Salut!
Everything in France has been just grand (aside from my unfortunate habit of missing the bus by about 30 seconds). Every day I feel like I learn something new. Here are the highlights from the past week…
A Lesson in French style/fashion:
The other day I was walking down the street, minding my own business, on my way home from school. All of a sudden I heard a furious honking/beeping noise. Looking around, I realized a bus driver was trying to get my attention. Odd. I was a little confused and slightly alarmed, because the bus was stopped in the middle of the road, not at a light and not at a bus stop. So there the bus driver was, waving furiously, and I was like "did I accidentally wander into the street unawares!?" So I looked around, but I was definitely still on the sidewalk. Not noticing anything out of the ordinary, I proceeded to stare at the bus driver, a questioning look on my face. All of a sudden another man on the bus stood up and started making strange gestures. Both of them were yelling something at me. Although it seemed vitally important, I just couldn’t figure out what was going on. So I kept looking around when all of a sudden I discovered the problem....my skirt was pulled up and tucked weird, so it was really short. I pulled it down and the bus driver, other man and a few other passengers applauded while giving me pitiful nods as the bus drove away. This could possibly take the prize for most embarrassing moment of my life. The worst part of all is that the driver felt the need to stop the entire bus in the middle of the road to call my attention to the length of my skirt. Clearly, I should always cautiously check my appearance before stepping out the door.
The story gets better.... I was walking in downtown Rouen about 30 min later when a lady jumps up from her chair at a cafe yelling "pardon! pardon!" until she got my attention. She proceeded to explain that I had a run in my nylons, and it was something I should take care of immediately. I thanked her and briskly walked away. (I mean really, how was I supposed to address that issue in the middle of the walkway in broad daylight??) How dare I lower French style and commit such a fashion faux pas! Don’t worry, the second I got home I threw my tights away and went to the store to get replacements.
Note to self: In France, appearance is of the utmost importance and not a laughing matter.
A Lesson in Café Etiquette:
After the embarrassment of the skirt/nylon incidents had slightly subsided, I went to lunch at a place called Chez Pépé. It is a little restaurant close to the site where Joan of Arc was burned. Although difficult to find, it was well-worth the search. This particular venue is apparently “the best pizza place in Rouen” and since I had been craving pizza for the past week, it was extremely satisfying. One of our friends was meeting us there, and evidently they won’t bring out your food unless everyone is there. So although we had ordered, the waiter spent 25 minutes avoiding our gaze and withholding our food. After a forceful look (eyes can say a lot) we got him to come to the table and expressed our desire to have our food brought out despite the absence of our third guest. Unlike any pizza I have ever had, the crust was extremely thin and it was delicious! Chez Pépé will definitely go on my list of restaurants to return to.
Note to self: You must be forceful, especially in food establishments, in order to get what you want.
The next day we went to a museum in Rouen called Musée des beaux arts. It had a special Impressionism exhibit and is always free to students! Rouen is one of the places that inspired Monet as well as many other impressionist artists. The paintings were beautiful, and it was so cool so be in the town where these works were made. The last painting we saw had the word “cerf-volant” in the title, and since that is currently my favorite French word (after my Kite Festival adventure in Dieppe) I was extremely excited.
As well as many interesting encounters in town, this week marked my first days of classes in Rouen. Only three of my classes started this week (French, Business French, and French Civilization), so I wasn’t too busy. I really like my classes and professors so far. All of the professors have their own unique character, and you can tell they are the type of people that always work to make their students engaged. All of the classes that started this week are taught in French; however, everyone in the class is an international student. Since there are only 37 students from the U.S. in the whole school, there was usually only one or two Americans in any given class. This made the discussions particularly interesting. I got to hear so many different perspectives on issues, and really learn about how other parts of the world view certain things. And yes, it’s true that the whole world thinks Americans are overweight and eat McDonalds all day long.
My Business French class is really interesting. It is kind of like a career class, but applies everything to France. Our first homework assignment was to bring a CV to class, which basically meant I had to translate my entire resume into French. Easier said than done.
Completely off the topic of classes…Laundry in France. My host family does my laundry for me, but I don’t think they have a dryer. It’s kind of awkward to walk into the backyard and see my underwear flapping in the wind. Oh well, such is life. The thing I really wonder about is what they do in the winter. Don’t the clothes freeze? I guess I’ll find out soon enough.
Weather update: Apparently it’s supposed to rain a lot in Rouen. The only day it’s actually rained so far is a day when I forgot my umbrella, of course. Other than that it’s been blue skies and sunshine all day long. It’s gotten a little chillier this past week, but generally it’s in the upper sixties, making it quite enjoyable to be outside.
A few days ago I opened a French bank account (so exciting). The cool thing was, I spoke French the whole time, so I must be improving! Granted we didn’t say that much during the fifteen minute period, but still.
This weekend was a lot of fun. Bernadette (the other exchange student living with my family) and I went to my French friend Simon’s flat to try a dessert he made. It was the first time he had ever cooked, and in the end he decided he didn’t like his dessert at all. Oh well. After that we went to an Irish pub. Surprisingly enough, the French love Irish pubs! On the way there we passed a church and a row of trees that always have tons of birds chirping away. Apparently the best chirping can be heard around 7 or 8 p.m., but we still heard a quiet chorus. The pub was lively, there was a soccer match on, and it turned out to be a great night.
Something interesting I learned today is that the French don’t have a word for “to text” (as in texting on your cell phone.) Isaure, the daughter in my host family, told me that there is a word people use (that technically isn’t really a word) to describe the act of texting. The word is “textoter”. So for example “Je textote” would mean I am texting. (texto is a word for a text, so that is where the verb textoter comes from.)
Ok well it’s been a long week and weekend so it’s time for some tea and then I’m off to bed!
Bonsoir tout le monde!
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