Getting in the Swing of Things

Well, I've officially been in Paris for 3 weeks now, and I think I'm finally settling in. Caine and I are now in a 4 person apartment with Jasmine (from Boston) and Elise (from Melbourne). Classes are going great, if a bit abstract. I've been applying for internships back in the states, and running into a few problems with interviews because I'm overseas, but Diane Von Furstenberg wants me to contact them when I get back to the States to set up an interview. She e-mailed me the same day I applied, and passed on my resume/portfolio to Marc Jacobs and Polo Ralph Lauren! I also applied at Tory Burch yesterday, but as I did it through the online application and not through a contact, I'm not getting my hopes up. Contacts are EVERYTHING in this industry, so getting out there and networking (whether through e-mails, phone calls, LinkedIn, whatever) is so important. It's a little intimidating!

As for classes, I go back and forth. On Mondays, we have Haute Couture sewing (hand-sewing samples, mostly, to get the hang of things) and Fashion History (17th to 19th centuries), as well as a three hour class at the end to catch up on things, so we're there 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays, I only have one two-hour class, and that's French 3. Wednesdays I have off, so we usually do homework, go to the fabric district, do laundry (SO EXPENSIVE HERE. Like, 8 euros per load!), and generally take a breather. Thursday is another 9 to 6 day, with Draping in the morning, then Textiles class, Costume Research, and some other class I don't know the name of in the evening. Thursdays are our days with Xavier. Xavier is your typical French man--kind of catty, wears all black, acts like sunshine could turn him to dust... He has his own knitwear line and works for Yiqing Yin, a major Fashion designer who was selected to run a Haute Couture show this year. He pushes SO hard in terms of the creative thought process. He makes us go so far out of our comfort zone that it feels like we need a rope just to get back. Right now, for him, we're designing a garment out of "things we hate," a silhouette entirely from squares and triangles (no darts! no curves! NO CHEATING!), and a garment based on images of our favorite place (he just told us that we will have to use these images to create a garment out of "camouflage," in any sense of the word). Fridays we have Xavier in the morning for Illustration, and Martine in the afternoon for more Haute Couture. Martine is the sweetest thing! She only speaks French, so she and I have a lot of fun conversations (yesterday we had to peel an orange in one go, trace the pattern, and cut out fabric to sew it back together into a ball. SO MUCH HARDER THAN IT SOUNDS. But the cloth was green, so we decided that it looked, LITERALLY, like un petit chou!). For 20 years, Martine worked for Madame Grey, whose factory burned down some time ago. Madame Grey is a legend in the fashion industry for her pleating techniques. Martine is one of only TWO PEOPLE LEFT who know the techniques, and she's the ONLY one willing to teach them to others! It's such an amazing opportunity to learn from her. At any rate, two of our professors only speak French, one prefers French due to her self-proscribed "horrible" English (not true, but I let it go), and Xavier learned English in London. I get a lot of opportunities to practice my French! Below are some pictures of our classroom.

Squares and Triangles dress that I'm conceptualizing

Of course, it's not ALL work and no play. Last weekend, Jasmine, Caine, Elise, Phoebe (also from Melbourne), Chantalle (from Lebanon) and I went to the Luxembourg Gardens by our apartment. They were so beautiful. The sculptures alone made up for the fact that it was about 20* outside and snowy. By the way, where has Warm Paris gone? I'm constantly told, "Paris is never this cold! This is so unusual for us!" However, I've yet to see a day that is both above 30* AND sunny. Ah, I guess I should know better. I mean, I AM from Oregon, after all--Land of the Rain... 


Elise, Jasmine and I went to a Tibetan restaurant right next door to our apartment last night. I love the French--their customs are, at times, so different from our own, yet they still make SENSE. For instance, if you want your server's attention, you must ASK for it, as the French don't believe in "rushing" their customers. You have to ask for the check when you want it, because they don't want you to feel like you have to leave! I was talking to the owner, and she was telling us how everything was homemade. I was so impressed! I did make a little faux pas without knowing it, though--I asked her if the ice cream was homemade as well, as it was the BEST chocolate ice cream I'd ever tried--she started laughing and said, "You must be joking me!" Then she left. Oops... It's okay, though--most French people are pretty understanding. I mean, I feel like it means more to them that you're actively trying to speak the language, and not just forcing your own culture on them. I can totally understand that. I've worked in retail for quite some time, and I know that if someone foreign comes up to me and tries to insist that I speak his language and not my own, I would do my best, but I'd be a little insulted.


Anyways, I'll leave you with some fun pictures of the Gardens and us goofing around at our flat. It's a beautiful day outside, I think we're going to do some shopping today! Tonight should be fun as well; it's Thelma (from Iceland)'s birthday, so we're having a get together at a friend's house. That reminds me... I'll have to pick up some wine for her gift! Bonne journée!

Caine rocking the headphones and mustache

Jasmine's oh-so-healthy dinner

Caine's addictions

Our ever-growing quote wall

The Luxembourg Gardens

Chantalle and I

Bienvenu à Classe!

Yesterday, Caine, her dad, and I went to see Notre Dame de Paris and La Tour Eiffel. Notre Dame was lovely; we ended up going during their mass (which was absolutely amazing, by the way). The architecture is just fantastic. I was a super smart person and decided against wearing a coat (daring, n'est pas?) and was, as a result, super freaking cold. But it was all worth it: we went to the very top of the Eiffel Tower and saw the wonder that is Paris from above.

Today we started classes officially. I had Haute Couture sewing, Fashion History (due to a scheduling mix up, we all managed to MISS this class... Oops), and Pattern Making/Draping. We ended up going to an art store and a fabric store in the shopping district of Paris for that last class so that we could get all of our supplies at a reasonable price. I met a lot of great people; a girl from Boston and a girl from Melbourne live in the apartment two floors above us, and we bonded with them pretty well. We're all going out tomorrow night. I also got to know a girl from London, a girl from Iran, a girl from Lebanon, a girl from Mexico, a girl from New York, and a girl from Paris.

Exposure has done wonders for my French. I'm able to converse with the shop keepers without being laughed out of the store, and Lea, from Paris, let's me speak French to her while she speaks back in English. It's fantastic--she's so sweet. She told me that Parisians really do like it when you try to speak with them in French; it makes them more open-minded about what you have to say to see that you're trying. Today, after classes, Caine and I went to the grocery store and the boulangerie and got stuff to make grilled cheese, pasta, cereal, etc... Bread is so great and so cheap here. I got a chocolate brioche, a regular brioche, and two croissants for four euros.

Tomorrow morning, we'll all get up bright and early and be in class by 8:30 to do a special dyeing workshop. We'll be doing Shibori dyeing on silk, which involves wrapping layers of cloth around a board (or wine bottle in our case), painting on colors, and then taking them away in layers. The effects can look something like the picture below (credited to http://tondro.com/archive/2005_10_01_archive.html).

We then have a three hour break, but we have to be back at the school by 3:15 in order to get ready for our first runway show! We'll be backstage at Basil Soda (www.basilsoda.com), dressing the models. We've been instructed to wear our blacks, minimal makeup, no jewelry, hair up... Much like tech work on plays. Basil Soda is absolutely amazing, so I'll be sure to take lots of pictures. Oh my gosh, this is so amazing! We're really hitting the ground running. To give you a quick preview of Basil Soda's style, here is a dress from his Fall 2011 line.

à bientôt!

Quand en Paris...

So yesterday morning, I woke up at about 7:30 a.m. and got ready to hop on my plane to Paris. After a near-heart-attack from the woman at the check in gate over my visa (she didn't know how to read the dates, as they're backwards from the US) and a tearful goodbye with Thane and my mother, I boarded my plane to Minneapolis (a 45 minute flight). In Minneapolis, I had a four hour layover, after which I got on my Air France flight to Paris (a 7 1/2 hour flight). I couldn't sleep on the plane due to a headache, and I finally got out of the airport and into a cab at 8:30 a.m. Paris time (1:30 a.m. Des Moines time).

Paris is actually a lot like any other major city. It has some seriously shady parts visible from the high ways. There's graffiti on every overpass. The drivers are scary and inconsiderate. I don't think I saw one speed limit sign on my way here. Honestly, I will never ever want to drive in Paris--it's terrifying. My cab driver nearly hit the other cars at least ten times because everyone's cutting each other off and speeding up at ridiculous moments. Best part: my cab sped up to 40 mph for five seconds, then jerked to a stop in order to not hit two crossing policemen (pedestrians), and nearly sped up again and toppled over them because they were walking too slow. The policemen didn't even wince--they just held up a hand and kept talking among themselves as they crossed.

We got to PAA, and I met a few of the instructors/people in charge. They're all very nice! I'm set up in a temporary apartment with Caine until February 1, and after that we'll be in an apartment across the street from PAA. The apartment we're currently in is gorgeous. The owner told us it was actually built by his great-great uncle during the Directoire for the Revolution in the early 1800's, and it was built atop a recently destroyed convent, which was in turn built atop the ruins of a Roman villa. So the basement is totally stone, and you can see the different phases in the stone--2nd century AD at the bottom, 16th century in the middle, and 19th century at the top. The entire place is just gorgeous.

Paris itself is lovely. Caine, her father, and I went to lunch at a small restaurant a few blocks down. We even ordered in French! The waitress was surprisingly patient, but I think she was still rather annoyed despite our best efforts. The food was fantastic as well. I had a salad with apple slices, tomatoes, onions, and a vinaigrette, and it was served with a round of camembart, warmed and topped with honey. Good Lord, it was fantastic. I also had a chocolat chaud... Even the lowest common denominator of hot chocolates in Paris are miles ahead of the US!

Caine, her father, and I have plans to go to Normandy by train tomorrow and see Deauville, which should be fantastic. Deauville is where the famed film, "Un Homme et Une Femme," was shot by director Claude Lelouch. It was honestly one of my favorite films from my French Cinema course a few years back. And of course, who could forget the song?

On Sunday, we'll be touring Paris proper. Monday we start classes with orientation at 9 a.m., and from the sound of things, it seems as though we'll be working a runway show on Tuesday as well. How fantastic is that?

And on that note, I have officially gone 29 hours without sleep. I think something needs to be done about that. One last parting shot for you all:

Paris Woes

SO.


I leave for Paris in TWENTY TWO DAYS. Isn't that so fantastic? I'm rounding up everything I'm going to take. So far I've decided that I'm leaving most of my hair care products (straighteners, shampoo/conditioner, etc.) and picking those up in France, because A.) The motor of my straightener will blow out from the voltage over there, and B.) I'm nearly out of shampoo/conditioner anyways, and why would I take up luggage space with that when I can get fabulous stuff overseas? I've also stocked up on Express cami's (MOST AMAZING THINGS EVER). I still need to get luggage, but my Uncle was kind enough to send me money for Christmas to pick those up.


I'm getting kind of nervous. I'm sitting here on my couch, and it occurred to me that in less than a month, I won't be able to sit on my couch anymore until May. I won't see my boyfriend or my kittens or my Blik-Wall-Decals or my fabulous bedroom set. Or my big-enough-to-cook-in kitchen. And I just bought another year of Amazon Prime before realizing--that does me no good whatsoever overseas. I picked up candles from Bath and Body Works yesterday, because I don't know if wallflowers would work in French outlets (seeing as my straightener won't, I mean). And I'm looking around my living room, thinking, "Well, should I bring my yoga mat? No, I should pick one up there, right?" And of course I'll miss my family and friends here. But what I'm most nervous about is fitting in, honestly. I'm so afraid that I'll go over and they'll immediately see how AMERICAN I am and want nothing to do with me. And with so few people at the school, what if I don't make good friends, and end up spending four months an ocean away from anyone who likes me? And what if my clothes aren't PARIS enough, and people just raise one eyebrow when I try to say, "S'il vous plait, je dois acheter un liseur... Ou est-ce que je le trouve?" Good grief, I feel like I'm in kindergarten again. One of my French customers came into Eddie Bauer yesterday, and we talked in French for a bit and I told him about how I was going abroad next semester. Ten minutes after he left, all I could think about was how I'd misconjugated a verb. Also, when I go out, is it presumptuous to try to speak in French to people? I'd really like to, but what if they wave me off and just tell me to speak English in order to stop butchering their language?


Wow. I haven't actually said that to anyone before. The insecurity thing, I mean. 


But, yeah. Okay.


I also stocked up on lotion. And I got my favorite perfume for Christmas (the DKNY apple scent, the green one? yeah? ohmygosh I love it). And I'll have my dresses (I should get more tights, right). What if nothing FITS ME over there? What if I'm stuck to buying MOM-CLOTHES in Paris? Oh the HORROR.


No, see, I'm not being sarcastic, I really am this nervous, and I start babbling, and. Yes. Right. Hello there, all.
I think I'm going to go do stuff now, like grocery shopping and hair-doing and cleaning and getting ready to go down to DM today. K. Talk to you all later. :)


Amanda

An Introduction

I leave for Paris, France in exactly 28 days.

My Grandmother, who is very tech-savy, loved the idea of me creating a blog to relay my shenanigans back home--so here it is! I'll try to post on here at least once a week or so, with pictures--for a record if nothing more. But hopefully I'll have a lot to tell!

I'll be studying at the Paris American Academy in Paris from January 19 to May 5. At the school, I will learn haute couture sewing skills, work behind the scene at the Paris Haute Couture Runway Shows, and will be just a block or so away from the Luxembourg Gardens. The Eiffel Tower isn't too far off, either...

Thanks for stopping by, and please do so again later in January--I'll have so much to show you!