Girly Time

Today I had super bonding with the girl. We really are becoming close, and I really like just hanging out with her. When I picked her up today, she told me she had something to tell me when we got to the car. She revealed who she had a crush on! This definitely means she likes me a lot to reveal a secret as big as this. I had to explain to her what “crush” meant; I love teaching the kids new words. She then told me about her first boyfriend when she was 7, and said she loved the boy and the boy loved her; gotta love it. So cute. Then one day, he just told her he had a new girlfriend. What a butt! Most guys are though. I hope my girl doesn't learn that the hard way.

Tomorrow she is going to her American friend’s house (cremerie), and they live on a farm with horses too. The girl told me that someone who rents out a stall for her horse there is going to let the girls ride the horse. The horse owner must be my age because the girl was describing her saying she was really nice, BUT my girl preferred me. Her exact words! If she only knew how happy she made me…

We also bonded by painting nails, and she showed me a really cute/easy hairdo! All you do is tie your hair in a ponytail, then at the base (above the hair-tie) make a hole and flip your pony tail through it. Idk if that makes sense, but it is super easy.

And then she was in my room putting walnuts under my bed (she says it keeps ants away. She has walnuts in her room and no ants, so she may be on to something), so I took the opportunity to show her a nice, black purse Jérôme got me for my birthday, and she lit up and said he must really love me and that she wished she had a “backpack” like that.

She is just too cute. I really do like her a lot. When I am home along for a bit after coming home from Paris and before I pick up the kids, I just want it to be time to get them, so I can have stuff to do and be busy. Particularly the girl. As I said before, the boy is warming up, but it is nothing like what me and the girl have, which is fine. I am a 20 something year old girl, and he is a pre-teen boy, so we don’t have too much in common.

I also had exciting news today from Jérôme who invited me to a theme park called Asterix next Sunday. His work is paying for employees and a significant other to go, so it is fo free! Cool beans! It is a theme park based on Asterix, a French comic book character. And now that I have been to the site, I recognize him actually. Anyway, I am excited! Just another thing to mark off my list (although it wasn’t even on my list, but it is now) of things to do while living in Paris.

Recognize him?

This weekend, I am doing an au pair Meetup event. It is a site devoted to any kind of group you can think of to meet people. Anyway, it is my first meetup, and I am going to Provins. Coincidentally, it is the last stop on my train to go home every day from Paris, which is kind of cool. Provins has ruins and stuff like that. There is also a Renaissance Fair that the boy went on a field trip to a week ago or so. I am excited to meet au pairs and travel a bit. It is like 1.5 hours away from Paris. Paige was supposed to go, but can’t, but that is a good thing because I will be alone and have to make friends! Although, I would make friends anyway, but this way, it is a done deal.

I think I may go to the aquarium on Sunday with Jérôme too. At least we mentioned it last week. So this weekend should be fun. They always are.

Tomorrow I am going to find where exactly my classes are with Paige (she has the same classes too, which we didn’t plan on!). Then we are seeing Nico for his lunch break, so I have a fund day to look forward to. I do start class Monday. This is the end of roam in Paris every day, and do what I want. Kinda sad. But I am ready to really start learning French. 

Oh yeah failed to mention dinner tonight. We had la mache... a kind of spinach/salad greenery thing that was really tasty with a homemade vinaigrette sauce the mom made. Then we had pieces of duck, which was REALLY tasty (crème fraiche was added) and rice. Good food as per usual. Then I pigged out on this birthday chocolate haha.

Rant

Ok so I mentioned I showered tonight. I had to shave, so I took a while. I am never allowed this luxury in the morning because I have a time frame to shower in. One night a week, I shower at night, so I can actually shave. Since I wear pants all the time, I don't shave often now. Sorry maybe too much info.

Well I was just in the office room printing stuff to play Scattergories with the kids tomorrow as an English lesson, and the dad walks in with some presentation saying how Americans use the most water per year than any other country and proceeds to make me feel like shit an awkward because I took too long of a shower and most of the hot water for his shower.

I just know that after his shower, while I was in the office, he looked up a presentation to shove in my face about Americans sucking and water consumption. Well maybe this is why French smell bad. It is a stereotype, but you know what? It is true. Americans don't smell. We take decent showers.

I honestly didn't know what to say to him. I couldn't explain that I only take a long shower once a week to shave. So he just thinks I am a greedy, don't give a crap about the world American. He told me water is really expensive here too. He def made me feel like shit, and that pisses me off. He does it in a way smiling and joking and all friendly, so I can't be offended. Oh but I am.

He is a great guy, don't get me wrong. But he just approaches how to "down talk" me wrong I think. Like I am a seven year old or something; trying to teach me a lesson. I just don't appreciate how he classified all Americans as wasting water because I really am a green person, way before it was a fad. It bothers me he is assuming who and what I am as an American. Whatever... I do that to French people too I guess.

Done ranting.

On a lighter note... Jérôme just called me, and we just had an entire conversation (it was like 2 minutes) in French. Yay for me. French over the phone is even harder, so I am proud!

Hump Day

I need to talk about dinner tonight. So good. We had rabbit. How have I not eaten rabbit my whole life; it is scrumptious! I have been missing out so much. We also had leftover tomato and feta salad from lunch, which is definitely my new favorite snack. I think I am going to make this a reg meal. It was great. I also sliced and peeled potatoes and fried them in oil to make little crispy morsels, which was pretty good too. And then we toasted some baguette, which was super soft with just enough crunch, and I tried a cheese called Mont d’Or. Ahh this meal was exquisite. I ended it with spoon eating a kiwi (a tradition) and then with a few chocolates from my birthday gift from the fam. Wonderful meal.

Today after taking the boy to the bus, I went back to sleep until ten. I never can sleep in really. Even on the weekends, so extra sleep is not taken for granted when I can get it. I then made myself run, so I am happy about that. Hopefully I won’t gain too much weight if I can just keep a semi regular running sched going because Lord knows I eat too much here.

The dad picked up the boy from the bus at 1pm while I prepared that tomato and feta salad. We ate a bunch of leftovers for lunch today, which was fine by me. I was then rushed for time to take the boy to guitar, then immediately take the girl to pony club after the guitar lesson. While at pony club, I bought some milk from the cremerie. I also got an email back from the US Embassy about my birth certificate.

I called them this morning, and they refused to discuss my problem with me and said I had to email. What bs. When I have an issue, I like to physically talk to a person to sort it out. Emailing takes forever and wastes time as has been shown today. I have sent three emails back and forth, and they still have failed to answer my question. I need to get someone from Puerto Rico to put an apostillé on my birth certificate, and they won’t tell me how to contact this person. A website, an email, just something. I know I have to contact them and that the Embassy can’t do it for me. Uhg whatever.

After activities, I helped the dad with dinner and made the kids shower before formation musicale; not really sure what this is, but I think it is the equivalent of band practice. Then we ate our yummy dinner! And I washed all the dishes trying to be helpful because the mom told me I was supposed to clear the table last night, which I didn’t—oops.

I don’t know if there is anything more to say really. Wednesdays are tiring, so I am glad it is Thursday tomorrow, so I can go into Paris.

I do feel like this week has been better compared to all the other weeks because I am getting into the swing of things, but I don’t want to speak too soon and jinx myself. I have told myself the same thing before, and then a few days later I am all down, so I assume this is just my cycle and soon enough I will be mopey again, but I hope not!

A while later…

Just took a shower. I hate taking showers in the morning here because the house is cold, and the last thing I want to do is get naked and wet. I dread getting out of the shower every morning. There are heating racks all over the house (no central air here), but I don’t want to turn on the heat because I don’t feel it is my place to do so, so I just deal. My room is always cold, and I go to bed cold and then wake up in the middle of the night in a sweat for some reason. My body just can’t control its temperature.

I am just babbling about random things… sorry. Tonight though, the girl told me she changed her earrings, so I went in the bathroom to chat a bit. I then told her she could help me change my nose ring by picking out the color. I got a nose ring like 1.5 years ago and have never changed the original ring. I bought a few nose rings over the summer but was too chicken to switch it out for whatever reason. Anyway, my old ring was dark blue, and she chose light blue, so voila I changed my ring! She thought it was gross me taking it out, which was funny. The dad came in too at one point and said “c’est bizarre.” That means: that’s weird more or less, and I just laughed. I love my nose ring!

Red Tape

So I am making progress with boy and am super excited! Yesterday as we were driving home from his tennis practice, he volunteered to talk to me and told me that he won a tennis game he played. He scored 31 points, and his other friend scored 30 points. And then today, when I picked him up, he happily greeted me with a Hello, which never happens. And also, he asked to play ping pong with me and taught me some words and some terms in French. So I think he likes me now? We shall see… I think so J

As for today… did my usual thang with school and kids and headed to the city to the US Embassy, which is HEAVILY guarded. I attempted to tell the guys in French what I needed, and after 2 sentences, they said I could speak English. I need to get the US Embassy to sign my birth certificate to become a registered au pair in France and get put into the health care system; it is just official stuff I have to do. The guards told me I have to make an appointment though to enter, so I looked at the site just now, and it is super confusing, and I think I have to pay like $50 for this bs uhgg.

30 mins later…

Well this birth certificate shit is absolute shit. Apparently the US Embassy can’t help me upon further research. I have to effing contact Puerto Rico about his. How the hell can I do that? I am in France. Plus another language barrier... I know like 5 words of Spanish. Uhg this is bs. Wish I knew I had to have an apostille on that damn certificate. I have to go through so much red tape for this. I can’t even figure out who is needed to sign this thing from Puerto Rico… all the info is there for the states, but not our sketchy territories. Why was I just not born in a state…life would be easier right now. Whatever venting session done I guess.

After the fail at the US Embassy, I mosied around the Tuileries Gardens because I was right there. I texted          Paige though if she could meet up because I had a lot of time to kill. I ended up going to Jardin du Luxembourg to see her, and we just hung out in a metro for 30 minutes killing time before our lunch dates with people. It was raining, so we wanted shelter. I then headed to have lunch with Jérôme, and we had lunch with Emilie, a fellow SKEMA student in Raleigh last semester. Coincidentally, she works across the street from Jérôme, so that’s why they arranged to do lunch, and I invited myself.

Headed back home after that before buying some toothpaste and some international stamps. I also bought some brown tights today because the ones I have got a snag in them. I then made my train. I literally read like 5 mins on the train and fall asleep. Every time without fail. I always set an alarm on my iphone to wake up 2 minutes before my stop, which works perfectly. It is always a half sleep state, but it is relaxing anyway. There is something so rhythmic and comfortable about the train. It is a real legit train, not the crappy RER, so it is comfortable and looks clean and not dingy.

Home tonight was the usual pretty much. The girl had piano, and I just wrote postcards the whole time (it is only 30 mins, so I stay). After school, I got candy for the girl, so when the boy saw this, he asked if I could drive him to get candy too. I told the kids today I am their chauffer, and they agreed. This is very much true. I also had to pick up the dad from the train station tonight because he got home from his trip; his train was 2.5 hours late! So he was on the train like 8 hours today…bad luck.

When we got home, I did dinner. Just heated up some leek soup I made last week and boiled some needles to have cheese with. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Then I went to my room, skyped my mom, uploaded pictures on facebook, writing this, researching stupid birth certificate stuff. I hopefully will skype my good friend, Elizabeth, tonight too! Tomorrow no school…not too excited, but whatever. I can come home and sleep after I take the boy to the bus, or I can be productive and run. The girl has a friend spending the night, so hopefully I don’t have to entertain tomorrow. I know I am lazy, but I am a busy person all day every day, so I want to be lazy when I can.

Pictures

The card the girl gave me. I love "L + Z= <3"

The boy's card... he is a great artist!

We went to le Tour Eiffel to watch it glitter!

La Géode

Jérôme and I had a nice view and performance to watch at Sacré Coeur last weekend.

My Birthday

Ahh so much I need to say! I don’t know where to begin, but I won’t start chronologically and start with today.

So last night, I decided I should go visit Paige today to see her house (rather chateau) and her town because she always talks about it and how lovely it is. She lives in the western part of Paris in Zone 4, so getting there was a trek! It took almost 2.5 hours from leaving my house to enter hers, but it was worth it. She lives in a quaint town (very rich), so the houses were gorgeous. There were lawns and trees everywhere, so it really looked like a college campus in a way. Anyway, Paige met me at her RER stop, and we walked to her house together.

One cool fact is that her house was the house that the Real World Paris cast lived in! I love that show (never saw Paris though), so it is really cool to me. Idk why they chose that house though and not one in Paris. Anyway, her house was absolutely great and very pretty. We made some coffee and prepared lunch in the kitchen (bread, cheese, turkey, and watermelon) and headed upstairs to avoid the kids coming home for lunch, which turned out to be a good idea because the eldest girl did not sound happy at all today.

The house is like 3 floors, and then Paige lives on the 4^th floor, or the Tower, so she has a lot of space! A bedroom, office room, and bathroom. I loved it a lot, and was envious of her shoe closest! After the tour, we sat in the play/TV room eating lunch and chatting. It was really nice! But soon enough I had to leave like 1.5 hours later, so I could make my train back. It wasn’t so bad though because Paige accompanied me all the way to my station, which I appreciated a lot. We said our goodbyes, and I took my train home.

I am happy I visited her today. It was great seeing where she lives and a little bit into her day to life. Every au pair is different, and it is interesting to compare. I hope she can check out my village and house on day!

When I got home, among other things, I got my butt outside and ran for 20 minutes. It was a short run, but that’s all the spare time I had before the beginning of driving the kids around. Pick up girl, drop her off at dance then immediately pick up boy, take him to tennis, pick up girl, then pick up boy all while preparing dinner (roasted chicken and potatoes). I think dinner turned out pretty well—still going solo, and balancing driving/cooking went well too.

Then I had a nice conversation with the mom about life. We discussed my plans for after my au pair experience (school vs. jobs and how to stay in France), what her family will do without an au pair next year (yes, I am the last. They have had au pairs for seven years!), her wanting to sell the house to be closer to school for the kids, me learning French, just a lot of things. It was nice to have an in-depth conversation; she really is a nice person.

Now rewind to Friday. I ended up having lunch with Nico in the la Défense area. We went to an Italian restaurant, and I had a yummy pizza! Although the experience eating was annoying because we had to be civilized and use forks/knives, and they didn’t cut the pizza for me. France for you.

Then I just headed home because I had nothing else to do. I don’t really remember after… but I know I picked up the kids and prepared ratatouille, which smelled so good! The mom got home early enough to make the 7:30pm train as opposed to the 8:30pm, so I got to peace out and start my birthday weekend sooner than I thought!

I made last minute plans to go to Jérôme’s apartment and hang out with Vincent until Jérôme got off work. I made dinner again (I didn’t even get to enjoy the ratatouille!) and boiled some pre-made tortellini; one of my favorite easy meals. So glad they have this in France. Jérôme got home in good time and we ate and hung out a little before going to a SKEMA party! A lot of my SKEMA peeps from Raleigh were there, so it was great seeing people I hadn’t seen for months and catching up with them. There were also a lot of people I didn’t know, but I met a few of them; although, I probably will never see him again, but that is how parties work usually anyway.

I think we got home around 2am and went straight to bed, and the next morning I was awake early for the boys to go to work. I just chilled at the apartment for a while and showered (didn’t go back to asleep surprisingly). I was waiting for Nico to text me, so we could start our day but eventually got bored and headed to the Chatelet area to go shopping. Btw, this was my birthday—little tidbit there.

I went back to this cute/cheap store I had found earlier in the week and ended up buying a warm, gray jacket that I had eyed before. I then bought an impulse buy, which was a nice black and white dress that I look pretty damn good in! I haven’t shopped in a while, so it was nice. It was my birthday anyway!

When I was walking around the area shopping, there were some guys with clipboards—these people are all over Paris, and they hound you to sign their papers. I have been told they are pickpockets, so I just steer clear of them. But two OBNOXIOUS guys would not leave me alone, and they came up on either side of me and made me into a sandwich basically saying “speak English.” But they pressed hard, and it felt like harassment!  They walked with me like 30 feet before I could break away. I wanted to just cuss them out but didn’t open my mouth, so they wouldn’t know I was American. Another one came later on, and I just shoved him with my hand and got out of the area.

Nico texted me by then, so I went to his place. I met his sister, who doesn’t speak English, so I chatted with her a bit, and then Nico made me ouef à la coque, sooo yummy. Oh I forgot to mention, at lunch with him the day before, he gave me a bday present! With oeuf à la coque (remember soft boiled eggs you dip bread in), you need holders for the eggs to hold them upright. So he got me 2 holders, which were all modern and cool looking and then an apparatus to cut the top part of the shell off for you, as opposed to cutting it yourself. You put the egg in the holder, and then put the apparatus on top of the egg, and slide this round sharp edge up, and with a spring, you let it drop down, and it cuts the eggs shell for you. Hope that’s understandable. I will try to post pics later to explain better.

So anyway, we got to use these presents because I specifically brought them with me. Afterwards, we headed to la Géode. We were late to meet Paige, but she was too, so it all worked out. The museum actually wasn’t that great—kinda outdated. Oh well. We went to an exhibit all about light and optical illusion stuff, which was cool. All the explanations were in French, so it made it challenging to figure out how to play the “light games.” We then saw a space documentary inside La Géode… again in French, so I didn’t get much out of it. La Géode was impressive though! So it was worth it in the end, and I am glad I went to just check it off my list of things to do in Paris.

We headed to Jérôme’s apartment after, and Paige got to meet Jérôme finally. We hung out until the La Défense light show, but we left way late and arrived just after it finished. It took forever to go to La Défense, so I was pissed we missed it and had to make the trek back into the city. It was just a big waste of time. So I reverted back to Plan A—go to the Eiffel Tower when it glitters. So we did. Sat in front of the tower with a bottle of champagne. Great times! Loved seeing the tower light up. I want to go up it soon! Apparently the first tier is free too! But it always has long lines.

We then headed to the Moulin Rouge area and hit up a bar called O’Sullivans. Somehow, Jérôme and I got in for free (15 euro cover charge) because we unknowingly slid into line with like a British wedding party group or something. I was just trying to get inside, but we got in fo free! Good bday luck I suppose. Nico and Paige weren’t so lucky unfortunately. The bar was cool! It was a lot bigger than it looked and had a dance floor with good music, so we just had drinks and danced the whole night. It kinda reminded me of a bar that I LOVE in Raleigh called Rum Runners because I always went there with the French students and hung out on the dance floor. I think we took a taxi around 3am, but we didn’t go to sleep until like 5am. Idk what we were doing, but we went to bed sooner or later.

Slept in the next morning and eventually made a plan to go on a Boat Tour of the Seine—or Bateaux Mouches (literally Fly Boats—like the bug). I like the name and how it sounds. I have done a boat tour before when I was here last year, but it was nice and relaxing to sit and enjoy the scenery. Also, before we ate Subway. Reminds me of America! I did miss how they have corn as an option here too. After the tour, Paige went to a mass at Notre Dame (so cool you can actually do that), and I went home with Jérôme and Vincent. I was gonna go to a movie with them, but my train sched didn’t work out. Apparently it was a bad movie (Jérôme told me), so I didn’t miss out on anything.

When I got home, I came home to the kids who had made me bday cards! So cute and sweet! The girl wrote L + Z= <3 ahh I love it!! And the boy is a good artist, and I could tell he put effort into it, so I was happy! They also bought me really nice chocolate from Belgium. I love me some chocolate!

So that is my bday weekend. I am happy with how it turned out. It is sad it is over. It is sad I am 22 (so weird to say). But I had a good bday. I also skyped my mom and my dear dear friend, Hannah last night too!! SOOOOOOOO nice to talk to Hannah. We are besties who met during our study abroad last year. She just got offered a job from her internship, so I am happy for her!

Random thing I need to say. When I came home today, I looked under my bed for some unknown reason, and there were like 100 freaking ants!!!!!!!!! Ewwwwwww. I have had an ant problem before, to which the dad just says to vacuum them. I need spray. Uhg it was so nasty.

Anyway nighty night!

Ouef à la coque

Today I did my morning routine and headed to the closer train station to catch a train to Paris. I got there in good time with ten minutes to spare. You have to walk up stairs across a platform to get to the headed-to-Paris-direction train, and as I was walking, I saw a little toddler, her mom (wearing sandals and a dress in 40 degree weather), and a grandma. I ended up sitting near them waiting for the train, and I was minding my own business listening to my music when all of the sudden I heard the mom say, “Be careful, baby” to her little girl.

This was a magical moment for me. I heard English through my head phones and instantly noticed that I could understand her each and every word. It is like a veil is lifted and life is so much clearer when I notice people speak English. No one understands what I am talking about unless you have been in my situation, but it seriously feels amazing to understand a random person’s words. You can’t help but eavesdrop… sad to say.

I am around French all the time, and I catch a word here in there, but it is mostly jibber jabber to me. So English just sounds amazing to my ears. I feel so lame writing this because I should be all excited for French, but English is just home to me and makes me feel like your average, educated person.

So anyway, I was waiting for my train listening to this woman speak English to her girl every now and then and then French to the grandma. Then an announcement on the intercom came on, and I gathered it was bad news about the train, but I had no idea. So I listened to the mom a few more minutes (to make sure my ears weren’t playing tricks—sometimes I try to make French sound like English words to my head), and gathered courage to ask her what exactly the announcement said.

I politely asked so you speak English? She responded yes, and then asked me Oh you don’t speak French? (Cool that she thought I did haha). I said not really and asked her what the announcement said, and she told me the train was arriving late at an unknown time. I have great luck with trains, don’t I? The grandma told the mom in French that a train being late hadn’t happened to her in a year. Great luck seriously.

But this gave me time to talk to the mom. She was Filipino and had a French husband (thus grandma was an in law). She has been here 2 months and picked up French because that is the only way she can communicate with the in-laws. However the husband was in Bangkok, and apparently they move around every few months for his job (for instance, they met in Dubai). The little girl speaks English, French, and the language of the Philippines, and the mom said she usually says a sentence and combines all three languages.  So needless to say, she was an interesting person to talk too.

Eventually the train came and was 30 minutes late, but it was quicker than the usual train and took 30 instead of 40 minutes, so it really wasn’t so bad. It did dampen my plans of seeing Nico for lunch at La Défense and exploring the area with Paige before, but oh well. I can go another day (I think I will see Nico for lunch tomorrow actually).

I just used the time I did have to visit with Jérôme at his apartment, which is nice as always. So I didn’t go see any cool museums or sights, but had a relaxing day. I am always on the go, though, so I don’t mind one bit. We made lunch, which included a salad with tomatoes and mushrooms with dressing; the fresh veggies were yummy. And then I attempted to make oeuf à la coque but failed. This is when you soft-boil and egg. Nico has it down to a science, so I boiled it for 3 minutes, but it wasn’t cooked enough when we opened the first egg. You soft boil and egg, cut the top off and dip bread with butter in it so soak up the yolk and white part. It was super delish.  So I boiled the other egg a little more, and it came out perfectly. We were short on time, so we quickly ate the egg and went our separate ways.

Made my train (nice feeling) back to my village. I got home and was home alone (bc the dad is on vaca), and it was kinda nice just being alone in the house. I never am. So I thoroughly enjoyed it by watching a recap episode of Jersey Shore (I know it is a garbage show, but it is pure entertainment).

Then I picked up the girl. Btw my driving is getting really good if I do say so myself. It is nice to be able to drive without having panic attacks. I am getting the hang of it rather nicely. So glad I can mark that off the list of things-you-learn-in-France.

I started some laundry when we got home, and then all the sudden, the mom rolled up. She was home way early. She said she had a business meeting and got to leave early. So she picked up the boy for me; I guess she wanted to because she doesn’t get to do Mom things like that often, you know? The kids were preoccupied with her all night, so I did my own thing. I did prepare dinner though (per instruction/advice [keyboard doing weird things] of Alain) and made some cauliflower and heated up leftover pork/veggies, so it was an easy cooking night.

Then I chatted in French about my birthday plans for like five minutes to the mom, which was nice. I just need to be forced and asked direct questions or else I don’t talk. So all French who read this… ask me questions in French and get me talking! I just don’t take initiative…

Then I skyped my friend, Mary Kate! She is an American friend from State who studied abroad in Lille this summer—the program I did last summer, and thus increased my love for France. She also has a love for France too and a French bf, so we are basically the same person. The only thing is she is a year younger than me L We could have studied abroad and then au paired together… if only! We discussed that tonight actually. BUT if all goes according to plan… we will be in France at the same time for next year! And she wants to come to Paris for winter break… fingers crossed.

Tomorrow is Fridayyy yippee!! And my birthday weekend! Although I am turning 22, which is weird to think about. Getting old.

Wonderful Wednesday

I made dinner by myself tonight. Leak and potato soup, and then I blended it into a cream of leak/potato soup. It was pretty good. The boy said J’adore la soupe (I really like the soup), so kudos to me! Everyone else enjoyed it too, so that is nice. That was the highlight of my day… au pair life.

The boy had school in the morning and no school for the girl, so I had the kids all day basically. I ran this morning; I made myself. I really didn’t want to, especially because of my cold, but I got my butt out there.

For lunch, we had the French equivalent of Ramen. It tasted the same, so that was cool. I told the girl this is what college students eat in America, idk if she really understood though haha.

I went to the crèmerie and took the girl to Pony Club today, and in between hung out with the American family (well American mom kids/ French husband). The mom is great to talk to along with the older girl (the younger one is my girl’s good friend—sorry I never mention names, I don’t want to reveal any of these peoples' identities because it isn’t mine to give out). The mom made good ole cookies, which were scrumptious and I just told her some of my frustrations; it is nice to vent and relate to someone!

I let the girl stay at their house for a bit while I went home to prepare dinner, but the mom and I told the girls to meet me in the parking lot at 5:30. This was important because the kids had music practice at 6pm. So I roll up in my car and the girls look at me right in the face and proceed to run away. We were on a farm, so I was like where the eff did they go. I was pretty pissed. I walked to the house and told the older sister what happened, and we set off to find the younger girls. I found them eventually (and got to music on time), but the girl has never disrespected me like that before. In the car ride, I told her she really can’t pull that on me when we have somewhere to be, and she understood, so I hope it doesn’t happen again.

Other than that my day was boring. No adventures in Paris for me today. Tomorrow though for sure. Not exactly sure what I am doing yet. I am waiting on a certain someone to text me back (cough cough Jérôme), but I know I am having lunch with Nico, and I may explore La Défense tomorrow with Paige.

Tomorrow the dad is leaving until Tuesday (vaca to south of France—jelly), so I have to cook by myself tomorrow, Friday, and Monday night. We went through each meal together, and I took notes, so I am as prepared as I can be for that.

This is a minor detail, but the dad always takes me to the train station on Friday night for my wknd in Paris (can’t leave car at the station all weekend), but since he won’t be around, I will have to wait for the mom to come home to take me. The earliest she comes home ever is 7:30pm, which automatically puts me in the 8:30pm train I guess. Kinda annoyed because I usually take the 6:30pm train, and it is my birthday weekend, and it is already getting cut short. I know I sound like a brat. Sorry.

I don’t even know what I am doing for my birthday. Well I do the day at least. Going to la Géode (picture) with Nico and maybe Paige during the day, and there is a big science museum/planetarium along with it. La Géode is like this big mirror sphere thing… so it is at least a good place to take a picture in front of. And then I want to see the Eiffel Tower glitter/light up some time that evening. And I just remembered, I wanna check out the China Town of Paris. The dad told me there are 2 in Paris; it would be great to eat some Chinese food!

I just skyped my mom for forever, so now it is time for bed. Night!

Nanner Bread

Well today was a 180 from yesterday… it was a good day. I feel like whoever reads this must think I am such a sad girl who has no right to be because I live in France. I feel that way about myself, but at the same time, I am entitled because this is all just so much more than I ever imagined.

The one bad thing about today is I am sick. Bad, annoying cold. I took Tylenol PM last night (thank God I brought the stuff with me to France), but I woke up with such a stuffed nose and sounding like a man. Full on cold blehh. I woke up the boy at 6:30pm and went back to sleep till 7am when we had to leave. I had no desire to really go to Paris today (weird isn’t it), so I didn’t shower like usual during this time. Or when I was waiting to take the girl to school; I just stayed in comfy clothes being a lazy (sick) bum.

After taking the girl to school, I decided to be Make Amends au Pair, so I did some laundry, emptied the dishwasher and filled it up with old dishes, then made some nanner bread! That was my sorry-I-messed-up-gift, so I think I showed them I am serious about being a good, reliable au pair (hopefully).

So then I just chilled out and took a shower; it was nice not to be under a time constraint. I got the dad to put some boards up (they have ribbon and such to put up pictures and notes and things), so now my room is extra homey. I don’t have a lot to put on them yet, but soon!

And then… I got antsy. How could I not want to go to Paris? My bed really was calling my name though to be lazy and watched my guilty pleasures of tv shows, but I chose Paris of course. I made plans to have lunch with Jerome, and that was a good enough of an excuse for me to go into the City of Lights.

So I got into the city and went directly to Jérôme’s job to meet up, and we went to the this really good restaurant with friendly staff. I had a tartine with saumon (wow I just re-read this and see that I typed salmon the French way—weirdddd and kudos for me!) and a floating island for dessert (you whip the whites of an egg into a mousse, which floats in a caramel custard liquid—sorry for the lack of description). The important thing is it was yummy!

Then I went back to my train station and made my first non-food, ticket, drink purchase. An actual fun purchase. I bought a backpack purse. Bc the one I have is just ugly, and I have so much shiz that I need a good day pack for the city every day. I have been in search for one for a while, and finally found one at my train station. It was so close all along.

Took my train home (made it on time, so nice to do things right). Chilled till it was time to chauffer kids around, etc. I actually looked into French schools—way effing expensive… will think about life later. Then I helped with dinner. We had porc (did it again spelling pork the French way—you know I am excited about this!)  with potatoes, tomatoes, mushrooms, and green beans.

Tomorrow no school. Well the boy does in the morning. But not too excited. I guess laziness is coming on again because I would much rather curl up and watch movies all day tomorrow. But exciting news is I was told what I should make for lunch, and we are having the equivalent of French ramen! Yesssssssssssss, a piece of America. I hope it tastes the same!

Fail

Uhg I don’t even know where to begin. I made an epic fail today by missing my effing train AGAIN. I feel like shit. I let my family down… the second time in a week. And the dad told me the previous au pairs had missed 3 trains in 6 years, so I look really unreliable. I apologized so much and said I felt so bad when I got home, and I told the dad all that, and he was nice but said I should feel bad. Which made me feel even worse, and then he said I was going to feel the wrath of the mom when she got home. I was so nervous just waiting for her to come home. But that part wasn’t so bad. I sat at the dinner table for a few minutes letting her talk to the girl and eat dinner, and then said I wanted to talk to her about today and if she wanted to finish her meal, but we continued the convo right there.

I started crying a little bit (not for show—I knew this would happen) saying how I am a reliable person, but she has no reason to think so, and I was so bothered by this. And just how sorry I was, and I felt like I was letting the family down. She told me she understood, and we talked it all out. The agreement we came to is I need to take the earlier train, so in case I miss it, I can take the next one and be fine. But that means less time in Paris, which sucks balls majorly. But I gotta do it I guess. I hate these damn trains… leaving every hour or so. I wish I lived in the city. You can’t always have what you want.

Anyway rewind to zee weekend… my weekend was lovely for the most part. I got dropped off for my train and literally arrived 10 seconds before it came. If I had missed it, it would have majorly messed up my surprise for Jérôme’s bday, so I am glad that train worked out in my favor. And now I can finally reveal the surprise if any of you are curious… I bought football tickets for Friday night. Paris versus Toulouse.

The stadium was in a new part of the city for me, which was cool, but it took a while to get there, so we were late. After being lost quite a few times finding our seats, we eventually did, and we had good seats. There were lots of crazy fans on the end zones (similar to college fans at an average football game), but I thought they’d be crazier. The game went by pretty fast, and I enjoyed it. I wanted to go to at least one football game while I was here, and I will definitely go to another one if I can, but it is a little expensive.

After the game, we headed home and then went to McDonald’s (I hate admitting this. I eat there more than in America—only 2 times so far). And then we wanted to get a drink at a local bar nearby, but it was closed on a Friday night—whaaaa? That’s France for you… it doesn’t make economical sense sometimes. But that meant more sleep, so it is all good.

The next day, I met up with Paige in the morning, and we went to Promenade Plantée—an elevated garden pathway. Pretty cool! It was a garden walk, but you were above buildings, so there were good views. We then made our way over to the Nation metro area to meet up with Nico, who was showing us des Journées européennes du patrimoine, which was a nationwide cultural event where buildings and such are open to the public that aren’t otherwise. But first we checked out the techno parade. There were a bunch of party buses each with DJ’s and people dancing around them—cool atmosphere. We only stuck around like ten minutes because Nico wasn’t feeling it. It would have been a great place to go at night…kinda weird for the day.

We headed to the Free Mason’s headquarters and got a tour. The first half in English, then French, to which I kept falling asleep and Nico was nudging me and whispering translations. I don’t really get the Free Masons, but I think it is cool to say I went to their headquarters in Paris. They were very nice people.

We then headed to Jardin des Plantes with sandwiches and a bottle of wine and chatted/ate/drank a little bit until we went with Paige on part of her journey home. We said bye at Chatelet, and then me and Nico headed for a bar to get our drink on. Above ground, Chatelet is a great area (I absolutely hate it underground—it is like the biggest metro station and a pain to make transfers). Me and Nico were like we just want to get out! And wandered around and found the first exit possible. Anyway, outside was nice. A bit touristy, but nice—full of bars, restaurants, shopping, and Parisian charm/buildings.

So we got a few drinks. At one point I headed to the bathroom, and this guy started talking to me because the doors wouldn’t lock. I just said my usual I speak French a little bit, and he was like Oh are you America? Blah blah… apparently I am interesting. Anyway 2 of his friends came, and I was stuck talking to them for a bit with their interested questions. They were creepers, so I left asap.

Eventually me and Nico wandered around for food, and found, what I thought, was a decent restaurant and we had a good meal for a fair price (more wine as well). Deetz are a bit hazy, but anyway we then went back to Jérôme’s to start the night. We got there, and I was beginning to feel a bit tired, so I just sat on the couch not talking. We ended up not going out… some stuff happened, but all is good now.

The next morning, I slept in until noon, which I haven’t done in a long while, and just chilled with Jérôme and Vincent until Jérôme asked if I wanted to go to lunch, and I said yes of course.  We ended up going to a restaurant near Sacré Couer, which I have been wanting Jérôme to go to. The meal was good. I hate vegetables stuffed with meat and rice. We then went to Sacré Couer to enjoy the views and later on to Moulin Rouge. We were wiped out after and headed home. We then watched Act of Valor, which was just ok for me. I was falling asleep some parts, but it ended really sad.

Then the weekend was over, and I had to go home. Always somewhat sad, especially after this weekend. My issue of feeling isolated came up again and my frustration with French, and now after today’s train fiasco, I just feel bad. AND I have a damn cold. I am such a lucky person. Wait—I am though? I take this life for granted I know, but my life is hard. This whole transition phase will just not end. When I am feeling good BAM! Shit happens and I go backwards a bit, but I am slowly moving forwards.

 I just feel isolated with French and I am not meeting people really. There is nothing more to say. Speaking French would make my life easier, so I just need to be patient because it will come. I have been told I need to be more proactive, which I know is true, but easier said than done and I am pitying myself so much that I just don’t try. I know I sound like a lazy piece of crap, well I am ok with that.

But what people don’t know is, I make effort when I am by myself, and therefore must speak. Today I went to the train station to go to Paris and used a machine to buy another week for my Navigo. I thought I did it right, but when I scanned it, it wouldn’t work. So I explained as best I could what happened to a man, and he went outside and helped me with the entire transaction and it worked!

Then I was on a mission for an auxiliary cable for my ipod and car, so I went to Darty (like hhgregg), and told them I want to listen to my ipod on the car (didn’t know the word for cable, which coincidentally is the same word). A guy led me the way, but they didn’t have any unfortunately, but hey, they knew what I was talking about. But later on, I went to a cell phone shop to kill time for next train and said the same thing and bought one for 10 euros.

I also went to Centre Pompidou today with Paige, which has modern and contemporary art. I liked it! Need to go to bed, so sorry for no details. Also sorry for typos!

Rue de Panam

Nico sent this song to me, which I really like. I am downloading three albums of theirs right now. Thought I'd share. By the way, "Panam" is a familiar way to say Paris. Who knew? That's what I learned today!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E3H03gytM4

Monthaversary

Today was a good day. Pretty much every day is here. So glad I am adjusting (don’t think I am fully adjusted yet). Got up early as usual, took each kid to school, then off to Paris. Even one day without visiting the city, et j’étais prêt (I was ready)! Separation anxiety for sure (I hope a few study abroad peeps read this).

I drove and parked to the train station fine and had 15 minutes to spare. When the train finally arrived, it stopped way earlier than I thought, so I had to run to make sure I got in on time. I looked like a fool, but oh well. I was NOT missing another train. I was like last to get on, so there were no seats, so I had to sit on the stairs (was not gonna stand for 30 mins), but life could be worse! I read till I arrived and headed to Jérôme’s (I spell it the right way now… making an effort) place because he had a day off today.

We hung out for a few hours not doing a whole lot, but I am always busy doing things, so it is nice. We watched Disney Channel (in English) for a bit. Being there is the only time I ever watch TV, but like I said, it is nice. They were playing Suite Life on Deck, which is my fav Disney show that is discontinued in America, so I was uber excited—yes I am a Disney nerd! I want to go to Paris Disney soon! My school offers cheap tickets anyway…

We then headed to La Défense to meet up with Nico. It was a slight fiasco finding each other at the metro stop, but we did eventually and headed to a sushi place. I have not eaten sushi since being in France, so I was très excited. We also saw where Nico worked, which was cool because now in my head, I don’t think of same vague, big, official building near La Défense. Anywho, the meal was yummy! You got to order five different things whether it be sushi, nagiri, egg rolls, dumplings, etc. all for 14 euros. Basically what one would pay buying sushi anywhere. It was also all you can eat, but one serving was enough.

Like always, time flew by, and I had to take the metro to my train station to make the trek back home. Jérôme accompanied me, which was sweet, and he stayed with me until my train was about to leave. During the metro ride, we were talking about my lack of speaking French, so I started talking in French until we said bye. I need to do this more often. Speaking isn’t necessarily difficult; I just need someone who is patient with me to deal with the amount of time it takes to formulate sentences (and to deal with my blank stares when I am spoken too).

I got home with no problems and went home for like five minutes before picking up the girl. Once home, I started preparing dinner for the night with the dad’s instructions. I first fried a beef steak, then added tomatoes and herbs to start making the pizza sauce for pizza tonight. Then I started cutting a hunk of bacon into bits, meanwhile the dough was setting to be kneaded. I went and got the boy and continued cooking. I kneaded the dough forever (it is hard work), and rolled it out into pizza. Also, when the sauce had cooked down, I got to use a machine to “blender” it into a sauce, which was fun. I also used this cool apparatus to shred cheese! Then the dad complied all of this together into a pizza and added goat cheese on top.

Dinner was good… the pizza was amazing. The mom loved it and had seconds (she never does this), so I felt pretty good about myself. Everyone complimented me. The dad instructed me a lot, but I did everything, so I am proud! I then ate some tarte tartin for dessert, and it was just as good as last night. Meanwhile, I had a French conversation with the mom about what I did today and my weekend plans. I mess up a lot, but I have learned a lot with her correcting me. Then we reverted to English, and she gave me info on how to do English lessons. I think I may start tomorrow, so I am nervous. But tomorrow I have all day to myself while the kids are at school, and I am not going to Paris (bc I will tomorrow night), so I will have time to prepare.

I am happy it is the weekend tomorrow as always. It goes by too fast (as always), but this week went by fast for me, so I think basically this whole year is going to fly by before I know it. Scary to think… ah not gonna think about my future now (this is why I ran away to France).

Another tidbit, the girl asked me to go on a walk while she roller bladed today. I held her hand the whole time. It was a bonding experience for sure! The boy came along too on his scooter. I still have troubles talking to the boy, but I made headway today and told him I met Andy Roddick (he likes tennis), and then he told me he likes snowboarding, which led me to ask if he liked the Olympics. (Both because summer has tennis and winter has snowboarding).

Yesterday was my monthaversary of being in France. Crazy! I have come a long way from American tourist getting herself in a lot of trouble to an au pair in training. I am becoming more French every single day (at least in my head I am). I mean I eat good food, speak French a little bit, getting the hang of the driving situation, I am the master of trains/metro (ok I missed it one time), and I put an effort into my clothes and accessories each day (that I am in Paris), but the American can never be taken out of me! It is weird, I have so much American pride now that I am in France when before, I had no pride about my country really. You take it for granted till it’s gone I suppose. But America will always be waiting for my return (whenever that may be).

Ok so this is not a surprise if we are facebook friends, but to those that aren't here are a few pictures!

Pizza I made tonight! Avec goat cheese!

Le Pont des Arts. The Lock Bridge. I think it is so pretty. All these locks represents a couples' love for each other.

Taken while looking for Musée de l'Orangerie... thought this was très beau :)

Beaucoup des Boulettes

Today was full of des boulette. Looking back, none of them were a big deal, and I am still on good terms with the family. But I hate doing things wrong… I feel like I let my family down.

First thing this morning the mom told me to wash the boy’s sheets (I think he wet the bed), so I immediately put them in the wash early this morning to get a head start. After taking the boy to school, I took a nap for a few hours (so amazing), and I woke up to a note saying I forgot to take the cover off the comforter, which made me have to do an extra load (and extra dry time—just extra time to my day).

I started an ironing session afterwards and towards the end, the dad asked me if I was cooking the lasagna or not. Um no… you mentioned that last night, but I thought we were doing it together. So I go ahead and pre-heated the oven and put the lasagna in five minutes later, which would give me enough time to go pick up the boy from the bus and come back and it would be done (dad said it’d take and hour). When I got back, the dad told me I should have warmed it, not cooked it, so thus it was slightly burned. Go me. However, it still tasted pretty good, and I liked the slightly burned texture.

Then I took the boy to guitar and sat there for 30 minutes (no boulette here). After, we went home, and I then went to the crèmerie with the girl to buy milk and crème fraiche. I bought the stuff and put it in the car to go say hi to the American family that lives there. We ended up staying for like 1.5 hours. It was nice chatting to the mom and older girl while my girl and the youngest hung out. The mom asked me how I was transitioning, so I got to let everything out to a real American who understands my frustrations (she moved here a year ago). We complained about some of the nuisances of France, which was nice (no dryers, cold winters- frozen pipes, language barriers). It was nice to have someone to relate to.

Anyway I finally convinced the girl we had to go home, and during snack she told the dad I left the milk in the car the whole time, so I got a lecture about that. I didn’t know our visit would last so long. I know it is not particularly good for the milk, but whatever—it’s 1.5 hours. We will not die.

Then the kids had “formation musicale” at 6pm tonight. The dad thought it was at 6:30pm and told me to get the kids to shower before practice. I corrected him saying 6pm, and he said ok, so I assumed the shower thing was out of the question (not really enough time). Assuming makes an ass out of you and (particularly) me. I was wrong yet again. He wanted them showered before 6pm. I explained my thought process, and he understood. But I feel like I failure.

Another minor thing, I cooked pasta tonight, and the mom made a comment about it being al dente. Well wtf tell me how the hell you want it or else, I am going to do it the way I like it and have done it my whole life. She didn’t say it in a negative way, but I just feel like more of a shitty au pair today.

We had the tarte tartin tonight (apple tarte). OMG super yummy. Absolutely fabulous. Yummy in my tummy for sure. For dinner, we had left over ratatouille and the pasta (al dente) with shredded cheese on top. I never thought the fam would eat the latter food; it is just so simple. It was good though.

I asked the mom, and no activities tomorrow yay! And none on Friday, so that is nice and limits my chaufferness. We also had a nice conversation about me learning French (in English sorry to say), and she told me she understood and felt the same way with Spanish (she is learning now). However, I told her in French what I did on Tuesday and who I met, so that counts for something. I also asked her a question about one of my duties (I am proud because asking questions is a weakness… I really don’t know how to do it because it is a different formula in French).

Oh I also ran today. Haven’t done that since the weekend, so go me. Running is always nice.

Tomorrow I am going to La Défense to have lunch with Nico. I have not seen him in a while, so I am looking forward to that. This week has gone by fairly quickly… almost the weekend! It is Jérôme’s birthday Friday, and I have a surprise on Friday for him (no revealing on here yet).

Well story of my life… need to go to bed!

Yet Another Boulette...

Today was an interesting day. I drove to the new train station after dropping off the girl to school. It is about a 20 minute drive, and I take a highway, which is a little intense. But with my driving, I drive pretty well when I am comfortable with the route. This was a bigger station, so I parked in the parking lot, but it was freaking far away. The train was two stories, so I of course sat on the 2^nd floor and was eager to look out my window at the different surroundings. The train traveled through suburbs that were a lot bigger than my other train, so it was entertaining to watch; however, soon I’ll be bored and have my nose in a book the whole time.

When I arrived in Paris (since I was on the 2^nd floor I could see the views better) I saw la Géode (big sphere made out of a mirror/metal I think—I wanna go! The Eiffel Tower, and Sacré Couer. I had no idea my station was so close to all these things… maybe Paris is not as big as it seems…

Via text, my plans had changed, so I went to les Invalides area to the Musée Rudin to meet up with Paige (new au pair friend I always mention) and other au pairs; two Germans and a Brazilian. These multiple cultures are great… I really thought the vast majority of au pairs would be American, but apparently lots of other countries find France cool as well. It was raining, so I was glad (?) to be in a museum. Yes I live in Paris…. And museums aren’t exactly my thanggg, but I am glad I am being forced to go to museums because I never would otherwise, and I need to be cultured and take advantage of Paris.

Anyway Rudin was a sculpture, so that is what the museum was. There two inside sections and an outside/garden section. Again Paige educated me on Rudin and art stuff in general, which I really appreciated, but after 1.5 hours I was donezo (Paige if you read this—I am truly glad I went J).

All the while the rain had gotten worse (weather.com severely ruined my day—a 20% of rain means NO rain, thus I didn’t bring my umbrella).

5 minutes later…

The dad has been making an apple tart tonight, and he just showed me the final step. Ahh it looks and smells so good; we get to eat it tomorrow night! Je suis partant! (roughly: I am excited).

Back to before… I also decided to retardedly wear these cute shoes that I had an inkling would kill; I was right. Today was the day of the most walking ever—in the rain as well. After the museum, we met up with 2 other German au pairs. One has been here for a while, so she wanted to take us somewhere for cheap food. Well we freaking walked in the wet weather unfortunately. Me and Paige were down for the metro as always. Idk if we ever made it to the location we were supposed to go to, but after like one hour (it felt like it at least), we picked somewhere to eat. I was grateful to sit down for my poor feet’s sake and to get out of the rain (this is the first day of rain—welcome to Paris weather. The weather has been absolutely glorious here this past month, so shitty weather is overdue).

I didn’t really see anything on the menu to my liking, so I opted out of food (I was meeting Jérôme for lunch anyway). But I chatted with the girls about our families and our family dynamics—what are our expectations and such, and I told the girls about my French friends/boyfriend, so hopefully they can all meet each other someday! After an hour or so, I had to catch the metro for my lunch date.

I am really glad I met some au pairs. I am lacking in au pair friends, but Paige is a great start. She is always meeting new au pairs (she lives in an area with lots of au pairs—so lucky), and she is just a great girl in general, so I think I really lucked out with just happening to sit next to her a week ago at my French school and getting the nerve to say hi.

My lunch date with Jérôme was nice as always (and too quick) before I had to take the metro yet again to catch my train home. I was nervous about the timing (new train so it left at a diff time), but I made it all right. I waited a few minutes for the TV screen to tell me which platform to go to (that is how it works here) and loaded onto the train and began reading. My compartment was empty, which I thought was weird, but I didn’t mind having space! Ten minutes later, I saw the train next to me leave, and that is when I realized… I effing got on the wrong train. Wtf. I watched MY train leave WITHOUT me. Uhggg.

How could I have been so stupid? The screen said 18, yet I got on 19??? Sometimes….

So I called the dad and then the house phone: no answer. Last effort try and called the mom, and she answered! I told her what happened, and she said she would get in touch with someone to pick up the girl from school (my “boulette” [mess-up] forced me to get home too late to pick her up). So I had to wait another freaking hour. I bought an I-am-sorry-for-myself snack (chocolate madeleines), and then walked to another station because I could have taken another train but didn’t really know where it was, but now I do, so maybe next time if I mess up, it won’t be a big deal. Hope you got that. But I walked forever in the rain with my feet in agony, so I was super peeved when I got back to my station to continue to wait for my train.

Finally boarded my train, and it was crowded. I read for five minutes, then fell asleep waking up every now and then to make sure I wasn’t at my stop. All the sudden, the train stopped, and I had arrived, so I scrambled down. Everyone who was getting off had already got off, so I had to wait for a hoard of people to get in. I then heard the beep noise to signal the doors were closing, so I rudely said Pardon! And got out of there. I felt bad because this family had gotten on with their dog, but the other dog was like 15 feet away not getting on. Idk if the dog got there in time. I didn’t look around to see because it was effing raining and my feet hurt and I had a long walk to the car.

I drove home in the rain… makes driving a little more confusing. I got home and had 10 minutes to spare before getting the boy, then I took the girl to piano a little while later. It was only 30 minutes long, so I just stayed there playing games on my iPhone. When we got back, I did laundry while waiting for dinner. Dinner was yummy! The dad cooked (I am not exactly sure when I am starting—with all this chauffeuring I don’t have time to cook dinner really, so idk how that will work). He made ratatouille and then duck. Duck is really good actually. I have missed out for a long time. Then we had this super fluffy baguette and cheese! Yummm. I was a fatty today ok? Btw my favorite cheese is Saint Nectaire if anyone is cheese-inclined to know what that is.

Now I am sitting here. I am actually glad I am not going to Paris tomorrow. Need a break from trains, so hopefully I can chill out a little tomorrow. No school for the girl and the boy has a half day, so I have no idea what is in store for me. Hopefully relaxing time. Although I shouldn’t get my hopes up.

Another tidbit. The parents got in an intense argument tonight. Well it sounded that much more intense in French. I wonder why they were mad at each other? They get  along very well, so I am confused. The mom even peaced out for a bit, but she is back now, and they talked calmly together when she got home, so I guess all is well. Anyway awkward. I just shut my door and acted as if I didn't exist.

Fish Fiasco

I am actually blogging at a decent hour tonight (9:50pm), but I feel like I don’t have too much to say. The initial excitement of au pairing is over, I am slowly getting used to things and seeing how my everyday life will be.

The girl started dance lessons today, so that was added into get home, pick up girl, then pick up boy, so I had to combine taking the girl to dance and picking up boy. Each week, they will add activities, so it will get continuously more complex with chauffeuring the kids around, but I will handle it.

Waking up at 6:30am sucked as usual, but I think tonight I will go to bed at a decent hour, so that will help. I am probably jinxing myself now though… I also took the girl to school today by myself for the first time (the mom went with me one day last week to show me where to park and what to do), so I hung out with the girl until her friends came. I then drove home, did some last minute getting ready/half waiting for the dad to wake up before I left for Paris because I needed his money to fill my Navigo.

Of course he did not wake up before I left, so I had to buy it on my own. Who the hell knows when I will be reimbursed. Anyway I used a machine to fill up my card for a week, and it wouldn’t accept American cards or my French card bc it has 5 euros on it. So I was effing mad I would have to buy another 15 euro round trip ticket to Paris yet again, but (the world was in my favor today) I went up to the counter, and there was a Navigo sticker, so I could pay cash to fill it up! Hallelujah.

So I used my French and bought me a week of Navigo usage. I am happy with myself, but hopefully I will get paid back soon! During the train ride, I wanted to sleep but didn’t and read/listened to music. I arrived at my train station in Paris and headed to the predetermined location where I was meeting up with au pair friend. Last night, I told her just plan today for us because I had to go bed and didn’t have time. So the first thing was the Musée de l’Orangerie. It took freaking forever to find the damn place and each other, but it was a nice museum once we found it. I had my passport, so I got in fo free! Au pair friend is an Art major, so she educated me at the museum, which made it much more enjoyable. My favorite part was the lily paintings of Monet; there were like six. They are so big and pretty!

We headed to le Marais after. A cute district that has a Jewish side to it, which means yummy food. So we walked around for a bit and then asked for directions to the Jewish part and they more or less worked. We were sent in the general direction, but eventually turned on a cool, random street we liked and ran into it fortunately. I was super happy because I just happened to find an ice cream and Jewish restaurant that I went to with my study abroad peeps last summer. I miss my study abroad group! I really miss having lots of friends…sigh… in time, soon enough. I really am lucky to have friends here already; I’d be so bored a depressed right now without them.

We ate across the street from last summer’s restaurant, and I ate a pita brochette dinde. No idea what brochette is, but dinde is turkey, so it was a safe choice (which now I think—what the heck was I doing, my goal was to eat weird food here! Oops). Then time flew by as usual when I am in Paris and enjoying myself, and I had to leave to catch my train back to the real world.

After my train, I drove home and hung out for a bit until I picked the girl up, then drop her off at practice, and get boy, start dinner, then pick up girl! Whirlwind. For dinner, the dad had basically had whole salmon in the fridge and told me to put it in the oven for the hour. No other details… so I had to wing it because I had no idea what I was doing (mom and dad were gone to a school meeting). The hard part came when I took it out of the oven. I had no idea to cut into a whole fish and de-bone it and all. I did my best, but I warned the kids to be careful eating. Anyway other than the fish disaster, dinner went well. I had a good convo with the kids and we were laughing and all, so I feel good! They were singing this funny song and translating it word by word for me (something about farting in water and a grandma cutting someone’s butt into 300 pieces).

Then the parents came home and a switch goes off, and the kids become little demons. Glad I don’t deal with them then! I chatted in French with the mom for a bit (she really is the only one who makes me speak French so I am thankful), and then I drove to a new train station with her, so she could show me how to get there. This station has more trains, which is nice, so I am gonna do a test run tomorrow with them to time myself.

I just laid out some laundry (boring au pair details), but I think it may be smarter to do laundry at night and let it air dry over-night and maybe tomorrow afternoon it will be ready to iron? I think so… we shall see.

Tomorrow I have plans! Au pair friend told me au pairs are meeting at Centre Pompidou for lunch, and we are gonna do a museum in the morning. So I hope to meet some girls!!

Back to Reality

Got home from Paris like an hour ago. It is already 11:20pm. I need to go to bed!! Have to wake up early. My sleep sched is so messed up. I try to go to bed at a decent hour during the week (did not work this week), and then I revert to my old ways on the weekend. Uhg I don’t want like 5-6 hours of sleep tonight…. I need eight. Oh well.

Anyway... let us see…. Friday. Stayed home all day and did laundry and ironing I think. Caught up on au pair duties, and I did my laundry. I earned my first au pair battle wound by burning myself with the iron a little bit haha. In the afternoon, I ran errands with the dad. Among other things, I got my French card, so that is nice. I haven’t even used it yet though because there is only 5 euros in it. Although, we went to the bank and they had lost my papers, so I almost didn’t get it, but eventually I did. Good thing the dad was with me… I could not have handled the fiasco on my own I don’t think.

I took the 6:30pm train to Paris, and eventually got to Vincent’s apartment at 8:30. I had to visit Jerome at work before, so I was in the metro forever going all over the city. I had a relaxing, bonding time night with Vincent. I watched football with him (soccer—to the Americans), and we drank some wine, and then went to a nearby bar for a few drinks. I went to bed happily drunk haha.

The next day, I ran to and throughout Jardin des Plantes. I love running in parks here; they are very beautiful. I didn’t really have anyone to hang out with during the day, so I went back to the apartment and showered and watched Disney Channel (in French because I could not for the life of me figure out how to put it in English). I then walked to Jerome’s work and caught him on his lunch break, which was nice. I then walked to Gare de Lyon (walking a lot to avoid paying for the dang metro—but it was a beautiful day) to meet up with Vincent for him to help me get a Navigo Pass for the time being to use until I get my student one. We went to like three different metros, and finally got someone willing to be a perfectly normal employee and actually do their job. So I got a Navigo Pass (but can’t use it until tomorrow—waiting for fam to put money in it). Me and Vincent went back to the apartment and hung out/ate dinner waiting for Jerome to get off work. We then pre gamed and went our separate ways for a night out.

Me and Jerome went to our friend Rousseau’s apartment. A few SKEMA peeps from Raleigh were there, which was nice! And of course my friend, Rousseau. I hadn’t seen him since May, so it was really nice! We all drank a lot, so I wanted to go out to a club, bar, or something, but me and Jerome just called it an early night and went home. So we got a decent night’s sleep, which is always good.

This morning, we made Vincent breakfast in bed to attempt to make up for the fiasco last weekend where he was locked out of his own apartment, so I hope we earned a few brownie points J We just chilled out and relaxed until lunch time, and Jerome made this really good salad with green beans, corn, cheese, crab, sardines (eww! It was my first time, but they were good actually), dressings, salt, and pepper. It was really yummy actually.

We went to Jardin du Luxembourg after lunch, which was BEAUTIFUL and INCREDIBLE. A lot of other people think the same bc it was uber crowded. There was this amazingly gorgeous building in the middle of it (no idea what it was), and it had a pool on one end with this super adorable sail boats sailing around with the wind. Each boat represented a country, and of course, I found good old America J Being here makes me realize I LOVE AMERICA!! But I do love France too, but I miss my country a lot. Anyway, we walked around a lot, ate some ice cream, the boys through an (American- apparently I must clarify) football around while I thoroughly failed at this endeavor. I can throw it now, but catching is a different story. It was hot today! First time I have felt hot in Paris… I don’t really miss that feeling, but it was good weather today.

After, we laid in the grass for a while killing time until a movie: Killing Joe. I had never heard of that movie, but usually when I watch a movie with zero expectations, I end up loving it. This movie was extremely intense, bizarre, and full of action/emotions/violence. It was a weird (but good) movie. It ended with a cliff hanger, which is always annoying, but this movie was definitely twisted, but I recommend it: IMDB it!

After the movie, I was a little bit in a shocked mood. I mean this movie had my complete attention the entire time (I usually get distracted and think about things), so I needed time to absorb it. We headed back to the apartment, and I had 40 minutes to kill before my train. The journey home was nothing special. So now I am home.

I am in a daze right now. I mean my weekend wasn’t that full of activities, but I am exhausted. When I got home, the mom explained all this au pair chauffeuring shiz I have to do tomorrow. I have to take the girl to dance practice, which overlaps when the boy needs to be picked up, so I am stressed. And then, the parents have to go to a school meeting tomorrow, so I think I am on my own for dinner, which is scary.

I am also trying to plan my day in Paris tomorrow. Hopefully seeing new au pair friend from last week. But I have all this shiz above to worry about. I mean I don’t really have that much to worry about, but I am a worry wart. Well I need sleep! My body doesn’t think so, but my brain knows so. Hopefully I can force myself a decent night’s sleep.

Lazy Post

I don’t feel like blogging, but I feel guilty if I don’t because I don’t want to forget anything about this experience. I need to go bed (as always) too.

Today wasn’t exciting, just my average life. Woke up at 6:30, took the boy to school, took a train to Paris, went to orientation (although I did hang out at the Arc de Triomphe with my au pair friend for a little bit before). Orientation was dumb… did not learn anything or really meet anyone. We did meet a Mexican girl who was sweet, but who knows if I will ever see her again bc she is in a level above us. Afterwards I took a metro ride (foreverrr—the metro takes forever here) and saw Jerome for a bit before I had to catch my train back to my village. 

Drove home, hung out with the dad, then picked up the girl, then the boy, then we rode bikes, I kinda helped with dinner. We ate chicken cooked with tomatoes and red peppers and a vegetable purée, which was pretty good. I also went to the boulangerie with the girl and bought some bread that way ate, super yummy. I talked to the mom in French for a bit to explaining about my weekend plans and the classes I will take when I start school.

Tomorrow is Friday! I am excited, but I have been to Paris twice this week, so it doesn’t quite hold the magic, but how can I really say that?! I don’t really have too many plans. But Saturday night I am going out with one of my SKEMA friends from last semester, soooo happy to see him!!! And hopefully during the day I will see my au pair friend!! Maybe go out with her and her friends for a bit tomorrow too. Idk…I always have a plan, but I will just wing it this weekend—whatever I am in Paris, so I will be a happy camper.

Sorry this was a lame/lazy blog…. Hopefully I have something interesting to say after this weekend.

Mercredi

So today was good. I hope to keep this short bc I need to go to bed since I have to wake up at 6:30 tomorrow uhg. We will see if this will happen. Anyway… today was Wednesday, which means no school. Lucky for me. So I had the kids all by myself today, and I think I did pretty damn well.

I woke up around 9am and saw the dad for bit before he left for Paris (he still isn’t back and it is 10pm). I asked him what I should make for lunch and dinner because I was nervous about that. He then said when I ran to ask the boy to ride his bike with me. So when the boy woke up, I asked him, but he said no. I didn’t expect him to say yes because he just woke up, but I didn’t want to wait until the afternoon to run because if I wait, then I won’t do it. So I ran for 40 minutes or so, idk if I am allowed to leave him alone that long (oops).

I then showered and got ready to pick up the girl from her friends. The boy stayed behind (I asked if I could do this). I brought my Navigo letter with me in hopes of the girl knowing where la poste was too. I went to pick up the girl, and she asked if she could stay longer. Idk if I can make those decisions, so I called the dad, and he said no. So I left with the girl, and she eventually told me where la poste was because she didn’t really know, but the effing place was closed for a lunch break.

So we headed back, and I tackled lunch. The dad told me what to make, so I made elbow macaroni and scrambled eggs. I knew how to make the eggs! So lunch wasn’t so hard. They ate most of it, which was good. It was awkward during lunch because I had to force conversation. Usually I sit there and don’t say much because they all speak French around me and it is overwhelming.

Oh I forgot to mention, I also started laundry for the day (how exciting—I am really an au pair).

Then I let the kids play Wii (don’t think this is allowed but whatever), and I laid out in the sun for 30 minutes reading because it was gorgeous outside, and I don’t wanna lose my tan haha. I knew this would be the only time for myself today, so I was selfish thank you very much.

I then forced the kids to do my (and the dad’s) errands with me. We headed to la poste, and I mailed the letter for one euro! Then went to the super marché, and I bought a few things. I timed it perfectly because the doors opened right when we walked up (I didn’t even know the place would be closed—so French, no 24/7 convenience here). Then we went to the crèmerie, and I bought three liters of (real) milk. We headed home, and I don’t even remember what we did, but an hour later, we drank chocolate milk (and I dipped bread in it- yum).

We rode bikes after for a bit. The kids started bickering and hitting each other a lot. I have no idea how to handle them. They aren’t bad per se, but they annoy each other. I need to put my foot down, but idk how. All I can do is say stop and things like that, but if what I say is too complicated then it goes over their head. It is annoying having to phrase things in the simplest English I can—makes it hard to yell at them haha.

We got bike from bikes and played Sorry and some monkey themed board game. The boy had this cool electronic hand (from the Adams family) that we used to choose the game we played. We each picked 2 games and placed them in the circle and put the hand in the middle to choose. Pretty cool haha.

We played the games, the kids fought, I played Pick up Sticks with the girl, but I was getting antsy bc I needed to start dinner bc they HAVE to eat by 7:30pm on school nights. She eventually let me go bc she knew I needed to cook.

So I proceeded to make a chicken, mushroom, crème fraiche dish with rice and green beans. The timing is so hard… I had to put aluminum foil over everything to keep it warm, but the food turned out well. The mom complimented me! I thought it tasted good too. Really… crème fraiche makes everything taste good.

After dinner, I messed with the drying racks of laundry for a bit to look useful. I wanted to iron, but the clothes were still damp, so I just went to my room because they were talking French, and I was def not a part of the conversation. I think the boy was using me for his homework though because he asked the mom to spell my name.

Then I had a nice English convo with the mom, which started because of train schedule conflicts, but turned into a real convo, which was nice. I feel guilty speaking English with her, but I don’t think she minds. She took the opportunity to ask if everything was fine to which I said yes. I wanted to bring up the Navigo pass, but she asked me before if the dad bought my pass for the week (he hasn’t since he was in Paris today), but this makes me think I won’t have to pay for trains anymore. Idk how tomorrow will work when I go to Paris… I hate asking for money, but I guess I will have to.

 Other than that I don’t have complaints. I feel like today was a day to put me to the test, and I passed. I got everything done! The mom also complimented me saying I was doing well with everything, so I am so glad she doesn’t regret picking me. She once told me she usually has to choose between 30 girls every year for her au pair, but with me, I contacted her first and was the only person she ever talked to because she said I was exactly what she was looking for so score!

Anyway… going to Paris tomorrow for orientation for school. Hope to meet more au pairs, and I guess my teachers. I think I will see Jerome too, so tomorrow should be a good day. Then I will become au pair again and taxi everyone from school and cook haha.

Oh my life… at least for today I am content with everything.

(There are probably a lot of typos, sorry in advance—also this was not very short was it?)

OHH I failed to mention-- almost wrecked today . Those damn rules. My manual driving is pretty decent now if I do say so myself! But the rules no. I was driving straight on a road today and someone on a side road was turning left and he totally didn't stop for me, so I guess I was supposed to yield?? Who the hell knows. Luckily my intsy wintsy little car scraped by just in time.