Second day of classes.
Another four hours with Roselyne. She gave us a list of verbs and had us each pick out one that we did not know. Then, one at a time, we would share what our verb was, and the whole class would explain it together. I learned a lot, and not just about my verb. What an excellent language teaching strategy! Everyone was engaged and at times it was really funny.
I’m getting to know the other Americans pretty well, as well as Merve (the girl from Turkey) and Lanhui, a girl from China. I don’t really talk to the adults in the class, like Yuliia the Russian or Shrestha from India. The adults have like, spouses and kids. I think it’s great that they’re here, but it feels kinda weird to, I don’t know, ask them if they’ve seen the new Spiderman or something.
I have two classes on Tuesdays. The first is with Roselyne, and the second is a French history course led by a man who was described to me as “the meanest professor on campus” and “a real French jerk”. Naturally, I was looking forward to it. I am excited to see French cruelty in action.
That is not exactly what happened. He is sharp and to the point, but has a great sense of humor. Also, he had printed-out syllabi for us, with his email on the front! And he said that all of our material for the class is in a Google Drive folder! He is the first person I have encountered here who uses and embraces technology.
Speaking of, the French really don’t use/like technology. You don’t see anyone using their phones in public. Not in lines, at cafes, or walking down the street. People look up and around. Nobody keeps their phone in their hand. Most everyone has a landline and uses it, social media is not a very important tool, and communication is expected to happen primarily in person. You can’t get things done over email. None of the teachers allow laptops. It’s harder, I think, to mesh the modern world with the truly ancient surroundings. These buildings weren’t meant to be permeable enough for strong signals. It’s hard to install wall sockets in a chateau that was built before America was settled.
So it’s a French history class. And not just, like, from the Revolution to now. No, we are started at 200,000 B.C., when humanoids first started to populate the region. This serves as a lead-in to the occupation of the Gauls, I think. We get to Roman occupation next week. It’s dense stuff, but he uses a slideshow with neat pictures. And he really cares about the topic. He has asked us to deeply consider the humanity and personhood of the people we will discuss, most especially the prehistorical humanoids. He wants us to consider what their art might mean for us as their descendants. I think this will be my favorite class.
Cordialement,
Allison
P.S.: This weekend I plan to visit a concentration camp located about ten minutes outside of town. It is surreal to be so physically close to something like that. I will make a post specifically for that trip.
Flan in France 