There are eight days in a week, and other things Paris taught me

I have come a long way in the past four months. I’ve always been drawn to trying new things and going new places, and these months have been full of new experiences, as I’ve done just that. I had studied abroad before, but with each new trip I learn more and more; I acquire new skills and capabilities. Four months in Europe have taught me many things that my Latin America travels did not, and built up even more the skills I acquired on my other trips. Since I have left Paris behind me and am preparing to head to a new continent entirely, I thought I would reflect a bit and demonstrate some of the things I have learned, some of the things Paris has done for me.

• I am a lot more laid-back. The RER's on strike and another one won't come for 26 minutes? No big deal. Plan out where I'm going and what I want to do before I get there? Pshhh I can ask at the hostel and they'll be able to give me a lot better info than the internet most of the time anyway!

• I have a great desire to cook. Of course, it's the one time in my life that I can't, but I am so excited to go back and try finding recipes for all of these pastries I can't get enough of. I want to put potatoes on my pizzas too, and have some salad without horseradishy mustardy something sauce as the dressing. Yummmm.

• I am amazingly resourceful. Give me a map and a point of reference and I will run with it. I have always had a horrible sense of direction, but I've found I'm a surprisingly good navigator. I can't tell you which way's north, but I can figure out relations between things. I can also figure out alternative routes when public transportation isn't working so hot, I can work the metro system like a pro, I can turn a baguette and cheese into a feast. I don't know how any of this happened, but I am glad it did! I used to be afraid I would get lost in airports even after studying what gate I was arriving to and which I was leaving from, but now I approach the ticket counter with nothing in hand but my passport and I've made it all over this continent without any problems. I'm in shock at how far I've come!

• I have confidence. Of course, when you realize you can do all of those things and cease to worry about them, confidence kind of comes with the package. I am able to project confidence too though, which is essential if you want to blend in on the streets of Paris. I walk everywhere like it's imperative I get there NOW, but without seeming in a rush. It's a weird sort of image, but the Parisians manage it, and I seem to have done all right at picking it up myself.

• I am more aware of how American and French actions differ. Sometimes I will catch myself grinning and it feels weird. I've been told that I smile a lot actually, and that's after trying to tone it down a bit. I've come to wish that my fellow Americans, if not already my friends, wouldn't go to the same places I'm going because they tend to be loud and obnoxious. Not to say that I don't participate occasionally in this habit as well, but I at least try not to. In Barcelona, Tiffany and I actually started speaking Spanish with each other so we wouldn't be associated with the shrieking American girls around us. And, as chance would have it, we made some friends by doing so. I'm able, in Paris, to tell if you're American or French just by looking at the way you dress, the way you walk, etc. and think I've only guessed incorrectly a couple of times. It's a fun game actually! You hear stereotypes about the American tourist, but I have found most of them to actually be true, which is unfortunate. It's not so hard to try to blend in just a little, even if you don't speak the language or look the part.

• I speak French. I have no idea how this happened. I came to Paris with four semesters of the language under my belt and armed with Spanish vocabulary which I tried pronouncing in a French fashion, and I left being able to obtain a visa for another country with no problems whatsoever. The weird thing is, I didn’t work at it. I had to work really hard to get where I am in Spanish, by reading books and listening to music and practicing the language every chance I got and concentrating really, really hard. My French skills, on the other hand, seem to have seeped in through my pores or something. I am still not where I would ideally like to be, since I had very little interaction with my peers and know absolutely no slang. I was really only exposed to the language through hearing it in my classes and at the apartment and speaking the bare minimum in those situations. I spoke it at the boulangeries though, and planning trips and escaping from creepy guys. I think my Spanish skills definitely helped me out a lot, but other than that I am really not sure where this skill came from!

And since we’re making lists, here’s another. Highlights of my last couple of weeks in Paris, très rapidement: Die Walküre at the Opera Bastille, wine and parks galore with my friends Amanda and Jessalie, returning to my favorite streets and food places one (or two or three) last time, witnessing a large demonstration from my window, the catacombs underneath the city (lots of creepy bone piles!), going out with the girls, watching the world cup kick off at a giant screen by the Tour Eiffel. That’s all I can come up with at the moment, but I’m really bad at journaling so I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few!

When I left Paris, I met up with Kate Olsen (TU student and sorority sister) in London and we went to Ireland, where we are in the middle of a week so amazing I can’t even begin to describe it. I’ll probably save the Ireland blog for my flight to India. I mean, what else am I going to do with my 9 hours in the air? Certainly not sleep.

Final thoughts:

• Sorry this is so unorganized!

• It’s really weird to be saying all of these goodbyes, seeing friends I haven’t seen in months, and embarking on a new and completely different adventure. And not going home when all of my friends are.

• It’s also weird to be two thirds of the way done with something I’ve spent my entire life looking forward to. I am feeling already that it is going to be a really difficult transition back to life in the United States, especially since I have no idea what I’m doing after graduation. After my previous study abroad experiences, I always had this one to look forward to. I know I will come back to Europe someday, but I think it will be hard not having a set time anymore, especially since I’ve been planning this trip since about second grade. I’m not going to worry about it yet, since I still have a month and a half of incredible India before it’s even an issue, but for those of you that have to deal with me when I get back…You’ve been forewarned!

And so it is. I am supposed to have wi-fi in areas of my campus in India, so hopefully I can keep you updated fairly regularly. I will have to be inside at 9 p.m. every night, so I will have plenty of time to blog!

Oh! And one more thing. The French, instead of saying a week, frequently use the expression “8 days” and for a fortnight, it’s “15 days”. Just a fun fact. 

Bisous,

Kristin

Copenhagen

The week after Prague went by really fast. While Matt was off gallivanting around the continent, I spent what little time I wasn't in class or doing homework hanging out with my friends who were leaving and packing up a big suitcase my brother was kind enough to take back with him. Because let's be real, I do not want to be lugging around my heavy winter coat when it's summertime in Bangalore.

We set off for Copenhagen on Thursday evening, and there was a general strike that day, which somehow worked out in our favor as the Roissybus driver taking us to the airport wouldn't let anyone pay. I'm not sure how that worked, but I'm glad it did! I'm sure you can guess what we did there as well (hint: my legs were really tired!), along with visiting the Carlsberg brewery, taking a train to Malmö, Sweden for half a day (and seeing a MARCHING BAND there...I was kind of excited) and checking out the out-of-commission LED screen that was taking the place of the Little Mermaid while she's shipped off to Shanghai. We stayed in a hotel, which, although certainly not top-of-the-line, excited me greatly. We had towels! We had a TV! We could go to sleep and wake up whenever we wanted and didn't have to sleep with our belongings! It's those simple pleasures.

After Copenhagen, I came back and submitted my visa to the Indian Embassy. The wait was only 2 1/2 hours, pas grande chose. It's out of my hands now, however, and up to the fates. It's a good feeling to have. Matt and I explored Paris some. He had already visited so had seen most of the cool touristy things, so I took him to a great gelato place on Rue Mouffetard and we walked along the Seine, over to Saint Germain des Pres and then back to my apartment. We took some wine and cheese and bread up to his hotel by the airport for the night and I stayed there since it's an hour metro trip away. I am getting used to this hotel thing, and liking it! Then this week I've had some finals, which is weird since I still have two weeks of class left, and I've been soaking up the sun in my spare time now that it's finally gorgeous out! I'm in Paris this weekend and the next, and then that next Friday I'm heading to London and Ireland so it will be nice to have a little bit of time with Paris. It's so weird that I'm leaving so soon! But I've already given you more than enough to read between these two entries, so I'll talk about that later. Bisous!

Germany, Vienna and Prague

Ummm so pretend that the date on this is a couple of weeks ago, because that's when I wrote most of it! The 24th of May, to be exact.

I'm sitting in the train station in Prague, beer in hand and free wifi, killing some time before my flight this evening. I love this place! I met Matt (my brother) this weekend in Vienna and we spent about a day and a half there and the same here in Prague. I've pretty much spent the past two long weekends now surrounded with beer and sausages, and I have absolutely no complaints! I'm starting to think I should have come a little farther east to study. :)

Last weekend was definitely a highlight of my semester. I don't know what it is about Germany, maybe just the ancestry factor, but I am absolutely obsessed. I keep telling everyone back home that I'm moving there after graduation, and the thing is, I'm not so sure I'm joking. I feel like (other than the language barrier, which I'm determined to take down) I really identify with Germany and could call it home more easily than any other place I've been besides maybe Paris (if I had my own apartment this semester, that is).

But anyway. I can't put my finger on any particular thing that made me adore Germany, but I guess it's just the combination of everything! I started out in Berlin and only had one full day there, but I feel like I saw a lot during that short time. I took another free walking tour (these things are amazing!) and saw most of the main monuments and tourist attractions and learned about some of the history of the city, which is just fascinating. Berlin, to me, isn't about the buildings (most of what I saw was pretty modern), but about the story behind the city, especially during the war. I took a peek at the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, the holocaust memorial, the Reichstag (parliament building), saw remnants of the wall of course, and a few other memorials and parks and churches. It was a lot to pack in, but the tour covered most of that and then I wandered off by myself some and still had time to relax and drink a few German beers and try the BEST SAUSAGE EVER. Whoever had the brilliant idea to mix curry and ketchup and wurst and bread is my hero. I could eat Berlin's currywurst every day for a month and not get tired of it. Yum.

Then I headed back across the street between my hostel and the train station (i'm getting good at this hostel-picking thing :)) and took a train to Köln, aka Cologne, to see my friend Jork! He was an exchange student in Kansas the same year I hosted Ale (my Italian sister) so I met him through AFS even though we lived in different towns/went to different schools. I stayed in Cologne for about a day and 2 halves I think, and it was wonderful! One of the first things we did was go to a chocolate museum (ummm what more do I need to love a place?), and we also went to the former headquarters of the Cologne Gestapo (it was a great museum...had the prison cells mostly as they were several decades ago), hung out at the river a lot, in both Cologne and Leverkusen (where Jork lives), and tried lots of kölsch (Cologne beer...if i remember what I read online correctly, they have more breweries there than in any other city in the world)...YUM. I met some of Jork's friends and we hung out in bars (went to an Irish pub where they had karaoke my last night there...yessss) and just in general, had a fantastic time. :)

Last week, I spent most of my time doing homework for next week so that I will be able to pack up some things to send home with my brother and spend more time with my friends who are leaving next weekend. We have a little group of 6 that hangs out together and half of us are leaving. It will be sad to see them go and so weird not to have them there anymore (especially my roommate!).

I met Matt in the CDG airport and we flew to Vienna to start our adventures together. We walked all over that city, preferring to just wander and see things instead of planning out attractions and museums to hit up. We did, however, make time for some sachser torte and a lot of coffee before we bussed ourselves to Prague. I enjoyed Vienna a lot, but I'm not going to lie, most of the reason I wanted to go there is because Vienna is my favorite Billy Joel song. That's a good reason, right?

Prague--everyone describes it as an enchanting city, and for good reason! Highlights of the trip were seeing the castle and bridge at night (so pretty!), watching the Czech Republic beat Russia to win the world ice hockey championship (on a giant screen set up in Old Town Square), discovering my beers of choice are porters and yet again, walking around a gorgeous city.