Oh good, other people can't speak french either!
Today was the first day of classes at the Dickinson Center, and it was soooo great to see all my friends! And also it was amazing to find out that everyone seems to be having similar experiences to mine ("what, no shower curtain?" [never fear, I have one, but apparently some people don't!] "no toilet in my bathroom!" "we eat really late!" " I can't understand what my family is saying!"). But it's hilarious because at the Dickinson Center, you cannot speak english. It's absolutely against the rules, and if they hear you speaking it, you will be asked to leave for the day. I definitely don't want to be the first person to be asked to leave, so I will continue to speak broken and probably incredibly wrong french to all my fellow students. Except for the occassional word in english that gets slipped in for lack of a french alternative, we can do pretty well, and we all managed to tell hilarious stories about our first few days here without too much confusion! And "l'equipe de Dickinson" (the Dickinson team--aka, the director and her assistants) are incredibly nice and understanding, because of course, they've had students go through this before.
So we got all the paperwork for the bank in order, and I have money in my account! Still haven't gotten around to getting euros, so I have yet to buy anything at a french store, but I've been in one....that counts, right? After we had a little intro presentation, we had lunch, which was fun because I got to talk with Annie, Christine, Shana, and lots of other people. There is only one boy who does not go to Dickinson, which I can imagine would be the only thing harder than simply being in a foreign country, would be to be in one and not know anyone else there! (For all of you who are on a non-Dickinson program [Michelle!], I am in complete awe of you!) But his name is David, and he's British, and we actually live really close to each other, so it was nice to find someone to walk back and forth to class with (otherwise I was singing the "I'm so lonely" song with that crazy chipmunk voice! hahahha). So after lunch, we broke into little groups to get a little tour of the area right around the Dickinson Center: the bank, a bakery, a grocery store, a news stand, etc. Except, of course, it started to pour right as we started out. So everyone got wet and then my sandal broke. I mean, the poor sandal is about 100 years old, so I can't blame it. But still. And my feet got dirty.
Then I came home with the full intention of going for a run, because the rain seemed to have let up, but then it started to pour again, this time complete with thunder and lightning. So I decided to hold off yet another day, to prevent certain death by lightning as I ran along the canal. So I hung out with Alix, who talked a lot and I understood very little. Oh, and sidenote, I am retarded and cannot open the door to the apartment in which I live. Let me paint a little picture: It's a very old house that has been converted into apartments, and my family owns the whole building, rents out the top two floors and lives in the bottom (very very beautiful, like out of Better Homes & Gardens!). So there is this absolutely ancient big door that leads out to the street, and then a regular door that leads into their (my? our?) apartment. So this morning I'm rushing around trying to be at the Dickinson Center by 10 (I had some trouble with the crazy shower head that would not stop spraying my entire bathroom! But at least I have a shower curtain!). I said a quick goodbye to Valerie, and then rushed out the door. Or rather, I rushed to the door out into the foyer and proceeded to be stumped and unable to open it. I twisted, I turned, I fiddled with the key, but no. I was not leaving that apartment. So I went back to Valerie's bedroom where she was talking on the phone and said "Je ne peux pas ouvrir la porte!" [I cannot open the door! -- and yes, I realize this sounds retarded] and Valerie says "Pourquoi?". Umm, I don't know Valerie. So she comes and helps me and seemingly does exactly what I just did. oh well. So I'm on my way. Then, I'm walking back this afternoon with Kat, Shana, and David, and David goes further along to his apartment, and Shana and Kat go with me down rue Jacques Labatut. And I say jokingly "Now I have to get that door open, it's like a safe!", because the large outer door was scary and I didn't think I could open it. I was half expecting Kat to stay and help me because she lived with the Marfaings last year, but alas, she and Shana continued on, and I was alone with the scary door. Again, I twisted, I pushed, I turned, I pulled. I did everything, but that door did not open. And then just as I was considering calling to the apartment through the intercom and admitting again that I was obviously an incompetant human being, a woman came up and seemed to be heading towards the apartment. I say "C'est a vous?" [It's yours?], pointing to the door. She said that it was, and I was like "jkasdgh;asdlghasd, i live with the Marfaings, and my key doesn't work!" and she looked at me like I was crazy, and then opened the door. To my relief, I was able to open the door to the apartment on the first try! So I guess that woman wasn't completely astounded by my inability to open doors. So, tomorrow before I go for a run, I am definitely doing some experimentation because I do not want to get stuck outside in the morning before class!
And now, a funny story to leave you with:
Yesterday, I was talking with Valerie and Gauthier and then Gauthier asked me something. I didn't understand, so I made my confused face. So Gauthier tried to say the english word, which to me sounded something like "ummsleck". I was like "whaaaaa?" And then he tried some variations: "omsleck? umseck? ummslick?" And I am at a complete loss. I'm like "umm, omlette? Are we talking about breakfast here?" So he gets the French/English dictionary out and unsuccessfully tries to find the word in there. At this point, this is fairly ridiculous and I'm sure the question won't even be worth all the trouble. So then Valerie jumps in with some gestures towards her head and her heart and some talk of "emotions". And finally, it's like bam: HOMESICK. ahahahahaha. The French don't have the "h" sound, so whenever they try to say an english word that starts with "h", trouble happens. Another example: I told Valerie about my friend Harmony, who is a Dickinson en France student. And then later I said something about Emily. And since she pronounced Harmony like "Armonie" and Emily like "Amilie", I guess (maybe?) you can see where the confusion starts, and I had to say "no, they are not the same person. at all". Hahaha.
Okay, so that's all for now. No pictures for today, too rainy and gross out. Bonne soir!
So we got all the paperwork for the bank in order, and I have money in my account! Still haven't gotten around to getting euros, so I have yet to buy anything at a french store, but I've been in one....that counts, right? After we had a little intro presentation, we had lunch, which was fun because I got to talk with Annie, Christine, Shana, and lots of other people. There is only one boy who does not go to Dickinson, which I can imagine would be the only thing harder than simply being in a foreign country, would be to be in one and not know anyone else there! (For all of you who are on a non-Dickinson program [Michelle!], I am in complete awe of you!) But his name is David, and he's British, and we actually live really close to each other, so it was nice to find someone to walk back and forth to class with (otherwise I was singing the "I'm so lonely" song with that crazy chipmunk voice! hahahha). So after lunch, we broke into little groups to get a little tour of the area right around the Dickinson Center: the bank, a bakery, a grocery store, a news stand, etc. Except, of course, it started to pour right as we started out. So everyone got wet and then my sandal broke. I mean, the poor sandal is about 100 years old, so I can't blame it. But still. And my feet got dirty.
Then I came home with the full intention of going for a run, because the rain seemed to have let up, but then it started to pour again, this time complete with thunder and lightning. So I decided to hold off yet another day, to prevent certain death by lightning as I ran along the canal. So I hung out with Alix, who talked a lot and I understood very little. Oh, and sidenote, I am retarded and cannot open the door to the apartment in which I live. Let me paint a little picture: It's a very old house that has been converted into apartments, and my family owns the whole building, rents out the top two floors and lives in the bottom (very very beautiful, like out of Better Homes & Gardens!). So there is this absolutely ancient big door that leads out to the street, and then a regular door that leads into their (my? our?) apartment. So this morning I'm rushing around trying to be at the Dickinson Center by 10 (I had some trouble with the crazy shower head that would not stop spraying my entire bathroom! But at least I have a shower curtain!). I said a quick goodbye to Valerie, and then rushed out the door. Or rather, I rushed to the door out into the foyer and proceeded to be stumped and unable to open it. I twisted, I turned, I fiddled with the key, but no. I was not leaving that apartment. So I went back to Valerie's bedroom where she was talking on the phone and said "Je ne peux pas ouvrir la porte!" [I cannot open the door! -- and yes, I realize this sounds retarded] and Valerie says "Pourquoi?". Umm, I don't know Valerie. So she comes and helps me and seemingly does exactly what I just did. oh well. So I'm on my way. Then, I'm walking back this afternoon with Kat, Shana, and David, and David goes further along to his apartment, and Shana and Kat go with me down rue Jacques Labatut. And I say jokingly "Now I have to get that door open, it's like a safe!", because the large outer door was scary and I didn't think I could open it. I was half expecting Kat to stay and help me because she lived with the Marfaings last year, but alas, she and Shana continued on, and I was alone with the scary door. Again, I twisted, I pushed, I turned, I pulled. I did everything, but that door did not open. And then just as I was considering calling to the apartment through the intercom and admitting again that I was obviously an incompetant human being, a woman came up and seemed to be heading towards the apartment. I say "C'est a vous?" [It's yours?], pointing to the door. She said that it was, and I was like "jkasdgh;asdlghasd, i live with the Marfaings, and my key doesn't work!" and she looked at me like I was crazy, and then opened the door. To my relief, I was able to open the door to the apartment on the first try! So I guess that woman wasn't completely astounded by my inability to open doors. So, tomorrow before I go for a run, I am definitely doing some experimentation because I do not want to get stuck outside in the morning before class!
And now, a funny story to leave you with:
Yesterday, I was talking with Valerie and Gauthier and then Gauthier asked me something. I didn't understand, so I made my confused face. So Gauthier tried to say the english word, which to me sounded something like "ummsleck". I was like "whaaaaa?" And then he tried some variations: "omsleck? umseck? ummslick?" And I am at a complete loss. I'm like "umm, omlette? Are we talking about breakfast here?" So he gets the French/English dictionary out and unsuccessfully tries to find the word in there. At this point, this is fairly ridiculous and I'm sure the question won't even be worth all the trouble. So then Valerie jumps in with some gestures towards her head and her heart and some talk of "emotions". And finally, it's like bam: HOMESICK. ahahahahaha. The French don't have the "h" sound, so whenever they try to say an english word that starts with "h", trouble happens. Another example: I told Valerie about my friend Harmony, who is a Dickinson en France student. And then later I said something about Emily. And since she pronounced Harmony like "Armonie" and Emily like "Amilie", I guess (maybe?) you can see where the confusion starts, and I had to say "no, they are not the same person. at all". Hahaha.
Okay, so that's all for now. No pictures for today, too rainy and gross out. Bonne soir!
posted by Caitlin @ 8:51 PM
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