I had quite a productive day today, going to my 8am Macro-Economie class, my 10:30 appointment with the Office of French Immigration and Immersion (OFII) where I had to to the absolutely most in-depth physical I have ever had (read below), went to the library to recheck-out my Chinese books, went to SRI (Service des Relations Internationales) to get my OFII stamp which I paid 55 Euros for as part of my long-stay student visa, made some corrections to my pedagogical contract for the university, went to and succeeded in my Chinese class, and did my shopping (but forgot to buy butter). *Phew* Sadly enough I also needed to go to the train station to ask about some details for my mom and I's trip but I just couldn't muster the energy to take an extra 15 minutes of walking. That's on tomorrow's to-do list. Left for tonight is some French Geography - by the way it's official that I can name all 96 department of France on a map (not to mention the 22 regions, 22 capitals of those regions, 40 rivers, and all major natural landmarks). But I try to review everyday given that my test is this Friday. Also this Friday is my presentation for Techniques de Commerce and I am so worried!! But I know that when the moment arrives I'm going to do fine. Either that or completely be horrible, I guess, lol we'll call it 75-25 as opposed to 50-50.
Before I tell about my slightly invasive, definitely way in-depth medical exam, I wanted to make a linguistic note for when I look back to my blog as reference point. Not only I, but all my anglophone friends with whom I spend a great deal of time while at our containers, are getting fed up with feeling "stupid". Though I am told many times a day that I speak French very well, the fact of the matter remains that I speak below the level of a kindergartener when I mix up the genders of nouns, and I hate not being able to participate as actively in group conversations (actually that basically kills me since usually I lead them - actually to continue on that point I still lead them even out here, because I just cannot sit back and follow, I just don't lead as defiantly as normal, because I need verification that what I said was correct, etc). But back to my original topic, After being here almost a month and half, I have had to feel under-competent in social situations for that full month and a half. And as of quite recently it finally occurred to me how excited I was to go back home and do homework, a group project, a presentation, whatever, in my native language. It will seem so easy, I will feel more intelligent; all in all it will just be so gratifying. It is amazing how stupid I feel because my French friends never hear me speak English (because of course I am here practicing French) and therefore they really have no idea about my scholastic/experiential knowledge because these things are too difficult to really express in a foreign language. Right now I am concentrating on actively participating in conversations, telling stories, and understanding the spoken scholastic material of my professors (which actually up until now has been quite easy for me). But I guess you could just say that all of us are a little tired of feeling like we have to speak at the level of a middle schoolers, because we are university students, and our friends here are university students, on comprend?
Ok, the medical visit. So I show up expecting that this was just going to be a basic, basic exam (blood pressure etc) and for the most part the verification that my previously taken blood sample, urine sample, and lung x-rays were normal and therefore permitting of my resting in France. Was I ever wrong. First of all I would just like to say to all girls who ever want to travel abroad to France and have to go through this bureaucratic inauguration to stay for the duration of their studies, DO NOT WEAR TIGHTS! As I was not expecting this to be any sort of big deal, plus I never have need of bare ankle accessibility at home when I go to the doctor, I didn't even think that this would be a barrier this morning when I was thinking rather at keeping warm. Well, I am starting to get out of order so let me start at the beginning. So I enter and the nurse and I have a 15 minute discussion about family health history, my personal daily habits (which I think is weird because obviously I have been in a brand new country for a month so my "habits" are all completely different, in particular those pertaining to eating and hobbies, but oh well). Then we did an eye exam (as if someone is going to send me back because I can' see clearly....) Then a hearing exam where I was shut up in the room -that I thought was sound-proof until someone entered during my exam and I could hear them walking around so I wasn't sure if I was hearing the little beeps or the other activities - and I was wearing headphones that were too big for my head, but I still passed with flying colors, though the same evaluation is still applicable: is someone going to send me back to America because I can't hear? Maybe actually, knowing France. After that the nurse asked me to take off my shoes and all my shirts except bra so that I could be weighed and have my height measured. The good news is my weight is accurate I guess, except my bra, tights, and underwear... darn it how I hate when they don't go for perfection! And after I found out that I now weigh 53kilos and am 1m68cm tall, I was asked to lie down on the exam bed thing because we were going to check my heart. I was thinking to myself that this probably meant my blood pressure, which it did, in addition to having nodes (I guess, I'm not really sure what they were actually) suctioned all over my chest and left side of my stomach, including clamps on my wrists and ankles. That was when the nurse noticed my tights, after she had already stuck all these things all over my chest area and arms and therefore she had to personally remove my tights for me so that she could clamp the things on my ankles. At this point I was just close to laughter for three reasons, one because no one told me what to expect so I was so poorly prepared, two, because they have to take such detailed information to verify that I am not contagious with some dangerous disease that is going to infect all of France, and three, because those suction cup things on my rib cage were totally tickling me. Oh, and I forgot to mention that there was a blood-pressure band on my left arm. So then at this point I am ready for the heart exam which they do three times to compare. Really I didn't feel anything at all (except those darn suction cups) but I did have to lie there awkwardly just trying to not think about my heart beat or breathing, something that is very difficult to do when in these types of situations. Then before the heart tests were finished she took my blood pressure three times, once in the left arm and then twice in the right arm, and finally I was done. Don't forget that at this point I am still in my bra and underwear and now get to dress myself, which is just another reason why I so wish I hadn't worn tights. They are just not easy nor graceful to put on, but I managed in a fairly short amount of time to put all my clothing back on. Then I was asked to wait again in the waiting room to see the doctor who would interpret all the results..... and need me to get undressed again. Luckily the second time I got to keep my tights on but in order to listen to my lungs and measure my waist (again.... sending me back to America because I am too fat? Why take this measurement?) she required that I take off all shirts except bra. Again I can point out the obvious positive aspect of the situation; my waist measurement wasn't made any larger by a single garment on my body - what a relief, but overall I just feel that this whole process was over the top. Overall she said that all my tests were normal except that my blood sugars were a little high which I completely blame on my daily helpings of Nutella, so I am officially trying to cut out some of the sugars that are so available in France from my diet, something that I have never paid attention to before. Of course, this was not a serious level of sugar at all, but I took it as proof that there is not enough food for me to cook in France that I raised my sugars count by eating pastries. Well I'll make some changes and I'll probably go back in a few months to get another blood sample done since it is free for me in France before I return to the United States, and I want to verify that they are back down. But, all that to say, I definitely passed my medical exam and I have all my results to keep as proof, including the lung x-ray which is actually really cool to look at.
Ok well I think this post is long enough for today because I had that rather huge story to tell. But I did want to ask for a reader response to the following question: Do you, my English speaking readers, notice a difference in my English as it is written here (and when I say English I mean everything that pertains to the language; word choice, grammar, etc) because as of late I have noticed that it is becoming more difficult for me to speak/write fluidly in English (I chose "fluidly" in place of "fluently" because obviously I am still fluent in English) because there are always words or phrases from French that insert themselves into my sentences. I actually typed a French word into my sentence and only noticed at the end that it was underlined in red and I couldn't figure out why, and then I realized that that was the wrong language. Anyway, I was just wondering if it is just something that I feel while I am writing in English or if it actually something that those who know me are noticing. Please just respond "yes definitely", "yes, now that you mention it", "no, I don't think so" or "no, definitely not" Or something like that and maybe even an explanation if you know why you think what you think. Thanks!!
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