Later on in the day our group went up to the Chartreuse factory. To get there initially we had to take the train. Once we got there we lucked out and got a really nice and nice looking tour guide! Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures during the tour therefore I have very few images to share from this adventure.
Pretty much on the tour we learned that somehow a bunch of monks in the 1600s were given this mysterious recipe. The actual liquor is heated up to some extreme temperatures to give the specific flavor and color. I can't say that I was a huge fan Chartreuse in itself but as Marie (our tour director) said "In France it's necessary to try things at least once, so I complied and took 2 shots of this famous elixir (later I learned that they were not shots and that I was supposed to savor the flavor) but je n'ai pas pu (I was not able to.)
Pretty much on the tour we learned that somehow a bunch of monks in the 1600s were given this mysterious recipe. The actual liquor is heated up to some extreme temperatures to give the specific flavor and color. I can't say that I was a huge fan Chartreuse in itself but as Marie (our tour director) said "In France it's necessary to try things at least once, so I complied and took 2 shots of this famous elixir (later I learned that they were not shots and that I was supposed to savor the flavor) but je n'ai pas pu (I was not able to.)
Une grève
So today marked the first day of classes but because this is France there are les grèves (strikes) all of the time. The poor student coordinators were left with a lot of students who spoke a variety of different languages who were ultimately upset that there was no class on the first day. As if not being phased and not missing a beat the student coordinators told us today that instead of class, today we would be going on an excursion. The excursion was going to the Natural History Museum next to my residence hall.
At museums in France I can never say that it's a relaxing experiencing for me, instead I use museums as an opportunity to augment my vocabulary. What I do is try to read all of the plaques on the wall and write down in my phone any words that are unfamiliar or that I need to start using in my conversations. This process is kind of exhausting for me, but it's an excellent vocabulary exercise! So while I was walking through the museum I can remember my sunburn becoming unbearable. Therefore after noting all of the new vocabulary words I decided to call it a day and go over to the pharmacy and get some over-the-counter creme for my sunburn. In France they don't have multipurpose stores where you are able to buy everything, instead they have like a butcher store, a market (that sells fresh fruits and vegetables), a bakery, etc. So at the pharmacy I was able to get some creme for my coup de soleil (sun burn) and people are so nice here when I left the guy even wished me good luck! I am happy to say that the creme worked!
At museums in France I can never say that it's a relaxing experiencing for me, instead I use museums as an opportunity to augment my vocabulary. What I do is try to read all of the plaques on the wall and write down in my phone any words that are unfamiliar or that I need to start using in my conversations. This process is kind of exhausting for me, but it's an excellent vocabulary exercise! So while I was walking through the museum I can remember my sunburn becoming unbearable. Therefore after noting all of the new vocabulary words I decided to call it a day and go over to the pharmacy and get some over-the-counter creme for my sunburn. In France they don't have multipurpose stores where you are able to buy everything, instead they have like a butcher store, a market (that sells fresh fruits and vegetables), a bakery, etc. So at the pharmacy I was able to get some creme for my coup de soleil (sun burn) and people are so nice here when I left the guy even wished me good luck! I am happy to say that the creme worked!
Professeur caroline
So I was happy to know that school was finally going to happen. For me school didn't start until the afternoon so in the morning I decided to go to the API office. Fortunately for me I saw Anna at the right moment so that I was able to walk with her to the office. Although not close to as strong the culture shock had not disappeared completely. I still found myself getting emotional at the drop of a hat, and I was still most definitely challenged when it came to relying on my navigational skills. Once I had arrived at the API office Marie and Anna showed their concern about my directional challenges and then Marie even offered to accompany me back to my building and document the exact route that I needed to take. What amazing people! I am so lucky to be with the best program directors ever! These women make everyone feel so special and cared for which is really needed when you're living in a strange place, especially when they speak a different language. So after a few hours at the API office I went to class. We first started with a list of personality traits/ adjectives and then we had to go around asking questions (en français) to see if any of the traits matched up with personalities that were in my class. Then we worked on some vocabulary which ultimately led to exercises that we did for the entire day. My professeurs name was Caroline. Immediately I could tell that she was super nice. She just had this wonderful presence and after a little while once she was used to me, whenever I would have a question she would go "Oui, Michèle!" Even though I loved being in Caroline's I needed to take certain courses like "literature" and other electives, therefore her class did not fulfill my university's (UAF) requirements. She told me that it would be no problem switching me into another class and that on Friday I would be in a different grammaire and would be cleared to take literature. With the news that I would be on my way to fulfilling the requirements needed in order to enable me to teach French as a student teacher in Alaska made me extremely happy. I was now on my way and I have Caroline to thank for helping me to get there!
Thursday
As you've probably gathered from this blog that a normal week day is never dull when in France. For me class was in the afternoon again so this morning I decided to get up early as if I had morning class. I met up by chance with a student employee named "Sandra" on the tram that I recognized from the day before. We talked for a while in French and then she asked me if I would be interested in helping students with their English in exchange for them helping me with my French. I told her that I would absolutely be interested, the only problem is that time is running out and my life is continuing to get busier. So since I had quite a few hours before my class started she took me up to the French library. I was in heaven. I absolutely love libraries and this one was all in French!
So after having spent a little while in "my happy place" (Happy Gilmore reference), I went over to the API office, which I found myself without even shedding a tear! I was moving up in the world! With this newfound confidence I made it back to class on time but I went to the wrong classroom because I am that spacey! So in class I just focused on doing my best, we first started out with a dictation and that led to some ridiculous story creation. We read a newspaper article about answering the potential question of overpopulation and then our teacher asked us to brainstorm our ideas and then to present them to the class. Well I pulled out a "Swiss Family Robinson" plan and had my society all living in treehouses. One of my classmates added that our society should have shoes that have wings that would enable them to fly from tree to tree. Our fearless leader Caroline, to say the least was impressed by our immense imaginations. Once class was over I escaped the heat by going to the Pathé cinema to watch les minions. I honestly don't know what this movie is called in English, probably "The Minions" but this movie was very cute and obviously geared towards children but it provided me with a nice climate change. After the movie I returned home and did some stuff online in my foyer (I was unable to get internet in my room because I didn't have a French phone number to attach to my WiFi account). Now that I'm about half-way through the program I realize that I do not need to luxury of getting online in my bedroom. I have also met a lot of my foreign friends by doing all of my internet surfing in the lobby. This has forced me to interact with the other students of this dorm. It's amazing how things work out. So at school one of the student employees handed out flyers inviting students to go to the Discothèque that night. I figured (YOLO) You Only Live Once, and what was one day of being tired in class in the grand scheme of things? So I ended up going. I must say, it was an experience, but not nearly as exciting as I envisioned. In an impromptu fashion I met up with some students from API and also saw some students from Caroline's class. I danced for a little while and was given a free drink for paying a cover but since it was a Thursday night I just ended up having orange juice. I stayed for about an hour and then proceeded to walk home. I then proceeded to speak with some of the guys in the lobby and then headed up to bed.
So after having spent a little while in "my happy place" (Happy Gilmore reference), I went over to the API office, which I found myself without even shedding a tear! I was moving up in the world! With this newfound confidence I made it back to class on time but I went to the wrong classroom because I am that spacey! So in class I just focused on doing my best, we first started out with a dictation and that led to some ridiculous story creation. We read a newspaper article about answering the potential question of overpopulation and then our teacher asked us to brainstorm our ideas and then to present them to the class. Well I pulled out a "Swiss Family Robinson" plan and had my society all living in treehouses. One of my classmates added that our society should have shoes that have wings that would enable them to fly from tree to tree. Our fearless leader Caroline, to say the least was impressed by our immense imaginations. Once class was over I escaped the heat by going to the Pathé cinema to watch les minions. I honestly don't know what this movie is called in English, probably "The Minions" but this movie was very cute and obviously geared towards children but it provided me with a nice climate change. After the movie I returned home and did some stuff online in my foyer (I was unable to get internet in my room because I didn't have a French phone number to attach to my WiFi account). Now that I'm about half-way through the program I realize that I do not need to luxury of getting online in my bedroom. I have also met a lot of my foreign friends by doing all of my internet surfing in the lobby. This has forced me to interact with the other students of this dorm. It's amazing how things work out. So at school one of the student employees handed out flyers inviting students to go to the Discothèque that night. I figured (YOLO) You Only Live Once, and what was one day of being tired in class in the grand scheme of things? So I ended up going. I must say, it was an experience, but not nearly as exciting as I envisioned. In an impromptu fashion I met up with some students from API and also saw some students from Caroline's class. I danced for a little while and was given a free drink for paying a cover but since it was a Thursday night I just ended up having orange juice. I stayed for about an hour and then proceeded to walk home. I then proceeded to speak with some of the guys in the lobby and then headed up to bed.
mon nouveau cours
I was able to get up pretty easily, even though I was a little bit tired from the Discothèque I was anxious to go into my new courses. The first course was my intensive grammaire class where today we basically did some dictation and went over which prepositions to use for locations. My new professeurs name was Dominique. She was also really nice. Then for my next course which was my elective I decided to go with a literature course. This was the initial reason for coming to study in France because this was one of the course requirements. This class was amazing, it was definitely the most challenging French class I've had up until this point. In class this professeur spoke extremely fast and wrote on the board as if he was racing to catch a train. Even though his class is totally inspiring and challenging, it's also exhausting and by the end of two hours I was definitely ready to be on my way. I had big plans for this weekend that I will not be divulging until my next entry. Mom, please take a breath! But in preparation for the big journey ahead of me I made sure to pack very lightly, do all of my laundry, and clean my room. Unfortunately I wasn't even able to make it to bed early but I guess the excitement to come and the extreme chaleur (heat) was preventing me from turning in super early.