Bref

I have finalized plans for my return in the fall. Will be coming back to Paris on or around the 2nd of September to start classes again on Monday September 5th. This time around, I will be taking a mixture of group and private classes, something along the lines of

Morning classes + 2 afternoon workshops (26 hours) x 2 weeks
Morning classes + 1 afternoon workshop + 10 individual classes (33 hours) x 2 weeks

Two weeks off.

Then repeat the same schedule as above. This should take me up to around mid-November, with a projected return date to the U.S. on November 16th. I figure I will need that break in the middle, because 33 hours a week of class, with 10 of those hours being one-on-one is likely to be fairly gruelling. However, I think this is what I need to do to keep up momentum. I plan to leave my books here at a friend's during the summer, which will save a lot of lugging to and from San Francisco; it's not as if I don't have French books at home as well. Though it might be good just to clear my head for a couple of months. I've just about maxed out on my learning for the moment, I think - every night I'm pretty exhausted when I go to bed, though in a good way.

Having figured out a strategy for the fall, knowing I can come back to the same apartment, and not having to worry about schlepping books back and forth all go a long way toward making my departure easier. Because there's no way around it at this point - the final countdown has started. I've even started to write postcards, something I never manage to do before my final week, despite the best of intentions.

As far as this blog is concerned, I will probably take a hiatus of about a month from mid-July until mid-August, then start up again as preparations for the fall trip intensify.

One final operational comment. About a week ago I fiddled with the blog settings to allow anyone to comment, so even if you encountered difficulties in the past, you should now be able to comment. If all else fails, you can leave a comment anonymously - please feel free to do so.