Bienvenue, printemps!

Hiya folks! It be wednesday, and I be writin' again.  Now I realize it's been far too long since my last blog entry, and there are definitely things I've forgotten.  But don't worry, I'll try to tell you the most important things.

First of all, my parents came to visit!  Yay!  It was so good to see them, considering we've been on opposite sides of the world for a couple months.  But unfortunately most of the pictures of when they were here were taken with their camera, so I won't be able to post many.  But you can always check facebook, and if you can't find me on facebook, remember: look up my email address.  My name doesn't always come up.

When my parents first arrived, I waited for their train on the platform and met them there.  I skipped class to do that.  I chose to do so first of all because I just really wanted to see them, and second of all because they don't speak any French, and I figured they would need help checking into the hotel, especially since I was the one who made the reservations.  So we met on the platform and walked over to their hotel, and spent the rest of that day (Tuesday) and all the next day (Wednesday, my day off) together.

Tuesday I showed them around Clermont-Ferrand, and Wednesday we took the train to Vichy, which is only two stops away.  It's a very small, old town, known for its natural springs, and for the fact that it was the headquarters of the new French government that sided with the Germans in WWII. 

Here, by the way, is a picture of a lovely, small lighthouse overlooking the river in Vichy.  I forgot the name of the river, but it's nice, isn't it?

Anyway, it started to get warm while they were here, and sometimes we went without our jackets!  Unfortunately though, it rained probably 50% of the time they were here, and I left my umbrella in Vichy.  But in the end it was ok because my older sister Haley left her umbrella in my backpack, so now I get to use it.  Ha! :D

Then my family left again and went to Prague.  They tell me it's really nice and I should see it; maybe I will over spring break if I can convince Ashley or someone to come with me.

And lately, it's been very nice out.  Spring has sprung!  So, last Wednesday, my activity was to go out into Jardin Lecoq, where French people like to lie around on the grass on nice days eating picnics and spooning and such.  Here is a picture of the garden:

Anyway, I did neither of these things, I actually sat in the garden and played "Les Champs Elysees" on my ukulele.  I recorded it too; here is the video if you want to see it.  Please disregard the mistakes; I didn't quite have all the chord changes down, and keep in mind I"m 100% self-taught :)




I hope that works... I'm not very good at html.  Anyway, besides what I've told you, the only other events I'm pondering are school related.  First of all, I'm still wondering how watching five minutes of a movie rendition of French Protestants being violently slaughtered helps us to understand French cultural history.  Also I'm wondering if it's just a French thing that my writing professor likes to read my mistakes to the entire class and ask everyone else what I did wrong, or that my literature professor considers students who are late because they couldn't find the classroom to be negligent students whose grades will be affected and says so to the entire class, and later (in context of a reading, of course) talks about how westerners like to defy authority, argue a lot, and yell, use big gestures, and open their mouths really wide when they argue.  As you can see, there are still some aspects of French culture I'm having a hard time getting used to.  But I wish everyone (not just some people) would realize I'm trying, and try not to put so much energy into criticizing my culture, which just makes it harder.  Granted, most people have been extremely kind to me, and the stereotype that French people in general don't like Americans is just simply not true; I would like to point that out so I don't proliferate any generalizations. 

But I suppose any study abroad experience has its ups and downs, and I think overall I've had more ups than downs.  So don't think I'm not glad to be here just because I'm having a hard time with my literature professor.  So anyway, that's all folks!  And by the way, I'd love to hear from you; it can get a little lonely here in this tiny little dorm room.

A Bientôt!