Study Abroad Stories

Proms Lite

2007-06-01T23:24:00.001Z

I just returned from quite an interesting concert.

By way of explanation: the BBC Proms is a series of concerts given every summer, primarily in London. They are generally intended to bring classical music to a wider audience. As such the performances are more informal than your typical concert, and (as seems to be a recurring pattern in this country) a number of odd traditions are involved.

One of the Oxford student orchestras decided to hold their own smaller version of the Last Night of the Proms. This turned out to include:

mostly British music (Elgar, Vaughan Williams, etc.)
a corresponding display of patriotism, something that I really haven't seen here before; most of the musicians wore something with a Union Jack on it (including a few bowties and one cummerbund), and most people in the audience were waving flags
silliness in the orchestra; the conductor took a break for tea during one rather long clarinet solo
audience participation: singing along, stomping, clapping, blowing noisemakers, and the previously mentioned flag-waving

This all made for a hilariously fun evening, which only improved when we got to sing "God Save the Queen." You quite possibly know the first verse:

God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen;
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us;
God save the Queen.

However, you are less likely to have heard the second verse, which is:

O Lord, our God, arise,
Scatter thine enemies,
And make them fall;
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On thee our hopes we fix;
God save us all.

Weather

2007-05-23T10:27:00.000Z

"I hate England. Why did you come here?"
-- Matt, my tutorial partner, as we left college last week to find it suddenly raining

The past few days have actually been summery and pleasant, which is a nice change from last week's storms. I have to mention something that happened during that spell of bad weather, though: some people I know organized a friendly football match, and plenty of people showed up to play in the rain. I think that says something about British resilience (or at least about the British love of football).

Revue du France

2007-04-27T11:11:00.000Z

Note: This entry was originally written on the train to Barcelona after spending more than two weeks in France (April 28, 2007). It’s all in mangled “French”–without even the aid of a dictionary–which is a mix of incorrect French, Spanish, and English. This is an entry for me to reflect on in the future–as much for the content as for seeing how much French I knew. Feel free to just look at the pretty pictures at Flickr (not all of the photos are uploaded yet due to bandwidth limits…

J’ai arrivee en Paris immediamente apres ma exam de chemie quantum. La premerie vu du Paris est un homme que peepee por la rue. Il no tournez pas a la autre direccion. J’ai une question por encontrer mi hostel, The Peace and Love. Sur las proximes trois jours, j’ai vu la Tour Eiffel, l’Arc du Triomphe, las Champs Elysees, la Lourve, la Notre Dame, la Moulin Rouge (pas en le soir, tristemente), la Sacre Coeur, la Palais du Luxeombourg, et beaucoups beaucoups jardins. Si je va encore, je va a voir la Musee d’Orsay, la Musee Picasso, et il n’ya pas beaucoup plus. Paris est plus cool si je connaisez le francais, o si je suis avec mes amis.

Apres, j’ai alle a Montelimar en la sur de France, a la midi des Valence et Orange. Por deux semanes, j’ai vive avec la famille Cheron: Stephanie, Laurent, Chloe, Quentin, Pirouette (le chien), et Peanuts (le chat).

La premiere soir a est bizare parce que j’ai ne se pas beaucoup francais, et Stephanie se un peu de anglais. Mais demaine la autre visiteur, Erin, a arrivee, et elle est de les Etats Unids et parle francais tres fluidmente, parce que elle a faire un mission en Quebec por soi eglise por deux ans. Donk, elle a m’explique tout que j’ai ne comprends pas.

J’ai devee parle plus, mais je ne peut en francais. Nos avion avoir beaucoup montanges, chateaux, palaix, parcs, etc. J’ai aimee la nouritture francais, comme la pate, la fromage, la escargot, et les pains aux chocolats. Mais j’ai aimee la plus la famille tres genial. Chloe et Quentin j’ai reconnaise a ma sur et moi. C’a est tres interesante voir un famille differente etre comme ma famille. Et il y’a un jour que Peter et Anke an m’aidee en Marseilles. Il a fait tres bella la jour, et j’ai voir la mer mediterranean por la premiere vez.

Je suis por la tran a Barcelona. Je va a perd la francais toutamente, mais j’ai passe jours formidables en France.

ANZAC Day

2007-04-26T08:31:00.000Z

So in Australia and New Zealand, April 25 is a huge holiday commemorating the landing of Aus and NZ troops on the beaches of Gallipoli in Turkey during WWI. It's a pretty big deal because it was the first time Aus troops had seen battle (remember Aus didn't fight for independence) and supposedly they fought extremely bravely despite the fact that they were at a strategic disadvantage, etc, and it's a huge deal to the Aussies that when tested in battle, their soldiers "were not found lacking..." and its kind of seen as Aus' coming of age. So I got up before 4 and went to the dawn service where the governor of Western Aus spoke of the "ANZAC spirit, forged in the fires of Gallipoli..." (direct quote from WA's governor, I swear...but doesn't it sound Lord of the Ringsesque??) and built on the values of "courage, honour, and mateship" (those values which supposedly form the basis of the unique Australian national identity.) Seriously, MATESHIP...my "character value" education was sadly lacking without that one.... Anyways, they have a dawn service at the war memorial in King's Park, so I went to that, and later to the parade and commemorative service at Langley Park, which was interesting for several reasons. First, it included several prayers. Kind of funny, because Aus is overall more secular than the states, but they threw in all these prayers and everyone was fine with it. Then, and this just blew me away, they said a prayer for the Queen of England and sang "God Save the Queen." I just don't understand why she is still their Head of State...granted Aus' history with Britain is quite different from the US', and in their eyes, its not causing any problems, so why change it? But still...you're an independent nation and you're keeping Britain's queen as your head of state?

Japan blog

2007-03-31T16:16:00.001Z

Hey guys,
I'm in Tokyo!! It's been fantastic so far and I've decided to start a blog to keep track of all my adventures/misadventures over the next four months. Here is the link: http://brettintokyo.blogspot.com/ ...Though I will share some of the more interesting stories on here from time to time. Anyways, I just spent the day admiring/laying under cherry trees...the city is gorgeous right now! Anyways, hope everyone is having a great time. Just remember- I beat all of you for earliest time zone! ;) (haha jk)

Performances

2007-03-12T15:13:00.000Z

I've said before that Oxford favors specialization over well-roundedness. There's one area, however, in which the university is more open than IU, and that area is performing arts. It's much easier for students outside the theater and music departments to find groups to perform with. Most colleges have an orchestra, a drama society, or both. The university-wide orchestras have open auditions at the beginning of the year, and there are a plenty of student groups that put on their own productions.

Naturally, these groups still attract mostly theater and music majors, since they're more committed to the kind of work involved, but there's a healthy mix of humanities and science majors participating in most shows; this is not something that you find very often at IU.

"We can hear you guys miles away..."

2007-03-03T15:24:00.000Z

So after noting the strong Scottish accents of a couple guys we were talking to at a bar, I asked an Aussie friend if the American accent seemed really strong to Australians. Her response: "Oh yea, we can hear you guys miles away..." Good to know. (and interesting that they use the phrase "miles away" when they work in kilometers)
A couple of notes about Australian-speak: They like words to end with an "ie" or "y" sound. My college, St. Thomas More, is Tommy More. The neighboring one is Georgie. Other examples are sunnies (sunglasses) and mossies (mosquitos), as well as the famous barbies (BBQs) I also have noticed that a lot of Australians add an "r" sound to the end of words ending in vowels. So at least to my ears it sounds more like "Australiar" (Australia), "Americer" (America), "idear" (idea), "pander" (panda), etc.
One more interesting thing-on the first day of one of my classes, one of my profs (as he was going over the course outline, etc) noted that he had taught in both Australia and the USA, (I think he's German) and he asked, "Do you know what the difference is between American and Australian students?" I was thinking "Uh-oh, something bad is coming..." but what he said actually complemented American students. He said (loosely quoted) "American students are loud and outspoken. They challenge the profesor. Australian students are quiet and passive..." (He was trying to encourage us to participate in the lectures.) An interesting generalization. I'll have to see if my classroom experiences support it.

The Land Down Under

2007-02-23T07:48:00.000Z

Hey all!

My 2nd study abroad semester has finally commenced and I find myself in Perth, Australia. The transition here so far has been amazingly smooth, more so than last semester when I was in Spain. Australia is very similar to the states in many aspects, and above all, they speak English, which really does make everything easier. In Spain, everything about me (the way I looked, talked, walked, etc) screamed American, but here it seems just the accent (or as I see it, my lack of one) which gives me away. Which brings up an interesting point; I was talking to a lady at one of the orientation functions and she asked "Is that a bit of an accent? Or do you just speak well?" American English considered speaking well? That amused me.
One thing that kind of surprised me here is the prevalence of drinking. There are at least three clubs at the uni solely devoted to partying/drinking/pub crawls, and almost all clubs list pub crawls as one of the things they do (Groups hire out "Night Cruiser" buses which take them from bar to bar blasting music...at least it avoids drunk driving). In the states, most uni clubs have a social aspect but it usually isnt so blatantly alcohol-based. I really don't know how they can afford it either, because alcohol here isn't cheap. It also cracks me up; all the freshers who are just 17 are complaining because they can't go out yet. If only they knew how easy they have it compared to the states.
Oh, and one more thing. The colleges (residence halls) had dragonboat races on the river the other day, and that water was chock-full of jellyfish! At first I was kind of freaked out because there are some deadly posionous jellyfish in the waters off Oz, but these were completely harmless. People even started picking them up and throwing them at each other. Yea for jellyfish fights!

Let it snow

2007-02-09T15:33:00.000Z

Yesterday, Oxford had its first sustained snowing of the year. It only totaled about 5 inches, but my British friends have not seen this much snow in 10+ years. And snow does this wonderful to the Oxford student. Mass snowball fights ignited at St. Hugh's. Walking to lectures, I got ambushed by hughsies on their way back from classes. And in the park by the science buildings, I saw human-sized snowmen being erected. One was sleeping on the bench. Another towered over the others, shaped somewhat like Shaq.

Why is snow treated so differently here from at IU? Perhaps we get so much that it's no longer a novelty. That's a shame. If it snows at IU next year, I suggest a snow art fun night in the Arboretum.

Spelling

2007-02-02T22:26:00.000Z

Two of the other Americans here, both of whom are studying humanities, were recently complaining about the differences between American and British spelling (color/colour and minimize/minimise, for example). Apparently some of their tutors accept American spelling, while others mark it as incorrect, and they're starting to confuse the two standards. One of them remarked to me, "You're lucky that at least math is the same everywhere."

The funny thing is that there are actually some differences in notation. A lecturer at an American university will usually draw a little arrow over a letter to show that it represents a vector; here the letter is underlined or has a ~ beneath it. Then the cross product is written with ʌ instead of ×, and when working in spherical coordinates, the roles of the angles θ and φ are reversed (but only by the physicists - the math department, confusingly, seems to use the same convention as the Americans). And, though I have yet to encounter this myself, one professor mentioned that "right-polarized" means the same thing to American engineers as "left-polarized" does to British engineers.

These are mostly minor differences, however, and the underlying ideas are exactly the same. It's almost as if they just spell things a little differently here.

Arohanui NZ

2007-01-29T01:47:00.000Z

I just got back from NZ about a week ago and it's still hard to believe that I just traveled to eleven different locations on the S. Island in four weeks. Traveling about the S. Island is a bit like walking through a giant greenhouse with sheep, kiwis, tourists, farms and some towns/cities thrown in the mix. In terms of the U.S, it was as if we drove from Colorado alpine country to Seattle's rainforests, Florida's Everglades, Hawaii's beaches, and the West coast all within about a few hours distance from one another. That is, of course, a simplistic description but the landscape is probably what I will remember the most. I couldn't help but be amazed at how almost every bend in the road would reveal another beatiful scene. Granted, NZ faces its own set of environmental challenges/issues (water scarcity, introduced pests, land management, etc.) but it's easy to see why the landscape is probably its greatest asset. If I had to pick out two highlights from the trip, I'd definitely start with Abel Tasman National Park (at the north tip of the S. Island). We spent the morning kayaking along the coast and then took a 3-hr. hike back through temperate rainforest (picture jurassic park minus the t-rex) with views of the beaches and aquamarine sea. That was arguably one of the most beautiful national parks I've seen. The other highlight would probably be the two days we spent in Kaikoura. In the morning, we walked along the coast when the tide was out, walked through a colony of fur seals, learned about the life hidden between the rocks and at one point almost witnessed our instructor try to wrangle an octopus out of the water. The next morning, we set out on a boat into the Pacific and dropped into the sea with snorkeling gear, wetsuits and about 3000 meters of water beneath us. Within minutes, we were surrounded by a pod of dusky dolphins zipping by us in almost every direction. In some cases, they would circle you and swim close enough to stare in the eye. It was pretty surreal but also somewhat overwhelming. Though our guides and boat were nearby, it was a bit cloudy/rainy that day and we couldn't see very far down into the water. Slightly unnerving was the thought that we were at the mercy of whatever lied beneath us (killer whales, great whites, and giant squids included)..but maybe I've been watching a little too much shark week. Anyways, if you ever find yourself in the S. hemisphere (or want to find a great winter study abroad program), AUIP's program is absolutely fantastic. After about 26 hours in airplanes and airports (a record?), I'm now back at home in Indiana adjusting the the snowy weather and anxiously awaiting the superbowl (go bears!). Also, if you want to see pictures, I just put some up on facebook. I'll be back with more soon (only two months until Tokyo!). Cheers~

First post

2007-01-22T13:23:00.000Z

Manassee and I actually were on the same flight from O'Hare to Heathrow! What a coincidence. Her program is in London, however, so I won't see her much now.

The first day that I was in London, I nearly got run over by traffic because I kept on looking on the wrong side of the road before crossing (British drive on the left side). Now, I've also noticed that people often pass each other on the street by stepping on the left side of the sidewalk, and the escalators are often on situated so that you go up and down the left one. Today in lecture, I got a stack of papers stapled in the upper right-hand corner, which is wild. So I asked my British friend about his country's weirdness. For those of you interested:

Sibo: Hey Lewis, I always wondered, is there some reason why British drive on the left side of the road?
Lewis: Hm...I think there once was a famous person or royalty who was one of the first to drive a car. And he was left-handed. So then people just started following him.
Sibo: Oh! What about when you had horse carriages and whatnot?
Lewis: I don't think they had enough people on the road before cars to have to make rules about driving.
Sibo: Ak, I buy that. So what about people walking on the left side of the sidewalk or escalator?
Lewis: I suppose it's just a subconcious thing now--adults walk on the left side because they drive on the left side. And children walk with their parents, so they get used to the left side. Funny how that can work.
Sibo: Oh wow! Do you think this also applies to this staple?
Lewis: What do you mean?
Sibo: This staple is on the wrong side--I mean, it's stapled here [points] in the US.
Lewis: Oh, that's just because the printer is messed up in the Physical Chemistry building. Yeah we usually staple there, too.

Florence

2007-01-19T13:31:00.000Z

Thanks for the introduction, Joe. I have to admit to being behind schedule in my communications from Italy, but I have provided some brief descriptions of my first days in Firenze here. For the moment, I'll be focusing on that blog, and I'll post some of the more interesting entries here at Study Abroad Stories.

New term, new bloggers

2007-01-18T22:47:00.000Z

Spring terms around the world are getting underway, and besides Brett, we have three new members: Michael, Sibo, and Brad are joining us from Florence, Oxford, and Hong Kong respectively.

New Zealand

2007-01-01T11:02:00.000Z

I'm in New Zealand!!!! I've only been here for four days but it is absolutely amazing. I am participating in a study abroad program through AUIP and the University of Montana in a four week course called "Sustaining Human Societies" which will cover a range of topics and issues concerning the interactions between humans and the environment in New Zealand. From Chicago Midway to Christchurch NZ, I was in the air for a total of about 17 hours and went through three different airports on the way. Each one had different rules about what was allowed in the carry-on, etc and that was a little disorienting. Auckland airport, however, was definitely a nice change of pace. When you arrive, you can see the bluish-green water of the Pacific, palm trees, and breathe in some nice fresh air (it's summer here in NZ)! On the descent, I could see little white dots all over the green landscape below...and those turned out to be sheep (NZ is populated by 4 million humans and 39 million sheep). When we arrived in Christchurch, we met Professor Borrie and took a shuttle to Living Space (our apartments). I'm sharing a flat in Christchurch over the next few days before we head off to Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park and about ten other locations around the South Island. On the first day here, we went on a crazy scavenger hunt to find different things associated with NZ. Apparently, there are three different kiwis in NZ..the fruit..the bird..and the people (New Zealanders call themselved 'kiwis'). One other surprising thing about NZ is the number of Asian restaurants..there's about one on every street corner!
Christchurch is an absolutely gorgeous city. It is probably one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen. There is a beautiful cathedral in the center of town and the streets are lined with trees and all kinds of cafes, shops, and restaurants. There is an enormous park on the west side with a beautiful river running through the city. We visited the Canterbury Museum a few days ago and it sits right next to the Botanic Gardens...which were so gorgeous! It's nice to see so much green in an urban area..this is definitely my kind of city. We also visited the International Antarctic Centre which is basically a museum/information center about Antarctica. We attended a lecture on climate change and it turns out that parts of Antarctica are actually cooling (global warming is uneven in its effects across the globe). It was kind of touristy, but there was a room where you can experience an 'Antarctic Storm' (and take pictures of yourself around artificial snow/ice). In any case, skin cancer here is a pretty big issue (the ozone isn't so strong here in the southern hemisphere) and I've been playing it safe with the sunscreen, etc. One other thing I should mention about New Zealand is that the weather changes a lot! In one day, the temp. can change from 50s to 70s and you have to dress in layers. It also rains quite a bit in the summer depending on where you are (the west side of the South Island gets about 300mm of rain a year). In any case, I absolutely love it here and I'm definitely looking forward to the next couple of weeks. Anyways, that's about it for now, but I will be sure to update later!
Cheerio!

Happy New Year!

2006-12-31T21:42:00.000Z

... or New Year's Eve, depending on your time zone.

We have another member now, Brett, who I think is already in New Zealand as I type this and will later be studying in Japan.
[thunderous applause]

As universities start their spring terms in a few weeks, we'll hopefully have a few other new correspondents joining us from around the globe.

Back in the States...

2006-12-18T17:54:00.000Z

So my classes ended on the 14th and now I find myself back home in good ol' Indiana (at least until February when I head down to Perth, WA!!!). I have to admit that I was ready to go, especially because the last week of classes was absolutely crazy (four final exams, three papers due, 2 presentations...and I was only taking four classes) and its getting so close to Christmas and all the good holiday fun. Its strange, though, because I feel like Sevilla is still so close, as if I could choose to go walk down calle Castilla and cross the puente de Triana anytime I feel like it... So far no "reverse culture shock" has hit me (I must be immune to this culture shock thing; didn't really affect me on the way there either) although I'm slightly annoyed because my suitcases got lost on the way back and have yet to appear. The entire trip back was awful, actually but I don't want to think about that. Anyway, since I wasn't so good at posting regularly I figure I'll just note a couple of highlites/reflections regarding my time in Spain...
First off, I have to say that one of my favorite things were my dance lessons in sevillanas--the traditional Sevilla folkdances, although they are still very popular today. Apparently everyone comes out and dances sevillanas all night during the Feria de Abril, so it kind of sucks that I won't be around for that. I was the only American in my class, so it was a very nice Spanish immersion experience and the girl I usually danced with and I really got to be pretty good friends. When she heard I was leaving, she was like "Who am I going to dance with now?" It was sweet.
Second awesome thing: trip to Morocco...if any of you get the chance to go with the program Morocco Exchange, I'd recommend it. It was really cool because we didn't just go around seeing touristy things (although we did ride camels). We talked to a lot of people there about Islam, women's rights, Iraq, etc, all the hot topics. In Rabat we also got to spend an afternoon with Moroccan students, and it was amazing how nice they were and how immediately we were able to relate to them just as other "young adults" and all. Although one interesting thing about that experience was the Moroccan nightlife, or lack thereof. Most girls there aren't allowed by their families to go out at night and being a Muslim society, they don't drink. So when we went out with our student buddies, we were at the Pool Hall playing pool and smoking hookah and the only girls there were us. We couldn't stay out that last because our host families were freaking out (it was 11 pm), but apparently no one there stays out that late (in contrast with Spain where people are still out at 6 am). So Morocco was different but way cool.
Okay, no more time to write now. Maybe I'll reflect more later...
Hasta luego!

The King of all Blog entries

2006-12-08T13:17:00.000Z

Since at this very moment, three Wellsies are assembled around the same computer (which seems to be an extraordinary occasion), we thought it deserved to be eternally remembered with one mega blog entry. Megan, Peter and I are all here in Aix, currently getting out of the rain.

So for my update. I am done with classes for the semester, with the exception of the program course which will meet next Friday at 8:30 am for the last time. I'm pretty excited about that, but I don't quite know what I will be doing with my time next week after Megan leaves on Tuesday. My big news, that I guess is worth mentioning, is that I have officially (as in told my landlady) decided to move into a studio apartment. Have I found that apartment yet? No, but apparently there're a lot that empty in January. So hopefully, during the week that I have to search in January, I will be able to find something (next to the three or four finals I have to take that week). I guess I'll just have to study over break. That's my news for the moment....apart from those things nothing too terribly exciting is going on. I pass the keyboard to Peter...

Unlike lucky duck Anke here, I still have two full weeks of hilarious, mind-numbing fun at the Fac, with one paper and one presentation left. Fun fun fun! So I saw a production of Hamlet in French last Sunday, an odd experience to say the least. First of all, there were so many damn gimmicks. Everyone wore black (which kinda undercuts Hamlet's and the suits of woe and everything), and there were intermittent random bursts of English, for apparently no reason other than that the actor who played Polonius was Scottish/Irish. But the most distracting set piece was this kind of moving tarp/canopy/hammock thing that hung suspended about 1-2 feet above the stage, while the actors jumped, sat, bounced on it. I know they were trying to get the comedy into it, but the silliness was almost too much. The acting on the whole was all right other than the fumbling through English, and other than that it was just long and Shakespeare. Once you got past the language, it was just another play.

In other news, I'm still trying to figure out something to do before winter break. Maybe I should just hold out until then, but I need to bust out of town somehow. But Megan's visit is providing at least some respite from the Aix routine.

Admittedly, having not updated since the beginning of Oxford's term, I am attempting to make up for my long neglect of this blog by updating with Peter and Anke. Oxford's term, as Joe has said, ended December 2nd - I am taking advantage of the early break to travel a bit around Europe with a fellow visiting student from Oxford. We first travelled to Barisi, Bari, and Rome, Italy in quick succession before heading to Aix-en-Provence to take advantage of Peter and Anke's hospitality. After the full-out sprint which is the Oxford term, it is nice to have a couple of weeks to regroup before I revise some of my notes from the last term and dive back into my reading lists for the next term. So far the most striking aspects of Aix are its uncharacteristic bouts of rain and the overwhelming array of Christmas cheer. Fluffy wreaths, twinkling lights imitating actual icicles, and the deceptively realistic christmas carols that emanate from invisible loudspeakers. The Christmas atmosphere is lovely, if a little contrived. The best part about being in Aix is, undoubtedly, the chance to sit down and chat with a couple of American buddies and compare notes on how we have set up our new lives for this academic year. It's back into the rain now, and maybe to a little pastry shop to grab something good to eat. It's nice to be on holiday.

Cheers and Au revoir!

Megan, Peter, Anke

End of Michaelmas term

2006-12-02T10:55:00.000Z

Well, the fall term is now over, and I'm going home tomorrow night. Oxford has a six-week break, but to make up for its length every class assigns vacation work, and there will be exams as soon as everyone returns in January.

I have to admit I'm happy to be going back. It's been a rewarding eight weeks, but also somehow tiring, and the break has come at a good time. So, until next term!

Madrid

2006-11-29T11:25:00.000Z

As of yet, I am not totally convinced that I like travelling. Granted it's great to see all the different monuments and artwork that I've heard about for years. At the same time, most things aren't that much more overwhelming than in pictures, obviously with some exceptions. The reason for the revelation, you ask? I got back from Madrid on Sunday night. Overall, I wasn't blown away by the experience. I did get to see a friend from IU, which was awesome. Somehow the rest of the time wasn't as spectacular as I had imagined. It could have been the rain's fault, or even the fact that my feet hurt from walking around the city and museums all day long. What I realized though, is that with a few exceptions in architecture, most big cities have the same feeling. They all have their fancy old buildings, monuments commemorating wars going back centuries etc. I don't feel like I've seen Spain, only a modified version of Paris or New York that speaks a different language. I know I sound like a downer, and there really were parts of the city that I liked, though the overall experience wasn't quite as expected.
And to top off the visit, two of the girls I was travelling with got their wallets stolen in the metro en route to the airport. Not only were we in a foreign country, but we were also in a hurry to get to the airport on time. That little experience topped off the trip to perfection (hint of sarcasm).

On a more positive note, on getting back from Madrid, I have never liked/appreciated Aix more for what it is: a place where I understand what's going on, where I fit into life in some curious way, and where I can handle the pace and size of the town. I'm going to Paris this weekend, which should be fun, and hopefully a better experience than Madrid. I would like to go back to Spain perhaps later this year, because I'm sure it's a nice place, once you aren't in the big (American/commercialized) cities. Maybe this just means that I don't like big cities. We'll see how Paris goes :)

I promise the next blog entry will be more positive...

A la prochaine,
Anke

Pro/Con lists

2006-11-28T23:46:00.000Z

Taking a leaf out of Peter's book (though I have much shorter lists):

Things I love about Oxford
1) Studying in buildings older than the United States
2) Plenty of time spent consulting with professors
3) Student clubs/societies for just about everything imaginable
4) Practically no need to buy textbooks (college libraries stock enough copies for everyone)
5) Everything important is within a 20-minute walk.

Not-so-great things about Oxford
1) A lot of the sinks have separate taps for hot and cold water, so I tend to either scald or freeze my hands whenever I wash them.
2) There's a general feeling of disorganization and slow communication (not that I have a perfect right to judge here...)
3) Cost of living - in general, if something costs $x in Bloomington, then it costs £x here, and the exchange rate is not in our favor.
4) British keyboards have a different layout (not different enough to be crippling, but just different enough to be annoying).
5) Long northern nights (sunset is now just about 4:00 PM)

Life in Aix

2006-11-20T17:10:00.000Z

I've been told that I've slacked on the posting thing. OK, that's probably true. For some reason, I feel like I'm really busy, but when I think back, I can't ever think of anything I actually did, much less accomplished.
So, let's see, what have I been doing? Well, there's always class. I went to Germany last weekend and got to hang out for a few days with my grandma and family. That was fun, a nice slow weekend, somewhere I don't feel like a total stranger. What I did think was weird though, was how different France and Germany really are. With my going to Germany once a year tops the last few years, I obviously know what things are all about there. But, my summer abroad trip in high school made it seem like France was similar in a lot of ways to Germany. What I realized over the weekend was that that's actually not true. There are a ton of differences, which is really weird, considering how close they are. There really are two very distinct cultures (I guess that's sort of a no-brainer).
Then this weekend, I went to the Mt. Ste. Victoire. Peter may have reached the top, we did not. We hiked for about 2 1/2 hours, then decided to turn around when we got to a fork in the road which pointed to the top and said either way would take another 1 1/2 hours. By this time it was 3:00, and we figured it might be a good idea to get back to the bottom before dark. Anyway, the adventure starts on the bottom anyway. We got back down, expecting to catch the same shuttle we had taken to the shuttle back to Aix. It was supposed to get there at 4:45, but never showed up. So we ended up hitchhiking back...basically it ended up being 4 girls in the back seat of this small car. But the people were really nice, and everything worked out well. I guess it's one of those things you have to have done in your life, so something else to check off the list.
Well, I hope everything's going well for everyone! I will try to be better about posting, but I can't make promises. As I said, my time stays full, but I don't know how. But somehow, I never get around to doing this stuff, unless I sit in the internet cafe for more than 4 hours, like I've done today.

Bisous,
Anke

Overheard after class

2006-11-19T17:25:00.000Z

A conversation between two British students who were leaving the lecture hall behind me:

"Do you want to go and get lunch?"
"Uh, not today. I think I'll just get some Ramen."
"Some what?"
"Ramen. You don't know what that is?"
"No."
"It's sort of a stringy noodle -- you just boil it and pour chicken flavor over it."
"Ah, so kind of an instant soup?"
"Right."

Ramen: feeding thrifty college students worldwide.

stuff i love/hate about france

2006-11-17T17:17:00.000Z

things that rock about france:

1.) walking around with baguettes bought fresh daily
2.) eating nutella directly from the jar
3.) afternoons entirely devoured by cafe-going, and then consequently running into people i know at said cafes
4.) the movie "poltergay" (yes, it is exactly what you think it is)
5.) the leaves have just started falling off the trees. it's almost thanksgiving.
6.) the hilarious guy in the tabac who sells me the random candy/phonecards/postcards that i need
7.) most of the genial vendors in the daily market in place richelme
8.) people eat less, but eat well
9.) tolerance of atheism
10.) a radio station entirely devoted to culture
11.) excellent new batch of beaujolais nouveau which doesn't break the bank
12.) everyone is better looking. it's a bit like mtv.

things that suck about france:
1.) dog shit (still. seriously though, so many dogs. so much shit. so few pooperscoopers)
2.) little old ladies who spend their days complaining to clerks and holding up the supermarket line
3.) monoprix, the overpriced, poorly-stocked, pushy departmentstore/supermarket downtown
4.) badly veiled anti-americanism
5.) american movies dubbed into french ("borat" in french? unacceptable.)
6.) patronizing french professors
7.) telecommunications/internet/phone/everything efficiency
(honestly, it's so ridiculous. i wonder how this country functions. no one is ever actually working.)
8.) the communist students organization has high membership rates. (ok this is actually awesome)
9.) there is no such things as personal space. people get right up in your grill to ask you simple questions. i always feel like i'm backing away in a conversation.
10.) french compositions. whereas in america, we assert a thesis, then lay out support, then sum it all up at the end, the french start with a question, lay out potential theses in the middle, then sum things up at the end with further questions.
11.) french people using the english "h" sound... (ex: "ah-ee ahm han-guree!" "you're hungry?" "no! han-guree!" "tu as faim?" "non, je suis fache!"...that is to say, "i am angry.") i don't get it. there's no "h" sound in french. so i understand taking the "h" away from words like "house" or "hungry," but they also ADD it to words like "ours" and "angry." weird. although i'm sure my french has an equal number of idiocies. (ok, in retrospect, this should probably be on the awesome list, too)
12.) everyone is better looking. it's a little bit like mtv.

posty post post

2006-11-11T16:43:00.001Z

hello blog. sorry bout that whole not updating you for a month. thank god for joe, otherwise this thing would be empty as hell.

ok, so what's happened in a month? well i've had class and stuff. and it's gone reasonably well. i went to toulouse for a little vacation, and i climbed montagne ste-victoire to the east of town. i've talked with the french a bit more, and seen 8 movies or so. i've started helping a middle schooler with english in exchange for a french meal with his family (he's just started speaking, so it's a bit tough to work through stuff.) but mostly, i've been simply living in france. the change of place is just that, a change of place.

i am now in a total love-hate relationship with france. i simultaneously love and hate everything here. for instance, when i wait in the checkout line, old ladies behind me will push me with their shopping carts. i hate to break it to them, but i am not the limiting factor in the speed of checkout lines. but there they are pushing me, nudging me along with their carts. so i hate it, because you know, well it's an old lady pushing me with a cart. what the hell, france? who does that? but then, i love it, because it's somehow endearing to see this small old lady who's just a tad impatient poking the foreign kid in front of her with a shopping cart. so it's the definition of love-hate. as facebook would say "it's complicated" with Me and France.

right, so instead of saying too much, i'm just going to post some pictures with typical commentary and that'll be that. i swear i will update this thing more. really. it's so easy to forget stuff like that over here. it's hard to imagine that things are just happening back home in bloomington. it's already mid-november for chrissakes! how did that happen? iu wins football games, the democrats win elections, and britney k-fed is over! it's like a time machine over here.

ok, pics.
this is mte ste-victoire. from afar in town, you look at it and you think, oh it's not that tall. than you get there and you say "la vache! c'est enorme!" ("the cow! it's enormous!") then you climb it and things. the top, the cross of provence, has been handily indicated by my mspaint skillz.

and after 2.5 hours of climbing (it would've been less, but i was climbing with relative hiking n00bz), here's the top. a bunch of meters above sea level. it feels good to accomplish something once in a while, especially with the laziness here even greater than it is back in bloomington.

next up some pics from toulouse, la ville rose (the pink city, on account of all them bricks.)

what could be frencher than this? a beautiful monument on a huge plaza, a used book market, and, of course, a strike/protest (student nurses... how can they even strike?). oh france, fulfill more stereotypes.

this is a big-ass church. st-sernin. or something. it's big-ass. and romanesque. and bricky.

ok, this is les jacobins, a monastery/church in toulouse. there's the cloister.

this box/altar with the gold cross on it confused me. there was no indication as to what it was, so i asked the woman running the ticket booth what it was.

[rough translation]
me: what is being there... in the box?
her [appalled/amused by my awful french]: the remains of st. thomas
me: who st. thomas is he?
her [stares at me as if i'm an idiot]: st thomas of aquinas
me: Ohhh, that st thomas! wait... why he is here and not italy?
her: french king bought his remains and basically built this church for them.
me: figures.

after that are the renowned "palm tree" ceilings of the jacobins church. they famously inspired salvador dali, and their abstract geometry makes them real cool to look at.

uhh there were really cool stained glass windows, but the pictures turned out pretty badly. it's worth noting that the whole cathedral was lit with crazy colored stained glass that, when combined with the pink bricks, made the whole place a really warm place to be, with fragmented specks of color all around. no wonder dali loved it.

right, last set of pics. i took a day trip from toulouse to carcassonne, a preserved/reconstructed medieval city, one of the biggest of its kind. it's notable for its relatively intact double ring of walls and its moat (now empty, sadly... and no sharks with frickin laser beams attached to their heads). a little bit like a cross between colonial williamsburg and medieval times... except for real real. (not for play play)
the city from afar. it's actually bigger than this and i shot from a terrible angle, but you get the idea.

the actual castle, from two angles. one at the front so you can see the bridge over the moat (that small patch of grass in the corner) and the reconstructed tower top. and another one from the outer walls that i took because it was pretty. (alas, someone's in the picture and i didn't see that at all when i took it. oh well)

ok, folks, that's all i've got for now. i feel like maybe talking about the elections and americans abroad in general, but it can wait... especially if i start posting for real again. i'll talk more about my visit to toulouse in a little bit maybe, but uploading these pictures takes forever. way to go blogger. maybe i should put them on flickr first, then just link there. i dunno. anyways, later folks!

Football

2006-10-30T13:01:00.000Z

(By "football," of course, I mean soccer.)

Yesterday several of the religious student groups held an interfaith football tournament. I played for the Catholic Society; the Jewish Society, Intercollegiate Christian Union, and Secular Society also attended, and the Hindu and Sikh Societies fielded a combined team.

The whole event was rather rushed and informal, more like a quick series of pick-up games than an organized tournament. There were two fields, reserved for a total of an hour and a half, so we played 30-minute matches and ran out of time before every pair of teams could compete. As far as I know, there wasn't even a final ranking; perhaps this was a good thing, since it meant that nobody could claim the results as support for their own faith. Anyway, here are the results from the Catholic Society matches:

Lost to the Jewish Society, 1 - 0
Won against the Christian Union, 1 - 0
Lost to the Secular Society (at almost the last minute), 2 - 1

There wasn't actually much religion-related banter or heckling. I did hear one priceless bit of sideline talk during the game against the (mostly Protestant) Christian Union: "I don't mind losing to the Jews -- they were here before us -- but we have at least fifteen hundred years on these guys."

Somehow, the very concept of an interfaith sports tournament seems a little too politically incorrect for the U.S. This is unfortunate, because it was good fun for all involved, and makes a hilarious conversation topic. I could imagine something similar happening at IU only if it were turned into an event to foster religious cooperation (perhaps putting a representative of each faith on every team).

Americana

2006-10-20T16:40:00.000Z

Lately I've become more and more impressed by how much American culture the UK has imported. As you'd expect, there's a McDonald's in the center of town doing great business, and Starbucks has a strong presence -- though a few other coffeeshop chains are giving them a run for their money. Beyond that, every student seems to watch South Park, CSI, or 24 (really, it's a lot like IU).

I would just credit this to globalization, but the entertainment trade is imbalanced. For example, a film called The Queen opened here recently. It's about the royal family's (delayed) reaction to Princess Diana's death, and by all accounts it's quite good -- unfortunately I haven't seen it yet. It's playing in the US, but only in the major cities (as far as I can tell from a little Googling). Now, I was in a small town called Leamington Spa about two weeks ago, and their cinema was showing Adam Sandler's latest comedy.

So I'm wondering, are France and Spain like this at all? Is it maybe just easier for the British to take in American films and TV because they don't have a language barrier?

Cheers,
Joe

some pictures

2006-10-10T15:29:00.000Z

ok i promised pictures, and here they are... there will be more of Aix eventually, but I haven't been up in Centre-Ville since Friday. anyways, here goes.

that there's the big ol' cathedrale saint-saveur, the oft-reconstructed, improved cathedral of aix, parts of it dating back to the Roman era. This part here's from the 19th century though. ya kno, when Aix was rolling in cash and eager to spend it.

here's the quaintly gargantuan, ballantine-dwarfing faculte des lettres where my classes meet. (yeah, i know the pictures suck. deal with it.)

because the building is disintegrating, they put in these canopy/fence things to catch falling pieces of building
sometimes they catch other stuff.
(those chairs flew out the window presumably during the student protests in March.)
Here's my favorite piece of graffiti in the Fac (short for the Faculte)... mostly for its absurd nonsensical nature and the sunglasses on the big JC.

ok, here's some other pictures from the rest of france... that's the pont du gard
that's some ruins at glanum
that's some pointy thing
that's a view across the old port in marseille, with notre dame de la garde in the background
this is the arc de capitulation

notre dame de paris
sacre-coeur
la sainte-chapelle (not to be confused with saint-dave-chappelle)
versailles (or if you are one of jj's students, "versai")
here's a way-too-dark louvre
this the palace of the popes from their hilarious babylonian captivity in avignon. the exhibits in the place make it seem like the popes came to avignon because they wanted a vacation rather than because they were forced to by the king of france. but whatever, that's history folks.
this is my room. it is predictably a mess. (that's my collage of a cezanne painting on the wall... it turned out pretty nicely)
ok that's all for now. hope you enjoyed these pictures, none of which actually have me in them. i mean, who did you think was taking these pictures anyways?

a plus tard,
Peter

Tutorials

2006-10-09T22:10:00.000Z

Classes began today (finally... I've been champing at the bit since the IU semester started back in August). I thought this would be a good time to say a little about the Oxford tutorial system.

When we all started college, I remember being advised that we would spend less time in the classroom, but more time doing independent work. The tutorial system basically takes this one step further. Lecturers rarely or never assign reading directly; they provide lists or suggested reading, with the understanding that students will work through the books as the class proceeds. The only specific assignments are essays or problem sets, depending on the subject (lab or practical work is handled somewhat differently). Each course has a corresponding series of tutorials -- individual meetings with a professor to go over the past week's assignment in depth.

In general, education here has more depth and less breadth than the American system. Everyone starts to specialize before starting university, and once they arrive they typically get more individual attention from the faculty; this means that professors spend all their time on students from their own departments. Hence, multiple majors and electives aren't really available. I'm going to miss all of IU's language options, but I'm looking forward to the tutorials.

Like the Aix folks, I've found that there's no formal registration for courses, and that you just show up. There was some organization (I had to be assigned to a tutor for each class), but at one point I did panic a little since I hadn't actually signed up for any lectures. I asked one of my tutors about this, and she said it "sounded like some American thing."

Cheers,
Joe

Some Pictures of the Aixoise Roman Excursion

2006-10-09T16:42:00.000Z

Peter and I were thinking that this blog could use a little more color. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, this should theoretically say it all.
On the left is the Roman town of Glanum, more specifically the ruins of a temple. Below is the amphitheater in Arles, currently used as a bullfighting ring.

An American (professor) in Aix

2006-10-04T10:22:00.000Z

It feels like I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd tell a little story. It's about an American professor thrown into the topsy-turvy French higher education system. (Little sidenote: I am at a different university than Peter, and those of you who have been reading Peter's posts know what he's going through. The IEP is one of the Grands Ecoles which means it is one of several elite schools around France that are not only extremely selective in admissions standards, but are supposed to train the political leadership of France's future.) That being said, professors do tend to show up for first classes; I only had one who didn't show, but apparently he was searching for the room for the entirety of the two hours which story I'm not sure I buy into (the IEP is relatively small and easy to navigate). There are still a lot of problems. First off, there is no such thing as internet communication in terms of classes. Everything is posted in some place or other and you have to walk to the school to find out what's going on. Secondly, planning for these classes is not super, though I understand why it is the way it is. The french students follow a rigorous course schedule assigned them by their respective year of study and concentration, one girl I talked to is taking 28 hours of class a week. Us foreign students pretty much have the run of the place, meaning we can choose to take pretty much any class we want. For those of us doing the certificate program, there is one required lecture class, and some other classes offered only for foreign students. This is where the problem comes in. For the French students, scheduling conflicts are essentially unheard of, because their classes are all prearranged. For us, it's not uncommon that we may want to take several classes that meet at the same time.

Here's where the story starts. I decided to take a three-week long class with a visiting professor from Tufts University, called The Bush Doctrine and American Foreign Policy. Because of the French students' scheduling requirements, the class is only attended by exchange students. What is funny is that this class conflicts three times with the mandatory lecture class the certificate students have to take and a class on the European Union. So this professor begins his first class, it's a class in English. He tells us that his requirements are that we prepare reading for his class, attend regularly and participate. I think most people in the class had one of those two conflicts, and seeing that the class meets twice, sometimes three times a week, there's almost no way nobody had a conflict. His final is a seven-page paper. The only thing that makes this weird is that you really don't have to do anything for French lecture courses except listen to the professor and be able to repeat what he tells you at the end, maybe having read excerpts of a reference book that you choose from a long list he gives you.

So as soon as this professor finds out that we all have conflicts, he is absolutely outraged that the international office would plan two classes like that at the same time. He then goes to talk to them to see if he can work out the conflict. The first conflict is solved by calling Prof. Comor, who teaches our class "La France dans le Monde," who is only too willing to cancel class the following day for Prof. Smith's class (I didn't see a post that he cancelled class, and it was sort of funny to see students filing in for France dans le Monde and realize they weren't in the right place). He comes back and tells us these news, and one of the Canadian girls makes a bold suggestion, now why don't we just have class in the designated lunch hour (from 12-2)? Funnily enough, Prof. Smith also inquired, and was answered with an astonished "Mais monsieur, c'est l'heure de déjeuner...ça ne va pas" which means "But sir, that's lunchtime...that doesn't work." So yesterday, we decided we would indeed meet during that time, because I don't think any of us are used to 2-hour lunch breaks.

What is so funny about the whole thing is to really see the clash between the American and the French system. Sitting in class, I can see the differences only too clearly. But it's something else entirely to see an American trying to run a class "à la Américaine" if you will, impeded in most ways by the French system. I haven't even mentioned that this is the only class that requires the use of the internet, which is another story entirely, but also pretty much the only class I've had so far to do that (with the exception of one whose focus is journalism). Actually having to prepare for class is also something new here.

Not only is this class super-interesting, it is also an almost-daily source of amusement, and I would like to thank the French system for that. I will be so happy to register on onestart come spring, know what classes I will be taking, know what is required of me for my classes etc. (the list goes on and on). In the meantime, I am enjoying the challenge...I don't know if I've ever enjoyed school this much (nor did I think I would ever say that).

A bientot et bisous,

Anke

PS- I don't know if I said this last time, but I'll say it again. I really love reading about all of your experiences. It's a ton of fun to see what you are up to, hear the funny and the stressful, and everything else that is inevitable doing something like this. I miss you all (except Peter, who I obviously see relatively frequently), and hope that everything continues to go well for everyone!!! Oh...and HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETER!!!!!!

Arrival

2006-10-03T19:32:00.000Z

Well, yesterday I finally moved into my room at Oxford. The study abroad program actually started nine days ago, but we were all kept in London for most of last week, sightseeing and hearing orientation lectures. Classes officially begin next Monday, but meetings with departments and individual professors begin over the next few days.

Space is in high demand around this city; the streets are narrow and the buildings are closely packed. St. Edmund Hall (my college) has enough room on its main grounds for only the first-year students. The rest rent housing around Oxford or live in a group of dorms about five minutes' walk away. The visiting students are all staying somewhere in this group; like most of the newer structures here, they're tucked between older buildings (actually, one is an older building, a converted hotel).

There's no campus as such; the colleges and departmental buildings are embedded in the city. This feels a little odd after spending two years at IU, with all its open space and fields. It's a beautiful city, though, with medieval and Renaissance architecture on every street.

I still have a lot of exploring to do, so that's about all I have for now.

Cheers,

Joe

P.S. "Cheers" is a versatile word. So far I've heard people use it to mean "Goodbye (and see you soon)," "Thank you," "You're welcome," "Have a nice day," and "Good luck."

class

2006-10-03T16:55:00.001Z

Salut mes amis!

So I finally had an actual class. (For real reals... not for play play.) I've now actually been to two lit classes and one "written expression" class (IU folks, think W131 for incompetent foreign students). The two lit classes are fine as far as lecture goes, but I have a feeling that my reports and finals are going to be rightly demolished by these professors. Especially during the final, and considering that the classes are 5th semester classes (french undergrad lasts only 3 years, so this would be a junior/senior class), I'm fairly certain I'll get creamed. Oh well, I'll take one pass/fail, then just cross my fingers and hope that I do all right. Just have to keep a 3.0...

On Monday, the prof assigned us a book to read at the end of class, "L'education sentimentale" by Gustave Flaubert. I like Flaubert, especially after reading "Madame Bovary" last year. But see, I read that book over the course of the whole damn year. I have to read this little ditty by Monday. It's 450 pages of dense 19th century literary French. I got through 50 pages yesterday... it took 3 hours. Ugh. Let's hope things get better in that respect.

Here's something, though. In America, we've become obsessed with "discussion" class. Everyone complains about a lecture class with hundreds of students and one professor. We want one-on-one attention and wannabe pseudointellectuals that we are, we demand to "discuss" things, even if we are talking out of our asses. We forget that we learn things through the ears, not out the mouth. It's led to such a worship of "discussion" that good lecturing is almost forgotten.

Not here. These profs lecture. Hardcore. My professor lectured fairly engagingly for 3 hours. Straight. No cigarette break (a shock in France), no water, no nothing. Just teachin. That's hardcore.

I think I'm gonna bring a camera around the school and Aix proper tomorrow to take some pics worth posting. The town is purdy, and the Faculte provides some really stellar graffiti.

Oh yeah, it's my birthday tomorrow. Not long until I stop being a teenager.

OK, enough for now. A bientot!

Peter

P.S. I still had one class today that didn't meet. I double-checked the room number and everything. Oh, France.

APSODFIMQPROIQMEWPOIMZXVXZ!!!!!

2006-09-27T12:27:00.000Z

or, how to sign up for classes in France

I will never complain about OneStart ever again. Ever. Really. Because this is madness.

So sometime last semester, we were told to compile a "class schedule" for this year. We looked over a course list, we picked them out, then we went over it with an advisor. It seemed pretty important, with an appointment and everything. We were then informed that this form was a "guide" for us. (read: useless) As it turns out, most of the courses on that course list don't exist. It was just to "give an idea" of what courses we'd like to take.

So at IU, we sign up for classes, what, 3 months in advance? Well, here, you sign up... zero days in advance. You just sort of show up. It's far easier to drop classes than add them, so what has developed is a "shopping period" in which one attends as many classes as possible, signing up for them as you show up, then dropping them gradually as the semester goes on. Pretty convenient, right? WRAWNG. This leads to endless schedule conflicts, and you HAVE to show up to class the first day in order to get a spot. Which means, lots of insanity.

We have grown accustomed to learning class information for the next semester pretty early in the good ol' US of A. I mean, you can go online and look at classes and plan things out a little. By contrast, this year's plaquettes (syllabi) for the Universite de Provence came out in the last couple weeks or so. And while we are used to constructing schedules based on when the classes meet, French universities don't really give out schedules until the week before. Yeesh. This is not nearly as big a problem for most French students, as almost all of them are enrolled in a degree program whose course schedule is fixed. Us ignorant foreign students have the freedom to take whatever classes we want, and consequently, must face the insane chaos of showing up for classes, only to discover that they have moved rooms, or have no professor, or simply have ceased to exist.

Meanwhile, many people still have to figure out which requirements for their home universities they need to fulfill, whether the classes meet equivalencies, etc. I have largely been spared this, but it still kinda sucks.

I went to class this morning, waited for 20 minutes, determined that the class didn't start till next week, went back home and ate a sandwich. Such is the well-organized bureaucracy of the French university system. Then again, tuition at the UP-Fac is... 310 euros a year (~350 bucks). And dorm rooms cost... 160 euros a month (~200 bucks). A worthy tradeoff I suppose. (And hilariously, there are many posters proclaiming that the school is secretly charging ILLEGAL FEES of about 50 dollars and that we should demand refunds from the government.)

I'm sure signing up for class at IU for Fall semester 07 will be heaven compared to the swarms of students huddling around posted class schedules. (Oh, did I mention? Nothing is online or easily accessible. Everything is posted on bulletin boards outside the departmental offices.)

A bientot,
Peter

Bullfighting

2006-09-26T09:26:00.000Z

So on Sunday I went to the last bullfight of the season at the Plaza de Toros. I wanted to go because it is a big part of Spanish culture, but I was a little bit nervous about the whole killing part of the sport and I wasn´t sure how I felt in general about the whole thing. I talked to my host mother about it before I went and she pointed out that (while she isn´t personally a big fan of bullfighting), until the bulls actually go to the bullfight, they have a great life (because they want them to be big and strong) and then they just suffer for 15-20 minutes as they are killed, while most of the animals we eat suffer their entire lives to some degree. I guess that´s one way to look at it.
Anyways, the bullfight has three phases. In the first a man on horseback comes and stabs the bull in the neck with a long spear, which is always kind of intersting because as he is doing that, the bull is trying to gore the horse (which luckily is wearing some kind of protective coat). One of the bulls actually succeeded in knocking the horse over and the picador had to jump off; that took some talent. In the second phase, men on foot stick decorated spears (about 2 feet long) in the bull´s neck; all of this is to weaken the bull so it will charge with its head low and the matador can put a sword through its heart, which is the third phase. I guess what surprised me most about the bullfight, though, was my reaction to it. After a little bit of shock as they first drew blood from the bull and the first one died (there were actually 6 bulls killed in this bullfight), it was just like any other sporting event. I wasn´t grossed out or horrified or thinking, ¨This is cruel¨ or whatever, and this is coming from a girl who in her more naive days seriously considered joining PETA.
It really does have an artistic side to it all, too. Every movement is choreographed (except on a couple of occasions when something goes slightly awry and then you see one of the men running for his life to the edge of the ring and over the fence hehe) and the clothing is quite unique...un ¨traje de luces¨(suit of lights) complete with little black shoes and bright neon pink socks. And if you ever want to talk about ego or see someone strut (and I mean STRUT) check out a bullfighter. Not that I necessarily want to encourage bullfighting, but I guess I am okay with it.
Other things here continue to go well. Regular classes start this week, so I am going to have to get out of vacation mode. :( Until later!

Classes have started!!

2006-09-20T11:30:00.000Z

I feel that the start of classes merits a blog entry. So here goes. The way things work here is that signing up for classes doesn't really happen. You just go to all of those that sound interesting, and then you sign up for the exam at the end. By signing up for the exam, you essentially sign up for the class. During the first few weeks, you essentially test the water and then you slowly drop all of those where the professor talks too fast, until you're left at the end with the eight classes you have to take for the semester.
That being said, I went to my first class yesterday. I was supposed to go to one on Monday night, but I decided that it wasn't worth my time (on top of which I have two classes on Friday, so I wanted a long weekend). The class I took yesterday is a requirement for those foreign students who want to get the political science certificate, which is a sort of diploma we get at the end of the year if we take a more rigorous courseload. The class is called "La France dans le monde" which translates to France in the World, and I still have no idea what the professor is planning to talk about. Should be fun. This morning I had another class with the same professor, who was definitely more difficult to understand when not talking to a room of exchange students (I suppose it could have been that it was at 8:00). I went into that class knowing only the title, "Geopolitics of the Mediterranean," which I understood to be roughly related to Western Europe. As it turns out, we will be talking about the Middle East, and as yet, I'm not positive what geopolitics means, though he really talked about it all class. I have some vague ideas, but I need to look it up.
Now comes the fun part. Immediately after that class, I had to go to French civilization, which is a sort of smaller discussion class, also for foreign students. The professor is amazing, but there were only 11 of us for the first hour. I should probably mention another rather significant difference between the US and here, French Universities do not rely at all on computers for communication. While we at IU complain if a professor posts something on oncourse an hour before class starts, nobody posts anything online here at all. Instead, they post all the information, including class cancellations or room changes on bulletin boards at the front of the school. Sometimes the bulletin boards aren't completely visible either. This system does tend to be a bit problematic if you live far away from school and then find out that class is cancelled after a 45 minute walk, or if they move a class to an earlier time (there was one class that didn't have a time posted yet, and was posted the morning of for 8:00am). At any rate, what happened this morning was that they changed the room, so the 20 people who didn't see the room change were sitting in the original classroom waiting for the professor for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, the 11 that had seen the bulletin were getting instructions about class presentations (which we start next class) and getting confused about why more than half of the class hadn't shown up. The professor finally went to see what the deal was, in which time the other students showed up in the classroom. Funny how these things work. Some of them were rather irate that nobody had bothered to check the other room. Everybody finally got to class half an hour before the end, we divided up into groups and chose presentation topics. As it turns out, I'm in the group that presents first, so we have until next Wednesday to come up with an hour-long presentation in French about Working in France. AAHHH!!!! At least I get it over with.
I'll keep you posted on how the rest of my classes go. I thought starting class merited a blog entry. I'm anxious to hear how things are going for everyone else.

Bisous,
Anke

Bigger than hip-hop

2006-09-17T11:20:00.001Z

So, let me tell you what I saw in Marseille.

You should know that this weekend is the "days of patrimony," which are days when public buildings are open to the public for free. So, some buildings which are ordinarily inaccessible to anyone (the Elysee Palace in Paris, essentially the French White House, for example) are open to all. Also, it means that all museums are free. It's not like they were that much to begin with, but whatever. So I went to Marseille to go to the contemporary art museums and the Prefecture (which is like a big ol' government building...nothing to write home about).

The contemporary art museum was fine, I guess, although a bit far out, and with a smaller-than-expected collection for such an enormous space. Maybe I expected too much for a city as large as, say, Boston, to have a modern art collection as Boston. But Marseille is more like Baltimore than Boston. An old port city with pretty, touristy parts, but scruffy (to be fair, slightly more charming than Baltimore). But there are parts of Marseille you wouldn't want to find yourself alone at night...like, most of it.

OK, backtrackin a bit... A couple weeks back, maybe a day after I'd arrived in the dorms, a guy came to my door to get donations for the impoverished kids of Marseille. So, OK, I start talking to the guy a little bit, and I decide, "What the heck, I'll give him some money." We get to talking, and he asks me where I'm from (he guesses China... I probably can't blame him). When I say America, though, his eyes light up. "Oh really? I'm going to New York in a month or so... I'm an MC, and I wanna get my break..." I mention that I've listened to a decent amount of hip-hop and that I'm interested in French rap. Fella left me his number and said if I ever found myself in Marseille on a Saturday night, to give him a call.

Well, lo and behold, I realized yesterday that I was in Marseille, that I didn't have much to do, and I could get me some hip-hop. I called up Medi (the guy) and he said he could meet me and take me to a club and give me a short introduction to French rap. So we met, ate a quick bite to eat, and hopped the Metro to a place on the near north side of town, not quite to the roughest parts of the north side projects, but not exactly the Hamptons. It was a smoky (tobacco and otherwise) loud dive, and I can't exactly say the show was well-attended. There were a decent number of people, sure, but more akin to a floor meeting than "8 Mile." (unsurprisingly, I was the only yellow American in the place.)

I didn't understand a lot, because I'm just getting the hang of normal French speech. Really fast, maghreb-accented French is a bit beyond my grasp right now. I don't really remember the names of the acts, and everyone's flow was unremarkable. (Or maybe that hazy smoke was getting the best of me, I don't know.) Even Medi is funnier as a conversationalist than MC. Regardless, many of the same tropes of American hip-hop are followed. Globalization at work, I guess. The clothes were definitely Fubu/SeanJohn influenced, for one, although the North African flair was undeniable. Having appropriated a certain number of key words in American hip-hop (hearing Frenchmen say "BEETCH" is something really quite ridiculous). The themes in the music were similar, too, that which I could pick up, anyways. Lots of bling, lots of violence, lots of hustling.

What was undeniable about this place, though, was the energy. With their rhymes, these guys, who had day jobs as street-sweepers, clerks, and Metro attendants, got together on late nights to speak their minds, trying to make something while they were at it. The craft was hard at work. And the appeal of hip-hop is undeniable. If all you've ever known is hustling, fast-talking your way through life, how great would it be if someone just opened a window and said "hey, you can make money hustling behind a mic with a beat for a living!" Hip-hop can be freedom from desperation. Hip-hop can be hope. These guys onstage, like I said, their technique wasn't special. They stumbled on words, flubbed rhymes, lost the beat. But what they had was an electricity, a belief that their words, however clumsy, could get them what they wanted. Listening to their rhymes, one might say that all they wanted was material gangsta wealth, guns, cars, bling and "beetches." But hip-hop isn't about getting bling. Hip-hop is about getting respect; no, not getting it, taking it. It's where nobody can be somebody.

The joint closed at 2, and Medi invited me to go back to his place to stay the night on his couch (he lives with his family still), but I said I should probably go back home to Aix. He got a buddy of his to drive me to the bus stop, where we both waited for the late bus to Aix. Then the two of them rode off back to the north side of town, while I headed to the autoroute. He's heading to New York in a few days, so I wished him the best of luck. On the way back, I realized I didn't know anything else about him, just a stage name. I probably couldn't even find my way back to that club if I wanted to. There was a surreal quality to the whole experience that makes me wonder if it happened at all. Rap music has all its demons; its misogyny, its materialism, its inherent commercialism, its violence, its increasing decadence. But on the hardscrabble streets of Marseille, amidst pot smoke and crappy microphones, rap can still be something purely special.

Anyways, that's what I saw in Marseille.

Salut,

Peter

P.S. Internet is down at my house, so it's back to the internet cafe for now. Alas alack.

¡Hola!

2006-09-13T11:33:00.000Z

Hello from Seville everyone! Just wanted to say hi and see how this whole blog thing works. I´ve been in Spain for just over 2 weeks and am thoroughly enjoying myself, although its been extremely hot (above 105 F the first week I was here). I´m staying with a Spanish family (they have two daughters, 23 and 28, and a dog who is spoiled to death) ; the food is wonderful and healthy, the custom of the siesta is ingenius, and the intensive session course is going relatively well. It´s about the cultural history of Spain so I´ve visited more palaces and mosques in the past two weeks than I thought I would see in my entire life. So yea, life goes well here. ¡Hasta luego!

Hello from Aix!!

2006-09-12T19:33:00.000Z

I apologize first and foremost for not having posted before now. It's been more than two weeks now since I got here, and I actually just got moved into my place yesterday, which is my excuse. Since Peter's post, it's been marvellously sunny, though I'm sorry to say it's supposed to rain the next four days.
Aix is beautiful. There are fountains and old buildings enough for anyone to enjoy. I finished my intensive french course last friday, and start classes at the Poli-Sci Institute (IEP) on Monday. It's sort of frightening with all the information they're throwing at us, but what can you do? At least they're walking us through it, as opposed to some of the other international students I've talked to over the course of the last week.
I finally found lodgings, the last person in our program to find something!!! I, like Peter, took a room with a french family, except mine is in the centre-ville, not two minutes away from the IEP. I'm living with a mother and daughter who are really nice, as far as I can tell up to this point. I think I will have more interaction with them, since they have to walk through my room to get to the washing machine, and I've agreed to help the daughter with her English in exchange for a dinner or two per week. I hope it'll be a good situation, but it should definitely help me with my french, if nothing else. I'm pretty excited about it.
Well, that's all for me, it's getting late. I'll post again when new interesting things pop up. I hope everyone is having a great year!

Bisous,
Anke

PS- Megan and Joe-In case I don't talk to you before you leave, good luck packing and I hope you have a safe trip!

My bags are packed

2006-09-12T04:04:00.000Z

No more of that defeatism! Far from being defunct, the blog is only just beginning dear Peter. That is, hopefully.

Unfortunately I'm unable to add any recent study abroad stories, since I am still at home in Memphis preparing for my trip. My bags aren't actually packed; I admit I just wanted to allude to John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane." The Oxford's first term, Michaelmas, doesn't begin until October 8th (I'll be leaving September 24th for orientation). My days are alternately filled with mind-numbing filing work at my dad's law firm and courageous attempts to get through all of the preparatory reading for Oxford. For those of you who don't know, Oxford students usually take two tutorials per term (one major tutorial, and one minor tutorial). My major tutorial this term will be Shakespeare -with it looks like a focus on the histories, comedies, Hamlet, and problem plays. While I am enjoying the reading I have done for the tutorial so far (I will need to do a lot more in the next two weeks to be prepared), Shakespeare still seems a little more like work than my efforts to look at any other kind of literature, poetry, or drama. I just finished Gary Taylor's _Reinventing Shakespeare_, and I agree with his observation that studies of Shakespeare are becoming more and more like translation. The glosses describing the meanings of Elizabethan language in many places only exist because the reader wouldn't understand the text without the note - not because the word reveals a piece of the passage that would have been of particular significance to the artistic meaning of Shakespeare's poem or work. So, to sum it up: The reading is interesting, but going more slowly than I had hoped.

My second (minor) tutorial os 20th Century Literature. I'm a little ashamed to say I'm more excited about plunging into it. Joyce, Conrad, Kipling, Plath, Pound, James, Ford; relative newbies, hot off the canonical press. It will be a good balance, I think.

I think Peter's drinking point is well made, A lot of the appeal of drinking lies in its place beyond the boundary. In a world where it's become pretty acceptable to do whatever we want - what I mean is, that in an isolationist world, it's harder to apply pressure to conform to community standards of morality or coolness - maybe we all just need to feel like we're breaking the rules at some time or another. Without those nitpicky social codes concerning everything from table manners to dating, we're able to define our own unique sense of duties and virtues pretty easily. But that kind of freedom can be stifling - at least there's always admittedly unreasonable laws to break every once in a while (to give us a breath of fresh air, so to speak). Although a drunk person's breath is hardly fresh. Anyway, it will be interesting to see if (as I have heard) British and European people handle their drinking habits better without having to flaunt its taboo-ness. Of course it is possible that England just has a lot of functioning alcoholics.

In keeping with Peter's tradition of ending the post with a location and language-appropriate sign-off:

See y'all.

Megan

The first cloudy day

2006-09-07T20:35:00.000Z

Hey folks,

It appears as though, mere weeks into its inception, our Wellsie blog has already become defunct. While this would hardly be a new record, I feel like I should probably post something. So here's what's up...

"Class" (the so-called "intensive course") has started here in Aix, which means really 3-4 hours of grammar each morning and the occasional 2 hour "civilization" blurb, which is basically meaningless. Grammar review is all right, I suppose, but 3-4 hours of any class gets to be a bit of a drag.

Everyone seems to be getting settled in. I've found a nice little basement room to stay in, which essentially functions as a cheap studio apartment. I'm staying with the de la Renaudiere family, who are fairly nice, but the relationship is not that of host family-host student. It's more along the lines of landlord-tenant, but a friendly relationship nonetheless. In any case, it's not far from the Faculte des Lettres (where I'll be attending real classes in a few weeks) or the Centre-Ville (the old city, where everything else is).

The program participants are slowly speaking more and more French with each other, although it is still hard to resist the temptation. Every time I see a familiar face, the conversation starts in French, but once harder concepts come upon us, English quickly returns. Luckily, I have picked up some volumes of Tintin and other French literature to help me get back to reading at a decent clip.

As the subject line indicates, it was our first truly cloudy day in Aix. To be honest, it's quite a relief from the non-stop blazing sun. Meursault's sun must have felt similar, especially with all the walking the French do. Remember that book "Why French Women Don't Get Fat"? Well, guess what. It ain't because they eat healthier, or love eating, or whatever. It's because they walk approximately 80 bajillion steps a day lugging giant bags full of zucchini and tomatoes.

I heard for the first time today, someone say "I'm bored." I guess it's kind of getting to that point where the honeymoon is wearing off and the routines are starting to kick in. I mean, you can even tell from this post; the things most thrilling to me now are the signs that normalcy is approaching.

One thing I desperately miss is playing a piano. It's strange; I didn't think I really needed it that much. I found a piano today in an unlocked room at the IEFEE (International something for foreign students' study or something) and started playing a bit of a mazurka that had been kicking around in my head. It was the first time I'd really touched a piano in almost a month. Within three minutes I'd been kicked out. But damn, did it feel good.

One last thing. America: consider lifting ridiculous public drinking bans. Going out to the park and enjoying a bottle of wine on the way, or simply walking down the street holding a beer feels fantastic. By making drinking a naughty thing to do, American puritans have unknowingly spurred its more dangerous counterparts: bingeing, pre-gaming, and early alcoholism. Just a thought.

A bientot,

Peter
P.S. Yes, I know there are no accents. I'm unwilling to enter them. Horse.