Oct 04

Debate!

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Oh, did you want to hear about my first days at school, my loves? OH WELL! (I’ll post about it at the end of the week, fear not dear reader…)

Because tonight is…

The First Presidential Debate!!!

There’s actually a Democrats Abroad event going on here at a pub called O’Sullivans, but I am not there. I have class at 11:30 tomorrow morning, so I am sitting on my couch with my laptop and my CNN live feed. It’s not election season without CNN. Debate Night In AMERICA! CNN ELECTION CENTER! MAGIC WALL! Wolf Blitzer, John King, Anderson Cooper… oh, they’re like old friends. CNN, I just can’t quit you. It’s 2:22 am right now. Don’t worry, I’ve had a nap.

Well, this is going to be a live blog for ME but for you, if you’re reading this, I’m going to post this right when the debate is all done, so not so much live.

I’m going to make a tea, it’s cold.

2:24 am : Magic wall malfunction! Oh, it’s back. John King is talking about the “October Rule”, how the election can change course in October. But how it usually doesn’t. OKAY

2:28 am : My feed has cut out. I’m not sure if this is because they went to advertisement or because of my connection. Hm, let me find a backup.

2:32 am : Okay, it’s back. Michelle Obama is talking about her wedding day. Cute, but can this thing get on the road already? Nap be damned I’m tired.

2:37 I’m texting (okay iMessaging) my friend back home about Doctor Who and school. She’s catching up and she’s on Series 4.

2:40 Oh hai James Carville! DAVID GERGEN!! Did you ever read that hilarious article on Gawker about this woman who had a crush on David Gergen? I think she compared his face to a potato. Now I want potatoes. THANKS GERGEN.

2:42 I’ve opened up the ABC live stream but it’s just a backup. It’s so cold! I guess I don’t notice usually because I’m asleep under the covers.

2:49 Introduction of First Ladies, okay.

3:01 It’s 3:01 what’s happening

3:02 I’ve opened AOL’s livestream. IT HAS BEGUN

3:03 And they’re on! Romney and Obama walk on… they are both such good looking men aren’t they

3:05 Oh Obama, I’ve missed hearing you speak. You’re just so good at it

3:06 Romney, on Obama’s anniversary: “I’m sure this was the most romantic place you could think of, here with me!” Ooooo my ROmneyyy!

3:12 I… I can’t bring myself to write about the actual content of what they’re saying. BECAUSE, what ARE they saying? They’re not saying anything, are they? Blah blahh blaahhh, I’m going to do this and that and you did this and that and how am I going to do this? Oh IDK just trust me.

3:16 Okay, so my previous statement really only applied to Romney. Obama’s being slightly more specific. Slightly.

3:17 Romney… okay we’re back to the start here: HOW are you going to lower taxes on EVERYBODY! and not cut Medicare, and increase defense spending and also secure energy independence?

3:19 Thank you for pointing this out, Obama. “It’s math. It’s arithmetic.” Yes.

3:19 Obama says we should go back to our former tax rate for people earning $250,000+. Yes I agree. How much is the former rate anyway, 39% instead of 37%? I know those aren’t the exact numbers but it’s really something like that. Would you like to know how much people pay in taxes here in France? I didn’t think so.

3:22 A friend has just messaged me on Facebook. I tell him I’m watching the debate. “What debate?” Oh…

3:25 Lol Romney is repeating that he has no plan for a $5 trillion tax cut. Obama keeps referring to it.

3:34 “I don’t want to go down the path of Spain!” says Romney. I don’t know why I find that funny but I do.

3:38 Down with corporate welfare!

3:42 Obama is talking about his grandmother and how she paid into the system so she could get social security and Medicare when she needed it. And how the name “entitlement” implies dependency but it’s not quite that. And I agree 100%. I hate the name “entitlement”.

3:51 Dodd-Frank is problematic, Romney? PUHLEASE.

3:56 Oooo, they’re onto healthcare. Let’s GO.

3:57 “EXPENSIVE THINGS HURT FAMILIES!” Do you know the Horse_ebooks twitter account? Here it is. Sometimes I feel like Romney is just reading off their feed.

3:58 I don’t think this whole “adding $2500 to average family’s healtchare” stat is true. CNN fact checkers, tell me!

3:59 Since when does Obama refer to his own healthcare plan as Obamacare? I’ve missed something, haven’t I… I think it’s kind of sad that Obama still has to explain, time after time, what exactly his plan does. It’s not exactly a matter of opinion. So much misinformation out there.

4:03 My eyes are closing… my mom has texted me about a Big Bird meme stemming from Romney’s lovely Big Bird comments. That was FAST. Oh, the internet.

4:05 Wow, my facebook page is full of debate-related statuses.

4:08 Romney, you know better than anyone that what you’re saying is JUST NOT TRUE. Is he trying to bring back the myth of death panels?

4:13 The role of government…

4:16 “I LOVE GREAT SCHOOLS!” Okay let’s make a list of things Romnom loves: Coal, Big Bird, great schools…

4:18 Why do I get the feeling that Romney is speaking way more than Obama is ?

4:20 Jim Lehrer is having trouble controlling the debate, I think. He needs to be able to cut them off. You know who’s a great debate moderator? And this is based on the UK debates from 2010, but still: David Dimbleby. He was fierce.

4:25 Romney talking about collaboration? Really? Because Republicans are oh so open to collaboration with Dems…

4:28 Closing statements…

4:31 I think Obama’s statement could have been stronger? I’m so tired now that I don’t think I can properly pay attention anyway…

4:31 Romney mentions the upcoming Veep debate… I am expecting that to be 100% more entertaining than this. (It won’t be but a girl can dream.)

4:33 AAAAND it’s over. Shake hands, smiley smile. Ooo it’s one of the Romneh Boys! Is that Tagg? TAGGART! Craig is there too… No I don’t know all the Romney sons’ names why are you looking at me like that stop

Okay. CNN Post-Debate coverage. I’m only going to stick around for a few minutes because I’m exhausted, but…

Yeah, CNN agrees that Romney was the clear winner of the debate. Sure, he wasn’t that specific about the facts and figures of his plans, but neither was Obama. And Obama didn’t attack him on ANYTHING– and there was so much that was fair game! Come on. At least there’s 2 more debates. I still don’t believe Romney can win.

Spin! Spin! Spin! And I am going to sleep. 4:41 am!

 

Sep 27

I’M REGISTERED AT LA SORBONNE NOUVELLE!

Posted in Language Paris School      1 Comment »

I GOT MY CARTE ETUDIANTE TODAY– I AM OFFICIALLY A STUDENT AT LA SORBONNE NOUVELLE!

I REGISTERED FOR 5 FILM STUDIES COURSES TODAY WITHOUT A HITCH!

I AM REALLY, REALLY REALLY REALLY EXCITED!!!!!

Yeah.

So what courses did I register for, you ask?

I made my schedule such that I only have courses on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Long weekends! I really hope to be able to travel a bit, so this is perfect.

Tuesdays: Korean Cinema, Economics of Hollywood Cinema (sounds difficult, but apparently the professor is nice and grades well, and there’s no math hooray!), and my MICEFA French grammar course

Wednesdays: Sound and Cinema: Realism vs. Stylization (This doesn’t translate that well, does it? Oh well. I’m so excited for this one in particular)

Thursdays: History of Contemporary Cinema, British Cinema (this one’s in English! Hey, I’m registered for 5 classes in French, I need a break.)

Originally I was going to register for too many classes, see which ones I liked best, and drop the rest. But as of now, ALL of these courses together will transfer back to Brooklyn College as only 13 CREDITS. Don’t even ask, it has to do with contact hours per semester. Even though these courses will be 100% more challenging for me than any class I could take at Brooklyn College–they’re in French, geared towards French students–since we only meet 2 hours a week per class, these courses just can’t transfer as 3 credit courses. BORING DETAILS I KNOW. UGH.

I know I’ll feel different next week after actually sitting through these classes and being mentally exhausted just from trying to pay attention and take notes, BUT… as of now I don’t want to drop a SINGLE one.

Let’s talk about my Korean Cinema class for a moment. I wasn’t even going to take this class originally, but I needed one more class because of the whole credit situation. I barely know anything about Korean cinema (or Asian cinema as a whole for that matter), so I thought, hey, why not, I’ll really learn something.

I signed up for the class this afternoon and when I got home I decided to google the professor out of curiosity. As it turns out he’s a critic for Les Cahiers du Cinema, an influential film magazine (basically, it was the meeting place for all the directors of the French New Wave…so…yeah), and he was Editor-in-Chief from 1998 to 2002. I won’t lie, I am sort of freaking out right now. This isn’t even a lecture class, by the way. I think there are going to be about 40 students in the class. That’s really small for a French university.

WISH ME LUCK! I start Tuesday.

Sep 26

Un Week-End à la campagne

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Yom Kippur just ended a few hours ago. It’s probably the most important day in the Jewish year; it’s a fast day, so no eating or drinking for 25 hours, and you’re meant to spend it praying at synagogue, reflecting over your sins in the past year and repenting and stuff… yeah… fun times.

It actually went really well this year, though, because I spent it at a friend of a friend’s house (I think we’ve hung out enough by now that I can call her my friend? haha) and went to synagogue with her. I don’t really have anyone around my age to hang out with at my synagogue in New York, and it definitely made things easier. I also slept a lot, and I mean a lot. I am glad to have this day behind me, though.

I’ve had a really busy week! Next Monday, I start classes, so it’s been sort of a last hurrah before la rentrée (back to school in French)!

So last Wednesday night my friend took me to this bar she’d been to a few days previous. All she told me about it was that it was “nerdy”. I wondered what that meant… I asked her what the bar was called. “Dernier Bar Avant La Fin Du Monde”, she told me.

OH MY GOOOOOOOOOD. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, anyone? The Restaurant at the End of the Universe? Yeah? YEAH.

The bar was… well, it was exactly what it sounds like. Avengers action figures, people wearing Doctor Who T-shirts, staff dressed as pirates, a glass box on the wall with Guy Fawkes masks inside, marked “Break In Case of Revolution”…

And of course, there were the themed cocktails. They had the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, YOU GUYS I DON’T THINK YOU UNDERSTAND. Like, I only brought along 8 books with me from home, that’s all I had room for, and one of them was Hitchhiker’s even though I’ve read it like 4 times. Anyway the cocktails were sort of pricey but I had one anyway because just look at the names come on.

The book has this to say about the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster: “Its effects are similar to having your brains smashed in by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick.” Another time, I told myself. It was a weekday, after all. (Please ignore the fact that the ingredients in the book are fictional. I KNOW.) We also got this red beer that was sort of sweet and super light but delicious. Luckily the place was in walking distance from my apartment because we headed out quite late.

On Thursday I attempted to register for classes at La Sorbonne Nouvelle for the first time. Ha, I laugh at myself looking back on that day… silly me, thinking I would be able to register for classes a week and a half before they begin! Anyway, I went over to la fac (the university, in French) and nervously knocked on the door of the film department. The secretary gave me a form to fill out and told me to come back the next week. Apparently, I wasn’t allowed to enroll in first year courses because of their quota. That made my life more difficult because of a bunch of credit hour issues I was having…  all the film classes would only transfer back as 2 credits, except for some of those first year classes. Now there’s the possibility that I’ll have to take 5 film classes. OH WELL. At least I didn’t have the same issues as other people– mean secretaries, classes closed out, offices swarmed with students… I was the only one there at the time. Nice, quiet film department. Even quieter than at home. Hehe.

That night, a friend and I decided to check out an ERASMUS party at a club in Montparnasse (in the 15th arrondissement). (ERASMUS is the European exchange program, it allows European students to go study at any other European institution.) I went over to her residence at the Cité Universitaire International, which was pretty cool. It reminded me of an American style campus– lots of space, trees, jogging paths… the residence buildings are divided by country, so she was in Canada House.

We went to the club and danced for a few hours, to mostly American music. There was supposed to be a Mexican theme going, but the only sign of that I saw was a Mexican flag draped over one of the balconies. Here, have a picture of us. 

And here, from the balc.

Once again, I had a train to catch the next day, so we didn’t stay out too late. My friend slept by me, and we had baguette and Nutella for breakfast. I’m glad I had someone to share it with because I totally would have polished it off by myself, it’s just the BEST. I resisted buying Nutella for, like, 3 weeks, but no more. You tried, Gabrielle. Gold star.

So CUNY organized a weekend trip for us to Montoire, in the Loire Valley, about an hour outside Paris with the TGV (the fast train). There were 6 spots for us on the program, and it was all paid for by CUNY. The program used to be a week long, with 12 spots, but because of cuts it was limited to a weekend… next year the program is going to be stopped all together, which is a real pity. We were placed with  families, whom we met at the train station, and we ate our meals and toured the area together.

We actually didn’t know anything about the program in advance. We were told it was a free trip to the countryside and that we’d be staying with families. That was it. We joked on the train that we were walking into the plot of a horror movie.

I stayed by an elderly couple, the Auvilles, who were very nice and welcoming to me. M. Auville picked me up at the train station with his Yorkie, Fripouille, in tow. We drove through the countryside for about a half hour, past lots of cows and the occasional deer, and eventually arrived at the house, which was literally in the middle of nowhere. But it was absolutely beautiful– and what a contrast from the city, just an hour and a half away!

They also had a few chickens, geese, peacocks and a goat out in their backyard.

Shortly after I arrived, we sat down in the living room for our aperitif (before dinner drinks) of champagne. You know, if there’s one thing I learned that weekend, it’s that alcohol is the easiest way to save on heating bills. It was so, so cold in that house, as they hadn’t started using their fireplace yet for the season, but Mme. Auville just told me to drink up and I was fine. That went for the rest of the weekend too!

We sat down to dinner and talked about lots of different things. They told me about the business they had started in 1958. They had a custom stationery company called Sodisac, and it actually still exists but they no longer run it. Their offices were in Paris while their factory was near Montoire, so after they retired 25 years ago they moved out there. They have 3 kids and a few grandkids, one of whom is my age.

 

Sep 16

And I didn’t even have to fake the jet lag

Posted in Cultural Differences Food Language Paris      No Comments »

I had my first macarons in Paris! They were delicious. Chocolate, passion fruit, raspberry, salted caramel, and lavender.

We finished up our intensive French class this week. As the days went on, fewer and fewer people showed up to class, until we were down to just 6 people. We took our final on Friday, which didn’t go too well but it’s okay because I’m not even sure I’m getting credit for the class. Then we watched Intouchables, a movie that came out here last year and was the biggest box office success ever in France. Eh, it was all right. A little too cliché for me, but the main actors were great.

I’d sort of settled into a little routine with this class over the past 2 weeks. Go to Paris 3, sit in class a little, take a break and get my 1 euro cappuccino that was actually just warm milk, chocolate, hazelnut and sugar… it was comforting. Now, I can’t do much school-wise but wait for my student card to come through. The paperwork takes forever to process, and MICEFA handed it in quite late. Of course we weren’t allowed to hand it in ourselves, oh no, that would have been impossible despite the fact that I was within 10 feet of the office every single day! I hate bureaucracy.

Registering for classes is a very annoying process that I can’t even begin until I have my student card. At least I have 2 weeks until courses start– I know people who have already started classes, or are starting tomorrow, and are not yet registered! They just have to attend their courses and hope to be allowed to register later on. At least I’m not in that situation.

I’m in Belgium right now. Anvers. Antwerpen. Le plat pays, mijn vlakke land! I took a Thalys train this morning, and within 2 hours I was here. I’m staying with my grandmother for the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashannah (the Jewish New Year). She conveniently lives about a 10 minute walk from Antwerpen Centraal, the main train station. The holiday starts tonight, and ends Tuesday night. I’m going to do lots of Jewish stuff, like going to synagogue, listening to the Shofar (a ram’s horn that is blown at certain points during Rosh Hashannah prayers) and, um… eating!

This is the first time I’ve seen my grandmother in a year and a half. She isn’t well enough to travel to the U.S. anymore, so my mom and I try to visit her at least once a year, together or separately. And since I’m in Paris, I’ll hopefully be able to visit her a few times.

The catch is, she absolutely cannot know that I am studying in Paris for the semester. She would freak out and worry herself sick — she doesn’t even let me go out at night when I’m here! If she knew I was living alone in a big city, it would be pretty disastrous for everyone involved. So she basically thinks that I’ve just flown over for a few days while I have off from school. Hey, BC does give off for Rosh Hashannah, so it’s not a stretch. Just… trust me when I say there is no other way I could go about this.

So now that you’re all updated on that. I had quite a day yesterday.

I woke up around 9:30, wanted to go back to sleep, ate an apple, didn’t go back to sleep. Vacuumed, did laundry, took a walk along the Seine, saw a brass band playing on the river bank, read the New York Times. You know. Routine.

My French teacher had told us that this weekend were the Journées du Patrimoine, two days in which buildings and offices normally closed to the public opened their doors for everyone. There were tons of locations participating, and everything was free. So I decided to go to the Champs Elysee area and check out the Palais de L’Elysée, which is the President’s residence and offices– the French equivalent of the White House!

I took my camera and set off on my journey. My first stop was at the Ministry of the Interior. I got on a line and went through a huge gate, through a metal detector, and into a courtyard where a full orchestra sat under a white tent and played Brahms. There were old police vehicles on display, and police officers and gendearmes walking around.

I got a brochure with a welcome from the Minister of the Interior, Manuel Valls. No sooner than I’d seen his picture that I looked up and saw him right in front of me. Walking around, casual as you like, shaking hands and taking photos. Normalizing with the normalistas, as Selina Myers from Veep would say.

I was severely charmed by the whole thing, which I suppose was the point. (It didn’t help that he looks like this. Goddamn attractive politicians, they’re the WORST. And now I’m cringing because I’ve just found out that he’s 50 years old. Gabrielle you need to STOOOPPPP.)

You can see him, sort of, behind the blue car.

Here’s one of the random older police cars on display in the courtyard. I thought it was kind of cool. Ok then.

Here’s what the inside looks like. This is one of the meeting rooms.

At the end of the tour there were a few booths set up with demonstrations and information about the national police force (I guess the equivalent of the FBI?). Of course there were the obligatory happy cardboard employees you could take a picture with. That woman looks really confused about the whole thing, doesn’t she? I love this.

And finally, here is the lovely, perfectly groomed backyard of the French Ministry of the Interior.

It was super cool to get a look into a place I never would have otherwise been able to see! But this was only a taster, because right after I would be headed to the Palais de L’Elysee.

I expected a large crowd, given that this was one of 2 days out of the entire year that people could see the place, but I actually started to get worried when I saw the line. I must have walked at a pretty fast pace for 10 minutes before I got to the end. A police officer at the end said the wait was 2 and a half hours. He also said there had been people waiting to get in at 4 in the morning. Um, wow. I decided to stick it out, and I’m really glad I did. The wait ended up being 2 hours and it passed by quickly.

We were finally ushered in through one of the huge gates, and through another metal detector. There was a huge field in front of the buildings– you would never think all this open space was hidden behind the huge walls outside, right in the middle of Paris!

We finally got to go inside…

Can you spot me? He hehe.

Here’s the room where state dinners are held. It is huge, and there’s some amazing attention to detail.

Now this one’s for my fellow Doctor Who fans. Remember Madame de Pompadour, everyone? She was King Louis XV’s mistress and the star of Steven Moffat’s episode The Girl in the Fireplace. Louis XV bought this palace to serve as her official residence!

This room is where the President and Prime Minister meet their council of advisors weekly.

And finally, the equivalent of the Oval Office: The President’s office! Currently occupied by Francois Hollande. So cool.

And that’s it! I think it was SO cool that I got to see it given that it’s open to the public only twice a year. I’m such a nerd about these kinds of things.

Afterwards, I met 2 friends for dinner at an Italian place near our former hostel. We ate dinner and drank some wine, and meanwhile a French friend of my friend’s invited us over to hang out at his place in the 20th arrondissement. 10 am train to catch tomorrow? Yeah okay whatever, I’m in Paris! We took the metro over and found our way.

The neighborhood had a youngish scene, lots of bars and clubs on the main street, Rue Oberkampf, along with fast food restaurants like KFC and McDonald’s (which the French call McDo’s). We arrived at the mysterious friend’s apartment and I met him and 5 of his friends. They’d all recently graduated college and were working or doing internships, in engineering, construction management, computer programming, film… They were all really nice, especially about us wanting to speak French (though I’m sure it was because most of them didn’t really speak English, hah!)

After sitting around and talking for a while, we went out to a club called Nouveau Casino, where we hung out and danced to this sort of dark techno music. We realized pretty quickly that we wouldn’t be able to make the last metro back. On weekends the metro stops running at 2, but the express train– the RER– stops at 12, and both my friends had to take that home. Either way, it was past 2. So the Friend kindly let us crash at his place for the night.

(I don’t know what happened to this picture. All I can say is… ACCURATE.)

By the time we got to sleep it was almost 5. I had to leave at 7 so I could go back home, get my stuff and make my train. All three of us girls slept on the one couch bed. When I woke up I grabbed my stuff and left as quietly as I could. It was still pretty dark out, the streets were empty, and I was exhausted but happy.

I got home around 7:30, ate breakfast, showered (oh how I needed that shower), packed, and figured out how to get to the train station (Gars du Nord–take the 7 to Stalingrad and transfer to the 5, take it one more stop, you didn’t need to know that but there you are). I made it to the station with 25 minutes to spare. I am an absolute BOSS, I tell ya.

As the train pulled away from the station I put on the new Two Door Cinema Club album and felt so happy that I just sat there smiling for a few seconds.

Shana Tova!

 

Sep 11

Procrastinating

Posted in Cultural Differences Food Paris      No Comments »

One week in and I’ve already managed to freak out the guy who works in the cheese shop next door.

I see him every day– he’s always standing outside in the shop’s doorway– so I usually say hi when I leave for class in the morning.

This guy is somewhat close to my age and heartbreakingly gorgeous, but that’s besides the point. (Oh, it’s so not, but let’s pretend, shall we?) It’s just that kind of awkward “Bonjour!” + cordial smile, the kind where I’m trying to say, “Well, you’re sort of my neighbor except not really since you don’t live here, but I’m never actually going to talk to you, I’m just going to say hello so that we’re not total strangers, okay? Okay.”

Only I don’t think he’s actually in on this agreement, since, you know, it only exists in my head and stuff? Walking back from class today I saw him standing outside the shop talking to this little French boy who was passing by with his parents, and he was smiling beautifully at this kid. And then as I walked by I looked back and smiled at the guy, and practically whispered, “Hi!”, and he just sort of looked at me, stony-faced, and I punched in the digicode for my building and ran in and giggled to myself as I climbed the stairs.

I am such a child.

Yesterday a friend and I went to eat at the Port Royal CROUS restaurant. Have I mentioned this before? CROUS is a government organization that helps students in Paris and other French cities with large student populations. They have residences (that I couldn’t get into because I’m not staying for the entire year, boo), advising, and most importantly, lots of cafeterias and restaurants! Everything is subsidized, so a 3 course meal is 3 euros. THREE EUROS! The first time I went, I got grilled tuna, cous cous with cooked vegetables, passion fruit/pineapple yogurt, and a peach. And last night I got fish, fries, carrots, salad, and chocolate cake. For 3 euros. It’s not gourmet or anything, but it’s filling and yummy. I’m not used to food being this cheap! I’m totally going to take advantage as much as I can while I’m here. And it’s actually open to everyone, not only students!

So. My friend and I went to eat at one of the cafeterias, the branch closest to the MICEFA office, and we were a little early. The staircase leading up to the caf was roped off, and students started gathering, waiting for opening time. A man in a suit was waiting at the top of the stairs, glancing at his watch from time to time. We met a Columbian guy who had just arrived a few days previously to study abroad at Paris 1. He met up with a friend, and we went up to the cafeteria and had dinner together. We all spoke French, even though it didn’t come naturally to any of us.

When I paid, the cashier looked at me intently.

“Whoever did that to you, I’ll cut off their hands. Man or woman, I don’t care, I’ll cut off their hands!” he said.

That’s probably the most extreme reaction I’ve ever gotten to my birthmark, and I’ve gotten some pretty odd ones. I laughed it off and said, “Oh, it’s nothing,” because I still don’t know how to say “birthmark”. I should probably learn that, yeah?

After dinner I decided to walk back to my apartment. It actually wasn’t a very long walk– about 20-25 minutes– and it was wonderful. It was dusk, and I walked down Boulevard Saint Michel through St. Germain de Pres, and then along the Seine, past Notre Dame and across the bridge to where I live, Ile Saint Louis. I’m definitely going to do this walk again, when the light is similar, and take my camera along. Stay tuned!

I’m procrastinating. I have a presentation due Thursday, and I want to get it done tonight because we’re going to see Tartuffe tomorrow and it’s way too early in the semester for anything resembling an all-nighter. But it’s never too early in the semester for procrastination. And I don’t feel too bad about myself if I’m writing my blog. This is…this is productive, isn’t it? Haha.

On Sunday I had brunch at a cafe and read the New York Times on my phone. Then I did my laundry. There’s a tiny laundromat a block away from me. Here it is. I know, it’s fascinating.

I’m sort of mad at myself, I haven’t been keeping up with the current events of the U.S. election as much as I should be. I mean, it’s only normal, given how busy I’ve been. But if I was home around political convention time? You know I’d be watching CNN, like, 4 hours a night. And Daily Show and Colbert. I’ve caught up on the occasional episode, but I don’t really have time. Which is great. I do not want to sit around watching CNN in my studio. Except, of course, when it comes to the debates and the actual election. I will be staying up for those! Maybe I’ll even do a liveblog or two, however that would work on here…

Which reminds me, I need to get my application in for an absentee ballot! This is the first year I’m eligible to vote in a presidential election, and I will definitely be taking advantage! I don’t understand people who don’t vote. And that’s, like, 50% of the US. I do not get it. I mean, I’m sick of politics too, and I’m not even sure voting makes a difference, but as long as I have the right I’m going to exercise it, you know?

Yeah.

Sep 08

Nuits Parisiennes

Posted in Cultural Differences Paris School      No Comments »

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!)

Sep 07

All moved in

Posted in Cultural Differences Language Paris School      4 Comments »

One of the four walls of my studio is mostly taken up by a window that looks out onto a bunch of other apartments. The window is wonderful, and I love sitting on the windowsill with my laptop, or while eating breakfast. I can usually smell the baked goods from the bakery next door, and it’s heavenly. But, it’s giving me a bit of a Rear Window feeling. I can see straight into at least 3 of my neighbors’ apartments… they aren’t fans of curtains. I’m not bothered by it, but it makes me feel like a stalker just for looking out my window. I haven’t lived in an apartment building since I was 2, so this is all new!

That’s my view!

Moving in yesterday went well. My landlord is an elderly Italian man, and he’s a real sweetheart from what I can tell. Getting my suitcases up the 4 flights of narrow stairs on my own was a struggle (that’s putting it lightly) but I got through it! I got the grand tour, and he gave me the keys. “I have not spoken English since 5 or 6 years,” he told me. “My wife would kill me if I didn’t speak English with you.” I obliged and he seemed to really enjoy practicing his English. Same with me in French, if I’m not too  nervous!

The neighborhood is pretty much what you’d picture when you think of an old-timey Parisian neighborhood. There are no big supermarkets–the nearest one is a 15 minute walk. (So far! Hahaha.) Instead there’s a cheese shop, a bakery, a butcher, a fruit store, and a ton of cafes and ice cream shops. Did you know that this neighborhood has its own specialty ice cream? It’s called Berthillon.   The ice cream shop across the street from me (!) has people lining up on the street every day.

Anyway, there are lots of tourists milling around, but luckily it’s still really quiet in my apartment.

Here are some pictures for you!

My desk…

The view from my couch/bed on the far side… (I say far…)

My mini kitchen!

This week, we started our intensive French courses. They’re taught by MICEFA, but the courses are taught in the Sorbonne Nouvelle building– super convenient for me, because that’s where I’ll be going to university! We were put into 4 groups based on our level of French, determined by written and oral tests. I thought for sure I’d be put in the intermediate class, because I didn’t get straight A’s on the 3 written parts, and I fumbled a little during the oral part. They didn’t explicitly tell us which group was which, clever clever MICEFA! But when we were first split up, we all went around the room and told the class which university we were going to. Everyone was going to a university with no classes taught especially for international students. That’s how I first found out I was in the advanced group!

I’m really happy we’re taking this class. We spent the week learning really useful things that I couldn’t have gone without! For example, we practiced taking notes in French from sample lessons, went over different types of exams, covered writing formal letters, and of course, did lots of super fun grammar exercises (grammar… sigh). Today we started reading Tartuffe, the play by Moliere. It’s difficult reading as it’s 17th century French, but it’s going!

At the end of each class we usually spend 5 minutes going over French slang (specifically called “argot”). Sometimes the words are completely random, but sometimes it’s actually just a scrambled version of another word! (for example, “metro” is “trom”!)

During one lesson we were going over graphs, and all the terminology that goes with them, and our teacher told us that in France, classifying people by race or ethnicity is illegal. You can ask about nationality on a census or a survey, but that’s it. That was really interesting to me, because in the U.S., every form you fill out, whether at the doctor’s or registering for SATs, asks for your race. I hadn’t even questioned it until we talked about it in one of my classes last semester, and I had no idea it was illegal here.

Sep 02

Fun stuff!

Posted in Cultural Differences Food Language Paris      1 Comment »

As crazy as it’s been, I’ve been having a lot of fun, too. My second night in Paris, a group of us from the hostel bought some food from a nearby supermarket and went to the huge lawn right by the Louvre for a picnic. We watched the sunset with a view of the Eiffel Tower in the distance. It was absolutely wonderful.

MICEFA also had some activities planned for us, aside from all the orientations of course. On Thursday night, we met near the Eiffel Tower and took a boat ride on the Seine.

On Friday we had a cooking workshop in the 11th arrondissement. We worked in pairs and learned to make pastries! I say learned… we were given a piece of paper with instructions and ingredients and given ingredients, and off we went. It was like a cooking challenge on a reality TV show. And I love cooking, but I rarely bake, so it was something new.

After we finished, we got to eat what we’d made! There were chocolate croissants, pear and apple tarts, and chocolate-filled pastry puffs (called choux… I was actually confused for a bit because un chou, sans x, is a cabbage. It’s also a term of endearment. Like, you could call a loved one “mon chou”. I’m not sure where it comes from, mais c’est comme ca.)

We went on to a giant bookstore called Gibert Joseph, and bought the workbook we needed for our class. I also bought a little book with an arrondisement by arrondisement map of Paris, and Tartuffe by Moliere—required reading for our class. We’re actually going to see it performed next week!

Our group met back up in front of a Starbucks (wifi! Starbucks and McDonalds are two guaranteed places for free wifi in Paris. Typical, but this is important, haha.) and we went on a walking tour based on Woody Allen’s Midnight In Paris. We saw the original location of Shakespeare and Co., went into a restaurant called Le Polidor, where a lot of authors hung out in the ’20s (and where Woody Allen filmed some scenes in the film), and stopped at one of the oldest movie theatres in the world, the Cinema du Pantheon. It was built in 1906, and shows a lot of great films– they even have showings on weekends with English subtitles!

Inside, up some narrow stairs, there is a huge bar/cafe with comfy leather couches everywhere, large coffee tables, gorgeous lighting and books everywhere… there’s even an area to sit outdoors. I know I’ll definitely be back here, for both the films and the cafe.

There were a ton of specialty bookstores in the area, but the one that caught my eye was a film bookstore called Libraire Cinema Reflet. Another place I have to go back to.

Geeky thing of the day: We passed by the Pantheon on our walking tour, and across the street on a lampost was scrawled in Sharpie: “I believe in Sherlock!” Ohmygosh, that made me so happy. Sherlock fans truly are everywhere!

Anyway, the next day 2 of my roommates and I decided to be real tourists and take one of the Cars Rouges, aka a red double decker tour bus. Mind you, I’ve been a tourist in quite a few places and I don’t think I’ve ever taken a double decker tour bus! I quickly learned just how lazy you can be if you take a bus tour like that. It drops you off at one place, you have a little look-see, and then you get on the next one. Minimal walking, minimal planning… I’d already done plenty of walking and metro-ing, so it was a bit of a break.

We met at the Eiffel Tower and had lunch, and then began our trip.

From there we went on to Notre Dame, and went inside. Since it was the weekend it was especially busy, but we still managed to go in. I’ll definitely need to go back and take an audio tour or something though, because as beautiful as it is, it felt kind of meaningless without knowing the accompanying history– and I only know the very basics, like… um… when it was built? Haha.

Next was the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysee. We walked down the whole way, and were stopped on our way by a woman dressed in a toilet paper wedding dress. She told us she was about to get married and asked us to sign a petition for something. I actually didn’t understand what the petition was for, and since it was literally just a piece of paper with 1 name on it, it was most likely a joke. But she agreed to take a picture with my friend, and it was pretty hilarious.

We took the bus back to the Louvre, as our hostel is right there, and got dinner at an Italian restaurant next door to our hostel. I had this:

And this (it’s a Dame Blanche!):

Meanwhile, one of my friends had been in touch with a French guy she knows, and he’d invited us out to a club that night. We decided to go, and it turned out to be quite an adventure. We got all dressed up and took the metro to the 11th arrondissement. We only had the name of the club, no address. We asked for directions a few times, but we ended up wandering around looking for it for, like, a half hour. Finally we were told that it was actually on a boat on the Seine. We walked to the waterfront, where we discovered outdoor bar after bar and lots of clubs on boats. It was really lively and the water was beautiful at night! We found the club and waited on line for a while, but it was really cold so we decided to just get some wine and call it a night. We sat right by the water:

Anyway, tomorrow I start my Intensive French class, which is in the mornings and early afternoons. We have afternoons/evenings off this week, and hopefully I’ll be moving into my new place!

Sep 02

Finding an apartment…

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Sunday! The day of rest here in France, when pretty much everything is closed, I finally get to sleep in, and even get some time to update this blog. Also, this song, but that doesn’t have anything to do with anything, except that I love it very much.

This week has been absolutely crazy. We’ve had to basically get our lives set up in Paris, and the first priority was to look for apartments. We also had a bunch of orientation meetings, and an oral exam to place us in a section for the intensive French course that starts next week.

The apartment search was… stressful. I went to the MICEFA office to look through their list of apartments, but they were a little disorganized. I called a few landlords there, but I mostly had to leave voicemails, and was left with no apartments to visit. So I went back to the hostel and began my search online. I took a deep breath and just called up every single landlord/agent whose ad interested me. Doing this in English doesn’t come easily to me, so you can imagine how it went in French. But after a few hours of that I had some places to visit.

I visited 2 studios on Thursday. The first was in the 16th arrondissement, a very upscale, very quiet part of town, and it was kind of far from where I’ll be going to school. I met the real estate agent (agent immobilier, if you were curious) at the building. (Unless I indicate otherwise, all conversations are in French. Yay me.)

“What happened to your face?” Check! The first person to ask me in France. (I have a red birthmark on my cheek and I guess it looks like a scratch or something at first glance. I get asked about it in New York on the subway, on the street… I guess men think it’s a conversation starter…)

We talked about the apartment for a little, and then he told me that since I was a student, in order to rent the apartment I’d need a guarantor, and for that I’d need to open a bank account here.

“But… don’t you need proof of a permanent address to open a bank account?”

“Well, yes. It’s a little complicated.”

Catch-22 complicated, yeah!

Anyway, the building smelled like my grandmother’s building in Antwerp, which was comforting. We went into the studio, which was on the ground floor. It was actually quite nice— one room, but not too small. It had a huge window overlooking a garden, a mini kitchen (by this I mean a mini fridge, a stovetop, a sink and a microwave) and a small couch that pulled out into a bed.

After we’d gone over the details, the agent asked me where I was from. As it turns out, his daughter had been a bartender at a bar on Smith Street for 2 years. We talked about how Brooklyn had changed since the last time he’d been there (1986!). He asked me if I knew Roberta’s Pizza, which I didn’t. He said it’s the best pizza in the world. I guess I have to try it now, if it still exists, hah.

I thought about taking the studio, but I figured for the price I could probably find something in a more central location.

That evening I visited the second apartment. It was on Boulevard St. Germain, which was great. Lively, centrally located, and absolutely beautiful. We walked through a lovely courtyard and went up to the 5th floor in the tiniest elevator I’ve ever seen—we were just 2 people and we were squashed together—but it was an elevator! Elevators are just not that common in Paris buildings. After going through a few more doors, we got to the apartment. There was a long hallway with a bathroom on the left, and then the room. There was a full kitchen with a normal sized fridge and an OVEN, but… nothing else!

“There’s no bed?” I asked.

“Ah no, it’s not furnished…”

I was very sad, because aside from that tiny detail, the apartment was perfect.

“It didn’t say that in the ad,” I said.

“Yes… I didn’t put it in the ad because I knew I’d have less interest if I did…”

Fine, understandable…If I was staying for the entire year I would have maybe, maybe considered buying a mattress and living in an otherwise empty apartment, but I told her I was a student studying here for just one semester and she understood.

After calling so many landlords and real estate agents and getting nowhere, I started to feel really frazzled. But finally I found a third apartment to visit in the 4th arrondisement, right in between Le Marais and the Latin Quarter. The location  was even better than the second apartment! It’s right on a metro line that gets me to school in 5 stops with no transfers (again, quite rare), and on nice days I can basically walk. There’s also a bus route that goes right to school. It’s on the fourth floor, with no elevator. In France, as in the rest of Europe, the bottom floor of a building is called the ground floor (marked G in an elevator), while the next floor is the 1st, etc, so technically it’s the 5th floor.

There was a couch that folds out into a bed, bathroom, mini kitchen, desk and chair, and some shelves. There was even a TV, and wifi was already set up! I won’t even lie here, not having to struggle to get wifi? That’s a huge draw. Despite being literally in the center of Paris, the neighborhood is quiet. It’s even above a wine and cheese shop. That’s all they sell. Wine and cheese. Please, be more French.

I think you can tell where this is going. I signed a contract, and I move in tomorrow!! I can’t tell you what a weight off my shoulders this is… it’s sort of surreal, actually! I’m so happy I got an apartment before our intensive French class begins tomorrow. Searching an apartment with class to attend and homework to do… that’s a lot. I know some people from my program still haven’t found housing and I truly wish them the best of luck in finding an apartment in the next 4 days. After that we’re no longer booked into the hostel. But MICEFA doesn’t let people go homeless. Or so they say, muahaha. (Juuust kidding.)

Here’s a photo from my new neighborhood! I’ll put up more and also some photos of the apartment once I’m settled in.

Aug 27

I’m Here

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It’s 9 :38 pm and I and my three roommates at the hostel are tucked safely into our bunk beds. This room is the size of a closet and if I lived here permanently I’d get claustrophobic, but right now, it’s cozy. We all arrived in Paris early this morning, and we all made an effort to stay up as late as we could to stave off jet lag, but this is the latest we could do.

My flight was uneventful. The only movie playing on the plane was that Marigold whatever old people film (to be fair, every single actor in that film is amazing, but even that couldn’t get me to watch it). I tried to sleep, sort of dozed off for an hour, listened to lots of music and watched episodes of The X-Files (“Pusher” – I’ve seen every episode more than once but this one appeared on a “Best-of” list recently and I’d forgotten why—it’s wonderful, not one element of the story is there that doesn’t need to be, it’s practically minimalist– and yet we get that piece by piece character development for Mulder and Scully that makes the show so beautiful. Ok there you go my 1 run-on sentence review) and Strangers With Candy (also have already seen every episode, but never fails to make me laugh). It all went by really quickly and I was relieved when we landed in Paris.

I got a taxi to the hostel. My cabdriver was hilarious. Sort of crazy, but hilarious. I had my first French conversation in France with him, and despite my many mistakes he didn’t switch to English, yay.

He started with the usual small talk (“Where are you from? Oh, US? I thought you were Australian,” “Oh, I thought you were at least 25!” Yeah sure okay.) I told him I was studying film as an exchange student.

“On doit coucher pour ca, non?” You have to sleep around for that, right?

“Um…no…?”

“Oh, I guess that’s just the actresses then.”

We talked about Jean Dujardin and The Artist and the OSS 117 films (which he starred in, watch them, they too are on Netflix instant and they’re hilarious).

“How is it that you’re called Gabrielle?” he asked after learning my name.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s not an American name.”

“Oh. My mother is Belgian.”

“Ohhh Belgian! Does your mom like French fries? Have you heard any Belgian jokes?”

Sigh. I have heard many Belgian jokes… let’s hear it.

“Why do Belgian women have square nipples?”

“Why?”

“Because they breastfeed their babies french fries!”

I guess you had to be there, but I laughed that cringing kind of laugh where you know you shouldn’t laugh but you have to, because hey, my mom’s favorite food actually is French fries with mayonnaise, and they’re delicious, and, I don’t know, I was tired and I’m still tired.

He sang along with the radio, we talked about French music,… I love Serge Gainsbourg a lot. So does the cabbie. He’s seen the biopic about him 4 times (Gainsbourg: Une Vie Heroique, also on Netflix Instant, see it if only to be introduced to his amazing music, but anyway it’s a great film) and he starts singing “Je T’aime… moi non plus” right there and then.  He told me he was convinced I was named after the Johnny Hallyday song, “Gabrielle”, which I’ve never heard before, so he sings that too. Off tune, all of this!

But I was just really happy to have someone speak to me in French and to semi- be able to carry a conversation… my first in Paris!

I arrived at the hostel, and met some nice people while we waited for our rooms to be ready. When they finally were, we discovered that there were no elevators. 4 flights of stairs with 50 lbs+ suitcases? So much fun! The showers also only work if you hold down the button for water. If you let go the water stops. That doesn’t make it easy to take a shower properly, but I suppose they’re saving water that way… At least the water isn’t cold.

We’re right by the Louvre, which is the 1e arrondissement. It’s a beautiful neighborhood near a lot of the major landmarks—the Louvre, Notre Dame, etc etc. We ate dinner at a café, walked around for 2 hours or so and now… sleep.

Tomorrow, we have a huge orientation meeting and then our search for housing begins. I’m not excited. It’s going to be hella stressful. (Yeah I just said hella deal with it *sunglasses* oh, I haven’t been on Tumblr in a while…) But I am excited for, um, hopefully less than 10 days from now, when I find an apartment? Bon courage,  Gabrielle, as everyone says after they tell me their apartment was already rented, or it’s no longer available, or whatever I just can’t have it too bad, bon courage!

 

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Gabrielle in Paris