Brainstorming Session - Funding Mu to Europe Summer 2008

[Mu Satach]

short version* - I need to figure out how to raise enough cash to travel to Europe this summer to study at <a href="http://www.institutdetouraine.com/">l’Institut de Touraine</a> to finish my degree.

<big>No idea too weird or crazy!</big>
Provided, it's legal and I don't have to repent and confess about it. :D

plans so far...
<ul><li>student loan</li>
<li>fin. aid</li>
<li>scholarships</li>
<li>ebay some of mah treasures - "har me matey" </li>
<li>walk/bike everywhere</li>
<li>a diet of water, rice and lentils</li></ul>
So, yes - I'm looking for other things I can do to make up the gap so I don't have to "borrow" so much from the money lenders. Right now I'm even considering going and strumming my guitar on a street corner and I'm very very very BAD - I don't even think I really know how to tune it... I mean I kinda know, and I don't hurt my own ears... but really... hmmm... maybe they would pay me to *not* play. :mischief

<small><i>* PM for long whiney version</i></small> :p

[Lilaena De'Ville]

How much money do you need to raise, approximately?

[Mu Satach]

Rough guesstimate -

aprox. $2000 for flight +/- a few hundred
whatever for a bit of food / day for about 2 months -> No clue yet
and chump change to see the sights and walk about a bit -> No clue yet

I have yet to do any research on how much food costs over there or transportation, etc. But just the cost of the flight alone is freaking me out a bit.

If my application to the program is accepted I'll be taking out a loan to cover the tuition costs and that includes housing and 2 meals per day.

I'm just trying to do a little thinking beyond the normal things one does to save up for something spazztastic. If only I had some small cool thing I could make and sell... that wasn't a complete pile o'crap... like a pet rock sock puppet shop! Yeah... there's a winner of an idea.

I would say, "Buy my Rocky Socks!" >=}

[Tri'ahna Zylary]

Why the heck would the flight be that expensive? There are usually some cheaper flights available to Paris... If you're a student you should try http://www.statravel.com/cps/rde/xchg/us_division_web_live/ - they have flights at discounted prices as long as you can show them your student ID, nevermind what age you are.

Got to advise you that food in France (and almost anywhere in Western Europe) is fairly expensive compared to the US. There are cheaper stores and you can get cheaper food but in a lot of cases these are Ethnic food shops or something like that and they might not always carry what you need or want.

I can give you a rough example about living expenses - I spend about 200 Euros a month on groceries for myself and my daughter. We don't really eat extravagantly and I try to buy things that are not expensive. Meat is rather expensive but you can sometimes get it cheaper in a sale or in a discount store like Lidl or Aldi (which they have in France, too). The 200 Euros of course includes other household items so I can't really tell you how much is food alone. I also tend to buy bread-mixes and make my own bread instead of buying it, which saves a bit.

I've only ever vacationed in France and only wandered into supermarkets or small groceries on a whim to find something to take home, so I don't know what the prices are like for the bare necesities. But from what I've heard from a friend who lives in France, it's not much different than here or anywhere else in Western Europe.

What I can tell you is that 10 years ago while unemployed I managed to survive in Ireland on 20 IRP (Irish Pounds) per week living off rice, apples and carrots and an occasional treat. IRP got converted into Euro 1:1 and from what I could see last year while on vacation there, things haven't changed that much so I would think you'd be able to survive on 20 Euros per week if you're not out to treat yourself every day. France isn't more expensive than Ireland (probably a little less, even).

Public transportation.... I can find out about it for you if you like. I do have that friend who lives in France, so he might be able to tell me roughly what things cost. All I can tell you now is that the public transportation system in France is really great, but if you live outside of the cities you're sometimes totally stuck on weekends because nothing moves. Inside the cities it's different - usually if the city has a tram system it's still running, and there are buses going too, but not as many and as regularly as during the week. But during the week you can get anywhere with them (just as long as you figure out what bus you need to take, and from where - but the tourist information offices usually can help with that if you can't make sense of the system)

[Mu Satach]

Ooo... thanks for the link. I was just doing a quick search of flights for the dates of the program and was seeing prices from approx. $1500 to almost $3000.

Any info on France would be great. :)
Thanks!

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Mmm eat crepes while you're there. :yum

Ok, have a garage sale and ask your friends to donate their unwanted stuff to the cause so you have more to sell.

Carry around a 'swear box' and every time people swear around you make them give you a quarter.

[Mu Satach]

I got an idea of trying to sell something, currently hush hush and only on a need to know basis. Though, seriously no one needs to know. ;) I just need to look into how much work it would take to put something together on my site.

But anyway... application is in, passport is in the works, will start booking flights... need to pull el budget together and get the student loan processing and most importantly, pass my current French class or the whole thing is a bust. :p

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Good luck passing French - I'm terrible with languages. Except English. I like English. ;)

[Crusader]

Hey Mu you better work hard on this test or otherwise I won't have a good reason to visit France this year :)

...Oh and at least one of us needs to know how to order our dinner.

[stevenvdb]

But anyway... application is in, passport is in the works, will start booking flights... need to pull el budget together and get the student loan processing and most importantly, pass my current French class or the whole thing is a bust. :p

Well, that answers several questions that immediately popped into my overlycurious noggin. And as i'm a bit nutty that way, I don't mind receiving any other nuggets of sillyness or idle questions. ;)

[Mu Satach]

I have to meet with the director of the program this morning, and I just pulled an all nighter in the editing lab.

Lack of sleep tends to make me very weird. I hope I'm not nutty during the interview. >_<

[Lilaena De'Ville]

how'd it go? :)

[Mu Satach]

I think it went well. Still working on the finance and passing the class end of things.

And I just learned I have to call the passport office early Monday morning and find out what happened to my birth certificate. >_<

At any rate, things are moving forward.

[Mu Satach]

I just have to say...

it feels weird having a passport.

That is all.

[stevenvdb]

Papers please...

First time across the big water?

Be sure to take facsimiles of your important documents and keep them on your person, and if you're going to drive, take your drivers license with you. ;)

[Crusader]

I just have to say...

it feels weird having a passport.

That is all.

I am forced by law to carry a passport or ID card with me since my 16th birthday. So there is nothing weird about this.

[Mu Satach]

Let's just say, I don't know anyone in my family who has one. Possibly my great uncle who works in Washington for the BIA, he might have one, but I'm not sure. It's just a trip to see something I've only seen in spy movies in my hands with my picture on it. It has a surreal quality to it. So, it's weird to me.

Photocopies, Driver's License, - check!

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Exciting stuff!!

My passport needs updating. :uhoh

[Dasquian Belargic]

I can't imagine not having a passport.

I hope you get to study in France. I have a couple of friends doing that right now and they're loving it. Plus, you'll only be a stones throw away from the UK (and of course the rest of Europe) then. You could inter-rail your way across the continent for pretty cheap :D

[Mu Satach]

ok ok ok...

last exam is in the morning, spoken conversation with a classmate for approximately 5 min. on one of three possible topics to be drawn from a hat.

AND THEN - I'll know next week when grades are posted how I fared.

someone in the group posted a link to a flight that jets back and forth from London to Tours for fairly cheap. >=)

[Crusader]

You could inter-rail your way across the continent for pretty cheap :D

Sry but Interrail only works for citizens of Europe.

[Dasquian Belargic]

That, I did not know.

I looked it up, and Wikipedia informs me that this is an alternative for non-EU residents: http://www.railpass.com/

[Crusader]

Thanks. That's good to know. I want to take part in a summer school program in Denmark this august so I am lookig for some cheap train tickets for myself.

[Mu Satach]

*runs screaming through the thread carrying her books, papers and laptop as she heads to the library to finish studying for finals and writing papers and such*
<big><big>
"I PASSED FRENCH!!!
I'M GOING TO FRANCE!!!
I GRADUATE IN DECEMBER!!!!!!!!!!"</big></big>

*maniacal laugher echo's back up the hallway as a few papers drift lazily down to the floor*

[Dasquian Belargic]

:crack congratulations!

[stevenvdb]

It's been a long journey, hasn't it. Glad it's culminating in this. After all, France is in a way where this all began.

:: catches and scolds self for sounding pedantic:::

Hey! Mu's going to France! :D

[Turbogeek]

Going to be anywhere near London in August?

[Mu Satach]

No. :(

I'll be in Tours from May 25th to June 28th.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Congratulations! This is fantastic news! :D :glomp

Have fun in France - I went for a few weeks one summer with my university choir and it was SO much fun.

[Liam Jinn]

Congrats :)

[Mu Satach]

Ok, crazy idea...

It's cheaper airfare if I pop into London a few day's earlier. If I did that, where would be a good place to flop for a few nights?


edit
-mmm nevermind.

[Dasquian Belargic]

No London?

[Mu Satach]

I decided to not stress myself out <i>before</i> classes begin and just head directly to Tours.

My flight lands at about 8 AM in Paris. I *think* the train I will be taking leaves at 12:25 from Paris which puts me into Tours at about 1:15 pm. (still figuring out the rail pass stuff)

So, now I have plenty of time to get from plane to train and then the entire afternoon & evening to settle in and explore Tours before classes early Monday morning. =)

BUT - after classes end, I'm leaving two days later. Don't know where or what I'll be doing Saturday June 28th & Sunday 29th, but I figure I'll be much less stressed and enjoy running about more on my own <i>after</i> living there over a month than trying to do something spontaneous and silly being a goober hick fresh from the sticks.

[Mu Satach]

So... anyhoo -

Flying out Saturday morning, making my way across Paris Sunday morning, catching the TGV to Tours at noon.

So, if anyone who lives in Europe knows any interesting spots to check out or whatever, clue me in. I'm on a budget, but wouldn't mind catching a train for a weekend to see something interesting. Or even meet up with someone. Right now pondering a weekend up to Germany, or over to England. Or whatever... kind of just been spazzing about the trip arrangements to get there. Once I'm there I'm going to kind of wing it.
:)

[Hartus Kenobi]

Good luck. I'll be in Europe as well over a part of the summer and throughout the next schoolyear - but in the UK.

[stevenvdb]

:wave

Breath Deep.

Don't Stress.

Buy some local produce at one of the open-air markets. If it is in season and locally grown it will be fairly inexpensive and ...nom nom nom..:::drool:::

If worste comes to worste.. that school sounds like it has a fairly international assortment of enrollees, so your bound to find someone who speaks your language/s. ;)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I hope your flight goes well! When I flew to Paris I was stuck between two enormous businessmen for the entire flight. >_< I hope you're more comfortable.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Hey, it can't be much worse than driving to France... stupid ferry.

[Mu Satach]

I lucked out and got a window seat so got to see the atlantic and the coastline on both sides. :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/mu.satach/Tours
photo album - have more but don't want to waste time uploading at the moment. ;)

Right now, despite being very confused most of the time I am loving it here. =)

[Dasquian Belargic]

Looks like you're staying in a really pretty area :)

[Crusader]

Seeing stuff that is older than 300-500 years must be a real shock for her :D

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Oh you Europeans and your history. ;)

I doubt its a shock, we expect to see old stuff in Europe.

And we took the ferry one time from England to the Netherlands, and it was FUN. The bunks were awesome. :D Of course, I was 6. We got sailor hats to wear. :eee

14 hours without being able to move at all is much worse, believe me. ;)

Glad you're there safely Mu, and I hope all is going well! :hug If you do find yourself in Paris keep this in mind: When riding the Metro or walking about, do not make eye contact with any French men. If you do, they think you want the sex. They will also whistle incessantly at you while you walk around - you learn to block it out. Its sort of flattering until you realize that they do it for just about everything that is female.

When I was there, a few girl friends and I were walking around Paris and we were stopped at a corner waiting to cross the street when a guy came up behind us and started chatting in English. It only took a few sentances to realize that the guy was simply repeating any and all English phrases he knew to try to get our attention! We used the tried and true method of "IGNORE" and it worked, we got away unmolested. ;)

[stevenvdb]

Are there any major cities in the US that have incorporated bike lanes on most of their major streets? I always view that as a sign of civility, but I'm heavily biased. ;)

I know Davis, CA has, but that's more of an exception to the rule, I suspect.

Perhaps Philly?

Bloody city planners and their non-pedestrian-friendly concrete engineering shenanigans.

[Nya Halcyon]

Mu, if you're coming to Germany, let me know - I could always meet you somewhere!

Sounds like you're doing well over there :)

[Mu Satach]

SLC has bike paths on streets that run next to main streets. The main ones people drive up to 50 or 60 mph and I wouldn't suggest riding there even if there were bike paths.

Ok, trying to type on a french keyboard is very interesting.

Most interesting thing is moist dog poo. Out home its so dry that dog poo can easily be avoided and cleaned up... not so much ici.

Oh yeah, we we're told about the gentlemen of Paris. Oh la! >=}

We tavel to Paris next weekend.

A beintôt!

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Portland, Oregon is in the process of giving our streets over to the bicyclists, which is stupid because it seems they don't think they have to follow the rules of the road and end up getting hit by cars that are. :shakefist

I can't imagine a French keyboard :p

[Mu Satach]

It's just different enough to mess you up a bit. The M is where the L is, the A is where the Q is and a few other things. I'm kinda glad I lugged my laptop over here. Now I just wish I had a better power adapter. The one the radio shack guy recommened sucks! Blurg! =)

[stevenvdb]

One of the last big trips my mother, sister and I took together, was to Paris in late Fall, perhaps early Winter. I must have been 11, nearly 12 as I remember father had moved out of the house by then to pursue his life's dream elsewhere and sister was visiting home from university. Mother was making a big push to try to create some special times together, some lasting memory we could share and perhaps smooth over the transition from our old life as four to our new life as three...well, as my sister was growing into her own new life, two, plus one.

While my sister browsed the shops and daydreamed, I remember being a bit of a scamp, running through the leaves along the wide boulevards, ducking back into small narrow alleys behind the shops, much to my mother's alarm. ;) The sense of space, proportion and freedom, created just from the scale, was pleasing to a boy who spent most of his life, sheltered in a small village, where one of the the biggest treat for a child was going to the local ice cream parlor (actually there are two of them and the ice cream is still good. :D). or the local harvest festivals. Heh, for our first day there, my mum had talked me into and had me decked out to the gills in what she though was stylish local French attire. A beret, a poofy blouse, a cape-like jacket of the exact type I don't remember, tapered, knee-length shorts and underneath all. even undies with sailboats on them..petite bateau? I was rather small then and a little babyish for my age, so I could get away with such things..

Needless to say, we got some smirks from people. Tourists! ;)


The idea behind the QWERTY keyboard was to actually slow typists down on the old style manual typewriters, so that the keys wouldn't bang into each other and stick as often. Seemingly silly nowadays, with electronic typewriters actually being cheaper to tool for and produce than the old standbys. Still, kind of neat that there is an old holdover from that era, that can still prove to be a useful skill. You never know where you might end up, banging away at that detective novel on an old Remington....


Yes, being on a bike can give a false sense of control and can promote foolhardy, rude or reckless behavior; though, not so much as being on a motorized bike within major traffic can promote. :-/ Admittedly, Amsterdam (or New York City, for that matter) can be one of the most aggravating places to drive around in because of this. It's a bit of a pedestrian human free-for-all, anyways.

(Not that many tourists don't perceive us Dutchies as rather rude, anyways. The major cities, especially around the tourist traps, are packed with people and can be rather hectic. As a people we do speak comparitively loudly, are a bit cynical and rarely sugarcoat things. We tend to speak our mind on things. ;) And our humor tends to be rather bizarre and cutting. Some people claim, we are all probably inately mentally ill. )

I don't know. Most people in major metropolitan areas seem pretty much the same to me. The trick is to be nice, polite, but not cloyingly so (as Americans can come off to some other nationalities). It puts people on guard because they suspect you want something from them, but makes it much more difficult for them to brush you off.

Perhaps being in the US has softenedf me a bit, made me more sentimental. :P

Hmmmph. I'm going to look for something I can complain and be cynical about.

There is always Bush to knock around, deservedly ..ahh , yes.. *slobber*