Back to School!

Bon week-end à tous!

Best gelato of life! (with my Estonian friend, Maarja) 

I have officially survived my first full week of school in France! I almost kinda sorta maybe have my classes selected (pending approval) and I’m so relieved! Unfortunately, due to my abysmal knowledge of the French language, the only French language classes I am taking are essentially French for foreigners, but hopefully next semester will go a little smoother! I quickly realized that taking third year history classes was not feasible as the content would be difficult enough without being spoken to in a foreign language. Without flashy power points and other North American pedagogical staples, comprehending lecture-style classes was a recipe for failure with a side order of stress.

Nutella cookbooks! <3 I don't know
how I'd get through my day without Nutella ;)

The school system here is so maddening because there isn’t an academic calendar like we have in Canada so all the courses I have I heard through word of mouth or through countless rendez-vous with practically everyone employed at the Fac. After endless emails, desperate phone calls and the occasional tears, I was reassigned a new coordinator, Carine, who was an absolute angel and helped me figure out my courses. There have also been many instructors out there willing to lend a sympathetic ear to a confused and overwhelmed exchange student. God bless them!

lookout from the Château d'Amboise 

This week I also started my Pack Sport, which for y’all reading in North America means- for only 20€- you can register for up to three physical activities as well as sign up for “stages” or special trips (I’ve signed up for the Mont St. Michel trip in October, so stay tuned!!!). Wednesday was my “remise en forme” (fitness class).  As I didn’t have a schedule until this week, I signed up for whatever few classes were available, not having a clue what they entailed. It couldn’t have worked out better! Two days later, I am still excruciatingly sore from the all squats, lunges, planks and crunches!  This was made all the more wonderful by my clearly delusional plan to bike uphill to my volleyball class this afternoon (in the pouring rain, no less). Apparently traveling to a facility called “Grandmont” (big mountain) wasn’t enough of a give-away. I hadn’t played volleyball in over three years so it was a lot of fun to get my competitive edge back and meet some more students. I’m also picking up some sports-specific vocab, which is great!

On that note, I do believe my French is slipping! I’d never realized how easy it is to live in a country and not speak the language. Most of my friends here are native English speakers or are Europeans with a fantastic grasp on the English language. My comprehension of French is fairly decent but I get very tongue tied when speaking! It’s not coming as quickly as I had hoped but every day is a step closer :)

Thank you to all the awesome & beautiful people reading my blog. A bientôt!

Z <3