This first photo is of a Chinese friend of mine, (I know her name, I just have no idea how to spell it, so I won't try) she is cooking me and my German friend Bergette (I hope I'm spelling that one right) a phenomenal lunch of authentic Chinese food. She just decided to invite us over one afternoon, about three weeks ago, to enjoy some of her cooking. It was delicious, just see for yourself:
I can tell that La Rochelle feels like home when I don't find it the least bit odd to sit down to a Chinese meal and speak in French to people who don't speak French as their native language. The familiar translation difficulties came when I realized that she wasn't offering me bread, "Baguette," but rather chopsticks, "Baguettes" (silent s) but I made up for it by showing off my impressive chopstick skills. It's good to know that the lifetime I've spent at sushi joints and munching take-out Chinese food wasn't time wasted.
I went to a huge party the following Friday night. It was put on by a student organization at the school, and they chartered buses to take us to a club outside of La Rochelle. The open bar meant that most people were trashed, but I had a decent time dancing with some friends of mine and generally hanging out. I stumbled home exhausted at five in the morning after the bus dropped us off. Fortunately La Rochelle is a city where violent crime is practically non-existent. I tried my best to look extra intimidating, though exhausted, on the walk home though.
The above picture is of my dearly departed friend Theo (this isn't even the strangest pose I've seen him in) He left us about a week and a half ago to return to the US. We had a nice sendoff at Rachael and David's apartment. I wish him all the best back in the states. His girlfriend, Danielle, who remains here to finish her studies, will miss him dearly. In an effort to cheer her up, I forced her to rent a bicycle with me and ride around the city.
A quick side-note about how awesome the bike system is here in La Rochelle. At the central bus station there is a wonderful man, who I have become friends with over many many days of seeing each other (we use the familiar form of the word "you"), who informed me that with my student bus pass I can keep their bikes all day long. Consequentially, I have delighted in riding them all over the city. Not only is it fantastic exercise, but it's truly a marvelous way to see the sights. Everyday that the weather is nice, which is often, I borrow a bike and ride along the ocean, through the park, or simply along the well trodden streets of La Rochelle. This system needs to be adopted by the US. By investing in bicycles we could help alleviate our dependence upon gasoline, improve our infrastructure by building bike friendly roads instead of fixing our decrepit highway system, and help American's to get the exercise they so desperately need. Of course I'm probably oversimplifying, but riding a bike is tremendous fun, and I defy anyone not to have a good time doing it here.
Moving right along, to another awesome aspect of French culture: the library. Ever since I purchased a library card, I have been enjoying their vast selection of books, movies, dvds, cds, and graphic novels (or comic books if you insist on being a jerk about it) Those of you who know me can attest to the fact that back in the states I am an avid library goer. I have worn out the signature on the back of my library card. Before I got this excellent laptop, I used to walk to the downtown library to use their free computers to access the internet for hours at a time. Believe me when I say, as someone who has been to libraries in many different states in the US, that the French médiathèque is unbelievable. I have seen record stores with smaller music collections than they have their. And I'm not talking about laughable eighties hits, although they're here too. I've listened to everything from the Sex-Pistols to Bishop Allen, to Ray Charles, to the Gorillas, to crazy European artists I've never heard of before. In addition, the dvd collection is on par with some of the smaller Blockbuster rental stores I have seen. They have recent hits, Woody Allen, tv shows, South Park (eight seasons), and more. I'm not knocking libraries back in the states, because they certainly do an incredible job with their limited resources. But when I can sit on the third floor of a library with a good book, gazing through a glass wall that looks out upon the harbor, I know it's as close to heaven as an avid reader can ever be. I promised my friend Eryn I'd take a picture, and I'll try to post one later.
Someone asked me in an e-mail not too long ago how I have time to do all the neat stuff I get to do here in France. After all, I am here to go to school... right? Well, the truth of the matter is I mostly just write about the fun stuff, rather than boring people with the incredibly dull work that are my business classes. School is fun. I like learning. But when I am placed in a class titled "International Negotiation" with students from all over the world, I expect more than a project on the proper way to negotiate the purchase of a used car (I only wish I were joking about this!) Maybe it's asking for too much for me to expect my business classes to be challenging. After all, even compared to my easiest philosophy class, any of the five business courses I've had throughout my college degree are a cakewalk.
Fortunately not all classes are quite so mind numbingly dull. My French class, for example, is always a delight and a challenge. I feel like I learn more French language and about French culture everyday. And I am meeting lots of really cool French students. Like my friend Tiffen (French for Tiffany) who invited me over to celebrate her twenty-first birthday party. Turning twenty-one in France isn't accompanied by massive amounts of over-intoxication, as they frequently are in the states. Since the legal drinking age in France is eighteen (sixteen for beer) the atmosphere was decidedly more fun.
From left to right you can see Milenko (my fellow classmate from Venezuela), Tiffen, Ray (a Canadian who clearly thinks he's more gangsta than he really is) and a friend of Tiffen's whose name I have unfortunately forgotten
This past week I have had a vacation from school. I guess it's the equivalent of a spring break, although it just kind of happened that way for me. Most of my friends had their breaks last week, and only for a few days. Others didn't get a break at all. I was going to go to Bordeaux this week, but after I bought tickets to go to Paris next weekend, I decided I couldn't really afford it. I'll probably go for a weekend some time in the future. I had a decidedly low-key week, hanging out with friends, riding my bike around town. I did go to the movies Thursday morning to see Watchmen. It came out here two days before it was released in the states, and since I'd read the book before I didn't mind that it was dubbed over in French. The movie was so engrossing that I forgot at several points that it was in a foreign language.
Well, this post has gone way longer than I was expecting. It's late, I'm tired, and I have to finish up preparations on a presentation to be delivered in Monday's French class. It's a comparison between the French electoral system and the American one. While the French's system is undeniably more complicated than ours, I do appreciate the fact that they hold their elections on a Sunday, and that no campaigning is allowed at all after the Friday before. Also they don't allow annoying ads to run on Television for months on end.
Please write me an e-mail to let me know you're still alive. Today is the Philosophy conference back in Oklahoma, and not even La Rochelle can keep me from a slight feeling of sadness that I'm missing it. Fortunately I've got next week in Paris, and my girlfriend coming to see me to look forward to with anticipation. If I don't write another post for two weeks, you'll know why.
