Today has been interesting to say the least.
I'm starting to not like living so close to the North Pole. When I wake up for French in the morning it's totally dark outside, and the sun doesn't rise fully until after my class has already started. We won't even discuss how cold it is. I just wasn't feeling being awake this morning. Good news is that I slept fairly well last night, bad news is that I had a long day ahead of me. I put on some Interpol and then The Smiths to see if I could get myself at least slightly jazzed to be alive.
I got to school, and heard my French teacher calling me from behind after I had entered the courtyard. We chatted for a bit before going into Accent. I had to print the new version of my composition before class started. I got upstairs with one minute to spare, and she was already there. She tried to give me number two for our morning sentences, but I resisted; she gave me number three instead. I've been so busy with school that I haven't done anything fun. I'm going to have to make an effort to at least go out for a bit this weekend. I reduced, along with most of my classmates, to saying that I had gone to the Opera yesterday. My professor handed out Direct Matin's this morning like she had done in the past, and we read them as our classmates took their turns saying what they had been up to. It turns out that there was a fire in the Opera quartier yesterday around the time that my class was there. I didn't see a thing.
After a few more people had spoken she mentioned that there was an article on page 13 that she had to tell us about. She said that she had debated saying anything to us, but had decided that it would be wrong of her to shield us from her culture. Then came the most awkward conversation that I've had since my time in Paris began. Premature ejaculation. I'll just let that sit with you for a second.
There was an article in the paper about premature ejaculation and how it's still a taboo subject in France. It was a publically funded ad concerning public health. My professor just had to say that the government is interested in sexuality because it keeps the population happy. We are descended from monkeys that have sex whenever there's a conflict. The words "boom, boom, boom" were then used. Yep. That happened.She said that the government wants to keep its population's sex lives healthy because it prevents violence and aggression. She also asked who ads like this benefit. Kenia said that men and women benefit. She said that we should ask Julien who benefits because he's an expert on the subject. She meant it in the way that he's an expert because he's a man, but we all took it like he's an expert because he has the problem. She concluded the discussion by saying that, after childbirth, French women are allowed to go to a doctor to "retrain their muscles….".
Did you know that Napoleon is rumored to have had a problem with premature ejaculation? I didn't, and I didn't want to know about 9 in the morning. My professor also said the joke "what's the difference between a lover and a husband? 30 minutes"; she was commenting on the average time of intercourse being seven minutes, or two if you have issues with premature ejaculation. Are you sick of reading the words "premature ejaculation"? I'm sick of typing them.
I spent my break reading the Phantom Tollbooth while shivering in the cold outside. Accent was filled with the other classes that were also taking their break so I went outside. My professor walked by and asked what book I was reading and if it was for school or pleasure.
The rest of the class was about French identity and comparing it to American identity and Québécois identity. It turns out that none of us knew anything about America. When was the national anthem penned? What do the colors of the flag stand for? What's the country motto? When was the American Revolution? Don't know? Neither did I. I didn't even care that Sierra judged me.
At the end of class we got our quizzes back. That was quick. The whole class grumbled as she said that some people underperformed, and that she was giving us an opportunity to rewrite sentences that we had stumbled on for up to 10% more credit. I got a 99% and an "presque parfait!" written at the top of my quiz. Story of my life. Just slightly short. Sierra got a 89, and a big mental "suck it" from me.
I came home to do my French homework before pop at one. I was trapped in the elevator with Hanna and evil Talia. I chose to make polite small talk. Hanna laughed while Talia rolled her eyes and faked a smile. She can suck it too. While I was downstairs I realized that my room was set to be cleaned today. I thankfully didn't see Mr. Leni when I got to my floor. I frantically washed my dishes and cleaned up the bathroom before getting down to some studying. I managed to study for French and start writing a practice of my Histories essays before I had to leave for class. Remind me to stop eating cheetos while I study. My book is all greasy now, and I got cheeto dust everywhere.
I went to pop and didn't even make a sour face at Mindy. She gave us the guidelines for our final project that's worth a whole 35% of our grade and then discussed the midterm. She promised to give us the essay questions ahead of time, but there was no sheet to be found. Instead she told us that there would be two parts to the exam. The first part will be made up of 8 different songs, only some of which we've heard before, and then we'd have to state the genre and the decade and then say why we think that. That part is worth 80%. The second part will be an essay. She told us that she'll give us a prompt and then play a song, and then we have to analyze the song in terms of the prompt. She also told us to review three of the articles that we've been assigned and be able to use their information on the final essay. I'm shaking in my boots.
We had a guest speaker in pop today. He's one of Mindy's friends, and he produces electro music. His talk was so interesting! I've really taken to electronic dance music lately, and I found myself hanging on every word he said and every note he "played". I have way more respect for electronic artists now that I see how hard it actually is to compose a song electronically. I do wish, however, that we had spent more time listening to his music. I really liked the stuff of his that I heard, and want to see him perform live.
After class I went to find the Picard that is near school. I'd been given a general direction of where it is, but set off to see if I could find it. I did manage to find the boulangerie that everyone keeps talking about. I saw the snowflake sign that signals Picard from the opposite side of the street and crossed over. I had been told that this Picard is smaller than the one I went to last time. It is way smaller! I quickly grabbed four meals, paid 8 euros, and left.
I came home to find the Mr. Leni had just gotten to my room. I worked on finishing my histories practice essays while he cleaned under my feet. I finished those and then turned my attention to reviewing the three pop articles. At about 5 o'clock I took a break to eat dinner and watch People's Court. I chose a meal that had spinach on the bottom with pieces of fish that was covered by a mashed potato layer. It wasn't delicious, but at least I got some nutrition. I ate some cheetos afterwards to feel more satisfied about life.
By this time it was 6. I read another article and then took shower at about 7 while listening to some electro music (which included Bad by David Guetta in case you were wondering). By this time it was 7:45. One more article to go. I struggled to keep my eyes open. The lights in my room were too bright, and the font was too small. I made some coffee and grabbed the nutella. The article seemed to go on for way more than an hour. I finally finished at 8:54 and got in bed to finish watching the last section of People's Court. Now I'm writing to you.
How have I ever made it through midterms before? I think tomorrow will be better.
oh, and I got this email today:
Worldcue(R) Alert
Warning Alert -- Security
Riot police clash with English football fans in Lille, France ahead of Europa League game. Businesses in downtown closed. Further violence unlikely.
This alert affects Lille
This alert began 23 Oct 2014 16:33 GMT and is scheduled to expire 24 Oct 2014 23:59 GMT.
Summary
French riot police clashed with hundreds of English football club supporters in central Lille, beginning at around 1415 Oct. 23 (map <https://goo.gl/maps/xMEvf> ). Rowdy fans attacked plainclothes police officers while they were attempting to arrest two known criminals in a crowd of Everton fans, and the situation quickly deteriorated. Riot police intervened, using tear gas to disperse those involved in the scuffle. No serious injuries have been reported, though at least one person was arrested. Businesses in the Grand Place area closed temporarily during the police action.
Background and Analysis
Further clashes between Everton fans and French police are unlikely. The football club has warned supporters to avoid the Grand Place area until the Europa League tournament game (beginning at 1900 local time) has concluded. However, increased police presence in the vicinity will likely continue through the evening, and fans could still choose to ignore pleas to avoid the area. Football-related violence also occurred in an unrelated incident on the night of Oct. 22, when two Everton fans were assaulted by up to 100 "hooligans" in a bar in Lille.
hooligans…..
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