Can’t Handle It

My History of Creativity professor is trained in the ways of torture – he’s shown pictures of the British Museum, the Louvre, and Europe in general, reminding me of the days when I would actually be going to these places for class instead of looking at pictures of them in PowerPoint. And today he showed pictures of cathedrals in Paris. Did he know I was there exactly two years ago this Wednesday? I think so. He’s out to get me, and he knows exactly how to do it*. I mean, is showing pictures of him eating crepes while discussing them in great length really necessary?? There can’t be any other plausible reason for doing this.

Places he talked about in great detail and length:

He even talked about our exact tour guide at Chartres. Really?

And just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, he started talking about these places in England, because he knew that would be the final straw.

Specifically, he mentioned these places:

Dear professor,

A class from 4-6:3o on a Monday evening is already bad enough. Please don’t make me want to be somewhere else even more.

Sincerely, Natalie

*In case you’re wondering why this is one of the highest forms of torture for me when it’s one of my favorite topics, it’s because it used to be oh so close. And it still seems so close. But it’s not.

Study Abroad-itis

One year ago today I was on top of the world, at the tip of the eiffel tower. Now the best I can claim is that I'm curently on top of my bed.

Paris was the cherry on top of my trip to Europe, an unexpected tasty surprise. This past week, full of awful stats midterms and 25 page law papers (no, I have not written it yet), stands in stark contrast of the same week last November when we were free to traipse through Paris wherever our whims carried us. Our whims often took us to places that had chocolate, crepes or amazing art.

The one thing they don't adequately warn you about when you leave for study abroad is not the dangers of pickpocketing or getting lost on trains, but how much the separation from the city you learn to love hurts once you get back. Or how many times you will look through the pictures you took, or visit the Web sites of stores you loved, or check what new plays are in the west end, or try to will yourself to teleport...

So many things bring me back to study abroad instantly, like hearing from my friends from home who are currently studying in Paris, Italy and Greece. Even all this talk about Twilight reminds me of watching the first movie with Sara in Stockholm and laughing through the entire thing.

Basically, the moral of the story is that you should savor the perfect moments (or in my case a perfect 4 months), because sooner or later it will be over and you'll be back in Provo dreaming about the glory days. However, luckily that doesn't mean you can't ever go back. Yesterday was payday and another drop into the travel fund! If I had it my way I would do study abroad pretty much every semester.

Here's a couple pictures of where I wish I was. If you want to see more of Paris you can go here, or read my attempt to write about everything we did that week here or here.