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 !