Morning class so the day started moving early. Over the noon hour I made plans with Fang Xu to go to the Conservatoire this afternoon. She wants to audition for the upcoming musical there. She will be bringing along another Chinese friend who speaks French better than either of us can. This will prove to be extremely helpful.
After the Intensive Class, I was already tired. Eric had us practicing making hotel/taxi/restaurant reservations, cancelling them, and modifying them. My head was spinning as now we are using future simple tense.
When class was over, Fang Xu, her friend, and I walked to the tram station and transferred to the no. 24 bus that passes the Conservatoire. We realized a little late that “we should have gotten off at the last stop.” Pas du problem. It was just a short walk back to the school.
The place was abuzz with people of all ages. The facility is relatively recent and seemed to be well cared for overall. After picking up the audition sheet, and attempting to fill it in intelligently, we finally read the last paragraph – (in French, of course) “sing a two minutes French song.” Well, this was a deficit for Fang Xu. She decided to let it go.
Because we were there, since she also needed to make an appointment for an audition, we were able to do that with lots of help from the staff to find the office. The secretary did not speak any English, but she managed pretty well as we struggled to find the words to explain what we had come for. After finishing Fang Xu’s purpose, I inquired about meeting with a professor who could give me some info regarding contemporary French art song. It seems that I need to meet with the same person that Fang Xu needs to meet, so we will return together in about 2 weeks.
As we arrived back in the lobby, Fang Xu’s friend strongly urged her to audition for the show, for the experience, both musically and for the language practice. She decided to go ahead; maybe she could sing something else for them today. At this point, I said “goodbye” so that I could get to the 6 p.m. Mass at Notre Dame. The bus connections were not immediate, but I was able to get back to the apartment to drop off my computer bag and head out the door to make it to the church in plenty of time.
The church was crowded. There were many children up front. These were the first communicants and older students who were coming into the Church. They carried a moderate size cross up the aisle in procession. Also, as the ashes were prepared for distribution, they went up, and Father gave them ashes first.
A cultural comment: no one has explained to the French people about taking turns. Everyone stands up and gets into the aisle. There isn’t really a line. The people from the side pews are standing there, too. Then those who have trouble walking are trying to return by the shortest route, which is back through the throng. The French sense of personal space is not as large as ours either. It’s important to get one’s foot into the aisle if you don’t want to be shoved into the aisle by the elderly woman behind you. Of course, for today’s Mass, we got to do this twice – ashes and communion.
On the way home from church, I stopped to buy a baguette for supper. It was whole wheat and was a great complement to the leftover vegetable soup.
The day has been long, and I’m quite tired, so good night, Dear Reader. Lenten blessings from this side of the world.
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