Written Expression - Monday, 3 to 5 PM - This class is exactly what it sounds like. Written. Expression. We write and talk about writing in French. The plus side is that the professor will read over any papers we turn in here and critique them for us. That's about it, think an intense grammar and writing class.
Hell, Paradise: A History of Man - Tuesday, 11 to 3 PM - Yeah, that's a four hour class. The professors switch out after two hours - so from 11 to 1 we study modern interpretations of Hell and Heaven (although, since we're studying the modern period, it's admittedly mostly Hell). Professor 1 is... interesting. Last class he was wearing a quilted, army-green onesie that zipped up the front. I've never been so worried a zipper was going to fail. Another class he was wearing leather pants, which I'm just not used to professors wearing. He's a lot of fun though; I think I like him because he's a) interesting and b) talking about the history of literature I'm interested in anyway. But we're reading Rimbaud and Artaud for his part of the class. Professor 2 for this class, from 1 to 3 PM is a lot less exciting and does ancient interpretations of Heaven and Hell. Sometime in the 12th century, they rewrote the Aeneid in French. So we're reading part of that. It took me a long time to figure out who Eneas was (pronounced with a French accent, it's understandable).
Discovering Opera - Tuesday, 4 to 7 PM - I love this class. We watch operas and discuss them. Love! Later we're going to the factory where they make the costumes for the local opera festival every summer.
Fundamental French Texts - Wednesday, 3 to 5 - Only two hours! Holy crap! What a short class! We're reading Baudelaire right now, the professor is great but hard to understand (for a non-French speaker). This is the first class I learned a rule of being a foreign student in France - never admit to knowing what a professor is talking about. The professor asked who knew Dos Passos and I tentatively raised my hand. His first response, "Well of course, you're an anglophone..." made me smile, his second, "Well, why don't you explain it to the class?" just terrified me. So again, never admit to knowing anything in a French class. Ever.
Stories of Real and Imaginary Voyages - Thursday, 8 to 12 - Another two professor class. The first professor is really really boring. We're reading Terre Australe Connue (Australia... known? As in discovered?) which is from the 1600s and really difficult and boring. So that's exciting. The second professor is much better, and very nice. And she's very tuned in to the "confused anglophone" face and somehow always knows when she needs to write a word on the board. She's doing the "real" voyages part of the class, although I'm not entirely sure if that's true because we started with Bergerac's Voyage to the MOON. Which is entirely unreal. So I'm not entirely sure how the class is split up, since at the moment it seems like entirely imaginary voyages, but we're beginning real ones soon.
Faux-class for Foreign Students - Friday, 10 to 12 - this class is with the same professor who is teaching the Fundamental French Texts class. It's basically "all those books French kids read in high school and you didn't." There are no tests or essays, just reading and talking, which is a relief.
There you have it. I AM doing work here.
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