careful, dad's in charge

so mme jeanson's gone for the next 5 days at some sort of conference. last night, when she told me, she was like "soooo my husband's not that good at cooking, so you can just take whatever you want out of the fridge." he retorted with a quick, "no! i'll make you a salad and put out some cheese tomorrow night." i laughed and said that would be great.

tonight, mr jeanson pops his head into my room and says something about dinner in french, which i figure out 2 minutes later is, "dinner is ready whenever you want it." i go out to the kitchen table and find a salad (aka lettuce with some oil and vinegar poured on it) with the cheeses laid out on a plate next to it. usually, for mme jeanson, those things are just sides to the main course, but tonight, that's the whole sha-bang (but i'm not complaining! cheese+salad=delicious)

i started eating and mr jeanson popped his head into the kitchen and asked me if it was all good. then he brightens up and goes, "you want a beer?" (just the last night, i had said how i usually drink beer in the states) he beered me the...beer...and then goes, "for dessert, you can have anything in the fridge."

lol. i love dads. nothing is the same as when mom is around...it's just not as orderly. usually, when i go to the kitchen to eat bfast in the morning, the cereals are nicely laid out, my bowl is centered on my plate, and my spoon is resting just next to my plate. and that's it. when i went out this morning, there was other random food left out, coffee sitting open, milk hanging out near the cereal, and general messiness. haha.

oohhh it's ALWAYS fun when mom leaves dad in charge :-)

bon nuit

my earlier analysis was correct: today WAS a great day.

i got all my french done this morning. i even read some econ. french class wasn't bad...as always, 80 minutes is a little much, but i'll deal.

uh oh. this internet connection is weak and prone to disconnection.

i went shopping with my nike+ ipod thing today. i walked about 3.5 miles, just shopping. that's why the french are so skinny.

mme jeanson (who i really want to call "isabelle," because i'm tired of the formality thing) is leaving tomorrow for 5 days. it's just me, christophe and paul. oooo boy. get ready for 5 days of miscommunication and language barriers.

things have been getting more lax around here, and i love it. i'm wearing my pjs around more, the jeansons pop their heads in to my room more often just to say hello, and i'm getting more comfortable walking around the house with them around. i don't dread coming home to them in the living room anymore. i know that sounds awful (and it's a dramatization), but i just didn't want to have to speak french or worry about how i should act or whatever. i feel like eap told us we had to act a certain way--always dress nice, be overly polite, conform to your family's schedule, always speak french (even if you suck at it), etc. that's hard for me. i'm a way informal person...i remember when i would do interviews, i would call the interviewee by first name unless i was told specifically otherwise. i think it makes things friendlier, like we're all on the same playing field. yeah yeah, i know calling someone "mr. blank" is more respectful. spit on that.

i'm very rambly and prone to tangents (and prone to overusing the phrase "prone to"). i think that's a sign that i should get some rest.

i'm already planning for 2008

my new year's resolution (new years without an apostrophe? *grammar meltdown*): run 1000 miles in 2008.

oh, this entry isn't about paris at all.

bon matin!

nobody actually says that, i don't think.

i woke up at 7:50 am all by myself this morning. that might have been because i went to sleep at 10:40 pm last night (er, 22:40...crazy army time). i put ratatouille on and, in typical arnold fashion, i was out. i'm just like mom; if you put on a movie after like 9:30 pm, i will fall asleep. i can almost guarantee that.

but, nothing is lost, because i love waking up early. already i can tell today is going to be a lovely day :-D

paul and nicki play games

we play all the time. we can't really talk (he says something to me, i look at him confused, he laughs), but playing still rules.

he's made me realize how much i love kids. i can't believe i forgot. they're just so carefree and easily pleased. it was crazy how much he laughed when he threw the ball over my head, or when i made a dumb noise. what was even more phenomenal was how happy his happiness made me.

living here with him has made me realize how much i want to work with kids when i grow up and quit being one myself.

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*