adjusting to life in france

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montpellier is quite a change from minneapolis or st paul or the midwest in general. arriving here, i left behind a snowstorm and was greeted by palm trees and eighty degree weather. however, after two days, the weather turned nasty, and it is downright chilly now. i should have brought more than two sweaters, or at least a scarf. i've moved into my apartment, which is a very nice place but is in a tough location. although the neighborhood is nice, it is a ways away from the center of the city and from the university. as the bus stops running at 8:30pm, it is difficult to go anywhere. that's fine by me since i tend to stay in at night anyway. i live above my landlady and after seeing her home, i'd love to move downstairs. it's beautiful, with lots of colorful tiles and paint, and there is a stove that wraps around a corner of the room. i can't even get my oven to work. the surrounding area is very pretty, with a wide variety of plants and trees and flowers. it's nice to see green grass in january. yesterday i traveled with my program group to sète, which is only fifteen minutes from montpellier by train, but is on the ocean and is very different. it was a really nice place, and i would like to spend more time there. tomorrow, we are visiting provence by bus, so it should be another nice day. other that that, i have spent the past week relaxing, sleeping, and trying to adapt to a very different lifestyle. it's difficult to believe that a whole town can shut down for a two-hour lunch break every day, although it's just as crazy to think that i "didn't have time" for lunch last fall. it's also tough when not much is open on sundays, but it's more humane than commercial hours at home. my classes don't start until this coming tuesday, and i'm excited to see what exactly they'll be like. this semester will definitely be a step back from the frantic way i lived last semester. i will actually have time to breathe, and to enjoy the beautiful area that i am in.

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Comments

[tom]

wicked!
montpelliemma your travel blog is my favorite. my favorite picture is the ' i am tired now' picture. it looks like a really cool place, everything is so old. or is that not a good thing? some of those buildings were truly beautiful. could you send me there names or something so i can read about them? get more pictures of people in your program too, i want to see who all is there i shall comment again!

[John & Linda]

Long live the Internet
Bonjour, Emma. It's wonderful to see all your beautiful photos and to read your engaging prose. Hope you had a good first day at class! Where did you go in Provençe? Have fun? We look forward to the next installment. P.S. I assume you're not typing this in on your cell phone. There's a Shift key on each side of your keyboard. Also, NO ENGLISH (except when you're writing this blog). Love to you.

[Rosiemama]

awesome!
Thought that you probably haven't heard that word recently, I promise not to use it again...your photos are so much fun to look at, we love the captions. Looking forward to seeing more of your day-to-day world! We hug you.

[Arrrrrmaiti]

People-cutting!
MY favorite picture is the one captioned, "They used to cut people up here." And, dude, you got a nose ring!!! You have a very nice blog. And a very nice nose ring. Come home someday, please!