No Ranting or Poetry, I promise...Just this week and food...

...just some random stuff about my week because it's really early and I feel like blogging and don't have a better subject.

The day woke up with a bang - or not so much, because I really hated to get out of bed. I was so tired. I've been having some trouble sleeping lately, so when I have to get up before eight o'clock (or get less than three hours of sleep, which isn't unusual for me), I usually don't count on my brain functioning properly until at least nine - or until after I've had a hot peppermint tea. My host mom, Charlotte, asks me almost every morning if I'm ok ( :-P ), and I think this has something to do with the fact that I usually look like a zombie when she sees me.

My alarm went of at 6:40, but I didn't get out of bed until almost seven (a bit later than I meant to), took a quick shower, fed and walked the dogs and waited for the boys to wake up, which they finally did around eight. Well, Jules did around eight. (Exactly right now, as I'm writing this sentence, Felix is still not awake. This is good, as it allows me to fudge on how long I can leave the tv on. Past 8:30, now, certainly, as they're both allowed a half an hour, and Jules won't leave it as long as it's on. So 9? I love being an au pair.)

Remember the old Pink Panther cartoons? Those are good cartoons. They have no words. This allows me to essentially watch the boys "french cartoons" (they think) and understand everything that happens. The boys believe my french to be so good because I understand what happens in these cartoons.

At least someone thinks my french is good. I placed an order at McD's the other night (in french), and the guy behind the counter replied, "Would you like that small or medium?"

8:14. Felix just woke up. So 8:45, the tv will go off. Ok. That's my plan. Well, maybe 9. That's not too late, is it? I'm so tired.

Friday night my host family and I went to this sushi place called the Sushi Train. I'd been there with them before, but this time I was reeeeally craving sushi. On the way there, Felix was whining about something and Charlotte told him, "If you don't stop, we'll go home. There won't be any sushi for you." So of course Felix stopped.

And then Charlotte and I had a good laugh. She said, "You can blog about how your family is so strict. We're such good disciplinarions. We say, 'Be good or you'll get no sushi.'"

The Sushi Train is really fun! Everyone sits around a high bar, and a great electric toy train runs around the top of the bar. The sides of the box cars all say "Pennsylvania," so I told Felix that the train is from America. He was completely thrilled.

The concept of the Sushi Train is really fun! On top of the train cars are small plates of sushi all stacked up. As it goes round the bar on its track, you just take off whatever looks good to you, and add up the prices at the end. I love sushi. I ate six plates. But that was nothing to what Arnaud ate. I think he had at least ten. Felix ate a lot too - at least as much as I did. He pulled up his shirt so I could poke his belly, which was, according to Felix, "completely full of sushi."

Last night my friend Kerara and I went to a fun place in Old Town called Brasserie-restaurant de l'Hôtel-de-Ville. It is just a thirty-second walk from St. Peter's Cathedral (where John Calvin used to preach), and just across from the oldest house in Genève. Very lovely part of town. My favorite part of town, actually. We had a fondue made with Gruyères cheese and white wine. Yummy.

I swear the woman at the next table was a paid escort. She was Swedish, I think - very blond, but with too much makeup and looking old before her time. The man she was with was rather disgusting - he had his shirt open halfway down his potbelly (which was very hairy) and kept his hands all over her the entire night. Kissing and groping. Yuck. She's either with him because it's her business and she's paid to be, or they're lovers because she's shallow and he's rich (and she did look shallow and he did look rich - but it was kind of a pimp rich, if you know what I mean - but I guess either scenerio involves shallowness, money, and vanity). I'm guessing paid escort because she didn't look into him at all. She always pulled away at first when he was leaning toward her, tried to talk instead of kiss, etc. She had a great fake smile, but she didn't look thrilled to be there. Anyway, paid escort or the lover of a rich dude, it all boils down to money. Because let's face it, the sex just can't be that good.

But our fondue was great!

Anyway, I need to go empty the dishwasher before I turn off the tv. Jules has already asked to play his DS. I'm sure Felix wouldn't resist that plan of action either. Should I let them? Nintendo is electronic...so technically not allowed without their parents' permission...but Charlotte and Arnaud are sleeping, and the temptation is running strong...

Contemplating the consequences of au pair insubordination,
That girl in Switzerland

P.S. There is a lot of snow today. Il y a beaucoup de neige aujourd'hui. I wonder what shoes I should wear for my hour and a half treck to church.