56, rue de Passy. This academic nook tucked away in the shade of an old courtyard in the 16th, is home for the students at NYU Paris in more than one way. The beautiful maison has an air of comfort to it that coaxes students to stay beyond the hours of their normal courses. Often you can see friends sharing a sandwich in what was likely the old dining room downstairs, checking their mailboxes in the front entranceway or congregating around the bistro tables outside. Job postings, cultural events and other news is posted on the walls so that at times one can go days without seeing the paint in certain areas. The small staff and close quarters create an intimate atmosphere in which students develop a comfortable base. Although it certainly is the exact opposite of our metropolis of a campus back in New York, the NYU Paris building is as close to home as it gets for some students.
This monday, the regular class schedule commenced. My day began with Theater Workshop at 14:00. Professor Cecile Cotte leads the Theater Workshop and Acting French courses, both of which come together at the end of the semester for a final performance of "Simone de Beauvoir". Her genuine love of theater radiates whenever she speaks of the stage. Actually, the piece that we're performing was created by Cecile. The play is a montage of Beauvoir's memoirs as well as many love letter written over the course of her life.
The Theater Workshop is held in Salle 6, the largest room in the NYU Paris center. The eight of us who registered to take the course come from all different backgrounds, not all dramatic. From the few morsels of information Cecile was able to divulged about the show, it appears she'll be able to put all of our different talents to use. Percussion, hula-hooping, acting, dancing, singing, piano...no gift will go unused! As I'm sure you could understand, there are mixed feelings of excitement and fear regarding our future stardom. I will certainly keep you updated on the development of our production as the weeks pass.
At 16:00, it was time for Intensive Intermediate French. The spirited Nadine Airut directs this language course as well as another class entitled "French Through Song". Nadine was my grammar professor during the preliminary course. I'm so glad to have her as an instructor for the rest of the semester. She focuses heavily on the practicality of what we learn. The grammar and vocabulary that we study relates directly to our current lives in Paris instead of resting stagnantly on the pages of an outdated textbook. In fact, our vocabulary list is rather makeshift. As we speak about our weekends, our friends, places we've visited and foods we've tried, Nadine writes down the words she feels are imperative for us to remember. A secretary in the class copies down Nadine's notes and the following day we review the list as a whole. It's our responsibility as a class to choose what words we feel will be beneficial and the rest we discard. In my opinion, it's a very democratic process.
Today, Fat Tuesday, we attended French class again. Intensive Intermediate French is named such for a reason. It's intense! My classmates and I must be in language class four times a week for a total of six hours. To be honest, it doesn't seem too tedious having French class that frequently. I suppose it might be a bit too early to make that judgment though.
Let's see, tomorrow is Intensive Intermediate French and European Cinema. More updates to follow...enjoy!