Bingo!

Long weekend. Here are the highlights up through Saturday…

Thursday night: Went out with everyone to “Club Seven.” Semi-epic fail.

Friday: Work at the Council 9:30-1:30. I was supposed to be reading about 500 pages worth of reports on drug control policies and human rights, but spent most of the time on YouTube, eating Reese’s and shopping on Amazon.

Found out I got selected for an interview with JP Morgan Chase for the summer financial analyst internship in NYC. Freaking excited! Phone/Skype interview on Thursday.

Chocolate éclairs from Patrick’s. Always delicious.

Cooking class at a hospitality management school in Strasbourg. Seriously, I was dreading this thing. I mean, I’ve got the biggest crush ever on Gordon Ramsay, but hell, I can’t even make brownies without screwing up. Luckily, I managed to successfully cut up onions and roll cod in some flour without making a fool of myself.

Francesca’s for dinner with Mika, Sue, and Lex. My typical vodka sauce on penne and spreeté for the amazing price of 5 euro. The four of us are going to be multimillionaires when we open up “Francesca’s USA” on Marshall St. in Syracuse.

Saturday: Slept in, went with Sue to meet Lex and Mika at Rivetoile, one of the malls in Strasbourg. I had all these grand plans to stay away from anything “American” while I was here, but consequently ended up only shopping at H&M and Gap today. I don’t really care, I know what I like. I’m American baby, it’s gonna take more than some bread and good wine to change that!

I never planned to “blend in” and pretend to be French, I really had no desire to even try. I don’t play the game of trying to copy how the locals stand on the tram or order their lunch at the café. I don’t wonder if while I’m walking if people see me and think I’m French because I don’t really care. The truth is, I’ve never felt prouder to be an American since coming here. I don’t have to be French or act French to live here. Why should I pretend to be French when clearly I’m not. I’m pretty sure that makes me different from everyone else in the program who are so consumed with trying to blend in. (Hey guys, sorry to burst your bubble but speaking English loudly and traveling in groups of more than 3 is a dead giveaway!)

Anyway, it was a successful shopping excursion…ended up with a light, beige jacket, two tops, and a pair of jeans from Gap for a grand total of 90 euro.

Had dinner with the three of them at a restaurant called “Au Dauphin” right by the cathedral. The most delicious tarte flambé ever…reminiscent of Flam from France ’06 and ’07. A glass of Rosé d’Alsace, Black Forest chocolate cake, good conversation, and a handful of Facebook album quotes including, but not limited to: “I know that’s not freaking insulin,” “Bingo!, “I’m in freaking Turkey,” and “White, tight, old and rich…Coplin?”

It’s nights like that that make me truly, genuinely happy. And it’s nights like that I know I’ll remember and talk about long after I leave Strasbourg. Savor it. Every single moment.

Came home to check out Nou nou’s new doo since she got her hair colored and highlighted. She’s seriously been talking about this “coiffure” appointment for two weeks. Hilarious. Also I should add that Nou nou is a big time motorcycle and moped rider, is biffles with Tom Cruise, belongs to a country dancing group in Alsace, and enjoys using the word “sexy” whenever she can in conversation. I love this woman.

Today we spent the day with the entire program touring Alsace. Updates (and pictures!) from our day of wine tasting and medieval castles tomorrow!