Hello everyone,
During the past couple of days I've been doing a lot of what the French call flâner: to take a walk with no precise destination. I get myself lost very easily this way, but people are very helpful in giving directions, and I also get to see a lot of Parisian street life. I've run into an open air market, discovered some useful shops, and had the chance to try out several bakeries.
I'm starting to get used to life here. Today I learned where the laundry room is, and how to do it. In order to use the machines one has to buy a special tab/coin at the cashier's office, and then take that to the laundry room and insert it into the machine. Also, for my dear friends at Mills who have complained about the prices for doing laundry in the dorms, I ask you not to feel so put out. Here it costs 2.50 euros for a load of wash, and 1.50 to dry. I think I may be hand washing and drying a lot of my stuff.
Today was also the beginning of the Sarah Lawrence program. I took the metro for the first time this morning since I arrived, which was fast but stressful because of the amount of people all rushing rushing rushing to get to wherever they were going. Despite my best efforts, I still managed to be late to the 9:00 meeting at Reid Hall. I haven't yet bought a map, and the street that Reid Hall is located on is very small. No one seems to know where it is. After leaving the metro I had to ask half a dozen people for help before I encountered a kind lady with a map. It turned out to be just a couple of streets away. One of the first people I asked for directions was a woman in her 40's. She didn't know the street even though she lived in the area, but after hurrying on her way she returned a couple of minutes later to where I was still standing bewildered, and proceeded to ask me if I would be willing to tutor her kids in English. Apparently, my accent isn't as good as I thought it was. She said she had a Canadian girl the year before, but she recently returned home, and now Madame needed to find a new tutor. By this time I really was late, and to be honest I have no idea what my schedule will be like this year or how much time classes will take. I don't even know if it's legal for me to take a job like that here. She gave me her contact information however, and I told her I'd call her by Wednesday.
Once I did get to Reid Hall, I was not the only student who showed up late. Thank goodness. The leaders of the program welcomed us, bombarded us with lots and lots of information, and finally let us go at around 5:00 so that we could eat and sleep before tomorrow's French placement exam. Before I do go to bed though, I'll give a few details of the program. I will be taking 4 classes each semester, all of which will be in French. 2 of those classes will be studio art classes for me, since it's my major, and I will take them at a French art institute(I still don't know where yet; classes don't start until the 1st of October). The other 2 classes will be Sarah Lawrence seminars, on some topic of my choosing, that will take place at Reid Hall, and that will count towards my French major. We choose our classes tomorrow. I'm very excited.
Well, it is once again past my bed time. I promise that I will upload some pictures soon for all of you to see.
Good night!
