Est-ce que tu t'ennuies?

Benjamin asked me that Tuesday afternoon on the bus, which in English translates "Do you get bored?" He was asking me because I had been talking about school and work. That stuff, plus the fact that he knows I live in a suburb that is much less isolated than our relatively small towns, and that American kids can get their driving licenses when they're 16 years old. He was wondering if I'm ever really bored here, as my life back in Maryland seems so much more exciting.

For one thing, I have to say I never found my Columbia life extraordinarily exciting, but that might just be because I was so used to it. It's true that there's a lot more hustle and bustle than my tiny town, but it's also nothing like a city. But before I draw this out too long talking about the D.C.-Baltimore 'burbs, the answer to Benjamin's question is "No." True, compared to all the things I was doing last year I do a lot more sitting around here. But besides the fact of learning another language, this year is an experience. I observe another culture, learn new customs, traditions, and outlooks, and see a lot of new things. As of yet I haven't been especially bored. And anyways, a year of relaxation is nice before I go to College Park next year and work really hard and do much more balancing of my life than I'm doing this year.

What else is going on? Today there was a teacher's strike, so I only had two hours of class from eight to 10 in the morning. Tomorrow is my easy Friday where I only have three hours of class, so I'm getting a nice start to my weekend. During the weekend I'm probably going to finish Water For Elephants, a book by Sara Gruen that my mom left me and I'm sprinting through cause I think it's really good. Anywho, that's all I have to write for now and I'm going to go read some more and get to bed. I also forgot to mention that I'm reading some Asterix comic books, which is a French comic about a French Gaul in the year 50 BC. They're really amusing stories, so if you can get your hands on them give them a little read. Bonne nuit!