So this past week I've been taking the Bac Blanc...and I'll finish on Friday. The Bac Blanc is a like a midterm final but it also serves the purpose as a mock-Bac. We do all of the testing as if it was the real Bac. On Monday I took the 4 hour long Philosophy test. The worst thing about the Bac is that you don't get breaks! So when you have a 4 hour long test that means that you have to sit in at desk for the entire time and you can only leave when the instructor gives you permission. The advisor for my Philosophy test was dumb and he made us stay until the last fifteen minutes--meaning that we had to sit at our desks for 3 hours and 45 minutes straight! It was ridiculous.
In the afternoon we had the English exam. Of course, for me it wasn't super hard but it was still difficult to stay concentrated for another couple of hours. It's weird to be taking a foreign language class in your native language. There are a lot of things that you I don't realize about English (like grammar, conjugation, etc.) until you have to relearn it from the perspective from another language. At first, I found it to be super boring. Now, I think English class is interesting. Of course I do like the class because I get to relax. However, the English exam for the Bac Blanc was just weird. We had to analyze these two excerpts about segregation and racial tensions in the United States. After, we had to write an essay about our hero (of choice) and then we had to write about the change in civil rights in the US since the 1918 until today from the perspective of an 95 year-old African American living in America. If I was not a native English speaker I would have found the English exam for the Bac very difficult. I will be taking the Bac in July. However, I'm lucky because if I pass the Bac I will be able to say that I have my Bac, otherwise nothing happens!
Yesterday was pretty much the same. In the morning I had an exam in History and Geography. For History, we had to write about the evolution of the German Socialism movement since 1918 until today...WHAT??? I can tell you literally nothing about the Socialism in Germany (even though I took AP European History last year--the info simply doesn't stick you a year later). And for Geography we had to talk about globalization.....Hmmm.....It's gets better though because Tuesday afternoon I took a test in Science. I don't take science class here nor did I understand science in America. The test was bizarre. We had to write an email to a humanitarian organization asking for aid to ameliorate the issue of water sanitation in Somalia. Later on, we were asked to write about why apples turn brown when you sliced them. I'm no Einstein here and I know the answer is pretty simple. I've always wondered why this is but I've thought to look up the answer. (On the exam I answered, "Pourquoi pas?" meaning "why not"--which is not advised and not very polite but I was not exactly in the best mood while taking the Bac Blanc for a class I never took...) I was still bothered by not knowing the answer and so I looked up the answer afterwards. If you would like to know why apples turn brown after you slice them here is your answer! (Click the link) Why apples turn brown! The rest of my Tuesday went much better. I returned home with Olof and Magda. We made banana bread and watched the movie "Happiness Therapy" ("Silver Linings" in the US).
Today I didn't have any subject exams for the Bac Blanc so I didn't have school! I went over to Lea's house with Magda to study. It was actually more like she explained what the heck was going on in economics to us the entire time. For lunch we had Dominos pizza. Yes, there is a Domino's pizza in Châtellerault. The pizzas here are different than the US. A lot of dough, not a lot of sauce and not a lot of cheese. Also, the pizzas from Domino's are super pricey! Normally, a pizza here is 10 euros (so around 13 dollars for each pizza). Afterwards, some more friends came over to study and so Magda and I lost all motivation to continue studying. After all, we're exchange students so studying is not a priority, right?
Here's some fun vocabulary I learned:
baver: to drool
s'assoupir: to doze off
laisser tomber: to give up
ça m'est égal: I don't care (the polite way)
je m'en fiche: I don't care (another polite way)
je m'en fous: I don't give a shit (or fuck, whichever is preferred...either way it's definitely not polite)
la motivation: motivation
fatigué(e): tired
Can you find the theme?
Tomorrow, I get to do a 5 hour economy test. Youpi!!! Wish me luck ;)
-Becca
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