Airport Adventures and Home for the Holidays

On December 20th, I started the long journey home. I woke up about 6am that morning. I took a bus to the train station because I had a train to Lyon at about 8am. Once I got to  Lyon, I took a shuttle to the airport. Once at the airport, I took a plane to Paris. That flight was about an hour late, so I was worried that I would miss my next flight from Paris to Atlanta. Luckily for me, my second plane was about four hours delayed so I didn’t have to worry about missing that flight...

View from the plane on the way to Paris

People reading, sleeping, and chilling while waiting for the plane in Paris

In the big plane, I got a window seat and I had an older lady sitting next to me just like last time (When I flew from Atlanta to London in September, I also sat next to an older lady). This second older lady was different from the first one though... The first lady that I sat next to was very talkative and I am not sure if this second lady even knew English, or French... I am still not really sure what language she spoke. I tried talking to her in all the languages I know, but no verbal response from her... she would just smile and sometimes gesture with her hands (she pretty much only gestured to me when she wanted me to turn off her little TV because she didn’t know how). I am still not sure how she ordered her food and drinks on the flight, I think the flight attendants just guessed at what she wanted... Anyways, to pass the time I watched two movies, one of which was Despicable Me 2. I thought that it was a pretty good movie. 

After arriving in Atlanta at about 12 30am, I got picked up by some good friends and I stayed in Atlanta for the night. The next morning, my family came and took me home. 

I had a great two weeks in the US and it was definitely worth coming back for the holidays! I really enjoyed spending Christmas with the family. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. I'm glad that I got to spend some good quality time with my family and friends! I got to eat some things that I really missed such as mom’s home cooking, stir-fry with teriyaki sauce, a Chick-fil-a sandwich, waffle fries, peppermint milkshake, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and froyo! 

A new ornament that I got of the Eiffel Tower from the Eiffel Tower

Best doughnuts ever

I got some quality hangout time with my sisters by going shopping and watching all of the Harry Potter movies together. I got to meet up with some good friends throughout the break as well which was really fun! I even went bowling and got a strike! It was kind of a big deal for me, because I am not the best bowler lol. Also, I got to drive myself around during these two weeks which was a nice change, and it wasn’t even difficult for me to drive after three months. 

Bowling crew

Chilling at the bowling alley

On Saturday night, January 4th, I took a plane back to France. In fact, I took two planes. The first plane was from Atlanta to Amsterdam. This time I sat next to this middle aged guy who just watched movies the entire flight. I watched a comedy called The Campaign and then I tried to get some sleep. I had about a three hour layover in Amsterdam. When I got to my gate, I noticed that there was a plane going to Warsaw an hour before my plane to Lyon. I sat there for a while listening to some music, when an old lady comes up to me and asks me in Polish if I am going to Warsaw. She just wanted to verify that she was in the right gate. I told her she was, and we ended up talking for about an hour or so. It was nice to be able to help this lady and it was nice to speak Polish with someone! My plane to Lyon arrived a little late, but it still got to Lyon on time! On this short flight, I sat next to a younger guy and we had a nice chat. It was nice to have some friendly company during a flight! :)

Cool smoothie I bought in Amsterdam. It came with a cute little hat!

I arrived in Lyon Sunday night around 5pm, and I got picked up from the airport by my French host family and I was so grateful for that! In this way, I avoided taking the train and lugging my luggage around. I was really exhausted when I arrived in France, so it was nice to just take a car ride home. 

Once I got home, I unpacked, and I had a great salmon dinner with my roomies! I missed them while on break and I am glad to be living with them again!

I was so tired though when I got back, so I went to sleep around 10pm that day and slept for 11 hours...

On Monday, I had the day to relax, so I slept in a little, and then I ran some errands in town. I did some grocery shopping, bought a bus pass for the month, and met up for tea with Kate and Jack. 

I am excited to go back to the schools this week. I missed teaching and I missed my students!

Back to school Tuesday,

Magdalena