Rainy Day, But the Sun Approaches

I talked with one of my best friends last night, who works as a flight attendant. It turns out that she has secured some time off, and is coming to see me in a couple of weeks. Hoorah. Not only will it be good to see a familiar face, I'm excited to show off my (miniscule) knowledge of Paris life. Should be fun!

The haircut? Didn't get it quite yet, but I have the address to a place recommended by a co-worker in the office.

New Project for the Weekend...

Asking for a haircut in French. I hope I don't end up bald. It's not a good look for me.

What A Day...

Yesterday's turn of events got me off to a rough start, seemed to take a turn for the better, and then dumped me back where I started.

I walk out of the house around 8AM to begin my typical hour-long - yes, 1 hour - commute to work. After reaching the RER (Paris commuter train, this is different from the métro), I find the gates closed and the station completely empty. Not knowing the reason but frustrated nonetheless, I hopped a bus that I believed would take me to the nearest train or métro stop possible.

Not the case. After a few stops, I realized that I was on the right bus, going in the wrong direction. It completed about 15 stops before finally coming to the métro. Now, already late (damn) and not wanting to miss a 10:00 team meeting, I scrambled to the métro, where I got to work mere minutes before the meeting actually started. Whew.

After work, which was thankfully eventful, my boss and I went to The Green Linnet, an Irish pub. There I met a bunch of really cool people from Italy and the UK, as well as France. I really appreciate the wealth of cultural diversity this city has to offer.

After a few drinks (my drink of choice being water, as I am trying to budget!), we hit up a restaurant down the block and had dinner. The food was not by any means exceptional, but I enjoyed the company (One of my boss' friends, a really cool fille named Agnés, informed me that the RER was shut down due to a strike. I have got to be on top of these things). I find that for the really outstanding cuisine, you have to shell out a pretty penny. I think that healthy and delicious options can always be found for cheap in America, but I've yet to find a cheap meal here that didn't include fries. The search continues....

Once I left the restaurant around 11PM to catch the métro, I reached home in about 25-30 mins, not bad at all....only to find that the bus that drops me off within a few paces of my house had closed for the night! Oh well. I took the only bus that was still running and trekked it home in a reasonable amount of time, jamming on the iPod all the way.

I have a date or two lined up for this weekend! Stay tuned.

What A Miracle........

I finally have internet at my house now. For some reason, the WiFi was not working for a few days, but Micheline (the landlady) finally got it crackin'. Ordinarily I would be writing an essay by now, but not only am I having to sort out two different languages here in Paris, I have to work my way around the European keyboard as well. For the most part, it is the same, but a few letters and punctuation marks are switched.

Okay, enough writing, as I am starting to get frustrated. Pics, anyone?



I find that when you are in a big city like New York or Paris, you are always in great company, especially when walking by yourself. Last Saturday I walked around for several hours before I came to a stop at one of Paris' many brasseries (restaurant/cafe). With no other diners present save for yours truly, I opened up my book, sat back, and read for about an hour and a half. Of course I stuffed my face in between pages.



As I work in the Paris hub of an international PR company, I have the privilege of getting to know people from all over the world. One of the interns, an Italian girl named Irene, had her last day yesterday. She indulged us with crostata, an Italian cake made with jam, brown sugar, and other delicious ingredients. Yeah, it was good.



I snapped this while taking an after-work walk to burn some calories.

I Think It's Time For Me To Admit It..

Many who have known me over the years are no strangers to this fact:

I am a pastry addict. I am a pastry addict living in Paris, land of pastries and all other known sweets. This is a serious problem. Already I have eaten two of these today:



You think they have a support group for this?

In other news, I turn 22 tomorrow! A friend from work has her 26th on Monday, so we are going to try and set up a joint birthday party for this Saturday at a restaurant/bar known as La Boca Chica. You can check it out here: La Boca Chica
Funny how I say "joint" birthday party, as I only have a handful of non-work related contacts here in Paris, and Claudia no doubt has tons. Nonetheless, fun is to be had, and have fun I shall.

Dagnabbit!

This is the second day in a row that I have spilled chocolat chaud on myself. I may have to start shopping for new clothes if this keeps up.
Until I learn how to properly steer a cup to my lips, it's strictly water for me!

It's my favorite polo too. Crap. I hope this washes out.

The Worst Is Now Over

So I have reached the end of my first week at work and I spent the better part of today walking around Paris, (re)taking in the sights. As I write this, I am on the upper floor of one of Paris' many McDonald's locations, pilfering the free WiFi. I absolutely love this city and all it has to offer, but I can't help but compare the experience I'm having now to the first time I visited Paris, in summer 2007.

Last summer was the first time I had ever been out of the country, as I enrolled in a study abroad program that my university offered. While spending six weeks there in a rather posh hotel, we took two courses and had The City of Lights to our full disposal. Everyone seemed to get along well and after a few days of introductions, people buddied up and we all went about enjoying the city in our own way.

Although I'm happy to be back, I have to admit that there is a great deal of difference between being surrounded by a group of fellow Americans with whom you eat meals and take classes, and being on one's own to complete a work study program and having to find a place to live.

Boy oh boy, was finding a place difficult. After spending the first three days in a hotel that I had booked in advance, I lived for two nights in a house that just wasn't comfortable. After informing the ex-landlady that I had decided to move elsewhere, I moved to a nice house just on the south side, about 10 minutes away from the Eiffel Tower by car. So although I'm settled, I'm sure I'll be having nightmares about lugging my crap through the métro for three days.

There's a lot more to say, and I'll be sure to write it all down, but my laptop power is decreasing by the minute and there are no electrical outlets in sight. But I do have pictures!! I'll try to make this a habit.


Team Party



My room. It has an Indian theme - red and orange walls, night tables in the form of elephants, and Hindu figures on the pillows and bedspread. J'adore.

Gone But Not Forgotten....

I promised myself and my readership (however small it may be) that I would update this thing regularly in order to A) give people a sense of what it's like to live and work in another country, and B) avoid having to answer the "So what all did you do?" question 50 times.

The job? Worthwhile. The people? Even better. The living conditions? To be continued....(meaning I have yet to commit to a place)

Ah, what an adventure. Not always a fun one, but like I said, I'll have updates soon.

For now, feast your eyes on this:


And the weather is FANTASTIC.

Bon Voyage (for real this time)...

This will no doubt be the last post I make while I'm stateside. I prayed up and down for the opportunity to get to intern in France, and now that it's here, I'm goin' full force.

It's been a long time coming, no doubt. The powers that be at my new job informed me of the internship offer in May, but little did I know that there would be a small hurdle in terms of paperwork. Because of an unexpected delay in obtaining a necessary signature, I was almost convinced that I wouldn't be able to gain a student visa in time. But as they say, situations have a mysterious way of working themselves out, and here I am, less than 18 hours before my flight.

I had a good talk with a really dear friend today (you know who you are). She graduated from our university and recently started a job as a TV news producer in a relatively small market in one of the Carolinas. We were catching up when she said something that reverberated in my mind. When describing one of her colleagues, an unsavory man in his sixties, she said that he was in the winter of his life. That really struck a chord and got me thinking.

What if life really is comparable to the ebb and flow of the four seasons? In spring we are born and develop an understanding of our talents and purpose. In the summer, we push this understanding to the extreme, experiencing the best and worst that life has to offer. Autumn allows us to transform these experiences into a wealth of knowledge for others to draw from. In the chill of winter, we retreat into the earth, returning to that from which we....well, sprang.

Like anyone else about to embark on a major life experience, I've questioned myself, often to the point of frustration. But now, when I'm mere hours away from departure, I feel relaxed, more relaxed than I have in weeks. If there ever was a summer of life, this would be it for sure.

P.S. I've enabled my cell phone to dial and receive calls internationally. Earlier today, I confirmed my hotel reservation with the concierge - completely in French. Oh yeah. I'm bad. Until someone approaches me with rapid fire French and I choke, that is.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a camera is worth...

Since June I've been seriously considering a new camera, and now I have finally settled on one. This Canon is one of the best reviewed makes and models on the market, and I can't wait to start snapping photos like a crazed tourist once I land this Saturday. Well, I'm sure at that point I'll be tired out of my mind from the jet lag, but once I recuperate...

The camera is an early birthday gift from my grandmother - God bless her. I appreciate her even thinking of getting me a gift, seeing as how she and Mom provided all the food for Sunday's get-together. I honestly wasn't expecting anything else. It's going to be weird having my first birthday away from home and in a different country, and I'm sure missing Thanksgiving for the first time will be even stranger.

But once you go for something, you've gotta give it your all. That means shrugging away the occasional feelings of homesickness or culture shock when they come, and I'm sure they will. Nevertheless, I know this is a great opportunity.

I can't wait to start posting once I actually get to Paris and I'll be able to start reporting on the goings-on at work and during my downtime.

Bon voyage

Last night was the family gathering. We invited 15 people (pretty much the entirety of the family on my mother's side), and 12 showed up, much to my surprise. For a few nanoseconds I thought I'd get the pleasure of eating the feast that mom prepared, but the fam' started showing up a few minutes after our appointed time.

It never ceases to amaze me how people can set aside their own agendas when it comes to someone they care about. My grandfather and his second wife were there, in addition to my grandmother and her second husband, and although their divorce took place well before I was born, they were never on what I'd consider great terms. But they were friendly as could be.

I also got to see my cousin's 5-month old baby. Needless to say I'm already devising a plan to kidnap her and raise her as my own, as she was cute as could be.

Well my flight leaves on Friday and I am at the moment 100% unpacked. Duty calls....