Day 2

This was my first full day in France and that which I would like to note most:

1) I had my FLE course (Français Langue Etrangère) which equates to French as a foreign language class. It was fun but WAY WAY WAY easy review stuff. Oh well, they said the real class starts when normal classes start and this is just to prepare us.

2) When it comes to my French usage I have moments where I am so happy - all the French people that I meet say I speak French extremely well - and sometimes I meet someone who asks me if I am French (pretty much the best feeling ever!) but then other times I open my mouth to say the simplest thing and people immediately respond with an "oh! where do you come from?"

3) I hate the bureaucratic lifestyle. There is a reason it took me a week to get internet, and it is not because there was something wrong with my housing or the apartment (box) complex. In fact, just as my tutor has notes, it is just super disorganized because nothing can be done without the exact paper showing this, or that, or this and that, from this certain location, etc etc etc. But we're only on Day 2 right now... I think I'll just write a summary later.

4) I love the French people and French food. I have seriously eaten already like 8 baguettes... in 6 days... and I drink wine and eat cheese absolutely all the time - it is so so so cheap in France! On the other hand, I rarely get to eat any meat because it is super expensive in France. Though I have cooked some chicken and I went to a fresh marché and bought some homemade sausage (I guess you call it sausage) but you do not refrigerate it, it is completely cured, and therefore is kept at room temperature for 6-8 weeks the vendor said! That is perfect for me because my box comes fully equipped with... (drum roll please)... 2 stove top burners. I do not have any access to an oven or a microwave, so I can only cook something that goes on the stove, and let's not forget that whatever I need to cook with I also need to buy. So basically I do almost no cooking and all baguette/cheese/nutella eating when I am chez moi. Also, I would say that I need to watch my weight, but just go on to point 5...

5) I officially live about a mile and half away from the university, a good 25 minute walk, which I have to do everyday, both there and back. In fact, I (and the only 4 other foreign students who got placed here) are 12 minutes away from the nearest shopping center (I am referencing food here, though it is a centre commercial with fun shops as well) meaning we have to carry whatever we buy super far! This is particularly poignant when we buy drinks or laundry detergent like I did today. And then let's not forget my 6 flights of stairs! I think I deserve a good baguette everyday just for that!

Ok, I think that is enough for Day 2, I will now proceed to do the summary of the rest of the days...