Great Success

Today, I realized that I needed a haircut. After 3 months without a trim, my hair was perpetually unkempt. A friend and I decided to embark on an adventure to a haircutting school, where we were told the styles were "very French" and inexpensive. This turned out to be far more of an adventure than we could have possibly imagined.

Allow me to preface this story with a simple fact: we spent 3 hours at "Stefan's Hair University." None of this was a waiting period. We walking in, nervously told them in what few "hair" terms we knew that we wanted our hair washed, cut, and styled. So far so good. Washing our hair went as usual, then we talked for a bit about how we wanted our hair cut. Then things got weird. Our stylists called over their professor, followed by an audience of other students, to confirm their plan. They listed our hair type, daily styling routine, and what we wanted done. As they began to cut, the professor would stop by periodically (entourage included) to "fix" our hair and offer criticism. This didn't exactly raise our confidence levels. Luckily, I had decided to go with a simple trim, basic layers, and some angles. My friend was ready for some dramatic new bangs. I watched as the instructor asked her to stand before the class, as he instructed her stylist on how to properly cut bangs. Chaos ensued, then subsided when the professor returned to make the proper adjustments. We arrived at 12:30 pm. We left at 3:30. The whole process was incredibly inexpensive, especially considering how much we payed per hour. Both of us are very content with our new hair, though we're not sure we would submit ourselves to that process again.

"C'est pas moi qui décide."

**Article written for "La Une," Dickinson en France's monthly newsletter.

Ever since my arrival to france, I've been on a mission to sample as many french delicacies as possible. Independently, I have discovered french pastries, cheeses, wine, vegetables, fruit, and crepes. My host family has exposed me to rabbit, kidney, liver, duck, and countless sausages. Anywhere I turn, there is no shortage of delicious food. Even "malbouffe", such as master crumble and kebab, is better than their american counterparts.

One strange difference between American and French food relates to decision making. In America, you enter a sandwich shop, choose from various toppings, and the person behind the counter makes your sandwich. It's your sandwich, you decide how you want it. In the words of burger king "Have it your way". In a restaurant, people make all kinds of crazy requests. More cheese, undercooked, no onions, french fries instead of salad. In any case, the server will graciously bend to your will and make the change. On one hand, people are able to order the food that they want. Unfortunately, many customers take advantage of the system.

France does not abide by the same customer service policies. In a sandwich shop, your choices are pre-made. In a restaurant, options may be offered, but there is little to no flexibility. A specific request will earn you strange glances. If you explain in detail what you want, the server will nod and make a note, but no change will be made.

In my opinion, this cultural difference has evolved from the perception of the "expert." In America, "the customer is always right." In France, the chef is the culinary expert, and no customer is going to usurp that power. Luckily for me and my fellow consumers, the food is always amazing. I am content to leave the responsability of creating tasty food to the French experts.

*translated from French.

Marché Gras à Péchabou

Today, some friends and I tagged along on an optional Dickinson outing to an annual "gras" market outside Toulouse. The entire market is centered around duck in its many tasty forms. Each one of us was required to bring food to sell at a Dickinson "American specialties" stand. A friend and I made walnut brownies, but others brought pumpkin pie, muffins, cookies, cupcakes, and chocolate-covered pretzels. We had a lot of fun being integrated into the whole market experience - the locals were curious about our program, just as we wanted to learn more about fois gras. We roamed the stands, stopping frequently for free samples. Our favorite stand was probably the one with culinary students making free crêpes cooked in caramelized orange juice flambée with Grand Marnier, bananas, and pineapples. They managed to cook with flames, sugar, and fruit in suits, which makes them the James Bonds of culinary delight. Lunch was included in this excursion - we were told "cafeteria food." Except no - apparently they meant cooked duck, soup, fromage de chèvre, fois gras, duck paté, and fantastic bread. Soon after lunch, we packed up to leave - we had managed to sell most of our snacks, and eat the rest. Our program directors even let us keep the profits. Overall, a very exciting and fulfilling day.

Paris!

Paris was jam-packed with sightseeing as well. Luckily, I wrote down all of the funtivities for blogging purposes.

Wednesday, we took a train to Paris with Dickinson. We all had first-class seats in private compartment (think Harry Potter but more modern, complete with a snack trolley!). We stayed at a Citadine hotel, which was pretty sweet because each room comes with a kitchen. One of my roommates had lice, so we gave her a quarantine cot in the corner. The first night, we went to the famed Paris Opera house to see the ballet Pacquita. The inside of the Opera was beautiful, and the dancing was fantastic. After the ballet, we went out for Indian food.

Thursday, we visited the Centre Pompidou with Dickinson. This was a guided tour before the regular opening time, so we all felt pretty special. The Centre Pompidou is contemporary art museum constructed with all pipes (water, heat, electricity, air vents) exposed. We saw some feminist art, as well as more well-known people (Kandinsky, Picasso, etc). After the tour, a few friends and I split off to find crepes and Notre Dame. This was my second time visiting - it was as beautiful and tourist-ridden as ever. Soon, we met up with more friends for icecream (nutella flavored!). Next, we went to the Pantheon, an enormous building famous for its crypt. We saw the final resting place of Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Marie and Pierre Curie, Leon Gambetta, Jean Jaures, Louis Braille, Emile Zola, Voctor Hugo, Alexamdre Dumas, and Jean Moulin. After learning about these people for years in History and French classes, it was pretty cool to be there and say "Whoa! They're IN that CRYPT!" Soon, we moved on to the Luxembourg Garden, where we discovered fall at its finest. The sun was out, leaves were falling, and children were renting toy sailboats to play with in a fountain. Next, we went to the Salon de Chocolat - the world's largest chocolate convention. We spent the next several hours enjoying free samples, demonstrations, chocolate art, and a chocolate fashion show. By the time we left, we were ready to enter into a glorious chocolate coma. That night, we made dinner at the hotel: delicious salad and turkey breast. You readers will be surprised to learn

that I cooked! And the day wasn't over yet - after dinner we went out to explore the Eiffel Tower at night - so beautiful.

Friday, Dickinson took us to the Louvre. We saw tons of French art from the Middle Ages up

through the 18th century. The weather predicted rain for Saturday, so some friends and I hurried to catch a train to Versaille. This was by far the hilight of the trip, selon moi. We went through room after room of unbelievable wealth. There happened to be a Japan-inspired contemporary art exhibit on

display in several rooms, so that was a weird combination. Next, we began to explore the gardens, which stretch on for literally MILES. There are several man-made lakes, and countless mini-gardens and sculptures to explore. Seeing as we were on foot, our range was limited - though you can rent bikes, boats, and golf carts. We returned to the city that evening for a boat tour along the Seine and dinner with Dickinson.

Saturday morning, a couple friends and I went back to Notre Dame - we were DETERMINED to get up into the towers, which had been closed earlier in the week due to striking (oh, the French). After this, we grabbed lunch, where I

helped a lovely American couple order their food (success!). Next, we walked to the Musée d'Orsay, a beautiful museum which used to be a train station. Some of the more well-known pieces we saw were by Gauguin, Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Matisse, Cezanne, Renoir, Seurat, and Degas. There was also a scale model of the Opera and the "quartier de l'opera," as well as a bust of Beethoven by Bourdelle which read "Moi je suis Baccus qui pressure pour les hommes le nectar delicieux." That night, I a friend invited me out to dinner with her and her parents, who were also visiting the city. They took us to a wonderful restaurant across from the Louvre, and I had duck with kumquat sauce and millefeuille. So incredibly delicious.

Sunday morning, we woke up an hour early (I had some problems with daylight savings). Luckily, the the keeper of the hotel breakfast took pity on us and let us in early. Then, our train took us back to Toulouse. After ten days of travel, we were all thoroughly exhausted, but satisfied with the level of tourism we had achieved.

Barcelona!

The first of several long-awaited posts:

Last week, several Dickinson classmates and I took a trip to Barcelona. Not only did we plan this independent of Dickinson, but only 2 out of the 13 of us know Spanish. Quite the adventure. We took a 6 hour bus down Friday night, and made our way through the city to our hostel. For many of us, this would be our first hostel experience - none of us quite knew what to expect. At 10:30 pm (22h30), a dark and smelly staircase was the last thing we were hoping to see. Luckily, this gave way to a bright, colorful, and CLEAN lobby. We were greeted by the managers as well as other travelers, and given a brief tour of the amenities. Seven of us were placed in a ten-person room, so I had an Australian bunkmate named Steve, who we quickly learned was nocturnal and snored constantly. As it turns out, the Sant Jordi hostels are known for their cleanliness, free internet, snacks, and friendly party atmosphere. They plan outings almost every evening, so it was easy to meet people from all over the world. The strangest part of this was that EVERYONE was speaking English - shocking after months of constant French.

Saturday morning, we woke up early to explore the city. I spent most of the trip with the "crazy tourist" group, who had essentially planned every minute of every day before our arrival. This took us first to get breakfast (an omelette and tomatoes on bread?? new favorite snack), then to an open-air market. I bought a new purse, one more suitable for traveling in a foreign city. There was all kinds of cool merchandise to see, much of which we suspected was stolen. Some of the people we were with even attempted some Spanish with the locals. It was surprising how far we got with "hola" and "¿cuánto cuesta?" After the market, we bought metro passes (LOVE the Barcelona metro! so easy!) and headed to the Sagrada Familia. Going into this trip, I had no idea who Gaudi was, but I quickly learned. We stepped off the metro to this:

Reaction: WHAAATTT???????

I quickly learned that 1) this guy was a genious. A crazy genious. and 2) it's been under construction since 1882. and 3) it's projected to be the 8th wonder of the world. We ate lunch at a cafe closeby, seeing as we needed some time to take it all in. Then we saw the inside as well. PLEASE check out my album on facebook, or look up pictures of this place online - you will not be disappointed. That night, we went out for some traditional Spanish food - paella!

Sunday we woke up early (again) to check out La Rambla. In the morning, most things weren't open yet (though we did find a Spanish Dunkin Donuts!), but we grabbed some lunch and walked around by the waterfront. Then, we headed through the city to the chocolate museum (fun but small, not too interesting), stopping in local stores and taking pictures along the way. Next, we went to the Picasso museum, which was incredible. We saw plenty of pictures that we recignized, and I even took some pictures of several (which then turned out to be against the rules... whoops). The museum was also hosting an exhibit of Degas and his influence on Picasso - super interesting. To save money, we just ate dinner in the hostel that night, which gave us the opportunity to get to know some fellow travelers.

Monday, we visited the Parc Guell. This entire park was designed by Gaudi. It sits on a hill

overlooking the whole city AND the Mediterranean Sea. We visited a museum, ate a picnic lunch, and met up with the other half of our group (who we really didn't see much in Barcelona). Surrounded by the sun, music, palm trees, and art, we were in heaven. Late afternoon, we went to the beach. This was very cold, but one of our friends went swimming

briefly. For our last night out, we found a restaurant with drinks, appetizers, and the main course for cheap - and it was delicious. The waiter even brought us free post-dinner drinks.

Tuesday morning, I went with two friends to check out the "football" stadium. Sadly, we didn't have time to take the tour. We made it back just in time to pack up and hurry to our bus back to Toulouse. W returned home that night exhausted, with only nine hours until our rendez-vous for our Dickinson trip to Paris.

Opportunities galore...

Just a few exciting stories to relate from this week -

Sunday, I saw the opera La Boheme with friends. For those of you who don't know, this is the original Italian opera which inspired (the film and musical) Rent. We arrived just before the show to purchase student pricing tickets. The seats were very decent - back rows in the orchestra - which normally cost around 70 euros. We got them for 10 euros! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the opera - great acting and voices all around. I was very grateful for the subtitles, for I had neglected to read the synopsis beforehand. This was an experience - listening to the words in sung Italian, while reading the French translation. Thankfully, I understood almost everything!

Other news...

Dickinson administrators have enlisted me to translate the psychology course descriptions for l'Institut Catholique into English for the psych professors back in the US. This will be a great opportunity to win brownie points, while practicing my French and making bank.

Today after class, a friend and I went grocery shopping. We bought all the dinner necessities: pasta, veggies, cheese, sausage, cider, and baguettes. As we got to her house to drop everything off, a woman stopped us on the street and asked if we were students from the Dickinson Center. She then proceeded to offer us babysitting work! Even better- her children are adorable. Plus it will be nice to have some supplimental income. We exchanged information, so hopefully that works out in the near future.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Just changed my settings - you no longer need to sign in to post comments! So listen up everyone: I'm expecting a flood of comments, questions, and demands for French terms ASAP. Enjoy!

Love, Kim