when the café is your classroom
- Mads
- Feb 2, 2017
- 4 min read
Putting the Study in Study Abroad y’all, it’s time to finally address academics! Today was super exciting because I have three long classes on Thursdays and I was expecting to be totally drained, but we actually spent more time roaming Aix than sitting in the classroom so it was really engaging!
In FRE 202, we started class by going over vocabulary concerning restaurants, cafés, and the general ordering of food (très important!!). But then our prof Estelle announced that we were going to visit un café, maintenant (RIGHT NOW)! She lead us down the stairs, out of our building and down the winding cobble-stone streets of Aix. We walked for about 5 minutes and arrived at un salon du thé (like a café but for tea I suppose idk..) called House of Cookies so of course I was pumped. She told us she already made a reservation with the shop owner for us and we could all order a drink to practice our vocabulary, and IAU would pay for it! Everything in Aix feels tiny and this shop was no exception, so we filed in and immediately filled the space, sitting in a circle formation. The walls were covered with quirky signs and paintings and figurines, all with sayings in English! The shop owner bounced up to us with a huge smile and explained how she “adore les États-Unis” (loves the United States yay!) and then proceeded to describe the menu. Of course, I was hooked when I heard her describe “Chocolat chaud maison” which is like a hot chocolate made from scratch so I ordered that in my best little French accent and Y’ALL this stuff was like a straight liquid chocolate bar. Incredible, wow the French really know their chocolate let me tell ya. So the morning went on and Estelle had us practice role play with different situations regarding ordering food to-go, making reservations, asking for no whip, and does this come in chocolate? Etc.
Later, back in the classroom she asked if anyone had any general questions about French culture or lifestyle and you know ya girls got questions. So in perfect French (lol) I fumbled my way through “Nous pouvons pratiquer un bisous..?” which sort of means “We can practice a kiss?” haha and what I meant by that was "please prof explain the greeting kiss thing that French people do because it kind of terrifies me." And I was thinking like next week she would mention something… or like she could shoot me a link to a youtube video (check below) but no, instead she promptly pulled me out of my chair and told the whole class that “Maddie a demandé à pratiquer le baiser!” like I demanded to practice kissing or something! :(( She proceeded to grab my shoulders and in rapid French described how in the South we kiss twice, on the right cheek then the left. You have to make the sound and your cheeks HAVE to touch v important but your lips don’t actually make contact with their face.. like I said: terrifying. And then she made us all PARTNER UP AND PRACTICE LOL we were all so awkward and stiff about it and I think I said “désolé” (sorry) more than anything HAH when Maddie tries to be a good student. #justFrenchschoolthings :)) basically this was my class today:
yep :))
My last class of the day, BUS 307, a whopping three hour chunk of “Luxury Brand Management and Sustainable Fashion” I’m always super excited for because duh but today was even more exciting because our prof Sam ALSO decided it was field trip day. We were in the middle of discussing what defines a product, a brand, an experience as luxury… when Sam announced, in her charming British accent that "we might as well go ‘ave a look shall we?” and she marched us all the way across town to the Queen of all luxury, the ever-intimidating Hermès (which I’m still not super confident on how to pronounce). We piled into to the pristine store and Sam explained to the employees that we were a class studying luxury and could you please give us a brief history perhaps of the brand for the sake of knowledge! But the manager looked panicked and pointed out that a client was coming soon for their appointment and if we wanted our time in the store we would have to make an appointment as well. Ah what luxury! So we continued on our way as Sam pointed out 400€ sweaters and leather bags in shop windows as we passed the nicer shops of Aix-en-Provence. Lastly, she brought us to a fancy parfumerie and this shop keeper was eager to show us all the scents that the brand offered. She described “Le citron et la pomme et l'orange” and passed samples around our group. I still have the fruity scent on me right now wow it was transcendent. The scents seemed to whisk you off to seaside gardens full of tropical fruit and warm woodsy forests with almonds and pine. (I might be kind of making up these exact ingredients but yeah you get the idea). Anyways, when we got back to the classroom we finished up our notes about the importance of experience, and how luxury is actually very personal, interpretive, and unique to each person.
Today was a luxury experience for me. This semester is a luxury, shout out to my parents for supporting my in my time abroad and encouraging me in my pursuit of a new culture and a broadened perspective. Classes are going great!!
love, Mads
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