Dinner with my host family is fun. I can't understand half of what they say because French is hard enough to understand when their mouths aren't full, but the way they interact is cute. The brothers talk the most, and while one of them has a uni-brow, the other is quite attractive. Once a week, on Monday nights, my roommate and I eat a home-cooked meal with the family which we paid for at the beginning of the semester (actually, I still need to pay for mine. Oops). Tonight we had quiche and salad, then some bread and cheese, and finally dessert of chocolate mousse.
I switched the level of my French language course so I'm now in an advanced class, and it's much more challenging, which I was looking for. On the downside, I have to buy more books, but that's okay because I'll get to learn something this semester. We had our second class of art history, and I have my little student ID card that allows me to get into the Louvre whenever I want for free all year. Hell yes. Next Monday, we have class there. I cannot wait.
And on Friday, we started our phonetics course. It's one hour a day, everyday, every other week. This is a phonetics week. So we go in to the classroom for thirty minutes, and the teacher talks us through some aspect of pronunciation or what-have-you and gives us phrases or words that we'll use in the next half of the class. Then we move downstairs to the "lab" where there are tape recorders hooked up to each individual desk, and every student has their own headset, including a mic. We go through with the professor and repeat what she says, then rewind and listen to our own voices pronounce things. Next we play the recording of the teacher's voice, only this time we re-record our own pronunciations, and listen to them over again (ideally, they're better the second time). If there's time, the teacher then talks to us individually (through our headsets–so cool) about nit-picky things in our pronunciation. It's really a cool class, and I think it will help a lot. The professor told me I have excellent pronunciation, though, and my host family has said that my French is very pretty. So hooray for French immersion in elementary school!
Tomorrow, my goal is to go shopping for a new pair of jeans. I have lost weight in the past month (noticeably—my watch is significantly looser and my pants that fit perfectly are now way too large). Another stop will be the pharmacie so I can get some vitamins, as I'm not eating as well as I should, I don't think. I have a sore throat again, although that's likely because of lack of sleep and stress. I've been staying up way too late.
Buying a sketchbook is also at the top of my to-do list. There's an art supply store close to my classes, and I've been spending way too much time doodling in the corners (and smack-dab in the middle) of my notes, which can't be good. I'm sure my professors appreciate that. But in my painting class, we're looking at these images, and it makes me want to draw. If I turn my head out the window, I have an unobstructed view of the towers of Notre Dame. How can I possibly be here for nine months and not have a sketchbook? It'd be like my dad coming over here without a camera.
Other than that, the dollar is now 1.33 to the euro, so yay for failing economies. My life is relatively calm. This weekend is a day-trip to Fontainebleu and Vaux-le-Vicomte.
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