Backpacking through Europe in 1994
Day 95 • December 10, 1994
Tours, France
No Photographs from today
DAY 95 / 12-10-94
tours, France
Marina had to work early so I left her place at 8 [am] & took the bus home. I went back to sleep until 11 [am], then Rachel & I went to Athee [Olivier’s parent’s home]. I had some mail for me there: A letter from Kyle (& music cassette tape for Olivier), letter from Mom, my Plane Ticket! & Christmas presents for Menjoulou’s & Olivier.
It was great to se Ro-Ro [Roger, Olivier’s Dad] again. We had a nice lunch, & while Rachel decorated for Christmas I read my mail and rested.
We came home at 6 [pm] & I watched Beverly Hills 90210. When Olivier came home I gave him the tape & CD, which he loved.
Then we left for the best party I’ve been to in France (or anywhere for a long time). It was in a town about 25 minutes away, in a 200–300-year-old cave. All the people from Rachel’s school were there that I had partied with before: Benoir, Stephan, Matthew, Anne, Delphine and others whose names I can’t remember.
There was a ton of food & drink & Olivier & I had a blast. We wrote messages on each other’s foreheads. Olivier’s said “J’ai un grosses sexe (I have a big dick) & mine said “J’ai un petite sexe.” Everyone got a big kick out of that.
Everyone was dancing and partying & around midnight I pulled Olivier aside and reminded him of his promise to me 4 years ago on the night he left [Kearney].
He said if – no, when – I come to France he would take me to go run naked through the countryside.
Now I expected him to go along with the idea, but what he did next completely shocked me: He announced to EVERYONE our plan and invited the other guys to come along. And they did! 15 of us stripped to only our shoes & took off on a nice 10-minute jog through the town!!!
After returning to the party I found Anne & we slipped away for an hour or so :-)!
When we got back the ranks had thinned some, & Anne left shortly thereafter. But Olivier & I were going strong. I met a girl named Celine & we danced awhile, & she agreed to pose for me in a few days.
Then what happened next completely blew my mind. It was about 3 or 3:30 am, & 3 people, the youngest of which had to have been at least 65 years old, crashed our party. Yea!
They were coming home from another one & heard our noise, & invited themselves in. I was pretty drunk & feeling a little mischievous, so I asked Olivier to translate for me.
I asked these ladies if they were wearing any underwear, if they douche, & if they prefer to spit or swallow. But Olivier, being quite blitzed himself, told them I like French pastries, I think the sun is hot, & the North Pole would be a good place for snowball fight.
Rachel had stayed sober to drive us home & she was quite tired & anxious to go by now. So we stumbled after her, but took a detour by ourselves before we made it to the car.
We ended up at some church, and we decided that we should make a serious toast to each other in light of the fact I was leaving soon.
But all Olivier could come up with was “Fuck, I’m trashed!” And my toast to him was “Me too”.
Rachel noticed we had wandered off & came to pick us up.
When we got back home Olivier decided to show me the pepper gas he was given as a police officer. He didn’t spray it at me, just up in the air. But it is so strong that within seconds we were both rolling on the ground, coughing & choking and crying.
Oh well, we eventually made it upstairs, & I think I fell asleep at 5 [am], after an absolutely kick ass last Saturday night of my journey!
5!
Kyle had written me a letter for my birthday and given it to my Mom, and she mailed it to Olivier to hold for me.
11-5-94
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
T-Dog,
How the hell are you? Things are pretty good here. We are going to have the 3rd annual Christmas Symphony trip. We are trying to get tickets to the Omaha Lancers hockey game for the Saturday night before the symphony – lots of culture.
Nebraska Cornhuskers are #1 after beating Colorado 24-7. Penn State is #2. You Dallas Chum-boys barely beat the Bengals last weekend, they are 0-8. Emmit Smith got in a car accident, but the dipshit didn’t get hurt. Troy Aikman got a concussion against Arizona (yeah) – what a pussy.
Yes, I do have a job, I know work for Ford Motor Credit Company here in Omaha. I will make at least $20,000, with potential to make $24,000 (overtime bonus) in my first year. Benefits are really worth about $5,000 per year also. After six months I’ll get a kick-ass discount on Ford, Mercury, Lincoln and Jaguar cars. I am eligible for promotion and relocation after one year. I have a good feeling that I will end up in Florida.
Jen and I have a place to live, but it won’t be finished being built and ready for us to move in until December 1st. It’s a two-bedroom apartment with washer/dryer hookups in each unit.
I started on my NHL Sega Season. I put in the Dome Crew and a few other people on one team. Here’s the roster:
Goalies
1. Todd Rundstrom
2. Brad Kyle
Forwards
1. Kyle Gilson
2. Jerry Rice
3. Collin Nabity
4. Randy Luettel
5. Russ Lee
6. Bob Bodziak
7. Doug Brunnert
8. Barry Sanders
9. Chris Berman
10. Pam Cleary
11. Walter Payton
Defensivemen
1. Tim Skrastins
2. Curt Vance
3. Reggie White
4. Charles Barkley
5. Rod Woodson
6. Mike Tyson
We all play for the Pittsburgh Penguins, we are 19-0, averaging 5 goals per game. We should finish the season undefeated.
This just in, Ronald Reagan has just been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
When you get back from Europe, if you don’t want to live in Kearney, you could probably stay with us for a while until you could get your own place in Omaha. You could probably get a job at Ford Credit (you couldn’t make as much as me, because I have a degree.) But the pay is still pretty good. OR, there is an ITI in Omaha, just kidding. [ITI was the telemarking company that I worked at in Kearney, along with De, Tim’s girlfriend.] Just kidding.
Here's the tape you requested and some other stuff I thought you might want to see.
49’ers 21 – Cowboys 14
In the NFL, the favorites have won 48 games while the underdogs have won 63 since week 3.
Talk to you later.
I don’t know my new address yet, so keep writing me at my parent’s address.
Kyle
PS. You still owe me $30 from the last phone bill – don’t worry, I’ll collect it later.
My Christmas Gift from my Parents: A Plane Ticket Home!
