Yes, I actually study...

Now that the beautiful weekend has come and gone and the weather is back to its old ways, it seems only fitting that I should have a mountain of homework, exams and papers to tackle. For the most part, classes here are a little ridiculous in terms of what is actually required of me and thinking capacity. I really hope I get credit for most of them as they seem way, WAY too easy. However, the French do seem to have a fondness for midterms, and I suppose that's where I find myself.

Perfect.

Tomorrow I have an exam in my Medias in France class. I took this class thinking it would be an indepth look at modern media - touching on communications, new technology, ADVERTISING, but sadly this doesn't really seem to be the case. The first two weeks we studied nearly every daily newspaper in the country, and then after that we looked at the French political system and its relation to radio. Last week I learned about ten different kinds of television stations that all seem about the same. My test is going to be on dates and people and a boat-load of journalistic vocabulary that I could care less about. It will either be incredibly easy or there-is-no-way-on-earth-you're-going-to-pass hard. We'll see.

On Thursday I have my midterm in my art history class, which I haven't yet begun to study for because of medias, but am already starting to freak over. I love, love this professor, but she covers so much material in each class that I already have half a notebook full of dates, names, paintings, relationships, salons, etc. I'm drowning in a see of Fauvism and it's turning me green! (Ten points to anyone who gets that!) As a rough estimate, I think I have close to 150 paintings to study, materials, time frames, meanings, and the artists' influences. Basically, I'm screwed, but that's a tomorrow problem.

Of course no day that is already darkened by a demon of a test would be complete without a paper due as well. My Synthèses et Argumentation writing class is kind of a joke (last week we had to turn in a resumé of a text and a personal reflection on what we considered a savoir-faire), but it's still time consuming, and without round-the-clock computer access, I've had to ease up on my eleventh hour ways. Timing is crucial as they kick me out of the "computer lab" (a room with a slit of a window and two old desktops) at midnight. I've tried writing my papers by hand, but I'm too much of a digital girl and it frustrates the hell out of me.

My other classes, Phonetique and Parisian Places, thankfuly don't require much of me this week, but they're always bad to begin with, so this is considered a change of pace.

Phonetique is just difficult and made worse by a professor that has no tolerance for American accents or Americans in general. She lumps us together like we're all best friends and when one of us is missing she announces to the class that we're just perpetuating the lazy-American stereotype. She is undoubtedly very good at what she does, but she knows it and is therefore an uber bitch with a bad haircut. I fear asking questions because she always stops me mid-sentence to tell me my "e" is incorrect....yes, I want to speak better, but I honestly cannot hear the difference between an "e" mi-fermée and an "e" fermée. Can anybody?

Parisian Places is the course offered through my University and it's just turning into one big pain in my ass. Unlike my other classes, this one is taught by an American, so naturally he's a fan of busy work and extensive, useless reading. French universities, and I suppose the French educational system in general, aren't really fond of daily exercises as they feel that you only do it to get it done and retain none of the information. They stress class discussion with little emphasis on "homework" in the sense that we're familiar with it, and I feel that it allows me to study the material that we do cover much more in depth. It initially sounded like the subject matter would be interesting - who wouldn't want to learn more about Paris? - but really it's just boring and all we talk about is the art of walking and Haussmannisation. Yawn.

And while this week is horrible, it's made better by the fact that I have lucked out with free tickets to see NOUVELLE STAR!! This show is the french version of American Idol and the girls that I hang out with in my building are obsessed with it - cannot get enough of it. They know every contestant and all the judges, the theme music... watching them watch the show is part of the fun. They try to sing along with the contestants, but they mostly sing American tunes so the girls can only get through the chorus and then mumble through the verses because they don't know the words! How could I pass up this cultural experience? I think ten of us are going, and I'll be one of two American girls in the bunch. Vanessa and I are going to be sitting there with our mouths hanging open as French teenagers butcher Edith Piaf and try to cover Britney Spears songs - last week a boy on the show did a cover of Toxic. It was horrendous, but the judges loved it.

Makes this week totally worth it.

...

In other news, my date with Roman went really well (not Romain like the lettuce. I know that's what I said, but I swear he wrote his name like that when he gave me his number. I even showed it to the french girls and they couldn't figure it out, but I saw his ID and it's certainly Roman. Yes, I know I have a horrible reputation concerning my inability to spell, but proper nouns do not count and this time it wasn't my fault!).

He took me to a concert and we talked about politics, art, religion, movies, music...we pretty much covered all the ground that is necessary on a first date. He's a psychology student, working towards some advanced degree, he baby sits on the weekends and he sports a cowboy moustache. He's 30...but he looks 25 tops. When you do the subtraction, it's only about an eight year age difference, which doesn't really freak me out as it's only A DATE, but it has sent some of my friends here into a tail spin. "HE'S WHAT? THIRTY? MON DIEU!" hahaha...come on, it's just a bit of fun. I think we're getting coffee tomorrow and I find myself surprisingly excited. He's intelligent and interesting, funny (yes, a french man with a sense of humor!), and we can actually keep a conversation going. Olivier and I (last french manboy) would find ourselves at so many lulls in the conversation that I nearly died from boredom.

Alors, as said, I've got a big week ahead of me, so I'm off to bed. Don't expect to find too much here for the next couple of days, but I'll have to update everybody about Nouvelle Star - I plan on watching the whole event with an anthropologists eye and maybe I'll even take notes. I'm entering the strange and confusing world of the french teenager... will I survive?