French Fries

Well, here I am at the MEGA. Again. Life here is repetitive, but I get a lot of work done. For five weeks I have been in French classes all day and I still have another two weeks to go. I guess I'll waste time by running through my Monday-to-Friday schedule.

06:50 - Wake up, shave, get dressed, pack my bag, head down
07:30 - Chow time
08:00 - Classes start
09:50 - Long coffee break
10:15 - More classes
12:10 - Dejeuner (to have lunch)
13:15 - More classes
15:10 - Classes end, head to the gym
15:30 - Work out (Monday/Wednesday/Friday is strength training and Tuesday/Thursday is cardio)
17:00 - Shower, put on clothes, organize stuff
17:30 - "Food entering the stomach" time
18:00 - Study French, do laundry if needed and get ready for tommorrow
23:00 - Sleep
Rinse and Repeat

So my life is filled with French, French, and more French. It's a great learning environment for the most part. It all really depends on the student though. If you go to class just because you have to be there and just waste oxygen all day, then you probably won't learn much. One should strive to learn, not expect to be mouth-fed. It really feels good when your accomplishments pay off. I kind of suprised myself when I could understand 80% of what the francophones in my hallway were talking about. It's also makes my day when I can have whole conversations with the native French population in the area. It makes you feel good inside and I'm glad I understand another language. It's hard work learning 50+ new words (perfectly spelt of course) and their conjugations everyday.


So that's about it. I am thankful that I have friendly classmates and people to challenge my knowledge. It's been like a summer vacation compared to everything else. As for heading home, I bought my plane tickets and I am hoping everything will run smoothly.

The French class
(some of us on a day we were allowed to wear civilian clothing)

PS: Once again, check out this post's pictures at Flickr.

Eager to learn,


-Michael