la belle France

Bonjour mes amis! Unfortunately, I am at a McDonalds (they call it McDo pronounced MacDoe here), because it is the only place I know of that has free wi-fi. But anyway, here is the update:

Thursday was a loooooooong day. Friday night my plane left at 9:30 from Detroit. It worked out really well because my dad was flying in from Las Vegas so were able to eat dinner in the Northwest terminal before I flew out. I was also able to wait in his fancy-schmancy members-only club. I stocked up on the free juice.

The flight wasn't bad, but I couldn't sleep so I just watched movies--Waitress and Away from Her. The second one is really sad and I do not recommend watching it after you have just said goodbye to your parents for 3 months. Oops, bad idea.

When my plane arrived I had 2 choices--I could either pay 60+ euros for a cab, or I could try to navigate public transportation with one big suitcase, a luggage-sized backpack, a computer bag, and a small carry-on. What can I say? 7 months is a long time. Anyway, I condensed down to 3 bags and decided to save myself some money. I got some euros and made my way to the RER station. This is a subway-like train that takes you into Paris. (The Paris airport is actually around 30 minutes outside of Paris.) So, I struggled my way over to the first of many escalators and stairs. After I went up the escalator, I immediately had to go down another. Then I waited in line to buy my ticket. Then I had to get all my luggage through the turnstile. Fun. Then there was a staircase. Luckily, a nice British man helped me carry my big suitcase down. The RER ride was around 20 minutes. I arrived at the Gare du Nord and the plan was to walk to the Gare de L'est. They aren't very far apart, but somehow I went the wrong direction. I asked two people, "Ou est le Gare de l'Est?" and finally made my way. Then there was another set of stairs. I just sort of waited at the top feeling defeated for a couple of minutes. A group of giggling French girls came up talking in very rapid French and one helped me carry the big 50-lb suitcase down.

At the station, I walked around aimlessly for a little while, found the information desk, and then the ticket line. I had to pick up my ticket and my a youth card (for rail discounts). Since I had no idea how long this day of travelling was going to take, I was 3 hours early for my train! I asked if there was an earlier train and there was one that left in 20 minutes. So, with the rail card and the new ticket in hand, I went back to the information counter to see which platform my train left from. Platform 27--I hurried to the other end of the station and remembered that I had to validate my ticket. I went off searching for this little yellow machine thatpunches the date on the ticket. You can be fined if you don't do this before boarding the train.

Making my way down the platform, I had NO idea which car I was in. I was seat 98. So I asked someone who appeared to be in uniform and he just said in the front of the train. I made a reandom guess and lugged by suitcase into the train. There was nowhere to put it on the luggage racks and there was no way it was going to fit down the tiny aisles of the train. I stood there for a little while wondering if I should take my luggage back down and ask someone again. I decided just to shove my suitcase by this seat and hope for the best. I entered the car and my seat was the first on the left! What a lucky guess. I shoved my other bags beneath my seat and collapsed into the seat. The TGV train just started running to my region last June so it is brand new. It only took an hour and 15 minutes where before it took 3 hours. So soon enough we were in Nancy, where I was supposed to meet one of the English assistants. The only problem was, I had taken an earlier train so she wouldn't be there for 3 hours. I tried to call, but didn't get anybody. So, I waited. Finally I saw someone with a sign that said "Lyndsay."

Angelique, the teacher who picked me up is 26 and very nice. She lives in Nancy with her husband Remy. They live in a small, but cute apartment. Nancy is a bigger city 20 miles from my town. I think I will be going there a lot--it is a really cool place. Angelique drives a tiny Pegeout like everybody here. We shoved my suitcase in the trunk and left it there. I was very relieved to be done with my long day of travelling. We had to go into her parking garage. It has the steepest, darkest, skinniest entrance ramp I have ever seen. When you get to the bottom, there are no lights, until you flip the switch yourself.

After parking, I brought my backpack and computer upstairs to the apartment. We went in the oldest smalles elevator. It had 2 doors that you pulled close. It is broken so it would only take us up to the 4th floor and then we walked down the stairs to the 2nd floor.

Angelique's apartment is very cute. All of the appliances are so small and skinny! They are redoing the bathroom so once once Remy got home from work, we went in search of a shower. We went to their friend's apartment who wasn't there. I was so tired and on this surreal trip with strangers in a strange city in search of a shower. Then they took me on a driving tour of the city and showed me the famous plaza. It is beautiful! I can't wait to go back and explore it some more!

When we got back to the apartment, they made me spaghetti. I was really quiet through all of this because I felt guilty speaking English (even though they are both fluent) and I was too tired and rusty with my French to even put together basic sentences. I slept really well that night. And they invited me back if I ever wanted to spend the weekend in Nancy.

Friday morning, Angelique had to be at school at 8 so I went with her. School starts at 8, but Angelique didn't have class until 9. She showed me the teacher lounges and introduced me to some of the other teachers. I met up with Annabel, a very nice teacher who is in her late thirties (I think?) and has 2 kids who are 8 and 12 (I think). She helped me move in to my apartment.

My apartment is in the internat (boarding house) of the school. Other students live there though I am not really sure where because there is an alarm after a certain time and on the weekends maybe (I'm not sure) so I have been using my back door so as not to set it off. The building is looked after by "the gray man." This is how the English teachers described him to me, that he always wears gray trousers, gray jacket, gray hat, and that when he talks it is gray around him. He definitely doesn't get the nice award, but he basically just told me to be quiet, not to take late showers and not to set off the alarm. Oh he also stressed locking and closing every door when I enter and leave.

My apartment is pretty big. There is a room right when you enter with a TV and a desk big enough for a CEO. This desk is unnecessary as each bedroom has one also. The main room is large with plenty of windows, a chair, a bench, and kitchen table with 4 chairs. The kitchen is right off the dining room. There is a small fridge and an oven with a stove. There is also a microwave. There are dishes and cleaning supplies, so that's good.

The bathroom has aged nautical wallpaper with the French terms for East and West. The toilet has one of those flushers that has a long wooden pole that you pull down from above. After I flush the toilet, it flushes repeatedly for about an hour. I am told I have to ask the gray man about this.

Apparently, I will be getting a roommate next week-- a girl from Spain, who will be the Spanish language assistant. Since, I got here first, I chose the room. I picked the one toward the back of the apartment because it has yellow walllpaper and gets more sun so it is brighter and cheerier. The other room has a fringe lamp though so it was a toss-up. :)

After I moved in, Annabel and I went to the bank. We spent an hour there and were completely unsuccessful in opening a bank account. Apparently, they needed all of these documents I don't have. Then we went to the police to start the process of getting my care de sejour, which allows to live and work in France. The one lady who knew anything about it wasn't in. Oh well. We made an appointment at a different bank for next Thursday and hopefully we will go back to the police afterwards. As Annabel said, it was a good introduction to French bureaucracy.

After that debacle, I took a long nap. When I woke up I explored and bought a sandwich at the grocery store called Le sandwich parisien. :) It was a ham sandwich of sorts.

Today, Saturday, I went over to Annabel's house for lunch. She lives in a really old house outside of Pont-a-Mousson. It dates to the Renaissance! The bathroom used to be a stable and the master bedroom used be for storing grains and things. She made me a great French lunch with a delicious Alsatian dessert. I watched a French cartoon with her young daughter. Then we went grocery shopping and we walked around Pont-a-Mousson. I got a library card. And that is everything so far! Sorry it was a long post! Miss you all!