It's taken me a while to even begin writing today's blog because I do not want to relive the awful, terrible memory of this afternoon. It was atrocious. My placement test for La Sorbonne was absolutely horrific!! I even stayed in last night to study and review verb tenses, but that proved to be pointless. The SATs were not this hard. And I didn't even do that well on my SATs...Oh, man, am I in for a doozie or what!
This afternoon, after a truly inspirational tour of La Sorbonne, you know, one of the world's oldest universities, myself and 5 other CEA students found our way to the placement test for our French grammar classes set to start tomorrow. We were "briefed" by a CEA employee who told us there was nothing to worry about and that this test was geared toward non-native speakers of the French language. Needless to say, I thought I was solid for this afternoon's exam. Wrong. The six of us and about 20 other students all shuffled into a really old, Hogwarts looking classroom. Very intimidating. There is this mean, strict headmistress looking lady at the front of the classroom who is barking instructions to us in French. The poor girl next to me. She came here to learn French, as in, she has never taken or learned a word of French ever. She was so lost because absolutely everything was in French. Even the information sheet we had to fill out. It was, like I said, intimidating.
So the test begins and it is awful. I just stared at the sheet for a few minutes reading the instructions over and over again. What? I'm supposed to do what? So I filled out the multiple choice portion to the best of my ability, wrote an essay about the most important invention of the 20th century. Of course, I start to write this about the telephone. Half way through I begin to question myself and whether the telephone was actually invented in the 1900s. I believe I even put that in my essay: "Acctullement, je ne connais pas si le telephone etais inventer a la 20eme siecle ou le 19eme siecle." And get this, I even concluded my essay with "Merci, Monsieur Bell". Ahhh!! What was I thinking? I don't know anything about inventions of the 20th century. I have no idea how to talk about them in English, let alone French. Then, there was a truly terrible fill in the blank section where they put three words and asked you to complete the sentence. My endings were completely idiotic. For example, (I can't remember the French translation) "It is necessary that...I go to the pretty park". I'm sure the people all around me were writing complex sentences with multiple tenses and meanwhile, I'm sitting in the back corner trying to recall anything that makes me sound the least bit like I know what I'm talking about. Unfortunately, I have no such luck. I thought that the worst of it was over and after only leaving 1 question blank I was ready for a drink. However, La Sorbonne wasn't done with me yet. The mean headmistress lady called me over and started drilling me with questions. What? I wasn't prepped for this! No one told me there was an oral component....It went terribly. I don't think I've ever said the words "je ne sais pas" more times in my three years of French. She asked me questions that I barely even knew the vocabulary for. How do the French say "I am a temp"? I said "Je suis une temp" but she looked at me when I said this practically blasphemous sentence and deadpan said to me "Nous ne parlons pas l'anglais". Ouch. I was stumbling, butchering this woman's native tongue, trying to say that I work one week at a business and then the next week at the other. Ugh...
Needless to say, I walked straight out of that test, met with the other CEA kids and rewarded my shaky self with a beer. (Actually, Desperados is this amazing beer that tastes like Tequila. Apparently its what all the high school kids drink at their little illegal parties, but I find it absolutely delightful and necessary after that test).
On the bright side, I was issued my Sorbonne student I.D. card today. Pretty cool stuff. I'm official! Now, I just have to wait until tomorrow morning when I'll get my results. We're supposed to be at La Sorbonne at 8:30 tomorrow morning and depending on our placement will have class at 9:00 AM or 11 AM. Given the lack of time, I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for tomorrow, since I'm sure it'll be really fast and I'll end up running around campus trying to find my class in 30 minutes. Hopefully it will at least be intermediate French for me!!
Wish me luck!
The chronicles of my travels, studies, and adventures en l'Hexagone.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Pictures!
Here are a couple of pictures that I've taken over the past few days.
More pictures to come later. For now, the internet is moving way to slow to even consider uploading more pictures...
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| My attempt at "pinching" the top of the Eiffel Tower. I was a little off... |
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| Some other CEA students and I sat around and ate baguettes and cheese on the lawn behind the Eiffel Tower. It was beautiful!! |
Some truly beautiful detail on the side of the Notre Dame. Notre Dame is about a 5 minute walk from CEA Headquarters. Sigh.
The infamous Notre Dame Cathedral. Unfortunately for me, I can't look at this 900 year old piece of history without thinking of the Disney movie...
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| Again, all I could visualize here was Esmeralda singing "God Help the Outcasts". I am a victim of Disney. |
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| The Notre Dame at night! This was taken when a bunch of us went down to hang out with local Frenchies on the "quai", which is right along the Seine. It was unbelievably gorgeous and cold. |
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| The four of us enjoying out mini "fete" by the Seine. |
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| A fountain in La Place de la Concorde. |
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| L'obélisque in the center of La Place de La Concorde. It was right here that the guillotine was set up to behead Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI. Too cool!! |
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| From Le Place de La Concorde, we trekked all the way down Le Champs-Elysees to L'arc de Triomphe! |
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| Voila! |
Le Banlieue
Le Banlieue is the French word for the "suburbs". Now, Paris is completely opposite to that of the United States and its major cities. For example, when comparing living situations in Washington D.C and it's surrounding suburbs, which do you think is safer? Well, as charming as inner city D.C. is, I'll have to choose the suburbs of Arlington and Fairfax as a safer, cleaner, more enjoyable place to live. In Paris this is the complete opposite. The suburbs are the 'bad parts of town' where there is more crime and poverty. Even during CEA orientation, the program coordinators told us to not go to the suburbs because nothing good happens there. It isn't really a place where one aspires to visit...
Last night, the roommates and I decided to go over to Montmartre to visit some other CEA students living over there and go to a bar for some live music. Montmartre, in the 18th arrondissement, is on the compete other side of town. It's unfamiliar and quite different than the 14th arrondissement on the left bank of Paris where I live. It's famous for it's night clubs like the Moulin Rouge and the famed red light district of Paris. Yippee! After we took the long metro ride to the Northern side of Paris we were a little disoriented and went to go grab a quick sandwich and ask for directions at a small restaurant outside the metro station. These directions did not help at all so we left, food in hand, and asked some very nice people on the street. This super nice and helpful woman told us to go all the way down this one street for a very long time and then we would find the street to our friend's apartment. So we walked and walked and walked. The lighting got scarcer and it started to smell like an odd mixture of urine and garbage. Just lovely. So, we stopped again and asked some men at a bar for directions. This man kept telling us, in French, to go to the 18th arrondissement. Confused, I asked him which arrondissement we were in and he politely told me that I was no longer in Paris anymore. Great. No wonder we couldn't find the street signs on the map we had because our map was of Paris and we weren't in there anymore. Freaked out we turned right around and walked at an amazingly fast past, warm food now cold in our to-go bags, back to where we came from. Turns out the very nice lady had pointed us in the complete opposite direction and our destination was not far from the metro station in which we arrived. Unfortunately, by the time we made it to the guy's apartment we were over an hour later than we said we would be and they had left and gone to the bar. Exhausted and defeated we ate our dinner on the steps outside their apartment and headed back home. Overall, it was an eye-opening experience and from now on our friends will be coming to our side of town.
Also, to all you older people who have lived most of your life without cell phones, Power to you!!! It is tricky to meet up with people and coordinate plans without being in constant contact with each other. I'm totally going through an iPhone withdrawal right now because with my handy little GPS, I could have gotten us there in no time, but I guess it wouldn't have been the same experience and I now can say that I've survived le Banlieue.
Last night, the roommates and I decided to go over to Montmartre to visit some other CEA students living over there and go to a bar for some live music. Montmartre, in the 18th arrondissement, is on the compete other side of town. It's unfamiliar and quite different than the 14th arrondissement on the left bank of Paris where I live. It's famous for it's night clubs like the Moulin Rouge and the famed red light district of Paris. Yippee! After we took the long metro ride to the Northern side of Paris we were a little disoriented and went to go grab a quick sandwich and ask for directions at a small restaurant outside the metro station. These directions did not help at all so we left, food in hand, and asked some very nice people on the street. This super nice and helpful woman told us to go all the way down this one street for a very long time and then we would find the street to our friend's apartment. So we walked and walked and walked. The lighting got scarcer and it started to smell like an odd mixture of urine and garbage. Just lovely. So, we stopped again and asked some men at a bar for directions. This man kept telling us, in French, to go to the 18th arrondissement. Confused, I asked him which arrondissement we were in and he politely told me that I was no longer in Paris anymore. Great. No wonder we couldn't find the street signs on the map we had because our map was of Paris and we weren't in there anymore. Freaked out we turned right around and walked at an amazingly fast past, warm food now cold in our to-go bags, back to where we came from. Turns out the very nice lady had pointed us in the complete opposite direction and our destination was not far from the metro station in which we arrived. Unfortunately, by the time we made it to the guy's apartment we were over an hour later than we said we would be and they had left and gone to the bar. Exhausted and defeated we ate our dinner on the steps outside their apartment and headed back home. Overall, it was an eye-opening experience and from now on our friends will be coming to our side of town.
Also, to all you older people who have lived most of your life without cell phones, Power to you!!! It is tricky to meet up with people and coordinate plans without being in constant contact with each other. I'm totally going through an iPhone withdrawal right now because with my handy little GPS, I could have gotten us there in no time, but I guess it wouldn't have been the same experience and I now can say that I've survived le Banlieue.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Deuxieme Jour
Upon arriving in Paris yesterday I got some serious insight on what it is to be a true Parisian: traffic. It took us over two hours to make the journey from Charles de Gaulle to CEA (Cultural Experiences Abroad--the company that's coordinating everything). It was so cool to see the city but agonizing to move only 5 feet before the light turned red again. CEA is in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, meaning it is in the center of the city. Too cool!! It's tucked in this little courtyard a few blocks behind the Centre Pompidou and it's gorgeous.
Once we got to CEA we had a mini-orientation where we received the keys to our respective apartments and got an itinerary for the next few days. I met my new roommate, Anna, and then the driver took us to our new apartment!!!
The apartment:
Do not be fooled though, the rest of the apartment is wonderful. It is very quaint and very Parisian. I was talking to the housing coordinator about the bathroom situation and she explained the French's logic perfectly. This building was built in the late 17th-early 18th century in a time where they did not even dream of indoor plumbing. So, as time progressed and modern technology burst onto the scene many of the buildings had to adapt to the new times without any major structural changes. That also probably explains why all the light switches are on the outside of the rooms and there are no closets to speak of. I really enjoy my apartment though and my three other roommates. Two of which are in the summer session with me and one who is still here from the Spring Semester, Erin. She's been a huge help in showing us around. We all went to the Monoprix last night, which is the French equivalent of Target (love it!). I bought essentials for eating for the next few days: Nutella, Special K, Milk, Pasta, and tomato sauce. Hopefully, I'll get in the hang of it once I get a detailed schedule and everything.
All of these posts are so long....but I still have so much more to write!!
I'll write more later. Merci :)
Once we got to CEA we had a mini-orientation where we received the keys to our respective apartments and got an itinerary for the next few days. I met my new roommate, Anna, and then the driver took us to our new apartment!!!
The apartment:
- Is in the 14th arrondissement of Paris
- On the 1st floor of a 17th century building, but with the French the 1st floor means 1 floor above the ground floor (which is called level zero). Duh
- Is the size of my dorm room
- Next to the most adorable park-Parc Montsouris
Do not be fooled though, the rest of the apartment is wonderful. It is very quaint and very Parisian. I was talking to the housing coordinator about the bathroom situation and she explained the French's logic perfectly. This building was built in the late 17th-early 18th century in a time where they did not even dream of indoor plumbing. So, as time progressed and modern technology burst onto the scene many of the buildings had to adapt to the new times without any major structural changes. That also probably explains why all the light switches are on the outside of the rooms and there are no closets to speak of. I really enjoy my apartment though and my three other roommates. Two of which are in the summer session with me and one who is still here from the Spring Semester, Erin. She's been a huge help in showing us around. We all went to the Monoprix last night, which is the French equivalent of Target (love it!). I bought essentials for eating for the next few days: Nutella, Special K, Milk, Pasta, and tomato sauce. Hopefully, I'll get in the hang of it once I get a detailed schedule and everything.
All of these posts are so long....but I still have so much more to write!!
I'll write more later. Merci :)
Friday, May 27, 2011
Mon Début
Ok. I'm a little new at this blogging thing so you'll have to bare with me. Sure, I've written in many a journal and scribbled thoughts on scraps of paper, but I've never publicly aired by thoughts for everyone to read. In fact, I don't even know if I'll stick with this thing and it's only Day 1. You see, I've started many many journals and diaries but I've never really stuck with them. I wrote in one journal for about a solid month 2 summers ago. It was impressive at the time, but looking back on it it is quite boring considering that the only reason I wrote in that notebook at the time was because I was bored out of my mind working at a temp job that barely required any brain waves to complete. But, I digress....
Here's the deal: I'm in Paris, France (duh) for all of June and the first week of July. Four of those weeks will be spent taking classes at La Sorbonne and the last week will be spent traversing through the rest of France with Mom and Kristie (hooray!).
Today is only my second day in Paris, even though it feels like forever with the time changes and the plane flight. I'm pretty sure that being awake for almost 30 hours will do that to you.
My trip here was....dramatic. I was scheduled to leave Norfolk at 2:35 PM and arrive in JFK at 4 PM, allowing me a one hour lay over before my flight to Paris at 5 PM and of course that did not happen. My fight was almost an hour late because of an undisclosed problem. The plane wasn't actually at the gate until our scheduled departure time and then with cleaning and the wonderful chattiness of our flight attendant we didn't leave for another 45 minutes. She was talking about everything but mainly just herself. She was a former Seattle SeaHawks cheerleader, her daughter thinks she has the best job in the world (maybe, but her performance on the job is definitely in question), and she had the most comfortable three-inch heals on from Nine West. Definitely unnecessary conversations while I was freaking out about making my connecting flight in JFK. Who even knew when the next flight to Paris was? Well, thankfully our flight made record time to New York, however, Fate was still having fun torturing me. Basically, everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. Once we landed in JFK with 25 minutes before my next flight left, we sat on the runway because there weren't any gates open. It was at this point that I almost yelled out to the captain, "Oh yeah, I know a flight that's leaving soon, MINE", but thankfully I refrained. Another outburst almost occurred when once we pulled into the first open gate no one came down to bring the bridge to the plane. They had forgotten about us and I was stuck on a hot airplane with the annoying flight attendant. This was for about 10 minutes. I kept checking my watch and gaping at how quickly time was melting away. As soon as the cabin door was open I bolted to the bridge snatched my carry-on in a flash and was bolting up the world's longest bridge to the terminal of the airport, but when I reached my gate for AA44 to Paris no one was there. I then proceeded to stand there in front of the empty gate awkwardly crying because I was so out of breath from the physical exertion. I had been so close and had just missed it. My watch said that it was 5 o'clock exactly.
Thank my lucky stars that two airport workers were walking by at that moment and took pity on me. One of them ran into the closed doors at the gate and came back momentarily telling me to run because the plane hadn't left yet. I again bolted down another bridge to only squeeze into the cabin door as they were closing it. I had made it! I fumbled to my seat and settled down for my long 7 hour flight. And so begins my great Parisian adventure!!
Here's the deal: I'm in Paris, France (duh) for all of June and the first week of July. Four of those weeks will be spent taking classes at La Sorbonne and the last week will be spent traversing through the rest of France with Mom and Kristie (hooray!).
Today is only my second day in Paris, even though it feels like forever with the time changes and the plane flight. I'm pretty sure that being awake for almost 30 hours will do that to you.
My trip here was....dramatic. I was scheduled to leave Norfolk at 2:35 PM and arrive in JFK at 4 PM, allowing me a one hour lay over before my flight to Paris at 5 PM and of course that did not happen. My fight was almost an hour late because of an undisclosed problem. The plane wasn't actually at the gate until our scheduled departure time and then with cleaning and the wonderful chattiness of our flight attendant we didn't leave for another 45 minutes. She was talking about everything but mainly just herself. She was a former Seattle SeaHawks cheerleader, her daughter thinks she has the best job in the world (maybe, but her performance on the job is definitely in question), and she had the most comfortable three-inch heals on from Nine West. Definitely unnecessary conversations while I was freaking out about making my connecting flight in JFK. Who even knew when the next flight to Paris was? Well, thankfully our flight made record time to New York, however, Fate was still having fun torturing me. Basically, everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. Once we landed in JFK with 25 minutes before my next flight left, we sat on the runway because there weren't any gates open. It was at this point that I almost yelled out to the captain, "Oh yeah, I know a flight that's leaving soon, MINE", but thankfully I refrained. Another outburst almost occurred when once we pulled into the first open gate no one came down to bring the bridge to the plane. They had forgotten about us and I was stuck on a hot airplane with the annoying flight attendant. This was for about 10 minutes. I kept checking my watch and gaping at how quickly time was melting away. As soon as the cabin door was open I bolted to the bridge snatched my carry-on in a flash and was bolting up the world's longest bridge to the terminal of the airport, but when I reached my gate for AA44 to Paris no one was there. I then proceeded to stand there in front of the empty gate awkwardly crying because I was so out of breath from the physical exertion. I had been so close and had just missed it. My watch said that it was 5 o'clock exactly.
Thank my lucky stars that two airport workers were walking by at that moment and took pity on me. One of them ran into the closed doors at the gate and came back momentarily telling me to run because the plane hadn't left yet. I again bolted down another bridge to only squeeze into the cabin door as they were closing it. I had made it! I fumbled to my seat and settled down for my long 7 hour flight. And so begins my great Parisian adventure!!
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