And so it begins...

It's funny. I feel like I've been here FOREVER, but it's my fourth day in France. Oh la vache! (Oh the cow! Very French thing to say. I used it once unconsciously and managed to impress Joselyne instead of the usual conversation dotted with mistakes and kind corrections. ^_^)

Wednesday passed by very quickly; I slept in late and slept well, which was very satisfying after a jet lag, etc. Then, I walked down town and grabbed a sandwich (Jambon beurre - basically ham and lots of butter on a baguette, which is HUGE. Apparently you can order a smaller sandwich - oops.) on the way to le Centre du Congrès, where Le Festival des Premiers Plans is taking place all week, along with three other cinemas in Angers. This, however, is the main building for the film festival - it is a festival that concentrates on showing directors first films (hence, premier plans ^_^), but this year it is also a homage to a famous french actress, Jeanne Moreau (whom I got to see and then watched one of her films!) I then proceeded to get lost, found a grocery store to get shampoo, and then stumbled upon the castle of angers while in the process of getting myself lost :) But I found my way home!!!! Aren't you all proud? That night, Joselyne and I then went to see another film (a short film and a long one - they show these all week, and the public fill in a card with their rating of each film they saw...they tally the votes at the end of the week)

Today, I had orientation, and it went very well! It was nice to meet other exchange students; it made me feel better about my language skills in the sense that I was not the only one stumbling over my words from time to time. I met a lot of really nice girls there (there was one guy there, from England, along with his girlfriend and a friend of theirs). So, there were students from the US, Brazil, England, Finland, Bulgaria, Germany, Austria, etc. Pretty sweet, eh? We ate lunch at a small university cafe and then had a meeting with a faculty member of the foreign language department (just for those students taking courses not in french - I'm taking one German course), which was followed by a meeting with a faculty member for German studies. The way we choose courses is so completetly unstructured it makes me a bit nervous! We basically test-taste courses until we find what we like. This is, however, a very good idea, especially for language studies, as you don't know how your level corresponds to the studies at the UCO. So, I have another meeting on Monday, while taste testing a course or two, and other than that, I've a very free weekend in front of me! Time to see some more films (I went to see another short film and long film today, and all have been very interesting and though provoking, even if I wasn't completely in love with any of them. It's been a very nice indulgent tour of some European cinema - these films aren't just by French directors!) So, things are going well at present, and I'm finding my groove after all! Now, to take courses and plan some weekend trips (all within reason, since the first thing is taking courses. lol Can't forget, even if I am taking a lighter load than usual.) Alors, à bientot mes chères!

Ok. Photos: View of the heart of Angers from the River (La Mène), a stone that I found on the walkway by the river - thought it was cute, a photo of l'Église Madeleine - very close to my house AND shares a name with my little sister, photo of my house, and my room - there is another desk you can't see from here, and lots of cabinets, but this was the best picture of the ones I took.) Hope this atleast gives you a taste! I can't upload more than that at a time. Maybe some facebook uploads? Or you'll have to see them in person and get lots of onorous commentary ^_^