Everyone is always asking me how I like France. That's a tough question to answer in a few sentences, so I've made a few lists to help you get the picture of what life here is really like:
Things I Miss:
Coffee
All of you
Starbucks
Grey's Anatomy
My car
Newspapers I can actually understand
Things that makes me say "Vive la France"
Good, cheap wine
Being able to walk everywhere
The Nutella effect (anything chocolate-hazelnut flavored)
Despite the fact that the French are extremey fashion-conscious, there isn't the same overt obsession with looks that you find at ASU
Coffee drink vending machines
Meeting people from different cultures
Things that make me say "I hate France"
Getting lost on a daily basis because the classrooms are always changing (Didn't Harry Potter have that problem?)
Carrefour on a Saturday afternoon (think Wal-Mart the day after Christmas, but everything is in French)
The bathrooms
French people who don't like foreigners
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
l'education
After my first week in France, the harsh reality set in that my true purpose for being here is, in fact, to study. But now that I've gotten through the first week I feel ready to learn me some French.
I am taking six classes in French - Advanced French for Foreign Students, English to French Translation, French Geography, French History, Introduction to Mythology and Study of Modern Art. They are not easy.
As for classes in English, I've got five of those; Britain in the World, American Civilization (the classes I'm taking cover specifically America in the Fifties, our judicial system and our higher education system), British History, English Literature and Religious Drama.
The French system for registering and scheduling classes is, by American standards, utterly insane. Classrooms can change at any time so you have to check the location every day. To sign up for classes, we all piled into a big room with the schedules posted on the walls and you just have to shove your way around to see them. It didn't help that the names of the courses didn't always match those in the course catalogs we were given.
Oddly, their way of teaching is much more efficient than what I'm used to. There generally are no required textbooks, and the "recommended" books are in the library. The teachers lecture on everything you need to know, but that means you have to go to class and take good notes every day (I usually leave an hour and a half class with four pages of notes).
But professors don't have office hours and they don't give you any contact information, nor their first names. Classes seldom start on time. People can usually tell just by looking at you that you're not French.
I am taking six classes in French - Advanced French for Foreign Students, English to French Translation, French Geography, French History, Introduction to Mythology and Study of Modern Art. They are not easy.
As for classes in English, I've got five of those; Britain in the World, American Civilization (the classes I'm taking cover specifically America in the Fifties, our judicial system and our higher education system), British History, English Literature and Religious Drama.
The French system for registering and scheduling classes is, by American standards, utterly insane. Classrooms can change at any time so you have to check the location every day. To sign up for classes, we all piled into a big room with the schedules posted on the walls and you just have to shove your way around to see them. It didn't help that the names of the courses didn't always match those in the course catalogs we were given.
Oddly, their way of teaching is much more efficient than what I'm used to. There generally are no required textbooks, and the "recommended" books are in the library. The teachers lecture on everything you need to know, but that means you have to go to class and take good notes every day (I usually leave an hour and a half class with four pages of notes).
But professors don't have office hours and they don't give you any contact information, nor their first names. Classes seldom start on time. People can usually tell just by looking at you that you're not French.
Emilia in France - an Introduction
I have been in France for almost three weeks now. Time is beginning to pass more quickly now and I am afraid I will be back in the U.S. before I have a chance to truly understand what it means to live abroad. So, hoping to live these next few months to the fullest, I have begun a sort-of public diary in hope that I will, in fact, have many wonderful experiences that other people will actually want to read about.
I was initially afraid to start a blog because, well it is a four-letter word and the musings of bloggers is often just "incessant barking" (http://cartoonbank.com/assets/1/121304_m.gif).
For those of you who care to know, this is also an interesting writing exercise for me as I am used to writing about much more boring things.
That being said, I am officially joining the rest of dogs with keyboards in starting my own blog, "Emilia in France."
I was initially afraid to start a blog because, well it is a four-letter word and the musings of bloggers is often just "incessant barking" (http://cartoonbank.com/assets/1/121304_m.gif).
For those of you who care to know, this is also an interesting writing exercise for me as I am used to writing about much more boring things.
That being said, I am officially joining the rest of dogs with keyboards in starting my own blog, "Emilia in France."
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