Advertisement
Published: February 16th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Salut
Wow, it’s been almost two weeks since my last blog; I think it’s about time that I update it. Thinks have been really crazy here. I have been in an intensive language class for the past two weeks. Its 30 hours of French a week! I am exhausted. I’m gone from 8:30 to at least 5:30 every day at school. I just wish I had some more free time to adjust to being here. I feel like I haven’t had time to really see or experience any of Paris except on the weekends. I just can’t wait until this week is over and I go to Nice for Carnival!!! I am so excited; it’s going to be so much fun.
Every day I walk to school. It takes about 20 minutes to get there, but I get to walk through the Luxembourg gardens and pass by Luxembourg Castle. It’s probably one of the favorite parts of my day. People go and fun in the early morning and do Thai-chi(sp?). It’s a very relaxing place in the middle of this crazy city. I finally think I am adjusting and getting over my initial culture shock. I really feel like I
am starting to figure Paris out. This past weekend an American couple asked me for directions. They were struggling to speak French and I could hear their American accents. They didn’t know that I spoke English and they were so relieved when I asked them if they spoke English. I actually kind of knew where they were going and I was able to help them find their way, it’s silly, but it made me feel like a little bit of a local.
Class is going good as long as I go get a cup of coffee on the breaks to keep myself alive. The class is very interesting for the most part but it is definitely hard for me. I’m in a little over my head, but I am trying. It is really cool because I am in class with people from all over the world that are learning French and we talk about different subjects in class. It’s really cool to get different perspectives and to talk about how people really feel about cultures other than their own. I’ve discovered that we all have our misconceptions about other cultures and sometimes we are too hard on our own
cultures. Be happy, I haven’t run into anyone who hates Americans. It’s interesting because I think everyone really likes Barak Obama and he has brought a new hope not just to Americans but to the whole world…not to get off on a political tangent, but I have found that since being here I am actually able to take a step back and take a look at what I really believe. It’s really cool that I am not just finding out things about other people and other cultures but about myself as well.
Back on track…I gave a presentation on the French Revolution Friday which went well and a final exam today, which was too terribly bad (emphasis on too). Apart from school in the past two weeks, I have had three outings with my study abroad group. The first Tuesday we went on a ride on a bateau mouche. It’s basically a tourist boat that goes up the seine. From the Seine you can see the Musee D’Orsay, Le Louvre, La Notre-Dame, Le Pont-neuf, La Tour Eiffel, and lots of other sights. It was fun. Then Thursday we went to an Algerian concert together. It was really fun and interesting.
It was nice to see another side of Paris. I want to go to more stuff like that that’s not just a big tourist trap. This past Thursday we all went to the Opera of Paris and saw Madame Butterfly. It was defiantly interesting because I have never seen or been to an opera before. I really loved the music, I couldn’t take my eyes off the pit orchestra long enough to know what was going on (I guess that’s just the old orch dork in me). It didn’t help that they were singing in Italian, but they had French subtitles above the stage which helped. Otherwise, what I understood of it was really interesting, just a little long, but it was still really good.
This weekend, after taking advantage of sleeping in of course Jenee and I decided to just hop on the metro and see where we ended up. Then we decided that we wanted to go to Montemarte and see Sacre Coeur. We went at the perfect time, when the sun was setting. We didn’t exactly pick the best day though because it was Valentine’s Day so it was really crowded. Apparently Paris is the place
to be for Valentine’s Day; who would have thought??? It was like I was in a different country with so many tourists around.
I am really starting to love Paris. Its interesting cause I thought I would love living here right away, but its taken me awhile to warm up to the city. I am finally starting to figure things out and I feel like I am figuring out where I fit in this huge city. I can’t wait for what is to come and I’ll try not to enjoy myself so much that I don’t have time to update my blog.
Take Care and Keep in touch…my email is huffk1@central.edu
Katie
Advertisement
Tot: 0.064s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 5; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0306s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
angela
non-member comment
Paris
ive also been in a french course in Paris and i have to say it was amazing i had a lot more spare time though so i could go to the litle cafes and restaurants and there are some amazing lounges. I also realised that the real beauty of paris lies in its little streets that you randomly stumble into and that are just beautifull