Photo Update!

This weekend I went on an IES-sponsored field trip to Mont St-Michel and St. Malo. Of course, the views were awe-inspiring, and I had a really fun time exploring with the other people here. Go here to see the pictures, or you can always take a look at my photo albums on the little bar to the left called 'Snapshots of My Semester'.

Mont St-Michel & St. Malo - Castle in the Sea

Other interesting facts about this trip:

  1) There were absolutely TONS of Japanese people there! I can't tell you how surprised and excited I was when I first bumped into a couple and overheard them babbling in my other favorite language. Of course, I had to play the nincompoop and try to talk to the various Japanese people in the street. I think they were even more surprised to find a "French" person speaking Japanese than I was to run into a horde of Japanese people in France.

But seriously, there were several tour bus-loads of them there. At one point, while I was trying to find somewhere to get lunch, I was stuck against the side of the street because of an oncoming parade of tourists, cameras and lanyards slung around their necks, all demurely bantering in Japanese. 

After a few minutes of excited bouncing while watching them pass, I couldn't resist any longer. The best exchange I had with them went like this:

"Excuse me but-- are you folks Japanese?"

Stunned expressions followed by, "W-why yes, we are."

"That's awesome!"

More stunned but now smiling faces. "Thank you so much!"

And then they were gone up the inclining road.

   2) I ate the biggest helping of ice cream on a cone ever.

And of course, I received plenty of scowls from the people on the street passing by me, which really seemed interpretable as, "Oh God, not another fat American. Do they ever know when to stop?" I'll admit, it was excessive. Four scoops. And one of those scoops was definitely 2 and 1/2 scoops, so you can see where that led to. 

I wasn't alone however. Connor, my partner in ice-crime (groan, I know), helped me demolish the beast with all speed. Raspberry, tiramisu, and amour de glace. Such deliciousness man may never set eyes upon again.

    3) I think I've eaten too many crêpes. 

Is that possible? Does anyone know?

   4) Within a couple of miles of the beach, there is only one store that sells bathing suits. And you have to know the secret password, 'cause they keep them in the back. Honestly. And even then, those bathing suits are "one size fits all", which I'm not at all sure is even possible. So come prepared when you go to the beach at St. Malo.

So yeah, that's about it. Beach plus ice cream plus friends plus blue skies equals: an unequalled day. As perfect as they come, really.

If you enjoy the pictures, leave me a comment and let me know!

Growing Pains

Studies show that we learn language best as young children. (Now, don't ask me which studies because I don't have any in particular in mind, but I could find one if need be.) Maybe it's a good thing then that lately, I've been feeling more and more like a child as I wander through the neighborhoods of Nantes.

When we're born, we don't know how to speak, how to ask for the things we need, how to interact, or where to use the bathroom. Some times it's the same way with me here.

I find myself consistently sticking out in some way or another. There's something I'm missing. Is it in my posture, my expression, the length of my pants? I don't know yet. But something about me, or maybe everything about me, makes me stick out as a foreigner.  

Today, in salsa class, I couldn't speak two sentences, without dance partner asking, "Where are you from?" or rather, "Where is your accent from?". I'll admit an accent's not that bad when it comes to charm and individuality, but at this point, I miss interacting with people who are interested in me, and not so much my country.

Back to the child part. Although I know the words, I'm beginning to find that my powers of French speaking aren't always too strong. Fear can weaken them, and anxiety. Both of which I've started to encounter in meeting French students and teachers alone. 

Take my jazz dance class the other night: after bumbling back and forth across the wooden dance floor for an hour and a half, I plucked up the nerve to talk to the instructor, who had poked fun at me and my apparently odd approach to jumping, after the session had ended. I stammered out an explanation of my foreignness and below-average understanding of French, and of course, the instructor laughed at me. Brazenly. When I asked her for information about the class, she laughed again and told me I was asking for something that was my responsibility to find out. Why would she give me any information or help whatsoever?, she said.

And back I went to the first grade, when I had knocked over a glass of apple juice, and the Sunday school teacher and class laughed with abandon at the puddle at my feet oh-so-resembling pee. Needless to say, I was pretty crushed.

There are so many social procedures and magic passwords that I have yet to learn. My homestay family is continually correcting the way I help them with chores. I don't dry my hands off fast enough. Or I don't cut the bread from the right side. Or I don't wrap the leftover cheese properly. Little, little things.

Yet when not done properly, a big red warning light goes off in the heads of all the natives: FOREIGNER.  BE CAREFUL.

So that's where I am right now. Baby steps. Lots and lots of baby steps. But that's the only way to learn, right?

Out and About

Since I know there are a quite a few aspects of my life here in Nantes that I haven't filled you guys in on yet, here's an overview of my typical day up to this point:

*wake up at 7-8 AM. Even if I don't have any classes or events until later in the day, the sounds of everyone else in the house starting their mornings usually keeps me from sleeping in. Since my room is on the ground floor, and the girls and their parents live on the top two floors, I wake to the sounds of dishes, stomping, and showers every morning.

*eat breakfast. Which usually consists of tea, juice, jam, butter, and honey, with my choice of brioche, crêpes, or pain (like from a baguette). By this time everyone's off to work or school, and Elie, my homestay dad pokes his head in the kitchen to make sure all the food's laid out for me before he goes to take a patient. (He's a podiatrist and works out of the home. His office and examining room are right next to my bedroom.)

*walk to the tram stop. then take the tram south for about 10 minutes to the centre-ville, connect with a tram headed west a little ways, and then walk the remainder of the way to the IES Centre. It takes me around 20-25 minutes from the time I step outside the house to when I reach Rue des Cadeniers. Not too bad a commute, and I'm learning shortcuts all the time.

*attend classes at IES intermittently. And make myself a regular old sandwich for lunch in the Centre's kitchen. Almost all of my classes and activities are separated by about an hour or so. Some days, I only have one class. This leaves me time to run errands, walk around with friends, and explore the town.

*start home by 6:30 PM. People on the tram are often more lively around this hour. I walk fast.

*have dinner with my homestay family around 7:30-8PM. The mom straggles in shortly after I do, and then we all hustle to the kitchen table. Dinner is simple and often lacks meat. We have one main dish with bread, then a round of cheese (almost always exceptionally potent), and a dessert of fruit, yogurt/cheese (more on that later), or ice cream. It's pleasant and filling.

*attempt to socialize with homestay family. All of whom are tired or preoccupied with other things by this point. For 30 minutes to an 1 hour every night though, I watch the news with my homestay parents while they wait for the weather forecast. Some times we watch parts of movies, until we realize that we're all mostly asleep.

*stumble to bed at 10PM. Or work on some minor homework, the only kind I've had so far.

And sleep! Thankfully, I've getting plenty of that lately.

This schedule isn't terribly exciting, but it's an interesting change of pace from the constant barrage of work and activities I have at AC. My university classes and clubs are starting tomorrow, and my teaching internship begins next week, so those should kick my schedule up a couple of notches. And on the weekends, I search for exciting action across Nantes !

I've posted a bunch more pictures of Nantes and its going-ons. If you'd like to see them click on one of the two albums on the right under 'Snapshots of My Semester'.

Finishing from where I left off

Okay! I don't have class until 2:45PM today, so here's the rest of that story.

On Monday, I went to the University of Nantes campus (known as la Fac, short for la Faculté) to track down Professor Tanaka. Luckily, my feet remembered how to get to the languages building thanks to the campus tour we did last week. Once I got there, I figured it'd be easy street, since there is only one Japanese professor. 

One floor of the building is solely comprised of teachers' offices, which are color-coded by department. I was in the red-door area. I asked a lady speaking German where to go, and she pointed me towards the yellow doors. I went to the yellow doors. I asked a woman working at her desk where to find Professor Tanaka - she pointed me back the red doors. And so it went, for thirty more minutes. I asked a knowledgeable-looking lady putting up posters. She only knew the Spanish department. I asked a slick metro professor, and he threw up his hands then told me to ask his colleague next door. She gave me unintelligible, hyper-vite directions that involved going down stairs, turning corners - too much for me. I asked a technical assistant in an AV room. Nothing, no help. No one had any idea. Meanwhile, crowds of students are gathered around course listings in the halls or waiting to get in to see their own professors. I think about 65% of them scowled at me, and some of them more than once. 

After I had used up the last inch of my resolve, I decided to return to the woman who had given me directions. At least, she had heard of the Japanese department. Embarrassed, defeated, I knocked on her open doorway and admitted that I still couldn't find the professor's office.

And of course, this lady took my hopeless lostness as a direct insult to her sense of directions. She stiffened and caustically told me that she "had already given me perfectly good directions" and that his office was still in the same place she had directed me to - without taking her eyes off of her computer.  Evidently, I was an idiot.

So, I did my best to reconcile with this woman, my last chance for finding this Japanese man, and explained that most likely, I simply hadn't understood her instructions, since my French still isn't that great.

She turned from her email and looked at me in shock. "Vous n'êtes pas français?"

"Non, madame. Je suis américaine. Je viens du Texas."

And that changed everything. Although her manner was still a little cold, she insisted on taking me to the elusive room and made me wait until she had finished her email (even though I tried to escape), then marched me down to Professor Tanaka's office.

Of course, he wasn't there.

That was definitely the most hair-raising encounter I've had so far here, but part of me can't help but feel a smidgen of triumph in that brief exchange:

"What? You're not French?"

"No, ma'am. I'm from Texas."

I Have Classes!

Yesterday marked the first official day of class. Here's what I'm taking:

At the IES Center, and thus with other Americans ---
*Advanced Topics in French Grammar And Conversation, IV
*French Poetry of the 19th and 20th Centuries
*Theatre (we put on a play in French in at the end of the semester)

At the University of Nantes ---
*Comparative Literature: The "roman du Je" in the literature of France and Japan -autobiography and "watakushi shôsetsu"
*Japanese Language

I'm also signed up for a salsa dancing class and a yoga class through the university that each meet once a week. This should put me in direct contact with French college students, which is precisely what I want. Plus, why not try out a new skill or two why I'm here? They certainly don't have salsa classes back in Sherman.

I still don't have any information about my Japanese class, since the University professor is nearly impossible to find -- and seemingly only known by one member of the entire Foreign Languages Department. But hopefully, email will be able to find him, wherever he is, since he only spends 1 hour every week in his tiny office hidden under the staircase and shared by the Chinese and Russian professors.

I have a funny story to tell about my venture to the university campus to find this man Monsieur Takeshi Tanaka -- but I'll have to post it later.

Tchao!

Quirks

People are funny, wherever you go. Here are some of the characters I've encountered while I've been in Nantes so far.

The Skirt-Man:

I stumbled upon this gem on our tour of Historic Nantes.  It was raining, he had a beard, and he was wearing a skirt.

Rogue bands of Nantais college students:

I've been seeing these guys on and off all week in different packs, and I still can't figure out what they're up to. They came up to our tour group and were taking cream pies to the face in exchange for euros.

Hazing, I guess? Whatever they were doing, they were pretty cool. And they did manage to get 4 or 5 euros out of our group.

Old Lady:

This little old French lady skittered past me at one point, and I had to take a picture of her. I hope that's not mean. She was cute!

And Fire-breather:

This guy was roaming around between cafés at night. I felt the heat from his fire blast before I actually noticed him.

He popped balloons hanging off of a girl who was working with him. Intense, right?

Hopefully, I'll meet some more interesting people tonight! I'm hitting the streets again with some friends to explore the night life here and find out what la ville de Nantes is all about!

9/11 in France

It's been a couple of days, so it's time for another post.

On Wednesday night, a small ceremony was held for us IES Nantes students at the Hôtel de Ville by the mayor and the local French-American Society. It was half-welcome and half-memorial.

Our homestay families were invited, aperitifs and hors d'oeuvres were served, and a couple of speakers welcomed us warmly while reminding us of all that Nantes has to offer.

The most memorable moment of the event for me came during the President of the French-American Society's speech. In reference to September 11th, he said, "On that day, we were all American. We were American, so that we could have full brotherhood with and support for the United States during that sad time. I am certain that most people you will find still feel this way about the event today."

To me, that meant a lot. With all the badmouthing of the French that we Americans do, you'd think France had turned the U.S down on a romantic date and thrown the U.S.'s bouquet of roses back in its face. But really, that's not the case. 

The view of the United States here in France may be fragile, but there's no outright enmity. And if there was, I would hear about it - because the French don't like to keep their opinions locked up tight. If they feel strongly about something, they're going to tell you about it. Whether or not, it involves you, your mother, or your country. It's just how things are.

I remember 9/11 very clearly. And I remember a lot of the anti-French remarks I heard in the following years nearly as well. So it's interesting to see the other side of the glass now, and think about what the French people in their houses watching the news on tv, or outside taking the train to work, were feeling and thinking and doing while we quaked and trembled at what was happening to our homeland under attack, watching the towers fall and the dust rise.

In some way, I like the thought that maybe they were feeling some of the same things, too.

Updates

I've added almost all of my pictures from this weekend to the photo gallery below if you're curious about what all I've been seeing here. Since I didn't get a chance to put down any details about what I've been up to before, I'll add them in now. 

[Also, if you'd like me to send you a postcard, please let me know! I'll do my best to hunt down a kooky, authentic one for you. Just leave me a comment - or email if you'd prefer - with your address, and I'll send one along in due time.]

The first few days were slow, for sure. All the excitement of being in a new country and being surrounded by new sights and sounds and tastes doesn't work too well with the actual process of acclimatization (add in the factor of jet lag, and I'm sure you'll understand). I know I'm overeager - pretty much always have been - so for me stepping off that plane, trekking across the Pays de la Loire, and then my first day in Nantes hopping on a bus for hours and hours with nothing to do didn't sit well with me.

The directors of IES, my study abroad program, want their students to ease in slowly to their new habitats and get to know their fellow classmates before getting

 to know the country. They're nice people, the directors. They care about us a lot.

But honestly, I didn't come here to mingle with other Americans. I came to France -- for France! For French people, French culture, French food, French courses. Not to make friends with 55 other Americans so that I have someone to reminisce over pictures with when I get back home. 

So, I've been a little impatient. Let me change that. I am impatient. 

But moment by moment, I'm calming myself down and forcing myself to look around and see that, despite the inertia in my designated schedule, I'm here. This is my semester abroad. Every second that ticks by.And it's up to me to decide how to use this time, whether or not my itinerary says 3 hours on a guided tour of a paper plant. It's up to me gain what I will from it, and in the end, walk away with more than I came here with. And no, I don't mean more clothes in my suitcases.

I'm in France. And I'm very, very excited.

Weekend in Vannes Photos

Hey all,

I now have a few pictures up from my past 5 or so days here in France. As soon as I get a chance, I'll add more.

Click here for my photos

The Recap

I haven't been able to update my blog for the past couple of days, since I've been at a hotel in Vannes for 3 and 1/2 days of orientation, or getting to know my peers. But now I'm back! And I'll be posting regularly from here on out. So here's what you need (or may want) to know about my first few days here in France.

1. I arrived.

After connecting in Philadelphia, flying across the Atlantic (minus the in-flight movie, which malfunctioned before boarding), and riding the TGV 3 hours to the west coast of France, I finally stepped out of a taxi and onto Rue de Cadeniers, a small side street right off the centre ville. The IES center, my home base here in Nantes and the place where I'll be taking most of my classes, is on the 4th floor of an old stone building. You can reach the center's office by ascending a winding staircase or taking the old-fashioned elevator, max. occupancy 1.

2. I have somewhere to stay.

My homestay family lives 10 minutes from the IES center and consists of Elie Doucet, the father, who works from home as a podiatrist; Francoise Doucet, the mother, who's a real estate agent in town; Caroline Doucet, 21, the eldest, who goes to the University and is a competitive rower; and Claire Doucet, 19, who just graduated from high school and loves horseback riding. A hearty, spirited family which has a passion for sailboats and, I can tell already, is really quite close. Pictures coming soon.

3. I'm being fed.

The Doucets provide me with dinner and breakfast 5 days week. For lunch and weekends, I'm on my own. And so far, I've been eating plenty of vegetables.

4. French is not a dead language.

I've been using it, and it works. As far as I can tell, the people here understand it, speak it, and rather like it. All my years of study seem to have not been for nothing. I've been able to talk with waiters, ask for directions, chit-chat with strangers about the weather, and order ice cream. Communication's not a problem, so of course, I'm relieved about that.

5. I'm enjoying myself.

Really. It's wonderful here. I'm seeing new sights, tasting new tastes, and doing all kinds of things. I had my first wind picnic the other day and visited my first sardine factory. Who knows what I'll see or do next! Pictures of those events coming soon too.

6. I'm making friends.

The other students here are pretty neat. And what's more is that most of them are just as excited to be here and to be studying French as I am - although sometimes that's hard for me to believe.

In summary, my adventures have begun! And, I'm alive and in one piece. Look for pictures of and details on those adventures soon.