Something deep

I said this to a friend recently and was kind of proud of it. Here you go.

"I think in life, we need to accept that we will meet people that we really appreciate, that we love, that we have connections with. Sometimes they will stay in our lives, and sometimes they will leave. We could know them for years, or just days, or even just hours. We should just appreciate the good times that we enjoy with them, and then start the search for the next person. That way, we can have the good memories, without thinking about what could have been."

Bucket List

I'm officially leaving in two to three months (date still to be decided, either June 2 or 26)!! There's still a lot I haven't done, so I'm gonna make a bucket list of everything I still want to do. I'll be editing it whenever I do something or want to add a new one.

*note: This is all stuff that I know is actually possible to do, so I guess it's more of a reminder list. Things like "go to Greece" and "find a French lover" (jk about that last one) I'm not going to put here because it's stuff I want to do but might not necessarily happen.

1. Go to Hammam
2. Jump into the lake
3. Musée des Beaux-Arts
4. Find alligator
5. Eat escargot
6. Order an Irish Coffee at one of the Irish pubs
7. Base sous-marine
8. Find a cute dress
9. Go to Sunday mass at St. André
10. Running on the quai
11. Sunday Marché des Chartrons on the quai
12. Bar à Vin
13. Contemporary art bus
14. Frisbee at Jardin Public
15. Attend a good concert
16. Beach with frenchies
17. Learn to make crêpes
18.  Babysit French kids
19. Go to a Girondin game
20. Donate blood
21. Piercing/Tattoo
22. CAPC
23. Perigeux
24. Oysters, encore
25. Marché St. Michel on Sunday
26. Used book store on Cours Victor Hugo
27. Contribute something in class
28. Go fishing
29. Cheval (Horse), encore
30. Frog legs
31. Dune du Pyla, encore
32. Exchange music with a frenchie

Another notch on my travel post

Yup, just got back from England. Fourth time in the UK since August! Whoa.

I like England, it's cute. I had a really good time in Oxford Wednesday night to Saturday morning. Kim and I explored the town and got to know it pretty well. She did her university thing on Friday, while I did my tourist thing. We cooked French food. I got to see my friend Nadhira from Davis, who goes to Oxford Brookes University now. My new found love for old books was supported upon discovery of the secondhand sections in the amazing Blackwell's bookstore. I bought a book of "Selected Czech Tales" with a note on the inside front cover "To Dorothea, Christmas 1928" and the Oxford print on the bind. I had a hard time deciding on one book to buy, but that note really did it. It was a good choice, I'm already half through and each story has been really good. I saw the Oxford University Press, but couldn't go inside. I saw a blackboard Albert Einstein had written on, along with the pub where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis used to chill together.

Then London. For the second time I wasn't too impressed, and I think I figured out why. It's too fucking stressful. Sunday I saw some things I hadn't seen before, and it made me feel slightly better about the city (Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, aka the more relaxed area of the city, I suppose). Even so, though. I was really glad to get back to Bordeaux.

Homesickness has set in again. Sigh. Probably going for a run tonight to try to get rid of it.

Au revoir, Paris

This weekend I went to Paris, probably for the last time in a very long time. Who knows when I'll get back. I had been thinking about spending two weeks there in July, so that I could see the end of the Tour de France and celebrate Bastille Day with the French, but the June 25 date that my travel agent recommended to me is starting to look better. I get out of school in early May; I'll do a little traveling with friends after finals (hopefully to Greece!), and then pretty much everyone I know will be leaving. There's a three day musical festival I want to go to in early June in Germany (Coldplay, Kings of Leon, We Are Scientists, System of a Down, other good bands; it's called Rock Am Ring), then I'll spend a week traveling in southern France, and back to Bordeaux for ten days or so to say goodbye and to see the river festival). After that, back to real life. I think I'll be ready by then.

I was able to do the three things in Paris that I've been wanting to do for a while but never had the time each trip I go back.

Espace Dali: Some of Salvador Dali's sculptures and sketches were on display. He's my favorite artist so of course I was in heaven. None of his paintings were there, but representations in sculpture were, which in my opinion are just as cool. The colors of the paint aren't visible, but the 3D abstractness makes up for it in so many ways. I think I actually prefer his work that way.

Catacombes: One of the creepiest places in Paris, and I went alone. Six million people's bones have been arranged in walls and pillars, in various designs. Pretty much, the Paris cemeteries got too full so they dug up all the bones and put them down in the Catacombes, and then later arranged them so they could be put on public display. I made friends with the security guard and he told me that people are really disrespectful by stealing and touching the bones (ok, I'll admit I touched one for a split second just to see if it would move), along with using flash. He showed me holes where people have taken the skulls out (gross), and showed me the difference between a skull that had been touched a lot and one that hadn't. He also said that while they were making these walls, they would throw the broken bones behind, and that they go up to 50m back. Crazy how many are down there. After giving me all this useful information he tried to get me to hang out with him after work. No thanks, man.
*As I was leaving I was asked to open my bag, and I noticed on the table a skull and some other bones. Two girls were sitting down next to it. CAUGHT.

L'Orangerie: Monet's Lily paintings, and I got in free (advantages of being a student in France, lots of discounts and free entry). I couldn't believe how big and beautiful they were. Two giant oval shaped rooms, with one giant painting on each side, equaling eight of the most incredible scenes ever. Up close it looks like blotches, but the farther away you get the more you can see how it all fits together.


I also get to check out an English bookstore across from Notre Dame called Shakespeare and Co. It was kind of expensive but I made two really great finds: A copy of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables, marked at 4€ but I talked down to 3€ because a couple pages were falling out, and an amazing old Europe guide book from 1954 that I paid 2€ for. It includes black and white pictures and, as I discovered on the train ride back to Bordeaux, a pressed flower and a pressed leaf from who knows where and when. I am absolutely in love with it.

Also...I'd like to proudly announce that I went to Paris with 50€ for three days and that is exactly what I spent. I think I have perfected budget traveling. Couchsurfing helps so much.

I wish I had pictures to post along with this, but alas, my camera is still broken. It was kind of a relief not taking pictures, though.

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Oxford and London for the weekend, then no more traveling for a little while :)

Just a little update

It's been a fairly normal week in Bordeaux, although a little busy with preparations for my trips to Paris and England in the next week.

-Last Friday there was a California picnic, I met some Frenchies who are going to CA next year. One girl might be going to Davis!
-There was a little French soirée Saturday night for the birthday of my friend's host mom. Had some good chats with a few other Californians there (there were about seven of us mange-ing amidst the middle aged French people). There was so much good food there! I couldn't stop haha. I've missed French cooking since moving out of the Pommarede's, although I don't miss living there. So dancing, mange-ing, mingling. Gooood night.
-Mardi Gras parade was last Sunday in Bdx. Very lively and cool.
-Met an Indian guy who speaks English when I went to buy chicken at CFC (similar to KFC, which also exists in Bdx). He works there and gave me a free coke and a couple salads. I'll be back :)
-Met a German exchange student in one of my classes and we ate lunch together, had a nice French conversation about ourselves, our cultures, and some politics
-Had a dinner party for my friend Marissa (from high school, who is also studying in Bordeaux this semester). We made burgers and some other friends brought things potluck style. Fun :)
-Broke my camera and my phone screen in the same week. Phone is still usable...camera, not so much.
-Monday night theme dinner this week was chicken (the reason I was at CFC) and waffles. Surprisingly delicious!
-Bought some rock climbing shoes finally. Wallet went OUCH.
Out to a soirée. Chkchk.

Red Robe Choir

Five years ago, I took my first journey across the Atlantic Ocean with Grossmont High School's Red Robe Choir. Last week, I re-lived a little piece of that trip by visiting a couple of the places in northern France that I went to, Mont St. Michel and the D-Day beaches. And today, out of curiosity, I googled the Red Robe Choir and found this article:

http://lamesa.patch.com/articles/red-robe-choir-drapes-students-in-traveling-tradition

Although the stuff about the one-hour study break each night is crap, the rest of it really hit home and got me thinking...I would not be in France today if I hadn't made two important decisions at the age of thirteen: to take French and Beginning Choir as my electives freshman year. And if I hadn't traveled to Europe three times during high school and fostered a love for culture, language, and experience, then I would not have had the desire to study abroad, especially for a whole school year. I'm giving myself a pat on the back for this one.

Things I Miss about California

-the ability to call my parents and my sisters inbetween classes just because I'm bored
-the motivation to study
-living in Greystone, with friends, with students, in a modern apartment with an oven and a handyman on call
-my bike
-the dollar
-being able to use a debit card without a stupid usage fee
-my car
-English
-my roommates, my friends, my family
-powerpoints
-small toasters
-lots of counter space and plenty of room to have people over
-potlucks with friends
-going home to San Diego during the quarter breaks after a long time away
-the feeling of home, in Davis or SD
-sweatshirts
-breakfast distributions
-falling asleep in public and not feeling weird about it (ie on the quad, on the benches in front of Wellman, in the library)
-the beach
-milkshakes
-a good internet connection
-costco, target, and other awesome stores comme ça
-baggers at grocery stores



Ok, I feel better now :)