It was Tuesday that I arrived here and wow it was an interesting day. Waking up at 6am in order to catch the plane and having had only about 2 hours sleep was a nightmare... but I guess I ran on nervous energy. Before I knew it, it was time to say bye to the rents! I passed through security holding back the tears but once I was on the plane I felt much better- it also turned out that two other assistants were on the same flight so we made friends and helped to calm each other’s nerves...We shared a taxi from Nantes airport to Nantes train station and got some lunch. It was so nice meeting two other people who were in the same boat as me and who were experiencing the same worries as me. As I took the TGV to Le Mans I found myself getting nervous again about meeting Emmanuel and for the first time, my thoughts turned to teaching. Until now I had been concerned with actually getting out to France and sorting everything out but now but as I thought about teaching I realised how much fun it was going to be, I just hoped the children liked me.
The rest of the day passed quickly: I met Emmanuel at the station (my contact here) and then once I was settled in at ‘Le Flore’ I made my first two friends: Nathan and Alice, two other assistants from Ireland and Scotland and we spent the evening getting to know one another...
Wednesday and Thursday passed very quickly too and before I knew it I had moved into a flat on Avenue Bollée, one of the main roads from the centre of town. I had signed up to appartager.com sometime at the start of September and a woman called Annie had emailed me about moving into a flat with two other people ( a French girl and an American boy). So on Wednesday I visited it with Nathan (I think Annie thought we were boyfriend and girlfriend, ha!) and signed the contract right there and then. It felt right and it was much nicer than I’d expected. I was also having second thoughts about living at Le Flore as although it is perfectly nice and clean, it lacked character and it would be so hard to make it your own. So, it pretty much put Le Flore to shame and its only about 10 minutes from town so it’s perfect! Since moving in I now feel a lot more settled and I have somewhere to call ‘home’. Vanessa, the flat mate that I have met so far is very nice and helps me with a lot of things; she’s kinda feels like my second mum.
Both Wednesday and Thursday night we headed into town for some drinks where we met more assistants: Olivia from America, Alexandre from Germany and Tom and Ashley from the UK. We also met other ERASMUS students from Germany and I have found that having a glass of wine or two certainly helps me when speaking French... All of this occurred at an Irish bar called Mulligans which is surprisingly French! It’s not full of English people and has a nice atmosphere. Another thing I’ve noted is how good the German’s are at speaking French! They really do put us English to shame but its great practice for us and slowly but surely I think I’m finding it easier. Best not speak too soon...
Of course me being me, I’ve had a few incidences so far such as buying après crème instead of après shampoo for conditioner and laca instead of hairspray for my hair...They both seem to be working fine though! I also got stood up by the bus, which just straight drove past me without stopping, NICE! I had a slight problem working the passport photo machine in Monoprix (the French equivalent of Primark) and opening a French bank account proved what I had forethought about the French bureaucratic system. I must have signed about 20 pieces of paper and the best thing was that sometimes I had NO idea what I was signing!
However, other than that, things have been going very smoothly...in fact a lot more so than normal and I succeeded in getting a French SIM card and a tram and bus pass without any hassle. Perhaps my French has improved already, although I seriously doubt it. I can’t believe how nice everyone is... everyone is trying their best to make as many friends as possible but everyone so far (including the French) have been so hospitable and have really welcomed me. We have a great group of assistants which is gradually growing bigger and bigger and I’m meeting so many new people from different countries. I’M LOVING IT!
Still to come is: visiting my two schools for the first time, mine and Alice’s trip to the countryside, a free concert at ‘des expositions du Mans’, Le Mans Sunday market and our trip to the cinema...
jusqu'à la prochaine fois xxxxxx
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