And "that week" continues...

Where was I? Ah yes, Wednesday.

More courses, more wrestling with the class schedules. That really took it out of me. I have never seen such a complicated system before! Some courses you can only take together because the test is over both courses...but nothing on a schedule or board or website can tell you that...and some classes are connected to others but not by obligation...and there are year 1, year 2, and year 3 classes with levels 1, 2, and 3 within them, which makes for I don't even know how many combinations...and three or four different groups of each class meet at different times throughout the week...and some classes have names that are one word different than another class, or they may have totally different names but refer to the same thing. And that's just the Language department. If you try to mix classes from different departments, it gets even more complicated. You could take a course at 10:15 in one department, but the classes start at 10:00 in another department, which means that you have difficulties with classes overlapping. Ugh, it was enough to make me want to scream and shatter something breakable. But I didn't.

I did, however, attend an interesting course in Didactics of English, which is the equivalent of Teaching English as a Second Language - except in French, to French students who want to teach English in French schools. Mr. Atkinson says it should be a really interesting course for us, and that he’s excited that we’re the first exchange students to take it. The class includes an internship at a French school, where we would do observations and such. Mr. Atkinson said that they’re trying to expand their horizons a bit in the Language department, so finding a way for two American students to do the internship would be a huge step forward, not to mention a fascinating experience for us. We’ll see how it works out. Until then, I’m enjoying the subject matter in the class. It’s all about learning environments, techniques, and tools, right now, and the difference between pedagogy and didacticism.

Kendra and I also paid a visit to the housing office to ask about a possible relocation for me. Unfortunately, they won't let me consider moving closer until all of the students have arrived, and when I explained my difficulties with the bus system, they just said to be sure to make signals at the busses so they know to stop. Ok...so now it’s MY fault that the bus comes early and doesn’t stop, because I didn’t signal it. I’m obviously psychic and sensed it coming down the street from my seat inside the bus stop. Ugh, but seriously. If there’s only one bus per hour, and it’s 35 degrees outside, and there are PEOPLE AT THE BUS STOP, you should STOP THE BUS! That’s common sense to me! It’s what a BUS STOP is for, and I don’t care if it’s in France or not. Grr, in case you couldn’t tell, it made me really mad. The housing department told me to see if the student who’s moving in with me soon gets along with me, because we could accompany each other, but I’m not going to ask her to go everywhere with me all the time so we can walk home together! For goodness sakes, she’s got her own life, and a different schedule because she’s in a different program. They also recommended getting a bike, which you can get for free if you have a bank account to verify your residency, which is another thing I’d have to get. But, the traffic here is absolutely insane, and I’m afraid I’d be killed. Besides, it’s not much safer on a bike at night anyway. (And my knee won’t let me do that at the moment, all of the other reasons aside.) All that to say, I’m in a bit of a predicament, and I don’t know how to resolve it at the moment. I’m trying to just work with it and let it resolve with a little time, but it’s hard. You all know how I like to have things sorted out and all the pieces of the machine working in their places as soon as possible. ;)

That brings me to Thursday. More classes, nothing extremely remarkable. Still a lot of mental processing going on, though. Kendra and I started talking about how we were feeling after our first week and a half abroad, and we decided that it felt good to be separated from life at UCA. After being immersed in that environment and that life for over two years, it has become like a cocoon, so it’s helpful to take a step back, or in this case, a huge leap back. Here in France, away from everything familiar, it’s much easier to get a fresh perspective on life. As Kendra said, being here means that parts of you are being drained that have never been drained before, but the other parts of you are being refilled and refreshed. Another thing I've realized, and that I rather like, is that living on my own here is so much different from “living on my own” at UCA. It's forcing me to become much more independent and creative, even when it comes to little things like doing laundry or going shopping. And, I’ve realized that it’s okay to not do everything perfectly the first time. (I know, shocker!) I've always fought so hard to do everything "right" and I've always felt crushed when I failed, so one of the biggest steps forward that I've taken so far in France is just accepting that life is a process of trial and error. I can finally say that when I don't get something right the first time, it's not the end of the world! A lot of things just really don't matter in the scheme of things. I’ve also found it much easier to look at life with a bigger picture mindset -- beyond college life. University classes and credits and hours are just little paths in life that move you from Point A to Point B. Why stare at the road when you can look up and find relationships and the little experiences in life that make the journey worthwhile? (That said, I am going to continue paying attention to the streets here so I don't get lost.) ;)

There's so much more in my head that I can't express very well in words: all of the things I'm learning, everything I feel like I'm becoming. It's overwhelming, but it's good. :)

Even so, Friday and Saturday were pretty tough for me. By that time, Kendra and I were totally confused by the schedules, and we decided to go see Mr. Atkinson, because it looked like he was going to be our only hope for making sense of things. We sat in his office for about 45 minutes, and we discovered that even he was having trouble finding the right information. :P Finally, things started to make a little more sense, and we were able to sit down and make a workable schedule that afternoon. We even have Mondays off, so we can take long weekend trips if we want! :) God is merciful.

Kendra and I also enjoyed a delightful lunch with two French students who asked us to join them. We talked about our families, our studies, the frequent strikes in France, educational systems, language evolution, and our favorite movies, which was awesome practice when it came to vocabulary and conversational phrasing. There's nothing like having a friend to talk to who can correct your mistakes without getting upset like a professor! They even taught us some of the expressions for "cool" and "fun," which are terribly hard to translate. (In case you were wondering, they don't say "chouette" anymore, but they do say "super-cool!") ;) Evidently, student strikes are really common in the public universities here, because there is a lot of turmoil right now over changes that are being made to the educational system. The government is trying to update it, and the professors are in an uproar because they don't want the old ways to change. I must say, I have never seen an American university physically blockaded by people.....but that's what they said happens all the time. Evidently, strikes among train workers are terribly common, too, enough so that you have to be careful when you want to go somewhere so as not to get stranded.

Anyway, it's time for me to continue being productive today. The laundry is mostly done (I couldn't get it to finish drying at the laundromat, so I have it hanging up in the house now). Jacqueline was kind enough to take me with her to the Carrefour, and I bought myself a French press coffeemaker. Hallelujah, I can make coffee again! Anyway, I still have to buy a monthly bus pass since today is the 1st of the month, so I'm off again! Can't wait until choir practice later. Oh, and I'll tell you all about my Saturday excursions and about Sunday church as soon as I get a chance.

A bientot! Bisous!