Well, I just finished my 3rd week of classes and have now been in France for 3 and 1/2 weeks. Whew... This week has been one of many great and many stressful things. Monday was Monday as usual. I went to school, went back to Nicole's, did some homework, ate supper, etc. Tuesday was a bit different. It was both stressful and relaxing.
First off, some background info: Because I am in France for more than three months, I have to register with the immigration office (OFII) and pay a tax - which I can pay in a Bureau du Tabac (which, if you didn't catch, is a tobacco store - among other things). Tuesday after school I went to a Bureau du Tabac and they couldn't process the tax for me. I bit later, I went to another one close to the school and they couldn't process it either. I was a bit stressed out because I didn't know where I was going to be able to pay this tax before my appointment on Thursday. Thankfully, I have a wonderful aunt who figured it out for me on Wednesday. After walking around doing that, I had a very enjoyable evening with other students at a potluck we had at the school. It started at 6:30 and I had intended to leave at 8/8:30 but then we played a game (yes, I actually participated and I had no idea what I was getting into - so no pictures of the game, but I do have some pictures of the food...), then had dessert, and then I had a great conversation with Annina. So, I didn't end up leaving till about 9:15. I then had to wait 20 minutes for the first bus, then another 15 for the second, so it took me about an hour to get back to Nicole's... Yeah, probably not the most prudent thing I've done - traveling at night, by myself, in not well lit areas... But, everything was fine - I was very aware of my surroundings and took any precautions that I could.
For those who are interested, for the game, we sat in two lines, facing each other and were numbered off so that our counterpart was the person across from us. There was a tennis ball in the middle of us, along with 4 batons made out of rolled up newspaper. The 'referee' called out two numbers and those four people ran to the middle and tried to get the ball to hit their wall (each line had a specific direction). It was a lot of fun, and apparently I can be quite aggressive, as can Annina, who was my counterpart. Oh, well. I mean, we may have been aggressive, but we were not mean or at any risk of hurting anyone, we just really got into it :)
Wednesday was an interesting day. I was stressed about my appointment with OFII the next day and I was physically carrying that all day. I went to market with Nicole, made lunch, took a nap (well, tried to but my nerves were so on edge that it was more that I just couldn't seem to do anything other than just lie there), did some homework, baked a cake, ate dinner and watched some French TV with Nicole.
Thursday I went to school like normal, but left before lunch to meet Mimi at La Croix de Berny RER (train) stop. She then took me to the OFII office and helped me figure out how I would get home from there. I was so uptight about this (Mimi definitly picked up on it), but once things got started and the people I interacted with were nice to me, I relaxed quite a bit. I do have to go back this Wednesday because I needed another paper which I didn't realized I would need. So hopefully, after Wednesday, I will be done with all the 'official' stuff I need to do to be here. And, as Mimi reminded me, the worst thing that could happen is I have to go home early, which is not what I want, but really isn't all that bad in the long run.
On my way home, I had a bit of trouble finding the RER station I wanted, but that resulted in a very positive experience in asking for direction completely in French!!! I'm sure my French was not very good, but the person I asked was really nice and made sure I knew where I was going. Yeah!
Friday, after school I went home with a couple (two other students in their fifties) for dinner and ended up spending the night. I had a really good time, but it's nice to be at Mimi's relaxing today (even though Mimi and Edgard are in Barcelona - hope they are having a wonderful time!). Tomorrow afternoon I'll go back to Nicole's and the week will start again... It's been an interesting couple of weeks of classes because I am having to learn how to change my mindset about taking classes. All my life I've just gone to school, done my homework, etc... but it never really felt like it was just for me. There were all these expectations and grades and stresses. Here, I have to keep reminding myself that I'm taking the classes for me. That they can be fun and that grades don't matter, there are no other expectations than what I decide I want out of class. It's rather freeing, when I can get there.
Everyday is a day of new stresses and having to learn to just let them go. I've always been one to worry about appearances and about the others around me, so much so that it can hinder my own ability to just be me. I think this year it is going to challenge this quite a bit. It will be interesting to see how exactly it does that.
Anyways, below are some pictures... Enjoy!
First off, some background info: Because I am in France for more than three months, I have to register with the immigration office (OFII) and pay a tax - which I can pay in a Bureau du Tabac (which, if you didn't catch, is a tobacco store - among other things). Tuesday after school I went to a Bureau du Tabac and they couldn't process the tax for me. I bit later, I went to another one close to the school and they couldn't process it either. I was a bit stressed out because I didn't know where I was going to be able to pay this tax before my appointment on Thursday. Thankfully, I have a wonderful aunt who figured it out for me on Wednesday. After walking around doing that, I had a very enjoyable evening with other students at a potluck we had at the school. It started at 6:30 and I had intended to leave at 8/8:30 but then we played a game (yes, I actually participated and I had no idea what I was getting into - so no pictures of the game, but I do have some pictures of the food...), then had dessert, and then I had a great conversation with Annina. So, I didn't end up leaving till about 9:15. I then had to wait 20 minutes for the first bus, then another 15 for the second, so it took me about an hour to get back to Nicole's... Yeah, probably not the most prudent thing I've done - traveling at night, by myself, in not well lit areas... But, everything was fine - I was very aware of my surroundings and took any precautions that I could.
For those who are interested, for the game, we sat in two lines, facing each other and were numbered off so that our counterpart was the person across from us. There was a tennis ball in the middle of us, along with 4 batons made out of rolled up newspaper. The 'referee' called out two numbers and those four people ran to the middle and tried to get the ball to hit their wall (each line had a specific direction). It was a lot of fun, and apparently I can be quite aggressive, as can Annina, who was my counterpart. Oh, well. I mean, we may have been aggressive, but we were not mean or at any risk of hurting anyone, we just really got into it :)
Wednesday was an interesting day. I was stressed about my appointment with OFII the next day and I was physically carrying that all day. I went to market with Nicole, made lunch, took a nap (well, tried to but my nerves were so on edge that it was more that I just couldn't seem to do anything other than just lie there), did some homework, baked a cake, ate dinner and watched some French TV with Nicole.
Thursday I went to school like normal, but left before lunch to meet Mimi at La Croix de Berny RER (train) stop. She then took me to the OFII office and helped me figure out how I would get home from there. I was so uptight about this (Mimi definitly picked up on it), but once things got started and the people I interacted with were nice to me, I relaxed quite a bit. I do have to go back this Wednesday because I needed another paper which I didn't realized I would need. So hopefully, after Wednesday, I will be done with all the 'official' stuff I need to do to be here. And, as Mimi reminded me, the worst thing that could happen is I have to go home early, which is not what I want, but really isn't all that bad in the long run.
On my way home, I had a bit of trouble finding the RER station I wanted, but that resulted in a very positive experience in asking for direction completely in French!!! I'm sure my French was not very good, but the person I asked was really nice and made sure I knew where I was going. Yeah!
Friday, after school I went home with a couple (two other students in their fifties) for dinner and ended up spending the night. I had a really good time, but it's nice to be at Mimi's relaxing today (even though Mimi and Edgard are in Barcelona - hope they are having a wonderful time!). Tomorrow afternoon I'll go back to Nicole's and the week will start again... It's been an interesting couple of weeks of classes because I am having to learn how to change my mindset about taking classes. All my life I've just gone to school, done my homework, etc... but it never really felt like it was just for me. There were all these expectations and grades and stresses. Here, I have to keep reminding myself that I'm taking the classes for me. That they can be fun and that grades don't matter, there are no other expectations than what I decide I want out of class. It's rather freeing, when I can get there.
Everyday is a day of new stresses and having to learn to just let them go. I've always been one to worry about appearances and about the others around me, so much so that it can hinder my own ability to just be me. I think this year it is going to challenge this quite a bit. It will be interesting to see how exactly it does that.
Anyways, below are some pictures... Enjoy!
First, some pictures from the Bateau Mouche
The Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower and two of the statues garding the Pont Alexander III Bridge
Le Pont des Arts Bridge. Those are all padlocks put on the bridge by couples as a testimony of their everlasting love. Makes for a very unique look.
The Notre Dame
Here are some pictures from the Potluck!
And lastly, here are some pictures of my dessert Friday night! It was delicious. I don't remember what it was called, but we bought it at a local patisserie. Yes, I will admit that I ate the whole thing (minus a couple of bites that the others took to try it).
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