Nothing Exciting to Report

Well, happy 20th of July....Nothing special to drop in with really special to drop in with these days.

Starting this weekend, I go fulltime at the hotel, YEAHOOO! Well not really, the hours will be hell on earth and I will be a walking corpse, the thing is that I have to give it a try or I will never know what it is like. Basically, it is 42 hours a week - mandatory 12 hour shifts each time I work. So basically Week one = 48 hours (4 days), week two = 36 hours (3 days). The good news is that I get 3 and 4 days off respectively, so who knows, maybe I will like it! The huge downside is spending 12 hours a day, alone, at the hotel. If I am lucky, there is 4 hours worth of work....Other than that, I read, drink some tea, check the internet, and blog!

On a happier note, because I am in France, I get 5 weeks of paid vacation a year. I can also squeeze two weeks into one if I want and take a whole week off if need be as well, pretty cool! I leave on the 29th on vacation and am starting to get excited - you know buying cute summer clothes, stocking up on sunblock, etc... Today I get to go to the grands magasins. Specifically, I will be going to Printemps. Basically, this is a mammoth version of like a Bloomingdales where they have every overpriced thing available at ridiculous prices. The good news is, Petit Bateau, the T shirts I love, are on sale there plus I get a discount from the hotel.

Other than that, Nick is doing great and also looking forward to vacations too. I wonder what I will do if I ever end up back in the U.S. where you get a maximum of 2 weeks per year, YUCK!!!

I wish I had more to say but unfortunately, I don't!

Take care,
Jen

Happy Bastille Day

The picture you see on the left is a little old -but I wanted to put it up cause I miss my family. These are 4 our of 5 of my brothers. Todd seems to be missing - he was probably hitting the bar somewhere! This is my brother john's wedding. Talk about purple hair huh? Anyhow, there is another family wedding next weekend, and its been a couple years since we have all been together and I have to admit that I am fairly disappointed that I can't be there to see my bro's....

Can you imagine what it was like growing up with 5 brothers? Well, whatever you are imagining, it is actually probably wrong. I was not a spoiled little brat (although my parents would most likely disagree) rather I thought I was a boy - I mean i knew i didn't have the same parts, but I behaved like one. The thing is, I had always lived with my brothers until I moved to Paris. I've never been away from all of them until these past 2 years and I have to admit, it just sucks. Paul and Robert are the closest to my age (the one with his arm around me and the one at the opposite far end in the dark blue shirt). It is hard to keep in touch with brothers...its just not the same as getting foot long subs, some beer and watching enterprise or angel together, you know? Oh well, changes happen, I just miss them and have been thinking about them with the wedding this weekend. Guess they will have to get trashed enough for me and them :(

So, yesterday was Bastille Day - the equivalent of the 4th of July. Basically, Bastille day occured on July 14th, 1789 when the Bastille (A prison used by the kings of France to jail those who were 'a thorn in their side' to make them disappear of the face of the planet) was stormed and liberated. It signaled an end to monarchy in France. Now you ask me, what do French people do to celebrate? Well, they set of fireworks like us. Last night, we climbed up onto the rooftop of our Paris apartment with our glasses of champagne and watched the fireworks at the eiffel tower. I have to admit, they were pretty cool this year because they actually WIRED the fireworks TO the Eiffel Tower. After that, we played Jenga and drank and hung out, YEAHOOOO!!!

What's new in P-Town? Well, hmmm, the city is slowly empyting as vacations are getting closer and closer. Ironically in France, when a national holiday occurs on a Thursday, everyone takes Friday off too, its called a Pont (or a bridge). Pretty nice huh? Basically, the streets are pretty empty and Paris is a quiet place.

Also, I got PACS'd on Wednesday, YEAH! We walked into the Mayor's office at 10h30 and we were waiting for the bus to go home at 10h55. Pretty efficient huh? It all went really well so now I call Nico Mr. Pacs Man, and I am Mrs. Pacs Man....okay so our sense of humor isn't outstanding!

Other than that, I have just been collecting items for vacation (little outfits, swimsuit, sunblock, books, etc...) so that I am COMPLETELY prepared this year! I think I will have a blast and maybe, JUST MAYBE, get a tan!!!

I have also been working a little on my "I want my own hotel" project. There is a huge seminar in London in September with tons of people speaking on exactly the subjects I need to research buts if over 1000 pounds to go!!!!! That doesn't even include the hotel! Geez, I am going to need a sugar daddy....

Ha, funny thing, just got a phone call from a hotel I stayed in back in June...they wanted to alert me that there was a client who stayed at the same hotel as me who died of Legionnaires disease shortly after her stay at the same time as me!!! She told me I should go see a doctor if i felt any shortness of breath or anything. Unfortunately, that was a MONTH ago and I'd be DEAD by now if i HAD IT!!!! THANKS!

In other news (ha, that reminds me of the Daily show) I took a test of a friends blog from testcafe.com called the sex test... it rates your proficiency in different categories and here are my rankings....

84% Oral Sex (Your strongest skill)
75% Foreplay
75% Orgasm
67% Masturbation
67% Sex Drive
67% Frequency
59% Positions
50% Sex Toys
42% Sex & Dating
34% Fantasy (Your weakest skill)

I guess I am not all that disappointed, but I feel I could have scored higher in Fantasy, OH WELL!!

I think that is enough for now, I am going back to reading Guy de Maupassant - Bel Ami. I am forcing myself to read in French and as I just finished Dan Brown - Deception Point, I have to revert to a French novel now (however I do sneak The Memoirs of Geisha in here and there!)

Take care all!!!

Jen

Monday, Happy Monday

Well hello hello....

Yes, it's Monday, and yes I am totally exhausted. I guess my weekend wasn't THAT exciting but it was good. Let's see, quick overview:

Friday

• Spent the morning dealing with paperwork issues - this could be a section in and of itself. Paper issues in France are AWFUL. I feel like an awful awful illegal alien who they are constantly trying to kick out of the country! Anyhow, I burst into tears at the Mayor's office on Friday afternoon - it was quite exhausting
• Friday afternoon, I waited around the hotel for the Italians to pop by to take us to the fashion show. Turns out that they called me at home and no one gave my phone number so they ended up going to the fashion show WITHOUT us!
• Friday evening - party #1 at our place - bunch of people, bunch of liquor, bunch of smokable stuff (yeah dude...) and bunch of fun.
• Friday evening - party #2 at La Jungle. This is a great little African Bar that has great music, great drinks and great people - usually. This night, however, was a major downer to begin with. We had a crazy guy telling my friend Alice and I that we were not unique and that there were hundreds of other women like us in the world. (He said a lot of other things, but I was so focused in trying to stay out of range of his alcohol-ridden breath that I sort of blocked the rest.) Finally, after a little "smoke" on the street (to ease the stress of the day), the Italians showed up and smoked with us. We had drinks, shot the shit, etc... At about 1h30 in the morning, we walked home and I enjoyed the rest of the party at my place.

Saturday

• Well, i dragged my ass to work around noon-time and stayed until about 5. I then watched a few Angels (I am a pretty huge fan - and yes he is pretty hot).
• I then waited for Nico to get home from breakfast with his mom, played the i-toy a bit, watched T.V. and movies until the wee hours of the morning and went to bed! Yeahoooo!

Sunday

• Woke up around noon-time, had breakfast with Nico's Mom (we do this little ritual every weekend - he is the cutest momma's boy on the planet!)
• Played video games
• Watched a new T.V. show called Arrested Development. At least for us it is new, it could be years old in the U.S. and I wouldn't know.
• Went and saw Guerre des Mondes which I believe is War of the Worlds in English. I was a little scared but it was cool.

Okay, so there is the low-down of the weekend. So you ask, what is planned this week? Well, basically there are a few notable events.

1. I am getting pseudo-married on Wednesday.
2. Bastille Day is Thursday
3. Friday is a holiday because of Thursday
4. ...and yeah weekend.

Perhaps I should explain #1? Well there is something in France called a PACS. There are tons of websites, but very few have any information in English. Basically the PACS was made for the gay couples that could not legally get married - so they could get PACs'd. It is a contract that you sign that attests to your common life together, etc... Well, Nick and I are doing that on Wednesday. I have to admit, it helps relieve some of the paper issues as it puts me under a new status with the French government - private and family life instead of just student. It helps me to get full working papers, residence card, etc... It does get pretty badly abused by those who wish to stay in France so theoretically, they CAN refuse to do it, but I really can't imagine that happening. So it's not really a marriage or an engagement, its a...well its a contract ;) Maybe we will have a little dinner celebration or something. We will see... The fact is that I love Nick and I would do just about anything to stay here with him...VOILA!

Other than that, we are beginning to plan our vacations in La Baule. As my man is French, it is completely natural to spend a month lazing around a beach day in and day out. When we aren't doing that, we eat eat eat, sleep, play video games, watch T.V., play badminton, then at night, we eat a HUGE dinner, we talk, then we take a huge walk on the Cote Sauvage and "smoke" while watching the stars and usually to finish it off, we play games (scrabble, Uno, etc...).

Now this sounds absolutely amazing, but you take any born and bred American and put them in this situation, after 3 days, they have run out of things to read and do and are starting to wonder what the hell they are doing there. Vacation is almost an art in Europe. You have to LEARN to vacation properly and let me tell ya, it AIN'T easy! Last year on the 3rd day, I burst into tears and wanted to go home. No one talks on the beach! They tan, they read, the listen to their ipod, they eat paninis but everyone is in their own world. This isn't a problem except when the world you are in just simply ISN'T your own at all!!! I adapted. I was actually going back and forth from Paris to keep my sanity. I just couldn't lounge around that much! I know,"Poor Jen, rough life sitting on the beaches of the west of France for a month, how can she tolerate it?" Well, TRY IT ONCE!! It ain't easy!

Alright, I am longwinded, so I guess I will go about my work now. I wish all 1 of my readers (Nora) and fantastic day, and I'm going to go do some reservations, WOOOHOOO!!!

Jen

Day #2

Well, I was hoping for something inspiring to bless you all with today...once again I am drawing a blank.

So why have I named this blog "A Different Kind of Everyday." Well, I suppose that it is pretty simple: many think that my little life here in paris must be so bohemian and trendy. The fact is, it is just a different kind of everyday. I don't get into a car to go to work, I walk to work - but work still sucks sometimes just like it did in the U.S. This is just an example. I forget sometimes that I am in Paris France. Sometimes, when I go for a longer walk and I have to cross the Seine, I remind myself,"Wow, you are in Paris!" It's easy to forget because everyday life really swallow you whole. So perhaps in this blog, I can try and rediscover Paris a little bit - force myself to move out of my routine simply so I have something a little bit more interesting to share with my reader....well hopefully one day readers....

So i wish you all a happy day and i'll be back soon with more!

Jennifer

ADDITION- Okay, so as promised above, I swore to move out a little bit and see a little more. I have 4 Italian Cameramen staying in my hotel to film the fashion shows in Paris, Valentino, Christian Dior, Chanel, Elie Saab, etc... They INVITED me to come with them tonight as an "assistant!" They were at the reception taking pictures of me, LOL! Hell, why not go right? Getting gangbanged by 4 Italians might be a worthy trade for a nice evening? ;) Just kidding, they are great guys and I will check it out....

Bonjour tout le monde!!! Hello Everyone!

Okay, so here it is, Jennifer's blogspot. I really have no idea what this is going to be, where it will go, what I have to give, but I am going to give it a great big try JUST the same!

So, for those who don't know me, my name is Jennifer. I am from the northwest suburbs of Chicago and moved to Paris, France in August of 2003. At first, Paris was a new place to explore, and now its a place that I can easily call Home (or at least Home #2). I am 24 years old and just recently graduated with my Bachelors in Business Administration with a concentration in International Business (from the American Business School of Paris). Yeahoo, sounds fancy right? Not really! With this fantabulous little degree, I am working in a three start hotel in the heart of Paris called Hotel Baudelare Opera in a management position.

One of my hugest influences on moving my ass out of my ever-so-comfortable suburban existence was a boy - rather a man (with a 10 year difference). He had floated in and out of my life for years and years and finally, one of us had to make the move and i figured,"Hmmm, Schaumburg or Paris? Decisions, Decisions...." There you have it.

So as I type this post I am sitting at my desk at the hotel thinking about what I can enlighten my non-existent readers with and i draw a complete blank! I guess this little blog is my way of bring a little bit of Paris back home.

Hold of for the ride, let's see how it goes!

Jen