We Will Always Have Paris

Geneva


We left Avignon early on Easter Monday, for Geneva. Arriving in Geneva, we first visited the UN. It was a little bit shocking to think that I would be going to the UN. I have never been to the White House, and to be walking on a the property of a place more powerful than the White House was interesting. Unfortunately, I didn't realize we were going to the UN, and I wore my sandals... with socks... because it was a bus day. They were comfy though.

Because it was Easter Monday, nothing in Geneva was open. This turned out to be for the better because Geneva is expensive. We searched the city for a cheap bar that would be open. After about a half hour of trying to ask locals, we discover Pablo, a inbound from Mexico in our Group, can speak french. We ended getting led to McDonalds by a couple locals.

Paris

The welcome party in Paris was anything but welcoming, but somehow I knew I was going to like this city. We arrived in Paris to find traffic unbelievable worse than Chicago. Our Hostel was in one of the outer districts of Paris. Rotex kept calling it a ghetto. As we pulled off the highway, the rotex already picked the four biggest people to guard the doors of the bus as we got out. Turns out that our neighborhood wasn't anymore dangerous than Irving Park. We walked in the rain a couple blocks to the hostel. Which was just as inviting as the neighborhood around it.

On the first day, we went to the city center for a boat tour. I would definitely recommend the boat tour, but the tour guides accent was so thick, I was not able to understand what she was saying. After the boat tour we went to the Norte Dame. The line for the cathedral was too long, so that I sat outside a coffee shop and stared at the cathedral while I drank my expresso.







We walked downtown for a bit, and then saw the world's ugliest modern art museum, Centre Pompidou. From there, we got free time for lunch. The Canadians and I went to a chinese buffet. You had to cook your food in microwaves, that was different.

The Louvre was are next stop. Most museums in Paris are free, if you under 18 and living in the EU. I am glad the Lou was free because it really wasn't that interesting. There were so many people crowded around the Mona Lisa, that I was only able to see the top of the frame.

We ate our "final" dinner together, which was italian food, on the second to last night. We ended up taking too long, and had to run 2 kilometers to the Arc de Triumph. After a plate of pasta, I would not recommend that, but the people staring at you as you run down the sidewalk is interesting. From the Arc de Triumph I took my favorite picture of Paris.

On the second, The Palace of Versailles was our first stop. It was weird going to the Palace of Versailles because it was one of those things you read about in the history books but not something you actually think you will actually see in your lifetime. The city of versailles was actually a lot nicer than the palace.

Coming back into Paris I noticed that we were only passing sex shops. Sure enough our next stop was the red light district to see the Moulin Rouge. We ended up receiving free time in the red light district and decided to climb a mountain and turn around. After free time, we ended up climbing the mountain again with Rotex. We ended up climbing down the other side, to an ethnic community that was really cool.

Are final dinner was actually burgers across the street from the Moulin Rouge. After dinner we went to the Eiffel tower. The Eiffel Tower was our last stop. There was an hour and a half long wait for the Elevator, so that a group of us walked up to the tower instead. On the way up there was a poster of the worlds tallest buildings compared to the Eiffel tower. The Chicago Spire was included with the "to be built" buildings. Someone needs to do a little updating. The Tower at night is a lot better than during the day.

We were at the tower until exactly midnight. Then we boarded the bus and headed back to Germany. Arriving in Germany was one of the greatest feelings. It felt like coming home.

American's Have Ugly Accents

This week I had a Rotary weekend. Thanks to that weekend, I have my a stronger American accent from speaking English too much. I love Chicago, and I will tell you it is the greatest city in the world, but we have one of the ugliest "A" and "O" sounds. I was in a bar the other day and I was talking with one of my friends coworkers and we were talking about hockey, I said hockey how I would in English, and he didn't even realize what I was saying.

Petra and I have been betting lately. I have learned I have a gambling problem. Thanks to Albert for actually showering and not talking to his girlfriend on the phone, I have lost my house. Good thing the deed is in the US. I also owe her, I think 2 or 3, gelatoes.

St. Niklas was Tuesday. We all went to Petra's sister's house to celebrate. In Germany, St. Niklas goes around your city on the night of December 5th, and you pay for the bag of chocolate and he comes to your house and delivers it with Rupert. Rupert is a guy dressed in all black, including black face, and goes to scare the bad children. My host family is pretty funny. I think Petra or her sister paid, but I am not sure, anyway, I received a bag from St. Niklas and it was full of chocolate and peanuts, nothing wrong with that. After St. Niklas you are suppose to eat a bread shaped like little men, it was delicious. The Gluehwein was also delicious. I guess I wasn't drinking mine fast enough because my host aunt started talking about how she doesn't like it when it gets cold, and kept asking me if I liked it. I shot gunned the glass and got some more to prove it to her that I liked it.

That was my St. Niklas and Rupert.

So like I said, Rotary was last weekend, and that is why this is late. Rotary was fun, but I missed being in Wessum/Ahaus with everyone else. On friday, we went to The Christmas Market in Muenster. It was pretty cool. I like being in Muenster but they need more things to do, it's kind of a boring city. On Saturday, we went to the planetarium for a half hour (our educational portion.) We sat threw how the world evolved video. Like everyone else, I slept. The Muenster Zoo is on the same grounds so we went there. The Zoo was cool. They even had an exhibit for house rats. It has been a year and a half (mybe two) since I have been ice skating, and I haven't lost any of my skills. It was kind of cool trying to teach other people who have never skated to skate. To get back at us (people from North American that can skate), Rotex took us to a Salsa bar later in the night.

Random thoughts:

Simon came home on Thursday. It is nice to finally have someone around my age. He was on a short exchange to France. Simon is pretty cool, and I feel like we are going to get along fine. There is one thing tho, he's Windows but his desktop is an Apple logo.

Today I was in an Audi today with crank windows and one of those beaded sit covers. I miss when owning an Audi, BMW, or Mercedes meant something classy and not affordability. It wasn't even base model like an A3 or an A1. It was an A4, which is a base sedan, but it had touch screen navi and bluetooth.

Out Germaned a German

This is for Jack Hadfield: I am going to Munich May 18ish. Now you don't have to worry that I will miss it.

For everyone else: I finally found out when I will make it to Munich. I started talking about all the touristy things I wanted to see. Turns out I know more about Munich than my host parents. It's not a surprise because they don't spend a lot of time in Southern Germany, nor will they because only Simon and I are going. Hope I didn't just ruin a surprise. Frau you should consider your job complete. I am kind of excited to go because I learned about Munich for at least two months in school, and I can't wait to actually be able to see it. I doubt that Glockenspiel really exists.

I am starting to feel the Holiday Spirit, or maybe it's that I am feeling the Holiday Cookie Spirit. I have found my new favorite holiday food, and that is "Nussecke." That translates to "Nut Edge (or Corner)." It is a shortbread cookie crust bar with a hazelnut, caramel filling. These bars are then sliced into triangles, and you put melted dark chocolate on one corner.

I don't know if my host family is religious or not because Sunday is my day to sleep in, and I sleep to 11 or 12. They say some kind of prayer before eating, but it is said so fast that I haven't tried to learn it. They have four sets of advents candles, and weird writing over the door (anyone know what 20+C÷M means?), but so does everyone else here. For a continent that is more secular than the US, Germany has some strong christian roots.

I made a huge mistake this week. In Art class we had to take a block of plaster/clay and make it in a figure. In one hour, I was able to chisel away a statue that wasn't bad; the rest of the class was only 1/4 of the way done or not even started. Now I have the art teacher always watching me because I can make art, and I can also form free standing figures without a problem either. I was hoping it would be an easy class, where I can talk with my friends instead of listening to a powerpoint about naked men statues, but nope, I have to answer ever one of his questions and translate information into english to make sure I was paying attention.

This week I noticed my sunglasses were covered in a healthy layer of dust. It kind of made me sad because no one here wears sunglasses, and I am never in a car long enough to leave them there. Which is a crazy thought because I turned the fridge in my mom's car into my sunglass holder, for the one pair I actually wore and the others that I let collect dust (That scares me in retrospect because I am turning into a hoarder.) It's also crazy because I am pretty sure the sun is brighter in Europe. Yeli thinks so too, and I think it has something to do with us being closer to the north pole. If anyone could find a study about this, that would be great.

It could also be that there is less smog here. Chicago is not a smoggy city and neither are the suburbs, but you can't really see the stars. Sure you see stars in Chicagoland, but it is nothing compared to the amount of stars you can see here. It is the coolest thing to look up at 4 a.m. as you are biking home and see all the stars in the sky.

I made my first "Worst Enemy for Three/Four Months" this week. Yeli moved Saturday to Ottenstein to go live with an other Rotary family. I live in Wessum and there are three cities we "don't" like, Ottenstein, Graes (Grass), and Alstätte (Alstätte isn't that big of a hatred but I still count it.) For her going away present, I gave Yeli a half eaten Kit Kat bar; she loved it. European Kit Kats taste different by the way.

 I want to also say a thank you to Alex Portugal, Andrew Knox, and The Antioch Rotary club, that's a lot of "A's". If it wasn't for your awesome time management skills, I would be living in Ottenstein. This week Yeli asked our rotarian how they decide which kids goes to which families. He pretty much said, "Hunter was the first student we received, and the Marpert's had an open room so we figured he could stay there for a year. When we got Yeli's papers, we said,"oh shit what are we going to do?!" Then we just asked around the club to see who has any open rooms.  I want to say thank you because If Yeli was the first kid, my life would be a whole different story. Thank you, you guys are awesome.

  

Chicago

I have lived in the same house my entire life. I have become so familiar with my surroundings and I am realizing know how connected I am with this city. One of the things I am going to miss is hoping on Metra and taking a trip to the city. I feel lately I have been doing that more than any other time in my past. I have memorized the train schedule, the streets, and even the names of buildings. To think that I am going to start fresh in a new town and not know anything is a little intimidating but I learn fast so I will master it in no time. Its going to be hard tho to try to explain to other people exactly what I remember about Chicago. Its a city everyone should experience for themselves. Chicago is home and I'm starting to realize everything I'm going to miss...