new things #3: are you a gay?

in Indonesia:
A: are you a gay?
B: NO, i'm perfectly straight!!

a conversation I had currently in Paris:
A (girl) : are you a gay?
B (boy) : um, no, not yet.
C (boy): yeah, you never know the future..
A (girl) : WHATS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE???

Les Ciels - The Skies

I dont know why, but I love taking picture of skies. Thats why this whole post is dedicated to show you France's skies! Hope you'll like them as much as I do! Enjoy! :)

 (Fontainebleu)

 (Boulevard St. Germain)

 (Jardin du Luxembourg)

 (La Tour d'Eiffel)

 (La Seine - near Eiffel Tower)

 (my first rain in Paris)

(La Seine - near Louvre)

(Louvre) 

 (Fontainebleu)

(Chateau de Caen)

PS: This will be updated! :)

new things #2: being homeless + moneyless

Haha.. these two things sound so miserable, dont they? Well, I have never ever had these two things in my life, they're just some things that happen to other people that I read on the newspapers or in the books. Now, in here, I get to experience them: being homeless, being moneyless, me alone, here, by myself. :P

How hard and horrible it is to find a place to stay in Paris is basically a basic knowledge that every foreigner that comes to Paris to stay just has to know, especially if you only want to stay here for several months, like me! So, when I first got to Paris, I basically desperately asked someone that I know to let me stay in her place until I get my own place.

Me:

• I am not a french, 
• I dont speak french 
• I have no guarant (in Paris, some landlords would ask for a guarant, which is someone who would take responsibility of your financial problems, just in case if something bad happened, like if suddenly I just ran away without paying the rent)
• I am an Asian and I am not a white (I dont have the slightest intention to be racist here, its just a matter of fact)

And with those, my next first three weeks in Paris was basically full of: a whole bunch of rejections, disappointment, homesickness, loneliness, get drenched in the rain, walking for .. I dont know.. some far kilos til my feet bleed and sore, cold, well to sum it up with, it was one of the worst time of my life.
Luckily, after going through all sorts of nasty stuffs, after three week, I found a place to stay!! (yaaayyy...!! :D) Its not big, but its nice, close to school and everywhere, including the Eiffel, cause its in kind of in the center of the city, comes with a complete bathroom, the kitchen, and the kitchen and dining utensils, and with a pretty good price. Now, its all paid up! :D Yeah, being homeless is definitely one of the saddest things..

these are the snapshots of the studio that I'm staying at now 

Now, the only problem that I'm still facing is being moneyless. haha.. since all the bureaucracy and all the papers in the bank is still having technical problem, I still cant withdraw any money from my account. I dont even know if they already sent me my money. T_T Now, I am still living on the money that I brought here from home. Uh.. I hope everything is gonna be alright, it just bothers me so much..

Not in Indonesia nor in America I would ever had to face these kind of problems. I would always had my parents, or Mom (in America) to depend on. Here, well, its all about new things right? :D 

Wish me lots of luck people! 

Exchange student = Going on a vacation? Um..

Yeaaah.. I wont deny it, being an exchange student abroad is definitely a big chance to have some vacation. But, in the 'behind the scene stories', besides all of the pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower, or the poses in the middle of the New York Times Square ---- which all would look so cool ---- there are a lot of untold stories, um, not all are great and enjoyable. These are the list of the lessons that I got from my times abroad:

• It's okay to get lost, as long as you aren't shy to ask someone knowledgeable. Just keep watching the roads, the surroundings, and the signs, don't give up, and don't forget to pray. You'll find the right way! 
• Procrastination is a big NO!
• Be open-minded, be tolerant, be nice, but don't lose yourself!
• At one point, you'll find the road that you're taking now is hard and unbearable, and you'll find yourself feeling really lonely, without any luxury such as the comfort and protection of family and friends. Just remember that this hard path is the way of God asking you to come back to Him. Somehow, you might have been stranded farther from Him. He just wants you to rely and ask help only on Him.
• an exchange experience is also a precious chance to give yourself some self-reflection. In home, you are mostly at your comfort zone, so you might get too comfortable and not be able too see yourself clearly. In some strange places like this, you will find yourself more aware, especially aware of yourself. 

This list is gonna be updated, so stay tune! :)

PS: Despite the lists above, exchange year is so much fun nonetheless. Just enjoy everything that you're experiencing, you'll laugh at it sometimes in the future when you try to remember your exchange experience. :D

new things #1: The Tale of the Laundry

Being an exchange student is all about experiencing new things, right? Including, experiencing doing laundry, I guess! haha..
The story begins when we (me and my roommate) dont have any washing machine in our lovely studio. Soo... since we didnt have time yet, we didnt even get to wash our clothes fooor.. um.. one month? :P and then the time comes when we didnt have anything clean to wear anymore. no choice, we had to find a laundry soon.. so this morning, we with our heavily-loaded bags walked to the laundry. uhh.. it looked like we were moving out! haha..

well, the laundry was about 1 kilo away from our studio. And, we've never been to any self-help laundry before, so when we got there, it was like, what the heck should we do?? And then when we entered the laundry room, we suddenly heard two people speaking in.... english!! haha.. if you've never been to french, you would never know how great it feels to be able to find someone who speaks english, especially when you dont speak french much, just like me! LOL. So, apparently they were a couple, the gentleman was from the States, and the lady was originally a french. Thanks God we met them! They showed us every little thing of how you do your laundry there. They were really nice! And so was our tale of the laundry, and we live happily ever after.. #I really have no idea of what I'm babbling about.. :P

PS: When we were struggling with our heavily loads of clean clothes, back from the laundry, I think we might have looked so.... NO. Well, we in the end realized this one fact, because my friend who was walking ahead of me was passing a beggar. Instead of begging for money, like other beggars, he was just turned his face away from us. Just like he was thinking,"Oh, there is no point begging at them. They looked as poor as me!" Haha.. My friend got so pissed off, and I just couldn't help but laughing sooo hard.. huahaha...

Julie & Julia

Okay, well, its nothing to do with my life in Paris. But, this movie is definitely one of the best movies I've ever seen! It tells you about the courage to live and to love, about the true happiness, and about good french foods! haha.. I wont tell you too much or else I would be a big spoiler. You should try this movie yourselves! Enjoy! :)

jardin du luxembourg en automne!

 So, I have only one class this afternoon, and I didnt feel like going home already after class. So, I was originally planning to the bank of the Seine River and to just sit there while listening to the music and enjoying this autumn. I've always enjoyed my time there, its so peaceful there, it always feels like a sanctuary to me. But then, I changed my mind, and instead of going there, I made an impulsive decision, to walk randomly, to visit Jardin du Luxembourg. Its just so sad, cause its located in the same street that I'm living in right now. And yet, I havent even been there. So, I went there, felt a bit awkward cause I walked there by myself. And it was not the best weather to take a stroll, you know. it was cold and windy. yeaaah.. but its alright, its not so cold yet.

These are all the pictures that I took when I was there. They weren't so much good cause I took them using my cellphone's camera, since I forgot to bring my camera. But, oh well, for now, they will do. Once I go there again, I will try to take better pictures, and I will update you guys! :)

And, as you all can see, it was cloudy. Some of these pictures look kinda gloomy because of this weather. But, it was a beautiful place, the flowers, the palace, the pond, the garden, the falling leaves, everything. It was just worth it. I took my time of sitting there, listening to the music and enjoying the scene, until I realized that it was late already, and it was getting even colder, and I realized that I was starving. LOL. And sooo I decided to go home. I'll go there again sometimes, its such a great place. Next time, I will bring my camera, warmer clothes, and of course, lots of foods. haha..