2) It's a lot easier for me to meet international (especially Asian) students, because all of my classes are with international students, not French students. Most of my classes are around 70% Asian. It's funny because almost all of them speak English really well, so if we don't know a word in French, we'll say it in English and try to figure it out. I've realized too how much easier it is to speak French coming from an English native tongue, since so many of the words and alphabet overlap and many people speak English here (in my host family, for example, we speak only French, but if I don't know a French word, sometimes my French mom will know what I'm trying to say in English). One girl I met from China came to France all by herself two years ago knowing only how to say "bonjour" and "merci." She's staying here for EIGHT YEARS trying to learn French fluently.I can't imagine being plunged into a completely different culture like that for so long, but to each his own I guess.
3) I love going to mass here. It's hard not to see at least one church from any point in the city. One thing I've been reflecting on while in France is the use of bread as a religious symbol. As a Catholic, I'm used to this analogy: Jesus as the bread of life, etc. But it has taken on a new meaning here. Bread is something almost sacred in itself here in France: there are bread competitions, there are bread laws regarding the price and content of baguettes, bread is something that everyone buys daily--you never eat day-old bread. It literally sustains the entire country. In the US, I eat bread maybe once a week. I'm not a big sandwich person and the bread there is nothing like it is here (excluding the Bread Oven :). But for Jesus to be something that I need daily to sustain myself is another dimension. Food for thought, if you will.
3) In several of my classes, we have talked about French stereotypes, including: they have cold personalities, they have a million etiquette rules, they're dirty, they're very stylish, they love their dogs more than their neighbors (that was the literal translation!), they eat weird things, they love to eat, they love wine and cheese, they smoke a ton, they're bad at national defense, they hate to work and are always on strike. We had to say whether we thought they were true or false in my class.
I discussed this with my family later, and the consensus was: french people are not dirty, they are for the most part a lot better dressed than americans, they DO love their dogs more than their neighbors, they don't eat weird things, at least not all the time (like frog legs and escargot), they love to eat cheese and bread and drink wine and have leisure time and smoke, they are kind of bad at defending La Patrie (but as my host mother said, "the US would be in the same shape if it was next to Germany!"), and they don't necessarily hate or love work, but more often than not see it as a "work to live" rather than a "live to work."
We also talked about American stereotypes: Americans are fat (or in the words of my French family "not fat, OBESE!", they have no real culture, they do not have fine taste, they are aggressive and do whatever they want without regard for others, loud, and rude, Americans have "dollar signs in their eyes", and Americans don't take care of their poor people. I was most surprised, and offended, at the last one. Europeans have many more social welfare programs than Americans do, and they can't understand why we wouldn't sacrifice higher taxes for ensuring that everyone gets at least minimal coverage (at lunch on Friday, I was trying to explain it to a German friend of mine--she was so confused and kept asking lots of questions about it). I hadn't really realized that America was giving off this impression to the rest of the world. Something to think about.
4) It's been raining constantly in Angers, unfortunately.
5) My host mother is becoming a grandmother to twins, and I have NEVER seen someone dote on their future grandkids this much. For the past few weeks, she has slowly been building a doll wardrode (I kid you not, it's practically more clothes than I have!) and sewing everything herself. It's incredible.
6) Sometimes I'm really frustrated by French language. For example, they don't really have a word for "cheap." You have to either say "bon marche", which means a good buy, or "pas chere", which means not expensive. Numbers, too, are incredibly stupid. Instead of just having one word for every number, you sometimes have to multiply or add numbers to say the number you want. For example, there is no one word for seventy, you have to say "soixante-dix", or "60 plus 10". Eighty is "quatre- vingt", or "four-twenties" and ninety is even worse, "quatre-vingt dix", or "four twenties plus ten." When those numbers are coming at you quickly, it's pretty difficult.
7) There are lots of strikes going on. In my French socio-cultural studies class, we learned that there are about 20 million fonctionnaires (state employees), out of a population of about 60 million, so 1/3 of the country is a state employee. It's impossible to lose your job unless you basically commit a felony, you have generous vacation and retirement, and you work 35 hours per week. They're called the "protectorat" in France because their jobs are so protected. Politicians can't change anything because no fonctionnaire wants to change their benefits and won't vote for anyone who considers it. The system is really intractable--any politician who tries to change anything regarding this situation would be extremely unpopular (as Villepin tried to do a few years back).
8) I'm going to Turkey and the Greek Islands for sure over spring break, but I don't know where else yet.
9) We went on a trip to St. Malo and Mt. St. Michel, in the north-west part of France (Brittany). St. Malo (a fortified city right on the coast) was GORGEOUS but a little windy. The beaches were beautiful and I really wished I could have gone swimming there. Maybe I'll go back this summer. We got to drive through the French countryside on our way there, and it was simply beautiful. Cows, horses, goats, and sheep were being raised; vegetable farms were a frequent sight, windmills and old stone houses. I'd love to bike around and stop in all the little sleepy towns sometime. Mt. St. Michel is an old monastery on top of a big rock in the atlantic. You climb up the winding city to the monastery at the top, and you can see for miles and miles. Kind of a tourist trap, but it was still cool. I'm going to some French chateaux this Saturday!
10)My host mom had a cooking class for some of us (a little ironic since Hilary and I aren't allowed to use the kitchen here). We made a ham and cheese torte, a fish/creme fraiche/gruyere tarte, and a salad. We also made the best chocolate cake I've ever had--it's only ingredients were dark chocolate, sugar, butter, and eggs. No wonder...
11) Hilary and I went exploring on our bikes this past weekend, and we discovered some woolly mammoths. Ok, not real woolly mammoths, but weird and endangered species of donkeys and cows. You could go up to them and pet them and they'd eat out of your hand. Pretty cool.
12) I got a bike! The city of Angers lends out bikes for 9 months at a time for free (you make a refundable deposit). Students ride them everywhere.
13) If anyone is interested in skyping, I'm usually free somewhere between 2-5 pm US time on Sundays. Just look up my name--I'm the only one of me.
claire
look how cute they are!!!!! i want one!!
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