London

After finishing a difficult paper for my Gender in France class (on Madeleine Pelletier), I'm off on break now in London, until Friday, when I'll meet up with Aaron in Nottingham; I'm returning to Paris Sunday evening. I'm really happy to have a chance to relax. The hotel I'm staying at (Ridgemount) is quite nice with excellent service. Today I've visited the Churchill Museum & Cabinet War Rooms (where I met Mom and Dad briefly) and the Tate Modern; I must admit that I found the latter considerably more interesting. Beside the art exhibits, I enjoyed the five-story indoor slide (check out the webcam). Tomorrow: more museuming, probably.

Better late than never

Rouen photos

Misc. happenings

I haven't updated much lately, mainly because not much has happened. I'm still doing my stage at the French school; the language barrier is a problem, and a few of the adolescent girls there are particularly obnoxious (odieuses), but it's rewarding. I also have a lot of work to do - both classwork and the summer job search. I'm really looking forward to my vacation. Currently, I need to work on a short paper about a movie I saw recently, as well as a longer paper, which is an analysis of a reading on feminism.

News, and a few complaints

Rouen is a fascinating city, and the Notre Dame cathedral is spectacular. Things are cheaper there than in Paris - surprise, surprise. The only real problem with the city is that there's too much tacky Joan of Arc tourist-trap stuff, especially around the site where she was burned. I'll post photos... eventually.

I've started some volunteer work; basically, I go to a school for a few hours on Monday and Thursday evenings and help the kids with English homework. It's difficult for me to communicate with them, but when I can help them, it's really gratifying.

Finally, a few complaints about Paris in general. Well, really, they're just minor frustrations, but anyway:

1. Everything that isn't a bar or restaurant is closed on Sunday. There are exceptions, of course, but don't count on getting much in the way of shopping or necessary errands done then.

2. Even during the week, everything except for bars and restaurants closes too early. By the time I get home from classes on Tuesday (which end at 7:30), all the supermarkets and most of the boulangeries are closed. There are exceptions (more than for rule no. 1), but in general, it's like Sunday by 8 PM or so.

3. For a city Paris's size, the Metro shuts down far too early (around 12:30-1 most nights).

4. Why do so few of the ticket machines in Metro stations accept bills? It's particularly annoying, since whether or not the machine accepts my credit card seems to be decided entirely by random chance.

Misc updates

1. Going on a trip to Rouen with other students tomorrow. Should be interesting, though I'll have to get up earlier than I would like.

2. I'm finally moving into my permanent apartment tonight. Hope it works out.

3. I have a tentative schedule for volunteer work, found through Espace Benevolat: Monday and Thursday evenings, I'll be working at the Atelier Educatif, Culturel et Sportif, helping 6-13 year-old kids learn English.