So the title of this post is pretty random, but it’s just a really great expression I learned in French that is going to be very useful for me (since I’m so indecisive)….
And keeping with the theme of random… here are just some random things I felt like sharing…
*Girls are so fashionable here. When Jackie and I were in Granada, we heard some girls who were staying at our hostel say that they were so happy to be able to wear rain jackets and not pea coats like they had to in Paris. I didn’t really understand until I got here. The women are pretty dressed up at all times of the day, every day of the week. Women typically wear tights with boots and a dress or a skirt. Purple is also a very big color here right now.
*There is such a contradiction here with water conservation. My host parents never told me to limit my showers but most of my other friends are only supposed to take 5 to 10 minute showers. Europeans are also very conscious of turning off any light in their house or in a building that they are not using. However, they wash the sidewalks every single day. A lot of families that live by me have dogs who like to use the sidewalks to do their thing, but I still don’t see a need to wash the sidewalks every single day… even days that it rains! I guess this is just a culture thing since we don’t really do it in the U.S.
*I started my other two classes this week.
-On Monday I had my conference course on the French and France in the 20th century. The class is a lecture of around 100 people and the professor uses poorly organized PowerPoints to present information. Each week we learn about the political climate, music and cinema during the specific decade we are discussing. It’s definitely really interesting and I was really excited that I understood everything she said in our two hour lecture. The conference is meant for students anywhere from very beginners to intermediates. I would be interested to see how many very beginners (or debutants) stay in the class because she speaks pretty quickly and uses a lot of hard vocabulary.
-On Monday I also started my phonetiques class. I have this class for an hour each day every other week. We start out in a lab where we use headphones to repeat phrases our professor says to us. I really don’t like hearing my voice recorded so it’s really bizarre for me, but I think I got over it by the end of the week. Then after half an hour we move into another classroom where she teaches a lesson on rules of pronunciation. It’s a really rushed class but I can already tell it has helped me, especially with figuring out what people are saying to me when they push all of their words together.
*My Grammar class is still easy. In fact, my professor approached me today after our test and asked if I wanted to move up. She told me it was my decision but that this was all a review for me and for most of the other people in the class it wasn’t. She said I could have the weekend to think about it and go try to switch on Monday. The problem is I have to have a class at the same exact time so that the rest of my schedule works. I would like to switch up so I can challenge myself more but I do really really like my class and my professor. My friend Tara and I were just starting to make friends with a few of the guys in our class (two from Italy and one we think is from Russia) who have phonetiques at the same time as us.
*We had fondue last night for the first time in France! It wasn’t very vegetarian friendly, I literally ate bread and cheese for dinner, but it was still a neat experience.
*I’m starting to feel more at home in my homestay. One day this week Jackie came over to go running with me. I asked my host dad before she came over if it was ok and he said yes. I decided to ask my host mom later that night if it would be ok in the future, she’s kind of the decision maker in the house, and she was very grateful I asked and said “of course! Of course!” I’m allowed to have friends over whenever. Also, she said it was totally fine for Emma to stay with me for the weekend she is here!!! She is very understanding of how expensive it is for students to find hotels in Paris.
*My cold is kinda sort of still here but I lost my voice yet again. Each time I get sick, without fail, I lose my voice. This time it isn’t as bad as when I lost my voice my birthday weekend last year. One of my best friends, Dan, was visiting and I literally couldn’t get words out of my mouth. I had to write to him using a notepad! Now, I just kind of sound like a quiet man. Oh well, hopefully it comes back soon!
*I have a list of all of the things I want to see and do in Paris before I leave and I am hoping this weekend will knock off a good number of them. Tonight we are going ice skating in front of the Hotel de Ville and then going to the Louvre! The Louvre is open later on Wednesday and Friday nights and is free for students. It is supposed to be less crowded and a lot of fun. Tomorrow is looking beautiful so we’ll probably head up to Montmartre and the Sacre Couer!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment