Deux pour la prix d'une:

le 16 sept.:

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.)

- - -

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.

St. Malo

Right now I’m listening to them talk about the American election on the French radio. Quite an experience let me tell you. I can only capture every other word or so (the vocabulary on the radio is astounding), but I can tell you that they’re about a heartbeat away from making “I LUV John Kerry” tee-shirts. Or, no, how about “Mrs. Kerry." I think they'd sell.

We went to St. Malo today. It’s a little fishing town about an hour north of Rennes. During the Second World War, it was completely leveled by bombs and napalm (it was the first place in the world that they used it), but they re-built it just as it was before to preserve the historic significance. So it’s al little trippy to think that everything around you is ancient and beautifully resilient, when in reality it’s just an imitation of what once was.

I don’t know if it makes me nostalgic or angry. Peut-etre, les deux.

Ah, a break pour le diner, et je suis retournee. I had mussels, guys! And fish!!! I’m a big girl now, trying new things and what not. Who knew I could handle a whole piece of mackerel. But it was perfect. The whole time, I had Doty’s “A Display of Mackerel” in my head “…it is the price of gleaming…” and that made it all somehow worthwhile. Go read Mark Doty, right now! En francais, si tu peux. Mais non. But yes, I ate fish, an dit wasn't good, but if you don't look a tit while you take the bites, it sort of blends into the background. Plus, there was cheese.

Well, that’s all. I won’t publish this until tomorrow, because I’ll have to wait until I can take my disc to school, but until then, I love you and goodnight.

I’m tired.

Until Next Time, il faut que je fasse.

COUNTDOWN to return: 260 days

LATER: So I've been looking into stuff with AP lit. Things are looking up.

And everything here smells funny.

But yay for the first real day of classes. I'm learning french!

I love you!

Rouge

So, here's the lowdown:

Yesterday, we took our placement tests for Math and French. Not fun. Not fun at all. They went quickly, and they were both what I expected, only harder than I'd guessed, but still, just NOT FUN. And as it turned out, not very successful, either. Well, no, Math was fine. I ended up in the equivalent of AMH, which is where I'd be if I were still at Hawken. But the french landed me out of AP french lit. Which SUCKS. a lot. I know that if I tested for the slot that I'm in, this is where I should be, but I wanted that class so bad, I'm not quite sure why. So basically, I'll be petition to take the class anyway, but it's going to take a few weeks, and a lot of re-working, and teacher conferences and blah blah blah. Basically, it's a long shot. But I'm not taking French history, since we covered it last year, so I can opt out, and this way my schedule is much more free for the extra work that it may entail. Be that as it may, I'm still aggravated. It's a stress I bring down upon myself. It turns out that I can't just cross the Atlantic to get away from it.

After morning classes, we're going to St. Malo, which is maybe an hour away by bus, it's supposed to be beautiful. And rainy. But we all brought bathing suits. Who knows what'll happen.

So that's the news. Family is good, Rennes is good. I went walking around on my own yesterday, just hopped on a bus and went to the center of town. It's amazing here, the independance we all have. I bought The Giver by Lois Lowry en francais.

Everything here costs too much money.

But it's beautiful.

Ugh, I'm lonely and emo. I'm no fun at all.

Miss you.

Until Next Time, at least red's my favorite color.

COUNTDOWN to return: 260 days

Le Jardin de Thabor

Salut! *bis, bis*

Comment ca-va? Est-ce que tu as passe une bonne journee?

Bon. Moi aussi.

So there you go.

Last night, I bought school supplies. All the binders in france have 4 clasps instead of 3, all the paper if graph paper, and they actually sell paper called les doubles that are two sheets connect at the wholes for larger assignments. Apparently, it's essential. Apparently, it's not alright just to us 2 single sheets. Apparently, our culture is a little behind on the full potential of school supplies.

And I got to watch my sister chat sur MSN. It was CRAZY! Talk about culture shock. Not only is all her chat in french (duh) but it's slang, internet french, so instead of "j'ai" it's "g" and for all the "qu" they us "k"... par example, "g un stylo aujourd'hui ke je l'aime bien." There were more, but I don't know them. mpdr is the substitute for lol. they like american swear words A LOT. And, they fait les bis to say goodbye.

Why don't we do stuff comme ca?

But I can't download AIM here. It's too complicated. BUT if any of you reading this want to create an MSN account, I can chat with you there. Email me if you have time to do so. I can get on the computer at home.

Took my french examen this morning for placement. It was a joke. We shall see. Whatever happens, I'll learn, right?

And we took a walking tour of Rennes today, not very far. Mais en faites, le Jardin de Thabor is SO BEAUTIFUL. It's in the very center of town just 2 blocks from school, and there are roses everywhere and paved walkways and stone benches, and I've never seen anything so green. The walls are high enough that you can't see the city at all, so you honestly feel like you're in a completely different world. It's one of the most tranquil places I've ever been. I wish all of you could come visit it with me. It's hard to see surrounded by people you only barely know. But they do have interesting views on things. One of my friends, Max, said something while we were there that reminded me so violently of someone at home that I had to stop walking and pull myself together. It was surreal. Everything here is surreal. And lonely, and brilliant, and perfectly wonderful.

I miss you all.

Until Next Time, the easiest question on my french test was about Babar. So Babar, this one's for you.

COUNTDOWN to return: 261 days

I'm Here!

So it's REAL.

I'm here.

And I'm just gonna give the facts, to speed up my time on this computer. I have limited time.

The town is beautiful. Everything is smaller and older and a little more exotic, just because there is nothing but french. But the buildings are older, and there is more stone, and more metal, all very old and intricate.

The school is small and sweet, it's only the neccessities, and everyone in it seems wonderfully accomidating. We start classes on Thursday, and orientation everyday until then.

My house is perfect. It's in a cute neighborhood, and one of the family's close friends has a girl staying with them, her name is Grace, and she was one of the four students not to be trapped in Boston for 3 days. She's so sweet, and I'll be doing all of my traveling with her. I'm really happy about it. It's making the transition a lot smoother. And I have my room, I made it homey and personal, there are pictures all over the place, it makes me sad, but I love it.

AND the family! Annie, the mother, is the one who interacts with me the most, and she's hilarious. Everyone is patient with me, they laugh when I make mistakes, they correct me when I'm wrong. The father, Philipe, is very eager to teach, and Pierre doesn't say much, but he's really sweet. Claire is ADORABLE, and we get a long really well. We actually bonded a little, in french, last night.

I'm going to be happy here. I really am.

I miss you.

Until Next Time, the french is coming.

COUNTDOWN to return: 262 days