As the title indicates, I was far too busy this past weekend to post. So hopefully you will excuse my tardiness with this new post. It has been a busy week, both at school and socially. Yesterday the sun came out, but today the clouds are back again. Fortunately the sun lasted long enough for us to take a picnic to the park. In this particular park live a donkey, several peacocks, geese, turkeys, other birds, deer, and a many agreeable goats with their kids. Although not quite a zoo, we occupied ourselves watching the animals play. By far the most interesting animal in the park, an old woman chastised the many French people who fed the donkey's bread. "C'est mal pour leur santé." she said, answering the age old question of whether donkey's get sick when fed too much bread. After watching her feed several carrots to them, we assisted in retrieving some of the larger pieces of bread from the cage, utilizing several fallen tree branches to extend our reach. I fear our efforts were entirely in vain. When we left I noticed several children and their parents approach the cage, their arms laden with baguettes. I tried not to worry about sick donkeys as we walked to the beach and enjoyed our picnic. We rounded out the afternoon by going to the museum of natural history. Like most of the major museums, it is free on the first Sunday of the month. I find myself eager to return and see more of the exhibits. It was difficult to explore the collection in its entirety in only an hour. I enjoyed thoroughly their collection of stuffed animals (see above)
In other news, I resolved to speak in French as much as possible when in public, even with my American friends. One of my classmates is a particularly loud and extremely talkative American girl, whose voice and appearance prompt les garçons to practically fall over themselves at the chance to practice their English. On the other hand I have met many an interesting French person simply by making an effort to speak French. Even if I speak French like a Spanish cow, it's still good practice for me. When I met the other student from my university, who arrived in class last Monday, I realized just how good my French skills are for an American. In spite of my best efforts to allay her fears, her adjustment to living in France has been, to put it kindly, quite challenging. Still I think she is making real progress as are the Lithuanian students in my class.
Last week was Chinese new year, which meant a large party at a bar in town. Named after my favorite Truffaut film, "Le 400 coups" filled with students. I found myself talking at length to several Chinese students. All of them seem astonished when I tell them that I have been to China. I suppose it's not a popular tourist destination for Europeans. Inevitably these conversations in broken French turn to politics, as it did with a young Iranian I met a few weeks ago. It might simply be the international response to our new president, but most of the people I meet love America. Our culture is without a doubt our greatest export, and they firmly believe the propaganda we spout about the "American Dream" In spite of our political differences, I am happy to say that I enjoy the company of these students. Truly my time over here is a unique opportunity to learn more about the world.
It seems as though the week has been more action packed than this meager post would lead you to believe, but I simply don't have the time to write any more. I'm on my way to my first non-French class. It's on British and American culture, which might very well be a waste of my time. Still, I think it will be interesting to discover how others perceive our culture and to discover more about the Empire that spawned us. Some of you might find it refreshing to learn that I don't spend all my time here adventuring, but writing about all the schoolwork I slough through makes for a pretty boring read.
