Dude, I got this (Dude, j'ai ça)

So I had no reason at all to be nervous about my class; I'm exactly where I should be. I understood probably 85% of everything my (awesome) professor said, and even though I feel like I'm a little sub-standard on pronunciation, I think the class will help a ton, plus I'm setting up with a language partner tomorrow. The class is so so cool though because there are only 2 Americans, Kelly and me, and then Chinese, Brazilian, Syrian, Arabic, and Mexican students; and the best part is that French is our only common language so 1) we have to communicate in French but 2) at least we have a common language coming from such different places. And also, I totally was all "American pride" today because it's easy to get cynical when you're surrounded by "stupid Americans" and that's not exotic at all; it was nice to kind of be equally exotic somewhere. But my professor is so funny and doesn't "dumb it down" for us because no one in the real world will; plus she totally loves me because I asked questions and participated and knew what adjectives were. I will say that I've never had to listen so intently to a class, probably ever; if I zone out for a second I'm lost. But being in this class has made me so much more confident about using my French, which will ultimately help me get better more than anything else. Which segues to...Shana, Chris, and I met Ashley, Lexi, and Samantha (new addition to the group) and Cole (one of Shana's classmates) at a restaurant in Grenoble. What we didn't know was that it was a soup kitchen of sorts where they give discount and free meals to people who can't afford it; well we felt terrible at first and apologized profusely, but it worked out perfectly because they were going to just throw that food away because it was the end of the lunch period. Also, we paid for it, which helps them, AND Shana, Chris, and I are most likely going to end up volunteering there. The ladies who were volunteering today (benevol) were so patient with our French and so so good to talk to; one was probably early 60s and the other maybe early 70s. I could have talked to them all day because it just worked so well. I can't even put it into words. Plus now we can interact with other French speakers AND help people at the same time. PERFECT. Shana and I went to the API Office to hang out with our amazing staff there and tell them about our day (we were laughing that it was like running home from the first day of school to tell mom haha). Then we met Cecilia after she got out of class at 4:30 and went and got crêpes, since apparently it's Crêpe Day(?). Then we just walked around and bought school supplies ,totally geeking out the whole time, bien sûr, and they totally helped me find somewhere to pee (haha it was an emergency and public restrooms are sparse); I'm just grateful that I have so many good friends no matter where I go.
On a completely unrelated note, Lost premieres tonight, and even though I'm sad to be missing it, I wouldn't trade it for even the worst second of what I'm doing here.