London and a row with Paris.

Oops!  I let 3 weeks slip by this time, but no one seems to have noticed.  Either my devoted followers were just as busy as me (with finals, etc, you lucky Americans who are already done with the semester!)...or...y'all aren't so devoted after all!

Well. When I look over my planner from the last three weeks, they look quite hectic but not particularly interesting: took a (rather late) midterm, got some decent grades back from that and others, taught a bunch of English, and continued the bittersweet process of shutting down my life here (canceling phone contracts, etc).

The hectic monotony ended on Friday the 14th when one little miss Nicole Davis came through the now-familiar arrival doors  at dear old Charles de Gaulle.  Nicole and I have been best friends for going-on 7 years now and I'm so happy that she was able to come stay with me!  We did lots of tourist stuff Friday, Saturday, and Sunday before I sent her off with my extra cell-phone, a copy of the amazing Paris Pratique, and lots of addresses, museum hours, cafe recommendations, etc.  She got to meet lots of my friends here at various dinners and outings, too :)
Thursday around 7PM we were London bound via the Eurostar that goes through a tunnel under the English channel.  It was a smooth ride despite some painful ear-popping as we alternately de- and ascended.  On the other side we saw a familiar face that you know, too; temporary-Londoner Sara, who's just finishing up her study abroad program there.  She helped us get to our hostel which was near her own residence and we cooked dinner in the small kitchen of her building while planning out our 3-day stay.
Let's play a game:
What everyone says about London: It's awesome.
Verdict: True.  Ooh, hate to identify myself with the masses (sarcasm), but they were right about this one (not sarcasm).  I guess I should have learned from not believing the hype about Austin (then adoring it) that sometimes there's a reason people rave about certain cities.  I definitely want to live here for some extended period of time.  It helps that the weather was gorgeous.
What everyone says about London: The Tube is hard to navigate.
Verdict: Liars!  As long as you know the difference between East and West (and even if you don't, the stops are listed at the platform), I don't see how the London underground could be difficult to use.  Bonus points for the "intelligent technology" in the Oyster Cards - definitely the most hassle-free experience I've had with public transport in a foreign city (and probably less hassle than visitors to Paris experience) and the doors which are decidedly less violent than Paris'.  A+ for cleanliness as well.  There was lots of construction and closures going on because of preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games, but thanks to Sara and frequent announcements in the stations, we encountered no problems getting where we wanted to go.
What everyone says about London: It's a cultural melting pot.
Verdict: True!  Definitely more than any other city I've been to.  So delightful to hear all those languages, hear all that music, see all those different foods (as far as the tasting, we tried to stick to English fare).  I don't think it would will be difficult to keep up with my French and Italian if  when I live there.  There was also just a good, communal vibe that you don't get in Paris despite the presence of so many different nationalities.  Let's face it, you can be born in France and still not be considered "French" by the government.  On the other hand, it seems like anyone can be a Londoner (high alcohol tolerance recommended).

As you can see, I really enjoyed this trip.  I had also heard that London is just too big to really see in a short time, but thanks to guide books (yes, plural) and smart planning, we saw almost everything on our (ambitious) wish-list with plenty of time to actually enjoy what we were seeing.  Overall I was pleasantly surprised with how well London lived up to its hype (reputation for bad weather thankfully excluded!).
Another destination that lived up to its hype?  The Tate Modern.  I read about this museum years ago and the info on this architecturally-interesting structure (built in an old electrical plant) has been somewhere between the back and front of my mind ever since.  When Nicole and I decided to pare down our (overly ambitious) museum list, it was such a relief when she agreed that the Tate Modern should be at the top of it.  As it turns out, this is the only museum we made it to, and I only saw a small part - but I'll be back (even once I've seen all the art, since I also adored the coffee shop located on the 4th floor with a beautiful view over the river).  I started with an exhibit on the Surrealism movement (and tangents) - love me some Ernst:

 The Entire City

André Masson (operating on the concept of chance which became so important to the surrealists, he would throw a mixture of sand/glass/? onto the canvas and then bring a painting out of the random shapes which resulted):
https://www.tate.org.uk/collection/T/T06/T06822_8.jpg

De Chirico:

 The Uncertainty of the Poet

Mona Hatoum:

 Crib

I patted myself on the back when I walked into a room and immediately identified the two artists present: Picasso and Bacon (who I recently learned about at the Dublin City Gallery).  Okay, not exactly the "best kept secrets" of the art world, but still, I'm glad I've been able to start connecting some dots based on the pieces I've seen and even more excited that I might actually be developing some artistic preferences based on something other than the pretty factor.

In another exhibit about Cubism, Futurism, and Vorticism (a style I'd never heard of before), I enjoyed this piece by Ed Ruscha, an artist working out of LA:

Dance?

It's made of stripes of "common household substances", like coffee grounds, mustard, and egg whites.

We managed to hit up all the major parks: Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Regent Park, and Saint James' Park, as well as two major markets (Portobello Road and Camden).  We wandered around Nottinghill and Sloan Square/Chelsea as well as the endlessly entertaining Covent Garden area and the perfectly-titled Piccadilly Circus (sort of like Times Square); we checked out the high-end fashions on Oxford Street, saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (well, close enough - it was hard to see around/over the other 4 million people there), watched Big Bend chime, took pictures of Parliament from a bridge over the Thames, listened to a beautiful evensong at Westminster, and walked across Millennium bridge towards a beautifully-lit Saint Paul's at night.  We also made sure to fit in all the major English culinary traditions (at least, the ones I could think of): tea time, fish n chips, bangers and mash, pies, and...beer.  Yum.  Except for all the cabbage, cooked carrots, and peas.  Not a fan!!

After such a thrilling weekend, it was slightly difficult to come "home" to Paris, the city that constantly plays with my emotions.  On the one hand I believe I have accomplished my goal of actually carving out a life here rather than having a series of random study-abroad experiences with no real rhythm, uniting thread, or deeper understanding of the culture I'm living in.  The monotony I described above?  That's actually a daily/weekly routine which I strove to create.  I don't think it would have been possible without the "constant" in my life here which is the family I live with.
While my blog last semester often detailed my struggles in a new place, this semester it has been concentrated on the many trips I have been fortunate enough to make.  Blogging about your weekly routine is likely to induce boredom and possibly sleep, for me and above all for you, and I have also been hesitant to make any over-arching comments on French or Parisian society and culture despite the constant, and often critical, analysis going through my head.  Obviously real synthesis will take months and maybe even years to form (so look out for my blogs in 2020!), but I feel comfortable publicly admitting that I am officially ready to go home.  I came here with an open mind despite all the warnings and stereotypes.  Unfortunately I cannot say the same for several French people I have encountered (remember that post about the dinner I spent sitting next to someone who thought it was funny to refer to me as "Bush's daughter?").  This is not to say that I haven't had MANY, MANY amazing and gratifying experiences and met MANY awesome people, because I have (and hope to continue to do so).  But I'm sick of being talked about by the table next to me at dinner whose occupants are so convinced I can't understand what they're saying.  J'en ai marre de French people who assume that they know everything about me based on the country/state of my birth, and I'm tired of walking around with the general knowledge that I could at any moment have an extremely unpleasant and quite possibly insulting encounter with a snobbish/impatient/grumpy/rude Parisian.  I think a major part of this is my appearance which, if not decidedly "American", is pretty definitely NOT French, and which leads to unfounded, split-second, unflattering judgments.  Another major part of it is the fact that there seems to be an unwritten rule in France that if you hold any kind of position in which you are supposed to welcome and/or help people, you must at all times do the exact opposite, or at least perform your job with the maximum amount of disdain you can muster.  My experience after dropping Nicole off at the airport today only served to solidify this impression - I helped more people get to Paris than the woman at the information desk.  France, next time this position is open, try to hire someone who actually likes people.  A minimum level of patience and basic knowledge of English (not for me but for the hundreds/thousands of people who go through there everyday and have NOT studied French) would be a plus as well.  You would think the nice weather would put people in a better mood, but because good weather brings tourists, it seems to have the opposite effect.  Not that people were particularly friendly during winter.
As I somewhat prematurely begin to reflect on the year, there is no doubt in my mind that I made the right decision to spend it here.  Though I originally wanted to study in a smaller French city (ahem, in the South), that wasn't an option through UT exchange programs, and in any case I believe knowledge of the cultural and political capital of the country is essential to any understanding of French society (and will serve me well when I return to live in France at some point).  There's no doubt that I've grown as a person and, above all, that I've improved my language skills in both French and Italian.  But the size and pace of the city has definitely inhibited my attempts at assembling some kind of French friend group (also affected by inherently different social behaviors) and NOT living under constant judgment and not-so-rare insults from neurotic and self-entitled Parisians would have been nice.  Lately it seems like my experiences here have been alternating ones of adoration for the city and horror/disgust at the way the people in it behave.  You know something's wrong when you feel a rush of gratitude and a smile spreading across your face just because a social interaction was moderately pleasant.  Comparing opinions with people - sometimes French people - has confirmed that I am not the only one who thinks this way.  Finally, how much does it suck to want to show off "your city" to friends only to be treated as if neither of you should be here in the first place?
I've attained a comfort level here in Paris that I didn't think would be possible, for which I am very proud of myself, but being in London reminded me of how comfortable I could be, not only if French were my first language, but more generally if Parisians weren't so frequently unpleasant.  I imagine part of my cynicism comes from jealousy - I'm beginning to think that it really is impossible to become Parisian.  I can't help but hold something against a city which refuses to let me blend into its population.  But how can I blend into a society which is partially, if tacitly, founded on a disdain for foreigners?  Sometimes I feel like Paris is in a fight with itself.  It's definitely one of the top tourist destinations in the world, yet there is a very strong undercurrent of tourist-hatred (which frequently surfaces).  So, tons of restaurants, cafes, bars, bookstores, you-name-its have sprung up which cater pretty much exclusively to this ever-present and generally, though not always, transient population.  (Why?  Because it's just too hard/not permissible to assimilate.)  Recognizing the difference between these two types of establishments, I've been exhausted by the endless search for "authentic" experiences and the eternal struggle to avoid tourist traps.   However, I think the only real way to avoid them is...to be born French.  Or Parisian?  Then no matter what you do, you - by definition - cannot be a tourist.  Hmm. Well, too late for that.
One last thing: a while ago one of my professors, who happens to be Russian by birth, told us that a colleague of hers recently congratulated her on her lack of foreign accent when speaking French.  Katia has been living in Paris for over 20 years.  She teaches French.  Just think about that.
I apologize right now to anyone who is offended by this post.  It was a sloppy attempt at expressing the frustrations I've been dealing with since day 1; I've already edited several times since first posting it and I hope that one day I will find a way to concisely explain exactly what displeases me.  For now, feel free to make comments/suggestions/criticisms...

Though I stated above I am "ready to go home", a lot of that is probably due to the fact that I am indeed going home soon, and have therefore commenced mental and emotional preparations.  I still want to make the most of the 23 days I have left in Europe.  As I head into the home stretch, I'm sending out a plea to Paris: shove that ugly side in a placard in the bowels of the Louvre.  Let me leave this place with only the best of my memories in mind.  I'm not French.  But that's not my fault.

I'll let you know how it goes.
--
Alina

PS.  Photos:
Paris album (new photos start at the bottom of page 9 - click to the end to see the temporary "farm" they installed on the Champs-Elysees for an agriculture expo)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029731&id=1529880222&l=5e91c8d49c

LONDON CALLING:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2041392&id=1529880222&l=e49be48b7e

Montpellier, Italy, Sara.

Whew.  Time is flying.  This Thursday marks the t-6 weeks mark to my arrival back in the States.  Ahhhhh!!!

 Time went particularly fast these past two weeks because I was traveling.  Most French students (from 3-year olds to college students) were on a two week "Easter" (really Spring) break these last two weeks.  Perhaps you remember my last post in which I cursed a volcano in Iceland for preventing my parents from visiting me the first week of that vacation.  A few days ago my friend Vicky, whose parents' trip also was cancelled, forwarded me this article claiming the ash cloud was nowhere near thick enough to merit all the airport closures, and stating that the ONE plane in the UK which is supposed to test conditions at times like these was being repainted and therefore couldn't be sent up for 5 days (which happens to be the duration of the ban...).
My parents took a little tour of the Texas hill country and went to Dallas (they live in Houston).  They actually met some Europeans who were stranded in Texas (sounds like a movie plot); my dad told them that he and my mom had wanted to go to Paris, but Dallas was the second choice.

On Wednesday the 21st I hopped on a TGV (fast train) to Montpellier, a cute university-ish city in the south of France.  I was accompanied by my Italian friend Simona, probably the easiest person to travel with EVER (because she's so laid-back).

She was nice enough to let me practice some Italian, especially on the crowded train (perhaps due in part to the air travel disaster, but mainly due to a train-company strike...of course...).  I guess she'd rather put up with me butchering her language than put up with the strange looks of French people listening to us butcher theirs ;)
The first day in Montpellier was HOT (finally!) but we spent a lot of time walking around, checking out the city's monuments, the famous school of Medicine, and the beautiful Jardin des Plantes (Plant Garden?  It just doesn't sound the same), of which there is also one in Paris.  There are actually a lot of the "same things" in the two cities - an Arc de Triomphe, similar street names, but Montpellier had that laid-back, Austin-y vibe that's almost impossible to find in Paris.  I read in the guidebook on the way there that one French person in three surveyed said he would like to live in Montpellier.  It's population has doubled in the last 40 years (currently around 250,000 inhabitants, over 60 percent of which were not born in the region, and over 40 percent of which are less than 30 years old).  It's the capital of its region (Languedoc-Roussillon) and, like Austin, is also a technology hub (IBM and Dell have offices here).

One of the in Montpellier "Tricks of the Eye"

My trip to Montpellier also marked my first experience with Couchsurfing.  For those of you who haven't heard about it, couchsurfing is a project (in the form a website with many registered users, like facebook) started in the States; the name implies the basic idea: sleep on a friendly local's couch (or extra bed, or air mattress...) when visiting a city.  Parents and the like, don't freak out just yet - okay, okay, this could be really dangerous, but the people at www.couchsurfing.org are obviously aware of this and have created many security measures, such as "verified members" whose identity and location has been checked, ways to "vouch for" people, and tons of references.  If you're still not convinced that this might possibly sometimes maybe be an awesome thing to do...you've got a right to your opinion.  But I was incredibly happy with the way things turned out.  Simona and I first stayed with Jeff, a couchsurfing "ambassador" in the city (this means he's seriously involved in the project) - he met us in the center of town on his lunch break, and walked us back to his apartment, where he cooked a delicious lunch and provided us with all the information we would need to explore the city and discover some of the "local secrets".  After lots of tourist activity, we returned to Jeff's that evening to make ratatouille!

Mmmm.  Later we went to a bar to meet up with other couchsurfing fanatics for a monthly language meet-up they host (sort of like the French and Italian meet-ups in Houston; here there was lots of Italian, Spanish, and English being practiced).  The second night we stayed in the apartment of several students who made sure to feed us well and take us out to some of their favorite places.  On of them, Rostan, even accompanied Simona and me to his native town of Sete (about 20 minutes away by train) the next day, where we saw the beaches, tasted local cuisine (um, seafood!), and met his family!  Rostan was obliged to stop about every 3 minutes as we walked around town to kiss the cheeks of old high school buddies and other friends.  Thanks to couchsurfing, I definitely feel like Simona and I got the local perspective (of Montpellier and Sete!).
Check out my Montpellier photos here.

I had a 12-hour "layover" in Paris Friday night before heading to Italy Saturday morning.  On the agenda: 2.5 days in Milan, 2 days in Parma, and 1.5 days in Bologna.  Wow.  This trip to Italy was definitely one of the best weeks of this entire year.  In Milan I was oh-so-kindly hosted by my friend Stefania,

a Milan-native who studied in Paris last semester (and who loves it so much that she returns about once a month).  She made sure that we conquered the main aspects of the city: the Duomo,

shopping,

 and Brera, a ritzy, cute neighborhood which is home to the Pinacoteca di Brera, a fantastic museum housed in an old monastery.  We also checked out the Parco Sempione and participated in the fabulous Milan tradition of aperitivo, which is technically the little snack you eat before dinner, but which, done Milan style, is basically a light dinner accompanied by cocktails (and followed, in our case, by gelato!).  I also got to meet up with Antonio, a student at the Politecnico in Milan who studied for a semester in Austin for fall 2008.  He said I was officially the first person from Austin he had seen since leaving.  Yeehaw!

My main reason for going to Parma was to visit my high-school friend/counterpart Signorina Adelina,

(she'll love me for posting this picture)

who is studying there this semester.  But I of course took advantage of the visit to see some of the beautiful religious and cultural sites, including the Duomo,

a puppet museum, the Camera San Paolo, etc...  Back in Houston last summer, Adelina and I frequented the Houston Italian Language Meet-up, although we would often end up grabbing a table for ourselves and conversing in Italian.  When I arrived in Parma after three days of Italian conversation in Milan with Stefania, I just kept speaking it with Adelina.  After a few minutes I asked if that was too weird, but she also preferred slightly slower but more challenging (and therefore beneficial) conversations.  Yeehaw again!  It was cool to meet the host family I've read so much about (in her blog) and show her the city through the eyes of a tourist.  Adelina's program is already done and she leaves for a big Euro adventure tomorrow. Buon viaggio!

(she'll be as cultured as this little guy!! spotted walking into the Duomo.)

Finally, Bologna.

views/torre Asinelli

I know some Italian students who used to study at the (famous) university there, but they had all moved on, so I decided to try my luck with couchsurfing.  Could I possibly have three incredible hosts in a row?  Si!!  I stayed with Cristian, a graduate of the Università di Bologna, and his housemates (two girls and another guy, also Bologna graduates).  My adventure started when Cristian met me at the train station to take me to his place - via scooter!  I guess I'm really lame, because I hadn't even been on a scooter and, perhaps like many Americans, mainly see them as dangerous and something that other people drive.  When we got to his ride, I guess he saw the slight surprise on my face: "Problema?"  Well...having a problema didn't seem like a very feasible/convenient option.  I put my bags in the little trunk-thing, strapped on his extra helmet, and we were off!  I was surprised at how secure you feel in what is actually not a very secured seat (obviously no seat-belt, etc).  As he pulled off the curb I had a brief image of me flying off, but as we started going I was amazed at how smooth the ride was.  Scooters are really popular in Paris (in Europe?) - my host-mom Laurence, who is nearing 60, just bought one - and being on one I started to really notice just how many of them there are on the road in Bologna as well (in Italy in general).  I really liked getting around by scooter, and if anything ever happens to my car (she may be a Nissan, but she's also 14 years old), I might consider getting one...mom and dad, I wish I could see your expressions right now.
Cristian walked me around the center of town before we headed to a puppet-making workshop that was part of this association he's in.  I obviously didn't have the supplies necessary, nor am I a paying-member of the group, but when they saw that I was merely helping Cristian with his, some of the girls in charge went searching for make-shift puppet material.  Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to present Olivia (christened by one of Cristian's friends):

Afterwards we grabbed dinner with several members of the group, where we encountered MORE of Cristian's friends, who then accompanied us on a night-tour of the city (for my sake) and then to a couple bars.  It was a hilarious, Italian-filled (and therefore sometimes hilariously confusing) night - I can't believe how welcoming everyone I met was.

  The next day I got up early-ish to do some touristy stuff before meeting Cristian and yet another friend for lunch.  My last act in Bologna?  Gelato of course!  

That brought my total up to 6. Then we scooted off to the airport and in no time I was back in Parigi...

flying over the Alps to get home

Just in time for Sara 

(another American high school friend who's studying in London) to arrive Friday morning!  So, more tourist activities, including the Tour Montparnasse, which I'd been wanting to check out.  It now goes on my top three things to do with visitors in Paris, alongside the Sacre Coeur/Montmartre and the Pompidou (close fourth would be the Luxembourg Gardens...).

Click here for my Italy album.

And go to page 8 of this album to see the Luxembourg Gardens in bloom and some views from the only "skyscraper" in zone-one Paris.

Next up?  Lots of studying and working, maybe a concert or two, and a final baseball game (to see my little Camille and his cousin Bertrand play with the elite team)...and Nicole, who gets in from Houston a week from Thursday.  Ay yay yay!  I better get moving!!

xoxo

Alina :)