Day 22, A Fresh Start

So, Friday afternoon I and a classmate requested to be moved to another class because we were sick and tired of our teacher.  Although the lady in the office wasn't exactly accommodating, she took our names to possibly move us.  Imagine how I felt this morning when I arrived at school only to see that they had done nothing!  I almost gave in and just went to class like I have for these past two weeks, but I thought of my host mom who counseled me to fight, and I decided to speak with the woman in the office at that moment.  Unlike the one from last Friday, this one was extremely helpful!  She asked if I wanted to move up and remarked that she felt like I was a bit more advanced than the class I've been in, and when I mentioned my classmate, she knew who I was talking about and showed me to my new classroom, the same one my classmate had been changed to.  No sooner had she dropped me off there that my new teacher told me that we were going on a museum trip!  What's more, the trip was to the Musee Guimet, which is all about Asian culture and it's the one I pass on the way to and from school every day!   In fact, I'd considered going there for the Nuit des Musees, but I went to the Musee d'Orsay instead.  Apparently I chose well because this way, I got into both for FREE!!!  And not just that, but because I went with a class today, I was able to learn a lot more than I would've on my own thanks to all my prof knows about the Oriental religions and culture!  It shouldn't be surprising that my favorite was the special exhibit on Lucknow, which displayed a couple of Bollywood films, cool royal garb, and a record in French from the 17th century, which is the same time period as the document I'm using for my thesis!

Although I didn't know to bring my camera, my new teacher took some photos of his own.  (Both links below are for the same pics.)

• Photos on Facebook
• Photos on Flikr

This is us looking at the 1000-armed Buddhist god Avalokiteshvara. (Who counted?!)

 
During my lunch break between my morning class AKA museum visit and my afternoon workshop, I was finally able to access the internet with the Netbook my sister lent me, which is an accomplishment and it was quite convenient.   In class, we learned a bit about various historical figures who played major roles in France's development.  There were some like Charlemagne, Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette, and Napoleon, of course, but there were a number of others I hadn't any idea about beforehand.  I liked that I did know some already about Charlemagne thanks to my Philology professor and some about King Louis XIV because of my interest in the play Le Roi Soleil, and I really enjoyed learning the rest of little tidbits from my teacher because it helps me appreciate France more for understanding it a little better.  Plus, there are TONS of metro stops here named after famous people, and now I get it just that much better!  For example, I am quite familiar with the stop Etoile Charles de Gaulles, and I've thought from the beginning that that must've been named after a great warrior from the era when France was still Gaule--only to find out today that Charles de Gaulles was a figure in WWII!  Boy, was I off!

Being thus historically edified regarding the habits of ancient, long-gone Asian peoples and French leaders, I was very much ready to indulge a habit of my own to keep me alive: eating!  I didn't realize until coming here how tasty tomatoes are with just salt and pepper, and today I had a bit with cheese after using most of the tomato on a sandwich.  I wrapped up the meal with a "P'tit Dejeuner" cookie-cracker and a chocolate-covered gauffre.  Mmm, I didn't know until today how tasty those are when warmed up!

I hoped to be able to return to the Musee Guimet to take pictures of my own there before continuing on my way to the institute building for FHE, only to find that it had closed half an hour before.  Tant pis.  I had extra time, so I tried a new route to the church.  Yeah, not quite as worthwhile as I'd hoped.  But at least I made it to FHE!  There, we had yet another lesson about the Book of Mormon.  (It's the 3rd in a row, but I guess you can never say enough about such a wonderfully inspired and divine book!)  The lesson was followed by an activity where everyone stood in a circle with one person blindfolded in the middle who had to point to a person, pick an animal, and try guessing who the individual was based on their interpretation of the chosen animal.  As soon as I heard baleine and knew it meant "whale," I thought of "Finding Nemo," but I wasn't sure what sound to make rather than speak.  People started getting a bit impatient, so I just let out something, not knowing myself what to expect!  It turned out well, though, because everyone laughed, and I was overjoyed to hear at the end that my whale impression was a few people's favorite!

Afterwards, I visited with some of the BYU Study Abroad students and ended up talking with an elder here who is apparently about to finish the mission.  Yeah, he's so trunky.  When he started talking to me, it was to figure out where he'd seen me before.  Come to think of it, that's the second time in a week a guy has used that to start talking to me.  But he's a missionary, and if he were interested, I wouldn't want to wait around for him to get back from a mission.  Realizing he'd seen me at the baptism yesterday, he then asked how long I've been in Paris.

"Three weeks."

"Oh, that's how much longer I have left here."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing," my eye, "nothing," whatever!  It didn't take long for me to lose interest, no matter how close he is to finishing.  He grew up "trilingual" with English, French, and Spanish, yes, but he's far too full of himself.  Imagine my surprise when I found out he's an Assistant to the Mission President (AP)!

(Note: To my guy friends who may read this, please don't think I'm shallow or weird.  If anything, blame my youth and my being a girl, okay?  You should feel privileged anyway for having an insider's view on what a girls thinks! :D )