Friday, January 15, 2010

La pétanque

Another beautiful day in Aix...well actually we haven't had too many of those. But today is perfect. I think the weatherman said it was either 7 or 11 degrees Celsius. I never did learn how to convert temperatures, but it feels like March in Michigan when the snow melts and all you need is a light coat. Luckily, the little snow we had here melted immediately. I went for a run with a friend this afternoon, in true American style, and discovered a really nice park that reminds me of the Arb. Aix really is like the French version of Ann Arbor: same nice park, same population, same ridiculous prices.

As I was walking to the office to write this today, I walked by another park and noticed a group of old French men playing the national game of France, pétanque. It's the French equivalent of Bocce ball (which I love) so I really wanted to join them, but there didn't seem to be too many women around and I figured I should probably just keep walking. Maybe I can find some younger people to play with me...

The reason I'm lazing around on a Friday is because I decided not to schedule any classes today. I'm hoping to travel a little on some long weekends, and not having class Friday comes in handy when I stay out late Thursday night and don't wake up until noon the next day. Last night my school had a soiree to celebrate the end of exams, foreigners, and anything else that might make a person happy. It was a masked ball and they bused us out to a club on the outskirts of the town. The French students all looked immaculate, of course. I appreciate that French boys actually know how to dance, too. American guys could take a lesson or two from them.

Most of the night I hung out with the other foreign kids, and it was strange to be the weird group that doesn't fit in. We clearly weren't French, so the other students didn't really talk to us much, but it was tons of fun nonetheless. Dancing to Grease and 90s American hip hop is apparently very popular here, so the musical experience was also a bit strange.

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