Playing Catch-Up Part II

Decided to break the past couple of weeks into two entries. There is just so much I want to share, so please bear with me for the sudden blog explosion.

Apartment Guests:

So last Thursday (which is when my weekends start here) Julia and I had some wonderful people over for dinner. They are the group who were here last semester (plus one who just arrived this semester, but who spends a lot of time with the returners). A few of them are international students, and then the others are from America. I find them all quite interesting, and really wanted to get to know them better, so we decided to have a dinner party (which also more fully satisfies List Item #14, as well as List Item #17). It went really well - all the food was eaten, lots of laughs were shared, and bonds were made. The night ended beautifully at The Quay for some Karaoke as well.

Being a House Guest: 

The wonderful meal...

...the wonderful people...

...the wonderful photo shoot to end the night right. 

I have the great fortune of befriending a person here, Emile (in the plaid), whose family is actually from France. Not only does he help us practice our French (since he speaks it fluently) but last Friday, he also invited a few of us to dine with him at his father's house in Grasse. After about a 45 minute train ride we arrived, and Emile drove us to his father's house, which is everything you could hope for a French house in the country to be.

It was so wonderful to be in a home, and all of the people there were so warm and inviting. Julia and I had the opportunity to practice our French with the groundskeeper and his wife (as they do not speak English), and Emile's father told us all about the history of the delicious traditional French winter meal we ate called Raclette.

Then, on the way back, we were basically the only people on the train. Which naturally equates to photo shoot time. It was a gorgeous Friday evening.

Pain, Chocolate, et l'Amour

A little cappuccino to warm up after the festival. It was chilly in Antibes!

On both Friday and Saturday we went to the Bread, Chocolate, and Love festival that was going on in Antibes. Mostly it was vendors selling sweets, meets, cheeses, and breads, but there was quite a bit to look at. I purchased some dark chocolate with candied hibiscus flowers inside...yum! 

Exploring the Area: 

The rest of the weekend was pretty laid back. Visited Nice again for some shopping, hung out with people in the apartment Saturday evening, and went on a Nice little walk to the Fort Carre that is in Antibes. Julia met a very kind old man there who quite enjoyed speaking with her, and he ended up giving us some history on the Fort. 

The rest of the week mostly consisted of midterm studying (because yes, I do occasionally have to do school-related things), some baking for Valentine's Day, and enjoying the sunshine on Thursday. On Saturday, we are headed for an over-night trip with the CEA program in Provence. I am quite excited! 

Playing Catch-Up Part I

The last couple of weekends have been full of explorations of the area, wonderful food with wonderful people, and a new familiarity with transportation in Antibes. Because there is a lot to update about, I will do a picture-book-type explanation of each, to keep my writing shorter and the post more visually pleasing.

Snow Days on the Riviera: 

So a few weeks ago we had two snow days in a row...not kidding. Funny thing is there was no snow in Antibes at all. The buses announced Monday night that they would not be running Tuesday because of the CHANCE of snow. They just don't know how to handle it here, on the beach.

So, since we couldn't really go anywhere, we stayed in Resideal, and watched the wonders of hula hooping. There is a girl here who just bought a hoop because her and her friends all hoop back in Pittsburg. It is not your average hooping either...more like hoop dancing. We all watched her skills and then tried it out ourselves. It was quite the beautiful day.

Our New Thursday Night Venue: 

Then there was Thursday night Karaoke night! Though most of the SKEMA international students we know like to go to the Hop Store, we discovered The Quay, another Irish Pub with a better ambiance, and of course, karaoke! Also, these beauties were given to a few of my friends and myself on the house. Needless to say this is likely to become a regular Thursday night event.

Buses, Nietszche and Eze:

Friday we set out for Eze, the hilltop village we vsited on our first weekend here. Thanks to train strikes, though, we got to take three bus rides, one being an hour long, just to get to the village.

FUN FACT: Apparently train strikes are very common in France. This one was already the second one since we've been here. I'm not sure what the reasoning behind the strikes are each time, but I think it often has to do with benefits or salary issues. As was the case in October.  

Eze was worth the transportation, though. We found the trail that German philosopher Fredrick Nietszche walked up daily. Apparently the heat made him hallucinate, which is where he got his inspiration. The view was gorgeous, and while we saw snow on palm trees at the top of the trail, we ended up on a beach!

Le Super Bowl: 

Saturday was fairly uneventful, and ended with a night out at the Ondine Villa, where some of our international friends live. Sunday Julia and I hosted a Super Bowl party. This was a great idea in the sense that people brought delicious food to our apartment, and a not so great idea since the game here only started at midnight. Still, it was fun to have so many people over, and I made a rendition of the cheesy potatoes my mamma makes that went over very well. 

The Rest of the Week: 

The week went nicely, as well. Took a quick trip to Cannes before class on Monday and benefited from the massive sales going on here (they started in January and didn't end until February 14) by buying a dress from Zara. Supposedly they have Zara in the states, my little towns have never heard of such wondrous places. The shopping here really is fantastic.

On Wednesday I had a spontaneous lunch date with a friend here, my first French meal out! It was delicious. I have no pictures of it, since it was spontaneous and all, but I'm sure we will go back. In the mean time, you can listen to this song if you are sad about the lack of pictures. 

American Culture in France

I've had this one in the works for a while, but was a bit afraid of its potential length to get started. No time like the present, though, right?

Of course there are many differences between the US and this land of wine and cheese and smoke and beauty. And I have heard, from past French teachers and various family members, how the French don't particularly care for American culture. How, in fact, the European world in general does not appreciate the intense infiltration the US manages to create world-wide.

Since there was this distaste for it, I never imagined it could be so prevelant. But it is, I just didn't quite catch it at first, because so much of it involves things I am constantly surrounded by in the states, so it seemed normal. It wasn't until I was really listening and looking that I saw it. The infiltration.

In my classes, the students who have computers general have Macs. And when professors mention Apple as an example of a business, the students actually listen (an amazing feat as I have also found French students have a much more lax approach to school). They are fascinated by Apple and its products. What is Apple? An American company.

When we discuss examples of different business practices, McDonald's often comes up. And Wal-Mart, and even Taco Bell on a different day. The professors never have to explain what any of those things are, either. Everyone just knows. Carrefour is a major supermarket in Europe, and yet and I had never heard of it until I knew I was going to study abroad. Yet these American companies are used as examples in classes in France. As are American associations and business models.

When we go out to clubs, they play American pop. When we go to the grocery store, they play American pop. When we walk through Old Antibes and cars pass by us they are listening to American pop. There is a law in France that at least 40% of the music on the radio must be French, because prior to the law, it was almost all English music.

There are many other things as well, but these are the ones I notice the most frequently. In a way, it disappoints me. Being here, I have also learned the things I appreciate and value about American culture, but they are not the things I see most often. I came to another country to find their culture, to live in it, but I find myself constantly in a bubble of American-influenced situations. Partially this is my own doing, as I do live with Americans, but it seems that even if I didn't I would find America everywhere.

It is a strange phenomenon, and not all the way bad, because it is good to share and blend cultures. And perhaps we have more French influence in America than I realize, it is just more underlying because it has been around for so long. Regardless, I wanted to note this observation. I will be making more attempts to discover French culture, in places like this: