Bizarre French Things

So with all of my travelling experience, you'd think I'd know better than to play the "Comparing Game", but embarrassingly, I regularly find myself looking at many French ways of doing things and finding them "bizarre".  (That is my much-used French word in my various conversations with my French roommate/landlady when we come upon differences.)  So once again (conveniently in tune with this month's Firebowl Blog topic), I'm having a couple more cents to add regarding "Crossing Cultures".

I started making notes in my iPod Touch (oh what a wonderful gift that has been...I won it in the summer...I have some multi-lingual dictionary apps, for example) over the last week, of things I observed that I found to be different, maybe bizarre, maybe annoying or maybe admirable.  You can be the judge.  Here is the list thus far (hopefully it is the end of keeping such a list as I think I need to just assimilate now and move on from comparing.  Pointing out differences all the time, really does get old for whomever has to listen and doesn't really help with settling into a culture.  Come on, Beth--you used to do workshops on this very topic!).

In no specific order, other than the order I noted them down...:

--Seeing two men do the cheek kiss greeting thing, particularly weird when one of them is quite punk-looking

--Completely empty coach buses, between cities, that are super cheap.  On a Saturday!  (see photo in previous post)
--Empty city streets in the evenings and on Sundays!  (This is definitely not the case in Paris, I believe.)
--The infiltration of English in strange ways (definitely different than the way English appears in Quebec...my Quebec Culture prof was right!).
"parking" is used all the time and is used as a noun, ie. "I'm looking for the parking."
"stop" is on all the stop signs (in Quebec it's "Arrêt") and "stop" is spoken a lot as well.
"planning"...I saw this as the title of the Church Nursery Schedule, so again, a noun meaning the schedule
"pressing" is on signs for places that iron your clothes.
Another sign somewhere said that their place was "le must" for automobiles.
And a makeover is called a "relooking".  Again, a -ing word as a noun.
There are other words that are translated differently than what we see on things in Canada (the French side of items or French-Canadian television) or that are not translated at all.  Cranberries are still "cranberries" and in fact, my French dictionary doesn't list "canneberges" at all!  That must totally be a Canadian French word.  Desperate Housewives are still Desperate Housewives, while on Quebec channels, it's translated to Beautés Désespérées.  Things like this...I find myself very frequently shocked with the appearance of English in such different and frequent ways.
--Less cell phone usage.  This surprised me!  Certainly they're still used, but I would gauge it to be less than in Canada.  Again, might be the city I live in, not sure.
--Cheese and yogurt for dessert.
--Chocolate for breakfast.  (Not chocolate croissants, but chocolate cereal or Nutella.  There is even a commercial praising the goodness of Nutella in a child's wholesome breakfast!)
--Omelettes for dinner.
--Taxi drivers are classier, well-dressed and have nice vehicles.
--Mail delivery bicycles!  Very cool!
--Pizza delivery scooters.  I've seen this in Brazil and Guatemala too.
--Businesses you wonder how they're making a go of it.
--A lot of closing down for long holidays.
--Places closed midday.
--Hair salons everywhere.
--Roller suitcases are common.  Every day that I walk to school and cross the river, there is always someone crossing the bridge dragging a roller suitcase with them.  I see these suitcases at the university too.
--Surprised to discover that sometimes people don't know something you expect them to.  Ie. a bus driver not knowing the name of stops on her route, or a store owner not knowing the historical significance of a tunnel beside his store, etc.

--Serious lack of free, open public toilets.  Here I am at one of the vending-style ones!
--The first Wednesday of every month, sirens wail at noon.  This month it happened while I was in an orientation class and the teacher explained that the "pompiers" test their sirens every month.  Later, I learned that this was false (unless there is a translation for pompiers other than Firemen, that I don't know) and that it IS actually what it sounded like--a war siren and all over France they test out the war sirens on these dates.
--The lack of places to sit out and about.  There are places to buy sandwiches on baguettes "to go" for lunch, for example, but there is no where to sit to eat them!  (I've started hearing that it is common for people to just go home for lunch.  I've started doing that this week when my school schedule allows.)
--The lack of places to sit on campus--there are no lounge areas.  I ended up eating my lunch outside on a curb beside a garbage can!
--Campuses and campus libraries close at 6:30-7:00 p.m.!  Jenelle and I almost got locked in the school one night!
--Televised news at 8:00 p.m.--dinner time, everyone watches.
--There are a lot of weekly publications (newspapers, magazines, etc.)
--People seem to have no qualms about following you quite closely while walking along (rather than "passing").
--Buildings start at Floor 0, rather than Floor 1.
--Places require ID photos all the time!  We have to keep going and getting them taken a little booths.  I need two to give to profs this week!

First French Festival...Fine French Food...

I'd been seeing posters around for the last few weeks advertising the 25th Jazz Festival of this area, held in Montlouis-sur-Loire (that's a Wiki link in French because the English version has about only one sentence about the village) and meant to be an International Jazz fest.  So me, a lover (and former player and singer...well in high school anyway) of jazz, was determined to go.  I managed to find a couple others interested in checking it out, in combination with a search for a rumoured nearby castle.

Once again, we ran into some trouble with the bus schedules working out well; they only returned to Tours up until 18h43 (there's some 24-hr clock for you) and the first concert wasn't scheduled to start until 16h30.  So, we really only had time to attend one concert.  And, well, it was pretty small...not many there.  And the town itself felt tiny and empty, although the festival wasn't in the downtown (presuming there is a downtown), so it's hard to know.  Definitely a different festival experience than the Montreal Jazz Festival, or even the Waterloo Jazz Festival.  There were later, not-free concerts, but we attended this first one, set in the "Village Gourmand" (which, by the way if you're into language, "gourmand" and "gourmandise" is used a lot here on menus, at festivals, etc and therefore isn't translated as "glutton" or "gluttony" like a standard bi-lingual dictionary may suggest and instead seems to imply something more like what anglophones mean when we say "gourmet" or "gastronomy" but not quite that fancy) where many types of foods were being served.  Mostly regional foods ie. "Tourangelle" food, food from the former province of Touraine (although there was a random booth of Portuguese food and another serving Tapas).

Here I am eating some Fouée, a type of bread cooked in a wood fire oven and then filled with various items of choice.  My friend chose Nutella and I chose Rillettes d'oie (oie being a word I coincidentally had just found in my dictionary this morning while trying to explain to my friend how Canada is overrun with geese and I wondered why foie gras or other uses for geese meat hasn't caught on).  So Rillettes are a regional food (check out the link for an explanation) and yes, I chose the goose meat version.  It was ok, but had some kind of fermented cabbage taste to it...I couldn't tell if it included cabbage or onions, but I decided it was like sauerkraut. I also tried out a Rosé Pamplemousse.  Nice.

The concert itself was decent.  The ensemble was Word Out and the lead guy (the pianist) was English but his French was fabulous and nous étions jalouses!  We particularly enjoyed the "grimaces" of the bassist and the fact that it was nearly impossible to capture a photo of the drummer with his eyes open.

We successfully figured out where to catch the regional bus to take us back to Tours and voilà...

It was like we were riding our own private limousine: the coach was completely empty for the entire 20 minute ride!  And the bus driver maneuvered some pretty tight, narrow French country roads too!  And all that for only 1 Euro!  For the entire day, including the city bus too because this weekend it's the European Heritage Days in France.  There are a bunch of things going on and transportation is almost free!  So tomorrow, we'll play tourist again and check out some of the free tours and such.

Yes, we did visit the castle today too.  But I'll save those photos and comments for another post.

University in France

Wednesday was a difficult day because it became very apparent that I could not carry on with the Spanish courses I had selected!  The level was just too hard.  So, I found myself all of a sudden without 10 credits!  It has been so frustrating and an awful amount of work to sift through the course options and scheduling and to try to find what works.  I've pretty much given up trying to find classes that can serve as the pre-requisite courses needed for my winter term at Laurier...they just don't exist!  Now having to remove some courses and find something else in their place, what a job!  Then contacting profs to explain why I missed the first week and seeing if there is space in the class.  Then collecting work missed.

Then there is the matter of exams.  Haven't even got to figuring that out fully yet.  French university classes are made up of three types of courses: Lectures (Cours Magistraux, or CM), Labs and Tutorials (Travaux Dirigés, TD, and Travaux Pratiques, TP--I haven't figured out the difference.  I tried a TD and a TP required to make up one credit in Level 2 Oral Spanish, and their formats were more or less the same.)  Attendance at the TDs and TPs is important because they are smallish and you are evaluated in these courses throughout the term.  Apparently, they do not have a final exam in the exam period.  The CMs, on the other hand, are big and there is no ongoing evaluation.  There is just one big, scary exam at the end that apparently a lot of people fail.  So much so, that there is a scheduled exam make-up time!  Now, the final exam time isn't until January, but my term at Laurier begins right after New Years and I have a flight home right before Christmas.  So I have to figure out how to write the exams for the two CM classes that I have (good thing it's only two and my other seven classes are all TDs).  Both of the profs were nice enough, but don't really know how to arrange it.  I think I have to talk to the "secretariat".

These two classes also have an online component, but I am unable to access it because I am not registered!  And no one can register me I guess!  My go-to people are the International Office (who definitely don't do things like that) and my Pedagogue Coordinatrice...I figure that's like an Academic Advisor.  And she's great; even replying to emails on the weekend or in the evenings, but lots of times, she can't do anything!  Apparently, I need to talk to the secretariat for that online thing too!  And on and on it goes.  :S

On Thursday, I arrived at school to discover the main entrance blocked by mounds of cardboard boxes and thought, here we go: my first example of a "manifestation", that is, a demonstration--something French university students are apparently notorious for.  I followed others arriving to another entrance, but once inside, the halls were also filled with boxes.  I asked someone what was going on and they said that it was a game.  To get to class, we had to help move the boxes further along the hallways.  I heard later from others that it was a demonstration, but I am not convinced because there wasn't really anything being said except, "Move the boxes along.  Come on people.  Get to it."  At least that's what I think they were saying!

The Return

So in France, back-to-school time is known as The Return.  It's written everywhere, I guess similar to Canada--commercials, billboards, headlines.  It's just the name itself that makes it a little different.  At first I had to question, what return?

First the children "returned", last week, then this week, the "students" (ie. at the Fac, as in, at the university) returned.  So, I returned this Monday.  Although of course for me, it was not a re-turn.  It was just a turn.  Or, as the word directly "rentrée" translates, "re-entry", for me it was just an "entrée" or an "entry".  So, I entered this Monday.

The French language for foreigners school doesn't start until next week, so my schedule this week is pretty relaxed, with each class lasting only about an hour.  And they're either in Spanish or Portuguese!  (Well, I have a History of Brazil course taught in French.)  It definitely has been tricky to think about those languages from a French perspective, to try to follow the profs who go back and forth between the language and French, while my head still translates to English.  Then there's the matter of how long it's been since I've looked at either of those languages and I've forgotten a lot of verb conjugations and now vocabulary is all muddled between the three languages!

And then there is the issue trying to figure out what level of course I should be in.  Jenelle and I had a class today about analyzing the style of Spanish poetry and it seemed a little over our heads.  But it is a second-year course.  Then we learned that to take Spanish at university, the French students need to have done Spanish in high school.  So maybe we are at a first year level, except there aren't really enough courses offered then or that fit in the schedule we each had to work so hard to figure out.  Anyway, lots of fun again!  My Laurier faculty advisor even commended me for working with the "tricky uncooperative French system"...her words.

The final piece that is somewhat difficult, is the same that I find at Laurier: it's not easy being a "mature student".  There is such an age gap.  At Laurier, I tend to joke about how I'm old, etc.--I think that is may be my way of intentionally setting myself apart in a way (and I am proud of my age), because I really do feel quite different than nearly all of my classmates...in a different place in life (aging parents with health issues, friends with children, live on my own, etc.), have experiences (travelled, worked, etc. for over 10 years)...or my way to show that I really have little interest in making university my whole world or to find my identity in being a student.  And it works fine at home because I do have my whole own world and relationships outside of school.  However, being an exchange student is another identity that allows for very little.  The whole idea revolves around the university and it's hard work to find a place to belong otherwise.  The natural community is with the other exchange students and everyone I've met has been great and I'm sure we'll continue to hang out.  But still, in the classroom, I not only have the obvious language barrier, but I have that same age gap as another point that accentuates my non-belonging.  I'm sure I could just dive in and, for example, attend various organized functions for students, or even outside of school, attend the young adults weekly meeting at the church, BUT it's just really not where I'm at.  I am definitely appreciative once again of my living arrangement since Christèle is actually closer to my age than my classmates.  And this really is nothing new; it just struck me today that, yes once again, I feel out of place.  It doesn't help either that the university building and classrooms feel like a high school!  :)

Another point of interest, for those of you who know how much I love naps...I finally took my first nap today!  I've resisted up to this point and have done really well with adjusting to the time change and pace of things (except for adjusting to meal times...instead, I just eat a lot :), but today, after about 2 hours of walking throughout the day, I came home spent and had a nap!  (Hence, I am up awake now.  Boo.)

To spice up this post, here is a photo of the Pont Wilson again.  This time, looking toward North Tours, the area where I live.  This was taken on one of the few sunny days.  Yes, the weather hasn't been great.  A lot of drizzly, rainy days.  And really annoying to know how to dress, because the mornings are cold, but then, if the clouds clear, it can get quite warm later and then you're wearing too many clothes!  But, it looks quite pretty in this picture so enjoy.  It's my current desktop shot.

Culture Collage

So Chris over at the Firebowl collective blog posted a photo collage I made, meant to demonstrate the idea of Crossing Culture.  In an attempt to be creative, I basically went through the photos I have on my laptop that start in 2003...what an interesting exercise: browsing through my travels and photos of myself over the years.  Sometimes it's quite shocking how quickly time seems to go by.  Like it was over four years ago now since I was in Europe before this trip, it was over three years ago, the last time I was in Brazil....This morning in my first Portuguese class, I was acutely aware how long it had been!

Anyway, it was neat to take some time to look at the faces of the many, many people I have encountered in many, many different places; to try to recall what I learned of their story; to feel bad that sometimes I really only just took a photo and nothing more; to realize that the photos that seem cool are the ones of the people and situations most different than me or my own and to wonder, why is that?  What is the fascination with exotic-looking places and people?  What makes it exotic?  Why do the photos of people with different-coloured skin standing together seem the coolest?  Is that really what represents crossing cultures?  People in France don't look that much different than me (although I do feel stared at sometimes...there are fewer blonde-ish people here (except for all the German exchange students) yet I have most definitely crossed a culture.  Yet apparently there is no cool photo that can show that!  Just photos of different food, or methods of transportation or architecture.  No photo of a French person with me would really show a crossing of culture.  What about the photo from my last post?  There were two English girls, a Spanish girl and two Canadian girls with a tapestry of an elephant behind us...does that show a crossing of cultures?

I'll never forget how my largest culture shock was actually living in England!  Yet, how could that be shown in a photo?  The same language, but not the same language at all!  Lifestyle, weather, it all was a lot more different than I had expected and it became hard after a few months.  I remember feeling relief to go to Brazil part way through and I remember feeling more at home there!  Bizarre.  (I was particularly happy to see some blue sky.)

(Don't take this the wrong way, dear English friends.  I love your country and heck, I've even returned a few times!  It was just interesting to realize that it really was a very real crossing of cultures.  I'm sure my age and expectations had something to do with it too.  I was 18.)

But yeah, I had no particular aim with this post.  Just some thoughts spewing out.  Cross-cultural experiences are certainly varied and interesting.  It's been awhile since I've stayed in another culture longer than a month, ie. past the "honeymoon" stage, so I'm anticipating hitting some hard moments down the road.  I certainly am thankful for all of my previous experiences though so that I am better prepared.  At the same time, I need to keep in mind that each experience and each culture is unique and to not compare or anticipate something specific.  For example, although I have lived away from Canada for longer than 4 months before (England and India), I didn't have to function in a language other than English.  So this IS new!

Indian and Chinese food...

So trying the adapter plus the converter with the straightener resulted in the ceramic plates overheating and melting the plastic in which they are encased!!  In about 2.3 seconds!  I guess I won't be using the straightener again.  After unplugging it, I still used it in that moment and saw my hair straight for the first time since I got it cut a few weeks ago (without any frizz and the annoying kinks it is prone to)!  Sigh...too bad that will be the last time for awhile.  My housemate offered me her curling iron, explaining that it can also be used for straightening.  I really cannot see how that is possible: the barrel is round!!  I'll keep you posted.  (I know you are all very interested in this.)

So I went out on Thursday with my new friends and we, true to Beth-birthday form, went out for Indian food!  I overheard my new British friends talking about finding an Indian restaurant, so I figured my birthday would be a good night for trying one out.  So, upon the advice of Christèle (my housemate), we checked out Surya Restaurant.  When we arrived, no one was there, so we were concerned.  But yes, 7:45 is apparently too early.  After 8:00, the people started rolling in.  We chuckled while watching two separate couples, one old and one young, assume the same positions: both arms stretched across the tables, clutching one another's hands.  And their tables were beside each other, so it looked particularly funny.

 So how was the food, you ask?  Different.  It was good, but different from other Indian food.  It had flavour, but not as strong or as spicy as I think the English girls and I were looking for.  It had a sweeter taste, the curries were smaller and runnier too.  But we had just the right amount of food and it was good.  Everything is so much more expensive here, particularly noticeable with food, but we did a good job at keeping the cost of the meal down while having a big spread.

On the topic of food, I got to accompany Christele grocery shopping yesterday so that I could pick out some things.  Really the only thing that has been a bit hard is breakfast, where they tend to eat cake-type food or very chocolate-y cereal.  So I picked out some nice Muesli which I had this morning...so yummy with yogurt.  At the supermarket, it was interesting to see how yogurt takes up an entire aisle.  So do packages of cookies (biscuit-type cookies).  It has been nice to get up every morning to a fresh pot of Italian coffee (Christèle's favourite and mine too), but I'm not in the habit of drinking this much coffee.  I hope I don't have withdrawal symptoms at any point.  I had some pretty bad headaches last weekend, either from that or from too much sun/dehydration.

Last Sunday was a Bradérie in the downtown.  Many of the streets were open only to pedestrians and it was basically like a big street flea market/clearance sale.  The items for sale were very random, some as though the vender had emptied the contents of his attic.  Then the shops were having street sales and there were lots of food vendors.  Unfortunately, I picked the first one serving kebabs (like shawarmas) without checking out the proper food area where there was a large variety of food, including traditional food from Breton (crepes, cider, etc), Spanish paella, mussels...and what I had wasn't very good and was overpriced.  Boo, I should have known better!

That morning, I attended one of the few Protestant churches in Tours (I think there are only 5).  Although there is one within walking distance, I decided to go to the largest one, downtown, Eglise Evangelique de Tours.  There were about 200 people there, the majority of African decent I would say.  It was great!  I was well-greeted and welcomed; I loved how people prayed out during the worship-time and during communion and I felt quite "stirred in my spirit" (for lack of a better expression).  I knew some of the songs and the ones I didn't were easy to learn.  I was even able to follow the sermon!  It was interesting to me that it was based on Psalm 84 and about the House of God, since I had wavered on whether or not I was going to intentionally attend church while here.  Reading the text in English, I have always interpreted it to be about living in God's presence, about spending time with God personally (like that song, Better is One Day), but hearing the pastor speak about it from the French version, I was hearing how good it is to belong to a community of believers.  Isn't it interesting how easy it can be to focus on making one's faith so personal and independent, when it cannot be that alone?  Even just now, doing a search for the word "dwell" in the Bible, the idea of "God dwelling within" is a communal thing!  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.  Yup, together.  It is always a beautiful thing to observe and to even be a part of such a community in places away from home; to observe how they worship, how they share the bread and wine (or grape juice...here, it was wine :) and how they demonstrate God's love.  I'm looking forward to attending again tomorrow.

I completed a week of a 4-hour French class that was a type of orientation.  Apparently I didn't do that well on my level-placement test, so in two weeks time, when the French-for-foreigners classes start, I'll be in the second level (there are four).  The first week was a little too easy, so I hope those classes are ok.  (Some people were surprised about some of the placements.)  I don't mind if I'm in a lower level if I can do well, but I think I'll mind if it's too much review.  For example, we were going over passé composé on Friday...something a lot of us started learning around grade 7 or 8!  The main thing I'm concerned with, is that I am not allowed in a certain class I need because I'm not at a high enough level.  I've convinced them to let me try, but that is pending if there is space.  That class doesn't start until October and I figure I'll have improved by then anyway.  I can already tell that I'm improving with my oral and comprehension!  (Now to work on writing well under a time constraint and without a dictionary...like what was on the test I guess I bombed, AND on the exam from my summer course that I didn't do that well in.)

Figuring out courses is a bit mental!  I finally have it together, but there is a conflict.  I have to make up a certain amount of credits to satisfy my home university, but I am asking them if I can be a few short because of this conflict.  AND because, I already have to take 11 courses!  These 11 make up 16 hours of class per week.  I think that's just a little bit more than at Laurier.  These classes are Spanish and Portuguese and they start on Monday.  We basically just show up and THEN register.  Something like, we just introduce ourselves to the prof and ask to be in the class!  We have until November to have our classes all figured out and decided.  Pretty funny!  I learned this week that university in France costs students on average 400 Euros a year!!  I'm wondering where all of my tuition money is going!

Friday's last class included a bit of a scavenger hunt around the city where we learned some things and saw some neat things.  I think I will pass on some of those interesting bits and photos in a future blog as this one is getting quite long!  Thanks for reading!

Oh I forgot.  Last weekend, I also went to a Chinese Buffet where there was karaoke in French (of course).  It was huge and people were quite into it and singing along while they ate.

I also got a homemade chocolate cake, card and "Joyeuse Anniversaire" song (yes, different than "Bonne Fête" like in Québec) last night from my housemates (mom and daughter) for my birthday.  C'était très gentil.

Some chuckles

I got home late this evening, after spending a nice evening with my Canadian comrade, a lovely Spanish girl I met at church and ran into at a school function and two sweet English girls who I met whilst writing my entrance test for French level evaluation.  Once again, I chose the wrong shoes (heels) for all the walking around.  Also, during dinner (chevre salad, lamb, poached pear), I realized that I would be too late to catch the last bus (which surprisingly runs only until 9ish!) so I decided to take the bus with the English girls to their residence and call a cab from there, since it looked closer on the map.  In the cab, I realized I didn't have enough money with me!  I thought that I could just run up into the apartment and bring down whatever would be owing.  But, the travaux (again, always "le travaux") cut off his route, so he took me as far as he could and pointed out how I could walk the rest of the way.  I was almost 2 Euros short!  How embarrassing!  And we realized that he had driven me home on my first day with my heavy, heavy suitcase (for which he had charged me extra).  But there was no choice except for me to dig out all the cash I had and hope he would be ok.  He was.  I guess.  What choice did he have?!  (He's probably shaking his head at this foreigner.)  Then I get inside and take a look at the bus schedule and realize, just like the night bus I took with the others, there is one that DOES run to my area too!  Erg...taxis are not cheap!!  Then, just now, setting my alarm on my iPod I saw the date...oh hey, it's my birthday!  Oops, I told some people that my birthday would be this Friday!

(I finally got an adapter that will fit with the outlet and with my converter.  It started smelling when I used both with my computer.  I knew it didn't need the converter, but the plug kept falling out without it.  I've had to rig a little stand to rest the plug on.  In the morning, I may try using my hair straightener....you know, since it's my birthday and all.  Hopefully I don't blow anything up!  It's definitely nice to have my own computer up and charged now.  So I should be able to get on Skype now and to keep this blog business going.  But this is all for now, since it's 1:00 a.m.)

Oui, je suis en France...

I imagine that, for the next while, I will be blogging more since I think it may be the best way for me to keep people in the loop of my current adventure...
First of all, I thought I'd include a map to show you just where Tours is located in France and just where I am over these next few months. Yes, I have moved to Tours as of August 31 and will return on time for Christmas in Canada!

There are some things that Tours is known for and I figure I'll pass these things on to you over time.  First of all, one of France's large rivers passes through Tours, the Loire.  Here is a picture of the Pont Wilson, the stone bridge that crosses the Loire, from North Tours (where I'm living and the side from which the photo is taken) into the centre.

Since I have no idea who all is reading this blog these days, perhaps I ought to bring you up to speed...After 10 or so years with YWAM, I returned to school in 2009 with the intent to fulfill a few personal goals: achieve more competence in the three languages that I had gained some experience in over the years (Portuguese, French and Spanish) and to acquire further education.  I was able to combine these all by pursuing a BA in Languages at Wilfrid Laurier University in the city I was already living in!  By my second year of studies, it became clear to me that I would not be able to achieve the level of oral competency in French that I would like without an immersion experience, hence this single term of university in France!  (I'm sure there is more insight to be found into this journey of mine amidst my former blog postings.)

For awhile, people were asking me if I was excited about this adventure and I honestly didn't know how to answer.  I had some reservations about leaving home, etc. and, also, compared to the other university exchange students, I felt a lot of "been there, done that".  Nevertheless, I did feel good about my decision to choose to live with une Française and to make a home while here, as opposed to finding myself absorbed in the student traveller life, which yes, is not at all where I am at.

And yes, it is working out well!  I am living with a woman about my brother's age and her 5 year-old daughter and, well I've been forced to speak French a lot!  The apartment is lovely and the neighbourhood is nice; it's removed from the downtown and the university area, but those places are still walkable.  It is truly nice to share a home and meals with someone and to have an automatic companion who is able to help me assimilate!

Speaking of companions, it also has been great to know one other person, a Laurier classmate who is also here on exchange.  We travelled together (which included the flight to Paris and then two trains to Tours, plus lots of fun carting around the luggage...erg, I am not a fan of packing for a longer stint and my big suitcase caused me much grief and embarrassment) and we've gotten together each day to help each other figure out things around the school and city.  For example, today we successfully got ourselves some cell phone numbers, electronic bus passes and ate some amazing street baguette sandwiches.  Here I am on our first day of exploring, enjoying my first quiche Lorraine.  Notice the very European scooter behind me.

And here I am on some promenade of sorts.  Certainly, many things remind me of the months I lived in England, yet strangely, some things actually remind me of Latin America!  I can't quite explain it, just certain types of buildings, something in the air, the sound of television or radio commercials....And then there are all of the public toilets that you have to pay for!  (Although, I remember that in Italy too.  It's very annoying.)

It seems that Tours is a good fit for me; it's not too big, but it has lots to explore.  There seems to be some neat little nooks and particularities to discover.  Tomorrow is market day and there are some special open-air "clearance markets" happening in addition to the regular weekend open-air food markets.

There is also this atmosphere of students arriving and the city is bulging a bit with it, very much like this time of year in Waterloo.  And just like I feel in Waterloo, I'm not a big fan of the streets crawling with students from wherever.  Just like at Laurier, I'm predicting that I will find myself somewhat out of place, being an "old" student.  I had a thought the other day about how nice it would be to just live and work and to get to avoid going to campus and school all together!  Ahh well, I'm sure it will be fine.

It definitely is quite tricky navigating the administrative side of the school.  We STILL do not know what classes we will take, when they start, when they finish, when any holidays are....!  Lots of fun!  :)  I do know that I have a 3-hour French test on Monday, in order to assess my level and place me appropriately.  I'm still really hoping (and needing because of my degree in Canada) to take Spanish and Portuguese, but I'm waiting for some direction about this.

Tours is similar to Kitchener-Waterloo as well in that they are in the process of making space for a Tram!  It seems that a day does not go by without hearing some local talk about "les travaux" (the construction) and just how it's changed everyone's usual route to wherever.  I can't tell if they're happy about it or not, everyone just seems rather matter-of-fact.  It was our initiation to Tours as well, where, upon exiting the train station, about 10 of us stood at an empty taxi stand for over 30 minutes!  "It's because of les travaux, le tram...." we were told.  Here is a photo of some of les travaux (these orange and white barriers are the marker) with an interesting building behind.

I've had some neat conversations with my housemate, including one today where I learned that Tours does have bit of an aristocratic-type mindset/culture to it, so I guess in that way, it's not quite "me".  But their French is considered "unblemished" (you can check out the Wikipedia article about Tours), so this should serve me well in my pursuit of French!

But wow, have I ever found myself at a loss for words...like all the time!!  It is so frustrating how limited my vocabulary is!  Sometimes, I really miss what people say too, even really simple things that I should know, but I just don't "hear" it.  But the worst is the fumbling to be able to express myself out and about.  Ironically, I feel that the clearest I have been in my expression was this evening when I was describing very detailed things to my housemate about Canadian and Quebec culture and history!  Ha ha.  There's our French curriculum for you...tons of reading and writing on these types of things yet no practice in how to leave a message on an answering machine, how to order a taxi, how to explain what type of adapter you need because the one you brought doesn't fit the outlets properly!!

(Yes, this is the first time I've used my laptop, because I have no way of recharging it thus far....)


Anyway, that's my update for now.  Here are a couple of interesting architecture pictures for you photo lovers.