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My first meltdown...

Ok it wasn't a full on meltdown... Just a few tears. And this was the first I've cried including when I left the US so I'm very proud of me! (My eyes welled up a lot but not a drop was spilled then!) Let me start from the beginning of the day though. So I went to bed around 1 am last night and had to get up and find my way to the university by 9:30 am. I got really lost this morning on the way to the bus stop but I eventually found it and took it and the metro to campus. I was even on time! Quelle surprise! I'm so glad for our bus and metro system in DC because it's really helping me here. I'm also very glad that they stressed the transportation chapters in all my French classes ;) Anyways, we had to take our placement test today for French and I'm sure once they read mine that they're going to send me back to the US... For the rest of the day they were throwing information at us. After it was finally done, we went on a "tour" of the campus (which means we followed the moniteurs around and sometimes they would tell us what a building was) Finalement, everyone split up and went home or went out for du cafe au lait. We went to the metro stop Sainte Anne and I finally got to see the Rennes that I'd seen in pics. (aka the photo that's on my blog ;) ) We stepped out of the metro and it was like we had been in a time machine. It's what you think of when you think of foreign European city and I loved it! I can't wait to explore it more tomorrow. The moniteurs showed us this street/alleyway that's called "La Rue de Soiffe" (The Road for the Thirsty) because there are a bunch of bars and where all the drunk people hang out. Awesome!
And now to the meltdown... I had to find my way home and I kind of went the wrong way on purpose this time because I knew where the apartment building was in general and wanted to take a walk by the water to pass some time. I ended up passing my host parent in her car when we were a block away so she pulled over to let me in. Then we sat in the car on the side of the road and she tried to explain to me about a cell phone she has. The student last semester bought it to use and left it for the next student. It's for calling in France and has a SIM card but she wasn't sure if you could just reactivate it or if you needed a new one. At first I didn't understand her but then I did and I just didn't know what I wanted to do about it and couldn't communicate that back. She was saying that she could take me to the store tonight to see if they could turn it back on or I could go tomorrow because the other students are all going then and she was like do you want to go back to the apartment or the store? What I wanted to say was yes I want to go tonight but how does it work? Do I buy minutes or a plan? Is there a min amount? etc I was really stressed about the phone too because I hadn't planned on buying one but I need it for if I get lost and to call her and the other study abroad students and for her to be able to reach me. The problem was that she didn't really know how it all worked either and couldn't understand what I was asking because of it. I just got so frustrated with not knowing what I wanted to do and how to ask the questions I needed to figure it out and sitting on the side of the road for about 20 min not accomplishing anything after a long day that I ended up crying in the car. She was like "it's ok it's ok! I'll drive us home and call my daughter because she speaks English and can explain it to you." So we went home and I collected myself and talked to her daughter. That almost made me feel worse though because my French was so bad that someone HAD to talk to me in English. Luckily, I had understood what she said correctly and her daughter was really nice and explained back to her mom what I wanted. We ended up going to get the phone (which I'm still not 100% how many min I have and whatnot) and then we had a nice dinner of crepes *sigh* A long day... I really like Rennes and France in general but it's very frustrating and stressful when you feel like a tourist. It was bad enough when I first moved to DC and didn't know where things were but it takes it to a whole other level when you're not fluent in the language either. I have a newfound appreciation for international students in the US because English is one of the hardest languages to learn and most of them speak it way better than I speak French. (though we have WAY better street signage) I just don't like feeling dumb and not being able to get me across. Hopefully after these next two weeks in which we have an intensive French language and cultural class I should be better adjusted for when actual classes start. Je souhaite.
New topic... I'm starting a list of random things I've noticed about France:

-Tons of graffiti (which I think I've already mentioned in Paris but it's in Rennes as well)

-No toilet seat covers (sorry Al) and only hand dryers, no paper towels

-In houses and apartments, there's a room with a toilet in it and then a separate room for the shower/bathtub and sink (and our salle de bain actually has the washer in it as well...)

-When you take the bus or metro in Rennes, you have a ticket that you have to get validated but you don't need it to enter the bus or metro and no one necessarily checks... They have people monitor from time to time but not always...

-In their supermarkets, they have shopping carts and baskets but their baskets have wheels on them and a long handle like a rolling carry on bag. It's awesome and I think the US should get them immediatement

-They play a surprisingly large amount of American music in restaurants, stores, and metros. (I heard Phil Collins today in the metro and Boston in a restaurant the other day!)

Well crying always makes me tired so I'm going to head to bed. Big day of exploring Rennes and not getting lost tomorrow ;) Bon nuit!

J'arrive a Rennes!

This morning we left our beloved Paris. We enjoyed our last breakfast of du pain du chocolat, du pain avec la confiture, du jus d'orange et du cafe au lait at 7:30 am! It wasn't even light out, which is never a good sign. As we were leaving Paris on the bus, the sun looked beautiful. Of course it starts shining when we leave... Turns out Rennes is a little bit farther from Paris than I thought. It took about 4 hrs to get here. We stopped at Chartres along the way though. It was so beautiful! Definitely my favourite thing we've done so far. The stained glass windows were gorgeous and we had an awesome British tourguide. (It was nice to hear some English for a while and with an awesome accent too!) He has been touring there for 52 years now and I actually learned a lot from him. Chartres is larger than Notre Dame. It has the oldest stained glass windows in Europe. (if I remember correctly) He said that the cathedral was famous for its sacred relic. They're supposed to house a piece of Mary's clothing from when she gave birth to Jesus. He said whether or not it's real is irrelvant. The important thing is that it brings people together to worship. (though apparently the cloth has been studied and is about 2000 years old so it's from the right time period at least!) The stained glass windows and sculptures everywhere were so detailed that you could spend a lifetime studying them. I'd like to go back and see the crypt sometime as well. Apparently it's huge! One thing that I just can't wrap my mind around lately is how much history there is in France. You're excited to be in Paris because it's the fashion capital of the world, etc and you forget that the city's also exciting because of all that's happened there. There's been the Romans, Joan of Arc, Marie Antoinette, WWII! (They were very lucky that the Chartres Cathedral wasn't destroyed because apparently the Nazis bombed the field behind it.) It's amazing how the two are able to coexist.
Once we got back on the road, we were given our home stay assignments. Everyone had been dying to find out/really nervous all day. Apparently there are all kinds of families. Families with kids, young couples, old couples, single women, in houses, in apartments, in the middle of Rennes, just outside Rennes, etc. Everyone's main concern though was whether or not we could get WiFi ;) I was placed with Madame Guillemer. She lives by herself in an apartment in Rennes. She has two daughters, 30 and 27, and the older one has a 3 year old son. L'Universite Haute Bretagne has two campuses. Rennes I and II. (We're studying at Rennes II) Mme Guillemer works in the math research library at Rennes I. I wasn't really picky about my host family but I was kind of hoping for a legit family so that some of the pressure would be taken off me. (plus it'd be fun to be part of a family like mine but in France. My mom said I should have said that they need to have a hot older son... ;) ) If it's just the two of us though, I definitely have to contribute to the conversation all the time. (And the program director, Staci, told me that Mme Guillemer had a problem in the past with students not wanting to communicate :S ) It seems my worries were for nothing though. She's really great and excited to have me. She's put up well with my terrible French so far. We were such a cute pair at dinner, sitting across from the table, each with our French-English dictionaries. A Kodak moment if I've ever seen one ;) After dinner, she spent half an hour going over the bus lines and drawing me a map of how to get there so I know where I'm going tomorrow morning. She offered to take me to the stop tonight too if I wanted so I could see where I should go. Elle est tres sympa! Today I was really upset and nervous about being separated from the other students but now I'm really excited to see where this next part of this experience goes!

Sketchy Experience #1

Today was a big day. Cheryl, one of the other program participants, and I decided to go off on our own this morning. We went to the Louvre. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go in. (We only had two hours and I found out in a very informational tour today that there are over 45,000 pieces in the Louvre and if you spent one min at each one, it would take you more than 4 months!) But it was fun to walk around in the snow and see the pyramid and the shops dans la rue Rivoli. Afterwards, we had lunch and went on a tour of L'Hotel del Ville. (Paris' city hall) It was beautiful! I wish the US would get classy like them ;) (Check facebook for pics.) Then later we got to go on a boat cruise on the Seine! (the informational tour ;) ) I really enjoyed it. The boat was enclosed THANK GOD because have I mentioned it's frickin freezing? It was great to just relax and be able to take in almost all of Paris' sites at once. We got to see the Musee D'Orsee, Notre Dame, Le Tour D'Eiffel, Paris' oldest restaurant, Square Concorde... C'est magnifique. Notre Dame is definitely one of my fave places in Paris. I definitely want to go back during the day! Who knows, maybe it will be so impressive that I convert! ;) (Not likely Natasha!)
As for the sketchy part... At the beginning of the study abroad application process, the program said that they needed 6 passport-like photos for something. I spent so much money on them and sent them back in November and it said it was received. But when I got here, Daniel, one of the program directors in France, said that they didn't have it and I needed to take new ones. He said to talk to the moniteurs and they could help me. (The moniteurs are these 4 "grad students" that tour us around Paris and hang out with us during the program.) I talked to one and she just kept telling me to go into a big store and there would be a place to get them in basement. I was like "I don't understand, which store?" But she just kept saying "UN GRAND MAGASIN." (They speak hardly any English though I heard that some of the other participants taught the guy moniteurs today "that's what she said" and "don't be a douchebag." The essentials of course) Well I went into the BHV, which is like Nordstrom but French and way better!, and surprisingly enough, she was wrong. I wandered around Paris by myself and found this lotto store that had a photocopy machine because I have one pic on me. But it wasn't working. So I went back to the hostel and Cheryl and I asked the desk clerk and he said that there's a machine that can do it at the metro stop Chatelet. (They have crazy things down there. Some stops have full on stores on the platforms!) That's only 2 stops down so we go and we find the little pic booth, which is a legit French passport photo taker, and it's not working. Might have been unplugged. We tried all the other exits but there was only one photo booth. So we reasoned that there must be another booth at a different stop. We go to the next one, Hotel Del Ville, and after trying all the exits, there isn't one. It's about midnight and we decide to give up because we have to be ready by 7:30 am tomorrow morning. We go back to our stop, Saint Paul, and as we go out the exit, we see another booth! (Let me clarify that the exit is not by the entrance so it's not our fault we didn't see it the first time...) Someone is in it though so then we wait a couple min but the person doesn't come out. We figure out that it's a homeless person so I go up and say "Excusez moi. Je voudrais utiliser..." And the sketchiest homeless guy comes out! He was holding a spoon and was like go ahead and use it. He left a bag in there and I tried to tell him but he didn't hear me so I just went in. He stood facing the wall the whole time I was in the booth. We're pretty sure he was shooting heroin in there or something... Thank god Cheryl was with me so I wasn't by myself. I finally got the booth to work and then we bolted out of there! I definitely owe Cheryl a drink after that. So yeah adventure #1 down. Tomorrow we move to Rennes and meet our host families. Wish me luck! Bon nuit!

Je suis en Paris!

So despite all the bumps along the way and the French consulate trying to screw me over with my visa, I'M IN FRANCE! I arrived yesterday. Surprisingly enough, I was ready super early and had no problems zipping up my bags. (They weren't overweight either! Go me!) I made my first flight, which went to London, but unfortunately missed my London to Paris connection. They got me on the next flight and I arrived only a couple hours later luckily. I definitely want to try and visit London some time during the semester because the airport was not enough! So Paris is HUGE. I knew it was going to be big but this is insane. I could live here 10 yrs and still not know my way around. (And I could never drive here. I'd be in an accident day one with the way they are here. I had better watch out too because I might be in one as a pedestrian anyways...) I thought I'd be able to see the Eiffel Tower from the airport, like how you see the Washington Monument when you fly into Regan, but it's way far away. One other thing I wasn't expecting about Paris is that there's graffiti EVERYWHERE. Random fact... It's only been a day and already my French is improving. It's not as terrible as I thought it was but it's definitely not where I'd like it to be. My french level placement exam is on Fri so wish me luck! Last night we went out to dinner as a group and it was nice to meet everyone and enjoy good food together. We had wine with dinner and it was incredible! I'm not usually a big red wine fan but it was to die for. And then the dessert was the most delicious creme brulee I've ever tasted. I could eat that every night no problem. After dinner I had no trouble falling asleep. I would say I've adjusted to the time change pretty quickly. I'm tired all the time but the hours seem right. It blows my mind to think of the time difference. For example, when it's 9 pm here and I'm getting ready to go to bed, it's only noon back home in CA. Some days I was just getting up then!
Today has been a long day... We had le petit dejeuner at the hostel. It consisted of hot chocolate, concentrate orange juice (no Simply Orange sadly), a baguette with jam, and a bread roll with chocolate chips in it. I had my interview to place me with a family and that went well so hopefully I get a good one. We leave for Rennes on Thurs. We visited the museum of Jacquemart Andre, walked down the Champs Elysees, went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, and to the Eiffel Tower! I couldn't believe it. The museum was ok. It was a huge house that had been converted into a museum. Before we went, we had lunch at a local hostel and it was really weird. You have to go down all these steps to get to this dungeon-looking room. They served us french fries, green beans, and a hamburger patty. (We think they cooked it especially for Americans ;) )There was ketchup to go with it but it was not what we're used to. More of a gel than a liquid and definitely didn't have the same taste... And then for drinks they had a pinkish liquid and a green one. I figured pink was strawberry or some sort of fruit punch and green was lime so I went with the green. It wasn't though! It was mint :S It was like drinking watered down mouthwash without the alcohol. So I went with water instead. ;)
The Champs Elysees was amazing! So many stores! Gap, Zara, Sephora, PRADA, LOUIS VUITTON, CARTIER... I need to win the lottery so I can go shopping there. The Arc de Triomphe was incredible. (What better monument to place at the end of the Champs Elysees right?) You walk through this tunnel underneath the roundabout to get to it and we walked up all these stairs to get to the top. Nothing can compare to the view at the top. I wish I had a panoramic pic of it. And I finally got to see the Eiffel Tower! The building's usually block it and our hostel isn't close by so after walking all the way to the top and rounding the corner of the building, it was a comforting sight. It proves that I finally made it. *grin* Reminded me of Ratatouille too. Love that movie! After the Arc de Triomphe, we walked to the Eiffel Tower. It looked amazing all lit up at night. I couldn't believe we were actually there. Being here has been strange though in that it doesn't feel like it's a big deal at all. Even though nothing's familiar and I'm seeing it all for the first time, it all seems slightly normal. Like oh yeah I'm in France now. Sometimes I live in CA, DC, Vancouver, and now is my stint in France. I guess I've been desensitived a bit? My mentality is more that this isn't necessarily a vacation and more like I'm living here so I need to adjust and work on my French. The Eiffel Tower was still incredible though but it wasn't as overwhelming as I thought it would be. (aka no tears but that could be because it's fricking freezing!) We were going to go up but the third stage was closed so we're going back tomorrow I think.
Yeah haven't mentioned that it's sooooooo cold! No snow yet but there were a few snowflakes in the air. It was 72 when I left LA and now it's about 22. Everywhere you go, you can see your breath. (which I love but gets old when you're traispsing all over Paris and can't get warm) If anyone would like to contribute to the "Let's Help Sam Not Freeze to Death" fund, I will be accepting monetary donations or long johns or underarmor or boots. ;) Anyways I should be getting to bed. Here is a link to my facebook album of pics for those of you who haven't seen it. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034577&id=1065150112&l=5937e34000 Enjoy! A bientot!

I got my visa!

So I haven't left for France yet but I figured I'd give you all some basic info to start things off. I finally got my visa today. (6 days before is not bad...) I have wanted to be fluent in French for as long as I can remember. When I was six, my family moved from Vancouver, Canada to California. I remember going back to visit relatives every year and always being envious of my cousin who went to a French immersion school. Those schools are few and far between in the States. Whenever I visit Vancouver, I can always tell I’m home when I see the signs in both English and in French saying, “Welcome to Canada! Bienvenue à Canada!” My family has always been supportive but very few people outside of them understand my passion for French. Graduation is looming and I wonder what I’m going to do with my life afterwards. Sometimes I can’t picture myself living in Canada or the U.S. and wonder if France might be the right fit for me.
I already use French phrases in my everyday life and often think of things in French terms before I think of the English word. I’ve even taught my friends a few simple phrases such as “je ne sais pas” (Jenna goes "pa!") and “parce que c'est un jour de fete.” I've taken 5 years of French total. I would say that I can carry on a simple conversation. Not too fast though. ;) C'est tres rapide! Even when they're speaking English... I'm sure after a few weeks I'll catch up. What I really can't wait for is to dream in French. Tres jolie!
So about the program in France. It's through CIEE and it's held in Rennes. (for those of you that don't speak French, you don't pronounce the "s" at the end) Rennes is a relatively big town. 200,000 people with 60,000 of them being college students. The university we're partnering up with is the Universite of Haute Bretagne. The beginning of the program starts out in Paris (where else right?) I'm really glad that I get to see Paris but I didn't want to spend the whole semester there, despite it housing Disneyland Paris. ;) The program includes a homestay. This was the most important part for me. I really wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to be around American students the whole time so I could work on my fluency. Also, I think it's a great experience to be able to become a part of a French family and really live as one of them. We're going to have trips to the castles of the Loire Valley and Normandy and the beach... It's going to be AWESOME!!!
Well hopefully my posts will become more interesting once I leave the country. For now, I must get back to packing. Je n'attends pas visiter France! A bientot!