Oui! Nous pouvons!! :)

So class has started...

So far this week I have had 4 different classes all at the IES center. Today i was supposed to have another one at the University, but it doesn't start until next week. I also have one at the University tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. Hopefully i won't get lost, the room numbers/letters are kind of confusing to follow...

Something i've noticed in my classes thus far is that the professors ask a lot of rhetorical questions. It's kind of funny when half of us are ready to answer the question and then you realize afterwards that it wasn't meant to be answered. But then there are also times where the professors will ask a question and then expect you to answer it, so it's been a little difficult trying to read what they actually want us to do. All the professors also gave us a syllabus for each class, along with a list of 'required' readings. I put required in quotations because by required they mean you can read one book from the list of 10, if you get around to it. We're all quite bewildered by this and don't quite understand why they used the word required, because to us that means we all have to go buy those particular books and then read them. Likewise, the professors have been in awe of us for being so on top of things. Apparently French students are quite the opposite, so the professors aren't used to having to often explain details like that. Overall, it's been a week trying to get used to this new system. I'm a little frustrated with how some things are run, but it's not because anything is being done wrong, it's just different, and i suppose that's one reason i'm here-to experience the differences and not the similarities with home.

I would also like to make a small commentary on the shower. Like many of you know, the showers here are quite different. First, the shower head is not attached to the wall, so it is loose, slightly resembling a snake like animal. Second, because of this, showers are much more exhausting then they should be, at least in my opinion. The routine goes 1) get wet and turn off water 2) wash hair 3) turn water back on and rinse, turning water off when finished 4) soap up and condition hair 5) final rinse. Ugh. And the bathroom is always freezing, despite the hot water, so i'm always torn to get in the shower in the first place and then get out of the shower once i'm actually done. France could take some advice from us Americans on its heating system, or lack there of.

Last night all of the American students watched Obama's inauguration together. We were proud to be Americans :) But most everything, except for when Obama was actually being sworn in, was dubbed over in French, so that was frustrating. We tried to just listen to Obama's speech, but because the French voice was so much louder, it became really difficult to listen. But oh well. All of France was talking about Obama yesterday though (not that they don't talk about him every other day...) and every French channel covered the event. Afterwards we all went out to eat at a creperie, which of course was delicious. J'aime beaucoup les crepes! I didn't get back home until about 11:30, so it was a pretty long day for me. Today i'm dragging just a bit...

Tonight is my first frisbee practice/game. I'm not quite sure how it's going to work, but there are 2 other girls who are going to come with me. I'm also pretty much positive that we're going to be the only girls there though. The whole 'girls aren't very interested in sports here thing' is probably going to kick into play. But i won't be discouraged! :)

This weekend we're doing a day trip up to Mont-Saint Michel and St. Malo! Wooo! I'm very excited to see these places again. The first time i saw them was in high school, summer of 2005. Should be fun! But also cold....yikes. Ok more later!

Kelsey

P.S. TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY. JUST FYI :)