Tuesday was the most productive I've been since my education at Sciences-Po began. That is to say that I actually did a paper early!! I finished my 2.5 page fairy tale early yesterday evening. It's due Friday! I was so excited to have actually done something...usually my 4 day weekends aren't like that. I've still got tons of reading to do, but it's horribly boring.

I really don't like their method of "teaching" here...for most of my classes its about 50 computer sized pages of reading a week (not really bad...but when you multiply it by 3...), and then during the class the professors say nothing about the reading. But, of course, we're expected to know the main themes of every thing we have read along with everything the professor has said in class as well as be able to compare authors and argue their points during exams. I'm so much more used to the Tech way of school, where the reading is much less than that and you can get a strong B in the class without cracking a book. They tell us what is important during the class instead of making us teach ourselves and being victim to their essay-question tests. *throw up* Oh well, I've got to get it done...and every day I don't read is that much more I have to catch up on...*more puking*

Today I got up and showered and went to class. For some reason my RER took 30 minutes what usually takes 10. I still got to class 20 minutes early. I leave way too early, I've decided. After class, I went to work. Today I spoke a lot of French because Marie has a new (temporary) assistant who speaks very little English. No matter how hard I try to speak French to my colleagues, the best I get is a strange melange of the two. Like, really strange. Thankfully, I understand both languages, and it's good exercise for my mind.

I finally picked the topics for my papers for the rest of the semester. And I bought a book on Amazon to be delivered to my house over the break so I can get to reading it. It was a pretty productive day, and I can't believe it's already Wednesday. Tomorrow is the Thanksgiving Dinner. I've made the delicious American buttermilk biscuits already to drop them off tomorrow afternoon. I really hope this turns out well for the American Center. They're trying so hard to get things organized.

Well, that's about it! Tomorrow's another busy day! This weekend I think I'm having a soiree at my place and then Sunday is the first Sunday in December, so I'll be going to the Louvre for free!

Christmas Time is Here Again!

Hey Everybody!

Well, this is the first weekend I've felt really good. It's been cold here, but it's about the same temperature in Atlanta, so I'm not so miserable.

We didn't win the UGA game, but Chan Gailey is officially gone. I feel bad that he won't have a job now, but I'm excited at the prospect of getting a new coach and maybe beating the Dawgs before I graduate! Maggie and Hal came over so that was a lot of fun. Maggie hadn't been here before, and it was fun to hang out with a girl from Tech. I hope she comes over more to even out the ratio.

Last Friday Marie and I had spoken about her coming over with her children to see the apartment, so I called her on Saturday and invited her for Sunday. She hadn't responded to my message so on Sunday afternoon I called her and she called me back a bit later and said she'd forgotten about her daughter having some birthday parties to go to or something. I was sad she wasn't able to come over, but I hope we can find a time she can! She's been so sweet having me over so many times, not to mention everything else she's done for me.

Anyway, we found mold in the apartment the other day, so we bought a humidifier today. That was a fun 100e to spend. It's purchases like that that make me wonder what the people we're renting from did. Mold seems quite common in French apartments, but they didn't have one. And they had bad mold before- like so bad they had to replace the floors. So, I don't know. It's good that there is a relatively easy fix, but the fact that we have to buy it was frustrating to me. I suppose I should be thankful.

In French, we have to write a fairy tale that we make up. This is what mine is about:

A princess is to be married, but her brother doesn’t like any of the princes she dates so he decides to choose one for her. He is old and the princess doesn’t like him. Ironically, the old prince doesn’t like the princess. The princess then finds a boy she likes, but he isn’t a prince. Well, *fairy tale surprise* actually he is, but just pretending to be normal. They fall in love but she is still engaged to the old guy. The day before the wedding the old one has a heart attack and dies. The young prince tries to save the old one and in turn wins the approval of the brother. But he is still in rags. Once the true identity is known, the brother allows him to marry his sister and the wedding continues as planned. And they live happily ever after in wedded bliss. (What's that?)

So yeah, kinda dumb, but it's a story. I've got to expand it to 2-3 pages. In French. Our professor will be doing one-on-ones with us next week and telling us what level she thinks we should be in next semester. I like the level I'm at right now, but we have a lot of people in the class that are on the lower end of the level, so we're doing some basic stuff, too, instead of advancing a lot. I think I'm in the right level, and most likely will stay in it, but I need to be in a class where the average class level is more advanced. Hope that makes sense. It would be cool if I could go up a level, but I fear I'd just be, as Martine put it, "swimming."

Well, that's pretty much it for now. As my title says, Christmas is just around the corner! I'm so excited! Christmas is my favorite time of year. There are so many decorations around Paris now. And they're like, classy. They're really pretty, mostly white lights, some red, but definitely no blow up Santas or reindeer or anything. But there's a certain feel in the air now. I just LOVE Christmas. And purple. So you can imagine my joy when I heard that as a Christmas present, my wonderful sister purchased me purple Christmas lights!!

PICTURES ADDED!

So I didn't realize I hadn't added pictures since I returned from the States!

Now I've updated all of them. Check 'em out and enjoy!

Almost GAME TIME! I know Hal and Maggie are coming over, and maybe Henri, so I've got brownies in the oven!

What's the Good Word?!

Tonight is the UGA v. GT game! I'm super psyched. We've invited all the GT students over to watch it at our apartment, so I hope they can come. I wanted to ask some of my friends over, but when I asked if they would even be interested in watching some American football they said no. I thought it would be cool, but I understand. I mean, I don't know hardly any of the rules...I can't imagine trying to explain them to someone else. Oh well...their loss. I hope we cream the Dawgs.

Today I woke up early and took Ryan to the airport. The strike is officially over! I was able to take him all the way up to the airport because it is a weekend and my student card allows free travel on the weekends outside Paris center (usually it's about 1,5 euros) which turned out to be a good thing because he would have stood in the wrong line! That made waking up early more worth it. I came back home and cleaned the apartment. Having 4 people in this little space for a week sure does make it dirty. When I was done, I finally realized how big the apartment seemed without them in it, though. It makes me feel a little lonely, especially hearing how much fun everyone had back home. But I was truly blessed to have such a good friend with me this week and I'm thankful. I do appreciate it. Also, I have a roommate, which helps so so much. And Christmas Break is soon so I have that to look forward to!

On a more personal note, I'm finally getting used to being a whole person. What I mean by that is that I'm so used to being half of a set of twins, being alone is a big change. Liz and I are really close, for which I'm thankful, it's just such a strange experience to tell people I have a twin sister and see their reactions. They're more shocked and surprised then in Atlanta where everyone there gets a kind-of epiphany look, like, "Ohh, so you don't change clothes all that often and get around magically fast." Haha.

Well, I said I would post pictures, so that's what I'm going to work on now until the game. Goooooo Jackets!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

Wow! It certainly has been a long time...

This past week has been largely uneventful, so don't be sad: you haven't missed a thing.

The strike is still (!) going on...over a week now, and it's difficult to get most places, but it's definitely getting better. It should be over soon. I'm really surprised at how long it's actually lasted. There have been many strikes during this transportation strike, too- students, professors, the post offices, you name it. For the transportation, as my French teacher explained, the lines that still aren't running (and there are a few), are manned by employees who have worked for decades, so naturally, they aren't coming in to work. They've worked for too many years to be fired now, just before they're of age to receive pension and retirement. The metros that are running normally now are those who are fairly new workers that can't afford to strike too long for fear of losing their job- pretty much an impossible feat in France, but I appreciate the incentive. The worst bit of it is that the main lines that run from way outside Paris to inside it have ony been running inside Paris. This is to say that if anyone lives too too far outside the center has had to take a car in. This creates much more traffic, but the worst of it is that the line that runs to the airport stops and turns around at the line before it! So, all the travellers who desire to visit Paris and want to take the RER in, cannot. There are a few other ways: taxi, bus, etc, but the lines are very long. This takes a toll on the French economy, so strikes, especially one this long, make a lot of people mad. And you don't want to get French people mad...they're already bad-tempered as it is.

Anyway, this week, John's girlfriend Christina, came and they went all around Paris, braving the metro and seeing the sites. She had never been to Paris before, so she got to see a side that many tourists don't get to. Squishing on a train isn't exactly someones idea of a vacation, but you gotta do what you gotta do. At least they saved a lot of money on paying for train tickets. That was lucky. My friend, Ryan, also came over. His dad flies for Delta, so Friday night he decided he was going to come over for a few days and then go back for Thanksgiving with his family. It was such a shock but I was thankful to have a friend over during this time of year. I remember just a few years ago being in Paris with my family for Thanksgiving. Anyway, I suppose the baguettes are too good, or maybe we bought more wine than we thought we could drink in a few nights, because he's still here. I felt bad that he missed the holiday with his family, but I don't think he would have stayed unless it was okay. He's already been to Paris, so we haven't done much sightseeing, more walking around Nation (where he stayed when he was here!), catching up, and even one night we went to a bar with Hal and got a girafe! We've tried renting the bikes that we can ride around Paris but apparently, my card doesn't work always. I've tried multiple times over a few days and succeeded at getting one out, but that's it. And one person riding a bike and the other walking just isn't as fun. Believe me. We tried it. It seems like such a complicated system, but everyone uses them! I guess not many tourists use them as my American cards wouldn't work, either. Oh well.

Wednesday, I was the sickest I'd felt since my arrival. It was just gross. Just felt blah. Didn't look great either. So that was fun for everyone to experience. I slept a lot and miraculously, I feel as good as new now! I don't know what in the world had been going on but I think, well, goodness, I HOPE the worst of it is over!

Thursday, John bought a turkey and Ryan, ever the chef, cooked it up. Then we had cranberry sauce (what's Turkey Day without processed cranberry-flavored jelly?!?!), mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, and some vegetables that cooked with the turkey. It was sooooo good. I took pictures and will put them up. It looked so pitiful compared to what I'm used to at home with so many family members and noise and yummy smells, but it was the best we could do, and for THAT, I'm thankful.

This next week, on Thursday, the American Center is putting on a Pot-Luck Thanksgiving for the North Americans! That's exciting. That's about all thats up with work/internship. It's amazing, I come in Wednesday and Friday, and there's not usually much to do! I get my assignments done, but I suppose they expect me to use a French work ethic and have it take all day, but I'm just like, bring it on! Soon things will pick up and I will have a lot of stuff to do, but right now, I arrive and chat with everyone until they can think of things for me to do! (Not that I'm complaining- I love talking to Marie!)

That's seriously it. I've got papers to write, books to read, and blogs to help me procrastinate. One of my papers is due the 15th of December, the next around the 10th of January, and then the last due on the 23rd. My exams are in February (except for my French one, that's on the 18th of January) on the 7th, 8th, and 13th. Some of my friends are done with their exams on the 9th or so, so they have a whole extra week off for the break! But that's next semester, I've got enough to worry about this semester.

Jackets face the Dawgs on Saturday. I'm already getting my game face on:

And so it begins...

So Tuesday was my last day to be sick. My body definitely took advantage of that. I felt the worst. And, then, of course, couldn’t get to sleep at a decent hour...oh well, enough complaining...on to some grumbling...

Because of the strike I had to find a way to school, so I started looking at different routes and asking people how they’d gotten to school. Then I looked at the website for the metro company and it said that there would be one line running continuously because it is running automatically- no strikers to screw it up! All I had to do was find a way to get there. Ironically enough, one of the maps I was looking at took me right past it! That also cut 30 minutes out of my commute. I got up, showered, and then was on my way. A few people stopped and asked me for directions, so I held out my map and we figured out where they needed to go. None of them said anything about my accent! I finally got to the metro station and was wondering if it was worth it- a lot of twists and turns, but now I could probably do it without a map. I got off at Chatelet-Les Halles, but unfortunately, out of the wrong exit. This is the wrong metro station to get out incorrectly. I was so turned around, all I needed to do was find the Seine and I could follow it to my class. Sadly, all the people I asked for directions were busy, and one man actually walked away from me when I just said, “Excusez-moi, monsieur.” So, after going about 3 blocks away from the Seine, I finally figured out where I was and voila! I looked up and it was like déjà vu. I was at this circle where my family had been a few years ago for Thanksgiving! It was just the weirdest thing, I’d been walking around that area for about 10 minutes, completely turned around, then I recognized it exactly! Also, I’m within a few days of when I was there with my family. Very strange. It was a little ease in the frustration, but I still hadn’t found my way around. Finally I got out of the maze and found the Seine. There’s something about crossing the Seine, looking at the famous buildings and breathing in the air, it’s a calming experience. Because of the angle at which the Seine curves, no matter which bridge you cross, it’s almost always a different view. You see some things that are hidden otherwise, and, like today, I would have missed the Notre Dame had I not known to look for the spires in the right direction. Anyway, I made it to class about 2 minutes late even after all the confusion. I’d felt silly with a map out trying to find my way, but I felt better when people were asking to look at it, too.

I’ve begun working on my presentation that’s due Friday. It shouldn’t be too hard, but I just get nervous speaking in front of the class- no matter what language I’m speaking. My subject is the strike that is going on now. It’s actually quite interesting, but, in my opinion, completely ridiculous. Right now, the age to obtain a lovely pension, for railway workers, metro drivers, and careers like this, is 37.5 years old with the retirement age at 50. Sarkozy, the French president, wants to increase this pension age to 40. And the people are outraged. I don't get it, but it will be something interesting to present on. The strike today had its ups and downs on the way home. The trains were running more frequently than last month, but there were more people- and they were pushy. I finally felt really squished on the metro. It wasn't fun, but oh well.

Work today was different. I finished reading those packets that students had written and Matthew was really surprised that it was done so soon. I wonder if that means I did it wrong? I made some packets for the Center to send to an American University and (I think) he was impressed. I'm also really fed up with the computers having Internet Explorer 6.0 and asked him if I could have the Administrator password to upgrade the computers to Internet Explorer 7.0. He was like, woah woah woah, this is Europe, slow down! Haha. I'm there for 5 hours, I mean, sure I could do my homework there, but is that what he really wants me to do? I'd just feel bad doing that, getting paid to do homework. Sheesh. Am I blessed or what? After we talked, I was able to go home an hour early because he didn't have any thing for me to do! That's nice, as I've got plenty to do.

Oh yeah, and I saw 2 of my professors from my IPE class during work and talked to them in person about my grade and if I should do it again and they both said why not? I think it will help that they know me not only as a girl in their class but as an employee of the American Center. I just hope they don't call on me in class or anything when I'm not prepared!

I'm exhausted (thankfully), but it's only 7:30pm. I have French class at 8am, but I think the strike will have eased up a lot. It's not as strong as the last one. Anyway, I'm just going to be finishing up my project and then bed!

A Case of the Mondays

Well, this weekend has been a total bust. I've slept through 75% of it. I don't really feel good. So, really, there's nothing to update on that.

I did find out a few things:
1) Even though there is the strike going on, my classes aren't cancelled. Great. I just hope it's not raining. I don't mind the walk, it's beautiful, but cold, and rain would just be the worst.
2) I got 2 grades back recently- my big IPE paper and my little French paper. I didn't do awesome in my opinion, but the professors I've spoken to told me not to expect much better. It's almost impossible to get an A here. I think I'm going to write another paper for IPE. I can't get a lot higher grade, but it's 30% of my final grade, and since I have the opportunity, I may as well take it.
3) One of my professors just told me we have a paper due in less than a month, but he hasn't told us our topics yet. I've written him and asked for an extension. I don't think that's fair he expects us to write this paper that quickly, when we have other papers and assignments due that we've known about for a longer time. We'll see what he says, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
4) Christina, John's girlfriend, is coming over on Wednesday! I'm excited to see her! I just hope she can get here okay with the strike and all.

That's it for now. Sorry there's not more to write. Please pray for a speedy recovery for me and energy to get a lot of work done, as that was what I was supposed to be doing this weekend, and also for me not to stress too much over these upcoming weeks. Thank you!

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

Well these 3 days have been the longest ever. I'm definitely not caught up on sleep, but once I'm done with class and work, I'm past the point of exhaustion and have found my second wind, making it hard to get to bed early. It's a vicious circle.

Wednesday I had class and then I went to work where I met with Matthew, my boss, and he gave me a few tasks to do. I work for 10 hours a week, but the tasks he gave me took, um, maybe 2 hours. So then he gave me some reading he needed done. Haha. I'm getting paid to read. Loves it. I did speak French to a few students about universities, but right now they have to narrow down around 80 schools in North America to 6. Matthew is helping them do that right now according to their grades, level of English, etc. Then I'll talk to them about their revised choices later. I was dog tired after getting out of work at 6:15pm but the metro ride refreshed me so I was wide awake when I got home. John and I tried to make stirfry but we couldn't get it exactly right. It was still good, though. Definitely not like my dad's amazing sitrfry, sadly. I took a shower and thankfully that made me tired enough to get some sleep. I couldn't believe I was away from my apartment from 9am-7pm. I used to not even be awake for that many hours.

Thursday was another long day. But just of classes. I also had a tutorial session, which is just a review session for a class. Unfortunately, all of my classes set the same day and time for their tutorials, so evey Thursday from 2:45-4:45 I have to choose which one to go to. Thankfully, I have friends in each of them so I can get notes from them. So now on Thursdays my only break from class/tutorial is 10am-12:30pm and then I'm done for the day at 7pm. In French we talked about the upcoming strike- it's supposed to be even worse than the last one. It will start at 8pm on Tuesday the 13th and then be "renewed" every 24 hours until they get what they want. And by they, I mean the transportation department and they want to lower the age of retirement- to 50. Now, I don't know what all goes into these careers, but those I do see aren't doing anything too strenuous- driving buses, metros, taxis. Not too difficult in my opinion. And a full time job is only 35 hours a week, how much less work do they want? Oh, French culture. I love it so. It's such a bad influence on me. But this strike isn't going to help anything. Some professors cancel class. Others, like my French professor, expect you to be on time, if not earlier than usual because you determine when you arrive. Usually, half the students don't show up and blame it on the strike and it's generally accepted, but the professor wastes everyone's time by having lecture because he just has to go over it again the next week to catch everyone up. It's been rumored that even the city's supply of bicycles (Velib) will be locked so everyone must walk or drive their own car or bike. My tutorial for my International Economic Relations class was right after my Governing Globalization course and right across the hall in the same building. Only 6 people showed. I was the only Anglophone. So, we had our tutorial in French. Now, I understand most economic principles in English, so it wasn't that bad; I was actually impressed with how much I understood, but I hope that it doesn't contine this way. Speaking a different language is tiring and I still had another class to go to. It became hard to concentrate. Hopefully it will get better. After my last class, I went home and we were still tired so John and I went shopping online again, had dinner, and then went to bed.

Today was the shortest, but it was the coldest. I'd been wearing my new peacoat (Thanks, Mom and Dad!) and a scarf and be all bundled up on Wednesday and Thursday but it was kind of rainy, so it was just a little warmer. Today, though, it was beautiful out. No clouds, sun shining, but a cold wind blew all day. Not exactly the best day to be leaving extra layers at home, as I did. I lived, though. I had French from 8-10 and then work. All I did today was the reading. Not too bad. What he's giving me to read are these packets, almost, of Sciences-Po student's study abroad experiences. So these students go to Canada or the U.S. for a year, then come back and write over 10 pages on everything from how to get your visa, to getting around campus, to registering for classes, to which restaurants students frequent and what the most popular dishes are. Looks like something I really want to do for Tech students coming over here. So, anyway, what I do is I read only a few parts: the introduction, the section on classes (which ones they took), and the conclusion. Then I determine if this person has a good or bad attitude, because the point of all this is to post these informational packets on the Sciences-Po website for students to peruse and gain knowledge about certain universities. Most are good and I can tell that the student really had a good time and enjoyed the classes. Some are not what I would want to read if I was trying to decide where to study abroad. For example, this one person (who shall remain nameless, mainly because I've forgotten it) decided to go into a little rant about the level of education that North Americans attain in college and how much lower it is than in France and why they don't understand why they rule the world and the French don't. Another told the reader straight up that he thought Sciences-Po should discontinue their exchange program with the university he attended. And yet another explained to the reader how grades could be changed just by appealing to the sympathy of the professor or TA. He gave an example, saying, he'd gotten a 58% on a test and spoke with the TA and had it changed to a 75%. Now, I think that's great if it's possible, but students shouldn't base their decisions on how easy it is to coerce a professor into changing their grades. Matthew and I get a kick out of some of these students because it's just so sad. It seems like they had a horrible time and can't say anything about the classes except they were located in "dimly lit rooms." Anyway, I worked from 10:30am-1pm and then took a half hour break to eat lunch. Of course, Matthew was so surprised when I was done so quickly, as he assumed me to be gone for over an hour. Come on- how long does it take to eat a sandwich? I got back and then John came to visit after his classes and stayed until I got off at 4pm. We went to McDonalds because they're playing the UNO game, like the Monopoly game in the States. People are just as obsessed with them here as over there. This little kid was asking everyone if they wanted theirs and if not if he could have them. I'd already given mine to this other woman who looked like she wanted them, but I would have rather given them to the boy. He was cuter. It was confusing at first because he'd asked and I didn't understand what he wanted so I had to point to the sticker and ask if that's what he was talking about. It made me feel good that he thought we were French. Lol. It's the little things. I was invited to a potluck dinner/party tomorrow night at a girl's apartment and I'm really excited. There will be lots of French students there so I can practice my French and make some more friends! I'm taking brownies as my contribution.

Well, it's time for bed! Good night!

Back from America!

Well, I haven't really been writing much...but that's because I was in the States! I had an amazing time, but I'm ready to start school again...and my new job! Here's a little update of what happened before I left and then some of today and my trip...

Wednesday afternoon I met with Isabelle and Matthew Thomas (an employee at the American Center) and I was hired! I filled out forms and spoke briefly with Matthew about what I'll be doing. Basically, the application process for French students is in full swing and they need to narrow down their choices for universities in America. That's where I come in. Matthew and I will be "advising" them on their choices together. I'm really excited and I hope it will go well...it will just take some time to adjust to French employment, I think. I'm glad I had a job over the summer, though, especially because the copier is the same here! Haha, yes, that is what I'm most excited about. Go figure. I start tomorrow (the 7th) and will be working Wednesdays and Fridays for 5 hours each day. I'll be exhausted by the end of each day, but I'll still have a 4-day weekend to go travelling!

Thursday I finished up my classes, even though I was so excited about going home. It was torture. But I still had a lot to do, so I couldn't just daydream about big cars, sweet tea, or the beach just yet. I got home and packed, showered, and waited for the morning. I also had a paper to write for French which I got done after hours of procrastinating.

Friday morning I left France. I got Business class going to Atlanta and couldn't be more blessed. I had a wonderful week in America and brought back lots of goodies, like Ranch dressing! They don't make it here. So sad. I did a lot during my week there, but here are some of the highlights: went to my mom's 50th birthday party in Florida (and it was a blast! I got to see soooo many people, some I'd known since I was in elementary school!), got to go to a Georgia Tech football game (even though we lost), saw lots of friends (!!), went out to real American restaurants, and took advantage of the ridiculous exchange rate aka went shopping like crazy with Liz!

I left Atlanta on Monday afternoon and flew to Cincinatti and then out to Paris- business class again! I was absolutely floored. I couldn't believe my luck! I wouldn't have gotten to France if I stayed in Atlanta, so that is why I had to go to Cincinatti. It was a wonderful flight, and arrived this morning (Tuesday).

I had one more bag than I left with so I had to check it, and it got here! That was an amazing thing in itself! Unfortunately, I was carrying some glass with liquid in it and it broke all in my bag, but it was in a separate section so none of my clothes were ruined. Thankfully! I unpacked when I got home and took a short nap, and then cleaned around the apartment. John came home around 11pm and now it's wayyy past my bed time! I'll put some pictures up later. Night!