I live at the Fondation des États-Unis (the United States Foundation, or FEU for short), which is a cultural organization in Paris that has a student residence and a beautiful recital hall where I will give a concert in a few weeks. The FEU has several musicians and visual artists in residence and regularly has concerts and art exhibitions in-house; to me, it’s a really exciting and inspiring place to live. I’ve gotten to perform a lot with my musician friends here, as well as on my own. I’m still working on my French, which I expect will be a lifelong project. There are free French conversation classes (where you get to talk in French with other people who are also learning the language, usually led by a teacher who is a fluent speaker) that I do my best to go regularly, and that helps me a lot. The best way to make progress in a language is by speaking it as much as you can! I’ve been going to lots and lots of concerts; practically every famous pianist I’ve ever dreamed of seeing is playing a concert in Paris this year, not to mention all the orchestra, voice, chamber music, and opera performances I’ve gotten to see as well. I’m drowning in music and culture here, in absolutely the best way.
What’s even better is that I’m surrounded by really amazing people as well – my neighbors at the FEU are really friendly, kind, brilliant people, which makes me even more excited to get to work with them. I’m getting to reconnect with my host parents and some of my teachers from 2022. My professors at the ENMP have been very friendly and helpful so far, too, and I feel like I’m learning a lot from them. I know that French people sometimes have the reputation of being rude and cold; my experience has been entirely the opposite.
