Say "Wistiti" ! - Week 7

SALUT :)

I am back at school and it's going very well. My friend Julie says that she thinks my French fluency has progressed over the vacation, but all I did was watch "Friends" (in English, no less) so I don't know how I could have progressed but it was a very nice thing to say! Also I've noticed that my "camarades de classe" (classmates/friends in my class) are more comfortable with me. Its not a very noticeable change, but they have started correcting my French (which is very helpful, merci) and joking around with me, and that makes me happy. (I don't even know if they've noticed it but I have!). I have also got a routine here and if you know me, you know I love routines so that is another thing that makes more at ease and at home here. For example, my host dad, Guena, knows that I like my coffee with half hot chocolate so he sets out all the ingredients in front of my designated place at the table. I almost cried of happiness when he did this for the first time! I think I was just touched by the gesture :).

Now, if you are not French and you're reading this, you're probably wondering what the heck the title of this post means. It actually means "Say cheese!", as in when you pose for a picture. It's obviously not a direct translation to the french word, which I should hope you all know is "fromage". If you didn't know that, you must have been living under some kind of rock and you need to stop reading this post and just go because I don't need people in my life who don't know how to say "cheese" in French. Anyways, my host family was a little startled when they said that before a picture and I looked as such in the three pictures: quite confused, then realization hit just as the second picture was being taken and then I was doubled over with laughter in the third. Needless to say, an explanation and a retake were needed. So yes, that is my new vocabulary word, even though I don't know if you can make a word that doesn't really exist a vocabulary word... huh.

I AM VERY OFF TRACK BUT REALLY WHAT IS NEW. I keep telling myself that I will go to bed before 11pm but here I am, writing this blog post and it is exactly 11:05. (I will probably change that about 5 or six times before I actually post this because that is the exactly kind of thing that bothers me).

**Update: It is now 11:22pm and I still haven't posted it.**

Another thing I've noticed is that I now think in half French, half English. It's literally like a horror story coming true in my head because I have to think almost even more carefully about what I want to say because it will honestly come out in a jumble of languages if I don't think carefully and then no one will understand and I will still not have expressed my opinion but have rather shrunk into a corner and hoped to become invisible. I am hesitant to participate in Spanish class because even though I know a lot of the answers, I am terrified that I will raise my hand and open my mouth and some language OTHER than Spanish will come out and I will again have the desire to evaporate on the spot.

(Laetitia, Guena and I are on season 3 of The Walking Dead).

(oh yes I also got a haircut but its like only 2 cm shorter so no one even noticed. Going to a hairdresser is actually really hard in AMERICA but in France I was terrified that they were going to get it wrong and I would have to wear a hat for the remaining 3 months!! But it all worked out and I don't have to wear any hats).

I also finally figured out what "mdr" means and it means "mort de rire" which is basically the same thing as "LOL" in english. :))


That's pretty much all the rambling I have in me today, and I really have to go to bed so bonne nuit!

bises x

Cécilia (yes, I have started to write my name with an "accent aigu" on the e because its très français)

SAY WISTITI ! (pictures)

Jinfyse and I.

Ewen and Jinfyse.

Some "cadeaux"s from LA. :)

Cute Nutella packaging. "Mmm" in English.

My train ticket for a semi-mysterious voyage that I am going on next Saturday.

Copines de classe!! (girlfriends from my class)