My biggest challenge right now... (and other things)

... is figuring out how I want to dress over there!  I need to pack clothes that are sturdy and stylish-ish...  The French appreciate a well-put-together outfit. I already know I'm bringing plenty of scarves because I like those anyway in the fall, but how do I even begin to layer? How cold will it get? It rains a lot but it doesn't snow often.  Mom and I found a great all-weather coat on sale at Younker's so that was a score. Now just need to find some good, waterproof, comfortable shoes that don't make me look like I'm gonna climb a mountain.  And figure out what sweaters to take!  And other tops! And a few pairs of jeans!

I'm terrible at this... somebody call What Not To Wear, I'm sure they could help me!

On a not fashion related note - my parents aren't planning on coming to visit while I'm over there, which makes me kind of sad but at the same time I understand.  So I'll just have to deal with four months of separation from almost everyone I love!

I promised to talk a little about my French background, so here goes.

Started in eighth grade learning the basics.  I loved my teacher, she was hilarious and from Spain!  The main memory I have of that class is a time we were practicing writing on the overhead (do they even use those anymore?) and one boy asked, "Comment-on dis 'but?'"  The class was silent for a minute, then the giggling started. Everyone thought he'd asked how to say "butt!"  Finally Ms. Romero figured out he meant the preposition "but," and answered, "mais."  I felt really silly for not realizing what he meant, especially because I had a big old crush on that boy in eighth grade.

Took classes all through high school with three different teachers.  Freshman year was pretty much review, sophomore year we read a short play, junior year I was my teacher's assistant and graded lower level's papers and tests, and senior year was a blast. We learned how to tektonik! (I'll add a video at the end of the post!)  I never thought I was very good at french but I always did pretty well on the national french exams. I think I got first in the district and eighth in the state one year? But I could be totally wrong because that was so long ago. I just remember getting a card from the superintendent congratulating me.

I've taken french all four semesters of college. Freshman year was another kind of review sort of, and we watched a couple movies and discussed a lot of current events. My favorite was when we watched La Haine and discussed the immigrant/minority experience in les banlieues, the suburbs, of Paris.  Last year was literature based, so we read all sorts of selections and several full novels and plays.  I really enjoyed our discussions and felt like I got a lot out of it. French authors are so fascinating!  I loved Rimbaud and Verlaine and Sartre and Camus.  I'm excited to read more.

I hope all that wasn't too boring... and I hope it was enough to help me score pretty well on the placement exam when I get to France so I can take fun classes!  I should probably start practicing more... get out that grammar book...

Tektonik!

Better start practicing for les discotheques!

Imdb for La Haine:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113247/
(La Haine means "Hate." I think the most striking line in the film is "la haine attire la haine," which means "hate breeds hate.")