One Week Down

Well the weekend is finally here. It was a grueling first week back to the grindstone. No more weekends that never end, or at least not for a while...

The first week has gone nicely. I am really enjoying being on a more fixed schedule. Even though I'm not wild about having Friday class (I was spoiled at UM and seldom had Friday class), I like settling into a routine. From 9-1 p.m. each day I am in my small class. In the afternoons, there are optional sessions that anyone can attend based on your level of French.

On Tuesday and Friday, I went to the writing session. We learned how to open and close letters and wrote post cards on Tuesday, and today I had to accept and reject an invitation to go to a party. It's pretty essential stuff to learn, especially for me since I have to turn down a lot of invitations to parties.

Today and Wednesday I also attended the pronunciation sessions. Here, I sat at a computer with headphones and a microphone. I listen to the French speaker say something, and then I repeat it, and I hear what I am saying. Thursday, I went to the grammar session. In the grammar session, we learned about les verbes pronominaux, or reflexive verbs. For example, in French (and Spanish), when you say "I brush my teeth," it is necessary to say "Je me brosse les dents" and not simply "Je brosse les dents."

Je (I) me (reflexive "me") brosse (brush) les dents (teeth).

Here is a good clarifying example.

Je (I) me (reflexive "me") reveille (wake up) means I wake up. It is necessary to put the "me" to show that it is me waking myself up. However, the "me" is not necessary when I say I wake up the children, "Je reveille les enfants." This is because the action (waking up) is not being performed on the subject (me), but rather on the children.

It is different from English, but I guess the reason is to show that the action is being performed on you and not on somebody else. The concept was not too difficult to grasp since Spanish is the same.

I am liking my new apartment. For the first 12 days of renting, I was in a different apartment. However, the guy I am renting from requested a change, and the change took place on June 30. It was a small switch, just from one building to its neighboring building. Now, I finally feel like I am living here and not just here for vacation. I finally unpacked a suitcase, so I guess that made me feel a little more at home. The roommate I have met is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The other one whom I have not met is from India I think. And the guy's room I'm renting for the summer is from Algeria. Again, a lot of diversity here in Geneva.

I'm trying to decide what to do for the 4th of July. I think I might try and have an extremely American day. Any recommendations?