Saturday, August 31, 2013

Nights on the Town

Couch surfing has really been my tool for getting out of my shell here. Thursday night I met up with two girls in Lille city center (downtown Lille) for some dinner. One girl is from Morocco but basically grew up in Lille. The other girl is studying here for the next 9 months and is from Sweden so she, like me, needed a lot of help while speaking French. Granted, she already speaks perfect English AND Swedish. The 3 of us grabbed dinner at a typical petite café and chatted all night about our cultural differences both in French and in English. It was really interesting and very eye opening! After a great night we all decided to meet up again next week. 

The next night, Friday, I met up with my guy friend that had shown me around the week prior. He and I grabbed a bite to eat at a Japanese restaurant for some sushi. It was ok. He was telling me how there are no Japanese people in Lille so it is impossible to find a decent sushi place. Most of the Asians here are from China, Cambodia, and Vietnam, yet they all insist on opening sushi and Japanese restaurants. Interesting...

Friday night commenced the setup for the HUUUUGE flea market that takes place annually in Lille. It's called La Braderie and everyone had told me "itz a place where zee people, they sell their crap....But it iz a lot of faan". Though during recent years it's also a place of a lot if pick pockets and thefts as I have been continuously warned. The streets are closed off and you basically stand elbow to elbow as you dig through everyone's junk that is for sale. Even watching people set up tents and guardrails on Friday night was overwhelming. Some friends and I may meet up Sunday afternoon to attend the event. Apparently people come from all over to attend this event! It's what Lille is known for. 

Another big thing about la Braderie is the typical Belgian dish of "Moules frites"! Or muscles and fries in English. I am not sure how the dish and la Braderie are correlated, but I just know I am a bit weary to try it...Restaurants will keep the muscles shells from dishes throughout the day, then at night, toss the shells in the streets to see who sold the most apparently. I'll have to see for myself if they really do that. 

Things are still going well. I feel that my French is improving, but not as fast as I thought it would. I guess the fact that I still have to speak English to Cléo slows me down on the full immersion bit. Hopefully when university starts in 2 weeks I will show much more progress. I know I have to be patient with myself too though. 

Lastly, I've been finding little notes in my coat pockets that my mom snuck in before I left. I have the best mama.

Xoxoxo
Claire








Monday, August 26, 2013

Working Girl

Today was my first full day of au pairing and my second full day of only speaking French. Needless to say I'm exhausted. 

Yesterday was rather relaxing for me. It was raining all day so Perrine took Cléo to see a movie while Fréd played tennis with his coworkers. Meanwhile I had run of the house. Bliss! At about 4pm Fréd came home and about an hour later he and I made out way to the small tennis club just around the block. It consists of 2 outdoor classic concrete courts and 3 indoor courts with a carpet like surface. It is seriously SO bizarre, but lots of fun!! Fred and I played for about and hour, really smashing the ball back and forth. I could keep up with him for the most part, though he is very, very good. Playing with Fréd was a way for him to assess my playing level so I can be paired with women of my same skill. Tennis is very competitive here and it is ALL about your level ranking. Sheesh, anyone hear of leisurely playing tennis? Obviously not the French...

I will be hearing from the club soon with playing times with other women. Fréd thinks I'm good enough to play on the team there too! Playing on the team just allows for friendly competitions and a cheaper monthly club fee. I'll take it!!

So today my muscles are aching. I decided to have a slow morning of laundry and playing with Scribbles, the pet bunny. 

Cléo arrived home about 12:30 today, so I made us both some lunch and played My Little Ponies with her for about 3 hours. Cléo then put on some music she likes to dance to which is almost identical to my entire music playlist. As we danced around the kitchen to "call me maybe", I couldn't help but think...This girl is the 5 yr old French me...

Perrine came home about 6 and from then on I was off the clock. She and I spoke a bit about how our days went (en français of course) and I was able to keep up! Of course we won't be discussing Proust over a glass of red anytime soon. 

Yet another day has passed in chez Oudeville and I am still very happy here! Miss you all very much!! Bonne soirée!

Xoxoxo
Claire

Meet Scribbles: the pet bunny I'll be trying not to kill. 

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Couch surfing

Today is my last English speaking day with my host family. So what better way to spend it than meeting new people in the city of Lille and practicing my French! I'll explain:

A few friends of mine had introduced me to an incredible community called Couch Surfing. It's a travelers best friend when traveling alone or going to a new place. It's a website that allows people to offer up their couches for sejourners to sleep on for free rather than paying for hostels or expensive hotels. You also get to meet incredible people, see the town through a locals perspective, and create friendships.

So I looked into the Lille area for fellow couch surfers and voila! Thousands of fellow travel lovers looking to meet new people! I put up a post about being new in town as an au pair and asking if anyone wanted to meet up to help me with my French and in exchange I could help with English. Not 5 minutes later I had 7 people contact me with loads of info, meet up times, and phone numbers. Commence euphoria!

So today I went into the city of Lille and met up with a young guy who made sure to only speak French with me and I to him. He took me all over, showed me cute cafés, the best shopping, best bars, etc. Despite the grey skies and wet cobble stone streets, we trekked our way all over town. We stopped for some vegetarian lunch (again...so dense), then headed to an art museum, and lastly the zoo! By the end of the day my mind was fried with French. But I am feeling confident for tomorrow's start if 100% French. And the fact that everyone here finds my American accent while speaking French "trop mignon" (too cute). 

When I got home about 8pm, Perrine and Fréd were setting up for a small dinner gathering with their friends who I then met with kisses on both cheeks and some French/English small talk. I was so exhausted though that I enjoyed one beer with the family and guests, but then went to my bedroom to get some sleep. 

Tomorrow, Fréd and I will be playing tennis so I can see the tennis club and decide if I care to join or not. Hopefully all goes well. 

Time to rest for my big day of French speaking tomorrow. Yikes. 

Bonne nuit! Xoxo
Claire




Friday, August 23, 2013

New in Town

Hi Everyone!

I've made it through my first 6 days here in France so I will go ahead and fill you in on how my first day went.

I arrived on Sunday, August 18th, in Paris at about 5 am with a large carry on and a 50lb suitcase which I had to drag from baggage claim all the way to the trains which would take me to my new home in Lille. Finding the train was easy. It was dragging and lifting my suitcase which was most difficult. Thankfully the train conductors were nice enough to help me as they spoke only French. I replied with a smile and a nod, not understanding a damn thing.

Then, after 50 minutes and the smoothest and fasted train ride ever, I arrived at the Lille train station where I would meet me new family for the next 11 months. It was a bit rainy, overcast, and cold as I arrived at 9am with greasy airplane hair, unbrushed teeth, and wrinkly clothes from the 8 hour flight. Great first impression. I found my family with ease as they greeted me with two kisses on the cheek and a small bouquet of white roses from Cléo, the 5yr old girl I will be caring for. They are seriously the nicest and most welcoming family!

My orders upon arriving was to only speak English with Cléo (always) and only speak French with Fréd and Perrine (the parents). Thankfully, they said for my first week here they will only speak English to me so I am fully aware of my duties. Hallelujah!

On the car ride from the train station we stopped at one of the only open Boulangeries (bakeries) to pick out some croissants and many other breads for a cliché French breakfast at home. It was great, but holy delicious carbo-load....

Later, after a quick nap and unpacking, we had a heavy lunch (which was essentially dinner) on the patio and then headed out to see the city of Lille.

It is beautiful! Everyone is still on holiday until the end of August so everywhere has been dead, including closed shops and empty streets, but it has been an excellent environment for exploring. The architecture is very Belgian with some French aspects tossed in. You can hear basically only French speakers, but also a bit of Dutch too. NO ENGLISH. UGH! Then, we walked past an open area where salsa dances were being held, so we stopped in to watch everyone awkwardly dance. It was too funny. We stopped at a café in front of an old church for some drinks and to people watch. An accordion player was off in the distance playing as everyone smoked and two giant poodles trotted by and pigeons crapped everywhere. How French.

After a long travel day we came home and I went to bed without dinner. Between the insane amount of carbs from the morning and the dense lunch of Salmon and potatoes, I was totally done with food for a while. Let me just say, the food situation has been the hardest thing to adjust to. Trying to find some brown rice, Quinoa, and hummus seems almost impossible....I may have to eat the pet bunny, Scribbles, to survive...

Anyway! Things are so far so good here. Love the location, family, weather, and home. I have not hit much of a culture shock yet, but I am embracing for impact soon.

Love and Hugs from Lille!

Claire