I am beginning to realize Paris is pretty dangerous, there is a pastry shop located on just about every corner. I passed 3 today just walking from the metro station. The worst part about it, is everything looks and tastes amazing, you know you can't make a bad choice. Whereas in the US its pretty easy to pass the hohos, and twinkies, because they taste like cardboard and processed sugar. However, now it literally takes all my energy to just keep walking past the pastry shops in the morning to school; the aroma is much more than a tease.

I thought it was pretty funny the other day, my mom asked me if there was a Dunkin Doughnuts, yeah I wish. The french do NOT take their coffees to go, you sit down and enjoy a coffee for a minimum of 15 minutes. I have not seen one Parisian walking with a coffee, even at Starbucks everyone treats it like a cafe rather than a pick-me-up. Im not sure I really understand that yet, considering in Philly I down a black coffee the first 5 minutes I wake up, take another with me to class, and start on my third for the 4:00 slump. Im beginning to realize the French enjoy their time a little more, and the take time to relax. On Sundays just about every store is closed, even the grocery store, it is literally the day of rest. Whereas the restaurant I worked in at home did not even close for a snow storm.

Even though I still have classes and homework, I really feel like I am on vacation. Its funny how in the US we multi-task like crazy, probably so we can have more time later, which we never seem to get, or we multi-task because we are under the impression that "time is money".

Well, anyway, this weekend was pretty great. I went Ice Skating at the Eiffel Tower with a good friend, no big deal. I think this entitles me to bragging rights though. It was a really cool view of Paris, and it was a lot fun, even though my ice skating skills are just as impressive as my biking skills. Then Saturday it was my friend's birthday Party and it was themed and I had to dress up as a person in history. So naturally I was a 1920s flapper. It was really nice seeing old friends and hearing about what everyone was doing for school. Everyone at the party was french, so for the most part I spoke in french, but some wanted to speak to me in English, and I'm not complaining.

Then Sunday was the Super Bowl. A bunch of us from school went to a bar to watch the game, which started at 12 because of the time difference. Biggest let down of the night - NO commercials. As a girl and a marketing major the Super Bowl commercials are kind of a big deal, and the only commercials I saw were for ESPN America. However, if you think about it, it makes sense considering France is a completely different market. Most of the car commercials would not have even been relevant because of either the brand, message, or context. Plus the Super Bowl is not very big in Europe so why spend millions on a commercial that only 1% of the country is going to see.

 It was funny, during the halftime show all the Americans were going crazy, singing and dancing to the Black Eyed Peas and Usher. I don't think It would have been like that if we were at a sports bar in the US, everyone would be keeping their cool. However, when your in a foreign country you really appreciate your home country a lot more, and it was clear everyone was proud that these were our American performers.