Grenoble
I headed into class today expecting to go to the B2+ class I had joined the previous Friday. I was excited to continue discussing street art, because the professor had promised that we would be going on a tour of Grenoble street art sometime during the coming week. However, when I arrived to class I was told that my name was not on the list. The professor told me I should go down to the B2 class for the day. I did and was really saddened. I had been excited to be part of the class and had enjoyed the structure. I was frustrated because the B2 class was moving at a slower pace and was changing professors the next day, bringing my total to 4 professors for one class in less than two weeks.
In our culture class we discussed inequalities that women face in France today. I found this topic to be a lot more interesting than holidays. We had a discussion about abortions in France. Apparently, only far right and nearly fascist candidates argue that abortions should be illegal. They had been allowed in France since the 1970s and are no longer viewed as a controversial issue. This is obviously something that is vastly different in the United States, where women are being stripped of their rights at an alarming rate.
After CUEF courses we went to lunch. I tried a French hotdog. I was curious to see what it was like and wasn’t disappointed. It was the weirdest color, an almost plastic-y red, and came of a full baguette. It tasted alright though. During the rest of our lunch break Jillian and I explored, finding a coffee vending machine! I was shocked to see that a cup only cost 1 euro. We made sure to get a cup and enjoyed a “kinder beuno” for dessert.
UM courses went by quickly today. We discussed phonetics and transcribing in phonetic language. At the end of class there was a short quiz on work from the previous week.
When classes had finally ended for the day, a small group of us went back to the campus store. I got a t-shirt that I thought would be fun to wear around campus. It lists the founding date of the university at 1339. Can you believe that? There are also symbols that represent the revolution in French universities after the 1968 protests which I think is super cool.
Our group decided it was time for a snack, so we headed over to Café de la Table Ronde, which is near my house. It was founded in 1739. It is the oldest café in Grenoble and one of the girls in my group told us that is it actually the second oldest café in France. I got a crème brûlée. It was really beautiful.
Tonight dinner was super interesting. We had an amazingly sweet and delicious melon for our first course. It was followed by a potato purée and small sausages. For dessert we ate peach fruit cups. On the side we had a lovely glass of rosé. Dinner conversation was really something tonight. Janine kicked things off by asking if I had a boyfriend in the states. I laughed and told her that I was too busy with school work and my clubs. She told me that that was good and proceeded to let me in on some family gossip about her niece who had gone to the Sorbonne to study, met a 32 year old man, fallen in love, and dropped out. She told me I should do my best not to be like her niece. For Ryan’s class we had to record a small snippet to transcribe in French, so I decided to ask them during dessert what they thought the largest problem was in France today. They told me while I was recording that it was unemployment of young people. That young people get degrees and want to earn more money, but often are hired because they lack work experience. Gilbert told me that young people frequently leave the country to find work. I thought it was interesting because the situation is really similar in the US where people are underemployed for the degree that they have earned. When I stopped recording, they told me that the recent wave of immigration has been a huge problem for French taxpayers because the French have pledged to give free medical care and lodging to all immigrants.
Mary-Est-En-France 