Ok so in the order in which these events took place: Also: Long post ahead! Take it slow, folks :)
On Thursday, 22nd September, myself, Gergely, Peter and Jack went to visit this museum called Musee d'Orsay. It's basically a museum of impressionist artwork, mainly paintings, some sculptures and oddly enough, furniture. We spent about 2 hours walking around it, but no picture-taking was allowed, so no pictures, soz guys! It was a really cool place though, there were some really good pieces in there, and also some with pointillism in it. Why in the world someone would wanna make a pointillist piece of art is beyond me. But the others were really nice. After that the two guys came over to our place for a visit, and that's when we bought our Milan tickets (see below).
Next day, TGIF, though almost everyday's like Friday for me seeing as I should be but am not studying. Myself, Jack, Phyllis, Peter and this other Chinese-Indonesian-Aussie guy called Ie Wen went to the Champ de Mars, which is this big sprawling garden right before the Eiffel Tower, at about 730pm, with baguettes, cheese, ham and of course, cheap French wine. The view was great, there were these African/Arab guys illegally selling beers, wines and little Eiffel Towers as they usually do and the company was really fun as well. Ie Wen is a really funny guy, Chinese face with Aussie accent and we were talking about all kinds of silly things like Remi Gaillard, this incredibly funny French guy who makes the craziest vids on youtube and also we got to teaching each other words in Hungarian, Tamil and Bahasa. Then we walked home :)
On a side note, I realise I have more fun hanging out with these friends without my roomies around (or at least just the girl) because her way of talking, behaving can be so annoying and insensitive. Very strong Singaporean accent that just irks me and she has this habit of complaining to herself aloud about everything (like I care) and says really insensitive things sometimes like this once I offered our collective stash of milo packets to this friend who stayed the night, and first thing she says, in front of him is, "I was saving the milo for winter". That's fine I get it, good plan actually, but not in front of the guest I just offered some too. She sleeps superrr late at night, almost 5am and sleeps all through the day so me, being sensitive, go out of my way trying not to make so much noise. Which is plain stupid cos it's the daytime already and normal people have to do stuff in the day. I really hope we don't end up fighting one of these days.
And finally yesterday, Saturday, the same 3 guys and me went to up this hill called Montmartre with this really beautiful church on top of it called Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart). Brought some wine and cheese and this time I started drinking alot again. Luckily there was this big public washroom nearby so I could just use that (for a fee of one euro) hehe. And sadly, this time I puked ALOT, and twice, once by some bushes up the hill and the second time in the frikkin metro station, aiyo soo embarrassing.
And here's the most interesting part of this whole post!: Drunk me flirts with Gergely quite a bit. And it's cool (and a relief) that he flirts back. It was so cute when he offered to piggyback me down the hill and even in the metro station and back home. Nothing happened, I guess cos the other 2 guys were around, but yea, the two of us were pretty "close" the rest of the night. He came back to our place ( I don't know if it was cos he was too tipsy to cycle home or cos he just wanted to make sure I was okay). Strange though, how even after puking in front of him, and last week falling backward from a chair at his place, he still likes me and doesn't think me an idiot :P
This morning I texted him saying I was sorry for behaving so stupidly last night and he replied saying there was no need for me to apologize, hoped I was okay and suggested the two of us should hang out alone sometime. Yay hehe :D
And here's another interesting fun fact. While I was too tipsy to notice, Jack and Gergely went to find one of those Arab/African dudes selling some herbs ifyouknowwhatimean and did NOT have some after that ;)
Sunday 25 September 2011
We're going to Milan!!
Yes indeed, between the 6th and 9th of October. Myself, Gergely, Peter and Jack and guess what? We'll be couchsurfing! Have never done that before so I'm hoping this first time will give me the courage to do it more often in the future. Good thing to have come into the world, couchsurfing. I'm so thrilled because Italy were definitely one of the places I'd wanted to visit since coming here, and my dreams will come true! The food especially, can't wait to eat their fooooood.
Also going to Luxembourg next weekend (1st to 2nd Oct) with my roomie Phyllis. That was a very spontaneous decision and while Jack turned down the opportunity because of his budget (snore), I decided to grab life by the balls and buy my train ticket. Don't know much about Luxembourg except that it's a very small country, wealthy, and with the usual nice European architecture. Probably colder than France too.
Aaand while I'm on the topic of travelling, my mum and Greggles will be meeting me in Barcelona during the semester break between Oct 31 and Nov 6! Can't wait for that but most of all to see them again :) But of course planning trips with my mum can get quite frustrating because we don't agree on hotels, prices, flights etc, and for some reason she's given me the responsibility of picking the hotel. Used to be my parents' job, but guess it's mine now. Hopefully I pick one she likes.
Ok and next blog post coming up.....right after this!
Wednesday 21 September 2011
The Rastafarian
Parisien Rastafarian to be exact. So let me explain. I spruced up my couchsurfing account recently, and by the next day received a couple of emails from locals offering to take me around town. One of them was this guy called Eric, seemed nice enough, asked if i would like to meet at this area called Bastille--lots of cafes, pubs, restaurants and lots of lights and activity going on there. And in Paris, where there's activity, there are weirdos.
So i didn't know exactly what he looked like, just knew that he was 35, had hosted like a lot (like 100+) people before, had a lot of positive references from them, but also some really bad ones like Girls Beware! So i thought, what the heck why not.
Got to Bastille, gave him a call and a few minutes later this tall, gangly man rode up on a bicycle. He had a full beard, a big, round white rasta hat, looked Jewish, behaved Jamaican but was full French. We shook hands and took a short walk around the area just introducing ourselves etc. All the while I was surprised why no one was staring at such a strange pairing of a tall white Rasta man and a comparatively tinier, amused-looking Indian girl. He suggested going up to his flat so he could make me a vege burger (but of course, he was vegetarian) and at first I said I preferred not to, but he said he hadn't eaten all day and even made a pit-stop at the supermarket to buy bread, tomatoes, lettuce and vege patties, so in the end i was like okay lah what the heck.
So we went up to his flat which was sooo incredibly tiny, and i realised what a simple life he led. Asked him what he did for a living and he said he sold/exchanged old vinyl records (Reggae music, of course). I didn't ask if it was legally or illegally. Couldn't have made much from it seeing how small his place was. Then he spent about 30 minutes slowly frying his vege patties and cheese slices over a small stove and carefully adorning the burgers with precisely sliced tomatoes and cucumbers and potatoes. And we ate for the next 15 minutes, continuing our conversation about countries we've visited, people we've met etc. He said he's never been to Asia, but been to Mali, Somalia and elsewhere in Africa + Morocco+ lots of places in Europe.
Grand finale. The Marijuana. Not me though, just him. Said he was addicted. I guess that was my cue to say i had an early class and leave. Which he took well and walked me back to the metro, shook my hand and asked if we could meet again. I said we'll see. Overall, the guy is what most would call eccentric. Unconventional. doesn't live by the rules, makes up his own and doesn't give a damn what people think of his lifestyle, job, beard.
Told my roomie Jack about him and he was like "daaammn i wanna meet this guy!". Respect.
So i didn't know exactly what he looked like, just knew that he was 35, had hosted like a lot (like 100+) people before, had a lot of positive references from them, but also some really bad ones like Girls Beware! So i thought, what the heck why not.
Got to Bastille, gave him a call and a few minutes later this tall, gangly man rode up on a bicycle. He had a full beard, a big, round white rasta hat, looked Jewish, behaved Jamaican but was full French. We shook hands and took a short walk around the area just introducing ourselves etc. All the while I was surprised why no one was staring at such a strange pairing of a tall white Rasta man and a comparatively tinier, amused-looking Indian girl. He suggested going up to his flat so he could make me a vege burger (but of course, he was vegetarian) and at first I said I preferred not to, but he said he hadn't eaten all day and even made a pit-stop at the supermarket to buy bread, tomatoes, lettuce and vege patties, so in the end i was like okay lah what the heck.
So we went up to his flat which was sooo incredibly tiny, and i realised what a simple life he led. Asked him what he did for a living and he said he sold/exchanged old vinyl records (Reggae music, of course). I didn't ask if it was legally or illegally. Couldn't have made much from it seeing how small his place was. Then he spent about 30 minutes slowly frying his vege patties and cheese slices over a small stove and carefully adorning the burgers with precisely sliced tomatoes and cucumbers and potatoes. And we ate for the next 15 minutes, continuing our conversation about countries we've visited, people we've met etc. He said he's never been to Asia, but been to Mali, Somalia and elsewhere in Africa + Morocco+ lots of places in Europe.
Grand finale. The Marijuana. Not me though, just him. Said he was addicted. I guess that was my cue to say i had an early class and leave. Which he took well and walked me back to the metro, shook my hand and asked if we could meet again. I said we'll see. Overall, the guy is what most would call eccentric. Unconventional. doesn't live by the rules, makes up his own and doesn't give a damn what people think of his lifestyle, job, beard.
Told my roomie Jack about him and he was like "daaammn i wanna meet this guy!". Respect.
Sunday 18 September 2011
Hung(a)ry in Paris!
Ok so lame pun about all the Hungarian friends i've been making in Paris. It's funny cos when I mentioned that "joke" to one of them, he was like "Oh that joke is so original, i've never heard one like that before!" which made it very funny actually.
So i've taken more photos since the last time! But my camera somehow managed to die, dunno how, not like it was overworked or anything, heh.
So past week, i've met more hungarians then ever, i guess cos we met one, and he intro-ed us to his friends who intro-ed us to more, and hence expanded the hungarian web. Interesting that it's happening to me though, or perhaps it's because when I tell them i've lived in Hungary for a while and can share with them my impressive (hehe) Hungarian vocab, it makes for good conversation.
So on Thursday night, we headed to a club on the ground floor of the Montparnasse tower, the tallest tower in Paris with the bunch of Hungarians and i forgot to bring my ID but one girl who also had curly hair offered to lend me hers and the stupid (or maybe just overwhelmed) bouncer didn't even notice. This was a really big club with alot of gay Italian men in tight shirts, it was quite funny actually cos some of them were so flamboyant. There was also this cute blond Hungarian friend who i was hanging out with quite abit, His name is Gergely, and it's cute cos it's pronounced Ger-go, but i just say Gergely cos it sounds like Gargling. Hahaha. And he got very drunk but managed to walk all the way back from the tower to our appartment, just to accompany my friend and me. and then he rode a bike all the way back to his place, took him 30 minutes and apparently he banged into several (stationary) cars on the way. such a funny fella.
And then next day is from when these pictures below were taken. Gergely, Jack, another two Hungarians called Peter and Dory and I met at the Place de la Concorde and just randomly toured some spots around Paris. First the Jewish street, then the George Pompidou building, which is just a big museum of sorts, and then to the Bois de Boulogne Park which is very wide with a big lake in the middle, full of trees and long, winding paths in between and we just walked and took random turns and came across nice things like horses, acorns, and old men playing some weird ball game.
These Hungarians that I met reminded me so much of last year and especially of the impression that I had of Hungarians--that they really knew their history and are very intelligent. So i kept hearing stories about how Paris was built, it's history, for example--did you know that the Parisiens hated the Eiffel Tower when it was first built because they found it to be an eyesore? And also that when the Germans invaded France, Hitler was too lazy to climb and conquer the Eiffel Tower so the Germans just left it be without destroying it as they had planned? Awesome stuff huh.
And then in the evening, after dinner at the most budget place in the world where foods from each course carry a certain number of "points" and after you fill your tray with whatever combination of starters, mains, desserts you want, the points=how much in euros you have to pay. I paid 3 euros for a whole pizza, a bowl of couscous (kuskus?) and a coconut cheesecake!
After that we went to Gergely's appartment and drank some different wines and played this Italiam game called Bang! which was super-complicated at first but then got easier and more fun. There was sheesha as well, apple-flavoured, which was good, and also more card games after. All was good until I fell backwards from my chair, which was so embarrassing for me at the time but now i keep laughing when i think about it. Especially when Jack says in his deadpan voice, "So drunk until you fall down..." which i wasn't of course, the chair was just hammocky and weird.
And this time, when I really had to pee, I found a restaurant toilet to pee in, albeit the men's room.
So i've taken more photos since the last time! But my camera somehow managed to die, dunno how, not like it was overworked or anything, heh.
So past week, i've met more hungarians then ever, i guess cos we met one, and he intro-ed us to his friends who intro-ed us to more, and hence expanded the hungarian web. Interesting that it's happening to me though, or perhaps it's because when I tell them i've lived in Hungary for a while and can share with them my impressive (hehe) Hungarian vocab, it makes for good conversation.
So on Thursday night, we headed to a club on the ground floor of the Montparnasse tower, the tallest tower in Paris with the bunch of Hungarians and i forgot to bring my ID but one girl who also had curly hair offered to lend me hers and the stupid (or maybe just overwhelmed) bouncer didn't even notice. This was a really big club with alot of gay Italian men in tight shirts, it was quite funny actually cos some of them were so flamboyant. There was also this cute blond Hungarian friend who i was hanging out with quite abit, His name is Gergely, and it's cute cos it's pronounced Ger-go, but i just say Gergely cos it sounds like Gargling. Hahaha. And he got very drunk but managed to walk all the way back from the tower to our appartment, just to accompany my friend and me. and then he rode a bike all the way back to his place, took him 30 minutes and apparently he banged into several (stationary) cars on the way. such a funny fella.
And then next day is from when these pictures below were taken. Gergely, Jack, another two Hungarians called Peter and Dory and I met at the Place de la Concorde and just randomly toured some spots around Paris. First the Jewish street, then the George Pompidou building, which is just a big museum of sorts, and then to the Bois de Boulogne Park which is very wide with a big lake in the middle, full of trees and long, winding paths in between and we just walked and took random turns and came across nice things like horses, acorns, and old men playing some weird ball game.
These Hungarians that I met reminded me so much of last year and especially of the impression that I had of Hungarians--that they really knew their history and are very intelligent. So i kept hearing stories about how Paris was built, it's history, for example--did you know that the Parisiens hated the Eiffel Tower when it was first built because they found it to be an eyesore? And also that when the Germans invaded France, Hitler was too lazy to climb and conquer the Eiffel Tower so the Germans just left it be without destroying it as they had planned? Awesome stuff huh.
And then in the evening, after dinner at the most budget place in the world where foods from each course carry a certain number of "points" and after you fill your tray with whatever combination of starters, mains, desserts you want, the points=how much in euros you have to pay. I paid 3 euros for a whole pizza, a bowl of couscous (kuskus?) and a coconut cheesecake!
After that we went to Gergely's appartment and drank some different wines and played this Italiam game called Bang! which was super-complicated at first but then got easier and more fun. There was sheesha as well, apple-flavoured, which was good, and also more card games after. All was good until I fell backwards from my chair, which was so embarrassing for me at the time but now i keep laughing when i think about it. Especially when Jack says in his deadpan voice, "So drunk until you fall down..." which i wasn't of course, the chair was just hammocky and weird.
And this time, when I really had to pee, I found a restaurant toilet to pee in, albeit the men's room.
Saturday, 17th Sept, the great Walk around, inside, outside, in between Paris!
Wednesday 14 September 2011
I don't know why I haven't been taking many pictures
Strange, but i thought i'd be taking more. I guess part of it is because people here just don't take many pictures in general, least of all my roomates. People here are just very "cool", like, they have this "cool" air about them that seems simply effortless. Or maybe it's because i have another 3 months here and there will be plenty of opportunities to take pictures. Or maybe i'm just lazy.
So since the last time I blogged, i went to a boat party with my cousin and her 2 friends. Crowd was pretty old, some of the people I met were 25-30. View was awesome and the drinks were good as well. We could get 3 caramel shots for 10 euros~ 16 SGD. And it was also cool that on that day, Sept 10th, the eve of a decade since 9/11, they had built these two makeshift twin towers and a stage for the concert the next day with the sign "The French will Never Forget". Felt pretty amazing to be part of that moment in a country that doesn't just say they care but does something to prove it.
Also hung out with my other cousins here. Went to have crepes last Tuesay--I think the first one was chicken and then we had a nutella crepe for dessert. Wow, everything from the wrap to the meat to the veges to the sauce, the chocolate (even the temperature of the chocolate) to the whipped cream was so damn good, i think it's the best meal I've had so far. And so Sunday went to Versailles to meet an uncle and the grandma, and had the first indian home-cooked meal here :) And just came home from meeting another cousin, watched super 8 ( i didn't get it) and had some Lebanese food (sort of like a meat and vege wrap that was also really awesome and some Lebanese dessert that looked like Turkish delight and another thing called Halva) and took a walk around some part of Paris. Sorry i don't know the name of the food or the place! :P
Other than that, I really love this new appartment. Need to clean and do own laundry and cook and do grocery shopping etc, but it's comfy and cosy and good to come back to after a day out :)
So since the last time I blogged, i went to a boat party with my cousin and her 2 friends. Crowd was pretty old, some of the people I met were 25-30. View was awesome and the drinks were good as well. We could get 3 caramel shots for 10 euros~ 16 SGD. And it was also cool that on that day, Sept 10th, the eve of a decade since 9/11, they had built these two makeshift twin towers and a stage for the concert the next day with the sign "The French will Never Forget". Felt pretty amazing to be part of that moment in a country that doesn't just say they care but does something to prove it.
Also hung out with my other cousins here. Went to have crepes last Tuesay--I think the first one was chicken and then we had a nutella crepe for dessert. Wow, everything from the wrap to the meat to the veges to the sauce, the chocolate (even the temperature of the chocolate) to the whipped cream was so damn good, i think it's the best meal I've had so far. And so Sunday went to Versailles to meet an uncle and the grandma, and had the first indian home-cooked meal here :) And just came home from meeting another cousin, watched super 8 ( i didn't get it) and had some Lebanese food (sort of like a meat and vege wrap that was also really awesome and some Lebanese dessert that looked like Turkish delight and another thing called Halva) and took a walk around some part of Paris. Sorry i don't know the name of the food or the place! :P
Other than that, I really love this new appartment. Need to clean and do own laundry and cook and do grocery shopping etc, but it's comfy and cosy and good to come back to after a day out :)
Friday 9 September 2011
Dessert Night!
The one week mark
Today marks the first week i've spent in Paris. Many observations made, about myself, Singaporeans and....yeah mainly those two things.
So i've realised that i'm an introvert at heart. I do like meeting people, but I like spending time with the few people i love even more. Something about socializing every day, constantly dishing out the small talk to people is very tiresome to me. I find i don't really like people who are able to move on from friend to friend fast, because they don't seem to treasure each individual relationship with a person as much as they treasure having as many relationships as possible. I do, at the end of this exchange, want to have made many new friends like I did in Hungary-those guys i really came to like- but so far, all the small talk is just getting too much for me. Oh well but then again, tomorrow is a new day, who knows if my opinion will change :)
On a random note, living with two roomies who have a girlfriend and boyrfriend, with whom they constantly skype with makes me miss the old times. I know and i've told myself that i'm not going to let myself feel those feelings about my ex anymore cos of what he did, but i really can't sometimes. Especially today 9th Sept 2011, when a few of us went to Notre Dame and St Michel, wow i was suddenly feeling overwhelmed with the memories and started feeling so emo. And of all bridges to walk across, we just had to cross the love bridge or whatever they call it, where couples put locks along the bridge and throw the key into the river....damn.
Besides the sad/emo stuff (Paris really brings out a lot of emotions in you) last night we hung out with this Hungarian guy (see i'm so fond of them now haha) with 3 bottles of wine and cheese along La Seine river. We were just talking and drinking and i guess i hadn't eaten much that day so i got the high feeling sooner. But that was fine cos i like that feeling anyway. Then my friend was smoking and for some reason i felt like smoking too so i asked him for a couple of puffs. first time. didn't cough or anything. wouldn't mind trying again. then the drinks filled up my bladder and i had to go really bad so i went with my girl friend and i actually peed by a tree. and then again behind a car. never done that before either. don't pity the guy who probably came for his car the next morning haha. then we drank some more and before i knew it i couldn't walk in a straight line (guys, you know me right, when have i every been unable to walk in a straight line!! usually i can right!) shit but this time according to my roomies i was "zig-zagging" everywhere, and don't think they'll let me forget it. Can't really remember walking home or showering or putting on my pajamas and falling asleep, props to me. Then i puked too, i think i remember waking up at 430 am to go and puke again. Next morning I couldn't eat a thing, kept feeling nauseous, but eventually managed to pull myself together, and make some notes on Winch's "The Universalizability of Moral Judgement". Props man, props.
Oh yea and the thing about Singaporeans: Whenever another exchange student asks us what we think of Paris so far, I want to say something like "The city is beautiful, i actually don't mind walking around it alone and getting lost in it". but the other two usually say "French administration sucks...everyone's so slow and inefficient at the university...you can't get what you need without doing alot of other shit first...blahblah" And i'm thinking, damn, Singaporeans always find something to complain about. Even in Paris.
Well, I wanted something quintessential, and I guess peeing behind a tree like a hobo, smoking along the Seine, "dining" on French wine and cheese along said river and missing your old love in the city of love definitely count. DAMN :)
So i've realised that i'm an introvert at heart. I do like meeting people, but I like spending time with the few people i love even more. Something about socializing every day, constantly dishing out the small talk to people is very tiresome to me. I find i don't really like people who are able to move on from friend to friend fast, because they don't seem to treasure each individual relationship with a person as much as they treasure having as many relationships as possible. I do, at the end of this exchange, want to have made many new friends like I did in Hungary-those guys i really came to like- but so far, all the small talk is just getting too much for me. Oh well but then again, tomorrow is a new day, who knows if my opinion will change :)
On a random note, living with two roomies who have a girlfriend and boyrfriend, with whom they constantly skype with makes me miss the old times. I know and i've told myself that i'm not going to let myself feel those feelings about my ex anymore cos of what he did, but i really can't sometimes. Especially today 9th Sept 2011, when a few of us went to Notre Dame and St Michel, wow i was suddenly feeling overwhelmed with the memories and started feeling so emo. And of all bridges to walk across, we just had to cross the love bridge or whatever they call it, where couples put locks along the bridge and throw the key into the river....damn.
Besides the sad/emo stuff (Paris really brings out a lot of emotions in you) last night we hung out with this Hungarian guy (see i'm so fond of them now haha) with 3 bottles of wine and cheese along La Seine river. We were just talking and drinking and i guess i hadn't eaten much that day so i got the high feeling sooner. But that was fine cos i like that feeling anyway. Then my friend was smoking and for some reason i felt like smoking too so i asked him for a couple of puffs. first time. didn't cough or anything. wouldn't mind trying again. then the drinks filled up my bladder and i had to go really bad so i went with my girl friend and i actually peed by a tree. and then again behind a car. never done that before either. don't pity the guy who probably came for his car the next morning haha. then we drank some more and before i knew it i couldn't walk in a straight line (guys, you know me right, when have i every been unable to walk in a straight line!! usually i can right!) shit but this time according to my roomies i was "zig-zagging" everywhere, and don't think they'll let me forget it. Can't really remember walking home or showering or putting on my pajamas and falling asleep, props to me. Then i puked too, i think i remember waking up at 430 am to go and puke again. Next morning I couldn't eat a thing, kept feeling nauseous, but eventually managed to pull myself together, and make some notes on Winch's "The Universalizability of Moral Judgement". Props man, props.
Oh yea and the thing about Singaporeans: Whenever another exchange student asks us what we think of Paris so far, I want to say something like "The city is beautiful, i actually don't mind walking around it alone and getting lost in it". but the other two usually say "French administration sucks...everyone's so slow and inefficient at the university...you can't get what you need without doing alot of other shit first...blahblah" And i'm thinking, damn, Singaporeans always find something to complain about. Even in Paris.
Well, I wanted something quintessential, and I guess peeing behind a tree like a hobo, smoking along the Seine, "dining" on French wine and cheese along said river and missing your old love in the city of love definitely count. DAMN :)
Wednesday 7 September 2011
The first few days
Time check: 1716pm on the 7th of September 2011. I have no classes today (yay!) but am using my free time do some readings for a group presentation that is happening scarily fast next Tuesday (not so yay.) So i'm taking a break by blogging.
Okay so the aforementioned jitters very quickly disappeared when i got on the plane- like i thought, cos once you're in the plane, your guard is up and you're too busy becoming independent to feel scared or sad anymore. Sat next to a Vietnamese-French guy on the plane who told me he would help me get on the right metro to my appartment but disappeared once we landed in Charles De Gaulle Airport...stupid fella :P
Sadly, my first taste of Paris sucked. CDG staff are horrible as are their services, but thankfully that was over with in about an hour. Cabbed to the city centre with 3 other ladies who were also frustrated with the airport shuttle bus service. Came up to be cheaper than the bus itself though!
So, wrestling jet-lag, a questionable haven't-bathed-for-24-hours smell, and my bad sense of direction, my roomie Jack and I walked around the city (more precisely along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées which is the equivalent of Orchard Road) to get a sim card, groceries, metro tickets blah blah...
My other roomie Phyllis arrived on Saturday night, so we went to the big station to fetch her. Next day we had dinner in the same area, duck confit or whatever it was, was good! On Sunday itself, there was a big welcome gathering at Bois de Vincennes, so we walked over there and met quite a few people both foreign and French and played some stupid games and then went over to a place called La Bastille for some beer (3 euros~$5.50ish a glass!)
Classes started on Monday, i skipped the very first 8am one cos i was too darn tired but went for the others and well what i observed was that the professors are pretty brilliant. Many of them aren't of French origin, some are Russian, Italian, German etc, but they can also speak French and English fluently, and i won't be surprised if they can speak more. They tend to have very Euro-centric views of the world though, like how they seem to just accept that civilization and government and all started in Europe, whereas stuff like that existed in India and China way earlier. Most memorable prof was this tall, bald Italian man (just like a caricature :P) who emphasized every single word he spoke like...."ToDAY WE are GOING to LOOK AT the THEOries of INTerNATIONAL ReLATIONS" and you could see his neck veins straining as he spoke. It was all good amusement.
Oh yes and about the university itself! It's called Sciences-Po and weirdly enough, it's located on several different streets, in several different buildings. Quite a shock when we went there on Saturday to get a look at the place, cos it is very different from SG. But it's a nice place, a lot of white people (most exchange students seem to be from Europe/USA) not too fond of them cos as I said white people can either be very very nice or very very mean. Luckily the very very mean ones seem to be concentrated at the airport XD
Okay so the aforementioned jitters very quickly disappeared when i got on the plane- like i thought, cos once you're in the plane, your guard is up and you're too busy becoming independent to feel scared or sad anymore. Sat next to a Vietnamese-French guy on the plane who told me he would help me get on the right metro to my appartment but disappeared once we landed in Charles De Gaulle Airport...stupid fella :P
Sadly, my first taste of Paris sucked. CDG staff are horrible as are their services, but thankfully that was over with in about an hour. Cabbed to the city centre with 3 other ladies who were also frustrated with the airport shuttle bus service. Came up to be cheaper than the bus itself though!
So, wrestling jet-lag, a questionable haven't-bathed-for-24-hours smell, and my bad sense of direction, my roomie Jack and I walked around the city (more precisely along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées which is the equivalent of Orchard Road) to get a sim card, groceries, metro tickets blah blah...
My other roomie Phyllis arrived on Saturday night, so we went to the big station to fetch her. Next day we had dinner in the same area, duck confit or whatever it was, was good! On Sunday itself, there was a big welcome gathering at Bois de Vincennes, so we walked over there and met quite a few people both foreign and French and played some stupid games and then went over to a place called La Bastille for some beer (3 euros~$5.50ish a glass!)
Classes started on Monday, i skipped the very first 8am one cos i was too darn tired but went for the others and well what i observed was that the professors are pretty brilliant. Many of them aren't of French origin, some are Russian, Italian, German etc, but they can also speak French and English fluently, and i won't be surprised if they can speak more. They tend to have very Euro-centric views of the world though, like how they seem to just accept that civilization and government and all started in Europe, whereas stuff like that existed in India and China way earlier. Most memorable prof was this tall, bald Italian man (just like a caricature :P) who emphasized every single word he spoke like...."ToDAY WE are GOING to LOOK AT the THEOries of INTerNATIONAL ReLATIONS" and you could see his neck veins straining as he spoke. It was all good amusement.
Oh yes and about the university itself! It's called Sciences-Po and weirdly enough, it's located on several different streets, in several different buildings. Quite a shock when we went there on Saturday to get a look at the place, cos it is very different from SG. But it's a nice place, a lot of white people (most exchange students seem to be from Europe/USA) not too fond of them cos as I said white people can either be very very nice or very very mean. Luckily the very very mean ones seem to be concentrated at the airport XD
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