Monday, Monday, can't trust that day….

Monday, Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way. Oh, Monday morning, you gave me no warning of what was to be.

Don't mind me, sitting here, using free wifi ("wee fee") at the restaurant, after having a good salad for lunch after class.

It's just Monday and I'm having little patience with everyone — myself included. It seems as if, rather than progressing in French, that I am regressing. Don't get me wrong, I love my teacher. He is a wonderful teacher and a very kind human being with a sense of humour. I really, really like him a lot. And what he does, he does very, very well. But, as I've explained before, the teaching here is so different from what I'm used to. For example, last week we spent three days on the past tense. THREE DAYS! — two days on verbs used with "avoir" and one day on verbs with "etre." Anyone who knows anything about French verbs knows how impossible it would be to absorb everything, especially since one has not had time to learn the conjugations in the present tense! Our lessons consist of Christian giving an explanation in French and us taking notes, and then a sheet of examples for us to complete for practice and then, voila! We are done with that and then we move on to learning about vocabulary words related to housing, for example. My problem is that I'm so pooped after class that I don't have the energy to practice on my own. If I would take the lesson of the day and practice in my notebook I could absorb at least a bit more. 

We do have a lot of conversation in class, and Jacqueline has noticed that I understand much more of her conversation than when I first arrived; however, I have not improved my capability to speak. To tell the truth, I feel I could speak more prior to when I arrived than I can now. I think my brain just feels completely bombarded. As I stated the other day, I am having problems remembering words in English. And when Christian asks what I did yesterday afternoon after class, sometimes I have to work to remember that. 

It seems to me that the system here, designed as it is, is intended to give as much of an overview as possible and that individual students simply need to practice on their own. In addition, since students can come for as many weeks as they wish, each week needs to be self-contained (and each day seems to be self-contained as well). Ecole Klesse (my school) is considered one of the better schools and it is a testing site for the Cambridge English exams so….

I think the true test for me will be when I have completed this course and continue on my own. I do believe this course will definitely prove to be an advantage overall. I'm going to check out French classes at Black Hawk and WIU, and am considering signing up for one this coming January. THEN we shall see just how beneficial it has been.

It may come as no surprise when I say that living in Jacqueline's apartment is also beginning to wear on my nerves. This morning, for example. No, never mind. I'm just going to leave that here and move on.

Last evening, when I told Jacqueline of the plans I had made to stay in Aix-En-Provence for six days she looked at me with a bit of exasperation. But why, she wanted to know? Why not three days in Aix and then three days in Avignon? She was concerned that I would not have enough to do. After our conversation I began to doubt my plan; however, I'm going to stick to it. I just found out, for example, that Avignon is less than a half hour away by train. So, why would I have to stay in Avignon, when I can just visit without having to pack my bags and move? Marseille is also just a few minutes away, and there are other cities/towns in the region that I can visit by bus or train.

I think she has very little comprehension of what this experience is like for me. I mean, she certainly understands what it is to be tired, since she has worse sleeping problems than I do, but when it comes to travel experiences. . .  Take yesterday, for example. She was saying what a beautiful day it was and that it would be a good day for me to visit Carcassonne. She reiterated this with emphasis two or three times; however, all I could manage was taking a quick tram ride to Flunch for a salad for lunch, then a bit of a walk around town, and then back home, where I did internet searching to make plans for the next leg of my journey. Even just the thought of getting on a train and walking around Carcassonne was almost more than I could bear yesterday (despite the fact that Carcassonne had been on my "must-do" list. Maybe I'll see it another time 'round).

Yesterday I found and made reservations to stay in a lovely B+B in an old house in Aix-En-Provence, with an enclosed garden. The photos look lovely; one comment said the breakfast was fantastic (yay), and the description of the proprietors indicated that they were very pleasant (yay, oh yay).

So, I've decided that I'll certainly do some sight-seeing in/around Aix; however, I'm going to the English-language bookstore here and finding a long novel. I'll have slow days of doing some centering, some yoga, some walking and reading. I'll also attempt to spend some time practicing French. And, if the establishment has a GOOD internet connection, I'll pull up Netflix and watch some movies. In other words, I'm going to really take it slow. And I'm not going to apologise to anyone, not even Jacqueline, for this choice.  ;-)