An American in Provence

Back up to Strasbourg tomorrow for another week.
This time, it is a preparation seminar for my exams in March and will be in English instead of French.
Actually, there are three separate sections, English, French, and German.
Hey, I could take the German one just for kicks! (see if I remember anything from my toddler days)

About this time last year, mom and dad were here and we went up to Strasbourg for a week together. They visited the area and saw one of their old friends while I went to my classes.

This week, I will see some of my friends from last year, though they will all be in the French section.

Am actually looking forward to going. Get away a little bit, see other people. I kinda miss Strasbourg (ahh... no trash strikes... no dog poop all over the sidewwalk... no grafitti everywhere... pretzels... )

Unfortunately, the Christmas market will not have started yet.

I am going to be staying in the same place, though the classes will be in a different place.

When I choose the title of this post, I was reminded of my military school days, a jody (cadence call) that they had us sing while marching.

Here We Go Again
Same Old S--- Again
Marching Down the Avenue
Two More Seconds* and I’ll be Through
I’ll be glad and so will you
Am I right or wrong?
You’re Right!
Are we weak or strong?
We’re Strong!
Sound Off!
One two
Sound Off!
Three Four
Break it on down now
One two three four
One two
Three Four!


(* More like 5 more years and I'll be through)

I did it!!

All those months of studying, all those weekends spent either in class or on the train, all those times I did something other than study (read a book for leisure, watch tv, take a nap) and felt guilty about doing something other than studying, and it all paid off in the end.

Found out this afternoon that I made it.
Not valedictorian (I knew it was highly unlikely but felt a very very slight twinge of hope) but I think I did all that could be asked of me.

Honestly, international intellectual property law in a language other than your own, is not as easy as you may think.

They didn't announce the results as I had been told, they simply posted two lists one for Patents and one for Trademarks (maybe in a few years), and everyone rushed over to try to find their name on the list.

Searching...

Pi...
Pr...

Oh no!!!! No Po....
Frantically trying to see through everyone else in front, seeing that I am clearly not under Po....
and then thinking, well maybe my maiden name...

Yep there it was
Smith, Po.... Megan.

Oh thank god!!!

Pretty much everyone who was there got it, I didn't say any tears of unhappiness. I guess those who were pretty sure they wouldn't get it didn't come.

I spent today exactly as I wanted. Went to the park and read my non-patent book for a few hours, then came back and had a big bowl of ice cream and three pretzels, then took a nap, and went to the ceremony.

After the posting of the results, there were some speeches by the professors, and they announced who had the top grades. For the patents, all three were in the accelerated group (my group) one woman had the top spot, and a man and woman shared second place. Good for them. After that, some champagne (should not have drunk those two glasses right away) followed by orange juice and some nibbles. Everyone started dispersing around 6 pm- I thought people would be going out to celebrate, but I think everyone was wiped and just wanted to get home and see their loved ones.

Goodbye Strasbourg, I've enjoyed you and sure I'll be back.

When ALL YOU CAN BE is just slightly better than average.

Seriously, that is all that is important to me right now.
After about a week and a half of non-stop studying (plus about 10-20 extra hours a week since September) I am ready for this all to be OVER.

I don't care if my final grade is 10.00001 (out of 20) and I am last in my class (of those who are accepted). I'm not aiming to be First Standing 1st Classman, or Distinguished Graduate, or Validictorian (le/la Majeur in French).

Well, I wouldn't turn it down if offered to me, but I think it is highly unlikely to happen due to my 5th grade level French writing skills.

No, maybe 8th grade level now after months of private courses.

Anyway, it's like aiming for a "D"- you're not proud of the fact but, Damn, don't have to take that class EVER AGAIN!

June 21st is, as anyone living in France will tell you, the day when anyone and everyone can go out in the street and play music, or just put out a boombox (geez, does that date me?) and play music really loud, or basically anything that might pass as music.

Barely recovered from my 11+ hours of exams the last week of May, I am trying to movitate myself to study for the Oral Exams at the end of June.

The only problem is, it is rather hard to motivate yourself to study for an exam you aren't sure you will be taking.

This is the first time in my life that I have had to study for something, unsure of whether I would be taking the test or not.

The thing is, whether or not you are accepted to the Oral exams depends on how well you did on the written exams. And not all the written exams mind you, just the "Big" ones.
Here is what I have taken so far:
Intro. to Law (1 hour) coefficient 1
Contracts (1 hour) coefficient 1
Business law (1 hour) coefficient 1
Patent Cooperation Treaty (2 hours) coefficient 1
US Patent Law (2 hours) coefficient 1
Technical Exam (6 hours) coefficient 4
Legal Exam (4 hours) coefficient 2

The last two exams, Technical and Legal, are each worth 20 points, multiplied by the coefficient, giving:
Technical Exam 80 points possible
Legal Exam 40 points possible

Now, take into consideration that it very difficult to get higher than a 15 on the Technical Exam, and it hasn't been done yet to get higher than a 16 on the Legal Exam.

In order to be admitted for the Oral Exams, you have to have at least 60 points out of the 120 possible points for the Technical and Legal exams.

If you do, then you pass the Oral Exams:
French Law (20 minutes) coefficient 2
European Law (20 minutes) coefficient 2

So these last two exams, along with the Patent Cooperation Treaty Exam, are counted as the first part, for a total of 220 points, of which you have to have at least 110 points to be admissible.

Then they take into consideration the "second part" (Intro. to Law, Contracts, Business Law, and US Law) for which you have to have at least 6 points out of 20.

Still with me? Good.
It took me about the entire year to figure this out. Which means I spent way too much time worrying about the little exams that aren't worth much.

Anyway, I won't know until the 15th whether or not I am heading back up to Strasbourg or not.

As the rules currently stand, if you pass the Technical and Legal exams but fail something else, you can keep those notes, but have to re-pass all the other exams. Ugh. So you're saying I have to take a 7-hour train ride back up to Strasbourg for a one-hour exam that maybe I have already passed? Yeppers.

I talked to our class delegate, hoping that during their annual meeting this year, they will try to get this rule changed. It would be good to at least be able to keep all notes with a passing (10 or higher) note. Anyway.

French!

Oh, and the way we find out who made it and who did not? Those who are admitted to the oral exams receive an email saying what day they are scheduled, and those who are not admitted get a phone call. So you spend all day on tenterhooks, heart jumping into your throat everytime the phone rings.

Everytime I try to explain the exams to others, I never remember what is called, and inevitably get it wrong. Epreuve oral? Les examens oraux? Oral? Ahhh!

Oh, and going into the oral exams, you don't know how well you did on the Technical and Legal exams, so you don't know how much of a margin of error you have. I suppose in a way it is good- if you knew you only needed the minimum of 6 points per oral exam, you would perhaps not study as hard and totally mess up, whereas if you think you might need every point you can scratch out, you are more inclined to study.

20 more days to go!

Whenever I come up to Strasbourg, I eat the strangest combination of meals in a week's time.
I usually bring with me in my suitcase: Special K cereal, a chocolate bar or two, some sandwich bread, a packet of spaghetti, a jar of peanut butter, and a few cans of tuna fish.

When I arrive on Sunday evenings, I go and buy:
another chocolate bar or two
milk
yogurt
some fruits (apples, oranges) and tomatos
soda
juice

For some reason, I always buy way too many tomatos. I keep forgetting that Alain is not here, and I have to eat all the tomatos I buy in a week's time.

Mondays: several peanut butter sandwiches in a row
Tuesdays and Wednesdays: spaghetti and tuna fish (Alain's favorite combination)

By the time Thursday/Friday come around, I am out of tuna fish and haven't eaten any of the fruits and tomatos, so I usually eat just apples and tomatos for a day or two, then it's back to Marseille. All that combined with one or two pretzels per day and the chocolate bars dispersed throughout the week.

In my defense, the kitchen is miniscule, and I can't do much more than boil something on the two hot plates. There is also a microwave and a mini refrigerator.

On the menu today:
Breakfast: yogurt, cereal
During the exam: two pretzels
Lunch: three tomatos with pepper (and there are still five left in the refrigerator)
While studying: Half a liter of grapefruit juice and the four remaining chocolate squares
Dinner: two bowls of tomato soup and soda

Sigh. And I wonder why my digestive system is in an uproar.

"Come on, shake off the covers of this sloth,"
the master said, "for sitting softly cushioned,
or tucked in bed, is no way to win fame;

and without it man must waste his life away,
leaving such traces of what he was on earth
as smoke in wind and foam upon the water.

Stand up! Dominate this weariness of yours
with the strength of soul that wins in every battle
if it does not sink beneath the body's weight."

- Dante

Went out to a movie last night with some of the other students (The "Arnacoeur" with Vanessa Paradis- okay, but I didn't agree with her choice in the end) then had Italian food for dinner. Got 'home' a little after 10 pm, was in bed by 11, but didn't fall asleep until 1, waking up at about 6, as usual.

Went for a walk a little before 9. It was nice, calm, cool, quiet. Took some pictures of La Petite France, then headed over to the Cathedral. I had some tickets left over from our Strasbourg Tourist Passes that we bought in December (museums, boatride, etc). As we had no desire to climb up 300+ steps in -10°C weather, I saved the tickets to go to the top of the Cathedral for warmer days.

The platform opened at 9 am, and I climbed up to the top. By my count, there were 95 steps to the first part, then another 229 steps up to the viewing deck. Just when I arrived, the bells started ringing and rang for a full 15 minutes. I was alone up there (except for the guy paid to watch over the place, who mostly just sits in the office and plays with his Iphone I'm guessing).

Attempted to film a bit of the view with my Ipod.

There are moments in your life that are magical and that help you to remember that the world won't fall apart if you fail an exam, or don't get accepted into a certain school, or get fired from your job, or anything.

Then it is back down to regular life, with all of its petty concerns and jealousies and disputes.

After heading back down, I went in the Cathedral and sat through the mass, then headed back to my studio, stopping to grab a croissant (so-so) and a pretzel (burnt and hard) on the way. Sigh. I prefer Alain's and my Sunday routine of cappucino and croissants. Took a nap for several hours, then got to work.

One more month to the Technical Exam!

A month ago, when I was planning my April trip up to Strasbourg, I consulted the SNCF reservation site to find...
Nothing.
No trains scheduled. Why? Strike of course!

I reserved direct flights from Marseille to Strasbourg, to and back, for about 230€.
Not bad right? Only a bit more than the train tickets would have cost, plus much shorter travel time (though do have to go through security, and the train stations are easier to get to, both from our apartment in Marseille and my studio here in Strasbourg, than the airports).

But what the heck? Instead of waking up at 5 am on a Sunday to go to the train station, I could sleep in, eat a croissant, drink a capuccino, calmly pack, go to lunch with his family, then Alain could drop me off at the airport early afternoon, 1:15 min flight instead of 7 hours by train, arrive in Strasbourg around 6 pm, take the shuttle to centre ville, and voila!

Of course, the only thing I didn't count on was a dang volcanic ERUPTION.
Good grief.
I didn't think much of it (travel wise or anything wise, I've been rather cutoff from regular life lately) until I was browsing MSN.fr Saturday afternoon and came across:

Panic! Thousands of travelers stranded across Europe! Airports closed in North of France! Travelers try to get spots on trains but few trains running due to month long SNCF Strike!
Rush to rent cars but holiday travel makes things even worse!!

Oh drat, I can see where this is going....

Quick check Air France website, not much in the way of actual information. Try calling the hotline several times, but never manage to get through. Check my flight status and it says that the flight is still scheduled. Check the Marseille and Strasbourg airport websites. The Marseille website doesn't have much to say, but the Strasbourg website says Flights interrupted until Monday morning 8 am.

Have a class Monday morning (could skip), another class Monday afternoon (would rather be there but not essential), and a test Tuesday morning (absolutely must be there or else I fail my year.)
There was a flight scheduled for Monday morning, Marseille -> Strasbourg, but there is no telling whether the airport shutdown will be lifted, and how many passengers will be trying to cram on one flight.

Alain came home after my panicked call to his parent's house (where he was working on his motorcycle) and said "Well, we'll just have to drive. All night if we have to. Then I'll drive back. I'm not going to let you drive all the way up there by yourself."
We started to quickly prepare, I had only barely begun packing, and I checked the SNCF website, just in case.

Still no trains from Marseille. Alain's father suggested that we check the trains from Lyon, and by golly! There was my regular Lyon-Strasbourg train. I quick made a reservation, not knowing how many other people would be thinking the same thing.

Only thing left was to get to Lyon.
We woke up at 4, finished getting ready, and left a little before 5. Before we left, I checked again whether there was any news. My flight status was still on schedule and the Strasbourg airport said "Interrupted" until Monday morning. Well, take our chances.

Alain drove for an hour, then I drove for awhile while he slept. We arrived at Lyon Part Dieu around 8:30 (only got lost once in Lyon). If the train was canceled, due to the strike, we would have to hop back in the car and drive all the way up to Strasbourg, which is at least 7 hours of pure driving, not counting rest stops and holiday traffic.

My train arrived, I got on, kissed my wonderful husband goodbye, and took a nap while he drove back to Marseille (that is, if he managed to find his way out of Lyon).

All the while still not knowing whether all of this was in vain. Approaching Strasbourg, sky a little hazy but not rain of ashes/blood/frogs end-of-the-world stuff.

Arrived in my studio, logged on, checked my email and found an email sent at 6:30 am saying that my flight was canceled.

So glad we decided to go ahead with the car/train solution! Otherwise we would have woken up Sunday morning, checked email, realized that there were no planes, then would have had to hightail it up to Lyon, at which point there would be not too many seats nor trains left, and maybe even drive all the way to Strasbourg. (airport now closed until 3 pm Monday).

Wonder how many of my classmates are going to be stuck.
I am planning on taking the plane back in a little over a week. Will have to monitor airport status between now and then.

Traveling in France:
Always Have A Backup Plan

Last return trip from Strasbourg, I decided to try the night train, which left Saturday night 9 pm from Strasbourg, arrived at 6 am Marseille.
This train is only available during school vacations.
Alain was a little wary about my taking the train, but I signed up for a "Compartement Dame Seule"- for women only who are traveling alone.
I chose 1 st class, which has only four beds (bunks) instead of 6 in second class.
Thank goodness I took 1st class, because it was cramped enough.

When I got on the train in Strasbourg, there were two other women in my compartment, one getting off in Toulon, the other in Nice.
The conductor told us that there would be another person getting on in about an hour.

I wasn't really sure what to expect. Got one pillow, one sleeping bag like blanket, a bottle of water, ear plugs, a handiwipe, a kleenex, and what looked like a Train Sickness bag. I had to put my suitcase behind the ladder (no way was I going to be able to get it up into the luggage rack, and I wasn't convinced that even if I could, I would really want to sleep under it on a lurching train). Debated as to whether or not it was permissible to take off my shoes, and finally decided that yes, it was.

As far as amenities were concerned, each bunk had a very weak nightlight, and the compartment had a temperature control, a speaker volume control (which we quickly turned off) and an overhead light. Whoopee.

We chatted for a bit (where are you going, why were you in Strasbourg?)
One asked quite politely if I am French, which I guess is better than "where are you from weird foreigner?" They were rather surprised that I was taking a law course in French in Strasbourg. Yeah, me too ladies.

After about thirty minutes we turned off the lights and tried to sleep.
I managed to doze off, (not much else to do- no dining car or anything)
Around 11, the door opens and in walked a man!
I said, "excuse me sir, this compartment is for women only"
He checked his ticket, and yep, it was for our compartment.
Guess the SNCF decided to put him in the special one reserved for women only, rather than give up a whole 61€!
Good grief.
He was an older man, and the walls are so thin, that I wasn't particularly worried, but I felt weird being locked in with three strangers, one of which was man.

Managed to doze off again, and woke up at 5:30, for which I had set my alarm (I was terrified of sleeping through and waking up in Nice). Managed to gather my things together in the very faint LED light, lugged my suitcase out from behind the ladder without hurting anyone, went to the washroom used my handy dandy handiwipe, drank some water, took a look in the mirror and thought 'thank god we're already married- he can't leave me just because I look like this' and waited for the arrival in Marseille. I guess it stops for quite awhile, half an hour or so in Marseille, before moving east. Perhaps enough time for people to track down something to eat.

Alain met me at the train, hauled my luggage back home (he is so good! getting up at 5 am two Sundays in a row!), and we went back to sleep. I was surprised that I could go back to sleep, because usually once I am up, I am up, but managed to sleep for a few hours before heading over to his family's to celebrate the February birthdays (they have four birthdays in the month of February so they usually just celebrate them all at once).

Conclusion- would def. do it again, if only because it gets me back twelve hours earlier.

Days spent together in Strasbourg: 3
Hours late of Alain's train: 5
Time spent in Christmas market: way too much
Temperature: -10°C
Pretzels eaten in a week: 20
Museums visited: 2 (Museum of Strasbourg and Alsatian Museum)
Boat rides: 1
Restaurants walked out of: 1
Restaurants asked to leave to free up table after check has been paid: 1
Number of buildings decorated with stuffed animals: about 100
Money spent on presents: way too much
Suitcase handles broken on TGV back to Marseille: 1
Emergency stops to buy more warm clothes: 2 (ear muffs and tights)
Emergency stops to go to the bathroom: 1
Emergency stops just to warm up: 2
Trips to pharmacy for cold medicine: 1
Glasses of beer drunk: 5
Glasses of beer considered to be good: 0
Times we had to go to hotel reception to get something fixed in our room: 2 (burned out lightbulb, freezing cold shower water)
Times we had to ask people entering restaurant to please close the door because they were letting the freezing cold air inside while they were dithering: 10
Movies seen: 1 (2012)
Average time of going to bed: 11:30 pm
Average time of waking up: 9:00 am
Time had: very good

Beer.
What does yours taste like?

Had another fun Sunday with the SNCF.
Got on the TGV this morning in Strasbourg and arrived in Marseille a little after 3 pm. Seven hours is a little long for a TGV between Strasbourg and Marseille don't you think? That's because between Strasbourg and Lyon there are no high-speed tracks, so the TGV has to run at the speed of a regular train. That is, pretty darn slow. Takes about five hours from Strasbourg to Lyon, then two from Lyon to Marseille, where it can go faster.

I have discovered that:
I like riding on trains (in theory)
I just hate everyone on them (in practice).
I cannot stand the ringing cell phones, people listening to music WITHOUT the headphones, people watching DVDs without the headphones (a few years ago on the TGV from Lyon I politely asked a girl to please put the headphones on so that I didn't have to listen to Mission Impossible 2. She got all huffy but finally did. I don't know, is that too much to ask?)

I finally escaped to the dining car, where I could spread out my things and be relatively more peaceful. Honestly, when I make my reservation, why can't I choose "Sleep or Read a Book Wagon" instead of "Annoying Businessmen on Cellphones Wagon" "Screaming Infant Wagon" or "Teenagers with an Ipod Wagon"? I can choose which class, window or aisle, and upper or lower deck, why not other criteria?
Sure people come into the "dining" wagon and talk on their cellphones but there it doesn't bother me, mainly because that is where you are supposed to talk on your cellphone.

Anyway, I was working on my laptop (brand new, bright, shiny, and non beer smelling/tasting) when the train went around a curve and an open beer can slid across the counter, hit the edge of my laptop, and fell over, spilling beer onto the keyboard. Luckily I had a box of Kleenex nearby and was able to quickly mop up most of it. He apologized quite profusely and it didn't seem to be harmed but I was still rather cross.
I guess I shouldn't have been working in the food and drink area, but seriously it is impossible to work anywhere else. Well, in second class at least. Certainly first class has more space but certainly no plugs to plug in electrical items. I was informed that I could go in the toilets to plug it in, but the idea didn't excite me.

Arrived in Marseille and saw hordes of police in full riot gear in strategic points around the train station. Was wondering what was going on, then saw the signs that the Marseille-Paris match was canceled. Got stopped by four French people, all wearing L'Olympique de Marseille scarves, who asked me how to get to the Vieux Port from the Gare St. Charles. I explained to them that they could either go down and take the subway two stops or else could just walk down the hill from the train station, turn right at the McDonald's on the Canebiere and go straight and they would be there in 5 minutes. They thanked me and walked off. It was one of those situations where you don't think anything of it at the time but then wonder later "What is wrong with this picture?"
Blonde américaine tells four french OM supporters how to get from the Gare St. Charles to the Vieux Port of Marseille.
Isn't that something that should be inate for all OM supporters? Along with pastis, boullaibaise, les calanques, Notre Dame de la Garde, le Vieux Port, pétanque, and the Canebière?

Got home exhausted and am spending the rest of the day doing laundry and trying to calm my raging headache before heading back in to work tomorrow. Oh yeah, and wondering how I am going to explain the fact that my laptop reeks of beer.
Suggestions?