The Français

I thought I'd use this post to do a little talking about language itself. Oh, where to begin! Its been about six weeks now and it's hard for me to judge how much I've progressed. I think the biggest change has been my comprehension. In the beginning, sentences were one long blur. Now, I think that I hear most of the individual words, even if I don't know exactly what the each one means. Sometimes I'm surpirsed when I understand something, other times I'm dissapointed at myself because I didn't catch something that ends up being really simple. I can't lie, it can be frustrating sometimes when I feel like I almost understand something, there's just a key words or two that I missed, and people assume I understood nothing when I look confused or ask them to repeat themselves.
It's also funny because people at school try to speak english with me a lot, and they ask their friends (in French) things like "How do you say 'birthday' in english?" and I can understand exactly what they're saying. Oh well, if I respond in french enough times they usually switch over.
Another big part has just been listening to the accent and rhythm of French itself. There are tons of words that are really similar in both English and French, it's just a matter of being able to recognize them when they're spoken all frenchy-like. As far as vocabulary, it's kind of like being a little kid again. Like at the lunch table I point at things and ask,
"C'est quoi?" (what is it?)
"Un pamplemousse" (a grapefruit)
"Pam...ple..mousse?"
And charades, lots of charades.
Inevitably, I've had my share of misunderstandings. Usually they're just funny little things. The other day I told my host sisters there was a octopus in the kitchen because I got the wrong word earlier when I asked for the animal with eight legs (I was looking for "spider"). Overall, being in an enviroment where you don't understand much has been quite the expirience! School's done a nice job of teaching me how to entertain myself. I know lots of doodle games and I think I can stare at a wall for an unsettlingly long time before getting bored.
On a different note, I had a really great time mushroom hunting this weekend. Yep, mushroom hunting. I think it's kind of a regular pastime here. We drove to a beautiful forest where, armed with boots and baskets, we walked through the leaves looking for little mushrooms. It was like a giant easter egg hunt. I only found a couple (I think I some more to learn about the art of mushroom-searching) but I had a really fun time, which we finished off nicely with cider in the back yard.
Only one week to go before a two week vacation. I'm pretty excited because I get to take a trip with my host family (I keep forgeting the name of the town we're visiting). But I'll be sure to take lots of pictures (just for you, mom). Well it's raining out now, I think its time to put on some sweats and the rockin reindeer slippers my host family bought me.
Au revoir for now :)
Lauren

One Month Anniversary

I have been in France for officially a month! It's really weird to think back to my last day in America, because it seems like it's been much longer than 35 days. Last weekend I had an AFS rendez-vous with the other exchange students from the Il-de-France region (Paris and it's surroundings). There are about 30 of us, from all over the world, from Norway to Japan, to Honduras to Austrailia.We spent the weekend at a beautiful spot on the Seine river, doing group activites and talking about our feelings. Despite the ridiculous energizers, it was great to talk to everyone else about life, french school, missing home, host familys, and just about everything else. My roommates and I stayed up forever talking about the differences between schools in our countries. It's was really hilarious to hear the stereotypes of American highschool (Is it like high school musical? No. Are there cheerleaders and pep rallies? Yes). On Sunday, our host families came for a potluck lunch and a few more symbolic group games (popping balloons with your fears written on them, anyone?) before heading back home.
This weekend I'm planning on taking the train into Paris for the day to visit the Louvre and maybe do some shopping (don't worry Mom, we scoped out the cheap spots) with a few other AFSers. I'll upload a few photos from this weekend below.
Oh, and just a few more things to add to the list (I'm always thinking of things I forgot).
32. Most people write in cursive. I've taken it up because a) It makes my notes look fancy like everyone else's and b) It is easier to fake it when I don't know how to spell something.
33. When you enter a classroom everyone stands until the teacher tells everyone to sit down.
34. The mailmen deliver the mail by bicycle.
Okay, I had more but they always escape me. Anyway, the pictures:

 Such an awesome house!

 Potluck time!