Oops...

It's 12.30 here and I'm avoiding work and realizing that the things i mean to post about never get posted. I went to Bruges last weekend and had an EXCELLENT time, then my family showed up on Sunday (I say "show up," but really I already knew they were coming, it was no surprise) and I spent the week with them. Yesterday, also, we had a classwide Thanksgiving celebration and I even got to help bake the turkey. It was fantastic.
Now I'm having to get all the work done because pretty much everything is due this week. I'm really stressed about it but there's this overlying feeling of relief knowing almost everything is finished come our exhibition on Saturday.
Kris will be here the week following and that's also pretty exciting.
I should get back to work. Hopefully procrastination will keep me updating again.

Two days in a row, yes!

Time for a break and an update!
I actually finished my model for studio. Nothing glorious, but now I have one and that alone makes me feel much better.

Need to get motivated to finish my other work before I go to bed now. Really it's just one more sketch, but I'm dreading it because already I've sketched two skylines and this is just more of the same. Oh well. Maybe I can make it exciting.
The week of hell and happiness draws near and I grow closer to panic. I keep thinking that I'm putting stuff off and I'm going to panic in the meantime, but then I think about it again and it just can't be as bad as I'm making it seem. I've only put off two things, both of which I've made time for later in my schedule. Really, it was for the good of my sanity.
I feel like this has gotten less and less about Paris and more about my life as a continuing student at Georgia Tech.

I'm not going to worry about it. My update from Bruges will be interesting, I promise. At least, I promise providing the trip is interesting.

Manic Mondays No More!

I'm feeling a lot better today about my workload, mainly because I think it came into focus just how long I technically have to do it, and how much work got done today.

Really, I'm stressing about things for which I have 3 weeks to get done. Even if I don't work much next week, I have the whole weekend following to do it, and there's still tomorrow as well.

I think I've just hit end of the year stress prematurely, really. Just need to take a breather and let it come as it does. For now, I do need to finish these text cards tonight and then see if I can get further on that model. Tomorrow, I shall get my library research done, then actually finish the model (30 more pieces to cut out and then glue together, thankfully it doesn't call for precision) and try to get some of the actual image cards done for Wednesday. Damien, I do not worry about right now. Doodling in my sketchbook is actually quite fun and I just need to print some of the photos I took before Wednesday's class. Still no worries.

Ugh, now that's it's in text it looks like much more, but still I will not let it bother me. I have a wonderful trip coming up in just four days and then a wonderful family coming to see me and damned if i let myself get down before it. So for now I'm just going to casually continue my research and let this fly as it will.

The alarm at this new attitude is slowly rising. Hopefully stress won't seize hold again.

What? Update?

I will update this on time, eventually.

Maybe when school has stopped kicking my ass. Because that's pretty much all that has happened so far, is schoolwork schoolwork schoolwork. But apparently "midterm" grades are in so I might get to find out if the work has paid off so far.

But I have to keep ploughing on until December. Thankfully most classes are done the 6th. That's 3 weeks from now.
3 short weeks of suffering and then I'm free.
Thank God.

Bruges this next weekend! Really looking forward to that. Mostly also because I get back and get to meet my parents, yay!!!

*cough*

I slept for most of today and AutoCAD isn't quite working right.
I think I'm coming down with whatever has been going around b/c my throat hurts... a lot... and I just want to stay home. T_T.

I don't have nearly enough work done yet. Oh well. I've still got to figure out how to get AutoCAD working so that I CAN get the work done.

Maybe there won't be negative entries for the next few days. I hope not.

Stressful Saturday.

Well, today was officially wasted on schoolwork, again, and I still have a laundry list of things to do.
Filmed at Sacre Coeur today and got to see the sunrise there. It was cool but that's really the optimistic side of it. We actually ended up having to deal with the leftovers of last night's drunks who were still awake and I only got 4 hours of sleep again, which it's looking like for tonight.
Oh well. You win some, you lose some. I'm getting tired of Paris though. It's time to be home. Hopefully when travelling picks up again and then when schoolwork cools down it will be more enjoyable. Right now I'd rather just stay in my dorm for a few days, to be completely honest. And not be doing schoolwork. I had a bit of a breakdown today set off by a rather sad movie but the crying just sort of continue. I'm a little alarmed but I figure it's that time of the month (which it is) so I just need to take it one step at a time and try to stay together.

Ugh.

Three more weeks.

Ugh Updates.

I still refuse to give up.

I don't even remember the last time I wrote.

But today started the 5-day weekend that is officially going to hell.
Time to get back to work.

Thank God for Weekends

I suppose I shouldn't give up on this blog just yet.

We went to Zurich last weekend although it already feels like it was months ago. And this last week was like the week from hell so I went to bed exhausted and at questionable hours pretty much every night.

But Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were the most lazy days on the planet, thankfully.
I should have done more work today but really it's easier to be out on the town when you've already been out. It's so hard to leave the comfort of one's dorm these days.

I read once that you are truly Parisian when you have wasted a day in Paris.
Bienvenue à paris, je suppose.

Working Wednesdays

I did studio work today with only the slightest variation. To be honest.
And I spent 4 hours making a figure ground of my site. It sucked, just fyi. But it looks great.
Here's what wasn't studio:

I actually slept in til 10 and it was nice to be able to do so.
Got my Navigo Imagine R card today so now I finally don't have to worry about it anymore. Plus I can leave Paris on the weekends. Which is exciting.

Also had French this evening and though we left a little early, we were late because I think something went wrong on one of the lines so the trains were backed up and we were stopped more than we were moving. Frustrating but now we know how it happens. And French wasn't too bad except that we also spent as much time on the metro as we did in the classroom. Oh well.

I need sleep, desperately, and I think I'm done enough to go to bed. Thank God.

It's Tuesday Still!!!

How frustrating that I've missed the day because it's after midnight.

Anyway, regardless, today was uneventful. Went over our sketches in Tristan's class and I can't tell if he liked them or not. I guess we'll see when he gives us our grades... Hopefully I'm doing ok.

Walked around the area where our apartment will be when my parents arrive and found a new pair of boots (and they're extrememly comfortable!) so I'm happy. Came back and dawdled before going to Visual Arts, which was tonight because Garry can't teach tomorrow morning. It wasn't too bad -- we did more etching and he saw one of my sketches that he really liked and made me do. So ok, that works.

Then I came back and ate and have been slowly doing studio work since.
Will probably go to bed soon though, because I can't finish my thoughts anymore.

Manic Mondays!

So we still don't have our cards for imagine 'R, which is our unlimited metro pass for the rest of the trip, and I begin to worry about it. I'm also anxious to get our social security info in the mail but we're still waiting on one vital piece of information on that, too.
Other than that I only had class from 11 until 12.45 so it wasn't so bad. Then I headed home, visited the grocery store, and then got busy on my work. So far, not so good. I keep getting distracted (and you're not helping, blogspot!) and it's all just sketching anyway so I'm anxious about it getting done. It's really frustrating to be doing this. This is NOT what I want to do with my life... But I suppose we have to suffer a little or there is no gain.

Hopefully the sketches will all end up on facebook or deviantart or something but we'll see.

I have more work to do so I'm going to keep this note short. Although I do have to note that Belin's Croustilles are the most yummy of all foods, ever.

Sunday Doesn't End the Weekend

It's almost not today any more!
Today I didn't do much. We tried to go to Notre Dame to climb to the top and it was WAY crowded (damn you Americans!) so we decided to try it another time. I ended up going to church with Kat and it was a pleasant enough experience although next time we go it will be the 9.30 service, and hopefully it will be more traditional. Oh well.
Anyway, after church I had a brief lunch and then sat infront of the Chatelet for a while. Took a few pictures and read for like an hour then headed back and did a variety of work and play pretty much all evening.

And here I am. I do love uneventful days.

Forgotten Saturdays

I don't know how I just forget to do these things.
This post is for yesterday.

I woke up late (what a nice change!) and slowly made my way in the direction of La Defense, but I was fortunate enough to hope on a metro that took me to just over a bridge from my site. So I walked my studio site from about 11.30 until 1.30 and took some pretty good pictures and made some pretty good mental notes from which HOPEFULLY I'll be able to make some decent sketches/sections.
Afterwards I went to L'Arc de Triomphe and went to the little vehicle island it's situated on in order to take some pictures. Spent a little bit of time there then made my way back to Notre Dame, where I sat in front of the Memorial to Deportation and had a lovely franglais chat with a guy from the Mediterranean part of France. Admittedly, that was pretty damn awkward because both of us spoke just little enough of the other language for it to not work out fantastically.
Anyway, came back and sat around, doing a little bit of work here and there.
Oh, and I made a calendar. And a reminder to update my blog. We'll see how that works. So far not.

No-Work Fridays

I planned to get up fairly early this morning but that didn't work out so I left the dorms about 11 to head to Bricorama, where I found a great rug for about 25€. It covers almost all the floor (a few cm is the difference) from the length of my bed to the closet so I'm thrilled... and it adds so much to the room. After bringing that back I lazed around for about an hour and enjoyed a brief lunch before heading out to pick up some printing paper and supplies from rougier & ple. I ended up buying a really nifty watercolor set, which I promptly took to Notre Dame to test out. I looked around the St. Michel district for a bit before having a go around the Holocaust Memorial there, then sitting in that park and doing one small water color scene, which didn't turn out too badly for my first time.
I read a little while I was there and was yelled at by a crazy man whom you wouldn't have assumed to be crazy because he was a fairly well dressed old man, and then headed back. I also found some really cheap souvenir stores on Ile St. Michel, where I was able to purchase some posters that now hang in my room. I really like them -- 2 medium and 3 small for about 5€. Not bad. Maybe I'll start a collection.
Laura, Sarah, Stephanie, and I all went to Murailles de Phenix for dinner (but no beignets) and made our way back to the dorms, where I have been sitting on my butt for quite some time now.

It's hard to believe we've been here a month already. I live in Paris.

Thursday Update

Just pretend this post happened yesterday.

I got up around 9.30 to try to get some work done for studio and ended up walking all around Parc Monceau to take pictures. Then I headed over to La Villette where I tried to print and it failed miserably at first, not to mention my French was completely ruined and I couldn't talk to the guy at ALL -- although I could understand him fine and I really hate that everybody makes fun of us.
I got all of my stuff printed and then made my way towards studio with Stephanie while picking up lunch in the process.
Studio lasted from 1.30 until 8.15 and we went over this great book called Paris Metropole for most of the class period and then talked about what we had done. I ended up not showing all that stuff I had bothered to print because it was on a tiny spot like I thought we were supposed to focus on rather than a huge spot like Ron clarified yesterday. So all the walking was for naught except exercise but I suppose that's ok. We got out at 8.15 and Sarah and I went over to Kat, Irene, Yeh won, and Cindy's apartment where a bunch of the girls were making dinner and having "bible study" (that would be aka chatting) and we enjoyed that until 11PM, when we headed back. Ended up playing spades and rummy until 2 in the morning.

On Busy Wednesdays

I had better update today before I forget to do so.
Although it was not a very exciting day. Woke up early and went to French, then enjoyed lunch in the hallway and head to St. Paul in the Marais where we met up with Marc who gave us a small tour around Medievalesque Paris. It was lovely, starting right near Notre Dame and ending on the other side of the small walls in Paris. We went inside the Crypt of Notre Dame which is unlike any crypt I've been in (and I've visited a few, they're my favorite part!) because it has Roman ruins in it and is more like an underground museum than a crypt. But I'm not complaining because it was a rather interesting tour albeit small and every other part was interesting. Plus we don't have class next week, only the demande to do some of the work/sketches/fun for the board game and to visit some sites where we'll get fantastic views of Paris. Somebody finish the torture, hahaha!
Anyway, we finished that and moseyed to an art store to look at some stuff for Damien's vis. arts class before going to it. In there we etched into plastic to fill with ink. Mine turned out pretty sorry but it was just practice so I brought back a bunch of plastic and an etching tool to practice. This technique is actually a lot of fun -- granted when it's not at my expense.
Got out of there at 9 and finally made it back home where I need to get some studio work done before going to bed tonight.

My grey vest has gotten a little too big. I feel as though I've gotten wider and gained weight but I suppose this is a sign that it may be the opposite case, unless of course the vest never really fit me properly in the first place. I suppose I'll never know.

WIFI works, for once.

So since my internet has been screwy lately I've not been able to get online and thus was not really able to update yesterday. Actually a valid excuse this time.
Anyway, yesterday:
Monday, October 6, 2008
We went to French class at a wonderfully late time and had a pleasant class. When it let out we went exploring to the place called rougier et ple... or something like that, I don't remember the exact title, and discovered it to be four-stories of magical design supplies. It's a wonder I didn't spend all my money there. After carefully monitoring my spending we ventured out in the direction of our site, which is about 12 square kilometers, and to try to put a dent in the adventuring. We got... maybe a tenth of the parameter covered. But it's ok, because I did the research today and I'm ready to go back out next time there is time.
Sarah made tacos and they were delicious.

Today, Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Had very... interesting discussion in Tristan's class that was a round-about argument over whether something can be described such that somebody knows exactly what the object is, and also how it is perceived by the describer. It was seriously intense conversation and I'm still not really sure of the outcome -- or if I did try to explain it, I would invoke the entire rambling thing all over again.
Afterwards Ally and I ventured over to Le Geant, another art supply store, to see what they had. The selection was not as good, but at least now we know.
Came back and went to the grocery store of which I learned every nook and cranny just looking for the things I needed for dinner. Spent 40€ without meaning to, but I was really proud of dinner tonight and now we have stuff to make more things much later... like spaghetti.
Worked on studio, history, and art tonight and I know it sounds like a lot but mostly it's just stuff occurring in my head. Plus this sketch WIFI is absolutely killing me. I have GOT to find that guy in person and try to talk to him.
I'm not sure I'm going to survive the semester.

On Learning to Update

So I apparently stink at this whole “update your journal” thing.

Let me try to catch up, again.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Today we had French again, but at 11.00 instead of the old 9.30 and that was nice. But French was boring and afterwards we went to find this art supply store… that ended up really good, but I didn’t get anything really useful. So I need to go to another store tomorrow, especially for ANOTHER sketchbook for Tristan’s class. Went to WHSmith over at Place de la Concord and found the sketchbook we’ve been looking for in Damien’s class, which is this lame and expensive pullout thing. Also bought Salad Cream and I’m thrilled to get to use it.

Walked around our supposed site (really, I think they just put their fingers down on a map of France) a little bit and found virtually nothing in the way of usable space for this project. Going out again tomorrow.

And here I am, relaxed and fighting off a good nap because Sarah’s making tacos tonight. I need to read for Tristan’s class and graffiti all in my book.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

I did nothing on this day, just so everybody knows. I did not leave the Fondation and it was niiiiiiiice.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

In the morning, we hunted down a supply store in the nearby neighborhood but it ended up being nothing but sculpting materials. But that works for Damien’s class probably, so we’ll keep it in mind. Went to Champion right after and spent a bunch of money AGAIN… but it’s nice to have real food in your dorm.

Kickball followed but it was a short 9-inning game in which we lost, sad faces, and I only drank 2 little cidres so it was pathetic. Then we came back and got ready for Nuit Blanche.

First we went to Notre Dame and listened to an almost all female Gregorian Choir which was BEAUTIFUL, not to mention getting to go see the exterior and interior of Notre Dame. Then we exited and watched this cool fire dancer who used fireworks in his show just outside Notre Dame. Then we saw this beacon of light and followed it all the way to Montparnasse, where there was this AWESOME display of about 50 lights set up in a pattern, pointing to the sky. They were just tall enough that you could get maybe your hand over them, and they were accompanied by some of the coolest sounds. It was really cool. Then we meandered towards Quai Branley to try to see the Rabbit Opera but we never found it and instead saw this… international tour? With strange sounds and pictures of places around Europe, as well as a ton of rubber duckies in this cute pond thing representing all the EU countries. It was trippy.

But we looked again for the Rabbit Opera and ended up missing the last metro (which cut off ½ hour early, btw), so we had to walk the 2 miles home and finally got in about 3.30AM.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Had the day off from class and it felt spectacular after the previous two days. Ended up sleeping in before…you know, i don't remember what we did here.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Went to WHSmith today to check it out and ended up buying 2 sketchbooks (together) and the book I need for Tristan’s class. Damn expensive. Had studio afterwards and nearly fell asleep because we sat in the same place for 5 hours listening to them talk. it was harsh, but apparently NOT how it will be run from now on. We can be hopeful.

Everybody in the class speaks English, and I’m torn over whether this is a good thing or not.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Extra long class today – Started at 9AM with Damien’s “Visual Arts” class, aka Art. That was RIDICULOUS because we couldn’t understand a word he said since we had to sit in the back, and then went and sketched our site and now we have to “pick a theme” for it and… I’m not an art student! I don’t like this artsy craftsy installation stuff. Oh well.

Then we suffered through Paris Urban History, which was looking at map after map after map with only the slightest changes for 3 hours… and it wouldn’t have been so bad if I wasn’t falling asleep the whole time.

Then we went to French, which was the same as usual except we got to start reading Asterix, so that was pretty cool.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Had Tristan’s class today and watched “La Haine,” which was a really good movie focusing on the problems of living in the banlieus of Paris. Also discussed the class a bit and it seems cool (except that today I received an e-mail about our assignment due next Tuesday and it looks BRUTAL).

Waited for three hours to go try the stage design course but it wasn’t happening this week. I’ve decided I don’t want to take the class to try to free up my Tuesday since Wednesday and Thursday are both days from hell. We’ll see.

An Actual Update

I suppose if I keep putting this off it will only get worse, huh?
Let me start from Thursday, when we left at 9 in the morning via bus to head for the Loire Valley. We drove to Chartres and took a small stop there where we got to go inside the Chartres Cathedral. It's one of the Notre Dames so it's substantial in its importance and it was absolutely beautiful to see looming over the town as we arrived. We were disappointed to discover that there was some restoration work being done that drastically reduced the appeal of the exterior but I guess I really don't have much right to complain. We received a formal tour of the building in English and then were received another, slightly more rare tour (albeit in French) where we got to go into the towers and then into the space between the vaults and the roof of the cathedral. It was breathtaking and I'm only too grateful to have gotten to experience it.
Afterwards we made a stop at the Chateau Chenonceau which is renowned for its beauty and its gardens. The chateau itself was rather beautiful but the vegetable garden and the Caryatids were by far my favorite parts of this palace.
We ran out of time for the remainder of the day but even the "chateau" in which we slept was beautiful. We parked it at La Heresie, which is technically a bed and breakfast and had a pretty awesome dinner courtesy of the coordinators that ended in too much wine for everybody. What followed was a pretty incredible night of laughing in the yard and a very long game of spades (which I learned and of which we won that night!)
The following day we started with the Chateau Villandry and did not get to go inside the palace but instead wandered the gardens which are the most famous part of the chateau anyway. These gardens are the gardens of love (ohhhhhhh), and there are four specific parts meant to represent the different stages of love. I took pictures of them but the more appropriate explaination shall be in my scrapbook. I was very interested to see these things because I've never really seen gardens that have a very specific design. This place also grew grapes, of which I tried a few and the green grapes were some of the best I've ever had despite their being seeded.
We followed this with a tour of Chambord, a very very important Chateau. Here we also received a special tour and got to go into towers that are not typically toured. We even got to see 16th century graffiti from the masons that worked there (as seen in the facebook photos). It was beautiful but I can't even begin to describe everything, although I must admit the double helix spiraling staircase was absolutely magnificent, especially when on leaned out the various windows and got to greet everybody on different levels!
We returned late Friday evening and I do believe I crashed pretty hard.
Saturday we woke up late and meandered over to L'Opera to see inside and promptly discovered that we absolutely HAVE to see a show there. It was so beautiful!! Then we returned to discover that most of the gang was going to one of the cite's fields to play kickball and who am I to turned down a good game of kickball, and WINE KICKBALL at that? We played from about 5.30 until dark but by then we were all too drunk too see much despite the darkness anyway so we called it game and came inside. Stephanie and I made plans to go get something real to eat down in Luxembourg and ended up meeting Tom, a new friend who's here from Oxord, while we were getting ready to go. We also met his two friends Peter (a Czech) and Alex (a Greek whose true name I don't think I'll ever know) while they were preparing dinner and Tom and Peter decided to join us to show us a real French bar rather than Wide Open Spaces, the Australian bar we were going to hit. We met with them about an hour later and Tom introduced us to Jaoa, a guy who has lived in Portugal the past 8 years. The bar was really cool and actually cheap, had we not snuck out without paying (completely on accident!) and I look forward to going back for a happy hour when it's even cheaper. And Tom and Peter and Jaoa were all really cool, I just hope they don't think little of us for being a bit tipsy the entire time. I just get a little more talkative, right?
Regardless, Sunday we went to try the Church of Saint Michael over near the Champs Elysees and were very satisfied with the community and the services there, so I think we'll be going back. It's a bit episcopalian (Anglican by all technicalities but I don't really know the difference) but I don't think it's going to be much of a hindrance to my worship because the songs and beautiful and moving and the pastors were extremely friendly people. Afterwards I ended up taking a two hour nap before meeting with Laura and Sarah's Algerian/Italian friend and his buddy that turned out to be a pretty big asshole. But I suppose again I cannot complain because they prepared us dinner (a four cheese ravioli that was pretty good) and brought wine for the four of us (four of us being Dessa, Sarah, Laura, and myself) and we didn't do much of anything for them. I suspect he has the hots for Laura (poor girl!) but I think she's made it pretty clear she wasn't interested.
Afterwards we ended up playing spades again (this time Craig and I lost) until pretty late.
Today we had our last all together French class and were divided before splitting up for the day. We went to the grocery store and then I went out to purchase some postcards (which I need to get to writing). Afterwards Stephanie made this really awesome chicken with sauteed garlic and mushrooms and it was really good as well. Looking forward to some really decently cooked meals rather than just ramen ALL THE TIME.
But this is now updated and it's bedtime because I have to be up at 7.15 in the morning to get to Tristan's first class on time.

Another fake update.

Still can't bring myself to write a real update (this stuff won't be fresh in my mind by the time I actually write about it), but I do want to say that kickball today was amazing, and that going to the bar was awesome and this weekend has been the best ever.

And you'll hear about it eventually.

Apologies!

Ok, ok, I have missed two days so far. But they are well documented so I promise I'll update in detail just as soon as I have the energy to do so. Feeling so drained after these last two days, though.

And I seriously need to get a scrapbook. All these amazing little tickets aren't going to preserve themselves...

Lazy Day

So I ended up sitting at the office for the carte de sejour for... 3.5 hours and I have FINALLY gotten it all done. Now I have a doctor's appointment for the 23rd of October and I'll be getting the carte then.
So that happened and then we listened to class descriptions for la Villette during French today. I think I want to take the Stage Design course. And I think I'm def. wanting to be in Ron Kenley's studio, which is a study in urban design. Kinda excited about it.
Classes start next week! Excited about that, too.
And we went on another walking tour with Damien today, and it was quite pleasant (albeit not very long). We saw the inside of the Saint-Germain-de-Pres... and I'm sure I've spelled this wrong... and took note of a few cafes and school, namely the cafes called La Charrette and La Palette... And others that I can't remember exactly but that I can sort of remember the locations for (the restaurant I need to try is down an alley that's across the street from the Odeon metro stop... this is to help me, lol).

Adventures with carte de sejour

Whew, I'm back for the day (and starving, might I grumpily add). Woke up at 7:15 this morning to try and throw some clothes on to be down at the office for the carte de sejour (our long term visa) by 7:45 since we were told to be there at 8. Actually got there about on time and there was already quite a few people there for the opening at 9. Ended up waiting the hour fifteen to discover that we don't get to go today, so we have appointments for tomorrow -- and this took another hour to accomplish working it out. So we have to be back there at 8 in the morning again to try to get these cartes taken care of.
Oh well, at least we'll finally have them. Which is one scratch off my big list of things that need to happen soon, alongside the booking of the hostel in Zurich (Youthhostel Zurich), which I'm really excited about now.
Afterwards we ended up chilling in the dorms and eating a very long lunch that was actually fairly small before heading over to La Villette to listen to Prof. Ron Kenley speak about his studio course, which I've decided I want to take. We have to take an "international" course anyway, and his sounds like the more suited of the two for me. Sat through that for an hour fifteen and then Xavier (one of the professors, pronounced "Za-vee-ay" and not "Ex-ay-vee-er," btw) took us by metro to see the Fondation Cartier, which is holding an exhibit on Cesar -- it's interesting work, to say the least. We hung out there for a bit and looked at the work and then came back and now I'm looking forward to heating me up some tomato soup and getting this sorry dorm cleaned.
Out.

Bonjour de Paris

So I'm picking this up a bit late (2 busy weeks late, in fact), but I'll try to update it with everything that has happened so far in this post, and then get a post in tonight about what happened today.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008:
We arrived fairly early in the morning but it took forever to get all our stuff gathered and get through the line at Charles de Gaule. To be honest, however, it was the most laid back customs through which I have ever traveled and I am extremely anxious about the complicated process created by Homeland Security back home. Anyway, it was light by the time we got to the bus that would take us around it was almost fully light outside, and by the time were dropped off at the dorms and ready to settle in it was about noon. I don't remember much else but I suspect it was all sleeping after that anyway.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008:
We decided to take a trip to Carrefour, the equivalent of a Super Target or Super Walmart or something, to try to get some of the necessities and our phones. Getting there ended up much harder than we originally anticipated as the one were going to visit had closed and become a Champion (the equivalent of Publix or Kroger), so we began our hunt for the real Carrefour. It was about three metro stops away but we couldn't interpret that from any of the French speakers we met and ended up wandering the city for four or five hours just looking for this building and hoping we saw it. We found it finally and made our purchases and then reclused to our rooms for the rest of the night.

Thursday, September 11, 2008:
First day of our Intensive French class! It was a bit underwhelming but I can't complain because I've discovered that going over the basics really never hurt anybody. This day was mostly about orientation and not so much about learning French, anyway. Afterwards we grabbed lunch at a pretty cool Greek/Turk/I'll never know sandwich shop and met at the Pompidou to see the exhibit on Dominique Perrault.

Friday, September 12, 2008:
Visited L'Opera just after class to get some change and ended up admiring the building instead.
For the tour, we walked the Champs-Elysees and just missed the procession of the Pope. Saw most of the buildings there as we walked almost the entire thing and by the evening, we decided to go to la Tour Eiffel and ended up walking all the way from the Louvre to L'Arc de Triomphe. It was a nice walk but it was fantastic to sit at Trocadero park and watch the sun set against the tower. It got really cold, however, so we just went home soon before dark.
Paul's sandwiches are delicious.

Saturday, September 13, 2008:
Went to the Louvre today and saw the Mona Lisa and everything around it but not much else. Also actually saw the "everything not Europe" room and admired the various artifacts there.

Sunday, September 14, 2008:
Actually didn't do much. I think I went to the grocery store or something.

Monday, September 15, 2008:
French in the morning and to be honest, I don't remember what else happened this day.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008:
French in the morning and then the walking tour in the afternoon was with Xavier, who is definitely a walker. We had much walking to do to reach his level of fitness. Regardless, saw a bit of Corbusier's work along with the Parisian works of Hector Guimard, the Art Nouveau designer of his time (these were my favorite of the day). Later saw the work of Mallet-Stevens and it was pretty amazing as well. Did a lot of walking and hurt afterward.

Wendesday, September 17, 2008:
Actually did not have French in the morning because we hopped a river cruise down the Seine and enjoyed most of the city by river. The first part was amazingly beautiful and I finally got to go through a canal lock, which was also exciting. It was less exciting, however, about 10 locks later but the trip overall was fun and taught us exactly how cold it would get on this trip.
Had French in the afternoon and it was nearly impossible.

Thursday, September 18, 2008:
Had French class and then met at the Eiffel Tower to discuss it a bit before beginning the walking tour for the day. Least favorite tour because there was so much walking when the metro would have been much better, and ended up seeing the least favorite of the buildings so far. Did see, however, the Institute de Monde Arab, which is a FANTASTIC building and really exciting to be in.
Did, however, discover Murrailes de Phenix, my new favorite restaurant here in Paris. Delicious Chinese food for very cheap.
Am still dreading Tristan's next walking tour.

Friday, September 19, 2008:
Went to the bank for French class and walked the Marais in the afternoon. It's a beautiful part of town and I'm excited to see the museums there open again (most ended up closed for various reasons), if not just wander the Jewish sector for awesome deals and great food. Will be returning lots and lots and lots. I even liked the Falafel, and I don't like them generally.

Saturday, September 20, 2008:
Were going to go celebrate Journees du patrimoine but decided against it because we were all extremely tired after the tour on Friday. Ended up going to Chinese for dinner instead.

Sunday, September 21, 2008:
Decided to try Hillsong church but it was definitely not for me. The music was contemporary and I'm just not moved by contemporary music and the preacher, while cute and charismatic, spent most of the time telling his own stories than I felt truly glorifying God. So we'll be trying a different church next Sunday. Also ended up walking to see La Tour Saint-Jacques, which is the only remaining part of Saint-Jacques Cathedral in central Paris and apparently the burial site of Nicolas Flamel. It's under renovation, however, so we only saw the outside. In the evening we went bowling with Laura and Sarah's friend Hidouche (spelling? don't think I'll ever know), who is from Algeria. It was tons of fun except bowling is very expensive here and it doesn't help that I'm terrible. French people, by the way, bowling practically laying on the ground.
Tickets came in for the train to Zurich and now I'm thrilled about this trip.

Monday, September 22, 2008:
Actually went to Champion and discovered it to be the best grocery store here. If it weren't a nasty walk I would do it all the time but for now I think I'll eat what I have here.
Only had class today, no walking tour, so we went back to the dorms and were lazy the rest of the day.


And that brings us to today, which has so far proven to be quite interesting already.

Intro

I guess it only makes sense that I post the lyrics to the inspiration on the title of the blog:
Ben Folds: Landed
We'd hit the bottom,
I thought it was my fault
And in a way I guess it was
I'm just now finding out
What it was all about

Moved to the west coast away from everyone
She never told me that you called
Back when I was still, I was still in love

Till I opened my eyes and walked out the door
And the clouds came tumbling down
And it's bye-bye, goodbye, I tried
And I twisted it wrong just to make it right
Had to leave myself behind
I've been flying high all night
So come pick me up...I've landed

The daily dramas she made from nothing
So nothing ever made them right
She liked to push me and talk me back down
Until I believed I was the crazy one,
and in a way
I guess I was...

But I opened my eyes and walked out the door
And the clouds came tumbling down
And it's bye-bye, goodbye I tried
Treading a sea of a troubled mind
Had to leave myself behind
Singing bye-bye, goodbye I tried

If you wrote me off I'd understand it
Because I've been on some other planet
So come pick me up...
I've landed

And you will be so
happy to know
I've come alone,
it's over

But I opened my eyes and walked out the door
And the clouds came tumbling down
And it's by my goodbye I tried
Down comes the reign of the telephone czar
It's OK to call
Now I'll answer for myself

Come pick me up,
...I've landed

They're not truly relevant to much but it is one of my favorite songs and regardless of the matter of the song, the final lines are perhaps the best ones to describe any realization or coming to terms -- be it life or love or spirituality. And I love them for that.