The Tourist

           This past week I took an intensive French course.  It was nice to be back in the classroom after my ten week break from school and do a quick review of some French grammar.  On the last day of class, we did a debate in French.  It was kind of challenging, but nice to be able to practice speaking. 

I have felt like such a tourist this past weekend.  Friday, we were finished with French class so the welcome team organized a walking tour of Toulouse for all of the new exchange students.  I really enjoyed it! We went to several different locations in the city center – La Capitole, La Rue du Taur, La Basilique Saint Sernin, and Les Jacobins.  I had seen all of those places before but didn’t really know much about their history or purpose. 

La Capitole

(the main administration building and theater)

  

Rue du Taur

(the street of the bull)

 Les Jacobins

(Dominican monastery with an interesting history) 

La Basilique Saint Sernin

(a Romanesque church famous for its pilgrimage history)

Saturday morning, I got up very early and took a train to Carcassonne with some friends.  It’s a very charming city about an hour train ride away from Toulouse famous for its enormous fortified medieval city and castle.  We had an amazing day! When we arrived, we started to walk toward the castle.  We stopped in the city square to explore an open air market and bought fresh pastries for breakfast.  A little while later we arrived at the castle.  It was fantastic! We explored the town all morning, stopped at a little café for coffee and hot chocolate, and then toured the castle and ramparts.

In the afternoon, we went back to town to an Irish pub to watch the Ireland vs. Italy rugby match and have lunch.  I had never watched rugby before.  Some of the Irish exchange students were with us so they had to teach most of us how it worked.  By the end of the match we were all getting excited and cheering for Ireland.  It was a lot of fun!

I love that I am getting opportunities to sight-see and travel.  I am making plans to go to Paris next week! I can’t wait!

The First Week

                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! 

Bienvenue

After months of planning and 24 hours in airports and planes, I am finally here in Toulouse.  These past few days have been kind of a whirlwind.  Friday I finished my student internship.  I went up to Fayetteville one last time over the weekend, and Monday I started packing.  While packing wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, it was a little challenging to have to try and pack for clothes for winter, ski trips, spring, summer, school, traveling, etc. as well as things that I need for my apartment like bedding.  Somehow I managed to get it all organized and packed just in time to catch my flight. 

                Yesterday I left Arkansas and flew through Dallas and London to get to Toulouse this afternoon around four.  It was a long trip, but it went by pretty fast as I was able to sleep on the international leg of the flight.  Luckily everything went smoothly, and I experienced absolutely no problems.  When I arrived, a couple members of the Welcome Team from the school met me and several other students and brought us to our apartments.  Everyone has been very friendly and nice so far, and I can tell this is going to be an amazing semester!

                The apartment is very nice.   There is a living space with a couch and two desks, a small kitchen area, and a dining table.  The bedroom and bathroom are upstairs in a loft and are surprisingly spacious.  We are on the top floor so it is a little bit of a walk, but we have big windows and the view is nice.   It’s weird to think that this is where I’ll be living for the next four months. 

                So far, this experience has been kind of unreal.  I have been planning this for so long.  It’s hard to believe that I’m actually here and will be here for the next four months.    

It's Not Goodbye

I only have about a week left in America, and that means lots saying a lot of goodbyes.  This past weekend, I went up to Fayetteville to visit the majority of my friends one last time before I leave for Toulouse.  It was a lovely weekend.  My wonderful friends planned a surprise going away party on Friday night, and I got to see a lot of great people that I hadn’t seen in a while.

Even though I will only be gone for about four months, it’s still hard to say goodbye to everyone.  I absolutely hate goodbyes.  The French word for “goodbye” is “au revoir;” however, if you translate it directly, it means something more along the lines of “until we see each other again.”  So instead of goodbye, au revoir and I’ll see you soon! 

I will have regular access to the internet (i.e. Facebook, Skype, and email) so I would love to keep in touch!  Also, I absolutely love snail mail – both sending and receiving – so send me you address and I’ll be sure to write!  

Visa? Check!

            Last week, I went to Houston for my visa appointment with the French Consulate.  I knew I probably didn’t have anything to be worried about, but it still made me a little nervous.  I didn’t want to forget anything, and I also had to make sure that I was there for my appointment on time, made all of my flights, was able to find ground transportation in Houston, and get a hotel room for the night.  Everything really needed to go off without a hitch because I didn’t have a lot of time left to make another trip down there if it didn’t.

The meeting went really well except for one minor glitch.  I didn’t have the right kind of envelope for them to send the visa to back to me in the mail.  I like to think I kept my cool, but I know I probably looked a little panicked when I found out about that little tidbit of information.  I was worried that I would have to reschedule my appointment.  Luckily, there was a post office within walking distance and I was able to come back by that same morning and drop it off. 

Other than that, the entire trip went swimmingly, and I received my visa in the mail about two days later (not even close to the expected ten day wait!).  I am so glad to have that out of the way.

Now I’m just kind of waiting.  All of my friends are back at school; a lot of my future classmates are already in Toulouse; and I feel like I’m just kind of chilling.  I’ve really enjoyed this break so far.  I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time relaxing, spending time with friends and family, and doing fun things like redecorating my bedroom, sewing, baking, and hiking.  I’ve also been working full time as an intern in the accounting department of a fortune 500 company located here in Arkansas which has been an incredible experience so far!

Right now I am just trying to enjoy my last few weeks in America.  I leave exactly three weeks from today!  So exciting!

Life Lesson Number One

If you talk to anyone who has ever lived abroad, among all of their fantastic stories of discovering new places and meeting incredible new friends, they will tell you that somewhere along the way they learned a lot of valuable life lessons too.  I just learned my first lesson, and I haven’t even gotten on the plane yet. 

If you don’t know me, I am a very “Type A” kind of person.  True to my personality, I was ambitious to be on top of every part of the application process for my study abroad program.  I was very successful too.  I got my application in two weeks early, organized a very thorough study abroad folder, and secured funding before I was even technically accepted to the program.  I had heard horror stories of what happened when a student had an issue with their university, scholarship, visa, etc., and I was determined that that would not happen to me.  Naturally, despite all of my planning, something went wrong. 

In order to apply for a French Student Visa, you must visit the French Consulate in Houston in person with about ten various documents and forms.  It was a little difficult to schedule this appointment because (1) the Consulate is in Houston which is fairly far away and (2) they are only open weekday mornings and I am working full time.  I managed to get a day off, book a flight, and make my appointment with the Consulate. 

Last fall, I had read over the requirements for the appointment.  Passport, application forms, French university acceptance letter, etc.  It all seemed pretty basic.  There was one document that I had assumed was the same thing as my acceptance letter.  Much to my chagrin, a week before my scheduled appointment, as I am getting together the required documents, I realize that that document that I had assumed was my acceptance letter was actually something entirely different.  I was supposed to fill out another application and wait three weeks for it to process so that I could receive this document required to apply for my visa.  Well I didn’t have three weeks.  Remember how I said I am a very Type A kind of person? Well, Type A people generally don’t react well when their carefully laid out plans go awry.  I was no exception. 

Long story short, I was able to reschedule my appointment and flight so it really didn’t end up being as big of a deal as I made it out to be.  The moral of this story isn’t to be so detailed and cautious that you never mess anything up ever.  Although it is very important to try to avoid making mistakes, it is much more important to know how to handle the mistakes that we are inherently going to make by staying calm, taking responsibility, and putting our energy into fixing the problem.  

Au Revoir Fayetteville

It’s finally the moment that I’ve been trying to prepare myself for for about three months now.  Finals are over, and I am sitting in my empty side of the dorm room.  My tiny Honda Civic is stuffed with the former contents of my room.  The realization that I will not be coming back next semester is sinking in rapidly.

It’s a weird feeling.  It’s been an absolutely incredible semester – by far, the best yet.   I’m sad to say goodbye to good friends and to leave behind my wonderful college town, but at the same time, I am so excited.  I’m excited to spend the holidays with my family and friends in Little Rock.  I’m excited to start my winter accounting internship on Monday.  I’m excited for the New Year, and of course I’m excited to live in Toulouse in just two short months.

I finally booked my ticket.  I will officially be leaving for Toulouse on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2012 and returning June 29, 2012.  After I arrive, I will have one day to get adjusted to my new environment.  Then, I will attend the orientation meeting for exchange students on Friday and begin a French intensive course the following Monday.  I will be staying in France an extra few weeks after my semester ends in early June to travel around France with my family who will be coming to visit.  I also hope to visit other friends that will be studying abroad in Europe during the summer.   

I also planned my trip to Houston to get my visa.  Most of the major planning is out of the way, but I know there is still a lot to do.  Luckily I have about two months.  Until then, I am going to enjoy my break and the wonderful holiday season.  Merry Christmas!!