It's now been about a week and a half since the journey from San Francisco to Paris, and I am pleased to report that France has decided to help my transition by displaying a bit of California sunshine this past week. I now have a routine, which has allowed me to begin to really explore and become familiar with the city, my classes, the people, and myself.
Orientation continued throughout the past week, and we also began classes on Tuesday. As previously mentioned, all our classes are in French, which is both completely overwhelming and totally gratifying. Our professors know we're only catching between 40-85% of what they're saying (depending on the speed with which they talk, whether the material is familiar or not, etc.), but even so it's been a fascinating challenge. I decided to drop the African Francophone literature class in favor of Art History. My uncle, who is an Art History professor, has been on my case to take art history at Stanford in my "free time," and I figured that there is no better place to do so than Paris. Have I mentioned that we meet once a week in class and the other meeting is at museums (read: I have class in the Louvre)? Yeah. Best decision I have made in Paris thus far.
Other than school, this week was a full one. We had our first language partner meeting with the French engineering students, which was really interesting and fun. My partner enjoys cooking and going to the theatre (yay!) so hopefully we'll be doing some of those things together. I took my first dance class in Paris! It's located in a truly amazing complex of over 8 studios (unheard of in terms of space in this city) and the teacher was really nice. It wasn't quite my level, but we'll see how things work out. Culinary discovery of the week: tigré noir. This is some kind of almond cake thing with dark chocolate on top. YUM.
This weekend was awesome and included our Bing luncheon (fancy food paid for by Stanford); an epic music-sharing session with my host mother, who happens to love Israeli musicians; a friend's 21st bday celebration (although we're in France, so 21 ain't no big thing); a day trip with some new Stanford friends to Versailles, featuring Louis XV's private apartments and Marie-Antoinette's hamlet; my first foray into French cinemas with an amazing film Les Intouchables; and a performance called "Gala des Étoiles du 21e siècle" aka "Ballet Stars of the 21st Century", which featured two principals from 8 major European ballet companies and was incredible. Basically a perfect Parisian weekend.
The view after stepping out of the theater this evening.
Hall of Mirrors, Versailles
The following are some cultural oddities differences, observations, and questions that I've accumulated thus far...
- In a country where smoking is the national sport, it's a true miracle how Parisians are able to walk as much as they do without wheezing and keeling over.
-You do not see Parisians walking and eating at the same time. As one who is usually all about efficiency (indeed, I can eat a burrito with one hand while driving on 280 to make a class and/or meeting), it is interesting that despite the amount of foods that could be easily consumed while walking (le sandwich, le crêpe, le croissant, les macarons) it's simply not done. This is different from Berlin where it seemed like no one actually sat down to eat; rather, they'd prefer a Döner and Bier on the U-Bahn. I am going to try to be somewhere in the middle - I don't have time to have 1.5 hour lunches and dinners, but I will try to have a little more respect for the tradition of the meal, as our Center director likes to say.
-How is everyone so fucking chic?
-Smiling in public is prohibited. Ok, not really, but should you be a female and riding on the metro, you should not smile at the people near you, as one might do in the United States to signal some sense of humanity. According to our director, Estelle (who is awesome, btw), unless you are interested in sexual advances from total strangers including the question "Chez moi ou chez vous?" (my house or yours?), you should not be friendly to people you don't know. For all of you who are curious, I have not been in such a situation, but it comes from a Stanford in Paris student from last quarter. Moral of the story: keep the smiles for those whom you know and deserve such beauty.
-Paris should be learned by walking. Unlike Berlin, which is so vast that walking anywhere but to your U-Bahn stop makes no sense, Paris was made for pedestrians. Every arrondissement is so full of unique and interesting shops, people, parks, and stories, that it would be a total shame to only take the Metro. So I've learned, walk whenever possible and you'll always find something new and exciting.
On the agenda for this week: beginning my English workshop at the local elementary school, a soirée with Stanford alumni living in Paris, writing my first report in French for anything other than a language class, trying out a new dance class, working in a new cafe :)
À Bientôt!
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