Only in France

I was very concerned about waking up on time for class this morning, so I set my cellphone alarm for 7:50am and set it on my desk chair - far enough out of my reach so I couldn't subconsciously fling it against the wall in a rage-filled sleep stupor, but close enough to sufficiently irritate me into sitting up in my amazingly-comfortable-when-you're-dead-tired bed, casting off my warm and cozy polar blankets and telling myself, "Don't you dare reset the alarm for 5 minutes later, don't you dare." I dared. Four times. Fortunately, I'd set my computer to start playing Green Day and Nirvana songs at 5 minute intervals around the same time, so I had to repeatedly stumble over to shut off that ruckus. After several trips, I was still groggy but somehow found my way to the bathroom and splashed cold - and I mean COLD, it's straight from the Alps, which have had snow for the past couple weeks - water on my face.

I quickly dressed, said silent thanks that I'd showered before going to bed and rushed to school... sort of. I waited in vain by the bus stop for 6 minutes and then headed to the tram stop (no need to rush; trams come every two to four minutes from 8am to 4pm). Arrived slightly late for my Version class (translating English press into French) but luckily teacher primarily is concerned about attendance, not punctuality. It passed uneventfully, as did the Theme class (translating French press into English) afterwards.

However, I knew I was in for some excitement when I saw about 150 students and professors gathered in front of the more often closed than open library. There was some sort of unenthusiastic speech going on - there was only sporadic clapping and most people appeared more interested in huddling together to stay warm. I continued walking to the political science building, only to be greeted by a few students standing around a table with juice and leaflets. They were guarding the entrance to the building -- which had a construction fence and a large log crudely barricading the doors. I smiled and took a leaflet, "The Closed University." The students are protesting against moves toward university privatization and believe that the best way to bring the government and administration officials to the negotiating table is by blocking access to university facilities. Riiiiiight. Only in France. Back home, that would be met with SWAT teams and tear gas... and black helicopters.