This is the year of all things unexpectedly wonderful.
Alright, no. The year itself is unexpectedly wonderful. Everything in it that is wonderful, I guess that is expected.
Except my wonderful English class. Who would’ve thought I could get an amazing English class in France? Pas moi. But I did!! I’ll show you what we’re going to study this year. It’s unbelievable:
Lost in Translation (the movie)
Daisy Miller by Henry James
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Apocalypse Now (the movie)
Notes From the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Othello by Willie Shakes
O (the movie)
King Lear also by Willie Shakes
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley (won the Pulitzer, btw)
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
The Hours (the movie)
White Noise by Don DeLillo
Additionally, we’ll be reading short stories and poems along the way to supplement our knowledge of each piece.
Now, who can tell me that this course doesn’t kick all kinds of ass?
Plus, it’s not technically an AP, but it was designed to prepare us for the AP literature exam. So, how about that?
Today was my first full day of classes, and it was just fine. Nothing particularly exciting to relay, besides the fact that they are all in French, which is still a novelty that I don’t expect to last long. But right now, it kick things up a notch.
What else? The days pass so quickly. I have four periods before lunch, and five after, but they’re 45 minutes long, and lunch is 75. Plus, in a day, I usually have maybe 6 or 7 out of the 9 periods, which translates into at least like an hour and a half of free time. This feels sweet because it’s during the school day, but if you think about it, since I don’t get out of school most of the week until like 5 pm, it’s not that different than getting out at 315. Except that on Wednesday, I have school until 1 and that’s all. And, that day, I have 5 periods and 3 of them are free. Which is amazing. Except that they are the first and the last of the day. But who can complain about that?
So basically, I have work and it’s really hard, but the classes themselves are practically painless, and when I’m not in class, I can walk around town. Which is the most independence I’ve ever had, and it honestly feels like college. I just wish I could do it with you guys.
Oh, god, at dinner tonight, Pierre (mon frere francais) said that he had learned a bad word in la classe d’Anglais today. And then he said it. “Goatshit,” said my sweet little fench brother, who seems like the nicest boy in the world, very wholesome and well-kempt. Saying things like goatshit to his father. I started laughing so hard, I felt like I would never stop. It was a great moment. And then they translated it into French. So I can say goatshit in French, as of this moment. Crotte de biques. That’s right. Apparently, it’s not as taboo in France to say crotte de biques in front of adults as its English counterpart would be. Interesting.
Anyway, I have homework, so I’ll wrap up now and maybe add some more when I post this tomorrow.
Until Next Time, I’m blue dabadedabadie (They just remixed that song here. My French sister listens to it all the time.)
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So here is the supplemental part of this entry that spans two days. Since I left my disc at home yesterday before school, I didn’t feel like redoing the whole things from memory, so I’m sorry if you didn’t get the full benefit of my daily excursions. Kidding, kidding, but I hope you’ll bear with me on the massive entry I’m in the process of constructing.
Let’s see, yesterday was nice. I didn’t have a first class, so I got to wake up an hour later. It’s only a Friday thing, but it was nice, for sure. All of my classes were fine; I’m really enjoying my English class. So much. Our teacher, Allison Stephens, has decided that if she’s in this country, she might as well learn French, so she’s sitting in on my Rouge group AP language class. It’s awesome, I think she’s the coolest woman ever. We have inside jokes… haha. I’m such a dork.
And yesterday, in the middle of the day, one class after lunch but three bands before the end of the day, Hayley, Evie, and I took a bus into the center of town and used our 100 minutes of free time to walk around and sit in a café and drink tea surrounded by French people (and one French couple who was speaking English, which was hilarious) and look at possible gifts for all of you at home. It was funny, actually, we all kept saying “Oh this would be perfect for soandso,” and then we’d have to stop and explain who soandso was and give a little backstory on our relationship to them and their impact on our lives up to present. It takes a lot more effort than one might think. After a while, I just stopped saying them out loud. But then we went into this little place called Salsa, and they had this awesome jewelry and beautiful scarves for cheaper than I’d ever seen anywhere else, and I practically hurt myself thinking of whom would like what. I love it here.
Ah, I bought a scarf for myself for 2.5 euros. It was the same price as my tea. I’ve decided my café days are over, if I can replace them with scarves.
So that was my day, and then I went to a dance class to try it out and I did not like it. I mean, the dancing part was fun, but the warm up was something like 3 times as long and it was boring. So it’s not for me. But hopefully, I’ll like the gymnastics. I think my trial classis on Monday.
And then Pierre and Grace (friend from school who lives around the corner) and Milena (her French sister) and I met a friend and her sister in the center of town and just walked around for an hour and a half, speaking half in English and half in French and basically laughing about the fact that whenever a French person attempts to say the word ‘winner’ they always end up with ‘wiener’ instead, which is just funny. There’s no way around it.
And then I slept and here I am. I took a shower this morning and fell. I mean, a hard fall. It hurt. I’ve never done that before. I didn’t hit my head or anything, I was fine, but the impact itself was shockingly intense. Not that that story really has any relevance at all, except to warn you to watch your feet. They can surprise you, you know.
Anything else? I love crepes but not as much as I love you guys.
It hurts to be away.
But otherwise, smile for me!
Until Next Time, “I am the wiener!”
COUNTDOWN to return: 268 days
PS: If you’re reading this and you have time, leave me a comment. I’m having a hard time keep up with some of my email.
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