Suggestions, anyone?

The Classic Brochure Picture, taken at Chambourg during Orientation

Eh hem. The moral of this blog entry is that I like suggestions. Recently I was given a short list of topics that I need to cover in my blog by someone I will keep anonymous, for their protection of course. :) Therefore, the remainder of this post will delve into those topics.

1)"Your crazy Middle East Class" : So, I am taking this class called France and the U.S. and the Middle East from 1945 to Today. As I was almost a Political Science major, these kind of things are vastly interesting to me and I figured that perhaps when I done I'd actually be able to have an intelligent conversation with someone about Iraq, etc. However, aside from learning a ton of history that I have never seen before, the most interesting thing about this class is my teacher who is, in one word, a character. This woman loves this topic with her entire being and it comes out in her utter exasperation (good-natured exasperation) every time we can't remember who was leading Jordan in the 60s or Egypt in the 50s. The weirdest thing though is that this is the first time I have ever had a teacher who wasn't Pro-Israel. For some reason, I have always just assumed that since Israel was our friends they were the only country in the middle east that followed all the rules, etc. However, since taking the class I have realized a little bit why the Arabic people are so angry. We kinda just kicked thousands of Palestinians out of their homes to give a people a homeland that belonged to them 2000 years earlier. To an extreme lesser degree, it'd be like if someone gathered up all the native americans and feeling bad for the wrongs we had done to them, gave them a state just for them, telling all the other americans to leave. Even knowing that Native Americans wern't treated well, those americans would be pretty angry! So Im not saying it was right or wrong, but it makes a lot more sense. The other thing about my teacher is that she has some spunk. She claims that she went to Israel, knocked on all these leaders doors, and heard from their mouths that it was Israel who started some of the israelo-arab wars in the 50s because they wanted to restore the state to the size of Biblical Israel. Thats a pretty big claim to make! But she no problem with it. Example #2, when she was in grad school, she wrote to Henry Kissenger, asking for an interview. He wrote back asking for thousands of dollars as payment. As you can imagine, she was furious. So she decided to write him a letter back calling him "The Black Angel of American Politics." Needless to say, she didnt get the interview. Her third quality is that she is a bit obsessive compulsive, not in the medical way, but..you know what I mean. For example, we have to sit in the same seats for the first two weeks or she'll freak out like we just upset her entire structure of thinking. Next, noises. Cellphones, cars in the street, a girl hitting her earring against her pen, she'll stop the whole class, asking "Im not hearing things am I?" A girl from last semester told me that she had her shoe untied one day, and our prof just stopped class to tie her shoe! Shes probably someone you would just have to meet to understand. But I've done my best to explain.

2.) "Frenglish" : In reality, its really called "Franglais." This is what most of my conversation consists of here in France. Since all of my close friends are americans, and english is forbidden at the center, we speak in French to eachother for the whole day and even a lot of time outside of class. However, there comes a point when you just know that you are not getting your point across and you switch to english, or you try at least. Really, you switch into franglais because you have gotten so used to certain expressions.
Examples.
Hey, Do you want to dejeuner with me a la Fac?
: Translation : Hey, do you want to eat lunch with me at the university?
Maintenant, should we prendre le tram ou marcher?
: Translation: Now, should we take the tram or walk?

And I use this half french/half english language so much that Im not quite sure how I am going to deal with adding in French words and not being understood when I get back to the States. That'll just be fou (crazy).

3.)"Events you're planning as Vice Pres." : The big change we are trying to bring about for IES is to establish some community service activities that are accessible to the students, since its not really IES's strong point right now. However, the problem is that in France they only want you if its for the long haul. You can't just go in and volunteer somewhere for a day from time to time. Also, the youth don't volunteer like they do in the States. Perhaps they're busier with school or something, but it simply isn't stressed, whereas in the US, its the basis for scholarships, admittance to programs, etc. So we're working on that, slowly. The second big event is a trip to the beach in May. La Boule, which is the biggest beach in France and possibly Europe is only 1 hours away by train so we're going to go once its nice enough to swim :) And finally, we're working on setting up a talent show after a conversation club (a topic for another blog) one night to allow more interaction between the French and American students who come. The only challenge now is finding willing participants.

4.) "Your uneventful weekend" : So since I seem to have been going non-stop since I arrived, I decided this weekend was a good time to stay at home and do nothing. Well, other than homework all the time. It was really strange though. It seemed that after 2 months of my time flying by, it came to a screaming hault as I had the time to sit back and think about it. Although I had piles of homework, my mind kept straying to things I missed about home. I do know that my schedule, although busy now, will pick up even more after break and that I will be done in no time. However, this weekend, as I thought about the 3 months ahead of me, I realized that it was still a long long time. And thinking about that made me realize how much I miss everything really. My house and my family, Alma, my friends, internet access, a car or the ability to walk across campus in 5 minutes, snacking throughout the day :), hugs (french ppl don't hug), not having to ask before I use most anything in my house, SNOW!, my boyfriend, etc. So I made some calls home and tried to stay focused, but I think I was releived when classes started monday as I would have something to take my mind off of it. My Desk, where I spent most of my weekend.. :)

5.) "Your feelings" : I pretty much summed up a lot in the previous paragraph. I do feel that I am learning a lot here, although its not always easy to see. I think thats the most frustrating part. You don't really know how much you have gotten better because it happens slowly and everyone gets better at the same time. Sometimes, after a complicated conversation, I am so happy because I realize that I could not have understood that 2 months ago but in the same day, I'll become equally as frustrated because I get all jumbled up trying to say something simple. Its then that I just feel worthless and completly discouraged. I have truly realized just how hard it is to become fluent like a native speaker. and I think the jump from No knowledge to Proficient is easier sometimes that going from Proficient to Fluent. I do worry from time to time that I am not doing enough to get better considering I have this limited time frame, but worrying has kept me motivated to stay involved in activities that will improve my french.So perhaps worrying isn't such a bad thing now. As for my french, its a work in progress.

The other big stress on my mind right now is my summer. I have applied to a ton of internships and am in the process of applying to a few last ones before I just leave it all in God's hands. The problem is that I need a heavy research experience in order to decide finally whether I want to go to Grad school in medicinal chemistry, or to pharmacy school, or just enter the work force and pay off my loans.So this summer is my last chance for most of the big ones. The other big issue for me is where the internship takes place. After being away from my boyfriend for almost a year, I want to avoid not seeing him for another whole summer. So, despite the fact that I am powerless to do anything about it, I constantly worrying about not only getting a research position in an area that I enjoy, but also in a city that would allow us to visit eachother! I should hear back from these programs begining in a few weeks, so until then, I'll just have to hope.

6.)"Your parents coming to visit" : kinda self-explanitory. except that my little brother Dave is coming too. So they are flying into Frankfurt, and driving across France to come stay in my host family's home while my host family goes on vacation in the Alps(it was soo nice of my host family to offer their home!)! I am extremely excited to see them :) What we'll do is a complete mystery to me since nothing is planned yet, so I'll have to fill you in in my next blog. Im thinking, the sea, Paris or the Loire Valley maybe.

Well, thats about it I think. I hope all of my Alma friends have a super great spring break and that everyone else has a wonderful week :)