Day 23: Asterix and the Queen of the Theatre

23 septembre 2009 (Day 23)
Well, I woke up and did yoga this morning, got ready for the day, and then went and got frustrated at the library. I had some assignments to print off, and needless to say, the French aren’t very organized. I kept on getting sent back upstairs and then downstairs. Luckily, a nice student helped me since the lady at the desk wouldn’t help me. Long story short, you have to go to the library to get a bar code on your student card (ghetto I know- the student card you stick your own little photo on). You have to have a separate card for copies (which is more advanced than the student card- sad). They are in the stone age here. I also went to the Pole Etudiant (student center) to have my student password changed. I am so glad that Utah State has technology and common sense, as well as a library that is open. The university library is open from 9am-7:30pm on weekdays. I guess the French aren’t too into studying.
In French culture we talked about a popular comic in France, Asterix. Asterix la bede (or bande dessinee or comic strip) began in 1959 by Gosscinny and Reservo. Asterix is a comic about the Gauls and has been translated into over 100 languages. Mme Rialland spent a lot of time explaining the “second level” comprehension of the comic. There is a lot of adult humor, that is to say lots of francophone jokes in regards to people and history that only people who know will get. We also got into a raving argument about the French and bathing. The Latinos are completely flummoxed that the French take warm showers, and only one per day. They think that showers should be giant, long, and cold. My teacher called them gaspillers (wasters) but I don’t think they caught it. I found it amusing though.
Mme Rialland also informed me of a terrible rumor. Well, it isn’t really terrible, but when she was calling roll she said (in French of course), “Ah, Mari. The Queen of the Theatre from what I hear.” I was really embarrassed. I have no idea where she heard that from.
I had some really good raspberry and lemon mousse at the Rubis today. I also had chicken…ahh, so nice to have normal meat. They don’t seem to have lots of pasta at the RU, I’m surprised. The chocolate soy milk is REALLY sugary here and they don’t add calcium to it. I had a lovely break on the grass under the shade of an oak tree, reading the great works of J.K. Rowling, trying to mute the sound of me laughing at the French girls studying English (“No, it is a fat boy!”). The weather here right now is perfect, high 70s, sunny, slight breeze.
We didn’t get much done in writing class today. Mme Cherafoui ended up going on lots of tangents about the difficulties of studying a foreign language and such. When we were on task, we went over what a “compte rendu” is. For all you Anglophones, a compte rendu is a report/review/write-up of something that you have read.
Sam just came and stole my pots. Borrowed would be a better term. He was going through pot withdrawals he said.