Tests and Museums

Bonjour a tout!

Things have been going very well here in Paris.  The weather is finally getting nicer, my classes are becoming easier to understand, and I'm becoming much more comfortable here.

My math class had our last lecture for a while.  In Paris, it seems customary to leave some time between the classes and the test.  Our test will be March 4.  This means I have almost three weeks to study for it.  This is a good thing, because a friend of mine was telling me that the typical test around here is composed of just a few problems requiring you to make heavy application of the results from class.  This is different than how most of my tests in the United States have been, which have had more of an empahsis on recalling defnintions, theorems, and proofs.  I'm looking forward to the test.  To prepare, I have finally obtained a copy of the notes from the first two weeks of class (which I missed) and will be translating them to English.  In fact, I am considering typing up the notes and organizing them somewhat differently than how he has presented the topics in class to make them easier for me to understand.  This would be a lot of work, but if I do it, I think it would solidify the content in my mind pretty strongly.

I am taking two French courses.  The grammar course is so far preetty easy because it's mostly written.  Also, the grammar is never worse than English grammar and often is better.  I am finding that having taken Latin some years ago helps a lot.  The oral comprehension and production workshop is more dificult, but the teacher recognizes that.  We listened to (I believe) an actual radio clip and the speaker was talking so fast I could catch only one word in five.  However, the teacher had us take the clip in chunks, only listening to a few seconds at a time and asking some guiding questions.  It's starting to get easier.  At some point in that class I'm going to be giving a presentation, either on my research or (if that turns out to be to hard to make accessible to a general audience) the history of mathematics.  Either one would be a lot of fun, so I'm going to be working on that soon.

I continue to ingrain myself into French society.  I now have a French bank account and French renter's insurance to go with my French apartment and French cell phone (or, I should say, "mobile").  Everyone uses direct deposit and withdrawl around here.  There seems to be less concern here about identity theft and exposed personal information than in the U.S.

Tonight I went to the Louvre Museum for the first time.  That place is huge!  I'm afraid I don't get as into art as some, but I definitely enjoyed walking through it.  I spend about two hours there, never spending more than a few minutes in each room, and I'm pretty sure I saw less than a third of the art that's held there.  I'm definitely going back, probably next week.  On Fridays, you get in free if you're a resident and under 26.  I'm also going to be checking the chedules of some of the other museums now that the weather's getting nicer.  Below I've attached a bunch of photos from my trip to the Louvre.  Still on the agenda is the Code of Hammurabi (I had no idea that was here).  What else is at the Louvre that you would like to see pictures of that I haven't posted yet?

My first view today of (part of)
the Louvre

The Mona Lisa behind several
inches of bulletproof glass

This one caught my eye- it has
an unusual amount of dynamism
for a horse painting

I need to find more portraits by this guy -
that expression is just fantastic

I actually saw this one in Crystal Bridges in Bentonville
before they loaned it to the Louvre (that's right, art from
my state is in the most famous museum in the world)

A lot of the ceilings were like this.  The building used to be a
palace, before one of the French kings said "no, this just isn't
fancy enough."

Go Hogs!  I neglected to call them in the middle of the museum.

This reminds me the movie Jason and the Argonauts.

Some ancient Greek writing.  I can sound out
the letters, but I don't know the words.

He's plotting something....

Even the ancient Greeks sometimes had
problems with their handwriting.

The Louvre at night.

The Eiffel Towel all lit up in very bright Christmas lights.