Welcome Back

My second day back in the City of Lights in no way resembled the first. After I woke up I headed out to mandatory meeting talking about all of the trips and activities that are available this semester and waited for them to finish to I could get my hands on the free food they were giving us afterwards, after all thats our only incentive for going to our MANDATORY meetings. Some things I missed about meetings like this include, the free food, the dry humor of Christina Von Koehler as she presents the ballets and operas to us, and Bryan's French translations.

Afterwards a bunch of the freshman guys purchased wine and almost all 200 of us boarded a boat to take a cruise down the Seine. Needless to say they caught the attention of the upper classmen who were overheard wishing they had thought to do that. But the person who gained by far the most attention was Matt's friend from home Brandon. We first spotted him running along the river next to us as we all froze on the upper deck and he followed us up the river and back effectively running three or so miles before our boat actually pulled over and he dramatically jumped from the shore to the deck of our boat. Thats one way to make an entrance.

Here's Brandon Running alongside the boat

I was planning on calling it an early night around nine after I made myself some dinner but I got talked into going out to International a Bar and small band venue that we frequent right down the street from us. We were lucky enough to get there early enough to see two bands playing this time. The first band didn't really do anything for me but the second one called 'Elephanz' was an awesome way to end our night out before heading back to Alex's room to end the night as always. Maybe it was the lyrics, "Not gonna give into the girl next door, I'm just paying attention to the busty whore" that kept me entertained but either way it was a good night.

Back in Paris

I arrived back in Paris yesterday at 10 AM after a 3 hour delay at the airport, which I'm so used to now I hardly even noticed. I didn't sleep, and in a groggy haze I landed, grabbed my bags and a taxi and headed back to Oberkampf chatting with my driver, trying to remember all of the french I'd forgotten over my 40 day break.

Upon entering my dorm it was just as I remembered it and I quickly met up with Allyssa and unpacked all of my things and settled in then headed over to NYU. It was kind of disorienting walking the familiar streets and walking around Campus, seeing all the new faces of the upperclassmen who may become my friends overtime for this next semester. After a short meeting at school I got myself my first crepe of being back and then came back to my room. I took a shower, only to discover it's broken...nothing changes much does it, always problem with slow fixes in France...sigh.

And then I proceeded to sleep for 12 hours and woke up around 6 AM this morning and I've been awake for 3 hours waiting for everyone else to wake up. Mandatory orientation activities today and tomorrow and then the weekend before classes start again on the first.

Sonic

I have visited my favorite fast food establishment twice in the past 5 days; Sonic. I'm not really sure what the draw is for Sonic. It's about a 30 or 40 minute drive from my house and once there you drive up and order just like it so enticingly claims in the commercials but beyond that there's not much there. You'd think after the first 5 or 6 times it would loose it's charm and yet everyone continuously asks that we go there for a meal when I see them. While the cherry limeade is delicious and the tater tots are to die for I think the reason everyone wants to go back to Sonic is for the drive. I find that while driving somewhere since people have nothing better to do than talk thats what we do, and we end up talking and learning more about each other in that time than we would doing anything else. It's the best way I know of catching up with people, so I guess it's worth the waste of gas.

Phone Troubles

My Friends in France know that I have had some trouble keeping a cell phone during my time there; And for every French cell phone I bought and either broke, or had stolen, I managed to hold on to my useless Iphone. During my travels to get back home for Winter Break the descion was finally made to turn my Iphone on. As I landed in San Francisco, my excitement rising in anticipation of my re-enlistment into the modern world of cell phone communication, the unthinkable happened.

Yes, my poor Iphone fell from my pocket and bit the dust. But as you can see it is still functional and everyone who has seen it has said that half of the Iphones they see look like this. I wonder if Apple can do anything to improve the design so we can avoid more people in my situation who nearly cry every time they look at their phone.

Happy New Year

Welcome to the New Year! I haven't written since the last leg of my flight to Los Angeles and I am already out of California and back in Pennsylvania. Last night I welcomed in a snowy New Year in West Chester with my friends and family and some delicious lobster, steak, and of course Champagne. I've only been home for 5 days but in that time I have done A LOT of things, but before I landed in Philadelphia I was enjoying sunny California with the other side of my family.

Left to Right: Hannah, Me, William, Kayli, Sarah, and Roxy in front

Beautiful California Sunset

I love visiting California for it's weather, it's food, the beaches, and my family. I had a long list of things to accomplish when I was there and majority of the things on the list were food! I had In-n-Out, Becker's cupcakes, Pinkberry, Mama D's, Sushi Fusion, delicious Mexican Food, and many more. Our stop in Beckers even landed us a cameo in a television show (not a very popular one as I already forget it's name) but interesting none the less. Here is a picture of the beautiful and mouthwatering cupcakes from Beckers.

Becker's Cupcakes

Our Christmas Cookies

I saw my dads new house, demonstrated my ice skating skills on the beach ice and celebrated Christmas at my Grandmother's house and my Uncle Pat's house and spent time with my family.

Kayli using Silly String

The typical Dinosaur stop on the way to the Desert

My return to Pennsylvania was met with my second Christmas and a brand new giraffe. If you know me you know I LOVE my giant wooden giraffe Jerry. Unfortunately the weather has taken a toll on him over the years and so this year I received a new smaller version for inside of the house.

What is in that big package!?

Gerard the Giraffe

I celebrated my best friend Eddie's birthday at Fogo de Chao with Mike, Dan, Courtney, his parents, and his girlfriend Sarah. It's one of my favorite restaurants and I was celebrating for one of my favorite people so it was a great time. On New Years Eve my friend Maddie and I kidnapped her boyfriend Max and took him to tea with us. I think it was an experience that made him more cultured overall and we definitely enjoyed laughing at his antics at the table.

Not The Actual Table

I still have a few more days in Pennsylvania before I head out to Puerto Rico to celebrate yet another birthday with my good friend Allyssa, and I am enjoying every cold snowy minute of it.

Happy New Year Everyone. And a happy new decade.