What can I say?
My time in Angers is almost up. We leave Friday for Paris. I feel like I'm leaving Angers prematurely...I just got used to living in this city and having the schedule I do and everything! My housemate Ashley suggested I walk around by myself sometime and just soak it all in, she had done such a few times and really enjoys it. Well, of course I took her advice. There are so many observations that have been fertilizing in my mind (ya like grapes in wine...hah). I get the impression that I'm in France during times that are changes really quickly, I know that could be said about a lot places right now...but I feel like there is a quickly widening gap between young people and old people in France. I never ever see the two generations together. Angers is very much a young city, probably because of all the universities, plus it's not a huge city. I was sitting by myself on this street that has lots of bars and restaurants the other, rather frequented rue if you will, and in the 10 mins that I was waiting for a friend, I saw 7 others. That was a great feeling because, in case you haven't picked up on it yet, I'm not in America anymore!
So yeah, it could just be that there are lots of young people in the city, and then of course some families, but I don't see a whole lot of 40 year old parent-looking folks. Not a whole lot of children. I don't know how to describe. I just really feel like there are teens and college kids, and then there are old people who think really poorly of them. The only people you see here who are visibly drunk in the streets or in the bars are high school kids and homeless people...and then all the obnoxious American kids with their digital cameras taking a billion pictures featuring the magnetic heads phenomenon my bro told me about. So so so so true! I have yet to see a SINGLE Europeen take pictures of their friends in a bar. Absolutely not in Germany, and not in Angers either. While it's easy to see that it's an annoying practice because no one else is doing it, it just makes me wonder if Americans are just jollier than the French?
There's a lot more to say. Another weird observation I've made is that there are soooo many blind people walking around Angers. Some of us think that Angers is highly handicapped-conscious. There are these brass signs embedded in the stone that the streets are made ofm which have a handicapped sign, an arrow, and "Angers Handicapped" or something. Maybe I should follow them one day. Plus my housemate Ashley learned that there's a big movement in the city to save bottlecaps, they go to a charity for the physically handicapped or something. Going back to the blind, in the 3 1/2 weeks I've been in Angers, I've seen 10 or 12 blind people. How many have you noticed in the last month?
I don't remember if I had made the comment yet that my host-father is a veteran of the war in Algeria. He spent a few days in the hospital this week with crippling pain all over his body, and no doctor can figure out why. He was on morphine for most of his stay, but it was only a little better. I can't believe it...I feel so awful for him. He's out of the hospital right now, but I dunno, I think my housemates and I are going to miss him! He's very talkative and funny.
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My housemates make fun of me because I try really hard to respond during dinner conversation. Yeah, I admit that sometimes I try too hard and say something stupid. Like that one time that my host-father was telling everyone that he's taken so many medical examinations to determine what's wrong with him, and no one really responded to him, so I was sitting there picking at my food with my fork, feeling all awkward, so I said "..........comme le BAC?" (Like the Baccalaureat? For those who don't know...it's the French equivalent of the ACT and SAT etc). LOL! Ohhh boy.
I have been having so many laughter attacks (No clue if "coup de rire" is a good translation, but no one seems to mind it). God I love dinner with my family and all my housemates. I can't keep a straight face for more than one minute straight because of all the inside jokes we have and all the fun conversations we have with our host-parents, not to mention that my housemate Laura is a really ridiculous person in general, in life, and makes me laugh sooo much. The other day she accidentally knocked over her glass of water at dinner, cleaned it up, then proceeded to do it again, on accident...Ohhh my gosh there was so much water everywhere, on the table, on the ground, dripping into my lap...After everyone tried to clean it all up, I look down and see this PUDDLE of water, right in the middle of the table. I started laughing, then I started crying I was laughing so hard, then my nose started running and I started coughing and of course couldn't do a damn thing to control my laughter, oh my gosh I was embarrassed but couldn't stop laughing! Now, everyday at dinner, when Laura asks me to pass the water, I say "doucement, Laura, doucement...." (what you said to a kid when you want him to be careful!)
Oh good stuff. I hope you all read the whole entry. I know it was long! But go for it. I miss everyone! Leave me somethin!
So yeah, it could just be that there are lots of young people in the city, and then of course some families, but I don't see a whole lot of 40 year old parent-looking folks. Not a whole lot of children. I don't know how to describe. I just really feel like there are teens and college kids, and then there are old people who think really poorly of them. The only people you see here who are visibly drunk in the streets or in the bars are high school kids and homeless people...and then all the obnoxious American kids with their digital cameras taking a billion pictures featuring the magnetic heads phenomenon my bro told me about. So so so so true! I have yet to see a SINGLE Europeen take pictures of their friends in a bar. Absolutely not in Germany, and not in Angers either. While it's easy to see that it's an annoying practice because no one else is doing it, it just makes me wonder if Americans are just jollier than the French?
There's a lot more to say. Another weird observation I've made is that there are soooo many blind people walking around Angers. Some of us think that Angers is highly handicapped-conscious. There are these brass signs embedded in the stone that the streets are made ofm which have a handicapped sign, an arrow, and "Angers Handicapped" or something. Maybe I should follow them one day. Plus my housemate Ashley learned that there's a big movement in the city to save bottlecaps, they go to a charity for the physically handicapped or something. Going back to the blind, in the 3 1/2 weeks I've been in Angers, I've seen 10 or 12 blind people. How many have you noticed in the last month?
I don't remember if I had made the comment yet that my host-father is a veteran of the war in Algeria. He spent a few days in the hospital this week with crippling pain all over his body, and no doctor can figure out why. He was on morphine for most of his stay, but it was only a little better. I can't believe it...I feel so awful for him. He's out of the hospital right now, but I dunno, I think my housemates and I are going to miss him! He's very talkative and funny.
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My housemates make fun of me because I try really hard to respond during dinner conversation. Yeah, I admit that sometimes I try too hard and say something stupid. Like that one time that my host-father was telling everyone that he's taken so many medical examinations to determine what's wrong with him, and no one really responded to him, so I was sitting there picking at my food with my fork, feeling all awkward, so I said "..........comme le BAC?" (Like the Baccalaureat? For those who don't know...it's the French equivalent of the ACT and SAT etc). LOL! Ohhh boy.
I have been having so many laughter attacks (No clue if "coup de rire" is a good translation, but no one seems to mind it). God I love dinner with my family and all my housemates. I can't keep a straight face for more than one minute straight because of all the inside jokes we have and all the fun conversations we have with our host-parents, not to mention that my housemate Laura is a really ridiculous person in general, in life, and makes me laugh sooo much. The other day she accidentally knocked over her glass of water at dinner, cleaned it up, then proceeded to do it again, on accident...Ohhh my gosh there was so much water everywhere, on the table, on the ground, dripping into my lap...After everyone tried to clean it all up, I look down and see this PUDDLE of water, right in the middle of the table. I started laughing, then I started crying I was laughing so hard, then my nose started running and I started coughing and of course couldn't do a damn thing to control my laughter, oh my gosh I was embarrassed but couldn't stop laughing! Now, everyday at dinner, when Laura asks me to pass the water, I say "doucement, Laura, doucement...." (what you said to a kid when you want him to be careful!)
Oh good stuff. I hope you all read the whole entry. I know it was long! But go for it. I miss everyone! Leave me somethin!