Like I've heard about the weather in the states, we got a nice preview of spring at the end of last week. I don't know the temperature exactly, but it must have been in the late 60's - 70's (fahrenheit) in my estimation. As we didn't leave for Belgium until early Saturday morning and we do not have classes on Friday, Devan and I took advantage of the weather and set out to do exactly the one thing I have been waiting for: picnicking on the lawn of the Eiffel Tower.
We started the day out by grabbing lunch at a great little Greek restaurant near Rue Montorgueil, one of my favorite streets in Paris. It's so full of pedestrians and shoppers that it's easy to forget cars can actually drive down the cobblestone path. After getting some pita, we took the metro to Père Lachaise Cemetery, the resting grounds of many famous individuals, both French and foreign. Not only is it one of the most enormous cemeteries I have ever seen, but there is also no space in between the graves, so it can be difficult to navigate when you are trying to find a specific headstone. It took us a solid hour to find Jim Morrison, and maybe half of that to walk and find Oscar Wilde (we decided to conclude our visit for the day after that). The cemetery is nonetheless beautiful, and I haven't always exactly been a fan of cemeteries (then again, I suppose who is?), but there is something particularly peaceful and even soothing about Père Lachaise.
Afterward, we went over to the Luxembourg Gardens to sit out in the sun. When we got off the metro, Starbucks was in front of us and we took it as a sign. At Fairfield we went maybe once a week last semester, or at least that's how often I'd go with Devan to get my passion tea, but because it's even more expensive in Paris (as if it isn't overpriced enough in the states), we only went once here when it was bitterly cold and we were desperate for something warm. So, we treated ourselves to tea-smoothie drinks - which they don't even make in the states - and walked to Luxembourg, where we had also spent Thursday afternoon after class until it closed at 18h15. At the gardens, they have hundreds of chairs for people to sit out on around the giant fountain. Every chair is filled. The sun was absolutely wonderful.
We spent maybe over an hour there, and then began to walk towards the Eiffel Tower. We didn't realize it was a feat that would require quite some time to complete, and when we found ourselves sweating and not 1/3 of the way there after 25 minutes, we stopped at a boulangerie to buy a baguette and hopped on the metro.
So we spent the rest of our afternoon laying out in the sun on the lawn next to the Eiffel Tower. I would do it every day if I could.
Saturday morning, we left early for Belgium. Brussels is only a very short, easy 1 hour 20 minute train ride from Paris. Devan and I met up with our friends Jamie (also from Fairfield) and Ariela, who had arrived the day before. The first thing we did was go on what was supposed to be a chocolate tour, but turned out to be a small room crammed full of people where a man basically explained in 10 minutes that chocolate is made from cacao and that to make truffles you put together two molds of chocolate. It wasn't worth the money, but we did get to sample chocolate which completely made up for it. Belgian chocolate is completely everything it is built up to be. Ariela told us how she went on a tour of the Hershey factory, and learned that American chocolate is made not with cream but with sour milk (because it was cheaper) and is compensated for with cranked up sugar content and thus is not as rich as European chocolate, which is made with cream. This is also why Europeans think our chocolate is disgusting, but Americans think the both taste good. The one other thing I read at the chocolate museum is that Americans eat half of the amount of chocolate in a year that many European countries do. I found this amusing because the United States is still the country in an obesity epidemic. I really do believe that there is something to be said about the European diet and lifestyle.
I hadn't eaten breakfast, but after the chocolate museum we got Belgian waffles, which despite what many of the other students in my program told us, were absolutely delicious. Also, apparently, the only topping true Belgians put on their waffles is chocolate ("only" chocolate, ha), and the other toppings they offer - ice cream, whipped cream, fruit, etc. - are to appeal to the tourists. I had mine with powdered sugar and it was grand. Every year when I was younger, for Christmas breakfast with our grandparents we would have Belgium waffles, which I think we could buy at Sam's or something. They disappeared for a long time, but this year, my Memere, who seems to have a knack for finding nifty and nostalgic things (for example, I'm thinking also of when she found "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific"), found them in a magazine and ordered them for us. And it turns out they taste very close to the ones you get right in Belgium!
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around, looking in shops and sightseeing. I bought a present for someone in a cute, unexpected shop with the nicest shopkeeper. Belgium has three official languages - French, German, and Dutch - and Brussels speaks primarily French, though everything is also written in Dutch (I don't believe it was German). This was great for us, and it was a really cool experience traveling to a country outside of France where we could still use our French. The people of Belgium, like in Heidelberg, Germany, were so friendly. I didn't bring my camera because I didn't want to lose it, and I was going to bring my old, smaller one but I forgot it, so I unfortunately have no pictures of my own from Belgium, which I really am disappointed about. :(
Saturday night was the big event - a concert event called "Sensation" located in Hasselt, another 1 1/2 hour train ride from Brussels. There are two versions of Sensation, white and black, and because we went to White Sensation, we had to wear white. When we got to the train station, we realized we were among many others headed for the same place. We sat next to some other kids on some stairs while we waited for the train to arrive, and it turned out that two of the guys who are currently studying in London are actually from New Hampshire. This almost never happens, even at school in the states, and I get absurdly excited when it does. When one of them, who I think actually lives in Vermont, told me that he goes to UNH, I couldn't even remember that I know people who go there. The other one lives north in NH and goes to Plymouth. I also couldn't remember that I know people who go there as well. I don't care who you are, tell me from NH and I'm on cloud nine. I may want to live in the city, but I've got my 603 pride stamped on my soul.
Getting on the train was an absolute madhouse. Because there were so many people and they oversold the seats on the train, people plowed their way through without regard for their own friends. Yet still, we managed to grab seats and I sat next to Devan and across from Jamie; a man from Spain who barely spoke English sat next to her. He was very friendly, and tried to teach us some Spanish, none of which I remember. All I know is that I thought that "Me amo" meant "My name is" but it apparently means "I love." Oops.
The train ride was one of the most ridiculous experiences of my life. There was a moment when I realized I was surrounded by hundreds of people my age from literally all across the globe, all dressed similarly, and all excitedly headed for the same destination; this feeling was surreal. I've never had such a sense of camaraderie with people I don't know.
Sensation was only more of this. As I said, although there were many American students, there were many international students and we met some kids from Paris; we are going to get coffee with them this Wednesday midday after class. The sold-out concert of 40,000 people lasted until 6h. We left around 5h30 to catch the 6h01 train back to Brussels. Because it was such a big event, the concert provided free transportation between the arena and the train station. Also, because Sensation-ers swarmed the train, no one checked our tickets. In retrospect, we shouldn't even have bought any, but we couldn't have known this before.
We got back to Brussels around 7h30, and headed back to Jamie and Ariela's hostel, where our passports were locked up safely. I was so paranoid about losing something or having something stolen, but we had no problems (and I hope it stays that way, knock on wood). Devan and I collected our things - not that we had brought much - and left to get some breakfast and go to mass. We were going to get waffles, but the cafe was closed, so we found a Paul (the French chain with our favorite macarons) and just got some bread and walked over to the cathedral. We were half an hour early so we sat there trying not to pass out. This is also how I spent the following hour during mass, which was in an interesting mix of Dutch and French, and I think even some English, though I might have just been delirious at that point. We left at 11 because we had to catch our train to Paris, but mass was barely halfway over.
At the train station, we got pizza (who knew they had Sbarro's in Belgium?). This was also very strange and reminiscent of our first day in Paris because it was about our 5th meal since the last time we slept. I think I kind of slept on the train ride home, but I don't really know. I was supposed to go to a political rally for the Communist presidential candidate for my history class (well, it really was optional but I actually wanted to go) but I slept instead before waking up to finish my homework, study for my exam, and go back to sleep. It was a great weekend.
Tomorrow is another day at the
lycée with my French friends. I can't remember if I posted about the last session - it was again great in a way that is difficult to explain. It's simply awesome how curious and engaged the students are. I can't really say "kids" because some of them are my age. The first class (the class that is better at English) is so attentive; Maria and I gave a Powerpoint presentation on a little bit about our states (she lives in New York) to give them and idea of what our lives are like and started to present on the high school system of American education, which we will finish tomorrow. During the second two classes (the
terminale classes), we worked with the students broken up into two smaller groups. Each group had a text they had to read, comprehend, and then present to the class at the end. This was difficult. In the first
terminale class, my group had a longer text entitled "Staying Safe Online," underneath with read the word "SMART" vertically, with another word and corresponding paragraph for each letter. It was difficult for the students to comprehend, because it was very much above their level of English, but two of the members of the group who speak English a little bit better than the others were able to help the others to understand it. I was a little frustrated because I was very happy with the summary the students were able to produce and give to the class, but the professor wanted them to talk more about the relation of "SMART" to the rest of the text. It didn't really make much sense to me (why she was placing importance on this), and I actually felt like it might have been the language gap for the professor herself. One of the problems in French schools, as we have discussed in my education class, is that many of the professors are not native or truly fluent in English, so there is a sort of disconnect or lack of authenticity in the English that the students learn. I realized that this week when I discovered it is much easier to communicate to the professors in French; their English accents are for the most part fairly good, but I would compare it, not intendedly offensive, to a parrot. They mimic the words and can communicate in basic phrases, but they can't express more than what they teach.
In the second
terminale class, we had a shorter comic with the same picture four times of a person at a computer with the words "Sleep, Study, Work, Play." This was easier for the students to comprehend, and they were better able to discuss it, but there was a very odd dichotomy in the classroom; while they were incredibly engaged and willing to work, the students' physical behavior was uncontrolled and disruptive. Once of the girls stood on the table for five minutes until the professor suggested she move to space in the center of the desks, which were set up in a circle. One of the boys from my group was teasingly stroking the back of another student in Maria's group. It was entertaining but surprising, given their age. I am told that this is extremely unusual for a French high school classroom, and I believe it, especially given the stories of my fellow student teachers. I think we just got a rough batch, but the students are fun and amusing and interested nonetheless and I wouldn't trade this experience for the world.
Below are my pictures from Friday, of the cemetery and the Eiffel Tower. For now, I'm off to bed because I have a very early day and I'm going to need all the energy I can muster for these kids.
I'll leave you with one of my favorite new French expressions, which my host mother used to describe my relationship with Paris:
To say "I know it like the back of my hand" : "Je le connais comme ma poche."
---->It literally means, "I know it like my pocket." :) Très mignon, n'est-ce pas?!
France te souvient - "France remembers you"
Jim Morrison
Oscar Wilde
Dream come true.
