Sunday, September 6, 2009

School starts this week. I bought my books, some notebooks, a planner. I haven't bought an agenda planner in a long time, despite the fact that they definitely help keep me on top of things. Note to self: buy agenda planners every year. Having an extra tool to help organize my life is a good thing.

I decided not to take a French class this semester. I checked out the class books when I was at the book store today and decided that the level of French in the class will not be high enough for me and therefore not worth my time. Aren't I a snob? Hopefully next semester they'll offer something better. Until then, it will be my French conversation group, France 2 news, the books I bought before I left, and CM2 and 6eme cahiers de vacances for me.

I'm not so thrilled about taking classes with 18 year olds. I'm signed up for bio and chem and their labs and I know they are going to be stuffed with kids fresh out of high school. Hopefully there will be some other non-traditional students like me who I can make friends with, and then we can roll our eyes at the kiddies together. Or maybe I'll meet some freshmen with hookups to all the cool frat parties and then I can do research on the spread of STDs in the college population.

One or the other ;)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

sounds like fun!! I'd love to attend an american university (I visited for 5 weeks but as a grad student stuck in a office working) and to see if its like what's on tv!

Good luck!

islandgirl4ever2 said...

Haha!! You're a riot, Mira!!!

Have a great time in your classes!!! I think you need to meet some Frenchies there so you can use your French with them...
Isn't it weird being in a non-French speaking place now? When I was back in Cali, it was just sooo weird not hearing French all the time... Less effort, but just weird!!!
Take care,
Leese

BlondeInFrance said...

Have fun! I'm headed back to school too next week, and trying not to think about how all the first years were born in the 90s! OMG weird!

Katie said...

Enjoy your rentrée! I would feel the same way about the 18 year old little ones. Don't worry there are always more mature and life experienced people in college. You'll make tons of friends and keep up your french skills with your conversation group!

J said...

I kinda wish I could go back to college... I miss it!

That's too bad about the French classes, but I know what you mean about university classes not being advanced enough. or they just focus on literature that's soooo useful for everyday life in France.

shannon said...

Maybe if there aren't any people your age, there will at least be some more mature students??? I was never the giggly 18 year old. I always got along better with people older than me (still do). You never know...

That sucks about the French. Maybe next semester will be better??? My school offers an Advanced Grammar and Composition class, so maybe there will be something like that. That class is the reason I write so well now.

au soleil levant said...

Kiwi - it depends on what university you go to and what people you associate with! You can definitely find that TV image of US universities. Maybe your next stop will be teaching over here?

Leesa - yeah, I really want to meet some Frenchies. I've met a couple through my French conversation group, but I need more! I am still shocked to hear English all the time and I frequently have to stop myself from responding to people in French! I still don't feel like I speak English all that well, I get flustered and splutter and don't express myself well. It's an ongoing struggle. Writing is better than speaking.

Andromeda - you just freaked me out even more! And can you imagine that in two years all of the kids in ecole primaire will have been born in the 00s?

Jennie and Shannon - I guess my frustration was more that the classes were either lit or phonetics and intensive grammar clases, but the grammar book was written in English! I would much rather take a class about French society, culture, or politics, something based on discussion and that is relevant to what's going on out there. I can buy Madame Bovary and read it on my own time without a professor. I could certainly benefit from a composition class, but no way am I going to take a class built around a book written in English!

Anonymous said...

I've just had my first class of the semester today and I feel the same...!

There are just kids. Seriously, at 26, I must be the oldest. I felt even more old-fashioned when I caught myself thinking that the ultra-short shorts and backless teeshirts were not a great "uniform" for class. What happened to jeans and teeshirts?!

And I had to queue for the bathroom because at break time, half of the women were re-applying make-up - certainly a prerequisite to study international relations and globalization.

Seriously girls, you won't get better grades! :D

au soleil levant said...

That's so funny, I feel like the kids in my class are the opposite of that! The girls come in "I just played a game of soccer" chic - gym shorts, dirty t-shirt, pony tail and a headband (because you can't get along with just one or the other, you need both). Not to mention the girl who was wearing one of the ugliest shirts I've ever seen in my life. Not that I am so fashionable or that I really care what they wear, but it's a big culture shock after France where leaving the house in gym shorts and without makeup is a cardinal sin!

Anonymous said...

Must be the "science girls" ;-)

My classmate are definitely going for the one who look the most like a stripper.

I can't believe the way students behave, seriously... God, I could write a paper on that. I don't think I'm *that* mature but I draw a line at eating a Subway during a class and explaining all my life problems during the first class to the teacher, in front of 240 other students.