So many things have happened in the past 3 or so days that I can't even begin to describe all of it. So I won't. Goodbye.
Nah. The past couple nights we've been spending our days doing various orientation activities, then sightseeing, then going out and partying. It's been really fun. I'll break it down a bit day by day.
Thursday
In the morning we visited, for the first time, our future school. L'Institut Catholique is a university in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, just a two minute walk from the Luxembourg Gardens. The campus is incredibly nice. The courtyard is kind of Hogwarts-y, and there is a library underground (quite similar to the Undergrad Library at UIUC actually!). We walked past the seminary gardens that are on the way to the building that houses are classes, and took a brief (very brief) verbal test to determine our level of French.
We went to this jazz club called Caveau de la Huchette. I had been there before a couple years ago and really enjoyed it. They play American style swing music, and there's a little area in the front where people can dance. Cover was a bit expensive, even with a student discount, 10 euros. Still, the music is awesome and it's cool to see an interesting slice of people of different ages and from different countries dancing REALLY well to jazz and swing music. I think it's a fun spot to take people visiting Paris after a day of tourism. After jazz we walked just down le rue to an American-type club called "Bull's Brothers". It had loud music. It had overpriced drinks, including these sugary, (chocolatey?) tequila shots. It had French people clapping an excessive amount during music. It had a man drinking flaming booze off the bar.
All in all, a jam-packed day and night. I was up until 2am, which isn't horrible for us college types but in Paris it definitely set me back.
Friday
I mentioned Le Marais in an earlier post - it's a chic neighborhood with Jewish roots located in the 3rd/4th arrondissements. On Friday I returned there after a group event. As a group, we took a tour of the Centre Pompidou. It's a fantastic museum of modern art in the center of the city. Unfortunately, I was both hungover and sleep-deprived, so I wasn't able to appreciate it fully. The bibliotheque (library) in the Centre is free and huge, so I definitely plan on going back.
Anyway, Le Marais. Most of the group walked the 15 minutes from the Pompidou to the Marais in search of some delicious falafel. One thing to keep in mind is that we left the Pompidou a little before 3pm on Friday. The Marais, on some streets, is packed with majority-Jewish businesses. What happens on Friday afternoons for Jews? Shabbat. In an effort to sell as much as they can before Shabbat, businesses scramble to prepare food, close out customers, and shutter their stores before sundown. In an effort to prepare for Shabbat dinner and all of Saturday, people walk briskly around the Marais buying up last minute groceries. Now, if you (the reader) are even a rarely-observant Jew or have been to Israel before, most of the above paragraph will not surprise to you. My friends on the Illinois Program in Paris though, being neither of those things, found it quite interesting. We sat down in L'As du Fallafel, the same little falafel joint that I went to earlier in the week, and ordered some shnitzel and falafel sandwiches. On account of Shabbat, it came out incredibly fast. And as you can guess, it was delicious. Here's Jocelyn, a friend from our trip, contemplating her new falafel friend.
Friday night we checked out a different jazz club just down the street from the one from Thursday. It's called Caveau des Oubliettes, which translates to something like "Tomb of Oblivion". Yikes. Music was good though, blues-y and the French singer's voice was quite impressive.
After jazz we bought some wine, drank it, and headed to an Irish pub across the rive from Notre Dame. Fun atmosphere, with some cool bartenders and a good group of people. At one point, the live musician at the bar decided to take a break. He says, "I'm going to take a short break." An Irishman at the other end of the bar yells, "Make it a long one!"
Saturday
Versailles! The former seat of the French monarchy. On Saturday we took a tour of Versailles, which is about an hour outside of Paris by local train. The palace was absolutely enormous. And I'm just talking about the palace for the moment, not the gardens. All of the gates were in gold, and the rooms were on average 10 times the size of any room in my house. You could very clearly see why the peasants despised the monarchy. And also why Louis XIV, "le roi du soleil", was able to perpetuate the idea of a divine monarchy.
That night, we returned to the same Irish pub that we had gone to Friday
night. It was much more crowded this time. And we drank many more Guinness. Good times. We went to bed incredibly late. Host families commence on Sunday.
Sunday
I am officially experiencing culture shock. That’s not a bad
thing, but it’s definitely happening. The feelings that define my “culture
shock” have alternated between fatigue, stress, nervousness, and excitement.
Today we moved into our host families. As I mentioned, we had gone out to an
Irish pub near Notre-Dame the night before, so we were all more than a little
bit tired. I was fortunate enough to receive a ride from our dorm from my host
dad, Monsieur Kamenezky. Most of the other students either walked or took a
taxi to their families.
Every sentence in French is a struggle. Even as I write this
blog and think in my head in English about what I want to say, I’m really not
too worried about 1. Vocabulary 2. Syntax
or 3. Grammar. But quand je parle en
français, je dois penser et parler lentement. Souvent, je ne peux pas dire les
choses très simples que je veux dire. (When I speak in French, I
have to think and speak slowly. Often, I can’t say the really simple things
that I want to say). In French, vocab, syntax, and grammar are an uphill
battle. It sucks right now to not have the precision of language and the broad
vocabulary that I take for granted. But I know that’s it’s temporary, and that
the French only becomes easier.
My host family consists of a father, and his 26 year-old
son, David. They live in the southeast part of Paris, in the 13th
arrondissement. I really like the living situation for two reasons. First, the
13th is a residential neighborhood without many touristy attractions
or frills. I’ve walked around a little today and the area is relatively quiet,
with some good food and a few calm parks. The 13th also contains
Paris’ Chinatown, which will be cool to check out.
The second reason is that my
family lives dans une maison, in a
house. Paris, like a lot of Europe, is a crowded city in which housing is
definitely smaller than housing in the United States. So I was excited to live
in a house, but I realistically expected something incredibly small. In fact,
the house is quite beautiful and not at all tiny. There is a large living room
and past the living room is a small garden. The kitchen and dining room table
are together, past the living room on the first floor. Upstairs, there is an
office for M. Kamenezky and bedrooms for him, David, and the older daughter
Alice (who lives in the north of France). PAST my host dad's room is a whole another section of the house, with a piano sitting room that has bookshelves and couches. There also is a cave, a basement, with workout equipment and a laundry machine. They've given me Alice’s room for the
semester, which is a good size. It also is decorated exactly how I would
decorate my own room.
Okay, maybe not. Still - the house is amazing and I'm very lucky to be here. We start classes tomorrow (Monday) which is nerve-wracking. Should be a quite an experience! I'll make sure to post some thoughts on the classes once I get through my 6-hour day tomorrow.
Monday
Voila, it's tomorrow. The 6-hour day felt like what you can imagine 6 hours of learning in French feels like. Mentally and physically fatiguing. I'm taking a total of 5 courses here for 15 credits:
1. Tourisme et Gastronomie
2. Histoire de la France
3. Litterature francophone africaine
4. Panorama de la litterature
5. Romantisme
Today I had Histoire and Litterature africaine from 10H30 - 13H30, with about 30 minutes to grab lunch and walk across the Luxembourg Gardens to the Institut Catholique for the last, 3-hour class: Panorama de la litterature. Suffice to say, some classes were better than others, some classes were harder than others. The main thing is that I made it through the day. Each subsequent day from Monday - Thursday is easier than the one before it in my schedule. On Monday I have 3 classes for 6 hours, but by Thursday I only have one class that meets in a different museum each week. And I have NOTHING on Friday, which will be great for travel.
I wrote a good amount yesterday about culture shock. Believe it or not, but I'm already feeling a bit better about that then I was yesterday. I think it has largely to do with sitting down at another meal with my host family and getting to know them better. My host-brother, David, is a really cool and helpful guy. He also has an unreal setup for gaming and using a computer. It's basically just a giant TV with a giant desk and a PlayStation 4. Tomorrow I have my Romantisme class, followed by Tourism and Gastronomy. Should be exciting! I made it through today, so tomorrow only gets better.
I'd love to Skype/Whatsapp/Google Hangout with all my friends and family who are reading this, so definitely hit me up and we'll find a time.
Love,
Noah
P.S. Send me your address if you want an obnoxious postcard.
P.P.S. Interesting articles I just read below:
Pour It Out - These Unofficial Shirts are Skunky - Smile Politely
Putin Makes Peace, but Not Before His Minions Try To Kill Jewish Poet Boris Khersonsky - Tablet Mag
