Getting settled...

Hello!

I am trying to get settled here in Nantes, and it is coming along! This week was week one of classes, and it was a lot of trying out different classes and discovering that the French University system is quite different from the US one (much less organized and worse teachers) and that I LOVE all the classes at the center...I am really excited about my US/France and the Middle East Since 1945 class and also I am in a phonetics class that is really going to help my French. I joined the tennis class, in the advanced level, and it is really challenging, but good! Who knew that I would come to France to improve my tennis game? But, it should be a fun way to meet people!

Tuesday was Obama's inaguration! It was a huge deal here and my friend, Meggie, and I made chocolate chip cookies at my host family's house and then brought them to school for the party we had for the inaguration. It was funny to hear Obama dubbed by a French man!

Friday afternoon we got to have a walking tour of Nantes and visit the cathedral and the chateau which were both very cool. There is a lot of history here, and Nantes was bombed twice in WWII! (by the Americans...they defininetly add that part too!) Nantes is very walkable and easy to get around, which I love!

Saturday was a good, but long day! We had a field trip with IES and visited Mont St. Michel as well as this little fortified town on the coast, St. Malo. We were really lucky and had great weather, which allowed for some very picturesque photos!

Today, Sunday, I went to a Catholic mass at one of the many Catholic churches. I was super happy that I understand almost all of the sermon. This afternoon I met up for a coffee date with this French friend that I randomly met the first week I was here, named Lea. It was SO fun and I got to go to her apartment afterwards (she lives with her parents, works 3 weeks a month as a photographer, and goes to photo school one week a month) and then we took her dog (a terrier!!!) for a walk. I am SO excited about the friendship and we are already planning things to do. She is excited to have an American friend (but we speak all in French!) and is SO nice and her parents want to have me over for dinner, and we are going to walk her dog, and go to the movies, and she invited me to the coast, ALREADY! I can't wait and am quite jazzed for my friendship with Lea!!! People really do make all the difference...

Anyway, things are going really well here, as you can tell. I am excited to settle in even more and figure out exactly which classes I am actually going to take...Please write emails/letters/send packages!!!/facebook, anything, I LOVE to hear from you all!!! bisous, bisous!