Cette semaine...

This week was more or less of the same. We went to Wazemmes again on Sunday, but it was better this time. Much less overwhelming and we actually bought stuff! :-) Mandi and I got a rotisserie chicken and potatoes for lunch which was really good. The weather was great and I had one of those little, "I love France" moments. I was in the market with all these people, vendors yelling in french, gypsies playing accordions, and I just felt happy to be there and take it all in. Monday was really fun. John Brunner from MU/GV was in town so we got dinner with him, his friend who is teaching in Lille, Aude from GV, and Mikael from GV. Really fun! We went to Flam's, which I didn't realize serves flammenkuche, which is regional. It's a type of pizza that is made with really thin crust, crème fraiche, and cheese plus toppings. It was delicious! It was so good to see all of them and kind of amazing to travel over 4,000 miles and still have Marquette connections.

The rest of the week has been pretty low key. The homework is starting to hit...I have a lot of reading to do in the next couple weeks. In France, they expect that the students have read the books for Literature classes before the class begins. Kinda crazy...but the way the class works is really nice. Most of them focus on a couple books and the teacher gives an overview of the book and historical setting the first couple classes, then you go into detail and interpret. It's really focused, which I appreciate. My French class yesterday was a little overwhelming. We're talking about passive voice which we studied a little bit in my grammar class, but we're talking about extremely idiomatic forms that I look at and really can't understand how they mean what they mean. For anyone who has some french background, check out this for an explanation...kind of. Really bizarre stuff.

Last night I went to the grocery store and decided to make a real dinner, so I made pork with mushrooms, onions, and red wine. I definitely made up the recipe, but it actually turned out pretty well! I think I would make a few modifications next time, but overall pretty good. This meal also included my first glass of Bordeaux, which I have to admit was quite good. It was cheap, so it was a little watery, but otherwise tasty. I also did some laundry last night, which doesn't sound exciting, but I have a point to make. Our basement literally looks like a horror movie could be filmed down there. The TV room is all fine and dandy, but then you go down the hall to the laundry room, and it's SCARY. There is an old kitchen down there that is all locked up and it looks all dilapidated and stuff...just creepy. I seriously don't think I could go down there alone. Especially at night. I'll get some pictures next time.

I really wanted to go climbing today, but my prospective partners bailed on me. I'm seriously itching to go. Most mornings I wake up dreaming about climbing, which makes me really anxious. I hope I can round up some people to go with me after class on Monday seeing as most Internationals have minimal classes on Fridays and Mondays. If that doesn't work...I'll just figure it out myself! I can't wait much longer!

Some observations about France/Lille:
1) It smells like cigarettes and leather all the time.
2) It's really easy to interpret French people negatively because of cultural differences--this can cause problems. They aren't actually mean, just not super open to those who aren't already one of the friends.
3) Americans are poorly educated. I have never felt so stupid in my life!
4) "Rules" here are relative. Nothing is set in stone. For example: my responsable said that there is a rule that you can't smoke in your dorm, but it was actually, "try not to smoke in your dorm if possible, and if you do, open your window." The same kind of thing goes for alcohol in the residence.
5) People are CRAZY drivers.
6) People really don't like Americans, so it's better not to bring attention to the fact that you are one.


I'll add some more as I think of them.

Bisous à tous!!