harry potter and the deathly hallows, part two (no spoilers here)

So I went to the midnight showing last night.

I don't know how to feel. I almost feel as if I haven't absorbed a single thing from the movie. Like, I know I saw it. I watched it, going from "OMG SO EXCITE" to, "ugh, they changed crap again." But it doesn't feel as if. I mean, I don't even know. I feel so lost.

Harry Potter is over.

It's so... sad. It's been the past twelve years of my life. I've grown up with Daniel, Rupert, and Emma, and I just. I can't believe it. I haven't absorbed it. Well.

Here's a video that says it better than I can.

some people must think i'm really weird.

Since I've been home, I've basically been a lazy ass. It's really unavoidable, being unemployed and all. Let's remedy that at some point, kay?

In the meantime of the fruitless search for work, I fill my days with internets, writing, and I'm just getting around to starting to scrapbook last year. I ordered 800 prints of photos and am just waiting on the scrapbook pages to be delivered so I can put on The O.C. and have a marathon OC and scrapbooking week (last year it was Gilmore Girls and China photos).

In that spirit, yesterday I went and did this:

I'm sure you can tell what part of it is - my ticket when I saw Harry Potter last year, but it's sitting on top of a nice little square of the red carpet which I took from the Premiere of HPDH part one last November (FAMOUS PEOPLE WALKED ON THIS. lol). A forever momento of my geekdom of which I have absolutely no regrets.

[insert gif with chicken spinning on disco dance floor with text "I regret nothing."] or that would be there if I had that gif.

In less than a month, Harry Potter will be over. Well, not quite. We still have Pottermore to look forward to, and if it's anywhere near as awesome as I'm picturing in my head, it will be AWESOME. Pottermore, I will see you in October.

Finding Hogwarts

This past weekend, I set off to find Hogwarts. In case you haven’t been paying attention, I am one of the biggest Harry Potter dorks ever. Just for future reference.

This past weekend, I hopped on a plane to Edinburgh, Scotland, the very place where Harry was born, nurtured, and where I’ve grown up with him all these years. I finally got to see the place I’ve only seen in my imagination for the past twelve years.

Oh. My imagination did not do it justice.

not with a fizzle, but with a bang

My life at work:

Me: *sits at computer*
Random person: Excusez-moi, est-ce que vous savez...
Me: Non.

The end is nigh! As you may have guessed from my outburst the other day, the CAF has finally come through and I have some money in the bank. My dad advised me to buy my plane ticket home ASAP as the gas prices are apparently about to shoot through the roof. So.

May 7th. That's the day I'll be back in the US. It seems so soon when you look at it. Less than two months away already. Oh boy. Where did the time go?

Before I go home, I would like to travel some, of course. I'll have about three weeks to travel before heading home. The only definite stop at the moment is Iceland. I'm flying out of Reykjavik (well, Paris to Reykjavik then home) but because of the flight times, if I flew straight from Paris, I'd only have one hour to go through security and all that junk in Iceland. So instead, I'm flying to Iceland a few days early, have a little time to see it, and then I'll be going home. 

I really don't know where I want to go. There are still so many places I haven't been. Too many options!

I am, however, going to Edinburgh in a few weeks! I decided to bite the bullet and spend the money. If I don't do it now, when will I? So I'm off in search of Hogwarts, and I have a friend who lives in Scotland that I might see if schedules permit. So, the end is coming, but I will leave with a bang. Only two months. Let's see how much trouble I can get into within that time.

Eet's clow-dee and cowld.

Biggest pet peeve for French people-learning-english: Putting Hs where they don't belong and taking them away when they're supposed to be there. No wonder the kids can't tell the difference between "ear" and "hair."

I was made fun of, or laughed at anyway, for reading Harry Potter by someone at work. I resent that. Harry Potter is a great book, and I was at least reading it in French, so that should somehow count in my favor?

Les soldes ont commencé. I bought a sweater at 50% off and I have plans to search for a bag once the prices dip even lower. I'm thinking when I go to Lille in a few weeks. I don't remember if I wrote this already, but I'm going to Cologne, Germany in a few weeks, just for the weekend. I have yet to convince anyone to come with me, but c'est pas grave - that's how my life goes. Tant pis.

On a parting note, today, a French person asked my why I bothered learning French. And people say the French are rude and highstrung. Obviously they've never been here.

the year in review

The time has come for the review of the year. I usually do this on my livejournal, but since I deleted it, this year, it's going to be here.

Last year at this time, I was sitting in my apartment in China, freezing to death despite wearing a puffy coat, two layers of everything, and gloves. I was simultaneously thanking and cursing the winter for both sending the spiders in my apartment into hibernation and making everything absolutely freezing.

I can't say 2010 was a year of changes because I still don't feel as though much has changed. Perhaps outwardly, there was a lot of change, but inwardly, I feel basically the same as I always have, which annoys me to no end. At some point, you're supposed to change, right?

What did I do in 2010 that I haven't done before?

In 2010, I climbed the Great Wall in the snow in Beijing, saw Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an, ate way too much amazing food for Chinese new year, pet cats in Japan, visited 20 year old prisons in South Korea (literally everything was rebuilt in the 80s), sweated in the middle of February in Hong Kong, ate waffles and fries in Belgium, and had the best night ever in England.

One of my best friends got married to a guy I'd never met. I spent over 18 hours on planes to go to the wedding and spent entirely too much time collecting things for the outfit I wore (hair clip from Japan, dress from China, tights from Japan, shoes from America). I nearly kissed the ground when I finally got to the US. I spent 3 glorious weeks visiting friends and family, including two weeks in LA with my best friend where we spent lots of time watching Harry Potter and even making a Twilight parody for youtube.

My time in China was interesting and people constantly ask me about it and I always have to stop and think before I answer. I'm not the kind of person who can just spout the same answer every time without thinking. Granted, my answer is usually the same, but it takes a minute. China was... an experience, that's for sure. Am I glad I went? Of course. Would I go back? Well.... I don't know. To visit, yes, not necessarily to live. China is a very odd place that a lot of people don't understand at all, and when I read news reports about it or people just giving their opinions, it takes a lot of restraint not to correct them about some of the things they say. Chinese society and culture is so different than ours that simple assumptions are just wrong.

Of course, the most recent change in my life has been France. I applied for the TAPIF program in November of last year and spent the next five months anxiously waiting for the answer. I don't know when I decided I wanted to move to France, because if you'd have told me nine years ago when I first started learning French that I would be living in France, I would have said you were crazy. Then again, I never thought I'd end up majoring in French either, but when it came time to pick a college, the answer was obvious. Even a few years ago, I told my mom that it was crazy to think that I would go abroad alone. I guess I'm eating my words now.

April 6th, 2010 I woke up (being 12-15 hours ahead of the US in China) and went to my computer, convinced that the email from TAPIF would not be there, as I'd been checking incessantly since the first of the month, but lo and behold, I opened it up and there it was, congratulating me on being accepted to the Lille academie. People had been telling me for months I was a shoe-in, but doubt always grows, especially when you take a look at the people who had been rejected who had great qualifications.

France has not been nearly as hard as China, but I think it's comparatively speaking. If I hadn't gone to China, I'm sure I would have found France much harder than I have. China taught me patience and to significantly lower my expectations for time-lines and quality, which in turn makes the French bureaucracy seem breezily efficient. It probably helps that I haven't encountered the same problems as others have with their paperwork.

2010 was also the resurgence of my huge Harry Potter nerd-ness. God. It started in the summer when I watched all the movies and started rereading the series backwards (I got to book 3 before I had to leave for France). Then I found Mark Reads Harry Potter, the blog all about HP from the viewpoint of a first time reader which rekindled the lost flame that you only have once: the first time you read. I also finally watched A Very Potter Musical and Sequel, which just exploded everything. All of a sudden, I was as obsessed with Harry Potter as I was at age 18. This all culminated in the release of Deathly Hallows part 1 movie. I decided to do something crazy; I went to London and I stayed up all night on the street like a homeless person all for the chance to see the HP actors, and of course to bond over our mutual love of Harry Potter with total strangers. It was the best 19 hours of my life.

All in all, this year has been good. There have certainly been some low points, lower than normal too for some reason, but in general, I think I'll look back on this year with a smile.

As for resolutions. Clearly, I failed last years which was to write everyday, more specifically write everyday in a story-type blog. I failed about halfway into January with that one and the blog has since been deleted. I also went nearly 5 months without writing anything, so yeah. Epic fail on my part. I think this year I'll do something simpler. My 2011 resolutions are to 1) learn to make macarons (this requires me moving home first, or to America anyway), and 2) learn to cable knit so I can finally make my perfect Ravenclaw scarf. Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to do that before DH part 2 release. But those are my resolutions. Perfectly reasonable, right? I think so.

So Happy new year to you all reading this. I hope your year has been just as interesting and you've learned something from it. Joyeux nouvel an! Xin nian kuai le - 新年快乐! Next year is the year of the rabbit (my year!) so if you're a rabbit, be sure to wear your red underwear everyday for good luck ;] See you next year!

It's Harry Freaking Potter

A week after the worldwide release and two days after the French release, I finally saw Harry Potter et les reliques de morts, or the Deathly Hallows. I spent my last few euros to go into Lille and see it in English at the UGC cine cite theater.

Given that I am a huge Harry Potter fan, and have read all the books a lot (I seriously couldn't tell you how many times as I lost track back in 8th grade), and a lot of my friends I've met because of Harry Potter, I obviously have very strong opinions on how the movies should go. Of course, I have been disappointed every time, and every time, my expectations have dropped a little farther so that, by the time we reach the seventh movie, my expectations are low enough that I can almost finally enjoy the movies.

HP7 was the best so far. Most definitely. It was the truest to the book and THANK GOD the actors finally learned how to act. It only took them six movies. The writers finally learned how to write, and the actors learned how to cry. For the first time in six movies, I actually believed Emma Watson when she said her lines. It's no secret I've had big issues with her acting, and Dan's for that matter.

My favorite parts were the Tale of the Three Brothers. The animation was a nice cut from the rest of the film. My other favorite part was the return of Ron and his story about the ball of light. Not gonna lie, I cried. For the first time ever in a Harry Potter movie, I felt like the movie did real justice to a scene. Rupert added emotion behind the words to a point where it certainly needed it.

My biggest issues were the random dropping of information. I understand the need (because they've forgotten to do it the last 6 movies. come on.) but it's still annoying. "Hey, they're Snatchers." "I'm Bill." "He's Mundungus." P.S., where the hell has Kreacher been for the past three movies? Apparently he's just been snuffling around cupboards in the Black house since Sirius died.

My other issue was Wormtail. He didn't die. What exactly happened to him anyway? I was confused there. Also, the reintroduction of Dobby in the beginning. I was sitting there thinking, "Man, he's annoying, and I'm supposed to be sad later when he dies." - Dobby's death was the single time I cried while reading the entire HP saga. Oh, and Voldemort. My god, is he in love with Snape or something? I swear, at the party meeting, Voldemort was like, "Snapey-poo, where have you been, darling? Come sit, I saved you a place right near me so that I may pet your greasy hair as I speak."

But overall, it was good. Even from the first scene with Hermione and her parents, I thought Emma somehow reigned herself in and did a good job. She stopped acting with her eyebrows and her overdramatics finally came in useful. Rupert was brilliant, as always, and I wish the writers would stop acting like he's only there for comic relief. It's too late now, but still. He never gets enough credit. Dan... was better. I didn't cringe in the theater at his acting, so I count it a success.

And Draco, my lovely Draco. Only two lines. Someday you'll have your revenge.

back to witches and wizards and magical beasts, to goblins and ghosts and to magical feasts

Date: November 10th, 2010
Location: London, the UK
Mission: Stalk the Red Carpet premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Meet the stars. See JK Rowling. Be a complete and utter nerd.

10:30PM
On arriving in Leicester Square, the wind was sharp, the air was cold, and the tents were already up. Some people (those diehard fans who, I hate to say, are possibly more hardcore than me? - is that even possible? I was told by several people this weekend that I was more hardcore than they were even... and I don't even go on mugglenet. crazy!) had been set up since "teatime." The line wound halfway around the square already.

12:00AM
I finally took my place in line, near the end, and the security guard who probably thought we were just as crazy as everyone else divided us up into groups of ten and moved us along the fence. He sat us down near a gate and said, "Sit there and don't move." And don't move we did... for the next nine hours. I made friends with my neighbors, from America, Mexico, and Wales. It turns out that probably about 80% of the crazies camped out overnight were Americans. I suppose most of us saw it as our last chance, and really, it is. There's only one more premiere left and if we don't go now, we miss out on something all of Britain has had for the past six movies.

2:00AM
The cold had set in and I could no longer feel my fingers or toes. We sang songs from A Very Potter Musical/Sequel, drew up ridiculous posters that eventually never made it out of the bag, and huddled together under thin blankets and sweatshirts. A few people managed to sleep under umbrella-made shelter from the wind, and I had to stand up just to get the feeling back in my toes. The drunk hecklers stumbled out of the surrounding clubs, slurringly asking what we were doing, one guy pissing on umbrellas, and a girl, barefoot and stumbling, shouting, "Don't you feel stupid?" Honestly, not compared to you.

3:00AM
A woman from a British radio station I've never heard of came out and interview me and another Australian girl I met there. The questions were standard - How long have you been out here for? Who do you want to see the most? What does Harry Potter mean to you? - My answers were easy - about four hours, Rupert Grint, and I came out here and am sitting in freezing cold because it's my last chance and the end of Harry Potter means the end of my childhood which is depressing when you think about it, and I've been thinking about it far too much lately. She also asked what I would do if I got to meet Rupert, and my answer was something like, "Probably say something stupid because that's what I always do when I meet people like that."

5:00AM
The rain begins. The umbrellas go up. People began to arise and rub the feeling back into their limbs. New (idiotic) security guys arrive and are apparently not briefed on anything. Those not-so-dedicated fans show up and try to cut in line. We send them to the back with only a few snapped words, attempting to be polite after seven hours of waiting already.

8:00AM
The line begins to move. The groups ahead of us were moved up and we were left with a flippant, "Someone will be along," and a person who never showed. We asked the guy in the yellow vest. He knew nothing. He bumbled about different gates. Someone from the group ahead of us came back to tell us people were attempting to shove in ahead. Eventually, Dumb Yellow-Vest guy tells us we were right, and we should move up. We push out the cutters and take our rightful places.

9:00AM
We are finally allowed to enter the all hallowed ground of Leicester Square and get squashed in with little red stamps on the backs of our hands. And then we wait.

And wait.

And wait.

2:00PM
The rain decides to dump everything it's got on us. Umbrellas are squashed together and dripping on everything and everyone is wet and cold and tired, but no one leaves. We discuss how amazing it will be to see everyone, how utterly unbelievable it would be to meet JK Rowling. We discuss the books and characters. We are dorks to the max. It is awesome. We wait.

4:30PM
The red carpet is finally assembled! The press begins to arrive, video cameras tell people to scream over and over again, giving us false hope each time.

5:00PM
It begins.

6:00PM
An hour after the announcement that a star has arrived, they finally enter the red carpet area and it begins for real. The crowd is screaming and squishing and shoving autograph books and papers in front of people who we don't even know at times. My spot is directly behind the interview stage and I get to see Emma Watson, Dan Radcliffe, and Tom Felton way up close. I saw "Neville," "Luna," "Dean," and people who play Padma (or Parvati? Still not sure on that), Jason Isaacs, and new actress who plays Gabrielle.

7:00PM
It ends. We're all exhausted, exhilarated, thrilled, tired, so happy. Nineteen hours later and I don't regret a single thing, well, except perhaps the lack of a tent or sleeping bag.

Would I do it again? YES. Do you even need to ask?