My life in Rennes... c'est comme ca. I LOVE IT HERE! I mean, I've been a little stressed, but for the most part, it's been incredible. I live in a town right next to rennes and I can get into the city in about 20 minutes on a bus that stops around the corner from my house. The city of rennes itself isn't that big, but with the towns that surround it, it's huge. I live in a neighborhood where all of the houses look the same, cute and small from the outside but pretty large inside. I have my own room which has a HUGE bed, a desk, a closet and a few shelves for my stuff along with a bathroom (without a toilet) attached. The WC (bathroom with just a toilet) is just outside my room. It's on the first floor right next to the door. As you enter the house, the living room is right there, and the dining room table is in the same room. They have a cute backyard and an amaryllis and an orchid along with a really cute kitchen. The upstairs is the study and their bedrooms.
The family... is incredible! I live with my host mom and dad who are just so cute. They have been together almost 30 years and are both the same age as my mom at home. They insist that I use the tu form of you (the less formal) and refer to them by their first names because they are truly young. =) I understand them for the most part but I'm actually concerned that as I become more comfortable, I'm understanding them less because I'm not listening as closely. They speak VERY little english which is perfect for me. I need the challenge. lol. Actually, staci said that they requested someone who was outgoing and spoke french well so that they could truly have conversations and get to know them and that's why they put me here. That made me really really happy because that means that they think I speak french well! Anyway, they have 3 kids, one son who is 27 who lives in Quebec with his wife and kids, a daughter who is 24 and lives in Rennes but not here and another daughter who is 20 and goes to school about half an hour away so she came back for the weekend. Oh yeah and they have a golden retriever named easy and 3 cats... one black, one gray and one is the puffiest and fluffiest cat i've ever seen in my entire life. I swear it must have gotten it's tail stuck in an electical outlet or something because this is one huge puffball. he's HUGE.
So Friday we had our placement tests and let me tell you I was buggin out I was so nervous. The night before I had the weirdest dreams and I woke up at 2:30am thinking I overslept and was going to miss the test. but my host mom came in at 8am to wake me up. I got ready and had breakfast with them. They keep asking me what i like to eat and i think they are really trying to make it as like home as possible, but I really want to tell them that I just want to eat what they normally eat. I told my host mom the first day that I will try almost anything. So for breakfast I had tea (which they like tea as much as I do! It's awesome.) and toast with butter and jam that my host mom makes. It was great! My host dad drove me so that i could figure out the bus over the weekend. The night before though they went over the bus schedule and route with me and my host mom even walked me to the bus stop to show me how to get back. It was so sweet!
So my host dad dropped me off and I found the building just fine. I met up with the others and we sat and just waited. Then we were led into a room for the test... except there wasn't enough room for all of us so ashley s and I had to take it in another room with students from all over. I felt so bad for this one girl who is from Spain I think because she doesn't speak any french. She asked if she could answer the questions in spanish and when they said no, i thought she was going to cry. she spoke very good english... but i guess not so much french. I felt so bad!! We were given the test and it really wasn't that bad. I mean, we were given a picture prompt, a conversation prompt, we had to make an argument (does true love still exist? or should we travel less to save the planet?), and there was a page of fill-ins on the back. The fill-in where pretty difficult and I keep thinking about what I should have written but I guess it went ok. I don't find out how I did until Wednesday so there's no point in worrying about it now I guess. After the test we got lunch at the university restaurant (which is like a 5 minute walk from the building) with les moniteurs, which we'll be doing for the rest of the semester. It was hilarious because I felt like a freshman again... we're like little lost puppies all the time because we have no idea what's going on. we went back to the same building after lunch and a woman came in and walked us through the paperwork we need to do for our student i.d.s and for the visas. A bunch of people went on a tour of the campus, but I was ready to go back to the house so I left with Ashley S and another friend who both live in the same town as me. I got back to the house and had a few minutes to myself, so I took some pictures of my room and everything. I thought about taking a nap, but instead I decided to hang out. Soon enough my host sister came home, then my host mom. My host mom and I had tea and chatted, then she made dinner and my host dad put in the code for the internet and told me I could use any of the books they have upstairs and put a huge dictionary in the downstairs closet for me. I showed them the pictures of my family and jason and friends. They ask so many questions!! I love it =) they want to know what everyone's doing and how many pets I have and do I eat this in the United states and what do I like to do and what is my sister studying? it's great! and it's not just like those questions that people ask to be polite, but they truly listen and try to help me when I try to explain something and I don't have the vocabulary. not once have they said forget it, but they really want to know what I have to say. it's so nice! after dinner we watched NCIS until both me and my host mom were falling asleep.
Saturday morning I had breakfast with my host mom after she woke me up. I woke up soooo confused because I had dreamt in english, but I woke up speaking french. Anyway, we went into Rennes where there is a huge open market every saturday morning. it's mostly fresh fruits, veggies and meat, but there were books too, which were pretty cool and fairly cheap. They showed us where our french class would be on monday, and where the bars are. Ashley S and I wandered around for a while, then met up with the others for lunch at a creperie. I guess rennes is known for les galettes, like a crepe, and it's alcoholic cider. it was incredible! Then we got our cell phones for here (i unfortunately left my phone from morocco in the hostel in dublin) so now i have a phone and it's actually nicer and less expensive than my phone at home! it has a keyboard, but of course, it's a french keyboard which is different than an american keyboard. afterwards we went to look for a converter for ashley, but they really didn't have any so we looked around a few stores (like H&M and Mim) and took the bus back. It's the first weekend of the semi annual sales so there were HUNDREDS of people there. It was like black friday. CRAZY. But my host mom assured me that this is the only day that it's really that bad. I came back to the house and went online. I had heard about the coup d'etat in tunisia and my friend Chandra had been there just days before. I didn't know she had already left so i was pretty worried for a lot of the day. luckily when i got back i found out she was already safe and sound in the US. I talked to her for a while, then talked to jason until my host mom and sister got back. I had more tea, and brought my computer into the living room where i started looking for classes i can take or audit (if I don't test high enough i can always audit) and i found a class on breton history and another on french contemporary society. I think i want to audit the class on Breton, the language also... we'll see. i want to talk to daniel and find out what would be the best to take.I gave my host parents the gifts I brought (hershey's chocolate, the change purse in the shape of a shoe from morocco made from leather, and a yankee candle. They loved them and i think they were perfect for them because my host dad LOVES chocolate and my host mom already claimed the shoe so she put her lipstick in it (thanks again Mom for getting the chocolate!). I have to say I did bring 2 bars of chocolate for them but i'm a terrible person and saved one for when i have a bad day.
So they whipped out maps and a photo book of the Britanny region of france so we could look at where I go to school and where I live with my family. They've actually been to eastern jersey before because they stayed there a night before going into NYC with their son who lives in Quebec. They've actually traveled quite a bit i think. My host mom was telling me that she and her husband went to thailand when their kids were young and marine, the 20 year old, has been to indonesia for some reason. They're really the coolest people ever! I'm having such a good time trying to figure out what they say and telling them about my life. It really makes me not want to travel and just spend my time here while I can! Oh and it doesn't hurt that my host mom is an awesome cook. we had quiche for dinner on saturday night and it was incredible!
Sunday I slept until 11am! I haven't found a church yet and I wanted to see what sundays are like here. and let me tell you, they know how to do sundays. I had breakfast when i got up and watched Brothers in french, then wrote in my room until lunch. Lunch was foie something and duck. I ate duck! and some type of liver! and chestnuts! It was sooo good too! I had more tea after and we watched Monk in French. i am loving sundays here. They cleaned while i typed in my room and my host mom keeps telling me that if i need to clean or if i want anything cleaned just to tell her and she showed me where things are so i can clean. Later I came out and met my host mom's daughter and her partner. They were really nice but it made dinner really intersesting. All 4 women had very strong opinions, so it was funny to hear them all talk sooo fast and argue. My host dad kept getting involved but a lot of the time he would just smile and eat. We had pizza, which was soo different because it had egg and creme fraiche and different things on it. I liked it a lot, but it was REALLY different. =) We watched a movie after dinner, then I went to bed because i had a very early monday morning for class.
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