Musings from E105.

It seems like everyday is really long and a lot happens, but time still flies by, especially since dinner doesn’t even start until 7pm.  My dorm room is definitely not Miller, but it is a single and has all the standard amenities: bed, mattress, side table, lots of shelving, closet, even a sink, medicine cabinet, and desk lamp.  No WiFi (read: weefee), so we have to steal passwords until our accounts are activated, which hopefully will be soon.

Yesterday involved window shopping… shoes for 3 euro?! Once I get into the homestay, I better find another suitcase, because I’m going to be in serious trouble… Breakfast this morning involved the food that they gave us upon move-in, meaning crackers and cheese.  Tomorrow, a granola bar is on the menu.  One of the cafeterias on campus opened for lunch today, but it only serves lunch and we had an adventure instead.

I now have a tram/bus card (like an ID card but you load money for tickets on it or can buy a monthly pass that you swipe as validation) with my picture on it, an ID card with my picture, a 10 tram ride pass, internet instructions, and proof that I’m actually enrolled here… I’m beginning to wonder what other kinds of cards with my face on it have been deemed necessary for life in Bordeaux.

Two orientation meetings down, several more to go… the first was a general meeting, with standard stuff that I basically already knew since I’ve been here since Friday.  Today we got our paperwork and a detailed schedule of events, including information about homestay meetings and the dates that we have to pick classes by.  Excursions and such were marked on there… beach, oysters, vineyard, museums… heck yeah I’m a tourist! 

Following our orientation meeting today, we went in search of lunch.  Jaime saw a boulangerie (bread store) on her run this morning, so we set out in search of it… stopped at a Pharmacie and asked for directions, after walking ¾ of the way there and turning around to walk halfway back and ask for directions.  We ended up walking to Pessac Centre, which is about a 7 minute tram ride and a 30 minute walk, but our need for coffee and food was fulfilled.  Joelle almost got run over by a bus, but other than that, I would deem it a success.

After lunch, we headed to Quinconces to meet up with our group for our walking tour of historic Bordeaux.  Very informative, a lot of cool old buildings, we went near the river, and I ended up with a couple blisters.  In addition, the entire thing was given in French, and I would say I understood 85% of it… I prefer not to think of the fact that she was speaking slowly and clearly because we were obviously Americans and not comprehending everything.

Taking a tip from fellow EAP-ers, we headed back to Pessac (via tram this time) and hopped on the free WiFi at a movie theatre, followed by a trip to Champion, a standard supermarket, for some pasta and salad material.  I bought Barilla Tomato and Ricotta pasta sauce… there are a lot of unique things in these supermarkets that I want to take home with me… I get the feeling that I’m going to be adding some poundage here, since “Patisseries” are like Starbucks here… one on every corner!

Tomorrow, we are taking our first language placement test of two.  This one will determine which ILP class we are in (our French summer school class); the second determines if we have to take a French class this semester.  I wouldn’t mind either way… it would be a lighter workload class for sure.  My most recent accomplishment has been to comprehend the women speaking rapid-fire French on the other end of the voicemail button to determine how to set up my account, pick a code, get my messages, personalize my greeting, and return to the menu.  I don’t think I’ve been so excited to get a voicemail in my entire life!  On that highly uplifting and personally positive note, I’m off to review the subjunctive before I spray some more Febreze and head back to sleep, with my can of Raid by my side.

Bonjour! Quoi? Ehhh....

So after arrival on Friday, we checked out the hotel restaurant (very good, had menus in English), called my mom (my Dad's Crackberry has currently checked out, so we've run up the phone bill), and went to sleep, because we were tired, to say the least.  We also drove around a little, took a wrong turn, and ended up accidentally driving by Géant Casino, which is the equivalent of a Walmart Supercenter... As we discovered later, Casino is a supermarket chain and brand name, and Géant means its freakishly large with other small stores outside it and a restaurant called Casino Cafeteria.

Saturday morning, we got up and went to Géant... stocked up on shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, and so forth.  I realized that travel-size containers of everything wouldn't exactly last me for four months, so I made a list of everything in French and wandered through the aisles aimlessly.  People don't exactly bend over backwards to ask if you need help finding anything, so I avoided any awkward semi-coherent conversations.  I even managed to figure out that you had to buy the electronic devices at the electronic counter and show the separate receipt when you left.

So one toothbrush and four boxes of granola bars later, it was lunch time.  After that, back to Géant to stop at the Orange mini store to get a cell phone... which currently doesn't work, because I have to wait for the charge to clear on the US end before I can call internationally.

Then, to the campus, to locate my dorm.  The place is... interesting.... not exactly Miller Hall, to say the least.  But it is right near the post office, a tram stop, and the DEFLE (foreign students) building.  Plus, the letters and science building is right next to the dorms and there is a DC equivalent on the corner.  Good location, but I'm glad I only have to sleep there for three weeks.

Next, to the tram stop to go to the actual town of Bordeaux for dinner.  We went to Rue de Saint Catherine, the longest pedestrian walkway in Europe.  I located important locations like H&M and a place to buy contact solution, as well as a number of bread and pastry shops.  We ate dinner at a place called Café des Arts (Happy Birthday dinner to me!) and walked back to the Hotel de Ville (mayor's center) to get on the tram and return to Pessac.  Important note: people don't do the pooper scooper thing around here.  AT ALL.

Sunday, we went to the beach.  Drove around for awhile, I put the wrong GPS coordinates in at first, but its not exactly an ugly place to get lost, so it was okay.  We weren't on the beach side, but the boat side... you could take cruises around the peninsula and oysters are definitely what you eat there... people had beach buckets full of them!  We ended up at a pizza place on accident.  We have a tour book with all these different restaurants in the area, so we picked one on the coast and off we went.  We get there, and the place is closed... not "closed until 6pm" closed, but boarded up and abandoned closed.  The pizza was delish, and I successfully ordered our meal in French!  Small victories....

Today, breakfast at the hotel and another trip to Géant for school supplies.  First of all, they don't have paper that is perforated, and everything is a different size, so I now have writing paper that looks like graph paper and an oversized folder.

Back to campus in search of a nearby supermarché (next to a tram stop, luckily enough) and postal service.

Then, the most exciting part.  We drove to wine country and visited Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, famous premier wine-making estates, and bought a whole bunch of stuff.  Ah, shopping... 

Currently I'm utilizing the free WiFi (pronounce WeeFee) at the hotel.  Tomorrow, the program starts.  Orientation, language placement, and an excursion.  Sadly, no three-day weekend for Labor Day, but stay tuned for more updates!

I'm 20!!!

I turned 20 in Bordeaux... definitely once-in-a-lifetime (aside from the fact that I will only turn 20 once)... but the French are far more subtle... no birthday song and certainly no birthday Ice Cream Sundae... even when the cell phone guy asked for my ID and entered my birthday he barely commented!  I guess that is why I have all of you lovely individuals as my friends... to decorate my Facebook wall!  Many thanks!! Look for another update on my pre-program activities soon!

Getting There... er, Here....

So I have finally made it to Bordeaux, France.  I have yet to plug anything into my adapters to see if I short-circuit the hotel, but I think I'll save that adventure for another entry.

I departed Simi Valley around 3:00 PM California time, reached the airport, and made it through ticketing and security without too much trouble.  It helps that my dad is with me... this may not sound ideal to some of you, but this means that I don't have to show up on the day that I'm supposed to be there before 5pm, don't have to pay for hotel accomodations, will get a cell phone purchased for me, fed, and he even rented a car, so I didn't have to try and figure out the tram situation.  Works for me.

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:30... we started boarding at 6:45.  Why, you ask, is such an illustrious airline as Air France running way late?  Because the shuttle that took the crew from their hotel to LAX got in an accident.

Until somewhere over Canada, the flight was highly uneventful.  Then we hit two hours of turbulence.  Hardcore turbulence.  As in "I feel like I'm free-falling on the Tower of Terror ride at Disneyland" hardcore turbulence.  And of course, you all know my extremely small bladder situation.  Luckily enough, with a stern warning, during the second and not so nasty bout of turbulence, the highly disapproving flight attendant let me go to the bathroom.

We land in Paris at 2:30 PM ish French time, proceed to Terminal 2F, Gate 24, and sit around for a little.  This is after I was accused of having scissors in my backpack by French security.  I did NOT have any scissors, but I couldn't remember the French word for scissors and the security guy was talking very fast... luckily, no major delays and terrorist accusations.

It is raining in Paris, so we go down the stairs, onto a bus, and are driven to our plane.  We then board the air stairs (think Burbank Airport) and on to the plane.  No major issues here- I even have a window seat!  So I'm sitting there with my dad's video camera filming our descent to Bordeaux, and taking some scenery shots when we land, and then I look down at the tarmac, where they are unloading luggage.  The first suitcase that comes off the plane is large and purple- undeniably mine.  I immediately turn to my dad and start freaking out.

The suitcase has two zipper compartments on the outside, one of which is open and I can see all of my stuff chilling inside the pouch.  What I hope is all my stuff, anyway.  I make it down to baggage claim, snatch the suitcase, and inspect the damage: both zippers on the top pouch are completely gone.  Next stop: Air France baggage claim, where, after waiting in line and giving the guy some information about my address in France that is probably not entirely accurate, I am informed that I can go to one of their agent repair people, who will fix the suitcase at no charge to me.  Yay!  The only problem is that I have to wait a month to do so, after I have moved into my homestay and no longer need the suitcase.  Sigh.

Made it through rental cars and hotel check-in relatively unscathed; the hotel restaurant is quite good, but it is French, and as such, is closed on the weekend.  Oh well.  The Chinese place down the road looks... interesting...

Tomorrow is shopping day (for things like shampoo and conditioner) and hopefully I can locate where I have to show up on Tuesday.  I hope to have consistent internet access, so hopefully I can talk to you all soon!