Return of the Blogger

        I do love when great minds think alike.  I woke up this morning thinking about how it had been way, way too long since I had blogged last, and set about getting some photos together and brainstorming what to say, and then I logged on and saw the sad post about the lack of posts.  I guess I was a few hours too late.  Please take my lack of posts as a sign that I have settled in well, am doing my homework, have been spending my free time exploring the city, have drunk way too many espressos, and am doing all of my writing in my journal instead.  As they say, the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, but the second best time is today, so here goes.

Boats on the Seine with Notre Dame casually sitting in the background

        Finals finished with what I can only describe as the complete opposite of a bang.  It was more like, "i ne can pas spoke anglais or France because mon brain is completement toast. je need a vacance. help moi."  Four hour, in class, written exams on a passage of Moliere at 8am on a Saturday can have that affect on exchange students, but I lived with the help of the biggest English/French dictionary I could find.  The Italian exchange student in the same class brought with her two of the biggest dictionaries I have ever seen.  They literally would not fit in her backpack, and laying on top of one another they were about a foot tall.  I'm not even sure how she was able to find the words she needed!  I think the next semester will be much easier given that my french has improved and I am familiar with the system, and despite my complete inability to remember conjugations, I managed to inch up to a slightly more advance grammar class, so that is a relief.  Given the amount of red ink on all of my homework, that is a small miracle.  

        The saddest part of the semester was definitely having to say goodbye to all of my friends who returned to the states.  Our going away party was very fun and much cake was eaten to soften the blow of last goodbyes.  Of course, all of them being gone only made me realize just how much I missed being home, but that problem was partially solved with more espresso, gummy bears, and the complete set of Harry Potter books in french as a Christmas gift to myself.  Needless to say I have spent much of my break sitting in the Jardin du Luxembourg reading in what little sunlight is left this time of year.  In fact, that's what I did all afternoon.

        I've also been taking a lot of walking tours around and making lots of stops at interesting places such as this third story art gallery above a bookshop in the Marais.   

    All of the walls were covered in rather interesting posters and these were the large windows that, as you can see, were also covered in posters.  I was the only one in there, and it was all very surreal.  I'm not sure what the statement was, but the person who put the collection together must be a rather odd and unhappy person.

         This is in front of the Institute du Monde Arabe where I went the other day to visit the museum, but they happened to be closed that day.

So, I continued my walk along the Seine and sat at this place for a while reading until I got too cold and had to keep moving.

I sat next to this man for a while in the Jardin du Luxembourg a while ago, and discretely snuck a few shots while pretending to dust off my camera screen.  The angle is a bit off, but I like to think of that as artistic license.

And finally.....

....the one you've been waiting for....

...and by "you" I mean my mother...

        

...your's truly with her fuzzy hair, sitting in the kitchen on a cloudy day, sipping tea, reading Agatha Christie (in French of course), and trying to look happy but relaxed at the same time.  Well, I know this little post doesn't make up for the entire month of December, but at least I have a few photos to show for it.  Love and miss you all back home, and happy new year!

-Kate Alice