Bonjour de Chambéry! I can’t believe I’ve been here
a week already. I’m having such a great time, though it does feel a little like
a holiday and it may not perhaps sink in that the next few months of my life are
based in this beautiful area until lectures start and the work begins to count
towards my degree.
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| Alex & I At University With The Mountains In The Background |
Monday was an early start as the 2 week preparatory
socio-linguistic course began. The morning (9-12.30) are language based mainly
focussing on oral and grammar practice while the afternoon sessions are
focussed on meetings, presentations and excursions across the region. We’ve
made so many friends through the course, many from other parts of the UK and of
course with other international Erasmus students too. These initial days have
seen clusters of nationalities group together as everyone seems a little
tentative with their French, which is natural I guess. Naturally, the Brits (or
Team GB as we’ve styled ourselves) have spent lots of time getting to know each
other, helping each other out with paperwork and socialising, especially as
there are few native French students around at the moment. I’ve already made so
many great friends and am not looking forward to saying goodbye to them in
January and starting the whole process again in Spain!
Our first class began with International “speed
dating” as a way of getting to know the others in the class which was quite
different as there were accents from all over the world speaking French and
there was a need to gauge the ear to ensure correct understanding. Otherwise
the practice of speaking French generally seems to be going well and I already
seem to be picking up new words that I hear either in class or when speaking
with others. We also had a guided tour around the town too and we saw some
older parts hidden away down alleyways that perhaps we’d never have seen
without the help of our trusted French guide.
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| On The Steps Of The Château |
Wednesday
afternoon saw the event I’d been told would not be much fun: matriculation
(enrolling at the University.) It was a fairly slow process, partly due to the
fact it was the first day and systems and people working there were only now
completing the tasks for the first time. There seemed to be a lot of confusion
as to which documents they needed from me, while I showed them the letter I had
received instructing what I was required to bring to France with me. I
eventually came away as an official student complete with student card –
success! This week I have also began the process of opening a bank account in
order to receive my CAF (a monthly sum of money reimbursed from my accommodation
payments, by the French government) along with the lengthy and complicated CAF
form and have also looked into a phone contract for the duration of my stay.
Both CAF and a phone contract require a French bank account and so until I
receive my information, I can’t proceed much further with them but hopefully
details will arrive in the post within the next few days.
Earlier
this week saw ‘Team GB’ plus a few other friends meet at Alex’s room for some
wine and a little relaxing. However shortly after, the room which had 10 of us
in had 27 people in as students from other floors heard the party and decided
to come and join. The quiet evening in turned into a trip to a local bar called
‘Mojito’ which is really nice and the people working there are really helpful
with your French, I’d imagine there’ll be a few more events there before I
leave for Spain!
Being
Welsh, I’m quite used to sometimes being accidentally referred to English,
however it’s the done thing over here as people from the UK are ‘les anglais’
just as they are ‘los ingleses’ in Spain. There was difficulty when trying to
explain to my French lecturer that Wales has its own language and I’ve used
several pieces of paper drawing UK and Global maps to show people from other
countries exactly where Wales in. I’m not a very patriotic person but I see
myself as Welsh not English (probably because I’m not..?) so perhaps I’ll
educate a few people while I’m here too J
The weather
has been amazing and this benefited probably the best day of the week: Friday.
Following an early start (we had to be at University by 8.15am) we were taken
on a tour of the region for the day. We began with cheese tasting (which was surprisingly
nice,) and then went on to visit Annecy and the lake there, the second largest
in French and around an hour away from Chambéry. It was an idyllic setting as
we hired pedalos and spent an hour out on the water while some of the others
decided to dive in and enjoy the sunshine from within the water. Surrounded by
mountains, the scene was beautiful and it felt as if we were on holiday, not at
University! We visited the old town and had amazing ice cream and bought some
postcards – Official tourists! Later we moved onto a family-based winery and
tasted some of the products they produced. The red wine was disgusting (I don’t
like red wine at all) but their white wine was so good I bought 2 bottles, the
man talking to us was so nice that I couldn’t really say no! The long day had
us all exhausted but we managed to build up the energy to go for a few drinks
in the evening together, we need to make the most of this time before real
lectures start! Saturday Lauren and I went to a Pizzaria for lunch and did some
shopping in the town. Prices, however, are on the more expensive side! That
evening we went back to Mojitos for some drinks and spoke lots of English,
French, Spanish and Italian - a multicultural night all around!
Panoramic View Of The Lake (Click To Enlarge)
Annecy
On Sunday
we all decided to get the 15/20 minute bus journey to Bourget du Lac, the
largest lake in France. Most of the others swam in the lake while I decided to
relax at the side and then played beach volleyball with some locals and other
international students, before renting another pedalo and we all went out for
an hour on the lake – beautiful. Last night we all decided to go to an Indian
restaurant to fill us up ready for the start of classes again on Monday
morning. I usually eat lots of food at home but am hardly eating much at all
here, yet don’t feel hungry either – it must be the heat! I’m not a huge fan of
bread and there’s plenty of it here, so it’s a case of finding alternatives to
a baguette every other day but at least I can cook things for myself (stirfry,
couscous, pasta etc.)
This week
will be another long one as our initial language classes draw to a close. On
Wednesday I’ll be celebrating my 21st birthday with all of my new
friends but we have a trip to Lyon on Thursday (an early start, of course) so
we won’t celebrate properly until the weekend. One thing I had been dreading
about my year abroad was the fact I wouldn’t be at home with all of my friends
for my birthday, thinking there’d just be a few of us and I’d be a little
lonely. However, I have some of my best friends right here with me along with
so many more new friends and so I’m sure it’ll be a good time.
It’s still
quite surreal to think that I am living in France and have been doing so for
over a week, I don’t know how
long it’ll take to sink in. Team GB plus our other friends are planning trips
across to Italy and to other parts of France and across the Savoie region which
will give us plenty of things to look forward to. I’m so pleased to say that I
never thought things would be going so well so early into my time here. So far, so good!
Jusqu'à la
prochaine fois, au revoir !
Until next time!
Until next time!
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