I found a little time to update...

Bonjour, tout le monde! I got into Marseille (a port-city in the southeast of France) today, and the weather was threatening storms so I did a quick tour of the town and then came back to update! :)

I am going to update by giving a synopsis of the best ways God blessed me on this trip... with the great friends I made!!

It started with Danielle and Afije, who came with me to London!

(taking a break at Regent's Park)



Justine!! My random roomie at the hostel! Super sweet, pretty and French!! Yahoo!! :)


My random roomie at the hostel in Salzburg, Mi-Seong-sshi! A super cool Korean lady who was traveling to research places for her job! :) Fighting!



Yosuke! An English teacher in Tokyo that I met at breakfast. We went hiking up to the fortress in Szg after buying yummy chocolate at the outdoor market :)



Two more random roomies in Szg (a lot of ppl came and went), 2 Chinese girls, Wei and Yuchie, studying BioChem... in France!! It was fun speaking in French with them!


I was walking by the Blue Danube in Vienna and I asked this lovely woman to take my picture... she ended up taking me to coffee afterwards! She didn't speak a word of English, but we somehow communicated. Ich liebe dich, Frau! <3


Torsten and Pia from Denmark that I met at the hostel in Berlin :D Pia and I were the only people who actually woke up in the morning hours for breakfast and I thought it was way awkward if we didn't sit together! She is super duper sweet!


Kristin and me in front of the UN in Geneva! I had such a blast with this chick... eating... chocolate, cheese and bread... and FLORALP. hahah

I also met some more people on the way to Marseille from Geneva. I met another Justine who works in Geneva but is originally from Lille. She works with children and it's fitting because she is so nice!! Then I met a very very very cute grandmother who lives in Marseille. We needed to make the same train transfer and we sat and talked together for most of the journeys. She used to be a dancer, latin-style! She liked talking about her time at the school of dance in Buenos Aires. I never asked for her name. <3

I've spent time and met so many great people in my travels, I really thank God for showing His love through them. I hope I did a little of the same for them.

More updates later!

EuroTour

Hi hi! This is where I'll be if you want to pinpoint it on a globe or something:

5/2-5/5: London
5/6-5/8: Salzburg
5/9-5/10: Vienna
5/11-5/13: Berlin
5/14-5/16: Geneva
5/17-5/19: Marseille
5/20: Bordeaux
5/21-5/25: Dordogne
5/26-6/2: Paris

Please pray for me! I'm doing some of this tour alone!!

Yea, this post is kind of pointless, but I'm going to excuse myself in advance for not being contact-able! <3

Le debut de la fin (The beginning of the end)

Alors, c'est deja le temps de dire au revoir.

Dernierement, je trainais bcp avec mes amis, en faisant rien! haha Voila quelques photos:

Thursday night was the beginning of so much fun! I took my last final (3 hours of writing about phonology... ahh!) and then that night Eric, Dominique, Urko, Daniel and I went to a pub for karaoke night! :)


Les adultes (minus Daniel)


Eric secretly signed Urko up to sing a song together! haha "Mexiiiiiiiiiiiiico!"


Look at all the people! One big happy group!




getting ready for my debut! haha


Eric sang "Toulouse" and made the whole house cry b/c it was so beautiful :')


Me and my non-alcoholic beverage. Diabolo a la pomegranate. Mmmmm! (Thanks, Urko!)



Highlight of the evening!!!!!!!!!! Dominique and Eric... PAROLES!! All the practice definitely paid off! :)

Then on Friday, I took Katie to my favorite kebab place!


You can see Renoan in the mirror, lol.


Renoan and me! He is one of the nicest owners/kebab makers! (And one of the BEST!)

Then I met up with Narcine to go shopping... aka go into EVERY SINGLE shop on la rue St. Catherine!! hahah

I think I'll buy a hat like that when I get back to the States, what do you think?

Friday night... billiards tournament!! Haha

We each picked a sponsor. I don't own much brand clothing, so I stuck a plastic bag to my shirt. I am sponsored by the biggest book store in France... MOLLAT! Whoooo!


The trophy!!! :D (Not the actual prize)


Tom is only 7, but he is GOOD! And isn't he so cute??? :D

Results: Eric, Max, Tom, and me! HHA I didn't think I would, since I am a newbie, but Dylan lost because he kept pocketing the eight ball. HAHAHA

Next day, I started off the day at St Michel market! This time with Katie!


THE FIRST TIME I WORE SANDALS! AHHH!!! My toes felt so... freeeeeeee~!



Cathedral of St Michel. I love the ribbons.... <3

Thennnn I met up with Morgane (who does not like photos, so I didn't post any more pics of her)

Tea house! It was a nice little bar for tea and coffee! We stood and talked and watched over Cami, who works there, and who was having her ear talked off by a woman who was bored/lonely/liked complaining. The woman stayed there for 2.5 HOURS! AHH!! Cami, kudos to you! fyi, I had the Venitien (vanilla, with berries, mmmmmm)



random street concert


it was super duper hot so Morgane and I went to the "miroir d'eau" (mirror of water). For the first time I could walk in it barefoot!



the misting means that it's about to start up again!! (It's a nice place to just walk in the water. There were so many cute little kids!!!)



Morgane and I got soaked playing with the little kids, so we laid in the grass to dry off. :) Listening to drums, guitar, and people watching. It was great. See for yourself!




Then off to dinner! We went to my fave Ethiopian place, but it was reserved for a private celebration, but the owner walked us to an Indian resto, and BOY DID WE EAT. I am still full.

And now... I am waiting for my laundry to finish so I can go to church. :P (Just as funny as excuse as staying home from church to study, right?)

Until the next time!! And tonight is the finals of the billiards competition, so stay tuned!!! :D

The countdown begins... again... sort of... huh?!

As you can tell from the title, I am completely OUT OF IT. In English and French, I am completely unfit for communicating with people at the moment. Let's blame it on the fact that I sleep 1 hour a night! Too much hw? Too much partying? None of the above. In fact, I just lie there thinking... I'm leaving in less than 2 weeks. Holy COW.

I just bought my tickets for London to Salzburg and then to who knows where! Very exciting stuff! And scary at the same time!! Unfortunately, I also just realized that despite myself I fell in love with France. Even Bordeaux. The trams where you feel like you're going to suffocate. The disorganized school system. The toilets with no seats on them. The mean ladies who work at the cafeteria. I don't know how to feel. So I lie in bed wondering how I'm supposed to feel and what to do with the fleeting days...

I even feel depressed hanging out with my friends who I will soon say "au revoir" to. I want to enjoy my moments, but realizing that I'm TRYING to savor every second, remember every joke, it's tiring.

OKAY! That's enough of that! This is the regular dance of falling in love with a foreign place and with the people and then having to leave... it's not new.

Anyways, I have finished 2/6 finals!! Go me!! So far, I have gotten grades that make me happy, but I have a feeling the ones that are to come will not go as smoothly... :P Pray for me!

I just cleaned my room and I found all the presents I've been buying for you folks along the way... if anyone wants anything tell me now! Or else you get some random junk that I pick out.

Today at the gym I started to say "Bonjour" to all these random people instead of studying while elliptical-ing. Eye contact is so key here! If you didn't know, to make eye contact with someone here is the equivalent of saying "Hello" or, and sometimes this happens "Helloooooooo" ;)

Oh yes, so far people have asked me about which country has the hottest guys, etc... Well, I don't think one single country or city harbors all of the hotties of the world, but each place seems to have a distinctively beautiful feature. Let me explain: French people have GORGEOUS eyes, Italians have nice noses, Spanish people have the best proportions (tall and lean with legs up to there), and uh... that's as far as my general observations go. Donc, voila.

Okay, I should probably go and sleep. My one hour. Ha ha.

Oh yea! The Chaperts had a dinner party thing today and while I was not invited, I did get to speak with the guests and experience another authentic French evening! Whoo! (It is wide known that French dinner parties are the most exclusive events EVER. Not French? French, but not cool enough? Bonne chance.)

PS My love for France and my friends here is completely separate from my love for you guys and how much I miss you all. But yea. It's France. And they're French. You understand. :P (hahah jk!!)

April showers... or TEARS

That's right! April is filled with tears, or SWEAT! I have so much work to do, it's crunch time folks!

I'll update one day... maybe! Until then catch up with me via facebook and my photos there!

Peace out!

A hiatus from food.

HAHAH Due to popular demand I will refrain from talking about the f-word. ("Food", don't be dirty!)

Alors, aujourd'hui je suis allée au marché de St. Michel!! J'ai acheté beaucoup de cadeaux. =] C'est pour ça que je peux pas mettre des photos de mes achats, mais j'ai pris quelques photos du marché. Il y a du tissu, vêtements, sacs, chaussures, et de la végétation! C'est génial!

Comme la plupart de vous ne saviez pas, je suis un cours d'art ici à Bordeaux. Je suis, je pense, la seule étudiante qui ne spécialise pas en art. C'est dur, mais si si si amusant! haha J'ai fait des amis avec des types "artsy", et ils sont tous très sympa, particulièrement parce qu'ils savent que je suis une étrangère. En fait, une fille, Morgane m'a aidée en achetant et en trouvant tous les matériaux dont j'avais besoin. Elle est SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII gentille!!! Alors, je vous présente quelques "oeuvres". C'est franchement crotte-y, mais, ben... =P

Hier Morgane et moi avons eu une fête en faisant de l'art! Whoo! Elle a un apt... g é n i a l. (Comme tous lesquels français) Alors! Elle m'a permise d'utiliser ses outils... Morgane, merci!! Après avoir bu du thé de l'Egypt (mmm) nous avons commencé! J'ai fait un tableau qui est supposé d'imiter le style de Basquiat avec le thème du petit déjeuner. Alors, je comprends rien du tout de l'art moderne, alors, pardonnez-moi. LOL

D'accord, amusez-vous bien à ma galérie. ;)


**
Okay, so today I went to the market at St. Michel! I bought a lot of presents! =] Yea, so I can't put up pictures of what I bought, but I took some pics of the market. There were textiles, clothes, bags, shoes, and fresh foods! It was great!







Like most of you don't know, I'm taking an art class here in Bx. I am, I think, the only student who is not an Art major. It's hard, but so fun! I made friends with "artsy" peoples, and they are all so nice, especialy because they know I am from abroad. In fact, one girl Morgane helped me buy and find all the stuff I needed for the class. She is SOOOOO nice!!! So, I will show you some of my "works". It's seriously poopy, but yea...

Yesterday, Morgane and I had a little "art party"! Whoo! She has a kickycool apt! (Like all French apts) So, she let me use her tools (paints, paper, etc), Morgane, thank you!!! After having some Egyptian tea (mmm) we started! I did a painting that is supposed to imitate the style of Basquiat with the theme of breakfast. I understand nothing of modern art, so excuse me!!


Tea time!!


Morgane, the cutie!



She works hard!!


Okay, have fun at my gallery!! ;)


Okay, so here is the breakfast pencil drawing (I got a so-so grade for this), and in the beginning I totally messed up on the Basquiat imitation. Prof. Garcia told us it was "technique libre" (free style) so long as it was modern. Well, he lied! It was supposed to imitate the artist.


Here's my mess-up. Bof.


here is my Basquiat. eh heh...

Okay! It's REALLLLY gorgeous today, so off I go to the Jardin Public avec Katie! :) A +!

l'argot français [French slang]

les aléas de la vie : twists that life throws at you (usually positive)

une crevette : literal- shrimp, slang- 1) a wimpy/non-buff guy, 2) someone who has a nice body but a not so good looking face [comes from the fact that you rip off the heads of shrimp when you eat them, LOL]

un tombeur / une tombeuse : a lady-killer / a hot mamma


patati-et-patata : 'blah blah blah'; 'and so on, and so forth'

une peau de vache : literal- the skin of a cow, slang- a mean girl
*NB* it's equally mean to use it! :P


un loup dans le nez : literal- a wolf in the nose, slang- a booger
*NB* typically used by very young children