Et voila, Wednesday, the evening of which I began writing this post. I began the day waking at seven o'clock to arrive at the program center by eight thirty for our ice breaker breakfast. The breakfast was croissants, pain au chocolats from the same boulangerie from the day before, and coffee and orange juice. We all milled about one of the classrooms, trying to follow the instructions of the staff to find groups of people where there weren't other students from our school. However, we quickly discovered that when you're in a group of 36 total students, and 14 are from Ohio State, that's practically impossible. We did a few other exceriszes, where we were each given a sticker on our backs. Each sticker had a partner, and we had to describe to each person the sticker on their back without directly saying what it was so that they could find their partner.
After the ice breaker breakfast, I had about two hours before my first class, so I walked around the neighborhood with a girl named Denisse, past the street our program center is on to try to get more of a feel for the area. We discovered as we went further out that the quartier was more of a business area, with less shops and bistros but more office buildings, meaning that it is not much of a tourist area. To be honest, I like not living and studying in tourist areas. It gives me more of an opportunity to observe the day-to-day life of a Parisian; the ritual of going to the same boulangerie every day where the staff knows you by name, ordering the usual, and engaging in a bit of small talk. I like getting to walk past the bistros and watching two women sit and chat, smoking cigarettes and sipping coffees as they talk about their children and husbands. I love all of the smells on our street from the different vendors: the stench of the fresh shrimp and fish, the sweet tang of gelato, the warm inviting aromas of the boulangeries, and the fresh flowers that spill out onto the sidewalks.
I'm enrolled in two classes here, one is a history of Paris and France course, and the other is a grammar course. I enjoy both classes a lot and the professors are very friendly and make learning very enjoyable. I have to admit, it took me by surprise when I looked at the syllabus and saw the course loads for each class. But I reminded myself that even though I'm in Paris, traveling to different places on the weekends and trying to adopt the lifestyle of a Parisian, I'm also a student. And I'm on crunch time. In a year, I'll have graduated from Ohio State and hopefully have a job teaching French to high schoolers. I need to take this program as seriously as I can to become as fluent as possible and be ready for my future. That means while I'm visiting and doing everything Paris has to offer, I also need to be working to get A's in both of my classes.
Wednesday night was our welcome dinner at a restaurant near the Notre Dame. After class for the day, I stayed at the center for two hours with Naomi and Hannah, two other OSU students to work on our grammar homework for the day. When we finished, Hannah took Naomi and I on her walk from the center to her homestay, past the Cimetière du Montparnasse and les Jardins de Luxembourg. Hannah, having to return to her homestay for a little while, left Naomi and I to hang out in les jardins before dinner. While Naomi and I sat by a fountain in the gardens, we reminisced on what we wanted out of the program, and how lucky we felt to be there in English. Naomi later said that she'd noticed this while I hadn't, but while we were talking to one another, two young Frenchmen had been watching us. Apparently after what had been some time, they came up to us and asked if we spoke English. One explained that they were students studying for an entrance exam to Oxford that was English and that the other's English wasn't very good. They were wondering if they could practice with us.
Now, it was just yesterday morning that Naomi and I had the orientation on safety in Paris. In the orientation, they explained to us how to be safe with pickpockets and people trying to rob you. Oftentimes, they'll come up to you and ask questions or for help, distracting you while another party robs you. This in mind, I was incredibly on edge, putting my phone in my purse and holding my purse casually but tightly in my hand. Naomi and I were very cautious in responding as well, which soon turned to a bit of offense. We began responding to them in French which took them by surprise and prompted them to ask what we were doing in Paris, (We're students), and what we were studying (French), if we were studying at the Sorbonne (No, a program through our university). The offense came more so when they tried to ask us if we knew what the Louvre was. Duh. Is there anyone on this planet that doesn't know the Louvre? I mean, maybe Musee D'Orsay, or l'Orangerie, but I feel like anyone who has taken any art class or French class, or knows about France at all has at least heard of the Louvre. And THEN, they asked if we knew that the Mona Lisa was. I mean COME ON. So, of course feeling the need to show of, I responded, "Oui, je sais la Joconde." Which is what the French call Mona Lisa. Then, I think they began to understand that we knew our stuff, and tried to tell us a story in a mix of english and french, or what I like to call franglais, about some weird guy trying throw a stone at Mona Lisa, which I'm very doubtful actually occurred.
After ten minutes of incredibly awkward conversation, they seemed to understand that we weren't feeling it and thanked us for talking with them and wished us a nice stay. Once they finally left, Naomi and I looked at each other and wondered what the hell had just happened. Were they trying to rob us or hit on us? Maybe they truly were trying to practice their English, who knows. We tried to watch them for a while just to see if they approached anyone else, but didn't see anyone suffer the same awkwardness as we did.
After about an hour and a half, Hannah met back up with us and we began to head to dinner. As we walked, the city grew more and more touristy. Evidently, this is because we were approaching the Notre Dame. Despite burning a month ago and being blocked of for reconstruction, it still garners a lot of attention. And even burned, it's beautiful. I remember vividly how I felt as I was walking around a corner and then, all of the sudden, there it was, peaking between buildings, tall and massive against the blue sky.
(You can click through the slides)
Dinner itself was very good, salad and chicken with mushroom sauce, and apple pie for dessert. It was just nice sitting and getting to know the other students. And the free wine didn't hurt either.
This was the first day, sitting in the garden and walking through Paris, that I could see myself living in Paris one day. Paris, as I'm coming to learn with each day, isn't a perfect city. It's not the utopia that you see in films, where every woman wears Chanel and have perfect hair, and the men wear Lacoste and can charm the pants off of everyone they meet. It's a real city, where people wear sneakers with blazers and dresses to work. It's a city where you cram into a car on the metro, everyone looking at their feet, phone, or into space so to avoid eye contact and the horrific possibility of actually acknowledging the existence of another person. It's a city where everyone thinks they know everything and that they're always right even when they're not. It smells, and it's loud, and it's messy, and it's real. And I think that's why I love it.