17.09.10

My first homework assignment for my Français écrit class was, Qu'est-ce qui vous a frappé à votre arrivée à Nantes?

What struck you about Nantes when you first got here?
My immediate response was: Nothing really... it is pretty much the same here as anywhere else. But once I really thought about it, a few things popped up.


"C'est la vie."

Obnoxious things tend to happen in France. For example, the room I got assigned is right in front of a disgusting looking construction site! The resulting view is very pleasant in the morning. However, I have learned that complaining does not do very much to help your situation. I complained and I got offered an alternate room in another building...a DAY after I finally finished unpacking all of my stuff. So I chose to stay where I was because moving my giant suitcase as well as all my newly acquired things would be so OBNOXIOUS in the drizzly rain. What do the French say when things like this happen to them? "C'est la vie."  The most comforting and simultaneously irritating sentence in the French language.

Here is just another vantage point of the construction site. The tiny building beside it is where I live. AWESOME.

SIZE

Everything is designed to be purely minimalist. Sure, it would be nice to be able to toss and turn in your bed, but do you NEED that? No. And what do you need shower space for anyway?

You can see the door to the bathroom on the bottom left corner. The photograph is taken from the front door. You are looking at the room in its entirety right now.

Actual size. Heh.

SUNDAYS
Sundays are the day of the week that the French take seriously. All the shops close, all the cafés close, the trams don't run as regularly, and the streets are no longer empty. So what does one do on a Saturday? Well, it appears that the French go hang out with their families at the beaches on the western coast. It is not as easy for those study abroad students, though.

Whoa! PEOPLE! Oh wait, they are tourists too...

Fortunately for us, the museums are open and free on Sundays! So, off to the Natural History Museum we go!

As interesting as this was, I do not foresee myself going back every single Sunday to pass the time. So I set out to find a job. Luckily, the French want to learn English, so there are many Help Wanted announcements for those people. I answered an ad and basically got a job a few days later. So now my Sundays will be reserved for teaching English to a French teenager named Elena. So far, so good! I get paid AND I have something to do on these wretched Sundays!

à plus!