Alright, where did I leave off? I've been making a list of things that I would like to share with the world, so I'll work off of that. Man, I am behind.
I am coming to quite like Provence (my region in France... though I should probably just say France as a whole). Okay, I always have. But now I feel a little bit more adjusted. Not like a native, as I am still awkward French speaker extraordinaire. However, I know my way around and use the bus system around town now (though, that's really just to and from my house when I don't feel like walking or it's too dark). It's neat. I think I can understand a bit better than before because I am constantly learning new words. Of course, most I forget almost immediately (seriously, memory, why must you ruin my life?!). I have such a far way to go though, which never stops becoming obvious. Being in the country you're learning the language of never allows you to become arrogant based on your language abilities. You listen to the natives all the time and think, "Seriously... that is supposed to be me?" It's a bit much. I'm working on picking up more slang too. It's hard because some words I can't tell how rude/informal/formal they are, and I don't want to offend anyone. Not yet. Haha. Maybe later on when I get in a rage, I'll bust something out. Yeah, right. But Avery has mini-flash cards on a ring of cuss words/dirty phrases. I really ought to get on that.
Remember how I said I'm adjusting more? Apparently I look like it too (which is strange, but I don't believe I look terribly French... I'm lacking boots and tights, for one thing) because people always stop me and ask for directions in French. You'd think by now I would've figured out how to get directions, but not really. I generally tell them 'to the right,' 'to the left,' or 'over there' and hope that helps (usually I know where they want to go, more or less). Last week I was walking to school and some guy in his car stopped, rolled down the window, and gave me a little, "Excusé moi, madamoiselle!" and then asked to find some parking lot. I knew I'd seen the sign somewhere. I told him to the right. Looked on my map later... definitely a 'to the left.' I felt really bad, but I guess it was his fault for asking the foreigner... not that he knew. Sorry, Mister Lostman!!
Another thing I've noticed being here is that the kids are SO into politics. They are excited when a debate is on TV. And I think... hm... I never even began noticing what was going on with the government until high school. And for plenty of people, they still have no idea. The presidental election is this year (not sure how much you've heard about that in the States), but it's a huge deal here. Different from the US, as there isn't as much advertisement/campaigning stuff for candidates. There are, instead, debates and interviews with all of them constantly. And I'm learning who my host family likes and doesn't like. Oh, and there's a woman running, Ségolène Royal. She's with the socialist party, so super leftist. And Jean-Marie le Pen is extreme right. José Bové is... someone else. Left party, I think. There are seriously so many candidates. Nicolas Sarkozy, right-wing and Minister of the Interior currently. I have discovered that I have a really hard time focusing on le Pen when he talks. We'll be watching him on TV and I just drift off, get interrupted with a 'You understand?' and then I explain I can't listen to him. He's 79 or so and just blah. So that's what I know right now.