Les arts spectacle! La danse! Le film! Il faut qu'étudier! These were the words and phrases that were thematic during this latest period in my Parisian existence.
I've seen much more arts this past week. Friday of last week, our french class went to see a film called "Les Petits Mouchoirs" or "the little tissues" in english. It was about a group of friends that live in paris. One of them gets in a horrible motor accident: he was riding his moped back home after a night of partying and then gets PLOWED by a truck. He manages to survive. His friends are all distraught, but they have a tradition of going to the beach each year for a week or two, and they decide to go ahead and go. The film after that is a series of little scenes and dramas that happen over that vacation. All of these people are upper class and a bit ego centric and it's sort of a critique of their selfish behavior, but in the end they all learn something about themselves. I won't spoil the ending or anything like that but it was the first movie I had seen in a while(like an idiot, I forgot ALL of my DVDs when I came here)and it was a really good experience for me.
The next Wednesday( this past Wednesday, if i'm not mistaken) SLC organized another meeting with french students. We met in this very nice café in the 5th arrondisement and had drinks. These were girls from a school that I think bridges between high school and college, but all of the girls there were 18 or 19. I think there was supposed to be a sort of official discussion, but you know how those "planned" things go. After that we all left to go find some dinner, which was falafel plates at a nearby Lebanese restaurant ...
wells goes off on a tangent for two seconds
it's interesting to see the places that are popular here, that aren't anywhere near as popular back home, or even just in NYC and also how different cuisines are treated here. First of all, you cannot go one two or three blocks without finding a Greek sandwich/kebab place. There are often times two on three in any given block. Second thing is Chinese food here is generally not good. there is a large refrigerated display case with all of the food in it, and then behind the people working there there is a bank of about 4 microwaves. You're basically eating leftovers all of the time. It's not like they're trying to hide it either, it just doesn't occur to them to prepare it any other way, nor to the French people to have it changed either.
back to my story...
and we sat down and enjoyed our falafel and talked about things. they asked me questions abotu american politics and they told me about the new Justin Beiber movie that's coming out and then they had to stop me from killing myself because the idea that Justin Beiber is making a movie about himself sickens me to my soul....sorry, where was I? It was a very nice evening and I got to meet a very nice group of native French speakers
After a couple of days of studying and reading like a madman, Saturday came! I woke up and practiced and then went and had MORE FALAFEL, but this time it was in the Marais again so it was 10x better than that falafel from Wednesday. I met the girl i'm dating, Anna, at Hôtel de Ville, and then we walked over to get the falafel. It was just as good as I remembered when I got it with Alex :) Anna and I walked around the marais in the rain eating our falafel and it was very nice. But then I had to go. I had tickets to see a Merce Cunningham dance show!
For those of you who don't know Merce Cunningham (I include myself in this category, by the way) He was an incredibly influential modern dance choreographer during, I think, the 70s and 80s. He worked with John Cage a great deal and the piece we saw that day, Roaratorio (1983), was scored by John Cage. Well, I say scored loosely. It was more of an electronic music piece using various types of sound clips. really interesting and unnerving sometimes. Movement was very, very intriguing. Cunningham,s use of the space was fantastic. he used a lot of angular athletic movements and it was all very controlled. It wasn't like a lot of dance pieces where it looks like they're moving like water, it was very tense. The control that the dancers were using over their bodies and the way they kept track of the form of the piece was incredible. There was no "music" in the regular sense of the word, meaning no beat, no count (that I know of) meaning that they had to have it all internalized and they had to now what parts were coming when. It was really interesting and I left the theatre with my mind full of questions which, I believe, the sign of good art(unless the question is "who the hell thought this was a good idea haha)
Sunday night, Anna and I went to go see another French movie called "Potiche" Which directly translates to "Decorative Vase" in English. I'm sure the title people back aux États-Unis will think of something a little more catchy. This movie was another comedy, about a woman in the 70s who is a typical housewife. She is the daughter of a rich umbrella manufacturer, but her husband runs the company now, because you know, he's the man. Her husband is basically a scumbag. He berates his wife all day and then has affairs with his secretary. One day, however, there is a grève or strike at the factory and her husband goes apoplectic with rage and gets a heart attack. He does not die, but he is put out of commission for awhile. So, the company is legally transferred over to the heroine's name and she starts making some changes. she hires both of her children and they make changes through out the company and it's a huge success. Even the secretary, with whom the husband had cheated with, was now in awe of this woman and became a devout follower. Again, not to give away too much, this movie is about how this woman becomes herself and does not allow herself to become a Potiche.(haha that's why the title makes sense :-P)
As always I have a lot of work to do and I'm doing the best I can, although I feel a little overwhelmed. Luckily we all have individual meetings with our program director this week so I'll talk to her about it then. perhaps she'll have some ideas about being able to do everything while still having time to go out and experience this great city i'm in. Ah well, C'est la vie des étudiants.
Have a good week everyone!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The British are coming, and they want Falafel!
Once again, I have left you hanging for an extra week. Again, I apologize. Last Sunday was right in the middle of Alex's visit to Paris and then everything started up again. Work overload = blog underload.
prequel
The real story begins the night before...well not the real story, just a really interesting story that happened the night before I picked up Alex from the airport. Friday the 29th, my dorm held a huge halloween party. and when I say huge, I mean Full bar with beers and mixed drinks, cover charge to get in, huge speakers blasting dance/house music until 4 in the morning, coat check, and really big bouncers.
It was a night of debauchery for all...except me.
My Halloween costume was the timeless classic "sleepy college kid who needs to do laundry and clean his room before his friend comes to visit." Not really in the party mood that night I guess. I'm not usually comfortable at those kinds of dance parties anyway unless i'm with a bunch of friends or I've been "celebratory" that evening prior. So, I was not an active participant in the crazy events.
1st crazy thing that happened!!!
I was sitting talking with ma mère on skype. suddenly, I hear a knock. However, it did not come from the door, as one might have thought but from the window. Now I live on the first floor. That's first floor in French numbers so that means I live one flight of stairs up from the ground floor. It was slightly outside the realm of my normal expectations to hear a rap-tap-tapping on my window (even if it was close to Halloween). I go to the window and, sure enough, there was a guy hanging on my window sill, like freaking spiderman. He started asking me in broken English to let him in. I paused to think for about a half of a second. "hmmm there's a party down stairs with a bunch of drunk people from who knows where from. this guy obviously was not allowed into the building the normal way, or he exited the building in an unwanted way (remember the big bouncers? I'm guessing they were involved.) So, knowing these facts, should I let this person into my room, while I am here in my pajamas?" Well, as difficult of a decision as that was, I denied him entry into my room. Although I had to give him credit. I mean he really put a lot of effort into getting to my room. It's pretty high up off the ground.
2nd crazy thing that happened!!!!!!!
2 people had to go to the hospital!!! One guy got into a drunken rage, punched a wall, and then tried to fight the bodyguards! I'm guessing the other girl had way too much to drink! WOAH! PARTY FOWL!
...
Over all message: la Fondation des Etats-Unis can thrown one hell of a party. Maybe next time do it when I don't have to get up in the morning.
Alex's Visit!
This past weekend, Alex (you remember, the guy who I visited in London) came to Paris to visit me. After sleeping for 2 hours (the halloween party lasted until 4am and no one could fall asleep with Ludakris and Lady Gaga blasting through the entire house. I had to be up at 6am saturday morning so I could catch the right train to go get Alex.) I got on the RER B to Charles de Gaulle airport to meet alex when his flight got in at 8. After a little catching up on what play he was cast in for his final project, we made it back to my place, dumped off his stuff, did some grocery shopping and headed out on the town. We decided that we were going to try to find le marais, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Paris. The reason? Le marais also is home to some of the best Falafel. Ever. We spent the majority of the morning searching for it. It was a long and hard search, but when we found it and finally tasted it...oh my god. Totally worth every single step and misstep. It was even worth the huge stain from the juices I got on on my sweater. Incredible.
As we walked around, Alex would ask me what the buildings were. this is when I realized that I am a horrible tour guide. Besides the obvious ones, I didn't know any of the names of the buildings or what they were for. this was good for because now when I know other Americans are coming to visit, I'll do my research ahead of time. so have no fear, future visitors of me in Paris, I will be able to tour you around appropriately when you come to visit. I'm just sorry Alex had to be the failure to open my eyes to my ignorance.
After that we met up with some other Sarah Lawrence people. Samantha is in the Paris program with me and DeeDee is in the London program with Alex and was visiting Paris the same weekend. We had a coffee and relaxed but eventually Alex and I had tired ourselves so we went back to chez moi to rest for a bit. After chilling out, maxing, and relaxing all cool we went and had dinner at a very nice Japanese restaurant with my good friend Anna where we ate a very nice meal (although Alex had a tough time finding vegetarian options.)
The next day we did some more walking around. However, the main thing we did was eat a lot of bread. I showed Alex the magic of a warm baguette de tradition and he opened my eyes to the other types of bread they have there. He bought a nice loaf of whole grain bread. we ate both loaves in a day. Oh, and we had had crêpes for lunch. CARBSSSSS!!!! it was great. We cooked in that night and we made quinoa with a red sauce over it with eggplant and mushrooms. oh it was sooo good. I think i'm making quinoa for dinner tomorrow night, as a matter of fact.
That day we also ended up going to le Musée D'Orsay and saw some impressionists. I'm really enjoying learning more and more about this movement just by going to museums and seeing works and seeing descriptions of paintings. For example, did you know Monet's famous painting of the water lilies was probably incredibly influential for the abstract expressionists? The removal of a clear focus and the abstract blotches of light were some of the first real abstractions. It's amazing to see things you had always thought were beautiful, but then develop a greater appreciation for them. (just for facts, I learned the thing about Monet and abstract expressionism at the Tate Modern museum in London.) While we were there at le musée d'orsay, I really was able to see the work of degas in a whole different way. I suppose I had never really taken a lot of time to look at his work, but there was a whole section on pastels and Degas was featured heavily. There's a softness in his impressions that really touches me. It even spills over into his sculptures. A delicate nature and a delicate perspective, but with such vibrant colors. the mix between the vibrancy of his colors and the sensitivity of his figures was truly masterful to me. I had never really taken time to notice that before, but after this trip to the museum I left with a new appreciation for Edgar Degas.
Monday, we spent most of our time at the Louvre. I didn't have quite a revelatory experience as at the Musée D'orsay, but it was still a great day. However I still have yet to see the Mona Lisa!(on this trip at least) We were just too tired. Then, after eating leftovers for dinner, we watched Hot Tub Time Machine (hilarious! such a good movie!) and then we went out to Montmartre to meet up with Sam and DeeDee again. We walked around next to the Sacré Coeur and then we went down the hill to this bar I found. the drinks weren't all the great and the wait staff was being sterotypically parisian, so after 2 drinks we left. We ate dinner again (left overs don't always cover it) at a little chinese resturant and then afterwards we got crêpes from a little crêpe stand right next to the Moulin Rouge. Really fun night!
Alex had to leave the next day which was sad, but probably better for my french. I'd been speaking english all weekend and it was beginning to show.
In general I need to try get back in the habit of speaking more. I think there was a dip when I went to le Cim and was surrounded by a bunch of people who already seemed to know each other speaking very quickly. I clammed up as it were. But now I'm more familiar there, and the french students there are actually quite friendly. I should be getting back into the french speaking way of things soon.
Life in General
Classes are continuing to go well. I wasn't as good about my practicing this week because of a bunch of work I had to do for my immigration class. Work that I found out wasn't due until next week :-/ oh well, at least i'm ahead now. After this post i'm headed off to the practice rooms and then French class. I finally have a good grasp on when i'm doing for my French conference project.
Things are moving smoothly along. I'm learning a lot and i'm enjoying every minute.
OH and I'm going to a Merce Cunningham show this weekend. No big deal.
Ok, next week, I'll post on time. See you all then!
prequel
The real story begins the night before...well not the real story, just a really interesting story that happened the night before I picked up Alex from the airport. Friday the 29th, my dorm held a huge halloween party. and when I say huge, I mean Full bar with beers and mixed drinks, cover charge to get in, huge speakers blasting dance/house music until 4 in the morning, coat check, and really big bouncers.
It was a night of debauchery for all...except me.
My Halloween costume was the timeless classic "sleepy college kid who needs to do laundry and clean his room before his friend comes to visit." Not really in the party mood that night I guess. I'm not usually comfortable at those kinds of dance parties anyway unless i'm with a bunch of friends or I've been "celebratory" that evening prior. So, I was not an active participant in the crazy events.
1st crazy thing that happened!!!
I was sitting talking with ma mère on skype. suddenly, I hear a knock. However, it did not come from the door, as one might have thought but from the window. Now I live on the first floor. That's first floor in French numbers so that means I live one flight of stairs up from the ground floor. It was slightly outside the realm of my normal expectations to hear a rap-tap-tapping on my window (even if it was close to Halloween). I go to the window and, sure enough, there was a guy hanging on my window sill, like freaking spiderman. He started asking me in broken English to let him in. I paused to think for about a half of a second. "hmmm there's a party down stairs with a bunch of drunk people from who knows where from. this guy obviously was not allowed into the building the normal way, or he exited the building in an unwanted way (remember the big bouncers? I'm guessing they were involved.) So, knowing these facts, should I let this person into my room, while I am here in my pajamas?" Well, as difficult of a decision as that was, I denied him entry into my room. Although I had to give him credit. I mean he really put a lot of effort into getting to my room. It's pretty high up off the ground.
2nd crazy thing that happened!!!!!!!
2 people had to go to the hospital!!! One guy got into a drunken rage, punched a wall, and then tried to fight the bodyguards! I'm guessing the other girl had way too much to drink! WOAH! PARTY FOWL!
...
Over all message: la Fondation des Etats-Unis can thrown one hell of a party. Maybe next time do it when I don't have to get up in the morning.
Alex's Visit!
This past weekend, Alex (you remember, the guy who I visited in London) came to Paris to visit me. After sleeping for 2 hours (the halloween party lasted until 4am and no one could fall asleep with Ludakris and Lady Gaga blasting through the entire house. I had to be up at 6am saturday morning so I could catch the right train to go get Alex.) I got on the RER B to Charles de Gaulle airport to meet alex when his flight got in at 8. After a little catching up on what play he was cast in for his final project, we made it back to my place, dumped off his stuff, did some grocery shopping and headed out on the town. We decided that we were going to try to find le marais, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Paris. The reason? Le marais also is home to some of the best Falafel. Ever. We spent the majority of the morning searching for it. It was a long and hard search, but when we found it and finally tasted it...oh my god. Totally worth every single step and misstep. It was even worth the huge stain from the juices I got on on my sweater. Incredible.
As we walked around, Alex would ask me what the buildings were. this is when I realized that I am a horrible tour guide. Besides the obvious ones, I didn't know any of the names of the buildings or what they were for. this was good for because now when I know other Americans are coming to visit, I'll do my research ahead of time. so have no fear, future visitors of me in Paris, I will be able to tour you around appropriately when you come to visit. I'm just sorry Alex had to be the failure to open my eyes to my ignorance.
After that we met up with some other Sarah Lawrence people. Samantha is in the Paris program with me and DeeDee is in the London program with Alex and was visiting Paris the same weekend. We had a coffee and relaxed but eventually Alex and I had tired ourselves so we went back to chez moi to rest for a bit. After chilling out, maxing, and relaxing all cool we went and had dinner at a very nice Japanese restaurant with my good friend Anna where we ate a very nice meal (although Alex had a tough time finding vegetarian options.)
The next day we did some more walking around. However, the main thing we did was eat a lot of bread. I showed Alex the magic of a warm baguette de tradition and he opened my eyes to the other types of bread they have there. He bought a nice loaf of whole grain bread. we ate both loaves in a day. Oh, and we had had crêpes for lunch. CARBSSSSS!!!! it was great. We cooked in that night and we made quinoa with a red sauce over it with eggplant and mushrooms. oh it was sooo good. I think i'm making quinoa for dinner tomorrow night, as a matter of fact.
That day we also ended up going to le Musée D'Orsay and saw some impressionists. I'm really enjoying learning more and more about this movement just by going to museums and seeing works and seeing descriptions of paintings. For example, did you know Monet's famous painting of the water lilies was probably incredibly influential for the abstract expressionists? The removal of a clear focus and the abstract blotches of light were some of the first real abstractions. It's amazing to see things you had always thought were beautiful, but then develop a greater appreciation for them. (just for facts, I learned the thing about Monet and abstract expressionism at the Tate Modern museum in London.) While we were there at le musée d'orsay, I really was able to see the work of degas in a whole different way. I suppose I had never really taken a lot of time to look at his work, but there was a whole section on pastels and Degas was featured heavily. There's a softness in his impressions that really touches me. It even spills over into his sculptures. A delicate nature and a delicate perspective, but with such vibrant colors. the mix between the vibrancy of his colors and the sensitivity of his figures was truly masterful to me. I had never really taken time to notice that before, but after this trip to the museum I left with a new appreciation for Edgar Degas.
Monday, we spent most of our time at the Louvre. I didn't have quite a revelatory experience as at the Musée D'orsay, but it was still a great day. However I still have yet to see the Mona Lisa!(on this trip at least) We were just too tired. Then, after eating leftovers for dinner, we watched Hot Tub Time Machine (hilarious! such a good movie!) and then we went out to Montmartre to meet up with Sam and DeeDee again. We walked around next to the Sacré Coeur and then we went down the hill to this bar I found. the drinks weren't all the great and the wait staff was being sterotypically parisian, so after 2 drinks we left. We ate dinner again (left overs don't always cover it) at a little chinese resturant and then afterwards we got crêpes from a little crêpe stand right next to the Moulin Rouge. Really fun night!
Alex had to leave the next day which was sad, but probably better for my french. I'd been speaking english all weekend and it was beginning to show.
In general I need to try get back in the habit of speaking more. I think there was a dip when I went to le Cim and was surrounded by a bunch of people who already seemed to know each other speaking very quickly. I clammed up as it were. But now I'm more familiar there, and the french students there are actually quite friendly. I should be getting back into the french speaking way of things soon.
Life in General
Classes are continuing to go well. I wasn't as good about my practicing this week because of a bunch of work I had to do for my immigration class. Work that I found out wasn't due until next week :-/ oh well, at least i'm ahead now. After this post i'm headed off to the practice rooms and then French class. I finally have a good grasp on when i'm doing for my French conference project.
Things are moving smoothly along. I'm learning a lot and i'm enjoying every minute.
OH and I'm going to a Merce Cunningham show this weekend. No big deal.
Ok, next week, I'll post on time. See you all then!
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