Paris

I am in Paris, but our hotel does not have the internet. I will be documenting each blog each night and will posting them all on Sunday night.

De la Nouvelle!

Every morning on my way to school I pray that God will bless the day. Because my days are numbered here, I can’t afford to have a day that could be easily forgotten. Each day must be valuable. This morning on my way out of the door I started to pray saying, “God, why did I even get up this morning? It’s just another day! I have been here for four weeks and have yet to truly make French friends!” I honestly said to God, “God, I’m mad at you! What is my purpose here?” I then got on the tram and went to school.

At lunch I ate with my friends Amanda, Helena, Marie, and her Brazilian friend who only knows Portuguese and French. We therefore spoke in French the entire time. This was ok except for the fact that it was so unnatural. There were so many times when the English speakers would turn to one another and spout out entire paragraphs in English. I was eating, but yet I was SO hungry! I wanted to be with the French so much!

After lunch I went home and took a nap. I also ran by the bank to pick up my debit card. I then returned to the university for a class that made me want to jump out of the fifth floor window. The professor is VERY nice and very funny, but he never keeps his thoughts strait and he acts like we’ve never spoken a word of French in our lives. At the end of every sentence he would say “Ça va?” (In other words, do you understand?) He would then want us to respond with, “Ça va!” At one point nobody was saying anything, so he got frustrated and INSISTED that we proclaim, “ÇA VA!” I wanted to scream. He then said, “Ça va?” one more time and I responded with a forceful, “UH HUH!” Marie turned to me and gave me a funny look, but I didn’t care. I may not be the greatest French speaker in the world, but I’m not an idiot. I would hope that four years of high school and two year of college would somewhat prepare me to understand what someone says when they’re speaking at a pace of ten words a minute. I thought I was going to cry, but then my friend Esther from Ghana handed me a peppermint out of the shear kindness of her heart! She didn’t hand any peppermints to anyone else, just me! God always provides!

Rachel called me earlier on today to tell me that she and the others were planning on going out tonight. I decided that I would go just in case I might be able to meet some cool people. We went to a pub by the port, but decided it was too expensive and went to one closer to Centre-Ville. We met our Australian friends, looked for a table, decided to sit outside, and ordered some drinks. After the waiter brought us our drinks and I paid for mine, I stood up to let Linden and Rachel sit down who were previously inside looking for a table at which we could all sit. Right when I stood up, out of nowhere a French guy by the name of Romain came up to me (a bit tipsy) and said, “You’re American!” (In English) I was caught off guard, but VERY pleased that I was speaking with a French person. Before I knew it, Rachel and I were surrounded by a group of (tipsy) French people who were fascinated with us. One girl, Mandy, grabbed me by the arm and begged me to take her back to Texas with me (don’t worry, her boyfriend was standing near). I couldn’t believe this was happening! The French group then decided that they wanted to go to McDonalds®, so they began to say goodbye. At this point Rachel looked at me and said, “Should we go with them?” I was much obliged! When I asked if they minded that we join them, they all but lifted us on their shoulders and carried us to the good ole’ MacDo. When we got to McDonalds®, we all sat around and talked about American bands. They were in awe of Rachel and me! I felt like a star! We were then told by one of the workers that it was closing time, so we had to leave. Rachel decided to go home, but I wasn’t leaving these people until they knew that I was serious about this French thing! I guess you could say that my name, Cole (aka Colle – which means glue in French) was very appropriate.

I followed this group of people until Linden gave me a call and wanted to meet up with us. We all waited, and she joined us as we went to a resident hall at the university. We sat in the room of a guy named Bastien and talked for over two hours! It was 3h30 in the morning before I finally left! We exchanged numbers and they promised that they would call us again! It was a miracle! I hope I wasn’t dreaming! This morning I was mad at God, but He proved to me yet again that He always provides!

En Calvados Aujourd'hui

I am still VERY tired! This language is making me SO tired! I realized today that when I go back to the United States I will be in shock to hear people speaking English in the streets! I don’t know how I’m going to feel about that! I love to wake up in the mornings, get on the tram, and hear these Francophones go to town! In other news, if you would like to read a blog post of mine that was posted on a Baylor blog, go to http://www.campuslivingandlearning.blogspot.com/. I was asked to write the post by Rishi Sriram, the Associate Director for Academic Initiatives & Housing Administration at Baylor. He is one of the chairs of the Global Community Living and Learning Center steering committee, of which I have been a member since the end of 2006. We’ve had great opportunities to help develop a community that could forever affect the greater Baylor community. Now that I am in France I’m not able to work with this committee; however, this doesn’t mean that I’m not in contact with those who are still at home! They’re working their hearts out! Good job ya’ll (I miss Texas)!

Today I had my Global Simulation class. This is the class where I have to develop an alternate personality and live a pretend French life. Today we worked on developing the apartment complex in which we all live. I got to draw floor plans of the inside! That may sound boring to you, but if you know me, you know that I like drawing floor plans even when it’s not for a grade. Did I just admit that on the world-wide web? It’s going to be an amazing class! I wish I could have it more than once a week. My other class today was my Media class where I had to get up with my group and give a presentation on French newspapers. It was boring! Since he wasn’t teaching, the professor decided to sit in the empty seat next to me; this meat that I wasn’t allowed to doze off when I got too tired.

Some of you might wonder what the professor of my Oral class had to say about the live Bears we have on Baylor’s campus. I mentioned it again yesterday and he ran down to the Mediatech to look online. Much to my chagrin, he came back with a print out of a webpage that talked about Baylor Bear abuse. Apparently there was a group a while back that didn’t like the fact that we have a “zoo” on campus, so they decided to make our program sound bad by creating a website that talks bad about the Bear Program. What they don’t know is that the new habitat cost almost $1million dollars and is incomparable to most other Bear habitats. www.baylor.edu/bear - I will be e-mailing my professor this site!

Later on today I went to the gym and then home to eat with Yves-Marie. We had a very nice dinner just the two of us. We talked for well over an hour (IN FRENCH). He informed me that he just received some time off from work, so he will be joining his family in Britagne from this Saturday to next Saturday. That means that I will have the house to myself for six days! I would have it for seven except for the fact that I will be going to Paris this weekend with my friends. When I get there I will get to have coffee with the family of a Baylor Regent! I’m very excited!

Je m'appelle Colle!

Glue! My name is glue! Literally! The French word for glue is “colle” and is pronounced like “Cole”. The verb for to glue is coller (cole-ay). This summer at Baylor Line Camp there was a group of students singing “Cole-ay! Cole-ay! Cole-ay! Cole-ay!”. If they only knew what they were singing! “To glue! To glue! To glue! To glue!” I discovered this the other night when a friend of mine from church came up to me, put his arm around me and said, “hey, je suis collé à Cole!” (I’m glued to Cole!). Thanks Mom! It’s a wonderful name that goes very well with Casper …in the United States! Can you imagine a foreigner coming to the United States with the name Glue? It’s no wonder the French never have trouble pronouncing my name when I tell them for the first time! It is French! It’s glue! Hi, my name is Glue!

Today I had five hours of very boring classes! It was tough to stay awake! I had one class that has around 100 students and a professor that stands at the front of the room and talks about pronouns! GAG ME WITH A SPOON! Today on my way out of class I told my friend Marie that this had better be the last grammar class I ever take in my life! I have not only had to put up with French grammar since high school; I’ve also taken two upper level French grammar classes at Baylor and now this one that lasts for an hour every week and comes with a supplementary two hour class on Fridays! By the time the weekend is here I’m spent! I also had to give a presentation in my Sociology of Language class on the differences between the French second person pleural and second person singular. This is the difference between you and ya’ll; except in France they use ya’ll to speak to someone formally. I wrote about this subject when I first started the blog and told you how Hélène said that I could use you instead of ya’ll when talking with her.

After class I went to the gym and had a conversation with a mumbler. He told me that I should use the sauna when I’m done working out because it calms the nerves. We’ll see about that one. On my way home from the gym I was confronted by a bum wanting a cigarette. When he started to talk I said, “Excuse me?” in English so that he wouldn’t bother me for much longer. Just when I did that, a friend of mine from church drove up and rolled the window down to say hi. I was caught! I tried to pretend I couldn’t speak French, but now I was obliged to speak it fluently. I therefore lied to a bum! For once I wanted to be the dumb American, but was caught red-headed! C’est la vie!

You know the feeling you get when you’ve eaten the last piece of candy out of the Pez™ dispenser? It hurts! Thanks mom for the Valentine box full of goodies and BEEF jerky! Even in France she still provides for me when she hears that I’m not eating enough meat! I wonder if I could get away with telling her that I’m not meeting enough French girls. You think she’d mail on to me? I guess I’m in the best location to find and mail one of those. Maybe I’ll mail myself one back to Texas!

Les Yeux Ouverts!

Eyes wide open. That’s how I feel right now. Tonight Hélène and Yves-Marie invited Rachel and Linden over for dinner. There was meat! I had told her that the girls really wanted to meet (not meat) my family, so we had a big dinner with cocktails and the works! It was SO nice. After dinner we all sat around the table and had a very deep conversation about religion in France and amongst young people. Hélène said that we were three out of four Americans that she has recently had in her home, and four out of four of us are all Christians. She was saddened to think that she could not find the same thing in her own country. She said that if she were to gather four French people for conversation, maybe one of them would be Christian, but not practicing. At that Rachel went off the handle. She started talking about how important it is for Christians to pray for France and for those who refuse to believe. Yves-Marie just about stood up and shouted AMEN. They were very impressed that students would have such a strong faith in God. They were very pleased to spend their evening speaking with us.

All through dinner Yves starred at me with a very intrigued look. He was consistently smiling for some reason. This was actually the first time for me to lead the entire dinner conversation. He usually comes to the table, scarfs down his food, talks ninety to nothing about some event of the day or wanting a scooter, and runs away. Tonight he just sat and watched. He sat for a long time too! I wanted to ask him what he was thinking. At one point he heard me make an inside joke with Yves-Marie and he asked me if I would tell him about the joke later. It was almost as if I was his American buddy. Like I’ve said before, working with students Yves’ age has been a passion of mine every since I became a Community Leader (resident assistant) at Baylor. These students are always going going going. They’re hard to capture, but when you do capture them, they never want you to leave. Tonight when I went to find Rachel and Linden to show them where the apartment was located, I invited Yves to come with me and he actually came this time! On the way back to the apartment from the Tram we started to talk about girls. I mentioned something about my future girlfriend being a Christian. He asked me, “Does she have to be a Christian?” I struggled to respond, but eventually said, “Well, yeah”. He then told me that he didn’t think his girlfriend was a Christian, but that she didn’t believe in God at all. Perhaps this was why he was intrigued with me all through dinner. I’ve never talked about Christianity with Yves before, but now I’m curious. Just because he comes from a practicing Catholic family doesn’t mean he actually believes in God. Now I’m intrigued Yves!

If you could have only been with me a lunch today! Mom, you’re going to love this one! After class my two Chinese friends were waiting at the door with big smiles, ready to eat with me. We went to the cafeteria with another American friend from our class named Amanda. As lunch was wrapping up, I started to eat my bread. The bread in the cafeteria is hard, but I can usually manage. Not today! Today I just happened to swallow too much and it got stuck in my esophagus. As I tried to make it go down, the voices in the room became babble. I did no longer understand words in English or in French. My face got really hot and I didn’t know what I was going to do. I finally poured my water glass out onto my tray and puked into the glass. I felt SO stupid! I just knew that everyone was watching. Min was very nice as she got up and ran to get me some napkins. Now that’s a good friend! If I had been her and I threw up in the middle of the cafeteria in front of God and everybody, I would have been tempted to get up and take my tray. God bless these pour people who are tolerant of my stupidity! If you ever eat in the cafeteria with me in France or in the US, please don’t let me eat the hard bread!

After lunch we had one last class and then I went to the gym. I still can’t understand the mumblers, but I’ll know I’m completely fluent when I can! One guy asked me if there was a sink in the dressing room, but when he first said it I thought he sounded more like he was imitating a motorboat. I just stood there and looked at him until I finally said, “J’ai mal compris” (I misunderstood). When he finally enunciated, I could hear him as clear as a bell! It’s funny how that works!

Quelque Chose!

Remember when I said that speaking French makes me tired? Try being tired and having to speak French! Wow! I’m pooped! Today was a gift! I didn’t deserve it, but it was given to me anyway!

This morning I met Rachel, Linden, and Jonathan at the tram at exactly the right time. We made it to church before it started, and enjoyed every minute of it! The songs were wonderful, the message was great, and I could understand almost every word spoken! At the end of the service we were surrounded by people that wanted to know us. It wasn’t like the zoo, but more like the petting zoo. When we stood up, there was a woman behind us who happened to be from the United States, but moved to France to be with her daughter who was married to the pastor who is from Morocco, but lives in France with his American wife and French/Moroccan/American children. Crazy! She was SO nice! Not only did she invite us to come over to her house sometime for dinner, she spoke French to us the entire time! It was amazing! Even when we were confused on a few words, she still stuck with the French! Amazing! After we talked with her, we spoke with her daughter (the pastor’s wife) and she invited us over to her house for a gathering of college and college age students at 19h30 (7:30pm) tonight! We were much obliged! After that we went downstairs for some coffee and fellowship with the other church members! It was Petting Zoo Part Two!

After church we went into town and ate Kabobs! AMAZING FOOD! Dad, if you come to France, this is the one thing you will love! It was so nice! After Kabobs we walked through the market and then to a bakery for desert. After desert we went to a café for coffee and talked for two hours! We then decided to depart from one another to freshen up for our soirée.

In order to get to the pastor’s house, we had to take a tram to a certain stop, and walk about two miles. It was actually very fun! We knew exactly where we were going, but it seemed like it took us forever. When we got to the apartment, we rang the bell and went right on up to a place full of people who welcomed us with open arms! There was food and fellowship out the ying-yang! I spent the entire evening chatting with everyone in French while Rachel targeted the Jamaican girls again and spoke English. She was having a ball! I met a guy named Kemuel from Haiti who spoke French very quickly! But as the night progressed, I was able to understand him without a problem. We laughed and joked all night and then exchanged numbers so that we could meet up some time at the university for lunch. I also got the opportunity to talk with the other students (only two of which were French, while the rest were just Francophone). It was great to have such an international group, but sad to see that only two of them were actually French! As I said, young French people don’t like to go to church at all! It’s very sad! There was a girl from England, two girls from Jamaica, one guy from Haiti, one girl from Martinique, a couple from Gabon, a guy from Hungary, the pastor from Morocco, two French girls, and of course, several Americans. It was such a special night! We stayed for three hours! At the end, we all caught rides home from various people so that we wouldn’t have to walk two miles back and catch a tram. These people are amazing! I’ve found a place to go to church and be involved!

Amusant!

Funny! One word to explain tonight’s “crêpe party” would be funny! It didn’t actually turn out to be a crêpe party, but rather a pizza get-together. Some of Yves’ friends came over and we all ate pizza and watched a movie (an American movie in French). Yves asked me if I wanted to watch the movie with English subtitles, but I told him that if we were going to watch the movie in French that I would like to see it with French subtitles. It’s too annoying to have to watch a movie with one language and read it in another; especially since the movie is supposed to be in English anyway. It would be like me watching a movie written in English, changing the audio to Japanese, and turning on the English subtitles.

When Yves and his friends first came to the house, it was a bit awkward. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to just march in there and say, “Howdy ya’ll! I’m the American living in the spare bedroom upstairs! How are ya’ll doing?” Eventually I thought of something to say and Yves and his friend Alexis (boy) came into my room to talk for about two minutes. I must not be that interesting. When they left I just sat in my room on the computer until Yves called me to eat. When I got to the table there were more people and everyone stared at me (zoo exhibit), so I said to the people I hadn’t yet met, “vous êtes?” (ya’ll are?). I was asking them what their names were, but instead Yves said, “ils sont Français” (They’re French). Thanks Yves! I didn’t gather that at first! When I sat down to eat, they started talking ninety to nothing about Lord knows what! They were talking too fast for me to understand, and they were using words I’d never heard of before. I wanted to burst out into song just to break the ice, but I don’t think they were very interested in me. Instead they just talked about farting and the teachers at school who they think are gay (typical of most highschoolers world wide). I also discovered that Yves has a girlfriend! ALERT THE MEDIA! Apparently this is a big deal because he doesn’t want his parents to know! (I hope they’re not reading this blog!) He told me that I couldn’t say anything because Catholic families don’t like their children to date until they’re adults. I hate to break it to you Yves, but I don’t think that’s a Catholic thing! Your parents just told you that so they would have a reason for not wanting you to date people! But I promise I won’t say a word to anyone in the world!

Today we finally got to go to the beach! On my way to meeting my friends, I ran into a guy that I met at church last night. He came up to me and we talked until I had to get off. It was so cool! After that, I thought we might miss the bus again because Linden couldn’t find her bus pass. We went back to her room to look for it and it turns out she had it in her backpack the entire time.

When we finally got to the bus stop, we ran into some other Americans who were headed out to the beach as well. One of them was trying to read the bus map and turned to a French guy to ask for help. As she began to form her sentences, the guy said, in English, “it’s alright.” She was upset as she said, “Everyone in France knows how to speak English! Why did I come here?”

At that Rachel said, “Yeah, it sounds like he speaks better English than I do!” It turns out that the guy was from Los Angeles and is studying in Paris, but took a day trip up to Normandie to see the

Beaches. That means that every person at that particular bus stop at that particular hour happened to be American. THEY’RE FOLLOWING ME!

At the beach we took a lot of photos and enjoyed the cool ocean breeze (COLD). After that we went into this little town by the beach where we found the best bakery in the world! The baker made us fresh sandwiches and served us some amazing deserts. We were in heaven! We then found a spot to sit and eat. While we were eating we ran into the other Americans again. They were chatting with us when I noticed that someone had dropped a brownie on the ground. I then loudly said, "Is that a terd or a brownie?" Rachel poked me, told me that it was a brownie, and reminded me that these people don't know me. At that I just looked at the other Americans and said, "Don't step in the brownie!" After that we took a bus back to Caen and took some pictures as the sun was setting on the city. It was amazing!

Tomorrow Rachel, Linden, and Jonathan will be joining me for church! I am so excited! I hope I become good friends with these French people!

GLORIEUX!

GLORIOUS! Today was absolutely glorious! I woke up and had breakfast (baguette with Nutella™ like always) and went to my very boring writing class. Once that was over I had a grammar class that turned out to be very interesting. I don’t usually like grammar, but today I learned a whole lot! Everywhere I went the walking indicator was always green for me to cross the street, the trams were always present at the tram stops, and I was never late to anything!

After class I had lunch with my friend Marie again as well as another American, my two Chinese friends Min and Yi Win, and a Norwegian girl that I met the first week of school. Today we spoke English because Min is preparing to take the GMAT (test for business schools) and has to be able to pass the English section of the test; therefore, she wanted to practice. After lunch I went to the gym and then for coffee at my favorite coffee shop in Caen. It’s called Le 101 Café. There people there are very nice and already know what I order every time I come in the door! C’est génial! I had coffee with Rachel, Linden, Jonathan, and (wait for it…) two French girls! It was great! I spoke French the entire time and learned SO much! I finally have French friends! But wait! It gets better!

After coffee, I went home and had a quick dinner with the family before I went to the Baptist church. We all had to eat quickly because I had to be somewhere and Benedict had a cello audition. She was very nervous! When Hélène took her, Yves-Marie and I wished her good luck as we waved off of the side of the balcony. After that Yves-Marie explained to me the conversions between miles and kilometers.

Once I finally left the house for church, I began to become pessimistic as I started thinking about how I would never find it and that I would just wonder around Caen all night alone. This was not the case. As soon as I got on the tram and made my way to my stop, I walked down the street to the exact street where the church is located, and found the church right away. When I walked in the door, there was a small group on the other side of the auditorium waiting to start. I thought I was late, but we didn’t end up starting until thirty minutes after 20h00 (8pm). By the time we were in full swing, there were more or less than ten to fifteen students. It was amazing to see that many French Christians in one place! We sang songs (IN FRENCH) and prayed (IN FRENCH) and studied the Bible (IN FRENCH)! It was a dream come true! At church in the United States, I always like to translate songs into French as I sing them. Here they were already translated and everyone was singing the same words as I was! The group was very welcoming and made me feel right at home. Some of them thought it was funny that I am from Texas as they asked me if I brought my cowboy hat (not quite;)).

After the small group, we all went down stairs for some fellowship and coffee. It was very nice as many people were very interested in speaking with me (IN FRENCH). After that, I was offered a ride home from one of the ladies that works with the group. She took me, two Jamaicans, and an English girl in her English car (steering wheel on the right) into Centre Ville where we all decided to go to a bar where my other American friends from Baylor were meeting. When I got to the Bar, Rachel and Linden were very happy to hear that I had a wonderful time and decided that they too would like to go to the same church this Sunday. They joined me and my new friends as we had a two hour discussion (IN FRENCH). There was only one French person at the table, but we spoke French anyway; with the exception of Rachel as she spilled her guts to the Jamaicans who were very obliged to speaking English. After that, the French lady, whose name is Megril, took Linden and I home. She was very pleased to have met us and is looking forward to seeing us again this Sunday at 9h00 for service and coffee afterwards! PRAISE THE LORD!


When I was in Paris I said that it felt like I was supposed to be here in France. For the first couple of weeks here in Caen I didn’t fully understand why, but now I am starting to see a light at the end of a dark tunnel!

Dieu est Gracieux!

I’m tired! As I’ve said before, speaking this language makes me very tired! But that’s a good thing! This means that I am working! Today I woke up early as if I had class at 8h20 only to realize that class didn’t actually start until 9h00! Therefore, I went back to bed for thirty minutes! I was eating breakfast with Yves when I decided to return to bed. I told him that I was lazy and he just said, “comme moi!” (like me!) Fear not little (<-sort of) American brother! Apparently being lazy is international!

This morning in class I learned the reason why French and English have so many words in common. This is because of the Greek language. That’s why the words Biology, Physiology, and many other words are the exact same (except with different accents). It was very easy for us English speakers to follow along, but I’m not sure it was as easy for the Asians! They are brave brave souls! I could never do what they have attempted to do!

After class I had lunch again with the same girl from my class. Her name is Marie. She is very nice and enjoys eating cheep like me! When we got into the cafeteria we ran into of her friends from Brazil. She only spoke Portuguese and French, so we got to have another entire lunch conversation in French! It was great! After that Marie and I went into town to look for French dictionaries. I have an English to French dictionary, but believe it or not, translating everything into English isn’t the best thing to do! Now instead of looking up the English meaning to the French words that I don’t know, I will use other French words to describe what I’m trying to understand.

I received an e-mail from a Baylor regent’s wife today telling me that she and her family would be in Paris this month. She was at a regent’s lunch and asked Dub Oliver (Vice-President of Student Life) if he knew anyone in Paris this semester. Dub gave her my information and told her to contact me! So, she did! I’ll probably go see them the last weekend of this month and finally have some more Baylor in my life! SIC’EM BEARS!

I sent Dub an e-mail talking about how fortunate we are to have such a great university! I like the university here in France, but believe me, it is NOT Baylor! The French universities are run by the government, so the students lack an insurmountable amount of respect for their school! They graffiti everything! What’s worse, they TRY to graffiti in English! Today I saw some writing that said “Moses give him us back!” The French have a funky relationship with pronouns, so this often slips over into the foreign languages they speak. Everywhere you look there’s graffiti; on the sidewalks, on the buildings, on the tram, on the statue of the Phoenix (School’s mascot), and even on the walls inside of the buildings! It is SO sad! They have no respect for the school and the people that have to work there every day! I would never want to be a professor at a French university! You would have to pay me a lot! Also, there is no such thing as Student Life. This means that Dub would not have a job in France! Nor would I for that matter! Americans, you have no idea how lucky we are!

Tomorrow I will be having coffee with Rachel and three French people! Rachel was very kind and decided that she would invite me to have coffee with some French people she met, because she knew how much I wanted to meet French people. I am so blessed! That means that this weekend I will be having coffee with French people, having crêpes with French people, and having a Bible study with French people! God is good! Pray that at least one of these people becomes a good friend!

Ouest France!

Well, today was fun. I had class again at 8h20 and thoroughly enjoyed it! The class is called Global Simulation. We make up fictional characters for ourselves and play this roll the entire semester. My name is Christophe Crétien and I’m married to a woman named Chloé Crétien. My parents are French, but they moved to the United States before I was born. This means that I am an American, but I now live in France where I met my wife Chloé.

After class I had lunch with a girl in my class from the University of North Texas. We ate on campus in what’s called the Resto U. That simply stands for Restaurant Universitaire. While we were eating I saw two Chinese students from our class sit down at a nearby table, so I asked them to join us. They did and we spoke French the entire time. When I went to fill up our water pitcher, I ran into another girl from our class from Finland who was eating alone. I asked her to join us as well. It was quite the sight I’m sure! As we were speaking I noticed two French girls watching us like we were yet another zoo exhibit.

Commercial:
Australian Announcer: Watch the foreign tribe try to communicate using words uncommon to their own vocabulary! Wait a moment! Check out the red haired little fellow! He looks frustrated and might attack!

I finally turned to the girls and said, “J’imagine que c’est très drôle d’entendre les étrangers parler français!” (I bet it’s funny to hear foreigners speak French !) The just smiled and one of the girls said, “Mais tu parles très bien!” (But you speak very well!) This made me just a little happy on the inside!

After lunch we had another class that wasn’t quite as fun. We just looked at French newspapers and searched for the differences between each of them. The group I was with was very intent on making sure that we did a good job. We have to present these newspapers next week to the class and explain the differences. I wasn’t that pressed on making sure that we memorized each newspaper, but one girl in my class decided that we needed to each take the papers home and read them so that we can explain to one another what each paper is like. Please! Newspapers!? I suggested that we just talk about the sections of the newspapers and how they differ from those of the other newspapers. I guess that won’t cut it. I tried to explain that we don’t need to take the papers home and make a big deal out of it; however, this particular little lady insisted that we scrutinize the heck out of them. I don’t even think it’s for a grade! I might find better things to do between now and next week!

After class I went to the gym where, this time, I was not treated like a zoo exhibit. I just worked out and swam. It was very relaxing! I then went home and waited for the dinner call (À TABLE!). Tonight we ate pizza, salad, bread, cheese, yogurt, and clementines (which is actually the same word in French). Yves was late because he was coaching a little league rugby team. Before he got home, Hélène told me that this Saturday Yves would be having a crêpe party at the house that I would be invited to attend! Yay! French people! This weekend it turns out that Yves-Marie, Hélène, and Benedict will all be leaving to visit their other son/brother in east France. That means it will just be Yves and I holding down the fort for the weekend. Next week it will be just Yves-Marie and I holding down the fort! Someone should pay me for doing all this holding!

Bonjour! Je m'appelle blah! blah! blah!

There are two types of native French speakers in this country; enunciators and mumblers (I think I just invented a new word). Either someone knows how to speak to a foreigner or not. Let me just say that most people DO NOT know how to speak to a foreigner. They think that their everyday jargon will be completely understood. That is SO far from the truth! If you’re laughing now at the thought of me trying to understand these people, please consider the last time you tried to speak to someone from another country. Did you speak to them the same way you would speak to me? Did you use your Texas, Idaho, or New York accent? Did you treat them like they were deaf and start screaming at them so that they would “hear” you better? I promise, they hear you, they just think you’re rude.

Today I went to class at 8h20. This was tough! We were given a paper with pictures of an event and were told to pair up with another student to play the rolls of an interviewer and interviewee concerning the events on the paper. During our preparation the professor noticed that one of the Chinese girls had her dictionary covered neatly in French newspaper. This was normal except for the fact that the girl had accidentally chosen the obituaries. I about lost it and so did the professor. What’s even worse is the fact that the pictures on the paper given to us were about an earthquake. These poor Asians! Can you imagine trying to go to China and learn their language with that crazy alphabet and verbs that aren’t conjugated? At least as an English speaker there are several French words that are the same in English. This is never the case in any Asian language! They just show up every day and dive in head first (sometimes into shallow waters). You might think that it would be difficult to be an American in France, but let me tell you; French people know everything about America and can speak some English! They know nothing about Asia and can speak maybe one word of any Asian language if that!

After my morning classes and random one hour break, I had lunch in town with Linden. We have the same 12h00 class together, so we just went into town and grabbed some food. After that I went to my afternoon class (snoozer) and then to the gym where I encountered many mumblers. If you’ve been to a gym in America, you know that the guys there generally tend to mumble. Fear not! They do the same in France! One guy thinks I’m some sort of zoo exhibit. Every time I go to speak he turns to his friends and comments. I don’t think he says anything bad because he is very nice to me, but it’s sort of like being a dolphin in an aquarium and watching people point and talk about you with fascination. “He’s from America! Did you hear his accent? Isn’t it weird?”

Tonight we had no meat yet again! I’m going to start bringing some protein powder down to the table and drinking it every night so that maybe they’ll get the point. Hélène was very sweet and invited my friends Rachel and Linden over because they have wanted to meet my family for a while now. They will be joining us for dinner on Monday night. Linden loves to play twenty questions, so this should be very interesting!

This Friday I will be going to a service for college and career students at a local Baptist church. I e-mailed the pastor of the church to see if they had anything for people my age and he told me that he would love to have me join them this Friday. Please pray that this one goes well! It may be my last hope!

On Y Va!

(photo of the entrance to the apartment building) To be honest, it’s hard for me to type in English for the moment. I just got done watching a film avec ma famille d’accueil qui s’appelle “Père et Maire”. C’était un très bon film ! Yves-Marie m’a dit que c’était un vrai film Américain. Ce n’était pas Américain, mais il m’a dit que tous les films Américains finissent avec les morales, et ce film était comme ça. J’imagine que c’est vrai, mais je lui ai dit que tous les films Français finissent avec l’amour. Il était d’accord. Maintenant je vais parler en English for those of you who probably didn’t understand a word I just said. Needless to say, it is becoming easier for me to converse in French. Hélène m’a dit que by the end of four months I will be fluent. J’espère que ce soit vrai!

(photo of the apartment - our's is the top balcony) Today I had my first real French class. It was quite entertaining. The professor was very funny and nice as well. When he called roll, there were some students whose names were left off of the list. This was no accident. The first student whose name was missing happened to be a guy who just arrived in Caen last Friday. I kid you not; he could hardly understand a word of French! For some reason he accidentally ended up in our class. When the professor went to ask him a question he responded in English. The professor then said, “Parlez-vous Français?” (Do you speak French?). Silence. I felt bad for the kid, but at the same time I wanted to throw a pen or notebook at him for waltzing his way into an advanced French class when he couldn’t even answer whether or not he spoke French. The next student whose name was not on the list happened to be a girl that decided she liked my class’s schedule better than her own. She therefore just decided to switch. The professor immediately got up and said, “On ne peut pas changer” (You can’t change classes!). “Aurevoir!” (Goodbye) “Il faut que tu ailles” (You must leave now). “Tu es très sympa, mais tu ne peux pas rester ici!” (You are very nice, but you can’t stay here !) « Désolé ! » (Sorry !) After that, the guy next to her confessed to doing the same thing. It was crazy! Who do these people think they are?!?! After we separated the men from the boys, we got to work. He put us in partners and had us find out five truths about one another, make up one lie, and present them to the class for them to decide which of the six things was a lie. I ended up with a girl from China who couldn’t understand much of what I was saying. I don’t know if that was her fault or mine. You know which one I’m leaning towards! I told her that she could tell the class that there are live Bears on my campus at Baylor and that they would think that was a lie. She; however, thought that this was the lie and continued to tell the class that it was a lie. When I interjected the professor could hardly believe that I was telling the truth. He told me he would have to search the internet to see if I was for real or not.

After class I met Linden in town for lunch. We ate sandwiches (the cheapest and most filling thing one can buy in France), and I helped her shop for some things for her dorm. I then went to the gym and then to a café to meet Rachel and Linden for an early evening coffee. It was very relaxing.

Tonight I came home for dinner and (WE HAD MEAT AGAIN) found out that at the end of this week, Yves and Benedict will be on vacation for two weeks! OH THE FRENCH! Hélène will also be on vacation because she works at a preschool. The three of them will be going to Bordeaux to see their brothers/son for two weeks while Yves-Marie and I hold down the fort. You know what that means? Butter! Cheese! MEAT! FAT! FAT! FAT!!!!! YAY! It’s going to be fun! I will miss having the other family around, but it will be nice to have the entire upstairs to myself! Yves-Marie is my favorite person in the family anyway, so maybe I’ll get more time to get to know him and learn even more French! He can’t go on vacation because he is a manager at a Bank. In France employees can only work 35 hours a week; however, managers can work as much as they want. This means that Yves-Marie works a lot!

Tomorrow I will have class starting at 8h20 and again at 9h30, 11h50, 15h10, and 16h20! Crazy! That’s five classes in one day! That’s a lot for someone who hasn’t had class since the middle of December! Here we go!

Attention Tout Le Monde!

If you read my post entitled "Bouger", you know my little story about the old people party! These photos will prove it! Be sure to check out my quote in the first one!

Today I was awoken by a phone call from Rachel asking me if I was walking or taking the tram. This seems like a crazy reason to call someone considering that we pay by the minute for our cell phones; however, she was asking because she wanted to know why I was late meeting her downtown. You guessed it, I overslept. I had recently taken the battery out of my phone and this caused me to have to reset the time and date. I unfortunately set the time two hours behind. So when Rachel called me at 7:30 my cell phone’s time, it was actually 9:30 French time. I told her to go ahead and that I would meet her at the church. When she got there she called me to tell me that the service started at 9:30 but that she was going to go ahead and sneak in the back. When I finally got ready, I made my way to the church and found Rachel sitting (somewhat) in the back. At this point they were singing hymns. It was really cool to hear hymns sung in French! Next they gave communion; however, all through communion the people went crazy. Everyone started to pray out loud at once and some people were prophesying. When the prophesying started everyone got quiet to listen. One woman even sang prophesy (with a not so pretty sounding voice). Needless to say, I felt a bit out of place. These sorts of services are nice for some people, but it was a bit much for me. Rachel said that this must be what it’s like when a country so far from God has citizens who hunger for Him so dearly. They not only meet for TWO HOURS every Sunday, but they go crazy when their together. She wasn’t too thrilled with the church, but said she would return if she couldn’t find something a bit calmer. I however, will most definitely look for another place. Not only was the service a bit much, there were nothing but old people. (COLE AND RACHEL –OLD PEOPLE PALACE PART DEUX (2))

After church Rachel and I went to a local bakery and got sandwiches and desserts. We then took them and sat on the castle wall to eat. We talked a bit and then met Linden at the university to look at our class schedule. With this I am not very pleased! You should see this schedule! I have never had more random small bits of free time in all of my life! They didn’t let us pick the schedule for ourselves, so we have no choice but to go with the flow. Some of my friends have Fridays off, but not me. I started missing Baylor a little more. This was yet another reminder that I’m not in Texas anymore. And Rachel’s not in Kansas anymore (I just had to add that)!

After that we went to the Port and got Linden something to eat. We then sat on a bench next to the boats and watched the birds eat all of the leftover food from Sunday’s market. Andrew then met us here and they decided we should go to a café. I’m a bit tired of paying high prices for coffee, so I passed and went home for another nap.

Tonight at dinner Yves-Marie went into the family room to get the dictionary (he likes to read it during dinner for some reason). While he was in there, Benedict ran to the kitchen to grab the butter. Hélène about threw a fit. She told Benedict that she better hurry up before papa returns. She then gave some butter to me and ran the butter back into the kitchen. Benedict also had to wait until Yves-Marie was full before she could bring out the cheese. Tonight we had pasta, bread, salad, and soup. They’re worried about getting fat, but they eat more carbohydrates than any family I know! Someone should tell them; but wait until I leave because there’s no telling what we would eat if we couldn’t have bread!

Tomorrow I will be going to school at 10h40 for one class. I think I’m going to teach these people how to schedule!

Appelez Jerry!

So, Cole didn’t go to the beach. We got into town too late and missed the bus. Sad day! For some reason this put me in a very bad mood, so I just went home and, had some bread with Nutella™, drank some coffee, and took a nap. It was a long nap too! After my nap I got up and had dinner.

Tonight Yves-Marie went to get some butter for his bread and, I kid you not, the kids flipped out! I was almost rolling in the floor from laughter. They think that if he eats too many things that are bad for his health that he will die. Yves starting screaming something along the lines of “I guess it’ll just be Benedict, mom, and I if you keep eating like that!” He didn’t care. He ate it anyway. I was secretly rooting for him. If I flipped out every time my dad ate something that wasn’t good for him, somebody would have to put me in a mental institution! Hélène also took the cheese away so that Yves-Marie wouldn’t eat it either. She says that cheese makes you fat, so old people can’t eat it. She then started telling Yves-Marie how much healthier she was than him. He still didn’t care as he ate his breaded butter. Yves finally just had to leave as it was all just too much! I told Yves-Marie that he needed to wait until everyone was in bed and then he and I would sneak down to the kitchen for some cheese, bread, and butter. He liked that idea, but Benedict abruptly disagreed! I might have to call Jerry on this family!

Commercial:
WHEN FATHERS EAT TOO MUCH JUNK
Hélène: Yves-Marie you never exercise! (chair flies across the stage)
Benedict: Papa I hate it when you eat cheese! (chair number 2 flies)
Yves: I CAN’T TAKE THIS!
Yves-Marie: (swimming in a vat of butter) Shut up and eat your yogurt!
– NEXT ON JERRY SPRINGER!

Tonight I’m using the washing machine for the first time (Big deal)! The entire machine is in French (duh!). I’m hoping that I put the little soap tablet in the right place. If not I might have to go on Jerry with the family!

Tomorrow morning Rachel and I will be going to a protestant church here in town. I was told that there are some university students who go there and that they would love for us to come. I hope I will meet some nice French Christians! Religion in this country is as old as the buildings! It’s almost as if it was something that happened in the past, but has become so old that it no longer pertains to everyday life. Most of the people in the country are Atheists. There have got to be over twenty-five massive cathedrals in this town, but Hélène was telling me that there are only a few priests that conduct services at all of the churches because there aren’t enough people to have a priest for each church. Sad! They are amazed when I tell them about Texas and how popular it is to go to church on Sundays. Hélène almost fell out of her chair when I told her that my college group in Waco has over 400 students.

Please pray that this new church will be a very positive experience for me! I have needed to meet people in this country that are as passionate about the Lord as my friends back at Baylor. I’m very excited to see how things turn out!

CHANTEZ!

IT WAS MEAT! Yves-Marie made lunch today since Hélèn has to work on Saturday mornings. He made pork chops and French fries. He also bought some amazing Chocolate Éclairs from a local boulangerie (bakery).

Today I will be going to the beach with my friends and hopefully see some amazing things! Stay tuned!

LA VIANDE! (MEAT!)

I JUST CAME BACK FROM THE GYM AND SAW MEAT COOKING FOR LUNCH! PRAISE THE LORD! HALELUJA!

Bonjour! Bonjour! Bonjour! Bonjour! Bonjour! There goes the baker...

Today I woke up late because I had no class. When I went down stairs I apologized to Hélèn for waking her up last night. She didn’t mind. She just didn’t know that I had ever left and thought it was her daughter coming down the stairs because she was sick.

When I finally got up and left the house I met Linden and Andrew for lunch. We ate at this very nice little restaurant that served gourmet meals for about a quarter of the price they would be in the US. We had a nice discussion on the differences between American restaurants and French restaurants and how in American restaurants it’s all about how fast they get the food to you. For some reason, this is considered polite. The faster you eat, the more you eat, the quicker you leave, the bigger the tip you will leave. In France this isn’t the case. The tip is already included into the price, so you always know exactly how much you’re paying when you look at the menu. In France the waiters are much more concerned about the quality of time you spend in the restaurant. When they give you the menu, they don’t come back four times to see if you’re ready to order. They give you about fifteen minutes to look it over before they even approach the table again. They also don’t give out mass quantities of liquid at each meal like they do in the US. The only thing they ever refill is water; and even that is limited. It has definitely taught me to drink a whole lot less while I’m eating. In America I’ll order a glass of sweet tea and have the waiter fill it up four or five times before I’m out the door. And I’m not the only person that does that! Imagine those who have the glass of Coke filled up four or five times before they’re out the door! No wonder our country is perceived as being fat!

While leaving the restaurant I had to stop and take a moment. Imagine, the sun was bright, the boats were stationed in their port, the bells of Saint Pierre were singing, and the citizens of the town were going about their daily routines. It was a Disney™ movie waiting to happen! I just knew some animated bird was going to be landing on my shoulder soon!

After eating I went to work out and then home for dinner. Still no meat. We had something called potato crisp, steamed tomatoes, bread, cheese, and yogurt. I was craving bread with Nutella™ so badly that I just had to ask for some. Hélèn thought I was crazy because they usually only eat Nutella™ for breakfast, but I didn’t care.

After dinner I went out to Café de Caen for a crêpe and a Diablo (a type of lemonade). I sat and chatted with my friends Linden, Jonathan, and Rachel, and then Rachel and I went to stroll through the town. We stopped at that church that had been bombed during World War Two and talked about what it would have been like to have lived during a war like that. I pray that I never have to know exactly what it feels like!

After that, I came home and tried to be quite once again. This time I think I tried too hard as it took me almost ten minutes to get from the door to my room. Every time I take another step the floor creeks because of the old hard wood! I can’t imagine having to sneak around at night all the time like that! It would drive me insane if I had to do it for too long!

Encore le FreeCell!

So, I’m still playing FreeCell; however, it’s not because I’m board, but rather because I like it. A lot!

Anyway, today was great! I got out of class early and I have no class in the morning! This morning the professors had to go around and make us sign something saying that we are being placed in the correct level of French. There are six levels, A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2. A1 is for people who don’t know a word of French and C2 is for people who speak French as well as they speak their maternal language. I was lucky / unfortunate enough to be placed in B2. I’m hoping that it will be challenging enough, but easy enough to make good grades! Stay tuned!

After class I went into town again with my friends and ate! I love to eat here! If you’ve ever been to France you know that just walking through the streets and seeing all the food makes you gain fourteen pounds. I am not kidding you; there are bakeries and chocolate stores on every corner, every bend in the road, and every crevasse known to man! If you ever have to die and go to pie heaven, I guarantee that God will put you in the middle of France! Baguette, crêpes (of which I ate more today), chocolate, wine, cheese, are you hungry yet?, cakes, pies, tarts, coffee, etc… And in every category I just mentioned, there are millions of things from which to choose! The world is yours (as long as you have something we like to call Euros)! If I run out of money by the end of this séjour, it won’t be because I traveled too much, but rather because I ate too much! I should have brought fat pants!

After we ate, I had to opportunity to meet a guy from one of Andrew’s classes named Guillaume Le Ber. He is a student here at the university and loves to hang out with Americans. He speaks English very well, but lets me speak French with him. We taught him some American slang words that he can use / watch out for when he visits the states. He wants to study at Baylor in 2009 because he heard that it’s the best university out of all the universities with whom Caen has exchange programs. I told him he was right even though I’ve never even seen these other universities.

Tonight at dinner there was still no meat. The family started to tell me about lent, so I just jumped right on in and asked if it was a tradition not to eat meat during lent. They told me that you’re only supposed to eat it on Fridays, but that most people don’t follow that rule. I almost said something, but I decided instead to eat another block of cheese. We had quiche, salad, fried vegetables, cheese, bread, and yogurt. It was very good! Hélèn is always a good cook and always gives me the most food! There must be a rumor running around that Americans eat a lot! Imagine that!

Tonight Rachel was invited to go out with some Australians for a guy’s birthday party. She was told to invite whomever, so we all joined her, including Guillaume. Although I would never be able to do this in Waco, we all went to a local bar and sat around meeting people from all over the world! It was so amazing! The bars here aren’t like the bars in the US. Here they’re actually classy and have character. I got to meet some girls from Australia and was told that if I ever went to Australia that they would show me around! I might just do that some day; eh mate? (They don’t actually say that!) It’s so cool to have connections all over the world!

Tonight when I came in I was as quiet as I have ever been, but for some reason Hélèn got up and asked what I needed. I know she was still half asleep because she was saying some pretty crazy things. Instead of saying goodnight (bonne nuit), she said goodbye (au revoir). I got a nice little laugh out of it and walked up to my room.

Bouger!

Culture Shock (according to Cole): The feeling you get when things aren’t the way they should be.

As I’ve said before, this experience is like a roller coaster! For those of you that read my last post, you might have guessed that I had hit a low spot on the roller coaster. If you enjoy (for some random reason) reading this blog, (hi mom!) you might have also noticed that I didn’t post anything yesterday. This is because after my low spot on the roller coaster I hit two high spots in a row; today and yesterday!

Yesterday was a hilarious day! After class I went into town with my friends and ended up looking all over the city for a gym. I ended up in a town right south of Caen at a very nice gym that takes over half an hour to reach. Nice idea, but I think I came to France for other reasons than to ride a bus all day! Eventually I ended up about seven blocks from my apartment at a gym called Sun Club. Sounds a bit shady, but it ended up being a very nice establishment. What’s even better, they give a 10% student discount! I was so excited I almost hugged the lady behind the desk! And if I’m not mistaken, I think she was just as excited for me! Yay, happy French lady!

After the fun and exciting gym adventure, I went with Rachel to a party we were both invited to attend. You might want to sit down if you’re not already! We not only take thirty minutes to find the right bus to get us to this place; we show up at this random building full of people who have no teeth of their own. That’s right; we were the cute little American kids at an old people party! Apparently it’s some sort of club that helps to build relations between the French and the Americans in Caen. Just between you and me, I don’t know that these people know that we’re the only Americans here. Anyway, the party was great as they fed us our weight in crêpes, Nutella (The Original Creamy, Chocolaty Hazelnut Spread™), wine, and cider. It was so delicious, but Rachel and I could not stop laughing about the situation! Just as we thought it couldn’t get any funnier, a guy from the local news came in the door with a camera and a microphone. I just about died! He interviewed the lady that was in charge as I continued to laugh (seemingly enjoying myself, but rather snickering at the situation). He then so gracefully approached Rachel and I and handed us the microphone. You guessed it; I was on the news speaking French to thousands of native French people who are now laughing at me!

Today I was tired after staying out all night recanting this amazing story to the others who did not feel inclined to join us; however, this did not stop the fun from coming. As we took the tram up to Campus two so that Linden could talk to our advisor about something, my friend Alex played hide and seek with the tram patrol. Alex has yet to purchase his tram pass, so he’s been riding the tram illegally for the past couple of days. We’ve yet to see anyone ask us for our tickets, so it was assumed that things would be fine. Not today! I heard a nice old man say “bonjour” to a group of people and when I looked up to see who it was; I saw that it was them! I looked at Alex and didn’t even have to say a word. As soon as the tram stopped, he jetted. I went with him so that he wouldn’t have to ride the next tram alone. When we got on the next tram, it took us to another stop where there was yet another patrolman. This time I didn’t even see him, but thank goodness Alex did! Alex walked right passed him and exited the tram while I accidentally stayed on and showed the guy my tram pass. When Alex finally caught up to me we decided that it might be good for him to buy a tram pass pretty soon!

After the tram excursion, Alex and I went for coffee just before I went to workout in my new gym! I was so excited! When I got to the gym, the same lady that helped me before was back to greet me with a smile! When I got to the workout room I was greeted by one of the locals. He could tell that I had an accent and asked me if I was English (they all ask me that!). I told him that I was actually American and that I was having trouble converting the weights from kilograms to pounds so that I could understand what I was lifting. He laughed and continued to tell me some elaborate story with big words while I pretended to understand.

After the gym I went back to the apartment where I waited until 8h30 to have dinner. We usually eat at 7h00, but Yves was late getting home. I just about had words with him! Actually, I did have words out loud to myself in English that made me feel much better about the situation. I just pretended that I was back home in the US and said to Yves (to to his face) what my father would have said to me. For those of you who know my father or know of him, you can only imagine!

Dinner tonigth was nice except for the fact that there was still no meat! I’m guessing that since they are Catholic, they aren’t eating meat because it’s lent. My mother offered to send me some beef jerky, but I think I’ll just go buy some protein powder or start eating massive amounts of meat at lunch! Ridiculous!

At the beginning of this post I gave my definition of the term culture shock. If you’ve been reading this blog for some time, you might have already gathered that this is from what I am suffering on occasion. As days pass, I notice that things are becoming more and more normal. Now that I have a place to workout and am starting to get a feel for the town, I think that in a couple of weeks I’ll stop making fun of the way things have been. Until then, be prepared for whatever, whenever!

La Vie Ennuyeuse

WHERE’S THE BEEF? Since most of you probably don’t remember this line, I’ll go ahead and let you know that it’s from an old Wendy’s® commercial. As you may have already discovered, when anything exciting happens, it happens at dinner. Not tonight. For some reason the Groussiers decided to quickly eat a light dinner. That’s nice, except for the fact that I am famished! All day I walked through the streets smelling the food from the patisseries thinking, “I’ll be eating soon! I’ll be eating soon!” Soon came, but the food did not. Potatoes, salad, bread, and cheese was all. No meat! I know I sound like I’m whining, but if you know me at all, you know that I love to eat! A lot! Oh well, one night of going to bed hungry won’t kill me.

My first day of preliminary classes was ok. It was a bit boring, but ok nonetheless. All the professors really wanted to do was stand at the front of the room and talk about nothing. I could understand them, but nothing is nothing whether it’s in English or French. There’s another American girl in my class that ate it up, but I think I’ll pass. I’m ready for something interesting.

To be completely honest, boring has been the theme of my life for the past few days. I’m in France, but bored to tears! So far I still haven’t met any French people despite my efforts yet again today in the cafeteria. I went in and asked to sit next to these two guys. They told me I could sit next to them, but when I asked them what their names were; the conversation didn’t go very far. They asked me where I was from but that was about it. Oh yeah, they also asked about the Super bowl.

After lunch I hung out again around town with my friends, but after that I just came home and ate some potatoes. Now I’m sitting here playing free cell again. I am now able to beat the game every time I play it! Yay.