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2004-04-13
The power of ten

2:56 p.m.

Brooke and Nick have a daily chant of how many days until they return to the US. Both, along with another classmate, Ollie, are working for Peter Diamantes at X-Prize in LA. Today, it is ten days. I don�t like hearing their chant because it�s how many days I have left to find a place to live, which I don�t yet have. Yikes. However, it did get me thinking of what I do and don�t miss about the US. So, here�s my list of 10 things I miss about America, and 10 things I�ll miss about Europe, and mainly Strasbourg:

What I miss about the US�

1. Restaurants: In-N-Out, Mexican food (Melly�s), Cheesecake Factory
2. NASA
3. Non-smoking offices, restaurants (Cali)/sections(Texas)
4. Stores, pharmacies, & restaurants open 24-hours
5. Same open on Sundays
6. Basic food: Macaroni & Cheese, cheddar cheese, Cadbury eggs
7. Electronics: My cell phone, TV
8. Cost of living
9. My truck & cheap(er) gas; cars that actually go
10. Poopless sidewalks

What I�ll miss about France/Europe�

1. Ability to easily travel to other countries (and doing so)
2. Insanely cheap French wine
3. Food: Camembert cheese on a baguette, French chocolate, pastries
4. Christmas Market
5. History, esp. castles & the Strasbourg Cathedral
6. Good public transportation
7. Proximity to Paris
8. Wednesday & Friday markets in front of my flat
9. Reaching nearly 200 km/hr on the Autobahn
10. Coolness factor of living abroad

Last night we had Yuri's night. The party itself was great. It was at ISU and about 50 people or so showed up, which was cool, but the lobby is huge and even with 50 people in it, it still seemed rather empty. We had a good time - great music, fun people, lots of space stuff. We had a greeting from Peter Diamantes and a promo for X-Prize, and the Russian Consulate General came and spoke a few words; it was the first Yuri's night in Strasbourg and I think he was particularly touched. Bavs - and Serina and Brooke - did an incredible job setting it all up and organizing everything.

Well, as often seems to be the case lately, the actual event is fun, but it ends on something of a sour note. For example, the computers stolen in Vimy, getting stuck between the Bulgarian and Turkish borders, Tyler and Beth having money issues in the airport in Russia, and now last night. Here's the story: Mark, Kelly, and I were walking to catch the last tram when we run into Elias who had left before us and was coming back because he was mugged at the tram stop. Immediately, we all turned around and headed back to ISU where he talked to Olivier our banker/friend and captain of the Strasbourg hockey team, and who was at ISU for Yuri's night, who immediately canceled his account.

We all piled into cabs to go home. Mark, Chris, Nicole, and Elias got in a cab and actually saw one of the men who robbed him; the cabbie called the police who materialized out of nowhere and detained him. However, he didn't have Elias' stuff on him. (Today, Elias has to go to the police station.) By the time everyone made it back the fare was around 50 Euros because the driver had left the meter running; but, he only charged 30 Euros, which is pretty close to what it would have been, anyway.

So, fun times in Strasbourg. And we were warned heavily about Moscow.

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