Visitors

I had my first American friends visit Paris last weekend!! Caitlin and Molly, the girls that are studying in London, came for a quick trip and it was really great to see them and be able to show them around the city.

Being the Tour Guide
One of the fun things about having the girls here was that I got to do some of the "touristy" stuff that I haven't had a chance to do yet. We went inside Notre Dame, went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, went to the Louvre and walked all the way down the Champs Elysees. Also, they were in awe of everything they saw. For them, seeing the Arc de Triomphe was a really big deal and it helped me take a second look at the amazing things that I have become used to seeing.

Luckily for the girls, we got to spend a lot of time with French people. It really helped them get the full Paris experience and it was nice for them to meet so many new people. My host brother came with us on Friday when we were walking around the city and we also went to his apartment that night. Saturday, Katy's host brothers had a dinner party (18 of their closest friends) and we were invited, so we brought the girls along for a traditional meal and a great time. Caitlin and Molly do not speak French and most of my French friends do not speak English, so this meant that Brittany, Katy and I had to translate pretty much everything everyone said. It was great for me to be speaking two languages in one conversation, but it did become difficult. By the end of the first night my head was spinning! Caitlin was definitely surprised at my ability to speak and understand French. In the U.S. I rarely speak it, so even though I am majoring in the language, my friends and family don't get to experience that part of my life. It was fun for me to have Caitlin, who has known me for ten years, finally witness this piece of who I am.

Reflection
March 15th was the 11 year anniversary of my aneurysm. It was a very reflective day for me and I kept thinking about how life takes you in unexpected directions. I could have never guessed that eleven years ago everything would change forever and I could have never guessed that I would be here now. I am extremely grateful to be here and to be living life to the fullest. Being this far away from friends and family makes you appreciate them more than you ever knew you could, and this week I have definitely been thinking about the opportunities I have been given and how lucky I am. Living in France is the hardest thing I've ever done, but it is also the best thing I have ever done.

Up Next
Midterms are finally over and I'm looking foward to a busy schedule ahead! Marilyn is coming to visit on Saturday for ten days and we have a lot of things planned. I can't wait to play "tour guide" again! Also, we're going to Madrid next weekend and Italy is just around the corner. I have many things to look forward to as Spring rolls into the city of lights.

Buckling Down

This weekend has been filled with meeting new people, great weather and casual outings. Midterms begin next week and the Institut Catholique de Paris resumes classes, so this weekend was a last hoorah before I have to buckle down to study and attend my exterior course.

Thursday
A popular alternative band called School of Seven Bells came to Paris on Thursday to play a show at a small venue downtown. The concert was held at a place right next to the Seine. To get to it, you walked down a cobblestone street along the river and the gates were right there. The river was so peaceful at night because it was beautifully lit up and people were walking along, holding hands and enjoying life. It was such a treat to be right there and be able to listen to music. Brittany, John, Madeline and I went to the show (only 15 euros for a ticket!) and met up with a few friends from IES. Brittany and I actually ended up meeting two British guys who live and work in Paris. They started talking to us because they heard us speaking English and we all hit it off. It was nice to be at ease speaking our native language and we laughed the entire night about cultural differences and odd experiences as foreigners in the city.

Friday
The weather is starting to get nice on this side of the Atlantic, so we took advantage of a gorgeous day and Cody, Madeline and I went to Bois de Vincennes. It is an old chateau with parks and a forest surrounding it. The chateau was really nice and we saw where the drawbridge used to be, where the moat was and also the king's and queen's quarters. We walked past the chateau into a large park with flowers and ponds everywhere. Cody brought a baguette and apples so we ate food while walking around and looked at the flowers beginning to sprout. It was nice to see trees and grass everywhere. We want to go back in a couple of weeks to see if the flowers have bloomed and also to eat a picnic lunch.

My host brother invited Madeline and me to his apartment Friday night, so we brought a few friends and went to his place. He lives really close to Colette's so it only took 10 minutes to walk over. His place was very cute and very Parisian. Mathis (pronounced Matisse) had some friends there already and we had a great time hanging out with the French guys. Katy's friend was in town and didn't speak any French, so we had to be the translators all night but somehow it worked out just fine. It was really nice of Mathis to invite us over and have us meet his friends. We had already met a few of them, so seeing them the second time was comfortable and fun. I usually have the best time staying in and having more relaxed nights, so I loved being there and had a great time. Everyone was friendly and the best way to become fluent in French is to speak it for hours with people our age. I told my host mom that it is really nice of Mathis to keep inviting us out and she is glad that we've all become close.

Saturday
It was another beautiful day, so we walked around the city and found the Place de Vosges again, which Katy and I had found a few weeks ago. We just sat on a park bench and watched the people while talking about how nice it is to be here. After walking around for a couple of hours we separated and met up again that night. Mathis and his friend met me at the metro and we found a great restaurant to have dinner. The girls came with us too and we ate and talked for two hours. I think that particular dinner is one of my highlights of being in Paris so far. It is hard to explain, but there is just something about eating with friends, drinking wine and enjoying each other's company at a restaurant that makes me so happy. The boys knew of a fun karaoke bar, so we walked around and found it nearby. Some of our IES friends came and so did Katy's host brother, so we had quite a large group. It was great though because we just danced and sang for the rest of the night.

Sunday
Today I woke up and went to the farmer's market in my neighborhood with Madeline. I am pretty tired after such a busy weekend, but I am looking foward to tonight. Colette invited Mathis and his friend to come to dinner, so we're having a large family meal together. I am very glad that I live with a host family rather than live in an apartment. I feel like it rounds out the French experience and it also keeps me grounded.

Can't forget to study
Paris has so much to offer that we sometimes have a hard time focusing on school. However, another big part of that lack of focus is also because the French school system is different than in the U.S. We rarely have homework and the professors lecture for most of the class. Our grades consist of small pop quizzes, the midterm and the final. Once in awhile we have a two page paper to write or something like that, but basically the entire grade is based on how we do on the tests. We joke that IES is easier than DePaul, but it is because we have a lighter workload. Midterms start next week, so I will be in my room studying starting tomorrow and lasting until next Wednesday.
Also, Institut Catholique de Paris, the French university that I attend, has been on vacation for the past fourteen days. I haven't had to go to my exterior course, which eliminated one class on Tuesday and my Friday class. ICP starts this week, so it will add 2 1/2 hours more to my school schedule.

Wow that was a long entry. Hopefully you made it through without falling asleep. I know I'm exhausted, so that is all I have for now. As the French say when parting ways, à tout à l’heure.

Traveling on a Budget

At IES we have ten days for vacation in the middle of April. Normally I am not a big "Spring Break" person but this year it is going to be great! We booked all of the tickets today and have most of the travel plans arranged. Brittany, Katy, John and I are going to Italy!

Our plan is to take an overnight train to Rome from Paris the night of April 9th and arrive in Rome on the 10th, just in time for Easter weekend. We are staying at a hostel for three nights right in the center of the city and are leaving early Monday morning to take a train to Florence. We'll stay at another hostel for three nights and then take a very early train to Venice on the 16th. We'll stay in Venice three more nights and then take an overnight train to Paris to make it back in time to go home, drop off our stuff, and head to class Monday morning. It is going to be a busy ten days filled with traveling and sightseeing, but the best part is that all of the planning is done! We've put deposits down on the three hostels and we purchased our train tickets today.

It took a lot of planning and preparation, but we think that we've found the best deals. We are going to be able to spend ten days in Italy for 500 euros total. That price includes hostels and transportation for three cities as well as most/all of the spending money we will need. Not bad for an amazing Spring break trip?!?!

I've learned that planning trips can be stressful. It takes a lot of time and effort to make sure that you're doing it the cheapest way possible while also making sure that you will be safe and comfortable where you are staying. However, with all of this preparation I've learned a few tricks that save money:
* There are often student discounts
* RyanAir is the cheapest airline to take within Europe. It is easy to buy tickets online and it goes to most of the major cities. There are, however, a few downfalls to this inexpensive form of transportation. For example, there are a lot of hidden fees that are added onto the "cheap" ticket at the airport, people fight their way onto planes because seating is not assigned, and it is not the most reliable form of transportation because planes can be cancelled or seats bumped more often than the other airlines. I guess it is all part of getting an extremely cheap ticket.
* Traveling by train is definitely the easiest way to go places in Europe. All of the train stations I have researched are attached to public transportation, which makes it really easy to get to and from the city once you arrive. Also, trains are fast, clean, and nice because you get to see the European landscape as you travel. Also, there are SNCF offices all around Paris where you can purchase your tickets. It is a good way to avoid extra costs and very convenient because we were able to buy all of our train tickets- even the ones within Italy- from the office.

However, with all of our planning and preparation things are bound to go wrong. It is a nice feeling to have a schedule and to have a plan, but I think the best thing to do is to be flexible. We feel like we know what we are doing, but let's face it- we will be in a foreign country where we don't know the customs, don't know the language, and don't know the lay of the land. We are hoping for the best and as of right now we are extremely optimistic for the trip!

Side note: I knew that Spring Break would be the biggest cost of being in Paris, so I have been trying to spend money accordingly. It has been surprisingly easy to find ways to cut costs while living here and I feel good about the decisions I have made with my money. For example, there is a bakery right next to IES with cheap sandwiches (2 euros) for lunch. They gave me a card to get stamped every time I buy a sandwich that makes the sixth one free. Today I ate lunch for 0 euros.
Also, there is a great website for students in Paris that lists events going on in the city that fit into a student's budget. From the website we learn about cheap concerts, free events, and other ways to explore the city without breaking our bank accounts.
Plus, IES often has free events that students can attend. Today we went to a free movie at the theater down the street. They are also organizing outings for our old Propedutique groups that we had at the beginning. It is a nice way to enjoy entertainment without spending any money.

I am very excited about traveling around Europe and can't wait to go to Italy! Before Italy I am actually going to Madrid for a weekend. We found round-trip tickets for 43 euros. That trip is at the end of this month, so I feel like March and April will be my big months to travel. With London already under my belt and Spain and Italy coming up I think I am pretty much set on traveling through Europe. Of course there are a million places I would like to go, but it is also nice to stay in Paris and get to know the city. My host mom said that you could spend a lifetime in Paris (like she has) and still not know everything it has to offer. I am content to stay here but also looking forward to seeing other major European cities!

Happy travels!

The Beginning of Spring

It has been quite an eventful weekend here in the City of Lights! On Friday there was the Salon International de l'Agriculture, Saturday IES took us on an excursion to Chantilly and today I visited the Centre Pompidou museum and Sainte Chappelle. The weather is getting warmer, the people seem friendlier and I'm learning so many things about my home away from home.

Salon International de l'Agriculture
The International Agriculture Fair is an annual event in Paris. It is very popular and people come from all over France to see livestock, taste food from different regions, see scientific demonstrations and see a wide variety of other things. It reminded me of a state fair except much larger and much more international. There were seven pavilions with different things and Madeline and I set out early in the morning to try to avoid the crowds. Our plan didn't really work because we were stuck in throngs of people the whole time, but overall it was cool and interesting. Our favorite pavilion was of course the one with food. There were different companies and small producers of food that set up stands offering what they sell. There were free samples all over (a very good thing for a student on a budget) and it was fun to see all the different types of cuisine.
My second favorite pavilion was the one about the environment. It had different stations set up with things related to science (plants, animals, weather patterns, etc) and I really liked seeing the demonstrations. The other pavilion that we went to had a bunch of farm animals. It was weird to see chickens and goats in the middle of the city. It was actually kind of sad because there were just rows and rows of animals in cages, so Madeline and I didn't end up staying in that one for very long. Also, because of the crowds we didn't want to fight our way through to the other pavilions. We saw the three main ones, and from what I've heard those were the most popular ones to see and the most interesting. I've actually heard of the Paris Agriculture Fair from readings and things in my French classes. It is really well known and definitely a thing to do if you're in the area at the end of February.

Chantilly
Each IES student is allowed to go on two excursions for the semester. Saturday was the first one and I signed up to go, so 49 of my classmates and I met at 8am, loaded a giant double decker bus and took the 1 1/2 hour ride away from Paris to the small town of Chantilly, France. The town is known for the Chantilly Chateau so we were excited to see the castle and learn about medieval French history. However, the trip turned out to be less exciting than we thought. It all started when we arrived an hour before the castle opened. Bertrand, the IES staff member in charge of the excursion apparently thought that it would take longer to get to the town than it did so he told us to either stay on the bus and sleep or walk around while we waited for it to open. The term "walk around" should be read sarcastically because we were in a fenced in parking lot. Plus, there was a thick fog over everything so we couldn't even see the castle from the parking lot. Needless to say the boys got restless and we were all anxious to get inside.

Once inside, we split into two smaller groups and took a guided tour of the chateau. It turns out that the Chantilly Chateau holds the largest private collection of art in France. The castle itself was really nice but the artwork inside that covered the walls was amazing. However, after two hours walking around listening to the tour guide explain who is in the paintings and their significance we all became tired and bored. Luckily, after the tour we got to have a traditional French lunch right in the castle. The food was amazing and was a nice break from tours. Afterwords we went on another guided tour of the building that used to be the water area of the castle. Our guide spent an hour showing us the old techniques for washing clothes. It was rough. The antique water wheel area was pretty cool and there was also a vent in the floor where you could see the river running underneath the building, but it was pretty hard to stay interested in the guide's very detailed speech about water usage.

Overall Chantilly was cool to see but would have been better if we could have toured it ourselves. Also the town was cute and as we drove home we went through the main street and were bummed that we didn't have more time to explore the streets.

Centre Pompidou & Sainte Chappelle
In Paris, the first Sunday of every month means that most museums are free. Since today was the first Sunday in March we took the opportunity to go to the Georges Pompidou Museum of Modern Art. I like contemporary art, so I really enjoyed the museum. The coolest part about it is the design on the outside. Since it is supposed to be "modern" the building was made to look inside out.

Sainte Chappelle was also free today, so after the museum we walked across the Ile de la Cite (the small island in the middle of the river in Paris) and went to the cathedral. I had never heard of it so I didn't know what to expect and wow was I blown away. The cathedral was BEAUTIFUL. It didn't look like all the other nice churches I've seen. It had the most intricate stained glass windows I've ever seen. The designs on the stained glass depicted every story in the Bible and covered most of the building. From the outside, Sainte Chappelle looks like a normal Gothic-style church but from the inside it takes your breath away. I definitely want to go back!

This weekend was full of activities and adventures, some better than others, and I can't wait to go to bed tonight- I'm exhausted! It was definitely a great weekend to explore the city and I'm looking forward to warmer weather and more free museum visits.

Hanging with the Locals

This week has been such a turning point for my Paris experience!
I've mentioned before that one cultural difference between the French and Americans is that French people are generally more introverted. They don't talk to strangers on the metro, they don't like to share personal information, groups of friends stick together and it is hard for foreigners to become friends with Parisians. Somehow I have managed to break that barrier with two different sets of friends!

The first group is a French guy named Yann and his friend Dom. Brittany and I met Yann when we were out one night. They really hit it off and exchanged phone numbers. She started hanging out with him and on Monday took me to meet him and his friend. We went to an American bar that has music quizzes on Monday nights. They wanted to bring us so we could help them win (all the music is American). We had a great time and made it to the semi-final round! We are going back next Monday to hang out with them again and we also have more plans with them this weekend.

The second group is Mathis, my host brother, and his friends. He invited Madeline and me out last night to go to a bar/club called Afterwork. The club was right on the Champs Elysees down the street from the Arc de Triomphe. It was a really chic place and I've seriously never seen so many good looking people together in one room in my life! There was a dress code for men (must be wearing a collar) and luckily my friends and I dressed up in cute dresses because we fit right in. On Thursdays at the club it is only 15 euros for open champagne bar and buffet/snack food from 7 to 9, so even though the place was swanky it didn't break our bank accounts. At 9 it turned into a dance club and regular bar, so even more people came and it was packed by 10. The night turned out to be so much fun. All of my host brother's friends were really nice and Katy, Madeline and I had a great time drinking champagne and dancing for hours. It is still hard for me to believe that we were clubbing on the Champs-Elysees! Mathis invited us out again and I am so excited to start going out with them. It is also nice because I know that Mathis is a good guy and that he'll always look out for us. Last night him and his friend walked us home. Colette is so happy that we've become friends.

It took a month, but I've finally started meeting French people and getting groups of friends outside of IES. One great thing about hanging out with the locals is that we get to speak French all night! It is great practice and it is really fun. With my IES friends it is hard to speak French because we automatically revert back to speaking English. When I'm with a group of young Parisians it becomes comfortable to speak French and we are able to talk about common interests, popular things and funny stories. I end up learning new words and phrases every time. It is a nice change from the academic language used at school. I love having French friends!!

Meeting the Family

My host mom is great. Her name is Colette and she is really nice and very French. She has four children and works as a desk receptionist at a hospital. She used to be the director of a preschool but she said it was too many hours and she's getting ready for retirement, so she switched careers. Her children are pretty much grown up (the youngest is 23) so she has two extra bedrooms in her apartment, which is why she has students from IES stay with her. She has three grandchildren (although she can't be more than 55 years old, so she is a "young" grandma) and they come over all the time.

We've been here for exactly a month today, which is pretty weird to think about, but there are definitely signs from Colette of her becoming comfortable with us and fully opening her home to us. For example, the other day Madeline and I were sitting in the living room talking and Colette came home from work and just sat down and talked to us for about half an hour. It was so nice to just sit and talk about everything/anything. It definitely was a bonding moment.

Another sign of Colette opening up is that she invited her son over the other day for dinner. Mathis, the youngest one, was really nice and we all had a great time sitting eating a big French meal and laughing together. It was cool because Mathis is close to our age, so we were talking about music and going out and things to do in the city. He wants to take us to one of his favorite hangouts next week.

Colette's other son also came over a few days ago with his wife and kid. They were all really nice and it is a good sign that Colette is finally introducing her family to us. A cultural difference exists between Americans and French people with regards to sharing personal information. In general, the French are much more closed off and introverted. You could theoretically be friends with someone for five years without knowing what they do for a living or how many siblings they have. Also, they are more reluctant to share personal information. Madeline and I are so glad that we've broken the barrier and that Colette feels at ease with us and wants us to meet her family. It is also great because she clearly loves her children and grandchildren very much. I like seeing her interact with them because I see her on a whole new level.

One thing I love about Paris is the style of dining. Lately my friends and I have been making dinner together, drinking wine, sharing baguettes and talking for hours. It is very relaxing, very fun, and I love the times spent with friends during a meal. We've also been doing that because this is a very popular time for French people to vacation. For us, that means that many host families are gone for a week or two to take their annual trips. My friends are left alone in the house to make all of their meals, so they invite us over (of course with the family's permission) to dine with them. Part of this vacation time also means that our exterior courses are cancelled for two weeks, so we have a little more free time to hang out and walk around. Katy and I walked outside of the Louvre and down the Seine the other night and it was absolutely beautiful. The Eiffel Tour was lit up, the river was sparkling, and there were people everywhere.

***Haha I just re-read this post and realized I wrote "Eiffel Tour" instead of Eiffel Tower. That is a perfect example of how I'm thinking in French and becoming bilingual. In French, it is called La Tour Eiffel. I'm going to leave it up on purpose. Welcome to my confused thoughts =)

Cultural Observations

I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day!

I've been here for almost a month now and I've noticed a few interesting things that are worth sharing. First, I'll give a quick update on what I've been doing the past few days and then I'll tell you what has been on my mind recently as I immerse myself in this culture.

Valentine's Day

I was surprised to see that Valentine's Day isn't as over-the-top here (considering it is known as the city of love). Chocolate shops took the holiday as an opportunity to sell heart-shaped boxes of chocolate and there were definitely couples out and about on Saturday, however stores were not decorated with red and pink and I didn't see any cards specific for the occasion. My plans were to make dinner with Brittany and then hang out with a few friends that night. Everything turned out to be so much fun! It all began when Brittany and I went grocery shopping to buy things for dinner. We were walking around and all the sudden were asked if we would like to try some champagne. We realized that we had walked past a sample stand (like the sample stands in grocery stores in the U.S.) but instead of offering small bites of food they were offering small glasses of expensive champagne. Of course we said yes and the people were happy to give us a few glasses of different kinds of champagne (all three types were over 50 euros). It was so funny because that would never happen in a regular American grocery store. It wouldn't happen because a)we're not 21 and b)because they usually offer crackers with some sort of cheese dip or something instead of expensive champagne. We felt very Parisian. After dinner a few of our friends from IES came over and we had a great time hanging out together.

Expanding our Horizons

On Sunday my friends and I went to the Musee D'Orsay in the center of the city. It is right next to the river and right across from the Louvre. In the distance you can see the Eiffel Tour, Sacred Heart, and Notre Dame. Talk about the French experience! IES gave us free passes to the museum so we decided to walk around the Jardins de Touleries (a really nice park/garden area) and then stop by the museum. The museum used to be a train station, so the building itself is really cool and the inside is absolutely gorgeous. It was a great feeling to stand in front of world-famous works of art and see rooms full of paintings by famous artists. We wound up walking around for two hours until the museum closed. I was truly in awe of everything and can't wait to go back!

After the museum we booked tickets to go to Madrid! Katy found really cheap tickets (43 euros round-trip) to go to Spain at the end of March and we jumped at the chance to travel inexpensively. She also found a hostel we can stay at for under 20 euros a night and we can all stay together in one private room. My friend Marilyn will be in town during that time, so she is coming with us too. We're staying for four days, which should give us enough time to tour the city and see the sites. I have a few friends who were just studied abroad in Madrid during fall quarter, so they will be able to give us suggestions for fun things to do in the city. Also, the French and Spanish languages are pretty similar. Hopefully with a mix of English and French we'll be able to get around just fine.

A few things about Paris

The French university system:

Higher education in France is practically free for students. Government funding supports most universities and they are extremely inexpensive or free for people in the institutions. This is both good and bad. The good thing is that most people can afford to go to college, which definitely isn't the case in the U.S. Students are not drowning in debt when they graduate and families do not have to put all of their money into their children's education. However, there are a few downfalls to this situation. The first is that universities do not have the same services, programs, or feel as they do in the U.S. For example, university libraries are not as big, are not as common, and are not places to stay and study for hours. In general, they are only open 9am to 5pm which means that students who also have jobs have a hard time getting to the library to access resources. Also, the idea of a "campus" does not really exist here. Schools don't really have sports teams or extracurricular activities to do outside of class. Another problem that I have encountered with my exterior course at Institut Catholique [the French university that I attend for one class] as well as with my classes at IES is that there isn't a centralized location to find books for class. Instead, there are several bookstores throughout the city and you have to search for the books that you need for your courses. Many stores run out of books quickly and you have to continue going back to check if a new shipment has come. This is becoming very frustrating.

Things I have seen on the metro or in the metro station:

- a harpist

- a man playing jazz clarinet

- a twelve man string band

- an opera singer

- a puppet show

- several accordion players

Some of these things were for money, some of them were just because the person felt like preforming, and all of them were different from what I see/hear on the "L" in Chicago. Even when people want money they do it in a classy way here (a harp player in the metro?!?!)

The little things:

*Grass only exists in parks. Seriously. You won't see grass on the sidewalks or in front of people's houses. You must go to a park or the jardins to walk on something other than cement.

*Everything is closed on Sundays. Everything.

*Everyone looks like a supermodel. You never see people dressed in sweatpants in public and people of all ages looked "pulled together" and classy all the time.

* Most of the television shows that French people watch originated in the U.S. My host mom likes to watch France's version of Wheel of Fortune. Its pretty funny.

* Dryers for clothes are rare. Everyone hangs clothes to dry on large drying racks. Sometimes they put them outside on the balcony to dry.

* Just like in the movies/pictures French people carry baguettes all the time. They are a staple at every meal and are made fresh each day at the boulangerie