28 minutes ago
;;;;;;;; .....................
So dizzy from cold; blocked nose, lack of enough sleep,
from staring at the computer screens for too long,
from stress
from worry
I wish this cold would just go away,
for tomorrow's presentation to write itself, and well,
for today's tutorial to be understandable for once,
for A's dad to be found sound and safe,
to be able to sleep ( but looks like I will have to be at school at 8am for three days straight - then a 7am flight to Hamburg! )
I wish I could just sleep for a long long long time right now.... :(
So dizzy from cold; blocked nose, lack of enough sleep,
from staring at the computer screens for too long,
from stress
from worry
I wish this cold would just go away,
for tomorrow's presentation to write itself, and well,
for today's tutorial to be understandable for once,
for A's dad to be found sound and safe,
to be able to sleep ( but looks like I will have to be at school at 8am for three days straight - then a 7am flight to Hamburg! )
I wish I could just sleep for a long long long time right now.... :(
"Viv, call your family, there have been really bad earthquakes in Christchurch today."
OMG, thanks A!!!!
Thank God my family is alright.
Papa managed to escape this one as well, he was in Queenstown when I rang him (the last time he was trekking up Mt Cook;;;)
OMG, thanks A!!!!
Thank God my family is alright.
Papa managed to escape this one as well, he was in Queenstown when I rang him (the last time he was trekking up Mt Cook;;;)
Seems there is a cold virus going around at uni. You can hear coughs everywhere. I am no exception. The most likely culprit is the weather, which has been getting colder again. I’m helping the spreading of the virus though. It started with only a sore throat, then a runny nose; now it’s blocked. I have a headache and I can’t breathe or swallow easily. Got woken up at 4.30am this morning and now I can’t go back to sleep. Am typing in the dark at 6am, after several obviously failed attempts at going back to dreamland. As if I don’t already suffer from lack of sleep, the cause of a sudden amount of reading materials for lectures pounded upon us this week. I am so lucky I have these two weeks off work, because it’s the school holidays for the children at the moment.
I really hope B, who is visiting from Germany for the weekend, doesn’t catch this wretched condition from me, though I am not sure how she will dodge past it in the teeny tiny room that I call my Paris studio. My ex flatmate R also visited Paris for the weekend last week, but he was having too much fun apparently to call on me to have a catch up, as he had originally promised. Argh, you :p!
Valentine’s Day in France at the beginning of this week was not such a commercially hyped up event as in the other Western countries. Obviously there were the chocolates, the lovely chocolates, and the flower shops with their multi coloured roses, but they were not in you face. I found the heart shaped baguettes really cute, though; very French! On this night I went to watch a French comedy at the cinemas with the French language class. My first French film cinema experience in Paris – the last time had been 5 years ago, when I watched the second (third?) Harry Potter movie, with French dubbing!! Cringe!
Wednesday night I had the chance to go see a Kiwi band the Phoenix Foundation play, at this well known concert venue in the 20th. It was a good atmosphere, with what seemed like most of the Kiwi population in Paris having come to cheer them on, and have a good time. There were three other bands, another Kiwi, one French, and a San Fran. The first two were good, the French band was really good, but didn’t like the last one. Too much noise and no real melody…
Last night I had M over for a night snack. My first hosting experience in my tiny flat. Was meant to be dinner, but was deemed too late for a full meal (10pm ;)), so we just had a few glasses of wine and sweet brownies. It was awesome catching up with her and especially being told that my French had improved, that it’s coming out more easily and flowingly now. JJJ !!! She was the first person to have had contact with me when I came to Paris, so it was a really good compliment and a confidence booster to hear her comment. Got to keep up the pace!
I can’t believe it’s Friday already. Wow. A weekend full of more sight seeing awaits. I am really looking forward to visiting the richest district of Paris, the 4th, in which tasting the most delicious ice cream in the city will be a priority, and also seeing the Palace of Versailles. I hope the weather will be nice!!
I finally bought my tickets to Hamburg !!
J, I am finally coming to see you.
It may be the most expensive tickets I ever buy in Europe - let's hope so - but I am sure it will be worth, since I will be seeing my beloved friend for the first time in... a little over a year ?! My, how time has flown !! Plus, it'll be my first visit to Germany, apart from the two visits to Frankfurt Airport in 2005 and 2006 :)
The dates for the mid term exams have just come out ! OH BUT I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING YET !?!!!! Time to study !! :(
J, I am finally coming to see you.
It may be the most expensive tickets I ever buy in Europe - let's hope so - but I am sure it will be worth, since I will be seeing my beloved friend for the first time in... a little over a year ?! My, how time has flown !! Plus, it'll be my first visit to Germany, apart from the two visits to Frankfurt Airport in 2005 and 2006 :)
The dates for the mid term exams have just come out ! OH BUT I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING YET !?!!!! Time to study !! :(
My first trip out of Paris, that's not the suburbs ! Let's hope I get up on time tomorrow, or more importantly, that I arrive on time at the place of rendez-vous at the train station. Seriously, I actually need to catch up on my sleep, but the events that have been unfolding, and will soon unfold some more in the near future, will not let me rest my cute little head down for much rest at the moment. This week has been soooooo hectic !!!
But I am so looking forward to having more FUN !!!
Bring it on !
But I am so looking forward to having more FUN !!!
Bring it on !
Paris is so warm and sunny and beautiful today.
Please, Paris, let's stay thus so !!!
A lovely start to the week :)
Please, Paris, let's stay thus so !!!
A lovely start to the week :)
Finally finished the first proper week of classes,
there are few that I am not so sure about,
for example I got the biggest shock in the Spanish class yesterday,
even though it was at the right level for me, or was meant to be,
I could hardly keep up with the teacher's talking speed, and if that wasn't bad enough,
by the fellow students as well, who seemed to understand most of what was going on and reply back fluently. I will need to work very hard in this class !
On the other hand, today's classes were fairly easy, good thing too since it's Friday.
The health/social sciences class in the morning was just basic biology again, but in French,
I THOUGHT I WAS OVER WITH SCIENCE, BUT APPARENTLY NOT,
it's funny because the course structure is pretty much the same as in Auckland,
many different lecturers over the weeks, and them presenting their works in front of a PowerPoint presentation, LOL ! It was a pretty easy and boring class, which was a very nice change, for once. In addition, it's a smallish class as well, so a bonus :)
My other class today was on Australian cultures, in English, and I wondered how it would be for me being a Kiwi, but actually, there are 4 Australians in the class, which was funny and provided interesting perspectives when discussing different topics. I think I will quite enjoy this class !
I am so ready for the weekend. I need to get some rest. TGIF !
there are few that I am not so sure about,
for example I got the biggest shock in the Spanish class yesterday,
even though it was at the right level for me, or was meant to be,
I could hardly keep up with the teacher's talking speed, and if that wasn't bad enough,
by the fellow students as well, who seemed to understand most of what was going on and reply back fluently. I will need to work very hard in this class !
On the other hand, today's classes were fairly easy, good thing too since it's Friday.
The health/social sciences class in the morning was just basic biology again, but in French,
I THOUGHT I WAS OVER WITH SCIENCE, BUT APPARENTLY NOT,
it's funny because the course structure is pretty much the same as in Auckland,
many different lecturers over the weeks, and them presenting their works in front of a PowerPoint presentation, LOL ! It was a pretty easy and boring class, which was a very nice change, for once. In addition, it's a smallish class as well, so a bonus :)
My other class today was on Australian cultures, in English, and I wondered how it would be for me being a Kiwi, but actually, there are 4 Australians in the class, which was funny and provided interesting perspectives when discussing different topics. I think I will quite enjoy this class !
I am so ready for the weekend. I need to get some rest. TGIF !
I can't help myself. What do you expect? I'm in PARIS, for goodness' sake.
Yesterday lunch I took the too-short half hour break between the end of intense sightseeing on foot and the start of a very boring two hour lecture in French, to have lunch at the famous Les Deux Magots restaurant/café just a block away from uni. It's where famous artists and writers such as Picasso and Hemingway used to frequent. So of course the price was too high, but the service, unfortunately, wasn't. I don't know if it was because I was young looking girl dining alone, but it shouldn't have made a difference, professionally speaking. The only credit I can give the male waiter who served me was that he was a very good English speaker, even though each time he spoke to me in English I would reply back in French.
I have also tried the two famous macarons houses, Ladurée and Pierre Hermé. I prefer the former, whose café macarons were excellent, whereas I found that the latter seem to specialise in special flavours that I did not go for at all, which may seem unusual since I normally am a fan of exotic and even weird tastes, according to my friends. But Pierre Hermé did give me a nice bag for my macaron babies, which was a nice touch. :p
I should also note that these splurging sessions will not, and should not, be frequent, since I should really save some money to go travelling. En plus, French women don't get fat, and I don't want to either ! <- I have bought the book from the Shakespeare and Company and it is now plastered in postits of recipes to try. Back to the topic of travel, so far I have a weekend in Havre planned for mid this month, but we'll see about more later in February. Looking very promising is another weekend in Nancy, and Amsterdam, too :) Oh, better not forget that I am going to see the Phoenix Foundation next week, also ! Happy Chinese New Year, and Waitangi day, lovely peoples. Yes, I am very busy with so much events in my life. Don't worry, folks, I will soon have too much reports and exposés to keep it up for too much longer, sadly..
Yesterday lunch I took the too-short half hour break between the end of intense sightseeing on foot and the start of a very boring two hour lecture in French, to have lunch at the famous Les Deux Magots restaurant/café just a block away from uni. It's where famous artists and writers such as Picasso and Hemingway used to frequent. So of course the price was too high, but the service, unfortunately, wasn't. I don't know if it was because I was young looking girl dining alone, but it shouldn't have made a difference, professionally speaking. The only credit I can give the male waiter who served me was that he was a very good English speaker, even though each time he spoke to me in English I would reply back in French.
I have also tried the two famous macarons houses, Ladurée and Pierre Hermé. I prefer the former, whose café macarons were excellent, whereas I found that the latter seem to specialise in special flavours that I did not go for at all, which may seem unusual since I normally am a fan of exotic and even weird tastes, according to my friends. But Pierre Hermé did give me a nice bag for my macaron babies, which was a nice touch. :p
I should also note that these splurging sessions will not, and should not, be frequent, since I should really save some money to go travelling. En plus, French women don't get fat, and I don't want to either ! <- I have bought the book from the Shakespeare and Company and it is now plastered in postits of recipes to try. Back to the topic of travel, so far I have a weekend in Havre planned for mid this month, but we'll see about more later in February. Looking very promising is another weekend in Nancy, and Amsterdam, too :) Oh, better not forget that I am going to see the Phoenix Foundation next week, also ! Happy Chinese New Year, and Waitangi day, lovely peoples. Yes, I am very busy with so much events in my life. Don't worry, folks, I will soon have too much reports and exposés to keep it up for too much longer, sadly..