Goodness, a lot has been on my mind this week. Good news! I read the school guidelines and Oral Expression classes have no minimum student requirements, just a maximum which I believe is in the 12 to 15 range. The last time I looked at the list yesterday we were at five which seems like a really good number to me. I have so many good choices but only the time and sanity for a limited amount. It turns out the French-English translation class professor is a friend of Monsieur Peaud. Darn, because it sounds like he would have been good. A Japanese student told me that the class was hard but worth it because of how much one has to learn. However, concerning my specific situation and place in my studies, I am content with my choices.

So....I'm taking Oral Expression, Social Economics of France, French Art History, French Literature of the 20th century, and finally my general language class. That's my final decision and there will definatley be work but I don't care. I'll do it all happily if it means I'll be learning more and more about French. Being among the French has really encouraged me to want to work my butt off to become fluent. One day....

Well, in the meantime, this Sunday is Valentine's Day or here as they call it, Le jour de la Saint-Valentin. I have absolutely NO IDEA what I'll be doing. Probably homework. The day before on Saturday I've been given the invitation by Monsieur Peaud to join the whole family for a visit to his brother's. I wasn't sure at the time but perhaps I think I should take advantage of the opportunity. Last Saturday when I was with them, I was so tired because of the intense French-only communication, but as I've told the Peaud's, it is a satisfied kind of tired. I just wonder how they are going to fit me and the three other Peaud kids in one of those compacts! That reminds me that the oldest, Jean-Bapitist, came back to France from Morocco where he was in the middle of a project for his engineering studies. He comes home tomorrow as well as Mathile, the middle child and only daughter. I could also visit another out-of-the-way chateau perhaps as well on Sunday. I don't know. I'll see what gets assigned today in Literature and tomorrow's classes as well.


I've been making you all read a lot and I know this. For your patience with me, I present to you the grounds of my university for the semester!

Below here is the University Palace. Basically it is the main and central building. It is home to various classes, the Humanities Library, and a tiny cafeteria. As a side note, this photo was taken during a rare sunny moment. The weather is so somber here in the winter! Illinois is downright sunny in comparison.


Close-up of the door there.

They are also in the middle of rennovating much of the campus so the entrance inside the University Palace is a little less than joli, but you get the idea.

And here is my home away from home specifically on campus. Of course, it is the library.


So bizarre to see one's mother tongue in the foreign language section.



Here is the building I take almost all of my classes and where most language classes in general take place.





Well, I guess that is it for now! Time for class!

Simple Update/ Second day of class

Well, I'm in what is called Moyen deuxième degré (middle second level) and so am right in the middle (somewhat off centered to the advanced) group of French language students there. Not bad considering Monsieur Canfield of the EIU Foreign Language Department and I both figured me to be Moyen première degré (middle first level) material, the level just below deuxième degré. This means I have a little more choice in taking "fun" cultural classes and not just language classes. Parfait!

Finding out exactly how to sign up for classes and where to go for said classes was a exam in itself for not just myself but everyone else as well who wasn't French.Both Asian and North American students were incredibly nervous and stressed because we are used to these general bits of information made plain well ahead of the time students even set foot on campus for the first day of classes. It wasn't until just before our classes in general were about to start were we finally given our general language classroom and teacher assignments and course choices and when and where they would be.

We are all required to take a general French language class which is assigned to us. This class can take up anywhere from 12 of one's 18 credit hours at the introductory level to just 6 hours out of the 18 which starts at the Moyen deuxième degré. Any classes outside of that can either be restrictive such as at the beginning level or more flexible with more subjects to study within French. For example, in my case I can take up to nine hours of just culturally based classes and only have to take one more language classes. Almost all classes are chosen by students during the first week where we can attend as many classes as we want this week and we can decide whether to sign up for the course by the final class. Out of my choices that I've seen on paper, I found the one's that fit me best time-wise and academically are Social Economics of France, 20th century French Literature, and French Art History. I've already had Social Economics and Art History and I think they are perfect fits for me. We'll visit Literature and see how it goes. I really, really hope well.

My other language class outside of my general one I also hope will be Oral Expression but I won't find out where that will meet until they have a definite sign up list for that class. Oral-based classes are unique because the must be signed up for by the end of tomorrow and then they will calculate where the class will be if there is a class...last time I checked by mid-afternoon today, I was the only one signed up on my level. So I'm not sure if it stays that way whether they will cancel the class or I'll be it. Either option leaves a knot in my stomach.

If I had to give the French lifestyle a theme, it would be "All in good time. Patience." Let me tell you that patience is how things are run here from where I've been positioned. After having been raised in the comparively fast-paced, super organized world of the United States, I have found myself having to aquire patience and calmness like never before as if they were some survival tools. In the meantime, my other survival tools of being fast-paced and super driven have been put aside for now out of necessity for keeping my sanity.

Well, third day of classes tomorrow and the observation/decision week has yet to be over so this poule is off to bed. Bon nuit tout le monde.

Chateau Number 1

Okay, so to get my feet wet (so to say) I took a day trip with my rail pass to a close-by village called, Langeais, home of Langeais Chateau built in the Middle Ages. I have truly learned how dead everything becomes in French culture on Sundays. I was lucky in that when I arrived to the town it was market day so I can present to you some photos of what French markets look like!

....Not exactly what one would always find at a farmer's market. Having gone to another French market like this yesterday with my host family, the French father explained that the French markets have a huge variety and by no means sell just food.

See! And the underwear was conveniently nestled between two sausage booths which I'm not sure was for enticement or what. I cannot make this up.

Mwah! Ha! Ha! Ha! The Food Porn returns!!!!!!!!!!


More to come on later market days in other places.

In the meantime I, of course, visited the chateau. I did this, well, mainly because it was open and I had to do something outside of Angers today. I'm glad I went. It is a self-guided kind of visit or visite-libre here and I highly recommend it for any traveler for numerous reasons.


First, for those who don't really know French, all the information there is multi-lingual with French, English, German, Italian, and other languages posted to guide you through the rooms. Second, for those (like me) who know a decent amount of French but retain the language skills of a little kid, this place is perfect because it is so geared towards educating children. Oh, on that note, it is the only chateau that I yet know of that has a playground on its grounds and one with a super cool treehouse to boot!



Third, it is highly overlooked as a chateau and so the crowds are not really ever an issue to deal with. Fourth, the place is only a five minute walk from the train station which makes seeing it incredibly convient. Actually, everything here was a five minute walk now that I think about it. This includes the cute village hotel with its own restaurant with a great looking prix fixe menu.


This one below is for those of you who are interested in minority studies like me; the portrayal of a black-skinned man in the Middle Ages.


Finally, there is a tea salon across the street from the chateau that is also a chocolate shop that makes their own sweets. The tea selection is very diverse and I think the best buy on the menu as far as drinks go.



I finished lunch today with an absoulutely fabulous "petit gateau" called gargantuan. It was like eating a chocolate cloud covered with chocolate shavings and served on a fluffy, equally cloud-like sweet biscuit. Ah! Heaven. For those interested, it is called Le Cafe Rabelais.


I end with another cute French dog picture from the market today. I see perhaps a theme developing here.

My Home for Four Monthes

Well, since there is nothing in my schedule until Monday, today is a vacation day for me and it has been rather nice. Madame and Monsieur were right on it to make sure I would have things to occupy me today. They are both the natural parenting kind which is rather nice to a foreigner like me. It is the little things like leaving the TV guide at my table place at breakfast today that makes one's experience ridiculously nice. I'm feeling a little spoiled already! So I'll knit, read Le Petit Prince (which I have never read before so finally I've started it in the original French version), watch French DVDs, and head into town about noon for lunch.

IN THE MEANTIME.....finally, I have photos to show off. Today's theme is my home for four months.Below is my bedroom which is rather comfy and because the neighborhood is so nice and quiet, it is really easy to get a good night's sleep.

































And here is the upstairs I share with the youngest son. The other two Peaud children are, of course, at school. Apparently Mathilde, the middle child and only girl, comes almost every weekend back home so I'll get to meet her soon.



The turquoise thing in the photo of the shower is my bathrobe for my stay from my host family. I even have a matching towel!

The toliet is kept in a different room that reminds me of something like a linen closet...but not like in a bad way or anything.


These photos below are the kitchen and living room. As you might imagine the house is nothing vast but it isn't in the least bit cramped.




Here's something different for me! Shoes are somewhat forbidden throughout the house. I keep mine with the family's in the laundry room. Instead, everyone wears slippers. These are the ones I get to wear while I'm here! Hey, they work for what they need to do. What do you all think?


I love how many dogs I've seen! I took this in the morning as the sun was coming up...in 9 in the morning! Illinois's winter looks sunny next to Anger's. I've quickly gotten used to it. I just thought this was cute as I was taking a picture of the house this morning.

Sigh. Just can't win..okay, maybe a little.

Well, it would seem that while in France, Americans and I are not exactly compatible. Or at least that is my situation with the AHA group that I met yesterday. The more I am with them, the more I realize that practicing speaking French isn't a big interest for them. They prefer at this point to speak English with Americans and follow a very structured schedule provided for them by their organization which plans excursions, lunches, dinners, and other activities to fully guide them through Angers and UCO. I have enjoyed being in their company but today I found myself not as warmly welcomed to spend time with them as yesterday. An American student who is studying for her equivalent to a Master's degree in Arts Management at UCO shut me down as well when I was explaining that often the logic of the French confuses me (there is, of course, no logic to how things like buildings and addresses here are named and organized) and said that this was one thing I actually do wish was more like home. Then I added with a soft laugh that I hoped their confusing organization didn't make me miss class and fail (insert grin and laugh here...like I'd actually be serious about that. You'll see what I mean soon.). The girl stared at me and said that it was impossible to fail just because of the way they happen to do things of which there is nothing wrong at all. I will fail though if I don't bother to put any effort at all and that she could guarantee me. (I italicize the words she emphasized here.) My response was an honest-to-goodness straight response and I quote,"Well, that seems to make sense to me." I was stared at and became a pariah to the Americans for the rest of the day. Wow. Can ya feel the irony of not getting along with my own nationality? Actually, the French are fully aware of how illogical they are and I don't think they have taken any offense to my comments. I have pleasantly chatted about it with both the UCO administration office and my host family. C'est la vie as they say about it.

The semester hasn't really started yet and maybe I will find students to talk to next week.

As a result I'm kind of lonely socially as a student. I look at AHA with some envy. They have each other to hang out with. It is just me with me. I'm really lucky to have a host family that at least seems to like me and is patient and willing to let me practice my French with them. Oh yeah, and the rest of Angers is willing to have me practice, too.

A woman at a boulangerie I was having my daily petit cafe at said to me sympathetically,"Learning French. It can be difficult, no? But it can be done. By your small accent, you're at least very good at English." (Credit my new "petit accent" to my host family) I didn't know how to politically explain that it wasn't her words that were confusing me. It is these dang euros I was trying to pay her! Argh! Who needs a 2 euro coin? It is like handling a 2 dollar bill. It should only be used when you want to frustrate and tease the user of such currency and the E.U. must have it out for all of Europe to have created such a thing. Yet the French shopkeepers love those things. I keep on getting asked if I have coins instead of paper when I am in desperate need to break a 5 so I ironically do have coins to please all the other coin-loving stores in Angers. I love the bills though. America needs tomorrow from that part of the system seriously.

God must like me or something because even though I can't get along with some of the American students, I can get along with the French quite well and that truly makes me feel good. I am so thankful that I came here advanced enough in my language skills to talk to my host family about my situation. Actually the last American student that stayed with them had a similar problem with her American classmates.

I want to be clear here that I'm not trying to be a snob about wanting to speak French all the time. It is just I only have four months to spend in an only French-speaking atmosphere and I refuse to spend almost all that time speaking English. With this blog and communicating with all of you is of course different as writing this blog in French misses its whole purpose.

I hope for all of you as my readers that that will hopefully be enough drama for a bit, because I have so much fun stuff to write about. I won't bore you now but I shall return with pictures of where it is I'm living and more of what I'm eating. If there are two things that interest me most about French people they are the language and the food. I know those of you who have been in France are thinking about all the bread and, yes, I have truely NEVER eaten so much bread in my life. It must be filling up my blood veins by now and I shall return to the states as a baguette.

Complicated Day

I had a good placement exam today I think. It is required of all CIDEF students (the foreign language department at UCO) to take an exam which is graded and presented not quite unlike the SATs. Every question was "fill-in-the-bubble" and a point was taken off for every wrong answer. I hate it when tests are graded like that. I just naturally want to take chances with answers for no particular reason and you just can't do that with such tests. Oh, well. I find out the results and my class choices this Monday.

I met a bunch of American students who were just great to hang out with. They are with a group called AHA which is an inter-university program that brings students over to study at CIDEF and guides them through life in France. I really enjoy the organizers because they are Americans who have lived in Angers for several years and have a very hybrid French-American flare to them. They also have given me some great tips and on handling everyday life and language as a person coming from America and wanting to adapt seamlessly to French culture.

The only somewhat bad thing was that the students' French was not that great so to communicate better with them, I spoke in English. Unfortunately, by evening my mind was suddenly in English mode but I hadn't realized it yet. I had my dinner at a French "Fast Food" place by myself so I could begin reading my French "Elle" magazine. I had told Monsieur Peaud this morning that I wanted to save up my dinners for the month and eat out instead this evening. (It was a super cheap 5 euro dinner to boot). Suddenly it was almost 8:00PM and I was too late to catch the last bus to my host family's home. They told me that in such a situation to call them and so I did. When I called I realized to my horror that I couldn't speak as fluently as I could this morning or comprehend Madame Peaud on the phone. I place blame though not only on falling into "English mode" but also being so embarrassed and hence unable to think straight. When she arrived, after several moments, where she was confused that suddenly I couldn't understand her as well as this morning or talk as well, I finally comprehended that Monsieur Peaud misunderstood me and they had wondered where I was at dinner. Monsieur Peaud made a specialty of his as well so I could try it!

Well, Madame was very kind, saying there will be another time to have a dinner like that but emphasized to me the importance of watching the time and not to make it a habit to be late for things. However, she also emphasized that just because of tonight I shouldn't think going out to dinner is forbidden and that it is perfectly natural for young people to want to hang out together and that is what they should do and both she and Monsieur Peaud were very agreeable when I told them I was going out again tomorrow evening by invitation of my new American friends.

But I just feel so rude and like a mental clutz for falling into the trap of using English when I was doing so well on my French track. It just- I don't know- I just feel so embarassed on many levels.
Thankfully I took that test this morning because I was still in French mode.

I admit, I've hit a block where a part of me wants to be home again, safe in the English-speaking walls of America and people, and places, and customs that not just I understand but understand me. At the same time, I have to remember, I've had a very good time up until this evening and have already learned so much.

I hope it will be better in the morning.

Second day in France

Wow, what a day. It is actually taking some thought to write and think in English with which I am incredibly pleased. Today was exploration day. Yesterday wasn't much to miss except the miracle that I made it to the Peaud residence without a problem as I was almost certain my lack of language skills would make my experience not unlike some member of the Griswald family from the National Lampoon "Vacation" movies. To my surprise (though maybe I shouldn't be), almost everything was bilingual! I was hearing and reading so much English in the absence of French, it was more of a chore to switch into "French mode" when suddenly some official person started speaking to me in French.

The Peaud family has been very welcoming and patient with me. Already, I can feel more confident talking and comprehending them. No English here to distract me....well except this computer! It is most bizarre and fun liking in a house that is so compact and efficient with space to what I am used to. I use the word compact here and not small. There is not a feeling of claustrophobia, just a style of living that makes my American one seem excessive.

Exploring the city of Angers, I began by getting lost...very, very lost. BUT the good thing is that I ended up learning more about the city and can now navigate the main city quite well. It also gave a wonderful opportunity to talk to a lot of random French people who are not really rude at all in Angers. It must truly be an international city because they thought my communication was all the more charming when they learned I was a foreign student at UCO and a few wished me luck on my French studies.
Possibly the climax of my day was lunch. The French scedule has made it almost vacation-like to me. Almost nothing opens until 9 to 10-ish and lunch really DOES take about two hours or a little more. SO LUXERIOUS! So here is the creperie I went to where I totally forgot to photograph my galette before eating it. I can assure you though it was warm and perfect for a brisk day and since I ordered from the prix fixe menu, I had a crepe chocolat as well. The end was a petit cup of coffee with sugar and chocolate, something I have come to learn is typical here. Well, I can't complain!

I can use as many of these pleasant days as possible.