Well, today I got up at 6ish because I didn't sleep at all. I did a whole bunch of things, nothing I can really think of, but the sunrise was pretty.
I watched The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and wrote an outline for my speech on Douglas Adams and then watched the first part of Sweeny Todd. Then I had finance class. They kept us late, but we did eventually get our tests back - I barely made an A, but that was a whole lot better than a lot of people.
Then I finished Sweeny Todd and talked with Sam and relaxed a bit. Her mom and cousin are coming tomorrow and staying for nearly two weeks. She's excited, as am I. Everyone's ready for a mom.
I'm excited about this weekend, and I have to leave the apartment at 6, so I'm going to bed.
Goodnight, world.
The musings of a twenty-something currently studying in Missouri.
Always loving the escape as much as the anchors.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Productive?
I would say so. I heavy-duty cleaned, repacked several times, and had law class.
Kristin brought over her scale for me to weigh my bag - I was 9 kilos over - which is about 20 lbs. So I repacked and hopefully it'll work now. My carry-on is another 12 kilos (in addition to the 23 of my suitcase) and then my purse is the only thing that has anything that won't be staying at home, and that hasn't been packed yet. I'm excited for the weekend.
After class, I went to a new GB grocery store - one with an American section. They had peanut butter (Peter Pan, 3.58 Euro for one of the LITTLE jars - they didn't have the big ones) and the epitome of America - Marshmallow Fluff. Not to mention popcorn and hot chocolate and stuff. I was excited to see it, just to know it was there if I needed it. I got food for dinner, which was very tasty tacos. It was just a few of us, but we had fun.
I can't believe we only have a month left - it's been a whirlwind three months so far. Gabe gets here in just over a week and we're going to Israel and Amsterdam, and then I won't be traveling anymore until I'm coming home. It's astounding. I've already been to Cologne, Dusseldorf, Zurich, Venice, Madrid, Toledo, Barcelona, Bruge, Dublin, Howthe, Birmingham, London, and Paris. That's THIRTEEN cities. And we have Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, the Dead Sea, Eilat and the Golan, not to mention Amsterdam. I'm not really sure where all we're going to end up going when we're in Israel, but I'm sure it will be amazing.
And now it is time for bed.
Goodnight, world.
Kristin brought over her scale for me to weigh my bag - I was 9 kilos over - which is about 20 lbs. So I repacked and hopefully it'll work now. My carry-on is another 12 kilos (in addition to the 23 of my suitcase) and then my purse is the only thing that has anything that won't be staying at home, and that hasn't been packed yet. I'm excited for the weekend.
After class, I went to a new GB grocery store - one with an American section. They had peanut butter (Peter Pan, 3.58 Euro for one of the LITTLE jars - they didn't have the big ones) and the epitome of America - Marshmallow Fluff. Not to mention popcorn and hot chocolate and stuff. I was excited to see it, just to know it was there if I needed it. I got food for dinner, which was very tasty tacos. It was just a few of us, but we had fun.
I can't believe we only have a month left - it's been a whirlwind three months so far. Gabe gets here in just over a week and we're going to Israel and Amsterdam, and then I won't be traveling anymore until I'm coming home. It's astounding. I've already been to Cologne, Dusseldorf, Zurich, Venice, Madrid, Toledo, Barcelona, Bruge, Dublin, Howthe, Birmingham, London, and Paris. That's THIRTEEN cities. And we have Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, the Dead Sea, Eilat and the Golan, not to mention Amsterdam. I'm not really sure where all we're going to end up going when we're in Israel, but I'm sure it will be amazing.
And now it is time for bed.
Goodnight, world.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Terrible Tuesday
Wow. Sucky day.
Well, I studied hard and I may not have bombed my finance test. I went to one of our professor's offices this morning, and we worked through one of the review problems. One of our teachers is really nice and helpful, and the other hates us. We asked both for practice problems so we didn't wait until test day to see what we were doing, and one said of course and the other said absolutely not, that's why we have a book. She wouldn't even narrow down the book problems, though. We did find out that the average grade in Europe is a 55, so getting a 50 is a C, but we all freaked out because that's (obviously) failing in the States. Then she told us that an A starts at 80 and the Belgian grading scale will translate to Clemson, so all I have to do is get an 80 in the class. Which is very helpful, but they should have told us that sooner, because then we wouldn't have been so stressed.
Then I came back and studied for management. I reviewed some stuff and watched videos, and then Sam and I went to the grocery store. I decided I'm going to make tacos for Wednesday Night dinner, and so far there have been a lot of positives... I just hope I can find what I need.
I took the management test, did really well on it, and then finished watching season four of NCIS. Now I just want to watch season five.
Tomorrow I clean and pack, and have law class. And of course dinner.
Goodnight, world.
Well, I studied hard and I may not have bombed my finance test. I went to one of our professor's offices this morning, and we worked through one of the review problems. One of our teachers is really nice and helpful, and the other hates us. We asked both for practice problems so we didn't wait until test day to see what we were doing, and one said of course and the other said absolutely not, that's why we have a book. She wouldn't even narrow down the book problems, though. We did find out that the average grade in Europe is a 55, so getting a 50 is a C, but we all freaked out because that's (obviously) failing in the States. Then she told us that an A starts at 80 and the Belgian grading scale will translate to Clemson, so all I have to do is get an 80 in the class. Which is very helpful, but they should have told us that sooner, because then we wouldn't have been so stressed.
Then I came back and studied for management. I reviewed some stuff and watched videos, and then Sam and I went to the grocery store. I decided I'm going to make tacos for Wednesday Night dinner, and so far there have been a lot of positives... I just hope I can find what I need.
I took the management test, did really well on it, and then finished watching season four of NCIS. Now I just want to watch season five.
Tomorrow I clean and pack, and have law class. And of course dinner.
Goodnight, world.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Exhausted
By tests and studying.
Today I woke up, read management, studied law, took a law test, learned about law for an hour or two, studied finance, read finance, sent some emails, reviewed management, talked to my lovely parents and am now going to bed. Also thrown in there were two bowls of cereal, popcorn, a banana, two slices of cheese, a clementine, a tomato, rotten meat, mac and cheese, a salad with raspberries and a piece of chocolate.
Tomorrow I have a finance test followed up by a management test. And then I'm done. Well, at least for the week.
Goodnight, world.
Today I woke up, read management, studied law, took a law test, learned about law for an hour or two, studied finance, read finance, sent some emails, reviewed management, talked to my lovely parents and am now going to bed. Also thrown in there were two bowls of cereal, popcorn, a banana, two slices of cheese, a clementine, a tomato, rotten meat, mac and cheese, a salad with raspberries and a piece of chocolate.
Tomorrow I have a finance test followed up by a management test. And then I'm done. Well, at least for the week.
Goodnight, world.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Back to Brussels
Well. Today was... long.
I woke up about 8:30 and laid in bed talking to Marion for at least and hour and a half. Then it took her another half hour to pack. We were supposed to go on a walking tour at 11, but we never made it. Instead we went to the market outside our hotel down to the Bastille. They had some nice stuff. I had beignets (mini with table sugar) and a chocolate filled eclair for breakfast from one of the stands.
Then we took the subway over to Petite Palais, where we went to the Yves Saint Laurent showcase honoring his work. It was actually really cool and I really enjoyed it. I found that I really like the time period of 1965-1971 and 1988-1991 and the 2001/2002 collections. I'm not sure what that means, but I thought it was cool. He had some very... interesting pieces.
Then we went over to St. Michel because we had tried to get there every day. We ate at a little cafe, where I had a delicious sausage, egg and cheese crepe. Of course, it was like the last time I got "sausage" - not the American version, but something that closely resembles bologna. Then I treated her to Haagen Dazs before going back to the hotel.
I got my stuff and headed to the train station. Barely caught the train, but did make it on time. Headed home, read a chapter of my management book and listened to music. I've been listening to my Jewish music selection a lot. I miss going to services and youth group and my temple family.
I got home, unpacked, had a sandwich and did some online work for my test. Two more chapters of management and a couple of law, and I haven't even thought about finance yet...
Goodnight, world.
I woke up about 8:30 and laid in bed talking to Marion for at least and hour and a half. Then it took her another half hour to pack. We were supposed to go on a walking tour at 11, but we never made it. Instead we went to the market outside our hotel down to the Bastille. They had some nice stuff. I had beignets (mini with table sugar) and a chocolate filled eclair for breakfast from one of the stands.
Then we took the subway over to Petite Palais, where we went to the Yves Saint Laurent showcase honoring his work. It was actually really cool and I really enjoyed it. I found that I really like the time period of 1965-1971 and 1988-1991 and the 2001/2002 collections. I'm not sure what that means, but I thought it was cool. He had some very... interesting pieces.
Then we went over to St. Michel because we had tried to get there every day. We ate at a little cafe, where I had a delicious sausage, egg and cheese crepe. Of course, it was like the last time I got "sausage" - not the American version, but something that closely resembles bologna. Then I treated her to Haagen Dazs before going back to the hotel.
I got my stuff and headed to the train station. Barely caught the train, but did make it on time. Headed home, read a chapter of my management book and listened to music. I've been listening to my Jewish music selection a lot. I miss going to services and youth group and my temple family.
I got home, unpacked, had a sandwich and did some online work for my test. Two more chapters of management and a couple of law, and I haven't even thought about finance yet...
Goodnight, world.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Paris, Day 2
Wow. So, we got up just before nine and went down to Gare du Nord for breakfast. I wanted a crepe but we couldn't find any, so I had the traditional toasted bread and butter, which was basically a baguette.
Then we went up to Sacre Coeur, which had awesome views. We got some roasted chestnuts on the way down before we headed to the Louvre, where we met Eric and Renee and their son Christian and his two kids, Juliette and Hugo. The kids didn't know English, so I didn't get to talk to them, but it was all good fun. We ate in the food court and I had some tasty chicken teriyaki and an interesting fruit salad. Then Marion, Eric and I went to see the Mona Lisa before going into the Egypt section. By no means did we even look at everything in the rooms we saw, and the rooms we walked through maybe were a tenth or a twentieth of all the rooms. But we didn't have much time.
Eric then took us across the street behind the Supreme Court building to show us some art and this awesome park. Then Marion and I took the metro to the Arc du Triomphe and then walked from there down the Avenue du Champes-Elysees, the "most expensive street in the world" or something. It was interesting, but not entertaining.
We came back to Bastille stop, where I got another turkey and cheese crepe and we sat in a Japanese restaurant where Marion got miso soup and sushi. Then we got nutella crepes and came back to the hotel. It started raining pretty hard while we were eating, but we were close to the hotel, so it wasn't bad.
Now it's time for homework. Pictures are uploading to facebook.
Goodnight, world.
Then we went up to Sacre Coeur, which had awesome views. We got some roasted chestnuts on the way down before we headed to the Louvre, where we met Eric and Renee and their son Christian and his two kids, Juliette and Hugo. The kids didn't know English, so I didn't get to talk to them, but it was all good fun. We ate in the food court and I had some tasty chicken teriyaki and an interesting fruit salad. Then Marion, Eric and I went to see the Mona Lisa before going into the Egypt section. By no means did we even look at everything in the rooms we saw, and the rooms we walked through maybe were a tenth or a twentieth of all the rooms. But we didn't have much time.
Eric then took us across the street behind the Supreme Court building to show us some art and this awesome park. Then Marion and I took the metro to the Arc du Triomphe and then walked from there down the Avenue du Champes-Elysees, the "most expensive street in the world" or something. It was interesting, but not entertaining.
We came back to Bastille stop, where I got another turkey and cheese crepe and we sat in a Japanese restaurant where Marion got miso soup and sushi. Then we got nutella crepes and came back to the hotel. It started raining pretty hard while we were eating, but we were close to the hotel, so it wasn't bad.
Now it's time for homework. Pictures are uploading to facebook.
Goodnight, world.
Paris...
with Marion. Shoot me now.
I guess I should start at the beginning. This morning was bright and early - I got up at 7, took a shower, ate, and was out the door by 7:30. I got to the train station on time, waited a bit and hopped the 8:30 train to Paris. The ride was nice and I enjoyed my music while reading management. I'm hoping I can get the next four chapters read in the next two days...
So I arrived fifteen minutes late, but that just meant 10:15. Marion brought me pain chocolat, which was very good, and we headed to the hotel for me to drop off my things. It's a nice hotel, super close to the Bastille. We then hopped the bus to the Eiffel Tower. We went up to the second floor (about halfway) and I got a lot of cool pictures. You could see everything, and I even saw the original Lady Liberty.
Then we met Rogier and Annie for coffee and chocolate at a little cafe nearby and we talked for a while. Rogier is some cousin twice removed or something. His cousin is Eric, but they were brought up together and I'll talk more about Eric later.
We tried to go to the Invalides Church, which is where Napoleon is buried, but it closed as we walked up the steps. The building was cool though. Nearby was a shopping district, St. Germain, and we wandered around for a bit. There were some interesting things.
We crossed over the bridge and then went to Notre Dame, which was really cool. I don't remember why it's so famous, but it is, and now I've seen it. We happened to be there during one of their services, and the choir was incredible.
We then walked back to the hotel, where Eric and his wife Renee met us to take us for dinner. It was a "true French" restaurant, and was very good, named Bofinger Brasserie. I had the most amazing meal ever. Roasted duck with gravy and new potatoes, followed up by creme brulee. I don't remember ever having duck, but it was perfect - light, tender, and delicious. Of course I had to get creme brulee for dessert, and before I ate, I dedicated it to Mom. I'm not sure if the sweetness got to you from 4226 miles away, but it was also scrumptious.
Dinner lasted for nearly three hours - we had a good time talking - and then we came back to the hotel. Now it's time for homework. Tomorrow we are going to Arc du Triomphe, then Avenue de Champs-Elysees before meeting Eric and Renee and some more family at the Louvre. It's weird. Here they pronounce the "re" at the end... Maybe then Montmartre, which we'll do Sunday if we don't get to it tomorrow.
Anyways. Should be interesting, if not fun. Hopefully both.
Goodnight, world.
I guess I should start at the beginning. This morning was bright and early - I got up at 7, took a shower, ate, and was out the door by 7:30. I got to the train station on time, waited a bit and hopped the 8:30 train to Paris. The ride was nice and I enjoyed my music while reading management. I'm hoping I can get the next four chapters read in the next two days...
So I arrived fifteen minutes late, but that just meant 10:15. Marion brought me pain chocolat, which was very good, and we headed to the hotel for me to drop off my things. It's a nice hotel, super close to the Bastille. We then hopped the bus to the Eiffel Tower. We went up to the second floor (about halfway) and I got a lot of cool pictures. You could see everything, and I even saw the original Lady Liberty.
Then we met Rogier and Annie for coffee and chocolate at a little cafe nearby and we talked for a while. Rogier is some cousin twice removed or something. His cousin is Eric, but they were brought up together and I'll talk more about Eric later.
We tried to go to the Invalides Church, which is where Napoleon is buried, but it closed as we walked up the steps. The building was cool though. Nearby was a shopping district, St. Germain, and we wandered around for a bit. There were some interesting things.
We crossed over the bridge and then went to Notre Dame, which was really cool. I don't remember why it's so famous, but it is, and now I've seen it. We happened to be there during one of their services, and the choir was incredible.
We then walked back to the hotel, where Eric and his wife Renee met us to take us for dinner. It was a "true French" restaurant, and was very good, named Bofinger Brasserie. I had the most amazing meal ever. Roasted duck with gravy and new potatoes, followed up by creme brulee. I don't remember ever having duck, but it was perfect - light, tender, and delicious. Of course I had to get creme brulee for dessert, and before I ate, I dedicated it to Mom. I'm not sure if the sweetness got to you from 4226 miles away, but it was also scrumptious.
Dinner lasted for nearly three hours - we had a good time talking - and then we came back to the hotel. Now it's time for homework. Tomorrow we are going to Arc du Triomphe, then Avenue de Champs-Elysees before meeting Eric and Renee and some more family at the Louvre. It's weird. Here they pronounce the "re" at the end... Maybe then Montmartre, which we'll do Sunday if we don't get to it tomorrow.
Anyways. Should be interesting, if not fun. Hopefully both.
Goodnight, world.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
When Everything Happens,
It happens at once.
I have a lot going on, a lot of stress from a lot of different things, and I really want to not have to deal with being abroad because that would solve at least three-fourths of my problems... I think.
Anyways, it was hot by Belgian standards today - a whopping 60 degrees. It felt amazing. But I hurt my ankle last week or so and my knee's been in a brace for the past couple of days, so I didn't get to go running. Instead, I did some homework and went to finance.
Tip for anyone and everyone who's planning on the business program next year: TAKE FINANCE AT CLEMSON. You do not want to deal with whatever shenanigans they call teaching here. I'm sure this won't be my last rant and I won't rant here, but I do want to say there were four people that I know of that were crying after class. Their expectations are a little ridiculous, especially since we don't know what they are.
Anyways, we got back from class and I soothed my stress with chocolate since running wasn't an option. I don't think I've ever been more annoyed I couldn't run. I packed for Paris and did more homework. You can also check the Bruge/Brussels albums for a few new pics. I can't say that I'm excited for the weekend, but it will be cool. Off to the Louve, Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. I don't know what else we're doing...
Goodnight, world.
I have a lot going on, a lot of stress from a lot of different things, and I really want to not have to deal with being abroad because that would solve at least three-fourths of my problems... I think.
Anyways, it was hot by Belgian standards today - a whopping 60 degrees. It felt amazing. But I hurt my ankle last week or so and my knee's been in a brace for the past couple of days, so I didn't get to go running. Instead, I did some homework and went to finance.
Tip for anyone and everyone who's planning on the business program next year: TAKE FINANCE AT CLEMSON. You do not want to deal with whatever shenanigans they call teaching here. I'm sure this won't be my last rant and I won't rant here, but I do want to say there were four people that I know of that were crying after class. Their expectations are a little ridiculous, especially since we don't know what they are.
Anyways, we got back from class and I soothed my stress with chocolate since running wasn't an option. I don't think I've ever been more annoyed I couldn't run. I packed for Paris and did more homework. You can also check the Bruge/Brussels albums for a few new pics. I can't say that I'm excited for the weekend, but it will be cool. Off to the Louve, Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. I don't know what else we're doing...
Goodnight, world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)