Je Peux Épeler Pâtisserie!

When I started to write this post I was very happy. Now, that is not the case. After I was finished writing this post for the first time, I changed the keyboard into French for some random reason and I accidentally closed the document without saving it. STUPID! I want to punch myself in the nose! What I wanted to say was that I was very happy. I was thinking God for the fact that I can speak French and for the fact that I am in France etc… I promise, it was much more poetic the first time! Now, you are stuck with me being all frustrated! I will try to be nicer.

Today I started my day with a baguette and a croissant; both were full of Nutella™! I only wanted to baguette, but Benedict approached me in the dining room and asked if I wanted a croissant as well. You know me! I never say no when it comes to food! When I got to school I had a bit of a stomach ache. Ben, qu’est qu’on va faire ?

After my class I met the mother and the grandfather of Phil Cristensten at the train station. Rachel was there as well. Before they arrived Rachel and I were speaking in French. When they arrived I had a bit of a hard time speaking in english. It wasn’t that big of a deal. After a few minutes I was an American again. It was a great day! We showed them le château de Guillaume le Conquérant and our beautiful university (the university is next to the château unfortunately)! After that we had lunch in a pâtisserie called Paul. It was a true French meal! After lunch we showed them the route back to their hotel and Rachel and I walked back to centre ville for some café.

At the café the waiter spoke with us and asked us for our names. Rachel was very happy because she was saying beforehand that she wanted to know his name. We see him all of the time! After a bit of conversation we exchanged phone numbers and he had to leave. Rachel, full of caffeine, decided that one day we will be good friends with the waiter and one night after the café is closed, we will dance on the tables while listening to music. I don’t know what the waiter put in her coffee, but I know that for some reason she was super excited!

After the café I went to the gym (the music in the locker room still isn’t working!) and then back home to get my laptop and return to the café to use the internet. I translated all of my posts from French to english and checked my e-mail. I am sorry; I didn’t have time for facebook. When I was finished with my blog I hurried home because I was late for dinner. I called Hélène to apologize. It wasn’t that big of a deal luckily! After dinner I watched a couple of shows with Hélène and Yves-Marie. That made me very happy because I could understand everything they were saying on the TV! My French is getting better with each day! One of these days I will be completely fluent!

Oo la la Désolé!

Français ! Français ! Français ! The last four days have been completely in French! That means that for four days I haven’t spoken a word of english! Of course, there have been a few words, but not one complete sentence and especially not one conversation! That makes me VERY happy!

Last night I went home to eat with my family. Louis-Henri was still there; therefore, I had to pay close attention to what he was saying! That isn’t easy at all! After dinner I watch “the Pursuit of Happiness” again because Yves wanted to watch it and I wanted to watch to improve my French. While watching the film, I didn’t my homework for Monday morning. After the film I went to bed early for the second time in several weeks! However, when I woke up this morning, I was still tired. Qu’est qu’on va faire ?

Today I had my writing course. Usually this is very boring, but for some sort of reason it wasn’t that bad. I sat next to my friend Sarah from Pennsylvania. I spoke French with here and she responded in French! When she started to say a few things in english, I told her that it was necessary that I speak French. She understood and agreed with me that if I want to truly speak French, I must make an effort! Those are the words of my life here in France! “IL FAUT FAIRE UN EFFORT !” After our writing class, Sarah walked with me while speaking French to our second class of the day. When we got there, our friend Marie was there, but she was very sick. She was suffering from allergies. La pauvre! She wasn’t in our first class, but she was there for the second one because we were supposed to have a test; however, the professor decided to do it tomorrow. I’m sorry Marie! After the second class, I ate with my friends Amanda and Helen (Amanda – USA and Helena – Finland).

At lunch Amanda was speaking english, but when I started to speak French, the girls did the same. It was the first day in several days that I had lunch completely in French! Merci Dieu ! After lunch we went to our third hour of writing. While walking I thanked Amanda and Helena for speaking French with me during Lunch. Like Sarah, they agreed with me that if I want to truly speak French, I must make an effort! Words of life!

After class I went to the gym where I saw a friend from Wisconsin. As usual, she started to speak english with me; however, I spoke back in French. She decided that that was a good idea and did the same. She was also in agreement with me that if I truly want to speak French, I must make an effort! She is SO right! After I worked out, I went into the locker room where there was American music playing on the radio. Nobody but me was in the room, so I found the speakers and unplugged them. It was so liberating!

After the gym I went home and watched TV. Yves came home soon after and I gave him a hard time as usual. He has really become like a little brother because he teases me all of the time! While we were eating I spilled my glass of water and never heard the end of it! Yves was full of jokes! I responded to him by saying, “and you’re perfect?” « SURE ! » he said. Then he went to his room and brought down a book called, « Mister Perfect ». In your dreams Yves !

Tomorrow I will meet the mother of my friend Phil Christensen at the train station ! Phil is the Community Leader that replaced me this semester and his mother is coming to Caen with her father to see the Château de Guillaume le Conquérant. That means that I will speaking english for a little while; however, after that, FRANÇAIS! I promise!

Oo la la!

Friday night I was invited to eat with two friends from church, Jérôme and Kemmuel. We ate at the university. The food wasn’t very good, but the conversations were all in French! Rachel and Linden were invited as well. While eating, Rachel saw a French guy eating alone next to us. She asked Jérôme if it was acceptable to speak to strangers. He told her no; however, she did it anyway. While Rachel was speaking with her new friend, Jérôme said to me, “Tell her that it’s normal to ask for a telephone number after you meet someone new!” I didn’t say anything because this guy interested her very much. I didn’t want to interrupt her. Go Rachel! Go Rachel ! Go Rachel ! It was extremely funny ! After dinner, we went to church for the réunion of students. There was a guy there with a guitar and a lot of students (for France)! We were about ten or fifteen!

After church, I went home to sleep and sleep in! When I got up, I went downstairs to have breakfast (it was already noon). When I got downstairs, Hélène reminded me that her son Louis-Henri would be coming today and she invited me to have lunch with them. I said “OUI” like usual and she thanked me for saying yes before she even told me what we would be eating. I didn’t care! I’ll eat anything (except for fish; but she already knows that)! When Louis-Henri arrived he spoke VERY fast! TOO fast! I could comprehend about every other word.
After lunch I went with Hélène, Benedict, and Louis-Henri to take Benedict to church and pick up Yves. After that, I ran around the hippodrome by the house and watched a rugby match on TV with Yves. After that, we ate. During dinner, Louis-Henri spoke very fast again and Yves was mad for some random reason. After dinner, Louis-Henri, Yves-Marie, Benedict, and I watched the film, “the Pursuit of Happiness”. It’s funny to hear Will Smith with French a voice-over!