Welcome to France

Boy, have I had a lot going on the last couple of days! I haven't gotten a chance to write yet, so I'll now attempt to recount the events of my first three days in Paris, the city of lights.

After a wonderful weekend in London, I went to the St. Pancras International train station to catch the Eurostar. I never realized that it would be like an airport, with metal detectors and customs where they stamp your passport and everything. The terminal was absolutely huge, too! Cavernous! It was quite a sight. I made it to my train just in the nick of time ( :-) ), and took my seat for the two and a half hour journey to Paris. I got a jolt of excitement when the conductor got on the intercom and spoke first in French then in heavily accented English. It took me a while to fall asleep, but eventually I did, and after waking up, I looked out at the countryside zooming past me and saw cars on the right-hand side of the road! I had slept the entire way under the Channel and had made it to France.

A little while later, we made it to the Gare du Nord train station in northern Paris. Everything in French! How exciting!!! I then made the utterly stupid decision to get to my host family's house by métro. Imagine two 50+ pound suitcases and a backpack and having to lug them up and down probably around 200 steps in three different stops. It was so incredibly difficult. I took ligne 6 to Montparnasse/Bienvenüe and then ligne 13 to Malakoff - Etienne Dolet. After about an hour, I made it and began walking to the house.

Now, my family doesn't live in Paris proper. They live right outside the 14th arrondissement (in the south) in a little town called Malakoff. Walking down the street, I noticed so many things typically French: le tabac, le boulangerie, and of course my favorite, le pâtisserie. It all looked so new, yet un peu familiar at the same time. I made it almost all the way down the street and stopped where I had been told in an email exchange with my host mother, at the green doorway on an old house. Looked interesting enough. Little did I know what I was really getting myself into.

A man, probably around 28, opened the door and introduced himself. He is David, my host mother's son-in-law. While helping me bring my ridiculous, Americanly heavy luggage up the stairs, he explained that he and my host mother's daughter live in an apartment downstairs. Mimi, my host mother, hadn't made it home from work yet but was going to arrive soon. This is when I saw the house.

I wish I had pictures yet to show you (unfortunately, since then I haven't been in the house to take pictures during the day with proper light). It was originally built as a granary in 1850 (an antique by European standards). There is a courtyard-type area when you first walk in, with one apartment on each side; the daughter and son-in-law live in one and the other is rented out to another woman. Walking up the stairs, I entered the salon, or living room. Through the salon is the cuisine (kitchen), and across the way is the rest of the house, where there are the toilette, the salle de bain (bathroom), the bureau (office), and two chambres (bedrooms). My room is up another flight of stairs, in the attic. Now don't be alarmed, I'm not sleeping in some dusty, tight space with mice and cobwebs. It's a cute little bedroom with wood floors and a pointed, wood-paneled ceiling. The entire house is decorated in what I would consider Bohemian-meets-French country, and it's completely full of charm. It's just wonderful.

Then, about fifteen minutes later, I had the pleasure of meeting Mimi. She greeted me with the traditional French bises (kisses on the cheeks), and it immediately became quite clear that this is a great match. She is absolutely energetic and full of life. Her friendly smile and warm voice made me so comfortable, and my French just came out. It felt liberating; she was the first person I really had a conversation with. She mentioned to me that she needed to do some grocery shopping, and I said that I'd love to come along. With grocery cart in hand, we headed off to the store.

We walked there, something I explained I would have never done in the United States. It was about a ten minute walk, but it didn't feel like it at all as I surveyed my surroundings and continued the conversation. During our walk, we discovered that her family and I have a lot in common. Music is a very important aspect of their lives. David and her daughter Aurélie are aspiring actors who love to dance and sing, and Mimi herself sings as well and is learning to play the accordion! It really could not have been a more perfect match! She has two other children as well. Her son Jérémie is 24 and lives in Barcelona, and her other daughter Chloé is 20 and is a work-study student in the tourism business.

On the way back, we stopped chez Bruno and Sabrina, Mimi's friends, who are hosting Zack, a student from Minnesota. After making it back to her house with our new groceries, I helped unpack, and then she told me that her other friend Kaki is also hosting an American student, so we went over there to meet her. We even rode on bikes! I couldn't believe it! How French is that? I couldn't even remember the last time I had ridden a bike...

We got to Kaki's and met her student Lauren. She's a really nice girl from Texas and we talked a little bit about school and our interests and the like. Then we had a glass of wine with Mimi and Kaki, and we just talked about France and things like that :-) The women have been friends for over 25 years, and they often host students together. It's such a great thing to know that I'm not alone in Malakoff, with Lauren and Zack only a few minutes away.

After about 45 minutes or so, Mimi and I brought Lauren back to our house (Kaki had some conference to go to), and we had dinner with Aurélie, Chloé, Chloé's boyfriend Grégorie, and André, another family friend. We had a really simple, yet delicious meal called raclettes. All it was was potatoes, and then we melted our own personal portions of cheese on these little platters, poured the cheese on to the potatoes, and voilà! It's apparently a dish popular in the mountains, and I totally understand why! I had forgotten that dinner is a several hour event in France. We all sat around the table for about two and a half hours, just introducing ourselves and discussing different things. I'm loving learning to express myself in a different language. It's really quite exhilarating.

We finished dinner, and after helping clean up, everyone sort of went their separate ways. André took Lauren home on his scooter, and I went up to my room. It wasn't long before I headed to bed; I had had quite a long day and had another one ahead of me: the first day of orientation at IES.

I was so happy to be here, and like I said, I don't think it could be any more perfect as far as host families go. I have a great feeling that this semester is going to be spectacular.

Well... it looks like it took me quite a while just to sum up my first day... I still have two more to go to catch up. But I'm tired and have to be at a language placement exam at 9:30 am tomorrow, so I think I'm going head to bed now and finish tomorrow hopefully.

Bonne nuit!