Blog Facultatif: Settling in.

It's weird to think that I have officially been in France for 21 days. Three weeks. I have heard over and over again that time passes very quickly whilst abroad, and it definitely seems to be true.

This past week marked the beginning of our courses. So far, I really think it's going to be manageable... fingers crossed. Except for Racines Culturelles. That's one of my courses at l'Université de Nantes, and it certainly won't be a walk in the park. My professor talks about a mile a minute, not to mention that we're currently studying l'Iliade, which, to be quite frank, I couldn't care less about (regardless of the language of instruction). My friend and I spoke with her after class, though, and she seemed sympathetic to our plight. Not to mention that French universities usually only give (maybe) one assignment per semester, so hopefully I can make this work. It really was comical, though. Taking notes is useless when you don't understand WHY you're supposed to write these things down. So I have several pages of names and dates that mean nothing to me... oh, well. Maybe it'll click any day now.

I also got my teaching assignment for my internship this week. We were able to choose our own placements, and I chose to teach at a Lycée Supérieur, for 18-20 year-olds. Kind of intimidating that they're so close to my age, but my teaching preference has always been the older crowd. I truly dislike dumbing things down or feeling like a babysitter. My hope is also that, since the age group is more mature(?), they may have a genuine interest in learning English. I start on Thursday, unless one of the current grèves (strikes) pushes that back.


Perhaps the most noteable event of my week occurred on Tuesday, when my host family brought me to a neighborhood party. It was, undoubtedly, the best experience I've had in France so far. We were the first to arrive, and my host family kindly introduced me to the neighbors throwing the party. They were all very polite and interested to meet an American. As more people began to arrive, more people began to take interest in me. When I noticed that my host family was occupied with the various guests, I began to worry how I would handle the introductions on my own. "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm not French," perhaps?

Let me just take this time to say that a French party is NOT an American party. Everyone introduces themselves to you. Everyone. Not only that, but complete strangers will faire la bise (that weird kiss thing you've seen in movies). What's more is it's apparently entirely acceptable for old men to ACTUALLY kiss your cheeks during this process. And this is all before they even know your name. Not sanitary, je pense, but entirely welcoming. Within minutes (and a couple of glasses of whiskey on the rocks, as insisted by the host of the party) I felt completely comfortable. I was speaking French like I never had before. Sure, it was still labored at times and certainly not grammatically remarkable, but it was happening. And it felt amazing.

After probably two hours of chatting and munching on appetizers, we sat down for a tremendous dinner. We had eaten so many appetizers that I thought we were finished eating, but boy was I wrong. As I sat there, listening to the various French conversations around me, drinking my wine, and eating my apple tart, I realized - I actually made it here. I'm at a dinner party IN FRANCE. And I'm pulling it off. I've really accomplished something, here, and it's only just beginning.

The best moment was when my host father introduced me to a couple, and said, "This is Elissa, our American student. She speaks French very well, and she has only studied for one year." I blushed, assured them this wasn't true, and made sure to lower the bar before we began any semblance of a conversation. About half an hour later they brought it up again: "So you've really only studied French for a year? You really do speak quite well, etc. etc." For the first time since being here, I felt proud. My host father is right. What I'm doing is praiseworthy. There are people on my program who have devoted a large portion of their lives to studying this language, and I'm keeping up. I don't mean to say that I'm amazing. Not by any means. But I do mean to say that I have had an epiphany. I need to stop comparing myself to the other students, the native speakers, whomever - and I need to sit back and revel in my own accomplishments, large or small. I may make mistakes- hell, I told my teacher it was forty o'clock the other day- but I'm still here, and communicating. That was the goal, non?

I can't wait to see what the next few months have in store.

Until next time.