What was the average?

oday was another incredible day. We started off with breakfast, music lecture, and then we all took the metro to the Paris Opera House. They ended up postponing our tour by about an hour because of confusion with our reservation, but our bus driver Freddy was able to negotiate with them. We had just enough time to explore the exterior of the Opera House and hang out with other members of our group. The tour was definitely worth the wait! The inside was absolutely extravagant! We got to sit in the main auditorium, see Box No. 5, tour the Grand Foyer, and here lots of stories and history about the Building. It was absolutely fascinating.

From there we had about 2 hours for lunch before our Art excursion to the Pompidou Center. We spent some time in a little bakery shoppe where I ate the best baguette of my entire life…no joke J Then we met up with everyone to tour the Pompidou Center with Dr. Medina. The museum was full of modern art, and it was very difficult to take seriously, to say the least. We saw several Dali paintings, and many many things that, in my mind, shouldn’t be considered art at all…like urinals, for example. We bonded a lot as a group though, my favorite part of the whole visit was when Will tried to argue with Dr. Medina that the New York City painting by Mondrian wasn’t any better than a piece of plaid. Leave it to tech students....

It began to rain pretty hard by the time we were finished at the Pompidou, so we headed back to the hotel for a little while to regroup and pack for a little while. Molly and I ended up just sleeping though. Definitively some much needed rest. About nine we all got together with plans to head to Sacre Coeur to watch the sunset over the city, rain or not. As we all left the hotel, however, the sun came up so the four of us decided to go up the Eiffel tower instead. Definitely a good choice. The line was very short and we boarded the elevator just as the tower began to sparkle. By the time we got to the top it was almost dark, which made taking pictures difficult, but the view was still absolutely spectacular. I had no idea how tall the monument actually was; you could see everything in Paris and far beyond.

We got many many pictures under the tower, and headed home for the last time. We leave tomorrow at 8am headed towards Florence, Italy. It will take us two days to get there so we will be stopping in Anase tomorrow night. I have also heard rumors that we will be spending a little time in Dijon since it’s on the way…but we shall see. Aurevoir for now!

the last two days... parfait.

Sorry for the extreme length and poor format. I haven't had much time to write and I am trying to get down everything I can....

Day 2: Paris on Speed

Today we hit five of the major French tourist attractions…needless to say, it was a long, tiresome, amazing day. We started off the day with our first French breakfast, and I must say that it is definitely something I could grow accustom to very quickly. They had amazing croissants, both normal and filled with chocolate, yogurt, eggs, sausage, cold deli meats, cheese and pickles. Very different from a continental breakfast you might have in America, but WONDERFUL.

After breakfast we went to music lecture for about an hour and talked about paintings that we would see throughout the day. After lecture, we had our first European mass transit experience: we rode the French metro. The whole system is very well engineered and easy to understand…even if you speak no French. We went to the Musee D’Orsay and saw many impressionist paintings and some incredible sculptures. Lunch was crepes with ham and cheese in the garden in front of the Louvre, and then for the next three hours we attempted to soak in everything that is the Louvre. It might be the largest building that I’ve ever been in, definitely the most ornate. The number of masterpieces I saw was absolutely incredible: the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Nike of Samothrace, Raft of the Medusa (my favorite!), etc. My favorite part of the museum, however, was exploring the small rooms on the side. Such interesting, beautiful, pieces of art EVERYWHERE. We also saw some very strange, disturbing, modern art, including a mock graveyard with a huge, silicone, earthworm with the face of an old man. Did I mention it also moaned and moved? Definitely the things nightmares are made of…

From the Louvre we walked down the Sienne River to the Notre Dame. It started to rain at that point, but we managed to make to the cathedral in order to hear a little bit of mass…organ, choir, and priest. It was incredible. I was taken aback by the sheer size of the cathedral. Every surface of the building is covered with ornate carvings, statues, and art. It is phenomenal.

We played “tourist” for a while and all bought scarves from Paris. Dinner was in a Café…sandwiches on French bread of course J We then headed to Arc de Triumph and the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. (In Paris, like most of Europe, summer days last from about 5 am to 10 pm…lots of time for sightseeing!) We took a tunnel under the 15 lanes of traffic that encircle the monument. Once again, absolutely beautiful. In the distance you could see the Eiffel tower, so we decided to hit up one more tourist attraction for the day.

In the metro on the way to the Tower, we were graced with some interesting musical “experiences.” I’m not sure what exactly the instruments were that he played, but it was very difficult to listen to with a straight face. I guess the best way to describe it might be some sort of ancestor to the bagpipe? Not a very pleasant sound, at least not to my “untrained” ears! On other trains I saw accordion players and violin players…all asking for money, of course. Just another part of the Paris experience!

The Eiffel Tour was probably my favorite place of the day. We got there just as it started twinkling for the first time. As it started you could hear one large “aww” from everyone around. All around the monument were people of many ethnicities selling the exact same souvenirs…light up Eiffel Towers and key chains. I’m not sure where the demand for these things is coming from, since I never saw ANYONE by any, but there were probably over fifty vendors that approached us throughout the night. Fortunately for me, “no” is the same in French and English! The tower sparkles in the evening every hour for about 10 minutes, so we decided to stick around another hour to see it again. We camped out on the sidewalk and took pictures and videos to kill the time. The highlight of the evening, however, was the proposal that we got to see! Earlier that evening I had mentioned that it would be perfect if we could see one, and all the sudden I turned around and there was a guy on one knee! It was such a sweet moment to see and an perfect end to an incredible day!

Day 3: Hello Parisians!

Today we had more time on our own, practically the whole day, and so we ventured outside the city to the Versailles. This involved taking the metro and the RER (a more “train like” subway…and two levels!). Twenty-eight of us ended up going, and the whole tripped was researched and planned by Emily, Claire, and Lauren, so we just followed their lead. It was nice not to have to make our own decisions for a change! We made it there without any problems and quickly found Versailles…it’s pretty difficult to miss. I would say that it was comparable in size to the Louvre, and just as beautiful. We didn’t go into the palace, instead we toured the gardens surrounding it. I have never seen gardens like these! They were huge and very well maintained. There were fountains, sculptures, roses, arches, mazes, trees, etc. There was also classical musical playing from loud speakers throughout the gardens. It might sound cheesy, but it really added to the elegant atmosphere put off by the palace. I could just imagine ladies walking around in dresses with large hoop skirts and mounds of hair! We walked about half the length of the garden to a pond where you could rent row boats to paddle around in. We decided against boats, but instead got ice cream and sat on the lawn in the absolutely perfect sunshine!

We all left together, after taking a group photo, and headed back to the train station. We all loaded up on the train (the 2^nd story of course, way more cool) and about the time the train was about to leave realized that the train we were on was not headed to Paris. So as fast as you’ve ever seen college kids move we all ran off the train and onto the one at the side of the station. We didn’t even lose anyone! The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, thankfully!

We broke apart from the main group after returning to the city and spent some time walking down Champs Elysees and people watching. Once again, the weather was beautiful and it was great to have an opportunity to just stroll along.

We took the Metro back to Notre Dame and went again, to take some better pictures. The sun outside made the stain glass absolutely incredible! We also got to hear a mass, complete with organ and choir. It was absolutely majestic.

We ate dinner at a cute, relatively inexpensive café along the Sienne. Our waiter was more than kind, and upon realizing that we were American, asked if we knew the Almond Brothers. We did a lot of nodding and smiling, and he seemed to like us after that. He even put ice in our glasses! That’s the first time I’ve had since I’ve been in Paris. We spent a good amount of time at the café after we finished; we had time before the Jazz concert and the atmosphere was so enjoyable. As we left we spotted a Starbucks, a welcome sign of home. Believe it or not Starbucks coffee is actually some of the cheaper coffee around, so of course we stopped in. Prices were more expensive that the US, but it felt good to be in familiar territory. As we left, several French guys approached us and asked if we were English. When we responded that we were American, they were thrilled. Through a jumbled conversation of Molly speaking French and them trying to speak English, they asked if Molly would let them be their lover for the evening. In his words, “I am a very good French lover.” Molly said that she was too busy…. J He also told us he was a famous person in France. Not very believable, but they were charming none the less. Getting to know the locals has definitely been a great experience!

We left Starbucks and headed to the Jazz Club where the concert was. The area that it was in was different than other areas of Paris we had visited; it was more eclectic and diverse than anything I have seen so far. We met two guys from Chile and Argentina who spoke Spanish, French and a little English. Between the 6 of us, we were having three conversations in three different languages! They asked about America, and where exactly we were from. We said Georgia, and they asked if that was between Florida and Washington. We said yes, but I’m not sure that they have a good handle on American geography… They also asked our opinion of Europe, our majors, and how long we would be in Paris. We taught the man from Argentina how to say “I am Argentinean” in English, and he loved it! They were very nice and it was so fun to talk to people in other languages!

We finished off the night at the Jazz Concert for our music class. The club was small and stuffy but the music was great! It was just a four piece band that played, but they were very good, the singer reminded me of Micheal Buble a little. We now have to write a concert report, which I should probably get started on…

Je suis une Americianne

Current Location: Paris, France

Local Time: 5:30 PM

Bonjour!

I am currently in Paris, France laying in my twin bed approximately 2 inches from Molly’s twin bed in our hotel room. The past 24 hours have been a lot of waiting and a ton of new experiences. I guess I’ll just start from the beginning.

I arrived at the airport at 3:00 EST yesterday, and went quickly through check-in and security. We ran into Gwen while in the security line, and ended up riding the train together from to our different terminals. It was a nice surprise to see her and be all together for a little while before we left Atlanta. Once we made it to our terminal, we started to congregate as a group and before long most of our group was there… with about 2 hours to kill. There were lots of introductions and most of us were familiar with everyone by the time we boarded the plane. The plane was rather small, and we probably occupied close to 50% of it. The pilot even acknowledged our group in his opening welcome, which initiated about 50 conversations to other passengers about who we were, and where we were going, etc. I sat next to a nice lady from Detroit who told me all about the improvements to the Detroit airport, her daughters recent birthday, and her taste in books

Once in Detroit we went as a group to our connecting flight and made it there with about 20 minutes before boarding (a much welcome change from the 3 hours we had waited in Atlanta!). This plane was much larger than our first and much nicer. There were TV’s in the back of each seats, 2 meals, and even a fair amount of leg room. Unfortunately, sleep was very difficult to come by. I dozed for maybe an hour or so, and spent the rest of the time watching Juno, Bucket List, Just Married, and Big Bang Theory. Liz, Molly, and I also spend time laughing at the passenger in front of us who, since he was balding and cold, felt the need to wear a neck pillow, an eye mask, and a large blanket completely covering his head. It was funny when he was sitting up, but it was even more entertaining to see him keel over when he fell asleep. I’m sure the fact that we ourselves had not slept in 24 hours had a little bit to do with why we found the situation so humorous. At about hour 6 I was ready to be out of the plane. Thankfully they served breakfast and we ended up landing at CDG about 30 minutes early.

We were very easily recognized as a US student group, and guides all over the airport kept saying “US go this way…its ok.” I guess we looked pretty tired and in need of a little guidance. We all made it through customs and then to baggage claim where every single one of us found our suitcase! We were thrilled, having been warned earlier that there was a good chance out luggage might not get to Paris with us. We had a small scare when we couldn’t find Gwen, but after telepathically willing her to come to the group, we found her right by the bus. It’s a whole other world without cell phones!

We were able to fit everyone’s luggage in the bus, and we have a great bus driver from Hungary who is an expert at maneuvering around the many obstacles throughout the airport. Leaving the airport you could hear everyone on the bus pointing out strange street signs, graffiti, and IKEA. All the cars here are smaller, and the motorcycles ride between the cars on the lanes in the interstate. Traffic to the hotel wasn’t too bad; I’ve seen much worse in Atlanta.

Our hotel is awesome! The rooms are much smaller than an average American hotel room, but the space is much better utilized and the shower is definitely my favorite! We have explored the area around the hotel and visited the ATM to get Euros. We stopped by a little bakery where we bought “Pain au Chocolat” for 1 E. We are planning to get a metro pass later today to get around the city for the next couple of days. Welcome dinner is at 8:30 tonight and then it is off to bed!

Class tomorrow is at 8 AM, then it’s the D’Orsay and the Louvre! We are also planning to go to Notre Dame tomorrow afternoon since we will be close to it. We are not letting ourselves sleep right now trying to ward of jet lag, hence me writing so much! I have 15 minutes of “gratuit” internet, so I might not update for a while. I love you all and I miss you!

Across the Pond

...well not quite. At this very moment I am sitting at Home, typing on Chase's computer, trying to kill about an hour before we have to leave for the airport. I have packed, repacked, and packed again, and at this very moment my suitcase weights exactly 50.0 pounds. Excellent. I've checked weather predictions for the next five countries I will be in, I've checked the status of all my flights, and checked the currency conversion (which is most definitely NOT in my favor...). I've set up email forwarding, rerecorded my voice mail, and packed up everything for the Fall. I hesitate to say it, but I think I might be ready...

Contains:

• 8 shirts, 8 tank tops, 3 pairs of pants, 2 sweaters, denim jacket, rain coat, Tennis Shoes, Boat Shoes, Dress Shoes, 5 dresses, 2 textbooks, Cosmetic Bag, 3 long sleeve shirts, Power,, Converters, Travel Alarm Clock, Straightener, Hair Brush, 3 pairs of shorts, 3 tank tops, PJ pants, many pairs of underwear, socks...
  

ZING...problem solved!

The first week of class is done...and what a week it has been. Every day this week I have attended two 2 hour lectures on Music History and Art History with an hour for lunch in between. Its certainly been a change from any class I've taken so far at Georgia Tech; its been nice to use the right side of my brain for a change. Being in a musical setting is like meeting an old friend...its been almost two years since I've sat in concert arch and listened to someone speak musical vocabulary. Art has also been a good experience. Having never been in any type of art class before, I've never been exposed to so many of the different facets of art appreciation and interpretation. Definitely a new and exciting experience! The two hour lectures do get a little long, but I am in good company and so far it hasn't been all that bad. Our professors seem wonderful-- a little "off beat" but in the best way possible. Traveling with them will be a wonderful experience.

Aside from class I've been getting together the finals of the trip. We had a group meeting this week where we were given a more detailed itinerary and our flight numbers, making everything seem even more real and that much more exciting! We are starting to get to know the personalities of some of the other students we will be traveling with...and its going to be one crazy trip, thats for sure. There is a great mix of people in our group; everything from the quiet, reserved, bookworm type to the most loud, rather obnoxious, wild ones. Hopefully we fit somewhere in the middle. We've already picked out the potential trouble makers for the trip and we're anticipating some very interesting stories coming from them. In the words of Dan, our group leader: "I don't want to single anyone out, but honestly, I'm a little worried about you."

I'm back at home now for the weekend, or at least until late Sunday afternoon. I am trying to soak up every moment in my home with my family that I can. I didn't anticipate leaving to be this difficult, but already it has been more emotional that I imagined. Ten weeks away is beginning to seem like a very long time!

Well thats all the ramblings I have for now. I'm not sure when my next post will be; there is a good chance I won't report again until I've left. Goodbye for now!

Map of all our destinations:
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Twelve Days and Counting

Finals are over, finally, and for the first time in almost a year, I can focus completely on preparing for this summer. Its unbelievable to think that this time a year ago participating in the Oxford Program was just an idea. I've shopped, packed, shopped some more, packed some more, and still I feel completely unprepared for what I'm about to experience.

I will be participating in the Oxford Program offered by the Georgia Tech Office of International Education. We will be leaving May 22, 2008 for Paris, France, and spend the next 4 weeks traveling to Florence, Rome, Venice, Budapest, Prague, Berlin, and Brussels. From Brussels we head to Oxford for 6 weeks where we will stay at Worcester College taking 6 hours of class 4 days a week.

I will be keeping a journal throughout the trip, but I will also be keeping this blog to document everything. Apodemeo is a Greek word that means to go away into foreign parts, or to go abroad. I am not very gifted at writing, so you will have to look past past the poor form and inevitable grammatical errors. No idea on how often I will be able to update, but I plan to keep a pretty thorough account of everything that happens. Enjoy!