"The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning"
-Michel Foucault

January 7th 2009

Well the new year is here!

Welcome the year of change! The year of economic crisis! The year of a new american revolution? Or a high noon of the european union day of reckoning? Ah, 2009. I think you will bestow upon us a multitude of new learning experiences, being that you are the last year of the new millennium with a single digit, and certain realizations of the new world order. At least that's what my hopes are. Anyhow, since i think my grandma is about the only person who reads this blog (Hi my florida golfer!) I will tell you all about Paris at christmas and new years...
Christmas:
Everyone has somewhere to be! Most Parisians evacuate Paris for winter break which starts the week students have off school the 20th until the 5th of January. For Parisians escaping the city of 3 million people is extremely important, and many disperse off to Lyon, Normandy, Bourgogne, and so forth. To the country, where life is slow and they can relax. For those staying in Paris everything is open until Christmas Eve and then silence. Christmas day is a much more religious atmosphere than in the united states. You really don't see as much santa claus' and frosty the snowmen as you do everywhere you go at christmas. Mostly it's just wonderful holiday lights guiding you down tiny streets and a few decorations on store front windows of frosting and snowflakes. The pastry shops and bread shops all have the buche de noel, or holiday logs out front of their windows. These are the most delicious little cakes made in the shape of a log in any flavor you can imagine. Decorated with tiny little berries or gold leaves or fruit. I forced my family into picking one, they had no idea what it was and eyed it suspiciously and doubted the judgement of 25 euros on something that looks like a festive doorstop. However, soon as we cut into the cake, christmas eve in our tiny little parisian apartment, everyone enjoyed it. It was so rich you could have been full from eating half a slice. So we put half of it back in it's festive gold box into the fridge. The next day we pulled it out for dinner and it was empty. I suspect Mom. Or a Dad, Kelsey, Mom combo. They ate well. Crepes, mussels, ham, french pizza, steak frites, it is hard to say no to french cuisine. As a family we visited so many places in the city that we were constantly on the metro, which little sister was able to navigate by the end of the trip. We saw the Louvre, Centre Pompidou (modern art at it's finest) Champs D'Elysee, Arc De Triomph, Notre Dame, Sacre Couer, Montmatre, Eiffel Tower, Invalides, Catacombs pretty much everything to see in Paris. In a week. Poor family wore the tread out in their shoes, but we did it. My favorite part of having my family here was sitting around Paris, having no place to go and playing cards or the name game. I missed them all so much. They had to leave eventually, france is too small for this family. So after tearful goodbyes off they flew, back to everything i miss.

New Years Eve:

To the Eiffel Tower with all the other french, non-french and crazies! Bottles of champagne helped keep the cold away and 4 other assistants and myself had a lovely time watching fireworks go off and the tower change from blue to gold. It was bittersweet, but I am glad I was there. I will always remember the cold and the lights and how everyone was screaming and shouting Bonne Annee! After all the craziness and shuffling back to our respective homes we all experienced the bizarre chance (well it was planned) of FREE metro rides. Along with EVERY other living soul in Paris. Or it seemed like, while so packed into a little tiny metro car you can hardly move, I highly recommend starting the new year off right by getting very friendly with your french neighbors. Of course it was made interesting, by picking the wrong direction, laughing and joking around with strangers, good times.

So there you are, a new update to keep you in the know. It has snowed quite a bit here in the last few days as well, the kids are perfecting their aim with the snowballs and ice is everywhere. I'm really happy to be back at school and teaching. We're working on Martin Luther King Junior this week and starting our talk about civil rights and it's history in the United States. Hopefully enough to keep them interested until the inauguration.