You all knew.

So, I got home yesterday and it's just been absolutely amazing being home. I love it and I missed it so much while I was in Paris. 

When I came out of customs after a crappy morning at the crappy CDG airport, an 11 hour plane ride and customs (of course) that I completely missed my boyfriend standing right in front of me waiting for me. Well, he was dressed like a chauffeur, which he had always joked about doing; he was holding signs that I read, just like in Love Actually, and the last one asked me to marry him in french. Then he got down on his knee and proposed to me. It was the sweetest thing ever and such an amazing surprise. 

Then I found out that pretty much EVERYONE knew about it. LIterally everyone. So I'm writing this but you all knew it way before I did. 

When I take pictures of my ring I'll post them. Hopefully by Sunday I'll have them. 

I'm surprised that everyone kept the secret, I'm proud of you all. 

Even though it couldn't have been that hard, since I was in a different country...so don't get a big head about it. 

Typewriter

So, I'm at a week countdown now! 

I really am so excited to go home but the more that I think about it the more I know I'm going to miss it here, and the more I feel like I haven't done anything while I've been here. I don't know how much I'll miss the city itself, but I'll definitely miss my host family and the friends I've made at IES. It will be so weird going from seeing them each and every day to not seeing them at all! 

This last weekend I spent Friday at EuroDisney with Amanda! It was so so much fun; just like being back home!! We rode pretty much all the rides we could. There was pretty much NO ONE there! It was awesome because the longest line we waited in was maybe 30 minutes, and that's only because it broke down part way through! The rest of the lines were like 5 minutes or just walk on! It was so much fun. It was gloomy and rained pretty much the whole time, but I know that's what kept most people away, so I'm ok with that!

Then Saturday I spent the whole day with Rebekah and it was so much fun! We had lunch at an awesome boulangerie and then went the the Centre Pompidou, the second biggest modern art museum in the world! I took pictures for a dossier that I have to do for my history class and we walked around for a good 2 or 3 hours! The museum was so cool, and I wish so much that I had gone there before now, because I would have loved to be able to spend more time there. Then we hung out around Paris and went to the biggest Christmas market in Paris that's out at La Defense. The Christmas markets are cool, but once you've been to one you've been to all of them, and they're not that great. But it was way fun walking around and making fun of all the junk that people were trying to sell at ridiculous prices. 

I got to study all day Sunday, and still didn't get everything done that I wanted to get done. O well, such is life. 

The weekend before last I went to Amsterdam with Amanda, Bonnie, and Karlene! It was so much fun and such a beautiful town. I had heard from a number of people how pretty it is but you just can't understand how cool it is until you go! We went to the Van Gogh museum and did the Ann Frank house and it was so so so awesome. Ann Frank was such a cool girl. We also walked around the Red Light district, which was quite intriguing and way funny. Karlene and I kept to our every two week routine, and now I won't see her until January! But it's ok, because after that I know I'll be stuck with her every single day. ;)

Anyway, this weekend is going to be a lot of studying for finals next week. And I HAVE to make it to the Cinematheque (film museum) or else I fail at my career path, another place I can't believe I haven't been since I've gotten here. I'll get all my sight seeing in and do plenty of studying, and I'm sure have a great weekend! 

Hope everyone is doing well! 

It really has been fun.

So, I have less than two weeks until I'm on my way home! I really can't wait, I'm so ready to get home and be normal agian: eat normally, work out, have motivation to do things, be able to bake, be creative, and (of course) be able to see the people I love. 

France has been an amazing experience, but has also made me realize that I never want to live here. Not even just Paris, but France in general. It's an amazing country to visit and I'd love to come back someday (especially the south) but it's not a place I ever see myself living. So, I'm ready to get back to Fort Worth and finish up college and see where life takes me from there. 

This week is the last week of classes and the week after that I have four finals and then I leave on Thursday the 18th!!! I feel like I haven't had ANY motivation to do homework at all. I have papers to write, tests to study for, and class blogs to write, but I find myself doing other things instead of anything productive all day. I get really frustrated with myself, but just can't get motivated in the slightest. I think over 50% of it is my environment. I still don't feel completely comfortable in my host family's house, feeling like I should stay in my room and do homework instead of at home when I'd go in the dinning or living room and work. I haven't found anywhere in Paris to go and study, people look at you weird if you go to a cafe and study, and Starbucks (all of them) are always so so packed (like lines out the door packed). Also, to add to the non motivation, the oldest daughter in my host family is home for a month before she goes to start grad school in Australia. Great. She's literally a chain smoker (can't put the things down), her room is right next to mine, and she BLASTS her music, and I don't think she likes me. Awesome. So now instead of just being frustrated sitting in my room I get to feel even more cut off because I have to keep my door closed constantly unless I want everything to smell like smoke (no thanks). And I get to listen to her crappy music too.

Also, Parisians suck (probably not all of them) but for the most part. I'm pretty sure one day soon I'm going to loose it and start screaming when someone shoves me out of the way or pushes me to walk faster. Stop touching me. I get that you're annoyed with me, but I'll bet you I'm about three hundred times more annoyed with you...and I'm taller than you. So stop and everything will be fine. And don't even get me started on French men. Mme. Schein was 150% correct when she told me not to talk to them. Everyone needs that advice before they come here. There's even a facebook group dedicated to how sleazy and creepy they are. Literally all of them. I haven't met one yet that isn't. 

I just can't wait to get home. 

However, I am going to miss the girls I've met here ridiculously. I can't even begin to think about what it will be like to not see them everyday. 

And I really have enjoyed my time here. :)

SDF

Each day that I have been in Pairs I have thought about what it would be like to be homeless. Not that I never thought about it before I got to Paris, but i think about it so much more often now. 

Ever since middle school when my mom took me to volunteer at the Union Gospel Mission, I've had a heart for homeless people. And I know that Fort Worth has a problem with how many people we have without homes and I knew it was a problem everywhere, but I never new how bad it was until I got to Pairs. I feel like everywhere I go around her I at least see one homeless person (or maybe not homeless but without enough money to be begging, or faking it, i don't know). I'm sure I see more of them than the average Parisian because I frequent the touristy areas more but even on my walk to school there are two that are there all the time. 

And the homeless people here aren't just single people homeless. They sit on the metro steps or on the Champs Elysee holding their sleeping children. When I see the children I just want to pull my wallet out and dump it in the change collection cup. But I don't, and I fell guilty until I get off at the next metro stop and see a group of completely wasted homeless guys, or get harassed by one on the metro. 

I always feel like I should do something to help them, but I don't want to give them money because I don't know what they're going to do with it. I don't want to give them money if they're just going to go buy booze or drugs. Because that's what a lot of them do. One night we gave a guy all of our left over food from a pick-nick. I liked doing that, and wish I could do it more, but I don't know where to do it or who to give it to. I feel like they should deserve it, like they should be something to actively get out of the situation they're in. Not that I think the others don't deserve to eat. 

Anyway, I think I've decided to try and get more involved in volunteering next semester and over winter break. I don't have money to give, but I have time, and I think that's even better than money. I don't know what I'll do, but I'll figure it out. 

I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to be homeless, or to grow up in a family that's homeless. And when I try to it makes me so sad; I feel like I can't just sit around and think about it anymore; I have to do something to help them. Especially the kids. 

I read about a girl who started a running club with a homeless shelter that she would run by. They started to run together and ended up running the city marathon. I'd love to be able to do something proactive like that, and not just serve food and be done with it. 

Let me know if you have any suggestions. 

Wa Na Na, Jack Bandit

So, I bought a Nickelodeon Rewind series on iTunes and Doug is on it, along with some other awesome Nicktoons that I miss o so much. And I forgot how amazing that show is. I just hope that one day I'm able to be involved in a show like Doug. One that is fun and entertaining but also gives kids a good role model, and, of course, is successful. 

My parents came in this past weekend! It was so so good to see them and to get to show them around Paris. We did a lot of the touristy things but I also got to show them where I go to school and they got to meet my host family and see where I'm living. We had dinner with my host family Sunday evening and it was quite fun. Everyone did a great job with the language barrier, and it was really funny because my parents got to experience first hand what any American in Europe does...Being asked about Obama. At least now it's not, which are you for, but what do you think about (finally!). 

We went to the Musee Carnavalet which is two huge houses that have been converted into a museum of the history of Paris. It wasn't as cool as I was expecting but I think my dad liked it a lot, so I'm really glad we got to go. Plus I'd been trying to get there for like a month!

Saturday we went and toured Roland Garros!!! (the stadiums where the have the French Open) It was so cool to see the different stadiums and then to go onto the main one and realize how small the stadium is compared to Wimbeldon and the US Open stadiums. We got to see the press boxes and the players locker rooms. The coolest part was getting to see the stairwell onto the court because the players sign it every time they walk up to play a match. And they have little markers so you can actually tell who's signature it is. 

It was an amazing weekend, and it was sad to see them go, but really great to realize I only have 3 weeks left. I feel like it's been forever since I've been home, and am so ready to go  back. I'm positive I'll miss it when I do get home though. So for now, I'll enjoy each minute possible so I can look back and remember how much fun I had. 

Good Craic

So the past two weeks have been absolutely crazy. Chrissy came to visit for six days and I had an amazing time with her! We rented the cutest apartment ever for a week down in the Marais (my favorite part of Paris). We had so much fun and it was amazing being able to cook dinner at the apartment and not have to worry about spending a ton of money on dinner every night! We did all of the touristy things like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre and Notre Dame but we also went to Pere Lachaise Cemetery which I had never been to before and it was absolutely amazing! When we first walked in most of the grave markers in the tombs were from the 1800s and everything was so old and neat. We say Jim Morrison's grave, Edith Piaf's, and George Melies'. It was a really great place and I can't wait to go back. 

Then this past weekend I went to Dublin to visit Karlene. 

I can't even express how much I loved Dublin. I had an amazing time hanging out with Karlene and just walking around the city. Everyone asks what all we did and we did really do that much but it was just a blast. We went out for one of her friend's birthdays Friday night to a bar and it was so fun. I had my first beer in three months (amazing, I'm getting tired of wine and kir) and I felt so comfortable there. Not like here where I'm constantly worried about the creepy french guys creepin up on me and my friends when we go out. 

Then Saturday we went to Kilmaihnam Prison (way cool) and went shopping. Saturday night we just hung out at Karlene's apartment and I tried sticky toffee pudding which is really good but also really rich. Then Sunday we walked around Dublin more, we went to the National Gallery and walked along the river. Fun stuff, minus having to carry my backpack around the whole time, but it was well worth it!

I had my first hamburger in three months too!!! And it was pretty much the best I've ever had. We went to Joe Burgers which was probably the coolest restaurant I've seen in a long time and my burger had some type of yummy relish, applewood smoked cheese, and apples! It was sooo soooo good. And we had sweet potatoe fries. mmmm

Anyway, I loved Dublin and really want to go back someday, and maybe even live there at some point, that would be awesome. 

My parents are coming tomorrow morning!! I'm really excited to see them and show them around Paris, it will be a lot of fun! Everyone else's parents have come so now it's my turn! :)

Only one month left!! I can't believe how fast it's gone by but also how long it feels like I've been away from home. 

...and that I graduate in less than seven months... < : 0

Cupcakes

Again, it's been too long since i have updated everyone!

IT'S ELECTION DAY!! I'm excited to wake up tomorrow morning and find out who our new president is! Polls close at 9:00 am our time, so it'll be perfect! So, don't forget to vote!! :)
The weekend before last I went on a day trip with IES to Provins, a mideavel city about an hour and a half away. The trip was interesting but not near as fun or cool as I thought it would be. O well, we had an amazing lunch, if IES is good at one thing that's feeding us well!

My family left this past Thursday to go on vacation for the weekend, and I was really excited to have the house to myself! That night I had Rebekah, Bonnie, and Amanda over for dinner and we made mexican food! We made guacamole with extremely unripe avocados which turned out more like pico but it was still good! And tacos and I made cupcakes for dessert!! We couldn't find the right things to make icing in the store so we ended up just using Nutella for icing! lol. it was good and we almost ate the whole jar of Nutella. We also had Marguerittas! It was nice not having to pay 12 euros for them! and they were delicious. That night made me realize just how much I miss being completely comfortable in a house and not constantly worrying about what I'm doing. My host family is amazing and I'm so lucky and happy that I live with them, but it's still not the same. So, I'll be so so glad when I'm back home and comfortable with my surroundings!

This past weekend Karlene came to visit! It was so good to see her even though it felt like we had just been together (which we had)! It was soooo cold friday and Saturday and it rained all day Saturday (boo). We had made plans to go down into the catacombs (which would have been prefect with the rain) but alas they were closed for All Saints day (boo again). So, instead, we spend the day shopping in Galeries Lafayette, an indoor shopping center, since everything else in Paris must be done outdoors. We had fun though! That night we went to dinner with Remi and Antoine and then went at saw W. (an absolutely horrible film). Sunday was a lot of fun, not sunny but not raining which is really all that matters. We went to the Eiffel Tower sunday morning and then went to Rue Mouffetard for lunch at a little tarte restaurant that was amazing! After that we went to the Musee D'Orsay (which was free because it was the first Sunday of the month) and that was really cool. I think we both decided we like the Louvre better though. More history, cooler building, and more interesting paintings (not a huge fan of impressionism! :)

So, we had a balst, and I can't wait to go to Dublin and visit her!

This weekend Chrissy is coming to visit!! I can't wait to see her and for her to see the city! We're renting an apartment in a really awesome area of Paris. She'll be here until next thursday and then that Friday I leave for Dublin. :) busy next week and a half!

I'll add pictures when I get home. I'm at IES using a french keyboard set to American settings, glad that I was forced to learn how to type! :D

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Nice is nice

I voted yesterday!!!!!

My first time voting and it's amazing! It's nice to actually believe in what your candidate is campaigning for and really believe that they can and will do what they say. I just really hope that my vote will actually count for something. It was really awesome to put my ballot in the mail and know that I voted for the next American president!!

This weekend was so much fun in Nice! It's such a beautiful town and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to go! It was sooo nice to get to hang out with Karlene too! I didn't realize how much I missed her!! :) And I get to see her in about a week too! lol

Friday we went to Eze Village, a small mediaeval town between Nice and Monaco, which was pretty interesting. The old town is up on a hill and it's kind of built into it, which is pretty cool. Then we went to Monaco but it was night by that time and the last bus (before the night buses that started at 11) left at 8 so we had an hour to find the bus stop from the very vague maps at each bus stop. We got dropped off somewhere at the top of the hill and had to find our way down through a series of very sketchy looking stair cases.

But we finally made it and it was really beautiful at night! I would like to go back during the day sometime! 

Saturday we went to Cannes and walked around for a little while and hung out on the beaches! It was really nice but the sand was like sand box sand and left a nasty film on your skin, which was no fun. But it was still nice to get to lay around on the beach in the sun! That night we went out to eat and then went down to the water in Nice. The beaches in Nice are pebbles which is really neat because when the waves was over them they make a really cool noise clacking together!

I've been obsessed with John Mayer's cover of Free Fallin' since we went to his concert this summer. It's an amazingly beautiful song and he does great job of making it his own but still keeping the integrity of the original. Here's a youtube video of him performing it in his Trio. I'm always extremely impressed with his ability to play guitar I just hope that his ego doesn't get the best of him, which it seemed to be doing at the concert this summer. O well, he's still amazing.

Free Fallin'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wJ-VPqFzy0

And a video of him playing with Eric Clapton. It's fun to see the differences in playing styles. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh4n1bZi4d8

It's been a while

Sorry it's been so long since I've been able to update this! School has gotten in the way of a lot of things lately! :p

This past weekend was the IES trip to Normandy and it was absolutely amazing! We got to go to two really great museums. The peace memorial at Caen (which was a history of leading up to WW2 during the war and after the was and also some of the cold war) and also the Musee du Debarquement (D-Day Museum) at Arromanches (which was a really awesome museum about the artificial harbor they built after D-Day). It was amazing and I had no idea that they had built a harbor there! And then we also went to Omaha beach and the cemetery. The cemetery was amazing and also extremely overwhelming. It was just overwhelming seeing all the graves and then to think that they all died within 3 days most just on the first, and that there were more that got sent back to their families. It's absolutely amazing to think that they sacrificed their lives like that. 

We were standing on Omaha beach and talking about everything and trying to take it all in when one of my friends said "I've never been more proud of my country than I am right now." And it's so true. I felt the exact same way. All I ever really think about is how messed up everything is right now. How I'm not happy with the government or what we're doing or what we're not doing, but it was refreshing to get to look back into a time when we did the right thing and we literally changed the world for the better. If D-Day hadn't worked, or that harbor hadn't held up, we would be living in a completely different world and I'm so proud to say that my heritage was a part of that change. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to start crying while we were there because of how proud I was of all the soldiers involved and how proud I was to be able to say that my grandfather was a part of it all. 

It was also really amazing to see how many countries were involved in the whole process. To think that there were so many countries involved in the process and that they all worked together so well. And what an outcome. 

This week was more school and I leave for Nice tomorrow morning!! I get to be on the first metro at 5:00 am!!! woo!! I'm so excited to have a break from Paris and get to see Karlene! It feels like London was forever ago, but I can't believe how fast the time has gone by!

And, I only have 2 months left!! Hope everyone's having a great day!

French Fries and Tacos

Yesterday Amanda and I went to lunch after we got out of classes and the moment we walked into the café I smelt French fries. Now I haven’t had any since I’ve been here and haven’t been craving them at all but the moment I smelled that smell all I wanted was fries.

So I ordered a plate of fries with my sandwiche jambon buerre and when he brought out the plate he brought none other than Heinz ketchup. It was amazing.

After our insanely French jambon buerre sandwiches we devoured the plate of French fries with ketchup and Amanda was apparently missing ketchup so much that she needed it on her sandwich too. So she had a sandwiche jambon buerre ketchup. J

And then last night for dinner with my host family we had tacos. They didn’t call them tacos but they were pretty much the same thing. Flour tortillas and beef with some kind of brown seasoning on it. They asked if we had it in the states and I said yes trying to hold back from laughing since we eat it at least one time a week if not every day.

So, eating yesterday was extremely American and today is the first day that I fell like I’ve gained weight. Funny how that happens.

I went running this past Sunday with my French friend Remi and had a lot of fun. He just quit playing futball professionally three months ago so I though it would be a good idea to push myself with him. It was a good push but I definitely felt extremely out of shape. He also informed me before we started that he was known for being the person who could run the longest when he played. Awesome. 

Amanda and I got accepted to go to Normandy with IES the 10th-11th of October. So we're both really excited about that! And I'm going to Nice with Karlene the weekend after that! After this weekend I have something planned for each weekend until December! It should be a lot of fun but I'm a little nervous about getting all my studying done and things turned in on time! I guess I'll just have to make use of my time on airplanes, busses, and trains!

Hope everyone's having a great day!

why french women don't get fat.

I can't tell you enough how sick of cigarettes and the smell of cigarettes I am. That stereotype that everyone in Europe smokes is pretty much true. I'm not sure if they don't know how bad it is for them and/or the environment and/or everyone around them or what but smoke is EVERYWHERE. 

I'm scared that I'm going to come back with lung cancer from all the second hand smoke. Everywhere you go people are smoking and they feel no qualms about just blowing their smoke in your face. There is no way to duck and dodge it or hold your breath as you walk past them, it's inescapable and disgusting. 

A few of us have realized that the reason french women* don't get fat is because all they do is smoke. When we have a break from classes we typically eat lunch or have a small snack but they have smoke breaks. Pretty much, they don't eat. Even if they do eat, nothing can possibly taste good to them after all that smoking, so all they eat is the bare minimum. 

There are cigarette buts everywhere you turn. you can't sit down in the grass in front of the Eiffel Tower with out sitting on one or kicking five out of the way and they're ALL over the streets and the sidewalks. I've never understood smoking and to this day still can't. Breathing fire into your lungs just doesn't sound so appealing to me, not to mention the deadly chemicals companies put into them. 

I hate going to restaurants at and being worried I'm going to leave smelling like cigarette smoke much less worrying about it just walking down the street. 

Well, that is my rant for today, I have one about the metro too but I will spare you. Hope everyone's having a good day!!

*french women being the stereotypical french woman. There are plenty that are perfectly healthy, plenty that don't smoke, and plenty that aren't skinny at all.  :)

Creme Brulee and Pizza Pino's

What a great weekend. Friday afternoon IES payed for us to eat lunch on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower (sooo yummy) and great views! So we got a free ticket up and a free meal! Then that evening Remi and I went to a "cabaret" (more of a vegas show girls show) in Pigale and it was a blast. My favorite act they did was the french Can Can. It was amazing; the girls were squealing the whole time they were dancing and it was soo much fun! We had the chance to walk around Montmatre before the show and had dinner at a really good restaurant in the area. 

Saturday I met Amanda for lunch and then we met up with some of her friends from back home that happened to be passing through. We hung out with them and a gaggle of others for the rest of the day and had dinner at Pizza Pino's on the Champs Elysee! (good suggestion Laniers! :) We had planned to go out Friday and Saturday evening but ended up being to exhausted both nights to do anything. We decided the way to do it is spend the day doing nothing if you're going to go out to clubs. They don't even open until 11:00 and it doesn't really get going until about 1:00 am. :P

Sunday was AMAZING! I went to Versailles with Amanda and her friends and we spent 7 hours there! We made sure and got there right when it opened (9:00 am) and it was perfect! The line for tickets wasn't too long and we got through the chateau before it got too crowded. It was the Journe du Patrimoine this weekend (which means pretty much all museums, and a number of other attractions, are open for free) so we got to go into Marie Antoinette's chateau and grounds for free! It was a really interesting experience. Apparently she had a play area/village built for her (she was 15 when she became queen) where she would go with her friends and play peasants. She had cows, goats, and other animals brought in so they could pretend, but of course not actually take care of them. So they brought farmers in to tend to them. Pretty crazy to think that she was doing all that while Paris was starving. 

I also got to try my first Creme Brulee! It was delicious!

Classes started today; I had Bandes Desinees (comic strips/books) et Societe and Cinema et Societe. They both seem like they are going to be really interesting and a lot of fun. I was quite impressed with myself when I could comprehend - pretty much - everything the professors were saying! Hopefully it will continue to get easier. My biggest problem right now is having the confidence to speak myself!

Hope everything is going well back in the States! 

Beau Gosse et Bilingue

I've been really bad about updating, so sorry about that! 

I've met a couple of really great friends! One that lives really close, Amanda, so it's been really awesome getting to hang out with her! I feel like I've seen so much of Paris in the past week: the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Centre Pompidue, the Louvre (parts), the Latin Quarter, St Germain-des-Pres, and s

o much more! It's been an amazing adventure and my feet are close to falling off.  

Classes start next week, so all we've been doing this past week is our language and culture class from 9-11 in the morning each day. There's been a ton of time for exploring! Tomorrow afternoon I'm going on a tour of Montmartre, a quarter of Paris, with IES and I'm really excited about seeing the area! 

Everything with my host family is going great. Laurene made the chili that I gave them as a gift tonight and did a great job with it. She really enjoyed it too!! I'm not so sure what Lucie thought of it but she ate most of it, so that's good!

This past Firday Amanda, Bonnie, Darell, and I met Remi, Antoine, Johan and Yohanna (Parisian friends from London) at the Louvre (it's free Friday nights for students) and had an amazing time. Afterward we walked along the Seine to the Latin Quarter where we ate dinner at a Greek restaurant. Hands down the best night in Paris so far! I felt ridiculously french while walking along the Seine with everyone.

Also, the Pope came this weekend so everywhere we went was really really busy. It's also getting much colder much sooner than any of us thought it would! 

Yesterday, Amanda and I were planning on meeting for lunch at one at a cafe and when we got there we realized that literally EVERYTHING (minus maybe 2 stores) closes in Boulogne after noon on Sundays. Everything. So we found a baguette and some cheese and went to the park and had a makeshift pick nick with the rest of the town. Also, roller blading and Razor scooters are curiously in style and everywhere in Paris. Even some of the police officers ride around on roller blades. It's pretty amusing to see men riding to work on their Razors. 

Hope everyone is doing well!!

ps - I fixed the flickr link on my last post! Thanks Karlene!

It's what separates us from the French.

Just wanted to write a quick entry to give everyone my numbers because... I FINALLY got my new SIM card working!

To call me from the states, call: 817-717-7297

If you happen to be in France, call: 06 80 20 54 12

Every thing's going well so far! Orientation has been good and we start our intensive language classes tomorrow morning! yay... We had to take a test today that was horrid and made me feel really inadequate at french. O well, as long as it's over and it didn't count towards anything except placing us in classes. 

Yesterday I went to the Jardins du Luxembourg with a friend and they were beautiful and filled with people. And today some of us went shopping in St. Germain du Pres and it's gorgeous down there, with lots of great (and expensive) stores. 

I was watching an episode of Rules of Engagement the other night and in a conversation about an infuriating lady in the elevator that wouldn't say hello after they said hi to her Jeff (Patrick Warburton) in all his amazingness said "When a stranger says hi to you, you have to say hi back. It's what separates us from ... the French." I thought it was extremely appropriate, and quite funny. :)

I hope everyone's having a great day!

Also, the link to my Project 365 on Flickr is

http://flickr.com/photos/29204746@N03/

Settle Down

Here's my mailing address for anyone that is interested:

Andrea Benson

c/o IES

77, rue Daguerre

75014 Paris, France

Today was the first day for everyone to go to the IES center. Apparently there are about 140 people in the group this semester so they had to split us up into two separate groups. Hopefully that means lots of opportunities for friends! Unfortunately I can already see cliques starting to form, just in the first group. Some people already know a few others, and that's never fun for anyone. However, seeing as today was the first day that I met any of them I shouldn't start passing judgement right away. I had lunch with a group of about 9 girls and it was pretty fun, a little expensive though. I'm going to have to figure out how to do lunches so it doesn't start costing too much. 

This evening Lucie and I had dinner together and got to sit around a talk for a little while. It's really fun getting to learn the differences between the two cultures. She's going to take me around Boulogne tomorrow afternoon, so we'll go shopping and to the library and the museum. It should be a fun afternoon. 

I'm almost completely settled in at the house. The family is really nice and very accommodating. I think that they've done this at least once before. I had the chance to walk around a little bit of Boulogne this afternoon when I came back from the center and it's really nice. I bought an orchid plant for my room, so hopefully I'll be able to keep it alive for the next few months. 

I'm still trying to figure everything out with my phone, so when I do, I will let everyone know the phone number they can reach me on!

It's really nice finally being settled in one place; I think that's where most of my home sickness came from.

We don't actually start classes until September 22, so until then we have orientation pretty much everyday (minus weekends and next Friday). It doesn't look like anyone has classes on Fridays, so that will be nice when I decide to travel...or have a lot of studying to do. ;)

The weather has actually been quite chilly and very rainy and windy. Laurene said that it's not normal though, so hopefully it will pass soon and be nice outside for a little while!

Hope everyone is doing well!

If If

Well, it's my first day in Paris! The hotel that Dr. Schein suggested, Hotel Montpensier, is really great. It's right by the Louvre, in a very nice area of town. The room that I have is quite large, compared to what I was expecting. I made it to the hotel from the Gare du Nord by the Metro which is much different than the subway and the underground, just by the feel, it serves the same purpose. 

Yesterday Karlene and I hung out with three of the french guys that we met at the hostel. We went to the Tate Modern, and actually got to look at everything. And then went on the Gosts of Old London walking tour. Karlene and I both felt bad afterward because they guide was scottish which made it even harder for the guys to understand. They pretty much couldn't understand any of it. They're all coming back to Paris Monday and offered to help me around and hang out, which will be great to have some familiar faces around!

My shoes have officially torn up my feet, so I'm glad to have my suitcase with more shoes in it!

Hope everyone's having a great day!

Just punches and Just bicycles

In the last 24 hours Karlene and I have met 6 french students on  vacation at our hostel here from Paris. It's been a lot of fun talking to them and hearing them interact with one another and also being able to help them with their english and practice some french as well!

We met three of them last night sitting in the lobby and we all just started talking and ended up talking for about three hours. They were all super funny and a lot of fun to talk to! There french was so incredibly fast that when they talked to one another I could barely catch single words. It was great getting to hear it though! The first thing they said when I told them I'm from Texas was George Bush. They said that in france he's mother f**ker. haha They didn't speak that much english but they know what to call GW. They asked what my favorite american actor is and I told them Daniel Craig and had to explain that he was the new James Bond. They started joking about one of them being the future James Bond and that he's only use punches and bicycles. We ended up talking about rap music for a lot of the evening because that was what was on the television. And we learned that french tv teaches them that americans eat chocolate covered ants and that everyone in Texas hates black people. I told them that the tv lies to them and to stop watching it.

The other three we met this afternoon and the first thing they said when I told them I'm from Texas is that the hurricane was coming towards it. Apparently Gustav made the front page on one of the free papers today. And then they proceeded to make fun of my accent. 

Today we went and saw the changing of the guards this morning at the Horse Guard. It was pretty interesting but lasted about 10 minutes and then we got bored of watching the guards stare at each other. The horses were HUGE though and they were really funny to watch because no matter where you are or how much training you give a horse they're always horses first and foremost. They were trying to get their bridles off and picking on each other the whole time. It was pretty amusing watching them. 

We went to the London Dungeons this afternoon and waited an hour in line thinking we were going to pay 20 pound a person and when we got to the front of the line the lady in line behind us gave us an extra 50% off coupon she had so it only ended up being ten pounds, which was awesome. The dungeons were interesting but not what I was expecting and not as fun. There's a ride that drops you at the end and they take a picture of you right in the middle and the faces that Karlene and I were making were well worth the money to get in. 

We went and saw Spamalot in the West End tonight. It was really funny, but pretty much just the Holy Grail with the story mixed up a bit. But definitely worth it. 

I'm much more relaxed and excited about Paris being around some Parisians, but still a little nervous about meeting my host family...and talking to her on the phone!

Hope everyone's having a great day!

Day Three

So, it's our third day in London and it really feels like we've  been here forever. Probably because our first day was sooo long. We got to the airport at 7:40 am and spent about 3 hours getting situated and all of our extra luggage stored. After we dropped our backpacks off at the Astor we took the Underground to Westminister and walked all around the area. We saw the London Eye (didn't go on it though), Big Ben, Parliament, Westminister Abbey, and Trafalgar Square. We went to St. James park and sat around for a while giving our feet a rest and then went to Buckingham Palace and walked around out front for a little while. We went and saw Picadilly Circus and then took the tube back to our hostel. We ate dinner at a "traditional" pub place that wasn't that great. We passed out pretty hard that night.

Thursday morning we went to the Tower of London (so awesome!). It was definitely worth the 16.50 pounds. We took the tour with one of the Yoemen Warders, Dave, and he was a lot of fun. We got lunch at a market and took it to St. James' park and ate there and sat around for a little while again. And then we decided to go look around Harrods. All I can really say about Harrods is that it was really big. I think the chocolate area was my favorite; I'm pretty sure they had everything you could ever want. We made dinner at the hostel and hung around in the lobby for a while and passed out equally as hard that night. 

This morning we switched hostels to one that is probably five times bigger than the one we were at but in a really quiet, small area of town. It's a great area but just kind of far from everything; I think we'll try to stay here for the remainder of our stay just because neither of us wants to move our backpacks again. We went to the Tate Modern after we moved and got through about one and a half exhibits and then got evacuated because of a fire alarm. So we went and had lunch at a pizza place down the road then went and took the tour of the Globe Theatre. The only reason it was worth the 8.50 pounds was because we got to see some actors rehearsing and actually got to help them out some and stand in the yard; it was pretty neat. After all that we went to St. Peters church and just kind of poked our heads in because it's 16 pound to actually go in and look around. 

We went to Hyde park for the late afternoon and stayed there for about two hours. I took a nap and got to write some and it was really fun just people watching. There was an older lady there who was not in the best of shape in a string bikini sunbathing and some creeper guy that came up and started talking to her. It was an interesting little soap opera for a while/disgusting watching her in the swim suit. At one point she pulled out another string bikini from her bag and decided that she needed to changer her top to a neon ruffly one...which she proceeded to do...sitting there...with the creeper. Karlene and I were cracking up and so were the french people next to us. It was pretty awesome. 

I was pretty home sick the first day we were here. I don't think the sleep deprivation helped at all. I've pretty much gotten over it, but now I'm just really nervous about getting to Paris!

I think we're going to go see the Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging movie that's out here tomorrow morning! 

Hope everyone's doing well! 

Arrival

Hey everyone!

Karlene and I are in London! Just wanted to set up my blog and get it to everyone that wants it. I'll write later about our first day once I can get internet on my computer.

Love you all.