class! and an update..

can't believe im saying this.. but..

i woke up early today. earlier than early. i automatically woke up around 6:31 this morning, i think because someone on my floor turned on their shower.. and im a light sleeper when not at home (unless im realllly tired, or passed out). so yap. then i went back to sleep of course, until 7.

i actually am liking my french class. haha. the teacher doesn't check our grammar homework, and he only checks our writing assignments and the project. since its an intensive program, we only have 2 tests, one exam, and one project to do which is actually not a lot. i had my first test today... open book.. and it was actually a lot easier than i had imagined (we'll see if that's true when i get it back). i like this teacher because he talks about how the language has changed and he has some pretty funny comments. he's a really nice guy!

we have 3 hours of class, with a half hour break in between. during the first part of class, we usually do some grammar, read interesting newspaper articles, and then he'll show us a french song on youtube, which is pretty cool because he shows us different versions and stuff. after the half hour break, we usually do more interactive exercises, like skits, games, and today we had a test.

going to class here isn't as bad as going to class in high school. aside from the heat (no air con) and the fact that it's so early (8am), everything else is good. the only problem i have is staying awake when we're doing grammar or reading stuff (especially if i didn't get enough sleep at night). other than that, class is sort of like a game show you would watch on tv now and then, or every day if you are elderly.

today, i won a book! he likes to hide numbers from 1-17 somewhere in the sheets or homework that he gives back to us, and then the class decides on a number. the he will reveal where he hid the number, and whoever has the number that the class decided on wins a book. i won today! and he explained the author's background and stuff. it gets better. the author of the book that i won is actually an engineer. he wanted to write a book for his son's 18th birthday, but when his friend read it, he persuaded him to get the book published. and it did get published. now he's a writer and an engineer!

im also taking a workshop where you learn about how to teach people french. it's more of a "how to teach" in general course. at the end of the workshop (18 hours of instruction), i will receive a certificate that says i took this course.. something like that... perhaps i'll be able to do something with that. who knows. it just sounded really cool. haha. also im a bit strange in that i like learning about how people learn and how people view things etc. sort of like psychology i guess. like my weird interest in parenting. maybe because i want to know how parents/teachers feel when teaching.. so its like understanding the other side. pretty cool stuff imo.

it's only been the first week! four more to go. tomorrow we're headed to Magic Mountain - a water theme park... and there's also a zoo and some other stuff nearby. i think its also where the optical illusion is... "magnetic hill" something like that. i wonder if we're going to see that too?

the only thing i don't like about this is that you don't know exactly what you're going to be doing and when until the morning of unless its a big trip (going to the beach, big excursions (magic mountain, concerts). also, im kind of bummed out because im not 19, so i can't go to the lobster fest + concert thing tonight. =( because they don't want us to drink and stay out until 2 am. sigh. i want to go to the lobster fest!

i went to mcdonalds yesterday after playing dodgeball (i was actually more involved than i thought i'd be, so sweaty afterwards). they have mclobster. it is my goal to try one before i come back.

also, someone discovered that it's actually free to go to the gym... so im going to go swimming in 1 hour. =)

and.. i found someone to look for a church with me and attend it on sunday! yay! someone from her church got an email from someone at a church nearby too. and another thing is that this church is moving around a bit while they rebuild the place, so to help you get to their services, you can call them and they will arrange for someone to come pick you up and drive you there. pretty awesome. everyone here is really nice, and it's so safe.