how do you say "eek!" èn francàis?
it turns out that whole "i'm a tourist" leniency thing doesn't work here quite as well as it does in japan. for one thing, people keep coming up to me to ask for directions, then are genuinely upset when ugly old english comes out of my mouth. the other part is when i purchased my metro ticket for the week, i got the one that requires you to have a passport-like picture with it... not having a photo, i drew the likeness of myself in the area for the picture, sealed it up, and continued on my merry metro way. all's going well (despite the look of horror given by people when they learn what i've done) until today on the second to last stop before i got off, the train was descended upon by uniformed ticket checkers... after a little overacting on my part (gosh! i didn't know!) and some harsh french words on theirs, they scribbled something over the picture, and, luckily, gave me back the pass. hopefully that's the first and last time that happens.
yesterday was a most wonderous day as i was finally able to meet up with miss K to the EF (formerly of the 'captain obvious' notoreity) and we spent the afternoon catching up over the last 2 years, shopping for hats, and practicing running into people by walking in non-straight lines. oh, and eating dinner in a gay bar (thematic). she had class today until later when we meet up for dinner, so i spent the day so far hitting the rest of the must-sees: le tour eiffel; arc du triomphe, champs de elysees, some spot that was quite picturesque but i have no idea what is was officially, and, of course, the louvre, where i illegally and surreptitiously snuck a shot of the mona lisa (though the security was somewhat lax on that, admonishing every third person or so who was using their flash).
tomorrow is my last full day here, and guess what we're doing: we're going to disneyland!! no joke. at first i felt sort of lame for thinking to do that, but then i realized i could justify it in a quantative research sort of way, being able to compare/contrast the california, tokyo, and paris parks. look for that surely conclusive report to hit major publications soon. err, if i don't get arrested soon, that is.
current mood: i'm going to disneyland! (weather permitting)