Indiana University Athletics
Pollom in France - June 1
7/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
June 1, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - IU volleyball standout Katie Pollom is studying abroad in France this semester and has graciously agreed to chronicle her time in Europe throughout the semester for IUHOOSIERS.com. This is the 17th installment of her diary series.
Hello everyone! This semester is quickly coming to a close...I remember writing back in January about my first week of our intense program class, which we took in order to get acclimated to the French language and culture, and ultimately to prepare us for the classes at the University of Provence. Well, today will be a bittersweet day as it is my last program class (we have continued to take this one class, expressions ecrit (writing expressions) with everyone in the semester program). It is also my last class in France as well as the last of my undergraduate career! Although two exams still await me in June, this academic semester is starting to wrap up. Our wonderful, priceless French teacher, whom we have all come to love is bringing us wine to class today to celebrate the end of the semester as he has taught us Americans about as much French grammar as he could! I think he has learned a thing or two from us as well about our language and culture!
My stress level is much lower than it was the last time I wrote...I had my oral final in my theater class last Friday, which went much better than I expected. We had 30 min. to prepare our 20 min. "explication du texte" in which we explain a scene from one of the plays we read. Also, on Monday, I turned in my 16-page history dissertation, which felt wonderful!
Last Saturday, May 21, I spent the day with 5 friends in Cannes at the Cannes Film Festival in order to get a break from our studies. We spent the first part of the day walking around near the beach and being entertained by the street mimes and musicians who came out to make money with the crowds of people in the city. Later on in the afternoon, we staked out a spot beside the red carpet (le tapis rouge) so that we could watch the stars as they entered the film premier. I saw Toni Morrison, Morgan Freeman, Salma Hayek, Hilary Swank, Tommy Lee Jones, and Penelope Cruz among others. Many of the actors and stars were French so I had never heard of them, and being alongside the red carpet is a bit overrated since you only see a 5-10 second glimpse of the stars as they walk by. Nevertheless, it was still fun :)
At night, we watched a screening on the beach of a Spanish movie about Cuba called "Havana Blues" that had French subtitles. Before the film began, the actors and director came to welcome the audience and introduce the film, which I thought was really cool...then we sat under the stars on lounge chairs with fleece blankets on the beach as the movie played on a giant screen literally directly over the ocean. We were treated to a fireworks show after the film on our way back to the bus.
Tonight, our program is hosting a dinner for everyone (semester and year long students) at a nice restaurant called "Le Madeline", which I am looking forward to...
Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend all (I'm going to try to explain the Indy 500 to my host mom!)
~Katie
