General Life Updates

I've been slacking quite a bit on the blogging (as several of you have brought to my attention...) so here's a nice long post of bullet points to bring you up to speed:

• The Welcome Programme - international students had classes for a little over a week in groups of about 15 students. I was the only American in my group (probably because I was, by some error, placed at level 4 of 5 in French and we Americans are not so good with the foreign languages, what with nearly everyone speaking English and all). Anyway, I met some great people through this group - a couple of German girls, an Australian, a Canadian, a Polish girl, a Greek girl raised in London, an Italian boy who studies in Ireland, and the most adorable Chinese girl with Pippi Longstocking-style pigtails, as well as a few others.

• I felt very out of my league in this class - I just didn't have anywhere near the vocabulary of the other students, so I've changed my level of French to 3 for my semester-long course which I think will prove to be a very good decision.

• This was probably the first time I've ever felt exotic as an American. Being "the" American in the class was kind of intimidating but also really cool. Discussions in the class were always very interesting. Hearing a room full of students from all over Europe argue about whether there is a definable "European identity" as a result of the EU was fascinating.

• Almost all of the other students in my class were trilingual, which was part of what intimidates me. They all know their native language, be it Polish or German or Italian, plus French, and then for most of them, their English is about as good as my French - or better. When we would talk about this, they'd say how lucky I am to have it so easy since English is my native language. I tried to convey that I don't entirely agree with that sentiment. Yes, it certainly is much easier for me to converse with a larger number of people - and almost anywhere in the world for that matter. But it also comes with the unhappy consequence of being judged as less intelligent (and to a certain extent, I'd say that's a valid judgement). So I'm intimidated by them, but I'm starting to realize that they're somewhat intimidated by me. They all really want to improve their English, but are very self conscious about speaking it because they think they're terrible when they're not at all. At any rate, I'm very glad I've met this people - they've made my experience here much more interesting already.

On to the real classes, which really started this week:

• Monday 14:45-16:45, Espace Mondial lecture: This is shaping up to be my least favorite course - an opinion which my Polish friend shares. The course is trying to so hard to teach us everything, that it in fact seems as though it will likely teach us nothing. The class is in a huge lecture hall and while the professor is very nice and tries to crack jokes (which I can sometimes even recognize the humor of), two hours is way too long for me to focus enough to understand what he's saying from so far away. I think this Monday I'll sit near the front with a coffee and see how that goes.

• Monday 17:00-19:00, Histoire de l'Environnement XVIIe-XXe siecle: I think this class is going to be great! 1. Almost all of the readings are in English, so I'll at least know what's going on when I get to class, which will make it all that much easier to understand what's going on in class. 2. The professor is relatively young, so he's not yet a jaded snobby French man - always a plus. 3. There are a decent number of other foreign exchange students in the class (probably about 5 out of 22 or so), and the professor is very aware that we exist and may need him to slow down a bit. 4. I am still the only American in this class, which will make it that much easier for me to participate because, let's face it, the US has a very interesting and controversial role in environmental history. I have a feeling that the Russian boy and I will both get called out a fair bit this semester. 5. My expose, 10 minute oral presentation, is on Gary, Indiana. I kid you not. Specifically it's on a book called Environmental Inequalities: Class, Race, and Industrial Pollution in Gary, Indiana. I wanted to pick Crimes against Nature: Squatters, Poachers, Thieves, and the Hidden History of American Conservation, but someone had already picked it... bummer.

• Wednesday 14:45-15:45, La Vie Politique Francaise d'aujourd'hui Lecture: This lecture is only an hour because prior to coming to class we are expected to watch an hour-long presentation that is posted online. The online lecture is synchronized with a PowerPoint and downloadable documents that appear as they are mentioned by the professor. It's a really cool set-up. This class is entirely exchange students, and the professor really caters to us, which is much appreciated.

• Wednesday 17:00-19:00, Vie Politique, Conference (discussion session/tutorial): Again, given that this class is all exchange students, it seems like it will be manageable. My assignments include a short oral commentary on a political cartoon, an outline of a paper, a paper, and an expose (that lovely 10 minute presentation these Frenchies are so fond of) on "Les altermondialistes en France," which, fortunately, I have until December 16th to learn about...

• Wednesday 19:15 -21:15 (yes I have class until 9:15PM) Espace Mondial Conference (discussion group): Ok, this is the class that has me quaking in metaphorical boots. We did not introduce ourselves. The professor made one reference to there being 4 international students in the class and quickly moved on, speaking rapid French non-stop for two hours. I'd say I understood somewhere between 50 and 60 percent of what he was saying. Unfortunately, it seemed like I was always missing the most crucial part of what he was saying. For example, I understood that he was talking about our using English sources for our assignments, but for the longest time I couldn't figure out if he was in favor of this or against it. He seemed like the kind of Frenchman who might be against English sources, but once he started singing the praises of Foreign Affairs, I deduced that he thought it was a good idea for us to use some sources in English. My other main concern is that a significant portion of our grade for this class is based on maps. And were not just talking "name all the countries of the world" kind of maps - thanks to Sporcle.com, I'll be able to handle that. No, we're talking about creating maps that show "the role of multinational corporations" or "identity tensions in the post-Soviet world"or "the power of China." How do I map those?? Oh goodness. This will definitely be interesting. The good news is I only have to pick two out of ten. The bad news is they all seem equally impossible. Joy.

• Thursday 8:00-10:00 Architecture et Urbanisme: This class is probably going to win out as my favorite class of the semester. The professor is awesome, if slightly deaf. The class is about 50-50 foreigners to Frenchies. My expose is only 5 minutes instead of 10. And the other major assignment for the class consists of taking photographs which demonstrate major architectural principles. So aside from requiring me to get up at like 6:30 in the morning, this class is going to be great!

• Saturday 10:30-12:00, Basketball, Girls Beginner to Intermediate: Yes, you read that right. I have a 2 credit course in basketball. The credits obviously won't transfer for anything, but that suits me because I'll probably miss a decent number of sessions to travel. I have my first class tomorrow morning, so I'll let you know how that goes!

Coming soon to "Life Less Ordinary":

• ... and then I went to the Louvre
• "La Grippe A"
• French Footwear
• Am I in a library or Gringotts?
• My favorite metro advertisements

Get excited!