My New Bike!

Friday, October 5, 2007

I got a bike today. I’m so excited. They have a program on campus where you can rent a bike for the year and pay only 40€. That price is unheard of! The bikes are bright orange and yellow, and if you want, you can chose one with a removable basket on the front—very useful for groceries! The only thing that irks me is that the bell on the handlebar is very sensitive. Therefore, even the tiniest bump in the road makes it ring. So if I’m going down a hill, every person on the street is very well aware of it. They also must think I’m being an annoying pain: *drrrring…. drrrring, drrring…. drrrring*


Going about my daily errands, I have been confused several times for a Quebecer. I haven’t yet decided if that’s a compliment to me… or an insult to other Quebecers. Maybe it’s simply because the only French I’ve been around the past couple of years is Quebec French. Then again, maybe it’s because they think that Quebecers have really horrible Anglophone accents (which might be the case. Benjamin told me that he had a girl come up to him after having spoken in class, telling him that he speaks French really well. Duh! It’s his first language). To all the Quebecers I know, I apologize for unintentionally poorly representing you. However, I should mention that even the Quebecers I’ve met here have told me that the French I use is more from Quebec than France. Makes sense, if you ask me. But good grief, I am going to have such a messed up accent when I come back: a strange mix of Quebec pronunciation, French expressions, and an Anglophone accent to top it all off. Yikes.

On the topic of language, I’m actually taking two language classes while I’m here: Italian and German. Apparently, language classes are popular, because in both classes I’ve been to, if you don’t get there early, you don’t have a seat. The Italian prof seems to be a little more lenient on this subject. Basically, if you’re comfortable sitting on the floor for three hours, then fine. The German teacher has more of a “tough-luck” approach. The very first class, there were about 75 people who showed up in a very small classroom and were forced to cram standing in the back of the classroom. Nazi-prof then decided the first 35 people to sign a sheet of paper would be the ones able to register for the German class. Thanks heavens I had a friend save me a seat, and just by chance, it was in one of the first few rows the paper was sent. I’m happy, but I’m scared. This means that 40 people left that classroom really angry. For all I know, I could have a few dozen Hitler aficionados after me wanting to off me to take my spot in the course.

I’ve decided that when it comes to language, French people are just cleverer. This cleverness is also often a mark of class. It was explained to me that in the current class system in France (which very well exists), the higher-class people tend to be cleverer. From the bathroom stalls…

- S’il vou plaît arrêtez de salir les portes. (If yo please, stop writing on the doors.)
- Retournez à l'école primaire pour apprendre les bases d'orthographe, s’il VOUS plaît. (Go back to elementary school and learn how to spell, if YOU please.)
- Cessons donc cette violence verbale. (Let’s stop this verbal violence.)

…To the ads on TV…

Ad for “Thé Éléphant”: Un parfum de ‘nouveauté’ (→ “Nouveau thé”)

…To the social aspect that involves a lot of wit. Therefore, if you can manipulate words and play with their sense of sarcasm and satire, you will find yourself fitting in and no doubt being invited out quite often (and with the bourgeois, they’ll most likely pay for your drinks, too). Now, I’m nowhere near being able to play with words in French that cleverly, however, though it doesn’t happen often, it feels incredible when I can successfully inject even one ounce of humour into a conversation.