Je ne sais quoi

I thought about describing to you my doings of late. My trip to Montpellier (which was the best weekend of my life), my trips to Paris or even my mundane daily activities of... well...nothing. Instead I think I might just talk about random things.

Have you ever seen the movie or read the book the Outsiders? I like it because it talks about what it actually means to be an outsider. It seems at some point or another everyone in the book feels like they don't belong in either their own group or the other cliques that exist. I've been thinking about this situation a lot lately because lets face it I am an outsider in many ways. Then I realized that its ridiculous. It's a weird defense mechanism. Protecting yourself from being judged by giving others something to judge on purpose. That way what they are judging isn't you its your fake image. Brilliant. Now though, not only are you protecting yourself from the people that aren't in your "group" but those who are in it as well because once you step outside your house wearing a mask...you have to wear it all the time. Its not like Ross's british accent where you can slowly, sneakily get rid of it (it didn't even work in tv world). So en gros I shouldn't be afraid to talk to people just because I'm afraid they won't like me. Because that's stupid. The end.

Next I'm coming home on Monday and I've been thinking about lots of things lately.
Notably:
Dos XX
Refried beans
tortilla chips
baked beans
the 4th of July
outdoor swimming pools
ceiling fans
orange dogs that breathe in peoples faces

Last. All you LOST haters should just be quiet and let those of us who like it bask in the glory of the sweetest ending ever. Sure it didn't answer all of the questions that were ever posed on the show but hey, when in life do you have all the answers? Exactly. AND the show wasn't even about the questions it was about the people and I think the ending was perfect and open leaving you the viewer to interpret how you see fit. RIP Lost.

Love Leah

Do Ré Mi

Hello world,

I did two things this weekend. I went to a cute little island on the Atlantic coast called Île de ré and I finished Sarah Palin's book. Let's start with the island.
It was ADORABLE. Cute little white houses and flowers everywhere it was out of a picture book. We rode bikes everywhere on Saturday and saw all kinds of animals like baby lambs and a llama. Finally we got to the beach which was deserted but beautiful. The beach was huge, the water was a crystal turquoise color and the sand was pristine-no trash at all, and all along the coast you could see Blochauses, you know those concrete stations that the germans used to fight us off. It was really cool from a historical standpoint and as my friend Anne put it, "How could anyone fight a war on this beautiful beach?" We also saw the hugest jellyfish I've ever seen in my entire life. I mean seriously. So the water was a little cold but I had my ridiculous amount of excitement to keep me warm. I really love the  beach. So I went swimming and Mathieu attempted haha. All in all, a lovely weekend.

The second thing I did was read Sarah Palin's book. Before you judge me let me preface this with the fact that it is important and responsible to understand everyone's ideas even if in general you don't agree. Since we as an American public really didn't know Sarah Palin, I felt obligated to get to know her... even if it is too little too late. What I found out was that she did some things in Alaska, things that no other governor has done. I also found out that it wasn't her that ruined John Mccain's campaign, it was the campaign itself who decided to stifle her which is why only the bad shit got out which she admits was some pretty dumb stuff. They made a lot of mistakes in regards to how they dealt with her, even choosing her was a mistake but whatever. I also found out (well already knew) that the media is a horrible source of information. Finally, I found out that the people most to blame for how that election was handled is us. People who swallow disgusting rotten pieces of trash like pigs, instead of forcing our news to report things that are A) true and B) important. On both sides. Sure its my fault that I didn't do enough research before I voted, but I'm really disappointed with the picture that was painted for me of both sides. I always admitted that I liked John Mccain it was Sarah Palin that ruined it for me... I still would not have voted for her even after reading her book..
Yes we do need change in America but from where I'm sitting it doesn't look like we're getting a whole lot of it. Or maybe I'm just guilty again of listening to hearsay. I'll tell you one thing... I never realized just how free we are to do whatever we want in America until I lived here.

Love Leah

I do not heart Paris

Well hello,

Seems to have been a long time since I last wrote. I'm not really sure whats was going on last time I was here but lets see if I can bring ya'll up to speed. Lately I've been helping Mathieu move to Paris, well sort of helping him. We finally got all of his stuff into his new apartment which is cute and pretty large considering its Paris. Its in the 17th arrondissement and the area is pretty calm. But, even if these are all positive things I've been saying, I still get physically ill when I enter the Paris city limits. The more I go there and the longer I stay the more I realize I hate it, ok maybe not hate. You see, even though I'm not from the country , in Texas even the cities are the country compared to the dense metropolis that is Paris. Geographically its not that big but its like hundreds of thousands of people stacked on top of one another living in tiny apartments for hundreds of dollars. Sure its Paris, there's the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe but after awhile you get tired of going there, not to mention that it probably takes an hour on the metro to get there anyway. Everyone tells me, "but Leah theres so much to do in Paris." Yeah there is, like seeing the sights and looking at art in one of Paris' many museums. But I can't take advantage of that if I have a job, which I'll need to pay for the 6 euro beer.
Ok, ok  I know I'm being harsh, its just resentment because its a lot of change at once. Not only am I thinking about moving to place I never wanted to live but I'm wrestling with the fact that I might stay indefinitely across the ocean from my family and friends. I don't know if I can  handle it.
On a related note, this is the last week of work for me. I'm coming home in about 1 month. May 31st I'll be getting on a plane and setting foot in America for the first time in months. I want a steak, a baked potato, and some yellow squash. I want my phone back with my unlimited phone calls and text messaging. I want my sunday softball games and my breakfast tacos, my pure, untouched nature AND my right to sit on the grass anywhere I want to.

Anyway its springtime and I will say that France is absolutely beautiful in the spring. And I'm lucky enough to have someone who really wants me to be happy so I'm going to be happy. I'm going to try. If Paris is the sacrifice I have to make, then its totally worth it.

Love Leah

ps. I'm reading Sarah Palin's book.... ha ha

Pass the Courvoisier

Ah the sun, le soleil. J'adore. I had the best weekend. First Mathieu, Amanda (my roommate) and I drove to her house which is in Cognac country. Practically everyone that lives there works in the cognac industry. Whether it be growing the grapes, distilling, bottling, what have you. We stayed with Amanda's family who are the most friendly welcoming people, even though her dad was a little hard for me to understand because he has a thick accent and talks really fast. But anyway we walked around and went to a distillery and tasted some cognac...ok a lot of cognac. Amanda's family has a big ole Saint Bernard who is 6 months old and weighs over 100 lbs. He was so cute. And I got to play with Amanda's nephew Hugo who's so adorable I could have squeezed him to death... good thing I didn't.
So then, Mathieu and I said goodbye to her family and moved on down the road to Bordeaux which is a beautiful city, if not a little old looking. I really liked it, lots of flowers and its super sunny.So we spent about a half a day there and then we went to hang out with Mathieu's dad next to the ocean. Man I wished it were warmer I wanted to go swimming so bad. So it was beautiful and we drove forever to get home but all in all it was a perfect weekend really. I'll put some pictures up when I think about it.

Also, I'm gonna stay in France. I'm looking for a job, and even if I don't find one I'm coming back here. So, I'll be home in a month and a half, say goodbye to me then and hopefully it won't be the last time you see me.

Love Leah

An Automatic Kind of Girl

Long time no type! Its been a busy week because my parents were here! It was awesome and I'll tell you a little about it, unfortunately they took all the pictures so I can't enrich my post with photos like usual. Ok so I went to pick them up from the airport and then forced them to drag all of their luggage through many metros which was a huge pain in the ass but hey thats how people get around here. Finally we got to their hotel which was in a part of town I'd never been too so that was cool. It was around Gare St Lazare. So all we did pretty much was walk around and eat. Not too bad. On Monday I had to return to Orleans because I had to work. They came down Wednesday afternoon and we quickly realized that my mom had left her wallet on the train...byebye wallet forever. Luckily her passport was not inside. Then after many administrative wallet related shenanigans we ate dinner at my house with Amanda, Raina and Mathieu. We didnt' eat just any dinner mind you... we ate Raclette. MMMMMmm melted cheese and potatoes. Then the next day Mathieu was kind enough to drive us to a castle and then to a wine cave and we got a cool little tour and many glasses for wine tasting. Then we went out to eat and to one of my favorite bars where we partied way to hard. Saturday I met back with my parents in Paris and we went to Centre Pompidou and saw a really cool exhibit by Lucien Freud. I recommend it.  All and all it was a good trip for them. They really liked my friends I think and they really liked Mathieu which is awesome.

A completely unrelated but funny story. Yesterday Mathieu and I went to his mom's house to eat lunch. She lives in the country a little bit so we decided he should teach me how to drive a manual. I was a little apprehensive but whatever I have done it before. So I get into the car and he gives me a some last minute reminders and I start crying because I'm so scared (I was laughing at the same time and so was he at the ridiculousness of me crying) I think I have a phobia. So I calmed down and then started driving I even got it into second and went back down into first but then I had to turn around and I couldn't quite do a u turn so I was going to stop and do a 3 point turn. Then Mathieu starts aking what are you doing and I freak out and the car stalls because I didn't push the clutch while I was breaking or whatever. Then I really started crying because we were headed for a giant hole and I could've killed someone.

That is the end of stick driving for me... ill  just have my toyota shipped over.

Love Leah

Stickin to Croissants

Well it's official. I'm boycotting baguettes because one of them decided to injure me. I cut myself on the sneaky razorblade that is french bread. Its actually kind of a gross cut. I didn't think it was possible to hurt yourself on bread but I guess I was wrong. On the brighter....or less dark side I think it might be getting warmer...finally. I'm tired of being cold all the time. I'm tired of being told I look tired because my skin hasn't seen the sun in god knows how long. Anyway
Wednesday night we went to L'Astrolabe which is the venue of Orléans and I was pleasantly surprised at the sound quality there. There was a battle of the bands sort of thing going on but not like in Austin where, whoever has the most fans wins. Here there were actually judges. There were all different styles of jazz and some of the best saxophone playing I've ever heard. Not that I'm an expert on sax playing or anything but whatever, it was really good. I'm hoping they'll have some more good concerts because I was looking on the wall at who had come through there and it gave me high hopes that someone cool might play soon. There was however one band who totally sucked. (yep it's time for the rant) They were called the sound orchestra or something dumb like that. There were maybe 6 of them on stage, a dj, a bassist (with 6 strings mind you), a trombone player, a sax player etc... I guess since the bassist had a six string bass I assumed that they would either be good or reeaaalllly bad. Because honestly who buys a six string bass unless your trying to show off. Really good bassists can do amazing things on 4 or 5. So anyway, they turned out to be reeaallllly bad. They were just making noise. There was no rhyme or reason and it wasn't even pretty noise. The bassist was rubbing a spoon on the strings to play it. Oh I get it, that's why you need six strings, more surface area to rub your spoon on. It was ridiculous. At first we gave it a chance just in case they were just fooling us and were gonna break into some mad funk or something. Wrong. They made noise for thirty minutes. I'm sure in their dweeby minds they are making a statement about how music can mean anything. About the principle of jazz music and being avante garde and creative. Look dudes, there is a reason that people play music the way they do, because it sounds good. People have been playing music for thousands of years based on the musical theory we use today... because it sounds good. And really isn't that the principle of music? I think when people are being obstinate like that, just being different because its cool to be different, they are really missing their mark. Its hard for me to believe they actually thought what they were doing was good and interesting, but I imagine if I asked them they would have this speech prepared about what music really is and how they're redefining the scope of musical appreciation. A lot of big words to say nothing... I lived in Austin for 5 years I know how to spot musical bullshitters.

Then again maybe it made them feel good and happy to play that "music" and I can't hate on that.

Lately I've been thinking about how I should have been a lawyer, no matter what someone says I can argue with it. Maybe I'm wrong but I can usually convince someone I'm right for at least a little while. Or maybe I should have been in sales.
"He could make a woman in white gloves eat a ketchup popsicle"

Love Leah

Its a Lame One

There are two common english words that you quickly learn cannot be said in a french classroom;
Beach and Sheet. So now I say, do you like to go to the ocean and will you please take out a piece of paper.

Besides all that, classes are going ok. I still have issues with one of the classes full of 12 year olds at the ghetto school. There is this one kid that always starts teasing the other one, but quietly so I cant hear and when the other one retaliates the first kid screams at me "MISSES MISSES HE SAY  ZE BAD WORD!!!!!" Of course I tell him not to interrupt me and that "if you hadnt called him a douchebag first, he might not have called you a dickhead." So that way he learns cause and effect with his english. I also taught them the golden rule. No, not that whoever has the gold makes the rules... you know the one you learned when you were little and that most people quickly forgot. Yes that one, do unto others as you would have done unto you. Obviously they don't understand...

Anyway, its not too long before my parents come. YAY. That means Im getting peanut butter :) Im excited. Then after that its not too long before this job is over and I come back to the US. I've been looking for jobs for next year here and finally I got an interview as an english teacher at a university in Grenoble. But guess what... the interview is the day that my parents are here. So I asked for another day but its not looking good. Oh well its at least encouraging to get an interview.

Sorry France, you'll have to put up with me a little longer.
Love Leah