You know those tests I took last week (Math, French, and Economics)? Well I got my grades back. Math was pretty much as expected, 14.5/20. That may not sound too great for you Americans, and as I am American as well my face fell a bit at the score, but here a 14 is around an A- or B+ so I'm not really that fussed. Economics...well there is no way to make a 2.5/20 sound good. There is no way to make it sound even remotely acceptable. I was expecting around 4 at least, but I'm trying not to stress too much. I did start a rigorous new studying routine, though, with flash cards and everything. The problem is that I spend a lot of energy studying economics and then have none left for my other classes. But I'm aiming for at least an 8 on the next test. Okay, 6. Then there is French. I was certain before taking the test that I was destined for a miserable failure, but in fact I received the best grade of the class (16/20). Okay, yes, she ignored all my spelling and grammatical errors, and yes I know that she added a few (or several) points just for the fact that I'm foreign and managed to write more than a page. And I did get lucky because it was an in-class essay about the French philosophes, whom I studied last year in World History. But it made me happy nonetheless. Happy, but very embarrassed because teachers here have a habit of announcing your grade to the whole class (and in this case forcing them to give a round of applause). I hope they don't all hate me now.
This week was so up and down for me. There were moments where the shyness really took over and I couldn't think of a word to say. In those moments I became more self-conscious than I have been since that horrible excuse for a year, 6th grade. I was close to tears a couple times. But there were also moments where I stopped caring what people thought and allowed myself to let go and have more fun. Those moments were fleeting, but they made me super happy so I am determined to find a way to make them stay longer. So a roller coaster. But overall I do think I have some real friends now, and that is such a good feeling to have. A feeling I definitely took for granted in the USA.
Not a lot of excitement to report this week. But next week I will be able to recount my first French Thanksgiving! I have school all day thursday, but I am planning to make a big traditional American Thanksgiving dinner next Saturday. I have to admit, I am incredible daunted. I want it to be good. I will let you know how it goes! Bisous, au revoir!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
The French Cinema and My First Autumn
Sorry I didn't get a post up yesterday. I had the opportunity to stay up talking to my host sister instead and took that option. I have been here for over two months, but I'm still acting a little bit sycophantically with people in the hopes of cementing a friendship. Every time someone wants to do something with me or just talk, I jump on the opportunity. I'll do things they want to do even if I'm tired or need to update a blog. I think it's working, a bit. But anyways, I'm here now. Although this will probably end up being a short update.
By the way, I learned the word "sycophantically" from Harry Potter. Which is almost in theaters!!! It doesn't come out here until the 24th, but I am soooo excited! I plan to see it with as many people as I can. People are talking about it here but they are definitely not as super-psyched as my American facebook friends. It's anticipated, but not in the "OMG I CAN'T HANDLE THIS" type of way. I wonder if it will be dubbed? That would be interesting. I enjoy going out to movies here. The theaters are pretty much identical to those of the US, so it's not a very different experience, but it's fun all the same. So far I have been to three movies here, of which only one was French, but all were with French voices. They do a good job of dubbing, though, to the point where it looks like the actors could be speaking French. It makes it a tiny bit more difficult to understand every line, but I'm finding that I can follow the plot just fine. Saturday night I saw "Due Date" and I understood it enough to get some of the jokes which I think is promising. My comprehension is lightyears past where it was at my arrival; I'm even starting to dream in French sometimes. I do still wish that the rest of the fluency would hurry up and get here. I still stumble while I talk and while I am aware of my grammatical errors, I find it really hard to not make them when I am trying to speak fast. But I am happy to notice the improvement in my comprehension. In fact, my main frustrations now don't have to do with not understanding. My main frustrations now are when people think I don't understand when I do. Every time I didn't hear something and say "huh?" they assume I didn't get it and sometimes when I nod my agreement to a statement they think I just don't want to ask for clarification. They think I'm doing the whole "just nod and smile" thing, when actually I do know what they said. It doesn't help with the confusion that my speaking skills aren't as good as my understanding skills. I'm hoping this won't be too long of a phase.
The Swedes have returned to their country. I miss them a little, they were cool people and it was fun to laugh and let loose around them. I hope I will see them again someday. As soon as I get home I am going to get a job and start saving money for a return trip to Europe, and maybe then I can drop by Sweden and see just how cold it really is. Speaking of cold, it is cold. Colder than Berkeley cold, finally. Cold enough that there are days when my hands sting in the open air. This is just Fall so I wonder what I'll be saying around Christmas. But while the cold may be a drawback, there are also advantages to having seasons, which you don't really get in Berkeley. All the leaves have changed color and are stunning. There are a lot of trees in Normandie, and when you look out the window you see a sea of red and yellow and orange. It's even better at sunset (which occurs before I get out of school some days) with additions of pink and purple. I can see why the painters here were so inspired.
I had three tests last week. Math was okay, French was better than expected, and Economics was a disaster as expected. I would love to go in after school for some help, but I never know where to find the teachers because they have no set classroom or teachers' lounge. I will just have to survive with my textbooks and occasionally a sympathetic classmate. I'm hoping that the next round of tests will be an improvement. I mean, the all around goal is just to keep improving, right?
Much love from across the ocean! And again, if you can, write to me!
By the way, I learned the word "sycophantically" from Harry Potter. Which is almost in theaters!!! It doesn't come out here until the 24th, but I am soooo excited! I plan to see it with as many people as I can. People are talking about it here but they are definitely not as super-psyched as my American facebook friends. It's anticipated, but not in the "OMG I CAN'T HANDLE THIS" type of way. I wonder if it will be dubbed? That would be interesting. I enjoy going out to movies here. The theaters are pretty much identical to those of the US, so it's not a very different experience, but it's fun all the same. So far I have been to three movies here, of which only one was French, but all were with French voices. They do a good job of dubbing, though, to the point where it looks like the actors could be speaking French. It makes it a tiny bit more difficult to understand every line, but I'm finding that I can follow the plot just fine. Saturday night I saw "Due Date" and I understood it enough to get some of the jokes which I think is promising. My comprehension is lightyears past where it was at my arrival; I'm even starting to dream in French sometimes. I do still wish that the rest of the fluency would hurry up and get here. I still stumble while I talk and while I am aware of my grammatical errors, I find it really hard to not make them when I am trying to speak fast. But I am happy to notice the improvement in my comprehension. In fact, my main frustrations now don't have to do with not understanding. My main frustrations now are when people think I don't understand when I do. Every time I didn't hear something and say "huh?" they assume I didn't get it and sometimes when I nod my agreement to a statement they think I just don't want to ask for clarification. They think I'm doing the whole "just nod and smile" thing, when actually I do know what they said. It doesn't help with the confusion that my speaking skills aren't as good as my understanding skills. I'm hoping this won't be too long of a phase.
The Swedes have returned to their country. I miss them a little, they were cool people and it was fun to laugh and let loose around them. I hope I will see them again someday. As soon as I get home I am going to get a job and start saving money for a return trip to Europe, and maybe then I can drop by Sweden and see just how cold it really is. Speaking of cold, it is cold. Colder than Berkeley cold, finally. Cold enough that there are days when my hands sting in the open air. This is just Fall so I wonder what I'll be saying around Christmas. But while the cold may be a drawback, there are also advantages to having seasons, which you don't really get in Berkeley. All the leaves have changed color and are stunning. There are a lot of trees in Normandie, and when you look out the window you see a sea of red and yellow and orange. It's even better at sunset (which occurs before I get out of school some days) with additions of pink and purple. I can see why the painters here were so inspired.
I had three tests last week. Math was okay, French was better than expected, and Economics was a disaster as expected. I would love to go in after school for some help, but I never know where to find the teachers because they have no set classroom or teachers' lounge. I will just have to survive with my textbooks and occasionally a sympathetic classmate. I'm hoping that the next round of tests will be an improvement. I mean, the all around goal is just to keep improving, right?
Much love from across the ocean! And again, if you can, write to me!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Invasion of the Swedish
Vacation is over. No more lounging around the house, time for tests and homework and loooong school days (on thursday it was dark when I woke up and dark when I finished school at 6:00 PM). It was only two days of school this week, which in usual circumstances would be nice to ease us back into the routine, but actually it has felt like diving into a whirlwind of activity. That's because there is a group of about 30 Swedish students here in town. Each one is staying with their French correspondant, or pen-pal, for the week and the French students have planned lots of activities and such for them. A welcome dinner Thursday night, bowling Friday, shopping in Caen Saturday afternoon, and then a party Saturday night. And there is more to come. That on top of schoolwork and whatnot is a lot going on, so it's kind of a shock to my system. But in a good way. I was wanting more social interaction.
The first day the Swedish were here, I was a bit wary. I think everyone was nervous and communication was hard so it was a bit awkward. They don't speak much French and the French don't speak much English. Actually, a lot of the time I am the translater which makes me feel really good about my language skills. But after that first day it has been great; I am really glad they are here. I haven't talked to all the Swedish girls, but the ones I've met are super nice and funny. I spent the day in Caen yesterday with some Swedish girls and had so much fun laughing and showing them around, and introducing them to delicious crepes. And because I was having such a good time, I let go of my inhibitions with the French people and talked to them a lot more as well. I guess when I am alone, it is easy to be scared and self conscious, but when I have people who are kind of in the same boat and are really friendly to support me, I stop caring about what others think so much and start just having a good time and talking. And the Swedish think my French is great so that gives me a little more confidence.
Speaking of speaking French, I think I am past the hardest part. I think I can even say that I understand fluently. I understand almost everything, even when they speak really fast. I don't speak fluently yet, and I haven't dreamt in French yet, but I speak well enough to be understood. Sometimes it is still hard to understand when my classmates slip into deep slang, but even then I can get the gist. It was actually hard switching to English with the Swedes, I had to talk for a while to warm up and speak smoothly again. It's a little confusing, switching back and forth, and sometimes I'll accidentally speak in French to the Swedish or in English to the French. But It's getting more comfortable and feeling easier. It worries me, though, that switching to English is hard, because that means after I return to America it will be hard to switch back to French.
Anyway, I am loving all these activities with the Swedish and feeling a lot more confident this week. I can bet that I'll be exhausted when they leave, but I am hoping adrenaline can carry me through until then. What else can I update you on? Well in History class I got back a test marked 8 out of 20, which may not sound so good, but the average was around 12 and the highest grade was 15. It still may not sound so good, but at least it was good enough to be graded, in science my test didn't receive a grade. I have a Math test Monday, French test Tuesday, and Economics test Wednesday, all of which I will start studying for after I finish writing this. All the leaves on the trees are golden and yellow and orange and red, which is beautiful, but the weather is steadily getting colder. The Swedish think it's really warm here, actually. Me, not so much. I think that is all there is to update this week. Miss everyone so so much! Write me and tell me about your lives!
Bisous!
The first day the Swedish were here, I was a bit wary. I think everyone was nervous and communication was hard so it was a bit awkward. They don't speak much French and the French don't speak much English. Actually, a lot of the time I am the translater which makes me feel really good about my language skills. But after that first day it has been great; I am really glad they are here. I haven't talked to all the Swedish girls, but the ones I've met are super nice and funny. I spent the day in Caen yesterday with some Swedish girls and had so much fun laughing and showing them around, and introducing them to delicious crepes. And because I was having such a good time, I let go of my inhibitions with the French people and talked to them a lot more as well. I guess when I am alone, it is easy to be scared and self conscious, but when I have people who are kind of in the same boat and are really friendly to support me, I stop caring about what others think so much and start just having a good time and talking. And the Swedish think my French is great so that gives me a little more confidence.
Speaking of speaking French, I think I am past the hardest part. I think I can even say that I understand fluently. I understand almost everything, even when they speak really fast. I don't speak fluently yet, and I haven't dreamt in French yet, but I speak well enough to be understood. Sometimes it is still hard to understand when my classmates slip into deep slang, but even then I can get the gist. It was actually hard switching to English with the Swedes, I had to talk for a while to warm up and speak smoothly again. It's a little confusing, switching back and forth, and sometimes I'll accidentally speak in French to the Swedish or in English to the French. But It's getting more comfortable and feeling easier. It worries me, though, that switching to English is hard, because that means after I return to America it will be hard to switch back to French.
Anyway, I am loving all these activities with the Swedish and feeling a lot more confident this week. I can bet that I'll be exhausted when they leave, but I am hoping adrenaline can carry me through until then. What else can I update you on? Well in History class I got back a test marked 8 out of 20, which may not sound so good, but the average was around 12 and the highest grade was 15. It still may not sound so good, but at least it was good enough to be graded, in science my test didn't receive a grade. I have a Math test Monday, French test Tuesday, and Economics test Wednesday, all of which I will start studying for after I finish writing this. All the leaves on the trees are golden and yellow and orange and red, which is beautiful, but the weather is steadily getting colder. The Swedish think it's really warm here, actually. Me, not so much. I think that is all there is to update this week. Miss everyone so so much! Write me and tell me about your lives!
Bisous!
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