spies

On my way home last night this man came walking brisquely past- then he pulled out a walkie talkie, said some incomprehensible into it and ducked into a doorway, just like spy people do in movies. I was thinking to myself he wasn't doing a very good job since I could clearly tell what he was up to and i wasn't trying. But then I got really sketched out and walked really fast to my door. I still wonder what was occuring on my street last night that necessitated such espionage activities.

Also pictures from sweden are up on the photo sight : )

Thanksgiving

I tutored English again this week. This time the youngest asked me what I knew about thanksgiving. I got really excited and asked him what he wanted to know. He said he was just supposed to write about it for his class for Thursday. So I was then supposed to just tell him whatever I knew about the story of Thanksgiving. This was about the point that I realized that I didn't really know that much about thanksgiving. He mentioned the Mayflower- but I didn't know the date that the mayflower arrived. I feel that is a failing. So I just told him about pilgrims and indians and how they supposidly had this feast together but I couldn't decide whether this story was just sort of a myth that they tell you or if you're actually supposed to believe it. I just told him that that's what american school children learn. And then I proceded to talk about all the food- which I was much better at explaining. I didn't actually get to talk about the football that also occurs.. but I suppose that's not actually "traditional". Also his mom roasted chestnuts and gave me some to take with me- I had never eaten a chestnut before.

Oh and I just realized that I never recounted my events of Monday night. -

The metro is still on strike here- which really just means that there are a lot less trains running. And those that are running are stuffed with people half the time. So i tried to take my metro line to meet people for dinner across the city and after waiting while two trains came and went- stuffed with people. the likes of which abby so well described on her marshrutka. And I decided to walk to the next station because sometimes that helps. But even there I had to squish myself into an overfull train. This was all uncomfortable but ok until we got to "Charles de Gaulle- Etoile" I think i've memorized every stop on my metro and can even pronounce them the same way the loudspeaker lady does. And I knew that lots of people get off at this stop. So the second the doors opened the entire mass of people I was squished up against gave one huge shove and I was pushed out of the train. This would have been ok but as I stepped backward to catch myself my right foot slipped between the train and the platform and I just sort of fell backward with my leg and ankle caught and people attempting to step over me. I had one of those weird flash backs and I just remembered the scene in the lion king with the wildebeast stampede and all the times I'd ever heard of someone being trampled to death. But I was saved by this group of women that i'd been pressed up against as they started shouting- "hey hey, stop" and various other french words that basically meant "hey, watch it" to the people who were pressing upon me preventing me from standing up again and getting out of the way. I then could lift myself, and leg up off the platform, and other than a twisted ankle and a bump on my shin I had not met the same fate as Mufasa. I also appreciated the woman asking me if i was ok, saying "ca va?" the same phrase as I'd heard some kid's dad ask him after he feel down running one day. And I also appreciated the woman muttering about Sarkozy- apparently blaming him due to his unwillingness to fold to the will of the metro workers and therefore causing all of this. I'm not sure if I'm willing to blame my injuries on the French presidentm, but it was nice that they were upset about it.

I still managed to get to my dinner, after more crammed train riding in which I stayed far away from the door and some limping. But I found the jewish quarter by accident due to my unwillingness to attempt to take the correct metro because I was sure it would just be another nightmare. Now I really want to go buy some bread there. But that will have to wait for another day.

I just heard the news that my university has decided to continue the blockade until at least next tuesday, when there will be another vote. That will make it two weeks since i've had courses at Paris 3. So now the Middlebury center is talking about opening up replacement courses. But for now that means that an exam I was supposed to have tomorrow is definitly not happening. I'm not going to lie, that makes me happy. It's at least interesting to be a part of all the chaos that is currenlty occuring here. Though I really wouldn't mind having a working metro once again.

Fuck

I started tutoring these two boys in english last week (kid previously mentioned) - after going over their english homework I was just talking in english with the older kid and he was telling me about his summer camp and how everyone there just said "fuck" all the time. He said to me "Yeah, I thought fuck was a really bad word- I didn't realize you could just say it all the time like that". I then tried to explain to him that it was considered a really bad word- but that for certain people in certain contexts (like possibly pre-teens at a summer camp) it might be used a lot. But he still didn't seem very convinced when i said that it still wasn't a good idea to use the word unless you were sure it was ok. I wanted to say that if he used the word it was likely that some people might sort of look down on his vulgar speech- but it was hard because his canadian friends seemed to like the word so much. How do you explain to someone that their friends are probably not very respected either? I don't mean to sound condescending to people who occasionaly say "fuck" I just don't approve of it's over-exploitation. But then again that was just my point of view of it- and probably would be this kid's mother opinion too. And what if secretly this kid just wants to rebel against his upper class upbringing and get the word fuck tatooed on his forehead or something? I really shouldn't oppress his freedom of expression. But i probably shouldn't encourage him to say "fuck yeah!" to his english professor either.

Metro and Les Bisous

Well the strike is supposed to stop today. Also my school will probably reopen monday, though we have to wait until the official General Assembly to meet once again monday at noon. But unfortunatly I don't think the students can hold out that long. So I probably will have class next week. Which means the arrival of my Woody Allen midterm. I'm going to attempt to study for this, even though the subject is more painful to study than the time we had to read 5 books on the life of the editor of the Oxford English dictionary. Looking back that actually seemed enjoyable. At least that man was pretty awesome- woody allen, not so awesome. And his movies- well.. they're not the oxford english dictionary. I don't know what i meant by that. I guess I maybe would have thought his movies were ok before attempting to study him. Actually I probably would never have watched them.. moving on.

I've been walking a lot, with all the chaos that i encounter each time i try to enter a metro station. Yesterday this man got onto our already packed train by standing in the doorway and letting the force of the door just sort of fold him into the crowd as it shut. My friend Lauren said it was so tight in her train once that she could feel the heartbeat of the man pressed up against her. Sometimes people will Q up in the hallways that lead to the platforms that let you onto the trains- I once encountered such a line and just turned around and walked back to whence i came. So like I said i've been walking a lot. Which means to get home I've managed to cover the entire length of the Champs Elysees- as well as find many amusing side streets. I found where Christie's (the auctioneer) is located- surrounded by the most expensive looking stores imaginable. I really thought i had found the heart of expensive shopping near the middlebury center- where all the gucci and hermes shops seem to be, but I think it hit a whole new tier when i saw these art deco shops.

I'm about to pack up my things and take the metro across town to a library, where theoretically i will brilliantly outline and find amazing sources for my oral on "what languages should be taught at school?" French schools that is. Apparenlty the current opinion is people worried about the "oppressing influence" of the English language. And then i will study many a things that i'm constantly reminded by the middlebury center that i should be just making up work for myself to do since our proffesors never tell us what to do. I despise making up work for myself- and I can only really accomplish this if I have an upcoming test that i know will cover certain material and therefore can create ways to learn that material- but here it's more like just guess what you think might be good to know and learn that. As the french would say I never "arrive" at that.

Also a dream I had last night in which I returned to the states and tried to greet someone by kissing them on the cheek, only to their great confusion, reminded me that I had never discussed this phenomenon before. I guess I was aware that the French participated in this greeting/farewell ritual before arriving- I just didn't realize to what extent it could become complicated. First of all, as we discussed in my language and society class one day, the French are very bad at shaking hands. This is apparenlty the reason why Americans don't respect the French, according to my professor. Some American students said they tried to shake hands with people that they met here in the begining - but this was laughed at and then kisses were immediatly exchanged instead. But the number of kisses can also be varied depending on where you orignate from. In Paris you're supposed to give two (i.e. one on each cheek). But then there are some people from the suburbs who always give four- This i find to be very excessive and just generally time consuming. I also sometimes become dissoriented when i have to do this because your head is just going back and forth so many times you feel sort of like a chicken bopping it's head about. To make it even more complicated apparently some people do 3- I haven't met these people yet. And i still don't understand what happens when someone who does 2 meets someone who does 4- to whose will must you bend?

The other greeting custom we discussed in my class was hugs- Apparently the french never hug. Someone in my class pointed out that there is a FREE HUGS campaign in Paris though, but of course it originates from the american group. But apparently in general grown ups never "hug" lovers are of course constantly "embrassing" here- but this is not considered the same thing as embrassing generally lasts for extensive periods of time, usually right beside me on the metro it seems, and I will agree has almost nothing to do with a hug. This french high schooler that I started tutoring in English was telling me about his Canadian summer camp he went to and how crazy it was that everyone hugged everyone there- but he seemed really excited about it and thought this was great. So maybe future generations can give it a shot- but maybe he'll just have to move to Canada.

New York Times article

Strike Cripples Travel in Parts of France

check that out.

restless November

after re-reading this I realized i managed to spell blockaded- blocaded like 5 times- but this represents my current confusion between french spelling and english so i shall leave it to preserve the authenticity

so as i tried to sum up with the bbc article - France has lost it's mind. My school is currenlty being blocaded and the metro once again is on strike- same reason as last time: it's against raising the retirement agae of metro workers. But the school thing is because they're trying to let public universities recieve funds from private sources if they can- like U.S. public universities do- but a few people think this means they're going to privitize universities. Which honestly anyone who's ever seen my school would say might be a good idea- but apparently it's not a good idea, so i don't have class tomorrow.

My school just started today (Censier) but Tolbiac, where some other midd kids go has been blocaded for almost two weeks.

We finally had the french middlebury administration here come in and talk to us today about everything that was going on and there explination behind it was probably more honest, though less politically founded than the one given by the B.B.C- apparenlty november is just sort of cold and grey so everyone gets restless and no one want's to do work- so they go on strike. I guess this is what happens when you don't have thanksgiving break.

More strikes

BBC article from : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7092336.stm:

Wednesday November 13, 2007

Open-ended strike

From Tuesday evening, the nation's rail network will grind to a halt as transport workers protest at plans to end their special retirement perks, which allow some staff like train drivers to retire on full pensions at 50.

October's strike crippled public transport across France for two days

The strike is their second in a month and this time it is open-ended.

Hot on their heels, Paris Metro workers have called a day of action on Wednesday, which militant unions hope to extend.

The action will be supported by gas and electricity workers, while protests by teachers and students are also planned next week, with the students threatening to block university campuses and train stations.

Plans to overhaul the judicial service and to shut some courthouses have prompted magistrates to strike too - just after a massive one-day strike planned by civil servants on 20 November.

Stubbornly tenacious

Used to protesting on the streets rather than via parliament, the French can be stubbornly tenacious when it comes to striking.

In 1995, three continual weeks of strikes by public and transport workers against planned reforms brought France to its knees and forced the government to back off.

[Mr Sarkozy] will not be trapped in confrontation on the street where it's clear that one or the other side is sure to lose in the end Xavier Timbeau

Mr Sarkozy, though, is made of stronger stuff. So, will he choose to fight till the last and appropriate that famous adage of Margaret Thatcher?

"To those waiting...[for] the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning!" she said in a defiant speech at the Conservative Party conference in 1980.

He is unlikely to hold out though, according to the economist, Xavier Timbeau.

"Sarkozy knows that a hard conflict will only strengthen the opposition," he says.

"He will not be trapped in confrontation on the street where it's clear that one or the other side is sure to lose in the end."

"Even if he won a victory, he knows he'd have to pay for it very dearly sooner or later. What he wants is negotiation."

NMR

On crowded metro bus, standing next to girl and boy about same age as me speaking in english- though the girl had a strong french accent. Girl tells boy she's nervous about some test on monday. boy asks what the test is about- girl answers "spectroscopy". She's trying this spectroscopy that has to do with the electrons etc., but she doesn't know the english word- "NMR" I say- sort of random, since i'd been trying to pretend like i wasn't listening to them. But this was just too tempting to pass up- It's called "NMR" I repeat- oh yeah- NMR she says. The boy points out how amazing it is that someone on the bus just happened to know what they were talking about- I agree with the boy. Pretty amazing.

Duel?

So a sketchy man video taped me while i was waiting for the metro today. At first i just thought he was a weird tourist taping people on the platform but then he came up to me and told me i was tall and blonde - both things which i'm fully aware of- and then asked me for my email address or address. I don't know how much of this was wishful thinking and how much was that he was just insane - but i of course said no, he asked "you don't have an email address?" and i just said "non" - he then continued to stand near me, mind you it was a busy platform so i didn't fear for my safety at all, and later he asked again if he really couldn't just have my email address. When i again said i didn't have one he finally walked futher away - now holding his video camera again and continued to film me standing there. Hence i crammed myself onto the next metro train, even though it was way over full and i amost got trapped in the door, and left him behind on the platform. But now some sketchy french man has a video tape of me. I can only hope that a better subject came along and he had to tape over it.

This general harrasment, i fear, has become fairly routine- from my jogging in the park, to walking with friends down the street, to sitting - even with head buried in Harry Potter- on the metro. I think it's just part of living in a city, but it makes one want to carry about a large intimidating looking boyfriend, one that would just rip out the tape from that guy's camera and smash it to pieces. Or at least challenge him to a duel.

Toussaints

i am currenlty eating peanut butter out of a jar- need to stop. It's my last jar- but soooo good.

My metro train ran someone over this week. I'm still really disturbed by this. When the train stopped suddenly and the loud speaker said someone was under the train- that we all needed to get off- i didn't really understand what they meant. Huge crowds gathered by the front of the train and people were taking pictures, I guess they could see the man. Another woman rushing by me asked "Il est mort?"= "He's dead?" I didn't know- I didn't even really know what they meant by someone was 'under the train' until i saw someone else describing the scene to another making choping gestures at the torso. I can only guess what this meant- i chose not to stick around and find out or try to look as the rest of the people from the train were. I caught another train at the same station on another line, but the rest of the ride home was accompanied by the loud speaker announcing that "line 2 is closed temporarily due to a serious accident with a passanger" It sounded more eerie in French where "serious" is "grave" and hence just conjures up images of death.

Ironically this was halloween. Halloween otherwise was very pleasant- not actually a holiday here, but I celebrated by going on a trip to the Catacombs and Pere Lachaise. Pere Lachaise was amazingly beautiful and peaceful, especially for a cemetary. It's on a hill facing west and the sun was setting through autumn leaves. It's also known for the famous people buried there- people used to go to Morrisson's grave to smoke pot, but now they've put up a fence and apparently kick out loiterers. Chopin's there, as are Delacroix, Moliere and Oscar Wilde. There are new pictures up on my link (which by the way seems to only work with internet explorer- at least for me fire fox doesn't show the pictures.)