Studying Law in France

Saying goodbye to my friends

2008-12-27T06:39:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to acknowledge the friends I have made here and who I am probably not going to see in the near future: Kristina, Christin, Gregor, Marine, Zsuzsi, David, Flora, Lea and Alice.

Most of this group of friends stopped by Friday night after our last exam to have a drink and blow off some steam. It was a great time and I am really going to miss all of them.

Why you should care about the death of Mike Connell

2008-12-23T06:53:00.000-08:00

This legitimately scares me. I heard about this guy on Democracy Now about a month or so ago in a story about possible vote fraud in Ohio during the 2000 and 2004 presidential election. At the time, ironically the eve of this year's elections, Amy Goodman reported that Mike Connell was testifying in Ohio about the possible fraud in previous elections. He had been named by a conservative Republican McCain supporter, Stephen Spoonamore, as the architect of an electronic plan to subvert the presidential election. It seems that Connell had been subpoenaed and refused to testify, with some reports claiming that Karl Rove had directly threatened Connell's wife with federal prosecution by the Justice Department if Connell testified.

To be honest I didn't pay much attention when I first heard this news. But when I read today that he died in a plane accident, it just seemed a little too convenient. Who was this guy?

Mike Connell was a media consultant who operated websites for President Bush and the chief architect of GeorgeWBush.com and GWB43.com -- the primary email account used by Karl Rove during his tenure as Senior White House Advisor. He died in a plane crash on Friday the 19th of December.

According to Spoonamore, a computer security expert who worked for the government and large companies figuring out how people steal money...or votes. In any case, he described a process called “Man in the Middle” that Connell allegedly constructed. This happened in Ohio in 2004. I'd write it in my own words but what's the point when Amy already did it on this show and there is already a website that includes the docs in the lawsuit, specifically Spoonamore's affidavit:

It involves shunting the data that comes from the website for the Secretary of State—I mean, the election returns—taking those election returns as they come to the website in real-time and shunting them to a computer somewhere else. What happened in 2004 was the election returns from Ken Blackwell’s website were shunted to a computer in a basement in Chattanooga, Tennessee, under the control of a very partisan private company to which Connell was connected. The data was shunted to this strange computer in Chattanooga and then directed back to the Secretary of State’s website. As Connell—I mean, sorry, as Spoonamore has said, the only purpose of doing this Man in the Middle thing is to commit crime.

In any case, as Connell is now dead, Spoonamore's allegations are simply allegations. Plus, as Rebecca Abrahams points out here the family is not suggesting that any foul play is involved. One is left to wonder whether the suit will go on, which is perhaps more important than whether foul play was involved. Although I have to say that I am happy that he didn't have polonium poisioning, the guy did ask for protective custody. Don't you have to wonder what's up here?

If you want to read, hear or know more, take a look at Democracy Now for December 22nd or in general the BradBlog.

Studying Law in France: over or just in need of a name change?

2008-12-22T06:32:00.000-08:00

When I started this it was just a way to blow off some steam and keep a sort of diary so I wouldn't forget everything that I did here. Without Sheridan here to talk to everyday, sometimes several times a day about whatever happened in my life, I needed an outlet. As was astutely pointed out by Alice, most of my posts were in the form of a complaint, mostly about some bureaucratic nuance with which I wasn't familiar. I also posted about all of my friends and their visits and what a great time I had with them. As Mariah pointed out, however, most of those posts were short and picture filled, instead of being lengthy written pieces.

What do I do now? I have this blog I am at least for the most part committed to and enjoy writing but I am no longer studying law in France. I haven't been writing for a while and I am sure my thin readership has died off. Maybe I should kill this one and start another...maybe an anonymous one with guest bloggers that could talk about whatever they wanted without worrying about repercussions.

Why I haven't been writing very much.
Three things have happened recently that have limited the amount of posting I have been doing: 1) Sheridan's here so I am happy now; 2) the things that have bothered me have been too private to share; 3) I have been in exams.

While 1 and 3 make a lot of sense and while maybe 2 would make a lot of sense for anyone, I typically don't have any problem sharing what's going on in my life. Of course there are limits but the blog puts this issue in a different light. For example, if I am unhappy about Dauphine, I have talked about it and never thought about impacting negatively it's "reputation". In fact, I have never thought twice about whether or not my criticizing SLU Law would impact it's reputation because I figure SLU's reputation has little to do with my comments.

Interestingly, that is not the attitude here. For example, students in my Masters program don't even want to fill out teacher evaluations because at least in part they fear that someone might read them one day and take criticism of their professor as a reason that their program wasn't high quality. I guess teacher evaluations have been part of my academic culture for so long that I don't give them a second thought. As I understand them, they are for internal purposes only, forclosing the possibility that someone outside of the institution would read them. Plus, while the degree to which professors pay attention to them varies from professor to professor and from school to school, it is clear that they get read and that some changes are made. If nothing else, professors are aware that there are some complaints.

Here, without evaluations (and with applause at the end of the class, even with the least inspiring professor) I don't know how they could ever even figure out that thre are problems. There is nothing saying that they would change their comportement but it seems that they might if given the opportunity at least to know that there is a problem.

It's just one example of how something that I think could be a public criticism (the building is old, the desks are outdated, and there aren't enough outlets) wouldn't have anything to do with the quality of the professors, students and for me, the program. As I have said before, there are some really good professors here, some decent ones and some that should hang 'em up or never should have put 'em on. Same goes for the students. In any case, that's just like everywhere else, at least everywhere else I have ever been.

The concern about having something to say that you would like to say anonymously moves me towards shutting this one down and starting another blog where I would be freer to criticize in the way I wanted to.

But how do you invite people to read an anonymous blog? Maybe the rotating blogger strategy without any bloggers individually named? I have a feeling that my style is pretty transparently my style and I wouldn't want to change it. In any case, it's an open question.

For now, however, I am just going to wrap up the events of the last few weeks, including some great times with all the great friends I have made in the last three months.

Jason and Robyn

2008-12-06T07:10:00.000-08:00

This post is long overdue because my close friends Jason and Robyn Roemer visited for Thanksgiving and, in spite of their mild mannered appearance, we had a full week of drinking, eating, and bullshitting about everything under the sun. That's why I love them though; we always do too much of each of these. Usually Robyn grows tired of Jason and me or has to work or something like that but this time, she was all in. Here they are when they got off the plane at Charles de Gaulle.
As has been my tradition, I take all of my guests to Paradies(not a typo, at least on my part), the best crepe stand in Paris. Kristina, Christin and Zsuzsi came along for the culinary delights also. Sadly, we ate inside above the kitchen which increased the price and made it hard for us not to smell the grilled onions being prepared in advance. Still, as always, Paradies was good and the company was great.
Here they are at La Place Vendome engaging in a rare public display of affection. Robyn does not care for them, which means Jason is SOL. I love them, but since I have been living out of the country basically for the 6 months without Sheridan, they are not frequent. Common almost everywhere else, they seem to be shunned in the U.S. Now that Sheridan is here, we are practicing.
We walked all over the city and here, instead of paying the outrageous sum of 120 euros to see Leonard Cohen in concert, we just went by to see if LC would come out and perform for free. Seriously, 120 euro? I love Leonard Cohen but that's just crazy talk.
Here is the increasingly disappointing Champs Elysees at night dressed up for the holidays.

These are all pictures from an exposition at the Pompidou Center: who knew chairs could be so interesting? To obtain a seat in this Ron Arad chair Jason is sitting in here I had to menace a small child; not that I minded.
Leaving the Corsican restaurant where we ate Thanksgiving Dinner. It was fantastic. Did you know that they serve wolf in France?
We left the restaurant and come back around my house. We decided to stop at le 50 for a drink. I had passed by there several times and always wanted to go in but never felt quite comfortable enough. Armed with Jason and Robyn, I entered. We sat there, listened to Jeff Buckley, talked to the owner/barman and drank three more bottles of wine before close. Then we came home and had a few more. Unsurprisingly, we got into an argument about somethings I didn't quite know were controversial. The picture shows Jason reposing just before the debate got serious. I mean, who doesn't want to hike the Appalachians? Anyway, what's Thanksgiving without too much booze and a rousing, ugly, personal debate in which too much personal information is shared among friends?

The next day we went to the Catacombs. Basically, the space was created when a French leader wanted to build some new monuments. They dug up all materials from here and the empty space sat there for a while. Then, a bunch of people died from some sort of plague like malady and it turned out that they didn't have enough space in the cemeteries to bury all of the newly deceased french citizens. So, they dug 'em up and moved them to the Catacombs. Now we have this great tourist site with the bones of 6 million people.
When Jason saw this he literally recoiled with fear. I thought that was just a figure of speech but now I have seen it.

As mentioned, mostly we ate great food and drank too much good wine. The last night was no different. We sent to the Bistro St. Marthe in the 10th where I live, an arrondissement that gets a bad rap in my book and had a fantastic meal for a decent price. Even though I am opposed to eating meat, I have to admit that Jason's lamb looked pretty good.
Here's dessert, something I am definitively not opposed to. One quick thing about the quality restaurants in Paris. I am pretty sure you could go into any restaurant and get a high quality meal for a decent price. I know for a fact that you can't do that in St. Louis, even though I think there are some good ones. Here, though, I think explications about the quality of food and wine is just plain higher and there are tons of restaurants. If they don't provide quality food, they would certainly go out of business. A corollary to this is the grocery store. I shop primarily at ED, which is a low end discount store. Even there though, the quality is higher than at Schnucks is in general and the prices are low. A 2 euro bottle of wine from ED is reliably good (granted I am no wine expert), the cheese is excellent, and the bread is good.
Jason and Robyn about to leave---why can't he open his eyes?
There we go!
And they are off.

I had a fantastic time and this post doesn't do justice to how I feel about their visit. To have two good friends drop their work (they are gainfully employed, unlike myself) and come to visit me for a week is one thing. To be easy to travel with, smart, funny, patient with my tiny studio and flexible with my class schedule is another. We ate like kings and drank like upper class fishes. It was great and I loved every minute of it.

being disrespectful in France and being disrespectful in America

2008-12-02T02:24:00.000-08:00

Is it more disrespectful for students not to pay attention because they are surfing the net or g-chatting or students not to pay attention because they are somewhat loudly directly talking to each other during class?

As anyone in law school at SLU knows, if a videographer were to enter a classroom during a lecture he would have to work very hard to find one computer screen where a student was only taking notes. I do this in class; almost everyone I know does it. I move back and forth between surfing the net and taking notes. I know that this is disrespectful to the prof and hurts my ability to learn the material. I didn't do it during first year but since then I can't imagine making it through a class without wi-fi.

Here, however, people just openly talk to each other during class. Sure, they sort of whisper but overall the dynamic is the professor is talking to all of us while there are also at least 2 if not 5 individual conversations going on that every student can hear. They are talking loudly enough that their conversations interfere with understanding even when the prof speaks in English. Of course, it varies from prof to prof but in general, the profs don't say anything. Instead, the profs talk louder and so do the students.

This is probably my own bias but I think that using my laptop in class generally only distracts me but talking loudly in class distracts everyone. I acknowledge that other students can be distracted by me surfing the net in class and that some are. This seems different and more disrespectful.

Any thoughts? I know there are a handful of current and former academics who read this as well as some law students. Just wondering.

Things I Love About Paris and France

2008-11-21T06:51:00.000-08:00

After reading my blog, my friend Alice was concerned that my memories of my time in France would be negative. It's a good point; there are a lot of criticisms on this blog and I would be remiss if anyone got the impression that I am not enjoying my time here or if they thought I didn't like France or Paris.

As a partial explanation, however, I should start by saying that I routinely ask critical questions, challenge authority, and I love to have long drawn out discussions about things that a lot of people either don't think are important or think is a waste of time to discuss. Sometimes I do this because I am naive, slow, or just underinformed by comparison to my colleagues. Sometimes it's because I have researched the area and have too much information about it and am just bursting to share. I often can't believe that my friends don't know something that I know. I mean, I pretty much don't have any "dumb" friends. In fact, I generally speaking don't like to use that word because to me it implies that someone is incapable of learning something. I like to think that when someone doesn't know something it is just because they are uninformed or ignorant of the issue. Because of this belief, I think it is worth spending the time to fill in the gaps in their knowledge...sometimes for hours...sometimes when they really don't want to have the discussion.

When I first got here, I didn't really know anyone well enough to engage in such conversations so I ended up spending all my time talking to Sheridan about it, which is a continuation of our normal conversations at home. Needless to say, when you are living thousands of miles away from somebody you love and only have a certain limited amount of time to talk to them, there are better topics to talk about. Enter the blog. It not only keeps me sane and but also takes some of the burden off of Sheridan. It's also substitute for the easy access I had to Sheridan, Seats, Molly, Orso, MJ, Chaps, Tom, and Andrew, etc. at home.

It's also sort of a diary for me. The last time I was here I inconsistently kept a diary and have always regretted it. This time, I have this blog and am very happy with how things are going.

But overall, Alice is right. I am happy to be here and have enjoyed my experience in Paris, in spite of my many criticisms. I wouldn't trade this time here. I have learned a lot in my classes and made a lot of friends.

In light of that, here are some photos, in no particular order, of the things I have loved the most about being here. Thanks to Alice for inspiring this post---it has been a lot of fun.

The Canal St. Martin is right next to my house and is beautiful. I love to sit outside and just watch what's going on.
The Canal is so powerful that it even makes me like kids.

I love the public displays of affection that are rampant on the Canal and elsewhere in Paris.

Walking along the Seine is ostensibly better than walking along the Canal. While it's true that along the Seine you can see things like the Pont Neuf here, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Musee D'Orsay, etc, I am still fond of the Canal.
I love the ubiquitous maps that theoretically prevent one from getting lost, although I routinely still manage to do so.
Sacre Coeur seen from the top of the Arc de Triomphe.
The small park next to my house that is filled with a wonderful mix of races and ages every Sunday.
The Tuileries at the Louvre.
The Eiffel Tower all lit up in blue and sparkly just 'cause.

The changing face of Paris. There are so many mixed couples here. I am pretty sure that France is going to have to forget about the idea of "francais standard" or "francais francais." Under the republican ideal, everyone is the same and differentiation based on race and gender is frowned upon. As a result, discrimination is more subtle, at least in theory, and is manifested through language. If your French is not "correct" it gives someone a reason to criticize(not legally, just culturally) you that is supposed to be disconnected from race. In reality, of course, "francais standard" just happens to be the French spoken most typically by white educated French people. I don't know how this method of evaluation can continue given how France is changing, in spite of what you see in Amelie.

In any case, I love the changing face of Paris and the next couple shots are dedicated to it.

The second most moving thing I have seen in France, besides Barack Obama's election and acceptance speech.
I have loved having good friends visit for a while. This is my friend Steve, gamely drinking coffee out of a bowl when we didn't have a clean cup.

As mentioned before, I love the literary quality of the signs you see all over Paris.

I love seeing the Eiffel Tower basically whereever you go.

I loved seeing friends from the last time I was here. This is Mme Schneersohn, who runs Academic Year Abroad in Paris and is just as sweet, funny and patient as I remember her.

How can you not love the Pompidou?

Place de la Republique, which is about a mile from my house, is one of my favorite monuments.
Place de la Bastille, where I lived 16 years ago, is ranked pretty highly also.

I love to see French people loving America for good reasons.

The following is a series of pictures taken one afternoon while walking around Paris in the middle of the day in the middle of the work week. If you look closely, you'll see the work ethic that has made Paris the modern day business center it is.

The Parc de la Villette.
Of all the things I have loved about Paris this time around, my classmates are what I love the most. The last time here I didn't really get to know any French people that well This time, things are different. Here is the above mentioned Alice and Lea, two of my classmates and good friends from Dauphine.
Lea, Alice, Kristina and I in the metro after listening to some free jazz.
Gary and Suzanna at a cocktail after a long conference.
From left to right in the back row: a professor I don't know, Joel Moneger, Antoine, Razika, Gary, me, Suzanne
From left to right in the front row: a professor I don't know, Virgine, Marine, Alexandre and Brigitte Chenu.
Gregor and Colin.
Marine, Suzanne and Razika.
David, Zsuzsi, me, Suzanne and Marine.
Me, Christin and Gregor.
Marine and Gregor.
Lu Lu and Lilly.
A guy I don't know and another Antoine at Flam's.

Gary, enjoying a tasty Flam. Marion, Gary, Alexandre and Morgane on La Nuit Blanche
Wolf, Christin, Zsuzsi, David, Kristina and Gregor before La Nuit Blanche.

All my classmates waiting for the professor to arrive.
I have also loved meeting new American friends here in Paris like Jean with whom I watched the election night coverage.

This is my favorite bar, le pont tournant, although sadly, I haven't been there lately.

I love to hang out at Le Pont Neuf and just watch the people.

One more picture of the Canal, no people this time, just the Canal itself.
I absolutely loved the Jeff Koons pieces in Versailles. Here, Michael Jackson and Bubbles in porcelain and gold in the Sun King's house. While many found the art out of place, I couldn't help thinking that there is probably no one more fitting to put in the Sun King's house than Michael Jackson.
HANS!!!
Wolf coming to visit. We were both here in 1989 and now 2008. Good times then and now.
I love free wifi in the park.

I love drinking out side, which is tolerated but not legal.
Dauphine!!! Despite it's crazy configuaration, maddening bureaucracy, and 18th century classrooms, my trip here wouldn't even exist without it.

I love frequently seeing historical figures memorialized in statue anywhere I walk in Paris.

I love all the beautiful public parks.

I love all the crazy and cool graffitti.
I love Andre Le Notre designer of many of my favorite parks like the Tuileries. Thanks Dre.

Mariah!

2008-11-20T09:34:00.000-08:00

The pictures are in reverse order because I am incompetent at uploading the photos. Here we are the day Mariah left.
Here is a cat who joined us for a picnic at Versailles.
Here is Mariah with my friend Kristina enjoying the aforementioned picnic.
Me loving Jeff Koons works inside Versailles.
Kristina and Mariah hating Jeff Koons.
Mariah being silly in Versailles.
Mariah and Kristina in the courtyard at Versailles.
Kristina Alice me and Lea in the metro after listening to some jazz.
The view from the Eiffel Tower.
Us at the jazz club.
At Sacre-Coeur.
At the Louvre.
In the metro.
On top of the Arc de Triomphe.
Hanging out with Obama.
At the Pont Alexandre III.
On the Champs Elysees.

At the Eiffel Tower the first night.
On the Canal St. Martin the second night.

Cell phone calls and getting coffee

2008-11-20T07:01:00.000-08:00

Professors here routinely answer cell phones while conducting class. Sometimes, they step out to take the call for 5 minutes or so. And it's not because it is an emergency or anything. The other day, a guy took a call about dinner. A few seconds later a student's phone rang but she didn't dare answer it. Egalite?

No one is really shocked by this---it is normal.

Today, I had a genuinely helpful class on the french legal methodology. Because of the shortage of available classrooms (I am reaching for an explanation here), we were in the equivalent of a library that doubled as a storage closet and coffee room for certain faculty members. Additionally, our teacher is pretty young. As a result, we were interrupted several times.

First, an administrator from another Master's program came to our door, which was open, and loudly began talking to an older professor about when this room was available and when it wasn't. Her cell phone then rang and she took the call, basically on the threshold of the room.

Then another administrative person came in, saw three of four youthful faces and, I think concluding that we were just hanging out in this room, strode toward the coffee pot while imperiously asking if there were some sort of meeting going on in here. When the professor responded that this was a class, her tone instantly changed and she asked pardon.

This was quickly followed by a professor entering to get some coffee while the two students accompanying him waited outside.

A few seconds later, another administrative person walked in and announced that there was some sort of party set to happen here in 30 minutes and that we would have to leave then. Before departing, however, she asked if we would be kind enough to help her by moving all of the tables to one side of the room in preparation.

All of these interruptions happened in one hour.

OK, first of all, there are about 15 places to get coffee in this building and most of them cost about 50 cents. Second of all, this just adds to my complaints about treatment of students and hierarchy here.

Call me rigid and inflexible, but in theory classes that are scheduled in advance are to be conducted with minimal interruption.

OBAMA!!!

2008-11-18T10:16:00.001-08:00

OBAMA!!! is a new greeting here in France. Seriously, every time somebody thinks I am an American or finds out I am an American in the street, they yell OBAMA!!! At the aptly named Paradise, my favorite crepe stand(or stand de crepe in french) the guys respond "Obama approves" or "If it's ok with Obama" to any question asked. Generally, French people tell me Obama could never be elected in France and that they are amazed he was elected in America. Minorities often tell me they want to move to America because of the racism in France. I have to say, after so many years of routinely being embarrassed or less than proud by what my country had done or how it had represented itself, I have really been enjoying the praise heaped on America over the last few weeks.

I love that America elected Obama and I love what that means about how far we have come in 40 years time. I have been happier than ever to be an American (with the notable exception of my adolescent love and pride about the Dream Team's dominance at the Olympics in 1992). Usually, I just feel fortunate to have been born here and happy to take advantage of all the privileges and riches the country provides. In the last two weeks, however, it's been different. I am proud of the fact that so many people got past not just racism but the fear mongering that has characterized the past two presidential campaigns to elect Obama. I have been feeling like Obama's election is a repudiation of everything the Bush administration stands for: disregard for or cynical manipulation of the law, division of the people, and overt privileging of wealthy interests.

As such, I have taken a two week moratorium on any critical words about our country. Well, two weeks are over and I am going to ask the question I have heard a lot on Democracy Now recently: "How do you criticize a leader you supported?"

Now that I have finally voted for a winner, how am I going to hold him accountable without losing my enthusiasm for him. I am afraid he is going to disappoint me as president the same way he disappointed me as a candidate for the job. Let's not forget that he voted for immunity for the telecoms who cooperated with the government and spied on us. Let's not forget that he supports the death penalty. Most of all, let's not forget that he sort of endorsed the very policy the Bush administration is carrying out right now with respect to Pakistan, a policy that I totally disagree with. Don't forget that Biden voted for the Patriot Act and Obama voted to reauthorize it. The candidate for change is problematic, too.

What can we infer about his policy as president from his transition team? I hope nothing because what I see is the same group of former Clinton administration officials reassembling. As Amy Goodman points out Obama has picked John Brennan and Jami Miscik to help with intelligence. I don't know how to reconcile this pick with Obama's recent Bush like proclamation that "The U.S. does not torture and I will make sure it doesn't it." John Brennan supports extraordinary rendition and Jami Miscik was there when George Tenet was making the faulty case for war.

I am not saying that everyone who served in the past administration should be fired. However, what does it say to those people who resisted the Bush administration's perversion of the law if people like Brennan and Miscik are part of the new Obama administration? I don't get it. To me, this isn't change.

I just read this morning that Eric Holder is being strongly considered for Attorney General. Not only is he a former Clinton team member but also now representing Chiquita International in a lawsuit about Chiquita paying off Colombian paramilitaries. In fact, according to Dan Kovalik, Holder helped negotiate with the Justice Department on behalf of Chiquita in regards to the criminal charges. In any case, Eric Holder as AG seems to signal a continuation of privileging business interests over human rights, not change.

Now, I don't really know how or whether Obama will represent policy change, but I am trying to figure that out. What I do know is that he is more amenable to the kinds of changes I believe in than would have been McCain.

I have heard great things recently that convince me it is possible: 1)Abraham Lincoln wasn't an abolitionist when he took office, the abolition movement made him so; 2) LBJ wasn't for civil rights until MLK made him so.

Who's going to move president Obama? Maybe Obama said it best when asked in the democratic primary debate whose campaign Dr. King would endorse.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pkkdjngBu0

Law school in France is just like law school in the states

2008-11-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

As I spend more and more time here, I am beginning to see more similarities than differences. I guess I am always like that: reactionary at first but then accepting. Anyway, although I am still irritated by the differences in format, i.e., the fact that classrooms can change at the drop of a hat and the hierarchy between professors and students is much more entrenched here, I am really beginning to see how this experience mirrors my experience at SLU.
For example, at its base, we read cases for the holding and the evolution of the law in this area. Sometimes the professor tells us what we are looking for and sometimes we are supposed to find it on our own. Sometimes the professors are really well organized and on point and sometimes they are not.
I am learning a lot, especially about structure. I think that I just typically reject structure intuitively but here, for some reason, it is easier to see. Maybe it's because it's in another language and I don't always get the full nuance of the law so I cling to the structure. In any case, I can see how things develop and I better see how you must methodically go through each step in order to analyze carefully the case. This revelation might explain some of my failures in law school in the states where I systematically skipped as many steps as I could to get to what I thought was important, which, coincidentally was not what the professor often thought was important.
I wrote a paper about this last semester criticizing my professors at SLU and, I guess, the pedagogy that is representative of law school. I claimed that law school generally ignores the important issues of race, gender, class and sexuality and even worse, pretends that these issues have nothing to do with "the law". Kimberle Williams Crenshaw calls this "perspectiveless" legal pedagogy which is especially difficult for minority law students who are basically asked to check their identity at the door when reading cases for fear of appearing "hysterical" or un-law student like. My own experience at SLU taught me that my questions about race were not welcome, either by the professor or the other students. While professors didn't explicitly do this, students definitely rolled their eyes at the mere prospect of discussing what they considered to be an "off topic" subject.
Until today, there had been no examples of the personalization of the law against which I could compare this phenomenon. Today, however, my friend Kristina questioned the holding of a case involving Reunion Island, one of France's former colonies. I won't go into the details of the case but basically it seems that sometimes France considers Reunion Island as part of France and sometimes it doesn't, which produces results with regards to taxes and additional charges that helps France and hurts Reunion Island.
When Kristina boldly said she found this practice contradictory, the professor at first did what almost all of my American professors did and tried to maintain some sort of strict division between law and politics. Further, most of the students put their pens down and quit writing. While they didn't roll their eyes and I won't risk a definitive interpretation of what their faces betrayed, suffice it to say they seemed to be indulging her. Sadly it seemed that Kristina was going to be told that the law was the law because the court had said so, that the internal logic of the court was clear, and that she ought to just accept it. Instead, amazingly, the professor relented and begrudgingly allowed that politics played an important role here.

in response to a request...

2008-11-10T11:36:00.000-08:00

from my mom, an avid reader of my blog (perhaps the only one), here are some scenes of me studying. See, Mary Lou thinks that there are entirely too many pictures of me having fun, drinking, LAUGHING, and carrying on like I was happy or something crazy like that. So, just to show that life isn't all fun and games, here are a couple shots of me unhappily studying. We'll start with an early one.

Ok, this is not a good example. It was early in the semester and I had no internet access at school because I had no student ID card because registration didn't take place until a month into school because...oh yeah, I already wrote this post about two months ago.

Anyway, the only place I could go and: 1) use the internet for free; and 2) use electricity for free was the Peace and Love Youth Hostel, the scene of this video. I had a citecheck due for which I needed the internet so it seemed like a good choice. Plus, there was happy hour from 7-10.

In reality, school here is hard and not just because it's in French and there aren't any textbooks. I spend a ton of time studying and getting ready for class, especially Private International Law and Droit Interieur du Marche. Those are by far my two most challenging and interesting classes. Just trying to negotiate all of the different treaties, country laws and customs is enough to confuse anyone. Add to that the civil law aspect of their approach and I am frequently lost. Private international law is like what I think conflicts would be, although I have never taken that class. You usually have some litigation between citizens of two different countries and you have to figure out if the judge is competent to rule on the matter. There are myriad rules dictating who is and who is not competent to rule on matters and a lot of it has to do with what category the legal problem falls into. This I still don't understand completely but I am getting there. Then there's the situations where the judge doesn't agree with a decision because of "ordre public" which really means it goes against the morals and values of France.

In any case, here are some pathetic photos of me studying:

These first two are from today. Mariah and I went to the Louvre. She entered the museum and saw what there was to see. I read some Droit Processuel de Jean-Luc Sauron.

These last two are pictures of me studying in my apartment, yes in my pajamas. I figured that as I was studying away on Saturday morning in Paris, I should take advantage of the self-portrait to see just how lame it looked.

Love you Mom.

Election Night

2008-11-08T12:11:00.000-08:00

As I really wanted to watch election night on American TV, some of my friends and I foolishly tried to go here, Breakfast in America, for the coverage. As you can see, there was a pretty big line so we gave up.

Fortunately, however, there was a bar about 150 meters away that had CNN so we just went there.

Suzanna and Razika, two students from the Masters, taking in the joy that is CNN election coverage at around 1:30 U.S. time.

Gregor, Colin and the ubiquitous "I am getting my picture taken" hand gesture.

David and Zsuzi enjoy Democracy, American style: Wolf Blitzer, Candy Crowley, and the seemingly endless, meaningless coverage preceding the closing of the first polls.

All these people were enjoying it too.

Here's most of us together that night.

Here I am with my friend Jean, a very cool American writing her dissertation here in France. At first we were happy with our American coverage and then...

we were disappointed with CNN's new technological advancement: the reporter's in-studio appearance via hologram! Translation: "Wow, there really isn't anything going on yet but they have gone to the big guns and we have a lot of time to kill."

Most of my european friends left the bar around midnight but Jean and I stayed until closing time and then headed to an Obama Victory party at the Palais des Congres. Since we were "on the list" we didn't have to wait in line with the suckas; we just went on in. Greeting us was a huge crowd of mostly French people very fired up about Obama and America.

The place was seriously packed.

This guy was everywhere.

We were briefly in a VIP room but left because apparently in French VIP means a small place with no access to booze or TV coverage. As we were leaving I took a picture of this clown, who then told me I couldn't take a picture of him and asked me if I did. Proving he was pathetic, he simply accepted my response that I didn't take his picture.

Obama wins Ohio.

Jean is fired up.

We found a secret passage through the kitchen to another sort of VIP area where we were able to get some Obamagels---I know, not very presidential.

Obama wins Pennsylvania. Is it that easy? Doesn't it mean that it's over?

Jean's convinced after Pennsylvania.

I am not quite sure, even after Pennsylvania. I guess after the last two elections I am used to not having the results until 4 AM american time. Also, won't FixNews soon be announcing that McCain actually won Pennsylvania or that 500,000 new votes turned up in Ohio for McCain? I just can't quite accept it yet. I want it to be true but it seems unbelievable.

Obama wins! Wait, what's wrong with Rolan Martin? Does he know something we don't? Is it those mysterious extra Ohio votes?

Nope, Obama is the winner. Maybe Rolan is moved; we don't have audio here.

Finally, I am convinced.
Waiting for my new president.

All these people are waiting too.

Everybody is happy Obama is President.

All these people are French.

My new president!!!!

So, overall the party was great. Here, however, is an indication that they just don't quite get it.

Going home after everything is over. Here's Jean with her Obama painting in front of a classy "Four Roses" ad with four roses in the mouths of the Mount Rushmore presidents.

Obama!

2008-11-08T11:24:00.001-08:00

Since this is the best I have felt about being an American in a long time, I am having a two week moratorium on thinking about what's wrong with our country and I am just going to be happy about the election and what it means. Honestly, I've been a mess for the last few days. Every time I see news coverage of the election I start crying again, it doesn't help that I stayed up all night to see all the coverage but I am now recovered sleep wise and still feel the same way.

Quickly and not comprehensively enough summing it up: 1) 40 years ago it wouldn't have been legal for me to have gotten married and now we have a mixed president; 2) putting aside all of his policies, W's man of the people anti-elitist cowboy act made us look bad (which concrete political effects) and Obama's thoughtful, professorial approach is going to make us look good again.

The best way I have seen it described is cathartic. I am so tired of seeing Bush up there with his "I'm a C student who is getting over for the moment" look on his face every time he gave a speech. It was truly a moment of catharsis for me to see Obama up there giving that amazingly smart and obviously multilayered speech.

The impact here in France has been amazing. Newspapers continue to run stories about the election and wonder whether it could happen here. The ideals of the French Republicanism are being questioned. People think the policy of officially ignoring race (there are no statistics kept about race here because everyone is French) seems to have failed. Affirmative action is being considered. They can't figure out how they went from being a country that was ahead of American in race relations to one that seems to be so far behind it.

French people are coming up to me and saying things like: "you Americans have taught us a lesson again; it's been a long time but you are really leading the way"; "I want to move to America"; "something like this could never happen in France"; "I wish I could move to America and start having kids because it is a place of hope"; and "It will be at least 50 years before any minority gets elected here." I am sure it is clear but there was no such talk before November 5th, at least not that I heard.

Jacques Bonsergent

2008-11-01T11:38:00.000-07:00

Jacques Bonsergent is the name of one of two metro stops that I use frequently, the other being Colonel Fabien. The other day I noticed this explanatory plaque in the metro. It was called Lancry(it is located on Rue Lancry) until 1946. It is named after M. Bonsergent because he was the first Frenchmen executed for his acts in the Resistance and lived near this metro stop.

Anyway, I think this sign is a great example of French writing and history. I will try to (loosely) translate it: "Jacques Bonsergent, engineer of arts and trades, first Frenchmen, victim of his courage and his brotherly feelings, executed on December 23rd 1940."

I am not sure about what sentiments fraternels means here. It could mean his feelings about his country or countrymen and at first I thought it didn't dmatter that much. I just like they way it is written, victim of his brotherly feelings. But then I thought, given that it was during the French Resistance, it might refer to his lack of anti-semitic feelings also. I dont' think that's it and I really hope that isn't it but I suppose it isn't outside the realm of possibility. That would change it for me.

Seeing a movie in Paris

2008-11-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

I usually take seeing a movie pretty seriously and am generally protective of my movie going experience overall. Frequently in St. Louis people are talking and carrying on before and during the movie to the extent that I will either confront them, wait for Sheridan to do it for me, or just leave and ask for a refund. Although it is usually old people who are the biggest offenders, it can really be anyone. Often it depends on the type of movie it is. Pretty much any time you try to see a movie at Frontenac, there's some older couple loudly discussing what just happened.

Anyway, I was nervous about this because I was meeting Christin, her sister and a friend at Les Halles to see Quantum of Solace. Two important things: 1) I loved Casino Royale and couldn't wait to see the new Daniel Craig Bond film (Bond is a serious badass again); and 2) Les Halles is basically a giant mall where a ton of kids hang out (think the Galleria on steroids, HGH or whatever you prefer to get huge). Needless to say the stakes were high. Christin showed up on time, she had already bought the tix and we just waited in a long but fairly orderly line until it was time to be seated. At that time, we split up because there were just too many people for us to find four seats together.

The place was packed and everyone was loud and talking before it started. This is normal of course but I was scared because I was seeing a movie in Paris, the land where students don't respect silence in the classroom while the professor is professing or, more importantly, silence in the library while I am studying!

I am happy to say that the experience was great. Silence was totally respected, there were no irritating ads loudly playing before the show started, there were people coming around selling drinks to people in the seats, and there were actual ushers helping people find seats! These last two things were especially amazing to me. Selling food and drink in the seats like I was at the baseball game made me wonder why we don't do this at home. I for one was much more inclined to buy something because of this service. It was still more expensive but I found myself buying something anyway. And the ushers. Who even knew that this still existed? It certainly doesn't seem to in St. Louis.

Not to mention that the theater was clean, modern, had a great sound system and it wasn't freezing cold in there. Great experience.

litigious or just underinsured

2008-11-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

I came across this intersection a while ago when I was walking home.

Obviously, the city was doing some construction, resurfacing the street and generally improving the quality of the intersection. Great, except there didn't see to be anyway to get from one side to the other until I saw this.

That's right, you are supposed to walk across these rickety boards to get to the other side. I immediately thought, "Wow, that's a lawsuit waiting to happen," apparently revealing my American predisposition to litigation. I then saw a woman of a certain age try to cross these boards with few sacks of groceries in her hands. Predictably she fell. This got me to thinking: what is the nature of liability law in France?

A couple of days later I told some of my fellow students about this scene and asked about liability law. They responded that I was so American and that French people wouldn't think of suing for an injury resulting from something like this. Obviously dissatisfied with this response, I asked more and more French people about this. They all responded that they just never would think about suing because of an injury resulting from this negligence. Instead, they would just go to the hospital and get it take care of. The only time they would sue would be if someone died as a result of the negligence.

Then it hit me. My solution to tort reform in America and the cure for the "judicial hellhole" that is Madison County: universal healthcare.

Seriously, is it that crazy? Think about all of the time and money spent on litigation in America trying to recover the cost of medical care. Isn't that what these French people were telling me? What's the point of suing the government or anyone else for medical costs that the government is already going to cover?

If you didn't have to worry about my medical bills, losing money from not being able to work or losing my job(because of course your employer here has to keep paying you 100% of your wages until you return, depending on how long it takes you to return), you would have no great incentive to sue anyone. Honestly I wonder how many tort based lawsuits would never even be brought if no one worried about paying their medical bills or lost wages.

Living in a culturally catholic country

2008-11-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

I got a late start today and ending up leaving the house at around 12:0 or so to go to Dauphine. Since I don't have internet, Dauphine is where I go to not only to study but also to use the internet to read the news, send e-mails, write blogposts, etc. It takes me about a half an hour by metro so I got there a bit before 1:00. I was looking forward to 6 or 7 hours of alternately studying french and international law, checking out what's going on in the US, making a few skype calls and generally connecting with home.

Much to my chagrin, however, the school was closed. Not just closed but locked, padlocked. WTF? It has been open every other Saturday I have gone there. In fact, even though the library closes at 1:00 on Saturday, the building itself is open at least until 8:00 or so.

So, anyway, I was pretty pissed because I just traveled by metro for 35 minutes to get to the one place I thought I could really study only to find out it was close. Plus, this was lining up to be yet another example of how things are uncertain here. Why was it closed today and not any other Saturday?

Regardless, I was determined to stay and use the internet so I found a place around back where I could sit out of the rain and make a few skype calls. Yeah, I almost forgot, it was raining too, just to make matters worse.

Here's me trying to protect my computer from the bit of rain that is still falling on me. Of course, I am not studying, I am catching up on what the mighty Lakers have been doing.
Here's the view from outside the coat, or at least in an attempt at it.
Here's a bad picture of me. I am no longer mad here, just concentrating; sometimes they look the same.

See, here's a crooked smile that indicates I am happy about being here. Let's not forget, I am in Paris right now, not St. Louis, so it is not all bad.

And, there I sat for two hours making a few phone calls, commiserating with other people sitting out in the rain and cold (mostly homeless people looking to take my dry and not terribly cold place to sit).

Finally, a security guard came around and asked me what I was doing out there. I told him that I usually come up to the school on Saturday to do some work and was surprised to find out that it was closed today. He replied that today was a holiday and that was why it was closed. Yes, the school is closed because of Halloween, or more accurately, All Saints Day.

I have to admit that this is another example where my American framework threw me off. First, Halloween is not a day off from school in America so I didn't even think about it. Second, there was nothing posted about this that I saw at the university. Third, although I now know that All Saints Day is a fairly big deal of a religions holiday here and elsewhere throughout the world, part of what throws me off is that, in my understanding of Halloween in America, religious people don't even let their kids participate because it is all about devils and witches and what not. Finally, and perhaps most important, I thought this was a secular country. I guess I don't know why there is a national holiday to celebrate left over saints who didn't get their own day but muslim women can't wear the head scarf at school based, least ostensibly, on the idea that religious symbolism is not allowed.

Just so I am clear on this, having a national holiday and a two week vacation from school for a bunch of saints is not at all religious symbolism and thus is fine; wearing a head scarf most definitely is religious and is not to be tolerated.

Fine, I guess I will just add this to the exponentially expanding list of things I have learned about how things happen in France.

Liberal or liberal?

2008-10-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

Having a political conversation is just so different here for a number of reasons. For one, not even the anti-communists care about the insidious "redistribution of wealth" that provides everyone with healthcare and education. So it obviously isn't that aspect of communism that is problematic. Getting rid of these programs, even talking about it is plainly a non-starter. Here it seems that you can, in an intellectually honest way, be anti-communist and pro welfare state. It is completely unproblematic.

Further, even among the pro-business, free market group here, no legitimate candidate thinks about getting rid of free health care or education. I guess that's not entirely true as people are going to start paying tuition in France pretty soon, but I think only for the Grandes Ecoles. So, again, you can be an intellectually honest free marketer and support state paid health care.

Interestingly, at least to my ignorance plagued self, the term for the group who supports free market (sort of) principles is liberal. Liberal! It's just so counterintuitive, I can't wrap my mind around it. Even stranger for me as concerns my political identity in America, I am pretty sure I would be on the right here.

In fact, as I understand it and admittedly I am still learning, the version of the free market that the EU proposes is right up my alley. The people have a safety net, there are strong unions, banks have regulations (theoretically), healthcare is (almost) free as is education. There is an obvious price to pay in terms of taxes but, it is at least fairly clear what you get in exchange. If you add to that a genuine enforcement of anti-trust laws and a genuine concern for consumer protection while allowing for businness to flourish... Oh, wait,I guess this last part hasn't been all that successful, although France is ranked 16th in business climate ratings. By comparison, the U.S. is ranked #1.

All of this, of course, makes the suggestions that Obama is socialist or communist because he wants more people to pay taxes than paid under Bush just plain crazy. In fact, all of the assembled Europeans agreed that Obama would be the most liberal candidate that their country could produce.

On a related note, a news program here interviewed a bunch of French people in the street about whether they supported Obama. It was a landslide for him. Then they asked whether a black candidate could win in France. Again, they all said of course, no problem. One little problem, however, at least according to the in-studio guy: the way the selection of candidates works here makes it nearly impossible for a minority to be selected for a national post. Now, I don't know anything about this. The guy went on to say that an Obama candidacy is only possible in America due to changes in the primary process, allowing for greater participation. I knew nothing about that but it sort of makes sense.

Manifestations

2008-10-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

I went to lunch with David, Zsuzsanna, and Christin on Friday at the CROUS at Port Royal where we had an amazing lunch for under 3 euros. It was actually more than I could eat but I fought my through it.

In any case, David and Zsuzsanna are from Hungary, a country I know pretty much nothing about. As a result of that and the upcoming election, we have gotten into some interesting conversations. David and Zsuzsanna are both for McCain in the American election. When I asked them why they basically said that it was because Republicans are generally more anti-communist and since Hungary had a revolution to get rid of communists, they were for him. There is more to it than that but, overall, that is the basic idea.

Ok, interesting I thought. I guess that's true but my impression is that there are no American politicians who are even mildly procommunist, and most, when asked are virulently anti-communist. In any case, that is their impression and I will just take it at face value.

As we talked further, I learned about the revolution (Friday was the anniversary of the revolution, btw) and how they were still worried about Hungary's current government's commitment to democracy.

When we left the restaurant, there was a manifestation(just means a political demonstration)going on out front. Now, there's basically one of these going on every week here so that is no big deal. This one actually turned out to be a demonstration for judges in France and supported by some other functionaries.Pretty sure you would never see that in America.

Anyway, at one point there was some smoke coming from the demonstration and Zsuzsanna reacted with a little bit of fear when she saw it. To me, it was nothing to be alarmed about. David and Zsuzsanna then told me about how they were part of a crowd that was attacked by the govt with tear gas two years ago on this same day. They said that there were some world leaders in town and that the government wanted things to go well on the anniversary of the revolution so they suppressed the demonstration.

Ok, all of this sounds familiar and not too out of line. But then they revealed that the current government was Socialist. That's right, the one who gassed them and against whom they were protesting because of its lack of commitment to Democracy is socialist. Now, at least to my American-centric point of view, this just throws me off. For America, it would be some group that is closer to socialists, but still not actually socialist, taking to the streets and the major party government, Democratic or Republican, would be gassing them. There is no such thing as a serious, legitimate american Socialist political party. It just doesn't exist. More on this later.

Admittedly ignorant about politics outside of America, I asked some more questions. It turns out David is really concerned about the invasion of privacy that occurred in America after September 11th. He knows about FISA and the debate and wonders how Americans could have allowed that to happen.

Further, no one can understand why you have to be registered to vote a month before the election in order to vote...in a Democracy...in maybe THE Democracy.
It turns out that everyone is automatically registered to vote in Hungary and you just show up on the day and vote. In France, pretty much the same thing after you reach 18 years old. Of course there are safeguards against fraud but the idea is to encourage people to vote, not discourage them. They had revolutions and such to get that right. Oh wait, so did we.

Anyway, he was shocked when I told him about all the legislation and legal action ostensibly aimed at "protecting democracy" by making it harder for people to vote. He was even less happy about the fact that this type of stuff is more often pursued by republicans than democrats, at least in recent historical times.

I left out for the moment how everyone was happy to suppress the minority vote in America up until...uh...uh, 2008???? I know the FBI has ACORN covered but where's the DOJ Civil Rights division when you need them? Eversole?

During this conversation it dawned on me that David and Zsuzsanna, in spite of their love of John McCain and Republicans, wouldn't even be hard core Democrats, they would be at the most left of the left wing of that party. It just happens that their love of democracy is positioned against Communism and Republicans employ more routinely a rhetoric that is more openly supportive of anti-communist principles. So, they support Republicans. But if what is problematic about communism is invasion of privacy and subversion of liberties, you are probably not really for either major political party in America as they all, with a few exceptions, abdicated their responsibility after September 11th.

This brings me to my next related post.

Lunch time at Dauphine

2008-10-26T09:51:00.001-07:00

Here's what lunch break looks like at the student cafeteria here---it's crazy crowded!

Basically, the entire university has a break from 12:00 to 1:45 and almost everyone descends to the student restaurant area for lunch. There isn't much outside of the school as an alternative but there are several options in the student restaurant. We get sandwiches, salads, etc for much cheaper than at a restaurant but then there is the line.

Here is a different line. There are a lot of them here. Wonder what this one is for?
Cool, you can buy a ticket at this location for a meal at yet another location and if you buy the ticket you pay less. You can buy 1-4 tickets for lunch with a valid student id card.
So, of course there is a long line for this because the reduced cost ticket saves you about a buck or two.

Predictably, however, the kiosk is only open between 11:20 and 2:15 daily. And, as mentioned above, you can only buy four tickets at a time. That's good thinking!

< But you know what, none of this matters because I make my own lunch. All I need is a microwave.

Holy crap! Look at all these people waiting for the microwave. WTF?

As it turns out, this is the only microwave in the whole place. Oh well, cold pasta is ok, isn't it?

16 years ago...

2008-10-22T10:19:00.001-07:00

Last Friday, I went to visit Paule Schneersohn, the woman who ran the study abroad program I did during my junior year in college. It was kind of strange coming back here after so long but it was comforting as well. I remembered la rue de chevreuse and Reid Hall and couldn't wait to see them and Paule again.

I had a great time when I was in Paris before. It was the first time I voted and the only time I cast a winning vote for a presidential candidate. I lived with a host family and rented an apartment. I lived in the 6th arrondissement which was very upscale and in the 11th which wasn't then but seems to be more so now.

In any case, I remember it fondly. What I didn't know then and do know now is that it is really hard to find a place to live, enroll in courses and generally get around in France. And 16 years ago my French was so bad that when Paule met me at the airport and asked me "Comment est votre francais?" I didn't even come close to understanding it. Using every bit of my French skills, I said "repetez, s'il vous plait" which she did several times. I dipped deep into my reservoir for phrases as sophisticated as "Je ne comprends pas, Madame" and "Comment?" but still I didn't get. Finally, without a hint of exasperation she asked the question in English "How is your French?". After an awkward pause, I responded "I guess you know the answer to that question."

Now, even with vastly improved but still not great French, I still have all kinds of problems and find everything just slightly more difficult here. I wish I could have appreciated all that she did for me when she was doing it. I am sure that I will appreciate something about this trip later in life that I don't appreciate now.

Paule is doing well. She seems to be the same warm and generous person I remember. Her kids, Antoine and Noemie, who I babysat 16 years ago, have grown up. Antoine is married and has a baby of his own. Antoine was great and helped me out with his sister, Noemie. Like many 8 year olds, Noemie gave me all kinds of trouble. But she was also sweet and patient with my bad French and more importantly, introduced me to "La Vache qui rit"(laughing cow cheese), which I thought was French and was astonished to see in my local Edwardsvillian grocery store when I returned to America.

Some things just seem funnier here.

2008-10-22T03:11:00.000-07:00

I hope no explanation is needed.

le rugby ou le matrix

2008-10-21T06:44:00.000-07:00

Paris is a big crowded city with narrow sidewalks and a lot of foot traffic. So, when walking around the city, I try to make my way without unnecessarily running into or over anyone. I have come to find, however, that the same courtesy is typically not being offered to me.

After about a month and a half of this, I was getting pretty tired of it so I did a little experiment where I just walked straight ahead to see if anyone would get out of my way. The results of my unscientific experiment were mixed. Some people moved, but only at the very last moment. Most, either stubbornly stood their ground or were simply indifferent to my presence, at least until the moment of collision.

That, too, was interesting because the results were mixed as well. A lot of people simply kept right on walking without saying a word. Many, however, felt the need to stop me or say something in passing. This just adds to the hostility and aggression I feel here so I decided to go back to avoiding people but sometimes I just want to...

Last week, after being bumped into several times by people who didn't even acknowledge my existence, I asked my friend Flora about this phenomenon as we negotiated foot traffic in the metro and then at Les Halles (a big shopping center).

She said she agreed with me and that French people (she is French btw but from Grenoble) and especially Parisians seem to be concerned mostly with what is going on with them. They are kind of stuck in their own worlds and not really too concerned with getting out of someone's way. She said that there were two choices that you could make when encountering the hordes here in Paris: "Thomas, soit tu fais le rugby, soit tu fais le matrix." At first I didn't understand but I am sure you she where she is going: run into them or get out of the way like Keanu Reaves dodging a bullet. She added that the choice usually depends on how you are feeling that particular day.

I've been watching attentively this last week and it seems that most people choose Keanu. The problem I was having is that I was trying to get out of the way too early. Having made my more too early but not knowing it, I was surprised that others were making no move and felt aggressed. Now I know that I wasn't even giving them the chance to make their move. It still isn't intuitive but I am learning.

La bibliotheque

2008-10-21T00:48:00.001-07:00

Almost everyday here gives me another example of something I took for granted in the U.S., in St. Louis or at Saint Louis University School of Law. Whether it's free electricity at a coffee shop or easy access to high speed wireless, my once abstract sense that what we often call the basics are really extravagances has only been reinforced.

Take, for example, the library. I often complain that SLU's law library isn't open late enough or not at all on certain days. I mean, on Saturday I hardly get started until the afternoon and they have the nerve to close at 5:00. Geez, do they have lives they want to live or something?
Here, the library is only open until 8:00 nightly,on Saturday from 9:00 to 1:00, and not at all on Sunday.

I feel like a lot of this complaint stems from my hearsay knowledge of the glory that is the Washington University School of Law library. Legend has it that this mythical place is beautiful, safe, and OPEN 24 HOURS!!! Although I have never set foot in this pristine depository of legal wisdom, I still use it as a point of comparison for our library which cruelly closes at midnight daily, with the exception of Saturday.
Well, no more. Now that I have experienced what a library can be, I hope to remember what I have at SLU. First of all, there are two libraries in my building although I may only enter one of them. It seems that the determining factor is whether I am doing a Master's Pro or a Master's Recherche.

If I am only a Master's Pro, I cannot enter the research library and am damned to study at the undergraduate library. So, I go to the undergrad library where there are people talking pretty much constantly, albeit at low levels. At first I thought that this was just another example of how things are different here and that being quiet in the library didn't translate. However, there were signs saying silent in about 10 languages so I thought it was likely that people were supposed to be quiet.

I went to the librarian to ask what the protocol was for getting people to be quiet. Was I supposed to say something or were the employees of the library supposed to say something? I should note that these weren't student workers. These are career professionals, librarians, whose whole life is dedicated to this job. They told me that it would be better for me to say something to them.

Ok. So, I just left instead because I wasn't really sure how to politely say stfu in French and that was all I could think of at that moment. The next day, determined to use the one ostensibly quiet study space available to me, I returned to the library. Predictably, generations of not caring about silence in the library had not changed overnight and people began talking again.

I asked a friend how to ask them to quit talking and she responded "Tu peux parler moins fort, s'il vous plait?". I should have known then that the concept didn't exist because that question translates roughly as "Could you speak less loudly please?".

In any case, I tried it and it seemed to work. The students looked at me like I was crazy (some of this is because I dared to ask them to speak less loudly and some of it is because of my American accented French) but they indeed stopped talking...for a couple of minutes. Then, they started again. I asked them once more, and they stopped again.

The problem is that we are in these giant rooms where there can be anywhere from 2-60 or so people, maybe more. So even if I manage to get two students to agree to be quiet for a minute or two, there are always more arriving. In reality, the conversation of the two students is not problematic, but when 30 pairs of students begin "speaking quietly", all of a sudden there is really no way to study.

In the end, I just left. I have since found that there are always empty classrooms to study in so i just go there. Of course, the whole building closes at 10:00 so I leave almost every night when the janitor comes in to clean the room. I never thought I would say it but I really miss Omer Poos, and not just because of its funny name.

Blowing up some of my assumptions about France

2008-10-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

Cartier on the Champs Elysees, the biggest, richest, most beautiful avenue in Paris: this makes sense to me.
MontBlanc on the Champs Elysees: ditto.
Vesuvio on the Champs Elysees: A beer costs 8 Euro and I am assuming that is a demi; alright everything is in keeping with what I expect.

A crowded McDonald's on the Champs Elysees? No, that doesn't seem right.

A value meal for 9 euro. OK, I guess it's a tie. Yes, there's a really busy McDonald's on the most chic street in Paris but it's still wildly expensive.
MotorHead in concert in Paris. Sold out! Never would have expected this.