Feb 08

Friday, February 15, 2008
Having Friday’s off in France is like a dream come true. Time to plan long weekends! I also just discovered a long winter vacation is coming up. We have one week of school, then 10 days of vacation… I could get used to this. A group of us are thinking about going to Spain/Morocco, so I’m excited!! I think I’ll be excited no matter where we go.
Anyways, I got to hang all day. Then I tried to track down more secretaries at the University for a freaking Student ID card! It’s like they want you to just get discouraged and give up, so they can yell at you for improper paperwork later. Finally after 3 different trips from dorm to campus, I succeeded in getting my Student ID card! I’m a somebody now! Well… kinda.
Soup and a baguette ham sandwich for dinner again. Later, some of my friends decided it was time I experienced my first French club, so we all started getting ready to go out. But apparently the French don’t go out until midnight… at the earliest. After the best night of dancing, we walked home at 4:00 in the morning. The most amazing part of the night was walking as slow as possible to the dorms so we could stop at the boulangerie as they were pulling coissants and goodies out of the oven. I’ve never been so happy to have a pain chocolat at 4:45 in the morning!

Sunday, February 17, 2008
So we’ve booked the trip! I will be vacationing in Barcelona and Morocco soon! One full week of school, then one week off to travel and have fun. I might never go back to Oklahoma. Ok, that’s a lie. But maybe I’ll have to travel/take it easy more when I get home. I like this very laid-back approach to life.
On another note, I’m glad I have the Student Social Security Health Insurance here. I haven’t been completely healthy since leaving Dallas with the flu. My allergies/sinuses hate being at such a high altitude, and my Russian dorm neighbors smoke so much I can see it seeping through my paper-thin walls. Smoke is not my friend.

I don’t think I’ve ever updated people on the dorms I’m surviving in. No toilet seats anywhere. Toilet paper, maybe… if you’re lucky… on a Monday or Wednesday. Loud echoing halls where Russians and Asians camp out to have long obnoxious conversations, oh, and a kitchette! You may be thinking, “Oh well that’s nice Katie, at least you can make your food in those amazing pots you bought.” Then I would point out that the heating mechanism given to us is not the always handy microwave, or even a toaster oven? It’s a science lab hot plate, like the ones you used in high school to heat your beaker of water. My Chinese neighbor makes an impressive spread using only a hot plate. No wonder they’re going places. (joking!)

Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Now that school is starting, I think my daily life will get a lot less interesting. I've been cleaning my room a lot since all my "friends" come to eat drink and leave a mess... so thats cool. Also, me and mes fleurs, thats flowers for you non-frenchies, we hand out alot while everyone else has fun at Happy Hour. My sinus infection turned ear infection is being a Debby-Downer, but I'm determined to be at 100% for the trip! I leave on Friday! Claire and I are looking into buying headscarves, especially me. My blond hair screams, "I'm American, please rob me". I also found my neato passport necklace, thanks Mom!
Hopefully the next post will have great stories and great pictures.... (if my camera makes it back with me.)
A bientot.

Wednesday, February 5, 2008
Finally got my room all set up. Unpacked, check. Decent bedding, check. Clock radio and electric kettle, check. Apparently, that’s all I will be living with for a semester. C’est la vie! I found a radio station today that plays French and English songs. I just plugged in my clock radio and was cruising around and knew I found my station when I heard Justin Timberlake! Haha! It makes me wonder what the Amish do. I mean, I have an electric tea kettle, what do they do!?

Thursday, February 7, 2008
Our meeting with the language department and all other foreigners was set for Thursday morning. I tried to wake up early and buy a new phone before the 10 am meeting, that way I would have a French phone number to give all my new friends (I was being optimistic ). But I guess I forgot the fact that the French don’t show up to work early, and no phone store would be open until…maybe after lunch?
We got to the meeting, and it was pointless. A whole lot of “welcome” and blah blah blah. They then took us on a tour of a campus we will never go to, and showed us short films that were so awful! The other American girls left, which seemed like a pretty good idea, but I felt like the French students who organized the mini party should get some credit for trying. When I met a couple of the students in a group called “French-ship”, we were talking about settling in and getting around town. Once we got to talking, a French guy, Michel, offered to take Lisa and I to a phone store and help us get a phone. Our own personal translator for a day of errands, not bad. Michel and his girlfriend, Soline, gave us a tour of the entire city of Clermont, too.

Saturday February 9, 2008
Michel, called yesterday to see if we wanted to go hiking to the Volvic factory. Claire, Lisa, and I were excited about exploring someplace other than Clermont, plus Michel and Soline promised an authentic French pique-nique. Michel’s dad picked us up at 9:30 in the morning, and we all went to Geant, the French version of SuperTarget. We stocked up on baguettes and 10 different kinds of cheeses, sausage, ham, some type of pork spread, and a bag full of croissants. Michel pointed out it was all from the Auvergne region. (The region of France we are in). It was too bad Claire’s a vegetarian; she missed out on the sweet pork spread, haha! But she was a trooper and tried some of everything.
We found out that the Volvic water factory was closed, and so was the Maison de la Pierre. The Maison de la Pierre is a carrier site where the volvanic rock was extracted from the ground to build the town and the surrounding roads. Everything was obviously black stone. So instead of touring factories, the group made a major hike to Notre Dame on the hill. It was a massive sculpture at the top of the village. It was a fun hike! At the top we decided to continue further to a castle called Chateau de Tournoel.
We walked to another village, Riom. The walk ended up taking over an hour. (When we got there, we found out we had walked over 22 km). Along the way Lisa and I had plenty of time to teach Soline funny phrases. Hearing a French girl complain about her feet and say “my dogs are barking” is way funnier in person, but you can imagine…
We rode home again with Michel’s father. It is still unbelievable how nice and welcoming this French family is being. Michel and Soline are spending next semester at OU, so me, Lisa, and Claire are determined to show them just as much hospitality. I’m pretty sure our trip here in France is going to be completely different with so much help from a well-connected local.

Sunday, February 10, 2008
This morning I woke up early to go to a Sunday morning open air flea market. There was a lot of shit, but some really handy stuff too. Since I blew out my hairdryer, I think I’ll go buy one for 4 euros next week. It looks 20 years old, but for 4 euros who cares. After the flea market, Lisa and I headed to a new supermarket, and stocked up for a picnic in the park. It is so nice outside in the afternoons here, plus everyone that passed us in the park would stop to tell us “Bon appetit”. How cute. The day was full of errands and just getting ready for the placement test. Michel called later in the night and offered to help us with our test prep. He had his dad drop him off and stayed to proofread our essays and practice for our oral test. Michel was a lifesaver! So helpful. His English vocabulary is probably more extensive than mine, he knows 7 languages, and he wants to help us with our French? Amazing.

Monday, February 11, 2008
I woke up at 7:00 to study for the placement exam, only to not study at all, and have a coffee with Lisa instead. I decided I should just accept the level I am placed in, and not try to make life difficult for myself. All the exchange students found their way to campus, and we had our test at 9. It was pretty straight forward, describe a picture, write a story, and explain why you chose France. Next was an oral exam. At the end of it all I asked my instructor, “sooo what level am I in?”, she responded, “I’m not sure come back on Wednesday.” WHAT? So what was the point of the test? So French.
Lisa was relieved that the test was over though. We bumped into Michel and Soline on campus and they were on their way to an “American Culture” class. He asked us to come, and so 4 American students were in the front of a French class as show and tell for an hour. The teacher commented on our long white teeth! She said we must drink a lot of milk! Haha! The topic of the class was American’s and their views on money, work, and religion. The French students laughed when we told them kids our age go to church, and that learning to invest and how to manage money is not unusual to learn in school.. It was funny to see how surprised they were to learn how expensive school is the US is too. Oh well…
After the classes, and some more running around for our Student ID cards and enrollment, Michel and Soline convinced everyone to just hop on a bus to a nearby town, Royat. On the way there Michel explained only rich old snobs live there, but it has a gorgeous fortified church, and natural hot springs. Only 15 euro for two hours of swimming in the hot springs pool, are you kidding? But as the temperature was dropping quickly when it became night, most of us were very tempted to jump in. The town of Royat was so old and cute. Everything you imagine a small French town to be. A church in the center of town, Eglise du Sacre Coeur, was built by Louis XIV!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Another great day! All the American students had a meeting at a great café next door to the school. I got a Croque Madame, which is a ham and cheese grilled sandwich with a sunny-side egg on top. It was amazing! I wanted to lick my plate. After that, Lisa, Chase (another OU kid), and I walked around town all day running errands. I mailed a letter at the Post Office, to a certain somebody for Valentines day. Chase wanted to find a bookstore to stay sane in our prison like dorm rooms. Then we all decided to find a grocery store and stock up so we could make our own dinner as opposed to spending 10-15 euro on dinner somewhere. Somewhere in the shopping spree, we bought amazing pots and pans, thinking they were a bargain, but after a glance at the receipt we were SO WRONG! When we tried to return them right after our purchase, the checkout lady said “Oh Melanie, she does returns, she’s not in today. Or maybe she hasn’t been back since lunch. Sorry, come back another time.” Again, how French. An entire booth devoted to returns/exchanges, but the worker in charge of it, taking the day off. Haha. Oh well, we will eat like spoiled Americans now.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Woke up at 7:00 am today to show up for what I thought was a second placement test. My exam proctor that told me I had not been assigned a class level yet told me to come back Wednesday at 8:00 am. So again, ready for a test, I show up to the Exchange Student building, to find out it’s just a informational meeting for Chinese students? I guess my small almond eyes confused the instructor on Monday, but my blonde hair? Seriously? Oh well, now I was up early. Time to find a good patisserie for a pain chocolat (chocolate croissant), and a café au lait.
Oh, and, I’ve started a garden in my room. Haha! Everyday we walk past all these adorable flower shops. I got a small potted flower plant to start with. Now Lisa and I get fresh tulips and brighten up the rooms. Dad would be so proud!
Last night while making dinner, Chase and Lisa decide that since we all split the super nice skillet/pots, we would just share groceries and make bigger dinners for 3. Saves us a ton of money. But somehow my room became the kitchette. Oh well, atleast I know I’ll always have friends, cause I have all the food and kitchen tools!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

<3 HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! <3

Today was the first day of class, and luckily mine don’t begin until 3:45 pm. Nothing special really happened for most of the day. I had to chase down more people/paperwork for my student ID card. I’m now registered as an Italian student? But its all cool. Then once I payed for my Social Security health insurance, conveniently the lady that prints and approves the cards was out sick. Seriously, these people can take days off whenever they want!
Later in the day, I was pretty bummed not to be on a cute date with Brian, so Alisha and I decided to be each other’s date and go to a romantic dinner to the famous Creperie. That’s about it for V- Day in France. Oh, and I didn’t forget it’s my sister’s 23 BIRTHDAY! Bonne Anniversaire Amanda!

In less than a week, I have a lot to report. To begin my semester abroad, I left Tulsa at 8:00 in the morning to drive to Dallas. With the flu! Not fun. Pathetic and sick on a plane to Paris. Awesome. But all of my great travel buddies, Lisa, Claire, and Olivia were very motherly and nursed me back to health. It could have been all that wine with dinner! Or maybe all that fresh air (they can't smoke in public anymore), but on Day 3 in Paris I was almost fully recovered.

So finding our way out of Charles de Gaulle Aeroport was fun, taking the RER B to Paris, then hoping on a metro to our hotel. Let me add that we each had two suitcases, a backpack, and a purse. (and for me a computer bag and two LARGE coats) Holy Cow! That being said, there are no escalators or elevators in every metro station we were in that day. Imagine 4 girls that have mediocre French skills taking turns carrying one suitcase up the stairs in rush hour of the Parisian Metro! It was rediculous.

When we finally got to our first hotel, turns out the reservation was lost and there were no rooms left in the area. So we pay for some internet time and hop on Hotwire.com to find a quick room. We found a decent Best Western in a wayyyy better part of Paris. The taxi driver that showed up to drive me and Claire across town was fluent in American politics! He knew more about the upcoming primaries than most Americans do.

With our first night in Paris we walked around, ate dinner, and toured the Louvre for free! Students get a free pass on Friday nights. For our first dinner we had the typical French waiter, he was so pissed he had to serve Americans.

Day 2 of Paris was just as eventful as the first. We toured THE ENTIRE CITY on foot on Saturday. Mostly by accident and some wrong turns, but I was happy to make it out alive. I had reached the brink of death with the flu, but somehow managed to walk every street in Paris. We saw the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, an open air market, rue de Cler, Le Grand Palais et le petit palais, Musee d’Orsay, and an amazing little park that the entire group fell in love with. That night the other girls went out to eat while I slept the entire time. Thanks Theraflu!

Day 3 in Paris was must less eventful, but still fun. We found out about an outlet mall way out in Zone 5 of the suburbs. With a 30 minute RER ride, we were shopping with crazy Armani lovers. It took about 5 minutes to realize every store was WAY out of our student price range… but still fun to look right? Vallee Village had nothing to offer us but a fun trip to the burbs on an otherwise quiet Parisian Sunday afternoon. That night Lisa and I left for the metro to map out our route to the Train station the next morning. Leaving Gare de Lyon with rush hour commuting was a horrible idea with all our bags! So we needed to know exactly where we were going and how long it would take. With the metro stops found and a still valid ticket, Lisa and I hit every stop along Le Champs Elysees, then we hit up Sephora for a good hour.

Departure for Clermont-Ferrand-
So the plan was to wake up at 6 am. Time to shower, pack, eat breakfast and get to the 9 am train. When Lisa and I woke up at 7, I sacrificed my shower and started throwing stuff around the room. (I’m not a very good packer at all.) After eating, paying, and getting to the Metro, calling it rush hour is an understatement. It was chaos. Again, silly American girls with their endless baggage. Not fun. To make a long story short, I literally ran out the scene of a movie when we were sprinting down the platform to get to a second class car. With the train doors closing, I’m throwing Lisa’s duffle and Claire’s suitcase into the car. A sweaty 4 hour train ride to Clermont was better than no train ride at all.

Olivia was dropped off in Vichy along our train ride. Once Lisa, Claire, and I got to Clermont-Ferrand, an OU friend was there to greet us and show us the way to St. Jacques-Dolet. (Our lovely French accommodations). I’m on the 6th floor. Great view, but no stairs. And heavy bags! When I get back to the States, I will have calves of steel! My room is very bare, but somewhat homey with the towels I use as rugs. Haha. After some unpacking and shopping, Lisa, Claire and I met some new friends and hit up the bars. I needed a major beer, so I was stoked Happy Hour is world-wide.

I’m convinced no one actually cares enough to still be reading…so I’ll post again later. Haha, I’m considering weekly updates. Au Revoir!