Paris Day 4: Mon premiere cours en Francais

First day of French class at Lutece Langue. I walk, since it's just a few blocks ... quicker to walk than change metro stations, especially with the stairs! It's very cold in the morning, and while I'm enjoying my hat and gloves, I wish I'd have brought a heavier coat. Then again, when I get to school, I have to peel off the layers as soon as I enter the building, since by then I'm starting to glisten.

Class is small and informal. Christine is the teacher ... medium-ish everything: height, weight, hair, etc. But she's very animated, in a style tres Parisienne. It's pretty easy to understand when she speaks French, because she gestures a lot, and speaks more slowly, and pronounces words more distinctly than the general Parisian. The class reminds me a lot of when Francesca taught my beginning Italian class at UCI. We try not to speak English at all, and there is lots of participation.

The class is small ... 4-7 people depending on the day of the week, and time slot. I'm in the intensive program, so I take 3 hours every weekday. I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but by 1215, I'm ready to be done. The other people in the class ...

Diana, from Texas. Retired teacher (of what I don't know). She's probably in her mid-60's. Feminist, as I later found out. Has been staying with her sister in Paris for 2 months now, and decided it was time to learn some French. She's lived in Europe and the Middle East, in what she describes as her hippy days. I would never have thought it, since she appears to be a trim little grandmother-type who's come to Paris for a two week vacation. She is a total eager beaver, and tends to dominate class time, although with lots of bonhomie.

Maria and Cayo are mother and son from Brazil. They are in Paris for an extended time because the father of the family is working here for a while. They frequently lapse into Portuguese since Maria tends to have a difficult time picking up French. It's interesting to listen, because I can pick up tendrils of their chatter since Portuguese is a cousin to Spanish.

Amanda is from Australia, and seems to also be on extended vacation in Paris. From what I can gather, she's been to Italy on this same trip, and has family scattered all over the world. I'm jealous that she has a credit card with a chip, and can use the city rental bicycles, eventhough the walk to school is quite pleasant. If pressed, I'd guess she's in her mid to late twenties. I think her pronunciation is the best, although she often gets stuck for a word, and clucks her tongue until she can find other words to describe the one she's searching for. She uses her imagination when we have to make up situation dialogues, and makes me laugh.

Jason is from somewhere in the states, and seems to be a yoga-inspired kind of guy. Very tanned. Fit. Wears loose/flowy pants. I had no idea that Paris would be the kind to attract serious yoga practitioners for extended visits, but one never knows. I'd put him at mid-twenties. Aside from Diana, Jason is the most vocal, and although his pronunciation isn't as good at Amanda's, he does pretty well.

Veronica is another US expat. Don't know a lot about her, since she's been ill recently, and has missed a lot of classes.

After class, I stopped by the nearby H&M, ostensibly to get another shirt for dancing (who knew there would be so much of it?), and ended up getting a smart belted jacket as well. Of course, it would have been better to get a warmer one than the one I brought with me, but all the clothes in the stores are focused on resort-wear, despite the frigid temperatures. Also stopped by a large department store (CBH? everything from fashion to hardware) to get a folder and hole punch to organize my class handouts. We don't use a single text book, but zeroxed handouts that we're given daily. On the one hand, it's nice not to have to pay for a book, on the other hand, it would have been nice to have a reference book. I still say it's a shame that dad tossed out JLITH's beginning French textbook, especially since there are so many other things that I wish he would toss out instead.

I also stopped at a bakery to get a fresh baguette to eat with my cheese. Shall I jsut say that fresh bread deserves a moment of silence ...

Back at the apartment, I started a spreadsheet to track my expenses. Whew, the money goes fast, especially since the dollar is so down. All I can say is huzzah for no foreign transaction fees on my credit card, and all that overtime I did the last few months.

And also huzzah for free WiFi. Was able to chat wih Wry-an and Perky for a bit.