Embracing My Parisian Life

My last post ended with me admitting that I need to stop longing for home (as much) and start focusing on living it up here in Paris.  And if I do say so myself, I think I have done a pretty good job over the last two weeks! 

Last week, I had my first galette de rois, literally King Cake, with friends Megan and Sybil.  It is a traditional cake served at this time of year in France (and in other countries around the world) and is to celebrate the Epiphany.  There is a little trinket baked inside.  If you are the lucky one to get the trinket in your slice, you get to wear the crown!  There was a small plastic rose in this cake.  You can read more about la galette des rois here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_cake

 Also last week, Dustin and I went with our friends Mike and Kelly to a wine bar called Wine by One.  The wine tasting area was circular, and all around the edges of the room were wine vending machines of sorts.  You could choose what size of a taste you wanted, put your card in the wall, and then the wine would dispense into your glass.  Some of the small glasses were as cheap as one euro, but some of the more expensive wines were up to 70 or 80 Euro for a few sips! 

On Saturday, Dustin and I went with our friend Megan to a minor league hockey game.  We got to see the Asnieres Castors (Castors=Beavers) take on the Rouen Dragons.  The outing was sponsored by the American Women's Group of Paris.  It was a small venue, but we had a great time.  The people who worked there were very nice and even declared it "American Night"...complete with a chili dinner.  It didn't exactly taste like chili, but they gave it a good try!

This one is a little dark, but it gives you an idea of what the rink was like.



This week has also been busy.  On top of French class, I have been volunteering at the American Church of Paris for several hours every day.  My volunteer position there has me working on getting a new constituent database up and running.  I also went to my first Parisian Zumba class, which was led by a French speaking Brazilian man.  Needless to say, it was pretty entertaining! 

Just two weeks in to living the Parisian life with a new attitude...and it has been great!  This new Parisian me is more relaxed, less worried about criticism from the French, and optimistic that things are going to continue in a positive direction.