A Little Eccentric

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.

posted by Molly Jo @ 5:07 AM