Bonjour! It has been a very festive few days!

Wednesday we went to the Centre Pompidou modern art museum as a field trip and witnessed the evolution of modern art unfold before our very eyes. Except half the point of modern art is the artists saying that art is stupid and old news and no one should bother with it anymore, which makes you feel like you should throw all the art in the trash instead of standing and looking at it. There were some cool works and many witty pieces, but doing things such as buying a wine rack at the grocery store or taking a toilet and then signing them and declaring them to be art, seems a bit ridiculous. But apparently it is not ridiculous to some people, because instead of rolling their eyes at the foolishness of these 'artists', the art critics of the world got all excited about a new wave of art known as 'ready-mades', where you literally just sign any old object and then it is art. Like magic.

We are going back to Centre Pompidou this Wednesday for a futurism exhibit, so we shall see how that fares.

After the field trip I asked my English professor about a book store he had mentioned, and then he offered to just take me there. So he did. And we rode the metro for like 20 minutes together and he gave me a tour and that was nice of him and only slightly strange.

Thursday was Thanksgiving! We had a French feast during French class, and everybody had to bring in something to contribute. I brought baguettes and non-alcoholic beverages. I bought the baguettes from a boulangerie two blocks from my house that claims to have won 3rd prize for best baguete in Paris, and they were delicious. I also thought that my street was a dead end, and it most definitely isn't. So that was enlightening.

Other people brought salads and potato dishes and quiches and desserts and cheese and cutlery and we had a wondrful feast together where we got to eat a whole lot and it was lovely.

Then the Proust class was canceled, so we had philosophy class early and then finished for the day at 4 instead of 6. After class I went with a girl Annie to buy tickets for Disneyland! We are going to go on Monday, and I am very excited! We were one day late for getting the discount, but it will still be worth it, so that is alright.

Then I walked up and down the Champs-Elysees because it is all lit up with Christmas lights and has little Christmas market stands set up. I bought a scarf and enjoyed the ambience, and then I went to a park (in the dark) and Skype-called my family for Thanksgiving, which was exciting!

I ate dinner with my host family and we had quiche which was delicious, even if it is not Thanksgiving food. And I also left them a note that morning to say 'thanks for being my host family and being nice to me', except more eloquently, and in french.

Friday I just did some random wandering. I picked up a new metro pass at 11 and then wandered around the 13th arrondissment on the recommendation of one of Ingrid's daughters but didn't find anything too fascinating (but I did buy warmer gloves) and then wandered around Saint Michel a bit more, even though I go there a lot. And then I came home for a little bit but the metro broke down so it took a while. And I was going to go back out to go to the Louvre, but then I realized that I was very tired and really didn't feel like going. So I didn't. But I have been 3 times, so that is okay.

And then today was my birthday! Happy birthday to me! (Even if it is 1 in the morning now, technically. I will go to bed soon, don't worry). I got up and took a shower and all of that, and then I opened lots of birthday cards, which was great! And I put them all out on display on the table in my room and I felt very loved. And I opened a box of presents from my Mommy (and Daddy and family) and they had festive wrapping paper and it was great!

Then I left to go to Thanksgiving feast! I bought a Ferraro Rocher tower because there are no flower stands near my house, and then I took the RER train and followed the directions to the Ulmer's apartment! The Ulmers, you may recall, are my former french techer/cross country coach and other cross country coach who live right near Paris and are super nice. And they invited me over for Thanksgiving! I got there around 12:30 and left around 9:40 and had lots of fun and ate lots and lots. It was mostly people from Coach Jon's research lab and there were people from France, US, Canada, Portugal, Romania, and Croatia. And everybody was young and super nice and we spoke in random spurts of English and French and franglais, and it was great! And I ate turkey and delicious sweet potatoes with bown sugar and whatever else goes in delicious sweet potatoes, tons of stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green beans, and baguette. And apple pie and chocolate chip banana bread. And then we played charades, which was fun. And then most people left and the Ulmers, Ludovic, and I watched A Christmas Story and cleaned up a bit. And then I took the RER back to Paris!

So yay for holidays! I only have a week left in Paris, and that is very strange. I bought some of my train tickets for the end of the program the other day, and the rest I can't purchase in France. But then plan is 3 days in Prague, 3 days in Vienna, a day in Salzburg, a day in Paris, and then back home! And that is all going to happen very soon and very quickly!