Week 5: Vacation in Germany?

This week was the first of two weeks of autumn break. And as much as I have been traveling through Germany and speaking German with people on Zoom, I sometimes didn't feel like I was living in Paris. By the way, the name of the blog doesn't come from the series 'Emily in Paris', in which I feel like I'm the only person in my circle of friends who hasn't seen it yet! But maybe boredom will strike soon and I can see what this Emily has been up to here.

On Monday, I cooked with pumpkin for the first time this year! Thanks to KptnCook for the amazingly delicious recipe for pumpkin sauce with pasta. In the evening, the remaining pumpkin was baked in the oven á la Art de Felix Noll. In the meantime, on Monday, I was at the Louvre, the most visited museum in the world. In the Louvre Palace, the French kings used to reside in Paris. Since 1793, the palace has housed a publicly accessible museum. Since 1989, the glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre has served as the main entrance to the museum.

I went to the museum without much preparation, as under 26s have free admission. I just wanted to get a first impression and wandered through the exhibitions without a specific goal. I started with statues, whether Roman or ancient, I have no idea. In any case, I felt somehow out of place because I felt like I couldn't appreciate the art enough. At some point, I passed by a statue around which about 30 people were sitting, who were drawing the statue from their own angle on a piece of paper. It was interesting to watch over the shoulder of one or the other person. It got interesting when I reached the reconstructed rooms of Napoleon III. He didn't live too badly!

But what impressed me the most was realistic art. I couldn't tear myself away from the painting by Bellotto for about 20 minutes. Unbelievable how realistic you can paint!

Or here, the mother's hand. It could also be a photo. Fascinating:

Of course, I also saw the Mona Lisa. But she is very small and there was a very long line. When I left the museum, a beautiful evening sky over Paris was waiting for me, and at home, my delicious pumpkin.

On Tuesday morning, I started my day with some yoga, which was really good for me. However, I realized that I was missing a yoga mat and put it on my to-do list for the day. In general, I worked a lot with lists this week because there were many small things I had to do that still took up a lot of time. For the yoga mat, I went to the Les Halles shopping center because there was a store called GO Sport, and I thought that might be the concept I was looking for. And it was, and besides the desired mat, I also bought shoes because I needed a pair in case I wanted to take a dance class here.

Also on Tuesday, I actually had a singing lesson with Florence, my roommate! I was pretty nervous, singing in front of new people is always exciting. But it was fun, and for the next time, I got a lot of breathing exercises as homework.

In the evening, I had my first long Zoom session of the week. I was connected with other students from the music university because we wrote a public statement regarding a professor at the university. This professor has been a member of the AfD for quite some time, and recently also a politician elected in Bonn and a member of the city council. In our opinion, the values of the AfD are not compatible with the values we stand for at the university, and therefore we want to distance ourselves with a letter that as many other students as possible will sign. Let's see how it goes!

On Wednesday, I crossed off some things from my to-do list and spontaneously met Lea in the city in the afternoon, we strolled around a bit. In the evening, I had a Zoom meeting with a language tandem partner, that is, someone who speaks French and wants to improve their German. I met this partner named Philippe in a Facebook group because he was looking for a German-speaking tandem partner. It was pretty cool because we have about the same language level and are about the same age. Unfortunately, he doesn't currently live in Paris, but the main thing is that I have another native speaker with whom I can speak a little French. After that, we had another long Zoom meeting with people from the university until late at night to refine the statement.

Lea invited me to her place in Chennevières-sur-Marne on Thursday evening. She lives in an apartment provided by the school, as is usual in France. Unfortunately, it's actually a 4-person shared flat where she currently lives all alone. We cooked broccoli soup, of course, ate baguette, and just had a cozy evening. Since there are plenty of rooms, I could also sleep there. She also has a very cute cat living in the house, who was naturally happy to receive some petting from me.

After I arrived back at the apartment on Friday afternoon, the next Zoom meeting awaited me. The new AStA (General Student Committee) of the university was elected. Mistakenly, I thought that as the secretary of the current StuPa (Student Parliament), I would have to take minutes, but that was not the case. Since Friday, the new student parliament has officially been in office, for which I was not allowed to run as I am currently studying abroad. Nevertheless, I participated in the meeting for some time before casually having a glass of wine in the nearby bar in the evening.

On Saturday, I finally did something like a hobby: I went to a dance school for a dance class! In advance, I looked at many dance schools in Paris and their Instagram profiles, and decided on the school 'L'école de danse du Marais', which offers over 140 courses in various styles. I started with hip-hop for beginners with JP Chandler. My new shoes were definitely worth it! The class was pretty cool, but also had quite a bit of choreography, as the group already knew the choreography.

In terms of corona, I felt somewhat comfortable. In principle, I have been thinking a lot about how to deal with it now and whether I should just stay in my room completely. I have decided to of course comply with the government's regulations (mandatory masks outdoors, curfew from 9 PM, etc.), but otherwise to use the freedoms granted to me in moderation. For example, I still want to go to a café to have a cocoa or watch a movie in the cinema. During dancing, it was the first time that I came into a slightly larger group of strangers who were actively staying in a room. The windows were open, but at most, half of the people were wearing masks. It's also really hot while dancing, and it doesn't really help me if no one in the room wears a mask. So I'm a bit torn there.

Sunday was a typical Sunday: breakfast with delicious baguette from the bakery, otherwise spent the day in my room with rain and many phone calls with family and friends. We had a visit from Geoffrey, a friend of the family, with whom I 'officially' live, as subletting is actually not allowed here. It was fun to meet him too! Afterwards, I had another very long and interesting Zoom conversation with my tandem partner Philippe, and yes, this blog also took up a few minutes of Sunday evening, and I enjoyed it very much.