It has been FAR too long.
It's not that I've been lazy in writing these blogs, but I literally have not had the time to do them. There's always something that I need to be doing here. I've only just gotten settled into my classes, so maybe that's why I feel it's okay to take a break to update this thing {finally}. So: let's get up to speed on European living!
First of all: classes. They are all quite good, except it's a bit difficult to understand certain professors when they're speaking at a million kilometers per hour. I'm currently enrolled in "A History of Lyon", "French Linguistics", "Methodology" {for the foreign kids}, "History and Fiction", and "21st Century Literature". Basically, all just French and History topics. The professors are easy to understand, but it's just difficult to pay attention in a different language for almost 2 hours per class {one of them goes for almost 4 hours...}. I really shouldn't complain though; I have 4-day weekends until November 5th, and then after that it changes to 3-day weekends... GOD FORBID.
And now it seems like everything is really falling into place. I finalized my schedule last Friday, got the materials for my classes {now all I have to do is actually READ the material}, and I also now have a small job on the side. I'm to baby-sit every Wednesday for a French mother who wants her son to continue learning English after living in the Philly {Philadelphia for those of you who aren't American} for just under 4 months. His name is Arthur, who is 10 years old, and very good at English. I could tell he would be totally content with just reading books in English all day. But meeting him today made me think about the opportunity that I {and the rest of the population in the US} should have gotten as far as language acquisition goes.
In the US, it's completely normal for a student to go without another language until the hit high school {about 13 years old}, and are only required to take 2 years of that language. This is nowhere near enough time to learn another language {so what's the point of taking that class at all?}, and it goes without saying that most schools have a terrible curriculum for foreign languages {aka, most teacher couldn't give a rat's ass if the student is actually learning the information}. By the time the student leaves high school, he/she forgets everything he/she learned in that class, because it's most likely that he/she will never need to use another language other than English. But to learn another language is so much more than that, as I have already said in the previous German post. It's about connecting with the culture of that society which speaks that language; it's about learning the differences and the similarities one shares with another. In turn, as Americans have a terrible curriculum in languages, nobody in America knows a damn thing about other cultures. No wonder they think we're retarded.
The only reason I am here in France is because I sought it out; I asked how I could go further with what I'd {barely} learned, and was forced to apply myself with no guarantee that I'd get anything in return. It's not a possibility to be bi/tri/multi lingual in America if you don't seek it out and chase after it. Which sucks, because if it were more easily accessible, Americans might be a bit more open-minded in their views of the world and other such stuff.
All of this makes me think about the ways that the American education system could be changed for the better to ensure better relations with other countries. Sure, America is a HUGE country, and one really has no reason to leave it because all one would ever need would be within those 50 states. But I truly believe that if everyone took the time and energy to learn a second language, the world would be off in a much better state. Not just so people can more easily connect through speech, but so others can understand a culture different from their own, and practice a little more tolerance for others.
I feel that this blog is turning into an anti-American rant wall.
SO! I will talk about something a bit more light-hearted, and talk about what I've done since I've been here {for about a month and a half}. One weekend, I went with some friends to Dijon, which is about a 2-hour train ride north of Lyon. What is there in Dijon, do you ask? Well, I'm here to tell you that there's nothing {particularly special}. I bought some mustard, because you know, "when in Dijon"... But later came to realize that the same brand could be bought at the local grocery store. I just have to tell myself that it probably tastes different because I got mine from the town itself.
I have still not been to any museums yet, but I have been practically everywhere else! There are some hills to the west, and on top of those hills rest the Basilica {and this ugly tower that slightly resembles a sad and small Eiffel Tower, but that's irrelevant information}. I finally walked up the hills to see it up close, and got to see the Roman ruins up around there as well. I'd remembered people talking about it, but didn't think it was that big. It's that big. Unfortunately, this was the one day that I forgot my camera, and unfortunately do not have any photos to show you. However, Google Images does!
Those pillars in the bottom right corner are about a foot taller than me, and much thicker. Just for scale. It's pretty big. Moving on.
Also! I recently went indoor rock climbing, which I had seen ads for all over the place, but had no idea where it was situated. Upon going inside the building, I had to keep my jaw from dropping {can't be rude towards the French, right?}. Here's a bit of a look of "Le mur de Lyon":
Holy shit, right? And that's not even all of it.
As far as traveling goes, I have booked way more flights and trips than I should have. Sure, they were all dirt cheap, but I need to exige a bit more self-control.
"But there's no way you could have booked THAT many flights to feel bad about it, right Amber?"
WRONG. Let me show you what I mean.
October 19: Leaving for Dublin, Ireland for the weekend to meet up with my friend, Caitlin {who's currently studying in Glasgow}. Return the 22nd {Monday}.
October 25: Leaving for Italy for the Toussaint {1 week} holiday: traveling to Milan, Rome, and Venice. Return November 2.
December 13: Leaving to spend a couple days in Berlin, then fly over to Budapest on the 15. Return at night on the 16.
December 20: Fly out to Cologne, Germany to spend a week {and Christmas} with my best German friend, J! I still haven't figured this part out {the return flight}. I want to travel, but at this point, I'm not sure if I'll be able to, with all the other shit I've booked. Return January 6 for beginning of Spring semester.
So yes, I think I need to calm down a bit. That's not even including the day trips I will more than likely take because they're so damn cheap! It goes without saying that I will be busy in balancing travel and studies and what not, but I will do my best to keep this updated {which I have clearly not been doing}, and as always, play tourist with my camera like it's nobody's business but my own.
Until then, I'd like to hear about recent escapades you've gotten into lately! What was the latest adventure you had? It doesn't even matter if it only involved you going to the kitchen for some water; it matters if it means something to you! And where would you go if you could travel anywhere? What would you do there? Leave comments on this post; I'd love to hear some feedback/know that I'm not just talking to myself on this thing.
À bientôt!
xoxo
