Last week I went to Besancon to give a presentation. I was pretty nervous to give a speech in
French in front of a bunch of people on a topic in which I’m supposed to be an
expert, but it went pretty well, and it was a “good experience.” The reactions were interesting. I was told that my talk was provocative, and
there were definitely people who didn’t agree with what I was saying. Unfortunately, I think I came across as an
American saying the French need to change and work later, whereas I meant to
highlight the fact that there aren’t enough opportunities for older people who
want to work later, and it would be beneficial for everyone if there were. Anyway, my talk created a good debate /
discussion, and the professor who invited me seemed happy with it.
I also spent an extra day there so I could explore the
city! The professor scheduled a bunch of
lunches / dinners / activities, which at first I wasn’t looking forward to (I
thought it’d be constant work talk), but it turned out to be really fun. I went to the Museum of Time (there’s a
booming clock industry), and saw the Citadelle, an old military fort that now
houses a zoo and several other interesting museums. Sadly, most of the animals were inside and
trying to stay warm. I also walked along
the Doubs river for a while, and it was good to be out of the city and
surrounded by nature for a bit. Besancon
is a small, pedestrian town, and I felt like I got to know it pretty well after
only a couple of days. The people I
spent time with were very friendly and welcoming, and I’m glad I took advantage
of the opportunity to visit a new part of France.
I added some more pictures to Flickr…and there are a bunch
of random ones from the past couple of months.
My snow pictures weren’t as cool as I thought (and Nemo looked way
better). Anyway, some other exciting
recent events: my mom visited for a while, Camille came back from Belgium for a
weekend, I went to the French Senate and Jill Biden spoke to us at my mid-year
orientation. Fun times!
