Bonjour!
Well, it's time for another update. I've been spending a lot of time studying for my test, so I'm afraid I haven't been able to get out as much recently as before. However, the weather continues to be cold and cloudy, so I don't feel like I'm missing too much by waiting for a later date to see some of the sights.
I have done some interesting things, though. On Wednesday I went to a fun exhibit on Star Wars toys. I am part of a Facebook group for exchange students at the University of Paris, and one of the students, Lotte, posted that she wanted to go to this and if there was a big enough "geek" to enjoy it with her. Naturally, that meant me. The exhibit was quite interesting, though a little small. Some of the toys were from the original release of the movies, and they had some of the wax sculptures that the mold was made from and original photos used for packaging. Unfortunately I didn't see any "Revenge of the Jedi" posters.
The student that I went with is from the Netherlands. IT was interesting seeing the difference in our interested with respect to the toys. I was more interested in the stuff from the original trilogy, because that was what I was brought up with, and by the time the prequel trilogy came out, I think I was too old to enjoy it as much as others. Lotte, on the other hand, is younger than I am, and was more interested in the prequel movies. Her favorite Star Wars film is actually Episode I. I managed not to snark at that and we had a pleasant time.
She shared some interesting European perspectives with me. She's a history student, and at one point she asked me at what point I though the United States started influencing Europe more than Europe influenced the United States. This question surprised me, as I hadn't thought that the US was currently that culturally influential in Europe. Lotte said that even though many Europeans don't like to admit it, they copy the United States in a lot of aspects. The largest one that she mentioned was the creation of the European Union! I suppose that before, I had noticed that the EU was similar to the US, but Lotte suggested that if it wasn't for the United States, the EU would never hasve existed. I would not have expected a statement like this, but I'm sure that she's right. Getting back to the question of when such a transition occurred, I could only think about when Europe sopped being a large influence on the United States, as I don't know aenough about European history to draw any conclusions there. I suggested that the US started becoming "independent" of Europe after the Civil War. After that war, the US was more solidified and had more of a sense of national identity. Lotte said she estimated the transition time at around World War I, mostly because, as she put it, "We [Europe] got saved." It was surprising to hear that from the mouth of a European, but there it is.
Thursday night I went to a small party organised by the babysitting/English tutoring company that my friend Shelley from Arkansas works for. They had wine and cheese, which was fun, though they didn't ahve any labels indicating what type each cheese was, so I don't think I've been educated much in that department. There were some interesting people there. I met one Spanish student who is currently working on a film festival that's going to be held here in Paris at the end of March. It looks like fun, and I'm going to try to go to it. She also invited me to a sort of preparation party the organizers are having in a couple weeks, so I'm planning on going to that as well.
A few weeks ago I posted a craigslist ad offering math tutoring services (in English). I finally got someone who actually seems like they're going to hire me. We had our first meeting today. There are actually two students that I'll be working with, doing both general tutoring and preparation for a particular exam they will be taking in May. I'm so blessed to have contacted them, since if everything goes as planned, the tutoring will essentially pay my rent for a few months. This will ease some financial tightness that I've been experiencing for a few weeks. God is good.
This Sunday, Shelley's friend who is studying in the North of France is coming down for a weekend. As it's the first Sunday of the month, all the museums are free, so we'll be heading to the Louvre. This will be my second trip there and their first. It should be a lot of fun. Hopefully I'll be able to take some more pictures and post them.
As always, let me know if there's something specific you would like to hear about.
A bientot!
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