Je suis Iron Man

         I'm a big comics fan, and the fact that "Iron Man 3" was coming out while I was in France wasn't going to deter me from seeing it as soon as possible. In fact, I was overjoyed to learn that it would be showing up in French theaters a week and a half before it opened in the US.  I'm not sure why. But this would mean that I would get to see it before the rest of my friends, which would give me lots of teasing ammunition.
        I mentioned it to my host sister, and she instantly and enthusiastically agreed to go with me. Which was fantastic.
        Sadly, my family's complicated schedules and general chaos meant that we didn't get to go as soon as I had hoped. We finally went tonight, and were accompanied by one of my host mom's other daughters, who happened to be visiting for the weekend.
        We just got back. My initial report is that it's a fantastic movie, with lots of plot twists and excellent acting.
         Even more exciting to me is the fact that, though it was dubbed in French, I understood maybe 90% of it, and was able to follow what turned about to be a very complex story.
   And for that, I'm really proud of myself.

French Language and Culture- Some Observations

Sorry about the lack of posts. This trip is different than the others in that I'm not constantly doing new, interesting things. I've been in a firm routine for a while now, and there isn't much to report.
I'm also a bit lazy.

This is the first country I've studied abroad in where I've been familiar enough with the local language to notice certain quirks, and to make observations beyond stuff like "Ooh, look at that cool alphabet". I've been collecting some observations on French culture and language- little interesting things that I've noticed- and while this list will probably continue to grow, I thought I'd share what I have so far.



- French doesn't seem to have a verb that means "to hurt". Instead, they say "faire mal"- "to do badly". My host mom is a nanny, so I hear this phrase several hundred times per week.

- My host mom likes to cook, and she often asks me the English names of foods. We've discovered that an incredible number of food-related words are cognates (the same in both languages), though there are, of course, exceptions.

- la pâtes = "pasta", and la patte (pronounced the same) = "paw", thus demonstrating the importance of context.

- un avocat = "avocado" and "lawyer". There's a joke in there somewhere.

- pamplemousse ("grapefruit") is one of the greatest words ever.

- French has different words for different types of yogurt-like substances. I'd tell you what the differences between these substances are, but I honestly have no idea. They all taste like yogurt to me.

- French also has different words for different types of tea.

- Teaching English vocabulary to my host mom has prompted me to think more about the words we use, and how they might have originated, and how silly some of them are. Like "headphones". Head. Phones. Who comes up with these things? I also spent maybe ten minutes trying to explain the etymology of the word "hitchhike".

- Here it is. The most awkward word in the French language for English-speakers. Yes, it's pronounced the way you're thinking.
I just try to avoid talking about seals.










- "Ooh la la" is actually something people say. It seems to be an all-purpose exclamation.

- I was taught in school that the word billet meant "ticket". But it turns out that it's a bit more complicated than that, and some things are billets and some things are tickets. Like a tram ticket is a ticket, but I think a plane ticket is a billet. And billet also means "bill" (as in paper money).
I'd be annoyed about this, if I didn't know that English was just as obnoxious.

- Gâteau means "cake". It also apparently means "cookie", "cracker", "biscuit"... etc... etc...
This has led to me being disappointed on several occasions.

- This is true.
In fact, most superhero names don't seem to have been translated. One exception is Hawkeye, who is "Oeil de Faucon" in French.


















- In French, the word with the most significance is placed firmly at either the very end or the very beginning of a sentence (instead of just wherever, like in English) for added emphasis. For instance, "I miss you" in French is Tu me manque- literally "you I miss-  because you, the person who is being missed, is the most significant word in the sentence. The emphasis it gets by being at the beginning of the sentence strengthens the message.
Another example is Tu fait quoi? ("What are you doing?") -literally "You are doing what?", with the emphasis placed on the interrogative.
Ils sont fous, ces Romains. "They're crazy, these Romans." (And if you get that reference, I'm giving you a big thumbs-up).

- In France, people say "ai" instead of "ow" when they get hurt.

- Du pain, bread, is very important in French culture, and is eaten with almost every meal. There are patisseries (bakeries) on what seems like every other street, so the quality of the bread that people tend to eat here is much better than the packaged store-bought stuff we have in the US. It's not uncommon to see people walking down the street carrying baguettes.

- They have a specific kind of sandwich here called an "Americaine". It's a baguette filled with meat, cheese, and french fries. Gee, thanks, France.

- Cheese is also a big deal here, and there are a ton of different types. I've always considered myself a big cheese fan, but I'm starting to realize that I'm actually not, since I really only like cheddar. Most of the cheese that people eat in France is much stronger than what I'm accustomed to, and I haven't been able to stand any of the types I've tried. In fact, my host mom tried to find me some cheddar, but the grocery store didn't have any. It's just too bland to be popular here.
I have a friend who is Chinese, and she mentioned once that she doesn't really like cheese, because it's not used much in Chinese cuisine, so she never developed a taste for it. And I realize now that this really is true- cheese is something you need to be exposed to a lot in order to like it. People in France spend their whole lives eating really strong, varied cheeses that I, since I'm not used to them, find absolutely disgusting.
I will never look at cheese the same way again.

- Completing the French cuisine triumverate, we have wine. France is big on wine. In fact, my host mom's boyfriend travels all over the world as a wine consultant. Yes, that's apparently a job. I think I horrified him a bit when I told him that I don't drink alcohol.

- The one aspect of French culture that I was really dreading was the kissing. In France, people generally greet each other by exchanging kisses on both cheeks. The number of kisses varies from region to region. It's called faire les bises. As someone who abhors physical contact, particularly from strangers, I was not looking forward to this. But so far, it hasn't been that bad. Not everyone I meet has kissed me, and when they do, I just kind of stand there awkwardly and let them do their thing, and wait for it to be over. I've gotten a lot of bises from little kids, some family friends, and (most awkwardly) my host sister's boyfriend.

Aimless Wandering in Montpellier

       I realize I haven't said much about Montpellier itself, so I thought I'd take the opportunity discuss it, since I've been here for a while and have tourist-ed around a bit.
My host family, as I may have mentioned, doesn't actually live in the city. Their house is in one of the surrounding suburban neighborhoods (les banlieux in French), but since my French class was in the city center, I had a lot of time to do a bit of exploring within Montpellier itself.
       Montpellier- being a small, walkable, beach-accessable city in the south of France- is a big tourist destination, but so far I haven't encountered too many other foreigners- as least, not that I've noticed. I felt a little awkward wandering around with my camera and making a tourist of myself, but fortunately, I managed to put aside my dignity and actually take pictures of things.

This is Place de la Comedie, Montpellier's central square, and the tram stop closest to my French class. Since I walked through here twice a day for four weeks, this is probably the location in the city that I'm most familiar with, and where I'm most comfortable. Which is great, because pretty much all roads in the city lead to Place de la Comedie, so whenever I wanted to explore, I had a great starting point. There are roads branching out of the square in all directions, and at this point I think I've been down all of them.

This is the Fountain of the Three Graces, so called because of... uh... the three Graces (handmaids of Aphrodite) standing on top. I don't know if these particular goddesses have any significance in regards to Montpellier, or whether they were just put there because they're pretty. In any case, it's a great fountain. The building in the background on the left is the Comedie theatre, from which the square gets its name.

As you can see, as central squares go, it's not very crowded. Though, with tourist season starting, I imagine that will change.

This is a nice little park that leads into Place de la Comedie.

It has a really cool play area.

This is the only surviving section of the medieval city wall. It seems to be a popular lounging spot for local teenagers.

 This is a triumphal arch that was built in the late 1600's to honor Louis XIV, who apparently did a lot of good things for Montpellier. Not the most impressive triumphal arch I've ever seen, but not bed.

Beyond the triumphal arch is a park, called Peyrou, also honoring Louis XIV- you can tell by the big neoclassical equestrian statue of him in the middle.

This week on "Is it a Roman Emperor, or is it Louis XIV?"!

(Spoiler alert: It's Louis XIV.)

Beyond the statue is this building, which marks the end of an aqueduct leading into the city.

Here it is! It's not a Roman aqueduct, but it's still pretty cool.

The area also offers some great views of the city. Apparently there's a law limiting the height of new buildings, which is why the skyline is so... flat. It lacks the personality of other, bumpier skylines, but I like it.









I've also just enjoyed walking the streets and exploring the city. There are some big, touristy, crowded walking avenues, but once you get off of those, the place turns into a relatively quiet maze. It's great.

Look at this great use of trompe l'oeil (optical illusions)!
I knew there was a reason I took that art history class.

This is a really cool church...

 ...inside of which is an art exhibit about the degradation of humanity. I can't imagine anything classier.

I also found what might possibly be the coolest store in the multiverse. It's a labyrinthine, bigger-on-the-inside toy store on a quiet side-street, and I swear it's actually magic. It just has that ambiance.

These are just two of the rooms. There are many more. This place seems to have every kind of toy imaginable, from vintage metal wind-up toys to magic trick sets to voice changing devices to the lone, random Daredevil action figure in the outer space room. And there's no one who appreciates random Daredevil action figures more than me.
In other words, I'm going to be spending quite a bit of time in this shop, absorbing the magic and trying to pick out something to buy.

I've also been spending a lot of time in bookstores (because, if given the choice, I would happily spend my entire life in bookstores) and in the process, I found the greatest American Gods cover in existence.

So about a week after I arrived here, my host mom lent me a copy of the local newspaper, for me to practice my reading skills. And there was an article about an amazing new machine that had just been installed in a pet care shop in the city- a dog washing machine. It's exactly what it sounds like: you stick a dog inside, and the machine washes it.
Well, of course I had to go find the thing. I've wandered past the shop on several occasions, hoping for some cheap entertainment, but so far I haven't seen anyone use the machine. I can't say I'm surprised.

If Superman isn't in there, I will be very disappointed.

And speaking of Superman...

My comic book shop! I couldn't believe my luck when I found this place, and realized that I would not have to spend two months comics-less. I spend a lot of time in here, and it's really great. The people are friendly, and they have a lot of comics in English, as well as (obviously) French. They also have a really intense action figure collection. They don't have many current ongoing series, but I've managed to keep myself occupied with the older stuff. I've... Well, let's just say I've done my part to contribute to the local comics industry.  
I regret nothing.

My French French Class

    Sorry for the delay. I'm working on a longer post, but I've been a bit busy. This is just a quick post to say that I had my last French class today! The program I'm working through only allowed me to take the class for a month, which was fine by me, since it was enough time to increase my knowledge without taking over my entire stay here.
    I knew the month was going to pass by quickly, but wow. It still feels like I just got here. By the second week I'd really fallen into a schedule, and I think that helped to speed me through the days.
My basic schedule was this: I'd wake up at 7:20, and my host mom would drive me to the tram station at around 8:10. I'd take the tram into the city center, and get to class at around 9:00. The class was taught in two sections, an hour and fifteen minutes each, split between two teachers. I had the same two teachers for all four weeks, and I liked them a lot. They were both quite young, and were very friendly and engaging. The students in the class shifted a bit from week to week, as some people left and others arrived. But there was a core group that stuck around the whole time.

My class! Here we have representation from (left to right) the US (duh), Spain, South Korea, Japan, France and France (those are my teachers), UK, Switzerland, Brazil, Georgia, and Mexico. That's four continents! I'm still geeking out about it.

The class itself was a nice mix of grammar, reading, writing, discussions, and games. A lot of the grammar was stuff I'd already learned (unsurprising, as I've been taking French classes for nine years, and so have probably been over everything at least once) but that I'd forgotten. We also had a lot of debates- many of them spontaneous- on such dangerous topics as sexism, abortion, and LGBTQA... P... D... uh... etc etc etc rights. I've never yelled at more people in worse French before in my life, and I'm pretty sure I gained a reputation as the crazy American with the Opinions. But it felt good, and it got me talking, which is what I'm here for. Though there is nothing more frustrating than trying to make an important point in a language in which you aren't fluent.
Anyway. From what I could tell, my class was at an intermediate-type level, and it felt like a good fit. I definitely wasn't the best in the class. In fact, I might have been the worst. But it wasn't over my head, and I understood everything we did. And it was interesting to hear French spoken in so many different accents.

I didn't really make friends, though everyone was very nice. I have a hard enough time talking to people in English. Engaging in friendship-building conversations in French wasn't going to happen. But I did end up going out to lunch with a bunch of my classmates last Friday, and I talked more than I thought I would. I think we all bonded a bit, if only briefly. It was fun.

We went to a funny American-style diner for lunch.

Everything was pink, and there were old rock 'n roll posters on the walls, and little TVs were playing episodes of "Happy Days". It was great.

As diners go, it got points off for not having breakfast food, but won the points back for having pineapple juice.

'Murica!

My omelette sandwich, with a side order of salad and freedom.

I may be meeting up with the class next week for lunch, so I probably haven't seen the last of these guys yet. All-in-all, I was very pleased with the course, and am glad I took it, though it's hard to tell at this point just how much I learned. I'm sad it's over.
However, I'm also excited about not having to get up early anymore.
Speaking of which, I'm exhausted. Bon nuit!

Second Week Stuff

   I can't believe I've already been here for two weeks. This week in particular went by really fast. I've fallen firmly into a daily rhythm of going to class in the morning, and getting on the tram and coming home in the afternoon, and eating meals with my family, and going to bed. I've been sleeping with the heater on in my room, because it's been unseasonably cold here. The forecast for this weekend predicts snow. It's also very windy, which only makes things colder. My host mom told me that people refer to the Montpellier wind as "le vent des fous"- which roughly translates as "crazy wind"- so apparently it's a common thing here.
   Last Saturday, I took a little ride out into the countryside with my host mom and her boyfriend. They were visiting a house they're considering buying, and invited me to come along. The weather was cold but sunny, and the drive out was stunning.

We drove southwest, into a hilly region filled with vineyards. A lot of the towns in this area date back to the Roman occupation of Gaul, and some even further back than that. At one point, my host mom's boyfriend pointed to one of the many hills, and told me that it was a dormant volcano. I'm ninety percent sure he wasn't kidding.






Our destination was a little medieval town up in the hills, just beyond the city of Narbonne. Apparently it's fairly well-known as the site of a siege during the 12th century. It's also very popular with tourists, and my host mom and her boyfriend are interested in buying a house there and turning it into a little bed-and-breakfast. They were making this particular trip in order to talk with the owner and negotiate a price.

The town only has about fifty year-round inhabitants, and the place seemed empty. The streets were really narrow and winding, and all of the buildings were made of stone. You know. Like a medieval town.

They're a little hard to see, but check out my host mom's awesome pants.
















We had lunch in a small, but surprisingly fancy restaurant. It was one of those places where they give you tiny amounts of food and charge you too much for it. It tasted really good, though, and included things like cauliflower soup. I felt awkward about taking pictures of my food, but I couldn't resist when my dessert showed up.

That's ice cream (vanilla, I think?), topped with whipped cream, topped with a meringue. It was really good.












Then we went and visited the house. It was three stories tall, and very nice, but it seemed to me like it would get really cold in the winter. It was right at the edge of the town, with a garden enclosed on one side by the outer ramparts, and with a view down to the river.

My host mom and her boyfriend talked with the owner for a bit, then we walked around the town a little more, and then we left. I slept most of the way back, only to be awoken by a surprise trip to Ikea. I'd never been to an Ikea before. It was... kind of magical.
When we got back to the house, one of my host mom's adult daughters was there with her young son. They were both very friendly, and she spoke a little English and took the opportunity to practice it with me. Her son also spoke to me a bit, in French, but I had a really hard understanding him. It's the same with most of the other young French kids I've encountered. They tend to mumble and mush their words together enough to make comprehension really difficult. Anyway, we had a really tiny, really good pizza for dinner.
I slept in the next day, which was nice, but also a little awkward, since no one else did. Everyone here seems to go to bed really early.
On Monday, I started another week of class. I felt more confident than I had the week before, and I started speaking up a little more. We also got a new student, from England, which was cool. This was apparently also the end of school vacation, because starting on Monday, my tram stop was swarming with high schoolers. Before then, I'd pretty much had the stop to myself, so this was an annoying development.
Speaking of my tram...

It's so cheerful.

I've gotten very comfortable with the tram system at this point, and have allowed myself more time to walk around the city after class. I've found a nice patisserie where I occasionally buy myself a snack, and I've found a few bookstores. And finally, after some intense searching, I found something I thought I wouldn't have access to until I got back to the US- a comic book store!
I had a mild freak-out, then went in and spent about an hour drooling over comics.
It's a nice store, on an out-of-the-way street a few blocks from where I'm taking French classes. The selection isn't great- they don't have much from any of the current ongoing series- but I can't complain. And since comics are small and thin and wouldn't add much weight to my suitcase, there was absolutely no reason for me not to buy one. Or two.

Mine! All mine! I got a Hawkeye ("Oeil de Faucon") solo issue from the 90s- in French! And I got a JLA: Classified issue I'd been looking for, in English. It was a good day.

It's been sunnier, so I've managed to get some reasonably decent pictures of my neighborhood.

It's a bit like the neighborhood where my Danish family lived, in that it's very enclosed and quiet and safe, and everyone seems to know each other.










I've also been really getting to know my family's pets and, astonishingly, it turns out I'm not allergic to any of them. The cats have taken to chilling on my bed in the evenings, which I love. I've always been a cat person, and I've never really had the opportunity to hang out with any for an extended period of time.

And finally, a slightly blurry video tour of the pets! Note the asthmatic cat and the creepily staring dog.