French classes and a weekend in Normandy.

A lot has been going on since my last update.

Last Monday, I had my first class at French university. For the first month in Paris, I only had my 2 courses with Sweet Briar (my program) to attend. These courses have only other SBC students in them, which means very low on the intimidation factor. My first Sorbonne class was a Linguistics TD (basically a subsection). For Linguistics, I have a CM, which is a large lecture class, and a TD, the smaller class in which tests, papers, etc. are done. So the class was scheduled to start at 10.30, and I planned to meet Tara at 10.10 to walk there together. The walk took no more than 2 minutes, so we had quite a while to wait. We just kind of stood there, looking at the French students, not speaking to each other so as to conceal our foreigner status. I don’t know if I looked uncomfortable, but I definitely felt it. The random and untimely stomach ache didn’t help the situation. Once 10.30 rolled around, we entered the classroom and found 2 seats comfortably far away from the front of the class. When the teacher came in, she asked us to introduce ourselves. Damn. We would have to talk. I tried my best not to be scared: "Je m’appelle Aurora. Je suis une etudiante des Etats-Unis. J’ai decide de suivre ce cours parce que j’aime bien les langues et je voulais essayer un cours de linguistique.” (We had to explain why we wanted to take the class.) Phew. Done. The rest of 1.5 hour class passed relatively painlessly (aside from in my stomach…), and the professor spoke very clearly and tended to repeat herself, so it wasn’t difficult to take notes and understand. All in all, first class = success!

My other class, which meets on Thursday, was a different story. The course is called “Le mentir vrai” and studies 5 French literary works from the 17^th and 18^th centuries. I’m still not exactly sure about what the title of the course refers to, but it’s something about lies, the truth, illusions, pretending, etc. The class was 3 hours long and quite painful to sit though due to the fact that I didn’t understand a whole lot about what the teacher was saying. It’s not that the words were unfamiliar (for the most part I was able to recognize and even write down each sentence exactly as she said it), it’s that the ideas were rather complex and I had never heard of them before. Something about Aristotle and limitation? Don’t really know. Hopefully as time goes on, these lectures will make more sense. In any case, it’s comforting to know that this professor has a good amount of experience with foreign students, and it doesn’t seem like she has the habit of failing them.

Other stuff that's been going on:

-Had my first test at Sweet Briar in my EU class. It went pretty well.

-Worked on reforming my circadian rhythm, with some success.

-Visited Parc des Buttes Chaumont, a huge park (especially for Paris standards) with lots of beautiful natural things: waterfalls, cliffs, foliage, etc. And there was a cool bridge..!

-Bought books for class at Gilbert Jeune

-AirFrance finally got their act together, and I was able to change my return flight to December 23! This means I will be in Finland from Dec. 17-22. :)

This past weekend, I left Paris for the first time to go to Normandy with Sweet Briar. The entire trip was planned and paid for by SBC, which was extremely nice and convenient. We met at Gare St. Lazare at 8.30 am on Saturday to take the train to Normandy. There were 30 of us, including 2 chaperones from the program (one of them is Mme Gree, kind of a baller). After a 2.5 hour train ride, we took a bus straight to our first tourist spot: the Tapestry of Bayeux, which is an extremely ridiculously long tapestry that recounts the Battle of Hastings of 1066. I'm not a huge history buff, especially not of Medieval History, so to me it was kind of boring. But I guess cool to see something famous? After the visit, we ate a typical Normandy lunch: galettes (basically cornmeal crepes) at a small cafe. Then we boarded the bus again, and drove to the American Cemetary at Omaha Beach, the site of the D-day landings. It was a very somber place, and the mood was set by the somewhat ominous/freezing weather. Seeing the ocean was nice, although kind of bizarre--we have been landlocked for quite some time now, and it was weird to be on a cold beach. Then the actual cemetary...it was striking. There were so many white crosses lined up in rows and rows that seemed absolutely endless. Hearing a statistic of deaths has such little effect when compared to that of seeing an actual physical representation of the amount of people that died in WW2.

After that, our somber/war-themed day continued, as we took the bus to our next location: Pont du Hoc, where German bunkers were bombed and the terrain is marked by massive ditches created by the bombs. It was unsettling to be there, to see what that war did to the earth, and to imagine what it once did to the people who were there during the war. After Pont du Hoc, we boarded the bus again to drive to our hotel near Mont St. Michel. There, we ate a wonderful (and fully paid) 3-course dinner and talked amongst ourselves. After that, Laura and I both took baths in the glorious bathtub in our hotel room (we don't have a tub at our homestay), and a group of kids went out to find some nightlife. Unfortunately, the town was limited to one main street with 2 bars, neither of which was worth stepping into. Thus, they returned 10 minutes after leaving, disappointed by their search. We talked/watched soccer on TV in our room for a few hours, then all went to bed rather exhausted.

Next morning, we got up early for a wonderful and full breakfast of croissants, bread, cereal, yogurt, poundcake, juice, coffee, tea, etc. It was the best breakfast I have had since being in Paris (breakfast at my homestay is usually cereal, if anything). After that, we got on the bus and drove to Mont St. Michel, a monastery which looks more like a castle and sits atop a mountain. The monastery itself was quite pretty, with its gothic architecture and incredible views. Afterwards, we walked around in the town a bit and visited different tourist shops. Some of the stores had adorable anchor-themed clothing for little kids, which made me think of DG, obviously. Our next destination was St. Malo, and after a 2-hour bus ride we arrived, got off the bus, and I looked out and saw a big anchor. The only anchor I have seen in France--I knew I had to take a picture. Little did I know that anchors would be EVERYWHERE in St. Malo--on bars, restaurants, stores, real anchors, in gift shops, on clothing, etc. It was so exciting! Unfortunately, our first priority was to find lunch, not to hunt for anchors. So we went to a restaurant where a few of our group ordered Moules-Frites (mussels and fries), while I opted for the safer choice of a ham & cheese galette. After that, we had a tour of a "pirate house," which wasn't really a pirate house, but a house that belonged to some dude who was committing tax evasion. It was still a pretty cool house, though. After that, I only had 30 minutes to hunt for anchors before we had to leave! I went with a few friends to some of the gift shops, but most of the things they were selling weren't anything practical or fun. So sadly, I left St. Malo empty-handed, without any anchors. But I did take some pictures of all the wonderful anchors that I saw while there. :) After St. Malo, we went to the train station and took the train back to Paris. It was a great weekend, even though it felt like we were very rushed the whole time. It was nice to be away from Paris for a few days and see a different side of France.

It's October?

It's been a while since I wrote anything, so I guess it's time for a little update.

I'm now signed up for my two Sorbonne classes which start next week. I'll be taking Intro to Linguistics and a French literature class called "Le Mentir Vrai." I'm not really sure what to expect, but I guess we'll see next week! Tara is in my linguistics class, which is nice because it means I'll have someone I know on Monday in my first real French class.

This past weekend, my aunt and my grandma came to visit me from Finland. We had a lot of fun together and it was so nice to see them after such a long time. We hit all the main tourist spots: Louvre, Tour Eiffel, Jardin de Tuileries, Champs-Elysees, Notre Dame, Orangerie, Sorbonne, Jardin de Luxembourg, Sacre Coeur, etc. Needless to say, our feet were extremely tired after each day, and I was always exhausted when I got home. Unfortunately, I have been having some trouble falling asleep (even when tired), which I think is a result of my whacked out sleep schedule. Next week, I'll need to get up early on 3 mornings, so that sleep schedule really needs to change fast. But anyway, I really enjoyed showing Sari and mummu around Paris, even if the men who worked at their hotel were huge jerks (I got yelled at for going up the stairs in the hotel). We also went to a TON of tourist shops (those places are addicting) and cafés. Great weekend, and I was sad to say goodbye. I feel better about it now though because I'm trying to make plans to go visit them and other relatives in Finland in December. :]

Today, Tara and I went to the Musée d'Orsay, which was absolutely beautiful. I don't know a whole lot about different artistic movements, but Impressionism is quickly becoming my favorite. I especially love Monet, and Orsay had tons of his paintings which was great. I really feel like being here has given me a new appreciation for art and art museums...I have never been one to go to a museum just for fun, but now I've really started to enjoy it. And Impressionist painting in particular--it makes me feel peaceful and calm but at the same time very alive. It's something about the colors, the technique, the subjects. It's hard to describe, and I'm not doing a good job of it at all, but it's a new experience that I'm glad I've started to embrace. The only problem with liking art is that it makes it difficult for me to not buy things at the gift shops--even if they're just post cards, I would love to have some kind of reproduction of all my favorite paintings.

On Monday, Nathan and I had our 2-year anniversary. Although it was sad to not be together to share it, he gave me what could quite possibly be the best anniversary gift of all time: he is coming to visit me in Paris. :) I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. He'll be here for 4 days in November! It's hard for me to believe that he is actually coming since he worked so hard to convince me that there was no possible way he could. (He wanted it to be a surprise.) But yay!

Some things that may be coming up soon:

-Seeing a ballet at the Opera House

-500 Days of Summer at the movies

-Sushi dinner on Saturday night

-Concrete plans for London/Belgium

That's about it for now! I'm off to watch another few episodes of Gossip Girl (I think it's an addiction) and then to bed. Wish me luck for classes next week. :)

Starting week 3...

First, some bad news: my little 11-year old host brother is being bullied at school. It makes me so sad for him because he is so sweet, cute, and smart. Sandra, my host mom, thinks it's because he's very small compared to other kids his size and more on the intellectual side. Apparently, Amoury has been teased at school in the past, and I feel horrible for the whole family (especially Sandra) because I can see how much pain it causes them. Sandra called some of the kids' mothers tonight, so hopefully that will help...

Otherwise, things here have been going pretty smoothly. This morning, I left the apartment at 8.30 to go to my "inscription pedagogique" at the Sorbonne for French literature classes. I didn't want to take a French lit class (I've taken so many that I was in need of a break from them), but it seems to be the only thing that will work with my schedule. Alas, I'll be taking a course called "Le mentir vrai"...we'll find out soon what that is supposed to mean. Surprisingly enough, registering for the course only took me 30 minutes, and I managed to therefore only miss 30 minutes of my European Union class that started at 9.30.

Today, I went to the Musée Rodin with Laura and strolled around beautiful gardens while checking out sculptures. It was glorious. We were both pretty tired, so we spent some time laying on the lounge chairs that had been so generously provided for public use. It was heavenly.

Speaking of Laura--she might be moving in with my host family! She is having some problems with her living situation (AKA her host mom be crazy), so she is thinking about moving. She's probably coming tomorrow or Thursday to visit with my host parents and see if it would be a good fit for her. It would be really cool (and convenient for going-out purposes) if we lived in the same apartment!

On Sunday, I ventured to Centre Georges Pompidou to check out some modern art. It was very different and slightly disturbing. There were lots of works that I didn't quite understand--paint splatterings on canvas, random words on white background, a chicken in a bathtub, a video of a fat naked woman rolling on the floor, a painting that was literally completely black aside from a white line down the middle, etc. Some of the works were a lot more interesting and really managed to affect my mood and the way I was feeling, often for the worse. Still, I thought it was really cool that a painting or other piece of art could have that effect on me. I left feeling like one of the main goals of modern art was to be unsettling/perturbing.

In other news, I have been watching a good amount of American TV shows. There's something so comforting about them, and allowing myself to just hear English for an hour or two feels like a guilty pleasure. I've been watching How I Met Your Mother, The Office, Glee (LOVE IT) and House....and yesterday I watched the first 2 episodes of Gossip Girl. I think it's really funny because I never watch much TV when I'm at home (last year all I watched was the Office), but here there is so much more of a sense of comfort and relaxation. Also, it gives me something to do before going to bed. :)

That's about it for now. Here's a picture of me and Heather enjoying wine out of baby bottles at a fondue restaurant on Saturday night:

Oh and my aunt and grandma are coming to visit me this weekend, so I'm really excited! Although I don't know Paris all that well yet, I'm looking forward to showing them around. Even more than that though, it will be nice just to see them and hang out with them. :) Can't wait!

I've been in France for one month...

So. Today marks exactly 4 weeks that I've been in France. 2 weeks in Tours, and 2 weeks in Paris. It's crazy to think that I have less than 3 months left, and I just started classes!

Speaking of classes, I'm taking two courses through SBC (my study abroad program) that will only have other SBC students in them (AKA no French students). These two classes are:

L'Union Européenne: I decided to take this because I'm embarrassed by how little I know about the EU. Also, the teacher is really nice and energetic, so I think it will be a good class. It seems like there will be a fair amount of work in it, which is okay but not awesome. During our first class (it's 2.5 hours long), one of the things we did was name all the 27 countries of the EU. Apparently Norway is not in the EU, which was a surprise to me...

L'Histoire de l'Art: I've never taken an Art History class, but when I heard that this course goes to the Louvre once a week to look at paintings, I knew this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. The course covers the 16th and 17th centuries, so during the first class (1.5 hours), the professor talked about art and life during the Middle Ages. After that, I had one hour to go to the bank, get lunch, and get myself to the Louvre to meet with my visitation group (the class is 18 people, so we broke into two groups for the visits). During the visit, we sat down in a circle in front of a painting and talked about it for an hour. It was unreal. There we were, sitting on the floor of the LOUVRE. It was insane. I was sick and sneezing all over the place, but it was still incredible. I can't wait for next week...

I'm also taking two courses at Paris III (Sorbonne Nouvelle), but they aren't scheduled to start until October 12. Luckily I have a lot of time, because course selection is a pain in the ass. I've selected about 7 different courses by now, but there always seems to be a problem: schedule overlap with SBC classes, bad professor, too advanced of a class, class canceled, etc. Right now, I'm pretty sure I'm taking "Introduction aux sciences de langage" (Basically Intro Linguistics), and as for the other course, I guess I will have to wait and see...There was a class called "Communication et Sciences Humaines" that seemed interesting, but I think that overlaps with one of my SBC classes. Really, it's a huge pain, and I'm glad I only have to take 2 classes at Paris III.

Aside from classes, this week has been relatively uneventful. I was pretty stuffy and sniffly for the past 2 days, so I spent a lot of time sleeping, sneezing, and trying to recover quickly. Thankfully, it feels like the worst part of that random cold is over, and I can start running around Paris again without feeling like my head is going to explode.

I just had my first dinner with the host parents without my (former) roommate. She left this evening, leaving behind a very upset and very confused Sandra. I feel so comfortable here, that I really don't understand why Delaney was so set on leaving. She decided right off the bat that she wanted to move, so maybe she just didn't want to change her mind? I don't know. I would be surprised to find out that she wasn't sad at all about leaving...When Sandra asked her why she was leaving, all she said was "I didn't want to live with small children." That's a reason, but it doesn't make much sense...especially considering we barely even see the kids. Our rooms are on the opposite side of the apartment, and I barely even hear the kids when I'm here (aside from Godfroy, who occasionally cries in the mornings). I just feel so bad for Sandra, who now thinks that she did something wrong to make Delaney want to leave. Hopefully she'll feel better soon. Maybe now that she is gone I'll have an opportunity to form a closer relationship with the family. We'll see.

On Tuesday, I went with Laura to see Versailles. It was one of those "must do" things that we both had wanted to do for quite some time. I was happy to get in for FREE (European citizens under 26 get free admission to tons of places in France....it's awesome). The chateau was impressive; everything was caked in gold and every room had at least 5 paintings/sculptures of le Roi Soleil, Louis XIV. I'm glad that I can now say that I've seen Versailles, although it was maybe a bit over the top for my taste. The gardens, on the other hand, were nothing short of spectacular. They were enormous and consisted of multiple mazes and perfectly geometric flower patterns and fountains and everything. Just beautiful.

Today, I decided to take the metro to Parc des Buttes Chaumont, a large park with trails and rolling hills. It was the first time I set out by myself to discover a place, and it felt really nice. I listened to my iPod and wrote in my journal while sitting on a park bench. I felt a little poetic and an equal amount pretentious. Either way, it was nice, and I think I'll return to that park, maybe to have a picnic or go running or something.

Today at dinner, my host mom brought up the idea of Nathan coming to visit. She kept saying how "génial" and "romantique" it would be for me and how "facile" it would be for him since he wouldn't have to find a hotel. In my mind I had already ruled out the possibility of him coming due to the fact that there really aren't any vacations during the semester (aside from Thanksgiving, and that's when the family is coming). But Sandra didn't seem to think this was a problem...she kept saying that girls they've hosted in the past have just had their boyfriends come during weeks when school was slow, there weren't any exams, etc.....so now of course, she has planted in my mind a little bit of hope of him maybe possibly being able to come, which in turn of course has me looking at flights, thinking about his schedule, etc. And I had so courageously accepted the fact that he absolutely cannot come visit!

Well, I think that's all for right now...plans for tomorrow:

Tour of Montmartre at 13h

Hopefully planning trips with Laura for the upcoming months (places I have in mind...Belgium, London, Italy)

Paris tourism

So, for the past few days, I've been very touristy. Aside from yesterday, during which I slept and attempted to watch American TV shows online (which is very hard to do from abroad, as it turns out.)

On Saturday, I went to the Louvre. I waited in line. I descended into the pyramid. I was confused, not knowing how to actually enter the museum. I found one of the 4 (?) entrances. I entered. I was overwhelmed. I found the Mona Lisa. I found 93981 people taking pictures of the Mona Lisa. I still do not understand what is so great about that painting, even after seeing it. Maybe I will after my Art History class. In any event, I saw many paintings and statues that I found much more beautiful and complex while I was there. I spent over 2 hours there, but only saw maybe a fifth of the entire museum. It is incredibly large. Unbelievably large, almost.

One of my favorites of the statues I saw:

Today I visited the Orangerie, which was much more manageable in terms of size and the amount of art present. They had wall-sized Monets there that were absolutely beautiful and peaceful and breathtaking. I might go back there just to sit and stare at them some day.

I also visited the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. Both places were jam-packed full of people. We wanted to climb up the Eiffel Tower, but there were seriously so many people waiting in line to buy tickets, that it would have taken us hours before we could have even started the climb. So we decided to do that on another day. Notre Dame was beautiful, with its huge stained glass windows and pretty ceilings. However, that too was a bit tainted by the sheer volume of tourists taking pictures in every corner of the place (and outside of it). I still like doing all the touristy things, though.

Tomorrow: My first class and then off to visit Versailles!

The best a birthday away from home could be...

That's what yesterday was!

I was a little worried the day before my birthday, thinking I would probably just miss home all day. But the day actually went super well. I had a great, great 20th birthday.

I slept in late, took a shower, and didn't feel a day older.

After going shopping (I just realized I talked about this in yesterday's post), it was time for dinner. We had galettes, which are basically grilled crepes. They were delicieux! I had made plans to meet some people at the Bastille at 10 pm, and I was going to meet Heather at 9.40 PM at the metro stop to head over there. Well, after dinner, Sandra (my host mom) started acting a little weird, so I knew something was up. She told me I should probably skip dessert and go get ready...suspicious. I was all ready to leave at 9.30, when Sandra tells me there's someone at the door for me. It was Heather, who proceeds to say "surprise!" So now I'm thinking, WHAT is going on? Maybe they tried to plan a surprise party for me but the only person they could get in contact with was Heather? We stood around awkwardly for about 5 minutes, me not knowing at all what was going on, when about 6 or 7 more people come up the stairs. My host family planned a surprise party for me! I was so touched and genuinely surprised: my host mom had set us a little dessert party, gotten me presents, and planned to leave the apartment completely to me and my friends. It was so nice and so unexpected, that I just didn't know what to say other than merci, merci, merci.

The problem, however, was that some people didn't know about the surprise party, and thus were waiting at the Bastille to meet up with me and the 7 people in our apartment. I tried my best to explain this to my host mom, but I felt really bad about leaving since they had intended for us to stay there the night. I think, though, that most people really wanted to go out, and there was a good amount of people waiting at the Bastille for us when we got there at 11 pm (an hour late). But even though we were late, they weren't upset at all and just kept saying happy birthday to me and being really nice. SBC people (at least the ones I've gotten to know a bit better) are incredibly nice and fun to hang out with. I really can't believe it (because of the fact that it usually takes me a while to form close relationships), but after 3 short weeks I already feel incredibly attached to these people.

There was a group of about 15 to start out with, and we went to a bar that had happy hour until 11.30 (AKA cheaper drinks). After that, a few people went home since they wanted to catch the last metro at 12.30. A smaller group then went to a few other bars, and it was just a really chill night. We also went to one club and danced a little, but it was nothing too special. However, our goal was to stay out until 5.30 AM when the metro reopens, so we set out to find another place to hang out. We ended up walking around a bit and then settling on a nearly empty and quite expensive cafe. By this time (almost 3 am) we were all needing coffee: Amelia and I shared a coffee flavored milkshake (7 euro, eww), but it didn't seem to do the trick. Around 4 am, the remaining 5 of us threw in the towel and decided to take cabs home. Tara stayed over with me, and since Heather and I live so close, all 3 of us split the 10 euro cab fare. I think it was a good choice, since we all had to be on a sight-seeing boat at 2 pm the next day. Overall, it was a really fun night, regardless of the blisters from my shoes and the failure to find a place that was entertaining at 3 AM (HIMYM quote: Nothing good happens after 3 AM). But I love SBC people and my host family and my 20th birthday!

Loving it!

Quick update because I don't have a whole lot of time:

I'm loving every minute of Paris. I've been sleeping late and then meeting up with friends around noon or 1 pm to explore different areas. So far I've been to Montmartre, the Bastille, the Latin Quarter, Opera area, and the Marais. I've also walked a lot along the Seine, experienced a wide range of temperatures (12-25 degrees C), and gotten a feel for many of the major streets of Paris.

I have yet to go into a museum, but I will definitely do that soon. It's nice to know that there will be plenty of time to visit different museums and things, so I don't need to cram everything in to the first week. I haven't even been to the Tour Eiffel yet! I have been something of a bad tourist. The only "touristy" areas I've been to are Sacre Coeur, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, and some gardens. So I have some catching up to do. There are just so many museums and sights, it's hard to know where to start.

Today, Tara and I decided to explore some Parisian "hidden gems" AKA vintage clothing stores selling high-name brands at low prices (of course the clothing is already used). This experience proved to be a bit too intense/eclectic for us, and even the Dior or D & G items we saw just looked weird to us...haha. We didn't end up buying anything from these vintage boutiques, but it was cool to see what they looked like. At one store, they also had probably a few hundred pairs of Levi's, Wranglers, and Lees on sale, which we just thought was funny. They also had a lot of retro Adidas/Nike sneakers, which I actually really like and had to hold myself back from buying.

After that, we went to St. Placide, which is a more "normal" shopping area. Many of the stores were too expensive for us, but I did manage to find a few birthday presents for myself (thanks grandma!): a gray bag and a matching pair of ballet flats. :) My first French purchases! (well, aside from a scarf) Needless to say, I was very happy and felt quite Parisian on the metro with my Naf-Naf bag. Haha.

Yesterday, I walked down the Champs-Elysees, saw the Arc de Triomphe (though I didn't go to the top yet), ate at a French McDonald's (so so so much better than in the US)....and saw Julie & Julia which was just adorable and the perfect thing to see in a theater on the Champs-Elysees. I loved the movie...especially the parts in which Meryl Streep tried to speak French! Meryl Streep is amazing, but she can't speak French! And it made me feel really good about my French-speaking abilities. :)

Anyway, so I'm having a great time and am planning to go out tonight with a group of friends to celebrate my 20th. I hope everyone at home is doing well. Love!