Monday, June 30, 2008

Le Jardins du Luxembourg et un bus

Today was our first day at le Catho- the school in Paris we will be attending. There is a picture on the link of the building, which does not look like any school I have ever seen! We had lunch in the Luxembourg Gardens and then went on a tour of every major site in Paris- from Les Invalides to le Tour d'Eiffel. Tonight, we  are going to relax and get ready to take our placement test tomorrow.

Also, it was the first time we met the other K-Staters today! They are all so nice! Very very different levels of French. From NONE to quite a bit. Everyone is there to learn and have a great time so it's a good group. 

Check out the cool new pictures on the flickr link!

PS- French food is just great! Our host mother is a great cook- tonight we had mushrooms, a great salad and semi-fried eggs. Everything was great and everything comes with bread! :-)

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Faire du shopping!

Today Jenn and I walked and shopped for EIGHT HOURS! It was fantastique and we are here in perfect time because every single Paris store has sales of at least 50 % off. I bought some Parisian shoes and Jenn bought a new purse! We also had our first Croque Monsieur- a very traditional French sandwich with ham inside and cheese toasted on the outside. 

Jenn got here last night after being robbed, lost on the metero and had to throw away over $1000 (70 pounds of weight) of luggage. To make a long story short, when I found her wondering with a British couple, she was VERY happy to see me!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Mailing Address

One other note: please do not mail anything to my host family's address. If anybody needs a mailing address, please let me know and I will give you the address of the ISA office!
Merci!

5 Things to remember when traveling to Paris

1. Drink tons of water- it helps with jet lag
2. Do not take the metero with a big suitcase
3. A taxi is worth the money
4. You can dress like a local, but you still have an American accent
5. If you speak good French to a French person, you are not ever going to get English back but if you speak bad French, you will immediately get answered in English. (Luckily that has only happened once and I'm blaming it on being tired!)

A lot of sleep

After sleeping 12 hours last night to get rid of jet lag, I am ready to go today! Yesterday, I took the metero with my suitcase from the ISA Office to my host family. I carried my things up at least 7 flights of stairs! Now, I'm unpacked and the only thing that is still tired is my brain-from thinking about my French! Mme. Dugan has discovered I don't need to speak English, so we don't. It is really helping my language skills, but can be kind of tiring! 
Jenn gets here today and I told her to take a taxi- she has two more bags than I did!

Friday, June 27, 2008

Paris

I made it safe and sound with LOTS of jet lag to Paris! My flight landed at 6:30 (am, that is) and I went to the Study Abroad Office on Rue des Plantes. Everything looks EXACTLY like you see it in the movies- I drove under the Eiffel Tower on my way to the office this morning! PS- Never drive in Paris. It is the worst driving I have ever seen. There are motorcycles swerving everywhere and each car is going exactly where they want, when they want!

Monday, June 23, 2008

Host Family

I will be staying with the Dugan family at 88 quai de Jemmapes, 75010 Paris, France. Nora Dugan is the head of the household and is an Assistant Director in the entertainment industry. She has a 15 year old son. Jenn and I will be staying together and can't wait to meet the Dugans!