Deutschland & España: Here I Come!

Although this map isn't of the best quality, it still gives the general impression of my FINALIZED spring break plans! Oh, did I mention I get my birthday off?! How nice of France to think of me and institute a national holiday :)

April 7th: Fly from Nice, France to Nürnberg, Germany.

Spend a few days with Lisa's friend Florian in between Nürnberg and Münich. And in keeping with the theme of all things German, apparently there's a beerfest during the time I'll be there. And quite a few rowdy soccer -- excuse me, football -- matches to be had.

April 13th: Fly from Stuttgart, Germany to Madrid, Spain.

Then I'll take the train from Madrid (though I hope not too quickly, because I would love to see Madrid!) to Toledo where I'll be staying with Laura's former roommate, Sandy. My roommate's getting me pumped for España because she's been numerous times and swears everything is MUCH cheaper than in France! Toledo is supposedly a major religious site, so the architecture must be amazing -- I'm looking forward to doing lots of site-seeing! And of course, since I'm doing the German schnitzel and beer thing, you know I'll have to sample some tapas and sangria when in Spain!

April 18th: Fly from Madrid, Spain to Marseille, France.

Perhaps that weekend -- the final one of my vacation, and isn't Easter sometime around here?! -- my dad will meet up with me in Marseille and we'll head to Forcalqueiret to celebrate my 23rd and his aunt's 99th!!!! birthdays with our family friends in their house-turned-bed and breakfast.

If he can't find the time to come down, then I'll just pay the 18 Euros and take the train two hours to get back to Antibes on Friday and have the weekend to "detox" with a little R&R as I'm sure I'll be needing it from all my travels.

Why am I getting so excited about this trip?! Because I just got off Skype with Florian and some of his friends in Germany who were super decked out for Carnival. Even though Mardi Gras isn't until Tuesday, I guess they need something to celebrate every day over there in Germany.

...But before I get too excited about my last big trip here in Europe, I do have one more thing standing in my way:

CALIFORNIA IN NINE DAYS!!! (I'm a happy girl!)

Goodbye January

I think I may have written a similar post in November.

Either way, today's the LAST day of January and I don't really have anything exciting to say other than I GO HOME IN TEN DAYS!!! That in itself is enough, I think. (For me, the writer at least). It'll have been FIVE months since the last time I was home, in California, the United States, so let's hope I don't get any reverse culture shock in there. Either way, I'm ecstatic about going home for over a week! Please come and visit me :)

Presumably, you, the reader, want more from my post than just that.

Well, then call me a push-over.

In preparation for the unit tests I'll be giving out this/next week, I'm going to post a complete list of everything I've taught my students thus far:

UNIT ONE (October, November):

-Cultural Activity: American names, U.S. geography
-My name is/What is your name?
-Where are you from?
-Family/"I have"
Cultural Activities: Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas
-Pets
-Colors
-How are you
-Weather
-Days of the week


UNIT TWO (December, January):

-Body parts/Face
-Adjectives
-Numbers/How old are you?
-Months/When's your birthday?
-Verb Conjugations, yep I'm teaching them how to conjugate: Motion verbs to go with body parts (i.e., to clap, to jump, to touch which leads to a game of SIMON SAYS), to be, to have, to make
-Food/Verbs: to like, to love, to hate
-Clothes
-Cultural Activity: Movies/songs in English after the test
-Cultural Activity: Valentine's Day, though I think this will be for after the vacation, when I'll have conversation hearts from the United States to share in class!!

All things considered, I think the progress here is spectacular, considering how their last English assistant left the program quite a few months early and consequently canceled all English classes during the third and final trimester.

Whatever, it's almost the weekend and I'm going to Cannes to see Sweeny Todd in English! Wish me luck in my first cinematic experience in France :)

...TEN DAYS UNTIL CALIFORNIA!!!

Shakespeare Got to Get Paid, Son

If Courtney Randall and Jessica Sanborn read this, the headline's written for them ;)

Point of my story today, boys and girls, IS THAT I FINALLY GOT PAID!!! We're supposedly directly deposited (yeah, that's right I made that a verb) our salaries either on the last day of the month or the last Friday of the month, whichever comes first.

Today actually happens to be neither of those. But since I now have more than 50 Euros in my account, guess where I just went??

I'll give you a hint, it's the biggest grocery store possibly in the world:

Ok, that might have been an exaggeration, but Carrefour certainly puts Costco to shame.

However, the most alarming thing for me today -- while there were many, it's been difficult to pinpoint only one -- was the amount I spent. This junk better last me the next two weeks before I go to California.

Call me crazy if you will, but I just dropped 70 Euros on food. And it only filled two grocery bags... (For those of you not in the know, French grocery bags are like big totes, so it's a bit more than you could fit into two American "paper or plastic" bags.)

I guess I finally let my inhibitions go and picked quality over (monetary) quantity this time. I've always eyed the wines, ripe fruits and veggies and exotic fish every time I go, but instead I tend to squeak by on frozen veggies and chicken or rice/pasta products because they're cheap.

Not today. I guess we're really getting ready for spring, because there was an entire section dedicated just to red berries in the produce aisle! And without even hesitating, I threw THREE cartons of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries into my cart.... mmmm. And in the fish aisle, I tossed in a couple of (de-headed THANK YOU GOD) shrimp and tuna steak! Since I was on a roll, I decided to let myself "splurge" even more and went for some wheat pita shells.

But in my defense, I did buy a couple of other frozen/non-perishable items that could stay on my shelf and freezer for quite awhile. So hopefully this does last me until mid-February.

Another really exciting thing at Carrefour is the ridiculous amount of people there! Usually I go after lunch and the crowds are horrendous. So I figured, hey I'll go at 10 in the morning and avoid the insanity.

Totally wrong.

To make matters worse, I guess today was stocking day, so employees were busy humming about the store on foot, roller-skates (no, not in-lines, actual retro skates), carts, and what I can only manage to describe as mini-buses precariously filled beyond their weight capacity with boxes and crates.

One man was driving a little too recklessly for being indoors, in a zoo nonetheless. He let a few people cross the aisle and I guess got tired of waiting, because as I set foot in the aisle, he zoomed forward completely disregarding me or my life.

He then proceeded to give out this hearty bellow of a laugh (that really freaked me out) and looked me dead in the eye. I kid you not, this is what he said to me:

"Je veux vous écraser."

Translation: I want to CRUSH you. JESUS, who are these people?!?!

...11 DAYS UNTIL CALIFORNIA!!

The Day I've Been Waiting For....

Has finally arrived.

Except, judging from my reactions today, you'd never know.

I have this terrible habit of getting overly excitable about EVERYTHING. I always tip my hand and I don't know how to chill out when something big is happening. Actually, scratch that. Even with stupid little nothing events, I still get way too antsy.

So imagine my surprise when I got that letter in the mail yesterday saying I could retrieve my carte de séjour and during the walk to the Police Municipale today, my heart was not thudding in my chest. Normally, I'd be getting increasingly nervous, palms sweaty with anticipation accompanied by quick, shallow breaths. And usually things go horribly wrong.

So maybe that's the key, eh? Don't get over-excited and you won't get let down.

Either way, I went into the office and presented my letter, in addition to the receipt saying my card was on its way. I also took a thousand extra precautions and brought my passport, California identification, a copy of verification of my residence (in case they had my address wrong on the card) and my work contract. Of course, I was insanely over-prepared, but a few extra papers in my backpack really didn't weigh me down any more than usual.

The woman at the counter greeted me quite friendly, something I've never come across in French administration up until this point. That's the kind of person you should have working for your company, someone who genuinely gets excited about every person's ascent to *legal* residency in the country. She must have know what I've gone through to get to this step, because when she finally handed me the card -- less than one minute later seeing as how I was the only person in the building, another shocker in French bureaucracy -- a ridiculous smile overtook her entire face and I get the feeling that she actually meant it.

A little suspicious, I took the card and waited to see if I needed to do anything else, because really that couldn't be it. But it was and I hurried out of there before anything could go wrong.

Then during my walk back, I realized that today was a really gloomy and ugly day. Pretty rare for the week we've been having here in the South of France. And I couldn't help but think, I should be ecstatic despite the glum weather.

But I never once did the proverbial heel click, not even mentally. You know that feeling when you've accomplished something so great, a pat on the back just won't cut it? Yeah, I never even got that sensation.

Peu importe. All that matters is that I officially have a French identification card, even if it only is good for seven more months.... Perhaps I'll post a picture of it later. Or maybe, I'll post a picture of me flipping it off, giving you a sense for how I feel about French administrative hurdles.

So how did I actually celebrate such a feat?! I kept it pretty low-key and cooked myself a really good, healthy meal after a few hours at the gym. (Oh yeah, and I let myself have a candy bar!)

Tonight I chopped up some endives and cabbage for the base of a salad, then threw on some raw onions and radishes. In a lightly-buttered pan, I tossed in some of the onions with balsamic vinegar, honey, walnuts, golden raisins and pears for a sweet dressing. And the main course was easy -- I already had frozen, prepped Alaskan halibut in the papillote style tossed in a bag with veggies and herbs. All I had to do was pop that in the oven for a few minutes and voilà.

What a day.

...12 DAYS UNTIL CALIFORNIA!!

JOYOUS DAY!!!

...Well in theory it is!

BUT, today I opened the mailbox, my heart a-flutter because there was a medium-sized brown envelope in the box with MY NAME ON IT.

I ran up the stairs, taking three at a time in hopes of getting home quicker -- never once tripping thank you very much -- because the sender was the Mayor of Antibes and the official stamp on the back read "service des etrangers" (immigrant services)!!!!

Well, long story short, I have received an OFFICIAL NOTICE that my carte de sejour is ready and waiting in the mayor's office!! All I need is a few free minutes during the day to come collect it along with the proper identification.

Oh this is super, SUPER news!

The card is sort of like a form of identification in the state of France for foreigners. It will allow me to FINALLY collect the CAF assistance on half of my rent, and I'm now free to fly in and out of the country as I wish during the next six months.

Wednesday morning here I come, mayor's office!!!!

...13 DAYS UNTIL CALIFORNIA!

And so it starts...

I'm going to be a bridesmaid this summer!!!! :)

...TWO WEEKS UNTIL CALIFORNIA!

This is what I do when I'm bored:

I search the Internet.

Like today, I was looking through AngloInfo (I forgot how much I loved this site) hoping to find some people in need of dog/babysitters. Like how I just lumped young children and animals together in the same sentence? I promise, I'm responsible...

Anyways, I saw an ad for a group of people looking for a baseball/softball team in Antibes and Sophia Antipolis!!! Oh, oh oh, PICK ME. Didn't I just finish writing a post a few days ago about how much I miss softball?? I think they're reading my thoughts...

But I also decided to pass the last 30 minutes just clicking on any and every posting that caught my attention from the site. For example, there are a bunch of 20 year old girls looking for a drinking buddy. Not sure how desperate I am to meet new people.... There's a group of creative writers looking to get an informal club together and assign a topic to write on each week -- that's a post I definitely replied to. Supposedly someone up in Valbonne is offering Provencal cooking classes on the weekends. All really neat activities I never even thought about until now.

Then I started testing out the waters putting up my own ads. For example, if anyone has a second-hand bike they want to get rid of I'm willing to spend about 50 Euros or less to take it off their hands.

I could be getting a LOT of random (perhaps exciting) emails in the upcoming few days.

And I've also been getting pretty involved with my April travel plans. It's a little sad to think that's my last vacation here, but I've found flights from Nice to Munich, from Frankfurt to Madrid and then Madrid back to Marseilles for probably a total of 150 Euros all together. And since I have nice people willing to house me, I wouldn't have to spend a dime -- excuse me -- centime on housing.

Germany and Spain here I come baby! I just need to download a few more Spanish podcasts and get back into the groove before then. Wait, what groove, I only took 10 weeks of Spanish?!

OVER IT!!!

Before yesterday, it had been a little over a month since I last had lunch at my school's cantine.

Since it was such a nice day yesterday, I figured, screw the bus, I'll walk to school. And since I'm getting all this exercise -- it takes me 50 minutes both ways to get there -- why shouldn't I "splurge" on a 3 Euro meal at school, even though it's probably LOADED with calories??

It was nice. We had some light white fish, with an aïoli mayonnaise sauce, sautéed vegetables (why does this word end in -ed? the accented e already implies past-tense), cheese and bread, and fruit with chocolate for dessert.

At least I thought it was a nice lunch. Until a few coworkers started complaining about being sick shortly before school got out. And until I spent THREE HOURS LAST NIGHT throwing up in the toilet.

That's right, I was up until 2:30 - 3 a.m. vomiting, and the culprit most likely was that lunch. It was this terribly unsettling feeling, as my stomach kept doing violent flip flops back and forth, kind of like a fish just out of water. And I don't have any stomach medicine, nor do I have a car, NOR does France have 24-hour convenience stores to go buy such a product.

But I finally fell asleep in the wee hours of the morning, not remembering feeling this bad since my 21st birthday, ha figures. So today I have NOTHING TO DO. I slept until 12 p.m., I plan on taking a bath -- my first in YEARS -- and then we're having our Mexican dinner tonight.

...Not sure what I'm going to eat at that one, but I'm definitely making some PLAIN oatmeal soon.

A certain "Je ne sais quoi"

Alright, this has really been bugging me lately.

I'm in France. I'm in the South of France. It's warm and sunny. I live on the beach. I'm gaining weight because the food here is so good.

So why have I been so homesick and unhappy lately?? I mean really, what else could I want from life right now??

But I think it's a little more complex and nuanced than that. No, I'm not whining and packing up my bags because I'm quitting the program. When I sign up for or commit to something, I'm going to see it through to the end and try my best. That being said, I think I'm doing a fairly good job of teaching here. My students can conjugate verbs as complex as "to be" (I am/he is? that doesn't make any grammatical sense), which they aren't technically supposed to learn until middle school. Plus, on top of that they know all sorts of vocabulary. So I really do give a damn, even though it doesn't sound like I wholeheartedly am doing so.

But I digress.

I've come to the realization that being in France is only prolonging the rest of my life to come. What's wrong with that, right? Well, normally I'd say nothing. But I realized that I really don't know what I'm going to do when I get back in June. And I'll be 23, so in theory my professional life should have already begun well before then.

And I know, I know, who am I to complain about being abroad for a whole year and putting off other real responsibilities?? Well, usually I would never even think of doing such a thing, but it really is bothering me that I'm out of college and still spending all my parents' money.

So I think that's the root of my problems here. I can't have the time of my life and still keep a clean conscience about it.

Oh yeah, and being so far away from all the closest people in my life is kind of weighing on me. Having friends here is a bit inconvenient because we're all scattered in different areas of the city, working in different schools, with buses that stop circulating at 7 p.m. So only once in a while can we actually hang out when our schedules permit.

Maybe I'm just being a big baby. We'll see what happens when I go back to California for my winter break in TWO WEEKS! Maybe I'll get it out of my system and come back to France for my second half of this program refreshed and ready to go.

On verra...

...16 days until California!

No Soup For You!

Attempt #2 at getting a social security number: FAILURE.

Exactly one week ago, I thought I had sufficient paperwork in order to begin a folder for me in the Social Security/Medical Insurance office. Since I am being employed by the government, I'm allowed to claim FREE health insurance. And it'd be silly to buy my own insurance at this rate, a.) since hardly anyone in France has private insurance and b.) they're not paying me enough for that.

Thus, January marks month #4 without any kind of insurance whatsoever.

So today, I went back with copies of the documents I needed, and I even went to a doctor's office this morning. He's French and was born here, but grew up in Georgia, thus he's the only French man I've ever met with a Southern accent. And his French sounds American, so that makes me feel better about myself. Either way, he speaks English, doesn't require appointments and signed off to be my doctor for insurance purposes, so that's a step in the right (medical) direction.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I don't even have insurance!! Part of my folder is the American equivalent of the acte de naissance, which I naturally assumed was an official birth certificate.

WRONG. Supposedly they have problems with Americans registering for social security because the birth certificate is not official enough.

I cannot continue the process of getting a social security number until I bring in something he called an "extrait de naissance," which supposedly is a registry or official paper signed by my mayor or something at the time of my birth.

WTF?!?!? I have no idea what that is, nor have I ever heard of anything remotely close like that given out in the U.S. This man would not budge and said that other Americans have brought him the correct paperwork, so in theory, I should be able too, and I'll just have to halt my request until I can procure said document.

Both my parents are telling me the only document from my birth is the certificate -- duh, since that's THE ONLY THING they give us to prove American birth -- and that I'll have to try back again. But I'm stuck and backed against a wall. I really don't know what I'm going to do if they don't accept my birth certificate a second time.

If any other assistants are reading this, and have any idea at what kind of paperwork they're looking for, please please PLEASE let me know, I'll love you forever.

Whenever I finally do finish my folder, it should only take about a week to actually get my number. But here's the rub: In order to get medical insurance, and thus be reimbursed for any dental/doctor visits I've had, I need a carte vitale which I can get when I prove I have a SS#.

However, the carte vitale takes MONTHS to process and be sent out. I imagine that would take us to about June, when I'm leaving. Then I'll finally have all the papers I need and will be able to collect all the money the government owes me. How convenient that I'll be out of the country by then....

I'M SO OVER ALL OF THIS BUREAUCRATIC B.S.!!!!! And I want to go back home.

...18 days until California!!

Pétanque

Very cautiously and slowly, like a newborn foal awkwardly testing out its legs for the very first time once the winter's snow melts away, spring is encroaching on my Antibes life.

While winter did have its low points, overall it was a fairly bland one seeing as how I was still wearing shorts into November. But to give new meaning to an old adeage, when it rained, it poured. Last week I was drenched with torrential downpours and today I let my super white legs have their first taste of fresh 2008 air. Well, yes, they're white but perhaps not super, as I've been using sunless tanner lately ;)

I take that back. They probably are ghastly, but since I'm the palest person I know they're not as white as they could be. I figured I'd spare all the sun-drenched locals.

But getting back to downtown Antibes -- In December, I gave Aimee the grand tour and showed her along the seaboard. It was a ghost town; hardly anyone was out walking, enjoying the rare sunny rays in the beginning of a dreary winter.

Yet today, that tide is changing. Dozens of people lounged about on the decks of an old abandoned cabana club and in their bathingsuits no less! After running to the gym and working out in my shorts, I decided to continue my journey down to the ocean where I soaked up some rays eating an apple and reading a few pages of my current book.

Of course, the best part was seeing all the elderly men out and about again.

No, not like that, I'm not a pervert.

Instead, they were breaking in the newly-installed courts. Each of them huddled up in a crowd to see who could get closest, and whose strategies were the best, whether landing their chrome balls with finesse, or out-right launching them with no regard to anyone else standing nearby was the best way to win.

That's right, just like how the groundhog sees his shadow in February, you know warmer days are sure to come when the French men take to the courts in light jackets and big hats to protect their delicate skin from the sun to play their beloved pastime.

You and I call it bocce ball or boules.

To them it's not just pétanque. It's more than that. It's a lifestyle.

...19 days until California!!

The pen is a-flowing

...Make that the keys, since I hardly ever write stories out anymore.

Ever since I worked with the AVP, I kept having recurring thoughts of some bizarre story that I've been vaguely trying to piece together. During one of the trans-American flights, I whipped out my computer and wrote a really big chunk of this story. It's even got a shell of sorts, just needs some major fill-in-the-blanks work.

Either way, the main character kind of recently came back to me. Call me weird if you want, but I guess this is how the writing process really strikes people.

So I know I've got notes and scribbles at home somewhere about all my billions of brain activity and stories, so I full intend on somehow organizing all of that when I go back home.

That being said, I've started up a third new blog. It's basically a holding-cell for all of my fuzzy and random thoughts. I can't shake the feeling that I might have something going with this story, so I'm going to hash it out to the fullest and see where it gets me.

Probably nowhere, but I do have hours upon hours on my hands and the weather is not yet nice enough to spend it at the beach.

So while I huddle up in what I hope to be the last actual days of winter weather, I'm going to keep at this writing thing.

LIFE-CHANGING EVENT!!!

JHDWGDhjGSGFWYJDGbukfghg bjhgfhjGHJGDHJGShjG!!!!!

That's the most eloquent way I can express my shock at what just happened right now.... There are no words.

I'm heading home from the gym like usual. Since it's a typical Sunday, the buses only run once every hour and I definitely can't plan my workout routine to the hour like that, so I figured I'd just walk home and get a bit more exercise in. And as usual, this is France so who's to say the buses will even be on time anyways?!

Long story short, I was just a few blocks from my house where I stood at a corner waiting for the cars to pass so I could cross, even though I clearly had a green light and thus, the right-of-way. After a steady stream of about six vehicles passed me by, one woman actually slowed down, smiled, and waved for me to cross the street even though there were a good eight more cars behind her -- insert heart-attack here.

SOMEONE PINCH ME PLEASE, I don't believe it!!!!

Anyways, that was kind of life-changing. I just taught my dad how to use Picasa, so here's the link to our pictures from Milan, Italy last weekend:

http://picasaweb.google.com/almoy1/MilanoJan122008

...21 days until California!!

Don't push it

This morning really did feel like spring. Really.

My roommate and I spent all (late) morning cleaning up the house and she went through everything, either tossing out or giving me whatever was collecting dust in the house. So basically I just scored a sweater (it never belonged to her because there's no chance in HELL we'd ever wear the same size...) and a whole bunch of jewelry. It's probably going to clutter up my space too, but whatever, I can decide what to do with it when I return to California next month. I mean, in three weeks!!!!

But today was such a big ordeal because last weekend when I was in Italy, she and her boyfriend totally renovated the majority of the house. It looked good before, but now it's completely functional and aesthetically pleasing.

As soon as that was all done, I figured, now's as good a time as ever to head for the gym! So off I went on my merry little way -- IN SHORTS. Not once did I ever feel the sting of chilly winter air. Instead, I sat and waited for the bus in the full sunlight. To me, these are the early indications of spring mornings. As I type this, I believe it's around 60 degrees outside and it's supposed to be 65 tomorrow!

So upon leaving the gym nearly two hours later, the sun was still out in full intensity! Right then and there, I vowed that if this continues tomorrow, I'm for sure taking a book to the beach or something.

Now that I've eaten and taken my shower, I headed back to my room, opened the curtains and was slightly appalled at the clouds rolling in. Big, fat, ugly, ominous, gray clouds. Do you want some more adjectives, because I could throw those in right now.

Either way, they're ruining my day!!! Get out of here clouds.... no one wants your rain.

Hopefully they continue on their dismal way beyond Antibes, leaving me with a bright and happy Sunday afternoon at the beach.

...Maybe I am pushing for spring too hard.

Things I think are neat

Two websites I'm kind of addicted to right now:

1.) My Daily Plate

This site is cool because it's feeding my obsession with my weight... always normal and healthy, right? Wrong. Well at least it's making me aware of how many calories I'm at, so despite my tummy's grumbling, I should probably stop eating now.... and it's also neat because I'm kind of addicted to tracking how much I'm working out, so I can see how many calories I'm burning.

I hope this isn't a precursor to some kind of disorder.... but seriously, I'm doing better with my eating now, I hope. I'm on track to lose 3 lbs. by the end of the month! So hopefully when I go back home next month, I'll be able to fit into all my clothes :)

- and -

2.) Learn Foreign Language Podcasts

And this is just a silly obsession as well. I've realized I no longer have to strain to understand French conversations, radio, or television shows. That being said, I think I'm totally fluent in the language. I just need to practice more orally.

So I think that means it's time for me to get back to learning Spanish! I mean, I only took one quarter of introductory Spanish my last year at UCSB, but listening to Spanish for Beginners is kind of neat. If nothing else, I'm remembering the few words and phrases I learned last year. So hopefully I'll be able to add on that. My goal is to learn another language sometime in my life, so why not start now???

Maybe I'll be able to attend community college classes when I'm back in the U.S. to get a more formal education on that.

Oh and I've also decided that when I move back to the States, I'm totally joining an adult softball league!!! WHO'S WITH ME?! :)

Daily Observations

-After gaining all that weight, I promised myself I'd reverse nature's punishment in 2008. That means, NO MORE SUGARS. After going completely nuts on cakes, cookies, pastries and candy bars, I'm now three days into no added sugars. I'm fine eating things like fruits, but no more chocolates!

-Long story short: Day 3 is taking its toll. I'm so co-dependent on sugar that I was light-headed and dizzy all morning. So I grabbed a handful of dried cranberries and hopefully that works.

-Monique is starting a big campaign for it to be spring already. So far, so good as it's nearly 60 degrees mid-morning. I've stopped wearing my jacket, while everyone else around me is all bundled up -- UNNECESSARILY! After weeks of yucky, freezing rain, I'm getting ready to start wearing sandals again.... if only in my head.

-When I return home in three weeks, I'm going to Santa Barbara for three days! I sort of landed a very casual "meeting" (since we're not calling it an interview) to see about having a job in June. Not really going to tell you too much about it, since I don't know myself, but it's a winery/cellar/event hosting-site in Santa Barbara and hopefully they need some PR/media people!

-This morning, I was going to take my usual mid-morning nap and as soon as I started to drift off, I was rudely "awoken" to a five-to-six minute blaring horn. Now I don't live on a very busy street, for those familiar with the area, it's akin to your Dublin/San Ramon Valley/Danville Blvd. stretch of road back at home. I guess the entire road was clogged for about a mile by parents picking their kids up from the middle school right next door to me. So instead of sitting and waiting patiently for 10 minutes, EVERYONE AND THEIR MOM decided to honk their horns. Not sure what that was about, but I can tell the buses are now late and the road's cleared up again.

-Teaching is coming along a little better. I think I was so overwhelmed because I didn't really have any classes planned since I was traveling nearly every weekend. But now I have free time and free weekends to dedicate to planning extra activities in my classes.

-And you know what, it's not worth it to get stressed over them!!! They're just elementary students (not even mine) for God's sake.... haha. So I'm just going into this all with, "Today's going to be fun. They're going to learn something."

-Yay for the Dollar-value going up! It's getting a little bit closer to the Euro again, though not by much. You know what, I'm willing to bet that it's not actually going up, but the Euro is going down. All stocks are down and many countries are blaming their dependency on the U.S. for that, so maybe they're starting to come back down to the Dollar's level. Either way, today would be a good day to withdraw from my American account, if I hadn't promised myself I wouldn't do it again back in October.

And now ladies and gentlemen...

We present the amazing, the fantastic, the freakish and exotic, Miss Monique!

And let me tell you dear patrons, you're in for a special treat tonight, because she's traveled far and wide to be here with us. From the warm and sunny beaches of California all the way to the rain-soaked South of France, here she is!

...I've had to jump through yet another hoop this morning. And for my next act, I'll be juggling knives while eating fire. Scratch that, I'll be applying for the position of 1,000 lb. lady.

Just kidding. But this morning was a bit of a waste of my time, since I tried in vain to get my social security card and medical insurance over here. Two days ago, the woman just above me sent an email explaining that I should have all the necessary documents to get my social security. Documents that were sent back to me in October, without any instruction whatsoever. So I took a look at the documents, which supposedly listed what other papers I needed to bring along with me. Basically, I had everything including "official documentation," which I think said, be it a birth certificate or passport. So I opted for the passport instead, because I put my certificate somewhere -- which I'll be needing to find later.

Anyways, Sarah and I braved the rain to find the insurance building at 8 a.m. in order to avoid all the messy lines usually associated with French bureaucracy. We get there and it turns out I'm missing a doctor and eight hundred photocopies of everything. I guess that means I'll be photocopying like a madwoman at school tomorrow and I'll have to find a doctor willing to sign off my medical references. Essentially I can only see one approved doctor.

Now, where to find such a person....

But the best part is how disgusting I must have looked throughout it all.

Seeing as how I got home from the teachers' dinner this morning at 1 a.m. then woke up at 7 a.m. to get to the insurance office on time. Times like that, I really wish France had some sort of portable coffee available, i.e. STARBUCKS. Man am I tired.

The dinner itself was fantastic. I tried to keep conversation in French, but it was hard seeing as how we had about a million people and Moroccan music was blaring all night long. My stomach was also not helping my cause, as it was grumbling so much I could hardly focus. That's what happens when you don't eat dinner until 10 p.m., after having lunch at noon.

On the way home, two of the male teachers -- probably in their mid-30s -- started talking to some drunk on the streets. They're not very serious people normally -- or ever for that matter -- and so when said drunk begins asking them if "so-and-so" should be coming soon, they joke with him saying yeah, he's going to be late, blah blah blah. Turns out they have no idea who or what this man's talking about and I guess he started to get really upset because his friend wasn't there. So one punch gets thrown and that's all I really noticed. Next thing I see was a flash of bodies all throwing this man into the nearest store window, sending off the police alarms after midnight in Downtown Cannes.

When they finally settled things down and started to walk away, the drunk threw himself on them again and subsequently wound up on the floor in a crumpled heap. I guess one of the teachers does kick boxing and judo, so the others joked that he missed his training/practice yesterday so did that instead. Oh yeah, and after 15 minutes of fuss and the break-in alarms going off, not one police officer EVER showed up.

And when the directrice -- principal of the school -- asked the other teacher what had just happened or how he was doing, he replied:

"I don't think I should have eaten that pizza before coming earlier tonight."

Jesus.

Mid-week break again!

So I think the weeks during Trimester 2 will be passing quite quickly, because we pretty much have a break every month this time around. In less than three weeks our winter break will be rolling in for two weeks of vacation! Then exactly five weeks after that, we get our spring break in April.

Until then, I feel like I'm settling back into my old routines (plus some new and improved ones) here. Today my mom went back to the United States, so it's back to being just my dad and me in France. However, we're about seven hours apart, so that means that no really big or exciting weekends are coming my way for a while. Well, not until I go back to the United States in less than a month, which I'm suuuuuper excited about!

But back to me settling in: I recently found someone online who lives here in Antibes and needs a babysitter for her five month old daughter once a week. Today was the second time I watched her and it's AMAZING how much new babies change from week to week. She'll be six months at the end of January, and already she's holding a sitting position by herself -- something she could only do with assistance last Tuesday.

And while last time was a bit rough, seeing as how it was my very first baby experience, today went much better. She slept quite a bit, so I had some free time to read (in French of course) and now that she can sit on her own, she relies on me less to occupy her time. Still, she is quite needy, but less so than the last time.

Basically what I'm doing is freeing up her parents' Tuesdays, so her mother runs errands and relaxes around the house to cook a good dinner or something. I suppose she hasn't really done that in over five months. But since she stays in the house for part of the time I'm there, we get to talking quite a bit. And though I'm using English, she's helping me out a great deal with the city and getting around. So much so, that she said the next time they go on a weekend day-trip, they'd like to take me along! Exciting!!

And another exciting prospect is talking more and more to my roommate than ever before. We're getting pretty friendly now, and she wants to go skiing one weekend before the season ends in the Alps, about an hour from here. So hopefully in February when I get my next paycheck I'll be ready to rock.

As for my latest adventure, the teachers at my school in Juan-les-Pins decided on tonight for our big outing together. I guess the tradition is that every year all the teachers go out to celebrate the new year and congratulate themselves on the previous one. This is the first time they've extended the invite to the language assistants, so I will be accompanying them to Cannes, where supposedly we're getting a four-course Moroccan meal complete with belly dancing displays for about 30 Euros.

Pas mal. Pas mal du tout!

I've stayed drier in a POOL

One day in the future if/when I have kids, I'll finally be able to tell them, "When I was your age I had to walk x miles in the snow."

Scratch that. In the rain.

As usual, it's a Monday so the 2008 bus strikes are continuing. However, figures the only day of the week there's a strike WOULD BE the wettest day of the week. And bear in mind you're reading the blog of someone who was hardcore enough to ride her bike in the rain to and from classes at UCSB! A little water doesn't scare me.

But, when I have to work in two different cities it does. You see, normally when it's pouring this hard, I just suck it up and rely on my umbrella to protect me to and from the bus stops. But, no bus, no dry. Instead, I was forced to walk 50 minutes BOTH WAYS to school.

And leave it to French drivers to make my day even more miserable than it already was. On the way back home, my entire route is uphill. That means streams of water are pouring down towards me in sizes and speeds that could probably rival the Loire itself. (That's probably NOT an exaggeration).

So while there are already pools of water raging down towards me, all the drives still refuse to adhere to right of ways. And I was almost hit twice. Luckily one bastard stalled his car stopping for me at the final second. Serves him right. Everyone else though sped up when they neared me, rolling their wheels through immense pools of water, spraying it all over my body.

I'm not joking with you right now: I have street water all over my face and clothes. Imagine oily and dirty cars rolling around in that mixture, plus whatever billions of dogs have already done their business on the road/sidewalks today. Actually, I don't want to think about that anymore.

So instead, I'm going to continue shivering as I futilely attempt to dry off my clothes and backpack, then I plan on taking a very long, hot shower.

Consider this a big F-YOU to the French government! You should not be allowed to strike when it's either a.) snowing or b.) raining HARD. If only I had a car....

God Himself could not sink this ship

Remember that scene in Titanic when word gets out that the ship is sinking, and thousands of passengers try in vain to squeeze into a handful of tiny little rowboats? Then all the chaos and panic that ensues when some people are thrown off the deck once humans stop behaving like human beings and revert to some pre-evolved animal-like state?

Yeah, that happened to me tonight.

I had a good time being touristy in Milan this weekend, but the six-hour train ride ended on an equally chaotic note. My train was supposed to go 30 minutes from the border of Italy into Nice where I would have a transfer to another train to Antibes. However, upon arrival at the last city before the French-Italian border, the train agents told us all that the inter-country rails were closed down and those of us continuing along would have to take buses into Nice with the French rail agency. Ok, in theory this sounds plausible.

However, as soon as we got off -- we being 10 cars with about 160 seats in each car -- there was this mad dash out to the front of the train station where ONE single bus awaited for about 75 people.

I don't know how, but I was one of the last dozen people to get on the bus, even though I was sitting in the 10th and final car at the end of the train. Maybe it was because the hundreds of people shoving through the crowd kind of crowd-surfed me towards the front of the line.

Either way, I got lucky and made it back to Nice in time for my transfer.

Oh mon Dieu! I'm not ready to ever go through that again...

Young at heart

So just before lunch, I was walking home from my morning classes thinking about my only French "friends" here.

That's when I realized, all my friends are children! Haha, seriously though, I do have American and English friends my age, but the only French people I've had over to my house are my students. Hmmm, am I disillusioned here?? :) Then yesterday I was at the gym where I ran into my American friend Sarah, she had a little girl tagging along and doing exercises with her. When Sarah left to go home, the little girl befriended me and started doing my exercises, asking all kinds of questions about myself. I think being from California makes me really exciting and interesting, even if I'm not that great back in the States... hehe.

My first lesson today consisted of adjectives and opposites, so one exercise was to describe people in the class. Using words they already knew, my students described me as, "alive, tall, THIN!!!!, nice, and good." Wow that did a lot for the self-esteem. And even though I do yell at them all the time, they still think I'm super nice! I imagine it's like chastizing a little puppy or something -- they're too resilient to let it affect their feelings towards me. And I do have a handful of students in every class that clings to me when I enter/exit the classroom, telling me how pretty/cool my jewelry is, how great my perfume smells, etc. But the cutest part is when I arrive at school, all the students in the playground run to me and demand the French bisous -- a kiss on both cheeks. Adorable!

Yet, as I was thinking this, I unlocked the front door to my building and the man who drives me to school every morning was checking his mail and asking about my schedule. I'm waiting for the elevator, when he invites me into his house for tea or coffee with him and his wife, both who are around 68-70ish. I was a bit hesitant to accept, but then I thought, what the hell??? I have nothing to do for the next three hours and this will give me a good chance to practice my French.

Long story short, I ended up staying my entire lunch break! We discussed American politics, world travel and Madagascar, the birthplace of his wife. So we were a very international group comparing three styles of living.

Oh yeah, I also helped cook! We had what he called an "exotic French lunch," complete with stewed lamb, potatoes and Mediterranean olives in olive oil along with a spicy salad of mango, shallots, peppers -- chili peppers and no, they were not red hot, carrots and other exciting spices that made my nose run for hours. For desert I had a clementine orange and he made the three of us traditional thimble-sized cups of Arabic coffee, but with a whole crapload of whipped cream on top. Man it was good, and I'm not usually much of a fan of the small, but very strong French coffees.

Then he drove me back to school for my classes. One was cancelled because the teacher was involved in an accident driving back in the rain. I hope he's alright!!!

But Guy told me I could come back whenever I want for a good, homecooked meal. He wants me to tell my dad that he's taking good care of me in his absence, though he's more of a grandfather-esque figure right now. Honestly though, I'd love to go back because watching him cook was unlike anything I've ever seen. He has a mortar to grind fresh ginger and basically makes his own seasonings. He showed me how to bottle olives in oil with bay leaves and lavendar to make the taste that much better and more Provençal.

Maybe I'll use some of his tricks on my own time. That, or I could always come back for another lunch, since they enjoyed my presence so much. (And it was mutual!)

French banking is the best in the world!!!

Case in point:

-It took nearly three weeks for a bank to approve of me putting my money in an account

-After opening my account in October, I couldn't officially access it until I received an ATM card in the mail

-I wasn't allowed to have the card until I could prove that I actually lived at the address to which it came

-I wanted to deposit money in my account in my dad's city, but they wouldn't let me because I can only withdraw cash (and perform no other transactions) outside of my region.... regardless of the fact that I was still in the country

-In order to deposit a check (in my region) I needed to wait in line at the welcome window, get a slip, fill it out, go back outside of the bank and deposit the envelope in a box

-For every transaction I want to make (in my region) there is a different ATM

-If you go to the wrong ATM, you have to remove your card and then wait in line (again) at the next station.


...Oh my God I miss Bank of America. I can't wait to go back home and do everything I want to anywhere in the country from one machine.

But point of the story, I was able to deposit my check today... even though it's written out to Mr. Moyal. The lack of a first name means I can probably get away with it, but we'll see.

Oh and it takes over a week and a half to register transactions online. Super.

Future Job?

So I know it's not likely at all, but I just found a posting for what sounds like the sweetest job -- for the moment, that is:

"Coordinator, International Basketball Operations" with the NBA.

Again, super long shot seeing as how thousands of people probably apply for online jobs, especially with professional sports associations.

The job encompasses my two recent passions: International Affairs and Sports.

Here are some of the position's responsibilities:

• Assist with event planning for the U.S. Senior Men’s National Team on Qualifying Tournaments, World Championships and Olympics
• Assist all player visa issues (green cards, family tourist visas, letters of invitation)
• Assist management of product donation to individual player’s camps, clinics or basketball schools
• Assist NBA teams ticket and credential needs for European Final Four, European Championships and World Championships
• Assist with FIBA, international federation and league invitations for NBA and WNBA All-Star events (e.g., invitations, hotel arrangements, tickets, visas)
• Coordinate BWB meetings (reserve meeting space, set-up call, agenda)
• Coordinate apparel with sponsors (practice jerseys and shorts, t-shirts, polos, sweat outfits, bags)
• Work with participating federations on securing player information, travel and visas
• Assist organization of coaching clinics and program for participating junior coaches
• Assist testing of players (height, weight, wingspan and standing reach) and compile results for NBA scouts

SOUNDS SO FUN!!! I could totally see myself doing something like this. And one of the requirements is to be fluent in French, I'm in baby! That is, if they even look at my resume...

Par-ee

I guess now's as good a time as ever to recount the details of mine and Aimee's whirlwind adventures in Paris.

...if you want to call it that.

DAY ONE/DEC. 30: We left Lyon early in the morning (i.e. hopped on the metro sometime around 7 a.m. to make it to the train station with plenty of time) and arrived in Paris around 10 a.m. In transit, I think it was the first time I was able to fully enjoy the ride. Maybe because I wasn't totally alone, I let myself drift in and out of sleep during those two hours. When I did wake up and peep out the window, I noticed really extraordinary winter colors. Somewhere in between Lyon and Paris, after coming out of a tunnel, I let my eyes wander over this beautiful blue lake and mountain backdrop. The water was sparkling and a very light haze drifted in and out of the frame. I don't know why I enjoyed it so much, but that was one of my favorite train landscapes thus far.

Upon arrival, we pretty much instantly figured out the metro, which is not as big and scary as I thought last year. (Excuse me, since this is now 2008, I guess that was two years ago). Basically, by 11:15, we made it to our hotel near Montparnasse and were able to check in early. Thank God, because our hands were beginning to blister from the combination of cold weather and miles carting our luggage around the city.

Turns out there's a free cemetery in the Montparnasse district, so Aimee and I passed a good hour there checking out graves of famous French artists, thinkers and authors. Me being the literature major I was, that was a huge (fun) nerdy moment. Whatever, Aimee was allowed hers at the Natural History museum, my turn!

In the evening, we decided to continue with the theme of things being free and walked along the Seine taking in all the beautiful infamous monuments that dot the Parisian skyline.

DAY TWO/DEC. 31: Happy New Year's Eve. The morning kind of started with a bit of a let-down, as the catacombs are closed for reconstruction until late Februrary-early March. That's the last thing I've yet to do in Paris that I still would like to someday see. However, since I've been four times now, I'd prefer not to go back to Paris until I've seen everything else in the world I want to see.

We picked up that day by heading out to the Champs Elysees, and much to our horror, at 5 p.m. all the big stores began closing and taking out huge boards of plywood to cover up the windows as precautionary measure for midnight riots. Yikes... The lights lining the street all the way down to the Arc de Triomphe were splendid and I kind of started to get that feeling like I was in a big, bustling city once more.

And as much as I consider myself a city person, Paris has now lost its sheen and magic to me. I've seen everything I've wanted to (except the catacombs) and the immigrant population is totally overwhelming. I don't think I'd ever have the energy to continually fight it off like I had to do all weekend. For all my friends who've lived in Paris, hat's off to you for surviving it.

With that, NYE 2008 was kind of a letdown. Four different groups of Northern Africans kept coming up to Aimee and me (on the Champ de Mars below the Eiffel Tower) as we were playing cards waiting for midnight to strike. Obviously, not looking up from our game means, "Get the hint jerks and leave us alone." But (excuse the over-generalized statement, which is semi-valid since I've now lived here for a total of five months over two years) displaced Muslim men being what they are in a Western culture, assumed that women don't have the necessary internal autonomy to say, "No thanks." So they kept pursuing us. And it got semi-violent.

After midnight, in the metro station, I ended up slapping a young boy for kissing me after repeatedly having to brush off boys/men all night long. Aimee followed suit and kicked the next guy who came her way, however, he wasn't as young as my "suitor." As a result, he began telling me that "my friend's a whore" in French and threw her to the ground. Reason enough for us not to want to return to Paris again. I didn't know how to respond, because it's extremely appalling that people in 2008 will act that way towards us. I'm still shocked by all their behavior. I'm proud she at least got in a good, swift kick... where it hurts if you know what I mean.

But the biggest letdown was the lack of fireworks or countdown to midnight. Dommage. We safely made our way back to the hotel and I think (hope) the only bruises Aimee suffered were ones to the ego. But she was walking fine the next day, so I think all was well.

DAY THREE/JAN. 1: This was supposed to be the day we went to Disneyland Paris, but I couldn't get up with my alarm at 7 a.m., since we had a bit to drink and went to bed after 3 a.m. the night before. So I slept without any agenda whatsoever.

Around lunchtime, we decided to climb up to the top of Montparnasse -- Paris' only skyscraper -- and check out the view of the city below. Not much to write home about because it was such a foggy day, but still impressive. And after pushing our way through thousands of people the day before, our 30-minute wait (maybe it was less) wasn't so bad.

Deciding to continue with the touristy theme, we made our way back to the Champs Elysees to purchase Disneyland tickets at the Disney store, but alas they were out. And the cheapest (decent) lunch we could find out there was at Planet Hollywood -- go figure. Bellies full, we decided it was time to head out to see Notre Dame and pay a little visit to the Latin Quarter, followed up by an evening view of the Moulin Rouge lit up at night and Sacre Coeur/Montmartre.

Bad idea, seeing as how we felt like cattle the entire time. But still, important to see, since Aimee'd never been to the Moulin Rouge. However, I was a bit bummed because the gift shop was closed for the holiday. It's a really neat building inside, but that's ok, we saved our money instead.

DAY FOUR/JAN. 2: DISNEYLAND RESORT PARIS!!

We were able to get up early enough to catch the RER which got us into the park as soon as it opened at 10 a.m. Highlights include the on-going Christmas parades complete with fake snow down Mainstreet U.S.A. (In Paris, how exciting). We split the day between Disneyland and the Disney Studios, which are kind of like Universal Studios Hollywood. My favorite ride was the Tower of Terror... and probably the Aerosmith Soundcheck Rollercoaster, even though it did make me want to vomit all over the place.

At night, we enjoyed our last dinner together in the Disney Village, where we split a fixed-price menu at a Chicago-style restaurant. Very good, indeed.

DAY FIVE/JAN. 3: Aimee caught the AirFrance bus back to the airport and I had two hours to kill at the Gare de Lyon. So I finished my book, loved it by the way, and safely made it back to Annecy where I stayed with my parents until yesterday.

All-in-all, it was a very eventful vacation and I'm extremely sad to see it go.

But I was finally able to purchase a train ticket to Milan this weekend (I guess a seat opened up, it's not a full train after all!) where I'm going to meet up with my parents for the last time in Europe. Dad and I will remain here, but it's my mom's last weekend. The next time (after Italy) we'll all see each other will be back in California during the February vacation -- which is only a month away!!

It's been two weeks, but I'm back

And just like that, my winter travels have (almost) come to a close with 2007 now behind me.

It's a bit weird to be back. One, that means I have to return to work tomorrow morning and no one likes doing that. And two, I had to part ways with the family. Aimee's already back in Santa Barbara, probably dreading going back to class just as much as I'm not looking forward to my 8 a.m. classes either.

However, the plus side for both of us is that we are in warmer climates. It's nearly 60 degrees here in Antibes. It's also 5 p.m. and I think it should be mid-60s later on this week! But I said my winter travels are almost over because since this is my mom's last week here in Europe, we're all meeting up in Milano, Italy this weekend. That is, if I can get time off from work and purchase a train ticket. We'll see how that one goes...

And speaking of all this "international" travel, I took Easy Jet from Geneva (the nearest airport to my dad's house) to Nice this afternoon and it was so painless! I even got through the country's borders with an expired visa! So I guess all this dirty paperwork I'm missing doesn't really matter at all -- except for the fact that I need the official document in order to prove to the CAF that I need governmental assistance in paying my rent.... grrrr!

Either way, I'm back home. My house is clean again and the fridge is empty. But France being France, everything is closed on a Sunday evening. It's a wonder I was ever able to catch the buses back from Nice to Antibes. So I guess I'll have to settle with either something frozen or just heat up a bowl of oatmeal and enjoy some tap water for dinner. Really exciting, I know.

Here's to my "second year" living in Antibes. Trimester 2 begins now.

The Silver Screen

This is just a quick update because it's late and I should be getting to bed soon.

Although I'm not really much of one to go out and spend $10 on a movie in the theaters often -- that's what boyfriends are/were for, right?! haha kidding -- it has been quite a while since I've seen any new American movies.

French movies... I don't think I really need to say anything at all here other than they're, um, different.

Anyways, after weeks of seeing the same thing over and over again on BBC and CNN, today was the day my dad decided to go out and purchase a 29 euro DVD player and get a membership to a local movie rental place here in France. And the best part is that they still rent out tons of VIDEO CASSETTES in the back of the store, excellent.

Long story short, I remember hearing about the movie "Hollywoodland" last year in the U.S. and I thought about putting it on our Netflix queue (and no, we can't get American DVDs over here because Europe DVDs and players are on Zone 2, while the U.S. is all Zone 1, or vise versa, I can never remember). We actually rented and watched it tonight. I guess this means that my next step in the whole "film abroad" saga is to actually see a movie in the theaters -- obviously it'd be an American film, because nine out of 10 films here come from the motherland. Dubbed or subtitled, that is the question?


So, we christened my dad's DVD player with Hollywoodland -- a movie loosely based on the investigation of George Reeves' "suicide" in 1959. And oh yeah, he was the first actor who played Superman on television.

Today's entry then, is nothing more than me thinking about this movie out loud. Ok, technically this isn't "out loud" but I'm just working all the weird thoughts out in my head. I'm not writing this because he sometimes reads my blog, but it's funny to me because that movie seemed like the perfect intersection of the two classes I took with Professor Newfield at UCSB: Global California and Detective Fiction. (See, my English degree is getting me somewhere..... right??)

What's more California than Hollywood in all its glitz and glamor during its Golden Age? Maybe the actors themselves, attending what must have been a dizzying amount of cocktail party after cocktail party? But what about taking it a step further and peeking into their real lives, when their luck is so hard-pressed that they're driven to allegedly commit suicide, you know like one of those "Behind the Glory" segments? And then throw in the investigation of a down on his luck, tragically noir "Private Eye" who always seems to stumble across the wrong people at the wrong time....

Honestly though, I'll have to see the movie again. It seems that the director took a lot of creative liberties in working out the details of Reeves' life, love affairs and acting credits just before his death. And while there are many many holes and conspiracy theories surrounding his suicide, the movie itself ends in the very same untimely way that Reeves did: Incomplete and leaving the viewer with loose ends. But like I said, I think I'll have to see it again now that I know that time is not treated in a linear manner and after doing a little bit of research on the actual (known) details of Reeves' life and death. Funny how Reeves happened to be the name of two men who starred as the Man of Steel, is it not?

Either way, it's a very interesting movie that deserves watching. If nothing else, it helped feed my curiosity and fascination with 1950s culture, especially in Southern California.

I really do think I should have been a part of that decade. I just finished reading Eva Rice's The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, a British novel about growing up wealthy and as a part of the newly-developing concept of the teenager during the start of the Rock'n'Roll period. Total swoon. I loved it.

And another random side note, my kitchen will be pink some day. Today at Carrefour, I purchased a bubble gum butter dish to go with my pink polka dot glasses, tea cups, saucers and the pink KitchenAid mixer/blender I will one day own. Good luck finding a husband, right?

Bonne année!

Well, here we are in 2008. It's funny to think that the "new millennium" was almost a decade ago. And as my friends start turning 23-24, I'm for the first time in my life starting to feel like a part of the "older generation." My students all think I'm ancient -- however, they usually are quite shocked when they find out how much younger I am than their usual teachers -- and a group of 18-20 year olds who Aimée and I met on New Year's Eve in Paris thought 22 was light years away. Don't even get me started on 23.

Yet, this is the year I turn 23. And I still haven't a clue what I'm going to be doing with my life. Some of my friends are getting engaged, starting amazing career paths and/or preparing to finish grad school with a very clear idea of where life will take them.

Me, I'm just borrowing time in Europe, living mostly off my limited salary but relying on my parents for extra (unnecessary) frills. So what does that make me? Am I going to move back in with my parents in June? Will I be another job-less 20-something who I always vowed I'd never become? And if you're sensitive to (gross) self-indulgence, save yourself the urge to vomit and bypass the next few sentences. But my whole life I've always been used to working hard to get what I want -- in an academic setting at least. In high school I was in the top 4 percent of my graduating class and in college, I was .02 GPA points away from being in that echelon again. At UCSB, I finished in the top 6 percent, with honors in both of my departments.

And here in France, my teachers are praising me for all my hard work. Honestly, it might not sound like it, but I promise you I'm am working hard to teach these kids English. It might sound super trivial and pointless, because they're going to be getting six-plus years of English long after I'm gone.

So this is my resolution for 2008 (other than dropping the weight I've already gained from eating way too much/too often over here):

I will come back in June and I will have a clear idea of where my life is supposed to go. Thus, my resolution is to have a job by the end of the year, and for once in my life, to be totally autonomous and stop relying on my parents' financial help. I don't want to feel guilty anymore from using Mommy and Daddy's credit cards. (No, that doesn't mean I'm going to learn to stop feeling guilty, it means I want to stop using their money soon.)

And another thing I'll address when I have more time and am not as tired as my current state: I'm becoming a little jaded about my time here in France. After five days in Paris -- note, I do very much consider myself a city-mouse -- France doesn't seem as shiny and exciting as it did at the beginning of this journey. Don't get me wrong, I'm having a great time, but I think the novelty is somewhat wearing off. After years of wondering what spending a year abroad would be like, I'm finally getting that chance. And I'm starting to find out that perhaps I don't want to spend my whole life here like I romantically wished for before I started out here.

That whole wide-eyed and bushy-tail image doesn't really suit me. I've seen it, I'm living it, and I think I'm going to be ready for something else, a new dose of fresh air in my lungs come summer. And I know what you're thinking, "poor spoiled girl gets to spend a year in Europe," but things are different here. My sister and I had the first violent experience of my life after watching the Eiffel Tower glitter to signal the new year three nights ago. But again, I'm going to wait to explain that terrible story. No worries though, both of us are safe now. Alas, she's on her plane home back to the U.S.

Perhaps I've gotten it out of my system and now I'm finally ready to settle down with a desk job. Who knows :) One thing's for sure though, I still have a bit more traveling to get under my belt before any of this "real life" business gets in my way.

But above all, Happy New Year! We've all been given a clean slate. Can't wait to see what everyone's going to do with theirs...