Bonjour Paris

After sitting almost seven hours on a plane eating crappy airplane food, I have arrived in Paris. Unfortunately, it was cold and cloudy. But that didn't stop me from walking around the city for the entire afternoon. Eventually it got really cold and Naomi was quite tired since she wasn't able to get much sleep during the flight. I was disappointed that I didn't get to visit the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower today. Actually, when going back to the hotel, we passed by metro station Bir-Hakeim and saw briefly the Eiffel Tower up close. I wish I was able to actually go up the tower and look at Paris. Hopefully when I come back to Paris in February I will be able to visit it. Otherwise, my trip to France would be incomplete!

On the other hand, I visited the Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Louvre. I didn't visit the actual museum yet, but I walked around the place. It was crowded! Walking through the monument was absolutely breath taking. My mom had asked me about the Louvre a few days before I left. I think she would have really enjoyed seeing the glass pyramids. It's amazing! Jardins des Tuileries was quite disappointing. However, it's understandable since it's winter and no garden ever looks good in the cold! I initially wanted to walk up Avenue des Champs-Elysees to go see the Arc de Triomphe, but after walking many blocks, it was getting really cold and dark, so I called it off. I still managed to get a picture of it. I definitely will go see it next time I'll be in Paris.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Glass pyramid and Louvre Palace

Glass pyramid at the Louvre

Champs-Elysees

Arc de Triomphe from Champs-Elysees

Champs-Elysees

Goodbye Montreal

In a few minutes, I will be on my way to the airport. My mom had to leave for work, so she will not be at the airport with me. I was really excited to leave partly because I wouldn't have to deal with me mother's nagging for four months. But saying goodbye to her was actually pretty sad. I am going to miss her.


Goodbye Montreal, you will be missed.

I love you with all my heart, but today I really hate you

I am in total panic mode right now. I just saw the time and it's past midnight. Meaning that today is December 29 and that I am leaving tomorrow...

I still haven't finished packing. There's just too much stuff and not enough space!

Anyway, on a different topic, I have a little story to tell. Since, I am leaving very soon, I have been busy these past few days seeing friends over  breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee and of course shopping. Yesterday, I had the chance to spend some time with my dear friend Connie Wong. Of course, we went shopping! Being the "big sister" she is, she took my debit card away and insisted on paying for everything! I desperately tried to convince the cashiers to take my credit card instead, but for some reason, Connie's card always won over mine. Plus, Connie is very persistent. Imagine this; two asian girls yelling : "Take me card ! My card! My card!" to a cashier at Sephora. Yes, this is what happened. The cashier was frightened. She didn't know what to do! "Connie, I love you with all my heart. But today, I really hate you" I said. The only thing I was able to do was to buy Connie a hot chocolate. It took me 5 minutes to convince her. Actually, I was only able to buy the hot chocolate because Connie had to step away to pick up a phone call.

Connie had planned to take me out for dinner that night, so after a few hours of retail therapy we headed to 3 Amigos. When we walked into the restaurant, the place was full. On top of that there was a big line. Instinctively, I stood in line. Connie on the other hand, just walked passed the line and started looking around. I thought Connie was looking for her sister because she had been on the phone with her a few times while we were shopping. Or so I thought...

Anyways, Connie walked back to me and I proposed we change restaurant. Surprisingly, Connie didn't want to and asked to go to the washroom. I didn't feel the need to go and I wanted to stay in line to keep our spot, so I said no. Connie insisted of me going with her. I really didn't want go, so I said no again.  Remember when I said Connie is persistent? After saying no a few times, she just grabbed my right arm and dragged me with her. Suddenly, we stopped at a table. Connie started speaking to someone. I thought we had bumped into Connie's friends. Then, I started to recognize the people. At the table sat P.O, Marine & her husband, Natacha, Sue, Alia and Sarah. "SURPRISE!" they all said. At that point, I was confused. I only realized what had happened after a few minutes. Connie had planned a surprise dinner for me! All those calls weren't from or to her sister. It was Sarah!!

Needless to say, I was very touched by everyone that night. I had an amazing time and I love Connie for being such an amazing friend!

Dear Connie, 

Thank you for everything! I will miss you terribly and I hope you will be able to visit me in France this April!

I love you !

Connie & I

Holiday Miracles

Do you believe in holiday miracles? I certainly didn't until today.

Most people think that a student's stress and anxiety ends when finals exams are over. That is not true! Waiting for your grades to show up is just as stressful as writing an exam. Now, there are three reactions that a person can have upon receiving their grades:

1. The student can be surprised and in shock because they did worse than they expected.
   This is worst feeling because the anxiety stays with you until you come up with a feasible game plan to fix that bad grade.
   
   
2. The student is indifferent. The grades are exactly what they expected them to be.
   
   
3. The student is surprised and in shock. They text/call their friends and post it on Facebook; they did better than what they expected.
   In my opinion this is the best scenario to ever have upon receiving your grade. It boots your self-esteem and makes you feel better about yourself.
   

So, what does grades have to do with miracles? Well, I believe I have just be blessed with a miracle. I received my COMM 308 (Intro to Finance) grade today, and I was surprised and in shock. I texted my friends and posted it as my Facebook status. Yes, I had a  #3 reaction. I did better than what I expected! WAY BETTER. I did really bad on the midterm and went into the final exam with a C and walked out with an A-!!!!  This is my holiday miracle. I am beyond happy ! I am so happy I could die (haha)! And here I was, worried that I wouldn't get the B- I need for graduate school. Now I can finally leave Montreal peacefully!

Happy holidays!

PARIS: 12 ♥

COMM 308: check!
ACCO 310: check!
ACCO 330: check!
COMM 226: check!

I am finally free! No more exams, no more studying. I can finally sleep for 10 hours a day now !
It is now the time to relax and do nothing. Actually, that's a lie. I have so much to do before my grand departure. I need to start packing!

Alright, Angela and I are going to eat french crepes to celebrate the end of our exams period now :)  yay !

This is Basic Vanilla!

ACCO 330, it is with extreme happiness that I say goodbye to you. I hope I never see you again, and please make sure to torture your future students the way you tortured me.

While most students who struggle in class don't like their teacher, I actually liked my ACCO 330 (Cost Management Accounting) professor (oh and I struggled.). You see, over the semester, Sunbul and I have develop quite a crush on him - yes, even despite the crappy grade he gave me. Actually, I wouldn't say a crush. Maurice is kind of old, way too old...
It's more like.....how do I say this...well, we thought he was really funny. Maurice, the engineer-turned-accountant is French and has the most hilarious expressions ever ! Sunbul and I have collected a small list of funny stuff he said over the semester. Here are some examples:

*please read the following with a french accent*

• "This is basic vanilla !!"    
  He usually says this line when he gets kind of upset that no one understand the concept he is explaining, or when someone complains about the material being taught is difficult.
  
  
• "Okay, enough bitching for today."
  He said this after complaining about the school not having sufficient computer labs.
  
  
• "This is a stupid proposition!"
  We were going over a problem where many propositions were presented and he just said that out as we were reading the question.
  
  
• "What is simple is always wrong, what is not simple is useless."
  This is what he thinks of accounting.
  
  
• "I don't like verbal diarrhea."
  This was his answer to a student who had asked about the length or our paper.
  
  
• "You think you were done with statistics after COMM 215? YOU ARE WRONG!"
  This was how he introduced us to chapter 10.
   

 I know, I know. You're probably thinking that it really isn't that funny and that I'm just delusional. But trust me. The way he says it with his french accent and facial expressions, it's freaking hilarious!

Mr. Maurice, 

It was a long semester. I can't believed it's over and that I survived. Thank you for teaching me how to account for spoilage and calculate joint processing costs. I will not miss our Tuesday and Thursday classes. I will however, miss your funny comments and miss you just a little. Actually, I probably won't miss you.... but you're still cool :)

Two Down, Two More to Go

Two down, two more to go.  

Last night I had my Finance final exam, followed by my Financial Reporting I final this afternoon. I could definitely use some sleep now... Let's just face it; there just isn't enough hours in a day when it is final exams period. As much as we all need it and want it, there is just simply no time to sleep! So after two days filled with stress and high emotions, it's time to take a break (not for too long though. I need to go back to my studies.I still have my Cost Management Accounting and MIS exams to study for :( ).

Although I am in desperate need to sleep and study, my parents are taking me out for brunch tomorrow morning. How can I say no to that? Breakfast food is the best! I can spend the whole day eating waffles and omelets if I had my way. My parents have been so nice to me lately. I think it's because I'm leaving soon (19 days !!). Naomi and her mother will be there too. I don't think I have written about how Naomi and I met. I definitely will write about it soon. As weird as it might sound, Naomi and I were meant to leave on an student exchange together! I know it's a really cheesy thing to say, but once I explain the full story, everything will make much more sense.

Until then, wish me luck on my remaining exams!