January Travels: Part 1

New Years Eve in Paris, Bruges, & Amsterdam:

So basically my travels this month were really really great! It was so great seeing Tyson again after so long not seeing anyone from home. Having someone from home visit really makes this whole experience not feel like a big dream. Someone from home getting to see my life here was a really nice feeling.

OKAY, back to my recent travels. Okay, so Tyson’s flight got in around 10am and I went to pick him up, looking super good I might add and it was super cute when he came out of the arrival area, looking all excited and stuff. I was as well.

I then took him right to Paris and dropped his big bag off at a friends apartment near the Eiffel Tower (PRIME LOCATION btw! We spent new years eve pre-partying there before we went to the Eiffel tower to watch the light show at midtnight. SO perfect). He was super jet lagged but I insisted that we press on with seeing stuff lol. I showed him the Seine (the river of course), Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, Moulin Rouge, The Eiffel Tower (of course!), where they do Fashion Week and the Chanel Shows, Champs Elysee, etc. basically ALL the touristy stuff that I personally STILL love to see. I don’t care how many times I see the Eiffel Tower, it still get so energized and excited.

Okay so for new years eve we spent it at the Eiffel Tower, yes it was wonderful. Kind of insane though after midnight. A few fights broke out but there were TONS of police there anyways so we avoided the area and let the cops handle it haha. Needless to say, had lots of wine and champagne. How many people can say they have spent new years eve in front of the eiffel tower? I CAN! =)

Morning of the first, freakin new years day man, we left on a high speed train (love these things, they go like 175-200 miles per hour, gets you places in no time) to Amsterdam. It connected in Bruxelles Belgium so we decided to take  a stop off in Bruges, which is famous for its beer (Beligans are coo-coo for their beer, like 400 different types!) no clue though. Had a glass or two, walked around the amazingly cute town, bought some Beligian chocoloates from the cutest British woman at her shop who talked our ears off about wanting to write a travel book about LA. It was super cute.

(Belgian Waffel! mmmm...)

 Then we got back on the connecting train and were on our way to Amsterdam! Amsterdam was a really awesome city. Since it was still the first of the year, the city was fairly trashed from the partying the night before, but still it was quaint and super pretty. I will definitely have to go back one day. The canals are super pretty and so are the buildings. EVERYONE in the Netherlands and Belgium speaks seriously perfect English. I was shocked. But everyone was super nice. Wandered around the city more. Went to the Heineken Experience they call it, where they brew the beer and went on a fabulous tour of the brewery and had a few complementary beers at the end in the Heineken bar they have at the end of the tour. I definitely recommend the tour, especially if you are a fan of the beer. It is well worth the 10 or whatever euro we spent on it...similar to the one for Guinness that they have in Dublin (which had an amaaaazing bar at the end).  Saw Anne Frank’s house, even though I thought her book was SUPER boring in high school (haha, im so terrible).

 

Hmmmm what else. I seriously should have kept a journal. Damn. Lol. Oh yeah! So we went to check out the infamous Red Light District with all the legal prostitutes and what not. The whole red light district was a really really odd experience. NO NO, we did not buy anyone, but just walked around the street. There are literally about 100 full length windows facing the street that are lit up with a red or pink light and the girls are standing there in super skanky undies doing little dances, motioning for you to come over, etc. It was so weird to me! I felt kind of unsafe in the area, even thought it is super regulated and there are police all over, I just didn’t like the feeling of being where all the hookers are. Haha. Also, perhaps it was the cake that was making me paranoid..not sure. Lol

(Freakin' maps man... haha!)

So then we headed from Amsterdam to Hamburg Germany. Hamburg is in the northern part of the city. We only had a day to spend there and we got there kind of late because we slept in that morning in Amsterdam lol. Hamburg is appartently one of Tyson’s favorite cities in Germany. Me personally, I didn’t get a good enough feel for Hamburg cuz I thought it was wayyyy to industrial and boring lol. I mean, it is a major business center, but I prefer older more historical places. We did a tour through this old cathedral that was bombed out during WWII and left half standing as a memorial to keeping peace and not way. It was very moving.

Part 2 in a few days =)

Transition...

The time that I have been avoiding has finally arrived. Move out here at the residences. I myself am here until the end of January until I move to my new apartment for my next program, but sadly, all of my amazing friends here at ESSEC are moving out and returning home. You know me, I am not the emotional type, it is hard for me to express emotions, but I have told my good friends here that I just feel this hallow feeling inside. Not quite sad, but something else. Yes, the sad and depressing blog entry, but we truly are at a cross roads of all our lives. For a lot of us returning home, we return to our last semester in university and on to continue our career journeys. It is the last time we will be free to travel as we please, do as we please (on our parents' budget =P  ), be a Parisian,  feel 17 again, come home from partying as the sun rises....there are so many amazing things we all have experienced here on exchange that we will treasure forever. Many, many times in the future look back and remember the amazing adventures and all the wonderful people we shared them with and just have a good laugh at ourselves is Paris.

I know we say goodbye today, but I have a strong feeling inside me that knows we will all, at one time, see each other again. Going home is only the beginning of our amazing futures.

Next semester will be new and different, but all the same a great adventure for me. I know it will be fun and meet so many great people. I look ahead with excitement, ready to conquer a new challenge in my life abroad.

What's this?

Inspired by Jack Skellington in Nightmare Before Christmas...'What's this, what's this? There's white things in the air, what's this?!

Today was the first snow in Paris!!!! I woke up and opened my shudders to a white wonderland, snow still falling all around. It is sooooooo cool!!! At least for now, until the new feeling wears off haha.
It was so magical! Still is actually, even at the end of the day! I love it. Everything is just 10x prettier too! Definitely a great feeling to live in snow for at least one Christmas season.

Here are some pictures I took today:

(Written on my windowsill!)

 

                                                                 (View from my window)

(Last final, last day at ESSEC)

Couldn't be a better last day of the semester.

La fin de la semestre

The end of the semester has finally arrived. Both happy and sad at the same time. More so than usual. Normally I am ecstatic to be finished with the long grueling semester, but this year is different, for obvious reasons.

Time has flown by so unbelievably fast and I wouldn't be able to tell you where all the time went. Just incredible how quickly this semester went by. Though, despite it flying by, it has left with me so many, practically uncountable, memories that I will cherish forever. So many friends made from all over the world, whom sadly a lot of them are leaving this weekend. Such a feeling of nostalgia right now, for everyone really. Thankfully, there is a good group of us staying for a second semester. All of them staying here at ESSEC; me though, I am starting a whole new program, a French language program to finish up my culture & language requirements for my international business degree. So I am really excited to be able to continue living in Paris and having five more months left here. If I had to leave this week, I would regret it for the rest of my life. I am not done here. I finally feel at home and like I live here. Continuing for another semester will be such a great experience, I am a Parisian, at least for a year. The best year of my life to date.

              (taking our French final in the exam room!)


As for this week, and last...just studying away for finals and preparing like SDSU taught me to, study study study very hard and do well on exams so you can have fun after, knowing you learned a lot and did well on all your exams. Work hard to play hard. Such the SoCal motto really.

(before my final, haha)

Had a final yesterday, one today, and two tomorrow. Then I am free! =)

(Coffee, what keeps me goin'!)

Take care everyone, I hope you are enjoying the wonderful Christmas season. I am very excited today...it is supposed to snow tonight around 9pm, all day tomorrow, and all day Friday. Maybe I willg get my wish for a white Christmas here. Pictures to come, keep your fingers crossed that the snow comes =)

Driving...

Every time I see a car that I like here, I really miss driving. Though, I really really love public transit here. Tt is EVERYWHERE and so efficient (most of the time haha). The underground of Paris is honestly a honeycomb of tunnels, rails, stairs, and pathways leading deep under the city to various transit lines. It is just so mind boggling to think about! The Metro in Paris comes practically every two minutes which to me, coming from San Diego having to wait 15min during rush hour for a metro, it is amazing here! Despite coming back home at 5am from a night out to a metro car with puke or piss on the floor, or for that matter, a person passed out on the floor, whatever...it takes us home and is always a good laugh. Ahhhhh, life in the big city. I really do love it. I feel so at home.

Yes, I miss driving.....however, I do NOT miss sitting in traffic on Montezuma or the 163 South to Downtown....ORRRRRRR summer tourist beach traffic on the way to work...The worst!!! Definitely do not miss that haha.

Pros and Cons to everything...I love it. I like that I can enjoy wherever I am. The best part though, is I really do genuinely love Paris.

Dream Last Night

Last night I had a dream that seriously made me trip out when I woke up. I dreamt waking up at Tyson's place back home, like I was just stopping over from France. Had a casual morning, got ready, some friends came over for lunch, then I realized that I had to go back to Paris and I wondered why so much of my stuff was at his place, like tons of random stuff. I had also driven to his place, from who knows where. I started to trip out in the dream when I had to get back to Paris, how was I getting back there? Plane, driving, when??? hahahaa. I was convinced I drove to his place lol.

Freaky part though was when I woke up here, I seriously had no idea where I was. Came to, oh I'm actually in Paris...didn't take a late night trip back to San Diego to say hi. haha.
Weird!

Random, but I felt like blogging.

Thoughts of the moment

Just sitting here at a Starbucks enjoying a cup of good old 'real' 
coffee. Believe it or not, going to Starbucks is my home away from 
Paris. Starbucks Co. has done a good job at preserving the atmosphere 
even in a foreign country. Lately I have been going to Paris alone 
just to walk around, hit up a Starbucks, a nice park, or just simply to 
do nothing. I find it quite relaxing. 

It is really weird thinking about how much time has past since I arrived here in France. It is really scary actually; my time here is almost to its halfway point. What a bizarre thought. Next semester is going to be a great new 
semester of all new experiences, friends, and all that jazz. Again, 
it feels strange knowing that all of the amazing friends and people
I have met here this fall won't be here in the spring. Next semester though 
will definitely be a new one for me, one of new beginnings, continued 
pursuits of learning about Europe, and just living life in the moment. 
 

For the past I don't know how many years, my life has been about 
planning for the future, but coming abroad, I have decided, well re-
decided actually, that this year abroad is about living in the moment. 
I absolutely loved my first semester here, but I can't say I have used 
everyday to its fullest; I have to admit, some days were spent in bed, 
doing nothing in my room, instead of being out and about in the city. 
I was talking to Lauren about it and we thought about what everyone is 
trying to do here: see and experience everything Paris has to offer, 
all of it...in merely a semester. What a feat! Next semester I want 
to slow it down a bit. I've realized I might not be able to see and do 
absolutely everything in Paris, but the undiscovered wonders of this 
amazing city will, in years to come, give me so many reasons to come 
back. Imagine going to New York City or LA for an academic year... I 
really doubt I could do it all. Why do I think I can in Paris? I mean, 
I've lived in San Diego for 3 years and I still don't totally know it 
well! Haha. Just this past year I discovered new parts I never knew 
existed! I'm so optimistic I guess ;)
 

On the bright side, at least Paris feels like home now :) and every 
time I get on the metro, I just love the feeling of living the big 
city life. 

Written on my iPod Touch...please excuse any errors or the weird format ;)

Never too early for Christmas...

It isn't quite December yet, but it is already Christmas in Paris! The city has turned into a winter wonderland of lights, window displays, Christmas markets, and most of all, the great Christmas spirit that makes this time of year the best.

Today Lauren and I headed to Paris to explore the Christmas market on the Champs-Elysées. We wandered around Paris before sunset so we could enjoy the avenue at its best...at night when all the trees are lit! We went to the Starbucks to enjoy a huge cup of coffee and some munchies we brought from home in big comfy chairs inside the mall. So nice to get out of the cold and have a cup of coffee, just warms you to the core! It was quite cold today.



Come nightfall, the Paris is turned into a city decked out in Christmas lights, trees, and all that fun stuff. Wandered the Christmas markets, saw so many fun craft booths, food places (MUST go back and have these German sausage sandwiches I saw there...omg, to die for), and tons of other fun things to look at. All with the great feel of Christmas. At the end of the avenue they constructed a GIANT bright white ferris wheel, gleeming in the dark backdrop of the Jardin des Tuileries of the Louvre. So magical!



We strolled, met up with another friend, took more pictures and the best part of the Christmas markets, enjoyed a few cups of Vin Chaud, or hot mulled wine. SO GOOD! I really love the drink. Just the epitome of Christmas in a cup. Such a wonderful night out in Paris.



Tomorrow is Thanksgiving back home in The States, I will miss spending time at home with my family in Irvine or at my Uncle's house and helping out in the kitchen. I love cooking, especially helping out my mom who makes GREAT holiday feasts. Though, being here in France with 8 other friends from SDSU, we are hosting our own Thanksgiving feast at a friend who has a house, complete with an oven and a real stove! Thanksgiving wouldnt really workout here in the dorms haha. But we are all really excited. A full menu of all the classics is ready to be prepared. I am going over early to help with the cooking and when others get out of class, they will start trickling over to the house. I am making Vin Chaud and can't wait to enjoy it with everyone! We have become quite the family over here and it will be so nice to spend it together under one roof on a holiday like Thanksgiving.

Take care everyone and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Much love from Paris and a Happy Thanksgiving to you!

A Stroll With The Dead

Ever have one of those days when you just want to head out for a day with me, myself, and I? I woke up on Wednesday and thought to myself, I want a day out and about in Paris alone. I always have nice relaxing days when I go exploring with just me and my curiosities guiding me. So I decided to get dressed and all bundled up in scarf and coat and head to Père Lachaise, one of Paris' most famous cemeteries, buried there include so many great people from the past centuries. For me, it was like going to meet a celebrity, though having to search for her grave. My main motivation in going there was to visit the grave of Edith Piaf, probably France's greatest voices this century, to me, if not ever. I grabbed my map of the place that my friend had given me back in September when he went, and I was off, to spend a day with the dead.

Short little tangent from my day at Père Lachaise, on the RER to the cemetery, I finished reading New Moon! hahaha. FINALLY. Now I give myself permission to see the movie, which I will probably go see later this evening.

Anywho, back to my day...

I arrived at the cemetery, in a very normal, average area of Paris, but in the middle lies a huge cemetery! I walked through the huge gates and entered a mini-city with streets lined with graves and beautifully morbid mausoleums. I tried to capture the vastness of the cemetery and the countless tombstones, graves, and mausoleums, but you have to visit if ever in Paris, it is really a breathtaking place.

On the map I have, it plots out where a lot of the more 'well known' people are buried, including Chopin, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, and for me, most important of all, Edith Piaf!





I wandered for what only seemed like an hour, but turned out I spent about four hours there. I found it very peaceful and relaxing, the perfect place to take a stroll and get lost in your thoughts.



I pulled out my iPod and put on some of Edith Piaf's music and walked through the cemetery as I looked for her. I thought it quite appropriate to be listening to her when I found her grave. Wandering and wandering, marveling in all the other beautiful graves, of people I know nothing about, but where obviously cared about.

So all in all I had a really wonderful day just wandering around Paris just relaxing, enjoying my own company.

Ciao from Italia

Ciao everyone! Writing from Firenze (Florence) having some Italian wine and hanging out with Alana and Caitlin, Canadian friends I am traveling with here. I am really loving Italy. I feel like I could retire here and come visit every year. AND I am really loving the Italian language. I have been thinking about learning another language for about a year and cant decide. Perhaps Italian. I am very fond of it now that I hear it spoken everywhere. Italy is such a magical place, much like im sure all of Europe, but it feels like I am walking through the Renaissace each city I visit here. Italy really does have the trophy for Renaissance everything. Sorry France haha. Oh, and the men are sooooooooooooooooooooooo cute. Enough said. Much love from Firenze!

Anywho, just wanted to check in and say, CIAO!