french classes

bonjour tout le monde!

last week has been a week of spending, spending and more spending. but its not for clothes, cds or little trinkets found in the shops around saint etienne. in fact, i have been brushing up my french which saw it stagnant for the past 3 weeks or so. last week i finally got off my arse and bought a few books to help out with my french. while the materials you will see below have been useful, there are a couple of “grammar reference books” yet to arrive – i bought seven books in total, and the two below have since arrived. so anyway i will show you the books i have been using for my “mid term” exams.

the visual bilingual dictionary is really helpful! the chapters are divided to the different themes of day-to-day events from restaurants to gym, home to the workplace, outer space to animal kingdom, etc. this i think is essential to improving ones vocabulary and keeping it with the help of giving the reader an image to associate the word with. this book retails at €10.

another book i bought to improve my vocabulary is “mot a mot – new advanced french vocabulary”. this book covers a wider range of topics from crime and law (le crime et la loi), immigration and racism (l’immigration et le racisme), politics (la vie politique), etc. as you can tell these chapters highlight words used in these specific situations which will come in handy when conversing current affairs with the french.

while i do have the ultralingua french-english dictionary on my computer which i paid €40 – a hell alot of money if you ask me. the good thing is that not only does it provide you with a gargantuan dictionary and conjugation, the dictionary also provides for reference section which helps with figuring out the french grammar. the conjugation bit of the dictionary provides contains only present tense, past tense and present participle.

i am really pleased that the reference section has saved me a few embarrassing moments while conversing in french. however, it does not provide a full overview of the topic interested but rather on-the-surface explanations which could get one through day-to-day conversations. but i suppose ultralingua is a dictionary rather than a reference book so i am thankful nonetheless of their efforts to create this dictionary.

these resources have helped me loads. in the past one week, i do feel relatively confident in expressing myself a tad bit more clearly. while i do not wish to blow my own trumpet, i have been told my level of french for a debutant (3 months now) is good. hard work definitely does payoff and fingers crossed i will be sitting for the B2 exams in march.

anyway, to my parents, the picture below shows that your money is not going to waste. bye!

jeremy

teehehe

videos from fete de la lumiere

okay remember when i said my camera was with johanns.

yeah he gave it back to me this morning. so this is a post of the better videos i took during the festival. i would love to edit them into a cohesive video of lyon’s fete but its alittle hard with limited videos (i took around 4 or 5 videos in total). plus, i think its better to see it in its original form to get the feel of the town

enjoy.

fete de la lumiere

can’t sleep. tried thinking about nothing but still no luck for the past 2 hours.

so this is me burning off my excess amount of energy i gathered from today’s siesta. right. so as i said last week that i would be travelling to lyon. well i did fellas… and this is the first time im following up on a report. the pictures seen below are taken by my friend johanns ganters. while i do have photos from that trip, but unfortunately my camera is with him – i was drunk and i left it in his girlfriend’s car on the way back home.

at the moment, things are going fine. my routine this month has mostly been classes in the morning and sometimes football in the afternoon. who am i kidding, in fact, its streaming and web surfing mostly during the afternoons. this is followed by more surfing at night. if not for la cotonne’s poor internet connection, i would probably have downloaded films all day long and basically hibernate the winter away. yeah worry not dear parents. i do devote some time to improving my french – 30 minutes to 1 hour per day but i digress, i love my life now. slow but enriching at the same time

so without much further ado, these are some of the pictures of lyon’s fete de la lumiere. ohyeah johanns if you ever find your way to this blog, thanks for the pictures.

jeremy

p.s:- johanns is the fella on my left.

ennui

bonjour tout le monde!

so its almost 3 months now in france and so far so good. made some friends here and there and going to CILEC practically everyday just because there is nothing else better to do.

during the last few weeks, i have been going to many soirees. no pictures as i don’t want to risk losing my second camera. moreover, when i do go out, i never bring my wallet. while it does help to keep the cost down, this new habit has saved me a few hassles. like last week, a friend of mine – dong min had his wallet stolen in a soiree. he left it in his jacket. sure he was careless but when so many different people walk in and out of the party, its better to hold it on with you. or better leave it at home.

not to mention last saturday there was a soiree which turned into a full fledged discotheque in chez romolu. unfortunately for the host, someone stole his mp3 player. pricks. what is it with french and their nimble fingers. note to self – no inviting frenchies over.

on another note, my french has improved exponentially! not really. if i were to analogize it, i would say i’m stuck between first and second gear. time in st. etienne passes really slowly. but the good thing is, it has given me time to think and reflect on where i would like to be in the future. i’m glad this gap year has its uses afterall. till then, have a great week ahead!

jeremy

p.s:- nothing much to update to be honest. but next week i’m heading out to lyon for fete de la lumiere avec mes amis.

Finally i haz da interwebz

I went to CROUS today for the umpteenth time and they finally released my code wifi. Bless them all.

With the internet code, the first thing i did was to upload a new video i did throughout the weekend (i told you its a new hobby of mine) of a tour of Saint Etienne and Musee de la Mines. The tour was free and CILEC invited a tour guide to show and give us an intensive history of the town itself. The reason why i chose a sombre tune in the video was to capture the feel of the town and the museum itself. Apparently, Saint Etienne went through a period of economic downturn which saw the mines, once a major industry and employer of the many Stephanois, turn to ruins. The mines is now refurbished into a museum.

As for further pictures and history of the town, i will keep it for the next post. For now, WATCH MY NEW VIDEO!

jeremy

B419

the day i lost my camera, i uploaded a video i took of my room. although it may not be big, its really cosy. this is my first attempt in making a video so i hope you’ll enjoy it as much as i did to make it! this one took me 20 minutes to complete… including understanding most of the basics of iMovie. looks like i found myself a new hobby in france!

jeremy

p.s: – ive been told that the video was not viewable. but now its fixed!

La Cotonne

So last Sunday I decided to take a nice stroll around La Cotonne (the university residence) and check out the surrounding area. This area is known to most as a dangerous locale with a local hearsay of a Korean girl while walking back from god knows where, was shocked to be fondled by an unknown arab guy.

Look, I am not a racist. But La Cotonne is known to be where most of the French Algerians, Moroccans, Turks etc of Arab origin reside in St. Etienne. For the said girl, this experience scarred her back in early 2009, which according to most students living here at that point, the residence did not do much about her plight. Neither were there warning signs about La Cotonne and the surrounding area and that we should be alert when exploring or simply walking in this area. I had to learn about this the hard way.

It was an ordinary Sunday. I felt a sudden surge of creativity and picked up my camera and filmed my room. I wanted to document my life in St. Etienne to show you, the parents, cousins, girlfriend, friends etc how my room looked like. It’s a 9m² by the way. This was later followed by my need to take pictures of a sunny Sunday afternoon of the surrounding locale.

Knowing I had football later on at 2pm, I armed myself with the latest spurs’ jersey – a birthday present from Sara (thanks my dear) and kitted up for football. I took my Canon and placed in the football bag for me to take the pictures and then play some football later on.

So I walked around La Cotonne, took a few good snaps of the sun hitting the tree and how it compliments the undulating terrain of La Cotonne (I live on a hill by the way) and marvel at yet another quiet Sunday afternoon. Just some random creative or uncreative snaps to indulge in my appreciation of the arts. Just like most Sundays, the roads had few moving cars and hardly any people as the Stephanois(e) I presume are endulging in yet another traditional custom, Sunday lunch with the family which may last for hours on end.

I took the snaps and head to Stadium Peyrand, the place where I usually play football. I left my bag close to me, or relatively close to notice any suspicious/ curious acts on my ten year old, used and abused, red reebok shoebag. Let the game commence I thought, safe with the knowledge no one would be atleast interested with my bag.

While I was proud to be playing in defence, marshalling the French on what they had to do, and getting compliments about being rock steady blah blah. After two hours of play, which is rather long for most, I resigned myself from the match and took a few short steps back to the bench where I left my bag. Lo and behold, my camera was nowhere to be seen.

Immediately I launched into detective mode and asked anyone with pockets to unload whatever they had in there. Sure some of the players were agitated but this I assured them it was not personal. I just wanted my camera back. They said I may have left it at home. Fine, I went back home and 10 minutes later I was back at the field having ran all the way, fuelled by the adrenaline.

At this point, I recommenced the unfruitful search. Fuck!!! My parents are going to kill me was the first thought I had coming back again to La Cotonne. I spent £130 on the Canon and now I have to reinvest in another camera. Bah.. i will get another camera. But it will come with a price, I will have to cut down on a few luxuries, like going to Barcelona or wherever and whatever that I could have done before this inconsiderate act.

Last but not least, to the person who stole my camera, fuck you and your family. Note, I know this person is a muslim as those who were on the field at said time were of Arab descent, hence are all muslims. My advice to you you fucking thief is to reread your damn Quran, because when you crash your car and die; you will go straight to hell and spend eternity with what should have been a bevy of virgins.

Yah peace be with you aswell.

Jeremy

p.s:- A person from St. Etienne is known as a Stephanois(e).

p.p.s:- I would like to thank Sara too who said she’s going to chip 1/3 of the cost for the next camera as an early Christmas present. I’m touched my dear.

p.p.s:- I am to blame for bringing the camera around with me when i was going to play football. This never happened in the UK and i thought France was the same. Stupid me.

close encounter with the frenchman

CILEC, the french language school which im studying at organizes soirees every wednesday night. As CILEC is part of Jean Monnet Universite, interested french students are invited to attend these soirees with the intention of expanding their social circle and learn different cultures from the various CILEC students. ok enough of that introductory crap.

so last wednesday (7/10/2009) we had another weekly soiree but this time in a bar name Time Well Spent. yes it is an english named pub. all of us were sitting there warming up to each others company for general hijinks. feeling thirsty i went to the bar and ordered a beer. being the first one in the bar knowing (and comprehending) about 70% of key phrases for daily use – i would like to eat, i would like to go to, etc, i ordered a beer from the barman. he came back with my pint and said “5 euros”.

now, i know that €5 may not seem much to most people but in st. etienne, that is similar to a drink in a club! i was obviously shocked and i told him “tu es serieux?!” he said oui. i paid the man making a mental note not to go back there again. later on that night, all the drinks were sold at a more reasonable €2.

so why did that fucking snail charge me €5. my friend told me its my accent and they know im a foreigner. so much for 1st world mentality. looks like people are people, from malaysia to china to france. but thats not the main content of this post no no. so i must admit when the price went down, i went back on my word not to buy another pint – it was now €2 so i thought yeah why not.

having drunk 3 beers in total i had to use the loo next to the bar. the line was not so long (5 people) but when one has close to a litres (1 litre) of beer tucked inside the kidneys, and the toilet having just one watering hole for both genders, i was in no mood for small talk. JUST GET ME IN THERE OR ILL PEE ON YOUR FLOOR!

finally i was second in line to use the loo. the frenchman infront of me was having the night of his life i suppose. he was talking to everyone with a beer on his hand. gestulating and does not seem hurried to use the loo, while on the other hand, i was struggling just to stand up straight. and at  this moment, here come a girl peroxide blond, fit looking wearing what looks like a sarah palin glasses. she was decent looking. the frenchman seeing a girl in distress, and his overwhelming urge to show politesse in the midst of the chaos, offered her his place infront of the queue. you bastard.

immediately my hand came up and i said “whoa whoa, what do you think you’re doing man,” with a slurred half comprehensible french. so for the second time that night, another frenchman thinks im a foreigner therefore i am less smarter than he is. he said “this is france, everyone is equal, guys and girls. so i let the girl go infront of me”. getting pissed in both sense of the word, i remonstrated in english, full on with bloodshot eyes, “yes girls and guys are equal” leveling my hand in midair to show what i mean. “and if that is so, u have just lost your place to the girl. as i am second to use the loo, you have to take the girls place. everyone is equal and this is fair.”

“i will kill you if you take my place,” said the frenchman. but at this point, i was willing to risk being beaten up or just let off some steam having been cheated by one frenchman and about to be hoodwinked once more. i moved towards the toilet door and stood infront of that bastard. when the bathroom door opened, i walked straight into the toilet.

i know this may sound juvenile but god damnit, i was delirious! having come off good in a mini-fight (verbally) i thought wow i did good and i should tell some of my french friends i just met that day. my marrain, virginie was the first to know to which she said, “this is france, it is normal for a guy to let a girl go infront of him. if you have to pee, you could pee on the road.” the rest of the french contingent concurred with that view. god damnit. so i was in the wrong there? no! i refuse to believe that is true.

15 minutes later, i offered my apologies for offending the inner child of the toilet frenchman. oh france… i will struggle to understand you.

jeremy

hello again!

sorry folks for the delay.

and no, i still don’t have my internet. it sucks really but there’s nothing one can do in this situation.

i was told i am not the only one waiting for their wifi password to arrive. basically its 75% of the residents in la cotonne. i think the receptionist is alittle angry that i keep asking my password from him every day. ou est-ce que ma code wi-fi?! (where is my wifi password?) he’ll reply with a nonchalant shrug saying, “this is france non! c’est la vie… c’est la france.” at first it was amusing and slightly philosophical… but now im beginning to think he’s not really thinking about the question at all but playing his inner tape recorder for those who ask for their wi-fi. turd! you’re the receptionist of the residence so go ask some questions, your job description is not confined to guarding and giving out mail. if it was, u would be replaced with the post box (more cost effective see)!

and now, some pictures of france so far…

and finally a small video i took in Le Puy-en-Velay. enjoy!

packing up – phase 2

most of my stuff are now in my many bags and the rest are things to give away and stuff to leave behind.

i would like to thank first and foremost sara for helping me get through this period. stressful as hell! 2 hours to go and still a work in progress, the thought of missing the train is rife in my brain so im relying on that to give me some motivation. i was actually planning to write this as a last post before i head to st. etienne and post some pictures (of the room and the little goodbye party), but unfortunately i have already packed my camera card reader into one of my many bags. its in there somewhere, sorry!

ohyes, i would like to inform my parents, jean-marie, jeffrey and anyone interested in knowing this. there will be no internet in my accomodation in france for the first few weeks. what ill do is, i will go round to a cyber cafe once a week and update this blog and email you fellas. in any case, take care and see you.

jeremy