Reflections on Discovering the French writer O. de Balzac

By Ugnė and Gabrielė, drade 11 students

On the 1st of October, students taking IB Language A Lithuanian class went to the French restaurant “Balzac” located in the Old Town of Vilnius. Our trip was organized for academic purposes — we have been studying the works of the French writer O. de Balzac. Surrounded by a XIX century atmosphere, we stepped out of our comfort zones by trying traditional French nourishment’s, these being frog legs and snails. We must admit, that before having to try this gourmet food, we were sure that it wasn’t something that we would be willing to try, however, we were pleasantly surprised to find that we were capable of being the risk taking and open-minded students we are encouraged to be! We developed our academics by discussing the time period and the writer himself, by exploring various elements at the restaurant. The setting highlighted the main features of the XIX century, by having authentic furniture, French music and a menu written in French. It was a perfect opportunity to get acquainted with the French culture, to communicate with classmates and to steps into a different world than our own.

Performance “Mistras” in the State Small Theatre of Vilnius

By Augustina, grade 11 student

 This Tuesday we watched a play by Rimas Tuminas called "Mistras", which was created according to a Marius Ivaškevičius play. One of the main characters - H. de Balzac – is linked with our IB Language A Lithuanian curriculum. The play provided information about the novel "Father Gorijot", which we are currently reading and analyzing. There was a lot of context on the environment of the writer, in which he wrote his novels, his everyday life and problems. Other non-traditionally presented characters - writers, composers and philosophers - formed a very broad picture of the environment in which “Father Gorijot” took place and was written. The performance was also visual information, which helped understand the novel, the place and time of action, with the help of the costumes and the furnishings.