A Little Eccentric

Ca va?

Hey folks! Check this, two blogs in two days!
I’m still a little homesick, of course, but things are going really well. I don’t think I’ll fail ALL my classes J, and I like most of them. My two translation classes are rough, but they are improving my vocabulary everyday. My speaking skills still suck, but I am writing, reading and comprehending French better than ever and it’ll all just keep getting better. Also, I am meeting people from all over the world everyday. Most of them are English-speaking, but when you listen to, write, read and speak French all day it is nice to have an easy conversation in English. Today, I met a really sweet girl from Denmark and ran into a girl I met on the first day who is British but usually goes to a German University. The whole time the British girl and I walked and talked in English, we had a couple guys following us who kept asking if we were American and we said no. (One very bad stereotype is that American girls are easy, so that is one important reason to blend in with your host culture.) Besides other Americans, so far I have met people from Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Italy, Romania, Denmark, Japan, Iraq, Morocco, Spain, and France (duh). Pretty cool for a chick from Wyoming, huh?

Of the few Americans here, there are two kinds. There are those who attend university classes, attempt to figure out the town and culture, eat French food, etc and those who live with each other, speak only English and don’t try anything new. Thank God I fell in with the former category. Even though every day is a struggle, I am learning a lifetime’s worth every week. Some of the latter were in one of my CUEFEE classes today and they just talked about how much they miss Starbucks, etc. I didn’t even talk to them, I think they have the wrong attitude. The point is not to come here and party with your buds, that can easily be done at home. I want to learn how to live and communicate in an entirely new country, which is something few people get the opportunity to do. Plus, my social life is actually picking up, as I meet people I invite them to stuff and they do the same. And I have Tchykita to travel and hang with, etc. Tonight we bought a gallette du roi (a type of flat cake you buy in January that has a little porcelain figure baked in it. Who ever gets the piece with the figurine is the “king” for the day. Often the cake even comes with a little crown) and a bottle of cidre. Not a bad situation!

Speaking of which, Paris this weekend is a for sure deal. We booked our room at the hostel and are buying train tickets tomorrow. We are getting the earliest train possible to Paris on Saturday and getting back Sunday night. The hostel we are staying at is only 26 Euros each per night, which is great considering how nice and safe it is.
The weather here has been cold and foggy. Despite my attempts to straighten my hair (I bought industrial strength hair gel and a straightener) I still look like a curly-haired lion by the end of the day. C’est la vie.
Oh, and have any of you ever had Nutella? I’ve gone through 2 jars already, the stuff is awesome.

posted by Molly Jo @ 5:56 AM