Thanksgiving

The French don’t really understand Thanksgiving. Nor do the Welsh or the English. And I’ll bet most of the world, but that’s all I’ve got to go off of. I mean, they get that it’s a time where you eat food and be thankful, but they don’t get it. Somehow this holiday is intrinsically American and as shocked by it as I am, I’m proud America. Because I think this holiday is our best out of all of them.

Thanksgiving for me has always meant two things: massive amounts of some of the best food of the year and time spent with my whole family. And by whole I mean both sides of my family cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and the occasional boyfriend/girlfriend included. I come from a family where the time we spend on Thanksgiving is really about each other. Where we take a second to breathe and be together and think about just how lucky we are that we can do that.

I cannot express to you, or to anyone, how blessed I feel to have that. To have a family I know loves me. To have cousins who are my best friends too. Where even if you screw up, we say “we know. It’s okay. Will you let me help?”

And friends. I could sit here and name each one of them, but it would be too long. But you people who have helped me in ways you’ll never know. I’m thankful for that too.

I’m thankful for everyone I know. Because each in their own way has made me who I am, helped me through the hard (and the easy) times and given me the most beautiful experiences here. And I’m only 21 years old now. This wonderful adventure has hardly begun.

And I’m thankful for all of it.

It’s Good

It’s good just to think sometimes. God how I’ve needed it. One thing about learning in another language is that you spend the whole time just trying to understand. Not making connections or thinking “oh hey! Maybe this other idea might be better! Maybe I should bring it up in class!” No. My experience has been “okay got that. What did he say? Oh crud, wait. Okay he paused. Don’t know what that word means, but it seems important and it sounds like this” etc. And if you didn’t find that at least marginally entertaining, I invite you to laugh at this, because you should feel the same way I do.

But today I cleaned (mildew in the bathroom. Always pleasant. It’s not.), made Dulce de Leche out of a can of sweetened, condensed milk (and you can too!), and went to a cafe to get some coffee, smoke a pipe and think.

The great thing about the pipe bit is that a) it gives me something to do/focus on and b) gives me fire (which is almost a physical need for me. I don’t know why. Might have to do with my energy?). So extra periphery needs taken care of, I sat and thought. It was like going for a nice, gentle run for my brain. I can’t even express how good it felt. To just sit and make connections, theorize about random things and solve literary puzzles (I’m working on a story. Stories are puzzles. Don’t let anyone tell you different).

So to sum up: I’m feeling good. I now have Dulce de Leche I don’t know what to do with. And I have biscuits that will hopefully help that situation. Life is good.

My First Exam

Well. I guess we’ll all just see how that went. I have no idea. I at least knew the answers to the three questions on that test (I think), but the thing is only out of 20 points total. So…if I effed something up. I’m screwed.

At lest for the test.

Haha, but it was actually a really good first experience. Not nearly the golem I thought it would be. I think I might just make it through this year abroad. And without pulling a double-tab on my GPA. So good things. Good things.

Yep

First French exam AND paper due tomorrow. It’s in Clinical Psychology (of all things. God help me). Am I ready?

HA. No. Not at all. However, I’m going to do my best, give it my all, and hope to goodness that the credit either doesn’t transfer back, or that I manage to pull a B.

AND I’m going to listen to this:

Booyah.

How to End the War in Gaza | Foreign Affairs

How to End the War in Gaza | Foreign Affairs.

Maybe you guys can read this? But it’s a very interesting article from a reputable political science-type journal.

Gaza strikes: Motives and consequences – Inside Story – Al Jazeera English

Gaza strikes: Motives and consequences – Inside Story – Al Jazeera English.

I’ve taken an entire course just on this one conflict and I will tell you that this goes beyond the impasses of American politics. This isn’t just ideologies against ideologies. This is religion, ethnicity, politics, ideology, history, anger, international pressure, fundamentalism and just a whole bowl of human stupidity and stubbornness.

Something is going to have to change. And I think it will. Soon. And I only hope it falls to the good instead of the really, really messy and, frankly, terrible.

Pasta and I: The Hard Truth

So last night I had a revelation about me and pasta:

I like pasta just a little too much. How is that you say? Well…I often end up eating it raw. Yeah. I know. Disgusting, strange, bad for your teeth, what would my mother think, how do you live in civilized society, etc.

But the thing is IT’S JUST SO GOOD! And I don’t have the time to be wasting cooking a small quantity of pasta that I’m just going to eat with my fingers! Psh.

So I see three possible solutions: 1) Cook what I’ve got and don’t buy more pasta unless I have immediate plans for it. 2) Cook all the pasta and put it in the fridge to snack on later. 3) Have a constant supply of baguettes.

Option three it is. Welcome to France!

Problematique? Yeah, You’re Telling Me

It’s Mid-Term season (finally) here at good ol’ Aix-Marseille University which, as all of us college students know, means two things: tests and papers. Personally, I have no problem with tests or papers. It’s like I was designed to be a student. And I’m an English major, which should tell you a lot about my feelings towards essays and papers (YES! GIVE THEM TO ME! I WANT ALL OF THE ESSAYS!).

HOWEVER. I have a problem. French university comes at their papers…well. Differently. In fact, it goes something like this:

In America, you get a question, formulate a thesis and then discuss, analyze and synthesize all the information that supports your thesis. We’ve been learning how to do this since probably sixth grade, if not earlier.

In FRANCE, however, you formulate a “problematique.” What is a “problematique” you say? Excellent question! Basically, it’s a question that you ask in response to the question you are given in the assignment that is both more narrow and less precise and will guide your exploration of the topic and ultimately lead you to your response (known in the States as a Thesis).

Today we spent about three hours trying to figure out: a) what in God’s name a “problematique” is b) how to make a good problematique (I still have no idea how to do this) and c) what to do with the thing once you have it. Haha

It was kind of hilarious to watch my classmates try to figure out what in the world was going on. I think it might best be described as throwing a bar of soap in a bathtub. Nobody knows why its there, how to direct it or what to do with it.

If I haven’t really been culture-shocked by the French culture itself, I think this is pretty much my first tussle with Madame Cultural Frustration. My sympathy level has gotten so much higher in the last three hours haha. Oh boy. I love it. I hate it. I miss the good ol’ American way of BOOM git ‘er done. But I imagine this will be good for my intellect. Right?

What my theatre class teaches me

Today in my “Oral Expression” class for French, we did a really interesting improvisation exercise. Basically, you were given three places to go on the stage and your fellow actor was given three without either of you knowing who was going where. You just started and boom.

But here’s the catch: You had to make it real. You couldn’t just walk across the stage or do a ping-pong blip-blip-blip and done. No. You had to make it REAL. And THAT was sweet because you end up creating a character, a story and a life for it. I had tons of fun with that little challenge. And didn’t do too badly, if I do say so myself.

But here’s where it gets deep and cool. Our professor, at the end of class, said that the exercise wasn’t just about learning how to act. He said, the things in the exercise that are true remain true for life. He said, here. You have three goals you want to accomplish. If you hop up and down, yell and scream, scramble and tussle, you’re not going to cross that stage convincingly. It’s just not going to happen. You have to be ready to move, yes, but you also have to let the moment come. Because it will. You just have to be ready for it. And stop wasting all this energy doing…nothing really.

What you need will come. You have to be ready for the opportunity to come so you can seize it and cross the stage. But no matter how you struggle, you’ll never be able to cross that stage convincingly until the right moment comes. And then it will be natural, beautiful and quite possibly steal the show.

Israelis Launch Major Assault on Gaza, Killing Hamas Commander – NYTimes.com

Israelis Launch Major Assault on Gaza, Killing Hamas Commander – NYTimes.com.

Woah. This isn’t good. War in the Middle East does not sound like a good idea to me. History suggests the West sucks at it and the West would undoubtedly get sucked into it.