At Michel-Montaigne

In the computer lab, just had lunch in the cafeteria, and am about to take my first real class in France, Histoire et Analyse du Cinéma! It is as if I am on the constant verge of hyperventilation...

I went to La Rochelle, a old port town two hours from Bordeaux, this weekend with friends, Jill, Colin, Sunshine, and Sarah for part of it. I really hope to get some pictures uploaded this week.

It was super cold last week, to the point where puddles froze.

France isnt so different at all from the United States, its not that they think theyre better, they just think theyve already made all the mistakes that we continue to make. Whether or not thats the case.

A bientot (see you soon) to my devoted throng of readers, haha,

Joel

Acclimating

[This section of the post would normally contain half-hearted apologies for the lack of updates, but has been deleted by the editor]
Really though, it aint easy at first here. Only two years old, the Bordeaux Spring program isnt as streamlined as other programs seem to be. So its harder now, but will get easier.

I dont know why, but lets start with food: The holy trinity of France really is bread, wine and cheese. Dinners are served late and inverted, with main course then salad then cheese then dessert. Last Sunday I went to my French "sister" and "brother-in-laws" house for lunch with mon père et mère, and their other son and his fiancé. The married couple are expecting a baby in February. There, we had cassoulet, which is like French chili, weird but good, its a peasant dish. For dessert, we had canelés, a specialty of the Sud-Ouest, these petite crusty custardy pastries. We also had a little degustation, wine-tasting, between three different wines. We tested in two ways: horizontally, which means same type of wine by different chateaux of the same year, and vertically, which is the same wine from the same chateau from different years.

My host mom is definitely a great cook, no horror stories there, and I have tried, and liked, a kinda foie paté, not foie gras which is force-fed duck liver. Sometimes you just want to be able to turn off your imagination.

As far as today, all the EAP kids are going on an excursion to St.Emilion, a medieval town, castle, and very famous wine maker. Thats from 1-6 ish; then my host dad is taking me to the Rugby Game, and then its time to go out...

Next time Ill talk about nightlife, ILP (Intensive Language Program), parmi quelques autres sujets. A bientot!

What Say You?! What Saaaayyy You!?

Im still feeling out what exactly the point is of such a self-indulgent medium. Im not generally a fan of autobios, Bob Dylans Chronicles exempted.

So I guess if I have nothing to say or time to say it, Ill pepper the blog with inside jokes until I can get pictures up.

This ones for you Fig...


And if youre a close reader, you know that I scoff at you Americans and your keyboards with apostrophes!!!

Ho Ho Ho, Im veddy veddy Franche!

More or Less

At the Left Bank of Paris, while my bags are left back in Toronto, or maybe Montreal, qui sait? Went shopping for "replacement clothes" and despite meager attempts to Eurotrash it up, bought a baseball style tshirt, you know how it goes.

Sarah helped me out majorly, picking me up from CDG, we had a nice lunch of steak frites.

Here I am in sunny Paris contrary to the Los Angeles I left, I guess my origin and destination are bridged together in some unpredictable weather.

Hope you've enjoyed my doggerel half-rhymes, time to nap, seeing Ethan tonight.

Bienvenue to my journal

So this is the new year...

-Joel