2 Weeks

Hi everyone!

Man I have been here 2 weeks and it feels like 2 months. The days go by really fast and the weekends have been very busy.

My French comprehension has been improving tons. I have had to go to the train station several times already, to the bank, the post office, and cafes. I gain more confidence every time I ask the workers a question and can actually understand them when they answer back! My speaking ability still has a ways to improve, however. Many of the American students and I are becoming more comfortable with each other, in particular a great group of girls that I've become friends with. Outside of school we speak in English because it is easier to express our thoughts and just not have to think. I have to admit, it is also comforting knowing that you're far away from your family and friends, yet there are these people that speak English that make it a little bit easier.

Here are some pictures:

Stacey, Veneta, Me, Natalie, Laura on top of the Chateau d'If (a prison) in Marseille.

Chateau d'If is where Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo takes place! One of my favorite stories.

On the very  top of the Chateau d'If looking toward Marseille

My brother and sister, Andre & Thea, on the beach in Marseille

Me touching the Mediterranean Sea for the first time in Sainte-Marie de la Mer, a cute little village where we had our first excursion.

Professor Mignon for Art/Architecture class discussing the Roman ruins in Vaison la Romaine during our first field trip.

Me and Skye at Blues Discotheque -- Skye, Veneta, Kate, Alex, Addie, and me went to this club where the workers had large fros and sequined 70's outfits and were face painting!

A few interesting findings:

- French people generally don't give hugs. Man do I MISS hugs! I just want a warm embrace. According to my Linguistics professor, hugs are very intimate and when 2 people hug, their hearts touch.

- In Avignon, we give 3 kisses when we greet. In Paris it is 4 kisses! And further South it is 2 kisses. There is a website: combiendebises.free.fr which will tell you how many kisses are appropriate for each region.

- I ate rabbit for the first time! Mmm it was tender! And crepes!

Thank you all for your wonderful comments, e-mails, and letters!! I feel closer to home :)

bisous,

Jenny

French kiss

Salut coucou! (Loving way of saying hi to those you are close to) 

I have officially finished my first full week of class! There are 27 students total and I’m taking five classes: linguistics, economics, cinema, architecture/archaeology, contemporary French literature. I think it’s going to be a lot of work but I’m looking forward to learning a lot. It’s very weird going to all of my classes in French, kind of intimidating. All of my professors are from the University of Avignon and very intelligent and kinda strict haha. In France, the students don’t hold discussions or ask questions, they just listen to the professor teach (like Engineering at UIUC right?). However, since we are American students, IAU has told them that they have to make us talk because we also want to improve our oral French.

My favorite thing about France so far is eating with my family. Our meals are sooo long, like

1 ½ to 2 hours.

1. Talk 20 minutes: Aperitif (drink before meal) = Vin d’Orange. An amazing orange wine that my host parents make here.

            2. Talk 20 minutes: Salad w/ olive oil & a piece of baguette (yum!)

            3. Talk 20 minutes: Main dish

            4. 30 minutes: Watch Plus Belle la Vie (French soap opera)           

            5. Talk 20 minutes: Dessert (usually melon or grapes)


   My house

Mammy

My brother and sister, Andre and Thea, are very entertaining! They talk about their day at school and about the other exchange students. So a lot of laughing goes on at dinner. I’m still a bit shy, but am slowly gaining confidence with everyone. “Mammy” and “Pappy” are my host parents and they are very sweet. They remind me a lot of Mamita and Papito in Colombia. I have realized that I am very fortunate to be living in this house with my family. Many of the other students, although they live in the center of the city, live with single older women with old cats. But I have a big lovely family. Mammy and Pappy’s son Erik also lives next door with his family. They are hosting Veneta, a girl that goes to the University of Denver. We are becoming close friends because we share a lot of the same interests and of course live right next door to each other. Every morning we take the bus to the Institute together.

Avignon and the Rhone

This Saturday, many of us (we are 27) are taking the train and going to Marseille for the day! I’m very excited to swim in the Mediterranean and walk around the city.

Things to mention:

-          It doesn’t look like I’ll be experiencing a real “French” kiss any time soon. The boys here are not attractive at all!!! But guys, the girls here are gorgeous!! Total hotties!

-          I have a dog, Scooby Doo; a cat, Chippy; 2 turtles with no name

-          I bought a cell phone! My number is 06 69 11 96 20

Premiere Jour!

I made it!!

Man, I can already tell that God is really looking out for me. On the 7 hour Chicago – Amsterdam flight I happened to be seated next to Domitille, a girl my age that lives in Aix-en-Provence, a village about 30 minutes away from Avignon. We immediately clicked and started talking – me in French and her in English so we could each practice the language we were trying to improve. Of course my head started to hurt after like 1 hour but it was totally worth it! She told me all about Provence: the people, the food, the slang, everything.

We kept each other company as we went through Customs in Amsterdam and were able to hang out longer since our connecting gates were right next to one another. I made my first French friend J

Once I arrived in Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, it was a mad dash to find the TGV train that went to Avignon. It was pretty nerve-wrecking because none of the signs are in English, so I finally had to force myself to think in French for survival. The whole process of getting onto the correct train, from getting my e-ticket from the non-English machines and finding the platform was very overwhelming. Especially since I was carrying two freaking large suitcases (note to self: don’t do that again when needing to board a train), there weren’t any available employees directing people where to go, and all the signs were in English. Haha, so I almost missed my train. First of all, I didn’t exactly know which car to go on and second of all, my freaking large suitcases were so hard to haul on and off the trains. Hahaha it’s funny now that I look back on it.

But I finally got on the right car after asking passengers (in my timid French). The seats are amazing. They are so huge, like nice-movie-theatre-huge. I would rather travel on these than in airplanes. Now that I’m observing the scenery on the train, so far it looks like my drive down to Champaign: Flat land (except for some hilly areas), corn fields (or some sort of wheat-looking plant), but really really blue skies and castle-looking houses and buildings – so beautiful.

I just arrived to my house and I have my own room and bathroom! It’s a very cute humble home. I have a brother, Andrey (age 16 and from Brasil) and a sister, Thea (age 16 and from Germany). They are both studying here until February and are in their 2^nd year of High School. But they seem so much older and their French is so good! My host parents are very nice and welcoming and very attentive, making sure I’m ok. I can already see that my French is improving because I have been in conversations all evening/night. Its exhausting!

Ok I’m off to bed to try to get rid of this jet lag, bon nuit!!

Things to mention:

-          Mom, thanks SO much for making me take that Panera sandwich with me on the plane. I was starving in Amsterdam waiting for my flight to Paris.

-          Christine, thanks SO much for the Dove chocolate. Totally hit the spot when I was on the train going to Avignon.

-          A woman in the train station asked me if I knew French and I said no. Hahaha, ok I’ll try not to do that anymore.

-          I haven’t spent any money yet!  €2 for a Coke, no way Jose!