Travels and pictures and snow, oh my!

I'm baaaaaaack! 

After multiple requests from my giant fan base to update my blog, I have no choice but to grant their wish. Seven months and some later, and I'm still here. I look back on entries when I first arrived in 2009, and I do miss the time I had to explore and write and travel. Gone are the days of having loads of spare time! Down to business, semi-adulthood, etc.

So! What am I doing!
Still studying. Forever, apparently. I'm in the last year of my Master's. Last summer kicked my ass. Writing a thesis is basically no fun and takes up all the good activities like drinking wine and sleeping. I *literally* (I'm using this in the correct sense I think) didn't do anything but work and write for the better part of a week. Which is horrible because I should have been doing it all year. Or at least all second semester. But really...ain't nobody got time for that. (relevant)

And thus went the most boring and longest week of my life. Only to get a "yeah sooooo that was ok but if you could do it again that'd be great thanks" response from my profs. (Everyone got that response, as we are all at about the same level of mediocrity--always comforting in grad school.) And so round two ensued in September, and they somehow accepted that questionable piece of thesis I passed off as Master's-level in French. Self-deprication is my own little specialty, but in all seriousness...it was not a 62-page paper that I'm enormously proud of.

Nevertheless...got into second year, wooo! I got a 13 overall, out of 20, which for a non-French student isn't that bad. No one gets 20/20, ever, and 10/20 is passing. Good students get 16s, and maybe the exceptional 17; it all depends on the teacher. These are all made up numbers to me anyway since my brain still does not really react to the French grading system!

This school year has been a lot more laid back. We didn't have as many classes first semester, but I took a few extras, including Portuguese and German. This semester is entirely devoted to an internship (550 hours, or about 4 months full time) that we'll have to write a paper about in addition to the 120-page (ish) thesis. I'm really trying to get my German level up so that I can translate from it, so I'm still taking two German classes this semester, once a week. It's hard to push myself to go to my uni in the suburbs since my one day off is the day I have class..but I know that if I were left on my own to learn German, I'd never do it. I had to sadly drop Portuguese this semester for sanity reasons, but I was really looking forward to continuing it. Maybe another time--preferably before China and Brazil take over the world (I'm convinced).

Internship, check. Working as a translator/marketing assistant at an online games company. Not really my cup of tea because I'd rather be doing more straight translation, but I'm happy to have a internship and the techy stuff that I'm forced to learn will look good on my CV. The bigger issue I have with the internship is that it's nearly full-time. Seeing as I still work on the side around 25 hours a week, I am not joking when I say I have no free time to myself. I'll only complain about it in this little paragraph because I know I live in Paris, have a (very poorly paid) internship, am getting a Master's for next to nothing..but *whine whine whine* I miss sleeping, watching trashy tv shows online, going out for drinks, staying up late, etc. Guess this is real life now, huh? I can deal with the 60+ hour work weeks and classes, but I am sincerely worried about where I'm going to find time to write this f-ing thesis. Le sigh. It'll work itself out, methinks. Worse comes to worst, I'll defend the thesis in September. It's just much more tidy if I do it in early summer, and I also get docked two points if I do it later.


America, fuck yeah! I should mention that I went home in January for the first time in 2.5 years. It was weird. Felt the same, yet different. New buildings, others torn down, redecorating of places for no apparent reason. Wal-Mart changed around and I couldn't find anything. Lots of driving, but I enjoyed it. Although I like not having to keep up a car and constantly worrying about crazy people killing me, I must admit that there's something very calming about just chilling out to music and driving long distances.

Casey's built a new gas station by my house, which is pretty exciting when you've been away from fountain drinks, doughnuts, and pizza by the slice for this long. I probably drank at least 45 litres of Diet Mountain Dew. I only let myself indulge in a double-chocolate doughnut once, and it was everything I had hoped and more. Sadness kicked in after one bite because I knew it'd be over soon. Oh Casey's...you stole my heart at age 12 when my paper route gave me $60 of store vouchers as a welcoming gift..

While I was home, I felt like I was living in a parallel universe. I got back to Paris and it felt like it had all been a dream. Visiting everyone was really great, but since I had so many places to go and people to see, every visit was short and sweet. I also spent an embarrassing amount of time shopping. But it needed to be done; I desperately needed more clothes and shoes. And cold medicine and ibuprofen and makeup. And an iPod and some other stuff ok FINE maybe I went a little overboard. It's America, land of consumers! Anyway, I hope not to go another 2.5 years without seeing anyone again. Too long. And my shoes will surely not last quite that long!

Without further ado, some photos of the last few months to titillate and amuse you!

Trip home
Down in Missour-ah:




Mom, Grandma, Aunt Bonnie



Adorable cousin Genevieve and her trainers/family supporters

In my old university town:

Lunch at the restaurant I worked at for 3 years..not my idea!

Baby Harper! So cute.

Amanda stealing Harper

Obligatory cheap ass drinks with Amy

Meanwhile, up in freezing Iowa:

OMG COOKIES OMG COOKIES



Scrabble with sister, cousin, uncle, parents

Home cooked dinner

Hi uncles!


Right before I leave, a giant snowstorm decides to show up. Oh, Iowa.

Sisterly love

Wearing half my wardrobe at the airport

Me and Pops

The last photo on my phone as I boarded the plane back to Paris. :)

Christmas: 


Champs-Elysées at Christmastime

Hanging out with friends a few days before Xmas (Chris was hurt, spinach was what was available)

An inflatable pig because..why not

Christmas Day! 

Will and I wearing our crowns (British Christmas day tradition, along with corny jokes, trifle, whiskey, board games, naps..they aren't that different from us)

Will cutting said trifle. It was...um, it was really delicious, Will, really.

Duncan pouring the most important part of the meal

Smitten mittens

Christmas isn't complete without Easy Jet stocking caps and pub quiz questions 

Weekend trip to Lyon with Brittany:





Other tidbits:

The xx = amazing live

as are The Black Keys

and The Maccabees

and The Lumineers!

And finally, I got a loft bed to give me a wee bit more space (that I've already found a way to fill up, naturally.)

-fin-

Hey there, friends. Haven't died quite yet. Usual excuse of being busy/tired/lazy/forgetful. Just finished up a very demanding semester two weeks ago and have been enjoying the relative calmness that follows final projects, exams, and my year-end 60-page paper.
 
Calmness after the storm

So, what have I been up to? Well, there was a two-week break not long after my last post. Spent that working a bit on my mémoire, having a visit from Brittany, hanging out with friends, enjoying the decent weather (I think). To be honest, the last few months have melted together to form a general uni-computer-library-wine-sleep continuum, but I do remember April and May being particularly fun. My birthday was in there—you know, the one where I didn't age yet celebrated on three separate occasions, the elections (Go Hollande!!), some good dinners with friends, a Ben Howard concert, pub quizzes, weekly coffee dates, exams, some sleep, wine and chats on the canal, work, shopping, and many moments that have sadly blurred together. People leaving, people coming, and me staying cooped up in my apartment when not out doing aforementioned activities.

Nearly the entire month of June was spent in my apartment or one of two libraries. To finish this mother of a paper. My paper wasn't even that good, but damn if it wasn't the hardest thing I've had to do, oh, ever. I don't think I'm particularly cut out for academia. I mean, I do like learning. Reading, expanding my knowledge, enlightenment—all that jazz, sure. But when it comes to applying it and demonstrating that I've learned something by writing a paper..very much not my forte. There was one weekend not so long ago that I stayed up for three days in a row, more or less. I got two or three hours of sleep each night, and had to work 8 hour shifts the following days. It was really not fun or glamorous, it just sucked. Because I couldn't put off writing it any longer. I actually had to finish it. I finally turned in my beautifully plastic-bound paper two weeks ago. It wasn't a particularly proud piece of work, but I was glad to have something to turn in. I'm in a professional Master's program. So instead of writing a 100-page research paper, I have to do a translation of around 20 pages and then another 20-25 pages of commentary (in French), and then a bunch of bibliography annexes and a few translated pages of the website I chose. It's a doable project, but I spent far too long on my translation and not enough time on the commentary. Plus, I didn't have my French checked over to make sure it was 100% correct. My French is pretty good, but I will never have the fluidity of a native French-speaker. They are just so..flowery. So eloquent without trying. I get there—part way— but my native straight-to-the-point English sometimes gets in the way.

So anyway to finish up, I basically went into the jury hoping they'd let me improve it for the second jury session in September. I was happy to take their criticisms and suggestions, but I wanted more time. And since I wasn't that stressed about it, it really wasn't that bad. I got what I wanted—well, my whole program of five did—a later date in early September. They said my translation was pretty solid, and congratulated me on that, but said I should re-do parts of my commentary and add in some more translation theory. I walked away happy to have a few months to do what I know could be a better job. Because more than anything, I want to have a paper I'm proud of. Employers aren't afraid to ask to see something like this, and considering that I somehow half-assed my way through about 80% of my college classes, turning in papers that were acceptable but not great, I'd like to prove to my procrastinator self that I can do this. And also, my staying in France next year depends on me being in the second year of this program (which is not automatic), which depends on me getting a certain grade on this paper. So. There we are. I'm on break, kind of.

It's Monday and I have decided that my self-imposed vacation from schoolwork is over. I really must begin reading new material and re-doing my paper. I needed some time away from what I had before, anyway. Translation is tricky—you can always come back to it and find something you want to change. But it's good to sometimes take a little time away from it to get a better perspective. I went to the library today and copied some stuff to read. I also need to get stuff together before August begins because all the Parisians flee the city—including the librarians that man the libraries. I know it's holiday season but I do have trouble seeing the fairness of leaving us poor summer dissertation/mémoire/thesis writers with no place to study or look stuff up. Ruuude.

Some pictures, did you say? Oh, I've got plenty of those. So many you might not even want to scroll through all of them. But in case you do...


Paris Marathon in April

Pizza Hut. I indulge only when Americans like Brittany visit so we can share the judgement. 

Vote!


Back when the weather was nice...

Mémoire writing à la française

Birthday tarte

Birthday dinner

Sacré Coeur, hipster style

High school friend Katie comes to visit!

English friends Will & Duncan at pub watching England vs. Italy in Euro Cup (I was actually into the cup this year but stopped caring after the Dutch and English were eliminated)

Chipotle comes to Paris: defining moment in my life

Ben Howard. Really excellent guitar player.


These pictures are three hours apart. Welcome to a lovely summer in Paris.

So, there's more here if you're interested. I'm lazy and I'm sure you're bored. But I've been keeping busy, don't worry. Oh, final sad note: I will not be making an appearance home this summer. Suuuuuuuuper bummed out, really, really. But I can't afford it and it's doubly sad this year as my Grandma Vida is turning 100 (Mom's side) and there's a family reunion (Dad's side). Of course the chances of both these events happening again anytime soon are obsolete. My apologies for being so poor, everyone. I will instead be off to America's older bully but oh-so-charming cousin, England, for a few days to soak up some Anglophone culture. And I might pop in and see if I can steal Michael Phelps from the Olympics, or at least just touch his abs.