OK, so I thought I
would update you on what's been happening here in France instead of
stressing about my reams of homework. It's good, because it gives me
the illusion of doing something constructive. That is, I'm
communicating with all the lovely people who I miss so much in
Australia but without making the effort to write you emails
individually... if I've been remiss in replying to your emails, I'm
really sorry! I'm a terrible correspondent at the best of times, and
when I'm busy I often go into “shut-down mode” and cease all
communication with the outside world.
Number one thing to
bring to Paris in winter: a good, warm coat. I'm so happy I have my
lovely bright blue coat to keep me warm. But I'm wearing it with
leg-warmers, two pairs of socks, boots, a jumper, a skivvy, a scarf,
some gloves, some ear-muffs and a hat. It's freezing! But it actually
snowed a bit this week which kind of made me think it was all
worth-while. Snow is so beautiful. It's not sticking to the ground
yet, because the temperature is only really averaging about 0-3
degrees during the day, and there has been little precipitation. But
I'm assured that it won't be long before I get to make snowmen with
childish glee.
I've been more or less
happy with all my work so far. The few grades I've had back so far
have been good, and the topics are all interesting. Right now, I'm
writing an essay for tomorrow about racism and politics in Britain, a
dissertation for Friday about the importance of Einstein's theories
in Parisian avant garde art, and an oral presentation for Tuesday
about cartography in the Soviet Union. I can't believe how non-dry I
am finding these topics. Parisian intellectualism is so much more
accepted than its Melbournian counter-part, that I can start up a
conversation with just about anyone on these topics and they'll have
something interesting to say. Having said that, I'm not exactly
hanging around in the banlieus (outer suburbs) but with wealthy,
young bourgeois kids who visit art galleries on the weekend and try
to score Opera tickets with the same determination we might use to
get into the Falls Festival with a boot full of beer.
I met a bunch of
interesting people last night. My housemate, Maud, has become active
in a radical anarchist feminist group and helped to organise a
night-time march from the twentieth arrondissement to the Hotel de
Ville, just on the other side of the Seine from our house. The idea
was to reclaim public spaces for women and object to the
normalisation of violence against women. Yeah! It was an almost
entirely female crowd of about two hundred people, mostly young but
also some older people. Maud's mother came with us with coffee in a
furnace, which I thought was pretty cool, although she was pretty
scared she was going to be arrested. I can't tell you how bizarre and
fun it was to march, chanting slogans, directly through the Place de
la Republique on a Saturday night. We had a police escort and pissed
off a lot of commuters. We only got out of the way once, for an
ambulance, which I thought was pretty decent. There was zero
violence, and the police seemed to be sympathetic (or at least,
they're so used to that sort of thing that it wasn't a big deal). It
was freezing, but we were well dressed and marched relatively quickly
half-way across the city. Afterwards, Maud invited the protesters
back to our place... fortunately, only about 15 people turned up or
we would have had serious space problems. Still, it was awesome to
talk to people and play hostess. Maud made a couple of enormous pots
of hot wine with cinnamon and lemon, which made everyone exceedingly
cheerful. They even cleaned the place up before they left, which, as
we remarked to each other, no boy would ever have thought to do.
What else is new... I
went to the menagerie in the big gardens near my house recently.
There were interesting animals from all over the world. I was
particularly excited to see some exceedingly rare Mongolian wild
horses, which were beautiful and of which there are only a few dozen
left in the wild. I felt very sorry for the kangaroos though, because
their habitat was out in the cold and they were kind of just huddling
for warmth. It was a bit sad.
I must admit I haven't
done too much touristy stuff since I've been here. I've climbed the
Eiffel tower and been inside Notre Dame, but I still haven't visited
the Louvre or Sacre Coeur. I think I'm getting a much more
interesting view of France from the ground up, even if my accent
forbids the true local experience. My language is definitely
improving though, and Maud's grandmother even said that I have lost
my English accent, which is encouraging, I think.
Bed-time, I shall try
to update again soon.
