Episode 1 - Biking, Baguettes, and Beer 🥖
Getting yelled at in French, watching Namibia get steamrolled in rugby, and too many Dutch people to count
So we made it! 4 days since the opening post, here we go on to the first real blog update.
The crowd is in an uproar to read the first edition. Everyone is quaking in their boots for this monumental moment.
Let’s dive in!
Wednesday, 9/14/2023
Wednesday is my break day between classes (I have classes only on Tuesday and Thursday this semester!), so basically Wednesdays are when I grind academically and professionally.
So basically, internship applications. Lots of them… (shoutout to Handshake)
After that, it was time to meet up with my history group to practice and prepare for our presentation tomorrow! We’re presenting about slavery and capitalism in the French and British empires, not a light subject for sure. Edvin and Hugo (my groupmates) are great people, super funny, and honestly wonderful groupmates, too. No one slacked off, and we all worked together well. Edvin is Swedish. 🇸🇪
Amazing.
Our conversations are always so interesting and I learn the weirdest things but also come up with ideas I never would otherwise.
For example.
When talking about colonialism, we discussed how all colonies eventually seceded from their respective empires. Probs the same will happen with Mars. The first couple generations of colonists will come from and be ruled from Earth, but eventually, it’s likely those colonists will want to secede and become their own Martian society. The United States of Mars? The Mars Union? The Glorious People’s Republic of Mars?
Now that would be an interesting book.
After that, it was off to my apartment to order WiFi and create a bank account. My mate Joe called the Internet company on my behalf (Je ne parle pas Francais). My French phone number wasn’t working, so basically Joe called the Internet company for 30 minutes in French for no reason (his French is impeccable) because I wasn’t able to book an appointment.
Thanks, Joe!
Fast forward 2 hours, I have eaten my yummy pasta and meat sauce dish and am at volleyball practice. I tried out last week and made the team. Somehow I’m a collegiate volleyball player now!
The coach doesn’t speak English and put me as outside and opposite, 2 positions I’ve never played before.
What does that mean?
Lots of getting yelled at in French and having my teammates translate for me. I actually found it super funny.
After, we went and grabbed drinks at a local pub. It’s tradition to go after each practice, and I had a great conversation with my Italian teammate who speaks 5 languages, has studied abroad 3 times, and is 2 meters tall. This is exactly why I tried out. 🍻
Thursday 9/15
Waking up at 7 a.m. after a pint with my teammates is brutal. My alarm went off, and I questioned my existence.
After getting my shit together, I ate my delicious yogurt-peanut butter-granola-banana combo and biked over to class on the velib bikes. Basically, Paris has a wonderful bike infrastructure and you can rent unlimited bikes for 8 euros a month.
A month.
Chicago was $5 per ride.
Classes weren’t particularly exciting, so I’ll spare y’all the details. Learned about family terms in French (French A1) and some *lovely* voodoo economic models in International Trade.
The history presentation went fantastically!
And then I battled not falling asleep in my corporate governance class. Thank goodness for free NYT articles and Wikipedia pages to keep me awake. Without them, there would’ve been no hope.
On the bright side, I AM LEARNING FRENCH. While ordering food at the cafeteria today, the girl behind me didn’t speak French and I translated her order for her.
Me. Translating French!
Turns out she’s Czech and I was so intrigued. I have never met anyone from the Czech Republic before! Her name was Magdalena, and she was very sweet. Might need to meet up with her sometime to learn more about the Czech Republic.
Uruguay and France played in the Rugby World Cup today, so I went to a watch party with my friend Manon to celebrate (what a great reason for a pint).
Every time Uruguay would score, the guy next to me would go crazy. He’s not Uruguayan.
He’s Welsh. Legendary. 🏴
After a long chat while watching the game, I learned his name was Matt, he played tennis for the Welsh national team, and is an all-around great dude. He invited me out for drinks with his group, and I (naturally) tagged along. This is exactly why I studied abroad! Any excuse for a pint is valid for me.
At the pub, I met a couple Scots and learned all about Edinborough (pronounced “Edin-bruh”).
They told me about dragon soup (a heinous mixture of several redbulls and liquor). Not only do you get shitfaced, your heart struggles with all that caffeine. Plus, Edinborough apparently has a lot of cocaine issues.
Yikes.
A nice bike ride home at 2 a.m., then it was off to sleep.
Friday 9/16
It was time for more yogurt in the morning. Yum!
There is a nice Starbucks near my apartment. I know what you’re thinking
“You really flew all the way around the world to go to Starbucks?! Basic-ass American.“
Nope!
Starbucks has fast, free Wi-Fi. My apartment doesn’t.
So I spend more waking hours there than in my apartment. You gotta do whatcha gotta do. My apartment has better coffee, anyway.
More internship applications, class readings, and catching up with the world.
Oh, you remember that Czech girl I met yesterday? I’m sure you don’t. Well, we grabbed coffee because I had so many questions about the Czech Republic.
I learned all about the history of the country, its language, and Prague. The Czech Republic is mountainous and beautiful. Prague in particular is a beautiful city. I will definitely need to go visit while I’m here in Europe! (it also turns out Czech and Russian are pretty similar languages) Magdalena was super nice and very well-dressed. I felt very underdressed in my T-shirt and shorts.
I’m an American. What can I say. 🇺🇸
After, I met up with Gibbs (my Australian friend) and Joe to go on a 7k (that’s about 4.5 miles for us freedom-loving folks) run along the Seine. I hate running but do it often because it’s the most efficient way to exercise and is a great way to spend time with people.
Plus, it’s the Seine! What better place can you ask to run along?
After, it was dinnertime (Joe and I cooked for a group of friends), then it was off to a wine bar to watch the Namibia vs. New Zealand rugby game. I’d like to say it was a close game.
Namibia lost 71-3. “A” for effort. 💔
After too many glasses of wine (definitely like red wines more than white wines), we went out looking for a bar or pub to visit. It was Emma’s (my Dutch friend) 21st, so we wanted to go out to celebrate! Joe and Emma were the life of the party:
But first, I got the most delicious kebab from a random shop 30 seconds away. It was around 1 am, there were tons of people, and it was 7 euros for a whole plate of food. Had to call the owner “boss”. If it’s a privately owned establishment serving food that late, they’re a boss-man.
“Merci, boss!”
Somehow we ended up in a random club after. We left after about 2 minutes. 10 euros a pint is criminal.
We found some random store, got more alc (their alc license had expired somehow), then we jumped on the metro to northern Paris to a proper club.
Turns out it was 30 euros to get in. No thanks!
Decided to head home, and walked back 2 miles while calling my mom. That is time well spent. I love you, Mama!
Saturday 9/17
Thank goodness for being able to sleep in on the weekends! Nice to wake up to the birds (pigeons 🙃) chirping, people walking, and kids playing in the park across the street. Listened to the wonderful Skippy the Magnificent (Expeditionary Force is the best audiobook EVER) and then biked over to Joe’s apartment.
He wasn’t there.
So I went to a free museum instead. I love Paris!
The museum was by the Louvre, but was focused on furniture and different household objects. There was also a very interesting exhibit about the history and evolution of hairstyles over the centuries. Lots of sick beards!
Biked back to Joe’s on the Velib bikes. Turns out I’ve biked over 150 kilometers on them already. That’s almost 100 miles!
Joe and I chilled for a bit, then biked (again) to the Grand Mosque of Paris to meet up with some friends. The architecture and gardens were gorgeous. Islamic architecture is amazing.
We walked around for a bit, I bought a baguette, then read a little bit in the Luxembourg Gardens. Randomly saw some people I knew, and chatted with them for a bit. Then, it was time to bike home again, cook dinner, and go over to Emma’s to celebrate her birthday! You only turn 21 once, you know :)
Europeans are crazy with their partying. They don’t go out until midnight at the earliest, so it was lots of great conversations, cocktail-creating, and rage-caging before we left. Emma’s friends and roommates are all Dutch, and it was super cool to hear their conversations.
We ended up biking to some random club in northern Paris, which was the most European club imaginable. Very loud techno music, a brick basement dance floor, and so much smoke. I imagine this is what Berlin is like.
Got home around 4 a.m. Oh my.
And that’s a wrap for the first official post! Thanks so much for reading, hope you all have a great day :)
And with that, it’s time to leave this Starbucks. I’ve been here long enough.
Au revoir! 🇫🇷
Joe is the main character. I want to be Joe someday.