C'est vrai, je suis ici!
Well, here I am. It finally happened. I am in Dijon! I don't have a lot of time to write, but I will try to use this as a way to keep a mass group of people updated on my basic happenings here. Feel free to leave comments! (Keep them PG though since ANYONE can read this, merci!)
I arrived about a week and a half ago, Wednesday the 17th. Taking the train here was difficult, but we made it. I live on 4 rue Buffon, and can see the Church St. Micheal outside of my window. I live on the third floor of my host's building, with my own room, and I have to share a bathroom with 3 other people, a girl my age who is named Mode, a boy about my age named Xavier who I briefly met yesterday, and I thought there was another boy, but turns out it's a 48 year old woman who i've seen but haven't talked to yet, and she seems a little bit like a stick in the mud. She has all these rules posted everywhere, like OBSESSIVE. Oh Well. I'm respectful and take care of my stuff so if she has a problem, she can come to me directly, haha. There is also another apartment on the same floor, one on the second, and my host family, the De Broissia family, lives in an apartment on the first floor. They have two kids, Philibert age 17, and Margurite, age 21. They have a dog named Utique and she is a little crazy but it's entertaining. Mme de Broissia gave me lots of books on Dijon to look at. They (the family members) are all really nice. I get to eat dinner with them each Wednesday at 7:30pm. Other than that, I have to supply all my own food. It's been interesting so far...but at least I know Monday-Friday I can eat lunch at the cafeteria here, even though the food is really gross. The food here in general isn't what I expected, and it's not all good, but I'm dealing. I do love croissants though!
Dijon is a very pretty city. You should look it up on google or something because I dont know yet how to put my pictures on the computer here. I've walked around the city a lot cause i have nothing to do yet and so I know the center village pretty well.
Classes are suppossed to start today, but of course my first one is cancelled, so la di da. Lots of early mornings are gonna have to happen here. I just figured out what classes to take, and I hope they're correct, or else I am screwed. There is very little guidance here, and some of the teachers dont even know what room they're teaching in yet! It's pretty crazy and very unorganized. For those of you who use blackboard at school to do classes, be greatful!
Sundays, there isn't much to do cause everything is closed, so last week two of the girls in my group and I went to the Musee des beaux arts in Dijon and saw a movie called Jacquou le croquant. It was really good, and in French! Yesterday, this past Sunday, I walked around the city, cause I can't stand just sitting in my room, and for the first time in my life saw a movie in the cinema by myself. I thought everyone was watching me cause i was alone, but there were other older people there alone, so I didn't feel as bad.
I also went to a wine festival on Saturday in Nuits St. George. For 10€ you get a wine glass and 6 tickets for wine. It was fun and unlike anything I've ever been to or will ever go to again probably. The whole town was decorated with yellow and red paper flowers, and there were puppets everywhere drinking wine. It was so cold too!
I haven't really made any friends with other kids here, esp french ppl, but hopefully once classes start I will. I did meet some girls from UNC because a girl in my program, her roomate is from there.
Random observations:
-People mix black and borwn here with clothes. They don't care. At the same time though, they are very fashion concious. All the women wear boots over skinny jeans or with a skirt and tights or leggings.
-People are very involved in their personal lives and don't reach out to strangers. For example, on the bus, no one talks to each other, unlike in the US where we would just strike up a conversation with a random person. I have found some really nice younger French people though that are very willing to invite us places with them, but it's very rare. Def a different culture.
-KEYS! In the French houses, at least in mine, everything requires a key to open and close. - The front door, my room door, the bathroom, the closets, the cupboards, my dresser, etc etc etc. Sometimes there are multiple locks!
-My family finds it funny that I can't drink in the US until I'm 21, so the other night at dinner they kept pushing red wine on me, and one glass was enough cause I didn't want to get drunk at dinner! haha.
-To get around I either walk or take the bus. No metro here!
That's it for now. Going to lunch at the student cafe, then a translation class, and dinner with Kari and her host mom tonight at 7pm.
I arrived about a week and a half ago, Wednesday the 17th. Taking the train here was difficult, but we made it. I live on 4 rue Buffon, and can see the Church St. Micheal outside of my window. I live on the third floor of my host's building, with my own room, and I have to share a bathroom with 3 other people, a girl my age who is named Mode, a boy about my age named Xavier who I briefly met yesterday, and I thought there was another boy, but turns out it's a 48 year old woman who i've seen but haven't talked to yet, and she seems a little bit like a stick in the mud. She has all these rules posted everywhere, like OBSESSIVE. Oh Well. I'm respectful and take care of my stuff so if she has a problem, she can come to me directly, haha. There is also another apartment on the same floor, one on the second, and my host family, the De Broissia family, lives in an apartment on the first floor. They have two kids, Philibert age 17, and Margurite, age 21. They have a dog named Utique and she is a little crazy but it's entertaining. Mme de Broissia gave me lots of books on Dijon to look at. They (the family members) are all really nice. I get to eat dinner with them each Wednesday at 7:30pm. Other than that, I have to supply all my own food. It's been interesting so far...but at least I know Monday-Friday I can eat lunch at the cafeteria here, even though the food is really gross. The food here in general isn't what I expected, and it's not all good, but I'm dealing. I do love croissants though!
Dijon is a very pretty city. You should look it up on google or something because I dont know yet how to put my pictures on the computer here. I've walked around the city a lot cause i have nothing to do yet and so I know the center village pretty well.
Classes are suppossed to start today, but of course my first one is cancelled, so la di da. Lots of early mornings are gonna have to happen here. I just figured out what classes to take, and I hope they're correct, or else I am screwed. There is very little guidance here, and some of the teachers dont even know what room they're teaching in yet! It's pretty crazy and very unorganized. For those of you who use blackboard at school to do classes, be greatful!
Sundays, there isn't much to do cause everything is closed, so last week two of the girls in my group and I went to the Musee des beaux arts in Dijon and saw a movie called Jacquou le croquant. It was really good, and in French! Yesterday, this past Sunday, I walked around the city, cause I can't stand just sitting in my room, and for the first time in my life saw a movie in the cinema by myself. I thought everyone was watching me cause i was alone, but there were other older people there alone, so I didn't feel as bad.
I also went to a wine festival on Saturday in Nuits St. George. For 10€ you get a wine glass and 6 tickets for wine. It was fun and unlike anything I've ever been to or will ever go to again probably. The whole town was decorated with yellow and red paper flowers, and there were puppets everywhere drinking wine. It was so cold too!
I haven't really made any friends with other kids here, esp french ppl, but hopefully once classes start I will. I did meet some girls from UNC because a girl in my program, her roomate is from there.
Random observations:
-People mix black and borwn here with clothes. They don't care. At the same time though, they are very fashion concious. All the women wear boots over skinny jeans or with a skirt and tights or leggings.
-People are very involved in their personal lives and don't reach out to strangers. For example, on the bus, no one talks to each other, unlike in the US where we would just strike up a conversation with a random person. I have found some really nice younger French people though that are very willing to invite us places with them, but it's very rare. Def a different culture.
-KEYS! In the French houses, at least in mine, everything requires a key to open and close. - The front door, my room door, the bathroom, the closets, the cupboards, my dresser, etc etc etc. Sometimes there are multiple locks!
-My family finds it funny that I can't drink in the US until I'm 21, so the other night at dinner they kept pushing red wine on me, and one glass was enough cause I didn't want to get drunk at dinner! haha.
-To get around I either walk or take the bus. No metro here!
That's it for now. Going to lunch at the student cafe, then a translation class, and dinner with Kari and her host mom tonight at 7pm.