10.20.2008

I Would Like some Cheese with my Whine

Feeling tired, cold, and a bit beat-up today. It is possible that this has something to do with staying up till past 1am the other night drinking wine w/ other grad students, and it is also possible that it has something to do with the weather finally shifting toward actual autumnal patterns. Either way, today I'm feeling especially nostalgic for the states. Above and beyond missing B and my friends, there are many insignificant things that I find myself missing more than I should. Here are some of them, featuring bullet-point format:
  • Being able to keep a week's worth of food in my kitchen (i.e. having enough room.)
  • How I dress, there vs. here. I feel like I'm always dressed up just enough that if Interpol happens to detain me, I won't look like a sloppy American.* In a word, I miss being a pretentiously attired post-punk grad hipster.
  • TV. I really, really miss Deadliest Catch, Tony Bourdain, Iron Chef, etc. I can watch some of it online, but there's something depressing about hunching over a laptop to see a show.
  • Having access to a washer and dryer that only cost 2.25 American, total, per load.
  • Having enough clothes on-hand that I don't have to wash them every 9 days, because that's when I run out of socks.
  • Space. And for those of you who know how big our apartment is in SC, that should give you some perspective on apartments in Paris.
  • Access to (my) music.
  • Pints of beer for only (!) 4-something bucks.
  • People who are hesitant to honk at people, because those people might turn around and shoot them. It is clear that no one in Paris is afraid of the consequences of an uncalled-for honking fit.
  • COFFEE. This one-cup-a-day routine is horseshit.
It's funny, B and I have been talking about upgrading to a 2-bedroom apartment at some point in 2009, but for now even our tiny-ass 1-bedroom sounds like the Taj Mahal to me. On the short-list of good things to come of my Parisian sojourn, perspective on what is great about living in SC is right there in the top 3.

* Interpol the International police organization, not Interpol the kind of mediocre NY-based indie rock band. Although either way, proper attire would be a must.

4 comments:

Chrissy said...

Dude, I have to disagree with your opinion on Interpol the band - they are totally not mediocre to me, but then I discovered them right as my heart was effectively smashed into little tiny pieces for the first time in my adult life. I discovered a lot of super awesome music that summer and Interpol is right up there with my favorites. Besides, I remember thinking that the singer resembled Johnny Depp when I saw them live and there is NOTHING medicore about that!

xo

kungfuramone said...

Touché! I remember listening to them and thinking that they sounded *so* 80s that I couldn't tell the difference between them and the Psychedelic Furs. At all.

That being said, to each her own!

hardcori said...

wear wool socks. they don't get as stinky and hold up to multiple wearings better than cotton, due to their ultimate woolly powers. (and I am VERY particular about clean socks.... only wool socks can be worn more than once)

Dolce Vita said...

TV is evil! You only miss it because it isn't there but I'm telling you it is pure evil. It sucks you in and takes away life minute by minute! (I must stop before the devil on my left shoulder get's a hold of the keyboard.)