Class

I have been in contact with a professor here about my dissertation topic. He invited me to attend his class, and I decided to go. It was a little different. First, it was held in a local cinema because apparently the Sorbonne is undergoing renovations. In France, summer is for driving to the Cote d’Azur, not construction, which leads to situations like studying Madame Bovary in a poorly-lit room in between showings of the latest installment of the Bourne Identity. With the dim lighting, my incredible comfortable seat and a lack of sleep the night before, after the first hour of a two-hour lecture I was swaying back and forth in my chair trying to stay awake. I did not pass out, but I’m sure my body language made my struggle clear. One strange thing was that the professor never even had a sip of water for two hours of continuous (incessant) cough* speaking. Maybe a tall glass of Bordeaux keeps his mouth well lubricated? Or perhaps he is an alien.  Overall it was informative, even if the ad hoc whiteboard wasn’t visible from my seat in the back.

I can laugh at little cultural differences that remind me I am no longer in America. Some are more annoying than others. It would be nice for example to have more than one printer for the entire school. And it would be great if said printer could handle more than one sheet at a time without jamming.   

 Coming home from the class, however,  I realized that are values that transcend national borders. Timeless jokes that never grow old. See below. Classic!