Grenouille for three

I'm trying to be good and post more often, because the last 72 hours have been a lot of fun!

On Sunday I managed to get the necessary amount of work done (just), but by the time I had finished it was definitely too late to go to the beach! Fortunately for me, Alex finished at a similar time, so we decided that instead of going all the way to the beach, we'd go to the lake. My sense of direction is very poor, so in spite of my map we managed to get very lost before actually happening upon the right way! I'd never seen the lake at night before, and it was gorgeous. It was completely still apart from the "ragondins" (the little nocturnal creatures that live there), there were hundreds of stars, and the moon was so bright it reflected in the lake and gave both of us shadows!

Apparently "The moon looks like an egg with the face of a panda bear... in pain." (Alex, 2013)

After finding (and playing extensively in) a few playgrounds, we decided to take a stop in town for some gourmet French dining.

* * * 

Monday would have been better, were it not for my first lecturer informing me that one of the courses I had enrolled in required me to attend an extra 2 hour lecture that I knew nothing about. Thankfully I had a 3 hour gap in exactly the right space, otherwise chaos could have ensued! And Monday was brightened by a sing-along with Hugo. Having asked me to help with his English, I suggested he sing in English to improve his pronunciation. Rather than sing an actual English song, he spent the next 20 minutes setting all of my blog posts to music and singing them to me, which was highly amusing! Then Mickael froze some beers, and we all stayed up talking (and doing no work) until somewhere around 11. Oops!

* * *

Today was a momentous day. It's almost exactly a month since I moved here and I have managed to achieve one of this year's primary goals! After a day of not feeling well at uni, Helen looked after me with a cup of tea and some very athletic games of table tennis (particularly on Monique's part!). On the way home, I met Raphael at Picard (a local supermarket), and we bought snails and frogs' legs!

Raphael cooked everything in authentic French style, and made sure that I threw some salt out of the door to make sure the meal was good (don't ask, I have no idea!). He also taught me to pour wine correctly.

And here it is! And, almost surprisingly, it was gorgeous!

Hugo did not want to eat with us, but here's a picture of him anyway.

Now I should really go and get some work done!!

Sarah 

xx

Entdecken

I apologise in advance if this post is very long, but a week's worth of events could fill up quite a bit of space. I'll try to keep it brief!

Last Saturday I spent the afternoon in the nearby city of Nimes! Having woken up a little late after our night at the beach, I missed the 12pm train with the others, and went later on at 4. When Alex met me there he excitedly informed me that we were going to watch a bullfight, which was taking place as part of the festival that was going on in the city at the time. I was also very excited, as it meant I got to go right up to the top of this building!

The bullfight itself was an experience, but maybe not one I'd want to repeat! But for the views over the city, it was more than worth it.

We also explored the city a bit afterwards, and found some gorgeous fountains, gardens, and a really big tower! 

* * *

On Monday it rained for at least 5 minutes, so winter is practically here. I spent the first couple of days of this week very determinedly combing through every possible module combination available, which meant that by Tuesday night, two and a half weeks after starting my battle with the apparent non-system of this university, I have FINALLY managed to create a timetable! I still have to check it with my tutors at both universities before the arrangement is final, but I'm hoping that will be relatively straightforward. As it stands Thursdays are pure evil, with an 8:15am start, through to a 7:15pm finish. But to make up for it, I get Fridays off! 

* * *

I celebrated my triumph over my first ever evil Thursday with a night out!

We couldn't go to Cargo Club because they were having a dentist-only party, and apparently it's very obvious that we aren't dentists. So we headed round to Panama Café, got given free champagne by some friendly strangers, danced until 4:30, wandered around town realising that nowhere in Montpellier seems sell kebabs at 4:30, and got the first tram home at 5. Longest Thursday I've had in a while!

Needless to say that our original plan to go the zoo on Friday was unsuccessful. But later in the afternoon me, Helen and Monique spent a couple of hours lying on the beach before me and Helen went to Felicity and Gaspard's (couple from the church that I met on the beach a couple of weeks ago) for dinner. It was lovely just to be able to relax and be looked after for a night, and to be able to switch from French to English all night as we needed. And to be able to sit down with a cup of tea and an episode of Downton Abbey!

* * *

Saturday was zoo day!! The zoo in Montpellier is free to get in to, and it's MASSIVE! Me, Helen and Monique arrived at about 12:30 and didn't leave until 4, and I don't think we got round the whole thing. But we got to see all my favourite animals, most importantly, THE CAMEL.

It was a gorgeous day out, I really love the zoo. I took the girls back to my house for the first time, and I cooked my first meal since I arrived in Montpellier, which went down rather well! The boys met us at my house afterwards to finish off the leftovers, then we all wandered back to CROUS for cookies and a super snuggly film session! 6 people sat on a single bed is do-able, apparently! 

Doubtless I've forgotten something important, but I have procrastinated for far too long now, and should really start looking into getting some work done. Sadly it no longer feels like Erasmus holidays.

A bientôt! 

Sarah 

xx

Pompette!

It's getting quite difficult to remember what I've done the day after I've done it, this whole week has been so manic! Wednesday was another couple of lectures, including more philosophy, and not including Italian. I got home and had a cuppa with my flatmate Hugo, who happens to not only like tea, but like it with milk and no sugar! He also likes the Arctic Monkeys and plays the guitar, so I think we're going to get on well this year. The boys then took me to Carrefour for the alcohol run, and we had a lovely meal sat around the table in the garden while they both laughed at me for my "funny English accent" and taught me many new words which I will doubtless forget.

Then it was night out time! After a quick change and a few rounds of Never Have I Ever, we headed out to what seems to be one of the more popular clubs here, called Point Zero. It was almost entirely English music, so it didn't feel that different from clubbing in England! 

Within half an hour of arrival we had abandoned all plans to catch the last tram home at 1am, and ended up staying til 3 and walking home. Which was definitely worth it, until I woke up the next morning to the realisation that my lectures started at 9:15, and didn't finish until 7:15. 

Thankfully life is kind and so are my flatmates. When I got to the kitchen there was orange juice in the fridge and Hugo made me scrambled eggs for my breakfast while I was in the shower! So I managed to not be late for my first lecture, and (with the help of coffee and baguette) made it all the way through the day in a much better state than I anticipated. I have a feeling this meal will become a standard feature of evil Thursdays.

Back home Raphael gave me curry and laughed at the way I ate cheese, which apparently I need to learn to do in a more French way.

Friday was my favourite day of uni, mostly because I turned up to my first lesson and found out the class doesn't start until next week, so I decided to give myself the rest of the day off and went shopping instead. Shopping was followed by another trip to the beach, bien sûr. And it was exactly what I needed. After such a stressful and tiring week trying to navigate the non-system of this university, being able to just sit and watch the sunset on the beach with wine, bread and cheese, playing Never Have I Ever (Qui N'a Jamais) with people who were total strangers this time two weeks ago... Just makes me realise how lucky I am to be here, and how happy I am to have had this opportunity.

I think this blog is getting cheesier.
Sarah 
xx

Pampelmusensaft!!!

I'm already getting lazier with updating this, but life continues to be a massive blur of busy and français that I've still not even slightly got my head around! 

I spent the weekend ignoring all the advice from my tutors by making friends with Erasmus students, all of whom speak English! A few of them are German, and on our three hour long excursion round Ikea on Saturday I realised that my German is laughably terrible. But I am being taught new words all the time, so who knows what the year will bring! And I bought a kettle, so my life is basically complete.

Saturday night was like stepping into a time machine. Sitting in a big communal kitchen with people I've known for anything from a week to an hour, watching a game of beer pong, teaching everyone the rules to Ring of Fire (which apparently is not a traditional French activity!), getting kicked out of the kitchen just after midnight, and finishing the night with 5 of us sat around in a bedroom playing Never Have I Ever until somewhere past 6am. Thankfully the next day was spent being equally as English, sat around a table in Maccies enjoying a McFlurry and some free WiFi. The only difference is that you can sit on an outdoor table here without it being a near-death experience. 

I didn't take any photos of the actual night, but here's the street sign I walk past to get home that always makes me laugh.

I christened my new kettle when I got home, and introduced Raphael (the flatmate who loves Elvis) to the joys of tea. He drinks it in a very small cup with a LOT of sugar, but it's a start. And in return he made me fajitas, so I'd say it's a fair swap.

* * * 

Monday was my first official day of uni! I had signed up for Italian for beginners at 8:15am, but when I woke up at 7 I realised that Monday mornings are not for me, so I hopped online, rescheduled the class, and went back to sleep. When I finally made it into uni, I sat through a Greek history class (VERY difficult), a maths class (which was more like a vocabulary lesson), and a translation test (in which I made up many words). The day as a whole was better than I expected, and after translation I ran into Helen and Monique, who said it was time for a beach trip, and who was I to refuse? 

The sea wasn't too cold, and the Baywatch running that followed our swim was unrivalled as far as I could tell. The sunset was beautiful, as was the fry up that Helen and Monique made when we got back.

* * *

Today was just more lectures, more timetable confusion, and the realisation that me and philosophy are definitely not friends. I learnt how to use a French washing machine, and found out that the guy who is currently in my room won't be moving out until the end of the month.

Luckily, nothing seems so bad when you know there's a cup of tea waiting for you at home.

Sarah

xx

"Life's too short to dance like Beyoncé"

I have now moved house! Thursday was another day of meetings at uni, which weren't nearly as bad or as confusing as the set on Tuesday. 

I got out of the last meeting early, so I had plenty of time to pack my suitcase and have a final gym session and meal with Barbara before going on my way. We had what may be my first, certainly my first for a long time, four course meal! Salad, steak, cheese board and apple tart... a farewell meal to remember! Cooking for myself is going to be a serious reality check :P

My new landlady is lovely :) She was very welcoming when I arrived, and lent me a pillow because I don't have one. And it turns out that she's furnished the apartment completely, so all the pots, pans, plates and other kitchen equipment is already here! Except for a kettle, because the French don't drink tea. I plan to remedy this as soon as possible. I'm going to be living in the downstairs bedroom of the house for a week or so until the room which will soon be mine is empty, at which point I will move myself and my things into the apartment, and that will be it. Fin.

* * *

Friday was more meetings, more confusion. As it turns out, there is basically a total lack of organisation with regards to the schooling of Erasmus students, and my tutor has essentially said I should spend next week turning up to any and every class that interests me, and then decide from there which I should take based on preference and availability. This will be followed by a long process of form filling and cross-university course checking before my timetable can be finalised. Marvellous.

On the up side, I returned home from uni to find that one of my two new flatmates is lovely! He gave me a beer, some coffee, a whistlestop tour of his record collection (Elvis, in particular) and a number of book recommendations from the selection he's put on the shelves. I learnt more from him in an hour than I have the entire week at uni. The other flatmate also seems lovely, although our encounter was fairly brief because he's going home for the weekend.

Then it was onwards to the last night of Les Estivales! I went for my first meal out in Montpellier with Helen, and her friend from home, Monique.

This city is beautiful at night, and the atmosphere is so vibrant, especially around Les Estivales.

We met up with some other Erasmus students from the CROUS accommodation, and stood at the top of the stairs by the Corum dancing around to a very entertaining band whose name I never actually caught!

Sauntering around town we met a nice old man who spoke four languages, and a guy who told us we have to go to Nimes on Thursday to watch a bullfight.

Curieux-er et curieux-er.

Sarah

xx

"Vous avez une carte de fidélité?"

Everything continues to be a rollercoaster. Yesterday was my first proper day in uni, there were a lot of course meetings and information sessions, and I feel none the wiser for having attended any of them! I turned up at 9 only to realise I'd turned up to the meeting for the wrong set of modules, so I had a few hours to kill before my real meetings started at 1. I took a campus tour, of which I understood little, and then realised that my phone won't connect to the wifi on campus, which is very bad news! Went for lunch with a French girl who was also quite hard to understand, then had meetings straight from 1 until 4:30 in some very stuffy lecture theatres. And the student card machine is broken so I can't get a card, which means I can't sign up for any classes anyway. I can now see why the French need so much wine to get through life.

Thankfully managed to get in contact with another Erasmus student called Helen, who is going to Barbara's church on Sunday. So I got a welcome break from all the French and got to speak English for an hour or so. And when Helen's German next door neighbour joined us, we could all speak our nice, slow version of French which is much easier to understand!

* * *

Mercifully, I had today off uni! So I took the opportunity to be as productive as possible, and went into town to open a bank account! Not nearly as scary as it sounds, they all speak very clearly in the bank. Then I went exploring for a bit in the shopping centre, which is much bigger than I thought!

After a successful shopping trip I met Helen again and we went back to Barbara's, then straight out to the lake for a much needed swim.

It's so beautiful there, and there's even a little waterfall where you can catch crayfish :)

Barbara's friend Felicity joined us for a meal and a very enjoyable film after, all in French of course! I'm glad to have had a relaxing evening, it's back to uni tomorrow, and then it will be time to move house. 

Tout bouge encore.

Sarah 

xx

"Personne a ce document!"

On Sunday morning Barbara took me along to church, and it was lovely! Met a lot of friendly people, many of whom were almost entirely bilingual, or working towards it. I recognised nearly all of the songs, and it was really interesting to see how both the music and the teaching translated. A glass of water and a lot of introductions later it was back to Barbara's to pick up some lunch, then off out with the younger members of the church for a picnic by the lake. 

Turns out the lake here, not so much like the lakes I'm used to! It was blue, for a start :P Before we went swimming everyone sat down to eat, and I was able to try my hand for the first time at the game of Pétanque (a French favourite). It involves the ability to throw with some accuracy, so naturally I did not win. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, sunbathing and chatting, in French and in English, so it was partly good practice! 
(I didn't take my phone so there are no photos of the lake, but no doubt when I return at a later date I'll be able to get some.)

* * *

A week today since I got here, and uni is starting! It was registration today, which I was only just on time for. Turned up at quarter to 11 and managed to queue in the international student queue, which was about 10 times longer than the Erasmus queue that I was supposed to be in! Thankfully someone pointed that out to me, and I got into the right queue exactly in time to get registered before they closed for lunch at 12. I have to go back tomorrow with another form and collect my student card, then I can start registering for classes. Also bumped into some fellow Birmingham students who were there looking just as confused as I was, which was slightly reassuring!

New thing I realised today: the French don't sell lined paper. At all. It's all squared, or squared with lines. So I bought a pad which I think will make me feel very dizzy every time I have to take notes this semester! Bodes well for the months ahead.

Also took my first trip to the beach today :D 

Barbara invited some friends, who, as it turns out, know some friends of my family! Small world. The sea was a LOT colder than I thought it would be, but we all went swimming anyway. Then I built a very small pyramid in the sand, and rewarded myself for my hard work with a nap.

La vie, c'est dure!
Sarah 
xx