Last Week in Europe

How late is too late to post about a vacation? How about…nevah (with an ‘h’). A particular German reminded me that I still have a blog to maintain…

GERMANY TIME!!!

Okay! So…(side note…my hand looks like it just murdered a baby bunny...) I awoke at the glorious hour of…well, I don’t remember…so…start over. I awoke at the glorious hour of early, fell down my ladder for the second to last time, made coffee, forgot to drink coffee and walked out the door to head to the train station. Oh right…I forgot to pack, so I went back home and shoved a bunch of random stuff into a grocery bag, and then left again.

FAST FORWARD!!!

Hello Frankfurt. You and your old-school buildings lookin’ all classic German…Oh, hello gorgeous weather and beautiful everything. F you vuvuzela.


OH HOLY GOODNESS…At the end of our glorious Frankfurt day (consisting of about two hours, BUT OKAY ( :p) ) I see our chariot awaiting at the top of the hill, shining down upon me like the beacon of God…


I have fallen in love. Allow me to brief you all on this beautiful creature. She gleams yellow like the brilliant sun, yet do not let this innocent façade fool you. Inside her womb is a mystery to be unfolded. Her interior reeks of bad 70s-80s décor. Before her majesty fell into our awaiting palms, her previous owner decided he wanted a sun roof…so he just cut a hole in the ceiling…yay forethought! Thus, when it rains, she cries. We gave her tissues of plastic in hopes to dry her sorrows, which as far as I am aware, seemed to have done the trick. Yet that is not all to her beauty and charm. While driving, watch out for bumps. Each time you hit one, she decides to turn off the lights and stop playing any music…but that is okay, seeing that she only accepts one CD into her hungry bowels and by constantly pausing the cd it allows the music to last twice as long. How considerate. Now, when passing others (which never happens seeing that the ole’ miss is in her prime and the sheer idea of going over 90 km/hr (about 60 mph) makes her body quake with exertion) or if by any chance we must announce our arrival into town so that fellow adorers may lay palm branches before us, we can toot the beaming horn and call out to those around us with the bellow of a dying cow.

I could continue, but no matter the amount of praise I give, I can never do her justice…

Now then…OFF TO BAMBERG (the most wonderful place on earth)!

Within moments of arriving in the beautiful city of Bamberg, henceforth known as B-berg, we greet Susi (and by we, I mean me bouncing up and down like a dumb sorority girl with Sebastian and Aleks standing there not knowing how to react to such a display of freakishly girly excitement)…and within an hour Susi and I are back to our normal way of life- a.k.a. breaking into abandoned buildings. Along with some other awesome ‘study’-abroaders, we frolicked through an abandoned train yard, hopped through windows of broken glass, caught ourselves a little tetanus, etc. We went out that night to a bar, experienced some awful music (oh Germany. I love every part of you. Even when you play the Backstreet Boys…) and then went home and slept (minus other activities that my brain will feign memory-loss if asked about)…

(abandoned train yard)

NEXT DAY IS GERMANY VS. SPAIN DAY…

I climbed twenty-seven and a half mountains today. Yes. Absolutely. Visited two beer gardens, a cathedral, a monastery, and had the most disgusting beer ever invented…smoked beer. It was like I fell face-first, mouth open and waiting into a burned-out camp fire. The facial expressions that ensued can never be recreated. I thoroughly regret my decision to drink that beverage.
Then we went to watch the game in a gigantic square (not so huge, just a square) and also watched Germany lose. My heart cried. We were all too sad to do anything so we ended up just going back home…

(German angry at the Dutch...)

KÖLN

We awake, shove German pastries into our mouths (by now, my reasons-why-I-love-Germany list is to 408), and hit the road for a heck of a lot of driving. First, we visit Sebastian's hometown, Kronach because it is his awesome grandma's birthday.

She had an unreasonable array of cakes awaiting (for serious- I believe it was 5 different types of cakes)...after climbing another painfully high mountain, we drive again...5-6 hours later, we reach Köln (English- Cologne). Stare at a very large, semi-frightening, quite awe-inspiring cathedral. We then eat…I think…yes…yes we eat. Then go to the riverside, and then get back in the van and drive about an hour or so and stop at a rest stop and sleep in the womb of our shining lover (the van).

(Scary cathedral...)

Some place that started with a W

Drive, drive, drive…stop! Naval museum visit for Aleks. Mud beach of nasty wonders. Drive.

Back in Groningen

Sebastian and I go out that night, run into Sébastien, and we all wander through the bars. I see a particular German who does not see me (yup. Purple. Were your pants still ripped?). More awful 90s music. Hahahaha, then the ride back home…well, I on the back of the Dutchman’s bike while the mildly-to-probably drunk German runs beside us…it was quite funny to watch.

Dinner Night

This day was a day of headaches and being sick, but it all got better by dinner time. I cooked for the boys and we made cupcakes from a mix Aleks brought from the states (…I missed baking so much…) and had a lovely evening. I had to grab some stuff at my house, so the Dutch took me home and then it started pouring, so we danced in the rain. Well…I danced, Sébastien more stood there a little confused.

WORLD CUP NIGHT (notice how the recaps get shorter? It’s because I’m going crazy sitting on this couch right now…)

This day was spent…I don’t remember how the day – oh yeah! I had to pack. Pack, pack, pack, packing, pack, pack, pack. Ta da! World Cup time. They lose. We (more like the boys) drown their sorrows in a massive amount of alcohol…I watch. Sleep.

(sad Dutchies)

LAST DAY IN GRONINGEN

Spent making the lady van stop crying…she was so emotional because it was my last day with her that she hogged all the attention. We were supposed to go to Amsterdam, but because a certain mechanical object decided to pitch a hissy fit we ended up only having time to go to Sébastien’s lil’ house by the sea. No sleep. Next day, we leave at 5ish in the morning, get to the airport at 6:30ish…it was all quite sad. I thought I was so ready to come home, but then all these regrets began to fill me up. All the things I could have done, everything I didn’t do, all the friends I didn’t make, everything that went wrong…

…and then the plane brought me back.

Now I am here. Waiting for you all to come and join me and my family for Grandy’s birthday.

My hair smells like beer…it makes me miss Germany.

Here Lies Taylor's Blog

She was a good blog. We will miss her dearly.

Thus ends my Netherlands posts. Tonight is the World Cup match, which I will be watching, and then we (Sebastien, Sebastian, Aleks, and I) will head to Amsterdam for my last day here.

So, the next time I will be updating will actually be when I am back in the states, so that I can tell you all about the most wonderful place on earth- Germany.

In a nut-shell: road trip was wonderful, the van we traveled/slept in is awesome. Pictures will come later. I love that country.

As for now, I will put on some sunglasses in attempt to block out at least a little of the painful orange that will surround me tonight. If the Netherlands wins...I will have some insane pictures to follow with as well.

I love you all... 2 days.

Posty Post

Yup!

I'm going to Germany tomorrow!!!

Be gone until the 10th...

8 DAYS!!! 25 days until I see you all at the most awesomest b-day bash ever...and stuff...!!!


Massive Loves.

Happy 4th of July!

Miss you all.

Have fun!

9 days!!!

Armageddon

A picture of what happened to Taylor's hopes and dreams

The end has come and passed...I awoke this morning to view the destruction caused by my multiple battles with fate...From the looks of it, I may have come out victorious...maybe.

Here follows the story of 2 Yays and a NOOOOOOOO!!!!

Story One: Yay #1

Managing International Business Organizations Exam

Take that MIBO! Sucka! Strange story actually...I had dedicated two days to studying for this exam, one to read the book and one to read the monstrous stack of articles. Yet, reaching the end of that stack, I found an article that was 68 pages long. This is when I started to cry (not really)...I decided that I had read enough, and not reading this one article wouldn't hurt me too bad...

or would it?

The morning of the exam, at the glorious hour of 7am (midnight your time...hahahahahha...whoa. I was taking an exam at 2 am your time? Golly...) I awoke with a strange feeling (granted, this usually happens but not the same strange feeling). I prepared my cup of beautifully delicious life-saving coffee, and sat down at my computer. I decided, eh, it wouldn't hurt to scan that article that I didn't read...

fast-forward to the exam...

Oh, what is that? Practically half the exam is about that one article? ...great.

but wait? What is this? You scanned exactly the content in the article that the exam asked about?

YUP! Take that coinkidinks!

So, while one multiple choice question made me go "uhm...two of these answers are correct. I swears the author states both...uhm..." which commenced in a ten minute argument in my head, resulting in a really pretty butterfly drawing next to the question...then a drawing of a volcano, and an explosion with a head flying off the page (yeah...went downhill pretty fast...I hope no one notices those drawing when grading the essay-portion...or they will, and give me more points because I'm awesome.)

But, medium story short- I am quite positive I passed this exam...

Story Two: YAY #2

Labor Economics Exam

What's that? You put that exam to shame? What? You took a day and a half to study for the exam and you knew EVERYTHING asked?

I deserve a trophy. This is happening. Craft project!

Sad point: I realized after leaving that I drew a graph about the bargaining power of unions in relation to the employment by firms, when I should have drawn a graph relating to the wage demanded by the unions (which is practically related to the bargaining power, I mean, if your bargaining power is higher, you will demand higher compensation...) to the employment prospects by firms...so...massive point loss there...but I only need a 4.8/10 to pass, and I would have to be pretty darned dumb not to get that many points...I even calculated it after I finished, adding up the points in relation to how I think I did (and then dividing it by two because exam graders are evil and want to make all students everywhere cry tears of blood)...and I still came out pretty good...


Now people...prepare yourself for the sad story of Taylor's Accounting Failure...

Story Three: NOOOOOOOO!!!!

Managerial Accounting and Informational Management

Background information: most exams, or at least all the exams I have had so far and everyone here tends to agree, have a 3 hour time-span. You have 3 hours to complete the exam and usually the proctor gives a 30 minute or hour warning; thus, I tend to take my time and if I get stuck on something I just doodle strange pictures of people's faces/places/exploding objects/gory scenes until I feel like continuing...

Well, this exam was super easy up until when they asked me about operating leverage, which I completely blanked on (and was also probably one of the easiest questions that the professor stuck in just to assist in inflating grades a bit...woopsies!)...this mind-blank resulted in a dorky little picture of an otter (they are soooooooo cute!)...

see?!

About an hour and thirty minutes into the exam, I was bored, and ahead of schedule so I decided to wander to the bathroom and fill up my water bottle (during which time I am going to assume a particular announcement was made...)

I return, laugh a bit at my drawing, and continue on... 2 hours into the exam, and about 70% through the exam itself, the proctor announces that the exam is over.

panic attack.

uhm...did I just pass through some sort of space-time continuum of F'ED-UP EXAM DOOM???!!!!!


That's right...I had to hand in an exam that was 70% complete.

I don't remember how I got home. I don't remember a lot from last night actually, except that I was super upset and angry and that I went to bed early.

Upon waking this morning, I decide to check nestor (the school's site where professors post things for class) and my e-mail...in both places was a warning stating that the time for the exam was only 2 hours. I had had my head shoved in books so much the past days that I never thought to check...who would? I mean, all my exams were 3 hours long...why would this one be any different?

So, now that I see the time announcement staring me in the face, from multiple locations, I am completely and utterly upset. I bet it was even on the exam's front page and I didn't notice (once again, why would you read the exam time on the front page of the exam? You are already there...)

Yet, in my e-mail was also an announcement regarding the exam, and it said that the answers were posted (not the grades, but the answers to the exam)...I checked it and it looks like I got everything correct except for my old foe, operating leverage.

I then checked how the class was graded, and it is 90% the exam, and 10% the excel practicals. I got a 100 on the excel portion, which means that I need a 5 on the exam to pass the class. Okay, so I completed 70% of the exam...and I need a 5, which is half the exam correct, so as long as I get over 70% of the 70% I completed correct...I passed. So let us all hope that when grading, the professor is lenient, and also notices my cute little otter, and then the giant dark words "WHAT?!" on the following incomplete page...

So...that is the story of the two Yays and a NOOOOOOOO!!!!...

We will see how it plays out. Vera (my roommate) made a good point, saying that even if I don't pass, because I am an exchange student, there may be a way to fax the exam to my university and have me re-take it there (at USC) and send it back...

So, worst case scenario...I will pace myself for 2 hours next time, and not draw the adorable winking otter...or pace myself for a 1.83 hour exam and take 10 minutes for something...

Well family, I have packed the clothes I never wear, and every day that passes I have the urge to pack everything up and go sit at the airport for two weeks until my flight...or relax and read for once...YAY LATTER OPTION!

I will now take it easy, stop beating myself up for my mistake, and try to get rid of this monstrous headache (probably resulting from the beatings...)

My apologies for the lack of entertainment in this post. Obviously, I am too upset with myself to write something wonderfully entertaining (what is entertaining about potentially failing?! unless you fail gloriously, nothing).

Here...so we can all end on a semi-happy/laughing/eh? note:

LOVE

13 days until I'm home, 30 until I see you all...

Uuuuuuuuuugh

Super fast post- here we go!

So...took Managing International Business Organizations exam: I am pretty sure I passed.

Took Labor Economics exam three hours ago...hope to all goodness that I passed...

now then...

I'm about to go into my Managerial Accounting and Informational Management exam (in 7 minutes), and I think this will be a sad experience...

I studied all I could of the accounting portion yesterday, and I saved the 25% regarding the Informational Management, assuming it was small becuase it was hardly addressed in class, for betweene exams (two hours time-aloted)...turns out it is all complicated and confusing and involving technology (which is my worst enemy...that and orange midgets)...I DONT GET IT!!!

so...in t-minus 4 minutes I will be entering an exam where I have no freakin' idea how to answer 1/4th of the questions...

only hope? get the other 3/4 right...

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


wow...okay. Here we go...

I may not make it out of this one alive.

(I am such a drama-queen. Golly...)


:)

Slow and Steady Wins the Race?...

Hello. This is Taylor. If found, please return to the U.S. as soon as possible. She was last spotted Friday night wandering the streets reciting Hofstede's five cultural dimensions, as well as what we believe to be a compilation of Economic equations and some Asian language. She is said to be armed and dangerous.

nee, mi familia, nee (I'm so brain-dead, I can't even pick a freakin' language). Slow and steady does not win the race, super freakin' fast and accurate does...which is what I will be doing over the next few days.

So...here is how this is all going down.Turns out after 10 hours of reading (I know, I know, I used to be able to go for 16 without realizing it, but I'm getting old), I couldn't take it anymore. Yet, I have my study-complex switch currently in the "on" position which means that if I am doing anything other than aforementioned studying, I feel awfully guilty. Thus, I have decided to study how I am/will be studying...

Just go with it...

So...Prepare for the recap/future depictions of Taylor's Glorious Brain-Cramming Journey (to hell)!

Aaahhh, thankfully God had decided to not hate me as much as last semester (we had a little fight, he won...as usual. You know, you really just can't argue with the guy, either he makes you feel dumb or you just lose straight out...or he makes you think you won, but really you just sided with him without knowing it...he's super tricky like that...makes me think he's actually a woman...I digress...) and has made the weather beautiful the past few days.

But wait! An apt reader would now comment, "But Taylor, does this not mean that you are tormented by the beauty that is called "nature" beckoning to you beyond the confines of that hellish prison you are chained to (a.k.a. the indoors)?!"

I reply... "Oh young padawan (for all of you not akin to Star Wars, first of all SHAME ON YOU, and second, padawan = young jedi = dumb kid), how much you have to learn. For I am blessed with a patch of concrete that the sun has decided to shine upon from noon until 2 in the afternoon. Thus, I have two hours of sunlight at my disposal..." (Take that, God.)

...yeah, well, the point of that odd little dialogue was to basically say that somehow I have been able to combine studying and sunburns. Yay.

So, pictorial recap/future studying...(I know...you all are so excited to see pictures of all my study material...This blog entry is more about maintaining my sanity than saying anything profound (do I ever? no...thought so.) )

Countdown: Days until MIBO exam: 6, Days until other exams (econ/acct): 8

What did I do?

Slept. I just was not up for studying...it was as if some barrier was standing between me and my books...I decided not to fight it, mainly because I would have kicked that barrier's butt, but I was feeling nice.

Countdown: Days until MIBO exam: 5, Days until other exams (econ/acct): 7

What did I do?

Yeah...I was sick that day. Dumb head. Always decides to act up when I really really don't want it to. Seriously. Not cool head, not cool.

Countdown: Days until MIBO exam: 4, Days until other exams (econ/acct): 6

What did I do?

Sucka. What didn't I do is the question?! (answer: all of accounting, economics and my IB book...heh...) Today I read all of these articles:

Yup, that's right.

Countdown: Days until MIBO exam: 3, Days until other exams (econ/acct): 5

What did I do?

One word. Dominated. That's right, I read my entire International Business text book, or at least the relevant 387 pages of it. If you ever wanted to know what a defeated text book looks like, this is it:

so...it kinda looks the same as it did before...but trust me, it knew it lost.

By the way, the articles I read the day before, I stacked them up next to my text book...


There are the same height! I believe this realization was followed with me passing out from fear and shock at how absolutely awesome I am.

Countdown: Days until MIBO exam: 2, Days until other exams (econ/acct): 4

What will I do?

This:



Bring it Economics articles! I'll teach you who controls the...eh...wage curves? Golly, I need to work on my threats to inanimate objects. I am usually so good at that. My apologies family, I have let you down.

Countdown: Days until MIBO exam: 1, Days until other exams (econ/acct): 3

What will I do?

freak the heck out. HOLY GOODNESS I HAVE AN EXAM IN ONE DAY!!! yes...this is what I will be doing. That and reading all of my lovely, eye-bleeding inducing, Information Management articles. Nothing I have experienced since I have been here is as boring as freakin' articles about how a company should store/share/handle its information...sure, it is relevant and all, but I'd rather eat the dirt out in the garden...hmm...

So, I'll do this:

Countdown: Days until MIBO exam: 0. The end has come, Days until other exams (econ/acct): 2

What will I do?

Rise from my Rapunzelesque chamber, not fall on the ladder, be a zombie for an hour, find my bike, ride to the university, cry, then take my Managing International Business Organizations Exam.

To give you all the feeling that you are beside me at the exam, I have decided to let you all see what I will look like that day:

This is my half fearful, half crazy face...seriously. cover up one half of the face. yeeeah, that's right. You try doing two different faces...IN ONE FACE...I'm too excited about this, aren't I?

I will then return home, and continue studying. This day will be dedicated to my beautiful 690 page accounting book...Why save so many dreadfully awful pages for this day where my brain is already melted from the hellish pages of a previous exam (in an entirely orange building, might I add)? Because Accounting is the spawn of Satan, so it is only fitting.

Countdown: Days until other exams (econ/acct): 1

What will I do?

This day marks the last day I will ever have to study in the Netherlands again. So, to celebrate I will read my 290 page Economics book. yay life.

Countdown: Days until other exams (econ/acct): 0.

Pray I make it out with some sanity intact.

LOVE

18 days until I am home. 35 until I see all of you!

Oh...and if I make it out of this alive, I'm allowed to drink at Grandy's b-day.

Stunted.

Hey there.

Just letting you know there will probably be no updates for about a week, until exams are over.

If you want to imagine what my life is like right now, go outside and watch the grass grow. It is about as exciting.

Love you all.

19 days until I come home, 36 until I see all of your pretty (uhm...or manly?) faces!

Mini Vaycay

Andreas came to visit (German friend I made last year at USC who is now back home in Bamberg, Germany)!!!

I will tell what we did as I take you on a glorious picture journey (preemptive apologies for my inability to pick a tense)...

First, I woke up at some ungodly hour to meet Sebastien at the train station. Hardly anyone was up and about...

-Fish Market, Groningen, on the way to the train station-

We get to the airport to pick Andreas up, and then the three of us hopped on a train (more like stumbled) and were off to Amsterdam!

-Sebastien and Andreas preparing for the treacherous (?) journey ahead!-

MISSION #1: AMSTERDAM (again.)

We get to Amsterdam and commence wandering. We purchase books (yay good literature!). We eat lunch (yum), see a sign for some photography exhibit and decide to try and find it. Half an hour later we are meandering through some, as Sebastien put it, "brain damaging" photos. I was not prepared for the horrifying things that I saw...yikes. All brilliantly composed, yet painful to experience (which I do believe was the point).

After a stumble into the Red Light District (boobies) we continue our aimless mission (?).

More wandering. We appear in front of the Rijksmuseum, where I get to see Rembrandt dominate "The Night Watch" as well as some of my favorite self portraits he painted (when he was 22, and another one of him being all old, quirky and awesome). Also saw Miro poke fun at Dutch painters. It was absolutely lovely.

After this, it was 18:00ish, so we had a drink to collect our brain-damaged/excited-by-art selves in preparation for the next leg of our journey (which was simply finding food and getting our tired bodies back on the train).

-The only picture I took in Amsterdam...woopsies.-

NEXT MISSION: UTRECHT

We arrive with little to no plans. This day mainly consisted of, you guessed it...MORE WANDERING. aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!! (it's all good).

Highlights to be mentioned: church, the famous house designed by Rietveld (inadvertently part of the de Stijl movement)...yup. That's about it...Here we go:

-Andreas contemplating life in the courtyard of the church-

-The exterior of the church...these Dutch take their Gothic seriously.-

-The courtyard. I felt like I should be in some Lord of the Rings film.-

-Unusual decoration around the arches of the church...normally, these arches are decorated with angels or saints or other religious icons...what do the Dutch do? Decorate their arches with arches...eh...?-

-Dom tower...it's a tower. Shocking.-

-Inside the church. I have found that Dutch churches really lack a lot of religious adornment when compared to other countries...probably because religion is not so serious here (the church by my house was converted into a dance studio...go Jesus!)-

-Looking up from under a chandelier...who would have guessed you would find awkward modern aspects in a Gothic church.-

-On our way to the Utrecht train station to come home, I noticed that one of the stoplights was a bunny...Everything Dutch is cute (except the weather. The weather is the spawn of the hell beast).-

-Andreas on the ride home...-

-Sebastien and me on the ride home...I fell asleep because I am a party-pooper.-

-For a moment we thought we saw sun...turns out it was just this country continuously toying with my heart.-

Well...that was my mini vaycay. Now time to start studying. One week until exams. 23 days until I am home. 41 days until I see you all at Grandy's B-day extravaganza.

SUPER EXCITED!

Love

Jealously Strikes the Youngest

Okay people. Let's all get something straight here. Jenny has turned 21 today. I do not believe I have felt jealousy this strong in quite awhile. Congrats you fancy-pants "grown-up" lady...Just remember that I was there for your first choco-tini (yay international waters!) ...

That's right...now I'm all alone.
BUT YAY IT'S JENNY'S B-DAY!!!

I will now lie and say I made this cake:

But for realz, if I was home and you were in the same state as me, I would have made you a B-A cake...TOO BAD FOR YOU!!!

:P

Reasons Why the Netherlands is “Special”

1. Small children color with chalk in the street…next to their hop-scotch drawings, and colorful stars is a Heineken beer bottle drawing…yay consumerism!

2. It is still bright outside at 22:30 (10:30 pm)…the sun does not completely set until 23:30 (11:30 pm) or so…I start thinking about going to bed around 3:00…

3. Dutch professors are a myth…like unicorns.

4. The country is covered in clouds for over half the year…yet seasonal-affective disorder appears to be rare.

5. They used to build short shutters on the windows to rooms where the women lived to prove that they were not having male visitors…yet prostitution is legal.

6. Although the country is drenched in rain, rain boots or umbrellas don’t seem to cross their minds…

7. They eat their French fries with mayonnaise.

8. One of the most popular menswear stores is called SissyBoy…

9. On another fashion note, there is a store here called “Inspired by Fashion”…uhm…yes?

10. They decided a swamp land would be the ideal area to build the most popular city in the country.

11. They have foldable bikes...so you can put your mode of transportation inside other modes of transportation…

12. They paint their trashcans.

13. Most houses keep their curtains open during the day, and their huge windows face right out onto the sidewalk (no front yards in the city)…but looking in is considered rude.

14. They like to stick words together and make things unreasonably…unreasonable…example: “randjongerenhangplekkenbeleidsambtenarensalarisbesprekingsafspraken” = the agreements for the negotiations concerning the salary of public servants who decide on the policy for areas where unemployed youth is allowed to hang out.

15. Paraphrase of a pamphlet in the Schipol airport:

Please remember that not all of the women you see in the Red Light District are really women. If something bad happens to you, please find a policeman and explain. Please do not be embarrassed- we have seen it all before. You couldn’t possibly shock us.

Yes...Things are different. Slightly strange, but at least the odd quirks here can make you laugh. The last two (or three?) days of my life have been dedicated to painting. I wake, I paint, I sleep...So far the piece has been done over three times...and now it is just a confused mess...oh well. It has kept me busy, although I should be busy with studying...yuck. Nothing new, nothing fun. I keep having very strange dreams, one absolutely wonderful, one super f'ed up...bah, oh well. This is the last week of classes EVER in this country! YAYAYAYAYAY! So...this is how my life will go:

Face in book. Face in pillow. Repeat.

Fingers crossed no face in cement. We'll see how it goes.

Love you all super duper much, and see you in...46 days!!!

Story Time

So…I heard this story from a friend…

It goes like this…

“I had an Economics assignment due on Thursday, worth 30% of my grade. This assignment consisted of working with an excel document, doing a few regression analyses, a whole lot of calculations, and five essays…being the excellent and amazing student that I am, I completed the assignment on time…

“As I was turning this assignment in, I noticed a sticky-note on my professor’s door, written in a foreign language, but obviously it was saying “Be back Monday”. I arrived home; proceed with my nightly activities of studying, consuming random food-like things, and reading until I fell into a restless sleep.

“The next morning I awoke feeling…odd, as if something was amiss in my life. Granted, this usually means that my life is normal, yet this feeling was strange…I had the sense of being, dare I say it, an underachiever. I sat up in bed, refusing to accept this horrifying realization and decided it was only a dream (or a dreadful nightmare!) that had led me to feel this god-awful emotion. Thus, I crawled from my lofty dreamland tower and prepared for the day.

“As the day progressed, this feeling was spreading through me and growing like a parasite. I could not shake it off, so I decided to look into it. I pulled out all my schedules and scanned through everything to see if I had missed some sort of deadline or if I was behind on my work, but of course, being the OCD-ish study freak that I am, nothing was out of place.

“An hour later this feeling was hitting its climax and I was getting rather grumpy. What the heck was it? Then it hit me- I turned in the un-edited version of my Economics assignment. *screams of horror from the crowd*…The un-edited version completely left out 30% of the assignment. The creepy-crawly feeling inside me exploded and I started to panic. It was 17:30 (5:30 pm), what was I going to do?! I frantically sent the corrected version of the excel document to my professor, explaining my mistake and blatant dumbness. Then I realized something super sucky and absolutely wonderful- my professor was out of town. He would not have collected the papers from his box yet…but it was Friday, past closing hours. Great. There was no way that I was going to make it to the library, print out the correct version, bike to the university, get into the already locked building and switch out the papers…or was there?…

“Hysterical biking, printing, and more biking (this time panicked) ensued. I was going to figure this out. There has yet to be a locked building I can’t find my way into (heh…)!

“I arrived at the Economics building and the automatic doors opened before me like the gates of Heaven. This was going to work! It was going to be okay! I rushed through the lobby to the doors leading to the elevator…locked. NOOOO!!! I turned around, and went the other direction, but all the doors were locked. I couldn’t find a way in! I began thinking that maybe there was a first time for everything, maybe I was going to fail my assignment.

“As I was running around the building I heard people chattering, glasses clinking and the faint beckoning of a violin…what was this? An elegant soiree? That means the building is open…somewhere…but how to get in? I saw people rushing in and out of one of the side doors, obviously the crew working the party. Without hesitation, I went straight in the side door. Once inside, I was surrounded by crew members fumbling around preparing food and beverages. A man with the nametag “Willem” approached me, and asked me what I was doing there (in ENGLISH! HOW FREAKIN’ LUCKY?!!), and I simply told him “Oh, I’m here to help.” He nodded, turned and walked away (uhm…suggestion to catering company- get better managers?). I then realized that I had stopped breathing and was sweating like a crazy woman (sexy, eh?). I found the door leading to the elevators, got in, pushed “7” and waited for them to close…ding…ding…ding…stop. 4? I don’t want 4. I want 7. What the…the doors open, and two crew members get on, and ask something to me in Dutch. I say “sorry…what?” and the guy asks again “Why are you going up?” and I tell him “Willem asked me to get something.” This answer seemed to satisfy them, and the rest of the ride ensued in silence.

“Once on the 7th floor, I ran to my professor’s mail box, dug out my own copy, replaced it with the new copy and shoved everything back into his box. I took the stairs down, and left as quickly as possible.”

Yeah, that friend was lucky, huh? Well, if I had had an adventure as intense as hers, then I would say this:

-I’m super dumb. I risked a lot just replacing an assignment. But, after replacing it I did feel quite relieved. Yet it feels like cheating in a way, even though I printed the wrong version of the paper…So, I guess I learned how far I will go for just a little bit better of a grade.

I’ll try to keep my life interesting for you guys, or, when in doubt, tell a friend’s story…

LOVE X 1000 : 54 days!

Paris

Bonjour!

Oh golly, where to start…well, I could give a re-cap of each day, but I don’t actually remember what happened in each day…So I will tell you things in the sequence of images on my camera.

To start, we arrived as weary travelers in the middle of the day on Friday. A grocery trip, dinner and sleeping followed. We are such party animals. Watch out Paris!

Montmartre…up on a hill, away from the busy, loud Paris is a cute little town with artists and pretty buildings. We went here on our first day (I think…) and had an interesting lunch where people freaked out when they found out we were from Kansas (?) and where a strange man dressed in a white suit (accompanied by a white hat) seemed to stalk us the whole day…everywhere we were, he was too…coincidence? I think yes. Our day concluded with wandering the streets of Paris…(sunburn status: we good.)

The next day, my camera is telling me we frolicked to Saint-Chapelle, and is also reminding me (by lack of images) that we were ripped off. We waited in line for about thirty minutes, went through a security thingy (like at the airport) and paid cash-monies to see one room…grrrr. But it was pretty and gaudy as heck (oh Paris and your love of all things gold and those creepy little angels with their beady little eyes…)…then my feet started crying tears of blood (over exaggeration) so we went home for a while and ventured back out to an internet café only to be hit on by the most awkward French man ever…a painfully dull 45-minute conversation ensued ending with us going “oh, look at the time…”(sunburn update: grrr…pink frosting colored…yum)

Anywho…Next, Mr. Camera went to Notre Dame, which was GORGEOUS. OMG (literally). We arrived early enough for no lines, hardly any tourists, and they still had the chandeliers lit which made majestic-like images inevitable…after the happy-hunchback extravaganza we meandered into the Latin quarter, stalked some chocolate shops (we are females, give us a break). We ate our little packed lunches (oh elementary school, how I miss you…) by the Fontaine de Medicis while staring at some scary green man. It was super duper hot so we decided that ice cream was a beautiful idea…followed by copious amounts of water and shade. (sunburn status: noticably a tourist)

Uhm…I’m lost as to what day it is…I remember that once upon a time in a land that was super freakin’ hot we tried to go to see some dead people buried under ground (the catacombs) but it was flooded… *melodramatic tear* …

Hmmm…we saw the Eiffel tower…ugly as heck! Hehehe, we saw other touristy things, a lot of which I did not take pictures of because I saw no point…

We went to the Louvre, but I got sick while inside within the first few moments, so we did not stay long. Although I did see one of my favorite da Vinci paintings, Virgin of the Rocks. Sadly, we did not see the entire museum. But, on the next day, before traveling back (on a train that lost power three times) we went to Centre Pompidou, a modern art gallery, and I got in free (said I was Dutch…yay lying!) and I saw so many artists that I like (and a bunch that I want to punch in the face)…there was Picaso (of course- but none of his super famous pieces), Francis Bacon (had some sort of mental issue…but made cool paintings), Kandinsky, Rothko (who saved my booty back at USC...long story), and many others…although the museum also was plagued by those artists who give all the others a bad name, such as Klein (stupid neo-dada) and Pollock (with his "I feel where the paint wants to go, and I just put it there"...wow...really?)…hmmm…who else did I see…oh, Miro, whose work reminds me of a happier version of Dali (and not so gross), and Louise Bourgeois (girl is curzy.), Giacometti’s creepy emaciated figures were chillin’ in there also…all in all, it was wonderful. I loved it. It was the perfect end to the trip. After the museum visit, we packed our things, got onto the train, and were home just before midnight. (sunburn status: doesn't matter, we are back in the land of coats and scarves!)

So…that was our trip in Paris. A lot of walking. A lot of admiring gorgeous architecture. A lot of sweating and sunburns and freckle explosions. And best of all, a rekindled desire to immerse myself in good literature, and paint/bake my life away. No worries though- I’ll not do anything drastic (like bake 400 cupcakes again…) and stick to the whole ruling-the-Asian-business-world game that I have been playing for awhile now. Maybe I can woo potential investors with pastries?

The upcoming days/weeks will be annoying. I have projects due in three classes and exams to prepare for. So, don’t expect super intense posts- anticipate the mundane-this-is-my-life posts that I have been doing recently, and eventually one from Switzerland will pop up…one of these days.

Love you! 63 days!

Picture time...

Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur

Sainte-Chapelle

Catedral Notre-Dame

That giant touristy-arche thing

The city.

most awesome door ever

I only love Paris in the rain...the following images are why...