Crypts and Crepes

So made it to Paris in the end. My amazing Sussex friends helped me out so much. Plus, there was a series of fortunate events. First, I was able to get a hold of Sam, my roommate from the beginning of the semester. She was about to leave for Birmingham and the Cadbury factory, but they pushed back when they were going to leave.were able to get the porter to let them into my room, grab my passport, run to Falmer Station, hand off my passport to Nora who happened to be comng into London that same day and then I met her at Victoria without any problems. Had Sam left earlier, or if nora had already taken the train into London, I would've had to spend three more hours, at least, traveling back to my room on campus.

As it turns out, after I met up with Nora at Victoria, we went to the National Portrait Gallery, which I found out I love. The Tudor rooms were especially impressive. You know that portrait of King Henry the Eighth with his legs spread apart in a really commanding stance, and he looks massive? I saw it. Plus, what I didn't realize is that the backgrounds behind the Tudor-era portraits are really vibrant jewel tones. It struck me as oddly modern.

The other benefit to forgeting my passport was that I got these really funny "refusal of entry" forms. My plan is to go around with me holding the forms and taking pictures in front of really french things. Today Maryse and I got a picture of me and the forms in front of a poster advertising a movie with Gerard Depardieu, the consummate french actor.

In the two days I've been here, I've accomplished almost everything I wanted to do in two short days. The first day we spent most the day in the arrondisement with the Eiffel Tower. So I got to see it from many different angles. The best was at sunset and it was beginning to light up. And, on the all important subject of food, I've had amazing falafel in the Marais (Jewish and gay--i.e. Daniel quartier), steak frites followed by mousse au chocolat washed down with cote du rhone wine, and an indecent about of pastries, breads, and general desserts. I also got to go to the Musee Rodin which I've been dying to see for a while.

Tomorrow we are going to Cimitiere Pere Lachaise, to pay homage to Oscar Wilde. Apparently you have to wear red lipstick and kiss his tombstone.

Down and Out in Paris and London

This title is from a novel by George Orwell. It is somewhat fitting for this post. While I am not "down and out" in Paris or London, I am sitting in a Pret a Manger in London (ironic since I am meant to be on my way to Paris now) down the street from Victoria's Station in London because I made the second worst traveling mistake of my life.

The absolute worst mistake I made was two summers ago when I missed my plane back to the states after traveling in France. I ended up calling my parents at 5am their time to leave a panicked, teary message in which I predicted the end of my life and the world. It did feel like the end of the world because all the flights were booked and I had to wait three days for the next one. To top that, I was completely unprepared to stay in Paris: I had thrown out my guide book (too bulky to pack), I threw out all my toiletries to make room for souvenirs, all my clothes were dirty, I had run out of minutes on my phone, and had run out of euros. I had no idea where I was going to sleep for the night. I considered being a hobo.

But it all worked out really well. I found a cheap hotel for the night run by this really cool Italian couple who became surrogate parental figures to me. The guy really liked to tease me (mostly about missing the plane) and I really enjoy when older people tease me. The porter at East Slope (where I live now) likes to see if he can make me blush. I love him. And after the Italian couple, I met a family friend who has lived in France for forty odd years and she put me in this REALLY nice apartment from which you could see the Notre Dame.

The woman who used to live there was a journalist and she was living in Paris when JFK was assassinated. She had been out at the Opera and a Frenchman heard her accent and said something along the lines of "something terrible has happened in your country." When she arrived home she had a thousand messages on her phone because years earlier she had interviewed Lee Harvey Oswald in the Soviet Union when he was "defecting" his citizenship, i.e. giving it up so he could join the Soviet Union. Everyone wanted to speak to the journalist who had interviewed Lee Harvey Oswald. So, staying in Paris a couple of extra days was pretty cool.

But today, maybe not so cool. I was supposed to take the Eurostar departing at 1:37 from London and arriving in Paris around five. I, however, forgot my passport. I had a nice little interaction with the french police. I wish, for the sake of adventure, that I could say that they roughed me up and asked why I was trying to illegally enter their country, but the sad truth is that I just had to fill out some "refusal of entry" forms and they exchanged my ticket for a later time. And my amazing friends from Sussex got my passport and delivered it to London for me. In fact, I have to go meet Nora at Victoria's Station right now. I'm sure all the hassle will be worth it. I'm so excited for Paris!

Sausage, Mash and Peas

I titled this entry after the delicious meal that I just consumed. Sausage, mash (mashed potatoes) and peas is the best meal ever invented. Especially when you use vegetarian sausages instead of the greasy meat version. I cook for myself here, so when I happen to make something tasty, I tend to over celebrate.

About a week ago I went to see Milk (the biopic of Harvey Milk's life) with the Sussex LGBT group. I had already seen it (movies come out way later here, Vicky Christina Barcelona is just about to come out), so I really went for the company and conversation. Like most American-related things I encounter while studying abroad, it is really interesting to try and see it through other people's (usually Brits') eyes.

The mostly British students I went with said many interesting things about the LGBT movement, and a couple of points struck me as particularly effective at highlighting the differences between the U.S. and the U.K. Someone said that the movement towards LGBT rights in this country was less dramatic. And that really seems to have been true. Since they don't have a supreme court or constitution, Tony Blair was just able to write into law a whole bunch of gay rights initiative such as same-sex partnership benefits. I need to look into it more, but as one of my friends noted, it seems as though the government here acts ahead of the people, whereas in the U.S. the government plays catch up with societies' views because the system is based on precedent.

It is surprising that we are the more conservative country since we are relatively new. You'd think we'd be more open to change sense nothing has really been around for that long. Perhaps our short memories combined with a need to appear as legitimate as older countries leads us to be more protective of our traditions?

Side note: I'm often struck by just how young the U.S. is, especially when I happen to have cream tea in a tea house that has been around for five hundred years--twice as old as my country.

So, back to Milk. So during our post-movie debriefing conversation this really cool guy I met named Zia said that the movie made him want to become more politically active and to have him voice heard, but that he'd have to decide what was worth fighting for. I guess his reaction is partly informed by the fact that LGBT people pretty much have all the rights that we are fighting for in the U.S. : adoption rights, partnership benefits, and anti discrimination laws.

The conversation made me appreciate that we do have something distinct to fight for, which really surprised me. In a weird way, we benefit from having to band together to fight for equality. I feel really lucky to have born at a time and in a place where I am able to fight for the causes that mean the most to me. Of course I wish we didn't have to, but being here did highlight the positive side of...oppression? It even sounds weird. And since I live a privileged life, I benefit more than others. Part of the reason why I am able to do and enjoy LGBT activism is because I'm not constantly worried about my safety, whether I'll be able to get a job or keep custody of my children.

However, even if we didn't have specific rights to fight for anymore (or as many), I don't think we would lose "what makes us, us." During the Prop 8 fiasco, some (very foolish) LGBT people said that they didn't want marriage equality because it would make us too "normal" or/and we'd just be buying into a heterosexist society. I think that under that sentiment, there is also the fear that if we have the same rights as straight people, then we won't have anything to bind us together. Hanging out with LGBT people here, I've realized that is not true. There is still something different and wonderful about being in a group of mostly LGBT people. LGBT people will always have different experiences from straight people and we can bond through those experiences if we wish.

Language update: The Brit way of saying "tramp stamp" (tattoo on lower back, usually sported by women of questionable morals) is "slag tag". A little anti-feminist, but funny.

Let it Snow

So last Monday Brighton experienced a once in a decade snow storm. I guess I have good timing. Sunday it began to snow and over night it snowed four inches. Four inches is more than a dusting, but St. Louis received eight inches last week and everyone still had to go to classes, as far as I am aware.

With only four inches on the ground, all the buses stopped running, no trains were running from either Brighton station or Victoria's in London, and the London tube shut down. Nora (one of my fellow WashUers studying here) said that the board at Victoria's which usually shows the schedule for departing trains was just completely blank. Classes were canceled because people couldn't get to the campus for work.


Just comparing the four inches here with the right in St. Louis, and the difference in reactions was pretty hilarious. I mentioned this someone I met Tuesday and she said that Northerners (in England) always make fun of Southerners because, "They can't deal with a bit of weather." I liked the way she phrased that.

But actually the snow day was pretty exciting. I woke up to my flat mates screaming about the snow and taking pictures, the darlings. Everyone went outside for snowball fights and sledding. The snow also produced a lot of creativity, mostly in the form of substitute sleds. The land around campus is mostly hills, so there was a lot of choice sledding spots, but most people didn't bring sleds to Uni. So they improvised. I used a trash bag, but the more innovative substitute sleds include a stripped down ironing board, fridge doors (but I wonder how they put them back, or if they just ruined their fridges), mattresses, cooking pans, and I even saw someone hauling a kayak up the hill. Who has a kayak at Uni, I wonder? All in all, it was a fun day.