First day of school! First day of school!

Yesterday was my first day of school! Well, kind of...

But before I discuss my discovery of the true meaning of the phrase “work ethic,” let me get us all on the same page!

A quick game of catch up:

Sunday: The weather = parfait. A group of us went to the Rodin Museum (lucky choice - free admission!) and spent the morning wandering throughout his sculpture garden and home. I believe that he is the most recent of truly noteworthy and influential sculptors. It was great because I got to go with both fellow art history majors and non-art majors: certainly made for interesting discussions! I also ran into a girl I know from Columbia there. What a small world! (Speaking of small worlds - one of the boys from my trip to Israel several summers ago is living a block away from me, but I digress...) The museum was followed by an excursion to La Durée, the celebrated macaroon place. On the walk there we saw a fight in the street and a bunch of Frenchmen get arrested! I've seen a bunch of fights now; these Frenchmen are certainly passionate and I've learned it’s dangerous to mix passion with a mean right hook…

     

                                   

Because it was Sunday, everything was closed except for the flea markets. When we returned, I wandered around the neighborhood and bought fresh fruits and veggies. I also passed by one of the argumentatively greatest cheese shops in Paris - its right by my apartment! Apparently the men who help you choose the cheese wear tuxedos. It was closed (Sunday) so I will definitely be returning there. Our landlady's husband stopped by at night with a little gift for us Sunday night! His hobby is pressing and bottling his own wine, so he brought us a 'homemade' bottle as a house warming gift! The French, despite their reputations at home, have been nothing but warm and gracious to us.

Monday: Academic orientation. All of a sudden my entire world turned into French. You might be reading this thinking, “well what did she expect!?” and I assure you, it was not this. Everything from class registration instructions, to personal questions for professors, to many of the conversations between my peers and myself, was in French. For the most part, this was ok. The problems came during the meeting for students who planned of enrolling directly into the PU system (Parisian University). As the director so honestly put it (in French of course), we do not know the meaning of hard work. “The French have been working hard, the way we have started to have to do in college, since the age of 3, and so they have been conditioned to an entirely different system. No, we do not yet know the meaning of perseverance and hard work.” 

Great. So here I am. An American student who was planning on taking classes at the Sorbonne for fun and taking an easy semester before returning to the tortuous life and black hole that all pre-med students endure. HA. So I hope I can prepare myself for the French-styled art history classes, entailing a 1-2 hour oral presentation in front of the 200+ French students. Or, rather, I hope they can get ready for me! I must now learn the entirely different way in which they write essays. Goodbye hamburger formatting (with meat paragraphs and all) from 5^th grade. All cynicism aside, though, I am excited to take this on and I hear the French professors adore American students, especially in the art world. Apparently we bring a much more creative perspective to the table; the French tend to be more rigid in their thinking. Wish me luck! At night, 2 of my housemates and I gathered around a computer and watched Titanic. Poor choice - lots of tears, gotta love Leo. What a movie.

Tuesday: First day of school! First day of school! (Just so you know, those words should be said in the voice of Nemo in his opening scene…God I miss pixar!) Today I started the 2-week 2 credit French intensive class that will prepare me for the French methodology of essay writing/teaching. This way, the culture shock won’t be so bad when my real classes start. 4 hours a day, everyday, reading, writing, phonetics, French, French, French! My professors (two of them) are dynamic, funny, and just the epitome of wonderful. I wish I could bring them home with me! French seems to be taking over my mind. Last night I went to go study at Charles’ café (a person, not the name of a café - good to be friends with the café owners nearby). 

On another note, I bought a very chic hat! Let the shopping dangers of living in Paris commence…

(From now on, I will try to update every day so the posts aren’t so long. Later tonight will be today’s post!)