In case anyone had a spy cam on the mountains of Villard de Lans this weekend, the home of the '68 winter olympics, that was me tumbling down the mountain. No that wasn't a snow ball or an avalanche, that was a human girl strapped to skis refining the art of avoiding inevitable death or crippledom. I took a ski lift a solid ten minutes up the mountain and pointed my 'death sticks' down the slope not knowing how to stop or turn. A few times I landed literally upside down on my neck barely avoiding paralysis. I would shake off the daze of a head injury and wiggle my toes, and rejoice in the miracle of bodily motion. Other times I summersalted down the mountainside while a rogue ski would crack me in the leg. I can honestly say that I know how Nancy Kerrigan felt. Why Me!!! All and all it was a cool experience and I impressed everyone at the end of the day by sloshing down the mountain only falling a few times when my left leg couldn't support my body weight any longer. I am covered in deep huge bruises head to toe. From now on I think that I will stick to ocean sports. At least you can get a wicked tan while being pummelled by natural forces.
Monday, January 24, 2005
Friday, January 21, 2005
A little joke for my fellow Americans
Q: How many Bush Administration officials does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: None. There is nothing wrong with the light bulb; its conditions are improving every day. Any reports of its lack of incandescence are a delusional spin from the liberal media. That light bulb has served honorably, and anything you say undermines the lighting effect. Why do you hate freedom?
A: None. There is nothing wrong with the light bulb; its conditions are improving every day. Any reports of its lack of incandescence are a delusional spin from the liberal media. That light bulb has served honorably, and anything you say undermines the lighting effect. Why do you hate freedom?
Turning a New Leaf
Hello all. I have been slow to write on my blog as not a mucho has been going down, that is until this week. France was gripped by strikes and protests all week long, first the post office, then the trains, and then it was my turn, the teachers. It was great, I didn't have to work on Thursday and just shopped all day in Grenoble. I saw the protest move thru the streets but it was nothing new for a girl who went to UC Santa Cruz. Vive la grève!!
I have come to the decision that life in it's current routine has become mundane and predictable so I am shaking it up. I refuse to hang out with the same old anglophones and have really been making an effort to get in with the Frenchies. Last night it paid off as I attended a party in Romans with kids my age and had a rockin time. We played the drinking game 'quarters' with old francs for most of the night and got totally blind on Martini, Rum, and a variety of other liquor. Being ostricized and hated on by French girls has been a major speed bump on my freeway to friends. I have been talking with a French friend of mine about how to keep the peace with all at a party and her main advice was to talk to all the girls for a solid half an hour before even chatting with a guy about the weather. That way the chicks see that you aren't some dummy who wants to steal their men. Well the tactic worked and now I have the beginnings of a circle of friends. God help me I need them.
With the new year one inevitabely begins to plan upcoming life events. As I mentioned before I am looking for a job on the Riviera for the summer so I am heading down to Nice next month for Carnival and to do some rep work. Rep work meaning showing my face in these bars, batting my baby blues and trying to score some employment. I have faith in my ability to sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves.
Other than that I have decided that 2005 will be the year of the endless summer. I would like to move to Brisbane, Australia with an aussie friend of mine in September and stay thru the end of the year. I will probably just get a temp job in some office and play around on the beach on the weekends. If all works out the only seasons that I will be experiencing will be spring and summer for the next 18 months.
So to answer a common question, No I don't have a new boyfriend because I really don't want one. French men aren't all that either. I can't stand being told how beautiful I am for 20 minutes at length from a man in jeans tighter than mine. It is just unnatural and ferrell. People are always trying to hook me up with one of their friends and I date quite often, but I am happily single at the moment.
Going skiing tomorrow. Wish me luck on the slopes as I will need it.
I have come to the decision that life in it's current routine has become mundane and predictable so I am shaking it up. I refuse to hang out with the same old anglophones and have really been making an effort to get in with the Frenchies. Last night it paid off as I attended a party in Romans with kids my age and had a rockin time. We played the drinking game 'quarters' with old francs for most of the night and got totally blind on Martini, Rum, and a variety of other liquor. Being ostricized and hated on by French girls has been a major speed bump on my freeway to friends. I have been talking with a French friend of mine about how to keep the peace with all at a party and her main advice was to talk to all the girls for a solid half an hour before even chatting with a guy about the weather. That way the chicks see that you aren't some dummy who wants to steal their men. Well the tactic worked and now I have the beginnings of a circle of friends. God help me I need them.
With the new year one inevitabely begins to plan upcoming life events. As I mentioned before I am looking for a job on the Riviera for the summer so I am heading down to Nice next month for Carnival and to do some rep work. Rep work meaning showing my face in these bars, batting my baby blues and trying to score some employment. I have faith in my ability to sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves.
Other than that I have decided that 2005 will be the year of the endless summer. I would like to move to Brisbane, Australia with an aussie friend of mine in September and stay thru the end of the year. I will probably just get a temp job in some office and play around on the beach on the weekends. If all works out the only seasons that I will be experiencing will be spring and summer for the next 18 months.
So to answer a common question, No I don't have a new boyfriend because I really don't want one. French men aren't all that either. I can't stand being told how beautiful I am for 20 minutes at length from a man in jeans tighter than mine. It is just unnatural and ferrell. People are always trying to hook me up with one of their friends and I date quite often, but I am happily single at the moment.
Going skiing tomorrow. Wish me luck on the slopes as I will need it.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Back in France
I have been back in France for over a week and haven't had much to update on. My weekend in Paris was awesome, but was marred by two little pickpockets that tried to steal my train tickets. My friend Carrie caught them red handed and we managed to get away with all of our stuff intact. Of course they spit in our faces to mark their defeat, which was more disgusting than I would like to remember.
California was so freakin awesome I can't even put it into words. I saw almost everyone that I wanted to see and ate all the Mexican food that I could stand. Not to mention my first cheeseburger in over 10 years from Hodad's in OB. That was amazing.
So now I am back in Romans, finishing out the school year and looking forward to my next adventure. This summer is going to be the beginning of the structureless leg of my trip, only marked by the seasons. So far I know that I want to work with tourists either in Nice or Cannes for the summer and head thru India to Australia for the end of the year. A little bit of an endless summer quest. Brisbane sounds like my kinda place so I look forward to trying my hand there for awhile.
I am pretty relieved that I didn't go to India for Christmas. Even if I was lucky enough not to be at the bottom of a tsunami, getting out of the country would have been a nightmare, not to mention getting back into France. But I guess none of us gets to choose the way we die, just like you can't choose your race or your parents. I just gotta keep on truckin and hope to God that I will make it home again to see my loved ones and eat another awesome cheeseburger.
Carpe Diem
California was so freakin awesome I can't even put it into words. I saw almost everyone that I wanted to see and ate all the Mexican food that I could stand. Not to mention my first cheeseburger in over 10 years from Hodad's in OB. That was amazing.
So now I am back in Romans, finishing out the school year and looking forward to my next adventure. This summer is going to be the beginning of the structureless leg of my trip, only marked by the seasons. So far I know that I want to work with tourists either in Nice or Cannes for the summer and head thru India to Australia for the end of the year. A little bit of an endless summer quest. Brisbane sounds like my kinda place so I look forward to trying my hand there for awhile.
I am pretty relieved that I didn't go to India for Christmas. Even if I was lucky enough not to be at the bottom of a tsunami, getting out of the country would have been a nightmare, not to mention getting back into France. But I guess none of us gets to choose the way we die, just like you can't choose your race or your parents. I just gotta keep on truckin and hope to God that I will make it home again to see my loved ones and eat another awesome cheeseburger.
Carpe Diem
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