Day 70: Scottish Lessons

9 novembre 2009 (Day 70)
Monday began with phonetics. We worked on our nasal vowels. We recited a fun tongue twister in French. I had a yummy pesto-tomato-cheese sandwich today before heading off to fencing. We got to suit up and get connected to the electricity today! It was quite fun and adds an entirely different element to the game. After a fairly interesting lecture in art history I hustled back to my apartment to scarf down some leftovers to finish them just as Mathilde arrived for lessons. Today Mathilde and I went over a song, had a quiz, and starting working a lot of question forming and answering.
Afterwards I went over to ask John about my homework on the subjunctive tense. I have never really understood it well and when I read the paper explaining it went from my eyes out through the back of my head. John helped me understand the subjunctive and Scottish. We got talking about the music and the language. I now know how to say potatoes (ta’tties) tomatoes (to’matties) garpin’ (= gawking). It is definitely a different language!

Day 69: Angers Conference

8 novembre 2009 (Day 69)
I had an early start to get to stake conference in Angers, France. My Sunday School teacher, Soeur LaPorte (Sister “Door”) and her husband gave Hannah and I a ride since it is at least an hour away by car. The seats were really comfy, it all looked quite mod, and the speakers put me to sleep. It was partially because I couldn’t understand everything, partially because it was boring, and partially because there were 8 speakers in a row when on the program they only listed four. Life went a lot better after the intermediate hymn 30 minutes before the ending. The general authorities (who I can understand when they speak) spoke about why they love the church. The same guy from yesterday told a really neat story about prayer when his family was stuck at a border the authorities weren’t letting them cross. He told us that everyone has his place, that we need the Holy Spirit and that we need to really pray and pray for things that are specific to each day, God willing.
After conference I talked with Cody Allen about his latest adventures outside of France. For a boy who goes to school in France, I dare say that he is out of the country more than in it. He has his plans for December: boarding in the Alps, Christmas in Jerusalem, New Years in NYC, skiing in Utah and then driving back to San Diego. Oh to be young and have money! I also talked to the cutest little greenie. The missionaries switched in Nantes, so Elder Tanner Staples is the only one I know. The greenie, bless his heart, has been out for 2 weeks now, but seems to be doing alright. He is from Spanish Fork Utah and is really excited to be in France and loves it so far. He studied French in junior high and high school for the same reasons as me. It will be fun to have new missionaries and it was good talking to him about French and life and adjusting to France.
We drove home and Hannah slept again while I talked to the LaPortes. They are really nice people and they said they’d like to come and see me in the play which we will be performing in December. Now I am just catching up on journal entries and editing pictures from Sweden.
I was taking a break from journal writing and fell asleep reading Harry Potter. I made some yummy pesto pasta and talked to John the Scot again. I invited him to a church activity but he has class. I discovered the joy of Teen Girl Squad, so I am still behind on journal entries and the internet isn’t letting me get on my blog. I apologize for my tardiness, I’ll catch up one day!

Day 68: A Perfect Day in Nantes

7 novembre 2009 (Day 68)
Today was an eventful day. I slept in until 8 am. I changed and then I snuck into the kitchen to do yoga. It was a little awkward, doing yoga in the kitchen, but it was nice to have lots of space. I hopped on the tram and headed for commerce. I bought more elstar apples, several bananas, and some brioche (sweet bread) for a cute Boulanger man. Sadly my vendor friend wasn’t there today. I went to a used bookstore afterwards and bought (all of these being written/translated into French): Harry Potter 3 & 4, a C.S. Lewis book, and a work by Guy Maupassant called “Contes de la Becasse” which my teacher recommended. I spent about 10 euros for the three books. I took the tram out to Carrefour to buy more oatmeal (it is the least expensive there). They also have really expensive canned foods, so I bought some beans and veggies, along with pesto sauce. I am excited for the pesto sauce, and it is cheaper than in the states! I also bought some cereal (museli and a chocolate one that ended up tasting more like salt than chocolate). I lugged all my loot to the Talensac Market at 50 Otages and went on a manhunt. It was actually a bakery hunt. There are these delightful treats called coquiettes or something thereabouts. I tried one once and hated it, but Melanie gave me a coquiette one day that I loved. She has a little girl who is quite the connoisseur of these delightful fluffy treats and she prefers them from the Maison Bossard. I found the maison and bought 6 for around 1,75E. They were scrumptious!
I actually shared one with John. He is my Scottish neighbor. I went over to ask him if his internet was working. We ended up talking to each other in the hallways for at least an hour in French. We talked about lots of random things: school, vacation, mean Frenchies, the Maison Bossard, drinking, smoking, etc. Our conversation ended once someone started smoking in the kitchen and we could smell it.
I quickly ate leftover pasta, changed and headed to the church for part one of stake conference. It was really good! The theme of the conference was, “Called to Serve.” The conference was broadcast to several other churches as well. My favorite speaker was from the Quorum of the Seventy who hadn’t spoken French for 5 years! He speaks French quite well (or at least I could understand EVERYTHING that he said because he’s an Anglophone). He told us lots of fun little stories.
The following are some thoughts that I enjoyed from the session: don’t doubt your capacity, the Lord chooses you. The Lord prepares us. Be happy to serve where you are. Don’t ever say, “Oh, they’ll never become a member of the church. It is likely that they may in the next life if not this one.”, Faith will open the door, it is possible to change the direction of the Church in France, but we must do less to do more. Gordon B. Hinckley talked about getting out of debt and saving several years before the economy crashed. Service is like a boomerang, it will always come back to you! Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, omega the last; God is alpha and omega and we make up the middle! I got a ride home (or at least most of the way) from stake conference and had some lovely hot chocolate. It was a nice ending to a nice day.

Day 67: Exposing the United States

6 novembre 2009 (Day 67)
I presented my exposee this morning in my oral French class. I gave a 15 minute presentation concerning the views that the United States is a leader in environmentalism and super polluters. I think it went really well; everyone told me that they enjoyed it and that they could understand what I was saying (yay!). Marion said that I’ll get a 15 or 16 out of 20 on my argumentative presentation. I am so glad that I took debate because all we do in class (at least oral and writing…10/21 hours of class) is work on arguments. Thank you Miss Hyer for teaching me everything I know, and all my English teachers as well. I actually found out that we have to give a presentation during finals week, but you only have 20 minutes to prepare a 15 or 20 minute presentation. I find this rather unjust, you get more time to prepare in debate (and speak less)! Oh well, it is France and I have come to terms with the fact that my grades are going to be below Mari average (insert Chris Mitchell laughing here). The heat wasn’t on in the building today, so I began to freeze in theatre and continued to freeze. I had some pizza at the RU Terte (the first time I’ve eaten there all week) and talked to some other IRFLEE kids until our next class, history! History was interesting as usual, but I was really tired and cold so I was starting to doze in the middle (but not quite). We finished talking about the possible causes of the revolution: the philosophy of the Lumiers, the bourgeoisie, the financial situation of France, the taxes, the expense of the court, and the war in America. An interesting side note: France helped us only because they hate England and they wanted to shove it in their face. We learned about the National Assembly and the French Revolution. We talked about poor Louis XVII (he was actually a really nice guy) and a little bit about Marie A. My favorite thing I learned was that when Louis XVI was fleeing to Varennes, he did so being disguised as a Boulanger, or bread maker. Sadly, his fleeing led to a divorce between him and the nation so the vengeful lover (France) killed him.
I cleaned my room today. I wiped everything down (for a little room it gets terribly dusty). I also did my monthly floor washing. I’m not motivated to wash it more than once a month, although I do sweep the floor quite often because I create a lot of crumbs…which is pretty crumby. Har har, I’m so funny. And sleep deprived. I actually took a little “break” I guess you could call it before I cleaned and listened to a relaxation tape. I finally got some drinkable yogurt to try (and it came with a Scooby Doo sticker!) and it is pretty good. I really do love the yogurt here (although I miss the yogurt in the boxes in Sweden).
I had some pasta for dinner and then headed into town to watch a fencing match. I got there late, but it was there soon enough to see the champion of the world, an Italian fence. It was pretty fun because there were a lot of people there and they were all cheering. It was kind of like a football or basketball game. It was really neat to see how GOOD they were at fencing; I’ve got a long way to go!
The internet isn’t working, so I’ve done some homework, but I think I have resolved to go to bed now and see if I can sleep in tomorrow before going to the market! I almost forgot the highlight of my day. I’ve been trying to make an effort to smile at people and say, “Bonjour!” I was walking down the hallway to theatre and I saw a boy who is in the IRFLEE program, but not in my level & I don’t know his name. I recognized his face from the IRFLEE soiree so I said, “Bonjour.” In response he said, “Salut” (an informal hello for people you know well, aka your friends) and then he winked at me! What is that?!?! Winking at random people in the hallway, that is not allowed, Eric Ripplinger told me so. I actually saw Eric’s France twin the other day. His twin is a brunette, but otherwise looks the same.

Day 66: Thursday

5 novembre 2009 (Day 66)
Thursday, oh my how does time fly. In the morning I talked to Kyle on the internet, did my homework, and went running, all before class. In writing class we talked about the death penalty which led to the subject of how they kill people in different countries. Needless to say (I won’t write the details) to was interesting and amusing. But if I had to be murdered, I’d prefer the guillotine to the electric chair or an injection. The guillotine is just more romantic. We were supposed to learn grammar, but as usual, we didn’t get that far in class.
Tonight Mathilde came over for an English lesson. She told me about her interview to be an au pair. She did really well and her interview lasted 2 ½ hours! Today we worked on vocabulary a lot: body parts and clothing. I have an exposé in orale class tomorrow so I’ve been working on it.

Day 65: Making Honey Dijon

4 novembre 2009 (Day 65)
Goodness me! I am not on task today. Mathilde cancelled lessons again today and I have somehow whittled away all that spare time I had to study. It all started with a message that I got from Brooke. We have found a family who is willing to have us during our Christmas break down by Nice. They are beekeepers with 3 children and goats! I therefore began to check flight prices from England to Nice, which led to checking other flights, which led to starting to plan next semester’s vacations as well as summer plans. I suppose I will continue to talk about my day in reverse, maybe it will make in more interesting. I asserted my dominance! I bought some new mustard that was supposed to be mild, but doesn’t taste very mild to me. I was sad that I’d have to throw it out and then I thought HONEY DIJON MUSTARD! And so I made myself some. There is nothing like honey to sweeten up life. After dinner I foraged on several cookies. I had a salad and I made some mashed potatoes from the box (they’ve got nothing on fake Idaho potatoes) and green beans for dinner. The article we discussed today in class was about a publicity of some famous sweater company that had all the models handicapped one time. It lead to some really interesting discussions about “politically correct” labeling and the coldness of France. The Ghanans are awed at how rude and individualistic we all are. I would like to go to Ghana because it sounds like everyone is really nice and respectful there. They were shocked that a restaurant manager would ask someone who is handicapped in a wheelchair to leave because it was disturbing other customers. I did my homework in the TU Café after my home lunch on the main floor of the RU Terte. There were lots of board games at the café that I wanted someone to teach me how to play. In culture we talked about a French author and really really analyzed his text. What I mean to say is that we had to do the analyzing that I hate, not the kind with Annick where we get off subject and it is entertaining but the “I think I am the author and so what was I meaning when I used this word instead of this word and since I think I’m the author and know what he was thinking I also want you to tell me why you think he wrote like this and the 5 sections this text is divided into although I really don’t want your opinion but what I think is to be fact when analyzing a work really is just opinion.” I was starting to fall asleep. I did some homework before class. I also went on a run. It was great to be out running again. It seems like I’ll have to go in the mornings because it likes to rain once I am done with classes in the afternoon and it seems to be a pretty normal thing. I also decided to try to wake up earlier since my bladder always wakes me up at 6am and then the rest of my sleeping time is very fitful and feels more like 10 minutes instead of an hour, so I might as well go to bed an hour earlier and wake up at 6am with my bladder. I am just hoping that I can keep myself awake and roll myself out of bed into my shoes. That is always the hardest part, because once I am out there I am ever so glad I went.

Day 64: Demi-Crème is Demi-Bad

3 novembre 2009 (Day 64)
I woke up to another day with the “crachin Breton” or the rain that frequents this area. I tried my demi-crème milk with cereal, but I still don’t think that it tastes very good, even with cereal. It just has a really weird taste and texture. I think it might be okay in hot chocolate. I am positive that it will be okay in mashed potatoes. I am going to try some other brands though so that I can have more calcium. I also decided that I need to eat better, so I made my lunch today with some delicious multi-grain bread from the boulangerie and some cheese that was on sale (though I have no idea what kind of cheese it is). We spent a really long time discussing our summaries of a text (aka about 2 hours out of 2.5 hours of class) because we all did pretty badly. It never ceases to amaze me how I can read a text 10 times, on the 11th read think I have finally understood, only to find out that I didn’t understand it at all. It is frustrating, but I am sure that it is good for my character. I am also learning that I am a baby, but am getting better at not wanting to cry in class when the teacher is not understanding what I am not understanding (which is oh so difficult to explain!). In theatre we practiced the play more. The Fou (joker) is getting a lot better, so the play is slowly getting funnier and more amusing. Oral was uneventful, we did a listening comprehension test. I got 18/40..woot! Mathilde cancelled class again so I worked on my homework seeing as I have a paper in culture due tomorrow and a writing assignment to redo since I didn’t understand the text (there is a difference between the words immoral, amoral, and morality that are very important in French, if you were wondering). I knocked on Mischa, my French buddy’s (whom I never see) door. She was there (albeit sick). She was kind enough to go over my assignment for French culture. It sounds a lot better than it did before! I got a lot of letters yesterday, which made my day. Today it got really windy. Ohhh! The most magical thing just happened, Dumbledore must be around, for in a blink of an eye, all the lights outside that I can see out my window went out (not all the lights, but the ones on the block).