Hello again!
So I've finally recovered from my exciting and busy week last week! It was fall break so I didn't have school for an entire week.
I spent the whole week with my friend Brianna and we started out in Barcelona. It took such a long time to get there (one hour bus ride to airport, one hour flight, 3 hour bus ride into Barcelona) but when we finally did it was so beautiful. It was warm and sunny which was a welcome change to cold and cloudy Paris. We walked around and went to the beach and layed there for a couple hours until we could check into our hostel. Our hostel was really cool, it was right next to the huge Cathedral. We soon realized while unpacking that we brought waayyyy too many clothes. We were staying in a room with 10 other people from all over the place. Some austrian guy totally made us embarrassed when he told us he too was staying for 4 days and showed us his small backpack that contained all his stuff. We had a large suitcase with enough clothes for at least 4 outfits a day. We barely fit everything into the small lockers we were given and swore to one another that we would never make the same mistake again. After the embarrassment passed we went to the nearest Tapas restaurant and ordered so much food and ate almost all of it. Tapas are basically small dishes of food and you can get all sorts of variety. It was delicious.
The next day we woke to a beautiful day and met up with Brianna's friends who were also there for the weekend. We walked around more and then went to the Gaudi architecture on the top of the hill, called Park Guell. We walked up so many streets and then stairs and then escalators and finally reached the top. The view of Barcelona was clear and you could see the ocean stretching out behind the city. The architecture was so different and the designs were intricate with a sort of mosaic of tiles. We sat on the grass and relaxed and listened to someone playing the spanish guitar. After relaxing we went back to the hostel (getting some Gelato on the way) and got ready to go out. We went to a spanish sushi restaurant which was surprisingly deeelicious and after went to a club. There were so many clubs in this one area and we all went to one but soon separated. It was a fun night!
The next day we woke up and found a crowd of people outside our hostel dressed in Victorian era garb. Apparently they were all extras in some movie being filmed by the Cathedral. I tried to find out what movie but it was definitely lost in translation. People in Barcelona speak catalan, which is very different to both spanish and french. Fortunately mostly everyone spoke English so we figured it out. We then walked out to the Cathedral square and found a bunch of people dancing and singing, I guess it was some sort of religious celebration. There was a circle of people holding hands and doing some sort of traditional dance, but they looked really angry... Probably because there were a bunch of tourists watching them.
We walked to the Picasso Museum and spent a good 2 hours there. Picasso was a very interesting person... He was one of the pioneers of Cubism and it was cool to see how his art changed over the years. He spent a lot of time in Paris (Montmartre) and it shows in his work. He was also obsessed with naked women, which got boring to look at after a while.
We decided to walk down to the beach again. We sat on the sand for a while, and it started raining but was still so warm. We spent some time just walking around and taking it all in. We found some band playing a makeshift outdoor concert and sat and watched for a while... Barcelona is such a cool city because every street has some sort of art on it or a musician playing on the corner. Its so cool, it would be such a great place to live.
That night we went to a traditional tapas place and had a feast with every food you could imagine, including Sangria (which is really good). We stuffed ourselves and basically went into a food coma.
The next day the other girls left and Brianna and I did some more sightseeing and shopping. We walked to the Gaudi houses and then to the Gaudi Cathedral, which unfortunately was closed by the time we got there. We realized how small Barcelona is and walked from one side to the other and saw the entire city... Its seriously beautiful. That night we went to an italian restaurant and ate so much we thought we were going to puke after. Both of us had near puke moments but the food was so good we didn't want to leave any leftovers! We walked down to the beach and laid there for a while until we felt better... We then met up with some other friends and went to another beach to hang out. Brianna and I had to get up at 3 for our flight so we went to bed early after packing our humungous luggage.
The next day was the longest day of my life. We missed our alarms... So rushed to the bus stop but when we got there the bus had already left. We waited an hour and got on the next bus and made it to the airport on time and got on our flight... But apparently the weather was too bad to land so we landed in Lille in Northern France. We were so close to the Belgium border we seriously considered an impromptu visit but realized we had no money. We took a 3 hour bus to Paris which wasn't bad at all because I got to see the French countryside which is green and flat, but quite beautiful.
We finally got home after 12 hours of travelling and passed out until the next day. I stayed in Paris for 2 days before going to Dublin. In Paris I didn't do too much except relax and enjoy the break. I went out one night to a club and stayed out until the metro opened, which I don't really know why I keep doing seeing as im so exhausted afterwards. Brianna and I bought a pumpkin and carved it with our friend Sara to celebrate Halloween. We also watched Twilight and ate candy which made us really excited for New Moon (yes, we are obsessed with it). Apparently New Moon comes out earlier here... Midnight showing yeaaaah.
Sara, Brianna and I took an extremely early flight to Dublin on Friday morning and got there in the afternoon. We met up with a bunch of people studying in Paris too (Americans). We walked around and checked into our hostel which was huge and pretty cool. We had our own room and bathroom which was nice! We went out to the Temple Bar area (not a bar, actually) and drank a lot of Guinness and ended up on the terrace of some 5 story club. Dublin was freezing and raining but it was still really fun. There were so many people out and the best part about the city was that everyone spoke English!
The next day, Halloween, we went sightseeing (not before getting a really good cappuccino at the next door café). We walked along the river and through piles of fallen golden and brown leaves. We went to the Kilmainham Gaol (jail) and went on a tour of the prison. We learned all about the Irish fight for independence from British rule and saw where the influential people were held for a long time or before their execution. It was sad to learn about the violent history but at the same time really cool to see all of it, especially on Halloween! We then went to the Guinness Storehouse and saw how the beer is made. Arthur Guinness signed a 9000 year lease for the storehouse and it is now celebrating its 250th year. Good thing Guinness was successful otherwise that would have been awkward for him. We drank more Guinness and the went to a chinese food restaurant, which wasn't the best idea... But it was cheap.
My friends and I dressed up as Cats and wore ears and painted our faces. Originally our idea was to be Jellical Cats from the musical "Cats!" but that doesn't really work out when you are a poor travelling student and there are no Halloween stores anywhere in Paris. Apparently Halloween originated in Dublin so everyone was celebrating which made it even better. We went to the Temple Bar in Temple Bar (confusing for me too) and met a group of americans who were also visiting for Halloween. There might have been a "USA!" chant going on for a while but I didn't participate, I swear. Everyone was very happy to be with fellow americans.
The next day was not very eventful. We went to a craft market/ flea market and then walked to St. Patricks Cathedral. It was windy and cold and it seemed like the entire city was staying in doors for All Saints Day. We saw a restaurant that was serving brunch and literally ran to it. The brunch was amazing, they had breakfast tea and eggs and Mediterranean dishes. And pumpkin pie... Needless to say, straight after lunch we all went back to the hostel and took a very long nap!
We woke up later and went to a traditional Irish pub/restaurant and again ate so much food... I had a huge plate of fish and chips that 3 people could have easily shared. An irish band came on and we sat with our bellies full and listened for a while. The sound is so unique, a man was singing and playing a guitar, there was a woman playing the violin and a man playing the accordion. It was really nice to listen to... Very eclectic and different.
The next day we all had to take an early flight but when we finally got back it felt really goood to be in Paris. It's weird to consider Paris my home, but whenever I'm in another country I find myself missing it!
All in all my fall break was really amazing. I got to go to 2 completely different countries and experience the different cultures. I think my favorite place that I've been to so far was Dublin. The people are so helpful and nice, their accents are fun to listen to and everyone looks like theyre having the time of their lives. The rain comes and goes but there's always a rainbow somewhere to remind you that there is a sun (and maybe a pot of gold?). I want to go back and see more of Ireland, hopefully I will be able to someday (mom and dad- next vacation!). It was simply amazing!
But classes have started again and the days are getting shorter- meaning winter is approaching. I'm pretty scared, I've never had to deal with the cold (except a 3 day trip to Michigan in January- yikes). I really like Paris right now, its so beautiful with all the colorful leaves falling to the ground. Its going to be scary when winter comes!
Ill let you know how winter treats me, hopefully ill be able to type through the mass amounts of layers I will be wearing.
I miss home and everyone! xoxoxoxoxoox
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
A long overdue update
Hello!
Sorry for not keeping up with my blog, it's been busy here.
So I'm going to describe what I've been doing and try not to leave anything out!
We went up to the Eiffel Tower just as the sun was setting and it was absolutely beautiful. You can see all of Paris from up there and for the first time it hit me that I was in Paris. I want to go up again before I leave but the mass amounts of people and lines is a bit off putting. At the very part all the walls are covered with signatures from people who had been there. I want to go back and sign my name! We were also up there when the sun set and the lights came on. The lights twinkle blue every hour on the hour and it was amazing being up there when that happened.
We took a weekend trip with the group to the Loire Valley where we went wine tasting and checked out a bunch of chateaux. We visited Chateau Chambord and went for a nice bike ride around the grounds. This castle was built by King Francis I in 1515 to rival other European monarchs. The inside was pretty bare except for a brilliant double spiral staircase in the middle of the castle that links all 3 floors. My favorite was Chateau Chenonceau which was also built by King Francois I for his mistress Anne De Bretagne, who apparently was extremely beautiful. She was his mistress for 20 years until he died, and then the Queen kicked Anne out of the castle and made it her own. We also visited Leonardo Da Vinci's old house and got to see where he worked on all of his fascinating inventions. We walked around the gardens and got to play on some of the machines he built. He was definitely a genius.
My classes here are going really well, they are interesting but really long. I have 3 hours of French language classes 3 days a week, and 3 4 hour classes once a week taught in English. In my Contemporary Art class we learn about the history of different styles of art for the first 3 hours and then the last hour we go to different galleries or Museums. So far we went to a street of art galleries and the Musee D'Orsay. I have 2 political science classes taught by an eccentric English woman. One is about politics and economy of France and the other is about the European Union. They are both interesting but so hard so sit through because the teacher always goes off topic. A discussion about the EU single market somehow turned into a discussion about where to buy good English tea and why tea time is so important (I think I started this discussion). There are only 5 people in the EU class, all girls, so things quickly get off topic.
Last weekend 7 friends and I went to London for my 21st birthday. We had so much fun! London is amazing but also so expensive. We went shopping a Top Shop and Primark, two really cool stores. We went out to dinner late and didn't realize that there's some sort of law where all bars and clubs (except for a few with permits) must close before midnight. We were walking around and I ended up literally bumping into my dads second cousin Dion (who I call my uncle just to be easier). He was with some people he had been working on a movie with and they got us into a Members only club and gave us their table and got us drinks. It was a really fun and serendipitous and we got to hear all about the movie they worked on called "Nine" which will be out in December. I'm definitely going to go see it now.
The next day we were big tourists and went on a double decker bus tour of the city. We got to see where Jimi Hendrix once lived, where the Beatles performed, where Princess Diana had her Bachelorette party, and a lot more which I cant remember. We went to Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and the London Eye and walked on the bank of the Thames River. Although London is super expensive, its such a cool city that it makes up for it.
This last week my friends and I went to the France vs Austria World Cup Qualifier. Of course, France won, and it was so much fun to experience that. The stadium was a blur of "bleu, blanc et rouge" and I learned some french chants as well as insults to yell. My friends and I bought some beer so we could be true football fans but then were disappointed to learn (halfway through drinking them) they they were alcohol free. Either the stadium cant sell alcohol or french football fans are all recovering alcoholics...
On Friday I went to a Crookers concert with my friends from USD who go to the American business school here. Crookers are two DJs who just mix songs and beats together to create awesome and nonstop dance parties. It was at a cave of a club near Montmartre and everyone was packed like a bunch of sardines. No one cared about that, though, and my friend and I pushed our way to the front of the crowd and were so close to the DJs. They played for 4 hours and we stayed at the club until the metro opened (at 6). It was a long night but a really fun concert!
Next week is our fall break and my friend Brianna and I are going to Barcelona for 4 days. Were then coming back to Paris and leaving Friday for Dublin for Halloween weekend! Its going to be an experience to say the least.
I will make sure to blog when I get back. Also, I'm still trying to set up my photos!
Miss you all and thanks for reading, xoxooxx
Sorry for not keeping up with my blog, it's been busy here.
So I'm going to describe what I've been doing and try not to leave anything out!
We went up to the Eiffel Tower just as the sun was setting and it was absolutely beautiful. You can see all of Paris from up there and for the first time it hit me that I was in Paris. I want to go up again before I leave but the mass amounts of people and lines is a bit off putting. At the very part all the walls are covered with signatures from people who had been there. I want to go back and sign my name! We were also up there when the sun set and the lights came on. The lights twinkle blue every hour on the hour and it was amazing being up there when that happened.
We took a weekend trip with the group to the Loire Valley where we went wine tasting and checked out a bunch of chateaux. We visited Chateau Chambord and went for a nice bike ride around the grounds. This castle was built by King Francis I in 1515 to rival other European monarchs. The inside was pretty bare except for a brilliant double spiral staircase in the middle of the castle that links all 3 floors. My favorite was Chateau Chenonceau which was also built by King Francois I for his mistress Anne De Bretagne, who apparently was extremely beautiful. She was his mistress for 20 years until he died, and then the Queen kicked Anne out of the castle and made it her own. We also visited Leonardo Da Vinci's old house and got to see where he worked on all of his fascinating inventions. We walked around the gardens and got to play on some of the machines he built. He was definitely a genius.
My classes here are going really well, they are interesting but really long. I have 3 hours of French language classes 3 days a week, and 3 4 hour classes once a week taught in English. In my Contemporary Art class we learn about the history of different styles of art for the first 3 hours and then the last hour we go to different galleries or Museums. So far we went to a street of art galleries and the Musee D'Orsay. I have 2 political science classes taught by an eccentric English woman. One is about politics and economy of France and the other is about the European Union. They are both interesting but so hard so sit through because the teacher always goes off topic. A discussion about the EU single market somehow turned into a discussion about where to buy good English tea and why tea time is so important (I think I started this discussion). There are only 5 people in the EU class, all girls, so things quickly get off topic.
Last weekend 7 friends and I went to London for my 21st birthday. We had so much fun! London is amazing but also so expensive. We went shopping a Top Shop and Primark, two really cool stores. We went out to dinner late and didn't realize that there's some sort of law where all bars and clubs (except for a few with permits) must close before midnight. We were walking around and I ended up literally bumping into my dads second cousin Dion (who I call my uncle just to be easier). He was with some people he had been working on a movie with and they got us into a Members only club and gave us their table and got us drinks. It was a really fun and serendipitous and we got to hear all about the movie they worked on called "Nine" which will be out in December. I'm definitely going to go see it now.
The next day we were big tourists and went on a double decker bus tour of the city. We got to see where Jimi Hendrix once lived, where the Beatles performed, where Princess Diana had her Bachelorette party, and a lot more which I cant remember. We went to Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and the London Eye and walked on the bank of the Thames River. Although London is super expensive, its such a cool city that it makes up for it.
This last week my friends and I went to the France vs Austria World Cup Qualifier. Of course, France won, and it was so much fun to experience that. The stadium was a blur of "bleu, blanc et rouge" and I learned some french chants as well as insults to yell. My friends and I bought some beer so we could be true football fans but then were disappointed to learn (halfway through drinking them) they they were alcohol free. Either the stadium cant sell alcohol or french football fans are all recovering alcoholics...
On Friday I went to a Crookers concert with my friends from USD who go to the American business school here. Crookers are two DJs who just mix songs and beats together to create awesome and nonstop dance parties. It was at a cave of a club near Montmartre and everyone was packed like a bunch of sardines. No one cared about that, though, and my friend and I pushed our way to the front of the crowd and were so close to the DJs. They played for 4 hours and we stayed at the club until the metro opened (at 6). It was a long night but a really fun concert!
Next week is our fall break and my friend Brianna and I are going to Barcelona for 4 days. Were then coming back to Paris and leaving Friday for Dublin for Halloween weekend! Its going to be an experience to say the least.
I will make sure to blog when I get back. Also, I'm still trying to set up my photos!
Miss you all and thanks for reading, xoxooxx
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Hello again!
It's been a while since I've written here, it's been a busy week! On Thursday we went to Montmartre, such a beautiful part of Paris. It's the place where so many famous artists used to live, including Van Gogh, Picasso, and Dali. It's still a community for artists, and in the center of the town you can see all their art on display. We walked around for a couple hours and saw the whole town. The Sacre Coeur is in Montmartre and we went in to see it. It was so beautiful with tall ceilings and the only light was from the millions of candles. We got some lunch and sat on some stairs with a great view of the town. I learned in Montmartre that apparently Van Gogh did not cut off his own ear in a passionate rage, his friend did. Apparently his friend was an excellent fencer, and he and Van Gogh were playing and his friend accidentally cut off his ear. Van Gogh told everyone he cut off his own ear so that his friend wouldn't be thrown into jail. So it turns out Van Gogh was a good friend as well as an excellent artist. After Montmartre we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower and sat in the park and wrote postcards and napped. It was so relaxing and the weather was warm. It was pretty hot this weekend, everyone was in shorts and summer clothes. I love it.
On Friday we went to Versailles for the day. Versailles is the most amazing palace I've ever seen. The gates were painted with gold, there are thousands of statues, and every room is unique as it is excessive. It's pretty ridiculous how self-righteous and extremely rich the French monarchy was. It's no wonder people hated them. But as unfair as they were, they knew how to live in style.
We walked around the palace and then the gardens, and decided to walk a half hour to La Domaine de Marie-Antoinette (Marie-Antoinette's house and garden). It was so beautiful.
On Saturday we decided to walk the Champs d'Elysees and go shopping. There are so many amazing stores which are also amazingly expensive. The style here is so cool, I wanted to buy some amazing blue high heels, but I couldn't convince myself that they were worth 60 Euro. We went to the Arc du Triomphe which was of course full of tourists. Then some soldiers told us we had to clear the area and a bunch of them lined up next to the tomb of le soldat inconnu (the unknown soldier) so I think they were paying a tribute to him.
On Sunday my friends and I decided to have a picnic on the Seine. We went to St. Michel, a really cool part of Paris with tiny streets and all ethnicities of food. There was even a Mexican restaurant! I got a crepe with nutella. We sat on the left bank and ate our food and watched as the tourist boats sailed past. Some took pictures of us and we felt very french. After a while we began posing for the pictures, just to add some excitement to their photo album of Paris. It was very relaxing to sit at the Seine and pretend we were true parisiennes. Sunday night I went to Maggie and Molly's appartment for dinner. They are two very good friends from USD who are in Paris but go to the American school here. Apparently they became friends with a turkish guy in their class and he invited us over to hangout in his awesome apartment. We talked about how amazing Turkey is while drinking some very nice wine. He told us how he moved here when he was 15 because his parents made him. I couldn't decide if that would be fun or not, 15 is very young to be living in such a huge city by yourself. But it's cool because he knows all the cool clubs and bars and is definitely a good person to know here.
I don't have class on mondays so yesterday Carolina and I went back to the St Michel area of Paris. We walked on the other side of the seine where people set up little kiosks and sell things. Some people were selling their artwork, but it was mostly posters and used books. I found a book from 1890! I bought some really cool posters and postcards, I love the vintage art of Paris. We then met up with some friends and went to a little café, and I had to teach my friend how to ask our waiter to come out with us (she speaks no french).
Today was the first day of classes, I had french class for three hours. It was so long! My french classes are tuesdays thursdays and fridays and are three hours long, while my english classes are once a week but are 4 hours long. I don't know how Im going to stay awake. (a cappuccino and chocolate croissant, perhaps?)
After class we went to Marais, a part of Paris with really cool vintage shopping. It is also the Jewish center as well as the gay center of Paris. Definitely interesting.
Tonight my friends and I are going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, should be fun! Every hour after the sun sets the lights on the Eiffel Tower twinkle, so hopefully we will be up there when that happens!
I'm creating a Flikr account to share photos. Next post!
It's been a while since I've written here, it's been a busy week! On Thursday we went to Montmartre, such a beautiful part of Paris. It's the place where so many famous artists used to live, including Van Gogh, Picasso, and Dali. It's still a community for artists, and in the center of the town you can see all their art on display. We walked around for a couple hours and saw the whole town. The Sacre Coeur is in Montmartre and we went in to see it. It was so beautiful with tall ceilings and the only light was from the millions of candles. We got some lunch and sat on some stairs with a great view of the town. I learned in Montmartre that apparently Van Gogh did not cut off his own ear in a passionate rage, his friend did. Apparently his friend was an excellent fencer, and he and Van Gogh were playing and his friend accidentally cut off his ear. Van Gogh told everyone he cut off his own ear so that his friend wouldn't be thrown into jail. So it turns out Van Gogh was a good friend as well as an excellent artist. After Montmartre we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower and sat in the park and wrote postcards and napped. It was so relaxing and the weather was warm. It was pretty hot this weekend, everyone was in shorts and summer clothes. I love it.
On Friday we went to Versailles for the day. Versailles is the most amazing palace I've ever seen. The gates were painted with gold, there are thousands of statues, and every room is unique as it is excessive. It's pretty ridiculous how self-righteous and extremely rich the French monarchy was. It's no wonder people hated them. But as unfair as they were, they knew how to live in style.
We walked around the palace and then the gardens, and decided to walk a half hour to La Domaine de Marie-Antoinette (Marie-Antoinette's house and garden). It was so beautiful.
On Saturday we decided to walk the Champs d'Elysees and go shopping. There are so many amazing stores which are also amazingly expensive. The style here is so cool, I wanted to buy some amazing blue high heels, but I couldn't convince myself that they were worth 60 Euro. We went to the Arc du Triomphe which was of course full of tourists. Then some soldiers told us we had to clear the area and a bunch of them lined up next to the tomb of le soldat inconnu (the unknown soldier) so I think they were paying a tribute to him.
On Sunday my friends and I decided to have a picnic on the Seine. We went to St. Michel, a really cool part of Paris with tiny streets and all ethnicities of food. There was even a Mexican restaurant! I got a crepe with nutella. We sat on the left bank and ate our food and watched as the tourist boats sailed past. Some took pictures of us and we felt very french. After a while we began posing for the pictures, just to add some excitement to their photo album of Paris. It was very relaxing to sit at the Seine and pretend we were true parisiennes. Sunday night I went to Maggie and Molly's appartment for dinner. They are two very good friends from USD who are in Paris but go to the American school here. Apparently they became friends with a turkish guy in their class and he invited us over to hangout in his awesome apartment. We talked about how amazing Turkey is while drinking some very nice wine. He told us how he moved here when he was 15 because his parents made him. I couldn't decide if that would be fun or not, 15 is very young to be living in such a huge city by yourself. But it's cool because he knows all the cool clubs and bars and is definitely a good person to know here.
I don't have class on mondays so yesterday Carolina and I went back to the St Michel area of Paris. We walked on the other side of the seine where people set up little kiosks and sell things. Some people were selling their artwork, but it was mostly posters and used books. I found a book from 1890! I bought some really cool posters and postcards, I love the vintage art of Paris. We then met up with some friends and went to a little café, and I had to teach my friend how to ask our waiter to come out with us (she speaks no french).
Today was the first day of classes, I had french class for three hours. It was so long! My french classes are tuesdays thursdays and fridays and are three hours long, while my english classes are once a week but are 4 hours long. I don't know how Im going to stay awake. (a cappuccino and chocolate croissant, perhaps?)
After class we went to Marais, a part of Paris with really cool vintage shopping. It is also the Jewish center as well as the gay center of Paris. Definitely interesting.
Tonight my friends and I are going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, should be fun! Every hour after the sun sets the lights on the Eiffel Tower twinkle, so hopefully we will be up there when that happens!
I'm creating a Flikr account to share photos. Next post!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Paris, Je t'aime (I think)
So I've been here for 3 days and I am already starting to fall in love with the city. Not only is it beautiful, but it's so easy to get around. I have a Navigo pass which allows me to use the metro, trams, RER and buses whenever I want. Although I love the metro, I've had some problems with the public transportation. For example, today my roommate and I were trying to get home from the southern most part of the 14th arrondissement. The 2 places are extremely far apart (compared to the rest of paris). We decided to take the RER, a faster train/metro with fewer stops. We didnt know, however, that there were 3 different trains at one stop. Of course, we got on the wrong train, got off, got on another wrong train, then finally figured out where we needed to go and then got on the right train. It was confusing and annoying, but pretty fun because we got to see more of Paris.
Another thing I don't like very much is that you can't see the sunset. I guess that's something that I've taken for granted but I miss it! The tall appartment complexes and buildings make the streets dark around 6. Even though I can't watch the sunset I still love walking down the shadowed streets.
Something else about Paris that no one told me was that contrary to it being fall, it is super hot. Everyone is wearing SHORTS and SANDALS. (I write these in all capitals because my dear Auntie Val would not let me pack these items. And I quote "Oh, no, it will be much too cold! NO ONE wears shorts! Or sandals! No way! They are much too stylish" Au contraire, Auntie, au contraire.). Hopefully the real fall will kick in soon. And by hopefully, I really mean I hope it will stay this warm until I leave. (Global Warming may have its advantages)
A lot has happened in the past couple days, mostly more orientation meetings. I have so much information about Paris, now I just have to go use it.
Yesterday we did the Bateaux Mouches, a cruise of the seine. Bateaux Mouche means "Fly Boat", and I definitely felt like I was surrounded by flies or some sort of insect species. There were so many tourists the cruise felt like a moving insect colony. People repeatedly would stand up and take 500 pictures of the same monument/bridge/statue/homeless person. Some people were ever video taping. I just wanted to ask them if they were ever going to watch the video again, or just store it in their closet of vacation tapes? Also, there were so many people having their picture taken by themselves. Not even smiling, just kind of grimacing, like even they knew how awkward it would turn out. But even with all the tourists, it was beautiful.
This morning Carolina and I slept through our alarm. Ooops. Usually we've been waking up at 4 or 5 in the morning so I think we didn't expect to actually sleep in. This morning we had to take a placement test to see what level of french we are in and we showed up 2 hours late.... Luckily since there were so many people it didn't matter.
Then all 40 of us went to the Resto U, a big cafeteria in Paris strictly for students. The food was surprisingly good, for 2 euro you can get a full meal. There were so many people it was quite overwhelming but I guess thats just something Ill have to get used to.
We then walked around Luxembourg Gardens which are really close to our school. We watched the little kids push toy boats around the pond with bamboo sticks and tried to listen to them to try and learn more french. Unsuccessful, but still fun. The pond was also filled with ducks and I did understand one mother tell her son "No, you cannot take the duck home". I sympathized with him.
Tonight we helped Amelie study for her English test she has tomorrow. Not only is she learning English, but also Spanish and latin. She showed us her English notebook and her writing is perfectly linear and straight. She said that at the end of the year the teachers give them a grade for their notebooks based on neatness. It was intensely neat.
That's it for now, I will attempt to upload pictures tomorrow. I miss you all!
Another thing I don't like very much is that you can't see the sunset. I guess that's something that I've taken for granted but I miss it! The tall appartment complexes and buildings make the streets dark around 6. Even though I can't watch the sunset I still love walking down the shadowed streets.
Something else about Paris that no one told me was that contrary to it being fall, it is super hot. Everyone is wearing SHORTS and SANDALS. (I write these in all capitals because my dear Auntie Val would not let me pack these items. And I quote "Oh, no, it will be much too cold! NO ONE wears shorts! Or sandals! No way! They are much too stylish" Au contraire, Auntie, au contraire.). Hopefully the real fall will kick in soon. And by hopefully, I really mean I hope it will stay this warm until I leave. (Global Warming may have its advantages)
A lot has happened in the past couple days, mostly more orientation meetings. I have so much information about Paris, now I just have to go use it.
Yesterday we did the Bateaux Mouches, a cruise of the seine. Bateaux Mouche means "Fly Boat", and I definitely felt like I was surrounded by flies or some sort of insect species. There were so many tourists the cruise felt like a moving insect colony. People repeatedly would stand up and take 500 pictures of the same monument/bridge/statue/homeless person. Some people were ever video taping. I just wanted to ask them if they were ever going to watch the video again, or just store it in their closet of vacation tapes? Also, there were so many people having their picture taken by themselves. Not even smiling, just kind of grimacing, like even they knew how awkward it would turn out. But even with all the tourists, it was beautiful.
This morning Carolina and I slept through our alarm. Ooops. Usually we've been waking up at 4 or 5 in the morning so I think we didn't expect to actually sleep in. This morning we had to take a placement test to see what level of french we are in and we showed up 2 hours late.... Luckily since there were so many people it didn't matter.
Then all 40 of us went to the Resto U, a big cafeteria in Paris strictly for students. The food was surprisingly good, for 2 euro you can get a full meal. There were so many people it was quite overwhelming but I guess thats just something Ill have to get used to.
We then walked around Luxembourg Gardens which are really close to our school. We watched the little kids push toy boats around the pond with bamboo sticks and tried to listen to them to try and learn more french. Unsuccessful, but still fun. The pond was also filled with ducks and I did understand one mother tell her son "No, you cannot take the duck home". I sympathized with him.
Tonight we helped Amelie study for her English test she has tomorrow. Not only is she learning English, but also Spanish and latin. She showed us her English notebook and her writing is perfectly linear and straight. She said that at the end of the year the teachers give them a grade for their notebooks based on neatness. It was intensely neat.
That's it for now, I will attempt to upload pictures tomorrow. I miss you all!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Bonjour Je suis Ici
So, I'm finally here! After 15 hours flying I arrived at CDG. Tired and hungry, I went through passport check and got my bags. I realized I was in the wrong place so I walked to a different terminal and met up with 3 other students in my program. We sat and talked for an hour waiting for the program director to pick us up. Apparently we were in completely the wrong spot and then walked what seemed like the whole airport to meet up with the other students. Everyone was very friendly and the program directors gave us all the information we will need for this week (which is orientation). My roommate, Carolina, was there and we became fast friends. We were then taken to our host family's apartment which in the 17th arrondisement. Carolina and I both had 2 huge suitcases (plus a carry-on bag) to lug through the first door which led to a courtyard and then another door which led into the building. We ran into a problem though because we were given the wrong door codes! Eventually someone helped us to get in and our host mom, Madame De Menthiere, came down to get us. Her eyes basically jumped out of the sockets when she saw our bags! Somehow we made it up to the first floor and into the apartment. It is beautiful! Apparently the building is more than 100 years old. The ceilings are lined with intricate crown molding and everything is just perfectly french. Madame De Menthiere lives with her 13 year old daughter Amelie. There is one bathroom and one toilet room (not next to each other) and Carolina and I share a room. The kitchen is small but we all fit around a small table.
While unpacking, Carolina and I realized that we had a storage problem. There is one 4 drawer dresser and small closet space in the corridor. We successfully unpacked everything into the dresser, closet, and under our bed. The room is cozy and looks out onto a small courtyard. After a small nap, Madame made us some dinner - pasta with eggs. Not such a bad combination after all. Carolina and I passed out after dinner, we were exhausted!
Today we had our first day of orientation. There are 40 of us, 8 of which are guys. The program directors informed us of everything we would ever need to know about anything concerning our stay here, and we still have 3 more days of it! It was hard for everyone to stay awake, but somehow we managed. I made some new friends- Vincenzia (pronounced like francesca kind of) from New York (Sienna University) and Sara from LA (UCLA). After our seminars we walked around the area for a while. My school, the Catholic Institute of Paris, is in the 6th arrondisement next to Luxembourg Gardens. I really like the area it's busy and interesting (and there are some cool stores!).
When we got back the apartement was bustling. Amelie was blasting music in her room and madame was singing along. We took our huge siutcases down to "le cave" the basement like cave under the building. It was basically a cave and each tenant has a grotto like room to store things. Apparently women hid there during WWII.
I can feel my french improving already. I'm hoping to be fluent by the time I leave. A cool word I learned today was "poussiere" meaning dust. They liked my blue nail polish so I taught them nail polish for the french word varnis. (See grandma, it's stylish!)
Pictures to come soon, until then just use your imagination!
xo Shan
While unpacking, Carolina and I realized that we had a storage problem. There is one 4 drawer dresser and small closet space in the corridor. We successfully unpacked everything into the dresser, closet, and under our bed. The room is cozy and looks out onto a small courtyard. After a small nap, Madame made us some dinner - pasta with eggs. Not such a bad combination after all. Carolina and I passed out after dinner, we were exhausted!
Today we had our first day of orientation. There are 40 of us, 8 of which are guys. The program directors informed us of everything we would ever need to know about anything concerning our stay here, and we still have 3 more days of it! It was hard for everyone to stay awake, but somehow we managed. I made some new friends- Vincenzia (pronounced like francesca kind of) from New York (Sienna University) and Sara from LA (UCLA). After our seminars we walked around the area for a while. My school, the Catholic Institute of Paris, is in the 6th arrondisement next to Luxembourg Gardens. I really like the area it's busy and interesting (and there are some cool stores!).
When we got back the apartement was bustling. Amelie was blasting music in her room and madame was singing along. We took our huge siutcases down to "le cave" the basement like cave under the building. It was basically a cave and each tenant has a grotto like room to store things. Apparently women hid there during WWII.
I can feel my french improving already. I'm hoping to be fluent by the time I leave. A cool word I learned today was "poussiere" meaning dust. They liked my blue nail polish so I taught them nail polish for the french word varnis. (See grandma, it's stylish!)
Pictures to come soon, until then just use your imagination!
xo Shan
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