I'm not Dead

Well I have neglected this for way too long. I don’t even know where to begin. I am on vacation, and au pair life seems so far away. I can’t imagine that I have to go back a week from today. Uhg I don’t want to, but I will worry about it in a week I guess.

Last Saturday, I saw The Hobbit with Meghan. It was such a good movie! I had no idea they were making three either; I thought just one, so I am happy there are two more left. Then that night Rebecca and her friend Rachel came to Jerome’s apt and we hung out a bit drinking wine, and I should them a Parisian apartment. We had an apéro, I wanted to show them the French way, so I bought a baguette and some pate (fois gras is way too expensive) and then some duck meat and green beans. I didn’t really know how to cook the duck, so I just winged it (no pun intended), and the green beans didn’t turn out the way they were supposed to either, but they thought it was good at least.

Then Jerome came back from work, and they finally got to meet! I have been with Jerome almost a year now, so it was important for Rebecca to meet him since we are good friends. It went really well just talking, laughing, and drinking a little. They got along well as I knew they would. They had to catch the RER home, so they left around 10:30pm or so, and I guess Jerome and I enjoyed a quiet night together. I don’t really remember.

The next day was our travel day to Nice, but our flight was not until like 9pm, so we had all day. We slept in quite late, and then cleaned the apartment and packed our bags. We wanted to go to lunch somewhere, so at like 4pm I decided to take him to Breakfast in America because it is just so yummy! We split banana pancakes first, and then each got a scrambled egg medley of peppers, potatoes, cheese, bacon, ham, salsa, etc. Apparently that’s pretty American, I guess it is? It was yummy regardless. Afterwards, Jerome helped me buy a bottle of wine has a house welcoming present to his family.

We got back and we were gonna watch the new Batman movie, but I had downloaded the wrong one. So I think we watched some Breaking Bad, and then we left the apt at 8pm to go catch our flight. The trip to the airport was pretty uneventful as well as the flight. Nothing abnormal, but security at Orly took like 5 minutes, which is always nice.

When we arrived in Nice, Vincent picked us up along with this new girl he is seeing, and we went straight to Vieux Nice (Old Nice) to get a drink at a bar. I had a Monaco, which is beer, lemonade, and grenadine.  Vincent took us to Jerome’s house after, and I think we just went straight to bed because it was like 1am, so no one was awake.

The next morning I was nervous to see the family again! I took a shower first, and Jerome was already downstairs, and I could hear him talking to his 100 year old grandmother. I ran into his mom and dad upstairs and just said hi and a few words in French. Then I went downstairs and met the grandma, and it was hard for both of us to understand each other haha. She was doing a crossword with Jerome, so I joined in. It was in French obviously, but I answered some of the questions! I think afterwards, we had lunch with the fam, and that was the first true test of French speaking. I just answered questions when asked, and they had to repeat most things twice for me to understand. I can’t remember what we ate, but I ate really good food while I was there.

After lunch, some of his friends came over, and I just sat there as usual, but eventually they left because Jerome and I had to go to the mall to get presents for himself and one for me from him. His family did Xmas differently. They each bought a present for themselves, and then when they open it later on, the family finds out what that articular family member wanted. This isn’t a French thing; it’s just their thing, but I think it is a cool idea. Anyway, Jerome bought a new watch because his broke a few days before and then an alarm clock that helps you wake up easier. He really needed that. And then I let my present be a surprise.

So that night we dressed up and had Xmas that night for Xmas eve with the presents and everything. We had the apéro first with champagne and little appetizers, and we drew names to see who opened presents first. My name was first, so I went. I had three presents. I got this really nice scarf from the grandma, which I like A LOT! Then a 50 euro gift certificate to a store in the mall (so generous), and then Jerome gave me a weekly calendar with landscapes of France on it, which I like a lot. Then I everyone else opened presents one by one. I got Jerome a picture frame (he said to spend under 5 euro), and it is for a picture I gave him of us back in August. He really liked it! I was kinda nervous bc it was a cheap present, but I had no reason to be. The mom got perfume, Adrien, the brother, got a nice winter coat (he lives in Dublin), and then the Dad got a belt.

After we had a grand three course dinner. First some type of mushroom broth soup we put crispy bread in, then oysters (my first time—very good), then duck I think—some kind of meat, and for dessert crème brûlée. They made me use the blow torch to light up mine, and I was so nervous, but I did it. It was a very nice meal foodwise, and I felt very comfortable with them in general.

The next day on Christmas, we had another nice lunch. I don’t remember what we ate. I think pumpkin soup, and I don’t know what else. But it was all very French with a few courses, then bread and cheese/dessert, followed by a coffee (in my case, hot chocolate). Then we played a dice game, that I was crap at, so I was first out. Then me and Jerome watched the new Batman movie because I had never seen it before, but we didn’t finish it because dinner was ready before we could. As you can see our days were based around meals. I was French and only ate two big meals a day instead of little meals throughout the day! I know I am mixing up my days too, but we will just have to go with it bc I can’t remember the exact order of stuff.

For dinner, we had homemade fois gras, which was very good. I am so glad I like this stuff now. I used to hate it, although it isn’t very good for you, but oh well, I am becoming more French! Then we had pigeon, which was weird to me at first, but I want to try new things, and it was a good, dark meat. It’s not the pigeons you find in the street either btw. For dessert, we had mango and passion fruit ice-cream! It was weird though because it was in log form, and you slice it instead of in a carton and scooping it. Then the boys went to a friend’s house, but I didn’t want to go because I wanted to skype my mom and Amanda. Amanda and I have the Xmas tradition of calling each other, so I def didn’t want to miss out on that. When Jerome got back, we finished Batman, which was really good! I am excited that there’s gonna be a new movie because it leads to know there will be.

I really think I am mixing this stuff up… oops oh well. I know this timeline just isn’t perfectly right.

Anyway the next day, the 26^th, we had a simple lunch of thinly sliced raw salmon we made sandwiches out of on toasted bread and butter (YUMMY!), and we went on a family hike afterwards on top of some mountain. We drove like 30 minutes, but the drive was very beautiful. The hike was nice seeing mountains in the distance, and it was very beautiful with blue skies and sun. I wore shorts! Although it was kinda chilly, but I still wore shorts!

We got back and Jerome said he wanted to go out to dinner just him and me, so we hung out in his room for a bit and got ready, and went to have an apéro at his friend’s place before. We went to a couple’s apartment, and I met them in August. They have lived in Ireland for like two years, so they speak English, so the girl, Manon, and I got along very well. Her boyfriend is in Jerome’s band, and another guy in the band came over too. It was nice, but I was quiet most of the time like usual, but I did speak French a bit. I hope they thought I was better than before in August.

Then me and Jerome went to Vieux Nice for dinner. We decided to go to the same restaurant we went to in August because we knew it would be a good choice. And then we decided we would get the same dish I got in August (ravioli in a creamy pesto sauce with pine nuts) because it is so good, and then another dish. So now we have decided that we will go to this particular restaurant each time we go to Nice together, and get the ravioli dish and another dish to try, which we each split halfway. It will be a good tradition! I wonder when the next time I will go back to Nice will be?

We had a very enjoyable dinner, and a good conversation. I just think me and Jerome needed a little vacation together. Just to have time to spend together, since it is so limited in our real lives. When we got back, we watched How to Train your Dragon. It is such a cute movie, and I knew Jerome would enjoy it, which he did. Although, I fell asleep at the end unfortunately, but he really liked it!

The next day we got up early (well 10am) because my flight was that afternoon. We went to Parc Phoenix, which is like a mini xoo with fish and a botanical garden. They had birds just roaming the grounds (chickens, turkeys, I know there was a peacock, but we didn’t see it), and they had otters, gerbils, and wallabies! Wallabies are just SO CUTE. I LOVE THEM. They are like baby kangaroos!

We headed back for lunch at the house after, and I had a rice/pork dish. We just ate leftovers, but it was yummy as usual. Then I had to finish packing up and leave. I said bye to the parents and Adrien, and I felt pretty sad. I didn’t want to leave at all.

Jerome drove me to the airport, but we stopped to get ice cream along the way because he told me this place had tomato ice cream that we wanted to try. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the tomato ice cream that day, so we just got plain yogurt flavor and something else. Then we went to the airport, and checked myself in, and Jerome hung out a bit before I went through security. I didn’t want to say bye because my trip in Nice was really nice, and I wish I had stayed longer, but all good things must come to an end. So we said our final goodbyes and went our separate ways.

I boarded my plane with 15 minutes to spare before take-off. When the plane was backing up to get on the run way, it just completely shut down. I had never had that happen before. Luckily they announce in French and English, so I knew there were mechanical problems (well duh), and people were coming to fix it. At the most, 30 minutes later, it was fixed, and we took off, but I was worried because if the plane broke on the ground, why would we still fly it?! But it was all ok obviously. I landed in Paris, and it took like an hour to get back to Jerome’s apartment. I got back at like 8pm, and just stayed in that night.

 The next day, I met up with Rebecca and Rachel, and we toured a school Rachel is interested in. Then we went to the Luxembourg Gardens and found a little brasserie and got lunch. After I went home, and Nico and his girlfriend, Marylis, were there. She doesn’t speak English, so we chatted in French, and she is a very nice girl, and I like her a lot. She is very friendly!

I didn’t do anything that night except skype two friends, and Jerome and I talked on the phone for a bit. The next day, I went running at Jardin des Plantes. It was a good run, I haven’t done it in so long. I am sore today from it. But there is a zoo there, and they had the wallabies out in a big area outside the zoo, so I got to see the wallabies!! Later on, I went to the Louvre by myself because I had nothing to do, and it is about time I went there. Jerome told me to go the Egyptian part, so that’s what I did, which was very cool. I then went home, and got ready to go to dinner with Rebecca and her family.

We went to this restaurant that I went to with Nico back in August, where they only serve steak and fries. It is really good though, and they know how to make it well since they have perfected this one dish. Dinner with her family was really nice. They are really good people and very easy to talk to. It is nice to meet English speakers because it takes away all my fears of my lack of confidence in French, which Jerome told me a few days ago I need to work on, and I completely agree. Anyway, me and the girls went to the Latin Quarter after dinner and got drinks. We went to the same bar we went to last summer for one of our study abroad friend’s bdays. Brought back memories! Then we went our separate ways home, and I watched a show and went to bed.

Today, I went running again. I ran to near Jerome’s work and checked out a park around there, and then ran back home. It was nice today (sunny and blue skies, but very windy). I have just stayed in since. This blog has taken forever to write. Nico is cooking dinner tonight and asked if I wanted to join! So I have something to look forward too. I am so bored here since coming back. None of my friends are here except Rebecca, so I just feel so lonely! I guess it’s ok though. I have been watching a lot of TV shows.

Wednesdayyy

It is Wednesday today. Just the usual Wednesday. I took the boy to the bus at 7:15am, and went to bed when I got home watching a show first. I slept until 11am and did my laundry while I played a game with the girl. You have a card of a thing on your head and the other person does too, and you ask questions until you can guess what you have. Then I showered, picked up the boy/bought bread. We then had lunch, which was leftovers from last night—Blanquette de veau, which is actually cool because my first experience with a French restaurant was this past April.

Jerome and I took a wknd trip to Charleston, SC and couch surfed. I have been there plenty of times before, but he wanted to do a wknd trip somewhere relatively close, so I chose Charleston. It was a great trip. Our host was great. Charleston was great of course, and we had a lovely time. One evening we were walking around to find a restaurant and we stumbled upon La Forchette (The Fork), a French restaurant and decided to go there. I had Blanquette de veau, which is a veal dish with a sauce. It reminded me of stroganoff somewhat, but it was SO good. It was a good first experience with French food!

Anyway we had that last night with a Bechamel sauce, which is a classic French sauce where you melt butter then add flour and let it cook over a stove for a bit. Then you add milk to it, and eventually it turns into this creamy heaven-like sauce! So veal, béchamel sauce, and then rice. A pretty good combination. So we ate that for lunch today as left-overs. Then I took the boy to guitar, but the teacher was a no show. Came back for a bit, and then took the girl to pony club, came back and watched a show, then went to the cremerie to buy milk. I chatted with the owner in French (American Mom’s husband), and then I saw and chatted to American Mom, went to pick up the girl, then came back and have some time to kill until they have music, but I have to get them to take showers beforehand, which the boy is doing now.

I just showed them their Xmas present (the board game arrived today), and the boy’s birthday present, and they seemed happy. Too bad I won’t be here when they open them, but then again I’m not sad, I’ll be on vaca!

Tuesday I had class as usual, which was a huge bore as usual. After class, I went to Starbucks with Kendall and Clare, and then I met up with Paige to exchange gifts! I got her some Speculoos spread and then this amazing cat bracelet (we have a cat joke going on, always posting cat things on each other’s walls and such, we love cats!). She gave me some cat napkins! And then a pretty necklace. It was a good gift exchange. That was the last time I will see her until after the break. She is going home for a week and then the next week in FL with her host family.

Last night the girl was sick and threw-up. She had a piano concert too, I felt bad bc her parents made her go anyway. She literally threw-up and then we left five minutes later for the concert. French parents are harsh. I mean she felt better but still. When she got back she wasn’t feeling well and went to bed early, but today she was fine.

So I have started a new show: Breaking Bad. I have heard of it before, and everyone loves it, so I thought I’d give it a try. After the first episode, I was hooked! It is about a high-school Chemistry teacher who gets in the meth business to make money for his family. It is really good, and I have watched three episodes within 24 hours.

Two days until vacation! So ready. I need to pack!

Weekend

So I went in to Paris for a bit today to do some errands. I received the board game from the UK, that whole big mess up, so I mailed it back today for 17 euros. Don’t want to think about it. I hope the other one arrives before this week ends because break starts this Friday. I also bought the boy a shirt from Quicksilver Saturday, and I got a size too small, so I went an exchanged that also.

Sunday didn’t do anything worth mentioning until the afternoon when Jerome, the roommates, and I went to the l’Aquarium de Paris. It was at the metro stop Trocadero, which has a good close-up view of the Eiffel Tower, so we took pictures with that in the background walked in the Christmas markets they had. Then we went to the aquarium, which was really cool, but it only took 30 mins to go through. It was 15 euros too, but I am glad I went. They had a lot of pretty fish, no dolphins though.

On Saturday, I went Christmas shopping at a mall for Jerome, Eliott (bday soon- the shirt), and Paige. I managed to buy each one a gift, so I was happy with myself. I won’t post what I bought in case those two happen to read this, which I doubt, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise. Jerome told me to get something under 5 euros, which I managed to do too. Meghan and her friend Lindsey met up with me at the mall too, and we wandered around trying to find Xmas presents for Lindsey’s fam. I then took a bus to go have lunch with Jerome because we weren’t going to see each other that night, and it was nice. We just got some kabobs, which kabobs are different here. It is basically like a gyro, so it is always tasty.

I headed back home after and saw Nico for a bit, and then we both left around the same time to go see friends. I went to go meet up with Rebecca! Finally after one year! We met up near the Louvre and went to a brasserie and just chatted for a while. Her friend came with her to Paris as well, and she was really nice. I was just telling them about the good and bad of au pair life and everything else in between. We then went to le Marais to meet up with her parents for dinner. They were really nice, and we went to some Italian place, and I got carbonera.  After dinner, they all went home, so I headed home too.

I didn’t really know what I was doing that night, but it really worked out because Nico and Vincent had no plans either, so we just stayed in and drank and played drinking games. I taught them Up the River, Down the River and Circle of Death, which they liked. It was so fun playing those games again! Because here in France, they don’t play drinking games—no pong, card games, flip cup, anything, and it is a shame because they are so fun. I went to bed at 3am, but the boys stayed up, and I heard them singing Titanic at one point. Silly boys. Jerome then called me at 5:30am to be let in even though I texted him telling him I left they keys under the mat, oh well. I went right back to sleep.

On Friday, I had French as usual and was right back in Paris at 7:15pm. Jerome hadn’t gotten back to me, but I just went to his apt anyway because I had been in contact with Nico. I was chatting in French with Nico and Vincent, and eventually Jerome came home, and we watched the show that’s like Survivor, but it is all in French, so I enjoy it as much as I can. Fortunately I can see what’s going on obviously, so I can still enjoy it. You may think it is weird that I can’t understand TV when it’s in French after so many months, but even Jerome, who is fluent in English, cannot watch an English movie without subtitles easily. Subtitles help so much! But we can’t add them to the TV shows normally.

I have an apt today at 3pm my time with an adviser in Raleigh about my resume and cover letter. I have to use skype to call her, so I hope there isn’t connection or hearing issues. I just want my resume and cover letter to all be in order! I asked my host mom last night to write me a recommendation for the SKEMA aplication, and she agreed thankfully! I am happy to get the ball rolling! Also my birth certificates finally arrived to my mom’s, so those will be on their way! Getting stuff done!

Nemos!

This is somewhat of an inside joke. On Friday, Vincent went to the Disney Store and bought a giant Nemo for a friend's baby, but I am its surrogate mother when I am at the apt until he actually gives it to his friend. He is a great cuddle buddy! Nice and big and cushy to hug!

Random News

I just did Word of the Week with the kids, and then we played Scattegories. It is so hard because I use French words, and they use English. The girl was struggling, but the dad was helping the kids the whole time. It was fun though, and I am in a good mood because I feel like a productive and useful au pair.

Yesterday was Wednesday and therefore long. American Mom was sick, so I helped her out and took her girls to pony club along with the girl. I definitely owed her one for helping me when I was sick, so I was happy to help. The girl and I just randomly showed up at American Mom’s house, and we were knocking for like five minutes not sure if we should just walk in bc we knew American Mom was sick, but eventually they heard us.

I am just listing random things as you can see…

My study abroad friend, Rebecca, arrives in Paris tomorrow! I am happy. We are trying to plan when we will meet, but it is becoming complicated. She arrives tomorrow morning, and I want to see her tom night, but she will be jet-lagged, so hopefully Saturday.

I don’t really know what I am doing this weekend, but I know I need to do Christmas shopping that’s for sure.

I am sorry this is a pretty bad post. I guess I don’t have a lot to say.

I think yesterday I ate some Nutella and peanut butter on bread, and I took almost the rest of the Nutella (but if you used a spoon, you could still get a lot out and scrape the sides). Then when the kids were home, the dad wanted to give them some Nutella and he was like “C’est fini” (it’s finished), and then told me he wanted to give some to the kids, which implied he couldn’t because I “ate it all.” Making me feel guilty...trying to at least. I didn’t. Because I am entitled to the food here! Tell me if you didn’t want me to eat the Nutella then!

I worked on me resume and cover letter yesterday and emailed an academic adviser from NCSU. I learned I could still use the services a year after I graduate! So I have an apt on Monday, and I will call her with skype, so we can go over her corrections. I will then use this to apply to SKEMA and other graduate schools. I am happy I got the ball rolling on that.  It feels good to have finally started.

I need two references too. One will be my study abroad adviser, and the other I want to be the parents of my family since it is my most recent job. But I feel weird asking! The mom would be the one to do it, but the dad and I are closer, but I feel awkward asking either one! I don’t know if I should do it before break, so she can do it while she’s off work, but then again it’s her vaca, so I want to give her a break. But she works a lot, so I just don’t know if asking when she is working is good to because when she comes home, she wants to rest and be with her family obviously.

The other day, the girl was shining her shoes and she asked if I had some that I would like shined. So we shined my brown leather boots, they look brand new! That stuff did wonders.

Sorry this was so lame, but I wanted to update y’all. Next week is my last week until Xmas vaca. I could use a break!

Money Down the Drain

I woke up Friday morning to SNOW everywhere… a good couple of inches. The boy ended up not having school, which made my life easier for the morning even though I still woke up and showered at 6:30am. I then accompanied the dad who to take the girl to school. The roads weren’t in amazing condition, so I am glad he drove. He explained the differences with driving in snow with a manual, so that was good advice. I had to stay home since the boy didn’t have school, and therefore skip my classes, but I am unsure why because the dad stayed home all day, so I technically didn’t need to? Whatever.

I just stayed in my room most of the time streaming some shows. Thank God Mary Kate told me that morning about an awesome website to stream, and it totally works and isn’t too sketchy, so that solves the problem of not being able to download here anymore.

I also went sledding with the boy, and the dad took pictures. It was fun, but there’s a lot of trees in the yard, so I was scared of running into a tree, so I didn’t go too fast. But then we went to the neighbor’s yard that didn’t have trees, and I went full speed. The sleds were cool because they had breaks and little steering handles on the side.

That afternoon I got to take an earlier train to Paris since I didn’t have to pick up the boy from the bus, so I got to Paris at like 6:15pm. That night, Jerome and I went on a date to a restaurant at the top of the Pompidou, an art museum near the center of the city, and it has amazing views at the top. The restaurant was really nice and modern, and it was nice seeing the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, Montparnasse, etc. on the way up the escalators all lit up. We then got seated, and I was not happy with the seating arrangements at all. They crammed all the tables like inches apart, and I just felt like I didn’t have any person space. So we asked if we could move, and eventually we did. Jerome was surprised about that. Once we had moved we ordered wine, then some appetizers. I got escargots! Which was yummy with all the garlic and butter, and Jerome got chicken spring rolls basically, which were good too. Then for the main plates, I got jumbo shrimp with risotto and Jerome got “Le tigre que pleure,” the tiger that cries, which was a beef and rice dish. Mine ended up being better though :p

It was a very enjoyable meal until we had to pay. Jerome offered to pay, and I had actually intended paying for myself, but it was nice of him. However, the machine wouldn’t accept his cards. So he asked if we could use mine, and I had completely forgotten to bring them! I brought a different bag; it was an honest mistake. So we debated our options. My cards were at his apartment, so we thought maybe I can put my passport as collateral and come back the next day and pay, or I thought can we just type my card number in the machine and do it that way? (this is possible in the US, but not in France unfortunately).  We asked the manager what they do in these situations, but he said he had never dealt with that before (embarrassing!), so he then said he would accompany us to an ATM to withdraw cash.

So we had to take an elevator to get to the level of the street and walk in the rain to an ATM. We weren’t sure if the ATM would work because the card wouldn’t work before, but it did! So it all ended well at least. It is lucky the management was so nice about it because when in France don’t hold your breath about that kind of stuff, but we really lucked out on that one!

After dinner, we stopped by at a SKEMA student’s bday party. I saw some friends and chatted in English and French. One girl I chatted in French the whole time, and she told me I spoke French better than she spoke English! So not true, but it really made me happy to hear. So I felt like Friday was a good day overall. Snow, restaurant, and French speaking!

Next day

Wtf I am so mad right now. I was on Amazon UK today looking at presents for the kids, and I found a Trivial Pursuit game in English. I thought an English version would be nice since they have the French version. So I was researching, and I found one for 35 pounds, and when I finally figured out shipping costs it would have been $96 total, and I was like No Thank You. So I continued researching other options. Then I receive an email saying Thank You for you Order????!! Ahh why?? So I have now spent $96 on that stupid game. I had to chat Amazon bc my French phone can’t call the UK, and the person was like there is nothing we can do bc you have to contact the seller. So I have contacted them, and I hope they are nice and let me cancel the order/get my money back. This is so dumb!

Sometime later

So I received an email from Amazon telling me how to file a return claim, so I am hoping this whole fiasco will work out soon. I just don’t know if I should go ahead and buy the game on ebay for 40 US dollars because I want the present to get here on time, but if I end up having to pay for the $100 one, I don’t want to be stuck with the other one either. Decisions…

On Saturday, I saw the movie Argo with Meghan. It was a really good movie, but I kept falling asleep. I must not have gotten enough sleep the night before. Anyway I would recommend it! It was Vincent’s birthday that night, so two friends came to Paris to surprise him, so I hung out with them and Nico until Vincent got home. And then we were just eating a drinking till more people started showing up.

The apéro in France is just great. Basically a pre-game, but here you eat food along with drinking. I feel like Americans need to pick this up. We snacked on paté and bread, which I have grown to like. At first, I didn’t like it, but now I do! We also had bread with goat cheese and jelly… a weird, but good combination.  It was just so fancy compared to the American way, which usually doesn’t involve food, and if it does, it is chips or something. We did have Pringles along with this light and creamy cheese, kiri, SO GOOD AND YUMMY! Then they kept popping pizzas in the microwave oven for people to snack on.

After the apéro, we went to Memphis, which we have been to like 3 weeks in a row. I don’t mind bc it is always a good time, but I would like to explore other clubs and bars! I live in Paris, and I don’t know a lot about the night life. Anyway it was a lot of fun. The downstairs has oldy French music, which I don’t really know. But upstairs has electronic/rap music, so I asked if we could go up there at one point too, and we had a lot of fun up there dancing!

Well I just received a message from the seller from Amazon. I can get a refund, but not for the shipping, which was 22 pounds, like $40. But now I will have to ship it back to them, so I guess that will be another $40. So I am not really saving money. But I already bought a game from ebay, so I just dug myself a whole. Oh well L

On Sunday didn’t do a whole lot as usual. We went to the reptile store that I went to months ago with Vincent and Jerome, but we wanted to show the others. It was cool though seeing animals. We also then saw The Impossible, a movie about the tsunami in Thailand a few years back during Christmas. It was a very intense movie and very good as well. It was funny because Nico was crying the whole time; I got teary eyed once, but French men are much more emotional than Americans haha!

Today I stayed home. After taking the kids, I slept until noon and then did laundry all day, made grilled cheese, watched Teen Mom, wrote a French paper that I didn’t know was not due tomorrow but Friday, and then had the whole Amazon fiasco. Monday was hectic driving the kids, but it is all done now.

I asked the mom about my end date using the excuse of booking flights home, but it is a plausible question anyway. She said the latest would be July 26, but the grandma takes them for a week during July, so I could be done July 19. But I am wondering, if she takes them for another week in July, do I get a week of vaca? Bc I would totes be fine with that too!

Woe is Me-- Not Really... Maybe a a Little ;)

Bah I get annoyed telling myself I must write on here… I just feel like I have nothing interesting to say anymore. I am so pissed bc I can’t download anything! I have watched all my TV shows, so I am effing bored right now. I don’t know what is wrong like if the dad made it to where I can’t download. He is a computer whiz, so he would know how to do it. I am just so confused. I should be working on grad school applications, but I haven’t started, and I don’t feel like it. What graduating does to you…

Yesterday was cool because I got the whole afternoon off. The fam left at 1pm for the circus, and I took the 1:30 train to Paris and met up with the new Nico. The weather was pretty cold and rainy, but we went to the Champs for the Christmas markets. We drank vin chaud, and went to the Disney store, and later on took shelter at a brasserie for some really good hot chocolate, and then headed home for a bit before I went to take my train. It was fun! And a good way to get to know each other, some one on one time.

Today, I met up with Clare and Kendall and we went to the other campus of our language school to inquire about classes there. I really wanted to go there bc it is a lot closer to my train station, but the openings for the classes I need just don’t fit with my schedule. Very unfortunate. I think Clare and Kendall are gonna go there next sem, which makes me sad, but I will make new friends I know, and still be able to seem them.

Clare and I had a sushi lunch date nearby too, so yummy! I love sushi. It is different here though. They don’t really have special rolls, no buy on get one either. They have meat on a stick here too, like mini-kabobs, so weird. I want Sushi Nine!! Ahh omg a delicious sushi place 5 mins from my house in Raleigh.

My mom’s care package arrived today. Full of kettle corn, normal popcorn, mascara, floss, Bert’s Bees, peanut butter, and Velveeta. Good stuff!! Thank you, Mom!! The popcorn here just sucks, so this American stuff is much needed. No flavor here at all bleh!

Today was a good au pair day too. I did a real full-out English lesson, I have been slacking lately, and just played an English game with the kids, but it really is fun. And the boy actually talks to me when we play games, which is nice. Then the kids and I watched funny animal youtube videos for a bit, so I am satisfied with me being an au pair right now, but in all honesty, I am burned out.

I can’t imagine another 7 months of this. Maybe I just need that Xmas break, but I feel like I need more. I am just always having to think about my trains, getting there on time, tip-toing around the family to be a good au pair, and it is a little exhausting. I can’t be me per say…just a weird, wound up version of me. I am just glad I can vent to my au pair friends all about this because they actually understand. No one reading this does really because you can’t until you’re in my shoes, just like with everyone else. But I know people out there have a false perception of this au pair business because I had it too. Anyways, I don’t know. I just have to deal with a lot, just like everyone else, I am not crying for attention and oh boo-hoo to me, it is just a lot of different things to worry about than I have ever had to previously, and all I have to compare it to is what I had before. I am rambling… and I say I have nothing to write about. This blog is really therapy, for my sake, and y’all get to sift through it… my apologies. I am talking as if a lot of people read this too haha.

Magic

So my chair is magically fixed. When I got home Sunday, I sat on it to avoid the one broken side and discovered it wasn’t broken anymore. I am most curious how this came to be, but I have not asked about it because I don’t want to admit I broke it. Here’s to not sitting awkwardly for eight months!

I had class today… not too exciting. At one point, I had really dazed off into my thoughts and realized everyone was drawing something on their paper and had to ask what the heck was going on to Clare. It is easy to daydream because I have to consciously make an effort to hear and comprehend the French whereas with English, I can multitask, and it isn’t hard to understand without physically trying.  This whole language thing has really opened my eyes to languages; it is hard to explain, but I just feel like I understand life so much more by half knowing this new language.

For instance, one day I told Jerome that Welcome and Bienvenue are the same exact word, and his mind was totally blown, but I was right. “Bien” means “well” and “venue” is the past participle of “Venir” (to come), so in other words “venu” means “came.” I just think that is so cool. Also the word “right” means “right as opposed to left” and someone’s actual “rights,” and the word “droite” in French has the same exact meanings! Ok I am done being a nerd…these examples are hard to think of, but I am so excited when I think of a new one because English and French have a lot of similar words. Even if you don’t speak French at all, you could catch a lot of words because they are essentially the same.

On Monday, I went to la Défense and had lunch with Nico because I didn’t see him during the weekend. I also went back to the Christmas markets to get a present for my host parents, but of all the booths that were open, the one I needed was closed. Go figure. I will go back again soon.

Sunday I slept in as usual, and I don’t think we made it out of the house until like 4pm when went to a nearby zoo! Oh fyi, I met the new roommate, Nico, who is super cool, funny, and nice! From what I heard, I knew he would be, but I am happy all the same. So Nico was along with me, Jerome, and Vincent. The zoo had a lot of owls for some reason, but they were pretty. They had a lot of panthers, and we watched them eat dead rabbits; a little morbid. My favorite was the wallabies because they were so cute! Then we headed towards a cinema for a movie, but it was way too crowded. That seems to be an issue here. I feel like we have an abundant number of cinemas, so over-crowding is never an issue. If you really want to see a movie here, you have to arrive like 30-45 mins early and wait in line. In America you only do that for like a midnight premiere pretty much. So then we went to KFC for dinner.

KFC here was a disappointment! No biscuits OR mashed potatoes ahh! KFC without those??  Doesn’t make sense. The food was good regardless of this monstrosity. Then we went back to the apartment, and I packed my bags to make the 7:45pm train, but when I arrived at my train station, the 8:45pm was the next available one. Damn strikes! My phone was dead so I was freaking out for a bit wondering how to contact my host fam, but eventually I found a pay phone that took change, and it all worked out. When I got home, the dad showed me the site where you can check the strike train sched, so on Monday and Tuesday, I have used this site to not get screwed over!

Tomorrow the kids are going to the circus, so that means I am off around 1pm. The whole fam is going, and I asked the dad when they would come back, and he said around 7pm, so I get the day off! I hope to go to Paris and hang out with the new roommate Nico because he doesn’t have a job yet. Idk how familiar he is with Paris, so maybe we can just be touristy and go to the Eiffel Tower etc. I am excited for a day off essentially. Although earlier tonight, the dad said he was gonna take my car to take the kids to meet the mom at work and leave from there (his car is old, so it couldn’t go such a long distance), but the mom told me this morning that she was coming back to the house to get the kids, so I really hope that is the plan bc that’d be shitty to just leave me here all day without a car. The mom is the boss though, so I think what she said will be right. Her words this morning were blah blah and “then you can go,” so I interpret this as yes, you can go to Paris!

Strike

It is Saturday evening, and I have had a nice day so far. I met up with Meghan at the Gallery Lafayette to start off the day. I forgot y charger, and my phone was dying and she has run out of credit with her phone, so finding each other was a little bit difficult. I called her twice when I got there, and she answered the second time thank god. So we messed around in the nearby H&M, and I was bad and bought clothes. Just a black dress and some sparkly blue tights. I never buy clothes, so I deserve it. Paige met up with her friend Lisa at H&M, and then we went into the Gallery Lafayette, which is basically a mall type store with really nice/expensive brands. It was built inside an opera house, so it is really pretty at the center with this dome. There was also a Christmas tree in the dome, and I wanted to see that. They also had displays on the outside sponsored by Dior, Louis Viton, etc., and they were crazy! France is all about mechanical displays; there were animals doing all sorts of things. Penguins wearing sunglasses, upside down pandas, lemurs, and all of these were fake of course.

We then ventured to Printemps, similar to Gallery Lafayette, because Paige mentioned you could go to the top for a view of Paris, and there was a café up there. So we got some lunch and enjoyed the gorgeous views along with nice weather (sunny, no clouds, but cold). It was beautiful.

After we headed to La Défense for the Xmas markets, but Paige and Lisa continued home. Me and Meghan wandered around, and I showed her La Défense for the first time. I am there all the time, so I was surprised it was her first time. Anyways the markets were little cottages built in a square type deal with all sorts of venders. We got some vin chaud, hot wine, and wandered around looking at everything. Towards the end, we found a Xmas themed shop, and I found a little mini Xmas tree for eight euros, which I bought to put in Jérome’s apt. I also bought little, gold ball ornaments to go with it. We then went our separate ways.

I am back at Jerome’s now. I decorated the tree and wrote all of our names on the ornaments. Maybe a little cheesy, but I think it turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself. Vincent just came home, and I showed it to him, and he liked it, so that is good.

Tonight their good friend, Nico, is moving in for a few months. I look forward to meeting Nico tonight, and we will go out together afterwards. They say he is really nice and positive, so it should be nice!

Yesterday was somewhat of a fiasco. I was dropped off at the station for the 6:30pm train, which never showed up. I was so mad because I was like, this is REALLY happening again? Like last week. So I waited for the 7:30pm train, which didn’t show up either! It was literally 32 degrees, probably colder outside, and I was getting so upset. Meanwhile Jerome called me, and I told him my situation, and he wasn’t sympathetic, which made things worse. I then called my host dad to see my options, and he checked the trains saying there was a strike, but the 8:30pm would be there. He mentioned a bar across the street, so I headed there because I was so cold.

During all this, this crazy black man was motioning for me to follow him, and he just kept ranting in French when I told him French was my 2^nd language, so I asked some Indian guys for help and if they spoke English. They spoke a little, and told me the guy was mental. So I went back to sit down to continue waiting, and eventually one of the Indian guys came and asked if he could practice English, which I said yes, but he turned out creepy saying my friendship with him was very dear to him and asking if I was married.

Anyway fast forward to when I went to the bar, which was actually a pizza joint. I just bought a Fanta and sat myself down to enjoy not being in the cold. I luckily connected my phone to wifi and was texting Elizabeth complaining about my situation, but it made the time go by fast. Eventually it was 8:30pm, and the train came, and I arrived to Paris.

I went to Jerome’s, but the boys were gone seeing a friend, so I hung out until Clare was ready to meet up with me with her friends. I met them at le Marais, and had a drink at a bar, and then went home because Jerome was back, and I didn’t want to get back while he was sleeping. It was somewhat late, so we went to sleep soon after.

On Thursday when I saw him, he told me we will speak in French from now on with each other, and that is what we have been doing. It is frustrating sometimes, but I know it is good, and I do like it. And we have talked 95% French and 5% English since Thursday. So hopefully I will progress a little faster than I have been.

Well… that is everything for now!

Speculoos

Well today was busy. I woke up abruptly to the mom calling my name and knocking on my door. I looked at my phone, and it said 7am, and I was like shit! My iphone died in the middle of the night (my alarm), so my alarm for 6:30am didn’t wake me up. It is so weird my iphone will have like 15% battery, and then just die. It started doing that in France, and I have no idea why, and that is what happened. I just googled it and no luck figuring out the issue, oh well.

So anyway I scrambled to get ready, and I said I am sorry blah blah a few times to the mom. Whenever I mess up and apologize, she never says it’s alright/it’s ok, she just listens to what I say and then nothing really. She does a good job at making me feel bad. When people apologize to me, I accept it and say it is ok, so whatever. We still had time to make it to the bus stop, so I convinced the boy to let me take him because I said either you wait here for like 20 minutes doing nothing (he was just sitting at the table), or I can take you to the bus like normal, and I convinced him, which meant more sleep for me yes! So I went straight to sleep when I got back.

I woke up at 10:15am and did some laundry and made some banana bread, and then me and the girl set up the Christmas tree. They have a fake one, and it is pretty small. I am like 2 feet taller than it, and they don’t have lights for it, but otherwise, I am happy because there is Christmas spirit in the house at least! I turned a Christmas radio station on my iphone during the set-up, which was nice, but it didn’t play very good songs.

I then cooked the equivalent of Ramen, and then went for a 30 minute run, which felt very exhilarating. I felt very good afterwards. Then I took the girl to pony club, came back and showered, watched some Dexter, then the dad picked up the girl while I picked up the boy all the way at his school, and then took the two kids to music, and now I am waiting for dinner.

After dinner

Well I had to sit through like 20 minutes of the girl practicing piano after dinner, which was annoying, but I just played games on my phone and hid it whenever the mom checked on her haha.

So today I was standing on my chair to get something out of the top shelf of my wardrobe. I have done this a few times, so didn’t think anything of it. But today I broke the chair! It has a cushion, and then underneath, supporting bars, and one of them broke. So now I can’t sit on one of the far ends of the chair, which is annoying. I will have to deal with this until July. I am afraid to tell the family because I feel bad. I have considered switching it with a chair in the living area, but I doubt I seriously have the balls for that haha. Uhg I don’t know what to do.

Yesterday I just had class. Nothing exciting happened. Although me and Kendall went to a super marché, and I found this speculoos spread stuff I have encountered once before, and I remembered it was yummy, so I bought a jar and told Kendall to do the same. That shit is yum! Better than nutella I think, but maybe I am just too used to nutella now…

Anyway when I went to pick up the boy from school, I surprised him with goûter (after school snack, goûter means “to taste”) with speculoos sandwiches and thought they’d be hit, but I wasn’t sure. Anyway, he took one bite of these scrumptious little sandwiches and actually grimaced saying “I don’t like.” Well whatever little boy, this is good stuff. Therefore, I will be eating them tomorrow for my goûter! You don’t know what you are missing! His dad has made a baguette sandwich for him before with butter and then chocolate powder (you use to make chocolate milk—actually in the US we use syrup, but here they use powder, like Ovaltine), which I find pretty nasty. So so be it, we have different tastes—Americans and le French. But I think it is funny. The girl tells me all the time how I am “strange” and eat too much. Well all French say I eat too much, but I just like eating little things throughout the day, not a few big meals. It is healthier people! But the French don’t believe me. Go figure.

Well toodles!! Tomorrow is Thursday, which means Friday is looming, along with the weekend, and then December 1^st, which just marks the holidays coming. Lots to look forward too!

Decisions

The weekend has come and gone. Saturday I saw Kendall and Claire, and we went to the American restaurant, Breakfast in America. I got pancakes, scrambled eggs with cheese, and bacon, and then an oreo milkshake. It was so amazing and tasted like the real deal! I was so full afterward though, but it was definitely worth it. Then we walked around le Marais and window shopped a bit, and then sat ourselves down at a bar and got a carafe of wine. Then the girls went home, and I went back to Jerome’s, who had just finished moving into his new room. He bought all the furniture this past week, and finally unloaded everything, so that’s nice. We then got ready and got some sandwiches to go and headed to our friend’s apt. We pre-gamed and hung out a bit, and finally went out to Memphis (a club) at like 1-2am. Then we had a blast dancing until like 5:30am when me and Jerome took a cab back home. Btw it takes so long to find a cab in Paris at night… very annoying walking in the cold being drunk and tired. In Raleigh, you practically had 5 cabs waiting on you, so it is just different!

The next day we slept in, and around mid-afternoon we went to the same area the Chocolate Festival was at for a Wine Festival. It was 3 euros for students, and they gave you a wine glass, and then you were in this very large space with countless wine stands. It was very crowded, and you had to wait a good 5 mins to taste a wine, so we just left because the boys said it just wasn’t the same as the one they went to in the South. It was very industrial and non-friendly. There was also a pet adoption thing, so we stopped by to see some animals, but they were all in cages, so it looked kind of sad, so we left that too.

We got home and stayed there for a bit until the boys went to a movie, and then I just took a train home. I got home at 8:30pm and just stayed in my room all night because I was skyping my mom and then Hannah (!) and chatting Mary Kate on fb. God I miss my friends a lot. It is hard to be so far removed and not updated on their day-to-day life. That is why I am so excited for Rebecca to come to Paris for Xmas break because it will be nice having a piece of home here for a bit and a really good friend as well.

I FaceTimed Hannah with my iphone, which I had no idea I could do! I assumed I needed 3G for that, but nope just wifi, so that is really exciting and good news, so hopefully I can keep in touch better with my friends who have iphones, which is most of everyone luckily.

Today I have done laundry and slept. Not much. No one could hang out today in Paris, but oh well. I have just slept, watched tv shows. I also ran for like 20 minutes, go me. So today has been nice. I have been having trouble finding food here. There aren’t snacks, so I can’t easily just grab something out of the pantry. I had to make a peanut butter banana sandwich and then a grilled cheese. I just like my snacks to be easy… I know I am lazy bc those two things don’t take much time, but it is still annoying. I am hungry and need a snack now. The only easy thing to get is fruit or nasty ass non-sugar yogurt. I do have goldfish, but I am not in the mood for that haha.

Well it is a good sign that that is the biggest problem in life right now; although, figuring out after au pair life plans looms in the back of my mind. I think I have decided grad school. I think regardless of which country I’d be in next year, I’d do grad school. Because I feel like it will be easier to get an internship while in school as opposed to just being graduated. I know grad school doesn’t automatically mean an internship, but I do think I am right when I say it will be easier to find one. If I stay in France, I feel like au pairing for a year won’t look as great as if I go back to America if that makes sense. So I think grad school is the best option.

Kendall, Clare, and I discussed au pairing this weekend, and we realized au pairing does strip you of a lot of independence you gained while in college. I mean I can’t drive where I want when I want, I can’t see my friends as I please. I am bound to a schedule every day to take care of kids and the train schedule. It is just my freedom has been taken away, and that is a hard thing! So excuse me for not being 100% ok with my new life, but that is why—I have less freedom, and that is an adjustment, and who knows if I will get over it because freedom is a big thing in one’s life. Especially when I got a nice taste of it for 4 years, and now it is taken away.

So there is my little rant. But I do like life now. I just want more friends. That is all, and it will come. I will meet more girls next semester with new classes and all. Anyway back to grad school, I feel like I can give France another shot next year because I will be living in the city as an independent student (most likely), and that independence will be all the difference! I really do think so. I will have a flat and can come and go as I please, and just have to worry about class and homework, which is no biggie because I am used to that lifestyle. It will be more work though, but I am aware of that.

Well now that I have almost decided or at least thought of all this, money and planning comes into the equation. FAFSA only pays for so many schools in France, like 5, and 2 of those are business schools I think, so I need to decide if I want FAFSA loans or real ones, and I am pretty sure FAFSA loans will be cheaper in the long run.

Oh life… and growing up…

Turkey pics

The table!

Mah food

Pumpkin pie!

Key lime pie!

Turkey Day

Finally Friday night! I am gonna take a train in like an hour, and thought I would update this real quick.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and I went to American Mom’s house for dinner. It was great! There were lots ok kids and families…well maybe like 15 all together, but it was good company. We had turkey, green beans, sweet potato casserole, carrots, stuffing, and mashed potatoes and gravy. Then pumpkin, key lime, pecan and chocolate, and cranapple pie. Lots of good food. I am glad I got to celebrate Thanksgiving the proper way!

Today I had French class, which I generally like going to. We had to make up a restaurant today and critique it, and I chose a 50’s diner theme, so that was fun to talk about. After class, I met up with Paige, who brought me some leftover Thanksgiving dinner that she made! So sweet f her. And then I updated/ranted about some personal stuff going on. It is always good to just get it all out.

Well not much else to report here… I guess that is good there is nothing to complain about. I just need to pack and skype my Mom before I leave here for Paris. The weekends come so fast here! Along with ending to fast, but life is just going to fast in general. A month till Xmas basically ahh wow where does time go??

Life is Good

Life is better now. Before I went to sleep last night (defeated), I thought maybe I will just text the American mom and see if she can help. So I basically told her my situation and asked for her help, and the next morning she had responded. So I gave her a call, and she told me she would call the doctor for me and make an appointment. Five minutes later she called back with an appointment, and that she would pick me up, so an hour later, she picked me and the girl up. She had brought her daughter, so they got a play date.

So the doctor’s office. You enter and sit in the waiting area (no need to check in apparently) and just wait till it is your turn, and the actual doctor comes out and greets you. I maybe waited 20 minutes, so unlike waiting multiple hours in the States. Then the appt; thank god I had American Mom. She did most of the talking, and I would say a few words here and there. But it was all over in 20 minutes, and I walked out of there with 3 prescriptions. It was pretty apparent I had pink, so he didn’t have to do much to determine what I had. Btw I looked like a monster; my eyes were so swollen and puffy! I looked kinda Asian just with big puffy eye lids haha. As we walked out, I was like do I need to pay? And he just shook his head no! So nice! Free doctor’s appt!

So then we headed to the pharmacy and the three meds I got were just 15 euros! Health care here is great, and I didn’t even have insurance. Anyways I got eye drops, a nasal spray, and some tablet that dissolves in water for pain (which I don’t plan on using). After all that, American Mom took me home, and all I could do was say how thankful I was. She saved my day! Since she has a French husband, I was asking how that was, and she gave me a lot of insight that makes me think about me and Jerome, so that was helpful too. She then took the girl (ahh omg I wrote her actual name and had to think about erasing it—I feel like I have probably slipped at least once on one of these blogs) off my hands, which was nice.

I just got my chores done around the house til I picked up the boy. And basically was busy busy until after dinner was over. That is just how Wednesday afternoons are, but I am busy, so it is nice not being a couch potato.

So life is so much better now! Thursdays are great because I get to see Jerome tomorrow and the kids don’t have any activities, and topped with Thanksgiving with American Mom! Good stuff tomorrow.

PINK EYE

Sick AGAIN. I developed pink eye today wtf. Body give me a damn break. And plus I had a sore throat this morning, and it came back tonight. I am stressed about going to the doctor because I know I need to go to get medicated drops to fix this. Uhg I hope I can go tomorrow; I have free time during the morning, so that would be perfect, but I need to actually call and make the apt. I am nervous because last time I tried for my throat, the lady just hung up on me. I just don’t want to deal with this shit now. I hate being sick and not in my country. Life is complicated. I don’t even have my French social security opened yet bc of my birth certificates, so I have to pay this out of pocket too. Bleh.

I went to the pharmacy and got eye drops, but I know it is mild stuff and probably won’t help. I am nervous about calling for an appointment. The dad said he would be gone all day too, and usually he is here, so I could have used his help if I needed.

I talked to the mom about making an appointment and what time I should. I think tomorrow morning while Elliot is at school is the best because it gives me a range of hours, as opposed to waiting from 6-7pm while the kids are in music because I feel like my appointment would last over an hour, and the kids would be stranded. But the parents were like but the girl will sleep in during the morning. Well who the eff cares; I can wake her up and take her with me for Pete’s sake. Like is that really an issue? My eyes are all puffy, red, and have ooze coming out of them. I need medical help, and they are concerned with their daughter sleeping in. Bull shit. When (if) I make this appointment (bc I am nervous about French on the phone), I am waking her up because I am gonna choose a morning appointment.

I am frustrated and nervous about tomorrow. Uhg I hate feeling this way. I really want to skype my mom, but she won’t answer, so I have no one to talk to about this, which makes it worse because I am sick and feel all alone. Mehh

On a happy note, I was invited to Thanksgiving dinner by the American mom! I am so excited. I better not have pink eye or at least medication for it to prevent me from going,  that would be so sad. But I was so so about Thanksgiving because I knew I wasn’t gonna celebrate, but now I am happy because I am actually gonna do something. The mom is gonna invite her American friends, so it will be a little get together. She said it would be a bunch of 30 year olds, but I don’t care. I am excited about American company on Thanksgiving! Plus the two daughters are really sweet and cool. One is like in middle school, so she is super easy to talk to. And the mom said there’d be pies. I must go. I hope pink eye does not prevent this.

On Sunday, I didn’t do a whole lot, but a few weeks ago I bought Jerome some fois gras with a chocolate spread (from the Chocolate Festival), and he was looking forward to eating it, but wanted to do it right by cooking a good meal with duck in it. So we did it for lunch on Sunday. I had the easy job of instant mash potatoes, but he made really good food! First he friend some green beans until they were basically burnt with salt and pepper, which was delish. Then two types of duck meat. One was a slender piece that was kinda crispy and then the other was like a filet. I am not good at describing food btw. All of this was really good, but the first course was the fois gras. Usually I compare this stuff to wet cat food, but I actually enjoyed/liked it this time. The chocolate stuff was kinda weird, but I really did like the fois gras.

Later on, we saw Twilight with Vincent. The movie was pretty decent! I was looking forward to it and was glad I had someone to go with because last year I went to the midnight premiere with some girls, so I was missing being able to do that. The boys liked it pretty good; not amazing, but not terrible to them.

On Monday, I saw Clare and Kendall for a bit. We went to the Christmas markets and rode the Ferris wheel they put up. It was 10 euros, but worth it to us. So glad I did that. Love seeing a view of the city. I saw another view of the city today because I went up the Arc de Triomphe today after class with Paige. I only had like 10 mins up there, but it was free with our visas, so I guess it doesn’t matter. It was a great view too! I just love views of the city so much. I have no idea why.

Also today, I was literally on E with my car driving home. I told the dad to put gas in my car over the weekend (well asked), but he said we wouldn’t use my car… so there that was his explanation. Therefore I have been slowly getting on empty till today when I really thought I would just run out of gas. I hate how he put me in that situation. I was a nervous wreck all the way home, and I was driving on a hwy too. Then he wasn’t even home when I got home, so I called and left a message because he didn’t answer. Then he texted saying to still pick up Zoé and he would be home in an hour. Yea thanks for your help. When I got to the school, he texted saying he was there? Wtf, and then I found the girl and dad. His phone was dying that was why he texted me, but still weird. Then he had bought some gas in a can and put gas in my car, but it was still at the same level (below E) when I got in the car. Ah whatever, I asked him to put gas in tonight, so problem solved.

I am just frustrated right now. A lot of stuff at once I guess. I just need someone to talk to,  that is why I am ranting on this. I feel alone. I know I sound depressed. I am having a moment.

My train to school was also messed up today. The fast train didn’t show up, so I had to take an RER, which lengthens the time by a lot, and then we sat in the middle of nowhere for like 20 minutes, so I was like an hour late to school today.

Today is not my day. And then tomorrow is the dreaded Wednesday, which will be worse since the dad won’t be here. I will have to do everything by myself. Ah whatever. Good night. 

Peanut Butter

Instead of the restaurant, I went out with Justine last night and had a blast. I hadn’t seen her since August, so I am glad we reconnected. I got to meet her boyfriend of two months; I didn’t even know she had a new boyfriend, but he was really nice and funny. He gave us a ride to Justine’s friend’s place, but he made a wrong turn, so I got a grand tour of the city by night somehow. We drove down the Champs-Élysées, and I saw the Christmas markets they have set up, and there is also a big Ferris Wheel at one end. It was pretty seeing all the lights and the Christmas spirit in general. It is weird because it isn’t Thanksgiving yet, but since France doesn’t have that holiday, it makes sense I guess.

Anyway, Justine’s friend was really nice, and we pregamed a bit before going out to this music dj event, which I knew nothing about (I was just along for the ride), but it turned out to be so fun and cool. It was a cool venue with lights, stage, and a bar, and there were supposedly famous dj’s there, although I am not educated about that. Anyway we just danced to electronic music the whole night, which is a perfect night for me; drinking and dancing to electronic music! We stayed out until the metro re-opened, and I went to sleep at 6:30am.

I am feeling the repercussions of last night, and I have been a piece of crap all day. I had an awful headache, but it is gone now, so I just feel slightly tired. No idea the plan for tonight; I will just follow Jerome because I have no will to make plans for myself because last night was a lot. But I had a lot of fun last night, so glad I went!

Any other important updates…? Hmm. Well I showed the girl the peanut butter I bought, and she went crazy because she loves peanut butter and didn’t know you could buy it in France. She also was telling me a story in English the other day about a baby seal, but she used the word for seal in French (phoque), and I couldn’t help myself and started laughing. I really wanted to explain that one, but of course, I didn’t.

Oh I got a haircut on Friday by the au pair hairdresser. I just got a trim and cut my bangs. I wanna wash it and see what my bangs do because they just seem to be misbehaving, so I hope washing my hair will fix it. The au pair had such a cool apt in Paris; it was big and just so cute. Very jealous of her set-up, but there is always someone who has it better than you in life.

Oh my sore throat! It ended up getting worse and worse the whole day, and that night was so awful; I couldn’t sleep. The next morning, I could feel my throat was swollen a lot, so I felt like I had strep throat because it hurt so bad. The mom gave me the doctor’s number because I felt like I needed a doctor. After psyching myself up to call and use French; the lady just hung up on me after 30 seconds. Wtf. So I just let it go, and throughout the day, it got better and better until it just went away! Weird little 24 hour bug or something, but it was probably one of the worst sore throats I had ever had. Glad it fixed itself.

Waiting

Today was pretty nice. After I got home from taking the boy to the bus, I came home and watched some Dexter and then fell asleep until 11:30am. Sleeping in is always nice. I ironed and washed sheets and then prepared the equivalent of Ramen noodles. I then showered and hung out in my room until 2:30pm when I took the girl to pony club. The dad offered to pick her up because I had to drive to the boy’s school at 4:30pm to pick him up from a badminton tournament.

 It is like 30 minutes away, and I ended up waiting for him for an hour. I was so confused the whole time I was waiting because I had specifically asked him where I should wait, so I knew I was in the right spot.  At one point a mom knocked on my door and asked me a question, and although I didn’t really understand what she said, I knew the context enough to answer saying I was an au pair and that the boy told me to wait for him where we were. Eventually she came back after talking to some others, and told me not to worry and we were in the right spot (I think). But after waiting an hour, I began to have doubts. I called the dad and told him what was up, and then asked if he could speak with the woman for me, so I went to her car door and asked if she could talk to my host dad. After they conversed, the bus pulled up, so everything ended well.

We got home late enough that the dad said we could skip formation musicale (yes—less chauffeuring), so I just played Trivial Pursuit with the kids while the dad made dinner. They sure love Trivial Pursuit! We played last night too. I asked them tonight if they wanted to play an English version for our English lesson tomorrow, and they agreed, so I have all that prepared for them.

I skyped Gina yesterday, which was great. We hadn’t talked since I met up with her in Charlotte right before I left America. She was my first college friend (we met at orientation), so we go way back. We talked about our boyfriends, current college life for her, and her and my plans after we finish what we are doing now—college and au pair. It was nice catching up!! I love you Gina, if you ever happen to read this!

I had class yesterday too. I do like class. I understand 95% of what the teacher says, and it so refreshing talking to a French and understanding them. I guess he talks very simply because he is one of the few people I can understand.

Uhg I have a sore throat. I really hope it doesn’t keep me awake tonight. I do have lozenges… I forgot about those.

I made plans with Justine today to have lunch on Saturday. I stayed with her like my first day in France, and I met her last semester through SKEMA. I was gonna stay longer with her, but a fiasco ensued with the power company turning off her power, so I then stayed with Nico (read: Je suis à Paris!)Anyway, we are going to Breakfast in America! It is an American bfast restaurant that I have been wanting to go to, so I am so excited. I want to get pancakes!!

Veg Session

I stayed home all day today. I woke up at like 7:50am and took the girl to school. When I came back I read my book and ate breakfast in bed and then dozed, which turned into sleep until noon today. I was worried the boy would be up before me, but I heard him at noon, so I decided to get up. The dad was gone for a few hours, but he came back a little after noon, so it was a very tranquil (as the French would say) morning. The dad made pork and rice, and then I just hung out in my room doing computer things; pictures and blog. I then watched an episode of Dexter and went to get the girl. I just did the evening routine… life is getting back to normal. I like feeling productive and knowing what I need to do. Vacation was awesome, but I was just a blob all the time if that makes sense.

Tonight we played the family version of Trivial Pursuit, which was fun! It was all in French, but they helped translate stuff, but I understood the general idea at least, but they always had to say it in English for me to 100% get it. Anyways I won! Which is cool. Trivial Pursuit fam edition is the way to go because it is easier haha.

I have class tomorrow. Excited to go to Paris and see mah friends. It was cold today though, so not excited about being outside, but whatever. I just finished a French diary I was supposed to keep about my break, so I am all ready for school tomorrow!

Well nothing else to report here… life was mundane today, but it is nice to veg out every now and then. There is no snacky food here, so I ate an apple with peanut butter I bought; classic American food!! Yum yum.

Oh I asked about Christmas trees today. The girl told me WRONG info, and I was getting sad because she said they didn't put up a tree till the day before Christmas, and then it didn't have decorations or anything. I then asked the dad later, and he told me the real info. They have a plastic tree (I like real trees, but I am thankful for an xmas tree at least!) that they put up 3 weeks to a month before Christmas. The don't have lights, but they do have ornaments. So I can live with that. Lights are my fav part, but it is ok. I am thankful we will have a Christmas tree!

Mobile pics

12 euro cereal

Pancake mix!

Bêtes des sexe...animal sex expo

Pics

Musée d'Orsay....old train station

Chocolate fashion show

Car with macaroons 

Pet Cemetery 

American grocery store!

Everything Must Come to an End

Holidays are now over wahhh. It is Sunday night, and I am sitting in my room. I feel sad right now, but all good things must come to an end. One pro is I don’t have to wake up (as) early tomorrow because no school for the boy, so instead of 6:30am I will wake up at like 7:45am, but I can’t go to Paris tomorrow like I intended… oh well.

Anyway to recap the rest of my lovely break…

On Wednesday I met up with Kendall, and we went to the pet cemetery for another try. It was open this time thankfully. It was pretty cool. An average cemetery with a pet spin to everything. A lot of the graves had pictures of the animals, which was cool to see. There was a monkey in there, but we couldn’t find it, but we did find a horse. Also there were live cats who lived there, and I made friends with one and pet him for a while.

Then we rendez-voued to Montparnasse, the only skyscraper in actual Paris. It is a sore-thumb of a building, but this is also good because for a fee you can go up and get an incredible view of the city. It was great, although pretty cloudy, which adds to the general white and beigness of the city. American cities are gray, while here it is beige, so it is just different. We chatted a bit watching the view, then got a crepe down below and headed to La Défense. Kendall needed headphones, and I had nothing better to do. The mall there was uber crowded; it always is, it is like holiday shopping season every day there—or for any mall here for that matter. Parisians like to SHOP. So we left pretty quickly and went our separate ways.

Trying to remember what I did after that. Hmm I probably just went back to the apartment and hung out there until the boys got back from work and just stayed in that night.

Thursday, I met up with Meghan in le Marais We went to an American grocery store called Thanksgiving, and it was great! A store dedicated to the American brands I know and love. It is so sad how advertising gets in your head because I literally miss seeing American brands every day and seeing them Thursday just felt like home a little bit. The prices were crazy though. 12 euros for cereal—Lucky Charms, Reeses Puffs, etc. 9 euro 50 for a big thing of peanut butter, Betty Crocker easy to make cake mixes, Rainbow chip icing!, pancake mix, syrop, candy corn, French’s honey mustard. I bought the mustard and a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese! Meghan bought corn bread mix, candy corn, and stuff to make pumpkin pie. Then we shopped around and found vintage stores. She bought a skirt; I bought nothing. Then Paige called and we met up with her and sat in Starbucks for a good two hours or so.

Paige came back to the apartment with me for a bit, and we watched some Disney channel in English while going to a Laundromat to do Jerome’s laundry as a favor for him. Operating those machines is tricky, but the guy was helpful and we communicated in French too. Paige then left at some point to see a friend, and I continued doing laundry. Jerome got back as I was finishing up folding everything. I was happy to do it for him since he was letting me stay at his place for like ten days; it was the least I could do. We just hang out enjoying each other’s company until bedtime; I don’t think Vincent got home till later than usual, so it was nice to have some alone time.

Friday…hmm… all these days just morph together. Oh, I met up with Paige at the Palais de Tokyo; a contemporary art museum. However it wasn’t free, so I wasn’t up for it. Most museums are free for students here, so I’m not gonna go if I have to pay. We then sat for a while figuring out the next plan, and eventually decided to go to the Bêtes de Sexe (Beasts of Sex) expo at Palais Découverte. The expo was all about animals and sex; it was fabulous, and I really enjoyed it. It was just all about the different ways the animal kingdom has sex and the behavioral patterns; it was so interesting. There was videos could watch of animals actually having sex, them fighting for mates, and then taking care of babies. There were a lot of kids there surprisingly! One school group was just watching monkeys have sex on the video, and they were just laughing. It was awkward and weird… we don’t bring kids to that type of thing in America, but the French are more open about it here. Just a difference in culture.

I wanted a chill day afterwards, so Paige and I headed back to the apartment and bought some food on the way. We went to a Carrefour, and I bought peanut butter, sweet (hope it is like kettle corn popcorn) popcorn, wine, and bread, and Paige bought some kernels to make home-made popcorn. So we made the home-made popcorn when we got home, which was delicious and watched the extended version of the Two Towers. Ever since that LOTR event I went to, I want to finish the series, so hopefully I can watch the third one soon. It was a lot watching 3.5 hours of film, but I carried through! Paige then left, and (don’t really remember… oh yea), I waited for Jérome to get home and we went out.

We met up at some apartment to see some of his friends from high school and his first college. I am weary of party situations with all French because it is difficult, but the night was very nice. We pre-gamed at some apartment, and I got to know some of the people, and then we left to Grands Boulevards; always a solid choice for going out here.

We went to two bars total that were good atmospheres with dance floors and all. Jerome’s friends definitely opened up more when they were drunk, and I appreciated that that actually hung out with me. Jerome and I headed home around 2:30am and took a taxi back, however, we forgot the keys, so Jerome had to call and wake up Vincent for him to let us in, which was not good because Vincent had work the next day. We felt really bad, and Jerome was hell bent on making Vincent breakfast the next morning.

Jerome ended up doing all the work the next morning for breakfast, but I stayed awake at least (we had to wake up early) as support I guess. We then went back to sleep to get some more snoozing time and enjoyed a nice mid-morning together. Then we went to Chatelet for some lunch at some classis Parisian restaurant, and I ordered the same thing I ordered when I went out with Nico some days before—tagliatelle (pasta) with salmon and crème fraiche sauce; it is very yummy. Then we went to Rousseau’s place, so Jerome could meet up with SKEMA people for a one night get-away with his friends. They were all going to one of the people’s parent’s house outside the city. Apparently I was invited, but Jerome wanted some time with just him and his friends, which is understandable.

After I said bye, I met up with Paige and one of her friends visiting from Holland. We went to the apartment, so Paige could get some stuff she left last time. I didn’t really wanna be alone at the apartment, so I tagged along with them to go up Arc de Triomphe, which I learned was free for students! I always thought it cost money, so I didn’t do it. However when we got there, it was pouring rain, and I didn’t have an umbrella so I peaced out back to the apartment pretty quickly. When I got back, I just texted some girls to finalize some going out plans, took a shower, got ready, and left to meet up with Clare and some of her friends.

Clare talked about some bar with 5 euro cocktail pint drinks, so we went there, but it was closed! On a Saturday night? So weird. So then we took the metro and went somewhere else and got a table and split like 3 bottles of wine; meanwhile Kendall met up with us. After the three bottles, we left to another cool bar (a metro ride away). Apparently it was an old hotel, but it was very spacious and had a safari jungle theme to it kinda. I was kinda drunk, so I can’t really describe it, but it was a cool atmosphere.  Vincent and his friends met up while we were there, and then we left because the bar was closing. After walking a long time, we finally got to the next place, but it was closing when we arrived! Bad luck. So we walked somewhere else (mind you it is cold!), and it had a long line and was like a gay night, so we gave up on that. Then walked some more and finally just gave up. We got crepes and hailed a taxi home; it is hard finding a taxi here too by the way.

Clare and Kendall stayed with me on the futon that night… we just talked a little before bed and hit the sack all bundled up sharing the futon. Ten minutes after we went to bed, Jerome called me drunk asking how my night was and saying he loved me, which was sweet, although, the call randomly dropped for some reason after a minute or so, so I just went to sleep.

This morning we woke up at ten, and the girls went home soon after that. I then watched an episode of Dexter and took a shower, and then slowly packed all my stuff throughout the day. I got home at 4:30pm, so I could do some laundry, which I could have come home later because I can’t go to Paris tomorrow since the boy doesn’t have school, so I coulda just done laundry tomorrow, but oh well. My clothes really needed a wash after two weeks of repeatedly wearing the same stuff over and over again.

It was kinda weird being back. I feel like I forget how to do everything and manage everything, but I am sure it will come back soon (I hope). I am sad holidays are over, but only 6 weeks till Xmas holidays at least! I booked my flight to Nice because I am spending Xmas with Jérome’s family; I don’t know if I mentioned that. I will be gone from Dec 23-27, and then I plan to spend all my time with Rebecca because she will be in Paris over winter break to visit her parents and brother. I haven’t seen her in a year (she studied abroad), so I am really excited. She will be here in a like a month!

I also think I failed to mention what I am doing during my March break…. MEXICO!! Heck yeah!! I am SOOO excited for this. My mom was gonna come here, but for various reasons, we decided Mexico instead. After a winter in Paris, I will be READY for some Mexico. I am going for like nine days with my mom and brother, and we will stay in my mom’s friend’s rental home. I went there when I was 16, and it was a great trip, so I expect nothing less this time. I am trying to get Elizabeth to join me too, so fingers crossed for that! I just want it to be March right now! I am very excited for this. I can’t even begin to describe it.