Origami and Harry Potter

 Hello!

 My half-term in Avignon was going well: I had been to Montpellier and photographed some autumn scenery. The final two activites I had planned were an origami workshop and a Harry Potter marathon (except I had only booked the first two films because I just couldn't have done them all!). So, let's see how things went.

 Firstly, origami. I had seen posters advertising these workshops, which took place at Cami-Li, a local bookshop, but they were at a time when I had class. Half-term would probably be my only chance to go to one, so I jumped at it.

 I arrived at the bookshop and we sat around a wooden table drinking the hot drinks that were included with the workshop. I had hot chocolate and it was amazing. There was just something very snug about the whole set-up.

 We were a small group, maybe four girls my age and two little girls. The instructor, Lucie, let us choose which of the prettily patterned papers to use, and we began learning to make cranes. I had enjoyed making paper boats and fortune tellers as a kid, and I thought this wouldn't be too hard. 

 It wasn't that complicated in the end, but it did take me a while to get my head around it. Some parts are fiddly and there's a stage where if you hold the folded shape the wrong way up while making the next fold, it ruins the whole thing and you won't know until later on. That was a bit infuriating, but we worked it out and soon the table was piled high with multicoloured cranes.

 Next, we learnt how to make tiny cranes from smaller pieces of paper. This was tricky! The final challenge was to thread our cranes onto some string, along with some beads, to make an ornament to hang up. I was really pleased with my final result.

 Overall, the workshop was a lovely experience, something warm and colourful in the middle of the cold weather, and I was sad that I probably wouldn't be able to go again because of the timetable clash. Ah, well.

 On the Friday before going back to Uni, I set off for the Pandora Cinema for their Harry Potter Marathon. The Pandora specialises in foreign-language films which aren't dubbed but instead have subtitles in French. Inside there was the kind of demographic I would have expected for a Potter Marathon - lots of millennials! I settled down as Philosopher's Stone began.

 I don't know exactly how many times I saw that film during my childhood, but it would have been a lot. This was pure nostalgia. With regards to how they subtitled it, I was interested to see that they kept the French versions of names from the French translations of the books, for example Snape being "Rogue".

 I can understand how they might have done this so that there was some continuity for French viewers who read the French books. However, for those that hadn't read the books, it must have been odd when the characters so clearly weren't saying the names that were in the subtitles.

 On the plus side, I like how the subtitles were in a magic-y font and how each set appeared onscreen at what felt like the right time, with sentences being split appropriately. It made a pleasant change from the awful English subtitles I so often see on French films, with horrible fonts and too many words onscreen at a time (to the point where it can spoil surprises).

 There was a very brief break before the second film, and I ran to get a sandwich from a nearby bakery. The Pandora is on the Rue de la République, which is a big shopping street, so there are plenty of food options. I and the other spectators milled around outside the cinema, before heading back inside for Chamber of Secrets.

 Part of the reason why I chose the first two films to watch out of the eight was that they have an old-school feel that was lost from the third film onward. This is probably due to a mix of the plots getting darker, the characters and actors getting older and the films no longer being directed by an American - Chris Columbus's idealised view of the UK and its boarding schools certainly plays a big role in the first two chapters' aesthetic.

 So, I enjoyed Chamber of Secrets' strange mixture of childhood innocence and scary monsters (though I wish the Basilisk could have somehow lived. I always have to look away from the blinding part). Sir Kenneth Branagh was brilliant as Lockhart; Alan Rickman was excellent as ever. It's just a really well-made film with great actors.

 So, that was my half-term in Avignon. Although going home would have been nice, I feel I made the very best of staying here and had a fun and refreshing week.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

Comedy: Kee-Yoon - Jaune Bonbon

 Hello!

 Sometimes things just seem to fall into place, and that was the case for me with a certain stand-up show.

 A while after my mother and grandmother left Avignon, I was wondering through town and decided to visit the tourist office. There, I picked up a programme for the Chêne Noir (Black Oak) Theatre, which we Erasmus students happened to have visited as part of our photo-rally.

 I opened the programme and the first thing I saw was a show by comic Kee-Yoon that was to take place that very night.

 Now, the thing is, several days earlier I had been leaving Uni and, as usual, the gate was flanked by people trying to shove flyers into my hands. One time they gave me the French Constitution, which is actually quite a useful and interesting thing to have a copy of. This time, it was an ad for Kee-Yoon's show.

 I don't like to encourage people who bother me with flyers by actually going to the thing, but this felt like it was somehow meant to be. So, I went to the Chêne Noir and bought a ticket.

 That night I returned to the theatre, which I learnt was once an abbey. The stage was empty but for a pair of very high heels. There was a big crowd and the atmosphere was one of excitement.

 The lights went down and music played. I watched the stage to see how Kee-Yoon would appear, but was pleasantly surprised by her entering the room through one of the side doors and climbing up through the audience, saying hello to everyone. 

 When she arrived on stage I expected her to move the shoes, which I had assumed were just a placeholder, but she slipped them on! The heels looked lethal.

 And so she began. Kee-Yoon trained as a lawyer, but switched to comedy. This was all I had really known before seeing her in person. She turned out to be bubbly, bouncy and sweet, and her humour tended to go down well, though at times it went pretty dark and would not be for everyone.

 I did feel that the little girl act she sometimes put on didn't work; it was clear to me that it was some sort of reflex to moments where she felt unsure. If she told a joke and people seemed slow in getting it, she would often do a girly pose and giggle, and I don't think it was really necessary.

 Race also seemed to be a topic she would fall back on for a quick laugh: "My favourite colour is pink - and yellow, for obvious reasons." It was just awkward. Finding humour in her culture as a Korean is fine, but making jokes about being yellow feels outdated now.

 The show seemed quite long for a one-woman show - about an hour, without any kind of break, and it incorporated music and dancing, which impressed me. Overall, it was a positive experience, and made me keen to see more stand-up comedy in France.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x