Yeah, so can anyone explain to me the reasoning behind having to take first semester finals four weeks into the second semester? Who thought of some thing as crazy as this? That's right a french guy. I have no idea who to blame it on. All of the other sections of the university finished their finals three weeks ago before starting the second semester, but no, we are special, we are politics students, we all think we are the best of the best, we should all have to take finals a third of the way into the second semester. I honestly can't get over it. Does anyone have any idea why i am stuck studying for classes I haven't attended since the second week of January? If so, please inform me. I'm dying to know. And if you know when the 1st French Republic started, let me know too. That exam is on Monday.

Today my bone to pick with the french has to do with their eduction system. For those of you who didn't know, I am currently an English Assistant in a local middle school every other week. We listen to music, we play games, I attempt to get the kids to learn what little English they are actually learning in schools and not from the latest Eminem song. The last two times I have taught, teachers have come into my room complaining about how the loud my kids were. It appears that if the kids make a peep, that is too much noise and they should be punished. Now, punishment in America usually consists of detention, a call to the parents, maybe some extra homework, but not in France. No, in France you get SCREAMED at, and I'm not talking about regular yelling, I'm talking about screaming all bloody hell to a child so much that the windows nearly crack then giving their name to the principal so that they can then be punished however that person feels fit. Now, I have been yelled at in my day by various teachers, all trying to get across the point that we were talking too much in class or just generally behaving bad, but never, and I mean NEVER have I heard a teacher scream like the French teachers in my middle school. In America if would border on verbal abuse. I have to say, I really wish I could understand most of what they are yelling, but it appears to strike fear into the toughest of the middle school tough, so it must be pretty bad. I know that my kids make more noise than they should, but I just can't bring myself to scream at them like that. I mean for God's sake, they are only making a little noise! I tried explaining to a teacher that we were merely playing pictionary and hangman, but the teacher simply told me that it wasn't my fault, they were taking advantage of me (only a little), and that she would be sure I never had problems again. Because, heavan forbid, the kids make noise.
Conclusion of the day: if your child talks, don't send him to a french school.

So, do mufflers not exist in France or what? I bring up this question only because there seems to be a plethera of French guys on motorcycles or what really look like glorified mopeds, and none of them seem to have mufflers. The French just go cruising through the streets making the worst racket I have heard come out of a motorized vehicle since I began my little life. And really, it isn't just the French, but the Spanish as well. There are tons of these same vehicles in Barcelona, riproaring through the center areas of town that are already full of people to the point that you wonder, what is the point of a motorcycle is you can only go as fast as the person dawdeling in front of you? They speed up and slow down so much that at first you think your ears are going to burst, then you fear for your life, afraid that at any second they will see an opening in the sidewalk and attempt to squeeze their unnecessarilly loud scooter through it, caring not if you or your friend, or even your dog, is in the way. All of this speeding up and slowing down must cost a ton in gas, but that is the french for you: drive as fast as you can for as long as you can and break just as you are about to give the person in the road a heartattack. Screw "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity", that should be the new motto of France. Perhaps one day they will realize that they will save a lot more gas, and therefore a lot more money (gas is considered very expensive here) if they learn to drive a little more like the americans. Or at least, hopefully one day they will realize that the reason they can't hear so well isn't because they spent their youth listening to bad american music (they try to blame all their problems on us), but it was because they refused to quiet their motorcycles.
Conclusion of the day: save some ears, get a muffler.

Continuing on with the theme of movies in France, why do the French stay through the entire movie AND the credits? I saw three movies this week, all of them VERY good, and at each one, when american would normally start putting on their coats while discussing what to do after 2 hours in the darkness, the French sit comfortably in their chairs and watch as the credits roll by on a big black screen. Are they waiting to see just who was the props master for Pulp Fiction? Or perhaps who was the best boy for Wonder Boys? Maybe they were dying to know just who did the subtitles for Liberty Heights? I honestly can't figure it out. Are americans just unappreciative of those who work behind the scenes? My experience in acting and theater would lean towards yes, having seen few actors thank and appreciate the backstage crew and everyone who works behind the curtain to make a show happen. Those credits are there for a reason, to show the appreciation deserved of the people who work day in and day out and got no publicity or awards for what they do. So perhaps I will take a hint from the french and start staying through the credits. I'm rarely in a rush to get anywhere, maybe it's time I figured out just who catered the people I have been watching for the last two hours.
Conclusion de jour: stick around and see who makes the magic happen.

So, what is with the French and their dogs? I mean, is it really necessary to carry your dog EVERYWHERE? They are in the clothing store, the bank, the post office, and, yes, the grocery store. Can't they just be left at home? Can the French not seperate themselves from their canine friends for 20 minutes to pick up some eggs and milk? One of my first memories from this year was standing in line at the post office and all of a sudden a dog comes in, lays down in the middle of the room, and proceeds to start munching on a bone that has RAW MEAT on it. I was, like, what the hell is that? What kind of country allows this to happen? Have they no sanitary decency?
Heuresement, someone did and the lady at the welcome booth in the post office started asking whose dog it was. Finally we pointed out a lady who kept looking motherly at the dog and the women promptly told her that her dog could not eat raw meat off the floor of the post office. The lady looked incredibly pissed off by this, so she told her kid (always the kid during the dirty work!) to pick it up and hold it until she got through the line. But really, how disgusting!
And they poop everywhere! Aix is like a walking landmine field. Why Aix can't clean up it's act like Paris has is beyond me. They actually built gutters into the middle of the street with dogs painted on the sidewalk pointing to the gutter, indicating that the dog should do his business there but they do it everywhere BUT the gutter, so the gutter is the safest place to walk in all of Aix-en-Provence. Rumor has it that there is a professional pooper scooper machine that goes around town and sucks up all the crap on the sidewalks and in the street, but I have yet to see it and I'm afraid that it doesn't really exist except in the imagination of everyone who has ever dirtied their shoes in the filth of the French dogs.
Ok, speaking of dogs, I took an online test yesterday to determine what breed of dog I would be were I a dog. I am proud to say that I would be a colllie. Everyone can take this quiz at http://www.emode.com. There are a ton of great personality tests and what not; I highly recommend it if you have 10 minutes to kill and you are on the internet.
Again, conclusion de jour: watch were you walk and find out what kind of dog you may be in your next life.

One of the best things about France is its movie theaters. Seeing a movie in France always seems like a treat compared to going to see a flick in the US. First there is the student discount. How much does that rock? Except that it doesn't apply Saturday's and Sundays, which stinks, but hey, 5/7ain't half bad. Then you walk in and sit in THE MOST COMFORTABLE CHAIRS KNOWN TO MAN. I'm not kidding, they are huge and plush and oh so comfy and you just want to melt into them. And I'm not kidding when I say they are huge. No shoving yourself into replicas of those tiny auditorium seats you swore only existed in high school and large university lecture hall. The French movie theater is equiped with seats that could fit at least 1.5 normal people in them and big enough for a small child to sleep in comfortably. I melt in these chairs. Then you get to sit and watch a good movie.
I went and saw In the Mood For Love, a wonderful Chinese movie last night. I highly recommend it. It was a great love story about two people who discover their spouses are having an affair. Most of it takes place in Hong Kong in the 1960s, which was interesting as well. I love how many foreign films the French get at their movie theaters. It is not as though the French are lacking in domestic releases, but they still seem to have a great appreciation for foreign films, an appreciation that I think more Americans need to pick up. You know, I bet Americans wouldn't be accused of being so uncultured if we had a market for foreign films, as well as foreign music (that's another post in itself).
So, conclusion for today: movie theaters in France rock and we Americans all have a lot to learn about comfortable cinema seating

Oh, I should note that while my messages may come off as being anti-french in some way I do truely love this country and the people who live in it, I just find them to be some of the strangest and most interesting people on earth.

While I know that this has been a topic of conversation for the last few months amongst my friends and I here in Aix, I feel the need to bring it up with you fine folks reading this. What is up with the French and their need to use 4 different colors of highlighters, two different pens, white-out, and a ruler when taking notes in class? I was sitting behind a girl today in class that, and I kid you not, had 3 different highlighters, two different pens and a ruler all just to take notes. Does this seem excessive to anyone else? Why can't they just take notes with one pen like the rest of the world (or is the US in the minority here?) I have tried taking notes with so many utensils and found it extremely hard to keep up with the prof, who has no concept of speaking slowly so that we can get all the information, and not only that, there gets to be so many colors that they begin to lose their significance. Then there is the issue of the stylo plume, or fountain pen, which apparently is extremely necessary in French culture if you want anyone to take you seriously. Francois, our almost snobbish French tutor who seems to suffer from the love/hate relationship of americans and our culture found so prevelant in France today, told us a few months ago that no one, I mean NO ONE, can be taken seriously using a ball-point pen. The French will laugh you out of the boardroom if you dare to use one. Could this be true? Forget everything I have ever learned, all I need in life to be taken seriously is a fountain pen? If only it were that easy. Of course, all the French need is a fountain pen, as an American you are required to have much more, the fountain pen is merely getting your foot in the door.
So, conclusion of the day: buy stock in the French national highlighter company and start using that fountain pen whenever I feel I'm just not being taken seriously enough.

Hello everyone and bienvenue! I started this site so that you can all hear about the awesome year I am having here in Aix-en-Provence, France. I hope to let you know all the little tidbits I love about the French, and all of the little tidbits I can't stand. Hopefully this will give you an glimpse into life in France and answer some of your questions about this awesome country like "how many cheeses do they really over there (a lot)," "do they all walk around wearing berets (hee, hee, thank god no)," and "what's up with their lack of deoderant (still not sure)?" So, if you have any questions you wish to be adressed, let me know and I'll get to them.
I went to the grocery store today a couple blocks from the apartment and attempted to use a VISA card to pay for my groceries. Let me just say I have never seen the usage of a credit card as such a hassel. The man working had absolutely no idea what he was doing. He tried to slide it through the machine everyway but the right way, including using the left and right side, as that is how french cards work, until he finally had to call someone to come down to the store and show him how to slide the card through the machine. While normally this would annoy me, it is kind of nice to be in a society where people still deal in hard currency and the credit card doesn't pay for everything. At the same time, the French are real sticklers for exact change. They get very upset with you if you try to pay for something that costs 10 FF ($1.50) with a 100 FF bill ($15). The concept of making change appears to be beyond them sometimes. Then when they finally give you change they give you all the coins they don't want, in denominations so small a machine won't even take them for a Coke. But hey, that gives you good change for the market!
Hey all you out there let me know how it is going and what you think!

Ok, here is the first posting just to get it all rolling! there is more to come!