Bonjour vs Bonsoir

I have a really big problem with still saying "bonjour" (literally, good day) in the evening. I'm used to it just translating to "hello", so whenever I want to say hello I say "bonjour". But apparently, once evening is upon us, it is customary to say "bonsoir" (literally, good evening). This gets REALLY interesting, because one does not say bonnuit (literally, good night) as a salutation, only as a good night, good bye sort of thing. Oh the French...

The past few days have been very relaxing. We're all just trying to gain some semblance of a routine going. Our classes started on Saturday but they were considered a "preview" because today (Monday) was the last day we could make changes. For me, dropping or changing my classes really isn't an option because these are the only two classes offered in French which I need for finishing my major. But it's ok, because I really don't want to change them, anyway.

I never thought I would say thing, though, but I think I'll enjoy my literature course more than my conversation course. Not that I have anything against literature, I just usually struggle with reading comprehension in English let alone French, and I thoroughly enjoyed my previous conversation classes whereas my literature ones are pretty hit and miss. However, I think that I'll like the literature course better because it's asking for a more advanced use of the French language, whereas the conversation class is still in an intermediate level. We're going over regular verbs and grammar points that I learned in my first year of French.

Anyway, needless to say my classes will not be a problem. Otherwise things have been going fairly well. I had a rough day on Saturday; I think a combination of jet lag, blisters, and disdain for the lack of immersion in this program just had me beaten down. However, some time with friends helped put my mood back in the green.

This comes the point where we get to "métro boulot dodo" where I do the same thing each day. Just to clarify this is by no means a daily post blog. If you want one, go to my other blog. I'll post if I have something I need to just be blunt about or I just want to generally recap what has been going on in the past few days. So, if you wanted specific information, I suggest you e-mail me =)

I tried getting Ben to repeat a French phrase after me, and I swear everyone at the table was laughing so hard from his pronunciations we all had muscle aches from smiling and laughing. He would say it close enough to be considered comprehensive and then literally the next time he would completely butcher it. Of course, his strong accent didn't help things at all =)