Bonsoir! I’m writing late tonight.

Another good class today, though it didn’t really start out that way. We were in a circle practicing the negative conjugation of two verbs: faire and dire. I miffed on my turn. Darn it! But I don’t get embarrassed, any more. Of course I WISH I nailed it, or could do it at the fast pace set by La prof, but I try my best, and there’s always another round and other chances.

When I did well on the next turn, La prof was very quick to praise. She’s quite supportive and encouraging, which means a lot, especially because she isn’t the warm and fuzzy type. At all. She’s very quick, demanding, and serious — though she has been laughing more this week.

But I noticed something else. Everyone messed up. The most advanced students all seemed to have had a bad day today, proving that anyone can. We’re all human. It puts things in proper perspective. One young woman really struggled, and she’s not used to that. She just had a really bad day. And we all lived. In fact, we’re all really starting to pull for each other — breaking into applause when we nail something!

And I did very well on the skit today, and then later when we practiced the upcoming lines in the story, I was hitting all the right notes, and even received applause from my classmates.

The one pronunciation I sometimes mess up is the « AR » sound. It’s difficult for me. La Prof called me on it today (because she doesn’t let anything go — which I love), but it happened when I said the word parents. It’s spelled the same and means the same in French. But pronunciation of course, is key. It’s not PAIR-ohn. Non, LeeZAH! It’s pahROHn. PAH, PAH, PAH! It seems small and insignificant, but it’s not. I won’t be understood. In the same way if someone pronounced our vowels in English incorrectly and put the emphasis on the wrong syllable, it would be word salad. My brother and I used to love to say, You put the emPHAsiss on the wrong sillABBLE.

We were given our assignments for les devoirs, and then put all the desks and chairs back in order when class ended. For whatever reason, I’m still always the LAST to leave, and I haven’t figured out why. I guess I’m just not in a hurry. But I was always that kid. I have my book bag, small crossbody purse, coat and scarf. Not sure why it takes me longer. So, I tried to hurry. On my way out the door, La Prof told me again I was doing « SUPER. » That certainly made my day, and makes me want to work harder for her. And for me, of course. I beamed as I walked down four (really eight!) flights of stairs. I had a pleasant little exchange with the security guy and out the door I went into the beautiful sunny afternoon, only to realize I didn’t have my small crossbody purse. PANIC! You know that feeling, right? I knew I had had my purse in class, but I still felt panicked. So back up the four (really eight!) flights of stairs I went at quite a clip. I was panting by the time I reached the top. No lie. It’s brutal. I entered the class, La Prof was talking to a student (I wasn’t last!), so I went straight to my seat, and saw my purse on a chair that had been tucked under the desk when we were putting chairs away. (I probably did it myself.) But you know, my apartment key is in there, my euros, my PASSPORT/VISA, license, bank cards, basically, everything. Maybe it’s best I don’t try to rush any more. Lesson learned.

I get to sleep in tomorrow, and rehearse my lines and study verb conjugations. I’m also meeting my friend to plan a little trip to Giverny, staying overnight. Stay tuned.

À tout à l’heure! XO