Day 33: Le Mistral, la neige, et l'université, tous encore/The Mistral, the snow, and the university, all again.

Only had one class today, this morning, Literature. Nothing special. We learned about the author, Henri Michaux, of the new text we are reading.

Class was over and I ate lunch, awaiting day 2 of my adventure to the University, the Mistral continued to gust outside in addition to the snow that started falling. Seems like whether I were home, at F&M, or in France, the weather would be the same!

One of the university classes I tried to sit in on was cancelled again. That makes 3 out of 4 that I tried to go to but that ended up not meeting. The one class that I did meet with today I don't plan on enrolling in. It was the History of the French Language, which in theory would be more history. In actuality, it is very much phonetics based (which is like a whole other language itself with all the symbols and what not). Also, I felt like the class was almost like I was reading a dictionary entry - origin of the word, entymology of the word, evolution of the word, etc. That part was actually really cool but in actuality what would that mean for a mid-semester and end of semester assessment. In addition, the other students in the class took a similar course last semester, and this is like the follow up course for them from last semester. As I am already at a disadvantage in terms of French as my second language, I think this class would be biting off more than I could chew.

When I get back from vacation, I will sit in on the other 3 classes that didn't meet this week and make a decision at that point. I tried to sit in on an Art History class as well, but that class was unexpectedly cancelled like the other two from Tuesday.

Then I went home, worked on internship apps, then ate a late dinner at 8:30. Claudie and Michel explained that they stove was out of gas so they had to refill it. Then Claudie chatted about her day. She was at a grocery store today and two teenage boys came in trying to buy a bottle of alcohol. The cashier asked them for ID and they weren't old enough (they were 16 and the drinking age is 18). Claudie was walking around the store and they approached her asking her to buy them the alcohol they wanted because she was old enough. She told them no way and they tried to convince, explaining that it's nice to drink alcohol when it's cold out.

For dinner we had lamb, rice and broccoli, and a pear cake/tart with toasted almonds. She found the recipe online, likes the cake, so decided to keep the recipe.

After dinner/desert, we watched "Magnolia" with Tom Cruise. I think I should try rewatching it in English, or at least reading a summary (either in French or English). We didn't start it right from the beginning so I think that's partially why I'm confused.

I leave tomorrow for my France trip! I don't plan to bring my computer, but one of the other girls I am travelling with might be. Either way I won't have definitive internet access.

À la semaine prochaine!