Occidental College
Campus Conversations
alors, je commence! (and so I begin!)
Bonjour!!! So I've now been in Nantes, France for about 2.5 weeks and I'm finally starting to feel settled. I picked Nantes instead of Paris because I wanted a more "authentic" and personalized experience--I wanted to be in a French city that was small enough that I could really get familiar and comfortable with it in just a semester, and where most people didn't readily speak English, so that I would be forced to work harder on my French. And so far, I haven't been disappointed at all. The city is absolutely beautifuland has a rich history that is manifested though some of its magnificent old buildings. But it's also a modern city complete with great public transportation, tons of fashionable shops, a healthy nightlife, a huge university, and beautiful gardens, museums, theaters, and other entertainment, including a larger-than-life mechanical elephant that you can ride!!! I'm starting to be able to take advantage of these resources, as I am now able to navigate myself through the winding streets of downtown to do some shopping between classes or meet my friends to go out for dinner. I'm also thoroughly enjoying my homestay experience. I'm living with two retired parents, Jeanne-Marie and Alain, and their two cats, Coben and Cannelle. I have a great room, and they have really gone out of their way to make me feel like a member of the family. The food is incredible, both the meals that are home-cooked and the ones I buy, which usually involve a lot of cheese. Between the cheese, yogurt, bread, and desserts here, I seriously don't understand how French women stay so thin! The language transition has been a little difficult, and at times it's overwhelming and I can almost feel my head spinning. But after being here for a bit, my friends and I are joking that we're forgetting how to speak English properly too, so this whole experience might end with none of us being able to speak either language well. :P This Friday marked the end of our first week of classes. I'm taking a grammar course, France and the Atlantic World (with an emphasis on Nantes), The Creation of the European Union from 1945 to the Present, French Classicism (art history), and The Sociology of Modern France at the University of Nantes. That class was a bit of challenge since it is taught for French university students, not Americans, and it took place in an amphitheater, which is something I'm just not used to after being at Oxy in little classes. But I'm stoked to get more invested in my classes, and it's so fun to be learning about topics that I think are interesting, but in French, as opposed to having all the classes focus on grammar or literature like they do in the states. Four days a week, we can eat lunch at program headquarters with a French grad student who just talks with us about French culture of the youth and teaches us slang. And starting next Tuesday, they'll be a weekly 1.5 hour conversation class with students from the university, where we will all speak French for 45 minutes for the Americans to practice, and then English for 45 minutes for the French to practice. I'm so excited! I feel like my goals for the semester might be kind of unrealistic because there's just so much that I want to do in such a short time, and I have to go to class and do my homework and such. But it's seriously been fantastic so far. The time is flying by, and I can only imagine that it will continue to go faster as I get more and more comfortable in this new environment. [gallery link="file" columns="2"] Check in soon for more posts and pictures, and please feel free to contact me if you have questions! Bisous, Katherine