home

it's been one month since i've been back home in america.
i feel like i've been home a century and france was just a dream.
i miss it but i'm happy to be back and america and not be an au pair anymore!!

so for my last few days i checked off the last few things on my nantes bucket list including...

going to the top of the tallest tower (well the only skyscraper in nantes) at sunset and basking in the love i have for my city. it's seen me at my best and my worst. (multiple times at my worst...) even though some days i absolutely hated it i miss and love it so so sooo much.

inside the tower there's a giant goose. so we sat on it and had a dysfunctional photo taken.

i climbed the fountain. it was on the bucket list and we FINALLY did it. on my last night. i was a little worried about getting in trouble by the police butttttt yofo. (you only france once) we didn't get in trouble. it was great. i wish i climbed to the top.

byebye room. (the freaking picture wouldn't turn. i tried many times. screw you blogger.)

i said bye to my host family, it was kinda awkward because the boys couldn't care less because they were excited about it being summer time and no school and going to their grandparents so they said ok bye, gave me a hug because the mom made them, and ran off. the host mom gave me these yummy chocolates and my money for the week and said thanks and then off i was. crazy how i was saying bye to my life for a year, i'll never be back in that house or in that room or experience those things again and as much grief and anxiety it all caused me i was a little sad to leave.

then the next day i went to paris for my last weekend. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 i love this place. i went to the top of the galeries lafayette and it had amazing views. i love this city. and that store is beautiful anyways.

lock bridge that's not the lock bridge any more :(:(:( but this was where the end of now you see me was filmed and so i had to go cause i looooove that movie. and it's such a pretty bridge with views and beauty and oh i love it.

WELCOME TO MY CRIIIIIB channeling my inner marie antoinette. chateau de versailles. we had a rough night the night before and at this point i was running on about 8 hours of sleep from two days. so like 4-5 hours friday night then about 3 hours on saturday night. again..yofo. i woke up and contemplated going or not because it's kind of out of the way but i was like who knows when i will be back and if i will be able to get in for free (benefits of being a student wut wutttt) so i was like screw it, i'll get a coke, and yofo this place up.and i did and it was great. 

hall of mirrors. this was created because in this era they were so vain and having mirrors were such a fancy thing to have so they were like hey we got money let's make a whole hall of mirrors! (they must've been thinking yofo also) 

i left my heart in this country. i love this city and i love this girl and i love this monument and i love everything.

sur l'arc de triomphe. on top of the arc de triomphe...ummm hello amazing views.

eiffel tower at night. i love it. if you couldn't tell.

this carousel and the eiffel tower, it's a nice thing if i do say so myself.

so randomly i saw a sign that said the eiffel tour ticketing office closes at 11:30. well it was 11 and i thought why don't we go up? i haven't had the desire to before but i was like yofo! and again, who knows when i'll ever be back and do this again?! so we went up. it was magical.

i love this place. it's so pretty. i want to cry just thinking about it because it's a wonderful place. a lot of being don't really care for paris they say it's dirty and crowded and the people are rude, and some of that is true. if you go down by the seine later at night and go under a bridge it just reeks of pee. if you go to the louvre during the day there's thousands of people. if you are rude and catch someone on an off day and expect everyone to give you everything on a gold platter, of course they'll be rude. but i've met some of the nicest people in france and in paris i've had experiences with rude people but i've also had experiences with extremely nice people.

on the morning i left i was leaving at about 6 in the morning and fleur wasn't leaving until later and i had to manage the metro and lugging my bags (here's a picture just to show how ridiculous my bags were...i mean these bags were my life for a year. of course they're huge and awkward. thanks fleur for taking this flattering photo of my struggles hahaha)

two huge bags, my purse that was stuffed, and a humongo bungo backpack. i gave away so many clothes and my bag was still stuffed to the max. 

so yeah imagine me having to manage this all alone, on the metro (and paris metros don't believe in elevators or escalators..they're like haha suckaaaa deal with stairs.) switching metros and making sure i got to the airport on time to check in while keeping everything with me and under control. it was a struggle to say the least. so fleur helped me leave from her host dads apartment (an incredible location, right down the street from the eiffel tower and like a three minute walk from the metro station) and we got there, she helped me down the stairs there and i went to go get my ticket and as luck would have it, the machine wouldn't take my card. in europe they mostly use pin and chip cards but my slide card hasn't been too much of an issue. and i used up all my euros so that i didn't have any left and fleur didn't bring her card so for a minute i thought i was going to be screwed. well luckily we knocked on the window for the cashier even though it was "closed" and a lady came and in true stereotypical parisian fashion she was rude and was like "we're supposed to be closed." we explained the situation, she let me buy a ticket, and i went merrily on my way. i went through the little gate thing into the metro station before hugging fleur and so we said bye and parted ways. :( so i was finally on my own, the reason for all my stress and anxiety of facing the metro system on my lonesome (which isn't a problem, i've done it before) but with humongous bags this time. i faced stairs and had struggles, and a random guy saw my struggles and said "leave them down here, i'll take them up for you." so incredibly nice. then i got on the metro and had to switch and had to scan my ticket again. well i misplaced my ticket and was trying to figure out how to get my huge bags through the gate things without them closing on me or leaving my bags on the other side, and i'm searching in all the millions of pockets on my backpack and this lady comes up and says "i'll help you. do you have a ticket?" and i said "yeah i bought one i just can't find it." and so she pulls out a ticket and gives  me one of hers (SO NICE.) and then helps me with my bags, she took one then this guy opened the gate for me and helped me with my other. another example of incredibly nice parisians. she took time out of her morning commute to give a little poor foreigner a ticket and help her with her bags. so then i was on my final train to the airport and while on the train i realized, my handle for the roller bags won't go down. the one on my big one was broken, like the metal was torn (can metal be torn?) so there was no way to get it down, and then on my smaller roller bag the handle was bent so i couldn't put it down. awesome. how will i figure this out. so i called my parents stressing and because i didn't know whre i had to get off (because there's a stop for terminal 1 and then a stop for terminal 2&3. i had no idea where to go) so we figured it out then i got to the airport, a random old man helped me with my bags off the train, like a 60ish year old man probably and he told me i can get a cart to roll my things and asked me where i need to go in the airport and helped me out. so nice. he took my big bag and tried to get the handle down without luck but he was still so so nice and made sure i knew where i was going. so to all the people who think french people are rude, they're all wrong. they're so nice. at least they are to a struggling little american with three huge bags. 

so i finally got to my gate, checked my bag (totally thought i'd have to pay 100$ to check a second one because my bags were huge but luckily, i didn't! got by with my one free bag and the other two were cleared for carry-on!) got through security, got to my gate, and held in my tears of leaving france. i was there on time and got on the plane and got my luggage in the overhead bin (i was so concerned because i couldn't put the handle down so i was super worried it wouldn't fit and i'd be in a major pickle but it did) and somehow my backpack that was like five times the width of me fit under the seat and i got situated and was ready for the eleven hour flight. eleven. hours. from the past three days i had gotten a combined total of about 12 hours of sleep about 3-4 hours each night and so i was like i can sleep on the plane no prob! well it proved to be a very big prob. they have movies i wanted to watch so i got all sorts of excited and watched a chick-flick (the longest ride) and then i was like ok i'll sleep now. well i slept maybe 30 minutes. i could not get comfortable to save my life it was horrendous. i was in an aisle seat because i like them so that i can stretch my legs, and i don't have to climb over people every time i have to go to the bathroom. but i had nothing to lean on to sleep and i didn't know how to reclin my seat and i didn't want to because i feel bad for whoever is behind me, so i was just trying to sleep but my head kept falling and it was horrible. so i didn't get much sleep on the plane. then we got off the plane, i think i might have lied to the customs people.............(my last little exit from customs he asked if i had any food and i said no. i had a baguette and cookies. SORRY MR. CUSTOMS GUY I GOT NERVOUS.) and my handle on my big roller bag had been officially ripped off or fell off or whatever so i guess i need new suitcases...:D :D :D however i will miss my loved suitcases as they have been literally everywhere with me. rip beautiful bright blue flowered suitcases that were perfect because i never had any problems finding them at the baggage claims. you'll forever be in my heart. and i went out and there was my family with a sign and hugs galore. even though they said i smell bad...sorry that i didn't have time to shower that morning and i was on a plane for 11 hours!!! i didn't smell all that bad. my dad, being the champ that he is, brought me a mountain dew, i saw my little nephews, (pictures aren't working now so i'll add them on later) and i came home and my mom and sister decorated my room and we had hawaiian haystacks and everyone came over and it was great. it was good to see everyone again and i missed them all so much. especially my nephews. and dog. 

so i'm back in america. and i'm back at my call center job, i'm back on my mountain dew addiction, and i understand everyone and eavesdrop a lot because i can and miss speaking french occassionally. but it's fun to be back but i miss france dearly. and my friends. i don't know when i'll ever see them again and it's hard to keep in contact because of different time zones but we still try. i don't miss being an au pair at all. but it was so convenient with all my friends because we were all on the same schedule whereas now my friends and i all work different schedules so we never hang out. but it's ok i just chill with my family. 

so yeah, i'm back to america and living the dream. jk i'm not. i'm just trying to find my way back to europe and planning my next journey to another country. but it was an adventure and even though i had really rough times i also had incredible times and i'm so happy i went and got to experience real french life and i got to travel while i'm young and single and don't have any other commitments. i will go back sooner rather than later and see all my friends and relive mon vie française. minus la vie au pair. but here's to the end of my french adventure and to the start of my new adventure going to school and working so i can continue a life of travel. 

donc, à bientôt!

corinne. :)

je vais rentrer? quoi?

in exactly one week i will be on an airplane to america. approximately an hour and a half before landing.
WHAT IS LIFE?!
it's incredibly crazy how quick everything has gone by! it's lasted forever but also gone so fast. i haven't put any recent pictures of my french adventures up here so here we go.
#leggo
#notthekindisteponintheboysrooms

we promised that in 5 years we're going to see each other 

again in Thailand. i believe it will happen. IT BETTER HAPPEN.

we went to our little kiwi's performance! star du jour in the middle!

I LOVE THEM AND OUR MEMORIES.

j'adore mon ville.

sofie's last night. <3 <3 <3

these are my friends. i love them all. (except there's a couple randoms i don't know so i might not love them i don't use love lightly.)

sooooo in france on the first day of summer, june 21, they have a "fete de musique" IT WAS THE COOLEST THING EVER. so basically a lot of dj's, bands, music groups just go in the streets of nantes and play their music and you would think it'd be a big commotion but it was so cool. you walk down the street and hear five different styles of music. it was just a party atmosphere and so happy and fun. i loved it. anyways, i put a limit on myself and only brought 2 euros if i wanted to buy anything. i felt like a little kid again with an allowance thinking "ok what should i buy i have to make it worth it." well this cotton candy bigger than my head was well worth it. :D 

fun fact: cotton candy in french is "barbe à papa" which literally translates to beard of dad. lol.

last day of class :(:(:( our teacher was so nice and sweet and how she put up with us i don't entirely know because i'm sure she felt like she was dealing with 6 year olds every once in a while. or maybe that was just me she felt that way about..........

either way this class was so fun and it brought me to know some of my bestest friends, these girls know exactly what i went through and i have some of my best memories of my life with them. oh and i learned some french. bien sûr. :)

TRIPLETS WHAT WHATTTTT. we got matching sushi shirts. or as i like to call them, sushirts. :D now we'll forever be triplets even when i'm in america, fleur is in belgium, and tiqvah is in new zealand. 

...STAY WITH ME GUYS. :(:(:(

it's completely insane that i'm leaving soon. i'm trying to pack up all my stuff and get everything cancelled 

(france still lives in the 18th century...i have to write a letter to my phone company, bank, and anything i want to cancel. like everything else is online! or can't i call?! no. i have to mail a letter. here's to hoping they receive it and cancel it in a timely matter. lol i'm in france that probs won't happen.)

i'm excited to see my nephews and dog. and friends and family i suppose. but i'm going to miss france and my life here. mostly my friends and our fun times...not necessarily the rest of the life here...

but it's totally crazy because who knows when i'll see these girls again? and if i do it won't be all together. (except thailand 2020) but it won't be the same. 

IT IS SO SAD I AM SO SAD BUT SO EXCITED.

this is insane and i can't wrap my head around it so i'm gonna go and try and wrap my head around it.

tonight is my last pub quiz night too. i've gone every week since january. I LIVE FOR THE QUIZ. so sad it's my last. EVERYTHING IS MY LAST. THIS WAS MY LAST MONDAY. 

ok sorry for the craziness for a minute i'm just blabbing and typing without thinking. 

alright peace out.

these things do happen...

sooooo i watch these children.
and sometimes they say/do funny things and other things are just straight up ridiculous. and i know i'll want to remember these and maybe one day i'll laugh, i'm still working on getting over being straight up embarrassed.

so funny things first!
one day we went outside and C (the younger one, 8) laid down on one of the chairs outside and said "H, cherchez le ping pong, je vais bronzer" meaning "H go get the ping pong i'm going to tan" and he put his hands behind his head and just chilled. hahahahahaha he kills me sometimes. and H actually did get the ping pong without complaining for once!

another one:
once H and I were waiting to get C from a birthday party and we showed up a little early so we were just waiting and sat on some grass and some grumpy old guy comes up and is like "this is private property" (even though there wasn;t a sign and it wasn't anyones house but whatever) so we moved and sat on a bench on the corner and he came to say something else to us and H talked to him and the guy was getting annoyed so i told H to stop and long story short, this old grumpy guy was getting mad at a 21 year old skinny american and a 9 year old boy. completely harmless. anyways, when things like this H thinks of what the worst could be. so he starts going on and on and is like
"what if he called the police? then we would go to jail. well i wouldn't go to jail because i'm too young. but you would go to jail. how old are you?"
"21"
"yup, sorry, you would go to jail."
so i'm just laughing and told him "you would just let me go to jail?! you would leave me?!" and he pretty much said yup. then he said "if we went to jail the worst part would be we wouldn't have galette for dinner tonight..."
hahahahaha like that's all he cares about. is dinner.
(don't worry we didn't go to jail)

also i watch these other two kids on saturday mornings for two hours to help them learn english and play games with them in english. well one morning i'm playing with the little girl who's 7 and we were playing this game and i can't figure out if it's for adults or children but the kids play it so whatever. basically it's a card game and when you have four of a kind you take a coin in the middle and the other person has to do a "gage" kind of like a truth or dare thing. some of them are weird and this is why i don't know what kind of game it is. some are like "kiss a player on the cheek" or "tickle a player" but i just try to avoid those ones or make them un-awkward. so me and the little girl were playing it and she was looking through the gages and they're all in french and she pulled one out she didn't understand and it said "fait un strip-tease" so she was like "what's this? a strip tease?" and trying to figure out how to properly pronounce strip tease and i had no idea what to do or say so i just said "ohh i don't know" and tried to move on but she wouldn't give up! and it's not necessarily the thing i can tell her to ask her mom about it. geez it was so awkward and hilarious at the same time. so i'm assuming it's not a childrens game...

so some of the things they do are pretty funny. or the things they say crack me up. other things are just unbelievable. exhibit a: once when C was at the party mentioned earlier H and I went to this fast food place called quick, basically a mcdonalds, because it has a playplace in it. not to get any food or anything because they're against fast food but just to play. so we go and i was going to get a drink cause i can't just sit there free loading, but their smallest drink was 2.25. I MISS AMERICA AND THEIR 1$ LARGE SODAS. that's beside the point though...so i got an ice cream cone. yes for myself. wahahaha. anyways i'm sitting just hanging out and i was on the other side of the fountain drink machine and i hear H on the other side and before we went in i had to tell him "ok don't ask anyone for their food or their drink. we're going to play not to eat because it's unhealthy." like kinda sad i had to tell a 9 year old not to ask other kids for their food...anyways. i go to the other side and i see him wiping his mouth. yup. H drank straight from the fountain drink machine. -_- i tried to explain to him that that's stealing and unhygienic but he was trying to tell me "no it's free that's why it's there!" no no no no no. thank goodness no employee saw and demanded 2.25 for a cup. i was so embarrassed. like really?!?!?! geez. then he had another kid ask an employee for a water cup for him. geez this child. we left before he could fill up the free water cup with pepsi and try to tell me that's what the cup is for. this child.

so anyways, those are just some of the things that i have found funny or ridiculous. there's millions more i'm sure but i can't remember. oops. i should've kept this blog updated better but hey i'm too busy taking naps and binge watching tv shows. #judgeme

it could be worse...

so quite a bit of the time here i'm having a rough time being an au pair.
the boys are 8 and 9 and i've been with them for almost nine months now so we're waaay past the "let's be on our best behavior" mode and well into the "i know exactly how to make her mad let's see how far we can push her" mode.
the parents have some...interesting rules and the environment here isn't always 100 and although it's supposed to be like i'm "part of the family" it's really not like that.
however, it could be worse.
that's the great thing about having au pair friends is we're all going through the same thing but totally different situations. we all understand how awkward it is on the weekends and not knowing our place every once in a while. we all know how difficult kids are. and we all know how the real hard part of being an au pair is the parents more than the kids. it's really great to be able to meet up with them and tell them the latest about what the family said or did or what happened and sometimes it's like alright who has the most ridiculous story this week? it's so interesting to hear about the other families and know alright i'm not the only one having a hard time and like i said before i could have it way worse.
so here are things from my other au pair friends that have made me grateful for my situation...
my one friend lives in an apartment with the family, she has her own room but it's still an apartment so only one floor and her room is right next to the kids, the kids are 3 and 5 and the mom just had a newborn. so anytime the kids wake up she has to go and make sure they're ok and now she has to deal with a newborn baby in the apartment. and the mom stopped working so the mom is at home all day and when it's like that you just don't feel like you can be free to go about doing what you normally do and you feel like you're under constant watch.
so i'm soooo grateful that for me there's no babies. the boys sleep through the night and if they don't they're not waking up bawling. also that there's no newborn. and that the mom doesn't stay home all day. the dad does sometimes which sucks and is really awkward sometimes because i feel like i'm being judged if i'm having a lazy day and take a nap or just chill out on my computer but if he wants to judge me oh well. and i'm so glad i have not only my own room but my own floor. all my other friends have their own rooms of course but they share the bathroom and i am so glad i have my own. i don't have to wait for someone else to be done in the bathroom to go in and do my makeup or whatever, i know that any mess is my mess (not that i'm making a mess but it's so annoying with roommates cleaning everything when you know it's not your mess.) and even though the dad's older kids have a room on the same floor when they've come to visit it hasn't been a problem or i've been gone. so it really is convenient and i am so glad i'm not in an apartment. although the apartment she's in is nice.

i have another friend who's host mom is very outspoken and tells her what she thinks on everything. like when she goes out on the weekends and it's nice she'll wear shorts and the mom will look at her when she's leaving and say something along the lines of "you're wearing that?" (first of all, she's not even her mom and my friend is 19 years old she can wear what she wants. she's not on the job or anything and the host mom should let her be.) or if she goes out a few times during the week the mom will mention something to her like "well that's why you're so tired because you go out so much" (we never stay out late during the week because we all have to wake up in the mornings and deal with children.)
luckily for me, my host mom understands that i have a life besides being with the boys all day and i have friends. she is always asking me if i'm going out and she thinks it's odd when i don't go out because i should be enjoying my time in france not just with kids all day then holed up in my room all night. also she doesn't care when i go out or when i get back. no matter what time i get home she's never said anything to me about it. also she understands that if i have plans or whatever and she's home then i can leave. it's extremely nice and convenient because sometimes (ok a lot of times) it's hard to tell if i'm "done" for the day or not. because i don't have a certain time that's like alright clocking out i'm done. and she never comments on what i wear although i don't wear anything too revealing or strange or whatever.

i have friends who in their "light housework" clause of their contract it includes they have to literally clean the kids rooms. meaning pick up their toys, games, clothes, activity supplies, everything. the kids don't tidy it up at all no matter how old they are. once my friend showed me the girls rooms she had to clean...it literally looked like a tornado went through. now, i hate cleaning. loathe it. but at least the boys tidy their rooms so all i have to do is dust and vacuum. for them it's the whole shebang. (is that right? how you spell shebang? oh well) so although i feel like i have quite a bit of cleaning to do, there could always be more to do. some girls don't have to clean anything because they have a cleaning lady and they're the lucky ones.

and last but not least, the worst of the worst that i am sososososooooo happy i don't have to deal with is i know two girls who while they've been here the parents have gotten a divorce. i just feel like that's so difficult to deal with in general and an extremely personal matter that it'd be extremely awkward as the au pair in the midst of it all. especially with the kids helping them adjust and understand what's going on. and, this is the number one craziest au pair experience in my opinion that my friend had happen...so one day she told us that she heard the parents doing things and she felt awkward (for obvious reasons) but left because..yeah. anyways, a few weeks later the cops show up at the door and turns out the dad raped the mom and since my friend heard it she had to talk to the police and tell them what she heard. i mean first of all it's awful that she heard that then to have to deal with the cops and everything?! so not only did her family get a divorce but that also. and of course the kids don't understand why they're not seeing their dad at home and everything. but my friend can't go home because she doesn't have money and she needs a job. i just feel so bad for her. so i'm so grateful that the parents are together and not going through that. and that i'm not having to talk to police.

so when times get tough, i just have to remember it could always be worse.

4 countries later...

i haven't updated in quite some time. and quite a bit has happened!

so let's dive in.

so my last post was on paris with courtney. well after that weekend i went on a grand adventure to four new countries! FOUR! checking things off the bucket list! 

so from paris i went to hamburg, germany to see where alex and jeannette live and that was the starting point of our adventure. (they came along) so day one was exploring hamburg!

so you can't see but this is right by the harbor. alex said it's the largest harbor in europe or something like that. don't go spreading that knowledge because it very well may be wrong..

this is gloekstadt (spelling is most likely wrong) where alex lives. ISN'T IT SO CUTE?! 

so yeah germany! cool stuff. not much to see in hamburg or alex just isn't a really good tour guide...we got ice cream though so that was exciting. 

next day we woke up before the sun. i think we woke up at about 4:15ish to start the journey to....

PRAGUE!!!!!!!

the czech republic! YAS YAS YAS! i was so excited. prague was at the very top of my list of places to go and i wasn't entirely sure why. maybe because it's the closest thing to russia i'll get (for some reason i really like russia and their counterparts. it may be because they have produced some incredible gymnasts) and prague just sounds so cool and exciting. so i was pumped. the train wasn't anything fancy but i thought it was so cool! it was an 8 hour train ride there and we had our own little roomish thing. you know in harry potter how they have their own compartment with sliding door and curtains? YEAH WE HAD THAT! it was so neato toledo. i was so excited. but it seated six and soon enough we had compartment mates. and there were children in the next compartment who kept banging the arm rests against the wall and it was incredibly annoying but besides that it was cool. i get excited over small things. clearly. so we got there and for the record i was the first on in the czech republic (and stepped on the ground in the czech republic) the first lingard! again. the little things. :)

so we hop out and start to head for our hostel. and holy canoli prague is sooooo pretty. i had to resist stopping every ten steps for pictures because we had to find our hostel and we had time for exploring later on when we weren't lugging around luggage. so we found the hostel and then the exploration started! (picture dump to continue. #noregrets)

so these are the buildings in the czech republic.

like what?! 

these houses rival san franciscos.

like sherbet colored buildings. i didn't think a country that has a bit of a rough history with communism and all would have such amazingly beautiful colors and everything. and this is one of my favorite parts of discovering a new city. i can see so much on pinterest and on google but then it's the little things from walking around that i find that amaze me and are the prettiest.

view from a bridge!

the other side!

HOW CAN A PLACE BE THIS PRETTY?!

i think prague might be one of my favorites. it rivals london. the only thing london has on it is the fact that i can understand their money system (99 crowns is about 3.50 and doing that kinda conversion stuff is way too confusing for me) and they speak english. but prague was just so beautiful.

takes my breath away.

we made alex walk up this huge park and boy was it worth it.

john lennon wall! there was someone singing. they weren't good. but that's beside the point. fun fact though..john lennon never even went to prague...but i'm not complaining about this cool wall.

charles bridge!

brother and i in prague! i really like this picture even though i'm holding my hair from flying all over the place. it was so windy it was cray.

TURTLENECK! ok really they're spelled something like trdlnik. well how else would you say that? so i was constantly saying i wanted a turtleneck. in fact right now i could go for a fresh one...

astronomical clock! so here's the dealio with this. once upon a time a guy who was super smart made this highly technological clock (for those days...1400s) shows the position of the sun and the moon and all that jazz and on the hour a couple things happen. (we didn't see the things happen but our tour guide said it's like the second most dissappointing thing to see after the mona lisa) anyways. this guy made this cool clock and the czechs, being as friendly as they are, loved it sooooo much that they were like weeeeeell we don't want a duplicate so we're going to gauge out your eyes so you can't see another one and just to be safe we'll cut out your tongue so you can't tell anyone how you did it either. now i really want to work with czechs.

well homeboy got really mad about all that happening to him so he decided he'd destroy his hard work to show them who's really boss. so not for another few hundred years someone finally was smart enough to fix it and make it work again. yahoo! so now there's this cool clock and an interesting story behind it.

prague at night. it is beautiful. 

the cathedral! so it's inside the castle but really the castle isn't much...i mean sure it's big but i didn't even know i was in the castle. but the cathedral is pretty neat. and i really liked this picture.

traditional czech dinner! jeannette and i had sirloin and dumplings and alex had pork i think and sauerkrat and dumplings. 

prague at night. there was an easter market going on and it was beautiful.

czech it out. peacin out of prague. dawg. 

(lolol)

so in prague we explored and saw all the places to see on the map we had and we did a "free" tour (it's free but you tip what you think it's worth at the end) and it was really interesting. the guy was a real czech man and he lived through communism and was seventeen when it ended so he had a memory of it and he was really cool and the tour was three hours in the cold and rain but it was super informative and interesting and i loved it. but it's really just fun to walk around and take it all in.

but really prague is amazing and beautiful i recommend it to everyone. the czechs aren't scary. although we walked past a warehouse that said czech trap. i still wonder what it is...guess i gotta go back to prague! dakue! (or spelled something like that. it's said like duh-coo-ay it means thank you in czech. learning new languages all the time. watch out.)

next stop waaaaaas....BELGIUM!

to get to belgium we took a plane. so modes of transportation taken thus far: car (from the train station in gloekstadt to alex's house) train, and now plane!

homegirl czech lady had a demonic smile on her face when she found us in line with our suitcases and was like "come with me while i try to charge you to check your bags because they're probs to big for this little box even though on the plane they'll fit just fine but i want to ruin your lives so wahahaha." 

well sucks to be her cause ours FIT! with a lot of pushing and shoving into the little box but it fit! HA! Czechs 0-Lingards 1.

suckas.

anyways. we got to brussels and it was time to show of mon francais! yahoo! ha. and it was time to find a WAFFLE. the real reason i wanted to go to belgium. and fries. although they're called french fries they're not french. they're belgium. come on everyone get cultured.

soooo picture dump from belgium!

bienvenue a bruxelles :)

(welcome to brussels)

I GOT A WAFFLE I LOVE WAFFLES AND I WAS IN BELGIUM EATING A BELGIAN WAFFLE AND THE BOY BEHIND ME IS LOOKING AT ME LIKE OMG I WANT DAT (talking about the waffle not my body although maybe both idk) (jk) (maybe) ( ;) )

still crying over the strawberry that fell on the ground.

mannekin pis.

hahahaha.

atomium! 

once upon a time during the amazing race this was where the pit stop was. I WAS WHERE PHIL WAS ONCE! and i held a ball of the atomium. wahaha. get like me.

this was me the whole trip.

third wheel probs.

GIMME DA WAFFLE SILLY MANNEKIN PIS KID.

i clearly love waffles cause all i can type is in caps when i think about them cause omg yaaaas.

this. now this was the best. my two favorite things. next to each other. omg. a warm liege waffle and strawberry ice cream. om nom nom nom i wish it never ended. if i had one right now i would be happy. if i ever get married this is what i will have instead of cake. and if i don't get married for my golden birthday party this is what i'll eat. all day. YAS.

so in brussels we got there and were totally lost on where our hotel was. alex was worried we got scammed and it wasn't real. but we found it eventually! it was a little sketchy...the guys came out one door but let us in another door...and we had to go up like five sets of steep stairs to get to our room (good workout especially with a suitcase) but hey it was a place to sleep and stay and it's not like we were in the hotel room all the time. also when we left we had to leave our key with the people..odd. but whatever. oh yeah we were so excited because it included breakfast...their breakfast was literally two different types of bread, hot chocolate or orange juice and butter and jam. and they had the audacity to advertise "breakfast is 5 euros" like we would've been so mad to pay 5 euros to find out it was just bread. hopefully nobody pays for it. but also the breakfast was in another building...so there i was thinking it's just downstairs in another room so i go in my pj's and nope we gotta go outside and it wasn't far but yeah i felt silly. also it was alex's birthday in brussels! wahoo! he got a waffle. i can't imagine anything better really. but yeah brussels was really pretty. and i used my french a little so i felt cool.

next stop was antwerp! we took a train. no new mode of transportation. so antwerp! still in belgium however they speak flemish instead of french. so i went back to not knowing what was going on.

the buildings in belgium are so cute.

guess what...ANOTHER WAFFLE! this was amazing. it was like a waffle sandwich with speculoos inside. my mouth is watering.

antwerp central station! one of the prettiest train stations in the world. and i'm not just saying that it's a proven fact.

we were only in antwerp for a little bit of time but it was really pretty. one of my good au pair friends in france is from there so she told me the good places to go and see so it was really cool. it has a cool atmosphere to it and it's fairly small so everything is close so we didn't have to take the tram or anything because in brussels everything was far and in random places so it was nice just being able to walk everywhere.

so after antwerp we went to....AMSTERDAM! we took a bus this time! another mode of transportation. almost have all of them...

so we got to amsterdam about 4 in the evening and it is so pretty. but first we went to where we were staying. we didn't stay in a hostel. or a hotel. or airbnb (although alex said there was one that was like a crate in a crane but it's like 1200 euros per night so a little out of the budget) so where did we stay? 

THE BOTEL! 

yup. a botel. it was so cool. i think it was my favorite. we had bunk beds. i had the top bunk. and we checked off the last mode of transportation! boat! we had to take a ferry to get to the botel then of course the botel. even though it didn't move. 

so here's amsterdam. when i look at pictures i want to literally cry it's so pretty.

just. just. 

i can't.

this place takes the cake as the most photogenic place ever. like really. when you see pictures of cities you know it's just one little section or place that's pretty or like that. but this is everywhere. these houses? everywhere. canals? everywhere. it's seriously so amazingly pretty. i could get lost on these streets and not even care. because everywhere i turned it's another gorgeous place. and ok some may think repetitive but each house seemed like it had it's own character and i just loved this place so much!

of course a bike cause it's amsterdam! 

how could you not love such a place?

and...i found the fault in our stars bench.

so this is the famous bench in amsterdam from the movie the fault in our stars. i wish a million times i got a picture facing it so you could see and match up the background but i didn't think of that when i was there and i think alex was already annoyed i made him walk across the bridge to the other side to take a picture. let's go again?

but yeah this movie is decent. it's good. and i almost cried when i got to the bench to be honest.

judge me.

insert bawling my eyes out face here cause i might.

also fun fact about the bench: it's been stolen quite a few times but now it's bolted/cemented into the ground so no more stealing the bridge. dang it.

i actually didn't see any tulips...woops.

let's play find corinne! it's a twist on where's waldo.

we rented bikes and i have never been happier. honestly. when people ask me what my favorite memory is 

(well no one really asks but i always know what i'd say if i was asked)

i would normally say rowing a boat in spain.

or harry potter studio tour.

and now riding a bike in amsterdam is tied with those guys also. even though half the time we were confused on where we were going and a little stressed on figuring out the biking system (some roads there was a bike lane on one side of the road and not the other but we didn't know how to get back to the bike place without taking that road so we weren't sure what to do)

it seriously was so fun and amazing. i wish i could bike everyday in amsterdam. i'd probably crash from looking around all the time but that doesn't matter.

and wasn't my bike so cute?!

bye world going to bike away my life.

so that was amsterdam. it was crazy and beautiful and went by way too fast. it was the most expensive place we went to (well the botel at least. although they included a delicious breakfast, more than just bread) and it was also one of the most beautiful places i went to. honestly. i wanted to cry when we were leaving. i hate leaving beautiful places. i just don't feel like i got my fill of amsterdam. i wasn't there long enough! and yeah it's really small. but i don't care. it's beautiful. they went to amsterdam on the amazing race and i almost started crying cause i loved it so much. 

is that weird? 

i just love seeing new places and then i get extremely nostalgic when i leave them. and there's always something i wasn't able to see or do and so i feel incomplete and need to go back. but honestly amsterdam. amazing. people think it's just weed and the red light district and honestly i didn't notice that many people smoking weed like i wasn't walking through clouds of smoke and stuff. and the red light district is one street. not the whole city. it's just so beautiful. gah. i love it. take me back.

so then we went back to germany via train. 

bye bye amsterdam i miss you.

we got back to germany about 1 in the morning, into hamburg so the city center...well we still had to get to alex and jeannette's apartment via multiple trains and then walking from the train station to the apartment. boy we were tired. but that's the life of a world traveller and i love it. so we got back and went to bed then in the morning i was off to the airport to go to paris then back to nantes. sad day for corinne. :(

i honestly believe since i've been here i have seen the most beautiful places. they take my breath away and pictures just don't do it justice. i always wonder "why can't my camera take the pictures i'm seeing with my eyes?" and alex explains to me the lenses and all that technical jazz. but honestly i just hope i never lose my memory and if i do then i thank the heavens i have so many pictures. it may seem annoying how many photos i take but i don't care. it's so i can go back and relive those moments. and i love seeing other peoples pictures or seeing a picture online or in an article or in the snapchat stories of different cities and i know exactly where they are. where they're standing and what's around because i've been there. honestly it's one of my favorite things. it's so amazing and cool and i love it. i love travelling! i love seeing new places and new cultures and buildings and people and EVERYTHING! yeah au pairing is super difficult so many days. but it's given me the opportunity to live in france and be able to go on adventures and see so many great places. and it was awesome to be able to do this trip with my brother and his girlfriend. alex and i usually don't get along well but for once we did and it was quite surprising given the stress of travelling to so many places within a week and our different travel styles and everything. we only got in one little tizzy and we got over it. with the help of jeannette of course. without her who knows what might've happened. but it was so fun and so amazing and if i could go back to all these places i would in a heartbeat. i'm so happy i've been able to travel and that my dad helped us out to make it a reality and that the family was flexible and understanding with me that i was able to take a week off to do this and gah. it was amazing. best trip of my life. even though it was on the major cheap, like "we'll buy a baguette and cheese and meat and split it up" (they were trying to tell me usually they just buy a hunk of cheese and meat and a baguette and take a bite of each and it's like a sandwich in their mouth but that's fine for a couple but with me i told them we can splurge on sliced food ;) ) but it was totally fine and we did eat at a couple nice places. i just love living and travelling and i'm so happy i had this opportunity before i got married or had a dog or kids or any real responsibilities. life is beautiful and the world is beautiful and that's all i'm trying to say basically.

ok i'm done. 

:)