I'm Back! And Busy!

Hey y'all! So, I arrived back in Paris 2 weeks ago. I'm actually having trouble fathoming just how quickly time is flying by now. My journeys in England were incredibly hectic, a bit exhausting, at most times relaxing, and overall, absolutely incredible. I took a night bus from Paris to London, arriving at around 5:45 in the morning, greeted by typically damp London weather. After booking at a cheap bed and breakfast, I went on a mini-adventure on the London tube (which is notoriously hard to navigate, and delayed) to Westminster, which has most of the most recognizable sites in London, like Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye (the huge ferris wheel), and Buckingham Palace (in that order below; the last picture is a statue in front of Buckinham Palace).

Later that day, I met up with my friend Joe, and we checked out a bunch of other London attractions, most notably the Tate Modern, which had an incredible installation art piece in the main room— a gigantic black box that you walk into and try to navigate in the dark. It was close to 60 feet tall, and maybe 40 feet wide, and completely lined with black velvet. It was a bit disconcerting to enter the abyss, not sure if you were going to bump into someone, or possibly walk into the back wall (something that I came within 2 or 3 inches of doing).

After two and a half days in London, I said goodbye to Joe, who was going up to St. Andrew's, Scotland to visit a friend from school. I got on a train, and headed about 2 hours north to York, which is quite possibly one of the most intact medieval cities in the world. York was originally founded by the Romans, who called it Eboracum, to launch military campaigns up into the North of England, and even up into Scotland. There are stretches of city walls that are still intact from Roman times, although they've been elaborated on by the Normans and other groups since then. The foundation of one of the city gates is the original Roman one. Walking around this city, my head was spinning with the amount of history that was invested in this one city. In the U.S., an old city is maybe 200 years old. York is almost 2000 years old. I checked out the world's largest rail museum, which is in York, as well as Yorkminster, which is the largest medieval church in England—from the top of its tower, you can see for miles and miles on a clear day (which I was lucky enough to have for my whole stay in York). Overall, I had a great time in York, and really relaxed while I was there; people are much more easygoing than in London.

After York, it was back on the train to Norwich, to visit my buddy Jeremy from Camp Jewell. He lives just outside the City, which is on the East coast of England. It's very much the country in the surrounding area, but the city itself was a nice small city, very much like New Haven. I didn't take any pictures, mainly because I didn't go to Norwich to see the sights (there aren't really anyway), but to visit my friend. We hung out with Jem's friends, went out to a club, and got pizza and fries (pardon, "chips") at 2:30 in the morning. It was great to see him, and to let loose a little with a good friend.

Leaving Norwich, it was back on the train one final time to get back to London, and wrap up the week. I checked into a hostel in Picadilly Circus, which is great, and saw some other sights I hadn't had the opportunity to see before, mainly Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (a faithful 1990's reconstruction), and the military parade grounds (see picture below). That night, I was able to get in touch with my friend Tatiana from Macalester, who was studying in London, and we went out with a bunch of her friends from the program. The next morning, it was time to pack up, and head back to the bus station, where I got on, and rode the 8 hours back to Paris.

Overall, my stint in England was exciting, relaxing, and a great time. Having first gotten to England, it was a bit of "reverse culture shock" for me, having to speak so much English. It was a bit weird. By the end, I have to say, I really missed Paris, and was incredibly glad to be getting back, as much as I loved England. There's a certain atmosphere in Paris; people are always really happy, and you can feel it in the air. I'd like to leave you with 2 photos I snapped two days after returning to Paris out of my bedroom window, which further confirmed my love for the city of lights.

ENGLAND!

Hey everyone! I'm just writing a quick post, because I don't have much time. I just handed in the last paper I had to write before our first break. This evening, I'm getting on a bus to go to London for 2 or 3 days. I'll then be making my way up to Edinburgh to visit a friend, then back down to Norwich to visit another friend. I'm not sure if I'm going to try haggis in Edinburgh (there's a place that makes a vegetarian one), but I do know that I'm going to try to soak in as much of the UK as is physically possible in a week. I'll be getting to London at 6:15 tomorrow morning, and will be back on Sunday, March 7. I will have limited internet access during the week, so I'll post any pictures, updates, etc., when I get back. Until then, cheers!

Finally!

Hey everybody! So, it's been much longer than I would have liked to wait to write this post. I've been super super busy (in a good way). I've been trying to see as much of the city as possible while also taking classes and doing the work for them. For one of my classes, we go to a different museum each week to apply what we've learned earlier in the week. So far, we've gone to the Quai Branly (a world art museum) and an immigration museum called the Musée de la Cité. On my own or with friends, I've also gone to the Centre Pompidou, which is the modern art museum, as well as a couple of smaller ones.
Thursday night, I went with some friends to a play called "La Maison de Poupée," a French rendition of Henrik Ibsen's "Dollhouse." It starred Audrey Tautou, a French film actress who you might recognize from the movie Amelie. Although film actors and actresses often don't translate well to theater, I thought she did a good job with the role, and the production and stage direction were amazing.
As far as settling in, I feel that I'm really starting to be absorbed into Parisian life--my French has improved in leaps and bounds, and I've gotten into the routine of living like a true Parisian. One thing that sounds banal but is actually a ton of fun is going grocery shopping, since most people still go to markets with vendors selling produce. I discovered a wonderful market right near my homestay house, and the smells, sounds, and colors are quite a sight. Vendors are constantly calling out the places where their vegetables are from, while the poisonnières (fish sellers) yell out the specials of the day. There's a stand with about 80 different kinds of cheese, and a flea market right next to the food market. It's really an experience to pick out your vegetables and see all the hectic action.
That's about all that's happened recently with me. I'm going to try (for real!) to write more often, so as to make posts more manageable and also to keep you all updated. À bientôt!

More Pictures!!!

Hey everyone! So, I'm guessing that you're probably wondering what I've been up to lately. Well, the answer is a whole lot. So, I'm going to put up a real written post when I have the time (aka this weekend). For now, enjoy some more photos from Pah-ree....

Best/Love,
Jon

Pictures:
>La Grande Arche (in the La Défense business district; it mirrors the Arc de Triomphe)
>L'Arc de Triomphe
>Grave of Guillaume Apollinaire (one of my heroes; he's buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery)
>Grave of Oscar Wilde (someone stole the angel's genitalia; also at Père Lachaise)
>The Louvre

Pictures!!!

>Luxembourg Gardens (above)
>Palais de Luxembourg (Now the French Senate)
>The Eiffel Tower at night (Of course!)

A (Late) Hello from Paris!

Bonjour everyone, and hello from Paris! It's taken me a lot longer than I anticipated to publish this first post, but it's been incredibly hectic here the past 2 weeks. So, I'm truly sorry that I haven't been keeping you up to date with what I've been doing. At last, here goes an attempt at an extremely long first post.

After arriving in Paris in the late morning, absolutely exhausted as a result of jet lag, it was time to go to the FIAP (a sort of French hostel) where we would spend the 3 days of orientation. About an hour after arriving, I went back downstairs, and formally met the other members who are on the program. In total, I think there are 12 or 14 of us—a perfect size for intensive French immersion. After having done a quick introductory meeting, Brent, our resident director (director of the program) told us we had about 45 minutes, and then we were all going out for dinner, paid by the program. We ate at this really nice little restaurant, that was totally empty when we got there, but packed to the seams when we left. What an amazing meal! First there was wine (of course!), then an appetizer and baguette, which is ten times better anywhere in France than in the states. Then, the main course with more wine. Then cheese—oh the cheese! And then dessert—I picked the crème brûlée. And then, after we thought there would be nothing else, there was the "digestif," which is a small drink of strong liqueur. In this case, it was apricot. By the time dessert roled around though, everyone just wanted to go home and sleep. But Brent forced us to stay up by getting us to order dessert, so that we'd beat our jet lag.

When the three days of orientation were over, it was Friday, and we were told who our host families would be. I ended up being placed with a family in the 12th arrondisement (air-rohn-deez-e-mahn), or district, which is just north of the Seine. The street I'm on is called Avenue Daumesnil, and it's a great area for several reasons. The first is that the street has what used to be an elevated train track that runs alongside the sidewalk, and looks much like an old aqueduct, with a series of continuous archways. When the trainline was shut down, the train tracks were torn up, and replaced with a beautifully planted walking path, that runs the entire length of the arrondisement. The archways below that don't have streets running through them were converted into all sorts of little art galleries, cafés, and upscale boutiques. The house I'm staying in is right behind one of the boutiques, separated by a walled garden. This stretch is known as the "Viaduct des Artes." The neighborhood is also right near Place de la Bastille, which is a hip area for Parisians my age to go on the weekends, filled with bars, restaurants, and cafés, as well as one of the two opera houses in Paris.

I also really like my housing situation. Whereas most people who do a traditional homestay with a French family live right there in the house with the family, I have a room upstairs in a small apartment space that I share with a classical musician from Toronto, and a Turkish man who works at a publishing house in Turkey, but is continuing his education at a school here in France. Although I don't see my host family as much as I would if I lived downstairs, the balance grants me a lot more independence—I can come and go as I please, without really bothering them, but I still eat dinner once a week with them, and they provide support when I need it.

Classes haven't really started yet, except for the intensive French language program, which will hopefully jump start my conversational French. I'm not sure which classes I want to take yet, but I have until February 18th to make a decision.

As for fun, I've been going out on the weekends with friends all over the city. The other night, we met up with some French people one of my friends knew, and hung out with them for most of the night, which was a lot of fun. We also have just gone for long walks around the city, discovering cool little places and areas off the beaten path.

That's about it for me as of now, but there will be much more to write about in the coming weeks. If anyone is interested in Skyping, my user name is "ducktaip." Feel free to add me, but we'd probably have to coordinate when exactly to chat, since I'm normally not just on Skype. Hope everyone is doing well!

P.S.: Some pictures to come really soon (I promise!)