Paris: Round 1

I woke up this morning to the smell of freshly baked croissants, which proved to be a tasty, yet filling meal that prepared me well for my journey into Paris that day. My peers and I ventured into Paris via the RER public transit system, which took us all the way from the St. Germain station to LaDefense station. From the LaDefense station, we walked up into the daylight and took in the sight of the Arche de Triomphe against the morning fog. The Arche de Triomphe is a tribute to those who fought and died during the French revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. The names of the generals and the sites of key military victories are inscribed all around the exterior of the arche. The Arche is also the site of the tomb for unknown soldiers, which consists of an eternal flame that resides beneath the arche. From there we made out way to the Latin Quarter and explored the Pantheon, the Luxembourg Gardens, and a handful of other sites before we arrived at the Notre Dame and the “love locks” bridge before we hopped back on the RER and made out way to St. Germain.

Upon returning home I found out that today out that Jan 6th is the feast of the epiphany. It is the day the three wise men or three kings came to visit the infant Jesus after his birth, a time of celebration. For every French person, the Epiphany is synonymous with the “galette des rois”, a wafer king cake which is eaten ceremoniously a few days before and after 6 January. Since the 14th century, 6 January is the day in France to “tirer les rois” (decide who is the king of the day as in the three kings). A porcelain or earthenware figurine (a charm, called “la fêve” in French) or a broad bean, is placed in a traditional flat cake called “galette” whose round shape symbolises the sun. The “Galette des Rois” is made of flaky puff pastry layers and filled with a dense centre of frangipane. The youngest member of the family goes under the table to distribute the slices to the different people sitting around the table. The person who finds the lucky charm in their slice of ‘galette’ becomes the king (or queen) of the day.

Au Revoir Detroit!!

Everyone was on time and security was an absolute breeze. However, we now have more time to spare than anyone could ask for as we wait outside our gate for the boarding call. From there we have an 8-hour flight to Amsterdam, where we’ll have a brief layover for a bit over an hour, and then a quick 80-minute flight from Amsterdam to Paris. We’ve got our fingers crossed that there will be a decent in-flight movie!

T-Minus 156 Hours (6.5 days)!!!!

In just a few days, I will meet up with Emily, Lily, Rebecca, and Professor Cox at Detroit Metro Airport where we will board a plane in the early evening and will begin our journey to Noisy-le-Roi, France. I feel that it would be an understatement to say that I am excited, because I have been thinking about this adventure non-stop since before finals week. I’ve been dealing with an avalanche of questions since our January 4th from Detroit Metro Airport is now on the immediate horizon. I’ve been juggling a handful of seemingly simple, yet important, thoughts over the past couple days such as: what will my host family be like; will my non-existent understanding of the French language set me back; will the students understand the purpose of the lessons that I teach; and what will I forget to pack! As of right now, all of these worries are beyond my control except for the last one, but I’m not too worried about leaving anything behind…as long as it’s not my gift for my host family!

Developing and Tweaking My American Material Culture Lesson

While in Noisy-le-Roi, I will teach a lesson on American Culture, which I had a hard time drafting because I honestly have no idea what non-Americans would find interesting about our culture. Naturally, I wanted to test the waters and figure out what my future students might find interesting. I asked Valérie, my host-mother, to ask her four children what they would like to learn more about. Here are some of the general topics and themes that Valérie relayed back to me:

— Is there a fashion phenomenon in the States like in France? (French teenagers judge a lot others upon the the clothes that they wear.
— Are uniforms compulsory in all private american schools?
— What are americans favorite sports?
— What style of music do american teenagers listen to?
— Do you have any canteens in schools in witch they served complete meals? (Starter, main course and dessert)
— How are the american schools in the states? (architecturally)
— How are the kids punished at schools?
— What main languages do kids learn at schools? (French? Spanish?…)
— What are there compulsory languages taught schools?
— How many hours of class do you have each day, and at what time do kids finish school?
— How long last your vacations?
— What do americans think about french people?

Meeting My Host Family!

I had the pleasure of finding an email from my host, Ms. Valérie Courcoux, in my inbox earlier today! Valérie and her four children (Juliette, Pauline, Alexis, and Antoine) graciously opened their doors and invited me to live with them for the two weeks that I will be in studying in Noisy-le-Roi. Ms. Courcoux expressed an overwhelming amount of hospitality in her email, which I feel is an extension of the genuine good will that her entire family shares. Ms. Courcoux made sure to warn me about Boogy, their two-year old German shepherd. I fully understand why she felt the need to forewarn me, but I quelled her fears when I told her about Duggan, the Australian shepherd that my parents and I adopted nearly three years ago. All in all, I am more than excited for this unique educational and cultural learning experience to begin!