MEMORIES OF DORM LIFE IN PARIS
by Stephanie Korte SLI Paris 2002
About four weeks into our trip, after spending two weeks in the dorms and settling in nicely we were rudely awakened one morning. There were loud voices and heavy footsteps, accompanied by the click, click, click of wheeled suitcases being pulled along the tile floor of the long hallways. This evolved into what seemed incessant knocking on doors and more voices, which after some time, trying to bury my head in my pillow, I decided were speaking German.
Finally, I gave up on sleep and headed to the showers. After getting ready I took my usual route through the courtyard and walked into a large group comprised of strawberry blond girls and bleach-blond guys. They had spread themselves out, filling the tables and covering the stairways, each, it seemed, holding a lit cigarette as their instructor shouted out numbers in French. A bit strange, I thought, but made my way through the group and out the front door to run
errands before class. My initial irritation at having been woken up so early was forgotten...until the next morning.
The weather in Paris, and all of France for that matter, was so nice that I had accustomed myself to sleeping with my windows open wide to the courtyard every night, to let a cool evening breeze into my otherwise un-air-conditioned room. But this next morning I was again awakened by loud voices pouring broken French through my window.
After a couple days of this, almost everyone in the dorms (or at least the Americans) was very rapidly losing patience with our new neighbors. They had disrupted the otherwise normal quiet of our cozy French residence hall!
One day, while going to visit one of my friends, I ran into one of the young German boys. He invited my friend and I to join a few others in the hall's lounge that evening. We were hesitant to accept at first, thinking only of how we would rather strangle them for making so much noise all the time. But our curiosity got the better of us. That night we wandered into the lounge to see many strange new faces. The room became suddenly very quiet and awkward. Luckily, the young seventeen year old who had invited us jumped up and introduced us. It turned
out that most of them knew little to no English and even less French so communicating became somewhat of a game of Pictionary—each of us trying desperately to write out or draw things that we couldn't seem to convey through speech. Marcus, the seventeen year old and youngest member of the group from Germany, was the most fluent in English and served as translator most of the time.
They were very excited to hear us speak English and had many questions for us. Some tried to teach us German words and phrases, laughing at our pronunciation. And we tried to teach them some French and explain the lyrics to an Eminem song that they loved but didn't fully understand.
We met up in the lounge a few more times and now struggled to have conversations when passing each other in the halls. The morning routine continued. Each day they woke me an hour before I wanted to get up. They took their lessons in the courtyard, with loud voices echoing off the walls, chanting French numbers and words in unison. Sometimes I could even pick out the particular voice of one of my new friends. But having put names and faces to the voices took the irritation out of my mornings.
SLI Paris program participants at the Eiffel Tower on Bastille Day (submitted by Stephanie Korte, Paris France)
SUMMER STUDY ABROAD IN FRANCE
The European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France
This summer KU will offer two study abroad opportunities for students wishing to broaden their understanding of French language, culture and civilization. The Summer Language Institute in Paris provides intermediate or advanced students of French the opportunity for students to live and study in the "city of lights" for the summer. Program participants spend the first 11-12 days traveling as a group through Normandy, Touraine, and Poitou in order to become acquainted with three important regions of France and with different styles of French art, culture, and architecture. Students then spend the month of July studying at L'Étoile: Centre de Langue et Vie Françaises, located in the heart of Paris. Classes are taught by highly qualified native French instructors who specialize in teaching French as a foreign language. The program is open to students who have had two semesters of college-level French. Students will receive six hours of intermediate or advanced French credit upon completion of the program.
Advanced French Studies in Strasbourg, France is an intensive summer language institute for students who have completed at least six semesters of college-level French. The program begins with a five-day visit to Paris, where students will have the opportunity to visit many of the major monuments and museums. The stay in Paris is followed by a month of intensive study and site visits in and around the cosmopolitan city of Strasbourg, capital of the Alsace region and seat of the Council of Europe and of the European Parliament. In Strasbourg, students will attend language courses and seminars taught by native French instructors as well as the KU faculty instructor. Seminartopics include Europe and the EU, French regional history (Strasbourg and Alsace), Art History, Francophone literature, French Media and Contemporary French Civilization.
Students will receive six hours of French credit for this program as well.
For students who want to study something other than French, there are several programs located in Paris that are taught in English. The European Business Studies program offers students the opportunity to spend the summer in Paris studying at NEGOCIA, the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry School of Business. Participants will earn six hours of Business or European Studies credit. European Studies in Brussels, Belgium and Paris, France is an intensive two-week seminar designed to give students a first-hand view of the institutions and policies that are molding Europe today as well as a look at the cultural heritage that identifies the two cities. The program can be combined with the European Studies Institute in Budapest, Hungary and Vienna, Austria. 4th year Architecture students also have the opportunity to participate in an Architecture program in Paris, France.
INFORMATION MEETINGS FOR EUROPEAN BUSINESS STUDIES IN PARIS, FRANCE:
WEDNESDAY,FEBRUARY 12
12:00-1:00 IN 514 SUMMERFIELD
THURSDAY,FEBRUARY 13
12:00-1:00 IN 514 SUMMERFIELD
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Jayhawks Abroad