do you know what, im really bloody happy that i'm here.
thats all really.no moan.
beginning to see what people mean when they say erasmus is the maddest year of your life... I havent posted for 11 days because ive just been so madly busy! definitely in a good way though.
AND
the dogs not here for the weekend, so my clothing is safe... at least till monday :)
The one negative thing, its definitely starting again for all those in Southampton. Last night, I met a guy for the first time, and he said "oh yer you're the dj guy from facebook"....
fuck
my
life
Laters potatas x
Friday, October 28, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Today
I was changing after a shower and the dog managed to open the door and attempted to eat my boxers. #nakedmanangryatdog
Sunday, October 16, 2011
What I love about France & a weekend away
On Wednesday whilst heading to Les Halles shopping centre to purchase a new memory card(thats right--living the dream) the Metro stopped... AGAIN. This must be the 8th or 9th time since I've been in Paris that the Metro has literally just stopped with little or no explanation and doesn't resume for anything from 15 mins to 2 hours.
That France has better public transport is largely a myth, and another slightly 'grumpy old men' esque blog started to form in my head. Although the regional transport can be somewhat of a nightmare, however the TGV, train de grande vitesse is simply fantastic, and this leads me onto a new topic, there is actually some really great things about France.
So heres a list:
1.TGV- This weekend I visited Lille to see the simply lovely Miss Jennifer Rawlings and Miss Harriet Notton. It was so quick, I didnt even have time to finish my movie! I travelled at night so I couldnt see how far we were going really, just kind of turned up in Lille after not that long. It was literally about 50 minutes... 40 euro return and 1 hour, and its over 150 miles away. Never has travelling 150 miles been so easy! It might seem sad, but over the next 2 months I have planned trips to Angers and Angouleme, and its cost me so little and if those two weekends are anywhere near as banterous as this one, its going to be fabby :)
2. Bread- French bread is god. Several times ive bought a baguette, had some with cheese for Lunch and then wacked some salad and meat in it for dinner. Efficient <3
3. Sausages... are sick. expensive. but well good.
4. The randomness... Experiencing new cultures, as I'm sure everyone thats travelled knows can sometimes get you in the most bizarre situations. Last night I was in a beach themed bar, the Dj was mixing Nirvana with Grease lightening onto Placebo, then in barged a brass band, complete with HUGE tuba and started playing basket case by Green day. I was sipping a cocktail which was more rum than coke... You know what, it was just so France, and so funny.
5. Wine... is so cheap. And its almost impossible to buy a bad bottle, the least ive spent was 1,15. And it was nice, and 12%. Thats just so good!
6. Music... the lack of dubstep dissapoints me, although it does have a small underground following! But french hip hop is amazing, heres a sample from Sexion d'assaut::
and electro is huge here... amazing!
7. Sometimes the French attitude, which seems to be that nothing need be done in a rush can be infuriating, however, sometimes the lack of formality is extremely relaxing and refreshing. Kind of depends what kind of mood you are in and how important it is that the thing happening is to you!!
a bientot x
That France has better public transport is largely a myth, and another slightly 'grumpy old men' esque blog started to form in my head. Although the regional transport can be somewhat of a nightmare, however the TGV, train de grande vitesse is simply fantastic, and this leads me onto a new topic, there is actually some really great things about France.
So heres a list:
1.TGV- This weekend I visited Lille to see the simply lovely Miss Jennifer Rawlings and Miss Harriet Notton. It was so quick, I didnt even have time to finish my movie! I travelled at night so I couldnt see how far we were going really, just kind of turned up in Lille after not that long. It was literally about 50 minutes... 40 euro return and 1 hour, and its over 150 miles away. Never has travelling 150 miles been so easy! It might seem sad, but over the next 2 months I have planned trips to Angers and Angouleme, and its cost me so little and if those two weekends are anywhere near as banterous as this one, its going to be fabby :)
2. Bread- French bread is god. Several times ive bought a baguette, had some with cheese for Lunch and then wacked some salad and meat in it for dinner. Efficient <3
3. Sausages... are sick. expensive. but well good.
4. The randomness... Experiencing new cultures, as I'm sure everyone thats travelled knows can sometimes get you in the most bizarre situations. Last night I was in a beach themed bar, the Dj was mixing Nirvana with Grease lightening onto Placebo, then in barged a brass band, complete with HUGE tuba and started playing basket case by Green day. I was sipping a cocktail which was more rum than coke... You know what, it was just so France, and so funny.
5. Wine... is so cheap. And its almost impossible to buy a bad bottle, the least ive spent was 1,15. And it was nice, and 12%. Thats just so good!
6. Music... the lack of dubstep dissapoints me, although it does have a small underground following! But french hip hop is amazing, heres a sample from Sexion d'assaut::
and electro is huge here... amazing!
7. Sometimes the French attitude, which seems to be that nothing need be done in a rush can be infuriating, however, sometimes the lack of formality is extremely relaxing and refreshing. Kind of depends what kind of mood you are in and how important it is that the thing happening is to you!!
a bientot x
Sunday, October 9, 2011
The warping of value that comes with living in Paris..
At the start of last week, I went to the Erasmus to sign up for my Monde en huit club card, which is basically a card which is for foreign students and gives a few discounts at club nights etc...
Heres a brief extract from conversation
Erasmus guy(mosse):Tu vient d'ou will?
Where do you come from will?
Me:Angleterre, pres de Londres!
England, Near London
M: ahh mon dieu! J'adore Londres. mes chassures vient de Londres!! et a boots, il y a le 3 for 2 sur lynx. c'est fantastique!
oh my god! i love london! my shoes come from london!! and at boots, they do 3 for 2 on lynx, its fantastic
Me: (laughing) oui, lynx est tres cher ici!
yer, lynx is well expensive here
Erasmus leader girl(Dahbia): Oui, et primark. j'adore vraiment primark.
yer, and primark!! i really love Primark!!
Now, ive seen girls go gaga for Primark before. And as I think I pointed out at the time, practically my whole outfit that day had been bought at the Spanish retailer.
But such excitement I have never seen for the boots 3 for 2 offer.
However, this young man is Parisien, and I completely understand him getting so excited over cheap deodorant.
In years gone by, Paris was expensive, some years ago I bought my girlfriend of the time and I a hotdog each and a coke in the shadow of the eiffel tower. Thats right... I know how to treat a lady...
It totalled over £25..
Now however, you have to practically sell your kidneys to afford to live here; that same bill would have probably now totalled over £35 due to the hellish exchange rate. You find yourself as a Brit practically willing the Greek economy to collapse as the fall out is likely to affect the Euro much more than the pound. (Greece I love you.. but you know.. I also love my internal organs...)
During the week, the socialites of the newly formed Southampton a Paris group met to take on the happy hours of Les Halles(and in Charlottes case... lose), and I found myself practically wetting myself at the prospect of a pint of beer for under 5 euros.
I almost had a heart attack when i saw a pint for 3,90(about £3.40).
At the trusty old Mitre back on the seedy streets of Portswood you can get a pint of Carlsberg for £2.29. In the sick filled cesspit that is Jesters such a thing would cost you just 50p on a Monday evening.
Girls on your year abroad you were told to be very careful about the length of skirts etc when out in Paris. I have the opposite advice, get them as short as possible, and flirt your ass off for drinks. It will save you a fortune...Either that, or do what Miss Osborne did on wednesday, which was forget to eat and get hammered off one drink...
But as I say, my sense of value, has literally been completely warped. To the the point where I was delighted to pay 6,50 for my KFC meal the other day, only to realise I had paid almost double what the equivalent would have cost in England.
Paris, you are a pain in the ass. x
Heres a brief extract from conversation
Erasmus guy(mosse):Tu vient d'ou will?
Where do you come from will?
Me:Angleterre, pres de Londres!
England, Near London
M: ahh mon dieu! J'adore Londres. mes chassures vient de Londres!! et a boots, il y a le 3 for 2 sur lynx. c'est fantastique!
oh my god! i love london! my shoes come from london!! and at boots, they do 3 for 2 on lynx, its fantastic
Me: (laughing) oui, lynx est tres cher ici!
yer, lynx is well expensive here
Erasmus leader girl(Dahbia): Oui, et primark. j'adore vraiment primark.
yer, and primark!! i really love Primark!!
Now, ive seen girls go gaga for Primark before. And as I think I pointed out at the time, practically my whole outfit that day had been bought at the Spanish retailer.
But such excitement I have never seen for the boots 3 for 2 offer.
However, this young man is Parisien, and I completely understand him getting so excited over cheap deodorant.
In years gone by, Paris was expensive, some years ago I bought my girlfriend of the time and I a hotdog each and a coke in the shadow of the eiffel tower. Thats right... I know how to treat a lady...
It totalled over £25..
Now however, you have to practically sell your kidneys to afford to live here; that same bill would have probably now totalled over £35 due to the hellish exchange rate. You find yourself as a Brit practically willing the Greek economy to collapse as the fall out is likely to affect the Euro much more than the pound. (Greece I love you.. but you know.. I also love my internal organs...)
During the week, the socialites of the newly formed Southampton a Paris group met to take on the happy hours of Les Halles(and in Charlottes case... lose), and I found myself practically wetting myself at the prospect of a pint of beer for under 5 euros.
I almost had a heart attack when i saw a pint for 3,90(about £3.40).
At the trusty old Mitre back on the seedy streets of Portswood you can get a pint of Carlsberg for £2.29. In the sick filled cesspit that is Jesters such a thing would cost you just 50p on a Monday evening.
Girls on your year abroad you were told to be very careful about the length of skirts etc when out in Paris. I have the opposite advice, get them as short as possible, and flirt your ass off for drinks. It will save you a fortune...Either that, or do what Miss Osborne did on wednesday, which was forget to eat and get hammered off one drink...
But as I say, my sense of value, has literally been completely warped. To the the point where I was delighted to pay 6,50 for my KFC meal the other day, only to realise I had paid almost double what the equivalent would have cost in England.
Paris, you are a pain in the ass. x
Last night
We stumbled across a stunning fireworks display with Paris as a back drop on the stairs of Sacre coeur. I drank wine, and was happy. Then i went and boogied to Mr Scruff. Good times...
Then on the metro home...
I was still pretty drunk, and tripped on the step up to the train. I fell forward into the large metal pole which allows people to hold on when standing up.
A large group of Algerian men laughed at me. I pretended to be amused when actually it really bloody hurt..
And there you go, I think that short few hours is gonna sum up my year. Such accidental success and abject failure, just another year abroad student really...
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Its only 21 miles but...
The British channel, the divide between England and France is both one of the smallest and most shallow seas in Europe. At the closest point, there is only 21 miles between our two nations, and yet, the gulf in culture is huge.
As those on their year abroad know, the continuing stream of faux pas that make up daily life proves almost hourly that these differences are much more than skin deep, that its much more than Cliff or Halliday, Voltaire or Locke, Turner or Cezanne.
No in fact, the people here are hugely different, don't get me wrong, I have met some great Frenchies already, but allow me please to highlight some differences:
1. Drinking on bridges
Last week I recieved a Facebook invite to predrinks... on a bridge. Somehow this is socially acceptable, a point further enforced by the fact this wasn't some random person who just decided on a whim to go drink on a bridge; this was the official Erasmus organisation. This means that at some point, people sat down in a meeting to put together an official timetable for freshers events, and this plan was formalised and printed. Brilliant. It is apparently a very common thing for young parisians to do, and there was a lot of other groups there doing similar.
2. Fighting... really badly
I want to stay well clear of a Jeremy Clarkson-esque rant about the French being and I quote 'cheese eating surrender monkeys. I actually quite like cheese, and monkeys, and in fact surrendering now I come to think of it...
I was talking to a German girl the other day and they have the same impression of the French as more than a little bit soft. I'm sure there are plenty of huge french guys who could finish me in one to one combat, however what I've seen so far has been nothing short of amusing.
Incident 1 happened at the Montmatre on my first Friday night on Paris, at the bottom of the Funiculaire,two huge black guys squared up to each other in a fight. Now, every night after consuming too much cheap vodka a couple of middle class white guys will decide they want a fight outside(insert name of portswood drinking establishment here). The results are usually fairly amusing, occasionally a little frightening but mostly quite harmless. However, I cannot stress enough, these guys were big big men. Shit was gona go down. But what ensued was, well, load the below youtube link and scroll to 50 seconds.
WATCH
It was a festival of slapping followed by them both being restrained and shouts of its not worth it. They were right, it really wasnt.
I witnessed another man at Pont des arts spoiling for a fight, he was largely just bumping into people and they were ignoring him... again... poor.
On the metro last night, a mans daughter was swinging on the poles in the middle of the carriage. Another male passenger decided to tell her off, this induced a sharing of insults and again the two men squaring up to each other. "I bet she will grow up to be a whore".... "I bet you are alone, you don't have kids do you". All a bit dramatic, the passengers were ready to jump up and restrain. However, they ended up angrily swapping phone numbers and decided to chat later.
Brilliant. Went out for a fight. Obtained a man date.
Don't get me wrong, this all works for me. I'm crap at fighting. I just think its in stark contrast to our culture! In parts of the north east you haven't had a good night unless you've had a fight...
3. Sex
All English girls on years abroad will have been told a lot to cover up on nights out. A skirt above the knee is practically an invitation to rape here apparently. Fantastic.. I'm fine with that. Well not fine, but I can make my peace with it. But don't you think this has a slight hypocritical ring when yesterday I was in Pigalle for a short while, where every shop has sex written in large letters across it; and the Sexodrome luidly brandishes bright pink lights to invite people into the M&S of sex; seven floors, one devoted to butt plugs.
4. Sleeping
Last night was nuit blanche, a night dedicated to art installations and basically, not sleeping. Around La marais and Pigalle, all the bars were full, and people queued for hours to get into small art installations and museums.
There was a 2 hour queue for a purple room in which they had created an artificial rain. Imagine that in England, at 4am, slightly inebriated, not making for the nearest taxi and to bed, but instead for a museum in which you are rained on. No, its in fact common place to get the first metro of the morning back home, then go in and a normal day at work. I really would like to understand how Parisiens manage to survive on this little sleep. I'm useless without my 8 hours..
An installation at nuit blanche
5. Humour
To foreigners. Wank jokes. Poo jokes. They just aren't funny. This isnt French people exclusively, but seems to be among the majority of foreigners. The only people that seem to share some of the mirth in being disgusting are the Germans. Who would have thought it...
The Inbetweeners this summer took a huge amount at the box office, and was a hit amongst young people in England everywhere. But i guarantee you at a showing in France, italy, spain etc a large proportion of the audience would either not laugh or simply walk out.
Anyway, I start classes tomorrow, I'm sure there will be plenty of chances to make a fool of myself there too :)
xx
As those on their year abroad know, the continuing stream of faux pas that make up daily life proves almost hourly that these differences are much more than skin deep, that its much more than Cliff or Halliday, Voltaire or Locke, Turner or Cezanne.
No in fact, the people here are hugely different, don't get me wrong, I have met some great Frenchies already, but allow me please to highlight some differences:
1. Drinking on bridges
Last week I recieved a Facebook invite to predrinks... on a bridge. Somehow this is socially acceptable, a point further enforced by the fact this wasn't some random person who just decided on a whim to go drink on a bridge; this was the official Erasmus organisation. This means that at some point, people sat down in a meeting to put together an official timetable for freshers events, and this plan was formalised and printed. Brilliant. It is apparently a very common thing for young parisians to do, and there was a lot of other groups there doing similar.
2. Fighting... really badly
I want to stay well clear of a Jeremy Clarkson-esque rant about the French being and I quote 'cheese eating surrender monkeys. I actually quite like cheese, and monkeys, and in fact surrendering now I come to think of it...
I was talking to a German girl the other day and they have the same impression of the French as more than a little bit soft. I'm sure there are plenty of huge french guys who could finish me in one to one combat, however what I've seen so far has been nothing short of amusing.
Incident 1 happened at the Montmatre on my first Friday night on Paris, at the bottom of the Funiculaire,two huge black guys squared up to each other in a fight. Now, every night after consuming too much cheap vodka a couple of middle class white guys will decide they want a fight outside(insert name of portswood drinking establishment here). The results are usually fairly amusing, occasionally a little frightening but mostly quite harmless. However, I cannot stress enough, these guys were big big men. Shit was gona go down. But what ensued was, well, load the below youtube link and scroll to 50 seconds.
WATCH
It was a festival of slapping followed by them both being restrained and shouts of its not worth it. They were right, it really wasnt.
I witnessed another man at Pont des arts spoiling for a fight, he was largely just bumping into people and they were ignoring him... again... poor.
On the metro last night, a mans daughter was swinging on the poles in the middle of the carriage. Another male passenger decided to tell her off, this induced a sharing of insults and again the two men squaring up to each other. "I bet she will grow up to be a whore".... "I bet you are alone, you don't have kids do you". All a bit dramatic, the passengers were ready to jump up and restrain. However, they ended up angrily swapping phone numbers and decided to chat later.
Brilliant. Went out for a fight. Obtained a man date.
Don't get me wrong, this all works for me. I'm crap at fighting. I just think its in stark contrast to our culture! In parts of the north east you haven't had a good night unless you've had a fight...
3. Sex
All English girls on years abroad will have been told a lot to cover up on nights out. A skirt above the knee is practically an invitation to rape here apparently. Fantastic.. I'm fine with that. Well not fine, but I can make my peace with it. But don't you think this has a slight hypocritical ring when yesterday I was in Pigalle for a short while, where every shop has sex written in large letters across it; and the Sexodrome luidly brandishes bright pink lights to invite people into the M&S of sex; seven floors, one devoted to butt plugs.
4. Sleeping
Last night was nuit blanche, a night dedicated to art installations and basically, not sleeping. Around La marais and Pigalle, all the bars were full, and people queued for hours to get into small art installations and museums.
There was a 2 hour queue for a purple room in which they had created an artificial rain. Imagine that in England, at 4am, slightly inebriated, not making for the nearest taxi and to bed, but instead for a museum in which you are rained on. No, its in fact common place to get the first metro of the morning back home, then go in and a normal day at work. I really would like to understand how Parisiens manage to survive on this little sleep. I'm useless without my 8 hours..
An installation at nuit blanche
5. Humour
To foreigners. Wank jokes. Poo jokes. They just aren't funny. This isnt French people exclusively, but seems to be among the majority of foreigners. The only people that seem to share some of the mirth in being disgusting are the Germans. Who would have thought it...
The Inbetweeners this summer took a huge amount at the box office, and was a hit amongst young people in England everywhere. But i guarantee you at a showing in France, italy, spain etc a large proportion of the audience would either not laugh or simply walk out.
Anyway, I start classes tomorrow, I'm sure there will be plenty of chances to make a fool of myself there too :)
xx
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