Besancon

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!