Ready, Set, Don't Go Too Fast!

So apparently in my last post, I spoke too soon. My classes did not go according to plan and was an entire mess by the end of the week. Basically, everything went to hell on Tuesday and it took until basically the end of Wednesday to get everything figured out. By the end of the week, it was just like… this is just the French being French. There are numerous occasions where I’ve thought that something hasn’t made any sense and there’s nothing I can do about because that’s just the way things are done here. Without sense.

I have a finalized schedule that cannot change and what a schedule it is!
Monday- 16th/17th Century British History, British Popular Culture
Tuesday- 16th/17th Century British History, Western Democracies, French History for International Students, French History
Wednesday- Translation, American/British Foreign Policy
Thursday- Political Question of the EU, Geography of France for International Students and French for International Students

That’s right, I have no classes on Friday. It makes getting through those really long days that much easier. And there’s only one class where I know no one, which is very helpful. I’m already learning to depend on people for their notes and help with homework since my French skills are very lacking. We had to take a placement test for our French class and one of the parts was listening. Let’s just say my ears are very rusty, especially when the speaker doesn’t take a breath for the entire time he was talking. I don’t think I’d even have that skill in English. Clearly, the art of pronunciation has been lost. The one class I am most looking forward to is American Foreign Policy and not just because it’s a class in English on America, but because it’s a new viewpoint of the actions of the United States abroad. I’m sure that will be most interesting. So far, I already know that I’ll have several oral finals as well as a couple projects. One of the most intimidating ones is a 20- minute presentation in Political Question about the differences between American federalism and European federalism. In French. I’m just a tad nervous. We also have to read a book on political thought for Western Democracies, but I’m choosing Democracy in America—a book that I have already supposedly read for American Political Thought last year. Maybe this time I’ll actually manage to finish the entire book.

If there’s one thing that isn’t difficult, it’s meeting people. I cannot tell you how many people I have met in such a short amount of time. And it’s just not the international students either. In my residence, there’s a decent mixture of French students along with international ones (as well as international students who I think are French) and we aren’t too divided. Never mind the fact that there are several other residences for students. I have made the long journey over to Foyer International to meet up with people. The kitchens are great tools for socialization and everything that goes along with it. The biggest adjustment is definitely trying to get used to eating at around 8 o’clock instead of around 5:30ish. But now I understand how my neighbors can stay out till 4 AM easily. But me, j’adore le sieste (I love the naps)!

Interesting Fact of the Post: The residence, Foyer Internations, used to be a hospital and the kitchen (where we hang out) was the morgue. Cool digs, eh?