Mes Rêves #10

#10: Visit the Musée Miniature et Cinéma ✓

 

I don't know what it is about films that fascinates me so much, but j'adore le cinéma. Today I finally visited Lyon's cinema museum.

It was everything I hoped it would be and more.

The first few floors were dedicated to recreated sets. Not only were the rooms redesigned exactly has they had been for the movies, but there was creepy music playing in the background. To walk between rooms you had to go through poorly lit tunnels with stone walls. The whole experience was just like being transported to another world.

 

The next floors were filled with props from movies; everything from a Union soldier's costume from Spielberg's Lincoln to Harry Potter's wand. Yes, that's right, I was two feet away from Harry Potter's wand and original letter.

The final floors were devoted to miniature items - miniature sets, miniature dolls, miniature instruments, miniature shoes... 

It was amazing how much detail went into each piece, but I have a hard time understanding why someone would spend their life building replicas of everyday items at a 1:12 ratio.

Also, why isn't anyone building this hat at a 1:1 ratio so that I can buy it and wear it?

Mes Rêves #1, 3, 7, 11

I've had a lot of time to think over this past week because I spent most of it in my bed. And what I thought about most was how much time I was wasting by lying in bed. Today I was determined to stop wasting time.

#1: See the Saône River flowing North. ✓

The Saône, like any other normal river, flows south. However, it moves so slowly that if it is windy enough outside it will look like it is flowing north. Well, it was windy today.

And the Saône river was flowing north.

 #3: Take a picture with every cathedral built before the 18th century in Lyon. ✓

Before researching this goal, I had visions of myself running around Lyon taking pictures left and right trying to get a picture with all of the cathedrals. It turns out there is only one cathedral in Lyon. Luckily, it was built before the 18th century.

Cathédrale Saint Jean-Baptiste - 1480

But I was determined to run around Lyon anyway, so I expanded my criteria to include all of the religious buildings - churches, basilicas, and temples. I got all but two because my phone had a heart attack at the end.

Saint Polycarpe - 1670

Saint Bruno des Chartreux - 1690

Notre-Dame de Saint-Vincent - 1789

Eglise Catholique Saint Paul - 549

Temple du Change - 17th century
This used to be Lyon's Stock Exchange. But it's old and has the word 'Temple' in the title, so it counts.

Saint-Martin d'Ainay - 1107

Eglise Saint-Bonaventure - 1327

Even though they weren't Cathedrals, most of these buildings were pretty cool, and it was a fun quest. Plus, I got to go through some parts of town I had never seen before, which inspired my new song titled Sketchy-McSketchyville.

UPDATE: Just for good measure I decided to make it out to those other two churches:

Chapelle de la Trinité - 1622

Église Saint-Nizier - late 16th century

 

#7: Eat gelato at the Roman Amphitheaters. ✓

The gelato stores around Lyon finally opened at the beginning of March. So today I got some gelato and started running to the Roman Amphitheaters.

I made it halfway up these stairs before I stopped running. I was wearing two jackets because I thought it was going to be cold - it wasn't - and I was dying from the heat. But I needed to make it to the Amphitheaters before my gelato melted so I continued up the giant hill.

At one point I stopped to take off my jackets and get a picture of the hill I was walking up. Unfortunately, I was caught taking a picture of myself by some of the other students in my program. They were nice about it, though, and even offered to get in the picture with me.

I eventually made it to the top and got to eat my gelato at the amphitheater while reading Harry Potter. The best part, though, is that exactly one year ago, on March 16, 2012, I tasted speculoos gelato for the first time. Today I was reminded why I should never eat any other flavor.

#11: Walk to the top of Fourvière (and make it to the church). ✓

Sometime at the beginning of my time here in Lyon I decided it would be fun to walk to Fourvière. I followed the signs up a giant hill only to end up nowhere near the church. Rather than wander around and try and find it, I went back down the hill and looked up with disdain at the church from the river.

I was so disappointed in my failure that I made it a goal to actually walk to the top of Fourvière and make it to the church.

It turns out that I was about 10 meters from the church and if I would have walked two steps in ANY direction other than back down the hill I would have realized that. Which made today's accomplishment a little less exciting than I imagined. But it was still satisfying.

I also got to go inside the basilica because they finally finished the construction work. I walked inside and realized that I had completely misjudged Notre Dame de Fourvière. The inside is simply stunning. 

The outside is just so-so, though, and the crypt is super lame, so I don't feel very bad about my misjudgment.

Mes Rêves #19

#19: Tour a Castle ✓

I went to Verona because Amanda Seyfried went to Verona in Letters to Juliet and fell in love with a British guy.

I did not. Fall in love with a British guy. Because I couldn't find any*. I did go to Verona, though.

When I got there, I realized I had no idea what I was supposed to do besides visit Juliet's house. Lucky for me, there is a scene in Letters to Juliet where Sophie lists all the things she wants to do in Verona. So I copied her list and set off on my day's adventure. First up - Castelvecchio!

Castelvecchio, as the name implies, is a castle, which you are allowed to tour. In my head this meant I was going to be able to run around some castle ruins with little to no supervision and maybe find a treasure. However, it turns out that Italy doesn't just let you run around their old castles.

Even worse, they decided to turn Castelvecchio into an art museum. I tried really hard to pretend like I cared about the art, but I didn't. I mean, the entire first floor was dedicated to medieval art. "Ahh, the lack of a foot must symbolize the fact that this boy has no place to call home because he is always chasing unrealistic dreams. The man with no arms talking to the horse must represent those unrealistic dreams."

But after 20 minutes of pretending like I understood art I got to the collection of unfinished medieval art. As I sat there looking at all that was left of a wall mural all I could think was, "Who cares about this splash of red paint on the wall? What am I supposed to get out of this?"

So I stopped pretending to care and just started trying to not look at the art without anyone noticing I wasn't paying attention to any of the art.

I was pretty disappointed. I came to tour a castle, but all I got to see of that castle were white washed walls and bad art. I finally finished that first floor, though, and made it outside where I ran into a giant bell. I've been a fan of giant bells ever since I saw the Liberty Bell for the first time.

Then I went to the second floor where I saw more bells.

 

I mean, how many bells does one castle need? This just seems a bit excessive. And why is there more art up here? Why can't I tour the cool underground part of this castle?

Seriously, why is that not a part of the tour?

Anyway, I had almost given up on all hope of having fun on this castle tour when I came to the roof of the castle. There was a sign warning visitors to continue at their own risk, which is almost the same thing as a "Something Awesome is Ahead" sign.

The roof was so cool. There were beautiful views of Verona, plus it looked just like I thought a castle should.

And then they made me go look at more art... ugh.

In conclusion, even though the inside of the castle was beyond boring, the outside was pretty cool. Plus I got to check off another goal from my list, so it was worth it.

*This is a lie. The guy staying at the room next to mine had a British accent, but I didn't find this out until the day I left so there was no time for an adventure across Italy together. Unfortunately.

Sleeping Abroad

When I was little my mom used to make me get the flu shot every year. And every year I got that fake day-flu. Sure, it wasn't as bad as the real flu, but it was awful.

So, every year I would beg and whine until eventually my mom stopped making me get the flu shot. And you know what? I stopped getting sick.

When I got to college my teachers started putting me through the same flu talk. They would try and guilt me into getting the flu shot saying that if I didn't get it I was condemning the entire school to the flu. But still I refused to get the shot.

Last November I had to go visit the campus nurse before I was allowed to study abroad. But I was coming to France, so it was a pretty easy visit. The only thing she warned me about was ticks in the mountains. She also made me get three shots. THREE.

She didn't have record of my last tetanus shot (it was seven years ago) so she suggested I get that. I think the tetanus shot is fun, plus then I'm good for another ten years, so I was like that's fine.

She also didn't have record that I had the measles/mumps/rubella shot. You know, that one EVERYONE has to get before their allowed into kindergarten? So she suggested I get the booster for that. I was fine with that too because then I could have a real record that I actually was allowed to be in school for the past sixteen years.

But then she said I should also get the flu shot and that's when I put my foot down. I told her I don't do flu shots because they make me sick and sans flu shot I'm healthy. She tried to convince me with the same logic as everyone else - Do it for your fellow classmates! - but I wasn't sold.

Then she pulled out the big guns. You really don't want to get the flu in France, right?

Crap. She had me. I really didn't want to get the flu in France. That would be awful! Plus she promised me it wouldn't make me sick because the vaccine is a shot of the inactivated virus. So I said okay. And I got the stupid flu shot for the first time in eleven years.

You know what happened? I got the flu. IN FRANCE.

I think I finally figured it out. Without the flu shot, my body recognizes the flu virus for what it is - a virus. When it comes my immune system is like, heck to the no! We don't want you here! And I don't get sick.

However, when I do get the flu shot my immune system is confused. The inactivated virus comes in and does no harm. When the real virus comes around my immune system is like, we like you guys! Why don't you come and hang out for a while. We're not doing anything this weekend.

But then the weekend passes and the virus is still hanging out and my immune system is like, oh crap, we're sick.

Which brings me to a piece of wisdom from Miss Manner's:

Fun Manners Lesson #6: Anyone ought to be able to be a good houseguest for that three-day period, which is why they invented the weekend.

Viruses, apparently, do not follow the rules of manners. Which is why I spent not only my entire weekend asleep, but most of this week as well. And according to the doctor, I can look forward to spending the next two weeks doing pretty much the same thing.

My trip to France has gone from Studying Abroad to Traveling Abroad to Sleeping Abroad.

All because of a flu shot.

Resume Builder

I had to go to a study abroad orientation before I was allowed to come to France. I received a lot of useless information while I was there, including an entire section on what I'm supposed to do when I go back home.

I don't remember any of it, except that I'm supposed to see career services so they can tell me how to write "I studied abroad" on my resume.

Do you have to do something special to write that on your resume? I mean, it seems pretty basic.

Studied Abroad, France; Spring 2013.

But after spending some time here, I realized that for companies to truly understand my time abroad, they're going to need a bit more information. So I'm now adding this:

Studied Abroad, France; Spring 2013.

• Went to doctor's office, spoke French, got the right meds.
• Played Scrabble, in French, scored 201 points.

I imagine my interview going something like this:

INTERVIEWER: I see you studied abroad in France. What was the doctor's office like?

ME: Well, it was pretty terrifying because I had to speak French, but it was also really fun because I finally got to use the French words for a bunch a body parts I thought were a waste of time to learn. This taught me that even stuff that seems pointless can someday have a point to it, which is why I'm applying to work at this job that no one else wants, but I need, because I have no life plan.

INTERVIEWER: Great. And we also see you played Scrabble while you were there. How did that change your view of the world?

ME: Ah yes, Scrabble. I thought Scrabble would be a great way to learn French words, but it turns out that if you don't all ready know French words, it's hard to make them up. Lucky for me, I had been reading Harry Potter - in French - right before, where I learned the word choc. I used the plural form of this, on a triple word space, to pluralize another word with the letter 'v' in it and got 36 points. It just went up from there. Consequently, my new world view is entirely based on Harry Potter references and connections. Because really, differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, pg. 723.

In conclusion, I still don't see why I need to go see Career Services when I get back.

Notes out of Context

I've been sick for the past couple of days. This isn't new, though. When you don't sleep because you spend all of your time "doing homework" there is always a little bit of a cold in your immune system.

This is a different kind of sick. This is the my eyes hurt and I just want a back rub and SERIOUSLY?! IF I COUGH ONE MORE TIME... kind of sick. Which is not any fun at all.

But I'm determined to beat this sickness. I've been laying in bed for the past two days and only got up once so I could go to the grocery store. I needed more orange juice because I had already finished my other four liters. I also got some cough drops.

But then I got home, and my body started to rebel against the orange juice. And also, those cough drops I bought? Not cough drops. They're a stupid type of French candy that don't taste very good and don't help with my cough (and yet, somehow I've managed to eat half the bag...)

I reached a pretty low point today. It was somewhere between 20-30 words into my first of three essays I have to write by tomorrow. I didn't want to be sick in France, I wanted to be sick at home so my mom would feel bad for me and give me a foot massage.

Then my host mom came up to see if I wanted dinner tonight and saw my collection of orange juice bottles. (Some people collect beer bottles, I collect orange juice bottles. I'm going to turn it into art.)

UPDATE: This is my art work. I call it Insta Orange Juice Gram

And then she felt my forehead and told me I had a fever. I had been suspecting this for a while, but going to the pharmacy required getting out of bed, which I'm avoiding. But then she asked if I wanted some medicine for my fever. Because she's a mom and she has stuff to take care of sick people. Host families are the greatest.

But that's actually not what this post is about. This post is about notes out of context.

You see, my sister wrote this really cool post a while ago called texts out of context. You just post random texts that are funny enough that you didn't have to be there. My roommates and I read her blog and then read some of our own texts out of context and laughed for a long time. Well, we laughed at their texts, mine aren't very funny. I would have a link to her post, except she deleted it, which I only found out after I spent the last couple hours reading through the past two years of her blog. It was worth it, though, because she is hilarious. Anyway...

Notes out of Context: I may not be funny, but my teachers are.

• There's always a bit of make believe when it comes to the law.
• History is written by the winners.
• A cynic might say a lot of this was borrowed from Jewish and Christian heritage.
• It's the only time we've ever killed a king...No wait, but it was the last time we killed a king.
• We're all in exile somewhere.
• One has been tried for corruption, one is being investigated for corruption, and one probably got away with corruption.
• Even if Roman Law is the best thing since sliced bread, as the saying goes.
• Everyone strikes in France, even the judges.
• It was forgotten, though, quite frequently.
• A word can mean anything I want it to.
• You need a certain amount of make believe to get a state going.
• It used to be voluntary; I think there was some bribery involved.
• With great power, comes great responsibility.
• It operates rather like a court, except that it's not a court.
• I don't know if any of you are up to date with Hungarian news...
• Sometimes legal wording must give way to political reality.
• Formalities can't be escaped. Rules are there to be gotten around.
• In all legal systems there is a bit of fiction.
• What is the acceptable level of a stupid or offensive thing you can say?

And that is what I have learned so far here in France. Also, apparently I haven't learned my lesson yet.

Your Fairy Godmother

“Oh, well, what’s a royal ball? I suppose it would be frightfully dull, and boring, and completely… completely wonderful.”

– Cinderella

When I was a little kid, every once in a while I would have this dream that I was adopted and a Fairy Godmother would come and make me a princess.

Unfortunately, I learned very early in life that my parents were much to kind to ever be my evil-stepparents and my dreams of being a princess went out the window.

Tomorrow my little sister gets to be a princess and I'm going to miss it. She gets to go to a fancy ball wearing a fancy dress and fancy gloves. Right now she is at the rehearsal dinner with my mom and dad. Yep, she also gets to go a fancy rehearsal dinner. And she didn't even have to be saved by a fairy godmother.

Regardless, I have decided to take it upon myself to be her fairy godmother and share with her some of Miss Manner's wisdom that I'm fairly certain will be overlooked at her rehearsal dinner.

Fun Manners Lesson #3: "[W]hite eighteen-button gloves must be white or whitish. For ladies, that is. For strippers, black mesh is probably better, and black mesh with appliquéd sequins even better.

Got that? No black mesh with appliquéd sequin gloves tomorrow.

Unfortunately, eighteen-button gloves don't actually have eighteen buttons on them. So what is a button you ask?

Fun Manners Lesson #4: "[The] button is a standard measurement of approximately one inch. The approximate part is because it is a French standard of measurement.

Yep, that sounds like the French.

Fun Manners Lesson #5:

Q: Exactly how are eighteen-button gloves peeled off?

A: The answer to how they are peeled off is - with slow drama...Properly done, this should hypnotize every gentleman at the table - as ladies and strippers both know. 

This sounds like something that should be practiced ahead of time. And if you need more detailed information on what exactly 'slow drama' is, you should refer to the bottom of page 636 in Miss Manner's Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior.

And finally, a little advice from Cinderella:

Have faith in your dreams and someday your rainbow will come smiling through. No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true.

And remember, even miracles take a little time.

A Good Feeling

This morning I woke up with a good feeling. I couldn't figure out what was so special about today, I just knew it was going to be a good day.

And it was.

I visited St. Jean's Cathedral -- it's still incredible. I watched some people set up a film scene along the Rhône river. I ate my favorite bread (pain brie) avec St. Moret et Nutella -- not at the same time of course. And I watched The Princess Bride. Mostly, though, I just walked around with a smile on my face and happy for no reason.

For dinner my host Mom made meat (!) and some delicious soup. Plus we talked in French the whole meal.

Then I looked at my watch and it hit me. Today is 5 Mars! It's my two-month anniversaire!

Which explains why today was such a good day.

I also found this delightful video today. And if you aren't happy after watching -- and participating in -- this then you probably don't like puppies or rainbows or sunshine and I can't help you.

For everyone else, enjoy!

I'm thinking of pulling these moves out the next time I go to a club.

Mes Rêves #2

#2: Visit the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Torino ✓ 

There is a really great bus company here in Europe called IDBus. As long as you have plenty of extra time to allow for long travel days, you can go to any of their seven stops very cheap. Lucky for me, one of those stops is Lyon.

It was because of IDBus that I even considered a trip to Torino. When I Googled it the first thing that came up with the Cinema Museum. I was sold.

Then I actually went to Torino and I seriously started to question my travel planning methods. I didn't know anything about this city except that it had a cinema museum. (It also turns out that the Olympics were here once upon a time, who knew?) I wandered around for a while, but it was snowing... and when I say snowing I mean snowing... and all I was wearing was a fleece. Serious lack of judgment on my part.

Luckily I spent most of my day in a museum.

The first floor of the museum was all about light and how light passes through mirrors and how the camera was invented... it was sooo boring. It was mostly just looking at pictures and reading - in Italian - about scientific stuff.

I paid for this? This is one of my study abroad goals? This is all I could think as I meandered around the museum. I didn't want to leave, though, because it was still snowing and I had no where else to go.

Then I made it to the second floor and suddenly my whole view changed. This museum is amazing! They had movie props and memorabilia and even a miniature set that had been used in Jurassic Park.

They also had a lot of interactive stations. Most used green screens to add you to film scenes, including the Yellow Brick Road scene from The Wizard of Oz.

They explained how movies are made, which I loved. They had sets built to look like movies that you could walk through. They also have one of the largest collections of movie posters. The entire third floor is just filled with movie posters.

In the middle of the museum is an open area with two giant screens playing scenes from movies. The best part, though, was the chairs that were set up so you could watch the movies. They laid all the way back, had speakers right by your ears so you could listen to the movie, and were so comfortable. Every cinema should be set up this way, and every museum, too. It's the perfect way to rest your feet after walking all around the museum.

I ended my trip to the museum with an elevator ride to the top of the Mole Antonelliana (that's the official name of the cinema museum building). The view of Torino was beautiful.

Oh, and one more fun fact about the museum? The place mats at the restaurant are screens that scroll through movie clips and information about movies from the early 1900s until now.

I will never again question my questionable travel planning methods.