Mr Nguyen took me into Paris again today but by bus/metro so that I would understand how to use the two and how to find my way around the metro. I am glad he came because it was a tad confusing. The metro lines (and there are 14 in Paris) are labeled by number but are also labeled by the last stop the metro makes. So instead of going say north or south you would follow the metro line to the stop it would eventually end at. For example, I take line 8 and line 6 to get to school. Line 8 is "Balard" and "Creteil-Prefecture" so if I am going into the city I have to go towards "Balard" and find the stop I need along the way there (which is Daumesnil said 'dau-may-neal'). Then I take line 6 towards "Charles de Guale Etoile" to get off at the "Raspail" stop and my classes are right around the corner from there.
Needless to say I could not have figured all that out on my own so fast, it would've taken me a long moment standing in front of a map in the metro station to figure it all out. Especially since I did not know that my classes are not actually located in the Sorbonne itself but in another building in the arrondisment (quarter) below where the school stands. And I found all of this out through a little thing I like to call confusion of the French ways, it all began when Mr Nguyen and I arrived at the Sorbonne....
Mr Nguyen said (in french of course) "do you know the address of where you will be taking classes?"
I said "Yes its 214 Boulevard de Raspail"
He slapped his forehead and went "Aii!"
I had no idea why he seemed exhausted all of a sudden.
He then proceeded to tell me that we got off at the wrong metro stop and that my exam would not be taken at the Sorbonne itself. The classes I have chosen are based off of what level you are placed into. So I signed up for the complete courses which are language, literature and phonetics but I will be placed into the level that my French skills are at so I can improve on from there. It seemed at this moment in the day they tested people in a separate location than where the classes were. So we hopped back on the metro and went to the "Raspail" exit which of course was a couple of stops and changes in metros over from where we were. On this boulevard there is a spot verbally known as the American place that Mr Nguyen showed me. Apparently the museum of modern art is known as the American place for those who live in Paris. The upcoming events, which were posted outside the building, had nothing to do with American artists or exhibitions but thats what they call it so who knows maybe they showcase many American artists inside or something. After seeing this we found the place I will have to take my test at tomorrow, which is also the building I will be taking all of my classes. The building of course is super cute and very French! Its in the Montparnasse district which where many French and American artists gathered in the 1800/1900s so I am very very very excited to be studying there as well!!!!
For lunch, Mr Nguyen took me to a Japanese restaurant. I have only been to one Japanese restaurant in the states which was an experience in itself but nothing like this one today. A very small place but the food was delicious! We had vegetable soup, a cabbage salad that tasted like coleslaw, salmon sushi, cold salmon, rice, two different types of cooked pork one like meatballs and the other was a strip of pork wrapped around a piece of cheese, and some chicken. All very very delicious, minus the cold salmon, and I even managed to use chopsticks (an easy yet difficult task if the food is slippery).
We then parted ways for about a half hour. Mr Nguyen wanted to go back to the school to talk to one of the other ladies who was at lunch when we arrived about their English program. I found out that in order to get an engineering degree in France you have to be fluent in two other languages besides French. His nephew is fluent in one other one and tried to be fluent in English but failed the test so he cannot get his degree. So Mr Nguyen found out that the Sorbonne also offers classes to learn English. While he was doing that, I wandered around the streets by the school and almost managed to get myself lost. Mr Nguyen lent me an extra cell phone to use until I get my own so that if I get lost before I get mine then I can call him and he can help/pick me up from where ever I am (I can just hear my mother's sigh of relief). So he called after about 45 minutes and I had managed to get myself a little bit turned around. I wandered into a book shop and a church to just look them but they were a street over from where we had lunch and I forgot how we got to the lunch spot. So I made my way back to the restaurant and thankfully I thought to bring my super touristy book with me today which also has a fold out map of Paris in it that helped me find where I was going again and I made it back to the school where we met up again and we went home.
The biggest adventure I had today was going to the store to buy groceries....
woah...
just woah..
Thankfully my roommate was not busy and she came with me to show me where it was and explain a few things.
Everything (and I mean everything) is completely different. Being in a foreign country you would think that I would understand this since it is my second day. Well it didn't dawn on me until I was in the store with all the French food and French labels that I actually was. There was loads of cheese and wine (of course), fresh bread, fresh fruits and vegetables (that you have to weigh yourself, in the states the cashier does it but not in France you have to do it yourself and print the label to put on your bag of fresh produce). The eggs were not in the refrigeration section and neither were the juices. No entire row of different potato chips either just two choices lays or Pringles. Only coke, pepsi, diet coke, diet pepsi and monster to choose from for the pops. Half a row for the frozen foods, not many choices for the meat because there was no deli counter. One has to go to the butcher to get more choices in meat. Same idea with the bread, there is pre-packaged bread but only four shelves of it. One has to go to the baker to get bread. There are tons of different jellies but only one peanut butter brand, snappy. Ketchup is still made by Heinz so at least I knew what that was. Four or five shelves dedicated to tuna and sardines and some frozen salmon but other than that no fish. One has to go to the fish market for that. Many many choices in tea but only a few choices in coffee. I'm not sure why but the coffee I had after lunch was more of an expresso so maybe they figure if they want some they don't need to have a lot of choices because they can just go out and get some at any cafe. Milk was sold two ways, either cold or at room temperature and it could be creamy, light or half and half. No idea what that all means but I guess I will have to try some since my roommate told me its very very fresh.
**Side note: She asked, but it think it was last night, if all Americans eat McDonalds and drink Starbucks all day. Apparently when Americans are portrayed here in France they only eat McDo and drink Starbucks. And Starbucks, according to Mr Nguyen, is really just an imitation of French coffee. Oh the things I will learn about my own country from the French point of view lol**
At the store I bought: eggs, strawberry jelly, yogurt, a cucumber, the biggest red grapes from Italy ever, orange juice, and Madelines (which is a French cookie very buttery and soft). I was in such a shock at the difference and really just comparing everything that I forgot to really find what I wanted to eat. I will have to go back eventually and hopefully be better prepared the next time around for the differences.
But that is all for now and tomorrow starts a whole other day!
French movie theater with american movies
that series thats all like 'this' for dummies but its in french!
grapes from Italy
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