La rentrée!

Monday: Hectic. My first lecture was an advanced class for third year students in the literary analysis of "Les Misérables". Yes, it was interesting. Yes, it was hard. No, I am not going to take it. What I realized was that I had a hard time understanding and taking notes at the same time - when I tried to write down what she was saying, I couldn't pay attention enough to understand, and when I listened carefully, I had a hard time writing fast enough. Furthermore, the students in my study abroad program all missed the date to enroll for our mandatory SLM class (can't remember what the acronym is for, but it's ultimately a continuation of ILP). This was because no one told us a) that we had to enroll ourselves and b) where to enroll. The SLM problem induces a lot of stress because it is a 4-hour long class that we need to plan around, and we can't do that if we don't know which class we're in! Anyway, later in the afternoon, Danielle and I headed over to the Lyon 2 Bron campus (a 30 minute tram ride away from the quai). The campus is a dump - it feels like we walked into a high school that was once used for a 1980s movies and has been neglected ever since. We were so shocked! It is the complete opposite of the campus on the quai, a campus with beautiful, big buildings that probably date back hundreds and hundreds of years. However, the class we took at Bron (Traduction Litteraire) was much more interesting. It was smaller and our first lesson consisted of a lengthy introduction and a few English to French text translation exercises. Class ended at 6 in the evening and it took a good 15 minutes to get on a tram because they were just too full!

Campus "Quad" - looks like an 80s high school, right?

An attempt to show how packed the tram is after classes
and a girl who was more than happy to be in my picture

Tuesday: My morning started with "Methodologie Universitaire", essentially a freshmen seminar aimed to help first year college students succeed in the College of Letters by teaching them proper note-taking skills and writing strategies. It was a little slow, but I'll be taking it in order to fill one of the requirements for my French minor at Davis. After, I went to "Sémiotique: Langage, Codes, et Signes", a first year level lecture. The professor lectured the whole class without a powerpoint, but occasionally wrote important points on the board. It's going to take getting used to - I've always been accustomed to powerpoints or lesson plans written out in full on the board! It was relatively interesting, but wasn't quite what I was looking for in terms of classes. The last class on my list was "Lectures Critiques", which is a third year level seminar that focuses on literary analysis of selected readings. However, the professor never showed up! So after 20 minutes, the 8 of us that showed up left. Apparently, an email had been sent out to all the registered students, but since the abroad students aren't registered in classes yet (we're allowed to shop around the first two weeks and ask the teacher to sign off on an enrollment form if we like the class), we didn't know!

Wednesday: I started off my morning by enrolling in sports - yes, you need to "enroll" in sports here. I had to go to the quai's welcome office for a form, fill that out, take it to another office on campus to get it approved and pay, then go to the Bron campus to register! I was lucky though, I didn't have to wait in any lines this morning (some of the abroad students I knew waited 2+ hours just to register before being turned away since they didn't have the proper forms). Guess what I registered for! Beginner Salsa Dancing! I don't even really know what salsa dancing is, but it sounded fun so I went for it. Hopefully, Danielle will be in the same class too!

Thursday: At 8am, I had SLM. It wasn't as boring as I anticipated - it was nice to have a class that was meant for international students. However, I was the only American in the class of 35 which was a little surprising! Nonetheless, the professor and the students all seem friendly so we'll see how it goes. After SLM was out at noon, I was free for the afternoon!

Friday: No class!

The only thing I can't stand about being in a French university is the heating and cooling system. French classrooms are so darn hot and muggy, it's gross. For some reason, the windows are only opened a crack and the doors are usually kept shut - there is absolutely no ventilation! The lecture hall where "Sémiotique: Langage, Codes, et Signes" was could have been considered a borderline steam sauna, it was awful.

Anyway, so week one down! I have three out of the four classes I need. Next week, I'll work on getting my fourth class approved!