Oh... wait... I have to go to school here too?

Bonjour à tous!

So, yes, as you can see, I've decided to bite the bullet and start a blog. While I do like the idea of sending out mass emails, I realize that a lot of people are intimidated by such epic novels and maybe don't get around to reading them. Plus, this just seems easier. Anyway, for those of you who didn't receive the first two installments (in the form of emails) of the saga that is my life in Lyon (and beyond), and are interested in what's going on in my life, I'd be more than happy to fill you in. That being said, this blog is going to start out rather randomly. But, I will say this: I love France (despite everything being way too expensive), I love my host family (though I'll be moving into an apartment with Ruby and my host sister at the start of November), I think I've consumed more wine and cheese in the past month than I'd done over the course of my entire life prior (and it's all delicious), and I cannot stop dancing ('when you see us in the club...').

So let's see. I think I last left off with the trip to Germany. Since being back in France for a week and a half, my life has revolved a lot around school, actually. Real school has legitimately started. I've talked about this with a few people already, but school here is frustrating because (since I'm doing direct exchange and taking classes with bona fide French students) class is basically a big struggle to understand what's going on, rather than really learning anything. I think things will get easier, but it's hard right now. It makes me appreciate classes at home a lot. The upside is all classes here only meet once a week, for an hour and a half, and I don't have any class on Fridays. And, I am taking a couple classes that I like. Here's the breakdown:

Monday: Littérature Classique du 19éme siecle, poésie en prose (Classical prose poetry literature of the 19th century). We're reading a prose poetry book called "Gaspard de la Nuit" by Aloysius Bertrand and it's boring. And I can barely understand the text. Apparently the French students can barely understand the text, so I don't know how the hell I'm supposed to get by. But the prof seems pretty nice and I think she's going to be rather lenient with exchange students (there are about 6 of us).

Tuesday: Dvlpt. Cognitif (Cognitive Development). I am strongly considering dropping this. French Psych classes are harder than I thought they'd be. And I'm taking one more class than I need at the moment, so... But, the prof is pretty fine. She's, I think, in her late 20s and she always looks really seductive when she talks.
Tuesday also: Littérature et cultures françaises (French lit and culture). This class is specifically for exchange students, which is really nice. Everyone is in the same boat! It also seems like it's going to be kind of fun. In the one class I've been to, we read through a text about a man's first impression of Lyon, and then talked about all the different venues for seeing theater in the city. One thing that's cheaper here than in the US: cultural experiences. You can see plays for around 6 euros! Cool.

Wednesday: Traduction Anglaise (English translation). This is actually a two part class, one part is a discussion style class, which is this one. The one I'm taking is actually specifically for English speaking students. Again, nice break from real French school! It's taught in English, by this very proper speaking English guy who is awesome. He's really nice, and funny too. We basically just translate French text into English. It might sound boring, but I actually really like it, and it's very helpful in learning more of the French language.
Wednesday also: Ethique da la vie affective (don't actually know how to translate this...). This class is hard because it's for legit Frenchies, but, the subject matter is awesome. It's basically a class about the ethics of love, sex, and relationships. We're gonna have different subjects each week. Among them: desire; homosexuality; why get married?; divorce; contraception, etc... I'm excited.

Thursday: Traduction Anglaise. This one's the lecture size class, for exchange and French students. It's taught by the French professor and he's just as cool as the English guy, if not cooler. It's the opposite of the discussion in that we translate English text to French (harder). Last class was really fun though, we looked at words in English that have multiple meanings. For example, the word spring: the season, things that make things bounce, a water source, etc. The prof kept acting out all the words, it was hilarious.

And that is all she wrote. I love not having class on Fridays. It allows me to do things like...

Well, I'll save that for next time.

I miss you all. Gros bisous!