Endings

Wow, yesterday was a long day.
(the flowers I gave my host mom)

But, before that was dinner with my host parents one last time. They brought out some champagne and my host mom made what I believe is a more traditional French dinner...it was rabbit in mustard sauce, salad, red wine, a variety of good cheese, baguette of course, and then crepes for dessert. Very tasty. Then I had to say goodbye, because I was leaving before anyone would be awake in the morning. That was a little weird, and sad. I'm going to miss them.
Then, I didn't get too much sleep...and I woke up a little bit before my alarm was going to go off at 4:40am, left the house at 5:20, and took the metro to meet Becky and Kay. Wow, having a giant heavy bag in the metro and another duffel sucks. I'm pretty sure every random stranger who offered to help and helped me down or up stairs regretted it the second they picked up one end of my bag because it was crazy heavy. Still, we made it to the airport all in one piece. So that was nice. Waited around at the airport, took my flight to Toronto (It was a really long somewhat boring flight and I couldn't sleep that much.) Then went through customs and took my flight into Minneapolis where it was stormy so we had to circle above Minneapolis for a while.
(Some building near Notre Dame)

And now I'm at Carleton. It's wonderful to see everyone again, but really bizarre as well. It should be a fun few days, and I don't think missing Paris will really hit me until I get home to Davis. It was really weird taking the metro that morning, and realizing it was the last time I would take it for a very long time. It was so familiar, and I am going to miss all the little things that to most people are so boring and day-to-day, but I love. It's going to be bizarre not having the language barrier...I'll still probably formulate questions and things in French before going to order something or talk to strangers, which will be funny. And I'm sure phrases will come out in French. It's just all a sort of odd situation. And to top that off, I don't feel that jetlagged at all. Weird.
(last time in the Jardin de Luxembourg.)

All in all, I think that my speaking skills didn't improve as much as I would have liked (I did improve, of course), but my comprehension skills got a million times better. So that's neat. I would love to stay in contact with my host parents, and some day go back, see how the kids grew up, and see my host parents again.

Allez les bleus!

I had to write my artist paper and prepare my presentation on Monday, which is all I really did until dinner time, where we had a group dinner at a restaurant with all of the professors. It was a lot of fun, and the last time the entirety of the group was together. That night I also saw Katie's host family's home (who were out of town) and I ended up missing the last metro so I stayed the night and we made crepes. The next morning I came home, finished up and emailed my paper, practiced my presentation, took a shower, and met Anna and then wandered around for a while until class. Both classes were all presentations. I had trouble concentrating throughout all the presentations...Before I had to give mine I was super nervous, and then afterwards (it turned out well) I just sort of checked out, and was just relieved to be absolutely done with work.
That evening I went to a football game!!!! (soccer, that is). It was France vs. Columbia and WAY exciting. We ended up sitting in a high concentration of Columbian fans, but it was all good. France won, one-zero. I also felt pretty good about being able to sing along with the French national anthem when it played before the game. Everyone was so high energy, and it was just amazing to be there. I'm not sure I can really express how cool it was. Cool in two ways actually. It was cold and I was wearing shorts. whoops. Oh well.
Today we technically had class. We were out in the Jardin de Luxmbourg (where it got really cold) and a comedian came and answered questions and told us a couple of jokes. He was pretty good. And pretty provocative/not politically correct. Plus, he was really willing to answer our questions, and gave good, thoughtful answers. So that was neat. Then we had a "picnic" at Cathy's apartment where it was bread and cheese and cookies and juice and we just chilled. That's when we did most of our goodbyes. It doesn't seem real that I'm leaving. It was so strange to realize that we all were leaving, and saying goodbye.
Then me and Becky wandered around for quite a while. She found something for her dad, and then we went in search of a flower shop so I could bring flowers home to my host family as a last day sort of thanks thing. Well, flower shops are hard to come by, but I finally found one and got sunflowers. And now I need to pack pack pack. And then I'll be leaving at like 5:30am tomorrow to meet Kay and Becky at a metro station and then we're going to the airport together. And then on to Carleton. I can't believe it. This term was great, but passed by way too fast! But I can't really think about that right now...I haven't started packing yet, so I'm going to get on that right now. (And the picture below is the doorway to CUPA. it's right in between a kids clothing shop called Lapin Bleu and a store called Jeans Paradis. It's kind of a random location...some food places and clothing stores. and then this nondescript door.)

What you've been waiting for

Well, Friday was half boring (just classes as usual, where we got our tests back and I gave a 5 minute presentation on my 10 page paper. It started off a little rocky, because I really hadn't prepared at all, but then got better). Then I went home, relaxed a bit and that night was a Jazz Concert. Well, Cathy had told us it was an MC Solaar (famous French rapper who's kind of older now, or a has-been according to my host parents) concert. But it was a jazz concert featuring MC Solaar. But I thought it was really good. There was this amazing bassist. Also, the lyrics were pretty funny to this one song..."Your love is two for one, it's sweet and kind of fun, it's like staying up past midnight when you're still a kid"...and in english too. Which meant all of us started laughing and most of the audience didn't get it. The other good line was "I've got the munchies for your love". There was also this crazy part where the guy would just make some noises (ie singing without actual words) and the audience would repeat it back. It was really strange and entertaining. All in all a good concert.
But, before the concert we got dinner at this supermarket. And some crazy drunk/high guy walked in, shouted something, got a beer and tried to cut in line. So the manager came out and tried to get him to either wait in line or leave. I was in the line he was trying to cut, and it was a little scary when I was paying for my stuff and he spit almost on my shoe. And kept shouting something about "on his mother's life" only it was in french, so I wasn't quite sure what he was getting at. But, it gets better. We go out and wait across the street for the rest of our group. And some guy comes outside yelling at the crazy guy. So the crazy guy punches him! (I'd never really seen anyone actually punch someone like that in real life) and then the other guy kicks him, and someone came and broke them up and the crazy guy wandered away. It was kind of exciting and scary at the same time.
(this bar had weird signs out front, and this is one of them dis'nae? what?)

Saturday wasn't all too exciting. I went running in the morning with Becky and almost got us lost in the Bois de Vincennes. However, because I'd gotten lost before, I had a much better sense of where we were and got us out alright. So then I chilled in my room trying to get homework done until I met Becky for dinner. After dinner we went to a bar with a bunch of other people on the program for the night as a sort of last weekend in France shindig/it had been Masha's 21st birthday last week. So that was a lot of fun, and I caught the dead last metro home. If I'd left just 2 minutes later, I would have missed it. So I lucked out.

Today I had the longest brunch ever with my host parents and Lorraine's sister and her husband. We had a barbecue, which we would have had a month ago, had the weather permitted. I found our aperitif kind of random-white rum and pineapple juice. And then I worked on homework until dinner. And here's what you've been waiting for: me and the family! (Calixte wouldn't look at the camera)

Movies, Photos, and "Art"

Wednesday morning I took our final exam for the conversation and composition class. It was a little ridiculous, because that class wasn't very well organized to begin with, and there wasn't a lot I could have done to study better. Still, I did alright. Then, after lunch I went with a bunch of other people to watch the Sex in the City movie. I've never actually watched the show, but practically everyone on the program was excited about it, and after that test, I didn't really have to energy to do anything else for a little bit. The movie itself wasn't that great, and rather corny. What was funny though, was reading the french subtitles along with the movie. Because there is a lot that gets lost in translation. The french probably saw a very different movie than I did.

After that I went to the Maison Européene de la Photographie, and what a great find that was. There were two expositions, and one of them was way amazing. His name is Georges Rousse. His photos look like they've been altered, because they're sort of optical illusions, when in fact he created each space to look like they do, and then took a picture. It's so hard to describe. So here's a picture of one of the prints I saw. (Small pictures on the internet just don't do them justice. They're kind of mind boggling.) So that was fantastic.
Thursday I got up and met a few people to see Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis. It's a french movie by Dany Boon, and has been out for ages--it's had record success in France. But, because it was 10:40am on a thursday, and the movie had been out for so long, we were the only one's in the theater besides one older woman. The movie itself was really good. Also, I understood pretty much everything-I think it was good I waited until this point in the program to see it (I'd been meaning to go for a while), because my comprehension is good enough to appreciate the movie. I will be interested to see if it comes to the US (I hope it does), but it will be more of just a cute romantic comedy than the play on stereotypes that is a central part of the movie. There is some language/accents jokes that won't be translated, and the understanding of the stereotypes of the North of France won't be quite as strong. Still, it's a good movie, and I'd be interested to see what they might do with it in the US.

Then after grabbing a bite to eat, we went to the Musée Marmottan Monet. We couldn't stay for too long because we had to get to our last museum visit class with Jérôme, but it was a pretty neat museum. It had a lot of Monet, as you could guess from the name, along with other impressionists. Upstairs was also some more modern/abstract art. (Also, can we talk about how cool France is? In a monoprix--a grocery/clothes/everything store--there was an escalator. And then a little one just for grocery carts. crazy).

Then we went to the Palais Tokyo, which is a modern art museum. It was some giant opening so there were a lot of people. There was also free champagne and yogurt. (I had a thé vert à la menthe-mint green tea, and a white chocolate one. Yogurt in France is amazing. And I like champagne, so that was neat). In terms of the art, it was rather bizarre. There was a giant elephant balancing on its trunk, a giant gun thing that shot beer bottles crazy fast at a wall, and they'd shatter and it was way loud and kind of smoky, some random little things and a room with a bunch of Darth Vader masks all hooked up to a computer, with creepy music. Modern art is way weird. I don't get a lot. Oh! and there was this TV that was playing Back to the Future. And a DJ just jamming, but you couldn't actually hear the music. It was all rather odd and random.
Also, there was this guy going around with this giant video camera. As we were looking at the elephant, he got up real close to this one guy and videoed his face as he looked at the elephant. I turned to Anna and commented on how awkward that much be. So then the guy turns around and comes over and videos me that close and awkwardly. I just stayed staring at the elephant. I don't know what they were videoing for, but I'm in it. Also, me and Monica found a Georges Rousse book (they were out at the photo museum) but it was 65 euros. So I didn't get it, even though I really wanted it-this guy is way cool).
(also, that's the camera guy)

un match d'impro

Yesterday was half full of not much-ran around the lake with Anna, and wrote some journal entries. Then, I went to dinner with Jess and had a tasty kebab sandwich and green tea à la menthe (i'm so going to make this tea when i get home...green tea with mint leaves and sweetened with sugar. mmmmm). Then we met up with our theater class to see an improv comedy match. Apparently this goes down in th states, but I'd never seen anything like it. It was great, even though I understood, well, not much.
(Jess at the match, holding the slipper she threw. You can see some jerseys like the one's the teams (of 4) wore behind her).

It was France versus Quebec. Each member of the audience got a slipper to throw at the ref if we disagreed with his call. Also, after the announcement of how long each sketch was to be the audience repeated the amount of time (in between one minute and six, at least last night) followed by "oh la la!" Also, the DJ sang "we will rock you" and we sang along and he got the lyrics wrong. good times.

The actual match was pretty hilarious, even though I didn't often have any idea what was going on. They warmed up beforehand, and the France team played this game that I've played before as an icebreaker, so that was fun to see. Also, one of the sketches was in the style of shakespeare with the theme (picked by an audience member) of "carnival of asparaguses." And my favorite part was when one guy handed his lover something (a knife, presumably) and told her to go stab her father. She took the object (invisible props, obviously) and said, "it's an asparagus, but I'll try all the same". haha.
(the metro at 4am. this is from that night i stayed out all night. i felt like this post needed another picture, so there you are)

I can't really get over how ridiculous it was. it was in this area, with a ring in the middle (like a boxing match or something) and they wore hockey-like jerseys. The other thing I couldn't get over is how, on my way there I saw someone who looked exactly like Julian Whitney-Fawcett. No joke. It wasn't just like, at a glance he looked like him but then not really when you actually looked, which happens all the time, but this guy dressed the same and had a really similar face and until I got a really good look at his face, even though I know Julian's not in Paris, I was almost convinced it could be him. Weirdest thing ever. He looked so much like him! ahhhh!
(Calixte is wearing my shoes. So is Maxcence in the background, who also pulled down his pants. Don't ask me why. Crazy kids.)

Then, today, was just classes, and an attempt at the Louvre, but me and Becky forgot that museums generally aren't open tuesday. So then I went home, fretted about classes for next term (registration is tonight), and studied the best I could for this test tomorrow. Oh, and Maxcence and Calixte came in and bothered me some more. Always entertaining. I started a video chat with Kim, and I think they were confused as to how that even worked.

Fish, Musicals & Walking

Friday night I helped my host mom decorate Maxcence's cake for his birthday party on saturday, which I missed because I'd already arranged to go to a play. It was a neat cake, and made me wish I were turning four again and could have a castle themed birthday party with a sweet cake like his.(the cake!)

I went to a pretty small aquarium on saturday. It was neat though. Piranhas are pretty crazy. They just sit there and don't move. And they had them in this darkish corner. There were also a lot of pretty tropical fish, and some bizarre ones. Like razor fish, who are these little vertical crazy looking fish. And cowfish are pretty funny. Or catfish mouths.
(piranhas!)

Then I went to a comédie musicale. Most hilarious amazing horrible musical comedy I have ever seen. It was called Les aventures de la diva et du toreador. It was 2 actors, who were really good singers, singing songs from various operas/musicals (including West Side Story, so they were singing in English, but with French accents, and that song from cats where the entirety of the lyrics consist of meows) in this semi plotless storyline. And there was a pianist who sometimes took part in the action. It was ridiculous beyond ridiculous and very entertaining. The other funny thing was that the majority of the audience were much much older than us, and they were totally into it. Especially the guy who sat in front of us.
(the cat fish and his crazy mouth)

After that we ate at this indian restaurant, which was pretty tasty, and a nice little change from all the french food i've been eating. Then we went to a café and had coffee, which was tasty, and not horribly tiny like they often are. After that we went to this bar where this guy whose aunt is Cathy (our professor's) friend had invited us to hang out. I had a pina colada and just hung out for a while before heading home and going to bed.
(the razor fish)

Today wasn't quite as eventful. I was still asleep at 9:30 and my host brother's came in and made a lot of noise and went through my things again and brought in some toys and played in my room until their mom came up, got mad and made them leave me be. So then I slept a little more. My host family went to Lorraine's mom's for the day (it's France's mother's day), and I went walking in the Marais and then in another area with Becky for a while (we walked A LOT), before heading back here and trying to get some homework done. After finishing my research paper, I haven't had much motivation to do much other homework, but hopefully this evening/tomorrow will be productive.

A Night On The Town

Thursday got off to a slow start. I submitted my essay after proofreading it and exchanging it with someone else in my class and we proofread eachother's. Then we had Jérôme's class, where we visited a church-St. Eustache. There was an organ concert for kids, so we ended up watching that for most of our class period, and then Jérôme talked a little bit about contemporary art in the church. We were pretty much out of time, but walked over to the Marais, and past this restaurant where everything is in the dark, so the servers lead you to your table and I think what you eat is a surprise. Plus you can't see it. Jérôme said also that the servers were blind. I guess it wouldn't matter if they were or not, but I don't know if I believe him. After that we walked over to see the oldest house in Paris. Who's house was it? Harry Potter fans, I'm not lying. It's Nicolas Flamel's house.
Not too much else went on....My host brothers discovered my small collection of Kinder Surprise Egg toys, and Calixte threw a pencil out the window and also put a penny in his mouth that I had to take out. And then I was in for a very long night. A couple of friends had six hours to spend in Paris while on their way back to Maastricht from Madrid by way of train. So me, Becky and Jess went and me up with Judy, Peter and Derek (I'm pretty good friends with Judy, Becky is really good friends with Peter, Jess was along for the ride, and none of us knew Derek before last night) when their train came in at 11:30. We stored their suitcases at Becky's host family's apartment and took the last métro out to Ménilmontant. There we chilled, got crêpes or paninis and had some wine.We then walked over to this bar/club, and there was no one there. It was like 1:45am, and a guy outside said to come back at 2am. So we walked around some more. (It's how the french party...they go out with the last metro and go home with the first, or a night bus. Things don't start happening until 2am. Of course, it was also a thursday night, so nothing was going to be too busy, and when me and Becky were researching places to go, it took a while to find one open late on a thursday night. Most, when they are open super late, it's just the weekends.) So we went back, and sat by the dance floor-only there was no one dancing. It was kind of funny, because we were a large enough group, and it seemed like when the 6 of us were dancing, other people would too, but when we stopped there were no one. In other words, we were the party.
We then walked back to Becky's apartment (I think it took maybe an hour) and got their suitcases and went and waited for the first metro at 5:30. They headed to the train station, and I headed home. And because I had class at 11:30 today, I only got 3 and a half hours of sleep. Still, it was worth it, because it was a lot of fun, especially to see other Carleton people again who weren't on our program.
Today was uneventful...in my first class, we'd pretty much finished everything we needed to do, so we talked about the film we'd watched and rewatched the end. Then after lunch we had our second class which was just a discussion of this philosophy reading none of us understood and Cathy got kind of annoyed at us. Then I came home, and took a nap. Again, very uneventful.