I guess it's time to talk about academics, I suppose I am studying abroad.... The university I am going to is called the Université Stendhal in Grenoble where I go to the Centre Universitaire d'Études Françaises, or CUEF as the cool kids call it. It's pretty much for all of the international students, comprised of quite a few Americans and a boatload of Chinese students. (Okay, they most likely flew here.) The way the program works is as follows:
Monday: Take the placement test which includes an interview with a professor to assess your speaking skills and a written test to assess your listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and writing skills.
Tuesday: Find out your level of French. There are 6 major levels. A1 and A2 are the very beginner levels, the "all I know about the French language is 'bon-jour'". B1.0-B1.9 are the intermediate low levels. B2.0-B2.7 are the intermediate high levels. C1 and C2 are the "I'm pretty much French, just hand me my citizenship card already" levels. Is the suspense killing you? It wasn't killing me, but, if you saw a recent Facebook status, you may know I accidentally did well. Now don't go thinking that I've got my French passport in the mail. I ended up in level B2.5 (in the B2 levels, there are only odd numbers except for B2.0), which blew my mind. As a result, I have officially become the API tutor, haha.
Wednesday: Classes begin! Woot, haha. I now understand why people hate study abroad students, because I have significantly less class time than I do at school. Really, look at my schedule...
I hit the jackpot. Also, that's not even my final schedule! I'm still deciding between the History of French Art class and the Contemporary French Literature class. I think I just won, haha. I am, however, considering joining a choral ensemble and volunteering at the American Corner here in Grenoble as well, so I could be very busy. My French class (the purple one, and technically the pink one too) is really good. This past week we read two articles expressing opposing views on gay marriage in France and were having a very complex discussion about the French's opinions and the Americans' opinions. It was great, and I could participate and keep up with what was going on in the class. The reason we were reading/discussing gay marriage is that it is a very big topic in France right now in regards to law making, etc. Regardless, I know what's going on, which is the best part!
My friends and I are also planning our February vacation! It's been FREEZING here. In between the sporadic snowing, the winds, and the generally cold temperature, all we want is to be somewhere really warm. Some of us are thinking of going to Barcelona, Spain. The best part, the flights there are only $40 in American dollars! Then at the very end, Erin from W&M is coming to meet me in Paris for her spring break! We'll spend a few days in Paris and then, on Tuesday, come down to Grenoble. I'm WICKED pumped about seeing Erin, less so about the Paris part. Can we all just take a moment to realize how expensive Paris is? Ugh, that is going to take up most of my vacation fund!! It's worth it to see Erin though, my person from home to come visit me. I'll just have to cut down on my Chocolat chauds, I suppose....
I think we're all caught up to date now. Classes have begun. I'm going to Barcelona in a month. Erin's coming to visit. Chocolat chaud is magic that should be replicated everywhere in the US. C'est tout!
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