So hi. Class is mostly frustrating. It's a culture class, but it's being taught by a french woman, Florence, who doesn't speak english. Obviously, as it is completely in french, I do not understand very much. I tend to get the gist of whatever is being said, but other than that, not much.
Today was suuuuuper awkward. It was the first day of more intense class, yesterday she showed us around and stuff, but today we had discussion. I guess. Sort of. We sit in a big circle of desks and she talks and we are supposed to also talk, but being one of the lowest leveled people on the trip, it's extra hard. Also, I am constantly distracted by her mustache. I mean, I can grow a bit of facial hair, but there's no way this woman has EVER shaved this thing. It's huge. She's really nice, but I just can't stop looking at her mustache. I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually, but right now, It's really distracting. Anyways, today we were discussing...something, and I hadn't really been able to get a comment in, because it just takes me a long time to form french sentences and I hardly knew what was going on anyway, and she looked over at me, and suddenly starts talking. It was just this rapid strain of incomprehensible french; the only thing I got was that she thought I wasn't participating enough. Needless to say, I was completely embarrassed and nervous, and then she stopped and looked at me really intently, like she was waiting for me to say something, aaaand I started crying. Not loud crying, just the kind you can't really keep to yourself no matter how hard you try, and then I was extra embarrassed AND she felt bad and everyone else felt bad and it was just awful. She called break and then we sort of talked and she said that if it was too slow to get something in french, then I could just say it in english and then say it in french after, and the class could help me with vocab. Of course, she said this in french, but I got it eventually. The point is, AWK. WARD. And I felt bad! eventually I explained, with help from some other students, that I didn't mean to cry, and that it was just a stress reaction, and she understood. UGH. Fuuuuuuuuuck french.
Even though all that sounds pretty pathetic, I do feel like I'm already getting better, so yay! Claudette's frequent mini vocab lessons are helping a TON, at least.
So AFTER that awkwardness, we all just sort of sat around the courtyard for two hours, because we had a cooking class at 2:30! We made some stuff, it was delicious. Kind of fun, kind of just annoying. I have realised I just will never be able to like an entire group of people, adn there are some real idiots in our group, so...yeah. People. You are in a foreign country, taking a class from a very nice french woman. The LEAST you can do is try to listen. Ugh. BUT ANYWAY, I think I will upload a couple pictures from that when I get back to the house, and it will have its own post.
So yeah, no pictures or anything today, sorry. Today and yesterday I drew in my sketchbook, instead of with my tablet, but tonight I'll do something on the computer, besides try to get the internet working for an hour and then play the Sims for two hours. WOO FRANCE.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Bonjour, mon ami! Je parle le French! Sort of!
A note: I wrote this post on and off for the past few days. There were big breaks in between writing, so if some of this sounds awkward, I was probably speaking in french right before. It's weird, once I get into french mode, even though I'm not very good, it makes switching back really awkward. I make all of my thoughts and sentences super simple in french. When I switch back to english, any sort of style, or humor, or even just complicated sentences seem extremely complicated. Just bear with me!!
TOURS! I'M HERE! FINALLY! SORRY I HAVEN'T BEEN ON!
Hi! I'm in Tours, now! I met everyone at the airport, then we all hopped on a bus and drove to Tours! It took a long time, about four hours. I made a comic about meeting people, but it's pretty terrible and I still haven't found a scanner. In the airport, I met Dani and Megan; they'd gotten in on earlier flights that day.
When we got to Tours, I looked out the window at this seemingly endless crowd of host families, and it was TERRIFYING. What the hell did I think I was doing? I can't speak french! I'm useless! Merde! This poor host woman is going to think I am a complete moron! I should just go back to Paris. I can just hide out in cafes for two months. Or the Louvre, it's big. Aw, fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Merde. Fuck!
Anyway, I finally got off the bus and my host mere found me. Her name is Claudette, and she's great! She's patient and speaks some english, and when neither of us know a particular word, her in English, me in french, she pulls out this huge french/english dictionary and we look stuff up. It's kind of fun, like a tiny lesson, but in a good way. Also exhausting, but still. She has a cat, whose name I'm still not sure of. It sounds like Doushka when she says it, or maybe Toushka. She also has two grown sons, who live in Tours as well, with their families. I haven't met them yet, but they come to dinner a lot so I will eventually.
Claudette is hosting two other students besides me. They are both American; Andrew is from Georgia and studies Literature at West Georgia U, Brittany is from Florida and studies International Business at U South Carolina. They're both 20, I think, and very nice! Andrew is a little shy, Brittany is much more outgoing. We all seem to be near the same level of french, so that's good too. Whenever we are together we speak mostly english, but whenever we're with Claudette we all struggle through french. Uggggh. It can be so awkward! I know I'll get better, but right now I spend a lot of time in my room just to avoid speaking french for a little while. It's exhausting! Speaking of my room...
I made a diagram. can you tell I had nothing to doooo?
my view
We eat on the patio!
Bed
Desk
awesome, awesome wall!
tiny sink and mirror!
They hide in this closet thing.
bed!
The house is rather far from the school, across the river (the Loire), and up a huge hill and back a bit. It's about a 40 minute walk, which I took on Sunday. It's not bad going into town (downhill), but I took the bus back. Luckily, today the program payed for our bus passes, which are good for a month, so I don't have to wake up absurdly early to get to class or anything.
It's huge. Not huge for the US, but for France, for a city, it is huge. It's two stories. Andrew and I have the entire second floor to ourselves. There's a medium sized living room sort of thing, then an empty bedroom, then my room, then Andrew's room. Across from his is another! Also apparently there are two french twins who are studying here and rent the room over the garage. I've never even seen them! They aren't a part of the whole exchange student/study abroad/host family thing, so apparently they stay to themselves. The first floor is much bigger than the second. It has a big living room, the kitchen, Claudette's room and office, Brittany's room, the coat/shoes/gardening shit room, and the garage. In the back there is a patio and a giant yard, with a pretty garden and a bunch of trees, and in the very back there's a cherry tree! We've been eating a lot of cherries, and they are delicious.
Speaking of eating and deliciousness, Claudette is a kick-ass cook. For dinner, we have multicourse meals! It seems to be the french way. The first night, the first course was a salad. It was a little bit of lettuce in small pieces, and a bunch of tomatoes, skinned and cut up, with vinaigrette. Apparently I like tomatoes now, I guess? It was fuckin' delicious! Basically, everything she makes is delicious, even the food I don't normally like*. It's awesome.
*bananas are still gross all the time, ew.
Now I can't stop thinking about food. I'm hungry. Curses! Dinner should be soon though, so that's good.
Anyway, on Saturday I got here, we had dinner, it was awkward but whatever. It was fine. That night I was feeling totally wired, so I unpacked all my shit and arranged everything on the shelves (I made a diagram because I got bored) and folded all my clothes and put those away, and then I was finally tired, but it was still really hard to get to sleep. I would've liked to update this here blog, but my computer won't connect to Claudette's internet. It had been super hot the whole day and the night, too, and I think that might've had something to do with it.
I'm not gonna lie, Sunday kind of sucked. Kind of a lot. The first part wasn't bad, Brittany and I went into town. We were planning on taking the bus, but it passed by our stop and another didn't come for a half hour, so we just walked. The walk was refreshing, the weather had gotten much cooler and it was cloudy and supposed to rain. She and her friend from school went to see Sex And The City 2, which I was not so excited about (aka, no thank you I'd rather shove matchsticks under my fingernails), and I felt kind of like a third-wheel, so I just wandered around the city. I found where L'Institute de Touraine (the school) was, and La Gare (the train station), and L'Office de Tourisme (the office of tourism). By the time it was 3pm I was already super tired from walking and not sleeping much, so I just caught the bus home. My goal had been to get some shampoo and conditioner, a notebook, and a map, but every flippin' store I needed was closed! Grrr, arrgh! When I got back, I tried the internet again. It works on Brittany's computer, so I don't know what's up! I restarted the router and everything! So that was newly frustrating. I drew a little, then at 5 Claudette asked if I wanted tea so...we had tea. It was nice until she started asking about my family. Not that I don't love you guys, it's just very complicated. She didn't understand about Bill, and Dan, and Annie, and it was very confusing. The word we learned for step-father apparently actually means father-in-law, too, so that was awk until we cleared that up. It was all just really awkward to explain, and I had to do it in depth because she just wasn't understanding why I didn't like my "real" father. Afterwards I made an emo comic about it! oh well.
That's what the kitchen looks like, by the way.
The point is, after that I went upstairs and cried and was all mopey and it just hit me how much I missed everyone. I miss living with V and sleeping with Dean; I miss having the internet all the time so that I can chat with people and read all my webcomics and keep updated with everything; I miss East Lansing, and MSU, and my cozy dorm room, and watching Buffy with Dean and Cynthia. I miss cuddling. I even miss Laguna and my real family, my Mummy and Bill, even Annie! I've been so starved for human contact! I am a social, touchy creature, and I need the rest of my pack! ugh. So BASICALLY it was the most pathetic thing ever and I cried a lot. Bleh. Pathetic.
ANYWAY, today, Monday, has been good. In the morning we had a big group meeting at l'Institute. While we were waiting, I met Kelly and Alicia. They are both redheads, and I think they knew each other already. We are in the same class for the first month, and I'm glad! During the meeting, we got our student ID cards, and our class schedule for the month, and there was a lot of french I didn't understand. Madame Norris and Thao talk as fast as locals, and it's so hard to understand!! Also frustrating. I came here to LEARN more french, and there's no way for me to learn if I can't understand you. ARGH. After that, they sent us on a sort of scavenger hunt. We had to find things in the town and answer some questions about them. Dani, Kelly, Alicia, and I went together, and we went aaaaall over. It was so fun!! We sort of ended up just going where it looked the most interesting (like going across the walking bridge over the river), but we got most of the things on the list done. Tours is gorgeous; I promise that next time I will take a pile of pictures! At 4 we met up with the rest of the class and just sort of hung out. We talked about the questions, then Thao took those of us who live across the river to get bus passes. After that, I got some shampoo, conditioner (I think), and the most delicious smelling body wash liquid soap stuff. It's apricot and basil! I know it sounds weird, but it smells sooooo GOOD!
It's SO SO SO delicious!
We (just!) had dinner. Claudette's friend Monique ate with us. She was really fun! At first we (Andrew, Brittany, and I) were all nervous, but by the end we were all talking, and it was quite nice.
Tonight there's a group of people going to go to the bar, but I think I'm going to stay in. I haven't drawn anything today, and I want to do that, and I have to get up early for class tomorrow. Class's at 9, so I have to leave at least by 8:25 to catch the bus, and I need to get ready before that, and eat breakfast, and I forgot to buy a notebook today so I should do that. I'm not so excited about waking up that early. My classes end at 11 or 12 every day, so I'll have a lot of time to myself for the first month! The thing is, I'm not sure exactly what we will actually be doing in class, but whatever. I think there's something about french culture, and I know we have to keep a journal. Wooo I'm already working ahead! Hahaha. I don't know if I want to show this to Madame Norris, but Thao would probably think it was funny (he has an AWESOME sense of humor).
TUESDAY: Just had my first class! more on that later, and also some pictures with the actual camera, instead of crappy photobooth.
See you kids later!
TOURS! I'M HERE! FINALLY! SORRY I HAVEN'T BEEN ON!
Hi! I'm in Tours, now! I met everyone at the airport, then we all hopped on a bus and drove to Tours! It took a long time, about four hours. I made a comic about meeting people, but it's pretty terrible and I still haven't found a scanner. In the airport, I met Dani and Megan; they'd gotten in on earlier flights that day.
When we got to Tours, I looked out the window at this seemingly endless crowd of host families, and it was TERRIFYING. What the hell did I think I was doing? I can't speak french! I'm useless! Merde! This poor host woman is going to think I am a complete moron! I should just go back to Paris. I can just hide out in cafes for two months. Or the Louvre, it's big. Aw, fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Merde. Fuck!
Anyway, I finally got off the bus and my host mere found me. Her name is Claudette, and she's great! She's patient and speaks some english, and when neither of us know a particular word, her in English, me in french, she pulls out this huge french/english dictionary and we look stuff up. It's kind of fun, like a tiny lesson, but in a good way. Also exhausting, but still. She has a cat, whose name I'm still not sure of. It sounds like Doushka when she says it, or maybe Toushka. She also has two grown sons, who live in Tours as well, with their families. I haven't met them yet, but they come to dinner a lot so I will eventually.
Claudette is hosting two other students besides me. They are both American; Andrew is from Georgia and studies Literature at West Georgia U, Brittany is from Florida and studies International Business at U South Carolina. They're both 20, I think, and very nice! Andrew is a little shy, Brittany is much more outgoing. We all seem to be near the same level of french, so that's good too. Whenever we are together we speak mostly english, but whenever we're with Claudette we all struggle through french. Uggggh. It can be so awkward! I know I'll get better, but right now I spend a lot of time in my room just to avoid speaking french for a little while. It's exhausting! Speaking of my room...
I made a diagram. can you tell I had nothing to doooo?
my view
We eat on the patio!
Bed
Desk
awesome, awesome wall!
tiny sink and mirror!
They hide in this closet thing.
bed!
The house is rather far from the school, across the river (the Loire), and up a huge hill and back a bit. It's about a 40 minute walk, which I took on Sunday. It's not bad going into town (downhill), but I took the bus back. Luckily, today the program payed for our bus passes, which are good for a month, so I don't have to wake up absurdly early to get to class or anything.
It's huge. Not huge for the US, but for France, for a city, it is huge. It's two stories. Andrew and I have the entire second floor to ourselves. There's a medium sized living room sort of thing, then an empty bedroom, then my room, then Andrew's room. Across from his is another! Also apparently there are two french twins who are studying here and rent the room over the garage. I've never even seen them! They aren't a part of the whole exchange student/study abroad/host family thing, so apparently they stay to themselves. The first floor is much bigger than the second. It has a big living room, the kitchen, Claudette's room and office, Brittany's room, the coat/shoes/gardening shit room, and the garage. In the back there is a patio and a giant yard, with a pretty garden and a bunch of trees, and in the very back there's a cherry tree! We've been eating a lot of cherries, and they are delicious.
Speaking of eating and deliciousness, Claudette is a kick-ass cook. For dinner, we have multicourse meals! It seems to be the french way. The first night, the first course was a salad. It was a little bit of lettuce in small pieces, and a bunch of tomatoes, skinned and cut up, with vinaigrette. Apparently I like tomatoes now, I guess? It was fuckin' delicious! Basically, everything she makes is delicious, even the food I don't normally like*. It's awesome.
*bananas are still gross all the time, ew.
Now I can't stop thinking about food. I'm hungry. Curses! Dinner should be soon though, so that's good.
Anyway, on Saturday I got here, we had dinner, it was awkward but whatever. It was fine. That night I was feeling totally wired, so I unpacked all my shit and arranged everything on the shelves (I made a diagram because I got bored) and folded all my clothes and put those away, and then I was finally tired, but it was still really hard to get to sleep. I would've liked to update this here blog, but my computer won't connect to Claudette's internet. It had been super hot the whole day and the night, too, and I think that might've had something to do with it.
I'm not gonna lie, Sunday kind of sucked. Kind of a lot. The first part wasn't bad, Brittany and I went into town. We were planning on taking the bus, but it passed by our stop and another didn't come for a half hour, so we just walked. The walk was refreshing, the weather had gotten much cooler and it was cloudy and supposed to rain. She and her friend from school went to see Sex And The City 2, which I was not so excited about (aka, no thank you I'd rather shove matchsticks under my fingernails), and I felt kind of like a third-wheel, so I just wandered around the city. I found where L'Institute de Touraine (the school) was, and La Gare (the train station), and L'Office de Tourisme (the office of tourism). By the time it was 3pm I was already super tired from walking and not sleeping much, so I just caught the bus home. My goal had been to get some shampoo and conditioner, a notebook, and a map, but every flippin' store I needed was closed! Grrr, arrgh! When I got back, I tried the internet again. It works on Brittany's computer, so I don't know what's up! I restarted the router and everything! So that was newly frustrating. I drew a little, then at 5 Claudette asked if I wanted tea so...we had tea. It was nice until she started asking about my family. Not that I don't love you guys, it's just very complicated. She didn't understand about Bill, and Dan, and Annie, and it was very confusing. The word we learned for step-father apparently actually means father-in-law, too, so that was awk until we cleared that up. It was all just really awkward to explain, and I had to do it in depth because she just wasn't understanding why I didn't like my "real" father. Afterwards I made an emo comic about it! oh well.
That's what the kitchen looks like, by the way.The point is, after that I went upstairs and cried and was all mopey and it just hit me how much I missed everyone. I miss living with V and sleeping with Dean; I miss having the internet all the time so that I can chat with people and read all my webcomics and keep updated with everything; I miss East Lansing, and MSU, and my cozy dorm room, and watching Buffy with Dean and Cynthia. I miss cuddling. I even miss Laguna and my real family, my Mummy and Bill, even Annie! I've been so starved for human contact! I am a social, touchy creature, and I need the rest of my pack! ugh. So BASICALLY it was the most pathetic thing ever and I cried a lot. Bleh. Pathetic.
ANYWAY, today, Monday, has been good. In the morning we had a big group meeting at l'Institute. While we were waiting, I met Kelly and Alicia. They are both redheads, and I think they knew each other already. We are in the same class for the first month, and I'm glad! During the meeting, we got our student ID cards, and our class schedule for the month, and there was a lot of french I didn't understand. Madame Norris and Thao talk as fast as locals, and it's so hard to understand!! Also frustrating. I came here to LEARN more french, and there's no way for me to learn if I can't understand you. ARGH. After that, they sent us on a sort of scavenger hunt. We had to find things in the town and answer some questions about them. Dani, Kelly, Alicia, and I went together, and we went aaaaall over. It was so fun!! We sort of ended up just going where it looked the most interesting (like going across the walking bridge over the river), but we got most of the things on the list done. Tours is gorgeous; I promise that next time I will take a pile of pictures! At 4 we met up with the rest of the class and just sort of hung out. We talked about the questions, then Thao took those of us who live across the river to get bus passes. After that, I got some shampoo, conditioner (I think), and the most delicious smelling body wash liquid soap stuff. It's apricot and basil! I know it sounds weird, but it smells sooooo GOOD!
It's SO SO SO delicious!We (just!) had dinner. Claudette's friend Monique ate with us. She was really fun! At first we (Andrew, Brittany, and I) were all nervous, but by the end we were all talking, and it was quite nice.
Tonight there's a group of people going to go to the bar, but I think I'm going to stay in. I haven't drawn anything today, and I want to do that, and I have to get up early for class tomorrow. Class's at 9, so I have to leave at least by 8:25 to catch the bus, and I need to get ready before that, and eat breakfast, and I forgot to buy a notebook today so I should do that. I'm not so excited about waking up that early. My classes end at 11 or 12 every day, so I'll have a lot of time to myself for the first month! The thing is, I'm not sure exactly what we will actually be doing in class, but whatever. I think there's something about french culture, and I know we have to keep a journal. Wooo I'm already working ahead! Hahaha. I don't know if I want to show this to Madame Norris, but Thao would probably think it was funny (he has an AWESOME sense of humor).
TUESDAY: Just had my first class! more on that later, and also some pictures with the actual camera, instead of crappy photobooth.
See you kids later!
Friday, June 4, 2010
So much for getting to bed early.
Today I finally made it to the Louvre! I've been to Paris before, but last time we accidentally went on the day it was closed and so we couldn't get in. Obviously. Anyway, that is what I did today. I was going to go there and then to the Pompidou, and then to the Natural History Museum (recommended by Meredith), but I am completely exhausted. CLEARLY that was too many plans for one day; and I have stuff to pack, I want to draw something for today, I need to actually drink some water and eat something, and I need to go to bed early because I have to get back to the airport tomorrow to meet up with the rest of my study abroaders.
THE LOUVRE AND SOME ART RAMBLING
AND LUNCH, I GUESS
I'm really glad I went here today. I've never been before, and that is just silly. The Louvre has three sections; Richelieu, Sully, and Denon.
I went to Denon last. It has all the really famous stuff, and basically everyone just goes straight for Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa. I was glad I got to see them in person, I felt like I was missing out before. The Mona Lisa was not as small as I thought it would be. It was a good size for a portrait, not tiny like I was expecting from all the bitching about how small it is. The only thing that was frustrating was that everyone had to stand really far back from it; almost everything else in the museum you could get close enough to to touch, unless it was hung high up on the wall. Anyway, I liked the Mona Lisa. She wasn't my most favorite thing ever, but her eyes sort of followed you around, and she glowed a bit. I was satisfied. Venus de Milo, I was neat too, and though you couldn't get too close to her, either, she was in a great spot and looked so majestic all lit up and standing on top of this big stone.
I glossed through (glossed over, breezed through?) Sully. It had the history of the museum and the medieval art stuff, and I just am not a big fan of medieval art.
My favorite thing I saw in the whole museum was this big marble statue of, I think, Artemis. She was reclining with a stag with these super awesome huge antlers and this curly-haired dog, and she was holding her big old bow and it was all on top of this intricately carved base thing. It was just in with a bunch of statues and architectural pieces and stuff in Richelieu, not out with the other big old marble statues in their huge-ass marble courtyard thing. (huge ass-marble??), but it was so beautiful. Stupidly, I didn't even take a shitty phone picture of it, and I forget what it was called and who it was by. Fail.
Also in Richelieu were the monarchy's rooms and various fancy stuff. I don't think I could've lived like that at all. I would've died of gaudiness. There was this entire desk, mirror, and chair made entirely of crystal and gold. Just a little bit overkill om the gaud.
Besides that, Richelieu had a bunch of paintings in it. Like, a fuckton of paintings. SO MANY PAINTINGS. yes. after a while they all just started to blend together, but there were these two by Franz Snyder (I remember because of sny/phi, go me) that were just so intense. They were probably my other favorite things I saw. One seemed to be a butcher and a table fucking piled with different kinds of meat. A dead deer, a skinned carcass of something, some meat...chops, I don't even know, just all sorts of shit. The other one was pretty much the same idea, except with fish instead of red meat. There were all these weird fishes on the table and spilling off onto buckets and things on the ground, and this really big one with a hunk cut out of it, and sliced pieces of something, and a crab, and a turtle, and sitting on top of one of the baskets on the ground there was this vicious looking otter, and there were these creepy cats trying to get one of the sliced pieces of fish, and a big wooden container of live fish.
They were both just so intense, and detailed, and kind of creepy, and totally, totally weird.
Anyways, I had major art overload by the time I was done. Near the end I was pretty delirious, and I was definitely meme captioning paintings and shit. I took this picture of this hilarious painting in which there is a man and a nude woman in the foreground, and these two fully clothed, majorly creepy guys in the background. It just looks like they were checking out the main woman's ass, and clearly this was SOOO funny I had to take a picture of it.
Actually, it's still funny enough.
Also, I remember I wanted to tell V to look up Pieter Boel (or Beol?) but I don't remember why. Probably did paintings of birds or something.
When I finally got back out to the middle bit with all pyramids and fountains, it was super hot, and almost everyone sitting outside had their feet int the water! I joined in, and it was so nice and refreshing!
So yes. The Louvre. Woo. Totally worth it. I also had fun taking the metro, and walked a lot. a LOT. And I got a lemon/sugar crepe and ate half on the way home, and half when I got back dipped in Nutella. Now I'm going to go get dinner somewhere local. bye!
DINNER
Tonight I got Indian from this vaguely sketchy, tiny little shop across the square/intersection. The people who worked there were really nice though, and it was pretty cheap! I know it looks kind funny, but the curry is really flavorful and the chicken is tender, and the samosa is full of vegetables and everything tastes delicious!
Also, Orangina. yum!
I do love me some curry.
TODAY'S COMIC
I am in Paris, France, I have done all sorts of interesting things today, and I made a comic about the toilet making sounds. Classy.
So then I made this one instead of starting my repacking.
And as a bonus, a picture of me. I like my hair today.
Big day tomorrow, bye kids!
THE LOUVRE AND SOME ART RAMBLING
AND LUNCH, I GUESS
I'm really glad I went here today. I've never been before, and that is just silly. The Louvre has three sections; Richelieu, Sully, and Denon.
I went to Denon last. It has all the really famous stuff, and basically everyone just goes straight for Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa. I was glad I got to see them in person, I felt like I was missing out before. The Mona Lisa was not as small as I thought it would be. It was a good size for a portrait, not tiny like I was expecting from all the bitching about how small it is. The only thing that was frustrating was that everyone had to stand really far back from it; almost everything else in the museum you could get close enough to to touch, unless it was hung high up on the wall. Anyway, I liked the Mona Lisa. She wasn't my most favorite thing ever, but her eyes sort of followed you around, and she glowed a bit. I was satisfied. Venus de Milo, I was neat too, and though you couldn't get too close to her, either, she was in a great spot and looked so majestic all lit up and standing on top of this big stone.
I glossed through (glossed over, breezed through?) Sully. It had the history of the museum and the medieval art stuff, and I just am not a big fan of medieval art.
My favorite thing I saw in the whole museum was this big marble statue of, I think, Artemis. She was reclining with a stag with these super awesome huge antlers and this curly-haired dog, and she was holding her big old bow and it was all on top of this intricately carved base thing. It was just in with a bunch of statues and architectural pieces and stuff in Richelieu, not out with the other big old marble statues in their huge-ass marble courtyard thing. (huge ass-marble??), but it was so beautiful. Stupidly, I didn't even take a shitty phone picture of it, and I forget what it was called and who it was by. Fail.
Also in Richelieu were the monarchy's rooms and various fancy stuff. I don't think I could've lived like that at all. I would've died of gaudiness. There was this entire desk, mirror, and chair made entirely of crystal and gold. Just a little bit overkill om the gaud.
Besides that, Richelieu had a bunch of paintings in it. Like, a fuckton of paintings. SO MANY PAINTINGS. yes. after a while they all just started to blend together, but there were these two by Franz Snyder (I remember because of sny/phi, go me) that were just so intense. They were probably my other favorite things I saw. One seemed to be a butcher and a table fucking piled with different kinds of meat. A dead deer, a skinned carcass of something, some meat...chops, I don't even know, just all sorts of shit. The other one was pretty much the same idea, except with fish instead of red meat. There were all these weird fishes on the table and spilling off onto buckets and things on the ground, and this really big one with a hunk cut out of it, and sliced pieces of something, and a crab, and a turtle, and sitting on top of one of the baskets on the ground there was this vicious looking otter, and there were these creepy cats trying to get one of the sliced pieces of fish, and a big wooden container of live fish.
They were both just so intense, and detailed, and kind of creepy, and totally, totally weird.
Anyways, I had major art overload by the time I was done. Near the end I was pretty delirious, and I was definitely meme captioning paintings and shit. I took this picture of this hilarious painting in which there is a man and a nude woman in the foreground, and these two fully clothed, majorly creepy guys in the background. It just looks like they were checking out the main woman's ass, and clearly this was SOOO funny I had to take a picture of it.
Actually, it's still funny enough.
Also, I remember I wanted to tell V to look up Pieter Boel (or Beol?) but I don't remember why. Probably did paintings of birds or something.
When I finally got back out to the middle bit with all pyramids and fountains, it was super hot, and almost everyone sitting outside had their feet int the water! I joined in, and it was so nice and refreshing!
So yes. The Louvre. Woo. Totally worth it. I also had fun taking the metro, and walked a lot. a LOT. And I got a lemon/sugar crepe and ate half on the way home, and half when I got back dipped in Nutella. Now I'm going to go get dinner somewhere local. bye!
DINNER
Tonight I got Indian from this vaguely sketchy, tiny little shop across the square/intersection. The people who worked there were really nice though, and it was pretty cheap! I know it looks kind funny, but the curry is really flavorful and the chicken is tender, and the samosa is full of vegetables and everything tastes delicious!
Also, Orangina. yum!I do love me some curry.TODAY'S COMIC
I am in Paris, France, I have done all sorts of interesting things today, and I made a comic about the toilet making sounds. Classy.
So then I made this one instead of starting my repacking.
And as a bonus, a picture of me. I like my hair today.Big day tomorrow, bye kids!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
THE HELL
This post is about walks, and then dinner and my room.
But first:
WALKS
AND ALSO GETTING HIT ON
I don't usually take walks. I don't like walking. However, when one is in a foreign country, one cannot just sit in one's room all day. One being me.
So the point is I don't usually take walks but I have been doing it a lot while I've been here. I figure, if I don't have anything else to do and don't feel like tromping over to the metro station, it's a good way to see some shit and get some exercise. So far, I've seen some cool graffiti, people watched like mad, gotten lost but eventually found my way home, and have gotten hit on more times than is reasonable. I like taking walks here. It feels a little less useless than it does at home.
So pretty much, I can't walk outside without getting hit on. It's absurd. I don't even know WHY; can people tell I'm not from Europe, or something? I don't understand it at all. Yesterday, I counted seven. Three of those were cat calls, 4 were actually guys asking for my number. Today, there were only two, but the sheer weirdness of the first one was mind boggling. So, I was walking along the canal with my headphones on, and I heard this sort of ringing sound and a vague yelling. I thought it might be generally in my direction, but I just ignored it. a couple minutes later, my feet started aching, so I sat down on this bench to take a break and people watch over the canal, and this cute young guy rode up on a bike, got off, and sat down next to me. I was...wary, to say the least. I did my usual "je parle un petit peut de francais" (I only speak a little french) and made to leave. He asked if I would like to practice my french. It was day light, there were a lot of people around, and I could actually see a french trooper policeman guy just a little down the street, so I agreed. He seemed pretty normal, besides chasing me down to talk to me.
So he started asking me questions, what is your name (je m'appelle Beth/My name is Beth--I am the sneakiest, no?), where are you from (J'habite รก Michigan/I live in Michigan), how do you like France (c'est bon/It's good).
Then: Do you have a boyfriend? (Oui!!/Yes!!)
THEN: Oh, of course. Do you love him? (Beacoup, beacoup, beacoup!/Very, very, very-->pretty much "tons")
...
And then he asked me if I would put my hand on his leg
(Non, non, non!! Mais, bon chance avec une autre fille/No, no, no!! But, good luck with another girl--then I left and crossed the canal and went into the first store I could saw).
Man, it was weird.
And I mean, overall it was an entertaining experience more than anything, but jeeeze (or geeze, jeez, or geez). No more agreeing to french practice with random guys on the canal.
So then I walked around some more, saw some interesting graffiti (I took a picture on my phone; I'll upload it when I figure out how), and got dinner.
DINNER
Today's dinner brought to you by the local grocery store, backwards pictures brought to you by Photobooth:
A nectarine, Tuc crackers, Boursin cheese with garlic and herbs, and an adorable glass jar of nutella! Healthy! hahahahahaha. BUT, most of this stuff was on sale so it was cheap AND delicious, and I still have some crackers leftover in case I miss breakfast. I ended up eating cheese and crackers and the nectarine for main dinner, and then making little nutella/cracker sandwiches for desert. Wooooo.
Nectarine was delicious. Mostly ripe and sweet, but sour right around the pit. Perfect!
The saga of the Boursin begins. It looks cute, and smells delightfully of garlic and herbs.
Opened! I threw away my emergency spoon on accident, so I had to rummage for something to eat this with. The crackers were just the tiniest bit too crispy/flaky to use, so in my handy bag I found....
Chopsticks? what the hell?
Whatever, that shit worked. and it was DELICIOUS.
No pictures of the Nutella bit, but really, I bet you're bored after a bunch of pictures of me with food. I'm just also bored enough to post them and write this, so whatever. We can be bored together! Our boredness can transcend oceans and borders and be united by the internet!
THE ROOM
It's fuckin' adorable. More backwards Photobooth pictures:
I approve.
Pretty much it's just cute and awesome. I now want to paint my future house all sorts of wacky colors.
Good night, kids. More from me tomorrow!
But first:
WALKS
AND ALSO GETTING HIT ON
I don't usually take walks. I don't like walking. However, when one is in a foreign country, one cannot just sit in one's room all day. One being me.
So the point is I don't usually take walks but I have been doing it a lot while I've been here. I figure, if I don't have anything else to do and don't feel like tromping over to the metro station, it's a good way to see some shit and get some exercise. So far, I've seen some cool graffiti, people watched like mad, gotten lost but eventually found my way home, and have gotten hit on more times than is reasonable. I like taking walks here. It feels a little less useless than it does at home.
So pretty much, I can't walk outside without getting hit on. It's absurd. I don't even know WHY; can people tell I'm not from Europe, or something? I don't understand it at all. Yesterday, I counted seven. Three of those were cat calls, 4 were actually guys asking for my number. Today, there were only two, but the sheer weirdness of the first one was mind boggling. So, I was walking along the canal with my headphones on, and I heard this sort of ringing sound and a vague yelling. I thought it might be generally in my direction, but I just ignored it. a couple minutes later, my feet started aching, so I sat down on this bench to take a break and people watch over the canal, and this cute young guy rode up on a bike, got off, and sat down next to me. I was...wary, to say the least. I did my usual "je parle un petit peut de francais" (I only speak a little french) and made to leave. He asked if I would like to practice my french. It was day light, there were a lot of people around, and I could actually see a french trooper policeman guy just a little down the street, so I agreed. He seemed pretty normal, besides chasing me down to talk to me.
So he started asking me questions, what is your name (je m'appelle Beth/My name is Beth--I am the sneakiest, no?), where are you from (J'habite รก Michigan/I live in Michigan), how do you like France (c'est bon/It's good).
Then: Do you have a boyfriend? (Oui!!/Yes!!)
THEN: Oh, of course. Do you love him? (Beacoup, beacoup, beacoup!/Very, very, very-->pretty much "tons")
...
And then he asked me if I would put my hand on his leg
(Non, non, non!! Mais, bon chance avec une autre fille/No, no, no!! But, good luck with another girl--then I left and crossed the canal and went into the first store I could saw).
Man, it was weird.
And I mean, overall it was an entertaining experience more than anything, but jeeeze (or geeze, jeez, or geez). No more agreeing to french practice with random guys on the canal.
So then I walked around some more, saw some interesting graffiti (I took a picture on my phone; I'll upload it when I figure out how), and got dinner.
DINNER
Today's dinner brought to you by the local grocery store, backwards pictures brought to you by Photobooth:
A nectarine, Tuc crackers, Boursin cheese with garlic and herbs, and an adorable glass jar of nutella! Healthy! hahahahahaha. BUT, most of this stuff was on sale so it was cheap AND delicious, and I still have some crackers leftover in case I miss breakfast. I ended up eating cheese and crackers and the nectarine for main dinner, and then making little nutella/cracker sandwiches for desert. Wooooo.
Nectarine was delicious. Mostly ripe and sweet, but sour right around the pit. Perfect!
The saga of the Boursin begins. It looks cute, and smells delightfully of garlic and herbs.
Opened! I threw away my emergency spoon on accident, so I had to rummage for something to eat this with. The crackers were just the tiniest bit too crispy/flaky to use, so in my handy bag I found....
Chopsticks? what the hell?
Whatever, that shit worked. and it was DELICIOUS.No pictures of the Nutella bit, but really, I bet you're bored after a bunch of pictures of me with food. I'm just also bored enough to post them and write this, so whatever. We can be bored together! Our boredness can transcend oceans and borders and be united by the internet!
THE ROOM
It's fuckin' adorable. More backwards Photobooth pictures:
I approve.Pretty much it's just cute and awesome. I now want to paint my future house all sorts of wacky colors.
Good night, kids. More from me tomorrow!
OH HAI.
So hi! Today I moved from the Plug Inn Hostel to the Absolute Hotel. Seriously, that's it. Well, not really, but it took waaaay longer than it ever should have and that's what it feels like. FUN FACT: trying to take the metro while dragging along two roller bags and a backpack sucks major ass. I tried to repack this morning, so that I could put the smaller roller bag inside the bigger one, but all that accomplished was me missing breakfast and not finishing in time for checkout, so boo. Tonight I'm repacking when I have more time, and that will be better. I hope.
The other thing I've done is wander around. Yesterday I wander around Monmartre, which is where the Plug Inn was, and visited Sacre Coeur and got hit on and/or cat-called by a total of 7 creepy guys. This hotel is really close to a canal, so I walked along it and looked at stuff and took a break in this pretty garden. Bonus: no creepers! When I got back I was pretty much exhausted just from wandering (I am the least in shape person; this is just sad), So I decided to finally start this blog, and then I drew me in my crazy new room (the wallpaper is even more awesome in person. I simplified it so that I didn't kill myself) for my first, non-introductory post! The view's pretty spiffy, I look out on this cool intersection thing. It's probably got a name, which I'll try looking up later. I have a feeling you will be seeing a lot of self portraits and views-from-windows in this here travel blog. Now I am sitting in the lobby, which is the only place one can get internet here. Damn.
So anyway, here's that:
Click on that shit so you can actually see it. Yes. Cool. Thumbs up for France.
Now that's done, I'm going to go wander around some more. I might even go to a museum, which is what I've been meaning to do since I got here, or maybe I'll find something to eat, which is what I've been meaning to do since I drank that coke for breakfast! Healthy.
Talk to you dears later!
The other thing I've done is wander around. Yesterday I wander around Monmartre, which is where the Plug Inn was, and visited Sacre Coeur and got hit on and/or cat-called by a total of 7 creepy guys. This hotel is really close to a canal, so I walked along it and looked at stuff and took a break in this pretty garden. Bonus: no creepers! When I got back I was pretty much exhausted just from wandering (I am the least in shape person; this is just sad), So I decided to finally start this blog, and then I drew me in my crazy new room (the wallpaper is even more awesome in person. I simplified it so that I didn't kill myself) for my first, non-introductory post! The view's pretty spiffy, I look out on this cool intersection thing. It's probably got a name, which I'll try looking up later. I have a feeling you will be seeing a lot of self portraits and views-from-windows in this here travel blog. Now I am sitting in the lobby, which is the only place one can get internet here. Damn.
So anyway, here's that:
Click on that shit so you can actually see it. Yes. Cool. Thumbs up for France.
Now that's done, I'm going to go wander around some more. I might even go to a museum, which is what I've been meaning to do since I got here, or maybe I'll find something to eat, which is what I've been meaning to do since I drank that coke for breakfast! Healthy.
Talk to you dears later!
I has a travel.
So this's going to be my online journal for study abroad in France. Woo!
Hopefully I will be doing a comic, or at least a sketch or something, every day that I'm here. Wish me luck. It may seem like I'm already two days behind, but Ha-HA! I just need to find a scanner or something, and then I'll start posting the stuff I draw in RLs, too. Exciting!
That's pretty much it.
Hopefully I will be doing a comic, or at least a sketch or something, every day that I'm here. Wish me luck. It may seem like I'm already two days behind, but Ha-HA! I just need to find a scanner or something, and then I'll start posting the stuff I draw in RLs, too. Exciting!
That's pretty much it.
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