I have not faced many challenges since being in France. Aside from the usual adjusting to college life and missing home living abroad this semester has been quite easy. The most eventful part of this experience has been this past week.It is Thanksgiving break and we all had a week to go off and do whatever we chose to do. Gregory, Dave and I decided to go to London. Not one of us had ever been before. It started off horrible and turned into one of the biggest adventures of my life. We arrived in London without a knowing where where we were going to stay. We knew about a few hostels but foolishly never got around to actually booking one. That was the big mistake of the trip. Our flight got in at around eight and then we had to take an hour and a half long bus ride into London proper. We were having a great time just knowing that we were in London. When we arrived at the train station we had dinner and relaxed after our travels. London looked absolutely gorgeous all lit up and sparkly. After about an hour or so of admiration we decided it was time to look for a place to stay. Not only did we find a hotel or hostel,found street after street completely lined with just hotels. We thought it was are lucky night. Oh, on the contrary. For ever single hotel, inn,or bed and breakfast had signs stating 'no vacancy'. After three or four hours wandering around with all of our bags I began thinking that this trip was a bad idea. We had been in London for 6 hours and still had no place to stay. Finally at about six in the morning we found a nasty over priced flea bag hotel to spend the night. It was horrible but I suppose much better than outside in the freezing rain.
The next morning, semi-rested we found a Internet cafe and spent a few hours searching the Internet. We finally found a place that could actually accommodate us. It then took us three hours of walking around to find the actual address. It is above a bar and it is the coolest hostel any of us had every stayed in (well it is the only hostel any of us had ever stayed in). It was a huge relief having a place to stay, we could finally relax and enjoy London.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
A New Moon Has Risen
I know that I did the ‘What is the most amazing thing you have seen this week?’ prompt last week but, I just have to do it again this week. I have been awaiting this occurrence since the beginning of last year and it went completely above and beyond my expectations. Have you read the Twilight Saga? Well at the risk of sounding like a pre-teen girl I will happily say that I am a huge fan. I started reading Twilight when it came out in 2004 and eagerly awaited the three following books. Now that the series is complete and all four books have been read and re-read multiple times it is time to focus on the films.
I am not usually a person who likes movie adaptations of books. Reading is a passion of mine and I find most book-to-film projects to be a disgrace to the original piece of art. The Twilight films seem to be an exception for me. The books are so full of detail and description that you cannot help but be completely sucked into their world while reading it. As my mind processed each word on the page a movie played in my head. It is wonderful having a true visual representation of the material.
I truly enjoyed the first movie; of course things could have been done better. There were important parts left out and unnecessary parts added. New Moon, the second film, is a completely different story.
Yesterday a group of friends and I went into the city to go to the cinema. It was my first time every entering a movie theater in France. For the most part they are very similar to the US; long lines, candy, and ticket rippers. As the room darkened and the screen flickered to life we knew we were in for an amazing experience. The theater was packed and from the second Edward appeared on screen the crowd was in frenzy. It was so much fun seeing all of the mania that accompanies these movies. It is blatantly obviously in the US with the t-shirts and the ‘Team Edward’ or ‘Team Jacob’ memorabilia. Here the fandom is just a crazy, maybe just slightly less material based.
We attended the VOST showing of the film so we could hear it in English. It did not surprise me at all that the original English version sold out way before the French dubbed version. Everyone there, French or English, wanted the true experience of the film with the characters sounding like they were meant to. My roommate and I were almost hyperventilating the entire film. If you are not a fan this will sound mad but if you are you will know exactly what I am talking about. The film was beyond amazing. It followed the book as closely as possible and found creative ways to incorporate the little things that make the book special. Being able to see it two days before all of my friends back in America adds to the fun! This week made many people very jealous.
I am not usually a person who likes movie adaptations of books. Reading is a passion of mine and I find most book-to-film projects to be a disgrace to the original piece of art. The Twilight films seem to be an exception for me. The books are so full of detail and description that you cannot help but be completely sucked into their world while reading it. As my mind processed each word on the page a movie played in my head. It is wonderful having a true visual representation of the material.
I truly enjoyed the first movie; of course things could have been done better. There were important parts left out and unnecessary parts added. New Moon, the second film, is a completely different story.
Yesterday a group of friends and I went into the city to go to the cinema. It was my first time every entering a movie theater in France. For the most part they are very similar to the US; long lines, candy, and ticket rippers. As the room darkened and the screen flickered to life we knew we were in for an amazing experience. The theater was packed and from the second Edward appeared on screen the crowd was in frenzy. It was so much fun seeing all of the mania that accompanies these movies. It is blatantly obviously in the US with the t-shirts and the ‘Team Edward’ or ‘Team Jacob’ memorabilia. Here the fandom is just a crazy, maybe just slightly less material based.
We attended the VOST showing of the film so we could hear it in English. It did not surprise me at all that the original English version sold out way before the French dubbed version. Everyone there, French or English, wanted the true experience of the film with the characters sounding like they were meant to. My roommate and I were almost hyperventilating the entire film. If you are not a fan this will sound mad but if you are you will know exactly what I am talking about. The film was beyond amazing. It followed the book as closely as possible and found creative ways to incorporate the little things that make the book special. Being able to see it two days before all of my friends back in America adds to the fun! This week made many people very jealous.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Light in Art
All throughout the museum today, I noticed light plays a part of the sculptures. Art is the my favorite thing in the entire world. I have always appreciated the beauty, creativity, and talent that goes into making art. Being an art history major I spend a lot of time looking at and analyzing art and its meanings I have never taken the time to see the science within it. The most amazing thing that I have seen this week was this exhibition that explored science and art together through the ways that they are interconnected and used to improve eachother.Light has been haunting me everywhere since starting this pathway, DBT will be proud of my new observations.
Though it was a museum of science, art was a big part of its collection. The most amazing thing, that I saw, at the museum were the pictures that changed from a distance. Standing close the photographs they were all the same shot of Albert Einstein, but by backing away from the wall in which they were hanging each of the pictures transformed into a different person.
After taking five or six steps backwards, the face of Einstein started to change. He transformed into Marilyn Monroe, Harry Potter, Salvador Dali, and a few other famous faces. At first I was completely astounded, how could this work? Hanging beside the pictures there was a sign explaining the science between the changing faces. In the end it had everything to do with light.
Light travels at different frequencies, by making the pictures be on two different way lengths the pictures so up at different times. I think it has something to do with the eye not being able to interpret the two wavelengths at the same time. The eye processes one picture and then the other, creating the transition between the two different people. To be honest I was not very enthusiastic about the museum at first, science is my least favorite subject, but the museum was amazing. I had a really great time today.
Though it was a museum of science, art was a big part of its collection. The most amazing thing, that I saw, at the museum were the pictures that changed from a distance. Standing close the photographs they were all the same shot of Albert Einstein, but by backing away from the wall in which they were hanging each of the pictures transformed into a different person.
After taking five or six steps backwards, the face of Einstein started to change. He transformed into Marilyn Monroe, Harry Potter, Salvador Dali, and a few other famous faces. At first I was completely astounded, how could this work? Hanging beside the pictures there was a sign explaining the science between the changing faces. In the end it had everything to do with light.
Light travels at different frequencies, by making the pictures be on two different way lengths the pictures so up at different times. I think it has something to do with the eye not being able to interpret the two wavelengths at the same time. The eye processes one picture and then the other, creating the transition between the two different people. To be honest I was not very enthusiastic about the museum at first, science is my least favorite subject, but the museum was amazing. I had a really great time today.
Friday, November 6, 2009
The Moon and the Stars
This week has been a very crazy and hectic week. All of our classes have been moved or extended to accommodate an excessive amount of pre-scheduled school activities. Early mornings and late nights had drained me into an uninterested blob of tiredness. I had no real desire to listen to people talk about the French government. One of the speakers that we went to see actually avoided a question by saying that he did want to risk losing his job. It was the most ridiculous thing that I have ever heard. It reminded me of why I hate the political game so much. People are not real. As much as they try to become real they are just puppets for the most part.
To relax on night a friend and I went outside at 1:30 in the morning. Lying down on a bench looking up at the sky I saw the most amazing thing this week. The moon was full. The bright glowing sphere was surrounded by clouds that it illuminated into a circular rainbow. This is real; the moon, the stars, the clouds. It is so easy to forget all of your troubles when you are looking up at the beautiful dark sky. Compared to New England the stars are barely visible. Looking up you can probably see one hundred stars twinkling in the blackness. Staring up at the clouds that made it seem like the moon was moving at tremendous speeds I just felt this overwhelming sense of calm. Seeing such a beautiful moon it becomes obvious what a small role humans have in the universe. Taking time to observe and appreciate helps bring a person into a correct perspective.
To relax on night a friend and I went outside at 1:30 in the morning. Lying down on a bench looking up at the sky I saw the most amazing thing this week. The moon was full. The bright glowing sphere was surrounded by clouds that it illuminated into a circular rainbow. This is real; the moon, the stars, the clouds. It is so easy to forget all of your troubles when you are looking up at the beautiful dark sky. Compared to New England the stars are barely visible. Looking up you can probably see one hundred stars twinkling in the blackness. Staring up at the clouds that made it seem like the moon was moving at tremendous speeds I just felt this overwhelming sense of calm. Seeing such a beautiful moon it becomes obvious what a small role humans have in the universe. Taking time to observe and appreciate helps bring a person into a correct perspective.
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