Scratch backpacking-new idea

So, this weekend was pretty relaxed as compared to, well, the entire time I've been in France. I actually got full nights of sleep, and enjoyed only spending about 5 euro. Friday started a bit rough, considering ALL of my plans for this week had to be completely shifted. While my school is on winter break this week (first week of March), my program has decided that it is not. So, the one course I am taking through MICEFA is not canceled, and the teacher has in fact given everyone a presentation to do! I mean come on. So while me and my two friends had planned on spending the whole week traveling to different cities in Northern France, we unfortunately will not be making it to Tours this weekend to spend time with a family in the countryside. However, we have made plans to definitely do it during March. So tomorrow night, I will leave Paris by train, after 6 hours in the office of course, for Rennes in Northern France. I cannot wait! This will be my first time leaving Paris since I arrived, and it's going to be a blast. After a few days there, I'll meet Emily, my roommate, in Nantes. We're staying with a couple friends we have met through other friends, and it's just going to be a blast. We plan on making it back to Paris Thursday night, that we're alive by Friday morning for our 3 hour class=American-Franco relations with the Arab World. Joy. However, it did work out that we'll be back for the weekend, because my friend is having a "Dress as a cocktail" party in her flat! There will be some White Russians, some "Earth, Wind, and Fire", "Sex on the Beach", and a ton of others. I'm debating between "Assassin", "Miami vice", "Silver Bullet" or "Greek Martini". Haha, all in all it will be a blast, first costume party in Paris as well:P. This week, my two girlfriends and I have also been planning a ski trip:). The third week in March, we're going to fly to Marseille, and ski the Alps on the border of France and Italy. Ahh, I cannot wait! I didn't actually think I would be doing any skiing or snowboarding while I was here, I'm not sure why. So mom is sending me a care package complete with wool socks and underarmor. I've also signed up for another ski trip with couch surfers. An entire week in April, I'll be in Switzerland. It's going to be fantastic, and I'm pretty sure my friend from Albany, Scott (who is studying in London), will be joining. An entire week spent in a "Chalet" which is comparable to a mansion. Not too shabby.

So now for the ultimate news. I've been reviewing my finances lately, and determined the truth, I'm broke. Big surprise. So while I plan on finding a job in a pub in Paris, or even a babysitting job, I don't see that I'll be able to finance the entire backpacking trip of my dreams, at least not for now. Especially seeing as once I return home, I've got to find in apartment in Albany, graduate, apply to internships, etc. So, Scott, as brilliant as I now think he is, proposed working in Europe together for the summer. Neither of us want to leave, but we also cannot afford to stay. So, while I was bumming it this weekend, I started doing a bit of research. Let me tell you, I've hit a gold mine. I don't want to jinx anything, but Scott and I sent in two applications today, and we're going to continue researching. With luck, we'll find a resort that will hire us together for serving and what not. Ah, if only. We both decided if we ever did get these jobs, we'd just break down crying. But, I will speak more on that if it does develop.

So all in all, I just hung out this weekend around the apartment. Yesterday I did go to my favorite place in Paris, Sacre Coeur with some friends. We just walked around and took pictures, it was fantastic. Today I went on a two hour walk as well, I couldn't just sit in my apartment alll day. So now, I'm off. I've been putting off quite a bit of reading, and I know that it will be better if I try to get some notes taken before break, because there is no doubt in my mind this week is going to fly.

Hope everyone is doing well, I hear there some snow in the states...:P

A bientot

Slacker

I am the worst blogger ever, I have been such a slacker. Basically, live is just never going to slow down here. However, no complaints:). This week was mainly classes and work, and I've decided I most definitely need to find a second job whether it be singing terribly in the metro and scraping food off dishes. Last night, I went over to my friend Megan's for dinner to plan our ski trip. In 3 weeks, me and 2 of my friends from Paris, as well as my friend from the states, Scott, and his friends, are going to meet in Southern France for a weekend of hardcore skiing and snowboarding...under 100 euros. Ahh, love it. In April, I'm jetsetting to Geneva, Switzerland by myself to meet another 50 skiers and snowboarders. We're staying in a "Chalet", similar to a mansion, for the entire week snowboarding, eating, meeting new people, and of course, partying:P. I'm so excited, and even if this cuts my backpacking a bit short this summer, I know it will be well worth it. Might as well go for every oppurtunity I get.

So I'm officially on vacation for the next week, although I do have to go to work on Monday. Then, I will be going to Rennes in Northern France, catching a ride down to Nantes, and then returning to Paris on Thursday. Friday and Saturday will be spent with a "Dress as a cocktail party" as well as listening to stories of everyone's travels. I'm so excited for everything coming my way. Today is my hangout day, I'm trying to catch up on all of the little things I've been putting off for weeks...laundry, cleaning my room, organizing all my papers, etc. I'm also doing some hardcore job searching, but I suppose I'll just wait a week until the next FUSAC (english speakers magazine which posts jobs) to come out. I've been going through a lot of adjustments lately, with classes starting and making even more friends. I've been studying with french students at the university, so while they try to practice their english I work on my french. It's a great deal, but now I just need to find something that is paid, I'm officially broke. Haha, not to mention I need to somehow find a place to live as soon as I get back to the states. Ahh, life. I will try my best to update a bit more often, but the days and weeks just fly by here. Hopefully traveling next week will be a blast, and I wish be sure to post some pictures!

1000 squat thrusts and 2 all nighters in a week

Ah, so I am currently writing to you all after having written my final draft of my 6 page hand written paper. I love the stone age. To improve things, I have finished doing so at 7:30am on Thursday morning, that is right, another all nighter. However this all night was not the fun filled dancing all night I experienced this weekend. Nope, this night was filled with writer's cramp, a few laughs seeing as Emily and I were in the same boat, and pasta, lots of pasta. So now that I am about 500 hundred pounds heavier and extremely groggy, I must attend 3 classes. After, I'm going over to my friend Matthieu's for dinner, and then out to the bar with friends. I don't quite now how I will make it through this day, but at least a 2 hour nap will be squeezed in. I feel alright now, but I have a slight feeling that by class 2 I will be falling asleep at my desk, and the nice professor will then collect my ridiculous paper, and fail me. Haha, all in all things are going well. The accounting job is good, more hours=more money. However, after 5 hours of accounting my quads are sore from crouching all the time and my eyes are crossed from reading and sorting so many papers. Very attractive look I might add. This is my last week for a bit of teaching susie classes which I'm very disappointed about. However, my boss says once he fires a bunch of teachers he will have me make more classes. Tonight, my class was held in a bar, and my regular bunch showed up. When I first applied to the position, my boss said that these guys (a 99% male school) would be mouth breathing nerds. However, I absolutely love talking to them. They are all genuine guys who just like to hang out and talk. Some speak in english a bit more than others, but whatever, each 2 hour class goes by quickly. These guys are quickly becoming more my friends than my students, and while it's not something the boss man prefers, ah well. But for now, I must go try to stay awake at least until noon, while somehow straightening out my back that has been hunched over a desk all night. Ah the joys of student life.

Lata Lata folks

Stolen Identity

Haha, don't worry, I haven't had my purse stolen...yet. There were a number of crisis this week however, ofcourse only making me love Paris more. I have been extremely busy since the weekend, trying to finally get settled into classes, work, and life.

I spent the superbowl night working while all my friends went out to bars, but surprisingly it was well with it. I work as an english teacher for a computer engineering school in Paris. So needless to say, the boys are on the nerdy side (and they are all boys). However, I love hanging out with them, they all have a great sense of humor, and party hard. So even though superbowl started at 12 midnight here, and I didn't get to bed until 6 am, it was a great night.

However, at 9am the next morning, I had a doctor's appt. with the french government. Ahh. That was an experience in itself. After 3 hours, stripping of my clothes in a room of strangers, and feeling molested by the french government, I received the sticker inside my passport that said I was now legal in France. Good.

The rest of the week was a blur, running to classes, teaching classes, missing classes, and finally getting a "promotion". Wednesday, I was at the Engineering school ready to teach my reading class of 3, and no one showed up. So luckily, I got to enjoy 2 hours of office work. I've interned for offices before, so I don't mind office work, but it's certainly nothing I want to do for the rest of my life. On this particular day, my boss took interest in me. He dragged me away from the English department, and now I am the newest member of a completely french payroll office. I had whiplash by the end of the day, but it will be a great oppurtunity. I will only be able to speak french, get 3 extra hours a week, 150 extra euros a month, and another easy job. All in all, I'm happy.

I picked up another class at Sorbonne Nouvelle this week, but I'm still missing at least one. Ah, perhaps next week! Haha. My class this morning has been cancelled, so I'm going to take the day to relax, be a slob, buy my train ticket for my trip to Tours at the end of the month, activate my french bank account, and then going out hardcore this weekend. All of my friends are in town, and we have decided to make it a weekend of english pubs, sheek clubs, and Parisian soirees (parties). Hopefully my bank account and I will make it through the weekend, but parties always help, just need a bottle of euro wine and yourself. Haha.

I will be sure to update on my new job, my planned travels, and my weekend next week!

Pub Crawl, I think yes!

Wow. Things are just insane here. I'm constantly on the move, never having any clue how busy I will be from one moment to the next. However, I love it. This week, I attempted to sign up for classes, which was ridiculous. At Sorbonne-Nouvelle, each department tapes their classes to a wall, a thousand students rush said well, and then you individually talk to the meanest secretaries in the world trying to sign up for the class. Easy right? Well as if the process wasn't old fashioned enough, add the fact that I have yet to receive a student card, and there. We have a bit of an issue. In desperation on Wednesday(the day before classes started), I was ready to sign up for Porteguis and theatre, clearly the best way to go. However, I instead attended one of the classes I was interested, and to my surprise it was absolutely fantastic. In a class of 20 or so students, a good 60% are international students studying language and culture. Our teacher is Romanian, so does not follow the strict french teaching methods of her collegues. I was able to handwrite my name on a piece of paper, and bam, I am taking "Langues et societe".

As for signing up for other classes, just going to go with the flow I guess. Haha, we'll see what happens. Today I'm going to attend an Arabic conference at school, so I'm hoping to gain a bit more insight into the department. Now on to the social scene, this past Wednesday was our friend's birthday. It was so much fun. Considering the fact that we are the only people with an oven, I baked a birthday cake. What an issue that was, let me tell you that there is no such thing as frosting in France, and that the cake batter comes in a bag, premade and ready to bake. So, with a bit of nutella and some magic, we had a frosted birthday cake. Now, we just had to get the birthday cake from one side of the city to another, without a cover. So, running through the metro like crazies with a birthday cake in hand, we managed to get the birthday cake safely to the party.

It was a really fantastic time with all our closest friends:). The next night we went to Le Mix again, the dance club I visited the week before. Really fun place, but unfortunantly I have yet to dance the night away in Paris due to the fact that my first day of work was Friday (yesterday).

My first day of teaching english classes went really well. I had 3 classes over a period of 7 hours; the first class of 4, and the second and third made up of 10. They were all great though, and the classes went by quickly. Most definetly the easiest job I've ever had. I'm still waiting to meet with a woman about babysitting her four month old, so hopefully that pulls through. Having both my jobs would completely pay for my rent as well as give me an extra 200 euro a month. Exactly what I need considering I plan on going backpacking this summer.

In other news, I'm going to be visiting a friend of a friend in Tours, about an hour from Paris, at the end of February. I'm so excited! I have never had the chance to experience a french family, so my roommate and I are going to stay with them for the weekend. In all of our email exchanges, they have been so nice. As annoyed as I was when my mother kept bothering me to email them, I'm really happy I finally did.

Tonight, I plan on going on a pub crawl through Paris with all my friends. It consists of hitting 5 bars, before eventually ending up at club dancing all night. It's relatively cheap, and will give us a chance to explore the city a bit. I'm thinking about doing some driving in France, so I'm looking to have my license tranlated seeing as my US license is valid (seeing that there is a translation attached). All in all, things are going very well, with so many things to do!

I'll post again when I can, A+!

Big Slacker

Officially slacking on the blog. However, seeing as it is 2:30 am, and I cannot sleep here we go.

Monday I finally got my Ac adapter in the mail which is a hugee help. Now instead of stealing Emily's constantly, I can use my computer. Good stuff, right? Ahh, then things went down hill. Signing up for classes has been an absolute struggle here. While the french society is too stubborn to adapt to a new thing called the internet, students must run around to every department in the school that they would like to take a class in. You then must scan every white wall in said "department" or hallway, to find a few pieces of paper that are the courses offered that semester. Once you have found a few courses you like on the 2-8x10 papers, you then proceed to speak with each terrifying office woman of each department.You better have a pretty amazing question if you plan on uttering a word, otherwise just don't. After whipping out your tablet and stone, you then proceed to sign your name on a piece of paper, and bamm. You are now enrolled in a class. And when do they start? In about a day. It's making me a wreck, but it's definetly an experience lemme tell you.

So then, the next step of the day after enrolling in classes. Finishing the extremely ridiculous process of opening a bank account in France. After returning to the same bank for the 5th time, Emily and I finally signed our names on the little piece of paper saying we had deposited some euros into the account, and BAM. Debit cards, right in our hands. Ahh, so lovely.

This week is going to most definetly be fun, celebrating some birthdays, clubbing, starting work, etc. However, very hectic. I have an interview for a babysitting position coming up this week. The woman needs someone Mondays and Tuesdays, 9 euro an hour, one four month year old. Dope. I'm rather happy. So hoping all goes well, I'll hopefully be starting that position soon.

Tonight I went to dinner at my friend's host family's house. It was so nice to get outside the city for a home cooked meal. Emily was gone to another part of France for the weekend, so I slacked a bit on the cooking dinner thing. My meal of the day consisted of baguette and cheese...all weekend. Real healthy. So tonight, we enjoyed potatoes, ham slices, and baguette all with fondue cheese melted on top, a typical french dish. The name of this fondue contraption has slipped my mind, but it was definetly so good.

The mother was definetly one of the craziest people I've ever met, but in a good way. She's a headstrong business woman with a ton of ideas. Her main business ventures are in the field of fashion, and she offered Emily and I on the side modeling/babysitting positions as they came up. Pfft, who would have ever thought?

Is all I know is that hopefully by the end of the month, I will be making enough money to pay for my rent plus a bit extra. I'm planning on visiting a family in Tours soon (a friend of a friend), as well as traveling the french countryside. I've begun the process of preparing for a backpacking trip for the month of June, maybe July. We'll see, if the oppurtunity came up I may stay for fall semester as well. But, I've decided that I need to stop planning so far ahead in life. Not only is it unhealthy, it makes me seem like a nutcase. Haha, all in all things are going, and I'm still loving it here. By the looks of it I will be taking all of my courses in the Arab Studies department, and end up with a total of 15 to 18 credits, not to shabby. I will try to update soon, but I'm always on the run. A bientot!