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Bear Necessities of LifeMusings of Teddy Bear Necessity's Household
to Whom It May Concern A Nice Surprise
2007.03.27 (Tue)
Believe it or not, I am actually not just walking around the city of Paris chasing down Paris dogs and admiring beautiful sceneries. I’m actually attending Alliance Française to brush up my language skills.
I am taking 2 classes; one is an intensive course from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. everyday and the other is an intensive oral (3 hours) twice a week. I’ve been placed in an intermediate class, which is definitely higher than my actual level. There are about 10 other students in the class from all over the world, such as US, UK, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Australia, Brazil, and Venezuela. There is one another Japanese person in the class, too. The level of grammar is adequate for me, but speaking and listening, boy oh boy, it’s just totally over my head. Everybody seems so fluent that the class discussions are always on politics and social problems! I mostly listen since that’s all I can manage to do. It’s a good thing this class is not for a credit because I would be marked down for the lack of participation for sure. The oral class, on the other hand, is way too easy. I mean, we talk about what kind of vacation we want to take. What a difference different teachers can make! I’m placed in a higher class from the following week, so let’s see how that goes. I do need to practice conversations more, and I try in stores and restaurants and also at the hotel I’m staying at. Although quite often I get responses back in English, I still try and mostly Paris people have been humoring me despite my very awkward and ill-pronounced locutions. It’s rather awkward to eat alone in restaurants, though, so sadly my meals largely consists of something like this . But for a little while, that changed because I had a savoir! My knight in shining armor! My wonderful hubby surprised me by flying out to celebrate my birthday with me. I didn’t plan to spend my birthday in Paris, but it just happened that way due to schedule adjustments, and he thought I’d be too lonely to have to spend my birthday alone in a strange city. Well, I certainly would have and I was so happy he came. So we went out to a restaurant in Saint-Germain called “Comptoir.” This restaurant is so hot that it takes 1 year to make a dinner reservation, but for lunch, all you need to do is to stand in line. Inside is very charming, n'est pas? Pâté de Foie Gras for hors d'œuvres and braised pork for plat principal. Of course the meal was SUPERB, but what was plus superb was that I could enjoy it with my loving husband. Je suis a Paris.
2007.03.22 (Thu)
It might seem very sudden, but I am in Paris! Yes, Paris, France. Why, you might be wondering. Well, let me explain. When Teddy was with us, we hardly did any traveling. We just didn’t want to leave her that much, and as a consequence, we became one of the least traveled people among our world trotting friends. So when Teddy left us, we decided that it was time for us to do things we wouldn’t have done before, and for me, that became learning a new language mostly because it demanded a lot of time out of my schedule. French became the language of choice because 1) I didn’t know it at all and 2) I’d always had this fantasy about French way of life being exceptionally dog-friendly. If you know me at all, you know dogs mean whole a lot to me. So naturally, life that makes it easier to live with a dog is very attractive to me. Now, I don’t know how dog-friendly French really are, but I’ve seen plenty of classic images of dogs in Paris cafes. I’ve also looked up in the past that many hotels allow dogs if they allow kids, and I know that small to medium-sized dogs could be seated in the Concorde (if you paid for the seat, of course) when they were in service. Dog-gone it, French just HAS TO be more dog-friendly than anything I’ve been accustomed to. So that’s how I decided that I liked things French and therefore I decided to learn the language as well. So far, my assumptions have been confirmed somewhat. I see dogs in brasseries and well-behaved dogs are walking on the streets of Paris off-leash. A Wheaten named “Bell.” This really friendly licker belongs to an American couple in Latin Quarter. A Belgian Shepherd we encountered in a brasserie in Montmartre. A mix (?) belongs to an artist who tries to sell portraits to tourists in Montmartre. I’ve also seen signs that ban dogs from small parks and some stores, so the verdict of this city’s dog-friendliness isn’t in yet, however. Meanwhile, I’m also enjoying the beautiful scenary of Paris. I think this city is just gorgeous, and no, I haven’t seen that many dog poops on the street, either! Louie's First House Guest
2007.03.10 (Sat)
Our friend's Labrador "Ellie" came to stay with us. It was not the first time for Ellie to be with us, but it's the first time for Louie to have a house guest since he became a member of our family. He could hardly contain his excitement as you can see.(Volume Warning!!)
After the initial madness, however, thing calmed down quite significantly. He even let Ellie play with his toys with no fuss. By the night time, the duo was happy just couch-potatoing with Russell. For a dog, there is nothing better than having another canine companion. ♪ |