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.

Vaca in Paris

I’ve been so bad about blogging and am overwhelmed with everything I need to say right now.

Today I had lunch with Nico, which was nice because I haven’t seen him for a week or so. He gave me good advice about going to university here and the pros and cons of public and private schools. Public means cheap but in French and private means expensive but in English, so it is a dilemma, and I am stressing about it.

After I was in the La Défense area, so I walked to the Grande Arche in search of SKEMA because I knew the campus was nearby. SKEMA is a French business school that I may apply to. I found it and went by to talk to someone to get info on the application process. I went to the front desk, and the lady didn’t speak English, so I explained why I was there. She gave a phone to me to talk to someone who couldn’t speak English all that well. He got my name and number and said he would call me back today with the info I want, but it is 8pm now, and he never called? So I tried to make a step towards figuring out my life today, but it didn’t work out so well.

Then I decided to take a tram somewhere. I have not taken a tram in Paris yet, and I have wanted to because they are above ground, so you can see the city. I took a tram from La Défense to the southern part of the city following the Seine, and I saw great views of the city and Eiffel Tower along the way! I then took the RER C and decided to pop by the Eiffel Tower because I haven’t been there in a while, and I wanted to get the rates to go up, but it wasn’t displayed, so I then headed home.

So today I was by myself mainly, but I kept myself occupied, and I had a good day. It was chilly, but very beautiful weather—sunny and blue skies. Very nice.

Yesterday was a shit day. One the rainy weather (weather.com said 0% chance), and I didn’t do a whole lot. I met up with Paige at the end of Line 4 to find a supposed flea market, which I knew would be sketchy because I am pretty sure I have been there before last summer, and it was completely weird and sketchy. She had been wandering with a friend in search of it, and the gave up and found me when I arrived. I am glad it didn’t work out because I am pretty sure I am right because the area was sketchy too.

Then me and Paige went to the north-western outskirts of Paris in search of the pet cemetery. After a lot of wandering in the rain, we found it, but it was closed on Mondays—lovely! But I am going tomorrow, so all is not lost. Then we went to a large library Paige wanted to go to, and found out it doesn’t let you rent books, just read them inside. What??? After we each headed home. It was a rainy, dumb day in general.

Once at Jérome’s, Vincent and I watched the latest Twilight in preparation for the Twilight that’s coming out soon. The other night I saw James Bond with the boys, and I asked if Vincent wanted to go see Twilight with me sometime because I always go to their movies, so it’s my turn to choose, and he likes some girly movies. He actually agreed! I thought he would def say no, but I was wrong, so we watched the previous Twilight for this reason. Jérome said he would come too amazingly enough. I like French boys sometimes J

The previous day, Sunday, Jérome and I went to my host fam’s house for him to meet them. It went really well! I was nervous about the French/English talking and how that would pan out, but it went well. Half-way through, the American mom I talk about  a lot came so the girls could have a play date, and she stayed and talked to us, so English was used more often. It was good times! Jerome liked my fam, and I am positive they liked him as well. The dad made good food as always (I have missed it!). First we had a salad with a bakes pastry with cheese baked inside, then a creamy soup made up of leaks, carrots, milk, stuff like that, then gratin dauphinois (potatoes au gratin), and rabbit. Yum! And he made a lemon meringue for dessert, which I have never had before, but it was great.

It was nice showing Jérome my house, my family, and life in general. I am glad he can now picture my life better now and know what I am talking about now. We left after about four hours or so and took the train back to Paris, which was so full! We had to stand the whole time, but ended sitting on the floor. Later that night, we saw James Bond, which wasn’t that great. I slept a few times mainly because I was just comfy and warm ha ha.

Saturday was a big day as well. I hung out with Paige all day, and we started at the Musée d’Orsay. She didn’t bring her phone with her (I could tell because I texted her multiple times and she never responded), so I was nervous about finding her, but I miraculously found her in line! We did the museum in a few hours, and I was so tired by the end of it. Paige was too, which says a lot because she is a museum person. I am glad I went though because I went last summer, but only saw the special exhibit, and not the actual museum. So now I have!

Then we headed to the Salon du chocolate!! A chocolate festival. I had seen ads for it all over the city, and decided to ask if Paige wanted to go, and she agreed. It was 13 euros, but a well spent 13 euros because it was great. There were hundreds of vendors all with free samples! We spent most of the time fighting through crowds tasting all sorts of good stuff! Chocolate, chocolate liquor, chocolate wine, one chocolate had cannabis in it, macaroons, all sorts of stuff. There was a chocolate fashion show too! All the models wore clothes made from chocolate. There were also chocolate sculptures; it was all so great.

While waiting for the fashion show to start, Paige went to the bathroom, so I guarded her seat. Five minutes later this old guy behind me asked if I would give up the extra seat for who I am assuming was his wife. I said my friend was in the bathroom, and then he got all pissy with me. This was all in French, so I was limited with what I could respond with, but I just kept saying my friend is in the bathroom and 5 minutes. At one point the lady he was trying to get a seat for was literally trying to get past a girl to the extra seat, and I was like NO NO NO covering my hands over the sit. The both of them were all so rude and yelling at me, and all I could do was physically guard the seat and say no. People were looking at me, and it was all stressful and embarrassing. But then I had to wait like 30 minutes for Paige to come back. She didn’t have her phone, so I couldn’t text her.

I was on edge the whole time just waiting for the douchebag to yell at me again. Then all the sudden, he violently shakes my shoulders and yells at me again. I just ignored him and didn’t say a word. He wasn’t worth my time, and I didn’t know what else to say in French. But I knew the lady didn’t have the balls (or stamina) to get to my extra seat, so I was like this is all empty threats biotch. Paige came at the right time finally, and the lady would not physically let her get to her seat! The bitch!!! Ahh. Then these 3 girls in front of me sympathized and let Paige climb over them to get to her seat. I was so happy to see her. I told her the whole story, and then she confronted the douchebag man saying he shouldn’t have touched me, and he completely DENIED it. God what an asshole. Whatever. The fashion show was good, and I really don’t think old people would have enjoyed it anyway (they played hit music and all), so here’s to that doucher for wasting his time.

Aside from that, the chocolate festival was great, and I am so glad I went! It only lasted a few days, so I am glad I took advantage of it.

I'm Back!

I’ve neglected this way too long. I have been avoiding writing my blog because I need to write so much, but this is my blog, so I can write about whatever I want I suppose.

Well I went to and came back from Dijon; my little mini vaca with Paige and Meghan. We left early Sunday morning to catch our 7:30am train and arrived in Dijon at 10:30am. We started by visiting the tourism office and buying a booklet that had a tour in it called the Owl Trail where you follow little owls throughout the city to important landmarks. We ended up doing the whole thing that day to introduce us to the city, which was really was a great way to see everything.

We saw a park that had a statue of a polar bear in it for some reason and lots of pretty buildings/churches. That day was extremely cold and windy, so it was hard walking outside all day, especially with our backpacks, but we made it through. We found a cute restaurant that we stayed at for two hours for a well-deserved break. I ate the special, which was cheaper, and it was skate—some kind of sting-ray fish thing that was pretty weird, but the sauce it came with was yummy.

We met our couch surfing host later on that evening. She met us at a restaurant where we had just ordered drinks to get away from the cold. We had Vin chaud—hot wine, so delicious! It is warm, red wine with spices like cinnamon added and an orange slice, so it reminded me of sangria in a way.

Anyway we met our host, Marion, and she brought a friend, Diane. They asked what we wanted to do, and we just said we’d rather go home and have a night in because we had had a long day, so that’s what we did. Marion drove us all back to her house, which was great. She lived outside Dijon with her parents (who were on vacation), so she lived in a nice house with a cat! The cat was awesome, and his name was Paillasse, which Marion said means Carpet, so we called him Carpet the whole time haha. Although, I just looked up what that word meant, and it said straw mattress or lab bench? The cat will always be Carpet to me though!

So that night we just chatted and Marion made crepes, so it was a nice, chill night in general. We went to bed at like 11pm or so and took our time getting ready the next morning. We got to the city at like noon the next day (Marion dropped us off), and we visited a museum, and I am trying to think… we also went up a tower to see the view from the city up above, which was really cool. We then went shoe shopping for Paige because she needed warmer shoes, and the other museum we wanted to go was closed. So we visited all the cheapish stores, and Paige found some shoes at H&M. We then went to a restaurant for drinks, and I got a waffle with nutella while we waited for Marion to pick us up again.

We told her we wanted another quiet night (walking around all day in the cold is tiring), but we went to a grocery store first to get some food. That night was more or less the same as the first night. We had a frozen pizza and finger food and wine for dinner, and just chatted a bunch. At one point we all took showers, and Paige literally flooded the bathroom and some of the outside floor while taking a shower. It was pretty funny. We had to use so many towels to soak up all the water. Luckily Marion didn’t seem upset about it anyway. We went to bed early because we had a 6:15am train that morning to Beaune.

We arrived in Beaune at like 6:30am, and it was FREEZING and dark, so we immediately found a brasserie and ordered hot chocolate and stayed there till like 9am waiting for the sun to come up. We then went to the tourism office and got a map, and the lady showed us where all the cellars were for wine tours, so that’s what we did all day—wine tours and walking around. We did four wine tours overall, and two of them were pretty authentic. We actually went down to the cellars where you did a self-guided tour and drank wine with these “tastevins;’’ little, metal cups used for tasting wine. I was exhausted at the end of the day, though, so we took an earlier train back because we just wanted sleep. We ended up going to bed literally at 8pm; we were that tired.

The next day, we had a 7:30am train, so we were up early again. Marion dropped us off at the station (she was so nice to drive us), and we headed to Montbard. The train was a little late, so we missed our connection in Montbard, but this guy helped us and got us taxi vouchers, so we continued to our final destination to Chatillon-sur-Seine via taxi for free.

This town was extremely small and didn’t have much to do there, but it was very pretty and quaint. We first went to a museum with Celtic artifacts, which was actually pretty cool. We left our bags there in lockers all day, which was nice because walking around with backpacks makes walking around all day so much harder. We then went to a super marché to buy some lunch, where I bought a baguette for 45 euro cents among other things. We then walked with our food down a walking path that goes alone with the Seine (yes, same river in Paris), and followed to this BEAUTIFUL spring. I literally saw where the Seine originates, pretty cool! The spring was so pretty, and the water was so clear. I took oodles of pictures haha. We ate lunch and watched a guy getting ready to scuba dive in the underwater caves!

Then we walked around and found some stairs, which lead to a church and cemetery with an old castle thing that looked over the city, so there was a nice view. We chilled there then walked around some more and headed back to the museums for our bags. We then saw some kids dressed up (it was Halloween), which was cool because France just doesn’t have Halloween spirit here really. Then we went to a café and chilled out for a few hours because we had nothing else to do.

We decided to take an earlier bus back because we were bored, so we went to the bus stop and waited for the bus. It was like 5 minutes late, but eventually came and then completely passed us! The car behind it honked and pull-over, and out came two pissed off French people, who talked to us, but we couldn’t understand anything they said. They eventually left, though, it was really weird.

So we decided to walk to the bus station for the next bus (our original one). I was pretty pissed off at this point because I didn’t want to take the original bus because it only gave us 10 minutes to spare to make our train to Paris, so I was all worried. We just didn’t really know where the bus picked you up, since it ditched us the first time (at a spot where the office of tourism lady said to go). The station was way across the town, so we made the long trek and just waited. Meghan was super stressed because the next day she was going to Italy and had to make this Paris train because it was the last one of the night, so she ended up taking a taxi. I wanted to go with her, but didn’t want to leave Paige alone, so I stayed at the bus stop and just hoped it would all work out.

The bus did come on time (and stopped) and arrived on time, so everything worked out! We got to Montbard with just enough time to wait for the train for five minutes. We all had different seats, so we sat separately during the ride and got back to Paris at like 10:30pm. I headed straight to Jerome’s and then went out with him and all the boys because the next day was a bank holiday and it was Halloween that night! About 10% of the people were dressed up, but it was a fun night in general. We went to a bar first and then a club near the Arc de Triomphe. We got home at like 6:30am (stayed out till the first metro opened). It was exhausting. So the next day was chill, and I didn’t do a whole lot. Nothing worth mentioning.

Today I have coincidently stayed home all day. First by choice, but then around 5pm I wanted to go to the grocery store, but couldn’t find Jerome’s keys, so I am stuck here. I texted him asking where they were, but I doubt he will respond until after work. I wanted a lazy day, but I am hungry now and want to go to the store to buy food! I wanted to make them dinner too; we will see if I still have energy for that.

Rewind to Saturday before Dijon. I was smart and didn’t pack a winter coat for break, so I spent Saturday shopping for a new, warm coat. I didn’t wanna go all the way home to get my coat and anyways, the fam didn’t answer the phone anyway. So I bought a new coat, which was super warm and perfect for Dijon, so it was a good purchase. That night Jerome took me to a gastronomical restaurant, which was cool. I had never heard of one, but you order a lot of little dishes for a whole meal. It’s nice because you get a full meal, but get to eat a lot of different things. It was really good. We split all our dishes together, so I had a lot of different foods! One of them was beef tartare, raw beef, which I have been wanting to try. It was good of course!