N.T.F.T (Never Trust French Transportation)

I'm supposed to be in Rome at this very moment. Enjoying a huge cup of cappuccino, a slice of just made pizza, and a bowl of some delicious pasta. Instead, I'm back in Lyon, sitting in my room, sulking for the next 24 hours. So exactly what happened last night? What was the commence of this extremely horrible day?

It all started at 10:30pm on Dec 17th, 2010. I just finished packing up the rest of my things and thought that since my flight leaves at 7:00am the next morning, I should just sleep at the airport so that I don't miss my flight. I get to the train station at about 11:35pm and find out that the train to the airport isn't working anymore cause it was snowing too hard. So I think, well at least I can wait at the train station and take the 5:00am train to the airport. Little did I know, the train station here shuts down at 1:00am, along with everything else in Lyon. So I'm stranded outside of the station for 4 hours in -10 degrees celcius weather. Thats ten degrees below freezing. I spent the night awake in order to try and keep my blood circulation up and not freeze to death. Wrapped my head in two scarves, four layers under my large jacket, legs wrapped in bath towel, and feet stuffed into my luggage so that they wouldn't freeze to death. Officially the hardest night of my life. It really gave me a new perspective on life though. What homeless people must go through EVERY NIGHT. Trying to survive until the city wakes up and being able to find comfort within a building with heat regulators. Lets just say I was thanking God for being able to keep me safe and warm for a majority of my life. Anyways, 5:00am FINALLY comes around and I'm waiting for the train to come along with maybe 100 other people. The train never showed up because of the snow. They didnt even think of providing a different method of transportation until 5:30am. However, the tram they provided us with didn't stop at the airport. Instead, they said we had to transfer onto a bus. But because there were literally 100's of us, not all of us could fit on the first bus. It was literally a struggle to the death to get on to the bus. I almost disappeared with in the crowd (since i'm like a foot shorter than the average european). I eventually got on but there was such a large struggle that the bus didn't leave until 6:15. By the time we got to the airport, about 50% of the people missed the flight, including me. My plane was still on the ground, but the gate was closed and they refused to let me on. Then I had to pay an obscene amount of money to change my flight to monday even though none of it was my fault. Basically, the craziest, coldest, most stressful night of my life. The only thing that kept me sane through the process is knowing that God was watching over me and knowing that he protected me through the night despite all my unfortunate circumstance. I didn't get sick, I didn't get raped or hurt, and I still have a chance to go to Italy and go home. Not everyone can say the same. Just remember how blessed you are to have a roof over your head, and by the will of God, that you are still safe and alive.

But lesson learned, NEVER EVER rely on France if you need to get somewhere. You MUST have a plan B. France is nothing like America and no one will cater to your individual circumstances. The public transportation will not think about the consequences that their tardiness has caused for hundreds of people. The airlines will not make exceptions even if hundreds of people under the same circumstances on the same flight are about to miss their plane. So what is my plan tonight? Well, my flight to Rome is once again, at 7:00am tomorrow morning. The plan is to head to the airport right after dinner and sleep at the airport. No snow today so hopefully, everything will work out. In the end, I just need to catch my flight home. Thats the most important thing to me...

Pictures from my epic fail journey.
-first picture: head wrapped up
-second picture: legs wrapped in towel and feet plunged in luggage

Festival of Lights

Question. Have you ever wondered what it would be like if your whole life just turned into a carnival? Loud music everywhere, bright lights, food vendors tempting you with snacks way beyond your daily calorie limit. Well that is basically what is happening to me for the next three days in Lyon. It is officially the Fête des lumière and the whole city is drowned in lights and noise. It's quite beautiful really. I was on my way to my 6:00pm class when I discovered a whole bunch of people waiting in front of the Hotel de Ville. I assumed they were all waiting for the show to start and thought I might as well wait and snap some pictures before heading to class. Turns out, I ended up spending the whole class period walking around the city trying to see what else the city had to offer. 


Each large landmark in Lyon has its own light show and music accompaniment. They use the actual buildings/statues to create the show and something that is typically a stone grey color is turned into a piece of luminary art. They change the colors continuously and because it is light, they can bend the light to make the statues look like they are moving. Its amazing how precise they are. I can only imagine how much money and time the city has to invest in this festival each year. Since they change the festival theme every year, they need to hire people to envision something amazing, and even more people to actually make it happen. The city also has to employ extra police and security all around the city and pay for the lighting equipment. 


The Festival of Lights expresses gratitude towards the Virgin Mary on December 8 of each year. This Lyonnaise tradition is celebrated with every house placing candles along the outsides of all the windows to produce a spectacular effect throughout the streets. I have seen quite a few homes do it but it doesn't seem like the whole city participates anymore.

It's amazing isn't it? If there is anything amazing about Lyon, I would have to say it is this festival. Although I would pick San Francisco over this city any day, Lyon can not be beat when it comes to putting on a show. If you google the name of the festival, you can see some of the past festival themes as well. Tomorrow I will be going to another building that is suppose to look like Hiyao Miyazaki's floating castle in the sky. If you want to see the pictures, I will post them in my "december in lyon" facebook picture album. 

Jack Frost CHOMPING at our nose...

I discovered something outside of my window this morning. 11 inches of fresh snow from last night. 11 flippin inches! How the heck am I supposed to get to school with that much snow?! That's almost a fifth of my height. You can be sure I sank right in when I took my first step. And to make it worse, all the buses in Lyon are shut down. That means I had to wake up extra early this morning for my 8:00am class and walk to the metro (about 7 min walk) and then fight for a spot with the million other Lyon residents who had to get to work in the snow. By the way, I was STILL 20 minutes late because all the public transportation were affected, not just the buses. Man, there are those people who love the snow and are made for it, and then there are us Californians. Constant temperature pretty much year round with a chance of snow happening maybe once every decade. How I miss you, beautiful non-temperamental weather state of California. 1-0 California vs Lyon.

I just hope the snow stops soon considering finals are coming up and then my trip to Italy. It would be a darn shame if I couldn't get to the airport because of the snow. I'm quite sure I would throw a hissy fit. However, from the comforts of my warm toasty room, I do enjoy looking at the snow fall. Its mesmerizing. Its hard to imagine the world in white until you really see it happening. The sky looks like a grayish shade of milk almost. The ground however is a pure white color. Probably the most pure white you will ever see.

Anywho, this friday is supposed to be -10 degrees celcius. 10 degrees below freezing. I was planning on freezing my extra chicken meat outside but then I discovered it needs to be -14 degrees celcius for it to be safe. What a shame.  I suppose I would have lost the meat if I put it outside anyways. It would just be covered in a new layer of snow by the next day and I would be meatless. Other than complaints about the cold, I am quite happy. 23 days till I touch down in American soil. Never thought I would be so happy to go back, even if it is temporary. Believe me when I say America does not suck AT ALL. Sure we have problems and a lot of countries like to criticize us for it, but these countries (including France) have millions of problems of their own. I'm really glad I came to France for the experience of a new land, new culture, and new people, but when it all comes down to it, I am a true red white and blue (then again, this would apply to the French flag as well but I think you all know that I am referring to America). I can tell ya'll what I think of Europe when I get back. Being here for more than just a vacation and actually living here has completely changed my mentality of what Europe is.

On an end note, enjoy these pictures of the snow (there is so much snow in Lyon that I was even able to capture a picture of people cross country skiing near the river...madness):