My First Week

First and foremost, I apologize for not updating you earlier, it has been one crazy week. In this post, I will briefly go over what my schedule consisted of following my arrival, how I felt about the events that took place, first impressions of Lyon, etc.

I'll start with my flight.

Tuesday:

If you read my first post, you know that I had two flights, one from Seattle to Frankfurt, Germany (10h 20m) and one from Frankfurt to Lyon, France (1h). I stayed up the night before my flight so I could sleep during those ten hours. I wish. There was a toddler across the plane that would stand on the seat and talk in a high pitched voice as all children do. For that reason, I could not fall asleep, so I was extra tired when I landed in France at 10:00 AM. We got picked up and went straight to the hotel where I met some pretty cool people! Students from Idaho and California all the way to New York and South Carolina. Everyone with different backgrounds, stories, and french language experience.

In the evening we walked around Lyon where we got to see the beautiful city at night! We also learned that drivers, bikers, and pedestrians are very impatient in France. They all think that they have the right away. I can bet that before I leave France, a biker is going to run me over.

For dinner, we ate at a restaurant called "Flam's."

As a group, we went down to the seating in the basement (Figure 2) where they served us what resembled a rectangular pizza but on a crêpe instead of on a bread-based crust. We were taught how to eat it the "french way" - no plates nor silverware, just a napkin at every seat. We cut it into squares, rolled our piece, and ate it. C'est tout! Once in a while, the waitress would come to slide another "pizza" on our serving plate. It was good! It was a fun meal to eat with people I just met! Definitely a family-style dinner.

As the night went on, my body started to fail me 😂 Dinner began at 6:30 and at that time, I was already awake for 22 hours (plus 18 hours the day before with only 2 hours of sleep in between... if that doesn't make sense, it's okay, my brain wasn't really working so I don't expect yours to either). Halfway through dinner, my eyelids were begging me to keep them shut. My head was bobbing so often that the other students sitting around me told me to "take a nap until we leave." If I'm honest, I'm surprised I made it back to the hotel. I didn't think I would be able to drag myself up the basement stairs.

That was the end of the first day!

Wednesday - Thursday:

A lot happened!

• I moved into my new home and met my roomie and my host mom (I'll talk about my entire housing situation in my next post)!

• I took a placement test to see the approximate french level I belong in. This exam was absolutely terrible. It wasn't hard at all, but there were a few complications. The first part of the exam was a writing portion with 4 essay questions: send a postcard, respond to an email, write a journal article, and prepare an argument. The first two were simple. Easy. Done. But once I finished the second, the proctor announced, "Dix minutes!" None of us knew that there was a time limit... so, naturally, I skipped to the last argument and wrote about 6 thought-out sentences forming an argument. Turns out there was no time limit and the director of the program (who was standing outside) told people if they didn't finish to go back inside. I, along with most students, did not hear that. The second complication: I was nervous. When I am nervous I can't think about how to respond to the oral interview. Again, it was SO easy, I just couldn't think. With all of this aside, I was placed in a class where I believe I belong. I got placed into level 3 out of 5 and although the content is easy, I need a refresher after taking a break from french language classes for a whole year.

• We got a tour of Lyon!

The coolest part of the tour for me was when we walked through the secret passages! We learned that Lyon played a crucial role in WWII by providing a safe and quick means of escape from the Nazis. These passages, however, were extremely humid and filthy due to all of the garbage that citizens threw out of their windows in the 1900s, but don't worry, they were clean when I walked through them (: The basilica in the bottom right picture was also incredible to see! There were stained glass windows within the basilica and also 6 large mosaics - all depicting the Virgin Mary. Each basilica has it's own purpose/ theme, this one, in particular, was built solely on donations and serves to recognize the Virgin Mary; she is seen on the mosaics, the windows, and the sculptures on the exterior. Walking home from the tour, we passed by a street market! Not too important, but a nice surprise and something that made me smile. Fresh produce, hot food, flowers, everything was there.

Friday:

My first day of class actually went really well! It didn't feel like it was 3 hours long, it went by fairly quickly from all of the interactive activities. How French is taught in France is very different from the United States. It is much more interactive here - more talking, more group activities, more TIME spent on practice. It's much better.

(1) One of the campuses I attend, (2) the bridge I took to walk home.

That's all for now!

What to expect for my next two posts:

• My living situation

• How I am progressing with my French

I love you all, thank you for being interested in my life.

Until next time, au revoir!

Lauren