La Semaine Prochaine (Next Week)

Hello folks!

This week is wrapping up but I am on Winter Break! Next week I don't have any classes! I am heading to Barcelona and Paris. I will be in Barcelona from Sunday-Wednesday and in Paris from Wednesday-Sunday.

While I am Barcelona, FC Barcelona will be playing Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey. This is quite possibly THE biggest soccer game in the world and we will be in Barcelona for this amazing atmosphere! I am very very excited for this amazing part of my adventure!

The second part of my trip is to Paris. If you know me, you know I have been dreaming about this for years. I kid you not, when I think about seeing the Eiffel Tower, I get tears in my eyes. I was Skyping my mom and dad a few days ago and got all choked up when talking about my trip to Paris.

Preparing to study abroad was extremely stressful. So much went into this and when it was hard to organize I remembered to keep my eyes on the prize! This video helped me keep my eyes on the prize. : )

Take just a couple minutes to watch this. Gives me goosebumps every time!!

http://vimeo.com/21537425


I will be sure to post when I get home telling you all about my trip!

Be prepared for many many many photos :)

Wednesdays

Wednesdays are the longest days for me.
My schedule is:

Language from 8:30-11:30
Le mot et l'image from 12:30-2:30
Phonetics from 3-5 OR 5-7 (The time alternates every week)

Today my phonetics class was from 5-7. It was an exhausting day but, I had a great day with my French!!

In my language class we broke up into groups and talked to our fellow classmates about our family. Normally, this would have made me sad, but I had no choice but to do but brag about my awesome brother and amazing parents so it made class really fun.

Also, when I was making my dinner in the kitchen I had two, not one but TWO, successful conversations with people who live on my hall that were also in the kitchen.

I just wanted to get on here and let you know that I had a great day speaking French because I haven't felt like this before!

My Favorite Places

Today, since I do not have classes on Mondays I decided to do a post about my favorite places in Aix! This has been my favorite post so far because I did all of my favorite things today, just for you! 

First I started off my morning by doing my favorite thing: RUNNING. I ran for an hour around town and that's pretty neat to be able to explore in my own element. 

After my glorious run in France, I got cleaned up and headed into town with my camera and a good book. There's a coffee shop/bookstore in town called "Book in Bar". It is a British owned bookstore and it is adorable. There's a little window inside where you can order coffee, hot chocolate, and pastries. I order my coffee, go upstairs to my favorite table, and they bring me my coffee on a little tray. I like to bring my book or homework here on Mondays and stay for a couple hours. It's a cute little place to spend the day! 

In Book in Bar people post all kinds of ads on this bulletin board. Most of them are people looking for conversation partners so they can improve their French, English, or even Italian! 

While sitting in Book in Bar and my stomach starts growling, I know it is time for some lunch. Which leads me to my second favorite place! Crêpes à Gogo! Crêpes à Gogo is in a little underground walkway beneath one of the streets in town. They have 80 different kinds of crêpes which are all good so far! 

Today I tried the spinach and egg crêpe which was delicious! 

Right by Crêpes à Gogo, there is the Office of Tourism which I use quite often when planning to go somewhere. It is perfect to have it so close by when I need help! 

My next favorite place is similar to a Neighborhood Wal-Mart, except 1/32 of the size. It's a tiny little store that has mostly everything you need to make a quick dinner without having to go to the grocery store! 

My last favorite place is right by my school and it is where I get a coffee and croissant in the mornings before class! 

Well, these are my favorite places so far. I visit each of these places quite frequently during the week and on weekends. Now you can get an idea of where I spend most of my time!

We Are Making Progress

I was talking with a few friends and I started thinking of what I could fill you guys in on.

For those of you that I told I was going to be 'bilingual' when I came home... This is a slower process than I had originally anticipated. But, the good news is - I am learning so much, all the time. I have taken French for 5 years, but when I first arrived here, I guarantee you these people were NOT speaking French. I had no idea what anyone was saying at all. But after a couple weeks in the classroom, training my ears to not only listen to French but understand it when I hear it. Now, I catch bits and pieces of what people say when I am walking down the street. (Not always, mind you. But I actually recognize the language now.)

I was talking with a friend of mine about how strange it is when you arrive in a foreign country where there is this language barrier. Regardless of how much French I had in the classroom, I was not prepared for this. (Sorry Mrs. Hinkle, if you are reading this.) You are stripped of everything that is familiar to you and you are forced to recreate yourself piece by piece in a brand spankin' new environment.

I keep forgetting that everything is in French, and I'm not too sure why. The first time I swiped my debit card at a cash register to pay for groceries I panicked when the words on the screen were in French. I didn't know what the heck it said, so I assumed it was asking me for my PIN. I typed it in and PRAYED that  worked. And when it did, I surprised myself. It is all a big guessing game. I am learning that I might not have a single clue what you are saying to me, but by your tone and body language I may be able to figure out that you are asking me if I want to eat my crêpe now or later. In a couple more weeks, I won't panic when someone randomly starts talking to me in French and I'm not prepared for it, because I am learning.

In other news, I have conquered ordering my coffee in the morning. Now, the lady in the café doesn't ask me to repeat myself or look at me like I am speaking Russian. When I leave the café, we say "à demain". Which means "Until tomorrow" or "See you tomorrow."

Those are all my thoughts for tonight!

Marseille

Today we made a trip into Marseille for the day and it was amazing in every single way! We took a bus into Marseille this morning and got there around 10:30. Marseille is the 2nd largest city in France. (Paris being #1.) Our day was exhausting but every bit of it was spectacular. 

When we first arrived we went to Vieux Port (Old Port). There were tons and tons of boats. The water was beautiful. Cafés lined the streets in every direction along the water here. It was a beautiful day to tour the city but it was VERY windy. Remeber "le Mistral" I mentioned earlier? Yeah, well it definitely made itself known today. 

 Which made it very difficult to take pictures..

Vieux Port was a really neat area. There are were quite a few tourists around. We saw someone spray painted "Tourist go home." I can imagine that they get tired of having so many tourists around in their hometown. Quite a few cruise ships come in here and stay a day or two so there are always tourists around.

On our agenda for the day we wanted to go to Notre-Dame de la Garde which gives you a panoramic view of all of Marseille. Despite the wind, this was by far the greatest adventure that I have been on so far! It was freezing but more than worth it. Nothing could have prepared me for the sights that we saw at the top. It was breathtaking! 

Notre-Dame de la Garde

Château d'If is the prison on the little island in the middle. The Count of Monte Cristo was filmed there!

I had a great time wondering around Notre-Dame de la Garde. It was amazing to see the city from so high above. The city is so dense with buildings but it isn't like a city in the US. The buildings are all much shorter and more concentrated in the area. 

We grabbed lunch after Notre-Dame. We had lunch as a pizza place which ended up being quite comical. We were all eating pizza, with our hands. Until, we realized that everyone in the restaurant was neatly cutting their pizza and eating it with a fork and knife. We began to do the same in order to blend in...

I am exhausted after a great day of sight seeing, laughing, eating yummy food, and taking lots of pictures! I signed up for a free trip to Nice next weekend so that will be my next big adventure after another week of classes! 

I Could Eat Croissants All Day Long

Alirghty! My apologies for taking a few days off from blogging! I had a nice long weekend and I am about halfway through my week at school.

Last Saturday I woke up early to go into town with one of my friends and find a few markets. On our map there are about 6 or so around town on Saturday mornings. We ventured out to find those and I was pretty impressed : )

We first stumbled upon a market that had all kinds of food. Fruit, vegetables, cheese, spices, grains, and fish. So. Much. Fish. It makes sense to me, I just don't know why I never thought about it! Marseille is a big port city. We are about 20-30 from Marseille so there were TONS of fresh fish. Everything from oysters clams to whole entire salmon and many other kinds of fish that I didn't recognize!

                                      

We also found a flower market that was selling all kinds of flowers! I am assuming it will be a bit more lively in the Spring so we decided to go back when more flowers would be in bloom.

At one of the markets they had a truck of macaroons. I haven't tried one yet but they look delicious!!

We stopped in a boulangerie to get a baguette and I snagged a couple pictures so you can see what it looks like!

And that wraps up our morning of exploring markets!


A couple months before I came to France, I signed up for a "Buddy Program" in which an organization here places you with someone who is French. They show you around and help you get acclimated to your new city! I was corresponding with my "buddy", Andréa, since before I arrived here. Her and her friend, Michelle have been great friends in helping me and Karlee get situated here. They made us crêpes on Saturday, which were delicious! I was full after 2 crêpes with ham and cheese, then they broke out the dessert crêpes and I was done for.

Crêpes with friends : ) 

(Karlee, Andréa, Michelle, et moi!)

That wraps up about most of my weekend. I went for a run which was awesome. I also found a half-marathon to sign up for. Shocker, huh? This would mark my 9th half-marathon! It is in Marseille on March 24th, I will be sure to let you know if I sign up!

In my classes this week, I have been trying to get used to how insanely long they are. I have to remind myself that I am learning a second language and that spending an hour in the classroom a day for language just isn't going to cut it. I am making friends in my classes though and that makes them go by a lot faster.

I FINALLY found a place to get a cup of coffee before class! However, today I learned a very important lesson when ordering my first cup of coffee. "café" is just plain black coffee, which is what I ordered. You are supposed to order "café au lait" which is coffee with milk. So I drank my black coffee right before my 3.5 hour class. I was awake the entire time, a little too awake. But I am learning, which is precisely why I am here. Needless to say, I won't be ordering my coffee black anytime soon.

I am planning to go into Marseille this weekend for the day on Saturday. It is supposed to be sunny so I will be sure to take lots of good pictures!

Pastry Friday

I just wrapped up my first week of classes today! If anything, it was all a big game of charades. My language classes are incredibly long. If you don't understand something, the professor acts it out.. Then if you still don't understand it, he/she tries to draw it on the board to try to explain it. It's a pretty interesting way of learning! I know as the weeks go by it will all become easier, or at least that's what I'm hoping for!

Today, after my classes I had coffee with a new friend at a café in town. We sat outside by a huge fountain. It was a nice day out and the atmosphere around us was great! I really enjoyed it. She also told me all of the ins and outs of Aix-en-Provence since she has been studying here since September.

I came up with the idea of "Pastry Friday". Every Friday, I plan on going to a pastry shop and picking out one dessert to treat myself after a week of insanely long classes. The only rule is - I can't have to same pastry two weeks in a row! That way, I can try all kinds of desserts while I am here.

My friend Catherine came with me for the first "Pastry Friday" we thoroughly enjoyed our divine treats! Next week I will have some pictures for you so you can see what I'm eating : ) 

I've been hearing about a park that a lot of people go running at, but I have yet to find it. Catherine and I ventured to find this park because I've been itching to go for a run. Finding the park was the easy part. It's a huge place that has a gravel track going all the way around it. It's beautiful. We plan on having a picnic once it gets warmer so I will be sure to post pictures as soon as I can.  We wondered around the park for awhile then decided to make our way back. It took us an hour to get back to our dorms because we got lost for a little while but nothing a map couldn't fix! 

There are a few markets around town on Saturday mornings so I am going to try to find them tomorrow and I will let you know how it goes!