Monday, September 26

I'm a little bit sick. I think it's allergies from all the dust and mold of living in an old building mixed with the exhaust of the cars below. I guess I have been very sheltered by always having air conditioning and air filters wherever I go. I will survive.

Today was the first day of classes, and I will run through them with you:

French Conversation and Composition: This course will hopefully get me speaking French at the same level of my writing. It meets twice a week and I have the same professor as my introductory course. She is very nice, and grades (obviously) along the french grading system where a 75% or above is an A! We will be reading French novels and giving (memorized) oral reports through out the course of the semester. I think I might also be writing my first major (more than 5-7 pages) paper in French but since I didn't understand everything Isabelle (the professor) said, I might be mistaken. The professor and I get along great so it should be good.

The French Revolution: My professor is a PhD candidate at the Sorbonne and his breath smells of cigarettes and coffee but it is a topic that I should study while I'm in France because the events basically made France into what it is today. 2 of my friends are in the class, so we can lean on each other for the major amounts of reading the professor claims he will pile on. He did tell me though that he could connect me with some professors at the Sorbonne to assist me in political science research if I desire.

French Theater Workshop: I have never done any acting and I honestly only signed up for the class because it only meets one day a week. We will be studying a performing Beckett. We had to do acting and movement exercises and I felt like the biggest tool because I had no idea what I was doing and I have no ability what so ever. The professor is an actor, director, and playwright in Paris though, so it should be a good experience. She seems to single me out a lot, and I'm not sure why.

Between and after classes today, I did some shopping. I did major damage to the credit card, but they were all things I really needed (MOM, since I know you read this, I hope you'll understand). I got a purse that I can use during the day about town and at night when I go out. I got black because it basically matches everything I own, and I am too scared to buy any accessory that isn't black (even my tennis shoes are black)! It's a Longchamp if that means anything to anybody. I needed it because I just can't use my hiking messenger back for formal occasions and even day to day if I don't have a lot of things with me. My friend Emily has the same one and she is way into her fashion so I know that it was a good choice. I then went to H&M (it is also in the USA but it's a French company) and bought 2 shirts for going out. I need to buy a tank top to go underneath, but evidently the French haven't yet grasped the concept of supportable tank tops. I will keep searching though, because I cannot wear them without. Finally, I bought some black flats (they are almost ballet flats) that go with pants or dresses because my black flip flops just don't fly in Paris. I get strange looks on the Metro and when I'm walking down the street wearing them. Isabelle said that in France flip flops are reserved for the beach. My shoes (a size 41 in Europe) are in the largest size that is sold in normal French stores, and my feet aren't event that big! The woman in the shoe store also told me something interesting when I was checking out: receipts for French visas, mastercards, etc don't have to be signed for like American cards. How easy would it be to steal the card and spend it? I guess the French haven't caught onto identity theft yet.

Oh, I am sitting in the room I posted a picture of (with the couches and the painting on the wall) since it's the only room with internet (knock on wood) and I hear the TV in the next room. I get my English TV in when my host family watches the news and they are interviewing people in New Orleans and you can hear the English under the French dubbing).

Anyway, y last class is tomorrow: Paris Monuments and Political Power--it should be interesting and I can count it towards my major at Kenyon which is even better! I wasn't going to take it because it meets also on Thursdays and I wanted to be able to travel from Wednesday afternoon-Sunday, but I just might miss a handful of Thursdays (really just when I go to London and Amsterdam) since it's my only class then.

PS: I am just putting this out there:

Next summer I will be going to Los Angeles for a production internship. I don't have an internship yet and my friends with "connections" work job to job. or else I'll just rent a room in a Venice Beach house and go surfing every day until I find something. If anyone has any leads for me, I'd be greatful.