This is an actual road sign. Their stop signs also say 'stop', and they are in love with round-abouts. I've become quite fond of the phrases "cedez le passage" and "vouz n'avez pas la prioritie". The French are funny about english. They use "sauf cars", but had to change email to 'Mèl' so it was more French. They also say cool, or c'est super cool! On my shampoo bottle, you can read 'nouveau look!'.
27 September 2007
Orléans
I would like to explain some things about France and alcohol. People drink a lot of wine, I'm sure most people knew that. The legal age to buy alcohol is 18, and I haven't been carded. You can also drink in public. For example: Dee was drinking with her host-sister and some friends on the lawn behind in the Eiffel Tower. You just can't be 'drunk' in public.
But back to me. Wednesday was a little slow at first. In the afternoon Dee and I went up to the centre commercial. Somehow it seems three shirts from H&M jumped into a bag which snaked its way onto my arm. Oops! At least two of them I do need because they're long-sleeve. The third is just a really nice purple tank top. Later on the three of us went on a little tour of Orléans, and of course there are photos. For facebook people, look there, and sorry about the great number of pics of the Cathèdrale St. Croix, I just love cathedrals. That evening we met up at Chez Michigan, which is actually just Michigan's room. He has internet and a TV though; so we like to call it that. I had two glasses of of champagne, the entire bottle was only 2,50€. Oh that's the other thing about alcohol in France...it's cheap. Some things like whiskey, gin, vodka and rum are about the same. but you can get a bottle of wine or champagne for 2€. of course the really good stuff is pricier.
Now Thursday ( 6 septembre for you date freaks) was a funny day. We had gone to campus to talk to someone at the SRI, and it turned out that we had a meeting! This was actually quite an important meeting too, where we filled out forms and got a lot of info. It was from 9h to about 17h (5pm), with a lunch break. I have to admit, lunch that day was a little scary, and a lot like high school. We needed up sitting across from this French kid who was so cute. For awhile he wouldn't look up, though we could tell he was listening and wanted to talk. Eventually he did.
Thursday is also when I found out that I don't need to buy French health insurance (192€), and that I couldn't finish registering because my birth certificate doesn't have my parents names on it. Oh fun! And my dad was on vacation with no way to contact him...stress city.
Thursday night we tried to meet some people in our building, but it didn't really work. We lit some candles and brought drinks and music down in to the courtyard. It was fun. We almost went to the club, but decided against it. We found out the next day that Thursday nights at this club there are like go go dancers and stripteases, so I'm kinda glad we didn't.
Friday we had to go back to campus for some more information and to get our class placements and schedules. There are four levels here French: prepq-DEF, DEF, DAF, and DSF. These stand for diplome elementaire/approfondi/supérior français. So DSF is the highest, and has only 10 students. I got into DSF...yay me! I'm not sure how exactly because I thought my French was about the same level as Dee's and Kay's, and they are both in DAF. But I'm somewhat proud of myself. My schedule isn't bad either. I have an hour less of grammaire, and an hour less of pratique oral, but I have to take two 2hour optional classes, they have to take only one.
Blah blah, that was the boring part of the day. Around 8h we decided to hit up the Havana Café because it has wifi grauit. But...it didn't work. We also brought a guy from our residence with us. While Dee and I were waiting for Kay, he asked us if we knew a bar with a tv so he could watch the rugby match. As it happened, the Havana Café has TVs. They don't have food though. So we left him and went across the street for food. That place also had a tv so we saw the first 25 minutes of the match, which was actually the Rugby World Cup between France and Argentina (France lost). For dinner I had a cordon bleu grinder. Have I mentioned that I love France?
After dinner we returned chez nous. That night we were going to the discothèque, KA. They dressed me up and id m hair because, let's face it, I'm a dork. Then we drank and attempted to play a drinking game. The game: one person finds a word in the French dictionary, says it, spells it, gives its part of speech and uses it in a sentence. The other two have to guess the definition, and if they don't guess correctly; they drink. This was not as easy as we thought. We left a little after midnight because KA is open 11-5, and people don't really show up until 12h30 - 1h30. It turned out to be kinda crazy and a lot of fun.
Saturday we didn't leave the residence. I personally spent most of the day being slow and cautious to avoid the worst part of a hangover: puking. I was successful, go me. My hives came back with a vengeance, I had fourteen different ones by the time I went to bed...or rather passed out after taking two benadryls. Saturday night we did watch a movie: The Motorcycle Diaries. One of our neighbors watched it with us. For the comprehension of all, we set this movie (originally in Spanish) to French and put on English subtitles. Despite this is was a good movie.
Sunday I was a little out of it, after sleeping 10 hours thanks to the benadryl. I almost spent the day inside again, but in the afternoon we realized we needed food so we went out. This didn't work, pas de tout. It was Sunday. On Sunday in France, stores close, all stores. I believe only cafés and restaurants can open, if they choose. The trams also only run every 20 minutes instead of every seven. However, le Place de Martroi, and a lot of rue de la republique were closed off this day for Fete de Rentrée...street festival! Kinda. There were tents wit ha ton of different organisations (Kay was in heaven when she spotted the flag of GAGL). They also had demonstrations of things like karate and gymnastics that kids can do here. And a crepe stand. Deeeelicious. The crepe was, no joke, about 18"-21" across, the put nutella on it, and fold it until it's about the size of a pizza slice. Crepe heaven.
Afterwards we got lazy (and we had no food) so we ordered Dominos...for delivery. They had me order because I'm in DSF. I think I did quite well actually, but they still screwed up our orders. It was good, but the cheese is different. How can I describe it...oh! It's real cheese. We also watched Erin Brockevich (sp?), dubbed in French on tv at Chez Michigans. by the way, there were three or four commercial breaks; about four minutes long each, during the entire thing. I was also online; which means facebook (and pics), and emails...I've missed the internet so much.
But back to me. Wednesday was a little slow at first. In the afternoon Dee and I went up to the centre commercial. Somehow it seems three shirts from H&M jumped into a bag which snaked its way onto my arm. Oops! At least two of them I do need because they're long-sleeve. The third is just a really nice purple tank top. Later on the three of us went on a little tour of Orléans, and of course there are photos. For facebook people, look there, and sorry about the great number of pics of the Cathèdrale St. Croix, I just love cathedrals. That evening we met up at Chez Michigan, which is actually just Michigan's room. He has internet and a TV though; so we like to call it that. I had two glasses of of champagne, the entire bottle was only 2,50€. Oh that's the other thing about alcohol in France...it's cheap. Some things like whiskey, gin, vodka and rum are about the same. but you can get a bottle of wine or champagne for 2€. of course the really good stuff is pricier.
Now Thursday ( 6 septembre for you date freaks) was a funny day. We had gone to campus to talk to someone at the SRI, and it turned out that we had a meeting! This was actually quite an important meeting too, where we filled out forms and got a lot of info. It was from 9h to about 17h (5pm), with a lunch break. I have to admit, lunch that day was a little scary, and a lot like high school. We needed up sitting across from this French kid who was so cute. For awhile he wouldn't look up, though we could tell he was listening and wanted to talk. Eventually he did.
Thursday is also when I found out that I don't need to buy French health insurance (192€), and that I couldn't finish registering because my birth certificate doesn't have my parents names on it. Oh fun! And my dad was on vacation with no way to contact him...stress city.
Thursday night we tried to meet some people in our building, but it didn't really work. We lit some candles and brought drinks and music down in to the courtyard. It was fun. We almost went to the club, but decided against it. We found out the next day that Thursday nights at this club there are like go go dancers and stripteases, so I'm kinda glad we didn't.
Friday we had to go back to campus for some more information and to get our class placements and schedules. There are four levels here French: prepq-DEF, DEF, DAF, and DSF. These stand for diplome elementaire/approfondi/supérior français. So DSF is the highest, and has only 10 students. I got into DSF...yay me! I'm not sure how exactly because I thought my French was about the same level as Dee's and Kay's, and they are both in DAF. But I'm somewhat proud of myself. My schedule isn't bad either. I have an hour less of grammaire, and an hour less of pratique oral, but I have to take two 2hour optional classes, they have to take only one.
Blah blah, that was the boring part of the day. Around 8h we decided to hit up the Havana Café because it has wifi grauit. But...it didn't work. We also brought a guy from our residence with us. While Dee and I were waiting for Kay, he asked us if we knew a bar with a tv so he could watch the rugby match. As it happened, the Havana Café has TVs. They don't have food though. So we left him and went across the street for food. That place also had a tv so we saw the first 25 minutes of the match, which was actually the Rugby World Cup between France and Argentina (France lost). For dinner I had a cordon bleu grinder. Have I mentioned that I love France?
After dinner we returned chez nous. That night we were going to the discothèque, KA. They dressed me up and id m hair because, let's face it, I'm a dork. Then we drank and attempted to play a drinking game. The game: one person finds a word in the French dictionary, says it, spells it, gives its part of speech and uses it in a sentence. The other two have to guess the definition, and if they don't guess correctly; they drink. This was not as easy as we thought. We left a little after midnight because KA is open 11-5, and people don't really show up until 12h30 - 1h30. It turned out to be kinda crazy and a lot of fun.
Saturday we didn't leave the residence. I personally spent most of the day being slow and cautious to avoid the worst part of a hangover: puking. I was successful, go me. My hives came back with a vengeance, I had fourteen different ones by the time I went to bed...or rather passed out after taking two benadryls. Saturday night we did watch a movie: The Motorcycle Diaries. One of our neighbors watched it with us. For the comprehension of all, we set this movie (originally in Spanish) to French and put on English subtitles. Despite this is was a good movie.
Sunday I was a little out of it, after sleeping 10 hours thanks to the benadryl. I almost spent the day inside again, but in the afternoon we realized we needed food so we went out. This didn't work, pas de tout. It was Sunday. On Sunday in France, stores close, all stores. I believe only cafés and restaurants can open, if they choose. The trams also only run every 20 minutes instead of every seven. However, le Place de Martroi, and a lot of rue de la republique were closed off this day for Fete de Rentrée...street festival! Kinda. There were tents wit ha ton of different organisations (Kay was in heaven when she spotted the flag of GAGL). They also had demonstrations of things like karate and gymnastics that kids can do here. And a crepe stand. Deeeelicious. The crepe was, no joke, about 18"-21" across, the put nutella on it, and fold it until it's about the size of a pizza slice. Crepe heaven.
Afterwards we got lazy (and we had no food) so we ordered Dominos...for delivery. They had me order because I'm in DSF. I think I did quite well actually, but they still screwed up our orders. It was good, but the cheese is different. How can I describe it...oh! It's real cheese. We also watched Erin Brockevich (sp?), dubbed in French on tv at Chez Michigans. by the way, there were three or four commercial breaks; about four minutes long each, during the entire thing. I was also online; which means facebook (and pics), and emails...I've missed the internet so much.
First real day (and night) in Orléans
For anyone who cares, I did not need a pencil. I only needed my passport and a pen. I don't like carrying my passport around, but it's the only acceptable ID I have here.
At 7h30 du matin, I met Kay and Dee in the courtyard. It was fairly cold, and if I have classes early in the morning than I'm buying a winter coat within a week. We were supposed to be there at 8h50. We got to campus around 8h10. So we stopped in a little café to pass the time. The guy that worked there was hilarious, I won't even try to explain because it's something you'd just have to experience for yourself.
Around 8h40 we went in search of the amphi-Péguy, in the fac de lettres, where our French test was. A little explanation. At American universities, there is the university which includes everything and everyone. Then there are colleges. For example I'm in the college of human sciences and services because I'm an education major. However your college does not necessarily have it's own building, or if you're in two colleges (I'm also in arts and sciences for French), then you may have classes all over campus. Here, there is the university which is everything. Un collège is actually like a middle school. In the university there are facultés, or les facs. here I'm in the fac de lettres; langes et sciences, but everyone just says le fac de lettres. Tina is in Polytech. So all of my classes this semester will be in the fac de lettres, all of Tina's will be in the Polytech. Personally I think it's smarter this way. End of explanation.
First we took a written exam, three questions for a total of 75 points. I think I lay have gotten 6 wrong, But I wouldn't be surprised if I got them all right. It was like a test from French 3 or 4 in high school. Then we had to wait a while for the oral exam. by now a kid from Michigan joined us, so we were quatre. We walked into the commercial part of campus (kind of like the Emporium but not) and found a place 'Restaurant Bunny', as in Bugs Bunny. We sat under a big pictures of the cartoons (Bugs, Daffy, Elmer Fudd, etc);
The nice things about cafés and restaurants in France is they're not rushing you the door. you have to ask for the check, so you can sit and chill for awhile if you want. Then we went back to the fac and waited for the oral exams to start. We met two kids from Germany lugging their bags around because they had just arrived. I was first, it was less than ten minutes, very conversational, and therefore easy as shit. Then Kay, then Deni, then Michigan. While waiting for each other we met two girls from Turkey who are doing volunteer work for a while. It's kinda cool that we can meet people from practically every where here, and it's almost certain that we can communicate. most other countries learn two other languages, and often one is English. So if they're not comfortable with French, we have English.
Well after this test the four of us were done, and we also had nothing academic the next day. After a little repose we went to the centre commercial. I finally changed my cash over, at the shitty rate of 1.445. I mailed out my first stuff: a letter and a postcard. Don't worry people, if I said I would send a postcard, I will, it's only my first week in Orléans. If you want one, I need addresses and you can leave them on here or on facebook or email me. They do cost 0,85€ so I'm not gonna go crazy. Also, I'm not in Paris, I don't know if I can get Eiffel Tower ones here.
Enough about you, let's go back to me. After la poste, it was back to Carrefour for more food and such. We bought way too much. You cannot take the carriages out of the centre commercial. So we had to buy extra bags, cram our stuff into them, then walk to the tram. We most likely looked absolutely ridiculous on the tram with all of our stuff. Then we had the walk from the tram to our building. Holy shit. I never knew that walk was so long. Again, I'm fairly certain we looked ridiculous: hefting these bags, and huffing and puffing and giving ourselves pep-talks. "Ok, just lake it to the next cross-walk, then rest;" We broke open a bottle of juice and a baguette on the way. Big baguette by the way, that costs like $2 at S&S, 0,39€! Definitely a new staple. Needless to say my neck and shoulders killed the next day.
After ranging our affaires (like the franglais?) I had dinner with Kate. Ravioli cooked with garlic and red pepper...so delicious. i cracked open my bottle of Old Nick. It was only 4,85€ fora good-sized bottle. Pineapple and papaya white rum. Nasty. Not incredibly horrible with orange juice chased by baguette.
Around 10 we went down to Dee's room, where Michigan had to stay for the night because he lost his keys on the tram. Too bad because he gets free wireless from someone else in his room. He and Dee had two bottles of wine, Kay had one, and I had Old Nick. Fun night. All I'll say is that I think we know each other a lot better, and I didn't get back to my room until 3h30am. Oh and a great quote from Kay, "I like to shit in Nordstrom's 'cause they have nice bathrooms." Haha, I love it. I think we may have scared Michigan a little...
I got to bed around 3h30, woke up around 7h. My first thought, "oh god I'm glad I stopped drinking when I did." Water and a croissant got me through the morning, every time I woke up again. I didn't actually get up until 11h. It was a slow morning.
A funny note about French. Bachelor party translates from French to English, literally, as 'interment of single life'.
Savez-vous pourquoi j'aime cette langue?
At 7h30 du matin, I met Kay and Dee in the courtyard. It was fairly cold, and if I have classes early in the morning than I'm buying a winter coat within a week. We were supposed to be there at 8h50. We got to campus around 8h10. So we stopped in a little café to pass the time. The guy that worked there was hilarious, I won't even try to explain because it's something you'd just have to experience for yourself.
Around 8h40 we went in search of the amphi-Péguy, in the fac de lettres, where our French test was. A little explanation. At American universities, there is the university which includes everything and everyone. Then there are colleges. For example I'm in the college of human sciences and services because I'm an education major. However your college does not necessarily have it's own building, or if you're in two colleges (I'm also in arts and sciences for French), then you may have classes all over campus. Here, there is the university which is everything. Un collège is actually like a middle school. In the university there are facultés, or les facs. here I'm in the fac de lettres; langes et sciences, but everyone just says le fac de lettres. Tina is in Polytech. So all of my classes this semester will be in the fac de lettres, all of Tina's will be in the Polytech. Personally I think it's smarter this way. End of explanation.
First we took a written exam, three questions for a total of 75 points. I think I lay have gotten 6 wrong, But I wouldn't be surprised if I got them all right. It was like a test from French 3 or 4 in high school. Then we had to wait a while for the oral exam. by now a kid from Michigan joined us, so we were quatre. We walked into the commercial part of campus (kind of like the Emporium but not) and found a place 'Restaurant Bunny', as in Bugs Bunny. We sat under a big pictures of the cartoons (Bugs, Daffy, Elmer Fudd, etc);
The nice things about cafés and restaurants in France is they're not rushing you the door. you have to ask for the check, so you can sit and chill for awhile if you want. Then we went back to the fac and waited for the oral exams to start. We met two kids from Germany lugging their bags around because they had just arrived. I was first, it was less than ten minutes, very conversational, and therefore easy as shit. Then Kay, then Deni, then Michigan. While waiting for each other we met two girls from Turkey who are doing volunteer work for a while. It's kinda cool that we can meet people from practically every where here, and it's almost certain that we can communicate. most other countries learn two other languages, and often one is English. So if they're not comfortable with French, we have English.
Well after this test the four of us were done, and we also had nothing academic the next day. After a little repose we went to the centre commercial. I finally changed my cash over, at the shitty rate of 1.445. I mailed out my first stuff: a letter and a postcard. Don't worry people, if I said I would send a postcard, I will, it's only my first week in Orléans. If you want one, I need addresses and you can leave them on here or on facebook or email me. They do cost 0,85€ so I'm not gonna go crazy. Also, I'm not in Paris, I don't know if I can get Eiffel Tower ones here.
Enough about you, let's go back to me. After la poste, it was back to Carrefour for more food and such. We bought way too much. You cannot take the carriages out of the centre commercial. So we had to buy extra bags, cram our stuff into them, then walk to the tram. We most likely looked absolutely ridiculous on the tram with all of our stuff. Then we had the walk from the tram to our building. Holy shit. I never knew that walk was so long. Again, I'm fairly certain we looked ridiculous: hefting these bags, and huffing and puffing and giving ourselves pep-talks. "Ok, just lake it to the next cross-walk, then rest;" We broke open a bottle of juice and a baguette on the way. Big baguette by the way, that costs like $2 at S&S, 0,39€! Definitely a new staple. Needless to say my neck and shoulders killed the next day.
After ranging our affaires (like the franglais?) I had dinner with Kate. Ravioli cooked with garlic and red pepper...so delicious. i cracked open my bottle of Old Nick. It was only 4,85€ fora good-sized bottle. Pineapple and papaya white rum. Nasty. Not incredibly horrible with orange juice chased by baguette.
Around 10 we went down to Dee's room, where Michigan had to stay for the night because he lost his keys on the tram. Too bad because he gets free wireless from someone else in his room. He and Dee had two bottles of wine, Kay had one, and I had Old Nick. Fun night. All I'll say is that I think we know each other a lot better, and I didn't get back to my room until 3h30am. Oh and a great quote from Kay, "I like to shit in Nordstrom's 'cause they have nice bathrooms." Haha, I love it. I think we may have scared Michigan a little...
I got to bed around 3h30, woke up around 7h. My first thought, "oh god I'm glad I stopped drinking when I did." Water and a croissant got me through the morning, every time I woke up again. I didn't actually get up until 11h. It was a slow morning.
A funny note about French. Bachelor party translates from French to English, literally, as 'interment of single life'.
Savez-vous pourquoi j'aime cette langue?
26 September 2007
J'ai démanagé encore
3 septembre 2007
So today I finally moved into my apartment. First I had a meeting at the SRI ( services de relations internationales). The woman there was very nice and informed me that I had to be on campus at 8h50 the next day for my French test. Then I paid 5€ for my dishes and such. They only gave me a fork, knife, spoon, serving spoon, plate, bowl, spatula, pot, frying pan, and 2 glasses. Everyone got different things (Kay and Dee both got strainers, and Dee also got a cutting board). They also gave me a packet of info, with maps and brochures for stuff like the tram and restaurants. Then they sent us (Tina and I) off to the residence. We had to be there by a certain time, but when we arrived there were 3 other people waiting already. After maybe 20 minutes the girl who was before me at the first rendez-vous went to do the état de lieu. Finally I went in the Secretariat's office. They said I was missing some stuff; and I had to fill out a paper and sign some stuff. They didn't like it that I already had my flight back home and that it's for the 26th, but too bad for them 'cause it's cheaper to buy round trip. So then we did the Etat de Lieu. This means that we went to my apartment with a maintenance guy, and he had a paper to fill out. He took note of everything (and I mean everything) that was wrong, from missing button to flush the toilet to the tiny dings in the floor. They do another one the day before we leave to see if it's in the same condition and to determine whether or not I get my deposit back. This is why they didn't like it that I'm leaving the 26th...the day before is Christmas. Whatever, they can do it on the 23rd or the morning I leave.
I also found out that I have to get insurance for the apartment...no one told me this...and I have to sign up for financial help for the rent even though I've already paid for all of it, and the chance of getting it is slim to none. I also had to rent sheets and blankets because they come together. I brought my own sheets but oh well, I'll send them home when my visitors come I guess. I didn't have to pay for them because I overpaid for the room. Now I have to find out how much I overpaid, and when they're gonna give it back. I wouldn't mind some extra euros in my account.
After lugging my stuff down the street and up the stairs, Tina and I went to the centre commercial. I finally got some euros, bought tram tickets and food for about three days. Although the Super U in Gevrey_Chambertin was great, the Carrefour in Orléans is not. If you think S&S on a Sunday with three call-outs is bad, try this place, every day. The front end was so packed it would probably take five minutes to squeeze through with a cart from one end to the other.
After this little outing I was finally able to settle in. There's no dresser, so three shelves of my bookcase now hold clothes, another holds daily stuff like jewelry and vitamins, the bottom is sheets and my bag. After I rangé mes affaires I went in search of the other two girls from my home university. One wasn't in her room, and as I was going upstairs to find the other, she came in with her host family and groceries. We tried speaking French for a few minutes, but then she finally said, 'fuck it, I've had enough'. She put her stuff away, then we came up to my room for dinner and exchanged stories about our first few days.
I think I will get in shape here. My room is on the 3ème étage (floor). Unlike in America, the floors here start on the 2nd. The ground floor is the rez-de-chaussée, then the first floor. So in America you would say that I live on the fourth floor. So at least once a day I have to go up and down four flights of stairs (no elevators). Since my residence is in the centre-ville, and campus is across the Loire river, I have to take the tram. However, there are no stops at my residence. It's three or four blocks away, about 10 minutes walking. I definitely need to invest in an umbrella and a winter coat.
I think I will also learn how to cook better. My kitchen consists of a big shelf, two shelves in a little cupboard under the sink, a small sink with space on the side to dry dishes, and two small burners. And a mini-fridge. At least the burners are electric. No stove, no microwave...only cold and stove top. I also have to pay for my electricity, so I light get some candles for the evening to save on light use.
There is also a table with two chairs, and a little bedside table type thing with a drawer and two shelves. The drawer now holds socks and underwear, and the shelf is my mass of papers and school supplies. It's about 400€ a month, and the furniture is very dorm-ish. Would I pay that much for a place this size in my town? No way. But if I could find a place this size I would pay $250-$300 depending on whether or not hot water and electricity were included. I have one good-sized window, with a ledge big enough to sit on and write on. It only looks out on the courtyard, which means doors and some other peoples windows, but hey, it's a window. It's also very easy to watch everyone else without them noticing me.
Tomorrow beings my scholarly adventure. I hope I don't need a pencil because all I have is a pen. We'll see I guess.
à beintot!
So today I finally moved into my apartment. First I had a meeting at the SRI ( services de relations internationales). The woman there was very nice and informed me that I had to be on campus at 8h50 the next day for my French test. Then I paid 5€ for my dishes and such. They only gave me a fork, knife, spoon, serving spoon, plate, bowl, spatula, pot, frying pan, and 2 glasses. Everyone got different things (Kay and Dee both got strainers, and Dee also got a cutting board). They also gave me a packet of info, with maps and brochures for stuff like the tram and restaurants. Then they sent us (Tina and I) off to the residence. We had to be there by a certain time, but when we arrived there were 3 other people waiting already. After maybe 20 minutes the girl who was before me at the first rendez-vous went to do the état de lieu. Finally I went in the Secretariat's office. They said I was missing some stuff; and I had to fill out a paper and sign some stuff. They didn't like it that I already had my flight back home and that it's for the 26th, but too bad for them 'cause it's cheaper to buy round trip. So then we did the Etat de Lieu. This means that we went to my apartment with a maintenance guy, and he had a paper to fill out. He took note of everything (and I mean everything) that was wrong, from missing button to flush the toilet to the tiny dings in the floor. They do another one the day before we leave to see if it's in the same condition and to determine whether or not I get my deposit back. This is why they didn't like it that I'm leaving the 26th...the day before is Christmas. Whatever, they can do it on the 23rd or the morning I leave.
I also found out that I have to get insurance for the apartment...no one told me this...and I have to sign up for financial help for the rent even though I've already paid for all of it, and the chance of getting it is slim to none. I also had to rent sheets and blankets because they come together. I brought my own sheets but oh well, I'll send them home when my visitors come I guess. I didn't have to pay for them because I overpaid for the room. Now I have to find out how much I overpaid, and when they're gonna give it back. I wouldn't mind some extra euros in my account.
After lugging my stuff down the street and up the stairs, Tina and I went to the centre commercial. I finally got some euros, bought tram tickets and food for about three days. Although the Super U in Gevrey_Chambertin was great, the Carrefour in Orléans is not. If you think S&S on a Sunday with three call-outs is bad, try this place, every day. The front end was so packed it would probably take five minutes to squeeze through with a cart from one end to the other.
After this little outing I was finally able to settle in. There's no dresser, so three shelves of my bookcase now hold clothes, another holds daily stuff like jewelry and vitamins, the bottom is sheets and my bag. After I rangé mes affaires I went in search of the other two girls from my home university. One wasn't in her room, and as I was going upstairs to find the other, she came in with her host family and groceries. We tried speaking French for a few minutes, but then she finally said, 'fuck it, I've had enough'. She put her stuff away, then we came up to my room for dinner and exchanged stories about our first few days.
I think I will get in shape here. My room is on the 3ème étage (floor). Unlike in America, the floors here start on the 2nd. The ground floor is the rez-de-chaussée, then the first floor. So in America you would say that I live on the fourth floor. So at least once a day I have to go up and down four flights of stairs (no elevators). Since my residence is in the centre-ville, and campus is across the Loire river, I have to take the tram. However, there are no stops at my residence. It's three or four blocks away, about 10 minutes walking. I definitely need to invest in an umbrella and a winter coat.
I think I will also learn how to cook better. My kitchen consists of a big shelf, two shelves in a little cupboard under the sink, a small sink with space on the side to dry dishes, and two small burners. And a mini-fridge. At least the burners are electric. No stove, no microwave...only cold and stove top. I also have to pay for my electricity, so I light get some candles for the evening to save on light use.
There is also a table with two chairs, and a little bedside table type thing with a drawer and two shelves. The drawer now holds socks and underwear, and the shelf is my mass of papers and school supplies. It's about 400€ a month, and the furniture is very dorm-ish. Would I pay that much for a place this size in my town? No way. But if I could find a place this size I would pay $250-$300 depending on whether or not hot water and electricity were included. I have one good-sized window, with a ledge big enough to sit on and write on. It only looks out on the courtyard, which means doors and some other peoples windows, but hey, it's a window. It's also very easy to watch everyone else without them noticing me.
Tomorrow beings my scholarly adventure. I hope I don't need a pencil because all I have is a pen. We'll see I guess.
à beintot!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
