Spring time is here

Hey everyone!

So i am still having a great time here in southern France. The sun is out and we have gotten a couple of 50 degree days already. I just finished my last class of the week, and now i have got a vacation week. Since i have last talked with you I have climbed the mountain 2 times, met a few french people in my new classes, and started to really understand my new classes also. I still have not recieved any of my grades from fall term, but i am registered for classes at GSU this coming up Fall. I think i did fairly well tho. Oh, the trip to Cassis was great. It really is a beautiful little coastal town. There are a lot of vineyards there and i hope to tour some of them soon. unfortunately i am having to postpone the hiking trip until more people have got time to go, But i still have got high hopes of completing this feet before i leave.

I also got my first haircut since being in france! and i went to an american football game not too long ago. I also went and watch OM (the soccer team in Marseilles) play against Twente. We lost. Oh and the fair is in town for a few weeks.

So durring this vacation period i have finally dicided that i am going to explore the Bouches de Rhone rgion of France (this is where i live). I would like to see a village a day. here is the bus route, just to give you an idea of what i am talking about. http://www.lepilote.com/img/_info/CG_PlanReseau2008.pdf so hopefully it will be a lot of fun!

So do you have any questions for me about life here in France?

Another week in south France

so this week i have been keeping busy. Sunday night some friends and i went to a gelato place right on cours Mirabeau. this place it awesome and i will definitely take you there if you come and visit.

On Monday i went to an underground dance club with a group of friends (i was the only American in the crowd). That was so much fun. we danced to all sorts of music (not country of course) and drank and talked til about 2am.

On Tuesday i had a friend turn 26 here. Her name is Loni. There were 16 of us that went out to celebrate at this new Italian restaurant in town. we were there for over 3 hours having our meal. mmmm it was so good too. I had the duck in a honey sauce. you would die for this food. Another place i will take you.

And tonight, Wednesday i am going to a wine tasting in town. Its me and like 20 other people (maybe 3 of us will be guys. i like those odds. lol), six types of wine, and a whole lot of fun. I can't wait. It was a great time the last one i did in the fall, so i have got high hopes for this one. My friend Hilary runs this tasting business, and she is a great person.

This weekend i am planning on going to Cassis, a small coastal village about 45 minutes away from here. It is supposed to be really beautiful. I will be checking ou the site there and also meeting with someone at the tourist info building to discuss my upcoming trip in march. I am going to hike from Cassis to Marseilles along the coast with some buddies of mine. We are planning to take 2 days one night to complete the 25k journey. It should be a great time. Look up the Calanques if you want to get a glimpse of some of the breathtaking views that are in store for me.


well, that is it for now. i got to get heading to that wine tasting. I will try and update you again next week.

The Semester is underway

So i have been in my new classes at my new school for a couple of weeks now. It is going great. My classes are generally britty big (all are taught in theater size rooms, the teachers have to use microphones, and i sit in the middle of at leaste 100 french kids). It is about as opposite as it can get from the school i was in last semester. But i understand a good bit of what is being taught. Actually in some of my classes i think i understand a little better than the french kids, and yes everything is taught in French. A couple of my teachers pass out some note sheets to help us, one uses powerpoint, and then a couple of them just sit on the stage and talk for 2 hours (and we are expected to sit quietly, understqnd, and take notes at lightning speed), but the french kids have a lot of trouble in these class as well. So you might be wondering what i am taking this semester: French constitutional law 2h, Market Economics 5h, Accounting of entreprises 5h and Demography 3h. It is proving to be a good size load. But i am welcoming the challenge

I am still staying in contact with my friends from last semester. In fact i want to a party with some of them the other day. Also, my grades are starting to come in, and it looks like i did pretty well (lots of 15's or higher).



um interesting story. So i am currently looking for work here in Aix (i will be looking for a job when i get back to america too, if you know of any). The only thing i have found so far was to help a doctorate student with her research study. So i called her up and set up an appointment. She is doing a study on how people from different mother maguages apprend the french language. So i met her at the hospital in town to get tested. Sh e proceeded to hook all sorts of electrodes to my face and then an electrode cap on my head. She hooked all of these up to a big computer. She thyen left the room and i had the test. For the test i starred at a copmuter screen (blinking was not allowed, as it would interfer with the signal from my brain) and i watcher sentences in french go by very fast word by word. at the end of each sentence i had to push a button saying weather it was correct gramatically and comprehension wise. The whole process took two hours, and boy was i tired after it ( i had stayed awake til 4am the night before watching the SuperBowl, but that is another story). So she told me the results. I am average in my knowledge of weather words are correctly written in feminine or masculine form. And my common sense and comprehension is a little above average. So all good news. I took my 15 euos and was on my way.



Well that's all for now, let me know if you have got any questions.