Jessica Pan's Blog: Graduates in Wonderland, page 3

Survive a 12-Hr Flight Without a Mental Breakdown

By the end, I wanted to throw myself out this window

Happy weekend to you! I’m back in London, but you probably didn’t even notice I was gone – although I have physically and mentally suffered from my recent travels. In honor of my grandparents 65th wedding anniversary (SIXTY-FIVE!!), I flew to Los Angeles last Thursday. I lost a day while flying for 12 hours and during my four nights there, I managed to eat matzah ball soup, run a sad distance on some hills in Westwood, almost spot Ann Margar...

Night Tunes

It’s 2am and my neighbors in London are blasting the same song over and over again. I’d complain, but I think I kind of love this song. I hadn’t heard it until now, but after googling the lyrics (the walls are paper thin), I’ve discovered it’s this song by Ed Sheeran:

Don’t by Ed Sheeran

I’m obsessed now. Welcome to my world. Now I’m blasting this song. I can’t stop singing the chorus.

* Is this song about Ellie Goulding? I need to know. Please tell me.

Here’s another song I can’t get out of my h...

A Nut Tart from the Roman Era

Hello! I’m currently in Tuscany, where it is beautiful and warm and sunny, but also full of things that I’ve taken to (obnoxiously) calling #tuscanyproblems such as having no hot water, going to various restaurants and grocery stores only to find they are closed just as we need them and getting constantly lost on windy roads up steep hills.

In Tuscany, there is a learning curve and just as we’re mastering it, it’s time for us to leave the vineyards behind and head to the the Amalfi Coast.

Lucki...

How to Do London Like a Local

You already know London. Everyone knows some part of London, and everyone has their own ideas about what it is — based on traveling, studying abroad, living here, or even too many viewings of Notting Hill or Sherlock Holmes.

But, saying that you know London is like saying you know the United States — the place itself is so vast that it’s impossible to make generalizations. So, we’re not going to tell you about Buckingham Palace, or the changing of the guard. We won’t tell you to walk around Hy...

Greta Garbo’s Advice

Ever wondered how to handle job promotions, flirtations with married men and making friends? Greta Garbo has the answers of course (just look at her). Here’s my (her) Hollywood Advice Column at Vanity Fair.

The post Greta Garbo’s Advice appeared first on Graduates in Wonderland.

Prepare Nothing When You Move Abroad

“Don’t rest all of your life expectations on one outcome. When you have no expectations, you don’t lose all that money on wasted ribbons and polo shirts. I flew to Beijing without knowing a thing about what to expect or what to bring. Granted, I also had to live without deodorant and the correct prescription contact lenses for two months, but I survived. And so will you! Even if you don’t get into your program, there will always be other ways to get to Paris and other ways to change your life...

The 11 Different Kinds Of Paris Lights

While we were in America, we wrote a lot of articles so we’ll be reposting them here! Here’s one of our favorites, from Rachel, about the different kinds of lights you’ll find in Paris (originally posted on Thought Catalog and Huffington Post) -




image –Hervé BRY

One of my favorite emotions is pre-emptive nostalgia – I like to miss something while I’m still living it. And yet when I left New York, I can see in my letters to my best friend Jess (now chronicled in our joint memoir) that, for the f...

Fumbling Etiquette

You run but you can’t hide…when mishaps occur in public

Dear Miss Fine,

What’s the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you in a formal situation? I’d like to feel better about that time I fell over at Royal Ascot and flashed my striped underwear to the world. As you are an expert, would you be so kind as to share a few battle stories?

Sincerely,

Accidental Flasher

“Do you remember that time dear Lizzie flashed everyone?!” “I shall never forget!”

Dear Flasher,

I’m grateful to hear that...

I Wrote Five Failed Novels

While we were in America, we wrote a lot of articles so we’ll be reposting them here! Here’s one of our favorites, from Rachel, about the pressure to succeed when young and our childhood dreams (originally posted on Huffington Post):

My father was almost the next Great American Novelist. That’s what the readers wrote on his application to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he spent a productive and happy two years in his late 30s. Then, I was born just as he graduated, and all of a sudden, we a...

How an English Major Ended Up in Med School

This is the part of ourongoing seriesin which we interview people who have interesting jobs and get them to tell us how they landed them. They will also reveal how they handled the transition to the real world after graduation –

Hemingway taught him how to do that.

When we knew David back at Brown, he was an erudite, ironic writer and radio producer, always full of stories, anecdotes, and quips. Though our lives have occasionally overlapped throughout the years – for moments in New York, visits...