The American Dream

Oh the American Dream, it’s really something we all take for granted in the states. You can be a senior in college or a 40 year old and not know what you want to do with your life and still you are able to raise through the ranks with some basic skills and complete that dream. Here in Europe and especially France that is not the case. You pretty much decide what you want to do with your life when you are applying to the universities and the Grand Ecoles or US News and World Report Top 20 colleges in France. If you go to a Grand Ecole you are set and even some of them have direct courses into ministerial positions in the French government. If you want to go to these schools, you have to first take the BAC which is their national test covering three different topics: Science, Literature, and Economics. Now this is maybe 2 or 3x harder than the SAT and if you don’t pass which 20% don’t, you pretty much are screwed even more so if you can’t pass it a second or third time.. Based on your grades from high school you can be invited or denied from taking the science which is considered the hardest and best. If you are smart in France and hate the sciences you take them anyway so that you get the recognition for being smart and then can later move into another program or area of study once applying to these Grand Ecoles. A good science score is like getting a 1600 on my generation’s SAT and A+ GPA and if you get it you can go directly to a grand Ecole. If you get a decent score but not good enough you have take whatever school’s entrance exam you are interested in. For Sciences Po which is considered the best politics school in the world, 5-10% get in. That’s the caliber kids that are with us on the program… This entrance exam usually requires a year or two of Prep which is extensive training in whatever subjects the school requires. And people don’t pass the Prep. So you have to get a good score on the Bac, then do well in the Prep, then take the entrance exam and do well…..The reward is getting to go to an amazing school for FREE and having a prestigious job when you graduate. Talk about nerves and stress, no wonder they party so hard. If you are bad test taker, you have no chance of showing your true potential. So yeah we American students have it easy, well but then again the American university system is the best in the world but this is just a contrast. Getting back to the American Dream, that is where I went for dinner last night…haha didn’t think I could do that could you. We had just got back from our beautiful trip in Normandy and wanted to watch the France/Italy soccer match so I and two other friends walked around the opera district where we were dropped off and found this American bar. Now apparently it had a club above and around where we were eating. We were honestly eating our American cuisine and watching the game on flat screens as periodic almost naked women would walk by to enter a room where a bunch of screaming men were licking their chops. So yeah it was an enlightening and radiant experience. One note about the menu: it was 5 pages filled of all poor quality cliché American dishes that actually made me ashamed of American cuisine. You have all of these French dishes that are healthy, beautiful to look at, and tastes like heaven and then you have Chicken burgers, nachos, chicken fingers, and pizza. Granted it was the first time all week that I have had a big portion. Onto the weekend. The first day we stopped in Caen where there is a WWII and Cold War memorial along with a museum comparable to the Holocaust museum. Watched a movie on D-Day, disappointing, parts of Saving Pvt.Ryan would have been more interesting. Point D’Hoc and Omaha Beach was moving. As shown in the pictures above, Point D’Hoc is made up of cliffs that 200 or so US Army Rangers had to climb medieval style with grappling hooks in order to subdue artillery placements that were putting naval vessels under fire. There actually is a seen in The Longest Day with the Duke that portrays that little known fact of history. Anyway yeah lots of bunkers and other field gun emplacements that actually reminded me of camera angles shot in other Normandy movies, maybe these used those same emplacements. The American and German Cemeteries were sad and yes I cried at the American Cemetery as they played Taps for the taking down of the American Flag that flies over the cemetery, which another fact, is actually US territory. Tried to order an alcoholic beverage at the café, but couldn’t. That part of history is inaccurate, but this is: many of the defenders of Normandy were Poles and other Eastern European captives who were sent over from the Eastern front. Sad. We stayed the night in Caen where we went out at night to the bars so that we could watch the France – Argentina Rugby match which France sadly lost by a (touchdown). First time watching that sport and loved it. It’s American Football with a touch of wrestling and best of all no pads. The next morning I had my first buffet in France and it was at the hotel for breakfast. That morning we left for Honfleur a small port town in Normandy, which also shown above, and proceeded to have lunch and shop around there. Me and about 10 others decided to have lunch on the port. Later that day, we went to Deauville where there was a non-nude beach and a pretty town, which was hosting the American film festival. Does anybody in the States know what that is? If we wanted to we could have probably waited all day to see Ben Stiller or something. Hmm yeah not worth it. Beach was fun but windy, typical Normandy, and I went a bit in the water without a swimsuit….I was wearing rolled up pants so it wasn’t bad. Over the course of the two days I managed to try three specialties of Normandy: Hard apple cider, Camembert cheese, and Gallestrie (a type of crepe reminiscent of a Swedish pancake, but with ham and cheese wrapped inside.) I think this is getting too long so ciao from Paris. Look forward to a rant of US/France relations which I was going to do, but obviously brevity is the soul of wit.

McDonalds

I am going to note that I am now in McDonalds by the Sorbonne. Just got back from a brewery where I had a sweet but dark beer on local tap. A taste of the UK in France…Anyway enough about my alcoholic ways. Here are some little observations on French life: Some things that I found really interesting was that every time you enter a French store or restaurant you are greeted with a Bonjour. This is a necessity. If you do not reciprocate then you will probably get a weird look and terrible service to follow. Also when you leave you must say au revoir because for many people their stores are extensions of their houses and to not acknowledge the patron before leaving is considered very offensive. Other things that I found interesting and that I have read about are the different notions of what is private and public. Yesterday while enjoying a half-pint of 1664 I noticed a couple just stop in the middle of a street and while they were waiting for the cars to pass would just make out in pure view. We have public affection in America as well, but not as bad also I saw on a bridge on the Seine where as a couple was sitting in a position where one was straddling the other…Bizarre…to do this in public. Anyway perfect strangers will invite you to their house for dinner, wine and what not and can go the whole night without asking your name. When Americans meet people we usually get the name and occupation out of the way immediately. It is not the same with the French and to ask for one’s occupation is considered impolite. With alcohol in public, it is allowed unlike in most states in US but it is severely looked down upon because only the homeless are the ones who have open bottles. It is obviously perfectly normal to enjoy a beverage while sitting in an outside café, but once you get up from sitting down from the meal and you still drink, you are an alcoholic. Most of the French’s drinking is done in the home during the meals. So far I have not had a dinner without at least wine. In Paris which is considered the northern part of France, they drink both beer and wine whereas in the South/Italy is purely wine. I guess the close proximity of Britain has that effect on the North. The World Cup of Rugby is going on in Paris so they are actually constructing and renovating all of the bars in the districts close to Sciences Po. Not that they don’t have them a few steps from where my apartment is, it just would be nice to go to an Irish or English pub and speak English after using French all day. I actually have been waking up in the morning speaking French to myself. Tonight the girl who will be sharing the apartment is arriving and she doesn’t speak a word of French so to play a joke on her I am not going to speak any English until a random time. She actually is from Chicago so I am sure she will feel a lot more comfortable. All of my classes went well this week. My French class has a hilarious professor who makes fun of people but in a typical French way. Today I had a EU economics class with an Italian professor who is actually going to be the administrator for the Northwestern students. Was fun but is going to be consisting of mainly just debates and discussions with 50 people so it will be hard. My other two classes are EU laws and policy decision making and the last is France’s role in the EU. This is for the parents: I studied last night and actually went to bed at a reasonable time. There are rules in the house so I will be well cared for. Well my battery is running out, if I haven’t contacted you yet its because there has been not much time and I don’t have access to internet on a regular basis for a few more days. Cheers, Jean-Christophe.

Rant on Food/Culture

Random pic walking down the str

I am again in an internet cafe and only 9 days before getting wireless in my apartment. Today I got a phone-card service for 2 months for the phone that got passed down to me. I received the results from the French test and got placed in the hardest level so yeah being an hour late to the test didn't matter...I took some pictures walking down the street and wanted to post them because some are funny and some are just random views from the apartment. One topic I wanted to discuss was French meals. Everybody that knows me knows that I think about two things: girls and food and both are abundant in France. The latter is taken very seriously where meals start at 8PM and last until 1115 as they did last night. It only ended because I had to do an hour's worth of reading. An aunt was visiting from Poitiers so the entire conversation was in French, which was hard but flowing. She was impressed that I knew that her town was the site of a famous French victory but the reason escaped me. She didn't hesitate to tell me that it was in her town that the French stopped the Muslim invasion from Spain in the 700s. All I can say is that Naperville was voted best place to live in America a few years back. That reminds me of one of the points in the book I read last night. The French are as industrial and modern as Americans but some of their habits and methods of culture date back to ancient times. Kids will play in parks that were once gladiatorial arenas during the Roman era. Anyway getting back to the food, everything is natural and without all of the shit we Americans have to excuse my language, but I use it because it accurately describes the processed mentality. When we talk about American cuisine, they laugh because not only is there no such thing but also if you think about it the majority of the food comes from the factory. We are attached to industry whereas the French are attached to the land. Much of what is eaten here comes from homegrown foods without growth hormones. They are proud of their food so to speak and are insulted if you eat fast or eat the wrong way. As Americans we probably say that there isn't enough time for long meals and that extra time could be used for other more productive purposes...Well being here a few days I realize that taking that extra time can really reduce stress and make life more enjoyable...especially with a glass of Bordeaux...but really it is more healthy because being stressed all day leads to a short life...And its not like France is a third-world country. Yes everything is slowed down tremendously, but they still work and are one of the top countries in the EU even though it has a fourth of the population the US has. Not to preach anything, I am just pointing out what I have observed...Bonne Soir.

"Studying" In Paris Pt. 1

Yes my plane landed, if it didn't I wouldn't be typing. Anyway I am sitting in a French cafe where they have free wireless somewhere near the Lafayette Galleries, which I take to be large shopping center. Yes I am still kind of tired from jet lag, I slept like a log for 10-11 hours last night and was actually late to my French placement exam but it was okay because they it didn't start on time and knowing the French it didn't take forever. First class was fun but didn't last long. Spent most of the day walking around exploring and trying to find an internet cafe. Probably will head back soon for dinner because it starts at 8PM sharp. I am living in a very clean and large apartment building in one of nicest residential districts in Paris... I know the hard life. I plan on studying on the balcony with a cup of red wine tonight. Oh speaking of that, yesterday I bought my first glass of beer, Carlsberg at a local pub. Having not really eaten anything yesterday and not slept, I started to feel it. Whatever had dinner that night where we had Dijon Pork Chops with a homemade Red Currant liqueur kind of like a port for appetizer. Of course with the dinner to accompany the pork we had red wine. Throughout the meal they made sure to teach me the right way to eat things including folding lettuce, learning how to cut the cheese the right way, and just basically how to eat the French civilized way. Oh yeah the Madame’s daughter who is in her twenties had dinner with us and got wasted after having one of the glasses of the port (11% alc) so we had hours of fun conversation because she spoke English, was a paramedic/nurse and is going to medical school. So I am not in bad company. Also with that there will be another American staying with my host family and evidently it’s a she so yeah again the hard life. With that I am going to hop on the metro and go to my new home. Love to all.