Le sommeil est pour la faiblesse!
I am so so so sleepy right now. Blogging, tu n'es pas un bon ami maintenant.
Yesterday, I went to a new class at Institut Catholique called "Experiences Constitutionelles de la France au XIXeme Siecle." The discussion section was from 11-12pm and then the main lecture from 2-4pm. The subject, formation of the French constitution in the 19th cent., is terribly complex to understand and memorize let alone digesting all of the information in slurred, rapid French! However, Catherine and I are going to be Franco-troopers and stick with the class for the rest of the semester.
After, we went to our individual Sorbonne classes. I get off at Metro Cardinal Lemoine and walk about 10 minutes to 16B Rue L'Estrepade. The grammar/phonetics/comprehension class only has 9-10 students; three of which are from ACCENT (USC). All we did was take more aptitude tests, so the teacher (Mme Marion Vanderkerckhove, what a name) can get a grasp of our level and see if some of us need to move up/down.
Pantheon, while walking to the Metro.
For dinner, it was just Celestine, Aurelien, and me because Brigitte and Paul (host parents) went to the symphony. Celestine warmed up the meal (although ended up burning the potatoes a little haha) and we had a nice young adult talk (from sports to alcohol to sibling myths). Did you know... French siblings also tell the legendary "Little sister, I found you in the back of a market, and you followed me home" story!? I'm a proud Safeway baby.
Potatoes, sausage, bacon, onion
simple salad with vinaigrette
Picard chocolate eclair
Aurelien & Celestine rochambeau-ing for the last eclair
Today, I woke up at 5:30am to re-read the text for my Societe et Politique dans la France Contemporaine class. I tried it the night before but it was frustrating-ly impossible...even after translating all the words. Thus, at the break of dawn, I tried again but to no avail, I still didn't understand most of it. I was able to finish my reading for Art History though. Around 9am, I left for the Petit Palais (Metro Champs Elysees-Clemenceau) because we had our weekly museum lectures. We went around looking at 19eme siecle paintings by the "Realism" artists such as Daumier and Courbet. I really enjoy this class because it is not only fascinating to learn about the significance of different brushstrokes, colors, placements, genres, so on and so forth, but also the many historical and cultural tie-ins.
Outside of Petit Palais
Rue des Champs-Elysees
Inside the gallery
Around noon, a group of us headed to the ACCENT center to re-re-read the text for our class. No one else understood what the hoopla the author was talking about either, so big relief. (In case you're wondering why I am so diligent about understanding this particular text... I signed up to be the first presenter, so my responsibilities include, but are not limited to, leading a discussion, asking questions, and rehashing the basis of the chapter...ha ha ha). We also have to pick out an article from a different publication each week. This week I chose a Le Monde article on French President Nicolas Sarkozy's response to Pope Benedict the XVI's excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson (he denounced the existence of gas chambers used in the Holocaust...uh what?). Our professor, Laure Blevic, lectured on the foundations of the French political system (La Gauche et La Droite) and the many parties that fall under each. The political system over here is completely different than the U.S.' For example, "liberal" does not carry the same connotations. Haha but neither does "preservatives" F-Y-I (It means condoms, and not the stuff added to make food last longer...).
Since I had two hours before dinner, I ventured out to Chinatown once again to buy some fruits for the week. Other than salad at dinner, I don't get to eat very many vegetables or fruits (mm some lettuce leaves, slices of cucumber and tomato in my sandwiches for lunch perhaps) so the trip all the way to Porte D'Ivry was essential. I got some pommes fuji (fuji apples), bananes, crackers de crevettes (shrimp crackers whoo), and clementines for ~7euros. Full of fruit and feeling fruity, I meandered back to Gaite.
Around 9pm we had dinner. It was just the parents and me tonight, and we had nice adult conversations on where to travel in Europe, what I did the past few days, what they did the past few days, cultural differences, etc. They recommended going to Rennes, a champagne vineyard city an hour away from Paris via TGV (train a grande vitesse), for a day, so I might do that with some friends on Saturday -- Valentine's Day! :D
Delicious roasted chicken with spiced couscous and raisins
Bread, salad (mysterious brussel veggie & endives), carafe d'eau
In case I don't write tomorrow, my morning agenda consists of errands, applying for summer internships, organizing school stuff, writing postcards (SEND ME YO' ADDRESS IF YOU WOULD LIKE ONE), and if there's time left, I plan on heading out to the Grand Palais for a video exhibit called "6 Millions D'autres" (last day tmrw). At 2pm, I'm meeting up with friends for lunch in the Quartier Latin and then visiting the Pantheon, where Victor Hugo (author of Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame...), amongst many other famous ppl, is buried. Then La Sorbonne from 5-7pm. Later in the night, a horde of us are going to LeMix, one of the more popular and better-suited clubs for 20 something yr olds in Paris. Thursday is Etudiants Etrangeres (foreign student) night, so can't pass on mingling with other n00bie tourists, woot.
I've been almost up for 24 hrs. Time for some shut eye. But if you wish to prolong this entry, click here for both days' photos.
Word of the Day: Tache de rousseur (freckle)... because I was using it to describe my mom <3
Yesterday, I went to a new class at Institut Catholique called "Experiences Constitutionelles de la France au XIXeme Siecle." The discussion section was from 11-12pm and then the main lecture from 2-4pm. The subject, formation of the French constitution in the 19th cent., is terribly complex to understand and memorize let alone digesting all of the information in slurred, rapid French! However, Catherine and I are going to be Franco-troopers and stick with the class for the rest of the semester.
After, we went to our individual Sorbonne classes. I get off at Metro Cardinal Lemoine and walk about 10 minutes to 16B Rue L'Estrepade. The grammar/phonetics/comprehension class only has 9-10 students; three of which are from ACCENT (USC). All we did was take more aptitude tests, so the teacher (Mme Marion Vanderkerckhove, what a name) can get a grasp of our level and see if some of us need to move up/down.
Pantheon, while walking to the Metro.
For dinner, it was just Celestine, Aurelien, and me because Brigitte and Paul (host parents) went to the symphony. Celestine warmed up the meal (although ended up burning the potatoes a little haha) and we had a nice young adult talk (from sports to alcohol to sibling myths). Did you know... French siblings also tell the legendary "Little sister, I found you in the back of a market, and you followed me home" story!? I'm a proud Safeway baby.
Potatoes, sausage, bacon, onion
simple salad with vinaigrette
Picard chocolate eclair
Aurelien & Celestine rochambeau-ing for the last eclair
Today, I woke up at 5:30am to re-read the text for my Societe et Politique dans la France Contemporaine class. I tried it the night before but it was frustrating-ly impossible...even after translating all the words. Thus, at the break of dawn, I tried again but to no avail, I still didn't understand most of it. I was able to finish my reading for Art History though. Around 9am, I left for the Petit Palais (Metro Champs Elysees-Clemenceau) because we had our weekly museum lectures. We went around looking at 19eme siecle paintings by the "Realism" artists such as Daumier and Courbet. I really enjoy this class because it is not only fascinating to learn about the significance of different brushstrokes, colors, placements, genres, so on and so forth, but also the many historical and cultural tie-ins.
Outside of Petit Palais
Rue des Champs-Elysees
Inside the gallery
Around noon, a group of us headed to the ACCENT center to re-re-read the text for our class. No one else understood what the hoopla the author was talking about either, so big relief. (In case you're wondering why I am so diligent about understanding this particular text... I signed up to be the first presenter, so my responsibilities include, but are not limited to, leading a discussion, asking questions, and rehashing the basis of the chapter...ha ha ha). We also have to pick out an article from a different publication each week. This week I chose a Le Monde article on French President Nicolas Sarkozy's response to Pope Benedict the XVI's excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson (he denounced the existence of gas chambers used in the Holocaust...uh what?). Our professor, Laure Blevic, lectured on the foundations of the French political system (La Gauche et La Droite) and the many parties that fall under each. The political system over here is completely different than the U.S.' For example, "liberal" does not carry the same connotations. Haha but neither does "preservatives" F-Y-I (It means condoms, and not the stuff added to make food last longer...).
Since I had two hours before dinner, I ventured out to Chinatown once again to buy some fruits for the week. Other than salad at dinner, I don't get to eat very many vegetables or fruits (mm some lettuce leaves, slices of cucumber and tomato in my sandwiches for lunch perhaps) so the trip all the way to Porte D'Ivry was essential. I got some pommes fuji (fuji apples), bananes, crackers de crevettes (shrimp crackers whoo), and clementines for ~7euros. Full of fruit and feeling fruity, I meandered back to Gaite.
Around 9pm we had dinner. It was just the parents and me tonight, and we had nice adult conversations on where to travel in Europe, what I did the past few days, what they did the past few days, cultural differences, etc. They recommended going to Rennes, a champagne vineyard city an hour away from Paris via TGV (train a grande vitesse), for a day, so I might do that with some friends on Saturday -- Valentine's Day! :D
Delicious roasted chicken with spiced couscous and raisins
Bread, salad (mysterious brussel veggie & endives), carafe d'eau
In case I don't write tomorrow, my morning agenda consists of errands, applying for summer internships, organizing school stuff, writing postcards (SEND ME YO' ADDRESS IF YOU WOULD LIKE ONE), and if there's time left, I plan on heading out to the Grand Palais for a video exhibit called "6 Millions D'autres" (last day tmrw). At 2pm, I'm meeting up with friends for lunch in the Quartier Latin and then visiting the Pantheon, where Victor Hugo (author of Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame...), amongst many other famous ppl, is buried. Then La Sorbonne from 5-7pm. Later in the night, a horde of us are going to LeMix, one of the more popular and better-suited clubs for 20 something yr olds in Paris. Thursday is Etudiants Etrangeres (foreign student) night, so can't pass on mingling with other n00bie tourists, woot.
I've been almost up for 24 hrs. Time for some shut eye. But if you wish to prolong this entry, click here for both days' photos.
Word of the Day: Tache de rousseur (freckle)... because I was using it to describe my mom <3
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