Today our dreams have come true! It was cold enough in the morning to wear a trench coat and breathe into my hands to keep warm, but since I leave the house at 6.35, that’s probably not a good representation of the weather. By noon, the sun was shining, not a cloud was to be seen, and I actually took my coat off. Sophie and I grabbed lunch (sandwich jambon beurre with a beignet chocolat and ice tea for me) at Monoprix and then went to Le Jardin de la Fontaine to eat in peace. We decided that since it was so warm and sunny, we might as well lie down on the grass and try to get rid of the fishbelly white skin we’ve developed. There was a palm tree about 20 feet away from us, the grass was soft and cool and soon our faces were burning from too much tanning. I’ve put some pictures below, the book is “Bonjour tristesse” by Francoise Sagan, a really great read.

Then came humiliation (which I’m going to describe here so that Sophie can’t blackmail me later). I was only half awake when I heard a mumbling that sounded like a question. I waited about 5 seconds, and since Sophie wasn’t saying anything, i opened my eyes and asked the (admittedly hot) guy standing next to us to say it again. He did, but I didn’t catch what he said (which still happens embarrasingly often, even though I’ve been here for almost 6 months), so I put on my glasses and asked him to say it again. This time he made a smoking motion and I finally figured out he wanted cigarettes. Sorry, nope, we don’t smoke (do I look like a smoker? Seriously, I get asked for a light or cigarettes way too often). According to Sophie, the awkward pause while I was figuring out where my glasses went to and putting them on was ‘absolutely hilarious’. Right. Make fun of my inability to understand gibberish while practically asleep, that’s real sporting

We also got mobbed by an adorable two-year-old, who popped out of nowhere and landed practically in my face. He proceeded to pick up my camera, smile (cutest thing I’ve ever seen, by the way), and when his mom arrived, threw himself into my arms. I’m not sure if he was hug-deprived or just an incorrigible flirt, but either way, I’ve never seen such an outgoing kid.

Coming soon: A list of our gaffs so far

In December I went to England for a couple of days, since I had an interview for Cambridge uni. It was miserably cold, but it only rained on the last day, when I was in London (figures- that was the day I left my umbrella on the Tube :/ ). Most of the pics are on facebook, and I’ll put a couple at the end of this post. There aren’t really any exciting stories to tell about my trip, aside from my getting mauled by a goose, hit on by a big, smelly guy with a thick Scottish accent, and stepping into an ankle-deep puddle (twice).  Other than that, it was pretty boring, really

France is still much the same as it was 2 months ago. We had a strike the last week before Christmas vacation, so I didn’t have school- I just hung around the centre of town trying to resist the impulse to buy stuff. Actually, because we had two snow days last week (can you believe it? Half an inch of snow and everyone freaks out!), we didn’t have French class, so I’ve gone over a month without seeing my teacher… Very satisfying, that, since I don’t really like her class.

Next Saturday a few friends and I are going to Avignon for the day. I don’t think any of us have actually been inside the papal palace, so that should be fun. Unfortunately, the bus schedules are hell… I have to ctach a 6.40 bus from Vers to be in Nimes for the 9.00 bus to Avignon. *sigh* We’re also trying to plan a trip to Arles in the near future (Van Gogh- here we come!), and once it warms up a bit I’ll try to make E. take me to Marseille. Or La Grande Motte- the Canadian exchange student at our school says the beaches there are amazing

On the more mundane side of things, our TPE presentations have to be finished by the first week of February (that’s when the winter vacation starts), so I’m frantically typing up information about waste treatment in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. Fascinating, no?

1. Language-wise, I’m far from fluent (I still mix up the past and future if I don’t watch myself), but at least I don’t get headaches anymore when listening to French TV. Also, since I actually understand what people say, my pretty much constant panic attacks have gone away- I don’t spend the entire day dreading human contact. Case in point, my host parents and I went to an art exhibit at a local caveau, and it was… alright, oddly enough. I didn’t tremble when people talked to me, there were no awkward ‘do I do the whole bisous thing, or do we shake hands’ moments (note: 99% of the time people here prefer the kisses. Must be a southern thing- somehow, I can’t imagine Parisians being quite so friendly to complete strangers.).

2. The food here is getting better and better. I don’t know if that’s because I’m actively trying to get rid of preconceptions like ‘I hate cheese, therefore I’ll hate croque-monsieurs’ (which we’re having today for dinner- we’ll see how that turns out   ), or because I’m getting used to French cuisine. Either way, I’m nowhere near as miserable as I was in September, when evrything seemed too different to possibly taste good. Although I could do without ever eating baked potatoes and cheese again. Seriously, those two simply shouldn’t be mixed

3. On the other hand, I have yet to figure out the whole chores thing with my host family. They never actually told me if they want me to do anything, so I still have to figure stuff out on my own. I figure if I put my own dishes away, keep my things somewhat orderly and try to be invisible, it’ll work out. It would be nice, though, to know when I’m supposed to do my laundry- my host mother talked about it a couple days ago, but I wasn’t really paying attention…

And we have a cat! She’s the most adorable, black-and-white ball of fluff I’ve ever seen (aside from my own Devil, of course, but that’s a whole different category of adorableness ;D  ). For some reason, she’s taken a liking to sleeping on my bed. Normally, I’d have nothing against that- I love cats- but there’s one teensy problem. I sleep in the top bed of an almost 7′ tall bunk bed. Every time the kitten jumps down I have a mini heat attack- I’m scared to jump from that height, and she just hops down like it’s nothing!

…I have absolutely fallen in love with the Serge Lutens line of perfume (technically, they’re eau de toilette, but whatever). If you read anything about him online, the general opinion is that his scents are funky, original, and definitely not for everyone, but I am amazed with him. My favorite so far, ‘miel de bois’, has a lot od dry wood notes, honey and beeswax. It’s very heavy at first, and rather off-putting (a lot of people compare the smell to urine), but after a while it dries down to a nice, velvety finish.

Quite honestly, I spent the entire evening yesterday with my wrist up to my nose, and when I woke up this morning and could still smell it, I immediately planned a trip to a perfumerie when school starts again. I admit that MdB is not for everyone (out of dozens of reviews I’ve read so far, only a handful liked it, and even less adored it), but it is very surprising. In fact, I so liked MdB, that I’m planning to get some of SLs other scents (A la Nuit and Ambre Sultan, probably- they impressed me when I tried them in Avignon).

Here are the pictures I promised- the Palais des papes, some random church, and a telephone booth donated to Avignon by the English

My French is much better, I am pleased to say; I can actually hold up my end of a conversation now. Sure, the only topics I can reliably discuss are university applications and how much I hate math class, but still, that’s an improvement on where I was in September, so I’m not complaining. And thesun has decided to come out these past few days (is it just me, or does the whether get worse when your mood tanks? Maybe it’s just me, but I could have sworn that it rained the entire week I had the sniffles…), so it’s warm again, and I’m not shivering like an epileptic anymore. That, and I got my winter coats from my parents a few days back- figures that the weather would improve once I got some heavy-duty jackets

A word to the wise: never, everagree to go on a study abroad program and try to study for final high school exams (I mostly mean the Polish bac and AP tests, but the SAT and ACT could also be included in that statement, although to a lesser extent). I actually got called ‘reserved’ the other day, and my host mom told me to speak up more (supposedly so I learn the language faster, but probably also because a silent guest tends to take the fun out of everything. I’m really good at watching movies, though…), which is really because I spend all my time studying. Honestly, if you had to relearn everything about the literature of a country whose history goes back almost to the birth of Christ, you’d be pretty darn panicky, too! But I moved my laptop to the dining room for a while, and talked to the family a bit more, so I’m hoping that’s enough

If you’d like to see some pictures, I’d suggest looking at my facebook- I update it much more regularly, and I can post more of them there (I have a 1GB limit on wordpress ). Here are a few of the more memorable ones, though

Mme. Boulestier took us to get our textbooks today. It wasn’t that bad, or at least not as bad as it would have been, had the books been the size they are in the US. They’re all quite small, actually (and free!), so I guess I shouldn’t complain. But still, walking around with 30 lbs hanging from two thin straps you’re holding in your hand is not a very fun experience.

I did, however, take some pictures. They’re crooked, and rather random, but I was juggling my book bag, a hoodie, the textbooks, and my camera, so I guess you’ll forgive me

Since I have to study for the Polish ‘matura’ while I’m here (a type of bac/AP test thing, for those of you that aren’t Polish, administered in May), I’ve decided to simply try to keep too busy to think about much of anything. Denial has always worked for me, why should it fail now? I resolve to not worry about not being able to communicate. If others cannot understand me, I will not feel bad, I will simply use more hand gestures. In class, I will not work my butt off to keep my grades as high as they were back home- I am here to learn the language, and school is secondary (or rather, third: the test in May takes precedence).

Let’s see how my resolutions hold up in the cold light of day on Monday… That is a figure of speech, of course, as the afternoon temperature is usually somewhere around 30 degrees Celsius.

As to what I have been up to, I’m afraid that I have yet to take any typical tourist-y photos. I’ve seen the arena in Nimes, and it is a beauty, but as I did not know that we were not going straight home on Friday, I did not have my camera. I do, however, have a picture of a particularly interesting toilet seat that I saw at a Castorama in Avignon. I simply have to share it

E.’s mom took us to school this morning for some reason. Once we got there, it turned out that I am in 1ere ES, which is like an economy/social science class, and E. is in 1ere S, which is the science class. That was the first blow. Second, came the fact that I was expected to sit in one seat for 2 hours, while a prof talked nonstop. Not only that, but I think she mentioned something about a presentation in January that we have to do the research for ourselves. And we have to get into groups on Friday for this presentation. I know 1 person! And she doesn’t speak English!!!

Thankfully, all this lasted only until 12pm, after which E., C., and I got on a bus. I thought the bus would take us home, but no. We only got to the gare, where we had to wait for an hour before the next bus came that went to Vers Pont du Gard. Did I mention that I had a freakin’ heavy dictionary in my bag?

Anyway, I’m done venting. Past/present/future exchange students, CIEE staff, friends and family: please disregard this note. I’ll get over it. Hopefully.

We’ll be going back to E.Leclerc tomorrow as well. The profs give you a list with things you’ll need on the first day of school- it’s a bit pointless, I mean, they had all summer to send them to students! But no, they give you only one day to get everything together… Once again, good thing E. and I have the same classes, ’cause I’ll probably have trouble deciphering the list. I hope they don’t dictate, because that means I’m screwed…

I wish I could post pictures, but we haven’t been anywhere intresting yet, and I don’t want to go around snapping photos of the house- I’m afraid that they’d consider that rude (hey, I’m not sure I’d want a stranger taking pics of my home, either). I’ll take my camera with me tomorrow, and if the batteries hold out- which they’d better, since I forgot to buy new ones- I’ll try to get some good pictures of the city.

I’m still so nervous though, about not understanding what people say to me, being unintentionally rude, and not knowing what is expected of me, that I can barely eat, and my pulse is a a steady 200 (at least that’s what it feels like…). School doesn’t start until Wednesday, unfortunately, so I’m stuck with 3 days of doing nothing and worrying The lycee is an hour away by bus- the first day we have to be there by 10, but every other day starts around 8, which kind of sucks.

We watched “Jeux d’enfants” today- it’s a very good movie, and the only drawback is… that I didn’t understand anything. As far as I can tell, it was “boy meets girl, boy argues with girl, boy marries another girl, girl marries another boy, they meet again, fall back in love, live happily ever after”. I’m sure it was a lot more complicated than that, but other than the odd “vous”, “merci” and “bonjour” I was lost- they spoke waaayyy too fast for me.

I’ve also found out that the stereotypical, mindless “oui” is ever-present for me. Whatever I am asked, I’m reduced to one of three things: nodding, “oui”, or “non”. I’m sure I’ve agreed to a lot of odd things by now, but I have no idea what they are. Time will tell. On the bright side, I learned a French card game called “Presidente”, and I totally kicked ass at it.

Finally, to dispell some myths. I’ve found that the French do not sweat table manners much, at least when it comes to holding the eating utensils. The only person here who actually does it the European way is papi (the grandfather). They do, however, insist on you holding your hands above the tabletop- they actually asked me if I was aware of this rule. Thankfully, I was, so I avoided a major faux pas Also, not all the French do their laundry at midnight to defray costs. Neither do the parents insist on doind it themselves. I was shown how to use the washing machine today, which I assume means that they will expect me to do at least some of the laundry.