Ainsi va la vie...

Since nothing really exciting has been happening recently, I'm going to use this post just to talk about the little things that I find interesting in France. Now that I understand French better, I have the chance to get into the interesting aspects of culture and quirks of the language that you don't pick up right away.

1.  Sports
The first day in gym class I'm pretty sure that we ran a mile (or more). Although sports aren't as big a part of school life in France as they are in the U.S. (you will never see a pep rally at a lycée here), they're definitely more intense! We just finished the handball unit in gym class, and now we're starting on escalade (rock-climbing). I have yet to see a soccer match, but I have been assured that le foot is a big part of French culture and a good number of families (mostly the men, I think) devote their evenings to watching matches on the television. How thankful I am for my family non sportive!

2. Cuss words
Cuss words are ten times better in French. Not only is there more variety, but they're just more fun to say. I really appreciate that there are vulgar words for idiots, for disgusting food; words that don't exist in English. It's so much more precise! My favorite french cuss word is used on a daily basis to describe friends, homework, and life in general (see Pessimism). Like many others, there's no equivalent.

The French, however, seem to think that our swear words (particularly the big one) are the greatest thing since sliced bread.

3. Pessimism
French pessimism is something that took me awhile to get used to. I'd be talking to a friend saying "Try to look at the bright side!", and she'd look at me like I was crazy. It seemed like no matter what the topic of conversation was, there was always this sense of disapproval and pointlessness. But I'm starting to get it! In France, pessimism is a kind of honesty- why say things are good when they aren't? And there's even a certain pleasure to it. I enthousiastically take part in the ritual of critiquing the cafeteria food every lunchtime. It gives us a kind of alliance- life sucks, but we're in it together.

Portugal

Portugal was really fun! During the three days in Porto it seemed like we walked up and down every narrow cobbled street. When we first arrived it seemed like a small town, but we found out otherwise- it spreads out over hills, and a river cuts through it.

It's completely different from Besançon! For one thing, it's warm. People hang their laundry on lines between the apartments, you see colored flags, cats coming out from holes in the walls, and children playing in the street. The buildings are all squished together, but there's this general sense of looseness and movement; something's always happening! I felt like I could sit on a bench and just watch the city's stories unfold around me... but I didn't get the chance because we kept on exploring.

Apparently a lot of French people go on vacation in Portugal. We passed people in the street several times and I caught snippets of their conversations: "Oh là là...mais c'est long quand même!" or "Il doit être par ici, mais je ne vois pas." Wait a second... that was French! We even ate dinner in a restaurant with pretty much only French people. It was a little surreal.