Arrrrgggghhhh

Well, I ended up deleting the previous post about change and the French just because I realized it was one of those topics that would either be a really long post or several small posts and I just didn't feel up to explaining it anymore (for now). I try to avoid the long posts because as some of you have pointed out to me, you do not have very long attention spans and prefer the posts short and sweet. I suppose I will explain my whole change and the French theory at another time.

The past week has been crazy - I have been on a manhunt for a gluten-free wedding cake. This is no easy feat - most people in France have not even heard of gluten, let alone celiac disease or gluten intolerance. This is one of those things that really makes me wish I was still living in NYC - at least it is not too hard to get gluten free things!

In other news, I am heading back to New York for the month of May - I leave on May 6th, which is also the day of the final round of voting in France! Unfortunately my flight leaves really early in the A.M. (7:15 to Rome, where I will connect with a 10 a.m. to Newark), so I won't find out who won until I actually get into New York.

I just have to say that I am SO excited to be going to New York!!!! Here is what I am planning to do:

- Head straight over to Risotteria restaurant A.S.A.P.!!!! Gluten-free pizza, pasta, cake, and cookies, here I come! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Check out Mom's jewelry to see if I can find myself a suitable engagement ring that I can have redone.
- Head to Takahashi on Avenue A for some delicious sushi. I am totally going to order eel rolls and yellowtail & scallion rolls. Yay!!!!!
- Go shopping for fabric for my wedding dress.
- Go see Spiderman 3, which I think opens right before I get into New York.
- Go see Pirates of the Caribbean 3, which opens right before I leave for Paris. (Note: must reserve tickets via Fandango or Moviefone!)
- Must satisfy craving for chicken tandoori on 6th street.
- Shop at Whole Foods - check out gluten-free cake mixes for wedding cake (just in case!); buy myself some delicious gluten-free treats from the Whole Foods Bakehouse (or whatever it's called, but they make really good stuff).
- Check out Trader Joe's at Union Square. Have heard so much about it, yet have not actually set foot in there yet.
- Pilgrimage to DSW for shoes (let's hope they have more Prada and Marc Jacobs this time!). Must also go to Barney's and Bergdorf's and check out new jeans. (Hint of tiny hole on my Sevens, plus back pockets threads unraveling on my Paper Denims has sent me into extreme panic here in France, as prices for these jeans are nearly double what they are in New York).
- Annual pilgrimage to Woodbury Common. I know, it's far and it's not great since everything is like 3 seasons old, but I really like how it resembles a quaint little village but is made up entirely of stores.
- Barnes & Noble - must stock up on English language books. Also can hang out and read all day long while lounging around on the floor.
- Must have Starbuck's frappucino. I know there are Starbucks everywhere in Paris these days, but it's just not the same. (oooh! Maybe can have frappucino AT Starbuck's!! While reading magazines!)
- Watch season finales of Heroes and Ugly Betty, and maybe America's Next Top Model (okay, I am totally going to watch ANTM - horrible show but such a guilty pleasure!). So nobody call me on Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday night.
- Buy several bottles of BBQ sauce and Listerine as well as some Benadryl Severe Allergy Caplets to bring back to France.

As you can see, I intend on making the most of my stay in the U.S. and will participate in all things American that I cannot do in France (i.e. watch TV in ENGLISH and movies WITHOUT those stupid French subtitles that are never translated correctly). And eat some excellent non-French cuisine! Yay America!!!!!

Round 1...

Today is voting day here in France, for the first round of presidential elections!

As I mentioned in a previous post about the French elections, voters have about 12 candidates to choose from in the 1st round, and the two candidates who receive the most votes head into the second round of voting, which takes place about 2 weeks later.

Nicolas Sarkozy is leading the polls right now, with Ségolène Royal a close second and François Bayrou in third place. The general consensus now is that the second round will most likely consist of Sarko vs. Ségo, but one can't exclude those wildcards, François Bayrou and Jean-Marie Le Pen. The thing about 79-year old Le Pen is that he appeals to French equivalent of the Bible Belt voters, who are afraid to admit in the polls that they vote for him, for fear of being branded racist (but the thing is, he always gets a surprisingly large amount of votes).

Being that I am not French, I won't be able to vote in the elections, but I do agree with the general consensus that none of the candidates are very appealing. However, I think that my vote would go to the Centrist candidate François Bayrou despite his lack of charm, charisma, and appeal. He may be boring and uninspiring, but I honestly think he is the best choice, given the other candidates.

Quick rundown of candidates (with a short commentary):

Nicolas Sarkozy (Center right UMP party): Wildly ambitious, and one of the best speakers ever. However, ass-kissing and desperation are never a turn-on. Plus, he looks like an evil dwarf.

Ségolène Royal (Socialist party): She really embarrassed herself what with all those mistakes she made when she went on her foreign tour. She's pretty, but she's really not that smart.

François Bayrou (Centrist UDF party): Boring! But at least he's not overly desperate like Sarkozy, and contrary to Ségolène, he seems to be a relatively intelligent person.

Jean-Marie Le Pen (Extreme right FN party): You ever notice that people who are racist always say they're not racist? People who support Le Pen are always saying stuff like "I'm not racist or anti-Arab, because I like to eat couscous!"

Olivier Besancenot (Revolutionary Communist League): The name of his political party says it all.

Marie-George Buffet (Communist Party): See above.

Gérard Schivardi (Worker's Party): See above.

Arlette Laguillier (Trotskyist "Worker's Struggle" Party): I suspect that she is the mastermind behind all those worker strikes in France. Nothing would ever get done if she gets elected, because everyone will be striking all the time.

José Bové (Leftist anti-globalist): His entire platform is based on the whole anti-genetically moderated food issue. Plus, he was in jail and everything. He seems intelligent despite that farmer look he's got going on, but he really needs to talk about subjects other than modified corn and how McDonald's sucks.

Frédéric Nihous (Hunting & Fishing Party, or something like that): He spends a lot of time talking about hunting and other outdoor sports. Not really sure what his platform is about, but suspect is has something to do with more rights for hunters and nature-lovers.

Dominique Voynet (Green Party): Entire campaign based on global warming and recycling. I guess it's a bit more credible than the 2 previous candidates above, but still, there are much more serious problems to address.

Philippe de Villiers (Movement for France party): Extremely pro-Catholic and anti-Islam. Kind of like Le Pen, except he's titled, and he's in his 50's, so contrary to Le Pen, he probably won't croak soon. However, I'm a little creeped out by that scandal from last year, where his eldest son was indicted for raping the youngest son. Ewwwww.

The Best TV Show....EVER!

Ok, some of you may know that my New Favorite TV Show is "Heroes".....you know, that show that's vaguely the same idea as the X-Men? (otherwise ordinary people discover that they have superpowers.....except the super powers on Heroes is not quite so extreme as the ones in X-Men)

Anyway, I was checking out the official NBC Heroes website where they have the graphic novels which fill in important plot holes in the actual series - and they just did a 6-episode graphic novel all about the origins of Mr. Lindermann and Peter and Nathan Petrelli's dad.

I also checked out the previews for the episodes that will lead up to the season finale (the show is sort of on a hiatus or whatever, and will start again April 23 for five weeks) - the suspense is totally killing me!

And it gets even better! I'll be in New York for 3 weeks in May, which means that I will get to see the last 3 episodes of the season! I'm so excited!!! Plus, I can catch up on the 2 episodes that I'll miss on nbc.com - you can totally watch full episodes, which I prefer much more than trying to download the latest ones.

Yay!!!!

French Politics

Here is an excellent article in the New York Times Magazine about the current state of French politics and the upcoming elections (this Sunday is the first round of voting!)

Anyway, sorry for the lack of new posts; my allergies have been pretty severe these last few days. Luckily, a friend from New York is coming to stay with us this week and I have requested some Benadryl Severe Allergy medicine. Let's hope it works!

Lost in the supermarket...

On Friday, I went grocery shopping. I usually buy enough for a week or two, and have it all delivered, since I live on the 6th floor without an elevator....

Strolling down the dairy section, my cart already filled with fruits and vegetables, I happened upon a woman hawking Yakult - you know, those people who give out free samples and stuff. The Yakult lady saw me meandering along towards the yogurt section - and the following conversation took place:

Yakult Lady (YL): Hello! Do you know about Yakult?
Me: Um, no.
YL: Oh, so you've never heard of it?
Me: No.
YL: You weren't born in France, were you? Where were you born? (with arched eyebrow in manner that suggested only foreigners would be stupid enough to not have heard of the wonderfulness that is Yakult)
Me: New York.
YL: New York? (blank stare) Where's that?
Me: (after awkward pause, since I wasn't sure if she was kidding or not) Um...it's in America. The U.S.A. (YL still stares at me blankly). You know, like on the other side of the Atlantic?
YL: Ohhhhh! The United States?!
Me: Yes.
YL: Oh, cause, you know, Yakult is from Japan.
Me: Oh. Okaaaayyy.....
YL: So, I thought you would have heard of it. Because it's from Japan.
Me: Okaaaayy.....but I just told you that I'm not from Japan.
(Long pause while I stare with desperation at the yogurt that I want to grab, which happens to be on the other side of the YL. Finally just start pushing shopping cart down the aisle, edging away from crazy YL.)
YL: Wait!!! Would you like to try some Yakult, then?
Me: No thanks, I'm good.

In other grocery store news, I spent a really long time looking for baking soda. Now, I know it exists and I'm pretty sure you can buy it in a supermarket, since if I remember correctly, I once bought some back in 2000. But where in the supermarket could it possibly be located? I literally went through every single aisle (skipping the obvious sections, like produce, the butcher's, the fish section....) but I couldn't find it anywhere.

Administrative Schtuff

Today I received my "convocation" in the mail to renew my carte de séjour. That basically means that I have a designated appointment time to go and renew my residency permit.

I hope everything will go smoothly. Here in Paris, you are supposed to call a special hotline that is just for people renewing residency permits - you get an operator who will give your your date and time for the appointment, and they will send to you via mail the documents you need to bring with you.

The thing is, when I called the préfecture's number to schedule an appointment, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to renew, since I will have to change my status to that of "spouse of French national". (My current visa is based on a Pacs, which means that I have "strong family ties").

The operator who picked up was actually very nice when I explained the situation to her. She actually spent a few minutes congratulating me on my upcoming wedding! Unfortunately, she didn't know any more than I did. What made the whole thing all the more complicated is that my current visa expires on July 3rd, which means that I have to start the renewal process by June, but I also need to change my residency status, and the wedding doesn't take place until July 21st. The phone call dragged out into a 40 minute ordeal, during which she tried to speak English for some strange reason (I haven't spoken English with a French person since about 1998, but I do appreciate the effort on her behalf) and put me on hold several times to check with her supervisor about the whole process. It ended with her finally explaining what I was really supposed to do, and her asking me if I understood, whereupon I would repeat what she had just said and then she would confirm that I understood by repeating back to me the same exact things.

So, apparently I totally understand what is to be done, but truthfully I am still a little confused....mostly because she said I will pick up my actual visa at the same time that I will change my residency status, but doesn't that mean that I will need a whole new card? Sigh........

The Grass is Always Greener...

While looking for jobs here in Paris, I do actually check out job listings in New York. And I've been feeling really frustrated lately, because all I see are posts for entry-level assistant designer jobs. I feel like they are calling out to me, with descriptions such as "overseas experience a plus", or "experience in luxury/high-end women's market". Hello! That is totally me!

Even more frustrating is that with all these job opportunities galore in New York, there are absolutely none whatsoever in Paris.

Obviously, by the time I manage to haul ass back to New York and really start looking for jobs, there will be NONE available in New York and TONS of options in Paris.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.........

Wedding preparations, Part 2

Today the BF and I dropped off our file at our local city hall for the wedding. It says in the little brochure they give you that you should expect the meeting to last 45 minutes - except we were done in about 10 minutes. As is often the case in France, the fonctionnaire handling the weddings part of city hall looked extremely bored out of her mind and acted like we were the reason she was not off doing more important things, what with sighing heavily every 5 minutes and acting like she was doing us such a big favor by reaching over to grab the calender on her desk to tell us which dates were available.

Anyway, the wedding date is set for a Saturday at the end of July! We're pretty lucky to have gotten a Saturday in such a short amount of time - most couples like to book Saturdays because they want to follow up the civil ceremony with a church wedding - which can only take place on Saturdays in France. We won't be doing a church ceremony, though, so it will just be a small family wedding for now.

The Name Game

The BF and I have been discussing, among other wedding related topics, the idea of me taking his last name. These days, I guess some people might consider taking one's husband's last name to be shocking, what with all the ladies keeping their own last names, but I don't think there is anything wrong with it whatsoever. In fact, I find it normal to take your husband's last name; after all, my mom did it! And it certainly makes things easier when a husband and wife have the same last name.

All this brings me to another topic. Many young people here in France, who happen to also be the children of immigrants, complain of discrimination when it comes to job hunting. That is, if you happen to have a non-French (meaning Arab, African, or Asian) name, companies will not even call you for an interview, even if your resumé proves that you are totally qualified and more for the job. There are always news features on TV here that show people belonging to minority groups struggling to land a job - they will send out a resumé with their real names, wait a few weeks, and then resend the same resumé, but with a Frenchified name. Disturbingly enough, they always receive phone calls after having sent out the second resumé. I admit that at first, I thought that was crazy! In my big-hearted American way, I was all "Wow, that is totally not possible. This is a modern country! Racism is so not cool!" Well, I was quite shocked upon hearing the story of a guy I know, who is a friend of a friend. Mohammed is of Arab origin, but is a graduate of H.E.C., or the French equivalent of Wharton (H.E.C. = high paying job after graduating). Mohammed couldn't get a job after graduation - so he went down to city hall and legally changed his first name to Marc. Lo and behold, he snagged himself a job not too long after!

I often can't help but wonder if I do not receive as many calls or requests for interviews because I have an Asian last name. The thing is, French people seem to have a hard time understanding that I am an American citizen - to a majority of the French, the fact that I have Asian features and an Asian last name, means that I am obviously from China/Japan/Korea/Vietnam/Thailand. They are confused, and maybe even perturbed, by the fact that I am the bearer of an American passport, and that English is my native language. I wonder if I will suddenly start receiving more job offers when I start sending out resumés with my new French last name.

Now, I don't know if it's just me, but I happen to find this whole thing rather disturbing. Being of Asian origin has never bothered me before - in fact, I never even thought twice about it. No one has ever mentioned it in all my years of growing up in New York. But when I first came to France as a student back in 1998, it was like, the number one topic all the time. People will shout out to me in the street, "Konichi-wa!" or "Ni hao!" in a manner that is condescending and disturbing (though, this phenomenon happens when I am by myself, never with the BF). I find myself having conversations with some French people who ask me what my nationality is - and when I say "Well, actually, I'm American" and they will say, "No, I mean your real nationality". I'll be all, "Yeah, I'm really American", and they'll be like, "Yeah, okay, but no, I mean, really, where are you from?"

Maybe I am reading way too much into it - I'm pretty sure that for the most part, a lot of it has to do with ignorance - the same kind of ignorance that prompts reactions like, "Your friend is Jewish? But s/he doesn't look Jewish!!!!" It's not in a mean-spirited manner that people will say this, but more of genuine shock, because they have always been brought up to believe in certain stereotypes, or because they don't have much interaction with other cultures. It could also be ignorance on my part, because as an American, one has the tendency to believe that everyone else is just like us, with the same beliefs and values, where in fact, they do not. There is a stronger sense of national identity, one that does not necessarily exist in America, a country founded on the idea of immigration. After all, anyone can be an American, but not everyone can be French (or German, etc.)

Edit: To be fair, I should point out that among friends and family, I have never, ever had any problems whatsoever. No one seems to think it is weird that I am Asian and American. It's really mostly just the random Jean-Pierre in the street, or at a party. Or like that time I went to get waxed and the waxer-girl would not shut up about it - but that will be another post.

Sniffles

Argh....for the last few days, my poor nose has been clogged to the max with phlegm - with the result that my ears have been under an extreme amount of pressure, as though I was underwater and in an airplane - so in short, I basically felt like my head was about to explode any minute.

I took advantage of the wedding medical exam to ask the doctor about my throat, since I was at the time mostly suffering from a painful sore throat. The doctor wrote out a prescription for Advil Cold & Sinus - a.k.a. "RhinAdvil" here in France. The ultimate result was that the stupid Advil made me really sleepy and only declogged my nasal area for a few hours before all that phlegm came rushing back into the nostrils from my ears.

Today is the first day that I have been able to actually feel the air penetrate my nose, so I guess that the Advil has been somewhat effective. However, I still have a sneaking suspicion that I am really just suffering from the start of allergy season. In case you did not know, I am the type of allergy sufferer that needs to live in a bubble in the spring when all those allergens start their invasion. Here in France, doctors seem to not understand at what point I suffer from allergies - I distinctly get the impression that they think allergies don't really exist. Case in point - I said to the doctor this week that I suspected the sore throat was a result of my allergies, meaning that all that mucus was trickling down into my throat and irritating it, and he said that no one has allergies that serious, and it couldn't possibly be the case. In New York, I have a wonderful allergist of the type who is always listed in those "Best Doctors in America!" articles in magazines. When I first went to see her, she administered that horrible skin prick test, to determine what I am allergic to. As I sat there, staring in horror at my deformed forearm, I said, "Dr. S, I'm not like, the worst allergy sufferer, right? I mean, there are people with worse allergies than me, no?" Dr. S. peered at me over her glasses, and said, "Well, I have been in this business for a long time, and to be honest, you are in the top 10% of the worst allergy sufferers I have ever seen." She then said, "You need allergy shots" with the same urgency I might say to J.Lo, "You need to stay away from Tom Cruise".

Oddly enough though, I have undergone my allergy shot treatment in New York and whenever I go back to New York in the springtime, I don't really suffer much anymore, but here in France, it just seems like my allergies are at their worst - to the point that I won't be able to breathe through my nose for about 2 weeks. I guess I should really see an allergist and get myself desensitized to all those weird little French allergens.

Anyway, the BF wants to go for a walk now, so we'll see if my current bout of runny nose is due to a cold or allergies....