Parlez-moi de la France

(It has been two months since I updated my blog…what a shame. Oh well, it was vacation time.)

December was a month of “serious” traveling, both in and outside of France. Following my original plan for my year in Europe, I put an end to my grand tour in France and started exploration to other European countries in the end of 2010. This blog summarizes my five trips to different parts of France. For the trips to Spain and the Czech Republic, more to come later.

So I visited five different places in France this semester: castles in the Loire Valley area, Annecy and the Mont Blanc, small towns in La Provence, Marseille, Nantes. They are located in different regions in France: The Loire Valley area in Le Centre,  Marseille and small towns like Arles and Uzès in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Annecy in the Rhône-Alpes region, and Nantes in the Bretagne area (arguably). As I was watching weather forecast with my host mom the other day , somehow we started talking about the geography of France and she was amazed by how much I have learned from my different trips.

Although some French are obsessed with the grandeur of its country, they have to admit that France is not that big; however, each region does have their unique little characters. Visiting castles and churches in the Loire Valley area was a good start point for France and Europe. The beauty of the Chenonceau and Chambord is absolutely stunning, even though I did not know that the Disney castle modeled after Chambord when I visited. The Loire, the longest river in France, cultivates not only the land but also the civilization. Nantes, the sixth largest city in France where many Grinnellians study abroad, is also located on the Loire River. Though geographically now located in Pays de la Loire region, many from Nantes see themselves a part of Bretagne (Brittany), including my host mom. My two trips to southern France were, if I had to summarize in one phrase, amazing food adventures. We walked around in the farmers’ market in Arles, where countless kinds of cheese, olives, and spices were displayed. In Marseille, Alina and I tasted not only the prestigious brouillaibaise (a Marseillais special fish soup), but also fresh seafood like octopus and oysters. I can say that French cuisine really deserves its fame. Annecy is a tiny town near the French border to Italy and Switzerland. Laure, the former Grinnell French assistant, took me to try my first fondue in life. My heart melted just like the Savoie cheese.

Of all the cities and towns that I visited, Marseille is the city that impresses me the most, although it is as well the most controversial one. Marseille is the second most populous city, as well as one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse cities in France. Before I went to Marseille, most of the people that I talked to told me that it is moche, meaning that it is ugly in French. To some extent, I agree that it does not look as artistic and historical as Paris does. But the fact that it is located right next to the Mediterranean gives it credits that Paris cannot dream of. Perhaps under the influence of the weather (or seafood), people in Marseille seem so much happier than Parisians even in the metro! I felt like at home in Marseille, probably because I found many similarities between Marseille and Guangzhou. Marseillais speak French with a cute accent just like the way Cantonese people speak Mandarin. Both cities are often considered dangerous and ugly by outsiders, whereas in fact they are not. Both cities have GREAT passion for food, especially seafood. Although Paris and Marseille have the unsolvable hostility against each other due to their football teams, I have to say that Marseille is one of my favorite cities in France.

Speaking of Paris, it is extremely interesting for me to livehere and visit other places in France. The Parisian pride does not come out of nowhere — most of the Parisians with whom I have talked to refer to the rest of France as “province”. (See this funny wikipedia page Parisianisme if you understand French: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parisianisme).  I remember that in a random discussion on identity in my international relation class last semester, my prof said proudly that he feels more Parisian than French. In my opinion, this “Parisianism” phenomenon comes mainly from the long history of centralization in France. Paris is THE capital of French politics, economy, finance, and of course, art. To most French people– Parisians and non-Parisians alike– its glory is unrivaled.

For me, that is quite a peculiar phenomenon. Take China as an example: of course Beijingers also pride themselves and the city as the center of the country, but there is no such clear distinction between “Beijing” and “the rest of China”. The glory of Beijing is significant but within limits. (Of course, since I have a very strong Cantonese pride, perhaps I disdain and thus perhaps ignore such Beijing-centric emotions if there were any…Oh well, regionalism is always a myth.) In any case, after visiting different regions in France, now I can say that I have more comprehensive and more realistic ideas about L’Hexagone. I will have two more field trips to Strasbourg and to Normandy with my program this semester…more discovery to come in my last few months in France!

From la cuisine française

After tasting all kinds of delicious French dishes, I finally got the chance to MAKE one. Last night, I attended a cooking class by Mme Doszpoly, a host family from the Hamilton program. We made this very traditional French dish called La Daube. It is basically beef in wine, vegetables, and garlic. (See wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daube)  We also made a French-style chocolate cake. They were DELICIOUS.

The cooking itself was quite long, though not too difficult. As soon as we got the her house, Mme Doszpoly showed us what she had already prepared: she had already marinated the beef in red wine the night before. “Il faut le préparer la veille (we should prepare this the day before)”, she told us, otherwise the beef does not have enough taste of the wine. After writing down the ingredients and the cooking process in our notebook, we started our LONG cooking journey (by “long”, I really mean it): cutting garlics and onions, frying the beef, cutting carrots, breaking eggs, etc. Each step is so tedious, but at the same time, so important for the final success of dishes.

After finishing the preparation of the ingredients, Mme Doszpoly told us that we have to cook the Daube for at least three hours in order to get the best taste. It immediately reminded me of the Cantonese soup — it requires a whole day to make the best soup because it takes a long time for the soup to fully absorb the tastes of the ingredients. I guess it is just universally true that good cuisines are all about being patient and devoting time. The three-hour long waiting totally worthed it when the dish was finally put onto our plates. We smelt immediately the sauce– the key of the dish. It was sticky but not too much, with a mixed taste of red wine, vegetables, and beef. It was all about the patient waiting. It was all about time.

Although I complain a lot about the inefficiency of the French system, the philosophy of “take your time” behind the French culture does get me to reexamine the way I live my life. I am the kind of people who hurry all the time. I am always thinking about the immediate future–what I am going to do, where I am going to go next,  etc. I become so anxious when I feel that I am wasting time — but what exactly does that mean? Being so used to the intense and rapid lifestyle in the name of modernity, many people like me sometimes forget the importance of “taking your time” — to sit down, make a few good dishes, chat with family and friends, and just enjoy life.

In between cooking and eating, we also joked about the importance of cooking and food in the French culture. The food culture is something essential in our daily life, especially here in France, where its cuisine has been recently recognized by the UNESCO as a world cultural heritage. It is a tie among family members and among friends, because if you take time to sit down, eat, and talk, you surely know each other better. Mme Doszpoly told us an anecdote: a friend of hers who had an affair was deciding whether to choose his wife or his mistress. The wife knew about it, said nothing, and made the best dishes the night the husband went back home. The husband finally chose to stay with the wife because she cooked well while the mistress could not cook at all. “It doesn’t matter if a woman is a nice person or not. If she is a good cook, everyone will go to her,” Madame Doszpoly added. Although it was mainly a joke, I do agree with her on the importance of cooking and food. Of course food is definitely not the only tie between husbands and wifes or among friends. But it is always a plus to care for and satisfy the stomach of someone that you love. I remember throughout my second year at Grinnell, I often invited friends to come over for dinner over the weekend. Those were definitely one of the best moments that I miss the most.

I remember Deborah, my roommate at Grinnell, told me a long time ago that if she does not have enough time to bake, that means that she needs to stop and think about life. I think even if I cannot slow down in other aspects of life, I should at least slow down to enjoy the delicious French cuisine.

 

Greeting of December: The Snowy Paris

Happy first December!

As usual, after my last class which ended at 21:15, I took the metro and then walked back home. However tonight is a little bit special. It is the first night of the last month of 2010. And, it is snowing in Paris. As soon as I walked out of the metro station, countless tiny snowflakes fell from the sky. I opened my arm and tried to catch as many snowflakes as I could– it is absolutely one of the most wonderful moments in life.

November was a crazily eventful month: trips, parties, conferences, meetings, lectures, and of course, mountains of homework. I attempted a few times to enter a blog, but always ended up putting it aside because of pressure from work and study. And then all a sudden, November was already gone and I am already in the last month of 2010. Ten more days and I will get done with first semester in France (forget about the finals temporarily).  How. Time. Flies. Considering that I have no more excuses for procrastinating on writing my blogs on the first day of December, I am putting aside the preparation for tomorrow’s presentation to record my epic November.

November started with a wonderful trip to visit Laure, an old friend from Grinnell at Annecy. Annecy is a small lovely town with colorful old buildings and narrow streets surrounded by gorgeous mountains and the beautiful Annecy Lake. Through the transparent water, you can even see clearly the sands and stones in the bottom! A dozen of white swans rest calmly near the edge of the lake, without even a glimpse of the jealous tourists. Sometimes yellow leaves fall on their backs and add some color to their white feathers. French people like to use the word “mignon” to describe something cute and delicate, and I think that is a perfect word for Annecy. It felt a little bit “out of place” to see Laure again in France. We had great conversations about life at Grinnell, as well as the various differences between American and French culture. November started with a good note.

Over the second weekend of November, I went to a field trip to Provence with the Hamilton Program. The Hamilton Program does a very good job in immersing us into the French culture — especially with good food and wine! We mainly stayed in Arles, a city with  2000 years of history where you can see many beautiful Roman and Romanesque architectures and Van Gogh’s Cafe de nuit. We even saw some people “fighting” with sword and shield in the Roman-style Amphitheater! My favorite part of the trip was to sit in the bus and look at the gorgeous view of French countryside outside of the window. Nature just makes you ponder and realize your insignificance in the big big world. However, Provence is not complete without lavenders and sunflowers, so I have decided to come back in summer to enjoy the colorful flower sea that I could only see in the postcards at the moment.

Apart from traveling, one of the greatest changes in my Parisian life is becoming a member of this a wonderful student organization called AIESEC Sciences Po. (Look at our website if you are interested http://aiesec-sciencespo.com/).  I met and worked with a lot of very cool people from over France and from over the world. As the team leader of the Outgoing Exchange Team, I got to know better my wonderful teammates and worked on challenging projects. In fact, we had our national conference over the third weekend of November and local committees from all over France brought members to Paris! We also hosted awesome social events like “wine and cheese” when 40 ish people finished 25 bottles of wine within 4 hours (approximately). Now I cannot imagine my life in Paris without AIESEC and all my wonderful friends from the organization. What could be better than getting to know people who are motivated, passionate, and open-minded?

Visiting different places, going to conferences and working for AIESEC makes academic life extra hard in November…I mean, it is Sciences Po and I actually have to do work. Oops. However, after finishing a couple of different assignments (presentation, papers, debate, etc), I feel that I have understood more about the French system. Take history papers as an example. While under the American system, we are supposed to have a very strong thesis and then use all evidences to prove the thesis, the Sciences Po system requires students to do a comprehensive synthesis of the subject and focus on nuances. Moreover, the French way of writing is really about getting the right structure: two main parts and then two small parts, symmetrical structure, etc… In the beginning I strongly disliked the French system, but now as I get more used to it, I do agree with certain ideas such as the dialectical philosophy behind the boring methodology. It feels so strange that two of my big lecture classes already ended at the end of November…how quickly a semester could go!

As I am entering this post, I realize that I constantly spell English words in French — both a good and a bad sign. I am happy that I have adapted to the French way of life and thinking (although still along way to go!) On the other hand, it means that I should REALLY keep my writing. Anyways, there are too many wonderful events to expect in December. On the edge of 2010, I made a wish in the snowy Paris and that is to love life as much as I could.

No longer a tourist

It was a sunny Friday afternoon. After my last class of the week ended, I met up with Erika from Finland, one of my best friends here in Paris. We started our promenade from the Grand Palais, walked along the Seine, and then ended in a small café right in front of Notre Dame. We enjoyed coffee, desserts and our lovely conversations in French, while watching the sun gently shine onto the roof of the Notre Dame.  That was the moment when I started to feel my bond with Paris — a bond that is inexplicable, but so close to the bottom of my heart.

Two months. I used to think it is too short for any significant changes, but now I have come to understand that we are always in the process of change and transformation. You may not notice all this until a certain moment. When this moment comes and you look back, you figure that you just happen to forget about what Nietzsche says. No matter how calm the Seine looks, it is flowing all the time. That is called life.

It is interesting that doing touristy stuff for the second time actually makes the whole thing much less touristy. Over this past weekend, as my mom visited Paris, I went to all the sightseeing places again — Versailles, the Eiffel Tower, the Place de Concorde, the Sacré Coeur, the Notre Dame, the Louvres, and of course, the boat ride on the Seine. I was able to show my mom the park right next to the Eiffel Tower and told her how I like jogging here but dislike the noisy tourists. I was able to point out the different famous architectures along the Seine. I was able to remember the locations of many paintings in the palace of Versailles and in the Louvres. I was often surprised by myself how much I have learned about the city in only two months. I guess I should stop using the word “only”. Two months is not that short.

My moment of transformation from an outsider to a real Parisian was quite dramatic and bittersweet. It happened last night, the eve of the two-month anniversary of with my amant Paris. As the bus of my mom left for the airport, I was crying, running, and waving my hands like crazy in a crowded street right next to the famous Opéra. I kept running until I stopped in front of the Opéra. Then I looked up and saw the splendid decoration of this magnificent architecture. All a sudden it calmed me down, because I knew that no matter I feel happy or sad, Paris will always be there for me. In fact, my laughters and tears bring me closer to her. All those old historical buildings calmly remind people of the power of time and  the transience of the present. We are so tiny in front of time and space. Be grateful and appreciate. The best condition of life is ici et maintenant (here and now).

As I have finished the “settle-down” period and am determined to start a new life, I am writing down my three goals of the year here as a reminder: 1. Make the most efforts to perfect my French; 2. Keep my weekly blog; 3. Visit as many museums in Paris as possible. No more waiting nor excuse from now on, cuz I’m a petit Parisian.

My First Month in the City of Lights

If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.

-Ernest Hemingway, 1950

It is quite difficult to believe that a month has already passed and that I have been in Paris for a month. A whole month. There were times in the past month when I felt that time was going by too slowly. But now that I look back, a month seems like a moment, or un moment, if you prefer to say it in French.

I finished reading Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast right before I left for France. Honestly, I did not understand most of the book, since it made a lot of references to American writers and Parisian streets, which were both unfamiliar to me.  The only thing that I remember from the book is when Hemingway describes his life as a poor and young writer in Paris. I can not even remember which chapter it is, although I clearly remember him mentioning the smell of Parisian bakeries and cafes. That is exactly how I feel every time I walk back home. There were a few good cafes and bakeries on the street that I walk by everyday. The smells of bread, coffee, and food mingle in the air. And I always feel hungry. Always.

Coming from a summer in New York City, I can’t help comparing New York and Paris. Both are internationally renowned. Both have a long and complicated history. Both make people crazy in both good and bad ways. Both represent their countries but are NOT their countries. For me, New York is energetic, lousy, always busy, as the 24/7 metro implicates. In contrast, Paris is reserved, calm, relaxed, as you can observe from the hundreds of coffee shops. They are like two beautiful women, both charming in their unique ways. One dresses in short skirts with a very heavy metallic feeling jacket, who opens her arms to you almost too enthusiastically the first time you meet. Another dresses in a nice suit, tight jeans with a scarf, who stands there and looks at you in a very sophisticated way. It has been very interesting to me not only to compare New York and Paris, but also the United States and France in general. I am an outsider to both cultures, but at the same time, I live in them and live with them.

Surprisingly, I did not experience the “love at the first sight” for Paris. Unlike many people that I know of, I developed my fond for the city of lights very slowly and gently, or say, doucement. The key word of the whole process of understanding Paris is solitude. Walking in the streets of Paris, you are always subconsciously judging others and being judged — clothes, behavior, or just a vague general feeling. This kind of judgement creates a sense of distance, which separates you as an individual with the whole world around you. You start with yourself, and end with yourself. I strongly disliked that feeling in my first days in Paris, but soon I understand solitude is a true fortune for the city of lights. You watch people come and go, or you meet people and then move on. You rarely lose yourself in the crowds. That is, perhaps, the source of Parisian sophistication.

For me, first month in Paris went by very slowly, for I have encountered and accomplished so much. It also went by very quickly, because now it is way too short to truly understand this culture, this city, this country. Nevertheless, Paris is Paris, with all her irresistible sophistication and charm. Here I am, Paris je t’aime.

 

Week 3 in Paris: Classes and Sciences Po

I know it sounds a little bit lame to write about my classes instead of nightlife in Paris…but I am a nerd from Grinnell and that comes with me to Paris.

Although some of my classes started two weeks ago, last week was the first week when I had all my classes. Oh my, I really LOVE all of them. I am taking five classes in total: two big lecture classes (cours magistraux) along with their seminars (conférences de méthode), two small seminars, and one French language class. My fellow Grinnellians, when I say “big lecture classes”, I really mean it — one of my lecture classes has perhaps 400 students in a big lecture hall. However, the seminar classes are similar to a normal Grinnell class, with around 20 people in a class. All the classes take place once a week for two hours.  So I usually start the class with good energy and focus, but by the end of the class, I just can’t help getting distracted. So here are the comments of my classes:

Global Space (Espace Mondial): It is a international relation class and the professor is absolutely HILARIOUS. He speaks very loudly and passionately when he talks about all kinds of dry theories, statistics, and graphs. In one class, a student left in the middle of the class and he asked the student in front of everyone:”Did I speak too loud? Did I scare you away?” Anyways, this IR class is very unconventional — it makes us rethink different fields of IR instead of studying the actual contents. It is not my favorite class but I love the professor a lot.

Political History of France From 1880 to Today (La France: Une Nation Politique): As a history major, I found the class so interesting. I love the complexity of the French political history — it is enjoyable for me to read about how the republicans, monarchists, and others fight against each other all the time. It really helps me understand the contemporary French culture and politics, and more importantly, be a more professional tourist in Paris.

History of French Elites From 1815 to Today (Les élites en France de 1815 à nos jours): This class sounds like Sciences Po right? A bunch of “elites” studying the history of elites. (Please note the quotation marks). We learn about things like the history of the French elites schools (Grands Ecoles) and the behind-the-scene stories of the French administration. This is absolutely my favorite class although the prof speaks too quickly and I had a hard time understanding. However, the prof is an AMAZING lecturer (he has a whole page on wikipedia) so it worths all the hard work.

History of France and Europe (France-Europe 1950 à nos jours: chronique d’un divorce annoncé?): This is basically the history of the relation between France and Europe in the past 60 years. The more I learn about the history of the construction of European Union, the more I get very interested in such a model of regionalism. This class goes well with my two other history classes as well as my IR class. I am going to do my first exposé for this class next week so I am a bit nervous, but fortunately I have a super nice French partner.

So that’s all about my classes. And here come some of my observations of the French system (or rather, Sciences Po system) after the first two weeks of classes. First, Sciences Po is VERY international — they claim to have 40% of international kids but I feel that there are more. Second, in Sciences Po we have to fight for something called exposés, in other words, oral presentations. Every week in the small seminars, we have two or more topics of oral presentation and students have to “fight” for the ones they want! Third, a more general observation, standing in line is an essential part of the French culture. I stood in line for an hour in order to get my Sciences Po student ID card. I stood in line for 20 mins just in order to talk to the salesman of the telephone store. I stood in line for 5 hours to get into Sarkozy’s office . Moreover, do not expect the administrators/assistants/waiters/salesmen to look at you before they finish what they are doing. In France, what we need is PATIENCE, and more patience.

That’s all for this week. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to everyone and to myself!

Are French all “revolutionaries”? Observations of My First French Strike

What comes into your mind at the first place when you think of France and the French? Wine, cheese, fashion, and perhaps, strikes. Although France only ranks #10 worldwide in terms of number of strikes (see http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/lab_str-labor-strikes), for better or worse, people often associate this country with “strikes” and “revolution” perhaps ever since 1789. On September 7, I went to my first French strike ever with other students from Sciences Po. I can’t say that I understand everything by simply going to one single strike, but I did get the chance to hear the opinions from different French people around me.

Some background information before I go into my experience. The main reason for this huge national strike is that the Sarkozy government is trying to introduce pension bills that will raise retirement age from 60 to 62. Under current rules, both men and women in France can retire at 60, providing that they have paid social security contributions for 40.5 years. The government argues that without such a pension reform, France will face a funding shortfall of between 72 billion and 115 billion euros by 2050 (BBC statistics). However, different unions in France reacted strongly against the bill. They have already organized a large strike on June 24. This time, more than 1 million people participated in the strike and protests all over in France on September 7, 2010.

To start with, I just want to clarify that I went to the strike just to observe and experience a French strike and that I do not associate myself with any political parties. As I was trying to know more about student organizations in the past week, I ran into the UNEF’s information desk (UNEF: Union Nationale des étudiants de France, i.e. National Union of students in France). They explained to me that UNEF Sciences Po was going to organize Sciences Po students to participate in the protests on Tuesday (it is “manif” in French). Out of curiosity, I decided to join them on Tuesday.

The strike day started calmly. Because of the minimum service law, most of the transportation in Paris still functioned but much less frequently than usual. For example, on a normal day, it only takes 2-5 minutes to wait for a train, while it requires more than 20 minutes on a strike day. Of course, because there are fewer trains, every single train was heavily congested. Interestingly, I had a very interesting conversation with the staff members at the Center for Asia of Sciences Po before I joined other Sciences students. When I told the lady that I was going to the strike, she thought that it is horrible that the French image is always associated with “revolution” and strikes become a touristy experience.

The students met at 12:30pm at Sciences Po. The “peniche” Sciences Po (which is the main hallway) was full of people. For me, it was very interesting to see the Jeune Populaire, a youth version of UMP (the political party of Sarkozy), sitting right next to the information desk from UNEF. That’s partially why I like about Sciences Po — it is not overwhelmingly “right” or “left” and I got to see the opinions from different political parties and organizations. However, as I was waiting for everyone to go, I was very nervous because I knew no one there. Luckily, I ran into a girl called Agat, who kindly answered my questions about the strike and UNEF. The crowd started to get bigger and bigger. Everyone was talking and laughing while waiting to set off — if I did not know that we were going on strike, I could probably have thought that people were waiting for a spring break trip.

The way from Sciences Po to the starting point of the strike was long. We had to walk and then take the metro to the station République. When we eventually got there, the first things I saw were the huge balloons with different names of unions in the sky. Our Sciences Po group soon found the other UNEF supporters, and then started the TWO-HOUR waiting. It was LONG. When we were waiting for the march, the leaders of the UNEF led us to shout out slogans and to sing protest songs. My favorite is the song “Dans les rues parisiennes” (In the Parisian streets). The English translation is this: In the Parisian streets/students sing/We like pensions and we will protect it/If  Sarkozy messes it up, we will mobilize ourselves!” My French friend told me that French protests are always accompanied with music — either singing protests songs or marching and dancing with music. Of course, since it was a protest, there were also a lot of chantings as well. I was quite impressed that the leaders of UNEF were trying to get students to chant for 2 hours while they were waiting, although I am not convinced how powerful or convincing it was.

We eventually started to march a little bit after three o’clock. Enfin! (It means “at last” in French and French people use it a lot.) The route of the march started at République, went past Bastille, and reached Nation. On the streets, the only thing I saw was the crowd. Because there were so many people, the crowd had to move so slowly and then stop from time to time. Along the two sides of the street, there were posters and info desks of many different political parties and unions. All a sudden, I felt like walking in a museum of French politics (well, mainly the Leftists). Because the protest was too long, I decided to stop at Bastille. At least, as a big fan of the French Revolution, I saw French people storm Bastille in a modern context. My first time strike experience ended with the song Viva La Vida by Coldplay playing again and again in my head. I just need to smile less and look more revolutionary next time I take a picture in front of the crowd and Bastille.

Recently a few French media like Le Monde have pointed out the increasing polarization of French society, especially under the recent tensions over Bettoncourt Scandal, the Roma expulsion, etc. However, in my opinion, French society, or at least French politics, is much less “polarized” compared with that of the U.S. The fact that the French political system is NOT bipartisan makes the whole situation so much more diverse. For example, in the strikes, I saw the campaigns by many different parties and organizations: the Socialist Party, the Communist Parties, different unions, etc. But I have also met many French people — such as my host mom– who disagreed with strikes but associate themselves with different levels of “rightness”. In my modern French political history class, the professor argued that the political history of modern France is characterized with its instability and variation. Yes, generally speaking, there are “the Left” and “the Right”, but such a division does not provide enough clarification of the French politics. Similarly, although “revolution” has a huge influence on French culture, there are more to say about this people and this country.

Week 1 in Paris: Ups and Downs but “Tout va bien”

Congratulations to myself on finishing the first week in Paris! I think I deserve a loud round of applaud. It feels as if I have been here for more than a century, because I have gone through so much emotionally and physically. But at the same time, it feels like a second because time went by quickly. Ah, Paris, the city of light.

To start with, I have to admit, it is a really hard week. I got to Paris on Friday, had a relatively relaxing weekend, then started my orientation at Sciences Po on Monday. The following days were consisted of intense classes: Tuesday and Thursday 8 hours, Wednesday 6 hours, Friday and Saturday 4 hours of class and 4 hours of preparing for paper and presentation. Everything was in French and I have to focus 200% in order to understand as much as possible. But now matter how hard I try, my French still sucks. Anyways, the conclusion of the usage of the Sciences Po orientation: it reminds you that summer was over…

However, the real difficulty to deal with this week is loneliness. I used to think I am a very independent person, but now I truly feel that being at Grinnell for two years has changed my personality in the way that I did not notice. I have become so emotionally and physically dependent on friends and on a close community. Although I met some cool people at Sciences Po, I have to admit that it is a different feeling than being with people that you know for a long time in an environment . And it is also difficult to live alone and study alone as well — Paris is spread out and it is hard to get connected. Moreover, though I want to find French friends or friends that I can speak French with, it is hard for me to express myself fluently. Don’t get me wrong–I did expect all these difficulties before I came to Paris. But honestly, when I actually experience them, it is still quite overwhelming.

OK, no more negative notes. Il faut toujours sourire. (We should always smile.) No matter how many difficulties I am facing, I shall trust myself that everything will be alright and always look at them from a positive light. So now let’s talk about good things in this week. First of all, I did improve my French A LOT in a week. At the beginning of the week, I could understand almost nothing and was nervous ALL THE TIME. But right now, I can understand quite well and express myself in daily interactions. I can sometimes think in French. My “exposé” (essay in French) even got good comments from my professor! Yes, it is going to be even more difficult as classes will start soon. But I know that I will make progress eventually and “get” the language. I know I will.

Second of all, as always, I was a professional tourist and explorer. On Sunday, Sylvia and I went to the Eiffel Tower when the wind was blowing hard with occasional rain. Someone should have told us to bring a coat. What would a professional tourist like me do on the top of Eiffel Tower (while being tired, hungry, and cold)? Writing my name down to prove that I have been here!

OK, I have to admit that Eiffel Tower is cool but not as cool as following: a Michael Jackson concert right next to the Eiffel Tower organized by the French fans of Michael Jackson!! There was a performer that acted EXACTLY like MJ — to the extent that you can’t even imagine. A group of kids of these fans also performed a “kawaii” version of Michael Jackson’s music and dance. Although I am not a MJ fan, I still stood there for three hours because it was so cool that people just gather together because of their mutual passion. Do you think they did a good job?

Besides the super touristy Sunday, thanks to Sciences Po, I also did some cool things like having my first Parisian party on the Seine, doing the Bateau-Moche on the Seine on a lovely evening, and having a picnic in a park outside of Paris. I have also met some very cool people from my class. I have to say that students at Sciences Po are very smart and motivated. In our language class, my European classmates just randomly started talking about policies in different countries and I was so impressed by their knowledge of not only their country, but also Europe, and the world. As all my classes are about France and Europe, I hope they will give me interesting insights of this part of the world. Above all, I hope that this coming year will also help me figure out what I really want to do both in a short term and in a long term, as well as where I would like to be. Stay happy, stay healthy; stay hungry, stay foolish. Here I am, Sciences Po, Paris, and Europe.

A Summer Adventure of a Chinese Girl in a Jewish Synagogue

(Note: This essay is the final reflection essay at MAES for Grinnellink.)

~Learning Jewish Culture from Scratch~

When I started my internship at Eldridge in the beginning of summer 2010, I knew nothing about Judaism and Jewish culture. When I went on my first tour, I did not even know what a Torah is! Just as many people find Chinese culture exotic and sometimes difficult to comprehend, I had no clue about all the Hebrew and Yiddish words and objects. Growing up in an environment with almost no cultural encounters with Jews and Jewish culture, I found very little background knowledge that I could refer to in my brain as I struggled to absorb all the information at the beginning of the summer. For example, although many people tried to explain to me who may look more “Jewish” than others, I still could not tell who is who. I got extremely confused of what “being Jewish” actually means – is it an ethnicity, a culture, a religion, or simply a constructed identity? I soon figured that this question is actually a big continuing philosophical debate. As I interacted with more and more wonderful and open-minded Jewish people, I learned the most important cultural lesson of the summer: “being Jewish” means differently for different individuals. This is perhaps why I think my summer at MAES really opened a brand-new world for me: before this summer, the word “Jewish” means nothing but the word itself, Israel, and perhaps the big black hat. Understanding the diversity within Jewish culture and the Jewish community was my first step to explore “the Jewish world.”

I remember that Nina, my walking tour supervisor, joked that MAES would turn me Jewish by the end of the summer. Even though I am still quite far from that goal, I am sometimes surprised by how much I have learned about Jewish culture in the past two months. I learned that black hat is not the only physical symbol of Jewish belief. I learned that September is usually the busiest and the most exciting month because of all the Jewish holidays. I learned to sing along with the Hebrew songs at a service and to greet with “Shabbat Shalom” afterwards. All of these small pieces of knowledge came from my daily interactions with the staff members and visitors at MAES. I did not realize how much I learned in two months until my former English teacher, Eric, commented on the tour that I gave to him. He said, “You must have learned many new English words in the past two months! Now you know words like congregation and bimah so well and say them without a pause.”

~ Excitement at MAES~

I always felt like a kid at MAES. Since I started with little knowledge about Judaism and Jewish culture, I learned something new in every single day, or more accurately, in every single tour. Each tour that I gave was different, because time, space, and visitors always added in variations to make each tour unique. For example, on one tour a nice young gentleman told me that Eastern European Jews lived in shtetl and recommended me a book called A Bintel Brief, which collected letters written to the editor of the Jewish Daily Forward. On another tour, a Jewish couple from Tennessee tried to explain to me their Jewish life in “the deep South” of the United States. At the beginning of the summer, I was very worried about whether visitors would judge me because I knew little about Jewish culture. However, during my two months at MAES, NO ONE ever judged my ignorance or laughed at my mistakes. Sometimes visitors were so nice to me that I felt really touched and accomplished. After the second French tour that I gave, an old French couple from Paris, who enjoyed my tour, gave me their address and asked me to contact them when I study abroad in Paris this coming year. “We know that Paris is difficult if you come here for the first time. Give us a call and we will take you for a walk and show you around,” said the old lady in French. My experience with visitors was a true serendipity. I just let my visitors to surprise me, and they rarely let me down.

Over the summer, I also worked on different projects with various staff members. For example, on Monday and Tuesday, I worked with Eva, Vice President of Development, on fundraising management. I learned a lot from Eva about the business and management aspects of the museum. I also spent some time at the museum gift shop with Sarah and Sharon, and observed the way they organized the gift shop. Just like the founders of the synagogue, all the museum staff members are still trying very hard to make the museum more financially sustainable. While the founders used all sorts of methods to attract members, today the staff members at MAES strive to create various programs and initiatives to attract visitors and donors. For example, during the staff retreat in late June, I witnessed the passion and devotion of the staff members for the museum. It is their determination to make MAES better every day that keeps it moving forward. Before my internship this summer, I used to consider only the exhibits and programs whenever I thought of museums. After working at Eldridge this summer, now I pay attention to many small details that I never noticed before, such as the design of membership and corporate partnership programs, the public programs that target different age groups, and the small techniques used by educators in tours to engage audience. Working at MAES enhanced my understanding of museums – non-profit organizations that strive to preserve and promote heritage of all kinds. It is not simply about an old building or a bunch of ancient artifacts. It is an ongoing dialogue between the past, the present, and the future.

~My Lower East Side~

Another project that I worked on was the walking tours of the Lower East Side, with my supervisor Nina, who gave seven different wonderful walking tours of the neighborhood. Now I walk around in Chinatown, I see much more than the signs of different Chinese restaurants (I have to confess that I used to come to Chinatown just for food!) I notice the word “Jarmulowsky” on the wall of the Jarmulowsky’s Bank. I notice the Star of David on the decorative tenement façade. I notice the kids from different ethnic backgrounds playing and laughing in Seward Park, the first free public playground built in the country. I notice the historical Pike Street Synagogue, which is now turned to a Buddhist temple. I notice the busts of Marx and Engel on the entrance of the Forward building, which used to be the head quarter for a socialist newspaper but is now a capitalist luxurious building. I always wonder how Marx and Engel will feel about it. For me, the Lower East Side is no longer confined to Chinatown. It is Jewish. It is Italian. It is Irish. It belongs to the generations of immigrants and the different cultures that they create.

Working in the Lower East Side, my favorite neighborhood of New York City, made me ponder the dynamic of cross-cultural exchange: first and most importantly, the exchange between the Chinese and Jewish people in the Lower East Side. As Hanna Griff, the Director of Cultural Program suggests, the Egg Rolls and Egg Creams Festival is definitely one of those perfect “New York moments” that capture the highlight of cross-cultural experience. Without sitting down and playing mah-jongg next to each other, these Chinese and Jewish visitors would probably never have known how similar the two versions of mah-jongg are. The only main difference is that the American Jewish version has a rules-card that is updated every year, while Chinese people remember a certain set of rules in their brains. For me as a Chinese intern at a Jewish cultural museum, such cross-cultural exchange was magnified. One of my proudest achievements over the summer was to create English vocabulary signs with Chinese translation for ESL kids. Most of them just arrived from China in the past year and knew very little about English. However, with the help of the signs and the enthusiastic tours given by wonderful staff members and docents like Miriam and Cindy, these kids were able to appreciate the space of a Jewish synagogue and to become interested in such a different culture. I believe that there is a powerful magnetic force among different cultures. And the MAES is the best proof of the rich cultural exchange of the Lower East Side.

~My Way Forward~

I did not realize how much a summer at MAES changed my perspective of the world and my understanding of myself until I got back home in Guangzhou (Canton), China. I became more interested in the museum industry, which I did not pay enough attention before. I visited many small museums and historical landmarks, and pondered the difference between the museum industry in Guangzhou and that in New York City. Moreover, I have become very concerned with the situation of cultural and historical preservation in Guangzhou. Heavily influenced by the idea of modernization and development, Guangzhou is facing a dilemma of whether and how to preserve historical and cultural sites. Working at MAES gave me many practical insights to advocate for historical and cultural preservation of my hometown, a city with more than two-thousand years of history. I have come to realize that no matter what I do as a career in the future, I will always be the most faithful advocate for culture and history. I truly thank MAES for teaching me such an important lesson and helping me find my passion of life.

I also want to give a special thank to Bonnie Dimun, the Executive Director of the museum, and Amy Milford, the Deputy Director. Although I did not work directly with them, I learned a lot about leadership from these two wonderful people. I learned from Bonnie how to protect those whom we love and say “no” to things and people that are disrespectful. I also learned from Amy’s sense of humor and her curiosity about everything. Like Bonnie and Amy, everyone at Eldridge Street is so friendly that sometimes I feel like living in the bubble of Eldridge. Moreover, I can’t express how much I love working and hanging out with all my fellow interns: Claire, Hannah, Laura, Molly, and Kessia. We shared the same passion for MAES, which has become the bond of our life-long friendship.

I often ponder on a quote from Dr. Annie Polland’s book Landmark of the Spirit: “Do stones speak? They do on Eldridge Street…” For me, if the stones of MAES could speak, they would tell the best summer adventure story of understanding, passion, and remembrance.

For Now

How time flies! I only have less than two weeks left in New York City. The past few weeks have been insane (in a good way) so I never found time to update my blog. Here is the brief quantitative analysis of the past three weeks:

12 different ethnic cuisines (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Indian, Arabic, French, Jewish, Czech, Ethiopian, Italian, American…thanks for Grinnell’s generous sponsor!)

5 plays (Race, Our Town, Too Much Lights Make Babies Go Blind, Avenue Q, In the Heights)

3 concerts (NY Philharmonic, Barge Music *3)

1 Yankee baseball game (but unfortunately it sucked…)

I LOVE all the shows and concerts (and even the boring Yankee game, for its unique experience)! If I have to choose my favorites, they would be Avenue Q and Barge Music. Avenue Q is the most hilarious musical I have ever seen. For those of you who do not know about this musical, it is like a “dirty” and realistic version of Sesame Street. However, it perfectly expresses, and at the same time, transforms my attitude towards life. The story starts with a song with everyone on Avenue Q singing It Sucks To Be Me. They complain about life together while laughing, singing, and dancing. This scene reminds me of life at Grinnell. I love to complain about papers, classes, and weather, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t love Grinnell. Complaining is just another form of confronting. In the end of the play, the same melody repeats with new lyrics: For Now. Even though things suck from time to time in real life, we should always remember that everything in life lasts just for now so we should look at bad things from a positive light. Here are some parts of the lyrics:

Everyone’s a little bit unsatisfied.
Everyone goes ’round a little empty inside.
Take a breath,
Look around,
Swallow your pride,
For now…
For now…

Nothing lasts,
Life goes on,
Full of surprises.
You’ll be faced with problems of all shapes and sizes.
You’re going to have to make a few compromises…
For now…
For now…
………
For now we’re healthy.
For now we’re employed.
For now we’re happy…
If not overjoyed.

And we’ll accept the things we cannot avoid, for now…
…..

Only for now! (Sex!)
Is only for now! (Your hair!)
Is only for now! (BP!)
Is only for now!

Don’t stress,
Relax,
Let life roll off your backs
Except for death and paying taxes,
Everything in life is only for now!

Each time you smile…
…Only for now
It’ll only last a while.

Life may be scary……
Only for now
But it’s only temporary

Everything in life is only for now.

I guess, my joy and sorrow in NYC, are all only for now.