Back in Paris!

Well Michael and I are here in the apartment- we got Business Class over! It was great.

Now we've got homemade Spinach and Cheese Lasagna in the oven and a bottle of wine breathing. :-)

Liz is on her way over- in Business Class, no less! I can't wait for here to be over here again- she came in October when I barely knew my way around- not anymore!

We're going to Mass at the Notre Dame tomorrow- that'll be fun. I'll write more when I've got time, bien sur. Praise God for safe travels!

xoxo

Christmas Vacay!

I've been in Colorado the past couple of days. The weather has been really really cold, and it's snowed everyday, but it's gorgeous. I'm finally getting used to being back on skis again and it's been a lot of fun! It's gonna be a white Christmas this year and I couldn't be happier!
Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, we're going ice skating. Then Christmas Day, we're going skiing again for the last time before we leave for home.
This next week is gonna be crazy. The family is going home to FL, then Liz, my mom, and I are flying back to Atlanta on the 28th and I'll continue out to Paris that day. My friend from high school (who coincidentally used to be my math tutor, as well as my "fiance" for this high school musical we were in, lol...we go way back) Michael will be joining me on the flight out! I'm really excited that he's able to come over- he's never been to mainland Europe. Then the 30th, Liz and *hopefully* another friend from Tech (and rival high school) Derrick will arrive from Atlanta and Detroit respectively.
Anyway, I'm really excited for the year to be over- it's been a doozie- both good and bad. I can't wait to see what the new year has in store- another semester abroad interning/studying abroad, then a summer abroad possibly interning, and then my second-to-last semester as a college student! Incroyable! (Sidenote: I registered for classes last week and got ALL the ones I wanted! I was so thankful. I'll be taking 15 hours next semester, but they're pretty laid-back classes....okay, I say that now. I'll write more about them when the semester begins...in March.)
Well, I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season and that no one is ill. It's coming up on the 3rd year anniversary of my grandmother's passing...I can't believe it's been that long. I can still hear her voice, etc. Such a wonderful woman. *sigh*
In an attempt to lighten the mood, let me end this post with saying y'all shoulda been there when Liz was learning to snowboard. Tooooo funny. It would have made even the most uptight person bust out laughing. It was too much. Lol.
Merry Christmas To All And To All A Good Night!

I've moved!

Yeah, I thought this would be a better set up than Xanga, so I'm going to be using this now. The address is stephinparispart2.blogspot.com so I hope you enjoy it!

I'll be putting my old posts on this website as time goes by so you won't have to keep referring back to it.

Hope everyone is having a Happy Christmas!



Here's the link to my other site until I get this one completely working.

http://www.xanga.com/stephinparis

My Last Week In Paris!

Well, that certainly put a bounce in my step. But I found that out at 10:30am, so this week has gone really slowly before then.

Wednesday I had class and work. Nothing absolutely amazing. I did sit in on a meeting with a woman from Tulane and helped answer questions about student life at Sciences-Po. I felt kinda bad because I didn't really sugar-coat anything, but I think it's important that people know what they're getting themselves into when they come here. I would definitely still come here even knowing how difficult it was going to be- in and outside of the classroom.

Thursday was all classes. I went to all of them AND participated in all of them! Incroyable (unbelievable)! I guess I was just feeling talky. Haha. Between classes, John and I went to the Champs-Elysees so I could get pictures of the Christmas decorations. We stopped in at Haagen-Dazs and got a really cool chocolate and strawberry dessert. It was really good, but ice cream isn't the best choice 3 weeks before Christmas. I don't know why I didn't think of that beforehand. *sigh* But it was really good I didn't even care that I was frozen even more when we left. I can't wait till Michael and Derrick (friends from Tech) come for New Year's. We're gonna have SOOO MUCH FUN!

Today, I woke up and went to French, even though I didn't want to. Then I came to work and voila! The e-mail du siecle! It was just me and Isabelle in the office and I started reading and going, "Oh my gosh oh my gosh," and she turned and was like, "What? What is it?!" and I just read the e-mail to her outloud and we were laughing and yelling and making all sorts of American hooplah. Then she said, "Well, are you going to answer him?" Haha. Well of course I did but it looked a little something like this: THANK YOU THANK YOU YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU BYE. I wonder if he understood what I was talking about? Anyway, I'm too excited to even think about anything else. I wonder how many other people he sent that same e-mail to. Hmm...at least I'm here in Paris already. That should be helpful, right?

Okay, well that's all that's going on. I'm sure I had tons to say about this past week, but everything else has PALED IN COMPARISON to what's happened this morning. However, I am going home tomorrow so THAT'S EVEN BETTER!!!

An Interesting E-mail I Received When I Got to Work...

Greetings from Paris:

I am the American Embassy intern coordinator in Paris, France and I wanted to let you know right away that you have been selected for an internship in France.

We need to know if you are still interested in a summer 2008 internship in Paris, or one of our constituent posts throughout France. If so, please note that to begin your internship, you MUST obtain a security clearance. Also, the mission does NOT provide housing so if you accept your internship, you will be obliged to locate and pay for your own housing. Please, do NOT make any concrete travel plan or financial commitments before you have been notified by the bureau of diplomatic security that your interim security clearance has been granted.
As soon as the intern coordinator in Washington has all the information, she will send you the offer letter with more details (procedure for the security clearance, medical/health insurance).

Please let me know as soon as possible if you are willing to commit to a summer 2008 internship in France.

Thank you.

....Um...I was so shocked it took me like 5 mins to register that I actually had to write him back. I can't believe this. God is SO good.

I'm freezing my butt off here and Atlanta is having Second Summer.

Yeah, it's making me pretty crazy having rain everyday as my family tells me that is 75 degrees there and they're sweating in their t-shirt. I don't remember what a t-shirt LOOKS like! Okay, slight exaggeration.

Saturday night I didn't do anything. I read sources for my paper, got them organized into groups and made a rough outline, and then typed my name on the top of the page and called it a day. I guess a lot was going on on Facebook or something.

Sunday, I didn't do much more- surprise. I wrote two paragraphs and decided that a week to write a paper was plenty of time. I did talk to my parents and they were able to get all the treats I sent them through Marie. That made me happy. Unfortunately, Marie had a really hard time getting to Florida, poor thing. My dad was able to help her out some, but she wasn't even in town for 12 hours. So sad.

Yesterday I wrote my paper. Yes, I did it all in one day. Well, excluding the 2 paragraphs I wrote Sunday. This motherfuhrer is 8 pages on the dot. I actually had to make the font smaller to make sure it fit. I'm considering adding an appendix because I talked about a lot of graphs and I don't know if he just wants me to cite it or look at it, too. Either way, I can't believe I was able to finish it. I don't think it's half bad, either! I enjoyed writing it, too. I approached it a completely different way than any other paper I've done, so I think that helped. For starters, I put all my books and articles and computer spread out on my bed. (I've got a really nice big bed so I can do that. )I would work really hard for about an hour (or until I reached a good stopping point) and then take a break so I wouldn't get burned out. I'm having people look over it, but I really think I could turn it in on Thursday! That would be amazing.

Today, I made corrections on my paper. That takes almost as long as actually writing it. I also did my Works Cited and realized I didn't use 2 of the sources I had read. But it's okay, I still had 8 I did use. It made me feel really good to have it done early. This is the most productive I've been. I know the last paper I wrote was done early, too, but this was a bigger paper, making me more productive.

Now I can actually feel good about daydreaming about going home instead of using it as a procrastination tool. So far it looks like I'll be coming home on the 15th of December. I'll be flying directly from Paris to Atlanta, and then down to the beach! Hopefully, I'll be able to have a short layover in Atlanta so I can visit with a friend that's graduating this semester and moving to Texas. He offered to drive up to the airport and I don't know when I'll see him next so of course I gotta take this chance!

Anyway, 3 days till America!! I try to watch a Christmas movie every other night and tonight's special was "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" with Dylan and Cole Sprouse. They played the little boy in "Big Daddy" and the twins in that Disney Show "The Suite Life of Zach and Cody." Anyway, it was a cute movie, not very good acting, but a feel-good movie that got me all in the Christmas spirit!


Also, Robin Meade from CNN got the immense pleasure to become acquainted with my sister the other morning. I'm sure neither of them will ever be the same.

Oh, Champs-Elysees!

Thursday and Friday were good days. Today has been excellent so far. And in 7 days, I'll be in the U.S.

In academic news, I'm working on my paper, but it's definitely slow-going. I went to class on Thursday and had to speak to my French professor about my grade, but it seems as though she doesn't really have a rhyme or reason to how she grades- it's more a subjective grading than actually judging us on how we do on things. I should do okay. I got a solid B on my second paper as opposed to a B-/C+ on my last one! I made a new German friend in my Governing Globalization class. She just recently lost her mom to cancer, and her boyfriend just broke up with her, but she's in a surprisingly good mood. I think she was prepared for her mom and is just mad about the boyfriend. Dumb boys. But we like a lot of the same shows and movies so it was fun to recite The Office quotes during class. My econ professor is also German and can't stand the inefficient technology in France so much he requested a room swap for us. But alas, the projector in that room didn't work either. He just gave up and canceled class after that. Poor guy.

At work, Matthew asked me to be a representative for a conference between bigwigs at Sciences Po and international students, but unfortunately I won't be in France that day. I tried to recommend a few good people I knew would be in town then, but I really would have liked to go. Marie got the American Center a Christmas tree because we didn't have any decorations! All the French people in the office thought she was silly wanting to put lights on the walls and put a wreath on the door so she tried to explain how decorated everything is in the States, but I don't think they really understood. They're used to paying taxes for lights to be put up and stores to be decorated. They do have trees though, but they're really small compared to what's in the States. They're being sold everywhere right now. Yesterday, Marie asked me if I had anything she could take to Florida for my parents and brother, so John and I went to lunch and then Monoprix to get treats. Unfortunately, we dined a bit too long- that French habit is starting to rub off, I guess- and she was already gone! I was so upset, so I called her to see if I could drop them off before her flight and she finally returned my phone call later yesterday night and said I could come by this morning.

So, on a Saturday morning, I woke up at 8:30am. I don't know how I did it. I really don't. I stayed up just a little bit later than I do during the school week but still! It's Saturday! Anyway, I was determined to get these little presents to my family. I called her to make sure it was okay I was still coming and made my way to Rue de la Tour. I was greeted by her whole family. It was so cheery with her Christmas tree and all the kids. Adrian was really sweet and kept hugging and giving me bisous. Probably, I'll steal him when I go home. I think I want to keep him for my own. The girls are a bit shy still, but adorable. I finally met Marie's husband, Benoit. He's very nice, but he does keep to himself. I didn't stay for very long as they were just finishing packing. I left and decided to check out the Parisian morning at the Champs-Elysees- Where else? It was so amazing to be there. I was just overcome with gratefulness and appreciation and absolute wonder that I'm actually here. I walked up and down the Champs just remembering when I'd been there with Victoria when I was but 15, then with my family when I was 17, and then with John a few months ago apartment searching. Anytime I saw something I wanted to look at, I would think to myself, ohh look, the ----- store, oh but it's across the street. Oh WAIT- I don't have to be anywhere! So I would cross the street when I wanted, look at souvenir shops, etc. I did take my time walking around, though. I window-shopped like a local, watching Cartier open their shop and put out the displays, oohing and ahhing over the sparkling jewelry, waiting in line at a bakery for their fresh croissants, and stopping at a cafe for a morning jolt and some time to reflect on this time of year. I finished my Christmas shopping, bought lunch, and went home. I was gone for a good 4 hours. I couldn't believe it! I didn't have my camera, but it was a little cloudy so the pictures wouldn't have done it justice, but I did get close to the Arch of Triumph and get a picture on my phone. What a cool way to spend the morning.

Now on to the paper... My French professor also gave us a paper. It has to be about 3 pages. And it's due Christmas Eve. Isn't that sweet? Nothing like a good paper to spread Christmas cheer. *sigh* C'est la vie.

I knew it would be a good day when I woke up to twinking purple lights...

Yes, that is correct. There are Christmas decorations in the streets (like hanging above them inbetween buildings) and the dominant color in them is purple. Not the most Christmas-y of colors, but since it's purple, it's okay. It was almost too much for me to handle this morning, I was so excited. And now, by this church I pass everyday, are these little small shops that are surrounding the church. They've got everything, sort of like a really fancy flea market: scarves, ties, jewely, dishware, shoes, etc. I love Christmas.

So I'm sitting here at work, and all of the sudden I look out the window and BAM! The Sacre Coeur is staring right back at me. Reality check! It's visible just over the roofs of the old building. Too cool.

Went to class today...looking forward to the end of the semester. This school sure is different! It's a lot harder to succeed, so what's the incentive?? That's all I'm gonna say about that.

I ate lunch with a new friend today so that was fun. She goes to Denver University. It was so nice out today (and relatively warm!) that we ate outside. I even saw sunlight in between a cloud-scattered blue sky! Beautiful!

At work, Marie and I talked about how I can do some more "internshippy" things here, but it's hard because they're so understaffed, the thing they need most is just simple time-consuming office tasks completed. But I appreciate being given other projects besides big piles of paper to copy and file. I'll be working on getting a "Buddy System" together, making t-shirts, hosting events and overall just continuing to integrate American students into Sciences-Po (not to mention talking to the French students about going abroad). I also think I'm going to be working more hours next year. I just hope I can get such a flexible schedule like this semester. That would be lovely for this.

I'm gonna try to finish this paper by the weekend because another one of my professors sorta sprang a new assignment on us- just an outline for the paper due in January, but an outline's practically the whole paper. I had heard him talk about that we could do one but it was never clear that it was a mandatory thing. *sigh* Oh well. It will all work itself out.

My brother passed his driving test! I'm really happy for him...scared for everyone else. Lol. Just kidding, he's prolly a better driver than me. Seriously.

Well, I've got just a little over an hour left in work...yippee!

Photos Added!

I've put up just a few of the pictures I took when I was at the Louvre. I took 90, so I didn't upload them all.

It's rained here almost every day for the past 2 weeks. It sucks. I know a lot more places in the world that could use the rain.

I'm working on a paper right now about the EU-Lisbon Agenda. It's pretty interesting, but it's hard for me not to just summarize and actually analyze. We'll see how it goes.

My (soon-to-be) 16-year-old brother.

So, I don't talk about my brother a lot on here. We don't get to talk as much as I'd like, but he's busy being in high school and taking college courses. He's really busy with CAP and church and everything. Yeah, he's still annoying as all get out, but I think that's a sibling thing, not a character flaw.

Anyway, tonight, my brother and I were on the phone talking about Christmas and his birthday. He got this cool Bluetooth thingamajig that he's been wanting for a long time. I really want to get him something he likes because he's gonna be 16! That's a huge day!

So we were just talking about what each other wanted and then out of the blue, he started asking what my roommate, John, wanted. John and Matt have never met (to my recollection), and here he was asking if he could get something for him! He's always been so thoughtful. That just made me so happy and thankful to be his sister.

If any of you have met my brother, you know that he never thinks about himself. Almost to a fault. Not in a horrible way, it's just that if you ask him what he wants, he'll always make sure that it's something you want, too. He really is an amazing guy. (I was gonna say "kid," but that's not true anymore.)

So, my brother is going to turn 16 in two days. Which means, I'm old. I still remember one day when he was just a tiny little boy hanging out in his Bouncin' and Behavin' airplane. So cute. And one time Liz and I dressed him up in all these girl-y clothes and put make-up on him. Oh man, do we have some blackmail pictures! He would always want to hang out with us during Girl Scouts. He was the cutest little thing, doing gymnastics all over the Heritage Elementary cafeteria while we girls sat in a circle learning how to pin things on our vests, or fill out checks. Then we would call him over and have him say things with LOTS of the "S" sound because of his cute little lisp. (i.e. Sally saw seven slimy snakes slithering south toward the seashore.) Then, all of the sudden, he grew up! Into this annoying little snot-nosed kid that I wouldn't trade for the entire world. Oh yeah, he bugged the crap outta me, lol, but then I went to college and couldn't wait to see him again. He always asks, "How's college?" Not school or anything, just college. In general. And now that he's in collegiate high school, I've begun reciprocating. And he still calls me and Liz "Sissy." Oh, to hear that deep voice call me that just makes me beam with pride. Oh, no, we haven't broken him of that habit. In fact, some of his earliest childhood friends caught on and call us that sometimes. I can't wait to see what kind of man he turns into.

Wow, so that was like mushy gushy. I apologize if you're puking. My B, homes. My B. But I miss him a lot, and I just feel like I talk about my parents, Liz, and worst of all, myself, too much on here. Just had to give a little shout out to the bro (or Creepmaster Supreme as Liz so lovingly calls him).

I've been here for 3 months!

I can't believe how time has flown by here. I think its partially because of the 4-day weekends I have here, but still. 3 months! I'm studying abroad in Paris, I've got a great apartment with an awesome roommate, and I'm interning over here, thanks to my parents for being such Type As!

Thursday I had class...blah blah. But that night was the American Center's Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun! After I got out of my last class I went over to the Center. There was an amazing spread of 3 HUGE turkeys and so many different dishes: mashed sweet and white potatoes, pies, cranberry sauces, and cookies. I saw Marie, and even Adrian came! It was good to see him. He's so sweet. I talked to a couple of people from my classes but unfortunately not many Americans came. I don't know why...and NO other Tech kids were there. I was really surprised. But I had a good time.

Friday I had French and then work. Nothing too exciting. I did find out that one girl in the office is pregnant- 3 months. She's really sweet. That night a few people came over and we watched a movie. I was tired after the past couple of days so I went to bed fairly early.

Yesterday was a lazy day. I just watched movies, ate escargots and a pain au chocolat, drank wine, and vegged. It was beautiful. It was an important landmark in my life so I just sorta took a "personal day". Lol.

Today I woke up, showered, and went to the Louvre! It's free on the first Sunday of every month, so I feel obliged to suck up every last free euro I can over here. It was a lot of fun. I went into the Egyptian/Middle Eastern section and took an obscene amount of photos. I just blended into the crowd. It was really nice. I noticed something about myself though. In really touristy places, I speak French. Not English. I'll usually help at least one group of lost Anglophones each time I visit somewhere, but if I'm just speaking in general, I'll do it in French. I thought that was so odd. Of course everyone would be okay with me speaking English there, but for some reason, my brain reaches for French first. That makes me happy. I've been dreaming more in French, but nothing through the night yet. Which is strange, I think. Oh well, I'll take it.

I've got a paper to write- 7-8 pages. It's due December 15th. Wish me luck.

I can't wait to be back in the States. My family is going skiing in Ski Town, USA in Steamboat Springs, CO! (Yes, that's what it's called. It's trademarked. Lol.)

I'll try to post some of the cooler pics from the Louvre when I get a chance, but for now, it's dinnertime!