Living like royalty

A couple days ago we had a party for all the IES participants with birthdays in January. We ate galettes du roi, which is a traditional French cake eaten during January and February. Cooked inside each cake is a little figurine, or la fève. The person who finds the fève is crowned king or queen and gets to wear a crown for the rest of the night. If you're really curious about the background of this tradition, you can read more about it here. As of this party, I have participated in this tradition four times this semester, but only found the fève once.

The one time I was the Queen

Yesterday, we took a historical tour of Nantes and learned all about the castle, cathedral, and other old and important structures in the area. It was really interesting, but by the end I was so cold I could barely feel my toes. I'm sure the weather was nothing compared to back home in the snowy midwest, but the wind was pretty frigid.

Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul

Château des ducs de Bretagne

I’ve decided I love French food. Even just a baguette with cheese (or nutella) makes a delicious meal, but most of the time at my host family’s house it’s just to accompany the actual lunch or dinner. In fact, although we eat bread at almost every meal, it doesn’t go on the plate because it isn’t really part of the main course. So far at home I’ve eaten quite a bit of pasta, a couple quiches, and some interesting but mysterious beef dish (and probably a bunch of other meals I can’t recall), along with side salads, fruit, rice/couscous, and/or potatoes. Invariably at the end of every meal we have a yogurt for dessert. It’s odd to me how little they drink at dinner. We have a pitcher of water at the table, but our individual drinking glasses are about the size of a double shot glass, so I only take small sips during the meal. In the States, I’m used to drinking a couple 8 oz glasses of water at dinner. I’ve just gotten used to filling up and using my water bottle throughout the day instead. During the week, I’m on my own for lunch since it’s typically in the middle of classes and I can’t make in home to eat. I’ve discovered the boulangerie near IES is really good and inexpensive, so I frequently buy some sort of bread/cheese/meat concoction for around 2€. One of these days I might give in and purchase one of their delicious-looking pastries, too.

The other day I went out for galettes and crêpes with a bunch of IES people and some French students we met at conversation club. For the meal, I ordered a three-cheese galette with a salad on top and for dessert I enjoyed a chocolate crêpe topped with vanilla ice cream. It was truly a wonderful gastronomic experience. I made a new French friend at the crêperie, Marie-Marie who taught me some useful phrases and gave me some tips to improve my conversational French. We mainly spoke in French, but I discovered later in the meal that she speaks near perfect English with a really good American accent. Perhaps one day I'll be as bilingual as her...

Yummmmm

Transitioning from tourist to student

The last week or so before classes started, I spent most of my free time exploring Nantes with the other students in my program. I live about 15 minutes by bus from the city center, so I’ve gotten quiet comfortable with the public transit system. It’s even more complicated than I originally thought since the bus schedule and route change at night and on weekends, but I’m catching on. Turns out Nantes is a really cool place to live. It’s not so big that I’ll get lost for hours, but not so small that I’ll get bored of it either. There are so many interesting buildings, delicious eateries, and enticing shops.

Movie theatre

Passage Pommeraye, home of the most expensive stores in Nantes

Église Sainte-Croix

Cathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul

Saint-Donatien (just before sunset), the chuch right by my bus-stop

Livin' the Nantes life

Yesterday I had my first day of classes, and it was actually really great to be back in academic-mode. I had a French language and composition class in the morning (at the IES center) and Translation (at the University of Nantes) & French Romanticism (back at IES) in the afternoon. The translation class (Traduction) was the most interesting because it’s at the fac with French university students, not just American abroad students like my other classes. I would say about 50% of the class are French students, 30% are American, and 20% are from England. For the first hour of the class, we worked on translating French text into English, and during the second hour we translated English into French. It’s really interesting to hear the professor explain idioms and intricacies of the English language to the French students. A phrase we read in the English text (from Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Book?) that we spent a bit of time on was “…[the book] usually had bits of banana, biscuit and the odd pea squashed between the pages.” The francophones had a difficult time understanding the meaning of “odd” in the sentence as it doesn’t fit into the most common definitions. It’s nice to see they have some trouble with our language too, not just the other way around.

Today I had French Romanticism again at 8h45 and then right after I had Religion, Society, and the State in Modern France, which I hope will be considerably more interesting than today’s class would have me believe. Rock climbing class is on Wednesday afternoons, so I hope to start participating in that next week. I went home for a bit after classes to chat with my host family and take a nap, then headed back to IES for Conversation Club, a group for American and French students to meet and talk with one another. We speak in French for the first half and English for the second half, so it’s a good opportunity for both parties to practice the other language and learn whatever slang phrases the kids are using these days. The small group I was in had one French student and three Americans (then one left early). I found out later most groups just talked about school and club/bar preferences, but Jose, Meghan, our new friend Solene, and I had a nice discussion about economics, politics, and culture in the European Union and United States. I’m already looking forward to Conversation Club next week.

I’m signed up for a class called French 19^th and 20^th Century Art that is supposed to start tomorrow, but the professor isn’t feeling well. As a consequence, that class is canceled for the week and I don’t have my first class tomorrow until 13h45!

You probably can't read this, but it's my weekly class schedule.
The yellow parts are optional phys. ed. courses, not weekly commitments.

Oh, and I took some more pictures of the inside of my host family’s house if any of you are interested in seeing what the home looks like beyond my bedroom.

Kitchen, pt. 1: Prep area

Kitchen, pt. 2: Eating area

Le salon, the living room

View from the front door, plus their adorable poodle en route to the kitchen

Je peux le faire!

Today we also visited the University of Nantes to tour campus and sample the dining hall food. As an IES Abroad student in Nantes, I am automatically registered at the University of Nantes and can take classes there and use their facilities if I wish. I'm going to look into taking a psychology class or two there--it'll be an interesting opportunity to blend my two academic specialties and a chance to meet French students. We're also allowed to join sports at the university, or the fac as they call it (short for faculté), and I’d love to do rock climbing and kayaking! We ate lunch at restaurant on campus; for just 3€ (about $4) I was able to purchase a salad, yogurt, bread, and a personal pizza about 10” in diameter! It was pretty delicious too, especially for the low price. 

After lunch we had over 2 hours of free time before we needed to head back to the center for grammar, language, and conversation “classes.” I have classes in quotes because we’re not supposed to begin classes until Monday, but somehow we already have homework and discussions in classrooms. During our free time, we finished important errands and explored a bit around the downtown. I have been feeling a bit naked this past week without a cell phone in my pocket, but that changed today when I bought un portable. Not that I feel the need to chat for long periods of time, but I guess I just feel safer walking around the streets of Nantes knowing I can call someone if I need help or something, especially since there's about an 83% chance I'll get lost if I'm walking by myself. Plus we're required by our program to each have a phone in case they need to contact us outside of class. A bunch of my friends and I purchased our phones at Bouygues Telecom...we stared at the sign for awhile trying to figure out how to pronounce it before we asked the sales lady (it sounds like BWEE-guh, by the way). After our hour long ordeal at the phone store, we stopped by the public transportation office to fill out an application for a student discount card on a monthly transportation pass. For about 30€ a month, I’ll be able to take the bus or tram as many times as I want. Nantes has a great public transport system, so this will definitely come in handy as I come and go from IES, the fac, and days/nights out on the town with my friends. It feels good to have a lot of my important purchases out of the way; now I can focus on getting to know the city and enjoying my time in Nantes. The map of the transit system looks really complicated, but I think I’ll figure it out before the semester is over…

Weekend in Tours

I’ve been in France for less than a week, but I already feel like I’ve done so much! As I left off in the last post, my host mom picked me up from the IES Center this past Wednesday evening. I was really nervous to interact with my family at first for fear that my French would be incomprehensible or they would speak too quickly for me, but my host mother put me at ease right away. She helped me carry my backpack to the elevator, which is so tiny it could barely fit two people standing, but we managed to squeeze my three pieces of luggage inside with us and still shut the door. Believe me when I say it was quite an accomplishment! Luckily Mme Le Roux is a very petite woman. The two of us talked a bit in the car about my full day of traveling to get to France and while she was driving, she pointed out some interesting buildings (cathedrals, museums, shops). Apparently French stores only have sales twice a year (winter and summer) and luckily the day I arrived was the first day of a month-long period of sales, or les soldes. Once it ends in February, there won’t be store-wide discounts until after I return to the United States. So, I’m looking forward to checking out all that Nantes has to offer and purchasing some discounted souvenirs and clothes! Whether or not I’ll have space in my suitcase for the return trip is another story…

                When I got to my host families house, or la maison de ma famille d’accueil, I met my host father and chatted with him for a few minutes before they showed me to my room and let me unpack a bit. While I was undoing my suitcase, my host sister Adélaïde knocked on my door and introduced herself. She then led me around the house for the grand tour. They live in a very nice home with two stories, three bathrooms, and four bedrooms. It works out really nicely that I have my own bedroom with an attached bathroom (shower and sink), but I have to walk down the hall a bit to use my toilet. Here are a few pictures of my room!

                After the tour and unpacking, I had dinner with the family. They served some sort of pasta dish with meat or vegetables on top—it was hard to tell exactly what I was eating, but it was delicious. The Le Rouxs were all very patient with me during conversation and I was able to participate more than I thought I would. When the three of them are talking amongst themselves, they talk much quicker than when they’re speaking to me, but I’m sure I’ll pick up the speed of my comprehension soon enough. My host parents let me go to bed soon after dinner because I was quite exhausted from the long day of traveling behind me.

The next morning (Thursday) my host father drove me to the IES center, where all the program participants met so we could take the bus together to our 3.5 day off-site orientation in Tours. During the trip Madame Rouchet, our program director, talked us through the expectations and goals of the weekend and the semester as a whole. During our time in Tours, she hoped we would get to know each other and the program staff, learn about the history of France, and enjoy authentic French cuisine. We did plenty of all three. The first day there, we visited two chateaux, Loches and Chenonceau. Both were quite beautiful and interesting in their own way.

Loches

Chenonceau

                On Saturday, we went to two more chateaux de la Loire, Blois and Chambord. I’ve given it some thought and I’ve decided Chambord is my favorite of the four castles. It’s so big and majestic and there’s a fabulous view from the top!

Blois

Chambord

                Throughout the trip we had lunch and dinner at various restaurants and at the hotel in which we stayed. The meals were all very large and filling with several courses. Every lunch and dinner included at minimum a starter course, the main meal, and a dessert. Lunch on Saturday consisted of FIVE courses! There was so much food there was no way anyone could finish it. When the servers brought out the dessert for that meal, they came out one short and I turned out to be the person that didn’t get one. I told them that it was okay as I was already quite full, but they told me to wait anyway so I could get my dessert. By the time it came, almost everyone from the program had gotten back on the bus to head to Chambord and the rest of the group circled around me to watch me eat. It was a strange position to be in because I wanted to eat enough so I didn’t insult the kitchen, but I didn’t want to sit there forever and finish the dessert and keep everyone waiting for me. Quite the predicament, but I survived. Now I just have to figure out how to enjoy French cuisine without doubling in size!

                After our day trips on Friday and Saturday, a group of us explored the town of Tours and found a cute little bar to hang out in. We ended up meeting a cute French/Romanian couple who enjoyed speaking with us in French and English. They knew the bartender, so we became buddies with him and he gave us a drink on the house. It was fun to meet and talk real live French people (who aren’t being paid to spend time with us)!

New friends!

On Sunday, we took placement exams to see what level of French we are at and which classes we should take. There were four sections: dictation, grammar, auditory comprehension, and reading comprehension. I thought the test was pretty difficult, but so did everyone else. I guess I’ll find out soon enough what my results are.

                Today (Monday) was a great day. I feel like I took some great strides towards independence and confidence in Nantes. At IES we met to discuss important details: emergency information, social opportunities, cultural differences, safety, etc. It was helpful to learn little tidbits like different ways to tell your family if you like or don’t like a meal, who to contact with various questions or issues, and where to purchase important items. After the meeting, we split off into groups and took walking tours of Nantes. There are so many interesting stores and beautiful architecture; I can’t believe this is my home for the next 4+ months. When the tour was over, I met up with Sam, another student in my program who also goes to IWU, and we headed to the bus stop together. We’ve decided to take the bus to and from school together whenever possible because we only live a street apart. On the way to the bus stop, I bought post cards, international stamps, and a 10-pack of bus tickets in a small boutique. It’s nice to know my debit card works in France, so I don’t have to continuously exchange for Euro. We took the bus several stops and got off at St. Donatien, a beautiful cathedral close to our homes. From there I found my house all by myself, I was so proud! I had a great conversation with my host family during dinner (their dog used to be shown in competitions and he was an international champion!) and even helped with the dishes afterwards. I’m trying to be less timid and talk more even if I’m not exactly sure how to articulate my thoughts all the time. The family is great about helping me; I can see that I’ll improve immensely over the course of the semester.

                Thanks for reading! I love and miss you.

Safe and Sound

Well, I survived the full day of travel and have arrived in Nantes! The plane ride to Paris was shorter than I was anticipating, and I was able to watch the movie Easy A and two episodes of How I Met Your Mother on my own personal TV screen on the headrest of the seat in front of me. I chatted a bit with the couple next to me--they're on vacation to Paris and saving money on housing by couch surfing at a stranger's house. Sounds like a good idea in theory, but I think I'd be too nervous to do it myself. After getting off the plane, I met a couple IES students in line to go through customs. It was nice to have someone to maneuver the large airport with. After walking far too long with our cumbersome luggage and taking to tram to a different part of the airport, we finally found the TGV station, where we needed to catch our train to Nantes. My new friend left on the earlier train, but I waited for the rest of the IWU students to arrive. Soon I found Kathryn, Laura, Devin, Sam, Katie, and Courtney, along with some other IES students they had found. I can't really remember most of the train ride, because I slept most of the time, but from what I can tell the French countryside is quite beautiful. When we arrived in the train station in Nantes, there weren't any IES staff members (like they said there would be in the welcome packet), so we figured out all by ourselves how to catch a taxi to the IES center. At the center, we mingled a bit with the other participants, but soon host parents started showing up to pick us up. It was so nerve-wracking waiting for my name to be called to be whisked off to my new home. By the time it was my turn, there were only four of us left at the center. I recognized my host mother immediately from the picture she sent me of the family. She hugged me and kissed me on the cheek and we were off to the Le Roux home! I'm running out of time for this post, so I'll explain the family and house in a later post, but just know they are wonderful!

I'm off to Tours until Sunday for off-site orientation :)