2 months

It's already been two months that we've been living in France, so this is officially the longest I've been in France and away from home at one time. I decided this would be a good time to see how I'm doing on my list (over there, to the left).

speak French every day. Yes! I am disappointed that I'm not improving faster and I often get down about that, but I LOVE that I get to hear French and speak French every day. Somedays it's not very much because I speak English at my schools and with Tom (we're working on that). Other days I surprise myself by becoming a chatterbox in French, like the last conversation night we went to. Awesome!

become part of a community. Not quite there. This has been tough. We have been going to a church called Trinity, which is an international, mostly English speaking church. I like it ok, but... I don't know. There is an obvious community at our foyer (residence) and we cherish our community dinners, but there's something still missing, not to mention the fact that we are one of the few married couples here. Next week, I have an appointment at Secours Catholique about becoming a volunteer. Maybe I'll find my community there. Really, I feel the strongest sense of community when people with common values are all working together for a common purpose. I'll let you know how this goes.

learn to cook. I made an effort. Then I put it on the back burner. I went to a few Ateliers Cuisine (Cooking Workshops) here at the foyer, but I really just followed other peoples' instructions and had no clue what I was doing. When we move to the new foyer in a month or two, where we'll have our own kitchen, I'll give it another shot.

make French kids like English class. Yikes. Some of the classes, those that are more "under control" because the teacher is with me, actually get the opportunity to have fun. In fact, one of the teachers told me that they get excited every Thursday and ask if I'm coming. :) In the other classes, the kids might like English class, but it's because they think they can walk all over me and talk the whole time. That's not the reason I want them to like it.

visit Nantes. Maybe next month?

find the best coffee in Paris. I am removing this from the list because, really, coffee just isn't the same here. I'm very picky. I learned to like coffee at Mocha Joe's and can't come to like much else now.

go back to Franceville. In the spring! Maybe with my dad, sister, and B?

read more. Yes! It usually takes me ages to get through a book even if it's a good one. Since being here, I've read two novels, La méchanique du coeur by Mathias Malzieu, a wonderful story that I've mentioned before, and La jeune fille au pair by Joseph Joffo that I stumbled across in the library which made my metro rides to work a little more enjoyable. This past weekend I started French Colloquial Grammar. What I really need to do is start reading more news. I've gotten really bad about this, especially since I don't have class in the morning anymore and thus do not grab Direct Matin, one of the free metro newspapers.

assess my level of French, then improve it. See the first goal. I had thought about taking an assessment like the Test de connaissance du français to see where I am and then improving my French. But the TCF is expensive. According to my Sorbonne class certificate, I have excellent comprehension and very good expression. Maybe I'll just get really awesome first and then look into taking the TCF before coming home?

visit the Loire Valley. Done! We would like to go back to visit Orléans and some more castles, but we already have a long travel list.

learn more Spanish...or German. I'm not really sure what to do about this one. French obviously has to be the priority this year since I'm in France. But, since we are hoping to go to Germany in June before returning to the States, I might take a few private German lessons later on.

So readers, what do you think? How am I doing?