So, the no books thing. For those of you in law school, it would be like not having a casebook and never using any supplements for class. Instead, the professor either talks about the cases or gives you a photocopy of the case. Through reading the case, you are supposed to get the law. Ok, up to this point, it's sort of like school at home.
The difference I realized after talking to Marine(my French friend who studied at SLU last year and is now at Dauphine) is that almost everyone in law school at home uses the supplements to, well, supplement the case law. Everyone knows that they are going to use the supplement and therefore if a professor fails to fully explain something in class, it's no big deal. This assumes you are paying attention, of course. More on that later.
For Marine, and I imagine every person lacking familiarity with the American system, it was crazy that the professors weren't fully explaining things in class. Instead, they expected us to figure it out based on the casebook. They weren't going to really help us with the material. They assumed we had a certain knowledge(after having done the reading) and interrogated us on that.
Of course, the case law on its own usually isn't sufficient or efficient for most American law students. I know some who don't use the supplements and do extremely well without them but I would say that the vast majority of law students use a combination of casebook, classroom lectures, supplements and outlining to get the law and prepare for the exam.
Here, it is basically only the class lecture. Let me clarify, many people buy or check out a book on the topic but the professor almost never assigns or even strongly suggests them. Plus, one of the laudable goals here is to save us some money so we don't have to buy the book.
Second, the bureaucracy still is problematic but I am getting used to it. For example, I had the opportunity to take a class in Arabic and I really wanted to do it. To do so, however, required going to another school, talking to the adminstration, trying to enroll, asking the prof if that would be ok, explaining that I was on exchange and thus hadn't paid at Dauphine but rather at SLU, etc. In the end, I just said screw it, it's not worth the trouble. Most of you know that I am the type to beat my head against the wall futilely over even the most trivial of concerns. Here, I just figured it would be too much work for too little gain.
The woman who runs our department's adminstrative side is very helpful and pretty much on top of things. She is no Gol, but she's close. Things are unsurprisingly just different here and well, I still the bureaucracy is worse I think but let's see how I feel in December. I can almost bet it's going to be worse when I am trying to get my grades for this semester but we'll see.
Here, as I alluded to in the first post, professors seem to miss class, come in late or the room has changed quite frequently. I went to my source on the French education system, Marine, and she told me that it is just like that here and that students don't really even think about it. Now, a couple of the French students in this class have been a little perturbed but it's not like my reaction. I am not accustomed to this kind of flexibility and at first, I don't react well.
In the first two photos, the professor was late because the room had changed and he either didn't know or forgot. Making matters worse, he didn't have the key when he did arrive and the administrator was not around.
The third photo was taken on Friday morning around 9:15 AM. We all thought we had a class that started at 8:30 AM on October 3rd. I wasn't there last week (I was hanging out with the Nazi youth in Normandie) and I heard that the professor never showed. Apparently this so unproblematic that no one even mentioned it to our administrator. Anyway, this week when the prof didn't show, Gregor went to ask about the class and found that it doesn't actually start for a week or two. OK.
This is of course no big deal. The class will happen and it will be good, bad or indifferent just like any class I have ever taken. I only even mention it to show a cultural difference. At SLU, the only time classes have been cancelled without notice is when there was some kind of emergency involving the professor or her family. Marine even mentioned that she was hoping that the prof at SLU would not show up but that it only happened when there was a death in the family. Here, it can happen any day.
In the end, it changes nothing about what we learn in the class. As I learn about the topics, I appreciate more and more the professor's expertise. They know what they are talking about, that is for sure.
Overall, however, the flexible nature of class schedule adds to the uncertainty I feel on a daily basis. Most of my uncertainty has nothing to do with school. It's just that I am not part of this culture and have only been here a month. Everything is harder here and most of it is not because I am in France but rather because I am in a really freaking big city. Travel always takes longer, people aren't aggressive with me as much as they are indifferent to me, and things are really expensive. Given that I am now in the 25th grade, the academic environment is something I am pretty familiar with and, more importantly, comfortable with. Not here, at least not yet.
Plus, for all my travel all over the U.S. and some parts of the world, I think I am becoming a homebody. I remember my Grandpa explaining why he didn't want to spend the night at our house in Edwardsville during the holidays. He would say he just wanted to sleep in his own bed; that he wasn't comfortable when he wasn't at home. At the time, that made absolutely no sense to me. Now, after meeting and marrying Sheridan, home means something really really special to me. She makes my environment comfortable and peaceful. It is a place I want to be. Things are easy there and they aren't here. I am being pushed just outside my comfort zone and it's harder than I thought. Not too hard but harder than I thought.
To end with, here's a picture of what home means: Sheridan and Abbey.
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