Lazy Sunday

You know you have great family when they are sincerely concerned about your sex life.

I apologize profusely to my parents (especially my mom) for that statement, but it takes one great family to actively stay in contact when we are all separated by such great distance, and as I sit here looking out my window, I find myself appreciating it. As far as the first statement goes, you know who you are and thanks for asking.

As far as an answer to the question goes, I will simply say that it is non-existent. This because Miranda and I are trying to maintain what semblance of a relationship we can despite being separated by thousands of miles and an incredibly inconvenient 10 hour time difference. However, we are both having fun and staying in contact as much as possible. But it sucks, and I miss her.

On a slightly less depressing and infinitely less cute note, I have been spending alot of time with friends of mine in another program here at Paris. There are 3 kids in the program who go to U of R, including my roommate of the last 2 and a half years, Bill. Bill and I have been sharing each other's friends for the past couple weeks, and I find that his group of friends and mine are very compatible. I know it sounds trivial, but it does get very lonely here sometimes and being able to surround yourself with people takes some of the edge off. And it's cheaper than drowning the loneliness in a pint...healthier too.

I wish I had much more to say, but the past few days have been generally uneventful and punctuated with class and states of mild intoxication (not at the same time...well, not yet). I hope the next post will bring something more grabbing and less traumatizing to my family.

Ciao

A Washing Machine is not a Self-explaning Device

My apologies for not resuming the previous post in a more timely fashion, but a minor bout of loneliness set in and I didn't much feel like blogging. Not to worry, I've been told it's completely normal, and has since subsided. First I will address the title of this post. I have just returned from my first French Laundromat experience. Not only was it unfruitful, but I managed to look like an idiot in the process. First, I arrived at the laundromat and found myself unable to open the door. After pulling on the door (which has a pull handle mind you) I check the hours and confirm that the place is open. A moment later I realize my mistake that all outer doors in France open into the building (which im told is a massive fire hazard)regardless of what type of handle the doors has. I then find a machine, load my clothes in and go to the machine to pay. I am then informed that it is too late to start a washer. I begrudgingly go back to the washer and pull on the door. It doesnt open. I pull harder. No dice. I try to stick my key in the latch, press buttons and kick the damn thing, all to no avail. I walk back to my apartment which is thankfully just around the corner and describe my perdicament to my homestay father Pierre. He goes down to the laundromat with me, looks at the machine and ask me "did you push the yellow button?" As he pointed to the unmarked button I begin to wonder if this is a cultural difference concerning washing machine operation, or if I'm just a little bit stupid. I've settled that it is probably a little of both.

Moving on. It has come to my attention that I have failed to indulge certain curiosities concerning my culinary adventures to date. Frankly, this is because my culinary adventures have not been, well, adventurous. This does not mean I am not eating well.

For the first week, none of us had discovered the glory of the French sandwich/crepe-and-go shops so we indulged our desires to sit for hours, eat food mildly out of our price range, and drink quantities of wine early enough in the day that Americans would consider us alcoholics. During this time of blissful, Paris induced ignorance to the fact that money does NOT grow on trees, we treated ourselves to 3 course prix fixe menus. While this sounds ostentatious its actually a great deal; appetizer, entree, desert and a glass of wine (and of course, all the bread you can eat) for 12-17 euro, depending on where you go.

My general indulgence would start with either a fresh tomato, onion and mozzarella salad with french vinegrete, or Des Oeuf Mayonaise which i can only describe as a lighter version of deviled eggs. The main course generally consists of a meat dish, like a charcuterie which is ham brined in salt water and sauteed, sausage or roast chicken. For me, dessert is almost exclusively cheese, Camembert or Stilton.

However, in a move that takes pressure of both my wallet and my heart valves, my lunches now consist of 4euro sandwich and a water bottle that i refill at home. Now this is not nearly as boring as it sounds. This is because the french have perfected the sandwich. They use only fresh meats, cheese and vegetables, and build them upon the wonderful baguette for which this country is so famous. Not only that, but nearly any sandwich can be made a panini. This is a good thing in my book.

Dinner here is good, but fairly uneventful. My hostmother (Edith) rarely cooks and most meals are frozen or made Sandra-Lee style (And yes I am appalled at myself for acknowledging Sandra-Lee's cuisine-crushing existence). But when Edith does decide to cook I am pleasantly surprised by what arrives on my plate. Meals have consisted of braised veal in a tomato/onion sauce, a concoction made of mashed potatoes and cod that was garlicy and delicious, and roasted tomatoes stuffed with veal meatballs. In conclusion, I'm not going hungry.

In other news I have finally heard from Miranda who has been in Australia for the past few days as she begins her study abroad program that lasts until the end of June. Alas she was without internet and I was beginning to fear that she had been swept off her feet by a tall Australian footballer and I would never hear from her again.

But all is well and my computer keeps ringing so until later,
Goodnight and Good luck

A Gorgeous Weekend in Paris

As you may have deduced from the title, it is beautiful here in northern Europe, which is something of a surprise since nearly everyday has been at the very least punctuated with rain, snow or biting wind. However, the last few days have seen clear skies, 40+ degree weather and just generally nice days. This weekend has also marked the end of my first week of class. When I say class however, I am not refering to my full class schedule, which starts this coming week, but rather to my intensive French grammar class, which I have the pleasure of attending for two hours a day, five days a week. Frankly I haven't gone to the same class five days a week since middle school and it's quite a change. However, the professor is fun and has a good sense of humor, and most of the class is lighthearted and eager so it is by no means a grueling experience. In addition, while most of the class is from the english-speaking world, there are a few students from North Africa, South America, Asia and other European coutries with ages ranging from 19-35.

This post will have to be continued at a later time, seeing as a friend of mine showed up and we have some serious House to watch.

A bientot

Finally a moment to catch my breath.

So I’m sitting in my quaint little Parisian apartment thanking god that I'm not spending yet another night on the town. I am relishing my little reprieve from the European nightlife, as both my body and my wallet desperately need a break from endlessly walking around town and paying for overpriced wine and beer in clubs and bars.

While this physical and monetary fatigue has been wearing on me for some time now, it had failed to catch up to me until this evening. My recent exploits have involved a trip to the impressionist gold mine at the Musee D'orsay, shopping (not for me Dad, don’t worry my money has not been spent that frivolously) at the BHV a huge department store downtown, Notre Dame, The Sacre Coeur, and visiting the infamous red light district and Moulin Rouge.

Other than touristy things life has been pretty...well, American. Obviously everyone is speaking French, but many of the things that one finds in the states can be found here, obviously with a European twist. One of the biggest differences however, is that people in France are rarely, if ever, publically intoxicated. I mean, people here drink constantly but rarely do you see a Frenchman stumbling around or slurring his words or acting belligerently towards those around him. In fact, if you see anyone exhibiting these symptoms of drunkenness, you can be almost absolutely certain that they're American...or maybe English. Regardless the French do know how to have a good time. In fact, a group of mildly intoxicated Frenchmen happened to sit next to us in a sangria bar the other night and insisted on teaching us French drinking songs. This was, of course, when they weren’t hitting on my friend's girlfriend. Apparently many of the stereotypes about French men being extremely forward and a little creepy are, in fact, true.

Moving on, potential upcoming events include a soccer game between Paris-St. Germain (the local team) and Bordeaux, and a couple of concerts. I’m excited for the soccer game but apparently the fans in Bordeaux are incredibly racist and anti-Semitic so I might have to round up a bunch of goy friends to go with. I am however, excited for the possibility of a stadium riot; because the fact that Bordeaux fans are assholes also means they really only travel to away games to start fights. This is both terrifying and exciting.

In other, more relevant news I have an academic meeting tomorrow where I will get the schedule for my grammar classes, and on Wednesday I'll have a phonetics test for my speech classes. And at some point I get to pick my lectures and actually start going to school. While this doesn’t sound exciting, I am desperate for something to do with my time that doesn’t involve spending absurd amounts of money.

So that it. Questions, comments (not related to grammar or spelling) feel free to shoot me an email.

Oh and go to photobucket.com and search either Dan Siegel or dsiegelrochester and you should be able to see pictures!

Cheers

Addendum

Please disregard the number of spelling and grammatical errors in the above post. I was so excited that I posted without rereading.

Apologies.

Dan meets the wide world of blogging

Welcome family, friends, facebook friends (which is distinguish since we may be more like acquaintances) and all those who have managed to find themselves reading this, my very first blog post. As you know, or have deduced from the title of this blog, I find myself it Paris, The Eternal City of Lights, and will be here for the next four months, where my friends from college and I will proceed to bum around Europe for a few weeks, bank accounts willing. For this period, I hope this blog will inform all those who care to know about my goings on without me having to send out mass emails, which I would enevitably leave people out of.

So I have been in Paris for just over a week. This means that I have been eating, sightseeing, and yes mother, ingesting large amounts of wine for nearly as long. So far through my own volition, and the help of my study abroad agency ISA, I have managed to do much of the touristy stuff one has to do in this great city. In a week I have been to the top of the Eiffel Tower, into the catacombs, seen the Sorbonne (where I will be taking classes) and the histoic Latin Quater, been to the Tour de Montparnasse (the office building that marres the Parisian skyline but offers an unparralled view of the city), The Palace at Versailles, and the Louvre...twice.

"But how can you manage all of this in so little time?" you ask. Well the answer is that ISA has the experiance to know that people new to Paris will simply disregard things they have to do in order to experiance this new city. So, instead of trying to change the nature of 2 dozen 20-somethings, they took the more prudent road and had us arrive almost 2 weeks before classes start. So the past week or so has consisted of nothing but sightseeing, eating, drinking, some light orientation and a pesky little proficency test to place us in the appropriate grammar level.

This test concerned me at first. However, upon arriving here and finding that my french is actually quite good, my confidence has been restored and I feel that I will be placed in such a way that allows me to take the classes I want to take (and need to in order to graduate from Rochester on time) and be at a level that I'm am comfortable.

Now I find myself sitting in my quaint little french apartment in Montparnasse with my homestay family which constists a retired woman in her mid 50's and her former film producer ex-husband. Yes its strange, but I'm in Europe, what do you expect?

Now I'm sure I'm leaving things out, so if you have any questions or suggestions for things I should mention shoot me an email and I'll be sure to get back to you. Also, I will probably set up a photobucket account so I can share my photos with you.

In the mean time,
A Tout A L'heure et Bon Soiree