Abbe en Aix

I went to a brunch celebrating the release of the ballet Blanche Neige. I really just went because it was free (CEA payed for us to go) and to have something to do on a lazy Saturday. I didn’t really know what was going to be there or what was going to happen so I didn’t really have expectations, except for the food, of course! :) They interviewed the choreographer of the ballet for a long time about his process, the dancers, the changes he made from the typical story, working with Jean Paul Goutier (who made the costumes...that was the only thing I found really cool and interesting), etc. And then people got to ask him questions…which took forever and was boring. I also didn’t understand a lot of what they were saying because ... read more

It was really interesting to be an American abroad during the election. Here in France (and in other places in Europe that I traveled) politics is an open and friendly discussion, which caught me off guard. In America it is rude to ask a person you literally just met who they are voting for, why, and then have a discussion with them about their choice (especially if you are against it!). In America we seem to leave politics to ourselves for fear of offending others and getting into a big, uncomfortable debate (especially when religious views come into play). We only talk about politics occasionally with family and friends that we know it is ok to talk about it with, and, often times, someone you agree with politically (which the French see as pointless). But here ... read more

So I have noticed that French people loooove PDA! I wonder if they have a word for it. Maybe not because it is just so normal and accepted. In America it happens but it isn’t quite so intense and everywhere! A peck, holding hands, even maybe a little more serious kiss…but rarely do you see people just straight up making out on the streets. And in very open and public places on the street! I guess that is another way that Americans are more uncomfortable with sexuality/sex and displays of it. There is for sure a lot less public nudity (advertising, beaches, fashion styles, etc) but love and displays of affection are a more private matter in America I think I have learned by comparison. It kind of shocked me at first and made me ... read more

The latest lecture in my social issues in france culture class was on the government funding of arts in France. Overall I was impressed with their system - it seems to work really well to make the arts affordable and available to everyone who wants to see them. I am personally a fan of the arts (studio art, dance, theatre, opera, orchestra, music, visual arts, etc) so I really envy French people who have a system that makes it very easy and cheap for them to see all of this. I think that art gives you so much more than just pretty things (especially if you participate in some form of creation of art) and so it is really a shame that so few people in America get to experience art on a regular and ... read more

I already take Margaux’s conversation and culture class and we have been doing music lately, so I thought I would be bored with her presentation, but I wasn’t! (I also take the education class so the two lectures we had on education were really boring and COMPLETELY overlap for me!) She added in a lot of other bands that we haven’t done in her class and organized it better. I feel like when she shows us stuff in class it is much more off the cuff, and this time she had her lesson very organized. I liked that..and it was something different from her regular class as well. She presented a lot of different genres, like hiphop (both the Marseille/relaxed kind like MC Solaar and the Paris “hard core” kind like IAM…French “hardcore’ hiphop/rap music ... read more

I went with the IAU class to Marseille to see the play ‘le Cid”. My hostmom told me it was a classic in France and that she had seen the play on tv one time (she watches sooo much tv..I’m not shocked!). So I thought that it would be nice to see a play that was really traditional and classic French for a nice theatre experience. But……I did not really appreciate it. The play was just sooo overdramatic!! The girl was fainting all the time and the style was so stiff. They would not look at each other and go on these huge monologues and do something like hold out their one hand for 5 minutes. And all the other background characters stood still. No one stands still (minus a stiff outstretched hand) when they ... read more

Hey guys! SO SORRY I have been majorly slacking on my journals! I think its been like 3 or 4 weeks maybe!! Well, thigns are MUCH better! I guess I haven't been writing as much becasue (well, 1. it slips my mind), but moreso because I've been much busier with lots of trips and social time etc. So much better! There is so much to update you on I guess I'll break it down my section: *HOMESTAY I changed homestays! I now live with a 62 year old woman in the center of town..waaay closer to school and everything. Her name is Marie Do (short for Mary Dominique) and we get along really well. She has a four year old granddaughter, Anna, who stays over once a week. She is really shy but sweet and loves ... read more

So threeweekends ago we went to Cassis, a rocky beach with giant calanques (rock peninsulas that stick out of the land, creating large inlets all over). I took a boat tour of three calanques and it was really cool and totally different from anything in America. There were people resting and relaxing on the flat tops of the rocks all over. The blue water of the mediteranean (sp?) was AMAZING to see! definitely something I've always wanted to experience! It was too cold to swim, though! We spent the rest of the day touring around the city, seeing little shops, had lunch, got gelatto,etc. On the boatride I met a really nice girl named Anne who, at that point, was kind of a drifter between groups of friends like me and we started talking a lot ... read more

(Yeah sorry...gross title/play on words there but I'm determined to come up with something clever for each one and it was a combo of the snot of the sinus infection and wanting to be home when I'm sick. You can laugh at the grossness..its okay!!) So I got sick. I have a sinus infection (quelle surprise!). Something was going around school and then I had to wait for a half hr outside in the rain for the bus on Friday, so if there was any chance of not getting sick that probably eradicated it. I went to the doctor with Karen, a CEA director, and that was an interesting experience. We waited 40 mins to see the doctor, who saw me for a very short time. He simply asked my symptoms, checked my throat, ears, nose, ... read more

There is really a part of me that wants to go home. I want to go home to the friends I like, to Widener and the other places I know, and to the situations I’m comfortable with. I feel like freshman year you make initial friends and then spend time going through and adjusting your friends and relationships until you have a group and a way of doing things that you like by around the end of freshman year or beginning of sophomore year. And in sophomore year you settle into your routine and your friends and your life. I became very comfortable with the world I created for myself. I picked friends, clubs, classes, a new church, exercise, healthy eating, better stress management, etc. I miss my world terribly. I am an adult. A ... read more