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!