Augh! Again I'm sorry with the infrequent updates! I've just been so busy lately that all I ever seem to do is go to class and sleep. With heavy emphasis on the sleep.

To give you an idea of what a typical day is for me, I get up at eight and have some breakfast, and do all the usual things that need doing when one starts the day. Then I walk about 10-15 minutes to la Site Dennis Papin, where I have my CILEC courses for French. Classes last from 9-12, and we work on grammar, vocabulary, speaking, listening, and writing skills. Because this is an intensive three week course, everything is review right now. We get one break in the middle of the morning, and I usually use that time to grab a snack or to hang out with some of the other international students. Once class is out, I either eat at the Resto-U, or go back to my dorm to fix something. On Wednesdays, we have "ateliers", or workshops. I took a theatre-workshop. The scene my partner and I worked on was basically the French equivalent of "Who's On First?", using mix-ups with the words "Caen" the city, and "quand", which means "when"; "Car" meaning "bus" and "quart" meaning "quarter past the hour"; and "Sète", another city, and "sept", or "seven". All of these words, of course, sound nigh-on identical

After class and lunch, I either take a nap, or head off to the mall to shop at Auchan, the French equivalent of Walmart/Krogers. I can buy a week's worth of groceries for under 20 euro! Plus they sell this great off-brand version of Orangina, so I can get a liter and a half for less than a euro. After that, I do homework and make my own dinner. Usually, I just make sandwiches, because I'm too lazy to cook anything. I spend a lot of time on the internet, hoping to catch friends back home to chat with. I take a shower in my waaaay-too-small bathroom, and usually crash by midnight.

I do work out four nights a week, though. On Mondays and Wednesdays I go to Aikido, which is loads of fun. I really like learning how to fall. And then on Tuesdays and Thursdays is Taekwondo. I like that it's on the same days as I'd be practicing back home. It makes it a touch more familiar.

Everyone in France that I've met so far has been really friendly. People seem very willing to go out of their way to help foreigners, and are kind enough to correct me when I make mistakes. I like it when people mistake me for a native speaker. It makes me feel like I don't stand out too much, that I'm not too obviously American. And apparently I don't sound American when I speak. They can tell I'm not from St Etienne, and once I goof up, they know I'm foreign, but they don't automatically assume I'm American. They have to ask where I'm from first.

A random, cool thing I've learned about spoken French. The "ne" in "ne....pas" is optional. Instead of "Je ne suis sorti pas hier soir", you'd say "Je suis sorti pas hier soir" Well, at least I think it's cool. Anyway, that's about all for now. Again, once I figure out how it works, I'll post some pictures. I've taken lots. I'm just horribly lazy, as y'all well know. A bientot!