A Very Merry Un-Christmas

Well I guess the whole thing kicked off when I showed up at the gym on Monday, around 4:45 I would say. Dark. Locks. Closed. Um, yeah, apparently it was Christmas Eve and I had no idea. Plus I never saw a flyer with their holiday hours so I didn't know that they closed at 4. Sad. So sad, in fact, that I walked home to try to recoup some of the exercise. Then I made some awesome salmon and bread for dinner, Matt came over to finish watching Weeds and Skype the fam. It was all very anti-holidays. I never realized how unaware I could be.
Anyway, Christmas was spent inside mostly, I don't know how I killed so many hours. But last night Matt and I went out with Richard and Alex. Originally we were just going to get some take out and go back to Stephanie's, but we ended up finding a cool restaurant near Montparnasse. They had a fixed menu for 16.90 that was an apéritif, appetizer, entree, dessert, and a drink. Pretty bomb. Plus the apéritif was a kir royal, my favorite. Aaaaand after we went back to Stephanie's big empty apartment to fuck around and drink some delicious Bailey's hot chocolate. Richard and Alex left early, so then I was on my own to get home. Matt walked me to the bus stop and out of confusion and a little desperation, I just took the first bus that came, which was supposed to be the "inner circle." Apparently the "inner circle" goes all the way up to Sacre-Coeur. Wtf. So I ditched it at St. Germain-des-Près and tried to take another bus home. But instead I walked like the sav I am. So I got home around 3:30, showered, tanned, and sleepy pie.
Unfortunately, my sleep was interrupted at 9:30 by my neighbor. She asked me last night if I'd keep her suitcases and be there when DHL came to pick them up, so this morning she came by to drop them off. I made it back to sleep for a little, but then mail man rang with Lauren's package. It's all good though, cuz otherwise it would've shown up while I was gone, and it would have been a fiasco at the post office explaining why it took me two weeks to pick up my package. And now I have some pretty new bath stuff and 5 new pairs of Old Navy flip flops, incentive to survive the winter so I can wear them when it gets warmer.
So now today is the big knuckle down before tomorrow's departure. I gotta do some laundry, pack, drop Puck off at Keisha's, go to the gym -- all that fun stuff. And hope I don't go out for long enough to miss DHL. I'm giving up gay clubbing with Matt and Edwin tonight though, cuz I need to be the responsible one. Matt swears he'll be here at 8 tomorrow morning. I'll kill him if he isn't, basically. I also need to print out some directions and a shuttle confirmation but I'm feeling verrrry cheap and maybe I can do it at a hostel instead. Poo.

Un-manic Monday

Sighhhhhh. Today is the first Monday in quite a while where I haven't had to wake up at 6 am and work all day. Freedom is so sweet. So this morning, I have showered, drank some coffee, played fetch with my cat, and later I will probably paint my toes. I haven't had a pedicure in like a month which is majorly against my religion, but I got tired of them being constantly fucked up because of closed-toe shoes. Honestly I never realized how much the tiny detail of open or closed-toe could affect my life.
Yesterday I walked to the gym which was surprisingly doable. Except it was like 45 which is of course still cold but it was too warm to be hoofing it down to Place d'Italie apparently, cuz I was sweatin'. I walked because I needed a magazine and Gobelins is the only street around with open newsstands on Sunday. This Sunday closure thing really needs to be left behind. Anyway since I haven't had much cash on me I've bought two French tabloids, which I had been avoiding just because I am a magazine aficionado in English, so I don't want to feel impotent in French (also describes my aversion to French essays). But of course it's a tabloid and I understood every word, so I'll probably keep buying them to improve my colloquial vocab and expressions. It's educational! And funny to read about Sarko and his high-profile relationship with, as it turns out, one of the like 5 French celebrities I knew about before I got here.
After the gym I returned my dress -- success. It was the same girl as last Sunday so I guess my theory was correct. Anyway, I gave her the dress, told her it was too big, yada yada yada. Then she inspected it and smelled the armpits (ahahaha) and asked me suspiciously if it had been worn already. I told her no, that I just tried it on (which is true) and she let me pick something else out. I almost got a hat and a scarf as a replacement but then I saw another dress that is pretty much perfect so I got it instead. I will for sure be back to get some other stuff, though. There's another accessories store further down Mouffetard that I need to check out as well. Except it is full of cute shoes and the temptation is huge. Grrrr money. Knowing me I'll get back from vacation with all this leftover money and I'll go crazy spending it. Oh well, c'est la vie!

The Green Fairy

Everyone hates a know-it-all, but in truth, I take great pride in being one. But there's nothing worse than a know-it-all who actually knows nothing.
Last night some friends and I went to Montmartre to live out some Moulin Rouge fantasies or something and attempt to get fucked up on absinthe. Totally not my idea, obviously, because I am the queen of internet research and some would have been done beforehand if I'd known ahead of time. So we got there and we wandered around. I assumed there was an actual destination, but no. Just that we were not allowed to go to a toursity place on Blvd. de Clichy cuz we'd get ripped off. Which is what ended up happening anyway, of course. It was fun and we did drink some absinthe (for 11 euros each shot) and we didn't hallucinate, but that's beside the point.
Our little bohemian ringleader whose name I won't mentioned just in case, was a pontificating moron. After reading some stuff on absinthe this morning, I've learned these things: it was banned in France for almost a century and therefore is not widely served anymore because it's difficult to make and a lot of people still think it's illegal; it IS spelled with an "h," even in French, you twit; and lastly, it was not hallucinogenic because it's stored in wormwood barrels -- wormwood is the name of a hallucinogenic herb used in the preparation of absinthe. So suck on that, you tool box.
Other than that the night was very fun and I actually ended up learning that one of my friends wrote two books before age 13 and used to do motivational speaking engagements in schools. At 19, he likes to fart on people. Go figure!

Free at last, free at last

Yes, my friends, as of 8 pm last night, it is officially winter break. My last day went pretty well. We made Christmas cards in all six of my classes which meant no work for me. Although it was a little difficult to get the kids to follow my instructions, even in French. But plenty of them figured it out. I also got some cookies from another kid, and two of them made their Christmas cards for me. Buttttt they're both 11 year old boys so I'm pretty sure it's because I'm wet dream fodder. Dear lord. I was a little sad for my last class because the little kids went on a field trip to St. Germain so I was left with the "special kids." Luckily there's only a few of them and they're pretty well behaved. But this one little girl, Gwendoline. Man, she doesn't even try. I understand she's got some major ADD but she just has no reasoning skills, even in French. I wrote instructions in French on the board to help them with their cards and she just copied them onto her card. For people who love meds so much, I wonder why the Ritalin isn't flowing. I'm going to miss work over break, even though some of those kids just piss me off. During my lunch break I went over to Champion to buy a card and some chocolate Santas to send Ali and Merix in San Francisco. They won't get there in time for Christmas, but that's part of my charm. I'm thoughtful even if I'm late. Unfortunately for Lauren I was really early with her gift so it will be sitting on the counter or her bed or something in San Diego until she gets home.
Anyway, after work I boarded the train to meet my doom at MICEFA. Lovely, lovely Nicolas decided to leave early for vacation (or something) and in his stead, left us an essay. Awesome. So we sat in the room like adults and made ourselves write an essay. It helped that there were cookies and chocolate. But still, he should have left us an educational video or something because obviously we were only there to make sure we put in our two hours. When I got home my door was locked a few times (it locks automatically behind you but you can turn the lock to the left however many times afterward) so someone was there while I was gone. I assume it was Matt using the internet. He's staying at Stephanie's but hers isn't set up yet.
This morning I woke up and realized I was out of milk. So I made myself get dressed and ready and I braved the cold. I went to the lavender store to return a dress I bought on Sunday, and the bitch asked me to come back on Sunday again. I assume so that I could make the exchange with the same sales girl I bought the dress from. Fung. I explained that I really wanted an exchange and not a refund, but to no avail. I would have débrouilléd but I was uncaffeinated and malnourished so I just let it go and went to the grocery store. I'll go on Sunday and talk to the other girl. I just want to get rid of this huge dress and buy another pair of leggings and a scarf or something. I really want and need a hat but my pointy head makes them look weird.
So now it is countdown to vacation. I've got all of our travel documents in order (save my Beauvais shuttle confirmation when I get back from Barcelona -- I really don't feel like printing it out for 2 euros downstairs and the internet was down at work yesterday). I've got a pretty solid idea of what I want to pack other than that. Must remember to bring my own towels though. The hostels only have them for hire, and in London we're staying at someone's house but it's still nice not to make people do my laundry. I really have no idea what to expect from this trip either, which is kind of nice. All my professors and teachers at work have said I'm going to be so tired after this vacation. They're probably right, but we have very little planned in each destination. So as long as we get to each flight and lodging, there are no other schedules or itineraries to follow. I plan to eat, drink and be merry. The end.

Antarctica?

Um so I'm pretty much FREEZING MY ASS OFF. It was so cold today that the tips of my ears started hurting. That's the first time I've noticed that degree of frigidness here. I almost slipped crossing the train tracks cuz they were...frozen over. What the hell. And of course it doesn't help that once I'm inside, the heat is blasting like a mother fucker.
So today was a pretty good day at work. The problem with teaching six different classes and two different lesson plans is that things take different amounts of time. Sometimes we run out of time. Sometimes there's 15 extra minutes and we play the world's longest games of Simon Says. And there's one class that I still can't stand. The kids, their teacher. Ugh. They are horribly behaved and their teacher is useless. The funny and ironic thing is that today one of those kids gave me a gift bag full of chocolates with a card. Clearly his mom makes gifts for all of his teachers but it was cool nonetheless. When I was little my mom used to make epic batches of apple butter or caramels to give as gifts. Other classes were good too. Some of those kids are so cute I want to take them home with me. And in one class the little girls always kiss me on the check when we leave.
Anyway, after work I froze to death at the train station and somehow survived the commute home. I fell asleep for a while on the train. Sometimes I wonder how people get through that grind everyday. I only do it twice a week and it is just unpleasant. I'm thinking about moving farther away from campus when I get back to San Francisco, and nothing could be as bad as this commute. One bus or light rail for half an hour would be nothing compared to two metros and a train for over an hour like I'm doing now.
After I got home I warmed up some lovely tomato soup and now I'm watching Waitress. Mmm pies. If this journalism thing doesn't work out, I am seriously going to throw it all out the window and become a pastry chef. I wish I had more time/money/facilities to bake. What an awesome hobby.

On consumerism

I spent the entire month of November waiting for a paycheck. After I paid December's rent, I started spending. . .and basically haven't stopped since. A lot of it comes from the fact that there were things I actually needed (food, hairbrush, mascara) that I had been doing without for weeks. And that I was in desperate need of cute winter wear. Buuuuut unfortunately I've been inundated with this cute winter wear. Like I mentioned before, I went to Pimkie like six times in two weeks. And there's this store down the street from me -- this tiny, lavender store. And I'm telling you, I practically drool every time I walk by. The cutest coats on the planet live here. They're not cheap (49 and 59 respectively for the two I'm eyeing), but the other stuff in there is. The dresses, the sweaters, all of it. Honestly I don't even need to scrimp except that I have no idea how much money I'm going to spend on my vacation and so I'm being extra, extra conscious. I definitely have no plans to shop (especially in London, fack), but who knows how much I'll be spending on food and drink during the 11 day period. Pot cupcakes aren't cheap, you know? Haha I'm only sort of kidding. So everyday, I walk by that store and the coats beckon to me. Luckily one of them wasn't available in my size today. And the other one is making me hesitate because it's purple. The other one is black and white, which is a nice change. I have a problem. All of my clothes are black, grey, and purple. It's not entirely my fault -- these colors and little else are prevalent in France. They could really do with some navy here. Or olive perhaps. And I haven't been buying brown stuff cuz I don't really have shoes to go with them. Maybe it would behoove me to buy some brown boots? Let's not talk about shoes. I didn't even wear closed-toed shoes at home, much less all of the amazing boots and flats I've been ogling lately. All in good time. My financial goals this year have been narrowed to two -- travel and buy nice clothes.
This brings me to another obsession as of late. With winter break coming so close, I've started to brainstorm spring break options. I have a couple spring-type breaks, but I think the first one I'll try a shorter, more close-by getaway. But the last week of April and first of May -- I would like to go all-out. At least part of that will include a few days in Rome to visit Lauren. Ideally I'd like to tack on a night or two in Venice just cuz it's on my list of must-see cities. And then there's this amazing hostel (here) in Nice. A few days on the beach in the South of France sounds amaaaaazing.
Another consumerist problem I'm facing. There are few things in life that please me more than full cupboards. I hit up Picard the other day just cuz I'm a sucker for over-priced but excellent quality frozen protein. Hamburgers (-5% fat of course) and chicken breasts were on the order this time. I miss Jennie-O turkey burgers so bad. And Trader Joe's garlic basil sausage --- AHHHH. Anyway, I'm now the proud proprietor of a freezer full of ice cream, delicious little cheese pizzas, frozen shrimp, chicken, and burgers. Mmm. Plus I'm still working on the chocolates and waffles my mom and I brought back from Belgium. Food is so wonderful. Good thing I've got that gym membership.
So in other, less self-obsessed and shallow happenings, I'm about to embark on my last week of teaching and school before break. I've already finished 3/4 of the worksheets I'm handing out with week. Well, one is some matching work for vocab review for the kiddies. Then we'll do some questions out loud and maybe a song if they're lucky. They loved the itsy bitsy spider. But it's a little difficult for them to sing out loud when they're doing hand motions. And during my break I'll work on my homework. I love how I'm getting so on top of things right at the end of the semester. I feel like next semester will be so much better. I feel like I'm about to break even -- I'm settled, I'm clothed, I'm a legal resident, I'm salaried. . .I'm adjusted. It's a nice feeling.
Tomorrow Matt gets in, but I won't see him cuz I'll be working all day and he's going to a Sciences Po party in the evening. Kerstin won't be coming next week anymore, but it's okay. Seeing Kerstin when I first got here was very cool on a few levels. For one, she's been my French education buddy since back in the day. And she was much more freaked out about the mood than I was, so I felt pretty normal haha. But also, I hadn't seen her in about two years -- but we picked up pretty much where we left off. I hope I continue to have friendships like that. Life gets busy and I can get totally tunnel-visioned, anti-social, whatever. But to know that there are some people I can hang out with like no time has passed. . .that's perfect.

Whoops

Apparently I forgot that I had a blog. Actually it's more like I've been so tired when I get home that all I want to do is lay down and the typing takes too much effort. Anyway, plenty of things have happened since I last put something down here. I did finally get paid, and I celebrated by immediately calling Orange and recharging my SIM card. Okay so maybe it was a late celebration. Mom got in on November 30 and stayed for a week. We went shopping and made guacamole and went to Bruges for a day and all kinds of stuff. We went to like four different Pimkie's so I could bulk up my long-sleeve shirt repetoire. Plus I got some wool tights and dresses and stuff. And Mom bought me a fat raincoat at Etam so now I'm all set. Bruges was cool, although not what I had expected. I knew Belgium had more than one language but I didn't realize how prevalent Flemish would be. It should be interesting when I travel some more because I really don't remember what it's like to visit a country where you don't know the language. The last time that happened I was 13, during my 2 1/2 week trip to Latvia, Lithuania, and the Netherlands. I know people speak English practically everywhere, but I still feel like I should be speaking French, pretty much no matter where I go.
Anyway, the visit was good. It was marred by my stupid Franco-American exposé, so I was stressed out most of the time, but that ended up fine too. On the Monday of that week, I was "inspected" by the local education department. Fun times. It was the two women I already know of course, and they came to my smallest and probably best-behaved class, so it was fine. They said they were very happy that the kids are smiling and excited to speak English and not afraid to mess up. But they also said that there's too much writing involved. Which is silly because all they ever have to write is vocab words and that just helps with memorization. So yeah overall in was fine.
Tuesday I got my carte de séjour, FINALLY. That morning I left early and went to four tabacs to find the fucking stamp. Nothing. Of course. Somehow I arrived at my appointment about 4 minutes early, enough time to run to the tabac half a block away as a last, desperate attempt. And of course they had the stamp all along. This fucking country. I waited for a while to have my name called, but once the process started it only took like 15 minutes. I went in and they did a little weight-height-vision test, plus gave me a female condom. Gee thanks! Next it was the infamous chest x-ray. I took off my shirt, went in, was awkwardly pressed against a machine, and that was it. The nice doctor man told me I should do all the paper work for social security when it comes in (since I'm technically a fonctionnaire -- ahhhh!), but I'm not sure it's worth the hassle. I of course took my x-ray home and promptly taped it to my window like fucked up stained glass. It makes me laugh cuz my boobs look gigantic.
So then some stuff and whatever happened and now it's the end of this week. I've been feeling quasi-sick all week and therefore exhausted. It feels like allergies but who knows. The weather keeps going from rain to dry as well so that sometimes messes me up. Currently my weather widget says that today will be a high of 38 and a low of 26. Niiiiice. One more week and then it's winter break, I'm so excited I can barely stand it. I've got some homework to do this weekend, as well as a Christmas worksheet for the kiddies. I'm going to have them make Christmas cards for their families using English expressions. I can't believe it's almost Christmas already. Christmas has sort of lost it's significance for me in the past few years, since we've been going to Vegas or Disneyland instead. My brought did bring our ornaments when she moved though. And she brought me a big Hanukkiah and the nice Israeli candles when she came, so I got to have a relatively normal Hanukkah. Matt will be here on Christmas so we'll have to figure something out, even if it's getting drunk in the Marais and celebrating our Jewishness.
And then. . .vacation. It's so close I can taste it. This week I've put reminders all over the place so I'll remember to print out all of our confirmation info. And I need to find the Eurolines office so I can get our bus tickets. Seriously I walked by it but I think it's in some private building, so I need to call and ask them how to get in. I should've just paid the 5 euro or whatever to have some mailed to me. Speaking of mail, I sent my first package to the US the other day. I compiled a few things and a Christmas card for Lauren. I really tried to find a Hanukkah card but no luck. I did decorate the envelope though. Next order of business is to put together something for Merix and Alexander. They are the boys I nannied last year, who speak French fluently, and are very jealous that I got to go to Paris. So I'm gonna hit up the toy stores and souvenir things looking for some Astérix toys or something. And of course I will send them some Kinder bars so they can feel really French. Their parents will love that. Of course I also want to send them stuff cuz I'd like to secure that job when I get back. Tee.
I have such a problem with getting ahead of myself, but I really can't help it. I've already started to plan my summer school schedule around free mornings so I can work when I get back. I don't even want to think about housing though. I'm staying with my mom at first while I look for something. This year I want to live with normal people whose parents are paying their rent or something. I dunno, obviously not everyone is irresponsible, just be people I've chosen to live with. The key is to plan ahead so I don't have to be desperate. Oy. It's too far away to worry about right now anyway.