L'histoire du canard

Host mother: 'Maggie, t'amie le canard?' (Maggie do you like duck?)
Moi: 'Je ne sais pas. J'ai jamais mangé.' (I don't know, I've never eaten it.)
Host mother: 'Mais oui, tu as mangé pour le dejuner aujourd'hui.' (But you just ate it for lunch today.)
Moi: 'Oui?!?! Ah, c'est meiux que tu m'as dit après je l'ai mangé!!! (I did?!?! Well, it's probably better that you told me after I ate it!!!)

Oh goodness gracious, here we go again. Like the beer story, I wasn't exactly sure what I was consuming. I swear it looked like beef!!! And it tasted like it too!!! I must admit, it was really good, but the thought of eating a DUCK...

Peut-on nier l'existence du temps?

Can we deny the existence of time? This is my prompt for my philosophy essay for the weekend! Oh lordy! If you have any suggestions on where to begin, let me know, because I am most certainly stuggling with this. haha. Ce n'est pas facile!

Other than that daunting prompt, school is going well. I am finding myself loving my history class. I never would have that thought I would find globalization so fascinating. But this is a year of paving new paths and doing a little bit of self-discovery. But finding myself loving globalization??? Not sure if I should be posting that on a public website, proclaiming it to the whole world.

Little thought: Today on the Métro, I heard an American couple talking, and they were so obviously tourists, from the fanny pack down to the tennis shoes, but it made me somehow feel proud that I could identify with them. I don't think that I had ever really wanted to identify with the American way until I came here. Some days I find myself putting away my skinny jeans and opting for my American bellbottoms. There are certain days that I long for a super-sized hamburgers and fries. It's a bizarre feeling, something that's hard to explain, but being the foreign girl, the American girl, has almost made me proud of this sometimes negative image. I am the exchange student. I am Fez (from That 70's Show). I am American. I used to identify with being Irish and German (and perhaps a little English), but now I AM AMERICAN. There's no getting around it. I eat peanut butter and popcorn, I drive my own car, and I went to a high school with a football team and cheerleaders.

I get to vote in America's election this year. When the French ask me who I am voting for, before I can finish saying, 'Barack Obama,' it is met with a high-five or a big smile. The people here are crazy for Obama. I cannot wait to go to the US Embassy and cast my absentee ballot in support of a change that I so badly want.

I am saddened every day by seeing the beggars in the Métro and on the streets. It's impossible for me to pass them without wanting to give them some money, bread, and piece of fruit. How did I get so lucky? Why can't life just be fair? It just pains me to know that I get to spend a year in Paris, France, and there are people trying to find enough money to buy a loaf of bread. Maybe they made a few mistakes in their life, but don't we all? Aren't we all just learning?

I just know that we need someone in office who will truly be compassionate. Life is too precious to let anything else happen to an already troubled world.

VOTE!

I don't know if anyone really reads this, and I hope this post wasn't to painfully long, but some days I just have a lot to say.

Pensez avec la compassion, et donnez avec tout votre coeur.

Ce week-end, je suis allée au Lille! It's way up north and super close to Belgium :)

The food there was very different from the food in Paris, but it's sooooooo good. Any weight that I may have lost was definitly gained back in my weekend there. Too good!

There is a lot of Flemmish influence there, and half of the signs were in Flemmish... I was a little worried at first when I couldn't read anything! The city reminds me a lot of the French version of Boston, and it was truly lovely.

I got to go to the ocean on Saturday, and the weather was absolutely perfect! The dunes there made me think of Lake Michigan (it was nice to have a little reminder of home).

That's all for now, hopefully more soon!

Ok, this has absolutely nothing to do with France, but I think it's kind of hilarious. A friend did it for me and it just cracks me up! Here's the 50's version of me!

Well, today I got to go to the Champs Elysées and do a little sightseeing! It was incredible to walk up and down both sides of the street and see all of the famous stores - Louis Vuitton and such! After that we walked up and down the back streets, and got a little lost, but eventually found our way home. After all, it's about the journey, not the destination!

Coucou! Well, it's Friday! Today was a long day at school, but I am getting into the swing of things here! I found a new park today that is about 2 or 3 blocks away from my school that I can go to during breaks... and there is a French sandwich shop on the way :) Just my sort of thing!

Not sure what tomorrow's plans are, but I think I may try to get a little shopping in!

Bisous!

Bonjour! Today I got to go to Versailles :) It was absolutely lovely there and so peaceful and calm. It was nice to get out of the city and enjoy another part of France. It is about 45 minutes from where I am living and it was a nice little drive to the countryside. The gardens there were incredible and the chateau was gorgeous!

It was the Grand Trianon and King Louis XIV lived there from 1688 - 1715 ... a lot of history there! It's hard for me to believe that I was walking through the same rooms that a former king lived in! WOW!

Salut! Today was pretty relaxed, but we certainly accomplished a lot... I start school tomorrow! I think that I would be content spending all of my days wandering around Paris. haha. I am looking forward to tomorrow, though. I will take Le Metro to school and find out what a French school is like.

The photo to the right is from a few days ago, but that's the Seine at night! Très joli!

A demain!

-Maggie