lessons in French politics

Apart from the Paris-Nice finish, this past week hasn't been terribly exiting. I was alone for the entirety of it because my host father's mother is dying and they were with her. Madame came back yesterday and Monsieur just came in to say hello to me. I hope all is as well as it can be but I've stayed pretty removed from the situation and only offered my condolences.

I've developed quite a cough in the past few days which has not been fun at
all. A good French expression for my cough is "Avoir un chat dans la gorge"
which translates literally to "to have a cat in one's throat" but is most similar
to "to have a frog in one's throat". Thankfully I've found Ricolas  (my
constant savior) and have been drinking lots of fluids. My favorite, just as
when I'm not sick, is tea.

This past week's courses seemed to me to be quite heavily dominated by French politics which I found quite fascinating. It's disheartening to remember that the politics of other countries aren't very often discussed in the US unless they relate directly to US interests which is a shame. French politics are something that, as a subject, I find myself quite drawn to. I think if I could pinpoint the start of the interest it would be when I first heard about the revolts of May '68. 1968 as a year was one of revolutions across the world but I always found (and still do) the one month period in which France was virtually shut down from strikes to be intriguing. The summer after my freshman year I wrote a research proposal relating to May '68 and hoped to turn it into an IROP (International Research Opportunities Program) but sadly had difficulty finding a mentor.

May '68 aside, while I'm fascinated by French politics, up until now I've had little - if any - knowledge on how the Fifth Republic functions let alone the politics of it. As for now, I understand a little, but like the country itself, it's pretty confusing. That said I think I might take up a pet project of looking into either Charles de Gaulle and the creation of the Fifth Republic or the 2002 Presidential election and the Front Nationale. I'm reluctant to go into specifics about either here not because they're complicated but because I don't necessarily have a grasp on either of them.

This was pretty similar to an apple crisp, but in addition to apple there was
Cassis, which is an essential ingredient in Burgundy and also delicious.

As far as this week goes I had my first test today. It was a combination of Oral Comprehension, Written Comprehension and Written Expression. I think I did relatively well but it's hard to tell because the French grading system is so different from that of the US. Everything is graded out of 20 but it's unheard of for anyone to get a 20/20.

France aside I've found a series of websites that serve as excellent news sources for Japan. I don't think that many pictures or words can do justice to the gravity of the situation there at this moment but I do think that it's paramount to stay informed and also to do whatever can be done to help everyone there.