From Right Here

Oh, the art of doing-not-much, is so sweet here…. But of all the wonderfully literary and cultural things I can be getting myself into, I still have my little magazine-disease. It starts at the grocery store, or the corner “Tabac” shop. The magazines are all laid out in their little rows, with their bright titles, and they’re glossy happy faces. I notice when it’s a particularly “blonde” month full of blond-headed cover-girls, or whether we’ve moved into “brunettes”. I know the entire history of the death of Jane Magazine, and before I left NYC, I had to lug 3 boxes of old magazines down to the recycling bin.

And in France - they just freakin’ kill me - they offer FREE THINGS IN THE MAGAZINES!

Seriously, you don’t have to send in a post-card. You don’t have to collect UPC symbols. Your free gift is just sitting there in it’s lovely little cellophane wrapping. And I can’t escape the temptation. (Even though the magazines are in french and NO, I don’t understand all of it:):)

I’ve already gotten a free white bag with sparkly-sequins for only 2 Euro Extra!, a free book on sexy art, and a free scarf. I’ve been looking desperately for the “Sante” (Health Magazine) with the free travel pillow, but I may fall prey to the new BIBA - which contains a skirt that turns into a DRESS! Dit Quoi? These french people are pretty clever. They know me too well, here.

Okay, but I HAVE now got a library card (cost me 15 freakin’ euro!), and I can choose from an entire shelf of books in English. My latest was a recommendation from my new friend Claus who teaches at a German school in Paris. - “The New York Trilogy” by Paul Aster. Yes, I find it’s the very best thing to contemplate on your hometown when you’re living in another country.

Thanks for the recommondation Claus! This is a detective/mystery/man-ish kind of novel, that I found completely thoughtful and intriguing. My favorite quote -

“City of Glass” P94

Old man Stillman explaining why he wanders around all day collecting junk from the streets of New York and renaming them:
“…For our words no longer correspond to the world. When things were whole, we felt confident that our words could express them. But little by little these things have broken apart, shattered, collapsed into chaos. And yet, our words have remained the same…

But words, you understand, are capable of change…when you rip the cloth off the umbrella, is the umbrella still an umbrella?…Because it can no longer perform its function, the umbrella has ceased to be an umbrella…The word however has remained the same.

Therefore, it can no longer express the thing. It is imprecise; it is false; it hides the thing it is supposed to reveal. And if we cannot even name a common, everyday object that we hold in our hands, how can we expect to speak of the things that truly concern us?”

I’ve been in the South of France for about 3 months now. I’ll be moving into my next apartment in a week, I have a job at the local mall (I’m in the middle of making my french Mallrats movie, don’t worry JOHN!), I’ve been obsessively watching the Olympics (www.stillgoodnews.com), writing, and wandering around the city with friends. Here are finally a few photos.

More than anything, I’ve just been having fun and enjoying no longer making little mistakes like travelling an hour on a hot bus to the WRONG post office.

As for imparting any life lessons about leaving your job and moving to another country for 6 months - hmmm, can’t say I have anything more creative than Nike - “Just freakin do it already”

The great thing about Montpellier is that it is a French city with lots and lots of international students. Currently, at my little language school, I take class with a Canadian, a Swede, 3 Germans, an Italian, a Romanian a Russian and a Tawainese. I live with a Swede.

It gives me great opportunities to ask the questions we never wanted to work hard to answer - namely -

Canada - what exactly are they up to?

Switzerland - is there more than just the bank?

Taiwan - what is it?

M first few weeks here, I felt pretty dumb (I won’t say dumb-american, because let’s face it, there’s some pretty damn smart people in America). People generally seem to know a lot about the US - the celebrities, the politics, the cities. I’d kind of liken it to being the celebrity of the moment - America-lina, maybe. But I did often meet people from countries I couldn’t identify on a map. And, let’s face it, there are some places that no one actually - gets. Maybe it’s our lack of curiosity - but I prefer to blame it instead on the good old media - it’s easier, they’re big, and many people don’t like them.

So, coming soon - a little ditty on different countries around the world. I ask my friends some questions, they give me some enlightening facts about the world.

Mega!

10 Things you Might Like to Know about TAIWAN

from my friend, Yu-Lun Hsu (pictured below right)

1. It’s not part of China (say what?!) It’s a Country, dude. Really.
2. Everyone in Taiwan is Chinese originally, except for a population of native Taiwan people
3. Native Taiwanese - “aborigines” have darker skin, more oblong faces, and have many different dialects of their own language
4. The Ghost Festival! - This festival starts on the 15th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar (where each month only contains 30 days). Taiwanese eat lots, put up lots of lights, and offer food and gifts to the spirits who come out especially for this festival!
5. Taiwan is a democracy
6. It is surrounded by water - aka - yet another place for a beach vacation
7. Currently, Chinese people are not allowed to go to Taiwan, but change is in the works
8. Cool products - 3C, ACER, BenQ
9. Big Industry - computers, cell phones, chips, electornics
10. You’ll find this is a bike country, and bikes only cost about 20 Euros ($35US)

Thanks Yu-Lun!