Bumpy re-entry

Entering the United States, was a much more chaotic and damaging event than any one had predicted it would be. I was arriving in the U.S. 4 days prior to my original date to surprise my lovely boyfriend. And it might have worked. If my planes landing gear hadn't exploded and shot up into the jet engine when we landed in Chicago O'Hare.

Just MY LUCK! 

I was totally the lucky girl who got to jump out of a plane on a huge inflatable slide. Obviously the United States wasn't happy to see me again. This incident was one of the most frustrating of my life. I had been awake for 36 hours, I just wanted to land in Grand Rapids, and surprise Nick after 3 months of being away. And instead I was detained for 6 hours waiting for the plane to be cleared, to retrieve my luggage, and board the next plane to Grand Rapids, Michigan. I finally arrived there at 11:30pm G.R. time. Which is 5:30 am Paris time. My surprise was ruined my faith in American airlines was ruined, but I was entirely all smiles.

I had just ended the most amazing summer of my life. I mean it ended with a BANG! But, I was home. I was home!!! I remember cuddling into bed that night, and thinking about my silly life. All of my friends agreed that I was totally the kind of girl who would crash land back into reality. No one was really surprised that this sort of thing had happened to me. And to be honest....neither was I!!

Because I left everyone hanging...

So, obviously the summer is over. I am back in the United States. I am back in Michigan. And I am back at Northern Michigan University. At first, I didn't miss Paris at all. I was just so happy to be home. I was so happy to have everything I am familiar with back in front of me. And then I went into the grocery store. I was overwhelmed by the choices in an American Grocery store. I was overwhelmed by the size of everything. It was hard to handle. I nearly broke down in tears trying to find some cookies. That was when I realized I missed Paris. I miss the lazy days in front of the Eiffel Tower, dinners with my host mother, the metro.

My last few weeks in Paris were amazing. I made it to all the museums I had wanted to visit. I went to the Orsay, the Orangerie, the Louvre, the Opera House, the Carnavalet. I went into Montmartre and wandered the streets with Annick. I enjoyed all the french treats I had grown to love. I visited the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame. I wandered the streets, and said good bye to all the things that had grown so familiar to me. I was a Parisian then. I had become the girl who could ride the metro without smiling to ward off unwanted attention. I could order anything off the menu in French. I could guide tourists along the metro with ease. I could even scoff at the influx of visitors to Paris.

I was in love with Paris. But, there was so much appeal to leaving. I felt like my time there was over and done with. So I took a vacation from Paris, and met my high school best friend in Rome, Italy. I liked Rome. The pasta, the monuments, the history. I think the Colosseum ended up being the high light of my summer. Seeing Ariel there was an experience. I see her only about once a year, and here I was exploring foreign lands with her. And it was AMAZING. I did get lost on my entry into Rome, I got off the bus on the wrong side of the river. I didn't have a map. But, I found my way to where I needed to be. And although a little late and a little scared, I arrived safely.

Traveling alone is something so empowering. And so terrifying. I prefer traveling with someone, I decided. But, the things I learned about myself in my journey from Paris to Rome and back to Paris were monumental to the person I'm becoming. I arrived back in Paris, on August. 3rd, and stayed for three nights there saying goodbye to my new love. On the morning of August 6th, I returned to 4 Rue St. Hubert. And met up with Annick my lovely host mother. I picked up my excess luggage and she took me to the bus. Saying goodbye to her was like saying good bye to not only a great friend but also your grand mother. I boarded the bus. With teary eyes and said  "au revoir, Paris."

La Fete Nationale-Bastille Day

Today, is the French National Holiday. Bastille Day celebrating the capture of the Bastille on July 14th, 1789. My host mother woke me up at approximately 9:50am to come into the living room for breakfast and to watch the Parade on T.V. Now, in the U.S. on July 4th  I'm usually seated on the curb in the proper location to pick up free candy. But, in the French capital in order to grab front seats you need to get there at 5am or earlier and wait for the parade to start at 10am.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying the day off from school. The thing to do in Paris on the 14th of July is to watch the concert in front of the Eiffel Tower on the Champs de Marse and then to watch the fire works display (feu d'artifice: en francais). The fireworks display was possibly not the most amazing I've ever seen, but it was played in perfect timing to Broadway songs.

In between singing and capturing a few photos of the Eiffel Tower and all the fireworks, I couldn't help but think to myself "God, what an amazing summer."

How to Survive as an American in Paris

1) Make sure to start your day with a lot of Nutella, they don’t eat things like eggs and potatoes here so be prepared to eat lots of bread and Nutella. Don’t skip the coffee you’ll need the energy.
2) Do not wear athletic shoes with the exception of Converse. The French have three looks Super Buisnessy, Frumpy Gypsy Thieve, and relatively normal casual dress. Don’t worry you won’t be able to pull of any of these looks like the French do. So be prepared to wear a lot of super pointy high heels, tights with your shorts and lots of scarves. This season flowery genie pants are also an alternative.
3) Never leave the house without your metro card.
4) Bring an IPOD or book (in French) on the metro. It acts as two things a distraction device for you and a cock block device for creepy French men.
5) NEVER smile. Just don’t refrain at all time. This is the number one give away that you are american.
6) Rarely say excusez-moi or pardonne…because they won’t say it to you. Be prepared to have your personal space invaded. Make a game out of invading others personal space (creepy but it will help you fit in)
7) Never use a map. And carry a baguette under your arm or in your bag.
8) Drink a lot of wine. But, not too much because the French will not tolerate drunkenness…soooo watch yourself.
9) Eat stinky cheese, and don’t shower. It is okay to be smelly, you’ll fit in just fine. It does take some getting used to.
10) If you get homesick you should do the following buy some chips, coco-cola, and chocolate and watch an american film on tv. there will be one. do not worry. (right now, Miss Congeniality) it will be in French but it will be recognizable.
11) If you want to get into a typical French debate ask anyone about Nickolas Sarkozy…or just mention America.
12) This is only the first part of surviving as an american in France. tooooo be continued.

Back in Paris. 4 weeks left.

I've been back in Paris for about a week and a half. After my trip to Amsterdam I'm finding it more and more difficult to appreciate Paris. I have began and finished my first week of classes at the Intermediate 2 level. With a professor I can't stand. My cynicism is growing profoundly stronger each hour I pass with this woman. Apparently, it is completely in the French fashion to treat 21 year old students like 2nd graders. I don't appreciate, understand, or accept this fact.

On the other side of things my host mother Annick, who I have grown to adore, has decided to take my learning of the French language into her own hands. As a fluent French and English speaker she is helpful, all be it frustrating. We are now implementing French only dinner times. And I've come to realize that one of the only things I can say here with full and utter confidence are "Bonjour," "Merci", and "Je vais prendre ma douche." The latter meaning "I'm going to take my shower." These have proven to be completely useful statements.

Although I feel really down and out about French right now due to my morning professor I will admit that my two afternoon professors are amazing. With them I feel as if I'm learning French and like I'm not completely useless at it. It's nice to have someone competent as a professor here. I kind of wish I had my teacher from last semester at least he treated us all as adults and was organized.

Whenever I get to fed up with France I just try to remember that my time here is over half way over. I have 3 weeks left of classes and trying to cram the left over sightseeing in. I have one week in Rome with my best friend. And a few days back in Paris, until I board the plane back to Michigan. For the mean time I will enjoy these gorgeous sunsets, picnics and days spent in from of the Eiffel Tower. Mais, Michigan, je te manque.

Amsterdam, Holland

After a day running around Mini-Europe with a bunch of Belgium 5th graders, my travel partners and I split up. They got on the Train headed for Paris, and eventually the United States. I hopped a train to the Netherlands. For 3 hours, I sat on a crowded train. I wrote in my journal listened to music. And had many people try to speak to me in Dutch. I apparently look much more Dutch than I do French (which is mildly understandable due to my Finnish heritage which is much more similar to Dutch than French.)

I arrived in Amsterdam, alone and melting in the 90 degree weather. Lucky for me my hostel was only a 5 minute walk from Central Station and the staff was very nice. So I took a shower (an amazing gift for any traveler) and went to the local grocery store. I bought things that I'm still not sure about what they were. But, I absolutely enjoyed the local delicacy stroopwaffel. It's two mildly crunchy waffle cookies with a type of caramel/toffee in the middle. I could have lived off of those. My first night I wandered around. Looking for a place to have a nice drink. I found one with a wonderful bartender at place called the London Bridge.

I've never felt as international as I did drinking an Irish beer, in an English Pub, speaking French, in Holland. It was a great night. I got back to the hostel around 11 and decided to rest up for my excursions the next day. I started off the day by wandering through Amsterdam looking at Tulip Markets, Rembrandt's statue, Dutch Houses, the outside of the Van Gogh museum (should have went in but there was a huge line), I ended up at the Heineken Factory. The tour there was 15 euros and a lot of fun. You learn about the history of Heineken and the process of beer making. At the end of the tour you get to taste the beer...3 glasses of it.

After the Heineken museum I wandered more, around the canals and side streets, and met some wonderful dutch people. Upon, returning to the hostel for some lunch I met a few of my roommates. Two lovely Irish girls who invited me out to a pub crawl with the 4 Irish  boys they came to Amsterdam with. I don't want to go into detail here, as I feel mildly like what happens during a pub crawl stays in a pub crawl. But, the night ended with me guiding 4 drunk Irish people back to the Hostel in the dark. I'm so glad I'm great at paying attention to my surroundings.

I finished the trip to Amsterdam the next morning with a delicious breakfast and a traditional Amsterdam coffee. I boarded to train for a 3 hour journey back to Paris...which ended up to be a 4 hour journey. It probably took me 3 days to recover from my trip to Brussels, Bruges, and Amsterdam. But, it was really worth it.

Bruges, Belgium

I love Bruges. It's known for its quaint architecture, cobbled streets, canals, and chocolate. Sounds like my kind of place. We arrived early in the morning to a dead little Bruges, which gave us all enough time to explore the streets, and take some cool shots. After we explored town a little we made a few finds, the first being that Bruges chocolate was about half the price of the chocolate we bought in Brussels. And it tasted just as great. We also discovered that there was only one real way to see Bruges, and that was by boat.

So, we each payed the 7 euros to board a boat with 30 strangers and take a tour in French and in English (oddly enough it was easier to understand the French portions.) It was a very neat ride. My absolutely favorite part was when the tour guide pointed out that almost every time he gives a tour there is one dog who just sits in the window and watches. The first time we passed the doggy in the window was not there. When we turned around to return to the dock he was waiting for us.

In the afternoon the sun shine came out and we walked all over residential Bruges in search of their Wind Mills. Which we found and were absolutely adorable. We also saw a group of swans three ducklings and a mother Swan. The ducklings were molting and it was cute to watch them shed their baby feathers.  We also climbed to the top of the Belfry Tower 366 steps to the top...366 winding tiny steps to the top. It was rather terrifying actually.

 

The Bell Tower had a very cool markings all around the window sills that tell you how far away and in what direction certain cities are. We were so excited to find the Paris marker! To end our day in Bruges we stopped by their biggest church and took pictures of the Michaelangelo Statue there.  Very neat. 

We returned to Brussels happy, but a little sunburned. So we found ourselves some real food, NOT CHOCOLATE. And then headed to bed, excited to visit mini-europe the next day and get our super tourist on.

Brussels, Belgium

I've spent the last few days traveling around Belgium and the Netherlands. It was an absolutely amazing and enjoyable experience. I figured I'd have a lot to say about each place so I will break it up into three blogs. The first is Brussels.

I headed to Brussels with three girls from my program. Lisa, Katie and Rachael. We all had to make up at 4am on the morning of June 25th, to catch the 6am train to Brussels from Paris. We arrived in Belgium at slightly passed 7am, and hopped a taxi to our hotel. The taxi driver was nice and polite and spoke only french with us, (this is something you don't often see in Paris.) The hotel concierge gave us maps and marked all of the good chocolate shops down onto a map for us.

Day One: Mission: CHOCOLATE!!!! We started our walk into town with the goal of enjoying some breakfast. We walked into a little boulangerie hoping to purchase some croissants when a group of Belgians saw us and invited the group of us to eat our breakfast at a huge table. They were a rowdy group and had just finished up a night on the town (if you know what I mean.) They were very interested in making multiple marriage proposals to us, and also about Obama. Oh those Belgians...but, we got a free breakfast out of it so, it was worth it.

After that we wandered around aimlessly and it was lovely. We found a gorgeous church, park, and open air market. We also, went into about 10 different chocolatiers. We got hot cocoa at cote d'or, and it was without a doubt the best hot cocoa I've ever had. EVAR. It was also the perfect pick me up for a cold drizzly Belgian day.

We ate a late lunch consisting of waffles...YUMMMMM! Belgium was all in all a lot of delicious sweet food-eating. We also saw things like their city center and their biggest Brussels tourist attraction the Manneken Pis...which is an 18in tall statue of a little boy peeing! They even dress him in different costumes during the year. He was a funny little thing. He's one of their biggest souvenir ploys too.

The Picture above is Katie and I eating the Manneken Pis's waffle (this statue is like 10 times larger than the original and possibly more fun!) And the picture below is my chocolate banana waffle...which was amazing. But the fork they give you to eat it is seriously 2.5 inches long and half an inch wide. NOT a Proper waffle eating instrument, that's for sure.

 

After all our food adventures, the girls and I retired early to prepare for another early wake up call and a voyage to the Belgian town of Brugges. (Post on Brugges to follow....)

Fête de la Musique

True Life: Yesterday was filled with music. Even though it was raining the metro was filled with music, the streets filled with music, and even the cafes. You could here it everywhere even sitting in my bedroom you could here techno music from the streets below. On la fete de la musique, Paris is crazy. First off there are like 8 places in the city they recommend avoiding due to large crowds and pick pocketing. But, we went to a few of those places and never ran into a problem (However, some lovely french boys did ask me if I sold drugs...bizarre fellows.)

There's not much more to say about la fete excepts that it happens every year on the 21st of June, partly in celebration of the summer solstice. It is seriously a free 24 hour concert on the streets of Paris, and other cities and countries around the world.  There is music here for everyone. And the whole city has absolutely been in an uproar with all the excitement. :)

I'm moving to the Loire Valley....

It's official. I'm moving. To the Valley of the Loire, where the wine is delicious, the chateaux plentiful and the people so nice. This weekend was filled with visits to three different french chateau. The Blois Chateau (pronounced Bl-WAHHH), the Chenonceau Chateau, and the Chambord Chateau.

Bl-wahhhh!

My favorite was the third castle we visited the Chambord, I could live there. It was used as the inspiration for Disney's Beauty and the Beast Castle. :) I couldn't help my self from singing a little to myself as we arrived. I was a little surprised the locals didn't pop out at me and say "Bonjour, Bonjour, Bonjour!" But, I'll have to just accept that fact. lol. Included in this visit was a row boat excursion around the Chateau. I won't lie. My arm muscles are a little wimpy after all the walking I do in Paris, and the lack of upper body strength I've been using. So, rowing was tough especially against the wind! But, all in all we made it back to the dock and never tipped the boat over. Much to our surprise.

Chambord...my new home! jk

The other chateaux we visited were all super gorgeous and hearing about the history was really interesting. After taking FR310 French Civilization and Culture this past winter semester I was kind of giving our tour guides a run for their money when we discussed Henry of Navarre and Queen Margot. I wasn't surprised by how thick the blood of French history runs, but I was still a little mystified by the underground world of Kings and chateaux for their mistresses.

Chenonceau

The last and most important thing about this weekend to tell all of you is that the hotel clerk in Tours told me that I had a beautiful French accent, and he didn't hear those very often! Thank you Nell Kupper, you've taught me well!

I think it's important to mention that I totally forgot my camera in Paris. And have stolen these shots off the interwebs....but since I found them so easily through google, I figured I was just making things easier on you.

QUICHE

I'm developing a pastry addiction. I'm hoping my hips will not show this upon my return to Michigan but, let's face it I've always been a large girl. I'll just look at it as extra padding for the hard winter ahead...Yes, that is how I will rationalize my daily pastry habit.

My tart and Quiche

Today, its a sable framboise (or large rasberry tart) seriously this thing is about the size of a salad plate.  And a quiche. This is my lunch. Usually it's just a mid morning pain au chocolat. But, today after a long night out, I arrived at the apartment at approximately 5 am. After class, and after a much needed nap. I needed sustenance sweet buttery, cheesy, raspberry sustenance (not of course eaten at the same time!)

The best part about this pastry habit is that there is a Boulangerie a block away from my apartment in 3 different directions. I get my pick of good eats and I only have to walk a block, in hind sight I might start walking further to buy pastries....A baguette, quiche, and raspberry tart cost me a mere 5 euros :)

Here is a really unattractive photo of me eating the tart...purely as a reference for size.

One Hour Show

Today was all in all a little bit of a win. I had my first gyro (outside of the Wildcat Den) ever. And it was amazing. I found it (ironically) in the good old Latin Quarter right by place St. Michel. It was only 4,50 euros and it came with fries (inside the gyro.) I sat and ate my gyro over looking the Notre Dame. It's such an amazing and beautiful church. I'd totally live there if I could and it wouldn't be creepy. 

After the Notre Dame and an amazing lunch, and I'll admit a little bit of super touristy souvenir shopping I wandered wit some friends to the Marais district right around the Place de Bastille. All that stands there is a giant statue with a golden cupid, but I can't help marveling at the significance this spot had in the French Revolution. It was a gorgeous day to walk around the city. There was a lovely breeze and the sun was out.

After a relaxing afternoon I headed over to see a one man show on "How to be Parisian is one Hour" with my Study Abroad Program, by far the best excursion they have taken us on. No lies.  The one man show was great and now has me writing 12 potential one man shows in my head. There were so many great parts, most of which were simple facial expressions and a lot of it was very naughty. But one of my favorites was "Girls don't be stupid at a club. If a Parisian man invites you home for the last drink, he is inviting you home for the first sex.

June 14 (for lack of a better title)

Where else in the world can you be let out of your afternoon class to visit one of the loveliest gardens in Paris to view a photography exhibit, but instead end up lost in the garden's modern art exhibit? If you know of any where else, please contact my people.

During today's workshop afternoon class we were let out to explore a photograph exhibit at the Luxembourg gardens. For the life of me and the girl I was with we could not find it. Turns out it wasn't inside the gardens, but on the outer wall. Either way we discovered art to write about for our class. I'm not really one for modern art. I'm more of an impressionist girl myself. I've pretty much wanted to marry Claude Monet since infancy (any Tom Petty, but that's a story for another day) There were some really interesting pieces of art in the Luxembourg gardens today.

I enjoy moving art, I've decided. Video Clips in sync with music, a collection of hour glasses continuously counting time, series of photographs documenting the progression of time. The piece I fell in love with today I decided to call the "Relaxation Box."

It was a wooden crate of a room painted black with projection of waves crashing on the beach playing repeatedly to the tunes of smooth jazz. I could have lived in that room. Here is the artists website: Cynthia Phibel. This piece isn't up on the site yet. I wish I written down the rediculosly long name.

On a cultural note: The Parisians love to give everything a long name, and then come up with some sort of abbreviation for it. Par example: My school is "L'Institut Catholique du Paris" or simply "the Catho" I mean we do this in the U.S. but it's like a weird sort of hobby here to think up crazy long names that no one will ever call anything. Fun fun.

Two Posts, one day oh my!!!

So now that I have motivated myself to begin this blog for real, I've decided I should try to update it rather frequently and possibly with information about how I got started on my journey, and then with information about my journey here.

I'm a French and International Studies double major, scheduled to graduate May of 2012 from Northern Michigan University. I chose my majors because I find other societies fascinating, and I think that sometimes, America sucks. Yes, I live there. Yes, my parents live there. But, there are so many areas of the world that have a much better take on how to live their lives. That's what I wanted to study. I wanted to know that there was more to life then the view of a 21 year old yooper, who had only left the country once to visit Canada in the 4th grade. I wanted to explore more than the woods and Lake Superior.

I began my study abroad adventure by talking to the two lovely study abroad advisers at Northern. Susan and Miriam were very helpful on my search to study abroad. As was my department head Tim Compton, and Angie the ever appreciated IPO secretary. When planning to study abroad you MUST see these people they can answer any question you have and are amazing resources.

The next step really is choosing a program. There are hundreds out there. I choose to go through International Studies Abroad because they had the exact program I was looking for offered the months I was looking into and offering the credits I needed. ISA is not the only study abroad program out there and they don't offer every country but it's nice to look at more than one program and see what is offered there is nothing wrong with comparison shopping. Especially when it comes to something as important as choosing where and how you want to spend a month to a year or maybe more of your life.

After finding a great program comes the fun part. Funding, again the IPO will help you out. But contacting financial aid is a necessity. Also looking into things like NMU Foundation Scholarships and the Gilman Scholarship. Maybe even a Fulbright Scholarship. My advice on any of these scholarships is to apply early! Really early. I started my whole process about 4 months before I left for France. Barely enough time to fill out all my applications.

After these steps comes the packing part. Which you need to figure out all for yourself, since I'm really not sure how I shoved everything I need for these two months into one suitcase and a back pack (P.S. my suitcase probably would have fit in the over head...) So that part, the buying the ticket part (again kids comparison shop!), and the kissing your family good bye part is all your own. As is how you live ot your study abroad.

This is just the basic post on how to get the Study Abroad Ball rolling specifically tailored to NMU if you have any questions or comments on what you'd like to see in this blog please let me know. And don't be afraid to add me for more of my adventures as a pseudo-Parisienne.

Yeah...we visit her at least 2 times a week. Not really pretty in the day time. but gorgeous at night.

Bonjour!

I've been in Paris for three weeks and needless to say I'm exhausted (and today battling some sort of mystery illness.) So, I've finally forced myself to sit down and write about my experience. First off, after arriving in France I received notice that I was awarded a scholarship to study abroad here! Woot Woot. Second, I've been constantly running it seems since I arrived. I've checked half of my must-sees off my list.

• Eiffel Tower 
• Arc de Triomphe (still need to go to the top of both)
• Musee d'Orsay
• the Louvre
• Normandy
• Cemetery Pere Lachaise (Bonjour Jim Morrison!)
• Shakespeare and Co.
• The Catacombs
• Mont St. Michel
• Notre Dame
• Jardin du Luxembourg
• Champs-Elysee
• Versailles

This was about half of my original list. I've slowed down the sightseeing a bit since classes began. It's hard to go see everything when you are stuck inside a class room for 21-24 hours a week. But, I've been making sure to enjoy the little things in France like nutella, cheap delicious wine, fresh baguette, cafe, creme brulee, pain du chocolat, public transport, and just walking around the city. 

In order to help my french I've picked up a few books for 20 centimes or less to read. My prize win so far was a color copy of the Aristochats...lol. So now I'm breezing through a book about one of my favorite childhood movies in French. C'est marveilleuse.

So far my only negatives are the forwardness of French men, the complete lack of personal space here, and the lacking pleasantries. I like being able to walk to class and say hello to people and smile. But all around it's not too bad.

My favorite quote so far has been "If you give an American man an inch, he takes merely 1/2 an inch, if you give a French man an inch he takes 2 kilometers at least." Je trouve que ce n'est pas faux. 

Mont St. Michel (Tres beau, non?)