Oct - Dec

Salut à tous et toutes!
So, first off, I know that I have been snail-paced in getting this blog up, but my life these past few months has been extremely occupied with school, friends, traveling, and overall adventure... that's my excuse. It would appear that my last blog was in October... so much has happened since then...
I'll start from my trip to Poland back in October. The trip set off to a bit of a rough start - the car of the girl that was to drive us to Beauvais airport was towed and so we had to frantically run to the police headquarters to get it out of their posession - the station being all the way across town from where we were. Once we had her car back we had just over one hour to get to the airport - which is one hour away from central Paris. Thanks to a delay in our flight, we made it with but minutes to spare. We stayed in a beautiful five-star hotel in Warsaw city center, and it was the nicest hotel I have ever slept in. We drove to the Auschwitz camp the day following our arrival in Warsaw, and words can not describe the feelings and thoughts that arose from the visit. We went out dancing one night in a Polish discothèque that played old music (technically not that old - from the 80s/90s); the music that I grew up with, so that was fun. We walked around the old city center, which consisted of beautiful and uniquely painted buildings, and our last day we visited a charming little park. Being autumn, the park was full of warm colors, and was breathtaking to walk through. It was an impressionable and unforgettable trip.
In more recent news - I have moved out of the family's home for whom I was fille au pair, and now live in a comfortable little appartment just next to l'Arc de Triomphe. I live with a French guy named Cristophe, and he's great. We have a little kitchen (with a real oven!) so we have been cooking a lot together which has been a lot of fun. We even have a real fireplace - which is somewhat rare for Paris. It has been so nice living in Paris centre. Everything is so close, and I no longer have to take 1 hour + of transit to come here. I visited les Catacombes last weekend by myself, and that was quite interesting.
As for upcoming events - I am going to Romania this weeekend with my (boy)friend Alex - so that should be a lot of fun. Next weekend I will be going to Tangier alone, which will be a change of scenery as well.
All in all, life is fabulous, and there is not one single thing I would change.
I hope you all had a warm Thanksgiving.

Paris

Guess it’s been a while since I last posted a blog, so here’s one… finally… explaining what I’ve been doing these past few weeks. I have safely returned to France after having traveled back to the US for 2 weeks to visit family & friends, and I currently live in a little neighborhood named Le Vésinet, which is located slightly north-west of Paris. It is a town where all the rich Parisians moved to back in the day when they didn’t want to live in the city, and it is très green with beautiful big trees, old expensive homes, and a serene lake.
I started my studies last Thursday at l’Institut Catholique de Paris, and am very happy with how the program is set up in comparison with the Aix program. It is well organized, the staff is professional and helpful, and the semester is off to a great start for me. I actually missed the first 3 days of school and the placement test, but the staff was very accommodating, and worked to find me a place in my courses. I am enrolled in 4 language classes and an international relations course, which will be interesting. It is a beautiful campus with a garden, which is apparently rare in Paris as one of my professors explained to me.
Along with my studies, I have also started work with my new Au pair family. They are a family of 4 – they have 2 kids, Armance who is 13 and Romain who will be 6. I only take care of Romain, and he is such a polite, well-behaved little boy. They have been very welcoming to me since my arrival, and I like them a lot. I only work in the afternoons for a few hours each day, so that allows for much study / exploration time.
I’ve been walking all around Paris in my after-school hours, and have found some great places. On a long route back to a metro that I enjoy taking, I pass multiple art galleries, churches, and beautiful old buildings.



There is some really interesting art being showed in the different galleries. One of the galleries I pass has a collection of iconic art. The artist’s name is Alexander Kosolapov, and there are some interesting depictions of Jesus, our pop culture, etc. One of his pieces is called the ‘Angel of Carbohydrates’ and is your everyday man in an angelic pose with a florescent McDonalds sign as wings. Another sign reads Jesus saves, Moses invests. Cool stuff.


Another art gallery that I pass used to display the art of Yvette de la Frémondiere, who covered in paper mâché the bodies of mannequins to resemble women of the Muslim religion. One of the mannequins was contorted into a beaten position and was on the ground. Another was sitting in a chair, hands folded, again, completely covered except for the eyes and hands by the paper mâché. All of them were created with a very submissive and helpless mannerism about them. I went back to take a picture today, but unfortunately her entire display had been moved.
I’ve been exploring the bridges along the Seine as well. They are so diverse! My favorite so far is one located by the Louvre, and it is called Le Pont de Beaux Arts. There are always painters, or different craftsmen working, or selling their art, and it is lovely. In addition, people attach locks of all kinds to the grating of the sides of the bridge, which makes for a very unique bridge if you ask me.





I am so happy to be back here in France, submersed in a culture and lifestyle in which I feel truly at home!

Paris/Vacances!

Wow, been a bit slow in getting this blog up... but here it finally is!
We'll start with my trip to Paris.
A few weeks ago I made a trip to Paris for 4 days with the intention to arrange my whole school situation for the upcoming semester and it turned out to be a very successful trip. I decided to enroll myself in school independently as opposed to going through Abroadco (as I did in Aix) because 12 thousand is ridiculously expensive to pay for a semester abroad. I arrived on Thursday and went directly to an interview with a family for whom I could potentially be an Au pair. It went well, but as they were a family of 6 with a baby due in November, I decided that would be a bit too much as my focus will be on my studies.
Friday I went to my future university - l'Institut Catholique de Paris, which has a similar language program to that of Aix, and I enrolled myself paying but a small fraction of the price the organization was asking. With the rest of my Friday, I explored the cemetery (Père-Lachaise) where Chopin, Edith Piaf, and Oscar Wilde, amongst other well knowns are buried, and had a tasty sushi feast with Hervé's brother Ludo.
Saturday was a success as well. I met with a second potential family to Au pair for who live in Le Vésinet, a ville just outside of Paris which is very green and beautiful, and commited to being an Au pair for them for my time in Paris. They seem like a really nice family. They have a little boy who is 5 and a girl who is almost 13. They attend international schools, and the girl already speaks good English. A plus for me is that they have a piano! yeahhh! Saturday evening I met up with a friend I hadn't seen in 2 years, since I lived in L.A. and joined him at the house of his friends' for a soirée poker. I'll be traveling with him and his friends to Warsaw in October, and will visit Auschwitz which should be interesting. I've been doing my research on it, and to me it is incomprehensible how the lives of over 1,1 million people can be terminated in but a matter of 5 years.
Ok, so old news said... now on to my vacation time with the family c:
Right now we are staying in a town called Ventabren, just outside of Aix-en-provence. Yesterday we went to Arles for the day where we saw a reenactment of gladiator fights and strolled around the city. We saw a movie yesterday evening - Avatar in 3d... in French... - but I'm proud to announce that I understood perfectly the dialogue! haha It was0 actually the first time I've ever been to the theater in France.
Monday we go to Cannes where we'll spend time at the beach and on their boat, and I'll get to see one of my close friends - Morgan - who will be in St. Tropez!
I can't believe how quickly my time is passing here... I wish it could pass seemingly slower. In just a bit more than 1 month I'll be back to visit in California for 2 weeks, then back to Paris. I'll work/study until the end of December... then grâce à mes parents, I'll be off to Hanoi, Vietnam and Bangkok, Thailand for the first 2 weeks of January! That should be a different experience for sure.
Ok, I think that about does it for my updates...
How's everyone's summer going?
Bisous, vous me manquez tous...
See you in a month!