Italian Weekend!

This past weekend, Thursday the 6th through Tuesday the 11th, IES didn't have any classes scheduled, so three friends and I took off for a weekend in Italy! Here's the link to pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037384&l=c5067&id=17703396

We had to take a train to Paris Mont Parnaisse (during which time there was a French train strike, but luckily our train was one of the few that was running), then the metro to the shuttle bus stop in the middle of the city. There we took an airport shuttle bus to the Beauvais Airport which is actually about 1h15mins outside of the city. (we got super cheap 30Euro plane tickets so it made the travel work worth it.) From Beauvais we flew to Bergamo (a cute Italian city and hour outside of Milan). We got in really late, so we took a cab to our very nice hostel. Then the next day, Friday, we took a city bus and another shuttle into Milan, where we had lunch and saw all of the fancy, haut-couture shops. That evening we took a 3-hour train from Milan to Venice, where we stayed for 3 nights/ 2.5 days seeing the sites and hanging out. Monday, when we went to catch our train out of the city, we discovered there was now an Italian train strike, but luckily we were able to squeeze onto a later train by sitting on foldout chairs in the isle. We spent Monday night in Bergamo again so we could catch our 6am flight back to Paris Tuesday morning. Tuesday we spent in Paris for the day. I explored the Latin Quarter with my friends Laura, from my program, and Devon, who I know from UPS who is studying in Paris. Overall, it was a very lovely and tiring weekend! Make sure to check out my pics! (you don't have to have facebook to see them even though the album is hosted by facebook)

Bonjour Paris!

ahh so turns out I'm not a good blogger.
sorry about that!

I've done a ton of stuff this past month! I've had an amazing time including a weekend with friends in London, taking a trip to Mont St. Michel, going on a weekend trip to see the Chateaux de la Loire, participating in a Fest Noz (crazy galic sqaure dance) at the Aumonerie (Catholic students' club), and, this past weekend, a Parisian adventure!

Here's a link to my facebook album of photos from the weekend (photo uploading on Blogspot is incredibly slow and frustrating!)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036958&l=bf333&id=17703396
I stayed with my friend Devon from UPS and Theta. We also hung out with our other friend Abbey, who is also a Theta!

I'm happy to say i've been making French friends at the Aumonerie as well as bonding with other American girls from IES. My midterms for my classes are spread out all month, so I've been trying to focus and study hard, but I just have so much free time that it's hard to focus any time, if that makes sense. My friend from IES Laura and I have been going to Aquagym (Water Aeriobics) classes on mondays which is fun! The instructor is not too nice, and we always miss the cue to change legs, so we're both going to come back to the US with one giant right quad and one meager one.

Wednesdays I spend the evening at the Aumonerie. It starts at 7pm with Mass, followed by a picnic dinner consisting of what people bring in-- usually frozen pizzas, quiche, bread, cheese, and dessert! French people never forget dessert! Then After dinner, at about 9pm we start the topic of the week which ranges from anything from the economic crisis to a guest speaker young Priest to a study of St. Paul. Last week we actually just played Cranium! It is much harder for me in French! like word puzzles and such... very difficult. Anyways, the night usually ends at about 11 or so, after we've washed all of the dishes (usually we try to use as few as possible) from dinner. The Aumonerie typically has about 20 students from week to week. Usually a mix of new people and weekly returning people. It's fun. I like talking to people, though I've gotten quite tired of telling my story ("my name is Emily (aaee-meeelll-eeeeee).. yeah, sorry i can't say it with a french accent....i'm here with an american program taking classes both at the university of nantes and at my program itself.... i live with a host family.... my parents live in colorado (a center state) but my university is in Washington state (no, not DC.. and yes, there is a difference.... it's on the east coast.... no not california.... blah blah blah")

This upcoming weekend I am going to Italy! We have our Fall break from classes at IES, so me and 3 girls from IES are jetting off to Milan and Venice! I'll be sure to write back later to tell all about it. (hopefully!)

Maison et Patrimoine

Here are some lovely pics of this weekend. It was "Les Journees du Patrimoine". It's one weekend per year where all of the cultural sites (museums, chateaux, etc) are all free. Patrimoine is a Europe-wide celebration to promote culture. I saw a big Bretagne parade of people who were calling for reunification of Bretagne. Essentially, from what I understand, they are wanting to reunify the Bretagne culture and region of France. They have their own Celtic language that is not at all like French, so many of their signs and chants we didn't understand. To take part in Patrimoine some friends and I walked around the city, including le Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne (the local chateau) and then getting candied apples and sitting on the grass by the moat that surrounds the Chateau. It was a beautiful afternoon! I also have included a bunch of pictures of my host house and from my street.

More pics (as promised)

Here is a pic of me and some friends during our weekend orientation in a town called Rochefort en Terre.








View from the IES Center.


























This is me and Anna at lunch in the IES Center kitchen.
























Here is the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul-- currently undergoing restoration. It is amazing how well centuries old buildings can be restored here. I thought parts of it were brand new, but they were really just cleaned.























The Chateaux



























A street in the oldest part of Nantes (in the rain, hence the umbrellas).

























View of the city: there is only one tall building here. Most buildings are only allowed to be about 5 stories tall, though that one building in the distance is much taller... i'm not sure why that one was allowed to be so tall, and idk what it is for, but i think it's odd.

Last day of Orientation

Today (Friday) was the last day of our official orientation into the IES Nantes program! Wehoo!! All week long we had to be at the IES center for 3 one-hour long classes (Grammar, French Language, Discussion) each day along with a bunch of random orientation activities. We learned all about French manners and French culture, as well as all of the bureaucratic details of registering for our classes at IES and at the University of Nantes, etc. So essentially all week we have had 9-10 hours of orientation activities every day. It was exhausting! Luckily I have met a great bunch of people, and we did our best to have fun this week.
Typically our lunches have consisted of walking to the closest market, the "MarchePlus", or the Monoprix (big French store that vaguely resembles a Super Target with groceries, clothing, and cosmetics all rolled into one) to buy a baguette or two and fancy cheese and some meat. Divided among the 2 or 3 of us, it's our cheapest find yet--- about 1.50Euro. It's crazy how cheap cheese is here. The fancy bries and fromage de chevre (goatcheese) would probably be 4 times the price in the US. Same with baguettes. One baguette measuring about 2 and a half feet long is .80Euro. I think I have eaten more bread here in the last week and a half than I did all summer. Yesterday I felt like my mouth is running out of spit to chew any more.
We went on a 2 hour long walking tour of the history of Nantes yesterday with a guide who was quite knowledgeable and sympathetic to us, tired, non-native-french speaking students. She was sure to talk slowly and only tell us the main stuff. We were thankful.
I will be sure to upload some pictures from the journey soon!

Here is a photo of our fantastic French lunches--- Anna and Emily E. laughing

Three Day Orientation in Vannes

I arrived in France on Wednesday of last week then promptly moved my stuff into my host family's house where I have my very own room and bathroom (complete with shower hurray!) on the third floor. The house is a very nice French residence within walking distance to the center of Nantes and to the IES center where I will be taking classes. For the past four days (Thurs through today Sunday) I was in Vannes, a city about an hour away, for our first orientation. Essentially all 56 students (about 46 girls and 10 guys) and our 4 advisors whisked away for the weekend to be tourists and get to know each other by traveling around in notre car (aka our charter bus) and eating traditional French food. We ate our dinners at the hotel in Vannes which were complete three course meals-- appetizer, main course, and dessert. Sadly for me, many of the dinners were fish.... yuck. The desserts were always delicieux including la glace avec les ananas and la mousse au chocolat (icecream with pineapple and chocolate mousse). Overall it was a fantastic weekend full of conversation, sightseeing, and French culture.



On the TGV on the way to Nantes from Paris



































At our first "ice-breaker" stop in Vannes--- pretty chateau belonging to the family of one of our directors.
On the bus with Katie.
VERRRRYYY windy lunch stop on the coast.

Me at a chateau we toured

Eating crepes at the Creperie

Beautiful view of port. It rained a lot while we were there, but the sun came out just in time for a photo.