Museums and Mausoleums

 Bonjour!  It's time again for an update from Paris!

On the first Sunday of every month, the museums of Paris are open free to the public.  I went with some frineds of mine to the Louvre.  We saw some of the same stuff that I saw on my first trip there, but we saw some new stuff as well.  Pictures follow.  In particular, I was pleased to see that they had an Ancient Egyptian section that was distinct from the Medieval Egyptian section (which I didn't enjoy as much).

Guarding the valuables

Weights and Measures

I get this really odd idea of an ancient Egyptian Parent-Teacher Aid store.

This particular sulpture was really cool

Actual weapons that look a lot like the ones you see in fantasy movies.

A model of the original building that stood at the location of the Louvre.

I had my first test in my math class two weeks ago.  I did not leave feeling very confident, for the test was not at all what I expected.  In most of my math classes in the United States, the test material has been closelty related to the topics we talked about in the classrolm and what the instructor lectured about.  We students were expected to have a deep understanding about the subject matter and be able to work with its details carefully and accurately.  The test we had in my class here seemed very broad by comparison.  Most of the questions were of not even of a type that I recognized, though they seemed like they wouldn't be difficult if I could figure out a good approach.  My study methods that have worked so far failed me this time. I think that for the next section of the class, which will take place over the next six weeks, I'm going to have to spend more time reading references on the periphery of our subject matter in order to gain a broader experience and be more prepared for the next and final test.  We had our first class since the test on Monday, but the instructor didn't return the papers.  I'm not sure whether he will or not.

On the week of my test, I only had one other class.  Unfortunately, the weather was absolutely terrible, including rain and snow.  Attempting to stay warm while walking anywhere was an excercise in futility.  That is, until Saturday.  On Saturday, it was warm and not too wet.  The day was great, so Shelley and I walked the 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) to see the Panthéon!  Before we even got there, though, we had a fun surprise in a street we encountered:

I didn't even know that Paris had a street named after one of my favorite Reformers!  It shouldn't surprise me, I suppose, since John Calvin was French and it seems every street in the city is named after someone famous.  There's a Rue Albert Einstein near the university, for example.

A view down Rue Jean Calvin

A little while after encountering this most excellent and unexpected pleasure, we saw the top of the Panthéon peeking over the tops of the buildings

We got closer.  The building is quite impressive.

It's currently under renovations that will take many years to finish.  The building was originally constructed as a church to St. Genevieve, the patron saint of the City of Paris.  It was later turned into a secular mausoleum.  It holds the remains of many of the great men and women of France, such as Voltaire, Victor Hugo, and Marie Curie.

The Place du Panthéon

The Eiffel Tower from the steps of the Panthéon

I have to sign off for now, expect another update in a day or so on my activities since visiting the Panthéon.

A bientôt!

Star Wars, Wine, Cheese, and Film Festivals

Bonjour!

Well, it's time for another update.  I've been spending a lot of time studying for my test, so I'm afraid I haven't been able to get out as much recently as before.  However, the weather continues to be cold and cloudy, so I don't feel like I'm missing too much by waiting for a later date to see some of the sights.

I have done some interesting things, though.  On Wednesday I went to a fun exhibit on Star Wars toys.  I am part of a Facebook group for exchange students at the University of Paris, and one of the students, Lotte, posted that she wanted to go to this and if there was a big enough "geek" to enjoy it with her.  Naturally, that meant me.  The exhibit was quite interesting, though a little small.  Some of the toys were from the original release of the movies, and they had some of the wax sculptures that the mold was made from and original photos used for packaging.  Unfortunately I didn't see any "Revenge of the Jedi" posters.

The student that I went with is from the Netherlands.  IT was interesting seeing the difference in our interested with respect to the toys.  I was more interested in the stuff from the original trilogy, because that was what I was brought up with, and by the time the prequel trilogy came out, I think I was too old to enjoy it as much as others.  Lotte, on the other hand, is younger than I am, and was more interested in the prequel movies.  Her favorite Star Wars film is actually Episode I.  I managed not to snark at that and we had a pleasant time.

She shared some interesting European perspectives with me.  She's a history student, and at one point she asked me at what point I though the United States started influencing Europe more than Europe influenced the United States.  This question surprised me, as I hadn't thought that the US was currently that culturally influential in Europe.  Lotte said that even though many Europeans don't like to admit it, they copy the United States in a lot of aspects.  The largest one that she mentioned was the creation of the European Union!  I suppose that before, I had noticed that the EU was similar to the US, but Lotte suggested that if it wasn't for the United States, the EU would never hasve existed.  I would not have expected a statement like this, but I'm sure that she's right.  Getting back to the question of when such a transition occurred, I could only think about when Europe sopped being a large influence on the United States, as I don't know aenough about European history to draw any conclusions there.  I suggested that the US started becoming "independent" of Europe after the Civil War.  After that war, the US was more solidified and had more of a sense of national identity.  Lotte said she estimated the transition time at around World War I, mostly because, as she put it, "We [Europe] got saved."  It was surprising to hear that from the mouth of a European, but there it is.

Thursday night I went to a small party organised by the babysitting/English tutoring company that my friend Shelley from Arkansas works for.  They had wine and cheese, which was fun, though they didn't ahve any labels indicating what type each cheese was, so I don't think I've been educated much in that department.  There were some interesting people there.  I met one Spanish student who is currently working on a film festival that's going to be held here in Paris at the end of March.  It looks like fun, and I'm going to try to go to it.  She also invited me to a sort of preparation party the organizers are having in a couple weeks, so I'm planning on going to that as well.

A few weeks ago I posted a craigslist ad offering math tutoring services (in English).  I finally got someone who actually seems like they're going to hire me.  We had our first meeting today.  There are actually two students that I'll be working with, doing both general tutoring and preparation for a particular exam they will be taking in May.  I'm so blessed to have contacted them, since if everything goes as planned, the tutoring will essentially pay my rent for a few months.  This will ease some financial tightness that I've been experiencing for a few weeks. God is good.

This Sunday, Shelley's friend who is studying in the North of France is coming down for a weekend.  As it's the first Sunday of the month, all the museums are free, so we'll be heading to the Louvre.  This will be my second trip there and their first.  It should be a lot of fun.  Hopefully I'll be able to take some more pictures and post them.

As always, let me know if there's something specific you would like to hear about.

A bientot!

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.

Finally Settled (Mostly)

Greetings from Paris!

First off, I'm sorry for how long it's been between entries.  Some days it jsut doesn't seem like I've done anything real interesting, and some days I've done so much it's hard to find the energy to write about it.

Last time we talked, I mentioned that I was going to go to my French Grammar class the next day.  Well, I was there, but no-one else was.  I spent a while trying to figure out whether I had the right room or not. I stumbled into a computer class, thinking it was just a student lab, and managed to get to the point where I was logging into the computer before the instructor came over and asked for my name and I realised my mistake.  That wasn't the least embarassing thing in the world.  However, I finally got my phone to connect to the school's wifi and found out that the French for Foreign Speakers course's starting date is February 4.  So let's review:  The school's official starting date for the Spring semester was January 21, but the graduate math classes start two weeks before that date and the language classes start two weeks afterward.  I wonder if French students are used to the system or whether everyone is as confused as I was.

On the 24th, my friend Shelley arrived from the U.S.  She's participating in the same program I am (though she's taking different classes).  I met her at the airport and was able to guide her through the process I had to  figure out for myself.  Since I'd been in France for a while, I was also able to help her with the language barrier, which was good.  She booked a room at the same hotel I was staying at, for convenience.

I didn't do much during the next week.  I recieved news that my great-uncle, who has been struggling with illness for some time, had died.  I didn't feel like doing a whole lot.

Last Friday was an eventful day.  That was the day that I moved out of my hotel and into my apartment.  It was also the day that Shelley left for a conference in Israel.  Unfortunately, Shelley's plane left at 8:30 in the morning, and we weren't even allowed to go pick up the keys before 9.  She had already looked into the possibility of moving in a day early, and that wasn't possible.  So, we concluded that I would take her luggage (that which she wasn't taking with her) and put it in my apartment, and then she would move it in when she got back.  What this meant for me was making seven trips through the subway system (four there, three back) on Friday in order to transfer everything over.  I tell you, that is not a fun way to move.  We considered splitting a taxi, but the fares are so high and the subway is actualy very economical, so that it didn't make sense to do so.

I am so happy to be in an apartment now rather than a hotel room.  I've got more space, a mini-fridge, a range, and closets, shelves, and a full bathroom.  I've been working on getting it set up, with sheets and blankets and so forth.  I'm not really allowed to put anything on the walls, which is a bummer, but I'll find a way to liven the place up.  I'm afraid my view isn't great, but I'm 10 minutes away from my classes, which is fantastic.  I will post pictures once I figure out what's wrong with my computer that's making it not read them.

Today I went to my first French Grammar class (for real this time).  The teacher didn't arrive until 35 minutes after class had started because of a minunderstanding about the class start time, but at least this time I wasn't the only one waiting there.  There are studetns from the Netherlands, Germany, Texas, Florida, Greece, China, Japan, and Vietnam (and perhaps other countries) in my class.  The teacher is very enthusiastic.  The class is taught entirely in French, but he knows how to enunciate and speak slowly enough that novices like me can follow the class well.  I tested into the second level of classes that they offer, and this is the second semester of the course, so we're starting off right away with Relative Pronouns (that, which, etc.)  I met a couple of people in the class who are also working on graduate degrees in math, which was quite nice.

I had a realization some time ago and simly forgot to post it before, but here we go.  Sometimes, when I'm trying to speak to someone in French, I'm trying so hard to simply form a proper sentence and convey my meaning, that I forget about the polite phrases like "please" and "thank you".  It's not at all that I'm trying to be rude, I'm jsut trying to communicate and getting caught up in the intricacies of the language.  I think that this will give me a greater patience with people who don't speak English well. A lot of the time, if he's rude, it's totally unintentional and it's because he's trying to communicate effectively.

Tomorrow I'm finally got a meeting with my professor, and so I'll be able to work out the details of the independent study I'll be doing with him.  I'll also be determining what the tests in the class are going to look like, since we may only have two or three weeks before our first one.  I've been translating my notes from class from French into English, and for the most part I've moved from struggling to understand the language to struggling to understand the math, which is a definite improvement.

I'll try to make the time before my next update less than the time before this one.

As always, thank you for reading, and God Bless.

À bientôt!

First Day of School

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!

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.

The Tower from near the base

From slightly further away

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.

La Musée de l'Armée

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.

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!

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!