Out and About

At last, the weekend arrives!

It has truly been a long week. Yesterday I went to the drawing/painting class, which turned out to be awkward and very strange, so I am not going to go back. Also I don't even know how I would go about buying art supplies here...there was no list of things I would need for the class; when I asked some of the students, they shrugged and gestured towards their melange of random things that they had obviously collected over the years. Oh well. I did meet a girl who was super friendly and told me that I speak French well (so encouraging to hear!). So now I have finally settled on taking a history of modern/contemporary sculpture class, which I had today. The professor was pretty great; she spent most of the class talking about ephemeral art and people like Alexander Calder who enjoyed making toys for kids as well as the incredible sculptures you can find in the National Gallery in D.C. I don't know that much about sculpture, so I think it will be an enriching class for me, especially since it is taught from a French perspective.

Actually I have liked all of the professors I've had so far. Yesterday I had my phonetics class in the morning, which I am sure will be difficult but rewarding. Then I had a class on written expression, which is going to be a butt-kicker, I can tell. The professor was talking about how she knows that we skirt around our mistakes in our writing, but that she is going to make us face them. Yikes! This is what I get for being placed so highly. It seems as though the professors expect you to be very self-motivated; most of my final grades will be based on a couple of tests/papers, I expect. I don't mind though; it's easy to be motivated when your ability to communicate with the people around you depends on it.

Last night I went out with a bunch of girls to a little pizzeria. The owner and waitress realized we were Americans and began speaking English to us immediately, which is normally discouraging and kind of frustrating, but we didn't really feel like trying to blend in, so we just went with it. It was kind of nice, for once. After, we met up with some friends and hung out at a café. One of the monitors, Brice came with us also. It's really nice that he and Yoann, one of the other monitors, hang out with us even though they are not obliged to do so. It forces us to speak French and helps me feel a little less like a stranger. Also we have entirely too much fun exchanging slang and silly expressions in French and English. It was, of course, the infamous "jeudi soir" on which every college student in Rennes gathers at Ste. Anne for a good time. We were nicely cocooned in our café corner, but when we left we encountered the mobs of people on Rue de la Soif (literally Thirsty Street...not even kidding) to push our way through to the other side where we could catch the bus. I don't think I've ever lived in a town where you are sure to run into everyone you know in one little square on a Thursday night.

Weekends here seem to be much quieter because many of the college students go home. This is the last weekend of the sales in France, so the whole world is going shopping tomorrow (including me). Though there are rumors of the possibility of snow, which might keep some people in their cozy homes. Not me! I will bundle up and face the gross weather that is the norm here. I think for my February break, I would like to make my way to the south of France where maybe I will see the sun a few times...

College!

I have to say, things still don't really feel real here. For example, the other day, Scottie and I were walking down a street downtown, and there was a guy on the sidewalk playing songs from Amelie on the accordion. Really, France?

Also, yesterday afternoon we had a wine-tasting with CIEE at Rennes II. A wine expert came in and told us basically the entire history of wine in the western world as well as the differences between wines and how they are made. We tasted four: two white, two red; two French, two American. He made us guess which one was which. Of the white, I liked the American better, and of the red I liked the French better. I guess it just all depends. Needless to say, we all felt very silly drinking wine in a classroom.

As of today, I am finished with the pre-program language/culture course. Yes! Tomorrow, classes will start for real. Admittedly, I am nervous. To update you on my previous statements about class choices, I had some scheduling problems and decided to take a drawing/painting class via direct enrollment at the university. Should be interesting. And scary. What am I even thinking?
Tomorrow I have a class at 8:15 (TOO EARLY!!!) but the trade-off is that as of right now, I don't have class on Fridays. Unfortunately, our schedules are still not set in stone because everyone here is incredibly disorganized and no one decides times for things until well after the last minute. Good grief.

Rennes: my little big city

Now I think is a good time to give you a little taste of what Rennes is like. It is referred to as a petite grande ville, or a little big city. It's true; it has all the characteristics of a big city: a metro, an effective bus system, big old buildings, a bustling downtown, etc. But it feels much more condensed than big cities in the U.S.

This morning (well, I guess it was early afternoon) I walked to the Market with my host mom. We walked around a bit, she bought a few things, and then we went to a bakery to get some little baguettes. By the way, if you don't know, people really do walk around with baguettes tucked under their arms all the time. That, for one, is not an empty stereotype. Then we ducked into a little café where we met Marc, my host dad, and one by one several of his siblings and friends joined us for wine and baguettes. Marc is one of nine and Patty, my host mom, is one of 6, so needless to say their family is enormous. And they all live in Bretagne. I really just can't do the whole drinking wine in the middle of the day thing, so I had a coffee. It was very cute, and they do this every Saturday.

Then I met with the group in front of the Cathedral Ste. Pierre to have a little guided tour of some of the old buildings in Rennes. It would have kept my attention better if the weather hadn't been so gross. It seems to be constantly damp and cold in Rennes. I think I have seen the sun once since I've been here. Oh well.

I think I might go to the movies with the girls tonight. Hooray for dubbed American films. Hehe.

Waiting

It is 5:30 pm here and I am exhausted. What is that all about? These days are really kicking me in the butt. I leave the house at 8:30 and catch the bus to my class at 9, have class until 12, lunch, class for another hour, then take the metro to the university for a lecture/info session/class registration or something. I usually get home around 5:30 or 6. I haven't been in class this much during a day since high school. Also, I have found that being immersed in French is actually very exhausting. But, you know, that is what I signed up for.

Speaking of signing up for things, today we registered for classes. That was really stressful, but I think I made good choices. I decided against directly enrolling in a class at the university because it is more important to me to participate in the assistanat d'anglais internship. That being said, I will be taking 3 language courses, two civilization courses, a course on medieval and renaissance architecture, contemporary art history, and an advanced phonetics class called "l'analyse de la chaine parlée." Also I will be auditing the internship, but only because I'm not allowed to take that many credits. It will basically be like volunteer work.

I'm sure that was all very interesting for all of you.

Today some of us were talking about culture shock. Some people think it's kind of a joke, and others admit to experiencing it recently. Scottie was in on this conversation, but Scottie's version of "culture shock" is very different from mine. She is shocked to find that there are no water fountains anywhere, the doorknobs aren't normal, the toilets function differently, etc. I am shocked to find that I CAN'T COMMUNICATE PROPERLY WITH ANYONE. But I suppose it's different for everyone.

Today, for the first time since I have been in France, I was directly affected by one of the strikes that are currently in motion. (In case you didn't know, the French are known for going on strike all the time). Every day at lunch, we eat in the university cafeteria, but today the workers were on strike, so we wandered off in search of sandwiches. Fortunately for us, there is a bakery every ten steps. Literally.

I am starting to feel a little awkward around my host family. I just don't see them very often, I guess. I see them all at dinner, and then everyone holes up in their rooms. Sometimes I see my host mom in the morning before I leave. But the girls pretty much keep to themselves. I'll get used to it eventually, I guess.

Apologies for the lack of pictures recently. I have just been super busy all the time. I have hope for the weekend.

Settling in, Sort of

So, I finally met everyone in my family! My host parents are really nice, and the girls still won't talk to me, but that, I'm pretty sure, is because they are awkward teenagers and I am a foreign stranger. Actually I had some interactions with Florine today (she is 13, the youngest) because I saw her on the bus and then we decided to switch rooms (she wanted a smaller one and I didn't mind having a bigger one with more places to put things). Anyway, that was good. Last night all of my host parents' daughters came over, one with her baby and husband and one with her boyfriend, and all of the girls were here, so the house was finally full of people. Yay!

I am trying to distract myself from how hungry I am right now. People here don't eat dinner until at least 8:00, which is far from the usual 5:30 or 6 in the Guilford cafeteria. Haha.

I have begun the pre-program intensive language/culture course as of yesterday. For some reason, I was placed in the "advanced" level, which I think is probably a mistake, but I don't really mind my classes being a little more challenging. Speaking of which, I need to do my homework. Yeah, I have homework now. I'm not on vacation anymore...(not that trying to adapt to life in another country is really a vacation)

I am starting to be able to find my way around Rennes a bit, which is nice. I've yet to get totally and desperately lost, which is a miracle.

That is pretty much all I have to say for now. I am going to be in class BEAUCOUP every day for the next week and a half, so that is that.

The Socially Awkward Foreigner

I had been fearing the weekend because my family still isn't here and I don't technically have anything to do for the first time since I've been in France. Yesterday morning, I met with my group to see a bit of downtown; we walked around this big beautiful park and made our way through the Saturday morning market, which was HUGE and incredible. Apparently it is the second largest outdoor market in France, which is impressive since Rennes is not that huge of a city. Then, we ate lunch at a crêperie, and then attempted to buy cell phones. The cell phone buying adventure was a catastrophe; almost all of the sim cards they gave us were duds, so we all had to get back in line for them to give us new ones, and the poor girl at the desk was trying to talk to us in English, and I finally was like "Vous pouvez le dire en francais" (you can say it in French) so she did, which made things easier. It all worked out finally after several hours at the Virgin store.

Then I went home and chilled out for a bit while Jennifer and Max went shopping, then they came back and we just hung out until their friends got here. Jennifer was hosting a "petite soiree," so three of her friends came over. It was incredibly awkward at first; I felt totally out of place and couldn't always follow the conversation. At one point, Max was like "Are you following? We're being mean and speaking too fast, aren't we?" So every once in a while one of them would catch me up on the conversation, which was nice. Honestly, I speak better French after a glass of champagne, not going to lie. And the more they drank, the more they were comfortable talking to me. Sometimes they would comment on my language usage, but not in a mean way. For example, Max (there were two Max's there) was like "you keep saying "oui" and it's much too formal. It's really weird with people your own age. Say "ouai" instead." Which of course I knew, but I was just in the habit of being more polite than impolite. It's hard to kick habits in a language you're not that good at. We mostly just talked, and then we played a game that involved writing down a bunch of names of people that everyone would know and then having to guess them, in teams. Kind of like charades except more complicated. Max and I didn't even lose! We were in second place. They wanted me to go to the discotheque with them, but I declined. They normally don't actually go until about 1 or 2 in the morning.

So as much as I feared that party, it actually turned out to be really fun, and I learned a lot about life here. Heck, if I can survive that, I can do anything.

Today everyone here is going to come over and clean the house before the parents get home tomorrow. I offered to help, but Jennifer insisted that it is their mess, not mine. So I think I will meet up with friends downtown this afternoon so that I'm out of the way.

So It Begins

Alright, so today was my first day at CIREFE, where I will be taking classes. Marie was gone when I woke up this morning, so I ate breakfast with the dog and cats. Jennifer came to show me how to use the bus and the metro, and off we went. I got on the bus, and there was Scottie with her host mother and itty bitty tiny baby adorable French girl. It turns out that she lives really close to me, only two bus stops away. That will be nice because we will have almost the same route to and from school every day. So we took the bus to the metro stop in the center of town, and then took the metro from there to the university. Rennes is the perfect place to live if you, like me, have never lived anywhere with an effective public transportation system. The main reason being, it is impossible to get lost on the metro because there is only one line. Perfect. It is, however, possible to get lost, as I discovered later in the day. That I will tell you about later.

So upon arriving at CIREFE, we took a placement test (perfect thing to do first thing in the morning when you are totally stressed out from leaving the group and not being able to communicate properly with anyone). Then we had a long lecture about important stuff, during which I was thinking about how much I wished my family was actually here. Admittedly, it was really hard to hear everyone talk about things they did with their families and the plans they have for this weekend. I am honestly really frustrated with the whole situation. I talked to Staci about it, but she didn't really have anything helpful to tell me. She said that this has happened in the past with families, but they have always told her well in advance that they would not be there. It's just really awkward right now. Basically Marie and Jennifer are taking turns babysitting me. It especially sucks that I can't communicate with them very well, so they just think I'm an idiot with no personality. Ughh. Oh well. Tonight wasn't so bad. Jennifer's boyfriend, who is very nice, came over and we made some dinner and talked a bit and watched a movie. I met Pauline, who is one of my host sisters. By "met" I mean she walked in the door and started talking to Jennifer about something, looked at me, and continued her conversation. She is 18, but seems younger to me for some reason.

Oh, I forgot the story about getting lost. Right, so after we were done with stuff at CIREFE today, some of us went downtown with Bryce and Yoanne, two of our monitors, to get some coffee or a drink or something. We took the metro to Place de Ste-Anne, which is super adorable and charming. I don't know if you know, but Rennes is a medieval Celtic town, so everything looks...medieval and Celtic. Right. Anyway, it's very pretty. So when I was done with coffee, I decided to go ahead and go home so that Jennifer wouldn't worry about me (because I still have no cell phone or any way to contact anyone...scary? yes.). So I asked Bryce if la Republique was far from where we were. He was like "No! It's right down there, a short walk." So off we went, Scottie and I and some other people, to find the bus stop at Republique. We were fine until suddenly the other two people we were with totally disappeared. We had a map, but it doesn't have street names on it, only metro routes (dumb!!!). So we couldn't figure out exactly where we were. Turns out, we went in the opposite direction that we should have. Oh well. So basically we walked in totally random directions until we found a bus stop. Then we stared at the map for a long time until I decided that we needed to find a different bus stop. So we did, ended up taking the correct bus, I got off at the correct stop, and correctly found my way back to the house. You really should be proud of me because I have the worst sense of direction in the entire world.

Anyway, tomorrow I am meeting everyone downtown tomorrow morning for a little tour of the centre-ville de Rennes.

à bientôt!

Real Life

Oh gosh, there is honestly way too much to say, and I am exhausted, but I will give you my life in brief:

Today was by far the craziest day yet, even though I spent most of it on a bus. We left Paris for Rennes via Chartres. We stopped in Chartres to see a cathedral (Notre Dame de Chartres) and that was really incredible. We had the best tour guide ever (an elderly, adorable British man who had a fantastic sense of humor) who absolutely adored the cathedral and everything about it. Understandably so. It was magnificent. He told us that it is the largest, oldest, and most well-preserved cathedral in Europe. Crazy.

We ate some lunch and departed for Rennes. We received a long lecture from Daniel and Staci about culture shock and what to expect that evening when we would be meeting/leaving with our host families. Staci actually gave her part in English, which was very strange, but she wanted to make sure we understood every word she said about how to handle living with a host family. After their lecture, we were called, one by one, to the front of the bus where Staci would reveal to us who our families are and tell us a bit about them. It was so nerve-racking, you wouldn't even believe it. I was sitting in the back of the bus, and was, therefore, last. Oh gosh. One of our monitors found out that Scottie and I play music together, and also that I so happened to have a guitar on the bus, so he insisted that we played (I mean, puppy eyes to the extreme) so we sang songs to ease our nerves. When I finally found out about my family, this is what I learned: it is a couple with three daughters who are 21, 26, and 30. None of them live at home. However, they are foster parents for three girls who are 13, 16, and 18. When I went to meet them, however, I was picked up by the 21 year old, Marie, who told me that her parents are in Senegal on vacation (they have a house there). Also, the other girls are not here either. Soooo it is just me and Marie right now, and then tomorrow it will be me, Jennifer, and one of the girls, and on Monday everyone will be here. For now, it is weird. Tomorrow morning I have to navigate the bus/metro system to find my way to the universtiy to take a placement test, so I am going to bed now. Bon soir!

Paris in the Snow

Today I woke up and peeked out my window to find everything covered in a layer of fresh snow. I don't think it snows in Paris very often, but it sure is pretty.

After breakfast, we split up into two groups, and I went with one group to Montmartre where we explored a little bit and then found our way to Sacré-Coeur, the giant basilica on the top of the hill. We climbed up about a million stairs, turned around, and beheld a spectacular view of Paris which my camera really could not capture. The basilica itself was incredible; there was a service in progress when we went in, and I think their organ is temporarily broken, which is sad, but the nuns were singing a capella which was pretty wonderful, echoing throughout the basilica's hugeness. After, we wandered around Montmartre for a bit and then headed back to the hostel for lunch.
Then, as a group, we all went to the Hotel de Ville. Honestly, I didn't really know it existed before today (didn't do my research. Oops), so I had no idea what to expect. We were lead into a giant building after handing over our bags and going through a metal detector. Clearly this place is important to the Parisians. Once inside, a woman began telling us about the building, and what I heard was actually surprising and (I thought) really interesting. It was incredibly beautiful, ornately decorated, and painted all over with scenes that were representative of Paris. She told us that the building had never been a king's palace or the living place of any important person. It belonged to the people. It was the people's palace. In the largest room, there are huge mirrors lining one wall, and windows looking out on the streets of Paris on the other. At Versailles there is a room (the hall of mirrors) where there are tons of mirrors that reflect the grandeur of the gardens outside. The ones at Hotel de Ville reflected the streets of Paris, which truly belong to the Parisians. Anyway, I'm getting carried away, but I learned a lot of incredibly interesting things about French/Parisian history while I was there. Also, after a while, I had completely forgotten that our guide was speaking French.

After that, I went to get coffee with Scottie, another girl, and our two monitrices, Barbara and Juliette. We went to Starbucks (ughhhh) because that's where Barbara and Juliette wanted to go. I thought it was pretty funny, but after a while I learned that there is no Starbucks in Rennes, and Barbara likes to go there to eat cheesecake. Apparently no one in France eats cheesecake, so Starbucks is one of the few places you can find it. It was Juliette's first time eating cheesecake EVER. She liked it.

In the evening, we took a boat ride on the Seine, which was lovely and provided an incredible view of Paris. After that, we were on our own for dinner, so a few of us wandered around the Latin quarter until we found a crêperie and had crêpes for dinner and desert (really, it couldn't be better). We found our way back to the youth hostel and were very proud of ourselves. Paris is especially charming at night, and everywhere still has Christmas decorations up, which I think is very endearing. The French don't want to put an end to their party.

Tomorrow we leave (at 7:30 a.m!) for Rennes. By tomorrow night, I will know my host family! Ahhhhh! Wish me luck, everyone!

Oh, I don't know what I am saying

Alright, Day 2 in Paris and a bit more conscious than Day 1. That's a good start. You know, the French have got it right; they eat chocolate for breakfast. Also a good start.

This morning I had an interview with my resident directors, who are incredibly nice, and then a group of us set out on foot to explore our surroundings. It was very, very cold and began snowing as we walked across the street. We walked across the Seine to Notre Dame, then continued walking to see what we could see. We passed the Sorbonne and stopped in a café for coffee and hot chocolate. Then we basically walked a whole bunch until lunch time. After that, we went to a museum (I've already forgotten the name...oops!) and took the metro to the Champs Elysees. I finally figured out how to use the secret Parisian free wifi, and then Scottie, Natalie and I went out in search of food. We found a little patisserie that had sandwiches and whatnot, and on the way back Scottie and I poked our heads into a cheese shop, which basically smelled like stinky cheese. What we expected, I don't know. I feel stupider and stupider each time I open my mouth, but I've just got to get over it.

Paris, je suis enchantée

So, after taking the smallest plane I have ever been on, I continued onward from D.C. to Paris on the largest plane I have ever been on. Seriously. Monstrous. I was very glad to have Scottie on the same flight; we asked a very nice French man if we could sit next to each other, so that was especially nice. Our plane left at about 5:30 p.m. and arrived in Paris at 6:45 in the morning (Parisian time). I did not sleep at all on the plane, so by the time we made it through baggage claim and across the airport to our place of rendez-vous, I was about ready for bed. Unfortunately, at that time my day had only begun. I still cannot believe that right now it is the same day. Literally the longest day of my life. First of all, the Charles de Gaulle airport smells like roses. No joke. Also, there were giant brightly painted tulips and ballerinas painted on the bathroom walls. I did not think that Paris could be an exaggeration of itself, but I suppose it has proved me wrong.

We waited in the airport for what seemed like one hundred years for the rest of our group to arrive, trying awkwardly to break the ice with one another, but entirely too sleep-deprived to have normal social skills. It occurred to Scottie and I that speaking French isn’t a game for us anymore (which really it has been; it is our secret language in the U.S.). Now it’s for real, and we have no choice but to use what we know (which is probably more than we think we know). FINALLY after waiting forever, we all hopped on a bus to go to our auberge de jeunesse (youth hostel). Paris is COLD. At least at the moment. There is snow on the ground and everyone is all bundled up. The farther we got from the airport, the more I realized that we were in Europe and that everything is incredibly old. As unbelievably tired as I was on that bus ride, by the end of it I was already totally charmed. Our very cute hostel is down a narrow cobblestone street that appears to be in the midst of a lot of things, but I have not been conscious enough to fully make note of our location within Paris in relation to other things.

After dropping off our things, we ate lunch together. By ate lunch I mean nibbled a bit and mostly picked at food that we were too tired to eat and learned a little bit about how things are kind of slow here. We have four student monitors who go to school in Rennes who are our helpers and guides for the whole semester. We met them today, and they have already proven to be incredibly helpful and lovely people. After waiting for forever, having a group meeting, and waiting some more, we were finally allowed into our rooms and had about 2 hours to do whatever until dinner. Most of us took that opportunity to take a nap. After napping, I felt a bit better, and the 20 minute walk through the cold to the restaurant where we ate dinner helped even more. And of course we have all already had our crème brulée, which Scottie was beside herself about. To our pleasant surprise, we found that we were more or less able to carry on a conversation with our student monitors at dinner, and even make them laugh (and not at our bad French!). I still cannot believe that I am here, much less here for the next several months. We signed a contract that we would not speak English anymore unless it is absolutely necessary. We will speak exclusively in French, all the time, to everyone, even each other. Tomorrow morning I have an interview with our resident directors about placement with a host family, who we will meet on Thursday night in Rennes. Now I am going to crash and not return to consciousness for many many hours. Hopefully this post makes sense; I will surely be more awake/alive tomorrow.

Maps are for making you feel small

After explaining one hundred times where I am going to be living for the semester and receiving mostly blank stares, I am going to give you a map! They really do come in handy sometimes. I've drawn an arrow that points to Rennes. Now you know.

p.s.- I am leaving the day after tomorrow. !!!!

So Close

Well, my mind and thoughts and everything except my body is in France already, so I might as well pretend that I am there by writing my first blog entry. I have just returned home from a roadtrip to Atlanta, and now I have six whole days to wait until my departure.

I was just browsing one of my favorite websites called La Blogotheque (a music website based out of Paris) and discovered that Vincent Moon filmed a whole series of short videos in Rennes. I was so excited! It's kind of silly, now that I think about it, seeing as I will actually be there incredibly soon, but surely you can understand. Anyway, if you are interested in seeing some snapshots of random places in Rennes and are also interested in good music/live performances in random places, here is the link: http://www.blogotheque.net/City-Series-2-Rennes

I also discovered that (according to weather.com) it will be snowing when I arrive in Paris. Paris in the snow. I can't even believe it.

I have about three thousand things I have to do before I leave, yet I seem incapable of doing any of them because of the sheer immensity of the task as a whole. Starting tomorrow, I will begin crossing things off my list. Here I go.