Thursday, June 11, 2009

June 9th and 10th

Wow, we've gone to some neat places the past few days. On Tuesday, we took a train over to Giverny to visit Monet's garden. As expected, it was BEAUTIFUL and I think we were all pretty excited to be there.














This photo represents Yung-Han's excitement. Here's some photos from the garden itself.























































































































Then, the next night we went to go see a concert at St. Chappelle, which is literally RIGHT NEXT to Notre Dame. The architecture and stained glass were beautiful and so was the music. Here's a small bit of the show.



That's it for today. Most of us are getting pretty sick right now. Who knows if it's the weather or allergies or what, but it's starting to hit us all one by one. Sleep seems to be the only thing that makes the sickness feel better, so I am going to succumb to peer pressure and join in on the nap fest.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Life au Paris

So, I haven't posted in a while, but luckily my colleagues have been making an abundance of posts. Which are all fun to read. Since my last entry, there have been a lot of exciting and fun adventures. In fact so much that I just end up going to sleep as soon as we get back to the dorms. One of the things that have changed is that the bottom of my feet are so callused that I can't feel them with my fingers. They are that of a leather jacket. Pretty neat I think.

Anyway, we've done a bunch of exercises over the week. My favorite one so far was the Hot Potato assignment. You were permitted to take anyone's sketchbook at anytime and draw in a designated spread in it. We all got some really interesting spreads I think and hopefully can get some pictures up on the blog.

Aside from all our cool visits to museums and exploration of Paris, I thought I'd share our living conditions (most of our living conditions). Let me give you the grand tour.




When you enter our tiny room you immediately see almost all of it. I know school dorms are small in the states, but this takes the cake. Gus, my roommate, and me are actually lucky. We don't have much ceiling but we do have our room a bit more spread out compared to others.
Thats Gus's bed and the table where I make these posts on his computer.

Theres the desk and above it is our only window. Its actually quite nice and I can see this girl in the building across from ours. We have a distant relationships and I only see her at night when she is working or chatting on her laptop in front of her window. Sadly we only communicate through my thoughts, but its the thought that counts, right? Anyway, moving on towards the rest of this luxiorious mansion.


Yes, our ceiling is at slant as Mark demonstrates. I feel like giant walking around because I'm always leaning over to avoid head trauma. That little object on the right side in the corner is my domain. Come, come, let me show you the best part of the room. My part.

Welcome to all that is myself in Paris. That is where I sleep and work on assignments, read a little bit now and then. Mainly sleep though. The bed isn't amazing or anything, but after exploring Paris for 10 hours, I'll sleep on a rock. I've actually grown close to my bed and would be sad if anything ever happened to it. Yes, I did hand pick those covers. Brings a little color into my life. On the table are some supplies, the only money I brought with me and my guide book to the city which has saved me on numerous occasions.


Anyway, back to the window to show you readers my view. Its not super amazing, but its pretty nice.


Not bad, right? The clouds sometimes do cool things because the weather here is insane. Like california, but more extreme. Just missing the snow. The right middle window is where my neighbor lives. One day we'll meet in person. Some of the other students are blessed with a much more extravigant view, which we'll need to post. But I enjoy this bit of Paris.



The one complaint I have is our bathroom. Its incerdibly small. I can literally wash myhands, go to the bathroom and shower all at the same time. I think I've collided with the walls everytime I shower. You have to EXPERIENCE it to sit down after and ask, what the hell? Why.. is it so small? I feel like godzilla attacking Tokyo everytime I go into there. There you have it. Sink, left, toilet, middle, shower, right.



Yeah, its crowded. Group showers are optional.

There you have it. Thats our stay for the next 3 weeks left of this trip. I'm actually enjoying it a lot because its made me realize how much I appreciate the biggness of living in the states. Things here are just different enough to the point where its not over the top, but its just not the same. However, its not a bad thing. Its a really cool experience and I plan to enjoy my bed that is actually smaller than me for the rest of the 3 weeks. Thats all folks.

-Nikita

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Obama has his Shrunkenheadman Moment!

President Obama has apparently followed the Shrunkenheadmen to Paris!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090607/ap_on_go_pr_wh/eu_the_obamas_in_paris

John

Week 1

What a week this has been, time has flown by so fast. Six museums in seven days! And finally a moment to sit back, reflect on the weeks events and soak it all in. All the museums have inspired me, but there was one in particular that surprised me and that was the Picasso Musee. I must admit I wasn't a big fan beforehand but now I think I am (I don't know if I get it but I like it!) Seeing his work in person vs. seeing it from a book makes a world of difference. It evoked an emotion I didn't know I could feel towards his work. It was an awesome experience!

Well, that's all for now. More to follow soon :-D
At the D'Orsay




Day 7 (continued)

Never used one of these blog sorta things, but as a member of this fantastic group of super students its my duty to spill my beans insight on this trip. I am one of the many students who brought a camera along this trip and photography is sort of a hobby of mine. I would like to share with you two photos of the same subject but showing how just adding a little thought into the composition can make a world of a difference.

Here is the first photo:

I call this a tourist photo, it looks like the photographer was walking by the artwork and decided to take a snapshot of it as he cruised on by. With that mind set the picture captures the sculptor and you get to see Pan and his bears. but it lacks something, the image is dull and has no life and people will skip over this image in an instant.

now here is the second photo:



Here we are close up to the subject matter and we have ourselves a story. We can see the cheerful expression on Pan's face and the wary eye of the beast starring back. This is a much better photo and I believe gives the viewer a much more interesting perspective on this artwork. It does take a little more effort on the photographers part to make this photo ( had to be on one knee when I took this shot) but the end results gives you a completely different photograph.

And so ends my first blog post on the interwebs and I will continually enter more pictures and videos as the weeks go by.

Peace.

A few snapshots

Here are a few pictures from the class so far. Hope you enjoy them.
String orchestra performing in one of the Metro stations, trying to sell their cds.


John talking art in the Musee d'Orsay


Clam rubbing his belly at the thought of Paris squab.


Some crazy people in the Louvre.



The Sennelier Art supplies store.




(Day 7) Week 1

One week seems like a good time to blog... wait, one week already?!

Paris is so much like a labyrinth in my mind. So much to explore, and so much BREAD! ♥ We've practically experienced 3 seasons in one week, it feels like. It was unusually hot, then it was overcast, then yesterday it sprinkled! AND lots of fat French pigeon jokes in one week too...:)

Anyhow... Alas, I cannot capture every moment of the trip in this one post... for this first week, we have had the opportunity to visit some of the most famous museums in the world. Like everyone, I really, really enjoyed the Musee d'Orsay. Every gallery was so unique, and they were intelligent paintings. So happy to have done my presentation there. I also enjoyed visiting the Louvre, the animation school Gobelins, as well as Sennelier art store. Here are few of the hundreds photos to share.



(1) John demo-ing watercolor to us for 2 hours!
(2) Rubens gallery at the Louvre, one of the galleries I really enjoyed.