It Finally Hit Me

I was sitting in bed a few nights ago, tucked in with my copy of The Godfather (required reading for Social Foundations, though I found it interesting enough that I'd forgotten about the "required" bit), when all of a sudden it finally hit me.  I'm not just here on vacation, taking classes for a few weeks before returning home and going back to real life.  This is real life.

It was a weird sensation to have, realizing all of a sudden that my life has taken such a turn.  I'm so grateful to be where I am, but coming to terms with being a for-real adult that has to do adult things like grocery shopping and sweeping the floor every week is something that is quite strange to adjust to.  The other day, I realized I could buy entirely pastries, pasta, and wine, and no one would be able to stop me (though I should clarify that I haven't just been buying pastries, pasta, and wine-- I promise I'm buying actual food too).

Yet somehow I've been managing to live as a (mostly) fully-functioning adult for a little over two weeks now.  I haven't starved yet, my room still looks (and smells) like a normal room, my laundry is getting done (when the washing machines work), and I've gotten everywhere I need to be with time to spare.  When I was looking forward to the future, I had no idea how I was going to make it through without dying, or at least failing spectacularly before figuring out what was going on, but now that I'm in the future, it seems shockingly simple.

Except for the microwave, I'm still not entirely sure how that works aside from knowing how to add thirty seconds to the cook time.  Apparently it has a 100 page manual.

I'm sure once I start having to pay electric bills and heating and rent and taxes, life will get a little bit harder.  But for now, I think I'll manage to be an adult.  Or, at least, a kid pretending to be one.

Katrina

A Visit to Versailles

Well, hello again!  Judging by the title of this post, I'm sure you can tell where this is going-- I did indeed travel out to Versailles on Saturday with one of my suitemates, Grace.  Having visited before, I had expected to be less affected by the beauty and hugeness that are the grounds of Versailles, but arriving there again I found myself mistaken.

We walked into the gardens first, electing not to wait in the huge line to visit the palace just yet.  The gardens are giant-- I'm fairly certain they stretch for multiple kilometers, so walking the length of them seemed like a bad idea.  Instead, we headed out at an angle and into the labyrinth of carefully cultivated trees, weaving through mazes and finding marble statues all along the way.

Also, I'd like to formally apologize for the lack of pictures.  My computer isn't behaving currently, but I'll see if I can get them to upload later.

After walking through the gardens for a while and discovering a fountain that changed formation to music, we decided to grab lunch before heading inside to the palace.  Shockingly, there was a place near the entrance of the gardens that sold reasonably priced food, so we stopped there and grabbed sandwiches before re-entering the maze of gardens to find a bench to sit on.

Following the wonderfully reasonably priced lunch food, we headed into the palace of Versailles.  Fun fact: student ID cards get you into Versailles for free if you're listed as an art history major.  Thank you, NYU!  The palace itself is absolutely gorgeous-- everything is covered in gold leaf, and there are huge paintings and tapestries on almost every wall.  The Hall of Mirrors is my personal favorite.  It's a giant hall with one side of the room covered in mirrors and the other side full of windows.  Everything is so light and beautiful in there.

Eventually, we finished the tour of the palace.  As we were both feeling rather tired and had plans to go out with my friend who lives in Paris, Katarina, later, we elected to only briefly wander the streets of the town a little before catching the train back into Paris.

It started to hit me on the train back from Versailles that I'm really here in Paris.  I really get to live here, I really get to study here, and I really couldn't be more excited.  Classes start tomorrow (because no, the French do not celebrate Labor Day) and I'm buzzing with anticipation about what could possibly come next in this new chapter of my life.  Ideally, not anymore RER breakdowns-- the metro breaking down on your way to class is not the best way to start a day.

I believe that's all for now, yes?  Expect an update sometime at the end of this week-- though maybe not until sometime on Sunday, since Friday and Saturday we're going on an overnight retreat to Chantilly.  Apparently it'll be good for bonding, or so we've been told.  Mostly I'm just excited to explore more of France!

Katrina

A Short Introduction

Well, here I am.  A newfound college freshman, wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, just sent out into the world to explore and learn and try not to mess up too many things while I'm at it.  Oh yes, and did I forget to mention that I'd be doing all of that a continent away from home, in Paris?

Ah yes.  That.

I'm a freshman in the Global Liberal Studies Program at New York University.  Because of the nature of the program, I was given the option to spend my freshman year on campus in New York City, or in DC, London, Florence, or Paris.  Shockingly, for those of you who know me, I chose to attend their Paris campus.

When we visited Paris two years ago, we were there for two weeks and I fell completely in love with it.  The City of Light, the City of Love, the City of Oh My God I'm in Paris and I Never Want to Leave, and now I get to live here for nine months.  I felt like I should probably have some way to chronicle the journey, so here we are.

Sidenote: I promise to take pictures, but I haven't been carrying my camera around since mostly we've just been doing a lot of orientation stuff.  I'll take it when I go fun places, I swear.

What do you mean, you want to know how often I'll be posting?  You think I have a schedule for these things?

In all seriousness, I'm not sure how much free time I'll have back at my little apartment, since I'll be spending a lot of time down at the school and the neighborhood down there, and it's about a thirty minute travel time.  Once I get started with my classes next week I'll have a better idea of how much time I'll have, so expect an update sometime next week.

Or maybe the end of this weekend, I am currently planning on going to Versailles either Saturday or Sunday, so if I end up doing that I suppose it would be worthy of a post.

Write to you soon!

Katrina