At Home

After living here for a month, I think I am now qualified to officially say, I like it here :) This last week has been a bit strange for me in the way that I realized I have really started to feel at home here. Its strange for me because the only two places in my life that have ever come close are my house where I grew up and Alma. But I like the feeling. Its so nice to walk down the streets, knowing where you are going, not being a tourist, but still enjoying the history around you, the beautiful weather, and the joys of everyday life. I enjoy taking my bus into school, "dejeuner-ing" (franglais for eating lunch) at IES or grabbing a baguette on my way to the university, have had some wonderful meals with my host family, and(as this was my first weekend staying here) have gotten to go out with friends on Friday and Saturday nights and experience life in the city.

Also, this week was my first week where my schedule was completely set, my largest errands were complete and I could just concentrate on school and friends. Classes here are going well, with less assigned homework than American Universities so I have to motivate myself to get things done.However, its nice to be able to plan out my days instead of having a sporatic schedule. Friday, I returned to Rock Climbing, and, since we arrived on time, got to climb for about 2 hours. It really is fun to learn about and even though I don't have much physical ability, rock climbing is interesting too because its a physical puzzle. Thats really dorky of me to say but I never really thought that i would have the time/opportunity to take classes, so its fun :) Also, this week, I started attending the Reformed Free Baptist Church, which offers a contemporary service on Sundays and a student group on Thursday nights called Agape. At both services, everyone I met was extremly kind and its great to have found a church that fits my style and I hope to keep going back and am looking forward to getting to know people.

While everyone in the states was worrying about whether spring would be 6 more weeks away (Happy Belated Groudhogs day, by the way!), the big event in Nantes this weekend was "Les Folles Journees de Nantes" which means "The Crazy Days of Nantes." Its a world famous musical event where reknowned musicians come from all over the world and play music from a famous composer and his contemporaries. This year was Schubert and IES let us choose from 5 concerts and they would buy our ticket. I know that I havn't been here on other weekends, so I dont have much to compare it too, but on Saturday the streets were packed! But it was an exciting atmosphere and there was so much energy in the air! So on Sunday night I went to see an Austrian Pianist, which was incredible. Playing for over an hour, completely from memory, this guy acted out the emotions of the piece it seemed by the way he played. He actually reminded me a bit of the boy who plays the piano in Charlie Brown, the way he would hunch over the piano during some parts. It was very dramatic and I was so lucky to be in the 5th row. Also, they had some free concerts in the halls and I watched a quartet perform. If you look closely at the picture you can see that they are all wearing Chuck Taylors with their suites, trying to add a modern touch to classical music.
After the concert, I was invited to dinner at a friend's house to celebrate what I have always called the "Chinese New Year." From Vietnam herself, she prepared us (5 IES students and her host family)authentic Vietnamese and Thai food which was absolutly delicious and we had a wonderful night of laughter and conversation. It was a bit spicy but I love trying new food and had a great time :) I have to record this because it was just crazy. For dessert, we had fried bannanas. We took a spoon full of rum, lit it on fire, and flambeed our bannanas before pouring chocolate fondue all over them. Dee-liciuos. From there, we all went over to another students house to watch the Superbowl which started at midnight and went til 4am. Needless to say, I am a bit sleepy as I write this from only getting a few hours of sleep last night :/ Still, we felt like we couldn't miss it, even though there were no wonderful American commercials, barely 30 seconds of the half-time show, and French football commentators (a contradiction in itself) surrounded by American flags trying to come up with useful things to say, it was a good game and a fun memory!

The other big news of my week is ironically what I'll be doing next weekend! I have planned to go with 3 other girls to visit Bordeaux and a neighboring city Saint Emillion. After our plans were made, the host dad of one of the girls informed us that he has friends in Saint Emillion who have a Chateau and Vineyard and would be willing to give us two rooms in there house for free!!! So exciting! However, you'll get more news on that in my next post. Other than that, I think Ive covered most important events. If you guys want to know anything specific about my life here, let me know, as the point of this blog is to satify the curiosity of all friends and family of my going-ons here in France.