Day 1: Arrival

us at the airport

Bonjour Tout!

So Danielley and I made it to Paris! That is.. after three hours at the San Diego Airport, a three hour plane ride to Texas (that included Kung Fu Panda and a chicken sandwich with ceasar salad), followed by what felt like a three mile walk from one end of the airport in Texas to the other end, then of course the 9 hour and 45 minute plane ride to Paris (that included What Happens in Vegas, peanuts, orange juice, House, chicken and pasta, The Cosby Show, and Narnia: Caspian Prince). But it was definitely all worth the journey because I can already tell that Paris is an amazing city!

Upon arriving at the airport we struggled somewhat to get our overweight bags onto the cart but didn't mind because we were just happy they made it! Then we got approached by a man in a very nice suit asking us if we needed a taxi, Danielle replied yes and he immediately grabbed the cart and led us to a "taxi." I say "taxi" because it had no signs or licensing or any indication whatsoever that it was a taxi. Catching on to this quickly, Danielley asked where the meter was and what his rate was and he told us he had a fixed rate of 70 euros. We both looked at each other a bit hesitantly because we were told it would only be 30-35 euros. Unfortunately he packed our bags into his car so quickly it didn't seem as though we had much choice but to get into the sketchy man's car. It may have been a bit pricey (80 euros total) but it's better than what some of the students went through. One of the girls told us that she and her friends took the metro and it took them three hours and several miles to get here- including much of what was spent lugging all of their bags up stairways! Eeeeekkk! So yeah, it was worth the 80 euros.

We got to the ACCENT Center where we were given our key and told the code to get into the dorm building. Once we got to the dorms we found a few other students trying to get into the building which turned out to be quite the difficult task. Nowhere in their directions did they tell us to push the door... haha.
So Danielley and I are sharing a teensy little dorm room for two weeks until the 31st where we will then part our separate ways to the still unknown homestay (dun dun dun...). Mom wasn't kidding when she told me I would learn to live a lot less luxurious.

our 2x2 shower.

the dorm room.

Love you all,
Micheley :)

Ecrivez moi, s'il vous plait! (Write me, please!)

*e-mail: micheleyoshioka@yahoo.com
*skype: micheleyyy
*skype phone: 916-378-5007
*gchat: micheleyoshi
*aim: micheley1O

Yay for Paris! This is probably the single most exciting thing that has happened to me yet in my 22 years of existence. I'm beyond grateful that I have amazing parents who have made this trip possible for me :) Above is my contact information. I'm not entirely sure how available internet access will be to me, but I'm fortunate enough to have my trusty little blackberry with me so I will have access to my e-mail and to gchat. Gchat is a nifty feature that gmail has... so if you create a gmail account, you can use gchat! I'll blog and put up pictures as much as possible... So check back when you can, and keep in touch! :)




De Paris, avec Amor (From Paris, with Love), Michele