You've probably all heard about my visa problems at one point or another, and to make a (not very) long and (very) complicated story short, the French government doesn't like to make anything easy, so I had to take a trip home to get a visa. I ended up missing my first week of classes, but I'm back now, so (obviously) everything turned out A.O.K.!
If I told you that my first week at real French University was a dream come true, I would be outright lying to you! I arrived late Sunday night to Besançon and woke up at 6:45 the next morning to go to class. I was so dreadfully jet-lagged the first week of classes, it was difficult to understand even the simplest thing. Also, from the moment I woke up Monday morning to the moment I got out of class Friday afternoon felt like an entire lifetime had just passed away. That aside, I missed the first week of my first year, which is definitely not a good thing. Being behind in my homework was one thing, but I could not find ANY information on ANY of my classes or where ANY of them were being held. I had been sent (somewhat thankfully) a schedule from the director of the program. In the beginning it just confused me even more, but now I have a better grasp on it. Instead of using dates (like normal people do), the French give each week a number (week 1 being the first full week in January), so I had classes weeks 37-43 and then nothing until weeks 49+50. There are also classes that only last 2-3 weeks. For my first semester (Sep. 12th - Dec. 16th) I have 5 different schedules. The longest bit of normality I have within my classes is 3 weeks. I also have a 3 week internship, which accounts for the large gap of weeks in the schedule, but otherwise I have just come to terms with the fact that I will not understand. And what's more is that the french students don't really know or understand either! I'm seriously considering asking the university to hire me to clean things up and make them less complicated. Don't even ask me about exams/papers because I still have no idea! Just getting into the swing of things here takes so long!
Half my classes are in English and the other half are in French. They range from history (mostly American) to translation (both English to French and French to English) to how to write in English (although not in the English style...in the French style) to grammar. I have one grammar class in English and one in French, and I can tell you without hesitation that the two of them are the two most difficult classes I have this semester. I have never taken an English grammar class in my life, and here I am being thrown into advanced grammar. I know when the sentences work and when they don't, but I can't tell you why, and I don't understand any of the phrases being thrown around in class.
The other students in my class are very nice. It took them a day or two to open up and talk to me. I was so jet-lagged that approaching them myself never even occurred to me. We're still awkward around each other for the most part, and there are some who speak more to me than others, but I am by no means an outcast or completely alone. In some of my more genreal classes (history, translation, etc.) the MEF students (thats me!) are put together with the Master Recherche Anglais group. The MEFs are studying to become professors and the Master Rechercheurs are studying the language (at least this is what my understanding of the work recherche [research for all of you who don't speak French/couldn't figure it out] has led me to believe). In the research group, there is a Russian girl who I have become relatively close to in the past week and a half. We have not had the chance to get together outside of class, but I already feel much closer to her than the others in my classes, and I'm sure it's because we're both international students, and we both have to deal with/have problems with/don't understand the same things. Also, she's from that city in Russia that do the experiments on domesticating foxes. Maybe she can bring me one if she goes home!!!
This week was much better, and instead of feeling like an eternity, it has flown by! I guess thats a good thing :) Vitalik and I are now actively searching a new apartment, but we wont be moving until at least November, most likely in January. We got an oven though! It's a little bit bigger than a convention oven, so we can cook a whole chicken in it and everything, so now I just want to bake all the time! At the moment I have my first batch of chocolate chip cookies in the oven. Pictures below!
I think thats it for now....if anything else interesting happens, I'll let you know!
My pea plants! They sprouted into a forest while I was home getting my visa!
My basil, white onions and rosemary (which is just beginning to sprout after 3 months) from bottom to top.
La Porte Noir - Literally stands for the black door, has been the entry point into the village since Roman times. They just finished cleaning it, which took over 6 years, these past couple of days. So beautiful!
Puce does this fairly often, and I think it is absolutely ADORABLE!
Puce with the kitten next door, Sofia. A moment of peace among a month of mischief (we were taking care of her while her owner was back home for the summer).
Speaking of those foxes, I have had an article from National Geographic about them sitting on my desk for 10000 days waiting for me to send it to you. Sorry things have been so ridiculous that I can't even stick something in the mail! I need to photograph your fishes too. They are so big and fat! The peas and other plants look amazing! Lots of love, as always.
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