And guess what my host sister just made for dinner.
So that's that. I've gotten all I could have ever hoped for out of France. I've finally gotten my steak-frites.
I've been here now for a week, which feels a little weird, because it simultaneously seems like I just arrived, and that I've been here for weeks. I'm been speaking French almost exclusively with my family, and doing much better than I'd thought I would. In general, things have been pretty great. I'll see if I can briefly summarize the past week.
I passed out in bed Saturday night, after arriving at the house, and ended up getting about eleven hours of sleep. I was physically and emotionally exhausted. I also didn't want to get out of bed the next morning.
I eventually got up the nerve to leave my room, and it ended up being completely worth it.
Southern France is known for its warm climate, so I wasn't too surprised that the weather was extremely pleasant. My host mom and her boyfriend took me out to a nature preserve not far from the city, to take a walk and enjoy the sun. Apparently, everyone else in France had had the same idea, because the parking lot was packed.
It turned out to be just what I needed to unwind from the stress of travel and of being somewhere new. My host mom had roller blades and her boyfriend had a bike, and they went off down the trail, allowing me to walk on my own. It was great.
The park is protected by the state, and is home to lots of interesting wildlife.
Including this dude! There were semi-wild horses in the park, and they came over to the fence whenever anyone stopped to look at them, so I'm assuming people feed them.
Those are wild flamingoes.
Plants and stuff
Then we went to the beach. It was a little chilly, but nice. You know. Like a beach.
The Mediterranean Sea.
I also met my host sister, who had been away with friends the night I had arrived. Right from the start she was very friendly and enthusiastic and welcoming. She actually reminds me a lot of my real sister. More about her later.
On Monday I had my first French class, and that meant going into the city of Montpellier itself. Fortunately, Montpellier has a very clean, efficient public transportation system, consisting of buses and four tram lines. My host sister accompanied me to and from the city on Monday, and since then I've been doing it on my own. I find that I actually enjoy the trip. Montpellier is a small city, so the public transportation isn't as hectic and crowded as it might be elsewhere.
There are four tram lines that allow for travel in and around the city, and they're each designed to represent a different element. I take the Earth tram to and from class.
It rained a lot this week, so I haven't had much of a chance to explore the city yet, but what I've seen so far reminds me a lot of Copenhagen- a lot of walking streets and little shops, and a generally relaxed atmosphere. I found a bookstore, which instantly made me feel better about things. I feel safe in bookstores, and when you're someplace new, it's great to have somewhere you can go to feel safe. I also found a very promising patisserie, to which I know I'll be giving a lot of money during the next two months.
I'll say a little bit about my class itself. It's not taught at a school- instead, it's run by an organization that offers French classes to anyone who signs up. On Monday, those of us who had just arrived were divided into groups, based on our level of French proficiency. I ended up in one of the intermediate groups.
I've taken a lot of French classes, and in terms of the teaching style and material we're covering, this one is nothing special. The factor that makes it really unique are the other students. This week I was in a class with eight other students, and I was the only American. Obviously, it wasn't the first time I'd ever been somewhere where I was the only American, but it was the first time that this fact had been made so blatant. My fellow students were from Switzerland, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Korea, Japan, and even the Republic of Georgia (she was really excited to hear that I had not only heard of Georgia, but had also been there). And it struck me on the second or third day that the only language we shared was French, and that if I were to start speaking English, most of them might not understand me. This seems obvious, but it was still an odd, somewhat mind-blowing thought.
I've also been getting into a routine with my family, and our interactions haven't been nearly as awkward as I'd anticipated, considering the fact that I'm usually pretty uncomfortable around strangers. My host sister is very talkative and enthusiastic, and we've already watched three movies and shared a bag of candy together. Bonding has happened, and it's only been a week, which I think is pretty amazing.
My host mom has also been very welcoming and supportive, and drives me to the tram stop every morning. She has plans to open a bed-and-breakfast, and wants to improve her English so that she'll be able to communicate with any potential tourists from England or the US. I'm not entirely sure what her job is now, but it seems to have something to do with watching other people's kids, because I've come home several times to find the house full of toddlers. At one point I ended up helping out by reading a French picture book to one of them. When I had finished, the toddler turned to me and said "...Do you speak French?"
Ouch.
Clearly, my accent isn't as good as I thought it was.
In any case, my routine has been to come home right after class (Earth tram and then a bus) and eat lunch with my host mom and, if she's around, my host sister. In French culture, lunch is the most important meal of the day, so we all sit down at the table together and eat and talk, which is really nice. On the other hand, dinners tend to be fairly small, so I'm prone to getting hungry in the evenings. This is a cultural problem that I had not anticipated.
That's a basic summary of the week. It's mostly involved adjusting and adapting, which has been engaging for me, but isn't particularly interesting to read about. So here, have a picture of my bed.
And a pineapple. Sneaky buggers are everywhere.
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