I had been warned so many times about French television, and the weird nudist things that go on. Sorry to disappoint you, but this is just not true. The worst I’ve seen is nipples, and that was when the news channels were covering (haha!) French fashion week. My host mother has only regular TV. I didn’t think that cable, or digital cable really existed here, but that assumption is also untrue. I’ve been told that some get channels such as Al-Jazeera in all their untranslated glory. French network TV is a lot like American network TV. During the day, there are soap operas, but more game shows. Europeans love game shows. The game shows here are really cruel too. Not cruel as in inflicting physical pain, but inflicting stress. There’s this one that’s really awful. There are 21 contestants from the 21 provinces in France, and one is chosen to play the game. There’s some kind of question and answer process. Then, the contestant chooses a box. The host then goes to each of the boxes and opens them up very slowly. Inside are amounts for cash prizes. The prizes go from 1€ up to 500 000€. After the box is opened, the amount is crossed off a big board of the lists of prizes. The contestant can choose to keep the box or exchange. Every single contestant ends up crying. The pressure is too much. The music is really dramatic, and the host really eggs the person on. It’s really painful to watch. I usually can’t get through and entire session, from commercial break to commercial break. I know I’ve made fun of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” for its manufactured drama, but this is so much worse. The other game shows are pretty run of the mill. Mostly trivia shows, one has a secondary host which is a computer animated skeleton dressed in Beethoven-esque clothing. He interacts with the contestants, but on a delay. There is, interestingly enough, lots of classical music on television. While I’m writing this, I’m watching the French awards for Classical music, kind of like the Grammys. The other day, on Mozart’s birthday, or deathday, or whatever it was, they showed a gala celebration. I think those two words are redundant, but oh well. There was a really beautiful little operetta about Dido and Aeneas. It was casually staged, the people just stood at the microphones and sang, sans costumes. It was really fantastic though. I think I like opera. Even though I’ve studied piano for 15 years, I really don’t know anything about music. I can name maybe a handful of composers, and I couldn’t name you any major works. I can’t even tell you the name of things I played last semester. My host mother has come up with really random connections as usual. Her brother organizes an international music festival in Corsica, where her family is from (nobility no less!). She has two CDs of a really wonderful pianist named Katia Skanavi. If you are of the classical persuasion, look her up.

The channel that I like the best is called “Arte.” It’s a German/French channel. It’s sort of like the Discovery channel, but not so slick. It shows documentaries and programs. It has pretty good news, and talk programs too. I suppose it’s really more like PBS, but without the Children’s programming. I watched an interesting program today about Colonization and France. Another night, they dedicated all their programming to race issues in Germany and France. Between shows, they had a panel discussing different topics brought up by the documentary. It was interesting to watch how different countries deal with the same problem. Racism does exist in other countries. Germany, “Nigger” (or the German word for it. In French it’s “Negrè”) is still an acceptable term to describe a person of color.

Why was I at home watching television all evening instead of exploring the city? Well, I have a pretty good reason. I’ve discovered that I am a cheap person. I usually get from A to B by Metro. The Metro is really good, fast, and reasonably priced. I use reasonably loosely. I had been buying weekly passes. They’re good from Monday to Sunday, and you have unlimited Metro and bus privileges. But, a better option is a monthly pass. It is 10€ cheaper. However, there were two days where my weekly pass had run out and my monthly pass hadn’t begun. Well, it wouldn’t have begun if I had bought it. So, I was grounded. I probably could have purchased a carnet of 10 tickets that would have gotten used eventually, but I didn’t want to spend the money. I really didn’t want to spend the 50€ to get my monthly pass. I’ve been really thinking of getting a bike. It would be so good. Of course, then I wouldn’t be able to ride the Noctillien, which is the night bus and my favorite part of Paris. But, with a bike I’d be able to get where I want when I want. However, I don’t fly by the seat of my pants, because I’m cheap. I don’t want to buy a bike and then not use it. My classes are at Porte de Clignacourt, which is sort of far North. It’s past Montmartre and I live at Montparnasse. So, I’m going to take a bike tour of Paris before I buy! The guide tells you all the bike laws, and shows you all the good places to bike. I think I’m going to do it this weekend. I’m excited, not only for the freedom, but also for the fact that I’m going to save money.

I propose a contest! What’s the best thing you can think of for me to do with my extra 100€? If I like it, I’ll do it!