Ok so it's August and I'm back in Georgetown, Texas for my senior year at Southwestern University. And I have some major catching up to do with this blog. Basically, I didn't write at all during the last three weeks of study abroad because they flew by so quickly. Then when I got home, I was busy seeing family and friends and dealing with the GRE. And before I knew it, the summer was over and I was in my car, driving back to Georgetown. Now I'm sitting here in my apartment. It's the night before classes start, but I have no classes on Mondays or Fridays, so I've got a bit of time on my hands before things get really crazy. So it seems as though it's now or never to wrap up this blog, which is something that I really want to do even if no one ever ends up seeing this last post.
So, let's see. The last time I wrote an actual post was when I got back from Paris. This makes me wish I had kept up with this blog, but oh well...here's my attempt to record all the happenings of my last three weeks in Aix.
Basically, our last three weeks meant two more weeks of class, one week of final preparations and finals, and three more excursions. Our first Wednesday back, they wanted to go easy on us, so our excursion was to the Musee Granet, a museum in Aix with an exhibit of Picasso and Cezanne works. Basically, the exhibit showed Cezanne's influence on Picasso and the parallelism between their works. And the museum was right next door to the VIF Center! The exhibit was great, and our "excursion" was done by about noon, so we had the rest of the day free. I had a paper to be writing, but of course, I spent time in Aix instead of working on my paper. I ate lunch at my favorite sandwich place (PAUL) and just spent the day relaxing. That night, we went out to see the new Woody Allen movie, "Whatever Works", and it was fun to see it with French subtitles.
(It is now September and I am still working on this post...)
The next day, my Mom arrived in France! She flew into Marseille and then took the train to Aix. After I got out of class, I went to her hotel (Hotel le Roi Rene...very nice) and then took her to dinner at le Patacrepe (chain crepe restaurant in Aix and Marseille...very yummy). I should have worked on my paper after that, but of course, I didn't. The next morning, I had my one class that met on Fridays, and then my Mom and I were picked up by her friend Helene, who lives in Uzes, a very small town in the south of France. We started the drive to Uzes, but made a stop on the way in a town called Les Baux de Provence. It was so beautiful. It was a town up on a hill, so we parked and then walked into the town. We ate lunch and then just explored. After that, we drove about ten minutes to a place called Cathedrale d'Images, which is basically a very large cave with an art exhibit inside. The current exhibit is one of Picasso, and I really recommend it. You walk around inside this large, dark, cold cave listening to wonderful music and looking at moving images of Picasso's works reflected onto the cave walls. It was quite the experience. After leaving Cathedrale d'Images, we finished the drive to Helene's house in Uzes. When we arrived, we found there Helene's husband Ernest, her son Danny and his wife Pascal, their children, and one of Pascal's friends and her children. We all spent the afternoon and early evening swimming in the pool and laying around in hammocks and then we ate dinner together outside. (All of our meals that weekend were eaten outside and it was great!)
The next day, I slept in super late (oops) and missed breakfast. We spent the afternoon hanging out in and by the pool, but then it started to rain so we sat inside just chatting. Around 5pm, the weather was looking a bit better, so some of us went in search of an apricot orchard that Helene had once visited. The car ride was so hilarious--it was such a ridiculous wild goose chase, trying to find this apricot orchard. We finally found it after many attempts and had just 15 minutes to pick our apricots before the end of the day at the orchard. Just at that moment it started raining. So we were hurrying around in the rain and the mud, picking apricots, eating some, saving some, laughing, and just having a good time. It was such a fun afternoon. That night we had an apricot pie after dinner and spent plenty of time talking. I believe there were about 14 people at the dinner table that night--it was great.
The next day, I slept in again (oops oops), and then worked on getting a train ticket from Avignon back to Aix. Then, Helene, my Mom, and Chloe (Helene's granddaughter who is about my age) drove me to Avignon. I got on the TGV and was back in Aix within 20 minutes!
So that covers things up to July 5th. My next post will hopefully cover the last two weeks of the program, my last two weeks in Aix. And then I can reflect, Paideia style. :)
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Check this out...
Real post coming soon, but for now, check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH5RqegErp8
It's not that great, but it does show a lot of the pictures I've taken this summer!
It's not that great, but it does show a lot of the pictures I've taken this summer!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Week in Paris
So I haven't written on in here for a while because we were in Paris for a week and I didn't bring my computer. But we got back last night and now I have so much to say about what we did in Paris!
Sat June 20--We took the TGV from Aix to Paris, which took about 3 hours. Then we checked into our hostel, which was surprisingly nice. It's called MIJE (Maisons Internationales de Jeunesse et Etudiantes) and it's located in the Marais area of Paris. Our metro stop was Saint Paul on line 1, for those of you who might know the metro system pretty well. Anyway, then we just spent the day walking around Paris, and went to dinner that night with the whole group. The dinner was paid for by VIF and it was really good! We tried to go out together as a group that night, but keeping track of about 22 people in Paris is pretty difficult, so we ended up splitting up into smaller groups and just bar-hopping. It was pretty fun.
Sun June 21--We got up early in the morning and walked around for about 4 hours. We walked past the Louvre, the Tuileries, the Champs Elysees, and also went up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. We ate lunch near the Musee d'Orsay, and then met up at Pont Neuf for the afternoon activity, a boat tour (bateau mouche) on the Seine. We saw a lot of cool places on the boat tour that we later visited throughout the week. I don't remember what we did afterwards, although my camera will probably remind me. But that night was La Fete de la Musique, and it was definitely a very crazy night...
Mon June 22--We went to the Louvre in the morning and it was the most disorganized thing I've ever done. Needless to say, I wish I had gone by myself instead of with the group because the lady acting as our tour guide was no good at all. Oh well, I'm sure I'll be back in Paris sometime soon. Afterwards, we ate lunch and then a few of us went to the Eiffel Tower. We waited in line for over an hour and then found out that the top floor had closed due to overcrowding, so we left. We ate dinner at the hostel, and then went to the Luxembourg Gardens, which were so beautiful and the best part of the day.
Tues June 23--We had the morning free, so a few of us went to Les Invalides (where Napoleon's tomb is) and then over to the National Opera, which is very beautiful inside. We ate lunch on the steps of the Opera, and then headed over to the Musee d'Orsay for our organized activity of the day. We had the same tour guide, so once again, it was incredibly disorganized. I ended up getting lost from the group during the tour, which was probably good because that meant I got to see the works of art that I really wanted to see (Degas!) instead of looking at paintings that the tour guide likes. That night, I went to dinner with my Dad and brother in the Montparnasse area, and we ate crepes! Actually, I ate a lot of crepes during the week in Paris because there are crepe stands everywhere and a nutella crepe sounds good at any time of day regardless of where you are or what you're doing.
Wed June 24--This was our full free day, so a few of us went to Versailles. We toured the palace and the gardens, and went to look at Marie Antoinette's area, where she had a house built of pink marble...of course, I loved it! I definitely want to go back because I didn't get to see her Temple of Love where she held parties, and I do want to see that! When we got back to Paris, some of us went up to the top of the Montparnasse Tower, which is supposed to be the best view of Paris because you can see the Eiffel Tower and you don't have to see the Montparnasse Tower itself (it's pretty ugly). And it was a really good view! After that, we had dinner at the hostel, and we also went out that night, as we did almost every single night in Paris since we didn't have any classes.
Thurs June 25--Our organized activity for the day was to see Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle in the morning, and I thought both were very beautiful. Overall, I liked Notre Dame better, but the second floor of Sainte Chapelle had so many beautiful stain glass windows. Of course I took a bunch of pictures, but I haven't even uploaded them to my computer yet, so they're definitely not on the internet, just as none of my pictures from this summer are. Oh well, I'll get around to it eventually. That afternoon, a few of us went to the Catacombs, which I thought were really scary! I figure it's one of those places in Paris that you go to just once, so the next time I'm there, I think I'll be skipping out on that experience. Afterwards, we did a little bit of shopping since Soldes (the giant sales in France) started on Wednesday. Then we had dinner at the hostel, and went out for a bit.
Fri June 26--A friend and I tried to go to the Edith Piaf museum on Friday morning, but when we got there, there was a sign saying that visits are by appointment only, and that appointments can only be made on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. I've never been to a museum before that works that way, and I was really disappointed because I had been looking forward to going to the Edith Piaf museum all week. Well, just one more reason to go back to Paris very soon. Since we had time left over, we went to the Champs Elysees to buy gifts for people and ate lunch there at a cute little deli. Then we went to Montmartre to meet up with the group to tour the area of Montmartre and see Sacre Coeur. After doing so, a few of us split off from the group and went to Les Deux Moulins, the cafe where the film Amelie takes place. We drank coffee there and took a few pictures there--it was really fun. We then went back to the hostel to get ready for our last night in Paris. Kim, Daniela, Caroline, Lindsey, and I got dressed up and went out to dinner in the Marais, near our hostel. The five of us had been hanging out all week long and decided that we should go out to dinner on our last night instead of eating at the hostel. Our dinner was very good and pretty well priced for Paris. Then we went back to the hostel to meet up with some other kids in our program, and then we headed out to this club called Rex. It was kind of expensive to get in, but it was well worth it. Apparently, the DJ there that night is pretty well known, so there were so many people there. We danced for several hours and then went back to the hostel.
Sat June 27--For our last morning in Paris, I decided just to walk around by myself. It was nice and relaxing and then I met up with the group for lunch. We then got on the metro and went to Gare de Lyon to get on our train. Three hours later we were back in Aix!
Now I have less than 3 weeks here in Aix and so much left to do! I'm sure it's going to fly by, and I will definitely write on here again soon! A tout a l'heure!
Sat June 20--We took the TGV from Aix to Paris, which took about 3 hours. Then we checked into our hostel, which was surprisingly nice. It's called MIJE (Maisons Internationales de Jeunesse et Etudiantes) and it's located in the Marais area of Paris. Our metro stop was Saint Paul on line 1, for those of you who might know the metro system pretty well. Anyway, then we just spent the day walking around Paris, and went to dinner that night with the whole group. The dinner was paid for by VIF and it was really good! We tried to go out together as a group that night, but keeping track of about 22 people in Paris is pretty difficult, so we ended up splitting up into smaller groups and just bar-hopping. It was pretty fun.
Sun June 21--We got up early in the morning and walked around for about 4 hours. We walked past the Louvre, the Tuileries, the Champs Elysees, and also went up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. We ate lunch near the Musee d'Orsay, and then met up at Pont Neuf for the afternoon activity, a boat tour (bateau mouche) on the Seine. We saw a lot of cool places on the boat tour that we later visited throughout the week. I don't remember what we did afterwards, although my camera will probably remind me. But that night was La Fete de la Musique, and it was definitely a very crazy night...
Mon June 22--We went to the Louvre in the morning and it was the most disorganized thing I've ever done. Needless to say, I wish I had gone by myself instead of with the group because the lady acting as our tour guide was no good at all. Oh well, I'm sure I'll be back in Paris sometime soon. Afterwards, we ate lunch and then a few of us went to the Eiffel Tower. We waited in line for over an hour and then found out that the top floor had closed due to overcrowding, so we left. We ate dinner at the hostel, and then went to the Luxembourg Gardens, which were so beautiful and the best part of the day.
Tues June 23--We had the morning free, so a few of us went to Les Invalides (where Napoleon's tomb is) and then over to the National Opera, which is very beautiful inside. We ate lunch on the steps of the Opera, and then headed over to the Musee d'Orsay for our organized activity of the day. We had the same tour guide, so once again, it was incredibly disorganized. I ended up getting lost from the group during the tour, which was probably good because that meant I got to see the works of art that I really wanted to see (Degas!) instead of looking at paintings that the tour guide likes. That night, I went to dinner with my Dad and brother in the Montparnasse area, and we ate crepes! Actually, I ate a lot of crepes during the week in Paris because there are crepe stands everywhere and a nutella crepe sounds good at any time of day regardless of where you are or what you're doing.
Wed June 24--This was our full free day, so a few of us went to Versailles. We toured the palace and the gardens, and went to look at Marie Antoinette's area, where she had a house built of pink marble...of course, I loved it! I definitely want to go back because I didn't get to see her Temple of Love where she held parties, and I do want to see that! When we got back to Paris, some of us went up to the top of the Montparnasse Tower, which is supposed to be the best view of Paris because you can see the Eiffel Tower and you don't have to see the Montparnasse Tower itself (it's pretty ugly). And it was a really good view! After that, we had dinner at the hostel, and we also went out that night, as we did almost every single night in Paris since we didn't have any classes.
Thurs June 25--Our organized activity for the day was to see Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle in the morning, and I thought both were very beautiful. Overall, I liked Notre Dame better, but the second floor of Sainte Chapelle had so many beautiful stain glass windows. Of course I took a bunch of pictures, but I haven't even uploaded them to my computer yet, so they're definitely not on the internet, just as none of my pictures from this summer are. Oh well, I'll get around to it eventually. That afternoon, a few of us went to the Catacombs, which I thought were really scary! I figure it's one of those places in Paris that you go to just once, so the next time I'm there, I think I'll be skipping out on that experience. Afterwards, we did a little bit of shopping since Soldes (the giant sales in France) started on Wednesday. Then we had dinner at the hostel, and went out for a bit.
Fri June 26--A friend and I tried to go to the Edith Piaf museum on Friday morning, but when we got there, there was a sign saying that visits are by appointment only, and that appointments can only be made on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. I've never been to a museum before that works that way, and I was really disappointed because I had been looking forward to going to the Edith Piaf museum all week. Well, just one more reason to go back to Paris very soon. Since we had time left over, we went to the Champs Elysees to buy gifts for people and ate lunch there at a cute little deli. Then we went to Montmartre to meet up with the group to tour the area of Montmartre and see Sacre Coeur. After doing so, a few of us split off from the group and went to Les Deux Moulins, the cafe where the film Amelie takes place. We drank coffee there and took a few pictures there--it was really fun. We then went back to the hostel to get ready for our last night in Paris. Kim, Daniela, Caroline, Lindsey, and I got dressed up and went out to dinner in the Marais, near our hostel. The five of us had been hanging out all week long and decided that we should go out to dinner on our last night instead of eating at the hostel. Our dinner was very good and pretty well priced for Paris. Then we went back to the hostel to meet up with some other kids in our program, and then we headed out to this club called Rex. It was kind of expensive to get in, but it was well worth it. Apparently, the DJ there that night is pretty well known, so there were so many people there. We danced for several hours and then went back to the hostel.
Sat June 27--For our last morning in Paris, I decided just to walk around by myself. It was nice and relaxing and then I met up with the group for lunch. We then got on the metro and went to Gare de Lyon to get on our train. Three hours later we were back in Aix!
Now I have less than 3 weeks here in Aix and so much left to do! I'm sure it's going to fly by, and I will definitely write on here again soon! A tout a l'heure!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
End of the First Month
I haven't written on here in a while, so I probably should. Also, I've now been in France for a month (and in Aix for 3 weeks), so it seems as though a post is necessary.
Nothing too out of the ordinary has been going on. Since I last wrote (last Wednesday when we climbed Mont Sainte Victoire), I've had two written tests, an oral test, written a paper, and done two presentations. So clearly, there's a lot of work to do around here. And I've been going to family dinners on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays as usual. I think the only out-of-the-ordinary events have been a wine-tasting this past Monday, trip to Nice on Wednesday, and a visit from my Dad and brother, who have since left for their cycling tour.
This weekend, I'm just relaxing here in Aix and attempting to write another paper. This coming week is going to be packed. We're going to Marseilles on Wednesday, I have two tests on Thursday, and the paper due on Friday. Then we're leaving for Paris on Saturday, and we'll be there for a week. Thankfully we won't have classes at all during our week in Paris, but we will have mandatory activities each day. I'm sure I'll have a lot more to write about as soon as we get to Paris because right now all I do is go to class, go to family dinner, and hang out with the other students in my program. But I'm sure I'll write on here while I'm in Paris and also when I get back. And when I get back, there will only be 3 weeks left in the program!
And now just for some things I've been thinking about...
Things I miss about the U.S.:
1) free restrooms
2) friendly strangers
3) the state of Texas itself and Mexican food
Things I will miss about France:
1) walking everywhere
2) French food
3) the beauty of the south of France (Aix-en-Provence, Nice, Antibes, Cannes, Grasse, Villefranche, Cap d'Ail, Gordes, etc.) and the fact that all of it is just a train ride away from where you are while you're here
A bientot!
Nothing too out of the ordinary has been going on. Since I last wrote (last Wednesday when we climbed Mont Sainte Victoire), I've had two written tests, an oral test, written a paper, and done two presentations. So clearly, there's a lot of work to do around here. And I've been going to family dinners on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays as usual. I think the only out-of-the-ordinary events have been a wine-tasting this past Monday, trip to Nice on Wednesday, and a visit from my Dad and brother, who have since left for their cycling tour.
This weekend, I'm just relaxing here in Aix and attempting to write another paper. This coming week is going to be packed. We're going to Marseilles on Wednesday, I have two tests on Thursday, and the paper due on Friday. Then we're leaving for Paris on Saturday, and we'll be there for a week. Thankfully we won't have classes at all during our week in Paris, but we will have mandatory activities each day. I'm sure I'll have a lot more to write about as soon as we get to Paris because right now all I do is go to class, go to family dinner, and hang out with the other students in my program. But I'm sure I'll write on here while I'm in Paris and also when I get back. And when I get back, there will only be 3 weeks left in the program!
And now just for some things I've been thinking about...
Things I miss about the U.S.:
1) free restrooms
2) friendly strangers
3) the state of Texas itself and Mexican food
Things I will miss about France:
1) walking everywhere
2) French food
3) the beauty of the south of France (Aix-en-Provence, Nice, Antibes, Cannes, Grasse, Villefranche, Cap d'Ail, Gordes, etc.) and the fact that all of it is just a train ride away from where you are while you're here
A bientot!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
I survived Mont Sainte Victoire! (and other events of the past few days)
So I just realized that I haven't done a post during the month of June yet! Granted it's only the 3rd day of June, but I do need to give some updates. And also, I have a test to study for and a paper to write, so what better time to blog than now?
For a recap on the weekend, Kim came to Aix on Thursday and stayed through Tuesday morning, and my roommates (and others from my program) were gone from Friday to Sunday (Barcelona). Kim and I stayed in Aix for the most part, but on Sunday we decided to go to Marseilles just to check it out. When we got there, it was raining. But we had planned to go to a museum, so we weren't too disappointed. However, when we got to the museum, we found that it was closed because of strike. Once again, the strikes here in France got in my way! But we went to a candy shop and bought a few things, and by the time we got outside, it had stopped raining. So we walked around Marseilles, but it wasn't as pretty as we had expected it to be. Maybe my opinion will change when I go there on excursion in 2 weeks with my program.
So other than that, I think I'm finally settling into a routine here, with orientation behind us and this being the first full week of classes. Monday and Tuesday of this week were pretty typical days: wake up, shower/get ready, do some work and eat lunch before class, go to class, go to family dinner, hang out and do homework, go to sleep.
Then today we went on our regular Wednesday excursion. Today's was hiking Mont Sainte Victoire, a mountain famously painted by Cezanne on multiple occasions. This hike was incredibly difficult. We all definitely struggled at some point (either going up or coming back down), but we did it! Basically we climbed over 3,000 feet! I did take some photos, but not many because I was too busy focusing on not falling. The climb up took about 3 hours and going back down took about 2 hours. All in all, today was very tiring. Now I need to get going on schoolwork. Tomorrow in my conversation class, I have a written exam and an oral exam, and on Friday, I have a 5-page paper due in my literature class about Daudet and Les lettres de mon moulin.
Clearly I should be working on that stuff, so this is it for now. A tout a l'heure!
For a recap on the weekend, Kim came to Aix on Thursday and stayed through Tuesday morning, and my roommates (and others from my program) were gone from Friday to Sunday (Barcelona). Kim and I stayed in Aix for the most part, but on Sunday we decided to go to Marseilles just to check it out. When we got there, it was raining. But we had planned to go to a museum, so we weren't too disappointed. However, when we got to the museum, we found that it was closed because of strike. Once again, the strikes here in France got in my way! But we went to a candy shop and bought a few things, and by the time we got outside, it had stopped raining. So we walked around Marseilles, but it wasn't as pretty as we had expected it to be. Maybe my opinion will change when I go there on excursion in 2 weeks with my program.
So other than that, I think I'm finally settling into a routine here, with orientation behind us and this being the first full week of classes. Monday and Tuesday of this week were pretty typical days: wake up, shower/get ready, do some work and eat lunch before class, go to class, go to family dinner, hang out and do homework, go to sleep.
Then today we went on our regular Wednesday excursion. Today's was hiking Mont Sainte Victoire, a mountain famously painted by Cezanne on multiple occasions. This hike was incredibly difficult. We all definitely struggled at some point (either going up or coming back down), but we did it! Basically we climbed over 3,000 feet! I did take some photos, but not many because I was too busy focusing on not falling. The climb up took about 3 hours and going back down took about 2 hours. All in all, today was very tiring. Now I need to get going on schoolwork. Tomorrow in my conversation class, I have a written exam and an oral exam, and on Friday, I have a 5-page paper due in my literature class about Daudet and Les lettres de mon moulin.
Clearly I should be working on that stuff, so this is it for now. A tout a l'heure!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
First Full Week in Aix
Ok so it's Saturday morning and Kim (Radzicki) and I are just sitting around in my apartment. She came in from Sevilla for the weekend, and almost everyone from my program left yesterday for Barcelona. I'm glad that I'm spending this weekend here though, in Aix. And I'm glad that Kim is here! It's so, so nice to see a friendly face and to catch up with her because I haven't seen her since January!
So here's a recap on what's been going on around here. Tuesday was the first day of classes. I had my 1-hr Excursion class (that we have every Tuesday to prep us for our Wednesday excursion) and I had my 2-hr Conversation class. I'm not really sure what to say about my Conversation class. Yes, we do converse, but I haven't really decided yet whether or not I like the structure of this class. Also, it's definitely not a blow-off class. I will need to stay organized to keep up with the workload in this class.
Then on Wednesday, we met bright and early at 9:30am for our excursion to Le Luberon. We visited Silvacane, Gordes, and Roussillon. In Silvacane, we went to an abbey and took a tour there. The guy who gave us the tour spoke entirely in French and I was impressed by the amount of the tour that I actually understood! Although, I definitely did not understand all of it. I did take some really great pictures though! Then we got back on the bus and headed for Gordes. Gordes was such a small and beautiful town! We ate lunch at a crepe restaurant and then just walked around. The town is up really, really high on a hill so I got some great pictures just looking out at everything below. Overall, we didn't have much time to spend in Gordes because it was just supposed to be our lunch destination. So then we went to Roussillon, which is an entirely orange-ish/red-ish town. We hiked around there and I can't wait to show off my pictures. There's a story that explains why the land in Roussillon has a red-ish hue. Basically, this man found out that his wife was cheating on him, so he invited her lover on a hunting trip. While on the trip, the husband killed his wife's lover and took out his heart. He returned to Roussillon, cooked the heart, and served it to his wife as dinner. She said it was the best meal she had ever eaten, and he said something to the effect of, "Good, because you just ate your lover's heart, and now I'm going to kill you." So she went running to the balcony of their home and threw herself off. She landed on the rocks of Roussillon, and her blood went everywhere, creating the red rocks that you see in Roussillon. When you see pictures, it'll make a lot more sense. Anyway, those were our three destinations for Wednesday.
On Thursday, I went to my literature class for the first time, and then to conversation class. The literature class is called Literature of Provence, and oh goodness, there is going to be so much reading and writing. But I'm excited about this class even though I think it's going to be a bit much for me because it already kind of overwhelms me. We're reading works by all the people you would expect (Daudet, Giono, Pagnol, etc.), and we have intense writing assignments pretty often throughout the next 7 weeks. Then on Friday, I just had my literature class. Everyone left for Barcelona, and Kim and I started taking over Aix.
So things that I should write about on here that have nothing to do with class: host family dinners and the post office. We eat dinner with our host families Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and we started with Tuesday of this week. Even though I was with 5 other people from my program, I was totally overwhelmed. The host parents speak French with a Provencal accent, and I could still understand them, but it was definitely different. And for some reason, this new experience of eating dinner in someone's home whom I've never met before just really freaked me out. I did contribute to conversation a bit at first, but then I withdrew. The host parents then told me that I needed to speak at every meal, which just made me feel more uncomfortable, so I completely withdrew for the rest of the meal. I was so glad to get out of there.
Things were better on Thursday though. I had to walk there by myself because I'm the only person living in my building who is assigned to this host family. I got there before anyone else and sat down to talk with the host mom. Then there was a bit of a misunderstanding. Basically, I told her that my friend was in town, and honestly, I was excited that I was conversing more than I had on Tuesday! But she totally misunderstood and thought I said that my Mom was in town. This led to me just going along with that because I couldn't talk my way out of it. I guess it's funny, but I'm kind of worried about going back to dinner now because the host mom is definitely going to ask me questions about my awesome weekend with my Mom. Oops?
Ok and the post office. I went to the Aix-en-Provence Post Office on Tuesday to mail some stuff, and there was a sign on the door explaining that they were on strike and to try again the next day. Unfortunately, I couldn't try again the next day because we had our excursion trip, but I went back to the post office on Thursday, and it was open! I guess this is just an example of the fact that there is always some strike going on somewhere in France. At least now I'm used to it...and I know how to use those machines to buy your postage. Although, I am wondering if I bought the correct postage...I guess I'll find out sooner or later.
So that is my first week in a nutshell. Kim is here until Tuesday morning, so we have plenty more time to hang out and catch up, which is exciting! I can't believe I've only been here for 2 weeks. I feel as though it's been way longer, and I feel as though I've been away from home for several months...interesting. I guess the time will start to fly soon because so many things are coming up. My Dad and brother are coming to visit soon, and my Mom will be here in July. And I looked at the calendar, and after this first week that we've just completed, we have 3 weeks in Aix, 1 week in Paris, and then 3 weeks in Aix. And then there are the weekly excursions to look forward to. Anyway...A bientot!
So here's a recap on what's been going on around here. Tuesday was the first day of classes. I had my 1-hr Excursion class (that we have every Tuesday to prep us for our Wednesday excursion) and I had my 2-hr Conversation class. I'm not really sure what to say about my Conversation class. Yes, we do converse, but I haven't really decided yet whether or not I like the structure of this class. Also, it's definitely not a blow-off class. I will need to stay organized to keep up with the workload in this class.
Then on Wednesday, we met bright and early at 9:30am for our excursion to Le Luberon. We visited Silvacane, Gordes, and Roussillon. In Silvacane, we went to an abbey and took a tour there. The guy who gave us the tour spoke entirely in French and I was impressed by the amount of the tour that I actually understood! Although, I definitely did not understand all of it. I did take some really great pictures though! Then we got back on the bus and headed for Gordes. Gordes was such a small and beautiful town! We ate lunch at a crepe restaurant and then just walked around. The town is up really, really high on a hill so I got some great pictures just looking out at everything below. Overall, we didn't have much time to spend in Gordes because it was just supposed to be our lunch destination. So then we went to Roussillon, which is an entirely orange-ish/red-ish town. We hiked around there and I can't wait to show off my pictures. There's a story that explains why the land in Roussillon has a red-ish hue. Basically, this man found out that his wife was cheating on him, so he invited her lover on a hunting trip. While on the trip, the husband killed his wife's lover and took out his heart. He returned to Roussillon, cooked the heart, and served it to his wife as dinner. She said it was the best meal she had ever eaten, and he said something to the effect of, "Good, because you just ate your lover's heart, and now I'm going to kill you." So she went running to the balcony of their home and threw herself off. She landed on the rocks of Roussillon, and her blood went everywhere, creating the red rocks that you see in Roussillon. When you see pictures, it'll make a lot more sense. Anyway, those were our three destinations for Wednesday.
On Thursday, I went to my literature class for the first time, and then to conversation class. The literature class is called Literature of Provence, and oh goodness, there is going to be so much reading and writing. But I'm excited about this class even though I think it's going to be a bit much for me because it already kind of overwhelms me. We're reading works by all the people you would expect (Daudet, Giono, Pagnol, etc.), and we have intense writing assignments pretty often throughout the next 7 weeks. Then on Friday, I just had my literature class. Everyone left for Barcelona, and Kim and I started taking over Aix.
So things that I should write about on here that have nothing to do with class: host family dinners and the post office. We eat dinner with our host families Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and we started with Tuesday of this week. Even though I was with 5 other people from my program, I was totally overwhelmed. The host parents speak French with a Provencal accent, and I could still understand them, but it was definitely different. And for some reason, this new experience of eating dinner in someone's home whom I've never met before just really freaked me out. I did contribute to conversation a bit at first, but then I withdrew. The host parents then told me that I needed to speak at every meal, which just made me feel more uncomfortable, so I completely withdrew for the rest of the meal. I was so glad to get out of there.
Things were better on Thursday though. I had to walk there by myself because I'm the only person living in my building who is assigned to this host family. I got there before anyone else and sat down to talk with the host mom. Then there was a bit of a misunderstanding. Basically, I told her that my friend was in town, and honestly, I was excited that I was conversing more than I had on Tuesday! But she totally misunderstood and thought I said that my Mom was in town. This led to me just going along with that because I couldn't talk my way out of it. I guess it's funny, but I'm kind of worried about going back to dinner now because the host mom is definitely going to ask me questions about my awesome weekend with my Mom. Oops?
Ok and the post office. I went to the Aix-en-Provence Post Office on Tuesday to mail some stuff, and there was a sign on the door explaining that they were on strike and to try again the next day. Unfortunately, I couldn't try again the next day because we had our excursion trip, but I went back to the post office on Thursday, and it was open! I guess this is just an example of the fact that there is always some strike going on somewhere in France. At least now I'm used to it...and I know how to use those machines to buy your postage. Although, I am wondering if I bought the correct postage...I guess I'll find out sooner or later.
So that is my first week in a nutshell. Kim is here until Tuesday morning, so we have plenty more time to hang out and catch up, which is exciting! I can't believe I've only been here for 2 weeks. I feel as though it's been way longer, and I feel as though I've been away from home for several months...interesting. I guess the time will start to fly soon because so many things are coming up. My Dad and brother are coming to visit soon, and my Mom will be here in July. And I looked at the calendar, and after this first week that we've just completed, we have 3 weeks in Aix, 1 week in Paris, and then 3 weeks in Aix. And then there are the weekly excursions to look forward to. Anyway...A bientot!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Orientation
Ok so today was Orientation, but it was all pretty basic and it didn't take the full 7 hours that was allotted for it. We were reminded of basic rules to follow in our apartments, especially for those of us who are sharing our apartments with French students. And we signed up for classes. I have Advanced Conversation from 3:30 to 5:30 on Mondays and Thursdays and from 3:00 to 5:00 on Tuesdays. And I have Literature of Provence from 1:30 to 3:30 on Mondays and Thursdays and from 10:30 to 12:30 on Fridays. Everyone also has an additional class on Tuesdays from 1:00 to 2:00 in which we'll be given information about culture and excursions. So basically, that means I will not be able to communicate with any Houstonians (or other central timers) from 6:30am to 10:30am on Mondays and Thursdays, or from 6:00am to 10am on Tuesdays. And I don't think I need to say this, but I also won't be able to communicate between 3:30am and 5:30am on Fridays.
So tomorrow is the first day of classes and our first dinner with our pseudo-host families. My pseudo-host family is the Bach family, and I'm sure I'll be writing about that experience later. Other than Orientation and a casual dinner with the tutors and professors, all I did today was go grocery shopping with my roommate Kim at Monoprix (kind of like a French Walmart). I got enough food to last me a while, and I got hairspray, which was expensive even though I bought the store brand! Oh well. All in all, I didn't have to spend too much and I got a good amount of food for what I paid. It's time for our group to stop eating out with the tutors and start cooking in our apartments...we'll see how that goes!
So tomorrow, I don't have class until 1pm, so I'm planning on going out in Aix to find stamps/a post office before I have class, and cooking myself lunch. A tout a l'heure!
So tomorrow is the first day of classes and our first dinner with our pseudo-host families. My pseudo-host family is the Bach family, and I'm sure I'll be writing about that experience later. Other than Orientation and a casual dinner with the tutors and professors, all I did today was go grocery shopping with my roommate Kim at Monoprix (kind of like a French Walmart). I got enough food to last me a while, and I got hairspray, which was expensive even though I bought the store brand! Oh well. All in all, I didn't have to spend too much and I got a good amount of food for what I paid. It's time for our group to stop eating out with the tutors and start cooking in our apartments...we'll see how that goes!
So tomorrow, I don't have class until 1pm, so I'm planning on going out in Aix to find stamps/a post office before I have class, and cooking myself lunch. A tout a l'heure!
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