Let Cultural Wednesdays Commence!

I went to the Institut du Monde Arabe today and saw the Venise & l'Orient exhibit. It was nice, lots of old stuff, but nothing fantastic. The coolest thing was seeing the influence each of the two cultures had on one another. Apparently, both cultures were quite fascinated with each other and more importantly, they respected each other and were open to trade. Unfortunately, I couldn't take any pictures in the museum, but I took some from the top of the building.


There is a tea room at the top and it is slightly tacky but also slightly classy. It is very expensive, but has a great view. This picture doesn't do it justice, honest! Maybe next week I will have some better pictures.

Is This Culture?

I went to a French version of the Rocky Horror Picture Show last night. The actors and audience were slightly more X-rated than those I have seen in the States, but all in all, it was good fun. Halloween is my favorite holiday and since I have not celebrated it in the last two years, it was great dressing up for one night even if the only “dressing up” I did was putting on a ton of make-up.

I Am Boring

Cultural Wednesdays did not get off to a good start. I spent some of the day at the gym and the rest of the day grading tests. So far I have spent about 7 hours grading tests. I don’t get paid for grading tests, nor do I get paid for prep time; I am only paid for the amount of hours I teach, so basically I have been working incredibly long, hard hours for free. I really have a problem with working for free. I think I should get paid for grading the tests because it is actually harder than teaching class. And to make matters worse, 40 tests got lost in the mail. I just got them last night and they are due Monday. Sheesh, I know what I am going to be doing all weekend. Ahhh, life in chic Paris, grading papers all the live long day.

Speaking of mail, guess what finally arrived Wednesday, January 24, 2007. My carte Vitale. 482 days after I applied for it. Talk about fast service! Anyway, now I can go to the doctor, if I am so inclined, and pay very little.

Hopefully next Wednesday will be more entertaining. I am pretty sure I won’t be grading tests.

Hello Paris

I made it back to Paris safe and sound, if not a little tired, yesterday morning. The flight was quick, a mere 6 hours, but extremely bumpy. I made the crazy mistake of taking a nap once I arrived at my apartment and then couldn't sleep last night. I had 3 classes to teach today and loads of commuting which I did in a tired, jet lagged haze. My poor students had to suffer through my worst lesson to date.

I enjoyed my vacation immensely. I got to visit with just about everyone. I wish I could have stayed longer, but my jobs demanded I come back. Actually, I should have come back a few days sooner, but since it was my first visit back, I wanted to take as much time as possible.

I have my new schedule for this semester and it looks as if I will be free Wednesdays, so I have dedicated it as my cultural day for each week. There are still so many things I want to visit and re-visit with my time left in Paris. Plus I have a ton of stuff to do for Habitat for Humanity. We have to raise something around the amount of 22,000 Euros for this year's blitz build.

I hope everyone had a great holiday!