I arrived back late from a weekend in Paris, and decided to skip class today to get my head clear. Its only the first day in my 2nd week of class, so maybe that’s not a very promising sign. I will need to get my scheduling right.
On the other hand, I’ve moved a lot this past week, and to slow down because there are things to contemplate is a very different feeling from not being able to get going. Paris, in particular, was quite a drag to get through.
The main things that have occupied me though, are not what I have done but the stories of all the different people that I have met. The students here are almost invariably well-off and lavishly prepared to enjoy themselves. They have the resources to do so much more than feed their self-absorption, but for good or for bad, I haven’t met anyone who thinks this way. Nevertheless, their different backgrounds and nationalities make them interesting. I have seldom felt so ignorant about the world around me. The tutors, staff, and random people out on the streets that I somehow found the charm to hold interesting conversations with also broadened my horizons yet further. People here seem so much friendlier than back home.
But though it all, I have held my aura of mystery. Its a little amusing. Everyone is more than willing to talk about themselves. They assume that you would be the same, and are thus not used to asking questions that most people wouldn’t need to be asked when talking. I’m the uninteresting one, who has comparatively no money, no boastful stories, no regular friends. All I do is keep moving.
So I have nothing to fear from these kids. Paris was a different story. But here, I get my peace easily. Its almost therapeutic. The real stuff is still out there, where people with causes and stands will clash, where intellectuals with different viewpoints will create dangerous politics. Where people who actually know how hard the world can be to live in will be very tough adversaries. These crystal children here, they just make it comfortable. I like them.
I hope to enjoy it for as long as I can.
Softly Questioning 