Bienvenue, bienvenue. Ecoutez-moi, s'il vous plait...
Here I am, starting another new adventure of sorts. It wasn't easy.
Getting out of the house was one thing. Even just one week at home, and she was after my throat day-in and day-out. I didn't get to see nearly as many friends as I wanted to, and I certainly could not spend late nights with them. It was depressingly constricting.
But enough about that.
Let's talk about Paris.
Flying here was fairly uneventful...until I landed. Josh was here with me, thank goodness, so I didn't really panic too much upon finding that both my suitcases were delayed. I just gave them my address here and a few phones numbers (whose owners I could trust to alert me when my things would be delivered), and we went on our way.
Oh. TAXIS HERE ARE F#$%ING EXPENSIVE.
We met up with Britney, who is Josh's girlfriend's best friend, and she owns a restaurant with her fiancee. We got some soda and massive bruschetta for free, and we kicked back a while, practicing our new people-watching skills.
Afterwards, I took another taxi (dwindling my Euros even further) to my apartment, and I met up with my roommate, Courtney. She's awesome, chill, and has no bad points, so far as I can tell at this point.
...Okay, my one nitpick: the refrigerator's kind of gross, but nothing a little scrubbing won't handle.
So for the past few days, I've been wandering the streets, learning my way around my area and learning the area around the agency (polar opposites, I tell you). I've done some minor grocery shopping (apparently, milk doesn't need to be refrigerated until you open it. Weird.), and there was an epic search for a phone SIM card (SFR >>>>>> Orange).
Josh and I strolled up and down Champs-Élysées a couple of days ago, but it was more about finding the agency than peering in the stores. We did, however, eat some good sandwiches and strawberry tartelles, and also got a nice view of the L'Arc de Triomphe.
We "celebrated" 4th of July with Luke, Lacey, and a few other MAS Ogilvy kids who were meandering around Paris over the weekend with a few bottles of wine, an amazing lightshow at the Tour Eiffel, and then some overpriced food in a cafe in the Latin Quarter.
I also met up with a family friend (practically a cousin), Cynthia. She's in Paris for a class, and we ended up having a couple of dinners together. It was nice to talk to her again - we don't see each other often, but when we do, it's a great time.
Tomorrow, we start at Ogilvy, and I can't wait.
So I should go to sleep, but there's one last thing I want to talk about:
Soren.
I was really devastated to learn that he had passed away June 30th, and even more devastated to learn the circumstances surrounding this awful incident. I'd be hard-pressed to think of another MAS student who possesses the same grace, intelligence, and wit that Soren had in spades. I wish I had been there for his memorial gathering, if for nothing else than the chance to say goodbye among friends. But I'd like to thank him for his exuberance and encouragement that guided me towards choosing Paris as my first QA...and I'm going to work hard, in honor to him.
R.I.P. Soren Hellner.
Getting out of the house was one thing. Even just one week at home, and she was after my throat day-in and day-out. I didn't get to see nearly as many friends as I wanted to, and I certainly could not spend late nights with them. It was depressingly constricting.
But enough about that.
Let's talk about Paris.
Flying here was fairly uneventful...until I landed. Josh was here with me, thank goodness, so I didn't really panic too much upon finding that both my suitcases were delayed. I just gave them my address here and a few phones numbers (whose owners I could trust to alert me when my things would be delivered), and we went on our way.
Oh. TAXIS HERE ARE F#$%ING EXPENSIVE.
We met up with Britney, who is Josh's girlfriend's best friend, and she owns a restaurant with her fiancee. We got some soda and massive bruschetta for free, and we kicked back a while, practicing our new people-watching skills.
Afterwards, I took another taxi (dwindling my Euros even further) to my apartment, and I met up with my roommate, Courtney. She's awesome, chill, and has no bad points, so far as I can tell at this point.
...Okay, my one nitpick: the refrigerator's kind of gross, but nothing a little scrubbing won't handle.
So for the past few days, I've been wandering the streets, learning my way around my area and learning the area around the agency (polar opposites, I tell you). I've done some minor grocery shopping (apparently, milk doesn't need to be refrigerated until you open it. Weird.), and there was an epic search for a phone SIM card (SFR >>>>>> Orange).
Josh and I strolled up and down Champs-Élysées a couple of days ago, but it was more about finding the agency than peering in the stores. We did, however, eat some good sandwiches and strawberry tartelles, and also got a nice view of the L'Arc de Triomphe.
We "celebrated" 4th of July with Luke, Lacey, and a few other MAS Ogilvy kids who were meandering around Paris over the weekend with a few bottles of wine, an amazing lightshow at the Tour Eiffel, and then some overpriced food in a cafe in the Latin Quarter.
I also met up with a family friend (practically a cousin), Cynthia. She's in Paris for a class, and we ended up having a couple of dinners together. It was nice to talk to her again - we don't see each other often, but when we do, it's a great time.
Tomorrow, we start at Ogilvy, and I can't wait.
So I should go to sleep, but there's one last thing I want to talk about:
Soren.
I was really devastated to learn that he had passed away June 30th, and even more devastated to learn the circumstances surrounding this awful incident. I'd be hard-pressed to think of another MAS student who possesses the same grace, intelligence, and wit that Soren had in spades. I wish I had been there for his memorial gathering, if for nothing else than the chance to say goodbye among friends. But I'd like to thank him for his exuberance and encouragement that guided me towards choosing Paris as my first QA...and I'm going to work hard, in honor to him.
R.I.P. Soren Hellner.