December 2011
4 posts
Please forgive me...
I realize I never properly said goodbye. I’m home now, have been for a little over a week. It was a great semester and it was hard seeing it come to an end. I won’t try to summarize anything or come up with some profound concluding thoughts… I have a ten page report due in a week that will include all of that. So for now I’ll just say thanks for reading. I really have no...
Oh hey there, December.
It’s only the BEST month of the year!
and 30 days til I’m 21+1 :)
November 2011
17 posts
Chapter 4: I found an Italian lover
… and his name is gelato.
Italy was the last stop on my trip. We arrived in Milan, took a train to Florence, and spent just a few hours in Pisa before our flight home. We didn’t stay in any one city very long, and there were a ton of destinations we missed, obviously. Needless to say, Italy left me wanting more.
Milan was neat. (Did I really just say neat?) It was pretty modern,...
A Poitiers Thanksgiving, remembered
As I’m waiting for my Italy photos to load to MobileMe, so that I may submit the newest and FINAL installment of this prolonged documentation of my little trip around Europe, I suppose I better give an update on the Thanksgiving dinner that took place in Poitiers this past Sunday.
27 people showed up. That should say a lot about the nature of the evening. It was like a game of tangrams...
The waiting game
Voilà, my pumpkin pie, which for some reason has a striking resemblance to Jupiter….
Our Poitiers Thanksgiving starts in 2 hours. Now I must wash up, put on my Sunday best and scrounge around to make our dining room table look somewhat presentable. Oh and whip up a green bean casserole! Why am I blogging when I have so much to do.
Chapter 3: When I went to Spain...
One thing you never want to hear the captain say onboard a plane is anything involving the words “engine” and “not working.” The bad news: such was the case for me aboard the November 8th EasyJet flight from London Stansted to Barcelona. The good news: the plane was still on the ground at the time of the announcement. We just did a little airplane shuffle, like cattle being...
Gobble gobble
I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and stays safely un-trampled this Black Friday.
Unfortunately, my day involved no stuffing and no drunken relatives. It did, however, include 6 hours of class, an ordinary dinner, and a couple games of King’s.
But Sunday, we feast! My mouth is watering already.
“Tunas come and tunas go….” wait that’s not right...
Chapter 2: Londontown
November 5: Bonfire Night. Guy Fawkes Night. The night I arrived in London. I took the train from Brussels. They require you to go through security and customs and everything, more like boarding a plane than a train. I’m not complaining: I didn’t want to see the chunnel going off the like the 4th of July any more than the British government apparently does. (I say this because I just...
Chapter 1: In Brussels, In Bruges
Are you still there, my followers? I’m back, and I bring with me from exotic lands fantastical tales and inconceivable pictures (stolen and otherwise).
Not really, but thus begins a consolidated recount of my 11 day journey, during which I crossed five borders and one time zone. (Seriously, only one time zone?)
November 3rd: I arrived in Brussels with such excitement and energy, but...
HOME
at last
great 11 days
for now, c’est tout
bisous et bonsoir
zzzzzz
WatchVideo creeping:
Last night in my hostel. Casual rehearsal by the graduates of the Moscow Conservatory.
Then I went out for dinner and drinks with “real” Belgians. Helps to be friends with someone who knows someone who introduces you to someone who lives in some city you visit some time later. Thanks David!
Here we go
Ready to get my butt out of Poitiers, finally.
11 days:
Brussels
London
Barcelona
Milan
Florence
Pisa
My itinerary is complete (and completely OCD). Email confirmations and e-tickets printed. Minor eurail pass crisis averted. And packing - well - still looks as pictured above. Carrying your life around on your back for almost 2 weeks is kind of a daunting task!
I’ll try to update...
B O O
I hope everyone had a frightfully delightful Halloween! Although the holiday is not so big here as back home, I managed to celebrate quite festively with the other international students. The Americans and Canadians INSISTED that everyone come in costume, which for us in a no-brainer, but Halloween disguisement is apparently construed as optional on other continents.
I had three intentions for my...
October 2011
19 posts
Poitiers, un samedi matin
Elaine and I did some shopping this AM at the local farmers’ market. I picked up some fresh tomatoes and apple juice, while Elaine did much more damage. I also witnessed an unidentifiable animal being butchered - guts spilling out and all - just in time for Halloween…. Speaking of which, they finally have pumpkins! But not the typical carving type.
books, if reading in French is your...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/27/italy-flas... →
Cinque Terre - An unfortunate story and saddening images. I was supposed to be there in two week’s time, but it looks like we’ll have to scratch this off the itinerary.
Epiphany
My International Business Law professor looks like Woody Allen.
[ My International Business Law professor is a French woman. ]
STRESSED DESSERTS
I haven’t felt tense or stressed one bit since I’ve been here, except today. This one class, quantitative research methods, is just insane in terms of the amount of work they expect out of us. I mean group work ate my weekend, and I was in class before the sun was up this morning. That is partially due to the strange one-time-zone-phenomenon thing that goes on here in Europe, but,...
I watched Léon today. Loved it. Twelve-year-old Natalie Portman is totally BA, and Jean Reno is like a big teddy bear. It just so happens he’s packing.
An open letter to the best kind of friend a girl...
(the kind that sends canned organic pumpkin in the mail, of course).
My dearest Julia,
Words cannot express the gratitude I feel having received your care package here in France. C’mon, canned pumpkin??! You sure know the way to my heart. Now I am left with the task of determining which pumpkin-centered recipe is worthy of my 15 ounces of Trader Joe’s organic pumpkin purée. I could...
Musings of the hour
It’s like randomness du jour, but more ADD:
— It’s downright freezing in my room and the heater doesn’t go on until the 19th, says Mr. G (the landlord). BRRR!!!!
— I just sent out a survey link to all 1,026 of my Facebook friends for my marketing research class. I wonder if that number is about to take a dive.
— Apparently, Finnish people think Santa Claus...
international dinner version 1.0
Last night my housemates and I hosted an international dinner party. Ashley, who hails from Georgia, and I decided to make spinach artichoke dip as our culinary representation of the USA. Perhaps I may explain our reasoning:
1. Kraft mac n cheese is not available in France, and I failed to pack a few boxes in my suitcase before leaving the States.
2. Skippy peanut butter is available in France,...
Canada the holiday thief, and other randomness du...
It’s been too long, so here’s a fresh serving of randomness du jour…
Today is Columbus Day. It is also Thanksgiving for America’s neighbors to the north. You can read up on the history of these holidays on Wikipedia if the curiosity strikes you. I did, and it turns out I might have jumped the gun on accusing Canada of swindling our national holiday. But I don’t feel...
Man on the Moon
I finally scaled The Dome last night :Technically, I was dragged up by my wrists. But that sounds less impressive and I’m trying to brag here.
I wonder if the people of Poitiers would be perturbed if I stick an American flag up there next time… C’mon, it looks like the freaking moon. I think it would be funny.
Here’s what Elaine blogged about our lovely dinner a few nights ago. I so fail at poaching eggs.
wouhou-wouhou:
Thursday Night Carly and I decided to cook dinner together. It was the final day of Carly’s detox, which meant a healthy dinner for me.
carly’s attempt to make her first poached egg
mashed cauliflower with balsamic reduction, grilled asparagus and mushroom topped with...
good morning
I didn’t know I went on exchange in the Amazon. Thank you, Elaine, for an outstanding hand-modeling job.
You know you're on a detox diet when ....
… the package you receive in the mail contains 425g of ground flaxseed.
Yes, I’m detoxing. France has been too kind to me, you could say, and this is my attempt to one-up it. I have four more days before I can return to my normal ways, or rather a modified version of normal, otherwise this period of gastronomic restraint will be all for naught. But oh, how I miss baguettes and cheese...
Le papillion de La Rochelle
Yesterday I spent the day at the beach, but I hesitate to call it as such. The coastal town closest to Poitiers is La Rochelle. Downtown by the harbor is a pleasant place to sit and drink un café while, of course, people watching. The sand is a short distance from this area of shops and restaurants, and the walk takes you through some sandcastle-esque arcs and wooden foot bridges, almost as if...
September 2011
31 posts
Please help Lisa with her awesome cause !! →
One of my best friends from home is raising money for an organization she interned with this summer, LiNK. She truly is a dedicated and passionate individual (and busy, studying at USD and planning a wedding all at once!), so please take a couple minutes and check out the link above for more information about Lisa and LiNK.
Merci. xxo.
LE PARIS POST
Modified from the original version, which to my extreme consternation was suddenly lost after Safari froze. At first I wanted to punch somebody or something, but it is what it is, c’est la vie, so I present instead a photo diary from my weekend in Paris. With brief captions / commentary.
Eurail pass / probably not the best idea, it doesn’t seem like I’m going to recoup the...
You've got to be kidding me.
Pardon my French, but what a shitty day this has been for me, technologically speaking.
First iPhoto freaks out and I lose all my pictures. I mean, years of photos, gone. Then Spotify decides to have a breakdown as well and won’t play any music. And now, after I spent an entire evening / night working on my Paris blog post, Safari freezes and I lose more than half of what I’ve done.
...
"... and I’m going to Paris, and I’m going to...
possibly my favorite film of all time (An Education)
With classes done for the week, I’m eager to catch the early train out of Poitiers tomorrow morning for a weekend away. Brad and I are watching Midnight in Paris this evening to prepare.
With better planning, we’d have gone a week later to be there during fashion week.
There’s always next year.
Joyeux anniversaire!
Elaine’s post regarding last night’s birthday celebrations!! I love the pics. And the homemade crepes were absolutely delicious.
wouhou-wouhou:
At 8p, the joint birthday party for Rasa and Tytti commenced at 72 Rue de la Tranchee. Tytti and Jess made the crepes, Jilly and I made an apple-cinnamon topping and everyone else brought all sorts of little nibblets. People slowly trickled...
BRB, gotta go get violated by the French...
….. today I take my top off for an x-ray, and tomorrow I pee in a cup. And THEN my visa is valid. Yea whatever.
