Well, I guess the list series died pretty quickly. I had a post for it waiting in the wings, and I was just too lazy to decide on photos to use for it. Sorry. So here's a rapid fire post of what has been happening in my life over the last week.
I've slept. A lot. With how cold it has been getting, and without anything that I have to do, I've been spending a lot of time curled up in my bed under my very, very warm covers. Naturally, while surrounded by all that warmth and comfort, I have a very strong tendency to doze off...
I saw the Musée D'Orsay. With my student visa, I'm considered a citizen of France, under the age of 26, and therefore I get in for free. This is actually true of any longterm European Union visa. So, if you're legally in an EU country for 6 months or more, have a visa to prove it, and you're under 26, you can get in to this and many other Parisian museums and historical monuments free of charge or otherwise heavily discounted.
I've tasted both sides of the Force. Really! As a promotion for the upcoming release of Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace in 3D, the French fast-food chain Quick released several Star Wars themed food items, including cheesy stars (think star shaped mozzarella sticks), some dessert items, and the Dark Burger and Jedi Burger. I ate both of them. In one day. This, like many items on this list, will probably get its own post in the near future.
We discovered a mouse in our apartment. We had some friends over last weekend, and were all surprised when Antoine exclaimed that he had seen a mouse in my room. Not being able to find the creature, we figured it was just a shadow from the weird chandelier-thing. To my surprise, the next day, I saw a little black mouse squeeze its way under my door and head to an empty chip bag in the living room. That leads to my next point.
I went to a hardware store. Let me begin this one by saying that hardware stores are mostly foreign enough to me back in the states. I was once proud when I was able to go in and find the screws I needed all by myself. Despite this, I was able to find one of those ultrasonic mouse deterrents pretty easily, probably because they're a much larger issue in the apartment lined streets of Paris than suburban Cleveland. But when it came to finding a bucket, which you practically trip over in every aisle at Lowe's, I had to circle the store three or four times before giving up and asking an associate. She directed me to a set of bins, which I guess is their sort-of equivalent. At least now I can do laundry a little bit easier...
I found a couple classes. But only in the French Language for Foreign Students department. I still need to email my professors back home to see if they'll transfer as the literature class I need for my minor, and I still need to find the Art and Computer Science department listings, but hopefully I'll be ready to sign up for classes by Monday or Tuesday.
I got a job interview. It's with a company that gives culture and conversation courses in English to French college students. It's supposed to be pretty fun and easy, with hours that you make yourself, so I figured I would give it a shot.
I went to an open mic night. My friend Troy, from the MICEFA program, was playing, so a group of us decided to go and support him. It was an awesome little place, great atmosphere, and a lot of talent. There was one very talented woman who sounded just like Madeleine Peyroux, one of my favorite Blues/Jazz performers. I plan on going back sometime soon.
Finally, I've started taking the idea of graduate school much more seriously. I thought about it for a long time when I first started my undergrad, and then after getting more serious with my internship, and with the opportunity for it to become permanent after graduation, I put it on the back burner. I had talked with some friends who are in grad school or had just graduated, and they reinforced the idea of gaining work experience and paying off some bills before a master's degree, especially since I don't need my M.S. to work. After thinking about it, though, and after a lot of TEDTalk watching (remember the curled up in bed part, earlier?), I'm starting to think that I want to do more research and cutting edge development than office style development. Maybe not permanently, and maybe I'll realize it isn't what I want after a while, but I think I'd like to try it. I sat down and started really looking into grad schools with a Human Computer Interface program, of which there were a lot more than I previously thought. I looked at entrance requirements and some statistics for each program, and I think I'm going to at least try applying to a few. If it doesn't work out, I'll take it as a sign to get more work experience before I try again.
So that's my life update. Sorry there aren't any pictures; I'm still behind on processing the ones I took this week. I think I might be sleeping a little too much... I'll try to post more frequently this upcoming week, and try to get some photos to help flesh out these stories.
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