american burger night for the frenchies.
escargot night for the ricaines [americans].
my flatmate.
the rer.
weekends spent acting childish, full of sweet shops and disneyland paris.
[week 14]
11.3.10
8.3.10
escargot and disneyland: week eight.
21 weeks left...
daily updates:
2 march. [tuesday] first day of break! i had no classes, and romain didnt have to work, so we just went shopping, played video games, and watched some french televison.
3 march. [wednesday] i got my carte-de-sejour! i am now legally able to leave france. rest of europe, here i come.
i tried to be productive and finish opening my french bank account. i was thwarted in every way. romain came over and made us escargot. it was our first time eating that specific french delicacy. katy loved them, i simply liked them.
4 march. [thursday] i had my art history class during the day. we went on a tour of architecture. it was really interesting! that night, katy went to a concert. i stayed in and finished max's sweater. all the knitting and sewing is done!! i just have to weave in the many, many ends.
5 march. [friday] burger night! romain, mbaye, and gary came over to experience some kick-ass american burgers. ive noticed the relationship between frenchies and americans centers around food. it is one constant cultural exchange of one's own cuisine. we had a little kick-back, complete with about eight bottles of wine. it was a great night. gary and katy hooked-up, im hoping for marriage but katy doesnt seem so sure.... romain and gary are friends, so if katy and gary date, we could holiday together! unfortunately, katy is too distracted by the love of her life, whom she met at the bloody party.
6 march. [saturday] i went to disneyland with romain, posted about here. it was a great day! that night, lauren came over and made us dinner. i taught her some more knitting techniques. she's knitted before, but not a lot and it's been a while since she last did it. she's trying to make these, so she needs practice and help!
7 march. [sunday] it was a sunny beautiful day, so romain and i headed out to the banlieues to pick up a flash for his camera. turns out the banlieues arent as warm as paris, so i was underdressed and freezing the entire time. but we did go to a sweet shop and spent way too much money. i swear we're like children.
they sell gummy frogs here!! i've never seen them in the states. it made me laugh so hard, due to the english stereotype of frog-eating frenchies. romain didnt find it so hilarious.
a landmark day: it marked a month since romain and i started dating, and two months that i'd been in paris... it feels like i have been here so much longer. at the same time, time also seems to freeze while here...
8 march. [monday] errrrands... basically just worked and helped katy pick up her package from the post office... which is a bigger deal than it sounds.
weekly highlights:
dates: 2-8 march [days 55-62]
sights seen: disneyland!
something new: i tried escargot!
someone new: countless, but not quite as many as last week...
somewhere new: disneyland!!
what i miss: the feeling of being home.
what i love: the feeling of being somewhere new.
what i'm not so sure of: still speaking french.
daily updates:
2 march. [tuesday] first day of break! i had no classes, and romain didnt have to work, so we just went shopping, played video games, and watched some french televison.
3 march. [wednesday] i got my carte-de-sejour! i am now legally able to leave france. rest of europe, here i come.
i tried to be productive and finish opening my french bank account. i was thwarted in every way. romain came over and made us escargot. it was our first time eating that specific french delicacy. katy loved them, i simply liked them.
4 march. [thursday] i had my art history class during the day. we went on a tour of architecture. it was really interesting! that night, katy went to a concert. i stayed in and finished max's sweater. all the knitting and sewing is done!! i just have to weave in the many, many ends.
5 march. [friday] burger night! romain, mbaye, and gary came over to experience some kick-ass american burgers. ive noticed the relationship between frenchies and americans centers around food. it is one constant cultural exchange of one's own cuisine. we had a little kick-back, complete with about eight bottles of wine. it was a great night. gary and katy hooked-up, im hoping for marriage but katy doesnt seem so sure.... romain and gary are friends, so if katy and gary date, we could holiday together! unfortunately, katy is too distracted by the love of her life, whom she met at the bloody party.
6 march. [saturday] i went to disneyland with romain, posted about here. it was a great day! that night, lauren came over and made us dinner. i taught her some more knitting techniques. she's knitted before, but not a lot and it's been a while since she last did it. she's trying to make these, so she needs practice and help!
7 march. [sunday] it was a sunny beautiful day, so romain and i headed out to the banlieues to pick up a flash for his camera. turns out the banlieues arent as warm as paris, so i was underdressed and freezing the entire time. but we did go to a sweet shop and spent way too much money. i swear we're like children.
they sell gummy frogs here!! i've never seen them in the states. it made me laugh so hard, due to the english stereotype of frog-eating frenchies. romain didnt find it so hilarious.
a landmark day: it marked a month since romain and i started dating, and two months that i'd been in paris... it feels like i have been here so much longer. at the same time, time also seems to freeze while here...
8 march. [monday] errrrands... basically just worked and helped katy pick up her package from the post office... which is a bigger deal than it sounds.
weekly highlights:
dates: 2-8 march [days 55-62]
sights seen: disneyland!
something new: i tried escargot!
someone new: countless, but not quite as many as last week...
somewhere new: disneyland!!
what i miss: the feeling of being home.
what i love: the feeling of being somewhere new.
what i'm not so sure of: still speaking french.
7.3.10
eurodisney.
whoops, did i say eurodisney? i meant, "disneyland paris"
recently, i had been complaining to romain that all we do is sit around my appartement. i have not been venturing out in paris as i should be. instead, i stay inside with friends, just drinking and knitting. which isnt all bad cause its what ive been enjoying doing. but i am in paris, and i need to be active! so today, romain contacted a friend who works at disneyland. she was able to get us in the park for free, and we spent the day at disneyland, completely freezing but still laughing like small children.
before and after:
it is socially acceptable to smoke inside disneyland paris. it's not "allowed", but no one looks twice at you. everyone over the age of fifteen seems to be smoking. that kind of thing would only happen in france!
i had looked up the weather a few days ago, and it had promised a warmer, rainy day. so when the alarm went off this morning, i donned my bomber jacket and a hoodie, my only waterproof apparel. the weather report was sadly mistaken. the sky was blue, full of white clouds with sunshine peeking through. however, the sun’s rays did nothing: the air was biting, and it was one of the coldest days i have seen yet. this was my first experience going to an amusement park during a legitimate winter. disneyland was well worth enduring the cold, however.
i felt like i was in america. the parks were set up in similar ways, and i spent the whole of the park with a perpetual feeling of déjà vu. i would turn a corner, think instantly “oh i remember this!” i had to constantly remind myself that no, i did not. the rides, however, were very different than the ones in america. the indiana jones ride was severely disappointing. severely. but the space mountain ride was breath-taking and a little better. i loved it.
i did enjoy the pirates of the carribean ride. i had never been able to ride it all the way through, without stopping, before. every single time i had gone to disneyland in california, the ride had broken down. sometimes half way through, and i would either have to wait for an hour or disembark mid-ride. other times, the ride broke down while i was still in the queue. but every single time, something had gone wrong. it had never occurred to me that the curse would follow me to not only another country, but to another continent. it did.
romain and i were faire-ing la queue, as the frenchies like to say, when the attendant came out and announced that the ride had broken down. romain started laughing instantly, but it took me a second to translate what had been said. upon realizing, i seriously wanted to cry. i was shocked! we checked back almost every hour, but to no avail. the ride stayed broken down. my spirits increasingly sank each time, despite all the popcorn and cotton candy romain used to try to bribe me. eventually, hours later, we decided to leave the park. he convinced me to check one last time, just in case they had fixed the problem.
and they had!! we got there right when they opened the line, and we barely had to queue. i was extremely excited, and really enjoyed the ride! i was a bit disappointed though, just because nothing could ever live to the expectations that had been built around so many failures. not to say i didnt love it. drunken, animatronic pirates yelling in french is always enjoyable.
recently, i had been complaining to romain that all we do is sit around my appartement. i have not been venturing out in paris as i should be. instead, i stay inside with friends, just drinking and knitting. which isnt all bad cause its what ive been enjoying doing. but i am in paris, and i need to be active! so today, romain contacted a friend who works at disneyland. she was able to get us in the park for free, and we spent the day at disneyland, completely freezing but still laughing like small children.
before and after:
during:
it is socially acceptable to smoke inside disneyland paris. it's not "allowed", but no one looks twice at you. everyone over the age of fifteen seems to be smoking. that kind of thing would only happen in france!
i had looked up the weather a few days ago, and it had promised a warmer, rainy day. so when the alarm went off this morning, i donned my bomber jacket and a hoodie, my only waterproof apparel. the weather report was sadly mistaken. the sky was blue, full of white clouds with sunshine peeking through. however, the sun’s rays did nothing: the air was biting, and it was one of the coldest days i have seen yet. this was my first experience going to an amusement park during a legitimate winter. disneyland was well worth enduring the cold, however.
i felt like i was in america. the parks were set up in similar ways, and i spent the whole of the park with a perpetual feeling of déjà vu. i would turn a corner, think instantly “oh i remember this!” i had to constantly remind myself that no, i did not. the rides, however, were very different than the ones in america. the indiana jones ride was severely disappointing. severely. but the space mountain ride was breath-taking and a little better. i loved it.
i did enjoy the pirates of the carribean ride. i had never been able to ride it all the way through, without stopping, before. every single time i had gone to disneyland in california, the ride had broken down. sometimes half way through, and i would either have to wait for an hour or disembark mid-ride. other times, the ride broke down while i was still in the queue. but every single time, something had gone wrong. it had never occurred to me that the curse would follow me to not only another country, but to another continent. it did.
romain and i were faire-ing la queue, as the frenchies like to say, when the attendant came out and announced that the ride had broken down. romain started laughing instantly, but it took me a second to translate what had been said. upon realizing, i seriously wanted to cry. i was shocked! we checked back almost every hour, but to no avail. the ride stayed broken down. my spirits increasingly sank each time, despite all the popcorn and cotton candy romain used to try to bribe me. eventually, hours later, we decided to leave the park. he convinced me to check one last time, just in case they had fixed the problem.
and they had!! we got there right when they opened the line, and we barely had to queue. i was extremely excited, and really enjoyed the ride! i was a bit disappointed though, just because nothing could ever live to the expectations that had been built around so many failures. not to say i didnt love it. drunken, animatronic pirates yelling in french is always enjoyable.
4.3.10
thankful for...
the first time being tear gassed. [it was a bittersweet moment.]
a week off of school.
a week off of work.
phildar yarn stores.
indie rock shows.
ladies night at the pubs.
glow-in-the-dark lunettes [sunglasses!]
[week 13]
a week off of school.
a week off of work.
phildar yarn stores.
indie rock shows.
ladies night at the pubs.
glow-in-the-dark lunettes [sunglasses!]
[week 13]
1.3.10
fun with glow sticks and bloody parties: week seven.
22 weeks left...
daily updates:
23 february. [tuesday] i tried to go to class, but i couldn't find the room...
24 february. [wednesday] i went to my first class, posted about here.
25 february. [thursday] during the day, i finally opened my french bank account! and i went to phildar for the first time. it was great!! the yarn was so cheap! i bought a magazine and twelve skeins of yarn. the yarn has been destiend to become manu, as soon as i finish max's sweater.
i had my first staff meeting for my work. we planned our saint patricks day party, which is promising to be great. it's a pub crawl! i'm getting paid to do a pub crawl!
at night, we all went to an indie rock show and saw kitsch device, megasushi, and ete 67.
26 february. [friday] aoife, katy, and i attempted to go see vampire weekend at social club. it turned out it was only a dj set, so we left and headed to a near-by pub. it was ladies night, so the drinks were cheap. plus, the bartender loved us so they were super strong. he gave us glow sticks, which we spent the entire night photographing. this is just a sampler:
27 february. [saturday] this night is posted about here. it was a crazy night, one of the craziest i've ever had. unfortunately, romain has all the pictures. i have only one. i'm positive you can figure out what it is for yourself.
28 february. [sunday] i slept all day, after the fiasco that was the bloody party.
1 march. [monday] i had a course playing pool with my students! it was great fun. after, a few of us went to a bar and hung out. a very chill night, since we missed the bands....
weekly highlights:
dates: 23 february - 1 march [days 48-54]
sights seen: no sight-seeing this week.
something new: being tear-gassed was pretty new.
someone new: countless :)
somewhere new: the banlieues.
what i miss: i don't miss much....
what i love: i'm pretty much loving everything...
what i'm not so sure of: speaking french...
daily updates:
23 february. [tuesday] i tried to go to class, but i couldn't find the room...
24 february. [wednesday] i went to my first class, posted about here.
25 february. [thursday] during the day, i finally opened my french bank account! and i went to phildar for the first time. it was great!! the yarn was so cheap! i bought a magazine and twelve skeins of yarn. the yarn has been destiend to become manu, as soon as i finish max's sweater.
i had my first staff meeting for my work. we planned our saint patricks day party, which is promising to be great. it's a pub crawl! i'm getting paid to do a pub crawl!
at night, we all went to an indie rock show and saw kitsch device, megasushi, and ete 67.
26 february. [friday] aoife, katy, and i attempted to go see vampire weekend at social club. it turned out it was only a dj set, so we left and headed to a near-by pub. it was ladies night, so the drinks were cheap. plus, the bartender loved us so they were super strong. he gave us glow sticks, which we spent the entire night photographing. this is just a sampler:
27 february. [saturday] this night is posted about here. it was a crazy night, one of the craziest i've ever had. unfortunately, romain has all the pictures. i have only one. i'm positive you can figure out what it is for yourself.
1 march. [monday] i had a course playing pool with my students! it was great fun. after, a few of us went to a bar and hung out. a very chill night, since we missed the bands....
weekly highlights:
dates: 23 february - 1 march [days 48-54]
sights seen: no sight-seeing this week.
something new: being tear-gassed was pretty new.
someone new: countless :)
somewhere new: the banlieues.
what i miss: i don't miss much....
what i love: i'm pretty much loving everything...
what i'm not so sure of: speaking french...
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