La Deuxieme Semaine

17th - 19th septembre

Well, well, well. Already two weeks into the semester, and I'm getting my schedule down. Tuesday I finally my student ID card, which means I could then do three things : 1) get my student-discounted month tram ticket, 2) access my new school email account, and 3) use the computers (and the internet!) in my fac.

By now I've attended at least one session of each of my classes, although I had to leave one early for an appointment, and missed the last three of the week. Grammar is still my least favorite, and hardest course. I was also frustrated three times this week by teachers glazing over what I was trying to say to them...Let me explain...or bitch...whatever you want to call it.

1) Writing. We played a game about wild animals, don't ask me what this has to do with writing, I don't know. One of the animals was a moose. I tried to describe it, and the prof told us the name. When she saw the picture she realized that she had told us the wrong animal, and said it was a caribou. I asked if it was the same word in English, because in English there is an animal called a caribou, and it is not a moose. I looked up the word for moose (orignal) and she asked me to explain the difference. Well I couldn't because I didn't remember exactly what a caribou is. She replied that since they have neither in France, the French just categorize them all into caribou. Well fine then, don't accept the fact that I know more about North American wild animals than you.

2) Francophonie. We were talking about countries that speak French. The teacher didn't list Madagascar under the countries whose official languages were French and something else. I pointed this out. As I was trying to explain that French is the second language and quite a few people speak it, she said that there might be a few people who speak and moved on. Now, my facts might be wrong, I'll admit that (Adam you might able to help me with those facts) but don't just ignore me and cut me off.

3) Pratique orale. We had to listen to a clip and write down the details, then she asked us in groups of three to tell her what info we had gathered. I had one thing to say after the other two girls went; that an American engineer decided to put the arobase (@) in keyboards in 1972. I got about halfway there and she stopped me to say that no, it was invented in the 19th century. Ummm, not what I was saying at all. Then she left. I heard another girl say the same thing I had been trying to say and the prof's response? 'Tres bien' Alright, no more talking for a while.

Anyways, aside from those things the first part of my week wasn't bad. My French friend (JP), who speaks English pretty well, as well as Spanish, has been helping me with French a bit and giving me other useful info. Thanks to a lack of communication I had no idea whether or not I could apply for aid from the French government. The people at my residence said that I had to. The people at SRI said that because I'm only here for one semester that I couldn't. JP said he knew a girl that lived here last year, for only one semester and she got money. So I applied, I'm not sure I'll get anything, but I used their little calculator to estimate if I would, and it said I could get up to 150 euros a month. That would be amazing. And you have to love the fact that I'm more likely to get financial aid from a foreign country than I am from my own. Yay for socialism! JP told me that he pays about 800euro a year to go the university. That's full cost, no scholarships.

French universities are similar to American ones in at least one big way: when someone gets sick, a lot of people get sick. That's right folks, I've got a French cold. I had been sniffly since Sunday, though I couldn't tell if it was the cold or my allergies. Thursday morning I knew that even if it was my allergies as well, I had gotten whatever was going around. Apparently so did some of my other classmates who didn't show up. First I had two and a half hours of pratique orale. I felt like shit. Then I got lunch with JP at Le cafe, and who would've guessed that their jambon buerre sandwichs made on a baguette would be completely banging as well. The whole time I was contemplating whether or not I could make it through two hours of grammar. I decided to use a computer in the meantime. Little did I know that the time on said computer was half an hour behind. So ten minutes before I thought class was starting I went downstairs. I didn't know which room it was because it was a make-up class from Wednesday. Wait a few moments...no one... Go to the bathroom...no one... Finally I check the time on my ipod and see that class had started 40 minutes earlier. Well shit. I was still not feeling great, so I went home. I didn't feel too bad the rest of the day and managed to do laundry and clean. I told myself to go to bed by 11 so I could get a full eight hours of sleep. At 10:30 I was quite sniffly and passed out next to my homework. I woke up around 5am with dry lips from breathing through my mouth, and two hives forming...one above each eyebrow. My alarm went off at seven. Snooze. 7:10. Snooze. 7:20. With a nose full of snot and my left eye slightly closed from the hive, I contemplated if I should attempt class. A glass of juice told me no. At 7:40 I called Kay to ask her if she could sign me up for the trip to some castles for the next weekend, then went back to bed. Around 8:15 she came up to get my student ID card and I asked her to tell my two profs I was sick. Then I took a benadryl because having an itchy forehead is a horrible feeling, and went back to sleep. Around 11:30 I finally got up and ate some breakfast. By then I was looking decidedly like Quasimodo with a swollen forehead and my left eye forced 2/3 closed thanks to the hive. Oh and don't forget the sniffles, dry mouth, and slightly painful throat.

By 12:45 I was asleep again next to the French magazine I had been reading. Finally a little after 2 I woke up and decided to try to be human by taking a shower and eating again, and trying not to see my reflection.