An American Girl in Paris: Part Une

Classes have officially commenced! Lucky for me however, I do not have class on Wednesdays, so today's just going to be about an American girl taking on Paris - trying to find the perfect balance between tourism and classy, chocolate pastries and real protein, and strolling and shopping! 


Monday, as it turns out, I only have one class and it doesn't meet until 5:45 in the evening (quite conducive to a weekend traveling schedule, if I don't say so myself).


Did I mention that NYU maintains a strict, non-negotiable, no Friday class policy? That's right. I only have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays! Of course, my Sorbonne classes will probably be on Wednesdays when they start, but even still, I am enjoying the leisurely and comparably frivolous life that is NOT pre-med. Having said that, my biggest adjustment is learning how to have free time. I hate the feeling of unproductiveness, so good thing I live in a museum city! At the end of this post, I will be picking a random metro stop and off to explore that neighborhood!


Its a sad realization I came to yesterday - that I do not know how to stroll! I practiced in the Luxembourg Gardens and think I was quite successful. 


Site of my first stroll:




Its been years since I have been able to go somewhere without time pressure or some kind of known endpoint. What freedom!!!!! All this leisure is somewhat intimidating - I keep thinking theres a lab I'm missing, or a class I forgot to go to! As a result, I made a goal for myself. I wandered around the French Borders yesterday (super confusing) and picked up a copy of the first Harry Potter book in French. Don't laugh! I plan on having read all 7 in all the parks around Paris by the time the semester ends. It happens to be the perfect vocabulary lesson because I have read them so many times, that instead of having to look up words every sentence, I can associate the French phrases with the known English sentences stored in my head! First page, and I already knew that perceuses meant drills, all because I know Mr. Dudley works Grunnings, the production factory.




Classes. So far, they are great! I am taking a class called Cities, Landscapes, and Monuments, with a dynamic, old, tubby professor who doesn't speak a word of english, but loves sound effects. The class is basically an overview on the urban design and progression of Paris. Only met once, but so far so good. My other class, Advanced Conversation, is going to be a bit of work. It meets twice a week, and is filled with lessons of formal speech, colloquial French, standardized French, and lots of slang. My professor is Patrick, the same great one who taught me phonetics last week (hurray!) I am required to carry around a petit carnet, a little notebook, and fill it with at least 15 new words a day! The class also has an atelier, a workshop,  meets a third time during the week for 2 hours. During this time, we meet with French students who are registered for the same class, but in English. We are split up into small groups of 6 (half French, half NYU) and charged with writing, directing, and producing, a short film. Any topic we want, but we all have to appear in it! Americans must speak French, and the French must speak in English! Apparently I'll return as a French cinematographer! 


My favorite class is European Painters. It may be nerdy, but I get the biggest adrenaline rushes off of standard Art History Classes. My professor for this class is super chic - she looks artsy, but classy and again, doesn't speak one word of english. The class focuses on classicism, through symbolism, passing through the realists, impressionists and post-impressionists, and everything I love in-between! It meets twice a week, but only once in a classroom; we have museum trips every week! I can't wait to start making all my index cards!! I already emailed her asking for her help in determining a topic for the final paper that I could potentially turn into my honors thesis work, but really, I just wanted an excuse to go have lunch with her! We already looked at Gericault's "Raft of the Medusa" (a painting that I love, and will get to see in the flesh!!!!) on the first day. Fastest hour and a half ever. This class is paradise! =)




Ok, off to explore, people watch, buy some ballet flats, and read in the park!
Bonne journée!