> (I had my camera with me for a walk one evening, so throughout this post you will see photos of the Eiffel Tower from that night.)I finally feel as if I have a grasp on how to adjust to city living. Never again will I be claustrophobic in any given space in the States. Things here are immensely smaller.
Take, for instance, our bathroom:
The metro has become a huge eye-opening experience for me as well in the city. Most days it is fairly crowded, but then you have that random evening where each metro is literally packed to the rim with people. It is in these instances where having inside pockets to you coat comes in handy to hold your money and iPhone. It will be interesting to see where I store my belongings when I lose the winter clothing. The metro really isn’t as scary as I assumed it to be when I first arrived. I’ve learned that as long as you keep your wits about you, limit your eye contact with people and walk with confidence, you will be fine. The most important tip for using the metro I have used is to just keep to yourself. Take it from Parisians, the more you ignore people around you, the more they will ignore you. This fact is why one will see almost every person in the metro listening to music, reading a book or browsing through one of the weekly newspapers for the city.
After a horrendous week of not understanding hardly anything that was spoken in my classes, I finally am in a level that I feel comfortable and equally challenged in for my French courses. It was a nightmare to sit in a class full of people and listen to a teacher who you don’t have any idea what is going on. It has definitely humbled me in my own life to realize that sometimes you have to accept that you are not at a level that you want to be, and that it is ok. Knowing my own personality, it was a rough weekend waiting to see if was going to be able to get into the classes that I desired. After much negotiation in Frenglish with the secretary who changes courses, I received my new schedule. Today was the first day of my lower level course, and it was such a breath of fresh air. I was challenged in the course to try and understand the professor speaking only in French, all while learning French, but she was much more animated and spoke at a better pace for my understanding level. It’s a bizarre experience to get an explanation of a French word, in French. It is definitely something that I have to get used to in a learning setting. I am very excited to continue in these courses!
I just wanted to note how interesting and funny it is to listen to my French Cinema Professor. He teaches in London on Monday mornings, and commutes back to Paris to teach us in the afternoons. The crazy thing is listening to him during our conversations. He is fluent in French and has a French accent, but is also fluent in English and has an English accent at the same time. It’s so different and fun to listen to. Beyond this professor, accents play a big role in my everyday life here at Le Catho. Imagine trying to understand someone from China or Brazil who is trying to learn French. I spoke with a woman in one of my classes from Austria who rolled tons of her r’s while speaking French. Instances like that constantly remind me of how big and different this world really is beyond the United States.
More and more I am breaking the ice of my relationship with this city, and it is something beautiful. With spring coming, more adventures will ensue I’m sure!
Affectueusement,
George
Tuesday, March 2 2010
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