I Have A Confession To Make.....

I have a confession to make. Originally, I wanted my first post to be about how I finally made it to Paris, how much I love it, and how much of a great experience this was going to be. To be honest, this has kind of sucked so far. Here are the reasons why:

1. United Airlines hates me. 

My parents are members with United Airlines, and I will agree that United is definitely one of the top airlines that is based out of the United States. However, United and I have had a long history of straight disrespect. Every flight I have been on has either been delayed for an enormous amount of time (without any valid reasons), they seat me next to people that are not ideal, or I get attitude from the flight attendants. For this trip I had to leave from Houston, Texas to Newark, and from Newark to Paris. Of course, my flight from Houston to Newark was about two hours delayed due to the fact that their flight staff was running late. This delay caused me to only have a little less than an hour to get from my gate to the other side of the airport. I booked it.  Luckily, I made it to my gate with just enough time to do a quick currency exchange. I guess I run faster than I think I do. 

2. Taxi drivers hate me.

Like United Airlines, I have a long awful history with taxi drivers. I've been denied service, yelled at for using my credit card instead of cash, hit on, preached to and just straight up disrespected by taxi drivers.  I have never had a good experience with a taxi driver, until Uber came along. After finishing my 10 hour journey to Paris, all I wanted to do was go to my hotel room and sleep for the rest of the day. It was 8:45am and I planned on not waking up till 8:45 am the next day. I meet my prepaid driver at the front of the airport and we make our way to my hotel. The guy driving me is not a taxi driver so this complaint is not about him. It is about the french taxi drivers that are blockading the freeways leaving the airport because they are protesting against Uber. Because of this, instead of me getting to my hotel in 30 minutes, it took us almost 2 hours. I stop using taxis, and they still want to make my life a living hell. 

3. Hotel policies suck. 

For the first night in Paris I wanted to stay in a hotel until my roommate made it into the country. I wanted to move into our apartment together so I would not have to stay in an unfamiliar place by myself. It was 10:45am, I was jet lagged and I smelled like airplane. But, of course, I could not check into my hotel room until 3:00pm. I had to stay in the hotel lounge for two hours drinking coffee (I hate coffee) until they were able to put me into a room. I could have walked around for a little bit, but I could not handle any more walking considering how tired I was. I was fortunate enough to get into a room around 12:30pm instead of 3:00pm. 

4. Paris is actually hell on earth. 

I am from Houston, Texas where we only have two seasons, Fall and Summer. Summer lasts for about 10 months out of the year, and for those 10 months it is extra hot and extra humid. I should be use to going to other places that are equally hot and equally humid. I guess that's not the case. Paris is hell because its a different kind of hot. Its the kind of hot that makes people tired and nauseous. Paris is hell because everyone looks fantastic in this weather, and I look like I should be admitted into a hospital. Paris is hell because Parisians already have a preconceived notion about me and look right past my southern charm. I'm nice! I swear!

I have been reflecting on these past few days and thinking about how horribly things have been going since I have arrived to Paris. Right at this moment I realize that I have missed so many things that have gone right! Now that I think about it, there is a lot of things that have gone right since I've been here that I have overlooked and under-appreciated: 

1. I live in a bangin' Parisian apartment with a really cool roommate. 

2. We got to go to my favorite restaurant in the entire world on the first night! 

Kong is a Japanese fusion rooftop restaurant that has the best cocktails and the best udon noodles I have ever had in my entire life. Not only does it have really cool decor and good food, it has an amazing view of the Louis Vuitton headquarters. Someone google Jordan Nile Bingham and decided to make the perfect restaurant in my honor.

3. I get to live in Paris for the next month to study the luxury goods market and the French wine business. How many people my age can say that? 

I live a good life and I know that this is going to be the adventure of a lifetime. I am so ready!!