How do you begin to sum up weeks of new experiences? Weeks filled with new words, new foods, new sights, and yes, new mistakes? It's tough, but I know I have to write it all down before the new-ness wears off.
Language practice has been good. In addition to having a host family, I feel that having an internship really adds to the experience. My internship is with a local theatre company, and so far it's been going really well - I love being around the stage (whether it's singing or acting), so I'm glad to be around people who love it too. However, I still don't feel completely solid in my French (not that I was expecting myself to suddenly become fluent once my soles hit French soil), so I should be speaking with a couple of language partners in the coming weeks.
As far as traveling goes, I haven't been to that many places outside of the surrounding southern cities and the very beautiful (and expensive!) London, England. I know I started off by saying I would want to go see the women saints, but I'm realizing that for me, it's a bit of a difficult undertaking if you don't have a (few?) willing friend(s) to go with you. Now I'm pretty much taking things as they come, but I'm making sure that I at least have somewhat of an interest in the destination before I agree to go there. For spring break I will be in Paris, so I am definitely excited about that. I think I may do a side trip to Lille as well, so... keep your fingers crossed that everything falls into place.
Academically, we're at a bit of a difficult point. That's right - midterms. It's stressful and full of papers, but perhaps most importantly (and obviously), it marks the midway point of the semester. Oh la fuite du temps. It's time to kick it into overdrive.
Language practice has been good. In addition to having a host family, I feel that having an internship really adds to the experience. My internship is with a local theatre company, and so far it's been going really well - I love being around the stage (whether it's singing or acting), so I'm glad to be around people who love it too. However, I still don't feel completely solid in my French (not that I was expecting myself to suddenly become fluent once my soles hit French soil), so I should be speaking with a couple of language partners in the coming weeks.
As far as traveling goes, I haven't been to that many places outside of the surrounding southern cities and the very beautiful (and expensive!) London, England. I know I started off by saying I would want to go see the women saints, but I'm realizing that for me, it's a bit of a difficult undertaking if you don't have a (few?) willing friend(s) to go with you. Now I'm pretty much taking things as they come, but I'm making sure that I at least have somewhat of an interest in the destination before I agree to go there. For spring break I will be in Paris, so I am definitely excited about that. I think I may do a side trip to Lille as well, so... keep your fingers crossed that everything falls into place.
Academically, we're at a bit of a difficult point. That's right - midterms. It's stressful and full of papers, but perhaps most importantly (and obviously), it marks the midway point of the semester. Oh la fuite du temps. It's time to kick it into overdrive.