Paris. To be brutally honest, my first week in France has been frustrating, mostly linguistically, but also in terms of cheese consumption. The French language is complex, and really requires my full concentration just to maintain an accent that passes muster. I try to absorb as much as I can simply by listening, but remaining silent amongst all the word play and punning that goes on leaves me equally vexed since I feel like I have things to contribute. The difficulty for me is to express thoughts in a way that isn't completely moronic and glib. You see, I understand for the most part everything that is being said, or at least the general feeling behind it, but to keep up in these exchanges that are layered and nuanced and typically French is at times overwhelming, especially for someone who doesn't know feminine articles from masculine, and rarely can get the subject and verbs to agree with one another. Why won't you agree with each other?!?!? Occasionally I give up and just say shit in English, but this unchecked aggression cannot stand, as George Bush Senior once said. Which brings me to politics, the other pressing issue of late. The French, young and old, are interested in American politics moreso than any group of Americans that I spent time with in the States, including myself, with whom I spend a great deal of time regularly. They want to know how the electoral college works, the merits of the bipartisan system, whether or not Bush junior will be re-elected, why the American people are so apathetic politically, and what the deal is with Michael Jackson. Sadly, their interest in the politics of my mother country has exposed my own ignorance on a number of fronts. Granted, I spent a year in South Korea, but if anything that should have made me more aware of US policy and practice, since the 'Ko is enormously influenced directly or indirectly by almost every action the US takes. I just have to admit that I'm not a very politically attuned person, despite the fact that in the last two years I've been traveling extensively and talking to people who want to know what living in the US is like, and in fact I have allegedly been teaching some of them. Interesting that the burden of justifying or condemning the actions of one's country falls on those who are not living there. So then to try to explain a system of which I know little, which has recently defied both conventional logic and legal precedent, in a language which I am still learning, to a group people who know me not, is quite the task. Imagine too, that the French are equally or more aware of their own politics and problems, which are complicated and baffling in their own right, and you get the impression that in general the French have a rather keen political consciousness. If their (perceived) disdain of Yanks is based even somewhat on our (perceived) lack of political awareness, then I am certainly doing nothing for the cause. I would much rather watch old basketball games in French on the NBA channel than watch the news. Is that wrong? From the little bit that I did gather(when my cousin made my change the channel, after remarking that the t.v. room was becoming more American everyday), some Frenchman cooked his father and then ate him in a stew with rabbit meat and rice. Isn't that what all sons dream of doing, though? Actually, there is some ill shit going on in Paris and in France as far as terrorism, police brutality and racism is concerned, and I'm learning more by the day. Everyone here also seems to be of the opinion that Bin Laden has been captured already, and that the Bush administration is waiting for the right opportunity to release the details. Wouldn't surprise me. What would surprise me is if I joined a local basketball club, which I just might. We'll find out next week. Truly this is where the intersection of where sports and politics lies. If I had dedicated even a fraction of the time I spent watching sporting events immersing myself in the politics of the day, than I'd be a better man. But what are you going to do? I've seen some nasty dunks in my lifetime, anyway, including a few this afternoon when I visited the local gym. I've also eaten some wild cheeses of late, and I must say that I'm delighted but wary. Even the cheapest, most foul-smelling, lactose-rich piece of curdled goat's milk that I've tasted here seems to be suspiciously delicious, and I'm thinking it's time to ease up. I suppose that too, might play out in the next week.