Update
Bonjour!!!
France remains bizarre as always. Tchykita and I have been in contact with our person at UW. She is now quite aware of the situation here. She has advised us to continue going to classes and try to do our best, but UW will set up some individual independent study to make sure our semester isn't lost. I could not be more thrilled to hear that!
In the CPE crisis, yesterday it was decided that new labor laws are in no way "unconstitutional," and that the law still stands. Basically, this means the strike will continue. Chirac can now either sign the law into effect, or throw it back to Parliament to be revised. If he chooses to sign it, which he probably will, this strike will go on for a VERY long time. As for my classes, I have a couple that are running, albeit erratically. I have a test next Tuesday, but the French are threatening a new round of general strikes on that day that will make it all but impossible to attend. I have one that has been indefinitely suspended, and 2 that I still have no idea whether they will start again. However, with reassurance from UW, I am not as worried anymore.
Oh, and I have been SICK the last few days. Being sick away from home sucks, but being across an ocean where I can't read all the labels on the cold medicine is really not fun.
Hopefully I should see Mrs. V tonight!!! I am beyond excited!
Also, did you all notice the decapitated pig-head wearing sunglasses in the picture on my last blog? I thought that was the craziest thing, but no one commented on it.
Angers!!
Hey all! I hope you all had a good weekend. I got to go see Tchykita’s host family in Angers, the Granveaus’, with her again. It was just what both of us needed, to get out of Tours, away from the strikes and get to be kids again. In Angers, Tchykita and I are “les filles” and always have a blast. This Saturday we didn’t do much besides homework (independent assignments we kind of made-up ourselves), and then we went in to see Eliot’s (the middle boy) basketball game. He is very into basketball, and it was just like going to see one of Roxie’s games in the States but with all those little Frenchie things that make everything here different. It was crazy watching French parents jumping up and yelling “Aller! (Go!)” and “Bouger! (Move!)” at their kids the same way Americans do. I was quite tickled to see it. That night, we had an incredible dinner of mussels in a cream sauce. The food there is always homecooked and AMAZING. The only bad thing is that for lunch Agnes served a very French dish that no one bothered to inform me of what it was until after we ate, even though I should have been tipped off when, beforehand, Philippe kept telling me that they eat ALL of the “couchon (pig)” in France. We were eating pig nose..apparently they eat that and I ate it all chopped up. It tasted just fine, but ugh.
That night, Tchkita and I watched CSI in French (it is weird even seeing TV now, and I think it’ll be weird to see it in English again). Even though we were both exhausted, Tchykita and I stayed up brainstorming where to go for our next vacation. Since school has been such a bust, we want to leave France after a good vacation.
The next day we went to an International dog show right there in Angers. Agnes’ parents have a dog called a “teckel standard” (at least that’s what it is in French) named Vidoc that they show. It was pretty cool, they had every dog breed you could imagine. It was cool to get to see things that aren’t all touristy, but everyday cool stuff that I would never had had the opportunity to see otherwise. Unfortunately, my camera died and I couldn’t get any pics of the dog show.
Well, I’m just chilling at my dorm today. The general strike is taking place today and the buses aren’t running, so I once again can’t go to class. I have been assured that I will receive all my credits, but I have no idea how. It is hard to pass tests for classes I have only been to a handful of times.
Also, Madame Vialpando will be coming through Tours this Friday, and I am going to make every effort to see her!
Le Blocade
I shake my fist at these barricades!!!
Imagine
Hello all!
Things are beyond crazy in this country. I highly suggest you all try to read or catch a news report about all this stuff. I am more involved in French politics than American right now. Honestly, I have no idea what is happening with Bush but I can write you a 20 page paper on Nicolas Sarkozy or Dominique de Villepin.
I am currently engaged in battle with my reponsable (the person here in charge of me). She is more incompetent than anyone here and is not helping out. This week, my CUEFEE classes restarted, but the university is still closed. CUEFEE, however, decided to extend classes further into the summer (I am so NOT doing this) and is giving a bunch of tests to make up for lost time. If I even manage to pass these tests, I have to figure out how to make up end of the year ones. Plus, I still have 3 other classes that are indefinitely postponed. It is a HUGE mess, and no seems to know how to clean it up.
To give you an idea of the lack of communication, I have a little anecdote from just today. I ran into a girl from my translation class today (she's from Scotland and has the sweetest accent ever) who is in my Translation class. That class was supposed to have a test weeks ago, but there has been no class because of the strike. She informed me that the teacher decided to make it a take-home test and that the tests were in her office. Her office happens to be located in a barricaded building that has only one open door. After eventually getting inside and locating her office, I find I sign posted on the door that the test was supposed to be handed in two days ago. This instructor has my email address, but never contacted me or Tchykita. This was no possible way to know about the test, or it being due, etc. I have no way to contact this instructor, and no gives you their office hours or a syllabus. Also, that was one of only two grades I have for the class.
Now, I would like all of you to imagine this scenario. Now, imagine this or something similar happening in all 8 of my courses (If you are a fellow college student, visualize this happening in your own classes). Now imagine being surrounded by people who you can communicate with on an elementary school level, and who don't care about your problem. Also, imagine how these people smell bad and are very rude, and are rarely in their offices to begin with. Imagine getting rained on everyday, riding a bus 25 minutes to classes that may or may not be open and only being able to talk to your mom twice a week and not at all with your friends. Now pretend that all the work you have done, all the credits you signed up for and classes you have attended might not count for anything!! Voilà! You now know what it is like to Study Abroad in France!
Sorry for the cynicism, folks. Its hard to come off a wonderful week with your family to all this crap. I find that living on my own in another country has turned me into a smart, mature, independent, cultured...cynic.
Despite all this though, I am trying to focus on the silly little good things that are funny about being here. Like doing rock, paper, scissors loudly in the computer lab to decide what to have for dinner, or Tchykita and I trying to get the French kids to taste Ranch dressing (That was hilarious, and they didn't like it).
Here is a link to the latest article from the NY Times about the strike:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/24/international/europe/23cnd-france.html?hp&ex=1143176400&en=3147b8d4c83cf332&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Ma famille ici!
This last week was amazing despite its rough start.
My family did not get to Tours until 6pm on Sunday because of many traveling delays. I have determined that Becky makes everything around her late and delayed, and she only proved me right throughout the rest of the vacation.
I sat for so long in the hotel lobby waiting for my family that the staff kept offering me coffee. I think seeing their taxi pull up was one of the most welcome sights I have ever seen.
Everyone was tired and jet-lagged, but we still went out and got a good dinner. Tchykita came with us to dinner so Becky and I rode the night bus back with her so I could get some stuff (I stayed in the Hotel with my family) and Tchykita wouldn’t have to go alone. To go back to the hotel, the bus should have come to pick us up at 11:27pm but Becky and I were stuck there until 11:50pm because Becky somehow makes everything late. Also, I can give her horns if I take the picture just right.
We got back safely though and Becky got a lesson in French patience and what it is like to have little communication.
The next day, I took my family on a walking tour of Tours to see all the stuff I’ve been telling them about. We saw the cathedral, Place Plume, the St. Martin Basilica, etc and everything good that Tours has to offer. We got a good lunch in a creperie and my family got to try gallettes for the first time. I was amazed at the difference in my French and helped
everyone out with reading menus, etc. Tours is pretty small, and few people speak good English. I liked being so useful.
We also went out to see some of the famous castles surrounding Tours. We took a morning and went to Chenonceau and Amboise. The weather was gorgeous! Chenonceau is my favorite castle. It sits over the water and has a really cool history about a queen and king’s mistress and how much they hated each other. Look it up, it’s pretty interesting.
I always forget how much I like Paris until I come back. As we arrived Wednesday morning, this was my fifth time there (can you believe that?) and it was just as amazing as ever. We had amazing hotel rooms, and Becky, Rox and I got one overlooking the Tuileries.
The first day we saw Notre Dame (always awe-inspiring) and the Eiffel Tower. Mom was incredibly brave and all of us went all the way to the top. There’s one thing to scratch off your “things I need to do before I die” list.
The next day we packed in the Musee Rodin, Napoleon’s Tomb, the Hotel des Invalides, and the Louvre. We all loved it, except Becky was less than impressed with Rodin. It was beyond awesome to go to all these places and see all these things with my family.
After all the sightseeing, we stopped at a salon du the (pronounced "tay") called Angelina’s for their famous hot chocolate. It was delicious, but incredibly rich, like drinking a melted chocolate bar.
When we got to the Louvre, it was surrounded by the protestors I mentioned in my other blog. It was a crazy experience to be in the middle of such a huge protest.
That night we went to dinner with the ever-charming Herve, a French tour operator and friend of my parents. He was as awesome as ever, and we went to the delicious Sargent Recruteur for dinner. I ate a dinner of pate, sausage, bread, duck and potatoes, fromage, and crème caramel that was beyond incredible. That was probably my favorite night and it helped me to remember why I like France so much.
Friday we visited the Musee D’Orsay and Sacre Coeur. My dad and I got quite good at figuring out the Metro, even though it is terribly confusing like most things in France.
Sacre Coeur was gorgeous as always, with its big white domes and intricate mosaics. Also, there was a service going on so we got to hear the beautiful and haunting singing of the choir. We briefly saw Artists’ Square and before we went back down the many, many stairs to the metro. We went back and found a Italian restaurant on Rivoli. It was really hard not to think about my family leaving, but it was inevitable.
We got up and around the next morning and checked out of our lovely rooms. I took a taxi to the train station while my family took one to the airport. I had two thoughts as my cab shot through the Paris streets towards Austerlitz: one, I am amazed and proud at how much I have grown and learned and matured in the two months that I have been here that I can travel, speak French and be by myself with such ease, and two, that I have the greatest family one could ask for and it REALLY sucked not to be able to go home with them. Whether it was Rox and Dad’s constant barbs at each other (Dad declared Roxanne “the meanest of us all” which she kind of is), Becky’s endless naps and beckyness, or Mom’s ability to be the sweetest and most comforting person in the whole world; it was a perfect family trip.
Thank you to my parents and sisters for taking the time and expense to come all the way here and visit me for a week. It was wonderful to show you my adopted country and it was one of the best weeks of my life. In only two more months (hopefully) I’ll be back in the good old US with all of you again!
Read down..."Et continue...et continue..."
Hy blog about my family actually published out of order and is belowthis one even though it is newer. Blogger has been acting up lately, I hope I can get is straightened out. Au revoir.
Bon-joo everyone! Things have been nuts here in France. My family just visited me for a week and it was absolutely wonderful. One of the best weeks of my life!!! Once I get my pics in order and am not so sad, (I am on the train back to Tours and am still a wee bit emotionally fragile) I will tell the tale of the Boxes in France.
But for now, I will fill you in on the strike situation. If you have been watching the news (like Jessie) a lot has been going on. Those riots in Paris are directly connected to the strike in Tours. It is actually starting to hit International news. All the students across France are similarly striking and rioting over this labor law that I explained in my last blog. I have currently been out of school for 2 and a half weeks with no real end in sight.
Things were crazy while we were in Paris. The students blocked the streets and got violent with the police on more than one occasion. As my family walked around Place Concorde and the Tuileries area, we saw tons of police preparing for the daily riots. We also happened to walk right into the middle of a massive protest around the Louvre. There were hundreds if not a thousand students in the old square surrounding the Glass Pyramid. They had signs, banners, face paint; the whole nine yards. It was kind of cool to see; except they made it a huge pain to get around and only reminded me of my situation in Tours.
Tchykita sent me an e-mail saying that the same is still going on in Tours. Students have been swarming the streets and have even caused the buses to quit running. Last week, the universities in France completely caved to the students. The presidents of the Universities issued formal requests of the government to have a “dialogue” about the situation to appease the students. The government agreed, and things looked as if they might quiet down, but then the government changed its mind and the riots broke out anew. I have to say, I am proud of the government for holding its ground. It is bizarre here in Tours. It feels like everyone is surprised at how long this is going on. The movement here is losing its steam and everyone seems eager to get back to routine. However, now its a matter of principle between the students and the gorvernment and neither side wants to back down.
However, right now, I’m not entirely sure what to do. I have four more scheduled weeks of classes, 2 weeks of Spring Break, and then 2 weeks of Finals. However, I cannot make-up 3 or 4 weeks of classes in the time before break, and I don’t think the university will completely open anytime soon. Even though the Universite has caved to the students, the only real leverage the students have over the government is rioting and closing the schools. So until progress is made or the students get bored, things will probably remain the same. I am getting in contact with the UW people to see what I can do about credits. I really don’t want to come home with no credits for a whole semester, especially since it’s all out of my control. However, they can’t just give me 15 hours for sitting on my butt in Tours, either. Quel un experience, n’est pas? If you have any ideas, let me know and I’ll pass them along to the study abroad office.
La grève continue
The title means, "The strike continues," which is unfortunately what it is doing.
I have not had a class since last Wednesday and was looking forward to get back in the swing of things today. Yesterday was the national "against the CPE" day, and over 160 universites/schools across France were closed. Everything was supposed to open up today, but the students are having such a grand ole time protesting they decided to extend it until the end of the week for no real reason. It is getting ridiculous. Tchykita and I also are constantly having to explain to people that we have to pay large sums of money for school and that we are not happy with having classes consistently canceled. Here, education is socialized so the students have no vested interest in going to college.
I have learned, too, more about this cause they are SO unhappy about. In France, they have work contracts when they hire a person fresh out of college. This contract is for life and the person hired cannot be fired unless in case of very extreme circumstances. It is like giving someone tenure the day they start a new job. This is a big part of why everyone is so unenthusiastic about their jobs here; they won't be fired so they don't care if the service is crappy, etc. Well, this new law represented by the "CPE" changes the system so that the contract expires after the first 10 years. The employer can and will
easily renew this contract, but they would have to be good employees to ensure contract renewal. Basically, this law is in no way harming anyone, just causing people to work hard enough to not get fired after 10 years. The students are furious about this because they want a life-time job right out of college that they don't have to work at. THIS is the country I chose to come live in? Jeez. You'd think they had passed a law sending all students to be drafted into the armed forces or something, the way they are acting. I'm sure years from now I will find this experience interesting, rewarding, enlightening, and all that crap. But right now, I just want to throw rocks at French people.
I really do want to go to class. Otherwise it tends to get a bit boring with not too much else to do. Alot of the French students here go home for the week when something like this happens, but us poor "etudiants etrangeres" have no where to go. We could have been traveling or something if the break had been expected, but obviously its not. I have been doing nothing but shopping (but not buying), walking around, eating and drawing day after day. Plus, the weather continues to be cold and rainy. And the worst part is, when something like this happens, you are supposed to make-up all your missed classes! Either they schedule the classes multiple times a week (which will be a scheduling nightmare) or they extend classes into the summer. I do NOT want to have to stay here in class until July because students felt the need to cancel MY classes. I am actually not in a bad mood right now though because my daddy called me this morning (since he is in Berlin and thus the same time zone.) and it made my day. And I ate a sugar crepe.
Seeing the Moon from Paris
Bonjour!
My faith in French people has been restored. After the rough week, I managed to cap it off in a good way. Tchykita and I went to Angers for the weekend. It’s another town in the Loire Valley about an hour away by train. She has a host family who lives there from when she was here last summer. We were greeted by a ton of snow both in Tours and Angers. I was excited because Tchykita has said many times that they are the sweetest people she has ever met and I thought that was an exaggeration until I met them.
We were greeted by Agnes (pronounced “ann-yes”) the mother of the family at the train station. She drove us to the house, which is one of the best-decorated houses I’ve ever seen. She even has her own boutique with all kinds of cool interior decorative stuff that she makes mostly herself.
I also met her sons Thomas and Eliot right off the bat. They also have another boy, Oscar, who didn’t get there until Sunday. The father, Philippe, is about the nicest guy I’ve ever met. He speaks slowly and makes sure I understand everything. I felt bad because Thomas tried to do the “kiss-kiss” thing right when I got there and I didn’t notice and accidentally blew him off. After having Tchykita though, they are used to having Americans who mess up cultural things. Everyone made a big deal of us being there. I had to “kiss-kiss” everyone and it is so weird. No one speaks English, and it was a little hard to understand all the conversation.
The best part was the food. Agnes was THE BEST cook I have ever encountered. She could just whip out amazing, huge meals from scratch.
Right when we got there she served as a wonderful lunch. We had tomatoes, vinagriette and mozzarella for a starter with quiche lorraine and salad and an assiette du fromage (plate with a bunch of different cheeses), coffee and chocolates. This is an average light French meal. All of it was hand-made and AMAZING. Dinner that night was just as incredible. Philippe also explained the law the students are striking over, etc. and the meal lasted for hours. It was seeing the French way of life from the inside out.
The next day was amazing. It was the littlest boy’s birthday and the whole family came over. There were 14 people there altogether I think. It had the feel of Thanksgiving to it with all the food and people and family, but it was just an average weekend for them. It was also Oscar's birthday so we all got to sing happy birthday to him in French. The family was so nice and friendly. There was a little girl, Colleen, who reminded me of my little cousin Justine and she kept trying to sneak up and tickle me. There was also a baby who wouldn’t quit staring at me. I think it was because everyone there had dark hair, pale skin and brown eyes, and I stuck out like a sore thumb with my red hair and green eyes.
The dinner though, was beyond amazing. It was many, many courses. We had aperitifs (like appetizers) of champagne and olives, fresh-baked bread with foie gras, white wine, cuts of rare steak (the first good beef I’ve had since I got here) some type of potato dish with a sauce that was beyond words, red wine, an assiette du fromage, apple tarte and chocolate cake with coffee.
And they eat like this all the time! After dinner and after I had kisses everyone there about 50 times, Agnes drove us to the train station and saw us off. Both of us wanted very badly to stay, but it we made plans to come back soon. It was very good for me to remember why I wanted to come here in the first place. I got to live in France, in a French house and eat sleep, talk and live just like them.
Mauvais jour
Bon-jooo
Yesterday was a very crappy day. Since I got back from Nice, the weather has been very gray. Being from a sunny place like Wyoming, you never realize how much the gray weather can affect your mood. I know everyone thinks rain is all nice and romantic or whatever, but I do not like rain. I don't like it raining on me or even when I'm inside. Plus, I have gotten rained on approximately 8 billion times since I got to Tours.
To make things worse, I got to class yesterday to be reminded I have a test in Translation next week. I am very worried about this test. Everyone in the class has 5 months more experience in France over me, and my French is not very good in comparison. I am hoping the professeur takes this into consideration.
Then, after getting out of class in a bad mood, I went over to the main classroom building to use the computers there between classes. All the French students were protesting, and instead of just impededing the doors like they were doing before break, they threw desks, chairs, everything they could, in front of all the doors. Then they had students guarding them. Apparently to protest they basically shut down all of the classes for the day and won't let students in or out. How this will help their cause I don't know. I got VERY mad and yelled some very ugly words at them in English, but to no avail.
I talked to Bruno about this protest earlier and he basically explained the controversial law to me as, "a law attempting to create a more capitalistic economy, more like America." Heaven forbid things actually run efficiently around here. I thought that would be the worst of it, but no. At first, it was just the main classroom building, but now today they have blocked ALL the classroom buildings and will continue to do so until Tuesday. I heard this from other students. Tchykita came to tell me before I took the bus in to my afternoon class. All the doors are locked and barricaded and all my classes will be canceled until Tuesday! I am getting fed up. I am having a hard enough time learning and keeping up without having classes canceled every other week. With classes only once a week, constant teacher cancelations, vacation last week, and now this, there are a few classes I have only gone to 3 or 4 times even though I've been here 6 weeks!!!
Apparently the administration and even the police are forced to condone this action because otherwise they would become "oppressors." The problem with France is everyone is so obsessed with the idea of "Liberte!" that they are willing to let people run amok in order to look like they too support the cause. It is considered very heinous to be against any type of protest. The "correct" idea is whoever is doing the protesting, regardless of whether you support the idea or not. The public mindset in America is more like, "Feel free to protest as long as you don't step on my rights." Here, the public opinion is so in support of the very idea of protesting they allow any inconvenience or even injustice in the name of protest, regardless of whether the protest is in any way helpful or harmful.
The students here remind me a bit of a spoiled child. Instead of doing any real action to protest this law they are all mad about, they do silly things like shut down classes. I highly doubt Jaques Chirac is nervous about the Tours students canceling their own classes. This type of protest hurts no one but the teachers, administrators and other students. But, it makes them feel cool to be a part of something and everyone puts up with the silliness. The students are so used to this socialist attitude, college is a lot like high school to them. The money that pays for it is no object to them and is paid for quite a bit by the government. That is quite different than us American students who pay so much to go to college and don't appreciate being kept from having classes we paid for. It is sometimes very hard to be a capitalist living in a socialist society. Regardless of whether you classify yourself as right-wing Republican or fire-breathing Liberal, you are still miles to the right of these folks.
I am very angry at France right now.
