First class

Yesterday I had my first class at La Faculté, a four-hour litterature course about French theater. The class was split into two sections: one professor taught the first half, then after a ten-minute break, another professor taught the second half. It was interesting, but trying to pay attention for four hours was tough because I'm used to classes that only last an hour and a half at Michigan! There were only eight student in the class, which was a little odd. More unusual was the fact that four of us were foreigners: myself and another American student, a Spanish girl, and someone from Turkey.

Today I'm helping at the ENSAM English debate again before France en Perspective, a class I'm actually very excited about. It covers foreign stereotypes and myths about France, as well as current French news. I was supposed to have a history class this morning but—nobody knows why—the history department doesn't start classes until next week.

I'm still waiting to hear back from Madame G, but otherwise my plan is to move in with her this weekend. On Saturday, the program has organized a trip to Vence, St Paul de Vence, and Antibes. The towns look really pretty, and we're also going to go to some art museums there.

In Marseille, almost everyone is going on strike on Thursday: public transport, schools, La Poste, even banks. The public transport system in Marseille went on strike a few weeks ago because some kids assaulted a bus driver, which seemed like adequate cause for a strike, but I'm not sure what's behind the new ones. Apparently, the strike could spread here, and some people think La Fac will be closed Monday.

Yesterday we had more rain, but avoided the strong winds that knocked down power lines and entire forests in other parts of France. Today it's cold, but sunny.