East Coast Ramblings of a West Coast Girl

Life is tiring.

Spring is barely here. Just barely. If it weren't for the blue skies before the rain, I wouldn't even realize it.

I've been plagued with a cold for a couple of days in the beginning of the week. Colds in Paris are just as glamorous as colds in the States, except for the fact that being in Paris, you know that you can always find some sort of remedy because it's a town full of hypochondriacs with a pharmacy on every street corner (however, I had already brought Tylenol Cold with me in my luggage).

It is always custom for any university (not just NYU) to pile on unexpected work right before Spring Break. Since midterms have already passed, I am facing 3 papers due variously next week. They seem like such harmless fun, but they actually cause much unwanted stress. I have not been able to get any info back on internships, which has really not made me happy. It almost seems like they don't know I'll be back from France for the summer? Does my schedule really conflict with so many of these jobs? Incredible, and just my luck, I suppose.

Woe is me, woe is me...

Please someone cheer me up

Out of this miserrryyy...

My time here is running low, and it's almost time for me to leave this beautiful place! I put an exclamation mark there not because I'm excited (not that I'm not happy to go back to In-N-Out burgers), but because I'm a little sad. It seems like just yesterday I really got myself to love Paris. In fact, I loved Paris all my life, and living here has been but a wonderful dream.

Despite the dog poop, and despite the cloudy weather, as I've said before, I believe Paris encompasses all that I had only wished that it would have for me. Aside from romances, I've gained a lot from just inhabiting in and breathing in the same air as the Parisians. Here I am, complaining about my life, stressing out about things that I have no (somewhat) control over. Yet these Parisians here seem to just, what is it, go with the flow. They make their feelings known, but then they still lead their proper lives. They drink their coffees, the eat their baguettes...

I still have to really, what is it, seize the day. Seize the day and just enjoy the desserts.

Eat the crepes! MANGE-LES!

I'm so uninspired right now.

I am not making a fancy play on words involving "E" and "Miracle" to mean something like it's a digital/internetical (yes, I made that word up) miracle.

Recently NYU has sealed the deal to make an overseas campus in Abu Dhabi, the very wealthy (the richest city-state in the world) and modernizing capital of the United Arab Emirates. This campus would be, in a sense, our sister university in Abu Dhabi, providing the university with all of the liberal arts majors that exist here in New York, being a full-fledged undergraduate campus with all the trimmings. With this expansion, our President Sexton hopes that the student body will grow, with an additional 4,000 students added to the university.

I've mentioned before that NYU is big on "globalization". We have Study Abroad sites all over the world: Paris, Florence, Prague, Singapore, London, and those are just to name a few. It's great, I think, because we've become a university that encourages its students to step outside of the United States and really learn about life outside of Wal-Marts and big automobiles. Studying abroad really helps you fine-tune your cultural understanding of places overseas and helps hone your own interpretations of the community you came from, which is always something encouraged.

You may not be aware of this, but not only has Abu Dhabi bought the NYU's diploma-giving powers, but they also have a performing arts center, a Guggenheim art museum, and also, their own Louvre. The Louvre plans on sending 300 pieces of art to Abu Dhabi which will stay for 20 years in exchange for a hefty check of 1 billion euros. This will all start in 2012, with the Guggenheim project finishing in 2018, and the first class of NYU Abu Dhabi to begin class in 2010.

It seems to be like a good and innovative idea: create great relations, expand the university to show how bad-ass we can be, and all the while get some more money (scratch that: a lot more) to help the Washington Square campus out. The thing is that these Abu Dhabi students will be getting a real NYU diploma without even having to set foot in New York City (which is one of NYU's claims to fame). But, what will the NYU diploma really be worth after this expansion?

I do love NYU very, very much. It has provided me with a great education, great professors, but like many other people, I do think that we're going to be spread too thinly. With some professors going overseas to teach, and many strategically planning the courses for Abu Dhabi while in New York, what's to become of New York University in, well, New York? Despite all the good of NYU, there are still so many tiny glitches that we can still tweak here at home.

There are some housing issues that can be addressed, tuition issues (definitely), and even issues with our gym that can't even provide us with proper tennis courts (who plays on a roof, or on a gym floor?). Think of the students! Sure, you'll give us a hug, but will you make it possible for us to have more places on campus to just hang out quietly? Another library, maybe? Or maybe you can improve your bus system for those of us who live too far from campus (despite living in your dorms), or give us a subway pass if you won't fix the buses. I'll even take a card to get into New York's museums for free.

I like that NYU is working on competing with the Ivy League schools in the country, and that competitive edge is really doing something good, I think. It's nice: you're trying to make us one of the top ten greatest universities by 2020. Excellent.

As we discussed in one of my classes last semester, NYU is really not just an educational institution, but it is like a corporation. We are advertising to people, we are trying to pull more people into our sphere of influence. Could we be the new McDonald's super-giant?

However, you still have insecurities about the taboo-level of some of our very liberal classes that are traveling overseas, and other topics that I don't really want to discuss right now. You still have a few unhappy students that are mingling around Washington Square. We adore NYU, which is why we come (and stay) here.

Just don't skip over some actions you could take to improve our institution while you're creating a new campus abroad.

(http://nymag.com/news/features/46000/)

Albert: you and I are over.
Me and you, we're through.
I can't believe all you did
All the things you made me do.

All I wanted was a friend
And boy did you deliver
You got me so hyped up
I was tingling with such fervor.

I told you my secrets,
My dreams, my fears,
You responded to me
with all I wanted to hear.

You told me you work hard
You want to make me happy
Everything will be fine
Lest that's what you told me.

Oh those endless days and nights
I've spent searching within you
I was pushing your buttons
You gave me so many options to view

I loved your intelligence
You helped me figure out my life.
After a few dates with you
I completely forgot all of my strifes.

Then the dreadful day came
Our love was put to the test...
You froze in front of me,
you're nothing but a pest.

You lied to me with all your talk
Your sweet, happy words of fluff
You left me hanging,
You canceled all my classes
without warning.

How could you do this to me?!
I cried in front of you
and yet you did nothing.
You striped me of my hope
There was no way I could cope...

For hours I just sat there
Looking within you to find
perhaps something that would ease
my state of mind?

Puppetry in New York does not please me,
Nor does Linguistics.
Or Barbing out loud,
Or Group Communication.

With each minute I wasted trying to ameliorate our relationship, you became more closed off to me.

I give up writing this poem!

It's stupid, you see...

Albert does not love you.

Now a mediocre romance novelist is all I'll ever be.

Every semester it's a frustrating experience to sign up for classes using our faithful system, Albert. Unfortunately for me, despite an early registration time, Albert informed me that half of my classes were canceled. It was because of my optimism and hope that prevented me from
checking the status of my classes the day before. But this is all because I trusted him. I trusted him! However, I was slapped in the face.

I panicked.

My whole schedule (my whole plan for next semester, AKA my whole plan for next year, AKA my master plan for my future as a _____) was destroyed. It took maybe half to a full hour for me to convince myself that there are other classes I could take. It's so stressful.

Just so stressful.

On a lighter note, it's Spring Break (finally). Two weeks of Spring Break glory. Unfortunately, we're taking the same Spring Break as the French University system which means that once we get back we have finals. It's as if the school is telling us they want us to fail our finals. It's crazy, I tell you! Crazy....

ANOTHER VLOG
I know, you've waited a long time. I vlogged this weeks ago, and I finally decided to post it up. Thanks for listening.