Day 2: Left on Rue Bressigny….I think.

This is not Rue Bressigny but it is a street from the walking tour!

The feeling of “Where am I?!” when I woke up was brief, how could I forget?! I got ready and went downstairs to the breakfast and coffee spread that would greet me each day. Our host dad drove us to the school for the first day and it was a lot further than we expected. The drop off at the front door was wonderful since we had no idea where we were going.

First view of the school after being dropped off

I was relieved to have Brittany with me and we managed to find the office. For orientation this month, there were only 3 of us which made things go smoothly and quickly.  It was exciting to meet our third Westcoastian, Jocelyn (from Cali/U of O). There was all the information I wanted and more in a little packet for me. After some introduction we ate Sheppard’s Pie in a cafeteria I was also going to become very familiar with.
Full, acquainted and curious we set off on a tour of Angers. A former student that was visiting came along and offered another first hand perspective getting us more excited to explore and experience.

Soft Bar. One of the 3 recommended. Guess I’m in Europe where directors tell you which bars are best to go out to with the teaching assistants on Wednesday night…

Our heads spinning with café names, prices at shoe stores and times to see movies, we called it a day after un pause-café (a coffee break).

In case you are interested. Rebelle is playing at the theater on Foch street.

We returned home on the lovely, fairly new city tram to have dinner and meet our new roommate from Kansas, Carina! She had a different hair color than when we briefly met her the day before, but details aside, she seemed to be a pretty cool person that would be a good addition to the American possy forming in our Angers suburb. And by that, I mean that we live in a house in a town called Avrille about 40-50 minutes from the city with two people that do not speak English. So, the three of us would become quite a team.
As I fell asleep that night, I was very excited, sort of lost, not nervous enough for the placement test and most importantly, the DODs had vanished.

The next thing I remember was thinking, “There is no way I’m awake right now.” My bed was way too big and way too comfortable and an 8:30am placement TEST was not exactly motivation to get up. TOO BAD! The lecture hall was cramped and stuffy and my brain was empty and fuzzy. And that is how I took the two hour test. Needless to say, it didn’t go so well and I left regretting more than anything taking time off.
Afterward, I was quickly distracted with a field trip to Anger’s very own Chateau.

It had a moat with a garden!

It is beautiful and famous for its collection of ancient tapestries. Honestly though, I was equally amused by my classmates as I was the site itself. Having been traveling around for the past few weeks, I’d seen a lot of cool places and not that that made this Chateau any less cool, it was just slightly less novel. I loved having the new arrivals around (whenever we went anywhere) because their enthusiasm and awe was contagious! I realize I say that with the risk of sounding, oh I don’t know, pretentious, but I hope you know what I mean. I appreciated Brittany and Jocelyn’s appreciation because it reminded me to keep appreciating and not get so comfortable that I begin to take it for granted.
After the visit, the rest of the day was spent shopping around town, including one important stop. Sue, the site direction, found a dance studio for me to check out! We stopped by and I took a look around and got some questions answered. A DANCE STUDIO! HOORAY! I was craving ballet and here was my opportunity. A few blocks from school with hours that worked at a decent price and in France!!! Fun fact, it is NOT called “ballet” here. Go figure. I was told that “ballet” is an English word when I asked the other (French) dancers. For your future reference, it is “la danse classique”.

This is the entrance to the ballet studio. After going through a tunnel thing from the main road. To the left is the actual dance floor!

That evening, we had dinner together with our host parents, and I just can’t get over the meals here. They are so much fun, perhaps my favorite part of the day and so very different from home. Then, we got further settled in and prepared for day one of classes with our new French school supplies! I love my little French planner. I am probably too excited about it!

Yay! Planner is the black one that says “J’aime” on the front. Which is the same as “Like” when your facebook is in French! This picture also includes that packet of supplies and info from Sue.

I got in bed a whole lot more excited and a whole lot more comfortable that before. And slept, and dreamt of Sugar Plum Fairies.

Day 3: Bisous bisous! “Kisses, kisses!”
I report my feelings here, “Because paper has more patience than people. ” –Anne Frank.
It’s true. I’ve come to really enjoy blogging during this trip. In this case however, I am short on time to write and when the following story actually occurred, there were some pretty wonderful people with open ears, as much patience as paper, and with more kind words in return.

Class placement was listed. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to write about this or not but it was a significant event so why not, pourquoi pas! I guess I was surprised, disappointed and therefore upset about being placed in such a low level. That’s what I get for taking time off and not reviewing for the test.  However, not 5 minutes into my class it was evident I was incorrectly placed. The professor gladly signed my level change paper and I went to complete the paper work. Long story short, the man I met with was horrified that I wanted to move up. Curse my double A last name, he remembered me. The worse, most humiliating part was him telling me my test was absolutely awful. Over and over he told me I did bad and didn’t know anything. Even worse, he was speaking rapid French and being upset; I proved his point by asking “comment? (what?)” about twice per sentence. But eventually he did move me up and I left with the lowest self-esteem I’ve had in awhile, and eager to prove I belonged in my new level. When I got home, my plan to hide in my room was thwarted by an entourage of women. My host mom invited me to “Jus d’orange” Orange juice in the yard with them and asked how my day had been. I couldn’t tell them without breaking down. Their response to my story was animated. The complimented me and my French and assured me I spoke well. One woman even picked up the fly swatter and threatened the (by my American standards) blunt and impolite man. I had never met them before but my substitute moms fed me chocolate and turned my day around!

Moving on…

Lost in Translation….reversed roles!

Now it’s my turn. I’m the one saying silly things and making native speakers or other students giggle.

“We are arrived at late. Maybe 20 minutes. Sorry. See you later.” –Me (leaving a voicemail for my host mom)

“Is there free?” –Jocelyn (Pointing and inquiring if the news paper is free or not)

hehe

“Hello, It was Emily”- Me (when answering the phone)

And countless others that shall go unmentioned.

And just a note:

“wee-fee” = wifi
“Gross Keully” = Grace Kelly
Russie = Russia
“Alfrid Itch cook” = Alfred Hitchcock
Useful information.

7 Minutes and a Beeeeep

As I mentioned, the Berthelot’s house is a bit of a commute outside of town. We have options for transportation though. The first day, we were carefully shown our options. There’s a bus and a new tramway. The tram is a further walk but a smoother, nicer ride. The bus is closer but not as new and comfortable. I would just decided based on shortest commute time, but they end up about the same. Maybe when the weather gets worse I’ll switch to the bus, but for now I like the tram. It comes about every 7 minutes in the morning on weekdays and I often have to wait less than 3 or 4. Plus, I get to use my fancy tram pass which makes a very satisfying “you’ve been accepted” beep sound when scanned.

Our beautiful rainbow tram!

And the inside. Which never looks like this. I just took the picture late at night so innocent French people didn’t end up in some American girl’s blog.

Bread and Pressure

France. Where baguettes are an accessory. Now, that sounds like a tagline of whatever that you would hear as a joke or something but I’m not kidding. People really do just carry bread around in hands, purses, bags, etc, all the time! And it’s perfectly normal. The problem is, if that were a habit I was to bring home, people wouldn’t believe me and claim I was just trying to act French.
I sadly have no pictures to support this.

I may have already mentioned my English is suffering, but bear with me, at least I haven’t yet converted to writing in bad Franglaise (the word in French for mixing French and English). Speaking of French I found it interesting that it is way harder for me to understand when the person is talking directly to me. The pressure of having to understand becomes so much and so distracting that I end up understanding nothing. It is so much easier when I can just listen to a conversation between other people. Which makes sense, but it’s still annoying.  More positively, obtaining a second language makes me appreciate my knowledge of my mother tongue. It’s fun to speak in English and feel so smart when I use slang or big words. In fact, in a way my English may be improving. That is, when I’m not spelling things the French way or mixing up grammar rules and expressions!

Listen to your Elders

This is from a day I’ll talk about later, but it is of my host parents and their friends who are also host parents. Jean is the second from the right and Therese is the second from the left! (Carina – my roommate is far right).

So, not only are my host parents a different nationality and speak a different language, they are a very different generation. Both in their 70s, they have grown kids and grand children older than me. In my own experience, sometimes elderly folks can be difficult to understand of explain things to even when speaking English. They may have a different way of talking or just mumble a bit. That is in addition to their native speaker habits, such as breaking grammar rules and abbreviating. I am thankful that they are used to having students around and for the most part, consciously speak slower and clearly for us. They admitted that the shortcuts are difficult to learn.

While I’m on the subject, it isn’t just the way they talk that reminds me of my own grandparents. There are plenty of behaviors too. Once I accepted that age was another hurtle, I became a lot more entertained and a lot less frustrated with myself. It isn’t just my French skills that are a barrier.

Life is happening faster than I can write about it. Soon, I’ll write about my classes and the excursions we have gotten to go on!

A really old house place in Le Centre Ville Angers

A bientot!

Emily