C'est la vie

Classes have begun! Though I dreaded the thought before, I'll now most likely have - gasp - three days of class a week... and I think I'll really enjoy them. The lineup:

• Theme and Version - Translation classes. Very easy. An hour of French-English and an hour of English-French.
  
• Ireland: The Transformation of a Society - Like all other political science classes here, trivial and not terribly interesting. However, it should hopefully help to fulfill some requirements still needed back home.
  
• Techniques d'expression francaise - Also continued from first semester, this is the most difficult class to stay awake in. 1:30pm to 3:30pm, sunlight streaming through the windows, the faint buzz of noise outside and the most tearfully boring subjects imaginable... Mais c'est pas ma faute, je suis narcoleptique!
  
• Mythologie - A literature/mythology class, this promises to be one of the most interesting. The professor is a remarkable speaker and captured my attention the entire time. Very engrossing. It'll be difficult, but I'm planning to stick it out.
  
• Grammaire francaise - I spoke too soon. It's really this class, taught by dear Monsieur Guichard, that's the most painfully boring. Oooof.
  
• Contemporary American History - Super-liberal American professor, but this course holds great promise. Though slightly pretentious and enjoyed dropping names like Zinn and Chomsky, he's intelligent. Next week Megan and I are debating the merits of values socialization in schools. Fascinating!
  
• Professional French - Another Guichard class. He's very nice, but I think it's his sonorous voice and the gripping subject matter that makes it so easy to drift off.
  
• French Literary Methodology and Analysis - A short, 80-minute class designed to assist exchange students with adapting to French analysis of literature. The first session was really fascinating and the professor went off on a 50-minute discussion of existentialism and absurdism. I loved it!
  
• Recits et spectacles de justice - Taught by an energetic and friendly French professor who spent quite a bit of time in the US. The first session didn't really cover anything ground-breaking, but hopefully it'll pick up.

Those last two classes are on Thursday afternoon, though, and a friend told me that there might be windsurfing (planche a voile) lessons at the same time, so... ahem. Another not so difficult choice to make.

I hope I don't come across as overly critical of Monsieur Guichard. He really is, as all the girls say, a sweet man. He single-handedly keeps Stendhal University functioning. It would crumble in a day without him. There are 10,000 secretaries and combined they don't come even close to the amount of work he does. He's knowledgeable, friendly and accessible - qualities severely lacking in almost every other administrative position. But oh man, not even two espressos can keep me awake in his classes.

I'm going to see Oasis tonight, along with almost every other English-speaking student and most of the German ones. I can't wait!