I feel like a horrible fan. Series 7 of Doctor Who premiered last week, and I still haven’t found the time to watch it. The second episode airs tonight. I need to catch up, and soon!
Series 4 of The Thick of It starts tonight, too. It’s a British political satire and it’s one of my favorite shows. But it’s been off the air for what, 2 years now? 3? British shows are fun like that. Tonight is a big deal. And what’s more, it’s going to be airing today on Hulu in the U.S. too! The funny thing is, since I’m not in the U.S or the U.K., I can’t watch on Hulu or on the BBC iPlayer without being sneaky. I’m in the TV Twilight Zone!
I opened a bank account a few days ago. I spoke to the woman helping me at the bank entirely in French, though after I told her I was an exchange student and that I wasn’t ERASMUS (the European student exchange program) she slowed down a bit and asked a few times if I understood everything. At least she didn’t immediately assume I was American!
Anyway, to open a bank account you need proof of a permanent address. Even though I now do have one, I haven’t paid any monthly bills yet, so no proof. (Trust me, I tried, nothing else would be valid.) Here was the solution: the bank would send over someone to my apartment with a letter for me to sign, which they would then bring back to the bank as proof that I do indeed live where I say I live. Well, the delivery man came by the other day and of course I wasn’t home, so he left a notice in my mailbox to come pick up the letter at my local post office.
But of course my post office is only open from 10 to 1, and then from 2 to 5. I got back from class a little before 2, so I decided to wait outside for them to reopen. Yes, the office was physically shut , with the windows and doors barred. Lunch break is very, very important, you see. And silly me, I actually expected them to reopen at 2. I waited until 2:15 and then decided to go back to my apartment for a bit. (Hey, it’s literally a 1 minute walk. I love this neighborhood.)
Anyway, I go back around 2:45 and they’re finally open. I show my ID, get the letter, sign a paper, and that’s that. My bank card should arrive sometime next week. It wasn’t too nerve wracking, but it wasn’t something I’ve had to deal with before. I can’t imagine a U.S. bank sending over someone to physically check whether you live somewhere or not. It’s actually kind of cute.
Last night a few MICEFA friends and I went to check out Vogue’s Fashion Night Out on Rue Sainte Honore. We got all dressed up (though of course we weren’t as fashionable as the Parisians, how do they do that?) and walked around the area. There were tons of designer stores open late, and some had free food, drinks and live music. There were so many people there, it was crazy. Our goal the whole evening was to get to see Chanel, and we said it so many times that it became almost like a Quest. (Yes, capital Q ok.) Of course, it took us so long to move through the streets that by the time we got there it was closing up. Oh well, it’s about the journey, platitude blah blah. Haha. Honestly I just had a great time hanging out with my new friends.
Wednesday night, I actually got to go out with French people! I know, that sounds kind of odd, being in France and all, but for now I’m still in a bit of an American bubble so this was a great opportunity. I met up with a friend of a friend, Laure, (my friend from Brooklyn introduced us through Facebook, gotta love it) and we had dinner with her friends (got all that?). Anyway we went to this cute area in the 1st arrondissement with restaurant after restaurant all in one square.
I was introduced to everyone, and they all kissed me on both cheeks before I even got to know their name (bisou bisou!). It was a little awkward, but I’m sure I’ll get used to that quickly. 🙂 Anyway, we sat at a huge table and Laure did her best to explain random phrases that I didn’t get. She knew I was trying to improve my French so she didn’t let me get away with speaking English at all, which was sweet. But it was really difficult for me! I don’t usually have a problem understanding older people but people around my age speak so fast, it’s practically incomprehensible. I wonder if I sound like that to non-English speakers that when I talk with my friends. (I probably do.)
The girls were all 4 or 5 years older than me, so they were all either working or in graduate school. Some had jobs in marketing and PR, 2 were in law school, one worked in fashion. One of the girls ended up driving me home in her Smart car (typical, right?). I felt exhausted after I got back just from listening and attempting to speak French for an entire evening, which was a little depressing. But this is the only way to actually learn a language!
Yesterday evening I met up with another friend of a friend. She actually studied film at Brooklyn College with MICEFA last year! I never met her because she was doing only film studies while I did only production classes. Anyway, she went to La Sorbonne Nouvelle for film, which is what I’m doing this semester, so I wanted to meet up with her to discuss classes and professors. We sat at a cafe near the school and she gave me a lot of good advice. Of course we ended up speaking English after 20 minutes or so, because having spent a year in the U.S. her English was way better than my French. As it turned out, she’s Jewish too, and she told me about how shocked she was when she found out about the Hillel building at Brooklyn College.
“An area of school especially for Jewish students? This could never happen in France. We are a strictly secular country!”
“The U.S. likes to think they’re a secular country, with separation of church and state, but… not so much,” I answered. I was laughing because while I’m happy we have Hillels on our campuses, on a larger scale this is something that really annoys me about the U.S. How can you claim to be separating religion and government and then try to make policies that apply to everyone based on your personal religious beliefs? I don’t know, it’s quite hypocritical.
She told me that religious life in France was much more private. You do what you want within your home and your community, but public displays aren’t really okay.
University courses here in France are very different from those in the U.S. Most classes are taught in a lecture hall. You come to class, take notes, take your exams. That’s pretty much it. The relationship between students and professors is very formal, and class participation doesn’t really exist. Now this is perfect for me, because I’ve never been good with participation, even when my grade depends on it.
There are some smaller classes too, but they are less common. And my friend told me that even when professors in these classes ask questions to try and get a discussion going, students are not really responsive. Class participation is just not part of the culture.
I have so many annoying chores to do this weekend… homework, laundry, cleaning the apartment (this carpet needs a serious vacuuming)… this is all part of getting used to living on my own, and as annoying as it is, I’m grateful for the experience. (Yeah that was lame but it’s true ok!)
