Crazy Talk

Today while I was waiting for the bus to arrive so I could go to the Auchan some guy started randomly talking to me. He told me all about how people come to Perpignan from Paris and when they go back to Paris they take the nice weather with them for three or four days. That's why it rains like, never here and why in Paris the winter is generally more dreary (because they only take a few days back with them).

He also told me how that if I was going to be out more than an hour in the sun that I should most definitely be wearing sunscreen and that's how to keep looking young for a very long time. He continued to tell me that he was only talking to me because it was so nice of me to listen (he had cut me off both times when I tried to get a word in, so basically how could I not listen).

At this point he realized he had missed his bus and he said it was my fault because I had distracted him by listening to what he was saying. I apologized and he said it was no problem, he'd just take the next one as he had nothing else to do.

He then told me about how bad and snowy the weather was in Canada, and about vacation homes in Spain that got some snow one time and all of a sudden everyone was trying to move out of the area because they did not want a vacation home with snow.

This rant was followed by how he thought it was so tragic that people listen to the government officials, and if they don't disagree the just sit in their bums all day and do nothing about it (especially the younger generation, who really should care more about what is going on in the world today, especially when it comes to global warming). He said at 63 he understands the changes that have been happening on this planet and we are just too young to notice.

He then bid me farewell before walking about 5 feet away from me, stopping, turning around and coming back to where I stood. He just wanted to add that if I ever had a cough he had a great natural remedy - just put a bunch of licorice (reglisse) in your mouth and you won't cough again - you'll be able to sleep through the night, no problem! He said he had quit smoking and as soon as he had he hardly ever coughed at all, but one day he saw this woman on a bus and she was coughing like crazy from her cigarette (which he reiterated as being stupid) and he gave her some reglisse (which he just happened to have on him?) and she stopped coughing immediately, sang his praises, never coughed again.

Well, the good news is that I can understand more French than when I got here!

And That's How I Rode the Bus For Free

I had my bus pass in my coat pocket with my phone card. They are exactly the same size. The bus was late so I had put my hands in my pockets to stay warm. My pass got mixed up with my phone card. When the bus finally came I was distracted and FREEZING cold and so I swiped my phone card by mistake.

And that, my friends, is the story of my free bus ride!

Joubert Dances Like He Doesn't Know How

At the end of the gala performance of the European Championships in figure skating they showed all the skaters on the ice dancing around and celebrating the end of the competition. Joubert was right in the middle doing the classic wallflower move: two feet planted firmly in the ground (rather, ice), with a little shoulder wiggle. I found it a particularly interesting contrast since he clearly can get his groove on (as he had proved moments before in his performance). Perhaps he just dances better under strict choreography?

It's ok. He's still a great skater (and he chooses awesome music - Josh Groban? Cha-ching!).

Speaking of great skaters... I saw the first female performer that I actually liked watching! Her name is Sarah Meier and she is Swiss. Perhaps this year during the World's competition I'll bother watching women's.

In other news, I saw that in the States they had the National competition and Lysacek was first (YAY!) followed by Ryan Bradley (who'd have thunk?) and Johhny Weir. What a difference from last year! (Well, not really but I don't have anything else to say on the subject.)

The Gina G. Exercise Challenge Video

Gina G. Exercise Challenge on Vimeo

The Gina G. Exercise Challenge!

Have you been looking for the total body aerobic workout of the year? Look no further!

Might I propose to you the Gina G. Workout Challenge? It's completely free (all you need is the song which I'll never give you even if you ask me for it nicely... if you know what I mean... ahem), there is no crazy exercise equipment required (unless you consider a cd player crazy), and the workout changes every time you do it (because you can dance however you want).

There you have the workout part explained. But why is it also a challenge? You'll find out in time, young grasshopper.

Now, there are certain suggested dance methods for optimum results, and I have made a short instructional video (which I will upload very soon) to get you started. I just couldn't wait to tell you the news... all your fitness problems will soon be answered with the GINA G. EXERCISE CHALLENGE!!

Good Things Are Happening

Exhibit A: I found out my bank does indeed have online banking. Hooray!!!

Exhibit B: The call to the US to get the information I needed to set up online banking only cost me 10 euros (ok, this part could be better).

Exhibit C: Because of the time change I was able to take care of this business at 11:00 PM my time, which was highly convenient for me.

Exhibit D: I now know (for the first time in 4 months) my exact account balance... and things are much brighter than I had anticipated!

Exhibit E: I've been watching figure on TV here in France, and I understand the commentators.

Exhibit F: I had frozen pizza for dinner.

Exhibit G: Tomorrow I am going to make my Gina G. Exercise Challenge video... look out!

Exhibit H: I found the entire first two seasons of Prison Break online and the videos actually play (hello day-long Sunday activity).

From My Father

I think it's a pretty good message. Pass it on.

Shameless Advertising

Pass Me the Scissors

I just read about a lady that has paid of $10,000 off her debt which is, as she puts it, "almost 20%!"

You do the math. I'm off to cut my credit card into a million tiny pieces.

Blog #249: The New Generation of Peanut Butter Spreaders

I have a thousand hours of free time on my hands and the best I can come up with for a blog is links to another person's blog. A person who has negative a thousand hours to spend writing one and yet comes up with stuff a thousand times funnier. Enjoy.

Blast From the Past

I was reading my old journal (if you're so inclined) and found my first post ever. I thought it was pretty funny - especially the last part. Here it is, reposted for 2 reasons... a) for nostalgia (ah, the good old days), and b) because (as per usual) nothing new is happening here in Perpignan.

Hidey-Ho from the Underground! It's hotter than Hades here in NH. My sister showed me how to set this thing up, and now ( hot damn! ) I think I might be able to work it!

My town has a squirrel mascot. Rather, the land preservation trust has a squirrel mascot. Same difference.

I played tennis. I lost.

Am going to take Rubyglow for a spin in the driveway. Hope she doesn't have a run-in with the lawn mower.

Visual Aid?

My teacher (when she was shattering my dreams of a less painful lesson plan) suggested that I discuss this movie with the class next week. I really want to bring in this advertisement for the film about Robert Kennedy, but is that really appropriate? I mean, it's not in English, so that's not related to class. And while it is funny, can I really get away with explaining this very immature typo in a classroom setting?

Sadly, I don't think I should be molding the young minds of the future with this sort of thing (it is with deep regret that I condemn the advertisement to house arrest).

AP US History

The day I ripped my AP US History text book into a million shreds was one of the happiest moments of my life. I remember sitting in my room the night before the AP exam, ripping and ripping and ripping while everyone else in my class was studying their asses off. Truth be told, I did not study at all for the exam. What was the point? I had not absorbed any information that whole year, and that wasn't going to change in the last 24 hours before the exam. In fact, taking the exam was more of a technicality, a necessary evil... the way I saw it I was just paying the $80 fee and sitting in a testing room for 3 hours so I could say I got a C+ in AP US History (which was better than getting a C+ in REGULAR US History, which is what would have happened if I did not sit for the exam).

The exam was pretty fun. I'd always wanted to fill in random bubbles on a standardized test, so I did. Also, since the document based question was about the Cold War and we had not even finished with World War Two, I had a ton of fun making up a totally incorrect (but well written!) essay. I even got a 2, which I considered to be a great success (all things considered).

Anyhow, the point is that I was glad to have put US History behind me. Sure, now in my adult life I sort of look like an idiot when the topic comes up, but usually I can get along by keeping my mouth shut.

Unfortunately, my teacher at school asked me to whip up a presentation about Kennedy and his presidency. UGH! What a snore! First off, I know nothing about the era so I had to do massive amounts of research (and research about related events and things leading up to his presidency to put everything in context). Second, I went into the classroom today and much to my chagrin find that all her students know ten times as much US History as I do, Kennedy and his presidency not excluded.

The worst bit is that instead of ending the torture today, she came up to me after class and said that it was interesting and I had done a good job (?!?), wouldn't it be a good idea to do another presentation on Robert Kennedy next week?

I feel like I've timewarped back to the worst part of my life. You may think this is me being melodramatic, but you weren't me during my high school history class. Trust me, it was torture.

I suppose on the plus side, at least I am covering a period of history I did not study in AP US History so it's not a complete repeat of the bad old days. Maybe this time I'll retain something other than total and utter confusion.

I No Longer Exclamate Like I Used To

Coming to France has made me seriously reconsider when it is appropriate to use the exclamation point in writing.

I find myself second guessing each mark - am I really that excited? Am I typing that to express fake enthusiasm? (Most often the answers are sadly no and yes.) I find I've adopted a sort of faint dislike towards the punctuation mark. I think of it as something like the ditzy, over-peppy cheerleader in school... the sentiments it expresses are often fake or shallow.

Anyhow... in reading recent emails I've sent to people I don't know very well, I find where I would have used the exclamation point in the past, I rarely deign to type it. However, with people I know quite well I continue to type it freely. It's weird - a sort of split between the US me communicating with my good old pals and the poser me in France communicating with people who I may or may not ever speak with again.

Interesting. My grammar teachers would be so intrigued.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

I'm not sure why I found this so funny. But I did find it funny. Really funny.

On Vimeo there was some discussion about making a video blog more interesting than just you and your camera, sitting around, talking. This is a perfect example. Normally, why would I care about some high schooler's (?) group project? But I watched all 5 minutes and 43 seconds.

The Mouth Harp - A New Level of Cool

Pretty soon I'm gonna rock out hard. On my mouth harp. It's gonna be awesome. I'm gonna be just like this guy:


Hmmm.

My First Band

My roommates and I are going to start a band! It all started one day when I decided I wanted to play the mouth harp (LISTEN). But who wants to play alone when you can play with other people? So I thought Hannah could play the kazoo and Amanda could play the spoons!

We are well on our way. I ordered a mouth harp and a kazoo (the kazoo is below, the harp is above) online tonight and am having them shipped directly to France. SWEET! I can't wait to get started.

Hello!

Another nice thing that happened to me was that I was walking through the hall today and one of the kids from one of my classes yelled, "Meghan!" I looked up to see him standing there waving at me with a huge smile, so I smiled and waved back.

Teaching is such a great experience... especially when students do things like that.

*PS - Look forward to my posts that will no doubt come later on this week in which I rant about how much I hate being an assistant. Meh, it comes in waves. ;-)

My Monday Two O'Clock Class

They are definitely, sans doute, my favorite group of kids that I see.

Sure, they can be quite roudy, they hardly ever pay attention and they say completely innappropriate things sometimes. They don't always complete in class assignments, they get off track, the talk in French and have side conversations galore... but despite all that, I really look forward to seeing them.

They are good kids - meaning they are not bad students, they just need a little help to stay focused. They are very capable of doing the work (if they choose to do it), they are always in a good mood and happy to see you... best of all, they make teaching a challenge (in the best sense). Every day is interesting, challenging and rewarding.

I had the best class today with these kids. I don't know what happened - perhaps their teacher spoke with them about their behavior, or perhaps they were just really interested in the lesson - but they were quiet, payed attention, participated in class, answered my questions, followed my directions... it was amazing. It was so much fun!

So, to Madame Benezet's class (tous les lundis à 14h), you're all great kids. I know you'll never probably see this, but now the world knows. :-)

My Airport

No, I'm not talking about planes... I'm talking about my computer.

I just updated my software (hasn't been done in... well, since never) and AMAZING! My wireless internet in my apartment has always been very shady and I've been receiving bad signal since the get go. However, now that I have updated my airport software, my signal is better than ever!

Why this means so much: I am very much looking forward to sitting down at my desk and being able to use my computer instead of having to drag it into the living room and pray for a signal stronger than one flickering bar. YAY!

Why I Went to an All Girls' High School

As my roommate put it:

"High school boys should be locked in cages and fed bread and water."

I think she added something about vegetables for good behavior.

My Hearing Has Been Compromised

I'm in that stage of a cold where you blow your nose and you get a bubble in your ear making it completely impossible to hear what people are saying.

This makes class interesting, as I have enough trouble as it is understanding students.

Tonight I am going to a party... I envision scenarios where I say, "Excuse me, can you please speak into my *good* ear? What? Am I older than I look? Whaaat?"

Uh-oh.

I've downloaded some very cheesy country songs lately, and I'm not exactly sure what to make of this occurrence. I would not say that I'm exactly a converted fan, and it's not like I was ever wholeheartedly against country music. But why this sudden fascination with Steve Holy's "Brand New Girlfriend"? Why could I not get "Achy Breaky Heart" out of my head? I've been thinking a lot about Dolly Parton, too... Is this a sign of something/anything?

Oh my God. I hope this isn't what happens to my musical tastes as I get older. Is it all downhill from here?

Gulp.

Letter Graveyard

So I've been reading this group on livejournal called LETTER GRAVEYARD, and it is really a time-waster, let me tell you.

Today I read one that I thought was really touching. It's really long but hey, if your looking for something to do, it might be worth the read. HERE it is.

Das Herz des Priesters/Péché d'Amour

This is one of the best/most entertaining things I've seen on French TV since arriving here. I am not a hundred percent sure what was going on, but I liked it... not for its quality, but it was one of the most fun films to guess about and laugh at, EVER.

Too bad you can't get it on DVD as it is a made for TV film from Germany. Oh, well.

I'm not the only adult to have seen a whole episode of the Doodlebops!

I know, I know. He has sort of a bad rep and can says things that make him seem like a huge jerk sometimes, but I just can't help it. I've always liked John Mayer's music, but I had never looked into his blog until today (I was doing research for a lesson plan, ok?). READ THIS. I think it's possibly the best blog entry ever to be written by a famous pop figure. It might possibly be the best blog entry ever, period.

I got the documentation right here!

Mitch Hedberg. Is. Funny.

Too bad he died.

I really think you should check out his jokes. My roommate (Amanda) introduced me to his sketches and they are really funny.

"I have a shirt that is 'Dry Clean Only'... that means it's dirty."

"I can't wait 'till this set is over because I got a roll of lifesavers in my pocket and the next one's pineapple."

"I play blackjack. I'm not into gambling, I'm just addicted to sitting in a semi-circle."

I'll Have Your Little Sister

It turns out that some French men may not be as sleazy as their reputation would make us think! They might instead just be literally translating common phrases from French into English.

For example, if you go to a bar and you order a drink, when you order another drink of the same variety you'd say, "I'll have another of the same." In casual settings, the phrase to do that would be, "petite soeur*", or literally, "little sister."

Today in class I was confused as to why this kid kept talking about my sister. They eventually explained to me that it means to have another of the same, which I think is actually pretty cool.

* I might have to spelling or phrase incorrect. After all, none of my students spelled it out for me! Ah, but that's what the afternoon section is for...

Kittens!

I did a search for "fluffy kittens" on Google Images and THIS is what I found.

Apple Technology

Let me count the reasons I LOVE Apple:

ONE - If you look at nothing else today, check this out.

Due to the "holy cow I can't believe that really exists" factor of the above link, I think that's enough love for one day. :-)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Yes, my friends! It's the in-between month that doesn't really exist that only happens twice a year (as regulated by the government). It's the sales, les soldes, the biggest 30 shopping days of the YEAR (besides, of course, the summer soldes) in France. The pushing, the shoving, the haggling over merchandise, the trampled children, the hair pulling... Get excited, because it's going to be great.

Redeconstruction

Before the vacation here in France they appeared to have finished the road work on my road. They repaved the road, took away all the barricades and machinery and left the street in top notch condition.

On Monday they started digging up the road again. It appears that they were not done! So the nice work they did to fix the road over vacation is now all torn up and they are back to square one. Strange how they do things here.

Interesting Site

CLICK HERE for a site that I found to be quite interesting. The guy has done some seriously cool projects such as taking a picture of himself every day for 8 years and making a video out of it, or making the entire sign language alphabet out of matchsticks he found. The statement on his main page I found to be highly enjoyable as well.

Italy, the Video!

In case you had not seen enough of my trip through endless slideshows, here is a video. I took about 150 video clips in 5 days, and here they are, all together, paired with the cheesiest version of the National Anthem known to man, I am sure.



Genoa, Italy on Vimeo

Slippers

And here they are... my slippers! At home, I wear these granny slippers all the time. Sadly, they did not make it into my suitcase for France (better luck next time). I've been in dire straights without the proper indoor footwear for the past three months. The other day when I went to the shoe store, I found these beauties for only 10 euro. It was love at first sight!

Shoes - Exhibit A

Emily! This picture is for you. Slippers coming momentarily. Don't forget about the BANGS!

More Italy Pictures

HERE is another slideshow of the pictures my dad took on the trip. Enjoy!

Back To School!

I have yet to seriously laugh out loud at anything a student has said in class. I let slip a giggle here and there, but mostly I try desperately to keep a stern face (as luck would have it, the funniest things kids say are also usually wildly inappropriate).

Today, on the first day back, I wanted to kids to make up a story about either the best vacation ever, or the worst. I asked them to use one detail that was true, and they could make up the rest. I was seriously worried what this one kid would say because last time he read his paper aloud it had to do with a particular teacher giving a blowjob (funny, but wrong). When he started reading his paper, it was all I could do to keep from doubling over in laughter.

Over vacation he was on an instant messenger when someone professed their true feelings towards him. He was thinking this was pretty ok until he found out that said mystery girl was actually a mystery boy that wasn't so much of a mystery boy as a friendly acquaintance.

Everyone in the class laughed, including me. I don't know if it was the detail that was true or not, but who cares? So funny.

How Our Driveway Got Trashed

Literally.

I came home the other day after a week of being gone to find that our bins were absolutely overflowing and there were three trashbags besides laying in our driveway. Not wanting to pick up after my (seemingly) lazy neighbors, I just pulled a Beatle-inspired reaction and "let it be".

Long story short, the bins made it out to the road to be picked up, but the trash bag pile in our driveway is ever growing. Better still, a large bird ripped one open and strew the contents all over the driveway.

I'm still just letting it be.

Flickr Uploadr

Just in case you were wondering, I wish I had found this handy-dandy tool ages ago.

And I call myself a computer science major? Puh-leeze.

By the way, when does what you majored in in college stop being important? Does its significance ever decrease? How many months will it be before I stop feeling pleased with my (oh là là) double major?

One more aside... why doesn't my spell check work? My apologies if I misspelled misspelled (mispelled?) or significance. A+.

Pictures from Italy

Here are a few choice pictures from Italy. CLICK HERE for the complete set in slideshow form.

Eragon

What a disappointment! Someone please tell me the second half (which I did not bother watching) was better than the first.

Meghan's Fool-Proof Method for Partially Crossing the Streets of Perpignan Without Dying

Cross your fingers.

Close your eyes.

Walk.

This method has a 97% success rate (sorry, Jim).

Yoga for Dummies

Cooking for Dummies is a good idea. What's the worst thing that can happen? You burn yourself on the stove, ruin a few pots and pans, and send a few people home hungry after your dinner party. Same with Computers for Dummies. The worst thing I can see happening there is some minor electrocution and a broken computer. But Yoga for Dummies... is that really a good idea? I see major potential for serious personal injury - especially if you really are a dummy.