Franglish

Tuesday night we got some great frenching in. We went to a local pub called Au Cardinals and had a conversation hour with some french people. They were so cool, they were just like us, But much more attractive of course. We also brought our new Mexican friends who like to sing and through a party every chance they get. I love them, they are in our program!

Thursday night was as expected we went out and had a ball, we went to L’opera around 11. We found out quickly that we didn’t have to pay cover because there was no one in the club that early. It was just us, but by around 12pm everyone and their mother literally were there. We really do think a girl brought her mother along with her. We met some french Irish or would be french Irish ( they were wearing kilts and feather boas). These men did not have to be persuaded heavily to show there rears and or fronts, I was lucky enough to look away in time but others were not so lucky. I love l’opera, but I think I will save it for special occasion and not every night kind of thing.

The men here are much nicer than in the states for night life folk. There wasn’t any grabbing or night crawling creeps. They were actually thirsty but behaved like gentlemen. I would love to know enough french to give someone a compliment more than I like your (clothing item). I will get there.

Bon Soiree

XOXOX

Richu

Mojitos and Salsa

With the help of HandM and the tube of lipstick I had in my carry on, I was able to muster up a look to go out for our first real night in Chambery. We went to Mojito to learn how to Salsa….the french call people like me the “pied noir”. I think its a cross between you can’t dance and having two left feet, the men where getting fed up with how much I led and the director kept yelling the directions in English to me…..hilarious.

The salsa was a new type of dance it was a fusion with something else and a lot of people were doing it, I was very impressed by their skill and grace. While other people were clearly making sex look like art I was being yelled at not to lead and to relax. Luckily its weekly and I will be back.

At the venue we also got something to eat, it was a chicken wrap with ranch in it. A lot of the food on the menu was American and I was a little disappointed about it, but my food and especially the mojito  was great.

  All in all it was a great night in Chambery, we heard Thursday nights are the rowdiest so I will be patient for the weekend.

x0x0

Richu

Street Style

Just a few more shop windows from Milan

xoxo

Richu

MILANO

Unfortunately we got to Milan late since American Airlines was moving us across western Europe… We got in to the Marriott around 6 and didn’t know how to turn on the lights. Apparently their is a slot for your room key that you leave in the slot to keep the lights on, new and interesting.I have an attention problem (this is why) walking around I saw a lot of art as advertisements, it was top notch advertisements out there. I looked at all of the big stuff, it caught my attention. I also saw a lot of Graffiti, its everywhere. I usually say that kind of stuff is not a problem but it is in Europe, its everywhere and is usually not a statement, its more just vandalism. So just thinking about me walking down the streets of Milan with my head just swerving left and right every 2 seconds. sad I know.

 At night I got really hungry and met my friend Becca for a late meal, we didn’t expect Milan to be explosive at night. I was greeted at the front of the this street by a 20 something year old guy in a pale pink polo wanting me to take 5 shots with him…. whatttt? Everyone was out and about, people were dressed well to go out. Mind you this was a Tuesday night and people were out in suits and chic dresses. Even older men and older people were out, you could tell who was going to the bars and who was going to dinner. Even children were out, I guess Italians are active late.

It wasn’t hard finding a restaurant, I got some saffron rice and a seafood spaghetti that I was to full to eat so I decided to save it over night and carry it to France. It lasted me 2 meals, it was the best thing I ate in Europe thus far. We sat outside this club called Pixie, and watched the night life. Surprisingly there were a lot of south Asian street vendors there, this was odd because there is a joke that you’ll find an Indian anywhere but to see them on the streets on Milan selling selfie stick and phone chargers was so strange to me. I wasn’t the only one, when they saw me they asked me where I was from and wanted to know why I was there….I just laughed. Most of them where Bengali’s there were a few Indians and Sri Lankans as well.

The meal was around 30 euros for the both of us, when we paid we thought leaving a tip was necessary so we left her a 5 euro bill and the people next to us where laughing. We were kind of arguing how much to leave her or if we should leave her anything at all. I guess its not necessary in Europe, at least in France. I never got to find out what happened after we left her the money.

I realized that street style would require me to take pictures of people randomly on the streets and I didn’t realize exactly how much that weird-ed me out till I tried to do it. So instead I decided to take pictures of store fronts. I kind of feel good about my style after looking at the window shops. Like I am on the right track, I am fashionable for an American 20 year old.

till next time

x0x0x0

Richu

Im here Im alive

I am finally here and loving every minute off it. First things first, American Airlines is always a pain in my rear. We flew from Chicago to New York to  London to Milan and took a train to Chambery. They kept canceling our seats and changing gates on us, It took forever and I have motion sickness, it was awful.

On the plus side no more train rides or long bus rides at least till my first trip out side of the city.

When I got of the plane at Milan Malpensa I waited anxiously for my luggage that had everything in it, I didn’t want to over pack my backpack so I left the clothes and hygiene products in my check bags. I did not plan for them loosing the bags and going the first 3 days with out any clothes. Luckily there is a HandM (random af) near by my apartment where I picked up some tops for 9.99 euros and some tights. I was not about to spend my money on something I didn’t love but unfortunately my cheep outfit ended up being like 40 euros. Ugh.

My handlers name is Julien, he is a very nice 20 year old french boy that likes to party. He showed me where to go get my new clothes and shoes ( because I had been wearing this outfit for 1.5 days, including the heels)

However, that did not stop me from going out because incidentally I everything I needed to go out in my carry on (HAHA) I was legit using a American Airlines blanket as a towel for 3 days, but had lipstick. 

The friends I made that day decided to go out to the beach that afternoon. Its really a lake but they call it the beach, I was trying to help the french understand that point but they still did not understand so I gave up ( cultural differences).

That night we went to CarreCuriel which is the night life district in the area, we stopped by a local bar and bought over priced drinks that I am not sure had any alcohol in because it tasted a lot like mango, oranges and cherry syrup.

We wanted to visit the the club called l’Opera as well but the cover was 10 euros and I had already blown enough on juice that night so we decided to call it an early night and hit the TranSiberian which is a liquor store near the main streets. I got some really bad Belgian beer it was only 1 euro and everyone else got Flugles. I can’t explain a flugel ( because I have yet to drink one) but its a minibar sized bottle with pink liquid. The box says ” let the duck out “, Sounds a lot like crack to me. Apparently it tastes a lot like pixie sticks and medicine.

It turned out to me a good night with some great people, and our first day in Chambery was a success.

x0x0x0

Richu

Culture Barrier

I have been super scared the french will hate me for being an America, but this video eased my nerves a bit.

This video was a quick teach on some things I should mind while abroad.

I gotta thank this girl if I see her in France.

x0x0

Richu

Talk in French (.) com

This site nicely pairs with my previous post about french colloquialism and blending in, for those that want to skip the formality and jump to the real stuff here is a site that Facebook oddly recommended me just now.

talkinfrench.com  

Question of the day:

Is it just me or does everyone think its weird that their laptop has more information on them then their own mother?

          Thoughts:

                    Google and Facebook may know to much about me, and I am weirdly ok with it. But its weird cause I don’t trust strangers as much as I should to be ok with this. I should just not think to much into it before ruining the balance of life for my self. 

x0x0

Richu

Trying to be cool and assimilate

In hopes of blending in and not sticking out like a sore thumb while I am in France I want to learn some common phrases, some common french colloquialism, if you will. My findings are not complete nor are they 100% trust worthy in context but I have heard them before so I am not too scared to use them in public. Once I test them on the streets of France, I will report back to you all on my success rate with each of them.

“-Ça roule?”

“-Comme d’hab!”

Ça roule means  that everything’s great or going well. Therefore, in the form of a question, it means ‘How’s life? Good? or Is life good?

in response one would say in essence, just as normal or comme d’habitude which is then shortened to comme d’hab!

–N’importe quoi!

which means what ever but

 –C’est n’importe quoi!

means that’s nonsense

–Laisse tomber…

not as snappy as drop it but not as relaxed as forget it, slight mix between the two. How I think of it is a Chicagoan “fouwr gett abat it.”

–Ça te dit?

which is are you up for it or sound good to you?  If you make a Saturday night plan and want to know what your friends think add Ca te dit? to the end kind of something like…..Mad Max is playing at AMC tomorrow, you up for it? or does that sound good to you?

Tu t’en sors ?

you doing OK over there?

 Tu fais quoi?

whatcha doin? pretty laid back thing to say.

T’sais?

ya know? super common thing to say.

Also I learned FluentU a site can really help be more conversational and casual with french, it takes real life french media and uses them to teach french to beginners.

I know I will be using these in the near future to make some friends, I hope they just take pity on me and welcome me with open arms. From what I know about french culture that’s highly unlikely.

we shall see

x0x0

Richu

TGV

A TGV is a high speed train in France. I think I will be taking one at some point this summer, I will make sure to update you on my experience.

In the mean time,

If you are looking for a good train site in general for traveling through Europe I have been using

Rail Europe 

If you book the tickets at least 2-3 months in advance the prices are reasonable for far passages. My trip will be between Milan and Chambrey. It looks like one way right now will be 82 US dollars. But, if I had booked a few months earlier then it would only be 50 dollars.

I can’t wait to use this site to maybe make a quick trip to Geneva or Italy during my stay.

xoxo

Richu

Domestic Edition

Some great cities I have been too with in the last year.

Charleston, SC

My brother actually took this shot. It is Folly Beach on the beautiful southern coast of South Carolina. Not to far from downtown Charleston. I learned to surf here and spent several hours carelessly walking through its nooks and crannies. Down right one on my most favorite places.

Indianapolis, IN

The people I have met in Indiana are so caring and fun. I have only been to Indy a few times but the company always makes it a blast. There is a lot of great architecture and broad ripple is a great place to stop with friends if you’re in the over 21 club.

St. Louis, MO

St. Louis is a jem, Its a must see and I loved being there. We were first in town right after the world series, we drove in early in the morning and you could see the after math of the crowds the night before. That’s how interesting St.Louis is, everyone wants to be apart of it. Of course I got in my awesome sights and foodie finds in, It wouldn’t be a trip if I didn’t

Cincinnati, OH

I loved Cinci, what a blast. Downtown is a busy hustle dressed in subtle glamour. I loved it, I go to meet the speaker of the house; ice skate with Santa; and eat some local foodie finds. Its a must see.

Urbana – Champaign, IL

3 cheers for my most recent adventure in Urbana-Champaign. I was there visiting a close friend before her graduation, good thing I visited when I did because you can’t do uofi right without your own college local to show you the ropes. I loved the everything about this college town, the restaurants, the cupcakes, the bars it was all so much fun and I could definitely do it again.

X0X0

Richu