Haven't written here for a while. Got to make a few new friends today. Will just write a few quick notes as a record.
Turns out it's not just students who sit in the first row in the classroom are the studious ones in France. I sat in the second row for the first time in Grossman's class today, and realized that everyone who shows up in class pay close attention to her lecture, though obviously, a lot of it has to do with how good a teacher she is.
Ally wasn't there today, which in fact gave me the opportunity to finally talk to the other students more extensively during the break. The older lady sitting beside me today, a curious soul who always has a question or two to ask during each class, turns out to be a Colombian who came to France five years ago in search of a new life. She seems to have some tough stories to tell, and I will make sure to get to know her more next week.
I then joined a conversation between two girls about the class material. Aude, the French native student, was trying to explain something to Ines, a German Erasmus exchange student. Ines speaks really good French and only has a slight accent. I was really interested and had my own confusion, so it was convenient for me to just jump right in. Ines and I continued to talk after class and we ended up getting a meal (lunch? dinner? What do you call a meal that takes place between 3 and 4 p.m.?) together. Ines is a master's student from Frankfurt studying comparative literature. We talked about our class, comparative literature, translation theory, living in France, and I told her a lot about China. I went to the school cafeteria for the first time today, and realized how cheap everything is... A cherry coke, which costs 1.50 euros anywhere else, is worth almost nothing there. I grabbed a menu (with a huge chicken sandwich, a croissant, and a cherry coke) for 3.9 euros. Blew. My. Mind. I think I'll just get my meal there for the rest of my Mondays.
The biggest surprise for me: even though Ines and I both speak English and speak it much better than an average French person, we talked in French the whole time today. Not so weird since we're both in France and studying in French. But this is my first time communicating (as in having a real conversation) with a second person in a third language that is not English!
I have a good feeling about my new friend Ines.
Turns out it's not just students who sit in the first row in the classroom are the studious ones in France. I sat in the second row for the first time in Grossman's class today, and realized that everyone who shows up in class pay close attention to her lecture, though obviously, a lot of it has to do with how good a teacher she is.
Ally wasn't there today, which in fact gave me the opportunity to finally talk to the other students more extensively during the break. The older lady sitting beside me today, a curious soul who always has a question or two to ask during each class, turns out to be a Colombian who came to France five years ago in search of a new life. She seems to have some tough stories to tell, and I will make sure to get to know her more next week.
I then joined a conversation between two girls about the class material. Aude, the French native student, was trying to explain something to Ines, a German Erasmus exchange student. Ines speaks really good French and only has a slight accent. I was really interested and had my own confusion, so it was convenient for me to just jump right in. Ines and I continued to talk after class and we ended up getting a meal (lunch? dinner? What do you call a meal that takes place between 3 and 4 p.m.?) together. Ines is a master's student from Frankfurt studying comparative literature. We talked about our class, comparative literature, translation theory, living in France, and I told her a lot about China. I went to the school cafeteria for the first time today, and realized how cheap everything is... A cherry coke, which costs 1.50 euros anywhere else, is worth almost nothing there. I grabbed a menu (with a huge chicken sandwich, a croissant, and a cherry coke) for 3.9 euros. Blew. My. Mind. I think I'll just get my meal there for the rest of my Mondays.
The biggest surprise for me: even though Ines and I both speak English and speak it much better than an average French person, we talked in French the whole time today. Not so weird since we're both in France and studying in French. But this is my first time communicating (as in having a real conversation) with a second person in a third language that is not English!
I have a good feeling about my new friend Ines.
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