I'm starting to think this will be necessary... in the most literal sense that is. I just did my first batch of laundry since I have been here and wow! It is expensive! I spent about 15 euros, which is about $22 for just two loads! I used to complain about spending $3 on one load in the States! Another difference is that they use powder or tablets instead of liquid detergent. They don't have nice smelling dryer sheets either. Boo.
I'm beginning to understand why the French re-wear already worn clothes and I'm not just talking jeans. I'm guessing most people in general will wear their jeans a couple of times at least before washing them, unless of course you got a stain on it. Here, I think it happens more often than that. Washing 'delicates' in the sink will be a must from now on. I usually just throw my clothes in a pile in my closet but I guess it's not necessary to wash it after wearing it for just a few hours.
I know that this is a stereotype but I've heard that French people tend to smell because they don't shower often. But as with all stereotypes there must be some truth to this statement. I may have gotten my dad's sensitive nose but really, whenever I'm in a crowd of French people I always notice that it smells... either like cigarettes (I'll get into that another time) or like people... and I'm not the only one who notices! It's not always strong B.O. That happens anywhere, I'm sure. But just this faint smell of people. Not really a good kind of smell either. I'm really conscious about wearing perfume and I feel naked when I notice that I have forgotten to put it on some days. I find that scent can be one of the most attractive (and unattractive) qualities in a person.
A little ironic, but I was reading a book while at the laundromat. Words in a French Life by Kristin Espinasse. She is an American with a French husband and children living in Provence. She also has a blog French Word A Day. She writes short stories about words she has learned and have a significant meaning or memory. In one chapter, her belle-mere 'mother in law' was telling her that until a while ago French people used to take sponge baths. They would put water in a large bowl to wash themselves. She also joked that the Lyonnais were the smelliest but then again she is from Lyon herself!
I have gotten pretty used to not having a shower head above my head. The one thing that bothers me though is the inconsistent supply of hot water. Each morning I hope really hard that hot water will come out of the faucet. It's moody. Maybe it depends on how many people are showering at that moment or the time of day. I don't know... but I can not shower without hot water. And, I need to shower every day in the morning or I won't feel awake and productive. So, even if I decide to compromise my laundry habits, I will need to figure out a more effective way to have hot showers every morning.
And... did I mention that I made my first real laundry faux pas today? I forgot that my relatively new wool sweater from Banana Republic was in my pile of clothes. After it was in the wash, I didn't think to take anything out so I tossed it into the dryer. What a huge mistake. I took a small black clump of hard wool out of the dryer thinking "I don't own anything like this..." then I looked at the tag and realized what I had done. I mean, I've had things that are dry clean only and sometimes I admit I'm lazy about washing them with care but I've never had anything this bad. I couldn't even recognize it and its crocheted neckline looked like it was never there. The material is so rough now that I could probably use it to wash my dishes. How sad.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Odd
look qt hoz i type: isnùt it zeird: school stinks: ze hqve nothing to do: se,inqr zeek is gqy: so pointless: their keyboqrds qre odd: even the periods hqve to be entered zith q shift: qnd other sy,bols need qlt gr or zhqtever: i cqnùt tqke french ti,e so,eti,es: it is auite sloz: but i guess this is better thqn school: lucky for ,e i hqve the coolest friends ever: to keep ,e co,pqny: M0::: thqt zqs supposed to be q s,iley fqce: boo i cqnùt believe ze hqve to do this qll zeek11 if i zere to hqve typed the right letters it zould hqve tqken ,e forever qnd i zould be typing like q grq,nd,q zhoùs never seen q co,puter:
okqy lqter gqtor:
[edit]: look i took a picture of it! can you see the difference? it feels more awkward than it seems...
okqy lqter gqtor:
[edit]: look i took a picture of it! can you see the difference? it feels more awkward than it seems...
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Becoming a Mademoiselle
Before I came here, I figured that one of my goals would be to embody the French spirit. I wanted to live like the French, eat and drink like the French, talk like the French and (most importantly) dress like the French. (Haha, I kid... sort of.) I can't say that I've gotten everything down pat about how the French live their lives yet. But I can say that I am starting to see how my life is shaping here in France.
Life here in France is becoming very "normal". If feels as though this is how I have been living my life for a while already. I have grown so close with the people that I live with. I don't feel out of place at all. I have to admit that even though it has only been two weeks here, I will be truly heartbroken to leave my life here. We only have about 4 months to be students, to be friends, to live together... We can always return and we can always keep in touch but it won't be the same. I am so grateful for the time I have been given here. I used to think that this was something that I had earned but I feel lucky to have this opportunity.
Last night, we went back to the Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourvière that has a view of all of Lyon. It is so much more beautiful at night, just like the Eiffel Tower was when I first saw it. This time, we didn't walk up the stairs to the church but instead a long winding road. We brought some 'vin' (wine) with us to help make the hike easier. It's a funny story but the gates were closed while we were there so we had to climb these tall gates and clumsy me, I scraped my knee. Boo. Now when I try to bend my knee I can feel my skin stretching and it hurts like a little biatch. Battle wound.
The metro closes sometime after midnight so our options were to either cab it or walk. We walked, of course. It took us somewhere around 3 hours? Twice as long as walking back from Hotel de Ville. So about 3 miles? We took a pit stop to grab a bite to eat at this 'boulangerie' (bakery) that is open 24 hours. We got a decent deal for 5 euros: a sandwich, drink & dessert. Chocolate flan is disgusting. The owner talked to us about Americans owning guns. Weird. Vieux Lyon has some great pubs that we need to visit. We also need to watch the sun rise.
Oh yeah, roomie and I decided to dye our hair earlier yesterday to give ourselves a more French persona. Or at least one that is different from our normal American ones. The French have all different hair colors so there isn't one that will make us more French. Roomie's isn't as red or dark as she'd like. My roots came out better than the rest so we might have to do another box. We'll probably go back to normal when we go home but it's a fun change for now.
Need to clean. Take advantage of the sunny weather. Parc de la Tete d'Or? Good idea.
Phrase of the week: Allons-y! (Let's go!)
Photos courtesy of Jesse Johnston
Life here in France is becoming very "normal". If feels as though this is how I have been living my life for a while already. I have grown so close with the people that I live with. I don't feel out of place at all. I have to admit that even though it has only been two weeks here, I will be truly heartbroken to leave my life here. We only have about 4 months to be students, to be friends, to live together... We can always return and we can always keep in touch but it won't be the same. I am so grateful for the time I have been given here. I used to think that this was something that I had earned but I feel lucky to have this opportunity.
Last night, we went back to the Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourvière that has a view of all of Lyon. It is so much more beautiful at night, just like the Eiffel Tower was when I first saw it. This time, we didn't walk up the stairs to the church but instead a long winding road. We brought some 'vin' (wine) with us to help make the hike easier. It's a funny story but the gates were closed while we were there so we had to climb these tall gates and clumsy me, I scraped my knee. Boo. Now when I try to bend my knee I can feel my skin stretching and it hurts like a little biatch. Battle wound.
The metro closes sometime after midnight so our options were to either cab it or walk. We walked, of course. It took us somewhere around 3 hours? Twice as long as walking back from Hotel de Ville. So about 3 miles? We took a pit stop to grab a bite to eat at this 'boulangerie' (bakery) that is open 24 hours. We got a decent deal for 5 euros: a sandwich, drink & dessert. Chocolate flan is disgusting. The owner talked to us about Americans owning guns. Weird. Vieux Lyon has some great pubs that we need to visit. We also need to watch the sun rise.
Oh yeah, roomie and I decided to dye our hair earlier yesterday to give ourselves a more French persona. Or at least one that is different from our normal American ones. The French have all different hair colors so there isn't one that will make us more French. Roomie's isn't as red or dark as she'd like. My roots came out better than the rest so we might have to do another box. We'll probably go back to normal when we go home but it's a fun change for now.
Need to clean. Take advantage of the sunny weather. Parc de la Tete d'Or? Good idea.
Phrase of the week: Allons-y! (Let's go!)
Photos courtesy of Jesse Johnston
Monday, January 14, 2008
Here to Study?
Oh yes, that is correct. It is a fact that we often tend to forget. We have made it through our very first week in France and we've loved every minute of it. But reality is here knocking at the door, saying "Hey, it's time to go to school now!" Boo.
Today was the first day of class. Some of us had class. We had to go pick up our schedules and buy our books. It was extra interesting because Mondays are CEFAM's alternate campus days. We share our building with other schools. Luckily our group didn't have class. We spent a lot of time trying to find the other building. In the rain.
As always, things are a bit different here. CEFAM doesn't have a bookstore so the vendor brings them all the first day. Also note, when you choose classes, it's not like having a list of times and professors. You just pick courses and they'll let you know if there is any time conflicts. So any changes are complicated because you can't do them yourself. Add the fact that we're international students, meaning you have to go through NU too. They're flexible and try to give your optimal travel time on weekends though.
They're a little slower in France. Not to be mean, but we're still waiting on things we thought we would have when we got there. We've been spending extra money on the metro because we haven't gotten school IDs. You need your school ID or else you can't get a discounted student pass. We also don't have our school login information so we won't be able to use the school computers. They have funny keyboards too. The letters are all moved around and it's not QWERTY. You have to check every week to see where your classes are because the room assignments are always different. Also, it's not a consistent schedule where every Tue and Fri is at whatever time. You might have one class at 8am on Wed and then 2pm on Thu. Or you might have one class for 3 hours on Mon.
It is all a little confusing but I'm hoping that it's simpler than it seems. Looking forward to meeting more of the French students and making friends with them. They are quite stylish for just going to class. Note to self: hurry up and find a cropped jacket while it's still sale month! Oh and there is a great pizza place around the corner from our other school! Great for sharing with a cool roomie! :)
Today was the first day of class. Some of us had class. We had to go pick up our schedules and buy our books. It was extra interesting because Mondays are CEFAM's alternate campus days. We share our building with other schools. Luckily our group didn't have class. We spent a lot of time trying to find the other building. In the rain.
As always, things are a bit different here. CEFAM doesn't have a bookstore so the vendor brings them all the first day. Also note, when you choose classes, it's not like having a list of times and professors. You just pick courses and they'll let you know if there is any time conflicts. So any changes are complicated because you can't do them yourself. Add the fact that we're international students, meaning you have to go through NU too. They're flexible and try to give your optimal travel time on weekends though.
They're a little slower in France. Not to be mean, but we're still waiting on things we thought we would have when we got there. We've been spending extra money on the metro because we haven't gotten school IDs. You need your school ID or else you can't get a discounted student pass. We also don't have our school login information so we won't be able to use the school computers. They have funny keyboards too. The letters are all moved around and it's not QWERTY. You have to check every week to see where your classes are because the room assignments are always different. Also, it's not a consistent schedule where every Tue and Fri is at whatever time. You might have one class at 8am on Wed and then 2pm on Thu. Or you might have one class for 3 hours on Mon.
It is all a little confusing but I'm hoping that it's simpler than it seems. Looking forward to meeting more of the French students and making friends with them. They are quite stylish for just going to class. Note to self: hurry up and find a cropped jacket while it's still sale month! Oh and there is a great pizza place around the corner from our other school! Great for sharing with a cool roomie! :)
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Not Too Shabby...
I must say, for being in Lyon only 3 days... we're not doing so bad!
We've had lots of discoveries, mishaps, laughs... everything.
Things we've learned...
- Expect meals to be long. Real long. "Drinks" are also long... Things are a lot slower here and I knew that before I got here... but I still can't help being an impatient person. The French don't drink to get drunk. They can sit in places for a couple hours just drinking and talking... Service for anything tends to be slow. I have to work on patience as I tend to get restless...
- Being in a large group also means a lot of waiting. We're spending a lot of time together. It's fun. Can you feel the love?
- The hardest thing to understand is numbers. The price of things. They talk fast but that's the most important thing you need to find out. How much you're spending! At first you hand them big bills and they'll give you change. But then you accumulate all these euro coins which they use a lot of. Makes your pockets heavy so you have to learn to give exact change.
- At the grocery store, you need to price your own produce. Like fruits. You weigh them and get a sticker with the price.
- January is the season for sales everywhere. As the weeks go by, the discounts get higher and higher! Time to go shopping!
Little things we noticed...
- The metro doors open before it completely stops. So don't lean on the doors!
- The flushers on toilets are all weird and different. Push down, pull up. You never know.
- They don't have paper towels... just revolving cloths that other people have already wiped their hands on. Yuck.
- Some people like to really dress up for school.
- Our shower head is in the middle of our shower so you have to hold it above your head while you're showering. Not fun. I got water all over the bathroom floor. And even some in my room. :(
- French people have tighter personal space than Americans. They don't mind standing close to you. Even strangers on the street and on the metro.
- Also, they tend to stand there when you're about to bump into each other. Instead of moving left or right.
- We tend to refer to things as their American counterparts. T, Subway, Dollar... Must learn to stop that.
Most commonly used phrases thus far: Bonjour, Bonsoir, Merci, Je voudrais..., Pardon!
We've had lots of discoveries, mishaps, laughs... everything.
Things we've learned...
- Expect meals to be long. Real long. "Drinks" are also long... Things are a lot slower here and I knew that before I got here... but I still can't help being an impatient person. The French don't drink to get drunk. They can sit in places for a couple hours just drinking and talking... Service for anything tends to be slow. I have to work on patience as I tend to get restless...
- Being in a large group also means a lot of waiting. We're spending a lot of time together. It's fun. Can you feel the love?
- The hardest thing to understand is numbers. The price of things. They talk fast but that's the most important thing you need to find out. How much you're spending! At first you hand them big bills and they'll give you change. But then you accumulate all these euro coins which they use a lot of. Makes your pockets heavy so you have to learn to give exact change.
- At the grocery store, you need to price your own produce. Like fruits. You weigh them and get a sticker with the price.
- January is the season for sales everywhere. As the weeks go by, the discounts get higher and higher! Time to go shopping!
Little things we noticed...
- The metro doors open before it completely stops. So don't lean on the doors!
- The flushers on toilets are all weird and different. Push down, pull up. You never know.
- They don't have paper towels... just revolving cloths that other people have already wiped their hands on. Yuck.
- Some people like to really dress up for school.
- Our shower head is in the middle of our shower so you have to hold it above your head while you're showering. Not fun. I got water all over the bathroom floor. And even some in my room. :(
- French people have tighter personal space than Americans. They don't mind standing close to you. Even strangers on the street and on the metro.
- Also, they tend to stand there when you're about to bump into each other. Instead of moving left or right.
- We tend to refer to things as their American counterparts. T, Subway, Dollar... Must learn to stop that.
Most commonly used phrases thus far: Bonjour, Bonsoir, Merci, Je voudrais..., Pardon!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Here we are! Here we are!
We've made it! We are officially in Lyon, France. The trip was pretty tiring. We could barely get any sleep with the super uncomfortable airplane chairs and probably moreso because of our excitement. The flight was fun because we got to sit in a row and watch whatever movies we wanted, listen to music or play games. I was hoping to sleep a little bit more on the plane since it was an evening flight but no such luck. When we got to Amsterdam, our layover, at around 8 am we were all exhausted and had no energy to wander around the airport.
I don't know if it was just anxiety but I definitely felt very nauseous at times and the airplane food just did not sit well in my stomach. A bottle of water cost 1,40 euros and brunch was 7,60. Ouch. We had to finish the water quick because we realized there was another checkpoint where no liquid was allowed. We immediately started to notice the small differences being in a new country. The second flight from Amsterdam to Lyon was on a very small plan with 4 people in a row. It was short and basically everyone napped. We were happy to arrive in a sunny Lyon where it wasn't too cold. The bus and metro ride were a little tough with all of our luggage. Oh yeah, and the apartment only has stairs where our rooms are on the 3rd to 5th floors! Quite the hike!
We got to meet Paul and Sharon who are just so pleasant. The group gets along great and we're getting to meet the rest of the students from the other universities. It gets hard to remember everyone and what you learn about them. Our rooms are nice! The showers are a little different. Hmm. We had our 'first dinner' and we came into our first run-in with miscommunications trying to speak French. We'll figure it out. We have so much to see and do. The possibilities are quite exciting! Looking forward to all of it!
I don't know if it was just anxiety but I definitely felt very nauseous at times and the airplane food just did not sit well in my stomach. A bottle of water cost 1,40 euros and brunch was 7,60. Ouch. We had to finish the water quick because we realized there was another checkpoint where no liquid was allowed. We immediately started to notice the small differences being in a new country. The second flight from Amsterdam to Lyon was on a very small plan with 4 people in a row. It was short and basically everyone napped. We were happy to arrive in a sunny Lyon where it wasn't too cold. The bus and metro ride were a little tough with all of our luggage. Oh yeah, and the apartment only has stairs where our rooms are on the 3rd to 5th floors! Quite the hike!
We got to meet Paul and Sharon who are just so pleasant. The group gets along great and we're getting to meet the rest of the students from the other universities. It gets hard to remember everyone and what you learn about them. Our rooms are nice! The showers are a little different. Hmm. We had our 'first dinner' and we came into our first run-in with miscommunications trying to speak French. We'll figure it out. We have so much to see and do. The possibilities are quite exciting! Looking forward to all of it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)