Day 4: I swear it was because my shoelace came untied Wednesday, Jul 6 2011

I would have beaten my time from yesterday. I swear. And if I’m going to win, I have to beat my time. Except, I was sabotaged. My shoelace on my left shoe was the culprit. About 2/3rds of the way through, it decided to come undone. I thought about running with it that way, ya know a little like Kerri Strug after she broke her ankle and still vaulted. Well maybe that’s a stretch. Alas, I had to stop and tie my shoe. And since it’s me, I ended up tying the knot around my headphones. I swear, I can’t make this stuff up.

I ended up 6 seconds slower than yesterday. I think tying a shoe, twice, takes longer than 6 seconds, so I think I would have beaten my time. Or at least tied. Tied. Ha. Get it. Tied my shoe. Tied my time. Can you lose brain cells from running? Moving on…

Of course, I am disgustingly sweaty in my gold MU shirt when I get into the elevator so OF COURSE there are going to be four other people on there and OF COURSE one is going to talk to me about Marquette. I don’t think I even made a sentence. Good one Mandi.

At least I figured out that I should wear MU stuff around the apartment building to meet people. Noted.

Oh and tomorrow I’m going to count the amount of MU shirts I see on my run. Makes me feel home.

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Day 3: So it’s a Little Delayed… Tuesday, Jul 5 2011

Well I somehow got out of running for a week. Now I swear, I would have run, but you see Becky and I had other commitments. When I say that I mean that we live across from Summerfest and sometimes it just calls your name louder inside the gates than running around them.

Today we ran. It actually wasn’t miserable. I’m slowly realizing that it’s easier to just sing to the music in my head than complain. Yes, you just read those words from me, the world’s biggest complainer, well I prefer the word whiner, but I digress.

I really wish someone good was playing at Summerfest on the North stages when we were running. I would have enjoyed it, but alas, I didn’t recognize a song. Now I’m just getting picky.

Next point: I’ve realized that I like games because there’s an end. With running, you can just keep going…and going…and going. Well not if you’re me because then you’d probably keel over on the grass and some dog would come by, lift up his leg and decide I was a nice place to pee. But really. Something like that would happen to me. Those stories could be a blog of their own.

I still would rather play a sport, but I guess if I have 27 more days of this, I should just put my head down and run.

If anyone has any songs they like to run to (because I know some of you out there are runners), let me know!

And with that, I’m going to crack open a beer…

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Day 2: I Wore a Winning Shirt Tuesday, Jun 28 2011

Day 2. I didn’t die. I didn’t feel like dying. I ran more than yesterday. I didn’t whine as much as yesterday. See good things.

I attribute this all to wearing an intramural champ t-shirt. I need to make this whole running thing into a game, so I have to dress like it. Or so I tell myself.

Now I must say one thing. I do have it pretty good. I mean I get to run next to Lake Michigan. It’s no tropical paradise, but hey who wants to run in a tropical paradise?

Currently, we’re sitting on the balcony drinking beer. Much more our style. Just a boring Miller Lite, but damn does it taste good.

Tomorrow starts Summerfest which means massive swarms of people descend on Milwaukee. I live across from Summerfest grounds. If you ever see anyone looking like death while they’re running and you’re at Summerfest, throw me a beer over the gate. I’m sure I would appreciate it.

Tomorrow also is a day off because Becky and I have other engagements. Basically I’m going to Summerfest to see Jack’s Mannequin.

One last note: everyone in who lives in the Third Ward runs. Maybe we’ll make friends this way. Or at least meet our neighbors.

 

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What I like about running: Nothing Tuesday, Jun 28 2011

Hello friends, stalkers, weird person I met at the bank…I am back to blogging. I have time and have an event to blog about. I mean my whole Senior year was an event to blog about, but my family did used to read this. Anyway…

I lost a bet. Now, I’m not really the betting type, but I do enjoy a good win. Okay, who am I kidding, I’m very competitive. I mean you’re talking about a girl who sprained her ankle playing whiffle ball in gym class. But really, I was safe at first. Funny thing, I was running then and running now. You see, my roommate Becky and I can’t seem to agree on a baseball team. She’s a Sox fan and I’m a Cubs fan. Now this could ruin friendship, but we just bet on the serieses (what is the plural of series?) every year. This year she decided that if the Cubs lost, I’d have to run for 30 days with her.

Stop laughing. Friends. I know who you are.

I don’t run.

I mean I run errands, I run computer programs, I run thoughts past people, but I don’t actually run. Sure, I’d run to first base, second base, third base and home in my softball days, but I’ve never really understood the fun of running.

You can’t win at running. I mean if you’re running a marathon, you can, but you can’t tell me you’re winning when you “go for a run.” I like sports. Sports involve running. I’m okay with that, but I’m not okay with running for fun.

Well today was the day. I ran. For fun? No. More so that I could live in a peaceful apartment.

Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t run fast. Or far. I’m not about to be signing up for marathons anytime soon, but I did some running.

I whined. A lot. Somehow my roommate put up with me. Part of the whining was because I wasn’t enjoying myself and part of it was because I lost a bet. I lost. I don’t like losing.

Alas, day 1 has been completed. I plan to blog daily about my running escapades. I mean I get that it’s not as glamourous, but come on life after graduation isn’t exactly full of wild escapades. (Side note: I really like the word escapades.)

If you read this, congrats, you win!

Hopefully I can move in the morning. If I can, I guess I win! Or so I’ll tell myself.

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Le Dernier Soir Monday, May 10 2010

The last night. Well it’s the end of my study abroad experience and I can’t put into words the emotions I’m feeling.  I had looked forward to studying abroad for so long. I had dreamed of what France would be like. I had planned all the countries I wanted to visit. I had wondered who I would become friends with.  And now 4 months and a few days later it’s all over.

This was one of the greatest semesters of my life. I did very little schoolwork, made amazing friends from all over the world, traveled around Europe and even to Africa, ate baguettes and truly lived.  I’ve always heard that French people know how to live.  Well this is very true.  I have to say that my favorite memories of study abroad revolve around coffee or meals. You see, here they take  time with them. If you had told me that I would spend two hours at dinner every night and enjoy it, I would have thought you were crazy, but it became a way of life.  The amount I have laughed while here is just insane.  I have been made fun of for the way I speak not only French but also English.  I have tripped going up and down the stairs.  I have done cartwheels in the park and splits in the hallway.  France made me realize that it really is the little things in life.

I have bettered my French.  Six and a half years of French couldn’t have prepared me for this.  I had no idea that French people would say things like “en fait” or “donc euhhh” or “c’est marant” all the time.  Now I hear them coming out of my mouth and I’m always a little shocked.  I’ve learned that French people don’t say “I am here” and instead prefer “I am there” even though they are here. I’ve learned that you can use “truc” for just about anything.  It means thing and is great when you can’t think of a word.  Somehow I took 8 classes ALL in French, some even with French students and yea it was sometimes difficult to understand but it was so worth it.  And hey as of now I have grades back for 7 of the classes and I’ve passed them all so go me!

I’ll miss a lot about this place. I’ll miss a lot about this experience. Nothing could replace it. I will always have the memories.  I love this place.  I love these people. Lille, France will always be home to a little piece of my heart.

There’s a movie called “Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis” and it’s about people of this region aka Ch’tis.  There’s a quote in it that sums up my feelings perfectly. “Quand on vient dans la Nord on braie 2 fois: quand on arrive et quand on repart.”  It says that one goes to the North one cries (like a donkey so really intensely) twice: once when they arrive and once when they leave.

As Sadie said to me tonight, A bientôt.  (See you soon)

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L’histoire du volcan Friday, Apr 30 2010

The story of the volcano.  So in case you missed it back in the US, Iceland felt neglected and so their cry for attention was a volcano. I have to say it was pretty clever except that it caused the majority of flights in Europe to be grounded for approximately a week.  I happened to have a ticket for one of those said flights.  You mean I had problems traveling?  It’s really hard to believe, right?  If you’ve read any of this blog chances are you’ve realized that I have the worst luck when trying to travel.  Anyway, let’s go back to the good part of my vacation in Prague…

I flew to Prague on the 11th and surprisingly I had no problems getting to Charleroi.  Right there I should have known that something would go wrong on the way home.  Last time I was in Prague I was 6, so it was really cool to go back.  I stayed with one of my cousins.  I have a TON of family there.  It was so nice seeing them all.  My cousin worked during the day so I explored the city by myself, took a tour, relaxed.  It was wonderful.  One night we went to a Black Theater.  It’s theater in the black light which was super cool.  My cousin knew the director so we had great seats in the balcony and had wine.  It was super cool.  I also went to the Prague zoo which is really nice except for the fact that it’s on a hill which makes it a lot of fun to climb…not. 

Frankly it was a lot of family time which was great.  I ate a ton, met so many cousins and even remembered some Czech!  By the end of the week I could understand full conversations, I just struggled to respond.  I did get to go to the house my Babi (grandma) grew up in.  That was really cool.  All in all, Prague was great…until the volcano happened.

I had a plane ticket for Monday morning. When the volcano started causing problems on Thursday I figured I would be find. I mean they couldn’t ground all planes until Monday, right?  Well that’s what I thought.  Alas, I was wrong.  Long story short I ended up having to take a 14 hour bus ride from Prague to Paris.  We left Prague at midnight.  At around 3 am we crossed into Germany where these two German men came on the bus and asked for everyone’s passports.  After over an hour, we finally got back on the road.  Everyone on the bus was crabby since we all had just fallen asleep.  Regardless around 2 pm we arrived in Paris.  But do I live in Paris?  Mais non!  Alors, I had to take a train back to Lille.  Now Gare du Nord is never not busy but on this particular Monday it was INSANE.  It was a bunch of Brits trying to get the EuroStar home.  It took me almost 2 hours to get a train ticket back to Lille.  Finally I got on the train and couldn’t be happy when we pulled into Gare Lille Flandres.  Overall the trip took me 18.5 hours.  It should have taken me (with airplane to Charleroi + train) 3.5-4 hours.  I still haven’t gotten my refund from my plane ticket but I’m really hoping that comes soon.

I apologize for the lack of pictures in this post, but I really didn’t take any good ones in Prague.  Most are just of people.  I leave you with this one since I’d say it’s my favorite.  This was taken from the Prague Castle.  

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Quoi?! Une nouvelle note! Ce ne peut pas être vrai! Wednesday, Apr 28 2010

What?! A new note! This can’t be true!  Well friends, yes it is.  I am finally returning to updating this blog.  These last couple of weeks have been absolutely insane.  From Amsterdam to Prague to a volcano to finals, well I just haven’t had a lot of time to blog.  Alas, I have returned.  This post is just going to talk about Amsterdam because frankly if I wrote about everything that has happened in the past 3 weeks well this could be the next bestselling novel.  Just kidding, my life’s not THAT interesting.  Without further ado…Amsterdam.  (insert lyric your favorite Amsterdam here)

Back on April 5th, Emily and I embarked on our journey to Pays-Bas aka The Netherlands.  Our wonderful friends at SNCF (train company of France) told us it would take 2 trains and 4 hours.  4 trains and approximately 6 hours later we finally arrived in Amsterdam.  I mean we did get to see more train stations in Belgium which is always exciting.  *insert sarcastic Mandi eyes here* Anyway we got there and it was…okay if you’ve been reading my blog at all you’ll be able to guess the weather…RAINING.  I know it’s hard to believe and all.  We headed to our houseboat.  Yup, we stayed on a houseboat.  Be jealous.  It was awesome.  I brushed my teeth while watching swans swim by my window on more than one location.

After our unnecessarily long trip we (okay more me) wanted to go to the Heineken factory.  Well let me throw this out there.  Amsterdam is probably the most confusing European city I have ever been in.  I don’t know if it was the fact that everything looked the same or that the roads all curved, but I was constantly lost. Anyway we couldn’t find the factory (it’s pretty far out) so we rerouted to Anne Frank’s House.  It’s crazy to think she actually lived there.  Very cool even if it was a tad expensive and did not have a student discount.  That night Emily and I had a good “oh Mandi” moment.  We were searching for a bar to go to (because you know, it’s really hard to find one in Amsterdam) and we saw all these lights so the two of us decide we should walk over there.  FYI red lights=red light district.  Who knew?  We found a bar right on the edge and had prime seats of a couple of windows.  We would time the guys going in.  Okay, it amused us.

The next day we went on the free walking tour of Amsterdam except that halfway through we decided we were bored and wanted to go to Heineken instead.  The Heineken Experience as it’s called was actually really good and we got 3 beers (granted it was 12? 15?  I can’t remember. Euro).  I also believe this was the day we discovered the Birkenstock’s are A LOT cheaper in Amsterdam.  I bought some nice white sandals.  Score.

Wednesday we headed to Keukenhof which is basically the Disneyland of flowers.  It was absolutely gorgeous and SUCH a relaxing day.  We literally spent all day looking at flowers and pondering life.  I doubt that most people who study abroad go to a flower garden, but this was so worth it.  I mean just look at this pretty swan.  Theme: I like swans.

Thursday was our last day in Amsterdam and frankly we were pretty burned out and kind of ready to go back to Lille.  We went by some of the things we hadn’t seen yet and ended up at Vondelpark which was just perfect.  The weather was wonderful and we laid in the grass and let the world turn.  Amsterdam turned out to be pretty relaxing which was awesome.

Friday we went back to Lille and this time it only took 2 trains!  Woohoo.  Overall opinion of Amsterdam: they really do the whole pot/prostitutes thing in a classy way.  I swear.  It also has a lot of pretty parks/places.  I don’t know if I’ll ever go back because I feel like I’ve seen a lot of it, but maybe one day.

Tune back in next time for adventures in Prague and stories of the volcano.  Bisous!

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Joyeuses Pâques! Sunday, Apr 4 2010

Happy Easter!  I have to see being away from  home on Easter is not too fun.  I don’t think the rain helps much or the fact that everyone from this residence seems to be home with family.  Oh well.  I had a good weekend with friends in Paris…

Friday I was a rebel and skipped geography and took the TGV with Emily down to Paris.  We kind of played it by ear (funny side story: I thought the expression was “play it by year” until I was about 18) and decided on the train that we wanted to go to The Catacombs.  Basically it’s an underground cemetery, but I use that word lightly since really it’s just a bunch of bones stacked on top of each other.  I don’t have any good pictures of the bones because you couldn’t use flash and frankly you probably don’t want to see them.  I did not have nightmares after this experience which surprised me.  Anyway, this sign before you go into the “tombs” says “Stop! This here is the empire of the dead.” Please note the irony of me posting this on Easter.

After the catacombs we hopped on the metro and headed down to the Latin Quarter on a whim.  We walked around, window shopped and got some delicious nutella crêpes.  We then took a lovely stroll down the Seine and just relaxed.  Emily wanted to go to the Canadian bar so being a good American and appreciating our neighbors to the North obliged and we sat in there while it rained.  By then it was time to meet our friend Laure at Gare du Nord.  We took the TER (regional train) to her house and just had a relaxing night.  It was my first time in a French house.  News flash: it’s the same as an American house except they only have 1 TV and their kitchen is small.

Saturday morning we headed out to Versailles.  We ended up taking the RER instead of the fast train so a ride that should have taken us 20 minutes took us an hour and a half.  When we FINALLY made it, we met our friend Côme.  He had us over for lunch with his whole family.  I admire his mom, there are four boys!  After a delicious lunch we headed out to the chateau and saw the home of Louis XIV, XV, XVI.  I know this because of my French history class so see I am learning something out here!  We got in for free because we’re “EU Citizens” under 26.  Right.  Emily and I had our personal tour guide so it was fabulous.  It was SUPER crowded, but that was alright.  I picked out somethings for the castle I would like built for me.  Can you spot the french kid in this pic? Yea, not too hard. We tried to go to the gardens but they were closed unless you paid for some fountain show.  Côme was not happy about this but we kind of just shook it off and went back to his house.  We then took the right train and headed back to Laure’s where we had a little fête.

This morning (Easter), Emily and I headed back to Lille.  We had a gourmet Easter lunch at McDonalds and made a frozen pizza for dinner.  We such classy gals.  Now we both need to pack for Amsterdam since we leave in the morning!

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Vacances de Printemps Friday, Apr 2 2010

Spring Break! Yes friends, the time is upon us.  Although I have been slacking on my blogging lately here is a run down of my plans.

Today (2nd)-4th Paris (Versailles on the 3rd)

5th-9th Amsterdam (Tulip Garden too!)

10th Lille (you know that place where I’ve been living for three months)

11th-19th Prague (I have fam there so it should be quite the riot)

Thinking of you as I’m making my way around Europe. 

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C’est mon anniversaire, je peux boire d’alcool Saturday, Mar 27 2010

It’s my birthday…I can drink alcohol!  Not that that mattered here at all.  But yes, I am officially 21.  Last Friday was my 21st and let me tell you, I had a great weekend.  There was some bar action, some  monuments, and a shady hotel room involved.  All in all I’d say it was quite the success so let’s go back and look at it, shall we?

Friday night we went out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant in town which was super fun. Of course food took forever, but it was yummy minus the fact that Sadie’s noodles were cold.  Blah.  There were 9 of us.  Yay people like me!  After, we went to a couple bars in Vieux Lille aka the best part of town.  It’s the old part with winding streets and cool hipster bars.  First we went to “The Drugstore.”  I really like it.  We all sat upstairs where more people joined us.  Of course there were a bunch of languages going on and it was great.  At midnight the entire upstairs (which was mostly us and a few others) sang me Joyeux Anniversaire and then after Happy Birthday.  I mean it was pretty sweet to get sung to in two different languages!  After another bar (whose name well I have no idea what it was) I went home since I had to be up early to go to…Paris!

At 9am the next morning Emily and I left for Paris!  Lauren and Sadie were taking a later train and meeting us there.  I was so excited since I had been in France for 2.5 months and had never been to Paris.  We got to Paris Nord and headed toward Bastille.  We found the Starbucks and I enjoyed my birthday drink from Emily. Yes, she bought me a caramel macchiato and it was amazing.  See, we don’t have Starbucks in Lille so that was the first time I had had it since December.  After we went to meet up with Lauren and Sadie at Notre Dame.

After touring the inside of Notre Dame we decided we wanted to go to the top.  After waiting in line for about an hour we were finally let inside.  It’s free for EU citizens who are under 25.  Well friends, we all have our student IDs from La Catho so guess who got in for free?  Oh yes 3 Americans and 1 Canadian.  Take that EU.    We then proceeded to climb 400 stairs.  It was VERY tiring, but when we got to the top we realized it was so worth it. Then we climbed more stairs and saw the bell.  This inspired all of us to watch Hunchback of Notre Dame though I believe Lauren is the only one that has so far since being back.

After our hike up, we were exhausted and hungry which is never a good combination for the four of us.  We got kebabs and hung out by the Hotel de Ville.  The pigeons, of course, wanted to be my best friend.  I’m glad my friends think it’s fun to watch me squirm in fear of stupid pigeons when they throw fries for them to eat.  I don’t know where my fear comes from, but it’s there.

We then took a longer walk then we first thought and found our shady hotel.  I mean it wasn’t THAT bad just wasn’t really a Ritz.  Didn’t matter, it was cheap and good enough for one night.

All I had wanted to do on my birthday was see the Eiffel Tower.  We jumped on the metro and headed over there.  On the walk from the metro stop to the Eiffel Tower, I got a nutella crepe. Amazing.  News flash: La Tour Eiffel=just as cool as everyone says.  We had many funny moments taking pictures.  We couldn’t walk on the grass because it was resting which was super funny.  Anyway, we sat and pondered life while getting annoyed at men trying to sell us things and taking in the beauty of the Eiffel Tower.

We then headed over to Champs-Elysees/Arc de Triomphe.  While walking down Champs-Elysees I felt like I was in a movie.  I’m not sure why, but it all just seemed so surreal.  We reached the Arc de Triomphe and let me tell you, it’s a LOT bigger than I thought.  Anyway, we could have gone up to the top of it, but after Notre Dame’s stairs we were kind of exhausted.  It looked as though it was going to rain so we headed over to the Latin Quarter to get some food/go out to the bars.  We got off the metro at the Latin Quarter and it was pouring so we ran to the first restaurant which happened to be a pizza place.  It was alright but by now it was pouring and we were exhausted so we headed back to our hotel.

While at the restaurant, Sadie had run to get some alcohol and desserts.  We sat in our sweats, drank, ate sweet things and chatted.  It was the perfect end to a great 21st birthday.

Sunday we got up and headed to Saint Chappelle.  Once again our IDs got us in for free (though it was a little bit more difficult this time).  The stained glass windows were amazing and no picture could capture their beauty.  After, we headed down to the Louvre.  SO big.  SO SO SO big.  We didn’t go inside because we didn’t have years to waste.  Then we went down to Montmartre and saw Sacre Coeur.  There I had my second nutella crepe of the trip though it was not as good as the first.

We reached Sacre Coeur and I saw all those stairs and wanted to die.  We were all so sore from Notre Dame.  Alas, we climbed and it was worth it.  This was our third church in 24 hours so we were feeling pretty holy.  We walked around the area  a little and found somewhere to get sandwiches.  We then set out to find Moulin Rouge.  What a bummer.  I mean it’s pretty much just a building.  Regardless, we took our obligatory pictures and found coffee.  We were going to go to Starbucks but it was PACKED so we opted for the coffee place next door which ended up being overpriced.  Oh well.  We headed back to Paris Nord and got on our train back to Lille.  After about 2 minutes I was asleep.

It was a great but exhausting trip.  I’m so thankful for all my friends who made my birthday special.  From everyone at home that sent me cards/packages to everyone here who bought me a drink/got me a card/sang to me/ and went to Paris with me to celebrate–THANK YOU!

And I’ll end this with a picture of the four of us girls by the Seine. 

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