AHH I have not written in so long! I’m sorry, things have been really busy here lately, in the best way, so it’s been a little hard to find the time to sit down and write a good entry. Where do I even start?
Class:
Classes are going pretty well. I don’t really like two of them, and the third one, which I love, is not so much of a real class. I’m learning things in my grammar class that I’ve already studied in middle and high school, so in that sense, I’m not learning anything new. Sure, it’s really good to review and practice because, let’s face it, French is HARD. But I find that my spoken French is improving mostly from what I hear other people say throughout the day, and from what I observe. I think I’m becoming more confident in my speaking, which is good. I think that as long as my French improves, even a little, then this trip will have been worth it. I don’t need it to be the BEST TIME OF MY WHOLE LIFE and it doesn’t need to be life-changing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m having a fantastic time here and I love it, but I’m just realizing the reasons I’m here and what I want to get out of this experience. If I can explore and see more of the world and learn more about how other cultures live and work, then that’s successful. I also do learn a lot about France in general and I think that’s more important than what I can learn from a textbook.
I’m lucky though because our program doesn’t have all that much work compared to others. It feels time-consuming at times but I remember that I have a unique experience to be able to have an internship in Paris and join the workforce in that way. It’s pretty cool.
Internship:
Speaking of internship…things are going great! I’ve been productive lately and even though I had a minor mishap a week ago, things have worked out. I learned the importance of taking notes during an interview because there is always the chance that the voice recorder will not do its job. In fact, the recorder did not work, and in fact, I had NOT taken notes. Ah, what a mess! Crisis averted and I have learned my lesson. It all balanced out by a great success—I have two articles that I’ve written which are currently on the website www.parutions.com! I’m really proud to be able to see the results of my work in the internship; it’s very satisfying. I am officially a published literary reviewer! Haha. I’ll have more interviews coming up in the next week, which is also pretty exciting. I still love the internship and it’s still busy busy busy all the time.
In other world news:
I booked train tickets to London! I’ll be there in a few weekends to hopefully see Ben and Matt in Oxford! I didn’t think I would have a lot of time to explore and travel, which was kind of upsetting, but Mumsy just told me that I have to go to at least 2 other countries while I’m here, so I am taking her advice! I want to plan other trips too, so I welcome all suggestions! Time is going by way too fast so I need to book fast.
A couple of weeks ago Michelle, Natalia, Emily, Melanie and I attempted to go see the ballet Giselle at the Opera. We got all dresses up and it was fun to look nice and have a night out on the town! We thought that if we got there early enough, we could get last-minute tickets. Even though we were there at the time the website said, the line was already so long and we would only be guaranteed seats "sans visibilite" and we didn't want to pay 25 euros to NOT see the ballet. It was unfortunate, so we left (all dressed up and nowhere to go!) and instead went out do dinner and dessert :)
Two Sundays ago Michelle and I went for a walk in Bois de Boulogne, which is a huuuuge forest just to the West of Paris. It is gigantic, and we walked around for a long time, in fact. Though it's Fall, in some places the leaves haven't changed yet so it was a green wonderland for us. We found hidden paths and a Shakespeare Garden and just talked and it was lovely. It was chilly so we finished it off with a trip to Starbucks for a hot drink. I know, Starbucks...sometimes you just need a white mocha you know will be good. Great day!
Quinn’s visit:
Quinn spent 5 days in Paris and it was absolutely wonderful! I’m so glad we were able to see each other, and I was little miss tour-guide and took him all over the city. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower on his last day here. I’d been up it 4 eyars ago but it’s still amazing to see the entire city, and then some, from the top. It makes Paris look really small! The Arc de Triomphe looked tiny, and Montmartre, where we had been the night before, looked smaller (though when we saw the viw of Paris from Sacre Coeur, THAT looked amazing). We went out do dinner and lunch every day, which was a nice treat since I don’t get to usually eat out. I took him to Hotel de Ville and Notre Dame, where we think we saw a funeral outside. It was the first time I’d seen any religious activity outside the cathedral. We also went to the Tuilerie Gardens, where there was actually a pretty neat art installation for La Festivale d’Automne. Silver sculptures of funny/creepy faces that looked like giant eggs surrounded the main fountain, so we went around and took photos. It was cool! We also went to the Luxembourg Garden, though pasta in a box was closed! It was a Sunday, but I still expected it to be open. Oh, well…We saw a lot of sights, and even saw the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a lot of time to see other things, so I think I will go back, maybe this weekend. You really need a solid 3 hours there to be able to walk around and appreciate all of the incredible art there, not just the most famous pieces like the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. We were pretty lucky with the weather too and though it was pretty chilly some days, it didn’t really rain. All in all, it was a wonderful trip and really great to see Quinn. :)
Now it’s back to the grind, but I have a lot of exciting things coming up, and more people to see. I can already tell the time is going to speed by. Until next time, my friends, bisous!
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