One week in...

Across the river and the Bastille on the hillside (what we climbed up to here)

Ah! As always, I keep finding myself very much wrapped up in my new life. It's been a week now that I've been in Grenoble and I think it's going quite swimmingly. I love the hours I spend with my host family around the dinner table. Every night, at the same time, we all sit and and go through as many courses as we do subjects. For the most part, I understand. There will always be things in French that I don't understand, but I already feel like I've learned more here in the last week than I did for most of the time I was in Paris. It's just so nice to be having day to day, mundane interactions in French. It really changes the vocabulary and situations that are brought up.

My room- I think it's gorgeous

And I think I was very, very lucky in my host family placement. They're just the best; always encouraging me and convinced that I must be one of the best speakers in my class (a compliment that's not entirely deserved, but I'll take it). And the are constantly willing to help me in any way that I need, be it explanations of bizarre words or directions to school. My host mom is very enthusiastic about me meeting French students- tonight she gave me two different students, who are on the same campus as me, to call and meet. So that should be interesting.

This week I only had preparatory "intensive" classes with my professor from Seattle before our placement tests on Monday. I say "intensive," but I really mean a bunch of little grammar lessons that were helpful, yes, but not nearly as thorough as I would have liked. Bah tant pis. In my opinion, it's better to go into the test with what you really do know and not what you crammed into your brain the night before and will forget the minute it's over. I think that's how incorrect level placements are made. I guess we'll see on Monday.

Light from the heavens over Grenoble

Like something out of a de Chirico

I have nothing planned this weekend, only a little bit of school work and some more exploration of Grenoble (maybe a museum or two). Today I went to class for only about 2 hours until our professor decided that it was Friday and we should just go home and have fun. So I went out with four other students from Seattle to lunch at a great café in the center of town. We had a fun time and were there for entirely too long. But I like that about life here- more priority towards time spent with people you care about. You get your work done, but you also don't say no to hours of chatting after a meal. It's nice.

The river Isère (read: e-zaire)

Oh! And two nights ago I had a nice moment with my host mother. She asked earlier if I liked to cook and if I would want to learn from her and YESYESOFCOURSE was my answer. So she taught me how to make salad dressing à la mortared-the French way. While we made it she told me that an old way to say "toss the salad" is "fatiguer la salade"which means to tire the salad. Odd, but I love French phrases like that. I can't wait for more little cooking lessons. Maybe I'll just constantly loiter in the kitchen so she has to show me things.

Un café crème au Café de la France & some Françoise Sagan