Strike that!

So do you really want to hear how my classes went this week?  Probably not in great detail...it's school.  Anyway, Monday I had three classes from 12:30 to 5:30. (Monday/Wednesday IES classes are the same, and Tues/Thurs are the same- no IES classes Friday!)  First Art and Architecture from the Middle Ages to 1715.  The teacher is a really cute older woman, who wore the same sweater for the first two classes.  It looks like it has skittles down the front because there are multicolored buttons. She obviously loves what she does, thus it makes everything else that much more interesting.  We watched a video on the different kinds of gothic structures and she was almost jumping up and down at certain points because it was so interesting or something really important about the precise structure of the edifice. Then...History of French Cinema.   I wish I had  taken cinema classes in the past. I see why my cousin loves what he does, and what he studies. The professor used to direct documentaries on art and museums.  Basically we watched movies and discussed the evolution of cinema.  How awesome is that!  

Lastly, I had Women in French Literature.  Well... not so cool. Let's put it this way: The first day there were about 20 people in the class.  On Wednesday there were 8 left.... I think that the high-pitched sound of her voice knocked out about 5 people, the subject matter knocked out 4, and her opening speech criticizing the American university system knocked out the rest.  

My Tues/Thurs classes start at 9 which means I have to get up at 7... haven't done that in forever so it killed me this week.  My first class is Translation (from English to French).  It is the same prof as my grammar thingy which is great. Then I have a peachy little break to bum around and eat, then at 12:30 course 2 of the day starts: Paris Francophone, which is really interesting.  We learn about the diverse groups of people and problems that have occurred in Paris with immigration and such.  It is a huge thing here: xenophobia.  

I doubt any of you know, but I am currently in Paris during a unique period.  Remember those strike things?  Universities love strikes.  Usually it is the students who start the strikes, for whatever they want.  They block the school, stage protests in the street, riot, destroy stuff, try to get at the police, and so on...  That would never fly in the US.  But here it is "normal."  Anyway, this period of strikes is different.  It is not just the students who are protesting and walking out, etc.  The big part of the strike is by.... the professors!  Therefore, most classes at universities such as the Sorbonne, are canceled or will probably be canceled soon.  The professors either cancel them and refuse to teach until they their needs are met or they can't teach because the students and riots prevent them from getting into the buildings.  This has screwed over so many American students, French too but obviously we are not here for long and if all of your classes are canceled while you are abroad...how do you get credit at home??  Or even some of the classes....we don't exactly plan on these things in the months of academic preparation before our study abroad departure.  A lot of people are having to make a hasty plan B...

Police are everywhere around the universities.  Waiting for a toe to step out of line...  

However, my external course, Introduction to Judaism, was to be at Institut Catholique de Paris, which is a private school so it does not normally have strikes.  So I was good!  Wrong....  Last night, I went out with a bunch of friends in my program (from Depaul).  We were talking about our external courses, and I mentioned that I was excited about my class, Intro to Judaism. But then.... "You know that's canceled, right?"  WHAT!  I did not know that, no one told me, and that was pretty much the only class that fit into my already packed schedule. Later, I did receive an email about this event, but as of that point I had heard nothing. (Apparently the class was not supposed to be listed for the second semester.  It was accidentally printed in the brochure.  Thank you very organized French university system.) One of the girls had the external course packet so I hastily started looking through it for a replacement.  I found: Medieval History.  It also had a section on Thursday at 3:30 (today) and then the main course met on Fridays, but every other one, so that didn't sound to bad.  After my classes today, I meander down to rue d'Assas, where my class is to be held.  I find the classroom and sit outside and wait 3:15 ...and wait 3:28.  The class in the room is still going, full steam ahead.  3:40...nothing.  There was a French student sitting up in the annex waiting for a class as well, so I asked her if she knew what was going on.  She was waiting on something else, but we verified the classroom.  I was definitely in the right place.  She told me I should go down to administration to see what was going on.  So I did... they looked it up on the computer...no course listed for today... they kept looking, and finally te woman called some unknown higher official.  After ten seconds or so and a lot of "D'accord, d'accord, oh ok, oui."  She hung up.  This is what she told me:  they rearranged the entire history department hours and class scheduling so there is no more TD section on Thursdays.  She kindly told me, I would have to reformat my entire schedule to fit these changes.  I told her that I was a foreign student (duh) and it was my only course at ICP.  Thus, I was informed that I should go look at the sheets outside one of the offices to view the changes.... Lovely.  Luckily, I can still be in the class, because there are sections on Tuesdays.  I missed the first two, but oh well... Tomorrow is the first course, and unless the pope cancels it, or the university decides to continue it's French form of management, the class will take place.  

Moral of the story:  I am exhausted, and so glad that I go to school in the US.  

and zee grèves continue...