Happy Guy Fawkes Day!
Today, people all over the world Britain are gathering around bonfires to set off fireworks and burn effigies of Guy Fawkes.
Those of us here in the United States don't really get to celebrate this holiday. George Washington condemned it during the American Revolution because he was trying to gain the support of French-Canadian Catholics.
(Guy Fawkes Day apparently has a strong anti-Catholic sentiment.)
However, this is all very much off topic. Back to the story of Fawkes:
(Guy Fawkes Day apparently has a strong anti-Catholic sentiment.)
However, this is all very much off topic. Back to the story of Fawkes:
In 1605 Guy Fawkes and his friends decided to blow up the House of Lords in order to kill King James I. Some genius, though, decided to send a letter to one of his friends warning him not to go to Parliament the day they planned to blow it up. His friend then showed it to the King, who ending up catching Fawkes guarding a whole bunch of gunpowder, right under the House of Lords.
Two lessons can be learned from this:
1) If you plan on killing someone, don't tell anyone who might warn the person you're trying to kill.
2) More people should be celebrated for failing. This entire holiday came about to honor the failure of Fawkes and the other members of the Gunpowder Plot. Can you imagine if every time somebody failed we got a holiday out of it? "I'm sorry you failed this test, but in your honor no one has to come to class next Wednesday." Or, "I'm sorry that you failed in asking her on a date, but here's some wood. Go light things on fire."
Personally, I think this would make the world a much better place. Well, until global warming catches up to everyone's failures and the world spontaneously blows up, but until then, a much better place.
In other news, November 5th is also the day I can enroll in classes for next semester. At my French school! Well, I could have if I understood how to enroll, but it turns out everything is in French.
Two lessons can be learned from this:
1) If you plan on killing someone, don't tell anyone who might warn the person you're trying to kill.
2) More people should be celebrated for failing. This entire holiday came about to honor the failure of Fawkes and the other members of the Gunpowder Plot. Can you imagine if every time somebody failed we got a holiday out of it? "I'm sorry you failed this test, but in your honor no one has to come to class next Wednesday." Or, "I'm sorry that you failed in asking her on a date, but here's some wood. Go light things on fire."
Personally, I think this would make the world a much better place. Well, until global warming catches up to everyone's failures and the world spontaneously blows up, but until then, a much better place.
In other news, November 5th is also the day I can enroll in classes for next semester. At my French school! Well, I could have if I understood how to enroll, but it turns out everything is in French.
In honor of my failing, I'm going to eat some chocolate cake.
On a more successful note I did manage to sign up for the sports program. For a small fee you can enroll in a bunch of different classes -- fencing, horseback riding, badminton, tennis, skiing... However, I'm not sure yet if being able to speak, or at least understand, French is an important component. Luckily, my dad sent me this text today:
"You will be speaking French no problem. But just in case - hola (with a little gismo above the a) is how you say whoa in French."
I can just see it now: American girl trying to ride a horse shouting, "Hola with a weird a! Hola with a weird a!!"
I hope I get a horse that speaks Spanish.
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