7 months already!

   It's been a while since I've last posted and a lot has changed since I last wrote. Last week the best thing happened to me this year. A new girl came to my class all the way from Japan! Her name is Fumi. She is in the same class section as me, which is "Premiere L" (literature). We made an instant connection and we have been hanging out every day. She is very kind, funny and interesting. She has only been here one week so she's still a bit jet-lagged and overwhelmed. Fumi has it hard here because she doesn't know any French and hardly any English. But I've been helping her out and teaching her words in both English and French and she is teaching me Japanese.

  As for school my French is much better. It really feels like I've accomplished a lot in the last seven months. I take lots of notes in all my classes and I can pick up much more of what the teachers are saying. Spanish is still challenging because it's college level, which is much harder than a typical high school class but I have improved significantly. My favorite class right now is my English foreign literature class. The professor is this really awesome Irish guy who has a great taste in literature. I've read a handful of good classics these past months that are all very well written and inspiring. Right now I am reading Macbeth by Shakespeare and so far I'm enjoying it.  So there's my quick update. Just a heads up, next week I am going to Italy with my family so I will be updating about that pretty soon! Alright, goodnight world :)

Observations

Here are some of my observations whilst living in Paris for nearly 2 weeks. Firstly the cheese here is incredible. If you think montry jack, cheddar or mozeralla cheese is good then you have no idea just how amazing the cheese in France is (unless you have tried French cheese.) Observation #2: Throw away the baguette in America. It is rock hard compared to the soft, flaky, warm baguette fresh from a typical French bakery. It is the softest, most delicate baguette you will ever try and I seriously recommend it to anyone. Observation #3. The wine here in France is very good. I'm sure many of you have tried French wine, right? And you'd have to agree with me that it is one of a kind :)

My first day of school

I have only been studying French for 3 months, so I cannot yet understand full sentences or write in French. The first day was stressful and confusing. I had no idea which classes I was taking, where I was supposed to go, or what the teachers were saying. The worst part was that while the teachers talked, the students would write and I couldn't keep up so I just sat there staring at the wall.  Luckily some of the kids knew a little bit of English so they helped me out. It was funny because a French girl tried to make conversation with me, but her English was as bad as my French so we had a hard time communicating. We ended up drawing pictures and using hand signals.  At the end of the day I had a headache. It was funny to think that I had sat in a French school for an entire day. 

3rd day of school

Today was exhausting for me. In my first class the teacher spoke very fast so I didn't catch anything she said. School here in Paris is challenging and I am a little bit worried about passing my classes this year. It's hard being the new kid. These first few days I have been feeling quite a bit confused.
I heard that the first week is hard and this has definitely proven itself to be true. I know now what the exchange students back at home have to go through. It's overwhelming.
On the bright side of today I met a girl who just moved here to Paris from Missouri. She is just as lost and confused as I am so that made me feel like I wasn't alone. She is a grade ahead of me though so we don't share any of the same classes.
I'm expecting the next few months to be hard, but I'm still up for the challenge!