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| My last night in Albi...
Finally everything is done - research, report, presentation - except
for some more packing. I didn't realize how much I missed being a
student and working in a real lab. It definitely is a lot of fun.
Perhaps I missed out on some of that enjoyment in college because
Cooper life was... was more hectic at times. Indeed I felt more
inspired while writing my final report and preparing my presentation
here than I think I ever was at Cooper. I didn't feel any pressure to
make the grade because I wasn't being graded. Instead I was motivated
by the potential of my research and the quality of work of the other
stagiaires.
I would have liked to stay longer if things stayed the way they were
but they aren't: all the stagiares have either already left or will be
leaving shortly, mon maître de stage is going to work at U. Delaware of
all places and Albi - like many French cities - turns into a ghost town
in August. And I need to get my med school apps done ASAP. It's my time
to leave.
New York City. The United States of America...damn. Haven't been away
that long but still gonna experience some serious culture shock when I
get back. Who knows... I may decide to continue writing these blogs to
wean me off of living in France seeing as how I started writing them here. Scary. But I'll be home.
To all the Americans reading this: see you soon.
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| Comment on Ms. Yu's blog:
It's too easy to be racist. Everyone stereotypes and prejudges - some
more than others obviously. It's been easier for me to notice it in the
French because I'm the only American I know in Albi and because of the
many international students here. I've noticed that even in
myself. You see a slight difference in someone's culture or
habits and it gets you thinking - " he/she's different..." But we don't
let that get in the way of things. We find ways to move on as we always
do.
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| Hey Joe & Amy, I'd like some red snapper please (for free of course)...
75% of fish sold as high-priced red snapper were other species, found
U. of North Carolina scientists in a review of stores in 8 states. Some
ersatz red snapper came from the Pacific or Atlantic; the genuine
article lives in the Gulf of Mexico. Besides defrauding consumers and
breaking FDA rules, wrongly labeling fish also leads to wrong estimates
of stock size, the scientists said in the journal Nature.
Random-
Women who give birth after they reach 35 have a 58% lower risk of
ovarian cancer than women who never have a child. Women who had a child
before they were 25 had a 16% lower risk, said U. of Southern
California researchers in the journal of Fertility & Sterility.
But what happens between ages 25 - 35?
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| Spent the weekend in Toulouse but didn't really do that much. Did a few things that got me thinking (sorta):
Saturday
- Went to an English Pub called The London Town for a few pints at 5pm.
A bit early in the day to start drinking but the weather was a little
rainy so we didn't feel like walking around. As you can imagine we were
the only people in the pub when we arrived. Chris and Dass said the
place was pretty similar to a traditional pub in London.
Thought: Never seen a pub like this before. Need to get out more often.
- After the pub we still had an hour to kill until the Indian
restaurant we wanted to go to opened. So we went to a bar around the
corner called La Maison. The pitcher of 'punch' we ordered was pretty
good and so were the giant roasted peanuts w/ skins still on them, but
the highlight was the curried olives.Yum.
Thought: I never really liked olives until I came to France. Need to learn the recipe for Curried Olives.
- Had Indian food for the first time in nearly a year. Really enjoyed
it. Afterwards we went to the Frog & Rosbif pub that served its own
microbrews made onsite. I'd had enough to drink already but apparently
everyone else had room for much more. These three guys - 2 Californians
+ 1 French/Jew/wannabe American - sat down with us. We started talking
but about 5-10 minutes into the conversation I didn't want to talk to
them anymore. I realized I didn't like them very much at all.
Johnny was an ok guy. It was just that he had a cynical sense of humor
that wasn't funny and he seemed a bit too proud of the USA at times.
Jesse was way too proud of graduating with an MBA from NYU and being a
bond trader in New Jersey. He acted as if he was so knowledgeable of
the world because he "lived and died by The Economist." The French guy
was just weird and really drunk.
Thought: I really hope I'm not like those 3 fools. Is that what
America has to offer? People who don't realize they're telling lame
jokes and just keep on going? Johnny told some jokes about the English
vs. French and Chris told him they weren't very funny but Johnny didn't
believe him. Arrogant people who think they know so much more than they
actually do? The Economist is a good magazine but there's more to the
world than one magazine. I was really disappointed.
Sunday
- Woke up late and ate a really tasty kebab for lunch. The pita bread
was way different from those back in New York - toasted, caramel color
on the outside with a few sesame seeds. The meat was shaved directly
off the huge block of meat and not preshaved in a bowl.
Thought: Good
- Saw Fahrenheit 9/11. It was the first movie I've seen in English in a
theater since I've been here. By the end of the movie I forgot I was in
France and was a bit confused when I heard people speaking French.
Thought: The documentary was pretty convincing though clearly slanted.
Michael Moore has his heart in the right place, fighting for the
underdog and such but I don't trust him completely. I
thought he was a bit misleading when he suggested the Bush
administration was tipped off about the 9/11 attacks well in advance.
He didn't discuss the intelligence briefing he referred to but if he had it
would have shown there were no specifics in the report. Also,
while Moore did a good job in showing how ugly war is he ignored the
good things that have come out of the war - building new schools,
homes, utilities, etc. and how the majority of Iraqis are in support of
democracy. But perhaps that wasn't the point of Moore's documentary.
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| I usually never pick up the weekly bulletin after mass (even at Trans)
but I did this week and found a rather inspiring prayer. It's actually
a bit generic but the fact that it was in French made it seem more
meaningful somehow.
Seigneur, mon coeur est vide...
Je voudrais te parler,
je ne trouve pas les mots.
Je voudrais t'adorer,
les distractions m'assaillent.
Je ne peux que t'offrir mon désir de t'aimer
et mon impuissance à le faire.
Viens allumer dans mon coeur
le feu de ton Esprit.
Et tous pourront alors venir s'y réchauffer.
It doesn't exactly reflect how I'm feeling right now because I'm
feeling pretty good. Summertime, learning, working, France - a nice
combination.
I hope everyone is enjoying the July 4th weekend. The football (soccer)
season is over so there's one less distraction. Watching the Euro 2004
final wasn't as fun as expected, especially since Greece won. My
English friend Chris said,"It's a sad day for football" because he
couldn't believe Greece was the best team in Europe.
Fact: Greece outplayed Portugal in the final.
Fact: During the regular season most of the Greek players play on lower
division teams that are less competitive and play fewer games than top
tier teams like Arsenal, Man. United and Chelsea.
Does that mean that the Greeks were better rested? Maybe.
Is that why the Greeks won? Hard to say, but no one really cares about European football in the U.S. so i'll stop here.
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