This week has definitely been an adjustment period for me. Because our metro cards do not begin working until September 1 (Monday), we are sort of stuck in our little area in the Latin Quarter. I am very much ready to explore the rest of the city. Even though I am feeling anxious, I know that it's good to get to know this area because this is where my classes will be.
I am also surprised at how little French I have spoken since I've gotten here. Besides the usual "Bonjour Madame, je voudrais..." when ordering food, my group has mostly spoken English while together. Our instructor gave us some advice about this today, and said it is a good idea to break out of the bubble and have the courage to go off on our own for awhile. So, because we have our French placement test tomorrow and I am not feeling very good about it, I decided to go out on my own to find a café and start doing some conjugations. I sat there for a few hours until they closed, and I already felt the most confident I had all week. So, I decided to go down to the metro and explain to the attendant that my credit card wasn't working when I tried to buy my metro card for the month of September, something I was too nervous to do before and had been putting off. Much to my excitement, he did not respond to me in English, something people here tend to do when they notice (right away) that you are American. It was my first full conversation in French, and I got the problem all figured out. I was ecstatic. Now to take on the daunting task of buying a French phone.
Enough about the boring stuff. This morning, a group of us decided we desperately wanted to go to the top of the Notre Dame, the main monument in our area. We woke up early, thinking we would be savvy and go right when it opens at 10 am. Apparently, we did not eat our baguettes quickly enough because 10 am was not early enough at all. We arrived to a very long line of people ready to get to the top as well. We decided it was worth the wait, and we were very right. I'm obsessed with the Notre Dame. We climbed a total of 422 steps in very narrow, spiraled stairwells to get to the very top, and it was breathtaking. The gargoyles were one of my favorite parts. Each one was unique. As weird as this sounds, I watched the Hunchback of Notre Dame a week or two before I left, and I recognized a lot of architecture from that movie. Unfortunately, Qasimodo did not make an appearance. We actually got pretty lucky and it made it to the first balcony right as the noon bells rang (see attatched video). Check that one off the bucket list!
I am also surprised at how little French I have spoken since I've gotten here. Besides the usual "Bonjour Madame, je voudrais..." when ordering food, my group has mostly spoken English while together. Our instructor gave us some advice about this today, and said it is a good idea to break out of the bubble and have the courage to go off on our own for awhile. So, because we have our French placement test tomorrow and I am not feeling very good about it, I decided to go out on my own to find a café and start doing some conjugations. I sat there for a few hours until they closed, and I already felt the most confident I had all week. So, I decided to go down to the metro and explain to the attendant that my credit card wasn't working when I tried to buy my metro card for the month of September, something I was too nervous to do before and had been putting off. Much to my excitement, he did not respond to me in English, something people here tend to do when they notice (right away) that you are American. It was my first full conversation in French, and I got the problem all figured out. I was ecstatic. Now to take on the daunting task of buying a French phone.
Enough about the boring stuff. This morning, a group of us decided we desperately wanted to go to the top of the Notre Dame, the main monument in our area. We woke up early, thinking we would be savvy and go right when it opens at 10 am. Apparently, we did not eat our baguettes quickly enough because 10 am was not early enough at all. We arrived to a very long line of people ready to get to the top as well. We decided it was worth the wait, and we were very right. I'm obsessed with the Notre Dame. We climbed a total of 422 steps in very narrow, spiraled stairwells to get to the very top, and it was breathtaking. The gargoyles were one of my favorite parts. Each one was unique. As weird as this sounds, I watched the Hunchback of Notre Dame a week or two before I left, and I recognized a lot of architecture from that movie. Unfortunately, Qasimodo did not make an appearance. We actually got pretty lucky and it made it to the first balcony right as the noon bells rang (see attatched video). Check that one off the bucket list!
After we finished exploring the Notre Dame around 12:30, we decided to go have our first real three-course lunch since our orientation session didn't start until 2:00 pm. Though we had heard about it, we didn't really realize how long eating at a restaurant takes in France. They truly take their time here. What we thought was plenty of time to enjoy a good lunch turned out to be a very stressful meal. It was around 1:45 and we had not even received our dessert yet, but we didn't want to be rude and rush our waiter, nor did we know how to. We ended up receiving our check right at 2:00 pm, bolted out the door, and sprinted down Boulevard Saint-Michel to our orientation session. Ironically, our lesson that day was about cultural differences between the United States and France, and we walked into a conversation about the differences in dining and restaurant etiquette. Learning that you need to tell your waiter to bring the check rather than waiting for it would have been useful information to learn a few hours earlier. Pretty funny.
Another really exciting part of my week was yesterday, when I received my host family assignment! My family has everything I asked for. They have two children living at home around my age and a dog. They live near another host family, so I will be able to take the metro in every day with one of the girls in my group. They also live right near the Seine and a big park. I am very excited to move into a real home and not live out of a suitcase. I think it will make adjusting much easier. Can't wait until Sunday when I move in!
That's all for now. Time to go study a little for this placement test. Wish me luck!
Bisous!
Claire
Another really exciting part of my week was yesterday, when I received my host family assignment! My family has everything I asked for. They have two children living at home around my age and a dog. They live near another host family, so I will be able to take the metro in every day with one of the girls in my group. They also live right near the Seine and a big park. I am very excited to move into a real home and not live out of a suitcase. I think it will make adjusting much easier. Can't wait until Sunday when I move in!
That's all for now. Time to go study a little for this placement test. Wish me luck!
Bisous!
Claire