Je suis reconnaissante de...

Yesterday I felt a sudden bout of homesickness, perhaps in part due to the unrelenting chain of Facebook statuses joyously celebrating the arrival of Thanksgiving Break.

And while I get to feast at a fancy restaurant tomorrow, at the moment home seems quite far away. I've been dealing with lots of little frustrations (though typical for any November). While attempting to use blog entry to get rid of them yesterday, I found myself making a "thankful" list to balance them out. How appropriate, eh?

To keep from putting a damper on the beginning of this holiday season, I think I'll leave the "negatives" until the end, when I do a retrospective on what I've learned.

In the meantime, here are some of the unexpected joys I've found in my time here.

Tuesday and Wednesday mornings:
My class covering the construction of the European Union. Ironically, it's the only one for which I'm not getting French credit, but rather that last Poli-Sci distributive I need as a liberal arts student. I'm really getting a grasp on European politics (though from a French perspective) from a professor that's lived through it all; he's probably near 80, incredibly patient with our lack of European knowledge, and with the driest sense of humor. He makes it a habit to note how the British always do things differently from everyone else.

Thursday afternoons:
Lunch with my host mom, as we both have classes only in the mornings. This means a full meal (compared to my cheap baguette-ham-camembert sandwiches) and a conversation that's guaranteed to be lively and educational. And I get to properly practice my French .

Thursday nights:
Agape, the non-denominational Christian international youth group. It's here more than anywhere else that I've discovered a real sense of community - it's too bad I didn't know about it sooner! Everyone is so welcoming and understanding, offering fellowship in a mix of French, English, and a handful of other languages. I even played the hand-drum one night with the worship group!I never expected to find such a warm Christian community in the middle of France and its infamous secularism.

Friday afternoons:
My salsa class at the university sports center (which I think I've neglected to mention until now). Even if my confidence is down after an off-day of speaking French, I know I can go to Salsa and perform the steps with ease, alongside Heidi and a few other IES friends. And because I attend regularly, dancing with an amalgamation of French and foreign students is less intimidating, as I can now recognize many of their faces.

AND I get to go to a soccer match on Friday night! Their version is bound to be more exciting than our version - I'm sure it will be quite the unique experience. Stay tuned!

Bonne Cuisine with the Host Family

I guess it's a little bizarre that I've now spent 3 months in France, and I've only written a single entry about the wonderful meals I eat with my host family. And I was too worried about manners in the first one, anyway!

Gone are the days when I worry about taking too much food or taking too long to eat. I keep my hands on the table throughout the meal. I use my designated piece of baguette to scoop my salad onto the fork and mop up leftover sauce. And I eat fruit after every meal.

I haven't had a bad meal yet. Even though my host mom is a high school teacher and often returns home with little time to make dinner, she always manages to cook up something wonderful. "Complètes" (crêpes with ham, cheese, and an egg) are often a "quick meal," and we only eat pre-frozen food on rare occasions.

Weekend lunches are always guaranteed to be good. Yesterday we had raclettes, which are baked potatoes (sans skin) with thinly sliced meats and then melted cheese poured on top of them.

But this afternoon was probably the best yet - 2 hours later, I'm still stuffed. For an entrée, I finally had the chance to eat escargot - yup, SNAILS! My host mom told me to forget the fact that they're snails, but I was too busy analyzing the unique taste and texture in my mouth: rather chewy and loaded with butter and garlic. The hardest part was pulling them out of the little shells with the tiniest metal pick. But after eating the plate of 12, I was a pro.

And that was only the beginning. Our main course was a pasta with a bounty of of seafood - oysters, clams, and shrimp. Unfortunately for us, my host mother over-calculated the amount to make, and so even with extra-large servings there was plenty leftover. I'm not sure how we managed to eat the brownies she baked this morning, because after all that rich food we were all sitting at the table in silence until my host brother stood up and announced he was going to take a long nap.

Hopefully 3 days is enough to recuperate before our big Thanksgiving feast on Thursday evening. All the IES students, professors, staff, and host family members will celebrate together at a rather fancy restaurant. Stay tuned for more bonne cuisine!

Trois bonnes choses!

I couldn't go to bed without sharing a few good things that have happened quite recently, or are fast approaching...

1. I finally made some French friends outside the context of IES! I'd been so discouraged with the fact that French groups of friends are impossible to penetrate at the university, in part because they have the same friends from childhood through college and don't change locations frequently like we do.
But this evening Heidi brought me to Agape, which is a non-denominational Christian fellowship group for young people. (A friend from IES invited her just last week). It was exactly what I've been craving, especially after the wonderful evening at Katie's church in Rome. Perhaps part of the reason I loved it so much was the warm familiarity - all these smiling faces, translated worship songs, and mutual beliefs to share in two languages. And in fact, the group is quite a mix; along with French students from Nantes, there are certain international students and even a few Americans who are now living here for various reasons. Heidi and I even spontaneously volunteered to help with the music next week... playing the congos and singing in French shouldn't be too hard, right?

2. I miraculously received at 16/20 (or an A in the bizarre French grading system) on my poli sci midterm that I was convinced I failed last week. And I'm still not sure how it happened, because apparently our professor wasn't as generous with everyone. Though when I told my mère d'acceuil the good news she laughed, said she knew I'd do well, and told me that I'm just one of those people that's never satisfied... just like her oldest daughter who's studying law in Paris. Nevertheless, I'll be putting even more study time in for the final in December, now that I know what to expect.

3. IES is taking us to visit castles this weekend! And Heidi's birthday is on Sunday! Stay tuned for photos...

Music, Machines, and a Much-Needed Break

It's finally here! The halfway point in our semester, marked by a few days off for vacation. But as with most good things, the reward of sleeping in this morning didn't come without the toil of studying for mid-terms (blitz-krieg style) and cranking out French compositions.

In addition, my host mom's father and stepmother have come to visit this week - French schools have a week off for All Saint's Day. Thus, everything takes a little longer: every time I'd arrive home I'd get pulled into an hour-long conversation, and dinner becomes more of a traditional affair with more courses and more intense conversation! At least I get to practice my French in explaining that not all Americans eat at McDonald's and giving geography lessons about the Great Lakes (with my hand as a visual aid, of course).

Tonight I'm flying to Rome with Heidi and Jenny, another IES friend, and yet we've barely planned our trip, because we were all hit by the mid-term wave. Thankfully, our 2-hour train trip to Paris and our flight should give us enough time to look thoroughly at the various travel books we've amassed from our host families and the IES library. We'll also be meeting up with Katie Crombie, an Alma friend who's studying abroad in Rome. Besides my gratitude in having a safe, free bed to sleep in, it will be a blessing to spend our time with a good friend who's already familiar with the city - especially as we only have 3 days to explore it! It will undoubtedly be a little alarming switching to a different culture, and for the first time, one with a language that I won't know - though Italian shares Latin roots with French, so it won't be totally new.

I was also rather occupied at the end of last week because I went to the Phoenix concert on Thursday night, and then visited the Isle of Nantes on Friday afternoon with a large group from IES.

The concert was naturally fantastic, especially because all the French teenagers were really into the music. They were dancing and singing along - which is incredibly rare for the French - with accents at all. For the inevitable encore, the concert hall was filled with cheers of "PHAY-NEEX!" Thea and I even squeezed our way right up to the front, though admittedly it takes a certain type of concert-goer to appreciate the energy sardine-packed into a sweaty crowd, all swaying to the beat in unison.

Then on Friday we visited Nantes' unique attraction, the Isle of Machines. Inspired by the science-fiction novelist Jules Verne (born in Nantes and wrote books such as Journey to the Center of the Earth), a few years ago some creative engineer/businessmen came up with the idea to create a sort of theme park with animal "machines." Most of them are motorized sea creatures aided by a few passengers to move the fins, eyes, and mouth. There's also an elephant that walks around outside! They have plans to make the island an even bigger attraction by 2016, with the construction of more machines, a carousel-structure for them all, and a huge tree with lookout branches and cafés.

It's really exciting to see how Nantes is developing. I won't be surprised if it's a lot more prominent in a decade or so!

Lessons in Grammar, Knitting, and "Economiser"

Accomplishing several things in a single day has revitalized me. Perhaps this is the beginning of my true "adjusting and adapting" according to the W? You can decide. Here's a list, in chronological order.

1. Last night (okay, so I meant the last 24 hours) I managed to find tickets for the Phoenix concert next week in Nantes. I had thought it was sold out, but it's been moved it to a bigger venue so that more people could attend! Their new album came out this spring and it's fantastic, AND the band is actually French. What better than to see them in their home country, speaking to the crowd in their mother tongue. I can't wait.

2. My only class today was Intro to Linguistics, at the university, which I have with two other girls from IES. With a letter from the IES Nantes director in hand, we were finally able to approach our professor and introduce ourselves (usually she's hounded by several students for questions at the end, and so we hadn't wanted to take up her time just to say "we're American"). The letter explains that we're leaving in December and thus we require a separate exam - in our short conversation it seems like the exam might be even easier for us!

3. I found a fantastic grammar book at my favorite Librarie (which is actually a French term for a bookstore). I must have looked at every French grammar book in the store, but when I leafed through the one I ended up buying I knew it was perfect. I'd try to explain, but if you know nothing about French subjunctive tense I might as well write in French! But basically, French grammar and all its tricky nuances will no longer be my enemy!

4. Every conversation I have with my mère d'acceuil (host mother) gets more and more interesting. We eat lunch together on Thursdays because we both have free afternoons. These conversations often turn to cultural differences; last night we discussed holiday customs, and today we talked about the contrast in societal philosophies towards education and jobs. These conversations are always quite fulfilling, not only because I get to practice my French with a sophisticated, friendly French woman, but also because I often re-discover many things about our society that I've taken for granted.

5. Heidi and I finally bought train tickets for our trip to Normandy this weekend... as well as our train tickets for Paris in December, which only cost 22 euro each! As the French would say, nous avons économisé - they have a single verb for saving money. We hadn't planned on buying our Paris tickets this early, but just before I was out the door to meet Heidi in town, my host mother told me that prices for Paris can get ridiculous if one waits too long, and in fact they'd just become available yesterday. And indeed, a one-way ticket to Paris, especially around Christmas time, can cost over 100 euro. Which is $150. (Thank you, exchange rate!)

6. We went to H&M after buying the tickets, just because it's always fun to try on clothes even without buying any. But this was by far the highlight of our shopping adventure. Quite randomly (especially in France where strangers never talk to each other), an elegant elderly woman, wearing a bright blue knitted sweater, came up to us and asked us if we were English or German. We proceeded to have the most pleasant conversation with her (in French of course). She told us about her simple life that she loves, how her granddaughter is just like us, how her half-sister never calls her, how she loves to knit (and had knitted a sweater like the one she was wearing in every color), and how she had returned to the store to thank an employee that had helped her over a month ago when she had a fall there. While we didn't understand parts of what she said, or why she had chosen to talk to us, it's needless to say we felt blessed to have made her acquaintance.

I'm looking forward to more days like this.

La Plongée.

And now, we come to the point in the journey called "The Plunge."

A little while ago, my friend Thea posted this graph on her blog (see "Exit to Right" on my blog list below). Fondly called "the W," it shows how mood swings generally go during a study abroad experience.

From my last entry, it was probably clear that the dust has settled - yes, I'm studying in France, but at the moment it feels like the emphasis is more on the verb than the location. And in fact I'm finding the most difficulties not with the cultural differences or missing home, but with French itself.

And above all, it's my grammar class. While our professor is harsh, from the beginning of the semester it seemed that I'd come out of the class at the end of the semester having greatly improved, thanks to an exponential learning curve (Alma Model UNers know this concept quite well). So why do I feel like my French is getting worse, that I'm making more errors, and then in turn constantly dealing with a timidness to speak complicated sentences?

We had our first of two midterms today, and I have no idea how well I did. I'm definitely not used to this feeling, especially after studying much longer than I have for exams in the past.
And of course, all this doubt (at least for me) leads to thoughts toward the future involving internships, grad schools, careers, success... ugh.

But then I talk to my fellow students and hear my own thoughts and worries in their words. We're all in the plunge. So what can one do but kick off from the bottom to spring back up to the surface?

And so, I'm plugging away, searching for that glimmer of improvement on the horizon.

Adjustement Amnesia

There are moments when I forget I'm in France.

Not literally, of course, as I'm surrounded by people speaking French, shop signs in French, tram stops announced in French, and all the little cultural differences, such as the abundance of fresh bread everywhere I go.

But when friends back home ask me if I'm having "the time of my life" every day, it's not an easy question to answer. The France in which I've been studying for over a month now is more than the Eiffel Tower, Impressionist landscapes, or Mediterranean beaches. In other words, it's not simply a vacation. I'm taking classes about French language, poetry, translation, European history, and linguistics - but you could also say that this entire experience is a "class" in itself. Living in Nantes has blessed me with a near-perfect balance: a big city which still preserves the true French way of life.

And day-to-day, nothing is perfect. Even just lately I've been dealing with certain frustrations that are probably universal to a study abroad experience such as:

- Realizing I'm not at all at the top of my league, and that I have a long way to go.

- Missing out on being a part of certain groups of friends at the institute simply because they never speak French. Even when one tries to be diplomatic about it.

- Kicking myself when I want to speak English, especially when I'm tired, frustrated, hungry, or a dreadful combination of the three. But I'm thankful for friends who are just as determined to speak French as I want to be, who keep me on track.

- Occasional awkwardness with my host family when I'm not sure what to talk about, whether or not I should say something at dinner, how I should go about eating something, whether I should open or close the door to my room, etc.

- A love-hate relationship with being corrected - I know that each correction helps me improve my speaking skills, but each one is also a reminder of how often I seem to make thoughtless mistakes and how far I am from being fluent.

Adjustment is a strange thing. In some ways, habituation is almost an unconscious process - such as "forgetting" that I'm studying in one of the most beautiful countries in the world because I've grown used to waking up in it each day. On the other hand, it's quite uncomfortable - there's this constant inkling of self-consciousness, feeling out of place, and the pressure to improve as much as I can while I'm here.

But I'm definitely still enjoying myself. Like Nantes, it's been a good balance of cultural enjoyment and hard work. And I have no doubt that it's going to pay off.

Dining with the French

Long before I took off for France this semester, I had thought that I was fully prepared for what I had heard about French dinners. Fabulous food, several courses, and most importantly, lots of cheese and wine. No big deal, right? Of course there are the subtle table manners expected as well, but I've never too many problems in that department.

And don't get me wrong, the food is fantastic. Always freshly cooked, natural, and full of flavor. But as the "guest" in my host family's house, there are still a few things I'm trying to figure out at dinner time, even though I've been with them for more than 3 weeks.

Our first week at IES was jam-packed with orientations of all sorts, with one in particular about table manners. For example, in France one is expected to keep both hands ON the table throughout the whole meal. When asked if you like something, never say no, but rather that you don't like it a lot, or simply eat the unpleasing dish more slowly to give a hostess a subtle clue. Never sit down before the hostess does, and never serve yourself before offered to do so. And one eats nearly everything - apples and pizza included - with a fork and knife.

However, at my house, the rules are a little more ambiguous.
I'd expected that eating would be a slow process, both to savor the cuisine and enjoy one another's conversation. In reality, I still can't figure out how my family manages to eat so fast while carrying on conversation.

Meanwhile, I'm struggling with using both a knife and fork at all times, answering questions in French without loosing my mouthful of food, and still attempting to finish eating at the same time my family does. And of course, being the guest, I'm always offered second helpings. If I refuse, my host mother asks me if I like the dish. And in fact, I always do, but it's simply a matter of not wanting to eat too much, especially when I know that cheese and perhaps a dessert are still to follow. I've tried to alleviate this problem by taking less food at the beginning of a meal, but then I'm asked if I'm not very hungry, and usually my host mom serves me extra after everyone else has been served. So I'm doomed from the start!

Of course I greatly appreciate all the courteousness, but it makes things even harder when I'm struggling to be courteous myself and follow all the rules we learned. In fact, striving to be extra-polite has been a blessing in some ways - by not refusing anything I'm offered, I've discovered that I like avocados, salted butter (a Brittany specialty), pickles (though they're different here - tiny and sweet), and many different kinds of cheese.

Another thing - we don't eat dinner until 8:30pm. What a change from Alma dinner promptly at 5:00 when SAGA opens! But in fact, when speaking with my family and the French student assistants at IES, this is completely normal for them.

This all goes to show that I'm not in fact learning a language, but a different way of life. It's all too easy to resist and complain about it, but I'm finding ways to appreciate the differences. After all, this semester is one grand learning process, one bite at a time.

History by Day, Techno at Night

Another lazy Sunday in France - and in fact, it's been a rather lax week. While we started classes this week at IES, classes at the university don't commence until next week. As I have 3 at each location (but sporadic days and times), I had only one or two classes each day, with ample time spent going over each syllabus and generalized subject introductions.

I'm more than ready to jump headfirst into my French classes at this point, especially now that I can get around the city by foot, bus, or tram without pulling out a map every 5 minutes. Though I still carry no less than 3 different maps and train/bus schedules with me at all times.

In spite of this gradual start to the school year, I'm pleased with my classes thus far. The cornerstone will be Adv. French Language and Composition, an intensive mix of all things French grammar. Our professor is one of the few French women who doesn't seem at all afraid to wear color or show off her natural age, and she's an expert at keeping the pace of the class moving at an engaging rate (especially when she randomly chooses students to provide a response, as the pressure's on to provide the correct answer AND say it in a grammatically correct sentence!).

Then there's French Poetry at the turn of the Century, in which we'll study the works of Baudelaire and a few other poets whose work largely influenced "modern" poetry... writing about more than beautiful, perfect women and beautiful, perfect countrysides. Seeing as it's poetry, there's no doubt I'm going to love it, especially as it's clear that our professors madly interested in the subject as well (and as he should be).

For a poli-sci credit, I'm taking a class about the Construction of the EU, from 1945-today. I chose this one because it will undoubtedly provide useful historical knowledge that most Europeans learned in grade school. This will keep anyone from calling me an ignorant American!

I had a few small adventures this weekend. In fact, yesterday and today Nantes celebrated Les Journées du Patrimoine, which means that the majority of museums, public institutions and the like opened their doors to the public to celebrate the city's heritage. However, many of the sites we visited were nearly deserted or rather difficult to find - a similar festival in the states would call for maps posted around the city, shuttle buses, food stands, and advertising everywhere. Still, I enjoyed the free museums, one celebrating the life and work of writer Jules Verne (who was born in Nantes), and the other filled with relatively well-known art spanning from medieval to now.

In dichotomous fashion, Nantes also hosted the Scopitone techno festival this weekend. As soon as I discovered there was a free concert Friday night, my plans were set. Unlike the low-key advertising for the heritage sites, the folks at Scopitone made each concert incredibly easy to find - the website provided a map AND tram stop for each site. Though knowing the exact location wasn't really necessary, as we were able to pinpoint the location of the rhythmic beats the moment we stepped off the tram to follow the crowds across a bridge to the Ile de Nantes.

Nantes' history as a huge shipping port has left it with all these grand warehouses and shipping yards, many of which have become prime locations for conventions and concerts, such as the one we'd chosen to go to (though it looked nothing like this when we arrived). Throbbing with a synthetic beats and strobe lights pulsing from an enormous stage at the opposite end of the warehouse, the building itself was electric with the Friday night atmosphere. We pushed through the increasingly dense crowds, many being of the apathetic smoking bohemian type, until we were close enough to have a good view and enough room to dance. Even in the midst of the unforgiving smoke and castaway bottles on the ground, they were easy to ignore with the sensational live music and the freedom of dancing however we liked.

The length of this entry has shown me that I should consider writing more frequently in shorter installments. Besides, Sunday seems to be the only day that I can devote as much time as I have this evening to a single post! I'll leave you now, as tomorrow I start my first full week (finally!) with an 8am class at the university, a smaller discussion group about a 19th century French novel. I've got to admit, I'm a little intimidated. But I'll see what real French university classes are like soon enough!

Le Bon et le Mauvais

It's a rainy day, the first of many in Nantes. I've heard the climate here is similar to Seattle, but today I'm also reminded of post-Indian summer rain in Michigan. But the fall colors here aren't as vibrant to combat the grey skies like our trees do.

I had some time back at the house between my morning class (History of the EU) and afternoon class (French Lang./Comp.) at the institute. As the bus there and back facilitates ample time to reflect on the passing days, upon returning I felt the need to list some of the positives and negatives of my experience these first two weeks. Somehow, lists always manage to put things in perspective, especially when balancing the loves with the annoyances.

What I'm Loving About France

1. Everyone on the streets, from little schoolboys and girls to charming elderly couples, dresses smartly and elegantly.

2. Bread is plentiful, natural, and usually fresh, and one can eat it whenever one wishes. At breakfast, I eat toasted slices with jam. For lunch, often a baguette sandwich. And for dinner, my favorite course consists of baguette slices with a scrumptious selection of cheeses!

3. Public transportation - for Nantes, buses and tramways - is cheap, efficient, and easy to use.

4. When one orders a coffee, this means espresso. The flavor is so much stronger, and it doesn't take an hour and 5 sugar packets to finish. It's an energy shot that tastes fantastic!

5. My growing confidence with speaking French, with both friends at IES and strangers (storekeepers, bus drivers, etc.). It's become exponentially easier to understand as well.

The Downsides

1. Rarely do I see someone dressed in bright colors or patterns with an original style. Here, clothes come in variations of white, grey, brown, and black, and the styles repeat themselves: skinny jeans, preppy polo/sweater combs, expensive shoes.

2. The bread surplus replaces the normally sufficient amount of veggies and meat in my diet - both are more expensive here, and thus eaten less often.

3. Waiting at a bus stop is not the most exciting thing in the world, and public transportation gets inconvenient and limiting when one wants to stay out late. Especially because it takes around 20-30 minutes for me to go from my house to the center of town.

4. I miss the convenience of having a coffee maker in my dorm room.

5. It's really hard to resist speaking in English, especially with 90 other delightful American students to get to know. It takes so much more time to form questions, responses, and anecdotes in French, but I know it's the best way to practice with each other. Hopefully this improves.

I feel like I'd thought of more points earlier, but I suppose those can wait until I'm reminded of them once more (probably in sharing/complaining about similar experiences with IES students - it's always a good conversation topic!).

Getting to Know Nantes!

Today is the first quiet, relaxing day I've had all week. It's been a whirlwind trying to speak a second language, adjusting to cultural differences, meeting the 90 other students in the program, and taking care of all the necessities that come with settling into a new place. Tomorrow I finally start classes - I'm hoping some sense of order will follow.

Last weekend, our orientation kicked off with a 4-day trip to Vannes, a port city in the region of Bretagne, or Brittany. It was a truly wonderful introduction to French history and culture - we explored a few old chateaus and charming coastal towns. We never had a bad meal; breakfast and dinner at the classy hotel in Vannes were plentiful and rich, while on our various excursions we ate ham and cheese crêpes with cider at a veritable crêperie, tried fried oysters at an oyster festival, and splurged on a delicious variety of homemade chocolates at a cute candy shop.

Of course, another essential part of this orientation was getting to know our fellow IES students. As there are 91 of us in the program (about 30 more than they had just last semester) this is no easy task! Nonetheless, it amazed me how a small conversation with the person sitting next to you on the bus or at dinner could so easily blossom into a close friendship. And almost immediately we separated ourselves into small groups, with some collectively choosing to speak French while others ignored the language rule for a few more days. I've been grateful for other students whose persistence with trying to speak French as much as possible has encouraged me to do the same. Still, it's nowhere close to coming out naturally. But at least it's a little more eloquent than my German.

While it was a wonderful experience to meet people from all over the world at the Goethe Institute, it's been just as refreshing to meet fellow American students, all between 19 and 21 but from all over the country. Many come from small liberal arts colleges like Alma, and with that comes a certain kinship that we share in conversations about our educational experiences and future plans.

After returning, my past week was consumed by full-day orientation sessions at the institute. Lots of rules, information sessions, practical and historical tours of the city, and French classes to wake up our language skills from summer hibernation. (Meanwhile, I still catch myself thinking of certain German words before French ones - even the simplest words like the days of the week and seasons).

At my maison d'acceuil, the process of becoming a new member of a French family is going even smoother than I'd expected. With the full plate of orientation each day and a 20-minute bus ride to and from the town center, I would usually arrive home around 7 or 7:30. But with dinner at 8:30, this hasn't been a problem. My host siblings always have exciting stories to tell at the dinner table, though sometimes they speak so quickly that my host mother, with one look at my confused expression, gladly recounts the tale with even more humor and flair. The food is fresh and divine, with an abundant selection of cheese and fruit at the end of each meal.

Soon to come (and hopefully before another week passes): first impressions of classes in France!

Finalement à Nantes!

Today marked my first chance to fully unpack my suitcase, as I've arrived in Nantes and am now sitting comfortably in the home of my charming host family, the Battaglinis. They have four children all about my age: three daughters (17, 19, and 23) and a son (21). Already at dinner we were laughing together at stories from the day (though sometimes explained to me a second time in slower French) and my confusion with common names from American pop culture (Desperate Housewives, for example) pronounced with the classic French accent.

It's definitely going to be a good semester.

Certain small things I'm already loving: bookshelves in every room packed with literature, three beautiful cats which scamper freely about the house, the multiple course dinner (tonight was pesto ravioli, simple salad with vinegar, cheese and baguettes, and fresh organic fruit), the fact that I can already understand most of what's being spoken to me.

In fact, that what I was fearing most upon my arrival to France - losing much of my French comprehension due to summer relaxation at the past month's German immersion. In spending the past three days in Paris with Heidi (Alma student also doing the Nantes program, for those of you who don't know), I was surprised with how quickly my brain made the switch between languages... even in spite of the ridiculous amount of American tourists.

But for the moment I'll Paris and my other in-between adventures for another entry, as pictures will do wonders to expand the stories for you.

In spite of the warm welcome to my new home and the joy with this long-awaited plunge into true French culture, this morning was nonetheless overwhelming. Heidi and I took the high-speed TGV train from Paris at noon, on which I had the luck to sit across the aisle from another new IES participant, Geoff. Once we arrived at the IES center and added our luggage to a one-room labyrinth of stuffed suitcases, we were shown upstairs to the area for classes. There are several small rooms, including a kitchen, extensive library, and a sitting room with a piano.

Perhaps it was the plates of chocolate cookies and orange juice that drew nearly everyone to the kitchen. Whatever the cause, the air was warmed with body heat and perpetual introductions. It became clear almost immediately that nearly everyone was apprehensive to speak French, taking advantage of this "free day" and jet lag excuses to make a few fast friends in English. As we start our orientation excursion tomorrow in Bretagne, it will definitely be interesting to see how quickly we divide both by interests and determination to parler Français.

On verra - we'll see!