The Importance of Connection

It seems to me that I've really learned about the importance of connection here and also what it means to win your way into someone who you've only known a few weeks' affections.

I'll talk about the second point first since it's more recent.

Swedes are supposed to be very open people who are willing to talk to you when you have questions or need help, but if you're trying to become friends with them, it will be very difficult to get close. However once you manage to work your way into their inner circle, it is said you will have a friend for life-- that's just how Swedes are.

I've known this from the start so I've made an effort to get close with my flatmates by talking to them whenever we meet in the kitchen or leaving my door open as often as possible so they know I'm here. I think my efforts have paid off somewhat since now Saman invites me and whomever I am with to party with him and his friends and now Elin stops by my room whenever she comes home to say hello and chat. Yesterday evening I was home alone for a while and Elin knocked on my door and wondered if I had been alone this whole time-- and I didn't know if anyone else was in (Per, the other Swedish guy who lives here, always keeps his door closed so I never know if he's here or not) and I said I wasn't sure, but I guessed so. So she said they'd (Elin, her friend, and her boyfriend, Alex) be home this evening and have a good night! Then later on that evening, Alex knocked on my door and said I would be welcome to join them in the kitchen and sit with them if I wanted, since I was alone here. That was definitely a CLICK moment for me :) There it was! I was making progress and now it's not so lonely-- not just because I've become good friends with the other exchange students, but also because now there is a sense of belonging in my corridor.

In terms of connections... that, I suppose is in reference to this whole experience.

I've learned the importance of being more open-- ridding myself as much as possible of old biases and trying not to be as judgmental as I have in the past. Those of you who know me well will already know I've said I won't be judgmental numerous times...that tends to not really work out until you really have to try not to judge people you're working with. If people feel like you're judging them all the time, it might make them work harder, but it might also make for an uncomfortable group dynamic.

Being able to relate to people is by far, the most important skill one could develop while studying abroad. This includes sharing experiences, laying yourself bare and not putting up walls where you might otherwise shield yourself away, and trying your best to understand another person's language and culture. I forget who it was I had this conversation with, but she was an exchange student as well, and she explained that trying to learn someone else's language was important because there are often feelings that can really only be expressed by that person in their native tongue even if they are fluent in English (as all the exchange students pretty much are). Also knowing that everyone I've been speaking to has such fluent English has put me to shame and made me rather resentful of the American early educational system.

An Estonian I met last night, Prete (I think that's how it's spelled), is not only a physics major who is within the top 5 or 10 students in math, chemistry, and physics in Estonia, but is also multilingual, speaking English well (I guess you would after learning it for 12 years), learned German for 10 or 11 years, and another language which I can't seem to recall right now. Doesn't that make you feel ashamed of what knowledge you lack?

All of this has stressed the importance of language learning and cultural understanding, so now I really want to continue learning Chinese (I can feel myself forgetting words and phrases already :( siiiigh) and begin learning French. I don't think I would need to be fluent, but to be able to understand the other person when they express a feeling in their native tongue. It is extremely frustrating to be unable to express something to the other party because of a language barrier.

It's been a really eye-opening experience and I'm having such an amazing time meeting people, and also working with them. On one hand people have been telling me it's like being on vacation here because they work so much less than we do in the U.S., but then if you think about it, it probably takes as much of a mental and emotional toll on you as being back at Cornell does. In the beginning there is homesickness, loneliness, and this feeling of loss-- where you wonder, why am I here and what am I supposed to be doing? But once classes get rolling and you meet all these amazing people, all these doubts vanish and you're left with the pure enjoyment of being with those who are eager to learn from you and be with you.

This is a different kind of pressure now, from the 21 credits I took last semseter. Now the pressure is on me doing well for myself and my teammate(s). Both courses I'm in now emphasize group work and project work, so the projects are there for our own benefit. Trying to do the best for yourself and your group, not necessarily for a grade, is an incredible pressure. I experienced it while working with Cornell AXP, so it's not a foreign feeling, but what is unfamiliar is working with people from such diverse backgrounds or a different age group. Both programs are masters level classes, so most people are quite a bit older than I am and from extremely different backgrounds. In my Sustainable Development project course, my partner is a girl from New Zealand who is my age and pursuing a law degree. In my Stakeholder Facilitation class my teammates are so varied I can't say I even know where everyone is from...One guy is from Australia and another is technically from Mali but is half German and went to Germany for his undergraduate program. The other two I don't know.

Suffice it to say I'm really happy about being able to study abroad and aim to make the most of it!

Sweden as a melting pot?

Sweden is way more diverse than I had initially thought it would be.

On the SLU campus I went into a small Thai restaurant to ask where I could buy a cellphone refill card and was tempted to speak in my very limited Thai to say hello and thanks. Alas, my confidence fails me in this regard and I didn't bother...

It is at times like these that I wish I was truly able to speak the broken languages I know completely fluently...

Damn you, Tyler Lau...

Gotta run to class! more to come

Dual Destruction in Copenhagen!!!

The weekend before classes began, I decided to take advantage of what little freedom I had left and jumped on the train to Copenhagen.

SO. MUCH. FUN.

It's Audrey Gyr and Audrey T+alphabet in Copenhageeeeennnnnn.

The two and a half days total cost me just under $261 (USD), tickets, food, and entrance fees to sights all included. It's a great city (if somewhat expensive...but hey, you're in Europe! Whatcha gonna do?) I still have 15 or 20 Danish kronor left with me too...

I arrived Friday night on 1.15.2010 and after meeting up with the other Audrey and getting settled in her room, we hopped on out to enjoy the night life. Having run around looking for her friends unsuccessfully, we gave up our search and just decided being warm was priority #1. Thus we stopped at a random bar next to a packed club called Zoo, went inside, and our eyes were met with smoke and men...older men, like in their 30s or so, all smoking and drinking. We didn't drink much-- just bought a beer each to look social and ended up standing around and catching up with each other. It was nice too because no one was puking or belligerently drunk-- these people were just here to enjoy each others' company.

After standing there awkwardly, a couple of men waved over and motioned that there was room to sit, so we did. Audrey and the man to her right had a long and intense conversation regarding Danish lifestyles, life views, and education. I tried to instigate conversation with the other Dane sitting across from me, but each attempt soon fizzled out into an awkward silence. The guy was good looking, but extremely quiet and seemed unsure of what one was supposed to do in a social situation like this.

I asked about what he did and the usual.
Apparently he has been a police officer for about 10 years now.
(TEN YEARS. HE LOOKED TOO YOUNG FOR THAT)

I noted it was a little strange to think about a police officer not in uniform.
His reply?
"Ah, yes...I know...I'm a little awkward right now too, right?"

Eventually they left and Audrey and I sat there for a while longer chatting and having a nice evening. During the course of this conversation, the population of the pub changed noticeably: all the older patrons had left and a steady stream of younger, hipper people were coming in. Then suddenly, PLONK and PLONK-- two guys sit themselves down right on either side of us, squishing Audrey and I together in the middle. What a game. The one on my left, name: Jonas, and the one of Audrey's right, name: Magnus, pretended not to know each other at first and flirted outrageously with us and with incredible tenacity. Even my blatant "stop being so cocky and I already have a BOYFRIEND" statements took a while to work.

Eventually Magnus got up and left and Jonas (who Audrey pointed out looked kind of like Leonardo DiCaprio) left me alone, occasionally aiming a forlorn "I CANT believe you have a boyfriend...I am so HORRIFIED you have a boyfriend" at me. That left us in peace and we started talking with a third friend who walked in with the other two. Known only as "the ninja turtle dude," he was polite, funny, and much better at being a real person than Magnus and Jonas. Audrey told me after we left how she'd contemplated giving her number to said turtle dude just to teach the other two a lesson.

The only picture we took all night was with turtle dude-- though leo-look-alike got an arm in too.
Dunno what's up with his face...

In any case, we did our own fair bit of traveling-- saw the Amalienborg Castle and took photos "with" a guard (that is, if you call staying 1.5 meters away from him "with" him), went to the National Gallery, and even took the train up to Hamlet's castle :)


If you ever want to know why Hamlet was such a tortured soul...the real truth...not because his father was murdered and he could see ghosts, all you have to do is go to the castle. Cold as shit and basically the windiest place I've ever been. Walking up to the castle from the train station, I was actually worried the wind would take my hat away. It's also COMPLETELY different from the castles I'd grown accustomed to seeing throughout France and Italy. The insides are rather spartan and there isn't as much gold or precious metal work lying around. The paintings are also of a different nature and style...


Think about it. With an image of Kronos eating his children staring down at you from the ceiling as you eat your midday snack, wouldn't that make you into a singularly depressed prince?

That evening we went to go see the statue of the Little Mermaid in the harbor. It's not that big and not very impressive, but the sadness in her look and posture is really something. I didn't like that there were smokestacks and powerplants in the scenery behind her though...you could almost think that she was so forlorn because of the changed landscape instead of her own sad story.


I gave her a hug to make her feel better.

That night we went dancing and stayed out until I don't know when, but I do know I collapsed in bed and was very unhappy I had to leave so early the next morning.

BUT Audrey is coming to Stockholm soon, so maybe we'll be able to meet up! Woohooo!

And the last image I will leave you with about Denmark:
DAMN STRAIGHT! LOVE DOESN'T NEED HANDLES.

Brrr

The coldest and darkest part of the Swedish winter is over, but the temperature isn't going to hit 20 F until Sunday...though 21 is barely an improvement, lol.

First days in the land of ice and snow

Ah, the moment we've all been waiting for...

Sweden is very, very, very cold. Interestingly, with Europe being hit with an abnormally bad winter, the Swedes have also felt it too, though seem to be taking it in stride. My suitemate told me usually at this time of year there isn't anymore snow...everything is just really wet from the snowmelt and a bit of rain. But now, I find myself tramping through small drifts and dancing around icy patches on the sidewalk to get groceries or run errands.

A few days ago when I was walking back to the hostel I stayed at for a night, I saw a miniature snow plow flattening the snow on the sidewalk from the front, and dumping gravel from the back. These Swedes are so smart. Why put salt on the snow to help create ice? Gravel is probably a better idea...though it doesn't help much when parts of the sidewalks have already turned to ice, so it's a good thing they've got universal healthcare here! I dont' want to think about how many old people fall and break a hip every winter...though I suppose they're all pro at walking on ice by now.

I also can't remember what dirt looks like anymore because there is snow on literally everything.

BUT ANYWAY...

I arrived in Sweden on Sunday morning and took a shuttle bus into Stockholm. From there I ran onto another bus which took me (past a GIANT IKEA) up north into Uppsala. I dragged my bags the 20 minutes from the central station to the hostel I had to stay at Sunday night because the damn housing office wasn't open weekends and I couldn't get my apartment keys. I can't complain though because it was a comfortable stay. I only booked a single room for myself, but they put me in a single ensuite so I ended up with my own private bathroom (woohooo!) and paid less than it would have cost me.

It took a little while to get used to the area and since eating out in Sweden is a biiiig No-no for students (unless you're purposely trying to go broke) I went to the "oriental" supermarket (turned out to have lots of middle eastern foods) that was housed in the same building to buy what looked like milk, something that must have been bologna, and what I knew was definitely a loaf of bread.

Dinner on the first night:
Not bad huh?

It's pretty lonesome, traveling by yourself...especially when you're used to having a travel partner or at least traveling with the knowledge that you're on your way to seeing someone who you will get to be with for at least a while. Having never really been homesick before-- not at Cornell and not even while I was in China for 2.5 months-- this was a pretty new feeling for me. I think it would have been easier to bear if the city had been loud and bright like New York or if it had shops that stayed open past 5 PM, but alas, it is Europe after all.

After realizing what I'd done by signing an exchange contract and throwing myself into a completely alien country for 5.5 months and putting myself at the mercy of these beautiful Swedes, I thought I'd made the most retarded mistake ever. "What am I DOING here!!?!?!" was pretty much all that was going through my head at that point. I felt like I was going mental also because I couldn't look at a single thing that reminded me of friends and family without my eyes leaking. To one who doesn't even blink an eye who rams her shins against wooden platforms (okay maybe I did blink a few times) or winces when she slams a knee into the side of a bathtub, crying because I even missed people who I barely knew for 2 days (i.e. Raph's family members) was ridiculous.

Walking around helped though-- keeping busy is the way to go. I bought sheets and a SIM card for my cell, picked up the key for my apartment from the housing office, then jumped into a cab and came to my apartment. Frustration ensues.

The housing office in the city center had given me the wrong key. I couldn't get into the suite anyway because they'd also forgotten to issue me a swipe card, so they opened the door remotely and I was able to drag my luggage into the corridor. After that, when I realized I couldn't get into my room, I called them back, they apologized and asked me to come back into the office for another key. I hopped on the bus (and keep in mind I have absolutely NO idea where I am except that the street name is Rackarbergsgatan) and after a bit of searching, found the office again. I go up, they apologize, give me a new key and a swipe card, then send me on my way. I hop back on the bus (on which you can use a previously purchased ticket as long as you do so within 90 minutes, but which I did not know and bought another for 30 sek (~4 dollars). I arrive back at my apartment and again realize I still cannot open the door. Being very frustrated at this point, I call the company back, they apologize profusely, then ask if I'm able to come back. Uh. I would prefer not to.

After about half an hour one of their technicians comes to exchange the keys for me and I receive another call from the office asking if I can come back within the next few days for sign for the new key. They also issue me a second swipe card. I'm not sure why.

So now I've gotten settled, gotten lost a few times, and made the disheartening discovery of how very far away SLU's campus is from the city center. There was another whole snafu about how I tried to get my internet login information, walked 3 or 4 km in the cold to the IT center for Uppsala University, was told to go to SLU's campus which was another 3 km down, and got turned away from the IT office because they were freaking closed for lunch goddamit. But now all is well and I have everything I need. Well...almost. I don't have a bike. I'm working on that.

Pictures of my pretty decently sized room:
My bed! I had to guess at what size bedsheets to buy since I didn't know what size standard bed it was. The little red table and rug and lamp came with the room :)

The armchair, which is currently being used as a towel rack, and the bookshelves which are also being used to hold some of my clothes, also came with the room.

My large desk (fit for a lefty!) and chair which is just slightly too high for me, but that's okay. It's still comfortable. The little shelf on the left has wheels on it :o

My little sink and mirror! It's in a closet that I can lock too, lol.

My cabinets! The big space in the center only has 3 hangers in it, so i've doubled up my 1 dress with a shirt, and two coats with other shirts. The space on the lower right has a bicycle basket in it so I've been using it as a storage space for plastic bags and my one shoulder bag. The space above that is where I keep all my shirts, pants, socks, underclothes, and swimsuit + goggles + cap. Yup. And you saw the shelf with the 7 sweatshirts.

It's hard to see from this picture, but the white door on the right is the door that opens directly into my room and cannot be locked. There is a short bit of space, then there is another door, of which you can see the door handle and lock. This door is lockable and opens out into the hallway. I wonder why it's designed like that...

Maybe I'll take pictures of the shower and toilet later. Kitchen is nothing special.

My suitemate, Elin, helped me move the desk and bed around. Apparently she was an Au pair girl in Ohio...or was it Utah. No... I believe it was Ohio. She's very slender and quite tall with the straight nose and high cheekbones, blonde hair and light eyes that mark a Swede. Her boyfriend, Alex, is staying with her until the end of the week because he gets his room on Friday.

My other suitemate, Andrea, is shorter than Elin and has dark, curly hair and dark eyes, but has equally pale skin. She's very sweet as well and is planning to go on exchange to one of three schools in New York if she gets accepted. St Johns was her first choice and San Francisco was her second, then Cornell was her third lol. Strange ordering, right? She says it's because she doesn't want to work that hard when she's abroad and only wants to take classes she'll enjoy and relax. She did admit that there is a part of her that does want to go to an IVY league though because she apparently applied for Harvard last semester.

The other suitemate is Saman who is half Iranian. His father came to Sweden to escape the war. Apparently his father is the cook in the family, so Saman's grown up eating non-Swedish food. There is another suitemate left who I haven't met and that's because he hasn't arrived yet. His name is Per.

I can't wait for classes to start! It's kind of boring right now, and a little bit lonely since Swedes are a pretty conservative people and it's hard to become close friends with them. Things will get better though. I'm planning on going to Copenhagen before classes begin and then if there is time to take another little trip, I'd like to go dogsledding and perhaps see the aurora!

Belgium

The looovely Mademoiselle on the left is from Raph's maternal grandmother who they call Mami and the glorious box of 300 grams of chocolate are from his godmother :)
Raph's family certainly does spoil me!!! But he says Mami spoils everyone anyway ;p

It must be where he learned to spoil me in turn Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Thank you, my love!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyway-- here is the rest of our little vacation: We landed in Belgium around 11 or 12 at night, then had to take the shuttle into Brussels, where we tried to find our way to Mami's house on the subway, but before even getting through the toll, just grabbed a cab instead. Cabbies in Brussles are crazy...or at least ours was. He drove pretty damn fast, especially for the tiny bit of snow they were all going bonkers over! Not too long after getting into this crazy cabbie's car (alliterationnnn!) we pulled up safe and sound in front of Mami's apartment. We got to the top floor and she was still awake and waiting for us. What a sweet woman! She was so full of energy even at that late hour and didn't seem to mind that I didn't speak French hahaha-- she'd turn to me occasionally and keep talking anyway and gesticulate or add any English she knew to help me understand.

The apartment was absolutely wonderful...almost like a museum. Once, because we started talking about her collections of silverware, wineglasses, and plates, she told us all the stories about the rest of the paintings and antiques in her home. She also paints and showed us some of her watercolors (one of Marie-Laure on the beach she gave to Raph to take home) and the abstract oils she's been working on recently. I was actually eyeing a few of them too so I could try my hand at incorporating her style in some of my own pictures. While we were with Mami I also got to meet Cedric, one of Raph's friends. Sadly, we weren't able to spend much time with him, or any of his other friends for that matter, because we came to visit right at exam time :( Here's a picture (albeit a bad one, but a picture nonetheless!!!) from that very enjoyable evening: Having also seen Manneken Pis, who turned out to be muuuuch smaller than I'd imagined him, Cedric also completed our viewing by showing us Jeanneke Pis-- the other half to the pissing pair of children.

We spent time meeting each half of his family-- the Golliers and the Lodewyckx (try saying that out loud). The Golliers are deeeeefinitely a crazy lot. All of them speak "kitchen" English, which is what I guess you'd consider slightly better than a working knowledge of English, and are definitely not afraid to talk, hahahaha. They're great listeners too and have some pretty funny stories. Raph's godfather, Paul, made an awesome dinner. I was particularly fond of the seafood dish he started out with-- one can never get enough of such perfectly cooked shrimp or such flavorful fish...*drool*

The Lodewyckx are also an interesting lot, but not as talkative as the Golliers (I don't think they speak as much English either) and they don't drink nearly as much, hahaha. But Raph's aunt also just had a baby, Maxime, who is so fat and cute with his bright blonde hair and silly giggling. His cousins are of course more than adorable and the little girl, Olivia, is definitely the little princess of the house! After visiting with them for lunch, Caline, Raph's godmother, took us to the chocolate shop where she bought 500 grams for Raph to take home and another 300 grams for me to remember them by :D

Back on the Golliers side, we were staying at Raph's other aunt's house for the last part of our time in Brussels. Her name is Francoise but everyone calls her Fanfan :) Yet again, another gorgeous residence with and equally gorgeous family. The three girls, Julie, Charlotte, and Pauline are all sooooooo lovely-- the first two simply beautiful and the last, absolutely adorable. I also got to meet another cousin, Jerome, who with his solid build and dramatic ways, looks and acts nothing like Raph, hahahaha. Everyone exuded such an air of love and openness! There's no way you couldn't be completely at ease with them :)

Aside from Manneken Pis and his little friend, we also went to see that reclining dude who grants you a wish if you rub his arm (and when I rubbed his arm vigorously Raph told me I wasn't supposed to rub it, but just pass my hand over his arm) and the Basilica of the Sacred Heart (which was closed). And with chocolate, diamonds, and drinks checked off the list, what have we left?

WAFFLES!
A little gypsy girl chased me around the corner, opposite the direction she was walking in, when she saw me with this. She shouted something at me repeatedly, which I thought meant she wanted me to give her a strawberry, but which Raph later said meant she was demanding my entire waffle...

and?

FRIES!!!!!
It's too bad I didn't get them in the traditional paper cone, but by the time we passed by a place that did sell them that way, I was too full to want any more ;p

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh <3

Documentation of my first days in Sweden to come...

Finally in Sweden!

There's quite a lot to tell, but it's much easier to show (Paris pictures already on facebook).
It seems unfair to try to summarize 10 days worth of travels in a post, but at least I have pictures to share too :)

Raph met me at the terminal in Paris with kisses and just his backpack. Apparently the airline had lost his luggage full of clothes, toiletries, and presents for his grandmothers, so as consolation they provided him with a free t-shirt and a toiletries bag along with the promise of reimbursement for up to 100 euros worth of clothing. Keep in mind you can't really go that far on 100 euros in Paris, but it was enough for new pants, two shirts, and three pairs of boxers. All of that had to last the entirety of the trip because, as it turned out, he didn't get the luggage back until we were in Brussels...less than three days before he had to leave for New York again.

The trip got off to a rocky start, with us running around Paris in the rain looking for a place to buy a sim card for Raph's phone, looking for the DHL office, looking for the correct entrance to the DHL office, etc... To be honest though, I didn't really care as it was a chance to explore the city a little and observe that Parisian women almost never wear sneakers. We finally got the apartment key, and after grabbing a taxi to Raph's cousin's apartment where we would be staying, we lugged all the bags up to the 6th floor. Here, I marvel at the little hobbit door before we go in and collapse.

My favorite part of each day was in the "morning" at around 10 or 11 when we'd go out and get pastries. This helped me decide that part of my future goals is to own my own pastry shop-- I wouldn't be the baker though...I'd just own the shop and eat there whenever I wanted. My favorite place: Croissanterie!
We ate out once for dinner, which wasn't bad, but it was definitely a bit too pricey. Same thing for lunch when we were around the Louvre. Best way to go in Europe is to just buy food from the grocery store and make it yourself. Heads up: bottled pasta sauce is tons better in Paris than it is in the U.S.

Every day in Paris was always so much fun-- It was definitely my favorite city. We went to the Louvre, Versailles, walked down the Champs-Élysées, saw the Arc de Triomphe, rang in the New Year at the Eiffel Tower, went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, visited Notre Dame, and walked around several different neighborhoods in Paris. Part of the reason it was so great was also because Quentin's (Raph's cousin) apartment was so close to everything. We were within walking distance of nearly everything. This allowed us the freedom of walking home and wandering through streets and over bridges...definitely a great way to relax and enjoy the city without feeling like you need to rush around to get somewhere.

The next city we hit up was Rome. Deeeefinitely not what I expected. The weather isn't terrible-- it's warmer than in Paris, albeit much wetter-- however the city itself is a bit of a disappointment. I was extremely surprised by how much graffiti there was in the city. There are tags on absolutely everything you could think of-- even trees! The only buildings that were spared were the churches and ancient ruins. It is possible though, that this is the case because those buildings are the ones that make Rome any money and the city tries to keep them clean. But wouldn't you think that with all the money the city makes from tourists that they would also be able to clean the graffiti off of other edifices as well?

Ah well. In any case we did the whole bit with the Colosseum, the Forum and other ancient ruins, several famous fountains and piazzas, the church of San Giovanni (Saint John), Saint Peter's (which we didn't really get that far into because we had to pay and neither of us had cash), and the Vatican museum. We actually bought Roma Passes (tourist passes which you can get discounts with on certain sights and free subway rides) and tried to use them to get into the Vatican, but APPARENTLY we couldn't because the passes only work in ROME and we were in VATICAN CITY. What a way to squeeze money out of people. Jeez. But we still got a discount anyway for being students.

While we were in the Sistine Chapel we weren't allowed to take any photographs (probably because the flash would damage the paintings, but probably more because then people wouldn't buy the posters being sold at the 30295807298320923084 tourist shops), but I managed to snag one on the sly. I had the camera at waist level pointed at the ceiling and snapped a picture, forgetting to take the flash off (sadness) but got a surprisingly decent picture (happiness!). You can also see my chin and part of Raph's face there.

While we were at Saint John's (the first home of the popes and still considered, historically, the most important church by many Catholics) there was yet another instance of money-milking which I had to document. A large domed section of the church was cast in darkness because none of the lights directed at its gilded center were on. Periodically though, the lights would flash on for 60 seconds or so and then turn off again. I was able to get a nice photo while the lights were on, but Raph directed my attention to the money machine sitting by yet another gift shop in the church which would turn the lights on if you put money in it:
Other than that, the ruins were absolutely gorgeous and definitely my favorite part of Rome.

To be continued...
Next up? The city of chocolate, beer, waffles, fries... and not to mention Raph's family...BRUSSELS!

Arrival

Correction to the last post-- We'll actually be in Belgium for 3 days.

So...
I've been in Paris the past few days and WOW what an experience!

From the beginning:

Flew Swedish airways on the way over, stopping to transfer flights in Stockholm.

1) The stewardesses and the pilot are GIANTS...especially compared to my last experience on a plane, in which I flew China Eastern Air.

2) The stewardesses are in fact so tall they don't wear heels, opting instead for practical black flat-soled boots, and can reach across the 4 seat row to hand each other things (like a pot of hot tea). They also don't need to work two to a cart and never use the kickstand on the carts (unlike the diminutive stewardesses on CEA.

3) I was ACTUALLY FULL after the dinner they served, which turned out to be better than decent...also different from my last flight with CEA where I had to hold myself back from asking for a second tray.

4) There were tons of children on my flight and therefore lots of crying. I'm sure if the plane was mostly Americans I'd have heard more complaints, but as it was everyone was surprisingly tolerant and very helpful. Free toys and all that from the stewardesses. A testament to the child-central culture :)

Stockholm airport is lovely-- all floor to ceiling windows and reddish wood floors. Employees also get around on scooters, going about their business while gliding silently across the scuffed floor.

I met a Swedish girl named Nichole at Newark airport, an American girl and her cousin on the plane to Stockholm, and an Indonesian girl named Mary with whom I waited at Stockholm airport for a transfer flight to Paris. One of the best parts of traveling is definitely meeting people along the way...not just getting to your destination.

After arriving in Paris and meeting Raph, I found out Air France had lost his luggage but would reimburse him up to 100 euros for "necessities." Then after lugging the bags out of the RER and into the street, we headed towards the DHL office where Raph's grandmother had mailed his cousin's apartment key, which we needed because we'd be staying at said apartment. Unfortunately after walking all that way (in a light drizzle), we found out that the package code Raph had was incorrect and they wouldn't give us the package.

By then, night had fallen and he needed to find a place to buy a sim card for his cell so we could call his father and ask for the correct code. This journey took quite a while (but then it's all an adventure so who cares?) and it was getting rather wet out but finally we were victorious and I learned the importance of knowing how to say "I'm with him" when employees mistakenly think I need assistance. After this, it was pretty smooth sailing.

We got back to DHL, he called his dad for the code, we got the key and the lady at the desk called a cab for us. The cab driver also gave Raph tips on where to go and when. We got to the apartment and aside from having to lug everything up 6 flights of stairs, it was all good. Quentin's (Raph's cousin) apartment is actually quite cozy and funnily enough, many doors (including the door to the apt) have the doorknob in the middle of the door. Incidentally, this door is also painted green. Any short, hairy-footed creatures come to mind?

Pictures and descriptions of the following days coming soon!
Much love and happy new year <3