Macaroons

I ate macaroons today.

The principle ingredient in macaroons is deliciousness.

An Interlude

A big welcome to the people who work for Glimpse.org, who may or may not be reading my blog now!

I'd like to take this moment (perhaps in light of my newest readers) to point out that this blog is extremely representative of one thing, and one thing only:
How hectic it is to study in another country.

Sure, I could say it's showing how adventurous I am. I mean, I wrote about eating snails! Is that not fabulous? My mother points out to me that no, in fact, it is not fabulous. She says that snails are full of bacteria and that I should not eat them. All the more reason to argue that I'm adventurous! I'm eating bacteria-ridden snails! Oh, the adventure!

Or we could suppose that it could show my French prowess. I have conversations in French, I translate them into English, and I post them on my blog. How fantastic am I?

Maybe I've got the social commentary thing goin' for me on this blog. I have those pictures from Normandy, right? I'm proud to say that I was the first to notice that the Nazi flag had been spat upon, and the only who attempted to photograph the spit (and not just the flag). I have photographs of the beach. (I neglected to mention that as I walked across the beach with my sandals in hand, I felt as though I were walking across a graveyard, watching life go on.) And let's not forget the funny French stores with funny French names.

Perhaps I'm writing 'creative' reports about the French lifestyle. (This reminds me, I have two short poems to share with you as soon as I find my binder). Worms, my Abridged History of the World post, my little anecdotes about people asking me if I'm Russian, my difficulties with the Sorbonne's system... these all could be tiny reports! Okay, maybe not the anecdotes. Well, I'm sure I could write something about how to avoid being spoken to on the street (hint: try to look like an axe-murderer who is about to snap).

I could say that I've been showing off my writing style, but that would be a blatant lie. While much of what I write on this blog is very "me," you have to admit that if you've ever read one of my essays, my blogging style is written as though I were speaking to personal friends. ...which I am. And let's not kid ourselves, I'm no great orator. Or if I am, I've been hiding this talent from you for a very long time. Not that I'm terrible at speaking, mind you; on the contrary, I seem to speak quite a lot! Even when unprovoked!

"But Cindy," I hear you say, "France isn't all that different, is it? Don't you mostly keep this blog to let your friends and relatives (among others) know that you're still alive and that you have not yet contracted swine flu?"

My response is as follows:

What is this sudden pessimism on your part? If France isn't all that different, why do I find something to write about every week--nay, every day (I just forget to write down everything that happens to me)? And why do you occasionally leave messages of disbelief? Or rather, why, when I call you, do you say, "I read that on your blog, but I don't understand!" Why wouldn't I just create a contact list on my email account and send out a mass email once a week reading, "I live. I have no swine flu." (I eliminated the verb "to be" from that because there surfaces every few years a movement to eliminate all forms of "to be" from the English language. The question truly is "to be" or NOT "to be." This amuses me; thus, I share it with you.)?

Because truly, though France has many similarities to the United States, there are major differences between the two cultures and the two languages. You say avocado, I say lawyer!

And though I truly have many more topics about which I would like to wax prosaic, I simply must fly away on the wings of... well, on my feet, as the metro workers are having a strike and only 1/3 of the trains are running.

And lo! I depart! To the Sorbonne!

PICTURES

For a real blog post with info, see the post below this one. It's short, I promise.

Now, pictures from my trip to Normandy.












This looks like a fish head. Don't worry; it's just shells :















Juicy Fruit: The Gum With The Fascinating Artificial Flavor:







Someone spit on the Nazi flag, and the museum workers never cleaned it off. I approve:







Kicking Hitler out of France:








In Normandy, life goes on:

Life says, "Just kidding!"

I went to the Sorbonne today for [my] first day of the main course in Ancient Christianity. It's the third week of the course.

Sat in the Amphitheatre for awhile.

Noticed after about 30 minutes that there were 5 people in the room.

Walked up to a girl and asked, "Excuse me, is this the right room for the course on Ancient Christianity?"

She said, "Yes, but I think I heard some students say that last week, the professor said there wasn't class this week."

...

Gah.

We can work it out...

I am working out the classes thing. Turns out this level 3 class I signed up for at the Sorbonne? It is actually a level 5 course!! But if all goes well tomorrow, I will officially be signed up for the class and its supplemental lecture at the Sorbonne. I will also have enough credits. This is good news!

As I was leaving the Sorbonne yesterday, I passed by a guard who was checking for student IDs. I had pulled my phone out of my pocket and the guard said something that I didn't quite catch.
"Excuse me?" I asked, thinking he was asking to see my ID even though I was leaving.
"Are you calling ME with that phone?" he repeated with a wink.
I stuttered, "N-no...?" and he grinned.

I have my own non-wormy fruit. This is also good news.

Pictures soon from various adventures.

Weekend, Monday

Today in Comics class, we talked about exploding cows.

«You see,» said my professor, «the theory is that since cows, um, emit methane, if a cow farts and you hold a flame up to it, the cow will explode. Now, I don't know if I'd believe that, but you'd have to think there would at least be a small flame!»

I declined offering my opinions on this extremely important discussion.

Then he told me about more books I can buy about comic books. Yes, books about comic books. Fabulous!

Oh, this weekend.

Friday: I get home to discover that my French friend is hanging out with her father and my host mother. My host mother tells me she's leaving for the weekend. Granted, this is after she has lost her house keys, wallet, credit cards, Metro pass, and all that. But that was Tuesday. My French friend and I hung out, went to a wine tasting at IES, went to dinner with one of my friends from IES and some people he knows, then... watched TV. Bad French TV. Ha.

Saturday: Laundry. Dishes. TV. Groceries. Then a friend from IES came over and in exchange for dinner, he helped me by throwing away all of the rotting fruit my host mother has left in the kitchen. Worms included. He has my eternal gratitude because I am afraid of worms.

Sunday: We went to Versailles! Okay, the Chateau de Versailles! It was big. The walls were furry. Tourists suck. But it was fun because we both know French, so people were mostly nice to us. We adopted a pair of Russian speaking tourists who were hopelessly confused. They were very appreciative. We went to a concert of gigantic flutes (hee!) at the medieval museum (the Cluny), and then we ate at a restaurant.

I ate snails. SNAILS ARE DELICIOUS

Continuing on with Sunday: I went back to my apartment and started on my homework. My host mother returned later that night with a bag full of pears. Some of these pears are already too old to eat.

AH THE WORMS! I am unhappy with the worms.

It's okay. I now keep a stash of fruit that I purchase on my own in my room. It is not spoiled. It is also not infested with worms. I will eat my fruit stash and be happy.

I need to buy more Nutella. Mmmm.

As for the Sorbonne issue, I still have no idea what's going on. I'll keep you updated. Now, I'm going to go eat non-wormy fruits and rice and possibly spinach. Because I'm Popeye.

Oh yeah, and I got bonus points (not literally) for mentioning Popeye eating spinach in my comics class.

OH YEAH, and I got bonus points (again not literally) in my Theatre class for my improptu performance of the text we were studying. I was reading the lines (two characters) with my friend for the class, and one of my lines was "..."

And the teacher stopped us right after that and said, "Did you all see that??!?!" She was met by blank stares. "Cindy's line was '...' and, well... but she did it! Did you see her do that?" And since, of course, they hadn't been watching me but following along in their texts, she had us do it again so everyone could watch me.

I win.

No, but seriously, I was embarrassed. The good kind of embarrassed. It's one thing to act... it's another to be called out for it in a class full of extremely non-theatrical people. But really, my friend and I are the ONLY ones who don't read scripts as though we're 6-year-olds struggling to read a chapter book.

Bah. I'm gonna go eat.

Things are Uncertain and I DON'T LIKE IT

Here is a chronological list of things that have happened to make this weekend the most unsettling of my stay thus far.

--It was time to sign up for outside courses
--The Sorbonne hadn't given us their hours yet, so I waited.
--The Sorbonne gave us their hours, and RIGHT AWAY I chose the class (and its obligatory ''supplemental lecture'' aka TD) I wanted
--IES, at some point, sent the Sorbonne an email with the names of the students and the classes they wanted to take.
--The Sorbonne never responded.
--IES told us that classes started the week of October 5th.
--On October 6th, I went to the first TD (supplemental lecture).
--The TD was full. The professor said, "If you're not SIGNED UP for this course, you have to leave. If you're a walk-in, I don't have seats for you."
--Nobody left.
--The professor said, "Okay, then I will call role."
--I was not on the list, even though I had been told by IES that I was registered for it.
--I went to IES and said "WHAT IS GOING ON?"
--IES said, "Oh, I dunno... try going to a different TD this week"
--I said, "I can't. You see, I chose this specific TD because it fit in my schedule. Maybe I can do one on Fridays"
--I went to the actual class on October 8th.
--I was informed that classes had actually started on October 1st. I was already a week behind in class.
--The professor told me all the TDs, even the Friday ones, were completely full.
--I returned to IES and said, "Um, what am I supposed to do?"
--IES said, "Oh, hmm, well... choose another class. The Master's level classes are usually not full!"

So the solution? I had to choose a Master's level course. IES will email them to ask if they have spaces available. IF they have spaces available, I will start those classes next week... the THIRD WEEK of classes. I will be WEEKS behind everyone else. I will have assignments to make up. And more importantly, I won't understand anything because it's a Master's level course.

If there are no spaces available, then I don't know. Because if I don't take another class, I don't have enough credits, and I'm in trouble.

I don't know what I'm going to do. But I have to go now, and I don't have internet until Monday afternoon.

It's Important to Learn New Things

The following post will outline some of the new things I have seen, read, been taught, been told, or been lectured on.

• I am Meryl Streep. At least, whenever my film professor needs someone to demonstrate something. (Film Class)
• Cut Camembert into little triangles. (Normandie trip)
• When washing your hands, if you have a choice between soap and the alcohol-sanitizer stuff, choose the sanitizer. Be sure to spread it between your fingers, because that's where the germs hide. (Comics Class)
• When taking over the world, don't say, "I'm going to kill you. I'm going to fight you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to send you off to be gassed, and then we will rape your women." Instead, say, "God spoke to me, and He told me ____________." Oh, and don't forget to say that anyone who resists is a terrorist. That's important! (Comics Class)
• In The Shining, when the little boy is playing with his toy (cars?) in the hallway, that is a "Traveling Shot" (Film Class)
  
• Even though Bande Dessinées (comics) is a valid form of art/communication here in France, I am STILL the only girl perusing (yes, perusing!) the non-manga part of the comics shelves at Gibert Jeune (student bookstore/everything else store). This also means they will apologize profusely if I have to reach around them to pull out a used Batman comic album. And by apologize profusely, I mean I say "Excuse me" and they will respond, "Oh, excuse me, I'm so sorry, I was in your way and I didn't notice blahblahblah" and by the time they've finished apologizing, I've already snatched the book and started reading it. (Gibert Jeune)
  
• Batman is even funnier in French. (Gibert Jeune)
  
• When people make mistakes with lighting in films, lamps can sometimes have a shadow. Imagine a lamp (that is turned on) having a shadow. It's funny. (Film Class)
  
• French people think that squirrels are able to be petted. (Comics Class)
  
• Squirrels are, and I quote: "an American phenomenon." Think about that. (Comics Class)
  
• The word for "avocado" and the word for "lawyer" are EXACTLY the same. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you can order a "lawyer salad" for lunch. (Restaurants)
  
• In almost every class, I am somehow or another "the exception" to whatever we're talking about at any given moment. (My Life in General)
  

That is all. I'm gonna go look for cheap postcards. I will not find any, but I will look. Then, class. Then, my dad's gonna call me! Yay!!

Normandy (Normandie)

I went to Normandy. Saw the Memorial of Caen (the only museum dedicated to peace, as opposed to a 'war museum').

Saw Omaha Beach. Walked on Omaha Beach. Touched one of the giant concrete structures on Omaha Beach. Think I saw Gold too, but I don't know. Saw the American cemetary. Rode on a bus a lot. Got sick.

Oh yeah, last week I was really sick. I thought I was going to die. I didn't though, so hurray!

I'm tired and have lots of homework to do. My class at the Sorbonne starts tomorrow, so I have to get ready for that as well.

There was something else I was going to write, but I forgot what it was now. I'm gonna go and get my work done. Bye!