we met some really nice french people tonight in front of notre dame. when i say "nice," i mean incredibly rude and loud and hilarious.
first a group of girls + one pubescent boy walks up to us and asks us in broken english where we are from, what we are doing here, etc. for some reason, they start talking about a sex shop...but chris thought they asked something about us living here. so he excitedly grabs me and goes, "we live here!" the frenchies took this to mean that i work in a sex shop. they squealed and they were like, "OOOO YOU HAVE TO KISS HER!" pointing to one of their friends that apparently needed to learn how to kiss from a girl who works in a sex shop.
a few minutes later, a group of guys walks up to us asking if we have paper so "to uh roll uh cannibis!" one guy in dreads knew really basic english, plus every horrible swear word there is. once he learned we were from the states, he asked if we liked bush. when we said no, he yelled, "bush is a mother fucker!" and "bush, you sucka my dick and you like it!" and other things of that nature. his friend pulled out his wallet, which said (in english) "bad mother fucker." wonderful gents. he sang some korn-like french song for us, complete with head banging and hoarse yells. his friend joined him. lol. their more composed friend asked us what we were here for, what we were studying for, etc. after i said politics, we started talking about who would win american elections (he thought dems, i agreed, but he said giuliani wasn't looking bad and we talked about how american politics are becoming less polarized). then we started talking about sarkozy (who he voted for, but i swore i wouldn't tell his obviously more liberal friends) and how france needs to be more capitalistic. lol, but to fit in with his friends, he kept yelling, "VOTE DEMOCRAT!"
i love people.
27 October, 2007
26 October, 2007
paul...
...drinks beer with dinner. lol no, not regularly. i just thought it was funnier to start out like that. but last night mme jeanson had a beer with dinner, and he asked if he could have some too, so she poured some in his glass for him. then he worked on homework and didn't go to bed till like 1030 or 11.
i think this boy is ready for isla vista.
i think this boy is ready for isla vista.
24 October, 2007
**full**
tonight's dinner was AMAZING. it was turkey with sun dried tomato, lemon and garlic. it was so incredibly delicious that i literally moaned once. plus bread and cheese after (with that delicious fig and nut cheese i'm so in to) and vanilla choc chip ice cream. MMMMMM. imma miss french mom's cooking.
it's weird knowing that i'm living one of the most life changing times of...well...my life. mom asked me today what sort of things i've learned culturally (she had a hard time describing, and i understand why now...it's tough to word). the answer is i dont know...and i think i don't really want to analyze now. i've lived most of my life just doing whatever makes me happy right then, not doing things because i SHOULD (well, besides little things like let grandma brush my hair or send thank you cards for dumb gifts). in the beginning of my time here, i worried about going to only french places, and felt guilty for doing american things like going to mcdonalds. but you know what? screw it. if i want to go eat at "breakfast in america" and if i want to speak english whenever i can, then i will.
it's weird knowing that i'm living one of the most life changing times of...well...my life. mom asked me today what sort of things i've learned culturally (she had a hard time describing, and i understand why now...it's tough to word). the answer is i dont know...and i think i don't really want to analyze now. i've lived most of my life just doing whatever makes me happy right then, not doing things because i SHOULD (well, besides little things like let grandma brush my hair or send thank you cards for dumb gifts). in the beginning of my time here, i worried about going to only french places, and felt guilty for doing american things like going to mcdonalds. but you know what? screw it. if i want to go eat at "breakfast in america" and if i want to speak english whenever i can, then i will.
this is why i'm upset i'm missing iv halloween
(in a mass email from the vice chancellor)
-If it is determined that Isla Vista has become unsafe for the
public, then roads will be closed by the County and proof of
residency may be required for vehicle entry.
hahahahahah. i love my town.
-If it is determined that Isla Vista has become unsafe for the
public, then roads will be closed by the County and proof of
residency may be required for vehicle entry.
hahahahahah. i love my town.
23 October, 2007
okay, let's es-start
i noticed that i haven't written much about aup itself. there are a couple reasons for this.
1. school is not the reason i came here. i've probably told you before, but if i wanted a good school, i would've stayed in santa barbara.
2. to put it nicely, aup is incomparable to the fine UC institution that i'm used to. to be a complainy bitch about it, aup blows. on a normal day, i'd rather not waste my blogging space on the school. BUT i have to be grateful, because i owe aup a million thanks for letting me have such a kick ass opportunity.
anyway, i decided in poli sci this morning (of course i wasn't paying attention) that i should tell you guys about my classes. so here it goes.
1. european politics.
i didn't meet my professor for this class until week four. yes, seriously. when i finally did, man, was in for a treat. she's this romanian woman who speaks AWFUL english (here's a sample sentence: "so how do you conceive of this problematic?"). this, however, would be forgivable...now that i've faced the language barrier and looked it in the eye, i'm much more forgiving to those who struggle with english (curiously enough, i've started to speak like i learned english as a second language, which is weird and bad). it would be forgivable if she organized interesting classes, or inspired heated debate, or taught me something. instead, she mentions a bunch of acronyms i don't know and jumps around, talking about the euro one minute and the grading system at aup in the same breath. sometimes someone will say something in class, and she'll just kind of smile and go, "yeah."...but i think that may be because she doesn't get it in english. OH and bonus points: she's got this orange hair with dark brown roots growing out. i think she may be letting her roots go just for halloween.
2. macroeconomics.
when i went to the poli sci dept at ucsb to get my classes signed off, the head of the dept looked at me like a crazy person when i told him i was going to take macro over here. but i'm actually really enjoying this class. economics comes easily to me as long as i don't complicate it with fancy terms and overly complex theories and stuff. this professor is equally as crazy as my poli sci professor, but with an added pinch of anger and impatience. every day when we come into class, there are notes left on the board from the previous class. my prof HATES this. he goes on a rant every day about how there must be "something fundamentally wrong" with the other prof. he is appalled that anybody could be that indecent of a human being that they would leave notes on the whiteboard. my prof has started calling the other prof "his highness" and has complained to the dean of students about the situation. my prof (i have no idea what his name is) is also filled with random sayings that he says daily ("the proof of pudding is in eating" is my fav). in fact, on our midterm, we had to explain how the phrase "you can't have your cake and eat it, too" related to economics. yes, seriously. oh, and i got that midterm back today (after he went on a 20 minute rant about how the 5 people out of 26 who got Ds or Fs should see him after class). i got an A-, which i was really proud of, until i saw that he wrote "you could have easily made an A" under it.
3. french 2
well, it's kind of french 2. at ucsb, the material would be equivalent to french 3, but it's only level 2 here. anyway, i'm liking this class a lot, too (i guess i lied to you earlier when i said i don't like aup). i'm still pretty awful at french, though. i can listen to it MUCH better now, but my reading/writing is still pretty much the same and my speaking has improved only minimally. my class is filled with really fun people, though, and my teacher is a hoot. she's an older woman, a feminist, and generally seems pretty happy with life. last thursday, we listened to a french song for the entire 80 minute period. oh, that's the biggest reason french sucks--it's 4 times a week, 80 minutes at a time. yes, it blows.
4. media globalization
this is a weird class. i like the topic, but we don't really learn anything. we don't have a textbook for the class. instead, we're supposed to all read something about the topic of the week and bring that information to the class. but, predictably, only about 5 people out of 20 or so actually read something. really, we just end up debating random things that are only loosely related to media. for example, today we got into a big philosophical discussion about if you could really prove things or not. we don't have an in-class midterm or final...only a paper due at the end of the semester and a presentation on that topic. this means that i do practically NOTHING for this class except go to it. i have the typical characters in this class, though...the girl that thinks she's coming up with brand new ideas but is really ignorant and is just putting out old stereotypes; the mumbly guy who thinks he knows more than everyone and has a snide, under his breath comment after everything anyone says; the girl who has something to say about EVERYTHING. i spose it makes for an interesting 80 minutes (more like 60...nobody comes in until 15 minutes after class has started, and we've convinced her class ends 5 minutes before it actually does).
oh, that was surprisingly fun. writing about my classes makes me realize they're not THAT awful. maybe they just seem bad because there are so many better things to do than sit at a desk for 80 minutes. the weirdest thing about aup, though, is that it feels like they grabbed people off the street to be their professors. my poli sci professor jumps from topic to topic without much logic, and has actually said that they recruited her from sciences po late to teach this class, so i guess she still doesn't know what's going on. i can't tell you how many times i've beared 80 long minutes watching a totally unprepared teacher.
and WHY 80 minutes?!
you see how it looks beautiful and green right there? it never looks like that. that's what we've labeled "smoker's row." a crap ton of people smoke here, but because they can't do it inside, they go just outside the building in this small area to smoke. it's like when you're 10 and you're going through a parent-made "we are proud of you" tunnel, except minus clapping parents and plus cancer.
1. school is not the reason i came here. i've probably told you before, but if i wanted a good school, i would've stayed in santa barbara.
2. to put it nicely, aup is incomparable to the fine UC institution that i'm used to. to be a complainy bitch about it, aup blows. on a normal day, i'd rather not waste my blogging space on the school. BUT i have to be grateful, because i owe aup a million thanks for letting me have such a kick ass opportunity.
anyway, i decided in poli sci this morning (of course i wasn't paying attention) that i should tell you guys about my classes. so here it goes.
1. european politics.
i didn't meet my professor for this class until week four. yes, seriously. when i finally did, man, was in for a treat. she's this romanian woman who speaks AWFUL english (here's a sample sentence: "so how do you conceive of this problematic?"). this, however, would be forgivable...now that i've faced the language barrier and looked it in the eye, i'm much more forgiving to those who struggle with english (curiously enough, i've started to speak like i learned english as a second language, which is weird and bad). it would be forgivable if she organized interesting classes, or inspired heated debate, or taught me something. instead, she mentions a bunch of acronyms i don't know and jumps around, talking about the euro one minute and the grading system at aup in the same breath. sometimes someone will say something in class, and she'll just kind of smile and go, "yeah."...but i think that may be because she doesn't get it in english. OH and bonus points: she's got this orange hair with dark brown roots growing out. i think she may be letting her roots go just for halloween.
2. macroeconomics.
when i went to the poli sci dept at ucsb to get my classes signed off, the head of the dept looked at me like a crazy person when i told him i was going to take macro over here. but i'm actually really enjoying this class. economics comes easily to me as long as i don't complicate it with fancy terms and overly complex theories and stuff. this professor is equally as crazy as my poli sci professor, but with an added pinch of anger and impatience. every day when we come into class, there are notes left on the board from the previous class. my prof HATES this. he goes on a rant every day about how there must be "something fundamentally wrong" with the other prof. he is appalled that anybody could be that indecent of a human being that they would leave notes on the whiteboard. my prof has started calling the other prof "his highness" and has complained to the dean of students about the situation. my prof (i have no idea what his name is) is also filled with random sayings that he says daily ("the proof of pudding is in eating" is my fav). in fact, on our midterm, we had to explain how the phrase "you can't have your cake and eat it, too" related to economics. yes, seriously. oh, and i got that midterm back today (after he went on a 20 minute rant about how the 5 people out of 26 who got Ds or Fs should see him after class). i got an A-, which i was really proud of, until i saw that he wrote "you could have easily made an A" under it.
3. french 2
well, it's kind of french 2. at ucsb, the material would be equivalent to french 3, but it's only level 2 here. anyway, i'm liking this class a lot, too (i guess i lied to you earlier when i said i don't like aup). i'm still pretty awful at french, though. i can listen to it MUCH better now, but my reading/writing is still pretty much the same and my speaking has improved only minimally. my class is filled with really fun people, though, and my teacher is a hoot. she's an older woman, a feminist, and generally seems pretty happy with life. last thursday, we listened to a french song for the entire 80 minute period. oh, that's the biggest reason french sucks--it's 4 times a week, 80 minutes at a time. yes, it blows.
4. media globalization
this is a weird class. i like the topic, but we don't really learn anything. we don't have a textbook for the class. instead, we're supposed to all read something about the topic of the week and bring that information to the class. but, predictably, only about 5 people out of 20 or so actually read something. really, we just end up debating random things that are only loosely related to media. for example, today we got into a big philosophical discussion about if you could really prove things or not. we don't have an in-class midterm or final...only a paper due at the end of the semester and a presentation on that topic. this means that i do practically NOTHING for this class except go to it. i have the typical characters in this class, though...the girl that thinks she's coming up with brand new ideas but is really ignorant and is just putting out old stereotypes; the mumbly guy who thinks he knows more than everyone and has a snide, under his breath comment after everything anyone says; the girl who has something to say about EVERYTHING. i spose it makes for an interesting 80 minutes (more like 60...nobody comes in until 15 minutes after class has started, and we've convinced her class ends 5 minutes before it actually does).
oh, that was surprisingly fun. writing about my classes makes me realize they're not THAT awful. maybe they just seem bad because there are so many better things to do than sit at a desk for 80 minutes. the weirdest thing about aup, though, is that it feels like they grabbed people off the street to be their professors. my poli sci professor jumps from topic to topic without much logic, and has actually said that they recruited her from sciences po late to teach this class, so i guess she still doesn't know what's going on. i can't tell you how many times i've beared 80 long minutes watching a totally unprepared teacher.
and WHY 80 minutes?!
you see how it looks beautiful and green right there? it never looks like that. that's what we've labeled "smoker's row." a crap ton of people smoke here, but because they can't do it inside, they go just outside the building in this small area to smoke. it's like when you're 10 and you're going through a parent-made "we are proud of you" tunnel, except minus clapping parents and plus cancer.
22 October, 2007
dinner with isabelle and paul
dinner was quite enjoyable tonight. afterwards, paul grabbed his homework and we had a "let's quiz nicki on all the french words paul knows." lol. i got an F.
in france, the kids learn how to write in cursive before they print (according to mme jeanson). this is because print is on the computer, so when you write something, you should differentiate that from something typed. so you write in cursive. sounds looney to me...my handwriting in no WAY looks like a font.
paul turns 7 on nov 7th. it's his golden birthday! i should tell them that tomorrow. i bet you don't have the same thing here...they'll look at me crazy, the same way they looked at me when i told them about the tooth fairy.
in france, the kids learn how to write in cursive before they print (according to mme jeanson). this is because print is on the computer, so when you write something, you should differentiate that from something typed. so you write in cursive. sounds looney to me...my handwriting in no WAY looks like a font.
paul turns 7 on nov 7th. it's his golden birthday! i should tell them that tomorrow. i bet you don't have the same thing here...they'll look at me crazy, the same way they looked at me when i told them about the tooth fairy.
21 October, 2007
i think i know why the EU is so complicated
it's because there are too many freaking adjectives...EU? EC? TEU? MP? CCP? IGC? COREPER? CCP? MEP? ECOSOC?
hey, eu, i know how you can get more people involved. start calling things by their actual names, because then the voters will know what the hell is going on. the problem right now is that everybody is SO DAMN CONFUSED because everything is acronymized.
hey, eu, i know how you can get more people involved. start calling things by their actual names, because then the voters will know what the hell is going on. the problem right now is that everybody is SO DAMN CONFUSED because everything is acronymized.
slow dancing on the champ
yes, i did that tonight. sounds romantic, right? FALSE. but fun anyway :-D
we went back to the champ de mars tonight to watch the rugby finals. because france wasn't in it, we figured it'd be big, but not HUGE. wow, that was really not true. the grass was PACKED with painted english fans, screaming and drinking and cheering (you know, like i told you in the last entry, but times two).
as the game went on, people got increasingly drunker and friendlier. a kiwi (of course he's from new zealand...if i learned anything from oktoberfest, it's that aussies/kiwis love to drink) stumbled up to us, asks if we're american, grabs my hand, and goes, "dance with me!" well, i'm not one to turn down a lovely dance on the champ, so i let him lead me into a twist. i'm laughing hysterically and i can see a few of my friends laughing at me and andy ballroom in the middle of 204752987 rugby fans.
so some time has passed, and i'm talking with another group of friends when i look over and see andy TOTALLY MAKING OUT with his other friend. two of my other friends are just cracking up at this...turns out they told andy to make out with his friend, so he just did it. he explained to us kiwi philosophy: "you see, we don't go 'you're from this country, he's from that country.' we just love everybody, all people." evidently.
england was getting pwnd kinda...i'm sure the english will tell you it was really close, that they had a couple bad calls that cost them the game, blah blah, regular loser talk. south africa beat them , and it wasn't really close (15-6). when the game ended, the south african fans (clearly in the minority) cheered for about a minute, the screens went black, and everyone started to clear out. just like that. it was oddly calm. OH but there was trash EVERYWHERE. it was disgusting...worse than dp on november 1st.
but, now that this whole rugby thing is over, that means the city will go back to normal, which is a paris i've never really known. the rugby ball won't hang from the middle of the eiffel tower anymore and the tower won't be half green, either. there will be no men in kilts on the metro and nobody will paint their face.
does this mean it's time to transition to christmas?
p.s. i had more funny stories from tonight, but i'm so tired now...i need my rest. i'll be wit wit wit tomorrow.
we went back to the champ de mars tonight to watch the rugby finals. because france wasn't in it, we figured it'd be big, but not HUGE. wow, that was really not true. the grass was PACKED with painted english fans, screaming and drinking and cheering (you know, like i told you in the last entry, but times two).
as the game went on, people got increasingly drunker and friendlier. a kiwi (of course he's from new zealand...if i learned anything from oktoberfest, it's that aussies/kiwis love to drink) stumbled up to us, asks if we're american, grabs my hand, and goes, "dance with me!" well, i'm not one to turn down a lovely dance on the champ, so i let him lead me into a twist. i'm laughing hysterically and i can see a few of my friends laughing at me and andy ballroom in the middle of 204752987 rugby fans.
so some time has passed, and i'm talking with another group of friends when i look over and see andy TOTALLY MAKING OUT with his other friend. two of my other friends are just cracking up at this...turns out they told andy to make out with his friend, so he just did it. he explained to us kiwi philosophy: "you see, we don't go 'you're from this country, he's from that country.' we just love everybody, all people." evidently.
england was getting pwnd kinda...i'm sure the english will tell you it was really close, that they had a couple bad calls that cost them the game, blah blah, regular loser talk. south africa beat them , and it wasn't really close (15-6). when the game ended, the south african fans (clearly in the minority) cheered for about a minute, the screens went black, and everyone started to clear out. just like that. it was oddly calm. OH but there was trash EVERYWHERE. it was disgusting...worse than dp on november 1st.
but, now that this whole rugby thing is over, that means the city will go back to normal, which is a paris i've never really known. the rugby ball won't hang from the middle of the eiffel tower anymore and the tower won't be half green, either. there will be no men in kilts on the metro and nobody will paint their face.
does this mean it's time to transition to christmas?
p.s. i had more funny stories from tonight, but i'm so tired now...i need my rest. i'll be wit wit wit tomorrow.
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