Louis Vuitton Trophy

St Jean Cap Ferrat

we walked about 5-6 km? first to cimiez then 1 round st jean cap ferrat. it was really beautiful. so glad i went at least once befor ei go back. see how clear the water is! i really wanted to jump in and swim

and finally a photo of Nice beach in fall.

My exam question

How did France become a cultural capital and will its economy continue to operate on the basis of cultural capital?

what did i do to get such a soc-sci question for my final exam? what am i going to do!! i dont even know what is cultural capital!

French-y

i’m loving the culture more and more. took me sometime to embrace and understand it, yes, but now i’m beginning to see it. haha.

for example, my microwave that i still don’t know how to use. it’s french u know, nice to look at but doesn’t work. hahaahhaa. just like the shoes they design. nice to look at, can hardly walk in them.

so we were on the bus to monaco (again!). and beside us were these 5 german-speaking girls, who annoyed us to the max by their language, so we had to speak in our broken french so we don’t have to listen to all that noise.

to be honest i couldn’t get the inefficiency of the place when i first came. i dont understand why internet takes 1 week to repair, why people here are always on strike. and J had to call the svc center 5 times just to terminate his contract! all he needed was an address to send the form to, and neither the ppl in the shop nor the reception on the phone (the ‘filter’) could give to him. and why do they need a filter for? i thought it’s all machine now? dont even get me started on my carte de sejour application.

yet… i love living here sooo much. it’s sad to think about leaving. the whole feel of Nice is just simply amazing. weather is good and people here actually smile! (u’ll be surprised when u go to paris, where people point at the wrong direction when u ask them in english). can’t bear to leave this place. dont know when i’ll be back!! did i mention good weather?

tomorrow’s our farewell cocktail, and this weekend there’s this huge bash that i’ll miss coz i’ll be in london, and there’s hardly any more weekends or time to bid everyone goodbye. aww. i feel sad typing the cliche phrase of all good things must come to an end. reality!

loves loves loves the song!

Ca Va Pas Non

on the tram today, i saw this little boy who was making a lot of noise. what he’s asking for, i can’t understand, but his mum, instead of saying, stop it! said ‘ca ne va pas non’. ca va is basically what we say when we ask someone ‘are you okay’! which means ca ne va pas non means something like are you not okay. hahaha. which is funny because she said it in such a firm tone.

we were talking about the french language in class today. about how french really avoid the use of imperatives. we were saying when we say in english ‘please do not step on the grass’, the french will avoid saying that at all costs. they will say something like Respecter la pelouse, which really means please respect the grass. how weird. and the germans of course wins in terms of being direct, as always. french are so like the chinese in so many ways. and how come we wonder why exchange students complain the french are rude?? maybe coz we are used to translating ‘give me a baguette’. hahaha.

we were discussing the word ‘culture’ too. of course there’s the whole lot of meaning to culture etc. my favorite definition of culture is that culture is WHERE WE DIFFER, SUCCESSFULLY. of course when we dont differ successfully the culture dies. then there’s this concept of culture where it means cultivation of soil. (that reminds me of pastor kong’s message of cultural mandate btw. ) now the interesting thing is that a british girl brought up that they still call people of high culture, high education and stuff (u know what i’m talking abt) ‘cultivated’. well i was thinking she must be pretty ‘cultivated’ herself to use such a term, since we will just call it ‘atas’. but it’s cool isn’t it. i love my class because of its diverse cultures precidely!

since we are at culture, it’s funny how the french term for ‘culture’ doesn’t really mean culture. it refers to ONLY high culture, like ballet, poetry etc. all the others like hippie culture etc, they use another word that means ‘mentality’, which really has a negative conotation in english. i guess that says a lot about them.

so yes, i’m loving my class. heh. it’s really interesting! and my presentation kinda rocked because i presented something from Asian point of view, which makes it really easy for me, and very interesting for the class.

Armistice Day

on my way to school, i realize the french flags are hung outside the bus! i still didn’t know it’s a public holiday though. went to school and it was closed! and i realize class is scheduled to tomorrow! rahhH!

on my way back i realize the weather is very very good. i dropped off the bus about 1 km away from home and walked back (i tot it’s less than that but i saw the wrong stop). nevertheless the weather is really fantastic! it’s funny how the sea is bluer, sky is clearer than in the summer. it’s too cold for a swim, but beach tennis or chilling by the beach without a jacket is perfect.

so i’m here dropping off my laptop at home and heading back out there!

i wish i can post pictures but dont think it will do the view any justice!! i just hope the weather wil stay good, at least till jimmi visits me! would hate to show the rainy Nice (which sometimes happen) to him. aww!

This is it!

the first movie i watched in Nice! when it started, all the trailers for the other movies were in french. then before the movie, the writing and summary of MJ’s life was in french too. i had the ‘oh no’ feeling. but thank God the movie was in English (:

i loved the movie. expected it to be a little emo about his death and all, but it wasn’t at all. i think it was a good thing because if they touch on his death then they have to sort of make a stand abt what happened. well, we felt emo anyway, thinking abt a person of talent the world lost so recently.

growing up i never knew him. sure i heard of his name but unlike deb, my family won’t like watch her concert together on LD when we gather during chinese new year. my parents were more of the teresa teng gang if u know what i mean.

soo the movie-concert was awesome!!! if he hasn’t died i would totally have paid the 1000 dollars for his concert. TOTALLY. it was just showmanship shown there. the effects were great. the dancers… omg. it must be like american idol to even audition to be performing with him. it was so cool. most of all i was touched by his humility and ability to work well with people. from his rehearsals u can totally see that he knows his show, music and dance. the female guitarist is sooo cool. hahas. and all his ‘i love you guys’ ‘God bless you’ hahahaha. MJ is a person people will like i think. to make the team stand in a circle holding hands for briefing is totally weird tho. i tot they were going pray or something haha.

and his costumes! i’m not sure which are the costumes which are his own wear, but all those balmain jackets totally ROCK IT. apparently he inspired the whole line? AWESOMENESS.

i got one question though. if MJ is the king of pop, how on earth can britney be princess of pop?

since my last post, i’ve been to

budapesti

then wien.

then praha

then warszawa.

then krakow.

then oswiecim, or auschwitz.

milan.

lake como.

foxtown/mendrisio.

from the back, it’s switzerland, italy, poland, czech, austria, and hungary.

tell me exchange is not happening. heh.

Ama

while walking along lake como yesterday, i saw an old lady in a cool, neon printed wheelchair. she was with her granddaughter, just sitting by the lake, watching. she held her hand. couldn’t tell if they were talking, or just enjoying the view of the lake. (lake como is the famous lake in northern italy, where george clooney lives). i couldn’t help but think about ama. there’s no lake como in singapore, but surely there’s botanical gardens. why havn’t i drove her there and brought her out for a walk before? i’m definitely not too busy to give her my 2 hours? i’m gonna do that when i get back! first on my to do list.