cuz i'm proud to be an american, where at least i know i'm free
sometimes i get randomly patriotic for no particular reason at all. i know it makes sense to be proud of my country right now, at the end of a big, worldwide sports spectacular where everyone roots and fights for their country (even though the us sucked it up). but during the middle of a week, nothing special going on, i'll have an overwhelming urge to listen to country music and sing the national anthem.
god bless the usa.
20 October, 2007
you're splashing in?
"is that the english flag?"
(the four of us look at each other, me a little embarrassed that i don't know the answer)
"i don't know. maybe?"
"just say 'hey.'"
"hey."
(no response)
"HEY. hey, london!"
(boys draped in what we find out is the english flag turn around.)
"is that the english flag?"
these english rugby fans kinda give us an "a-duh" look and ask where we're from. we make a buncha stupid american jokes, and end up watching the whole game with these guys. we were at the champ de mars in front of the big screen, on a lawn FILLED with people for the 3rd place match between france and argentina. half the people were there to cheer for france, a handful to cheer for argentina, and the rest solely to cheer against france. every time france scored (which wasn't that much), the english fans chanted, "SIT DOWN, SHUT UP!" we (i'm clearly part of the french rugby team) didn't have much to say back, so we just sat down.
anyway, in typical american fashion, we didn't know how to play rugby. our english friends bulleted the basics for us, so we were able to follow the game (i can't say the same for the 4 drunkards who passed out next to us...lol). after the game, we all stayed around talking and snapping pictures for a while. the english boys wanted to go to a bar (as it turns out, i don't know where ANY bars are...what a good college kid i am, eh?) and wanted us to tag along. at this point it's about 11:10 and we kind of wanted to catch the last metro, but figured we could maybe go to a bar and have a beer with these guys.
ha. yeah, right. first, it took us forever to find a bar. then we found one, but it was way expensive, so after they had a drink (7 euro for them isn't that many quid...lucky bastards), we went to rhubarb cuz we knew they had happy hour drinks for girls all night on friday. it turns out they offer that because it's a gay bar...lol, oops. ashley and i are standing by the bar, waiting to order drinks, and we hear one guy go to this other guy, "so, you wanna go back to my apartment and make out?" we couldn't help but look over. the one starts hitting on ashley even though he's so obviously gay. she went downstairs, and then he asked me the craziest thing i've ever been asked in my life.
"so, how do you feel about gang bangs?"
hahahahah. we hung out at rhubarb until they kicked us out at 2 and wandered down to the next bar. we all got another beer and played kings. yeah, it didn't work that well in the bar, but we were having such a great time all hanging out with each other that it didn't matter. the english guys had a great time poking fun at us (do you know how many countries are in the EU? name them...oh, you americans, you're so innocent...you don't even have a passport, do you?) and teaching us english slang.
at about 330 we decided it was probably time to leave (and we had wanted to catch the last metro..lol now we were closer to hopping on the first one). amalia, chris and i caught a cab together and made it home by 4 am. sheesh. those english boys. they were so fun to hang out with because they were LOUD and they didn't give a crap. usually, when we go out, we're real quiet and feel bad whenever we anger the french. these guys, however, drank and yelled and didn't apologize for it. they had a good time no matter what dirty looks the french gave them. we made plans to meet them at the lawn tonight to watch the england-south africa game (we promised to cheer for england). even if we don't meet up with them, i anticipate more great times with the rugby fans :-D
p.s. a fave quote of the night: "it's better to be dead than to be french." lol.
(the four of us look at each other, me a little embarrassed that i don't know the answer)
"i don't know. maybe?"
"just say 'hey.'"
"hey."
(no response)
"HEY. hey, london!"
(boys draped in what we find out is the english flag turn around.)
"is that the english flag?"
these english rugby fans kinda give us an "a-duh" look and ask where we're from. we make a buncha stupid american jokes, and end up watching the whole game with these guys. we were at the champ de mars in front of the big screen, on a lawn FILLED with people for the 3rd place match between france and argentina. half the people were there to cheer for france, a handful to cheer for argentina, and the rest solely to cheer against france. every time france scored (which wasn't that much), the english fans chanted, "SIT DOWN, SHUT UP!" we (i'm clearly part of the french rugby team) didn't have much to say back, so we just sat down.
anyway, in typical american fashion, we didn't know how to play rugby. our english friends bulleted the basics for us, so we were able to follow the game (i can't say the same for the 4 drunkards who passed out next to us...lol). after the game, we all stayed around talking and snapping pictures for a while. the english boys wanted to go to a bar (as it turns out, i don't know where ANY bars are...what a good college kid i am, eh?) and wanted us to tag along. at this point it's about 11:10 and we kind of wanted to catch the last metro, but figured we could maybe go to a bar and have a beer with these guys.
ha. yeah, right. first, it took us forever to find a bar. then we found one, but it was way expensive, so after they had a drink (7 euro for them isn't that many quid...lucky bastards), we went to rhubarb cuz we knew they had happy hour drinks for girls all night on friday. it turns out they offer that because it's a gay bar...lol, oops. ashley and i are standing by the bar, waiting to order drinks, and we hear one guy go to this other guy, "so, you wanna go back to my apartment and make out?" we couldn't help but look over. the one starts hitting on ashley even though he's so obviously gay. she went downstairs, and then he asked me the craziest thing i've ever been asked in my life.
"so, how do you feel about gang bangs?"
hahahahah. we hung out at rhubarb until they kicked us out at 2 and wandered down to the next bar. we all got another beer and played kings. yeah, it didn't work that well in the bar, but we were having such a great time all hanging out with each other that it didn't matter. the english guys had a great time poking fun at us (do you know how many countries are in the EU? name them...oh, you americans, you're so innocent...you don't even have a passport, do you?) and teaching us english slang.
at about 330 we decided it was probably time to leave (and we had wanted to catch the last metro..lol now we were closer to hopping on the first one). amalia, chris and i caught a cab together and made it home by 4 am. sheesh. those english boys. they were so fun to hang out with because they were LOUD and they didn't give a crap. usually, when we go out, we're real quiet and feel bad whenever we anger the french. these guys, however, drank and yelled and didn't apologize for it. they had a good time no matter what dirty looks the french gave them. we made plans to meet them at the lawn tonight to watch the england-south africa game (we promised to cheer for england). even if we don't meet up with them, i anticipate more great times with the rugby fans :-D
p.s. a fave quote of the night: "it's better to be dead than to be french." lol.
19 October, 2007
tendre croque
that's what i'm eating right now. sounds fancy, right? no. it's a refrigerated, pre-made grilled cheese sandwich. seriously.
don't wait
i had class at 9 am this morning. it's not 9:50 and i'm not in class. "what happened, nicki?"
i woke up early this morning so i'd have time to walk to class. i knew the strike was still going on, so i figured getting to class would take a while. so i put on my tennis shoes, plug in my nike+ thing, and leave about 47 minutes before class. i'm ready for the 3 mile walk. then i walk past the metro station and see people going in and i think, heck, why not? maybe they're running more frequently than yesterday. i'll go check it out.
so i walk down into the mirabeau metro station and see someone at the counter. great news! they weren't there yesterday, so this is a good sign. maybe they finally gave up. line 10 doesn't tell you how long until the next train comes (it says "reglage cours," but i don't know what that means), but there are a few other people waiting, so i figure it must not be long. i got to the station around, oh, let's say 8:18 am.
i'm listening to my "keith and the girl" podcast, and they're pretty funny, talking about strip clubs and bathrooms and whatever else they were saying. anyway, i was enjoying it, so i didn't really notice the first 20 minutes pass by. okay, i figured, it's 840, so i'll be a little late. not a big deal. not like poli sci ever starts on time anyway.
more and more people come, and everyone's getting real ansty...we're all standing at the edge of the platform, looking down the tracks like morons, as if that'll make it come faster. as the time passes by, more and more people scoot closer to the edge.
ugh, now it's 856, and i'm definitely going to be too late to miss the first important part of lecture. i could be calm and say, "oh, well, nothing i could do now!" but i didn't feel like that. i felt like getting worked up (i just started my period, so maybe that's why [ooooo overshare! CRY ABOUT IT]).
i let out an impatient, angry sigh, like that will help coax the train down the tracks. two trains went by in the 45 minutes we were waiting. THEY ARE SO LUCKY.
my podcast ends, so i get increasingly upset. i hit shuffle songs and dashboard's "don't wait" comes on. talk about fucking irony.
finally, at 908, the train comes. it looks crowded from far away, but i can do crowded. i've been on line one at rush hour; i can do a crammed train. but this was unreal...it was already packed with people pushed up against the windows, and nobody was getting off. THIS SUCKS. people were pushing on anyway, which is understandable. we had been waiting at least 50 mother effing minutes....we deserve to get on this effing train. but i couldn't do it. literally, i couldn't get on the train...people's feet were hanging out the door, and i think they were gonna crowd surf or something in there just to get a few more people in.
i started to laugh like a retard. i couldn't believe it. all this time i've waited, and now i can't even get on the metro. AGHAHG ASDHF jf. well, whatever, i have my tennis shoes on, dashboard's telling me not to wait, so i'm gonna walk. yeah, i'm gonna miss poli sci, but i've already pretty much resigned myself to that.
so i walk across the bridge for a change of scenery (i already walked on the left side of the seine yesterday). i pass by the javel rer stop and consider going in. then i remember dashboard, and pick up my walking pace. there's no way an rer will come within the next 5 minutes anyway.
GUESS WHAT COMES IN THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES. i wasn't 100 m past the station when i see the rer slow down to a stop at the javel station. YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME. i smiled again (people must've though i was a bumbling idiot) because, well, what else can i do? i walked really fast to school half because i was pissed i had to walk (even though that's what i had planned on doing in the beginning) and half because i thought it'd be nice exercise. exercise always gets me in a better mood. but i dont WANT to be in a better mood. i wanted to still be pissed when i got to a computer so i could write this ranty blog. now that i've written it, i can calm down.
i've got an econ midterm in half an hour that i should study for. whoops.
i woke up early this morning so i'd have time to walk to class. i knew the strike was still going on, so i figured getting to class would take a while. so i put on my tennis shoes, plug in my nike+ thing, and leave about 47 minutes before class. i'm ready for the 3 mile walk. then i walk past the metro station and see people going in and i think, heck, why not? maybe they're running more frequently than yesterday. i'll go check it out.
so i walk down into the mirabeau metro station and see someone at the counter. great news! they weren't there yesterday, so this is a good sign. maybe they finally gave up. line 10 doesn't tell you how long until the next train comes (it says "reglage cours," but i don't know what that means), but there are a few other people waiting, so i figure it must not be long. i got to the station around, oh, let's say 8:18 am.
i'm listening to my "keith and the girl" podcast, and they're pretty funny, talking about strip clubs and bathrooms and whatever else they were saying. anyway, i was enjoying it, so i didn't really notice the first 20 minutes pass by. okay, i figured, it's 840, so i'll be a little late. not a big deal. not like poli sci ever starts on time anyway.
more and more people come, and everyone's getting real ansty...we're all standing at the edge of the platform, looking down the tracks like morons, as if that'll make it come faster. as the time passes by, more and more people scoot closer to the edge.
ugh, now it's 856, and i'm definitely going to be too late to miss the first important part of lecture. i could be calm and say, "oh, well, nothing i could do now!" but i didn't feel like that. i felt like getting worked up (i just started my period, so maybe that's why [ooooo overshare! CRY ABOUT IT]).
i let out an impatient, angry sigh, like that will help coax the train down the tracks. two trains went by in the 45 minutes we were waiting. THEY ARE SO LUCKY.
my podcast ends, so i get increasingly upset. i hit shuffle songs and dashboard's "don't wait" comes on. talk about fucking irony.
finally, at 908, the train comes. it looks crowded from far away, but i can do crowded. i've been on line one at rush hour; i can do a crammed train. but this was unreal...it was already packed with people pushed up against the windows, and nobody was getting off. THIS SUCKS. people were pushing on anyway, which is understandable. we had been waiting at least 50 mother effing minutes....we deserve to get on this effing train. but i couldn't do it. literally, i couldn't get on the train...people's feet were hanging out the door, and i think they were gonna crowd surf or something in there just to get a few more people in.
i started to laugh like a retard. i couldn't believe it. all this time i've waited, and now i can't even get on the metro. AGHAHG ASDHF jf. well, whatever, i have my tennis shoes on, dashboard's telling me not to wait, so i'm gonna walk. yeah, i'm gonna miss poli sci, but i've already pretty much resigned myself to that.
so i walk across the bridge for a change of scenery (i already walked on the left side of the seine yesterday). i pass by the javel rer stop and consider going in. then i remember dashboard, and pick up my walking pace. there's no way an rer will come within the next 5 minutes anyway.
GUESS WHAT COMES IN THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES. i wasn't 100 m past the station when i see the rer slow down to a stop at the javel station. YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME. i smiled again (people must've though i was a bumbling idiot) because, well, what else can i do? i walked really fast to school half because i was pissed i had to walk (even though that's what i had planned on doing in the beginning) and half because i thought it'd be nice exercise. exercise always gets me in a better mood. but i dont WANT to be in a better mood. i wanted to still be pissed when i got to a computer so i could write this ranty blog. now that i've written it, i can calm down.
i've got an econ midterm in half an hour that i should study for. whoops.
18 October, 2007
STRIKE!
so here i am, right in the middle of my first real french protest, and i feel a bit cheated. i expected rioting in the streets, so many people on the bridges that i thought they would break, yelling throughout the night.
(oh, you're too lazy to read that whole article i linked and now you're confused? here, i'll give you the cliff notes version: sarkozy got into office and promised he would reform public retirement to match the benefits private workers get. this means that the public railway workers are getting shafted out of sweet pensions and don't get to retire early. they're pissed, so they shut down a bunch of metro lines/bus routes/trains. sarkozy isn't budging, so they're protesting tomorrow, too)
but i was largely unaffected today. i walked to my only class at 12:10 today, and then caught the metro back (yeah, still working, just 40 minutes between trains instead of 5). i went to hop on the metro at 7 pm tonight to go play some beer pong (gosh, i miss that game), but two girls walked out, looking really disappointed, saying it was closed. probably better, though, because i have a midterm tomorrow anyway. no big disruptions yet, though (least not for me...maddy and mal, who are supposed to go to lyon on the train tomorrow, might disagree :-/) i didn't see anyone running through the streets with a "screw you, sarkozy!" sign or anything, but maybe that's because i didnt walk around the city enough. maybe i'll explore it more tomorrow.
to change subjects completely (to quote dad), i'm going to copenhagen nov 9 to visit venz! this means i'll be in rome next weekend, copenhagen the weekend after, and london the weekend after that. ohhh europe, i love you.
OH and another fun thing. i'm still invading the nexus. you can go read my online column here.
(oh, you're too lazy to read that whole article i linked and now you're confused? here, i'll give you the cliff notes version: sarkozy got into office and promised he would reform public retirement to match the benefits private workers get. this means that the public railway workers are getting shafted out of sweet pensions and don't get to retire early. they're pissed, so they shut down a bunch of metro lines/bus routes/trains. sarkozy isn't budging, so they're protesting tomorrow, too)
but i was largely unaffected today. i walked to my only class at 12:10 today, and then caught the metro back (yeah, still working, just 40 minutes between trains instead of 5). i went to hop on the metro at 7 pm tonight to go play some beer pong (gosh, i miss that game), but two girls walked out, looking really disappointed, saying it was closed. probably better, though, because i have a midterm tomorrow anyway. no big disruptions yet, though (least not for me...maddy and mal, who are supposed to go to lyon on the train tomorrow, might disagree :-/) i didn't see anyone running through the streets with a "screw you, sarkozy!" sign or anything, but maybe that's because i didnt walk around the city enough. maybe i'll explore it more tomorrow.
to change subjects completely (to quote dad), i'm going to copenhagen nov 9 to visit venz! this means i'll be in rome next weekend, copenhagen the weekend after, and london the weekend after that. ohhh europe, i love you.
OH and another fun thing. i'm still invading the nexus. you can go read my online column here.
17 October, 2007
other people are funnier than me
i've been reading through other blogs and man, there are some funny people out there. they don't even write about anything fascinating or extraordinary*...a bug in the bathroom, a skinny ninja in the gym. you know, regular stuff. but they make whole posts that are just HILARIOUS. really, i LOL at them. and then i come here and write and sort of copy their style, and i can't tell if that's plagiarism or if i can call that inspiration. i take comfort in the fact that none of them will ever read my blog because i'm not funny/famous/whatever you have to be to get tons of strangers to read your blog.
i'm gonna go do some yoga now. i subscribed to a yoga podcast this morning (inspired by maddy). this one that i'm about to do is yoga for the memory. we'll see how it works.
gosh, you know, i really like this blogging about my life thing. i think i'll keep doing it even when i get back to the states.
*i've always appreciated the irony of this word (well, ever since i learned the meaning of that and it's evil fraternal twin, "ordinary") and i hope you have, too.
i'm gonna go do some yoga now. i subscribed to a yoga podcast this morning (inspired by maddy). this one that i'm about to do is yoga for the memory. we'll see how it works.
gosh, you know, i really like this blogging about my life thing. i think i'll keep doing it even when i get back to the states.
*i've always appreciated the irony of this word (well, ever since i learned the meaning of that and it's evil fraternal twin, "ordinary") and i hope you have, too.
16 October, 2007
schwing gum!
that's how the french say "chewing gum." i like it better, so i think that's what i'll call it from now on. i wonder what sort of other irritating habits i'll pick up. lol...i'm sure you'll tell me once i'm back.
writing postcards is weird. i never know what to say....should i describe everything i've done? meh, but the amount of space given suffocates me. i can only say dumb things like "i liked it" and "it was pretty" because i can't think of a short way to write "disneyland paris was absolutely magical and i wish that i could live there. if you guys ever get a chance to paris, you should come. the only thing it was missing was splash mountain and a big fireworks show. but space mountain's greatness made up for it. we went on the ride 4 times!" also, should i ask the recipients about themselves? but i dont expect a response...it just seems polite.
tonight i gave paul a big lollipop i bought for him at dland. it was blue, white and red...as soon as he started eating it, it got all over his face and turned his tongue blue. lol. this will be fun to watch him eat.
i went to parc monceau AGAIN today. my third time this week! i love that place, though. i think i could go every day and not get bored. oh, and then chris and i walked over to the arc de triomphe after and came upon some huge ceremony with lots of flags and french officials and the national anthem. we always stumble upon the weirdest stuff and i feel bad that i never know what it is.
i've worn a headband 3 of the last 4 days. even though i took it off 2 hours ago, i still feel like i'm wearing it. bizarre.
writing postcards is weird. i never know what to say....should i describe everything i've done? meh, but the amount of space given suffocates me. i can only say dumb things like "i liked it" and "it was pretty" because i can't think of a short way to write "disneyland paris was absolutely magical and i wish that i could live there. if you guys ever get a chance to paris, you should come. the only thing it was missing was splash mountain and a big fireworks show. but space mountain's greatness made up for it. we went on the ride 4 times!" also, should i ask the recipients about themselves? but i dont expect a response...it just seems polite.
tonight i gave paul a big lollipop i bought for him at dland. it was blue, white and red...as soon as he started eating it, it got all over his face and turned his tongue blue. lol. this will be fun to watch him eat.
i went to parc monceau AGAIN today. my third time this week! i love that place, though. i think i could go every day and not get bored. oh, and then chris and i walked over to the arc de triomphe after and came upon some huge ceremony with lots of flags and french officials and the national anthem. we always stumble upon the weirdest stuff and i feel bad that i never know what it is.
i've worn a headband 3 of the last 4 days. even though i took it off 2 hours ago, i still feel like i'm wearing it. bizarre.
15 October, 2007
i learned something really important at disneyland
i learned that fannypacks are incredibly useful. and mine is prada, so it's doubly useful.
plus i look really good in it. i think i might start wearing it around.
plus i look really good in it. i think i might start wearing it around.
14 October, 2007
a positively magical weekend
being in monceau park (where claude monet did some of his paintings) makes me want to talk like royalty and say things like "positively magical" and "exquisite." still being on a giddy high from disneyland paris also makes me overuse words like "fantasy" and "dreams" and "fairytales." so forgive me early on if this entry sounds like i'm trying to be a poet or some sort of renaissance writer or something.
yesterday was stupendous. disneyland paris wasn't much different from the original disneyland, other than it was smaller and missing splash mountain (and what a shame that is). a big difference i noticed was that dland paris was much more detailed...sometimes, disneyland anaheim (from now on referred to as dland OG) feels a bit cheesy and decorated hastily with cute but simple decorations. it seems as if they realized that so for dland paris, they really got into the details. the skeletons on pirates had more realistic curves (in fact, the whole entrance to pirates was more thought out...you walked through dungeons with skulls and leftover weapons and the like); phantom manor looked as if it were once a real house, not just a spectacle; even the halloween decorations were more intense.
ohhhh the halloween decorations! they were everywhere and i loved them (the amount of pictures i took of oozing halloween goo, witches and mysterious halloween creatures will tell you that). i didn't think they were so gung ho about halloween here...i spose i was wrong. or maybe disney is just trying to push the idea more. or maybe the europeans like the american idea of halloween, so dland plays on that. who knows.
my favorite ride by far was space mountain. it was, as i told nat and elisa, 3x better than space mountain at dland OG. yeah, 3x better than the NEW space mountain, too. "oh, nicki, that's impossible!" well, believe it! dland paris space mountain goes upside down and corkscrews through tons of meteors, whipping you through billions of stars and up and over galaxies. we went on it four times and came off laughing so hard we peed our pants (no, really).
oh, another huge (and quite obvious) difference was that everything was in french as well as english...and it sounded like many of the cast members spoke at least english and french, if not spanish, german, italian, etc. listening to the french try to mimic a southwestern accent on big thunder mountain was funny...they failed miserably. but the french on phantom manor was CREEPY. the english version sounded happy happy joy joy compared to the way the french voice said things.
you know how you see tons of couples at dland OG? not at dland paris...our group felt very out of place at ~20 years old and sans enfants.
being in disneyland makes me feel like a joyous little kid. it's amazing the way disney has captured that precise feeling of childhood...those carefree, silly, enchanted-by-princesses-and-happy-endings emotions. it's not as if i needed an escape (life here isn't exactly difficult or stressful school wise/responsibility wise), but it was wonderful to have a day filled with the happiness that only kids and people in disneyland feel. now i'm sitting in what is arguably the most beautiful park in paris (and i think i've got monet on my side, so i have a feeling we might win this debate), watching a million kids and parents run around, laughing and playing games. i'm sitting here on my computer, a random smile creeping up on me subconsciously when i realize how exceptionally perfect life is in this very moment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
