Martial Arts in France and Scooter Rides

Well, I've had a busy and interesting week.  Yann went off to work on Wednesday morning.  I had a coffee and shopping date with a French friend, Diane.  It's so nice to have a good ol' fashioned girl's day.  We had a really good time; she's a very sweet girl who lived in Chicago for 3 years, so her English is great.  We walked everywhere; until my feet were hurting.  But then I remembered I had to get home because I had told my neighbour I would go to his karate class with him at 7pm. 

 

I called him to cancel when I got home because I was so tired and hungry, but he assured me it would be "soft"; aka: My ass wouldn't be kicked too hard.  Okay...so i went hoping it would be like a beginner class where you spend the first half hour stretching gently on the mats and the last hour lightly punching at a bag.  Nope. I get there and I am hurried into the locker room by the Sensi.  He gives the white jacket and pants to put on.  They are children's pants and they stop just above my knee.  I feel stupid already. 

 We begin the class by bowing to one another.  There are 2 white belts, my neighbour and I and the other 3 students in the class are green belts.  Which is apparently 2 colors away from 'Lethal Killer'.  Of course the class is all in French.  The teacher is having us do calisthenics; none of which I had any stamina for.  Running from one side of the gym to the other as fast as we can, jumping over a pole set up as a hurtle, doing army crawls under the pole, doing squats and lunges, situps, pushups with a partner.  I wanted to ask if I could just watch for the first lesson, or maybe even just take a small sip of water?? No, not yet, my neighbour explained. First, we warm up, then we learn the fighting techniques. 

 So, after our heart rates were all up we learned how to slam eachother down on the mats.  My partner was pretty much a French supermodel, a beautiful girl, with full makeup still on.  She is a green belt.  She is a little bit scary and I'm smaller than her.  She speaks no English.  She is laughing because every time she slams me, my white kimono gets smeared with her mascara and foundation.  I even get to slam her once.  My neck begins to hurt.  Then it's time for her to go fight with an actual contender; another green belt student.  The Sensi works with me and he is very nice and is being patient.  I actually nail a couple of the moves.  After class the teacher encourages me to come twice a week.  It's inexpensive enough and would be helpful in teaching me some self-defense.  I mean I do live in Marseille, and I may need it someday.  But I think I've decided to put mastering this ancient Japanese martial art on the back burner for a while.  I've got more important things to figure out now, like a job and learning French.      

Also, I just have to tell you about my exciting experience last night.  It wasn't anything too crazy, but JC came to pick me up to hang out at their house.  Guess what he picked me up on!!? A cute, little scooter!! It was so fun flying up and down all these narrow city streets, feeling the cool evening wind in my face.  My mom has always scared me from riding on any motorcycle with all her horror stories from her college days.  But a scooter is a bit more innocent, right? It makes less noise, it doesn't go as fast.  And I still wore a helmet.  Mom, don't worry, it's not like I'm going to go out and buy a scooter.  But it is really exhilarating to ride around on one.  So, here is a pic of JC coming to pick me up on his hot scooter.

Tonight I'm going to this get together that should be really fun.  They are the group of English speakers I met through the internet.  The group was started by this really cool French girl, Malou, and the group is about half French who want to practice their English and half a random assortment of Americans, Irish, Canadians, and British.  Actually, there is only one other American girl besides me, Laila.  It should be a good time, so I'll try to bring my camera so I can post pics of my little group of friends.  And, I'm so excited because Yann comes home on Sunday evening and he has 11 days off!!! It should be snowing in the Alps this week, so I think I can sense a snowboard trip in the works! A bientot!