Advertisement
Published: September 21st 2008
Edit Blog Post
Fives
This is the road that we travel every day to get to the metro. So, I never went to Holland. It was never feasible. I have yet to figure out how to use the train system, and the school has kind of drained me of money for the moment. But that is alright. Instead I have just been exploring the city and meeting new people. Kevin, Diana, and I found the Cathedral in Lille- it was a huge disappointment for me. I’ve grown up with pictures of Notre Dame de Paris and Notre Dame de Chartres. I had high expectations, despite what my common sense was trying to prepare me for, and I got half of a medieval cathedral and half of the façade of a business office building designed in the 1970s/1980s-ish time period. I almost started crying right there. It was quite awful. I found out later on it was started in the 11th century and completed in 1999. Explains a little bit, but I really wonder what the architect was thinking. After that, I wasn’t much up to any more exploring.
Last Wednesday, we went out at night to kind of explore and meet up with some of the other exchange students. We had amazing stuffed crepes, wine, and beer (big surprise
Fives
Kevin there…lol!) The crepes are stuffed with different types of cheeses and meats. Mine was the Savoyard, and it had potatoes, a very strong cheese (I can’t remember the name), and ham. It was fantastic! Afterwards, we found the Palais des Beaux-Arts. We met the German and Australian students there. We learned that evening that the metro makes its last trips at midnight. We had to cut our outing short because none of us were sure how to get home by walking.
Friday was Diana’s 33rd birthday. So we had a mini-party in my room. 15 people in these itty-bitty rooms is almost impossible. We squeezed is as many as we could comfortably have in one room. We had a chocolate cake, wine and beer (the staples of anyone’s pantry here). Afterwards, we split ways for the evening. Diana, Ben, Kevin, Trixi, and I went out for dinner/dessert. There is a café/restaurant just above the metro at Rihour called Le Rihour. It’s one of our favorite places because they have amazing crepes and waffles. I left them and went to my first party with some French students. Not the smartest thing that I have done, simply because I should have decided
Fives
Kevin and Diana- it was a great morning. Until... not to go when I started feeling uneasy about the idea. Oh, and that was after the 45 minute wait for the people I was supposed to go with. The French are not punctual, nor do they seem to care about anyone’s punctuality. For anyone who knows me, you can understand how irritating that is for me. It is amusing to think about how much it bothers me. Professors don’t even really care about punctuality. It’s amazing to me how different things can be. At home, I’ve had professors lock the doors and not let you in if you are even 2 minutes late! Anyways, let’s just say that the party was not my type.
Every week there is an open air market in the part of town called Wazemmes. It is like a mini-Braderie. Instead of 200km of vendors, there is only 20km. And at this market they have more fresh produce. Oh, and lots of freshly baked goodies. If it weren’t for all the walking that I do every day, it would not be hard to gain about 20 lbs by the time I come home.
Language classes began on Monday- except for mine. The professor was sick,
Cathedral Notre Dame de la Treille
...this happened. This is the front. so my fellow classmates and I took ourselves out to the park. There are 3 girls and a guy from Spain, 3 girls and a guy from Italy, 1 guy from Germany, 1 girl from Mexico, and then 1 guy and myself from the U.S. It’s been interesting trying to get to know people because about the only thing we have in common is French. So we have been speaking a mix of English-French-Spanish. Quite amusing to the surrounding listeners. On Tuesday, we had our first class. Our professor is absolutely hilarious. His name is Jean-Noel. He is very patient with us, and is easy to understand.
Wednesday was Ben’s birthday. We went in town for crepes and drinks. It was interesting to say the least. I must say that I am kind of happy that my birthday is later in the year. By the time it comes, I will be used to being away from home. I’ve tried to help make their birthdays busy so they don’t sit and think. I know that’s what I would do, and I probably still will. I met up with some other students later in the evening. I think spending the evening with
the other students was one of the best things I could have done. Some speak English, but for the others, we were all forced to speak French because that is what we had in common. The later the evening, the more talkative people became, so I think it was a very educational (and fun!) evening. I also learned a bit about European football. Not much, but enough to know that you don’t stand up in a bar when the TV is on.
I felt a little like Cinderella, in the sense that, once again, I had to leave before midnight to get home (sans the prince charming). The transportation system here is very efficient and dependable. Oh, except when they’re on strike. Yeah, the bus drivers were on strike for a couple of days this week. Aside from that, everything is pretty smooth.
I am suffering a bit from the weather. It’s a bit cold here for me. If it’s not raining, it can get up to about 58F. This week, it hasn’t rained much but it has been in the low 50s. I used to it still being up in the 90s around this time. My sinuses are not
happy right now.
This weekend, all of the museums in France are offering free admission. I had planned to go to Paris for the weekend, but then I thought that everyone else would be going to the Louvre. So I’m putting that trip off. However, Lille boasts of having the second largest art museum in France after the Louvre. I think that I will take advantage of the weekend and visit the Palais des Beaux-Arts. Also, any building (of architectural importance) that is not open to the public on a regular basis will be open this weekend. I am excited about that. My next blog will probably be mostly pictures.
The university classes begin next week. This has already been a headache for me. So I will wait until I have experienced a bit more to write about the nightmare called “Registering.” I do look forward to actually being in class. I am excited to meet other students and just to get started. It doesn’t quite feel as though I belong here yet, and that is what I am looking for.
I miss you all!! And I hope everything is going well at home! XOXO
Salut et gros bisous!!!!
Christa
Advertisement
Tot: 0.041s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0205s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb