China Part 2: Internships and Intestines

Once I had been in China for two days, I went into my placement, at a law firm called King and Wood Mallesons, for the first time. For the law nerds amongst you, King and Wood Mallesons is a top law firm in China, established in 1993. It merged with an Australian Firm, Mallesons Stephen Jacques in 2012 and with UK firm SJ Berwin in 2013 (SJ Berwin is temporarily known as King and Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin, which is a mouthful, but eventually the SJ Berwin element will be dropped completely). This makes it the first global law firm to have their headquarters in Asia. They have over 2700 lawyers, including more than 550 partners in 31 worldwide locations.

Spiel over.

Anyway, on my first morning, I was supposed to go in about 9 (and I left in some seriously torrential rain) when the PA staff called me and said my supervisor wasn't in the office. So I finally got there about 11ish.

The building is brand new – part of a giant shopping centre with lots of luxury brands - and on the 16th floor. (Interestingly, I later noted in the lift that this building has a 13^th floor and a 13A, but no 14^th floor. I assume that this is because 4 is considered an unlucky number in Chinese culture – its pronunciation sounds a lot like the word for death – but it struck me as a bit ironic, because, obviously, in our culture, 13 is considered to be unlucky, and yet this tower block had two 13^th floors!)

View from the Office

It was a spacious office, with lots of glass and chrome and all very modern and whatnot, which was sort of what I expected, but after that, I found lots of and lots of differences to what I had anticipated.

When I got there, the receptionist is wearing pink trainers, jeans and an Adidas t-shirt, as were some of the lawyers. Very loud gobbing was common (and I’m sorry, but I can never suppress a shudder when people do that, no matter where I am. It’s rank) and when I came back from lunch everyone, and I mean everyone, was napping at their desks, with the pillows they had brought in specifically for this purpose, which the other intern said was totally normal. Random men would occasionally wonder in and try to sell their wares. In fact, the office atmosphere was probably the biggest culture shock to my system during my time in Chengdu, although I did manage to adjust fairly well (I think).  

But they were all very nice, which did make life considerably easier.

By 4pm, though, I still hadn’t been given anything to do – and my advice is, if you ever go on an internship like this, you have to be proactive and keep asking for work, or you won’t any and therefore you won’t get anything out of your experience. Eventually, I got sent a legal brief on the PRC rules for doing foreign investment in China which I read through, found quite interesting, and sent my supervisor a bunch of questions about it.

Anyway, in the process of reading this digest, I googled - well, no, the Chinese firewall is reluctant to let Google load very often, if at all, so I had to use Bing instead - an organisation here called the National Development and Reform Commission of the Peoples Republic of China. Bit of a mouthful, I know. This is its list of departments: 

…The General Office, Department of Policy Studies, Department of Development Planning, Department of National Economy, Bureau of Economic Operations Adjustment, Department of Economic Operations Adjustment, Department of Economic System Reform, Department of Fixed Asset Investment, Department of Foreign Capital and Overseas Investment, Department of Regional Economy, Department of Western Regional Development, Department of North-eastern Region Revitalization, Department of Rural Economy, Department of Basic Industries, Department of Industry, Department of High-Tech Industry, Department of Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection, Department of Climate Change, Department of Social Development, Department of Employment and Income Distribution, Department of Trade, Department of Fiscal and Financial Affairs, Department of Price, Bureau of Price Supervision and Anti Monopoly, Department of Laws and Regulations, Department of International Cooperation, Department of Personnel, Office of National Economic Mobilization, Office of Key Project Inspectors, the NDRC Party Committee, Bureau of Retired Officials, State Bureau of Material Reserve, State Grain Administration and the National Energy Administration. 

Seriously. For one commission. And is it only me or do several of them look the same? 

Point is, learning a little bit about how China really operates while I was there ended up being quite interesting, seeing as I've been completely ignorant of it before now.

On my second morning, things didn’t start out so well, because the way I was shown how to get to the office the day before took me through the shopping centre, which wasn’t even open when I tried to take the same route  and I ended up getting lost.

King Kong Panda climbing the office
*not really. He was part of the rooftop sculpture garden

Still, when I eventually got there, word had spread that there was another intern in the office and I got a few things to do – for instance, one lawyer came and found me and emailed me a Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Venture Contract to look over and proofread) – and I got asked to collaborate with another intern, who’d already been there for a few weeks already, on a presentation about Chinese Investment in Europe.

One good thing about working here was that all the employees and other interns were really welcoming and friendly, and we went out for lunch with them a fair bit, usually to places I would never have found on my own and which are clearly local haunts. This meant that a lot of my ‘authentic’ food experiences were done in the course of my internship, rather than by me alone.

There are eight culinary traditions in China, and Sichuan cuisine is one of them. Chengdu was actually declared by UNESCO to be a city of gastronomy in 2011, in order to recognise its style of cooking. According to Wikipedia, (and I would agree with this assessment), the most prominent traits of Sichuan cuisine can be encapsulated in four words; spicy, hot, fresh and fragrant.

For instance, on one occasion, we went somewhere where I tried bamboo for the first time (not bad, although it seemed to meet with mixed reviews amongst the other volunteers) and Chengdu Hotpot, which is a specialty to this area and can't be found anywhere else in China, or so they told me. It also lives up to its name. I swear there were about 50 chillies crushed on top of this dish alone, ignoring the amount that had been mixed into the sauce. Chengdu is a region that likes its spice! It was full of flavour though, and the spice numbed my mouth as opposed to setting it on fire, which was not what I’d expected. Anyway, once I got over the spice, I actually quite enjoyed it.

Another benefit of going to lunch with the people from the office was that, of course, they all spoke Chinese, which made ordering easier.

Or at least, mostly easier.

On another occasion (which I’m still a bit traumatised by) someone said we were going to get chicken. Fair enough, I thought. A dish turned up in a big bowl with loads of sauce and vegetables, so it was hard at first to tell if anything was different. I ate a piece of the ‘chicken’ and I didn't like it very much at all. It was very chewy and just… not pleasant. About five minutes or so later, I picked another (bigger and much more suspicious) piece up – I was paying for this, after all – and was looking at it dubiously, when I was informed that what I was actually eating was not chicken, but Pig Intestines.

Anyone who knows me can, I’m sure, picture the expression my face at this announcement. Happily, there are no pictures. 

But… I was in China, where this kind of thing is not uncommon, and I decided that if I really wanted to call myself a traveller, I couldn’t and shouldn’t be a wuss. So to give myself credit where credit is definitely (in my opinion) due, I took a deep breath and I did actually willingly eat the bigger (and upon further examination, much more intestiney-looking) bit. Honestly, I’m not sure I've ever been braver!

The problem is, it was no less gross than the first time, and this time I actually knew what it was. My brain was alternating between screaming at me, “How dare you willingly eat pig intestine?!” and repeating “It’s just pork, It’s just pork, It’s just pork” like a mantra the whole time. It was all I could do not to hurl while I forced it down. I actually thought I was going to at one point, but luckily I didn't embarrass myself. 

Well anyway, this put me off my lunch a bit quite considerably. After that I stuck to the potato and lotus roots. Much less risky. 

I made sure to have KFC that night. Call me a heathen, but a nice, safe chicken burger sounded like a good way to restore my… culinary equilibrium, if that’s even a thing. Something like that. 

Back in the office, I continued to proofread and research and generally do internshippy things which I don’t need to describe in detail here. In fact, the only other thing I should mention in this post is how lovely my supervisor was when I approached him begging for a day off so I could go exploring.

…In BEIJING!

Next Time – China part 3: Hostels and Hiking

Vicky xx

PS. Today is my parent’s silver wedding anniversary. Congratulations Mum and Dad, I love you both so much xx

China Part 1: Food, Flights and Feeling Foreign

I promised I’d blog it, and here I am. I should mention is that it proved to be rather optimistic to fit a month’s worth of stuff into one post, or even two - I’ve split it all up (and this post is still going to be long and meandering, so I hope it’s readable). There’ll be several instalments before I wind this blog up for good at the end of the month.

So. As you might already know, I spent the last month in Chengdu, China (I got back yesterday). Chengdu is the capital city of the Sichuan province, in Western China, bordering Tibet. Originally, I was supposed to be going to Shanghai, and I was disappointed at first when it was changed to Chengdu. But as someone pointed out to me when I got there, Shanghai is, for all intents and purposes, a very western city, with lots of skyscrapers and western food. The reason a lot of people haven’t heard of Chengdu is because it’s a very liveable city, and not particularly touristy, like Beijing and the like, which means that I got to experience a lot more of real Chinese life and culture than I would if I had been to Shanghai instead. Now I’m back, I’m glad things ended up the way they did.

Who can resist a good 'I'm going travelling, look at me!' photo? Not me, apparently. 

Including the connection in Doha (I flew with Qatar Airways, who I’d recommend. They were actually very good, with lots of legroom and they served edible meals in strange abundance), it was roughly 15 hours to fly from Heathrow to Chengdu, and happily it was not at all stressful. I landed in China at about 3pm on the Tuesday afternoon. My first impressions are a bit vague… it was very humid outside (and continued to be for the rest of the month. But then, it is rainy season). Second – Chinese immigration officers are slightly frightening. Third - the toilet at the airport was just a hole in the floor, much to my dismay. And fourth - the clocks don’t change in China. So one of the first things that I noticed through my jet-lagged haze was that it got dark early. Pitch black, by 9pm, which was very weird for a while.

I got shown my apartment, in the Tongzilin area of Chengdu (where I found out that we were one of few apartments who actually had Wi-Fi. WIN!) By the time I’d been there for 6 hours or so, I’d bought a Chinese simcard (and phone, because idiot here didn’t bring the spare mobile I used in Paris with me), walked around being shown where the metro and the supermarket was (directions which I promptly forgot) nearly got run over and was given a travel card for the metro.

As a short aside, while I’m mentioning the metro - and driving, and transport generally - traffic regulations in China seem to be less 'laws' and more 'guidance'. It got pretty hairy at times, and you had to be very careful when you are crossing the road, even when there is a green man, because apparently the motorcyclists/moped people have apparently universally decided that red lights don't apply to them. Sometimes, I’m fairly sure that they’d happily travel the wrong way up the street. All the public transport is state operated: there is a metro in Chengdu, but it is very limited because it’s about as new as metros can get. There are only two lines operating so far, the youngest of which opened 2 years ago, and I think there are plans to build at least six more by 2020. To get in, though, you have to put your bags through a security scanner. It's like going to the airport every single time, which can get a bit tedious, if I'm honest. 

Anyway, back to business. After all of that, I suddenly realised that I was starving. So a few other volunteers and I went searching for somewhere to eat, and I had my first authentic Chinese meal. I’ve never felt more foreign in my entire life. At least in European countries the letters are familiar, but here, you couldn’t even make an educated guess. We pointed at a few pictures, looked blankly at the waitress who was trying vainly to help and hoped for the best (and luckily, everything turned out to be edible, so that was a win). We ended up with two types of noodles, some rice, two portions of what dumplings and some kind of soup, which you drank out of the bowl. I successfully wrestled my way around the meal with chopsticks (although the next few times I used them after that, I was a total fail, so chopsticks really were a bit hit and miss for me. I’m blaming my left handedness. Never mind the fact that thousands of Chinese people are probably left handed too), and then I discovered the delights of the ¥/£ exchange rate.

Our meal (for 5 people) came to ¥53, or roughly £5.30. A pound each. Seriously! The basic rule of thumb is that if you delete a zero from the Chinese sum, you have the equivalent in pounds. So ¥10 is £1.

And everything is cheeeeaaaaaap.

Later in the week, I took a journey on the Chengdu metro over 6 stops (roughly the distance of, say, Oxford Circus to Liverpool Street on the central line, and it cost me 34 PENCE.)  The day after that, a meal for 11 people cost £30 altogether. A 40 minute journey in a cab cost £4. I kid you not; China is an affordable place indeed - for westerners. I'm under no illusions about how different it is for someone on a Chinese salary and actually had some interesting discussions on the topic during my stay.

Anyway, after that, we went to the supermarket - Carrefour, funnily enough, but nothing like the French version. There’s a distinct lack of croissants for one thing, and the meat counter is very alarming for another. It’s all dumped – no wrapping – in a large fridge, open to the elements (and flies) and people will pick up bits of meat with their bare hands and poke and prod it for a while before deciding that actually, they don’t want it. It smelt terrible. (Needless to say, I didn’t frequent the meat counter). Also, you can buy live fish for food. They hook them out of their tanks in a net and then slam them to the ground to kill them. Charming, no? There were also turtles in similar tanks and I’m really hoping that they didn’t end up with the same fate as the fish!

Meanwhile, the yoghurt aisle had descended into something reminiscent of Romford Market, because there were a lot of people yelling about (presumably) yoghurt into microphones..

I forced myself to stay awake and be sociable that night in an effort to go to bed at a normal hour and make my body clock adjust, but I was super tired for a few days. (Someone told me that it takes a day to recover for every hour of time difference. I haven’t a clue if that’s true or not, but I’m taking that excuse and running with it). And after I did eventually go to sleep, I woke up the next morning stiff as a board. Chinese beds are hard. Like bricks. It didn’t even dip when I sat on it. Anyway, after unpacking and doing all of that kind of thing, I went to a barbecue put on by the Projects Abroad staff.

On the way there, we walked past a park, where there were loads of Chinese people playing with what looked like a large metal spinning top, and to keep it spinning they hit it with a large metal thing - it looked (and sounded!) a little bit like a whip. And there were also loads of Chinese people just dancing - like properly dancing, the waltz or some such thing - around the square to music. It was quite surreal actually. At the BBQ itself I met some of the staff and some other volunteers, and had a go at making my own dumplings (which I was terrible at), and the next day I was shown how to get to my placement (which as I mentioned, I’ll be posting about separately, for purposes of not making this blog post an epic novel).

At the weekend, I had to attend a 'cultural class' - basically a crash course in not mortally offending Chinese manners while I was there and some basic mandarin so I wasn’t completely helpless in every single situation! Unfortunately, I forgot most of it almost immediately – it was very intense. I think the problem was that the teacher tried to feed us way too much information in an hour and a half, so I didn’t have time to commit anything to memory before we moved on.

What else? (I am aware that I’m rambling but you try putting a months worth of happenings into a blog post worth reading!) We decided to have a bit of a gathering in our flat that night, and went to Carrefour to pick up a few things (including Cucumber flavoured crisps, which for the record, are vile) and saw some Tibetan monks casually doing their grocery shopping. Obviously normal – Tibetan monks need food as much as anyone else, but for some reason this struck me as seriously odd. Culture shock, I suppose. In a pleasant contrast to Paris, and home for that matter, everything opens late on the weekends here - properly late. We're talking 23:00 for Carrefour, even on Sundays (I guess, because it's an officially atheist country, although I could be wrong about that.)

Also that weekend, Noemie from my apartment was invited by a colleague to a barbecue. She took us all along, and it was an experience in and of itself.

Now, in the street, it has to be said that some Chinese people can be appallingly rude. Although you could say that of many other nationalities too. And I suppose in all fairness it should be pointed out that there is an exponential culture difference, which apparently extends to what behaviour is appropriate in public (hint: it would be completely frowned upon here). People spit - a lot - they shove, shout and pint, and for young children, everywhere is a public toilet. Seriously - their children do not wear nappies, and they have conveniently placed holes in their trousers so they can go wherever and whenever they please.  Usually on the street - sometimes you'll catch a parent holding their child over a rubbish bin instead, which is marginally better I suppose. Still, I question how they are ever potty trained.

Having said all that, at home, things are different. Their hospitality is second to none (that I've ever experienced, anyway). They mentioned it in our culture talk, but here, I saw the proof. People they invite into their homes are honoured guests. During this barbecue, we offered to help but she wouldn't hear of it, we were constantly plied with food and drink, she spotted my mozzy bites (of which, sadly, there were many) and went dashing off looking for something to put on them, and then when we left, she apologised for not looking after us properly! Anyway, we had a lovely time, played a million rounds of some game that I vaguely remember playing in Drama class at Crofton, and I tried some more authentic Chinese food.

One dish, which I did not try, was chicken feet. It turned up, and although I already knew that the Chinese weren't picky about what part of an animal they eat, I was still a bit like, Oh my god. That is literally feet. Battered feet in a bowl. I'm sure it tastes fine, or they wouldn't eat it. But I just could not bring myself to put a chicken foot in my mouth. Sorry.

Once we made our excuses and left, Noemie and I headed into the main part of Chengdu to have a look around. We started in Tianfu Square, which is a large public square overlooked by a giant statue of Chairman Mao. He has his hand in the air, supposedly waving to the people, but one of the Projects Abroad staff told me that it's a local joke that he's actually just trying to get a taxi and is having no luck haha. 

Give up, Mao! You're not going to get a cab!

Then we walked to People's Park, which is one of the most insane, crazy places I have ever been. How can I explain this? I've never seen anything like it before, and nothing I can say will really give you a decent picture of how nutty this place was, but I’ll give it a shot.

Every pathway, nook and cranny had been filled with makeshift tents, of a sort, erected very close to each other along the pathways, and in each tent people were gambling, dancing, being terrible at karaoke or singing (marginally better than the karaoke crew) and putting on performances for small crowds of people. People would go up to these singers on the stage and give them flowers, presumably plastic ones, which were conveniently placed in buckets at each corner closest to the audience. And because these tents were so close together you only had to walk about a metre in one direction or the other before the tune would change completely… Honestly, it's not something you can really make clear in words alone!

I’m not even really sure that you can tell what it’s like from that montage that I made from the videos on my phone, although on the first clip, you can clearly hear the guy who is singing in the second clip, and in the clip at the end, where people are dancing, you can definitely hear the opera woman who preceded it. Essentially, it’s big, it’s loud, it’s uniquely Chinese and it’s completely and utterly insane.

There are also several teahouses in the park (I'm really not a big fan of Chinese tea but I did have a proper Chinese tea experience before I left) and a really cute boating lake, which my brother said looks a bit like Central Park, and (here is where I show how culturally ignorant I am) loads of classically Chinese... Structures? Shelters? I don't know.  

And also, much to my bemusement, we ended up being a bit of a tourist attraction ourselves. I’ve already mentioned that Chengdu isn’t very touristy, and you don’t really see many westerners around. I was always getting stared at on the metro, and we got stopped several times in the park so that people could take photos of (or with) us.  Which is a bit strange but quite funny, really.

That pretty much sums up my first week in China. It’s a bit rambly, but actually, China is a bit rambly, so maybe that makes sense.

Next time – China part 2: Internships and Intestines

Vicky xx

Je parti Paris; je vol à Chine.

I've been back home for just over one week now and although I have actually posted twice since then, I've only just realised that I should probably post about my last few days in Paris before coming home!

On the Tuesday of my last week, I had to wait in all day, because I elected to send two suitcases home by way of www.sendmybag.com ... I'd recommend this company, if you're ever in a similar situation. It wasn't expensive, and my bags beat me home, so it was very convenient. Luckily, it was also a boiling hot day, and it wasn't really a hardship to stretch out on the balcony with a cocktail and an ice cream or two. 

I had thought that I would take the few days after that and cram them full of things, but I actually found that I had done 98% of what I wanted to do already, and so I was free to chill a bit, which I needed more than I realised. This year has been exhausting!

I ran some errands - got my confirmation of departure form signed at Assas, closed my bank account and the like - but Wednesday consisted mainly of a long period sat in the sunshine in the Jardin du Luxembourg - again, no great hardship on my part!

Thursday - Parisa and I began cleaning our apartment from top to bottom in preparation from.moving out, and I went to Notre Dame one last time, mainly to light a candle for a recent family loss, but while I was there I finally stumbled across Kilometre Zero, which I had looked for and failed to find on every. single. prior visit, so that was an unexpected bonus.

Oh, and I finally got to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night - cutting it mighty fine, I grant you, but at least I did it!

Then came Saturday morning. I headed for the airport bright and early, immensely thankful that the French Air Traffic Controllers strike was called off early, and feeling a little bit sorry for myself...

I mean this is ten months of my life we're talking about here! It went so fast, and although it was a real mountain at times, I made it to the top and I loved it. So yes, I was a little bit sorry to be leaving, although it was lovely to be back in Blighty with my family, and just in time for my younger brother's 17th birthday.

That's it! My year in Paris is up - but my year abroad isn't quite over yet! Before I will count myself as officially "ex-erasmus", I'm jetting off to Chengdu, in the Szechuan Province of China to spend a month there, working at a law firm during the week and exploring in my free time!

Now, the furthest east I have ever been before is probably Poland, so this should be a real experience...

I leave tomorrow (ahhhhhh!) so this will be my last post for July, but I'll resume posting in August to finish my year abroad blog off properly.

Vicky xx

Au Revoir et Erasmus: Les faits et la fiction

Okay, so I'm now officially an Erasmus veteran and here to provide you with the lowdown.

These are things I wish I had known, and other tips for surviving your year abroad, mostly based on Paris, seeing as that's where I lived. 

Source: Google Images / commons.wikimedia.org

Some Basic Parisian Truths...

...Monoprix is more expensive than Franprix. If you buy lots of vegetables, find a decent market.

...Pretty much everything closes down on Sundays and Mondays. And the rest of the time, they just open when they feel like it. 

Paris on a Sunday. I know, you wouldn't recognise it would you?
Source: Google Images / bbc.co.uk

...If you're using the metro, particularly, in my experience, if you are going through Châtelet or Place d'Italie, you will wish that you had some hand sanitizer handy.

...If you are approached in the street by a small army of people from Eastern Europe thrusting a petition in your face, don't stop to sign it. Often, it's a scam to make you easier to pickpocket. Ditto, on the steps leading up to Sacré Cœur, with men who try to put thread on you and 'sell' you a 'friendship bracelet'.

...When in restaurants, don't order water off the menu. Ask for a carafe d'eau, and you'll get tap water, which costs 100% less.

...Don't go walking around with your eyes shut. Look up, look down, look all around... (anyone else remember that kid's show, where the woman had a spotty aeroplane and a dog?) Paris is Instagram's darling.

Probably not the best camera for tourism.
Source: Google Images / http://www.antiquecameras.net/

.
...If you're sat on a fold-down seat on the metro, and your carriage fills up: stand, or suffer the eye daggers.

...Once you've had a croissant fresh from the patisserie on a regular basis, Sainsbury's croissants will never taste quite the same again.

...French people appear to love UHT milk. It's everywhere. If you're a good brit, you'd never dream of putting such stuff in your tea, so you'll pay extra for the fresh stuff. 

...A lot of French clubs are what I would describe as 'armpitty' and the guys can get gropey (and not just in clubs. I can count at least two occasions where someone's tried his luck with me, once outside a metro station, and once by Porte Guillaume in Dijon - it's not nice, but you're usually ok if you keep your wits about you).

...Watch where you walk. Parisians are not fond of clearing up after their dogs. 

...Efficiency is not a word in the French language. Bureaucracy is. 

France. Where Red Tape abounds.
Source: Google Images / diginomica.com

And the Practical Stuff: 

Open your bank account as soon as you possibly can. You need a bank account to apply for CAF, to get a Carte Imagine R, to pay your rent etc. I went with Banque Populaire, and they were fine, quite helpful in setting everything up etc. etc. Most people I know went with BNP Paribas, and they sounded okay as well

TIP: It's worth knowing that if you have a UK account with Barclays, it won't cost you to withdraw money from a BNP Paribas atm with that card.

While we're on the subject of money, SAVE UP LOTS OF MONEY IN ADVANCE.  Paris is expensive - more expensive than London. Even with the Student Loan and the Erasmus Grant, the money I saved up just wasn't enough, not even close, and the result was that several times this year I have found myself living on the absolute barest of budgets, which does tend to take the fun out of things a bit, because if there's something no one likes to worry about, it's money.

Source: Google Images / 4vector.com

Carte ImagineR (the student version of a Navigo card). Most people will need one. That's a fact. The students who came to Assas from Oxford were all living at Cité Universitaire, and several of them told me that they would never have got by without it, because they needed to get the metro everywhere. That said, some people can cope by buying thousands of carnets - books of ten tickets. That was what I did, because I lived a lot closer to the centre of Paris, only needed to use the metro once or twice a week and walked everywhere else, which meant that the Navigo would have ended up costing me more. I think that's because you pay a fixed monthly sum - if it was more like the Oyster card, which works on a top-up basis, I probably would have shelled out for one. But each to their own. (http://www.imagine-r.com/)

Mobile phone - it makes so much sense to get one. You could survive on your english phone, but you'll either be tied to the wifi, meaning whatsapp and viber don't actually work for 80% of the time, or you'll end up paying an eye watering phone bill. Also, if your erasmus friends have all got french phones, but you're working on your english phone, you're costing them a fortune too. I took a spare, and it did make life easier. 

As far as network is concerned, I used this company - http://www.lefrenchmobile.com/ - because it's designed for people who are in France relatively short term, and because their PAYG credit doesn't expire, which it does on most other French networks. Also, their customer service is in English, which I know kind of defeats the object, but it does make life easier when you've been in France a matter of hours and you're having technical difficulties (trust me). My friends all did this instead, largely because its cheap - http://mobile.free.fr/

TIP: Learn from my mistake, and make sure your handset is unlocked before you try to put your french sim in it. D'oh!

Source: Goodle Images / simpleicon.com

Language. Do not, under any circumstances, beat yourself up when it's just not coming to you. The first thing I'd say on this topic, is that it varies for everybody, but took me a good three months before I really settled in and the language barrier stopped freaking me out so much. 

The second thing I would say on this is, be realistic. Unless you're super close to that stage already, it's unlikely that you're going to leave your year abroad completely fluent in your chosen language. That would be lovely,and I wish I had left my year abroad able to jabber away in French like a native - but you will inevitably end up speaking English much more than you should. It's an easy trap to fall into - In France, for instance, people often take the opportunity to practice their English with you, when it should be the other way around, and all of my new friends are English. You'd have to be an absolute saint to somehow manage 100% immersion and spend all of your time speaking french with your french friends. I don't mean to rain on your parade - you will improve by leaps and bounds, but it takes work.

Source: Google Images / frencheducation.com

If, like me, you are an iPhone, or other battery-glugging smartphone over, and you are reliant on said smartphone for your camera, and you take millions of photos on said camera, then I highly, highly highly recommend you buy a remote charger thing (if thing is not descriptive enough for you, you can see what I'm talking about here). When I went to Dijon back in May, I was taking the odd snap out of the window from the train, and texting the odd person, and my batter was down to 67% an hour before I even got to Dijon. You don't want to be that person who finishes their year abroad with no photos and no record of it because your phone was always dead, you really don't. 

French attempts at English Tea Bags lead to 'tea' that reminds me vaguely of dirty dish water. It's gross. If you love your tea, stop into Asda, or wherever, and stock up on your Tetley. You won't regret it. Ditto Marmite, and anything you know you'll miss. Sometimes when you get homesick, something British will do wonders. Marks and Spencer's also comes in handy on this front. There are 3 in Paris alone. 

Source: Google Images / theguardian.com

Last, but not least...

• FOLLOW @thirdyearabroad ON TWITTER. And if you haven't already found their website, http://www.thirdyearabroad.com/ bookmark it.... now... right now? Done? If you follow their twitter, at the very least, you'll realise that you're not alone when things are going wrong. You'll get more from it than that though - survival tips, erasmus and language news, travel ideas from people who live in other cities, and so much more. You don't need me to tell you - go check it out!

If you're going on a year abroad, particularly to Paris, I hope you find this helpful, and bon courage!

Vicky xx

Une liste: la partie finale!

Fin. Finished. End. Caput. No more. 

My time in Paris is at an end! Ten months down the line, my year abroad is drawing to a close (but is not ended just yet, for reasons I shall mention at the end of this post...). I packed up my bags and left my lovely apartment for the last time on Saturday just gone, and now I am temporarily (again, see end of this post) back in Blighty and getting all reminiscent. I tried to do a 'Paris in numbers' post, but it would have been boring, because I couldn't put an actual number on most of the things I came up with, and it would have gone something like this: "Many, many crêpes, Many more croissants, Even more carnets for the Metro..."

Which is boring. 

Instead, I've finally been through and updated my 'Paris things to do/bucket list', crossing off everything I managed to get done in my final few weeks in the French capital. 

Voilà.

1. Visit the Versailles Palace

2. Go to Notre Dame Cathedral

3. Visit Les Catacombs

4. Indulge in la cuisine, including croissants, macaroons, snails, frogs legs, seafood, and everything else French and/or Parisian. (On the seafood side of things, La Bar a Huitres is the place that I went for my birthday, and it really was delicious. There's several of them in Paris - I went to the one in Montparnasse. They've got a menu that ranges from massive seafood platters costing a few hundreds of euros, to a nice fixed menu for 44 euros, which was much better for my poor student budget)

5. Go to see the Pantheon

6. Spend time in La Jardin du Luxembourg

The next three I didn't do, and I always knew I wouldn't actually be able to do them this year - the first and second because I'm elsewhere at the time they happen; the third because I spent it at home. But I'm keeping them on my list because they're three things which really ought to be done in Paris, and though I won't be doing them this year, I'll be making sure to do them at some point!

7. View the Bastille Day Parade

8. Finale of the Tour de France

9. Spend NYE in Paris

10. Go to the Louvre and see the Mona Lisa! I have well and truly done the Louvre. I think I went there at least six times, covering pretty much every wing they've got in that place, and it's massive. To people going to the Louvre - see the Mona Lisa if you want, although she's pretty underwhelming, but make sure to do Napoleon's apartments too, in the Richelieu wing.

11. Go to Disneyland Paris. Disclaimer: I've actually been here before, so I count it as done. I wasn't going to include it on my list at all, but my "little" (he's 16) brother insisted that I include it, which was blatantly a not very subtle hint that I should take him.

12. Go to Sacré Coeur.

13. Stroll down the Champs-Élysées, and end up in the Place de la Concord

14. Rue Mouffetard - home of my favourite place to get a crêpe, Au P'tit Grec.

15. Go to the Palais Garnier

16. Visit Monet's garden at Giverny - I tried to do this, but on the metro heading to the train station realised that I would leave myself properly, PROPERLY skint if I went, which didn't seem wise.

17. Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower AND go see the Eiffel Tower at night

18. Visit at least 3 other European Countries. I did manage to visit Berlin in Germany, and I was intending to go to Brussels, but I just couldn't afford it, so sadly, this didn't going to happen.

19. Go to the Christmas Market in Strasbourg

20. Spend the day at Parc Asterix :) - another one for which I ran out of time and money!

21. Go to Bercy Shopping Village - because, really, what's Paris without some retail therapy?

22. Les Invalides

23. Moulin Rouge - It costs a fortune to actually see a show, but I've seen the outside and that will do for now!

24. Spend a few days on the South Coast and maybe in Monaco - this was another one that ended up being unrealistic.

25. La Marais and Place des Vosges

26. La Conciergerie

27. Visit St- Sulpice

28. Go to the roof at Galleries Lafayette - incidentally, I really loved the interior of this store. It's gorgeous!

29. Go the Musée de l'Orangerie

30. Go over to the Arc de Triomphe

31. Visit some other French Towns. I've been to Strasbourg (see no. 19 on the list) and also to Dijon.

32. Go for a walk along the Canal St Martin

33. Bois du Boulogne

34. See some jazz of some kind while I'm here!

35. Visit Le Château de Fontainebleau

36. Go to Musee d'Orsay

37. See an exhibition at the Grand Palais - Parisa and I went to see the Cartier exhibition back in January.

38. Go to Musee Marmottan.

39. Go to the French Open

40. Take a photo of Kilometre Zero, which is right outside Notre Dame (Km Zero is the point to which distances are measured to in Paris)

41. Find the most famous graves at Père Lachaise cemetery. (In case you're wondering, Edith Piaf and Oscar Wilde are just two of several famous names buried there)

42. Parc des Buttes Chaumont

43. Visit La Sainte-Chapelle

44. Browse the shelves at the bookshop, Shakespeare and Co

30 out of 44 things done. Not bad, even if I do say so myself. I'll be adding everything I didn't do to my mainstream bucket list, which I keep in the back of my journal. I'll cross everything off of it at some point, be it next year or in the next ten!

The next part of my year abroad is completely un-Erasmus related and it is all down to a company called Projects Abroad - http://www.projects-abroad.co.uk/ - who offer lots of volunteering projects in countries all over the world. I remembered them all the way back from the Gap Year fair at my Sixth Form College, and now I'm finally off on my Project, having got here rather in a rather convoluted fashion.

I'm going to be working for a month in a law firm in Chengdu, China, which is super exciting, and I'm jetting off again in about a week - so watch this space!

Vicky xx

Les oeuvres de Monet

I don't know if I have mentioned this on my blog in the past, but one place I've been wanting to visit since before I even arrived here is Giverny, or home to the famous French impressionist, Claude Monet. I planned to go and do just that on the Monday just gone, when I realised with a sinking feeling that the cost of my train ticket there and the entrance fee to the gardens themselves actually equated to all the money I have left for this month, and tempting though it was (and it was very tempting. I almost went anyway), sensibleness won out. After all, I didn't think it was really very smart to leave myself with only €0.30 in copper coins for the remaining five days of my time here.

So that's another casualty on my bucket list, and the one I am most sad about, without question. I was really looking forward to going and I'm super disappointed that it didn't happen. But these things happen, and I know my mum was jealous that I was going, so maybe she'll come with me to do it one day in the future.

Still, I am an appreciator of Monet and impressionist works, and as it happens, a lot of Monet's most famous works live in various museums right here in Paris. I went and looked at them last week, on my first free day after exams (the only reason I didn't blog it earlier was because I had been planning to do a joint paintings/Giverny post, but as I said, it was not to be). 

I started off at the Musée Marmottan Monet, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.

It's home to the largest collection of Monet works in the world as well as paintings by lots of other famous masters, including Manet, David, Gérard and Cézanne.

After that I took the metro over to Concorde, spent a while soaking up some rays in the Tuilieries and then went into the Musée de l'Orangerie which is home to Monet's Water Lilies. You're not technically supposed to take photos, but of course people have and a quick google images search will show you the impressive paintings (of which I think I counted eight, and they're all huge). In fact, one of his paintings from the water lilies series has just sold at Sotheby's in London for £31.7m.

Anway, the paintings were all very interesting to look at and hear more about. It's not quite Giverny, but it will do for now.

Vicky xx

Un weekend des châteaux: #2 - Fontainebleau

As I mentioned in yesterday's post (two in a row! And there'll likely be more this week), one other thing on my bucket list which I have now managed to cross off is the Palace of Fontainebleau, about 55km outside of Paris.

Anne-Marie and I took the transilien from Gare de Lyon (one of the most confusing metro stations I have ever been to, thankyou very much), which took about forty minutes or thereabouts, and then walked from Fontainebleau-Avon to the Château itself, through quite a lot of lovely parkland.

This area is actually home to the Fôret de Fontainebleau, and people come here on droves at the weekends with their bikes to follow the trails. It's home to several endangered European species and used to be a royal hunting park, which I would assume is why the palace was built where it was, essentially as a rather over the top hunting 'lodge'. Although don't quote me on that. It's a bit of a lame description for a château which, along with its park is actually listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The palace is simpler than Versailles but still very grand. The chapel and the throne room (which used to be the King's bedroom but was converted by Napoleon) are two such examples.

The palace's library is also pretty impressive and held a certain amount of appeal to a bookworm like myself!

Despite it's royal heritage, I actually found myself more interested in the château under Napoleon (Bonaparte). His famous uniform is displayed there (and really, I know it's famous that ol' Boney was very short, but seriously, he was short!) as is the room where he abdicated before he was exiled to Elba in 1814 (from where he later escaped). 

It was an another absolutely boiling day though, and I found myself flagging pretty quickly. The park (and its nice shady trees) ended up being much more appealing to me than the château, interesting though it undoubtedly was. I think I would have appreciated it more if I hadn't been to Versailles just the day before, and I think that at times Anne-Marie and I were thinking more of how much our feet hurt than what was in front of us, but it was a very lovely day!

Vicky xx