A Parisian December

Over the last couple of weeks I've had a lot more insight into French culture and society. First of all, I was invited to attend a small party at the university in honour of a lecturer getting a PhD. It turned out, however, that the party was preceded by the actual reading of her PhD to five judges, who would then decide if, after seven years of work and hundreds of pages of research, she would actually attain this degree. The lecturer's family, friends and colleagues were all there, and we all waited nervously as the judges first left to confer, then came back in to give their verdict (we actually had to stand up as they entered!) Thankfully it was a "yes", so it was champagne all round. Still, it seems a lot more complicated and stressful than in the UK, where a PhD takes only three years!

Still on the theme of universities, last week I went to a classical music concert at the Sorbonne, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Paris. The concert was really amazing, but what surprised me most was that when it finished, at 11.30pm, everyone headed straight to a restaurant to eat! I'm still on English time when it comes to food, and find it hard to eat dinner at 9pm, let alone 11.30pm!

With my students at the university this week we've been discussing national stereotypes and customs, and whilst I'm starting to agree with them that French food is better than English food, I think we do Christmas better. Christmas carols here seem few and far between, the main ones being translations (whoever decided to translate jingle bells as 'long live winter wind' has a lot to answer for), and there are no Christmas crackers or mince pies! That said, I went to a lovely Christmas market at the weekend, and I spent the one snow day we've had drinking coffee with a friend, listening to a live piano player and appreciating the Christmas decorations nearby! I do love December!