INJA

1) My run on Wednesday was probably one of the worst runs I've ever had. When I got outside and started running, of course, it started downpouring on me. Being reluctant and stubborn, I journeyed on. Soaking wet by the middle of it. I felt on the verge of a sinus infection, so that made things worse. And to top it off, I get nearly sick in the middle of the run. Now, normally, I can just suck it up and run it out or just take a slower pace and finish the run. But not Wednesday...I had to actually stop and run into a café before passing out or something on the street. Not good.
2) I am officially frustrated with my French.
3) I am truly considering doing some schoolwork really soon.
4) Last night I had my singing concert with the blind singing group, INJA. It lasted about 2.5 hours, which meant that it was 2 hours longer than I had prepared for. It's true that I made friends with 2 of the basses in my group, Lars from Berlin and José-Louis from Brittany (who, oddly enough, is a 2nd lieutenant in the military). It's true that Liisa and I were being super girly most of the night. It's true I spoke French most of the night. It's true that Etienne and I (for once) actually got along. But still, too long. Far, far too long.
The music was good. From what I gathered from the conversation, one of the blind guys was asking Etienne all about me. Don't know why. Maybe because I sing like a man? Etienne (I pray accidentally) grabbed my rear in the middle of the concert to pull me and my music towards him, which made me jump while on stage. He told me he had to use me for my music and because he didn't know the music. Still, was the toosh-touching necessary? I think not.
José-Louis promised to tell me when Sciences Po is having a gala event and that he'll wear one of his many uniforms to it. I'm really, really excited. Maybe I should bring along another military guy I know, make him wear his uniform....they could have a uniform competition! Oh, this is sounding incredible.....
5) I got in an argument with my marketing professor today. He's German, I'm American. He wants his powerpoint slides one way, I was taught another. Butting heads for 15 minutes. I think I lost when he said, "Well, you should just try to meet my standards since I'm grading your presentations." Jerk.
6) Because I'm apparently funny (in the cheeky sense) and pretty outgoing in class, my marketing class loves me.
7) Liisa and I have a system for lunch right now; every lunch we go down to the school's underground cafeteria, and we get baguettes. Then, after the baguettes, we go back and pick 2 of the "gôuters" (aka pastry/snack/things) and split them in half to sample. The chocolate ones almost always win.
8) My favorite song of the month is Amy Winehouse's "Rehab".

Cognitive Dissonance

Yesterday I just wanted to sleep the entire day.
This business class I have at bloody 8am kills the core of my very being. Not only is it abnormally early (oh come on, most work days don't start until 9am!), but the teacher! I cannot understand how he got where he is now. Not only does he lack the ability to hold an interesting lecture, or one of any substance, but he is constantly explaining to us that he doesn't know what we know and that maybe it's his fault we aren't participating. Well, then, maybe you should remedy that issue, huh? Pragmatizing might be a start for you.
Joris (who sits a few rows behind me on my left) emailed me during class telling me that I was too focussed on my laptop during class, and that I was not looking credible. Unfortunately, I actually was FOR ONCE trying to pay SOME attention to the class. Maybe I should stop paying attention...
And I gave him my midterm paper proposal, about EU and unification through language, and he just gave me this noncommital nod. Everyone else received some good (in his sense of the word, at least) feedback. I feel jipped.
So, enough complaining...

After class, some of us took out Auriane from Chantilly to a Japanese restaurant (which had bubble tea!) called Zen Zoo for lunch. It's funny; Auriane was the only non-foreigner in the group, yet we mostly felt like she was the foreigner who was being immersed into the culture. It seems to be the case when we have some of the French kids from school around with us: Joris, Auriane, Jerome....yeah, maybe this isn't such a great thing. I mean, these kids are awesome, but I feel bad that they're becoming the odd men out.
Anyways, Auriane officially dislikes Japanese food. It wasn't sushi, either. She doesn't like tofu, she doesn't like tapioca, she doesn't like satayed vegetables. Picky picky picky...She even said at the table (in French) that it was completely revolting. A bit harsh, I thought it was actually quite good.

Afterwards, Paz and I went for a long walk across the city. We ended up walking from school over by Saint Lazare, got in trouble with some cops by L'Elysées, and then all the way back to Notre Dame. It was SUCH a beautiful day out! The only problems were our bags full of school stuff and laptops. We talked a lot. That kid really is becoming my therapist, honestly...
We walked across the city to get our favorite paninis from this Italian vendor. Soooo good....
I was supposed to go to chorus practice, but I concluded I didn't feel up to it. I feel like I'm on the verge of a cold, and I had to wait for Brandon to move his luggage into my apartment (he's in the middle of moving from one apartment to another...). So, feeling completely the entire night, I agreed to go with the boys to Le Marais for dinner.
I ate a strawberry tart that was to die for.
And we walked back to school in the night. Sparkling Eiffel, well-lit Notre Dame, nice night on the Seine....IT WAS SO ROMANTIC! We all sadly commented about how romantic it was. If only we had others with us to remedy this gap of romance in such a romantic place. Oh well, we talked about accents to occupy ourselves.
I got home and was sent a paper from one of Pierre's Hungarian buddies to edit. In English. It was extremely frustrating to edit, considering I didn't understand most of what she was trying to say. I ripped that paper to shreds. I feel kinda bad about it now, but really.....it's just not pleasant to read English that makes no sense. And if I, Kimberly W, is saying that, then it must be true!

Movies and Chantilly

On Thursday I was half an hour late for my French grammar test. I had 40 minutes to finish it, and I took 30. I simply messed up the time of the class, and it’s not that huge of a deal because it wouldn’t have taken the whole hour anyways. I got an 18/20 on it, which is rare in France, I guess. It’s just not good form to be late. Kim: minus 2 points.
In between class and practice, Pierre stopped by school and took my keys to my apartment.
Chorus practice was alright. I was a complete gigglefest, for reasons that take too long to explain. And Etienne, the jerk, was egging me on a bit with some incriminating jokes. Liisa was laughing along with me, on the other side of the room. I’m sure the leader, Bonni (who’s name isn’t really Bonni, but Liisa and I have concluded that it suits her better than her already-used name), thought we were completely on something. We sang. Etienne didn’t blend with me, like usual.
I come home late to Pierre making dinner. He went all out too; salmon, pork, gratin, salad…he would say otherwise, but don’t listen to him about it. It was impressive, regardless of what he says. And it was wonderful. The table was still pulled out, so we sat far away from each other, yelling to the other side of the table for our discussion.

Marketing class on Friday was hilarious. Paz and I use our laptops during class to type up notes, and to do additional research on the topic during discussions. But we also discuss stuff via Skype to each other. And we sit next to each other. I have Joris from Marseille on one side; Paz has Auriane from Chantilly on the other. It’s a wonderful blend of locals with foreigners.
ANYWAYS! Auriane just happened to be editing Paz’s French paper, and the professor happened to wear a particularly ugly sweater. Auriane commented on it via Paz’s computer, and Joris and I read it, and we were all suppressing laughs about our comments. And then we started joking (via Paz and my computers, of course) about a handful of other things. We were probably distracting. BUT I was still paying attention in class, and the professor knew I was online researching what he said, so I saved us all by participating in the conversation and supplementing it with additional numbers and facts.
After a much needed nap, I met up with the lot of us (and Joris, the French guy!) to go to Montmartre (which is slightly sketchy at night) for some fondue. We wanted to go to this really popular place with babble bottles, but we easily settled for this place called Le Paname. We shared a table of 9 and ate Fondue Savoyard with wine (white wine with cheese, bien sûr!). I talked with Joris in French the whole time.
After the fondue defeated us, we split the group (sports bar vs. real bar) and my side followed Joris to Odéon for this slightly dead cave (aka underground) bar “L’Escale”, I think. The cocktail that Joris bought was simply AMAZING, so I bought one for myself. The DJ was horrific and played the most peculiar, non-nightlife menagerie of music. Alex and I simply loved the terrible music, and we danced. Liisa joined us for some of it (girls dance party!), but mostly it was Alex and I doing the mashed potatoes to songs from the 50’s and salsa to some current Latin music. We made everyone laugh hard with our slightly ridiculous dancing, and the night was well finished.

When I signed onto the Sciences Po Chorus, they told me (nay, promised!) that we would only have one night of practice per week. They failed to tell me about the weekly supplemental practices…So Saturday, I went to a 2-hour practice. I sang alone, damn Etienne. On a plus side, I was singing so much better because he wasn’t there to mess me up!
One of the guys in chorus is super nice to me and helps me out with my endless issues. We talked after practice, and I found out he’s just on exchange from this military school in Brittany (France). He’s a second lieutenant. And I wonder to myself; do I have a French military MAGNET in my skull somewhere that someone has failed to inform me? I have been meeting and befriending so many military people here since I’ve arrived, it’s almost creepy! Anyways, we had an interesting conversation before I left early for my coffee date….
That I should have never gone to. So I put my name on this bored that says “I will speak English with you if you speak French to me”, basically, so this guy calls me and asks to meet up. Sure, I’m a nice person. I joked beforehand that I had a hot date. It was FAR from it. This guy has graduated a while ago and is in research. He is graying and balding; I mistakenly took him for homosexual at first; and, mostly, he has the personality of a 2by4. That’s a hunk of wood. Dry wood.
The hour was long, and I drank my tea too quickly. I was counting minutes. The conversation was motionless, if not placid. Yes, I’m a student. Oh, where have you gone? Nowhere? Oh, do you have any hobbies? No? Oh, alright….
Painful.
Ran home quickly to make dinner for a smaller dinner party. It took a while. Pierre and I had issues with the potato latkes, and Rimi tried to help, but to no avail. We had a lot of food for a smaller group of people. And it was decent. They all are eager to meet my parents, which I find particularly amusing. After dinner we watched the sequel to Auberge l’Espagnole, called Les Poupées Russes. We all were interacting quite verbally with the movie. It was a treat to watch. And the guys made it very clear as to which girls they thought were hot or not…

Pierre and I ended up going to a little town north of Paris, Chantilly. We wanted to go earlier, but we ended up not getting around to it until later. Pierre, being the fast walker he can be, was in a rush to get to the chateau (from the train stration) before they closed the gates. That means I was about 10 paces behind him for the 20 minute walk, half-walking-half-jogging the way. We missed it, because of me. But at least we were able to meander throughout the parks and gardens there.
The Chateau de Chantilly is actually quite picturesque. I was oggling it for the whole day, despite its overcast skies. On top of an ever-so-convenient pond/lake/moat, this slightly embellished mansion is ever-so-romantically set. The parks are quite lovely, too.
We walked around the parks and gardens for a few hours. There was a particularly romantic area (Penny would have had a HAYDAY in this area) because of the gazebo in the middle of a babbling brook with running deer nearby and grass completely surrounding the area. I was excited, to say the least.
We ended up finding this itty bitty tea salon in the middle of the park to have some hot cocoa and a spice cake. With Crème de Chantilly (the ORIGINAL whipped cream and/or cool whip). Holy heart attack! That stuff was soooooo rich! It was, dare I say, stronger than Cornish Cream! We plowed through that cream with every ounce of effort. Practically made ourselves sick on that stuff. It was delicious, but man....roll'd out of that hut!
Got a train home a little bit later and we finished off some of the leftovers from last week. We also finished a box of amazing Belgian chocolates. We watched half of "Hors de Prix" (odd little movie), but Pierre left in the middle of it to get home and sleep.
After throwing down a few hundred Euros (and a few hundred tears) for my spring break, I fell asleep faster than you can say, "Go to bed, Kim".

Shmeh

Not much has been going on.
Dinner with people.
Brandon sleeping over.
Waking up to Brandon cleaning my apartment.
You know, the usual.

Today it was hailing outside for half of the day. That was odd. Paz and I are walking around the area, and all of a sudden pelts of ice are careening into our skulls.
I had a concert (for real, this time) tonight. We only had to sing 2 songs, including the EU National Anthem (which is, FYI, Beethoven's 9th/Ode to Joy). That is in German, English, and French. Longest bloody song I've sang in a while.
Afterwards, I ran to Lesley's place to say hi for once while I'm in Paris. It was a brief rendezvous.
I met up with the kids nearby to get dinner. I overate: escargots, hamburger frites (it was French because of the egg on top of it), and fondant au chocolat. Tomorrow I'll run it off I hope.

I have a test tomorrow. And three presentations to prepare for someday. And a paper.
*Yawn*

re-Vittel-issez Vous!

Let's see.....anything worth discussing on the blog?

Hung out with the boys (that being James, Neil...and Dan) the whole week, since the first two were visiting for spring break. It was interesting, and infuriating at the same time. Dan has lived here a month longer than me, and was acting as if he knew the town so well, but he didn't have a CLUE where things were. I can't go more into this topic without ranting and lecturing and venting, so I'll just leave it at that right now.
By the way, we walked by this really weird building that was decorated in the most confusing manner.....on 59 Rivoli.
Made dinner for the kids on Wednesday. HAPPY PI DAY! Made brownies, though, because Paz and Lorena insisted. A huge group of us all ended up walking to the Eiffel in the middle of the night. It was very nice. And Neil threw me over his shoulder and we walked some more. Pierre and I talked during the walk, and it was nice.

I like talking about life in simple terms sometimes.

Thursday I had a long day with French. French class was particularly hard to talk in, and I had to go straight to the chorus practice, needs to Etienne the Tenor/Bass sadist. Jerk. I blew up on him (calmly, via writing notes) about how he didn't tell me I was singing with BLIND people. He laughed the whole time. I made another friend in the chorus in the Bass section...hopefully he'll be of more help than Etienne has been to me.
Afterwards, Liisa and I went to get takeaway from this really tastey Indian Restaurant near my place.

Friday, Neil and I went for a walk around and had a heart-to-heart. He's really helping me out with some of my personal issues.
We then met up with James and went to the Louvre for maybe 1.5 hours, which isn't a lot of time. We ate dinner with a bunch of the kids here, and came back to my place and had a lot of fun and laughs.

Am I a boring person or what? Only on this blog, I hope.

Saturday, I agreed to cook a dinner for 10-15 kids. It was nerve wracking. I ended up sanitizing the apartment before even starting with the meal. Luckily, Pierre came over a little bit early to help me cook the monstrosity of a meal. And he came in his new uniform for the military. It looks really great on him, and I was bubbly like a school girl on a field trip.
Peter came over, too, but he was of no help to us.
Basically, the night mostly consisted of Pierre and I working in the kitchen while the rest of the kids hung out in the living room like a family waiting in a hospital to hear about how a dramatic surgery went.
The meal was pretty decent (AND CHEAP!). We talked for a while, until kids started parting their ways to finish Saint Patty's in designated pubs. Pierre and I ended up staying in talking and watching Grey's Anatomy (he was really eager to watch it). Which is funny, because as soon as the show started, I compeltely forgot I was in France. So much English!

Today, after sleeping in, I met up with Liisa and Alex at the Louvre to see Liisa's ex in a music festival. We all thought it was this lowkey event in some corner of the museum. We get there to find out that this was some huge world (or at least European) music show; Musicora. We were gawking at beautiful instruments, perusing some gems of sheet music, and enjoying the atmosphere of music lovers and connaisseurs. I felt at home, and realized just how much I truly miss music in my life. I think it's time to reboot the music gene!
Liisa's friend was a cellist in this Mozart quartet. It was DELIGHTFUL! Very well done, and truly appreciated by the entire audience.
My day is done. I have to go to bed, or start homework for tomorrow, or something.

Singing Blind?

I get to chorus practice. The practice that I was told by my tenor colleague (the twerp) was a concert. The practice in the completely opposite side of the city from our school, in a building nothing to do with school....INJA? Don't know it. What is going on? Oh, it gets better.
So, I get into the building by a sheer stroke of luck, and someone leads me up to the room where my chorus is. And the Sciences Po orchestra (consisting of 8 people...). And there seems to be special needs people in the audience.
"Okay," I think to myself, "So we're having a little show for the special needs people."
Then the special needs people get on the stage with us.
Now I'm confused, and slightly nervous.
My tenor partner isn't there (of course), so I'm all of a sudden surrounded by strange men who are trying to talk to us but I can't understand their slurred French. WHAT is going on?
Through using my slewthing skills, I deduce that these people are mostly blind. And the non-blind ones are their leaders.
And then the blind headmaster starts conducting.....for blind people....and the Sciences Po kids. This is normal, right? For a blind man to be conducting a sea of blind people in music? Because they can see him?
The organist was blind, too.
And it was ridiculous because I sing quietly (since I'm singing low) but the blind men were matching my pitch and following my lyrics. I could tell they were changing words to fit mine!
It was the most flustering 2.5 hours of my life.

BRUSSELS, Belgium

We had 8 hours in Brussels, and we did all we needed to do.

The trainride was only 1.5 hours, not even. So I got in a bit of a tiff with one of the conductors about how I had something on my ticket that I shouldn't have had. I don't know, I ended up paying yet another fine to the higher powers for me not fully understanding the language and beaureaucratic system. And this is why I have French Public Transportations.

We get to Brussels, realizing we're completely clueless, in the pouring rain, and lost. We end up in the wrong side of Brussels, where they don't speak anything but either Lebanese or Arabic.
Ended up finding our way over by 16th/17th century philosopher/saint/bishop Erasmus' House. Which was interesting. He had a LOT of books. And lots of people drew portraits of him. His gardens were lovely. And admission was only 1.25 Euros.

We Metro-ed it up over to the center of town. It was still raining. We found ourselves eating at this Mediterranean place, Olympus. Frites were excellent. Rain stopped. Explored more. We started walking by a lot of chocolate shops in this bustling little arcade.

At first Brussels wasn't that impressive. I didn't understand what the big commotion was all about for the town. And then we found it. Le Grand Place. We all stopped and Wow-ed (simultaneously, of course). Simply stunning. One of those moments where you really, truly want to just take a massive portait picture of everything you can see in 360º. Hôtel de Ville, Musée de Bruxelles...compeltely gothic buildings just dripping with details. Magnificent, truly.
We gawked there for a while before we went anywhere else.
We then found our way to the Museum of Chocolate (yes, there is one in the world). This alone put me in pure euphoria. We got to sample lots of free chocolate, too. The museum itself is really low-key, low-technology, and très petite, but I was pleasantly contented nevertheless.

Then off we went to sample all of the nearby chocolateries of their chocolatey goodness. There was this nice strip of chocolate shops nearby the museum, so we continued to stuff our faces with delectable Belgian joy. It was great. I bought a kilo of chocolate, by the end of the day.

We shopped for a few hours. And we gawked more at Belgian waffles (gaufres for those who speak français). We aimlessly wandered for a few hours, where we happened to stumble upon a relatively large hilled plaza that had stairs up to the commerce section of the city. Though starting to lose our energy, we conquered those staircases and finally got up to the top of the Palais Congres. The skyline of Brusells from this area was great. Hotel de Ville sticks out like a huge needle over the rest of the city. I loved it.

One of the highlighted tourist sites here is a fountain statue of a child urinating (Manneken-Pis). It's maybe a foot high, but it gets a lot of hype. They even have an art gallery of clothing made for the statue. People loved it. I was noncommital about it.

But at nighttime, the Grand Place was absolutely breathtaking. See picture. The already beautiful buildings were lit up and glowing!
We ate dinner in a (and expensive) café in the Grand Place, and grabbed a waffle before running to catch my train home.
I'm glad I got to go to Brussels. But I think I wouldn't need more than a day to see it all.

A Pick-Me-Up

Busier than life. In class right now, relearning all that Stern has taught me in the last 3 years. Felt it appropriate to update the blog.
So, that night I wrote last, I decided on COMPLETE impulse to make a day-trip the next day to Brussels with old roommate, Emily. She decided to come over that night, too, so she could meet some French guys. Pierre and Nicolas (his friend visiting from Toulouse) came over midnight-ish and made a leak quiche FROM SCRATCH! Only Frenchmen, right? They literally kicked me out of my kitchen (Pierre says that I'm not allowed in the kitchen when he's in my place...) and cooked. Dinner by 1am. Emily left early. The boys stayed and talked with me until around 5am. It was a fun conversation, over some EXCELLENT quiche.

I had 3 hours of sleep. Kim was a riot on Friday (as you should know if you've seen me after studying all night).

The next day I went to Brussels for the day. That will come in the next entry. It was great.
Pierre and Nicolas picked me up at the train station late that night. Think 10pm? And what is best, but Pierre got me some chocolate...even though I had just returned from a day of chocolatey voracity. It was pdg (pretty damn good), too.
We went to the Tokyo Palace just before it closed. It's this temporary art gallery, full of avante garde stuff. There was a (rotting) art exhibit that was purely based on food. Kind of nasty. There was a few other interesting exhibits (one including playing music for plants).
But my favorite was about the micronations. These REAL utopian countries (not recognized by the UN) the size of walnuts that have their own passports, visas, currency....everything!!! I want to join some...I have joined one!
Afterwards, we walked around, saw the Eiffel sparkle, scale the Champs Elysées, and found this remarkably trippy house that had no real windows, but painted messed up ones. See picture.

Crashed hard. Woke up early remembering that I had a chorus practice in the early afternoon, for 3 hours. THAT was fun. Singing tenor next to primadonna, who's 25 years old and tells me (in French, no less) about how young I am. I was mistakenly told that I had a concert this Tuesday (which is not so), so I freaked out for a good portion of the practice. And there was a wretched string quartet that came to practice with us. Ears bled. In break, Liisa (Finland) and I concluded that something had to happen that night.
Ran into Rahul and Peter on the street, where we concluded that my dinner parties should become a weekly Saturday night ritual. So we ran a few errands together, and then agreed to meet up chez moi later on.
I made a veggie lasagna from scratch, and improvised. And it was DAMN good, if I do say so myself. I am an excellent cook. And modest.
People came and went, and we talked (as usual). Lauren came in from Dublin late that night, and she joined in the festivities until late.

Sunday morning I woke up late to remember that I was to be at Charles De Gaulle to pick up James and Neil. Got there 4 hours late. I'm a terrible friend. And a horrid navigator.
Got them finally, and went back to the city, where we got some lunch at a nearby café. Lauren was off on her own.
Followed by a pleasant walk around the 7th arrondissement. Planted it on the park in front of the Eiffel. Wrestled and practiced jiu jitsu (be surprised) for a while, while I was planning with Pierre dinner that night. We went to this cute little place by school called Jardin de St.Germain. Typical nice French restaurant. Rabbit, duck, beef bourgogne, crème brulée... Luckily Pierre was there to order the majority of the food (thank goodness for French guys). The boys were crashing fast (damn jet lag), and Lauren was a complete giggle fest.

Yesterday (finally), I had class all day. Went for a morning jog around Hotel des Invalides (very stunning in the morning, you know). Classes were boring. Fell asleep during the majority of them.
Paz and Brandon joined the boys and me to dinner in the Latin Quarter at our typical gyro place. Concluded that I should make brownies for Pi Day, 3/14 (though that's NOT pie). Got a crêpe. Had a class. Boring day. I got home to find James and Neil cleaning my apartment (what's up with guys wanting to clean up my place?). Had a long chat on Skype. And went to bed late.

Now I'm in class where the guy is talking about what Equity and Debt is.......oh, you've got to be kidding...

What a Crêpe

This day has been the culmination of the last 5 years of my life.

I did absolutely nothing.

Literally. I woke up feeling pretty not-so-hot and crumby, and a bit emotionally fritzed, so I ended up sanitizing my bathroom and cleaning my entire apartment. And anyone who has lived with me for a substantial period of time should be able to tell you what that means.

But I did have a really crazy dream last night. Something about this person I was in a marketing class group with last semester coming to my Boston house and seducing me and then him morphing into several other people all the while. And something else about playing with childhood toys in Buffalo with my childhood pal, Beth?

I went to my one class of the day, which I was in a bumbling daze for the entire time.
And I went home as soon as it finished, which is now. I grabbed a crêpe on the way home. And let me tell you, it was meticulous. Which means it was very good. But I won't lie; messy and gooey crêpes have their place, too. This guy might have been obsessive compulsive, crêpe-style.

I might be going out with a bunch of Scandinavians for dinner (gorge, I say! GORGE!). Or Pierre and his friend from Toulousse might swing on by. I don't know.
Otherwise, I have no real means of communication to my friends in Paris, and I'm just going to coagulate in my own private blob here in the 15ème of Paris.

Sky, my husband!

Well, I officially run like crap. Brandon joined me on a jog on Monday morning, and I felt sick for a long time during it, and he went off to do laps while I heaved my way to the turn around point.
Monday was boring. Classes were meh.
I found out how hard it is to understand French kids when they talk in ENGLISH! 3 presentations in class, and not a bit of it understood. It made me feel better about my French.

Tuesday was just an 8am class that never ended. Our TA turns out to be super-bitch, and locks the door before class starts, and yells at us for not participating with the completely indifferent professor.
Paz and I talked online for the entire class about how much the class didn't have any real substance.
Had a meeting for my marketing class, where the guys concluded to talk in predominantly French because their English isn't super. That was a trip.
Boring night chez moi.

Today was pretty good. No classes, woke up and had a kinda peculiar run.
Met up with Pierre, and we ended up going to this museum deemed Cluny or something (Moyen Âge?) about the Middle Ages. It was pretty awesome, actually. The artifacts were beatiful and interesting. Spent many hours in there.
Later on, Pierre and I went to the tabac at Sorbonne and ate some really good omelettes and a not-so-fabulous chocolate dish. And cappucino tastes like ham. Gross.
Had chorus tonight, with the tenors and basses. I was the only tenor, so that was odd. And I must insist right now; my French is NOT up to par! That was a rough 2 hours.......

Had a longer conversation with Pierre on Skype tonight. Discussed some current events and solved world problems. It was much needed, and mostly appreciated.

I Smell French Toast!

What HAVE I been doing all this time? Well....lots.

Thursday
I was supposed to get lunch with Dad's friend, Etienne. But, when I got to his perfume boutique, Juan informed me that there was a death of a friend, so Etienne was in the country. Juan took me out to lunch, instead. This itty bitty Italian brasserie hidden on some side street near Pompidou. I didn't know WHAT was on the menu, so Juan agreed to order for me. We talked in French for most of the time, and I felt awesome about it. He's more nervous about talking in English than I am about French! That was encouraging. Unfortunately, he was called back early to the office for an interview with Elle Magazine or something, so he left me (luckily with a paid bill) with half of his meal to finish.
Feeling encouraged about my French skills, I concluded to go join the Sciences Po Chœur. I get in, and realize that my French actually DOES suck. They were talking SO quickly that my head was spinning! I didn't know WHAT was going on, let alone what I was singing or how I should sing it. The group is almost completely women. The leader of the group remembered that I emailed him about volunteering for the tenor section, so I was with one other guy (who sings like an opera tenor diva) on the tenor part. He was laughing at me the entire time because I looked (and felt, and was) completely lost. Nice guy, really. His name is Etienne. Aaaand apparently I have a concert in about a week or two. That wouldn't be such a problem if the chorus wasn't "bad" and if I knew how to access a piano somewhere in this city!!! (Thank god Juan today volunteered to let me into his dorm at the cité to use the piano.)
And THEN, after chorus, I brought 2 of the other exchange students (Liisa from Finland and Bastien from Germany) out with me to meet up with the gang (being, Rahul, Paz, Peter, and Brandon) for dinner at this Mexican joint. The food was WAY overpriced, so we left a bit peturbed...but the conversation was full and fun-filled.
We ended up walking to this club event that Sciences Po was throwing...called Black Out. Sketchy Mc-Sketch of a title, yes. But fitting. It was SOO packed...I swear, if there had been a fire, we would have all been done for. But the music was loud and intense. And there was a lot of dancing. A lot of dancing. Lorena and I tried to teach Paz how to dance. Success to be determined. It was funny because you could tell who were the exchange students and who were French; the French kids wore white shirts under the black lights, and the foreigners wore other colors and had their lint showing up everywhere.

I got home at 3am, to sleep a few hours before my class.
Friday
Well, my international marketing class is a joke. No one in the class (save Paz and me) have ANY marketing experience in any way at all. I'm the only marketing major, so my teacher has pegged me as the class TA type thing. What's worse, the class is MARKETING 101!!!!! I mean, Paz pulled up notes from his Stern class from 2 semesters ago, and they were the same! Word for word...This is my major we're talking about, here. Oh sweet lord...
Lorena joined up with us later for lunch at St.Michel. After we walked around, and after I bought two RIDICULOUSLY shaped brioches, we concluded to go back home.
Pierre and I met up to go see a movie "La Vie Des Autres". German movie, French subtitles. Not easy. Whatsoever. Luckily, I had Pierre next to me explaining bit by bit the plot of the movie. I think with all 3 languages, I was able to understand the movie as much as I fully could. Interesting movie about East Germany before the wall fell, and how the communist government would spy on people.
We hit up Paz's place later on and hung out for a few hours. Lorena and I tried to encourage the boys to dance, but they were quite opposed to the matter. Paz gave in a bit, but Pierre was being stubborn. Pierre WILL dance one of these days. Oh yes, he will...
Paz kicked us out to talk to his girlfriend back at home. So Lorena, Pierre and I went back to the Cité. Pierre and I ended up showing pictures to each other and staying up all night talking. I crashed at his place. ...and this is when I start exercising my diplomatic abilities...

Saturday
I was exhausted all day. I didn't want to do anything. I went for a run anyways.
I talked to Ido on the phone for a little while to figure out his visit to Paris.
Later in the day, Brandon gives me a call and talks to me about having people over for dinner. I mean, it's fine, I love my friends, and I love to cook, so I said yes. But when six other kids showed up (including one I didn't know?), that's when I felt a little flustered. The boys bought the materials for cooking, and I ended up cooking 3 different type of dishes (a chicken stirfry, some pasta, and cous cous...). It was intense. Everyone running in and out of my itty bitty kitchen to grab things here and there. Dinner was good, though. LOTS of left overs. And our conversation, as always, was bountious.
Brandon ended up missing the last train out, so he spent the night on my pull-out couch. After counselling me in some current events...

I woke up remembering I had a lunch date with Juan and his girlfriend, Patricia at one. So I bolted, leaving Brandon stuck in my place.
I met up with the two Spaniards by Pompidou at this place called Les Marroniers. At first we talked in English to improve their speaking skills, but I could tell after a while they were getting tired of it (they aren't fluent...), so we switched into French. They are such delightful people!!! Wonderfully accepting and kind! We potlucked our meals together and discussed Spain and America and France and everything else we could discuss with a limit of words and understandings.
We ended up going to the Musée Picasso afterwards. Every first Sunday of the month is free in any French museum, it's fabulous! We walked around the museum for a few hours. I ran into a lot of Sciences Po kids there somehow, too. I actually am starting to appreciate Picasso a lot more now, too! I like some of his art more, discovered some new favorites, and talking in French the whole time! It was lovely.
I got home to see how Brandon was fairing. He ended up cooking me french toast for dinner. Not to mention he had cleaned my apartment while I was gone! Gosh, that kid is going to make a great wife someday.
I talked to Nate on Skype for a few hours. He helped me sort out some things I've been fretting about. And we joked about our secret feelings towards Stephen Spielberg....something about volleyballs and rope and a yarmulke? Nevertheless, a much needed conversation.

I have to go to bed. Brandon and I agreed to go running in the morning.

...

Stuff.
Lots.
Let me just have some time to figure out what exactly is going on.
So much to do!
Lots.

Getting Married

Classes are going alright. I'm taking all English-speaking classes because I don't trust my French. I thought that it would mean that I wouldn't meet any French kids, but boy, was I wrong.
I went to French Opera, and there are about 15 French kids, and maybe 7 exchange students. My 2 teachers have extremely thick accents. Apparently all of the French kids want to take English, because my friends in French-speaking classes say they're full of exchange kids.
Same situation for my International Economic Negotiaions. Except...I think I've already taken this class before at NYU, and my professor is a guest professor from Columbia U. This means that not only is it, essientially an American-taught class, but that I have to stay in it and listen to everything I've already learned all over again. All for the price of getting referencs at Columbia.
My European Business Environment class is a bit different. It's early, so Paz and I agree that the class better be good. It's mostly exchange kids; alright, I can deal. But when the professor doesn't even seem to care about the material (that you have probably already studied before at Stern), that's when things aren't as right. Shoot.
I have 2 classes I've yet to take, though. Let's hope they're fun! Word usage is essential for sarcasm.

Anyways, Monday Rahul calls me while I'm at school to tell me I'm eating dinner with him and a group of our friends for his 21st birthday. Surprising, but I agree. Wine, cheese, baguette...and vodka? Now, I stand firmly on my 100% alcohol-free weekday-nights rule, so I didn't drink. But the other kids did. Designated Dave, meet Kim. We ended up going to Le Mandarin (and yet, it's Thai food) for a big dinner, where there was a heated debate about what Europe is and who should be allowed in the EU and whatnot. You know, cultured things to talk about with a bunch of drunks. Loud English speakers, meet Parisians who are not happy with your loud talk.

Yesterday I went out with Pierre for the day. We first made our way to La Mosquée Arabe for tea and pastries (which were formidable, by the way). The restaurant area is stunning! With completely authentic decorations ceiling to floor. Birds flying through, animals flying through (sounds dégoutant, but trust me, it was charming). The colors were marvelous. It was quite a site for sore eyes, I'll tell you that much.
Six hours after having gotten there, we left the place and started for a walk to find a place to eat. Yes, it was maybe 10pm, and we were trying to find dinner. He brought me over to this Japonais area and we ended up getting sashimi bowls (and a bastardization of Spicy Tuna Rolls) and sipping on green tea (of course). We were the last people in the restaurant before they closed up (and there was a huge mishap with a waitress and a glass wall....glass everywhere....hard-to-control laughter from our side of the restaurant).
Walked around a bit more afterwards, and finally got home around 2am.

Let me tell a little bit about Pierre. He's working on finishing his masters at EHESS. He's 22-ish. He's originally from Toulousse. His dad's American, and he frequents Seattle to visit. He speaks English perfectly, knows Italian, and speaks Russian. And he is simply amazing to listen to. This guy has not only been through inimaginable situations and had such luck (and misfortune) bestowed upon him, but he still manages to be normal! Twelve hours of finding out about him, and my jaw still hurts from dropping it so often. AND he just landed a job I could only dream about (regarding some high-end, high-brow diplomacy position....it's complicated, and I'm not going to explain it). And to top it all off, he's a nice guy and EXTREMELY patient when I bumble through broken French. He's a jem of a person, I'll tell you that much. We agreed to marry so I could get a French passport, and he could get a US one.

Back to reality.

Today Paz woke me up so we could go walk around Paris a bit on our day off. Lorena met up with us after we had lunch nearby campus. They decided to gang up on me all day. I hope they know that the wrath of Kim will be coming to them soon. Do I really have a wrath? HAH! No.
We ended up walking around the 1st and 2nd arrondissements (they're just blocks of Paris...), found a church, shoe shopped...Paz "rock climbed" up a statue. I dragged the kids into a music shop (just so I could touch a piano again...gosh, I miss it). We also ate an early dinner at this REALLY GOOD Italian stop. The panini was delicious, and the tiamisu was what I needed at the time. I need to go back there.

By the way, I love how if someone reads this blog and know me, they're going to automatically freak out and skim through this whole thing just because of the title.
Otherwise, I went to FNAC (like a Borders) to get some French reading books. I have been sitting here all night working on my CV, and thinking I might need to end this day.