Je suis ici!

Phew, I am finally here and all settled in. The flights were very long, but most of us were able to sleep for awhile on the longest, so that made things a bit easier. We arrived in Montpellier at around 2:00 on Monday and were greeted at the airport by Cedric one of the program staff. He was very friendly and helped us find our way to the hotel. Fortunately, all of my luggage was fine and found, five girls on our flight ended up with no luggage for a day as it was lost in Paris. Once we got to the hotel we were assigned rooms with other girls on the program (there is only one boy!) so Maddie and I made our way to our room to take a break. We got into our room and were instantly amazing by the view of the city. We were located right off of a little shopping area called Le Triangle and there were tons of french people walking around. We made an effort to stay awake until nine that night so we could try and adjust to the time change, so we went to dinner and walked around La Place de la Comedie a bit.

The next day (Tuesday) we had an orientation at the program office and were able to go to our school to get a tour. It's a medium sized campus... no where near the size of the U, but pretty big for France. There is a lot of graffiti everywhere, which is strange at first, but I guess it doesn't stand out as much anymore. I also bought my Tram pass (like the light rail in MN but 1000x better because it goes EVERYWHERE and is a better ride) and a cell phone because the program requires we get one. I was able to find a pay as you go phone for only 20 Euros, so about $26.00.

I was also picked up by my host mom and brought back to our BEAUTIFUL apartment on Tuesday night. We live on the 17th floor of a very nice apartment complex right in the middle of the city. The tram stops practically right outside the apartment door, which is extremely convenient for getting to school. It's just a 10 minute walk to La Place de la Comedie and the main shopping area (La Polygone) is just across the street, too. Basically, I'm living in the perfect location.

Also, like I said, we're on the 17th floor and the view is amazing. I am sitting here at my desk and I can see all of the city and the Mediterranean sea off in the distance. During the day the view of all the little old buildings is beautiful and at night the lights glistening in the background are equally as pretty. Here's a photo of the view from my room during the day:

My family is very welcoming and nice. My mom, Sabine, doesn't work so she basically told me that if I ever needed her she was always there for me. My dad, Jean-Xavier, is very nice, and very inclined to help me improve my French. Last night at dinner he made fun of me a little at the way I was pronouncing things, but it is only to help me, he says. Then I have two brothers, Jules, who is 16, and Léon, who is 11. They are both very nice. Jules speaks a lot of English, but his mom told him he must speak French with me. Léon is hard to understand because he speaks so fast, but he's funny when I can understand him. Last night at dinner he tried to "test" me by asking me to say "rivière" which he thinks is very difficult for Americans to say because of the french R sound. Sabine told him it was too early to ask me to say that since I'd only been in France for two days. (He asked me when I got home from my exams today, and said I was pretty good at it ;) )

Here are some photos of my room:



It's not very big, but it's very cute, and I love it. Ironically, the desk lamp they provided for me is the EXACT same one that I have back home but white instead of black.

Also, here are some photos of the apartment itself:
we're at the top :)

The kitchen:

The TV room:

And, the living room:

Today we had placement tests to find out how good we are at French. On Monday we get our results and our class schedule. Then, classes start on Tuesday.

My brothers loved the Oreos, Double Stuff is like a dream come true for them. Léon keeps walking around saying "Double Stuff" in a silly french accent.

We watched the inauguration (in French) which was slightly strange, but awesome none-the-less. The news over here was saying that Obama is going to change not only the US, but the world. My dad only kind of agrees, but he loves Obama, and so does 90% of France.

So, all in all, it's been a very successful trip so far. No major mishaps, and the city really is great. The rest of the week we have small day trips planned to Nimes, Provence, and a guided tour of Montpellier. I'm excited for Provence because there's apparently some really cool architecture there.

I hope all is going well back home... and I hope the weather has gotten above zero since I left! It's been about 50 here, so just light coat weather. It's great.

À bientôt!