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.
WatchLa Blogothèque goes Bach, and I’m down.
(If you haven’t seen the concerts à emporter series, check the vids out here.)
On another note, I just realized I arrived in France exactly one month ago today. Zut!
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.
The Good, the Bad, and the French
So Sam just posted reason #1 why he loves France. I must say, I’ve thought about this a lot during my 3 weeks thus far, and perhaps I have some worthwhile points to contribute.
Cynical me, I have also considered why France is not so great.
THE GOOD
1. Coffee the way I like it - strong and bold, and not served in a cup bigger than my face.
2. It is acceptable to stroll through town...
Hooray for clay!
This weekend is journées européennes du patrimone, or European Heritage Days. I’m still unsure as to the full extent of this event, but I’ve been told that basically it means that all museums / cultural sites / etc. are free and open to the public. So if you’re in Paris, you can stand ten feet from the Mona Lisa FOR FREE, or even stop by Sarcozy’s pad, apparently.
Although...
I love my iPhone...
… but since it’s on airplane mode (to avoid absurd AT&T charges), I can’t communicate with anyone here! The fix : meet my new French phone! (Soon to be covered with cat stickers, one of my favorite purchases so far at the 2 € store.)
you can easily spot an int’l student here by their phone - this one! only 10 €, and such crap
I also finally got my ATM /...
Sam's B L O G →
Sam is another student here at ESCEM. He’s a Brit. Check out his blog here!
(And thanks for the shout-out Sam!)
24 Hours in Bordeaux
Doesn’t sound like much when I put it in those terms, but really, our trip to Bordeaux last weekend was magnifique! I don’t even know how to go about putting it all down in words, but I do have plenty of pics to share, so that will have to suffice.
Let me just set this story up : A group of us decided we’d love to spend the weekend in Bordeaux. Intending to visit the...
teaser
Tomorrow is the official first day of classes, but it feels like I’ve been here a month already. I intend this to be positive, that is I’ve seen / done / tried / learned so much in just two weeks. I mean time is the same no matter where you are - two weeks in France is two weeks in LA is two weeks in Timbuktu - but my time here just feels different than home. I want to say better, but...
Playboy parties and Julia Child
Another installment of Randomness du Jour :
I just fixed myself an early dinner of toast with tomato and cheese emmental (apparently another name for Swiss cheese, who knew); the candle sitting on my desk is flickering in the breeze making its way through my open window, and my café au lait is hot and perfectly sweet. And so, I blog.
Let’s get caught up on the past few days, shall we?...
Elaine's B L O G →
Follow my friend Elaine’s blog at the link above! Another USC student’s take on la vie en Poitiers.
Poitiers for Dummies
Maybe you’ve been wondering what it’s like where I am living in France. Perhaps your brain has been abuzz this past week with questions including, but not limited to :
- Just where the heck is Poitiers?
- How do you even pronounce that word?
- Are French people actually stinky????
It is my hope that this post will resolve all your geographical, lexical, and aromatic-al...
JUST BECAUSE IT'S SUNDAY DOESN'T MEAN I HAVE...
This morning I went for a jog through Poitiers, up a massive hill to le Parc du Blossac. It was sunny but not too warm, and to my surprise there were quite a few other runners out as well. Me in my Trojan colored Nike shorts, high white socks and hot pink Adidas, I couldn’t have looked like a local. We walked along the river, in the cool shade of the trees, to return home.
At 1pm we met to...
je goût, je mange, je prends les photos
Saturday - just a perfect day for palate pleasure (although no sangria was drank in the park). [Lithuanian] Rasa and I started with breakfast in the square.Un café au lait, un pain au chocolat, and people watching - € 3
We found a lovely open-air market situated at the base of the Notre-Dame la Grande cathedral in Poitiers. There was so much to choose from, from deeply-hued eggplants to fresh...
Do they not give the bird in France?
I think I witnessed the French equivalent of this gesture on my walk home from the bank just now. Through the passenger’s side window of a little red Citroen, I saw the driver lift her right arm and use her other palm to slap the forearm. Quite maliciously.
« pause : wikipedia break….. »
Turns out this is called le bras d’honneur, or “the arm of...
en français, s'il te plaît
(A) Je suis terminé ma premiére classe de Français. Il a été difficile. Les autres étudients sont plus advancé que moi, et j’etait met dans la classe plus advancé! Il y a quatre levels, et je suis dans la quatrieme groupe. (Nous avons passé un exam hier pour determiné ça). Demain nous avons classe pendant 6h30. C’est beaucoup!! J’ecris en Français parce que je veux parler très...
Sticky Morning Floors (SMFs)
I was up early again this morning. It’s nice and quiet in our house right when the sun comes up. I had the kitchen all to myself, and you almost wouldn’t have guessed that just 8 hours before, our tiny flat was filled wall to wall with ESCEM students from every corner of the world. The table was littered with bottles when I returned home just after midnight, yet when I awoke this AM...