Faux

Is anyone else aware of this phenomenon where Americans will study abroad in Paris for a month and then pretend they've forgotten how to speak English? They'll say things like, "Oh, how do you say that in English again?" Or they'll talk about how they've started using French grammar in English and how much they've confused their families with their new speech patterns. In the most egregious case I've ever seen, a girl who had lived in Paris for a semester had actually begun speaking with a French accent that she claimed she couldn't turn off.
I have been guilty of the same crime--I remember pretending to forget how to say "hostel" in English after living here two months last time, in a smug effort to show how immersed I had become in French culture. I've never felt dirtier in my life.
So yes, new study abroad students, I'm always polite whenever you tell me about how you're forgetting English. But I want you to know I can see right through you. Miraculously, I have yet to forget the language I spoke for the first 22 years of my life.

On another note, the reigning champion of "worst candy ever" has been spectacularly dethroned by a candy so foul and evil, that it had to be banished to the Netherlands.












These are called "Duble Zout," or "Double Salt" licorice. They are horse saltlicks, carved into the shape of coins and dyed black. I guess they're supposed to be "fun," but they could easily be used in harsh interrogation practices.