Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Two Days in the Life of...

I need two days in the life of Emily to show you my life from Monday to Friday. They're all very interesting days, so I'm sure you'll enjoy them (only a tiny little bit of sarcasm).

Day One (Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays)
These days depend on what I'm doing in the mornings. For instance tomorrow morning I have a trip to the Louvre, a meeting, and an absentee ballot to send before class.

Wake up at 930. Putter around the apartment and get breakfast. The hot water in my apartment didn't work from the day I got here until Thursday, but I assume I'll be taking a shower this time now.

Either eat lunch in my room while doing homework, reading, or playing on the computer.

At 2 I pack all my bags and get ready for class. I leave around 230 for class at the Sorbonne. I have a four block walk to the metro and I have to change lines once so my whole trip takes me 35 minutes.

At 3:30 I have phonetiques. This class ends this week (it was only for one month) and I've got a test sometime soon. The teacher is really nice and we shift from a classroom to a audio room to half way through. In the second half of the class we tape ourselves talking and listen to our mistakes.

From 4:30 to 5 we have a break. During this time I've discovered a great little chocolate store. It has really bad sandwiches but amazing rice cake. It's two euro for a big gooey slice of amazingness. I've also grabbed coffee with Bridget and often do some homework.

From 5 to 650 I have my French grammar class. My teacher is pretty attactive and all the boys drool over her. However, I got frustrated with her today because yesterday we have aquiz where we wrote 200 words imaging who this girl was and her likes, etc. I had 10 mistakes (out of 203 words) and got a 5 out of 10. The girl behind me had 27 mistakes and got a 7 out of 10. Ugh!

From 650 to 730 I run home to grab dinner with my family (we eat together Monday-Thursday). We always have four course meals and I love it. The French ALWAYS have dinner at home with their family and I think Americans should pick up on it. These dinners are relaxing and a great way of winding down and sharing your day with each other. I've finally started speaking some French with my family and they're very helpful.

After dinner I'm told to go to my room... This is aparently common because every other student says the same thing. So from 830 to bedtime I'm hauled up in my room. Once again, this is a great time for homework, chatting, and reading.

I usually hit the sack 11-12.

Day two (Tuesdays and Thursdays)

720 wake up. Then I grab breakfast and get ready.

I run out the door at 805 sharp. Today was an utter mess! My train stopped between stations and went completely dark for two minutes. Then I get off on the wrong stop and get on the wrong train (thinking I'm going to the Sorbonne instead of the Accent Center). I eventually figure everything out but I was 20 minutes late to class (first time being late). I usually get there 5 minutes early.

From 9-11 I have Islam in France. This class is really interesting and we've discussed immigration in France and what it means to be French, etc. Fascinating. I learned a new fact today too! Did you know that in Britain, Italians were put in internment camps during WW1? Weird.

From 11 to 130 I have a break. I usually grab lunch (most often a chicken baguette, a soda, and a chocolate cookie for 6.55 euro). Then I usually do some homework and chat with people.

From 130 to 3 I have Paris Culture and Civilization. It's an interesting class and I like the professor, but some of the stuff he says just throws me. He's a literature major from Cornell but he says it's okay to cite Wikipedia on our paper and he didn't read one book before assigning it.

From 3 to 330 I rush to Phonetiques.

The rest is described in the first day.

There are plenty of variances. Usually there's one day where some friends and I go to a bar and have a drink or two. We also usually have lunch on one of the days we don't have class until 330. Weekends vary a bunch!


The Attractive French TeacherWhat's wrong with this picure? Look closely. It's an advertisement all over the metro.
Bridget. We're becoming close friends. Notice the legs.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

is your teacher wearing fur boots?

Emily McKnight said...

they're actually big ankle socks...

come on, can NO ONE see what's wrong with the picture?

Ally Tong said...

1. you use the word "amazingness" for half of the foods you eat. especially when they're gooey.

2. you used 9-11 in the same sentence with Islam. Clearly you are a terrorist.

3. I'd like to point out that I got the misplaces mole within the first seconds of looking at the photo.

Anonymous said...

Ur days seem to have a good balance between work and relaxation...I'm happy ur meeting lots of nice people...