Final Day in Tours

The strike wasn't that effective. I probably could have gotten a bus home, but it was nice out so I walked instead.

Classes ended in Tours today! First round down, now onto the second. For the next two weeks, I'll be in what the head of my program (Shelley) refers to as "French bootcamp." It's French class from 9am-12pm and then 2pm-5pm, 5 days a week for two weeks. That's 60 hours of French. I'm terrified of the term "bootcamp." I wish she'd use a nicer term like "French recess" or "French party."

Ah well, I might be ok in it. I got my grades for this session, and my teacher said nice things like "speaks well" and "very determined." I then looked at my final grade and it was a 16.3 out of 20. My calculator told me that this was an 81%, which I'm pretty sure is a C at my college, and I continued to stare at the paper thinking, "But I'm determined! And I speak well!" My next thought was more along the lines of, "If I get a C in the easy French class, I'm screwed for bootcamp."

Then one of my lovely friends tells me that the French never give 20 out of 20s because... well, I'm not exactly sure but I think I basically need a doctorate in French to get a 20 out of 20. He then informed me that Central College would count my 16 as an A, after which I started breathing again.

Dinner last night was interesting. Françoise knows I like crêpes, so she made some for dessert. For the main course, she handed me a plate with crayfish on it. Although they were very good, I couldn't help but think, "Oh dear God, I'm eating my sixth grade science project."

Tomorrow, I head back to Paris and meet my roommate.

Soap Operas and Strikes: French Drama

Françoise and I have been watching her favorite television program for the past two weeks. It's a French soap opera, Plus Belle La Vie. I've been following it pretty well. I finally know enough French to ask Françoise about it, so last night we had a conversation that went something like this:


Me: Ok, I think I'm understanding this. So the guy who's getting beaten up right now is gay.

Françoise: Yes, but how did you know that?!

Me: Well, I figured it out when I saw him kissing that other guy.

Françoise: Yes, that would do it.

Me: And the man beating him up right now with brass knuckles is the mob boss, utterly distressed that this gay man is sleeping with his son. What a sad display of homophobia!


Ok, so I may have overexaggerated on that last line. It was probably more like "him, father" in French followed by "mob boss" in English with punching movements. Françoise understood though, and that's what matters.

Today the French are all participating in a beloved French pastime: striking.

The bus drivers are striking today, which means I get to walk home. Some of the teachers are also striking, though I'm still not exactly sure which ones. The teachers here weren't, sadly.

In France, groups strike before they negotiate. I don't know how well it works, but these people know how to organize a strike. I mean, I heard Charles De Gaulle was planning on cancelling about 75% of their flights, which is just ridiculous. I'm sure it's not that many, but still.

Strikes better not become popular in America. I have a feeling already that they're one thing I won't miss about France.

The Search for French Trashy Romance Novels

I've been searching all the French bookstores for trashy romance novels, but I can't find any. I know they have to have them somewhere. I mean, this is FRANCE. I'm pretty sure it's the birthplace of the trashy romance novel. Otherwise, what am I doing here?!

Though maybe all their books are trashy romance novels and they don't have to make a distinction? I should probably just start looking in the "French Literature" sections.

We had to give the head of the program here our list of preferred classes. I'm trying to sign up for a class in Contemporary French Film. I hope I get the class because that would make my life. I'm a little nervous because the entire class will be in French. (I'm supposed to take two non language classes in French.) Because I enjoy having unrealistic expectations, I expect to either 1) understand everything or 2) have a class that consists entirely of watching French movies with English subtitles.

I also want to sign up for a fashion class. I feel that my hours of watching "American's Next Top Model" will finally be put to good use. I also had the option to take a few history and philosophy classes, but I shied away from those. They're hard enough to understand in English.

The Post With the Pretty Castle Picture

I finally got my wi-fi to work so I no longer have to use a french keyboard.

We went to two castles on saturday as a group. the next day, my host mom took me to see another because it's the Château de la Belle au bois dormant (the castle of Sleeping Beauty), and she says that I'm too romantic NOT to see it. The castle's real name is le château d’Ussé.

(The above picture is the castle. C'est très beau, non?)

I'm going to marry a rich man so he can buy me that castle. Clearly, I have to live there.

After that, Françoise and I watched "Singing in the Rain" in french with the songs in English. We then watched "Bridget Jones' Diary" in English with French subtitles. It's been wonderful!

I have to go to class, but I'll write more tomorrow.

Still in the Honeymoon Phase

We all watched the inauguration yesterday from an Irish pub. I think we entertained the bartender who put up a huge screen so we could watch it, and at the end told us we could have a party there if we ever wanted to.



Classes started yesterday, and so far have been very interesting. Today, we discussed who we lived with and if we had petits amis (boyfriends or girlfriends). My favorite response was the one kid who didn't know how long he'd been dating his girlfriend for, but guessed it was somewhere between 5 months and a year. I hope if I ever date someone they have a better idea than that.



I then met with my larger group and we wrote down possible highs and lows. The director was worried about a few, mostly about the kid whose goal was to be in a riot, but some she liked. My personal favorite was Jenee (the girl I met on the plane's) potential high of meeting a non-creepy, rich frenchman with a yacht and becoming engaged to him.



I've figured out the buses, though mine unfortunately stops at 8:30. We had a dinner last night and I missed it (dinner didn't end until ten), so I'm hoping the wine tasting we have tonight goes only until 8. I'd rather not take a taxi again, even if I was able to communicate perfectly with the driver. Well, perfectly enough.



Françcoise, my host mother, told me that my French last night was good and that i spoke sans accent americaine. I'm excited about this and though I've been told I won't be fluent by the time I leave, I expect to be decently good.

En Tours

Ok, the letters are in weird places all over the keyboard so excuse me if I type something weird. The M is next to the L and the A is on the top left corner and the W is on the bottom...

So I finally arrived in Tours. Right now I'm typing in the computer lab at the Institut Touraine. My host mother was very nice. She speaks some English so we've been doing alright. I also had wine at every meal, which was fun. I get my own room, so score there. The toilet is in a different room than the sink and the shower. It's weird, but I accept it.

My house is the farthest away from the school, so I have to take the bus. My host mother drove me to school this morning, so I will have to find the bus station and use my meager French to buy a ticket. Wish me luck!

We took oral tests for placement today. I'm in the lowest class which was no surprise, but I'm not the lowest level! The lowest is just plain "1" and I'm at "elementaire" which I'm going to guess means elementary. See? My French is already improving! I'm doing better than the other kid who speaks little French. His words of the morning were "Man, I'm learning so much French! I learned like five words!" to which someone replied, "Good, only 20,000 more to go."

Now a bunch of us are going to go shopping for shoes (it's the big sale time in France. Did I time this trip well, or what?) and I'm going to find a photomaton so that I can get id pictures. Apparently, the French require id pictures for everything.

Day Deux

I've finally met everyone, and it looks like I'm one of the very few non French majors. In fact, most people seemed surprised that I barely speak any French. Thankfully, one of the guys doesn't speak French either. We shared an ignorance-of-French high five.

I met the woman in charge of the program here, and she's very nice. She also seems unconcerned by lack of knowledge of the French language. She said I'll be a little overwhelmed this week, but that I'll get the hang of it soon enough. I expect my next entry to be titled "What Was I Thinking?" (That orginally had a swear in it, but I've decided to keep this PG.)

We attempted to go out last night, but clubs don't start getting crazy until after 11 pm (or 23h here). My jet lag prevented me from wanting to stay out past then, it didn't care that it was a Saturday night. Some people attempted clubbing, but gave up soon after and came back to sleep.

I'm surprised by the amount of students in this group that smoke. I'm not surprised about the Parisians smoking, but I guess I didn't think as many people in America did. I'm tempted to give them all a cancer talk. I doubt this is the way to make friends, so I'll wait untilI know them better.

Today we go to Tours and I meet the homestay family I'll be with for the next two weeks. My family is one woman (or maybe one man... not really sure. I'm pretty sure it's a woman. What if it's a shim?! The French version of Pat.) who is retired from AirFrance and enjoys music and water aerobics. I'm not entirely sure if I'll have internet there, so no one freak out if I don't write for awhile.

Thanks for all the comments! And Ryan, the French word for French fries is frites, though I haven't seen that on a menu yet. Mainly just bread and cheese (which I have avoided so far. Go me!)

I'm finally here!

Oops, I accidentally just posted only the words "I'm finally here!"

I did get to Paris alright. My plane ride actually went quite fabulously. While I was sitting waiting to get on the plane, I talked to the girl sitting across from me. She turned out to be both going to Central College and using the same shuttle service as I was so we found each other after the flight and came to the hotel together. It was really comforting to already know someone by the time I got to the hotel.

I had an aisle seat (necessary for all people with small bladders), but the flight was so empty that there was no one next to me. I got to strech out to sleep. Best 7 hour flight I've ever taken.

The guy who droves us here better not be an example of French driving, or I'm terrified. Although, I suspect he is. I don't think I'll be taking many taxis.

After taking a shower, I went for a two hour walk with my new friend. We went to this huge market with fresh fish, meat, fruit, vegetables and bread. It was really interesting to see how the French people buy their food. Many had bags that wheeled behind them. Also, unlike so many have led me to believe, they well all being quite friendly with each other and always greeted someone by saying "Bonjour madame/ monsieur."

I bought a crepe with nutella (clearly the only thing to eat in Paris) and napped for two hours. Now I'm preparing for dinner in an hour. I've met a few more students on the trip and they're all very friendly. I wasn't expecting serial murderers by any means, but it's still nice to see nice people.

I think I should be able to get a grip on conversational French pretty quickly, but we'll see if I regret saying those words.

Testing: 1, 2, 3

I've been using Rosetta Stone in an attempt to be able to communicate with people when I get to France. So far, it's been going well. I've learned many useful sentences and I've decided (with the help of one of my Loras roommates, Caitlin) that my pickup line is going to be "There's a cat on your head." Spoken in French, of course.

I feel that this pickup line will make me enormously popular with all the menfolk over there in France. I feel it will probably work on some of the womenfolk as well.

My goal is to have someone offer to immortalize me in a painting (or drawing or sculpture... I've decided not to be picky) by the time I leave. And not one of those street people who wants to make a caricature of me for a fee. No, no, only an artist who intends to have the painting/ drawing/ macaroni sculpture showcased at the Louvre will do. I feel this is a realistic goal.

In other news, I'm close to being done with packing!