Hootenanny sound to fill the Venue
The Venue, Fine Arts and Gifts will play host to an acoustic hootenanny today as its Tuesday night educational event.
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The Venue, Fine Arts and Gifts will play host to an acoustic hootenanny today as its Tuesday night educational event.
Kana Handel, a painter and illustrator, will exhibit at Pearl and Mable’s grand opening on Friday.
For Rebecca Lowery, a local artist, pottery is not only an art form. It is the marriage between beauty and utility.
The smell of fresh-squeezed lime juice, tomatoes and garlic permeated Showers Plaza at City Hall.
IU Block Party 2014 launches this Saturday and takes a star-studded set list with it.
CultureFest returns to campus Thursday with new changes to the campus ?tradition.
One of the highlights of this year’s Welcome Week is getting ready to launch.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The “Jersey Boys,” Jay Leno and Straight No Chaser are among 15 shows coming to IU Auditorium for the upcoming 2014-2015 season. According to a press release from IU Auditorium, the season will begin with Rosanne Cash on Sept. 25 and continue through April 2015, ending with the Broadway musical “Memphis.”Senior Amanda Kight said she anticipates a good season.“That’s the most appealing lineup I’ve seen in a while,” she said. Maria Talbert, IU Auditorium’s associate director, said in an email that the IU Auditorium is thrilled for the upcoming season. “We have a lot of productions on the schedule that have never before played IU Auditorium,” she said. “Plus, to have a week’s worth of performances of the amazing Broadway hit Jersey Boys is definitely something to be excited about.”Bloomington will play host to an especially star-studded performance list. Within the upcoming 15 shows, a variety of talent will be showcased. Whether it is comedy, classical music, musicals or acrobatics, a sampler of performing arts will be highlighted for students and community members to choose from.Talbert said it is part of the auditorium’s mission to keep each season diverse through the amount of talent that is brought in. “To best serve our community, we feel it is integral to present selections that not only appeal to a wide variety of tastes, but allow access to artists and culturally-significant ensembles that the Bloomington and IU communities might not otherwise have the chance to be exposed to,” she said.More importantly, she pointed out the benefits of having these performers brought in to campus. “Bringing in world-class artists and entertainers is one of IU Auditorium’s special perks,” she said. “It is inspiring to work alongside those that are recognized for the excellence of their craft. Plus, we often have the opportunity to collaborate with the artists to provide learning opportunities for IU students and members of the Bloomington community.”Talbert said a lot of work went into planning the 2014-2015 season.“We always start with a yearly survey of our audiences to get a feel for the titles and genres that our patrons most want,” she said.“Then we start researching available artists and shows.”There are many acts that the auditorium seeks out directly, Talbert noted, but there are others that reach out to them. Tickets for the shows range from about $20 to $40 for students and $30 to $60 for the general public, depending on the prestige of the show.Talbert advises students not to wait if they want to buy tickets. Everything is available on the IU Auditorium website, she said.Tickets can be paid for through students’ Bursar accounts.“We want all IU students to have access to the best possible seats for the shows they want to see,” Talbert said. “So we encourage students to order their tickets before they leave for the summer.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For the past few weeks, I have been counting down the days until the City of Light will no longer be my home.Let’s just say I am not too excited to be returning to the United States.Why would I want to leave the city of food when I am a self-proclaimed glutton? Yet, if anything, I will be taking back the best memories of my time here.There is no doubt that France established itself in the world of food. There is no place like it in terms of gourmet culture. I am going to miss walking down a street and smelling fresh bread baking non-stop all year. It’s sad to say, but America’s food culture just isn’t the same. So, for the past month, I have mentally prepared myself. What could I do to aid my re-entry into the United States? Because while it sounds like a cheesy academic term created by study abroad programs, it does exist. I call it reverse-homesickness. I am already feeling it, and I haven’t even left Paris yet. I have always said that food has a unique ability to lend itself to memory. Much like smell, food can make anyone remember just about anything. You will always remember the taste of your mother’s best dish. You will also always remember the taste of your mother’s worst dish. Imagine a sandwich with Cheetos loaded in between two layers of cream cheese and jelly. Yeah, that monstrosity fell under the second category.Unlike most people who take back a load of Eiffel Tower printed souvenirs, you can count on me bringing back a suitcase of my favorite foods from here. To me, the best souvenir a tourist can bring home is a memory. For me, my best memories happen to have flavor involved. It also helps that a pack of snack food will most likely be way cheaper than any “Paris” emblazoned product I might find elsewhere in the city.So, when I find myself sitting on my couch in Texas one week from now, I will be able to go into the kitchen, rip open a package and eat the cookies my host mother always brought out when I needed a homework break.audperki@indiana.edu@AudreyNLP
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>While some people look forward to spring break so they can take in different sights the world has to offer, this week I took a slightly different approach.I basically ate everything I ran into.This isn’t usually a problem in Paris because there really isn’t any street food. And aside from the smell of bread baking late at night, French food doesn’t really have any strong smells. So there normally isn’t anything that will tempt me on the street.That situation changed these last couple weeks.Needing to take a break from Paris, I pulled away from France and wandered my way through Italy and Budapest, Hungary.If I sum up what I found, I would say both countries have mastered the intricate task of making something that tastes complex, yet you can tell they only use a handful of ingredients.In Hungary, I gave halászlé — a Hungarian fish stew heaping with paprika — a shot. I was not disappointed.With only a spoonful, I could tell that the soup probably only had five ingredients in total. The pound of paprika loaded into my bowl just made everything taste heartier than it was. In Italy, I was told to try one of Rome’s special pasta dishes — cacio e pepe. Translated, that means “cheese and pepper.”Normally, when I walk into an authentic Italian restaurant, I look for the most complicated looking dish. Usually it is overflowing with some form of seafood. I don’t want to pay for someone to make something I could make. So, I pick something that I know I will never be able to do successfully.But I was pleasantly surprised by the power of pure simplicity.I feel as if the salt and pepper shakers on the average dinner table get overlooked. Yet I sometimes forget how useful pepper can be. It cut through the fattiness of my cheese sauce nicely by zipping heat through my mouth. But it wasn’t overwhelming.It also helped that I was in Hungary for Easter weekend. There were Easter markets everywhere, and it was not hard to find myself surrounded by food. Again, simplicity was key.Nothing was overdone. In fact, street food is better that way.Of all I did during spring break, food or not, those markets were my favorite. It was there where I could find other paprika-loaded dishes and other traditional Hungarian foods. Walking down the concrete sidewalk, I passed by countless wooden cottage-like food stands all selling fried cheese breads, roasting sausages and Kürtoskalács — a chimney-shaped cake sometimes coated in coconut or cinnamon sugar.I found myself breathing in the smells of unfamiliar foods, and I felt myself seeping in the unfamiliar yet comfortable atmosphere.That is one thing I love about living in Europe. You are never far away from a handful of different cultures’ foods.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s 6 a.m.The streets of Paris are empty, except for the few stragglers pulling themselves to work for an early shift. On Rue Daguerre, a well-known market street, the lights of local bakeries start to flicker on. In particular, a brown-framed bakery’s lights come on, coating its gilded exterior paint in a warm glow. A few minutes later, the smell of freshly baked bread wafts from the building, tempting all that pass by.Bread, an item almost synonymous with France, really does give the country its identity. And what gives bread its identity is its baker. Not all baguettes are made equal.However, what really should be highlighted is what makes the baguette so special. Yes, in the United States you can find French bread just about anywhere. But in France, there are strict rules that regulate what goes into a baguette. Namely, flour, water, salt and yeast. The price, size and shape are also controlled to maintain its traditional identity.I have found three things differentiate an authentic baguette from one you would find in the American supermarket — a good crust, a chewy soft center and holes. To find out how these three things are achieved, I went to talk to the baker across the street from my school, which is my favorite bakery.Farid, the baker, said the type of oven makes the baguette what it is. The dough is cooked at almost 500 degrees Fahrenheit, so it is easy for the bread to dry out while cooking. What saves the flavor and texture, he said, is steam. Gesturing to the giant tiered oven hidden in the back of the store, he pointed to a round, lit button. This is how you turn on the steam, he said. Giving it a push, a wheezing sound started and the clear windows of the oven fogged up. By turning on the steam once for a few seconds, he said, you coat the exterior of the bread dough with water. Combined with the extreme heat, that layer of water sears the exterior of the dough immediately while the middle remains raw. This way, as the baguettes continue to cook, the outside creates a protective crust to keep the bread from drying out and the bread stays soft in the middle.Most importantly though, all bakery bread is handmade. As a result, every store’s bread will be a bit different.Whether it is the amount of time the bread cooks or is kneaded, the end result is subtle variations in the taste of the bread.For Farid, that is the most important. “Ça,” he said. “C’est l’experience.” That, is the experience.audperki@indiana.edu@AudreyNLP
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>This week, I stepped away from Paris and its bread and wine, and went to London, the land of tea and deep-fried fish.But what I actually found and where I found it astonished me. The Borough Markets are a series of food stands that take over the surrounding space underneath a rail bridge. Combined, they make one of the largest and oldest food markets in London.Imagine how happy a foodie like me was when I walked under the bridge and found myself surrounded with countless foods and snacks. Scratch that. I was happy even before I set foot inside — I could smell the street food before I saw it. Smoke from freshly grilled German sausage blew toward me from across the street. At its barest roots, Borough Markets reminded me of the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market, if it were multiplied a couple times and you took out the Amish farmers. There was a variety of specialty and ready-made food.There’s nothing like it in Paris, that’s for sure. In fact, it was nice to hop across the pond while also hopping out of the French food bubble. First of all, markets in France are designed for grocery shopping. Unless you want to snack on fresh fruits, cheeses and raw fish, you don’t really hang out in them.London had an entire new way to taking the market concept and making it fun for even non-foodies. For one thing, I got to eat street food for the first time in months.If there was nothing else to take away from the Borough Markets, the one thing anyone should remember is the wide variety of street food available. Yes, London can be known for its wide array of newspaper-wrapped, take-away fish and fries. But when you’re faced with chorizo-topped paella, curry and corned beef sandwiches, you have to do a double take.Now that I am safely tucked back into my apartment in Paris, I’d have to say the best souvenir I brought back from London is currently sitting in my host family’s fridge.No matter how much tourist traps will try to lure us in, a union jack-emblazoned teddy bear or snow globe will only collect dust on a shelf. For me, finding a little edible trinket in a street market is the best because not only do I get to bring home a sample of another country’s culture, but also it will most likely not be too expensive. Also, in the event that I over pack my suitcase with cookies and tea, it is definitely not hard to eat and make room.audperki@indiana.edu@AudreyNLP
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In France, you simply cannot get full at breakfast.The typical French breakfast is miniscule and it almost always leaves you hungry. The French really don’t take breakfast seriously as a meal.But one trend is solving this problem — the American breakfast, or rather, brunch. Sunday morning brunch is becoming the newest food trend in Paris.There are two good places to solve the brunch craving. Even better, they are open Sunday — one of the notorious days when all of Paris is closed.Bailey Carraway, a sophomore from Wolford College studying abroad at the Institute of the International Education of Students, is a fan of Breakfast in America.“It was really tasty,” she said. “It was comforting because they had American coffee.”One of the key places to go to for Americans feeling homesick, Breakfast in America serves typical breakfast foods like pancakes and eggs. However, there were certain things Carraway said the restaurant missed.“They don’t have hash browns,” she said. “They don’t have grits or oatmeal.”My personal favorite is Le Loir dans la Théière, or the mouse in the teapot in English. It features basic brunch staples with a European influence. Le Loir dans la Théière, a small poster-covered restaurant on the right bank in the Jewish district, had a line stretching out the door to the third storefront down the street. When I was silent, I could hear more than one language being spoken.There were many options — juice, tea, yogurt, applesauce, bread, croissants and soft-boiled eggs in their shell. All were served with typical French salted butter and jellies. It was the first time I ate a breakfast so filling in France. The best part is these two restaurants are literally down the street from each other. Their lines could probably intersect on a good day.Like I have said before, despite the stereotype that the French don’t like Americans, the U.S. is trendy here. Brunch is the newest installment.“People like the novelty of brunch, because it’s American,” Carraway said. “They like the novelty of a big breakfast.”audperki@indiana.edu@AudreyNLP
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Reims, a northeastern city almost bordering Belgium, is known for two things: the Notre Dame de Reims Cathedral and its access to the Champagne region of France. The Institute of the International Education of Students took its Paris students there last weekend. Madeline Burg, a junior at Northwestern University, was glad to escape the hectic energy of the city. “It was actually really nice,” Burg said. “I would love to go back to Reims. It was just empty, which was kind of lovely.” She said this despite the freezing cold weather.Wrapped tightly in her tan coat, she shivered as wind circled around us. Pounded with waves of rain and wind, the massive church overlooked us. It was the tallest structure in the area.We could see Reims’ connection to the champagne industry — there was a series of stained-glass windows dedicated to its creation. Seeping royal blue infused light was an intricate maze of a window, all with miniscule barrels scattered about. Champagne, or champ-AH-gne in French pronunciation, is a sparkling wine that takes its name from the region in which it originates — Champagne, France. Saving us from the cold weather, IES took us from the cathedral to the Pommery, a champagne production house.“This place looked like Disney world,” Burg said. “The main part of it was walking through its caves. It was like a maze.”Passing through the Pommery doors, we were guided through the mismatched lobby featuring ancient wooden barrels and installations of neon lights. A few more steps and we were fed through a single set of double doors leading us down into the Pommery caves. This is where the champagne sits, for years, and decades even, while the wine ages and develops its carbonation.Footsteps echoed through the cave-like cellars as we moved from branch to branch. Piles of dusty, web-covered glass bottles rested along the walls. Our guide described the process of champagne-making, as well as the differences between it and normal, flat wine.What makes champagne different from wine is natural carbonation. But to create the carbonation, the wine is fermented a second time. To simplify the process, there are three steps. Make the wine, add a carbonation solution, then remove the byproduct of said solution. Once the wine is created, the guide said it is poured into the champagne bottle and a solution of levure, or yeast and sugar, is added. The bottle is then corked and left to ferment while the yeast consumes the sugar and creates the carbon dioxide needed for carbonation. Once the wine has fermented, the bottles are inverted into the “A” shaped racks so the now dead yeast can settle into the neck of the bottle. When the bottle is finished, the settlement is removed and the cork is put back into the bottle. This is all done quickly to keep as much carbon dioxide in the bottle as possible.At the end of the day we climbed up the steps back into the lobby and found rows of filled flutes of champagne awaiting us. “It was kind of nice knowing that it was down there being tended to,” Burg said. “The cellar part was actually cooler than the champagne tasting.”audperki@indiana.edu
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After living in Paris for a few months, I realized there is one thing that has become synonymous with the tourist industry.The macaron.It seems that whenever someone comes to Paris, the first thing that comes to mind is this crispy, creamfilled cookie. The second thing that comes to mind is where to find them. In Paris, there are two companies, Ladurée and Pierre Hermé, that are at the top. And they have a bitter rivalry.The top tearooms to visit in Paris are those owned by Ladurée, a Versailles-themed macaron company that actually made pastries for the film “Marie Antoinette.” It is highly famous for its gilded, highly decorative packaging and visual merchandising. However, there is a better option. Pierre Hermé is the bad boy of patisseries, and his company is known for pumping out rebelliously-flavored macarons. His are my favorite. Hands down.The youngest person to ever win France’s Pastry Chef of the Year, Hermé also trained with Ladurée, which explains why the textures in his and the Ladurée’s cookies are recognizably similar. Both cookies are about the diameter of a ping-pong ball and have a thin, crunchy shell thanks to the egg white batter. Once your teeth break through the shell, you meet a soft cake-like layer.Finally, when you pull the cookie away from your mouth, the cream holding the two layers stretches with your movement — signaling a satisfying level of creaminess. It all happens within about one and a half centimeters of deliciousness.If there were no taste, you would not be able to tell the difference between the two companies. So it becomes a game of flavor. Let the battle begin.Ladurée is good if you want the quintessential, almost too conventional, French macaron. The flavors are very traditional, simple and delicate. Think vanilla, raspberry and orange blossom.They are wrapped very nicely for a few extra euros, and would make a good gift for someone who has very safe and simple tastes. It would be a good choice for someone impressed by brand names. As a teahouse and bakery, Ladurée has expanded its line into unimaginable proportions, now selling Versailles-inspired perfume, clothing and accessories. While it may be good for business, it sort of stinks of big business, losing some of the charm intrinsic to a French patisserie.If you want something fun without the extra pastels and gold thrown around, go to Pierre Hermé. He will give you great food. He has distinct flavors like passion fruit and milk chocolate, black sesame green tea, along with the expected flavors like chocolate and vanilla. You will not find tourist’s nonsense here. Just straightforward, delicious pastries.audperki@indiana.edu
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It seems tourist season has finally arrived.I know this because places I used to like to walk around, or metro stations I used to frequent, are no longer an option for me. I physically cannot walk in them anymore due to hordes of map-clutching tourists.Of course, what usually accompanies the tourists is the increase in street food — namely the crepe.After writing about American food in Paris a couple weeks ago, I realized in the two months I have been here, never have I ever mentioned real French food.Crepes are one of the foods most synonymous with France, after wine and baguettes. It can be found in two different types of stores, the first being the aforementioned stand and the second as an actual sit-down restaurant. However, the tastes and textures of the two offerings are completely different. Street crepes tend to be pretty simple in term of flavor — the thin pancake topped with butter and sugar or Nutella. In a restaurant, it can get fancy. Toppings include caramelized apples and rum, or cookie butter. Also, dinner alternatives arise along with a different, crunchy type of buckwheat batter.Right off the 6 line of the metro, I stumbled upon a street known for traditional Brittany-style crepes. I was completely surprised I would find a street of them. Curious, I asked my host mother to explain why they were there.I always thought crepe restaurants were scattered around Paris. At the time, I also didn’t know it originated in Brittany, a region of France south west of Paris, but in a northern corner of the country. She explained the geography to me.The crepe street was a few steps away from Montparnasse Train Station, a station serviced by long-distance trains coming from the south west. She said the reason the street was loaded with crêpe restaurants was because it was designed to cater to the people newly arrived from that area. This also explained why all the restaurants I’ve been to offer Bretagne Cidre — hard cider from Brittany traditionally eaten with the delicacy.In my time here, I realized I will not have the chance to see all of France. I wanted to see what the typical non-Parisian city looked like, and I found stepping into these crepe stores are very much like taking a temporary vacation from Paris and into another region of France. I’m usually the only foreigner in the room, but with the cottage-like décor, eating at these types of places make me feel about as French as I can become.audperki@indiana.edu@AudreyNLP
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The week-long agricultural salon, one of the world’s largest agricultural shows, just ended in Paris this week.Though I initially walked into the exposition with mixed feelings, I left with a full stomach and a broader sense of awareness about the French gourmet and cultural landscape.However, for me, I found the sheer amount of food in this expo awe-inspiring. From the milk bar facing the cow corral to the regional French food section, I had no idea where to start.Beside me was Gina O’Neill, a fellow Institute of the International Education of Students participant. Idling through the crowd, and simultaneously eyeing the multitude of Alsatian beer stands, we symbolically worked our way through France. Initially, she said she was surprised by the variation of events.“I pictured it to be more of a bazaar that offered tons of different products,” she said. “Kind of like a farmer’s market, but for specialty foods from around France.”However, our first steps into the expo were around an acrid room of cows. That was not as pleasant as we expected. Fortunately, we ducked out quickly and headed to the aforementioned region room.Booths upon booths of food were available, and signs hung from the ceiling designating which region we were in. Seeing Germanic décor clinging to booths selling sausage, breads and pretzels, we went straight into the Germany-bordering Alsace region. Within a small distance I passed through Alsace and curved around the “country” and found myself in the southern section smelling slabs of duck confit searing.Lastly, in a corner of the room, France’s island territories were represented. There was Caribbean music playing while spices, fruit juice and rum were peddled.The only bad part about the day was that after tasting so much food and seeing people dressed up festively in traditional garments, a sense of wanderlust was lit within me.Which is unfortunate since I do not think I will get to see much more of France during my stay here. So I was glad I got to dedicate a day at the salon and have a little, and literal taste, of what I was missing.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After being immersed in French culture for a month, I am really starting to miss the United States. It doesn’t help that across the street from the market is a McDonald’s. I have repeatedly stopped myself from walking in because of a promise I made myself to try to not eat American food while here.I ended up breaking my promise this week.I know homesickness is starting to kick in at my school. Our student affairs coordinator once reprimanded us not only for speaking in English, but also for craving macaroni and cheese.“You’re in France, why are you craving mac and cheese?” she said, before heading back to her office.Don’t get me wrong. I love France and my life here at the Institute for the International Education of Students. However, I miss feeling completely at ease in my culture and language competency. American food is my way of creating a sense of comfort and familiarity. Julia Schrank, an annual Institute for the International Education of Students Abroad participant, said she feels the same way — though she has been here a full semester more than I have.She said she felt homesick a week into the program. What gave her a sense of home was an unexpected box of Raisinets. Schrank said the candies were an afterthought. Her mother threw them into a care package at random. “At first, I wondered why, since I have never really been crazy about them, but as soon as I opened them for a study snack, I felt so much more at home,” she said.Care packages are one way to stave off homesickness, but I wasn’t sure how to create one on my own.Fortunately, I realized during my time here that America is trendy, and this can be seen in the numerous American foods accessible to homesick expats.Out of American foods available here in France, the most easily accessible is fast food. McDonald’s has a big presence within the American and French communities.I walked into one this week for two reasons. I missed America, and I was highly curious to see if the French version of a cheeseburger and fries would make up for it.There is something about the initial smell of fried food that makes me feel at home. I remember when I first felt the homesickness kick in. I was close to a falafel stand, and the oily smell had my head turning. I specifically remember turning in circles, like a dog when it chases its tail, trying to find where the smell came from.Once I bit into my McDonald’s burger, supposedly the best-tasting and easiest American food to find here, I found my place in the world again. Feeling homesickness is feeling as if you don’t belong, not that you want to go home. I miss feeling cohesive, and as much as I hate to say it, the French-ified burger filled in the gaps.audperki@indiana.edu
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Paris is modern for a city dedicated to its tradition and history.You don’t really realize this when you spend day after day maneuvering your boots over cobblestone and pushing your way into 1990s-era metro cars. However, the idea was placed in my head the other night.I was seated in a nice seafood restaurant, and rather than have a menu placed in my hands, the waiter put an iPad in front of me.My family, who is currently here to visit me, paused. We were unsure of what to do. None of us have ever had to sift through an iPad for this reason. In fact, I hardly ever use them for any reason beyond recreation.I mean, every so often, I see them used as a point-of-service system for small businesses, but I have never seen them used on such a big scale.Realizing I was still in a restaurant, and in need of an order, I ducked my head back down to the iPad and flicked my finger across the menu. I was pretty fascinated by how well placed the technology was in a professional setting.Much like how eReaders cut down on weight for a book, the iPad cut down on pages for the menu. Instead, there were panels at the top designating dish types. Also, being in a tourist destination, there were other languages offered.Once you tapped a category, the background came to life as a slow-moving video.In my case, I saw fog, induced by dry ice, seep around a shell-encrusted bowl of crab legs. If I were curious about a dish, I could click on the name to see a full-sized picture of the plate.Above all, the restaurant managed to put a sizeable menu inside a compact machine. The daily specials were folded into the rubberized iPad cover.Personally, I thought this was a fascinating idea that reflected the modern atmosphere of the restaurant. But I do have one question. The interactive menu app, though highly entertaining, made us take twice as long to decide. First, I spent five minutes discovering the menu. I played with the pages, changed the language and opened pictures of the food. Then the waiter came for my order, and I realized I had spent the allotted time playing with the iPad, not picking my meal. I ended up picking the first thing I saw — the daily special tucked in the cover.Unless I am slightly more unfocused than most people, I feel the extensiveness of the menu took away from the simplicity of what a menu should be — a way for one to choose a meal. — audperki@indiana.eduFollow Audrey Perkins on Twitter @AudreyNLP.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In my opinion, there is nothing more Parisian than sitting in a café and disappearing for an hour.Visiting a Parisian café is probably one of the more touristy activities to partake in, along with buying street crêpes. However, there is something to be said about how relaxed café culture is here.In the United States, if I were to sit down in a restaurant and only order a coffee, I might get a weird look from the waiter. Maybe it’s just me, but I felt that if I sat down somewhere, I had to order food. We don’t just sit and nurse a drink in the States like they do here in Paris.Personally, I think it is because of the tip pressure on waiters.People don’t really tip in Paris. Gratuity is included in the price of a meal. If I were to sit down rather than take my coffee straight at the bar, it will jump in price by a euro. That’s why I have never felt rushed to leave — I am not being pushed out the door to make way for an empty-stomached diner. However, there are always exceptions to this rule — tourist traps.I was talking about this with my host mother the other day. We were discussing touristy things to do in Paris on one of my free weekends, and I mentioned Angelina, a place well known for their hot chocolate. She quickly talked me out of it.It’s because the waiters will rush you in and out, she said.At my look of confusion, she continued.Normally a café will not push you because they are not required to turn tables as often as most American restaurants do. However, at a place like Angelina, the employees are severely underpaid, she said. My guess is because they need so many people to keep up with the demand, they either don’t want to or can’t pay them properly.Much like in the U.S., where I have heard waiters can get paid as low as $3 an hour, these waiters would be rushed to increase volume and, therefore, their pay. American waiters make up the difference by getting tips. I just don’t know what the French do to make up the difference.Since I know we don’t usually tip outside of what’s built in the price, I can only assume that the more customers the waiters serve, the better their pay is.Unfortunately, I don’t think anything will change soon for the plight of the café worker.However, if anything, I have learned one thing. If you want to spend a stereotypically Parisian afternoon sipping coffee, while still being treated well, don’t go anywhere near the tourist traps.— audperki@indiana.eduFollow columnist Audrey Perkins on Twitter @AudreyNLP.