america kind of sucks. but i love chinese food.

Life Tip: Don't Declare ANYTHING. I don't know why I was struck with the honesty bug when I was filling out my customs form. It's pretty much always a dumb idea to declare things when you're going through customs. I put down Foie Gras and Wine on my list of stuff I was bringing back. Mistake. So I must have gotten the Asshole Customs Officer. This is how it went:
ACO: Hello
Me: Hi
ACO: So what were you doing in France?
Me: Studying abroad.
ACO: What school?
Me: [After hearing "That's cool"] Yeah, it was really great.
ACO: eyes me with suspicion I asked you what school you studied at.
Me: Oh, Stanford University.
ACO: What's...foy grass made of
Me: Foie Gras. It's made of duck. I bought it at the airport duty-free, it's still in a sealed bag from the duty free shop.
ACO: You're going to have to check that over with the agriculture people.
Me: Um, ok.
ACO: And you brought back wine?
Me: Yes, I bought that at the airport too.
ACO: And when's your birthday?
Me: July...
ACO: It says here 1987. So how old are you?
Me: 20...
ACO: And what is the legal drinking age here in the United States of America?
Me: 21...but I bought the wine in France, where the drinking age is 16, and, again, it's still in the sealed duty-free bag.
ACO: And you are not 21, which means you are a Minor In Possession. Who's the wine for?
Me: My mom.
ACO: And where does she live?
Me: At the address on the card...
ACO: Marks a giant 'A' on the card with highlighter. Give the card to the second agent. He might seize your wine, depending on his mood.

So I go to the second agent, tell him I need my foie gras checked, he looks at it and is like 'It's just duck liver. In a tin can. You're fine.'
tch, DUH. I already knew I was fine.
And the other guy at the counter was like 'Why are you wearing that Stanford shirt around? Haha, I went to USC.' And I was like 'You're lucky I don't care about football.' I liked him.

So: Don't declare things, especially if it's wine and you're not 21.
Plan B: If you are dumb and declare your wine, make sure you have some foie gras for the second officer to check.

and then i waited in Dulles airport for three hours, got on a tiny plane (at least i didnt see propellers), got to philly, and went to CHINATOWN. and ate my weight in chinese food. SO DELICIOUS.

and, for breakfast, i just had: a can of tomato juice (my new favorite), two samoas (aaah girl scouts), and a bowl of crazy bran cereal with "yogurt bites".