Le mot m'échappe

[Picture: Alleyway to my host family's house, at the very end on the right]

The end of this week marks the end of my first month in Paris. It feels like I've been here forever, and yet not at all.

In orientation, the staff warned us that after a "honey-moon" period, there was likely to be a steep drop in our condition. I think I experienced a bit of that this week. One has to be very humble to learn a language. I consider myself a fairly intelligent individual, capable and independant. But I run into challenges in all kinds of mundane tasks because of my language barrier. At the grocery store, on the metro, in class. It's hard not to wonder if everyone I encounter thinks I'm an idiot, because I certainly feel like an idiot the majority of the time! Even when I just want to tell me family here something about my day, I have to think so hard. It takes humility, but I am growing weary of humiliations. BUT, I do consider that, after all, I am in PARIS! I want to soak up every minute here! There will be challenges up to the very day I leave, because the process of learning a language is so immense and 4 months is such a short time. I am making progress, and if I get a little embarassed along the way, so be it.

On Sunday I tried to get into Bach's B Minor Mass at La Salle Pleyel as I had done the week before for Beethoven, but no such luck this week. Tant pis.

Monday it was back to class. I dropped my Modern Art class, now that I'm taking music classes at ENM. It was interesting, but unecessary. Just because I overload my plate at Southwestern doesn't mean I should do so in Paris. In my Theater class we are looking at a play called 'Art' by Yasmina Reza. It's a very well known play, not just in France but worldwide. It takes a comedic look at various reactions to modern art as one of the characters has purchased a white monochromatic painting. My phonetics class I think will help me not only with my pronunciation, but comprehension as well. We've been focusing a lot on the rhythm of speech and intonation. 2-3 times this semester we'll meet with the professor with a cassette for an individual lab. Apparently she lets you take for a few minutes, then tells you everything you're doing wrong. Intimidating, but very helpful I'd imagine (I haven't had mine yet).

Tuesday after my language class (which is a struggle for me!), I took a leisurely walk along the Seine, toute seule. It was nice. That night I had chorale rehearsal. I think we'll be doing some minor staging next week.

I don't think anthing worth noting happened on Wednesday...

Thursday I had my language class and then solfege: double whammy! As I said before, my language class is a challenge for me. And remember how I said the language barrier had me feeling incompetant? Well my solfege class has me feeling incompetant linguistically and musically. No, I'm beginning to catch on to the French terminology. I'm working on the whole 'fixed do' thing. Mostly I am just out of practice and the class is slightly above my current level. But this is a good thing, because it will help me grow. Thursday night I had some wine at a cafe with some friends. We talked for a few hours. How Parisienne.

Friday was sighreading which, again, makes me wonder if I'll ever be able to think in fixed do. But Like solfege, I know that this class will make me a better teacher. And on a side note, there is a French musical called 'Emilie Jolie' (Pretty Emily) and everyone sings me the song, especially ENM. "Je m'appelle Emily Jolie..." (My name is Pretty Emily - actually I don't know if Jolie is her surname, or if she's called pretty Emily). Friday night was spent at a cafe/bar where we met some French people and talked to them about politics. A lot of people here like Obama- yea!

Saturday I had my voice lesson again. I am working on some Reynaldo Hahn, and Mozart's Exsultate, jubilate. Mme. Dumas says that withing a month she thinks I'll be singing higher in the coloratura range... I hope she's right! I bought the book "Mille Soleils Splendides" (A Thousand Splendid Suns) by Khaled Hosseini. Hopefully reading it in French will help me increase vocab and fluency. I've wanted to read either of his books for a while, and now I'll have something to do during long metro rides.

Today I went to a Taize service at the American Cathedral. It was very nice and I think I'll go weekly. I met the priest afterward, althought I can't remember his name right now. We sat in the choir area for the service, and it was part in French, part in English. Afterwards, I met my friend Stephanie for dinner at a cafe just off Champs Elysees. We struck up a conversation with some Paisiens who complimented us on our French. It was exactly the affirmation we needed after this week!

Alors, I should update more often so these posts don't become novels. I think of my friends often, and I send you all my love!

Les Cours et La Chance

Last Saturday I spent the day with some friends from Occidental College at Monmartre. This is one of my favorite places in Paris. Its elevation gives you a fantastic view of the city, and the steep streets and narrow alleys are so picturesque. Plus, Sacre Coeur is one of my favorite sites. The basilica is on the top of the hill, and on this sunny Saturday it was glowing white. We made our way up the steps to take a look inside. Then we climbed all the way up to the dome for a breath-taking view of Paris. Needless to say, my knees were in a lot of pain the next morning, but it was worth it. We walked around the city for the next several hours until dinner. A day well-spent, in my mind.

On Sunday, the London Symphony Orchestra was playing at La Salle Pleyel. The concert featured Sir John Eliot Gardiner, conductor, and Maria João Pires, pianist, presenting works by Beethoven: The Creatures of Prometheus- overture, Concerto No. 4 for piano, and The Third Symphony. I didn't have a ticket, but I wanted to see where La Salle Pleyel was and hope that a ticket might become available.
The stand-by line had already formed when I got there (an hour early) so I was about 25 people back. I was next to an older woman who was shorter than I am and who also really wanted a ticket. She kept harassing the employees. A man came out and told us that at most 10 spots would become available. The determined woman next to me said, "Tant pis, on reste ici. On ne sait jamais." (Too bad, we're staying here. You never know). I almost left, but then I thought, if this crazy lady is going to wait it out, then I will, too. Then, about ten minutes before the concert, a guy in his 20's approached me and explained that he had an extra youth ticket for 8 euros. The youth tickets are for those 28 years old and younger. I couldn't believe it. He went on to tell me that it was in the first category seating, normally 85 euros! So, in the end I saw the London Symphony Orchestra with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Maria João Pires in the middle of the first balcony of La Salle Pleyel for 8 euros. Quelle chance!

Monday I started classes at IES. I think that they will be interesting, keep me busy, and, of course, help my French.

On Tuesday I had my audition at L'Ecole Normale de Musique. I sang for M. Mansard, the director of the school Adele's laughing song and La Diva de l'Empire. After that some tedious paper work, and boom. Now I'm enrolled in l'Ecole Normale de Musique. The only unfortunate thing is my classes run into my weekend.
Here's the schedule:
Monday/lundi
9:00-10:30 Theater
10:45-12:15 Modern Art
12:30-2:00 Phonetics (sometimes followed by an individual lab)

Tuesday/mardi
9:00-10:30 Language and Culture

8:00-10:30 Chorale de la Cité International Universitaire

Wednesday/mercredi
9:00-10:30 Theater
10:45-12:15 Modern Art
12:30-2:00 Phonetics (sometimes followed by an individual lab)

Thursday/jeudi
9:00-10:30 Language and Culture

2:00-3:00 Solfege at ENM (audit)

Friday/vendredi
12:00-1:00 Sight Reading for Singers

Saturday/samedi
12:30-1:30 Voice lesson

The solfege class was pretty hard. It'll take a lot of practice because I'm a little rusty and the class is already at a pretty advanced level. Plus I have to learn all the music terminology in French. But I think it will be a very useful class. The sight reading class is interesting. There are anywhere from 3-5 people of all instruments in the room at once. The professor gives you a piece of music and you look at it for a few minutes while other students go with their pieces, and then when it's your turn, you sight read it on you instrument: piano, guitar, voice, whatever. It was intimidating but all the professors and students are very nice. Again, the French language makes everything more difficult, but little by little it's coming. Tomorrow I have my voice lesson with my professor, Caroline Dumas. I go for an hour and then I stay and watch other students for about 2 more hours.

You can see in my schedule that I joined a community Chorale at la Cité International Universitaire. We have a concert in about a month. We're working on some lively music, including several waltzes, and opera choruses from La Traviata and Die Fledermaus. The director is very good, and I'm understanding him more and more. There are people of all ages 20's and 30's mostly) and all nationalities in the chorale. It's been a nice experience so far.

A lot's happened this week! I'm still enjoying myself so much!

Propedeutique

Last Sunday I went to a concert at la cite international universitaire in the German House. A baritone was presenting Schubert's Winterreise and... it was terrible. First of all he had a voice that wasn't all that good, with lots of intonation issues that were not helped by his attempts to hold back for dramatic effect. Speaking of dramatic- he was. He was crouching on the floor letting out his shoulder length hair, then he was on the piano- yes, ON the PIANO, then sitting on the edge of the stage. He had these weird pictures projected behind him, including one of a headless dead pigeon. Weird. Perhaps I'll have better luck in the future.

This week we had 2 hours of our Propedeutique, or French language class, every day. I like my teacher, and even though it was tedious at times I think it helped me. I'm getting used to the walk to IES. I'm not sure how long it is but I'd estimate between .5 and 1 mile. It takes me about 15 minutes at a good pace. It was very cold this week, and it rained a few times- not pleasant. The walk has allowed me to get to know the neighborhood a bit better. There is a Franprix right across the street for groceries, and a Tabac store for stamps and transportation passes. At the end of the street is a quick sandwich shop that has delicious Greek sandwiches. The other day I got a crepe there- my first crepe off the street in Paris. It was so good! I'm getting proficient with the metro and the other modes of transportation.

The classes I will be taking at IES are: Theater, Modern Art, Phonetics, and my Language and Culture class. Not too stressful, but should keep me interested. Modern Art will be a new experience for me.

I have my placement audition at L'Ecole Normale de Musique (ENM) on Tuesday afternoon. I have Tuesday and Thursday afternoons free so hopefully that is when I can take my music class(es).

Tonight I went to a play that was directed by the professor of the theater class (a very young woman, seemed to be still in her 20's). It was about a man who had had 5 wives, all of whom had died. A new woman comes into his life as a secretary (or something) and he marries her. He had a crazy daughter, too. I'm not sure of all the details of the plot and I understood little of the dialogue (missed a few jokes, I think) but I got the gist.

So all in all, a good week. My French is improving. I still have so far to go, obviously. Sometimes I feel like if I have to say one more word in French I might burst into tears. But it passes. My family continues to me nice. They are fun to talk to and I enjoy the nights that we have dinner all together.

That's all for now.
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