Placement Test Day

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Today I slept through my alarm, I hit snooze but apparently it doesn't go off again or I missed it completely. Luckily I woke up by myself with still enough time to get ready and make my bus. I had to skip a shower, but the French don't shower every day anyway!

I was actually on time this morning, and the academic meeting went well. Unfortunately, as long as I get into the Intermediate level, I may be stuck with classes either 8 am every day or 830 am every day, every other week. If I get into Intermediate, I will be taking, French, Phonetics, Art History, History of Paris, French Lit, and France of Today (not quite sure what that means yet haha). My schedule is sort of all over the place, and I will have random 2-4 hour blocks to fill, but there is plenty to see and do in Paris, and I may have some homework, although apparently French professors believe more learning is done in the classroom and don't assign as much.

There are very strict rules about the classroom...like no food/drink, no phones, etc. If you break them you get kicked out of class. And might not be let in if late, but I seem to have the metros figured out pretty well, so I should be fine. They come like every 3 minutes.

My classes won't be in the main Sorbonne building most likely, but around it. Apparently it is only for Grad students really, undergrads are on a campus in the north of the city. However, we took the metro then walked to see it, and it is GORGEOUS! The architecture is just amazing and I would love to just hang out in the courtyard. They don't let just anyone in, you have to show your ID. Although they IDs newly have swipes, and maybe they will have swipe doors eventually? The picture is terrible, they had to take a webcam shot of a physical picture for some reason haha.

Also walking around the 5ieme and 6ieme arrondissements I saw the fountain of St Michel, which is tall and impressive, although the fountain isn't on, probably because it is winter. I also saw the oldest tree in Paris, planted in 1602!! Notre Dame was visible from a distance, as well. I didn't take pictures because we were moving quickly and I didn't want to get left behind. I don't want to keep my camera out and ready and look like a tourist, because tourist = pickpocket target. But here is a picture from the internet of the fountain from the internet. Here is the tree as well.

I love the architecture in Paris. I think it is the most beautiful city on Earth. The cobblestones are pretty too! I like that there are no enormous skyscrapers...otherwise the Eiffel Tower would be hidden! And the air smells clean, not pollutiony or smoggy like other cities. I love it!

I had a delicious sandwich on a baguette of goat cheese and veggies for lunch. The boulangeries all seem to have sandwiches, although I may just eat baguettes with some fruit and maybe a bit of cheese to save money. Baguettes are super cheap, only a euro and some change, for a BIG one! Eating freshly baked bread every day will probably spoil me big time. Wegmans does baguettes pretty well though, so maybe I will continue haha.

I love the coffee/hot chocolate/tea machines, it costs only 30 euro cents and the hot chocolate was so amazing. You can also get it with extra chocolate or extra milk. I had one while waiting for the placement exam to start...of course in France it wouldn't start on time. Eventually it did, and I was surprised how short it was, and that there was a multiple choice section! I think I did alright, although there were some things I didn't know, which was expected. But I at least wrote something.

Afterward, I took the metro back by myself for the first time - I took it earlier in the day as well, but with the whole group and we didn't have to switch lines. It was very easy! As long as you know which direction on which line you want, the signs are big and easy to follow, even though I had to change several times. There can be a lot of walking in connections though, but some stations have moving sidewalks in between! There is a lot of up and down stairs as well, sometimes with escalators. Unlike the bus, the metro does not announce the stops, but the time until the next one is displayed at the stop. It is easy enough to see from the window which stop you are at, and maps on the sides of the train to show you the route. I was surprised that some metro stops are above ground, to go over the Seine. One was above ground and my connection was under! I am still very much in love with this transportation system, aka RATP. The carte Navigo makes everything so seamless and easy!

Although I had previously not seen a TV in the house, I did see one today, in Mme et M's bedroom, but it is like...6 in max. A tiny little HD thing. She mentioned putting one in my room tomorrow, and while I may not use it much, it may be interesting to see what is on the French news. I'm also curious if they air American shows, and if so, whether they are subbed or dubbed. It might also be interesting to watch a French show now and then.

The internet was a pain in the butt earlier, I stayed connected to the network, but the internet itself didn't work. I fussed with the router, and it would connect for about 2 minutes, and then die again. Luckily tonight it seems to be working okay. There are about 50 other wifi networks from other apartments, but they are all locked. I needs my internet! It is my only connection to the Americans!!

I didn't end up going out last night after all. Addy said she didn't get my voicemail right away, and by the time she did, it was too late. I found out that they were out until 4 AM getting drunk, though, and decided it wasn't so bad that I missed out, lol. Especially since we had an early meeting and the placement test was today. She said she would call me today, but I also have not heard anything...*shrug* I may wish to hang out with people who aren't such party animals.

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