I have a camera again, but my computer is freaking out slash I'm too lazy to figure out what's wrong, so no pictures for the moment.
I am in the midst of one 15-page paper and one 8-page paper, so obviously I have decided that updating this blog is the most prudent activity for me at the moment. Keep in mind that when I say "15," what I actually mean is "35," because they single-space papers over here, plus they use the A4, which is smaller than the 8.5x11, plus they use two-centimeter margins. But thinking of it as a 35-pager makes me want to die, so we'll stick with 15. Oh, and obviously all this stuff is in French.
I'm kind of frustrated right now because I really want to be out exploring and instead I am sitting here surrounded by books I don't want to read. There is so much fun stuff to do in this city and I can't do any of it. And by the time I am done with all this crap, it will be time to go home. It's times like this that I start thinking seriously about staying the whole year. I won't end up doing it, but I really feel like a semester is not enough.
I'm Sports Editor again next semester, despite my best efforts to move to a different section. I guess that's where they needed me, so it's back for round four.
I saw Kanye on Thursday! That was really cool. It was a little hilarious because the concert was kind of like a musical in that it had a plot punctuated by songs. The premise was that Kanye was in a spaceship that crashed on an uninhabited planet. For whatever reason, he was the only person in the spaceship, but fortunately, through some AI thing, the spaceship (named Jane) was able to communicate with him, so it was kind of like he had a friend. It was great because he would say stuff like, "Look at all those shooting stars!" and segue straight into "Flashing Lights," or, "I really wish I could go home and see my mother"--you got it, "Hey Mama." Then he gave a long speech at the end about how glad he was to be in Paris and how he really respects the opinions of the Parisians ("you're some of the few people whose opinions I respect" is actually what he said). I don't know how much of it the actual French people understood, but the Americans thought it was pretty funny. I guess it's not like, "Thank you Los Angeles," though...he doesn't come here very often, so it is a pretty big deal. I took a lot pictures, very few of which came out, but eventually I'll put them up.
I also went to the opera, which I know Marissa will find a lot less exciting than the previous paragraph. We saw "The Magic Flute," which I liked a lot, but apparently many of my fellow audience members did not. I did not know it was okay to boo at the opera, but I guess that's what you're supposed to do if you're underwhelmed. They didn't like the director very much, which I kind of understood, because he had it set up like the entire thing was a video game and they kept flashing stuff like "Press Start to resume play" on the stage. It was a little weird. I was happy, because it was subtitled into French and I understood like 90% of the subtitles. I have to be honest, though, if I were going to write an opera, I don't think I would do it in German. I realize that that's what language Mozart spoke, but I really think the Italians got it right.
My whole family got together this weekend without me and I'm sad. I have two baby first-cousins-once-removed (I looked that up and I'm right) and they are adorable and I want to play with them. Actually, my mom sent me pictures, so you can all see those. Meet Cole (15 months) and Lily (3 months).My mom and my dad and Marissa are coming on Wednesday for Thanksgiving! We're also inviting a bunch of the kids from my program. I think we're having a turkey, because my host mother was supposed to order one from her butcher (there's not a whole lot of demand for them right now, so you have to get them in advance), but I haven't heard anything about it in awhile, so I should really check on that tonight. Otherwise we're having a big chicken and telling everyone it's a turkey.
I have noticed another interesting cultural difference. I am usually late and always hungry, so the "grab and go" culture that the United States fosters is really perfect for my lifestyle. This does not exist here. Meals are meant to be eaten sitting down with your family and a large number of your closest friends. Even if you buy a sandwich to go, you're expected to eat it in a park or something with a bunch of people. I made myself a PB&J the other day to eat on my way to school, and realized that I was the only person eating on the Metro. You just aren't supposed to do it. I don't like to stick out, but I really like those extra 15 minutes of sleep, so I guess I'll have to continue being "that American" eating on the run.
I really should get back to "the actions of the United States in Germany between 1945 and 1969" (how's that for a paper topic?), because did I mention that it's my only grade in this class? And the professor is literally the scariest authority figure I have ever known? I'm going to go eat some chocolate to prepare me for the task at hand.
Oh! I forgot to say that it snowed here yesterday...everywhere but the eighth, where I live. We had sleet. Thanks, Paris.
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Well, my American phone and camera got jacked the weekend before last, so I can't take pictures until my dad gets here with a new one. Lame.
I have had many visitors here! Anne from Trinity came from London for the weekend (when my 
camera got stolen), and then Hugh and Elyssa (also Trinity, also from London) were here last weekend with two of Elyssa's flatmates. The only thing that's tough about a host family is that I can't offer anyone housing when they come here, and staying in Paris isn't cheap, but both groups were able to find hotels and it worked out pretty well. I stole this picture of Hugh and Elyssa and me from Facebook. Hugh looks sad, but really he's ecstatic to be with Elyssa and me.
Anne had never been to Paris before, so I got to do a bunch of the touristy things I haven't really done since I got here, which was fun...although I drastically underestimated the amount of time it would take us to walk from the Marais, where we were having dinner, to the Eiffel Tower (I figured it would take 30, maybe 40 minutes), and 6K and 90 minutes later, we arrived just as it was closing and couldn't go up. But I wouldn't have had my camera with me to be stolen if she and I hadn't been doing touristy things, so we decided that we had each ruined the other's weekend and were now even.
Hugh and Elyssa were here for Halloween, which means absolutely nothing to anyone in this country, but some of my kind teammates sent me a care package containing, among other things, Double Stuf Oreos and Halloween temporary tattoos, so we all rocked those. I even got the director of my program to put a green witch on her hand.
After Hugh and Elyssa left for a week in Italy (they are on break; I am jealous), I went to see the new James Bond movie with some CUPA friends. I had never seen a James Bond movie before, but fortunately I was sitting with a connoisseur who was able to give me a little exposition before it started, and it was awesome. It was like "24" in movie form, which is a high compliment. It is my understanding that it is not out in the US yet (or at least it wasn't on Sunday), but go see it ASAP.
We also went to a chocolate fair on Sunday, and it was one of the most wonderful things I have ever experienced. It was at the massive French expo center just barely within Paris city limits and there were literally a thousand vendors selling everything from Lindt truffles to chocolate and onion sauce (meant to be eaten with foie gras, bien sur). Almost everyone offered free samples and I ate a ton and was just generally in heaven.
Tuesday night was, obviously, the election. Unfortunately, California is really far away from here, so we all napped during the day in preparation for the all-night festivities. We wanted to go to a party organized by the Young Democrats of Paris or something (the main selling point was that it cost 5 euros, they had big-screen TVs, and they started serving Barack Obagels at 3:00 a.m.), but there were like 4,000 people there and they only had room for 1,200. I made some phone calls (I'm pretty well-connected, but you knew that already) and got us into the American University of Paris viewing party. I'm going to take all credit for that since the other 11 people I was with had no suggestions whatsoever and I'm pretty sure I saved the night. I'm just saying. Anyway, they have a little on-campus pub thing, and not surprisingly, it was packed, but it was a great atmosphere. They served pancakes all night long and everyone in the room screamed the 10-second countdown every time another poll closed and fought about whether or not the Phillies deserved to win the World Series and heckled people from states that voted for McCain (it was a largely blue-state crowd) and it was generally the most wonderful display of Americanness I have seen in 10 weeks. The only thing missing was the Barack Obagels. They gave us a free champagne toast when CNN projected Obama as the winner and people broke out into a spontaneous rendition of the National Anthem and I was sick as a dog (as usual) and loved it all anyway. The metro re-opened at 5:30 in the morning, just in time for me to go home and catch Obama's speech with my host father, who was leaving for work. I slept until 4 p.m. yesterday. The French are ecstatic, by the way. Sarkozy is completely obsessed with Obama, but the people here in general pay a lot of attention to our politics. We have been getting congratulations from pretty much anyone who figures out that we are American.
Then yesterday I went to "Le Mariage de Figaro" at the Comedie Francaise, which I probably would have enjoyed more if a) I could have seen any of the action at all, b) I could have breathed, or c) the chairs were less comfortable and I was less inclined to fall asleep. I picked up on maybe 6% of what was going on. Oh well, at least I understood all of the French subtitles during "Quantum of Solace."
Hugh and Elyssa are coming back on Sunday on their way home to London and my father is coming...next weekend, I believe. So that will be nice.
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