Day 4: La deuxieme jour des cours / The 2nd Day of Classes

Last night instead of snow, it rained!!! A lot of the snow and ice has melted or washed away. It is much easier to walk and get around in general. On the weather last night, they predicted that there was going to be snow and rain throughout France for the next few days, but right now in Avignon it is sunny.

I had my first class of the day (2nd of the semester) this morning at 9:30 - Art History (Histoire de l'Art du XIX et XX siècle). The professor was very animated and excited about teaching. She was very interesting and engaging, and very helpful in confirming that we understood what she was saying, etc. We learned about different art/painting techniques and the evolution of these techniques - frescos, water colors, oil painting, stamping, etc.

Next, I had my history class: French History from 1945-2000 (L'Histoire de La France: 1945-2000). My first two classes (and most my interactions with adults) were with female professors. This history class was with a male professor who teaches at a local high school and an adult program at the local Avignon University. He was very good, but that class was the more difficult to understand than my first two. It was a lot of information, and we just dove right in. We learned about the circumstances/situation in France in 1945.

Finally, I had my Political Science ("le science po") class about the European Union. This was also taught by a male professor who teaches at the local Avignon University. Like the history class, this class was more difficult to understand and required much attention, which can be quite taxing and tiring. In this class, there were about 15 students in this class, just like the rest of my classes.

I have now had all my classes (all the ones I will be attending until February). I am quite glad that my fifth class doesn't start until later. For my Political Science class, we have two presentations that we have to sign up for - one 5 minute and one 20 minute. I hope to sign up for one of them (and thus present) before my fifth class starts. We'll see if that works out.

I have now changed over my email, my Facebook, and this blog site to be in French. It has been a little difficult at first, but I know where the buttons were when it was in English, so it's helping me learn the same words in French.

Walking back from school today at 6pm (when my last class finished), I had a very minor though exciting experience. I was walking in "the square" (Place de St. Didier) and I overheard part of a conversation (a little boy talking to his mother) and I could understand what he was saying, though I wasn't happy about it (he said that there will be more snow coming.) Nevertheless, I was quite happy that I could understand "real' French speakers.