Monday, January 9, 2012

Bienvenue à Paris

Bonjour mes amis,

Upon my arrival at our orientation session last Friday, I was not really feeling this whole Paris thing. It was really difficult for me to leave San Francisco on Thursday - I was just getting back into the swing of California life, I was feeling productive and I still hadn't seen all the people who I meant to visit over break. Add these emotions to the desire to head back to campus in Palo Alto and to have another week of winter break, in addition to my lack of sleep and desparate need of a shower/change of clothes after being on the plane, we can all agree that I was not in the best of moods when I landed at Charles de Gaulle.

I arrived at the hostel where we all were staying for our first night in France and took a walk to try and stay awake as long as possible. Then I saw this:


It's fair to say that I snapped out of my bad mood quickly and have been loving getting reacquainted with Paris. I can't wait to revisit my favorite places and discover new treasures that are around every corner. Here's the low-down on my life here so far...

Ma famille d'accueil (lit. welcoming families, colloq. host families)
As in Berlin, here I am staying with a host family. I live dans la petite ceinture (the little belt), meaning the area just outside of Paris proper, but within a 15 minute ride on the Paris Metro to the Champs Elysees. One advantage of being in the 'burbs is that I live in an actual house, with an actual garden and real space, which is very rare in the City. Unlike in Berlin, though, here we eat all of our breakfasts and 5 dinners a week with our families. My host mother is fantastic and I'm already very much enjoying our mealtime conversations, despite the fact that we speak solely in French. Usually, we communicate very well, but when the discussions turn to subjects like Obamacare (my thoughts on which I can barely express in English), it's difficult to fight the urge to bring a dictionary to the table. My family consists of my host mother, her partner, David, and David's daughter (age 11). Did I mention that David was a professional chef in a restaurant très chic in Paris? Awww yeah.

Mes cours et mes études (classes and studies)
Stanford in Paris is located in the building of the Institut Superieur d'Electronique de Paris (ISEP) in the 6th arrondissement (district). We have a relationship with ISEP both in terms of classes and relating to "cultural affairs," meaning that we can register for certain seminars at ISEP and that we have French students who are our language partners! This also means that I am actually a French student (with a French student idenitification card), which apparently is extremely helpful when trying to get into the Louvre for free :) Classes begin tomorrow and I am trying not to freak out because, also unlike Berlin, all my classes will be taught in French. The following classes are on the agenda for this quarter:
-French Language (duh)
-France in World War II (you'd think I'd know enough about WWII by now, but you'd be wrong)
-Contemporary African Literature in French or Human Rights in the Comparative Perspective
-Introduction de la Société Francaise: basically a field trip class on Fridays when we tour museums, participate in Chocolate and Boulangerie tastings, have on-site lectures by professors at historical buildings, etc. Awesome (x 50).
-Le stage en milieu scolaire - an internship at French elementary school. I will be leading an atelier en Anglais (English language workshop) at a public elementary school in the 16th arrondissement :)

It seems like a lot, and there is definitely the possibility of dropping a class, but for now I'll give it a go!

La Vie Parisienne
It's so surreal to be here in Paris that I think it will take another week or so to sink in - after all, I was in Berlin and California in the past month and the brain and the emotions are a bit strained. We'll see how I feel in nine weeks, but for now I love the smells of the boulangeries, the fact that I can't help but smile every time I see the Eiffel tower, the ability to just walk and wander and still find amazingly beautiful things everywhere, the three-course (hour-long) dinners with my host family, and the slower pace of life here in general. The language is difficult, absolutely, but I hope that it will all be worth it when I am able to speak confidently with my new French friends. For now, I will just say that I am beyond excited to be here and I can't wait to experience all that the city and this quarter has to offer.

À bientôt,
Doria



1 comment:

  1. excellent entry to the france blog section. and in the middle of all your classes, don't forget to MAKE NEW FRIENDS

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