Gala, Auction, Everything

Wow, I'm the worst blogger ever.  It doesn't keep me up at night though, soooo...

These last two weeks have been crazy busy.  We started our online auction (to raise funds for our programs) as well as put together a gala/dinner at the Shangri-La Hotel, Paris.  It was probably the most stressful period of my internship as I had to organize all the prizes for the auction, photograph them (like a billion times with lots of details), create an HTML code for each individual lot's announcement, integrate each lot and said codes onto eBay, then program each lot to start at specific times depending on its importance...

And now we wait and answer questions about the prizes as people bid.  I'm so glad it's over.

The gala was very fancy...I ate actual caviar...it's not yummy. Me no likee.  I've gotten to the point in my life that I eat and even enjoy fish, but the caviar was just too much.  Someone ordered me a glass of champagne at the open bar which I then turned down for an orange juice :) which was probably the freshest juice I've ever had.  It was interesting to participate in such a classy event, because I don't really get that opportunity in the states (I mean I'm a classy guy, but I don't think I've ever been to a shindig like this one).  It means I have nothing to compare to and thus I just have to accept it as it is.  But that's kind of how we should always treat different cultures.  Just observe and accept that "that's how it's done."  It would be interesting to see what an American event of the same caliber would look like...I imagine there'd be less red wine, and more beer...maybe?  No idea honestly.

Some things of note:

During the cocktail hour before the dinner there were entertainers, which included:

A soccer trick/dancer thingamajig guy.  I don't know how to describe it.  He did tricks with a soccer ball to music (and even stripped a little bit, which was just...*shakes head*)  But he was really good at keeping the ball in the air without his hands

A group of salsa/breakdancers.  I wish I had a video.  It made me uncomfortable 1) because I don't like when people ballroom dance without a partner (it was three guys) 2) because they were wearing those puffy balloon pants and suit jackets, with no shirts on underneath (again, we got a little strip tease) and 3) because I go to BYU where there are amazing dancers everywhere and that has tainted me.  

Anyway, it was a wonderful evening spent meeting French sports personalities (Rabadan, Chabal, Muriel Hurtis, Laurence Fischer, etc.) and it was a success.

I can't believe that next week my internship will be over and that the week after that I'll be back in the states.  The time has flown.  Hopefully I get around to doing more of the things that I planned on doing before I leave...who wants to fund Michael's trip to Morocco? :)      

"Harry Potter Puppet Show," she said laughing

You guys. This happened on the tram on my home from work.

Have you ever gone people-watching?  It's fun, right?  Well, sometimes, I like to go people-listening, where I pretend that I'm listening to music with my headphones in, but I listen to people around me instead.  Unorthodox? Maybe.

So last night or the night before I was on the tram and more and more people kept coming on, but not that many people were getting off. This equals sardines.  

I had started my people-listening, so my headphones were in with no music playing.  Nothing interesting so far.  Then a couple of people my age get on, which is always a toss-up between boring school talk and awesomely hilarious talk.  The first two ladies...boring talk. Boooo!

Then the next two squeeze in next to me (like uncomfortably close) and start talking.  Somehow I catch the phrase "secret Santa" (not its equivalent in French...the actual words "secret Santa") Excellent.

As a side note, I've seen this and laughed so many times that I automatically equate the rest of the rhyme as "dead," to the point that I no longer remember the real thing

The guy looks confused.  She thinks it's the word 'Santa' that's got him stuck, but no, it's the whole thing.  She explains and he gets the picture pretty quickly. They talk about gifts and one of them mentions a box-set of Harry Potter movies.  My ears perk up...

This girl knows her Potter shiz. She's quoting and laughing and he's clueless...he knows the films and books, but he's not a true fan.  She then, and I can't emphasize how unusual and not-French this is, starts singing (out loud) this:

At this point I'm doing everything in my power to neither laugh out loud nor to join her in "singing" slash "quoting".  My face is probably giving everything away.  

The boy at this point is looking uncomfortable and like he wants to Apparate (wink) off that tram.  He has absolutely no idea what's happening.  So she picks up on his lack of understanding and explains that it's from "a thing on YouTube called 'Harry Potter Puppet Show'." (like "secret Santa," this, too, was in Frenchified English). This title alone almost sent me over the edge, for whatever reason.  
 
Moral of the story: sometimes being crammed in the tram has its benefits, if you're willing to creepily stalk others by listening to their conversations "unnoticed" (I quote because I'm sure the girl had to know)       

Caspers (the friendly not-ghosts)

HALLOWEEN!! 

Halloween in France is mostly different in quantity, in that it felt like way fewer people make a big deal out of it.  There were some people dressed up, but I didn't see that many...maybe not being on a campus of some sort made a difference...who knows...

Anywho, the best part of my Halloween was definitely seeing the CASPERS!

These two are amazing! For the peeps in Utah, Tami and Kurt are from my home ward in Pville CA. They have an amazing family and put up with my mother (love me, mom) in their home while they lived in D.C. I love them. 

I took the afternoon off and met them at the Louvre, where we basically saw the essentials...Mona Lisa, winged victory, everything  Louis XIV (Jared Miller...cough cough) the Venus de milo, some cool Egyptian artifacts, and lots of naked statues (as Tami put it: "oh, another wardrobe malfunction." :)

Winged Victory = stunning

I think this was in Apollo's hall.  Imagine that above your bed as you sleep.

Mona Lisa and friends...I have better pictures of it, but this guy's face...

"L'état, c'est moi" - Jared Mil...I mean Louis XIV

The Venus de Milo...other than the pushy tourists (besides us, of course), it was amazing!

After that, we took a walk along the Seine as the sun set (I was the gracious third wheel) and ate at a café next to the river (and by next to, I mean there was a three lane street full of cars between us and the river, but still...magical.) They got to see the lovers bridge with all the locks, but sadly due to misinformation, had not brought a lock to attach to it (all the more reason to come again)

With just a little time left before their train back to Brussels, I decided that they had to at least see the exterior of Notre Dame (another tactic used by the French to get tourists to come back...just show the exterior and leave 'em begging for more)

I do love this city! I never thought I'd get to share it with as many family and friends as I've been able to, so that's been a pleasant surprise. Thanks Kurt and Tami for visiting, letting me inefficiently "guide" you through Paris (I'm just so knowledgeable...haha), and for sharing your Paris time with me. Have an awesome week in Belgium!

Handball...it's not what you think

So, I got to go to another match last night.  VIP.  The whole deal.  It was a handball match.  For those of you who grew up in what we'll call a "regular" school in the US, when I say handball, what do you think of?


There's a wall, right?  And you hit the ball against the wall hard enough that your opponent can't return the ball, or something like that, right? This wikipedia article might refresh your memory (I personally like that there's a variation called prison handball...it just feels right haha)

So, in Europe, and of course, the rest of the world, this sport with the same name is totally different.  *side note* We like to give the US crap for stuff like 'soccer' instead of 'football', but there are good reasons why. Did you know that (according to etymonline.com) the word 'soccer' came about by taking the name Football Association, shortening to Assoc. and then adding the '-er' similar to how rugby used to be called 'rugger' in university slang? Did you know that in Italy, a major power in the soccer world, it's called il calcio and not il futbol? "I did not know that, Michael.  Thank you for enlightening me"

The Norwegian babe in the bottom right corner is my new girlfriend.  Her name is Stine Oftedal. Learn it.

So...thoughts? (I literally sat for like 2 minutes just staring at that "so" that I had typed, not knowing what to say after) It was honestly really cool to watch a sport that I'd never watched before and to try and figure out the rules. It's like a cross between indoor soccer (goals/goalie), basketball (pace and dribbling), rugby (contact/aggression), and maybe like... Quidditch? (because of its...quirkiness?)  I'll discuss the quirkiness later. 

The ball is like a small soccer ball, but with more bounce (so they can dribble) and it apparently has some tacky material (tacky like tactile, not tacky like sans class) on it so they can grip it better with one hand. No one can enter the goalie's "box" (though here, it's more like a half oval) except the goalie.  So shots on the goal have to be fast and crazy to make it.  This, combined with the ball's small size, leads to the aforementioned quirkiness. (I'm sincerely trying not to laugh in my office right now, which means I'm shaking with silent laughter...)

So, the goalie has to defend a goal from a relatively small ball flying at a relatively high velocity.  Sounds similar to soccer, right?  Well, for some reason, it just isn't.

Why did I say this reminded me of Quidditch?

Aaand...SPAZZ hands

I feel like I'm watching someone dance to cotton-eyed Joe at a church youth dance.  These were taken during warm-ups before the match, and the players were just chucking ball after ball at the goalie (to get her warmed-up) and her legs were FLYING up in the air! It was both awesome and hilarious.  Fortunately, during the match, there's a lot less relentlessness in the number of consecutive attacks.  Once they shoot, they either score, or the goalie recovers the ball. Most of the time they score...hence why it's like basketball - lots of running back and forth after each team scores.
    
Anyway, we do have handball teams in the states, but it just hasn't gained the steam that soccer has (as far as "import" sports go).  Maybe it just needs time.

And now an homage to my love, Stine

 

I swear I'm not crazy.

Lost in Translation

Can I just say, translating is not a simple task.  I think I'm realizing my own naivete in thinking that a translation internship would be a cakewalk.

Let's make one thing clear: if you speak two languages with enough proficiency, you no longer rely on real-time, internal interpretation to figure out what people are saying.  Proficient bilinguals and polyglots (people who speak multiple languages) don't sit there during conversations consciously trying to map out what is being said.  They just listen and respond, similar to what you would do in your first language.  Thus, there's not some set English script in my head for when I'm speaking French that I can turn to that will work every time (likewise in the other direction).

When I thought about my  translation internship, I thought "Oh this will be easy.  I speak French pretty well, English is my native language...cake"

Then I got here, and like running into a brick wall (or in the case of this poor woman, a glass door)...

This is a gem...I wish it were a gif

...I realized the foolishness of what I had done. 

Just kidding.  I love the internship! It's true, though, that translation is not as easy as one might think, especially with deadlines and expectations of professionalism.  I mentioned a few posts ago that I was translating the website for PL4Y International ... it's a beast! It's technically finished, but I have some cleaning touches and edits to do.  There are also little links, page headers, etc. that are resisting attempts to be changed, so it's a lot of collaboration with our web team.  I'm learning so much :) 

Never have I been so pushed in terms of technicality in syntax and semantics.  Nor in vocabulary, I might add, as I had to constantly search for the British way of saying things.  The hardest part though, was knowing the meaning of the French (see paragraph 2), but not having adequate terminology in English to translate to.  Or having too many English terms to choose from.  On top of that, I also "get" to edit all the French content (due to the nature of the language, native French speakers, even when educated, can be prone to making subtle grammatical mistakes in writing...it's hard to find an equivalent in English...it's not like spelling mistakes.  It would be more like correcting me for leaving prepositions at the end of my sentences [which I do all the time...even in this very post]...but even then, it's not the same.  Frenchies, you know what I'm talking about - fautes d'accord, conjugaison, etc.) It's thrilling (sense the tone).

In any case, I'm so thankful to be here, working, learning, eating.  It's the bombdotcom.  Six-weeks already...here's to six more!

Volleyball!!

I didn't get to play (which would have been awesome) but I got to attend the Super Cup, which takes the national men's volleyball champions, and pits them against the winners of the Champion's League (which in the world of French volleyball, is basically always the same two teams - Tours and Paris).  We had VIP seats (there are perks to this internship after all)

I went with two of my co-workers, Candice and Lynne

Lynne, Candice, me...after a long day of work, so no judging :)

Lynne is Canadian, from New Brunswick, I believe (look that one up).  She speaks French and English fluently, and her French has a wonderful, almost Quebecois-like lilt to it, which I love.

Candice is from the Alsace region of France and she is also doing a Master's program, though it's through a Swiss university.  They're both awesome!

A quick note about volleyball in France.  The stands here held less than the Smith Fieldhouse at BYU, so of course there were fewer fans (they were just as enthusiastic as BYU fans, however).  Lynne made the comment that collegiate volleyball and sports in general are really well-developed in the states and Canada, while professional leagues are less-common.  France, on the other hand, doesn't really do collegiate sports, so professional leagues and clubs are more important.  It was an interesting point...aside from the national teams, I couldn't think of a major professional volleyball team in the states.  It's all college teams.  Crazy.  Where do college volleyball players go after they graduate? 

Back to the match...so many things to say...where to start...?

OK, Tours, in my opinion, is a way better team (and they won, so there...justified) and here's why: SERVICE! Their serves were sooo strong! 

 
Paris was probably more consistent in getting it over, but the serves were rarely hit with any real force...more like lobs.  They were trying for a float serve (???...my English vocab is dying) but it wasn't super effective. Tours definitely hit the net more, but the when it got over, Paris' team was like

 

I'm still laughing from some of the moments last night. 

Volleyball culture in France is very similar to the states (I wonder why...) Lots of pumping music, intimidation tactics during opposing serves, etc.  The one thing they couldn't get right was letting "We Will Rock You" get to the lyrics part of the song so I could sing along :)  Whatevs.

They've also adopted a lot of the English vocab during play, like calling a ball "out" instead of "dehors."  One thing missing, either in French or English, was the idea of a side out.  Of course it exists, but they don't have a one-word, simple version of it.

 

Something they had that we definitely do NOT have in volleyball is cheerleaders...

I won't lie - two things made this painful...no, thr...ok so many things made this painful.

1) Not necessarily their skill level, but rather that these adolescent, club cheerleaders were at a professional, national sporting event

2) Scratch the first part of #1. Their skill level. Honestly...I couldn't even...No.

3) They didn't really do any leading of cheers.  I'll leave #3 at that.

4) SO OUT OF CONTEXT!!!! Volleyball is not a cheerleading sport!

I'm sure I'll think of other things, probably meaner things, to say...I'm a brat, I know.  Message me if you want the deets.  Needless to say I was giggling out of discomfort for them.

It was a really good night, though.  Tours won (they also two Americans and a giant Canadian on their team...so maybe I'm biased in being happy for them)

I took this at the moment the little confetti canons went off.  Oh, that libero on the front row (the guy in the dark blue, the digger or passer) was insane...both in his skills and probably medically.  I can't count the number of times he jumped on his teammates like a little...I wanna say demon?...monkey?...I'm not sure.  He just latched right on, screaming his guts out any time they scored.  I was dying of laughter.

Une soirée réussie !  

Name Change

No, I'm not changing my name, nor the name of this blog. 

Sorry it's been so long since I've written.  Last week was crazy! The NGO I "work" for (and by work I mean that I do work for them without pay) :) just changed its name, brand, identity, everything, to become PL4Y International! (yes, that is a "4" in place of an "A") I won't go into too many details...suffice it to say that I got to participate in the launch party at the Shangri-La Paris ... see here

Sorry for the poor photo quality...lighting plus an iphone makes for less-than picturesque shots.

Fancy finger-food

Yep

Sebastien Chabal, probably one of the most famous French rugby players. His beard is epic.

Some of our athlete-ambassadors with the President of the NGO

Such good desserts...Laura Larsen, I still like your macarons better.

So, ya.  That was the lead-up to my weekend.  I get to go back to the Shangri-La for a gala and auction that we will be holding in November.  I'm pretty stoked.  Other than all that excitement, I'm just plugging along translating the new website into English...the whole thing.  It's crazy how translation makes you realize how little you know your own language.  So many things in French just make sense to me without knowing how I would say it in English.  And, I have to make everything British English...which is a treat.