What are life’s simplest pleasures? What do you get out of them? A wonderful cup of tea or coffee as a pick me up…it brings a smile on your face as soon as you hear the kettle going off or the smell of the roasted coffee beans making your delightful cup of coffee? Perhaps it is the satisfaction of completing a long task or making that deal that you have been working nights and days for the past weeks. Maybe it is as simple as a hug and a kiss from your kids or a simple “thank you” after washing their clothes…life’s little pleasures are endless and different for everyone.

One of mine is simple: people watching. I love to people watch and what is a better place to people watch then in Paris, France? You can sit in a side café, drink coffee (another life pleasure for some) and just watch the world go by. You see all sorts of people pass by, dressed interestingly, some people with their dogs that you JUST know fits their personality, or people who are just on a walk to enjoy the lovely winter day. My favorite place to people watch is in school. It has it all.

My school has a place called the Winter Garden, where students gather to talk, eat, drink, copy notes and so on before and after classes/demos. Every student spends plenty of time here, in between class, after class and before class. The Winter Garden has two vending machines for drinks, one for cold drinks such as coke, water and tea; and another machine that is filled with many coffee options, only two of the options work though. A great deal of money is put into those machines.

After purchasing a beverage of your choice, people sit down and begin talking. It is always with the same people, the same groups form. In basic, when you arrive, you are quickly thrown into groups, (A, B, C, D and so on) these groups become your family. You form clicks and that is who you will hang out with for the next nine months of your life. It makes you feel that you are in high school again, a transfer student. You know no one, you’re an alien. Since I came here late, I do not exactly fit into any of the clicks. I am what you call a loner, the same word used in high school. I sit by myself, read a book or the lesson and just watch how everyone conducts their business.

There are many groups, usually paired together from where you are from in the world. There is a group that sits and talks so fast….but it is not French, it’s Portuguese. Then at another table, or tables pushed together, there sits a rather large group of Asian kids. They all speak in their native tongue, pointing with their chopsticks and giggling. There is a table that is made of most American kids and another one for the mixed company of the combination of nationalities. I’ll pick a table and people come sit with me and then get lost in their own conversations. I don’t mind though.

I think the best person to look at is during my cuisine demos. She is of Asian decent. She has bleached her hair, to a light brown mousey color. She has painted her face with make-up badly, but she is sweet. She has a great smile. She kind of reminds me of Mrs. Haversham in Great Expectations. Well at least in the way she has done her make-up, not her personality. I think she likes men, since she wears a wedding ring. But she always makes me giggle when I see her. Sad, I know, but I don’t care.

Now, I know what you are thinking, ‘poor Laura, she doesn’t have any friends.’ Well I do. I have made friends, in my group and outside of the group. Since everyone knows everyone, I kind of stand out like a sore thumb. People come up and talk to me, asking me if I did intensive to catch up to be in intermediate with them. Then we begin talking about Australia and their program. I have the option to hang out with them and maybe soon I will. It’s just I am still not used to this schedule.

Life is still good. I have a washing machine in my apartment and I love having it. I can do my laundry every week and have clean jackets for every practical. It’s great. I have also just discovered the Itunes store on-line. So I have been trying to download movies and episodes. But this has proven much more of a challenge, since my internet is a little hard to operate. It has a mind of it’s own, but it has been cooperating for the past week! Well, I better go….hope you are all doing well, until next week.