The Art Of...

Okay, so pretty soon will be my 3 week anniversary of living in Strasbourg, France.  Since France is known to be an artsy country, and since I'm traveling to Milan this weekend, HUGE cultural center of art and fashion (wooo excitement), I decided to reflect on my last few weeks here in sharing what I've learned.  I've picked up on a lot of things; this is what I like to call "The Art Of..."

The art of weaving in and out of tourist crowds on a bike (hint, follow the tram lines!)
The art of swallowing cheese with dignity, even if it's of the smellier, bleu-er variety...blech
The art of blending in with the French (cue colorful scarves and cool sunglasses...although I haven't gotten the handlebar moustache down yet)
The art of running on cobblestone...sorry Coach Dunham!
The art of French politics ("Oh, vous n'aimez pas Sarkozy?...Euh, ni moi non plus!  Il est dingue, n'est-ce pas??")
The art of staying awake through 3 hour French Operas...okay I lied I totally fell asleep through the last one.
The art of discreetly holding one's breath while passing by smokers
The art of getting into dance clubs...fo' free! (Helps that I'm a girl, ya got me?)
The art of bargain hunting...I'm talking 10 euro purses, 5 euro wallets, 3 euro lunches, 90 cent icecreams, and 40 cent coffees!
The art of occupying ones' self on Sundays, or any time after 6 PM, or whenever it rains, since EVERYTHING CLOSES
The art of riding a bike in city traffic (right of way law=bigger vehicle wins)
The art of unproductivity (see: internship)
The art of French conversation...the key is literature, arts, movies!
The art of "appreciating" modern art (okay, I admit it, maybe I'm just too unsophisticated to understand, but I just don't GET it.  I mean, the other day, when I went to a museum, there was a piece of "art" that was literally a pile of trash. And it was labeled, "A Pile of Trash". Waat???)
The art of getting student discounts...chaching!
The art of wine tasting (smell-look-swirl-taste!)
The art of playing dumb (What? I was supposed to BUY a gym membership? Oh, I didn't know! I don't speak French!)
The art of mastering the time difference...thank you, gmail phone calls
The art of taking French showers
The art of avoiding zombie pigeons (they are EVERYWHERE)
The art of asking for directions in French...this is a must!

So, weekly update.  My internship is going a lot better.  The professors are pleased with the model I've come up with, and my report is already around 7 pages!  France is not the most productive country ever, and I'm afraid I'm adjusting to that way of life a little to well, but I'm still chugging along, aren't I?

After six weeks of a dry spell, Strasbourg has been getting nonstop gloomy weather.  Like I said, everything shuts down when it rains!  So last night, to avoid being cooped up indoors yet again, I went over to a small movie theatre and saw The Tree of Life (in English, of course).  The movie was visually stunning and so beautifully done, but the story was absolutely AWFUL.  It was literally two hours of nothing. While all of the nature scenes were great to look at, after seven minutes of watching a volcano eruption, I found myself white-knucke-gripping my armrests, squirming uncomfortably, wanting to scream, "OH MY GOD NOTHING IS HAPPENING"  The coolest part of the experience was definitely the French commercials and previews before the movie.  It is SO interesting to see how their culture differs from ours, even in their advertising.

Speaking of culture, I can feel my French improving and I love it!  I'm not quite so sure about my speaking (although I will say that I think my accent is becoming better) but my comprehension has expanded exponentially, just listening to my host mom and professors.  Today one of the professors at INSA, Prof. Poulet (yes, that means chicken) took us on this awesome 3 hour excursion up this breathtaking mountain to see the monestary of St. Odile, which has a gorgeous panoramic view of the Alsatian plains, the surrounding mountain ranges, and all of the little city clusters.  Seriously, I was in awe- I've never seen anything like it.  Everything was so....green!  It was very beautiful.  We were also fortunate to visit a local wine cellar, where we got to taste Alsatian wines.  The woman there was so passionate about wine making; she explained to me the process and it really is an art.  Like I wrote before, the wine business here is very personal; people invest their entire lives into it and pass it down from generation to generation.  She told me how exact the process must be- they even depend on lunar cycles to plant complementary flowers of vegetables by the grape vines, so that they can interpollenate to create a better bouquet.  And everything she sells is organic, so they must also take care of the insects naturally, instead of using pesticides.  Anyways, since the professor and the wine vendor only spoke French, and my friends only speak English, I was the designated translator for the day.  I LOVE it:  I love speaking French with my professor, he treats me as an adult and doesn't try to simplify the subject matter or talk down to me just because I'm American.  Indeed, he is so very wise and speaks on the most intriguing subjects: history, economics, politics, science, art, film.  When I speak with him I can FEEL my French improving!!

Tomorrow my friend Xi, an electrical engineer that works with me at INSA, and I are going for a long weekend trip to Milan.  We will be taking a bus there and staying in a hostel.  Can't wait to see what the city has to offer!