I boarded my first plane from Detroit to Paris just fine. The plane ride was long but smooth, and I was seated next to a very mumbly but nice, middle-aged man named Bobby. He enlightened me with his own travel stories and helped me with my carry-on because I'm short and it was hard to reach it. :) I got about 3 hours of sleep on the plane. Thank the Lord, that plane ride was uneventful. It was when I arrived in Paris that things got interesting.
Paris-Charles de Gaulle is a huge airport. I ended up getting lost for about an hour while being very un-confident in my Français. After asking 5 different information desks for help and almost breaking down in tears in the middle of the airport, I finally reached my gate with about 20 minutes to spare. After that, it was pretty smooth sailing down to Montpellier.
The first day was mostly orientation, but it was all <<en Français>>, which made it much harder. I met my roommate, and we have been getting along well so far. I got mostly unpacked and got my first solid amount of sleep in about 36 hours. It was glorious. :)
Today was the first day of classes, and it was interesting, to say the least. Everyone in the program is supposed to speak French 100% of the time, and both of my classes are taught in French. My first class is La France au quotidien (Everyday French). Mon professeur (my teacher) is very nice, but it can get pretty hard to understand all that she says. My listening comprehension is probably my "weakest link," so to speak, and it's definitely on the top of my long list of things in which I need to improve. My oral sentence structuring is getting better, but I still have a long way to go.
Now about my second class...I didn't go. I didn't skip, though! I've never skipped a class at my own school, let alone one in France! Long story short, two of my friends and I were out to lunch and we didn't understand the schedule (which was also in French, of course). The lunch period was way shorter than we expected, and as we were walking back to the school, my friend got a call, saying that we were supposed to be in class at that moment. A staff member found us on the street just a few seconds later and proceeded to chew us out...in French. I didn't really know what she said, but I could tell she was angry. We rushed back to the school, all the while helping each other formulate our apologies and trying to recite them out loud. When we finally made it to the school, they sent us to the office where we got reprimanded again...in French. My class was out on a field trip, so I was spared the embarrassment of having to walk in right in the middle of class. However, after all that confusion and misunderstanding, the tears were pretty close to flowin'. I met my prof later, though, and she was really nice about it all. Thank the Lord for mercy. :)
Just a few hours ago, we got to see the Tour de France come through Montpellier! It went much faster than how it is on TV, but it was fun to see and a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I gotta say, it was pretty cool. Check out some of my pictures:
All in all, the past 2 days have been exciting, frustrating, fun, nerve-wracking, and humbling. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week. It will probably be described with all of those same adjectives, but they will all be magnified to the 3rd power. :) Look out for my end-of-the-week blog on either Saturday or Sunday!
Sincerely,
An Ever-So-Slightly French Speaking, Mentally Tired but Excited Self-Proclaimed Nerd
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