More observations: La frontière floue.

So... as for my recent observations, the first three are Marseille related, the rest are in general:

1. Marseille is kind of a dirty city. I'll admit. And it's often got a funny smell (kinda like McMinnville! haha). However, that doesn't really bother me. What bothers me is the amount of dog poop on the streets. If you're not looking where you're going, 6/10 times you'll step in something. I guess considering you're not really supposed to look at people (relatively speaking), it's motivation to follow that social norm because if you don't watch your step you'll have gross shoes! 

2. In certain conversational contexts (like in a group of close friends), it's perfectly normal to interrupt people and almost start two different trains of thought going and not stopping. I experienced this a few times with my host mom's friends, in intense conversations (usually with wine involved I guess haaa), they do that a lot. But it's not considered disrespectful in this context, they appreciate it because it invigorates the conversation! This is part of what you may have heard of called "the art of conversation.." :)

3. French store workers are known for being reserved, rude or cold (to Americans that is), but unless they're actually rude people in general, they're not trying to be rude to you. If so, it's because you may have done something that's offensive or rude in French culture, even if by accident. Needless to say, I am familiar with French culture and politesse and sometimes it's hard even for me to not be super smiley and grateful to them, because in the States that's how it is. That being said, I have also had the best customer service in France, even better than in the U.S., and spoken with some extremely nice people in stores! That's when you know it's genuine, because they don't have to be super friendly with you to get paid! haha 

4. In interreligious communication today we discussed "the rules of dialogue" and mediation, in regards to communication with people of different values/beliefs. Rule #1 is to listen to the person and show them that you are listening, rule #2 was to be honest, and rule #3 was to make sure each person a part of the dialogue is equal. That's to say, respect the person even if you don't respect their opinions. Recently, I received an e-mail from a really wonderful teacher I had in high school, who touched on this same subject. It got me thinking. And then this class got me thinking again about the same topic. I consider myself to be respectful but with certain values (ahem, right winged ones) I just have such a hard time separating a person from what they believe and seeing them as simply a human being that deserves just as much respect as the next. If everyone was treated as human beings should be treated, the world would be a better place. But this subject highlights why that's not so easy, and why a perfect world can't exist... Because when it comes down to it, respecting a person or a group of people aside from their beliefs can be really hard (for some more than others- ex: terrorists). Is a person defined by their beliefs and values? I think most would say yes.. Can you respect someone even if you don't agree with their beliefs and values? It's possible, but today we talked about how you can or cannot respect someone if they practice their beliefs that you don't agree with on a daily basis. Like, let's say I apply for a high status job but the boss doesn't hire me because said boss is a sexist and doesn't think women deserve high paying jobs. Can I respect someone like that? Technically that's what the theory suggests. But as with all theories, they're not always true. And practicing a theory like this one gets tricky when communicating with someone from a different set of values that clash loudly with your own. 

On the same thread, we learned about relativism and nihilism. Nihilism is the theory that if everything is relevant, then nothing is relevant, it's kind of depressing and existentialist. True relativism is much nicer haha. It the exact opposite, and talks about how everything is relevant and we must be empathetic to that. Empathy, we learned today, is not just about understanding how someone feels when you've experienced the same thing they have. Empathy is learning to understand/accept/adopt a person or a culture's logic and thought/feeling/reaction process to certain events/ideas/cultural particularisms. In France, we are not just learning to speak better French and "live like the French," we are learning to think, and feel, and  analyse and understand like the French. This is not easy to do and that's why I'm glad I'm here for a year, so I have double the chance to learn how to do so. It's the "frontière floue"- the fine line, between living in another culture, and living the other culture.  For example, one of our teachers during orientation week told us her car was stolen and found in a bunch of burned up pieces and how unfortunate it was because she really liked her car. My immediate reaction was "OMG that must cost so much money, what a pain, I'd be pissed," and so on and so forth. But she just smiled and laughed and moved on from the subject. From a French standpoint, (for public transportation reasons) a car is not entirely necessary AND it's simply a material item. It can be replaced (technically speaking, although not everyone can afford that) and what matters more is that no person was involved or hurt. Voilà the French vs. American logical differences. And that's just a banal example. But this theory could be applied to politics, religion (wink wink) and social issues, etc. This in a nutshell is what study abroad is REALLY all about! :)

5. Social/national health care. The French just don't get why so many (but not all) Americans are making such a fuss about it. AND I TOTALLY AGREE. The French are collectivist society. On a scale of 1-50 or so, America was #1 as the most individualistic country in the world. France is #11, so not THE most collectivist but much more so (I found it interesting that the English speaking countries of the world were all at the top... hmm.... perf example of why globalization is scary!) than the US.  This means that the US values the individual much more than the group. (Guatemala was at the end of the list, in fact, all of Central America was at the end, being the most collectivist. Really interesting). We learned that in the US in 1996, a law condemning the production of virtual images of child pornography  was reviewed and ruled unconstitutional because it inhibited the right to freedom of expression and individual choice. My jaw dropped. Actually, it kind of rang a bell, I think I've heard about this law before. But sitting in that class room, I was disgusted to (re)learn this. That's how individualistic the US is- to such an extreme that something like questioning the boundaries of child pornography for the sake of "freedom of expression" happens in the "best country in the world" (<-- not my words). The French were as appalled in 1996 as I was a few days ago in my chair in the class room. Similar issue with the national health care. A population's right to be healthy is in question. What's there to question?! Obviously there's political/economical concerns. But for France, the moral question is the more important one. But in the US, (despite any complaints about the particularities of the ObamaCare bill) the moral fiber of the national health care bill is just not sticking the way it does in more collectivist countries. In France, the government is seen as a protector and a provider for the well-being of the group (the well-being of the individual is maintained through the group's well-being), in the US it's more of a threat and an encroachment on the individual (the well-being of the group is maintained through the well-being of each individual). As my dad would say.... "interesting...." :)

Anyways, that about wraps up what's been on my mind for the past week.. Any comments or questions? Really! I'd love to respond to any! :)

On to more daily things. Arabic. Yeah. I know I've said this already. But it's hard. However, I find my handy-dandy linguistic memory is strengthening. I don't know what it is about languages but they fascinate me and I have a knack for them. Even if I'm not the best at it or even if I struggle sometimes, I find myself starting to thrive in class because I just love learning a language that's so challenging. I find that forcing myself to smile or laugh at my own error when I want to complain or yell out of frustration, actually helps haha :) 

Ana ismi Katherine. Ana taaliba. Adrusu fi al jami'ya fi al Firancia.
My name is Katherine. I am a student. I am studying at university in France!

! أنا كاثرين .أنا طالب .درست في الجامعة في فرنسا 

Woohoo! Voilà what I can say in Arabic. Progress is progress is progress I suppose!  
In fact I'm not sure if the spelling's accurate because it's through Google Translate but the meaning is the same haha. And I can read it. That's a pretty cool feeling considering before I started Arabic it looked like a bunch of drawings and scribbles to me haha.




Bises,
Katherine

Shout Outs!

Today I was feeling nostalgic. I'm not exactly homesick, I am for my friends and family, but not like, America haha. Okay some American things. For example, among my classmates today we had a funny conversation on our favorite American swear words, and how swearing in French is fun but it's not nearly as satisfying as a swear word in English because they sound so much harsher. American swearing is so creative (we all shared our favorite, most obscure ones of course). You can say just about anything, add the F bomb in there and you've got yourself a brand new insult/swear word haha. I'm not quite sure yet if French works the same way.. And in moments of frustration, sometimes our instinctual American swear words will accidentally slip out, and we all expressed the same feeling of missing our humor/creativity when it comes to swearing because we can't do it quite the same way in French. It might be a silly thing to miss, but try speaking a foreign language 24/7 and you'll understand! We decided, even though we are all committed to speaking French all the time, that one night this semester we should have a party with everyone and speak in English, just for a night, to see what everyone sounds like when they speak in English, cause we're all so curious what personalities will come out that we don't know yet! haha Annnyyywaysss... I thought that due to my nostalgia I would create some shout outs!

First of all, one of my dearest and bestest friends Kendra Barton had her 21st birthday yesterday. I'm so sad I couldn't be there and I'm envious of everyone who got to be! I hope you had a Happy Birthday boo <3
To the rest of my Linfield friends, my Phi Sigs, and my Washougal Women, miss all you guys!!!

Secondly, yesterday I received a bunch of lettres from my high school French teacher's class! Mr. Grable, Merci pour me les avoir envoyées! Ce « shout out » est pour toi et tes étudiants ! (Bonjour tous ! J) C’était un grand plaisir de les lire et je vais bientôt vous répondre. Vous êtes tous très gentils et je suis impressionnée avec vos niveaux de Français ! Bravo ! Mais n’oubliez pas à dire ‘merci’ à votre prof merveilleux ! :) 

Thirdly, to my little brother Michael who is now at the U of W for his first year of college! I'm so proud of you and I know it's probably already hard haha But you'll do great! Miss you!

And to the rest of my family, miss you all! Sometimes I catch myself thinking about December in class and I get all excited! I can't wait to see you all in France, on my turf :P

Et le dernier, mais pas le moindre..

Friends! :)

Au Time

Au Shamrock

Le Luberon!

Le chateau qui a ete devalise. 

Lourmarin

Albert Camus's grave!! How awesome! 

Le Gibassier

Suzie, Sara, Kendra and me! 

A Roman bridge. This thing is OLD.

Roussillon!

The ocher cory

My class! Elizabeth, Alexandro, Nick, Sara, Elyse, Brenda, Kendra, Me, Jeremy, and Suzie! 

Troisième semaine en détail…

Ma troisième semaine a commencé avec une petite sortie au cinéma avec des amies. C’était moi, Suzie, Camille, Manu, Sara et Kendra. On a vu « Hommes Sans Loi » et c’était un trèèèèès bon film. Beaucoup de sang, beaucoup de violence, mais une bonne histoire et bon dialogue à mon avis. Je le recommande à tout le monde ! Après un ami nous a retrouvé et on est allé au bar pour boire un pot. Le moins cher, c’était le Pastis, ce qui est aussi assez fort haha. Après ça on est rentré chez nous parce que nous les américains on a dû se lever très tôt (7h00 du matin… c’était un miracle que je me suis réveillé à l’heure et même en avance au bus…) pour aller…

Dans le Luberon ! Comme j’ai dit, on est allé à Aix pour chercher les filles Aixoise. Aix est très jolie, mais dès que je l’ai vu j’étais contente que j’ai choisi Marseille. La ville elle-même est beaucoup plus intéressante et diverse que Aix. Notre groupe, on était tous très content d’avoir choisi Marseille au lieu de Aix. On est peu nombreux, mais on s’entend très bien. On est comme une petite famille J J’aime ça.

Premièrement on est allé au Lourmarin. On a vu le vieux château qui a été dévalisé de ses richesses par les révolutionnaires, donc il n’y avait rien dedans. On a appris que les révolutionnaires a volé beaucoup de richesses des nobles parce qu’ils ont pensé que ces richesses appartenaient à tout le monde, pas l’église, pas les royaumes, etc. Après on a bu un café au café dans le petit village et on a mangé un Gibassier, c’est une spécialité de Lourmarin qui est entre un biscuit et un gâteau, fait avec du citron et de l’huile d’olive au lieu du beurre. Après ça on est allé.. en fait malheureusement j’ai oublié le nom de la ville mais c’était mignon, jolie, et vieille. On a piqueniqué et exploré la ville un peu. Après ça on est allé au Roussillon, une ville avec une carrière d’ocre, alors les maisons sont rouges et la terre est rouge.

Le trajet en retour était un peu long, peut-être 2 heures. Quand on est rentré, je me suis reposée et j’ai rencontré mon frère d’accueil pour la première fois ! En fait, il n’habite plus chez moi parce qu’il a 26 ans. Mais il est très gentil et facile de parler avec, on a dîné en famille et après ça j’ai retrouvé mes amis au bar Shamrock et on a bu un peu. Puis on est allé à un autre bar qui était touuut serré, donc on est allé en boîte ! Elle s’appelle « Le Time » et en fait on nous a dit que c’est très sélective. Je portais pas des talons ou une jupe ou une robe (petit mot mentale : achète une robe ! Le problème avec une robe ou une jupe, c’est que si je rentre toute seule, je vais me faire draguer ou agresser par des hommes dans la rue…) et c’est possible qu’ils ne m’auraient pas laisser entrer. Mais comme nous sommes arrivés en avance, c’était ok. Pourtant, je pense que l’âge moyen était 25 ans, et la plupart de femmes étaient habillées très élégamment. Moi je me suis bien habillée mais pas comme elles ! Il n’y a pas de comparaison avec les femmes françaises haha. En plus, d’acheter une boisson coutait environ 10 euros. On peut acheter une bouteille pour 12 euros, donc euh non merci… haha. Mais c’était très « fun » comme ils disent les français haha, et j’ai envie de le refaire.

Dimanche nous sommes allés aux Calanques ! C’était incroyablement belle mais la descente et la montée… waouh ce n’était pas facile, hein ! haha. Mais ça valait la peine, comme vous pouvez bien voir, c’était « breathtaking » J On ne s’est pas baigné parce qu’il faisait beaucoup du vent et il y avait beaucoup de vagues, c’est pas très sûr ça. Mais on s’est bronzé et déjeuné et c’était une bonne journée.

Quand je suis rentrée à l’appart, ma mère d’accueil, Marie-Paule, m’a demandé si je voulais les rejoindre, elle et ses amis, chez sa meilleure amie, Sophie, qui est vraiment très douce. Donc je me suis rapidement douchée et j’ai pris le métro et j’ai marché un peu pour arriver chez Sophie. On a bu un peu, on a mangé ensemble, et on a bien discuté plein de choses sérieuses et intellectuelles- l’une des raisons j’adore les français ! On peut toujours discuter un sujet profond parce que c’est toujours beaucoup plus intéressant et leur culture est juste comme ça, pas tout le monde mais la plupart sont des « deep thinkers. » J’adore ça. Ce sont mon peuple J

Demain je vais au marché en plein air pour faire des achats et trouver des « bargains » (je ne connais pas ce mot en français ! faut que je le trouve…) avec Kendra. Et ce weekend, on va essayer d’organiser quelque chose petite pour le soir vendredi. Mais samedi, on peut aller en Arles si on veut. Mais, comme nous allons à MARSATAC ( !!!!!!!!!) je ne sais pas si je vais aller, moi. Marsatac, le samedi, c’est un concert électro et Susie, Sara, Max et moi, nous allons y aller. Si ne sais pas qui d’autre… et je ne sais pas si on va organiser un groupe ou quelque chose comme ça mais on veut se retrouver bien avant le concert pour fêter un peu et après on va sauter et danser toute la nuit !

Donc, voilà mon poste très longue. Observations culturelles à venir, plus tard. J

En Anglais... 

My third week started with a little trip to the movies with friends. It was me, Suzie, Camille, Manu, Sara and Kendra. We saw "Lawless" and it was such a good movie. Lot of blood, lots of violence, but a good story and good dialogue in my opinion. I recommend it to everyone! Afterwards, a friend joined us and we went to the bar for a drink. The least expensive was the Pastis (it's like Jager, only different.. haha) which also happens to be fairly strong. I only had a little though! After that we went back home because we Americans had to get up very early (7:00 am ... it was a miracle that I woke up on time and even got early to the bus ...) to go to...

Luberon! As I said, we went to get the girls in Aix first before taking off. Aix is ​​very nice, but as soon as I saw it I was glad I chose Marseille. The city itself is much more interesting and diverse than Aix, even though Aix is probably a lot cleaner haha and it's actually very beautiful. Regardless, our group, we were all very happy to have chosen Marseille. We are a small group, but we get along very well. It is like a small family :) I love it.

First we went to Lourmarin. We saw the old castle that was robbed of its wealth by the revolutionaries, so there was nothing inside. We  learned that the revolutionaries stole much wealth of the nobles because they thought that these riches belonged to everyone, not the church, not kingdoms, etc.. After we drank coffee at a cafe in the village and ate a Gibassier, a specialty of Lourmarin which is between a biscuit and a cake mad of lemon, and olive oil instead of butter. After that we went to... in fact unfortunately I forgot the name of the city but it was cute, pretty and old. We picnicked and explored the city a bit. After that we went to Roussillon, a city with an ocher cory where they extract the rocks and color from the earth, so the houses are red and the ground is red.

The ride back was a bit long, maybe 2 hours. When we returned, I rested and I met my host brother for the first time! In fact, he no longer lives at home because he is 26 years old. But he is very nice and easy to talk to, we had dinner with the family and after that I met up with my friends at the Shamrock bar and drank a little. Then we went to another bar that was sooo crowded, so we went clubbing! It is called "The Time" and in fact we were told that it is very selective. I wore no heels or a skirt or dress (mental note: bus a dress! The problem with a dress or skirt is that if I go home alone, I'm going to get hit on or approached by men in the street ...) and it is possible that they would not let me in. But as we arrived early, it was ok. However, I think the average age was 25 years, and most women were dressed very elegantly. I was well dressed, but not like them! There is no comparison with French women haha. In addition, to buy a drink costs about 10 euros. You can buy a bottle of anything for 12 euros, so uh no thank you ... haha. But it was very "fun" as they say the French haha, and I want to do it again.

Sunday we went to the Calanques! It was incredibly beautiful, but the descent and ascent, wow ... it was not easy! haha. But it was worth it, as you can well see, it was "breathtaking"! We did not swim because it was a lot of wind and there were a lot of waves, it is not very safe. But we tanned and had lunch and it was a good day.

When I returned to the apartment, my host mother, Marie-Paule asked me if I wanted to join her and her friends at her best friend's , Sophie, house who is very sweet. So I quickly showered and I took the subway and walked a bit to arrive at Sophie. We drank a bit, we ate together, and discussed a lot of things serious and intellectual, one of the reasons I love the French! You can always discuss a deep subject because it is always much more interesting and their culture is just like that, not everyone is but most are "deep thinkers. "I love it. These are my people :)

Tomorrow I go to the outdoor market to shop and find "bargains" (I do not know that word in French! I must find it...) with Kendra. And this weekend, we'll try to organize something small for the Friday night. But on Saturday, we can go if we want to Arles. But, as we're going to Marsatac (!!!) I do not know if I'll go myself. Marsatac, on Saturday, this is an electro concert  and Susie, Sarah, Max and I are going to go. II do not know who else ... and I do not know if we will organize a group or something like that but I think we want to meet before the concert to celebrate a little and then we'll jump and dance all night!

So that's my post very long. Cultural observations to come later. :)

At the Calanques! 

Camille, Suzie, me and Manu!

Max's doggie Undi :)

:)

Listen!

If you wanna hear some good tunes, check out the: One day Reckoning Song.

It's chill, but it's got a good beat. 

We heard a remix of this Saturday night in a night club, it was awesome! 

Three weeks

.......................................................................Is this real life? Like, is it possible to live in constant surreality? It's only been three weeks, but it feels like months and at the same time it's FLOWN by already. That's scary because I don't want the rest to fly by so quickly! It's a relief to know I have the whole year here but I've learned from the past two years in college that time passes so fast and it's truly the weirdest feeling to look back on the start of something and when you get to the end of it, it's like, wait, did alllllll that really happen? Like freshman year of college, moving into my dorm and meeting all my new friends and going through rush and joining Phi Sig. Or sophomore year when I moved in with one of my best friends (shout out to Kendra Barton! ^^) It's crazy to think about how much can happen in such little time, so I am trying to appreciate every second here because (not to be all depressing) but it will end at some point. I just try not to think about that, I try to think about how this experience is the best thing I've ever done for myself. There was a time when I was afraid to leave Linfield for a year, I thought, maybe a semester will suffice. But I stuck with my gut and I'm so glad I did because as much as I miss everything and everyone at Linfield, I'm happy I have this place to revel in for a year :)

 The three girls I've become friends with here are done at the semester in December. That makes me sad because I will be here the whole year and they're leaving me! haha I hope I will get along with the next group just as well. I can't forget though I'll have two Linfield girls joining me (shout out to Suzi and Julia! :))! I'm really excited to see them and show them around Marseille, which I know they'll come to love as much as I do. 

This past weekend we went to the Luberon, a beautiful region in Provence north of Aix. We went to a couple small villages and even took a little hike in a cory where the rock they were extracting was red and orange, kind of like in Utah or Arizona. It was so beautiful every where we went! We met the other AUCP class in Aix, too. The girls seemed nice, I met two girls that will be coming down to Marseille next semester so that was nice to meet them since I'll soon be spending lots of time with them! haha These girls seemed to try the hardest to get to know us Marseille kids and they also spoke French with us, but most of the girls though were speaking English. Or Franglish. A lot of girls would say a sentence but throw 'like' in the middle."Je veux aller au magasin, like, demain." Hahaha. So funny. It was really weird... In Marseille... NO ONE, not any one of us, speaks English with each other. We respect our language contract which requires us to only speak in French. But besides that, we WANT to speak in French all the time, that's why we're here! That's why our French is getting so much better.... and that's the point. I wonder what their intentions are with coming to France because some of them were talking in English so much it was like they thought they were on vacation. I mean, hell we're in France, it is a vacation. But there are conditions, and most of us came here to fulfill those conditions. It was just weird to here English, after speaking French all the time it sounds so ugly and harsh to the ears!

Side note to anyone who wants to study abroad/travel, for any length of time: If you are afraid to do it because you don't want to leave your friends/boyfriend/girlfriend, STOP. Studying abroad is about you and what the experience will do for you, not your friends or your significant other. It might be hard to leave them for any given amount of time but if they are true friends/s.o.'s, they will support you and be there for you when you get back. We are only young for so long and we are responsible for just ourselves for a short amount of time before we have to put our families first. This is the time for us to be selfish. Like I said in a previous post, you will thank yourself later!! I think my experience is a perfect example, not everyone can be gone for a year but if I can do a year, anyone else can do any other amount of time. You just don't know what it will have in store for you, but it's always good, and that's exciting. I have had the funniest, most fun, crazy adventures with my new friends here, French and American, just like I would at Linfield only different cause I'm in France haha. I have had great conversations with people of all ages who were raised with a different mentality, sometimes I agree and sometimes I learn something new. I have already improved my French (obvi) since I'm speaking it 24/7. I already feel like I've gained a sense of more independence and confidence in myself, in a lot of different ways. And I already felt like a fairly confident and competent person before. This kind of experience just does something to you that you can't replicate any other way.  If it's money that's holding you back, money can always be figured out later. I'm by no means "comfortable" and  I'm always watching what I spend because I'm spending my own money over here. School isn't easy to pay for either. But this, this is worth it all and 958049234098 times more.

Gotta head to school now for a study sesh, my next post will be with pictures and in French and English, and I'll talk all about my amazing weekend a lot more :)

Bises,
Katherine

Something for your oreilles

Quelqu'un m'a montre cette chanson et c'est vraiment genial. Ecoutez, reflechissez, profitez-en :) 

Aaron- Paul Kelkbrenner

Photos

Susie et moi!

Je ne fais que des betises...

Practicing my Arabic

Plage Prado where my host mere and I go often

I also bought my ticket today for Marsatac which is a traveling concert every year and in two Saturdays it's mostly electro, so a couple of us, Frenchies and Americans, are going to go! 

Here's a link to a video of one of the artists:

REFLEX at Marsatac 2012

Moreover, I just bought my ticket to ITALY! I have a week long break from Oct. 27-Nov. 4th. So on Saturday Oct. 27 I'm flying to Italy and staying with a girl who went to my high school for a year as an exchange student. She is being so kind as to let me stay with her and show me around her town and we'll even do some traveling. I'm beyond excited! 

Voila! :)

Bises,
Katherine

Weekend Shenanigans

It works. I now know (kind of) what creepy men feel like when a woman sprays pepper spray on them. How do I know this you might ask? Well, I’m not a creepy man so we can scratch that option off the list. What happened was, we were out and about Saturday night at Vieux Port and we must have unknowingly walked through a light, lingering cloud of the stuff because all of a sudden I had this strange tickle in my nose. So I sneezed. Then my throat started feeling weird and scratchy, so I started coughing. Then my eyes had the same symptoms, so they started watering. I noticed my face started tingling a little and my nose started running a bit, kind of like when you eat something really spicy (or is that just me?). Then my friend Sara started coughing and sneezing. Then the fine young gentlemen who were with us starting coughing, and sneezing. Then the group of people walking behind us started coughing and sneezing too. Then after like a minute, we all stopped and looked at each other and said, “Wait a minute! Is this pepper spray we’re suffering from??!!” (In French, of course.) We all started laughing, and it was kind of like a cute bonding moment. Except it was due to pepper spray soooooooooo I don’t know if I’d call it cute. Funny, in the least. Never did I ever think I’d experience pepper spray on myself! And in such a random way… haha. 

Mon weekend était assez… vif. On va dire ça. Je me suis couchée à 5h du matin samedi soir/dimanche matin. Oups J Je suis sortie les deux nuits, en commençant chez des amis et après on tente de sortir au bar ou en boîte. Vendredi soir on a fêté l’anniversaire d’une fille que Susie et moi avons rencontré, qui est super gentille ! On a fait le tour de beaucoup de bars pour retrouver des amis et c’était vraiment génial. Et samedi soir on est sortie en boîte. Apparemment les boîtes sont mieux à Aix, mais ça m’est égale. Ca fait trop de temps depuis que je n’ai pas dansé et c’était tout l’électro donc j’étais « chez moi » comme on dit en anglais haha.

Hier je suis allée à la plage et après j’ai retrouvé des amis au café pour boire un café (si français, je le sais :P) et le weekend prochain on va peut-être sortir encore, mais surement on va aux Calanques le dimanche. Recherchez sur Google les Calanques, et vous verrez comme c’est vachement beau J Aussi, ma classe va dans le Lubéron ce weekend, ce qui est une région très belle et vieille. Le weekend après, on va au Marsatac, c’est un grand concert et le samedi c’est tout électro et ça ne coûte qu’environ 30 euros. J’ai beaucoup de plans sociales et ça me rend très contente J

Aujourd’hui je fais mon premier cours de salsa ! Apparemment la plupart de gens sont un peu âgé mais ça va. Je pense pour mon travail bénévole je vais faire le tutorat pour les lycéens en anglais au lycée Thiers qui n’est pas loin de chez moi.

Aujourd’hui j’ai réussi à me connecter au wifi chez moi. La technologie et moi ne s’aiment pas du tout mais enfin on a fait une compromise. Enfin je peux faire mes devoirs et écrire dans mon blog quand je veux !

Petit mot : Chaque fois que je rencontre plus de français je suis toujours frappé par leur curiosité pure et véritable de me connaître. Ils me posent beaucoup de questions importantes, pas superficielles, sur moi-même et mon pays parce qu’ils veulent vraiment savoir, pas parce qu’ils se sentent obligés d’en demander. Ils veulent me faire sentir confortable et comme je fais partie du groupe. Ca, j’apprécie ça vraiment plus que je peux exprimer. C’est difficile de le trouver à Linfield, et les Etats-Unis, des fois. Et donc ici, j’ai l’impression que je connais des gens vraiment gentils et honnêtes. 

En Anglais:

My weekend was pretty ... intense. We will say that. I went to sleep at 5h in the morning Saturday night/Sunday morning. Oops. :) I went out two nights, starting with friends and after attempting to leave the bar or box. Friday night we celebrated the birthday of a girl Susie and I met, who is super nice! We toured many bars to meet friends and it was really great. And Saturday night we went out clubbing. Apparently the clubs are better at Aix, but I don't really care. It's been too long since I have not danced and it was electro so I was "at home" as they say in English haha.

Yesterday I went to the beach and after I met friends at the cafe for a coffee (so French, I know :P) and next weekend we may go out again, but surely we are going to the Calanques Sunday. Search on Google the Calanques, and you'll see it's really beautiful  Also, my class is going this weekend in the Luberon for a field trip, this region is very beautiful and old. The weekend after some of us are going to Marsatac, this is a great concert and Saturday it's all electro and it costs about 30 euros. I already have many social plans and it makes me very happy :)

Today I am going to my first salsa class! Apparently most people are a little old but it's okay. I think for my volunteer work I will do English tutoring for students in high school at Thiers High School which is not far from home.

Today I managed to connect to my wifi. Technology and I do not like each other at all, but finally we made a compromise. Finally I can do my homework and write in my blog when I want!

Little note: Whenever I meet more French I am always struck by their pure and genuine curiosity to know me. They ask me a lot of important questions, not superficial ones, about myself and my country because they really want to know, not because they feel obligated to ask. They want me to feel comfortable and like I'm part of the group. That, I really appreciate it more than I can express. It is sometimes difficult to find at Linfield, and the United States. So here, I feel like I know people that are really nice and honest.

Bises,

Katherine

What kind of bees make milk? :)

Boobies! 

Get it?

Sorry not sorry for the cheesy (and maybe slightly inappropriate) joke, but it is the cleverest way I can think of to introduce the topic of the female anatomy. Namely, breasts. At the beach. They’re aaaaallllways out and about and usually it’s the older generation who goes topless. Now, I’m not saying it’s weird or gross because that would be a culturally close-minded thing to say. It’s just that it’s so different and it will never cease to amaze me how in America (relatively speaking), nudity is such a “scary” thing and here it’s no big deal if you’re naked and hangin’ out with your friends in public in the broad daylight. I mean think about it. For people my age, one way to feel “risky” is to go skinny dipping (guilty) in the dark when no one can reeaaally see you. If we really wanted to be risky we’d do it in the daylight! But see in Europe that’s not being risky at all. It’s normal. I did talk to one French girl about it and she said that she finds it vulgar, particularly with the younger generations. Because it’s just something that only older people really do, so if someone our age were to do it, it’s just weird and out of place. I think her attitude towards it is not uncommon among her age group. Which goes to show the shift in culture within the different generations. I’m hoping it’s not due to American culture (because that wouldn't surprise me) that it’s changing! I’ve always admired the Europeans’ open-minded regard on the body, even if I myself would never feel comfortable going topless at the beach… ever haha. I had a funny thought though. At the beaches in France, men and women interact normally and platonically even though a woman’s ta-tas might be out. At your average American beach, I don’t think guys of any age could handle that. Hahaha. 

On a more serious note thought, I do wonder why the younger generation is, for the most part, not as open about the actual act of going topless at the beach as the older ones. What factors are playing into that? And what historical/cultural factors play into the fact that Europeans are generally more open about the body than North Americans? 

Just food for thought!

Bises,

Katherine

أنا تعلم اللغة العربية :)

Alors, je découvre le mistral, qui est le nom du vent ici à Marseille. C'est un événement du météo qui s'arrive pendant l'automne et l'hiver, pour la plupart. Et WAOUH c'est fort, le mistral. On dirait que Katrina est revenue du Nouvel Orléans et s'est mise juste hors de ma fenêtre. Mais avec le vent et la soleil en même temps, il me rappelle du temps de l'automne à Linfield et chez moi. Je me sentais un peu nostalgique aujourd'hui. Mais le type de nostalgie qui te fait sourire, pas pleurer haha. Le problème c'est que je ne savais pas m'habiller pour le mistral! Tout le monde, j'ai remarqué, s'habille normalement (comme ce n'est pas encore vraiment l'automne ici, quand le mistral s'arrête on pourra retourner à la plage jusqu'à l'octobre :P) et moi je me suis habillée pour le vrai automne. Oups.

Hier en cours, Communication Interreligieuse, le prof nous a proposé de discuter notre interpretation de l'expression "Fin d'Histoire" duquel j'ai déjà appris dans le cours de Politiques Internationales ce semestre dernier. J'ai oublé la signification exacte, mais je l'expliquais un peu et le prof a dit que j'avais raison pour la plupart sans quelques détails; ça m'a fait plaisir de revenir au sujet de politiques internationales parce que j'ai beaucoup appris dans ce cours, et je me sens comme ça m'aidera dans ce cours-ci de communication interreligieuse. Le prof a dit, ce cours est censé de nous apprendre savoir cohabiter avec les autres avec des valeurs différents. C'est à dire, il faut laisser les autres garder leurs opinions sans les juger. Moi je pense que ce n'est pas difficile, je suis assez compréhensive, mais quand j'ai réfléchi un peu je me suis rendue compte que des fois je ne supporte pas les opinions des autres, ça dépend du sujet. Par exemple, si quelqu'un me dit, "Je ne supporte pas/je ne soutiens pas le mariage homosexuel," immédiatement je ne t'aime pas vraiment et je n'ai plus envie de te parler. A moins que je puisse te dire pourquoi t'es une mauvaise personne, tu ne comprends rien, comment peux-tu y croire?! Et cetera. Voilà mes vraies pensées haha. (Je suis désolée si je te connais et on s'entend bien et tu as cette opinion et je ne le savais pas... haha Dans ce cas je t'aime toujours mais je déteste ton avis.... beaucoup aha) Mais, chaque personne a leur opinion et c'est mon obligation comme une personne, aussi égale que la prochaine, de te laisser avoir ton avis même si c'est complètement débile. Le problème, et c'est pourquoi ce cours est si intéressant, c'est parce que d'habitude les avis politiques, comme celui du mariage homosexuel que je viens de dire, sont trèèèès souvent liés avec la religion et les autres choses assez philosophique, polémique, et sérieux. Donc, je vais m'en profiter de ce cours. J'aime bien le prof et nous avons eu déjà des très bonnes discussions en classe.

Quant aux arabes .. MERDE C'EST DIFFICILE. Je l'aime déjà, mais il n'est même pas comparable aux langues romanes; dans lequel je me considère comme doué. Non, non. Je ne savais même pas que certains de ces sons existé. Essayez de faire un coup de glotte et une profonde, solide son «k» en même temps, mais dans un même mot qui a d'autres sons qui le suivent. Comme, "kalaal." Il est difficile de dire . L'écriture est évidemment la partie la plus difficile. L'écriture, vous devez apprendre écrire en priorité, sinon vous n'allez rien apprendre. Nous avons jusqu'à mardi prochain pour mémoriser environ 15 lettres? Mais presque chaque lettre a une forme différente pour sa mise en place dans le mot: début, milieu, fin, ou séparée. Donc, techniquement, je dois mémoriser presque 60 lettres qui sont complètement à différentes de l'alphabet que je connais déjà (Romance et germanique) en une semaine. Aïe. J'aime un défi quand il s'agit de langues mais waouh! Quand je me sens perdue, je souris ou rigole ou pose la question qui m'habite. Hilda, notre professeur, est très énergique mais un peu intimidante. Elle a une façon de vous faire sentir comme «vous devriez déjà savoir cela», mais je suppose que c'est sa façon d'être encourageante! De toute façon, nous sommes en cours enfoncé dans la langue et j'aime ça. ça c'est plus ou moins mon nom, je pense... haha

كترين
Mais vous voyez le premier lettre à droite? (n'oubliez pas c'est droite à gauche!! :)) toute seule, la même lettre ressemble à ça: ك
Et, cette même lettre a deux autres représentations pour la fin et le milieu du mot...

Voilà, là tu vous pourquoi c'est difficile :)

Demain, Suzie et moi on été invitée d'aller à une fête d'anniversaire d'une amie d'une amie.
Je vais apporter du vin, le Tariquet d'être exacte! C'est MON PREFERE et si tu me l'achètes je t'aime pour toujours haha. Il ne coûte que €9 alors c'est parfait. J'ai aussi fait beaucoup d'achats hier.... de la mode ;) Alors je vais être stylée et "fresh" demain soir haha. Ce weekend c'est le weekend du patrimoine national en France. Donc tous les lieux qui coûtent d'y entrer (comme un musée d'art par exemple) sont gratuits alors je vais me profiter de ça pour voir un peu plus de l'histoire de Marseille. Je veux aller à l'Hôtel de Ville en particulier, il a été construit pendant la 17ème siècle!!!! J'adore les choses comme ça, où l'histoire est physique et devant toi comme ça. Tu touches le même sol que les dames et les messieurs ont touché plus qu'il y a 300 ans... C'est incroyable ça. Sinon, autre que la soirée demain, quelques camarades et moi nous voulons aller en boîte ce weekend. Il y a le Trolleybus, qui joue de la musique d'un genre différent dans chaque salle. On verra ce qui tient ce weekend pour nous!

En Anglais: :)


So I am discovering the Mistral, which is the name of the wind here in Marseille. This is a weather event that occurs during the fall and winter, mostly. And WOW it is strong, the mistral. Looks like Katrina has returned from New Orleans and is set just outside my window. But with the wind and sun at the same time, it reminds me of fall weather at Linfield and home. I felt a little nostalgic today. But the kind of nostalgia that makes you smile, not cry haha. The problem is that I did not dress for the mistral! Everyone, I noticed, dressed normally (as it's not really fall here, when the mistral stops we can return to the beach until October: P) and I dressed for the true fall. Oops.
Yesterday in Interreligious Communication, the Prof. suggested we discuss our interpretation of the "End of History" which I have already learned in the course of the last semester, International Politics. I forgot the exact meaning, but I explained a little and the teacher said that I was right for the most part without a few details, it was a pleasure to return to the subject of international politics because I learned so much in that course, and I feel like it will help me in the course of this religious communication. The teacher said, this course is supposed to teach us learn to cohabitate with others with different values. Ie, it must let others keep their opinions without judging them. I thought, that's not hard, I'm pretty understanding, but when I thought about it a bit I realized that sometimes I do not support the opinions of others, and it depends on the subject. For example, if someone says, "I can not stand / I do not support gay marriage," immediately I do not really like you and I no longer want to talk to you. Haha, Unless I can tell you why I think you're a sad/bad person, how you just do not understand, and how can you actually feel that way?! And so on. These are my true thoughts haha. (I'm sorry if I know you or we're friends and you have this opinion and I do not know ... haha in that case I still like you, but I hate your opinion... a lot) But each person has their opinion and it is my obligation as a human, as equal as the next one, to let you have your opinion even if it is completely stupid. The problem, and that is why this course is so interesting, is because usually, political opinions, like on gay marriage, are often associated with religion and other things quite philosophical , controversial, and serious. So I'm going to profit from this course. I like the teacher and we have already had some very good discussions in class

As for Arab.. HOLY COW IT'S HARD. I love it already, but it's not even comparable to Romance languages; in which I consider myself to  be gifted. No no. I didn't even know some of these sounds EXISTED. Try making a glottal stop and a deep, solid 'k' sound at the same time, but in an actual word that has other sounds following it. Like, "kalaal."  (I don't know if that's an actual word haha) It's hard to say the least. The writing is obviously the hardest part though. Sounds you can pick up on. But the writing you have to learn write away, or else you're not going to learn anything at all haha. We have until next Tuesday to memorize abooouuutttttt 15 letters or so? But almost each letter has a different form for it's placement in the word: beginning, middle, end, or separate. So technically I'm memorizing 60ish letters that are completely unlike the alphabet I already know (Romance and Germanic) in a week. Yikes. I like a challenge when it comes to languages though! Even when I'm feeling lost I smile through it or ask the question that's eating at me. Hilda, our professor, is very energetic but kind of intimidating. She has this way of making you feel like 'you should already know this', kind of thing, but I guess that's her way of being encouraging! Either way, we're being thrusted into the language and I like that. This is more or less my name, I think haha:

كترين
But you see the first letter on the right?  it looks kind of like an S or a backwards Z? (do not forget it is right to left! :)) alone, the same letter looks like this: ك. It's the letter "K."

And this same letter has two other representations for the end and middle of the word ...


So, there you see why it is difficult :)

Tomorrow Suzie and I have been invited to attend a birthday party of a friend of a friend. I'll bring the wine, Tariquet be exact! This is MY FAVORITE and if you buy for me I love you forever haha. It only costs € 9 then this is perfect. I also did a lot of shopping yesterday .... ;) So I'll be stylish and "fresh" tomorrow night haha. This weekend is the weekend of  National Heritage in France. So all the places that cost to enter (such as an art museum, for example) are free so I will enjoy it to see a little more of the history of Marseille. I want to go to City Hall in particular, it was built during the 17th century!! I love things like this, where the history is physically in front of you like that. You touch the same ground that the ladies and gentlemen have touched more than 300 years ago ... It's unbelievable. Otherwise, other than tomorrow evening, some friends and I want to go clubbing this weekend. There's Trolleybus, which plays music of a different kind in each room. We'll see what this weekend holds for us!

Bises,
Katherine





P.S. Shout-out to my Phi Sigs who are busting their butts in Rush this week :) I'm thinking of you guys!! <3