Day One!

I'm not sure exactly how many hours I've been away from the United States, but everything that happened today is compiled in my head as one day. Right now it is around 1am in Nantes, and I haven't closed my eyes since I left San Antonio yesterday (or today?) at 1pm. After I convinced the baggage checker that my European outlet converter was not a weapon, I had a quick flight to Dallas. The plane was very empty and I talked to my seatmate Melissa for the whole flight. She was in the Air Force in Germany for three years and showed me probably 100 pictures on her iphone of her two dogs. After we parted ways, I trekked around the Dallas Airport and was able to spend some time soaking in all the languages spoken in the international flights area. Up until this point, I had not felt nervous and was surprised that I was not sweating yet. On the plane to Paris, it began to soak in that in only hours I was going to have to rely solely on my french skills. Fortunately, the plane showed two movies (How to Tame a Dragon, and 27 Dresses) and some shows from NBC. Time flew by (don't miss the pun!) very quickly and the meals were not too bad either (chicken and pasta+ salad for dinner, yogurt and croissant for breakfast). I did not talk to my seatmates on this flight because they were asleep most of the time, but the boy next to me fell asleep almost on my shoulder so I feel that we were unspoken friends.

When I arrived at the Paris Airport, I blended in well with the other travellers and only felt nervous as I waited for my baggage to slide across the conveyor belt. There were way too many people huddled around the one-sided belt and I had to work hard not to injure anyone with my 70 pound bag. My first french words spoken in France were <<Ou est la gare?>> which I asked to one of the many guards armed stalking around with automatic weapons. I found the train station but did not find the girls I was supposed to meet, so I sat and people-watched while I waited. The train was very comfortable- there were no baggage-busting gypsies that I encountered- and I became incredibly tired as I sat in the warm seats. I think I was a little delusional during this time because I could have sworn that a girl a few seats away was making noises that sounded exactly like an upset baby.

All the IESers met up at the station, took a taxi to the office, and waited nervously for our host family to come pick us up. One by one, a nice french-looking mother would walk in and the chosen students' face would quickly change from excited-nervousness to "this is it, I hope I don't screw up." My host mother and brother picked me up and took me to my new home. It's small and rather old, compared to American houses for sure, but I was invited in as a member of the family (I was told not to ask "Est-ce que je peux..." for things I want and to dig into the fridge whenever I want). We held a pretty good conversation from the time I got in the car to when we sat down for dinner. Opposed to Americans, the french eat big lunches in the afternoon and usually have small dinners. Also, it is not common for French men to cook for their families, so my host mother was surprised to know that my dad prepares most of our meals each night. I told her I like to bake a little and one day I will make the family a dessert and maybe even a whole meal. Tonight we ate a quiche, salad, a baguette, et du fromage. The family notices that I put my bread on my plate and that I set my cup down on the right side of the plate. In France, the bread sits on the table itself and the cup goes above the plate in the middle. After dinner I said "je suis plein" thinking to myself "I am full," but my host mother informed me that je ne suis pa plein because that would mean that I was pregnant. I cannot wait for more exciting vocabulary gaffes! We talked about the differences in foods in France versus America for a while and I can say I am proud of a few of our snacks which the French lack (peanutbutter, chocolate chip cookies, french toast). Also to clear things up, most foods in the United States that claim "French" in their name do not have a connection with France.

My room is nice, complete with a bed, chair, desk, drawers, shelves, sink, and lights.

Polo asked me "tu veux sortir avec mes amis ce soir" and so of course I said "bien sur, je ne suis pas trop fatigue." I rode on the back of his motocyclette and we hung out with his friends a few blocks away on a grassy hill by the river. From my brief observations so far, every teenager in France smokes and it is seen as completely normal. I did not understand everything they said, but I was able to talk a little with them some after they slowed down their speech a little. My favorite word here so far is "quoi?" and I use it beaucoup.

I almost feel like I am already settled into the house. I feel comfortable with the family and have seen that people in France are not very different from Americans, they just speak a different language. People are very eager to understand each other here, and they do not take offense or laugh at mistakes if you are trying to communicate with them. Tomorrow I will go to Vannes for three days for IES orientation. We were told to bring everything from a swim suit to a raincoat to a warm jacket so I do not even know what adventure lies ahead!