A Few of My Favorite Things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, snowflakes that fall on your nose and eyelashes...Sound of Music reference too lame here? I think not!!

Another one of my very favorite things...la musique !! The French music scene is interesting in that it is, well, pretty much American. Everywhere I go I hear American music--my host siblings are obsessed with Taio Cruz (they know ALL the words to "Dynamite." I don't even know all the words to "Dynamite") Their very favorite? Michael Jackson. French people can't get enough of that guy. If you want to make a French person feel at home, all you need to do is pour the wine, slice the bread and cheese, and turn up "Thriller"--it'll work every time.

I've been asking everyone I talk to why American music is so big here. I've gotten several different answers, but one that I find very interesting is that French is not a good language to sing in. A few different people have mentioned that the French style of speech is much choppier when set to music--English just flows better. I don't know how much merit the choppy argument holds, but it is definitely true that French is harder to sing in. I think it's because they don't pronounce the ends of their words when they speak (père = pèhh) but when they sing they elongate them (père = pèrrehh).

Another interesting tidbit is that the music education here is completely different than in the United States. Music is not compulsory in any level of school here--in fact elementary schools, middle schools and high schools don't have music departments. Each arrondissement has its own conservatory, and if a child wants to study music he or she has to register at the conservatory (for a considerable fee) and take lessons on top the rest of their schooling (the schools here go until 4 or 5 pm).

On a side note, people keep trying to tell me that pre-university education is way better here than in the U.S. because they go until 5 pm. But they start at 9, an hour later than most schools in the U.S., and they go home for lunch, which takes a good hour and a half out of the afternoon. Something in their math is fishy, that's all I'm saying.

Anyways, the result of all of this is a very underdeveloped music education system. I spoke with my host uncle about it, and he said that literature replaces music in many schools because it is considered to be more "intellectual" by the government. The French government is very concerned with maintaining a cultivated and intellectual population (L'Académie Française anyone?), and music (according to my host uncle) is too sentimental to be considered necessary for a proper formation. He went as far as to say that that's why French people can't make "le rock," but I had to stop him there--that's just ridiculous.

I'm going to have to keep exploring this issue, so I'll keep you guys posted on other discoveries I make. I'll leave you with a sampling of French music that I've been listening to so far--it's no Michael Jackson, but it's not bad.

Sexion d'Assaut is a rap group made up of 8 Parisians. They rap about a lot of political stuff--very interesting. This is probably their best known song, "Désolé" ("Sorry")

Mylène Farmer is a French pop artist who gets mixed reviews. From what I can tell, French people either love her or really hate her. More of the latter. Interesting none the less (heads up, the video is a liiiiiittle weird)

Noir Désir tries to prove that French people can indeed rock. They're one of the best known French rock groups, and I kinda like 'em

And last but not least, the illustrious Carla Bruni. For those of you who don't know her, she is an Italian-French singer/model/current wife of Nicholas Sarkozy. My feelings on her are mixed, but I really like this song

Bon écoute, mes amis !

One month anniversary!

First things first--a big bonne anniversaire to my dearest Dad, the Dr. Toby Kravitz. Hope you had a really great birthday, Dad!! Virtual hugs from Paris!

Coincidentally, it is also the one month anniversary of me and Paris. And what a month it's been--things are really going swimmingly between us! There's so much to tell you guys, where to start...

How about with classes! Because it's the least fun topic so let's get them out of the way early. I started two of my courses this week at Paris IV--the Sorbonne (there are actually several branches of the Sorbonne that have different centers throughout the city, and they're all numbered). I'm taking "Environnement, une approche intégrée" ("An Integrated Approach to the Environment), et "Géographie de l'alimentation" (Geography of Food). The French university system is SO different than that of the U.S. For example, students follow something called a "cursus," in which they specialize immediately upon entering university. There's no concept of a liberal education--you're going to be an architect or a biologist and you're going to take a specific sequence of courses exclusively in that subject from the day you start until the day you finish.

Another big difference is the degree of autonomy afforded to the students. There is also no such thing as a syllabus in France--there is a "programme," which is usually one page giving a very rough sketch of topic areas that will be covered. There's no office hours or contact information for the professor. Why, you ask? Because the students and the professors have very little direct interaction, and, from what I can tell, they like it that way. There's also no list of homework or required texts--there is only "une bibliographie," a long list of books that are pertinent to the subjects studied, and it's pretty much up to you to decide what you're going to read and when. Oh, and grades? You generally have one "fiche de lecture," (essentially much a book report), and one "devoir sur table," (an end of the year test covering everything). Bam.

Umm, does that idea make anyone else start to break out in a nervous sweat? Because I'm un petit peu nerveuse over here! Not to mention the fact that my professors speak French for three hours straight (students are NOT encouraged to participate in class) and then peace out. Chouette.

Before I forget, I would like to give a shout-out to my dear friend Sean Cantwell. Not because he asked me to or anything like that, just because I love him so much : )

Ok quelquechose d'autre--I went to the ballet Tuesday night. It was the same place I had seen the opera (it's actually the "ballet de l'opéra," go figure), but this time we were sitting in our own box. And I had one of the first two seats! Needless to say, it was a bonne soirée.

Oh, btw, saw Justin Bieber Thursday night. No, not in concert, don't be crazy. I mean I actually saw him. My friend Olivia called and said "hey whatcha doing, wanna go see screaming girls freak out over Justin Bieber?" Naturally I said absolument pas, but one thing led to another, and I found myself ten feet from Justin Bieber as he was arriving for the premier of his movie. Apparently there is now a whole movie about the life of Justin Bieber! The world we live in. Anyways, I couldn't help myself from screaming "Justin! How old are you? 12 or 13?!?" but my voice got lost in the madness that is hundreds of screaming pre-teen girls. It was truly hilarious.

Ok, saved the best part for last (sorry, Justin). Last night I went to a French party. In a French house. WITH FRENCH PEOPLE! Well duh, you say, you're in France. C'est vrai, but it's much harder to break into French social circles than American (for a multitude of reasons I will enumerate in a later post--I like to create a little bit of suspense before I reveal all things French). There's a 26 year-old named Ludovic who babysits for my host siblings, and he asked me to sortir (go out) with him last night (I suspect my host mom may have had something to do with that, but hey I'm not complaining). We went to a house party in the coolest place! It had a loft with all these black lights and crazy plants and goldfish on shelves as you went up the stairs! (Evidémment the three guys that lived there came from well-off Parisian families). It was pretty much a regular party, except that EVERYONE there (sauf moi, like usual) was smoking cigarettes the ENTIRE time. I don't even understand how French people do that. Sure, people smoke in the U.S., but not like this. That may have to be a subject of a whole post. Despite all the fumers (smokers), it was still fantastic and I spoke so much French!

Ok, well I'm not doing so great with my resolution to post more, but I'm working on it. However, my use of the conditional tense is much improved, so all is not lost. (You would have to read my last post to get that reference, I'm just making sure you're on your toes!) I hope everyone has a great week and discovers something new! A tout, mes amis !

Je vis encore !

Bonjour ! I would like to begin this post by offering my sincerest apologies to you, my dear readers. Owing to circumstances beyond my control I have been indisposed as of late, which has resulted in my prolonged absence.

In layman’s terms, my exchange program has clobbered me with orientation stuff (8 hours a day could be considered excessive) and I haven’t had time to do much else! Quelle horreur! But I’m back and I’ve got a LOT to tell you guys, so without further ado, commençons.

Last weekend my program hosted a trip to Lyon, which is a 2-hour train ride south of Paris. And what a beautiful train ride it was--sprawling green fields dotted with grazing cattle and clusters of houses with red roofs. All of my expectations of the French countryside were fulfilled. Lyon itself is a quaint little city, infused with warm energy and cute buildings nestled along the banks of its two surrounding rivers, the Rhône and the Saône.

My program had arranged two days full of touristy activities, but I’ll skip to the highlights (the house of the brothers who invented cinema sounds cool, but after a two hour tour, pas vraiment). Lyon is all about food, so we spent the majority of our time in restaurants. Saturday night we dined in a restaurant perched on top of hill; the wall facing the city was one giant window, allowing diners to enjoy a spectacular view while passing two hours drinking wine and eating their way through four courses (the cheese gets its own course, naturally). 

Lunch the next day was a little more chill, and, in my végétalienne opinion, a little more delicious (végétarien = vegetarian, végétalien = vegan. It's those subtle differences that'll getcha). Végétalienisme doesn't go over very well around here, but the chef was wonderfully accommodating and made me a tofu steak, which was great! The rest of the group got to sample the more traditional fare: fried pork fat, quenelles (dumplings made of butter, semolina and fish), saucisson (sausage), and, of course, fromage blanc (a soft cheese you eat with a spoon--I'm told it tastes like a combination of cottage cheese and yogurt. Yum). 

oh yes my friends, that is tofu

We also had some free time to walk around, which was a welcome change from sitting and eating. I stumbled upon a couple trompes d'oeil--a french expression that literally means "trick of the eye." Check 'em out:

Is that Caesar?

Well I think that just about wraps up the Lyon chapter.

 But wait! There's more! I won't bore you with all the other stuff that's been going on (who are we kidding, it's not boring, I just don't want to make you feel bad about your own lives), but I do have one more petite histoire to tell. I'll call it: Thursday night: The Opera. Because I went to the Opera Thursday night--get it? 

Opéra Garnier

I saw Giulio Cèsare, written by George Frederic Handel in 1724. I won't go into the details of the story, because they're a little confusing, and, frankly, pretty predictable (no offense, Handel!). The opera was four hours long, which, to be honnête, is a little lengthy. The libretto was in Italian, with French sous-titres. Did I mention it was four hours long? But anyways, the thing I found the most interesting was that the male actors sang in the register of a woman. In fact, I spent almost two hours wondering to myself why a place as class as the Opéra Garnier couldn't find some decent men to play the male roles, when a friend politely informed me that the actors were, indeed, male. Whoops! I'm going to have to do some research into why good old Handel did that, because I found it a little off-putting.
The building itself is magnifique, with a grand chandelier and painted ceiling. Everything is so ornate and so darn old around here! And oh-so-beautiful.

Oh just a room full of chandeliers I found

Alright I know this post was assez long, and way en retard. I will try really hard to get better at this! Goals for the rest of February: learn how to properly use the conditional tense and blog more. Sounds raisonnable, n'est pas ? 

Oh, and Happy Valentine's day to everyone! Hope you spent lots of money on big hearts and overpriced chocolates and silly Hallmark cards. Here it's called le jour de Saint-Valentin, and there are ads all over the metro saying "Pour le Saint-Valentin, donnez-lui America du Nord !" ("for Valentine's Day, give her North America!"). The ads have pictures of New York City and ridiculously happy French couples. I hope someone gifts me a continent one day. Alright enough of this sarcasm, I've gotta get out of here. A très bientôt, mes amis !