i ate a duck today

it was kind of bizarre, actually. i mean, it didn't really seem much different than steak, but i was still a little weirded out eating it. then again, that's probably because that's all anyone could talk about all day. "omg, we're eating duck later." "you know, you're gonna be eating donald."

the oddness aside, it was quite delish. we also had this spectacular dessert..it was some kind of strawberry ice cream on top of a bready/sweet thing with juicy fresh strawberries and raspberries. i won't bore you with more ingredients, but trust that it was the most phenomenal meal i've had here.


we went to the pommery caves in reims. they showed us the cheesiest video ever at the beginning of the tour, but i did actually learn stuff, so i spose it was effective. the pommery caves are these chalk caves connected by 18 km of underground tunnels. 30 m underground, they create the perfect climate for wine fermentation (a little bit humid, a lot bit cold). i learned a whole bunch of random info that i anticipate will serve me well when there's a champagne category on jeopardy, but not really anywhere else. except maybe a snooty people party.

my homestay family must think i'm an alcoholic...last weekend, i traveled to another country for a beer and this weekend i spent all day drinking champagne. i wouldn't be surprised if mme jeanson comes into my room tomorrow asking if i need help.

i'm figuring out things here that i never expected. i've been holding off on my "what i've learned since i moved to france" until i got settled. paris is finally feeling homey, which means you can expect an emotional and grown up entry soon :-)

i'm tired, but i feel like writing.

for some reason, right now i feel like writing. i know i just said that in the title, so it's redundant and annoying, but saying it twice emphasizes it.

we went to the louvre tonight. (the way that's spelled reminds me of brett favre, and i wanna say it "loo-vray" like i say "fav-ray.") it was, of course, gorgeous and overwhelming. so many artists have poured their heart and soul into things that i walk past and go, "ooo cool." i wish i knew more about art, so i could say something more intelligent than, "wow, that's so pretty." then again, memorizing stories and names and dates isn't really interesting to me.

but it wasn't the louvre that i came to write about. it's never the big things that inspire me most.

when we were walking down the champs elysees (er however you spell that), we stopped at a sandwich shop. when i ordered, i for some reason didn't even attempt french and just said what i wanted in english. the guy repeated it back to me all snotty and sing songy and goes, "ohhh you americans." i jokingly apologized and he goes, "don't apologize for what you are." in that instant, i felt this surge of american pride. "okay!" i wanted to shout. "i love being american! even if our president is a douche and our economy isn't doing so hot, i'm still so incredibly proud to call that country my home. U-S-A! ALL THE WAY!"

and it's true. i love being an american. i haven't gotten that much grief for it, and even when i do, i don't really care. it's not that i love the states for the opportunities i have there or because of the freedom the flag represents or any of that other cliché stuff. it's just an amazing place to live. i can smile at a stranger and get a hello back; i can joke with the grocery store cashier without getting a dirty look; i can buy things cheap (woot target dollar spot).

so i don't care if the french or the brits or the germans or the italians or the spanish look at me funny when i act like an american. i'll wear that label and be damn proud of it.


*steps down from soapbox*

i'm silly.

sometimes i look at other people's pictures and try to determine if they're having a better time than i am. and then what's weird is when their pictures look particularly fun, i get really jealous. i get mad at myself for not having a great time.

that's dumb. i shouldn't compare my adventures to other people's...that's not a good way to determine if i'm living life the "right" way. my fun is different than yours.

speaking of fun...i'm going to champagne this weekend to have authentic french champagne :-)

i remember now why i go to school in california

it's easier to be happy when the sun is shining. everyone just seems more upbeat and more smiley. i'm not saying i'm unhappy right now...it's just that the rain is a bit of a wet blanket.

then again, i've had my wonderful rainy days, too. one of my favorite memories of last year is when all of us pasado girls sat in the living room while it was pouring rain, curled up in blankets, listening to billie holiday and reading. when we got antsy (you can only read for so long), we took a walk in the rain. lol i remember running into john and he goes, "what are you DOING?"

ohhh the memz.

france vs america: cigarettes

you know, i should actually title these "paris vs california," because it's not really fair to generalize to a whole country when i really only know a small portion. minute detail. on to the bigger point.

today in media globalization we were talking about media and cultural imperialism and how american media is eating non-western media alive. we got to talking about starbucks and other food/drink things globalizing. on the way home, walking through clouds of cigarette smoke, i got to thinking about how those cancer sticks have globalized.

it's interesting that smoking a cigarette is disgusting in the states, but it's the norm over here. us americans have been taught ever since we began school that if you smoke a cigarette, even just one, you'll probably die instantly. even if that is exaggerated propaganda (which everybody knows), we all still pretty much believe it. and it's true that cigarettes are awful for you. i could reel off how the poison in it could kill rats and how it's like sucking the exhaust from a car, but you know that as an american. i don't think it's even cool to smoke anymore...i'm not really sure who does. when i go to parties in iv, there are only a few smokers speckled here and there, and it's not like i look at them and go, "OOOO smoking. that looks fun. i want to do that, too." increasingly, smokers have to duck to somewhere private, away from the public, to "enjoy" their smoke. personally, i question people when they smoke. if you know it's so bad for you, why do you keep doing it?

but over here, smokers are everywhere. you can smoke inside, while you're sitting in a restaurant, in the car, blah blah blah. everyone does it--college kids, business women, crotchety old me. it's bizarre to me...do they not know that it'll turn their teeth yellow? that it takes a few years off their life every time they light up? that it smells like ass? i assume that they have access to the same information about smoking as we do...so why is it not a big deal here to light up?

i question who is wrong here. are we americans making a big deal out of nothing? or are the french ignoring vital information?

regardless, i still don't plan on smoking anytime soon. my clothes would always smell like butthole if i did.

URGENT!!

ucsb sent out an email about bike lockers. the subject said URGENT in all caps, just like that. do new bike lockers really count as "urgent"?

i miss random pieces of ucsb art?

i do! i'm on the library website and a picture of something on campus popped up. oh, gosh, i do miss my beautiful campus so.

more oktoberfest timeline

of course there's more oktoberfest.

where did i leave off? yesss, friday. friday night, we hung out in the campground. i'd say the whole thing was a quarter of the size of iv with the same amount of residents. okay, i'm exaggerating. but anyway, it was crowded, everyone was drunk, and it was a blast.

we slept four to a small tent (even though sascha insisted that it was plenty of room for us) in the freezing cold. kit showed up with just a messenger bag; when we asked him what he would be sleeping with, he gleefully responded, "i brought an extra sweater!" haha..that guy. anyway, he almost froze to death, but sascha saved him.

we woke up at 715 am on saturday morning to make the trek to the fest. we didn't have reservations at a table, so as soon as they opened the doors at 9am, we shoved our way in. we were unsuccessful in getting a table inside (only people wearing lederhosen and drindl dresses were smart enough to reserve/get there early enough), so we settled on an outside table. then we waited. FOREVER. we fell asleep on the table, which was a great idea until security guards came up and yelled at us in german and told us "no sleeping!"

the first keg would be tapped at 12 noon, and after that, all the tents could start serving beer. that was the longest i'd waited for a beer EVER. we were all so tired that i swear, at one point, we would have just called the whole thing off and gone back to bed.

but then the beer came. it was the most glorious beer i've ever drank in my life. we paid the beer wench (who was at least 65 but could still carry 12 liter-sized steins), yelled "prost!" and drank up. it was like we were drinking the elixir of life, because once that beer hit our lips, we were ecstatic about life and ready to tackle the day.

as the day grew on, people grew louder, friendlier, and of course, drunker. i loved being there because, unlike the drunk i've seen so often in IV, the alcohol only made everyone happier. oh, sure, there were a couple fights (i guess mike from our group almost got in one?), but they were quickly squashed and replaced with more beer or pretzels.

ohhhh the food. it was soooooo delicious. i had the greatest candied nuts from a booth. that sounds dumb that one of the things i enjoyed most in germany was those nuts, but seriously, i freaking loved those. other food was good too--lots of sausage, lots of flavor, lots of salt. mmm.

venz, kit, sascha and i ended up leaving the festival around 930 pm. we were absolutely dead tired. i wish i could have stayed another day, though, because i would have loved to stay there until it closed around midnight.

on sunday, we went to a coffee shop, hanging out and swapping stories, friends style (half the group didn't like friends! those morons). kit and i had planes to catch, so we rushed back to the tent and then to the airport. i had figured that we needed to be on the metro by 1030 am to make it to the airport in time for my 1245 pm flight. we didn't leave the campsite till 1050, and by the time we made it to the metro station, it was 11:15. we needed to take the metro to a station where we could transfer to the train that would take us to the airport. the train we needed to take to the airport would leave at 11:21. we had 6 minutes. we got off the metro and booked it toward where the train was leaving from. venz, who was first up the stairs, screamed "IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE!" yesss!! we made it!

FALSE. it was just pulling away. shit. we went to the street to ask a cab how long it would take/cost to drive there. 56 euro for a 45 minute cab ride. but if we waited for the next train to come, it would be around 50 minutes. 56 euro for five minutes saved? no, thanks. we went back to the train station and waited. we hopped on the train when it came at 11:40 and rode for 40 minutes. we said our goodbyes on the train because we knew we'd be sprinting once the doors opened.

we arrived at the airport at 12:20. i sprinted with my HUGE backpack on, holding on to my too-big pants, praying to a god i don't even believe in. we got to the quick check in, where i shoved my debit card in and shakily typed all my info. i looked away to put my card back in my wallet and venz discovered the plane was delayed half an hour. THANK GOD FOR DELAYS! i will never again damn a delayed flight because it might mean that somebody else will be able to make it.

so we said goodbye once more, i walked through security, and boarded the plane. i sat window seat next to the emergency exit, which meant i had tons of leg room--sweet. i spent most of the ride staring at the european countryside and watching the mountains blend into the clouds.

that was the first time i was comfortable calling paris home, was on that plane ride. i know the city, i know the metro, i know the language enough to get myself around. being in germany was intimidating because i know zero german and i had to rely largely on sascha to get around. but in paris, i know i can do everything on my own (even if it might take me a while). i found myself calmer when we touched down at cdg, because it was familiar. when i got to my apartment, i let out a huge sigh of relief, because i was home.

oktoberfest.

i was going to make some fancy, alliterative title like "people, pints, puke: oktoberfest 2007," but i think i like the understatement of the current title better.

it was a crazy weekend and now that i'm sitting in bed looking back on it...well, crap. i'll give you my highlights in chronological order.

5:40 am-leave my apt. i had to go to the atm and get a large sum of money out. i was freaked because it was so dark and so silent that i felt nobody would hear me scream if i needed help.

7:30 am-breeze through check in and security at cdg. i got this odd sense of empowerment right then. it was like...i'm doing it. i'm traveling through europe by myself, i'm getting myself to the airport and navigating public transportation like a pro. it was me realizing that i'm actually doing the thing i've always talked about--traveling around europe.

8:40 am--take off from paris. i "read" on the plane. they gave us a delicious, filling lunch. by delicious, i mean kind of bland, and by filling, i mean i was still starving. it was a piece of bread split in half, buttered, with a slice of turkey/maybe ham on it. i looked on the bag it came in, which told me to "discover flavour!" i found it later, not in that bag. BUT it did come with the greatest granola bar i've ever had. it was banana chocolate. if i were lauren, i'd go more precisely into the ingredients, but alas, i've got to get on with the story.

10:10 am--arrive in munich. i wandered lost around the airport for a while until i got ahold of sascha, who told me where to go.

11:30 am--hop on a train to the center of munich. the german countryside is absolutely stunning. every color was so vibrant...i feel like germany would be the place to come if you wanted to create a new crayola color.

(screw the timestamps) i got to munich and venz, sascha and i wandered around the town for a while, which was rowdy. everyone's getting ready for the festival. we went to a beer garden and ordered our first liters. HOLY CRAP those are large. when it came, my eyes must have gotten bigger than the stein, though. i'm supposed to drink that whole thing and then still function after that?? i ordered the half beer, half lemon soda thing that i've heard so much about. that was a great decision on my part.

then we went back to the train station to wait for kit and randall and crew to show up. we waited forever, but i didn't mind at all. it was great catching up with those guys and filling sascha in on all the sb gossip. i forgot how much i liked hanging out with those two guys (especially sashca!).

you'll have to excuse me, but i'm pooped. i'm gonna end the story here for now (i'm sure you're tired of reading anyhow), but i'll pick up again tomorrow. stay tuned.