Deux Jours!!

Ahhhh! I only have 2 days before my winter break starts! This is absolutely MIND BLOWING! I'm so excited, but at the same time, the time is going by too quickly :(

Change of topic so as to avoid depression, this weekend was really fun! Check it out (captions and all, don't fret!) in my new photo album!      Le Rugby et Les Marraines

Today I took my first midterm! Even though I studied for just under 2 hours for it, I didn't feel as prepared for it as I'd hoped. But I'm sure I did well on it nonetheless. The teachers here are really nice in that they don't assign homework for the breaks (not that some classes ever give nightly homework, but you know, the ones that do)! When I asked my grammar teacher if there was homework over the break she responded, "Psh, do you think I'm that naive?! To assign homework over a break when you're all traveling around Europe?!" haha. Elle a raison.

I'm not going to bring my computer with me when traveling, so this might be the last entry until a week from Friday or so.

I bought a Twix Bar and I'm about to eat it. I'm really excited; it's my first piece of American candy since being here.

Bonne semaine,
Monica

PS - DNA in France is ADN
PPS - I bought 2 pairs of tights and a skirt for 15 Euros! (I'm finally satisfied with my wardrobe/selection, and I'm rather good at finding bargains; all the students were impressed with my finds!)

La Météo

Weather conditions in Nantes:

You'd THINK it snowed this much yesterday with the problems there were involving the public transportation system....

Le Club de Conversation!

I just finished making captions for my rather large new photo album! I have pictures of all sorts of things, so enjoy!  Les Saints et Les Amis

Once again this week flew by....next Friday I head off to London for my first break and when I come back it'll be March. I honestly don't know where time's been going.

I'm pretty sure that I'm just going to London and Venice now, and not Belgium because I couldn't get the girl that originally agreed to go with me to commit. I don't think she's doing anything for break because she never planned anything...Oh well. I might check out Rome for a day by myself (because it's so cheap to get there from Venice) and then head back to Nantes the Friday or Saturday of my break. Mme. Rouchet (one of the directors at IES) said that students that travel the entirety of the breaks are always too exhausted, anyways, so it'd be a good idea for me to come back and have a day or two to rest.

The Conversation Club started 3 weeks ago (3 Tuesday ago). The first night I was too tired after all my classes, so I didn't go. Last Tuesday and this Tuesday I DID go, though! And I will never miss another one again, no matter how tired I am!

It's the coolest club where IES students and French students from the University get together in groups of 10-15 in separate rooms and play social games or talk about a certain topic. Either half of the sessions is held is French and then the other English, or the American students speak in French the entire time and the French students speak in English the entire time (I've had both). It's really fun and you get to meet a lot of really nice, funny, and cool French students. It's an hour and a half so you really get a lot of time to practice speaking, listening, and getting to know each other. Plus, it's always reassuring to see other students your age trying to speaking your language with the same difficulties and mistakes as you have while speaking theirs. I love this activity; it's one of my favorite activities in the entire program here in Nantes.

I don't have too much else to tell you except for the fact that I can't really Skype with anyone. Ichat and OoVoo don't work either (other types of internet video chatting). The wireless internet here (and apparently all over Europe) just isn't good enough unless you have your own private internet router (which a lot of people actually don't have, including me). And the wifi offered at IES was horrible the one day I tried it.

So, if you'd like to talk to me more, my only suggestion is through AIM (AOL Instant Messaging).  If you don't already have a screenname, you can quickly make one free of charge; then I can instant message you!

Lemme know,
Monica

J'AI TROIS VACANCES!

I now have THREE vacations!!  Jim just told me that he bought his ticket to....

He's definitely coming over his spring break (March 12-20)! We're gonna spend the 1st weekend in Paris and then he's gonna live in Nantes over the week so that I can go to classes and then show him around Nantes in my free time!! I'm so excited! He'll get to see where and how I live!! (And he'll have time to study for his 2 midterms he'll have to take when he gets back home.)

Just wanted to share the good news :) Gotta get to sleep because I'm getting up in 7 hours for my trip tomorrow!

Bon nuit et j'espère que demain vous passez un bonne journée!
Monica

La Dernière Chance...

...To change my schedule! Today was the last day of the add/drop period for IES and the University and I DID make one last change (haha I know, I've been very indecisive).

I am keeping all of the IES classes in which I was previously enrolled (Grammar, Phonetics, Middle East, and Art History). However, I decided to drop ("abandonner") the Archeology course at the University because I had missed a class or two (because the class started before the IES program started), I couldn't keep up with the professor, and because I wasn't very interested in the material I could understand. Therefore, I am replacing it with another course at the University:  another Art History course, but a Contemporary Art History course (the one offered here at IES focuses on Neoclassical, Romantic, Impressionist, and other non-Contemporary genres of art). It meets 2 hours a week (Thursday 12-2) and it lasts only 7 weeks (starting mid March and ending in late April).

Pros:
*I can make it to all of the classes (I don't have to start off behind)
*I can concentrate on my 4 other courses for the time being and around finals time
*The professor has a good relationship with IES
*All previous IES students really enjoyed and succeeded in his classes

Cons:
*We'll just have to wait and see....hahaha 

But I'm confident that I've made the right decision! I'm very happy with my course load and love all of my IES classes!

IES organized a trip to Normandie tomorrow. I will make a photo album and post an update on how the trip was!

For my winter break (Feb 19-28), I'm pretty sure that I'm going to Belgium (Brussels) after London and Venice. There will DEFINITELY be photo albums from these places!!













Bon weekend!

Monica

BON ANNIVERSAIRE!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EVERYONE WHO HAS A LATE JANUARY/FEBRUARY BIRTHDAY!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ZEDO!!! I HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT DAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNT PATTY!! I HOPE YOUR DAY WAS RELAXING!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNT ALICIA!! I HOPE YOU HAVE A FUN DAY OF CELEBRATION!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAIGE!! HAVE A BLAST AND I HOPE YOU GET EVERYTHING YOU WANT ON YOUR BIRTHDAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOMMY!! I'LL MISS YOU ON YOUR BIRTHDAY BUT I'LL BE THINKING OF YOU! YOU DESERVE THE BEST SO TAKE IT EASY! AND GET A CAKE LIKE THIS BECAUSE I KNOW YOU WANT IT!

That's all for this post; I just wanted to let everyone know I was thinking of them :)

Love,

Monica

PS - I was home for Uncle Stefan's birthday, but once again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, UNCLE STEFAN!

Here's a cake for you too....

:D

Nantes Est Vraiment Une Ville Historique!

Here's a little tour of my room, my street, and some historical Landmarks in Nantes.

Le Château et La Reine 

This past Thursday through Sunday was Nantes' world renowned music festival,  
 La Folle Journée.
The festival started out as a 1-day event, but as it became more and more well known and attracted more and more prestigious artists, the event expanded into an extremely well attended 4-day event!  

 There were also some "pre-festival" high school concerts at the music conservatory, "Conservatoire," in Nantes. It is the music school where 3 of the children in my host family studied (Priscille still studies there). Wednesday night my host family took me to see a concert at the Conservatoire and I was VERY impressed with the students' performance. A 24-year old alumni returned to accompany the band/orchestra on the piano for a few songs. It was a very beautiful concert!


The pianist I saw at La Folle Journée also played a very beautiful concert. He played 4 pieces which lasted about 45 minutes. IES provided us with "free" tickets (prepaid in tuition) and we got to choose 1 of 6 concerts (a choice of 3 concerts on Saturday and 3 concerts on Sunday). There were also free concerts in "La Grande Salle," The Great/Grand Hall in the middle of the building. Oh, by the way, the building was called "The City of Congress." And it was a big complex!  They had a red carpet leading up to the doors where you entered the building!!

Le Bâtiment est vraiment chouette!

I'm working on adding videos to my online photo/video archive and when I finally succeed (I WILL) I will post a few short video clips of performers from La Folle Journée.

Bonne Soirée Tout le Monde!

Monica