And so... I write again!

Well, friends, I haven’t actually made this blog public. The prospect is daunting. So perhaps I shall speak to the void a little while. It is quite pleasant, if a bit… unnerving. Nothing but myself and the bytes. Nevertheless, in the special, rare and extraordinary case that I have chosen to “tear down this wall” so to speak, welcome! The second installment of my adventures is as follows.

Poitiers remains an exceptionally historical and varied place. The buildings are old, new, spottled, concrete, stone and many other things in between. Wood not so much, perhaps because forests are in a rather short supply over here. Indeed, most things are in short supply. My family programs the dish washer to start at midnight so as to profit from cheaper electricity rates. I told them I generally turn the light off after I use the bathroom. To each their own! It is quite striking the ways in which quite a few differences between the United States and Europe can be traced to a general scarcity of resources in Europe. Beware, I stray into the foul and stinking territory of economics, a land I know but little of. I risk a venture: diesel cars are hyper popular over here. Perhaps this is because it is cheaper than gas? The subject requires more research, obviously. This raises another question: why does diesel exhaust smell vaguely of rotting flowers? All this, and more, when we continue.

I have no answers. What I do have, however, is an unlimited space to write and very few constraints. Returning, if we may, to our sheep: the last week has been an ecletic blur of logistics, wandering and scheduling. Scheduling is a bit like attempting to herd a group of cats whilst simultaneously dueling many lightsaber-wielding fiends. For, unlike French students, I am taking classes in two different class years and in two different departments. The result of my classically American indecision is I must find classes that fit with three different schedules, since these classes were not meant to go together. It’s a bit like trying to play with Legos and a weird knock-off brand. They usually fit together, but sometimes not quite. Regardless, I now have a schedule that I believe to be functional! It includes much history, and some computers. Although computers are good for tapping, I am most excited to launch myself into the French historical system. Based on a meeting yesterday with a French history professor, the paraphrased reasons for studying French history are as follows: Louis XIV, Napoleon, colonies, nukes. There may very well have been a veiled threat somewhere therein. Whatever the case, I subscribe only partially to the practical reasons for studying history. At the end of the day, there is an unbeatable satisfaction that comes from knowing random bits of information and stringing them together. Also, you never know when a historically-minded autocrat will come to dominate the world, mandating a new world currency: fun historical facts. For then I will be, as they say, loaded!

While I await this glorious new age, I shall share a new analogy for foreign langauges. It came to me as I was walking down a horrifyingly narrow sidewalk, on my way back from campus. The roar of motorcycles and the smell of rotting flowers was in the air. The sky was gray, but light filtered through patches. I realized, in a flash, that speaking a foreign language was like playing Just Dance 2. In short: the goal of Just Dance 2 is to just dance. However, while “just dancing” (bah!) the player’s moves are graded by the game in real time. Slide to the left: ok!, hop up and down: good!, do a flip: red x that shakes a little bit. And so, my experience speaking French: I forget to pronounce the “L” and say “sewing” instead of “culture”: red x that shakes a little bit. Make a growling noise when I say r’s: good! Say a word that I think is French but is actually English yet my family still understands: ok!

This anology speaks to a larger truth: conversation is very much akin to dancing. In this case, my time in France has mostly been spent hopping up and down, with the occasional pirrouet.

Thus shall I end the second installment of the Wlog. Today I seek to find mouthwash at the pharmacy, and a way out of an escape room. Onwards!

P.S. I know not if the ol’ p.s. is used in the standard blog. Nevertheless I feel the need to explain the images below. They are mostly taken while I am out running, hence why they are mostly of random scenery and not of anything too fancy. The trashcan defies explanation. No complaining!