arrêtez, vous êtes fous // stop, you're crazy

Looking through my entries, I've noticed that everything is either a "France is great!" post or a "France is ridiculous...but in a funny way!" post. It was definitely a conscious decision on my part to keep it that way. Sure, I blog for you guys, but I am also writing for me. I want to reread this when I am old, want to be able to say, "Ah...those were the days!" When my memory is gone, I want to read about happy things, not moments of frustration that are no longer important.

So yeah, I want to romanticize Paris. I want to keep your visions of it--those of who have not visited--pure and untainted. To those who have been here and who have truly found it to be the City of Lights and Love, I want to bring back your sense of nostalgia. Besides, no one likes a complainer (I admit to bristling a bit when my parents were here and complained of the differences). Sure, there's dog shit everywhere and everything is three times smaller, but the good far outweighs the bad, and what you view as "inferior" is often just a different way of thinking.

All that said, I thought I'd give you a bit of insight to the French university system. After much thought, it saddens me to say that the only positive thing that I can take from it is that it really teaches you to be self-driven and independent--you have no other choice. You either do what you think you need to, or you fail. Since the university system is such an essential component of study abroad (at least for my program), I thought I'd say something about it. Just some thoughts to keep in mind for those who might be planning to come here to study in the future.

(Why yes, this is related to an important decision that I have recently made. But my reasons for that are my own--even though I guess I'm effectively explaining them here--and I could care less what anyone thinks or what judgments they might pass on me.)

1. On my first day of class à la fac, I spent close to an hour of a three-hour lecture/discussion walking around with my class because our room was double-booked. And the second place we went to was double-booked. So was the third room, actually, but we got to stay there. But the place we ended up at didn't have enough chairs for one-third of the students.
2. Every time I go to this class now, students still have to go searching for chairs when they arrive.
3. Lecture/discussion is misleading. Professors (often two different ones for each component) lecture at both (and often repeat the material). Students give an exposé once a semester, but otherwise are not expected to talk.
4. Class is often one big three-hour block, once a week. Forget the research that shows how one's attention span only lasts an hour and a half at most. They don't really give a shit whether you absorb the information or not.
5. Actually, they (the teachers, the administration, etc.) don't give a shit, period.
6. The system is designed to let the smart ones pass and the dumb ones fall by the wayside. The teachers themselves aren't going to put in any effort. (On a side note, they are fonctionnaires, so they are guaranteed their jobs for pretty much the rest of their lives. And teacher evaluations don't exist here). They told me that on the first day of orientation.
7. Continuing along the "they don't give a shit" line, I'm pretty sure that only two out of my six teachers know my name. Or even recognize my face. Update: Actually, I take that back. Maybe one teacher knows my name.
   
8. Here, they grade you on the form/method--and how much you can repeat back at them--rather than the ideas. You can't say, "There were debates and the French ended up choosing A, B, and C..." You have to say, "The French first had to decide between A1 & A2. After that, they then moved to decide between B1 and B2..." This is the difference between a 1.5/4 and a 3.5/4. You don't get a 4/4 here in France.
9. There is often a big disconnect between what you are supposed to be able to do and what you can actually do. This is probably due to the bureaucracy, but also especially prevalent in what the program tells you while you are in the States and the reality of the program in France. "Take any classes you want? No, we meant, 'take whatever you want given these conditions...'" And while they are at it, they will also act surprised when you confront them about grades for things you were never told was going to be graded.
10. "Oh! By the way, there are also random expenses that we didn't tell you about." But that's okay, it's not like they knew we were international students. Or that they knew these things were required or anything.
11. Libraries here open for a very small set of hours. The circulation system is a nightmare. And you are way out of luck if you need to pee. For some reason, I can't seem to let this go.

Yeah, yeah, I could suck it up. But those who know me know that I chose to go to a liberal arts college. I did that for a reason: namely, to avoid everything that I just listed above. I don't think that this makes me a spoiled bitch.

I also know that all education does not happen in the classroom. But I'm often too busy doing schoolwork to go out and about. And Parisians are a notoriously reserved lot--you can't get to know them unless you put in a significant amount of effort and time.

And finally, the thing that galls most of all?

12. Parisians pay 300 Euro a year for this university system of theirs. My price tag is $43,000.

Actually, it's more than that now that the dollar is so weak. I'm not paying full price (fortunately), but still. Remember how I paid 90 Euro for that stamp a while back? That is almost 1/3 of the annual tuition fee for the French. For what I'm paying, I'd like to get a little bit more, please.