The set was just so-so (I preferred Clara Clara), but the people watching was excellent. Especially when my friends and I were approached by a hipster couple (Anastasia and Joe) from Kansas. Anastasia was a little tipsy, and was really eager to tell us -- well, anything, really. Joe was wearing those big hipster glasses and a woolen v-neck sweater and talked with a lisp. Ah, what a lovely pair.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
joe, the hipster from kansas
Just got back from a concert at Sonic, one of several peniche-style venues here in Lyon. Traversed by two rivers, the lyonnais apparently have a thing for partying on boats. My main draw to the concert was François Virot, who I had seen previously as the drummer of Clara Clara (pictured below) at another concert venue near the Gare de Vaise called Grrrnd Zero.
The set was just so-so (I preferred Clara Clara), but the people watching was excellent. Especially when my friends and I were approached by a hipster couple (Anastasia and Joe) from Kansas. Anastasia was a little tipsy, and was really eager to tell us -- well, anything, really. Joe was wearing those big hipster glasses and a woolen v-neck sweater and talked with a lisp. Ah, what a lovely pair.
The set was just so-so (I preferred Clara Clara), but the people watching was excellent. Especially when my friends and I were approached by a hipster couple (Anastasia and Joe) from Kansas. Anastasia was a little tipsy, and was really eager to tell us -- well, anything, really. Joe was wearing those big hipster glasses and a woolen v-neck sweater and talked with a lisp. Ah, what a lovely pair.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
missing the but
Two nights ago, my host brother surprised me with an invitation to the Lyon - Marseille football match last night. Olympique Lyonnais is the best team in France, dominating the Ligue de France championships for the last 6 years running. They also play in the Champions League with teams like Manchester United, FC Barcelona, and AC Milan, but have yet to make it past the quarter finals.
Going to a match has been one of my year-long goals, so I was super excited to go. Thanks to a delay in the métro, we arrived at the game about 10 minutes late -- late enough to miss the one and only goal scored in the match. I was too tired to be upset about it, and the rest of the game was pretty fun to watch anyway. I'm a big sports fan, so being in a stadium with 30,000 other screaming fans was definitely an experience to remember.
My host brother and 12 year old host sister who came along argued pretty much throughout the entire match, which I was expecting because they don't get along all too well. It did get pretty annoying at a certain point though - with my host brother overreacting to my host sister's innocent questions and my host sister constantly complaining about not being able to see anything and asking to move further down, closer to the field. Once we had done that, though, she could see even less. Oh, to be young again.
Probably the most eventful thing to happen on my end was having a cigarette thrown into the hood of my coat. The man behind me was nice enough to alert me to the fact that I was on fire, picking the butt out of the folds of my hood. I was kind of in shock and obscenely embarrassed, and could think of nothing else to say aside from a meek 'Merci'. My host brother and sister reacted more appropriately though, verifying to make sure that my hood wasn't still burning -- which, of course, it was because of some left over ashes. They brushed them out, and I sat in my bleacher seat, cool as a clam. Yes, I was so exhausted I didn't even care I was in the process of catching on fire.
As for today, the big headline is the national grève, France's reaction to the economic crisis. Coming back from class today, I told my host mom that I had seen the huge crowd gathered in Place Bellecour, and she told me "But of course! The demonstration! We're really good at that!". Crossing over the Rhône, I kept wishing I had my camera to take photos - a long caravan of police vans were inching their way through a sea of people, many of whom carried banners and waved signs calling for a change in economic policy from President Sarkozy. Unfortunately, by the time I had recharged my battery and went back outside, the mass of angry protesters had dispersed. But I did get to snap this photo of a banner taped to Louis XIV:
Now just imagine a lot of people marching and chanting in this general area. If I was more technologically savvy, I would photo shop them in -- but I guess that would be cheating.
Going to a match has been one of my year-long goals, so I was super excited to go. Thanks to a delay in the métro, we arrived at the game about 10 minutes late -- late enough to miss the one and only goal scored in the match. I was too tired to be upset about it, and the rest of the game was pretty fun to watch anyway. I'm a big sports fan, so being in a stadium with 30,000 other screaming fans was definitely an experience to remember.
My host brother and 12 year old host sister who came along argued pretty much throughout the entire match, which I was expecting because they don't get along all too well. It did get pretty annoying at a certain point though - with my host brother overreacting to my host sister's innocent questions and my host sister constantly complaining about not being able to see anything and asking to move further down, closer to the field. Once we had done that, though, she could see even less. Oh, to be young again.
Probably the most eventful thing to happen on my end was having a cigarette thrown into the hood of my coat. The man behind me was nice enough to alert me to the fact that I was on fire, picking the butt out of the folds of my hood. I was kind of in shock and obscenely embarrassed, and could think of nothing else to say aside from a meek 'Merci'. My host brother and sister reacted more appropriately though, verifying to make sure that my hood wasn't still burning -- which, of course, it was because of some left over ashes. They brushed them out, and I sat in my bleacher seat, cool as a clam. Yes, I was so exhausted I didn't even care I was in the process of catching on fire.
As for today, the big headline is the national grève, France's reaction to the economic crisis. Coming back from class today, I told my host mom that I had seen the huge crowd gathered in Place Bellecour, and she told me "But of course! The demonstration! We're really good at that!". Crossing over the Rhône, I kept wishing I had my camera to take photos - a long caravan of police vans were inching their way through a sea of people, many of whom carried banners and waved signs calling for a change in economic policy from President Sarkozy. Unfortunately, by the time I had recharged my battery and went back outside, the mass of angry protesters had dispersed. But I did get to snap this photo of a banner taped to Louis XIV:
Now just imagine a lot of people marching and chanting in this general area. If I was more technologically savvy, I would photo shop them in -- but I guess that would be cheating.Tuesday, January 27, 2009
god, i hate mornings
Now I remember why I wrote so infrequently last semester - CLASSES! Time just disappears sitting in CMs (cours magistraux, the equivalent of lectures) all day long. Luckily, I've taken a much calmer approach to the whole registration process this semester. I'm done worrying about credits or fulfilling requirements from back home, because there's no way of knowing how it will all calculate out in the end.
Today, I had class starting at 8am until 6pm (with two 2-hour breaks, thank goodness). I haven't been this tired in awhile -- probably because I haven't been to school in awhile. All in all, my courses are actually shaping up to be pretty interesting this semester:
Civilisation and Culture (XIX century): The notion of sublime in literature and painting
Media Cultures: The history and role of the media in France
Cinema
Introduction to Aesthetics/Art History/Regard
The construction of the European community
Tomorrow I'm sitting in on my first Italian class. I hope I haven't completely forgotten everything!
Today, I had class starting at 8am until 6pm (with two 2-hour breaks, thank goodness). I haven't been this tired in awhile -- probably because I haven't been to school in awhile. All in all, my courses are actually shaping up to be pretty interesting this semester:
Civilisation and Culture (XIX century): The notion of sublime in literature and painting
Media Cultures: The history and role of the media in France
Cinema
Introduction to Aesthetics/Art History/Regard
The construction of the European community
Tomorrow I'm sitting in on my first Italian class. I hope I haven't completely forgotten everything!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
fydor's day at the opera
Finally started work on my Pass Culture (7 shows for 33 euros) with a matinee of Serge Prokofiev's operatic adaptation of "The Gambler" by Dostoyevsky.The production itself was much more coherent than the one I went to earlier this month at the Théâtre de la Croix Rousse. Unfortunately, it was really hard to follow the story since they didn't give out any kind of free program - and I can't think of any theater experience where it's more important to understand what is going on than an intellectual Russian opera!
All of the performers were very impressive, though. The orchestra played beautifully, and I was especially touched by the performance of the lead soprano. I'm hoping to catch another opera performance before leaving Lyon, and hopefully one in French this time around!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
my new boyfriend
Voici mon nouveau copain, Guillaume.Ha, I wish. I got a message last night from a friend about the première of M. Canet's new film "Espion(s)" at the Pathé Bellecour, at which said actor would be present. Super excited, I bought tickets right after getting out of class this morning and arrived at the theater an hour early. A benefit to living in France is that people are definitely not as celebrity crazy, and people were relatively calm during the screening.
The film wasn't great (I would even go so far as to say it wasn't good) but Guillaume was super sympa, as they say...answering every question fully and with an evident passion for his work.
He also spent quite a bit of time joking around, and was certainly the most entertaining of the panelists (which also included his leading lady and director). For example:
Q: Why did you decide to do this project among the many you are being offered?
A: Well, I had a great first meeting with the director. We got a along really well, smoked some weed...(he was kidding, obviously)
Q: What is it like kissing (your leading lady)?
A: I had no problem with it. And I invite you to come down here and try it.
Sigh. How dreamy.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
back to school with barack
Last night, the whole Pellet clan and myself gathered around the television at 6pm to watch the Obama inauguration. Looking into the sea of people, I imagined my friends from home somewhere among the crowd, cheering and soaking up the joy that was that incredible day. Franchement, I feel like I could have picked a better year to go abroad. This is probably the most momentous, historic occasion that I will ever live through, and I could have been in the middle of it all. These are the only times that I have regretted leaving Georgetown for a year.
But today, going back to school, it felt so nice to see my friends, to not be stressed or confused, and to be excited about classes starting up again. And I felt so proud to be American, more than I ever have in my life. Clearly, I'm not the most patriotic of people (I did decide to spend my first presidential election year abroad, after all), but this gave me a burst of joy inside that I never thought politics could produce.
But today, going back to school, it felt so nice to see my friends, to not be stressed or confused, and to be excited about classes starting up again. And I felt so proud to be American, more than I ever have in my life. Clearly, I'm not the most patriotic of people (I did decide to spend my first presidential election year abroad, after all), but this gave me a burst of joy inside that I never thought politics could produce.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
the land of fondue and watches
Just got back from a day trip to Genève. My purchases today reflected (almost to an embarrassing extent) some widely-held Swiss stereotypes:
A) A Swatch watch, which I adore and hope will inspire me to actually wear watches.
B) Fondue, a 16 euro lunch which was worth every centime.
C) Chocolate. Need I say more?
The city is very charming, with a teensy old town and a chic commercial district along the bank of its famous lake. It also has a very international feel, not only as a result of the United Nations base, but also because of its diverse, multi-lingual population. I also noticed lots of people getting onto local commuter buses with ski/snowboard gear, which gave me the itch to go to the mountains and give my new ski pants a whirl.
A) A Swatch watch, which I adore and hope will inspire me to actually wear watches.
B) Fondue, a 16 euro lunch which was worth every centime.
C) Chocolate. Need I say more?
The city is very charming, with a teensy old town and a chic commercial district along the bank of its famous lake. It also has a very international feel, not only as a result of the United Nations base, but also because of its diverse, multi-lingual population. I also noticed lots of people getting onto local commuter buses with ski/snowboard gear, which gave me the itch to go to the mountains and give my new ski pants a whirl.
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