Well, time continues to fly. After showing the family around Paris for the past week, I had a grand adventure of my own yesterday afternoon. My orchestra was invited to play in a little village outside Paris. St-Cyr-sur-Morin, as Wikipedia kindly told me, has a population of about 1800. It took us about 2 hours to get there by bus, bumping along through the countryside and around the traffic circles.
It was already dark by the time we got there, so we couldn't see much of anything. The concert was in a new building that was a combined auditorium, mayor's office, and childcare center. The building is brand new, we were the inaugural concert and were thus treated to a hero's welcome. The arrival of the Parisians was indeed considered a big deal!
We arrived around 5, rehearsed for an hour and a half, then went over to the childcare room for dinner. Turns out that one of the local ladies had prepared an entire FEAST for us (keeping in mind that the orchestra is about 40-50 people, this couldn't have been easy). There was fried chicken, cold cuts, potato salad, and brie. Oh you should have seen the brie. This town is actually in the region of France called "brie," so you can thank them for the cheese we all know and love. Well, I know it but can't say I love it anymore, haha. But you get the point. The brie wheel was seriously like a foot in diameter, if not more. From what I could tell, the other members of the orchestra massacred it. Oh, and there was a big fruit tart as well. And the local officials themselves came to pour our kirs.
Over dinner I accidentally became the star of the show as I was talking to one of the other cellists, who commented on the fact that my accent is quite good for an American. I never know whether to take this as a complement or not, because on the one hand she was observing that my accent was respectable, but on the other hand she was observing that I come from a group with notoriously bad accents in French, so I don't know whether it was only respectable in comparison to other Americans, haha. In any case, I unwittingly became the star of the show when as a joke I started speaking French with a terrible American accent. At which point the people around us stopped their conversations and started laughing hysterically. So then everyone made me continue because they thought it was so hilarious that I could just do it at will. So there I was like, "bonn-joor, je sweez am-ay-ree-can" (etc), with a whole crowd of French people laughing their asses off around me. At one point I said (in the badly accented French) that there were too many Americans in France, at which point they were like, "yes!" They were perhaps a little too enthusiastic on that one, haha. Again, not sure if they were laughing with me or at me...
Anyway, the concert was more or less fine, but the cutest thing was that the mayor was there, along with all the regional notables. The mayor MC'd the ceremony. The elementary school principal is in the brass section, so he was the local star for the night. A bunch of the kids came out to see us, and after the show they wanted the autographs of the conductor and our two soloists (a pianist and a trumpeter)! So sweet, particularly since I think this orchestra is fairly mediocre, haha. But the reception was so nice and friendly, they're a real community. After the concert they served us some local cider, which was of course delicious (cider is ALWAYS delicious in my book).
From there we got back on our bus, where I passed out for the entire ride home. Woke up just as the bus was navigating the back streets of the 14th arrondissement, at which point we were ready to hop off and resume our lives as anonymous Parisians. So much for our 15 minutes of fame in St-Cyr-sur-Morin!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Armistice Day in France
One of the things that is so interesting about France is how seriously they take their history. This is of course true of most places, but somehow here it seems like history as a concept is more visible. Just look at the ongoing obsession with WWII. This is of course not to say that history here is less influenced by political machinations or anything like that, but rather that those kinds of discussions (the political uses of history) actually happen in mainstream magazines, etc. With that in mind, I was highly intrigued to attend the Armistice Day memorial program at the university today, and sure enough it didn't disappoint.
The school is decked out in French flags, here's the entrance:
And from there I went to the location of the memorial service, in a hallway that has all of their war memorials:
This is the WWI memorial, so the ceremony took place in front of it. There was also a poster of important events/people/documents from the war (and relating to the university):
Here's why I find France's engagement with history so fascinating: the ceremony began with the president of the alumni association giving a little intro in which he meditated on the fact that because the last WWI vet recently died, WWI has passed from memory into history. He proceeded to discuss the differences between memory and history and how this will change memorial services in the future. Although he was speaking to a large audience made up of a hodge-podge of people, he was fairly technical and got into the changing relationship to the war and what that means for the next generation in terms of how we engage with the heritage of such a dramatic event. He said that they had decided to change the format of the memorial service to reflect this generational shift and that they had thus invited the history department to participate. I was impressed.
But only for a minute, as the intervention by the historian (whose name I didn't catch, but I don't think it was a hot shot in the field or anything) was total mythologizing on the glory of the school in the war effort. This woman had apparently read a bunch of the letters written by students from the university who were stationed in the trenches, and she proceeded to go on and on about the glory of the school in the war effort--how the intellectual rigor allowed the soldiers to ask fundamental questions about academia and society, how the moral standards of the university meant that a vast majority of the youth were somehow involved, how the university opened its doors to the Red Cross to serve as a hospital, how the librarian (Lucien Herr, who is super famous for inspiring a whole generation of engaged intellectuals) challenged the students to think politically, etc. You would have thought it was a propaganda video for the school or something. Granted, the school suffered heavily during the war. From what I could tell based on some contradictory numbers that were floated around by different people, 239 alums died in the war, and only 23 went and came back (it's a small school). The cohort that finished in 1913 was obviously the heaviest hit, with 44 deaths, most of which happened right off the bat in August 1914 at the Battle of the Marne.
From there, they proceeded to a lengthy discussion of March Bloch (I KNEW he was coming when they started discussing the stakes of history), who fought in WWI and then enlisted in the resistance during WWII before he was captured, tortured, and killed in 1944. He's a very interesting person, in that he published reflections on WWII but also meditated on the role of the historian in contemporary politics, etc. He's a fascinating person to read (his famous book on WWII has been translated into English as "Strange Defeat"), and of course they glorified him as a hero of the school since he's also an alum. They presented a rather skewed image of him, though, focusing entirely on his exceptional commitment to the country (and how that made the school look good) without talking about his take on the war, which was actually much more nuanced. But again, this was history-making at its finest (by that I mean intentionally constructing a history).
I suppose this manipulation of historical memory isn't surprising in the sense that the people there were all old alums (most of whom I would guess had some sort of engagement in WWII), so the school was trying to valorize their nostalgia of both the school and the war effort. It was interesting to say the least. Equally interesting was the lady I sat next to, who graduated in math in 1930 (!) and who lost 10 friends in WWII. I got to ask her a bunch of questions, and she pointed out her friends on the WWII memorial. She also told me about what it was like being a woman in math at an elite school in the 1920s, which I thought was pretty awesome. She was one of only a handful of girls in the school at all, of course.
So yeah, there you have it, definitely a noteworthy cultural experience. It's a little more noble than the way the Alsatians I knew celebrated it back when I lived in Colmar (namely, everyone goes to Germany to shop, since it's not a national holiday there, for obvious reasons, haha). Oh, and some band of juvenile delinquents slashed all the tires of German cars that day, as my German roommate at the time found out the hard way. I'll take ENS mythologizing over that any day!
The school is decked out in French flags, here's the entrance:
And from there I went to the location of the memorial service, in a hallway that has all of their war memorials:
This is the WWI memorial, so the ceremony took place in front of it. There was also a poster of important events/people/documents from the war (and relating to the university):
Here's why I find France's engagement with history so fascinating: the ceremony began with the president of the alumni association giving a little intro in which he meditated on the fact that because the last WWI vet recently died, WWI has passed from memory into history. He proceeded to discuss the differences between memory and history and how this will change memorial services in the future. Although he was speaking to a large audience made up of a hodge-podge of people, he was fairly technical and got into the changing relationship to the war and what that means for the next generation in terms of how we engage with the heritage of such a dramatic event. He said that they had decided to change the format of the memorial service to reflect this generational shift and that they had thus invited the history department to participate. I was impressed.But only for a minute, as the intervention by the historian (whose name I didn't catch, but I don't think it was a hot shot in the field or anything) was total mythologizing on the glory of the school in the war effort. This woman had apparently read a bunch of the letters written by students from the university who were stationed in the trenches, and she proceeded to go on and on about the glory of the school in the war effort--how the intellectual rigor allowed the soldiers to ask fundamental questions about academia and society, how the moral standards of the university meant that a vast majority of the youth were somehow involved, how the university opened its doors to the Red Cross to serve as a hospital, how the librarian (Lucien Herr, who is super famous for inspiring a whole generation of engaged intellectuals) challenged the students to think politically, etc. You would have thought it was a propaganda video for the school or something. Granted, the school suffered heavily during the war. From what I could tell based on some contradictory numbers that were floated around by different people, 239 alums died in the war, and only 23 went and came back (it's a small school). The cohort that finished in 1913 was obviously the heaviest hit, with 44 deaths, most of which happened right off the bat in August 1914 at the Battle of the Marne.
From there, they proceeded to a lengthy discussion of March Bloch (I KNEW he was coming when they started discussing the stakes of history), who fought in WWI and then enlisted in the resistance during WWII before he was captured, tortured, and killed in 1944. He's a very interesting person, in that he published reflections on WWII but also meditated on the role of the historian in contemporary politics, etc. He's a fascinating person to read (his famous book on WWII has been translated into English as "Strange Defeat"), and of course they glorified him as a hero of the school since he's also an alum. They presented a rather skewed image of him, though, focusing entirely on his exceptional commitment to the country (and how that made the school look good) without talking about his take on the war, which was actually much more nuanced. But again, this was history-making at its finest (by that I mean intentionally constructing a history).
I suppose this manipulation of historical memory isn't surprising in the sense that the people there were all old alums (most of whom I would guess had some sort of engagement in WWII), so the school was trying to valorize their nostalgia of both the school and the war effort. It was interesting to say the least. Equally interesting was the lady I sat next to, who graduated in math in 1930 (!) and who lost 10 friends in WWII. I got to ask her a bunch of questions, and she pointed out her friends on the WWII memorial. She also told me about what it was like being a woman in math at an elite school in the 1920s, which I thought was pretty awesome. She was one of only a handful of girls in the school at all, of course.
So yeah, there you have it, definitely a noteworthy cultural experience. It's a little more noble than the way the Alsatians I knew celebrated it back when I lived in Colmar (namely, everyone goes to Germany to shop, since it's not a national holiday there, for obvious reasons, haha). Oh, and some band of juvenile delinquents slashed all the tires of German cars that day, as my German roommate at the time found out the hard way. I'll take ENS mythologizing over that any day!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Halloween at the ENS
Well, one of the best/funniest things about when foreigners steal American traditions is when they almost get it right, but not quite. Like the ENS Halloween party, which was, for some inexplicable reason, on the wrong night. No idea why it was last night rather than tonight, but then again I'm not complaining because it means I get to party for Halloween twice, haha. Last night I invited Bryan to join me in yet another round of "cultural research" (read: ENS party in the gym). hahaha.
I was less surprised, having done the freshman orientation dance party in the gym a few months ago. Bryan, however, was blown away by the presence of the bar right in the middle of the party, haha. As with the previous party, the alcohol selection was rather classy, including real flutes of champagne! Oh the French and their commitment to classy partying--even a ghetto college dance party in the gym has to have the right accompaniment.
Classy is all relative, however, as the kids sure went all out with their costumes. Here are some of my favorites:
But the real best costume award has to go to these two girls, who went as swine flu!
Bryan and I pondered many ideas for our own costumes. We seriously considered Sarko and Carla, but we realized that was problematic because Bryan is too tall and doesn't have any heels. And I don't have a little black dress, nor the right kind of hair. We ended up settling for a goth couple, although we ran out of time to actually do it right, so we didn't really look like we were dressed up for anything special.
But that's ok, it was really all about the music. I had some major luck with the DJs, who played almost everything I asked for and nothing Bryan asked for, haha. That's how I managed to get Billie Jean and Beat it, as well as some Lady Gaga going on. It's always fun to ask for American things in France, you have to Frenchify your pronunciation. But it worked like a charm.
And even though Bryan didn't get his She-Wolf, we got Womanizer, which he thought was even better anyway:
It was indeed Britney who got us up on the dopey stage thing in the middle of the gym for all of 5 seconds, haha. Then we were pushed off, but not before Basia managed to snap a picture! This was probably right before we ended up having to jump off to avoid being sent flying...
I was less surprised, having done the freshman orientation dance party in the gym a few months ago. Bryan, however, was blown away by the presence of the bar right in the middle of the party, haha. As with the previous party, the alcohol selection was rather classy, including real flutes of champagne! Oh the French and their commitment to classy partying--even a ghetto college dance party in the gym has to have the right accompaniment.
Classy is all relative, however, as the kids sure went all out with their costumes. Here are some of my favorites:
But the real best costume award has to go to these two girls, who went as swine flu!
Bryan and I pondered many ideas for our own costumes. We seriously considered Sarko and Carla, but we realized that was problematic because Bryan is too tall and doesn't have any heels. And I don't have a little black dress, nor the right kind of hair. We ended up settling for a goth couple, although we ran out of time to actually do it right, so we didn't really look like we were dressed up for anything special.
But that's ok, it was really all about the music. I had some major luck with the DJs, who played almost everything I asked for and nothing Bryan asked for, haha. That's how I managed to get Billie Jean and Beat it, as well as some Lady Gaga going on. It's always fun to ask for American things in France, you have to Frenchify your pronunciation. But it worked like a charm.
And even though Bryan didn't get his She-Wolf, we got Womanizer, which he thought was even better anyway:
It was indeed Britney who got us up on the dopey stage thing in the middle of the gym for all of 5 seconds, haha. Then we were pushed off, but not before Basia managed to snap a picture! This was probably right before we ended up having to jump off to avoid being sent flying...
Monday, October 26, 2009
Funny story
So yesterday afternoon I went on my usual Sunday afternoon rollerblading outing. I almost didn't go because Bryan and I were out partying until 3 am on Saturday (haha), but I finally decided that since the weather was extraordinary and I always enjoy the trip once I do it, I should haul my sorry hungover ass out of my room and go for a skate. Particularly since this week's circuit was through a neighborhood I didn't know at all.
About an hour in to the trip, I notice this guy wearing a Phillies jersey! Not one to pass up such a remarkable occurrence particularly given that my team (haha) is going back to the world series, I went up to him to find out if he follows Philly baseball. Turns out he doesn't really have a clue and didn't know about the world series. A friend gave him the shirt. But that opening nonetheless led to a long conversation, he's a photographer who owns his own company and works in both fashion and architecture photography. We didn't have a super in-depth conversation, since this was all while we were skating in a big group. He's from Guadeloupe but has lived in both Puerto Rico and LA, then came to Paris to start his company two years ago.
In any case, we also discussed how hard it can be to find good places to skate in Paris since the streets are so narrow, and he said he knows some good places over by Invalides where the streets are wide open and you can work on general technique practice. He invited me to come skating with him tomorrow afternoon, so I'm going to do so.
In short, I've met a very interesting French guy all thanks to a Phillies jersey that he didn't even really know what to do with, HAHA.
About an hour in to the trip, I notice this guy wearing a Phillies jersey! Not one to pass up such a remarkable occurrence particularly given that my team (haha) is going back to the world series, I went up to him to find out if he follows Philly baseball. Turns out he doesn't really have a clue and didn't know about the world series. A friend gave him the shirt. But that opening nonetheless led to a long conversation, he's a photographer who owns his own company and works in both fashion and architecture photography. We didn't have a super in-depth conversation, since this was all while we were skating in a big group. He's from Guadeloupe but has lived in both Puerto Rico and LA, then came to Paris to start his company two years ago.
In any case, we also discussed how hard it can be to find good places to skate in Paris since the streets are so narrow, and he said he knows some good places over by Invalides where the streets are wide open and you can work on general technique practice. He invited me to come skating with him tomorrow afternoon, so I'm going to do so.
In short, I've met a very interesting French guy all thanks to a Phillies jersey that he didn't even really know what to do with, HAHA.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
I'm still here!
Man, don't know where the time has gone, but it sure is flying. How is it that I've been here for almost two months already???
Last weekend I finally got a picture of the Sunday afternoon rollerblading outings that I love so much:
And that's only a small portion of the crowd, the line of skaters actually stretched further than my camera could take in (at this point we were in the 14th, near the observatory). It's a lovely afternoon outing, particularly since we've had some nice weather these past few weeks. It's also a good antidote to mild hangovers, as I've discovered perhaps more often than I should, HAHA.
The other small adventure of the week was getting my flu shot administered, after I bought it at the pharmacy. Here it is in its crowning glory:
When I saw the dr to get the shot, I observed that I was really surprised you could just pick up the vaccine over the counter like that. He said that this year was the first time they're doing it this way, since they want to make it easy for everyone to get one. In the past apparently you needed a prescription. I'm really glad they changed it, because under the old system, I would have had to go to the dr, get the prescription, go to the pharmacy to pick it up, then go BACK to the dr to get the shot administered. Now THERE'S some French logic for you, glad they saw the light on that one, haha.
Otherwise, I've mostly been working on my chapters in the desperate hope I can get another draft in to Judy before I leave for Portugal next Sunday. I think I can make it, but I do need to be focused over the next week. Last night, however, Bryan and I decided to take on the Marais/Beaubourg gay scene, which is having slightly detrimental effects on my productivity this morning!!! Here are some highlights:
At the bar with 3 euro pints (that actually didn't suck):
Afterwards, we decided to go track down Niamh at her new job at a lesbian bar by the Pompidou center. Since I can't walk past the Pompidou center without getting my picture taken with the lips, that clearly had to happen, even though you can't see them too well in the background:
From there, Bryan had to demonstrate his moves for the musical he's writing about the lesbian scene, called Lipstick (you think I'm joking, but I'm not, he's already written lyrics and melodies!).
This was from "Going to the lesbian bar," an obviously timely choice since that's precisely what we were doing!!!
We knew Niamh worked in a lesbian bar near Beaubourg, but we didn't actually know which one. So we went to one Bryan knew, and even though we didn't see her we stayed and danced for a while, mainly because when we walked in Katy Perry was playing. Obviously. So that had to happen, then it moved on to Britney and Shakira. As a side note, that She-Wolf song is DIRTAY. But I love every minute of it.
Since we couldn't find Niamh at this bar, I went up to the coat check person and asked if there were any other bars in the neighborhood (which was prefaced by much agonizing between me and Bryan over how to ask for what we were looking for...un bar lesbien? un bar pour les filles? I finally just settled on "similar bars," at which point the coat check person used the phrase "bar pour les filles" so we at least got our vocab question answered, haha). She gave us directions to another one, so we went over there and sure enough managed to surprise Niamh :-)
Last weekend I finally got a picture of the Sunday afternoon rollerblading outings that I love so much:
And that's only a small portion of the crowd, the line of skaters actually stretched further than my camera could take in (at this point we were in the 14th, near the observatory). It's a lovely afternoon outing, particularly since we've had some nice weather these past few weeks. It's also a good antidote to mild hangovers, as I've discovered perhaps more often than I should, HAHA.
The other small adventure of the week was getting my flu shot administered, after I bought it at the pharmacy. Here it is in its crowning glory:
When I saw the dr to get the shot, I observed that I was really surprised you could just pick up the vaccine over the counter like that. He said that this year was the first time they're doing it this way, since they want to make it easy for everyone to get one. In the past apparently you needed a prescription. I'm really glad they changed it, because under the old system, I would have had to go to the dr, get the prescription, go to the pharmacy to pick it up, then go BACK to the dr to get the shot administered. Now THERE'S some French logic for you, glad they saw the light on that one, haha.
Otherwise, I've mostly been working on my chapters in the desperate hope I can get another draft in to Judy before I leave for Portugal next Sunday. I think I can make it, but I do need to be focused over the next week. Last night, however, Bryan and I decided to take on the Marais/Beaubourg gay scene, which is having slightly detrimental effects on my productivity this morning!!! Here are some highlights:
At the bar with 3 euro pints (that actually didn't suck):
Afterwards, we decided to go track down Niamh at her new job at a lesbian bar by the Pompidou center. Since I can't walk past the Pompidou center without getting my picture taken with the lips, that clearly had to happen, even though you can't see them too well in the background:
From there, Bryan had to demonstrate his moves for the musical he's writing about the lesbian scene, called Lipstick (you think I'm joking, but I'm not, he's already written lyrics and melodies!).
This was from "Going to the lesbian bar," an obviously timely choice since that's precisely what we were doing!!!We knew Niamh worked in a lesbian bar near Beaubourg, but we didn't actually know which one. So we went to one Bryan knew, and even though we didn't see her we stayed and danced for a while, mainly because when we walked in Katy Perry was playing. Obviously. So that had to happen, then it moved on to Britney and Shakira. As a side note, that She-Wolf song is DIRTAY. But I love every minute of it.
Since we couldn't find Niamh at this bar, I went up to the coat check person and asked if there were any other bars in the neighborhood (which was prefaced by much agonizing between me and Bryan over how to ask for what we were looking for...un bar lesbien? un bar pour les filles? I finally just settled on "similar bars," at which point the coat check person used the phrase "bar pour les filles" so we at least got our vocab question answered, haha). She gave us directions to another one, so we went over there and sure enough managed to surprise Niamh :-)
Saturday, October 17, 2009
More American logic
So over the past few days all these signs have popped up in pharmacy windows, saying "get your flu shot here!" There's a heavy ad campaign promoting the flu shot too, and it's really cheap, only 6 euros 25 cents.
I had a few minutes yesterday afternoon, so I thought, ok, perfect timing, I'll swing past the pharmacy down the street and get my shot. What I didn't realize until I got there, though, was that by saying "get" your flu shot here, they mean quite literally that you can buy the needle and syringe. They don't actually ADMINISTER the shot, they just GIVE the materials to you! So I was like, "uhhh, what do I do now?" And they were like, "oh, you have to find a doctor or nurse to give it to you, unless you know how to do it yourself."
Now, I'd assume I could just give myself the damn shot, if it's just sticking it in your arm. But is there an art form to it? Is there something I should be looking for? And how do I dispose of the materials afterwards? Not that I have any concern about AIDS or anything, but still, it doesn't seem appropriate to just toss it in the trash can! I thought about googling it and figuring it out, but I decided to just make an appointment at the school's health center and be done with it so that I don't screw it up. So that's all set up with no trouble, I'll be "getting" my flu shot next week.
But can you imagine in the US, just randomly passing out needles and syringes in pharmacies so that people can do their own vaccinations? And then just allowing them to toss the used materials in the trash???
I had a few minutes yesterday afternoon, so I thought, ok, perfect timing, I'll swing past the pharmacy down the street and get my shot. What I didn't realize until I got there, though, was that by saying "get" your flu shot here, they mean quite literally that you can buy the needle and syringe. They don't actually ADMINISTER the shot, they just GIVE the materials to you! So I was like, "uhhh, what do I do now?" And they were like, "oh, you have to find a doctor or nurse to give it to you, unless you know how to do it yourself."
Now, I'd assume I could just give myself the damn shot, if it's just sticking it in your arm. But is there an art form to it? Is there something I should be looking for? And how do I dispose of the materials afterwards? Not that I have any concern about AIDS or anything, but still, it doesn't seem appropriate to just toss it in the trash can! I thought about googling it and figuring it out, but I decided to just make an appointment at the school's health center and be done with it so that I don't screw it up. So that's all set up with no trouble, I'll be "getting" my flu shot next week.
But can you imagine in the US, just randomly passing out needles and syringes in pharmacies so that people can do their own vaccinations? And then just allowing them to toss the used materials in the trash???
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