The End is Near

I showed up early today to study a bit and work in the library. The chairs and tables still barred each door, but this time I was bemused, for the large metal doors were also closed. A small sign read, "For the safety of students and teachers alike, classes are canceled and all university buildings are unaccessible until Wednesday." It made me chuckle. I was surprised it had not happened sooner. I struck up a conversation with a French student reading the sign at the same time as me. A rather pleasant philosophy student, we had a good chat about French and American culture. He is the first French student who has been receptive to me, so I hope that I have many more chances to speak with him. Right now, I love nothing more than being able to speak French to a somebody who cannot speak English.

The buildings looked awful because students perpetuating the blocus had been living in the buildings. Having brought beds, televisions, and enough spray paint to cover the Eiffel tower, the interiors were laden with graffiti and general filth. The inside and outside of each building was being cleaned when I arrived. Students with mops and rags worked like bees to excoriate any trace of the vandalism. In turn, the grevists put up signs of dissension on the outside of every door: "Le gouvernement a peur!" Essentially, this is a derisive remark saying the president of the university and others are afraid.

The majority of students are not en greve, strange as it may seem. It is obvious that most of them do not mind missing class, (myself included), but the level of active participation is only sufficient. I really want to join for the hell of it, but I abstain for fear that French president Nicholas Sarkozy might ninja-kick me across the Atlantic.

The Brussels post is coming soon, I promise. Now that I have this unexpected vacation I will have more time.

P.S. I apologize if the Google ads are in the way, but I put them up a few months ago because ads like this, which pay the blog owner after each valid click, are a decent way to make money.