Today was the very last day of school. We received our certificates, had a little party, and received feedback from the professors. I made a lot of progress, but my professor also told me that I really need to work on my accent. This cracks me up because when I speak, I put a lot of effort into trying to speak the language correctly, and I feel like my accent is pretty good. The other day, however, I accidentally had my camera set to video instead of photos and asked a woman to take a picture of us. I realized it a few days later when I was uploading the images to my computer. I watched the video and was absolutely horrified to hear my accent when I said "Merci beaucoup". Have you ever seen Peggy Hill (the mom) from King of the Hill speak spanish? I sound exactly like that.
I'm definitely going to miss class, I really enjoyed it. I think I'll miss the people in my classes even more. I loved studying with such interesting and smart people. It was inspiring and humbling. We definitely bonded after 4 weeks of having our egos stripped away and working and laughing so hard together. We're talking about having a reunion in Australia next November.
So I'm sad that it's all over, but as sappy as this sounds, it doesn't feel over. I feel like I've learned so much and I'm taking a lot back home with me. The professors told us that it takes a few weeks after the class for our brains to fully digest everything and we'll start speaking even better in a couple of months, if we keep practicing. So get ready, Caroline, because I'm probably going to start driving you crazy.
The director of the school saw Amos and me having dinner tonight in Nice and he stopped by to say hello. Everyone that works at the school is so nice, in addition to being incredibly intelligent, funny, and extremely professional. I'm in awe of every one of them and learned a lot from all of them.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
One more day
I just have one more day of school and am a little sad. I wish I could have at least one more week. I've attached a picture that I took when sitting in my chair in class, sorry about it's orientation. I only have 30 minutes after class to use the internet and I don't have enough time to fix it. Anyway, all of the greenery is the gardens at the school and behind that is the Mediterranean.
Friday we'll have another test, then a little party, so tomorrow is our last real day of class. Then Amos and I are off to Nice. After that? We're not sure...
One exciting piece of news about my progress...Today in lab, the final exercise was very strange because it was so easy. I was confused and a little frustrated because it seemed like a huge waste of time. After lab, our instructor congratulated us because we did the same exercise the first week (poorly) and today we were all perfect. I certainly don't remember any of the labs being this easy, so I guess I must have made a lot of progress.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Seance a la radio
Today we had our third seance where we listen to the news on the radio and then try to figure out what is going on. I have come to love these seances. The first time, I was completely intimidated and couldn't understand a thing. But now, I'm able to get the theme of the news. We listen to it and take notes, then get together with a small group to discuss what each of us heard and try to put together the story, if it was too complex to figure out on our own. I love them, they are becoming one of my favorite activities at the school, perhaps even surpassing the labs.
Amos is en route to Villefranche right now and will be arriving tomorrow afternoon!
Amos is en route to Villefranche right now and will be arriving tomorrow afternoon!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Dogs in France
This one is for all of my dog-loving friends.
France is a great place for dogs. They are everywhere, in the shops and restaurants, and on the buses and trains. I've noticed that the dogs here are much better behaved than the dogs in the US. I guess it's because they get to go everywhere and, thus, being out in the city isn't a big deal so they don't act crazy. I would say it's more common to see a dog who is not on a leash, than one who is on a leash. Usually they are just following alongside their person. They greet each other calmly and I haven't seen any dog-dog aggression, which is so common in Austin.
In the old parts of the cities where the streets are very narrow and there aren't many cars, the dogs are free to roam everywhere. People bring their dogs to work with them and the dogs know the neighborhood and run around visiting everyone. The person doesn't seem to worry at all about where the dog is. I've seen a dog, who I think belongs to a waitress in one of the restaurants, roaming around blocks away from the restaurant. He's quite popular.
The other day on the busiest street in Nice, I saw a dog roaming alone. He would stop at the cross-streets, sit, and watch the people next to him. When the people would start to walk, the dog would know that it was safe to cross the street, too. It's amazing. Mija and Calvin wouldn't make it 5 minutes here.
France is a great place for dogs. They are everywhere, in the shops and restaurants, and on the buses and trains. I've noticed that the dogs here are much better behaved than the dogs in the US. I guess it's because they get to go everywhere and, thus, being out in the city isn't a big deal so they don't act crazy. I would say it's more common to see a dog who is not on a leash, than one who is on a leash. Usually they are just following alongside their person. They greet each other calmly and I haven't seen any dog-dog aggression, which is so common in Austin.
In the old parts of the cities where the streets are very narrow and there aren't many cars, the dogs are free to roam everywhere. People bring their dogs to work with them and the dogs know the neighborhood and run around visiting everyone. The person doesn't seem to worry at all about where the dog is. I've seen a dog, who I think belongs to a waitress in one of the restaurants, roaming around blocks away from the restaurant. He's quite popular.
The other day on the busiest street in Nice, I saw a dog roaming alone. He would stop at the cross-streets, sit, and watch the people next to him. When the people would start to walk, the dog would know that it was safe to cross the street, too. It's amazing. Mija and Calvin wouldn't make it 5 minutes here.
Field Trip
Today we didn't have class, we had a field trip. This morning, we had a crazy storm right before we left, it hailed. It was pretty rainy for most of the morning, but then it cleared up and became a beautiful day. We went to three different small, old villages.
First, we went to a small town and I'm a total loser because I've already forgotten the name. It's well known for having lots of artists there. I think it's called St. Jean. There is a beautiful restaurant there that would let artists who couldn't afford to pay for their meals to produce art for the restaurant and it's gorgeous. We went to a museum there that had beautiful gardens and statues outside and interesting art inside. I'm such a loser, I can't remember the name at all.
After that, we went to Vence where we saw a Dominican chapel designed by Henri Matisse. The woman at the chapel described the whole thing in French which was very exciting to understand. The chapel is very beautiful and simple. Apparantly, he spent 2 years designing the stations of the cross and only spent 4 hours on the actual painting of them on the wall. He didn't sign his name on any of it, because he wanted it to be a church, not a museum. I think it's a museum, though. I don't know, it's possible that the Dominicans still practice there. (I really sound like an idiot in this posting. Since everything is in French, there's a lot that goes over my head.)
The last stop on the trip was Tourettes Sur Loup. It is a tiny village that is known for producing leather by hand. It is located right next to the the village of Grasse, which is famous for perfume. Supposedly, perfume was first produced in Grasse because the leather gloves that were made in Tourettes made a person's hands smell badly, so the people in the towns started to make perfume. The whole tour today was in French - I'm pretty sure that was the story, but I could have gotten it wrong.
I took a lot of pictures and will post them soon.
First, we went to a small town and I'm a total loser because I've already forgotten the name. It's well known for having lots of artists there. I think it's called St. Jean. There is a beautiful restaurant there that would let artists who couldn't afford to pay for their meals to produce art for the restaurant and it's gorgeous. We went to a museum there that had beautiful gardens and statues outside and interesting art inside. I'm such a loser, I can't remember the name at all.
After that, we went to Vence where we saw a Dominican chapel designed by Henri Matisse. The woman at the chapel described the whole thing in French which was very exciting to understand. The chapel is very beautiful and simple. Apparantly, he spent 2 years designing the stations of the cross and only spent 4 hours on the actual painting of them on the wall. He didn't sign his name on any of it, because he wanted it to be a church, not a museum. I think it's a museum, though. I don't know, it's possible that the Dominicans still practice there. (I really sound like an idiot in this posting. Since everything is in French, there's a lot that goes over my head.)
The last stop on the trip was Tourettes Sur Loup. It is a tiny village that is known for producing leather by hand. It is located right next to the the village of Grasse, which is famous for perfume. Supposedly, perfume was first produced in Grasse because the leather gloves that were made in Tourettes made a person's hands smell badly, so the people in the towns started to make perfume. The whole tour today was in French - I'm pretty sure that was the story, but I could have gotten it wrong.
I took a lot of pictures and will post them soon.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
2nd weekend
It's Sunday at 5pm and I've only been out of my apartment once to grab a few things from the grocery store. It's a beautiful day, finally, so it's a shame that I've been inside all day, but the view is amazing, so I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.
For the last few days, I've left the apartment in the morning with the intention of only being out for a couple of hours, and then I don't get home until late at night. I didn't get out of bed today until after noon.
There's not too much to report, it's just more of the same. This is probably going to be a boring post.
After school on Friday, I went to a savonerrie to buy some soap. An adorable little old french lady makes the soap in the back room. She took me back there and showed me how she does it.
After class, the other 9 students in my class and I met for a drink to say Bon Voyage to one of the students who was only doing the class for 2 weeks and Friday was his last day. Then I had a great dinner in Villefranche with a couple of my girlfriends. Yesterday, we went to Nice again for the day for more shopping. The girl from Germany came, so there was a lot of laughing involved.
I bought a french dictionary and some french books that were recommended to me as great literature, but also easy for someone like me to read. Well, I started on one of them today and it took me about an hour to read 2 pages. Luckily for me, the book is very short.
On Friday afternoon, our professor told us to get ready for the next two weeks, because the pace is going to pick up significantly. Wha?!? I'm not quite sure how that's possible. I had gotten so proud of myself that I could understand almost all of what they were saying, I can't believe that they're actually going to start talking faster.
For the last few days, I've left the apartment in the morning with the intention of only being out for a couple of hours, and then I don't get home until late at night. I didn't get out of bed today until after noon.
There's not too much to report, it's just more of the same. This is probably going to be a boring post.
After school on Friday, I went to a savonerrie to buy some soap. An adorable little old french lady makes the soap in the back room. She took me back there and showed me how she does it.
After class, the other 9 students in my class and I met for a drink to say Bon Voyage to one of the students who was only doing the class for 2 weeks and Friday was his last day. Then I had a great dinner in Villefranche with a couple of my girlfriends. Yesterday, we went to Nice again for the day for more shopping. The girl from Germany came, so there was a lot of laughing involved.
I bought a french dictionary and some french books that were recommended to me as great literature, but also easy for someone like me to read. Well, I started on one of them today and it took me about an hour to read 2 pages. Luckily for me, the book is very short.
On Friday afternoon, our professor told us to get ready for the next two weeks, because the pace is going to pick up significantly. Wha?!? I'm not quite sure how that's possible. I had gotten so proud of myself that I could understand almost all of what they were saying, I can't believe that they're actually going to start talking faster.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Today's Seance
Our days at the school are pretty structured and follow the same basic timeline each day. In the morning, we have class, which is when we work on a certain lesson or two and play around with different variations of the structures we've learned. Sometime during the morning, we will have our lab, too. The morning is my favorite part of the day, because it moves very fast and is very challenging.
After lunch, we have a long "seance" that is different every day. Some days we listen to the news and try to figure out what they're saying. Some days, we talk about a "theme", like how to greet people and say goodbye, or what to say on the phone. They're always good, but they're slower than the morning and I'm usually tired by then, so they're not always the most exciting part of my day.
Today, though, was very interesting. We had a presentation on French cheeses. So for an hour and a half, we learned all about French cheeses. It was great. Aterwards, there were many cheeses to try and wine to go with them. I can't believe how much I learned in those 2 hours.
Our dinner last night was fun. Of course, the food and wine were delicious. It started at 7:30 and I didn't get home until 12:30, and I was eating during almost all 5 of those hours. Our cruise director prof, did in fact, play music with some of his friends for us. They did a cover of a Johnny Cash song (and I got it on video!), which was incredibly entertaining for me. One of the other students told me a funny story, which I'm going to try to retell here, hopefully I'll get it right. She was talking to another prof about the music and the prof asked her if she knew of "Johnny Liquide". It took the student awhile to figure out what she was talking about. Liquide is a word for "cash" in French, and the prof was momentarily confused about Johnny Cash's name.
We've had really bad weather for the last few days. I took a picture last night of the view from my terrace, but I don't have the cable today to upload it. We had a boat tour scheduled for tonight, but they canceled it; hopefully it will get rescheduled for next week (maybe when Amos is here!). But now, the sun finally came out and it looks like we'll have a nice evening after all.
Speaking of Amos, he gets here in exactly one week!!
After lunch, we have a long "seance" that is different every day. Some days we listen to the news and try to figure out what they're saying. Some days, we talk about a "theme", like how to greet people and say goodbye, or what to say on the phone. They're always good, but they're slower than the morning and I'm usually tired by then, so they're not always the most exciting part of my day.
Today, though, was very interesting. We had a presentation on French cheeses. So for an hour and a half, we learned all about French cheeses. It was great. Aterwards, there were many cheeses to try and wine to go with them. I can't believe how much I learned in those 2 hours.
Our dinner last night was fun. Of course, the food and wine were delicious. It started at 7:30 and I didn't get home until 12:30, and I was eating during almost all 5 of those hours. Our cruise director prof, did in fact, play music with some of his friends for us. They did a cover of a Johnny Cash song (and I got it on video!), which was incredibly entertaining for me. One of the other students told me a funny story, which I'm going to try to retell here, hopefully I'll get it right. She was talking to another prof about the music and the prof asked her if she knew of "Johnny Liquide". It took the student awhile to figure out what she was talking about. Liquide is a word for "cash" in French, and the prof was momentarily confused about Johnny Cash's name.
We've had really bad weather for the last few days. I took a picture last night of the view from my terrace, but I don't have the cable today to upload it. We had a boat tour scheduled for tonight, but they canceled it; hopefully it will get rescheduled for next week (maybe when Amos is here!). But now, the sun finally came out and it looks like we'll have a nice evening after all.
Speaking of Amos, he gets here in exactly one week!!
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