Busy First Week

Please accept, dear readers, my sincerest apologies for the paucity of recent postings on this site – as you all know, this blog remains my first Parisian priority.


I’ll give you a moment to wipe the sarcasm off your screen as it may be dripping at this point.


In all seriousness, though, I will do my best to keep posting regularly on here because I do want to keep you all updated/entertained; however with classes (which are going very well), negotiating my way through miles of non-English speaking red tape to open a joint French bank account for Abbey and I (which sucks), being the “official blogger” for the MEIS program (more on that later), a part-time job (more on that at a later date) and, from time to time, enjoying some down time with Abbey this blog will fit in somewhere. Without further ado, here are some quips about the week:

- I’ve begun to either look too confident, too nice, or too French because the rate of French people stopping me (and Abbey) to ask questions (about the time, the bus schedule, school supplies, directions, if you have to use cash in this line at the grocery, etc) has greatly increased. This, I guess, is good for me and my French but bad for relaying amusing misadventures to you all (don’t worry, I have a solution…although perhaps I’m just guilty by association because Abbey is confident in her French and looks like a nice person…)

- Our professor walked into class the other day and asked if anyone in the class was web-savvy…I am not. I kept my mouth shut. He then said he was hoping someone would be able to set up an online blog or forum for our program. I kept my mouth shut and looked at my desk. What do I hear from the back of the room? “Tommy has a blog.” Damn it. Outted. Thank you [classmate to remain nameless]. So, I’ve got that just about set up, unfortunately it probably won’t be very funny and will be closed to people who aren’t in the program…because I’m an elitist jerk. Suckers.

- Pre-packaged “Baba au rhum” is delicious.

- Public parks often double as restrooms

- Zoolander is just as amusing in French… “qu’est-ce que c’est? un centre pour les fourmis?!”

- I almost bought a sausage at the grocery store the other day before Abbey pointed out that it was made from a part of a horse that she did not know the word for. Oops.

- I saw a Frontlett – that’s right, a Front Mullett – business in the BACK party in the FRONT…it was spectacular, rivaled only by the Dreadlock Mullett and the long, long, long neard that I saw on the metro as well.

- Sometimes, at fancy Cathedrals that you can walk in and look around as a tourist, weddings happen. It’s frowned on the take pictures during the ceremony. Oops.

- Many people here don’t seem to have qualms about passing gas in public. Loudly.



Expect another post to amuse you on your workday on Monday, as I know that many of you have “real” “grown-up” things to do during the weekdays, but still have access to the internet and probably commit time theft at your various places of employment. Additionally, expect my detailed plans for counteracting the perception the French seem to have of me (even though it is probably more so a perception of Abbey) as a nice, knowledgeable, confident person to be revealed sometime later next week.