Merci!

Bonjour encore!

I've decided that even though I'm not in Canada anymore, I'd like to continue my blog, at least every now and then.

First off, I'd like to say merci tout le monde! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my posts over the last five weeks; I appreciate it. If you decide not to read my posts now that I'm back in the US, I won't be offended. I'd like to keep this a things-related-to-French-or-Canada-only blog, so I don't know how interesting it'll be (or how often I'll throw in French words to keep up my vocabulary).

Second, tout le monde me manque! In French, tout le monde is the word for everyone. Literally, it translates to ''all the world''. What a great phrase! In this case, I really do manque, or ''miss'', all the world. It's almost as if all my adventures in Alma over the last five weeks were one amazing dream...a whole new world. I'm trying really hard to recreate parts of the world so that I don't lose my newly-acquired French comprehension, but it's close to impossible. If you've ever gone from hearing, speaking, and thinking almost solely one language and then have entered a world where that language hardly exists, you probably know what I mean. I've been listening to nothing but French music, reading nothing but French literature, and watching lots of French movies since I got back. Sometimes I have conversations in French with myself, or think in French, because I'm trying to hold on to the language. I really wish there was just one person here who I could speak with; I really miss the French.

Movies:

In this blog, I'm going to record every francophone movie I watch, so I know which ones are worth watching again (and so you have some ideas for French movies to watch, if you ever feel like it).

Hier soir, j'ai regardé ''L'enfant''. "L'enfant" is a French film with a somewhat unexpected ending that leaves you thinking ''Quoi?!" Despite the somewhat-disappointing ending, I enjoyed the film. It was fairly simple to comprehend, and the story was interesting enough. I think it was the easiest film to comprehend I've watched thus far. Alors, je se donne 3.5 de 5 étoiles.

Grad School:

I really want to continue learning French. I was so happy studying for class, learning new vocabulary, etc etc etc. Thus, I'd like to somehow combine French and music for grad school. I started researching schools and majors today and discovered ethnomusicology, which seems like possibly the greatest career in the world. Here's why:

-I am not content staying in one place for long periods of time and I don't want to "settle down" anytime soon. There's a whole huge world out there and I want to explore!

-I really don't enjoy playing classical music. I'm constantly asking my percussion teacher if I can find an African marimba piece, learn more about world drumming and other foreign percussion techniques, etc.

-I want to continue learning French. As an ethnomusicology major, I'd be required to learn a second language during my first year of study. Boo ya!

-Ethnomusicologists typically travel to other countries to live with foreign people and learn their musical culture. Need I say more?

-Ethnomusicologists must be good writers :)

-Ethnomusicologists must be open to new and different ways of living.

-When I took the extensive career profiler quiz at CHS, my ideal profession came up as ''museum curator" and I thought "I'd like that". Guess what one career title for an ethnomusicologist is?

-Even if I don't become an ethnomusicologist, majoring in it would give me great eye-opening knowledge I could use in a classroom, AND provide me with ample opportunities for travel.

-Ethnomusicology...what a cool word!

So...I'm seriously considering majoring in ethnomusicology. I really have had no clear idea what I should major that relates to music, and I need to decide by Decemeber! This is the first major I've come across that I really like the sound of. Maybe going to Alma was more than just an excuse to study abroad and improve my French; maybe it'll help me decide on grad school too!

Okay...I'm kind-of psyched about this major right now, so I'm going to go do more research.

À tout a l'heure!

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