De San Diego à Paris

Ask me anything

2012-03-06T12:42:00.000-08:00

If you guys have any questions about studying abroad, living abroad, or just want to know where I bought a sweater you can go ahead and ask me on Tumblr. I've enabled the anonymous feature for those of you that don't have a Tumblr but you can also feel free to email me and I'll try to reply as quickly as I can.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far.

To ask questions CLICK HERE.

Disneyland Paris

2012-03-05T10:31:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday I finally got to visit Disneyland Paris with my boyfriend (who's not really into Disneyland). One of the biggest difference between Disneyland Paris and Disneyland in Anaheim or the Magic Kingdom in Orlando is not obviously the language but also the rides! For the most part you have your classic Disneyland rides like Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World, and the Mad Hatter's Tea Cups but in Paris you have some stronger roller coasters which will satisfy any older Disney fan like me and even please those who don't like Disneyland that much *cough cough*. My top rides were by far Space Mountain Mission 2, Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril, and Big Thunder Mountain. And if you're a Star Wars fan you'll be able to find the original Star Tours here! While I may still like Disneyland in Anaheim a lot better, Disneyland Paris is definitely worth checking out and especially if you're a resident because its only 30€ on Billet Francilien until the end of March.

Enjoy the vlog and pictures I took at Disneyland Paris!

Welcome to Disneyland Paris.

Space Mountain Mission 2.

Vlogging on Big Thunder Moutain.

For more pictures click here.

Budapest

2012-03-04T12:20:00.004-08:00

I had the great pleasure to visit Budapest this past weekend during my winter break with my friends and let me tell you I was far from disappointed. I'd like to share a couple of the many pictures I took during my trip, to see the rest of the pictures can be found check out my Flickr. I will write a blog post about my trip in the coming week!

Parliament

Architecture in Budapest

The life of a blogger

Budapest has a Moulin Rouge as well.

Hungarian scrambled eggs at Cyrano which is a place that I highly recommend.

St. Stephen's Basilica

View from Castle Hill.

Hungry in Hungary. This is me eating actual funnel cake.

Goulash ya'll!

HALF A YEAR UPDATE!

2012-02-22T04:31:00.002-08:00

Yes, it's been 6 months since I left San Diego to go study in Paris and let me tell you time here has gone by FAST! I can still remember making my appointment with the French Consulate in the summer and as well packing my bags as if it was only yesterday. Nothing much has changed since the last update but I still decided to record a short video to let you know what's happened since the last update.

One thing I forgot to mention about my upcoming trip is the location! I'll be visiting Budapest which I'm extremely excited about. I'm looking forward to all the fun activities and events that I have in store this upcoming week so be on the look out for new videos and posts.

Thanks for watching and have a great day.

Keep in touch with people back home

2012-02-19T09:40:00.000-08:00

As you all may know I am extremely close with my family and friends back home and I still am! I find myself talking to them almost everyday so I keep them updated about what's going on and I know how everything is back home. It's more than possible to talk to your loved ones almost as much as you do back home and for FREE! Watch the video below to learn the many ways you can talk to your loved ones while you're studying abroad.

Websites/Apps mentioned:

Studying abroad according to..

2012-02-17T09:18:00.000-08:00

Sorry for jumping on the bandwagon but when I saw this I knew I had to post it on my blog.

American vs. French Universities

2012-02-10T04:51:00.000-08:00

For more information about how to register for classes in a French university and to see the fiche d'inscription (the registration sheet) please check out my past blog post about the French University System + Registration.

Bon week-end à tous!

Blog of the Week!

2012-02-03T11:25:00.000-08:00

This past week has been a very good week for me, from falling in love with Chairlift's second album Something to eating the best duck I've had in Paris so far at Mirama- my last week before second semester has been nothing but warm and kind to me despite the fact that it is freezing outside. And now I have very exciting news to share!

Not only did my blog reach 10,000 pageviews this week but it also got named GoAbroad.com's Blog of the Week! I'm looking forward to help even more students and their parents, informing them about everything they need to know about studying abroad and living abroad. I have a lot of informative posts on the way including a post about registering for classes, thrift shopping in Paris, and a post describing my study abroad program. I also have lots of videos planned out for the next coming months.

Thank you for all your support and thank you once again, GoAbroad.com.

Bon week-end à tous!

10,000+ pageviews!!

2012-02-01T11:27:00.001-08:00

And to celebrate I present to you the French Rick Rolled!

Travel tips for study abroad students: Copenhagen

2012-01-31T07:16:00.000-08:00

The last city in my little travel series is Copenhagen which is by far my favorite city I got to travel to during this Christmas holiday. The city was clean, trendy, and extremely welcoming. This is a place that I've been recommending a lot to my friends since I have nothing but great things to say about it.

Copenhagen

The hotel we stayed at was the Omena Hotel (Colbjørnsensgade 5-11). It was super modern and not fairly inexpensive for Copenhagen standards. It's located about 2 minutes from Copenhagen's Hovedbanegård train station (free wifi at McDo!) and conveniently placed in an area where there are lots of restaurants. The thing that makes this hotel unique is the fact that it has no keys! Yes, no keys AT ALL. You get your code emailed and sent to your phone and once you get there you just have to enter it to get inside the hotel, to get to the "lobby" area, to reach the elevators, and once again to get into your room. The hotel has cameras everyone so don't even think of giving someone else your code. The room was extremely clean and big, and so was the bathroom. The rooms have a fridge in case you want to stock up on waters or want to buy fruit. I highly recommend this hotel to anyone traveling to Copenhagen. Oh, and there's free wifi! Granted it wasn't the best but it does help when researching places to go.
The Danish krone are worth less than the Swedish krona but things are a bit more expensive in Copenhagen than in Malmö. 1€ = 7.44 kr So 100 kr is roughly about 13€. Some tourist shops accept euros and many stores have the euro equivalent on the tags so you know exactly what you're spending.
Just like the Swedish, Danes speak PERFECT English and everyone we encountered (including a homeless man asking for money) spoke English.
Copenhagen is the most bike friendly city so if the weather permits rent one of the public bikes. I didn't get the chance to since it was raining and the bikes are only out on certain seasons but I know you get your money back when you return the bike so basically it's like using a bike for free.
Public restrooms cost money, usually 2 to 5 kr.
The Danes really know how to do sales. Forget the soldes, 75% off is the way to go! Check out Østergade and Vestergade, both those streets have amazing stores. MTWTFSS Weekday is a great store which reminded me a lot of Urban Outfitters. There's also Cheap Monday store in Copenhagen. And if you're like my boyfriend and like Nudie jeans you can find them at various stores here.
To check out the music scene in Copenhagen check out the Drone Bar (Nørrebrogade 184).
Another bar that I would recommend is Beduin (Skindergade 20) which is a pretty nice hookah lounge.
There are 7-Elevens EVERYWHERE in Copenhagen! Get a hot dog from there but also make sure to stop at one of the many hot dog carts and get one. Go hot dog crazy! They are pretty good.
The buses are easy to figure out in Copenhagen and fairy inexpensive but the best way to get around is by walking. Everything you need to see is nearby plus you'll need to work off all the hot dogs and Danish pastries you might eat.
Danes are extremely nice so don't be afraid to ask them for help or suggestions. PS. Don't try Danish food, that's was one of the advice we got from a fellow Dane.

If you have an iPhone, iPod touch, or Android download the foursquare app because it will become your best friend during your trip. I didn't have 3G while I was there but it works just fine with wifi, so take advantage of foursquare and look up restaurants and other places to check out. Yelp on the other hand does not work in Denmark. I also just received my tripod so expect to see more vlogs in the near future! I decided I'm going to be vlogging for the whole entire month of March so be on the look out for that and if you want to see specific things in Paris feel free to leave it as a comment below and I'll try my best to show that in a vlog.

Travel tips for study abroad students: Malmö

2012-01-30T05:51:00.000-08:00

We're going to continue this travel tip series with Malmö, Sweden. I know many haven't heard about Malmö but it's Sweden's 3rd biggest city and home to the Turning Torso! Its also a 20 minute train ride across the Øresund Bridge from the Copenhagen Airport. Malmö is also extremely diverse so if you're expecting to see just blonde people you'll be surprised by seeing so many immigrants coming from Turkey, Iraq, and Lebanon.

Malmö

The hostel I stayed at was Bosses Gästvåningar (Södra Förstadsgatan 110 B Malmö, Skåne) and it was great. It has a kitchen which is great for those who are traveling on a budget because you can just go to Hemköp or any grocery store to buy supplies. The rooms themselves were very roomy, the bathrooms were clean, and its located in a nice area close to many restaurants and a bus station.
The city is not huge so it's very walking friendly. I basically walked from the hotel to the Turning Torso and it took less than an 1½. It's a very nice city so don't even bother taking a bus. Walk to see what Malmö has to offer.
1 Euro = 8.86 Swedish Kronor so when you look at the prices don't panic. You'll be seeing lot's of things priced 100 kr and more, so what we did to roughly get the price was move the decimal point to the left. So 100 kr is roughly about 10/11€.
Don't worry if you don't know a word in Swedish because their English is FLAWLESS. I swear I understood their English better than the English spoken in Manchester.
Malmö isn't too known for it's nightlife (FYI the sun sets at around 15h) so there isn't a wide selection of bars to choose from. The one that we went to was Carib Kréol Anitllo Bar & Restaurant which has a good selection of cocktails and good Swedish jazz music.
Don't expect to find alcohol at the grocery store, the only place you can buy alcohol in Sweden are at government owned stores.
If you're from California then you know all about California fries, well in Sweden their version of that are called poutine. Try the falafel or kebab poutine from Daoud's Pizzeria which is near the hostel I stayed at.
Make sure to pack plenty of warm things, such as thick leggings and undershirts when visiting Malmö in the winter. And don't be discouraged to come here during the months of December and January because despite the fact that it was pretty cold, it didn't rain at all!

Travel tips for study abroad students: London

2012-01-22T09:56:00.000-08:00

To be completely honest, I didn't like London much. I don't know whether it was because of the lack of time we had to explore the city or the fact that I found it overwhelming to explore. I would highly suggest to anyone to travel to London to spend more than 2 days like I did.

London

The hotel I stayed at was the Queens Hotel Crystal Palace (122 Church Road Crystal Palace, London) which also happened to be the same hotel that my brother stayed at during his trip with EF Tours. This hotel has horrible reviews online but I'm glad we took the risk because it wasn't as bad as the reviews made it seem. The hotel is in South London, so it's in no way in walking distance to all the tourist attractions but there is an underground station (Crystal Palace) which is located down the hill. The hotel was fairly inexpensive and there is a Sainsburys nearby as well as many restaurants and little shops. And last but not least this hotel has free wifi in the lobby!
Just like in Manchester if you have Bank of America or BNP Paribas there are plenty of Barclays locations and ATMs so you can take out some pounds.
The London Underground or Tube can be extremely confusing if you don't study it in advance and unlike the Parisian one there isn't a train taking you in the same direction every 3 minutes. You have to be aware that there are about two directions for every line because many lines spit up. As you can see on the picture, the Tube map is much bigger than the Parisian metro and the fact that it doesn't have names will confuse you at first.
To avoid buying a ticket every time we used the Underground or Overground we just went ahead and bought day passes. Since Crystal Palace is in Zone 5 we had to buy the Zone 1-6 day pass which was £8.50. A single way ticket is about £4 so the day pass definitely pays off! Check out the Oyster website for prices and there's even a 7-day pass. You don't have to buy the pass in advance, they are also available at any underground or overground station where you buy your tickets.
Food in London is definitely pricier than in Manchester but just like Manchester there are plenty of takeaway places and there are buffets everywhere. We ended up in Chinatown and took advantage of a buffet in that area. While it wasn't the biggest buffet for less than £6 we got to eat everything we wanted which turned out to be a good thing for a group of students with a small budget who had been walking the entire day.
London is HUGE! So definitely take into consideration that you won't get to places really quick. As I mentioned before the tube isn't as quick, nor does it come often as the Parisian metro. When I went to Rough Trade I had thought that we would have enough time to also go to Abbey Road but it took about an hour to get to the Ladbroke Grove station from Crystal Palace and about 45 minutes to go to the Victoria station to meet up with my friends.

Travel tips for study abroad students: Manchester

2012-01-20T07:22:00.000-08:00

As you all may know I definitely took advantage of traveling during my Christmas holidays because unlike many study abroad students, going to class is my #1 priority. I'd rather take a week long trip instead of flying to a new city for the weekend and rushing to do everything. A couple of French people warned me that the places I had chosen to travel to were expensive places, they even claimed to be even more expensive than Paris which kind of scared me a bit. Thankfully I discovered that there are cheap options but you just have to look for them and be flexible. I'm going to share my tips for all the cities I went to this past break and even share the hotel/hostel.

Manchester

My first city outside of France that I went to visit. The reason why I chose to go to Manchester was to see Paul McCartney on my 22nd birthday and visit my friend, Sofia, but the city itself definitely impressed me and became one of my favorite places I've traveled to.

Become familiar with bus routes. Manchester does not have a particularly great public transportation outside of Picadilly (the center of Manchester). Also be aware that the buses take a break at a really inconvenient time at around 21h and they don't start circulating until 23h.
If you happen to go to Manchester during the holidays season check out the Christmas market for cheap and delicious food and plenty of gift ideas.
Again if you happen to travel during winter make sure to layer up because it gets very cold at night. Oh, and it rains quite a bit so make sure to take an small umbrella along.
There are plenty of fast food places which are called takeaways in England and their food is CHEAP! I remember my boyfriend and I went to a takeaway place and got their £11 deal which included a pizza, garlic bread, and two drinks. We got two big pizza boxes and we thought "ok, maybe they ran out of smaller boxes for the garlic bread," but we were wrong! The garlic bread was basically a cheese pizza, so two big pizzas with drinks for £11, that's what I call a pretty good deal. Also check out the Curry Mile for tons of restaurant options.
For those who like to shop like myself there's a wide array of stores you can shop at and a lot of them are priced pretty well. Top Shop is where you would go for your trendy items and their jewelry (which is to die for!), Boots and Superdrug are both amazing for finding all the beauty products that you've heard on YouTube, and finally Primark. Primark is unbelievably cheap! Bags, accessories, sweaters, shoes- basically anything you can think of for outrageously cheap prices.
If you want to buy some groceries at Sainsburys and Tesco are both pretty good options with a wide array of inexpensive food items.
Manchester is a very walking friendly city make sure to bring comfortable shoes.
If you have Bank of America or BNP Paribas in France then you can take out money from any Barclays without any extra fees.
Here are some American-British translations to ease your time in London. Potato chips - crisps, French fries - chips, cookies - biscuits, biscuits - scones, buck - quid, and cents - pence or p.

I know I'm going to keep mentioning this but if you have an iPhone, iPod touch, or Android download the foursquare app because it will become your best friend during your trip. I didn't have 3G while I was there but it works just fine with wifi, so take advantage of foursquare and look up restaurants and other places to check out. Yelp is also another great resource during your trip.

4 AND 5 month update!

2012-01-17T11:13:00.000-08:00

Since I was extremely busy with school, holiday shopping, and traveling I've decided to talk about what's been going on these past two months in one video.

As I said in the video, I'm thinking of vlogging everyday for a month! I still don't know which month I will document but comments will be much appreciated. So should it be February, March, or April?

Q&A #1

2012-01-16T08:07:00.000-08:00

Last semester tumblr user aminataaa (who's French) asked me a couple of questions regarding how I felt about attending a French university and the French. I thought they were really good questions so instead of answering them on Tumblr I've decided to dedicate entirely to her questions. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to email me or send me questions on Tumblr, I'm looking forward doing more of these posts in order to help current and future study abroad students.

Since the questions are in French and I understand that not everyone can read French I will provide the English translation in italics.

1. Salut Laura, je te prie de me pardonner à l'avance mais je pense t'harceler de questions pendant un bon moment parce que 1: je m'ennuie et 2 :je veux connaître ta vision de Paris en tant qu'étudiante américaine. // Hi Laura, I beg you to forgive me in advance but I think I will harrass you with questions for a good moment because 1: I'm bored and 2: I will like to know your thoughts about Paris as an American Student.

2. Alors, comment se passe tes cours, as-tu déjà été confrontée à la désorganisation générale des facs de Paris ? // So, how have your classes been, have you already confronted the general desorganization of the universities of Paris?

Mes cours étaient bien, mais ils ont été extrêmement inorganisés par rapport aux cours américaines, où ils ont un plan du semestre a mis en place dès le premier jours que vous arrivez au cours. Parfois, il semblait que mes profs ne savaient pas quoi faire et les élèves n'avaient tout simplement pas les soins. Certains sont entrés dans le cours une heure en retard, certains oublient de faire leurs présentations, et tricher juste en face du prof sans aucune conséquence, ces choses sont absolument interdit dans mes cours aux Etats-Unis. // My classes were ok but they were extremely unorganized compared to my American classes where you're given a syllabus with everything planned out for the rest of the semester within the first days of class. Sometimes it seemed like my teachers did not know what to do and the students didn't care. Some would arrive an hour late, others would forget to do their presentations, and others would cheat right in front of the teacher without a consequence- those things are prohibited in my American classes.

3. Comment trouves tu ta fac ? Le plus important t'es tu fais des amis français parce que dans ma fac tous les étudiants en échanges restent entre eux // How did you find your college? And most importantly did you make some French friends because in my campus all the exchange students stayed among themselves.

J'adore ma fac mais j'ai trouvé les étudiants français difficile pour parler. J'ai fais quelques amis français mais pas beaucoup en comparant avec mes amis étrangers. Tous les étudiants en échange restent entre eux, ça est vrai. // I love my college but I found the French difficult to talk to. I did make some French friends but not as many compared to my foreign friends. It's very true all the exchange students stay among themselves.

4. Quelle est la chose qui t'as vraiment choquée ou surprise à Paris par rapport aux coutumes ou gens tout simplement ? // What is the thing that has really shocked or surprised you about Paris from customs to the people?

Rien ne m'a choqué beaucoup depuis que j'avais déjà une idée de comment les Parisiens sont avant de venir ici. Je suppose que l'une des choses qui m'a surpris est que les foules des concerts et "DJ sets" sont vraiment mélangés, je m'attendais vraiment une foule homogène, comme aux Etats-Unis. Aussi le manque de sécurité aux concerts m'a surpris. // Nothing has shocked me much since I already had an idea of how the Parisians were prior to coming here. I guess one of the things that has surprised me are the mixed crowds at concerts and DJ sets, I was really expecting a homogeneous crowd like in the United States. Also the lack of security at concerts surprised me.

5. Es-ce aussi difficile de venir étudier à Paris sue d'étudier aux Etats-Unis car les procédures d'admissions ont l'air assez hard personnellement ça m'a découragée. // Is it difficult to study in Paris to study than in the United States because the admission procedures seem hard enough that they discouraged me personally.

Heureusement nous avions une procédure d'admission différente de celle des français, donc pour moi je n'ai jamais senti découragé. Mais je peux certainement voir comment un élève pourrait se décourager. Ce qui me décourage au début était l'inscription aux cours, car je me sentais extrêmement perdu et confus, j'ai senti que j'allais continuer dans cette voie pour le reste du semestre dans mes cours mais ça n'était pas le cas. // Fortunately we had a different admission procedure than the French so for me I never felt discouraged. But I can definitely see how a student would get discouraged. What discouraged me at the beginning was registering for classes because I felt extremely lost and confused, I felt that I was going to continue on that path for the rest of the semester in my classes which wasn't the case.

6. ENFIN, les français sont-ils aussi impolis et désagréables que la majorité de la planète semble le penser (rétablissons la vérité ^^) ? // Finally, are the French are so rude and unpleasant that the majority of the planet seems to think so?

Certains français sont impolis, je dois admettre. Peut-être que c'est parce que je ne suis pas un odieuse américaine et je suis toujours attentif de la façon que je l'approche des français, mais j'ai rencontré beaucoup de personnes amables ici. J'ai eu les français viennent vers moi au supermarché pour me proposer de l'aide et suggérer des choses pour moi. Je ne peux pas me plaindre des français contrairement à certaines personnes dans monprogramme d'échange. // Some are rude, I have to admit but fortunately I haven't ran into many rude French. Maybe it's because I'm not an obnoxious American and I'm always careful of how I approach the French but I've encountered many nice French people here. I've had French people come up to me at the supermarket out of nowhere to offer me help and suggest things to me. I can't complain about the French unlike other people in my exchange program.

Malmö and Copenhagen

2012-01-07T13:16:00.000-08:00

Malmö

When my brother, my boyfriend, and I booked our trip to Malmö and Copenhagen we got asked "Why Copenhagen?," "What is there to do in Sweden?" over and over by family members and friends. I've been interested in traveling to Sweden since my childhood when I became obsessed with the A-Teens and ABBA so when my brother told me he wanted to go visit Malmö and Copenhagen it only took a second for me to say "YES."

We arrived to Copenhagen and took the 20 minute train from the airport across the Øresund Bridge to get Malmö. Malmö is Sweden's third largest city by population and has a lot of diversity. It is very easy to get around Malmö by foot or bus- we mostly walked though since everything was walking distance. The city, despite not having much of a nightlife like Stockholm, was a lot of fun and interesting. I would definitely recommend giving Malmö a shot.

Copenhagen

Copenhagen, the capital and largest city in Denmak, had a lot to offer compared to Malmö and is now one of my favorite places that I've traveled to. I fell in love with everything, from the architecture to the people. The Danes sure spoiled us with their kindness, they're one of the happiest and kindest people I've encountered during my time in Europe. I love how they assumed that you spoke Danish and didn't just judge you didn't based on your appearance. Another thing I loved about the Danes was their English! I swear I understood the Swedes and Danes English a million times better than I did the Brits.

Overall I would highly recommend traveling to Copenhagen and Malmö, it was an amazing experience and definitely one of the highlights of my time studying abroad. Thank you to all the Swedes and Danes we encountered, you definitely spoiled us with your kindness and made this trip even more memorable.

Here are a couple pictures from my trip, to check out more pictures CLICK HERE.

Walking around Malmö.

The Turning Torso

The Baltic Sea

Triangeln train station in Malmö

Christiania, where the Danish hippies reside

København

There were bikes everywhere!

Happy New Year // Bonne Année

2011-12-31T11:43:00.000-08:00

I just want to wish all of you a very happy new year! I hope everyone has a great time and a safe time ringing in 2012. I want to thank everyone who has taken their time to read my blog and those who have featured my articles on their website. I never imagined that people would take an interest in what I'm going through, my thoughts, and my opinions. Thank you so much for all the support, it means the world to me knowing that I'm helping other students and entertaining others in the meantime.

I'll be heading off to Malmö, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark right after New Year's so I won't update the blog until next week.

I want wish everyone nothing but the best in 2012. I hope everyone makes 2012 the best year of their lives. Thank you for all the support once again.

HAPPY NEW YEAR // BONNE ANNÉE

-Laura

Meet my brother

2011-12-30T07:18:00.000-08:00

Before coming to Paris I wanted to film this video with my brother but we ran out of time so he promised me that he would film it when he came to Paris. So here's the video! My brother doesn't like being in front of a camera hence his stiffness but hey I managed to get him to do this.

Hope you enjoy the video, we're off to do two of our favorite things today: eat and go to a concert.

Seeing Paris as a tourist

2011-12-28T14:11:00.000-08:00

Chilling next to a Picasso painting.

During my 4th month living here I've found myself doing the tourist thing once again thanks to my brother being in town. Its weird how one becomes used to various sites such as the Arc de Triomphe and can simply walk right past them without thinking anything about it, but what I've realized is that its good to marvel at these historic sites like tourists every once in a while. And as for my brother he's enjoying seeing Paris as a resident and going to non-tourist trap restaurants.

So far we've done what every tourists has does while in Paris: go to Opéra, walk down the Quartier Latin, eat a macaron at Ladurée (which FYI they're pretty overrated, I didn't see what the fuss is about), visit the Social Club, eat falafel at a place that was recommended by Lenny Kravitz, and eat a galette (or two if you're my brother). You know, all the typical touristy things...

Mon frère

Pistachio macaron

Back in the terrace of Galeries Lafayette.

Manchester and London

2011-12-26T13:28:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of pictures from my trip to England! To see more pictures click here.

With my favorite Brit.

The Manchester Christmas Market.

Celebrating my 22nd birthday with Sir Paul McCartney.

Twix aren't biscuits, they're chocolate bars!!

Foggy day in London.

Big Ben.

"Please mind the gap."

Rough Trade record store.

I'm currently editing the vlog, so that will be up very soon.

Merry Christmas // Joyeux Noël

2011-12-24T09:40:00.001-08:00

I want to wish all my readers a Merry Christmas. If you're with family I hope you have a good time celebrating with your loved ones. If you're a student abroad like me I hope you're celebrating with friends.

I wish nothing but the best for all of you. New videos and posts coming up soon!

England here I come!

2011-12-15T10:57:00.000-08:00

Again I'm very sorry for the lack of posts this month but I just finished up the semester last night and today I spent the majority of my day inside the comfort of my own bed catching up on my sleep. Tomorrow will be the first time that I'll be leaving Paris and going back to an English speaking country but no I won't be going back to the States for the Holidays, I'll be going to l'Angleterre or England! It's going to feel a tad odd being in an English speaking country when I've been hearing nothing but French for the past 4 months already. The two cities I'll be visiting are Manchester and London which I'm extremely excited about despite already knowing that its going to be even colder than in Paris. I plan to record some footage from the trip and my birthday (December 19th) which I will edit and upload it as a vlog when I come back.

I will be back in the bloggerverse on December 23rd, right before Christmas! I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Sorry for the lack of updates

2011-12-10T14:13:00.001-08:00

I've been busy with the last few exams or devoir sur table at school, as well as finishing up my Christmas shopping that I haven't had time to sit down and write a blog post.

I still have to edit a video I recorded at the Champs-Elysées and write a thorough post about my first semester in Paris.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. New posts coming up soon!

The Soundtrack of my Study Abroad Journey

2011-12-01T08:47:00.001-08:00

I think I've made it no secret that I'm a huge St. Vincent fan and also that Strange Mercy is by far my favorite release of 2011, but after yesterday I have become an even bigger fan of Annie Clark- if that's even possible. The show was held at Café de la Danse which is one of the best music venues I've been to let me tell you. I arrived at 17h30, about and hour and a half before the door were supposed to open and there was no one! Not one single soul! Which is very strange for me because I'm used to seeing people lined up hours before a show starts regardless of the artist back in the states because people just like being in the front. I had a pleasure of meeting a guy from the Philippines who also liked the same music as I do before the show and my friend, him, and I just chatted away until the doors finally opened. I bought my ticket to see St. Vincent during my second week of studying abroad, the very day they came out, so you can imagine how many different emotions were running through me when I walked into the venue and when I made my way to stand in the very front (have I mentioned how much I love not having a barrier?).

The guitar goddess

The opening act was the French duo Manuel Armstrong which were really good and also St. Vincent's back up singer. Once Annie Clark finally hit the stage I was just in awe of how beautiful she is in person. She opened the show with Surgeon which was the perfect song to open because of the guitar riffs. Words cannot even express how amazing each and every song were, seeing the passion she has for performing and also the way she plays her guitar was just mind blowing. I could keep talking about what I liked about every song, every guitar solo, and every time she would notice my friend and I jamming but then this blog post will end up looking more like an essay about Annie Clark rather than a short blog post about one of the best nights in Paris. The whole concert was spectacular, each song took on a completely different life on stage. I kind of wish the Parisian crowd would have been a but more livelier and sing along to her songs but at least they clapped enthusiastically in between songs.

After the show I decided to stick around to see if I could meet her and even after the security guards kicked the 4 people trying to meet her out I still stuck around outside in the cold Parisian night. After about an hour and a half she finally came out, the 3 guys waiting for her talked to her first and then it was my turn. I went up to her and said "Hi Annie, your show was incredible," which she replied "Whoa, I was expecting a thick French accent from you." I told her how I'm an American from San Diego studying abroad and how her music has become the soundtrack to this experience which she really felt flattered by. We talked about San Diego, life in France, and finally she thanked me for knowing all her songs. She said "I saw you in the front and I wanted to thank you for singing along, it was nice seeing someone who knows all my songs," which was by far one of the best things any artist has told me- my life is presque complète. I now have a new god and her name is Annie Clark.

Annie Clark

Me with Annie Clark. For more pictures click here.

The opening song.

I think she should re-record the Party because this version is absolutely gorgeous. For more videos click here.

Happy 18th birthday to my baby brother!

2011-11-30T06:43:00.001-08:00

See you in December!