French Word of the Day: occupé (ock-oo-pay)- busy

(That picture can be taken either as an expression of disbelief or as something I took because it reminded me of my mom.  Your choice.)

I forgot how busy Parisian life was until I got back.  For reference, Théo considers a Saturday night as only marginally busy if he has invitations to 4 different parties.  I consider having 2 or 3 parties extremely busy.  Of course, all 4 invitations must be accepted.  (Although I don’t think we’ve ever made it to 4 things in one night…  Usually the 4th party host gets an apology call.  I guess Parisian DO try to be overachievers in some areas.)

I made it through Thursday night dinner!  I’m at the point where I can understand parts of the conversation even if I’m not listening which was exciting for me.  I was convinced I was going to lose all my French over break and get placed in all beginner classes.  Thankfully no one asked me questions, so I didn’t have to be an active participant in the conversation.

A ton of people from the States were/are here, so by the end of Thursday, I had a full weekend schedule.

Friday, I met up with Emily, a friend from high school.  She’s here until she goes to study in Morocco, where she might possibly be sans toilet.  She also has to bring a wedding ring and picture of her husband or otherwise will risk the chance of everyone thinking she’s a prostitute.  Emily’s not married, so she had a contest on facebook amongst her male friends.

I think I much prefer Paris with its indoor plumbing and its not stoning unmarried females in the streets.

Emily probably could have waited for meeting some of Théo’s friends to get a (fake) marriage proposal.  They haven’t met her yet, but a few are very excited that I finally have a hot, single, American friend to introduce them to.

On Saturday, I met up with two of my professors from college.  They were here as part of the January term with several students from the college.  I was really excited to see them and talked their ears off until they had to leave.  One of them (my Literature advisor) informed me that she had started a pain au chocolat count during her time as well, but hers hadn’t quite reached my level yet.   Always a noble quest is pain au chocolat consumption.

Of course, for the second part of the night I was mostly silent.  We went to dinner with Théo’s cousins, and English was in short supply.  Dinner was awesome, but I don’t believe I’ve ever eaten that much in my life.  By the time the appetizers were done, I was thinking, “Alright, I’m full!  Now time to sleep.”  But I had 4 more courses to go through.  Luckily, the meal lasted until 12:30 am, so I had plenty of time to digest in between each course.  (Whoever tells you the French don’t eat that much is lying to you!)

Sunday, I saw Emily again, but this time added Sam, another friend from high school.  Sam’s teaching English here right now and informed me of a Lord of the Rings marathon at the end of January here in Paris.  Starts at 10 am and goes through all three movies, pausing for an hour between each one for food/ wine/ toilets/ cigarette breaks.

He’s already bought us the tickets.  Sadly, it’s in English with French subtitles so I won’t get to hear Gimli speak in French.  I assume I’ll appreciate this by the end of the 3rd movie.

Yesterday all the new people for the program came.  They’re still at the I’m-lost-and-confused point.  We got slammed with questions last night.  I had to bring something to the office today while they were all at orientation, and made the mistake of agreeing to stay for lunch.  I don’t believe I’ve ever been asked so many questions in one sitting.  When I got a chance, I took my sandwich and bolted.

I can sympathize with them as I remember that phase, but my brain can only answer so many questions at one time.  They all assume I have intimate knowledge of their foyers, and have been asking me about the rules and regulations.

No one lives in my current foyer, so I can’t really help them that much.

I also don’t know every bar and club in Paris.  I know this is going to shock people, but there are a significant number.

I don’t think I’m going to get as close with this group as I did with the fall people.  There are just too many of them.

Théo’s friends would probably like some of them.  Sorry, boys.  Maybe another time.

Pain au chocolat count: 43