When I went to France for two weeks in seventh grade, I kept this little journal. It was precious, really, with a little Eiffel Tower on the front and an extensive account of everything a thirteen-year-old would find compelling about Provence inside. It even had a symbol key to identify what kind of day it was, what type of business went down, and so on. (Tags, anyone?) Those who know me well will probably not find this surprising.
So, seven-plus years later, I imagine this modernized version will be similarly nerdy ("Ooh! I learned how to play Boules today!!!" --7/12/01) but hopefully just as earnest ("Today a Parisian found out I was American and liked me anyway!!"). I am traveling in Greece for two weeks in August with my dear friend Emily before spending 14 weeks in Paris, at the University of Chicago Paris Center, taking Civ in French.
My expectations for this blog are, well, not "low," (my academic well-being for the quarter, on the other hand...) but "relaxed". I expect no heart-stopping epiphanies or epic multi-volume adventures from this trip (I feel entitled to ask for no more than to get out in one piece), but I do hope, at the very least, this blog keeps me in touch with you all. Goal-setting seems artificial, so I'll end with establishing a modest (but sincere) ambition: to perfect the art of obnoxiously inserting French into entries, effectively proving my chic cultural savvy and academic elitism. So, here it is, a sort of je-ne-sais-crois, sans effort blog, la pièce de résistence (you bet your ass I included the accents): my chez d'oeuvre in the making. :) Vive la ... yeah, whatever.
