We don't need no (French) education

Peur du jour- 24 Avril 2012: Final exam at the French University at la journée americaine

So today I took my first (and only) exam for my history/geography course at Paul Val. Gross.

Let's not even talk about how this exam was at 8:15 (INSANELY early by French standards) the Tuesday after a two week break. Thankfully, I had already planned to be back by last Friday to recuperate, so I did have time to study hard for three days. But, as I am the type of student that usually starts studying a week in advance for regular tests and TWO weeks for finals (yeah, go ahead and tape the "kick me" sign to my back, I'm a nerd), I was still really stressed.

Not to mention that I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to be studying. I had asked the professor, but he said that it wouldn't be fair to give me any sort of direction. Really, France? In the end I ended up going through my notes and trying to organize it into outline form so I could catch the big themes and memorize some small details/examples.

So the morning rolled around. I left super early to avoid being late due to any tram delays and breezed past the students enjoying a pre-exam cigarette outside the classroom. The prof passed out some scratch paper and the French equivalent of blue books (at least I didn't have to pay for it like at UNC! Silver lining.) and then began to explain the exam.

Because this class was taught by two professors, they thought it necessary to have two different essay prompts (normal). They had both professors develop a subject (also normal), but did not feel that there would be enough time for each student to answer both questions (okay). So, they divided the class up into two groups by last name (getting wonky) and then proceeded to have one student from the first group draw a subject from a hat (seriously?). As the French student deciding my fate walked to the front of the room, Jason was muttering "this would never happen in America," and I was singing the Price is Right theme (COME ON DOWN!).

I ended up getting the subject for the professor that I've been whining about all semester. On top of that, we recieved the prompt via dictation (here's to hoping I didn't mishear a word!). In a fortunate turn of events, however, it was the prompt I felt more comfortable with. In fact, it was the last section of notes I had read before getting off the tram to walk to campus. Not that I know how I'm going to be graded, but I didn't feel that the exam itself was that hard. I had an hour and a half to answer one essay question--kid's stuff compared to my poli and history exams at UNC.

I only need a 9 (maybe I'll talk about the French grading scale in a cultural lesson) to get credit at UNC. And if not, at least I got some great stories out of this class and a deep appreciation for my home institution.

Pas de souci (No Worries!)

Peur du jour: 14 Mars 2012: Inquiry

So for my class at UPV that nearly always flabbergasts me, we found out that we have our final paper due very shortly. Like in two weeks (the professor may move it back because the French students were NOT happy).

Luckily it is a partner project, so Jason and I will work on it together. All the same, we have been kind of agitated with the situation because the professor never seems to be very helpful when we ask him about what the requirements are. We had kind of settled on a topic and were going to start brainstorming about what the paper would be investigating when Jason just decided to go ask the professor (again) what the deal was exactly.

So glad he did that. I guess the billionth time is a charm and this time the professor finally understood that we were American students in a final-semester French class. This means that we aren't being pushed out into the real world like the other French students (either for more schooling or for a job which relates to this subject matter). This also means that French is not our first language, and maybe it would be a little unrealistic to expect us to craft something on the same level as the other students who have been doing it for years.

So he told us how to do the assignment in a way that works better for our strengths. Essentially we will be creating a dossier that does explore a topic, but also that is a portfolio of our research (which means we can have lots of graphs and primary-source documents.) He also said that he would be evaluating us while keeping in mind our status as American study-abroad students.

Relief.

"Bien"

Okay so remember that pop midterm I thought I was taking last week? Today we got the papers back and all mine said was "Bien."

My face

Yo ho, yo ho

Peur du jour- 29 Fevrier 2012: Pop midterm on maritime trade

Happy leap day, everyone! As you all know, 2012 is une année bissextile (I like the English phrasing better...).

Anyways, my Grand défis course is giving me plenty o' stories to recount. Today marked the first class with a new professor (it's kind of complicated, but the professor who was teaching Wednesdays is now teaching the Tuesday class, the Tuesday prof will be finished with his portion of the class, and we have a new professor for Wednesdays). I was excited to see that he was holding a stack of papers Is it a syllabus? Maybe an explanation of our final assessment? Something to read?As my mind (which is thirsty for some good ol' carolina schoolin') raced through all of the marvelous possibilities the professor said that today we would be doing a synthèse. A synthèse is a specific type of paper that all of the French know how to write which involves the synthesis of many documents to respond to a specific question (like a DBQ, for all of you AP scholars out there).

The subject: maritime trade

Most of the documents were just big charts showing sizes of ports and traffic flows of world trade and the ratios of road transport to train transport to boat transport around Europe. So, I'm thinking this can't be graded, right? Did anyone else know about this? Is this a pop-midterm? And the French students are getting kind of antsy. They actually stopped talking for a period of about an hour to work on this paper and feverishly asked questions about what certain words meant or why more information wasn't included in a specific chart. Jason (the other UNC student in the class with me) and I were considering asking the professor for some sort of alternate assignment or at least the chance to take it home and work on it, but I think we both realized it would be best to just dig in and do it and talk to the professor after class.

It was around the hour mark when they started talking. And then we realized that either the French are so laissez-faire about talking in class that they even allow it during tests, or that we were most likely just doing a practice essay. Upon talking to the professor after class, this synthèse was, in fact, "pour pratiquer."

But I did do my best to navigate around a maritime trade essay. And the new professor seems very nice and helpful. So all in all, it was a good class!

Talk the talk

Peur du jour- 28 Fevrier 2012: Talking to a French classmate

So let's just pretend it didn't take me 8 weeks to rack up my courage to do this. (Yeah, that's right; I've been here for 8 weeks. I only have 12 weeks left in Europa!) I guess to be fair to myself, it's really 7 weeks because I didn't have class my first week here. And if I really want to be completely accurate, I didn't have class at le fac for the past two weeks, so I guess it's only like 5 weeks. It took me five weeks to do this (welcome to the mind of Kathleen, where everything is rationalized and over-analyzed).

So I know I've already complained about my French class which is basically a two hour dictation. The week before I left for Provence, a student I met at la Source (my worship and fellowship group) informed me that it is some sort of requirement for professors working with ERASMUS students to post their notes online. She figured that there might be something already in place to help me out.

In France when you ask the professor anything they say "well, did you ask another student about it?" before they'll even answer your question, so I knew I had to ask another student about it first. I left for class earlier than normal this morning so I could scope out my prey. I ended up just asking the first student to take a seat near me. After about thirty seconds rehearsing in my head what I was going to say (along with lots of Just do it, Kathleen. Don't be a big baby.), I broke the total silence in the room with my awkward American demeanor.

And I lived! Unfortunately, the girl I talked to said there was no online component. I also asked her what she thought of the professor of which I am so very fond (sarcasm) and she called him nul (which is what the French love to say when they think that something is garbage). She also said that she barely even attends that part of class because it's not interesting. This gives me slight hope that if I am at least there and making an effort, maybe the professor will cut me some slack.

If I can muster up enough courage, I'll probably approach the French professor again tomorrow. This is despite the fact that he already fed Jason and I the line that he uses copy-written images and therefore can't post his copiously detailed power points online for students. Only a tad frustrating, but that's life in France for you (the pastries and bread make up for it, je vous jure!)

You guys are probably tired of hearing about my fears of approaching natives, but this one was a long time coming, so I figured it was legitimate. I promise that next time I'll have gone sky diving or eaten the world's hottest pepper or maybe even a more culturally relevant activity.

You've got "une amie" in me

Alright, I've been remiss. Tuesday and Wednesday were uneventful and then Thursday was jam packed:

• 3h00: Wake up in a groggy haze, feeling like death to watch the UNC-d00k game
• 4h30: Feeling good about our performance after halftime
• 5h15: Go to back to bed mildly depressed
• 8h30: Wake up and kick box
• 10h30: Leave the house to head over to Lycée Jules Guesde (that middle s is silent... weird) to volunteer
• 15h15: Class
• 18h30: Leave the house to go to La Source (my worship group)
• 23h30: Get home, collapse in bed

 Fear has not really been an issue in my life this week, so instead I'll give you five reasons why having a French friends is awesome.

1. An opportunity to parler en français!
2. If someone uses a word I don't understand, I can ask for an explanation
3. An opportunity to practice bises (I really hope I am getting less awkward at it...) 
4. They can introduce me to more French people and French things!
5. They really  make me want to get better at French so I can talk more with them!

Also, they are not just amazing because they are French, but because they are truly some of the nicest, warmest, friendliest, most welcoming people I have ever met. I have also realized that I enjoy their company so much because I'm just me. There are no pretenses. I don't know what's "cool" so I don't have to worry about acting that way. I've accepted my goofy American-ness (which is just how I am in general), so there's no pressure to "fit in." I hope I can bring this back with me.

Culture shock

Peur du jour- 1 fevrier 2012: Moving on

J'ai passé une matinée épouvantable. 

 Yesterday a delightful cold front came in. It brought rain, gray skies, and below freezing temperatures (it actually snowed yesterday). It's not that I don't like the cold (sometimes I really miss my midwestern winters when I'm in NC), it's just that I am not terribly prepared for it. I don't have a winter coat here because I didn't think it would be worth the space to bring it. None of the shoes that I would care to wear in public (not going to wear my slippers or my running shoes around France.. super tacky) are loose enough to permit me to wear thick socks. I left my heavy scarf, hat, and TOASTY mittens back  home.

So okay, I'm cold when I'm in transit. Not a big deal. What is a bigger deal is that I'm cold inside too. My winter woes at home have been solved due to the slightly-embarassing-but-very-toasty-so-I-don't-really-care snuggy that my mom sent me (the best part of my day is when I wrap myself up in it like a burrito before I snuggle into bed). Today I learned that French classrooms can be just as freezing as French homes. Trying to pay attention in class is really hard when your toes are going/have gone numb.

Paying attention in class is also really hard when the people behind you won't stop whispering about the cross word they are doing, rustling through some sort of plastic bag, and laughing at the conversation they are having. This professor is already hard enough to follow: he doesn't talk slowly enough to allow for note taking, he doesn't write anything on the board, and he frequently spirals into anecdotal tangents which may or may not be important (not to mention it's in French...). The last thing I need is noise from the peanut gallery.

What's more frustrating is that this is part of the culture here. I'm not even sure if it's considered disrespectful. The professor doesn't seem to care and doesn't say anything about it (not even a dirty look!) during the two hour class period (yeah, two hours). This means that I can't say anything about it. It is honestly one of the most frustrating things I have had to deal in the 14.5 years I've been in school.

So I leave class and I'm kind of ticked off. And it's still cold and the tram is PACKED and I'm tired of smelling body odor and I'm more sick of being harangued in the street by people demanding that I give them money. When I get home, I still can't feel my toes so instead of going for a run, I just sit in my room with my feet (wrapped in three pairs of socks) on the luke-warm radiator feeling sorry for myself. I was in the hole.

And I clawed my way out. I got off my butt and braved the cold to go for a run. Exercise always makes me feel better (endorphins, music, feeling of accomplishment, warmth!). Each stride was me pulling away from my bad morning and running towards the hope that this class has to get better.

I've decided that culture shock is just like a big magnifying glass on my life. My highs are really high and my lows are pretty low.  I've tried be fairly discrete about them and focus on the highs thus far, but the lows are just as big a part of me discovering the culture here. The thing I've resolved to do is to move on and keep pushing forward. There is something that God wants me to learn from my low points, my frustrating mornings, and my bouts of homesickness. Nothing under His control is out of control.

Missing Fall Fest

Peur du jour- 25 janvier 2012: Getting involved

This isn't as much of a peur du jour as it is a défi du jour (challenge of the day). American universities are a breeding ground for clubs, activities, and ways to meet other students. French universities... not so much. Because French students don't live on campus (remember those ugly pictures from awhile back?), there is a much more low key student life.

I came to Montpellier hellbent on joining the ultimate frisbee team. Then within the first few days I found out that it conflicted with my class schedule (major sadness). So I figured, "hey, why not basketball?" That also didn't work. "Soccer?" Yeah, still conflicts. I quickly ran out of sports that I felt confident enough to play in a foreign country and had to give up my dreams of becoming a superstar athlete at UPV-III.

All of the dances clubs that could have been fun are during dinner time. I've been sending emails to churches to see if they have youth groups and haven't had any response yet (most of my emails have actually gotten sent back because the email addresses were invalid..). Today I tried to go to the cinema club at Accent Francais, but it was really just me, my friend that I had invited to come with me, and a British guy. Not really much of a club, but we had fun watching Petit Nicolas (I had flashbacks to high school French). It seems like my only option would be to join one of the three student unions on campus (for real, these students are organized and they go on strike). Interestingly enough, the unions are the thing about which the French étudiants get the most jazzed. That said, I'm still not interested..

Something I am very excited to start soon is my volunteer work. I will be volunteering at a lycée professional for 3-4 hours a week (potentially 6-8 if I decide to commit to going in an extra day). In France there are two different types of high schools: lycée classique and lycée professional. The former is the traditional high school that prepares you for université while the latter is more of a vocational school. I've heard from former volunteers that the lycéens (high schoolers) are very excited when American volunteers are there because they don't understand why we would want to take the time to serve them. I'm expecting that I will learn a lot about France through it's school system and I'm hoping to really give as much to these kids as I can.

Right now I'm trying not to get discouraged. I'll keep trying to get involved and hopefully will eventually have something more exciting to recount than my failed attempts to get to know French people.

Occupy the tram back to centre-ville!

J'ai fait une gaffe! (I made a mistake) I'm not exactly sure if I have people anxiously waiting on the edge of their seats on Wednesdays thinking that I am going to post (probably not), but if there are those people, I am terribly sorry that I forgot to post yesterday. I was kind of in a funky, homesick mood and all I wanted to do was climb under my covers (because it is trop froid in this house) and read Harry Potter à l'école des sorcières.

Peur du jour- 11 Janvier 2012: Knowing when to walk out 

Yesterday I attended two fairly lousy courses at the lovely UPV III. For those of you who don't have a facebook or haven't seen the pictures, here are some lovely pictures of the lovely university that will illustrate how lovely it is.

These pictures are fairly generous too. Add clouds of smoke and rowdy French étudiants to the mix and it is just downright charming. But, I am not in France to attend a beautiful University (I already have one of those!). I'm in France to learn the culture and become 10x better at speaking French and have the adventure of a lifetime. UPV III is part of this French culture. Students don't pay very much in the form of student fees so the result is a university on which there is not constantly construction and renovation. So I've come to grips with the less than idyllic campus. But yesterday, I was forced to confront another difference: French classrooms.

On Tuesday I went to a great course. The professor was easy to understand, he wrote very clear notes on the board, and I found the subject matter interesting. I'm thinking "Great! I have this course if I need it, but I also want to go to two courses tomorrow that sound just as interesting!" Wednesday morning rolls around and onto the campus saunters a bright-eyed bushy-tailed Kathleen at 8h00, ready for Droit du travail (labor law) and Crises Internationals (International Crises) . I went to the front row of the classroom and sat with my pencil poised to write down every French word emitted from the professors mouth onto my weird, French lined paper. Here are some differences I noticed:

1. Class time is more of a suggestion: At UNC, you can count on there being some people in the classroom at least 10 minutes before. The professor (unless they are just coming from another class or something else) is usually there 5 minutes beforehand. In France, it's more likely that the students will arrive between the starting time and 10 minutes late and the professor will arrive between 5 and 10 minutes late. Those of you who know how freaky I am about being on time can probably understand how troubling I found this.
2. Bibliographies (reading lists) are about 10 miles long. In one class I went to, the professor spent 45 minutes of a 3 hour class talking about what we should read. On the list was the complete memoirs of Henry Kissinger. In another class, the professor pulled out a law manual. I know that as a foreign student, I'm not expected to be able to navigate through these texts. Our program director told us to ask the professor on which texts we should focus. However, I don't understand how the average French student (who I'm told studies far less than the average American student) gets through these lists. The answer: they're not. 
3. Attention is optional: Something that I've heard is common and which I have experienced is that students do whatever they want in class. They talk (loudly), file their nails, text, and do a myriad of other distracting things (I swear I could smell nail polish). In this particular class, the professor didn't even reprimand them. She just said "there are a lot of you, so if you could maybe talk a little less, that would help me save my voice." Professor Kathleen would be kicking students out of class or at least making some sort of effort to lessen the riff-raff.

So, you're in a (3 hour long) class and its terrible. You're thinking "I could be running some errands, buying lunch, working on homework, or doing ANYTHING other than sitting here, taking notes for a class in which I have no intention of enrolling, surrounded by students who really don't care." If you find yourself in this situation, do what I did in both of my classes yesterday: leave during the break.

I have never dropped a class or skipped a class or missed a class in my college career. This isn't exactly on the same level as any of those things, but leaving the class on the first day during the break is a little uncharacteristic of me. My new phrase is "When in Montpellier."

As my friend Tyler would say, "the moral of the story is": Follow your gut. Don't waste your time. Don't be too worried about offending someone that you're likely never going to see again. Don't ever take a class where the professor spends 30 minutes talking about how great a guy Henry Kissinger is.