Beijing Day 1

We awoke to pack and get our train tickets to head to Beijing on a 5 hour train ride.

The bullet train is probably my favorite part of China. At 300 Kilometers an hour (that's about 180 miles an hour) it's super fast and the cleanest way to travel, it is usually about the same or cheaper than flying domestically and generally, westerner friendly (as in, lots of English and Pinyin). 

This is definitely an area that we could work on stateside. I know a lot of you are probably anti-pouring your tax dollars into an efficient cross-country train system, but hear me out. 

If you could only see and smell the smog, I think you would change your mind. Or maybe if you realized how much cheaper it is, maybe we would finally see flight prices drop, too. You could take your families on vacation for less money and less potent chemicals so your grandkids would never have to smell what I smelled and inhale those potent fumes (that is unless they're crazy enough to take an internship in China). 

Alright, alright, I'm done. 

Whenever you travel in China, or in the world in general, you have to face a language barrier. Most of the world speaks English and most of Shanghai does, too, but that doesn't apply in Beijing. Language is far less common in Beijing than Shanghai. 

In China, you also have to face the added struggle of food. Most brands, labels, even pictures, are simply unrecognizable and, unfortunately you don't always get an English-speaking stewardess with the food cart on the train. I packed snacks, but they weren't super filling. 

Also, water. 

Water is important. 

And most train stations and even cars on the train have "water fountains." I only put this in quotations since it is less like a fountain and more like a faucet. 

A faucet that emits boiling hot (as in 212 degrees Fahrenheit) water - again, it has to be that hot to get rid of the pollutants. 

So make sure you have a good Chinese app on your phone (I recommend Pleco, it's free!), filling snack food, and a tough water bottle. 

Along the way, we enjoyed a variety of passing scenery while listening to some awesome American music. Nick brought a headphone splitter at my request, and, I can't believe I'm admitting to something like this, but I thought it was supa' romantic. I finally got him to watch Fight Club, which he didn't really care for. 

Can you believe that?

I have a cult tendency towards Fight Club and he treated like some chick flick! 

Frick. 

By the time we arrived to Beijing my mind was exhausted, I was starved, and dying of thirst. We were low on cash and needed to save it for the taxi so unfortunately we had to opt out of Nick's favorite Japanese restaurant, Yoshinoya since they refused the card, and go for McDonald's. 

Not very cultural, I know, but at least they took the card, and, well, okay, I will say it, I was dying for some America. 

Afterwards we headed to the taxi line, which, unlike the Shanghai train station, is unfortunately full of illegal taxi drivers harassing you with "where you going? I take you." Trust me when I say to always just hop in the extremely long (probably 30 minute wait) taxi queue, it will save you a lot of money and stress. 

The driver was kind enough to do his best to help us find the correct alley way to walk down to our hostel (it was built into a traditional Chinese hostel in a Chinese alleyway neighborhood, don't worry they're safe, I promise) and even called the hostel to ensure he was right. 

See, the Chinese people can be nice and even helpful sometimes. 

Our hostel, Sitting On The City Walls Courtyard House, was awesome and the hosts were super nice. There was a nice sitting and garden-like area in the center and they served great meals and even provided a guide to do-it-all in the 3 days we had featuring public transit (buses and metros both) that we could use to cut down on time. I would highly recommend them, if not for anything else but a pretty decent location. 

Much love.

Paris: Day Three & Four

Yesterday we got up for orientation at Sorbonne as well as a placement test. Our test was pushed back, so we went to Luxembourg Gardens, just a 5 minute walk. Despite the cloudy weather, it was absolutely beautiful. I felt like I was in Central Park in a way.

Space is such a hot commodity and to stumble upon so much plus with great plant life was a pleasant relief. We laid under a row of Alice In Wonderland-like trees for a while before getting lunch at a sidewalk cafe. I still can't believe how many there are. And they are ALWAYS full. I guess the French don't pack lunch. There were people laying around everywhere and running and just strolling. Yet it still didn't feel crowded.

My placement test was a disappointment I believe. After the several years I've put into French it was a little disheartening to know hardly anything on that test. Alas, we will see when I get the results though.

From there we went to Shakespeare & Co. One of the coolest book shops I have ever been in. I can't wait to go back. Since I finished "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" I figured I would buy the sequel, but they didn't have it. What they did have though was "Superfreakonomics," a follow up to "Freakonomics." Awesome literature. Check it out. They had a reading room upstairs with plenty of books you couldn't buy and...a piano? Yeah I know. There was a kids nook, too with plenty of kids books around. I have spent so much time reading on the Metro or if I get lunch alone that I will definitely be back soon. I wish I would have brought all my summer books with me, but I had no idea I would have this kind of time!

Afterwards we got lost for a bit and finally bought our monthly Metro pass. The passes are only valid for one calendar month, not rolling. Essentially it won't work until Monday. Just a tidbit if you are ever here for a while.

I went walking alone for a bit and found this side market street that is hands down my favorite yet. It's called Rue Mouffetard and it is so quaint and busy. There are boutiques for everything, flower shops, shoes, bread, nick nacks, books, and clothing. I bought these super comfy pants that are elastic at the bottom. Think parachute pants without the crazy colors.

Don't judge me, I love them.

I also picked up a journal.

My roommate back in Orlando and I decided that this month was going to be really hard to be apart. Especially with internet being less than awesome, the time difference just makes it so hard to talk to each other. And since we were going through such changes this summer and now have to face them alone, we felt it best to keep a journal of personal adventures and thoughts and progress. Essentially what we would say if the other was here. I'm excited to fill it with little nick nacks.

It is hard to meet up with friends without a phone. All I can do is receive texts and calls, so one of the girls text me where to meet. I got lost. And decided on a solo trip to McDonalds.

And it was awesome. The sandwich itself was so much more fresh than in the states and the fries weren't disgustingly greasy and salty, although that may be what I like best about them. The restaurant was very clean and modern, too. I spent the rest of the evening walking off dinner on the streets here in the 13th Arrondissement and exploring my neighborhood, before heading back to the hotel for our last night to do homework.

This morning CEA offered an outing on a bus tour through Paris. Basically it hit up most of the main monuments and was super touristy, but was a really great way for me to get to know the layout of the center of the city. And I took my new Canon Rebel, my first SLR camera. It was great to play with it and learn to work it better. Plus, the tour was free! Why not?

Afterwards I strolled around trying to find the Apple store and possibly set up my phone for the month to work here. After I couldn't find it, I decided it was for the best. I should save my money for something better and let go of my addiction for a while.

I found a roxy store, too. And anyone that knows me well enough, knows I had to stop in. No purchases, but they had several "Roxy Paris" shirts I seriously considered!

I stopped by McDonald's again. I couldn't help myself, it is so much better here! I can only have so much cafe food. Once I got back to the hotel I retrieved my book bag from storage to work on some homework in the courtyard. The courtyard wasn't much bigger than my bathroom at home. I almost felt like I was in a fireplace chute. It was really nice though. The sun was low enough so just ambient light shone down past the one tree, a beautiful magnolia. It definitely made doing homework not so awful. Everyone showed back up at 5 to move to our new apartments!

My apartment is a one bedroom on Rue de Cordelieres here in the 13th arrondissement. This is a family neighborhood since there is a school across the street so I feel really safe. Right now I live alone, but I will get a roommate Monday who was on the July program and decided to extend. I'm excited to meet her, especially since she knows her way around and such, at least I assume. The apartment is very "ikea" with two twin beds crammed into the small one bedroom. The building is very beautifully old with an elevator shaft big enough for maybe two people. I prefer the old spiral staircase. If I lived here alone, it would be ideal. I'm not sure how two people living here will go, but we will see.

Tonight I had my first crepe (strawberry) since arriving here and it was wonderful. Much better than back home. I loved enjoying it with the other Parisians and alongside my class mates. I think we are all beginning to feel like we belong more.