A la France

YAY!! I am finally here! It was a very smooth journey here and now I am starting to get into the swing of things. Today is a testing day for me where I have to sit down with officials from the university and speak with them for 15 minutes and then take a 1-hour written exam this afternoon to figure out where I should be placed in the program. I will be taking grammar and conversation courses, etc, as well as 2 courses which i choose being French literature, cinema, etc. I am also doing volunteer service here for 3 credits in conjunction with a French Society course that i will take once a week. It was really neat how Veronique (an advisor here) told us about the program. She said that young people in France rarely, if ever, do any community service hours and the program hopes that by showing that Americans contribute so much through volunteer work that the young French people might catch on and start helping out their communities as well. It is kind of an interesting concept since in the US, community service is such a norm, and often a requirement and such for college applications, and yet here it is completely absent and WE are the inspiration for others. I am really excited because I am going to be in a French high school and I will assist the English teachers there. For my second semester, I plan on going to a children's hospital nearby and helping to organize rehabilitating activities and help them with their English. It should be quite the experience.
There have only been a couple of slip-ups for me here. When I first arrived at the apartment, my host mother (who is absolutely adorable and SOOOOOOOOOO sweet) asked me where my shoes were when i came out to dinner. Like any American, i took them off in the hopes of not getting the floor and carpets dirty but it turns out that that is actually rude in the French culture.
I will post pics of the apt when i get a chance to get my laptop up and running! I hope that all is well! I miss everyone greatly.

Au revoir!!!