My First Week of School

MONDAY

As you know, it was Reaping Day for FLE..aka we were put into our French classes. Fortunately I had no classes, so I got to go home afterwards. But first, I went and got bananas!

And they were FAIRTRADE!! I was super excited.

For dinner, I went to the Resto U, and they had an interesting "fish cake" that kind of reminded me of crab cakes? Either way, it was really good. It also had some vegetables and potatoes. Had I known this, I would have gotten the green beans instead of extra potatoes.

 TUESDAY

My first set of classes: Phonetics, two classes I didn't really understand, and French Society. Pretty sure that French society is like French Civilization, which I took last semester at UNCC.. so maybe I'll ask just to sit in instead of taking it for a grade.

For the two classes I didn't understand, they were supposed to be about understanding the university system and how to do like summaries and stuff. I think maybe I should look at FLE 2 level classes for these cause I felt soooo lost. BUT this was only the first day, and some of the other people I spoke to said they had a hard time following what was going on as well. I have two more classes before I have to make a final decision, so that's good.

Dinner was turkey and broccoli. NOM The dessert was a thick yet very fluffy lemon mousse.

WEDNESDAY

I decided not to go to the Bristish Civ course since I couldn't really go to the methodology course every two weeks. Also, the final for that course scares me. There is a course I'm looking at called European Nature and Landscape, which is supposed to be about how culture and society helped shape the landscape of Europe. It's an evening course, so I'm pretty nervous about being out late for the bus. I went on Wednesday, only to realize that classes don't actually start until next week. Oops. Good thing I have a bus pass!

Dinner at the Resto U! Fish and pasta with a super yummy pepper sauce!

THURSDAY

My first real rainy day! I woke up to thunder and it was glorious. I really wanted to sleep in, but alas I had classes. Apparently fall is the rainy season for Limoges, so I guess I should invest in some rain boots. I did bring my REI jacket, but for some reason umbrellas are way more popular here.

I did see a few trench coats and wouldn't mind getting one of those while I'm in France though.

My first class of the day was Language, with a wonderful professor who I think will be my favorite. I hope to have more classes with her next semester if possible. After that was the Oral practice class, which makes me want to crawl into a hole and die because 1) I have problems understanding French when spoken, and 2) I'm super shy when I have to speak in French.

 For lunch I got to hang out with Julia and Judith and we checked out the café across from the fac, since the Carrefour had literally been cleared out of sandwiches.

I got the rôti crudités et fromage poivre.

My friends, this is my new favorite cheese, and it's really just cheese and pepper. But it's that "fluffy" cheese, not hard like cheddar or runny like Brie. Maybe it's whipped?

Once again, however, the sandwich had part of a boiled egg. Seriously, France, why do you want that in your sandwiches?

After lunch I had Listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and then writing. The last two are with this fun professor who really likes to talk with his hands and write stuff on the board. The sucky part: we had to write an "official letter" that really sucked.

Dinner at the Resto U: Zucchini and "kebab!" It doesn't look that spectacular, but it was very tasty.

 FRIDAY


Since I want my certificate in Translation, I decided to sit in on one of the translation courses. I met a girl named Clara (I'm not sure how she spells it). Clara is my favorite name! If I ever have a daughter, her name will be Clara Marie. There will be no discussions about it.

Anyways, she was very nice and super organized. She has beautiful handwriting and color codes her notes. I know this because a lot of the time I would be trying to read them while the professor was talking because I was lost.

The class was a bit painful, but I'm going to try and stick through it for another 2 weeks. They were going from English to French, which is tough for me because I just don't have the vocabulary and idioms down enough to do that. Also, it's easier to go from the foreign language to your langue maternelle. In a fortnight we'll be going from French to English, and the professor said that if I felt like I could handle that, then I'll be fine. If not, think about reconsidering taking the class.

That afternoon I got to hang out with Candice and Lyndsie! But I'll save that adventure for my next post.

xx