Turns out that there're classes in Paris too. Hasn't been so bad--I've been shopping a course on Tintin and I'm taking a class about cathedrals and the Middle Ages. I also had French class today which seems normal enough. Anyway I'm probably going to drop the Tintin class and do an internship in some sort of French media and an independent study about French phonetics, so I'm looking at 3 days of class (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday) plus meetings at random times. It's looking like a pretty fun quarter of academics, at the very least, as it very well should be in my opinion.
With classes underway, I'm more or less settled down to life here. Been wandering around and doing a little bit more exploring--I went to the 15th arrondissement today for an internship thing and there was a giant farmers'-market-plus-clothing-plus-random-housewares-stalls thing along the whole street. They were selling tomatoes and fish and cheese and meat and DVDs and underwear and all kinds of stuff. It was super random but it was also pretty cool just walking by all the stuff.
Anyway, I was over there because I'm in the process of transcribing this guy's interview in a French documentary about the history of RKO studios. The guy they interviewed is Joe Dante, who directed one of the most excellent films of all time, Gremlins. Just kidding about the most excellent film part, but not about him being the director of Gremlins. How they chose to interview this guy, I don't know, but it's a moderately interesting subject for a documentary so it's pretty cool to just watch it.
We also met our language partners yesterday. I got paired up with this girl who seems pretty cool, but anyway a bunch of us Americans and a bunch of them French people went out together so I didn't actually hang out with her that much, but I got to hang with a bunch of other French people which was definitely fun. So we went and got beers and wine and stuff at the supermarché and then took it all over to the Eiffel Tower and hung out on the lawns there and chatted about n'importe quoi. Then I went to MacDo and discovered that the fries in France are not nearly as salty as they are in the States and therefore are not nearly as good, either.
So it's getting close to the first weekend and it looks like there might be a transit strike, so I'm staying put this weekend, more or less. Time to walk around and find a good café, I guess?
This is a record of what I've done in Paris and elsewhere.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Ben Affleck isn't always a wet towel
I was pleasantly surprised by The Town. I was even more surprised when the credits rolled up and it said "Directed by Ben Affleck." Maybe there's a director in Hollywood that I've never heard of that's also named Ben Affleck; it's the only reasonable explanation for that movie not being a total trainwreck. Or maybe he has some grain of talent hidden somewhere under all that sucking.
So after the movie, (the six of us at la fondation all went), we went to try out the dinner at the Resto U (it's like a regular dining hall, but a thousand times worse). It's absurdly cheap, cuz you can get a meal for 3 Euros, but it's also the worst 3 Euros you'll ever spend on food. Anyway, I tried to eat there but it was unbearably bad so I went off on my own to find a real meal. The way I see it is that you don't come to Paris to eat in a cafeteria, and if you did, then there's something wrong with you.
The search for a restaurant turned into a very pleasant walk around the park next to the Cité U (Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, if you cared), which turned out to be really pretty and a good find. There was a big pond with a bunch of birds in it, and I happened to walk by a two of those birds doing it on a log, which was pretty funny. Truly a city of love. So it's a nice park and I might go hang out there during the day if I've got some reading to do and the weather's nice outside.
I found a real restaurant near the metro station which was of acceptable quality and got a real dinner, which was really the first traditional French non-breakfast I've had since I arrived. Duck confit, wine. Solid. The meal tasted particularly good because I was not only eating proper food, but I was saving my self-respect at the same time. Maybe it's kind of pretentious for me to say so, but I like to think that I have some kind of integrity regarding the kind of food I eat.
(Sidenote: I love Jack in the Box, taco stands, and Bugles filled with Kraft Easy Cheese, but I would not eat the food at the Resto U. Think of me what you will.)
Today we did the rest of our orientation stuff. It was not particularly interesting because I already knew everything we covered, but it's nice to be back in the centre and feeling like school is getting under way. I also got an excellent lunch at this boulangerie, so I'm being progressively more satisfied by the food. Good thing, because the first several meals were not so impressive. I'm hoping to find another good dinner tonight, even if that means eating by myself again.
Just as a cultural observation, I feel like it is way less weird to eat by yourself in Paris than it is in the States. I see a much larger proportion of people in restaurants dining alone. Particularly old men. But if this is the case, maybe this is not such a good thing after all?
Anyway, we've now gotten through the first weekend and pretty much all of the orientation activities, we've got our bank accounts set up and our NaviGo passes charged, and I'm finally ready to face Paris like a real Parisian. Or maybe not a real Parisian, but at the very least I'm ready to go like an American student who's already spent a quarter in Paris.
So after the movie, (the six of us at la fondation all went), we went to try out the dinner at the Resto U (it's like a regular dining hall, but a thousand times worse). It's absurdly cheap, cuz you can get a meal for 3 Euros, but it's also the worst 3 Euros you'll ever spend on food. Anyway, I tried to eat there but it was unbearably bad so I went off on my own to find a real meal. The way I see it is that you don't come to Paris to eat in a cafeteria, and if you did, then there's something wrong with you.
The search for a restaurant turned into a very pleasant walk around the park next to the Cité U (Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, if you cared), which turned out to be really pretty and a good find. There was a big pond with a bunch of birds in it, and I happened to walk by a two of those birds doing it on a log, which was pretty funny. Truly a city of love. So it's a nice park and I might go hang out there during the day if I've got some reading to do and the weather's nice outside.
I found a real restaurant near the metro station which was of acceptable quality and got a real dinner, which was really the first traditional French non-breakfast I've had since I arrived. Duck confit, wine. Solid. The meal tasted particularly good because I was not only eating proper food, but I was saving my self-respect at the same time. Maybe it's kind of pretentious for me to say so, but I like to think that I have some kind of integrity regarding the kind of food I eat.
(Sidenote: I love Jack in the Box, taco stands, and Bugles filled with Kraft Easy Cheese, but I would not eat the food at the Resto U. Think of me what you will.)
Today we did the rest of our orientation stuff. It was not particularly interesting because I already knew everything we covered, but it's nice to be back in the centre and feeling like school is getting under way. I also got an excellent lunch at this boulangerie, so I'm being progressively more satisfied by the food. Good thing, because the first several meals were not so impressive. I'm hoping to find another good dinner tonight, even if that means eating by myself again.
Just as a cultural observation, I feel like it is way less weird to eat by yourself in Paris than it is in the States. I see a much larger proportion of people in restaurants dining alone. Particularly old men. But if this is the case, maybe this is not such a good thing after all?
Anyway, we've now gotten through the first weekend and pretty much all of the orientation activities, we've got our bank accounts set up and our NaviGo passes charged, and I'm finally ready to face Paris like a real Parisian. Or maybe not a real Parisian, but at the very least I'm ready to go like an American student who's already spent a quarter in Paris.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Round 2
It's getting close to 3pm and I've been settling in at la Fondation des Etats-Unis for just about a day now. Got my own room, nice view, pretty close to a movie theater and some supermarkets and cafés and such. It looks like it's a pretty decent place to live and I'm living with pretty decent people as I've seen so far.
SO, here's a really quick recap of the past few days. I got on a plane on Thursday morning and had an entirely uneventful trip to Paris, arriving Friday morning; it's kind of like Thursday didn't exist because I didn't really do anything except sit for fifteen hours, then I ended up in a different time zone so it worked out to be what is kind of like a whole day. But I got to Paris and RER'd in to the hostel where we had orientation which was also entirely uneventful (because I've done it all before).
Anyway, I'm now in my room, I've got three bottles of wine and a jar of nutella, some cookies, juice and other some other snacks and I'm feeling right back in the groove of being in Paris. It's pretty cool to be able to just jump right in this time, but it's also pretty weird because I'm old and jaded and everyone else is pumped and wants to go out and I'm like, "non merci, je suis trop fatigué et trop vieux." Dommage. I showed some people over to the Quartier Latin on Friday night cuz they wanted to go get food then go out drinking but then I just went back to the hostel and slept.
Saturday was more orientation, which was even less eventful than the first day but then I moved in here which was pretty cool because I've never been to this part of Paris before. I walked around some this morning and got un café et un croissant for breakfast at a little café qui s'appelle le Rouge Pomme. This old French guy came in while I was there and said, "Bonjour" to the barman and the barman automatically got him his order of a café au lait, a glass of water and a croissant. I want that to happen for me. Maybe I'll start going there more often.
Since moving in here I've been settling in and catching up on emails and such, and all the kids who're staying here (there're six of us) went out for dinner last night and found some random Italian restaurant near St Michel which was pretty good.
I've also been waking up really early, which is kind of annoying but also maybe a good thing that I might try to get used to because I can totally get stuff done when I wake up early. Like today I got up at seven-ish and went out and got myself breakfast and went to the supermarché and stuff all before 11. Anyway the RER goes right under my building so that also contributes to the waking up. We'll see if it lasts.
So that's about it. I'm probably going to the cinéma later to see The Town with a bunch of other kids from the Fond, then maybe braving the crappy 3 euro cafeteria. Hopefully I'm pleasantly surprised?
SO, here's a really quick recap of the past few days. I got on a plane on Thursday morning and had an entirely uneventful trip to Paris, arriving Friday morning; it's kind of like Thursday didn't exist because I didn't really do anything except sit for fifteen hours, then I ended up in a different time zone so it worked out to be what is kind of like a whole day. But I got to Paris and RER'd in to the hostel where we had orientation which was also entirely uneventful (because I've done it all before).
Anyway, I'm now in my room, I've got three bottles of wine and a jar of nutella, some cookies, juice and other some other snacks and I'm feeling right back in the groove of being in Paris. It's pretty cool to be able to just jump right in this time, but it's also pretty weird because I'm old and jaded and everyone else is pumped and wants to go out and I'm like, "non merci, je suis trop fatigué et trop vieux." Dommage. I showed some people over to the Quartier Latin on Friday night cuz they wanted to go get food then go out drinking but then I just went back to the hostel and slept.
Saturday was more orientation, which was even less eventful than the first day but then I moved in here which was pretty cool because I've never been to this part of Paris before. I walked around some this morning and got un café et un croissant for breakfast at a little café qui s'appelle le Rouge Pomme. This old French guy came in while I was there and said, "Bonjour" to the barman and the barman automatically got him his order of a café au lait, a glass of water and a croissant. I want that to happen for me. Maybe I'll start going there more often.
Since moving in here I've been settling in and catching up on emails and such, and all the kids who're staying here (there're six of us) went out for dinner last night and found some random Italian restaurant near St Michel which was pretty good.
I've also been waking up really early, which is kind of annoying but also maybe a good thing that I might try to get used to because I can totally get stuff done when I wake up early. Like today I got up at seven-ish and went out and got myself breakfast and went to the supermarché and stuff all before 11. Anyway the RER goes right under my building so that also contributes to the waking up. We'll see if it lasts.
So that's about it. I'm probably going to the cinéma later to see The Town with a bunch of other kids from the Fond, then maybe braving the crappy 3 euro cafeteria. Hopefully I'm pleasantly surprised?
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Vroom vroom vroom, vroom, vroom. I love NASCAR.
United Airlines has a pretty lousy selection of music and
entertainment. I'm skipping through channels during my flight and I
come across the Middle America channel. They're playing a country song
(by a mystery artist--tell me if you figure out who it is so I can
send them hatemail) that goes "Vroom vroom vroom, vroom vroom. I love
NASCAR."
entertainment. I'm skipping through channels during my flight and I
come across the Middle America channel. They're playing a country song
(by a mystery artist--tell me if you figure out who it is so I can
send them hatemail) that goes "Vroom vroom vroom, vroom vroom. I love
NASCAR."
Seriously? You can't come up with something better than that? Probably
not, since you love NASCAR...
Anyway, I'm going back to Led Zeppelin and AC/DC. Wooooooo iPod!
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