i saw the eiffel tower for the first time ever today. oh, wait, i just lied. i saw it in a cab two days ago (er...yesterday? shit). but today was the first REAL time. it was amazing (dur). but it was surreal...i still feel like i was just looking at a replica in disneyland or las vegas or something. i haven't gone up yet, but when i do, i think i'll try doing the stairs (presuming i'm in my running shoes...no way i'm doing that thing in my flats).
today was the first real day i had in "real" paris (aka not the crappy fiap). isabelle took my on a brief tour of the neighborhood this morning, just to show me where to get money and credits for my cell phone and groceries. we ate dinner together tonight (3 crepes...how french am i?) and i really enjoyed her company. she studied history at san jose state a while ago, which is why her english is so good. she proposed to her husband in new york, which to the parisians is more romantic than doing it in paris (so much for hte eiffel tower cliché). but then...she broke the news to me.
starting in a week or two, we'll be speaking french all the time. i looked at her incredulously. WHAT?! wtf mate. i didn't sign off for that. well, no, i guess i did...sorta. i know, i know, it'll be SO good for me and it'll make my french ten times better. but right now, conversation will be slow and difficult. that means getting to know the family will be slow and difficult. christophe and paul don't speak any english, so i'm prepared for some tough conversations. this will definitely be something to blog about.
speaking of paul...today he colored in a papillon (butterfly), knocked on my door and gave it to me. he was SO adorable. he's got his blonde hair parted on the side and gelled down, with the cutest glasses. i'll teach him english words, he'll teach me french.
oh, gosh, i was supposed to put pictures on fbook tonight...but i didn't. i got distracted by other fbook stuff (as usual).
i'm on a french wifi network now, so google and blogger are displayed in french. c'est dificil pour moi lire.
i love this city. there's history everywhere, which i never though i'd be so in to, but i really love it. so many other people have taken the same walks and snapped the same pictures as me. i'm amazed.
i'm tired, too. i'm about to fall asleep in the comfiest bed ever. mucho amore! er... beaucoup amour!
03 September, 2007
day two in paris
3/9/07 12:44 am paris time
I’m sitting at home (!!!) in probably the comfiest bed I’ve ever been in. I always thought I preferred firm beds, but this one is fluffy and I sink into it and I love it. My French mom has this comforter that just wraps around me and it is the best feeling in the world right now.
Oh, so I moved into my homestay…dur. I got here around 545 and because I thought I couldn’t fit into the elevator (3x3ft with 2 bags and a 2-foot backpack on? No way). So I lugged everything up 5 flights of stairs (or maybe 6) and knocked on what I thought was Mme. Jeanson’s door. Turns out not. It was these two old ladies who spoke French to me. I tried to explain that I was looking for Mme. Jeanson, but all I could say was “Madame Jeanson?” over and over. I’m sure i looked like a retard…but that’s not really any different than regular nicki, here or in the states.
Anyway, isabelle is really sweet. I have my own shower and I share the bathroom (ugh, that’s gonna be awk when I hafta poop). We have wi-fi (which she pronounced “wee-fee”). My building is absolutely gorgeous, as is my whole street. It’s filled with maybe 8-story buildings that have these cute curly black fences for balconies and…well I can’t really describe it. I’ll upload a picture to this post to show you.
We finally got out of fucking FIAP today. I understand now why the people at orientation at ucsb said it was the worst weekend of their life. But we already went into that yesterday.
We UC kids had a meeting today and the president/dean/some important guy from the school spoke. He was an absolute riot. He was talking about how we have to take it on ourselves to find out about the culture because the French aren’t interested in showing us around. He goes, “The French were happy before you came. They will be happy after you leave. They were crabby before you came. They will be crabby after you leave.” It freaked me out and made me really like the French at the same time.
I was freaked out because I haven’t done nearly enough research on this place (research=looking at travel books/websites/whatever crap aup and ucsb gave me). I’m gonna miss out if I don’t get on it soon, and I’m gonna have a list miles long of things that I wanted to do but never got around to.
This week I figure I’ll run around with my UC friends. I love them. I’ve met a bunch of great people already and we just clicked. Chris and I obviously did, then we met Maddie and Mallory on the plane, and they’re hilarious and the four of us get along really well. Then there’s Julia and Amalia and Kristen and and Ashley Jamie (who I owe euros for the cab!!) and lauren and a thousand other people who I cant’ remember because it’s 1 am and I’m tired as heck.
I ordered my first legal drink tonight! Some kinda beer at this English pub. It was really fun…soccer match on tv, loud guys around drinking beer, us hanging out and talking at a table. I just…I can drink here! It’s freakin me out still.
OHHHHH I SAW THE EIFFEL TOWER FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER TODAY! I thought I would get butterflies or feel something but it was just like…oh, there it is. Granted, I did only see it from the taxi. Tomorrow we’re gonna go have lunch on the lawn in front of the Eiffel tower and do some more tours and such.
Today was a thousand times better than yesterday…but I’m still not totally settled.
I’m sitting at home (!!!) in probably the comfiest bed I’ve ever been in. I always thought I preferred firm beds, but this one is fluffy and I sink into it and I love it. My French mom has this comforter that just wraps around me and it is the best feeling in the world right now.
Oh, so I moved into my homestay…dur. I got here around 545 and because I thought I couldn’t fit into the elevator (3x3ft with 2 bags and a 2-foot backpack on? No way). So I lugged everything up 5 flights of stairs (or maybe 6) and knocked on what I thought was Mme. Jeanson’s door. Turns out not. It was these two old ladies who spoke French to me. I tried to explain that I was looking for Mme. Jeanson, but all I could say was “Madame Jeanson?” over and over. I’m sure i looked like a retard…but that’s not really any different than regular nicki, here or in the states.
Anyway, isabelle is really sweet. I have my own shower and I share the bathroom (ugh, that’s gonna be awk when I hafta poop). We have wi-fi (which she pronounced “wee-fee”). My building is absolutely gorgeous, as is my whole street. It’s filled with maybe 8-story buildings that have these cute curly black fences for balconies and…well I can’t really describe it. I’ll upload a picture to this post to show you.
We finally got out of fucking FIAP today. I understand now why the people at orientation at ucsb said it was the worst weekend of their life. But we already went into that yesterday.
We UC kids had a meeting today and the president/dean/some important guy from the school spoke. He was an absolute riot. He was talking about how we have to take it on ourselves to find out about the culture because the French aren’t interested in showing us around. He goes, “The French were happy before you came. They will be happy after you leave. They were crabby before you came. They will be crabby after you leave.” It freaked me out and made me really like the French at the same time.
I was freaked out because I haven’t done nearly enough research on this place (research=looking at travel books/websites/whatever crap aup and ucsb gave me). I’m gonna miss out if I don’t get on it soon, and I’m gonna have a list miles long of things that I wanted to do but never got around to.
This week I figure I’ll run around with my UC friends. I love them. I’ve met a bunch of great people already and we just clicked. Chris and I obviously did, then we met Maddie and Mallory on the plane, and they’re hilarious and the four of us get along really well. Then there’s Julia and Amalia and Kristen and and Ashley Jamie (who I owe euros for the cab!!) and lauren and a thousand other people who I cant’ remember because it’s 1 am and I’m tired as heck.
I ordered my first legal drink tonight! Some kinda beer at this English pub. It was really fun…soccer match on tv, loud guys around drinking beer, us hanging out and talking at a table. I just…I can drink here! It’s freakin me out still.
OHHHHH I SAW THE EIFFEL TOWER FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER TODAY! I thought I would get butterflies or feel something but it was just like…oh, there it is. Granted, I did only see it from the taxi. Tomorrow we’re gonna go have lunch on the lawn in front of the Eiffel tower and do some more tours and such.
Today was a thousand times better than yesterday…but I’m still not totally settled.
le premier jour
9/1/07 4:06 pm (paris, france)
aup has the WORST ORIENTATION EVER. Ucsb, I have to hand it to you; I never realized how efficient and almost painless the orientation process was (okay, I was stressed, but at least it was all my own doing, not the university’s fault). Hats off to you, o-staff.
So, lemme give you a run down of my day…literally, my last 24 hours.
6 am pst—check in at sfo for my flight that departs at 8am. I choked up and almost cried when I said bye to family, but I felt dumb walking down that people mover with tears in my eyes. Instead, I focused on the fact that I would be in one of the biggest, most exciting cities in the world in a few short hours. Ha..short.
8 am pst—leave sfo. I watched premonition with Sandra bullock…meh, it was okay. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Some time in the afternoon (maybe 4 pm east coast time?)—arrive in dc. The evil paparazzi—chris—snapped a few money makers as I walked out of the tarmac. Then we gave each other the biggest bear hug and freaked out a little. Then he grabbed my hand in excitement, but I told him it was a little sweaty cuz I was nervous and anxious. He told me no, my hands are always like that. He was right.
5:45 pm east coast time—leave Washington dc. Chris and I sat next to each other and Maddie and Mallory sat down the aisle from us. Party aisle. We met the funniest flight attendant ever. I tried to trip her 3 times. She was going to Paris because “Mommy needs to get her drink on.” We’re supposed to meet her in the 16th arrondisement in the big Paris Hilton.
Eons later (7 am paris time)—after a 7 hour flight, we FINALLY got to france. I would say paris, but to call charles de gaulle airport “paris” is sort of misleading. Our luggage was delayed a little bit, but we got it mostly without a hitch. We met the really helpful, really great, really smart AUP leaders who guided us down an elevator then neglected to find us. We found the shuttle that took us to FIAP (the hotel/dorm/what the hell is this that I’m staying in?), but we couldn’t fit all of our luggage in. So those brilliant AUP leaders left us in the middle of the bus stop for 20 minutes (literally, they were gone) before finally telling us to leave our luggage behind for 2 shuttles that would take our bags to FIAP. We were supposed to get on the bus. We were nervous to leave our precious stuff behind, but with those trusty AUP guys hanging around, we finally let go.
Oh, we also got our passports stamped and stuff. We stood in line for about an hour and a half for that. In retrospect, that’s not too bad.
11 am paris time—arrive at FIAP. We took a 40 minute bus ride here. Then we walked into the most unorganized mess I’ve ever seen. Actually, I’ll give’em credit. They would have been beautifully organized for about 100 people. But there seemed to be at least 500 of us. And the leaders didn’t know crap. We had to wait for our luggage for half an hour, wait in a line for an hour to check our luggage, and then wait in the line of all lines, the line that killed us UC kids, the line that made us look like bitches (yeah, I’m blaming it on the line). This STUPID registration line was fucking retarded. We waited in it for…gosh…must have been 4 hours.
What makes it take so long, you ask? Well these academic advisors meet with us each personally (500 people!) and tell us what info sessions to go to. Like we couldn’t read it on the schedule for ourselves. Luckily, we got a lunch break (some friends held a spot for us). If it weren’t for that, I surely would have passed out. We were all complaining loudly and I’m sure everyone hates us, but whatever. This isn’t AUP; this isn’t even real Paris.
All of us UC kids had one question. No, that’s a lie. We all probably have a thousand questions, but we could only think of a single one—WHEN THE HELL CAN WE GET INTO A BED?! 3 p.m. was when they would start giving out keys. That seemed like FOREVER away. And nobody knew when we moved into our homestays, either. Sunday? Monday? What time? They were almost as clueless as the eap office.
4:30 pm paris time—I’m sitting here on a bed in my jeans, shoes off my stinky feet, sweating in this shirt I’ve been wearing for 24+ hours now. But did you notice where I am? ON A BED! Ah, and I am happy once again.
aup has the WORST ORIENTATION EVER. Ucsb, I have to hand it to you; I never realized how efficient and almost painless the orientation process was (okay, I was stressed, but at least it was all my own doing, not the university’s fault). Hats off to you, o-staff.
So, lemme give you a run down of my day…literally, my last 24 hours.
6 am pst—check in at sfo for my flight that departs at 8am. I choked up and almost cried when I said bye to family, but I felt dumb walking down that people mover with tears in my eyes. Instead, I focused on the fact that I would be in one of the biggest, most exciting cities in the world in a few short hours. Ha..short.
8 am pst—leave sfo. I watched premonition with Sandra bullock…meh, it was okay. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Some time in the afternoon (maybe 4 pm east coast time?)—arrive in dc. The evil paparazzi—chris—snapped a few money makers as I walked out of the tarmac. Then we gave each other the biggest bear hug and freaked out a little. Then he grabbed my hand in excitement, but I told him it was a little sweaty cuz I was nervous and anxious. He told me no, my hands are always like that. He was right.
5:45 pm east coast time—leave Washington dc. Chris and I sat next to each other and Maddie and Mallory sat down the aisle from us. Party aisle. We met the funniest flight attendant ever. I tried to trip her 3 times. She was going to Paris because “Mommy needs to get her drink on.” We’re supposed to meet her in the 16th arrondisement in the big Paris Hilton.
Eons later (7 am paris time)—after a 7 hour flight, we FINALLY got to france. I would say paris, but to call charles de gaulle airport “paris” is sort of misleading. Our luggage was delayed a little bit, but we got it mostly without a hitch. We met the really helpful, really great, really smart AUP leaders who guided us down an elevator then neglected to find us. We found the shuttle that took us to FIAP (the hotel/dorm/what the hell is this that I’m staying in?), but we couldn’t fit all of our luggage in. So those brilliant AUP leaders left us in the middle of the bus stop for 20 minutes (literally, they were gone) before finally telling us to leave our luggage behind for 2 shuttles that would take our bags to FIAP. We were supposed to get on the bus. We were nervous to leave our precious stuff behind, but with those trusty AUP guys hanging around, we finally let go.
Oh, we also got our passports stamped and stuff. We stood in line for about an hour and a half for that. In retrospect, that’s not too bad.
11 am paris time—arrive at FIAP. We took a 40 minute bus ride here. Then we walked into the most unorganized mess I’ve ever seen. Actually, I’ll give’em credit. They would have been beautifully organized for about 100 people. But there seemed to be at least 500 of us. And the leaders didn’t know crap. We had to wait for our luggage for half an hour, wait in a line for an hour to check our luggage, and then wait in the line of all lines, the line that killed us UC kids, the line that made us look like bitches (yeah, I’m blaming it on the line). This STUPID registration line was fucking retarded. We waited in it for…gosh…must have been 4 hours.
What makes it take so long, you ask? Well these academic advisors meet with us each personally (500 people!) and tell us what info sessions to go to. Like we couldn’t read it on the schedule for ourselves. Luckily, we got a lunch break (some friends held a spot for us). If it weren’t for that, I surely would have passed out. We were all complaining loudly and I’m sure everyone hates us, but whatever. This isn’t AUP; this isn’t even real Paris.
All of us UC kids had one question. No, that’s a lie. We all probably have a thousand questions, but we could only think of a single one—WHEN THE HELL CAN WE GET INTO A BED?! 3 p.m. was when they would start giving out keys. That seemed like FOREVER away. And nobody knew when we moved into our homestays, either. Sunday? Monday? What time? They were almost as clueless as the eap office.
4:30 pm paris time—I’m sitting here on a bed in my jeans, shoes off my stinky feet, sweating in this shirt I’ve been wearing for 24+ hours now. But did you notice where I am? ON A BED! Ah, and I am happy once again.
sfo
8/31/07 6:20 am (pacific standard time)
I’m in the airport. I almost cried when family left. I got that knot in my throat and tears in my eyes, but I held back…not because I think it’s weak or anything, but because I didn’t want people to look at me and worry.
Okay, announcements, I get it. The Bay Bridge is closed for the weekend. Je n’ai pas savoir plus! That’s horrible French.
This is rambly. I just wanted to say…OMG. I’m almost in the plane (in an hour and a half)!!
I’m in the airport. I almost cried when family left. I got that knot in my throat and tears in my eyes, but I held back…not because I think it’s weak or anything, but because I didn’t want people to look at me and worry.
Okay, announcements, I get it. The Bay Bridge is closed for the weekend. Je n’ai pas savoir plus! That’s horrible French.
This is rambly. I just wanted to say…OMG. I’m almost in the plane (in an hour and a half)!!
31 August, 2007
suddenly
i don't care if i forgot stuff anymore. i don't care that have the right shoes or the right sweaters or the right books. i'm blissfully stress free right now, only 7 and a half short hours from take off.
but come 445 am, when we leave the house, i'm gonna be FCUKING FREAKING OUT.
but come 445 am, when we leave the house, i'm gonna be FCUKING FREAKING OUT.
28 August, 2007
the bus routes
i think that's what this is. anyway, it looks like a useful link.
http://www.ratp.info/informer/anglais/index.php
http://www.ratp.info/informer/anglais/index.php
27 August, 2007
mini novels
i'm gonna try to keep these entries short for you guys. i have a nasty habit of rambling on, especially when i don't know how to end things, so i think i'll break this promise as soon as i get over there. ah, such is life, eh?
i wanted to tell you also what this blog is--and what it's not.
it's mostly like my diary, except open for you to look at. which is a really big step for me for a couple reasons.
1. if you've talked to me even once, you know i'm somewhat of a grammar whore. but in my diary, i don't care quite as much. i'm able to turn off editor nicki. but it makes me self conscious that you'll see my mistakes and mishaps and it makes me think that you'll judge me differently, for some reason. yeah, my grammar matters to me that much.
2. you know me as hard-shelled, "no, i'm okay, really" nicki. nothing affects me and i can get through pretty much anything without breaking down. as it turns out, this is false. i break down, but only in the privacy of my own thoughts. but i also get over things REALLY quickly. and i also only tend to write when i'm really emotional (though this blog will turn out differently than that, because it's also gonna be my place to jot down everything i do over in that crazy continent), so diary me probably comes off more emotional than real me.
3. come on...i'm letting you in on my diary! how could this not be a big step?
i wanted to tell you also what this blog is--and what it's not.
it's mostly like my diary, except open for you to look at. which is a really big step for me for a couple reasons.
1. if you've talked to me even once, you know i'm somewhat of a grammar whore. but in my diary, i don't care quite as much. i'm able to turn off editor nicki. but it makes me self conscious that you'll see my mistakes and mishaps and it makes me think that you'll judge me differently, for some reason. yeah, my grammar matters to me that much.
2. you know me as hard-shelled, "no, i'm okay, really" nicki. nothing affects me and i can get through pretty much anything without breaking down. as it turns out, this is false. i break down, but only in the privacy of my own thoughts. but i also get over things REALLY quickly. and i also only tend to write when i'm really emotional (though this blog will turn out differently than that, because it's also gonna be my place to jot down everything i do over in that crazy continent), so diary me probably comes off more emotional than real me.
3. come on...i'm letting you in on my diary! how could this not be a big step?
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