My adventures in the French education system

Well I've made it through my semester at the Sorbonne. I finished my final exam (a 4 hour process spread out over 2 days) earlier this week and hopped on a train to Zurich immediately after. Now I'm settling in at my parents' house in Zurich and I'll have the opportunity to reflect a bit on my three months in Paris and on what I want to do next. I just called to get my result and am pleased to report that I passed with the highest distinction, so I am now a certified French speaker according to the Sorbonne. Nifty!

This was an incredibly interesting three months. Not only was I able to dramatically improve my French, but I also learned a great deal about French culture and way of life. One thing I experienced with a bit of frustration was the obsession within the French education system for test-taking. I think it's safe to say that never before in my life have I been in a course so preoccupied with exams.

Worldwide family events

I’ve returned from my intensive week of ceremonies, back in London but quite exhausted from moving around so much. Though I’m disappointed to have been in the US during all of the post-Ireland-referendum-panic last week, perhaps it was for the best. After all, it was good to get away and get a little perspective during the very heated debate that’s been taking place.

But this I can report: as with most EU matters, no one in the US is even vaguely aware of what’s going on with the Ireland referendum or with the Lisbon reform treaty in general, as it has received basically zero media coverage.

I started my travels Friday the 13th when I flew to Zurich for my youngest brother’s high school graduation ceremony on Saturday. My family moved to Switzerland two years ago from the New York area, and my youngest brother went with them and finished high school at an international school there. It was a beautiful day for it, held at a reception hall on a hilltop overlooking the lake. The ceremony was long, but very interesting.

After the keynote speech, performances and bestowing of a seemingly endless litany of awards, we finally got to the presentation of the diplomas. However when they started my family and I all gave each other a pained look when we realized that they would be reading a three-minute long bio for each of the students before they handed them their diplomas. With 86 graduating students, we knew we were still going to be there for awhile!