Back in Versailles

I got back into Versailles Monday morning and discovered that I have another French sister who lives at the house that I hadn't met yet. Her name is Clémence. She's 23 and is very nice. I like her a lot, and she lets me use her computer since it appears mine will never work here. Oh well, c'est la vie I guess. I also started my first cours de grammaire class with Madame Chauchat. I'm in the stronger of the two grammar classes and it's evident because Madame Chauchat is pretty intense. It'll be a great class though once I've had three months of it. I really hope I can be pretty close to fluent once I've completed the full semester here. After cours de grammaire, Monika, Michael, and I walked around the central part of Versailles and bought a couple of books for our classes. Then we walked to the Chateau de Versailles since we weren't too far from it. The castle is huge and gorgeous--I've been there before, but it was different seeing it this time because there weren't any tourists there. People were there of course, but it wasn't packed as usual. Plus we were able to walk through the gates and around the castle to the gardens without having to pay. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful scene.

The next day I had my first course in French theatre with Madame Sinniger. It was fine--that's all I can think to say about it. Not super interesting but not incredibly boring either--just so-so. After class I ate lunch with Elizabeth and Monika at a little cafe. Then we went to Elizabeth's house to hang out before our conversation classes. Elizabeth's house is really nice--it's actually a house. Mine is just a door really. I think I live in a sort of townhouse because it's very vertical and doesn't have much width to it. At first I felt a bit cramped in my house, but I like it a lot now because I see my French family a lot, which is really good for me. In a bigger house, it would be too easy for me to shut myself in my room all the time and not see anyone. I do have my own space in my room, which is great, and it's an adequate space considering how small the actual house is, but it's nice seeing everyone around. After hanging out with Elizabeth a bit, Monika and I left for our conversation class (our grammar and conversation classes are split into 2 groups--Monika and I are in the same group and Elizabeth is in the other). Madame Vaudel is our conversation prof. She's very nice but it was awkward at times because she wanted us to come up with subjects to talk about and we weren't really prepared for that. Plus we have to talk for two hours--that is a long freaking time. I was actually really tired when it was finally over. Blah. I hung out with Monika a bit afterwards and then went home and had dinner with my family.

Today we had our first civilization class with Monsieur Sinniger (Mme Sinniger's husband--they're cute). Our civilization and theatre classes are held at a French school that is a middle school and a high school called St. Jean's. He's such a cute little old man--moves a little slow and talks a bit slow but that's good because he's easier to understand. He has the funniest laugh too--it reminds me of this laugh that this actress on the Nickelodeon show All That did in the 90's. She was part of the original cast and her name was Katrina and in this skit called Earboy she played Earboy's male principal and her laugh as that character is very much like Monsieur Sinniger's except not so high pitched. That's immediately what I thought of when he laughed. If you don't know what I'm talking about, YouTube it. That man is adorable. I love him already.
After his class, a group of 8 of us met with his wife because we are going to see the Pope this weekend with her and the other French students who go to St Jean's. We then went to a meeting in a small auditorium like area to listen to the French teachers tell the French students who were going about meeting times and how to behave, etc. When she finished telling them all the important information they would need to know, she mentioned to all of them (and there were about 60 students in the room) that some American students were coming with them and she not only pointed us out but asked us to stand up. It was so awkward because everyone stared at us and then applauded us awkwardly when we stood, and then she asked us in French if we spoke French and we all said and the students applauded us again. So. Awkward. Then again, this will probably help us meet a lot of French students who will be interested to talk to us...maybe it won't be such a bad thing.
After the meeting we ate some lunch and then walked around Versailles with a tour guide. We walked around the palace area and up and down various streets in Versailles. The tour was very interesting and informative and thankfully it was a great day for a walk. After the tour ended, we were all really tired because we had done a lot of walking for that day so we all went back home. I had dinner with my family and the conversation actually went well tonight. I felt like I understood a lot of what was said even when they weren't talking to me, which is hard. I felt pretty good about that. I also got to teach them a bit of English and we talked about reality TV. They don't have all the reality shows we have in the states (which is good because the majority of them are pretty stupid and mindless, yet they still entertain me). The French just know about the Bachelor and they find it pretty funny, which it is because like pretty much all of reality TV, it's just ridiculous. And now I must start getting ready for bed because it's getting pretty late here. Until next time...