In which I lose my feet to frostbite

Alright, that statement might be a little melodramatic, but that's how it feels.  It has been snowing or raining every day in the past week.  Since I thought I'd be laughed out of the country if I brought my warm and fuzzy UGG boots, I decided against it.  It turns out everyone here wears them!  So upset.  I am also stuck with three show choices until it warms up: black boots, brown boots, or green rain boots. How am I expected to make my mark on the fabulous world of Paris fashion if I have three shoe choices?

But then, miracle of miracles, it was sunny today!  My friend Jacqui and I spent the entire afternoon walking around the city.  It was beautiful, and when we were walking along the Seine, there was even an accordion player.  It was so stereotypically French we would not handle ourselves.

On our way home, we ran into a rally in support of gay marriage.  This was a response to the rally a couple of weeks ago protesting the legalization of gay marriage.  It was really cool because everyone was very peaceful and respectful.  They were just walking along the street with their signs, not trying to get into anyone's face.  Protests and rallies are so common in France that the police have specially made signs to block off roads, not just caution tape or barricades.

This week was really fun, but exhausting.  I come home every night and fall into bed, honestly it's so sad.  I'm 21 going on 100.  On tuesday, a few of us went to a fashion week party sponsored by a magazine.  It was definitely an experience, and something I would not have experienced otherwise.  We got our picture on the website and in the video too.  I am well on my way to becoming the toast of french society, as it should be.

The biggest news from this week is that I had my internship interview!  It was with the National Institute for Sport, Expertise, and Performance.  I would get to give tours, do translations, help organize their spring conference, and HANG OUT WITH OLYMPIANS.  That's right everyone, I get to eat lunch with the most elite athletes in the world.  Casual.  It is my dream job, and I find out tomorrow or the day after if I get it!  So nervous, but so excited.  

Next weekend, two friends and I are going to London for a few days, which I'm really looking forward to.  One more step in my plan to take Europe by storm!

In which Paul Bunyan and I have something in common (finally!)

UPDATE: The person above has launched a new offensive in their chair conflict.  They have moved their desk to the opposite corner of the room, perhaps in a strategic maneuver to take the chair by surprise.

I am too tall and too scandinavian for this country.  There, I've said it.  It's out there, we can all address it and move on.  Not only am I head and shoulders above most of the people here, but I also lack the grace and poise they seem to be born with.  I cannot tell you how many times I have bumped my head standing up from my seat on the metro or tried on a pair of pants that only comes halfway down my shins.  There are also a distinct lack of blondes here, a fact exploited on my friends when trying to find me in a crowd.  As the only tall blonde girl, I am a living highlighter marker.

What is this?  My arm doesn't go back any further, I am being discriminated against

This week classes got started for real.  I think I'm really going to enjoy my art history course.  I have never taken an art course outside of middle school, so this should be interesting.  Especially because the majority of the students in the class are art majors, so they actually know what they're talking about.  I am completely lost, but in a good way.  I went to an art show on my own this wednesday, one recommended by our instructor as the subject for our paper.  It was called the "Museum of Everything".  It is a contemporary art show, displaying works by people who never intended to show their work.  Most of it is stuff found in their basements or attics after their death.  By this logic, all the crayon scribblings I know my mother still has somewhere should one day be prominently displayed, and my achievements heralded as the greatest artistic achievement of the century.

One thing I'm really enjoying is walking.  Since you know that if you get truly lost, there is a metro stop somewhere nearby, it is very fun to just start walking in the direction you think you want to go.  After the art show the other day, I decided to go for a jaunt around Paris.  Knowing that my classes are around the Eiffel Tower gives me an easy landmark to work towards.  It was sunny for the first time since I've been here I think.  Of course, it was all a cruel joke since it started snowing that night.

This is not Google Images, I took this myself

I don't have classes on fridays, which is nice since it gives us a chance to explore on our own a bit.  I went to the Stadium down the road and poked around.  It is actually a huge complex, with tons of facilities in addition to the main field.  It also houses the French Olympic Committee headquarters.  I went in to see if there was a souvenir shop of some kind.  The woman at the front desk looked at me like I was some kind of idiot and said "No, the Olympics were in London this year, why would we have souvenirs?".  Of course! I am so dumb, why did I even bother coming in here when I should have hopped on a plane to London.  Thanks for nothing front desk woman.

Yesterday afternoon was a group outing to the Chocolate Museum.  Despite not being a huge chocolate fan, it was interesting and something I would not have done on my own.  We got to actually make praline truffles, using traditional chocolatiers tools.  Definitely an experience.  Today my friend Jacqui and I are headed to the Louvre to soak up some culture, ciao for now!

In Which I Get Down to Business....Sort Of

This week marked my first "real week" in Paris.  I moved into my dorm and got started with my BU program.  My room is decent, a little dingy but big.  I definitely think that it is about the same size as my freshman year double room.  My favorite thing is that I have my own sink in the room.  At least, it was my favorite thing until I discovered I have one because the bathrooms in the dorm only have toilets and I have to go back to my room to wash my hands.  And....some people have their own bathrooms in the rooms!  As a 21 year old female with long hair and an extensive beauty routine, I feel I should have been given priority for one of these pieces of prime real estate.  What does a GUY who is only going to be here for 2 months need his own shower for???  In other news, I have gotten my internet to work approximately two thirds of the time.  Notice that I did not say it doesn't work one third of the time, I'm really trying to look on the bright side here people.  The walls are a little thin.  The person above is apparently on the losing side of an ongoing battle of where to place their chair.  Why under the desk is not sufficient I may never know.

Orientation was...long.  A lot of it seemed like it could have been much more efficiently transmitted via email.  Like the syllabi for all the courses, I don't need you to schedule an hour to literally read a powerpoint to me.  I can do that all on my own, scout's honor.  My favorite part of it was trying some different french foods. We tried wines, cheeses, and desserts from four regions around France.  I'm not a huge red wine person, but I discovered an unknown love for apple tarts from Normandy.

I had my first French class on Thursday.  I am in the more advanced group of the more advanced track, but I still feel like I am miles ahead of everyone.  Not trying to brag or anything, I just think I'm not at the same level.  We were going over pronunciation points that I remember covering in the third grade.  This is going to be a long month and a half.

Today was really fun.  After our class on post-colonialism, my friend Jacqui and I grabbed lunch and walked over to our talk at the US Embassy together.  The walk was beautiful!  We passed the Eiffel Tower and then walked down the Champs-Élysées, oohing and ahhing at the stores we will never be able to afford.  It was still fun to pretend.  The Embassy talk was not so fun.  I am now convinced that all my belongings are going to be stolen and I am going to be kidnapped if I even set foot outside after dark.  My hypochondriac tendencies are creeping into my social life.

The view down the famous street

The actual sign!

Something out of my dreams

This too...sigh.

This is the president's residence, a French White House if you will

On the internship front, I got some good news!  I have an interview on January 25th with INSEP.  It is the French National Institute for Sports and Physical Education.  Basically, they give young athletes with high potential the chance to train at an elite facility while they finish school.  My duties, as I understand it, would be to help organize for when foreign delegations stop by, assist with translating and day to day work.  It sounds perfect for me.  Maybe I'll even meet some Olympians, since meeting celebrities is my only real passion in life.  Honestly though, this sounds like a great stepping stone for my dream of working for the US Olympic Committee.

This weekend I am exploring the "Défense" neighborhood for a class assignment, and hopefully doing some shopping.  Sales only happen twice a year in France, so the discounts are enormous.  Hopefully I can find something that will make my friends jealous (duh, my only goal) and still allow me to eat.

In which I make two horrifying discoveries

Bad news everyone.  I don't think that I am going to make it the whole semester here.  I found out today that artificial sweetener is not a common thing here in France.  I really don't think I can deal.  I do remember seeing some in a supermarket, so I'll have to stockpile it in my room, like a doomsday prepper or something.  This alone wouldn't be the end of the world, but I have also learned that straws are a rarity here as well.  I get the strangest looks when I ask for them, and usually they don't have any. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am obsessed with having really white teeth, and thus drink literally everything with a straw.  Getting botox for my wrinkled lips has got to be worth a lifetime of white teeth.  Between this and the no Splenda thing, this is my own personal apocalypse.  I am going to have cases of sweetener and straws stored in my room.  I'll probably have an emergency stash in my purse.

 

Why hast thou forsaken me???? 


On Wednesday, my sister, her boyfriend, and I went to the Musée du Quai Branly.  It's a pretty unknown museum right next to the Eiffel Tower.  It focuses on the indigenous populations of Oceania, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.  Definitely very interesting.  Fun fact: this museum was donated to the people of France by Jacques Chirac, the former president.  The best part was that the guard let us in for free!

The next day, we went to the Louvre in the morning.  For just 15 euro I got a year pass for young people.  I can get in for free whenever I want, and skip the lines.  Worth it.  We hit all the big spots (plus recreated scenes from The Da Vinci Code) and then went on to Versailles.  Definitely my favorite spot so far, if only because I can empathize with Marie Antoinette.  In the immortal words of Gretchen Wieners (from Mean Girls) "I'm sorry that people are so jealous of me, but I can't help it that I'm popular".  I'm pretty sure that's exactly how it went down with Marie.  Seriously, this chick got to be a queen, but also had her own mini estate on the grounds with a working farm and tiny village.  Best of both worlds.  It was really cool though.  I'm a history nerd, plus we got a free audioguide to get the most out of it.

Gates of Gold y'all, they just don't make 'em like they used to

Today was really fun as well.  We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower.  The last time I was in Paris, we didn't go up at all, so this was pretty cool.  We got really lucky with the line as well.  Just by walking to the back pillar, rather than the one facing the Seine, we got right into the elevator.  Paris has a lot of discounts for people under 25 as well, so we keep getting discounted rates.  We rode up to the 2nd floor first, then up to the top.  It was cloudy, unfortunately, and you couldn't see really anything.  Who knows?  Maybe they were lying to us about it being the top because they figured we couldn't tell the difference.  A neat thing they have at the top is a chart comparing the Eiffel Tower to other tall buildings in countries around the world.

View towards Montparnasse from 2nd floor

View towards top from 2nd floor

View from the tippy top

Tomorrow I move into my dorm room (finally!)  I get to unpack for the long haul, and I get my precious gym time back.  Being a vegetarian in Paris has been a major buzzkill, people look at me like I am off my meds crazy when I ask.  I asked one vendor if there was meat in a certain dish.  He looked at me in all seriousness and said, "No, no meat, just ham."  Thank you sir, I am a strict vegetarian with the exception of my excessive ham consumption.

My sister and her boyfriend, Joe, left this evening for the last part of their vacation to Amsterdam.  So now I'm alone.  I better make friends fast, which I'm sure will be no problem thanks to my beauty, wisdom, intelligence, all around great personality, and above all humility.

Thanks for reading, I'll leave you with a fun fact about Paris: there is no warning in crosswalks between  "Walk" and "Don't Walk".  This makes for some fun dashes across the street when it suddenly changes and you're staring down the headlights of a SmartCar.

                                                          

In which I do not meet Niall Horan

Bonjour from Paris!  I just arrived at my hostel.  I will be staying here for four nights before moving to my dorm where I'll be staying the rest of my time here.  So far....I'm not impressed.  The elevator doesn't work and neither does the wifi in my room.  But who cares?  I'm in Paris!!!!


I got really lucky with seats on the way here.  Like ridiculously lucky.  From Minneapolis to Chicago, I was in the first row behind first class, so like double leg room.  Not sure how this happened, I definitely didn't pay extra.  And, bonus, it was an aisle seat.  I like those better because I get claustrophobic of weird strangers on planes.  It's like riding the city bus, but you can't get off or move if the person is too weird.  I actually had aisle seats the entire way here, so lucky.  From Dublin to Paris I was in an exit row, so more leg room again!

Check out all that space, I got full straightenage here

I flew through Dublin on my way here, my first time in Ireland.  I geeked out appropriately over their accents and every red headed person I saw.  I was hoping against hope that my favorite boy bander Niall from One Direction would be there.  Sadly my hopes were dashed.  But don't despair!  I saw an LK Bennett store, and I know for sure that Kate Middleton has shoes from there.  Basically what I'm saying is that by walking in, I pretty much met her.  My life is complete.

    Kate Middleton and I are BFF's now                                                     ...but not Niall and me.

Other highlights thus far include hearing my favorite french artist on the radio already, being told by the cabbie that my french is very good, and discovering marmalade is horrible.  Who wants bitter jelly???