Well today was a wonderful day food-wise. The majority of my meals today would have been considered meals by people from the first world. This hasn't happened in a while, so I'm quite happy. More on this later...
Today, our class got to visit the Assemblée Nationale. Unfortunately, we were told that we couldn't take pictures, so I didn't bring my camera. In the end, we were allowed to take pictures in the majority of the rooms, so I was frustrated that I had left my camera behind.
After our second class, some friends and I explored the neighborhood where our classes are held and eventually worked our way over to this one cemetery where lots of famous people are buried. These people include Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison and Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (a chemist). Again, it would have been a lot cooler if I had brought my camera with me, but unfortunately, I lack pictures.
Anyways, back to the food. Today I got to eat dinner with my host-mother and Kevin (I'm about 99% sure that's his name), who is another person living here. At first, I had no idea who he was. The way my host-mother introduced him made it seem like he wasn't related to her, yet he wasn't another foreign student because he was definitely French and he works as a consultant (so he is neither foreign nor a student). I soon figured out that he was a random French person more or less renting the room across the hall from mine. Today, I learned that he heard about my host-mother from a hair stylist who has a salon across the street.
Kevin speaks English much better than I speak French, so he normally speaks to me in English (classic French move). Today at dinner, however, he actually spoke to me in French. I felt so honored. My host-mother also told me that out of all her exchange students (she's had many over the years), I apparently speak French the best. I was seriously amazed to hear that, and she claims that she wasn't just saying that, so now I actually have a little bit of confidence in my ability to speak.
If you, the reader, ever plan on going abroad/living in a foreign country, and you're a picky eater, I highly recommend that you give up your ways. For those who know my (former) eating habits well, you know that I am (well was) an absurdly picky eater. To have the best experience that I could, however, I knew that I had to give up my ways.
My advice for picky eaters going abroad: eat anything and everything you're offered. If you don't think you'll like it, only ask for/take a very small amount of it. Unless you're allergic to it, it won't hurt. And you may even find out that you're fond of steamed green beans. Basically, don't let your picky eating ruin your study abroad experience.
Well I should be doing the reading for tomorrow's classes right now, and I can't think of anything else to write, so I'm going to head out now. I'm also quite tired for reasons beyond me (the reasons are on Twitter and I have not deemed them family friendly enough for this blog (aka I want more Twitter followers; I'm so close to triple digits)).
Before I go, my class is taking a trip to Provence (the south of France) this weekend, so I'll have some new adventures to share (other than wandering around Paris).
Au revoir tout le monde!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
If I was a teenage girl this would be something clichéd, but I'm not, so all you get is this as a title
Today was such a wonderful day!
In one my classes, we started a discussion of poetry (in French of course). In a brazen attempt to toot my own horn, I'm quite good at reading/writing poetry in French. Yesterday, for my other class, we had to write some sort of descriptive paragraph about the sociability of the French. I chose to write something about parks (we've been to so many parks, so it was an easy paragraph to write). When my professor (she's actually French) looked over my shoulder to read my masterpiece, she said it was beautiful and very poetic (well I'm pretty sure she said the poetic part, but I'm sure she thought it was beautiful, because quite frankly, it is). While this only brought my ego to a slightly higher level, class today (the one that I mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph) brought my ego to levels that haven't been reached in quite some time (2-3 weeks, after I received my bio 119 grade).
A little background information: the French class I took last semester was a phonetics class. Ergo, we learned a lot about pronunciation and such. "And such" refers to different types of alcohol drank in France and how to read French poetry. The weird thing about French poetry is that many of the letters (ok so it's only the letter "e") that would be silent in normal conversation are pronounced in order to add more syllables to the line of poetry.
Now back to me talking about how awesome I am.
Before 27ish hours ago, I'm pretty sure that only me and 2-3 other people in my class were aware of how weird reading French poetry is. Today in class, we were studying a particular poem ("Correspondances" by Baudelaire). To teach the class the intricacies of reading French poetry, my teacher had most everyone in the class take turns reading the poem. After each of the first few readings, she would take some time to discuss different aspects of French poetry. After the first 3 or so, she discussed the pronunciation of silent e's to maintain a proper syllable count. When she was going through the first few lines, I kept on bringing up different examples of pronounced silent e's that she had overlooked in each line (it should be noted that at this point in time, only the two other people who had taken my phonetics class with me knew about the e's, and thus, they were the only people who understood why I was able to drop some knowledge). This continued for a while, and my peers were in stunned silence by my mastery of the pronunciation of French poetry (I was referred to as a "genius" before I explained that I took a class where we learned about reading French poetry. Nevertheless, I believe that the "genius" comment still holds true). After showing up my professor, it came time for the next student to read the poem. In choice that was completely out of nowhere, I was chosen to be the next reader.
Unfortunately, I had not yet completed my analysis of the poem, so I wasn't actually prepared to read it at the time (I had yet to look at the last two stanzas to figure out their pronunciations). It didn't matter. My reading of the poem would have made angels cry. Sure, I made a few mistakes (I was under quite a bit of pressure, and as I previously stated, I wasn't actually ready), but Baudelaire himself couldn't have imagined a more perfect reading of his work of art. The end of my reading was greeted by a lively applause (and I'm sure if there was more room, there would have been a standing ovation). When the professor asked who wanted to go next, no one wanted to; it was obviously because they knew that their readings would pale in comparison to the vocal masterpiece that was my reading (this was actually somewhat true). Others ended up reading the poem (they had to), but I'm sure my recitation of the poem still resonates within their souls at this very moment.
Well I'm glad I got that out of my system.
After class today, we "flâned" a bit.
Here's some background information on my current story (and it may or may not be an integral part of my next story): my friend Daniel and I both wanted to go clothes shopping, mainly so we could get some actual European clothes and not look like n00bs. I had another reason. I was pretty much out of clean clothes. Many of the shirts I've been wearing had been worn at least one other time under the hot Parisian sun, and it was getting to the point where I couldn't bear wearing them again. I had to get some new clothes. Yesterday, we went to a store that we had walked by this weekend (there was a big sale there), but all the clothes there were really, really weird.
And now we're back.
We were in the general area of a mall (apparently), so Daniel (if you're reading this, do you prefer "Daniel," or do you go by "Dan," "Danny," "Danny-boy," etc) and I wanted to go to get some clothes. Unfortunately, the women we were with decided to go into this one thrift store/dance club (there appeared to be strobe lights and music half a story above the main floor) and take a lot of time there. We checked, but there wasn't really anything there for guys. We got impatient, so I said: let's go to the mall (not actually, but I wish I had in retrospect). The H&M there had really good prices. I got some v-necks, other things that I was running out of (I'll leave this to your imagination)...
...and gray skinny jeans. And these are actually legitimately skinny. I'm trying to fit in with the French, though, so I had to buy them (and they were cheaper than most jeans I own, which gave me another reason to purchase them).
And now, time for the best part of my day (and possibly the best part about my time at Paris thus far).
When I returned to my room, MY CLOTHES WERE WASHED!!!!!! Now my host mother told me she would wash them for me (French washing machines are apparently absurd). I just thought she said she would do my laundry Monday; when I returned from class yesterday to see that my clothes weren't washed, I panicked (which was part of the reason I went to the mall today). I was so happy to see that my clothes were clean, that I didn't have to wear a smelly shirt for once.
Time for the randomness:
Sunday, my friend Ananya and I decided to explore our neighborhood (we live on the same street) and get dinner together (with our friend Anna). We were feeling pizza. After walking awhile, we found this one pizza place that looked reasonable. We each got individual pizzas that we had to eat with a knife and fork. Here's a picture of my pizza:
It was quite good (I felt like I was taking a huge risk getting an egg on my pizza). Holy crap I want another one right now. I'm kind of hungry right now. The last few days, the majority of my diet has been comprised of golden delicious apples and granola/cereal bars. I could do something to get more filling food; I just chose to be incredibly frugal and only buy golden delicious apples and granola/cereal bars instead of real meals.
Oh man, looking at that picture is making me drool right now, and I'm kind of tempted to eat my computer screen right now because in my deluded, malnourished state (if you're actually concerned, I'm just being melodramatic), I'm convinced that this picture of the pizza on my computer will taste like the pizza did.
Anyways, I have nothing else to say (I managed to combine to random stories into one, so I feel quite accomplished right now).
Au revoir tout le monde!
In one my classes, we started a discussion of poetry (in French of course). In a brazen attempt to toot my own horn, I'm quite good at reading/writing poetry in French. Yesterday, for my other class, we had to write some sort of descriptive paragraph about the sociability of the French. I chose to write something about parks (we've been to so many parks, so it was an easy paragraph to write). When my professor (she's actually French) looked over my shoulder to read my masterpiece, she said it was beautiful and very poetic (well I'm pretty sure she said the poetic part, but I'm sure she thought it was beautiful, because quite frankly, it is). While this only brought my ego to a slightly higher level, class today (the one that I mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph) brought my ego to levels that haven't been reached in quite some time (2-3 weeks, after I received my bio 119 grade).
A little background information: the French class I took last semester was a phonetics class. Ergo, we learned a lot about pronunciation and such. "And such" refers to different types of alcohol drank in France and how to read French poetry. The weird thing about French poetry is that many of the letters (ok so it's only the letter "e") that would be silent in normal conversation are pronounced in order to add more syllables to the line of poetry.
Now back to me talking about how awesome I am.
Before 27ish hours ago, I'm pretty sure that only me and 2-3 other people in my class were aware of how weird reading French poetry is. Today in class, we were studying a particular poem ("Correspondances" by Baudelaire). To teach the class the intricacies of reading French poetry, my teacher had most everyone in the class take turns reading the poem. After each of the first few readings, she would take some time to discuss different aspects of French poetry. After the first 3 or so, she discussed the pronunciation of silent e's to maintain a proper syllable count. When she was going through the first few lines, I kept on bringing up different examples of pronounced silent e's that she had overlooked in each line (it should be noted that at this point in time, only the two other people who had taken my phonetics class with me knew about the e's, and thus, they were the only people who understood why I was able to drop some knowledge). This continued for a while, and my peers were in stunned silence by my mastery of the pronunciation of French poetry (I was referred to as a "genius" before I explained that I took a class where we learned about reading French poetry. Nevertheless, I believe that the "genius" comment still holds true). After showing up my professor, it came time for the next student to read the poem. In choice that was completely out of nowhere, I was chosen to be the next reader.
Unfortunately, I had not yet completed my analysis of the poem, so I wasn't actually prepared to read it at the time (I had yet to look at the last two stanzas to figure out their pronunciations). It didn't matter. My reading of the poem would have made angels cry. Sure, I made a few mistakes (I was under quite a bit of pressure, and as I previously stated, I wasn't actually ready), but Baudelaire himself couldn't have imagined a more perfect reading of his work of art. The end of my reading was greeted by a lively applause (and I'm sure if there was more room, there would have been a standing ovation). When the professor asked who wanted to go next, no one wanted to; it was obviously because they knew that their readings would pale in comparison to the vocal masterpiece that was my reading (this was actually somewhat true). Others ended up reading the poem (they had to), but I'm sure my recitation of the poem still resonates within their souls at this very moment.
Well I'm glad I got that out of my system.
After class today, we "flâned" a bit.
Here's some background information on my current story (and it may or may not be an integral part of my next story): my friend Daniel and I both wanted to go clothes shopping, mainly so we could get some actual European clothes and not look like n00bs. I had another reason. I was pretty much out of clean clothes. Many of the shirts I've been wearing had been worn at least one other time under the hot Parisian sun, and it was getting to the point where I couldn't bear wearing them again. I had to get some new clothes. Yesterday, we went to a store that we had walked by this weekend (there was a big sale there), but all the clothes there were really, really weird.
And now we're back.
We were in the general area of a mall (apparently), so Daniel (if you're reading this, do you prefer "Daniel," or do you go by "Dan," "Danny," "Danny-boy," etc) and I wanted to go to get some clothes. Unfortunately, the women we were with decided to go into this one thrift store/dance club (there appeared to be strobe lights and music half a story above the main floor) and take a lot of time there. We checked, but there wasn't really anything there for guys. We got impatient, so I said: let's go to the mall (not actually, but I wish I had in retrospect). The H&M there had really good prices. I got some v-necks, other things that I was running out of (I'll leave this to your imagination)...
...and gray skinny jeans. And these are actually legitimately skinny. I'm trying to fit in with the French, though, so I had to buy them (and they were cheaper than most jeans I own, which gave me another reason to purchase them).
And now, time for the best part of my day (and possibly the best part about my time at Paris thus far).
When I returned to my room, MY CLOTHES WERE WASHED!!!!!! Now my host mother told me she would wash them for me (French washing machines are apparently absurd). I just thought she said she would do my laundry Monday; when I returned from class yesterday to see that my clothes weren't washed, I panicked (which was part of the reason I went to the mall today). I was so happy to see that my clothes were clean, that I didn't have to wear a smelly shirt for once.
Time for the randomness:
Sunday, my friend Ananya and I decided to explore our neighborhood (we live on the same street) and get dinner together (with our friend Anna). We were feeling pizza. After walking awhile, we found this one pizza place that looked reasonable. We each got individual pizzas that we had to eat with a knife and fork. Here's a picture of my pizza:
 |
| This may look janky to you, but it was delicious. The egg needed a bit of pepper, though. |
Oh man, looking at that picture is making me drool right now, and I'm kind of tempted to eat my computer screen right now because in my deluded, malnourished state (if you're actually concerned, I'm just being melodramatic), I'm convinced that this picture of the pizza on my computer will taste like the pizza did.
Anyways, I have nothing else to say (I managed to combine to random stories into one, so I feel quite accomplished right now).
Au revoir tout le monde!
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Holy crap I've been in Paris for 7 days
Well I've been here for 7 days already. I can't believe I've been here for so long and it feels like it's going to end really soon (I have 5 more weeks but that doesn't seem like a long time).
Yesterday was a lot of fun. Our professors took us to a French movie and dinner afterwards. The movie was very funny (and I manged to understand the majority of it) and just now I realized that I apparently wrote a blog post last night that includes this information so I'll stop there (I would just get rid of it, but I find my error amusing so hopefully you will too).
Today was probably the most chill day of them all. I'm running out of clothes (and my host-mother isn't washing them until Monday) so I had to go buy some French shirts. The colors I got were kinda bad in retrospect, but they were cheap (I got them at the equivalent of Walmart) so I can't complain. After that, I decided to go check out Roland Garros (the French Open).
First of all, the métro station the website gave me was pretty far from the entrance. After about an hour of aimlessly walking around (or flân-ing as we call it in Franglish), I found a nice park where I was able to sit down and eat an apple that I had bought (it was really good). Luckily for me, the park was next to the grounds.
Unfortunately, they had ran out of tickets to get into the grounds (or that's what I heard when I was eavesdropping on a conversation) so I was only able to circumnavigate the area.
On my way to a different métro station, I ran into another park/garden, which I decided to venture into in hopes of finding an oasis/a water fountain. After exploring, I found the fountain on a map, decided it was too far away, and decided to head to the métro.
Here are some pictures I took in that last park:
After I eventually found my way home (this other métro station was pretty hard to find as well), I just relaxed a little bit, hung out with some friends by the Musée d'Orsay, where there was their really weird guy doing completely random stuff (scaring people, shoving a vest in the upper portion of his shirt to accentuate his bosom, etc), ate dinner with my host mom (some sort of egg dish. It was delicious), hung out with some friends again (we flâned somewhere in Paris), returned home, decided to update my blog, and now here I am.
As you can see, today was a surprisingly uneventful day (I'm guessing it's because since we didn't have any mandatory group activities (class), it took more effort to make plans with people, so less stuff actually got done). Hopefully tomorrow I'll have more stuff to say (I won't, though, since I'm quite sure that I'll be doing my homework at the time I'd normally be writing this).
Au revoir tout le monde!
Yesterday was a lot of fun. Our professors took us to a French movie and dinner afterwards. The movie was very funny (and I manged to understand the majority of it) and just now I realized that I apparently wrote a blog post last night that includes this information so I'll stop there (I would just get rid of it, but I find my error amusing so hopefully you will too).
Today was probably the most chill day of them all. I'm running out of clothes (and my host-mother isn't washing them until Monday) so I had to go buy some French shirts. The colors I got were kinda bad in retrospect, but they were cheap (I got them at the equivalent of Walmart) so I can't complain. After that, I decided to go check out Roland Garros (the French Open).
First of all, the métro station the website gave me was pretty far from the entrance. After about an hour of aimlessly walking around (or flân-ing as we call it in Franglish), I found a nice park where I was able to sit down and eat an apple that I had bought (it was really good). Luckily for me, the park was next to the grounds.
Unfortunately, they had ran out of tickets to get into the grounds (or that's what I heard when I was eavesdropping on a conversation) so I was only able to circumnavigate the area.
On my way to a different métro station, I ran into another park/garden, which I decided to venture into in hopes of finding an oasis/a water fountain. After exploring, I found the fountain on a map, decided it was too far away, and decided to head to the métro.
Here are some pictures I took in that last park:
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| A random fake deer head?!? How could I not take a picture of it? |
 |
| This relatively large fake mushroom (not the largest I've seen in my days here, though, so it's only the second coolest) was placed near the fake deer head. I'll let you interpret this juxtaposition on your own. |
After I eventually found my way home (this other métro station was pretty hard to find as well), I just relaxed a little bit, hung out with some friends by the Musée d'Orsay, where there was their really weird guy doing completely random stuff (scaring people, shoving a vest in the upper portion of his shirt to accentuate his bosom, etc), ate dinner with my host mom (some sort of egg dish. It was delicious), hung out with some friends again (we flâned somewhere in Paris), returned home, decided to update my blog, and now here I am.
As you can see, today was a surprisingly uneventful day (I'm guessing it's because since we didn't have any mandatory group activities (class), it took more effort to make plans with people, so less stuff actually got done). Hopefully tomorrow I'll have more stuff to say (I won't, though, since I'm quite sure that I'll be doing my homework at the time I'd normally be writing this).
Au revoir tout le monde!
Friday, May 25, 2012
I can't think of a good title for this post right now so deal with it
Well I guess I'm sorry I didn't post anything yesterday (I'm sure no one actually cares, so I'm not actually sorry). I love Paris. The people I'm with are great, and for some reason beyond me, I feel like I can be myself (more or less) around them.
Time for some complaints.
(this is really me bragging about how awesome it is living in Paris, but covering it up as complaints)
We walk around so much. Yesterday, after seeing/walking to many tourist/non-tourist attractions (an evening by the Seine, for example), I felt more disgusting than I had ever felt before, but I couldn't take a shower. Sure, I got to enjoy the view from Sacré-Cœur, enjoy a wonderful evening by the Seine, and do other awesome stuff that I'm too tired to remember right now, but I was really sweaty and I couldn't take a shower when I returned to my home.
I'm too tired right now to remember what else we did yesterday, but it was all really fun. I think I'm apparently funny/full of sass (which means that not everyone hates me yet for being an a***, so that seems positive).
Today I explored the neighborhood where I live with one of my new friends, had a picnic in a park (I ate a baguette. I felt really French), saw a hilarious French movie (I actually understood like 70% of it), had dinner at some really nifty place (lamb chops followed by some sort of rum cake), and then enjoyed an evening beside the Tour Eiffel. I would add a picture of the Eiffel Tower at night, but I'm way too tired to get my camera and whatever, so I apologize.
Au revoir!
Time for some complaints.
(this is really me bragging about how awesome it is living in Paris, but covering it up as complaints)
We walk around so much. Yesterday, after seeing/walking to many tourist/non-tourist attractions (an evening by the Seine, for example), I felt more disgusting than I had ever felt before, but I couldn't take a shower. Sure, I got to enjoy the view from Sacré-Cœur, enjoy a wonderful evening by the Seine, and do other awesome stuff that I'm too tired to remember right now, but I was really sweaty and I couldn't take a shower when I returned to my home.
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| Sacré-Cœur. It's on a huge hill, so it was quite tiring climbing it (this caption would have been more amusing, but I'm so tired right now so I'm not capable of producing my normal sass/wit) |
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| One of the views from the hill that Sacré-Cœur rests upon. It may not be the best picture I took from there, but it's so hard to tell which one is the best from the small previews that this blogging system allows me, so I apologize |
I'm too tired right now to remember what else we did yesterday, but it was all really fun. I think I'm apparently funny/full of sass (which means that not everyone hates me yet for being an a***, so that seems positive).
Today I explored the neighborhood where I live with one of my new friends, had a picnic in a park (I ate a baguette. I felt really French), saw a hilarious French movie (I actually understood like 70% of it), had dinner at some really nifty place (lamb chops followed by some sort of rum cake), and then enjoyed an evening beside the Tour Eiffel. I would add a picture of the Eiffel Tower at night, but I'm way too tired to get my camera and whatever, so I apologize.
Au revoir!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Treasure Hunt
My mornings haven't been going well so far. I was supposed to meet a friend who lives on the same street, but I ended up being mad late (I was unexpectedly eating breakfast). I also still haven't figured out how to lock/unlock the front door to the apartment (I've been showed a few times, though I wish my host-mother would let me practice (I've asked to no avail)).
Anyways, today, we were split up into groups to go on a treasure hunt (it was more of a scavenger hunt) all around Paris as a means of getting accustomed to the city (and the métro). We first went to a bookstore to buy a notebook. Then we went to the Musée Rodin to get a brochure. While we never entered the actually museum itself, we explored the vast gardens around it, admiring some of Rodin's work. It was really cool seeing "Le Penseur" (or "The Thinker" to the noobs who don't speak French). Because I expect only 5 or so people to read this post, I'll post the not very good picture of me trying to pose like the statue behind me:
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| I regret the position of my right leg. It should have been on the next level. Also, I'm wearing skinny jeans in this picture, so I hope Nathan is happy (my legs have been compared to tree trunks (by myself right now) so the skinny jeans aren't too noticeable, sorry ladies/Nathan) |
We then had to buy a particular pastry from a particular pastry shop. Unfortunately, the particular pastry shop didn't even have the particular pastry, so that was a bit a fail.
Our last item was a business card from some really fancy restaurant on the Champs-Élysées (if you're unaware of what that is, it's a street containing many popular tourist traps).
After that, we had to meet our classmates/professors at the Paris Opera, and since we were somewhat close (well we were in the same city), we decided to walk (I was somewhat against this decision, but it was cool seeing all the aforementioned tourist traps). Sadly, we weren't able to get a tour of the opera today, since they were preparing for a gala (which is going on right now as far as I'm concerned). Since we couldn't go inside, we got a brief tour of the outside (which was really beautiful, but for some reason, I didn't take any pictures), and then we were free to do whatever we wanted....
So we walked some more...
We chilled near what I think was the royal gardens (not as cool as the gardens at the Musée Rodin) and then at/near the Jardin des Tuileries (which is surrounded by the Louvre). I think. I honestly didn't really pay attention to the names of where we went because, quite frankly, I was spending too much time taking in the beauty of it all to care for names (this is be attempting to be poetic).
Unfortunately, we have our first day of classes tomorrow. I had to do homework tonight. I knew I was taking classes here, but I liked to keep that it in the back of my mind.
As you're probably well aware of, this is the part where I share random thoughts that pop into my head and don't fit into the rest of my post:
- I feel incredibly janky right now (the métro is very dirty), but I can't take a shower before I sleep like I normally would, because I feel bad taking two showers a day, and the vast majority of people here don't wear hats (so I've actually been hat-less for a few days), meaning that I have to shower in the morning (bed-head isn't the style I'm going for).
- If anyone is bothered by my use of run-on sentences (I actually am a little bit), DEAL WITH IT; this blog is literally just me writing down everything that pops up in my head, even (by even, I mean especially) if it makes me sound like an a** (I have to be family friendly, just in case).
- I think I'm eventually going to stop posting photos on Facebook and just put them here, because I don't really like being that guy (although the teenage girl inside of me (not literally inside of me) is so excited by being in Paris that I'm compelled to take a bunch of pictures and put them up on Facebook so everyone else is jealous).
Anyways, that's all for now.
Au revoir tout le monde!
Monday, May 21, 2012
The First Real Day
Well today sucked. At first (only at first). Breakfast with my host mother was good (bread with butter and jam). I then had to be at the Accent Center at 9:30 AM; I was told that 30 minutes was plenty of time to get there, so I left at 9. Getting to the final stop wasn't terrible (there was one stop on the way, but finding my next train wasn't too bad), but getting out of that stop was impossible. There are signs pointing in the directions of the different exits, but there wasn't one for my exit, which only exacerbated my situation as it was already 9:27ish when I got off the train. After doing a lap around the station (without getting a definitive answer as to where I had to go), I thought I was on to something. I tried to exit from an entrance (I would have sworn that I had seen someone do it), but that didn't work. I then pressed a button for help but I just got yelled at (not very helpful). I just decided to follow the directions for the exits with the numbers closest to my exit, and somehow that brought me to my exit.
After that stressful morning, we had a small orientation, where I got a new pick up line (COCA COLA?!?! [two things: this is supposed to be spoken in a French accent, and this allegedly happened to the person giving our orientation presentation]). Following that, we got to buy umbrellas (half of us, because it was raining) and cell phones (all of us, but we were already split off into two different groups). After getting that stuff, we were free to go.
While walking down the street, someone (I don't recall who) saw a cafe that seemed to give a good deal, so we decided to go in (though apparently some of the group decided to blaze their own trail in a different direction) and ate. People had to buy some electrical converters because they neglected to bring any, so we went to this one store that someone had heard about/went to on a previous trip to Paris/on this trip(??). The same person (I'm declining to use names because I doubt any of my fellow students will read this blog post since they're living much of it/I doubt anyone reading this will know who they are) also realized her umbrella was broken so she decided to get a new one (second time umbrellas have been mentioned--could it be a sign? nahhhh). We still had plenty of time afterwards and we also had passes that would get us into art museums for free, so we decided to go to the Centre Pompidou (which was within walking distance).
Unfortunately for me, my umbrella broke on the way. The top portion (canopy, ribs, etc) just flew off of the pole. It was hilarious.
The Centre Pompidou was pretty cool. Some of the art was above me head, and only reminded me of female genitalia:
Other stuff was really cool, like this one:
If you care to see more of the pictures, they're on my Facebook (and again, if you aren't Facebook friends with me, why are you reading this?).
To be read by J.P. Senter (and/or anyone who is interested in surrealism/art): if/when you read this, I need you to go on Facebook and tell me which one is the Miró (just look through the album, though it's possible that it's not one of the two I pointed out/you may not know, but I know you're fond of him (well I think you are), so I'm going to go ahead and trust your judgement on it)
The best part of today, though, was getting to know a lot of the people I didn't know well (ok, so that was pretty much everyone). I was pretty nervous about meeting people (mainly because I'm usually too lazy to socialize with new people), but everyone on the trip (at least everyone with whom I had wandered around Paris with) is super nice (you know I'm sincere because I previously mentioned that I doubt that anyone of them will even read this blog).
I just remembered this, but I had something called an "Indian Tonic" today. It reminded me of Sprite, but orange-y (I think).
Also, if you are going to comment on this post (or any other post), make sure you identify yourself, because if you don't, I won't have any idea as to who you are, and it makes it look like some random stranger is creeping on my blog (and I hope I've made my opinion about random people reading my blog very clear).
I also apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors. I was going to read this over, but I realized that, quite frankly, I don't care anymore.
Au revoir tout le monde!
After that stressful morning, we had a small orientation, where I got a new pick up line (COCA COLA?!?! [two things: this is supposed to be spoken in a French accent, and this allegedly happened to the person giving our orientation presentation]). Following that, we got to buy umbrellas (half of us, because it was raining) and cell phones (all of us, but we were already split off into two different groups). After getting that stuff, we were free to go.
While walking down the street, someone (I don't recall who) saw a cafe that seemed to give a good deal, so we decided to go in (though apparently some of the group decided to blaze their own trail in a different direction) and ate. People had to buy some electrical converters because they neglected to bring any, so we went to this one store that someone had heard about/went to on a previous trip to Paris/on this trip(??). The same person (I'm declining to use names because I doubt any of my fellow students will read this blog post since they're living much of it/I doubt anyone reading this will know who they are) also realized her umbrella was broken so she decided to get a new one (second time umbrellas have been mentioned--could it be a sign? nahhhh). We still had plenty of time afterwards and we also had passes that would get us into art museums for free, so we decided to go to the Centre Pompidou (which was within walking distance).
Unfortunately for me, my umbrella broke on the way. The top portion (canopy, ribs, etc) just flew off of the pole. It was hilarious.
The Centre Pompidou was pretty cool. Some of the art was above me head, and only reminded me of female genitalia:
 |
| My current hypothesis is that it relates to a newborn's exit from the birth canal, but I could be wrong (and it's just straight up a vagina) |
Other stuff was really cool, like this one:
 |
| IT'S A NEWLY WED COUPLE RIDING A GIANT CHICKEN, BEING SERENADED BY A GOAT-VIOLIN (or viola/cello) HYBRID. AND THERE'S AN UPSIDE DOWN SOUL-LESS (ginger) WOOD-NYMPH HOLDING SOME CANDLES (setting the mood I'm assuming). WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE?!?!? |
If you care to see more of the pictures, they're on my Facebook (and again, if you aren't Facebook friends with me, why are you reading this?).
To be read by J.P. Senter (and/or anyone who is interested in surrealism/art): if/when you read this, I need you to go on Facebook and tell me which one is the Miró (just look through the album, though it's possible that it's not one of the two I pointed out/you may not know, but I know you're fond of him (well I think you are), so I'm going to go ahead and trust your judgement on it)
The best part of today, though, was getting to know a lot of the people I didn't know well (ok, so that was pretty much everyone). I was pretty nervous about meeting people (mainly because I'm usually too lazy to socialize with new people), but everyone on the trip (at least everyone with whom I had wandered around Paris with) is super nice (you know I'm sincere because I previously mentioned that I doubt that anyone of them will even read this blog).
I just remembered this, but I had something called an "Indian Tonic" today. It reminded me of Sprite, but orange-y (I think).
Also, if you are going to comment on this post (or any other post), make sure you identify yourself, because if you don't, I won't have any idea as to who you are, and it makes it look like some random stranger is creeping on my blog (and I hope I've made my opinion about random people reading my blog very clear).
I also apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors. I was going to read this over, but I realized that, quite frankly, I don't care anymore.
Au revoir tout le monde!
Sunday, May 20, 2012
G****'s in Paris
Well I'm finally in Paris! My voyage here was probably the longest 24 hours of my life.
My plan to pass out on the flight failed (more or less). I had hoped that dinner would be served within an hour after take off (at what would have been considered a standard dinner time in the eastern time zone), but dinner was served an hour (and a half possibly, I don't remember) after that, taking up precious sleeping time. I finally got to sleep an hour or so after eating (couldn't find a comfortable sleeping position). After getting some sleep, they woke us up at a little before 5 AM Paris time (GMT + 1:00) for breakfast. Adding it all up, I want to say that I got only like 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep on the plane.
Getting off the plane went surprisingly well, but then I encountered yet another issue. I was supposed to meet two of my classmates at a train station within the airport to take a train to where our class was supposed to meet. I got to the station at around 7 AM (maybe a little earlier). 2.5 hours later and there was no sign of them (their flights were scheduled to land 10 minutes after mine, so I'm going to blame the issue on my decision to sit in a chair for the two hours instead of looking around for them). Luckily for me, I spied the one person I actually knew on the trip beforehand (who was scheduled to land 2 hours after me, so I had no intention of seeing her until after arriving at the meeting spot) and we took a taxi to the meeting location (and somehow, we were the first two people to arrive). Running into her was definitely one of the luckiest breaks of my life (and it saved me 30-some euros by splitting a cab with me)
Random aside: OMG I JUST HEARD A DOG BARK INSIDE THIS BUILDING! I HOPE MY HOST MOTHER HAS A DOG (she doesn't according to my housing information)
Anyways, after some more students arrived, our professor took us around the quartier, treating us to some food and such. We then explored the quartier (mainly just to keep the blood flowing) and got some more food later on. After that quasi-excursion, we had a housing orientation, followed by the reception of our housing assignments.
I'm living in the apartment of a sweet old lady. It is, without a doubt, the nicest place I have ever lived in (for more than a few days). I'm honestly scared to touch anything since I'm pretty sure I'll break something. I have to share a bathroom with someone named Kevin (he's either the host-mother's son, or another student living here, which I think is the case), but he's very nice and speaks English (which makes my life easier).
I didn't mention this earlier, but this blog is going to be part photo-blog (I like hearing myself talk in my head as I write the crap that ends up in this blog, so this blog will mostly be the aforementioned crap with some pictures thrown in). Sadly (for you, the reader), while I was out and about today, my camera was somewhere in the depths of my backpack (which was in the meeting location, which from here on out I'll refer to as "the Accent Center" (it's also where we hold our classes, so there's a chance I'll mention it more)), so the only picture I have right now is one of the view from my window:
A comment on the quality of the picture: there was a smudge on the window, which I didn't open to take the picture since I didn't know that the smudge actually existed (and when I couldn't open the window when I tried to retake the picture, so DEAL WITH IT (or photoshop the smudge out please)).
A comment, not on the quality of the picture: the roads here are designed terribly. There are no designated lanes; I've seen cars in what would be the left lane of a roundabout make a right turn (and without signaling too). I'm just very glad that I'll be traveling by the metro for the majority of my remaining time here.
Yet another random comment: I was called to eat dinner before I was able to finish this post, so I'll go ahead and discuss dinner. It was great. My host mother made Cantonese Rice (I think). So good.
The random comments continue: I think a storm is a brewing, but I have no idea as to how I'm supposed to close my window...
Anyways, au revoir tout le monde!
My plan to pass out on the flight failed (more or less). I had hoped that dinner would be served within an hour after take off (at what would have been considered a standard dinner time in the eastern time zone), but dinner was served an hour (and a half possibly, I don't remember) after that, taking up precious sleeping time. I finally got to sleep an hour or so after eating (couldn't find a comfortable sleeping position). After getting some sleep, they woke us up at a little before 5 AM Paris time (GMT + 1:00) for breakfast. Adding it all up, I want to say that I got only like 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep on the plane.
Getting off the plane went surprisingly well, but then I encountered yet another issue. I was supposed to meet two of my classmates at a train station within the airport to take a train to where our class was supposed to meet. I got to the station at around 7 AM (maybe a little earlier). 2.5 hours later and there was no sign of them (their flights were scheduled to land 10 minutes after mine, so I'm going to blame the issue on my decision to sit in a chair for the two hours instead of looking around for them). Luckily for me, I spied the one person I actually knew on the trip beforehand (who was scheduled to land 2 hours after me, so I had no intention of seeing her until after arriving at the meeting spot) and we took a taxi to the meeting location (and somehow, we were the first two people to arrive). Running into her was definitely one of the luckiest breaks of my life (and it saved me 30-some euros by splitting a cab with me)
Random aside: OMG I JUST HEARD A DOG BARK INSIDE THIS BUILDING! I HOPE MY HOST MOTHER HAS A DOG (she doesn't according to my housing information)
Anyways, after some more students arrived, our professor took us around the quartier, treating us to some food and such. We then explored the quartier (mainly just to keep the blood flowing) and got some more food later on. After that quasi-excursion, we had a housing orientation, followed by the reception of our housing assignments.
I'm living in the apartment of a sweet old lady. It is, without a doubt, the nicest place I have ever lived in (for more than a few days). I'm honestly scared to touch anything since I'm pretty sure I'll break something. I have to share a bathroom with someone named Kevin (he's either the host-mother's son, or another student living here, which I think is the case), but he's very nice and speaks English (which makes my life easier).
I didn't mention this earlier, but this blog is going to be part photo-blog (I like hearing myself talk in my head as I write the crap that ends up in this blog, so this blog will mostly be the aforementioned crap with some pictures thrown in). Sadly (for you, the reader), while I was out and about today, my camera was somewhere in the depths of my backpack (which was in the meeting location, which from here on out I'll refer to as "the Accent Center" (it's also where we hold our classes, so there's a chance I'll mention it more)), so the only picture I have right now is one of the view from my window:
A comment on the quality of the picture: there was a smudge on the window, which I didn't open to take the picture since I didn't know that the smudge actually existed (and when I couldn't open the window when I tried to retake the picture, so DEAL WITH IT (or photoshop the smudge out please)).
A comment, not on the quality of the picture: the roads here are designed terribly. There are no designated lanes; I've seen cars in what would be the left lane of a roundabout make a right turn (and without signaling too). I'm just very glad that I'll be traveling by the metro for the majority of my remaining time here.
Yet another random comment: I was called to eat dinner before I was able to finish this post, so I'll go ahead and discuss dinner. It was great. My host mother made Cantonese Rice (I think). So good.
The random comments continue: I think a storm is a brewing, but I have no idea as to how I'm supposed to close my window...
Anyways, au revoir tout le monde!
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Last Day in America
Wow I'm going to be in Paris in approximately 24 hours...
...and I still haven't finished packing (I'm pretty much done, but I still don't know whether or not I even have everything I need...).
I think I have everything I need/my dad is going on a Wal-Mart run a few hours before we leave, so I should be set/I shouldn't be worrying nearly as much as I am right now.
Anyways, my flight is in the early evening, so in order to get a decent amount of sleep before arriving in Paris, I'll have to sleep for the vast majority of the flight (possibly missing out on airplane food, which is probably for the best). But since I normally don't go to bed at 6 PM EST, I came up with a brilliant idea to make this early bedtime more feasible: tonight, I'm not going to sleep tonight (well, I'm shooting for 3-4 hours, but that's like half of what I normally get); then I'll be really, really, really exhausted by the time I'm sitting on the plane, and I'll just pass out right away and then wake up once the flight is over. Unfortunately, I'm sure this plan is going to fail miserably. I'm really tired right now (which is why this post isn't up to my personal standards; my creative juices just aren't flowing right now) so I'm probably going to give in to my desire to sleep pretty soon. I also wouldn't be surprised if I accidentally fell asleep on the car ride to JFK, most likely ruining my plan.
Regardless, I'm sure that everything will work out because I'm (going to pretend to be) optimistic.
Well I can't think of what else to write (I'm so exhausted that I initially wrote "right") right now, so I'm probably going to go consider packing and then just go to sleep (I'm disappointed in my lack of faith in my plan, which I've seemed to have scrapped before even finishing this post). Hopefully my host family will have internet access, allowing me to add to my blog at some point in time on Sunday (though it may be at some absurd time in the morning here in the good ole United States).
Also, if anyone wants to contact me, Facebook and Skype are probably the most reliable methods of communication (if we're not Facebook friends, why would you want to contact me/why are you even reading this...creeper). Keep in mind that there is a 6 hour time difference.
...and I still haven't finished packing (I'm pretty much done, but I still don't know whether or not I even have everything I need...).
I think I have everything I need/my dad is going on a Wal-Mart run a few hours before we leave, so I should be set/I shouldn't be worrying nearly as much as I am right now.
Anyways, my flight is in the early evening, so in order to get a decent amount of sleep before arriving in Paris, I'll have to sleep for the vast majority of the flight (possibly missing out on airplane food, which is probably for the best). But since I normally don't go to bed at 6 PM EST, I came up with a brilliant idea to make this early bedtime more feasible: tonight, I'm not going to sleep tonight (well, I'm shooting for 3-4 hours, but that's like half of what I normally get); then I'll be really, really, really exhausted by the time I'm sitting on the plane, and I'll just pass out right away and then wake up once the flight is over. Unfortunately, I'm sure this plan is going to fail miserably. I'm really tired right now (which is why this post isn't up to my personal standards; my creative juices just aren't flowing right now) so I'm probably going to give in to my desire to sleep pretty soon. I also wouldn't be surprised if I accidentally fell asleep on the car ride to JFK, most likely ruining my plan.
Regardless, I'm sure that everything will work out because I'm (going to pretend to be) optimistic.
Well I can't think of what else to write (I'm so exhausted that I initially wrote "right") right now, so I'm probably going to go consider packing and then just go to sleep (I'm disappointed in my lack of faith in my plan, which I've seemed to have scrapped before even finishing this post). Hopefully my host family will have internet access, allowing me to add to my blog at some point in time on Sunday (though it may be at some absurd time in the morning here in the good ole United States).
Also, if anyone wants to contact me, Facebook and Skype are probably the most reliable methods of communication (if we're not Facebook friends, why would you want to contact me/why are you even reading this...creeper). Keep in mind that there is a 6 hour time difference.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Pre-Departure Jitters and Other Updates
So I'm scheduled to arrive in Paris in approximately 96.75 hours (from the time that I wrote this sentence, not including the words contained by these parentheses if you want to get technical) and I'm nowhere near as excited as you would think I'd be right now...
Am I going to forget something really important? Probably. But what's worse, I'm sure I'm going to bring stuff that I won't even end up using (which will waste a lot o' space in my luggage, potentially preventing me from bringing back cool french stuff).
Did you know that they speak French in France? Like ALL THE TIME? Sure, you say that's obvious, but I'll be in France, which means that I'll have to speak French. ALL THE TIME. I guess I've technically been taking French for approximately half of my life, but right now, I have no confidence in my ability to coherently speak French to others, and I have no idea as to whether or not I'll be able to understand anyone.
I feel (and probably look) like this right now:
But fear not (I'm mostly talking to myself right now in an attempt to quell my minor freak out); these are problems faced by everyone going abroad (or so I'm told). If I forget something, I should be able to get an equivalent item in France, so that isn't even that big of a concern right now. And most people participating in a foreign language immersion program won't be perfect at the language at the beginning of the program, but the biggest reason for going (other than the ladies) is to perfect my command of the language. I'm sure I'll face struggles my first week or two, but once I'm used to France and get in a rhythm, I'm sure I'll be fine.
Now that I'm done venting, I'll update y'all on my preparations:
They've told us that, in order to maximize our immersion experience, we have to do our best to fit in, which means dressing like the French. Ergo, I've bought a bunch of clothes that (I think) the French would wear...
Like skinny jeans...
I BOUGHT A PAIR OF SKINNY JEANS.
[here's a break for laughter]
WHAT HAS THIS WORLD COME TO?!?!
[another pause for laughter/dramatic effect]
Anyways, that's all for now. I'm set to land in Paris in 96 hours (from the time that I wrote this sentence, including the words contained by these parentheses if you want to get technical), and after writing this post, I've managed to relieve a lot of my stress, so now I'm getting pretty excited for the trip. I'll maybe write another post closer to my departure (most likely as a means of procrastinating from packing).
Au revoir tout le monde! (I thought I should maybe practice a little bit of my French)
Am I going to forget something really important? Probably. But what's worse, I'm sure I'm going to bring stuff that I won't even end up using (which will waste a lot o' space in my luggage, potentially preventing me from bringing back cool french stuff).
Did you know that they speak French in France? Like ALL THE TIME? Sure, you say that's obvious, but I'll be in France, which means that I'll have to speak French. ALL THE TIME. I guess I've technically been taking French for approximately half of my life, but right now, I have no confidence in my ability to coherently speak French to others, and I have no idea as to whether or not I'll be able to understand anyone.
I feel (and probably look) like this right now:
But fear not (I'm mostly talking to myself right now in an attempt to quell my minor freak out); these are problems faced by everyone going abroad (or so I'm told). If I forget something, I should be able to get an equivalent item in France, so that isn't even that big of a concern right now. And most people participating in a foreign language immersion program won't be perfect at the language at the beginning of the program, but the biggest reason for going (other than the ladies) is to perfect my command of the language. I'm sure I'll face struggles my first week or two, but once I'm used to France and get in a rhythm, I'm sure I'll be fine.
Now that I'm done venting, I'll update y'all on my preparations:
They've told us that, in order to maximize our immersion experience, we have to do our best to fit in, which means dressing like the French. Ergo, I've bought a bunch of clothes that (I think) the French would wear...
Like skinny jeans...
I BOUGHT A PAIR OF SKINNY JEANS.
[here's a break for laughter]
WHAT HAS THIS WORLD COME TO?!?!
[another pause for laughter/dramatic effect]
Anyways, that's all for now. I'm set to land in Paris in 96 hours (from the time that I wrote this sentence, including the words contained by these parentheses if you want to get technical), and after writing this post, I've managed to relieve a lot of my stress, so now I'm getting pretty excited for the trip. I'll maybe write another post closer to my departure (most likely as a means of procrastinating from packing).
Au revoir tout le monde! (I thought I should maybe practice a little bit of my French)
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