Nantes-Paris

We arrived at the train station well in advance in order to validate our passes and purchase a reservation. Unfortunately, the only train to Paris which was still available left at 9 PM. We took it anyway as well as a reservation for Strasbourg the following day. I walked around to get a feel of the place, and continuously glanced at the departure panels to see on which track our speedy TGV train would arrive.

The time finally came and we boarded with no difficulty. It was a shame that we had to ride at night because TGV trains are incredibly fast. (We passed the full length of other trains in a matter of seconds.) We arrived about 30 minutes after midnight, and began our quasi-aimless romp around Paris.

The first goal of ours was to see the Eiffel Tower. At 1 AM the entire tower began flashing with bright silver lights for some reason. Laura got a little video of this which I shall post if I find a way to insert it. It was a much-needed beacon, since we had very little idea where to find anything. There were a few things which I had not expected about it. Contrary to my childlike expectations, the area under the tower was open to the public. It was also guarded by security personnel carrying automatic weapons. It was much bigger than I expected, as well.

Two men bedecked in souvenirs approached us as well at different times. I decided to haggle with him a bit before shutting him down. He didn't take this very well and stormed off after yelling "Laisses-moi tranquile!"

There are many problems with Paris. The exorbitant prices are as unavoidable as the urine which flows from every dark corner. (Imagine paying 150 dollars for a hotel room as big as your bathroom.) The public-transport system is tailored to take advantage of tourists and other outsiders. If you want to ride a bus and are not a part of some specific Parisian transportation society you must pay 1.50 Euro. The Parisians have also acquired a public bicycle exchange program. Laura and I trekked endless kilometers to save money, and citizens used bicycles which must be obtained by using another secret-clubhouse card.

I'll not even mention the public restrooms for now.

We sprinted across the largest and busiest roundabout I have ever seen to get incredibly close to the Arch de Triomphe. After a short time we were accosted by some more armed guards who insisted that it was illegal to be as close as we were. At least I got some great photos...

After leaving the Arch a few Parisians asked us where THEY could find a McDonald's or a Quick. (A Quick is kind of like a slightly better McDonald's.) I decided that if a Parisian didn't know where something is then Laura and I did not have a chance. They did think that my French was good, though; this pleased me immensely.

Having finished our main goals, we began making our way to the train station. On our way we saw several statues, a memorial for Princess Diana, a huge ferris wheel, and many, many other buildings.

Having walked what felt like 10 miles around Paris, Laura and I were completely exhausted. We were not willing to pay for lodging so we went and slept on the cold floor of the Paris North train station. We got about 3-4 hours of sleep between each other and finally had to get up because it was simply too cold.

Our train to Strasbourg was to leave at Paris East, so we went there quite early to wait. I unplugged a copier and plugged my laptop in. While typing this a lady approached me and said, "Do you speak English?" I was not used to having my native tongue appreciated so I said, "Sure!" thinking she needed directions. To my dismay she handed me a tiny laminated card saying how her father had leukemia and she couldn't afford food. Thinking quickly, I offered her one fig newton and smiled. I had her now! She took it and walked away, but I am pretty sure she winked at me.

We grabbed a quick bite at...Quick and then got on the train to Strasbourg. The lady sitting in the seat next to me was sneaky. Her Strasbourg was for the train an hour later, but she got on anyway. The rightful owner of the seat caught her, though, and she was forced to relocate. The owner's name was Gil, and he was visiting his son who was studying in Strasbourg. He hailed from Quebec, and he had the distinctive maahTAYNE (Matin is French for morning. In France..French one is supposed to pronounce it MahTAN.) It was an excellent opportunity to practice my French because he could speak English, as well as several other languages. We parted ways at the train station, and Laura and I began our voyage through Strasbourg: a city that defies an old adage.

It looks like its German. It acts like its German...

but it speaks French.

Next update: Strasbourg-Luxembourg.

EUROPE Travel Question

If you could go anywhere, where would it be?
Perhaps you can visit vicariously.

I'll check for comments. Thanks.

L'Histoire et Les Autres

"Le roi de France a tous les pouvoirs..."

It's neat to learn about French history in French. Having been here for two months I often get to the point where I am listening to French and I forget that I am listening to it. (This is only in class, though; the language becomes too casual and rapid outside of the university.) I posed the following today: "Can we actually say that Louis XIV considered himself the Sun King because the Sun is the center of the universe? At this time people thought the Earth was the center of the Universe, correct?"

This was in opposition to a reason another student gave as to why Louis XIV designated himself the Sun King. I thought this was a great question, but I secretly felt pretty stupid after proudly stating "Copernicus" and "Galileo" were the most prominent individuals who thought the contrary. (In France, they say Coper-NEEK and GalEELAY...)

At this point, the class is becoming a little family. We have class together 18 hours a week, so it was bound to happen eventually. Surprisingly, I have actually excoriated my fear of appearing intelligent. The English speakers ask me for help and the people who speak English as a second language always ask me how I do on tests. I am finally learning that it is OK to sit up front and be an active participant in class. Those who do not care about class or hold me in low-esteem as a result of my success are not worth my time.

I am afraid that my credits will not be transferred the way I had hoped. My adviser in the French department did not seem very pleased that I did not talk to her before I left the States. I did not realize you had to talk to more than one adviser so I only talked to Dr. Roberts. It would make more sense to me if a committee decided which credits to award, mais bon...

Laura and I leave for 9-10 days tomorrow and I do not know if we shall have internet. Also, if you read this blog, please leave a comment if you don't mind. It'd be nice to hear from you.

Latter Day Saints

During the weekend I involve myself with certain aspects of North American culture. I devoted this evening to the Mormon church. All of the red text comes from either lds.org or utlm.org if you are interested in checking the validity of my sources. UTLM is slanted against Mormonism, but if you compare with LDS you will see there are no discrepancies. (Only a few low-blows :) )

Such things as this perplex me:

The official name of the Mormon Church today is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph Smith founded it at the age of 24, in the state of New York on April 6, 1830. It was originally named the Church of Christ, and then in 1834 the name was changed to the Church of the Latter Day Saints. In 1838 it received its current name (Doctrine and Covenants, Sec.115:4).

I would be concerned that a man of the age of 24 founded a church were this not the early 19th century.

To check the validity of this I went to josephsmith.net. Regrettably, I was proved wrong. He was actually 14 when this occurred.

On a spring day in 1820 14-year-old Joseph Smith sought solitude in a grove of trees and prayed to know which church was true. God the Father and Jesus Christ, "two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description," appeared and spoke with him.

.....

Joseph Smith proclaimed that God Himself had designated the LDS Church as "the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth" (Doc. & Cov. Sec. 1:30).

How many other churches claim this? *sigh*

The LDS Church claims to have the only true priesthood that is required to act in the name of God. A Prophet/President and his two counselors govern the church. Under them are twelve apostles and a group of men called the Seventies. These are the highest offices in their church.

They have four books of scriptures: the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price

...was Steinbeck Mormon?

The LDS Church claims to be the "only true church" and the only church with the authority to act in God's name. They do not accept any other church's baptisms. According to their teachings, their baptism is the only one recognized by the Lord. This belief, coupled with their belief in the need for a Mormon temple marriage to gain eternal life, compels them to take their message to the world.

Attempted drowning in any building should have the same effect, right? Is the "Lord" so blind that he cannot understand that the intent is all that matters and not the venue/denomination?

What if a Mormon couple wants to get married outside in a pretty garden or if the temple is being fumigated?

This is a pretty interesting tidbit concerning Mormonism in France:

After World War II, as reconstruction had begun and Church humanitarian relief efforts had been mobilized, missionaries were once more sent into France and membership began to increase. In 1955, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir made its historic tour of Europe, performing in the Palais de Chaillot in Paris. At the time, Church membership in the nation was only about 1,500. France's first meetinghouse was completed in Nantes in 1962. By 1974, 29 French members were serving as missionaries for the Church.

Nobody has come to my door, regrettably. Trying to be converted to Mormonism by a French person would be an excellent opportunity to work on my communication skills.

Another problem is I have been told that Mormons are essentially just a different kind of Christian. Correct me if I am wrong, but this seems a little off:

No, the Mormon Church does not claim to be Protestant. It claims to be a divine restoration of Christ's true church. It therefore rejects the validity of any other church. Its basic beliefs place it outside the standard doctrines of Christianity. Mormonism teaches that the God to whom they pray is but one of a whole series of gods who at one time were mortal then progressed to godhood. The LDS Church teaches that their Heavenly Father was once born as a spirit child of a god and wife who ruled a different world. After maturing as a spirit being he was sent to another world where he was born as a human. There he grew to maturity, married, died, was resurrected, went to heaven, progressed and eventually became the God of our world. He and his resurrected wife continue to have spirit children born to them in their heavenly realm. The Mormon man, accompanied by his wife, who is faithful to his religion, pays his tithe, attends the LDS temple rituals, etc. is hoping to eventually progress to become a god of another world, just like his Heavenly Father did.

This means a few things:

• There is life on other planets. Mormon men who were good boys have their own little planet to take care of (or neglect).
  
• God's mortal life must have been pretty boring. He hit puberty, got married, and died.
• God gets it on in heaven.
• Women apparently don't get to be Gods.

The Doctrine and Covenants contains 138 sections and two Official Declarations. The first 135 sections contain Joseph Smith's revelations from 1823 to 1844, section 136 is a revelation by President Brigham Young in 1847, section 138 is one by President Joseph F. Smith in 1918. Declaration No. 1 is dated 1890 and is referred to as "The Manifesto" which declared an end to the practice of polygamy. Declaration No. 2 is dated 1978 and declared that "all worthy male members" could now hold the priesthood and participate in the temple ceremonies. This ended the LDS Church priesthood ban on Negroes.

• Joseph Smith was not a very fast thinker. I am pretty sure that most human beings who wanted to concoct a religion and write its corresponding scripture could do so within a matter of months.
• It took the Mormons until 1978 to feel that blacks could hold the priesthood and participate in temple ceremonies? LBJ missed a spot.

The eighth LDS Article of Faith states: "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly." The Mormons believe the Bible has gone through repeated editing that has changed the meaning of the text. Thus they are skeptical of any translation of the Bible. However, they view the King James Version as the least corrupt of the versions available today. They print their own Bible (King James Version) with additional LDS footnotes, dictionary and topical guide. These cross reference to their other books of scripture and provide LDS explanations.


If Mormons can believe that Mr. Smith is capable of translating ANYTHING, how can they scoff at reasonable modern-day translations?

---

I don't know. I have to stop here. I unfortunately don't have the time to devote to understand this religion. It is most likely that I am incapable of comprehending this faith.

If you are a Mormon individual, please enlighten me...if you can.

Presentation

Today, a man from El Salvador played my banjo like an electric guitar and a Japanese girl told me that she worked at Kentucky Fried Chicken for two years.

It's amazing what reactions an exposition on Tennessee can elicit.

Each Wednesday, different students from different parts of the world must do a presentation about their daily lives. (This was started because we have a four hour class on Wednesday and we are all completely dead by the last hour.) Since I volunteered to go first, all the other U.S. students were scheduled for today as well. There are only 3 of us, and Stephen decided to stay home.

I talked about laws for driving, smoking, and drinking and also outlined the education system. (They all knew what Harvard was.) I explained our "weird" units of measurement and that, regrettably, most of the American stereotypes are true.

For some reason, many found it bizarre that each city did not have a flag of its own when I drew the Tennessee flag. It also seemed incomprehensible that the Mississippi River was not included somehow in the flag. I tried to explain that it is simply a border or boundary and that it is more important to the gulf states than Tennessee.

To finish, I decided to say how Nashville is "la ville de musique aux Etats-Unis". To display this, I used a banjo. I played a few tunes and began answering some questions.

* Did Kentucky Fried Chicken start in Kentucky?
* At what age do you start learning your other languages? (Yes, plural...We Suck.)
* What is the speed limit?
* What is the traditional dish of Tennessee? (I really had no response for this. I could have tried to describe grits or some other nonsense, but I refrained. I simply stated [translated] "A big breakfast - eggs, bacon, etc.")
* Does everybody play banjo in Tennessee? (I smiled.)
* How does everybody get where they want to go? (My explanation that only the lower-middle class and poor use public transportation was astonishing.)
* Are there many Islamic mosques? (I refrained from going into religion or politics...except for one Bush remark. ;) I simply said I did not know because I am not religious.)

I believe that next week is China's turn. It should be interesting.

9 Ways to Speak French Better

1. Be absolutely certain that you keep your lips and facial muscles pursed like you are about to play a French horn.

2. All "r" sounds must be thoroughly choked on for English speakers. If your native language is Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, or Russian then rolling your r's is cool.

3. If you know a big word in English, say the same word in French but put an EEK or AY sound in places a French person probably would. (Take conviviality for instance. In French it is, phonetically, convivialit[AY])

4. Incorporate the "Passe simple" into your oral vocabulary whenever possible so people think you are quoting literature.

5. Use the indicative where the subjunctive is usually needed. It will make you seem infallible and self-assured.

6. Say ALORS and DONC a lot. It makes people think you are about to be prophetic. Also, say "TIENS!" to the homeless. It is the only time they will look up. (The etiquette for the homeless in France is different than the U.S. Instead of openly accosting you, the homeless sit with a small 100ml cup with their heads hung in shame.)

7. Say "J'oublie" a lot. It means you used to know something but forgot it. If somebody offers to teach you say "J'etais un chat.", which means "I used to be a cat." (I promise it'll help, especially in crowded areas.)

8. If you are a Monty Python fan, be sure to replace every "ne pas" with "ni pas". The neither/nor construction may make you giddy, but you may as well take advantage of how often ne...pas is used.

9. And finally...you can't do double quote marks with your fingers. Most French novels use <<>> to show dialogue and some don't even do that. (In French, they are called les guillemets.) Next time, just pretend Pac Man and Ms. Pac Man are fighting.

Good Luck!

How to do a Handstand

Thanks to Capoeira, I can now do a handstand.

Step 1. Try to stand on your hands.
Step 2. Fall.
Step 3. Repeat.

Tip: Don't look at your feet.

Vacation #1

Mid-October

We've been here a little over 6 weeks. Things are becoming easier, but it still bothers me when I cannot quickly think of something to say. Surprisingly, I have actually become better at understanding French than speaking it.

Laura and I are either going to Belgium/Luxembourg/The Netherlands or Spain/Portugal in a few weeks. I only have a 10-11 day vacation so we have not yet decided. The Eurail passes are not that expensive and they permit us unlimited travel depending on how many days we purchase.

The fact that a 12.5/20 can be considered a good grade is beyond me. The kooky 20 point French grading system is still bizarre to me. (A 10/20 transfers essentially as a B-.)

My birthday is coming up on the 23rd. If anybody is reading this all I can say is that even if you just send a card it would mean the world to me. 21 does not mean much in a country where kids drink wine in the womb.

Here is a wish list:

• Any form of food that can be cooked in a microwave or on the stove. The French have so few things Laura and I can cook because we do not have an oven. The convenience lifestyle most Americans are used to is generally shunned for quality here.
  
• Gatorade Mix/Any kind of anything we can mix with water to drink...lol.
  
• Cards, anything at all

:) Sorry, lol.

That really is about it. I have a lot of class and capoeira is really getting me into shape. (I can even walk around on my hands a little.)

Hopefully we will have more to write about once I have my first much-needed break.