Halle aux Farines

Well, this isn't so much new vocab as it is new information. "Halle aux Farines" means "flour market" in french, but that actually has nothing to do with this post. Halle aux Farines is also the name of the building where I have my french university class! I take a class at Université de Paris VII, Diderot, henceforth to be referred to as "Paris VII" (but be careful you have to say it the french way aka 'pair-ee set' said as fast as possible). Anyways, so I'm taking a history class there called "Modern Europe: Economy and Society from 1500-1700." I really wanted to get the experience of taking a class at a french university and to make sure I was taking at least one history class, and this one seemed perfect - it fit right into my schedule and looked pretty interesting. It has been quite a journey, though! The first day of class (last Monday) I left 2 hours early because 1) I'm ocd about being early and 2) I had noo idea where I was going. But after only a minor metro mishap and a 20 minute walk in the wrong direction, I finally found it. Paris VII is rather unique among Parisian universities because it is the one which most resembles your typical American campus. There's about 4 blocks dedicated to only college buildings, which is unique for schools here in the city. See my picture below, taken from this neat bridge that crosses a part of campus.

 

 

Yay, college!

So, I get to class the first day super early but, not to fear, I have reading for some other classes so I just casually sit amidst a cloud of cigarette smoke (it's omnipresent here, especially among teenagers) and pretend to read my book while actually just freaking out about the upcoming 1.5 hours of rapid french that's going to be spoken at me. Time passes rather quickly this way, and soon enough it's time to go in. My class is in Amphi 1A, a large lecture hall right there on the first floor. Quite convenient. It's your typical amphitheater-style class room with rows of long wooden desks with little seats that fold down out of the one behind. The walls are made of concrete and there's a huge sliding blackboard at the front like the ones you see in physics classrooms. About 5 minutes before class, the professor walks in. At this point there must be about 100 or so students sitting in various locations around the room (no one sits in the first three rows though, god forbid) and everyone seems to be doing something else, even as the professor begins lecturing. This is a surprise to me because my program had gotten a presentation from our program-leaders about classes in french universities and how french students behave. According to them, nobody drinks in class (or even brings water bottles), everyone puts their stuff neatly on the floor beside them, everyone writes in cursive, and everyone sits up straight and is on their best behavior at all times. So let's just say I was mildly surprised when I saw kids texting, whispering, not only drinking but eating (!) during the lecture, and all manner of bags/scarves/crap all over the tables beside them. I felt better right away.
Basically, the professor then proceeds to lecture for an hour and a half, occasionally writing things on the board and very frequently saying things like "oh so-and-so, you should know about him" while I'm sitting there not even knowing how to spell the guy's name. The first half-hour was complete panic while I sat there and proceeded to be terrified of not understanding anything. However, after I got over that I was able to understand a fair amount of what the professor was lecturing about and all was good. At the end of 90 minutes, the professor looks up from her notes, says "Thanks for your attention," and promptly leaves the class while the students put away their computers and file out. So strange for me! I've never had a class like that and so I was basically just shocked at the little amount of effort I had to put in. The girl next to me said there's probably 20-30 kids in the class who won't even show up to the lectures. However, there's another component to the class as well - a 3hr once a week "T.D." section, which is a smaller group of about 25 that meets with a teacher to discuss the lectures and do work. I was really nervous for this part because I had no idea what to expect - would I understand what the other students were saying? Would I understand the readings? Would I be expected to contribute?
So, I went with baited breath to my first T.D. a week ago. I was really nervous but immediately felt better when I walked in and saw two other Americans (we're pretty easy to spot), both of whom I have weird small-world connections to! Basically, the T.D. section is a large university's attempt at a discussion class, but it doesn't work when you have to read only 2 primary sources a week (whaattt) and the class is three hours long. Also the french students in my class NEVER contribute. It's so awkward! The teacher will ask a question like, "What was the reading about?" and NO ONE will answer.  The awkward silence will continue for 3-4 minutes while there's that weird stare-off between teacher and students. This leads to the other Americans and I feeling super uncomfortable so one of us usually pipes in with a "I'm not sure I fully understood everything but...." and our attempt at an answer. What can you do. The french kids seem above answering those lowly questions...
The T.D. concludes with me getting assigned an "'exposé" (basically a 20 minute oral report/essay) about Italian glass makers in France in the 1500s (hooray), but also with the confidence that I understood the main points made AND I made a friend who told me when the exam was, because I couldn't figure that out on my own. After class the Americans and I are approached by a french kid who proceeds to talk to us for 20 minutes and ends the conversation with an invitation for all of us to come visit his country home because he was absolutely insistent that "Paris is not the real France!" and that we MUST see some other parts of the country. It was awesome. While I'm not sure how much actual history I'll be learning in this class (what with the pretty much non-existent reading and the only half-understood lectures), I will definitely learn a lot about how education is done here and hopefully meet some french students my age in the process. Should be some good times ahead in the Halle aux Farines!

Le b.a. ba

Le b.a. ba (prounouced beh ah bah) is the french equivalent of "The A.B.Cs" for us. So, saying something is "le b.a. ba" is like saying it's as easy as the ABCs - the most simple thing. Although I'm surrounded by French pretty much most of every day, it's still difficult for me to find time to actually practice speaking with someone who can correct me. You would think it would be simple, but it isn't! In my classes and with French people I just talk, and people understand mostly what I'm saying even if my verb forms aren't perfect or I use an English word here and there. However, the only time I really get straight-up corrected on the little mistakes I make in every day speaking is in French class, and that's only twice a week for two hours. And then how am I supposed to learn more cool expressions that I can write about on this blog?! So basically, I've been trying to find ways where I can put my self in situations where I can talk to people and they can correct my little mistakes and help me through verb conjugations, etc. And this is where Franglish comes in! Franglish is an organization that, well, organizes these get-togethers in bars throughout Paris. You sign up online in advance, and then it's basically like language speed-dating. You are matched with a native speaker of the opposite language, and then you speak for 7 minutes in French and 7 minutes in English. You can talk about anything, as long as it's in one of the two languages!

Random pretty pictures from life in Paris...

So, my friend and I decided to go try it out tonight. It was held at a bar in the 4eme called Lizard Lounge, which had this whole cool underground section where little tables were set up with paper and pencils (if a bit of impromptu pictionary or spelling help was necessary) and French/English dictionaries.  We paid our 10 Euros, got a free drink, and then sat down. And let me say, the experience was AWESOME. I probably talked to about 7 or 8 people, and each conversation was totally different! I was surprised at the varying levels of English - I talked to a Chinese History prof from Sciences Po (the Political Science University here) whose English was almost perfect, and then I talked to a woman who was having trouble stringing sentences together. I taught one woman the word "awesome" (the closest translation in french is "chouette" which means "super") and got a mini-architecture lesson from another. I got corrected on my use of the subjunctive (of course...) and met a guy who was so obsessed with moving to San Francisco that he told me he watches South Park and Family Guy every day to try and learn American slang so he will fit in when he goes there. My friend had a funny conversation with a man about the changing policies surrounding marijuana in Amsterdam. Apparently, the french guy thought the word for "pot" was "crack," and so was saying things like "It's crazy - they let you smoke crack in bars there but not cigarettes!" It was so funny that it took my friend awhile to get up the courage to tell the guy that in fact, pot and crack are too VERY different drugs...Although I must admit, drug slang is not exactly le b.a. ba of a language!

Overall, it was an awesome evening, and it is definitely an experience we will be returning to. So nice to meet real French people and practice and get corrected and learn new things! What a great way to spend a Wednesday night.

Combler une Lacune

The first day of French class, our professor asked us what we would like to work on this semester, and what our goals were for French. We (everyone in my class) are all at the level now where there isn't really any more grammar to learn, and our vocabularies pretty much cover the basics. I can pretty much express whatever I want to say in French and while it may always not be 100% correct, I am always understood and can have a conversation with people. However, there are definitely some gaps in my French education. For whatever reason, they developed during sick days in middle school, or days when I had to miss for softball games in high school, or that one test I totally bombed, or the test I didn't study for because I thought I knew the information, or just a sheer lack of remembering. So, on that day in class, I said that I would like to "fill in some holes" in my knowledge of French. I didn't know exactly how to say that, so I guessed and use the verb remplir (to fill up, like in a bottle of water) and the noun trous (which I know means holes). Well, turns out that wasn't correct, and so I learned a new expression out of it! Turns out I could have said boucher les trous, a more informal way of saying "fill in the holes" orrrr, better yet, I could have used the expression combler une lacune, which is just a much more beautifully said French way of doing it. Anyway, it's become my most recent favorite expression. I use it all the time when talking about French or cultural knowledge or just things I want to know more about! And as my time here continues (and especially my French classes) I am combler-ing many more of those lacunes. I've been brushing up on my past-tense (curse you, plus-que-parfait), improving my vocab drastically, and even  learning a little slang! Although to be honest I can barely understand it when French kids my age talk to other French kids. Then again, if I was them I would not be able to understand me either, what with the hashtags and the YouTube quotes and the "yo, girls" etc. I've been thinking a lot about language lately, and how bizarre it is.

"You sleep when it's night, and we speak poetry."

One of the girls on my program was saying she has a French friend who, when speaking in English, kept adding "guy" to the end of her sentences. As in, "Come on, guy" or "I like your dress, guy." My friend was utterly confused for a while, and then realized the girl's mistake. She was looking for the translation of the word "mec" in French, which loosely means "dude." However, it is really only used for guys in French, ergo her use of the word guy. My friend explained to the girl that she could have chosen the word "dude" or "girl" or even "man" and those would have worked in the context, but "guy" didn't really. And she couldn't explain why! Why is it ok for me to call a female friend "dude" or even "man" and not "guy?" Why is it perfectly acceptable for me to say "Hey girl" and not "Hey guy"? It really is something to think about, and also helps me realize that while I may not be studying abroad in a place where fresh water (or even a good Wifi [attn: in French it's pronounced WeeFee] connection) are not hard to find, I am embarking (have embarked?) on a journey that is just as difficult in many ways. Trying to learn a language (and really learn it, not just know enough to get around) is a huge challenge, and one that I think not enough people take on in their lifetimes. I am trying to legitimately live a bilingual life right now -- and it's hard! It's both an intellectual and physical challenge that is something I struggle with every day in both big ways and little ones. Everything from "Will I really get to make friends on my program even though I can't really be myself because I am hampered by the language" to asking for something you don't know the word for in a store to translating for the occasional English-speaking tourist who is lost in the Boulangerie and doesn't even know the word for "bread." Language is fascinating to me, and the more time I spend here the more I realize how different French and English are. And then that just gets me depressed about international communication in general...oh, man...or should I say, "Oh, guy...."

Colocation

By far the worst part about Paris is that the metro stops running by 2am. This makes it really difficult to be a young person without a car and without an unlimited budget for cabs because nightlife stuff doesn't really even begin happening until 12:30 or 1. Thus, the dilemma of weekend nights. Tonight, a DJ (and former member of the Roots) named Questlove was playing at a place called the Cabaret Sauvage, and a friend and I really wanted to go.

Inside the venue. I did not take this picture...

We met up, went in, and sat around during the opener, and then went to see the main event. It was awesome! He played such great music and we both could have stayed all night, but at 1:15 we decided we should probably start heading back so we could catch our respective trains. My friend was taking the RER (basically the equivalent of Chicago's Metra) so I walked her to her station and then continued onto my own a couple blocks away. The venue was in the 19eme, which is on the outskirts of Paris and quite far from where I live. Also to be honest, the neighborhood was not that great. There was a lot of construction and it was not very well lit. I hurried to try and get there as soon as possible because I wasn't sure exactly when the last train would leave. Unfortunately, when I got back into the train station I saw that I had missed the last train by 3 minutes. Aaaarrrhhhh...I was a bit panicked, because I didn't really know what to do. It was too far and unsafe to walk, I don't know the bus routes, and I had no idea where to find the nearest Taxi stand. I walked back out of the subway, and started towards a more well-lit area about 2 blocks away. There were a number of bus stops and luckily I spotted a Taxi stand. Hooray! There was another woman waiting there, about 30ish looking, and she asked if I had a lighter. I said no, and about 7 minutes later a Taxi pulled up. She looked at me standing alone in this sketchy neighborhood and asked if I wanted to split the cab with her. Having no idea when the next cab would come and having literally no other options, I thought it over for a second but eventually said sure and hopped in. She introduced herself as Julia and asked where I was from (my accent definitely needs work, apparently!). I said DC and that I was studying here for the semester. We proceeded to chat a bit with the driver (who scolded me for being alone in that neighborhood late at night, oops) and then we got to her street. She paid her share of the cab and on her way out gave me her business card with her name and number and an invitation if I ever wanted to "buvez un verre." It was so, so refreshing to meet such a kind person. I feel like with all of the instruction I've been getting during orientation about cultural differences and all that, I've kind of forgotten that the French are just...people. There are some mean ones and some nice ones, and although their culture may be a little bit more formal than what I am used to it doesn't mean that I can't be my friendly self and also encounter nice people.

Now, I realize this situation could have gone very poorly and as I know that you're reading this, parents, I promise to be more careful next time and either get to the train on time or at least scout out the nearest Taxi stand beforehand. But meeting Julia was so great (she's a photographer!), and the rest of the way home the Taxi driver proceeded to ask me questions about English (how do you say, "j'habite" in English?) and I had to spell out each word for him as he kept thinking that "live" was spelled l-e-v-e. That accent, man. He also taught me the French word for when two people live together in an apartment and both pay rent - c'est le colocation. Sort of an English cognate, but I had never heard the term before and only really knew how to say "roommate" which isn't exactly correct as Charlotte and I each have our own rooms. Anyways, it was a very enjoyable, helpful lesson, and I tipped him quite a bit. I've been a bit wrapped up in the bubble of Sarah Lawrence and orientation and being alone in a new city and all that lately, and the cab ride tonight reminded me of why it's so great to go out in a city -- so you can meet people who will teach you things.

Carrefour

Carrefour means "crossroads" or "junction" in French. It's basically a place where a lot of things come together...how apt for my life in Paris right now! Things here are going really well. I'm at a great junction between English and French, between the familiar and the unknown, between the exciting and the mundane.  Orientation has been exhausting so far, mainly because I'm speaking/hearing French all day. Nonstop. At the end of the day I have a physical headache from trying to understand so much! Luckily, I understand more than I thought I would, and I'm relishing the time I get to practice because I already feel like I've improved so much. It's much easier for me to understand daily interactions now and I'm already much more comfortable speaking with French people. In fact, we just got back from Marseille and I made a French friend! She was working in a boulangerie and we started talking about how we're both students and how she's a huge Obama fan (she said she thinks he's very handsome!) and we even compared drivers licenses because they're so different here. It astounded me that I could actually have a conversation with this girl, and even though I didn't catch 100% of everything she said, I've been learning that smiling and nodding will get you through pretty much anything!

Marseille was great. We were there for three days, and carrefour fits the description of that trip very well also because Marseille is known as the "Port to the Orient," a place on the Mediterranean that opens France up to the world. It's France's second-largest city and a huge melting pot of immigrants from all over. It was hot when we got there, which was nice because it's been froid here in Paris. Well, cold for September anyways. It was nice to get that last bit of summer in before settling down for fall. While in Marseille, I swam in the Mediterranean, ate foie gras for the first time, went to the Chateau d'If (from the Count of Monte Cristo) and saw one of the most beautiful cathedrals I've ever seen in my life, which is saying something because my mom is a Renaissance Art Historian and so I've been looking at churches forever. Check out the pictures below: 

Marseille from the Train Station

A street in the Panier -- an old neighborhood in the center of old Marseille

It is a port city, after all...

A view from the Ile de Frioul where we went hiking

The view of Marseille from Notre Dame de la Garde

It was really nice to get away from Paris for a bit and really get to bond with people on my program. I really like everyone who's here and had a chance to make some great friends. We heard a seminar on immigration in France, ate lots of ice cream, and just generally enjoyed ourselves in the sun. Marseille is getting ready to be the "cultural capital of Europe" in 2013, a role it is taking very seriously by adding new museums and basically getting the city into shape. I hope I can come back after that and see how it's changed. It was also interesting to see how different Marseille is from Paris. It's so much dirtier, and it's evident that there are many more people there that work with their hands for a living. Also, it's a beach town, and so the people are tanner and more relaxed and there's a heavy North African influence.  We had a lot of fun there, but by the end of three days we were dying to get back to Paris! It was nice to get off the train, step into the Gare de Lyon and think, "Things are familiar here. I'm home."