Heroes: winners or losers?

In my French Civilization class yesterday, the professor brought up the subject of French heroes. So think along the lines of Joan of Arc, Vercingetorix, and Roland (if you don't know who the last two are don't worry; they are not well known outside France). We then discussed the character traits of these heroes. Basically, they lost. They were the losers. BUT, and here is what matters to the French, they lost with style. To use a very French word, they lost with "panache". Let me give an example.

According to legend, when Vercingetorix surrendered to Caesar (I KNOW you know who Caesar was), Caesar ordered the French king to drop his weapons. Now the way one says "drop your weapons" in the language of the time is a bit different than what it sounds like in English; a more direct translation would be "lay down your articles/things/stuff". So what did Vercingetorix do? He laid down his articles/things/stuff. He dropped his weapons, took off his hat, took off his coat, kicked off his shoes, and stripped off his trousers until he was completely naked. Thus, one of the earliest French heroes surrendered to one of the most powerful rulers in history WHILE COMPLETELY NUDE. Vercingetorix definitely lost, but he arguably had the last laugh.

That, friends, is a French idea of heroism.

So what would an American hero look like? Of course the subject is complex, but one might consider Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, maybe George Washington... ahhh help me out it's Friday and I'm tired and what other American heros do you know of? But anyway key characteristics are immediately evident: hard-working, honest, individualistic, often lower-class, emphasis on physical rather than mental prowess. An American hero nearly always wins, but he definitely does not need to be elegant or refined; in fact it almost seems as though grittier is better when it comes to being an American hero.

As a bit of a side note, someone once told me (mom? my uncle? a teacher?) that Russian heroes often commit suicide. So that means little Russian children grow up reading fairytales in which the hero of the story kills himself...I am definitely not a Russian scholar so I cannot confirm this, but how fascinatingly terrifying is that??

To get to the meat of this blog post, I am now interested in the way that cultural norms get formed. My professor told us that one can arguably still see the French idea of heroism today in the behavior of sports teams. What she meant was basically that for a French sportsman, what is important is that one plays well; winning really does not matter. For an American, on the other hand, winning is all that matters. Voila! Culture differences.

So, now that we know different ideas of heroism exist all over the world, how can we tell which one is correct....?

Till next time!

D-Day

The American Cemetery in Normandy:

Memorial on Omaha beach:

The cliffs the rangers scaled while under fire:

Americans Put a Lot of Milk in their Coffee

I have been in Europe long enough, now, to have run into some interesting European perceptions of the U.S. I have *not* heard many criticisms of the States, but I have encountered some fascinating viewpoints that all stem from an erroneous assumption that one can lump all Americans into the same category. My favorites are: (1) All Americans put a lot of milk in their coffee; (2) Jobs are easy to find in the States; (3) All Americans are rich; (4) Americans don't smoke; and (5) Americans like new things while Europeans prefer old things.

There is perhaps a kernel of truth to each of these perceptions. However, I typically respond in this manner:

European friend: "All Americans like to put a lot of milk in their coffee, right?"
me: "Ummmm it's hard to say. You have to remember that the U.S. is as big as Europe minus Russia. You can't really say that all Americans are the same."
friend: "The U.S. is that big??"
me: "Yes. I drive 7 hours from home to school, without leaving my state."
friend: "I didn't realize how big it was."

I have had the above conversation perhaps 5 or 6 times in the last month. Usually, I don't even get to the point of explaining why the stereotype is incorrect; even just explaining the size of the country takes a while. Luckily I have a blog in which I can write whatever I want, so I will now proceed to deflate these stereotypes one by one.

(1) All Americans put a lot of milk in their coffee.

My father takes his coffee black. My mother takes her coffee black. My sister takes her coffee black. I drink tea, not coffee. I am not sure where this stereotype comes from... maybe from the success of Starbuck's abroad, or perhaps from older American-European interactions that I wasn't alive for...? If you know the origin of this stereotype, please let me know. I personally drink a lot of milk with a lot of cookies.

(2) Jobs are easy to find in the States.

Ok so this stereotype *is* mostly true. HOWEVER, it is only true by comparison (comparing the U.S. to other countries), and I more object to the use of the word "easy". I have run into a couple of young Europeans who truly believe that learning English and moving to America guarantees they will find a job. As I know multiple American graduates of UC Berkeley who are unemployed and frantically seeking work, I know that that comprehension of English and physical prescence in the U.S. does NOT guarantee employment. Yikes. At least in France, the government pays for medical insurance and education... it might be better to stay in Europe, at least for the moment...


(3) All Americans are rich.

This stereotype stems from the fact that for a European who has never left Europe, the only Americans that s/he has encountered probably *are* rich. Why? Because visiting Europe or moving to Europe is very very very very expensive for an American. If I re-write the stereotype as "Americans WHO ARE IN EUROPE are probably pretty rich", then it is more truthful. Are all Americans in America rich? No no no no no no no. Visit any inner city in any state, visit the dwelling of an itinerant worker, or even just read an article about Hurricane Katrina or the oil spill this summer to find the truth: poverty is alive and well in the United States of America.

(4) Americans don't smoke (cigarettes).

This stereotype is relatively accurate. Sort of. But not really. For instance, not that many Californians smoke, but if one visits New York or Boston, the number of smokers increases drastically. Additionally, even within California, there are some groups of people who smoke. I am mostly thinking of Asian American men, for whom smoking seems to be a bigger part of the lifestyle. If one moves up the West Coast a bit to Oregon or Washington, one will find more smokers. So while smoking is less popular in the U.S. than it is in, say, France, one will find different habits in different parts of the country.

(5) Americans like new things while Europeans prefer old things.

This stereotype probably is true, but with one glaring exception: The South. Go to New York or San Francisco, and one will find an appreciation of things that are new. Visit The South, and people still talk about the Civil War like it happened yesterday and still display Confederate flags, which haven't actually had a political significance in 150 years. (As a side note, the Europeans I have encountered don't know anything about The South at all. I try to explain The South, and my American friend who goes to school in Nashville tries to explain The South, and I really don't think we ever make any progress. None at all.)

So to wrap this up, if and when I drink coffee I drink it black, I'm not rich, job searching has always been arduous for me, I guess I like new things better than old things (?) and I actually don't smoke. So I am 2/5 American. Holla back.

So apparently there are parts of the world where it's cold

The weather in Paris is doing this roller-coaster thing such that one day will be super hot, the next super cold, and the one after that will start off nice and warm then turn frigid around lunchtime. Chez moi, I wear flip flops year round, but I have recently learned some helpful tips for staying warm in Paris.

1) Eat! Warming the body requires energy, and energy comes from food, so when you are cold, eating helps.

2) The early mornings will be relatively warm due to cloud cover, but don't be fooled; temperatures drop after about 10 am.

3) The metro is very warm, so sometimes it is adviable to take the metro instead of walking even a short distance.

4) Tea, coffee, and hot chocolate are life-savers.

5) Absolutely no flip-flops.

6) Hugs work wonders!

Controversial Versailles

Versailles is a suburb of Paris most known for housing Louis XIV's outrageously expensive 17th century palace; hence, the word "Versailles" is virtually synonymous with the Palace of Versailles itself. To give you an idea of the granduer of the chateau, here is a re-enactment of a conversation I had while walking up to the gates of Versailles last Friday:

me: "I can't get a good photo of the gold on the gate!"

friend: "If it was real gold it would probably reflect the light better"

me: "...what?"

friend: "well because real gold would be shinier. or something."

other friend: "dude. That *IS* real gold."

first friend: "what are you talking about?"

me: "That's all real gold. All the yellow-y metal you see on everything? Real gold."

first friend: "what the &+%*!!!"


Anyway, Versailles is this gorgeous and over-the-top palace built by one of the more powerful French kings in history. Recently, the committee that runs Versailles nowadays acquired a new director. This new director decided to collaborate with a well-known Japanese artist, Murakami, to exhibit some modern Japanese art in Versailles. Voila:

This decision is highly controversial. Common responses to the exhibit include "modern art shouldn't belong in an older palace"; "the Japanese art was not well-integrated"; "Versailles is beautiful as it is and should not be tainted"; "the art drew too much attention away from the palace itself". All of which are valid arguments.

However, a better understanding of Versailles is necessary to fully understand the choice and placement of Murakami's art. Versailles was built outside of Paris because Louis XIV had vivid memories of growing up during a time when civil unrest made the city incredibly dangerous. As a boy, he survived an attempted kidnapping and/or possible murder; something like that stays with you the rest of your life. Additionally, Louis XIV felt it was necessary for him to fully assert that he was strong, wealthy, and fully in charge of his power. He is famously quoted as saying, "L"etat, c'est moi" (I am the state) and he called himself "The Sun King".

When it came to Versailles, Louis XIV pulled out all the stops in making sure his French nobles and any foreign visitors to the palace knew that he was a force to be reckoned with. When one first arrives at the palace, one enters a series of chambers that ultimately lead to the throne room. Each room has a theme based on a Roman god or goddess and each is sumptuously decorated with enormous paintings on the walls and ceillings, carvings in the stone walls and ceillings, and gilded everything. The choice to invoke Roman gods is interesting; Louis XIV was neither Roman nor Greek, but gods such as Apollo or Mars have long been associated with power in Western culture, so the Sun King used these associations to impress anyone who came knocking. After the procession of Roman-themed rooms, one has to traverse the impressive Hall of Mirrors to get to the throne. When the palace was built at the end of the 17th century, mirrors were incredibly expensive. Thus, a massive room full of mirrors was both visually pleasing and an ostentatious display of wealth. Louis's giant silver throne resting on a Persian rug probably seemed like an afterthought.

So what other momentous events took place in Versailles? A little more than a hundred years after Versailles was built, the French people rose up against the monarchy and were victorious. One famous morning, French citizens bribed the palace guards, broke into Versailles, and chased the queen Marie Antoinette and her children out of the beautiful rooms. The queen was imprisioned and then beheaded a few days after her husband. As France became a Republic in 1789, the royal palace of Versailles was only ever used for a little more than a century.

In *my* opinion, the placement of modern art in the palace does nothing to subtract from the glamour of Versailles. This palace was built as a (beautiful) prison for French nobles so that Louis XIV could keep an eye on them, it was so expensive that it beggared the nation, and it ultimately bore witness to one of the bloodiest revolutions in history. Versailles was controversial when it was built, was controversial and highly detested by the people of France while it was used for it's original purpose, and remains controversial today.

I earlier alluded to the fact that the placement of Murakami's art within the palace is important. I will elaborate. For instance, in the room devoted to Venus, Murakami displays sculptures revolving around the theme of love, he has floral statues placed in view of the gardens of Versailles, and as herald to the hall of mirrors, he displays a risque female waitress gesturing in welcome. In effect, this figure sends the same message as the hall of mirrors itself: I'm important, I'm powerful, and you are hardly worthy to stand in my prescence.

Finally, in one of the (relatively) less important rooms of Versailles, Murakami displays a bizarre shrine to modern consumerism:

The pepsi can, baby powder, ketchup, etc. are encrusted with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and other precious stones. I personally see a mutual critique of the artificiality of what we consider to be valuable today and a critique of what was seen as valuable when Versailles was built. Yes, the hall of mirrors was impressive, but it was paid for by the work of thousands of French peasants and ironically WEAKENED the very monarch it was supposed to support! Versailles strengthened the perception of royal power, but physically dimished the ECONOMIC power of the king and by the time of the revolution, infuriated the French people to the point at which they cut off the heads of the king and queen.

Of course, the exhibit is not easy to interpret; as a friend posted on my facebook wall, using big words that I don't fully understand:

" but, what exactly would be the (political? artistic? critical?) value of parodying the aesthetic superfluity of the ancien regime in 2010? Is Murakami's satire directed toward the French monarchy's ostentation, as you've suggested, or is this ostentation, "blatantly" juxtaposed as it is with the forms and signifiers of global capitalism (pepsi cans, anime depictions of busty western blondes), employed as a means of reflecting upon the excesses of the contemporary era? That is, does this exhibition ask us to consider - and perhaps, to critique - the eighteenth century, or the twenty-first? also, cool photos! - J.O."

As a final comment on Versailes, I must admit that the gardens have ALWAYS reminded me of the cartoon plants one might see in a child's book or at Disneyland. Frankly, Murakami's statues don't look any less natural than this:

I must now finish some homework before I go picnic on the Place des Invalides. It is COLD today, for the first time since we arrived. Also, the Frech metro workers are on strike, so the metro runs less frequently today and trains are packed. Just a part of life for Parisians!

Finally, I welcome comments on this post- whether you have been able to visit Versailles or not, the subject is fascinating and complicated and all opinions are valid.

Why Paris?

This week I have gotten very interested in WHY the students in my program have chosen to study abroad in Paris. I am taking an informal poll (by which I mean casually asking a handful of my friends... not very scientific) and the most common responses are as follows. (1) interest in the history of France, with a desire to visit museums, churches, etc.; (2) allure and draw of French culture and sophistication; (3) prefer to study in a city with a lot of activity and things to do, trying to get away from small-town America; (4) learned French in high school.

I also asked my friends why they wanted to study abroad in the first place. The responses to this question naturally overlap with the responses to the first question, but here they are. (1) seeking personal challenge and growth; (2) escape from life at home; (3) experience life somewhere else, but not necessarily wanting to ESCAPE, more just generally wanting to see other places; (4) desire to learn another language; (5) UC Berkeley increased tuition 33% and studying abroad became relatively more cost-effective (that last one was mine).

So why did *I* want to study in Paris (aside from the tuition increase at Cal)? Simply enough, I fell in love with the city once upon a time. I can even tell you how it happened, one early morning almost six years ago.

I was visiting Paris with my sister and some other students from my high school. My first few days were a blur, with sight-seeing every day, a language that was at the time incomprehensible for me, and jet lag weighing me down. The third morning in Paris, I broke the strict rules set down by our teacher and went jogging alone.

I left our Best Western Motel in Montmartre, ran up the hill past a cemetery and a wisteria garden, and came in sight of Sacre Coeur.

I jogged around to the front of the church and came to a sudden halt. The sun was rising over the city of Paris. As all the celebrated monuments lit up in front of me (the Eiffel Tower, the gold dome of the Hotel des Invalides, Notre Dame), I fell in love.

I knew that someday I had to come back. No other place had ever affected me so strongly, and it is quite possible no place ever will.

I had fallen in love for the first time; something one never forgets.

Welcome to Paris

My first week in the city has been all about sight-seeing. I have walked the Luxembourg Gardens, climbed the towers of Notre Dame, visited Versailles Palace, and explored Monet's water lily gardens in Giverny. I have visited the medieval Cluny museum, eaten gelato in the Tuileries Gardens, and seen the Eiffel Tower light up at night.

I am getting acquainted with my neighborhood and know where to find the good boulangeries (bakeries) and epiceries (something like a small grocery store). The woman I live with has been very kind and helpful in pointing out useful places in the neighborhood. We have a small balcony outside our window, just big enough to sit and read a book overlooking the rue. The first few days in Paris were hectic, but now my roommate and I are falling into more of a pattern, with sight-seeing during the day, dinner at the apartment (always with the amazing French bread and cheese) and some downtime in our room before bed.

Saturday night we mixed things up a little by going to Paris' "Nuit Blanche". Nuit Blanche means "White Night" and for this festival, shops and museums stayed open late, light displays could be found all over the city, and the metro ran all night long. My favorite moments? Impromptu live music on the very crowded metro, seeing the Eiffel Tower sparkle like a Christmas tree every hour on the hour, and finding a bar that played Amercian music so we could dance all night long.