So today I attended my first class at the University of Paris 7. We're in what seems to be a brand new building -- they're still doing some work on the ground floor. Everything's fancy and clean. My instructor, M. Pierre-Henri Chaudouard (how's that for a French name?) is a younger man as professors go. He also has pretty poor handwriting. Especially during the first ten minutes of class or so, as he was apparently reviewing some of the things the class had done the week before, he war writing very quickly and I had trouble copying it down. Once he started on the new material, things went smoother. By the end of thr first hour, I had figured out most of the terms that he was using. By the end of the two-hour class, I was feeling much more confident about my ability to handle the math in the class. The notation is all the same and most of the technical terms are very similar to the English ones, with some exceptions that I have to look up tonight. I didn't get a chance to talk with him directly today, but I will tomorrow or the next day. I am also going to have to find out if "study groups" are a thing in France. I have heard that student culture can be very different when you go to different countries.
It continues to be cold in Paris, and it's been snowing on and off for about three days now. I've been taking the subway system, which means that my transportation is not subject to delays due to weather, but it also means that I have some walking to do at the beginning and end of my trips.
I got some difficulties worked out as far as my French lessons go, so now I'll be taking a class in French grammar and a workshop on understanding spoken French and speaking in French, both of which are excellent classes for me to take right now. I'm looking forward to it.
That's all I've got for now, see you again soon!
A bientot!
Monday, January 21, 2013
Friday, January 18, 2013
Ups and Downs
The last few days have been filled with some exciting new developments and a few disappointing discoveries.
Let's start with the disappointing stuff. First, "Le Hobbit" wasn't in French! Apparently the move away from dubbing and toward subtitles for foreign movies is not unique to America. So I got to hear the original dialogue and follow along with the French subtitles, which was nice, but not as nice as hearing the spoken French.
On a similar note, I went to see "The Master" at the theater today. I had hope for it, as Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman starred in the picture, but I was very disappointed. there was no appreciable character growth on the part of Phoenix, and indeed, no resolution to the movie at all. I'm not surprised that ithas been nominated for a bunch of Academy Awards, as it's pseudo-spritiual and New-Agey without actually saying anything. I'm afraid I cannot recommend it at all.
Today I also came to the conclusion that the class I was going to be taking has been meeting for the past two weeks. Now this confuses me, as all the documents that I have say that the semester at the University of Paris starts in the 21st, but apparently the graduate classes do what they want. I'm hoping I can catch up quickly, but unfortunately the instructor has not as yet responded to my emails. At the worst, I'll see him on Monday for my class.
The weather here in Paris has been cloudy, wet, and very cold. That combined with some blisters I got from walking too far in new shoes has kept me from doing as much exploring as I would like (but see below). I will have to make up for lost time as soon as the weather gets warmer.
On the brighter side of things, I got almost everything worked out for my student housing. I'll be moving in at the beginning of February. The studio is 22 square meters (which, when you think about it, is actually pretty good for a studio) and is blocks from the University. I will be 10 minutes at most from my class, which is excellent.
Yesterday, it was actually not quite as bitterly cold and I decided that it was high time I went and saw the Eiffel Tower up close, rather than from a train or across the city. So I took the Metro there and saw it. It is enormous. Standing at the base and looking up, its top is so far up that it's tinted blue by the atmosphere between you and it. The summit was closed, so I'll be going back later and actually taking the elevator (and not the stars) up to the top of this amazing structure.
That just about ended my walk, as I was getting quite cold, and I looked for the Metro. But I was granted one more amazing sight in a church next to the metro station, the church of Saint Francis-Xavier.
Be sure to comment or send me an email at wdtboss@gmail.com if you would like pictures or stories of something specific.
Until next time,
A bientot!
Let's start with the disappointing stuff. First, "Le Hobbit" wasn't in French! Apparently the move away from dubbing and toward subtitles for foreign movies is not unique to America. So I got to hear the original dialogue and follow along with the French subtitles, which was nice, but not as nice as hearing the spoken French.
On a similar note, I went to see "The Master" at the theater today. I had hope for it, as Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman starred in the picture, but I was very disappointed. there was no appreciable character growth on the part of Phoenix, and indeed, no resolution to the movie at all. I'm not surprised that ithas been nominated for a bunch of Academy Awards, as it's pseudo-spritiual and New-Agey without actually saying anything. I'm afraid I cannot recommend it at all.
Today I also came to the conclusion that the class I was going to be taking has been meeting for the past two weeks. Now this confuses me, as all the documents that I have say that the semester at the University of Paris starts in the 21st, but apparently the graduate classes do what they want. I'm hoping I can catch up quickly, but unfortunately the instructor has not as yet responded to my emails. At the worst, I'll see him on Monday for my class.
The weather here in Paris has been cloudy, wet, and very cold. That combined with some blisters I got from walking too far in new shoes has kept me from doing as much exploring as I would like (but see below). I will have to make up for lost time as soon as the weather gets warmer.
On the brighter side of things, I got almost everything worked out for my student housing. I'll be moving in at the beginning of February. The studio is 22 square meters (which, when you think about it, is actually pretty good for a studio) and is blocks from the University. I will be 10 minutes at most from my class, which is excellent.
Yesterday, it was actually not quite as bitterly cold and I decided that it was high time I went and saw the Eiffel Tower up close, rather than from a train or across the city. So I took the Metro there and saw it. It is enormous. Standing at the base and looking up, its top is so far up that it's tinted blue by the atmosphere between you and it. The summit was closed, so I'll be going back later and actually taking the elevator (and not the stars) up to the top of this amazing structure.
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| The Tower from near the base |
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| From slightly further away |
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| Duplicating the most common angle from which to photograph the Tower |
Afterwards, I wandered through the city for a while. I spotted a golden dome in the distance and walked toard that. What I found was the Musée de l'Armée (the museum of the army), the national military museum. There is also a hospital there, and in fact the area is known as the Invalides, named after the hospital. If you look closely, you can see that this building was once a church. I am waiting to go inside, but I imagine that to attend here would be an amazing experience.
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| La Musée de l'Armée |
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| Church of Saint Francis-Xavier - If you look closely, over the door it reads "Venite Adoremus" - "O come let us adore him" (Latin) |
Be sure to comment or send me an email at wdtboss@gmail.com if you would like pictures or stories of something specific.
Until next time,
A bientot!
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Ending the First Week
Today is my seventh day in Paris. I haven't starved and I've had a bed to sleep in every night, so I'm content.
On Sunday morning, the news was full of a planned demonstration that it seemed quite a lot of people were involved in. I eventually gathered that the demonstration was against a law about gay marriage. This surprised me, as I had had the idea that France as a whole was extremely liberal. However, there were thousands and thousands of people getting out there and arguing against this law. I couldn't understand everything that the demonstrators were saying but I understood the gist of it: A family is best when it has "un homme et une famme" - one man and one woman. As I made my way to church that morning, I passed many groups of people wearing t-shirts with a stereotypical nulear family on it, preparing for the march.
I attended the church "l'église protestante évangélique des Ternes" - Protestant Evangelical Church on Des Ternes. Rue des Ternes is the street on which the church is located. I was directed to the church by a friend of mine who knew the pastor there once. It was very interesting during the service because the songs, scripture reading, sermon, and everything were in French. Still, I was able to follow some of it. I absolutely love singing in other languages, and so that was a real blessing. After the service, I met with the pastor, who is American. Many of the people there spoke English, so when I ran into problems with my French they were able to help me out.
I spent my last night at my first hotel and looked around for other options. Eventually, I was making a decision between a hostel and another, cheaper hotel. The hostel would require me to stay another four nights at the hotel before moving in, since they have a maximum stay of 2 weeks I would also be in a shared room with potentially 11 other people at the hostel. The cheaper hotel would let me stay there the entire time I needeed and would of course give me a private room. Eventually, the added expense of the cheap hotel over the hostel was deemed worth it, and so I moved into the "Hotel Bordeaux" on Monday. I have a shared bathroom and shower, but that's not a problem for me.
Today (Tuesday) I went and got my student card and am officially now a student at the University of Paris Diderot 7. Classes start next Monday, and I'm very excited. I'll try to edit this post with uploaded pictures soemtime today. However, I must sign off now, as I have a movie to catch. I'm finally going to see Le Hobbit!
A bientot!
On Sunday morning, the news was full of a planned demonstration that it seemed quite a lot of people were involved in. I eventually gathered that the demonstration was against a law about gay marriage. This surprised me, as I had had the idea that France as a whole was extremely liberal. However, there were thousands and thousands of people getting out there and arguing against this law. I couldn't understand everything that the demonstrators were saying but I understood the gist of it: A family is best when it has "un homme et une famme" - one man and one woman. As I made my way to church that morning, I passed many groups of people wearing t-shirts with a stereotypical nulear family on it, preparing for the march.
I attended the church "l'église protestante évangélique des Ternes" - Protestant Evangelical Church on Des Ternes. Rue des Ternes is the street on which the church is located. I was directed to the church by a friend of mine who knew the pastor there once. It was very interesting during the service because the songs, scripture reading, sermon, and everything were in French. Still, I was able to follow some of it. I absolutely love singing in other languages, and so that was a real blessing. After the service, I met with the pastor, who is American. Many of the people there spoke English, so when I ran into problems with my French they were able to help me out.
I spent my last night at my first hotel and looked around for other options. Eventually, I was making a decision between a hostel and another, cheaper hotel. The hostel would require me to stay another four nights at the hotel before moving in, since they have a maximum stay of 2 weeks I would also be in a shared room with potentially 11 other people at the hostel. The cheaper hotel would let me stay there the entire time I needeed and would of course give me a private room. Eventually, the added expense of the cheap hotel over the hostel was deemed worth it, and so I moved into the "Hotel Bordeaux" on Monday. I have a shared bathroom and shower, but that's not a problem for me.
Today (Tuesday) I went and got my student card and am officially now a student at the University of Paris Diderot 7. Classes start next Monday, and I'm very excited. I'll try to edit this post with uploaded pictures soemtime today. However, I must sign off now, as I have a movie to catch. I'm finally going to see Le Hobbit!
A bientot!
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Photos of Paris
Yesterday I went on a tips-based three-hour walking tour of Paris. It was amazing. Rather than try to describe everything I saw, this post is mostly going to be pictures with short explanations. Enjoy!
A bientot!
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| The Fountain at Saint Michel Place |
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| Notre Dame Cathedral - I'll get a closer look later |
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| The banks of the Siene (pronounced "Senn") |
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| Pont Neuf - "New Bridge", and ironically the oldest bridge still standing in Paris |
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| Henry IV of France, who was killed by an assassin after sending all eighteen of his guards ahead to investigate a traffic jam |
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| A View of the Louvre Museum across the Siene |
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| My first view of the Eiffel Tower during my time here in France |
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| These "Love Locks" are put here by lovers and then they throw the key off the side of the bridge |
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| One entrance to the Louvre |
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| A Louvre courtyard |
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| The Louvre |
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| The Louvre |
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| The Louvre |
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| The Louvre |
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| The Louvre |
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| Joan of Arc - The French don't really do "subtle" |
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| Another view of the Eiffel Tower |
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| The Grand Palais, built for the 1900 World's Fair |
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| The Me du Triomphe |
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| The Arc du Triomphe |
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Getting Settled
Today was a short day, as I slept in quite a bit, having spent 28 hours awake beforehand. However, I managed to make some progress in getting settled in Paris.
The first thing I needed to do was get some toothpaste. Fortunately (and I had never really paid any attention to this before), the packaging is most of the time very illuminating. Pictures of teeth on long carboard boxes let me know that I was grabbing the right item. And now I know the French word for toothpaste: "dentrifice". The first pharmacie I went to didn't take cards (at least not for an amount that low) and so I had to find a different one.
After finishing that errand, I moved along to find myself a cell phone. Following the advice I found in a column online, I purchased an inexpensive pay-as-you-go phone that should serve me well for my time in Paris. My phone number is +33 (the country code for France) 07 85 88 06 19. A cookie to the first person who can tell me a cool realationship between these numbers (I haven't found one yet).
After obtaining my phone, I went in search of dinner. I spotted a diner on my street back home and walked in to sit down. I encountered my first somewhat standoffish waiter, and made a faux pas when I accidentally told him there were going to be two people there (deux) when I meant to say I wasnted water (d'eaux). Oops. I managed to get that cleared up and ordered a cafe. Fortunately I had already known what that meant and so was not surprised when he returned with a tiny cup of very strong espresso. I also ordered some steak-frites (steak with french fries).
All in all, it was good, though not something particularly new. I'm hopingthat my meals in the upcoming days will be somewhat more interesting.
I passed two movie theaters in the short distance I walked to the phone store, so I think I may go and see Le Hobbit tomorrow or the next day.
In my last thought for today, I found an ATM on the street and thought I'd try it to see how much it would charge me to get money out of my bank in Arkansas. Not only did the ATM automatically detect that my card was from the United States and change the language to English, but it mentioned no fee, either on the screen or on my receipt. Skeptical, I checked my bank account online once I got back to my hotel and sure enough, I hadn't been charged any fees. In fact, I got more money than the currency exchange calculator on Google suggested! I guess getting cash is going to be even easier than I thought. It turns out that different denominations of Euro are distinguished not only by color, but by size. I can't help but think that that is a very logical thing to do, and I'm sure it helps keep money straight for visually impaired people or in low-light situations. I feel more secure now that I have cash in my pocket which is not going to be refused.
I'm making tonight an early night so that I can get more done tomorrow. I think I'm mostly adjusted to the new time already, which is a major blessing. The hotel serves a breakfast at 7, let's see if I can make that.
A bientot!
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| The street my hotel is located on |
After finishing that errand, I moved along to find myself a cell phone. Following the advice I found in a column online, I purchased an inexpensive pay-as-you-go phone that should serve me well for my time in Paris. My phone number is +33 (the country code for France) 07 85 88 06 19. A cookie to the first person who can tell me a cool realationship between these numbers (I haven't found one yet).
After obtaining my phone, I went in search of dinner. I spotted a diner on my street back home and walked in to sit down. I encountered my first somewhat standoffish waiter, and made a faux pas when I accidentally told him there were going to be two people there (deux) when I meant to say I wasnted water (d'eaux). Oops. I managed to get that cleared up and ordered a cafe. Fortunately I had already known what that meant and so was not surprised when he returned with a tiny cup of very strong espresso. I also ordered some steak-frites (steak with french fries).
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| Steak-frites and cafe |
I passed two movie theaters in the short distance I walked to the phone store, so I think I may go and see Le Hobbit tomorrow or the next day.
In my last thought for today, I found an ATM on the street and thought I'd try it to see how much it would charge me to get money out of my bank in Arkansas. Not only did the ATM automatically detect that my card was from the United States and change the language to English, but it mentioned no fee, either on the screen or on my receipt. Skeptical, I checked my bank account online once I got back to my hotel and sure enough, I hadn't been charged any fees. In fact, I got more money than the currency exchange calculator on Google suggested! I guess getting cash is going to be even easier than I thought. It turns out that different denominations of Euro are distinguished not only by color, but by size. I can't help but think that that is a very logical thing to do, and I'm sure it helps keep money straight for visually impaired people or in low-light situations. I feel more secure now that I have cash in my pocket which is not going to be refused.
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| Euros are so pretty! |
A bientot!
A Long-Expected Journey
Welcome to my blog, "An American Graduate Student in Paris." I started this a a sort of journal that would help me to remember all the amazing stuff I'm going to see and do and help keep those interested appraised of my development as a world traveler. Note that this first blog entry is longer than my typical entries in the future will be. Also, my phone had some sort of error, and so some of the pictures I took today got lost. I'll replace what I can in the future.
First, the basic details. I am spending about 6 months in Paris, France to study at l'Universite du Paris 7 Diderot. I will be taking one graduate-level abstract algebra class in "abelian varieties" and will be doing some "research" with one of the professors there. I enquote "research" because the correspondence I've received suggests that it will consist primarily of reading and understading a methamtical article, which while interesting is not research in the truest sense.
Now, I look back on the last day and a half (or so...more on that later) and it's amazing how much has happened.
01/08/13, 08h00, Fayetteville, AR: This is where it starts. I get up and spend the next two hours or so doing some last minute cleaning for my subtenants who will be there any moment and finishing my packing. In fact, I do most of my packing that morning rahter than the previous night as a probably should have.
01/08/13, 10h20, Fayetteville, AR: I leave the house and drive to the apartment of my friend who is giving me a ride to the airport. I transfer all of my stuff into his car, which includes a large suitcase to be checked, a small carry-on bag, and my laptop satchel, which also has some books stuffed in it. All told, my must weigh at least 75 lbs. On the ride up to the airport, I suggest to my friend that perhaps I should have paid the extra $60 to check another bag so I could have brought more of the things I wanted to, like books. Later on, I will repent of this thought completely.
01/08/13, 11h15, Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport: As we're arriving at the airport, I get a call from a part-time english tutoring/babysitting company based in Paris that I had casually applied for. It turns out I wasn't qualified enough for them. Oh well. C'est la vie. I check my bag and, for the first time ever, use my passport as my ID when entering the secure area. I get a lot fewer weird looks using that picture from a few months ago rather than my three-year old driver's licence from Nevada.
Getting through security is no problem, and soon after I leave, I find three friends of mine from the math department! In a blessed turn of events, I am able to talk with them for a while before we board the plane and in the conversation I find out that they are all going to the Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Diego this week. Those are a lot of fun, and I'm sorry I'm missing it this year, but I think I made the right choice.
01/08/13, 13h40, American Eagle Airplane: The plane is delayed half an hour, and so it is not until this time that everyone is in their seats and we're preparing to take off. The flight is not crowded, and I have no-one sitting next to me. Nevertheless, and despite the fact that I had less than four hours sleep the night before, I find it very hard to sleep. The flight, which takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes, is otherwise uneventful.
01/08/13, 15h00, Dallas/Forth Worth Airport: One of my friends has to run to catch his flight, but the other two have a flight even later than mine (which was at 5 PM), so we decide to get a bite to eat. We go to a seafood, steak, and burger cafe in the airport. The food is average, and the service slower than normal, but we three have a good time talking about what the next semester will look like for each of us. At 4:20 PM, I walk over to my boarding area right as they start calling the first-classers. I am soon seated on the largest plane I have ever been on, with seven seats to a row in coach. I am next to two young asian people, a man and a woman. Behind me is a family that includes a very young child, and I'm glad I've got noise-cancelling headphones with me.
01/08/13, 17h30, American Airlines Intercontinental Jet: We finally depart, this time delayed by weather rather than scheduling problems. The sky is full of clouds that reach down towards the ground. Almost as soon as the plane starts moving, the baby behind me cries, though it doesn't bother me as much as it seems to bother some others around me. All the announcements are coming in French and English, and there's no consistency as to which one comes first. All of the flight crew are obviously bilingual, and it seems like most of the people on the plane are speaking French.
Several things make an impression on me during this flight. First, there is no Dr Pepper. I am surprised by this, but apparently Dr Pepper isn't as popular outside the United States. The second thing that surprised me was what they had instead: you can ask for white or red wine as additional options when the stewards came around with the drinks, and at no additional cost. I gather from this that wine is just slightly more important to French culture than it is for us. The third is that no matter how tired you are, once you get to the point that you've been sitting so long your butt starts to hurt, it's very difficult to find rest. I don't think I actually slept at any point during the nine hour flight. Instead, I read through the first third or so of French for Dummies, a Christmas gift from my brother. I am simultaneously thankful and a little insulted by this gift, so I think he hit it right on the spot.
01/09/13, 09h45, Charles de Gaulle Airport: I am in another country, standing on soil not goverened by the United States for the first time in my life. I am nearly overcome. God's provision in bringing me here is truly amazing. I have my first exchange in French with the border policeman who examined my passport. It goes something like this:
Border Police: Bonjour
Me: Bonjour <I hand him my passport>
Border Police: <Looks at my ID page and my long-stay student visa, then stamps my passport and hands it back to me>
Me: Merci.
Not a terribly deep or long conversation, but something rings through my mind: "I didn;t use English!" That little exchange gives me hope that maybe I can make it in a country full of people who speak a different language.
After getting past the border police, I collect my bags and head out to the public area of the airport. First task: find a bathroom. Done: there's a sign that says "Les toilettes"! (It also had "Toilets" printed underneath that, but I'm counting that as a win for me) Second task: Find a map or something for Paris so that I can find my way around this city designed long before the advent of the automobile by people who obviously had no particular love of straight lines. Now this is my first real conversation opportunity, and I'm not going to let is slip past. I spot a tourist information booth and head over to it. I browse the brochures and don't see what I'm looking for, so I approach the Brochure Guy.
Me: Escusez-moi...
BG: Oui?
Me: Vous avez des cartes du Paris? (Do you have maps of Paris?)
BG: Oui! <he moves over to the other side of his kiosk, where some maps are displayed. He picks one that has a british flag in the corner> Ca bien? (Is this good?)
Me: Oui, c'est tres bien. Merci beaucoup! (Yes, that's very good. Thank you very much!)
And my first real conversation entirely in French is over. I'm starting to get the hang of the language and listening to the mish-mash of sounds that naturally occurs whenever someone speaks their first language. I follow the signs that indicate the trains to Paris.
01/09/13, 10h30, The Charles de Gaulle Airport train station: I run into a problem that's going to shape the rest of the day. My debit card isn't working. This is very bad. Most of my available funds are tied to that card, I didn't get a lot of cash because I was told by my bank that I would be able to use it wherever MasterCard is accepted (and that's basically all of Europe). I can't get the machines to accept either my debit card or the credit card I keep with me in case of emergencies. I have to go to the human ticketeers. Here my French fails me a little bit, but she manavges to get the question "do you want a one-way or two-way ticket" acress to me after doing the natural hand movements more times than should have been necessary for me to get the point. I hand her my debit card, and it doesn't work. I hand her my credit card, and thankfully this one works. However, I know that there's a problem: This card never had a very high credit limit and I'm not sure how much it has on it. It may very well not have enough to get a hotel for tonight, and I would rather not sleep outside. I take the ticket and head to the train station. Eventually I board one heading into Paris and off I go.
01/09/13, 11h00, South Paris: I get off the train station at a stop called "Cite Universitaire" (literally, "City University") becuase it seemed the most logical place to go and I had neglected to get an exact answer from my previous ticket saleswoman. I come out onto the street and don't see what I'm looking for. I go into a nearby building and as for "Rue du Thomas Mann", because that's the street my university is on. He doesn't know and eventually has to revert to English (le sigh) to tell me to go back and ask the people at the train station (whom I had missed when I came out). I go back and eventually manage to communicate my quest to the woman behind the counter, and she looks up the street in her book. It turns out I'm in completely the wrong place, and need to go back on the subway and transfer to a different line. This time I finally get my credit card to work in the machine, so I purchase the ticket and head over there.
01/09/13, 14h10, University of Paris 7: I finally make it to the Beareau of International Relations at the university. By this point I am well and truly tired of lugging my two bags plus satchel around and am looking forward to finding a hotel. But I need to solve my debit card problem first. Fortunately, after I receive all the information from the International Relations office, they allow me to use their phone to call my bank and get my card unlocked. I also find out at this point that I am not on the list of people participating in the Intensive French Language and Culture program I though I signed up for. It turns out I did not complete the application process. Oh well, this just means that I have free time for the next couple weeks. I go to a cafe across the street and use their Wi-Fi to find a hotel. I find one with a good price, and so I makea reservation and get ready to head over there. I am going to have to take the subway again. However, each trip only costs 1.70 euros, so it's not too bad.
01/09/13, 17h30, South Paris: It turns out the stop I need is "Cite Universitaire" again. Perhaps I should have worked all of this out aheard of time, as my arms are starting to ache from carrying my stuff around. I get onto the street and head in what turns outto be the wrong direction. I walk perhaps half a mile before I realize this, then turn around and start walking again. Eventually I reach my hotel and manage to, almost entirely in French, ask for my reservation. I get in to the room and finally am able to put down my bags. I take a shower and prepare to go to bed, as I am quite tired. I watch some French TV for a while and write most of this blog entry. I go to bed around 9 PM.
So, this day started on January 8 at 8:00 AM and ended January 9 at 9:00 PM. That would be 35 hours, hoever I did lose seven hours on the plane over here, so that's "only" 28 hours. It's ben a long day. However, I'm now in Paris, I have a place to stay for the next few nights, and I'm ready to begin my adventure! Who knows what the next six months will bring?
First, the basic details. I am spending about 6 months in Paris, France to study at l'Universite du Paris 7 Diderot. I will be taking one graduate-level abstract algebra class in "abelian varieties" and will be doing some "research" with one of the professors there. I enquote "research" because the correspondence I've received suggests that it will consist primarily of reading and understading a methamtical article, which while interesting is not research in the truest sense.
Now, I look back on the last day and a half (or so...more on that later) and it's amazing how much has happened.
01/08/13, 08h00, Fayetteville, AR: This is where it starts. I get up and spend the next two hours or so doing some last minute cleaning for my subtenants who will be there any moment and finishing my packing. In fact, I do most of my packing that morning rahter than the previous night as a probably should have.
01/08/13, 10h20, Fayetteville, AR: I leave the house and drive to the apartment of my friend who is giving me a ride to the airport. I transfer all of my stuff into his car, which includes a large suitcase to be checked, a small carry-on bag, and my laptop satchel, which also has some books stuffed in it. All told, my must weigh at least 75 lbs. On the ride up to the airport, I suggest to my friend that perhaps I should have paid the extra $60 to check another bag so I could have brought more of the things I wanted to, like books. Later on, I will repent of this thought completely.
01/08/13, 11h15, Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport: As we're arriving at the airport, I get a call from a part-time english tutoring/babysitting company based in Paris that I had casually applied for. It turns out I wasn't qualified enough for them. Oh well. C'est la vie. I check my bag and, for the first time ever, use my passport as my ID when entering the secure area. I get a lot fewer weird looks using that picture from a few months ago rather than my three-year old driver's licence from Nevada.
Getting through security is no problem, and soon after I leave, I find three friends of mine from the math department! In a blessed turn of events, I am able to talk with them for a while before we board the plane and in the conversation I find out that they are all going to the Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Diego this week. Those are a lot of fun, and I'm sorry I'm missing it this year, but I think I made the right choice.
01/08/13, 13h40, American Eagle Airplane: The plane is delayed half an hour, and so it is not until this time that everyone is in their seats and we're preparing to take off. The flight is not crowded, and I have no-one sitting next to me. Nevertheless, and despite the fact that I had less than four hours sleep the night before, I find it very hard to sleep. The flight, which takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes, is otherwise uneventful.
01/08/13, 15h00, Dallas/Forth Worth Airport: One of my friends has to run to catch his flight, but the other two have a flight even later than mine (which was at 5 PM), so we decide to get a bite to eat. We go to a seafood, steak, and burger cafe in the airport. The food is average, and the service slower than normal, but we three have a good time talking about what the next semester will look like for each of us. At 4:20 PM, I walk over to my boarding area right as they start calling the first-classers. I am soon seated on the largest plane I have ever been on, with seven seats to a row in coach. I am next to two young asian people, a man and a woman. Behind me is a family that includes a very young child, and I'm glad I've got noise-cancelling headphones with me.
01/08/13, 17h30, American Airlines Intercontinental Jet: We finally depart, this time delayed by weather rather than scheduling problems. The sky is full of clouds that reach down towards the ground. Almost as soon as the plane starts moving, the baby behind me cries, though it doesn't bother me as much as it seems to bother some others around me. All the announcements are coming in French and English, and there's no consistency as to which one comes first. All of the flight crew are obviously bilingual, and it seems like most of the people on the plane are speaking French.
Several things make an impression on me during this flight. First, there is no Dr Pepper. I am surprised by this, but apparently Dr Pepper isn't as popular outside the United States. The second thing that surprised me was what they had instead: you can ask for white or red wine as additional options when the stewards came around with the drinks, and at no additional cost. I gather from this that wine is just slightly more important to French culture than it is for us. The third is that no matter how tired you are, once you get to the point that you've been sitting so long your butt starts to hurt, it's very difficult to find rest. I don't think I actually slept at any point during the nine hour flight. Instead, I read through the first third or so of French for Dummies, a Christmas gift from my brother. I am simultaneously thankful and a little insulted by this gift, so I think he hit it right on the spot.
01/09/13, 09h45, Charles de Gaulle Airport: I am in another country, standing on soil not goverened by the United States for the first time in my life. I am nearly overcome. God's provision in bringing me here is truly amazing. I have my first exchange in French with the border policeman who examined my passport. It goes something like this:
Border Police: Bonjour
Me: Bonjour <I hand him my passport>
Border Police: <Looks at my ID page and my long-stay student visa, then stamps my passport and hands it back to me>
Me: Merci.
Not a terribly deep or long conversation, but something rings through my mind: "I didn;t use English!" That little exchange gives me hope that maybe I can make it in a country full of people who speak a different language.
After getting past the border police, I collect my bags and head out to the public area of the airport. First task: find a bathroom. Done: there's a sign that says "Les toilettes"! (It also had "Toilets" printed underneath that, but I'm counting that as a win for me) Second task: Find a map or something for Paris so that I can find my way around this city designed long before the advent of the automobile by people who obviously had no particular love of straight lines. Now this is my first real conversation opportunity, and I'm not going to let is slip past. I spot a tourist information booth and head over to it. I browse the brochures and don't see what I'm looking for, so I approach the Brochure Guy.
Me: Escusez-moi...
BG: Oui?
Me: Vous avez des cartes du Paris? (Do you have maps of Paris?)
BG: Oui! <he moves over to the other side of his kiosk, where some maps are displayed. He picks one that has a british flag in the corner> Ca bien? (Is this good?)
Me: Oui, c'est tres bien. Merci beaucoup! (Yes, that's very good. Thank you very much!)
And my first real conversation entirely in French is over. I'm starting to get the hang of the language and listening to the mish-mash of sounds that naturally occurs whenever someone speaks their first language. I follow the signs that indicate the trains to Paris.
01/09/13, 10h30, The Charles de Gaulle Airport train station: I run into a problem that's going to shape the rest of the day. My debit card isn't working. This is very bad. Most of my available funds are tied to that card, I didn't get a lot of cash because I was told by my bank that I would be able to use it wherever MasterCard is accepted (and that's basically all of Europe). I can't get the machines to accept either my debit card or the credit card I keep with me in case of emergencies. I have to go to the human ticketeers. Here my French fails me a little bit, but she manavges to get the question "do you want a one-way or two-way ticket" acress to me after doing the natural hand movements more times than should have been necessary for me to get the point. I hand her my debit card, and it doesn't work. I hand her my credit card, and thankfully this one works. However, I know that there's a problem: This card never had a very high credit limit and I'm not sure how much it has on it. It may very well not have enough to get a hotel for tonight, and I would rather not sleep outside. I take the ticket and head to the train station. Eventually I board one heading into Paris and off I go.
01/09/13, 11h00, South Paris: I get off the train station at a stop called "Cite Universitaire" (literally, "City University") becuase it seemed the most logical place to go and I had neglected to get an exact answer from my previous ticket saleswoman. I come out onto the street and don't see what I'm looking for. I go into a nearby building and as for "Rue du Thomas Mann", because that's the street my university is on. He doesn't know and eventually has to revert to English (le sigh) to tell me to go back and ask the people at the train station (whom I had missed when I came out). I go back and eventually manage to communicate my quest to the woman behind the counter, and she looks up the street in her book. It turns out I'm in completely the wrong place, and need to go back on the subway and transfer to a different line. This time I finally get my credit card to work in the machine, so I purchase the ticket and head over there.
01/09/13, 14h10, University of Paris 7: I finally make it to the Beareau of International Relations at the university. By this point I am well and truly tired of lugging my two bags plus satchel around and am looking forward to finding a hotel. But I need to solve my debit card problem first. Fortunately, after I receive all the information from the International Relations office, they allow me to use their phone to call my bank and get my card unlocked. I also find out at this point that I am not on the list of people participating in the Intensive French Language and Culture program I though I signed up for. It turns out I did not complete the application process. Oh well, this just means that I have free time for the next couple weeks. I go to a cafe across the street and use their Wi-Fi to find a hotel. I find one with a good price, and so I makea reservation and get ready to head over there. I am going to have to take the subway again. However, each trip only costs 1.70 euros, so it's not too bad.
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| My Parisian Hotel Room |
So, this day started on January 8 at 8:00 AM and ended January 9 at 9:00 PM. That would be 35 hours, hoever I did lose seven hours on the plane over here, so that's "only" 28 hours. It's ben a long day. However, I'm now in Paris, I have a place to stay for the next few nights, and I'm ready to begin my adventure! Who knows what the next six months will bring?
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| The View From My Hotel Room |
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