Long overdue...Normandy and Alsace!

I have absolutely no business writing in my blog right now, what-with all the things I need to be doing, but I haven't written in far too long and don't want to neglect my readers (all 3 of you). I've decided that since I don't have much to write about what I've been up to, I'll just put up pictures with a little description.

So break was fabulous! Normandy was beautiful. The only place we visited that I hadn't already seen was Caen, but I didn't remember all the places very well, so it was great to see them all again. We went to Caen, Bayeux, Omaha beach, American cemetery, Pont du Hoc, Rouen, Mont St. Michel, and St. Malo. It was a very full week and we certainly made the most of it. The place we stayed in Caen was a little apartment (for 15 euro a night!) and we had a little kitchen, in which we made very tasty dinners. Here we are making crepes:

My very successful (and delicious) nutella crepe:

A view of Mont St. Michel:
The weather was beautiful every single day, so when i look back over all of my pictures they're mostly of blue sky. Here's a picture from the beach at St. Malo (the walled city):

Me and m wind-blown hair in St. Malo:

So that was my break! Upon my return to Dijon, I had an e-mail asking for a Skype interview for a summer job I had applied for. I spent the Saturday preparing for it and Saturday evening had the interview (which was in French, I might add). It went pretty well, under the circumstances, but I (unfortunately though not surprisingly) got an e-mail a few days ago saying I didn't get the job. I then had a week of classes and then this past weekend a few of us went to Strasbourg! An absolutely beautiful city where we rented bikes, wandered around open-air markets, and enjoyed the food (and I bought a pair of shoes!). I also got to see Alexandra, again, who happened to be there the same weekend visiting a friend.

Me in Petite France:

A swan I didn't necessarily get along with too well:
A view from my bike:

And now it's back to the grindstone! Although, my friend MaryBeth, who is in Geneva for the semester, had the day off today and came to visit me for the day (with her eurail pass it was virtually free for her to come). It was so nice to see her! She's the first person to whom I've had the chance to give a little tour of Dijon.

Thursday, after a stressful day of class and a presentation, I'm off to Paris to stay with my friend Kristen for two nights until Saturday when Jim arrives! Sunday it's back here to Dijon for the week with Jim and Friday we return to Paris for the night and then he flies home that Saturday. I can't wait for this weekend to get here, but in the meantime I have lots of work to do.

I would just quickly like to say, though, that I can already feel a huge difference in my French conversation abilities. My comprehension has immensely improved, as has my confidence in speaking and that makes me really excited to see how my French will be come May. Even though I didn't get that summer job, I was proud of the way I handled myself in the interview. It was my first job interview, and considering it was in French over a bad connection on Skype, it went over pretty well. I would never have been able to go through with that a month ago, and for that I'm so grateful to have this opportunity in France. Speaking of, I've already been here over a month! Crazy!

Must go research the various forms of theater in Paris. I need all the encouragement I can get!