10 cup o' culture christmas

before i leave.
this would be appropriate considering the time of year. 
sorry no pictures, but this post could visuals. 

1. there are hanging lights in pretty much every neighborhood.  think about the shopping centers with their pole decorations, except imagine that they are old parisian buildings and that there are lights strung from one building to another in the center of every town.  paris is very organized with the districts, arrondisments.  within each district there are major “places,” kind of like in italy, but there are actually stores and such there.  they are the center of the neighborhood, but there are many towns in one district, but still in the city of paris.  

2. no christmas cards.  maybe christmas cards, but not where half of your friends are sending updates and photos of your family. i seriously did not see any christmas cards like the ones in the states, but i will not say that they do not exist. 

3. stores are just as busy and packed with people. 

4. hot wine and alcoholic cider. 

5. trees are placed in a makeshift stump, a tree trunk cut in half, with a drill hole in it where the actual christmas tree is placed.  no water for the trees and they dry out quicker. trees are smaller, less decorated, but just as nice.  

6.  marchés du noel. 

7. more blue lights (like the ones at disneyland) than the white ones.  you dont find houses lined with lights.  thinking about that is just weird.  

8. sales everywhere, just the same. 

9. no carollers, but lots of churches have christmas specials, mostly classical and gospel choirs.  i like that. 

10. break out the mega ferris wheel down the champs-eylsées. 

 

ill try to find pictures from people, but right now as i write, i am tired and need to clean and sleep before leaving for fresno. 

bonnes vacances! bonne fete! joyeux noel.

cousin katy

Changed the theme of the blog (plus the snow because it snowed in Paris last week on Monday!)  Like the old one better?  I like the other because it goes all the way across the page and makes my posts seem shorter, but I felt like I had to squint to read the page.  Did you have to do that?  I like both, let me know which is easier for you. 

__________________

My cousin Katy, who is studying in Madrid came to visit me in Paris the first weekend of December.  It was quite the weekend trying to pack everything one should see in a two day period.  Which museums, which monuments are the best to see in Paris when your time here is so short.  We were able to get a lot done and see quite a bit.  She arrived late Wednesday night, where I waited at my metro station for an hour as she got lost in the metro.  Finally we met up after an anticipated reunion.

Thursday I skipped school and took my cousin around to certain places that her mom, my aunt, recommended that we visit.  One of her recommendations wasLadurée, infamous for their macaroons and hot chocolate.  It was all quite tasty and quite pricey, but it was all worth the calories and the price for a authentic Parisian dessert — for breakfast.  That was probably the more unordinary thing we did apart from the monuments we saw later that day, which included: Notre-Dame, St. Michel, St. Germain, Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomph, and the Champs-Elysées.  Pretty good in one day. 

Friday we went to Sacré-Coeur and attempted to eat at a Korean barbeque place, but to find out that it had closed out!  I just past the place the week before and I thought it was open.  Zut!  Instead we at the gourmet supermarket, Le Bon Marché and walked home in the rain.  Cousin went to the Louvre that night with a friend and after we met for dinner and watched Dexter. 

Saturday cousin went to Versailles in the morning while I went to Jean-Baptist’sspectacle where his school had their christmas performance.  Do you know what they did?!  They were mimes!!  Every Monday this semester they had “mime-time” (that’s what I like to call it) and I did wonder why they were learning such an activity.  It sounds pretty cool and I am sure I would like my kids to do it, but definitely not an American activity, so I definitely felt a little odd towards the activity.  The efforts of their miming changed my mind and miming is seriously cool.  It was so cute to see a bunch of three to five year olds performing these mime sequences about Christmas time.  They were all supposed to be les lutins, elves that were helping Père Noel prepare for Christmas.  The best one was when the class created a sleigh with their bodies for Santa Clause.  It was unexpected, looked really cool, and impressive to watch a bunch of little kids construct a sleigh with reindeer! for Santa Clause. 

Saturday afternoon, met up with cousin Katy and we attempted to go to the Catacombs, but they were closed, so we just walked around the bottom half of Paris until I had to go babysit that evening.  Not so great since my cousin was here, but luckily she had another friend here and they went out to dinner.  Sunday, was free museum Sundays and we hit the Rodin museum to see the Gates of Hell and the Thinker.  After, we went to Angelina’s, another aunt recommended eatery.  I think this place is the super place where they are known for their hot-chocolate.  I was kind of hot-chocolated out, so I went for the white hot chocolate and my cousin got the regular kind and I was able to try it.  My white was definitely not as great as regular hot chocolate and the hot chocolate was better than Ladurée.  In the afternoon, we went to La Marailles where we window shopped and picked up falafels for a semi-early dinner before returning to my house to watch multiple episodes of Dexter.  It was an early turn it because it was a Sunday (much is closed on Sundays), my cousin was tired from stuffing Paris in three days, and she had to wake around 500am for her flight back to Madrid.  We thought the metro/RER opened at a certain time, but alas, it did not open at the designated hour posted on the internet, thus my cousin had to the expensive cab ride to the airport after being rudely rejected at an information kiosk in the metro. 

Last week in Paris until I return to my comforts in Fresno. 

searching for motto 2009

searching for motto 2009. i am still in the works. its a little harder this year and i feel the pressure. 

 

written december 18 2007 via xanga with modifications

background information: since 2006 i have had one motto for the whole year.  year before that, i believe i had a small, but somewhat realistic list of new year’s resolutions.  i found that the list was still too hard to do, so i changed and decided to have one motto for the whole year.  the motto would be a self-improving goal that i would continue to work on for the rest of the year.  was this a better strategy?  i think so. 

be loving 2006.  i had a small reputation of not being so nice. maybe not that, but i might have taken sarcasm to another level that was not westmont friendly and then i also had my five year friend plan (probably needs a whole separate post).  friends did not like that, was given the nickname “two sizes too small” (talking about my heart) from how the grinch stole christmas, thus be loving 2006 inspired my friends to help me and to join me in trying to be more loving.  and overall, it was a fantastic and humbling year.  i felt the change and they saw me change. it was all good.  so this trend continued this year and will continue to the next, and not just for me, but for my friends too. 

live it up 2007.  id like to think i lived the year out well.  looking back, it was definitely a challenging and more emotional year.  im pretty sure i did not have emotions before this year.  despite how bad things may seem at the moment or how confused and full of emotions one might have, it always gets better.  our lives are too good to complain of anything.  that little spiel doesnt really explain if i lived it up in 2007, but i do think i was more adventurous, more spontaneous than i was in 2006. i  was pretty boring (much of a homebody), but i knew i needed to have a little more fun in my life than the interactions that i was having with my computer. aka: my literati games, aim, facebook, xanga…real life and real people are more fun.  this motto was way better than the initial no expectations 2008. :)  

dont give up, embrace 2008.  i started conjuring up a 2008 motto during the summer at ausable.  yes, it was a tad premature to think of a motto when there were plenty of months to live it up; but i just get so excited thinking up new mottos.  people threw in their two cents, but unfortunately many mottos were rejected.  i cannot just pull a motto right out of a hat.  it is way more than that.  if i have to live with this motto throughout the year, it has to be good.  a friend threw the idea of embrace 2008.  i liked it, but it was not good enough.  i didnt have as strong of a meaning that i wanted it to have.  although as you can see, i kept it because it went very well with my dont give 2008 plan.  i had a very sad housing situation this semester and i was sad for a friend because she was easily giving up.  then i noticed that other friends being dreary about the school year, completing work, figuring out their life after school, financial issues, the hardships of being in our early twenties.  oh the melodrama. then i realized that this next year is going to be hard with so many changes that will be set before us: graduation, unexpected new friends and unexpected lost friends, jobs and careers, new cities, new lives, anything.  even from the small things like not wanting to go to class or doing a project well, but dont give up.  as a lot of friends are returning from abroad, things will change, but embrace and do not give up.  (and now i have a theme song: hope by twista)

where will you be september 2008.  as seniors we are getting that question a lot a lot.  we dont really know where we are going to be, but we do have a pile of dreams.  the last week before finals i asked any senior i knew or did not know, where they thought they would be september 2008.  they could say where they thought they were going to be geographically, work wise, married, pregnant, whatever.  i thought it would be neat to see where we thought we were going to be in relation to where we actually end up, thinking that most of us would know where we would be come graduation.  so at graduation, everyone will get their three by five cards back.  my goal is to get seventy-five percent of the senior class by the end of january.  ps. at senior chapel i came up with a westmont motto: one family 2008. borrowed from mount hermon, but i didnt realize that until after i had said it. 

where will i be september 2008. i wrote down on my three by five card that i would either be in the bay area or somewhere near boston.  i love the eccentricity of the city and a couple of friends and i have vaguely threw out the idea. that was one idea amongst the other ambitions, but as for september 2008.  i have a feeling i will stay in california as much as i would like to serve elsewhere, but with my grandparents getting older and with losing one this year, some things can wait. you only get one family.

10 family highlights

an update on the cross cultural communications. 

1. ambroise left me a little present on the floor: his poop.  it was gross, it was funny, it felt like deja vu with my dog. but its not something i want to see again. 
2. the whole family and i sang “sur la pont d’avignon all together holding hands and walking in a round. it was so great! 
3. the boys say: i love you.
4. jean-baptiste can say almost say fork.  it comes out like f*ck.  it was funny at first, but now we are really working on the foRk part.  he cant be going around saying fork out loud.  he can also say the basic table settings.
5. we sing: twinkle twinkle, mr. golden sun, happy birthday, and the intsy wensy spider.
6. everything we eat is “bon pour le sante,” good for your health or is at least questioned if it is good for our health. 
7. the boys love the elevator. 
8. the best part of my day with the boys is picking them up.  they get so excited and love their smiles when they run to greet me. 
9.  jean-baptiste teaches me a lot of vocabulary words and corrects my pronunciation when i read. he is three and half. 
10. pomme, the grand mother, got her name because she bought too many apples. and now patrice is mr. carrot because he buys/bought too many carrots.

10 tv shows

tv shows i have watched (because they are over)/watching

1. heroes (b)
2. house (b)
3. csi (n)
4. weeds (sn)
5. america’s next top model (done)
6. project runway (done)
7. the office (n)
8. dexter (sp)
9. sex in the city (mom owned the series, i took it; done)
10. tudors (done)
11. grey’s anatomy (n)
12. law and order: svu  (alb)
13. ugly betty (n)
14. samantha who? (b)

close enough to ten when you take out the done ones. but really, too much tv. but i can happily say that the last three shows are the shows that i watch when theyre isnt anything else to watch or at least there isnt a hurry to watch them. 

done
n: wasnt an devoted watcher from the beginning, but pick up on the new season and maybe a little bit of last season
b: from the beginning
alb: from almost the beginning/been watching a long time
sn: from the start of series to now/up to date until new season
sp: from the start and still trying to catch up/progressing

falling in love

this evening i fell in love with paris.
it should have happened a long time ago, but im ready.

there is a marché de noel at the church across the street from where i work and they open tomorrow.  but tonight they celebrated its opening with a choir.  we could hear it from the flat.  i went down after work and perused the cabin shops and immersed myself in the classic songs of christmas, this one particular icky cheese smell, the flavored maroons, and children’s toys.  i felt nostalgic for being young again.  after all, this is my first parisian christmas.  i love it. i love this city.

paris knows how to do it right for christmas.

with love, my developing sentimental heart.

box turkey

It is an American tradition. Go big or go home. 

Thanksgiving 1: at Katie’s, Thanksgiving day.  Thanksgiving is a little more special for Katie for whatever reason and she made the all-American traditional Thanksgiving (minus the yams).  There was the turkey pieces (whole turkeys are not hard to find, but just unnecessary for a whole turkey) with trimmings, the stuffing, green beans, cranberries, pumpkin pie, and something else I cannot remember.  She invited all her Domincan Republic friends and in all there were about nine of us.  It was pretty fun, but they spoke Spanish the whole night.  I am pretty used to it, they all know me, and I can entertain myself fine, so I did not mind at all.  It was nice seeing Katie’s friends again, it had been a while since I had been out with them.  

Thanksgiving 2: at my work house, Friday.  I did everything pretty much day of, hoping that everything would come together ok.  I did not want to make this not so important holiday to me a big deal or stressful.  Plus, I was not making anything elaborate that needed preparation.  I got most of my recipes from wholefoods.com, and since this was a sit down dinner I did not feel the need to go super all out.  At least at our family Thanksgivings in the states, we do the ‘i have to get everything in the line because it tastes so good’ buffet style.  So good. I went in the morning to the marché to get the vegetables and fruits I would be needing.  Then I picked up the box turkey! from this gourmet frozen only market called Picard.  Gourmet frozen food, ha. Seriously, it is a fabulous store despite that it is all frozen food.  The box turkey was stuffed with maroons and mushrooms and it actually turned out really good, thanks to the grandparents who came and helped me out with the directions for the turkey.  I tried to ask the housekeeper, but I just shook my head up and down smiling that I knew just what to do.  He was helpful and I understood pretty much what he said, but if I had listened to him, we would have had an overdone turkey.  Other than the turkey, I made brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes (with garlic and french cheese), and a salad. Not that much, not that conventional, but it was a good dinner.  And apart from the food, the company was great: the whole family, even the boys for a little bit, Bénédicte’s parents (love the grandparents, plus the grandmother made me the poire tarte she made for my birthday!), Katie, and a surprise guest, Elizabeth.  We spoke French most of the night and I was glad that the family could meet my friends.  We all had a good time and I believe we really appreciated everyone’s company of the mix between the French and the Americans. 

Did not know Elizabeth was coming on Friday, thought she was coming on Saturday.  She was supposed to meet up with friends here, but the friend is in the hospital with pneumonia, so things were kind of frantic for her to find a place.  But it was good to have her at Thanksgiving.  

Elizabeth leaves on Tuesday for the south of France and then cousin Katy will be visiting! Then two more weeks and I am home!

It has gone by way to fast.

keeping warm

it is cold here. really cold. 
low: 0-4 degrees celcius
high: 4-7 degrees celcius 

plus rain and snow!! i actually have not seen the snow, but it has snowed in paris. 
it is really painful some days. i do not understand how girls still look good without freezing.

This past week was really busy with visitors!  Westmont Marisa and her friend Katie are taking a three week Europe adventure and started their trip in Paris.  They did a lot of site-seeing around Paris while I went to school and worked.  At night we met up and walked around Paris or just hung out at my flat because they were too tired from their day of touristing.  Friday was the semi-big night out.  After work I met Marisa and Katie at the Arc de Triomph.  Went in and out of the Arc, learned about its history, and took pictures.  It was raining and cold, but Paris still looked good, especially with the lights lit up on the Champs-Elysees!  After, school friends and I met up to go out, but we were to meet one of the guys’ girlfriends at some bar in the city.  We walked endlessly for a an hour to find out we were on the same street going the wrong direction.  Turn around and walk some more until we find the bar.  Tiny bar with great atmosphere.  I ordered a screwdriver: vodka and orange juice and get: wine and orange juice in separate glasses.  Lost in translation for sure. Whatever, both tasted great and it was actually cheaper.  I went home just as the metro closed and Marisa, Katie, and Katie Winter all went dancing at La Pena.  I really do not like La Pena, so I really try not to go there anymore.  

Saturday I went to the church’s Marché de Noël.  Paris is actually filled with these Christmas markets and I am excited to go to all the others.  A few that I know, one including the small church next to my work home, have these legit little wooden houses set up for the marché de noël.  I will get a picture, but its big time stuff.  There is a Christmas market right off of the Champs-Elysees, but I heard that one was not that good.  Anyway, did not find much but three books at the church Christmas sale and went back to my area to peruse the shopping there, but came back with nothing, and then to go to the birthday of Ambroise, the new two year old.  

It was a lot of fun.  The house was decorated with some balloons and the table nicely set for the five of us.  There was a simple, yet delicious chocolate cake adorned with manderin oranges.  We sang happy birthday in english and in french and just hung out.  Both boys opened the gifts, since Jean-Baptiste was a little jealous.  Ambroise got some pretty cool gifts from his parents and grandparents.  I gave him Mr. Potat, aka Mr. Potato Head.  After eating and opening some gifts we went to the park for a carrousel ride.  Shortly after we returned because it was sooo cold outside.  Then just hung out at the house before meeting Elise and Emily at the house to hang out.  

Emily and Elise were in Paris for the weekend and I really did not get to see much of them because they were stuffing much of Paris in two days.  They were really tired, but we had to make some hang out time.  We did not do much other than chat, watch an episode of Weeds and then pushing ourselves to go out and see night time Paris.  We met up with Marisa, Katie, and Katie, who went to a professional volleyball game to see one of Marisa’s friend play.  Pretty cool.  We walked around St. Germain aka St. Michel and ate a grec-sandwich place. you know, those tall spinning things of meat?  So oily, so greasy, so good.  

Sunday I met up with Marisa, Katie, and Katie in La Marais where we shopped around and looked around.  We went to this store called MUJI. An upgraded Japanese version of IKEA.  So great.  I had to go to return a gift, but of course ended up buying something else, and the girls did just the same.  Probably one of the best stores I have been to.  It isn’t even that big, but such cool things inside.  After shopping, we went to “the best falafel house.”  It was actually really good.  In place of those grec-sandwiches, I will now be eating falafels.  I have always been a fan, but now I have to have them.  Kind of like MyBerry. 

I am back in the groove of afternoon naps and late night computer surfing.  As much as I love friends and visitors, I love and need Jen-time.  

This week, I will be having a Thanksgiving, except it will be on Friday.  Patrice works till really late and it would be better to have him there.  I will be cooking a lot of it.  I am pretty sure I do not have to do the turkey, but I am doing the mashed potatoes, stuffing, two pies, probably white rice, cranberries, and maybe that’s it?  I do not like yams and feel like those are not essential.  I do not know.  Does not seem like much or even too hard.  I do wish there was chinese rice…man, I miss that.  I am going to have to ask Ma Ma to make me some when I get back.  So cooking for five, maybe six.  Should be fun.  Give you the update later.  

See you soon. 

More pictures from Friday night. 

10 songs

those songs that mark periods of your life.
these are the tunes im listening to that will somehow trigger some part of paris in my memory.

1. o-town
2. meiko
3. pop levi
4. chairlift
5. rogue wave
6. wilco
7. john legend
8. high school musical 3
9. carla bruni
10. kate nash

10 locations

places that i have been to that have not been mentioned in a post because i either forgot about it, wanted to post pictures but could not, or found it unnecessary to really put in a post.

1. croisière (18/10): cruise on the seine with katie and mathias.  a lot of fun, lots of people.  a not-so-good buffet, but for the cost of ten euro for food and a cruise, it was a great deal.  we met a french guy named quentin and he was quite a character.  outside was really really cold; good thing i brought a handwarmer. and going under the bridges, make sure you yell and scream. 

2. versailles (08/11): beautiful and great even on a cold and gloomy day.  spent a couple hours inside the castle learning new things about paris and france from a french friend.  i tried my audioguide in french, but that failed. pictures 

3. mcdonalds (08/11): after versailles.  it was the most beautiful mcdonalds i have ever been to. clean and modern.  on the other side of the restaurant there was of course, a café with expresso drinks and pasteries. we were probably at mcdonalds longer than versailles. 

4. night time louvre (14/11): after work, some friends and i checked out the museé de louvre because it is free for students under twenty-six.  the louvre is also open later on fridays, so we were able to make it the last hour.  we spent less than an hour there, but it was fun.  we probably spent more time talking to each other than taking in the artwork, but we have plenty of fridays left in time that we will be here. 

5. starbucks (16/11): katie and i were in america for just two hours in france.  it was worth the 4,30€ hot chocolate i ordered.  by the way, katie and i were wondering if the holiday specials are the same or different: a cherry cookie flavored hot drink or a creme brulée hot drink?  do they have them in the states?  to some, they would be against going to a starbucks in france since it is not french, but i dont care and there are few places that i can spread all my stuff around when studying.  i do not think real cafés appreciate that.

 6. my berry. aka pinkberry.  i have not been to a pinkberry, but katie says they are practically the same thing.  i think they are owned by the same comany because they have the same colors and text. regardless, we eat it at least once a week.  two if we get lucky and sucked into spending the expenses on such a expensive dessert. worth it.

7. la marais. shopping and super busy on saturday with shops and falafels!  its the jewish quarter in france.  so much fun to walk around and window shop the high fashion and the vintage shops. im on the prowl for boots, although i do not know if i am really into them. i think im just giving in to french fashion or girl fashion. 

8. churches: american church of paris and hillsong. i still go to the american church of paris, but friend barrett and i tried the hillsong church waaay across town.  it was really cool because it was in french and english! it was really fun to sing songs we knew in english in french. 

9. andré citroen-parc: a really beautiful park not too far away from my house. this is where i met my old-man conversation friend (by the way, we do not meet anymore).  i had been there when i visited france in high school, but i forgot how great it is.  there is this big hot-air balloon like balloon that goes up in the air where you can see the whole city (even though i think there are actually a lot of places to get the whole city view: eiffel tower, sacré-coeur, montparnasse, notre-dame). sometimes the balloon goes up and night and it looks like the moon. 

10. stupid préfecture: this is where i am supposed to get my carte de séjour, aka my residence card. i have gone to the place about four times now and still have no residence card. this is the most horrible process i have ever been through.  attempt one: check to see if you have papers, most of the time you do not, so you come back, but they give you an appointment to return. attempt two: waiting for four house in the mass of people who have the same appointment day to find out that i need another document that they did not tell me i needed to have at round one.  attempt three: same day, i get the paper, woman that was helping me was not there, found another person, she oks my papers, but then i am rejected from the head boss checkpoint. i need different papers. attempt four: better to go the préfecture in the afternoon because it is less crowded, but the lady helping me decides to take her lunch.  and french lunch is nothing like american lunch with a designated time frame.  wait for a little over an hour.  again rejected for new papers to find that they are bad and i need originals.  attempt five: tomorrow.  this better be the last time.

updated on 21/11/08
11. basement jazz club: met somewhat of a weird guy at school, but he was american and asked us what we were doing one night and invited us to a jazz club.  the jazz was really good and the atmosphere was very cozy and relaxing.  the guy is somewhat of a loner, not trying to be mean, but he is always at the school, but does not go to the school, claims he is in paris to find love and is somewhat condescending. he seemed legit and then he started talking crap. not my friend. 

12. american cathedral in paris: every friday this church serves lunch to the homeless.  it is very different than the missions and soup kitchens in the states.  only a limited number of people can sign up because there is limited space and a small kitchen.  but also, we actually serve the people, meaning, we are like their waiters/waitresses and get them what they need.  i love it.  its such an endearing concept and the connections are just way different than a buffet line.  and this meal, was definitely a french dejeuner with baguette, a crepe for dessert, and coffee at the end.  i was an avid poverello house kid in fresno and i am glad friend barrett told me about this activity.

 

only pictures that i have right now from the louvre; versailles later. 

10 quickie

i was just in the mood.

1. paris, france, europe…love barack obama.  he is on the television and all over the papers. 
2. im starting to enjoy ironing clothes.
3. i saw high school musical three the sunday it came out. it was sooo good. 
4. this morning, there was a man in a plastic bag, like a mattress bag, right outside my building.  i think he was sleeping inside since he had i think, a pillow and a bag.  it was weird and kind of creepy, very csi-like.  its bizarre for my neighborhood to have people like that around.  and right now, another man, or the same man, is sleeping outside the building.   
5. im going to be sad when i have to leave paris in december and in july. 
6. jean-baptiste gave me good-bye kisses on my cheek, my forehead, my hair, my nose, my mouth, and my neck. he thought it was really funny. 
7. i am way behind on my letter writing. 
8. i should be studying french more on my own.
9. we sing twinkle-twinkle little star, in english.  working on mr. sun, sun, mr. golden sun.  any other songs with motions?
10. i watch a lot of tv shows via online: house, heroes, top model, csi, csi miami, samantha who, sometimes law and order, and when it is working, how i met your mother. thought i would join the french trend with how i met your mother. its pretty good.

I realize it has been a while since i have written a real entry, but with a combination of nothing really happening/blog complications/laziness, I have finally managed the courage to write again.

At this moment:

1. I am feeling nostalgic for home.  It could be homesickness, but let me just label it nostalgia. I was sick this past weekend and being sick makes me sad.  Being sick in your own bed rolling around in your own germs is far better than being sick thousands of miles away.
2.  It has gotten really cold here.  The rain and the mighty winds have taken over Paris and now we have to fight it.  Wind burns and inside seems so much more inviting.
3. The lights on the Champs-Elyseés have gone up.  It is Christmas-time.
4. And being from the United States, this weather is christmas weather.  I love it.  Everything is warm and good.  And as much as I love Paris, I cannot wait to go home and be with friends and family.
5. Listening to: Norah Jones, my holiday music
6. I still have no theme for 2009.

So within the last month, I have found my routine!  Some people are not into routines.  It is a boring life.  Well, I like my boring life.  It picks up during the weekend, but not that much.

900   : Go to school at Alliance Française
1200 : Get out of class and find my friends
100   : Eat lunch at the house
200   : Go to my house/relax/get ready for nap/try to nap
400   : Wake up to pick up the kids
420   : Pick up child one, Jean-Baptiste
430   : Pick up child two, Ambroise
445   : Gouter and go to the park, with the other hundreds of children
600   : Home and take a bath
700   : Eat dinner and wait for mother and father
830   : Go home

I rarely go out after work just because it is kind of late and by the time I actually go out it is late, and I do not like late.  I have a thing of making the metro before it closes.  Some people do not mind finding other routes of transportation at night.  If I go out during the week, it is with Katie, but we have not done that for a while.  School has been good.  After fluctuating between classes I have finally found my place and I am actually learning.  The last month has been slow catch up with a classified hot and nice teacher who did not really want to be there.  But in that class I met my friends.  They are boring like me or more like low key.  We all like going out having a good time, but we could not do it everyday nor do we get crazy.  Just have a good time and hang out at bars or pubs, occasional discotéques, pretty much anywhere free.  We have one of more exciting ones in the group, but I will blame it on his youth of nineteen years and his need to be alive in the city before he returns back to the drinking age of twenty-one years in the states at the end of the semester.  Other than that one American, I have friends from England, Argentina, Brazil, Norway, Germany, India, and Japan.  Some of them will be leaving soon, which is sad, but that is the way it goes here.  Let me just put it out there, but two of my guy friends followed their girlfriends here to Paris.  Now that’s _ _ _ _.

A friend from Westmont, Julie, came to Paris after working with WWOOF in Denmark.  Luckily, I had a week holiday because I believe Paris was celebrating the Toussaints (All Saints Day) day and gave themselves the week off.  Mother took the children to the country to visit her relatives.  It was good to have Julie here because we were able to catch up and it made the week less lonely in the afternoons.  We had some complications finding each other in the airport, where the worst case senario would have been her sleeping at the airport while I would be frantically looking for her all night.  We ate the crepes, walked around Paris, and talked.  It was good.  We went to Sacré-Coeur, my favorite place in Paris.  And still a beautiful as when I first visited.  As the church sits on a hill, pretty much overlooking the city of Paris, but on that evening it was difficult to see the city because of the fog settling in for the night.  When we entered the church, we were delighted by the evening mass of singing nuns.  Do not think Sister Act or Sound of Music, definitely not that.  It was almost as if we were sucked back to the early fifteenth-sixteenth century.  Actually, I do not know my centuries, but just think old.  It was beautiful.  Since being here I have understood ‘not being able to describe something.’  This was one of those moments that even if I tried to describe to you the singing nuns, it would not mean as much to you unless you experienced it.  Sometimes there are no words.   I have had a couple of other undescribable Parisian musical moments and all I think is, only in Paris.  And on the hill, besides the church, there is a cute little village of shops and restaurants.  Julie and I explored the area and indulged in some great paitiserries before dinner.

By the way, after having the week off, I realized how much I missed work.  Doing the same nothing got old and I wished I was at work.  I did not realize how much of my time was invested there.

Halloween: Lived in my bed being sick, but if people celebrate Halloween, the older crowd celebrates via parties or clubs.

Cultural activities: while living on a budget, it is most rewarding to discover free fun in Paris.  Despite my sickness, I had to take advantage of the free museum entrance hosted by many museums on the first Sunday of the month.  I missed last month and I could not miss another.  Choice of the month: George Pompidou.  I pretty much chose the place because I like the place and it is one of the more expensive museums in Paris.  I was hesitant to go, pretty much out of laziness, but my body had not been exposed to the outside for more than ten minutes since last Thursday, thus deciding it was good to go out for my health, even if I was not really up for it.  Of course it was worth it.  I ended up going by myself since I left my phone at the flat and my friends could not get a hold of me.  We were in the building at the same time at one point.  It was not so bad, since I like the single life, and I like going at my turtle speed.  Some of the art was really cool.  I love the big installations.  Some are weird and some I do not understand why it is called art and how people get to be paid to make a statement with a series of white canvasses.  Whatever, I am not an artist.  Although whenever I am around art, I wish I could be an artist.  My last semester at Westmont I took a ceramics class.  I loved it and I loved the creativity and being to think in a different way.   I want to be back with the clay and when I am around art, it makes me want it more.  I like the forms and shapes one can make with the clay.  I fail a lot, but when you get it right, it is so rewarding.  Little side hobby of mine.  When I become rich and famous, I will have a kiln.

Craigslist friends:  so, I did it.  I placed an ad on craigslist under the Strictly Platonic section.  I do not think I would call it desparation, but just an exploration tactic of meeting people and practicing my French with others.  Here is a copy of my advertisement:

I am from the United States, working and studying in Paris. Somewhat post-beginner, not advanced, French language student looking for someone to practice my poor French. My written grammar far exceeds my spoken abilities, but I just need to practice.

Looking for friendship/business only. Hoping for patience and laughter.
Can be anyone that can speak French, do not need to be a native.
If you are seeking English conversation, we can help each other.

I received many hits, all men.  Thank you.  I conversed via email with a few and got over it.  It kind of gets overwhelming and it is hard because you have to base it on their first email.  Is this person sketch?  Can this person really not use how r u? in an email?  Little things that quickly weed out potential weirdos.  But, I met with two.  I dropped one and kept one.  The dropper man or the one time conversation partner wanted more than just conversation.  My keeper is a regular now, every Sunday afternoon we meet at my bridge, Pont Mirabeau and talk one hour French and one hour English.  He is in his late fifties, I think.  He will not tell me his age and I do not really care either.  He has a “companion.” He believes that he is too old for boyfriend/girlfriend lingo.  He is harmless.  He made it quite clear that he was only looking for conversation.  Me too.  We have good conversations because he likes the outdoors, hiking, traveling, trying new things.  It is a good friendship.  He always gives me a history lesson about something in Paris.  It is pretty cool.  One in particular, which will be in another edition of cup o culture, is that the Eiffel Tower is blue right now.  It is blue because France is the “president” of the European Union for six months and then it switches to another country.  I like that.  The symbolism, the politics, its good.

sorry, I have not taken very many pictures while I have been here, probably because I have not done much and I have had to conserve battery since I did not bring any recharger.

This week is just another week.  Maybe something exciting this weekend, maybe a weekend holiday.

á toute á l’heure.