Joyeux anniversaire

Yesterday was my first day at the IES center. I decided to walk there since it's not too far, but it was much warmer than I thought so I worked up quite a sweat getting there. I had my first "groupe de propedeutique" meeting, which is my language intensive group. I don't think I'm in the hardest one; rather, I think it's a good fit for my skills. We have to keep a daily journal for the next week and a half, and it's going to be a part of our grade. After the class was over, I went on a tour of the neighborhood with a group led by some of the French assistants we have at the center. I met another IES student named Mariko, who is Japanese and not American, so it was kind of cool to talk to her.

It was Catherine's birthday yesterday so we had a big dinner for her. I helped Mathilde prepare some aperitifs (snacks) and Lionel made dinner. It was a very nice sort-of party with Lionel, Catherine, Mathilde, her boyfriend Slimen, Aurelie, Alex, and myself. We eat very late here in France and I was starving by the time dinner came, which was 9:30. We sat at the table for a really long time and it was kind of boring because they were having a discussion which I had to really focus on in order to follow. Every so often they'd stop and ask if I understood, and if I said yes, Lionel would ask me what they had been talking about. I knew what the conversation of 10 minutes ago was, but I would stop paying attention sometimes because I was tired. I think Lionel and Catherine are going on a trip to the US in October or something because Lionel keeps practicing how to say "Los Angeles" and "Las Vegas" and "San Francisco." He also tries to say my name the American way, which he finds to be pretty funny. Mathilde told me he can't speak English at all so it's a novelty for him. Mathilde and Slimen speak English, but I'm not sure how well. Aurelie never does, but last night when Catherine was eating her cake she spat something out and said what it was, and Slimen told me it was "wax." When I was helping Mathilde with the aperitifs, she asked me if I liked "coco" as she sprinkled some white shredded stuff on the top of the chocolate cake. For no good reason (since I know very well that the French word for "chocolate" is "chocolat" or "coco") I thought she meant "coconut" so I said no. Can you believe they actually thought I didn't like chocolate? Don't worry, I cleared it up quickly.

We weren't done with dinner until 11:30! I was completely exhausted and went straight to bed. Now I'm at the IES center waiting for my class to begin. I got here early to print my journal assignment, which I wish I could have handwritten, but my professor said it had to be typed. I also turned in my field trip preference sheet. We have five different options and can choose two, so I picked Fontainebleu and Vaux-le-Vicomte, which is a one day trip to see two chateaux. Mathilde and Catherine recommended that one. I also chose Giverny, which is where Monet did a lot of his paintings. The other options were Versailles, Normandy, and Provins. I've already been to Versailles and Normandy, and I think Provins is an old city that used to be some kind of French fortress. You can go into the catacombs beneath the city, but Bertrand, our student affairs coordinator and the guy in charge of our "excursions," said if you're claustrophic, maybe you shouldn't go.