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Ok.. So I'm breaking my no-blog-posts-till-after-lsat rule. The reason? These crazy football (soccer) fans over here. I highly doubt that any of you followers except maybe Emilie is aware, but a fairly major soccer match took place in Paris last night. France played Ireland to decide who will advance toward the World Cup. I watched an hour and a half of it, until I could not keep my eyes open any longer. *Disclaimer: I don't know that much about soccer. But even I could see that Ireland was vastly outplaying France. I went to sleep after France scored its first goal, and the score was tied at 1-1. I hoped that France would win, obviously, but mainly because I did not want to deal with boys/men in bad moods today. When I woke up, I looked online and saw some headline on BBC.com about Ireland's disappointing loss. So I thought to myself, "Great! France won! No bad moods today!" Boy, was I wrongggg. You would have thought Michael Jackson died again. Everyone was depressed and moody. Since I don't understand soccer really, and I definitely don't know French soccer vocab, I didn't understand what the problem was when I heard them moaning about it in the hallways between classes. I just wanted to say "Hey.. France won. It's still headed towards the World Cup. So what if it was only by 1 point, be content." It wasn't until I was standing in line at the grocery and I was reading the headlines on the newspaper (read: Top Story) that I learned the cause for all the solemn moods. Apparently just before scoring the winning goal, one of France's players touched the ball with his hand (which even I knew to be a big no-no). And for some reason or other none of the referees caught it. However, after seeing replays on the news it's pretty obvious that that's what happened. So, ok, that sucks, but none of the refs called it, France won, it was almost 24 hours ago, get over it, call it luck, and move on with life. I can think of several similar instances that I've seen in Ole Miss football over the years but yet we've always moved on.... So fast forward to tonight. I'm watching the news. Another big thing that happened today is that a European Union President was chosen. This is actually a pretty big deal. The EU could become a major world superpower, Turkey could join in the nearer future.. B-I-G deal. Or so you would think. However, they kind of mentioned that it was the Belgian who won, for like 30 seconds. Then, they spent the next 15 minutes talking about the soccer match. Now I, being a devoted, sometimes die-hard, Ole Miss fan, realize that these things are important. But I'm pretty sure that no governor of Mississippi has ever called the governor of Alabama or Louisiana to say "The refs made a bad call in the game last night. We demand a rematch." And that is precisely what the Prime Minister of Ireland did today. THE PRIME MINISTER OF IRELAND CALLED ON FRANCE IN AN OFFICIAL PRESS CONFERENCE TO REPLAY THE MATCH. Really? Does he not have anything more important, like maybe 'affairs of state' to tend to? And the crazier thing? The Prime Minister of France gave a response. As did the Minister of Health...? (Who, I might add, also had ANOTHER press conference (which probably took place after this one) about the growing swine flu crisis in France (16 people have died of it in the last week). Obviously she had INCREDIBLY more important things to do). I'm still trying to figure that one out. I'm just waiting on Sarkozy to get involved. This may be the beginning of an international crisis - the UN may need to send some diplomats or something in order to evade a crisis. Maybe Hillary should abandon Israel vs. Palestine and come deal with this instead... The point is, these people here are CRAZY when it comes to soccer. If you need further evidence, look at the VIOLENT RIOTS INVOLVING BURNING CARS that took place in Marseilles a few days ago over the fact that Egypt beat Algeria in a soccer match. I think these people might all need a little reality check. Either that, or the world should start solving it's problems through soccer matches rather than wars, since people seem to be more willing to lay down their lives for soccer in the same way that they used to be willing to give them for their countries. On second thought, however, it could be just as much if not more violent...
This is a picture of my life for the past two weeks, and for the next three: L-S-A-T. This is why I have not posted since before my holiday to England.. in case anyone was wondering. No worries, I have lots of posts in mind for the future, I just have not had time to put them into words since my return from England. À bientot!
I seriously want people to come visit me!!! I will go ANYWHERE with ANYONE who wants to visit. Here are my vacation dates in the Spring, since I will be home for Christmas and the fall break is next week and I already have plans for it.
Vacances d'Hiver: February 14 - 28 (two weeks)
Vacances de Printemps: April 11 - 25 (two weeks)
I hope to hear from someone!!
Until Friday, whenever the I heard the word STRIKE! or PROTEST/MANIFESTATION! in conjunction with France, I giggled. I've always marveled at how the French will strike/protest/whatever at the drop of a hat and at the great lengths that they will go to do this strike or protest. (just fyi, in French, the word for protest is 'manifestation'). In fact, strikes (grèves) and manifestations happen so frequently that most French people don't really even notice, and go about their lives as normally as possible. The authorities are always notified when one will occur and are therefore able to take measures to allow life to go on as normally as possible. So, I've always wondered, if manifestations are as common as they are and are not particularly noted by French citizens, then how can they be effective and why do these people even bother with them? This question was answered for me on Friday.
I had no classes on Friday, so I went into town at about 1:30 to study LSAT and run a few errands. I was planning on spending the night with a friend in a nearby town Friday night, so I planned to be back in my room by 4 so that I could go to the grocery before I left and so that I'd be able to be at the train station in time to catch the 5:44 train. I finished studying at about 3:30 and decided that I'd walk back to the train station and catch my bus from there. On my way to the train station, I was halted from crossing a street by a bunch loud commotion that turned out to be a large number of French farmers in their tractors driving through the middle of town (actually the same street that I saw Sarkozy on the day before). They were honking their horns and had signs against Sarkozy and an agriculture policy on the several of the tractors. I had seen these Tractor protesters on the news, apparently they've been holding up traffic all over France for the past few weeks. This should have been a sign, but instead I was completely unfazed and took a few pictures and crossed when two tractors stopped to let me cross (all the while catcalling - real classy). But when I got to my bus stop at the train station, I found a sign which read that because of the manifestation all buses would be stopped from 2pm till it was finished. Great. So I started walking. Keep in mind that this is 3:30. And that I live about 20 mins by bus from the city center. The tractors also kept going along my walk, which would normally be my bus route. After about 20 mins of walking, I realized that the tractors were probably going to go most of the way to where I live, and that there were going to be no buses at all whatsoever. I shed both coats that I had on because I got pretty warm (even though it was pretty cold outside). About 2 hours and thousands of honks and catcalls later (i won't lie, it did boost my ego a bit) at 5:20, I FINALLY arrived at my room, only to very hurriedly pack a bag and then have to take a 16 euro taxi BACK to the train station, because the tractors were still protesting. I wonder if I can contact the farmer's union to reimburse me...?
So, before Friday, I thought the French protests were kind of a joke. I thought that no one took them seriously because they didn't really affect them. I was wrong. WRONG. There were French people walking everywhere, and none seemed too bothered. I guess I wouldn't have been had I not had somewhere to be. So, to all the striking, protesting French farmers out there: I appreciate that you feel passionate enough about things to do something about them, but I am an American living temporarily in France. Therefore, 1. I rely heavily on public transportation and 2. I can do NOTHING to help you in your plight. So please don't mess up my afternoon again -- maybe it would get you farther if you parked your tractors on Sarkozy's front lawn...
So I was walking around in the Metz city center late this afternoon, exploring a part that I had not yet visited, and all of a sudden these policemen appeared out of nowhere and told us to stop (i was about to cross the street) for a few seconds. Then, all of a sudden a huge barricade drove through, with about 6 police on motorcycles and about 10 cars and vans all with lights flashing. I thought to myself, hmm what if that was Sarkozy?
Fast forward a few hours and I'm back in my room eating dinner and watching the news. They start talking about Sarkozy's surprise visit to Hagondange (a smaller town near Metz) and Metz to check something out there. So it was Sarkozy!! And the only thing that separated him from me was a bullet-proof glass car door! I've never been that close to a US president!
Just thought I'd share...
P.S. I discovered that there is a Fauchon in Metz.
It's cold. No, let me emphasize: it's COLD. FRIGID. ICE. on cars. And what is today's date? October 15. I was sitting here studying some LSAT between classes and listening to my "study" playlist, and when a few songs from the Nutcracker soundtrack came on I got really excited because in my head cold = Christmas. Then I had to remind myself that it's only October. Ahhhhh I'm probably going to die of cold - weather.com said today's high is 49 degrees F but it will feel like 35. Great. And to make it worse, all the students/teachers/French people in general are wearing light jackets. And laughing at me because those who know I come from Mississippi know that I'm not used to this weather, and therefore I look like an eskimo with gloves, boots, and a heavy coat while they are prancing around in jackets. However, I think it's a bit of a mind game: maybe if I tell myself 35 degrees F is not that cold, and that only a light jacket is necessary because it's only going to get much colder then I will not be so cold? Ha. We'll see. Other than the cold, things are going well, I met up with a nice British girl named Joanna and we are hopefully going to Nancy (the other big city in the region) for the day Saturday with another girl. That is if I don't turn into an ice cube. I also bought a French version of the George Foreman grill, which has upped my quality of life here in this little room because I'm eating some real food. Last night, I made bleu cheese hamburgers with ground beef, greens, and Rocquefort cheese that I bought at the market. And I had 5 patties left over that I stuck in the freezer for later meals. So, no more sandwiches and soup for every meal for me!! I also bought tickets to London to see Ruth Mauldin and Lee Taylor during the Toussaint Holiday, which lasts for a week and a half. I'm with Lee first, and we are going to visit Oxford or Cambridge as well as Norwich, her town of residence. Then, I will be in London with Ruth for the remaining few days. And the cheapest, easiest option was to take the Eurostar (which is a train that goes under the English Channel). So I'm excited to see these girls and to see some more of England, which I have only been to once 4 years ago. If anyone has suggestions I'd love to hear them! À bientot!
I have found a small piece of heaven in Metz. Every time I go into the city center I fall in love with it even more. Friday afternoon, I went into town with the goal of finding a quiet café at which I could study LSAT and have tea for a while. I got a bit distracted by the sight of another Sephora down a side street. (The first one is pretty good -- even has Bobbi Brown and Bare Minerals if I ever need refills) I will never understand how it is always possible to find at least 2 Sephoras in every small French city I visit. And how in Mississippi you have to go to at least Birmingham to find one! Anyways, after walking around the newfound Sephora, I came upon Galleries Lafayette. I had already been in there, with mom when she was here. And I must add that this is the second best Galleries Lafayette that I've ever been to aside from the one in Paris. It's HUGE! And they were in the middle of a government-sanctioned 3 day sale (something the French government does from time to time to boost the economy, otherwise it is illegal to have sales aside from those that happen in January and in June.) So everything was 30-50 percent off. Maybe I should have done some Christmas shopping.... Anyways, I walked around and realized that anything can be found in this store, even shampoo, deodorant, hair dye.. it was almost like being in Wal-Mart, minus rednecks. As I was walking out the door, I happened upon a sign advertising the Café Gourmand on the top floor. So, I promptly turned around and went on up to check it out. Basically, you can get Swiss ice cream or sorbet, gourmet lunch, tea, coffee, anything really, and either eat inside or take it to an outdoor terrace that overlooks Place de la Republique, the Templars Chapel, and Metz's 4 star hotel. I had pretty much just found heaven in Metz, and somewhere perfectly conducive to studying. I promptly ordered some Moroccan mint tea for only 2,40 euros and set up camp on the terrace and began to study LSAT, all the while feeling like I was in Paris on top of Printemps, minus all the tourists. The French sure do know how to take full advantage of space. And speaking of Printemps (another large French department store), there is one in Metz as well. I decided that if Galleries Lafayette had a café, that Printemps should have one as well, and so I walked over to check it out once I finished studying. I found a basement café called Chocolat Bar, which serves Mariages Frères tea along with 3 chocolates, also for only 2,40 euros. See the photo above. I will add one of the view from Galleries Lafayette later. So when I have to study LSAT, all I have to do is decide between a view or chocolates. Life is so hard sometimes. I think I'm feeling a good score coming on in December...
