Cheese, Pastries and Children: My Year in France: Never let average be the word that describes you

I shall start by apologizing for my long absence. My life is getting into a groove and the weeks are quite uneventful. I watch children, I cook, I eat, I run, I go to school, I watch American tv, I empty the dishwasher, I bathe children, I shower myself, I walk a lot to get said children. I don’t do much during the week because by the time I get off I just don’t feel like it and there isn’t a TON to do around my area. That being said, I still apologize for my absence. I have spent two weekends in Paris since my last writing and I have also pondered a lot of things and talked with my friend about our lives and our situations and so I probably have a good amount to say, so don’t be sad.

Since signing up to run a half marathon, after only running on the regular for five months and being out three weeks with an injury and moving to another country…I have been reading a lot of sites and blogs about equipment, running in the cold, stretching, energy supplements, what to except and other running related things. One of the sites I came across which was addressing running your first half marathon, talked about motivation. I know exactly why I signed up to do this. There are several reasons, but I have to say knowing exactly why I want to do this is beyond motivating. If there was a word to describe that, insert it here. The days I want to say what the hell, I am over it, or the days I get down on myself and question myself…I think of three words, motivation, dedication and inspiration. Then I remember why I signed up in the first place and I get super high and think I can take on the world. Clearly, that is not the case, but it sure as hell helps. It also helps to have someone to talk to about it and my running coach is the best. Really. Follow her blog at psyched2un.com because she really is great. Her blog is also very helpful for different things. Anyway, I am still busting ass trying to train for this. Speed training, I have decided is literally the worst thing in the world. I threw up again the other day speed training. Just whyyy are you so hard?! I also recently ran the longest I have ever run in my life, 6.8 miles. When I started running in like July, I could only run a mile without stopping and I was doing a 15 minute mile. I’ve cut sooo much time off my old times and I can consistently run at a pace I am okay with. My coach says time doesn’t matter, but the time is motivating, and cutting time makes things so much better. I am still kind of on track to make this half marathon my bitch in March, I just hope I make it…

Two weekends ago I went to Paris to go shopping. I mostly shop at places we have at home including H&M, that’s also because I am really poor. There is a store here called Zara, which we also apparently have somewhere in the US. We spend a lot of time there as well. We decided it is like an upscale Forever 21. Much cuter clothes and shoes but so much stuff and so many different styles. I bought a coat from a store called Promod. I LOVE this coat and they were having a sale so in the end it was only like 54 euros. Which is kind of amazing for a coat. We had planned on leaving Paris this weekend early, but that didn’t happen because we went to “our” bar and things escalated quickly. After several Markers Mark’s and coke…and shots…we did not leave early.

We met up with one of our South African friends and we actually like him. He has a girlfriend which makes us relax and we know that he does not want to take us home. He bought us drinks and we had like a 20 minute discussion on what the hell a wanker is compared to the English language. I also found out my bartender friend no longer works there, but this is okay because there is a deadlocked, very attractive man from New Zealand which also means…sexy accent. They were playing a rugby game with the New Zealand team and a Scottish team. Because we seem to so lucky, we also got a Scottish older bartender. So many good things in one place. We hung out with our South African friend all night till we were so drunk we needed to catch a train home. I also made friends with some old dudes at the bar who were visiting because they were on a Business trip in London. Super nice dudes.

Wondering drunk through the streets of Paris wasn’t the smartest thing we could have done. That is for sure, and I am not sure my parents were all that happy with the crazy ass text messages I was sending about being lost, which I wasn’t, and being hammered, which I was. I amaze myself sometimes even when I am drunk because I can manage to get serious and get where I need to be. Thank god for the two of us. We also stopped at McDonalds. My friend never eats. I don’t know why, but it makes me feel really fat. Anyway, on our drunken trek to the metro to get to the train station we stopped at McDonalds and I bought us some cheeseburgers. I have never seen someone so happy to each a freaking McDonalds cheese burger in my whole life. I have also never heard someone praise one so much. Literally for 10 minutes on our trek… this is the best cheeseburger I have EVER had; this is soooo good; this cheeseburger is so great!

Last weekend when we went to Paris I got to eat an American breakfast. I cannot explain to you how happy I was for this. I LOVE breakfast. Besides seafood and maybe cheeseburgers, breakfast is my favorite food. There is an American place in Paris called “Breakfast in America” and it is great. I also got to have a Dr. Pepper, which I have never seen since I have been here. Coke and diet coke but that’s it really. After that we went shopping again. We then went to another district of Paris and had Asian food for lunch. I have still yet to see the Eiffel Tower close up. That was my plan last Saturday and it didn’t work out. I split from my friend and went to see the Hunger Games. It was great. I also realized that because I am here on a student visa, I get discounts! Student discounts everywhere! Seriously, this is amazing because things are not cheap here. Hunger games was what I fine. I went to a theatre on the Champs Elysees; when I went into the theatre it was light outside and when I came out it was dark. My breath was literally taken away when I walked outside. The entire street is lit up with Christmas lights. Not only that but at one end is the Arc de Triomphe and the other is a Ferris wheel set up for the season. The businesses also have different colored lights pointing at the buildings. It is such an amazing site. No picture that I took came anywhere near what I was actually seeing. I was planning then to see the Eiffel Tower at night but when I started walking I realized it was late and I only kinda knew where I was going and I should hold off. So I went back to H&M to buy some shoes then got some dinner and took the train home.

In between and in my down time I have been Christmas shopping. It has been exhausting and expensive when you make nearly zero dollars per month. Not only that, but it makes me sad. I always spend Christmas with my family and we always have a great time. My sister wakes us up at 5am like we are 10 year olds and we open gifts a certain way and it is really great. This year is so different. I don’t know if I am really looking forward to it all that much. I am hoping for a white Christmas and I will be in Paris which is ridiculous but, it is still a lot.

I also do a lot of thinking in my down town and there are some things I have come to realize.

1. This is a hard job. Not necessarily because of the work although, that is difficult at times and gets hairy and you have to tread a lot of lines but it is the line treading that is worse. These people are my family but they are my bosses. I also am living in their home so there is a respect aspect and also the feeling of not being “home” although they might want you to feel like that. It is really difficult.

2. I packed so so terribly. Literally I have worn like maybe 40% of what I brought because that is all that is relevant. I knew it would be cold here and yet I don’t seem to have enough warm shoes. The same for clothes. I brought one coat, like how stupid is that?! I did not bring my tall boots which, again, stupid. I brought open toed dress shoes…dumb dumb dumb. I have been looking for a heeled, short boot for a dressier shoe. I mean my wardrobe is a complete disaster. My friend is having the same problem.

3. I am eating foods I NEVER EVER eat at home. I don’t feel comfortable just saying hey I hate this and that which is sometimes what I’d like to do. I am en extremely picky eater, but here, it all seems to be out the window. I am eating tons of salmon…which I don’t love. Cucumbers like it’s my job, although I do like these. Beans, lentils (which are gross I hate eating these). Duck, which again I like but don’t eat it often at home. So many different kinds of ham. Cheese, which I am so lucky because it is all amazing. Just the diet here is so different from home and I am coming to like things I never did before. I think this is a huge positive in this journey.

This weekend we are staying in Paris for the weekend which is great. No worrying about getting on the train on time drunk, just making it back to the hotel room drunk. Also it saves money on train and metro tickets which start to add up at some point. We also found an American grocery store called…Thanksgiving…which we will be checking out. Tomorrow I have a doctor’s appointment, which sucks and makes me angry but C’est dommage. I am also going to cook some thanksgiving dinner for my family here. Something small and nothing crazy. Maybe some mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and turkey? Maybe some bread? They don’t have the ingredients here that I need to make very many things. That and they don’t eat like we do and the kids hate almost all food that doesn’t include bacon or grilled cheese. I have included a bunch of pictures and while I am sure I could write more this is good for now.

I do want to say I miss my family and friends very much. You have no idea. I hope everyone is doing well and I can’t wait to see you all again…soon…ish.

Title quote: My old dance teacher puts up these daily motivational quotes and they are really inspiring. I really liked the one he did today, so Carlos, thank you.