So, I decided to do this so I could keep anyone interested (most likely just my mother) informed of ma vie en France!
My flight into London was pretty miserable. We sat squished all together with barely enough room to breathe. Forget moving your arms and legs. Then again, it didn’t end up being a big deal anyways because they all went numb and you couldn’t move them if you tried within the first 4 hours. I sat next to a sweet elderly British couple who kept getting into witty little arguments, and were really fun to listen to. The woman sat next to me and told me about a study they did in the poor houses of England once, where they determined how much room a person needed to be happy. And since then people stopped caring and just crammed everyone into smaller and smaller places for money purposes. This was her theory on why the plane was arranged like it was. I watched a couple movies and then decided to try to get some sleep, but they kept bringing me food and drinks. A thoughtful act but most of us wanted to be asleep at that point. I ended up sleeping maybe 3 hours on and off tops. Needless to say I was a bit miserable at that point.
The plane landed about a half hour early in Heathrow airport in London and automatically I was ecstatic and refreshed. All my life I had dreamt of going to London and here I was! I tried my best not to jump out of my skin with excitement as I wandered around the airport. But by the time I got to my terminal I was jet lagging a bit. Then came the good news that my flight had been delayed an hour and a half. So I had gotten there early and was leaving late. Perfect. I don’t know if you have ever been in Heathrow, but the place is an upscale shopping mall with an airport thrown in for good measure. So I dragged my dying, sleep deprived body from store to store looking at the overpriced goods. I sat down in a random terminal and tried to turn on my computer, but you had to pay for internet service so I shut it back down and pulled out a book instead. I was trying really hard to stay awake so that when I finally did get to Lyon and it was night time I’d fall asleep and be in decent shape for the day ahead. But, two paragraphs into where I was reading I face planted into my book and was dead to the world. I woke up with just enough time to get to my terminal, sit down, start to doze off again and then get called up for general boarding to Lyon.
Once we got on the already delayed flight, they told us our taxi had broken down and we had to wait another 45 minutes or so to get a new one before we could take off. Of course I just slept, but it would have been nice to been off in time. When we took off I got a Dr.Pepper to keep me awake for the rest of the flight and tucked into my ipod. I wanted to see us fly over the English channel. No way I was missing this. As we took off from Heathrow I fell in love with the sweet brick English houses, and the double decker buses I saw driving around. I really wanted to stay there. But! Onto the next adventure.
We were flying over the French countryside just as the shadows were starting to get long. The lakes and rivers all turned to ribbons and flecks of gold in the deep green of the farmlands. Only occasionally did I see a village with red tiled roofs and dirt roads go by. Half way through the flight they switched to all French instructions. That’s when my stomach began to turn. There were little to few English speakers after this point. I hadn’t been really nervous my whole trip over. I guess I was just caught up in the trip. But once I realized I would be hearing nothing but French from this point on sent me spinning.
When we landed the nervousness was in full swing. I would have done anything for another American to speak to. I refused to even settle for British at this point, I wanted another American. We went through customs, which was literally them stamping your passport and you walking through a door. French and American security systems are quite a bit different. There was a girl standing next to me waiting for baggage. She looked pretty lost herself and I wondered if it was her first time to France. I looked down and she was holding an American passport. SCORE! I asked her if that’s all customs was and she said she had no idea. We kept talking and found out we were on the same study abroad program. What are the odds, eh? Her name is Felicia and she’s from Tempe. She’s a pretty cool girl so far.
Once Felicia and I got our bags and wandered around trying to find Professor Canovas we decided we were lost. We tried a phone which got angry at us and after 3 failed attempts to dial a number, changed to English instructions and told us to hang up the phone. So, we kept wandering. Professor Canovas finally found us and said his train had been rerouted because of some problem with the tracks. So we got a taxi and hopped in. As we drove out of the airport, we were a bit out of town. I kept thinking besides the French signs everything looked a lot like just outside of Salt Lake. Very green, a few trees, and lots of fields. When we got in the city it wasn’t quite what I had expected. We drove through the modern part of town, which looked like it could be an American city. Only the driving was a bit different. There was lots of swerving was involved and little to no signals. It was pretty frightening I won’t lie. We got to a hotel were Prof Canovas paid for a room for us until we could move into the dorms. The rooms were tiny, almost the same size as the actual dorm room but they had a bed, decent showers and free wifi which is what I wanted at the moment.
We both tried to contact family and friends which was a little difficult because of the time difference but, it was nice to have a little contact with the outside world. I flicked through the TV and found a few American movies dubbed over in French. They got annoying after a while, because that was definitely NOT Gerard Butler’s voice, so we shut it off and went to bed. The morning was difficult. Felicia and I got dressed and went down to a breakfast buffet that came with our room. With no instruction from the waiter we just went towards a table and were suddenly converged upon by two people with rapid instructions in French on what we were doing wrong. One asked if we were there for our breakfast and without thinking I accidently said yes in English. The man sort of exhaled like he didn’t want to be rude to the stupid Americans, and in poor English told us to eat the table. We figured out he meant that the buffet was over on the other side of the restaurant where we would be seated.
We ate quickly and left, not wanting to get in anymore trouble. We walked around the block once, and through a closed air market across the street. The market was a weird combination to me. It was everything you would expect, little vendors selling mostly fish, meat, cheese, pastries and wine. And yet tiny upscale restaurants were crammed in there as well. Once prof Canovas got there we took another taxi to where we would be living for the next four months. We got the chance to drive through the main part of the city, which is more what I was expecting. Old beautiful buildings, small winding streets, and lots of people wandering around. We got to our dorms, which are inside and old 19th century military fort. Huge studded Iron doors are at the entrance but have stone doorjams now so they are always partially open. The walls are the beautiful old yellow stone and brick with the black marks of time all over them. The whole thing is set on a very steep hill and dragging our luggage up the old roads was a pain. We saw more of the old military barracks, and modern buildings build around them. In one of the courtyards prof Canovas pointed out ruins of old roman aqueducts that used to bring water to the city hundreds of years ago. My building was built in the 1960s I believe, has no elevators and shared bathrooms and a kitchen. The rooms are quaint, newly repainted and blue vinyl floors. We have a desk, bookshelf, and bed. Everything is nice, but I’m having a little trouble working some of the doorknobs and locks. I thought I locked myself in the bathroom already once today, and couldn’t get my dorm room door open for about 15 minutes. The view out my window is beautiful. I can see back to the older part of town with the big buildings and the cathedral of the city on the top of the hill. And lots of trees.
We met another of the girls on our program, Melinda. Shes a really sweet girl who already has done a yearlong study abroad in Spain. Two more came in tonight, Brokay and Sarah. The last of us gets in tomorrow. Felicia, Melinda and I got a chance to wander in old town shopping to pick up some lunch and other things, like I bought shampoo. I went with the cheapest, but still French looking shampoo I could find. They have lots of American shampoos here, but I wanted to see the difference in American and French hair care. Haha, Hopefully my hair doesn’t fall out or something. The public transportation system here is a lot of fun. We have to walk a ways to get to the rail car, which takes us to the metro, to take us anywhere. Confusing but, really kind of neat. I’ve always loved going on trains and things like that. I only saw a bit of old town today while we were shopping, but it was incredible. Professor Canovas is going to take us on a tour of the city next week and explain the historical context, which of course I’m incredibly excited for. I can’t wait to go to the cathedral I can see from here, I bet it is exquisite.
After everyone got settled in tonight, we got together and talked. Two other girls from our dorm joined us. There was Jean-Marie from northern France and Phuyng from Vietnam. I guess our residence is an international one. There are people here from Spain, England, and lots of other places too. One of the girls who came on this study abroad program last year, and loved it so much she just decided to enroll in school and live here came up to see us too. Her name is Allma. She took Melinda Felicia and I out to get a kebap and wander around the more touristy part of town. Tall old buildings with beautiful architecture and tiny cobblestone streets winded around until we were suddenly on a bridge over the Roan and were looking back at the two major cathedrals in the city. Everything was all lit up and it was absolutely incredible.
I think I’ve already fallen in love with this city, and it’s only been one full day here. I would have a harder time if I didn’t have anyone else to speak English to I think, but I’m getting along really well with everyone I’ve met so far. I am kind of understanding how terrible my French is. I’ve been able to make small conversation but I think all the other girls have me beat in terms of semesters they’ve studied. At first I was kind of worried about the placement exam, but I was on the cable cars today and I kinda figured that I should just really put down what I know because I really do want a good understanding of the language. I want to work really hard and be able to be solid. And I can’t do that if I cram for the placement exam and start somewhere I’m not. I just want to get to work. Now that I’m here and see what a difficult process this will be, I really want to get started. I want to better communicate with the people around me.
That’s about all I have to report so far. We don’t have internet yet in our rooms (I wrote this in my room while I was bored, much to your dismay because I had time to write with excruciating and irritating detail, and then pasted it to the blog) and we won’t until school starts so we have to go to the McDonalds here because it’s the only place with free wifi. So, sorry if I don’t get on the internet very much yet. I will once I get the password to it here.
Love you all. I’ll try to update soon.
When we landed the nervousness was in full swing. I would have done anything for another American to speak to. I refused to even settle for British at this point, I wanted another American. We went through customs, which was literally them stamping your passport and you walking through a door. French and American security systems are quite a bit different. There was a girl standing next to me waiting for baggage. She looked pretty lost herself and I wondered if it was her first time to France. I looked down and she was holding an American passport. SCORE! I asked her if that’s all customs was and she said she had no idea. We kept talking and found out we were on the same study abroad program. What are the odds, eh? Her name is Felicia and she’s from Tempe. She’s a pretty cool girl so far.
Once Felicia and I got our bags and wandered around trying to find Professor Canovas we decided we were lost. We tried a phone which got angry at us and after 3 failed attempts to dial a number, changed to English instructions and told us to hang up the phone. So, we kept wandering. Professor Canovas finally found us and said his train had been rerouted because of some problem with the tracks. So we got a taxi and hopped in. As we drove out of the airport, we were a bit out of town. I kept thinking besides the French signs everything looked a lot like just outside of Salt Lake. Very green, a few trees, and lots of fields. When we got in the city it wasn’t quite what I had expected. We drove through the modern part of town, which looked like it could be an American city. Only the driving was a bit different. There was lots of swerving was involved and little to no signals. It was pretty frightening I won’t lie. We got to a hotel were Prof Canovas paid for a room for us until we could move into the dorms. The rooms were tiny, almost the same size as the actual dorm room but they had a bed, decent showers and free wifi which is what I wanted at the moment.
We both tried to contact family and friends which was a little difficult because of the time difference but, it was nice to have a little contact with the outside world. I flicked through the TV and found a few American movies dubbed over in French. They got annoying after a while, because that was definitely NOT Gerard Butler’s voice, so we shut it off and went to bed. The morning was difficult. Felicia and I got dressed and went down to a breakfast buffet that came with our room. With no instruction from the waiter we just went towards a table and were suddenly converged upon by two people with rapid instructions in French on what we were doing wrong. One asked if we were there for our breakfast and without thinking I accidently said yes in English. The man sort of exhaled like he didn’t want to be rude to the stupid Americans, and in poor English told us to eat the table. We figured out he meant that the buffet was over on the other side of the restaurant where we would be seated.
We ate quickly and left, not wanting to get in anymore trouble. We walked around the block once, and through a closed air market across the street. The market was a weird combination to me. It was everything you would expect, little vendors selling mostly fish, meat, cheese, pastries and wine. And yet tiny upscale restaurants were crammed in there as well. Once prof Canovas got there we took another taxi to where we would be living for the next four months. We got the chance to drive through the main part of the city, which is more what I was expecting. Old beautiful buildings, small winding streets, and lots of people wandering around. We got to our dorms, which are inside and old 19th century military fort. Huge studded Iron doors are at the entrance but have stone doorjams now so they are always partially open. The walls are the beautiful old yellow stone and brick with the black marks of time all over them. The whole thing is set on a very steep hill and dragging our luggage up the old roads was a pain. We saw more of the old military barracks, and modern buildings build around them. In one of the courtyards prof Canovas pointed out ruins of old roman aqueducts that used to bring water to the city hundreds of years ago. My building was built in the 1960s I believe, has no elevators and shared bathrooms and a kitchen. The rooms are quaint, newly repainted and blue vinyl floors. We have a desk, bookshelf, and bed. Everything is nice, but I’m having a little trouble working some of the doorknobs and locks. I thought I locked myself in the bathroom already once today, and couldn’t get my dorm room door open for about 15 minutes. The view out my window is beautiful. I can see back to the older part of town with the big buildings and the cathedral of the city on the top of the hill. And lots of trees.
We met another of the girls on our program, Melinda. Shes a really sweet girl who already has done a yearlong study abroad in Spain. Two more came in tonight, Brokay and Sarah. The last of us gets in tomorrow. Felicia, Melinda and I got a chance to wander in old town shopping to pick up some lunch and other things, like I bought shampoo. I went with the cheapest, but still French looking shampoo I could find. They have lots of American shampoos here, but I wanted to see the difference in American and French hair care. Haha, Hopefully my hair doesn’t fall out or something. The public transportation system here is a lot of fun. We have to walk a ways to get to the rail car, which takes us to the metro, to take us anywhere. Confusing but, really kind of neat. I’ve always loved going on trains and things like that. I only saw a bit of old town today while we were shopping, but it was incredible. Professor Canovas is going to take us on a tour of the city next week and explain the historical context, which of course I’m incredibly excited for. I can’t wait to go to the cathedral I can see from here, I bet it is exquisite.
After everyone got settled in tonight, we got together and talked. Two other girls from our dorm joined us. There was Jean-Marie from northern France and Phuyng from Vietnam. I guess our residence is an international one. There are people here from Spain, England, and lots of other places too. One of the girls who came on this study abroad program last year, and loved it so much she just decided to enroll in school and live here came up to see us too. Her name is Allma. She took Melinda Felicia and I out to get a kebap and wander around the more touristy part of town. Tall old buildings with beautiful architecture and tiny cobblestone streets winded around until we were suddenly on a bridge over the Roan and were looking back at the two major cathedrals in the city. Everything was all lit up and it was absolutely incredible.
I think I’ve already fallen in love with this city, and it’s only been one full day here. I would have a harder time if I didn’t have anyone else to speak English to I think, but I’m getting along really well with everyone I’ve met so far. I am kind of understanding how terrible my French is. I’ve been able to make small conversation but I think all the other girls have me beat in terms of semesters they’ve studied. At first I was kind of worried about the placement exam, but I was on the cable cars today and I kinda figured that I should just really put down what I know because I really do want a good understanding of the language. I want to work really hard and be able to be solid. And I can’t do that if I cram for the placement exam and start somewhere I’m not. I just want to get to work. Now that I’m here and see what a difficult process this will be, I really want to get started. I want to better communicate with the people around me.
That’s about all I have to report so far. We don’t have internet yet in our rooms (I wrote this in my room while I was bored, much to your dismay because I had time to write with excruciating and irritating detail, and then pasted it to the blog) and we won’t until school starts so we have to go to the McDonalds here because it’s the only place with free wifi. So, sorry if I don’t get on the internet very much yet. I will once I get the password to it here.
Love you all. I’ll try to update soon.
An amazing start to a great adventure. I love it.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! What fun! I remember when I got of the plane in Hawaii all I wanted to do was find someone from the main land. Then when I to my house and saw someone I nearly knocked her down with a hug...and then I cried! But it was well worth it! Good luck~ And keep the stories coming.. LOVE YOU!
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