Week 4: I survived my first month in France!

So my new intensive language courses began this week. They didnt have a class for my exact level so they bumped me up one. I would have preferred to be bumped down one, seeing as I haven't taken an actual French class in 8 years. Its definitely challenging. My oral comprehension is not quite on par with my classmates. The teacher talks too fast. I've seriously contemplated asking to be demoted but for now I'm going to try to stick it out. 

There's one other American in my class. Its nice to have one person to relate to and ask in English what the heck the teacher is saying. The other students are Brazilian, Colombian, Qatari, Syrian, Korean and Bulgarian. Its interesting to hear the different accents when these people speak French. Sometimes its hard to understand their French because of it.

French computer keyboards, not the same as american ones. The A and Q are switched. The Z and W are switched. The M is next to the L. You have to hold the shift key to type numbers and to type a period. its incredibly frustrating and its a good thing I'm in a classroom or I'd throw it at the wall.

One day we walked into the classroom and it was warm. I was like Hallelujah! But immediately it was deemed stuffy by the other students and the windows were opened for 10 minutes to get air circulation. That's the closest I've been to being warm here. Its really starting to get on my nerves this being cold all the time

Random tidbit about French universities, they're rather rundown looking. In dire need of a good power wash and some modernization. There's good reason for this: its virtually free for the French to go to college, so the money the schools receive from the government only covers the basic costs, teacher salaries, etc. There is no tuition money coming in. So no extra money to put towards landscaping, central heating and air, renovating the bathrooms so I don't feel like I'm in the bathroom of Dana's (only my college friends will understand that reference)

I discovered my new favorite French food. A crêpe with cheese, prosciutto, salami, and a fried egg. I've eaten it 3 times now this week. Crêpes were already my favorite. I've been making them with nutella and strawberries every 2-3 days or so.

I got a French cell phone! Its a super cheap smartphone but getting another samsung galaxy would have cost well over 600 euros. I now have gotten all of the important things out of the way. Except for my residence permit, which is also my work permit, but I've been told not to hold my breath on that one... Oh the French, they're lucky have have such a beautiful country and language