Cette Ville est Contagieuse

This post is in both English and French since I presented this for my class today. If you do know french do not be afraid to correct anything cause I really need to learn. This was hard for me to try to translate but here is the account of my studies aboard.

My journey started on a plane.

Mon voyage a commencé dans une avion.

On Sunday, June 27^th I left New York for a very special trip. I was on my way to Paris. I was determined to learn French and since my previous teacher was a failure, I figured the best place to study would be France.

Le dimanche, vingt-sept de Juin, je suis parti de New York pour une très special voyage. J’ai été sur ma route à Paris. J’ai été determine à apprendre la langue française et puisque mon professeur précédente a été terrible, J’ai pensé le meilleur endroit pour apprendre serait France.

My flight was long and uncomfortable as all flights usually are. Yet when I arrived that those things no longer annoyed me. I was finally in Paris.

Mon voyage a été longtemps et mal à l’aise comme toujours. Mais quand je suis arrive, ce n’était pas important. J’étais à Paris, enfin!

My first week was full of new people, introductions, and exploration. My new friends and I roamed the city with our eyes wide and our hearts open. Every night was a picnic underneath the Eiffel tower.

Ma première semaine a été plein de gens nouveaux, les présentations, et l’exploration. Mon nouvelle amis et moi parcouraient cette ville avec nos yeux grand et nos coeurs ouverts. Chaque nuit a été un pique-nique sous le tour Eiffel.

When the second week arrived, it was time to start school. The campus was beautiful compared to the ordinary buildings we have at my school in New York. By some miracle I was placed in elementary 1. The first two weeks of class were a personal struggle since prior to this summer I’ve only taken 3 months of French. Cinema was an interesting class too.

Quand la deuxième semaine est arrivé, il était temps de commencer l’école. Le campus de l’école était plus belle que les bâtiments ordinaires dans mon école à New York. Par un miracle, j’ai été placé dans l’élémentaire une. Les deux premières semaines de classe ont été une lutte personnelle depuis avant cet été j’ai eu trois mois de cours de français seulement. Classe cinéma était intéressant aussi.

School days were long but relief came with the weekends, or so I thought. Almost every weekend meant 7am bus trips. It wasn’t until we reached our destination did everything start to pay off. The first weekend was a trip to Saint-Malo. We arrived at a cute hotel which was less than 5 minutes from the beach. The view was beautiful and the sand made a perfect bed. I think I slept for 2 hours! The next day we set out for Mont-Saint Michel. This included a 5 miles walk through grass, mud, and quicksand. It was difficult but fun.

Jours d’école ont été longues, mais secours sont venus avec le week-end, ou j’ai pensé. Presque tout week-end signifiait sept heures voyages en bus. il n’est pas jusqu’à nous sommes arrives à notre destination qu’il est devenu en vaut la peine. Le premier week-end a été un voyage à Saint-Malo. Nous sommes arrivés à un hôtel mignon qui a été de moins de cinq minutes de la plage. la vue était belle et le sable a fait un lit parfait. J’ai dormi pendant deux heures. Le prochain jour, nous sommes allés au Mont-Saint Michel. Il comprenait une période de cinq miles de marche dans l’herbe, mus, et des sables mouvants. Il était difficile mais amusant.

In between classes and excursions I managed to explore some of Paris; the Petit Palace, the Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes, the aquarium, the Louvre, beautiful gardens, and awesome parties.

Entre les classes et les excursions, j’ai exploré Paris; le palais petite, le ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes, ciné-Aqua, le Lourve, de beaux jardins, et partis impressionnant.

The second weekend was free from excursions so I planned a trip to London with my Parisian friend, Anne. And although London was not a complete positive experience, it made me realize how Paris was quickly feeling like a home and not a vacation.

Le deuxième week-end a été sans excursions alors j’ai pris un voyage à Londres avec mon ami parisien, Anne. Et bien Londres n’a pas été une bonne expérience, ça m’a fait réaliser que Paris était comme une maison et non pas des vacances.

For the third weekend we went to Loire Valley to visit 2 chateaus and Leonardo Di Vinci’s mansion; they were beautiful. We even took a boat ride and rode on a 4 person bike around the Chambord chateau. We also had the opportunity to tour a winery and taste a lot of different types of wines. Our final excursion was to Versailles the most beautiful chateau of them all.

Pour le troisième week-end nous sommes allés à la Loire pour visiter deux châteaux et la demeure de Leonardo Di Vinci; elles étaient belles. Nous avons pris un tour de bateau autour du château de Chambord. Après nous avons visité un établissement vinicole et goûté beaucoup de vin. Notre dernière excursion a été pour le plus beau château, le château de Versailles.

My most memorable experiences here are from Bastille Day. The fireman’s ball was unique and fun, the parade was rained out, but at night the fireworks were spectacular.

Mon expérience préférée à Paris est la Fête Nationale. Le bal des pompiers était unique, la parade a été pluvieuse, mais le feu d’artifice spectaculaire.

As I approach the end of my time here. I appreciate the friends I made, things I’ve learned in French and Cinema, and the sights I’ve seen. And when I return I hope I can learn more about this enchanting city.

Que je l’approche la fin de mon été ici, je apprécier les amis que j’ai fait, choses que j’ai apprises en français et le cinema, et les sites que j’ai vu. Et quand je retourne j’espère en apprendre plus sur cette charmante ville.

I Am Always Late

It’s about halfway through the month of February (le douze Février to be exact) and I just realized that I haven’t officially laid out my goals for this month. So since this is also the shortest month of the year I have decided to combine my February and March goals. The last twelve days some how managed to runaway while I was too busy to pay attention. I spent some many nights awake and stressed out. But I feel that I am “getting back into the grove of things”, as cliché as that sounds. I didn’t realize how busy my semester was going to be until now: 18 credits, 5 classes, 3 e-boards, and an internship. I am grateful for the people around me who help me stay motivated, especially Ivonna and Kaitlynn, they’ve help me through so much more than they know (thanks guys!). This month I experienced so many problem that I don’t even feel like writing about but right now I just hope that the worst of the year is behind me.

On the brighter side of things, Arizona is in less than 2 weeks! I hate winter so this is going to be an awesome getaway. Kaitlynn and I have started a list of all the ridiculous things to attempt to do while we are in Arizona (such as building a sand castle in the desert). I’ve decided that for this trip I am going to ask to borrow the LC-A+, the Krab Underwater case, the splizter lens, the wide angle lens and buy 10 rolls of film from my internship! I am way too excited!

Well, here are my goals for February & March (some a repeated because they are ongoing or incomplete):

February/March’s Goals

• Blog more frequently (I really need to work on this)
• Work on more video projects to practice video editing
• Work on increasing the progress of POP TV!!!
• More Lomo experimenting
• Find writers, artists, and editors for CCL (this one is hard)
• Record “Taylor Swift Video” with Kaitlynn (we have the best concept now!)
• Have fun is Arizona!!!
• Apply for at least three scholarship for study abroad programs
• Apply for study abroad program (Paris Summer 2010!)
• Write at least 3 articles or Op-Eds for TPP
• Go back to Peter Pan Bakery (I want need a box of red velvet donuts)
• Work on developing better relationships with people (friendships and romantic)
• Be a more efficient intern
• Less Tumblr, More Sleep
• Save Money!!