French Objectivists

Yes, you read right. The French are Objectivists, I have decided. Essentially, trades are only made if they benefit both parties, and social interactions are a type of trade. You trade time and energy for someones friendship and they do the same for the mutual benefit of both people. So... the French like to take this a step further and apply it to everyone they meet. In a store, for example, a French store clerk is not going to help me if I'm not polite and make him/her feel good. Also, if I don't somehow learn to contribute to this country in some way, I am doomed to be an outsider and France, herself, will never like me. If I cannot learn the language, then why would the French want to deal with me? Maybe if I had superpowers.

So, it really comes down to the fact that I cannot contribute to French society the way I would like to... yet.

It seems silly, like a twelve-year-old girl complaining that guys don't like her. I know it's a problem now and the world will end if your lab partner won't call you after school, but let's be real. Obviously, she'll get her braces off, learn to grow her hair out, start doing crunches every morning, and stop eating (sarcastic) till she gets what she wants. The same with me. France hates my American accent, American clothes, and the fact that I cannot seem to get off at the right tram stops, but I'll learn French, learn to wear super-tight skinny jeans, strut in 4-inch stilletos everyday, and wear a permanent I'm-better-than-you-because-I'm-hot look on my face. Then, they'll have no choice but to love me.

I should be doing crunches, right?

Just a GEM orientation debrief... We had a career talk today and took language tests. The test took forever, and I was pretty disappointed in how much French I had forgotten in two years. Whatever, I'm here to learn.

This is pic of Kate and I at un café listening to Irish musique!

A demain!