OH YEAH!

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVEN! YOU'RE 22 SOOOO OLD!! WOOOOH! You think the 22 inches of snow that is expected is for your birthday?! Looks like everyone has  YOU to blame for the blizzard.


Oh and for the record, I was wrong twice. Courtney looked it up and there were 6 MILLION bodies in the tomb. Gross. Wow. Cool. Sick. Creepy. Awesome. Cramped. Party. A lot of emotions.

Last night the falafel was successful with Christine and not with Courtney, she liked the balls but didn't like all of the other stuff in it. It took forever to get in but then we finally got a table. When Torey got her falafel she accidentally said out loud "OH YEAH!" and the people there couldn't stop laughing. We will forever be the "OH YEAH!" girls. Apparently one of the staff there says it all the time. Is Christine praying or excited that she finished her falafel?

Courtney: F for Fail

Christine: Attempted A for A+

Today I had my most interesting class, marketing communication. I had an American Professor and it was cool learning about marketing since I am so used to learning about Finance and Accounting. The three hour classes actually aren't that bad. Each professor must give us a 15 minute break at the half mark. Since the second half of the class is shorter it tends to go by fast and a lot of professors let you out a few minutes early because they get so sick of teaching. Works for me, I'm sick of learning.

Alright, so I need to get a few language barrier issues off of my chest. I am an American, I sound like an American, I look like an American. American. You never know whether a person is going to speak English or not so you kind of have to hedge your bets on how you speak to them. I find that whenever I don't start off with "Par lay voo inglay?" or "Je na par le pa frances." (I spelled them the way you pronounce them) but rather I look up or ask Christine what to say in french and say it, they still respond to me in English. I am trying soooo hard! But they just don't get it. Real shot to the self esteem. Andddd another thing I want to get off my chest is how dumb it is when I say in french that I don't know how to speak french. Clearly I know how to say SOMETHING in french if I am saying it in french...ya dig?

Well, I think that is about it for now. Oh yeah, on our way back from falafel we found an UNREAL chocolate store. It could be deadly.

Word of the Day: Je pige que dalle. = I don't understand a word you're saying. (What goes through the French people's head when I attempt speaking to them in French)

My bad...

By couple hundred I meant couple hundred thousand bodies worth of bones...

I See Dead People

Yep. That happened. Yesterday me, Torey, Monica, Christine, Courtney, and Jen (a girl that goes to Wisco) went to the Catacombs. Tombs. That is what I was expecting. I envisioned the Egyptian tombs for some reason. Well, I was wrong. I was very wrong. To say I saw a few skeletons would be an understatement and it would cherry coat the truth. Before we entered the catacombs there was a sign that read:

We did not think much of it. We go down 130 steps and we arrive at some tunnels and such. There were some really cool sculptures that prisoners had made as well. Basically, spark note version of what we saw...back in the day the Romans built an underground tunnel/passageway thing, then during the Revolution the French used it to move bodies from cemetaries into this place as a mass grave almost to conserve space, there were also rooms large rooms they used to have secret meetings. To say a mass grave would be putting it politely, this was no pile of bones. The bones were intricately organzied and placed into patterns. The walls were lined with bones and skulls that went very deep. Some of the bones were arranged in crosses and others just other patterns. It was very cool and very frightening to say the least. I'd guestimate there were a good couple hundred people's bodies worth of bones. Between the bones and the narrow tunnels and dripping ceilings and musty scent, I understood the "cardiac or respiratory insufficiency." I am lucky I am so young and brave.

Why didn't the skeleton go to the dance? He had no body to go with...

After this experience we went for crepes and churros. I regret my decision to get a crepe because the churros were actually unreal. We then came back here and booked our train to Amsterdam. Me, Monica, and Torey then made dinner, Teriyaki chicken with broccoli. mmmmm. Monica had to cook because Torey took a tumble the other night at the club. To make her feel better about herself I will say she purposely slid down some stairs because she "wanted" to see what it was like...? After dinner we went to this Irish pub that is about a 5-10 minute walk from here. It was fun there. Christine got in a dance off with some French guy. I have come to realize that being sober when you go out is a spectator sport. It's a matter of learning how to appreciate the art of everyone around making a fool of themselves. If it were an olympic sport I would be well on my way to the gold, I'd make America proud.  Connor and Hugh left pretty early so I left with them. I made us all grilled cheese. I then went to bed.

Today me and Monica and Torey went for some lunch and it was FREEEEZING out so we all came back. Tonight: Falafel round three, bringing some visitors that are about to try falafel for THE FIRST TIME. They have not been living I guess. I am going to be adventurous and get fries on mine today. I am still in withdrawl from those belgian fries, me and monica fantasize over them. So much so that we have discussed taking a day trip JUST for the fries. I probably shouldn't admit that to the general public butttt if you tried them you would understand. Well that's all for now, I have my marketing class tomorrow that was cancelled last week. I'm sure it will be a good time!

Word of the Day: C'est chouette. = That's cool. (Direct translation- That's a female owl.) I thought this was a weird expression haha

Playing Catch Up... Classes, Night life, Louvre...

CLASSES: Well, they are much different than back at home. Once a week for 3 hours. Interesting. Once class I have, Negotiations, is literally going to be a joke. All you do for the entire semester is negotiate, the class is not based on theory but expanding your negotiation skills. There are no exams or anything. On the other hand, my two finance classes both have a final. One of them also has a midterm and the other also has a 10 page term paper (which you can do in a group). The finance classes likely won't be too fun, but they are much better than the upper level finance classes would be back at school, that's for sure. But hey, who studies abroad for the classes? No one. So some more important stuff...

this is a picture of the club, gives you an idea

NIGHTLIFE: It is a lot different than home, to say the least. One thing that is similar is that you can't smoke in the actual club, you have to smoke in this little private room thing. It makes dancing and stuff much more bearable and then you don't come home smelling like an ash tray. The school scheduled a party at this club so that all international students would get in free. Yeah, that's right, a party scheduled by your school. I don't think the University of Illinois would ever rent a club for its students. Before the club we went over to the Wisconsin girls' apartment to pregame. They pay a lot less money than us for a lot more space. I think we may be getting ripped off a little bit at Accent. Back to the club, it has legitimate bouncers, it's not like Kams or Staysh, these guys don't mess around. We all go in and the club is huge and everyone is dancing. There are these blocks you can stand on and dance to and there is also a stage and an upstairs. It was a little bit different than my typical thursday night red lion night. Another huge difference, DRINKS ARE SOO EXPENSIVE! It was like 8 euro for a mixed drink. It's hard when you don't know someone working to get you your drink for a dollar or 2. But that's not a problem for me right now since I'm not drinking (Hey Davi!). So yeah, it's safe to say I really like the discotecs there are a lot of fun!

I also thought the moon and fire were awesome

LOUVRE: I am now officially officially in Paris. I went to the Louvre and I saw, wait for it, Mona Lisa! For all of you who warned me she is TINY. I disagree, she was the size I was expecting her to be and I saw her at a distance I was expecting. So for everyone who tried to warn me that I was going to be disappointed, thank you because I went in with such low expectations that I was very pleased. There were so many paintings and sculptures and artifacts there that we didn't know where to begin. The Louvre is broken down into three wings so we decided to conquer one wing, Scully. After about three hours of walking around we didn't even get to see everything in that wing alone! (Mona was in the wing Denon but we were sure to make a pit stop for her to make sure that we were at the right museum and actually at the Louvre, you also can't say you've been to the Louvre if you don't stop in and say hey to Mona. She needs to watch her back though, I did not appreciate the way she kept staring at me). The paintings were actually so cool. I really liked looking at pictures that had skies and water. I think it's amazing how they were painted. I also thought that the realllllly small paintings were cool because from a distance they look like something but then when you get close up it was just globs of paint. There were paintings that were actually ENORMOUS. Words can't even describe so here's a picture. I am nothing next to this painting...

Just admiring the painting... Very Pensive...

Last night we were really tired from the night before and walking around the Louvre so we decided to stay in and watch Harry Potter and eat Magnums (delicious chocolate covered ice cream that they don't have in the United States). We alsoooo found a pizza place with very American pizza! Wooooh! The guy said he's very popular with the American exchange students and we discovered why. The pizza was a little thin for my liking but don't get me wrong, I still liked it and ate it. Me and Christine split a veggie pizza! Delish! Well, that's about all for now! I will write again soon!

Word of the Day: Party animal = un noceur

Brussels: Fries, Waffles, Chocolate. 10 pounds later.

Well our trip to Brussels started off a little rusty when we ripped our tickets thinking they needed to be put in a machine. After each of us got yelled at in French by the ticket collector, we learned our lesson. The train ride was not too bad, only an hour and 20 minutes. We arrive in Brussels and realized we had no idea what to do. We had nothing planned besides our hostel. We purchase a map and Courtney (our human GPS) guided us to the Grand Place. On our way we walked past a Chocolate museum. Needless to say, 4.50 euros later we indulged. Let's just say we took full advantage of the free samples of each chocolate flavor. We also got TWO biscuits dipped in chocolate because the lady doing the dipping switched. We are such sneaky Americans. The museum was really cool it talked all about the history of chocolate and we got to see how it was made. You may have been one of the lucky ones to be a sent a picture of me enjoying my chocolate in my typical Jamie way.

Next, we headed to the center. It was really cool. But let's get to the important stuff. We followed our noses and found my heaven in a stand. FRENCH FRIES! We obviously ordered the "Frites especial": french fries, ketchup, mayo, and grilled onions. They were actually unreal, they were too big so I couldn't finish them. We then walked around a little bit. We went to the famous statue of the little boy peeing. I'm sorry but I'd have to say it was overrated. If you have been there then you know what I'm talking about. There were chocolate statues that were 5 times the size of the actual little boy peeing. It would be nice if it was life size but it was probably the size of a doll I played with when I was younger. Too much hype.

After the fries we decided to venture to our hostel to drop off our bags that we had been carrying all day. Saying our hostel was a hike away would be an understatement. I think I worked off every single calorie I consumed from the chocolate and fries on that walk. We finally got there and it was better than I expected! There were 5 beds for the 5 of us which was perfect! The shower was like 5 times the size of the shower here. I really can't complain. After 3 hour naps we awoke and decided to head for some dinner. We went to a waffle place to obviously eat BELGIUM WAFFLES IN BELGIUM! I got bananas and chocolate on mine! Sooo delish! After dinner we headed to Derillium, a bar we had been told to go to. They served over 2000 beers there! We literally could not find the place and were going in circles. We eventually ask these people (picked a group that had a girl in it so we knew they were legit) This guy was sooo nice, he walked us to the bar. It was a good thing because it was a maze! Aside from the smoke, it was sooo much fun. We got there and it was PACKED. Eventually we saw a table clear up so me, Monica, and Courtney jumped at it (Christine and Torey were getting beer) at the same time these guys got to it. The table was big so we decided to share it. The guys were from Spain, one of them was studying in Brussels. We had so much fun with them. We were finally able to communicate with people in a language we knew, Spanish (besides Christine who is the only one who speaks French) We eventually left and took a cab back, not in the mood for any hike.

(Notice the Adam Levy look alike in the center)

The next day we went to Brugges. On our way to the train station we had the pleasure of walking through a red light district. Let's just say if it were your daughter dressed in close to nothing sitting in a window waiting for someone to wander in, you would not be proud. We walked as fast as we could to get to the metro station which was just past the peep show theatre. We eventually get to Brugges and it is cold and rainy. It was a really pretty small town but very pretty. We went to this little place for more waffles and hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was AMAZING. You put the chocolate in the warm milk and that's how you make it (notice the whisker). I guess it was a little better than warm water and powder. The picture does not do it justice but the cup was HUGE. We went back to Brussels to then watch the Bears game. We found an American Sports Bar online, Fat Boy's. We get there and stake out our prime seats...3 hours before gametime. While we are there the men at the table behind us start talking to us and tell us that if we cheer loud enough for the red team (soccer game) then they will buy us a round of drinks. Sure enough, we cheer for the red team, who loses, but they still got us our round of drinks (don't worry Davi, I got a RedBull). We then watch the Bears game which was a little upsetting. Oh yeah, I forgot to talk about the creepy guy from Spain who told Torey that her face was good and then corrected himself to say that it was her teeth that were good.

The perfect way to close this blog entry is with a little anecdote about our walk home...
Two of the guys at the table behind us said they would point us in the right direction to get home. As we are walking we ask how old he is and he reveals he is 31 (we figured these guys were in their mid 30s). He then says so you guys have only been in Europe a week? We reply "yep." He goes "You have only been here for about a week, you are already in a country you know nothing about and you are accepting directions from two creepy middle aged guys. You are bound to have an amazing time in Europe."

After a successful weekend, I would have to agree. Oh yeah and I forgot I was here for school, classes start tomorrow.

woahhh first traveling blog post!

Life changing discovery: I can blog right from the action! (Not sure if blog is a verb but it is now) I am currently on the the train to BRUSSELS, Belgium. Bucket list to do there: eat belgium waffles, waffle fries, NOT drink beer (is it february yet), eat muscles (first timer), and most importantly watch the bears beat the packers and go to the superbowl in an american sports bar. I am sure we will do sight seeing also, but those are the important things. The past few days have been the same, finished orientation. Yesterday we went shopping and at falafel again mmmm. Okay sooo basically I am becoming a fashionista! There was a pair of boots I was dying to get, they had to be the EXACT shoes I was envisioning. These boots are all I've been talking about since the longchamp purchase (three big purchases here: longchamp, boots, leather jacket). So I did such a good job explaining these bad boys that Torey saw my vision and spotted them for me! What a doll! They were 84 euro so I figure my winnings on 190 in the casino on my cruise will contribute to the purchase. I will be sure to post a pic when I get back from brussels!

Last night we went to an apartment party. There was a party for ESCP students at this club but we didn't make it because we had to be up early today and wanted to take the metro back (stops at 2 am, starts again at 5 am). I wasn't in any mood to rage until 5 am so we skipped out. Plenty of time for us to rage, 4 months to be exact. The apartment party was a lot of fun! I drank a redbull so I could fit in and didn't have to be empty handed the whole night. Not good for me but at least it won't cause my liver to die. It was a really cool apt, this guy Aaron found it on craigs list. It was HUGE the bathroom alone was the size of my entire room in Accent. There were actually two bathrooms, one of them was miniature and the door didn't work so a bunch of people got stuck. They used a wrench to get them out. We met a lot of cool people from like everywhere. We have a new bestie Sade from Finland (she's the one who took us shopping, she gave us a very cultured tour of the shops including the expensive bizarre stores). Awkward I just looked to my left and the lady is sleeping with her right hand down her pants. I'm uncomfortable. I'll just pretend like I don't notice...

Well off to play some gamez on my ipod. More to come after our one star hotel in Brussels.

French word of the day: this is difficult because I don't have my book with me, I'll give 2 next post! If I could choose one right now it would be fashionista so you will just have to wait in suspense to figure out how to say it in french

DAY 6 AND DAY 7: zzzzzzzz

DAY 6: 

Boring day of orientation, we got done early. I FINALLY GOT MY LONGCHAMP! We went to H&M and did some shopping. I tried stuff on but it was either too big or too small. Typical. Everything was SUPER cheap. I bought a scarf and a lint roller (ironic how I needed one and it saved me a trip to the Mono Prix). Let me tell you, this is the most fashionable lint roller I have and will ever own. Me Torey and Monica made my shape noodles for dinner. The animals they chose for the noodles were quite interesting: snails, turtles, dogs, bears, squirrels, yeahhhh strange. Last night me, Monica, Torey, Christine, and Courtney finalized our trip to BRUSSELS this weekend, planned our trip to Ireland for UnOfFiCiAl (yeahhhh! you should be jealous!), and also our monster winter break in february (Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, and Vienna).

Word of the day: (going a different route with this one, it's from the dirty book, thanks auntie!) le loubard = a badass

DAY 7:

Really?! ESCP at 8 am?! 6 hours of listening to boring things about France. I paid attention when they asked "Why do you think there is a McDonalds in France?" My response was "The French love their french fries." Just because I'm in a different country does not mean that my humor is going to change. Tonight for dinner me Monica and Torey made a stir fry! We are becoming so domestic! ...then we walked and got BANANA NUTELLA CREPES from the afghan crepe stand man (hereafter ACSM). Sooooo yummy. I hate to break it to you Julie and Amanda but he already likes us better. As we were leaving I said see you soon and I am not sure if ACSM was blowing kisses at me or trying to say something I couldn't hear. Regardless, we're in love. We made some friends today in orientation, mainly Finnish people. Oh, and me and Monica gave in and tried French French fries from McDonalds (it was only fitting). They hit the spot.

Word of the day: frites = french fries

DAY 5: Orientation

The following picture of Christine is pretty self explanatory as to how the first day of orientation was. Two adjectives I'll use: early and boring.

 This is Monica, Hugh, Courtney, me and Christine still hungry after our baby sandwiches at orientation. The French eat baby size portions.

Tomorrow's orientation we are supposed to be learning about Paris. It's only a half day which is good. I will hopefully be spending the afternoon getting my Longchamp if someone will finally come with me. (Achem I hope one of you read this and actually come with me tomorrow, sorry I was sick the last time you went. womp womp)

Word of the day: train = renseignements (we learned how to take the metro to ESCP today)

DAY 4: My First Mass and Meeting Emma Thompson

We found OUR daily bakery this morning and let me tell you, America should be embarrassed by their sad excuse of a croissant. Words cannot describe how good they are here! This morning me, Monica, Torey, Christine x 2, Courtney, and Alyssa all went to mass at Notre Dame. The building is absolutely beautiful. It blows my mind how it was built back in the day. Crazy stuff. I feel bad because I was asking Courtney questions the entire time. It was a very cool experience. Most of it was in French and Latin so I couldn't really understand what they were saying/what was going on, but I still enjoyed it. Parts of it were in English. The only bad thing is that the old man in front of me and Courtney kept letting off stink bombs. Not literally, but let's just say I want to find out what bakery he went to before mass and never go there.

After church we wandered through the islands over there and got some ice cream. I decided on pear, which at first taste I thought tasted like play dough, but then it grew on me. The ice cream is not even comparable to the United States. It is so fresh, I actually felt like I was eating a pear. We sat on a ledge that overlooked a river and ate it. I could really get used to this lifestyle (aside from my fear of falling in the river or dropping something). We then walked throughout the nearby shops.

We (and by we, I mean Monica) spotted Emma Thompson from Love Actually and apparently a million other movies (as Torey later pointed out) in a candy shop. We creepily followed her. Debated whether or not to go up to her and ask if it is HER. Not knowing her name at the time me and Christine brave it out as Christine asks "Were you in Love Actually?" Her response was "Well yes I was." We then talked to her for a while. She could not have been nicer. I guess that basically makes us famous then. Poor Monica, the spotter, wasn't there for the convo because she was hobbling behind with her torn up foot from her flats (long walk to Notre Dame).

Later we walked the rest of the city, came back, napped, went for dinner, and now we are back. Not going to do anything too rambunctious tonight because we have an early and LONGGGGG day tomorrow. We have our orientation for ESCP Europe (our place of study). It is supposed to be from 9 am to 6:30 pm. Rough. As long as we get a long lunch break, I'm fine. Expect a long list of complaints and passive aggressive comments for tomorrow's blog post!

Word of the day: eau = water (came in handy tonight at dinner as Torey asked for seconds, don't know how she has picked up on the French accent so well, props)

DAY 2: Twinkle Twinkle Little Eiffel Tower

Biggest discovery of the day: at 6:50 pm the Eiffel Tower lights up and then at every hour after that for 5 whole minutes it TWINKLES. Saying it was beautiful would be an understatement.

Today, Me, Torey, Christine, and Courtney all ventured to the other side of Paris to see the Eiffel Tower. We got there during the day. Seeing it in the flesh really solidified that we are HERE! WE ARE IN PARIS! We wandered around there for the day and a Golden Dome caught Courtney's eye so we decided to follow it. It led us to this old French Military training site which was really pretty! I'm not really an architecture buff but I thoroughly enjoyed it. We then went to a cafe for hot chocolate where we will reach our French Word of the day: chocolat chaud = hot chocolate. It was soooo good I can't even put words to it. After that we went to see the Eiffel Tower twinkle. Going to the Eiffel Tower was a breath of fresh air: TOURIST CENTRAL! We fit in perfectly and it was beautiful. We fit in so well that we were able to spot other Americans (Torey spotted them) and as we passed Torey goes "Hey, are you American?" The response of "Yes" was then celebrated by a "SPOTTED!" from Torey's end. His North Face jacket was a dead give away. He obviously didn't get the same memo as us.

Sidenote from yesterday: Culture Barrier-> the French bag their own groceries, I did not find this out until after I had the lady bag all of my groceries (thanks friends). That explains the dirty and confused looks I got from her. Awkwarddddd. You live and you learn.

Oh and for dinner I had FRENCH ONION SOUP FROM FRANCE! Needless to say, it puts Panera and even Houlihan's to shame. mmmmmm. These places better step up their game if they want me to purchase their soup again.

Well, I best be getting to sleep. We didn't make it out tonight because we were having some hardcore female bonding in Christine and Courtney's room. We broke the cardinal rule #1 and #17 of Accent "No Parties" aka drinking in this place. I'm trusting you guys, don't tell. Well, we all know I didn't partake because I need my liver to get its heal on. Is it February yet? They all went to get crepes (Hey Julie and Amanda! #AfghanCrepeStandMan).

Off to bed! Tomorrow I am experiencing my first mass at Notre Dame! Get excited!

DAY 1 and DAY 2

DAY 1: Out of Commission...

Let's just say my first day was a little rough. I tried to make it on the walking tour and fell ill in the awkward looking green garbage receptacles on the street. I got stared down by some French women. I guess it's not socially acceptable to puke in garbage cans in Paris. You win some. You lose some. I made a friend because I couldn't get into my room. Found a random kid named John, asked him to help me. As he got the door open for me I ran to the bathroom and threw up. I personally think that we hit it off.

On a lighter note, the city is BEAUTIFUL and we are right in the heart of it!

I've also decided to do a French word of the day. I am going to pick one out of my handy Rick Steve's French book (Thanks Davi! I think he could retire with all of the money he made off his travel stuff you bought for me). If I'm feeling adventerous I may pick one out of the Dirty French book my aunt got me from Urban.

Word of the day: la grippe = the flu

DAY 2: Catch Up

This morning we had our orientation with Accent (the dorm/apartment place we are living in). They went over the basic rules and where to get cell phones and our metro passes, etc. So the first thing all 13 of us Americans do is head to Orange (cell phone place) to get them. Surprisingly they were very nice to us Americans and put most of us with the few people that spoke English. Needless to say, if we didn't stick out as Americans already we all got the exact same phone.

We then ate at this little cafe. I only got a croissant but everything looked really good. They were so nice and gave us English menus. Again, I was surprised how nice we were being treated. Then I bought my toiletries and napped and unpacked. I am now waiting for Torey and Monica to get back from shopping to go for dinner (I wasn't feeling up for it yet, that's how you know I REALLY am sick). This immune system better pick up soon! We decided to wait until later today for dinner. As they learned the hard way yesterday, Monica phrased going to dinner before 8 pm as "Showing up early to a party and having to awkwardly talk to the host..."

Word of the day: Parlez-vous anglais? = Do you speak English? (pretty fitting for the day and a necessity)

Au Revoir America

Well, tomorrow is the big day. I will be headed to Paris, France for the semester. I do not speak French, I have never been to France, and I know close to nothing about Paris. This should be a very interesting experience. Luckily, I will have Monica and Torey by my side. We will be there for exactly 4 months: January 12 to May 12.

I just barely conquered my first obstacle of packing as much as possible into two 50 pound duffles, a rolling carry on, and a backpack. The duffles weigh in at 50.66 and 50.78. Yikessss, I better hope the people at Lufthansa are feeling generous. Tonight I got my last wear out of my North Face winter jacket and my Ugg boots. I do not want to be branded as a dumb American tourist before I even open my mouth to attempt the little French I know in my heinous American accent. As hard as I try, the soft "J" in Bonjour just doesn't sound right. Why is it that the French only pronounce half of the word that is spelled out?

More to come after my eight hour plane ride! Au Revoir North Face and Bagels! Bonjour Pea-coats and Baguettes!