School time

I just finished the trial week at CIDEF.  Everything seems fairly easy so far but I will be taking 21 credit hours and will actually be in class for 21 hours.  Fortunatly there will not be a whole lot of homework besides reading and langue homework. I will be taking Histoire de France, Histoire de L'art, Langue, Phonetics, Litterature XX siecle, Etude socio-culturelle. My Phonetics teacher is hilarious and a little crazy. For a phonetics teacher she has a lot of speech ticks and really intense ones at that but I love it.

I haven't done too much beside the usual walking around and hanging out with friends. Leah, Amy and I passed through the Jardin de Plante one day. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be in the winter. They have a lot of "exotique" birds to look at, a goat and big lop bunny area. yay.

I bought a ticket for  a trip to Normandie in March and one to Chateaux de Loire in a couple weeks. I'm pretty excited.

I don't really know what else to say everything seems a little boring right now... :/

But I think I'm having fun here, and haven't really been homesick yet.

Photos

For those of you who can't see my album on facebook here is a link to a flickr page. I haven't put up any captions yet but I will try to soon when I'm not feeling so lazy and I will try to give a real update.

une Aventure Gastronomique

So, I'm sure you all are wondering about the French food, after all it is suppose to be the "best" food in the world.  While I have had my fair share of traditional french foods most of them have been street foods which are still pretty amazing. The best food that I've had here has been with my host family. The night that Amy, my house mate arrived we had a terrific dinner. I'm not exactly sure what they would call it but the best way to describe it is a savory tart with a flaky pastry crust, onion, ham, potatoes, with cream on top and I'm sure there was some butter in there somewhere. Followed by cheese and bread and then a dessert composed of creme fraiche and mascarpone cheese and what I think were speculoo crackers on top. It was a good meal and wish I would of had pcitures but I think the Sabatier's would of found it very strange if I pulled out my large camera at the dinner table.

 The only real french resturant experience I have had was at a Creperie called La Flambee. I had a formulaire with a salad, a galette with cheese, ham, an egg and a tomato salsa, a bowl of cidre, and a crepe with apples and chocolate. It was rather delicious as well. Crepes are everywhere here.

There are also pastry shops on every corner with several in between. These pastry shops often sell magnificent sandwiches, croissants, quiche, pizza, etc. I have tried a steak frite panni, a croque monsieur that was killer and wide assortment of pastries. The pastries are delicious of course, I get one about everyday.

As far American food goes, McDonalds is really the only distinct american place I've ate and I did not enjoy it. It was less greasy which is a vast improvement but there is a strange sauce on most of the burgers that I did not like. The coke tastes different, it is made with real sugar instead of syrup. I didn't like it at first but I think I am getting use to it. I hope to try much more french food but the Chinese Resturants and Pizza places are very tempting.

A Learning Process

 It is going to take a bit of time to learn how to live successfully in Angers. Here is what I've learned so far. 
1. At some supermarkets you have to purchase your plastic bags for about 0,03E so to save a few centimes bring your own sac.
2. French boys stare a lot but it is nothing to be alarmed by, they all do it. If they start to yell "les belles filles, viens ici" keep walking. If they don't stare and aren't occupied with texting, etc. then chances are they aren't French.
3. Loofahs are either impossible to find or very expensive running from 5 euros to 6 euros in the supermarkets, but oddly enough they are very cheap at Sephora.
4. McDoner Kebabs has the best tea ever.
5. Peanut butter is also extremely expensive especially American brands, so bring your own if you must have it. But they have a spread called speculoos which is a cinnamon cookie kind of like graham crackers made into a spread that I might fall in love with.
6. In France, We don't scramble our eggs.
7.Toliet paper is scented here which drives me crazy.
8. While riding with a French driver is not scary because they all drive in the same manner, an American driving in France might have a panic attack.

9.  I saw a small French child go to the bathroom on the sidewalk with assistants from his mother. I'm not sure if this is the norm but it is something to watch out for.
10. If you are thinking about going out between 5:30 and 6:30, Don't! The traffic is terrible. While you have the advantage of walking, the sidewalks are still swarmed with students and workers.
11. What to eat is an extremely difficult decision.
12. There are a lot of French Bulldogs here which makes me extremely happy.
13. Watch where you step!

A few photos...

Je vous présente Mozart! This is my host dog Mozart. He is really clam but sort of smells funny. I haven't seen him venture upstairs until tonight when he decided to post up in my room and try to sleep in my bed. I think he likes me!

I remembered to take a picture of my food today but only after I ate some of it. C'est du pain aux raisins.

Bonjour de la France

I arrived in Angers yesterday! I was met by a member of my host family who drove me to the house with a petit tour on the way. My host family is very nice but I feel kind of strange in someone's home. I don't want to hinder them and I'd rather be alone anyhow. When in my room I became a little emotional when I couldn't figure out if they had internet or not to email my parents. I had a more extensive tour later and went to the store for a few things. I ate a dinner with my family, kinda of stew with pork and vegetables followed by a little bit of cheese and bread and then nutella with caramel crepes! C'etait bien. I went to bed early for me around 10 after I failed at trying to watch american tv on the internet.  After 24 hours without sleep and a lot of traveling I was extremely tired and a bit emotional.

My room is nice and rather big but the set up is odd. In the main room their is a desk and awesome hutch type thing as well as twin bed that is not in use, my double bed is in a connected room that is bit like a storage room or attic with a sky light and a wardrobe.

Today I went on a small walk around the city.

I went to my school.

And then back around to the super market where I bought more necessities and my first pain au chocolat in France at the separate bakery.  It was awesome. I meant to take a picture but than I ate it. oops. I bought some soda that comes in strange shaped bottles like a missal or a torpedo.

Here are some more photos from my walk.

"Je t'aime Margot"

This last one was the wall outside of a private music middle school.  I thought it was extremely cute and reminded me of american middle school.

I'm not really sure what to do on my own here, my other friend who is here doesn't seem to have internet and neither one of us have phones yet. I want to journey to the center of town soon, but not alone. I might though.

I miss everyone already! A bientot.

VISA PARTY!

Who has a French Visa?  I HAVE A FRENCH VISA! Yay!  I won't be deported from the country that I have worked so hard to be in, hopefully... That's all I really have to to say on the subject of my trip to France at this time, and that the idea of packing is a bit overwhelming at this point. It would also be great if the weather was nice on the 25th. :-) 

On other notes: If you haven't see The Figther, I recommend it. After watching it tonight I give it a good solid "A".  Christian Bale was terrific and Mark Walhberg had a role he was made to play.

I refuse to take heed in this new astrological chart/extra constellation nosense that is floating about. 
That is all. A bientot!