Les premiers jours

After a long day of travel, I decide to rest my weary eyes.  I have big plans for my day tomorrow:  I must buy a power converter and the French equivalency of a “go-phone”.  Before I go to bed, my mom tells me about this store called the FNAC (it’s basically the French version of Best Buy).  With no alarm clock to wake me, I awake to find that I have slept until 1:45 p.m. (or about 15 hours).  A bit disappointed, I fix myself some breakfast (my mom left me a tray with some cereal, juice and coffee) and get ready to leave the apartment for the FNAC.  I have mostly forgotten the directions that my mom gave me the night before, but I have every confidence that I can find the FNAC.  I prepare to leave my apartment and discover that my key does not lock the door.  Not wanting to leave the house unlocked, I decide not to leave just yet (it is already 3:00 p.m. and my mom will be home soon anyway).  When my mom gets home, I tell her that I did not go out because my key doesn’t work.  She asks me, “you pulled the handle up, didn’t you?” as if, of course, I knew that I must do so to lock the door.  I tell her that I did not and she willingly escorts me to the door to show me how to lock it.  Not long afterward, I go in search of the FNAC.  Before leaving, mom directs me to leave the apartment and go “tout droit” (straight ahead).  I, being ever so proficient in French (or so I think), proceed to go “toute à droite” (all right).  I quickly become lost and begin to panic a little.  After a few moments, I regain my composure and about an hour later, I find the FNAC.  I shout the name out with glee when I see the signs and I am sure that the people around me think that I am completely crazy.  In any event, I mosey on into the store wide-eyed.  I wander around aimlessly looking at unnecessary electronic devices before finally deciding to ask someone for help.  I find a nice saleslady (women are generally easier for me to understand than men and I often find them less intimidating).  I explain to her what I need and after a few minutes of language difficulties, she finally figures out what I am looking for.  She is EXTREMELY patient with me and leads me all around the store to gather the items on my wish list.  This is, by far, the BEST customer service that I have ever received.  I leave the store about 45 minutes later with my bag full of goodies feeling very proud of myself.  Not only did I find the FNAC, but I managed to also find everything on my list and more or less communicate with the saleslady.  Soon after exiting the FNAC, I begin to realize that I have NO idea how to get home.  It is beginning to get dark and all the streets are name St. this and St. that.  Everything looks the same….cobblestone streets, old buildings.  I begin to panic.  I stop several times to consult the maps that are conveniently located throughout the city of Angers.  They are of absolutely NO value.  I have NEVER been able to find the street where I need to be on the maps.  It is not long before I find the Rue de la Madeline, which I know that I walked along to get to the FNAC.  I am getting closer to home.  I begin to second guess myself and turn down Rue Bernier instead of Rue Bourgonnier (my street).   After finding number 45 (my street number), I try to stick my key in a random door.  When it doesn’t work, I decide to go back down the way I came and return to Rue Bressigny.  I will soon discover that EVERYTHING is on Rue Bressigny, making my efforts to promptly return home and get some shut eye before my exam tomorrow rather futile.  Eventually, I find my street.  After meandering around on Rue Bourgonnier for about 15 minutes and trying to stick my key in several doors, I finally find my home.  To my shock, when I enter the lobby, there are no lights.  I can barely see the elevator button.  Luckily, the elevator is lit, but to my amazement, when I arrive on my floor, there are once again NO LIGHTS in the hallway!!!!  I feel my way around and hope that I have chosen the correct apartment door in which to insert my key.  My key turns and I smell the now familiar scent of my new home.  I am relieved.  I decide not to tell my mom of my adventure and instead brag to her about being able to find everything that I needed.  She tells me to hurry up and shower so that we can eat.  There is a movie coming on soon that is based on one of Proust’s books.  I do so and we eat a yummy dinner of soup, quiche, and fruit salad.  Then, we head over to the couch to watch the Proust movie.  It is interesting, but I have a bit of trouble following the dialogue (the film takes place in the early 1920s and the vocabulary is difficult for me).  Seeing the lost expression on my face, my mom tells me that the language is difficult to understand and not to worry.  She tries to explain things to me as the movie goes along and I get the basic premise.  I soon realize that there are NO commercials during the movie.  When the movie is over, I ask my mom why there are no commercials.  She is puzzled by my question and I explain to her that in the US, we have commercial breaks every 8-10 minutes.  She is completely shocked and tells me that in France, they have 5 different TV stations that are public (this means that they are funded my taxes).  These channels have NO commercials!  The other channels have commercials in between shows, but NEVER in the middle of a show.  I quickly decide that I like French TV, and she shows me the TV Guide to explain more about how the TV stations work here in France.  I soon realize that the shows do not start in hour or half hour increments, but at random times.  For example, a show might start at 20h12 or at 19h35!!!  Oh the French.  Every time I turn around, something is different.  I decide to get some sleep and get ready for the placement exam in the morning.

            I awake at 8:00 a.m. and find my apartment completely deserted.  I look by the door and see that my mom’s keys and coat are still here.  She has not even woken up yet.  I go into the kitchen and see that she has not left me anything for breakfast.  I soon realize why she demonstrated to me how to heat the water for coffee and fix some cereal the night before.  I make a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee.  I get dressed and head down the road that is supposed to lead to my school.  After my experience the night before, I am apprehensive to say the least.  Luckily, my intuition is right this time and I find l’Université Catholique de l’Ouest!  Not knowing where I am supposed to go for the exam, I find the administration building and ask the nice lady behind the desk for the CIDEF (Centre Internationale D’Etudes Françaises) and she politely directs me to the correct building.  I find the CIDEF and there is nobody there.  I finally find a human and they tell me that the test is in the Hall de Balzin.  A small tight-lipped woman points and tells me that it is around the corner to the right.  As I leave the CIDEF and turn right, I find myself face to face with a library.  This is CERTAINLY not the right place.  In my frustration, I break the cardinal rule and say “Oh come on…where are you Balzin?”  Luckily for me, the girls behind me speak English and we are lost together.  I soon learn that they also speak French very well and eventually, we find the right building.  Once there, we separate and take our seats for the exam.  I have a few exchanges with an Armenian girl sitting beside me and discover that she is a French citizen, but is originally from Armenia and still has problems with the French language.  She lives here in Angers and will be studying at the CIDEF this semester with me.  The test begins and I become very unsure of myself when I realize that I don’t know the answers to ANY of the questions on the listening portion of the exam.  I don’t hear any of the answers and the subject matter does not even seem to be the same in the recordings as on the test.  After the first document is read, the director stops the CD to inform us that he has been playing the wrong disc!!!!  I am extremely relieved to know that I have not, in fact, been learning the wrong language all these years =).  The exam restarts and it is MUCH easier this time.  I soon realize that the only questions that I cannot answer are those in which idiomatic expressions are used.  After I finish the test, I wait in the hallway for the other students to finish.  After standing around by myself for about half an hour, I finally see Jordan, one of the American girls that I met earlier trying to find the Hall de Balzin.  She smiles and waves at me and I am relieved to have found someone to talk to.  I make my way in her direction and she introduces me to her 3 other friends:  Kerry, Bridget and Sarah.  They all go to school together in Pennsylvania and we become fast friends.  We decide from this point on to speak only in French.  We resort to English only in the case of an emergency.  Very pleased with our new arrangement, we learn more about each other and follow the crowd of students to one of the University Restaurants.  Once there, we get in line and soon realize that we need a ticket.  We go to the ticket counter where a disgruntled lady begrudgingly sells us each a lunch ticket for 3 Euros.  We get back in line and are soon cut in front of by some unruly French boys.  We choose not to say anything, but make snide comments about them for the rest of the afternoon amongst ourselves.  Once upstairs, we realize that we can get in one of three lines.  Unfortunately for us, the lines start in the stairwell and we all end up in the pizza line—not exactly what we were hoping for, but we are hungry and changing lines is nearly impossible, so we grab the pizza and place it on our trays.  We file into yet another line to give a second disgruntled lunch lady our meal tickets.  She gives us a token.  We are confused, but will soon become grateful to have received this valued treasure.  Shortly after sitting down, we discover the purpose of this magical token—it is our token for a soda.  A meal comes with only one small soda (water is free).  To collect said soda, you must insert your coin into the soda machine and select the desired Coca-Cola product.  The machine then fills your cup about ¾ full with soda and then cuts off!!!!!!!!  It just stops!!!!!!  No more soda!!!!!!  I decide that if this system were ever implemented at Columbia College, there would most certainly be an uprising!!!!  I guess this is just another reason why the French are so thin.  In any event, we eat our lunch and decide that it is certainly NOT the most ideal lunch we have ever had.  We return to school to take a tour of the city of Angers.  The city is MAGNIFICENT!!!!  Did I mention that I have a castle in my city?  Well, I do!  I’m TOTALLY rich!!!!  Hahahahahahahahahaha!  The tour is wonderful and shortly thereafter, we go exploring on our own.  Our feet are killing us, so we decide to return home for dinner and meet up later for coffee.  To make a long story short, our coffee plans get foiled.  Three of the girls get lost and Kerry and I never find a suitable coffee shop that is open at 10:00 p.m.  We decide to find an épicerie (grocery store) and buy a chocolate bar before returning home.  We find one on the way back =).  The man behind the counter is VERY friendly and offers me a bon bon.  He tells me that I may have two.  Assuming that he means the bon bon, I thank him and take another.  He again tries to explain to me that he is giving me two; “I’m offering you a second one” he keeps repeating.  Kerry tells me, “I think he means a second candy bar”.  I ask him if this is indeed what he means and he says “yes, of course”.  Shocked, I thank him and take another.  He bids us goodnight and thanks us for our business.  Kerry is pleased to receive my free candy bar and we walk home eating our French (but really German/Spanish) candy.  I say this because the candy is made by a company named Kinder (German), but the candy itself is called “Bueno” (Spanish).  In any event, it is the best chocolate wafer that I have ever had; it is filled with hazelnut cream =).  We soon arrive home and I prepare for the long day ahead of me.  

            I once again awake at 8:00 a.m. and find that my mom is not awake.  I fix myself some coffee and cereal and get ready.  My mom wakes up about 10 minutes before I leave for school.  I am curious to know her work schedule; she is a high school Biology teacher, but she didn’t go to work on Wednesday and didn’t go in until late this morning.  In any event, I bundle up and start my 7 minute walk to the University.  I find my friends and we take our seats in the auditorium for another orientation seminar.  We learn about several activities on campus and then are taken on a tour of l’Université Catholique de l’Ouest.  The campus is even more beautiful than I thought.  After the tour, we find ourselves completely famished.  Agreeing that our experience at the University Restaurant yesterday was less than pleasant, we decide not to return.  We find a small café in the Hall de Balzin.  We all grab a sandwich, some yogurt and a bottle of water.  Sarah is the only one brazen enough to try the “Sandwich du jour”.  It turns out to be a medium sized baguette with a TINY bit of pâté spread on it.  She assures us that it is edible, so perhaps someday I will be brave enough to try it.  After lunch, we go in search of the religious services department to find a protestant church.  The ladies there are EXTREMELY nice to us and very willing to help us.  They find us a Baptist church not far from the university and give us a map with directions.  We all joke that we will be Baptist for the next few months and move on to the FEDE—the FEDE is basically a student organization which provides university students with “cartes des jeunes” which will allow us to get discounts on museums admission, movie tickets, etc. throughout the city of Angers.  The students at the FEDE are super friendly and they inform us that at the end of the month, there is a dinner for the students in the ERASMUS program (European study abroad grant) who are about to go study in Anglophone areas.  The Anglophone students at the CIDEF are invited to come and speak English with them and tell them about America, the UK, etc.  We are very excited to receive our FEDE cards and then go to the “centre” to find some “pain du chocolat” (a delicious delicacy—it’s a chocolate croissant).  It is not long before we find a little pâtisserie (bakery and pastry shop) and partake of the best “pain du chocolat” that I have ever eaten!  After eating our “pain du chocolat”, we all agree to meet up for lunch tomorrow—we are going to buy a baguette, some cheese, and a bottle of wine and have a picnic by the fountain near the mayor’s office.  After lunch we are going shopping; right now in France, they are having their “soldes” (sales) and we simply MUST support the local business owners of Angers =)

            More observations about Angers:

1.         The sun came out today =).  I guess I will need my

            sunglasses after all.

2.         I love this city more everyday and the people only get nicer!

3.         I am completely amazed at the rate at which my

            conversational French is improving.

4.         My mom has scented toilet paper (it smells like roses).  Also,

            it is colored (last week, it was yellow—this week it’s 

            orange).      

5.         This is where I am meant to be.  I can’t wait for the rest of 

            the semester!!!!!!!!