Thursday, January 29, 2009
En grève
If there's one thing the French like, it's strikes. Instead of merely complaining when things go bad, they go out and demonstrate their impatience with the government by skipping school and work to gather and show their solidarity with one another and demand change. Today there's a sort of nationwide general strike, at it's worst in Paris, but it's affecting us in Montpellier too. The entrances to the University were filled with people handing out pamphlets urging us to go to the demonstrations. I had someone knock on my dorm room door last night asking me to participate (I can't, as I'm pretty sure it's against a lot of rules.) My class this morning had only 6 of about 20 people show up, since the tram system is also affected by the strike and most of the people living off campus had too many difficulties in getting here. While this strike is only for today protesting the state of the economy, there are rumours that starting next week there could be a professor's strike. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, since I did come here for school... I'd hate to lose out on that experience, but then, as my lit professor said "for all of you foreign students: welcome to France!"
Monday, January 26, 2009
La vie quotidienne
It has occurred to me that the things that have become trivial 
to me may still be interesting to people back home, so it's high time I started writing about them. I did a similar post in Korea only toward the end, so maybe if I start early I can really be more thorough and informative.
First thing that I'll talk about is food. Now, obviously French food is supposedly very delicious and healthy etc., but I find the kinds of foods that match that stereotype are only found in expensive restaurants. I've come with a mission of living as cheaply as possible, in order to save money for travel and hopefully even have some left when I go home. This means rather than eating out, I try to make most of my meals myself, but that in itself can be an interesting experience.
That of course isn't to say that I never eat out, just not very often. Most of the times that I do buy food, it's a snack. Which of course brings me to crêpes. The crepes here are not quite what you get at the state fair or such back home. There are two kinds: sucré, or sweet, and salé, savoury. I've only tried the sweet, but I've had a few different very tasty varieties. My favourites so far are lemon sugar and maple syrup, both way tastier than you'd think.
Then of course there's the grocery shopping I have to do in order to eat,
which is an adventure in and of itself. The large grocery store that I usually go to is called Monoprix, and there are a few locations a couple tram stops from my dorm. This is where I go when I need a lot or need things besides food, as it's also a sort of department store. It is absolutely insane. It's not open on sundays, closes by 8:30 at night, and no matter when I go I always seem to wait at least 20 minutes in line to check out. I like the nice selection, and I usually get things like eggs, milk, cheese, and juice. I try to get a variety so I'm not eating the same thing every day, but it's not always easy. I usually stop at various bakeries to get a baguette, which are very cheap but really don't last more than a day. This usually means I eat some in the afternoon with cheese or nutella, have a few slices with dinner, and turn any leftovers into french toast or eat it with jam for breakfast. Besides that I'll stop at some of the smaller markets if I just need a few things or for the fresher fruit and veggies.
I'll be posting more entries like this, so keep an eye out for ma "vie quotidienne"!
to me may still be interesting to people back home, so it's high time I started writing about them. I did a similar post in Korea only toward the end, so maybe if I start early I can really be more thorough and informative.First thing that I'll talk about is food. Now, obviously French food is supposedly very delicious and healthy etc., but I find the kinds of foods that match that stereotype are only found in expensive restaurants. I've come with a mission of living as cheaply as possible, in order to save money for travel and hopefully even have some left when I go home. This means rather than eating out, I try to make most of my meals myself, but that in itself can be an interesting experience.
That of course isn't to say that I never eat out, just not very often. Most of the times that I do buy food, it's a snack. Which of course brings me to crêpes. The crepes here are not quite what you get at the state fair or such back home. There are two kinds: sucré, or sweet, and salé, savoury. I've only tried the sweet, but I've had a few different very tasty varieties. My favourites so far are lemon sugar and maple syrup, both way tastier than you'd think.
Then of course there's the grocery shopping I have to do in order to eat,
which is an adventure in and of itself. The large grocery store that I usually go to is called Monoprix, and there are a few locations a couple tram stops from my dorm. This is where I go when I need a lot or need things besides food, as it's also a sort of department store. It is absolutely insane. It's not open on sundays, closes by 8:30 at night, and no matter when I go I always seem to wait at least 20 minutes in line to check out. I like the nice selection, and I usually get things like eggs, milk, cheese, and juice. I try to get a variety so I'm not eating the same thing every day, but it's not always easy. I usually stop at various bakeries to get a baguette, which are very cheap but really don't last more than a day. This usually means I eat some in the afternoon with cheese or nutella, have a few slices with dinner, and turn any leftovers into french toast or eat it with jam for breakfast. Besides that I'll stop at some of the smaller markets if I just need a few things or for the fresher fruit and veggies.I'll be posting more entries like this, so keep an eye out for ma "vie quotidienne"!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Provence
Yesterday our programme organized a day trip to see some of the historical sights of Provence, namely the ones it would be hard for us to get to on our own. We all piled into the two buses they had arranged for us and headed out on an hour long trip toward Nîmes for our first stop.
The Pont du Gard is part of the remains of the Roman aqueduct system, which was built in the first century AD. It's huge, and the view both of it and from it is absolutely breathtaking. Unfortunately because our schedule was so tight we didn't have much time to climb and look around.
Next up was Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, a small village named for the magnificent waterfall which is the source of the Sorgue river. The water had a fascinating bluish green colour, and the fountains which gave access to the water for drinking tasted so clean and refreshing, I was glad I had brought my water bottle with me and filled it up.
After that we headed towards Avignon and Les Baux de Provence. This is an area that has evidence of life dating back to 6000 BC, as well as the remains of a 10th century castle destroyed in 1632, but the medieval city around has been restored enough to house shops and cafés. This was another example of medieval city/way of life, although not nearly as large or nice as Carcassonne.
For our last stop we headed toward Arles and the Moulin Saint Pierre, the most famous of the windmills of Fontvielle. Also known as "Ribet" or "Alphonse Daudet's windmill" it was built in 1815 and was functional until the first world war. It was then restored in 1935 and has since become a symbol of the writer Daudet. We didn't have very long to stay here, but we at least got to see this piece of history!
Afterwards we got back on the bus for Montpellier. It had started raining again, and we saw an amazing rainbow out the window... Biggest I've ever seen. However, the wind had also started picking up, and for literally miles there were semi trucks on the side of the highway, told to stop because closer to the Spanish border the winds and rain were so strong that trucks had tipped over. I heard later on the news that at least 15 people had died in Spain and France because of this storm, which didn't hit Montpellier with full force but I could definitely feel on my walk home... I saw a dumpster blown out into the road!
The Pont du Gard is part of the remains of the Roman aqueduct system, which was built in the first century AD. It's huge, and the view both of it and from it is absolutely breathtaking. Unfortunately because our schedule was so tight we didn't have much time to climb and look around.
Next up was Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, a small village named for the magnificent waterfall which is the source of the Sorgue river. The water had a fascinating bluish green colour, and the fountains which gave access to the water for drinking tasted so clean and refreshing, I was glad I had brought my water bottle with me and filled it up.
After that we headed towards Avignon and Les Baux de Provence. This is an area that has evidence of life dating back to 6000 BC, as well as the remains of a 10th century castle destroyed in 1632, but the medieval city around has been restored enough to house shops and cafés. This was another example of medieval city/way of life, although not nearly as large or nice as Carcassonne.
For our last stop we headed toward Arles and the Moulin Saint Pierre, the most famous of the windmills of Fontvielle. Also known as "Ribet" or "Alphonse Daudet's windmill" it was built in 1815 and was functional until the first world war. It was then restored in 1935 and has since become a symbol of the writer Daudet. We didn't have very long to stay here, but we at least got to see this piece of history!
Afterwards we got back on the bus for Montpellier. It had started raining again, and we saw an amazing rainbow out the window... Biggest I've ever seen. However, the wind had also started picking up, and for literally miles there were semi trucks on the side of the highway, told to stop because closer to the Spanish border the winds and rain were so strong that trucks had tipped over. I heard later on the news that at least 15 people had died in Spain and France because of this storm, which didn't hit Montpellier with full force but I could definitely feel on my walk home... I saw a dumpster blown out into the road!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Day Tripper, yeah
Those of you who don't know me personally, and 
some that do, may be surprised to learn that generally I travel by myself. Many people ask me isn't it boring/lonely/dangerous etc., but the truth is I actually prefer it. I'm the kind of traveller who takes lots of pictures and just tries to soak in the scenery, see absolutely everything I can in the time I have. When I travel with someone else, I always feel like I have to follow their schedule, which can sometimes be a downer. That isn't to say that I never travel with other people or don't enjoy it when I do; it's just worth noting that most of the pictures I'll post will be scenery because most of the trips I take will be toute seule.
So yesterday I went into town to buy my 12-25 card, which is a rail discount card that lets one
travel to many destinations throughout France at usually half price. Since it was valid from today and I had nothing else to do (no Friday classes) I decided to take at day trip to Carcassonne. Carcassonne is about an hour and a half west of Montpellier by train, and is famous for its walled medieval old city. The new city, which is where the station is located, is also very old, but not when you consider that parts of the old city were built by the Romans! The walled fortress here is so magnificent that it even inspired a board game.
I walked all around the fortress as well as the castle within, braving the rain in order to see all that I could. The city itself really isn't all that big, so I was able to cover both sides easily in the 10 hours I was there. Over all it was a fascinating trip, not a bad outing for the last minute on a Friday!
some that do, may be surprised to learn that generally I travel by myself. Many people ask me isn't it boring/lonely/dangerous etc., but the truth is I actually prefer it. I'm the kind of traveller who takes lots of pictures and just tries to soak in the scenery, see absolutely everything I can in the time I have. When I travel with someone else, I always feel like I have to follow their schedule, which can sometimes be a downer. That isn't to say that I never travel with other people or don't enjoy it when I do; it's just worth noting that most of the pictures I'll post will be scenery because most of the trips I take will be toute seule.So yesterday I went into town to buy my 12-25 card, which is a rail discount card that lets one
travel to many destinations throughout France at usually half price. Since it was valid from today and I had nothing else to do (no Friday classes) I decided to take at day trip to Carcassonne. Carcassonne is about an hour and a half west of Montpellier by train, and is famous for its walled medieval old city. The new city, which is where the station is located, is also very old, but not when you consider that parts of the old city were built by the Romans! The walled fortress here is so magnificent that it even inspired a board game.I walked all around the fortress as well as the castle within, braving the rain in order to see all that I could. The city itself really isn't all that big, so I was able to cover both sides easily in the 10 hours I was there. Over all it was a fascinating trip, not a bad outing for the last minute on a Friday!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Le Zoo
Today, we thought, was a good day to go stare at some animals. So I went with a couple other people to Le Parc Zoologique, which turned out not to be very far from the campus. It was a pretty nice day, so walking around the zoo was actually rather lovely, but a zoo is a zoo. Monkeys playing around, antelopes staring at you, and so on.
Anyone who wants can see more animal pictures here.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Laser Tag
One of the programme assistants, that is, French students who are liaisons to our American programme, organized a trip to the Odysseum to play laser tag tonight. Not many people showed up, since it's Friday night, but I decided it sounded like a lot of fun and so I went.
We met up at the Comédie around nine and took the tram to the Laser Game (as it's called here for some reason). We all chose ridiculous nicknames and put on the heavy vests, headed in for half an hour of trippy lights, techno music, and smoke machine fog. It was great. Out of the 11 people there, I placed 4th. Not bad at all considering I haven't played in years...
We met up at the Comédie around nine and took the tram to the Laser Game (as it's called here for some reason). We all chose ridiculous nicknames and put on the heavy vests, headed in for half an hour of trippy lights, techno music, and smoke machine fog. It was great. Out of the 11 people there, I placed 4th. Not bad at all considering I haven't played in years...
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
L'Epiphanie
Well, it was only a week late, but today we had a small party at the programme office for Epiphany. In France it is celebrated with a special cake, la galette, which contains a small figurine in each cake, placed randomly. Whoever is lucky enough to find it in their piece gets a crown and is the king or queen for the day! Of course, we had a lot of people and so there were several cakes and therefore several royalty... Not me though.
The cake, on the other hand, is delicious.
The cake, on the other hand, is delicious.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Week one!
Well dear friends, still no internet in my room, I'm told that should appear in a few days. 
Luckily, though, I have finally received my wifi password for the dorm lobby, so I can at least sit here for a while and update on the busy week I've had in Montpellier!
I left off my last real post Friday the second, shortly after arriving in Montpellier. That evening I went with a few others from my group on a short walk around the downtown area, from the Place de la Comédie where our hotel was located to Montpellier's Arc de Triomphe,
about 1km each way. The weather was beautiful already, and somehow I felt like I'd been here for months. We stopped at a café for sandwiches and tea and then headed back to the comédie.
Saturday we were given a brief tour of the centre-ville, and then we had our orientation at the Corum, which is Montpellier's convention centre. After taking a placement test for our grammar and phonetics classes we split up into groups; half picking their classes and the rest going in small groups around the city to get mobile phones and tram cards. I was part of the group running errands first, which turned out to be lucky for me as I got a nicer phone for the same price everyone else paid for theirs, because they had run out of the kind I had by the time most people had gotten there. Getting the tram card turned out to be more of an ordeal than we thought, since we had to bring our own photos for them to put on the card. My group ended up going to automatic photo machines in the mall and not getting our passes until later in the evening. I'm glad I at least got it that day though - it has been extremely u
seful as it works on both tram lines and the buses, and I can get just about anywhere I could want to go. After all our little errands we spent a few hours trying to choose classes - something that turned out to be much more complicated than back home, but still pretty flexible since nothing was set in stone.
Sunday was the day everyone moved into their permanent housing. I was one of three people who will be living in the Cité Universitaire Vert Bois, also known as the dormitories. I was quite impressed and surprised when I got there; the room is much larger than I expected, and I have both my own toilet/shower and kitchenette. That should making living/eating on the cheap much easier for me. I've already been experimenting... After shelling out the money for a frying pan and a few basic ingredients like eggs and butter, I've made quite a variety of tasty meals for myself. Good to know, I can cook somewhat! (Those who are interested can go here to see what my room looks like.)
Sundays will likely be problematic when I'm not travelling, since here in "provincial" France everything, and I really do mean everything, is closed on Sundays. No groceries, no pharmacies, nothing. Only a few restaurants are open, and unless I'm meeting someone I probably won't be frequenting those on Sundays - last Sunday I took the tram to the Comédie
just to take a walk, and spent .75€ on a baguette since I didn't yet have a chance to buy groceries. I felt so French carrying my bread in it's little tissue paper all the way back to my dorm. Hilarious.
Monday was the first day of classes, and I only had one. Our programme group had a little room on campus for us to meet up and make sure we had a full and non-conflicting schedule, and also so we could hopefully find where our classes were. I went around in circles with one of the programme directors trying to find out where the schedules for Czech language were posted, only to find out it conflicted with one of those courses I had to take, so I'll be taking beginning German instead. Monday I had the first half of my translations class, this part being translating English to French. It's a class specifically for foreign students who are native english speakers, so it was all British and American students. It seems like it shouldn't be too difficult. After classes monday evening is when I took care of my grocery shopping, which was a bit of an adventure in itself. I bought far too much for my own good since I wanted it to last a while, and the walk back to my dorm from the tram stop (which is a good kilometre or more)
was a bit trying, but I'm sure it was good exercise. Add to that that I live on the fourth floor and there's no elevator, and well... I'll probably be losing weight here.
Tuesdays I'll normally have two classes, but the German one doesn't start until next week, so I had just the French to English portion of my translations class. Again, I think this will be a good class for me. Wednesday I was supposed to have my lecture for 18th century lit, but the professor was sick and so that was cancelled. While waiting for my Phonetics class later that afternoon with some classmates, it began to snow. Now, that may not seem that interesting, but the next morning I heard tell that that hadn't happened here in over twenty years. So that was a little impressive, and quite interesting to see in a mediterranean city! Phonetics looks like it will be too easy since I already took pretty much the same class back home, but it's one of two required courses for the program, and I'll get elective credit for it anyway, so hopefully it'll just be an easy A.
Thursday is going to be my busiest day, I have three classes with only an hour between each. First is Grammar and Methodology, which again is very similar to a course I've already taken, but should still be somewhat helpful and is required. After that is my discussion section for 18th century lit, which have specific subjects related to the broad lecture module - mine is on Marivaux and Travesty; we'll be reading two of his plays and doing critiques and anylysing etc. This seems like it'll be my hard class, especially since I'm not especially a fan of literature, and it's an integrated class so the professor speaks really fast in French. Luckily the grading scale is really lenient for transferring these courses back. My last class of the day and the week was the second semester of Italian, which I'm taking to compensate for the fact that German is only 1.5 credits, as is this. I figured since I was taking Italian last semester I might as well continue it.
Fridays I have free, which will be excellent once I've settled in and start travelling. I used my free time yesterday to explore the city a bit more, and then went with one of the girls from my programme to the bookstore to pick up a few textbooks and dictionaries. I went back with her to see her homestay, and her host mother invited me to stay for dinner, which was quite lovely. I decided against a homestay for various reasons but French home cooking almost made me wish I had one!
Today our group was given a guided tour of some of the medieval areas of the city. Some of the buildings here are more than a millenium old, with "updated" façades from the 17th or 18th centuries. The tour ended with us being let on top of the Arc de Triomphe, which gave us a spectacular view of the city. I was thouroughly amazed.
All in all, I'm very glad to have come to Montpellier. I think I'll be adjusted to life here in no time at all. Lots of challenges ahead but I'm ready for whatever comes my way!
Luckily, though, I have finally received my wifi password for the dorm lobby, so I can at least sit here for a while and update on the busy week I've had in Montpellier!I left off my last real post Friday the second, shortly after arriving in Montpellier. That evening I went with a few others from my group on a short walk around the downtown area, from the Place de la Comédie where our hotel was located to Montpellier's Arc de Triomphe,
about 1km each way. The weather was beautiful already, and somehow I felt like I'd been here for months. We stopped at a café for sandwiches and tea and then headed back to the comédie.Saturday we were given a brief tour of the centre-ville, and then we had our orientation at the Corum, which is Montpellier's convention centre. After taking a placement test for our grammar and phonetics classes we split up into groups; half picking their classes and the rest going in small groups around the city to get mobile phones and tram cards. I was part of the group running errands first, which turned out to be lucky for me as I got a nicer phone for the same price everyone else paid for theirs, because they had run out of the kind I had by the time most people had gotten there. Getting the tram card turned out to be more of an ordeal than we thought, since we had to bring our own photos for them to put on the card. My group ended up going to automatic photo machines in the mall and not getting our passes until later in the evening. I'm glad I at least got it that day though - it has been extremely u
seful as it works on both tram lines and the buses, and I can get just about anywhere I could want to go. After all our little errands we spent a few hours trying to choose classes - something that turned out to be much more complicated than back home, but still pretty flexible since nothing was set in stone.Sunday was the day everyone moved into their permanent housing. I was one of three people who will be living in the Cité Universitaire Vert Bois, also known as the dormitories. I was quite impressed and surprised when I got there; the room is much larger than I expected, and I have both my own toilet/shower and kitchenette. That should making living/eating on the cheap much easier for me. I've already been experimenting... After shelling out the money for a frying pan and a few basic ingredients like eggs and butter, I've made quite a variety of tasty meals for myself. Good to know, I can cook somewhat! (Those who are interested can go here to see what my room looks like.)
Sundays will likely be problematic when I'm not travelling, since here in "provincial" France everything, and I really do mean everything, is closed on Sundays. No groceries, no pharmacies, nothing. Only a few restaurants are open, and unless I'm meeting someone I probably won't be frequenting those on Sundays - last Sunday I took the tram to the Comédie
just to take a walk, and spent .75€ on a baguette since I didn't yet have a chance to buy groceries. I felt so French carrying my bread in it's little tissue paper all the way back to my dorm. Hilarious.Monday was the first day of classes, and I only had one. Our programme group had a little room on campus for us to meet up and make sure we had a full and non-conflicting schedule, and also so we could hopefully find where our classes were. I went around in circles with one of the programme directors trying to find out where the schedules for Czech language were posted, only to find out it conflicted with one of those courses I had to take, so I'll be taking beginning German instead. Monday I had the first half of my translations class, this part being translating English to French. It's a class specifically for foreign students who are native english speakers, so it was all British and American students. It seems like it shouldn't be too difficult. After classes monday evening is when I took care of my grocery shopping, which was a bit of an adventure in itself. I bought far too much for my own good since I wanted it to last a while, and the walk back to my dorm from the tram stop (which is a good kilometre or more)
was a bit trying, but I'm sure it was good exercise. Add to that that I live on the fourth floor and there's no elevator, and well... I'll probably be losing weight here.Tuesdays I'll normally have two classes, but the German one doesn't start until next week, so I had just the French to English portion of my translations class. Again, I think this will be a good class for me. Wednesday I was supposed to have my lecture for 18th century lit, but the professor was sick and so that was cancelled. While waiting for my Phonetics class later that afternoon with some classmates, it began to snow. Now, that may not seem that interesting, but the next morning I heard tell that that hadn't happened here in over twenty years. So that was a little impressive, and quite interesting to see in a mediterranean city! Phonetics looks like it will be too easy since I already took pretty much the same class back home, but it's one of two required courses for the program, and I'll get elective credit for it anyway, so hopefully it'll just be an easy A.
Thursday is going to be my busiest day, I have three classes with only an hour between each. First is Grammar and Methodology, which again is very similar to a course I've already taken, but should still be somewhat helpful and is required. After that is my discussion section for 18th century lit, which have specific subjects related to the broad lecture module - mine is on Marivaux and Travesty; we'll be reading two of his plays and doing critiques and anylysing etc. This seems like it'll be my hard class, especially since I'm not especially a fan of literature, and it's an integrated class so the professor speaks really fast in French. Luckily the grading scale is really lenient for transferring these courses back. My last class of the day and the week was the second semester of Italian, which I'm taking to compensate for the fact that German is only 1.5 credits, as is this. I figured since I was taking Italian last semester I might as well continue it.
Fridays I have free, which will be excellent once I've settled in and start travelling. I used my free time yesterday to explore the city a bit more, and then went with one of the girls from my programme to the bookstore to pick up a few textbooks and dictionaries. I went back with her to see her homestay, and her host mother invited me to stay for dinner, which was quite lovely. I decided against a homestay for various reasons but French home cooking almost made me wish I had one!
Today our group was given a guided tour of some of the medieval areas of the city. Some of the buildings here are more than a millenium old, with "updated" façades from the 17th or 18th centuries. The tour ended with us being let on top of the Arc de Triomphe, which gave us a spectacular view of the city. I was thouroughly amazed.
All in all, I'm very glad to have come to Montpellier. I think I'll be adjusted to life here in no time at all. Lots of challenges ahead but I'm ready for whatever comes my way!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Brief Update
I've been without internet since Saturday, and although I have so much I want to write about, it's going to have to wait until I have internet in my dorm room, which should be from tomorrow. Suffice it to say I've been having a wonderful time so far, Montpellier is such a lovely city and I think this programme suits me quite well. Expect a long update with lots of pictures; hope you can sit through it all!
Ta for now!
Ta for now!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Bonne Année 2009!
I arrived in France Tuesday afternoon after an uneventful flight from Minneapolis, a short and rushed connection in Amsterdam, and a quick flight to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. I met up with my sister outside of the baggage claim, and we boarded a shuttle for our resort at Disneyland Paris. We spent two nights at the Hotel Santa Fe, the cheapest resort but still rather pricey. It was all worth it though, as we had a wonderful time running around the two theme parks and counting down to the new year in French with lots of fireworks.
New Year's day we took the metro into our hotel, at the Porte de Montreuil in Paris' 20th arondissment. Since Sam had to leave for the airport at about 4am, we just went to eat and then went to bed early. After sending her along in a taxi to the airport, I got my affairs together, had breakfast at the hotel and took the metro back to De Gaulle. There I was able to meet up with most of the group from my programme, where we had a short flight here to Montpellier.
I'm now in the hotel in Montepellier where I'll be staying for the next few days before moving into my dorm. We're free for the rest of the evening, so I'll probably start wandering around the town, find some food and what not. I'm already very impressed by what I've seen, and I'm quite excited for everything that's yet to come!
I'm now in the hotel in Montepellier where I'll be staying for the next few days before moving into my dorm. We're free for the rest of the evening, so I'll probably start wandering around the town, find some food and what not. I'm already very impressed by what I've seen, and I'm quite excited for everything that's yet to come!
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