Wow! You guys are amazing, hooray for comments galore! I enjoyed all of your responses and grammatically incorrect French. "Bonjour" is one word, for the record :)

Some quick responses: The weather is very like Seattle weather - cloudy and sweater-temperature. It misted once and rained decently hard last night, but it is not raining now. I wrote about aventures de crêpes in French because I thought Teresa would enjoy it more. I would like to write it all in French but a) I would make tons of mistakes and b) most people wouldn't understand it. And yes Daddy, I think you have to do math every time, but you are very smart so you can handle it. :)

Anyways, we had our first day of classes yesterday. I had a French conversation class at 11AM where we just sat around and conversed (in French) about our host families and what we had been up to. And it was quite possibly the easiest class ever, because we listen to and speak French all day long, only then it doesn't count as a class. Also, there are two sections of this class, which means there are only 12 people there. But it was actually useful since when I am with my family I do more listening than talking.

Then we had an hour and a half for lunch, and I bought a panini on a fresh baguette, which was delicious, and then we went to bakery and I bought a macaroon, which was expensive, but also tasty.

Our second class is on the French author Marcel Proust, but it is taught in Enlglish. We just talked a bunch and it is kind of nice because we were just listening and not actively participating, which is easier. Except everyone was taking notes a mllion miles a minute, and I don't know why because he wasn't saying anything important. And I am a decently good student, so I wasn't just being a slacker.

Then we had a class on Intro to Theory and Criticism which will be interesting, I hope. We are starting by reading Plato, which I like so far. I have already read the first reading so there were lots of really confused people, but it made sense to me. The 2nd and 3rd classes are 2 hours each and the French class is an hour and a half. But I don't think the Proust teacher knows his class is 2 hours long, so he let us out 40 minutes early, and nobody told him not to. Overall, I think my classes will be interesting in terms of their subject matter and easy in terms of the class sessions themselves but that we will have lots and lots of reading.

Last night I had dinner with my family, which was interesting. I'm already a lot better at understanding what they are saying, which is exciting. We were talking about the economy and other more-or-less complex subjects, so I was proud that I knew what was going on.

My roommate Kathy is very nice and we are getting along well. However, we've been told that Americans tend to speak very loudly, and I am definitely noticing that to be true. I would rather not speak English in public, just because it makes you a lot less indiscreet, but most people on the program seem to prefer English, so I'm going to work on speaking more French with them. Kathy is also upset that the internet is broken at our house and so she is cranky about that. But the people on the program have been very friendly and some people are organizing trips and some people are staying here, so all of that should work out pretty well.

I just had French conversation class number 2, and we designed our ideal republics in terms of their economies, types of government, liberties, education system, etc. My French seems to be pretty good compared to some of the other people which in a way is good, but I would rather be one of the worst people because then it would be easier to improve. But oh well, I can improve at dinner.

My next class is at 2, but I have to have lunch and explore a bit and finish my e-mails and such. I took a picture of me at the Jardin de Luxembourg where we ate lunch yesterday, and I will upload it (and hopefully some more photos) in the next few days.

J'espère que vous allez bien, et merci beaucoup pour toutes vos réponses.

No worries, if I write it in French, it isn't very important. I miss you all and keep in touch!