Tuesday, nous n'avons pas un nom pour mardi

Salut!

So the title of this says... "Tuesday, we don't have a name for Tuesday" which is a reference to when I tried to explain 'hump day' to my professor in the afternoon last wednesday... and did just didn't translate. Did I already write about that? I can't remember.

So not too much has happened since Sunday when I last updated, my blog but I did finish my essay on Sunday night (or rather Monday morning around 2am... which is an early night if I were at DPU but not here where I sleep a wonderful 7:30hours a night usually! But it is done, and I hope that I get an ok grade on it... they tend to grade harder here in France than in the USA and the grading scale is harder too... so we shall see.

But now I have a new professor in the mornings whose name is Dominque (but don't be confused he is a man... not sure why he has a girls name) and he is a professor of Sociology at a university in Paris. This is his first time teaching with IFE but he seems good, even though his had writing is illegible. Mac always used to apologize for having bad writing, but this guy is just absurd. You have to listen closely because anything he writes on the board is useless. But that is OK, it is good for my listening comprehension. Because he is a sociology prof we have spent the last two days talking about the history of a lot of the demographic issues and their origins in France. Which means we have spent a lot of time talking about the issues France faces currently in regards to immigration issues, which are also related to post-colonial issues which is exactly what I am interested in studying. We have talked about the struggles that France faces in democratizing higher education, and the issues generally of immigration in the past 30 years. A lot of the problems with immigration that France faces are similar to ones that we face in the United States. My prof said that there are only two countries in the world who have never really experienced large periods of emigration and only faced immigration: France and the USA. This is very interesting to me, since often our response in the US (until recently with the influx of Mexicans) has been to call the USA a "melting pot" of cultures blending together... where as the French response has often been to become over protective of their specifically French Culture. I am not sure what to think of this... and in my afternoon class we have been talking about the issue of the "le grand debat sur l'identite national" which has also been very interesting. I imagined this debate initiated by the president after his election in 2007 would serve to open up the discussion about the diversity in France, an how many people from many cultures have come together to live in France, and to be French to everyone means something a little different. But in fact this large debate inspired a lot of racism and hatred... which sadly didn't actually surprise me when I heard it... there is a lot of Xenophobia here... even though most of the people that the people of European decent fear are really French by 2 or 3 generations... it is really a fascinating quandary, which I have enjoyed hearing about, and am still not sure what to think about it all. And there are so many paralells to the fears that people have in the united states... It is all a lot to take in and process, but I am going to ask Anne this weekend what she thinks... maybe she can help me process some of the post-colonial stuff.

Then today, we only had class for an hour this afternoon, and we went to the Cite de l'Immigration. It was rather an interesting place. It is a museum about immigration in France for the past 200 years... but there is also an aquarium in the basement (random) and ironically it is located in a former colonial palace in the 13th arrondisment. There is no museum in Paris, or anywhere in Franc which documents colonialism... which I find to be very strange since that has been such a huge part of their history, and even this immigration museum was not very large considering the role it has played in developing France as a nation, and the place it is today. I find all of this to be rather taboo as well to ask about... I have asked all three of my profs, and they all sort of say the same thing. That colonization and it's history is a touchy subject because it is sort of a source of shame, but also a strange source of nostalgia...which I find to be even more interesting. I hope that in the 30 page paper I am going to write at some point while I am here I can incorporate some of these things and these strange cultural and societal phenomenons. I am just so pleased to be here and studying what I am studying now since it will all come together for me in the future I am sure... maybe even while I am here. I will try to work through some of these ideas here, and in my own mind as well.

But I am so excited for this weekend, and even though I don't have any new pics, when I update next I will probably have some from this weekend... anyway. Lots to think about and mull over. I like being challenged in this way...

Bizou!