Ruby
Last week I went to Paris for four days. It was amazing. The streets were crowded with bicycles and smart cars and Vespas and busy people. The French language sounded beautiful, and I felt stupid for not knowing it. Everyone was well-dressed, no matter who they were or where they were going, and I felt slummy in my ripped black-velvet cloak that I usually think is awesome. The school children riding their scooters around looked like the kids at home do when they go out to a fancy restaurant.
We went to two different modern art museums. They were fantastic, and my dad got to see his favorite color, Yves Klein blue, in person. We went to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo and hundreds of other paintings and sculptures. The building was huge, and the high ceilings were painted with amazingly intricate images. It made me think that even though the MAM was cool and the art there required genius and time, very few people in the world possess the skill to make a huge, detailed statue of a person out of a giant rock.
Paris felt really close and homey, which is weird for a big city. The street signs were on the buildings instead of on posts. The Metro was old-fashioned and came shooting out of a giant tiled tube of darkness. It wasn’t as sleek or as packed with people as the Hong Kong MTR that I’m used to, but I definitely liked the Parisian one more. And there was a guy playing an accordion. Accordions have a beautiful, full sound and it made the train seem warmer.
I ate so much good food. SO. MUCH. And I ate french fries! In France!
On the plane ride home, I was thinking about how badly I wanted to stay, and how I hoped I could come back some day, when I saw a rainbow from above in a perfect circle—the end to an amazing trip. ♦
@Nandi: Sono felice che l’Italia é bella :)
Log in to replyAhh! Nandi and Ruby! You’re so lucky you guys got to travel to cool places! I might go to France next summer, and after reading what Ruby said, I’m super psyched!
Log in to replyIf you do, and if you go to Paris, two things you have to do:
Log in to reply1. Get Bertillon cassisse sorbet.
2. Tour the Catacombes.
Ruby, did you know that french fries are actually Belgian?
Log in to replyLife. Ruined.
Log in to replyNandi. you’re cool. exciited for next week.
Log in to replyalso:
<3 Britney I'm so proud of you (and Sariel and Ying Ying) for being so badass 24/7 -alice
Log in to replyThanks Alice! <3
Log in to replyBRITNEY BRITNEY BRITNEY. OMG. I am actually a part of a similar-ish feminist group that was ALSO involved in the same Nick News segment. Only the film crew came to our location…. I thought we were supposed to film in their studio as well…but actually we haven’t heard from them for a while as to what’s happening next… and from what you wrote it sounds like they already filmed the segment? Which would mean they don’t want my group after all? *tears*
Anyway, that must have been an amazing experience for you! Congratulations!
If you want, check out my group’s, (it’s called the Girls Advisory Council), blog here: http://www.apigac.blogspot.com/
Log in to replyI actually wrote about how awesome Rookie is in my post about women in the media :)
Naomi! I completely get you. Right now those two songs for me are Ride by Lana Del Ray and Crucify Me by Bring Me The Horizon. Two very different songs but I reccomend both to anyone.
Log in to replyI’m glad you had a good time Ruby. France sounds wonderful! I might be going to Poland over the summer, so it might be nice to pay a visit to another European country too :)
Log in to reply~Caroline~
Wow Naomi you totally captured how I was feeling recently.
I just left school and things became so blurry and messed up knowing I’d never see many people again and that fact I was suddenly so alone.
But then when reality set in, all the haze, as you put it, lifted and I realised nothing bad had happened. It’s life. Happiness is still there and I can achieve it.
PS I also share way too much with strangers as a coping mechanism when the conversation runs dry… Actually no, when the conversation is booming I do too. Whoops.
The Lovelorn
Log in to replyOh my god what is the deal with France it’s like as soon as you cross the border the stylishness and attractiveness of everyone makes you feel so inferior :( maybe that’s my weird inferiority complex about everything acting up! Anyway I’m going to Paris in March, I feel really lucky.
Log in to replyHearing about all you wonderful ladies’ exploits makes me so proud of you all (even though I don’t really know you but that’s okay because it’s Rookie) and also jealous because I too am under a lot of school stress and I unlike all of you am not getting anything done with my life right now and have been really beating myself up about it a lot and kind of emotional and yikes. Maybe now I will do something… maybe.
Ruby, I LOVE PARIS AS WELL.
I went there last October with my school and I literally fell in love with a city. The people, the FOOD, the language, the stalls near the river, the beautiful buildings, etcetcetc. The best thing is…….my birthday was spent exploring Paris! It’s one of those wonderful coincidences that makes me feel so lucky.
Haha I even daydream of going on an exchange program to Paris during uni. (It WILL come true guys, it will. I’ll make sure of it).
Log in to replyRuby, i know exactly how you feel! i studied in France 2 years ago and i miss it every single day
Log in to replyit’s the most magical place i’ve ever been
I fell in love with Paris while I was there on a two week exchange trip with my school. It’s such a beautiful city, in all its crevasses and seems. I’m so happy and so lucky that I get to spend 6 weeks going to school there this spring!!! I’m so excited that its actually happening. I can’t wait to see Paris again <3
Log in to replyOh, Ruby, while you’re there, you need to check out Colette. It’s a really awesome store full of a wide range of awesome things near the Louvre, rue Rivolli
Log in to replyThank you for sharing snippets of your life, Katherine! You don’t know how helpful and encouraging it can be to a stranger like me…
Since a few weeks I’ve been avoiding my work and teachers again, mostly out of fear that I’m not competent enough to produce something good or interesting or valuable.
After reading your diary entry, I opened my University e-mail account. I didn’t actually have the guts to log-in. So I went back to the Rookie website. One glance at the homepage, and I suddenly heard all these Rookie staff members and imagined fellow Rookie readers shouting words of encouragement (You can do it! It’s not too late to take control! You are smart! You like your studies! Stop being afraid!).
I then felt brave enough to type in my username and password and hit enter. This all probably sounds ridiculously ridiculous, but it’s a huge victory for me! I’ve actually replied to some of my teacher’s e-mails!
Now, I’m going to make myself a pot of tea, pick out the right music to accompany me, and read and write and make mistakes and improve my drafts and catch up on my work!
Maya-Chimera
Log in to replyCongratulations!!
Log in to reply“The cold has caught up with me, and I am remembering how to feel warm again.” That’s so beautiful and relevant to me :)
Log in to replyOMG Caitlin, my sis and me are exactly like you when it comes to Christmas music, -except from…we start listening to it in november…..^^
Log in to replyyaaaayyy- it is so unfair that some of the best music is restricted to a one month play!!
Log in to replyWowowow such awesome things going on with the diarist crew! Paris and Italy and Gloria Steinem?? ALL AT ONCE? This rocks :)
Log in to replyNaomi, I love reading your journals, because I always connect so well to them. I’m learning, as I fall apart, that people do love me, and I’m so thankful for that. It’s so hard to realize that people matter even when we’re alone.
Log in to replyOh, Ruby, i so can understand you.
Log in to replyJust came back from my 3 months stay in Paris and life feels really boring and meaningless right now. Paris is an amazing place.
Naomi, I have an enormous mouth, too. Like, I’d spill my life story to a stranger on the bus.
Log in to replyUhg me, stop this.
Ruby – PARIS and a full circle rainbow! i didn’t even know that existed! dreamy! did you get cake from pierre herme? i hope so.
Log in to replyRuby ! I live in Paris, I’m glad you had a good experience :)
Log in to replyI was for an exchange in France for three month and tomorrow I’ll go home. But my host family didn’t go to Paris with me bacause it would have been too expensive. Instead I had to stay in an small boring village during the whole vacation in automn. :(
Log in to replyWaw ! It is just so strange that we have all the same fascination for another culture ! I live in France and actually, my dream is to visit USA and to spend like two months there and have a perfect road-trip. But for me, french isn’t as cool as english and American culture inspires me a lot… So, thanks to love my country ;) It makes less inferior when I dream that I was an American girl :)
Log in to replykatherine you inspired me to work harder:)…..and reminded me that i have a pile of work to do :/
Log in to reply-Ruby-
I find that it is really intresting to see how foreigners see our country, especially our bigger city Paris. And when I read your text, I finally understand why tourist love this city so much.
So if one of you, girls, want to come in Paris, I’m here! : )
http://manaelle.tumblr.com
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