Happy fourth of July! Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly) there were no fireworks here in Paris to commemorate this occasion. Not even a day off of work! Which is surprising because the French usually like to find any excuse for days off of work. So I only have time for a quick post.
As a special treat for my lab, I brought the American drink of A&W Root Beer (courtesy of Priya, from her recent visit) for my colleagues to enjoy during our seminar. In general, you can find most sodas here... Coke, Fanta, Dr. Pepper... But no root beer! Their reaction? One person said he didn't mind the taste, but disliked the smell. Many people thought it reminded them of the Chinese Tiger Balm. And one person thought it was like "drinking grandma." General consensus of never wanting to drink it again. I guess there is something offensive about sassafras root... but to be fair, I am not sure there was any real sassafras root in this particular soda. Mostly high fructose corn syrup, but I suppose that is what a representative American drink should contain.
Drinking grandma, amazing. Also, I am a little late, but since it was just the 4th, thank you France! For giving us cannons and training our "army". All so I could drink grandma without all those nasty British taxes.
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