i suppose you'll be wanting to know how amsterdam was.

this past weekend i left the stress of midterm exams and papers behind and went to amsterdam, where i met up with my darling Ian (writer of a rather impressive travel blog if i do say so myself, go check it out: http://fromafishbowl.blogspot.com/ he doesnt update frequently either, but his blog has the benefit that Ian, unlike me, is actually a writer).

since Ian and i share a passion for coffee, we spent the weekend sampling several types of coffee.
and because all that coffee made us hungry, we also got some chocolate waffles.


it was a very culturally enriching weekend. and now i am back in paris, where i have to take 2 more exams before running away to Finland.

3 months: an overview

here it is. the best way i've come up with to summarize my october, november, december, and beginning of january: a photograph of a handwritten flow chart. please excuse the franglais.


and yes, i know that is a very small photo. to see a bigger, more legible version, right click (or mac equivalent for us cool people) and select "open link in a new tab"

this is a flute

significantly thinner and also a big shorter than the standard baguette, this is called a flûte.

the trickiest words to pronounce in french

aren't french at all.


heineken (i've settled on "un ee-nuh-keeen s'il vous plaît")
café americano glacé grande (dont judge me)
milkshake (i'm surprised l'academic hasn't created a word for this yet)
wifi (ok this isnt tricky, its just funny. en france on dit "le weeee-feee")

"tu connais 'sex & the city?' "
-"comment???"
" sex an ze see-tee?"
-"ah oui! je l'aime bien!"

i blame globalization.

l'Ambassade Russe à Paris: take two

Today I had the oh-so-wonderful pleasure of going to the Russian Embassy in Paris for the second time. On Monday, after gathering all my documents and filling out forms, I took the metro to the 16è. I took a short walk to the embassy, getting lost a little on the way. It wasn't that hard to figure out that the ass-ugly cement building complete with 2 security guards with machine guns was the Russian embassy. It was just a little bit out of place in the very wealthy 16è. After nervously eying the security guards and their arms, I approached the gate to find the lovely sign photographed on the left. It says a bunch of stuff in Russian that I don't understand, and at the bottom: "Visa. Horaires: 9h-12h." Seeing as it was 2 o'clock by then, also known as 14h, I had no choice but to walk away disappointed. Since I had class all day Tuesday, I had to return this morning. This time, I arrived just before 10h so I'd be sure to get things taken care of. The consular services department is one big chaotic room with several windows and lines, none of which are clearly labeled. I looked for a line with the least Russian-looking people, and was relieved to find a window that said "visa-touriste" in very tiny font. The wait was actually quite quick- about 20 minutes. I was veryyyy nervous- I wasn't sure if my passport photos would be acceptable since I accidentally pressed the button for black&white when I took the pics in a booth at the Bastille metro station (oops), I also wasn't sure if my proof of insurance papers were sufficient. I didn't have a hotel confirmation either, since I'm staying with Megan, and I didn't have proof of airline tickets, since I wanted to wait until I was sure I could get a visa before making the purchase. I was also worried about my ability to understand the French of someone with a Russian accent. None of those things turned out to be an issue. The man behind the window was SOOO much nicer than the French visa-issuer in Los Angeles. Upon seeing my American passport he said he would speak English since his English is better than his French anyways. I'm all for language immersion, I'm very good about speaking French most of the time, but I have to say I was relieved. According to the rules of Russian tourist visas (which I have been researching on the internetz for the last week), you must apply for the visa in the country of your citizenship. However, they make an exception for people who have official residence permission in another country for at least 3 months. I assumed my 6month French visa would be sufficient, but it turns out I was supposed to actually have a residence card, which is something I don't have (and don't think I'm going to get). I explained that I was in the process of registering for my residence card, which apparently was an acceptable excuse. He then said that it generally takes 3 months for American citizens, but that they could do it for me there in France in 2 weeks. I later found out that this meant for a price- 98€ that is, or $140- which is damn fucking expensive, but hey, what can you do? Finally, I had to fill out a separate application form- because the form I had found on the internetz was apparently for everybody except American nationals. The American form was about 63 times more extensive and included questions about military service, scientific background, etc... understandable, of course. It also asked for names and addresses of the two most recent employers, parents, educational institutes. I didn't know any of these phone numbers, of course, but the boxes were too small for all of that information anyways, and the official didn't seem to mind that I left it out. After I paid my fee and signed over the rights to my first born child, I was told to come back in exactly 2 weeks to get my passport back, which should then be complete with my Russian tourist visa. Success!! I was out of the embassy by 11h, which makes 1 hour that I was there, also know as 33% of the time I spent at the French consulate in Los Angeles. Not to mention that the Russian man I dealt with was much more friendly and helpful than the French guy who works in LA (yeah, I think everyone studying in France who got their visa in LA knows who I'm talking about. Such a bitch!!)

As soon as I got home I bought my airline tickets to Saint Petersburg. My fall break plans are nice and finalized, and look like this:

Paris-> Helsinki-> Saint Petersburg-> Helsinki->Tallinn->Helsinki->Paris

In Helsinki I'll be visiting and staying with Barrett and his partner JN. Then to Petersburg for a few days to see Megan. When I get back to Helsinki Barrett, JN, one of their friends, and I are going on a short cruise to Tallinn, which is a port town in Estonia where we will stay overnight before going back to Helsinki. I'm leaving paris oct 23 and coming back nov 1. I know, I know - I'm going to freeze my ass off, seeing as how I'm California born-n-raised. Luckily, I bought a coat:

le cinéma à paris

here's a fun fact: paris has more cinemas per capita than any other place in the world. in addition to the big theaters with multiple locations, such as MK2, there are several tiny salles du ciné tucked away, sometimes so unassuming that you can walk right by without even noticing. these are most heavily concentrated in the quartier latin as well as the montparnasse area, but really all of the cool quartiers have cinés.

all of the major hollywood shit gets to france around the same time it comes out aux états unis. some delay, sure, but nothing major. but it gets so much better than that. the paris cinés have a rich collection of films from all over the world. and then of course, there are the reprises, old films being shown in theaters.

and how do you navigate this system of many, many theaters with literally dozens of films each week, showtimes changing with each day of the week and perhaps only one or two showings of a particular film in the city each week? Le pariscope, of course!




Pariscope is a pocket sized guide that comes out once a week- every Wednesday- which is generally the day that most new movies come out in France as well. It costs 0,40€ (or $0.60), and lists all of the salles du ciné in Paris by arrondisement, starting with of course the 1èr all the way to the 20è, plus a few choice suburbs. It lists all the films that are playing in Paris that week- new releases, reprises, and "autres films"...which is basically anything thats not a new release but not old enough to be considered a reprise. You'll also find out, along with the showtimes, whether the film is V.F. (version français) or V.O. (version originale). V.F. means that unless its actually a French film, the dialogue has been dubbed in French. Usually this is only for animated movies or shit like Harry Potter. V.O. means that that the film will be in its original language, whatever it may be, with French subtitles.

If you really know me, you'll know how film illiterate I am. Its quite tragic how few of the classics I've seen. I'm trying to expand my horizons, though, and I've been going to the ciné quite often here. I enjoy it for a number of reasons, including:

-somewhere comfy to sit for two hours
-I don't have to talk to anyone
-I don't have to LOOK at anyone (except the actors of course),
-whether its in French, or in English with subtitles, or in Spanish with Subtitles- its always good for improving my French ("oh.... so that's how you say faggot in french!")


While here, I have seen:

-Numéro 9
-Antichrist
-J'ai tué ma mère
-Mon voisin Totoro
-Tu n'ameras point
-Torch Song Trilogy
-Wendy & Lucy
-À la carte


Oh, and something even better? Sept 13-17 is a biannual tradition called La Rentrée du Cinéma, which means that for these four days, all movies are only 4€. yay!

La Rentrée

La Rentrée has come and passed. ça veut dire quoi? That now there are groups of 15 year olds wasting away the afternoon in the cafés smoking cigarettes.
The sad part? How easily I blend in. (not the smoking part. just that i look 15). The backpack doesn't help either, especially since most french universities don't start up again until October.