I went to Paris! And it was every bit as amazing as I had hoped and known it would be. We did everything possible in one weekend (actually more like we got there 8:00am Saturday and started the grueling eight hour bus ride back 3:00pm Sunday). Happily not so grueling with an Austria friend by your side, a baguette and chips "poulet rôti". Good times French gas stations. The Paris crash course was beautiful and exhausting at the same time. But definitely more me flipping out that this was me... in... Paris. My body was definitely showing signs of exhaustion -- my pictures all look like I had just gotten hit with a garbage truck. I met some Austrian people from ERASMUS, we had a good time and they even attempted to speak Hochdeutsch for my benefit. The Austrian dialect is insane, and I can't even begin to understand how they pronounce those sounds. All my pictures are on Facebook (so if you're not on Facebook and want to see pictures for one reason or another, just ask). The first day, we got to Paris early in the morning, attempted to get breakfast (but 99% of the cafes were still closed, so ended up getting coffee instead), got a bus tour from our bus driver, stepped out for 15 minutes for the Eiffel Tower, got repeatedly harassed by the Eiffel Tower street vendors (as well as when we went for the second and third time), got back in, more bus tour, got to the hostel and set out on our adventure an hour later. We owned Paris. We covered that city so well it didn't even know what to do with us anymore. So much intense walking, sightseeing, taking in Paris with all my senses. We got to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle (with two drunk German girls next to us) from the balcony, had wonderful schoko banane crêpes (you guessed it, I translated and ordered the whole way through and loved it), rode the carousel like little kids, walked down by the Seine... it was a dream. The next day we planned to wake up relatively early and go to Père Lachaise. We woke up early, walked to the cemetery which ended up being basically just down the street from the hostel, searched for Edith Piaf and co. like our lives depended on it .... didn't find anyone. It was frustrating and we felt like idiots because we couldn't even find one single grave. Granted, we found Honoré de Balzac, but our luck stopped there. After deciding to give up, we used one of our last métro tickets and did some last minute sightseeing, like walking up to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower, where we got a real workout and the view was breathtaking. That Sunday afternoon, we foraged Paris for someplace to eat and finally found a Chinese place open, where I also ordered for the both of us. A couple last minute stops at the bakery for a baguette for the way home that was the most delicious thing I have tasted in my entire life and at the small shop across the street for a couple blood oranges (thanks to Niki for the addiction), and we were back on the bus by 3:00 to go back to Freiburg.
Several weeks later, I went to Arburg in the Black Forest to a plastics show with my host parents, and it was fun getting educated in the world of plastics. Unfortunately no one had a camera, but the tiniest plastic parts you never even think about are made in those factories. That same day was Alex's birthday party at his new (and normal) host family's house, where we had dinner and dessert. His host mom was adorable -- she made "real American cheesecake", and I have to say that she did a pretty good job. We went clubbing at Agar and apparently neither Jake, Alex or I were tired because we grabbed a couple beers and went for an early morning walk around his town in the Black Forest. This then led to a YouTube watching party with Shoes ("let's get some shoes") and other recently acclaimed videos. The next day, we hiked up to the church at the top of this hill in Alex's town. The Black Forest and the mountains were incredible, and we could see Freiburg nestled in a valley in the distance. Alex did get me stuck in the "swamps of Buchenbach", but I forgive him, haha.
A few weeks after that... Kelsey came with her Lidl ticket! That was fun, even though it was cold and rainy in Freiburg. Mason, Jake, Kelsey, Alex and I met in Freiburg just as Kelsey was finishing her Black Forest cake and coffee, and went to see Alex's host brother's band that was playing near the Schwaben Tor. We went wandering for a bit in Freiburg and gave Kelsey a short tour of the city. We got döners at the second best place in the city and eventually moved on for coffee and wine at Aspekt, a student café near the university. Kelsey and Jake still had to make it back to Lahr with the regional train, so they left in the late afternoon.
I also started a full-time internship at the Carl-Schurz-Haus, where I was doing the kid's English academies during school breaks, but now I'm working with other interns and helping with the program by making posters and flyers in InDesign, answering the phone, hanging posters around the university and fighting with "Koni", our difficult printer. We have good times, but she can be so headstrong and often has "Papier laufstörungen". It's not my dream job, but it's a start and at least Megan and I keep each other company. My area rep also works there, so if I ever need a recommendation... I know who to ask. In addition to the internship, I'm doing some small things at the Goethe-Institut and tutoring a twelve year old boy once week for an hour in English, mostly in pronunciation.
That's basically everything major that has been going on. I'm applying to schools here as fast as I can. The most convenient would be Regent's College in London, since it turns out, like I mentioned in my last post, that a university I got accepted to in Fall 2008 happens to be connected with the American school at Regent's. If only my area representative would call me back.... stay tuned.
