Les elections

Today is by far one of the most exciting days in recent memory, because in the early morning hours Strasbourg time, the United States, the best country in the world (I know a certain few of you will get a lot of satisfaction out of reading that), elected Barack Obama as its 44th president.  This fact makes today not only an exciting day, but also a historic one, because, despite the repressive and inhumane system of racial inequality and segregation that reigned de facto into the second half of the 20th century, America has just elected an African-American president.  If proof was ever needed as to how far our country has come in terms of tolerance, this would be it.  Because I can say for a fact (a fact that has been confirmed to me by several French people), that France is not nearly ready to elect a president of color, nor will it be any time in the foreseeable future.  It makes me sick to imagine the political climate in nations where it is still unacceptable (or even forbidden) for a person of racial, religious, or ethnic majority to run for high office.  So today, I am basking in the feeling of being proud to be an American- and my red, white, and blue attire proves it!

This morning, I planned on getting up at 5:15 to get to the Strasbourg Hilton by 6 for the post-election breakfast put on by the Americans in Strasbourg Society (or something to that effect).  I do remember turning my alarm off and giving myself 5 minutes to stay in bed, but before I knew it, I was waking up for a second time.  I turned on my light, put on my glasses, and said a little prayer. 6:07.  "Merde. Merde. Merde. Merde," I said under my breath as I quickly threw on my clothes, brushed my teeth, grabbed my things for class, and caught a cab.  That was the quickest I've EVER gotten ready, I suppose because I was never in the habit of falling back to sleep before I got to Strasbourg and really hate being late.

The breakfast itself was a lot of fun.  Susan, our program director, had reserved a table just for us Georgetown students, because apparently this is an invitation-only event (they turned away about 200 people!).  They had an American-style buffet breakfast, and, of course, threw in a ton of bread, so we had the choice of having things like scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes  (I tried the scrambled eggs, mostly because I love hotel eggs, but I didn't try anything else).  We got to watch Obama's acceptance speech (not live though), which was absolutely beautiful.  He has an incredible gift of rhetoric, so listening to him speak is mesmerizing.  There were several points in the speech where I was sobbing, because the speech was just so well-done and emotional.  Just as a side note, I checked the Washington Post online as I was throwing on my clothes this morning, because I didn't want to arrive at the Hilton and not know who won (although I guess it would have been sort of a neat surprise).  

After the breakfast, was over, I located the nearest tabac and bought 3 different newspapers: Le Monde  and Le Figaro, two Parisian papers; and Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, an Alsatian regional newspaper.  I was happy as a clam.  I really wanted an Obama button, which were nowhere to be found, even at the breakfast, so if anyone has any extras, you know where to send them!!!!!!  

When CNN started streaming video of the scene on Pennsylvania Avenue, I got a lump in my throat.  I wanted, so badly, to run to the White House with all of my Georgetown friends and frolic in a sea of Obamamania.  I knew a bunch of my friends were probably there, and sure enough, when I got back to my house and checked Facebook, a bunch of them had updated their statusesto say "So-and-so just ran to the White House to celebrate Obama's victory!".  I'll admit it, I was jealous.  And I know that people (and by people, I mean my parents) say, "Well, it was your decision to go abroad, and you knew the elections were going to be going on, so that's life," which annoys me to no end, because it is on days like this one that I hate France.  

Yes, you read that correctly.  Today I hated France.  I should have added "meltdown" to the title of this entry, because that's what I had today.  I think the fact that I only got 6 hours of sleep last night didn't really set the tone for a good day, and it was only exacerbated by the homesickness I felt at not being able to be in D.C., sprinting to the White House.  But the French didn't really help their case today either.  In my first class, comparative literature, I had to give an oral presentation.  Now, oral presentations (or exposés) for French students usually have to be 25-30 minutes, but my teacher said that, since I'm a foreign student, it could be however long I felt comfortable talking for, since she knew it would be hard for me.  I thought that was very understanding of her, but I was still really nervous as I headed up to the front of the room desperately clutching my notes.  Now, the class is relatively big, probably about 35 people, so that was really intimidating.  Now obviously, I speak French a lot slower and stumble a lot more than an actual French student, but there was a group of 3 girls in the back who were being completely rude, laughing into their scarves to muffle the sound and clearly being disrespectful.  I was really upset, because I had been incredibly polite during their presentations, and the least they could do was give me that.  And I can pretty much guarantee you that my French is better than their English is (based on the fact that almost no one speaks English in Strasbourg, and if they do speak it, it's VERY poorly), so I came out of that very frustrated.  The teacher said I did well, though, so that was nice to hear.

My second class was uneventful, other than passing in a paper.  The third class, though, was awful.  I have to read Aurélien, by Aragon, a 700-page surrealist monster of a book.  I got to page 500 over break, but I literally couldn't look at it any more once I got to a certain point on the train back.  So I haven't finished it yet, which I thought wasn't a big deal, because the class consists of the teacher talking to us for 2 hours-there is no class participation grade, because class participation is sort of frowned upon.  False.  It would have been better to have finished it.  Because my teacher sprang on us today that we have a 4-hour midterm on December 13th, and it is a "dissertation."  Well, obviously, once she said that, I couldn't pay attention for the rest of the class, because I was freaking out.  But I went up to her after class and asked what I needed to do for it, hoping with all of my being that she would say that I was exempt from taking it, as all of my other professors had said to me.  W-R-O-N-G.  I DO have to take it, although she said, "Oh, well, you can use your book and your French-English dictionary." Thanks a fucking bunch, because that will really place me on an equal playing field with all of the other students in the class, all of whom are FRENCH.  And she asked me if I had heard of a dissertation after she attempted to explain it to me (it does not mean the same thing as in the U.S.), and when I said no, she said, "Oh, well it's a very French thing."  Oh really.  Thanks.  I was literally tearing up in front of her- there is no way I can write for 4 hours about an incredibly hard-to-understand 700-page surrealist book...in French.

At that point, I was pissed, and then she said, "Oh, you're American, right?  What did you think about the elections?"  I answered that I was very happy, although I really felt like cursing at her, so as soon as I left the room, I just broke down crying.  And once I got home, my host family was already eating (host brother is home for vacation, and, while it was nice to meet him, I was NOT in the mood to talk to anyone), so I ate quickly, and then talked to my dad, who told me to stop crying and stop getting myself so stressed out.  Not what I needed to hear.  As many of you  know, I am a very emotional person, so crying every once in awhile is a good way for me to get my frustration out.  So basically the only good thing about today has been the result of the election... thank God for Barack Obama!

All of this, I think, has a lot to do with the fact that it's THAT time of the semester, the part where I start getting rundown (although that pretty much started the first day I got here) and cranky, which in turn makes me homesick.  But I will be home in 47 days, which is so soon, so a week from today, which will mark 40 days until I go home, is my first benchmark before Thanksgiving. Because I figure if I can give up sweets for 40 days of Lent, I can survive France for 40 more days no problem (because the two are so similar ;)  !!).  I am just thanking my lucky stars at this moment that I'm not spending an entire year in Strasbourg...

So yes, today is my official I HATE FRANCE day.  Appreciate it, because it can only get better from here.  But Allie and I had a little tradition last year.  There is this song I have (that I think was on Grey's Anatomy) called "I Hate Everyone," so last year, when Allie and I would get completely frustrated by the world, we would literally let our hair down, and just rock out to this song that talks about this guy who is annoyed by everyone.  It was a very helpful tool for getting frustration out.  It has really been that kind of a day.  I keep reminding myself, though, that this is pass-fail, which is a good thing to keep in mind, because they don't even GIVE OUT perfect scores here.  Of course not!  Why would they do that?

I hope Tim doesn't read this, or he will remind me for the rest of my life of the one day that I hated the French.  Oh well.  I'll write about Italy when I'm not in the mood to throw every object within my reach.

God Bless America!!!

Sending you my love,

Kristen