Why haven't I posted in a month!?
The month of November passed by quickly.... at the speed of a TGV. The first week was adjusting back to Paris, academics, after having left for a week long vacation. The second week was packed with guest lecturers. The third week was the STRIKE... which lasted for almost two weeks, in the middle of the strike, we left Paris for Geneva and when we came back, the strike was still going on... it was a great "bienvenue a Paris". Then the fourth week was Thanksgiving... and after that, we realized we only had two more weeks left... and our research paper was NOT even close to being started...
So my last week of November was spent studying. First week of Decemeber spent taking exams and studying still... Second week of December spent in Starbucks with my group members working on our research paper and presentation. It was cram time.
Third week of December, I blitzed Paris with Sunny and said many au revoirs. =(
now i'm home. it's sweet to be home, in my own bed, own room. people can understand me when i speak and i can understand side conversations all around me... ^__^ but this is the suburbs.
i miss the metros. i miss seeing the eiffel tower from random streets. smelling roqueforte when i open the frigo. seeing a stick of baguette in the corner of the kitchen. listening to french and french music (techno.. and their techtonic dances-- it took some getting used to) walking in the parisien streets and stopping in random cafes to order a the au lait for 3 euros. or a cafe creme for 3 euros.. i miss dressing up nice in the morning knowing that no one on the streets of paris would give a second look. i miss the starbucks at st. lazare... starbuck's no longer special... ils sont partout aux etats-unis. i miss being care-free. i miss eating 3 hour lunches. i miss the wine. i miss being in Monoprix--amazing grocery/department store. i miss my friends in Paris.
i will be back, Paris.. someday.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Un Gros Grève.... Encore
The government decided yesterday morning that they will NOT negotiate with the train and metro unions about the retirement age... donc, il y aura un grève qui commencera à 20h le 13 novembre. This time, the strike is indefinite... meaning it will last as long as it can last. I have an exam in French class on the 14th! ...my best option right now is to WALK for two hours to get to class =(. my professor decided this date knowing that we will have the strike. he said, well if we canceled things every time we had a strike in France, we'd get nothing done.. plus, it'll be a nice morning walk in cold gray Paris =D (i wish you could've heard his sarcasm.)
My other professor said that the trains and metro forces hope to be so strong that they can make the strike last from the 13th until the 20th, the day when the entire public sector goes on strike....
oh la la.
I have a feeling that I will be experiencing something quite extraordinary in the coming couple of weeks... i just HOPE it will only last a couple of weeks. =\
So here's a quick low-down:
The trains and metro unions are striking because the government wants to raise their age of retirement. Of course, they don't want that. Also, Sarkozy (he was at the White House yesterday actually, eating with Bush) made a new law in the summer that forbids the metro strikes to completely shut down the city... so starting from January 2008, if they ever go on strike, they must be running at least 30% of the trains.. He's trying to make them less strong. And so.. since this will be the last time they can have a full blown strike, I'm quite sure they'll show Paris how strong they can be.
The public sector (teachers, nurses, post office, telephone company, etc) are striking because Sarkozy wants to cut down the deficit by replacing only 1 out of every 2 civil servants who retire... that's cutting the sector by HALF... so they're upset, naturally (but most of them are useless anyways). This reminds me, I'm going to send the rest of my postcards by tomorrow! Otherwise, mail will definitely get lost---not even just put on hold... but completely lost.
Just last week, the fishermen went on strike because the soaring oil prices make it impossible to make enough money to pay for fuel and the boats and still earn a living. Actually, they got what they wanted... Sarkozy is using government money to help them pay for fuel and they will be taxed less for their employees.
Now, the agriculture sector wants to strike too (and I am sure they will set a date soon)... because they have to pay for oil too. And they want a break as well.
Some university students are striking (the really left wing ones) because the government wants to give universities more autonomy--which I think is a good thing. This is a really really small reform though compared to the rest.
Lawyers were on strike today... because one of the ministries (i forget the exact name) wants to close down the small courts like in the rural areas of France. Both privately employed and public ones are striking.
c'est très incroyable... sigh. i want to see what 20th will be like.
Mais, c'est normal... it's a new government, the people want changes, want new reforms, the economy is not doing so great and if they don't keep it at a certain level, France can be kicked out of the European Union... and Sarkozy made all these promises in his campaign.
Normally, the president will try to propose a lot of reforms in July and August... (heh, everyone's on vacation for the month of August)... and then Sept, Oct, Nov, when everyone comes back... the people go on strike. =)
I will be sure to update you on my two hour walks to class.... two hour walks back home... next week.
OH! and we're supposed to be going to Geneva, Switzerland on the 17th until the 20th... We're supposed to be coming BACK to Paris on a train on the 20th..... hah, we'll see how it all goes.... on verra... on verra.
on a side note... but not off-topic. Writer's are striking in Manhattan (more of books and magazines) and Los Angeles (more screenwriters). They want a bigger percentage of their sales. I think especially for writers of TV shows because a lot of the episodes are streamed online and the sales of their DVDs are low. A lot of talk shows were taken off air, as well as 24 and Lost. Heroes, in its second season (REALLY GOOD).... is going to stop their second season on the 11th episode (currently just finished 7th episode).
I agree that they deserve their money and credit for their work. but there are also lots of other people who could definitely be paid better...like teachers. i guess if they went on strike, it might not be as effective(?)
My other professor said that the trains and metro forces hope to be so strong that they can make the strike last from the 13th until the 20th, the day when the entire public sector goes on strike....
oh la la.
I have a feeling that I will be experiencing something quite extraordinary in the coming couple of weeks... i just HOPE it will only last a couple of weeks. =\
So here's a quick low-down:
The trains and metro unions are striking because the government wants to raise their age of retirement. Of course, they don't want that. Also, Sarkozy (he was at the White House yesterday actually, eating with Bush) made a new law in the summer that forbids the metro strikes to completely shut down the city... so starting from January 2008, if they ever go on strike, they must be running at least 30% of the trains.. He's trying to make them less strong. And so.. since this will be the last time they can have a full blown strike, I'm quite sure they'll show Paris how strong they can be.
The public sector (teachers, nurses, post office, telephone company, etc) are striking because Sarkozy wants to cut down the deficit by replacing only 1 out of every 2 civil servants who retire... that's cutting the sector by HALF... so they're upset, naturally (but most of them are useless anyways). This reminds me, I'm going to send the rest of my postcards by tomorrow! Otherwise, mail will definitely get lost---not even just put on hold... but completely lost.
Just last week, the fishermen went on strike because the soaring oil prices make it impossible to make enough money to pay for fuel and the boats and still earn a living. Actually, they got what they wanted... Sarkozy is using government money to help them pay for fuel and they will be taxed less for their employees.
Now, the agriculture sector wants to strike too (and I am sure they will set a date soon)... because they have to pay for oil too. And they want a break as well.
Some university students are striking (the really left wing ones) because the government wants to give universities more autonomy--which I think is a good thing. This is a really really small reform though compared to the rest.
Lawyers were on strike today... because one of the ministries (i forget the exact name) wants to close down the small courts like in the rural areas of France. Both privately employed and public ones are striking.
c'est très incroyable... sigh. i want to see what 20th will be like.
Mais, c'est normal... it's a new government, the people want changes, want new reforms, the economy is not doing so great and if they don't keep it at a certain level, France can be kicked out of the European Union... and Sarkozy made all these promises in his campaign.
Normally, the president will try to propose a lot of reforms in July and August... (heh, everyone's on vacation for the month of August)... and then Sept, Oct, Nov, when everyone comes back... the people go on strike. =)
I will be sure to update you on my two hour walks to class.... two hour walks back home... next week.
OH! and we're supposed to be going to Geneva, Switzerland on the 17th until the 20th... We're supposed to be coming BACK to Paris on a train on the 20th..... hah, we'll see how it all goes.... on verra... on verra.
on a side note... but not off-topic. Writer's are striking in Manhattan (more of books and magazines) and Los Angeles (more screenwriters). They want a bigger percentage of their sales. I think especially for writers of TV shows because a lot of the episodes are streamed online and the sales of their DVDs are low. A lot of talk shows were taken off air, as well as 24 and Lost. Heroes, in its second season (REALLY GOOD).... is going to stop their second season on the 11th episode (currently just finished 7th episode).
I agree that they deserve their money and credit for their work. but there are also lots of other people who could definitely be paid better...like teachers. i guess if they went on strike, it might not be as effective(?)
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Barcelona
I spent last week in Barcelona... I loved the city! I visited the infamous Sagrada Familia designed by Antonio Gaudi. It's still being constructed so when you walk inside the cathedral, you see construction workers and huge cranes--something not expected. There's supposed to be four facades but only two of them are complete right now. I got to see the Passion facade and the Nativity facade.
Passion facade -- was actually finished by another architect, so the style is a bit different than Gaudi. Gaudi died in an accident before he completely finished his plans, so no one really knows what the finished cathedral is supposed to look like exactly, only approximately. The statues are very different than the gothic style that i've been used to in Paris.
Here, you see the rooster (crowing) on the bottom left, and Peter on the right.
And this one, Satan (with the serpent tail) is tempting Jesus. And on the left, the rows of numbers will add up to 33 (the age of Jesus when he died) in anyway combination. Below are some of the combinations.... supposedly there's 310 combos. (I think that's so cool!)
On the Nativity facade, it's Gaudi.
So on each side (facade), there's four bell towers. When the cathedral is complete, there'll be sixteen bell towers plus one tallest in the middle.
On the inside of the cathedral. Nothing in the cathedral is straight because Gaudi liked to mimick nature. So you see the columns near the top branches (like tree trunks). His staircases are mostly spiral mimicking seashells... like this:
And his crosses are 3 dimensional. He says that the traditional crosses, if looked at from the front will look like a flat cross, but when looked at from the side will only look like a line. So 3 dimensional crosses will look like a cross from any angle, any side, any altitude. Thus his crosses look like this:
I walked up and down La Rambla (most famous street in the city) that leads to Placa Catalunya (the center of town that connects all major streets of the city) a few times during my stay. There's lots of the same stands you find in Paris that sells papers, postcards, books, etc. Instead of saying "Relay!", they say "Hola!" =D
Yea so behind me is La Rambla and a stand. I had really good foood in Barcelona.... went to Les Quinze Nitz, Origens 99.9%, Meson David, Colors, Restaurant Elche, and Trobador. I also had the BEST hot chocolate with Amy. It was soooo thick! you had to "drink" it with a spoon. Also had really gooooood gelato.
most amazing duck ever! it was made in a tangy sauce from oranges.
mmm... amy's rabit, you can see it's head! the dish was "1/4 of rabbit" and amy was thinking... i wonder which 1/4 it'll be...
baked apple dessert stuffed with nuts.... suuuuper warm and yummy
dinner at Alejandra's house.
hmmm so my visit to Barcelona was mostly Gaudi designs (Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Casa Batllo), Montjuic, Tibidabo, La Rambla, Diagonal + Passeig de Gracia, Placa Catalunya, and FOOD. Today was only pictures from Sagrada Familia and Food. I'll add more tomorrow.
Passion facade -- was actually finished by another architect, so the style is a bit different than Gaudi. Gaudi died in an accident before he completely finished his plans, so no one really knows what the finished cathedral is supposed to look like exactly, only approximately. The statues are very different than the gothic style that i've been used to in Paris.
Here, you see the rooster (crowing) on the bottom left, and Peter on the right.
And this one, Satan (with the serpent tail) is tempting Jesus. And on the left, the rows of numbers will add up to 33 (the age of Jesus when he died) in anyway combination. Below are some of the combinations.... supposedly there's 310 combos. (I think that's so cool!)
On the Nativity facade, it's Gaudi.
So on each side (facade), there's four bell towers. When the cathedral is complete, there'll be sixteen bell towers plus one tallest in the middle.
On the inside of the cathedral. Nothing in the cathedral is straight because Gaudi liked to mimick nature. So you see the columns near the top branches (like tree trunks). His staircases are mostly spiral mimicking seashells... like this:
And his crosses are 3 dimensional. He says that the traditional crosses, if looked at from the front will look like a flat cross, but when looked at from the side will only look like a line. So 3 dimensional crosses will look like a cross from any angle, any side, any altitude. Thus his crosses look like this:
I walked up and down La Rambla (most famous street in the city) that leads to Placa Catalunya (the center of town that connects all major streets of the city) a few times during my stay. There's lots of the same stands you find in Paris that sells papers, postcards, books, etc. Instead of saying "Relay!", they say "Hola!" =D
Yea so behind me is La Rambla and a stand. I had really good foood in Barcelona.... went to Les Quinze Nitz, Origens 99.9%, Meson David, Colors, Restaurant Elche, and Trobador. I also had the BEST hot chocolate with Amy. It was soooo thick! you had to "drink" it with a spoon. Also had really gooooood gelato.
most amazing duck ever! it was made in a tangy sauce from oranges.
mmm... amy's rabit, you can see it's head! the dish was "1/4 of rabbit" and amy was thinking... i wonder which 1/4 it'll be...
baked apple dessert stuffed with nuts.... suuuuper warm and yummy
dinner at Alejandra's house.hmmm so my visit to Barcelona was mostly Gaudi designs (Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Casa Batllo), Montjuic, Tibidabo, La Rambla, Diagonal + Passeig de Gracia, Placa Catalunya, and FOOD. Today was only pictures from Sagrada Familia and Food. I'll add more tomorrow.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Paris me manque
AHH This is the end of my 8th week here! I stay only for 15! And this coming week will be spent in Barcelona =)
So last week, I had a lot of time to walk around Paris and just wander. In wandering, I took pictures of lots of things, some that I will miss a lot when I leave. Here are five:
1. Round-abouts
In paris, there are a lot of roundabouts, circles, etoiles... instead of four-way intersections. and these circles aren't huge. Traffic in the circle is usually self-regulated (no lights).
When you ride a bike in Paris, (it's quite common) you ride with traffic and next to cars... it can be a bit scary.
2. Newstands
They all look about the same... like this all over streets of Paris =)
3. Toilettes (they're free, gratuit)
I've never been in one, I don't think I want to go in... it's like a fancier looking Johnny located on streets of Paris.
Closer... it's occupied.
4. History of Paris Signs
All over Paris, these signs exist to tell you the history of a certain building, park, square, fountain, etc. This one is about the Seine River. They're in French, and sometimes easy to miss if you aren't really looking for one.
5. Public Trash
All are in green see through bags. The material is TOUGH... I've seen some that were filled with lots and lots of heavy things and still didn't break.
The story behind the see through is so that terrorists can't hide bombs in trash cans.
----
I just had the most wonderful lunch at a restaurant called "Vin et Marnee". It was super expensive... but I didn't have to pay >.<
So last week, I had a lot of time to walk around Paris and just wander. In wandering, I took pictures of lots of things, some that I will miss a lot when I leave. Here are five:
1. Round-abouts
In paris, there are a lot of roundabouts, circles, etoiles... instead of four-way intersections. and these circles aren't huge. Traffic in the circle is usually self-regulated (no lights).
When you ride a bike in Paris, (it's quite common) you ride with traffic and next to cars... it can be a bit scary.
2. Newstands
They all look about the same... like this all over streets of Paris =)3. Toilettes (they're free, gratuit)
I've never been in one, I don't think I want to go in... it's like a fancier looking Johnny located on streets of Paris.
Closer... it's occupied.4. History of Paris Signs
All over Paris, these signs exist to tell you the history of a certain building, park, square, fountain, etc. This one is about the Seine River. They're in French, and sometimes easy to miss if you aren't really looking for one.5. Public Trash
All are in green see through bags. The material is TOUGH... I've seen some that were filled with lots and lots of heavy things and still didn't break.The story behind the see through is so that terrorists can't hide bombs in trash cans.
----
I just had the most wonderful lunch at a restaurant called "Vin et Marnee". It was super expensive... but I didn't have to pay >.<
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Les Sports
1. Rugby - Coupe du Monde 2007
World Cup ended last weekend with South Africa taking 1st place! They won 14-6 against England, not one goal was made (except the really close one by England)... points were all from kicks.
And sadly, Argentina beat France 34-10 (i think) for third place. It was very sad for France. My host mom said, "ils sont nulle" which i think means, they suck. heh.
And that's a picture of a sparkling Tour Eiffel from the window of a friend's studio. It sparkles at the top of every hour at night. You can see the rugby ball at the bottom of it with green lights shining on it. I think the rugby ball will be coming down soon.
2. Tennis - BNP Paribas Masters 2007 (aka Paris Open)
I found out that the Paris Open (Men's Tennis) will be going on next week, in Paris, at a stadium that's 40 minutes away from my homestay!! The qualifiers are this Saturday and I'm going to try to go and then I'm going to get tickets to the Semi-final matches (next Sat, Nov 3)!! I am super excited. =) My first tennis match live! and so far, I think Federer, Ferrer, and maybe Roddick will be there.
3. Quidditch à Poudlard - Quidditch at Hogwarts
kidding. It's not really here in Paris... BUT I'm reading Harry Potter et la chambre des secrets in French. =D It's super exciting to see how the translations are made. My favorite so far:
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named = Celui-Dont-Le-Nom-Ne-Doit-Pas-Être-Prononcé
World Cup ended last weekend with South Africa taking 1st place! They won 14-6 against England, not one goal was made (except the really close one by England)... points were all from kicks.
And sadly, Argentina beat France 34-10 (i think) for third place. It was very sad for France. My host mom said, "ils sont nulle" which i think means, they suck. heh.
And that's a picture of a sparkling Tour Eiffel from the window of a friend's studio. It sparkles at the top of every hour at night. You can see the rugby ball at the bottom of it with green lights shining on it. I think the rugby ball will be coming down soon.
2. Tennis - BNP Paribas Masters 2007 (aka Paris Open)
I found out that the Paris Open (Men's Tennis) will be going on next week, in Paris, at a stadium that's 40 minutes away from my homestay!! The qualifiers are this Saturday and I'm going to try to go and then I'm going to get tickets to the Semi-final matches (next Sat, Nov 3)!! I am super excited. =) My first tennis match live! and so far, I think Federer, Ferrer, and maybe Roddick will be there.
3. Quidditch à Poudlard - Quidditch at Hogwarts
kidding. It's not really here in Paris... BUT I'm reading Harry Potter et la chambre des secrets in French. =D It's super exciting to see how the translations are made. My favorite so far:
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named = Celui-Dont-Le-Nom-Ne-Doit-Pas-Être-Prononcé
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Gros Grève
Question of the week has been: Will it be like 1995?
In 1995, then Prime minister Alain Juppé under president Chirac tried to introduce a new plan that included changes to pension rules. Some workers in the public sector who normally were allowed to retire at the age of 50 after 37.5 years of service will have to now complete 40 years of service just like in the private industry. This plan was supposed to help the deficit of France's social security system and make France more competitive in the European economy.
As a response to the government, the national railroad and subway workers went on strike---a strike that ended up lasting three-weeks. Those three-weeks, Paris was paralyzed.
Fast forward to present day, president Nicolas Sarkozy wants to implement the same change. So back in September five of the eight unions decided to strike on Oct 17th----but then they realized that the 17th was UN's official World Poverty Day so they switched it to Oct 18th. So this past Thurs was the strike---thanks to the strike I decided to take an unofficial day off from school (yAY! like a snow day!). I told my teacher since I lived in Boulogne (which means it usually takes 40 minutes to get to school), I wouldn't be coming to class (because I'd have to walk for two hours for a two hour class and walk back).
In Boulogne, everything was fine, nothing out of the ordinary---I guess I was expecting huge crowds of people walking or lots of car traffic, etc. but there was none of that. I think everyone just decided to stay home that day.
BUT Friday... Oct 19th, the second day of the strike, some metros were running and that was worse than having no metros running. I checked on www.ratp.fr site every so often to see if my line was running. Sometimes it said ligne 9: 1 rame sur 6. sometimes it said ligne 9: fortement perturbé. sometimes it said ligne 9: 1 rame sur 3. So I decided to give it a shot. At the station, you normally use your ticket to get through by take the top ticket (in the picture) and put it through a machine. below is my monthly pass:
But I got to the station and ALL the doors were open, no ticket needed, no on at the counter to buy a ticket from, and I was like... SWEET. and then realized, well that makes sense since metros aren't guaranteed to run at all.
I was waiting for my metro and it said the next one was in 12 min. That was a shock. Usually, metros come in 2 min, 5 min, or at MOST like late late at night 15 min. But it was mid-day. Anyways, I waited and I was afraid that the whole metro would be jam packed (as warned by my host mom)... but when it finally came, to my disappointment, was pretty empty. =\ I wanted to experience a strike in Paris!
Hah, so five stops after mine on the metro, I was SQUISHED because people kept coming in! And by the seventh stop, I was experiencing the awkward situation of not being able to hold onto a pole because it's too far from reach, being squished between bodies and sort of swaying between them for balance, watching people TRY to push onto the metro when they obviously canNOT, and seeing this one dude squeeze onto the metro, holding his bags on top of his head because there was no way for him to put it down... it was very unpleasant feeling to say the least, but very funny (I just couldn't believe I was in the middle of all that). So THIS is what a strike is like... I so wanted to take a picture then but I couldn't reach into my bag to get my camera since there was no room to move.
I ended up doing a transfer to line 14 (which is automated =)) to avoid all the crowded people but had to walk 40 minutes to where I needed to be. But it was an awesome walk, because I was in no rush. So I ended up taking pictures of little random things in Paris that I think I'd miss.
Ah... I have some awesome pictures to post but blogger is not letting me right now. I'll try again later.
In 1995, then Prime minister Alain Juppé under president Chirac tried to introduce a new plan that included changes to pension rules. Some workers in the public sector who normally were allowed to retire at the age of 50 after 37.5 years of service will have to now complete 40 years of service just like in the private industry. This plan was supposed to help the deficit of France's social security system and make France more competitive in the European economy.
As a response to the government, the national railroad and subway workers went on strike---a strike that ended up lasting three-weeks. Those three-weeks, Paris was paralyzed.
Fast forward to present day, president Nicolas Sarkozy wants to implement the same change. So back in September five of the eight unions decided to strike on Oct 17th----but then they realized that the 17th was UN's official World Poverty Day so they switched it to Oct 18th. So this past Thurs was the strike---thanks to the strike I decided to take an unofficial day off from school (yAY! like a snow day!). I told my teacher since I lived in Boulogne (which means it usually takes 40 minutes to get to school), I wouldn't be coming to class (because I'd have to walk for two hours for a two hour class and walk back).
In Boulogne, everything was fine, nothing out of the ordinary---I guess I was expecting huge crowds of people walking or lots of car traffic, etc. but there was none of that. I think everyone just decided to stay home that day.
BUT Friday... Oct 19th, the second day of the strike, some metros were running and that was worse than having no metros running. I checked on www.ratp.fr site every so often to see if my line was running. Sometimes it said ligne 9: 1 rame sur 6. sometimes it said ligne 9: fortement perturbé. sometimes it said ligne 9: 1 rame sur 3. So I decided to give it a shot. At the station, you normally use your ticket to get through by take the top ticket (in the picture) and put it through a machine. below is my monthly pass:
But I got to the station and ALL the doors were open, no ticket needed, no on at the counter to buy a ticket from, and I was like... SWEET. and then realized, well that makes sense since metros aren't guaranteed to run at all.I was waiting for my metro and it said the next one was in 12 min. That was a shock. Usually, metros come in 2 min, 5 min, or at MOST like late late at night 15 min. But it was mid-day. Anyways, I waited and I was afraid that the whole metro would be jam packed (as warned by my host mom)... but when it finally came, to my disappointment, was pretty empty. =\ I wanted to experience a strike in Paris!
Hah, so five stops after mine on the metro, I was SQUISHED because people kept coming in! And by the seventh stop, I was experiencing the awkward situation of not being able to hold onto a pole because it's too far from reach, being squished between bodies and sort of swaying between them for balance, watching people TRY to push onto the metro when they obviously canNOT, and seeing this one dude squeeze onto the metro, holding his bags on top of his head because there was no way for him to put it down... it was very unpleasant feeling to say the least, but very funny (I just couldn't believe I was in the middle of all that). So THIS is what a strike is like... I so wanted to take a picture then but I couldn't reach into my bag to get my camera since there was no room to move.
I ended up doing a transfer to line 14 (which is automated =)) to avoid all the crowded people but had to walk 40 minutes to where I needed to be. But it was an awesome walk, because I was in no rush. So I ended up taking pictures of little random things in Paris that I think I'd miss.
Ah... I have some awesome pictures to post but blogger is not letting me right now. I'll try again later.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Pursued and Pursuing after many things
1. Student life (learning what it means to be a student, a student wanting to go to medical school)
This week was the first week where I actually felt like I was in Paris to study, like I was a student in Paris... and not on some long vacation. My two midterms last week on public health went okay--although for the first one, I didn't completely finish. Then the third midterm today, on France and the European union, was tough because of all the readings that we had to do for it. It was all very interesting, learning all the different political party systems and the changes they have gone through and how with globalization, the extreme left and extreme right share a more similar view than with other groups within their side. And out of that, a center has evolved, which are the mainstream parties. If you'd like to know, I'd love to explain it all to you... history is fascinating.
2. L'invite (learning again that i love learning language)
After the midterm on Thurs, I went to see a French movie with Monica and Greg. L'invite. It wasn't great... I wanted to see a French movie to practice my French. L'invite is about a husband, who invited a CEO of a company over for dinner, hoping to be hired. The whole movie, the neighbor keeps giving the husband and the wife advice on how to prepare this dinner and he also criticizes their simple old-fashioned taste in art (Picasso) and music (some French oldie). So they try to remodel their house and blah blah... Finally the CEO comes for dinner, and apparently likes simple old-fashioned people... and in the end they get the job. and that was the end of the movie. I think I would've enjoyed the film much more if I understood more of French humor and if I understood more French. So until then.... I'll stick with dubbed in French American movies.
3. Pursued by God, Pursuing God (learning that He is my creator and I was created in His image)
Friday night, I had my group's first bible study. It went very well--I'm with an awesome group of girls. It just so happens that we are two Americans (i am one), two Canadians, two Russian, and two Brazilian girls. There, we answered four basic questions:
1. What are your goals for the year/your time in France?
2. What are your fears?
3. What is one area in life that you are struggling with?
4. How can this group best support you?
I think those are really simple questions that every person should take the time to sit down and ask themselves. Well questions 1,2 and 3. And they are questions that you don't ask yourselves once... but every quarter or every new school year so that at the end of that quarter or the end of that year, you can assess yourself.
This summer, I learned to ask myself three questions that were very simple but profound as well.
1. What did I learn about myself this past week?
2. What did I learn about people this past week?
3. What did I learn about God this past week?
If I can ask myself these questions, it presumes that I am learning. At least, they allow me to evaluate IF I'm learning and what learning those things MEAN in my life. How should it affect me, the way I relate to other people and the way I relate to God? Otherwise, I guess can go on living my life without ever stopping to think about it. I think it's possible to live a pretty good life that way.
I'd say this past week, I'm learning that God pursues after me, even while I'm in Paris, He runs after my heart and tugs at it. When I think of God pursuing after me, I think of Jonah being thrown overboard and eaten by a great fish. Because even though Jonah ran away from God (well he thought he could run away from God), God provided the great fish to swallow him up and give him a second chance.
I feel as if I'm in a big fish right now, because I'm so disconnected with the life I had at home, I'm just in a big space where I have lots of time to myself. Jonah spent three days in the fish praying to God. I have three months in this fish, and I feel like I should be using my time so much more wisely!
I had set out to figure out who I am (choosing my favorite type of eggs, so to speak ^__^) and I know that (well after a month of meandering) my identity comes from my relationship with God. So I will pursue after God, in these next two months.
4. Loss (being a part of the culture, finding that i like the rugby but not the movies)
Saturday went to Chinatown for dinner with Monica and Rachael. Watched the big game, France vs. England... France was up 9 to 8 until 73 minutes into the game (a game lasts 80 min). Then England's number 10 (he's cute but I cannot forgive him for what he did) scores 3 points by a kick. And the French was losing 9 to 11! I almost could not watch... and sadly, with four minutes left, England scores again.... winning 14 to 9. Five points... in the first five minutes of the game, England scores a touch down---5 points. I bet the French wish they didn't let them go that easy that early in the game. I was so sad on Saturday night.
Well, in the other semi-final game, South Africa won against Argentina. So this Friday, France will play Argentina for third place.
5. La Bagagerie (still hanging on to materialistic things)
Then Sunday, I went shopping at Gallery Lafayette... an amazing store to walk through and shop at if you have tons of money at your disposal. But since I'm a poor college student, I just drooled over many things with Monica. Well... they were also having a sale, so I ended up buying a bag (from La Bagagerie)... but I was going to buy a bag anyways...
en fait, that's all folks!
bon soiree!
This week was the first week where I actually felt like I was in Paris to study, like I was a student in Paris... and not on some long vacation. My two midterms last week on public health went okay--although for the first one, I didn't completely finish. Then the third midterm today, on France and the European union, was tough because of all the readings that we had to do for it. It was all very interesting, learning all the different political party systems and the changes they have gone through and how with globalization, the extreme left and extreme right share a more similar view than with other groups within their side. And out of that, a center has evolved, which are the mainstream parties. If you'd like to know, I'd love to explain it all to you... history is fascinating.
2. L'invite (learning again that i love learning language)
After the midterm on Thurs, I went to see a French movie with Monica and Greg. L'invite. It wasn't great... I wanted to see a French movie to practice my French. L'invite is about a husband, who invited a CEO of a company over for dinner, hoping to be hired. The whole movie, the neighbor keeps giving the husband and the wife advice on how to prepare this dinner and he also criticizes their simple old-fashioned taste in art (Picasso) and music (some French oldie). So they try to remodel their house and blah blah... Finally the CEO comes for dinner, and apparently likes simple old-fashioned people... and in the end they get the job. and that was the end of the movie. I think I would've enjoyed the film much more if I understood more of French humor and if I understood more French. So until then.... I'll stick with dubbed in French American movies.
3. Pursued by God, Pursuing God (learning that He is my creator and I was created in His image)
Friday night, I had my group's first bible study. It went very well--I'm with an awesome group of girls. It just so happens that we are two Americans (i am one), two Canadians, two Russian, and two Brazilian girls. There, we answered four basic questions:
1. What are your goals for the year/your time in France?
2. What are your fears?
3. What is one area in life that you are struggling with?
4. How can this group best support you?
I think those are really simple questions that every person should take the time to sit down and ask themselves. Well questions 1,2 and 3. And they are questions that you don't ask yourselves once... but every quarter or every new school year so that at the end of that quarter or the end of that year, you can assess yourself.
This summer, I learned to ask myself three questions that were very simple but profound as well.
1. What did I learn about myself this past week?
2. What did I learn about people this past week?
3. What did I learn about God this past week?
If I can ask myself these questions, it presumes that I am learning. At least, they allow me to evaluate IF I'm learning and what learning those things MEAN in my life. How should it affect me, the way I relate to other people and the way I relate to God? Otherwise, I guess can go on living my life without ever stopping to think about it. I think it's possible to live a pretty good life that way.
I'd say this past week, I'm learning that God pursues after me, even while I'm in Paris, He runs after my heart and tugs at it. When I think of God pursuing after me, I think of Jonah being thrown overboard and eaten by a great fish. Because even though Jonah ran away from God (well he thought he could run away from God), God provided the great fish to swallow him up and give him a second chance.
I feel as if I'm in a big fish right now, because I'm so disconnected with the life I had at home, I'm just in a big space where I have lots of time to myself. Jonah spent three days in the fish praying to God. I have three months in this fish, and I feel like I should be using my time so much more wisely!
I had set out to figure out who I am (choosing my favorite type of eggs, so to speak ^__^) and I know that (well after a month of meandering) my identity comes from my relationship with God. So I will pursue after God, in these next two months.
4. Loss (being a part of the culture, finding that i like the rugby but not the movies)
Saturday went to Chinatown for dinner with Monica and Rachael. Watched the big game, France vs. England... France was up 9 to 8 until 73 minutes into the game (a game lasts 80 min). Then England's number 10 (he's cute but I cannot forgive him for what he did) scores 3 points by a kick. And the French was losing 9 to 11! I almost could not watch... and sadly, with four minutes left, England scores again.... winning 14 to 9. Five points... in the first five minutes of the game, England scores a touch down---5 points. I bet the French wish they didn't let them go that easy that early in the game. I was so sad on Saturday night.
Well, in the other semi-final game, South Africa won against Argentina. So this Friday, France will play Argentina for third place.
5. La Bagagerie (still hanging on to materialistic things)
Then Sunday, I went shopping at Gallery Lafayette... an amazing store to walk through and shop at if you have tons of money at your disposal. But since I'm a poor college student, I just drooled over many things with Monica. Well... they were also having a sale, so I ended up buying a bag (from La Bagagerie)... but I was going to buy a bag anyways...
en fait, that's all folks!
bon soiree!
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