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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