Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve in Finland, a.k.a., time for me to celebrate. In Finland, Christmas celebrations begin on December 24th. I am making joulutorttuja tomorrow morning (my favorite Christmas dessert, that I ALWAYS over eat and end up getting sick) and then at noon begins "Christmas Peace". This is a time, that until Boxing Day, no fighting is allowed in the family.

But speaking of Finland, that brings me to my next topic. I will actually be visiting for the New Year. I can't wait to start 2012 over there! 6 days until my departure!! And since I will be in Europe, I will be updating my blog again.

Already planning the return

"Everyday is a Journey, and the Journey itself is Home."

Been back in the good old USA for a couple months now, and I sat still just long enough to figure out where I'm going next...

Summer 2012

Brussels, Belgium

+

Paris, France

+

Berlin, Germany

+

Krakow, Poland

=

European Union Studies 

I can't wait! I've only been to Paris out of those places, so I will actually be able to experience new places (and even knock off two countries on my world map). I've only flown through Belgium, which I guess you can count those, but I have never been to Poland.

♥ Jonna

Ja sitten suomeksi

Päätin että kirjoitain sillä kielellä riippuen missä maassa olen. Onhan se hyvää vähän suomen kieltäkin harjoitella. Olin viikonlopun Iinan luona Helsingissä. Näin Markuksen eilen baareissa. Ja Isakin tuli käymään tänään täällä. Istuttiin Isan kanssa monessa puistossa ja kaikki pummit tuli meille juttelee. Yksi sanoi meille että tuntuu hyvältä olla selvinpäin. Hänen henki haisi ihan viinalta. Huomenna lähden Ouluun katsomaan kummeja pariksi päiväksi!

I decided that I write in the language, depending on the country where I am. After all, it is a good little Finnish kieltäkin practice. I was visiting this weekend Iina Helsinki, Finland. Thus Mark's bars yesterday. And Isaac came to visit here today. Sat with my father in many bums in the park, and all came to us talking. One told us that it feels good to be sober. His spirit viinalta smelled wonderful. Tomorrow I am going to Oulu to watch sponsors a couple of days!

(Wow google translate sucks with Finnish. Or then I need to learn how to write proper Finnish)


-----
[October 11, 2011]
Below is my profile for the summer that just occurred. Time to move on in my life, but it's good to look back and remember the excitement, the joy, the anticipation, and look forward to it all over again.
[Jonna]

A summer in Europe? Count me in! I signed up for the French LBAT program through Georgia Tech where I'm now- get this- a SENIOR!! I'm trying my best to keep track of everything I do, because how often do you get to live in Paris for a summer.

Suomi Finlandia

I have made it to Finland. Had Kotipizza with Iina and now going out to meet up with Markus for some drinks. It's so hot and humid in Finland. Iina thinks I've officially become homeless after showing her all of the thrift store stuff I've bought. I asked her for laundry detergent so I could wash my jeans while I shower. I didn't even think twice about it!

Last night in Paris

On a more serious note, this is my last night in Paris. Actually since it's 12:40 AM, its my last day in Paris. I have now lived a summer in France. And all I wish is that it would have been longer. I'm not ready to go back home yet. I'm scared of forgetting the French I've learned, and loved picking up French customs that I hope to bring back with me.

My journey continues back up to the North Pole tomorrow as I venture around my homeland even more. Next stop? Helsinki, Finland.

Also, being the last night in Paris, Katherine, Alison and I, have planned our spring break. Can you say backpacking through Eastern Europe for 10 days. I mean, I've never been to Slovenia before. Apparently Ljubljana is supposed to be beautiful!

And Paris, I hope to see you again in October.

Oddly, one of the things I'm most proud of after living a summer in Paris?

I never...
- climbed the Eiffel Tower
- climbed up l'Arc de Triomphe
- went inside the Notre Dame

But I did...
- learn the metro system
- use a velib
- went out in Montmartre with the locals
- made French friends
- ate baguettes daily
- DANCED IN THE SAINT MICHEL FOUNTAIN!
- rode a TGV
- rode the Euroline
- took Parisian showers and did laundry the Parisian way (spray perfume everywhere because there wasn't time for a shower or laundry)
- never bought the same bottle of wine twice
- learned how to get a table in a café

And that's how I know I actually LIVED in Paris and wasn't just a tourist. :)

Need to up this Percentage

So I need to work on getting this percentage higher. Which is why I would like to buy a scratch map as well as just travel for the rest of my life, thanks.


visited 24 states (10.6%)

Bucket List locations?

• China
• Russia
• Africa
• South America
• Norway

GPA? 4.0

'Nuff said.

Ça c'est fini?

J’ai pris mon examen. Et voilà, le LBAT est fini. Je pense que je pleurerai. Comme MAINTENANT. Paris a pleut encore. Après mon examen, Shannon et moi sommes allées au café près de MIJE et ont bu du vin. Je vais boire BEAUCOUP de vin. Bref, j’adore Paris, et il me manquerait – toujours. 

Comment appropriée - How appropriate

Aujourd’hui en classe, on doit écrire un blog faux. Le topique ? Des soldes en France. Parfait pour moi. Je sais beaucoup de choses des soldes à Paris. Pourquoi ? Je faisais trop du shopping. Juste un peu. En France, il n’y a pas des soldes pour toute l’année. C’est seulement deux fois par année, mais quand il y a des soldes, les magasins deviennent fous ! Comme moi, je faisais beaucoup de shopping à Paris. Presque trop. Je dois acheter une autre valise, je pense. Alors je vais faire du shopping encore ! À Longchamp – ENCORE. Je voudrais acheter un grand sac gris. Ça, c’est coute seulement 70 euros. Ma mère va me tue. Eh, ça va. Au moins j’aurais un nouveau Longchamp.

London and Centre Pompidou

Went to London last weekend. Saw some friends like Ross, Doug and Richard. Our hostel was straight up ghetto. Went on a pub crawl. Realized that London may in fact be the most expensive city in all of Europe. Literally double the price of the USA. It sucked. Had a horrible motto for the trip: Pack nothing, buy everything. Took a ferry across the English Channel in the middle of the night. Slept horribly. Was super tired. Saw Elizabeth's humble home. Saw the London Tower and London Bridge. London was everything I expected. Cold. Rainy. Expensive.

Came back home to Paris Sunday morning. Went to Centre Pompidou. Realized that the President of France in the 1970s must have been on some kind of drugs. (See picture below: It was a room in the Elysées)

Obama needs to get on that and revamp the White House.

J'ai couru 11 km aujourd'hui!!! (I ran 7 miles today!!!)

En Français:

Aujourd’hui j’ai couru 11 km. Je pense que c’était seulement 5 km parce qu’il y a beaucoup de chose qui m’ont distrait. Comme le Louvre, Hôtel de Ville, Notre Dame, Concorde et l’Arc de Triomphe. Je suis fière de moi ! Demain serai le dernier jour de classe pour cette semaine. Et jeudi serai jour de Bastille ! Et jeudi soir, Shannon et moi allons aller à Londres pour 2 jours. En France, pendant le jour de Bastille, il y avait beaucoup de fêtes avec des pompiers ! Et ils sont très beaux en France. TRÈS TRÈS beaux. Shannon et moi avons fait une nouvelle coutume – étudions au bar avec notre vocabulaire ! Donc, je le ferai maintenant avec elle à Auld Scottish.  

En Anglais:

(GOTTA LOVE ME SOME GOOGLE TRANSLATE - This is why google translate never worked for me in HS French)
Today I ran 11 km. I think it was only 5 km because there are lots of thing thatdistracted me. Like the Louvre, Hotel de Ville, Notre Dame, Concorde and the Arc de Triomphe. I am proud of myself! Tomorrow will be the last day of school for that week. And Thursday will be Bastille Day! And Thursday night, Shannon and I willgo to London for two days. In France, during the Bastille Day, there were manyparties with fire! And they are very beautiful in France. Very very beautiful.Shannon and I made a new custom - look at the bar with our vocabulary! So, I will do now with her Scottish Auld.

Qu'est-ce que je faisais hier soir?

Hier soir, au théâtre, nous nous sommes amusés quand nous n’avons pas compris tout ce qu’ils ont dit à la scène. J’ai assise au premier rang. À mon avis, c’est un peu trop près de la scène. La salle du théâtre était très petite aussi. Juste pour environ 30 personnes ou quelque chose comme ça. La pièce était par Eugène Ionesco et elle s'appelle "La Cantatrice Chauve". La pièce a été un peu bizarre et court. Au début, j’ai compris les conversations, mais à la fin j’ai réalisé que je n’ai pas compris pourquoi le deuxième couple fait les mêmes choses que le premier couple. Mais nous le discutions juste après la pièce. Ensuite on est allé au restaurant avec notre professeur. Nous avons dinés les repas très bons. Je mange du saumon, et pour le dessert j’ai choisi une tarte framboise. C’est magnifique ! Quand le diner est fini, le group de « pub crawl » - Shannon, Anton, Christian et moi, sont allés au bar. Christian a acheté 4 bières au premier bar et nous les avons bu. Après cet, nous avons commencé marcher chez nous, mais quand nous avons arrivé au métro de Saint Paul, nous avons décidé d’aller pour une autre boisson à notre bar locale – Le Auld Scottish. J’ai acheté une bière pour chaque personne là-bas. Et à 1h30 ou quelque chose comme ça, nous avons retourné chez nous. Ce matin, il était un peu difficile se réveiller, parce que je ne dormais pas beaucoup. Mais j’ai dû aller à la classe près de Bastille. Pour le petit déjeuner, j’ai acheté une baguette de Manon qui était très bon. Pour le déjeuner, Shannon et moi avons marché à une boulangerie et acheté des baguettes du jambon fromage pour 3 euro. Après la classe, je faisait mes devoirs un peu et a pris un sommeil. Le diner va être à 19h45. Je ne sais pas ce quoi je vais faire ce soir. Demain nous devrons nous réveiller très tôt parce que nous allons visiter la maison du vitrail.

Alors… je sais que cet ici n’est pas mon meilleur français, mais je suis fatiguée maintenant et je ne le veux pas corriger maintenant. J’ai faim aussi. J’ai toujours faim à Paris. 

et en anglais, comme toujours:
Last night at the theater, we had fun when we did not understand anything they said at the scene. I sat in the front row. I think it's a little too close to the scene. The auditorium was very small too. Just for about 30 people or something like that. The room was by Eugene Ionesco and it is called "The Bald Soprano." The play was a little weird and short. At first I understood the conversations, but in the end I realized I did not understand why the second pair does the same things the first couple. But we were talking just after the play. Then we went to dinner with our professor. We Diné meals very good. I eat salmon, and for dessert I chose a raspberry tart. It's beautiful! When dinner is finished, the group of "pub crawl" - Shannon, Anton, Christian and I went to the bar. Christian bought four beers in the first bar and we drank. After that, we started walking home, but when we arrived at the Metro Saint Paul, we decided to go for another drink at our bar local - The Auld Scottish. I bought a beer for each person there. And at 1:30 or something like that, we returned home. This morning he was a little hard to wake up, because I did not sleep much. But I had to go to class near Bastille. For breakfast, I bought a loaf of Manon was very good. For lunch, Shannon and I walked to a bakery and bought the ham and cheese sticks for 3 euro. After class, I did my homework and took a little sleep. The dinner will be at 19:45. I do not know what I'll do tonight. Tomorrow we will wake up very early because we will visit the house of stained glass.

So ... I know that this here is not my best French, but I'm tired now and I do not want to fix now. I'm hungry too. I'm always hungry in Paris.

Musée d'Orsay

Aujourd’hui nous avons visité Musée d’Orsay. J’ai décidé c’est ma nouvelle musée favorite. Il y a des tableaux de Renoir et de Monet. Nous avons dû un petit projet de Musée d’Orsay pour classe, et écrire quelque chose de cette musée. J’ai écrive de 2 tableaux de Monet. Une avec des nymphéas, et une avec le parlement de Londres.

C’est ici :
Mon tableau favorite au Musée d’ Orsay est « Le bassin aux nymphéas, harmonie verte » par le peintre impressionniste, Claude Monet. C’est un peintre français, qui habitait en France. Il est né à Paris et avait Édouard Manet comme ami, qui est également un peintre célèbre. Le tableau était au Musée d’Orsay depuis 1986. Avant cela, de 1914 à 1947, il était au Louvre. Dans le tableau, nous pouvons voir un pont japonais et devant le pont il y a beaucoup de nymphéas. La technique que Claude Monet utilisait est la peinture à l’huile. Il a peint ce tableau en 1899. J’aime beaucoup ce tableau parce qu’il donne une impression de calme. On retrouve la même vue dans le jardin de Monet à Giverny. En effet il peignait souvent plusieurs tableaux avec la même vue, mais avec des couleurs différentes. Par exemple, il y a un tableau comme celui-ci au Modern Museum of Art à New York City et un autre au Musée d’Orsay, qui est dans les tons verts. Je pense que Monet aimait bien les nymphéas, parce qu’il a peint un grand tableau seulement avec des nymphéas qui est exposé à MoMa. Dans le tableau, la verdure autour du bassin est vraiment magnifique et le bassin est complètement recouvert de nymphéas. Il y a beaucoup d’autres tableaux de Claude Monet que j’aime, comme le tableau de « Londres, le Parlement ». Il est un peu difficile de reconnaître tout de suite ce que représente le tableau, mais si on regarde plus précisément on y voit le Parlement de Londres dans le brouillard. Il n’y a pas beaucoup de couleurs dans ce tableau. Monet a utilisé beaucoup de gris et de violet. Il l’a peint en 1904. Je l’aime parce que c’est une vraie représentation de Londres car il pleut souvent donc il fait gris et triste là-bas.

Ce soir, nous irons au théâtre et dîner avec tous le group. Il sera très intéressant parce que je ne sais pas si je comprendrai beaucoup de cette pièce.

And in English...

Today we visited the Orsay Museum. I decided this is my new favorite museum. There are paintings by Renoir and Monet. We had a small project of the Musée d'Orsay in class, and write something of this museum. I write of two paintings by Monet. One with water lilies, and with the parliament in London.

Here:
My favorite painting at the Musée d'Orsay is "The Water Lily Pond, Green Harmony" by the Impressionist painter Claude Monet. It is a French painter, who lived in France. He was born in Paris and Edouard Manet was a friend, who is also a famous painter. The picture was the Musée d'Orsay since 1986. Before that, from 1914 to 1947 he was at the Louvre. In the table we can see a Japanese bridge and before the bridge there are many water lilies. The technique used is the Claude Monet oil painting. He painted this picture in 1899. I love this picture because it gives a sense of calm. The same view in the garden of Monet in Giverny. Indeed he often painted several paintings with the same view but with different colors. For example, there is a table like this at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and another at the Musée d'Orsay, which is in green. I think that Monet liked the water lilies, because he painted a large painting only with water lilies that is exposed to MoMa. In the table, the greenery around the pool is really beautiful and the pool is completely covered with water lilies. There are many other paintings by Claude Monet that I love, as the table of "Houses of Parliament." It is somewhat difficult to recognize immediately what is the picture, but if we look more specifically it shows the British Parliament in the fog. There are not many colors in this picture. Monet used a lot of gray and purple. It was painted in 1904. I like it because it is a true representation of London as it often rains so it's gray and gloomy out there.

Tonight we will go to the theater and dinner with all the group. It will be interesting because I do not know if I'll understand much of this piece.

Retour à la réalité - en français. (Reality check - in French)

Nous avons dit "bonjour" à notre nouvelle professeure aujourd'hui. Maintenant on doit parler en français seulement ET avec des phrases complètes. Je pense que ce serait mieux pour nous. Je devrai apprendre à répondre plus rapidement que maintenant en français. Au début de la classe c’était un peu difficile mais à la fin c’est facile. Je pense que mon français serait mieux après les trois semaines prochaines avec Dr. Cottille-Foley. Elle nous a donné beaucoup de devoirs, donc j’ai fait ma grammaire aujourd’hui. Je vais faire mon cahier et livre de texte demain après Musée d’Orsay et le théâtre. Pour la reste de ma visite à Paris, je vraiment essaie d’écrire seulement en français. Je serai très fière si je peut le faire.

J’ai réalisé aujourd’hui que je devrai acheter des souvenirs pour ma famille aussi ! Quelque chose pour mon frère et quelque chose pour mon père. Je ne sais pas quoi, mais quand je l’ai trouvé, je l’achèterai. Peut-être une tire-bouchon ou quelque chose comme ça. Ou un t-shirt qui dit ‘Paris’.

Le photo est moi devant le Moulin Rouge à Montmartre

Same in English: (google translated- got the idea from Christian, a fellow techie in my group, since it's how his entire blog is written - translationliteral.blogspot.com)

We said "hello" to our new teacher today. Now we must speak French only and with complete sentences. I think it would be best for us. I will learn to respond more quickly now in French. At the beginning of the class was a little difficult but in the end it's easy. I think my French is better after the next three weeks with Dr. Cottilla-Foley. She gave us a lot of homework, so I made my grammar today. I will do my notebook and textbook tomorrow after the Orsay Museum and the theater. For the rest of my visit to Paris, I really try to write only in French. I will be very proud if I can.

I realized today that I will buy souvenirs for my family too! Something for my brother and something for my father. I do not know what, but when I found it, I'll buy. Perhaps a corkscrew or something like that. Or a t-shirt that says 'Paris'.

The picture is me in front of the Moulin Rouge in Montmartre!

Oh where to begin...

Experienced Montmartre night life. Which turned into breakfast the next day. Went out last night with some of my roommates friends and got home at 8 AM. We left our place at 9 PM the night before. Also went to the erotic museum in Pigalle, which was rather interesting to say the least. I of course found something Finnish in there.

Then we went to a bar area where locals go to drink. It's crazy how it's just on the other side of Sacre Coeur. We went to this cool bar that had a terrace, and indoor bar as well as a full club in the basement. It was packed, but everyone was French. There were no tourists.

By staying up until 8 AM we at least saved money on a cab ride, since the metros opened up at 5:30. Best part? Line 1 to get home is closed Sunday mornings until 10 AM. So Shannon and I got our daily cardio in. Everytime we have to walk somewhere we get lost. But you can't say we haven't seen Paris.

I will also love my washing machine when I get back home. I've been doing laundry in the sink and hanging clothes up to dry in the window. Très french.

Lame old Saturday

Today was embarressingly spent mostly in bed recovering from the night before- in the sense of lack of sleep. And I officially have no self control when it comes to shopping. I bought ANOTHER pair of shorts. But they were super cute, so I had to get them. And only 15 euros. I think tonight a group of us is going out. We have to enjoy the fact that we have no homework!

My Wallet is Going into Hibernation

I'm officially not leaving my room with my credit card anymore. Just 20e of cash at a time. But today was a good day of site seeing. Went and saw Les Invalides and Napoleon's tomb and L'Arc de Triomphe. I now understand why local Parisians avoid all tourist attractions. Even after living here for an entire summer, I doubt I will ever climb up the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame or L'Arc de Triomphe. The lines are just way too long, and I have better things to do with my time- like sit in the park next to it and just people watch.

Today I realized once again how nice it is to be an EU citizen. If you're under 26, you get into some museums for FREE. So some of us went out this morning and at Les Invalides, Alison, her brother and I got in for free, while others paid 9e. Not big savings, but still.

Also learned why Napoleon's grave is the way it is. It's in this huge room with an opening in the center, so that when people look down, they can see his grave, and bow their heads to him. Well Alison told us this before we went, so we DELIBERATLY did not bow our heads.

Midterm is over, let the weekend commence.

We had our midterm this morning. 10 pages of French grammar?!? Oh mon dieu. My brain was fried. But I treated myself to buy 5e sandals afterwards. They're actually pretty cute. Also went to the Eiffel Tower- again. Have yet to clumb up it, but it was my 4th time there since I've been in Paris. I just like going and sitting in the park at night with all of the lights lit up. In all fairness I've seen it from a different angle every time I'm there. Tonight we sat by École Militaire- Me, Shannon, Katherine, Alison and her brother who's visiting Paris.

I have officially stuffed my face with a whole jar of Nutella since being in France. And found the most delicious bakery ever!!! Baguettes are only 1e. So I buy one daily. And eat it with my Boursin cheese or Nutella. Today I also got a Tartelette aux Fraises, which was so so so so good!!!!

Catacombs are in the plans for tomorrow along with Invalides perhaps and visiting some graves. We'll see. Play it by ear. Now that we actually have free time with no homework hanging over our heads, I don't know what to do. I feel like I could find some trouble to get into on a Friday, especially in Paris.

Comment on dire 'procrastination' en français?

Procrastination at it's finest begins now. I have my midterm tomorrow, so what have I done today? Walked around the city for 2 hours. I did go to Jardin Luxembourg to study for like 30-45 minutes with Shannon and looked at all of the cute French boys, but some studying did get accomplished.

I also made my first 100% on a quiz in class! After going out to the Auld Scottish pub by our place the night before and playing a drinking game to our vocabulary. But hey- it worked. I spelt everything correctly.

This weekend we also get a free weekend of homework AND it's a 4 day weekend, so the possibilities of things to do are endless. On the list? Eiffel Tower, Euro Disney, Catacombes, Thrift Stores, Chambord, day trip to London, who knows. I'll let you all know when I'm in Africa come Saturday morning basically. They speak French in some places there! :)

On an even better note though, the heat wave for Paris passed, and I can comfortably sit in my own room again. From what I hear though, this is just un petit pause, because there is more chaleur to come.

-------

Also I meant to comment about this in the beginning of the summer but forgot. Research the engagement ring situation in countries you go to visit, because apparently France doesn't work like the USA. Wearing a ring on your right ring finger means your engaged (which is where I wear one and did wear one for the first week or so in Paris). Wearing a ring on your left ring finger means your married. So at least that rule still stands. But just for future reference- FYI.

Il Fait Chaud. Juste un petit peu...

Bienvenue en France. Le pays où il n'y a pas de climatisation quand il est 34 C (90+ F) dehors. Je ne peut pas penser en français! C'est incroyable. Hier, Shannon et moi, cherchons à un lieu où nous pouvons faire notre devoirs avec le climatisation. Nous avons trouvé Starbucks. Au sous-sol nous avons lu notre devoirs. Pas très français, mais il faisait froid, et je suis heureuse.

Je suis du pôle Nord, pas de la Sahara!!!

Longchamp

Not only do I know the address of the closest Longchamp store by heart (404 Saint Honoré, Paris, France), but they're also having a sale. So naturally, I paid a visit. Then I walked in to the large department stores comme Galeries Lafayette and Printemps. There were just way too many people to really go through anything. But it was nice to just walk around on my own.

Both of my roommates are in Barcelona, so I have the room all to myself this weekend. Time to focus on some school - as soon as I go get my hair done in Paris. I found a place called 'Jean Louis David' that is like a 10 minute walk away. I'm going to go check it out.

------

104 euro later. I have pretty hair again. Also learned how to say "roots" and "blow dry straight". I think I'm ready to live in Paris.

Also learned that going out to do homework along the Seine River is probably the least productive thing ever. Me and Katherine went to go buy a baguette and wine and just chilled along the river people watching. I did one problem out of my grammar book- out of the 30 pages that were assigned.

We're going to eat some famous ice cream tonight on Ile Saint Louis, which apparently is delicious!

Also went to a book store. Bought Pippi Longstocking, Eat Pray Love, and some Finnish book in French. Also found a Finnish store so I got to speak Finnish today. :)

Happy Juhannusta all you Scandinavians!

Le Weekend Commence Maintenant

The weekend is FINALLY here, and to accompany it, there is SO much homework. So being a Tech kid, I'm going to miss out on a weekend

in Barcelona and stay and do some studying in Paris. Not a bad alternative, but still. No Barca for me. It should be a good weekend though, because Anton and I are GOING to find something to do for midsommar - juhannus. This week was fête de la musique. Which was AWESOME! We went to the Saint Michel fountain and danced in it. Apparently that's illegal, but everyone was doing it, so we joined in. The French National Guard showed up 15 minutes after we left. Yea, no big deal, we would've waged war against the French National Guard. Imagine that phone call to our professor the next morning on why we wouldn't be attending Versailles with the class... "euhhh, professor... nous sommes en prison."

Apparently this weekend is un festival de ciné or qqc comme ça. je ne sais pas.

Oh, and it's going to be ridiculous to go back to the States and throw in French words mid convo. Because all we speak here is franglish.

Juste un autre lundi

Alors... aujourd'hui on avait la classe, mais il était à Ecole IFOPI donc on avait l'internet aussi. Je n'ecoutais pas beaucoup de notre professeur. J'ai beacoup de devoirs ce soir qui je devrai finir pour demain. Mon ami Michel m'aide et c'est fini tout de suite! Et je mangerai de gateau chocolat aussi! :)

Demain il y a une festival de musique. On parlait de cette festival à la classe. Beaucoup de gens de ma classe irai, et Michel irai aussi!!! La weekend prochain je pense que je travaillerai à Barca, mais je ne suis pas sûr.

Doing laundry for the first time in Paris. Learned that soupline is NOT laundry detergent but actually fabric softener. See if I forget that word ever in my life.

But I seriously have so much homework. I stayed up until 5 AM last night 'working on homework'- a.k.a. procrastinating and planning out my life. Like looking for an internship in Paris.

En Français

Je suis dans le train TGV maintenant et je devrai aller au MIJE toute seule après minuit à Paris. J’irai changer la langue de mon blog en français et mis la traduction anglaise en bas. Le weekend à Côte d’Azur était incroyable. Il y avait beaucoup de gens riches. Sérieusement. J’ai vu comme 500 Ferrari à samedi à Monaco. Il y avait beaucoup de yachts aussi. Et j’ai monté à une. Je pense qu’il s’appelait ‘Medusa’. Je suis un peu jalouse de Markus parce qu’il avait habité à Antibes presqu’un an. Hier soir je suis allée à une club qui s’appelait ‘La Siesta’. Il était près de la plage, 3 km de Markus. Après on buvait beaucoup de l’alcool, on a marché chez Markus- avec mes chaussures qui avaient (heels) 10 cm !!! Ah, mon Dieu. Mes pieds me n’aiment pas maintenant. Ce matin, (13h00) on est allé à la plage et j’ai mangé une crêpe ! Et j’ai bronzé un petit peu. Les garçons anglais ne bronzaient pas. Ils a eu rougir. ☺ J’ai nagé à la mer aussi ! L’eau était très froide. Ahh, je suis très fatiguée maintenant. Je voudrais être à Paris !!! MAINTENANT !! Je ne parlais pas beaucoup de français à Antibes, parce que toutes les personnes étaient anglaises et ne parle pas français. Je ne comprend comment ils habitent à Côte d’Azur et ne sauvent rien français. Il y a beaucoup de touristes à Côte d’Azur, donc peut-être ce n ‘est pas difficile. Ce fois je ne mis pas la traduction en bas parce que j’ai écrive toutes ça en anglais hier et ce matin dans les postes dernier.

French Riviera Part II

Clubbing in the French Riviera is crazy. Especially when Markus makes you walk home in 5 inch heels for 3 miles- at 5 AM!!!!! I met lots of cute French boys and spoke French with them because after a drink, I'm fluent. And to think I'm getting 9 credit hours for this summer. Love it.

I'm learning though!

French Riviera Part I

So I made it to Antibes in one piece. It was a 6 hour train ride, but surprisingly it went by pretty fast. I went through the city I used to live in- St. Raphael. Last night went out with Markus and his roommate and met up with some other guy to go to the bars in the area. Everything was ridiculously expensive, I had a margarita for 9e. Then Markus and I decided to follow these two guys into the gated yacht area. And we got a tour of a YACHT. OH MON DIEU!!!!!! I need to graduate ASAP and start making some money. The guy we followed works on this guy's boat. So we got a tour of the engine and everything. It was pretty legit. (Picture's will follow later.) Today I'm going to Monaco- for happy hour!!!!!!!

I don't know when I'm actually going to get my homework done. Because it sure is NOT happening here. I guess it's a good thing I have 6 hours on a train Sunday night to do it.

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Monaco in a nutshell:

If a girl is with a guy and the guy has to go to the bathroom, a girl can ask for the check but they won't bring it until the guy comes back. They give the check to the guy.

Ferraris are like Honda Civics.

Beaucoup de yachts.

Beaucoup de rich people.

Louvre

Today's class. Go to the Louvre, wander around, pick your favorite piece of art and write about it in French. That's all! Can I do French LBAT forever? Also hit up the thrift stores around where I live. Found a cute scarf for 1€ and a shirt for 7€. Can't say I'm not being cheap.

I have to be cheap after the train ticket that I bought for the French Riviera- 230€!!!!! It'll be well worth it though. Staying in Antibes with my friend Markus. Going to bars Friday night. Happy Hour in Monaco with a slight hangover Saturday afternoon and Saturday night clubbing in Nice. And then laying on the beach Sunday afternoon before I head back to Paris for school. Can I please live here forever?

Quand on est à Paris- on boit du vin.

So I’m finally in France. I haven’t updated until now because I have been having so much fun. My roommates are awesome, my group is awesome and Paris- well its just amazing. I’ve seen the Eiffel Tower light up, made French friends, seen the Notre Dame, and eaten lots of French food. Every day, une baguette pour moi pour dejeuner. Avec le fromage s’il vous plait. And I made French friends! So proud of myself. ☺ I speak French to them and they speak English to me. Ça marche. I also get help with my French homework and get to know the good places to go shopping. This is possibly the best summer that I will ever have. In every way possible. Lots of learning and lots of fun. So I can justify all of the fun with all of the learning occuring at the same time.

Tonight, Anton, Christian, Shannon et moi went on a pub crawl by our place. By the last bar we had drank enough to convince ourselves to only speak French at the table- that we did. But apparently still having American backgrounds we were so obnoxious at 12:30 AM on a Wednesday in a neighborhood area, that we got shushed!!! Quoi de %&#*?!

Tomorrow we are visiting the Louvre and having to do a project on it. I’m also learning how to forget to write in English. I caught myself typing a text message and instead of typing ‘class’ I typed ‘classe’ and didn’t think anything of it. That’s a good sign right?

Also I would just like to move to Paris, right now. Merci beaucoup.

À Paris

Ok, je suis a Paris maintenant. Aujourd'hui je reste pres de Seine et bois de vin. Le vin n'est pas tres bon, mais c'est pas grave. Je fait de connaissance de deux garcons francais aussi avec Brittany.

Okay, that's my attempt on French. I'm having an awesome time, and seriously attempting my French, which I'm actually proud of!! (Since I'm so shy with languages anyways...)

But I have to go meet my group tomorrow at CDG at 8 AM. It's 1:30 AM now. Ohhhhh boy.

Off to Paris

The past couple of days have flown by in Finland. I’ve had great ideas such as biking to the Baltic Sea (a total of 60 km), done yard work with madre and hung out even more with the grandparents as well as seen extended relatives such as my great aunt and uncle, and their great grandchild. Apparently in Finland, we all actually know each other. Sofia (the great grand child) is HYSTERICAL. She’s 3 years old and loves Rockey. And Rockey loved her as well. But talk about confusing when Sofia’s mom’s name is Jonna, and I’m used to being the only Jonna around. Today’s the big day though, I’m FINALLY going to Paris. I even get to meet up with my dad at the airport since the plane I’m flying in on will be the plane he will fly to Helsinki with. My family likes to travel- a lot. And that’s an understatement.

I’m supposed to meet Brittany at the University of Paris today around 5-6 PM. Neither of us can get a hold of the other since I won’t have internet access from here on out, and she doesn’t have a cell phone. So wish me luck. But tonight I will be going to Duplex, a club by L’Arc de Triomphe. And have to meet my professor at 8 AM on Sunday morning!! An hour away of where I’m spending the night tonight! With all of my suitcases! I wonder how I get myself into these sticky situations with random early wake ups, but then I think about how hard me and my friend Kylene trained for it all last summer with having to wake up and drive Atlanta to Athens or Athens to Atlanta. This should be a breeze in France.

Hump Day

Made it all the way to the library today. The internet is much faster here, but I can't get on facebook because it's blocked. So dumb.

Notes to self:
1. The Finnish internet is extremely slow.
2. There is STILL no air conditioning in this country and today is 29C.
3. Finland is ridiculously expensive. I just paid 2€ for 4 pages of paper to be printed off. That's like 2.75 USD.

Anyways, I just booked my hotel for Saturday night as I will be staying on my own the first night in Paris. And then I booked my flight to Barcelona on June 23!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow I'll be hitting up the beach on the Baltic Sea with my mom. Not quite like Florida.

Is sleep too much to ask for? Or at least darkness??

3:45 A.M. and I’m wide-awake. I don’t know how I was ever able to live in this country and actually function with this little sleep. It’s bright outside again. Note to self- buy an eye mask to sleep in.  You’d think with where I live this would have been done sooner in Atlanta, but it’s so easy to pull black covers over my head and sleep with city lights, because at least the sky is semi dark. But no, in Finland the sky is always blue and the trees in my back yard aren’t quite close enough to the house to give me shade. Even the blinds are white, so at night they’re just blocking direct sunlight but you can see it through the cracks. The curtains are white too. Everything in Finland is white, white, WHITE. It’s the Scandinavian way. Everything is white, blue or birch colored. Look at our flag for crying out loud. Blue cross (to represent the blue sky) on a WHITE background. Oh, and we’re surrounded by birch trees. Quite the nature type we are. 

Made It Across the Pond

It's 2 AM on Sunday/Monday morning. It's obvious to say, but I made it to Europe in one piece last Thursday. Been visiting with lots of family, gone to graduation parties, and eaten all of my favorite Finnish food. I'm anxiously waiting for next Saturday, the day I leave for Paris and study there for 6 weeks!!! I realized today that I probably haven't looked at anything French for a couple of months, so I went and bought this month's Cosmopolitan at the bookstore. But until Saturday I will be in Finland, venturing around.

My brother headed back to the states today, so now it's just me, mom and Rockey. My mom and I went to Aino- a Finnish restaurant on Esplanaadi in Helsinki. Had some creamy salmon soup and rye bread- with a glass of white wine of course. Saturday, we spent our day graduation party hopping. My cousin and my godparents son both graduated, so to say they were going all out partying is an understatement. Especially with the godparents. :)

Tomorrow I'll be heading to Tapiola to see my friend, Silja, from 8th grade along with my friend Markus from- get this- CHURCH CAMP. Yes, once upon a time, I did attend one of those. ONCE.

Have yet to go to our sauna, so I'm planning on that to happen tomorrow night after a loooong bike ride around the country side, as I'll be heading back up to the east coast after lunch + shopping with Silja.

I'm sitting on my balcony in Kauniainen, and I swear, I think it's starting to get brighter!!! The sun's coming back!!!!!! It's just been dusk-esque until now, but seriously. Bleh. I'm never going to be able to sleep here.