We got to Rouen at about 11:30 and looked for a place for lunch after marveling at the scenery a bit. We settled on a tiny little restaurant on a tiny little ally. Lunch was delicious: an appetizer of salad and cheese (I just had salad) and a main meal of some kind of beef stew (specific to Normandy) and pasta. For desert, tart tatin. Completely delicious, and my first real experience of eating out in France. After lunch, Alice and I went and browsed some shops for an hour, but didn't buy anything. Then it was time to see an impressionist painting exhibit at the museum. Apparently, Rouen was a favorite painting site for many impressionists, including Monet, Gaugin, and Pissaro. I love painting exhibits, and the art was beautiful, but the whole world decided to visit on the same day and it was difficult to get around. After a while, it became too much, and Alice and I returned to the streets for shopping. We looked at many different stores, and the clothes were all very nice and chic, even more so than Flers. They were also expensive. Really expensive. I know it's french, and everything, but I couldn't bring myself to spend 200 euros on a sweater. I finally bought just a simple striped t-shirt at one of the lesser expensive stores. I needed some stripes because everyone wears stripes here and I had none. In the USA, I like to be original, but here I'm doing everything to fit in. We got back home at 9:30ish and I had a quick dinner and went to sleep. Great day, but long day.
Last week, I said that it felt much longer than a week. Well, if last week felt like a month, this week only felt like a couple of days. Maybe that means things are getting easier? I hope so. Or maybe it is because I actually had less school. My history teacher was absent monday, and in France there are no substitute teachers. This is much more practical than in the USA because we never actually get anything done with subs. And, it allowed me to go into town and buy a pastry with some friends, which was nice. It was also my birthday (finally finally FINALLY sixteen!) so I was in a good mood. Then thursday, there was the strike. Again. In the morning I participated in a protest with all the other high schoolers (second protest of the month--they do love their protests here), which was fun and interesting, but I'm not sure how I feel about the issue. There are protests all over France because you have to wait until 62 to get welfare rather than 60. I don't want to get on anyone's political bad side, but they have it really good in France. Great benefits and lots of vacation time. Two years of more work sucks, yes, but is it really something to get thaaaat worked up about? Anyway, I eventually went home to eat lunch. Alice told me that only the Math teacher was there, so my first and only class of the day was at 5:00 PM. There was some kind of confusion, though, because when I showed up to math class I was the only student. It was horrible. Once the teacher saw me, there was no escaping, and I was caught doing math problems in an almost empty room with Madame Hauttement hovering behind me for an hour. Horrible.
But yeah, less school. The school that I did have was still hard, but maybe not quite as much. It is getting easier to distinguish words when people talk fast, which means a bit easier to take notes in class. I find that I can usually participate in class and follow along if I really really try to pay attention. It is hard to stay motivated to pay attention, though. It is so easy to just check out and let your mind wander. I have to focus really hard on eliminating that reflex. Another thing that is hard is that sometimes I have no idea what is written on the board. In the odd chance that my teacher writes something rather than just speaking, they shorten words and use a notation that everyone knows except me. And some of their letters and numbers are written differently enough that I don't know what they are. But, one day this week I was actually able to take a few notes in SES. That was an incredible accomplishment. We had a test in SES friday, and I will be surprised if I passed, but I did manage to answer some questions. I think it must mean my language skills are improving. Sometimes I catch myself thinking in french, and when talking to my mom last week I answered "ouais" instead of "yeah" once by accident. I chose to take that as a sign that fluency will eventually get here. Oh and I forgot to mention that I am taking art at school. So far it is boring and we don't do much. I'm sticking with it, though, and holding out hope that it will improve. There are a lot of things you can teach yourself with practice, but there is a limit and eventually you want some pointers.
Socially, I'd say things are still improving. But remember Cady from Mean Girls? On her first day of school, Janis and Damien got her to skip class with them and she said something like "I know it's wrong to skip class, but Janis said we were friends. And I was in no position to pass up friends." A lot of times I feel like that. Sometimes I have to choose between listening to the teacher and shutting up or continuing my conversation with the person next to me, and I choose to continue the conversation because I'm scared of losing that chance to make friends. Like if I shut up, they will lose interest. Which is probably not true. But I'm desperate. People are really nice, though, and I have been getting better at finding ways to say things. Like even if I don't know the right vocabulary, I am sometimes able to find ways around it. There are still lots of times when I have something to say but I can't and that is so frustrating because it means that I can't really show my personality. People are nice, but they don't really know me yet.
Speaking of frustrating, the most frustrating thing in the whole wide world is when people talk about you like you aren't there. It is like being five years old again. "Does she like school?" "Yes, she is very happy there." I can always, always tell when someone is talking about me even if I can't understand every word they say. It is so easy to tell. And it drives me crazy.
Now time for some more observations. The supermarket here is a lot like any old american supermarket, except with more environmentally friendly foods. Kids here love rap and sometimes ask me to translate Eminem for them. If anyone has good enough french to translate Eminem, please let me know. Karate is different, less of an art and more actual fighting (It still feels weird to have no friends and be the last one without a partner. I miss my karate buddies!). There is a cheese bar in the school cafeteria, and every day there is an appetizer, main dish, and desert. Lastly, they never ever wear berets. Ever.
Miss you all tons! And now, pictures! Would post more but they take for-freakin-ever to upload.
i miss you. come home. I'm jealous.
ReplyDeleteI love you,
Becca.