Cheddar

2.25.07

There is a cute little shop near my language school called Bagels and Brownies. In English! They serve yummy yummy bagel sandwhiches and yummy yummy big fat brownies. I went with a friend the other day, and was shocked to see cheddar cheese as one of the options for a sandwhich.

With the myriad of types of cheeses here, cheddar is the one kind nowhere to be found. Sadness.

So I asked the lady where she bought her cheddar. She responded, "You can buy some from me."

"For how much?" She pulled out her accounting books and looked up how much she paid for it.

"39 Euros for one kilo." That's approximately $50 for almost 2.5 pounds of cheese, folks.

I don't miss cheddar that much...yet.

The German Film

2.26.07

A few weeks ago in language class, my teacher explained about a magazine you can buy in Paris called the Pariscope. It tells about all the movies that are showing this week (and when and where), as well other art forms: theatre, music concerts, etc. When she told us about this, she asked if any of us went to see films other than American films. We kind of gave her this blank look that said, “Non-American films in France means seeing FRENCH films, and um…our French isn’t that good yet.”

She smiled and told us if we had the courage to try a film in another language, she highly recommended a German film called “The Life of Others.” A German film? Aren’t we learning French? One of our classmates agreed with the teacher—she’d seen it too, and it was excellent. We drilled the classmate on how hard was it to read the French subtitles, and how much she understood. She assured us that she understood what happened in the film, that she followed the story, and it was a good.

Joanna, my British friend, and I talked it through, and decided that a German film with French subtitles seemed easier than a straight up French film. (There is a French film out right now which looks excellent, and if I could find it with French or English subtitles, I’d be there in a flash.) Reading the words just seems easier than hearing at this point, being the visual learner that I am.

I’d only been to two movie theatres, though, and neither one was anywhere near language school. Our language school also happens to be really close to a major commercial area, and we thought, “Surely there is a movie theatre around here.” Standing on the street at the main square of this commercial area, we approached a young person and asked if there was a cinema anywhere near by. She looked at us like we were idiots, and pointed across the square to the HUGE “Miramax” neon sign. Oh.

As we walked towards the big Miramax sign, we saw another movie theatre just across the street from it. Two theatres on one corner? Interesting. Neither of these two were showing the German film, but both were showing the French film that we’d debated. We finally decided we ought to buy a Pariscope and find out where (and when) the German film was playing. We saw that it was playing at a theatre in the same commercial area as these two theatres, but at a theatre of a totally different name. We asked the newspaper stand man where this (third) particular theatre was located. He looked at us like we were idiots, and pointed just down the street from the main square. We looked and could see it from where we were standing. Oh.

As we walked there, we saw another movie theatre just across the street. No, I did not just copy and paste the sentence from above. FOUR theatres in a two block radius. No wonder people were looking at us like we were idiots—we were!

We finally arrived at the theatre that advertised in the Pariscope that it was showing the German film at 3:55. When we walked up to the ticket counter, we saw the movie title and time showing on the marquee. Surely we were in the right place, right? Nope. Nothing’s that easy. We requested two student tickets for the film, and the ticket woman said, “No, not here, down the road. 200 meters that way.” And she pointed even further down the road. Huh?

Joanna and I walked down the road totally confused. Neither one of us knew exactly how far 200 meters were, and we also didn’t understand why that theatre advertised the times for the film if it wasn’t showing it. We finally arrived at yet another cinema, and bought our tickets for the German film for 3:55. I guess this particular theatre has some showrooms at one location, and more at another. All we know for sure is that we saw SIX cinemas in three blocks!

As for watching a German film with French subtitles—we survived! At the beginning we were both pretty confused, but by the end we got the jidst of the story and liked the film. I think it gave us enough courage to try seeing the French film that looks so good sometime this next week. If anything, I can chalk it all up to language practice, right?

My first poem in French

2.21.07

Last week my professor assigned us to write a poem about our city in our home country, describing the five senses, the season of the year we love the most, and things typical of our city. After a few corrections by my prof, here is my poem. The translation of each line will be in italics. And--I don't have the French accents on my computer, so if you speak French, don't go correcting me for not putting accents and circumflexes, etc. Je sais.

Quand je pense a la porte d'or
When I think of the Golden Gate Bridge
La ville dans la baie que j'adore
The city by the bay that I adore
Il n'y a pas une ville plus belle
There isn't a city more beautiful
...San Francisco elle s'appelle.
...San Francisco she is called/is her name.

Le brouillard roule sur les collines surtout en automne.
The fog rolls over the hills, especially in autumn.
Blanc et dense, comme du coton qui moutomne.
White and thick, like a ball of cotton.
Chaque matin, la corne de brume on fait retentir.
Each morning, the foghorn sounds it's call.
En securitie, le son me fait sentir.
In security it makes me feel.

En ete, j'aime le parfum des eucalyptus dans le parc.
In summer, I love the perfume of the eucalyptus in the park.
Et pres de la jetee, l'odeur de la mer.
And at the pier, the smell of the sea.
Il ya une chocolaterie, Ghirardelli.
There is a chocolate shop, Ghirardelli.
J'achete le pain du levain dans la patisserie.
I buy the sourdough bread at the bakery.

Dans les rues vallonnes et escarpees,
On the streets steep and hilly,
Il y a des trams tres jolis.
There are trolleys so pretty.
Chaque maison est magnifique.
Every house is magnificent.
C'est une ville fantastique!
It's a fantastic city!

I was really proud of my poem until I read the English translation to Lo-Ren. Then I realized just how stupid of a poem it is! (I'm laughing as I write this.) But it rhymes in French, it met all the requirements of my prof, AND...two months ago I couldn't speak French at all, and well...I'm still proud of my silly poem!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go outside and enjoy the 60 degree sunshine in Paris in February. C'est magnifique!

Strike at the Louvre

2.18.07

I'd heard you can get a year's membership to the Louvre for 15 euros...which seems to good to pass up, right? Then, I saw ads in the Metro saying that young people (under 26) can get a year's membership to the Louvre for 15 euros...which means that old people (over 26) must have to pay more.

So a classmate of mine and I decided to GO to Louvre and find just how much it would cost someone over the age of 26 to join. We weren't planning on actually seeing stuff in the Louvre that day, we just wanted to find out about the membership.

I walked up to the information desk and asked if there exists a card like the young people card for people with more than 26 years. The lady told me to go ask at the "friends of the Louvre" office. However, while I was stumbling over my French with her, Joanna (my friend), notices a sign.

In several languages, it states, "Because the workers of the Louvre are currently on strike, the entrance fee is free." The Louvre for free? And not on the first Sunday of the month, when the whole world has come to see it? You better believe we went in!

We stopped at one point when saw a worker, and asked why there is a strike. She explained they wanted higher salaries (is there ever another reason for a strike, I wonder?). She said it had been going on for 9 days (9 days! 9 days of free Louvre, and I didn't know! Bummer), and that there was a meeting with the head guy that afternoon...if he agreed to their demands, then the strike would end. If he didn't, it would continue until the next meeting. I asked her why she was working if there was a strike.

"Well, it's the LOUVRE, you know? If no one showed up for work, it would have to close temporarily...and well, it's the Louvre! We cannot close. People come from all over the world to come to the Louvre. So...we take turns working during the strike so that it can stay open. But no one of us work the ticket booth. We work for the people, for you, that is all." Interesting.

We wandered around, amazed that we were there for free. We decided to start with the oldest stuff first...the Mesopotamia exhibit. Interesting, but it's no Mona Lisa. (Which I learned this week in French class is called The Jaconde in French AND Italian. The world's most famous painting has a different name? Huh?) We finally decided to go over to the section where all the famous artwork is, and see the "good" stuff.

As we went to pass through the entry gate, a man asked where our tickets were. We asked, "The strike? Isn't it free?"

"Oh no. The strike ended." Huh?

We went back to the information desk, and the sign from earlier was gone. We asked the same lady we'd talked to about the strike, and she smiled and said, "Yes, the strike is over now." Just like that. Well, I guess a few free hours in the Louvre is better than none!

And it cost 60 euros for a more-than-26-year-old-person to get a year's membership. Ouch. It doesn't pay to be old.

2.14.07

So before I moved to Paris, I had all these grand ideas of writing on a DAILY basis, whether in my blog or my journal or somewhere. As you faithful readers are well aware of by now, writing on my blog has not been a daily occurance. Neither has writing in my journal. I would love to write more, but well... it's just not happening right now. My apologies.

I have to write a poem--in FRENCH--for school tonight. To be turned in tomorrow. I'm a little excited and a little nervous. It has to be about which season I love the most in my city (in America) and why. I can think of much more interesting things to write a poem about than seasons...but oh well, that's the assignment.

And can I just say something? By the end of my first weeek in French class, I could talk about my dreams and my passions. I learned all the various terms of affection one can use with a "valentine" (or love) before I ever even learned how to talk about my family. And I learned the various forms of "I like, I love, I don't like, I detest, etc" weeks ago... Yet I have yet to learn any words for any kind of food. I only learned this week how to describe someone physically. I only learned this week how to talk about the weather. I think it just goes to show what things are important in this culture. But hey...I thought food was important to them, but I guess I don't need to know about that in my first seven weeks or anything.

In other news...

I still like Paris.
I still like learning French.
My camera is still broken. (More like: it's dead, never to return.)
I am not still sick, after more than two weeks. Doc said I had an infection AND a virus.
I still have no internet, no apartment, and no cell phone.
I would not say that I'm still in the "honeymoon" phase, but nor am I in culture shock.

Now I need to go work on that poem...

2.5.07

Okay, photoblog is working again, and all the pictures from Blois, Chambord, and this past Sunday are now up. Start from January 19 and work from there! Link is over on the left on my blog, click "my daily photo."

Been using Sue-Wee's camera.

Been sick...still sick.

Weather has ROCKED lately. Warm, even sunny a few days.

Finished first month of language school, and progessed into month two class. Good...didn't have to repeat, didn't have to go backwards...

Not much else to tell right now.