It’s official. I have lived in France for exactly one week today. I absolutely love Toulouse! So much has happened since my last blog so let me fill you in on what I’ve been up to!
Last Friday, all of the new foreign exchange students had our orientation. It was great! I learned a lot about living here and how classes will actually work. I also got to meet a lot of the other Erasmus (that’s what international students here are referred to as), go on a tour of the school, and meet members of the wonderful welcome team! Everyone was so nice and helpful! That evening, the Erasmus and the Welcome Team went out for tapas. It was great getting to meet and visit with everyone!
I’ve gotten a lot done in the past week. On Saturday, I got my “Carte Pastel” which is my metro card for Toulouse. It cost 10 euros for unlimited metro access for a month. I absolutely love having the metro and being able to walk everywhere! It is so much nicer than having to get in your car every time you want to go somewhere, and it’s so much cheaper too! I also got something that will give me discounted student train tickets. That will be very nice when I travel for weekend trips or longer trips around Europe. It’s so easy to travel here! This weekend, I am going to Carcassonne, a small nearby town known for a huge medieval castle!
This week I also bought a French telephone, opened my French Bank Account, and mailed some letters back home – and I did everything in French! I know my French still needs A LOT of work, but it’s exciting to know that I can communicate and am confident enough now to do so. I was so scared to speak at all when I first arrived!
I love living here! I have met so many amazing new friends from all over the world! I love learning about where they’re from and sharing with them about where I’m from. I was with several friends a few days ago at a large grocery store where I learned that some of them had never had peanut butter and jelly before. I insisted that they must try my favorite childhood food and scoured the store for the seemingly simple ingredients. Peanut butter was almost impossible to find, but we finally found it on the international foods aisle. Go figure! After trying PB&J, I am happy to say my new friends are hooked!
My favorite thing to do so far is just explore the city. It is an absolutely beautiful place, and I feel so lucky to be able to spend the next four months here!
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