la fin du semestre

Well, folks, we've made it to (almost) the end... Today was the last day of classes! Holy crap!! I just can't believe how quickly this semester has gone by. Luckily, I have a couple of weeks left in France yet (and plenty of adventures on the to-do list before I go!).

Last night was also the UW group's final dinner at Anne-Marie's. It makes me so sad to think that I won't be able to get in on more traditional French dinners with such wonderful people! Andre took the group to the Casino Supermarche down the street before dinner and gave us a brief lesson in wine, and everyone bought a bottle (or four, in Michael's case! Yikes.) to save for themselves, to use to celebrate the end of the semester, or to give to their families. I have yet to figure out exactly how I'll get my 10-euro 2007 Chablis home without it getting destroyed, but I'm plotting. I want to save it for a special occasion, to be determined in the future.

A big group of us got together a few nights ago and went ice skating, or "nous avons fait de la patinoire", at a skating rink right on campus. We had a great time! I hadn't been ice skating in years, so how fun to go in France! I also recently went back to the Christmas Market downtown and took some more photos, as well as chatted with a French couple about life in Nantes while eating "Bretzels" (they use a 'B' instead of a 'P'!) and drinking vin chaud. :) I'm sure gonna miss it here!!!

Next up on the docket- finals! They shouldn't be too terrible; I have three written finals on Monday, but they're nothing I can study for because they're either essays or comprehension-based. I'm pretty good at that stuff, so I should be just fine. My only other final is an oral exam on Wednesday morning. Before and after those times, I'm in the clear! I'm going to Toulouse the 11th - 14th, which I'm SO excited about!! My parents very kindly gave me some money for my birthday, which I used to finally buy some souvenirs for myself, the craziest of which are my train tickets to Toulouse and back. :) It looks like a beautiful city, and even though I'm going by me onesy, I figured, 'why the heck not??' I'm only in France once, I've been wanting to go there since I got the A-Okay to go to France in the first place, so I feel like I'd miss out if I didn't go.

Anyway, after Toulouse, I'll have another week in Nantes before I need to check out of the dorms and head up to Paris for a night to check out the Christmas lights and rest up before I fly out on the 22nd. I can't believe how many amazing, incredible experiences I've packed into the last four months!! Talk about a life-changing and inspiring epoque of my youth. This has been so fantastic and just as perfect as I had hoped it would be.