Friday Adventure (19 sept)

After my first translation course last Friday, I met up with Candice and Lyndsie to hit the town for birthday presents and shopping.

First thing first, we found the holy grail of stores, C'est Deux Euros. Basically a slightly more expensive Dollar Tree with cool stuff. I even got a Daniel Auteuil movie called "Napoleon et moi," which I am pretty excited to watch even if it turns out crappy.

For lunch we hit up Le Cambodgia, where I had something similar to beef lo mein. Nom nom nom.

Random street pic.

We then went into a nearby "Librarie." In French, Libraries are bookstores. Bibliothèques are libraries. Fun stuff. Anyways, there was free drinks. Well, I got a free drink because I found it and got the last cup, so I got the cappucino and burned myself. Karma.

We started wondering around and came across a Chocolatier. It looked sooo goooood. But it was also soooo expensiiiive.

We then decided it was time for dessert! At least for Lyndsie and I; Candice promised to not eat a macaron until her boyfriend came to visit... More for me!

We then went across the street to au coin des halles (the brunch place), where we tried the café frappé, aka iced coffee, which I dislike. Curse you Starbucks for brainwashing us into thinking all frappes are the same!

It was pretty though.

Left to Right: Almond, Tiramisu, Earl Grey Tea and Aprocot, Chocolate, Pistachio, Caramel, Citron and Basil?, Raspberry

Tiramisu

The most amazing of all: Earl Grey and Apricot. Beautiful and delicious.

Since there was nothing vegetarian friendly at the Asian place and was waiting to try macarons, Candice ate at WOKWAY.

This place is our new obsession.

On the way home I took a picture of some graffiti.

That was about it for Friday!

xx

My First Week of School

MONDAY

As you know, it was Reaping Day for FLE..aka we were put into our French classes. Fortunately I had no classes, so I got to go home afterwards. But first, I went and got bananas!

And they were FAIRTRADE!! I was super excited.

For dinner, I went to the Resto U, and they had an interesting "fish cake" that kind of reminded me of crab cakes? Either way, it was really good. It also had some vegetables and potatoes. Had I known this, I would have gotten the green beans instead of extra potatoes.

 TUESDAY

My first set of classes: Phonetics, two classes I didn't really understand, and French Society. Pretty sure that French society is like French Civilization, which I took last semester at UNCC.. so maybe I'll ask just to sit in instead of taking it for a grade.

For the two classes I didn't understand, they were supposed to be about understanding the university system and how to do like summaries and stuff. I think maybe I should look at FLE 2 level classes for these cause I felt soooo lost. BUT this was only the first day, and some of the other people I spoke to said they had a hard time following what was going on as well. I have two more classes before I have to make a final decision, so that's good.

Dinner was turkey and broccoli. NOM The dessert was a thick yet very fluffy lemon mousse.

WEDNESDAY

I decided not to go to the Bristish Civ course since I couldn't really go to the methodology course every two weeks. Also, the final for that course scares me. There is a course I'm looking at called European Nature and Landscape, which is supposed to be about how culture and society helped shape the landscape of Europe. It's an evening course, so I'm pretty nervous about being out late for the bus. I went on Wednesday, only to realize that classes don't actually start until next week. Oops. Good thing I have a bus pass!

Dinner at the Resto U! Fish and pasta with a super yummy pepper sauce!

THURSDAY

My first real rainy day! I woke up to thunder and it was glorious. I really wanted to sleep in, but alas I had classes. Apparently fall is the rainy season for Limoges, so I guess I should invest in some rain boots. I did bring my REI jacket, but for some reason umbrellas are way more popular here.

I did see a few trench coats and wouldn't mind getting one of those while I'm in France though.

My first class of the day was Language, with a wonderful professor who I think will be my favorite. I hope to have more classes with her next semester if possible. After that was the Oral practice class, which makes me want to crawl into a hole and die because 1) I have problems understanding French when spoken, and 2) I'm super shy when I have to speak in French.

 For lunch I got to hang out with Julia and Judith and we checked out the café across from the fac, since the Carrefour had literally been cleared out of sandwiches.

I got the rôti crudités et fromage poivre.

My friends, this is my new favorite cheese, and it's really just cheese and pepper. But it's that "fluffy" cheese, not hard like cheddar or runny like Brie. Maybe it's whipped?

Once again, however, the sandwich had part of a boiled egg. Seriously, France, why do you want that in your sandwiches?

After lunch I had Listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and then writing. The last two are with this fun professor who really likes to talk with his hands and write stuff on the board. The sucky part: we had to write an "official letter" that really sucked.

Dinner at the Resto U: Zucchini and "kebab!" It doesn't look that spectacular, but it was very tasty.

 FRIDAY


Since I want my certificate in Translation, I decided to sit in on one of the translation courses. I met a girl named Clara (I'm not sure how she spells it). Clara is my favorite name! If I ever have a daughter, her name will be Clara Marie. There will be no discussions about it.

Anyways, she was very nice and super organized. She has beautiful handwriting and color codes her notes. I know this because a lot of the time I would be trying to read them while the professor was talking because I was lost.

The class was a bit painful, but I'm going to try and stick through it for another 2 weeks. They were going from English to French, which is tough for me because I just don't have the vocabulary and idioms down enough to do that. Also, it's easier to go from the foreign language to your langue maternelle. In a fortnight we'll be going from French to English, and the professor said that if I felt like I could handle that, then I'll be fine. If not, think about reconsidering taking the class.

That afternoon I got to hang out with Candice and Lyndsie! But I'll save that adventure for my next post.

xx

The Test Results

So despite missing the bus by 1 minute Monday morning (I got to wave as I watched it disappear) and having to wait for the next one, I still made it before the results were given out for our  niveaux (levels) of French courses.

I guess they learned to give an earlier time since people are always late, haha.

Anyways, I was surprisingly put into level 3! The only other person I knew in my level was a girl named Judith, who I had only met briefly through Julia. Also, there's another Hannah. Crazy.

Right now this is what I'm looking at in terms of classes. Obviously I have to make some decisions because some of them overlap:

The interesting (and kind of sucky) thing about French courses is that each one is once a week, and are worth less than American university credits.

For UNCC, the number of credits that counts as "full-time" is 12+. This is normally 3-4 courses a semester.

Here in Limoges (and I assume France), 24 ECTs credits equals the US 12 credits. Each course is about 3-4 ECTS credits, meaning you have to take ~8 classes a semester. LAME.

But guess how much a year of tuition costs in Limoges? 200,00€.

No, I did not misplace that comma. That's the "period" for their money here.

YES, they only pay TWO HUNDRED EUROS. A YEAR.

What the heck? Here I am shelling out thousands and it doesn't even include my housing!

Even the housing isn't terrible here! My private bed/bath, although kind of small, is 225€ a month, and 8€ for wired internet for a YEAR. Heck, if they did wifi, I would pay 8€ a month!

My fellow Americans, we are getting RIPPED OFF BIG TIME.

Can we just combine the French and American school system? K thanks.

~~

In other news, I'm crazy sore from Sunday's exercise routine, and possibly hurt some places. My hip has been giving me some problems, and I definitely pinched a nerve in my left shoulder. I went to pick up a 1.5L bottle of water at the Carrefour and couldn't breath from the pain that shot across my back. Not good.

Not to mention my poor heels are still destroyed, and my giganto feet need some wide shoes. In fact, I really just need to invest in a good pair of running shoes since I'm determined to go out and exercise. Guess that will be my next big purchase.

I hate spending money.


That evening, Candice, Matt, and I tried going to a social called "Café des Langues," where you pick a language table and are supposed to speak it with your neighbors. This was inside a very small tavern and it was super full.

Not to mention it was waaaay too hot to be comfortable. We were in there for just a few minutes when we decided to head home. Maybe next time.

3- Day Social Weekend

Friday was a rather good day! The morning was spent drinking green tea and talking to my love for a while, which always means a lot to me. It's been a little over a month and a half since we said goodbye in the airport, but 12 more weeks and he'll be visiting me in France! YAY!

I also joined Candice and Lyndsie for some cardio. I did a few laps around the track (mostly walking because I haven't ran/jogged in probably 2 years) and then we did a small trail through the woods. I was surprised at how much I could do though, and it was mostly my lungs that were giving me problems.

Friday night I  had dinner in the resto U and the vegetables were cooked like ratatouille! NOM. I wish I could have just gotten a plate of them!

Also, the beignets are ridiculously good! 

Mmm, beignet

Lyndsie had met one of her French neighbors and she is such a sweetheart and very smart. Also, thanks to Lyndsie, we were also invited to watch a movie at one of her classmate's apartment.

I drank a little bit of white wine. which was pretty good, and we watched 2 Guns with Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg. It was kind of funny and okay, but also pretty corny.

That foyer and stairwell though... LOVE.

SATURDAY

Very relaxed day. My calves hated me a little bit from the exercise the day before, but they get over it. I've been stretching them out pretty frequently.

I went to the Hyper U and bought another pillow and pillow case. a pack of assorted cute pink towels, and a baguette!

My other incentive for getting a second pillow - using the case as a laundry bag! Genius, right?

Let me just say, the stories are true about French bread. It is the most perfect bread EVER. The outside is crunchy but is only just a small layer before you get to the super soft center. It is also super inexpensive. I'm talking less than a dollar for a giant baguette.

My friends, I'm not kidding when I say that I will be living off of bread and cheese.

Goat cheese on baguette with herbes de Provence. YUMMY

That night we joined together in la cuisine by my room and made dinner. Matt already ate, Candice had a meal of quinoa, Lyndsie had chicken and peppers, and I made spaghetti with some mushrooms and a super delicious pepper pasta sauce.

Matt also found dragon fruit, so we tried some of that as well!

SUNDAY

Claire, a wonderful French student who helped us with registering at the school, invited us to brunch with her and her friend, Andréa. 

                                             

It was a lot of fun, and the food was super delicious. We went to au coin des halles.

They have a good-sized tea collection! I'll definitely be back! 

So Bruch consisted of one hot drink, orange juice, bread, butter, jam (strawberry? and apricot!),  your choice of croissant or pain au chocolat, scrambled eggs, bacon, and some fromage blanc (a yogurt-like cheese) with mango purée.

Photo courtesy of Candice!

Photo courtesy of Candice!

So basically, I want to eat there every Sunday. It costs about 12€50 per person, which is a little pricey, but I'm pretty sure the bread is all-you-can-eat. And did I mention it's delicious? Cause it really, really is.

For my tea, I decided to get the ginger. Candice had jasmine, Claire had earl grey, and Andréa had a wonderful smelling tea with peach and apricot.

From there we walked back to Claire's car since she so graciously picked us up!

After a short break, Candice, Lyndsie and I met back up for some exercising. My lungs HATE me; I did one jogged loop and the rest walked. I tried again when we did the trail but I just didn't last long. But definitely did over 2 miles today, plus a killer leg workout and ab workout. 

I also had my first attempt at using the wash machine right before they closed (2€50 per wash! Ouch), and Lyndsie made me some rice while we waited! Nom.

Now, all my clothes are hanging on every surface of my room that I could find to let them dry.

Hopefully something will be dry for tomorrow because in the morning starts my first real day of school!! Eek!!

Out and About, and I Totally Went to a Party.

Wednesday afternoon I registered and I got my student ID! Woo!

Candice and Lyndsie wanted to go to the library afterwards, so I tagged along.

When they were building the library, they uncovered an ancient roman mozaic floor, so they decided to build around it.

What? Your library wasn't built around awesome ancient stuff that's older than the US? That's a shame.

Also, they have a fairly large collection of music! I'm going to grab some next time I'm there.

Across the street is the Hotel de Ville.

Also, throughout Limoges, there are seashells on the ground. These mark the path of El Comino de Santiago.

That night there was an "Integration Party," which was to help welcome International Students. It was literally a hole in the wall, down a cobbled alleyway. The place was packed, as was the street. I really enjoyed the vibe, but the amount of people was a little much for us. I found Julia and we talked for a few minutes, but then the bar was starting to get complaints about the noise from the neighbors so everyone was being told to come inside. At this point the Americans said our goodbyes and headed home for the night.

La Marquise Assoiffée

THURSDAY

The FLE placement test was at 2. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't super fantastic either. The listening part was very difficult and they only let you hear it once. Fortunately I spoke with Hunter and Candice about it afterwards, and it seemed they had just as much of a problem as I did. So I might be like, level 1-2 for listening and speaking, and level 2-3ish for everything else. Heck, I'll just be ecstatic to not be placed in level one.

It was weird though because the test was set up that it was supposed to become more difficult the further along you went, but I would be stumped on something in level 2, and then have a better grasp on something in level 3 or even maybe a little of level 4.

To reward ourselves afterwards we stopped by the Carrefour so Candice could get her daily dose of bananas, and I grabbed a few as well as cherry tomatoes (my fruit obsession).

Since we had some time before the bus came we also went by to the Quick to see what it had to offer. A cheeseburger and fries sounded good.

Well, it definitely looked like fast food, and it tasted like it too. They put some weird pink sauce on the burger though, and I really, really did not like it. I ended up trying to wipe it off and drowning it in ketchup. It kind of worked, but I was still saddened.

I was then also saddened by the food at dinner. They had lasagna that..it just wasn't what I wanted, and it was dry in my opinion. Also, the sides were noodles or cooked veggies; the cooked veggies turned out to be JUST celery. BARF. I HATE celery. Yes, I needed to use bold, caps, underline, and italics just to give you the idea how much I am disgusted by celery.

Today was not a fantastic French food day. I hope there are not many more like this.