9.2.09

Today was a good day. I am definitely adjusting to life here. Not that I don’t miss home, but the shock isn’t so overwhelming, and I can definitely appreciate life here a little more now. Tonight at dinner, Veronique was telling jokes and stories, and I could UNDERSTAND them. Not to mention, I was actually ADDING to conversation! It was probably very poor grammatically, but it furthered conversation none-the-less, and I even made Vero and her friend LAUGH. God, it felt so good to participate in real conversation and not just bullshit “comment ça va?” stuff.
Also, I think I’ve lost weight here. I’m eating much more healthy foods, and I’m also eating less and moving more. As well, I don’t want to be the fat American all year long, so it’s sort of nice to know that I’m losing weight as of NOW.
We had a scavenger hunt in centre ville in Dijon today. God, I wanted to shoot myself. My partner was this Korean kid who really likes me. He’s very nice, but due to his heavy Korean accent, I can’t understand a fucking French word he says. Needless to say, it made the scavenger hunt a little difficult.
I accidentally stood Jeremy up for a rendez-vous tonight. I feel so shitty about it. We were supposed to meet at the Place de la Republique at 9:30, and I didn’t get there til 10 because dinner ran late. FUCK. He wasn’t there when I arrived ☹
We also went to the lake today. Lac Kir. Everyone here loves it, and it was very pretty, but not much to gawk at for too long. I got bored pretty fast lol.
Sometimes I forget I’m in France. The majority of the music on the radio is English. Lots of products here are from America. After you start speaking English, it’s almost like you’re back home. A rainier, prettier home, but still like you’re home.
I don’t think I’m sick anymore. Thank god. At least my voice doesn’t hurt now.
It was really good to talk to Charlie today. Thankfully the phone didn’t cut out until about 40 minutes into the conversation! That was definitely nice. It feels good to connect with people back home. I realized that what made this place so miserable at first wasn’t being in France, or even being far from home, but just KNOWING that this was the beginning of my life for the next year, and that it didn’t really include anyone that I love back home, as they were thousands of miles away. And that’s a really shitty realization. And then to have all the other shit on top of that?....it’s too much.
I think today onward marks the beginning of an upward curve. In comprehension, happiness, etc. Not that there won’t be relapses, but I don’t think they’ll be as severe as before.

I have so much more to say, but I’m so tired. I hope to talk to all of you so soon. I miss you to death. Wish me luck!

Salut!

Elias