Spending a week in Poland and Prague made me realize quite a few things about my own study abroad experience in Paris. First, my dinner in Prague with fellow Pomona students who study in Budapest and Prague made me very appreciative of the fact that I can: 1) communicate with those around me in their native tongue and thus, truly immerse myself in the culture and have cultural experiences; 2) take classes at a French university with other French students (instead of only at my program's center with only Americans students); and 3) live with a French family (instead of in my own apartment or dorm room with other Americans). Second, this trip also made me realize how much of Paris I have yet to explore and become familiar with, and thus, I put forth a new resolution: squeeze in at least one cultural activity a day. Below are some photos from some of those experiences, but before turning my attention towards that, I just wanted to highlight a few experiences I didn't have photos of:
1. During these past 10 days, I have been fortunate to have had some true cultural experiences grâce à my host family: I was invited to Arthur's fare-well dinner party and was able to meet not only all of his friends, but get to know/better acquaint myself with more French youth (Arthur left for Montreal for a 6 month internship), I had dinner with 3 of my host parents' friends, one of whom was a Catholic Priest in Paris, and lastly, I was invited to Sunday brunch at my host mother's mother's apartment in the 16e arrondissement and was able to meet more of the family!
As highlighted above, these are the kind of cultural experiences that come with living among "the natives" (for lack of a better word), and I welcome every chance I get to meet French people, discuss anything, and improve my speaking skills and understanding of French culture all while enjoying every moment of the conversation.
2. At my Parisian university, I am involved in a system known as "Tandem," a language program through which a French student is paired with an English-speaking student so that the two students can improve the language that is the other's native tongue. Grâce à this program, I was so fortunate to be paired with two great girls whom I see every week at different cafés in Paris, and this past Friday night, one of them invited me to go clubbing with her and all of her friends. I happily accepted and had such a great time with all of them at the club!
3. Despite this new resolution to see Paris little by little every day, I had to spend the entire weekend in my room to write a "commentaire composé" for my 20th French literature class and study for a mid-semester quiz for my EU class, both of which were for Monday. This being said, what I would like to highlight here is that I was able to write 9 pages of French in two days, and do so much more easily than before and in making fewer mistakes than before. (My host mother was incredibly gracious and proof-read the entire paper for grammar mistakes and unclear ideas). This has come to show how much progress I have made with my French, not to mention that all the people I met at the listed functions above were very impressed with my level of French!
Ok, enough said, time for some photos:
 |
| The Petit Palais, a place I will return to later in the week |
 |
| Deciding to walk along the Seine during my hour break in between classes |
 |
| Les Invalides |
 |
Casually strolling through the Luxembourg Gardens (and the Latin Quarter) before walking to
my class at Paris 3 |
 |
| The park along "Rue de l'Observatoire" |
 |
| A little bookstore in the Latin Quarter |
 |
| The boulangeries that you find seconds away from one another |
 |
| The wines |
 |
Dinner with who else? but Aaron: cooked streak, small salad, and a potato
and cream purée |
 |
Again in between classes:
Sitting on the steps of the Madeleine, expresso in hand,
and enjoying la vie parisienne |
 |
| Walking through Le Jardin de Plantes after class |
 |
| Can't wait for spring when all the flowers will be in bloom! |
 |
| Visiting the Petit Palais |
 |
| Greek and Roman Classics Collection |
 |
| Flemish Masters Collection |
 |
| Eastern Christianity Collection |
 |
| 1900s France Collection |
 |
Having a café noisette, reading a French book, and
taking in the Petit Palais' garden? Can't get any better
or French than that! |
