There’s just a little over three weeks left of my time here, and I can’t believe it. I knew that after my Eurotrip, I’d have practically no time left. And now here I am. Despite all the work that I have, I can’t help but not care. Today has been great so far – sunny, an upset in New Hampshire and Justine is here. So, I thought I’d continue the non-work doing by posting, since it has been quite a while.

First, a brief recap of the Eurotrip. Overall, it was a great success. Eight cities in thirteen days – it’s possible. I enjoyed every city, though by the end, I did miss Paris a little. Barcelona and Berlin were definitely the highlights for me and certainly deserve future visits. Though with a maximum of two days in each city, I’m pretty sure I could go back to all of them.

Barcelona >>
It may have been the weather, it may have been Brian’s presence (haha), but whatever it was, Barcelona was amazing. We did the typical sightseeing, which ended up being more of something to take up time between tapas, paella, sangria, hot chocolate, and more tapas. But no really, I loved the architecture and because it was Christmas, it wasn’t as crowded as it usually would be, so we got to see a kind of quiet side of the city. We still went out though and thanks for Fawn’s cheesy Party Europe guide, we found this really cool bar right along the Mediterranean. On our second day, we went to Gaudi’s park, which was a nice break from city life. Plus, our hostel ended up being pretty sweet too – complete with Christmas dinner and 3 euro one liter beers.

Milan >>
This was interesting, as it was our first ever Couchsurfing experience. It turned out very very well. Not only was our host very accommodating, but he also told us exactly where to go for the best food/cappuccinos. Milan was a little more low-key since there were less “must-see” sites, but it was still a great time. I probably won’t return in the near future, but I would recommend it.

Venice >>
I suppose it’s natural to be a little disappointed when a city is so talked up, though at the same time, I don’t feel that way about Paris. Venice was beautiful and everything I imagined it would look like – but that was part of the problem. This was a city where we could have used a local guide, because otherwise, we were just another set of tourists. Still, I enjoyed myself – it was pretty cool to be in a place that you have seen so many pictures of. And in this case, our hotel worked out really well. It was about a 20 minute train ride from Venice proper and let us experience a little bit of small town life.

Warsaw >>
Yeah, I know. Warsaw?! See, the thing is we had booked all of our train tickets in advance, except the overnight from Venice to Prague because the silly Trenitalia website wouldn’t take our credit cards. By the time we could buy them in person or whatever, all trains and all buses on the days we could go were sold out. So, in a last ditch effort, we looked up flights and the best option ended up being fly to Warsaw, stay there for a 23 hour layover, and then fly to Prague. I’m really glad we went because, let’s be serious, I never would have gone otherwise. While we didn’t get to see too much, everything we did see was nice – not at all ostentatious, and quite quaint.

Prague >>
What is there to say? I loved it so much the first time, I just had to come back. I was surprised that I remembered everywhere from the first time – the Concert Hall where we sang, Old Town Square, the Bridge, the Castle. Unfortunately, I don’t think I really deepened my understanding of the city since I was once again a supreme tourist. I did get to experience the nightlife this time, and thanks to recommendations from people who went to Prague earlier this semester, it was quite fun. New Year’s Eve, watching fireworks from Charles Bridge, was truly beautiful. And even though I may have missed people just a little at the time, I was still very happy to be there. The only downside was how extremely crowded it was for the holiday, which made the city lose some of its local feel. However, our ballin’ 4 star hotel more than made up for it.

Berlin >>
In our short time here, we managed to accomplish a surprising amount. We took a 3.5 hour free tour of all the important city sites, and along the way, got to learn a little history. While the architecture wasn’t necessarily as beautiful as other cities, hearing about the history and seeing how the city has transformed in a brief 18 years was really remarkable. Later in the day, we went to the Jewish Museum, which I found both informative and really well presented. Finally, the going out scene wasn’t too bad either – delicious and/or very strong drinks (haha) and clubs with hip-hop. Hurrah. It’s too bad we couldn’t have stayed longer, I feel like there was so much more to see.

Amsterdam >>
Oh dear, there are no words. We spent most of our time here wandering around, though we did manage to go to the Van Gogh museum as well. The canals were very cute and despite being a very touristy city, it still had a local charm. Unfortunately, we tried to be a little too local and got in a little over our heads. Let’s just say there’s an experience I never ever want to repeat. I did still enjoy the city very much, and feel like there is much more culture to uncover.

Brussels >>
On this last day of our trip, we were definitely getting a little tired. But we still managed to walk all around the city – though that’s not too big of a feat since it is quite small. Brussels felt just like a small town, yet had all the perks of a capital city. We also made our way to the European Parliament, which was pretty cool. For our final night, we stayed with another Couchsurfer, who cooked us dinner and then took us on a mini beer tasting. It was nice just being able to talk and have a relaxing evening. And then back to Paris it was!

//

Although I am a little traveled out, I am still pretty excited to go to London this weekend. My friend from HS and another friend from Princeton are both studying abroad there, so hopefully we will be able to meet up. As for Paris, Fawn is here and hopefully loving it, and also my friend from HS who is originally from Paris is here visiting her grandparents. It’s always fun being in Paris with other people, and I guess I should take advantage of it while I still can.

It’s funny – after I got back this Sunday, walking around Paris has felt markedly different. I feel almost as I did the first few weeks here, looking at everything wide-eyed and trying my best to take everything in. It’s not exactly the same, because everything now has a certain familiarity, but I guess I’m once again really appreciative of it. It’s sad how in the last few weeks, everything I do will be for the last time. But I know I will come back sometime, hopefully sooner rather than later, and there will still be so much more to see.

I will try my best to soak in the rest of my time here, but it’s going to be hard. As I mentioned before, I have an ungodly amount of work left to do. This includes two more presentations, all of our task force stuff, a fiche de lecture (essentially a book report), a paper, two in-class exams that are in addition to finals, and probably more. Not to mention it is not approaching crunch time for job applications and I still don’t have a clear idea of what I want to do. I think I have given up on the whole iBanking thing though – I’m just not that into it. I only hope that I find a job that I enjoy as much as I enjoyed HRIC, and this time get some money for it. The Eurotrip definitely burned a huge whole in my pocket. And then finally, I will be taking my finals from Sciences Po during the first two weeks of classes at Princeton – which includes, for me, move-in, bicker, classes, Tigressions auditions and all my other activities. Eeks!

Despite all the inevitable stress and even though I will miss Paris a lot a lot, I am excited and nearly ready to go back to Princeton. Not to sound like a nerd, but I do miss the academics there. And of course, I just miss being there, in my comfort zone, and also just being back with friends. I think I’ve taken full advantage (or nearly) of this semester abroad, and I’m ready to see what kind of impact it will have on my life back at Princeton. See you all February 1!

I know I say this every year around this time, but I really really mean it this time. I cannot believe it is almost New Year’s, and moreover, I can’t believe that Christmas is in three days and I’m not anywhere near my family. No matter though, I’m too excited for Eurotrip! In honor of the upcoming 14 days of pure extravagance, I thought I’d post one last time before 2008.

School ended kind of anticlimactically. Yes, there was a lot of partying, but since we’re not even done with classes, it didn’t feel as satisfying (even if at Princeton we do have finals when we come back). Also, there is now no one left in Paris, and I mean no one, besides just one of my friends. I guess I’m just used to people descending upon Princeton as soon as mid-December rolls around, and all I have to do is wait for them! Not going to lie, I miss home a lot a lot (as some of my friends can attest), but hey, Europe calls.

Speaking of Eurotrip, planning was a bit more complicated than I imagined. We had been pretty on top of things, booking flights and train tickets as early as we could. Then we got a little lax about hostels, which wouldn’t be a problem if we weren’t going to Prague for New Year’s. According to something I read online (which could very well be false), Prague is the #2 New Year’s destination! Did you know that? I did not. Yeah, so it turns out literally every single hostel/cheap hotel is already booked or requires a minimum booking of 4 nights, even ones not in the center of the city. I panicked a bit, but in the end, we decided to suck it up, not risk it, and booked a 4-star hotel (the only kind left). At least we’ll be ringing in the New Year in style.

So, just in case you’re interested, here’s a brief rundown of our trip. You know, if you happen to be in the area slash have some good advice for a particular city slash would like a small souvenir from somewhere besides Paris. (PS. Dates are listed in American form.)

12.24-12.26 // Barcelona, Spain >> Just me and Fawn to kick things off. We will be spending Christmas eve at a supposedly pretty cool hostel, right by La Ramblas aka going out central. I’m also excited for the (relatively) warm weather and my first time in Spain! Too bad I don’t know any Spanish…

12.26-12.28 // Milano, Italy >> Despite what everyone says about Milan being “boring” (please, I live in Princeton), I’m quite excited. This is quite the experience for another reason too – instead of staying in a hostel, we are Couchsurfing with a guy named Donald, aka staying on his couch. This may sound like the sketchiest thing ever (who knows, it could be), but I first learned about this through my roommate at PiB and it looks pretty legit. Plus, in this less touristy city (at least less than the others we’re going to), it’ll be nice to have a local.

12.28-12.29 // Venezia, Italy >> We, of course, chose Italy as the country in which to do two cities. I can’t wait, I have only heard wonderful things about Venice, and oh yeah, this is when Kevin joins us! Sad that we will only be here for such a short time, but hey, we’ve got places to go. Since the main island of Venice is very expensive, we opted for a hostel on Mestre, where the other big train station is. Cannot wait for pizza and gelato (again).

12.30-01.01 // Praha, Czech Republic >> My only repeat city on this trip (senior year PHS choir trip, anyone?), and I picked Prague on purpose. We hadn’t even planned on being here for New Year’s originally, it just worked out that way. Anyway, I just remember finding the city absolutely breathtaking last time, especially the Charles Bridge. This time around, I get to experience a 4-star hotel and the apparently crazy fireworks in the Old Town Square and the Bridge.

01.01-01.03 // Berlin, Germany >> Oh Deutschland. It’s too bad we’re not going to any of the cities where my friends at SciPo are from, but I’m actually really excited for Berlin. It’s supposedly very hip right now, and cheap haha. We’re staying at a real hotel here too, so it’ll be a nice extended break from hosteling. Oh, and I hope it snows!

01.03-01.05 // Amsterdam, Netherlands >> Need I say more? Again, I should look and see if any of my Dutch friends will be around. But I feel as if we might be too busy admiring the canals and frequenting the coffeeshops — ok and maybe seeing a museum or two — to see anyone. Back to hostels for this part of the trip, but I feel as if the only way to do Amsterdam is by hostel. So psyched.

01.05-01.06 // Bruxelles, Belgium >> The end! At first we weren’t even going to spend the night here and just go straight back to Paris, but we thought Brussels deserved more. Sure, the EU is headquartered here, but we’re more excited about the waffles, beer and chocolate. I foresee a great last day.

Man, by the time I get back to Paris I will only have 25 days left here! That is definitely something else I can’t believe. During that following week, Fawn will be splitting her time between Cologne, Germany and the beautiful Paris. It’ll be my one last stint as a tourist, tear. Then on Thursday we head to London, where I think we may be couchsurfing again (depending on how our Milan experience goes). Ok, so I lied, London is a repeat too, but I was only there for like three days in the eighth grade. Then the countdown to home will truly begin (!).

Well, until then. For now, all I can be is excited. Plus, I have missed Asians in my life (it’s true), and what better way to make up for it than to travel around Europe like true Asian tourists with my partners in crime from PiB? Expect an unbelievable amount of pictures – which will also show my new haircut! Yeah, I finally pulled the trigger and got a French haircut. Not only was it not ridiculously expensive (58 euro for a “Master Stylist”), but the place was also really nice and it wasn’t scary at all. I got my wish for a change, and I really like it. The hair guy called it a “long bob,” which is you know when the front is longer than the back, but it’s not super short like bobs usually are. Now I feel like my French transformation is complete, haha.

Since I will be busy planing, training, sightseeing, walking, sleeping, eating, and partying for the next two weeks, I will say M e r r y C h r i s t m a s and Happy New Year now! I don’t say it enough (or ever), but thanks to the people who actually do read this. My time in Paris wouldn’t be half as fun if I didn’t think anyone else cared about it.

And to think, I still have class tomorrow. But I don’t think it has ever felt so much like Christmas without actually being Christmas. A brief synopsis of the past week, which quite frankly, has been about 10% school and 90% waste of life, but a fun one.

Dîner(s) de conf >>

So one really cool thing about Sciences Po is that for each class (or conférence, as precepts are called here), you get together once a semester outside of the classroom for dinner/fun. This week, I went out to Indian food with my Pays Émergents class and, besides enjoying some delicious Indian food in le quartier indien, got to converse with the professor and other students informally in French. It was really fun. Then, on Thursday, I had a makeup class which then turned into a dinner for my English class on Minorities. We all went over to one of our professor’s homes and shared in some delicious food. Again, it was just really fun to see everyone outside of class and to find out more about these people you see every week.

X-mas is here! >>

With our very successful Christmas soirée yesterday evening, I think I can safely say Christmas has officially begun. As Devon and I went shopping for supplies earlier in the day, it was literally like seeing Christmas all around us. Before the actual party, we organized a little Secret Santa dinner. And when I say we, I mean I, because a Christmas is not a Christmas without lots of tacky, fake decorations and a cheesy Secret Santa. In a throwback to Freshman year, I got my person X-mas boxers, and the lovely Devon got me a Chinese-style fan and earrings, both in the wonderful shade of orange. In the spirit of Christmas, I also picked up a few (French) gifts for myself, including black skinny jeans and flat grey boots. Yay Christmas!

For the party itself, we went a little overboard and got “mistletoe” (aka cut up wrapping paper and wrote mistletoe on it), a huge green tablecloth, and made a giant vat of eggnog. And well, the outfits speak for themselves, though apparently mine turned out semi-classy, even with my 20 euro shiny red heels. Apparently I miss singing a lot, so of course, we broke into sing-a-longs to Mariah Carey, Umbrella, and even Hallelujah (depressing?). Just a tip to future party throwers – while plastic champagne flutes may be a little classier than red solo cups, they are much much less practical. Evidence? Our red wine-stained white chairs, walls, floor… even my underwear drawer. Yeah. But hey, all in a good night’s work, right?

Break is nearing >>

You know what really makes it feel like break is coming up? The non-stop going out. Wednesday was my friend’s 21st birthday, and let’s just say it was an evening to (not) remember. Kind of embarrassing? Sure. Still really fun? Definitely. And I even managed to make it to my 10am class the next morning. Can’t even begin to fathom what SciPo’s official Christmas party is going to be like… let’s just say they rented out all of Planet Hollywood on the Champs Elysées and everyone gets a free shot of tequila.

After the epic night that Monday is sure to be, I will have a few days to catch up with life. This includes work, job applications and finalizing everything for the big Eurotrip! Speaking of job applications, today is the later deadline for banking jobs in Asia, and obviously I am not working on those. I think I’ve just realized how much I’m not interested in the banking industry and how much more I’d rather do public service work or even just something like marketing. Princeton has this new branch of international internships called Princeton Summer in China which places undergrads at firms in China and looks amazing, but will probably be hard to get. I also wish the State Dept. would just let me know the bad news already.

But for the time being, I can’t think of anything else but the upcoming Eurotrip! As sad as it will be to not be home for Christmas, this is definitely a rare opportunity and I am so grateful to have it! It will be tiring, and at times stressful, oh and not to mention really expensive, but it will be totally worth it. Barcelona, Milan, Venice, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels, and a few days later, London – here I come! And now, Kevin’s joining us for the middle leg of the tour, yay! (Took him long enough, haha.)

//

But wow, I can’t believe how fast this has all gone by. It’s weird, because September feels like so long ago, but then I can’t believe it’s already December! And thinking ahead, after winter break is over, I’ll come back for four days of class, go to London and then it’ll be mid-January. It’s sad because I’m starting to realize I don’t have to time to do all the things I still have left to do, like see so many more museums, go to a concert, go to other parts of France, etc. Even though it would’ve been nice to go home soon and not have to take finals during class in February, it is definitely nice to have January in Paris. Let’s be serious, Princeton gets boring pretty quickly. That’s not to say I’m not excited to return – friends, feeling like I’m getting the most out of my education, activities, etc. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m pretty content with my life right now. And how often do you get to say that?

Ok, so it really started right after Thanksgiving, but with our midnight viewing of Love Actually last evening, it’s now really begun. Not too much has been going on, so I’m going to keep this short.

{ S c h o o l }
It’s going pretty well. I feel like I can see the end, even though we still have 5 weeks of class left. I just finished with a midterm and two presentations. The midterm wasn’t as bad as I imagined it would be, especially for having only studied for a day. It was basically taking apart the argument of this article with respect to the differences in economic development in Europe and China post-Industrial Revolution. Luckily, the article was in English and I studied enough to be able to bring in other relevant readings. As for the presentations, I think they went fine. It’s hard to tell, because everyone has exposé fatigue and no one’s is ever superb… but I think I managed to meet expectations. Now I have no serious assignments until January, sweet.

/ L ‘ a v e n i r /
Yeah, so when I said I was starting to think about going back to Princeton, it has now basically taken over. Other study abroad students going home, choosing courses, returning to extracurricular groups, applying for internships, thinking about the broader future… eek! And as for the very very near future: I’m quite excited about this Eurotrip, despite the logistical planning it requires. But then it makes me think about how little time I have left here. Though, I am kind of excited about classes back at Princeton: 1) because they will be in English, and presumably of higher quality than here, and 2) I got into Krugman‘s seminar on the Economy of Welfare States, and got into my first choice task force, Trade Policy and the Politics of Globalization. Now if someone could just help me convince banks in China/HK why I am perfect for the job…

[ C h r i s t m a s c h e e r ]
As classes are winding down and I see more and more Christmas decorations everywhere, I can’t help but be in a Christmasy mood. And a Christmasy mood involves everything from laziness, shopping, eating, and partying. Examples: Yesterday, Devon, Andrew and I went out to lunch, saw À la croisée des mondes: Le boussole d’or (aka The Golden Compass), then decided we really wanted to see American Gangster too, so we saw that also. And then Devon and I went to Japanese food with The Paris Globalist, though there ended up being only 4 of us. Tomorrow, we plan on venturing to the Christmas village at La Défense, the big industrial, high-rise community right outside the péripherique of Paris, and buying tons of Christmas decos. This is, of course, all in preparation for our not-so-classy X-mas party next week, which I still need a costume for. (Any ideas?) I’m basically trying to fill my life with as much Christmas as possible so as to not be as sad when Christmas actually rolls around and my family isn’t here (though Fawn’s almost as sweet).

And with that, time to be a tool and apply for jobs!

Oh well, you can’t get everything here in France, can you? I did, however, enjoy quite a week with my parents and a couple of celebrations.
{Here’s a quick update since I have to go to school soon}

——{ P a r e n t s }——

I didn’t really realize how weird it was for divorced people to travel together until this trip when everyone pointed it out to me. It’s true though, and my mom said she would never do it again haha. But I think we all had a great time together, being a pseudo-family. I won’t give a blow by blow recap, since they were here for a whole week and it all kind of runs together anyways. But I took them around Sacré Coeur (when it was freezing!), Sciences Po and we ended up wandering around the First a lot. I also finally got to go to Musée D’Orsay, and my parents of course hit up the Louvre… twice. Besides all the toursity stuff, we did a bit of shopping, for my birthday bien sûr, but also to see les grands magasins (Printemps, Galeries Lafayette). It was a good thing my parents ended up picking a hotel fairly close to me, since the strike ended up going pretty much the entire week they were here, but more on that later. They stayed at a cozy little 3-star place between Opéra and Montmartre, so I got to see some of the Ninth that I previously hadn’t as well, including L’Église de la Madeleine. For Thanksgiving/my birthday, we ended up going to this really nice Italian restaurant near the Louvre. It was extremely expensive, but luckily delicious.

On their last full day here (Saturday), we took a day trip out to Chantilly. We, or moreso I, decided to forgo Versailles since we had all been there before and it is always plein de touristes. Chantilly, according to my guidebook, is a small town of about 11,000 people and it’s main attraction is the Château de Chantilly. It was actually really nice getting out of the city for a day. SNCF, which almost stopped striking by then, had an almost direct train there from Gare du Nord, so it only took us about 25 minutes. The overall impression I got of the little town was that it was a lot like Princeton, though perhaps even quieter. While Princeton’s main attraction may not be a castle, the University’s not half bad either. The cutest part was the one main road (Nassau, anyone?) that was tastefully decorated for Christmas. The castle itself was, of course, beautiful, though it’s kind of sad that now I am less impressed by these things since I’ve seen so many. But it was really great because there weren’t many visitors, so you could kind of walk around uninhibited. I imagine that the gardens are much prettier in the summer, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. In the Jardin Anglo-Chinois, there was even a small hamlet, or mock little village. After our day out, we came back to Paris, and more specifically Montmartre, for our last supper. I will definitely miss my parents at Christmas, but I’ll be home in about 2 months (something I am both excited and very sad about).

——{ C e l e b r a t e }——

I never realized what a big deal Thanksgiving was for Americans, but I guess that’s because I’ve always been in America for it. But yeah, every American I know went to at least one Thanksgiving dinner. Ashley hosted a lovely dinner at her house on the actual night of Thanksgiving. I arrived after dining with my parents and (duh) still managed to eat quite a bit, especially dessert. We even went around saying what we were thankful for, and you know, besides being in Paris and having met good friends here, I was thankful to have white people in my life again. JK, sort of. A nice dinner would not be complete without youtube videos, so we watched some of those, including my now all-time favorite video. Click here.

Then the next day was my birthday! I spent the afternoon walking around the Marais with my parents, and then came home to get ready for dinner, etc. A few of us went out to a restaurant near our house, which turned out to be quite delicious (thanks again, Lonely Planet). And I even got the lights turned out for a little singing of “Joyeux anniversaire,” how embarrassing. Then we came back to the house for our very French party — theme: Foux de fa fa, which I’m pretty sure I’ve already linked. As Facebook will attest, Devon and I did our very best to look as tackily French as possible, complete with leggings, cheap scarves and berets. And what would a birthday be without lots of champagne? (No face-cake though, sadly). And so now I’m 20. It sounds so much older, yet I feel exactly the same. And I’m pretty sure I’ll actually feel younger when I get back to the States and can no longer buy 90 cent champagne at the supermarket…

As fun as celebrating abroad was, hearing about everyone together at home made me really miss home for the first time. It’s funny how much just sitting in Small World, or around my house, with high school friends and talking about absolutely nothing is all that I need. Good thing I’ll be keeping myself occupied over Christmas break, because I am sure the feeling will kick back in then.

——{ L a g r è v e }——

C’est fini! Finally. I think in the end, it totaled something like 10 days. I almost got used to walking everywhere, and then crowding my way into the mass of bodies on the sporadic metro… except that it was terrible. I think negotiations have started, or were set to start soon, but I hope something gets worked out. I cannot stand another one of these things. The one good thing, ok fine, two good things about the strike were that I got to see parts of Paris I never would have before and also, it was the closest thing I’ve come to exercise since being here. It’s funny, last night I was looking through old high school work (to find something to help me with my presentation today) and I found this study guide I had prepared on France for AP Gov/Pol. A whopping seven pages single-spaced, I never knew I “knew” so much about the French government. Apparently, not that many people are unionized. What I didn’t know back then was how effective strikes can be regardless.

//

And now begins two weeks of lots of work again. Presentation today, a “galop d’essai” (aka midterm of sorts, though at 4 hours, longer than any test I’ve ever taken) on Saturday at 8 am (!), two more presentations next Tuesday and Thursday, and then a break of sorts before winter break. I guess I can accept it, seeing as how I’ve really done no work since my task force presentation two weeks ago.

As my “schedule for France” grows increasingly shorter (I just deleted “Parents visit” from it), I can’t help but think of going home. Like I said before, I have mixed feelings. I feel like I have now really lived in France (even if just for a short three months), so I feel comfortable leaving it because I know I still have a place here sort of. I do miss little things about Princeton, but I feel like I will enjoy being home for like a week and then miss France again. I will be very happy to see everyone, but just thinking about all the work, etc. is not fun. And then there’s the whole junior summer internship thing, which I have yet to really think about. I guess going home will be kind of like going back to reality, and I don’t think I’m ready for it yet. That being said, I’m going to get offline and go experience more of Paris, even if that Paris largely revolves around school as well.

Crazy, huh? (Un)fortunately, the semester is not yet half over, since school didn’t start until a month after I got here. I feel like I have so much left to do!! I’m going to make this one quick, because I really didn’t do that much last week except for study, but I felt like I should update. So, below is what I’ve been up to, what’s coming up, and maybe some of my general thoughts — in list form.

>> I just gave my what was supposed to be 30 minutes but turned out to be more like an hour long JP presentation on Wednesday on “attitudes à l’égard de l’immigration du travail” or basically, the economics of immigration in France. I must say, I actually almost enjoyed writing the paper. I’m glad I ended up with such an interesting topic. Still though, it feels amazing to be done (well at least for now).

>> Basically being a huge nerd and staying in to do my JP plus work for my other classes all last week, I decided I needed to reward myself. Luckily, there was another all-nighter party, this time sponsored by l’Association Sportive. Though the theme was to dress “sporty,” I didn’t really think gym clothes were appropriate club attire. That being said, if it weren’t zero degrees (celsius) outside, I probably would’ve worn little shorts. One of my favorite parts of the evening, though, was the pregame in a small, extremely hot room — it put me right back in Freshman year. It was complete with games and scary neighbors who came and complained about the noise. And of course, the struggle to get everyone to leave, followed by the haphazard walk to the real party. Good times.

>> The French really love their strikes. Granted, two transit strikes within the span of one month is somewhat rare, but honestly, how do they get stuff done here? There have also been student strikes against what I understand to be the further privatization of some universities. Sciences Po students, who are generally viewed as somewhat snobby/elite, are obviously not participating.

>> So, due to the metro being “quasi nul,” I walked to and from school on Wednesday. At a brisk pace, it took me 50 minutes, which wasn’t terrible for what I believe was an approximately 3 mile walk. Plus, you know, I got to walk by the Louvre and the Seine. But on Thursday, I didn’t really feel like making the trek again, so I ventured to take the metro. Let’s just say it was a terrible experience, especially on the way back when I literally couldn’t breathe half of the time. It was, at the very least, interesting to observe people’s behaviors. At Châtelet, a major station in the center of the city, I swear it was like a mob scene. Pushing, shoving, and yelling like you wouldn’t believe. I did feel quite French though, commiserating with my fellow sufferers with an occasional comment or understanding glance.

Finally, I have a very exciting week coming up. First, my next big assignment (which isn’t even that bad, seeing as how it’s an exposé on the opening up of China since 1979) isn’t due until the Monday after next, so I have lots of time for fun. Fun includes: my parents coming to visit (!), Thanksgiving, and my 20th birthday. This is definitely the longest time I have spent away from my mom, and I mean truly away. (Although I have been talking to her every week, which is more than when I spent two months in China last summer.) Anyway, I’m extremely excited to see both my parents and to have some much needed family time, especially since I won’t be spending Christmas with them. And to have Thanksgiving and my birthday to celebrate on top of their visit is just fabulous. Can you tell that I’m psyched? Because I am.

That being said, I’m going to go nurse my headache, maybe actually eat something, and watch some Grey’s. I love Fridays.

Well, I guess it had to end sometime. It was back to school today, and luckily my one class this morning was cancelled, so I have a little more time to ease back into it. It’s weird, it was only a week but not listening to or speaking French for that week has definitely taken its toll on me. I suppose I’ll pick up where I left off last time:

——{ F r o m P a r i s }——

I feel like my attempt to show Michelle the important parts of Paris without wearing us out entirely was fairly successful. The visit to the Catacombes was different from anything else I’ve done so far. Apparently, Paris was overrun with a plague and so had too many dead bodies and not enough cemeteries. Thus, they decided the best solution to this problem would be to exhume lots of graves and stack the bones and skulls in neat little rows in a quarry. Et voilà, les Catacombes. It was creepy, to say the least.

Next, we stopped by the Jardin du Luxembourg and then made our way to the Seine for a scenic walk. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to see the Musée d’Orsay, but the Louvre was indeed free on Friday night so we took advantage of that. First, we headed back to Montmartre for a little dinner, and some people-watching/café-drinking at Le Progrès. Then, we met Sheetal at the Louvre and saw as much as we could in the little less than an hour that the museum was still open, which wasn’t much but still quite fun. And of course, it wouldn’t be a trip to Paris without gazing at the Eiffel Tower from Trocadero, where I proceeded to do my fiftieth photo shoot of the tour. Finally, we capped off our night at Le Dix, a little hole in the wall sangria bar.

——{ T o R o m e }——

It was an early morning, a 4:45 am wake-up to be precise, but a relatively smooth journey. Metro to Gare du Nord, RER B express to Charles de Gaulle, CDGVAL to the correct terminal, waiting around the terminal, less-than-2-hour-flight, train to tram, tram to Trastevere, and 80-some steps later, Michelle’s apartment! Needless to say, a nap was in order. The first thing I noticed, even in my sleepy state, was the gorgeous weather. I never noticed how gray Paris was most of the time until I went to Rome. After watching some Grey’s (ha), we headed out to get what was probably the best pizza I will ever have, ever (and it was cheap too). We then took a leisurely stroll around Michelle’s quartier, which is in the southwest of Rome. Let’s just say the Romans love their Piazzas and their churches, and who can blame them. Every single church I saw was absolutely amazing, full of ornate ceilings and statues. Then, we cooked ourselves a rather delicious dinner, complete with champagne, and then settled down to watch The Holiday with a friend of her’s from school.

Unfortunately, I chose a rather inopportune time to visit — Michelle had a paper to work on all weekend, so I ventured off on the touristy sights toute seule. It was actually quite fun, and then I didn’t feel bad stopping to take pictures every 0.2 seconds. I slept in, and then set off to see the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain and Spanish steps. Rome, unlike Paris, has a very poorly developed metro system and relies mostly on buses. Technically, one bus ride costs 1€, but as Michelle rightly informed me, no one really cares. So a rather scenic bus ride took me right outside the Colosseum. And wow. At first I wasn’t going to shell out the 11€ to actually go inside, but I just couldn’t resist when I got there. It was an absolutely perfect day weather wise, and the sights were, for lack of a better word, breathtaking. It was so different from all the 19th century Parisian architecture (obviously). I must have spent a good hour just wandering through the Roman Forum, and of course, taking tons of pictures.

Then, it was off to more modern touristy sights. After getting turned around at the Colosseum for a bit, I found my way to Via del Corso, the main street of Rome I guess, if there is such a thing. My trip to the Trevi Fountain was dampened a little by an old sketchy Italian man following me there and proceeding to talk to me nonstop for an hour. As if telling me how northern Europeans and also Americans lived the wrong way and were clearly inferior to Italians wasn’t bad enough, I knew I had to make a run for it when he told me I should marry him and not some macho American. By the time I made my escape, it was already dark. I made it to the Spanish steps pretty quickly though, and got a decent view of the city, and lots of tourists. A few churches and a newly acquired pair of shorts and shirt-dress-thing later, I happily hopped on a bus to Michelle’s apartment. Here, we made the terrible decision of watching Georgia Rules (in 4 parts, illegally streaming nonetheless), but it was still a pretty great time.

Touristy adventure day 2 led me to the Vatican. Getting there was interesting — I took a little bus up to the bus terminal, and then walked my way through the terminal, through some doors, down some stairs, and suddenly, I was at the Vatican! I thought I had already seen the most beautiful part of Rome the day before, but the Vatican was really something else. I can’t really describe the feeling of being there, and I don’t think my pictures do it justice either. The hour-long wait and the 551 stairs to get to the top of St. Peter’s were completely worth it — there’s nothing like looking down on one of the most beautiful cities in the world. (Which reminds me, I still have to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower.) But I think my favorite part was actually the inside of the Basilica. Talk about churches — nothing else I have ever seen compares to this in the slightest. I literally just stood there in awe the entire time. Finally, as the sun began to set, I made my way back to the apartment. After a little productivity (crazy, right?), we headed out to dinner (pasta, mmm) followed by my fourth gelato in three days. Three scoops for 1,50€, it doesn’t really get better than that.

——{ H o m e s w e e t h o m e }——

It’s funny, all it takes is one little trip to Rome to get me to start calling Paris my home. It really does feel quite homey though. After a farewell coffee/donut with Michelle (and a promise to try to visit her in Houston in the spring!), I headed off to the airport. Again, quite simple and I wasn’t ridiculously early this time either. But then my flight was delayed for over an hour. Luckily, I was prepared with work and with letters to write. I got home safe and sound mid-afternoon to a clean and empty apartment. When Devon got back from the library, we went out to dinner with our other friend Andrew. I’ve decided to try as many things in my guide book as time and budget will allow, so we headed literally 2 blocks up to Le Refuge des Fondus. Although a little pricey at 17€/person, it was quite the experience. Starting with climbing over the table to get to my seat, as every female customer at the restaurant is invited to do, to the wine being served in biberons (baby bottles) to the delicious, delicious cheese fondue. I will have to go back and try the meat sometime. Then, it was off to the movie theater to see Supergrave (aka Superbad). And I didn’t think it was possible to laugh even harder the second time, but I think I did it. Plus, we learned lots of slang thanks to the French subtitles. So if anyone needs to know how to say pussy, dick, cock-block, etc. in French, let me know. Rome was great, but it was nice to be home (and actually nice to be back around French).

Though in Rome, I think I actually heard more French than Italian. My friends pointed out this was probably because of Toussaint, the week-long vacation starting after Halloween for the French. But still, it was out of control. One of my favorite parts of Rome was people watching at all the tourist sights. Usually, I get really excited whenever I hear anyone speaking Chinese because I feel like I have some sort of unspoken connection with them, but in Rome, I felt the same connection whenever I heard people speaking French. And while I don’t think I will ever feel French (as I do American or even Chinese), I did feel like a part of French culture, if that makes any sense.

Ok, I fear I have now procrastinated my JP for far too long. But hey, we always need a few days to get back into it after a break, right? I will be working hard for the next week, right up until my parents come in 11 days. Hopefully my French will come back to me too!

So I haven’t updated in a while, and I also haven’t been doing much work — both good signs. Our semaine de vacances (basically a fall break) just started on Wednesday, though it felt like it started last Thursday with the all-nighter party held by BDE (Bureau des Éleves). My Monday and Tuesday classes (two of which were cancelled) were also kind of a blur, so it’s really just been like one giant weekend.

Visitors! >>
The visiting began on Saturday, when Devon’s friend Jackie came over from Princeton. She’s lived in Paris before too, so we didn’t do many touristy things (besides a little museum viewing). It was nice to have someone else in the house to liven things up a bit. Then they left for London on Tuesday. But then my friend from Princeton (High and University) showed up and I tried to find some really Parisian things, though he was almost better informed than I was. We did eat at Au Pied de Cochon (which means pig’s foot), which was complete with accordian player and really rude waiter. Oh, and who could forget the 2+ hours spent in Gare du Nord (which ties into our third visitor)?

Halloween? >>
Well, if by Halloween, I mean no costumes, no candy and not really any partying, then yes. So on the night of the 31st, my friend from high school studying abroad in Rome — and also named Michelle — was supposed to get into Charles de Gaulle and then meet me at Gare du Nord (sketchy sketchy train station two metro stops from my house). Unfortunately, she missed her flight from London and more unfortunately, I didn’t find out about this until after I had waited at Gare du Nord until closing time. Thank god Ian and Peter, and later Brian, were around because everytime I would wander off alone in the station for more than 2 seconds, a creepy guy would come up. But after I found out my friend (who I thought was missing) was safe and on a bus from London, we all headed over to Ashley’s for a little Halloween cheer. Quite frankly, there wasn’t much Halloween, but there was cheer and that’s what counts, huh? Anyways, then at about 6 am, after two hours of sleep, I headed off to the Eurorail bus station to meet my friend, and now she’s here!

House party >>
I think the other reason it has felt like one big long weekend is because we keep alternating between people’s houses to hang out at. And with hanging out, there is inevitably wine involved. Ashley hosted a wonderful pancake-making party on Monday, where someone we ended up with tons of Princetonians. This was also the beginning of a few days of “Oh, you go to Princeton? So do I! I don’t know you.” And I thought everyone knew everyone. Then, as I was all alone on Tuesday, I was glad that Brian graciously offered up his place. It began calmly, with some wine and some watching of Flight of the Conchords (please go watch this right now!), but we kind of had to leave once there were 15 people in his 20 square meter apartment. The night ended with a satisfying visit to a kebab shop, and a surprisingly un-sketchy journey home alone on the night bus.

Paris je t’aime >>
I feel like I’ve been a little hesitant to proclaim this since it’s so easy to say how much one loves Paris. But I hope that I have earned the right. On Sunday, instead of doing work, I went out for a little promenade by myself, covering Bastille to the Marais. It was quite wonderful. I had nothing in mind, really, besides that I wanted to finally examine the Centre Pompidou (though only from the outside) and also see a free museum or something. I ended going to the Memorial de la Shoah (aka Holocaust Museum) which I found to be very well done. It’s funny, I apparently really like to be depressed in Paris because on Friday we saw the movie “This is England” which is about skinheads in the England in the early ’80s. But anyway, the walk was so relaxing and just so beautiful. I was walking down this one street of lots of expensive shops for a while, but interspersed among the shops would be a random garden/museum or the National Archives. Pictures to come soon.

Baguette >>
Just a little blurb about food — I have finally been able to experience some excellent food, thanks mostly to Princeton and Sciences Po. The Director of Undergrads at WWS came to Paris basically to check up on us, and to meet with a few people from Sciences Po. We had lunch on Thursday at this cute little place right next to the student cafeteria (haha). The lunch menu included wine, an entrée (appetizer) et un plat for 19€. And since it was on Princeton’s tab, we didn’t hesitate to get dessert and coffee too. Then on Monday, we had lunch with the Director of the Center of Americas here at SciPo. This time, we went to Le Petit Zinc, which on top of being delicious, was beautifully decorated (art nouveau, if you will). The palette of ice creams at the end was to die for. And then I haven’t been doing too bad on my own, whether it’s attempting to replicate my mom’s Chinese food, making steak and potatoes, trying out some more restaurants in my guide book, or randomly stumbling upon a place in Montmartre, it’s all been quite good (and not terribly expensive).

//

Having been here for two months now and especially having visitors, I finally feel like this is my city. Well, I wouldn’t go that far yet seeing as how there are still tons of things I haven’t seen/don’t know about, but at the very least, I feel extremely lucky to be here. I probably won’t be this happy once I get back from Rome and realize I have my entire JP draft to write in a week, on top of other work, but as our WWS dean said, “Don’t study. Go see Paris.” And I hope to take him up on that.

Today will be a touristy day, taking Michelle to the Eiffel Tower, etc. but I think we’re also going to the Catacombs and the Louvre — two things I have yet to see myself. And then it’s off to Rome! What a great week.

Yes it’s sad but true — school has (sort of) taken over my life, leaving me with not much news to report. Still, here are a few stories that I suppose are semi-worthy of sharing:

La grève >>
Came and went. It was definitely effective, don’t get me wrong. But à cause de la grève, my class on Thursday was canceled, as was my meeting with my prof. I did manage to make it out to my choir audition, though it took me a solid hour to get there. Luckily, I was heading to the 13th arrondisement, and the one line that is entirely automatic runs straight into there. Still, I had to walk a while to get to the line both ways. Unfortunately, the strike did manage to extend to the next day, though some lines were “quasi-normal.” Our line of preference, 12, was still out of service. But the semi-functioning 4 allowed me to get to Sciences Po for two meetings and a tandem.

La chorale, pas pour moi >>
The audition went fine, though it was more of a meeting than a real audition. Turns out Le Palais Royale requires a very intense audition with a prepared aria and all that, as well as previous experience in the Chœur Symphonique, so I happily accepted my place in the latter. The whole thing is very professional, from the director to the welcome booklet. But, it looks like after all that effort, I won’t be doing choir after all. In fact, my first rehearsal is taking place right now… Basically, the “costs” don’t really outweigh the benefits in this case, and these costs include the annual fee of 65€, concert attire I would have to buy and 3.5 hours of rehearsal on Wednesday nights that last until 11pm (!), and an all-weekend rehearsal at the beginning of December. I really did want to at least go to the first rehearsal to see what it is like, but I didn’t want to go just to flake out later. Especially because next week I definitely wouldn’t be able to make it (because Michelle’s coming!), and then there’s a concert in mid-November which I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to sing in, so no singing for me.

Mon premier exposé >>
Ah yes, the quintessential Sciences Po exercise. In case you don’t remember, exposés are oral presentations on a given topic in front of the class, that can last anywhere between 10 and 30 minutes. I did my first one yesterday in my economic history class. I worked with a partner, and our topic was Africa (haha, seriously), though more specifically it was based off of this Jeffrey Sachs article. I think overall it went pretty well, though we definitely went overtime. Though really, with a topic as broad as Africa, it was quite hard to be concise. The French aspect of the whole thing went okay, as far as I can tell. I didn’t want to read off the paper, so I tried my best to really talk to the class, but the problem with that is the level of French suffers. I’m very glad I got my first one over with though! Now I just have to produce a draft of my JP and a 30 minute presentation in French to go along with it in three weeks…

Pas de temps pour sortir? >>
Yes, I was kind of lame this weekend and worked a lot on my exposé (overworked, really). But on Friday, Devon and I decided it was finally time to check out the club scene. After a quick search for the “top 10 clubs in Paris,” we found that one of the top ten was literally one block away from us. It turned out to be pretty cool, and while expensive, was not so bad in comparison to most Parisian clubs. A little dancing, a little conversation, and a little sketchiness. What more could you ask for? Oh right, and a 2-second walk home (which is also convenient for quick escapes). Then, Saturday we went over to Peter’s for part three of “invite people to your house!” started by our grand housewarming fête. We ate delicious chicken/potatoes, watched England lose to South Africa in the Rugby World Cup Final, and then watched youtube videos of our friend here. Great times.

//

I’m trying to remember if anything else remotely interesting happened this week, but since this is already kind of long, I’ll conclude with a few brief remarks. (I just noticed that now I like to present what I’m going to say before I say it — looks like the SciPo method is getting to me already.) Today, Devon and I spent 112€ shopping… grocery shopping. Granted, this included shampoo, etc. (which btw costs 3,50€ for a tiny bottle!), but this still left us with about 100€ worth of food. This may be somewhat acceptable in the States, but here where all the refrigerators are mini and they don’t even give you free bags at checkout, it was just a little excessive. Whoops.

And finally, it is freezing!! Ok, not really. I’m still getting by on my North Face and a scarf, but I can barely get away with flats anymore. For everyone who complains about Princeton being cold (which btw it’s not), you do not want to come to Paris. I personally kind of like winter (especially when it snows), but not when it starts in mid-October and doesn’t snow (as Frenchies have told me it does not). Alas, I guess I can’t have everything.

Okay, whoever at Princeton said there was no work at Sciences Po was seriously disturbed. (Points if you get the reference.) Granted, it doesn’t seem to be as much consistent work as Princeton, but due to poor scheduling on my part and also the addition of a task force for which I have an oral presentation of 30 minutes in less than a month, it does seem to pile up! Not to mention the lack of study space or computer clusters at school, and oh yeah, the strike tomorrow!

I’m sure you can find something about it in the American press, but if you’re interested, check out The New York Times of Paris — Le Monde. Basically, all trains in and out of Paris, as well as the metro, bus and tram system are going to shut down. This means if I were to go to school tomorrow, I would probably have to walk and since according to Google Maps I live 5.3 kilometers away, this would take quite a while. (I could technically use Vélib, which are bikes that anyone can pay to use throughout Paris, but I have this fear of killing either myself or another on a bike. Yes, I am a whimp.) Luckily, my one class tomorrow has been cancelled and I convinced my exposé partner to move our meeting with the professor to another day. But, I still have an audition for the Académie de Musique at night, which is literally at the complete opposite end of Paris. I’m hoping maybe they will tell me not to come since who knows if they can make it to work tomorrow either?

Speaking of music, my first rehearsal with the Sciences Po choir was a little disappointing. It is a non-auditioned choir, and even then, there were max 15 students there. Oh, and in this supposedly co-ed choir, there were only 2 guys, one of whom was a counter-tenor. I felt a little bit like I was back in middle school choir, as we learned how to breathe with our diaphragms and raise our soft palettes. It was interesting to hear it in French, though. But then came the music, which included Silent Night, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Laudate Dominum — all things I have sang multiple times. I guess I take for granted the level of musicianship that exists in Glee Club (and even in PHS Choir!), from sight-reading ability to just plain singing ability. So, I’m sad to say I did not find what I was looking for. Thus, I turned to l’Académie de Musique. The choir/orchestra director seems pretty legit, and even the sign-up process for an audition is pretty professional. There’s two choirs — a larger one for everyone called le choeur symphonique and then a selective one called le Palais Royale. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to join the latter, but I would be perfectly happy being in the first as the repertoire looks pretty good. And hey, I get to sing in a Parisian church, not half bad.

{ In other news, here are a few shorter anecdotes touching on the weekend and the week thus far: }

>> Saturday was the Fête des Vendages (wine festival) held right here in Montmartre. It was fabulous, to say the least. The cheese + raspberries, the bread, the escargots, and of course, the wine were amazing. It was also a beautiful day for walking around Sacré Cœur and for watching the funniest parade people I have ever seen.

>> Earlier the same day, Devon and I made the short journey up to Porte de la Chappelle, a place our task force professor told us to go to see immigration in action, if you will. When we first got out of the metro station, it did feel quite different from the rest of Paris. It was kind of just like any other city, and reminded me a little of Beijing actually. But then we walked a little bit, and found the normal hustle and bustle, including a market. Granted, there were more minorities to be seen (and even people in traditional African garb), but other than that, I didn’t really get a strong immigrant impression. Yes, it was different from the Sciences Po area, but I feel like for the most part, Paris is pretty diverse everywhere. But now I found a place very close by to get Chinese food (since Chinatown is now really far)!

>> Saturday night was the highly anticipated semi-final world cup of rugby match between France and England. We went to Champs de Mars (the field by the Eiffel Tower) to watch the action on the big screen, but then got claustrophobic and watched the end at a bar. Sadly, we lost. It would’ve been great to win, not because I care at all about rugby, but to experience the excitement of a whole nation uniting behind something. I feel like this is something that rarely happens in America. Oh yeah, and then on the way home, we encountered some New Zealand supporters (who had been beaten by France in the quarter-finals), whereupon random NZ guy tried to make out with me, awesome.

>> A sketchier story and reason #1897 why one should not eat alone: Since I have two hours of free time in between my afternoon and night classes on Monday, I decided I would eat at the student cafeteria nearest to SciPo called Mabillon. (There are a bunch of these cafeterias throughout Paris, all called CROUS, and all very cheap, though with varying levels of food.) Anyways, I was supposed to be meeting a friend, but he basically didn’t show up until the last 5 minutes. This wouldn’t have been that bad if not for sketchy randos who like to sit and chat with you even when you have a book out while eating. Basically, this 30+ man/worker started talking to me. I told him I was waiting for my friend, and then very stupidly said “not my boyfriend, just a friend” when the guy assumed I meant a boyfriend. Yeah, so then he wanted to exchange e-mails and go out to dinner. I felt bad so I gave him a little used e-mail of mine. And of course, the next day, I had an e-mail in my inbox. Moral of the story: I am never eating at Mabillon on Monday nights again (because on top of being sketchy, it is also sad and deserted) and I do indeed have a boyfriend — a big, strong, jealous boyfriend.

>> I booked my tickets to Rome for fall break and also my tickets to Barcelona and Milan for winter break! So excited. I am trying not to think about how much money it’s going to cost me. Fortunately, my normal craze for shopping seems to have been dampened by the high prices in Paris, not to mention the terrible exchange rate. I went to Printemps and Galeries Lafayette today, two huge department stores, and didn’t buy a thing! Granted, I was with three boys and thus spent most of my time looking at (very metrosexual) men’s jeans, jackets and murses. I’m still proud of myself though.

//

And now I feel I have wasted far too much time not doing homework, when I have a presentation to do for Tuesday and also the huge task of beginning my JP research and then constructing a presentation in French out of it! Also, I am sad because one of my headphone earbuds fell off, meaning I now have to use the highly uncomfortable iPod ones. Yes, my life is hard. Let’s just hope this strike only lasts tomorrow as planned, or else my life will actually be hard.