11/03/2004

Man, do I have a ton to say. Well, this weekend I went to Bordeaux with UEJF, the French-Jewish student Union. It was an awesome time. We ate very well. I mean, seriously, like 4-5 course meals...psycho stuff! Salmon...yummm....I heard a couple Socialists speak here, it was pretty kewl, they did a debate on "discrimination positive"--or affirmative action in France, which is a tad diff from in the United States. I asked a question and was able to handily humiliate myself...in front of 270 people. Oh baby!

The bus ride there was...10 hours> (read: LONG, esp w/ contacts in eyeballs).

Anyway, we got there...

French Jews are...well, a lot of them are "hoochie"--or, as they term it here..."shalala"--and, excuse the incorrect spelling. I'm not quite sure how you actually spell it. But yeah, very stylin'...me? i'm just a clochard (bum) next to them. Yeap.

when i first got there, there was this one guy who kept making fun of my "so American accent," altho, i was told by many others that it's not as bad as other Americans...hmmm...anyway, he finally stopped. or rather, i stayed away from him...

but in general, everyone was really nice to me, but I wasn't really feeling it with any group of ppl. Not, that is...until I went to synagogue for Shabbat and met a nice guy, who was actually nice--Eric. Then, afterwards, we sat down randomly at a table for dinner, and met an awesome group of ppl almost entirely from Orleans. So, it all worked out after all.

(btw, just found out about two female colleagues who had an improper relationship...while I was working with them...due to the public nature of this blog, all inquiries will be explained personally, individually and/or privately...) hehe.

Anyway, this group of ppl...= Anna, Yska, Benjamin, Alexandre, Yael, Jeremy...plus Eric, oh yeah, and this girl Joanna (who has American relatives, so she speaks excellent English, but is a tad bit clingy...tho very very nice).

I'm pretty happy I went because I got to meet such awesome ppl. And I think I do feel better, less homesick, or perhaps more optimistic. It looks as if I've found a friend...perhaps...in France. lol. In all of France. Geez...who woulda thought it'd be so hard. Anyway, Anna has played the piano for 16 years, one more year than me, and she's a year older than I am. But, damn, she actually really plays, i mean she practices a ton, that's all she does, has had performances and stuff. Her whole family is very into music, they have no tv...and they have five pianos in their house. yeah, five.

My mouth hung open for a good three minutes after hearing that one...

Well, those good vibes, I hope they stay. It's pretty funny, she was born the day after I was, a year before me. Coincidence? hm.

What else...there's so much else.

We had tons of great food, and slept very VERY little.

We played "mafia"--some other name here, that i can only phonetically spell, so will spare myself the embarassment...anyway, imagine having to defend urself in another language...geez, i'm not even that eloquent in english, let alone french...sigh...

well, i was a mafia person with 2 others, and one of them, a guy, made fun of me slightly...said i had to speak better French to talk, or watever...so i killed him off. Mwahahahaha...and nearly won the game. ah, vengeance...so sweet...

Saturday night we went out to a club on a boat...the music sucked, but we made it fun. And i swear, everybody in that club wanted to party with us. lol. the jealous bastards.

I took tons and tons of pics...will be putting them up shortlyish.

gosh...now i'm at the french net cafe...this place is social central. heh. some guys here asked if i was brazillian--i said no, then they guess italian, spanish, portuguese, lebanese, then when i said from the US, they guessed mexican. lol...ah, wat fun. then when they left they both insisted I take their phone numbers...

anyway, those kewl ppl from Orleans taught me a buncha bad words...in French...it was great! altho, i think i started using them a little to freely at the end...

the last night in Bordeaux we had this huge party of bar mitzvah caliber in size and food...i took some pics of the food actually...yum...anyway, the music was a billion times better than at that club (read: not solely techno)...one kewl thing...most "good music" or such considered in France for dancing etc...is American...so yeah, pretty easy for me. it was SO much fun. and really hot. lol.

after all that french, it was hard to even speak English.

anyway, ...heh, this girl next to me was speaking about "arab imbeciles" just now...then was like..."oh...are you arab? pardon!" in French...lol. i was like...nonono...

okay, well back to my story.

on the way back from Bordeaux, i decided to crash in Orleans at Anna and Yska's house. it was really really fun. i'll say more on that later...cuz i'm at a net cafe and don't have much money...

But anyway, i spent a night and a day there...we hung out, played chess, cards, piano ...at which i sucked cuz i am so horribly horribly out of practice... but it was nice to play a little again...we also watched "American Rhapsody" and ate a buncha good food. their parents are really good cooks. it's kewl, they have no tv, but tons of books and music, as well as the internet...i could live with that.

oh yeah, no internet yet. if u haven't already guessed. maybe i should lead an uprising against neuf telecom.

btw, general question. tell me the diff btwn a Socialist and a Communist.

hmmm, the weirdest thing about this entry is that i have not yet spoken about wat is at the forefront of probably most ppl's minds, or rather, wat they believe would be at the forefront of my mind. Yeap...Bush won!...and all is good with the world.

last night i got back from Orleans on one of the later trains, got home round midnight...then dashed out to catch the metro for the American rest/bar that'd be showing the election news...CNN of course...sigh...

anyway, i couldn't reach any of my "friends" here...so i just decided "the hell with them" and went out on my own. i got there, walked in like i owned the place...j/k...like i knew somebody...

was soon told it was impossible to get food or a seat, in fact the tables had been reserved for weeks, the kitchen was closed, and i wasn't even supposed to be there bc u need a ticket to enter. luckily they let me stay. there were two (later 3) guys standing in back too, and i had asked one about the tix and stuff. i soon found out that that guy was friends with the cook and the owner. he got me a chair there just in back against the wall...free food from the kitche, then snacks, desserts...and coke. but...since i was kinda like the delinquent there... the owner only gave enough cokes for him and his friends, but he gave me some of his, and then i just decided to buy my own...anyway, EVERYONE there was a Kerry supporter...luckily, i was able to sufficiently mask/disguise my true opinions there.

anyway, this guy is the official ipod tester for all of europe...he gets free ipods! he works for Apple from time to time, goes to an architecture school right outta Paris, and did some programming, electronic work for the restaurant as a favor...or watever. he worked for Apple for 2 weeks one time, got only 9 hours of sleep during those 2 weeks, but 10,000E pay...crazy huh? he's also apparently a champion rock climber in France. he was going to go to Athens this summer for gymnastics, bc he's rated in the top 10, but had to work and take classes...weird huh?

gosh, well, i gotta go, start working...i find it hard to motivate myself to work these days. coming back to Paris and finding no Internet, and still the reminders of my parents' recent stay here...just made me feel a bit depressed again. i hope things go well...and somehow G-d willing I get the net tomorrow in the mail...it's just...I can't quite focus like i used to.

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