...That's What Christmas is All About Charlie Brown...

Merry Christmas Eve.

In honor of a Christmas classic, I have posted my two favorite Christmas quotes.  Wishing everybody a happy holiday season!

"Dear, Santa Claus. How have you been? How is your wife? I am not sure what I want for Christmas this year. Sometimes it is very hard to decide. Perhaps you should send me your catalog."

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.  That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown. "

Joyeux Noel!

A tout a l'heure!
Rachel

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Since I haven't posted in a while and I am in a hurry because I should be studying for exams, here are just a few pictures of the Christmas spirit that I am enjoying around me!

A tout a l'heure!
Rachel

The stereotypical Frenchman appears....he's wearing stripey jumpers (blue and white), talking like Pepe Le Pew, and riding a bicycle.

During my IB (International Business) lecture today our professor talked about intercultural communication and about stereotyping.  He explained that when we try to do business with other cultures a lot of our focus is on how we are different but in actuality we are very similar.  Using the French as an example, we have borrowed a lot from their culture and they from ours.  This post is going to be dedicated to exploring the stereotypical Frenchman and stereotypical American, the similarities in our culture, and our differences.

Stereotypical Frenchman:
You may wonder, where does that image of the stereotypical Frenchman (you know; the one with the striped shirt, curly mustache, carrying a baguette, wearing a beret, with a red scarf tied around his neck, and has a bottle of wine in his hand) come from.  The origin of the typical Frenchman comes from the farmers in Brittany.  They would grow and sell onions (Onion Johnny) and ride bikes. h Other stereotypes of the French is that they are lazy, dirty, arrogant, stuck-up, rude, anti-American, and communists.  My least favorite due to a certain people from my past (aka high school) are that the French give up and are quitters due to the fact that they always surrender.

Stereotypical American:

What is the stereotypical American like??  Other cultures might answer with words like fat, loud, and complain a lot or loves guns, or my personal favorite, says oh myy gooodd all the time.  They might describe us as wearing cowboy hats and cowboy boots, holding a camera and handbag, having messy hair with an extremely wide mouth chewing gum.  They might even go so far as saying we wear safari clothes and Jesus sandals.  They think we eat junk food 24/7 and are lazy, just looking for the quickest way to get things done.  They think we are greedy and power obsessed.

Personally I find this analysis of Americans insulting but that's the way it goes and that's why they call it stereotyping.  People take a small sub sect of the group they are looking at (usually one that represents a negative side) and automatically assume that everyone is like that without even getting to know average every day people.  Personally the French people I have met are not rude, arrogant, or any dirtier than you and me.  They are different from us because of they way they are raised and they way in which they choose to live their lives but we should not look down on them for that.

Moral of the story: Don't just assume what you think you know about a culture is true until you get a chance to know them. In the words of kindergarten teachers everywhere, don't judge a book by its cover!

A tout a l'heure!
Rachel

You Think You Know a Story...But You Only Know How it Ends.

So not only do I love all things French and the French history but I also love the history of the English monarchs.  I especially like watching movies that give you an inside look at their lives and explain what their life was really like.

I think my love of English History began when I took British Literature in high school.  We had to read books like Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice.  It got me hooked on this way of life that is so different from ours in modern America.  I love the glamour, the society, and the turmoil that they had to face back then.  How simple and yet complex their lives were compared to ours without all the modern technology and worries that we have to deal with, yet of course they had plenty of their own problems.

I enjoy the movie versions of these books.  I love Kiera Knightly's version of Pride and Prejudice (2005) and will watch it any time I can on TV.  I also enjoy Becoming Jane with Anne Hathaway.  It takes a look at Jane Austen's life and points out some of the similarities between her life and the life of the characters in her stories.

One of my favorites is the Showtime series "The Tudors".  It gives an inside look at the life of Henry VIII.  It shows him at the time when he was growing unhappy with Catherine and becoming more interested in Anne Boleyn.  "This historically loose but visually lush Showtime series toasts the world of the Tudors in the days when King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) was a handsome and charming 25-year-old with athletic abilities and sexual prowess. The young king indulges his voracious taste for ladies-in-waiting, hangs out with his entourage of nobles and makes momentous political decisions." (Netflix.com)   I started watching this series last summer when I had to work overnight shifts at work and was immediately hooked!  Of course I realize that the drama and such is magnified in order to get TV ratings but I still love it!  It helps that Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is extremely easy on the eyes ;)

In keeping with the theme of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.  The first movie I think that got me really hooked on this was "The Other Boleyn Girl".  This movie takes a spin on the story that most people don't know, exploring the love affair between the King and Anne's sister Mary Boleyn.  "Director Justin Chadwick's opulent historical drama stars Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn and Scarlett Johansson as her sister, Mary -- both beautiful, ambitious and vying for the heart of powerful but intemperate King Henry VIII (Eric Bana). Though both women are the monarch's mistresses, only one can become his queen consort -- but at what cost?". (Netflix.com).  Again this is probably an exaggeration of real life but its a great twist on the story and it would be an awesome story if it was true. 

Others that I enjoy are Elizabeth, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Young Victoria, The Duchess, and Vanity Fair.

I would highly recommend any of these movies or books to anyone who asks.  My roommates think I'm crazy but I think I was just born in the wrong country and the wrong century!

A tout a l'heure!

Rachel

Bastille Day!

Joyeux quatorze juillet!

Ok so I know I am about 3 days late on this post because in actuality Bastille Day for the French is on July 14...

Just a little background for those of you not up to speed on your French history.  July 14, 1790 was the day that the French revolution hit its peak.  The rebels stormed "La Bastille" which was a prison in Paris.  The storming of the Bastille was seen as a rallying point for the opposition of the monarchy in France.  It is a symbol of freedom and a reminder for all French people past and present.  The day is celebrated with a parade and fireworks display in Paris.

Surprisingly Bastille Day is also heavily celebrated in the United States and around the world.  In the United States alone over 50 cities hold celebrations including New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Chicago, Baltimore, Orlando, Minneapolis, Seattle, and of course, closest to us, Milwaukee.

Bastille Day holds some exceptionally special memories for me.  On my trip to France in high school, we were in Paris on Bastille.  Although we did not get to experience the parade or many of the activities during the day because we had ventured out of the city to visit the home of Claude Monet, we did get to sit on the grass surrounding the Eiffel Tower and see one of the most exceptional fireworks displays I have ever seen.  That trip holds special memories for me and looking back every July 14 I think of the fun I had with some of my best friends!

So once again I say Joyeux quatorze juillet!

A tout a l'heure!
Rachel

Productive Procrastination

Whenever I find myself facing a daunting task (this week it was sorting and putting away my clean laundry), I also find myself distracted and willing to complete other (probably that require more work).

For our all staff meeting this month, the Leadership Team decided to show our appreciation for the staff by throwing them an Ice Cream Sundae Bar.  The professional staff brought ice cream and the desk supervisors brought the toppings.  We decided that since it was one of our fellow supervisors birthday and also a staff members birthday we would bake brownies.  This required me to make a double and single batch of brownies.

Since I was stuck in the kitchen for about three hours doing this, I got distracted and started to clean our kitchen.  I started with the dishes that I used to bake the brownies and my dinner.  From there I was prompted to clean the sink, then counter tops, and finally swiffer our kitchen floor.  As I was swiffering, I noticed how dirty it was between our fridge and the counter.  I decided that it was time, I would take the plunge by moving our fridge away from the wall and cleaning behind and under it (a task that we have had yet to do since moving in).

Completing this task actually made me feel somewhat good about myself and also led me to do some other tasks that I had been urging to do since moving in last August.  I proceeded to reorganize all of our kitchen cabinets until all the useless stuff we never used was put away, our Tupperware was reorganized and didn't fall on you every time you opened the cabinet, and created more room for the appliances we don't want taking up counter space.

From there I was still feeling productive.  I went into my bedroom and cleaned it all, even putting away the clean clothes that I had been avoiding in the first place.  From there I decided that I would like to reorganize my bedroom furniture so as to create better airflow and hopefully get some of the cool air from the air conditioner into the sauna which is my bedroom.

I really like how my furniture is now and am a little sad that I will be moving rooms within the next month.  I would rather move than stay in my room for another year however so I am very excited!

A tout a l'heure!
Rachel

Sailing in Madison

I tried out something new today that I have always wanted to learn how to do.  I went sailing on Lake Mendota!  It was so much fun and I can't wait to go out and do it again.  We set out from Memorial Union Terrace and were out for about 2-3 hours.  I am nowhere near a master but I would like to think I know a little bit more than the Average Joe.  One of my coworkers knows how to sail very well and I was very privileged that he was able to take me.  It was the most perfect day to be out on the lake!  I don't care if its on a motorboat, jet ski, or now sailboat, 1 thing is for sure and that is that I love being out on the water in the summer!

http://www.hoofersailing.org/

The Great Urban Race 6.26.10

Ever since I started watching "The Amazing Race" it has always been a lofty goal of mine to compete.  This past weekend I got probably as close to reaching that goal as possible.  Sarah and I competed in the Great Urban Race.  It was a huge scavenger hunt around Madison involving 250 - 300 couples.

 

The race started out at the Essen Haus in Madison.  We got there around 11:30 am for registration and the race started at 12:00 pm.  Everyone was handed an envelope containing clues for the race.  Sarah and I decided to form an alliance with another pair she knew (Tim and Tara).  We sat down with our clues and proceeded to call our "phone a friend".  We decided to "use our resources" and call our co-workers at the Witte and Holt Desks. 

After figuring out the clues, we planned out a map of the day.  Our first stop was Tex Tub's Taco Palace on Atwood Ave.  At this stop, it was required that one of the team members had to eat a whole jalapeno pepper.  Being the braver of the two, I decided that this would be my challenge.  It wasn't too bad starting out but about half way through my mouth was on fire.  I wasn't sure I would be able to finish it but luckily my stomach held out.  We then had to run to the next place.  My stomach was not too happy about this. 

We had to donate a pet toy or pet food at the next place. We stopped in a pretty sketchy corner store and somehow managed to find that they sold cat food! We donated this at the next stop and got a Dane County Humane Society Tattoo as proof!

Along the way to Tex Tub's and the pet store, we made progress on our Tic Tac Toe board.  We got a picture with a double letter street sign, giving a high five to a man in uniform, Sarah shook a dog's paw, and I got to honk a random stranger's horn!

Our next stop was Tenney Park. Luckily John at the Holt Desk tipped us off about a bike path that would let us follow the Yahara River right to Tenney Park.  At the park we had to complete two tasks.  The first was to spin around with a baseball bat 8 times then run around the bases.  The second we got to interact with a comedy troupe.  They were an improv group.  We received an ordinary item (jump rope) and had to do three unordinary things with it.  In order to succeed, the member of the troupe had to guess what we were doing with it.  Sarah and I utilized it to make a dog leash, a fishing pole, and a lasso!

At this point we were a little tired from all the walking (and minimal amounts of running) and decided to try to catch a bus.  We got one and met some interesting people.  One lady proceed to exclaim "I'm going to puke" every five minutes.  Apparently she didn't do well with the combination of heat, claustrophobia, and the start stop motion of the bus.  We were very relieved when she got off!  We were able to complete our Tic Tac Toe when we found a man with 2+ tattoos visible on his body.

The bus took us as far as the intersection of University Ave and Randall Ave.  From there we walked all the way down Randall to Monroe and took Monroe to the delicious restaurant of Bluephies!  Here we had another eating challenge.  This one was much more tasty!  Sarah had to feed me one of there cookie dough egg rolls.  After the long walk to Bluephies, we didn't have much energy left to do the boat challenge and decided this would be the one we skipped.  We waited for another bus to take us back closer to campus and when it came we discovered that it was already packed full and the 50 people waiting for it could not get on.  We decided we didn't want to wait another hour for the next bus and proceeded back on foot.  We got back to campus and right outside my apartment we happened across a bus that took us right to library mall for our next challenge.

At Library Mall Sarah and I put our Lakeshore Teamwork skills to work.  We had the option of juggling solo or as a team.  The people who were supposed to be teaching us told us that it would be easier to do the team juggling.  Not as easy as it looks let me tell you.  After completing the task we figured it would have been easier to do it solo.

Next stop: Wando's!  We were excited when we first reached the top level because we saw their fishbowls filled with water.  We thought that we would be able to drink all those but alas those were to put other skills to work.  We had to sink a ping pong ball in a fish bowl from behind a line.  My personal victory for the day was sinking it on the first try!!  Next they handed us another quick challenge.  We had to return to the finish line with a picture of one team member proposing to a stranger.  We decided it would be easiest to do this in the bar since it was packed full of people watching the USA soccer match.  The man Sarah chose to propose to claimed he had already been proposed to twice today, we thought that was pretty funny.

Next stop was a trip up State St.  We stopped at the Sconnie Nation store and had to watch a short video that was playing.  We had three phrases we had to complete.  That might have been one of the easier tasks of the day.  We were getting pretty warm at this point and decided to make a pit stop at Jamba Juice before our final stop: Ian's Pizza.  At Ian's Sarah had to toss a pizza in the air.  The race volunteers were surprised that we had Jamba Juice and were still racing.

After this final stop, we headed back to the finish line at the Essen Haus.  We were feeling pretty ambitious and decided to run from the Great Dane to the Essen Haus.  We decided upon reaching the finish that this was not so smart after chugging our smoothies.

All in all it was a super fun day!  I'm really glad Sarah asked me to do it with her.  It was the hottest day so far this year, we got sum burned and blisters, walked ALL OVER MADISON, but had so much fun!! After the race was over we found out that we were competing against a couple that had actually competed in the Amazing Race.  I now feel that I am ready to fulfill my dream and become a contestant on the Amazing Race!

A tout a l'heure!
Rachel

Summer's Here!!! (finally)

So wow it has been a crazy month.  I feel like I haven't had a second to breath.  First it was the dreaded exam week, probably the only bad thing about being in college.  Then right away I started training for my new job.  That weekend I made the yearly journey to HOBY in Oshkosh, WI.  Then I started summer classes.  Yes I do feel like my life is run, run, run, crash, run, run, run, crash.

Finally I am done with classes and can enjoy my summer.  It has been really damp and rainy the past week and a half but I have decided to post a list of reasons why I love that it is now summer/things I am excited to do this summer.

1. Brewers Baseball!
Yes I realize that baseball season (the greatest season of them all) starts in March/April and yes I have been watching the games since they started airing them, but now I get to watch them guilt free.

2. No Classes!
Ok again this was not true for the first three weeks when I had to struggle through a 3 hour finance class but now it is over and I don't have to stress over it (ask me again how I feel once grades are posted)

3. Free Time
I have a decent amount of free time.  Yes I work 40 hours a week including weekends and don't get me wrong I LOVE my job, especially meeting all my new friends.  Now however when I come home at night I get to just chill.

4. High School Movie Nights at the Terrace...need I say more.

5. Australia
Hopefully I will get the chance to travel with my dad in Australia at the end of the summer.  The tickets aren't booked yet but I'm still hopeful!

6. The Great Urban Race
I have been a fan of the Amazing Race for a long time.  I have always wanted to compete on the television show.  This is my first step.  It is the Amazing Race on a smaller scale and will take place in Madison on the 26th.  I am competing with my co-supervisor for the summer and look forward to some quality bonding time!

Well that's all, hopefully I will have more frequent updates now that I have more free time!

A tout a l'heure!
Rachel

Fete au Fromage!

So had my last French class for a while yesterday.  I was really happy because I really don't like the material in the class I am taking right now.  I am currently very sad that I will be missing out on speaking the second language which I love so much next year.  From here on out, my schedule just doesn't allow for me to take any extra classes besides the ones I need for my major.  I am so scared that I will lose everything which I have worked so hard to learn and perfect.  Fall 2010 will be the first semester since Fall 2004 where I will not be taking a French class...SCARY!!!

Anyway our last class was actually quite enjoyable.  We had a min party with fromage, pain, and chocolat (cheese, bread, and chocolate).  We also spoke ENGLISH...I know, blew my mind too.  We had a very nice selection of traditional and non-traditional French versions of these foods.  I was feeling very adventurous and therefore had to try everything (this may be due to the fact that I skipped lunch again yesterday...oops!)

1. Cheese-
We had lots of brie cheese which is probably the most stereotypical French cheese there is.  Whenever you think of fancy French cheese I think this is the type that comes to mind.  We also had chevre cheese.  This is a type of goat cheese.  This is my new favorite type of cheese.  I never thought I would like goat cheese since I am a true Wisconsin girl and I love my cheese that comes from cows.  This cheese however tasted very much like cream cheese and tasted soooo good on the bread we had.  If you ever get the chance I would highly recommend buy some of this delicious cheese!  We also had swiss cheese which I tried but am not very partial to.

2. Bread-
Of course we had traditional baguettes.  It would not be a French meal without the long pieces of French bread that you see in the movies when trying to make something or someone look French.  In traditional French manner we also ripped our own pieces off instead of cutting them (again this may be due to the fact that it probably wouldn't be good to bring a large sharp knife into a classroom but we will just disregard that :) ).  We also had some other bread and pretzel bread, neither of which is particularly all that French.  The peta bread was ok, we had some spread to go with it.  My new favorite however is the pretzel bread.  It was like a pretzel on steroids broken up into little, almost bit-sized pieces.  It was sooo delicious especially with the chevre I was describing earlier, YUM!

3. Chocolate-
Ok so I was exaggerating earlier when I said we had chocolate.  All we had were those cream filled Pirouette cookies.

All in all it was a very good last French class.

Well that was a good break from writing my last French paper.  Drawing parallels between John Martin's Lost Paradise and Anne Hebert's character Eric in Le Premier Jardin is definitely not my first choice for a raging Friday night, but what can you do?  It is finals week after all.

A tout a l'heure!
Rachel

Blast from the Past...

On Thursday I happened to be lunching at the Terrace when I ran into my high school French teachers.  It was so great to see them and we got to catch up on stories from high school.  They were there with their seniors on the annual trip to Madison.  The trip includes a visit to Van Hise to see where language classes are held at the UW, a tour of the Chazen museum to look at French art, and lunch at the French House on campus.  The "Maison Francaise" is a house like a sorority or fraternity house.  People can live there and speak French with each other and have a good time!

We got talking about our trip to France and reminiscing about all the fun stories we had.  They still don't believe Tassia and I that we had a male visitor in our room.  To this day, Tassia and I stick by our story though.  We knew there had to be someone there when we found shaving cream in the sink, our bathroom supplies were used, and a man's shirt was hanging on the door.  Also we like to remember Danny's face when he got stuck on the metro.  We thought he was long gone until we found out Tassia and Bridget was with him.  Oh yeah Brad got stuck there too but Tassia and Bridget were the ones who would be able to get the boys back :) (sorry Brad!).  Bill took us on so many strolls.  Mme and Mme talked about how they were going to take the same trip that we did; Paris to Biarritz to Provence to Nice.  They talked about how they were requesting a lot of the same hotels we stayed in.

Talking with them was so much fun.  I am super jealous of all the people going on the trip this year.  I want to go really bad and know that some day in the future I will get my chance to go back.  After all I am a French Badger ;)

A tout a l'heure!
Rachel

Plastic Surgery

So I know two of my last three posts have been about The Hills (including this one) but my roommates and I have gathered for the season premier and it features Heidi Montag's reveal of her 10 plastic surgeries.

This episode has prompted me to ask the question "Why in the world would someone risk their life to have surgeries just to make themselves 'look better'?".  The ten most buzzed about surgeries were brow lift, botox, nose job, fat injections in cheeks and lips, chin reduction, neck lypo, ears pinned, boob job, lypo, and butt augmentation.

1. I think anyone who has enough money to afford all those EXPENSIVE surgeries, especially if she got them done by the best surgeons in LA, has too much money for doing practically nothing with their life. 

2. Honestly I'm going to say it, "HEIDI YOU LOOKED SOOOO MUCH BETTER BEFORE YOUR SURGERIES!!!"  Heidi looks like plastic.  She said she wanted to look like Barbie, well she got it.  Even in the season premier her own mother couldn't tell her she looked good after the surgeries.

3. I really don't agree with plastic surgery in the first place.  I believe that God made us all beautiful and we shouldn't go around trying to fix ourselves for the heck of it.  Their are much better things that you could be spending your "hard-earned" money on.  Did she ever think about donating even a fraction of the probably millions she spent on unnecessary elective surgery so that underprivileged people could receive the life changing surgery they need.

I hope all the surgery was worth it and you honestly feel better about yourself Heidi because you went through a lot for it. 

A tout a l'heure!
Rachel

Weird Reference in Marketing today...

So there I was sitting in Marketing lecture listening intently as always when the words Eiffel Tower caught my ears.  Now normally when discussing items of the French nature I pay full attention so it took me by surprise that I didn't know what was going on.

My professor was discussing how a promotions need to constantly be looked at and reviewed in order to make sure it still works year after year.  She somehow decided that this was like the Eiffel Tower.  Trust me the metaphor (or meteor as Anna Faris in "The House Bunny" says) was about as clear as my writing has made it to be.  If anyone can please explain it to me I would be extremely grateful!

A tout a l'heure!
Rachel

"Paris was about to change everything..."

I sit here writing this post on a lazy Saturday afternoon.  I am currently being a bum and watching a marathon of The Hills on MTV.  The episode on right now is the season 3 trip to Paris for Lauren and Whitney.

Every time I see a TV show or a movie where the characters go to Paris it makes me nostalgic for my trip four years ago to France and anxious for the next time I will get to go.  In this episode, Lauren and Whitney are in Paris for a business trip.  The are covering the Crillion Ball for Teen Vogue.  Lauren is excited to go but sad that she is leaving behind a boy.  She is quoted saying, "But I had a feeling Paris was about to change everything".

One thing I hate about media portrayals of Paris is the cliches of love, adventure, and "finding yourself" in Paris. 

I am extremely jealous of Lauren and Whitney, watching them travel around the city I love, shopping, eating, meeting boys, and having fun, I know that soon I will make my way back to Paris!  Next time I go, I am totally going to buy a bottle of champagne and pop it under the Eiffel Tower, hopefully with some cute guy or my best friends!

A tout a l'heure!
Rachel

Fashion by Lady Gaga

My newest musical obsession (along with many others) is Lady Gaga.  My current favorite song of hers is called fashion, partly because she names a lot of well know designers, many of them French.  I can just picture her walking down the Champs Elysees as if it were her own personal runway singing this song.  So I thought I would share the lyrics with you!

A tout a l'heure!
Rachel

PS This song is also featured in Confessions of a Shopaholic with Isla Fischer.

Fashion by Lady Gaga:

Ohhh Ohhh

La La La

I am, I'm too fabu-lous
I'm so fierce that it's so nuts
I live, to be model thin
Dress me, I'm your manne-quin

J'adore Vivienne La Vie et Moi.
Gucci, Fendi, and Prada.
Valentino, Armani too.
Merde I love them Jimmy Choo!

Fashion put it all on me
Don't you want to see these clothes on me
Fashion put it all on me
I am anyone you want me to be

Fashion put it all on me
Don't you want to see these clothes on me
Fashion put it all on me
I am anyone you want me to be

Ohhhh Ohhhhh
La La La
We love designer

I need, some new stile-ttos
Can't walk, down the street in those
You are, who you wear it's true
A girl's just as hot as the shoes she choose.

J'adore Weitzman La Vie et Moi.
Louis, Dolce Gabbana,
Alexander McQueen, eh ou.
Merde I love those Manolo!

Fashion put it all on me
Don't you want to see these clothes on me
Fashion put it all on me
I am anyone you want me to be

Fashion put it all on me
Don't you want to see these clothes on me
Fashion put it all on me
I am anyone you want me to be

Ohhhh Ohhhhh
La La La
We Love Designer

Ohhhh Ohhhhh
La La La
We Love Designer

Fashion put it all on me
Don't you want to see these clothes on me
Fashion put it all on me
I am anyone you want me to be

Fashion put it all on me
Don't you want to see these clothes on me
Fashion put it all on me
I am anyone you want me to be

Fashion put it all on me
Don't you want to see these clothes on me
Fashion put it all on me
I am anyone you want me to be

Fashion put it all on me
Don't you want to see these clothes on me
Fashion put it all on me
I am anyone you want me to be

Le Premier Post

For my very first blog post I though I would just describe a little bit about my self and how I came to be a self describe "French Badger".

Like it says at the top I was born and raised in Wisconsin, I was born in Madison but spent the large majority of my childhood growing up in a suburb just outside the state capitol.  Being a Wisconsin girl, I was brought up to bleed green and gold for my Packers, blue for my Brewers, and red for my Badgers.  I believe I epitomize the stereotypical Wisconsinite with my love for cheese, milk, brats, and anything fried :).  I am currently a student at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, and while where I had planned on ending up, I couldn't imagine spending my college years anywhere else!  That's where the "Badger" part comes from.

I grew up in a very privileged suburb and attended a school system where I received a very good public education.  We were first exposed to foreign languages in sixth grade.  We had to take Spanish for half the semester and French for the other half.  Unfortunately I would not get the chance to study a language again until high school.  In high school, to a teenage girl, the most important people are you friends.  My two best friends where taking French and of course I wanted to be just like them.  I also wanted to be different because EVERYONE at my high school took Spanish.  From the firs minute I stepped into that class, I knew that French would be a much bigger part of my life than just a language I was forcing myself to learn.  Ever since France, the French language, and culture have stolen my heart.  That's where the "French" comes from.

While the refined world of cafes and haute couture couldn't be more different from America's Dairyland, the two worlds are both very much a part of who I am.  I am proud of my Midwestern upbringing and couldn't imagine growing up anywhere else.  I also look forward to a future filled with travel and the study of other cultures, particularly French.

I hope everyone enjoys reading my blog and get a taste for what it's truly like to live the life of a French Badger.