Europe and beyond

I can now claim Switzerland, France, and Italy as three of the countries I've visited in my lifetime.

It feels very surreal, almost as if I didn't even go. I have photos to prove that I did; I have memories to remind myself of all the fun we had.

The rail system in Europe is beyond amazing. I found myself wishing that the U.S. could boast such a superb system of transportation. But, I suppose our country is far too expansive for something like that to work well.

Speaking French to native French speakers is thrilling! If I ever live abroad for a while, I've resolved that I will live in France, preferably somewhere in the Loire Valley.

The women confidently wear high heels and short skirts while riding their bicycles. The men dress so sharply it makes American men look pretty ridiculous.

When we arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport, Karen and I ran into my grandpa and his wife. Huh??? What are the chances? Seriously now.

Europe's over now, and here's my current state of affairs:

I miss the French countryside.
I have over $800 on my credit card. Pay it off, pay it off!!
I'm living in Ballard, with six amazing girls.
I'm waiting to hear from the UW: have I been accepted to their MIT program or not?
I'm still working the monotonous 8-1 job at World Vision.
I feel more content and peaceful than I have in a long time, and yet there's still a certain restlessness.

Paris I

Karen and I are in Paris! We are still overcoming the jet lag, which basically kept us from doing anything fun yesterday (Thursday) because we were so dead tired. I'm also sick (just now getting over it), so that didn't help things. Last night, I slept fifteen hours straight!

Today, Lee, Karen, and I spent the entire day walking around the city. We figured out that we walked a total of about nine hours, from our hostel in the 11th arrondissement to the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe to the Eiffel Tower... and then we took the metro (subway) back because our feet weren't too happy with us. :(

I had heard plenty of times that the Louvre is unbelievably enormous, but it's hard to comprehend until you actually see it. We saw the Mona Lisa (not all that amazing) and the Venus de Milo, as well as Napoleon III's apartments, which, of course, were opulent beyond belief and made me wonder--as I did in the U.K. a few years ago--how people like Napoleon could justify living that way.

Then, we walked to the Arc de Triomphe, which was astoundingly huge as well, but we didn't spend much time looking at it. Then, to the Eiffel Tower, which totally lives up to all the hype. We're going to go back tomorrow to climb the stairs to the 2nd story, so we can see the view of the city from there.

I had so many opportunities to speak French today! It was awesome. Although, two French guys walked by us and asked us for the time, but I just sputtered and said "uh, uh." Then they figured out that we're not fluent French speakers and walked on. I felt so stupid, because all I should have said was a simple "Je ne parle pas francais, desole." Ugh. BUT... I've ordered food in French a few times and asked where the bathrooms were--"Ou sont les toilettes"--so I guess that counts for something. I feel so dumb whipping out my handy dandy Rick Steves phrase book every time I need to ask someone something. It positively screams "tourist." But, I am a tourist, so I guess I should be fine with it. :)

Tomorrow, we head to Versailles for the day. It's about a half-hour outside the city of Paris. I've looked forward to this particular sight for a long time. More about that after we've seen it.

Oh, the food. Let me just say that it's divine. Karen, Lee, and I just had crepes from a roadside stand... mouthwatering and surprisingly filling. I had a banana and nutella crepe as well as a chicken, tomato, and egg crepe. Mmm mmm good! But, we're realizing that we can't eat out for every meal if we want to have money for the latter half of the trip, so we stopped by a market to buy fresh fruit and other stuff.

In two days, Karen and I will say goodbye to Lee and embark on the rest of the journey all by our wittle selves. :) We have a lot of train schedules to coordinate, but I think we'll be okay if we stay on top of it.

It costs a lot of money for internet time, so I can't promise another update very soon, especially since we'll no longer be in a big city in a few days.

Au revoir for now!

All the world is before me

This is truly a strange time in my life. Everything's happening and nothing's happening. On one hand, I go to World Vision Monday through Friday and monotonously open/sort mail. Hardly my dream job, but it's tolerable when I make conversation with my friend, Hannah, who sits next to me. On the other hand, I'm planning--rather frenziedly--a trip to Europe with my friend, Karen, and scrambling to turn in my grad school applications on time. I'm emailing dozens of people a week, researching European cities and landmarks, and trying to save every last cent rather than spend it on food, clothing, and entertainment. In the meantime, I wait anxiously for Brett to contact me. Every day that passes with no news is getting increasingly more painful. I wonder if he'll even bother to say goodbye to me. I sobbed my eyes out today for about a half-hour. I'm talking gut-wrenching, ragged, death-worthy sobs. He has such a hold on me. It's not fair.

Grumble

Oof. I'm looking into two--all of two--grad schools and already I feel overwhelmed. "Take the Praxis II test," one of them says. "No, take the WEST-E test," the other says. "The Praxis II is being fazed out." Well, which one do I take, people? "Oh, and by the way, that will be $200 for you to sit down for a few hours and scribble some answers on a piece of paper."

Peachy. Just peachy.

All I really want to do is think about Europe. Going there, that is. It might happen this September/October. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but it's hard. The thought of seeing Prague, Paris, Rome, and all those other places that have been tantalizing me for years gives me chills.

I want to think about grad school too. I mean, I wouldn't be applying if I weren't excited about the idea. It's just that decisions--important, huge ones--are needing to happen, all within the next few weeks and months, and I'm slightly panicked. No, make that terrified. So, at this point, despite looking forward to grad school, despite being genuinely interested in becoming an elementary school teacher, all I really want to do is escape to Europe.