lundi, le 23 janvier

Hey guys! Today is my fourth day in Aix but it feels like I've been here weeks. Not in a bad way- there's just a lot to experience here and it has been slightly overwhelming. Yesterday was orientation for my school. We met at 8:30 in the basement of a building that I think is attatched to the cathedral. The room was all stone and really old. It was funny because the director of our program gave this really great speech in which he quoted from "No Exit"- which he explained was about sinners locked in a room of hell forever- and he laughed and said "Now I've really scared you- you're all sitting in this dungeon-like room in the bottom of the cathedral in a foreign city and I'm talking in my creepy voice about hell." This was one of many talks we were given during the day. One of my favorites was in the very beginning of the day another teacher gathered us together and said "Don't call and order a plane ticket, don't break up with your boy/girlfriends, don't get a tattoo, don't pierce anything, don't drop out of school, don't get married---- just breathe. its gonna be ok. welcome to aix
:-D"

the americans clumped like crazy yesterday. after living a few days alone with our french families, everyone was relieved to be back with someone they could completely understand. it was cool meeting everyone too. i would guess theres about 200 of us, and every person i met was nice. there was a lot of variety- all kinds of students are here. some are proficient in french, others dont know a word. theres every kind of major ranging from art to business and all regions of the US are represented (though a lot from the east coast and the south i think). im excited to be friends with these people.

i had my first experience trying to order something in french. we went to a busy boulangerie (deli) for lunch and it was really hectic. i got so nervous when it was my turn to order. I recongnized the word "poulet" (chicken) so i ordered that kind of sandwich. When I ordered I simply said "Je voudrais... la!" and pointed and the woman immediately knew I was american. She then quickly asked me if I wanted anything else and then told me my total in English. She and the others working there were really nice. For all that I have heard about the french being rude, I've yet to see it.

It is different here though- the men openly gape at you and the women avoid eye contact with everyone. I've actually had fun pretending to be a French woman. I walk around with my nose a little higher in the air than normal, I avoid eye contact with most people, ignore men and act like I'm a little ticked off. lol- I admit, the strut intensifies a bit and I seem to blend right in. Everything you've heard about French women is true though- they are beautiful. They put energy into looking good but they make it seem so effortless- everyone wears tall boots (I'm dying to get a pair), impressive earrings and tons of scarves. When I went to Isabelle's (my French mom's) friends country house I was amazed at how each woman looked so perfectly chic and put together. That was quite the experience- there were about 4 or 5 families there. The kids were pretty young (baby-10 I would guess) and played in the yard while the parents talked. They were very welcoming to me and at first talked to me in both French and English. It was pretty overwhelming. Its intimidating enough to go to a party where you don't know anyone in the States, but its even worse when you don't really speak the language. However, you remember that experiences like this are part of the reason youre there and that they will probably never see you again anyways and it suddenly doesn't seem that bad. I felt like i empathized with the baby- neither of us could say much.

I have so much to say but I don't want to write a novel. All in all, there are moments of confusion for all of us students. I was glad to know I wasn't the only American who almost flooded their French home's bathroom. (Quick explaination- the showers are handheld, which would be fine if there was a place to rest it on the wall...) Some things are certainly lost in translation, and sometimes we're just idiots (like today when I kept trying to go into a shop by pushing the handle- as a French woman is looking on- when i was supposed to pull... we both laughed). There are minor victories (like being about to successfully order "un bierre" when in a pub with my friends) and minor setbacks (like when I was holding up the line at a supermarche because I forgot where the Euro coins were in the 10 places I had my money hidden. I ended up trying to give the man my 10 and he asked for my 5 which I didn't even know I had. After a minute of confusion he reached over and took it out of my wad of Euros). But, c'est la vie. Ups and downs.

Sorry so long- I'll try to post almost daily because so these aren't so painful to read. And I have pictures. Hopefully I'll find a way to post them and the link will be here soon.

Gros bis!