Je suis ce que je suis et si je suis ce que je suis, qu'est-ce que je suis?

So now that everyone's enrolled, classes have gotten into full swing.  We have regular assignments, and most of my classes actually meet in the same room every time; not officially though, I'm beginning to wonder if very much here is official.  Anyway, I'm beginning to like my narration class quite a lot, even though we have at least one writing assignment every week.  For some reason, I've found I have a much easier time writing, and make far fewer mistakes, on the creative writing assignments than on the ones that are more like essays.  I'm not really sure why that would be.  And my oral expression class is still one of my least favorite classes, but we've had some interesting moments.  For example, this past week, we began the discussion part of the class talking about whether wealthy nations are obliged to give money to developing countries, and ended with a heated debate between a guy from the UK and a girl from Vietnam on whether it's okay for a country to go into another country and force them to have a democracy.  At first I was a little bit afraid someone's feelings would get hurt since there were people in the classroom from all over the world, but I suppose a debate is a good way to practice the structure of one's spoken French, which is half the point of the class anyway.

at the head of the trail!

Last weekend Ashley and I didn't end up doing anything much.  Unfortunately, due to extenuating circumstances, Ashley's ability to travel has been limited, at least for now (and there was much sadness and weepage throughout the land, and a whole bunch of frowning emoticons) :( :( :( :(  .  So, unfortunately, since my parents don't want me to travel alone, this limits my ability to travel as well.  Fortunately, though, we were able to have a fabulous local adventure on Wednesday.  We decided Tuesday night that we were going to make it up Puy de Dome (the local inactive volcano) no matter what it took.  So Wednesday morning we started asking around, trying to figure out how to get to Puy de Dome, because the base of the mountain is about 10 kilometers outside of town.  We thought it very strange that no one knew.  We eventually figured out that there are no buses or trams that run to the mountain, and once you get there, it's closed to vehicle traffic due to construction (they're building a tram up the mountain that won't open till 2012).  So finally, around 4 pm, we got the number of a taxi company and just told the driver to take us to the base of Puy de Dome.  It was an expensive ride, but honestly, I don't know how else we would have gotten there.  In the end, it was fabulous!  The entire trail was covered in snow, and it was so beautiful.  It wasn't too treacherous until we got farther up, to where there weren't as many trees and there was just a narrow trail with lots of switchbacks and every edge was a drop off.  Then, the packed-down, slippery snow was a little scarey, and as it started to get more and more foggy, and then dark, we decided we'd better head down rather than trying to make it all the way to the top.  But we got some fabulous pictures first!

 

looking at Puy de Dome from the base

And now, as my friends back at OU gear up for midterms, this coming week for me is my vacance d'hiver, or winter break, or in other words my first spring break!  At first, I had a bit of a problem figuring out what to do since Ashley will not be able to come with me, and my parents won't let me travel by myself.  But in the end we figured out that I can go stay with some friends of friends in Valence, which is just a bit south of here.  I'll be there until Wednesday, and after that I don't have plans yet.  It's possible I may travel somewhere else, but right now I'm not sure.  I got my 12-25 card the other day, which is a card for young people who travel in France by train, and it gives them up to 60% discounts on many train tickets.  So hopefully now that I have it I'll get to travel plenty!

So I'll get on a train for Valence tomorrow at 11 something, and before then I have to print out my ticket confirmation at the print shop which doesn't open until 10, pick up my French bank card at the bank which I don't know when that opens, and pick up a sandwich at the grocery store to eat on the train.  So I'd better stop writing now, so I can get as much done as possible tonight!
Ciao!