Things I don't understand: Modern Art

Sidenote:

Today, I attended the American Church in Paris, which is an English speaking, international, non-denominational church in the 7th (Metro: Invalides). It's a great church for people who are in Paris for short or long stays. ACP offers 3 services, two traditional and one contemporary. They also have youth groups, bible studies, and many other events. I've just started attending it, and so far it's a great place to connect with other English-speakers in the city.

Now today...

 

 After church, I went with a friend to the famed Centre Pompidou, which houses a modern art museum. Ever since my visit to the Bilbao Guggenheim, I've had about as much interest in modern art as I do in mortician studies. 

Sure, some of the artwork I saw was pretty but was it really worth putting in a museum? Is a block print on a tarp really worthy of wall space in one of Paris's most well known museums? Or what about the room that was painted red with red canvas art? How much did they pay for that? 

When I walked through the museum, I kept thinking of things to pin onto my Pintrest Projects board. A white canvas, some acrylic paint, and a Saturday afternoon would turn me into a museum quality artist, too! Granted, maybe some of what makes this art museum-worthy is that they were innovative enough to think of making a piece of art out of two white walls... But when you compare modern art to paintings from the impressionist or the Renaissance era, are they really of the same caliber? In two hundred years, will people look at these museums with the same admiration? I'll never know... and I'll probably never understand what's so cool about a burlap room with a piano in it. 

The picture I've included is pretty cool, though. I can appreciate a good optical illusion any day.
 
 

Real internet!

Here's a just quick post to announce that I officially have REAL INTERNET.

I should get back into the habit of writing blog posts soon!

Best juice ever?

I still haven't figured out why my hotel's wifi isn't working. However, I did set up my university's wifi account so I'm now typing this on a real computer!

I've been adjusting to Parisian life a little every day. I've learned how to do grocery shopping in a city. Since I don't have a microwave so half of my college cuisine is out of question and I also don't have a stove (not that I bake things anyway) I've been exploring various French cheeses. So far I've tried Cambert and Brie. My local supermarket has so many options, it's overwhelming! I've also bought baguettes (so French!) and discovered the wonders of Tropicana Rouge Plaisir. It's a 100% juice blend of raspberry, grape, pomegranate, cherry, and blackberry juice, I believe. It's a little bit thick, but it's very tasty. I'm almost convinced it's the best juice ever.

I also learned that Parisians do not talk to each other. You'll sit next to them on the metro for twenty minutes and never mutter a word. That's probably been the hardest adjustment for me. I am a very social person and coming from OU, everyone is welcoming and inviting. It's not that Parisians are rude, they're just very reserved. Also, it's not like I'd strike up a conversation with any of them anyways... I'm nowhere near fluent enough to do that and I'd look like a total tourist.

My classes started this week, and I can say that it was definitely much different than syllabus week back home. For starters, my university has allowed students to register for courses over the maximum limit. This means that while I am registered for all my courses online, I might not be allowed to take all of them. Also, half my classes didn't start this week- one course starts next Tuesday and the other in two weeks. I'll find out by early next week what my schedule really is, hopefully. The whole thing is quite confusing and unorganized, I hope to find out more information next week... we'll see.

Pleasant surprises

Probably the coolest thing that's happened to me all week was my discovery at the Musée d'Orsay on Friday. When I went to purchase my ticket, I discovered that all students (residents?) under the age of 28 in France get free admission to the national museums! This is pretty major for me because I love museums and I love free things!

I spent my morning at the museum looking at Renoirs, Monets, Van Gough's famous starry night. This was my first visit to the Musée d'Orsay and I must admit it might have stolen l'Orangerie's spot as my favorite museum in Paris. During my two previous visits to the city, the Musée d'Orsay was under construction. I'm not sure what it looked like before but the high ceilings and iconic clocks are absolutely beautiful. I would visit the museum for the architecture itself.

After passing a few hours in the museum, I wandered around the area and found more pleasant surprises. I'm not sure the name of it, but there's a bridge in Paris where couples place locks on it and throw away the keys- that way, even though your relationship might end, the lock will stay there as a memorial to the pleasant times you once shared. It was really sweet to see all the love notes scribbled on the locks.

I also walked around the Jardin des Tulleries. I must say, it's not very pretty in the dead of winter. All the barren trees are gloomy and depressing as they contrast with the Louvre in the background.

I stumbled across a Monoprix (similar to Target) and bought school supplies as well as my local boulangerie where I purchased some fresh bread.

Overall, the day was pretty exhausting and I'm still battling jetlag so I think I'm in desperate need of a nap.

Oh Internet, how I've missed you.

I've been in Paris for five days now and I'm slowly starting to adjust to the city life. I'm still incredibly jet lagged and my inability to sleep during normal hours has contributed to quite a bit of four A.M. dinners. It's also been snowing for a few days now. The city is really pretty but the sidewalks aren't shoveled so walking anywhere is a pain.

My hotel is quite lovely. It's situated on a quiet street in the 15th arrondissement, just two metro stops from the Eiffel Tower. Upon my arrival they said the hotel would be undergoing reservations this week and that the room I reserved, on the first floor, was unavailable. They upgraded me to a double bed on the fifth floor (there is an elevator) free of charge! I've yet to actually see any construction though.

The only problem I've had with my hotel is that I can't connect my laptop to the wifi (pronounced wee-fee) network. I bought the WIFI access code (€5 for my whole stay) and I've only been able to connect to it on my iPhone. I think they might have been having issues with their login page though because even my iPhone would only stay connected for 30 seconds at a time my first two days.

This leads me to what I perceive as the biggest lie in France. It's probably not an intentional lie, but as an English speaker it is somewhat false advertising. There is a French company, Free, that offers a membership to join their network of hotspots around the city. Free Wifi COSTS MONEY.

For this very reason, I have yet to connect my laptop to the Internet here in France. The places I've found with wifi gratuit (actually free wifi) are public parks around Paris. I could lug my laptop to the nearest one.... But there's currently an inch of snow on the ground and I don't love my laptop enough for that.

As a result, I'm currently writing this post from the Blogger app on my phone. I attempted to find the Internet cafe in my neighborhood today but I didn't check the hours and it's closed on Sundays, oops.

TL,DR;
Jayme wrote a really boring post about the #struglife in Paris.

Feelings.

Earlier in the week, I was texting one of my college friends about studying abroad. My university's classes started. Monday, so while all of my friends have returned to Norman, I'll be passing my time in a Parisian cafe until my classes start the following week.

I mentioned something in passing about how I was slightly jealous of his return to school. He was quick to remind me that Paris is much cooler than Oklahoma. Even then, it made me think about all of my feelings I have associated with this experience. Excitement. Fear. Nervousness.

The weeks leading up to my departure, people would always tell me "You're so brave." "You're fearless." "I could never do something like that." I always brushed off these compliments. I didn't want to think about the magnitude of what I was about to do. Sure, I moved halfway across the country for college. I've traveled to Europe, without my parents, twice. I'm a seasoned traveler and a smart girl. But it only recently started to sink in that I've never had to do any of this alone.

In the next five months, I'll be pushed out of my comfort zone. If my comfort zone is New York, I'll be in New Zealand. I'll make mistakes. I'll be embarrassed. I'll be nervous. I'll be scared. But you know what? I'm also going to have an unforgettable experience. I'm going to meet so many people, make friends who will change my life, travel to places I've always dreamed of visiting... and no amount of nerves will ever scare me away from the opportunity of a lifetime.

#AirportProblems

I left my house at 4 a.m. Monday morning, bright an early, to catch my flight out of SeaTac at 8. My plane was a little late leaving because there was frost on our wings, but that's no big deal, I'm all about airline safety. I had a small 2 and a half hour layover in Chicago O'Hare before continuing onto Paris which was just enough time for me to call my parents, grab some dinner, and charge my phone.

Of course, here's where the fun begins! When my flight is scheduled to begin boarding (4:35 p.m.), the front desk announces that maintenance hasn't finished running their tests and we will be experiencing a slight delay. Hey, that's cool- I'd rather them make sure my plane is fully functional before I fly transatlantic. 30 minutes later, it is announced that my plane is unsafe to fly (boo) but they found us another plane that can be boarded almost immediately (yay). Unfortunately..... for some reason that plane could not be flown to Paris (it might have been broken too). The front desk announced that they were finding us a new plane (3rd time's the charm, right?) but it looked like we wouldn't leave until 9:30 p.m. Keep in mind, this is a four and a half hour delay from my original departure time.

Dinner vouchers were given out. $12 of airport food is always delicious. Most of the passengers on my flight were rerouted to other flights because of their connections, but there were still many people sticking it out for the later flight. It is confirmed that our plane has landed from London and is being quickly refueled and checked before moving to our gate. The flight crew and pilots have arrived and the morale around my gate is pretty positive, given the delay. The plane boarded lightning fast and we were all seated before 10 p.m.

I've been in Chicago for nearly eight hours now, so I'm eager to sleep on the flight. I'm frantically texting my friends and family goodbye as the flight attendants begin the pre-flight procedures. I wait for them to tell me to turn off my phone, but they never do. We sit 45 minutes at the gate.

Then, we hear an overhead announcement. My pilots, because of this delay, have gone over their legally allowed hours in the cockpit and cannot fly the plane. We have passengers, we have a working plane, we have flight attendants. We don't have pilots. Awesome.

There are looks of sheer exhaustion, disgust, and anger on everyone's faces. American Airlines put me up in a fancy hotel outside the airport (and the nice consierge gave me a suite!) as well as $24 additional dollars worth of airport food vouchers and a boarding pass to Paris on a flight that leaves at FIVE O'CLOCK THE NEXT EVENING. Well, looks like I've gotten a complimentary vacation in the Chicago suburbs courtesy of American Airlines.

(I am writing this post from the comfort of my fancy hotel bed as I try to think of ways to fill the time before my flight.)