SNOW!

I never thought I'd see the day when I'd wake up one morning, see snow falling outside, and just groan. But the day came, earlier this week. I'm still technically on Spring Break, so I really don't have much to report besides snow and just general yuckiness. Next week, I'll start student teaching about 7 hours/week with a brand new group of students. It's very exciting, but I haven't actually started yet, so there's nothing really to report. Most of my French friends have been abuzz with all this Pope stuff, but honestly I don't really care that much. I think it's great that they chose a Latin American one (as I understand it, it's the first time that's happened), but since I don't really look to the Pope for spiritual guidance, I haven't been paying close attention.
First up, the snow. Normally, I'm a huge fan of snow. Growing up in North Texas, we just don't see much of it, so when we do get some it's a huge treat. I'm the kid who went to bed the night before her birthday (which is in January) and prayed for snow, so we could have the day off of school. When you live in North Texas, if the snow sticks to the ground and makes a pretty consistent blanket, you're pretty much guaranteed a snow day, even if there's only an inch on the ground. This is all my way of saying I love snow, and the cold, and generally not one to complain about it. This past Tuesday, though, all that went out the window. Firstly because last weekend we had a few days when we could venture outdoors without a winter coat, open up the windows to air out the rooms without having to close them up against the cold immediately afterward. I thought, for a day or so there that maybe I could put my big winter coat away for good, maybe even ship it back home so I wouldn't have to worry about fitting it into my suitcase in a couple of months. But alas, it was not to be. I was also not a fan of the snow this time around because it happened to snow on a day when I had a lot of stuff to do. Snow just does not facilitate errand-running. It's a fact of life.

So on Tuesday, I bundled myself up and ventured out into the snow. I live in a pretty quiet area of Paris, in the 16th arrondissement where there's not a lot of car or foot traffic. So when I left the apartment and headed to the metro stop (which happens to be about fifty feet from my apartment), I ended up having to walk through a lot of accumulated snow. The train was late and I was basically soaked up to my knees. Not a great start to the day. When I emerged from the metro a half-hour later down in the 6th, the snow was falling pretty hard and fast. I hadn't been out in snow like this since the Great Snowpocalypse of 2008. That was a good one. Two weeks after I got my driver's license, we got hit with basically the worst snowstorm in Texan history. I remember having to call my Dad to come drive me home because I was not driving that truck of mine home in that weather. Then we got stuck at the bottom of the driveway at home and had to basically wade through about 12 or 14 inches of snow up to the house (our driveway is about 1/3 of a mile long, a large portion of it uphill, so this was a pretty big deal). Here in Paris this week, there wasn't quite that much snow, but the fact that I had to be out and about in it with it falling hard and fast for most of the day without much transportation made me really hate the snow this time around. I think we got about 6 or 8 inches total, snowing on and off throughout the day. I didn't get any pictures because I didn't have my camera with me, but I'm sure you can look on some of the French news websites and find some good pictures if you're interested.

The one good thing that did come out of all that snow was that I finally got to see Lincoln, which I've been dying to see for ages. I had a few hours without anything to do, but it wasn't worth going all the way home with all the public transit issues due to the snow, because I'd just have to turn around and come back pretty soon. So I went to the movies both to warm up and kill some time. I gotta say, that movie was awesome. Those of you who saw it in the States, I have a question; just something that occurred to me while I was watching it here. I watched the Original Version, meaning it was in English with French subtitles. Right at the beginning, there was a little context paragraph or so, explaining (in French, of course) the events and causes leading up to the Civil War in 19th century America. To me, it seemed to be a little more detailed than what I'd expect from a movie about one of the most devastating events in American history. It seemed like it was more for the international audience than those of us who have had the events of that bloody war drilled into our heads since we were about ten years old. So did any of you see it in the States? Do you remember if there was a lot of expository text at the beginning? I was just curious.

I went to see the film with my host mother. I loved the movie itself, but what I loved even more than that was the really interesting discussion I had with my host Mom after the movie. She teased me a little for being a history geek... In one of those first scenes, when those over-eager young Union soldiers recite the Gettysburg Address to Lincoln himself, I started saying it along with them, without really noticing. I can't help it; it's like those helping verbs my Mom drilled into my brain when I was a kid... I hear "am is are..." and I immediately jump in with "was were be being been has have had do does shall will should would may might must can could." I'm a grammar freak, I know. But the same goes for those opening lines of the Gettysburg Address; "Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation..." You guys know how that one goes. Part of it has to do with having to memorize it in the 8th grade, but I think there's also a part of me that likes what that speech was all about. That last line about "government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." It's powerful stuff, and is so indicative of the American Experience. It stays with you. My point was that the movie was awesome and moving, but also thought-provoking. My host mother didn't know much about the American Civil War before, so it was incredibly informative for her. Then, of course, she took full advantage of having an American student (a history major, no less) right there to discuss the particulars of the movie with her. That was pretty great.

Well I start teaching at the new school next week, so get ready for some fun stories, I'm sure there'll be plenty coming your way soon. I'm also going down to the South of France at the end of the month, so there will definitely be a good post about that. In the meantime, let me know what you want to hear about. Is there a cultural or political concept that you want to know more about? I'm in the perfect place to do some research and tell you about France stuff. Just let me know what you want to hear about!