Tour of the Hostel and Sad Attempts at Opening a Suitcase

Postcard from Paris #1- Tour of a Hostel

A bunch of the NYU kids thought that the school would dump us in a place that is typically associated with the word "hostel," but the FIAP was really nice!

Postcard from Paris #2- Unwrapping a Suitcase

Sarah, hope you're entertained.

First Week in Review

January 17, 2014

Bonjour!

Do I look French yet? Non? Like a creepy man? Ok...

Miss you guys!!

It is almost the end of welcome week. There is a walking tour tomorrow, but I have survived my “first week at school.” At this point, it feels more like camp then school, but I’m sure that feeling will pass as soon as the classes begin and the homework towers higher than the Tour Eiffel (which is viewable from métro line 6 to get to le fac, the campus). I've also more permanently settled into the HOMESTAY (YES!!) that I was assigned to two days ago. I'm living in a little old couple's apartment in Boulogne, a suburb right outside of Paris. They're kind, and I've had dinner with them for the past two nights. They speak English well, but I seriously need to work on my French. Classes can't start soon enough. 

My room in the hostel, shared with 3 other NYU students. I'll take pictures of the current room I'm staying in soon. The décor is rather interesting...

This past week, I’ve learned

-Saying bonjour is a must upon entering a store
-Say bonsoir to greet people at night

-I have the French speaking abilities of a hearing-impaired three year old (since I have to ask everyone to repeat everything about 3 times, and by then, they usually just switch to English...I can speak even less than I can understand)

-How to properly cut my food (flip the fork over and down; don’t rest the knife completely across the plate)

-The English (and I guess Americans) talk about the weather; the French talk about food

-America truly reigns as technology king. To quote an orientation leader, “The French are about 80 years behind, technologically,” and apparently google.fr is lacking compared regular google.

-The French are not afraid to immediately share their political views. I watched a segment of a satire about François Hollande last night with my host mom. 

-Most universities here don’t have campuses (but some try)

            -University of Paris 7 used to be an old flour factory

-Food is so much fresher

-Dogs are allowed in stores and everywhere

-The métro runs quickly, smoothly, and quietly, but there are times when it completely stops and an announcement blares, telling everyone to get off

-When English is announced, it’s with a British accent

-New York is 50 x easier to navigate than France. The streets are winding and form circles. Paris is shaped like a spiral snail shell made up of arrondissements. 

 Vocab of the week:

“Pardon” (necessary to get off the métro)

It gets this crowded. Also the doors are not automatic. To get on or off, you have to turn a lever.

“Fous-moi la paix” (the host people were semi-jokingly arguing and this was explained to me)- leave me alone/bug off /go away

“Accueil” (still can’t pronounce correctly)- reception

Other random pictures that I didn't know where else to put in this post:

View before getting onto the métro at Passy (school)

University of Paris 7