Had a good conversation with two other conference participants on the bus from Ireland and Hong Kong. Actually, today had fewer presentations so a lot of my time was spent chatting and networking(largely on behalf of the Duquesne Press where I work).
I often find myself uncomfortable at these things, as if being on the outside looking in. It's not that people are unfriendly (NALS is far better than SPEP), but more so that the people who have spent a long time and work on Levinas and making him a prominent thinker in continental philosophy in the US have been doing it for quite some time back when it was just a few of them, and therefore, are closely knit.It could of course have to do with the fact that they just don't have the time to give to every single person-especially not when these society meetings are almost like class reunions-not to mention that one does not gain any notoriety in academia until one has published a book.
Nevertheless I'm grateful for those young professors who are willing to associate with us grad students (that NALS doesn't separate the presentations helps lessen the rift but the gulf still persists).
Tonight, I had a wonderful French with nine other participants representing the US, Canada, Bulgaria, Switzerland, and the UK. A number of them knew French so I didn't really have to work to get my order. Regardless, around the table of good food and French wine-and a Spain victory over Germany being monitored inthe background-we conversed and shared our lives with one another. Actually, one of the individuals from Canada had very similar interests as myself, and, it turns out, had published an article that I had found immensely helpful a couple years back.
Day 4
Amber and Emerson get to Toulouse. The buses I plan to take end up taking longer than I planned so I got to the airport late. Amber is on the verge of tears-I'm late, she's spent the whole night on a plane with Emerson on her own, and she can't find her bag (thankfully we found it before we left). Given the fact that I knew how short Amber's layovers were, I'm just glad she made it on all the flights! Emerson actually slept some on the plane, but he's still in a complete daze. I think he's a bit surprised to see Dad in this strange, new place, given that he hasn't seen him in a few days (he cried when I got out of the car at the airport!).We went straight from the airport to the train station and booked tickets to Carcassone - a well-maintained medieval city with magnificient walls (and was the set for Robin Hood:Prince of Thieves, which makes for two Costner sets I've visited this summer). After settling into our room at the Abbey (which was quite nice), I went on a hunt for diapers.... A rather long hunt. At least it provided Emerson a
chance to take a nap. Afterward, it was out to the castle and one a amazing meal - mussels covered with a cream sauce, lamb (Amber got duck), and a half carafe of local red wine for about $50. I could learn to like this life! Emerson woke up in the stroller not long before we arrived at the restaurant, so he was full of energy. We were fortunate that another little boy about his age was also there (and there were very few people there when we first got there, as is often the case as American tourists eat so much earlier than the French!), so they were able to run around the outdoor dining area together.
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