Does One Stink Because One is in France.... or Because One is French?

A compelling question is it not? It kind of has this what came first the chicken or the egg process that may drain all brain power you think you have. The fact is that people definetely stink more here. But as I have lived here for the past month I have noticed that I also stink more. I just had to spend a good minute washing my feet because I thought they smelt like French cheese. My theory is that it is a combination between the stinky french cheese, the fact that one walks everywhere, and the fact that there is no air conditioner. The french deserve a break from the rest of the world. It is not their fault that they stink. Is it our fault in America that we are generally bigger with all the fast food we have thrown in our faces? Is it a Utahn's fault that they don't know whats going on in the outside world? Of course not. And the french are not to blame for their stinkiness, its unavoidable. I mean seriously you should have just smelled my feet, it was awful.

Sadly the past week and a half I have been sick with something that I think is Bronchitis. I knew I was in trouble when I was practicing the piano at the school and I had to stop and sit in the hard chair next to the piano bench for two hours while I waited for my fever to break. Gratefully I was only truly out of comission for a couple of days and have been able to enjoy the education I am getting here and a healthy portion of a Parisian night life. Last Saturday I went to the opera and it was absolutely beautiful. It was Othello a play written by Shakesphere with music written by Verdi one of the great Italian opera geniuses. It was three hours of beautiful music and a compelling dramatic tragedy. We got student tickets and it was a fourth of the price that it usually was ( We sat seventh row 115 euro tickets for 25 euros) and it made me excited and anxious to pursue future opera opportunities in New York. It was fun listening to Italian and having to read french subtitles to keep up on what was going on. If you are contemplating going to an opera near you..... Do it! I can't promise it will be as exciting as Othello in Paris but good culture is good culture right.


And now a moment of silence for Harry Potter.... blew my mind. I won't say to much on this subject because I trust that all of you were as moved and happy as I was...... in a sad nostalgic way of course..... to see the last of the set. Bravo J.K. Rowling. Bravo.

The program here is absolutely brilliant. ( I am trying to use brilliant to sound like my friend Nicolas Little from England. What an awesome british name huh.) My head is spinning with counterpoint exercises, we get to here world class musicians perform 2-3 nights a week, and the chances to play and perform for top notch musicians are endless. Today I played a trio by Mendlesohn. Lets just say there was a looooooot of notes haha. A violin teacher who had taught chamber music at Juilliard and now teaches violin at Colburn and USC came and taught us. He was absolutely brilliant. On Saturday we have a pianist visiting I am excited to see who it is.

Well thats about it. The musical adventures continue here in good old Paris. My french is getting O.K. I would really like to come back and just have all the time in the world to study it for a month so I can get a hold on it. And yet there are those times when I close my eyes and see a land where the refills are endless, there are bathrooms everywhere, where air conditioners abound, and where people (including myself) tend to smell a bit better. And thats when I think "God Bless America, it may be fun to leave, but it always feels right to come back home.


Ryan