My French Life

Finally, the internet. Aside from the 10 minutes I was given on the ancient school computers to send an email back home saying I was safe, this is my first time with my hands on Wi-Fi.

Where to begin? I’ve decided to divide this post into two parts: facts and feelings.

On y va!

Facts:

• Day 1, Wednesday. Claire and I arrived safe and sound Wednesday at 13:00 at the Charles de Gaulle in Paris. Everything went incredibly well. Unbelievably, in fact. We kept thinking, when is something going to go wrong? All flights were on time. Our hour in Iceland flew by. We navigated the Paris metro no problem. Found our train station. Bought our tickets and carte 12-25. Boarded the train to Nancy with all bags. Got off, waited twenty minutes, got on the next, arrived at the station as expected at 18:36. Rolled our luggage to the front and there was… NATHALIE! Soon after came Francoise (Franne). We “bised” them both as the French do then Claire packed her bags in Nathalie’s van, mine went with Franne and off we went. We found ourselves next at my apartment, a glorious sight. Based on Alice’s photos (the previous assistant), I thought this was going to be a small place, mais non, an image to behold! I have a grand hallway, a nice bathroom, a wonderful kitchen, a living room with a couch, a bedroom with two twin beds, and endless closet space, but my most wonderful possession… a TV! I have all I could ever ask for. After my last journey in France, I thought time and time again how much it would have helped my comprehension to have been able to watch TV. It would be casual and on my own time, not having to think about the conversation I was involved in. My wish was their command. Thank you Lycee Henri Vogt! After setting down our luggage in the middle of the room and taking a quick tour, it was time to load up again and head to dinner. My first meal in Commercy took place at a little creperie. We were the only group there which consisted of me, Claire, Nathalie, Franne, Franne’s her boyfriend, and Anne (another English teacher). We started with an aperitif- crackers and rose cider (so French!), ate our main course of galettes, and of course finished with crepes for dessert. So much was going on, my brain was fried, they were talking quickly, that I mostly sat and smiled. But it was delicious nonetheless. Afterwards, we were off to bed. Bonne nuit!

• Day 2, Thursday. We awoke at 14:00, just in time for our rendez-vous with Nathalie at 15:00. This meeting consisted of using the internet, meeting the principal (as well as many other staff members), and being introduced to my first class of students! It went so well. After all this, Nathalie dropped Claire and me off in the centre where we bought our cell phones, anther wonderful feat. At this point, I could no longer produce French words, so Claire took over (merci ma fille!). The man asked if I wanted a tactile phone and not knowing what this meant and with the only word coming out of my mouth being oui, I am now the proud owner of a mobile tactile- touch screen. Haha. On our walk home (about a 15 minute trek), we saw the super marché. We stocked up on ground beef, pasta, pasta sauce, a block of Brie cheese (2,50€!), bread, three bottles of wine (2€ each!), two bottles of water, paper towels, and a variety of other necessities. My total came to a mere 40€. SO impressive. We hiked back to my gate which I must enter in order to reach my apartment. Well lo’ and behold, neither my key nor my card worked! So here we are, loaded down with bags of groceries and no way to get in. I turn to my left and there I see a box with buttons and names. I push the first labeled loge and a woman speaks to me from the other end. I tell her I am the assistant and my keys ne marchent pas. Our conversation lasts a minute then she is gone. I’m not quite sure how it ended, but I just pray that she soon arrives. Five minutes go by… no one. Another minute… still alone. Finally a car opens the gate and we enter. The woman (not the one from the box) speaks to us about the key and tells us to go to the office the next day. Regardless, we made it in and I whipped Claire and myself up a nice spaghetti dinner. We went to bed, set our alarms, and were up again the next morning at 8:30, for our next adventure: Amneville. 

• Days 3-4, Friday & Saturday. I had to turn in a few papers at the school and get my keys fixed, but afterwards Claire and I were off on the 20 minute walk to the train station, ready for the first train to her city, Amneville. Her Nathalie (because both of our contact teachers have the same name!) met us at the station, we had a tour of her school, met the principal and a few other important staff members, took a short walk around her centre, then met with the real estate agent to view what will be Claire’s home for the next 8 months. After deciding on taking the flat, Nathalie brought us to the happenin’ part of Amneville. There is a casino, spa, amusement park, 3-D cinema, and many diverse restaurants and shops. We had a tango (blond beer with flavored syrup), while Claire filled out her abundant paperwork to accept her apartment as well as apply for French welfare. Afterwards we headed back to the station and boarded our train back to Commercy… Or so we thought. As the time passed, our cellphones started sending us messages saying we could still call France even though we were out of our tower ranges. Silly French phones. But as the train came to a halt, I looked out my window and announced “Claire, we’re in Luxembourg”. With a look of unbelief, we hopped off and discovered that we had crossed country lines. In a fury of confusion, we boarded the train back to France, but after a brief line of “well I always wanted to see Luxembourg”, Claire and I made a quick decision to stay the night in this new country. And it was beautiful and wonderful and so worth taking the wrong train. We explored it all on our own, and thanks to the dirty map I found on the ground, we easily navigated ourselves to the best of the city. We had diner, gelato, then decided it was time to find the party. As we wandered the city, we heard loud music coming from down the street. We followed our senses, and indeed we found the party. There were young people filling a parking lot, all holding their beer in a plastic cup, chatting loudly with enthusiastic conversation. Intimidated by such a sight, Claire and I hid around the corner to discuss what should happen next. As much as the party scared us, we knew we would regret not going. We took a lap around the block then entered from the other side, pushing our way inside Roca’s. Surprisingly, there were less people in than out, and we made our way to the bar. To face my fears, I ordered our drinks (with success!). We went outside as the others were doing and stood awkwardly, trying to look engaged. After some time, we took a seat on the edge of the party until we finally decided to look for another place to waste our time. And that proved to be McDo. We bought a little snack, used the restroom and sat until 1:30. We closed the place down and proceeded back to the station. We had three hours until the 5:00 train, so we scoped out a place to curl up and take a nap. Only one creepy man approached us (don’t tell Grandma!), speaking French, and after he left, all I could think was “at least we understood him!” We got to Nancy and had three hours to kill. Finally we made it back to my place at 11:35 and headed straight to bed. After a night with nearly no sleep, Claire and I literally slept the day away until noon today, with only a four hour break between 22:00 to 2:00.

• Day 5, Sunday. After waking at 11:00, I took a relaxing bath, read a book, and took on the task of fixing my broken TV. Nathalie said that Alice went without TV all last year because of this. Well thanks to the television problems I encountered with Grandma this summer, I was easily able to figure out that all that needed to be done was have it do a program search and TA-DA! So now I REALLY have French TV. And a radio too, p.s. After such excitement, Claire and I gathered our computers and went on a search for internet. We knew this was a long shot being that nearly everything is closed on Sundays in France. But I do emphasize the nearly because we found the one café open… with Wi-Fi gratuit illimite! (unlimited free Wi-Fi!). HOWEVER, their internet was down, but we met a nice little French girl whose mother asked us to watch her while she went and smoked (HAHA!!). On our way home, we stopped at a boulangerie where I bought my first baguette. SO soft and SO cheap! (.85€ for a grande one!) The rest of the evening was calm. I took in two episodes of House (en francais of course) and read some more of my book. It’s nice to have time for me.

Feelings:

• PAIN. As much as I knew carrying 100lbs of luggage would not be pleasant, it didn’t translate to how much it would hurt my body. I’m still covered in battle wounds (bruises up and down my arms and legs) and have aching shoulders. I’m thankful for all the ibuprofen I brought.

• SURPRISE. Every time I speak French and someone understands me, it is the most wonderful surprise. The first day we arrived, I had four encounters in French. 1) The man at the airport in Paris whom I asked for directions. 2) The man I bought my phone card from and later went back to tell him it wasn’t working. 3) The woman from whom I bought my sandwich. 4) The man that I bought my ticket from and my carte 12-25 (discount train card for those under 25). Now not only did they all understand my French, but not one tried to speak English with me! Even the man at the SNCF (train station), whose counter was marked as international. I remember in Caen, it seemed as though every time I opened my mouth to speak French, my accent alone would cause someone to switch to English. And I was in Paris, the largest touristic city in France! This was surprise and joy.

• COMFORTABLE. I already feel like my apartment is my own and I’m feeling at home with my town. I am so grateful to have this little town. Nathalie said a few years ago an assistant left early because she didn’t like Commercy at all. I’m already in love.

• THANKFUL. Wow. I love Commercy. Nathalie is so wonderful as are all the other teachers. It’s been very nice to have Claire with me to help navigate and speak when I just can’t seem to get the words out. I’m thankful for all the prayers. Honestly, I know things wouldn’t be going this smoothly without them. I’m also grateful that I am more advanced in my French now than from when I first arrived in Caen. This means I will only progress even further, especially since I have more time.

• SCARED, but trying to face my fears. It’s funny because when we first arrived in Paris, I just knew that I needed to go up and ask questions and speak French. Now, I’m finding myself shying away. I have to keep telling myself to just face my fears and speak French. I’m not going to get better if I don’t. Just like in Lux, we went to the bar and I ordered the beers. I was scared to go and scared to speak, but it all turned out for the best.

• EXCITED. For all the new that is to come. Between now and my first day of class, I have my whirlwind tour of Italy and an orientation with all the other assistants in the Lorraine. Every day truly brings to me the unknown. And I’m learning to embrace it.

• PATIENCE. Have I mentioned how many hours I’ve already spent in the train stations? This year is bound to teach me patience. I'm also awaiting the day I get Wi-Fi in my apartment. I'm told they are working on it, which makes me a bit apprehensive. I'd rather just get it myself on my own time, but again... I'll try to wait it out.

I’m already learning a lot about myself in these few (long) days. One is that I’m quite observant. Claire loves words so she’s always teaching me something new and I’m always letting her in on what I see.

Observations:

• The people in my town aren’t very “French”. They aren’t up to date on the latest fashions and they are seen around town without makeup. I’ve decided this is because we aren’t a university town. As soon as I was in Nancy, the bar was set high again.
• In Lux, they kissed each other on the cheek three times as opposed to two in Commercy. However (as Claire saw), at the café here, some women kissed four times and the girls kissed the boys just twice. Hmmmmm. Interesting.
• The titles on the binding of books read in the opposite direction of English books! I thought my French books needed to be flipped around, but nope, that’s just how they are.
• At my first dinner at the creperie, everyone seemed to eat very quickly, and I couldn’t keep up! This wasn’t how it was when I was in Caen. Also, one person would switch hands with their fork, so not like the others. And another held their fork with a fist. It was just very curious watching them all with their silverware!
• And this is just funny, but I am having a hard time finding not only my French words, but also my English!! I just can’t keep any language straight at the moment. Even in this post, I used the incorrect form of “their and too” and do you know that apartment is appartement in French. How am I to remember who has one p and who has two?!

If you made it to the end of this, BRAVO! As I was writing this, I was dreading that my post would be so long, but then I told myself, you know what Bre, this blog isn’t just for them. It’s for you too and those that care will read it all. So to you, thank you for caring! It’s people like you that I feel love and support from and that make my adventures happen. And in return for this, I will try my best to update more often in shorter lengths (God-willing I can find the internet!).

Oh! And a word on the times. In Europe, they use the 24 hour clock. I’m quickly becoming accustomed to it and I hope you will too! In all honesty, it’s just much easier for me to use that format than to translate it. If you’re confused, just subtract 12 from any number over 12 and you’ve got it :)

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