ma mere

I told my Mom about my housing plans, and she went ahead (without me knowing!) and emailed a French professor about whether or not living in Montmartre is a good idea. The professor advised her that although it's a pictoresque place, the area is not safe, especially around the Pigalle metro which is nearby the red light district where there are a lot of porn shops and hookers. Yech!

And even though that flat is not near Pigalle, Mom is still wary and would rather have me live in the Latin Quartier where there are many students. I love how she does stuff like this because I know she worries about her little girl going abroad. She loves me, and she doesn't want me to get hurt. I love you too Mom! I bet grandma worried about her coming to the States when she was my age. I can just imagine Grandma saying, "I don't want you living in Chicago!" Haha. And she didn't. She lived in Peoria. History repeats itself in strange ways.

So, my dream of living an Amelie/starving student-writer lifestyle in Montmartre is gone, for the moment. I'm going to wait until I actually get to France to find a place to live, which is the smart thing to do. I guess I've been just too excited about living there that I want to start everything. I made a resolution when I turned 21 to live for the present, and finding an apartment in Paris while I'm still in SF is not living for the present. If I take care of the present, then the future will take care of itself. So I gotta take care of things here like see my dentist and doctor and optometrist and all that. Bah! The present it not fun.

chambre de bonne

I think I found my new home in the 18th arrondissement! I'm currently communicating with a girl who is renting out a studio in Montmartre, which is in the northern part of Paris and closer to Paris VIII-St. Denis where I'll be attending classes. It's not for sure yet. I've always wanted to live in Montmartre and fulfill my Amelie fantasy, and I've been on Paris craigslist everyday looking for a place to stay.

The flat has a full kitchen and bathroom, a loft where my bed will be, and it's fully furnished. It's super cute, and close to the open markets and metro. I hope I get it, but if not, that's cool too. I heard it's not too difficult to find a place to live. The plan is that we arrive on the 25th of August, and we're given university housing for 10 days and within those 10 days, we're supposed to find a place to stay. And they said that almost everyone finds a place to stay that they are happy with.

I wanted to live alone in a studio and not with roommates because, well, I'm a "loner", as my Dad called it. No, but seriously, I've been sharing a room for the last three years, and it's been really great, no complaints, but I'd like to try the experience of living alone and being more indie. It'll be good for me. My Dad, when he was stationed in Spain, lived by himself, and I'm sort of following in his footsteps.

In other news, I just got back from Vegas and got lucky since I just turned 21 too. Came home with $700 bucks after shelling out $300 on the slots. So a profit of $400 which is not too shabby, I think. Money for Paris. Yay!

IL FAUT FAIRE...

My list of things to do in Paris. In no particular order. Started officially writing list on the 25th of November, 2007 in the Montmartre cemetery.

1. enjoy a coffee outside in a cafe: With Keisha at Denfert-Rochereau in the 14th while waiting for Lucia to finish her bank appointment. Had a café viennois.
2. Monuments:

• Notre Dame
  
• Sacré-Coeur
  
• the Eiffel Tower
  
• the Catacombs
  
• Cinematheque Francaise
  
• Les Invalides
  
• Panthéon
  
• Conciergerie St. Chapelle
  
• Opéra Garnier
  
• Les égouts
  

3. go to the sights where they filmed Amelie:
4. see a French film
5. visit (step foot at least) in all the arrondissements: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20.
6. window shop along the Marais and Champs-Elysees
7. Fondue (chocolate and cheese)
8. Cemeteries:

• Montparnasse
  
• Montmartre
  
• Pere-Lachaise

9. Boat dinner
10. Fancy dinner
11. Chateau de Versailles
12. Bike along the Seine
13. Ice skating at L'Hotel de Ville
14. Latin Quartier cafés:

• Les Deux Magots
  
• Brasserie Lipp
  
• Café de Flore
  

15. Picnic on the Champ de Mars
16. Sail a boat at Jardin du Luxembourg
17. Sacré-Coeur at night
18. Bois de Boulogne
19. Bois de Vincennes

"Then over here, this is the Eiffel Tower, right? It's Paris." -- Bernard Jaffe, "I Heart Huckabees"

About a GirlHi! I'm Elaine, and this is my study abroad blog. I am a 21 year old Filipina, and I'm studying in Paris, France at Paris VIII - St. Denis for an academic year through the Cal State International Program.

I am a Cinema and French major. My focus is on screenwriting. I love the production aspect of film though and once planned on becoming a camera operator or working in depth with a camera crew. I am also a French major, but that is under serious construction. Since arriving here, I've had a love-hate relationship with the French language. I'm from southern California, but I definitely don't have O.C. disorder (if you've seen Arrested Development, then this would be funny). I hope to return there after school.

Likes:
film. photography. books. bikes. food and drink. self-deprecation. making fun of myself. writing. light. walking. getting lost. wandering and talking in ikea. boys. wes anderson. buster keaton. zooey glass. writing letters. receiving letters. organizing. documenting my life.

Dislikes:
studying. fatigue. money. studying. being cold. useless wastes of my time. mean people. politics.

About a Blog
This blog serves to record my preparation for study abroad, my year in Paris, and the subsequent changes that will follow when I return to California to finish my last year at San Francisco State University. I will write as much as I humanly can--one post a day if possible, and it's almost always possible.

I hope you enjoy this life-changing year with me, whether you are family, friend, or stranger. This is going to be history in the making. Or not. I don't know yet. We'll see what happens.

bonnes nouvelles

Finally some good news. This has been a good week, mail-wise. I got an email from CampusFrance, and they told me that I can apply for my visa without my passport number: no problem. So that's out of the way, except there's some stuff on the forms that I need to clarify with them so that I don't do it wrong. So that's great. Also in the form of an email, a student who studied film where I want to study sent me some great advice about what film's like over there and how I should go about and all. He told me to bring a camera if I plan to make a movie there. I probably will. He told me not to be scared of the French. I probably will.

Now, if I could get my passport, all my dreams will come true. Come on, good old-fashioned postal service. Do me this one thing before my birthday.

So, my roommate Morgan gave me some great, amazing, wonderful advice whilst on our bike ride to school that I hope I heed. She told me that when I'm in Paris, I should seriously get out and explore the city and not be a studying homebody hermit like I am here. She's completely right. When will I ever live in Paris again? San Francisco I really take for granted. I've barely been in the city for more than ten times this past year, it seems. So busy working on my films, studying, and being a hermit. It's really lame. I can't do that next year in Paris. God, if I am, hit me, hit me with a really stale baguette. And when I come back to San Francisco for my last year, the year I graduate, I better live it up. Live like I was in Paris (if I play my cards straight and not stay a hermit). Cuz after that, it's over. I'm not going to be a student anymore, and I'm not going to be in San Francisco anymore.

Gosh, life lessons, here and there.

J'attends encore

I'm still waiting for my stupid passport. I think it's going to be okay since I had a dream last night where I asked a bunch of people if their passports came already, and they said no, and I felt really relieved in the dream, so naturally I feel very relieved now.

Went on a little excursion to Sin City: Las Vegas. My parents wanted to go. As I am still 20 but will be 21 in a few days, I had nothing cool to do like gamble and waste money. Instead, I wasted money at the shops. Either way, Vegas always wins. Did a lot of people watching which I enjoy, but most of these people were senior citizens, and it got a bit repetitive.



Saw Paris, Je T'aime with my best friend in So Cal. It was lovely. Some of the shorts were better than the others, but all in all it gave me a great sense of the city and its possibilities. Afterwards, my friend was all, "You might find him there." The "him" being my soul mate, my perfect other, my first [gasp!] boyfriend. Yes, I am 20 years old, days close to 21, and I've never had a boyfriend before. I'm a busy, indie girl. I'm also picky and anti-social. But it's very true, I could find a boy there that I fancy and who fancies me, a strange American girl. He doesn't have to be French. I did meet people at the study abroad orientation who did find their boy/girlfriend, and they were foriegners and American. So it just might happen that I find a cool American boy abroad. You never know, and I'm entirely open to it, especially in a city such as Paris.

embarrased

Oh. Gawd. I was waiting for the elevator when my classmate came out of it and said, "You're on the front page of the newspaper." I laughed and said, "You're joking, right?" He asked, "Are you studying abroad?" I said "Yeeaahhh" really slowly. He took his newspaper out of his backpack and showed it to me. There I am with my big goofy face with my study abroad certificate on stage with other study abroad people. OH. MY. GAWD. I'm smiling and sort of laughing in the photo because I remember laughing on stage because there's so many of us going to France.

The school did an article on study abroad applicants, and there was a ceremony for us just this past Tuesday. I saw some guy taking pictures, but, jeez, I didn't think they'd put it on the freaking front page. I'm getting a lot of playful teasing right now from my friends who have seen the newspaper. I'm sort of embarassed because I look like such a huge dork!! Anyway, it's pretty hilarious.

Met with a cinema advisor who is also my screenwriting professor so that he can sign my study abroad papers too. Hopefully, if I can hack it, I'll be able to do 12 elective units abroad to transfer here. Sweetness!