Classes start tomorrow. I'm kind of way excited.

I have come to a decision: I will no long apologize at the beginning of each post for not updating this more frequently. I live life with no regrets! ... Ok, that last statement's not exactly 'true' in the strictest sense of being 'not false' but the point remains: I cannot continue to take up blog space, when I do update, with elaborate promises to update more often which, let's face it, are probably lies anyway.

Having gotten that both out of the way and off my chest, I'm starting classes tomorrow! Taking French classes is a requirement for obtaining an au pair visa, and I'm not sure that I'd be taking them if I wasn't required to, but as I am, I'm excited. If I didn't have the classes I'm sure I could join a language exchange coffee gathering, or something (there are surprisingly many) but I think that having the structured time, hopefully with emphasis on some of the finer grammar points I no longer remember, will be good. Extra instruction in French culture couldn't hurt either.

Not that just being here isn't a lesson in French culture - it certainly is. Did you know that you not only greet by kissing twice on the cheek, you greet those you're especially close to with four kisses? I now know this because one set of grand-parents informed me, the second time they came over, that I was included in the group of people they greet with four kisses. They're very sweet and fun, and both sets of grandparents (the maternal ones came for lunch today) have been lovely. I feel very included in the conversations - and the paternal grandparents have even been to Kenya!

Ok, on to other French cultural lessons. Oh, one of the other au pairs and I had a discussion about this: the food culture. Because in the US having cheese after the meal, or wine with it, is sometimes considered a rich/snobby/pretentious thing to do. Here it's just done. I wonder if perhaps some of the idea that the French are snobby has to do with their association with behaviors we consider pretentious but which are the norm here. And I hope this doesn't make me a pretentious snob when I get back, but ... I want to keep up some of that. Especially the cheese and bread part. Oh how I shall miss 45 centime baguettes when I get back to the US!

And, for your edification, here's the kind of cheese I'm talking about:

Note the mold on the casing the the bits of grass stuck to it. I bought it at the farmer's market in Versailles last Saturday. And despite the somewhat sketchy appearance (and in the end I did cut off the rind before eating it) this cheese was made of awesome. No, really. You've heard of 'La vache qui rit' cheese? The laughing cow? Yeah, this was made by an actually laughing cow. Or goat. Whatever, the point is, nothing this amazing could have come from an animal that wasn't in an excellent mood. And it's that kind of thing (the cheese, not the happy bovines) that I'm really enjoying.

The biggest adjustment, at the moment isn't cultural, though: it's the weather. It's fall now, and starting to get - well, they say it's getting cool, I say it's getting cold. This may be a problem once it actually becomes winter. As an example, yesterday and today I doubled my socks. They are ankle socks and essentially the cheapest Target had to offer, so doubled they're about the thickness of 1.5 pairs of normal socks, but still. I also bought boots, since I didn't own any without heels. Actually, in B'ham last year I just continued to wear my normal ballet flats (or sandals) all winter - I'm a follower of the 'just add trouser socks' mentality. That is not going to work here. Soon I shall also have to invest in warm tights (none of that thin nylon here! we believe in tights that insulate) and probably an additional sweater. La vie!

To bring this post round full-circle, I have decided (in the time it took to write this post) that I am going to make extravagant promises to update more often. This time, though, I have a plan. And yes, I realize my last plan was to update daily with a short post. That lasted ... 3 days? Maybe? But this time (and LCL, you should appreciate this) I am going to make a schedule. This way on certain days I will write emails, on certain days I will update blog, on certain days I will just eat chocolate and pretend to be productive. Everyone wins! Update on which days are blog days will follow. Eventually.