whew

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Well. I don't remember the last time I wrote. Classes are underway and I finally know my schedule. I am only taking 3 classes. Life is rough. One of them is a phonetics class one is a class to held with grammar and writing and another is my only class that is integrated with the french students. its a class called multiculturalism and is taught through the polisci dept. Its really hard to take classes in another language.(obvisoucly) I can understand almost everything,, but sometimes The teacher's accent is difficult to understand and the added stress of of taking notes in french while listening makes things a little more complicated. I can barely multitask in english! I like the content of the classm its interesting and ont too over my head. We have two hours of lecture every week (8am-10) and two hours of discussion section every other week. This discussion session has given me minor heart palpatations ( slight exagerration) because the eadings are hard and stressful and we have to write this strangely organized papers, but i know in the end i will be glad i took it and that things will get better. I haven't exactly made french friends, but I have talked to people in my class before and gotten their notes which is really helpful. I still waiting for the day that my french language skills will start to click... More updates. I am getting settled> I just realized that it has been a month since my last entry. Time is flying. I don't even know what I have been doing. I guess to sum upm I eat at cafés during lunch and people watch and walk around the city and go out dancing on the weekends to discotheques until 3 in the morning and go see movies in French and think and write in my journal. One cool things that I am doing once or twice a week ( depending on my schedule) is tutoring after school at this little place in my neighborhood. I help the kids with english when they have homework, or read simple french stories outloud with the young kids and correct their prononciation ( even thought they are 7 and can do the throat hocking thing like pros)< its nice but can be stressful when I have to explain some grammar concept that is inherent to me in english, or when my vocab is limited and i have trouble explaining things in french but its still been a good activity. This past weekend I was in Paris with mom! We had a great time. I arrived on the train thursday evening (15th) and checked into the hotel. I was greeted by the pretty eiffel tower all lit up which was near the hotel. My friend Anita came with me then her boyfriend met us at the hotel and they went off. Mom arrived midday friday and we embarked on a walking adventure around the arc de trimomphe and the champs elysees and window shopped at the haute couture houses. mommy dearest was tired of course after traveling so we ate a light dinner near our hotel and went to bed early. It would have been amusing to our other family members to watch us hunt for a good bank that would change mom's money. always an adventure. Saturday morning we tried to go to a museum called l'orangerie which had just re-opened after renovations but it opened later in the day. We ended up going to the Louvre and saw one floor of one wing ( mayeb a little more) and naturally spent 30 minutes trying to leave but getting lost and making circles around the same area. also slightly amusing. In the afternoon we went shopping and saw the opera house and went around the 16th arrondisment and saw the apartment of mom and dad's friends which was awesome. I can only dream of an apartment like that in paris. Saturday night we ate a nice dinner and then sunday morning we checked out of the hotel, stored our bags at the train station and walked around the neighborhood called the marais and even made it to ile de la cité which notre dame is located. We had a falfafel from this really neat local place where you go up the the wnidow and they make it and serve you there. Then we caught the train to Montpellier. We ate in a nice little area with lots of cafés for dinner;and mom met my host mom and saw the apartment and my room. We stayed in a hotel near my apartment that was really cute. Monday we walked around MOntpellier and shopped around. It was nice and realaxing and Im glad mom has seen all the places that I walk through and go to. She left tuesday morning. It wa sad because I had to leave for class really early but I'm so glad she got to visit me! I think for the next two months that I am here ( its exactly halfway over for the semester today) I will be in a better rythym than before. It always takes me time to used to things, esp in a foreign country. I have some vague plans for more travel. Hopefully a tour of chateaux and a trip to barcelona will work out. Itspretty easy to travel within france.

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Comments

[Mom]

A great update
I agree that our visit in Paris and Montpellier was awesome! Keep plugging away in your classes - your language skills are getting better every day. The rest of the semester will fly by and then you will come home for Christmas. Love Mom

[Dad]

Bitsy, Glad you and Mom had a good time. She was all a buzz about how well you are doing in France. I miss you and can't wait to visit in the Spring. Keep up the blog! Love, Dad

[Jennifer Sherman]

hola!
Hey Bitsy, It has been fun to read up on your adventures! It sounds like you have adjusted quite well to the French life-style. Your poor mom probably needed two days to recover from her whirlwind tour. If you do get to Barcelona you must see the Gaudi buildings and go to the Picasso Museum. Keep enjoying yourself and hopefully when you get back I'll have a chance to hear about your adventures in person. Take care, Jennifer