Getting There...and Then Some

So I'm finally in Paris! Paris, FRANCE! Like actually FRANCE! Ok, yeah, I'm a little too excited about that. I just can't get over the fact that I've actually finally made it over the pond. For a "pond", I sure did have to do quite the hop, jump, and skip (and maybe a little musical "who's actually sitting in 37J") to get over it.

So I left PLU at 5am on the morning of January 10th in the States. Before leaving, I got to spend about 3 days with the lovely Gretchen Nagel whom I had not see for just over half a year since she was studying away herself last semester (thanks again, Gretchen for letting me stay--it was good to see you again after soooo long!). I also got to hang out with my really close friends who were back at PLU since normal classes had already resumed for J-Term 2012. It was great to get to see them all one last time before heading to Paris! Anyway, I got to Seatac just fine and was even checked in by a really nice man whose wife was a Lute back in the 70s! Small world (ok, not really--PLU is after all only like 40 miles from Seatac...but it was still a fun connection nonetheless...)! Everything went fine up until I was sitting in Chigaco (after my flight from Seatac, I had a three hour layover) waiting to get on my flight to Paris. I think that's when it finally hit me that I was actually going to be leaving the country. There is no turning back now. I will no longer be in the U.S. That is weird!!!! I started to freak out a bit, getting myself all worked up like I had a few days before. However, I soon remembered some of the things that Nicole had told me about how to deal with anxiety and some of the tips and tricks she shared with me for when it comes to living in the city once I got to the airport. Remembering these tid-bits calmed me down a lot. I also called and  texted my mom and my friends one last time with my phone since I won't be able to use it in Paris. (Teresa--thanks for listening =D). I managed to stop freaking out so much about the fact that I was leaving the country before I got on the plane. It was a huge plane: 2 by 3 by 2. I had the window seat in one of the pairings of two seats of to one of the sides of the plane and sat next to a really nice American man from Chicago who does a lot of volunteer work in Paris and is thus frequently taking this flight. He and I talked a bit, but not too much. He had a routine, I could tell, and I didn't want to disrupt it lol (Teresa- you still need to finish your half of the bargain--you know what I mean, dude! ;D). But before I could just settle in and wait for the plane to take off, a very disgruntled French man came up and said I was in his seat. This is usually not a big deal and a quick look at both boarding passes and the actual seat in question usually fixes the problem really quickly. I have been known to sit in the wrong seat before, so I didn't automatically assume that he was in the wrong. However, it soon became clear that he was, and let's just say the flight attendant had to get involved. If I was assigned 37J, I am going to sit in 37J, thank you very much. The flight itself was only 8 hours (originally, I had thought it was going to be 10--still not sure where I heard that number....). But....by hour 2 I was SOOOOO bored. And I couldn't sleep. And I couldn't eat anything (geesh--they wouldn't stop feeding us food. It's worse than the time I flew first class on semi-accident, minus the fresh, hot towelettes of course...). And then I felt sick to my stomach again. And then I got a headache. And then I was like freaking out...and then, and then, and then.....The Office came on the tv screen and all was well! Dwight and his "dooms-day" device made me laugh (you need to watch this episode, Mom!) and kept me from focusing on my discomfort and distracted me enough so I could fall asleep. I took about and hour nap, but that was ok, cause I knew I could just sleep more....later.........hahahahaha......that's funny.....like that actually happened. It didn't. At all. Like not another hour of sleep. I stayed awake (not by choice) for the remainder of the flight. I wanted to sleep, but I think I was finally getting excited. I think it was somewhere over WA D.C (or maybe Rhode Island...not sure????) when I realized I wasn't just going on vacaiton--I was actually going to LIVE there!

At about 8am Paris time, the flight was finally over. I went into CDG and passed through immigration and customs in no time (the lady even spoke French with me when I responded to her in French--small victory, yay!). I got my bags really quickly after that and met a few of the other girls on my program. They are both from a school in Southern California that is about the size of PLU and seemed very nice. I will meet up with them, and everyone else in the program, tomorrow morning. (I swear, half the flight to Paris was just filled with college-aged girls studying in either Paris or Nantes with IES or CIEE...it was kind of scarry actually...). After I got my bags, I attempted to help a woman who only spoke French and who appeared to be moving to Paris with her young infant use a telephone to call someone to come pick her up. Due to some complications, I ended up not being able to help her, but I did help her find someone (a person who worked in the airport) who could. Next, I wanted to try to find Hayley (we were going to be in the airport for about 4 hours before she left the country and after I entered it lol), but alas that failed (I walked up and down and up and down and all around but couldn't find you, and I needed to get to my host family--sorry dearie! Je t'aime bien la mia bella, Hayley! Et je te reverrai bientot! J'attends avec impatience le moment quand nous pouvons partager des histoires de nos aventures a Paris! =D).

So I'm in Paris, and I'm all alone. Don't freak out, I told myself. You're fine. All you need to do is find a telephone. Ok, I found one. Check. Great. Now what? Oh right, figure out how to use it.....check? Heck no! Giant red X! First stupiding (yes Jenn, I know, stupiding is not allowed, but maybe you can make an exception lol? Though I think you might have to make lots more in the near future lol!). So first I tried using the phone that was only for international calls (and the instructions were in both French AND English, and I still couldn't figure it out....I'm kind of pathetic...). After that I bought a phone card I actually didn't need for 10 Euro-great job, Sarah! But, eventually, I figured out how to make the call and got a hold of my host family. I jumped on the Air France Bus (thanks Nicole! It worked GREAT!), and then I grabbed a taxi at Montparnasse (one of the larger train stations in Paris). Though maybe "grabbed" is not the right verb. It was more like found disgruntled taxi driver after disgruntled taxi driver who told me to go away. One eventually directed me up a large hill (and remember, I'm carrying about 80 pounds of luggage with me...) where there were indeed more taxis. Eventually I made it up to the taxi station without getting hit by a car (wow, driving in Paris.....wow....crazy I tell you!) and finally made it to my host family's house. Well, kind of...cause the taxi driver couldn't actually find it. Be calm, I told myself, be calm. I thought (and I shouldn't have) that it would be a good idea to try to talk to the taxi driver and try to help him. Bad idea. He just ignored/glared at me. Whoopsies! Note to self, stay quiet in cabs until further evidence suggests otherwise. Once he (ok, well we really), finally found it, I payed him and grabed my bags and headed into the apartment building. Which of course was locked. And I being the stupid "small town" girl that I am, had no idea what to do. I hesitantly (VERY hesitantly) started punching buttons in the hopes that things would happen. I managed to open the parking garage (whoopsies--don't worry, I closed it!), but that was about it. After about 2 minutes I was about ready to just jump up and down and do a little dance hoping a camera would see me and tip them off that I was there. Thankfully Paris did not have to be subjected to my dance moves because my host dad opened the door and let me in about a second later. He is really cool and showed me around their small apartment. It has a great view (well, he doesn't agree, but I think he might be bias...lol) and I have a room to my very own with shelves, a desk, a dresser, a bed, a HUGE comfy chair as well as a spectacular view of its own.

After showing me around and talking a bit, my host dad took me to several different metro stops and bus stops as well as the IES center. I can walk there in about 20 minutes, or take a bus and walk and be there in about half that time. It is perfect! And their neighborhood is right next to one of the largest parks in all of Paris. It's like 2 blocks away--awesome! It's great for running and there are REALLY cute gazeebos and a huge pond with dozens of swans in it. I have only seen it from afar, but I like what I see already. My commute to IES/School goes through rue dageurre, which I love! It's got any kind of food stand imaginable! It all smells sooooo good! I love it!!! Fruit, cheeses, winerys, fresh sea food, candy, baked goods--basically anything and everything! My host dad speaks English (but not very well he claims). We spoke in French about 95% of the time while we walked around Paris for about an hour as he showed me around. It's gonna be a great place to live! It's quiet and super unique! Love, love, love so far! As we walked around all of these different areas of the neighborhood, we talked about anything from movies, to what I need to know for tomorrow, to making jokes, and him telling me what foods he likes the best on rue daguerre. It was really fun. We went back to the apartment and I got to meet Madame. She takes care of two kids (both around 1 year old) during the day as her job and I'm sooooo excited to get to know them! It's been sooooo long since I've babysat or have had the opportunity to spend time with little kids.

I'm going to go take a nap now. There's a lot more I could have said, but I'm sure that was plenty/more than most of you probably wanted to read. I'm not sure what is in store for tomorrow exactly...but I'm sure I'll get it cleared up soon.

Love From Paris!

-Sarah