My day started off like almost every other; I got up, showered, and ate a bowl of "Lions" cereal and "un pain du chocolat" for breakfast. Then I read a little more of Manon Lescaut. Last night I taught myself the "Passé Simple" tense, and I cannot even begin to explain how much that helped me with my book! The whole thing is pretty much written in th "Passé Simple" tense! I've decided that each night or so, I'm going to go over a few pages of my French book (from home) and hopefully I'll finish by the end. Pierre and I did some oral excercises last night, too, which he found hilarious. We also reread one of the stories from class. It was kind of fun doing this stuff with someone who natively speaks French. :)
Today for lunch, my host mom's brother, Jaques, and his daughter, Amélie, came over to eat with us. They are in town visiting until Sunday afternoon. I'm not sure exactly where they live, but it's about 2 hours away, if I remember correctly.
After lunch, Jaques and Amélie left and I got ready to go to the laser game. My host mom brought me early because she and Pierre had to go babysit Thomas's kids for the rest of the day. I assumed it was at the same place as last time. Nope! There are two laser game places in Arras, and leave it to me to end up at the wrong one! Being there early, so I didn't expect to see anyone right away. My host mom left and I went to the store next door to browse a little. I came back to the laser game place about 15 minutes later. I waited for a while... and waited... and after it was time for the game to start, I wondered what was up. Jeremy called me and asked me where I was. I replied that I was there, or I thought I was. He told me he couldn't see me, so we concluded that I went to the wrong place. He ended up coming with everyone else, to the place I was at and we played there. I felt soo bad! I hate being an inconvenience for people! Hopefully that doesn't happen again. No more mistakes like that, sil-vous-plait!
The game itself was fun, though! This time we had teams, so that made it easier than being alone. I did wayyy better than last time, too. We won, and I came in second overall :D! Once the game was over, Jeremy's parents showed up and took us all into Arras. His sisters wanted to go shopping and stuff, so another girl (forgot her name :/), he, and I walked around for a while. Then we went into that same bar/café I went to with Pierre-Antoine, Elise, Simon, and Antoine the first Saturday I was here. I still don't remember it's name. I had a Coke :)! I honestly think I have drunk more Coke and eaten more fries here in the past month than I did all year back at home! I've eaten a tonnn of crêpes, ice cream, and chocolate, too. Haha, I'm gonna "grossir!" :P I still find it cool to get Coke in a glass bottle versus a plastic one, though! I really want to take one sometime :P
We hung out at the café for a while and talked. I had another really good day as far as the talking goes. I have picked up speed and I think I'm getting more accurate with my placement and conjugations, too. I really don't pay that much attention to grammar when I speak. I kind of just let what comes naturally flow out, and if it's wrong, people usually correct me. I focus more on the vocabulary and translating what I want to say into French. That's been getting a lot easier for me, though, so maybe I can start working on the other stuff. I told them that before I left I wanted to lose my American accent, too, and right away they practically shouted, "Non!" Haha, evidently the French like our accents. I guess in turn, I also really like the French accent. I would love to be able to pick it up :D! That's kind of low on my list of priorities, though. Once I finish learning everything in my French text book I'll worry more about that.
Around 6:30 or so, we waited in front of my school where Jaques and Amélie picked me up. They dropped me off with the others at Thomas's house. I mainly just played a computer game with Romane. She's really into those lately. For dinner, I really wasn't hungry, so I just ate a tiny bit of the steak and some potatoes. I helped my host mom clean up a little, and then helped Romane with her game. Thomas came home, followed by Anne a little later, and we left.
Tonight after I get off the computer, I plan on working on my French a little more, and then probably going to bed. I really hate going to sleep after a successful day of speaking. I dream in English, wake up and think in English, then go downstairs and slowly ease into the French again. It's really frustrating. I wish I could just turn the English off altogether. I've started writing my journal in French. That's actually been going a lot easier than I expected. I'll try on here sometime in the near future, perhaps.
I think I covered most everything. I'll talk a little longer on MSN and then probably head upstairs.
Bonne Nuit!
-Miranda:)
Strangers are friends waiting to happen. -Unknown
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