New Blog!!

Happy Tuesday everyone!! I'm quite happy. I don't have class tomorrow because I am not taking the writing techniques class anymore. But I do need to go to two doctors appointments, because then next week I need to give my "doctor reports" to these visa people who then validate our visas. LOL why didn't they have us do this in the US?! If we are not healthy, will they send us home?! So dumb....I have to see a radiologist at 10 something (Gramma said probably for chest xrays) and a regular doctor for a physical around 3. And they are on totally opposite sides of the city. Fun.

Today I went to the Monoprix for a few groceries items that I ran out of (mainly my beautiful 'pain au chocolat", which I will NOT be able to live without when I return to Buffalo!!), and I also got pads (for the dreaded visit from Aunt Flo this coming weekend...) and toilet paper because I was almost out. It was a nice outing, and not nearly as sweltering as yesterday!

Yesterday it was seriously like 80!!!! Not cool!! I had to walk 25 minutes to the HSBC!! But I was very productive-I scheduled a meeting with them for next week to open up a French bank account. All I need to bring is a statement (which I have) from my regular bank account (just to validate that we do have an account with them and stuff), my passport, student ID, and proof of address. So yay! AND they have an English speaking rep-so I got to chat with HER and she will be translating for me next week!! I told her I do know French and that I'd comprehend what was being said, but she said that for legal reasons it's better that she be there in case something is said that I don't fully understand-I can't like sue them for not explaining lol.

Yeah I was really productive yesterday!! After my CUFLE ended at 7:30, I was up until after midnight planning and booking my TRIP TO MUNICH GERMANY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wooooooohooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!! It was SO stressful. I had to keep rechecking costs and stuff. Then when I was finally ready to buy my train tickets, I realized that because I said I'm in the states, they had to send them to my home in Orchard Park! There was no option to print them at the station because it's a "European" trip, not just in France. So then I went to the French TGV website and stuff and it wasn't working!!!!!! Kept getting error messages when I'd try picking my return train!! So I decided to go to the US website and just have the tix shipped home. But then I decided to try to French site one more time, and it worked! Of course, for some insanely stupid reason, the French website did not have the return train that I had originally wanted!!!!!! Nooooo!! The only one it was giving me was at 6:40 in the morning. I wanted the overnight train! It was way cheaper! So after much thought and deliberation, I decided to buy my tickets through the US site and have them shipped home (should be there on Friday!) and then have the family ship them here to me asap!

My trip is on October 27th, until October 30th. But because it's an overnight ride home, I won't get back to my room in La Rochelle until the afternoon of Halloween :) Not a big deal since I can't go trick or treating....or catch any scary movies on tv!

I'm staying in a hostel right near the train station and right by the historical district :) AND it's just a few blocks from where Anti-Flag will be playing WHILE I'M THERE!!!!!!! I swear I didn't realize they'd be in Munich until after I decided when I was going! But I'm trying to get tix....if I can't find them, I'll try getting them the day of the show, or I'll just look for the band while I'm doing my Munich stuff :) Not a big deal if I can't go to the show, it would just be an added bonus.

Have a mentioned that some of the Aussie girls are going to Paris soon to see the Jonas Brothers?! LOL.

So yeah that's cool!

So this weekend I guess there was this big fireworks show (didn't realize there were fireworks until they started booming over my head! I seriously thought I was living in WWII London or something....) Anyway.....cool idea to do fireworks right over my house I guess. But WHY ON EARTH must you BLAST MICHAEL JACKSON/DISCO/GUNS N ROSES music the whole night?! It went on for like.....3 hours I swear!!!!!! Heather-you'll appreciate this. One song came on and I was like "huh....I swear I know this song..." and then the chorus started and it was that "we are the world, we are the children, we are the ones to make a brighter day so lets start giving..." song that we sang in 5th grade music class!!!!!!!!!! LOL I haven't heard that song since then but I recognized it as soon as it started! Insane!!!!!!!!!

Needless to say, I was not very happy on Saturday night..

Funny story!! Yesterday after going to the bank, I was walking along the old port to get back to campus, and there are always a lot of tourists there. Anyway....this group of TOTALLY English people walked by me. They were dressed English down to their socks I mean seriously.....and they had the greatest English accents. It reminded me of that show Gramma sometimes watched when we were little on PBS with the older English people and yeah....but these people were like in their 40s or early 50s. And I was giggling to myself about how cliche english they are, when one of the ladies responded to one of the guys who had been talking, "Oh Richard...........blah..........blah blah....." And it was just perfect. Such an English name!

LOL I'm not trash talking the English they are great. The moment was just so perfect that I had to laugh and mention it here!

Today my CUFLE class was totally rad. Like seriously. We watched these TV clips about weird/miraculous stuff. And then after each one we'd discuss within our groups what we thought-like if we agreed with what was going on or if we didn't believe in it. Anddddddd......I was SO HAPPY! I GOT MY GHOSTY FIX!!!!!!!!!! No no, we didn't watch Ghost Hunters (I wish!), but we watched some clip from a French version of that "Haunting" show, and it was about this family who has a poltergeist in their house and all this stuff. And THERE WAS EVEN AN EVP!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG! I was f*cking extatic! Like OMG....I can't even explain it. Ghost stuff after a month now with NO Ghost Hunters!!!!!! It rocked! I of course had to give my opinion :) Teeheheheheheeee I've probably never talked more or been more eager to speak in that class! There was also a clip about some woman who went to a pilgrimage sight in France and was healed of a sickness. All about Catholicism and stuff. THEN there was a clip about these weird coincedances between Abe Lincoln and JF Kennedy. It was weird. I'm from the US and I've never heard of this stuff before!!! The Korean girl who I was chatting with said she had to do a report on it!! WTF?! Why can't we learn cool stuff like this?! It's weird-the two presidents have some crazy shit in common. Because senators exactly 100 years apart. Both president in 1860/1960. The president who followed them both was named Johnson. Both Johnsons were born 100 years apart, same day of the week and everything! Crazy. Oh yeah, Lincoln was shot in the Ford Theatre, and Kennedy was shot in a car called the Lincoln Ford. WTF?! Crazy! Of course this wasn't in the clip, but it's also interesting to think that they were both presidents during very changing/turbulant times. Lincoln with the civil war and slavery, Kennedy with the start of Vietnam and civil rights.....hmmmmmm.....makes ya think.

Not much else going on that I can remember. I've started making a list throughout the day of everything I need to write about, otherwise I forget something and later after publishing the blog, I'm like "Nooo! I forgot that!"

I'm buying envelopes and postcards either tomorrow or Friday, so perhaps you'll all be getting some sort of correspondance from me soon!

Heather and Shannon-someone has to sign for my train tickets! And then ASAP they need to be put into another envelope and mailed to me! Okay? Make sure Mommy knows. I'm not too worried because I don't need them until Oct. 27th but yeah..

Goodnight! I need to make some instant coffee (which actually tastes like normal coffee now, LOL! how weird.....and I actually REALLY look forward to it every night!) Isnt' that weird how that works?? During the October Storm back in 2006 I would almost puke when drinking it. Of course, I've been told it's more common to drink it here so it might be better quality. I think it's a mixture of just needing any kind of coffee I can get my hands on, and having time to experiment on how to get the most "normal" tasting coffee. I'd be in heaven if I could just go out every morning and every evening for coffee! Cuz it's so yummy at the cafes! And there are times when I wish I could have some of Mommy's coffee, because I know her's is gonna taste so good when I get home!! But yeah, I'm gonna make my coffee and do some studying!

A Bientot! I'll tell you all about my doctors appointments tomorrow or the next day! And sorry about no accents-the codes don't work on my laptop and I'm not copy-pasting them just for a blog entry! LOL!

Grosses Bises!

Kelly *smooch!*

International Students Night :)

Just got back :) I didn't stay out late, just til 11:30, even though I have no classes tomorrow. I had to walk back to my room all alone tonight-so I wanted to return early while the campus is still full of life :) But I had lots of fun! We went to a bar called "La Terrasse" and filled out these sheets and paper and got our photos taken. We get ID cards and whenever we go to that bar, we get a discount on drinks, yay! Tonight we got a free drink! So I got a beer on tap. Not sure what it was called...But it was good :) And then I just hung out and chit-chatted with my friends. They both got another beer, but I didn't want to drink anymore since I knew I'd be walking home alone. (It's always good to drink responsibly!) Plus, I've never really seen the point in getting "buzzed" or drunk or anything....you can have lots of fun without that!

Today I had my 8am class. LOL-I had to pause for a moment while typing that because it seems like soooooo long ago! It was so tiring. And all that writing I did this past week didn't even need to be handed in. It's just to help us comprehend the reading. So I'll continue doing the work...because it really did help me understand what was going on in class today!

Then I went to check my mail, but the building was locked :O It's been locked the past few times I've gone....when I first arrived, there was always a secretary in the office so the building door would be unlocked. I'm thinking that was just for the arriving students. So I tried using my key in the door, and nothing was happening! I was not very happy. I needed to get to this letter from the French "authorities" about the doctors appointment they set up for me (yes, this is MORE Visa crap!!). So finally, I decided to go to the residence hall on the OTHER side of campus to ask them if there was a special key for that building that they forgot to give me. Because another girl had just gotten her mail as I had been walking to the mailboxes, so I KNEW other people were able to get in.. But I had to pee first, so I stopped by my room and I also checked my email. Because I had emailed the housing people to ask them about this earlier in the week. And just like this summer when I needed to contact them, they never answered!

So anyway, I started my journey across campus and was walking pasted the mailbox building again, when two girls (one of which lives in my building) walked up to get into the building. So I stopped them and told them I was American and didn't know how to get in to the building to get my mail. And they were very sweet! Apparently, it's the same key that unlocks my room. But the lock is really weird! They showed me how exactly to unlock the door with it. You have to basically open the door while you turn the key! Confusing French locks!! So then I got my mail and everything was good :) But I need to check out that building. I didn't notice in my other trips there that there is a basement. I wonder what's down there?? The woman who brought me to my room when I arrived said she thought I had a laundry room somewhere, so maybe it is there ;) I will have to investigate next week!

I totally forgot to mention in my last blog about my trip to the Uni library!! My CUFLE class took a field trip across the sidewalk to the library. My teacher gave us a little tour but really wanted to show us the foreign language area. It's on the third floor and the stairs are a BITCH! I am terrified of heights and these stairs are the kind that you can look through and see below you :'( AND they move slightly when people walk on them. Yeah. Real Safe. Anyway, the language lab area is really cool! They have German textbooks and stuff so that's awesome! I didn't think they would because they don't offer any German classes here. So maybe I'll brush up on my German :) And there are easy French novels for us to read. And there are TVs and French movies that we can watch up there. AND in two different areas of the library, there are areas where you can watch TV channels from different countries!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I ever get a REALLY big urge to watch some American tv, I can do it there :) Except only when the library is open....so no Ghost Hunters :'( By the way....the library hours are the most RIDICULOUS thing ever!!!!!!!!!!!! I seriously could NOT believe it when I saw it. It is only open until 8:30 during the week. Saturday it's only open until 5 and Sunday until 1!!!!!!!!!!! At Buff State, the library is open until 11 I believe. AND-the study quad area with tables and computers and printers and stuff is open 24 HOURS A DAY!! So this is really not cool. If I ever need to print something for class, I'll have to actually plan when to print it :(

Had my Art History class today. We had to work in small groups and talk about paintings. I was stuck with this kid from South American country. (I doubt he will ever find this blog, lol...if he does, I'm screwed!) He is so....annoying and full of himself. He speaks WAY too fast! And it's with a Spanish accent. And he'll say all these "smart ass" remarks about things and thinks he's really funny. But what really is funny is that when he speaks and thinks he's really fluent in French, the teacher gets this pained look on her face, like she's trying really hard to understand what he's saying.
And he just randomly starts laughing hysterically at nothing! I'm not sure about him..............but I'm definitely gonna make sure I sit near someone else next week.............

Then I went home and napped and then went out :)

Did I mention that I've been eating lunch a few times a week at the student restaurant by the library?? If you are a student, you get a huge meal for only 2 euros and 90 cents! Way worth it! Though some days I have no idea what the food is, lol. Usually they have some sort of fish (sort of reminds me of talapia...but I don't think that's what it is). And they'll have French fries and a vegatable, and also a meat dish. Here's how it works:
You get in line, grab a tray and some silverware and a mini baguette bread thing, and then you go to these shelves. On one shelf is the choice for your cold side for the day. There's 2 or 3 things to choose from. I usually choose the couscous because it's usually there :) Then the next shelf are all the options for dessert. The desserts are always AMAZING!!!!! Today was some really yummy coffee flavored cream thing (almost like canoli filling but lighter...) and it was on a yummy roll with nuts and stuff on it. SO GOOD!! Then, you go to where the workers are with the "hot plate" foods, to get your main course. You tell them what hot side you want, and then you tell them what main food you want. The fish always has a REALLY good creamy white sauce with it! I can't really describe it....it has mushrooms and some seafood in it. Very tasty! Then, you pay for your food. The lady gives you a napkin, and you grab a glass. Then you find somewhere to sit, and you can fill a pitcher with water if you want, or you can just take your glass up to the water dispenser and fill your glass.
The food isn't always the greatest, but it's always nice to get a huge meal for little money! And it's always edible. There hasn't been a day yet where I'm like "ew. not eating that." So yeah.

That's it for now my loves :) I'll write more this weekend!

*hugs*
kelly

My Week is Almost Over :)

Bonjour tout le monde!! I'm sorry I haven't blogged since Saturday! I've had a lot of homework to do. But now I have it all finished and I have TOO much time on my hands..

Classes are all going well. I had a little assignment due in my CUFLE class on Monday. We had to write 20 lines describing a friend, so I wrote about Heather :) I did a very good job too! Heather-I even used "la mienne" and those sort of things!! OMG! I'm so smart ;) I also had my Fr. Lit. lecture class on Monday. It was fine-I was able to follow the teacher much better this time!! Yay! I took 2 whole pages of notes!

Tuesday I didn't have class until 5:00, but I was working on homework all day! I was trying to finish reading "Les Natchez", and then it occured to me that the only exerpts I had to analyze this week were excerpts from the beginning, LOL!!!!!!!!! So I stopped reading and started writing! Just finished the 3rd one a few hours ago. Not sure if they are exactly what the teacher wanted, but they are as good as they're gonna get! I have NEVER taken apart 2 pages in a book in such detail!! I was surprised what sort of things I came up with too ;) Guess I really do have it in me!! I do feel better about my papers since finding out that some other exchange students who have the same teacher but a different class did not write anything because they didn't understand what they were supposed to do. So at least I did it, right??

First day of Fall was yesterday!!!!! I had totally planned on taking a nice walk by the water, but I had too much work to do. So that will probably happen tomorrow instead. I'm gonna bring my camera and get photos of all the subtle signs of Autumn's arrival <3 You'll probably all see them when I get home though, lol. My photos really don't want to upload! I guess it's just too much work for them and they are lazy! Ha!

Today I didn't have class until 5:30. I stayed inside until then finishing up my analyses as much as possible. It was really nice out though!! I wish I had taken a little walk or something.... Then I had my writing techniques class. So difficult! But my teacher was so sweet-she told me that she just found out that there is going to be another writing techniques class offered in October that is just for exchange students. I'm gonna see when exactly that is and if I have no conflicting classes, I'm taking it! I have no issues understanding my teacher in that class....but the students talk SO fast and explain the reasons for picking certain answers SO quickly that I don't pick up a thing!! So then I can't really learn/practice anything because they don't give me the time of day to understand what's going on! But I'm so glad my teacher was a sweetheart and found that out for me :) I really want to take it-I've already learned a lot of good grammar stuff in the 2 classes I've already had.

Tomorrow I have my 8am small group french lit. class. I have my homework finished :) Then no class for a few hours. I'll probably go into town and buy some baguette bread because I ran out again and I'm so addicted I don't think I can go a whole day without it anymore!!!!!!!!!!! Oh no!!!!!! What will I do when I get home?! No quick walks to the bread store :(

At 1:30 I have my Art History class :) Looking forward to that because it reminds me of my Fr. Lit. classes back home. Lol...don't ask me why....it's art not litterature....but yeah.

I think tomorrow night there is an international student night at a bar in the city. It was arranged by the school and if you show your student ID, you get a free drink :) I might go to that. Not sure how late it is at though, and I don't like going out late. But we'll see :)

By the way-I got a subscription from Skype for making international calls from my computer to land-line phones :) I can talk for as long as I want and all I had to pay was $12 for the month. So I'll probably try to call the family using that from now on. And my friends too if you want. It is free for the person I call, too! I'm going to use it to call Gramma. I hate only have a few minutes a week to talk to her!!!! I'm used to going to her house a few times a week and talking for hours! There's so much I always want to tell her <3 So yeah, that's the main reason I got it! Of course, there will always be the chance of call being dropped because of my internet connection, but that doesn't really matter because the calls are free! I can call back and not worry about paying more money ;)

Anyway.....love you all! I will write more this weekend, hopefully about something more interesting that my life and my classes! Maybe I'll people watch this weekend and write about the French lol! Or if I feel like using a lot of imagery...I can describe the city or the harbor to you :) But we'll see......

Grosses Bises!!!!!! ("love and kisses"!!) (and kisses on the cheeks, lol!)
kelly

Not Much Happenin'...

Yeah so not too much going on right now. It's the weekend. Tomorrow is Sunday which means NOTHING will be open! Except of course some of the restaurants right on the old port. So I guess tomorrow will be spent doing homework..not a whole lot of homework to do though, soo....

Yesterday I hung out with another American student. We got lunch at the student restaurant and then we walked by the water :) It was so pretty! We met up again later for dinner. We went to this bakery right passed La Grosse Horloge like...right before it closed. And I got the most amazing panini I have EVER tasted! I'm so going back pronto! It was on baguette bread, yum! And it was all cheese!! I think it was gorgonzola, goat cheese, and camembert?? And it was all melty and warm! And just sooooooo amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course, I'm a HUGE cheese person. If you don't like cheese you would probably hate the sandwich, lol.

Then we got ice cream and the "best ice cream place in La Rochelle" according to the kid we had as a guide our first 2 weeks here. Definitely amazing! I got the white chocolate flavor. So yummy!

Today I went to the older French lady's apartment again for our weekly get-together :) It was really nice. We stayed and talked to her for like 3 and a half hours! She is so sweet and gave us tea and cookies :) And I could understand her way better this week, and I was able to talk to her more :) She said we'll probably have improved quite a bit in like a month or so :) So that's cool!

Didn't get home until almost 7, then I made pasta. And then I talked to Jacob on the phone :) So nice! And then I talked to Gramma on the phone! I really miss talking to her :( I'm so used to chit-chatting with her for hours! She said Auntie Stella fell and hurt herself :( I hope she is feeling better now. Sending love to you, Auntie Stella!!

Did some homework tonight. Read some of Les Natchez by Chateaubriand. Let me tell ya.....it's really weird! The Devil and his daughter are in this one, LOL! They fly through the air and go visit the Natchez indians to influence them and protect them from the white people-because the Native Americans are one of the few people who still "worship Satan". LOL!!!!!!!!!!!! I was pretty much dying of laughter reading it! Heather-it is so different and weird than Rene! Which is saying a lot because Rene was effing ridiculous!

Hugs and Kisses to you all!
Lol-I really can't get used to the whole kiss on the cheek thing here. Someone did it to me for the first time last week and it felt so uncomfortable!! Weird...

Kelly

Weekend!!!!!!!

So I have no classes until Monday at 10:30 in the morning :) And I'm drinking some instant coffee. I found some creamer. I think it's actually powdered milk, lol, but it works and it hasn't given me any stomach pains yet.

I'm wondering if I'll get used to hearing French people outside my window ever?! Like seriously....it feels so normal here, so then when I hear a foreign language that I sort of understand, it's like "wait! I'm in France!" Very weird feeling.....but also very good, because I'm happy to be here :)

It's really cool when I post on Alex Band's French Streetteam message board, and people actually understand what I'm saying and tell me that my French is really good :) LOL- though, they've never heard me speak! But that's why I'm here......to improve my spoken French!

I had my TD for French Lit. today. (as in, the smaller group class that goes along with my French Lit. lecture hall class....confusing, I know..) At first I was kind of panicking, because the teacher gave us these packets with really precise details on how to write textual analyses of novels....but like it's weird and not like we do them at home. We are supposed to like...read just 2 pages and then analyse EVERYTHING!!!!! Like what tense is being used and all the symbolism, and allusions and stuff I've never even heard of!! Like....I'm used to analysing French novels, but not so precisely, and not in such a rigid format!!
But then the teacher (who is very sweet), said that the foreign kids don't have to get so indepth. We just have to do a regular analyse of the text-you know like the litterary techniques used and the symbolism and stuff. And then we don't have to write a big paper for our final. We do an oral test in a group (like me, another girl, and the teacher), and we just basically speak about the different symbologies of nature in the different works and stuff like that. So not really that bad.....as long as I have a big enough vocabulary to express everything, lol!

Yeah, that class was at 8 am! Not cool.....but I really shouldn't complain. It was only like a 5 minute commute in the rain (vs. the 20 minute drive to Buff State in the rain and the 10 minute walk to class in the rain, lol). But I was so tired. And I spilled my juice this morning before leaving.....on one of my dolly's sweaters! So I was half asleep, frantically trying to destain and wash the little sweater before class! (if you can picture someone so sleepy being frantic, it's quite funny..)

That was a 2 hour class (2 hours too long, lol! no really, I'm used to like 1 or 1 1/4 hour classes..). Then I went home and crashed out for a while. Then at 1:30 I had my CUFLE "Option" class. I picked Art History so yeah. It looks like it will be really interesting! We learned about "Rococo" and next week we're doing "Neoclassicisme". Looks like it'll be a good class because we're learning a bit about history and a bit about the art movements, most of which are very similar to the literary movements of the times... So a very good class for me :) And interesting :) And I was about to say something about how at least this teacher doesn't have a strong German accent and only teach about architecture.....but then I remembered that she spoke ONLY French. LOL. But seriously-this class seems way better than the Art History class I took at Buff. State last semester. I'm not big into architecture. I mean-I love pretty buildings and I love learning about their history, but I really do NOT CARE AT ALL about how the buildings were built or any of their structural things and yeah..

Tomorrow I am probably going to go to this cute little cafe pres de "La Place de Verdure" pour un cafe et something sweet :) Last time I was there, I had a "cafe creme". So good-and nice and strong, just the way I like my coffee! And they had some amazing looking sweets, which I did not get at the time because I had just eaten lunch.....but I think I'll go tomorrow and get something yummy there...and I'll bring the Rimbaud anthology I just bought the other day, and I'll read for a while :) Then I'll stop at the bread shop right after "La Grosse Horlage" and get a baguette sandwich to go. They are HUGE so I'll eat half for lunch and save the rest for dinner :) Parfait!

LOL-For the longest time, I haven't been able to remember the first stanza of "L'Automne" by Lamartine. It's the poem I had to memorize to recite at the French Honors Society thing last semester. So I decided to look up the poem on the web and write it down and rememorize it. As soon as I wrote it down I remembered it perfectly. And now I have it memorized even better than before :) I've been reciting it all day because it's so pretty! And it's almost Autumne here so the poem fits :) Maybe I'll pick a Rimbaud poem to memorize next :)

Sweet dreams, my pretties!
Kelly

OMG......

Didn't have class until 5:30 today. So I read Chateaubriand. I finished Atala-which, Heather, you HAVE to read!!!!! It's not nearly as ridiculously stupid and dramatic as Rene. I actually like Atala and there are only a few parts where I was like "right.....stupid....."

I went into the city to buy some notebooks, because I only brought one with me. And let me tell ya...i still cannot get used to writing on graph paper! I always thought it looked messy.....and it sucks because that's like all they have here, so all my notes look messy :(

My class today was "Techniques d'expression ecrite". Basically, writing techniques. I almost died when class started. There was only one other exchange student in the class, and I didn't even sit near her! The first exercise the teacher wanted us to do was ridiculous..... Basically, she gave us these excerpts from books that were written in the "Stendhal" style (written more like the spoken word, and not accurate grammar all the time...meshing words together..) Now, I knew what the teacher wanted us to do. I've read Stendhal so I know what his style is (i'm guessing the writing method gets its name from him, because the teacher said his name and said "Le Rouge et le noir" a few times..) And i could pretty easily just correct the bad grammar.....but she wanted us to actually rewrite the sentences in a more sophistacated way!! I'd be fine doing that in my room.....but I can't do a whole paragraph in 10 minutes! sheeeshhhh! That's hard stuff to do! But the teacher found out I was foreign, and then she just told the other girl and me that as long as we understood the paragraphs and understood what the other students were doing, we didn't have to do it :) I do have the worksheet though, so I'm going to be practicing that this weekend.
The rest of the class was pretty easy-just basic grammar things that French people commonly mess up. And some things where we had to match the word with the definition. I needed to pull out my French-English dictionary for that because the words were fancy and I had no idea what they meant! But once I looked them all up, that exercise was very easy :)
That class should get easier....it's the first day that always gets me the most!

Just listening to The Calling now. I just ate dinner. I'm gonna skim through "Rene" for a little bit before bed. Already read it last year, so I don't need to totally take it apart, lol. My "small group" class for my lit. class tomorrow at 8 am!! Not cool. But then I just have my Art History class at 1:30 and then no more classes until Monday!! Yay!!

Love,
Kelly

And second day of classes....

I only had one CUFLE class today :) It was annoying. I'm just not used to regular French classes like that anymore!! All my classes at Buff. State are litterature and stuff like that.....For Monday, I need to write 20 lines describing someone I know, LOL.

This morning I went to a book store and bought two of the books I need to read for my lit. class. They didn't have the other two I need. So I'll go back next week but if they are still not there, I can get them for super cheap from Amazon France.

I also bought a 35 euro French cell phone, lol. Because everyone I hang out with got them, and I didn't have a way to keep in touch with them! It's the kind where you buy your minutes as you go. So I probably won't even need to reload the minutes because it already came with some on it. Maybe Heather can use it when she goes away next year :)

I have my writing class tomorrow :( I'm really nervous! I don't know anyone else taking it! I'm just really worried that the teacher is going to make us write something that I don't understand the first day of class! I'm hoping not. I hope she just talks about the writing techniques and what we'll be doing all semester or something. And maybe I'll introduce myself to her as soon as I walk into class, just so she knows I'm a foreign student ;)

Alex Band played a brand new song last night in LA!!!!!!!! It is beautiful and acoustic and sooooo pretty!! I'm sure it's about when he and his wife split up :( SUCH a good song, but really sad too! The link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TJWY_3DQzw I seriously cannot wait for the album!!!!!!!!! And I'm just soooo happy and excited to hear the clip of this song because he just added it to the album track listing :) And it's so great!!!!!!!!! Me wanntttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!

Nothing else going on. I bought some French cheese. It tastes AMAZING!! Smells kinda funky, but I was told by the French kid who was showing us around that you can't judge French cheese by the smell. So true! This stuff is sooooooooo good! I bought Wasa crackers (which I LOVE eating at home), and the cheese goes so great with the whole grains in the crackers! I heart it all!

Love,
Kelly

First Day of Classes!! Whew....

Today was the first day of classes. I have a headache!! Of course, I always have a headache after the first day, whether it's in France or in the States, so I should complain.

I had "Littérature Française" this morning. It's just your basic lit class. It covers mainly the 1800s and 1900s. And funny enough, the first thing we are reading is Chateaubriand!! We have 3 works we need to read of his-René (which I read at Buff State..), Atala, et Les Natchez. That will be easy because I've already learned all about Chateaubriand and the time period he lived in and what influenced his writing :) The other main thing we are reading is André Gide's "Faux-Monnayeurs." I haven't studied that particular work, but I have studied Gide, so yeah...

The other things listed on our book list are actually not things we NEED to read, but more like complementary things that sort of correlate to the other texts. But I'll probably buy those books and read them as well just because I want to really understand everything we talk about in class. Those other works are: Armance by Stendhal (already studied Stendhal et "Le Rouge et le Noir" so yeah), Au Bonheur des Dames by Emile Zola (already studied Zola a bit too!), Le Journal des Faux-Monnayeurs (yes, it's different from the other Gide work....), La Condition Humaine by Malraux (which I had to read an excerpt of last semester..), and La Jalousie by Robbe-Grillet (which sounds really familiar so I think we at least talked about it a little last semester). So at least I'm sort of familiar with all the authors! Should hopefully make the class a bit easier.
The teacher is very nice. He came into the classroom where jeans and sandals which caught me off guard. But he spoke WAY too fast!! The whole first part of class I had no idea what he was saying. Then my brain actually started functioning faster and I could pick up tidbits of what he said. After class all the exchange students went to tell him that we are foreign, and he said that he knows he has to talk slower because the native French students even have issues understanding him! He also said that his wife works with the foreign students here and she is always yelling at him to slow down when he speaks. Cute :)

Well that class was from 10:30 this morning until 12:30. My next class was the CUFLE class (the French for Foreigners class), and it was from 5:00 to 7:30. Longgg!!!! But at least the teachers give 10 minutes breaks in the middle of class :) My teacher is very nice, so that's cool. But class was so boring!! We were just talking about facial features and hair color and stuff. Puh-lease! I had to learn that in middle school and it is boring!!!!! I have that class again tomorrow. And then I have another CUFLE class on Thursday. The Thursday class is cool. We had a list of 4 classes we could choose from. I was orginally going to do the Littérature Française one, because I saw that it studies a lot of poetry, and I love French poetry! But then I saw that it also studies LOTS of theatre.......and I really have never ever ever been a fan of reading plays. And I was also quite scared that we'd have to read La Cantatrice Chauve, which I absolutely hated last semester!! So, I decided to do the History of French Art class. It deals with art from the 1700s to the present day, and we study the different movements in art. Which is cool because we sort of touched on those when my French class went to the art gallery last semester :) The art movements pretty much follow the literary movements. So I'm hoping this class is a really good match to my classes back home. I'll have an even BETTER understanding of all the movements :) Plus maybe different points of view. So yay! I hope it's an interesting class.
Only class I have tomorrow is the CUFLE.
The other girl from Buffalo emailed me today saying that I was on the attendance sheet for a grammar class she took today, but that class overlaps with my CUFLE class! I think what is going on is that the regular French kids have to take all the classes in their "group" (as in, all the classes on the schedule for whatever group they were placed in..) But since we are exchange students, we only have to take 12 credits of regular uni classes, so we only take the ones we need back home and the ones that don't conflict with the CUFLE classes. Um so yeah. We're supposed to meet with an administrator sometime soon to actually register for only SPECIFIC classes, so I'm sure I'll be taken off the attendance list of that grammar class soon. I bet all of us are on all the attendance sheets, lol!!

Shopping for the books I need tomorrow. And also doing some grocery shopping. I'm all out of bagette bread, no!!

Love,
Kelly

Got the Timetables (er, um....schedule is the american term i think)

Another blog yay!! Today was quite busy! I went to drop a packet off at the housing office, and the woman there was so sweet. She saw my last name and got all excited and proceeded to tell me (in French, of course), that she grew up in the town about 30 km away called "Rochefort", and she was so excited that my name is only spelled a little bit different :) She helped tremendously with that packet and stuff too. I guess I need to open up a local bank account.....even though I was told when I first arrived that is was OPTIONAL!! Oh well....I'll just get another HSBC one because it'll be easy to transfer money back at the end of the semester. I'll just use my travellers cheques to fund it..

Went into the city this morning because I actually needed TWO passport sized photos to give to them. The sheet said I only needed ONE, so I brought just ONE with me! Lucky for me, the Monoprix store in the city has a little passport photo printing kiosk (like those things in the mall with the curtains where you sit and the machine takes your photo!) Wish they had those back home!! Then I decided to go to the grocery store in the basement of Monoprix (the main floor is like a tiny Target) and I get some bagette bread because I ran out last night!!

Around 1:40, I heard giggles and a New Zealand accent outside my window, so I peaked out, and there were the girlies!! So I grabbed my aquarium ticket that the school gave us when we arrived and off we went to the aquarium!! It is so pretty!! They even had sharks :) I'll definitely go again some day. Maybe when I come back to visit La Rochelle with the family :)

Finished that at around 3:40, and we realized we'd better see if the "timetables" were up. It's not like at home where you find the class times online and register.....they just post a bunch of schedules on a window of your classroom building and yeah.....
We were overwhelmed to say the least, so we went upstairs instead to see if our results were posted yet from the placement test for our french for foreigners classes.... We were put into groups based on our level of French (don't know how that easy test was able to determine our skill level but okaaayyyy...) The groups are A through E, A being the most beginner, and E the most advanced. I am proud to say that I am in GROUP D!!!!!! Yayyyy!!!! Go Kelly! Go Kelly!! I rock :) So I have my regular French language classes on Monday and Tuesday from 5 to 7:30 every week. And then I will have another one on Thursday, which I get to choose :) There are 3 I can choose from but I have to go back Monday because I don't remember what they were! My choices I guess are all really cool and interesting :) The people in the lower levels have 2 options and they are like speaking practice and writing practice. I think I get a cool politics class or something. I have to check...

Then we went to the Lettres office to see about those regular university French classes. Apparently, there had been a meeting for the foreign students on Tuesday to sign up for classes, but we had never been told about it! So all we did was sign a pink sheet and put our emails and room numbers, and then the secretary put us randomly in a timetable group. (they have groups for the schedules so that there aren't too many people in each class) It's confusing but yeah. I need to discuss this with the British lady who works with the foreign students because I understand some of the schedule, but then other parts are like "what??!" Like, for one of my classes, we have 1 big lecture hall class a week, and then one other day a week we have smaller classes for that class....not sure how you know which class to go to!
But no classes for me on Friday!!!!!!
And one of my classes doesn't start until November 2nd, and classes only go for it until Nov. 16th. So yeah. That's right. 3 THREEEEEEE CLASSES!!!!!!!! Cool but very weird. And almost all my classes end in November. So what will I do with all my freetime?? I guess depending on what time and what days my other classes are at, I might travel :)

I was researching Germany because I want to go there (I've taken some German classes and would like to Minor in it if I can), and I found an ADORABLE little city I want to go to. Of course, I'm a sucker for really old places, so this is the town of Rottweil, in the region of Baden-Wurttemberg (where the Black Forest is). It's the region's oldest city and was built in the 1100s :) Woooo! I am really thinking about going there even just for a weekend. If not there, then somewhere else in Germany. Preferably southern Germany.

Tomorrow, one of the other gals from New York and I are going to meet with a sweet old French woman just to talk in French for an hour :) We met her at the foreign students get-together last night-the school has certain older people come so that we can meet them and have practice speaking French. I guess we're supposed to meet every week :) Cool!

That's all for now :)

I called Mommy yesterday and I called Gramma today :) All is well!

Love,
kelly

PS-Hug and Kiss Mocha for me!!

Crrrrrazzyyyyy!

Life's been pretty good here :) Sorry I haven't posted a blog in a while, but I would have just been saying the same old stuff, lol. Um yeah....photos aren't up yet because they never want to upload!! I might be able to email them to Heather though, and then she can put them on the net for me. We'll see :)

I think my zip code is 17026, so why doesn't one of you try sending me a postcard? and then I'll see if I get it??

Last night there was a get-together for all the foreign students. I met a lot of people from Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. And I met this really sweet old French lady. I guess the school like invites retired people to the get-together who want to help us with our French, and then if you find someone you like, you meet with them once a week for an hour or so and just talk French and exchange cultural info. So I'm meeting with Francoise on Saturday at 3 with one of the other NY girls :) Cool!

Then we went out on the town. There were quite a few of us, and some of the girls went to a bar to drink, but it was my first night in the city and I didn't want to drink and get disoriented and have to walk back to my room drunk, LOL! So I hung out with a NYer and a girl from New Zealand. We just sat in the harbor and chit-chatted. It was fun :)

I found out that I need to open up a local bank account.....not happy about that! Especially since we were told that it was optional! But whatever...I have a shitload of traveller's cheques that I wanted to cash anyway, so maybe I can cash them all and put them in an account and then I'll have a debit card so I won't be carrying around mass-sums of cash all the time.

The whole thing with classes here is really weird! I met with someone the other day to pick classes, and I still have all the ones that my advisor wanted me to take, but then the woman also gave me like 2 or 3 other classes to sit in on. Because you don't actually register for classes for a few weeks......we just go and sit in on the classes and if we like them, we register. Weird!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess people will be dropping and adding classes until October...

Oh, and they call schedules "timetables". Gotta get used to that!!

Have I mentioned that it's been in the high 80s here all week?! I don't like that!! Today it's only gonna be in the 70s though, and then the 60s next week. Yay :) Finally my kind of weather!

Miss you all! But I'm having fun!

Love,
Kelly

PS-I found the yarn store :) Took me two tries. The first time I went searching, I actually passed it. Because the store sells clothing and yarn, and they have clothing in the window and in the front of the store. And then yarn in the back. LOL-way to be confusing! But yeah, I bought the most beautiful plum colored chunky yarn :) It is SOOOO soft!! I'm making myself a wrap. It looks awesome so far!

Photos Tomorrow! I promise!

I just tried uploading photos, but it seems my internet connection is always at its slowest in the evening, and it was taking FOREVER to upload anything. So I will try again tomorrow afternoon :)

I spent the weekend exploring La Rochelle with my fellow American students :) It was fun! The city is so pretty!! I know I keep saying that but it's SO true! All the buildings are stone and it's just soooo cute!!

The weather here is really hard to predict. I check the forcast every morning before I get dressed so I know what to wear, but it is usually cold and windy in the morning and then warmer in the afternoon......the other day it was SO windy!! But I guess I should expect it since I'm on the ocean ;) The cheese here is wonderful. I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow or Tuesday and I am definitely getting some cheese!

Not too much else to say except it was HOT today! I didn't bring sun screen to France because I wasn't expecting this! And I got sunburned :( But hopefully it will fade and not be too noticeable soon.

Photos coming soon! I promise!

All the love,
kelly

Having Lots of Fun!

I had lots of fun today. I love this city! It is fabulous! I had my placement exam today and it was soooo easy! I thought it would be way harder. But this was honestly like high school stuff. Hung around the city for a while and got my first real cup of coffee since leaving home. I've been drinking instant coffee....It was SO windy this morning. Heather-we really should never ever ever ever EVER complain about the wind at Buff State EVER again!! It's way windier here, because of the ocean. You'd be so pissed because your hair would be soooo messed up! I've started noticing that it's really chilly here in the morning (because of the ocean, perhaps?) and you need a jacket and everything! But once it gets to be about 1 or 2 oclock, it is really nice and warm!

I promise I'll still get photos up this weekend. I'm gonna try to take more tomorrow and then upload them either tomorrow night or Sunday.

Oh yeah...and I thought classes start on the 7th....but that's only if you're taking JUST french for foreigners classes, so I don't start until the 14th!! Okay...I guess I have another week of exploring to do?! I will write more tomorrow.

xxoo
kelly

PS-5 years ago today I saw THE CALLING!! in Cleveland!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And yes I DID celebrate by listening to TC!

I Have Arrived!!

I'm here!! This was my second day.....yesterday I was SO unbelievably tired from not sleeping for a day, lol! But I made it :) I also had no internet until this morning when I registered for classes because we can't access the wifi until we have our student id and password, which we then use to log onto the internet. But I got some rest last night (not a whole lot, because I have a pigeon nesting right above my window, but still..) My room is HUGE! I have an actual apartment, kitchen and all! So if anyone wants to visit....I have enough floor space to house at least 6 people, maybe more ;) It is AWESOME!!!!! My friend Alex is dorming here too, but she's in an actual dorm room, and it is TINY!! So I'm glad I am spending like 30 euros more per month for this ;) It rocks!

I went grocery shopping last night and that was very interesting! Everything at the store was way cheaper than in our stores (even if you change the prices to dollars!), so I had a whole cart of things and it only cost me about 25 euros! woohoo! I went back to the store today for some stuff I forgot about, like garbage bags, plastic wrap, dish soap, and sponges. I have this amazing window in my room, it goes from my floor to almost my cieling! And the top half of it opens up, no screen or anything and I have wonderful fresh air coming in all the time! And no bugs, either! I've been kind of nervous of those pigeons flying in....I think they've been in before because there is a feather on my awesome wrap-around-the-wall desk..

I have photos of my room but I won't post them until this weekend.

I went into the old city today! I thought it was wayyyy further away, but it's actually only like a 10 minute walk. The old towers are fab!! They were built in like 1400 and 1500 and you can get tours to go up them, so I'm going to do that. This was the beautiful site I got to see today: http://www.larochelle-tourisme.com/decouvrir/patrimoine-rochelais,1,1,69.php (I hope it works!-it's the first photo on the page, you can click on the highlighted words for more into/photos)

The city is beautiful!! I will definitely be spending a lot of time there! And I think everyone should visit here some day ;) There are SO many little outdoor cafes and restaurants! I ordered my first meal in French today, at a little bread shop that sold awesome bagette sandwiches. I got ham and swiss cheese, and they also put some butter on it. very simple but very yummy :) And a good price-about $6.00 US for a huge bagette sandwich. That's about the same as a sandwish back home. I found the HSBC bank so that is good. I know where to withdraw my money ;)

I am supposed to be studying right now for my placement exam, which is in the morning.

A Bientot!
Kelly