Quatrieme semaine

Bonjour tout le monde!

Another week has gone by and I have been stressed over figuring out classes all week. I took the bus for 35 minutes into Pessac from my house Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to try and figure out classes, all at around 8:30am. It was ridiculously confusing and disorganized. Just the French system I have to get used to…

I still haven’t figured out my classes, but have a bit more understanding on exactly what I am supposed to do. I have to attend about 13 classes next week to figure out which 4 I need to and I find that annoying, but I guess you have to be flexible. Most of the departments have been really nice, but uninformative. It’s not their fault though, it’s just the system. Tant pis.

After walking around to many departments, waiting for hours and days for schedules and descriptions of classes to be posted, nothing much has really been accomplished since Monday. I shall see though what classes look interesting, but to do so, I have to attend classes (with overlapping times-which will be another challenge) and ask the professors which I am a little nervous about.

I went into town on Tuesday, not even bothering to go to the fac (university) because I was so annoyed by their disorganization and because I knew it would be no different than that Monday, and went did some errands. I bought some gifts and mailed them, so it was a more productive day (in my opinion) than if I did go to the fac.

This weekend was fun though. Friday, I went to watch a Rugby game (France vs. Ireland) at Chatrons on a huge screen. It was insane! There were so many people just standing around, watching the game on a screen over the river Garonne and drinking and smoking. It was a little difficult for me to breathe though since I get irritated easily by smoke. I was breathing through my sweater the entire time, but it was absolutely disgusting. They definitely need some smoking laws here…gosh, I miss CA laws. Unfortunately, I was also wearing my Ireland t-shirt that I got in Ireland, which turned out to be a pretty bad idea. Last week, there were TONS of Irish fans everywhere and so I didn’t feel that bold wearing my Irish shirt in France. However, it seems as though all the fans have returned home because at this past game on Friday, there were barely an Irish fans! I constantly had to cover my shirt up with my sweater when walking through the crowds just so I wouldn’t have to be confronted by any hardcore French rugby fans who may have drank too much. It was a little hard to see because I am vertically challenge and the people in front of me were pretty tall, but I found my way around people and it wasn’t so bad.

Afterwards, we my friends and I went to a pub called the Houses of Parliament. I met some French guys who go to Bordeaux 1 there through a mutual friend and so we talked with them and just chilled. I had to leave early because I had to catch my bus and so my friend Jon helped me to the tram so I could take it to my bus stop. I got home alright, but walked around for 40 minutes in the neighborhood trying to find my house since I did not know exactly where the bus dropped me off. All good though.

On Saturday, I went to the downtown area to go shopping. I bought a sweater at Zara’s (and was looking for jeans, but couldn’t find my size-btw, it took me forever to figure out what size I am so find out beforehand so you don’t have to bring 4 pairs of jeans with you to the dressing room all the time!) and a nice top for clubbing at another shop. I also went to this magazine Chinois (Chinese store) and bought some main ingredients I need to cook my food (and chopsticks! They are called baguettes here, but they don’t sell them anywhere except in a magasin Chinois). I returned home and made and had dinner. I talked with the mom for a while about school and things and then afterward, I went dancing with friends at a bar in the downtown area. The mom was so nice that she dropped me off in the downtown area because it would have taken too long for me to take the bus…so that was really nice!

Sunday, I stayed in the house until about 2, just doing some researching online for trips and hostels, and then went to the downtown to check out more museums, since they are about the only thing open on Sundays. My friends and I went to the jardin public (public garden) and the Natural History Museum there. It was pretty tiring walking around the museum and so we got some Ben and Jerry’s and sat on the steps and watched people play soccer (they are so hardcore about it! Even when it is just a bunch of friends playing around on a nice day…they are so aggressive and competitive. Maybe it’s just the Europeans…).

I just had my first real class today. The tram took forever though! It was insane…I left an hour and I still was late. I think an hour and a half should be better. After getting off the bus, I had to wait for the tram and 3 trams passed by because they were too full that nobody could get on. It was ridiculous! Anyway, I had a cours de methodologie that morning at 8:30am, but since everyone was late (hey! Give us a break! It was our first day…we were bound to be late!), the teacher cancelled class. It was a bit bête (annoying) though because I had gotten there early for that class which we didn’t even had. I don’t know, I thought it was stupid. But I just chatted in the Centre de Californie with other students until my histoire d’art class. I met a nice Italian who is in the Erasmus program before class and so he sat by me. It was funny though because we were freakin’ out about an exposé that the teacher was assigning to everybody and we weren’t sure what to do…if we were supposed to do it or not. But we asked the teacher in the end and apparently he doesn’t have to do anything, but I have to write a paper on the subject instead (just for Californian students…).

The histoire d’art class is a French Gothic Architecture class (something I’m semi-familiar with now…thank goodness) and it went pretty well. I had problems with vocabulary though, but other than that, I think I got the jest of it. I will definitely need more detailed notes though. I kinda kept falling asleep too..my bad. But I guess I was really tired. I need to get back into “school” mode.

Anyway, another tiring day of class tomorrow…this time running from class to class trying to figure out a description of what the class is really about so that it will count for my regional specialization. Bugger. It will be a crazy day…I know.

A bientôt!
Sherilyn

Troisieme semaine (Week 3)

Salut tous!

I hope everyone has had a great week! I know many of you are getting ready to move down to SD (if you haven’t already) and are looking forward to the start of the new year! I just want to let everyone know how much I am going to miss Welcome Week…oh, that is the best week ever! And I’m not going to be there…how sad. But seriously, enjoy Welcome Week! It is definitely something that I miss and that we don’t get here in France.

Anyway, this past week went by really fast. I had class all week as we summed up our LIP (Language Intensive Program) on Friday. I did my presentation on Ethnic Restaurants in Bordeaux on Tuesday and then gave a presentation on Maurice Chevalier, a famous French singer/actor/entertainer from between 1920-1950, and on Nice, France. It went pretty well and I was glad to get them over with. Classes were rough only because we had so much of it at one time, especially on Monday because we had the DEFLE test in the morning and class in the afternoon.

A few friends and I went to dinner on Wednesday night…I think it was Wednesday…it seems like all my days are one big blur now. But we went to dinner in the downtown area and my friend found a cute restaurant called Les Petites Cassolettes. It was a restaurant which served little plates of food for a good price and you could mix and match them with larger plates. It was very good and there were a lot of good choices! I got turkey curry, lasagna, and apple crumble. Yum. It was amzing. One of the first good meals I have had in a long time (since I have been eating sandwiches for the past 3 weeks I swear…ahhh…sandwiches!) and I finally felt full. On Thursday, our programme treated us to dinner (for the end of our classes) at a nice Mediterranean restaurant. It was fun to talk with everyone and relax a little bit. The fish was amazing! I haven’t had fish in such a long time…Salmon grilled with sesame seeds…oh so good. Then Friday, I actually moved into my new place. I am renting a room from a family in Begles. It’s a bit far, about a 30 minute bus ride, but it seems nice and everything is included except for meals. I get full use of a washer and dryer, kitchen facilities, cable television, and wifi. Plus, I will be able to converse with a French family…! So, that is always a plus. It was a nice way to get the perks of staying with a family without the responsibility.

The mother was actually born in Texas, but she went to a university in Paris and never went back. She has three kids: a 9 year old son, a twenty year old daughter (whose room I am staying in while she is studying abroad in Birmingham, England), and a twenty-two year old son who has already moved out and is studying in London but is currently in Ireland…I think. The step-father is French and plays the saxophone which is where he is right now (playing with his band which plays music of Les Pays-Bas). They are very nice and they even let me have dinner with them last night (which was really nice especially because I am not paying to have dinner with them) and I tried duck heart’s for the first time. The mother said that they eat a lot of duck, goose, and rabbit. It will be very interesting…hehe. I am excited though! I DO want to try new things!

After I went grocery shopping this morning (the supermarché is only a 5 minute walk from our house), the mom took me to a poisonnerie (fish market). I bought les petits rougés, these small red fish. The mother is going to teach me how to cook them. We also went to an open market to buy fruits and vegetables. It was very enjoyable and I was able to see where the locals buy their foods. She also bought some huitres (oysters) which people are very fond of here. Afterward, we returned back home and I took a bus into down to meet a friend. She brought along another friend and we went to visit the Grand Theatre, La Musée d’Aquitaine, and La Palais de Rohan. It was a special day when you could get into all these government buildings for free and so we took advantage of that. It was fun, but very hot. It usually gets really hot in the afternoons, but it is really cold in the morning…so, its kinda misleading. I just got back…I was a bit stressed because I thought I was going to miss the last bus and would have to take the night bus which would drop me off somewhere where I have no clue how to get back to my house and I would hate to find my way by map in the dark. Fortunately, I was able to catch the last bus and was able to find my way.

On Sunday, I went to grocery store again to do the rest of my shopping (I still can’t figure out how to use the shopping carts…they are attached to each other by this chain and I don’t know how to unlock them…someone said something about putting money in it and then when you return the grocery cart, it gives you your money back…I’m not sure). But anyhow, after that, I made lunch (chicken curry stir fry!! YUM!-finally some good Asian food!), and then was planning on going downtown with my friends again. Unfortunately though, my bus was cancelled and I had no way to the downtown area. So, I was stranded at home. I took advantage of their internet though (which is still not working properly…it is supposed to be wifi, but its not connecting tom my computer) and so spent the time clearing up my inbox (it’s finally clean! YAY! I feel so relieved!), and chatting with friends. Then I showered, talked with their cat (who I am allergic to), and ate more candy (ahhh…so much candy!).

Today, Monday, I woke up early to go to the fac (university), but realized it took me a little longer. The bus was 10 minutes late which was kind of annoying since I wanted to get there before 9am so I could register for classes at 9am, but it wasn’t a big deal since I had no clue how to register anyway. After much confusion and frustration with the French university system, I was able to inscrire (register) in one class: a history of art and archeology class which focuses on 8th-15th century French Gothic Architecture. I thought it would be a nice addition to the Cambridge Architecture class that I took this past summer. I need to go back to register for geography on Wednesday and Cinema/Theatre still hasn’t posted a schedule or a description of their classes. The description of the music classes are very poor and I went to the department to see if they had a better one, but they don’t. I’m still deciding about my other classes and unfortunately, until the other schedules/descriptions come out, I am not going to be able to register for my other classes.

Anyway, we had lunch there and then I went downtown to get my parent’s birthday gift which I sent with a card. I did a little shopping and then visited a friend’s new apartment. I was really tired and so fell asleep the entire bus ride back. At home, I showered, made and ate dinner, and then relaxed, spending the evening looking up flights and train fares. The little 9 year old asked me to play ping pong with him which was very fun and I talked with the mother afterwards while she was eating dinner…it’s always good to get my dose of French conversation everyday.

That has been my third week…a lot more interesting thank goodness! Hopefully with classes starting next week…my blogs will only get better. Lol.

Have fun moving in everyone!!
A bientôt!
Sherilyn

Week 2

Hello All!
Just to make a correction, I wrote Week 10 at the top of blog for my last week in Cambridge, but I only did that out of habit because of the UC system. It really was week 8, but I was so used to the end of the term being week 10, I guess it just came naturally when I was writing about it. My bad.

Anyway, this past week in Bordeaux has been alright and I am slowly adjusting to the atmosphere and style of life around here, especially the lack of technology here. It is quite frustrating so I would recommend you not using a computer made in the last 5 years or internet or microwave for 2 months at least right before you come here, just to get used of it. Hehe. But anyway, we started our DEFLE classes last week for our LIP or Language Intensive Programme. It has been going alright, although grammar sheets, analyzing poetry, and rewriting paragraphs in the past tense is not my idea of spending 4 hours each day...but hey! It's worth 4 upper division units and that's pretty cool! It just means that I will have one less minor class to take for French studies.

We also went to a wineyard last Thursday and I was able to try some wonderful Bordeaux wine! It was really sweet and MUCH better than any wine I tasted in America OR England. There definitely is a difference! I also went out with my girlfriends last Friday to a bar and then dancing in the downtown area. It was a lot of fun and nice way to wrap up the week. I went to look a room to rent from a family and got lost taking the bus for a while (only because I took it on the wrong side of the street and noticed it was going the opposite direction that I needed it to...but then realized that and tried to get off but didn't know how to stop the bus because there was no cord to pull until I saw a button which read "stop"...I know, i'm brillant) and then finally made my way to the house where I am not going to be renting out a room. Its not in the best location, about a 25 minute bus ride from school, and its in the suburbs, so I'm not close to the city center at all. But I guess I have the bus and its cheaper than a lot of the other places I was looking at. Besides that, i get my own room, access to a fully furnished kitchen, washer and dryer, AND wifi...thank goodness. So not too shabby. The daughter whose room I was taking is studying abroad in England for a year and I was able to talk to her and her boyfriend for a while who were very gentils!

On Saturday morning, I wnet back to the open market at St. Michel and bought a cool bag which I bargained down to 10 euros versus 15. We also got lunch there and ate our baguettes and cheese next to the river, like we did the week before. I also was able to visit the cathedral there and it was quite beautiful...nice early gothic but with 19th century stained class and some colored tiles from a neo-gothic stage. Anyway, we celebrated another friend's birthday last night with pizza (yum!) and ice cream...chocolate and I finally got my SIM card at Auchon, a kind of Walmart-like superstore in the more modern part of Bordeaux. Alright, I don't have much time on the internet...only about an hour...and I need to go to the post office which has awkward hours as well...! So, I will write later!

A bientot!
Sherilyn

France! Week 1

Bonjour à tous!

So, I guess from now I will be throwing in some Franglais…lol. Anyway, this past week has been pretty nice…just getting used to the French atmosphere and making new friends (always a plus!). So I don’t really remember when the last time I posted (since I haven’t had access to internet for so long! Well…at least it seems like it, it’s actually been around 13 days…I think, but it seems like longer).

So the first couple of days we had meetings about our program and different aspects of it. I had a housing meeting about finding apartments the other day and they gave us a sheet with some numbers on it we can call. It’s a bit hard for me to do that without internet to find where the apartments are and without a mobile to call them. Besides, I’m still deciding on a homestay or not. It might be easier to do a homestay I’ve found, just because I’m a semester student, but it’s bit expensive and I really didn’t want the responsibility of a family. We’ll see…

Anyway, I mostly hung around and took the tram downtown a couple of time to walk around and explore with friends. We tried this Kebap place across from our university…lol…it’s supposed to be Kebab, but its spelt Kebap….it sounds like a discotech…hehe. Anyway, the past couple of days, we’ve been scrounging around for food most of the time and trying to entertain ourselves before the classes start.

I went to a movie Friday night after the test with some friends and we saw “Les 3 Amis.” It was trés bonne and quite comical and random. I couldn’t understand everything, but got the just of it. Besides, comedies are always easier to understand; facial expressions help a lot. It was very “French,” which actually means a lot of sex and synthesized funny “happy” music. Lol…not at the same time though... After the movie, we walked around downtown a little bit and got ice cream. The next day was a free day and so a new friend and I got up early and took the tram downtown. We checked out the cathedral, Saint-Andre, which was gorgeous and full of many gothic features (go French flying buttresses and rounded east ends!), and we also climbed a very tall tower next to the cathedral. We got some beautiful pictures of the centre-ville and Bordeaux (I got to see the modern part of Bordeaux for the first time…well, besides our university). After that, we walked around looking for an open market that my friend heard about on Saturdays. We checked the bureau de tourisme and found that it was in Saint-Michel. So, we walked along the beautiful river (brown river actually…however, it wasn’t brown that day! It was quite pretty, I think it was the high tide). Anyway, we finally found it and it was a huge open market! Lots of diversity! We bought some baguettes (flutes), du fromage (cheese) and fruit. We then found a nice bench next to the river and ate our lunch there! It was gorgeous and we felt trés Françaises! Then we took the tram back to the downtown area and I tried to find a SIM card. Unfortunately, the company Orange doesn’t work with my phone, even though I got my phone unlocked in England. However, I tried SFR and that company does work with my phone…so be careful! Even though you unlock your cell phone to other networks, there are still some networks which won’t “marche bien” with your phone. SFR looks okay, but I would have preferred Orange since it seems that everyone has that company and it would make calling people within my network a lot cheaper. It is really expensive to call people here! And there’s this weird plan where you have a certain number of prepaid credits that you must use within a time limit. It’s kind of annoying…I definitely prefer the English cell phone plans. Well, anyway, after that, we were pretty tired, so after getting my 2 month tram pass, we went back. I have been organizing my music and photos like crazy since I have no internet in my room and so I continued to do that all night. I went to dinner at the supermarché Géant which was about a 20 minutes walk from the tram stop a little ways past our university towards Pessac with a couple of friends. It was a huge supermarket in there and I got a piece of pizza and these chocolate crepes which were to die for!! Ahhh…sooo good.

The next day, we had an excursion with the programme. Ahhh…I’ve been spelling program with two “m’s” ever since England…crazy! Anyway, we went to the pier to take a tour of the Oyster Museum and learn about the cultivation of oysters. And then…the best part, we got free oysters!! Yum! I’ve actually never tried oysters before and so it was a first for me. I like them though! Although I’m not crazy about them like the French…lol. We were sitting with the adults because they ran out of tables which was actually pretty cool because we got to practice our French and we got extra huitres (oysters)! Then we traveled to the largest sand dune in Europe…don’t ask me…and climbed it. Lol. Actually, it was really cool and at the top you got a gorgeous view of the ocean and it looked exactly like the Caribbes!! Seriously, I thought we had traveled to the Caribbean because it was sooo pretty! Blue water…palm trees…white sand…lots of it…lol. Ahhh! We walked all the way down the dune…which was a really really really long way…and then were kinda bummed because that meant we would have to walk back up it. It was all good fun though and some people tried rolling down the dune…didn’t work out too well. Worked my calves walking up in the sun though…I felt like I was in a dessert with all that sand. After our dune experience, we went to the beach (la plague). It was quite pretty and I got some good photos. It was too cold to swim though…the water, as well as the weather was a bit too chilly because of the wind, but it was nice walking around on the sand and seeing a REAL ocean again for the first time in a few months! (Ahh…San Diego…please, enjoy the ocean!! You won’t know how much you miss it…well, until you get to England. Lol.) But Bordeaux is very beachy… well, this part was and we had a great time, even though we were only there for a short time. Then we retuned on a bus back to the dortoirs (dorms) and rested. I showered, and then we went to dinner with a new friend in downtown Bordeaux. We found a Chinese restaurant and ate there. I tried les grenouilles (frog) for the premiere fois! Asian frog legs…quite interesting. It’s a lighter meat than chicken, but not quite fish…somewhere in the middle, which is, well I guess, how one would describe a frog. Not quite a fish...but not quite a land animal. Lol. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable night and our new friend had already been there since last Spring and so he showed up around the town.

We had class this morning (our first DEFLE class). DEFLE is the department here for foreign language students…that’s us! We take classes here just for 2 weeks and then take a test to place us in university classes or DEFLE classes for the year. My class was okay, although dictation isn’t the most interesting thing, but our professor is trés sympa (nice). However, people were very shy and there was a lot of silence…which I felt was my duty to fill…lol. After class, we had a meeting about homestays and then I tried to find dinner with another friend. Making so many new friends!! Yay! Lol. But we were stupid and can’t read maps nor have any directional sense whatsoever, so OF COURSE, it took us 20 minutes to find a restaurant that turned out to be closed anyway. We ended up at a new supermarché that I wanted to visit and went shopping. Then afterward, we met some girls from Belgique on the tram and talked with them for a bit. It’s soo cool meeting international students..! Especially those that are learning French just like us! Anyway, we went to a Kebab place for dinner again and I have just gotten back. So, that was a round up of my first week. Not too bad? I have had some difficulties with the language barrier actually and I seem to be very intimidated when I am talking to adults in French I’ve noticed. I’m usually confident with the other students, especially the Americans, but when I go up to a mérchand, I get scared. I guess I just need more practice. They’re not mean anyway, usually very helpful…so all good! I had some trouble figuring out laundry this morning though but will try again tomorrow….

Anyway, must write to others…I think I got wifi tomorrow…I hope! Not in our dortoirs but in a room at DEFLE….still, it’s better than using the computer room which is always packed with étudiants (students) and French keyboards which are a pain, I’ll tell ya!

Au revoir!
Sherilyn

Week 10

Hey there!

Okay, I know, I know. I’m late on my blog. My bad. It has just been a very hectic week, especially with finals last week and all the papers and studying I had to do. Then, the fact that I didn’t have internet until now…because internet in Bordeaux is very hard to come by, especially at the university…but yes. Here it is: enjoy.

So my last week in Cambridge was super fun, but I am so sad that I had to leave!! For the most part of the week, I was studying for my Economics final and writing the paper. I tried to get some last minute souvenir shopping done in Cambridge since I hadn’t done any at all…I know, it’s been 8 weeks and I still hadn’t bought a sweatshirt or postcards. I’m ridiculous. Anyway, I had my final on Thursday and then that night, we had our last formal. There was a party afterward as well that was themed the Roaring Twenties and so we played Texas Hold’em, listened to live jazz and danced in the cellar with glowsticks. We also met with all the Japanese students as well and took lots of pictures and said many good-byes. That Friday, I tried to get errands done such as sending off some very expensive souvenirs…expensive because of the sending I suppose, and took my last minute pictures of Cambridge and some of the colleges. I also went out to dinner that night with a friend for some good Italian. Then I went back to pack everything up, ready to leave for London the next morning.

We left for London around 9am and got in around 11am. I was with another girl and a guy. We said goodbye to the girl who met her Dad at the train station. It was so sad! Then my friend and I continued to our hostel. After dropping our stuff off at the hostel, we hit the British Museum (which had cool mummies and random beheaded statues), Westminster Abby (with beautiful fan vaulting..! Yay!), the National Portrait Gallery (which didn’t have Daniel Radcliffe’s portrait displayed at the time…I was sad), and the Imperial War Museum (which had the biggest exhibit on the Holocaust that I’ve ever seen). After that, we headed over to Soho, London’s Chinatown, for dinner and got Japanese and then Piccadilly Circus for shopping. We were pretty exhausted from walking around all the time and so, turned in early at our hostel.

We woke up the next morning and got breakfast in Notting Hill while watching the setting up of one of the biggest carnivals in England. After that, we visited Hyde Park and the Peter Pan statue and Kensington Gardens to see the Princess Diana memorial fountains. Then we went to Camden for shopping and got early dinner there. We shopped around for quite a bit, looking for my “British” shoes, but I didn’t find anything! We had dessert in Leicester Square and then met up with some other friends who were traveling after the program. We tried to go to the oldest pub in London to find that it was closed and so ended up taking pictures in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral. My friend and I headed back to the hostel after that because he had an early flight the next morning.

After I dropped him off at Heathrow the next morning and said our goodbyes, I went to meet up with my other friends from the night before. We got a packed lunch from a grocery store and had lunch in front of Buckingham Palace, listening to the Royal Band play from inside the gates. Afterward, we went shopping at Oxford Circus and then went to Kensington to see Harrods. We spent quite a bit of time at Harrods, mostly looking at the huge TOY department (ahh…I love toys!!), and then my friend went back to her hotel. I went back to Oxford Circus to exchange some money and but some CDs at HMV. Afterward, I went back to my hostel to meet another friend who was staying in my friend’s bed who had just left on the plane that morning. We met and then reunited with my other friend for dinner and went to the London Eye. I didn’t go on it, but they did and I walked around the Thames…it was a beautiful night! Everything was lit up and so pretty! Afterward, I went back to my hostel because I had to catch my taxi at 4:30am for Gatwick.

After getting into Gatwick, I took off for Bordeaux at 7:55am and arrived about an hour twenty after. I met two other girls in the program who were on the same flight and we got a taxi together and got to the university. All we had to do was check-in and so we did that and I spent the rest of the day unpacking and trying to adjust to the change in weather (it was sooo hot and humid!! So different from the pouring rain of Cambridge! I miss the rain!!). Anyway, that was that day…and I went to a supermarché also and got some food to eat because we don’t have an eating plan here.

The next day, we had a meeting at noon and then afterward, I went with a couple of other girls to an internet café in the downtown area by taking the tram. Then we got food at another supermarché and went back to eat. I spent the rest of the night trying to delete programs and clean up my computer because I finally ran out of disk space!! Eek!

Today, we had a meeting in the morning and then met in the downtown area for a historical tour of Bordeaux in the afternoon. After the tour, I got money from my bank and then got some information on the SIM cards here. I spent a half an hour in a café having a pastry and reading the booklets on SIM cards over, trying to understand them before I bought anything. The rates are outrageous here! I think I know why texting is so popular! Then after, I met for dinner with some other new friends I’ve met and have just got back right now. It was a good day, but I have to study for our exam tomorrow for placement for the LIP programme Ahh! Scary French grammar!

Til then-
Sherilyn