Francophile in the West

I am officially no longer an intern with UW Admissions! My last week was really crazy; my co-intern and I were busy, busy, busy with training the new interns, and I also had to take care of some things for my position there this summer. On Friday, we had a little going away party in the office at the end of the work day, and then one of the other admissions counselors sponsored a barbecue at her house after work. Oh boy, we had a blast! It was hilarious to have all of the counselors together chatting and laughing and enjoying some wine and delicious brews. My going away present from the office was a fabulous gift card to Metropolitan Market (my favorite grocery store), and I stopped by there today to gather some treats: Iberico cheese, white truffle oil, a beautiful Bordeaux, and a Spanish white wine. I'm enjoying the Bordeaux with Hungarian Goulash and Israeli Couscous tonight (DELISH!), and I have just enough left over on the gift card to purchase some juicy, delicious scallops...

This next week is the last week of my internship at the UW! Actually, it's not really... It IS my last week as an official 'intern', but I will be continuing on with Admissions in a part-time temporary position this summer! One of the other full-time counselors in the office is leaving for a new job, and my supervisors asked me to stick around through the summer to help bridge the gap until a new counselor is hired. Wahoo!! 20-25 hours a week is a-okay by me! I'll be continuing to do some of my 'intern' duties (and at the same pay rate- yessss), but I'll also be helping to manage the campus tour guides and a few other projects. It will be great to have a more relaxed schedule and to still be able to make some money until I leave Seattle for Europe! I'm really lucky that they asked me to stay on (I think they like me - whew!). I'll also be taking a class this summer. Having successfully completed Microeconomics, it's time to take on Macroecon! H...

I only have 12 more work days before I'm all done with my internship with the UW, so I decided to take advantage of another paid vacation day and take a random long weekend before I leave. Kris took Monday off, too, so we decided to go camping! Two of his good friends were already planning a trip, so we tagged along and wound up spending the weekend in Stehekin, WA on Lake Chelan.  What an amazing place! I had never been to Lake Chelan before, and this was a great introduction. I had no idea the lake was so HUGE! It's 55 miles long and is the third-deepest lake in the USA. Whoa. The four of us drove over together on Friday night and had a drink at a local bar, owned by one of Kris' friend's friends, called "Chelanigans". I love that name, haha! They had some great dance music going and we wound up with a pizza, so it was a successful night. We camped near Fields Point Landing, woke up, and then hopped on the Lady of the Lake ferry the next morni...

The past two weekends have been quite the blast, so there is a lot to catch up on blog-wise. We'll break it into two posts, starting with the end of May and Memorial Day weekend... My parents, sister, and brother-in-law came to visit on Friday and Saturday for a family excursion to see the King Tut exhibit at the Pacific Science Center. What a treat! On Friday evening, my folks had dinner with Kris and me at our place; we cooked up some delicious surf-n-turf of steak done on the grill and salmon with asparagus and baby Yukon potatoes. It was quite the feast and we had a great time cooking up a storm. Getting ready to enter the exhibition! The fam stayed at a hotel in the U-District, so Kris and I met up with them on the Ave mid-morning on Saturday. We all hopped on a bus to Seattle Center, and we had a little bit of time to walk through some of the exhibits in the Pacific Science Center, as well as walk briefly through the throngs of people at the Folklife Festiv...

I had a lovely weekend with Kris and my roommates! Kris made it back to Seattle from his work trip late on Thursday, and on Friday evening, we drove up to Bellingham to spend a day with his brother and his girlfriend. After a chill evening catching up and then sleeping in on Saturday morning, we cooked a tasty breakfast of pancakes and waffles, neither of which I've had in a long time. There's nothing like fresh waffles smothered in peanut butter and jam with some pure maple syrup on top! A funny gas station sign on our way to Mt. Baker. Then, the four of us spent the afternoon near Mount Baker hiking around with his brother and girlfriend's two dogs. The three of them brought their snowboards, so they flew down the snowy hills on the way back to the car, and I let the dogs be my sled dogs as we ran and slid down the snow! It was lots of fun, and the weather was just gorgeous. It definitely made Kris and I excited about hiking and camping this summer! We're alread...

Aloha! I have returned from my wonderful trip to Hawai'i with my sister! What a fantastic week! I'm a little bit more tan and a lotta bit more refreshed than I was when I left, that is for sure. My sis and I enjoyed the sunshine, heat, and the ocean very, very much. And, we took TONS of pictures! Almost 700 over the course of the week. Wow. Haha. Here are a few of the highlights, plus a few things I would recommend for anyone traveling to the Big Island: Palm trees galore! Sunsets over the Pacific on the lava rock coast! LAVA! So much lava, everywhere. 1) Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.  This is a HUGE park on the southeast side of the island with lots to see! Kilauea is the most active volcano on the planet; it's been steaming and gurgling and spitting fire for 30+ years! We had a great time driving around to the various sights: steam vents on a cliffside, a lava tube you could walk through, the plume coming from Kilauea's currently active crater, ...

I took the GRE this weekend and I ROCKED IT!!! I did better than I thought I would. Whew! It is a huge relief to have that over with. I just have to wait for my writing scores to come in, but hopefully, I won't be taking that dang test again! All is continuing to look good as far as grad school goes. The goal is to start in the fall of 2013. My number one choice? The University of Denver's Korbel School of International Studies . Great program, awesome location, and the best funding package I've seen - my dream grad school! Annnnnnnnnd, today's the day I officially begin my journey towards obtaining a French long-stay work visa! I gathered all of the necessary starter documents together and will be sending them off in the mail today. Here's to hoping they arrive in France in good time and that it only takes one month (and not three) to receive my work contract!