Strasbourg

Ok, so fast forward through a week of school where I was super busy but having fun!

On Friday CIEE (the group that runs my program) took all of us to Strasbourg for the weekend! We got on the train around 1:30 and Sarah had brought many delicious little snacks from some big food festival by her house. It took about two hours to get to Strasbourg on the TGV and I really enjoyed just staring out the window and enojoying the French countryside.

Finally we arrived at the train station, which was very moden and beautiful and we walked to our hotel. There are several rivers that go through Strasbourg (which later led to Hillary and I getting turned around after we crossed "the" (a) river and thought we were almost at the hostel).

Before dinner, we all went out to get a drink and somehow ended up at a looney toons bar. Like loony tunes like great america. Everything was yellow and blue and there were many pictures of sylvester and tweety. Tell me thats not a little strange. But the drinks were cheap so what can you do. I had a beer with some sort of lemon-lime something else going on. It was different but very interesting!

Then we went to dinner. Strasbourg is part of Alsace which is very close to Germany (and has been germany like 345403985 different times). The food is very hearty which is not my style. The resturant was ok except that i thought this one thing was apple jelly except that it was definitely some kind of cooked animal fat...i think...and it was disgusting or degoutant as they say in Paris!

The next day we took a guided tour of the cathedral in the morning. It is very large and very beautiful and you can see it from almost anywhere in the city. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping around and sort of hanging out. Hillary and I also took public transit (AH!) to go visit the buildings of the EU (Its the Parliament, the Council, and the Court) and we had a very nice time wandering around in the neighborhood out there.

On our way over to dinner, there was a little marching band concert going on in a square and we listened to that for awhile before going to dinner and eating the biggest plate of sausages known to man. In some, not my best dinner ever, but the wine was plentiful and the dessert tasty.

The next day we checked out of the hostel and saw an old german castle which I suppose was pretty sweet but it wasn't totally digging it. Then we went to--- MONKEY MOUNTAIN!

Ok, monkey mountain is pretty much the weirdest thing ever. Its this big open park where there are 280 monkeys. They sort of just wander around and walk up to you and you feed them popcorn. Then sometimes the monkeys fight. I wish there was a better way to explain it but thats pretty much it. So i fed some monkeys and was really sort of amazed/freaked because we do not have things like that here!

Finally we made our way home and it was the end of a nice weekend!

Its been awhile...

So a lot has happened since I last updated this baby!

I have been up to lots of Parisian things like going to class and trying to cook dinner. One of the many exciting things was I took a trip to Tours with my friends!

Tours is a nice small city south of Paris and in the heart of the Loire Valley (where all the chateaus are). We took the train down on Friday night and made our way to our sparse little hostel. We went out for dinner and were shocked at the reasonable-ness of dinner prices. I think that for better or for worse, Paris is pretty much the most expensive place EVER.

The next morning we hopped on another train and took it to Chenonceaux, one of the most famous and most beautiful castles in the Loire valley. It was occupied by several french kings queens and mistresses, most notable the Henri/Catherine de Medici/Diane de Poitiers trio. The chateau also served as a millitary hospital during world war II. What is maybe most interesting is that because it straddles the river that divided north and south, you could in through occupied france on one side and enter vichy france on the other--just through the doors to the cheateau!

We also tried out their little wine lable at the chateau and returned back to Tours to check out more shops and eat another tasty dinner. On Sunday we woke up and were suprised to see the Tours fun run-10k-20k running past our windows, and we all went out to enjoy the celebration. We also checked out an antique market as well as the beaux arts museum and the cathedral!

All in all, a pretty great weekend!

Malade Imaginaire and a Mouse

So today was Wednesday which is amazing because it is my last day of CIEE class for the week! Tomorrow I have university class on Fridays are free, so its sort of the weekend which means the week is short.

Anyways, after five hours of class today, CIEE sent us to see Le Malade Imaginaire, a play by Moliere. I was glad that we had read this in a previous french class because it is sort of complicated. Basically there is a man who thinks he is always sick so he gets a million doctors and is sort of insane and tries to control the lives of those around him. Finally, his servant dresses up and pretends to be a world famous doctor and "cures" him before he eventually becomes a doctor himself. Though often hilarious, the play is all about the consequences of self-deception for oneself and others.

The play was great-- our seats were not. Obviously CIEE did not shell out the big bucks for this one. So after going to the fifth (really sixth floor) we had progressed from nice red velvetly theatre carpet to literally unfinished floorboards with holes in them. Our seats were uncomfortable as all hell and you couldnt see anything unless you hung over the balcony. Beggars can't be choosers, but if you have ever seen Amadeus its sort of like being one of those peasants in the very top row (except we never got to meet wolfie in the end).

After the play, Margaret, Sarah, Hillary and I were planning on getting a drink, but were too distracted by the nutella crepes at a Moroccan resturant. We bought crepes on the street, but the owner was nice (so we thought) and let us sit down on the inside and use plates and silverware. This was nice since sitting down ususally costs more. We decided this was the best place for ever (chocolate nutella crepe was tasty) and that we would return. Then we saw a mouse. A mouse mouse. Like Remy from ratatouille except this thing did not make my crepe because it was busy spreading the bubonic plage or something. Very disturbing, but sadly enough not entirely suprising.

Gross Paris, just gross.

Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day with my first day of university class and then we are planning on going out for a little night on the town before our adventure to the Loire! Also I finally got my camera so pictures can now be posted!

Oh My!

When I read a comment from Karen that said my previous layout/colors were the same as the Men's cross-country blog, I knew it was time for a change. A big, fast, change.

Mundane Monday

Ok, after a crazy weekend like that what Monday wouldn't be Mundane. Today was a day of classes (I have seven class sessions a week and three of them were today). Things got done, Phonetics got better-- sort of.

Our phonetics teacher is legit awesome and crazy at the same time. The class started out as 6 people. We all had to wear nametags because she couldn't remember our names which is sort of weird because there were only six of us. Now there are only two of us, me and Christina. Christina is asian; I am not. Good ol' teacher still cannot keep us straight. This is not difficult. We look nothing alike. Its funny because I think she struggles more with our TWO names than I struggle with phonetics, which is a lot because phonetics basically is like doing a french crossword about russian history with your eyes covered and your hands tied behind your back, which is to say that it is most difficult.

After school I came home and went into domestic Katharine mode-- I did my laundry, cleaned (or maybe am cleaning or maybe am hoping to clean) my room and made a soup from scratch which I devoured because it was delicious. Then I wrote you some wonderful blog posts about my wonderful weekend which took a long time to explain-- especially considering that is only half of all the crazy things that happened along the way!

Now I am happy to do some schoolwork and start getting excited to:
1. Meet my french conversation buddy tomorrow
2. Go out to dinner with mom moms friends tomorrow
3. See La Malade Imaginaire on Wednesday
4. Do something fun on Thursday?
5. TRAVEL TO THE LOIRE VALLEY ON FRIDAY!!!

Craziest Weekend Ever Part Four- Sunday

Ok, so best night of our lives aside an everything, Sunday was a R-U-D-E awakening. After going to bead at 10:30am, waking up at 3pm, and eating three grilled cheese sanwiches (sandwhich bread is a lot smaller here, ok!?), I ventured out into the world for the debriefing session with the girls. We had found this one place where you could get any plat (which is an entree except not because entree is actually appetizer in France--get it?) for three euro with the purchase of a drink. When we asked about us they were like "Oh yea....that was three years ago." Hmmmm, dissappointing.

After wandering around and looking for somewhere cheap, we eventually splurged on 12 euro giant salads. Mine was very giant and very salady. The best part was that immediately we we laughing, the second we all got off the metro. Just thinking about our craziness and the fact that we actually stayed out all night (and this is not even considering margaret losing her shoe in the the Seine), every single one of us admitted that it had been the best night of our life. While it was also the longest night for most of us as well, there is something really powerful about knowing that. Even though we have only been friends for about 3 weeks, it seems like we have been friends forever. Knowing that none of us have ever had more fun than our crazy night together is something that I know will be impossible to forget. Thus, even though we took the metro ride of shame (twice) I would not trade it for anything!

Still searching to quench our desire for unhealthy food, we went to the gelatto place on Ile-St.Louis and gorged ourselves. You are only young once! We also bought a small change purse with a kitty on it to be our going out kitty money! Ahahahahahahah so clever and so not funny at the same time.

Finally, we all went our seperate ways and slept like logs.

The End

Craziest Weekend Ever Part Three- Saturday

So Saturday morning Hillary and I went and visited Hotel de Ville, the city hall here in Paris. This weekend was Journees de la Patrimoine, where some of the government buildings that are not normally open to the public have special exhibitions. In addition to seeing some sweet ballrooms and the mayors office, we contemplated the merits of 14 foot chandeliers and why anyone needs to many "antichambres."

Saturday night ended up being the craziest and best night of my life! We started out a Lauras and cooked and excellent dinner (which ended with a delicious chocolate tart compliments of Hillary) and some goofy games. We sat around and talked about everything from school to politics to how people in the south make their hair so poofy.

At about 11 pm we departed for the evening and went to this crazy place where the tables are bathtubs and the sound booth is a car. It was really cool but super crowded and hot, so eventually we hopped back on the metro to check out another place.

This is basically where hilarity begins and things turn crazy. Of course we miss the last metro by like two seconds because that is what always happens to us. So we go outside and try and decide how we are going to get to the latin quarter. We decide it is nice out so we might as well start walking. At this point we are trying to conserve our cab money because this is a big point of the whole evening. The metro closes at 2 and re-opens at 530. We figured that since we were just going to sleep over at Lauras (did I mention her host mom was out of town) we could all save money by taking one cab to one place. So we decided to hoof it.

Of all the people in all of Paris, what are the chances that we would run into the one and only Boris, our crazy Parisian friend, outside Bastille? I am going to guess one in two because whose voice did we hear calling "Hey..Margaret...Hillary...Margaret!" So of course we adopted Boris and walked on over to Footsie. When we arrived about a million years later, the bar was closed and it was 3am. At this point I was super bummed out! It was 3am, we had only been to one place we didnt even really like, and nothing was open. It seemed like the night was about to be a bust!

Luckily, Boris used his "fantastic" people skills to talk to people in the street, and eventually we followed some nice girls to a bar that involved the weirdest shortcuts ever. If I had a treasure map to get to this place I would never find it. So we hung out there till almost four, dancing like crazy people when the DJ played summer nights from Grease.

At this point I realized how totally insane things were. Of course we had left to go out pretty late, but it was four in the morning. Thats barely even night anymore! But there were still tons of people out! It looked like 11pm on a saturday night at college! In our little group of friends, we are the well behaved girls who never get in trouble and never stay out late, but there were were closing down a bar at 4 in the morning and going to hang out at another one down the street!

After visitng that bar and also seeing it close down, we went with a big bunch of people there to another bar down the road, which is obviously a place for bartenders and bouncers other nightlife sort of people (who else in their right mind is up at that hour?). We met this two crazy chefs (one of them was a fish chef) who were trying to explain all about cooking and the people they studied with, but of course this meant absolutely nothing to us.

When we finally left, the sun was starting to peek out over Notre Dame! Of course this was more or less the most horrific thing ever because we had actually stayed all night, which 1. we never intended to do (the metro had been back up and running for like, two hours, so our little cab plan in the end was pretty silly...) and 2. none of us are stay out till morning sort of girls! But there we were.

Then, the best part of the night happened. As we were sitting on the steps of the Seine, I was taking pictures of us. As margret smiled for a picture and crossed her leg, she inadvertantly KICKED HER SHOE INTO THE SEINE!!!!! As we saw it float away, a look of total shock swept everyones face. As Laura and I ran up and across the bridge to monitor the shoes motion, Laura started tearing off her jacket and dropped her bag, seriously contemplating going in after the shoe. As we saw the shoe begin to sink, I luckily persuaded Laura that it wasn't really going into the seine for a pair of Steve Madden ballet flats, even if they are really really comfy.

At this point, Margaret had no shoe. After we laughed and she cried for about half an hour, I noticed that the markets were setting up for morning. Even though we wanted to deny it, it was pretty much morning. One of the stands was a bird stand (like with a jillion little chirpy birds) and I asked the man for a plastic bag to tie around my friends foot since she lost her shoe in the Seine. Thinking that I was insane, he just started at me blankly. After realizing that I was being serious, he handed over a bag, which I lovingly tied around Margarets cold, now dirty foot. After a metro ride of shame (the morning people were coming out) we arrived at none other than McDo, where we proceeded to manger les frites and revel in our craziness.

Of course this was another time I really had to go to the bathroom, and another time when there was no bathroom. The ten minute walk from McDo to Lauras might have been one of the most painful experiences of my life both physically and emotionally. If you have read all this so far you can probably guess, but walking home at 9am after numerous wanderings, a lost shoe, and a McDo feast is probably not the classiest thing we could be doing on our Sunday morning.

After picking up the stuff we had left over at Laura's for the sleepover (I look back and now cannot believe I really though that I would need something to sleep in. That night soooo transcended sleepover...) and headed back for our second metro walk of shame, which was ultimately far more shameful than the first. Although we didn't really look like people who had been out all night (but lets face it we probably did), all the nice tourists were getting on to go to the Louvre. Actually the Louvre because that is the line we were on. While everyone else is preparing for a day of beautiful art at one of the best museums in the entire world, wearing their cute little sweater vests with their homemade little sandwiches in their bags, we are hiding behind our big sunglasses counting down the seconds till sleep. Again, what could possibly be classier.

Although I cannot imagine that staying out all night is something that is going to be a regular thing (I sort of hope it never happens again), I am so glad it did. Not only do I feel a little bit more like a real Parisian now, I spent the most wonderful night with some of the most wonderful girls in the entire world. Studying abroad and leaving all your friends from college to go to a new country where you don't know anyone is not easy, but with friends like Hillary, Margaret, Laura, and Sarah, I would be excited to study abroad in Antartica so long as we could be together!

While my mother and any other adult who is reading this is probably shaking their head in shame, I know you were all young once too, even if you don't remember and you did crazy things when you were twenty too. This is what leads me to believe that even when we get the unapproving stare from middle-aged people on the Metro, I am pretty sure it is only 10% unapproving, 80% knowing, and 10% jealously knowing that we are just some fun, young, happy girls who had the best night of our lives!

Craziest Weekend Ever Part Two- Friday

Friday was another wonderful day in the sequence of the best weekend ever. After sleeping in late, I met up with Sarah, Hillary, and Margaret (poor Laura has Friday Class) and we attempted to go to a fashion museum which actually turned out to be the Baccarat Museum. If you thought you've seen nice crystal you haven't until you have been to this museum. If is in an old mansion by Trocadero and is all about reviving the spirit of being super duper rich and having ginormous crystal things that dont really do anything. So basically it was amazing!!!!!! The snooty hostess person said we couldn't take pictures but we did anyways!!!!!!!

Then we went on an epic quest to Thanksgiving, an American grocery store here in Paris. While I could not afford to pay four euro for a box of kraft macaroni, or a whopping nine euro for a box of oreos, it was nice to see. Amid the boxes of pancake mixes and children's cereal, I felt a little less nervous about the rest of my eight months here in Paris. In the end, I opted for a an of Dr Pepper (which soooooooo sadly does not exist here). For 1.5 euro, it was most certainly the best Dr Pepper I have ever had! (We all got Dr Peppers and savored them)

We then wandered around in the Marais, a very cute neighborhood in Paris, and found THE BEST street in the entire world. It is the paper street and it has every little fancy overpriced correspondance card you ever fell in love with. There were the most beautiful leather journals and fancy pens. Pretty much I just wanted to learn calligraphy and go to the countryside to write letters and feel accomplished. Margaret bought a beautiful journal at this store that was going out of bussiness. Good thing I didn't have any cash with me, but I am seriously contemplating a return in favor of some of their fancy little pen ink sets!

Eventually we all went our seperate ways, only to meet up again later to go out! We started out at the Frog and Princess, an Australian bar on a street actually called Princess. It is actually a microbrewery which was pretty cool, especially since Paris is not really a big beer place. It was super hot because the power went out and the air-conditioner died. We were also stalking this one table for almost two hours because these two men who were ALMOST DONE THE ENTIRE TIME were being table hogs. I gave them my evil eye but I don't think they cared at all.

This place ended up being a ton of fun though because Aaron Moy, one of my friends from high school, came out because he is studying in France too, so it was great to see him. Eventually we metro-ed it over to oberkampf to go meet Margaret's conversation partner. After some weird wanderings, we finally found where we were going. Unfortunately there was a long line to get in and Laura and I had to go to the bathroom like there was no tomorrow, so we ran off down the street to this empty little corner bar where we got a beer just so we could pee. To the bartender, this was pretty much the weirdest thing that ever happened.

When we ran back up the street to everyone else we found out we had to pay a 5 euro cover to get in. Realizing that we could get 2 euro beers back at crazyman's bar down the street, Laura and I ran back, with Aaron in tow, to go hang out at ye olde corner bar. Actually it was a lot of fun and the bartender was telling us all about his travels in america.

After leaving we were in serious need of some McDo so we wandered for about 45 minutes looking for one (I discovered yesterday that there was literally one around the corner but we sure didn't see that one now did we?) and got the best mcdo milkshake ever.

However of course, thanks to my photo taking, Aaron and I missed the last metro connection! Disaster! So we decided to walk to Chatelet where we could get the night bus.

On our mile long hike, who did we run into but Sarah, Michelle, and Kelly? What a weird world! When you only know about 100 people in Paris, running into three of them at two in the morning is pretty random. While Michelle walked home and Kelly took a cab, Sarah joined us in pursuit of the night bus.

On the way we ran into a bunch of crazy people (is that a suprise or what) and also took pictures wearing bunny ears to be a part of some girls art project. Finally we found the night bus, which didn't really drop me off all that close to home, and finally, at 330, I fell asleep the second my head touched the pillow.

Craziest Weekend Every Part One- Thursday

So tonight Margaret, Sarah, Laura, Hillary and I went out to meet some of our French friends near Bastille. We went to this crazy Irish pub where all the bartenders wear backpacks (but there is nothing inside of them...) and they play lots of 90s rock. Since we knew the words to a lot of Greenday songs, we were pretty much the coolest people who had ever been there (apparen

Margaret and I made a friend who wanted to show us how hip he was with his music on his I-touch. Needless to say, he was another one of those people who goes crazy when I saw I am from Chicago because thats where ER takes place (or took place like ten years ago). The French are a little behind. It was a lot of fun to see Alex and Mika our French buds and it was a nice way to end the school week!

Trip Planning!!!

Right now some of my friends and I are planning on taking some trips!

The first weekend in October, CIEE is taking us all on a trip to Strasbourg for the weekend! I am very excited because 1. It is free and 2. Strasbourg is supposed to be beautiful!

The weekend after that trip, my friends and I are planning a short trip to the Loire Valley to see some of the castles out there! I am soo excited to do that!

Then for our fall break in November, we are planning a trip to spain for the week, going to Madrid and Barcelona. I am really hoping to get to see the Barcelona Pavillion too. We will see, but I am hoping to book soon!

Things I Miss About America!

France might be the center of food, fashion, museums, blah, blah, blah and all that stuff, but there is some stuff about America I really miss!

1. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese- As the primary staple of my diet, its a little dissappointing not to eat this four times a week. Word has it that there is an American grocery store named "Thanksgiving" (hahahahaha) that might have it. Scooby-Doo macaroni, here I come!

2. Captain Crunch- Cereal is not really a big deal here, or at least every box just has a lady's midriff with a measuring tape around it and somewhere has the word bikini on it. Or the cereal is more or less pure chocolate and made for 3 year olds. Even I can't stoop low enough for some of the french cereal.

3. Bottomless Sodas- Even though soda rots your teeth and everything, nothing here in France is bottomless. I think its just not very french to sit down and drink 2 liters of Coke. Not that I would sit down and drink 2 litres, but I just wish I could if I wanted to without paying a 20 Euro tab at the Cafe.

4. Milkshakes- Really not many milkshakes here...might have to go to good old McDo (as the french say) to enjoy a slice of America.

5. Cookies- I saw a pack of like 16 Oreos for 4 Euro. Thats like $5.50 for SIXTEEN cookies. Give me a break. For $5.50 I can get like two big things of cookies, a gallon of milk, and sit in the backseat of my car and feast!

6. Jimmy Johns and Noodles- I don't eat out that much, but I would give anything for a #6 no tomato right now. Like anything. Clean my room even. Maybe unload a dishwasher even (ok thats sort of extreme...). ANYTHING!


Maybe all of the things I miss are "bad" for me, especially since a Katharine sized serving of any one of these things probably is going to be at least 1200 calories, but I miss them so much! If you are reading this right now, please go eat something very unhealthy and think of me!!!

P.S. 7. I also miss Jamba Juice and smoothies of all shapes and sizes.

A Night at the Florimond

Last night, I went out to dinner at Le Florimond with my mom's old boss from GAO and we had a blast. The resturant is just around the corner from my apartment and is a local favorite. When I told my host mom I was going there, she pretty much went crazy with excitement, she since and some friends go regularly a few times a year. After raving about the host Laurent (who wears crazy ties) she assured me I would have a great time.

Leslie and I met for a dinner reservation at 7, which is still early by Paris time. In the end it worked out perfect though because we stayed for three and a half hours! We ate some delicious food (I can't lie, dessert is always my favorite) and I loved the chocolate mousse and some tasty monkfish. Leslie and I talked all about the different places she is volunteering now that she is retired and we talked all about visiting and living in Paris. It was the perfect night out on the town.

Today I had Phonetics in the new class, since I am switching times. I still have the same teacher, but there are different kids. For whatever reason, I like the new class way better. I think it is a combination of them being a little more ahead, having a generally higher level of french student, and also just having a small group of calm and collected people. I am going to try to keep my chin up and get this phonetics stuff down, but I can lie-- its difficult!

I also finally picked my universirty class! I am going to take twentieth century history at Paris Diderot. We will see how it goes! I am a little nervous, but I am sure that everything will work out fine!

Italian to French to English

Today I woke up at 1pm on account of my nasty cold. After some lounging in bed and gobbling of spaghetti, I went out with Margaret and Sarah to see a movie. We were trying to go see this Truffaut movie at the good old filmotheque, except so were about 34598734230975 other people, so we didn't get in.

Luckily, there are a lot of other cinemas in the neighborhood, so we popped into one down the road. One of my secret movie fantasies is to just go to a movie knowing nothing about it. Not who is in it, what it is about, anything. When we walked into the Champ0 (quite a deal might I add, only 3.5 Euro), Parfum de Femme was starting and that was that.

The movie started, and there were subtitles and the charachters were speaking in Italian. After about ten minutes we realized that this was not going to be a temporary thing, but rather that the entire movie was definitely going to be in Italian. Of course, we pick the only movie not in french so we can hear the italian, read the french, and pray for our english to translate. Suprisingly, it was actually very easy, but still laughable.

We also realized about ten minutes in that this is the original Italian version of scent of a woman. I had only vaguely heard of the American re-make and I don't know much about Italian film, but this movie was phenomenally amazing. Basically it is about a man who was injured in the war who is on a journey to meet his friend in Naples and carry out a pact. At time it is heartbreaking, at others hilarious, but it has quickly escalated to one of my favorite movies of all time. I reccommend it for anyone!

Anyways, its now a relaxing Sunday night and I am about to take care of some last minute homework and tidy up my room.

Goodnight!

Not a Cold!

Oh No!

So I think I have officially moved into the territory of having a cold. I am not sick (that would be one thing), but I do seem to be a ball of sneezy congested mess.

I am definitely not happy about this, especially because I never catch colds. Somehow a lot of people got sick when they came here and I think I have caught the second wave of things. Drat. I have sort of just been going about life as normal going out and doing things, but I think I need to take it at least a little bit easy this week to make my cold go away! I did sleep for almost eleven hours last night, which will probably help, but we shall see!

Musee D'Orsay and The Discotheque

Yesterday we visited the Musee D'Orsay, which is the impressionist art museum here in Paris. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the cord that connects my camera to my computer, but the museum is very beautiful and location in one of the old train stations in Paris. We saw many, many beautiful and famous paintings, but also some odd ones. How about a creepy painting of the angel of death visiting a teenage girl. Add some dead flowers, pearls, and a big bear rug to that equation and you have one very odd painting.

Last night, we visited a Discotheque called "Le Showcase." We got there at 11pm so we wouldn't have to pay the 10 Euro cover, and then bought one beer for five euro. Even after saving the cover, it was looking like it was going to be a one beer kind of night. Anything other than a beer, like cocktails, were 12 Euro!!!!!!! Thats like 16 dollars! Holy Cow!

Expensive liquids aside, the club was fun. At first there were not a lot of people, but as the night went on more and more showed up. There was a really cool band who had crazy music and even crazier dance moves like Molly Ringwald in the Breakfast club. Also there was a huge mix of people ranging from students and tourists, to some people with some VERY fancy shoes/jewelry/handbags/pants/tops/dresses.

In the end, it was good to see the discotheque, but as I sort of imagined-- its not really for me. In addition to despising the phenomenal profit made of 5 euro beers and 12 euro cocktails (though I get it, you are paying for the drink AND just to be there), the loudness, drunkenness, and flashiness of the whole scene just isn't quite my style. Too loud to talk, too expensive to snack, too crazy for a Katharine like myself! I am glad I saw it, but 2am is definitely past my bedtime!

La Filmotheque

Already I have found this great little movie theatre to frequent. Its in the Latin Quarter, but on a street you would never go down unless you were very lost or looking for something. Just two blocks of Boulevard St. Michael, this little theatre is more or less a hole in the wall. With a lobby the size of a dorm room, after getting a ticket you go down some dangerously steep steps and find yourself in a movie theatre for about forty. The two rooms (a marilyn room and an audrey room) have a very musty smell with some sweet crushed red velvet covering the seats.

So far I have been to the theatre twice and two days. One of the themes of the month is Francois Truffant, so I have already seen Les Deux Anglaisses et le Continent as well as Jules and Jim. Later this weekend I am going back to see Les Quatre Cents Coups. Just like my Kemper Award of Miss Independant (give me a break), I have been venturing out myself to see these movies. Its really relaxing, escaping the chaos of the city to sit in this dark musty basement and watch classic french movies in the middle of the day.

One funny little American comment is they dont have any candy or popcorn! I suppose it makes sense that when you see a film you should be paying attention, not eating. I understand and appreciate that, but it still didn't stop me from sneaking in some gummi bears. I am happy to go be a snotty little hipster watching old movies in a basement, but without some secret candies I am nothing.

First Full Weeks of Classes

Today is Friday, my favorite day! For the first time in my entire life, I do not have class on Fridays which mean every week is a four day week! This means that I have a lot more time to find really interesting things to be doing and more time to figure stuff out for myself.

This week was out first week of classes at CIEE. I am in four classess there -- a grammar class, a conversation class, a phonetics class, and a writing workshop sort of class requires for students taking university classes. Suprisingly, our grammar class is great because we have a really energetic lady. Although it isn't especially challenging, I am finally learning and understanding all those little grammatical nuances you learned in 8th grade when you weren't actually paying attention. For the first time, someone has been able to explain those little odds and ends to me in a way that really makes sense to me!

I also like my conversation class, and the workshop will definitely help me through my university class, which I think is going to be History of the City, which my dad would think is hilarious. Even though I think I am so different from him, I always end up being interested in the things that he loves.

The only class that was a little tricky was our phonetics class. Even after two classes, I pretty much have no idea what is going on. There are four other people in the class, and we are all sort of in the dark. I bought the textbook yesterday, which I think is going to help a lot, but geez oh man. I think part of the reason we are all confused is because the professor is actually a speech therapist, not a teacher. As a result, our learning styles and her teaching styles are a little bit disjointed, but I am sure things will improve with time.

Overall, my classes are not difficult at all, especially by Beloit standards. I am actually very happy about this. My grammar class is very useful, and I learn a lot in it. Conversation is fun, and phonetics will really help me out. My university class will require some serious effort, so for now its nice to just relax.

Ou est le supermarche????

So this morning I woke up and my family invited me to go with them to see a Mahler concert in the park, which is nice, but I had to go and do my grocery shopping. Oh dear.

Yesterday I did a little tour of the neighborhood and they showed me where everything is. Too bad I forgot almost everything. So after getting pushed out the door to shop (because most everything is closed on Sunday afternoons and evenings), a wave of moderate panic swept over me. After running around the neighborhood with a crazy look in my eye, I finally crumbled and asked someone in a panic-ed broken french is they knew where a supermarket was. Of course the young man looked at me like I was totally insane and told me there was one a block away, which I sort of knew the entire time. There are FOUR supermarkets within two blocks of my apartment. How I had not yet run into one of them was just bad luck.

So after finally finding the grocery store, I went in. Not only was it totally pandemonium, it is not like an american grocery store. People here have a totally different conception of personal space, how to walk in aisles, all that. I am not saying that its necessairly better in America, but if there is some code of conduct here it is more or less impossible to decipher. I ended up getting:

Spaghetti
Sauce
Cereal (but I forgot the milk)
Some Cheese (but I forgot the bread)

As my old roomate Val would surely say "Go Katharine"

Incidents and Accidents like this are the best, worst, and hardest part of living in Paris. I know how to grocery shop and I know how to speak French, but at the same time I have no idea how to shop or speak. Every banal, basic task from home becomes an adventure and an ordeal.

Looks like tonight will be some spaghetti and dry cereal!

So Delicious

France is officially the tastiest place in the world.

I was looking online at airline tickets and apartments for my parents when when come, and my french family asked me if I wanted to eat a small meal/snack with them. It was like 10:30 and I was getting pretty hungry, so I said yes of course!

It was delicious times 4357834209437858903257.

First we ate a greek salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, feta and other tasty things along with pita, three types of hummus and olives. After that we ate a cheese course and I ate three different types of delicious cheese. After that I ate the best mango in the entire world. Then I ate some grapes and figs (fresh figs and dried figs). This was a light meal/snack.

France is so tasty I never want to leave. I mean, I want to go home eventually, but I just sort of want to keep France in my purse or something so that whenever I want a mango I can just grab it out of my magical France bag full of the tastiest food in the world.

Move-In Day

It's Saturday night and I have finally left the hotel and moved in with my family. After waiting almost twenty minutes for the teeny-tiny elevator at the hotel this morning, I finally crammed in the elevator with my massive hockey bag of stuff before hauling in from the elevator into lobby. I might look crazy with that ginormous thing, but there are a bunch of people who have two huge things of luggage!

I arrive at the apartment around noon and met my host mother and host father. We sat down and had the most wonderful lunch I have ever eaten. We started with a delicious round of a hazelnut-raisin bread, a delicious ham, and some cantelope. After that we ate a pasta with octopus (or maybe squid, hard to tell en francaise) in an ink sauce. After that we ate cheese. Then we ate the best ice cream in Paris, which comes from Ile-St. Louis which my family got just for my arrival. It was delicious but now I am sooooo full!

After that we took a walk around the neighborhood so I could learn where everything is before we took a nice walk by the Eiffel Tour and sat at a nice little cafe there where some adorable french kids were having a nice little birthday party.

Now I am back at the appartment catching up on some random e-mails and goofy things that I probably should have caught up on before I left, but such is life I suppose.

I am really excited for the week ahead! Classes start on Monday! I will be taking four classes through CIEE and hopefully one class at the University here in Paris. Also, my french family will be hosting another exchange student who is coming from Germany. It will be really nice to have another student here in the house. I think it is a girl, but I cannot remember. It will be nice not only to have someone else to hang out with here, but also for cooking and grocery sharing.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera adapter thing at home, so I havent been able to post any pictures yet, but my mom is sending it in the mail so soon I can share my pictures with all of you!

Katharine

Welcome to Paris!

Greetings from Paris!

I have now been in Paris for almost a week, but have been so busy that there has been almost no time to write!

The first few days were hard! After flying out of O’Hare at 6pm, I arrived at Charles De Gaulle at 9:30 in the morning. Even though we had time to sleep on the plane, it was almost impossible from my tiny seat in the back of coach. All the people in my program picked up from the airport and took us to our hotel, where we will be staying until we move in with our host families this Saturday. After a full day of activities (and about 35 hours of no sleep) we finally got to sleep!

The next few days were orientation days, where were learned a little bit more about life would be like as students at CIEE and also more about being a student in Paris and living with a family. I will be living in the Seventh Arrondissment in Paris, which is right next to the Eiffel Tower. I am so excited to meet my family and can hardly wait to see the Eiffel Tower every morning on my way to school.

So far I have already done a lot of sight-seeing. As a part of our program, we rode the Bateaux-Mouches (sightseeing boats) up and down the Seine and took a tour of the area around Notre Dame. Some friends and I went to Centre Pompidou, the modern art museum, and explored the surrounding neighborhood.

Right now we are in the middle of a intensive language program that will last the entire week. Most days I have classes in the morning, and the afternoons free to explore and get ready for school. I am in the middle of picking all my classes at CIEE and the university and trying to complete all my paperwork with the French government and also get my metro pass. I will be happy when everything is set to go and the school year officially starts (on Monday) because paperwork is the worst!

After so many days of being on the go all day and all night, I am looking forward to relaxing at the hotel tonight. Believe it or not, our hotel room is messy and I am happy to have a calm night of watching crazy French tv and getting my stuff together for the big move on Saturday!

Katharine

Test

This is post is a test of my new Paris blog!