This is my first official post since arriving in France. I had planned to get on here and update everyday, but that is proving to be easier said than done. Since getting here, or even before I left really, I have been going non-stop. It's been a bit crazy.
So, I won't bore you too much about the flight details. It's just a longer version of the same old flying routine. I did, however, meet a really nice girl sitting next to me on the plane. Her name is Julia, and she lives in the Montmartre quartier de Paris. She was extremely nice. We ended up talking about the differences between living, working, and studying in the states versus in France. She is an economist who just finished her PhD and is doing freelance work until she finds a permanent job. We also discussed French literature. It was a really great conversation. Julia was extremely nice, and I will hopefully get the chance to see her again while in Paris.
Upon arriving to Paris Charles de Gaulle, we had to find McKenzie and Matt who were on another flight. Luckily after going through customs, we ended up finding each other while waiting for our luggage. We were all a bit tired, but mostly excited. We transferred to Paris Gare du Nord. While arriving at Gare du Nord, I was able to see Sacre Coeur and that's when it hit me that I was back in France. It still doesn't seem real. We took the train to Amiens, et voila. Anne Petit, who is the coordinator for the program on this side of the ocean, met us at the station and took us to our residence hall. We are all in the same residence hall. To get into "centre ville," it's about a 15 minute walk. That doesn't seem bad at all, but considering most of the journey is on cobblestone, I am glad I brought comfortable shoes! We have met so many students our age. There are quite a bit of people from north Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, etc.) here, which was quite surprising. Everyone has been so incredibly nice. I was worried about my French before coming, but I haven't had any problems talking to anyone. In fact, my first night here, I managed to carry on a conversation with many different people from north Africa, and different regions in France. There were many different dialects, so I was extremely happy to be able to understand everything. My French has already improved and we've only been here a couple days. It's incredible to notice such quick improvements.
Yesterday and today, we have just been exploring the town a bit. Amiens is the home of its own Notre Dame, which is the tallest gothic cathedral in France. I don't think it's possible to capture how majestic this cathedral is in a picture. It is absolutely beautiful. The entire story of the bible can be found in the statues and carvings on the façade. The cathedral also houses part of the skull of Saint John the Baptist, you know, the man who supposedly baptized Jesus. There are so many things to do and see in this city that I have been waking up excited to get out the door every day. I have a few more days before I start the assistant internship, so we have been trying to fill these days as much as possible.
Last night, we went out in Saint Leu with some of the friends we have met. Monica came to visit me from Bordeaux, so it wasn't hard at all to have a good time. I met a really nice guy named Alex who I was speaking with for about an hour and a half...all in French I might add!!! We talked about a lot of interesting things. He, along with several others, have told me I speak French very well and have an impressive accent. I know it seems silly to need that kind of validation, but I can't explain how rewarding it is to have a French person say that to me. All this work has paid off.
I'm basically in love with everything here. The lifestyle, the language, etc. I'm unsure about a lot of things, but I do know that I studied the right thing. It may not be right for everyone, but it's right for me and it makes me happy. It's hard to go wrong with that. I also know that I am so so lucky to be able to be experiencing this (Thanks to all who have helped!). It's nice to have a dream come true. I know this entry has been a bit too general, but I will hopefully get better at this.
If nothing else, these first few days in Amiens have left me excited about my future, more confident, and a little more settled with where I am in life right now. It's ok to not have a specific plan, and it's pretty exciting to think of what could happen in the future, on this side of the ocean or the other.
On a side note, tomorrow we will be going to (PARIS!!!) for the day. We are leaving in the morning with packed lunches. We will go to Versailles and have a picnic and then explore the Montmartre neighborhood and come back tomorrow night. Just call me Amélie Poulain. Updates to come...
I miss you all so much, but I won't lie...this is awesome.
Here are a few pics. You can also see them all on my facebook.
Avec Monica dans Saint-Leu (with Monica in Saint-Leu)
Notre Dame d'Amiens
L'interieur de Notre Dame d'Amiens
il n'y a pas de mots
incroyable
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