I found something that's worse here than at Purdue...scheduling.

Juedi, 25 Janvier 2007

Three things to note about today:

The first is that I went to a wine tasting today; well IES had a sommelier come and teach us some things about wine. I thought it was very interesting. She not only talked about different types of wine, but about the different regions of why in France, why they are different, and how the wines have changed over the centuries. I would love to learn more about wine here, if I get a chance, I want to go visit some vineyards and talk to people who make wine. I think it’s because I like to cook, but I find all the subtle differences fascinating, and I definitely want to take the wine class next year at Purdue.

The second is that I’m almost done with the poupédectique. We have our last class tomorrow morning, and then we take a final exam, which IES will use to place us in our French class this semester, and it will also count toward our final grade. I’m just glad that I’m going to be done with the review sessions, and can actually start classes on Monday. I haven’t found this past week that helpful. There have been random grammar points that have been helpful to review, but sitting in a classroom and being taught grammar isn’t helping my French at this point. What helps is practice. I really think it would have been more helpful to have the program bring in Francophones to speak with us, giving us a chance to actually practice our French with native speakers, and getting help when we need it. but that’s just me.

The third thing is that I (finally) registered for classes today. It didn’t go exactly the way I planned. IES’ way of registering is actually worse than Purdue’s if you can believe it. Back in December, I “pre-registered” for classes. I’d signed up for a French speaking/grammar class, an art history class (Art and Architecture of Paris), a drawing class (drawing for beginners), a sociology class (Francophone Paris, looking at the racial, social, economic, and class tensions in Paris), and a theatre class (produces a play during the semester). Now, if I’d pre-registered for the classes, you would think that means that’s what I’m taking, and I went into my academic meeting expecting it to just be a verification that I wanted to remain in those classes.

Nope. It turns out that the IES Chicago (the American office) website does not put a cap on the number of people who can pre-register for a class, so even if you pre-register for a class, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to be able to take it. I only had this problem with one of my classes thankfully. Unfortunately it was the Art and Architecture in Paris class, which I was quite excited for. The class has room for 25 students, and apparently 30 some people signed up for it. (I told you it was even worse than Purdue’s system).

So, this threw my schedule for a loop. I still wanted to take an Art History class. Unfortunately, the only Art History class that was still available, Islamic art of the Mediterranean Basin, is scheduled for the same time as my drawing class. So, after looking at a couple of options, I’ve decided to take an outside class, that is, a class taught at a French university, not on the IES campus. I will be taking a drawing class, live model drawing actually (so, all you Bezaires who laughed at the butt…I’ll be looking at naked people for 6 hours every week, feel free to start giggling now J) at Atelier de la Croix Nivert. On one hand, I’m very nervous about this; on the other hand, I’m completely jazzed to be taking a drawing class in “freakin’ Paris!”

So, as of now, it looks like my weekly schedule will be (I put the French class that I want to be placed in, I don’t know if that’s the one I will get though):

Monday:
9:00-10:30 – Theatre production
2:15-3:45 – Francophone Paris

Tuesday:
10:30-11:45 – French grammar
12:30 – 2:00 – Islamic Art

Wednesday:
9:00-10:30 – Theatre production
2:15-3:45 – Francophone Paris
7:00-10:00 – open studio session for all art classes (ADC)

Thursday:
10:30-11:45 – French grammar
12:30 – 2:00 – Islamic Art
4:30-7:30 – figure drawing studio session (ADC)

Friday:
No classes, but on three Fridays during the semester, the Islamic art class will have class visits to museums, as well as at other times during the week.


I guess we’ll see how this all goes, right?

A bientôt toute le monde !