in a few words like “good, well-rounded”.

The reason I blog is to remind you that I am busy, busy with student teaching so that is why I have not been blogging (lame excuse, but my future depends on it). I also was reflecting on my past and I realized how happy I am to say that I successfully studied abroad and helped French children paint when I had no idea how to do it myself. I braved painting during the adult classes and speaking French with real French adults. I was a nervous college student who had some views, but they were general and “liberal” and these people both made me speak French in conversations with them, and they made me declare and defend my position.

I hated it at the time. Now I see that it was one of the more important parts of the studying in France experience. It made me a better human in so many ways.

There were plenty other of these instances where I grew (or was forced) to become a more well-rounded, opinionated person and I look back on them so fondly I can hardly believe I haven’t been to France since!

There are so many reasons why I benefited from studying abroad and so you should do it. No matter what your major is, no matter how old or young you are. At least get out there and travel, or learn a foreign language.

It can really change your life. I am happy now living off of those memories. I am happy to think about where that experience has and will take me in the future. Yay!

All I want to do is get more than 4 hours a night of sleep, but apparently not enough- I procrastinate, have “fun” (like going to TJ’s or Whole Foods to get some sustenance), and end up doing lesson plans for HOURS until the evening becomes miles from where my bedtime should be for having to get up so early. My friend sent me this to make me feel better- (I’m deeply disappointed that I haven’t been blogging more because I have sooo much to share! I promise I’ll blog 10X this weekend!)

“The photo above showing a beautiful crimson and gold sunset was taken from Marseille, France on January 12, 2007. In the background (at right center), notice the Canigou Mountain — at the eastern end of the Pyrenees Range, along the border of France and Spain. This mountain is approximately 250 km (150 miles) away! What is shown here is simply the image of the mountain and not the actual mountain itself.

Without considering the effect of atmospheric refraction, these mountains are far too distant to be observed from Marseille. However, on occasion, atmospheric conditions permit objects typically too far away to be easily observed to come into clear view. On this evening, summits in the Pyrenees Mountains higher than about 2,300 m (7,546 ft) can be detected. Most of the distance between Marseille and the Pyrenees Range is over the Mediterranean Sea. When the water is colder than the layers of air above it, a ray of light traveling through the lower atmosphere will be bent or refracted downward — the image of a distant object is thus displaced upward (superior mirage).

Notre Dame de la Garde is at the lower right center of the photograph. The faint vertical streak just above the horizon at left center is Comet McNaught.”

(http://epod.usra.edu/archive/epodviewer.php3?oid=404000)

At the end of a French class today, I had a nice conversation with one of the students who has family living in Ireland. She talked about how she wants to take French for 4 years to help her get into an international school and how she wants to study abroad in Ireland. I was happy to hear her say that, and it also made me want to go to Ireland, or anywhere, really. Oh to travel!

I’ll have to make a point to tell the students they have to study abroad in college no matter what their major (and maybe I’ll sneak some photos/stories into my lessons about my time abroad)