church, pho, hockey, etc.

i had another failed attempt at an early-morning sunday wakeup. haha. no, it's not funny...i really need to get it together, and make myself get up for church like i do for school. but anyways...yes, it was a lazy day. i woke up around noon...did some homework, took a shower, surfed the internet aimlessly...and finally it was time to go to Hillsong Paris Church!

i grabbed a sandwich suédois and a Schweppes Agrum from the bakery on the way to Faidherbe-Chaligny, my metro stop. i ate it on the way...while transfering trains twice, haha. it wasn't too difficult to find the church. it's only 2 blocks from tom's place, which is very cool.

i'm really becoming addicted to this stuff, haha.

Hillsong Paris Church isn't very big...150 people or so were in the room, but they have 3 services every sunday. and starting next sunday...it'll be 4! so, it's growing.
but yeah...it was very...penticostal. which is not necessarily a BAD thing...just a little unusual for me. but it was wonderful learning songs in French and seeing both English and French lyricson the screen! i already have one of thr French songs stuck in my head! hehe. also, the pastor spoke in English, and a lady translated it into French as he spoke. that's one of the most intriguing aspects of this church...the bilingualism. it's exciting to hear phrases twice in a row, and learn French vocabulary WHILE learning from the Bible! i plan to attend again, and get involved. i just hope next sunday i can wake up on-time for the 10:30 service...or at least the 12:45! haha.

they meet inside this building, kinda' cool

afterwards...i met up with fiona, tom, & sarah. we went to an Asian restaurant...and it was good this time! i had pho, and it was delicious. i didn't get sick either! tom lives near the China-town here...so i guess it's safer to eat here. but yea, my pho was delicious, and so filling! it wasn't a very large bowl...but those nodels, pork, and beansprouts really do the trick! i will most definitely return there if i want good pho again. (and i KNOW i will)

walking from chinatown to tom's apartment

(this building just looked really cool to me)

then, we walked back to tom's homestay apartment. we met alan, a Mexican guy living there too and working in Paris. we watched the United States vs Canada gold-medal ice hockey game for the 2010 Olympics. that game was seriously INTENSE!...or at least the last few minutes were. i was so excited when the United States scored in the last minute...i really thought we were going to win it. oh well...Canada deserved it, especially since they were the hosts. whatever, there's always a next time.

it was intense!...

...exhibited very clearly by tom's facial expression.

- starting a new month!

some art, and a nighttime picnic

today was a great day too...mostly because, it started late. hehe.
i slept in until 1:00ish, i think, and then eventually got ready and left to go meet fiona, krystina, and tom at the Seine. we walked down the Seine to the Musee d'Orsay, which is an amazing building. fiona says it used to be the main train station in Paris...it is massive! so much great art is found in it as well, AND we got in free with our student ID's. that's one good thing about being a college student. but yes, here are some photos of some of my favorite pieces in it:

sandwich i got on the way to meet the others

(grilled chicken, tomato, lettuce...yum)

crossing the Seine

Hôtel de Ville

finally at the Musée d'Orsay

Le port d'Alger (Jules-Alexis Muenier)

Marine, Guernesey (Pierre-Auguste Renoir)

Débàcle sur le Seine (Claude Monet)

Tempête, côte de Belle-Île (Claude Monet)

Le lac Léman (Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer)

La Calanque (Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer)

Le Grand Vitrail (Odilon Redon)

Une rue de Paris en mai 1871 (Maximilien Luce)

Le pavé de Chailly (Claude Monet)

a 3-D model of a part of Paris (displayed below the floor)

Crépuscule (Charles Victor Guilloux)

afterwards, we went to our respective homes and relaxed for a while. (walking around and looking at art is exhausting, believe it or not) when i was back home, i called a few friends to say hi, texted some others, and skyped with olga. it was very nice to see her! i have a weird feeling that i'm going to miss so much in their lives back home while i'm gone. regular skype dates will be necessary to keep up with eachother. haha.

afternoon discovery!: cherry coke ≠ coca-cola cherry 

(but it IS delicious)

then, i headed out to buy some grapes, strawberries, and chips at a tiny grocery store on my corner. i took my stuff to meet up again with tom, krystina, and fiona right by the eiffel tower for a picnic at night. it was marvelous! everyone brought different things...and we ended up with a feast. we had: bread, goat cheese and another kind of cheese, sliced meat, grapes, strawberries, chips, wine, yogurt, etc. etc.
even though it was raining consistently throughout the night...we made it work by finding a mini-gazebo and sitting under it. we watched the tower sparkle 3 times (which means we must've been there for at least 3 hours) and talked about everything and anything. it was a really great time.
and that was all for saturday!

this is only a small part of our feast

i hope this never gets old for me...wow

- ready for springtime, please

deep underground, and then on cloud 9

today was such a busy day!
i woke up early and went to my French Language class...which was as interesting as class can be...and then i returned home and slept for a few more hours, since i was exhausted.
i woke up at 1:00ish, and went to Les Halles (a huge mall) to go to the Fnac store to print out my concert ticket for that evening. i had some issues with that, though, since the visa card i used to purchase the ticket had to be closed (because there were fraudulent charges on it about a month ago) so the lady at the ticket booth had to call her manager and do all this stuff to let me be able to have my ticket. i felt bad for her...she seemed stressed out, and with my French as terrible as it is...she must've been really annoyed. but she was nice enough to make it happen for me, instead of just telling me no. so, that was nice of her.

then, i went to meet up with fiona, tom, krystina, and sarah at Les Catacombes.
this place, by the way, is AMAZING! it's so deep underground, and it's such a long trek...with narrow tunnels and low ceilings, and stacks of bones and skulls all over the place, and tombs, and famous quotes about death all over the place, etc. (it was mind-blowing...probably a favorite for me, so far)

on our way down

this is carved into the stone!

Stop! Here is the Empire of the Dead

umm...haha. so weird.

after returning to the surface, we had some time to kill...so we hopped on the subway and went to walk around the Canal Saint-Martin area. (where i went before) it's not amazing, but it's a nice place to stroll, i guess. then we got some (expensive) coffee at a cafe at Place Republique. afterwards, a few of us went to CEA to diddle-daddle on the computers for a while. then we parted ways.

already tired, on the way to Canal Saint-Martin

i went to Le Nouveau Casino, which is a concert venue, for the Owl City and Lights concert.
both of the bands were fantastic, as always, and it was just a great show! there were so many americans there...it was weird. haha. unfortunately, though, i didn't get to meet Lights or anyone from Owl City afterwards, even though i waited for a while. oh well...but here are a few photos from it.

not a great photo, i know, but this guy was singing in romanian!

i told him he sang well (in romanian) and gave him some change

the venue

Lights!

Owl City!

view from the balcony

once i left, i went to meet up with these guys somewhere near the Bastille, which is very close to where i live. i enjoyed being able to walk home afterwards...it was only a few blocks! but yes, we just hung out and stuff for a while, as usual. it's nice that we're all ok with just going somewhere and talking for a while...no need for exciting adventures all the time. haha.

upon returning home, i found a dance party going on in the common room of my building! which is very strange, according to people who have been living here for months. they've never seen this type of thing before. but haha, it was interesting. a nice way to end the night.

- so eventful