Well, against all odds, I finally made it to PARIS! This is, of course, after my re-booked flight itinerary from Chicago to Dallas to London to Paris was changed again. This time, I was actually on the plane ready to depart, and then there was another series of 30 minute delays (never a good sign, I have learned), and then it was announced that the plane was out of service because of a leak in the engine or something. So that means, in a 24 hour period I managed to be booked on two separate American Airlines planes that both had engine problems. Guess which airline I'm never flying again? Anyway, after that I realized I would miss my connecting flight from Dallas to London anyway, so once again, my amazing parents came to the rescue and booked me on a direct flight from Chicago to London leaving at 9 pm. After a minor breakdown at O'Hare and some finagling to get my bags switched over to my flight, I finally got to cross the Atlantic and see the movie Mirror, Mirror (most of it without sound, though, as I couldn't find the little headphone jack thing.) But anyway, I got to London at 10am UK time, but what my body thought was some ungodly hour. I then took an uneventful flight to Paris (the Brits really know what they're doing when it comes to transportation logistics), and finally met up with someone from the Tufts program. Whew! From there, I took a rather bewildered, sweaty taxi ride to the Tufts University offices, which are close to the Tour de Montparnasse, if you know what that is. I didn't. On the drive over I also got to see a really great view of the Eiffel Tower. At the offices, I got to meet all the other fantastic full-year students, most of whom I had not met before. Luckily, I only missed about 2 hours of orientation, and was in time to hear the presentation on politeness and how to eat and cut cheese. Apparently, I'm really going to have to work on more fundamental skills than I thought. Obviously, I need to improve my speaking, but there's also the way I hold my hands at the dinner table (it's impolite to keep the under the table), the way I eat (aka, using a knife like a real adult person), and how to hold a wine glass (I'll give myself some slack with this one, since I don't actually drink wine). But cultural differences like this fascinate me, so I'm more than willing to play along and see what being French is really like. Then we got to try a bunch of different French cheeses, and my all-time favorite, Roquefort, was there, so I was pleased. I couldn't eat a lot though, as some combination of an infernally hot room, jet lag, and some weird British Airways Italian food had made my stomach more than a little queasy. After chatting with the other students and directors, and realizing my French has improved a lot since I came to France as a 16 year old, it was time for me to go to my host family's house. The housing director for the Tufts program drove me there in her car, so I got to go on a really nice tour of Paris and hear all of her advice. And no, it is by no means an exaggeration when people say that there are a ton of roundabouts in France, the cars are small, and the streets are narrow. The woman driving me said that in Paris, one has to drive a little bit like one is a Formula 1 racer. I agree. On the way over, I found out that my host family's house is within walking distance of the Arc du Triomphe and a bunch of other cool places that I hope to visit shortly. After getting my giant bags into a tiny elevator and up to the second floor, I finally met my host father, Jean, and my host mother, Beatrice. They are the nicest people, have hosted 11 other exchange students, and have the neatest apartment. I will include more pictures of it later. Those you see at the top are of my bedroom after I had invaded it, and the little bathroom that his attached. The room looks directly out onto another apartment building. But it's a really pretty building. After showering off the grime of four different airports and four different airplanes, I sat down to chat with my family about house rules and such. Jean is retired and Beatrice does charity work, and they have 4 grown children and I think 6 grandchildren (all boys!) with two more on the way. For my first French meal of the year (sorry I don't have pictures!!!) we had mini tomatoes from Jean's garden, baguette (naturally), and a meaty/vegetable-y spread (of which the name escapes me). For the main course we had delicious, salty chicken with a brothy sort of sauce, and a little casserole of zucchini and and creme fraiche. Then we finished up the meal with cheese and more baguette, and some fruit. Yum. Or as the French say, "miam miam". Well, I should be getting to bed as I'm meeting some people at the Metro station at 10am to go to the office together for more orientation. But, I can say that it's amazing and kind of surreal to finally be in Paris, and I can't wait for it to become my second hometown! Bonne nuit, tout le monde!
No comments:
Post a Comment