Updates!

Hi y'all --

It's finally looking like summer.... a balmy 63 degrees (thanks washington!). And 4th of July tomorrow - I'm somehow feeling a little more patriotic than normal.

Okay so super duper great developments in my life. I have started interning at The Borgen Project (www.borgenproject.org) in downtown Seattle and will be doing so for the rest of the summer (just 6 more weeks, what????). I'm living with my awesome Aunt Barb in her apartment on Capital Hill. Every morning I wake up and walk 10 blocks downtown and feel super awesome and young and urban and professional in my biz cajj/cassh/cazzzsss/[insert some effort in abbreviating casual].... and every evening I walk uphill 10 blocks and feel completely exhausted and sweaty. Have you ever been on Capital Hill? It would be a great hill to sled down (and probably wipe out on... knowing me) but it is a lousy hill to walk up and is the bane of my existence... but it beats being lazy and paying $2 for a 5 minute bus ride.

I also have a skeleton in my bedroom. Yes... a human skeleton. well it's plastic, but you would never really know that. It sits in the corner on a pile of books. I'm not sure what is customary in rooming with a skeleton as I have never had a skeleton in my possession before. I'm thinking of naming him (her?) to humanize the whole thing (but what could be more human than a skeleton? or not human? i'm just not sure).... so open to suggestions on that one.

Capital Hill is also probably the sketchiest part of Seattle ever. The apartment is super nice, and pretty much every hospital ever is across the street (Capital Hill is referred to as Pill Hill) but I'm also sure that every homeless person in Seattle lives somewhere along my walk to work. Yuppies and the homeless - this new life holds a very odd collection of demographics. So far I have taken to packing a lot of food for my lunch so I can give some away during my "commute"... but so far no one has asked me for anything.

The Borgen Project is actually pretty much the shit. There are 6 interns (though one of them hasn't been around so I'm not sure if she exists) and Clint who is the main guy. Basically everyone is awesome and we do awesome work.... Here watch this video about it:



Everyone should know that it's super easy to call your senator and make a difference. Basically we're just trying to get people involved in the political process (and end global poverty! woo!), it's way more fun and effective that way. I'll probably post more about that soon.

Leaving Anacortes in 45 days and I'll leave for Paris in 52!

Love, Clara

http://www.parislogue.com/featured-articles/where-to-go-clubbing-in-paris.html

http://www.timeout.com/paris/features/96/clubs-in-paris

Back

I haven't updated in awhile because I have been both busy and not busy. Being busy at school means no time for updating, and being not busy at home means nothing to really update on. But I will try my best now to explain what I am doing as far as Getting Ready For Paris.

One major excitement is that I bought my plane ticket! August 18th I will be leaving wee Anacortes for a (hopefully?) very very long time. I will arrive at LAX and spend 6 blissful days at USC with some of my dearest friends, catching my last rays of sun for awhile and the California lifestyle which I have truly begun to embrace and call my own. The evening of August 24th I will depart from LAX and will land in Washington, D.C. the next morning. I'll then have 6 or so hours to hang out at the airport...hmmm... before a group meeting at noon (can't wait to meet my 75 new closest friends!) and then our plane leaves at 5 pm (i think?) and I will arrive the next morning (i think??) in Paris. WOW THAT'S A LOT OF TRAVELING. But - thankfully most of it will be on Virgin my very favorite airline... and then Air France so, duh, that will be awesome.

Other exciting accomplishments are mostly just receiving my visa (requiring traveling to San Francisco by myself and stomping around all over the place) and not having to worry about that anymore. Oh and I got attacked by a dog (un grand chien!!!)... I survived that so maybe I can survive anything now?

I'm also reading Julie and Julia. Though quite summery and chiclit-ish I highly recommend it, especially for anyone that doesn't know a lot about French cooking - aka me before I started it. The writing is really funny and she makes all of these crazy/delicious/crazydelicious dishes from a crepe cake with mushroom cream stuff in between the layers (i want to make that!) to different "aspics" which are just cold meats with jelly on top which sounds especially disgusting and I don't look forward to chowing down on anytime soon.

Mom and I went kayaking yesterday which is a really awesome pastime. I'm also watching How To Train Your Dragon - kind of right now as I'm typing this - and it's thoroughly awesome. I really enjoy this quote from it: "Trolls exist! They steal socks... but only the left ones.... what's up with that?"

Well I would like to update this more often as I get closer to embarking (a little over two months!) but I'll just have to find more interesting and pertinent things to talk about. Oh - last night I taught my mother all of the french swear words I know (merde et putain - c'est tout). That is pretty pertinent.

Bientôt!

Clara

“ What if a demon were to creep after you one night, in your loneliest loneliness, and say, ‘This life which you live must be lived by you once again and innumerable times more; and every pain and joy and thought and sigh must come again to you, all in the same sequence. The eternal hourglass will again and again be turned and you with it, dust of the dust!’ Would you throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse that demon? Or would you answer ‘Never have I heard anything more divine’?"

Friedrich Nietzsche

not to be melodramatic....

While trying to write a scholarship essay I discovered a bunch of stuff I had written about Japan when I got back that I completely forgot about:

List some of the most important things you learned during this study travel that you haven’t already described.

When I returned from Japan I couldn't quite place my finger on what had changed. All I knew is that something had. However, after speaking with Casey about this and realizing that we were both feeling the same way, we were able to pin this feeling down.

Since my return I have had a better relationship with my family. I've decided which homework is important, and which 20 points are not going to affect my life. I've had a greater understanding of who I want to be friends with, and who I can let go. I've made new friends, important friends, that I'd always kept at arms distance. I've made investments and big decisions for my future. I've listened to better music and I've eaten healthier. I've felt better. I've realized what is important and what is not.

My life has become simpler, yet fuller. This is very hard to put in words, but I think Japan really just let me realize what I need in life. Since then, this is sort of how I spend my day:

I wake up. I love my family. I go to school. I appreciate my classes and teachers - but I don't let them stress me out. I read to enjoy. I do my homework, but I don't let it weigh me down. I spend time with the people that make me a better person, the people that make me laugh and the people that make me cry for the right reasons. I'm okay with being myself. I'm proud of my accomplishments, but I want other people to have the same opportunities. My life has more to it, but is easier to handle. I sleep.

I just wish everyone could have the same experience I did, because it was a very good one.


This was really interesting to read because these are all things that I take for granted now - but I guess two years ago they were new ideas. What was I like before I went to Japan??? And will I even recognize myself when I come back from France?

I like lists and these are all very good lists...

Coping tips for living in Paris


Surprises about living in Paris


10 Things to Do in 24 Hours


Also after talking to my new friend Georg last night I did a little youtubing of tectonique and found these videos amusing:




also one of my favorite Yelle songs








Bientôt!
Clara

P.S. I spelled tectonik, tectonique, tecktonik, etc. quite a few different ways on this post. bare with me.

It's funny how facebook keeps referring to me as vous. Dude facebook - come on! Don't you think we're on a tu basis already???