Minor Blunders, a rainy day, etc.

And so today I woke up at 6am for my 8am class. Knowing it required two long walks and a tram, I left the house at around 7 after a very small breakfast and a brief brief chat with my parents(!). It was dark when I left the apartment, and still seemed night. There were very few people on the roads, and it was very strange and a bit eerie for me to see the streets of Nantes so empty. Most of the people out were big burly men working garbage trucks or other maintenance vehicles. The rest were all toting back packs, and so I assume, students at the university. Bleary eyed, like me, from want of sleep. I made my way to the tram station, hopped the number 2, which was surprisingly full of people considering how deserted the streets had been, and got off 7 or 8 stops later at the University.

The University of Nantes is attended by around 30,000 students. It is huge, ugly and modern. The buildings are all nearly identical, with graffiti all over the walls, ceilings, floors, desks, chairs, bathrooms, ATMs -- it is seriously everywhere. I eventually found my classroom (Amphitheater 4) after going in one wrong building and asking directions from one student and one employee.

My class room was huge. There were about fifteen long rows containing about thirty to forty-five chairs each in an arena type arrangement. I took my seat as close to an end as was possible but still felt claustrophobic. I chose Sewanee because I never wanted to be in classes like this - and yet here I was. The professor started speaking, and as I'd feared, I could hardly hear him at all because he was so far away and speaking a language I can only partially understand in the best conditions.

The class was on Sociology of Contemporary French Society. The professor started talking about European geography and history. He started drawing diagrams up on the board - a time line, first - but then a strange graph with words I didn't know and symbols I'd never seen. I couldn't even copy them down to look up later because the board was so far away that even with my glasses on I couldn't make out the letters. He rattled off a list of books we were expected to purchase and read - I couldn't hear him well enough to write down the titles or the authors.

Forty five minutes into class, I started jotting down my thoughts rather than notes. When at fifty five minutes into class we were given a five minute (smoke) break, I decided to cut my losses, grabbed my back pack and left the class - forever. In defense of my cowardice, one thing they always tell foreign exchange students is that if you cannot understand the professor, do not take the class. It typically does not get better, they say, or it takes so long for you to catch up that it does not matter.

So! Outside, I quickly went through the course offerings - found a class that suited me better and that conveniently another IES student, Olivia, was planning on attending: Comparative Literature - The literature of the strange at the end of the 19th century. Works included Edger Alan Poe - if you aren't aware - French people are obsessed with Poe, and I think that alone will make it an interesting class. Not to mention, literature classes are supposed to be easier for IES students to take, not to mention, the class will only have around 40 students instead of 400.

The class met at 10 - which meant I had around thirty minutes of free time. I called a friend from Sewanee, Elisa, who I knew was headed to the University as well for a different literature class; she was on her way and we arranged where we would meet up. And as I was waiting for her, Olivia walked up and we started talking.

Then we looked at the course offerings again, only to discover that all of the literature classes didn't start to next week. Bleh.

Walking home, it started to rain. The rainy weather that Nantes is (in)famous for. The air is chilly here and starting to feel very much like autumn; the leaves have just started to turn and I cannot wait! Mostly, I am glad that this morning that I'd dreaded is over. I took a tram by myself, in the dark. I went by myself to a huge university, failed miserably in my first ever French class, and everything is still okay! My schedule, by trial and error, is going to be far better than I'd hoped.

So, I am grateful.

My schedule, almost definitely, will be as follows:

Monday: 12:30-2:30 Translation (at the University) -- 3:00-4:15 French Poetry at the turn of the Century (at IES) -- 5:00-6:15 French Writers and Foreign Nations (IES)

Tuesday: 12:15-1:30 French Poetry -- 3:00-5:30 The Palestinian Question from 1945 to today (IES)

Wednesday: 10:00-12:00 Comparative Literature: Literature of the Strange (University) -- 5:30-6:45 French Writers (IES)

Thursday-Sunday: relax, do homework, travel

C'est parfait!!!

Vachement Chouette (and other things that defy translation)

'Vachement chouette' is a very prevalent French expression that when translated literally means "cool like a cow" or perhaps "cow cool." I suppose it is the French equivalent of "wicked sweet" or "sick" (as in when a tool says, "Listen to those sick beats" or something like that. I figured it is a fitting title to an entry on the many, many differences I've noticed (continued to notice) since I've been here.

I will break this down into two sections: Things about America I like Better than France and Things about France I like Better than America.

Things about America I like Better than France

1. I truly miss being friendly to strangers. I guess I hadn't ever thought about it previously but it seems ever since I took to walking Belmont for hours on end when I was around 13 or so with Mary and later Savannah and Carina, I adore smiling at people I meet and saying hello. It was one of the aspects I found so appealing about Sewanee - that they insisted that you greet passersby. It makes me feel that I am a part of a community that includes people I may not have ever met, and that there is an understanding between said people that we would help eachother out and love eachother if ever we got to know eachother well enough. Therefor, we treat eachother with civility (even friendliness!) wherever we go. At the grocery store, waiting in line at the movies, passing on the street, etc - Americans are friendly and kind to one another, at least generally speaking.

Here, the attitude seems more to be: "I don't know you, I probably wouldn't like you if I did know you and/or you wouldn't like me if you knew me. We are not part of the same community or group of friends. You are likely the enemy." People go to great lengths to avoid eye contact on the street. If a car stops to let a pedestrian pass, there will be no smile of gratitude passed between them. If you bump into someone, they will not say pardon and they will not respond if you do - in fact, the reason they probably bumped into you is because they were avoiding eye contact to begin with and had no clue you existed.

That being said, once you become acquainted with a French person, they are every bit as personable as Americans. But you have to meet them first.

2. There is a lack of fidelity in French relationships. I know this only second-hand of course, but I came across a French article recently all about what entailed infidelity. It polled young men and asked them, "Is a single kiss an infidelity? If not, what constitutes an infidelity in your relationship?" Responses varied a great deal, but the consensus seemed to be that most physical infidelities weren't too terrible and that everything would likely be forgiven, short of having a long-term dedicated and loving relationship with someone other than one's spouse/partner. Gross.

3. Men heckle women here. Men shout rude things to women, and women are supposed to ignore it entirely and look fierce and disdainful as they pass. It is not that this makes me feel unsafe - Nantes is a very safe town and everywhere I go I am typically in a mid to large group of students - however it is very rude and does make one feel super uncomfortable. I feel that the sisters, mothers and female friends of every young man should yell at them excessively about how stupid it is to do this. Until it stops getting to be so common. Double gross.

4. Here, bathrooms and toilettes are separate. I don't understand this. The toilette that I use is located in the laundry room. The bathroom is just down the hall. It is rather inconvenient.

5. I miss having a yard. A lot.

6. No one picks up after their dogs when they poop in the middle of the side walk, so you have to watch your feet when you walk.

7. In America, we disagree politely with one another. When someone does something wrong (faire une betise), people correct them politely and sweetly. Here - everyone is more frank. (! And now I'm wondering if that is where they word comes from. The Francs are franc!?)

Things about France I like Better than America

1. I love that families eat together every night. (I love that despite the fact that we're not European, my own dear sweet familys aux Etats-Unis has done this very well my entire life. It is something I will continue when I have a family of my own.)

2. I love that the French eat meals that are rediculously delicious and intricate but in smaller portions. Everything here comes in a smaller size than in America, and it is one of two reasons why I think the French are skinnier. If you ask for a glass of coke, you are definitely not given more than 8 ounces of coke. Same thing with all beverages. It has the marvelous effect of making you really contemplate everything as you're drinking/eating: I only get 5 ounces of coffee - I better really enjoy them.

3. I love that everything is walkable here.

4. I love how affectionate everyone is, especially noting how affectionate men are. At least once a day I see Amaury kiss his little brother Erwan all over his face for no reason in particular. It is very sweet and endearing, and I think it is wonderful. Again I must say though, I have been accustomed to this in my own family for forever. We have always been super affectionate, likely because of Mama. But I am so glad, and it is so refreshing to see an entire nation that embraces that sweetness. I think it is important, and I plan on instegating a lot more of that when I get home.

5. I like to "faire la bise." It is so very bizarr and wonderful to meet someone and have them affectionately kiss your cheek the first time you meet them. I also plan on doing this occasionally in America, and Hanna has agreed so LOOK OUT.

6. Art for art's sake and enjoyment for enjoyment's sake seem to both be more prominant here. I love all of the various festivals, art displays and street performances I have seen. It has to increase one's standard of living to be exposed to beautiful things and experiences wherever one goes. It has taught me already that it is NOT a lowly goal to be a writer or performer. Writing and performing music are both acts of beauty, if practiced correctly, and beauty is very important. I like that the Europeans embrace it - are American's too practical, too utilitarian for such ideals? I hope not.

7. In keeping with this, Europeans work to live - American's live to work. This is something that my mother told me she had observed in Europe and it is sooo true. Europeans take as much time off as they can and I support them whole heartedly. Yesterday Hanna and I went out in a mistaken attempt to buy school supplies only to find that all the stores were closed because it was Sunday. Wonderful! I don't think I will ever mind being inconvenienced so that people can have time off from their jobs. I think we should expect fewer hours from stores and restaurants in America and let people have more vacation time. The fact that the French economy is not suffering as much as the American economy is should speak to complaints that the French system is somehow incorrect. I hope the 40 hour work week of America ends!

8. In France, everything is more expensive, incuding utilities. Bon! I hate that in America we have a mistaken since that electricity is cheap merely because the electric companies are willing to sell it to us cheaply. Electricity takes a great toll on our environment, and the high cost of living here makes everyone live more within their means which equals more in keeping with the rate the earth can sustain us. Along these lines, I like that public transportation and walking are emphasized here.

9. I like that the drinking age is 18.

10. I like that couples are more affectionate publically. I plan on practicing this in two weeks!

BEST OF ALL - I love that in making my own life I can pick and choose. I can be friendly to strangers, pick up after my dog when she poops in the middle of the sidewalk, walk everywhere I go, eat small portions, faire la bise, kiss all of my family members an excessive amount, instigate affection wherever I go, have a yard, have a bathroom that includes a toilette, and more!

Vive l'indépendance! Je suis une citoyenne du monde!

In Nantes

Today was incredible! Woke up around 9 and lounged around til 10 am or so. Hanna and I went on a massive excursion to acquaint ourselves with our new town. We had a few spots pre-planned: the Chateau of the Dukes of Brittany, the Cathedral of Nantes, but there were so many lucky mishaps along the way!

We started off in the Centre Ville, which is where our apartments are located. We are right next to the world famous Cigale and a beautiful theater. It was a quick jaunt through the Place Graslin to the Place Royal, where there is a lovely fountain, lots of shops and interesting people. Here we purchased two pain au chocolates for breakfast.

Then we continued on, making out way through the Bouffay district to the Chateau of the Dukes of Bretagne. It was very beautiful, with free admission, and we walked all along the ramparts for a good half hour or so. Thinking about all the many, many people who had also walked those walls in the five hundred years or more that they have existed. It was a blissful experience, and we both were happy nearly to the point of tears.

Afterwards, we headed over to the Cathedral of Nantes. We toured the Cathedral only Thursday, and so had already been given good back ground information of its age, its history, and various symbols. Ere go, we were completely free to walk around and just soak in the feel and look of the place. It is very, very beautiful, with some of the highest walls of any French Cathedral. It has many beautiful and old statues and paintings and confessionals. Unfortunately, most of the stain glass is very ugly, having been added in the 20th century as a result of the French Revolution, a fire, and World War II. All in all though, it is impossible to walk into a Cathedral and not to feel moved. Men have constructed such elaborate monuments to honor God, and such dedication is so moving.

Then we happened along another IES student, Avril from Hope College in Michigan, who walked with us to find a sandwhich for lunch. En route, we happened upon a festival of wine that was being held by a community group. It was a wonderful little parade, complete with people dressed in traditional garb and a marching band that was excellent. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure it's real.

Then we headed to the Passage Pommeraye. Just to stroll around. It is the oldest shopping mall in the world, so I'm told. Lots of beautiful window displays of candies! Avril departed, and Hanna and I tried to find L'Ile de Versailles. We ended up walking almost the exact wrong direction (this is not the norm though - we've actually been quite directionally savy). Fortunately though, today we got lost, and ended up at the Jardins des Plantes which was a lovely park, much in keeping with Hyde Park in San Francisco. There were doves and ducks, fountains and arbors and happy people everywhere of course. We explored quite happily for quite a while.

Realizing, eventually, that we were not at all in the correct neigborhood, we retraced our footsteps, hopped the TAN (like a tram) and headed to L'Ile de Versailles. It consists of a Japanese garden that is very lovely - lots of coy ponds and Japanese cedars - though I think honestly Hanna and I both preferred the Jardin des Plantes and were so glad we'd lost our way.

We decided to opt out of the TAN on our return, and walked along the Loire back towards le Centre Ville. We passed lovely house boats, restaurants on the rive, kayakers, and crazy blue tree statues that have been cut to look like humans. I can't really describe them, but they were very fun to walk by.

We returned to our apartments, rested, and then we went out again for an excellent dinner and wine at a restauraunt very near our house. Excellent! Then we met up with some friends in the Bouffay district, had some kir and chatted, went to another bar where I got locked in the bathroom for five minutes and had a minor panic attack, and then went home to rest.

1 semaine + le Commencement = The Beginning

I have now been in France one week, and I cannot believe that it has only been one week! The plane and train rides were a bit of an exhausting blur. I recall mainly that the plane was very small, the Paris airport was very frightening, and the train conductor on the 10:27 was very rude and a good deal too near the Parisian stereotype.

Our first weekend was spent on a relaxing vacation to Bretagne that IES Nantes arranged to help us overcome le decalage (jetlag)! What a good idea! In Bretagne, we stayed in a hotel in Vannes, where every evening we were served three course meals that were, honestly, the best tasting meals of my life. Our days were spent in the following ways:

• Le Chateau de Suscinio (XIIIth -XVth century) : The chateau was very beautiful and gloomy looking, situated next to an estuary of sorts that was teeming with birds. Unfortunately, the majority of the chateau had been remodeled and was currently being used as a museum of sorts, with an exposition featuring mediocre to above average but scarcely excellent photographs of birds that live around the chateau. I was not too excited by this exhibit. HOWEVER. There was a back end of the chateau that had not been remodeled and it was beautiful. It had a dilapidated tower that looked out onto the estuary and it was a gloomy sort of magical day and there was a very chilly breeze blowing and all this I loved.
• Port Blanc et (plus important) L'Ile aux Moines: We took a bus from Vannes to Port Blanc, a beautiful harbor full of lovely sail boats. We took a short ferry ride from Port Blanc to L'Ile aux Moines, where we were each given a picnic lunch and a bicycle and five hours to explore! It was heaven. The island was full of beautiful little cottages, some with thatched roofs, old churches and springs and ocean views and docks and abandoned ships and everything that is wonderful. The houses were painted lovely, bright colors, as is befitting an island haven. Magnificent! Hanna and I got lost early on, which was unfortunate because one of our friends had Hanna's sack lunch, but we made the most of it and explored for hours and went on two short strolls, both ending in the sea and one which passed by some very odd and eerie old spring houses with steps extending down into the spring - I don't know why! - but very wonderful looking.
• Vannes itself: very lovely and full of medieval buildings, a large cathedral and lots of small shops. So far every town I've been in, I've thought, "Well, wouldn't this be a nice place to live!" but no worries I love home too much to betray it.
• La Forteresse: an ancient chateau that hasn't been tackily remodeled in anyway. The chateau is quite a ways from the main road, so we had to walk through a forest that had more ferns than any forest I'd ever seen! The chateau was so beautiful and overgrown, with plants growing through all of the rock fronts; an old chapel had all but been removed by time, with only one wall left, the most beautiful stone window remained, through which grew trees and black berries. Additionally, there was a lovely lake left by the long gone moat, which was beautiful also and which Hanna and I hiked around. (I scuffed my new shoes though and was sad!)
  
• Keroyal de Plougoumelen: a wonderful creperie in the countryside with a wonderful view of a lake from the back window. We had a lunch crepe - jambon, des oeufs et du formage (ham, eggs and cheese) and a desert crepe which I think was butter and sugar and cream so of course - delicious.
• Alignements de Kermario: the French equivalent of Stone Henge. Incredibly lovely and mystical. The rocks were aligned (hence the name) in long rows from shortest to tallest over the distance of a football field, at the front of the alignement, the rocks were placed closer together in a crescent and it is believed that this is where only the high priest could go. Its crazy how many similarities even dissimilar religions have!
• Saint Goustan: a beautiful town that Ben Franklin himself frequented while in France! Our visit coincided with their annual festival d'huitres: festival of oysters! Wonderful! It was a truly bizarre celebration. There are knights of the oysters who take themselves very seriously and parade about playing bagpipes and carrying platters of oysters to display. The town was incredibly beautiful and I would have liked to spend more time there but, dommage, nous devions partir!
• La Rochefort en Terre: yet another beautiful town. Lots of old, beautiful buildings, lots of beautiful flowers everywhere. There were lots of art shops, there was a jazz band playing in the town square, there was a lovely old chateau.
  

Returning to Nantes, we met up with our familles d'acceuil (homestay families) again. My family consists of Clotilde, la mere, Arnaud, le pere, Amaury, le fils de 19 ans, et Erwan, le fils de 10 ans. I really like them! They're very sweet and funny, and though it has taken me way out of my comfort zone to live with another family, it has been a wonderful experience. Clotilde especially is very sweet; I believe she has participated in the program since her eldest daughter left for college in Paris, so I think she enjoys having another girl in the house to chat with. She is a really good cook, as are all of the French, and so far I've had no grave mishaps.

This week I've been taking orientation classes: French language and grammar of course, but also, French Manners and How to Make French Friends.

These are the most bizarre things I learned:

• Never say Bonjour alone. Bonjour, Madame, Bonjour, Clotile, but never just Bonjour.
• You only say Bonjour to each person once a day. If you said Bonjour to someone in the morning and then you see them again that afternoon, you cannot say Bonjour again without seeming weird.
• Never put your bread on your plate; it goes on the table to the left of your plate. (I seriously am not joking about this.)
• Your hands must always stay above the table, never in your lap.
• Always finish eating your food. You must not leave anything on your plate.
• If you call someone's house to speak to your friend and their housemother answers, if your friend is not at home you must end the conversation with, Sorry for displacing you, Madame, and thank you for your time.
• Always arrive either exactly on time or up to 15 minutes late. NEVER arrive early.
• Always use the formal VOUS to people you don't know, unless they are under 12 years old. Always.
  
• French families fight more than American families (though perhaps not more than my American family did (because of me)) but if the family fights at the table NEVER say anything or act like anything is going on wrong. (I experienced that tonight. YIPES!)

These are just a few.

The most shocking things though

1. Everyone kisses each other on the cheek. Everyone. Its not a myth.
2. No one ever says Hello or Good day to the people they pass on the street, unless they know them. It is considered rude and weird.
3. French people are SO SMALL AND THIN AND PRETTY

Thus concludes the summation of my first week.

Application = Fini!

Mon application pour Nantes est complie! C'est genial!

Well it's been a long time, long time now
Since I've seen you smile
And I'll gamble away my fright
And I'll gamble away my time
And in a year, a year or so
This will slip into the sea
Well it's been a long time, long time now
Since I've seen you smile

Nobody raise their voices
Just another night in Nantes
Nobody raise their voices
Just another night in Nantes
-Beirut