Last Two Days

So I guess I'm getting pretty busy and have run out of time to update the blog daily. Oh well...here is an update from Friday and Saturday.

Friday morning was our last "class" of the week, though this course never really ends as we go on mandatory field trips (complete with quizzes) during the weekend. Friday afternoon, I chilled out for a bit and tried to do some homework but was pretty out of it from the late night Thursday night. We watched the US-Slovenia game at a bar (we were robbed!!), which was full of other Americans.

That night, I had another nice political discussion with the host family at dinner, this time about international politics, more my expertise. We talked about WMDs, Iraq, Bush's stupidity, etc. It was a jolly good time. Also, I finally met the other kid who lives in the house (I think he goes to boarding school during the week?) named Martin - he is 19 years old and studying for the last year of the "bac": a mega-test that each high school aged kid has to pass.

Friday night, we went out with intentions of drinking some wine and then going to a discotheque (so European, I know), but the disco looked rather lame - we learned earlier that Europeans don't go clubbing on weekends - only Wednesdays and Thursday. Weird. But we spent some time at a nice bar outside in a busy place called "Place Plum," where all the locals hang out on weekends and eat and drink. It was nice but I did stay out rather late.

Saturday was packed with field trips - one to Vouvray and another to Amboise. At Vouvray, a small town 7 km east of Tours, we toured a wine cave and had another wine tasting (white this time). It was okay...I could barely understand the tour guide (who was of course yapping in fast French).

After a long lunch, we travelled to Amboise - easily the coolest place we've been so far. It's a little bigger town than Loches and has more tourists, but it is quaint and awesome. There were chocolate shops everywhere and live entertainment (though it was eccentric - a bunch of clowns playing instruments and messing with the crowd). But what makes Amboise special is the historical castle/chateau: home to several former kings (dating back to the 1200s) and Leanardo da Vinci. da Vinci lived here the last 4 years of his life and was actually buried here. It was eerily cool to see his grave. The gardens at Amboise are tremendous too, complemented by an outstanding view from the top of the hill down to the town, the Loire Valley, and beyond. Incredible.

Last night Hansky, MT, and I worked a bit on our mega-trip planning and then some of us went out to a bar for a bit before peacing out early to hit the sack to get ready for today's adventures beginning at 9:30am: Langeais (another fortress) and Blois (a historical city on the Loire).

Peace,
Andrew

Oh, What a Night!

So after dinner, I raced to catch the beginning of the game with my new French friends + David. David and I arrived at a packed house to watch the game (which didn't go well - Mexico beat France handily) and had a lovely time afterward talking with all the French students at the huge house, blasting music and dancing a bit (they listen to mostly American music...), and swapping stories. Awesome. It probably wasn't necessarily because the students were French, per se, but it was just an awesome, relaxing night. :)
To bed!

-Andrew

Oops, I Missed a Day...

Well, I forgot about yesterday's blog post, so I will just combine yesterday with today.

Yesterday we had a wine tasting, which was cool, but we only tried two years of the same wine (Bourgeuil - a red wine of this year) as well as a bunch of cheeses and other French snacks. After class, a few of us wandered a bit around town and ended up walking next to the Loire River for a bit, which was nice. Later on, I spent some time at a bar with some other friends to watch the Spain-Switzerland game (Spain lost...what??). I then met up with MT, who had made a couple of Mexican friends who wanted to also come on the same trip, so I scrambled to make arrangements for them before they backed out today (which I guess is less work). Last night, we had a political discussion at the dinner table, which is very difficult to do in French - the other student (from UPenn) loves Hillary Clinton but hates Barack Obama for rather stupid reasons. It was nice to have the family on my side - they are big Obama fans. I also learned a bit about French politics - what Sarkozy is doing with unemployment, the retirement age, etc. Yesterday was on the whole a bit annoying because I was rather tired.

Today was better - after our usual class from 10-1, we met with a huge group of French students to talk about the differences between our educational systems, and afterwards, they invited some of us out to a bar, where we chatted in French and met a bunch of REAL French friends! Woah! They also invited David and I out to watch the World Cap match tonight (between France and Mexico), so if I can get out of dinner early enough, I will go!

My host family is leaving for Paris this weekend and the UPenn student is going to Amsterdam, so I have the house all to myself!

Settling In...

I finally feel like today was a bit more boring than any day prior. By that, I mean less hectic and not as many new things to encounter. Class is starting to pick up and we have more work, but still very manageable. I explored the Instiute de Touraine (where we're studying) a bit today and continued our planning of the mega-trip in 1 1/2 weeks there (took awhile to connect to the Internet). It's becoming very difficult to find places to stay in Nice and Monaco because it's holiday season and every French person will probably be there. Well, c'est la vie, I suppose. :)

I have realized that my French is by far the weakest when it comes to numbers: every time I have to use them, I stumble. Crazy - this is something I should know. And you have to use them ALL THE TIME here - making train reservations, talking with people on when to met up, how much money something costs. Weird - I guess I could have a worse problem.

Lastly, it was fun hearing my host mother's English today - I feel much better about my Frencg after hearing it. :) She knows less than I do (but somehow knows the word "courtyard"?).

My French is improving, but I lost some confidence in the past couple days after i realized my reading skills are rusty.

Tonight, our homework is to ask someone (a vendor, a bartender, etc.) about characteristics of wine - so of course, being college students, we decided to go to a bar tonight haha. So I am off to meet people now!

Salut!

Andrew

Settling In...

I finally feel like today was a bit more boring than any day prior. By that, I mean less hectic and not as many new things to encounter. Class is starting to pick up and we have more work, but still very manageable. I explored the Instiute de Touraine (where we're studying) a bit today and continued our planning of the mega-trip in 1 1/2 weeks there (took awhile to connect to the Internet). It's becoming very difficult to find places to stay in Nice and Monaco because it's holiday season and every French person will probably be there. Well, c'est la vie, I suppose. :)

I have realized that my French is by far the weakest when it comes to numbers: every time I have to use them, I stumble. Crazy - this is something I should know. And you have to use them ALL THE TIME here - making train reservations, talking with people on when to met up, how much money something costs. Weird - I guess I could have a worse problem.

Lastly, it was fun hearing my host mother's English today - I feel much better about my Frencg after hearing it. :) She knows less than I do (but somehow knows the word "courtyard"?).

My French is improving, but I lost some confidence in the past couple days after i realized my reading skills are rusty.

Tonight, our homework is to ask someone (a vendor, a bartender, etc.) about characteristics of wine - so of course, being college students, we decided to go to a bar tonight haha. So I am off to meet people now!

Salut!

Andrew

First Day of Classes...and Adventures with Train Booking

So today was a crazy day, full of new challenges and new rewards. First, we began our class today about French culture - we discussed my favorite subject ever - geography - as well as history, completely in French of course, because we all signed the pledge. It's amazing the difference it makes when English is not used as a crutch. At Georgetown, when the professors regularly use English, I am now convinced that it is not helpful, but instead makes it more difficult. Of course, the total immersion here in France also helps with comprehension, not having to return to other classes that are in English, which disrupts the flow.

So after class, the whole group split up (unintentionally) and somehow got back together within 30 minutes or so to get lunch. Sandwiches here rock! I love the "jambon, beurre, fromage" on a French baguette. Today's sandwich was a bit tough because the bread was not as fresh, but good all the same.

The highlight of the day, but also the most ridiculously stressful, was when MT, Hansky, and I went to the train station to book reservations on trains for our long trip in 2 weeks. It was ridiculous because first of all, all of the reserving for our complicated, several-layered trip was in French, and secondly, because we had to rearrange our plans on the spot, shuffling destinations and arrival and departure times at the blink of an eye. Of course, it was amazingly difficult to do this all in French, but I truly felt like I stepped up and felt confident enough to convince the person at the ticket counter (le guichet) to look up complicated train schedules with connections and whatnot.

Eventually, we figured it out - we have to scrap our Grenoble plans as there was no room (French vacation time booo). So we are now taking an overnight train to Florence a day later than originally planned, but we would get there close to the same time as the original plans. So 2 days in Florence, 2 days in Nice/Monaco and 1 day in Lourdes, with the rest being travel days. Kinda crazy with lots of trains and lots of connections, but do-able.

MT and I also went back and booked our tickets for our trip to Lausanne, Switzerland, now set for the 16-18 of July. The man we had at the ticket counter this time was not as helpful as the other and spoke insanely quickly in French. And when I asked why we could not use our Eurail passes on the same train where there was availability for other paying customers, he refused to give me an explanation. It's the French way...the way it is is just that: the way it is. No questions. A good experience nonetheless.

Busy, busy, busy! I now have lots of stuff to think about: hostel reservations for the 1-week trip, a new itinerary, and now...homework. :( Boo...back to the real world of taking classes. But tonight's homework is geography and history. Awesome. :)

Bonne nuit,
Andrew

Le Francais Tous le Temps! Mais...

Well, so I signed the French language pledge last night - vowing, along with the other 13 students, to only speak French for the rest of the 7 weeks. It's tough and a bit awkward and makes for some quieter dinner conversations, but well worth it. Do you know the saying when people tell you that you are beginning to know the language when you think in that language? Well, I didn't believe it until now - now it seems like every situation I think of in my head - past events, upcoming ones, etc. - I am thinking of how to describe or say it in my head. Even now, I am struggling to go back to English. Wow. Awesome.

So the past two days have been like a break - after speaking mostly in French in Paris and on the way to Tours, when I arrived in Tours, I spoke in English with the professors and students. Now - back to French again and full-fledged.

Today was quite cool - we took two field trips as a group: one to a "chevrerie" (goat farm) out in the countryside, where we tried some surprisingly delicious goat cheese delicacies and played with some cute goats. But the highlight was the next trip - to a town I had never heard of previously called Loches - 1 hour south of Tours, where there is a fabulous historical district dating back to the 1000s. Yes, that's the 11th century. And the castle is still intact. There were three parts: "le donjon" (a big castle, with dungeons, torture rooms, and a huge tower), la cathedrale (the least interesting), and "le logis royal" (the chateau where many kings have either lived permanently or from time to time). The whole tour was in French, of course, making it tough, but it was very cool.

Lastly, when we returned, I met my host family! They have 5 kids, 2 of which still live in the house and 1 of which I still have not met. The house is great and I have a large room to myself. There is also another student staying here - he is from UPenn and is named Chris. He showed me the ropes a little bit before heading down to dinner, where I learned that my family regularly visits the small town in Poland where my ancestors are from!! What a coincidence! I think the fact that I am Catholic and Polish suits well with them. We'll see how it goes!

I start real class tomorrow at the Institut!

A bientot,
Andrew

First Full Day in Tours

This morning we had some free time before an introduction to French history and culture at 1:30pm, which we used to plan some of our mega-trip to Italy/southern France. The train schedules, etc. are very complicated and a lot of work to schedule!

After that, we had a 30-minute talk from Professor Spielmann (in English) about French history and Touraine history. Interesting! We then had a short (and rather uninformative) tour of some spots in the city, including the nice, but touristy historical district. We then had to utilize our French to negotiate for cell phones and phone plans, which was actually pretty fun and a good experience. After a short trip to the bookstore and a market, I am back at the hotel relaxing for awhile before dinner. Plans to watch USA vs. England at a pub later!

Off to Tours!

Ah what a relief. Today could have been potentially stressful, but travelling from Paris to Tours (location of my program - 2 hours by train from Paris) was rather painless. First, the metro was sparsely crowded, so taking it from Gare du Nord to Gare d'Austerlitz (in the south of Paris) was very easy. I had one hitch in that the electronic ticket station didn't work at the train station, but I stood in line (I was there early with lots of time) to get my e-ticket (ordered in French, of course). The guy at the ticket booth also told me that another train to Tours was leaving sooner and I could use my ticket for that. So I rushed (literally ran) to catch the sooner train and safely travelled to Tours (didn't even have to stop and transfer in St.-Pierre-des-Corps as I thought I would). I then walked down the busy center road (a nice promenade in the middle) across town to the hotel, where I met Hansky, David, and Ali waiting.

The three of us chatted for a bit, then went out to get some food and wine. Of course, we got a bit lost, but it was nice to see the city. Tours is much bigger than I expected - not only is it long from end to end (which we didn't do), but it is also rather well-populated.

After that, we came back to watch a bit of the South Africa-Mexico world cup match and eventually started watching the French version "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Very educational, actually!

So we met the rest of the group (about 12 of us - 4 guys, 8 girls) at 7:30pm for dinner, where we planned travel plans and discussed our first impressions of France and whatnot. The people seem just dandy - and it should be an excellent group! People from all over - Idaho, California, Nicaragua, Philippines. Great! I knew a few of the people coming into the program already as well.

So we went out to a bar (sorta - actually just a big tent) to watch part of the France-Uruguay world cup game (0-0 tie - lame) and had some delicious (and cheap!) kirs. I am a fan of Tours already and can't wait to get started!

Day 2 in Paris

Wow, what a difference a day makes. Today was much more relaxed, with only plans to see the Louvre in the morning and meet up with Alice (friend from Georgetown) in the afternoon to do...whatever (I know! No plans? GASP!).

I did not, however, want to get up this morning after a nice sleep. I skipped the free breakfast to sleep in a bit longer and made it to the Louvre groggy and hungry. I eventually found an amazing tartellete to eat - first truly great French food so far.

Anyway, the Louvre is obviously world-famous for the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and Venus de Milo. The last two were cool, but crowded. The first was obviously swamped with people and honestly so much smaller than expected. And with all the people, it was hard to get anything out of it, let alone get a picture. The rest of the museum is huge and overwhelming, and I probably didn't get nearly as much out of it as I could have. First, for a non-art history studier, every Italian painting looks the same after awhile. And all the statues? Same. Plus, they had a significant Egyptian, Greek, and Roman antiquity collection, but not as impressive as the British Museum's in London (seen just two days prior). Overall, it was a nice visit - but I didn't do a guided tour or anything and I was jet-lagged again, so it wasn't the most educational or enjoyable experience.

After the Louvre, I exhaustedly scrambled around the Jardin de Tuileries before meeting up with Alice at Arc de Triomphe...barely. The plan was to meet under the Arc, but it was closed due to a French military thing. So I spent 20 minutes wandering around the surrounding streets and thank God I finally ran into her (after unsuccessfully trying to use a pay phone).

I met two of Alice's friends as we wandering the famed (and not-that-great) Champs-Elysees before eventually going to La Defense, the business district of Paris and very modern-looking. There lies the Grand Arche de la Defense, a massive modern interpretation of the Arc de Triomphe. Very cool area - we even went to a French shopping mall, where I went to the equivalent of Wal-Mart for some shampoo/soap (I lost mine in London :( ).

Finally, Alice and I went up to Montmartre, a district near my hostel that is famous as a hotspot for artists, like Picasso, who used to hang out here. Now it is kind of touristy, but quaint - and the Basilique de Sacre Coeur (beautiful cathedral atop a hill) provides an amazing view of the city. Great place - but also jammed with drunk people who throw their beer bottles down the hill and people who try to sell wristbands to you by forcibly putting them on your wrists before you have a chance to say no (I escaped them). We also had some yummy kirs here.

On the whole, a more enjoyable day than yesterday, even though I saw less stuff. I am sooo ready to settle down, however, and have a train from Gare d'Austerlitz (across town - Metroing with my stuff will be interesting...) to Tours tomorrow!