My little socal body is not agreeing with the weather report
lundi 30 janvier 2012
Alright so it is becoming harder and harder to drag my butt to my computer to blog as I keep meeting more and more people. So lets recap the last few days shall we.
Day 7
-First day of orientation at The American Business School (ABS)... it was dry, oh so dry and not informative... but I did get a chance to meet a great number of my classmates. So far it looks that in large our US class is comprised mostly of those from SFSU and USC (university of South Carolina...I know it bugs me too). After a brain sucking 7 hours of listening to lectures of learning about____ couldn't even tell you, we headed off to a boat tour on the Siene that the school organized for us. It was a cool perspective to see famous monuments such as the Notre Dame and Eiffel Tower. OH and I learned that the French have their own Statue of Liberty that the US gave them.... only it is about 1/7 the size. Fun fact, they face each other.
-After a long tiring day of orientation some of us were obviously in need of a drink so we wondered over to our local pubs happy hour and had a drink. There was a soccer game on and we made friends with some of the locals who were there for the game. I even had someone surprise me with a rose from one of the flower peddlers, made my night.
Day 9
-Orientation day two... dull, but better because they had us mix among each other for group work so we got to know new people. So far I have yet to encounter a person who I do not enjoy their company. All the students I have met are so eager to meet you, learn about where you are from, and go adventure and conquer this city. It is refreshing.
-ABS's student council held a club event where we were all invited with free admission. Needless to say we all decided it was on our to do list. As a house we decided to have people over prior to the club event and have a good time... well there ended up being about 20 people in the little apartment and all three of us are very thankful that we gave our neighbors a headsup earlier in the evening. The night was a major success and getting out of the confines of our orientation room helped us to all get to know each other in a way that the school can't help us with.
Day 10
-Needless to say no one was feeling their best at our morning orientation and when we were released at 12 all scrambled home to go back to sleep.
-Unfortunately I started to get sick and in an attempt to be able to go out the next day I stayed in on a Friday....It was a tough decision.
Day 11
-Woke up still sick but decided that I can not let that stop me from exploring. My roommate and our friend Ashley decided to go check out the local thrift stores..... let me tell you in Paris thrift stores are EPIC! for only 8 euros I got two gorgeous shirts, one I am thinking is from the 70s and the other is a modern shirt but on clearance.... SCORE. It is so hard not to walk out of these stores with a thousand leather bags, there are dozens of them, all authentic real leather, gorgeous with great craftsmanship... I dont know if i'll be able to help myself next time I go.
-Once again I stayed in to fight this sickness, however people were over at the house until about 11 so I was still able to be somewhat social.
Day 12
-I FEEL BETTER!
-ok so here is the thing about Sundays in Paris.... nothing is open. By law each business is required to be fully shut down for one day during the week. Given that the country's main religion is Catholicism the day most decided to shut down in the past is Sunday. We we American's being unaware of this did not grocery shop, which led us to adventure.
-Olivia and I took it upon ourselves to adventure to find an open grocery store... in 30 degree weather... at last we were able to find one with french onion soup mix (we have been craving french onion soup, but refuse to pay 8e for a bowl at a cafe) for only .68e! I also found a box of snicker ice-cream bars for only 2.5e for a box of six.... it was a good find this little shop.
-We had been home for maybe about 30 minutes when we got invited to a party by a DJ that Olivia had met previously in the week. We decided to check it out, and I can honestly say we were there for maybe 10 minutes before we decided it was not something that we wanted to be apart of. I have never judged people for taking part in any illegal activities, it is their choice, their body... I just prefer not to surround myself with those who view it as a normal coffee table addition, right next to their stack of magazines.
-after we abandoned ship we met up with some people we met during our 49ers sports bar adventure for a beer at a local haunt down the street from our place. They all go to a different school, so it was nice to hear about their program and the information they have been told, and in general just to meet more personalities.
-Olivia and I decided to walk home and face the cold.....even with my scarf wrapped three times around my neck it was still blistering cold and I was so happy to be back in the apartment with a bowl of soup boiling on the stove. It was an early night as two had classes the next morning.
-Day 13
-I woke up rather late, but given that I have no class today I feel that it is just my bodies way of kicking the last bits of this cold.
-My to do list for today
-- go to Monoprix (french target) and get school supplies
-- go to the bank
--meet with my landlord to get my keys for my studio (I MOVE IN TOMORROW!!!)
--blowdry dry my jeans that have been hanging dry for two days :(
-- pick out an outfit for my first day of school
-- pack up my suitcases and clean my room in prep to move out!
ok so now I am officially blogged out... i'll try to be better about it I promise
Day 7
-First day of orientation at The American Business School (ABS)... it was dry, oh so dry and not informative... but I did get a chance to meet a great number of my classmates. So far it looks that in large our US class is comprised mostly of those from SFSU and USC (university of South Carolina...I know it bugs me too). After a brain sucking 7 hours of listening to lectures of learning about____ couldn't even tell you, we headed off to a boat tour on the Siene that the school organized for us. It was a cool perspective to see famous monuments such as the Notre Dame and Eiffel Tower. OH and I learned that the French have their own Statue of Liberty that the US gave them.... only it is about 1/7 the size. Fun fact, they face each other.
-After a long tiring day of orientation some of us were obviously in need of a drink so we wondered over to our local pubs happy hour and had a drink. There was a soccer game on and we made friends with some of the locals who were there for the game. I even had someone surprise me with a rose from one of the flower peddlers, made my night.
Day 9
-Orientation day two... dull, but better because they had us mix among each other for group work so we got to know new people. So far I have yet to encounter a person who I do not enjoy their company. All the students I have met are so eager to meet you, learn about where you are from, and go adventure and conquer this city. It is refreshing.
-ABS's student council held a club event where we were all invited with free admission. Needless to say we all decided it was on our to do list. As a house we decided to have people over prior to the club event and have a good time... well there ended up being about 20 people in the little apartment and all three of us are very thankful that we gave our neighbors a headsup earlier in the evening. The night was a major success and getting out of the confines of our orientation room helped us to all get to know each other in a way that the school can't help us with.
Day 10
-Needless to say no one was feeling their best at our morning orientation and when we were released at 12 all scrambled home to go back to sleep.
-Unfortunately I started to get sick and in an attempt to be able to go out the next day I stayed in on a Friday....It was a tough decision.
Day 11
-Woke up still sick but decided that I can not let that stop me from exploring. My roommate and our friend Ashley decided to go check out the local thrift stores..... let me tell you in Paris thrift stores are EPIC! for only 8 euros I got two gorgeous shirts, one I am thinking is from the 70s and the other is a modern shirt but on clearance.... SCORE. It is so hard not to walk out of these stores with a thousand leather bags, there are dozens of them, all authentic real leather, gorgeous with great craftsmanship... I dont know if i'll be able to help myself next time I go.
-Once again I stayed in to fight this sickness, however people were over at the house until about 11 so I was still able to be somewhat social.
Day 12
-I FEEL BETTER!
-ok so here is the thing about Sundays in Paris.... nothing is open. By law each business is required to be fully shut down for one day during the week. Given that the country's main religion is Catholicism the day most decided to shut down in the past is Sunday. We we American's being unaware of this did not grocery shop, which led us to adventure.
-Olivia and I took it upon ourselves to adventure to find an open grocery store... in 30 degree weather... at last we were able to find one with french onion soup mix (we have been craving french onion soup, but refuse to pay 8e for a bowl at a cafe) for only .68e! I also found a box of snicker ice-cream bars for only 2.5e for a box of six.... it was a good find this little shop.
-We had been home for maybe about 30 minutes when we got invited to a party by a DJ that Olivia had met previously in the week. We decided to check it out, and I can honestly say we were there for maybe 10 minutes before we decided it was not something that we wanted to be apart of. I have never judged people for taking part in any illegal activities, it is their choice, their body... I just prefer not to surround myself with those who view it as a normal coffee table addition, right next to their stack of magazines.
-after we abandoned ship we met up with some people we met during our 49ers sports bar adventure for a beer at a local haunt down the street from our place. They all go to a different school, so it was nice to hear about their program and the information they have been told, and in general just to meet more personalities.
-Olivia and I decided to walk home and face the cold.....even with my scarf wrapped three times around my neck it was still blistering cold and I was so happy to be back in the apartment with a bowl of soup boiling on the stove. It was an early night as two had classes the next morning.
-Day 13
-I woke up rather late, but given that I have no class today I feel that it is just my bodies way of kicking the last bits of this cold.
-My to do list for today
-- go to Monoprix (french target) and get school supplies
-- go to the bank
--meet with my landlord to get my keys for my studio (I MOVE IN TOMORROW!!!)
--blowdry dry my jeans that have been hanging dry for two days :(
-- pick out an outfit for my first day of school
-- pack up my suitcases and clean my room in prep to move out!
ok so now I am officially blogged out... i'll try to be better about it I promise
mardi 24 janvier 2012
Day 5:
-so we woke up with a rather late start as we all stayed up until 5:30am watching the 49ers game. Once we finally got our juices flowing we decided to venture to Arch de Triumph... we walked our butts 4.49 miles and to be honest we couldn't even tell because there was so much to look at. I don't know if you were aware but yesterday the 23rd was the start of the Chinese New Year, so there was a show with a chinese dragon on the side walk that was really neat to watch.
-When we finally got to the arch, we were all astounded by exactly how large of a monument it really was. Personally I felt the most interesting aspect of the monument is on its underside. When you look up there is such intricate details carved out in the stone. You simply have to turn and look at something from a different angle to see new details that one would have never guessed where even there.
-After we ventured down Champs Elysees. Thank god we did because we found yet another delicious Panini shop as well as an H&M so I could grab a bigger purse (a map, gloves, water bottle, and umbrella was just not gonna fit in my current purse), and then success Jessica and I were finally able to find conditioner!
-We took the metro home because our legs just couldnt do it anymore, once we got home we all took to our rooms and rested. I made pasta for the house and then we were all asleep by 11pm
Day 6:
-Today we were awoken to what sounded like bombs going off outside our apartment, HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR! Apparently here in France it is acceptable to start drumming and firecracking at 8am... we were not fans.
-After a few cups of tea, our friend from school met up with us and we started an adventure to Sacre coure.... we never made it. We got about half way, and rain started pouring, we took shelter in a cafe and had a mixture of beers and coffee. Eventually we found our way back to the metro where we retreated back to our flat... but only after picking up two baguettes, two bottles of wine, a thing of bri, hummus, and tortilla chips.
- Sadly although we made it back home in one piece, my black boots sadly did not...never did I know that boots could split on the bottom. Sorry Mom and Dad... I will be purchasing new boots ASAP.
-We just finished our rainy day picnic, where Olivia and I taught the other two how to play rummy, i think we got the other two hooked... if you know me and my obsession with cards you can understand why this is a highlight of my day.
Mental Notes:
-Having just lived here for 5 days I can honestly tell you I have never been surrounded by such good looking people. This is not to discredit the physical appearances of the people at home, but the Parisians truly take pride in how they present themselves. Never have I seen a French woman out in just a sweatshirt and jeans, or no makeup. I unconsciously hold them at a higher standard. This got me thinking of how I wish to present myself in my everyday life. Why do I not take pride in how I leave the house everyday? There is no good reason, new goal for the duration of my trip/life, when I walk out of the door I want to be dressed in an outfit that I would be confident meeting, a future employer, love interest, or hell a celebrity in. YOU NEVER GET A SECOND CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION.
on that note I should start getting ready for tonight... little old me has a dinner date :)
-so we woke up with a rather late start as we all stayed up until 5:30am watching the 49ers game. Once we finally got our juices flowing we decided to venture to Arch de Triumph... we walked our butts 4.49 miles and to be honest we couldn't even tell because there was so much to look at. I don't know if you were aware but yesterday the 23rd was the start of the Chinese New Year, so there was a show with a chinese dragon on the side walk that was really neat to watch.
-When we finally got to the arch, we were all astounded by exactly how large of a monument it really was. Personally I felt the most interesting aspect of the monument is on its underside. When you look up there is such intricate details carved out in the stone. You simply have to turn and look at something from a different angle to see new details that one would have never guessed where even there.
-After we ventured down Champs Elysees. Thank god we did because we found yet another delicious Panini shop as well as an H&M so I could grab a bigger purse (a map, gloves, water bottle, and umbrella was just not gonna fit in my current purse), and then success Jessica and I were finally able to find conditioner!
-We took the metro home because our legs just couldnt do it anymore, once we got home we all took to our rooms and rested. I made pasta for the house and then we were all asleep by 11pm
Day 6:
-Today we were awoken to what sounded like bombs going off outside our apartment, HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR! Apparently here in France it is acceptable to start drumming and firecracking at 8am... we were not fans.
-After a few cups of tea, our friend from school met up with us and we started an adventure to Sacre coure.... we never made it. We got about half way, and rain started pouring, we took shelter in a cafe and had a mixture of beers and coffee. Eventually we found our way back to the metro where we retreated back to our flat... but only after picking up two baguettes, two bottles of wine, a thing of bri, hummus, and tortilla chips.
- Sadly although we made it back home in one piece, my black boots sadly did not...never did I know that boots could split on the bottom. Sorry Mom and Dad... I will be purchasing new boots ASAP.
-We just finished our rainy day picnic, where Olivia and I taught the other two how to play rummy, i think we got the other two hooked... if you know me and my obsession with cards you can understand why this is a highlight of my day.
Mental Notes:
-Having just lived here for 5 days I can honestly tell you I have never been surrounded by such good looking people. This is not to discredit the physical appearances of the people at home, but the Parisians truly take pride in how they present themselves. Never have I seen a French woman out in just a sweatshirt and jeans, or no makeup. I unconsciously hold them at a higher standard. This got me thinking of how I wish to present myself in my everyday life. Why do I not take pride in how I leave the house everyday? There is no good reason, new goal for the duration of my trip/life, when I walk out of the door I want to be dressed in an outfit that I would be confident meeting, a future employer, love interest, or hell a celebrity in. YOU NEVER GET A SECOND CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION.
on that note I should start getting ready for tonight... little old me has a dinner date :)
lundi 23 janvier 2012
Hello readers!
I am a girl who got bored, tired, and lethargic about the everyday proceedings of life. All of a sudden the motivation to excel and soak in all the things around me were gone, I wasn't excited by anything, it was as if a blanket of dullness had covered up my one time eager soul. This is not to say that fabulous moments with friends and family did not occur, but there was something missing, something that I couldn't place.
In an attempt to find that missing piece I decided to stop talking about making a change and just do it already, so in a rather last minute fashion that I have made an ever growing tradition in my life I applied to study a semester abroad in Paris, France. Low and behold the French let me in and now here I am, sitting in the kitchen of a two bedroom flat with two lovely girls who have been kind enough to house me until I can move into my own place in Paris freakin France.
So I guess in this blog I am going to share not only the events that occur while I'm here so the repetitive questions of family members can end, but to share the finding of that missing piece....whatever it may be.
So here we go let me fill you in on the last few days
Day 1:
-moved into Jessica and Olivia's apartment which was actually a really funny adventure. A small bubbly french woman greeted us eagerly and both parties were faced with the dillema of not speaking the other's language. With three pages of lease agreements to sign and go over the what would usually be 20 minutes turned into an hour long process. The landlord was really sweet and ran out to get us juice and muffins from the local market down the street while we settled in.
-After stuffing our bellies with juice and muffins it was obviously time to explore paris, but first things first... cell phones. All three of us having no skills in the French language would prove to be a handicap, so I enlisted the help of my friend Adam who I met last year while visiting. He made the process a breeze allowing us girls to simply point, he talk, and we pay. and bada bing bada boom we had cell phones... oh the glories of old simple T9 phones
-After Adam and I decided to walk around and explore the Bastille area of paris, but with a sudden rain we took shelter in a cafe
-Girls got to eat so after Adam dropped me off at the shared flat, we girls ventured to the grocery store where we quickly learned that the fresh produce available to us is going to greatly enhance our quality of life, as well as our pallets.
-9pm passed out
Day 2:
-woke up at 8:30am to darkness. The other two girls were still sleeping so I took it upon myself to practice my french for 45 min. I think I will make this a morning habit as it made me feel as if i started the day off productively.
-In an attempt to walk to the Eiffel Tower we got hopelessly lost... but i cannot complain about being lost in Paris. There is too much to see, to smell, to taste (hence the name of the blog) that i will never complain... unless it is snowing then i just might
-After stumbling back to our home later that day we googled how far we walked and it was about a grand total of 5 miles... pretty impressive i must say
-A friend then came and took us out to the bar scenes... and that is all you get to know
Day 3:
-walked to Notre Dame, which was surprisingly close...its amazing how much history is actually built into the city.... you are walking to the grocery store and pass a church hundreds of years old, its nuts and i am still at a loss for words as to just how to explain my state of aww when thinking about the concept of the combination of past and present.
-As tradition from previous visits to ND I lit a candle for my grandma OG and said my own version of a little prayer for her
-that night I met up with a sorority sister who had already been living in Paris for a semester and she introduced me to her friends, who are all great people from all over the world. Ate a fabulous dinner of creme pasta with salmon and a mojito.
-After it was time for a little bar hopping... end scene
Day 4
-1pm I woke up
-roommates and I got some delish falafels and window shopped
-two more girls from our program flew into paris that day so we invited them over to our place for wine and cheese before heading off on an adventure to find a sports bar that would be showing the 49ers game
-found a bar... but the 49ers lost... but it was an experience i will never forget
That is all I have for you guys at the moment... i'll try to be agressive at keeping this updated with my life actions and thoughts an enlightenments... but i must sleep... tomorrow brings more adventures...
I am a girl who got bored, tired, and lethargic about the everyday proceedings of life. All of a sudden the motivation to excel and soak in all the things around me were gone, I wasn't excited by anything, it was as if a blanket of dullness had covered up my one time eager soul. This is not to say that fabulous moments with friends and family did not occur, but there was something missing, something that I couldn't place.
In an attempt to find that missing piece I decided to stop talking about making a change and just do it already, so in a rather last minute fashion that I have made an ever growing tradition in my life I applied to study a semester abroad in Paris, France. Low and behold the French let me in and now here I am, sitting in the kitchen of a two bedroom flat with two lovely girls who have been kind enough to house me until I can move into my own place in Paris freakin France.
So I guess in this blog I am going to share not only the events that occur while I'm here so the repetitive questions of family members can end, but to share the finding of that missing piece....whatever it may be.
So here we go let me fill you in on the last few days
Day 1:
-moved into Jessica and Olivia's apartment which was actually a really funny adventure. A small bubbly french woman greeted us eagerly and both parties were faced with the dillema of not speaking the other's language. With three pages of lease agreements to sign and go over the what would usually be 20 minutes turned into an hour long process. The landlord was really sweet and ran out to get us juice and muffins from the local market down the street while we settled in.
-After stuffing our bellies with juice and muffins it was obviously time to explore paris, but first things first... cell phones. All three of us having no skills in the French language would prove to be a handicap, so I enlisted the help of my friend Adam who I met last year while visiting. He made the process a breeze allowing us girls to simply point, he talk, and we pay. and bada bing bada boom we had cell phones... oh the glories of old simple T9 phones
-After Adam and I decided to walk around and explore the Bastille area of paris, but with a sudden rain we took shelter in a cafe
-Girls got to eat so after Adam dropped me off at the shared flat, we girls ventured to the grocery store where we quickly learned that the fresh produce available to us is going to greatly enhance our quality of life, as well as our pallets.
-9pm passed out
Day 2:
-woke up at 8:30am to darkness. The other two girls were still sleeping so I took it upon myself to practice my french for 45 min. I think I will make this a morning habit as it made me feel as if i started the day off productively.
-In an attempt to walk to the Eiffel Tower we got hopelessly lost... but i cannot complain about being lost in Paris. There is too much to see, to smell, to taste (hence the name of the blog) that i will never complain... unless it is snowing then i just might
-After stumbling back to our home later that day we googled how far we walked and it was about a grand total of 5 miles... pretty impressive i must say
-A friend then came and took us out to the bar scenes... and that is all you get to know
Day 3:
-walked to Notre Dame, which was surprisingly close...its amazing how much history is actually built into the city.... you are walking to the grocery store and pass a church hundreds of years old, its nuts and i am still at a loss for words as to just how to explain my state of aww when thinking about the concept of the combination of past and present.
-As tradition from previous visits to ND I lit a candle for my grandma OG and said my own version of a little prayer for her
-that night I met up with a sorority sister who had already been living in Paris for a semester and she introduced me to her friends, who are all great people from all over the world. Ate a fabulous dinner of creme pasta with salmon and a mojito.
-After it was time for a little bar hopping... end scene
Day 4
-1pm I woke up
-roommates and I got some delish falafels and window shopped
-two more girls from our program flew into paris that day so we invited them over to our place for wine and cheese before heading off on an adventure to find a sports bar that would be showing the 49ers game
-found a bar... but the 49ers lost... but it was an experience i will never forget
That is all I have for you guys at the moment... i'll try to be agressive at keeping this updated with my life actions and thoughts an enlightenments... but i must sleep... tomorrow brings more adventures...
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