Long overdue post.

It's been a bit of time since my last post, so let me recap what the past few weeks have been like.

I started to hold conversation sessions with one of my students (a senior) who is applying for an au pair program in California for this coming Fall. She is very motivated to go to the States, and her level of spoken English is one of the best in her class. However, she'll be applying among older students who've already taken University English classes, and is insistent on improving her level in the next few weeks so she can realize her dream. She sought me out and we picked several days over the next few weeks to speak English for 45 minutes to an hour. It's not a paid gig, just something to help her practice speaking. She's the only student of mine who is seeking extra practice with her English, and to me that shows serious motivation. I'm hoping she gets accepted to the program. With her attitude and knowledge of the language, I don't have much doubt in my mind that she'll be accepted. She reminds me of myself a little when I was applying to study abroad in Besançon- seriously motivated but a less-than-perfect level of the target language. I told her that being in the country where the language is spoken is the best way to become fluent, and that this opportunity could definitely help her. She's even working on her own with a listening CD and book she got for Christmas from her grandmother. It's wonderful to see such drive in my students.

I bought my plane ticket home today, but I am waiting to see if the purchase goes through (I bought it with a student discount, and I'm not sure if my student status will be verified or not). Chances are it will, because other assistants have bought student-discounted airline tickets before after having graduated. If the deny it, it's their loss, right?

The weather here is so-so, no snow but very chilly. I went for a jog a few days ago and I regretted immediately not wearing more winter jogging gear (earmuffs and gloves to be exact), but it did feel great to get my blood flowing. I've been doing lots of sitting around my apartment, so the warmer the weather gets the happier Maddie will be. Amy and I went for a long walk this past Sunday to the hills/farmland outside of Aiguillon. It was really gorgeous where we went, and she took a few pictures (I will try and get them up here once she's uploaded them). I haven't been taking many pictures recently due to a certain power converter of mine that is currently en panne (broken). It's about time I get a working converter; I've been needing one for a while now.

I haven't been going to Sud Management to help Peter after the New Year; he may not need my assistance there anymore. Not sure if he's decided to work on other projects, or what, but now my Wednesday afternoons are wide open. I'll most likely go to Agen today to look for a converter and pass some time away in the bookstore.

Amy and I went and had dinner at her colleague's house with her son and his roommates, as we had done in the Fall last year. The same four students our age were there, minus one. Florian, Anne-Sophie, Jimmy and Leo all brought things to make a delicious dinner of potatoes, cheese, tomatoes, peppers, and spices (can't think of the specific name of the dish) but basically all the veggies and potatoes are chopped up and mixed together, and placed in aluminum foil which gets baked for 30 mins. or so. Starts with a P...I'll have to look it up. Anywho, the dinner was great and we were among good company. Amy and I are in the works of planning a trip to Mont-de-Marsan to visit the roommates and have them show us around- right now we're just trying to align our schedules a bit. The all go to an école du bois, which is like a wood engineering University, and are often out hiking in the woods and getting their boots muddy. They came to the dinner directly from one of their hikes, and it showed! They have the right idea, finding a profession where you are surrounded by nature half the time. Just reminds me that I need to get out more...