La Rentrée is the time at the beginning of September when all of Paris returns with bronzed skin to the lovely city in order to go back to school/work as fall settles into the ville. I will have a sort of 3 parts rentrée as I had my first one at the UC center this week, a second one with all the international students next week, and finally the first day of classes at Sciences Po late this month.
Part 1. In keeping with the culture the UC center in Paris provided our first little orientation session Tuesday (I wonder if its an unwritten rule that school cannot commence on a Monday). We, all 20 of the UC kids in the SciencesPo program, were given the dos and don'ts of our time as students here. I am actually really happy to know that we have two very formidable women who seem quite ready to support and work with us in everything from classes to apartment logistics. This happy and reassuring chat was followed by what I will call the 'what have I gotten myself into' time. The "workshop" was led by a PhD canidate at SciencesPo who speaks 5 languages fluently, has written several books, and teaches elective courses at the university. He basically gave us the rundown of the structure of the french system, assignments, grading, professors temperemants, etc. Basically, we have to work our tails off, which is to be expected, as well as being very well informed. He suggested reading several different papers daily and NEVER offer an opinion to a prof. You must present just facts to show what your opinion is during classes and discussions. Then the grading, oh dear. The french scale is from 1 to 20, and the saying in the french system goes something like the smartest pupil achieves an 18, the 19 is for the professor, and 20 goes to God. We were told to be ecstatic if we had the chance to receive a 12.
A couple of us checked out the school grounds yesterday and then had a french snack of bread, cheese, and wine in our lovely hostess' apartment to discuss possible classes and our expectations/worries for next year. It is quite comforting to have a group of kids going through the same craziness as we all start our year here together.
Oh, and while the construction next door has stoppped, it has now started on the other side of my bedroom wall. The building is installing an elevator and I get to hear every lovely moment of this birthing process. At least the construction men occasionally whistle while they are sawing, hammering, and dropping what sounds like tons of metal around the stairwell.
love from the slightly deaf in Paris ; )
xxoo
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