Bon Courage

Here I sit in McDonald's, trying to answer various emails and read people's blog updates and just breathe. It's been a crazy past few days, but mostly a good kind of crazy. I'm here at McDonald's because my host mom can't remember the password for the family WiFi, and so I've been unconnected for a bit.

My last update detailed moving in with my host family. That was two nights ago, and I've definitely been busy. I woke up Monday morning and went for a run with Kara and Lauren. Our group met for lunch and then I headed back to my house to get ready for a trip to the country. The Briotets spend almost every weekend at their country house, and they had been spending their vacation there over the past week. The house is about a 25 minute drive from Dijon; its amazing how quickly the land becomes nothing but farms after you leave the busy city.

The car ride was a bit quiet...I'm still not very confident when I speak. We arrived at their house and all I could think was, WOW. The house is beautiful. Two stories, made of stone, with a sprawling lawn, all surrounded by a stone wall. Their dog, Dicky, excitedly ran to meet us as we got out of the car. I went inside to put down my things, and came back outside to find two bicycles waiting for me. "We're going to see my mother in law!" Madame Briotet informed me. I thought, ok, no big deal.

We biked for at least 3 miles. But not on an easy road. We rode through a bunch of fields on a gravel path with bunches and bunches of hills. I definitely got my exercise yesterday. Dicky came along with us, running beside the bikes and chasing birds and doing all sorts of things dogs love to do. Madame's mother in law is very old, almost blind, and hard of hearing. While she is only 80, which is considered young in France, she worked on a farm her entire life and is just worn out. She had 9 children, 4 of which have died. Her husband died 9 years ago in a car accident, and its been down hill from there. We got her something to drink and then went to visit Madame's friend Veronique.

Veronique showed us all the jams and candies she was making: peach, blackberry, cassis. She let us try some cassis candy, and it was really good. She then showed us her little farm. She has pigs, chickens, rabbits, and some other kind of bird that I didn't recognize. Madame and Veronique then talked for about 20 minutes, and I just stood and listened, barely understanding anything they were saying, they were talking so fast. We stopped by her mother in law's one more time before we headed back to the house.

Once back at the house, I spread out all my books on the table outside so I could start studying for my first test. Madame went to pick peaches, tomatoes, and raspberries, all of which grow on their land. Dicky sat and watched me, desperately wishing I would play with him. I did for a bit. He likes plastic bottles and boots. Monsieur Briotet arrived just as dinner was ready. He and I have yet to talk much, but he seems nice.

Dinner was pizza with made with freshly picked tomatoes, a kind of cucumber salad, and fresh raspberries for dessert. Yum. We sat outside to eat, and it was very pretty and peaceful. Once again, not a lot of talking. I'm starting to realize that I have a lot of trouble understanding them when they talk too, which is making me nervous. I kind of thought that wouldn't be as bad. I was wrong.

After dinner, I studied until I went to bed. I got up the next morning and once again studied outside. Breakfast was homemade jelly on bread, and a peach just picked off the tree. Madame sat with me and went through my notes, correcting my grammar and clarifying different points. Our test was on the things we saw in Provence, so a lot of history, but she was still able to help clarify information. I was definitely appreciative of the help.

We packed up and headed back to Dijon for lunch. Monsieur Briotet was home and ate with us. It was kind of a rushed lunch as I had to leave the house to go take my test within 2o minutes of us sitting down.

After the test, which was a lot harder than I was expecting, Professor Barbour took a couple of us to set up our bank accounts. After that, I made my way here to McDonald's.

As much as I know that the Briotets will be a great host family, and as much as I know that I still just need time to adjust, I'm starting to panic just a bit. I'm realizing how bad I am at French. Give me a piece of paper, and I can write as much as you want me too. Put me in a room with a French person and ask me to have a long conversation with them, and I'd probably fail. I just hate the nervous panicky feeling I get every time I have to talk with a French person, or even just walking into my house and saying hello to my host mom. I think being with the kids from Wake Forest for the first week and a half I was here in France gave me a false confidence about my listening and speaking skills.

The rational part of me is saying, Carolyn, calm down, you've lived in a French household for less than 3 days. The not so rational part of me is saying, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I guess it is exciting in a way that I have so much to learn. I just have to recongize that it's going to be hard, and yes, there will be days when I'm just so fed up with French that all I want to do is go scream American up one street and down the other. But, I'm less than two weeks into my journey...and if I remember correctly, it took Harry Potter a lot longer to vanquish the Dark Lord, and Frodo Baggins didn't make it Mordor and back in a single day.