After how many months of planning, I’m finally in Bordeaux. It’s bizarre but pretty good so far. My French is driving me crazy…I’ve spoken more in French in the last 3-4 days than I think I did in 2 years of French classes. I keep forgetting, though, that everyone isn’t speaking in French to be mean to me but because it’s the only way we can communicate. It’s overwhelming because everyone has different accents- I was just getting used to the Parisien accent of Viviana, the program coordinator, and now I have to learn the Northern French accents of my host parents and then the Bordelais accent of everyone else. And then there’s my accent. My room is very nice- my bed is basically a futon but it’s nice to have somewhere to sit during the day. I have a little closet and some shelves, a desk…I guess all the normal stuff. I also have a hot plate and a fridge, and Nathalie, my host mom, bought pots and pans for me- if only I knew how to cook. She asked me today if I had a recipe for American cookies. The bathroom is also really nice- the shower is a normal size as opposed to the claustrophobic one in Paris. There are a few difficulties with my room though. I’m a little too tall for the futon/bed so my toes kind of hang off the edge. Also, the door situation is complicated. I have 3 doors in my room- one leading directly to the outside street, one leading to the entryway of the house and one leading to the garage. The problem is that the door to the rest of the house locks from the outside and Nathalie keeps locking it-to keep the little girls out of my room-but that basically locks me in my room. And I don’t quite have the vocabulary to explain that we should probably leave that one unlocked. For the door that leads straight outside, there are about 5 locks on the inside that make it difficult to open from the outside if I leave through the other door and forget to unlock them all. Like I did yesterday. And then had to wake up my host parents when I got back from all my orientation activities. Oops.
Back to the beginning- when we got into the train station at Bordeaux, our new families were there waiting for us. In my case, that was just Eric, my host dad. The drive back wasn’t terribly awkward, I think he realized how overwhelmed I was by the language and everything. When we got to the house, Nathalie and the three girls were there waiting. There’s a 7ish year old named Emma (however, there is a big difference over how we pronounce Emma and how they pronounce it- I thought I had been told the wrong name for her), a 4 year old named Marie and an almost 2 year old named Jeanne. They are very cute, but exhausting. It’s hard because I can’t always understand what they are saying and they can’t always understand what I’m saying and I’m not sure if they understand that I don’t actually speak French. But it’s helpful because they enjoy feeling like they can explain things to me. It’s hard because I want to spend time with them and the family but the communication isn’t great between all of us. They invited me to a picnic tonight but I had no idea what time it was at. And the oldest girl said something this afternoon about how we’re all going to the ocean if it’s nice on Sunday. It’s not that I don’t want to do that, but there’s other activities and plans to make so it would be helpful to have more concrete information from them. I think they assume that I’m going to be here and eat with them, which is nice because I’m only paying for 2 meals, but in my mind if I don’t say I’m definitely eating here, it means I’m going out. Je ne sais pas…
The French university system is very different that ours- the schedules for most of the classes haven’t been announced yet so I still have no idea what I’m taking. There are some orientation activities through the University next week so that should be helpful to at least meet some other students. There’s a program that assigns a French student with an International student so I have a “marraine” named Marion that I’m meeting on Monday.
I miss American food, but nothing concrete. I just a little tired of either baguettes or really complicated food. I was talking to a French couple at the picnic who had visited Wisconsin last summer and they were saying how simple American food is. I don’t know if that’s always true, but here I haven’t had anything but elaborate sauces and things like that. It’s amazing because maybe the French eat smaller portions, but they still eat quite a bit. Every meal requires salad, a main course, desert, wine, coffee/tea…even at restaurants you can get all that for just a few euros more than the plain entrée.
I’m also getting used to living somewhere where I have no idea how to get around. Bordeaux is actually a city, unlike Woodstock or Middlebury, so I’ve gotten lost a few times so far. Maybe more than a few times. But I’m learning. And I have lots of maps. I bought my tram/bus pass the other day so now I can take the public transportation whenever I need to, but it doesn’t go very close to where I live. It’s weird because I live so close to the center of town that there’s no bus line or anything so I actually have to walk the most but I live the closest. I’ve also noticed that I say “bizarre” all the time because it’s the French equivalent of “weird” and applies to nearly everything in my life here.
Yesterday was hard because my life has been so all over the place I nearly forgot about my dad and my sister's birthday. And then they didn't answer when I called from skype...I'm going to try again tonight I hope, as I babysit the three little girls.
Back to the beginning- when we got into the train station at Bordeaux, our new families were there waiting for us. In my case, that was just Eric, my host dad. The drive back wasn’t terribly awkward, I think he realized how overwhelmed I was by the language and everything. When we got to the house, Nathalie and the three girls were there waiting. There’s a 7ish year old named Emma (however, there is a big difference over how we pronounce Emma and how they pronounce it- I thought I had been told the wrong name for her), a 4 year old named Marie and an almost 2 year old named Jeanne. They are very cute, but exhausting. It’s hard because I can’t always understand what they are saying and they can’t always understand what I’m saying and I’m not sure if they understand that I don’t actually speak French. But it’s helpful because they enjoy feeling like they can explain things to me. It’s hard because I want to spend time with them and the family but the communication isn’t great between all of us. They invited me to a picnic tonight but I had no idea what time it was at. And the oldest girl said something this afternoon about how we’re all going to the ocean if it’s nice on Sunday. It’s not that I don’t want to do that, but there’s other activities and plans to make so it would be helpful to have more concrete information from them. I think they assume that I’m going to be here and eat with them, which is nice because I’m only paying for 2 meals, but in my mind if I don’t say I’m definitely eating here, it means I’m going out. Je ne sais pas…
The French university system is very different that ours- the schedules for most of the classes haven’t been announced yet so I still have no idea what I’m taking. There are some orientation activities through the University next week so that should be helpful to at least meet some other students. There’s a program that assigns a French student with an International student so I have a “marraine” named Marion that I’m meeting on Monday.
I miss American food, but nothing concrete. I just a little tired of either baguettes or really complicated food. I was talking to a French couple at the picnic who had visited Wisconsin last summer and they were saying how simple American food is. I don’t know if that’s always true, but here I haven’t had anything but elaborate sauces and things like that. It’s amazing because maybe the French eat smaller portions, but they still eat quite a bit. Every meal requires salad, a main course, desert, wine, coffee/tea…even at restaurants you can get all that for just a few euros more than the plain entrée.
I’m also getting used to living somewhere where I have no idea how to get around. Bordeaux is actually a city, unlike Woodstock or Middlebury, so I’ve gotten lost a few times so far. Maybe more than a few times. But I’m learning. And I have lots of maps. I bought my tram/bus pass the other day so now I can take the public transportation whenever I need to, but it doesn’t go very close to where I live. It’s weird because I live so close to the center of town that there’s no bus line or anything so I actually have to walk the most but I live the closest. I’ve also noticed that I say “bizarre” all the time because it’s the French equivalent of “weird” and applies to nearly everything in my life here.
Yesterday was hard because my life has been so all over the place I nearly forgot about my dad and my sister's birthday. And then they didn't answer when I called from skype...I'm going to try again tonight I hope, as I babysit the three little girls.
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