copy chats
I hate to write about the same subject again, but frankly - I think it’s worth a little more attentions.
Recently, the French decided to adapt the “Yes We Can” Obama campaign motto.
I find it ironic that despite the years of hatred for Bush, their distaste for general American lifestyle, and their seemingly more progressive perception of who could be in high office (no problems with Chirac’s mistress, current Prez marrying a model/musician while in office) the French are , dare I say, trying to immitate the classless Americans?
”We shouldn’t be surprised that Obama’s popularity is so high here: It testifies to the aspirations of all the children of France who are experiencing by proxy a recognition that France does not give them,” the manifesto reads. “It also betrays the bad faith of those who welcome the victory of modernity outside our borders, in order to tolerate the status quo here.”
Baraking and rolling still going strong
8 years ago right now, I had traveled to France for the wedding of a close friend. I was worried , sure , and shocked at the recent election outcome. Who is this George Bush guy? Is he just like his daddy? I mean, can he be THAT bad?
Well, I remember being in a manor in Quimiac France , outside on the lawn in a flower dress, celebrating the day one of my closest friends got marrie.
Could you explain why you voted for that man? We’re all so shocked! He’s already turned down many measures internationally to help the environment!
I swear, I swear I defeneded myself. More importantly, I swore it happened due to corruption and fluke.
I promis you, that man will not get re-elected.
Fast forward 4 years …. FUCK.
I remember my first trip to Toronto for work. A cabbie picked me up with a collegue after a night out at a bar. He was African, and when he learned we were American, he almost wanted to refuse to take us to our destination.
What is it about Bush that made foreigners seem to hate us or feel so puzzled by our decisions? Somehow I felt that despite my actions and my choices, I was somehow lumped in with a segment that felt the enviroment was 2nd par, God only mattered, and spreading “freedom” was the sole purpose of our Nation’s being.
Well now I can call it out. Finally, when I tell them I’m American, there’s someone to be proud of.
That’s right France, I’m coming back for you. Didn’t your president marry a model? Pshhh.
Molestation; Korean style
This past weekend was a treat. As I am graying with age, my gal pal and cohort Marie Lodi got me a treatment and day at the Olympic Korean Day Spa in K-town. Now, as you might have read before, I’ve been to a Japanese Onsen before in my trip to Tokyo last Spring. So here I thought I may have had a leg up on Marie, being experienced to seeing old naked Asian women before. But of course, I wasn’t.
We drove over to Korean town winding up Crenshaw and turning right to get to Olympic, and I figured this experience was going to make me relaxed. I was excited after we valeted the car and were greeted at the reception to frilly smelling products and cases of expensive lotions and shampoos. The hostess asked us if it was our first time, and since it was, decided to give us a brief tour.
“Here is your bracelet with your keys and your number. Don’t leave it behind, the number is important and I’ll explain why in a moment.”
… we walked past the double doors and get entranced with a humid scene of various women in green robes and white towls. Some topless, some more conservative, all with that look of “oh wow… toxins are so gross. I’m glad I come here and sweat it off unlike the common folk” all over their faces.
“This is your shoe locker, and you open it like this”
“You have separate lockers for shoes?”, I asked.
No humor, no laughter. Just a sad stare.
Past the Divinity of Soles, we migrate past the main hub of the spa, where women are all towel-headed turbin style, looking like they may have just puffed some opium the way their dazes wander.
“And here is your regular locker. Remember your number, we will call you by your number for your service, not your name.”
And alas, we get to the pools. One cool, one hot, and one magma level Mugwort pool.And a long line of faucets and plastic stools separated them. Each upon on them, one large or saggy old Korean lady, washing everything, including the oldest of petals amongst her treasures. Oh sweet victory, I was at least skinner than most of them.
“Remember, you have to memorize your number. That’s how you get called.”
And this is where I promised Marie I would not make a reference to Auschwitz on this blog, even though it’s SO obvious.
So we bathed in hot, we bathed in cool, we bathed in Mugworts tea that made me feel like my nipples were ripping off. Then finally, came the scrub and massage. The wonders of feeling like a baby newborn, sort of like the pampering you get between diapers, only more raw, more real, and more corrupted.
Skin came off of me like I was carrot getting prepped for a dinner party. God knows I was in a daze of relaxation. And as Marie swears, it was like the sin in our very bodies was getting washed away with the men of our past.
Needless to say, I feel like I’m younger. And if you ask Hong, the old Korean in black panties and a bra who man-handled me for 90 minutes, I’m very beautiful as well.
touristes moches
And I thought I was the ugly American tourists, turns out the berets and nasal accents are what turn off most people.
According to a recent international survey, the French are now considered the most obnoxious tourists from European nations, behind only Indians and the last-place Chinese as the worst among countries worldwide. And it’s not just the rest of the world that has a gripe with the Gallic attitude: the French also finished second to last among nations ranking the popularity of their own tourists who vacation at home.
And in bigger French news… my good friend Anne-Laure will be visiting me next month!!! She hasn’t been to the States in over 10 years, and recently returned from another work trip to Afghanistan.
Many a broken language conversations will be had. Mostly, I’ll just laugh at her accent and pretend like I remember French. Trips are in order, and taking a break after my week of work at SIGGRAPH this year sounds perfect. In the mode right now to organize a few fun trips to SF, Vegas and hopefully some big trees up north.
[… , the poll finds that the French and Americans are similar in being perceived as critical and rude when they travel — though for different reasons. The same attractions that make France the world’s top destination for 92 million foreign visitors each year, says de Roux, also explain why more than 85% of French citizens vacation in-country — and wind up spoiled by it when they leave. “When they go abroad, French travelers demand the same quality they’d get at home,” de Roux says. “Americans, by contrast, demand the same exceptional service they are used to at home, which is why they rank as the loudest, most inclined to complain and among the least polite.” ]
See AL, we really ARE the same 
mel-on dollar fruit
Remember back when I was in Japan and I kept harping on about expensive fruit?
Well, apparently $120 is cheap for a melon. Check out the one that just auctioned off for nearly $6,100!
Here’s the real kicker, though. The watermelon is a bargain compared to the $23,500 recently paid in Japan for a pair of Yubari cantaloupes, the AP reported, adding that melons are a luxury item commonly given as gifts.
Also, I had great experiences at the onsen I went to with Hiroko and Juha. And like all things Japanese , it has been re-invented with a theme.
hey now
I’m getting back into the feel of things lately. This year SIGGRAPH won’t be the hell I normally have to prepare for. While I’m busy cleaning up some more categories (thanks M for pointing this out several times), why don’t you take a nice look at some of the lovely world news I’ve been reading lately…
- like how a drunken Swede tried to row home from Denmark, and failed.
- or how in China, all that birth moderation is making a bunch of single dudes unhappy
- isn’t it lovely that in Spain, human rights are going to the monkeys?
- and lastly, as I prepare for my 24 hour trip to San Francisco, they praise their leader in their own way
this explains SO much
Top Ten Horniest Countries of the World
#1 = GREASE .. I’m mean GREECE
it’s ok to love the Eiffel Tower, but …
Not LOVE the Eiffel Tower.
What I want to know is, is there nothing here Stateside she couldn’t fall for? I mean, we got the St. Louis arch and the Golden Gate bridge. Is it because the Eiffel Tower has an accented sense of snobbery we can’t compete with?
Oh, I see … she wanted to French.
Friggin’ American weirdos.
in Deutschland
Ahhh, jetlag … can anything be any more useless in life? On my second day back from German, I crashed out at 8pm and woke up at 5am. I am officially on my grandmother’s schedule.
Stuttgart was an amazing city, highlights including the land of Porsche and Mercedes … and naturally, all things German like beer. Though, I’ll tell you one thing that really annoyed me about this trip. I arrived on Saturday night, after flying next to about 9 Greek people from Los Angeles who ignored me the entire time while they shouted over me the entire 11 hour flight. Also, I had a lovely 7 hour layover in Frankfurt airport, which was mostly used to sleep. And after a good night’s rest, I decided to go shopping on Sunday, trying to make use of my only free day the entire trip. This was useless, because in Germany NOTHING is open on a Sunday. Even more shocking, people still go out. Weird, I know.
The FMX conference was pretty interesting, far smaller than anything like SIGGRAPH. It was however lacking in many things as well … such as say… air conditioning. Hosted in the Haus der Wirtschaft , the building used to be an old stock exchange place. Loads of cool marble all over the place, and where I stood it was roughly around 90 degrees.
Apparently, in addition to air conditioning, elevators and anything besides 7 flights of stairs are also considered a German cultural barrier. Who knew?
And now for your viewing pleasure, a very brief video of the techno klub place the FMX party was held. The same party that was held about 8 floors down below, like a friggin’ German bunker with no ventilation, thousands of computer graphics nerds with no deodorant, permitted smoking, and contained mostly people over 6 feet in height. Asides from having Gulliver’s Travel syndrome, I felt uber Euro cool!
FMX Party in Stuttgart Germany from Leyla Tirgari on Vimeo.
trip alert: ‘bot going to Germany
I’m not bothering apologizing for a lack of blogs lately. Mainly, because I think you should have gotten used to this by now. But secondly, because I’ve just never figured out how to make my FlipCam work with the latest version of QuickTime on this Mac. So whatever… moving on!
I’m going to Stuttgart, Germany in a few weeks! Yes, it’s for another work conference, this time FMX. Now, I took German in high school, and I got bumped a year because it was easy to me. I even graduated with German Honor’s Society tassles. All this naturally means I’ll barely be able to say “danke” and “ein bissien”.
Either way, I’m stoked I’ll be there for the kraut. In the mean time, a little cultural learning for the week.
How Americans and Britons differ… besides dental care. Interesting article in the Economist. Here’s a snapshot of their results founded through some research.
On five of the six groups of issues selected, American opinion is far more polarised than British (only nationalism seems to unite America’s left and right). Gone are the days when it was British politics that embraced political extremes and Americans looked on bemused. The gap between Republicans and Democrats is almost always far greater than that between Tories and (usually) Liberal Democrats. Lib Dem supporters are to the left of Labour on every broad category except the role of the state.
But really, is this shocking?
