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thisguywalksintoabar
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Name: Jehiel
Country: United States
State: Maryland
Metro: Howard County
Birthday: 5/26/1986
Gender: Male
Interests: raisins, green shirts, frog puppets
Expertise: falling asleep on command... being allergic to almost everything on the planet, esp. bees.... ugh *shudder*
Occupation: Student
Industry: Nonprofit
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
10/14/2002
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| So. I am blessed, both figuratively and literally speaking...
Yesterday, for our blessing education, we took personality tests, so that we could learn more about our significant others. Apparently, Christa and I are exact opposites. Not just because shes a girl and has a pink laptop and I am a guy and
have a burly voice and a hairy chest, or because I am always right and she is never wrong, but like real opposites. I mean, like, if you drew a line we would be the two arrows pointing in opposite directions. And, we are not just opposites by a slim margin. I am not sure if anyone is familiar with the Myers-Briggs personal evaluations, but you answer a bunch of "Would you rather"s, and then you are summed up in four letters, each one representing one side of a spectrum, representing a certain orientation in which you view or interact with the world. A person is either an Extrovert or Introvert, a Sensor or Intuitor, a Thinker or Feeler, and a Judger or Perciever, and a person can be on any part of each of the four spectra. Christa and I are extreme opposites of each... That explains a lot.
It's funny, though, because growing up, I always felt like we had a lot in common. I mean, we both were band geeks (though she now denies that claim, stating she was in band but only because she had to be.... but she was in marching band for four years.... FOUR YEARS...). Also, we both hated salt and vinegar chips, though now I think she has switched over in that area as well. We both ran track. She claims she hated it, but I know better. Granted, since we have been matched, I have come to realize a lot more how different we are, or at least, how different we have grown to be. But, at the same time, I always found it interesting how someone could drive me so crazy and still make me feel whole.
Anyway, as scary as it is, staring at a piece of paper and realizing you don't know ANYTHING - or at least, you don't understand anything - about the person you are going to spend eternity with, it is actually kind of exciting. It means there is a whole world of discovery. And, it means there is a lot more to argue about, and I love arguing, so that is awesome.
Anyway, Cobras, or Team Awesome, or 17/17 or whatever it is we are calling ourselves these days, congrats. And to all of those out there that still read xanga, here's to difference and discovery and arguing and agreement and everything that goes into making life interesting!
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| Edit: photo link
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So, a man has a dream, and in his dream, God appears to him and describes to him Heaven and Hell, so that he may decide what kind of life he would like to lead. He explains to the man that in Heaven, all the chefs are Italian, the lovers are French, the Germans make up the police force, and the Swiss run the trains. The man agreed that, yes, in fact, that did sound rather a lot like an enjoyable place to end up, worth living a good life to attain it. But, he was still curious, so he asked God about Hell. God replied that in Hell, the Germans are the chefs, the Swiss are the lovers, the police force consists of French, and the Italians run the trains.
Needless to say, the Swiss are very good at running trains... so they think. Ok, yeah, they are really good with trains, but I am also very resourceful.
So, the other day, I went to Switzerland to visit Carol, Hunki, and the rest of the second-most-expensive-city-in-the-world-in-between-Tokyo-and-Moscow (that would be Zurich in case you weren't following). So, I bought a nice, round trip flight to Zurich, only to find, upon closer inspection of my itinerary, that, by searching Zurich, the flight company obviously thought I meant Basel (1.5 hours away), because that was what should up on my flight plan. I was a little pissed, but I decided I would go through with it, because it was still cheaper to take the train from Basel to Zurich than to change everything around. However, when I arrived in the wonderful land of cheese and chocolate, I was welcomed by the non-functionality of my bank card. This proved to be extremely annoying as, for one, I made a clear note on my account info that I was traveling through Europe, so the bank was not to freeze my account upon seeing the purchase of tickets and/or the movement of my card across borders. Also, I was supposed to meet Carol in Zurich, which meant I had to catch a train, but I could not buy a ticket, due to my frozen account, nor could I call the bank or Carol, again due to my frozen account. I was left with only one option, to sneak onto the train and stowaway myself to Zurich. I looked at the schedule and noted that the next train departing for Zurich left in 3 minutes so I followed the signs to my train and climbed into the least conspicuous train car I could find. It wasn't long before the controller came walking down the aisle. I knew I was in trouble, as I did not have a ticket or a way to pay for one, and I assumed there were probably also applicable fines involved. Anyway, I had to think quick, so I went against my better judgment and stood up, and then walked straight towards the controller. I passed him, nodding, and went into the bathroom, where I chilled for about 10 minutes, until I was sure he had gone. I sat back down in my seat, victorious, until I heard the doors open 5 minutes later, and saw the controller again, coming up the aisle. I put my headphones on, and feigned a sleeping position in my chair, and to my surprise, the controller failed to ask me for my ticket. This went on every 15-20 minutes, and after the third time, I knew I was in the clear. Apparently, thec controller recognized me from my bathroom-walk-head-nod and assumed that he had already checked my ticket.
Anyway, I arrived safely in Zurich, still without access to cash, but eventually I met up with Carol and we had Sushi at Hunki's work. Sooo good. The weekend was excellent, and jam packed with tons of Switzerland-esque activities ranging from ice skating, to listening to baroque music on the accordion, to visiting the world famous Lindts Chocolate factory, to drinking $8 white chocolate mocha lattes from Starbucks, fully equipped with the token 5-minute-light-turning-off-to-protest-global-warming. We even took a train to the Alps and went sledding. I know it my sound childish, but alpine sledding is not for the faint of heart, and it is even the only of the three alpine sports (skiing, snowboarding, and sledding) which is NOT recommended for children. Carol and Hunki can testify, they took a wrong turn and flew of the edge of the chute.
It was great fun, and I recommend anyone who doesnt mind spending 3 times as much as normal on pretty much anything to go to Zurich and pay a visit.
I have decided that putting pictures up on xanga takes too long, so instead, I will be putting them on my webshots account for everyone to view. I will post on here as soon as I have them up.
This is a painting i did, trying to get into the french spirit.
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It's funny how, often times, our desire for what things ought to be changes our perception of what they actually are.
So the other day, I spent all morning sneezing. Now, normally, that would not be such a big deal, but for those of you that know me personally, you understand how devastating repeated sneezes coming from my nasal cavity can be to one's ear drums, and to the ambiance of the surrounding environment. Now I am not quite sure how my ailment originated. It could have been my allergies finally catching up with me, after two months of living in a house with a cat and a smoker. It might have also been the fact that I fell asleep the night before with my French doors wide open (no pun intended) and the temperature that night was a whopping 32 degrees F. In either case, my host family openly objected to the continual pressure relievage of my nose, and kindly asked me to take a Vitamin C. The mom handed me a pink tablet, and I was instantly brought back to my childhood, where visions of mango, pineapple, and strawberry flavored chewable vitamin c pills floated in front of my eyes. Those were the days. I know many of you would chime in with me regarding said tablets, as I am sure you, like myself, gobbled them down like candy, often exceeding our daily dosage of the vitamin by several thousand percent. Anyway, so I happily popped the pill into my mouth and was kindly met by a bombardment of intense berry flavor, enough to make me wince. After a second of my tastebuds adjusting to this new phenomenon on my tongue, I was hit by yet another sensation: the expansion of my mouth due to the CO2 causing chemical reaction between my saliva and the tablet. My host family was still standing right next to me, so I turned my back to them to prevent them from seeing my chipmunk appearance. I tried letting the gas out by slightly pursing my lips, but this only allowed for more bubbling to resurface. Then the unthinkable happened. My host mom started talking to me. I kept my back to them, and could only manage to nod slightly, or give a faint grunt to acknowledge her statements. I tried not to move as I feared even the slighted disturbance would through my barely maintained equilibrium completely off balance and the Vitamin tablet would shoot out of my mouth like a rocket, fizzy residue and all. After about 30 seconds of complete pain, suffering, and plenty of attempts to swallow the dissolved portions of the pill, which, of course, were met with only more unwelcomed gas and fizzy liquid, I concluded that my eyes were on the verge of popping out of their sockets - which I actually think might have happened, given the old wives tail of eyes popping out in the midst of an eyelid opened sneeze. Eye poppage or not, I ran to the sink and coughed up the remains of the tablet. As I looked up, teary-eyed and short of pride, I made out the image of my host mom, standing there, arm outstretched, holding a glass of water, and I instantly felt like a complete fool...
On the bright side, we've been eating escargot (snails) for the past few days. They are hecka fun to eat. You stick this tiny little fork and grab ahold of what used to be their heads. You then proceed to yank and twist simultaneously to produce what could be described as a cross between oyster meat and a spring. Pretty tasty.
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| Sorry for the belated update. My power cable was stolen, so I was without a laptop for 2 and a half weeks. I pretty much regressed to a hairy, cave dwelling, bottom feeder. It was not a fun experience, but hey, c'est la vie as they say here in France.
So, the other day, I was asked to work the evening for a CERAM (my university) party at some club, not because I am particularly good at anything, but rather because I happen to be a member of CERAM Yachting, who was hosting the party that evening. It was great fun, if you like working a bar and watching people get drunk off their backsides. I particularly don't, so it wasn't the life changing experience I was looking for here in France. The club was in Juan les Pins, a 20 minute train ride from my city of Nice, and of course, the party ended at 4am, 4 hours after the last train had departed for Nice, and 3 hours until the next one departed, which left me in a bit of a tight situation. I happened to be with two of my Mexican amigos, Pablo and Juan Pablo, and so we proceeded in calling all the people we knew who lived in Juan Les Pins. Again, this was 4am, and the majority of people had been out drinking that night, which meant that there was a huge percent of the student population living in Juan les Pins who were collapsed, passed out, on their respective bathroom floors. So we called for about 10 minutes, but got no response, so we decided to have an adventure and sleep out on the beach. Sometimes it is easy to forget what time of year it is, especially in a foreign country. For example, I always know I am in October because all the stores begin stalking their Christmas paraphenalia, and one can distinguish November by the significant in increase of Christmas paraphenalea. Of course, December is marked by the complete absence of anything in any retail store, long check out lines, and the constant repetition of "All I want for Christmas is You" in any public space containing more than three people. Anyway, back to the point, it was cold. We slept on the benches lining the beach, and about 45 minutes later, I woke up completely numb. I am not quite sure if it was a direct result of the extremely low temperature, or my extremely high ratio of bone to flesh against an extremely hard metal bench... Anyway, I woke up and noticed two things. The first was that one amigo, Pablo, had seemed to disappear over the course of our 45 minute nap. The second was the presence of a tall man in a black trench coat hastily making his way towards us. I was pretty confused, especially when this tall, darkly trenchcoated individual began waving to us. Finally, he was close enough to make out his face, and I saw that he was our Austrian friend Martin. Simultaneously we asked each other what the hell we were doing on the beach at 4:45 in the morning. He replied he was on his way home from a girls house and we explained our inability to find a place to stay in town.
JEHIEL: "Where do you live Martin?"
MARTIN: "Here in Juan les Pins... Well, its too bad you couldn't find a place to stay. I have to say that you couldn't find a better place to watch the sunrise. I wish I could stay here with you to watch it as well, but I must get home. See you guys later..."
Marin exits scene right
JEHIEL: with his usual, bewildered, confused gaze known to follow some event which he is not entirely able to grasp with his acute perception... Did we just fail to get an invite to his apartment...?
JUAN PABLO: I believe so, yes...
JEHIEL: Hmm... Hey, where's Pablo?
Anyway, we searched for our friend Pablo and found him curled up at a bus station, attempting to block the wind. We decided we would freeze to death if we stayed outside for much longer, so we began to search for a good resting spot. Our first attempt was on top of in ground spotlights, but the collection of wildlife surrounding such installments proved to be inadequate to our tastes. We then walked to an apartment where many exchange students stay, and, luckily for us, the door was open so we made our way into the lobby and collapsed on the chairs. They were quite comfy, but unfortunately weren't designated for overnight guess, as we soon found out when confronted by a large custodian. I tried to explain to him in French that we were in fact waiting for our friend to come down, but that it might take them several hours to get ready, as currently they were fast asleep. He didn't buy it, even though there was a bit of truth to it.
Anyway, so we were kicked back out onto the street again and began making our way towards the train station. Then out of the corner of my eye, a glimpse of light, like the golden rays emitting from the rising sun's comforting reassurance of the presence of a new day, caught my attention. Down a small alleyway I could barely make out what I was sure was the answer to our problems... a laverie, or as we say in American, a laundromat. So we made our way over, and sure enough, it was a 24 hour laundromat, fully heated and lined with washing machines... So we went in, closed the door, turned off the lights, and went to sleep on top of the row of machines...
Yeah, I love France...
In other news, I have come to notice how much negative influence is seeping in from the US to the poor, unprotected youth here. For example, the other day, I was playing poker with some friends, when on TV in the background, what came on, to my surprise? None other than the infamous "High School Musical." What is this poor country coming to. And what was worse, we couldn't turn it off. Half the guys at the table spent more time watching the show then focusing on their hand, and as a direct result lost a significant amount of money. I am telling you right now America needs to be aware of the garbage they are pumping into other countries.
Anyway, I am good and well and healthy and alive. This past week was our vacation, which of course meant that instead of a break, I had a seminar, or a semester of class squeezed into four days. It was actually quite enjoyable despite the 8 hours of class followed by 3 hours of homework every day.
Goals for this month:
-Attempt growing a French mustache
-Find a decent outlet to watch Heroes online
-Create an exact replica of Christa that can be used to keep me company amidst all the loneliness and despair that is Nice, France
-Devise a way to determine in advance the relational implications or repercussions any proposed action might have, so I can evaluate whether or not the aforementioned action is warranted, or would be better disregarded to avoid any confrontation with the most amazing girl in the world...
-Convince Zach Braff of all the underlying benefits of having me as a cameo in his next film and or a Scrubs episode...
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Highschool Teacher Takes Fun and Excitement out of Science
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