La Classe! Le Shopping!

Well, I am now truly studying abroad! Classes started yesterday (after a rather intimidating speech my a representative of the American Embassy--apparently we might all get raped, killed, or robbed during our stay in Paris, and we should avoid sitting on balconies, as Americans frequently fall off of them... Also, if we are arrested, we are missing a few key rights, and can be held for 24 hours for any reason whatsoever. Mon dieu!) with "Intensive French," taught by an Asian graduate student who did not seem to understand that some of us have never had so much as a single French class, and don't even know the alphabet, let alone the days of the week or the number system. Luckily, I have studied French for a year (albeit with some questionable instruction...) and was able to hold my own--we were told that the class will be split up tomorrow. After a rushed lunch of panini and salads at an Italian cafe (we skipped the Subway, just on principle), we returned to the Skidmore Center for our French Culture course, "France Past and Present," which looks like it will be very interesting but unfortunately requires three rather expensive textbooks. Alas! Our first assignment (in addition to presentations on a province) is to try a French cheese we've never had before, and to buy it in a proper Fromagere or an open market, not a supermarket. Needless to say, I'm thrilled--although I foresee a very difficult decision-making process--and I'm going to the market in the morning tomorrow to see what I can find. Je suis tres excitee! After class, we had a meeting with Gabriella and Linda to report on our host-family experiences, mine marvelous, of course, a few others not so perfect but all very pleasant overall. Then we did a sort of "culture-shock" activity with one of the professors at the center, a researcher on cultural differences. We split up into two groups and our group had to build a bridge out of paper, tape, and glue using scissors as our only other tool, then we had to present it to the other group, who was given bizarre cultural rules to follow, one of which was a traditional greeting where two people kissed one another's shoulders, another of which was that only the men could use any tools. There was squealing, shoulder-kissing, and some lovely arts-and-crafts (our group got very involved with the bridge-making project). Great fun, c'est non? After class, I headed home via line 4, line 1, and Pont-de-Neuilly station, from which I walked and, on the way, bought my first French croissant! I accidentally went to the less-friendly (according to Geraldine) boulangerie dans la rue, but the croissant was absolutely delicious. I was fully planning to take a picture of it to preserve my first French pastry, but that just did not happen. Can you forgive me? Also, I realized that I've only ever had croissants in Europe--Italy and now France--so I have no sub-par U.S. croissants to compare them to. In all honesty, I'd rather keep it that way. At dinner, there was a cucumber and tomato salad (all of the vegetables here are so fresh! It's a glorious place to be a vegetarian!), followed by roasted eggplant and zucchini and tomatoes and more cucumbers with couscous, served with more amazing wine (three glasses last night! My, did I enjoy myself!), and followed by cheese (a goat's cheese and a blue cheese slightly milder than Roquefort), and then Creme Caramel (similar to flan or vanilla pudding). My stomach must be expanding! After dinner, I considered looking over my homework, but I was just trop fatiguee, so off to bed until today's early class.

Today, we had "Writing Arts Review," our first English class with Professor Simon. We discussed our goals for the semester--mine included becoming more succinct, less precious with my own writing, and learning to effectively communicate sensory or artistic experience through writing--did a fun little exercise thinking of as many specific, non-cliche, reds and blues we might use to describe a work of art, and then we discussed the controversial and intriguing question: "What is art?" What, indeed. We brought up a lot of things, from personal expression to the relationship between the artist and the audience/viewer, to openness to interpretation. We also noted that, though a simple chair is just that in the context of a classroom, if put on a pedestal, in a museum, or suspended by string in an exhibition, it can become art. Because the term "art" has become so broad in modern times, it is difficult to draw a line between what is art and what is not, and it becomes necessary to differentiate between "high art" and "pop art" and "craft art," etc. I personally believe that one can see nearly anything as art, and the only important thing is the viewer's ability to explain and defend the artistic nature of the thing. I suppose that's why I'm taking this course--I want to be able to effectively explain a piece of art and translate it into words so that others can see it and understand it in the same way that I do. 

After this deep pondering of the essential nature of art, we took a stroll to Les Printemps, a chic department store, bought sandwiches on the third floor, and picnicked on the terrace on the roof, from which one can see all around Paris. It was beautiful up there! It was a perfect day for a picnic, although a bit hot, even for me, and we lunched and then walked around the perimeter taking photographs of the city. Afterwards, most of the girls in the group decided to do some shopping, or, as it turned out, some tormented browsing. We went to the obscenely expensive designer department store, Les Galeries Lafayette, meandered though overpriced name-brand purses and handbags (which, though I was almost afraid to say it, I have never cared for in the least--I've always found most of them rather ugly), while everyone made moaning purse-noises and I wished desperately that I was not wearing the filthy flip-flops I've been wearing all summer. Then, we went to the shoe department. At this point, I joined in the wishful, tortured fun of desperately wanting a pair of lovely shoes and then seeing the immense price. Many of them cost more than my round-trip plane ticket here! Mon dieu... 

Later, we did do some actual shopping at some cheap stores in Les Halles. We tried to find it walking, but ended up taking the metro, after wandering around for a bit and stopping at a fruit & vegetable market (they're absolutely everywhere in Paris), where Alexa got some bananas, Katie got some Mirabelles (little yellow plums), and I got ripe black plums and fresh figs. Did I mention that I love it here? We finally reached Les Halles, where I bought some lovely high-heeled sandals (gray, not white, of course...) and a marvelous pair of faux-leather slouch ankle boots. I shan't dwell on them though--I was just glad to have some socially acceptable footwear, and (relatively) on the cheap, at that. In more interesting news, while we were walking in Les Halles, a woman stopped us and asked Katie if she'd be willing to model for her on Sunday! She would be paid 220Euro and would have to let the woman cut her hair short, but I suppose it pays to be tall, skinny, and blonde in Paris! However, when I got home and told Geraldine about it, she seemed rather skeptical... Apparently, girls get picked up to model and not-so-nice things can happen to them. Perhaps we'll send someone with her when/if she goes... But still, it makes for a great story. After un petit aperitif (white wine) with the group, I headed home on the metro for dinner, which was mozzarella, tomato, and basil salad, fresh red and green pepper salad, salade verte avec oeil d'olive, potato puree, more red wine--though not much, given the aperitif--more cheese, and a fresh nectarine. Tres bon! 

As far as my French language improvement goes, I translated my meusli box in the morning, and took a few little newspapers at the metro station, and was able to make some sense of the headlines. I have also been trying to use as much French as I can at home. Il est travaille difficile! But, speaking of hard work, I have some reading to attend to, so I shall end this post here. We visit Versailles on Sunday, though, so there will be much reporting to do here afterwards! Alors, a la prochain.