Classes, family, and wacky adventures.

After some significant angst about classes and culture shock, I have gotten back on my feet. Thus far, my schedule for the rest of the semester actually looks pretty amazing. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are all fairly intense, but Thursdays only have four hours of class and then Fridays are completely free. Yes, that’s right, I have a semester of three day weekends ahead of me in Europe. I am so, so, so happy.

Anyway, I haven’t really talked that much about my host family, but they’re so crazy that I really should tell all you wonderful readers about them. So! I live with a divorced woman, Mme. Rigaud, who until this point has remained a little distant and cold. I suppose that’s just very French. Mme. Rigaud has six children, but only the three youngest live with us. Timothy, 20, is her youngest son and I’m still not entirely sure if he actually lives here or what he does, besides work at a bar. He never eats meals with us or says more than “Salut!” to me, but is normally around in the afternoons. For those of you wondering, and I know who you are, he is not cute. Not at all. It’s very sad. Tragic, even.

And then there are The Twins, who are 18 and deserve a paragraph of their own. Upon my arrival, Beth told me that there is a Good Twin and an Evil Twin. I thought this was a joke and boy was I wrong. The Good Twin is Charlotte, who I’ve actually started talking to recently. The Evil Twin is Bérangère, who is moody and yells a lot. At the end of high school, the French have a huge test called the Bac that they need to pass in order to go to university. If you don’t pass it, you essentially don’t pass high school. Anyway, last year Charlotte received her Bac and Bérangère didn’t. That’s where a lot of the craziness comes in, as Charlotte is currently starting law school and there’s a good possibility that Bérangère will have to repeat her last year of high school. I actually feel bad for Bérangère, as she is obviously not the Good Twin, but she doesn’t exactly make life easier for herself by shouting, “I hate this family! You blame me for everything! Why is everything always my fault?!” at dinner and storming off to her room. Ah, teenage angst.

As for the latest wacky European adventure, last Saturday four of us decided to go to Ribeauvillé, a local Alsatian village on the wine route. We thought it would be a pleasant day trip, but little did we know that the train station was actually four kilometers away from the village. So that’s how I ended up walking along the side of a French highway to a town in middle of nowhere and back. The village itself was pretty cute, except for the masses of crazy German tourists, but we didn’t stay very long. Ah well, at least it’s a pretty good story.

This weekend should be pretty low-key. I feel a little guilty about not traveling, but staying warm in bed is almost irresistible now that the rain has started. I must say, one of the things I miss the most about LC is just sitting in Odell on rainy days, drinking hot cocoa, and listening to indie music with friends. I suppose there will be plenty of time to do that next semester.

Time to go to class. Au revoir.

PS. If there’s something specific you would like me to write about, please let me know. I really have no idea what’s interesting and what’s not so feedback is always appreciated. :)